"OK, Jody", James says from a distance, "Once you unfreeze him, it'll take a second for him to get his strength back. But since he's seen and heard everything while he was frozen, he'll know where you are, so hit him and then get out of there quick."
Jody nods as she reaches out with the freeze stick, almost ashamed to be using this weapon, knowing how illegal it is. She makes contact with Antonio and he flops onto the ground, trying to get feeling back in his limbs after being frozen for a few hours. Jody bolts out of the room and closes the door behind her, just in time for a loud thud to hit the door as Guster tries to get his hands on the other racers.
"Alright, we're all secure there", Jody says with a sigh of relief. "How's he looking on the camera, Clash?"
"Rabid? That might be the best word for him", he says as one of his BOB cameras is hidden in one of the room's vents, so they can watch his behavior. "There's no way he's unlocking this door, right?"
"Not unless he finds the strength of a supernova in there", James says, proud of his sturdy ship. "I've tried to break out of these rooms once before. Long story, the other Dogs are pranksters. Point is, if I can't break out of there despite knowing every corner of this ship, he sure as hell can't."
"I just don't understand why you had to use my sleeping quarters for this", Zoda says in a faux-sorrowful voice.
"Zoda, you don't sleep? Have you ever even stepped foot in that room?", Jody asks.
"Doesn't matter, you're all going on my list. No one is safe. Except Gazelle, we're cool." ("Yay!")
"Poor guy", Monique says as she watches Guster pace around the bedroom, like a prisoner waiting for the first chance he can get to escape. "Guy's probably aware of what's going on deep inside, and can't stop himself. Is he gonna make it all the way back to the HQ? I hope he has the self-preservation to stay sustained."
"He should, if Dr. Stewart's recollection is right", Jody says. "He's not just a Terminator trying to kill us. He's working towards a mission, and staying alive and fed is part of that mission. We put some food in there for him to find, but we'll still keep an eye on him to make sure he's not endangering himself."
"Alright, if we're all set then, let's get this thing going. Test #1: the hyperspeed jump", James says as they make it back to the cockpit. They had done a little brainstorming, and figured that since Stewart came back a bit after going through a jump to hyperspeed, this was a logical place to start. He then leans into the intercom mic and speaks to the people not in the cockpit. "Hey Jack, and I guess Guster, if you can hear me, you might wanna brace yourself against the bedside wall, ride's about to get bumpy." James starts charging up the motor, ready to blast them off. "Hey Doc, are they responding at all?"
"Jack did, but not really on Antonio", Clash replies. "It looks like he's trying to find the source of your voice. He's standing on the bed, trying to find the speaker I think."
"Well, you can't help some people", James says as he presses the button and the giant ship launches forward with intense velocity. The ship's not quite as fast as the rescue ship was when it jumped to hyperspeed, but the racers are definitely able to feel the G-forces as they fly past stars and planets at super-lightspeeds. James has to manually steer the ship in this mode, so as not to hit anything, but his radars do a good job of making sure nothing is in his way, and he's had plenty of practice doing this kind of flying.
Once he feels like he's flown for roughly the same amount of time as he did during the escape from the space station, he slows the ship back down, trying to match the conditions of the last time they did this, like a good scientist. Once they get back to cruising speed, Clash checks his cameras again. "Oh goodness, Guster looks like he got splattered against the wall. Not sure if he's unhypnotized yet, but he's gonna be woozy for a bit. As for Jack, he's okay except he looks a little gree… oh wait, he just threw up. Like, a lot."
"Now, imagine that, but with way more people, no warning, and their stuff probably not being bolted down as well", Jody says. "That's why I'm upset about it."
"Oh my god, you light one little space station on fire, and you never hear the end of it", James says as he rolls his eyes a little.
"Oh, right. And add more fire, I forgot about that part", Jody adds.
"OH MY GOD, WILL YOU TWO JUST KISS ALREADY?", Zoda exclaims. Everyone in the room looks at Zoda like a crazy person, James and Jody especially. Before anyone can say anything else, Jody reaches over and zaps Zoda with the freeze stick, holding him in place in the seat, so he can't say anything anymore.
"That doesn't make me a corrupt officer, doesn't it?", Jody asks, to which the rest of the crew shrug their shoulders, and pretty much agree that it's not a bad thing.
"I mean, as long as you don't do anything to him while he's unresponsive, it's fine. Also, Zoda. Don't ever say that again, I'm very happily married."
"And I'm very happily not married, soooooo…", she says before she hits him with the freeze stick again to thaw him out.
"Whoa, tingly. I've gotta get my hands on one of those", Zoda says as he shakes the freeze out of his limbs.
"Please do, I'll finally have the grounds to arrest you", Jody says while side-eying him.
"Can we please continue with our mission before it gets drowned out by this angsty melodrama stuff?", Monique asks, thoroughly over this topic.
"Fantastic idea, Monique. I'll start putting this thing in warp drive and head towards the HQ, and you guys can keep working on Guster", James says as he moves the ship to warp speed, which is much easier on the people on the ship.
"Alright, so whose idea are we going to do next?, Gazelle asks the rest of the crew as they walk back towards Guster's room.
"Can we try mine next?", Clash asks, to which no one tells him no. His plan is to try and replicate the feeling of being in the bubble to the best of their ability, even though they don't have the actual black stuff that Shadow had. Unfortunately (or really fortunately), no one there knows what being under the bubble is like, but an earlier call to Dr. Stewart clued them in to what he experienced that fateful day.
"Alright, so first his vision was completely enveloped in drippy blackness", Clash says as he feeds dripping sound effects into the room through his vent camera, while Monique turns down the lights in his room. "Then there was a loud screeching sound that caught him off guard, and disoriented him", he says as Gazelle comes up to the microphone on Clash's tablet and rubs a couple of his metallic parts together, making an intense screech that makes everyone have to cover their ears. "Thank you, Gazelle", Clash says in an annoyed tone as Zoda pantomimes writing Gazelle's name onto a list. "And then he heard a voice saying that he was under Shadow's control, and that his limbs started moving after that without his input", Clash concluded.
Zoda now leans into the mic, clears his throat and speaks in a dark, brooding, trying-too-hard-to-sound-evil sort of way. "You are now under my control, my slave", Zoda says in the gravelliest voice he can muster. "You will answer to no one except the almighty Zoda, leader of the Zolorkian Coalition, future ruler of the galaxies. Answer my call and STAND FOR YOUR MIGHTY LEADER!" Everyone backs away from Zoda a little as he speaks, and the silence is broken by loud crashing noises in Guster's room, which signified that it didn't work either. "Dangit, I thought that sounded really convincing. Can I try it again? I really liked saying… (All in unison: "NO!") Sigh… so rude…"
"Ok, I'm sure my plan isn't going to work", Monique says. "I'm not trying to be all sunshine and fairy wings over here, but I do just wanna talk to him, and see if someone can break through to him."
"I think that's an amazing plan", Zoda says, trying to hold back laughter. "You should walk right up in there, just give him a big hug, and let the power of friendship flow through…"
"Antonio, can you hear me?", Monique says while talking into Clash's tablet's microphone, while staring a hole into Zoda to get him to stop mocking her. "I know you remember me. We raced together in the F-Zero series. You attended my wedding. Are you in there?", she says in a soft, soothing voice.
Antonio starts clutching his head, almost like he's trying to make the thing inside him stop controlling him. After a moment of hesitation, he lifts his head up and looks around the room. "Mrs… Mrs. Arrow?", he says weakly, in a voice that almost sounds like the old Antonio Guster.
"Yes, Antonio! Yes, it's me, Monique. You remember me, right? You remember racing together, right?", Monique says eagerly, feeling as though she's somehow making progress.
"I… I don't know. It's all… fuzzy. Maybe if I see your face, maybe it'll spark something…", Guster says, desperately trying to remember his past.
Before anyone can tell her otherwise, she walks over to the door, about to open it. "I know it might be a trap, but I have to try." The other racers don't say anything, and let her give it a shot. He's already been de-weaponed, and Monique can more than hold her own in a hand-to-hand fight. If there's anyone who can manage to talk someone out of this grip being held on these poor racers, while also being able to fight back if things get hairy, it's Monique.
"Ok, Antonio, I'm coming in. Just stand back a little, and we can talk it out." To everyone's surprise, Antonio takes a few steps back, keeping his distance so that Monique can come inside. She slowly walks inside his room, trying not to make any sudden movements. "Talk to me, Antonio. Do you recognize me?"
Antonio looks up at Monique and leans in to try and get a better look, presumably squinting underneath his hippie glasses. As she gets a little closer to try and help him get a better view, a small smile forms on his face. "Monique…", he says softly, while straightening his posture, almost like a large weight is being lifted off his body. Monique smiles back, trying to keep his mind at ease, and that he's safe around her.
However, as soon as he sees Monique relax a little, Guster launches himself across the room towards her. He boots her in the gut, making her double over in pain, allowing him to jump behind her, and put her in a rear choke. She has the height advantage over him though, and is able to throw her hips over and judo-throw him to the ground. He swiftly gets up from this and tries to sweep her legs out from under her, but she manages to dodge his kicks, and delivers a strong roundhouse kick to his midsection, knocking the wind out of him, and sending him backwards long enough for her to run out the open door, and close it behind her.
Guster can be heard cackling from the other side of the door. "Hey, come back Monique", he says in his unfamiliar voice again. "I think we nearly had a breakthrough there, HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Well, Mrs. Arrow", Zoda says, smugly. "I can confidently say that was an awful plan, and you should feel terrible about coming up with it."
Monique storms off in a huff, frustrated and annoyed, particularly at Zoda. "Better than your dumb plan", she shouts from down the hallway at Zoda, which he just scoffs at and dismisses, especially since it wasn't even his plan, it was Clash's.
Jody takes a deep breath, and tries to keep her composure. "Alright, that's three plans down. Gazelle? Do you have anything in mind?"
"No, sorry, I wasn't able to think of anything."
"That's ok, Gazelle. Zoda, any other ideas in that big, crazy brain?"
"Can I try to make him my slave again?"
"Wrong answer. So, we're doing my plan", she says as she pulls out her tranq gun, opens the door.
"Jody… is that…", Guster says before getting popped by the tranq gun, and flopping to the ground.
Jody then closes the door behind her and re-locks it. "He'll wake up in a couple hours, we're heading to the GSF HQ. They'll know what to do with him there. I'm gonna go make some damn tea."
