This Tale is a direct sequel to the Tale 'Imposter.' I highly recommend reading that one if you haven't already.
This Seppuku Tale is safe of Parts 1, 2, and 3 spoilers. This is, essentially, an episode from a hypothetical "Part 0" or "Part -1".
== The Blood Hawk =
The start of a new annual Grand Prix was but several hours away; the first race would be set in the Mute City surface track—a common place to kick off the competition. Captain Falcon was victor of the former Prix by a landslide of points, he donated eighty percent of the billion credits in prize money to police departments and hospitals of Federation colonial planets, such as Sand Ocean and Big Blue. This led to a boost in reputation to the honest folk, but made his enemies even angrier. If he were to win again this season, many could suspect him to make more donations. Falcon was a bounty hunter, law enforcer, and legendary racer—but he was a Samaritan before all things.
Of course, as he had learned not even a day ago, a pretender Falcon wanted to see a change in things; a reality where 'Falcon' is a name to cower before, not cheer. To see the era of Captain Falcon end was the aspiration of Blood Falcon, and being that he's a perfect replica of the Captain, the threat of such a reality was real.
There was no time to waste. In light of the Captain's close encounter with Blood Falcon at Port Town, he and the Federation had to work fast in destroying the imposter. Fortunately, Captain Falcon had one the best allies to help…
That night, Jody and Captain Falcon discussed the crisis in her office—located at the top floor of the Federation HQ. The night had come, but everyone was wide awake; especially Jody and Falcon.
Jody, behind her desk, explained, "So, there is good and bad news."
The bounty hunter, in all his glory, struck a tall pose with both hands to his waist. "The bad news would have to be pretty bad to even compare with today's events."
The Major nodded, "To bring it to you straight, Captain; the F-Zero Committee today announced the acquisition of a 'Blood Falcon' as a new addition to F-Zero." Falcon grunted to this. "Your guess as to what the hell's going on is as good as mine. Per the announcement, it is said this Blood Falcon is registered to the machine 'Blood Hawk.'"
In a showing of shock, Falcon swiped his arm back and loudly answered, "How can this be happening?"
"No idea, but two things seem certain: We'll be seeing him tomorrow, and he'll be a direct ally to Black Shadow."
Falcon turned on a sarcastic smirk, "Great… My hands just weren't full enough with Goroh and Shadow…"
"Well, look at the bright side," Jody formed a sarcastic smirk of her own, "At least this'll bring some challenge back to the Grand Prix for you."
"Ugh…" Falcon paced around with a lost thought for some few moments, ultimately, he turned his head to her and with a cool expression. "Say, what's the good news?"
Jody put her hands together, "I just so happen to have the F-Zero Commissioner on standby to explain himself."
"Perfect. I'd like a word with the man…"
Without another word, Jody got up and walked over to the center of the room; Falcon proceeded to join her and approach a large screen that dropped down from the ceiling. With the click of a remote button, Jody brought a live feed up on screen. In his desk sat the old fat cat of F-Zero—the greatest businessman to ever live. The combined image of Jody and Falcon—both discontent—did not shake the Commissioner.
"Ah, Captain Falcon and Ms. Summer!" He crossed his fingers together with a grin. "It's always a pleasure assisting the Galactic Space Federation."
"Commissioner," Jody greeted. "I've called regarding your recent controversial decision."
The man lowered his brows in either fake or real confusion, "Which is?"
Falcon took a sidestep and pointed up, "I was attacked by an imposter Falcon today—a clone—and now I'm hearing that the Committee has welcomed him with open arms?"
"Heh, heh… You mean, Blood Falcon. I'm going to presume you mean Blood Falcon."
Jody narrowed her eyes, "Once again, the F-Zero Committee is stepping over moral boundaries in its perverse quest for ratings." The Commissioner showed surprise to this claim. "For the fourth or fifth time, your organization has employed a terrorist into the competition, and if this Blood Falcon is of mutual strength to the Captain here, it's the worst yet."
The Commissioner chuckled, "Now, Ms. Summer, listen-"
"No, you listen! It's bad enough there's a chance of you handing over one billion credits in prize money to the likes of Black Shadow, but now you are doubling the risk by adding this fiend to the competition." Jody, as Falcon did, sidestepped forward with a finger up. "As a Major of the Galactic Space Federation, I demand Blood Falcon's removal from the Grand Prix, else I will recommend sanctions against F-Zero to the Chief Commander."
Falcon nodded in agreement to the threat, but the Commissioner refused to back an inch, even to the threat of sanctions. He had already persevered through an outright banning of F-Zero some years ago; mere sanctions were nothing in this sense.
"Ms. Summer, Ms. Summer… You misunderstand me." Jody dipped her head with cold eyes. "There is no one in the universe more supportive of you and Falcon than I, no one at all. I am completely supportive of your aspirations to have wrongdoers dead or in prison."
The Captain replied, "You have a funny way of showing it."
"The thing is, we're helping each other out. By allowing Blood Falcon to race, I'm giving you a place and time to deal with him. I am leading you right to him with these races and allowing you to try and destroy him. On part of the Committee, we are making great revenue out of it. You get to enforce justice on the track and we make money from it. A double win, yes?"
Jody again narrowed her eyes, "And I suppose part of the deal is that you create Blood Falcon merchandise and thereby inspire citizenry to support and idolize a man of terrorism."
The Commissioner nervously rolled his eyes aside and shrugged, "Well, uh, not me, personally… but my manufactories and corporate sponsors, on the other hand…"
"Your greedy and immoral character disgusts me, Commissioner. I pray you never try your hand at politics."
"Heh, heh… well, I'll leave politics to you, ma'am."
With the deadest eyes, Jody pointed the remote up at the screen and said, "This audience has concluded." She turned the screen off without waiting for the Commissioner to respond. "Greedy bastard. If Mute City were to be destroyed by a nuclear blast, I'd expect him to try and make an F-Zero track out of it."
Falcon continued to stare at the screen for some time, floored in shock by all of this. "So, what now?"
Jody returned to her seat with an extensive sigh; once seated, she answered, "We wait. Sleep and head to the track. You'll have to deal with Zoda, Black Shadow, Goroh, and now Blood Falcon. Fortunately, you'll be backed up by Stewart, Clash, and myself."
"It'll be a messy day tomorrow."
"Yes, it most certainly will, Captain…"
It was already a bit late for the Captain to be awake, being that the grand opening of the annual Grand Prix was tomorrow; but he had one last bit of business to attend to. A general inquiry he had which to this time remained unanswered.
Falcon, that night, approached the office door of a thousand footprints. Everyone welcomed the man with open arms as he first arrived at the Federation HQ hours ago—all but one. The Captain didn't even knock, he just opened the door and walked right in.
This room was somewhat open in space, but with certain areas beyond messy with notes and documents. Unique firearms were present against walls, clearly none of which were accessible to the public. One firearm even showed signs of using anti-materiel shells—certainly banned from public use. What gave this person permission to possess such weaponry eluded Falcon.
"Ahem."
The Captain turned, suddenly finding the glowing eyes of a Lieutenant Detective Seppuku at his desk. As to be expected, the Lieutenant appeared discontent having Falcon in his presence—let alone his office.
"I thought I made myself clear that you were not to enter my office, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You probably think your fame and charity gives you a key to every door, hm?" Falcon took a step forward, but in sync with that step was the pounding of Seppuku's fist. "Stop. Moving. Forward."
"O- Okay, just calm down."
"No…"
The Captain did as he was told and remained still, but his intent remained the same. "I simply come with questions for you to answer."
"No."
"A general inquiry."
"No, get out."
Frustrated, Falcon turned his head a bit and commented, "I'm curious of the nature of your beef with me."
This was a question Seppuku was obliged to answer, "This, right here. You beat a bunch of awful racers every year and then proceed to act like the greatest human there ever was. My colleagues accept you here as a refuge, and sure enough, here you are walking through doors like you own the damn place." Seppuku narrowed his brows and grimaced. "So you gave to some hospitals, good for you, good for them. But first and foremost, it's charity; being charitable doesn't give you permission to be a dick and get in everyone's shoes."
Falcon beat his chest once, "With all due respect, Lieutenant, you're the one being a… genital."
"Now you're starting to piss me off…"
"But I'm only curious of who you are and why you choose to take after me, if you have such spite for me."
"Wh- What? Take after you!?" Seppuku brushed the Captain off. "Pigeon, please."
"It's true, you seem to attire yourself after me. I must say though that you've got the chin and cheekbones to pull off a Falcon look."
Seppuku shook a fist, "A part of my brain really wants to see you dead…"
Falcon pointed forward, "That visor you wear, it's a Mk. II EagleOps piece, yes?"
"Yep."
"But the eye shape of the piece seems to suggest Mk. I RavenOps; I don't recall the manufacturing company continuing that shape of eye with their Mk. II models…"
Seppuku blinked once, "It's custom made…"
"Curious."
An awkward silence ensued between the two, the Man of Darkness had little expression to shed and his eyes remained solid on Falcon. The Captain was left contemplating about the 'custom made' visor.
"You into F-Zero?"
Seppuku replied, "I'm actually the best in the universe at it. I just don't enter the Grand Prix because I'd win every year."
Falcon smirked for a moment, "The best at it? Yet, you've never entered the Grand Prix before?"
"Nope."
"Curious…"
Falcon's eyes then dropped to the scarf he was wearing, which was wrapped in a very different style. Unlike Falcon's style, Seppuku went after a wrap that would allow him to cover his jaw, if desired.
"That scarf you're wearing-"
"I find it funny that a detective and law enforcer is being interrogated by a man who shouldn't even be here right now." Seppuku stood up with both hands to his waist. "If you've an accusation to make, just get it out of the way; otherwise, turn and leave, or bend over so I can kick your ass."
Falcon thought about this for a moment, but was quick to nod and back away a few steps. "I don't have an accusation to make, Lieutenant. I'm simply skeptical if you're a fan of mine too proud to admit, or something more…"
"Something… more?"
Another moment of silence ensued as Falcon came to the door, his hand over the doorknob. He was debating with himself whether to create an accusation or not. With Blood Falcon, he already had his mind wrapped up; he didn't need to make an enemy out of Seppuku, too. All in all, even if there was an accusation to make, what really mattered was that this lieutenant was on the Federation's side.
"I'll be going now, Lieutenant."
"Do that."
Seppuku, paranoid and wrapped with biased contempt for Falcon, watched intensely as the bounty hunter exited and closed the door behind him. Only in the seconds that followed did the Man of Darkness scoff and shake his head. He then returned to his computer, interestingly enough, looking for properties in the Upper City for sale.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back, to the annual F-Zero Grand Prix!"
An ocean of applause was the appropriate response, loud enough to echo throughout the Lightning Area and even the Lower City. The track lights came on, the starting line monitors began to hover, and the track safety rails powered on. The fan attendance was off the chart for the first race of this Grand Prix.
The announcer continued, "Please, grab some food, drinks, sit down, and prepare to be enthralled by the world of F-Zero!" The announcer waited for the audience to settle down. "Without further ado, it is time to call upon the contestants!"
Screens around the track put their attention onto an approaching red machine—the Deep Claw—on its way to the starting line.
"The Takoraian with passion, temper, and a mean spirit; piloting the Deep Claw, it's Octoman!"
The octopus-like creature came first to the line—far left—and treated this great privilege as an opportunity. Opening his cockpit, Octoman amassed laughter by putting on a very childish dance, also taking advantage of his very flexible limbs. He would continue to do so for almost a full minute.
"Major of the Galactic Space Federation Honshu Branch and contestant in the Miss Galactic Space Federation Pageant, she is your very own, Jody Summer!"
It was from within the private booth of Jody Summer that a Lieutenant Seppuku watched, both arms crossed and a headset under his fedora. The White Cat soon came into sight and made its way over to the second spot in the front.
Seppuku spoke into the headset, "If last year's showing is anything to go by, you're going to have a flawless season and take home the gold."
Now at the starting line, Jody disengaged the White Cat and made final adjustments to her machine's communication device. She was connected to Seppuku, Stewart, and Clash, but currently only in talk with the lieutenant. It was a mystery to all why Jody and Seppuku held private audiences before racing.
"Only problem, Lieutenant, is that we've got a new threat to deal with on the track."
"Falcon has a new threat to deal with. You worry about your own skin." Seppuku brought a fist up with optimism. "Book five good races, and we'll be out eating ice cream to celebrate or something."
Jody lowered her brows, "I thought you hated ice cream."
"I don't, but that secret stays between you and I."
With several racers now having been called up, Jody and Seppuku were alerted by the obvious call up.
"The Emperor of Brutality, an open critic of humanity and nemesis of Captain Falcon, it's Black Shadow!"
Seppuku scoffed, "Here comes our boy."
The Black Bull was a machine of superior technology on every front—it basically mocked every machine that dared oppose it, including the Blue Falcon. When it came down to combating the Emperor of Brutality, skill and opportunity was everything. One clear side attack from the Black Bull, and its victim could find themselves in a worse situation than just being retired.
Black Shadow stopped at his starting position, then after opening his cockpit tower, proceeded to wave. He was not well-received by many, only the darkest of F-Zero fans cheered on the emperor's presence. The truth of the matter was that Black Shadow's waving was performed as a way of mocking; he had contempt for every person here.
"The living legend, bounty hunter, Mr. F-Zero himself! It's Capta—ain Falcon!"
Black Shadow grit his teeth and turned dramatically, the blue blur of a machine soon came into sight; in no time at all it coasted up beside the Black Bull. Of course, considering recent events, the Captain was immediate in unbuckling and opening his cockpit.
"Well, still alive, it seems…" Falcon slid off his machine's cockpit and approached the Black Bull, both fists clenched. "But, I won't miss this chance to make mincemeat of you!" The emperor delivered a power laugh whilst holding his chest.
To this, Falcon looked up and pointed, "Black Shadow, I'll show you. You'll never beat me!"
Following this, Black Shadow formed a very sharp grin—silent as well.
"New to the league of F-Zero!" the announcer shouted. "The evil creation of Black Shadow; he is allegedly a pitch perfect clone replica of Captain Falcon! Taking the track for the first time… it's Blood Falcon!"
The audience's response was mixed. Many were excited, many shocked, many disapproving. Black Shadow jumped out of his cockpit the very moment the Captain turned to see the approaching machine. He wasn't even surprised to find that Blood Falcon's machine went after a red color scheme. What did surprise him, however, was that the Blood Hawk had almost no resemblance to the Blue Falcon. In the Captain's mind, he envisioned a blatant rip-off of his own machine. This was going to be a problem. Blood Falcon knew the stats of the Blue Falcon by heart, Captain Falcon knew nothing about the Blood Hawk.
Of course, by clear intention on the F-Zero Committee's part, both Blood Falcon and Black Shadow would start the race by boxing the Captain in. He'd be lucky to survive the first seconds of the race.
"So…" Falcon muttered to Black Shadow. "Where'd you get the DNA?"
The Emperor, proud of himself, replied, "Remember that one big F-Zero accident..?"
Nothing had to be said past this point, the two just watched as the imposter Falcon approached with a robotic grin. Only now did Captain Falcon get a clear look at the clone for the first time. Everything was perfect about Blood Falcon; he had the same face, the same height, even matching attire, sans the color. Truly, the only difference was the spiked shoulder pad and skull boots. Somehow, the Captain knew that he'd be dealing with Blood Falcon long past this race.
Blood Falcon, with a relatively deep voice, stretched his arms both ways and shouted, "Captain Falcon! It's good to see you, buddy!"
Black Shadow snickered, "Captain, I do believe you've met my wonderful servant, Blood Falcon."
The Captain sneered, "It's been too long."
Up in the private booth, a very curious lieutenant watched with a frozen body. In his experience, this was perhaps the most powerful meeting of men he'd ever seen. Two Falcons and a supposedly powerful Black Shadow. Soon, Seppuku's only motion was to stroke his chin, curious of what discussion the three could be having.
"Cut to the chase, Shadow. What's this about? Why clone me?"
Black Shadow brushed by Blood Falcon, then taunting the Captain with a waving finger, "Because, Falcon, there is no better person to make a clone of." He brought up a fist. "A powerful fist, a unique intellect, superb talent in F-Zero… If not kill you, Blood Falcon will bring me billions of credits in prize money. Billions that will go toward the Empire of Dark Million."
"This will never last, Shadow. There can only be one Falcon, it is the natural order of things."
Blood Falcon put on a sharp grin, "To this, we are in perfect agreement."
Black Shadow gave the clone an almost fatherly smile, pat him on the back, then pushed the Captain aside as he approached the Black Bull. The two Falcons observed Black Shadow enter his machine, and the truth be told, the Captain had very little interest in Black Shadow's audience, anyway. He was far more interested in the clone.
"Blood Falcon." The true Falcon slowly turned his head, giving the clone a nod in the process. "If you are me, you know why Black Shadow mustn't win." The clone dipped his head with a humored face. "Come on, you don't need to serve that man. Join me, and fight for what is right—justice."
"Justice?" Blood Falcon at first came off as interested in this, but soon showed otherwise by chuckling. "I fight for a different kind of justice. The kind of justice only Black Shadow can demand."
The Captain, in a risky move, placed a hand over Blood Falcon's shoulder and looked him deep in the eyes, "If you are truly Falcon, you will look deep within, think critically, and understand why Black Shadow is wrong. It is imperative you turn against me and help him." Blood Falcon only continued grinning, regardless. "The collective power of two Falcons could easily bring an end to Black Shadow's tyranny."
All his effort was in vain, for every word he spoke was going through one ear and out the other. Blood Falcon strongly yanked the Captain's hand off his shoulder.
"As far as you know, I am a loyal servant to Black Shadow and will leave the thinking and decisions to him." Blood Falcon smashed his hands together. "Face it, Falcon. Your only hope is to destroy me."
The bounty hunter pocketed his hands and shook, "Then, it is a fruitless endeavor. Even if I am to destroy you, surely, another clone will take your place. I am, led to believe, that there are already more clones of me…"
Blood Falcon turned his head and asked, "How do you mean?"
"Black Shadow, he has the tools, he has the DNA, he's proven he can do it… Surely, he has or will make more clones; more and better clones." The Captain again held his hand out. "For this reason, you must help me defeat Black Shadow. Otherwise, you will be betrayed, destroyed, and forgotten as soon as he comes up with a superior clone."
This final claim resulted in nothing more than a gradually widened grin and headshake, followed by a downward hand wave, "A—ah, I've no time to argue the rub with you…"
Now Blood Falcon exited the conversation as well, heading back to the Blood Hawk. With this, the Captain was left with no choice but to chew through a race of extreme difficulty. If it wasn't bad enough having Blood Falcon and Black Shadow starting off on both his flanks, he'd also have Zoda and Samurai Goroh there to give him trouble. He may have equal allies, but these were all racers that were gunning for him in particular.
One thing was for sure—the F-Zero Committee were guaranteed their desired ratings.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Please direct your attention to the starting line!"
The racers were all summoned and pre-race talks out of the way. Blood Falcon and Black Shadow starting on both sides of Captain Falcon would make for a slow start, as he'd have to initiate an immediate spin attack as the race begins. From that point on, the Captain would best slide into the crowd of neutral racers; with any luck, he'd avoid Goroh and Zoda in the process, both of whom started on the left side of the track. The silver lining is that the Captain had allies in desirable starting positions, especially Jody, who was likely to meet Blood Falcon or Black Shadow in the first seconds.
"Racers! Start your engines!"
Falcon turned on the Blue Falcon's ignition and brushed his hand off in the Blood Hawk's direction, as if to regard the clone as irrelevant. Black Shadow, excited for this new season, looked down at the Blue Falcon and snickered. Blood Falcon did much of the same, but without giving gaze to his rival.
Dr. Stewart and Dr. Clash were exchanging glances from across the track. Clash was in a good position to give the Captain assistance; Stewart, however, was likely to get swept up in an early fight with Zoda. Jody was in the best position to take on 1st place, but against Seppuku's wish, she was prepared for intervention against the Dark Million racers.
This was, perhaps, the start of an F-Zero war…
The starting line monitors lowered, flipped around to face the racers, and then revealed the number 3. The audience counted down with the monitors.
"Three! Two! One! Go!"
The race began and everyone went at each other. As expected, Captain Falcon started the race off by committing to a spin attack, thus shielding himself from the two Dark Million racers, at a cost of speed. Both Blood Falcon and Black Shadow predicted such a move and thus continued ahead into the Top 6; the Captain would fall behind into the second row of contestants. The silver lining was that Dr. Clash and Dr. Stewart could form up on Falcon following the move.
Meanwhile, Jody made the ballsy move of dropping back with a surprise spin attack, her aim was to spin right between the two Dark Million racers for massive damage.
Black Shadow grunted, "Huh!?"
The Emperor cranked the Black Bull into a sharp turn away from Blood Falcon; the clone, having less range for escape, ended up taking a full hit from the White Cat. The attack knocked the Blood Hawk—and White Cat—a few places back, and most importantly, sucked about a third of Blood Falcon's energy away.
With this all over, a surprised Black Shadow looked back at the result, then back to the race at hand; because of this collision, he was now leading in 1st.
"Fine by me!" he said with a zealous grin.
"What the hell are you doing, Summer!?" Seppuku shouted.
Between Jody, Seppuku, Clash, and Stewart, only Seppuku was disapproving of the jingoist behavior; ironic, given the nature of his character.
Jody replied, "It is imperative that Zoda, Blood Falcon, and Black Shadow be dealt with."
"I say it's more imperative we stack to the ceiling with prize money!"
Stewart chimed in, "Relax, Lieutenant. We've a long race ahead of us."
Seppuku looked up to the screen in the private booth and noted Black Shadow's new position in 1st. "Boy, you said it…"
The early situation could be better, especially with Black Shadow taking 1st, but it could be worse. The fact Captain Falcon was backed by both Stewart and Clash was enough to scare both Zoda and Goroh away from making any moves. Better yet, Jody had Blood Falcon to the safety railing and was in position for Falcon and the two doctors to intervene.
Committing to just that, the Blue Falcon quickly shifted right in a bid to chop the chicken's head while it was down and confused. The Golden Fox and Crazy Bear followed from the rear.
From within his own cockpit, Blood Falcon found himself with great pressure over him. He could handle Jody, but when supported also by Captain Falcon, Stewart, and Clash, this was the worst kind of start.
"I- I could use some help!" Blood Falcon shouted.
Black Shadow continued to cruise in 1st with a warm grin, "I could… but I'd need to forfeit my lead…"
Trying to outsmart each other, both Jody and Blood Falcon performed spin attacks at the same time; this led to nothing more than a showing of sparks between the two. This led to Captain Falcon sneaking his way to Blood Falcon's right flank and the two doctors getting behind the clone. There was no escape, at least not without boost power.
Out of desperation, Blood Falcon continued to spam spin attacks, hoping that this would eventually break open a gap for him to retreat through. To his surprise, all four of his opponents followed suit, ultimately leading to an interesting light show of spins.
An F-Zero commentator whistled and shouted, "Would you look at that! Amazing how they're all spinning, yet keeping focus on the track!"
Even Seppuku had a change of heart at this moment, "That's it, guys. Kick his ass!" The spin attacks continued from the five and Blood Falcon's situation only worsened. But then… "Summer! Look out!"
Unable to gather the threat due to the active spin, Jody instinctively pulled left in retreat. The moment she broke away from the coalition, the Black Bull made the scene. The massive machine came back in a powerful spin, finally deciding to aid the clone in peril. His target was originally Jody, but due to her retreat, ended up being Stewart.
"Agh!" Stewart responded, feeling the brutal force of a 2,000+ kg machine hit him.
No doubt about it, the Golden Fox was blown back many meters as a repercussion to the hit, meanwhile, Jody's retreat put her away from the Dark Million racers by a few meters as well. It was down to two Falcons, Black Shadow, and Clash in the immediate battle.
"Stewart!" Jody panicked.
Seppuku added, "Stewart, you dead?"
Fortunately, the doctor replied with grunts as well as continue driving, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just had the wind knocked out of me."
Acting quickly, Seppuku browsed through the individual racer channels and landed on Stewart's, "Stewart, you're tanked in energy."
"Right, right… Sorry, Jody, I'll have to sit this lap out."
Jody replied, "Restoration pad up in five." She then directed her attention back to Falcon and Clash, who were still in the thick of a fight. "Clash, no matter what, stay close to Falcon."
Though not in verbal communication with each other, Clash and Captain Falcon stuck by each other like brothers in face of two very belligerent Dark Million racers. Blood Falcon was now concentrated on picking off Clash, while Black Shadow desired the usual audience with his nemesis. Despite the Blood Hawk being fairly battered and Blood Falcon overcoming the shock of a recent fight, he gave Clash the best possible fight.
Blood Falcon made many small bumps to the Crazy Bear's side, said bumps made it hard for Clash to stage any attacks; exactly what he wanted, at least until they could reach the restoration pads. Black Shadow and Captain Falcon were in the usual duel—a series of bumps, side attacks, and spin attacks that ultimately correlated to nothing more than sparring.
"Ugh!" Clash whined. "I can't get an edge on this guy!"
"It's okay," Jody said calmly. "Just hold him down until either I or the Captain can manage something."
Seppuku, staring at the Blood Falcon channel, reported, "No pressure, but I'm just saying, if you could possibly land one more side attack on the Blood Hawk before the restoration zone, he should be packing away for the sideline."
"Too late," Jody noted.
As she claimed, the whole lot of F-Zero machines soon glided off a layer of the track and onto another, here they were all presented with a long restoration pad. Blood Falcon, unfortunately, had the easiest time reaching it being that he was to the left of everyone. Clash was conflicted on whether to go after him.
"Leave him, Clash. Help Falcon take out Black Shadow. Stewart, pick up the energy and pursue Blood Falcon with me."
Stewart, naturally, ran over the restoration pad, but asked, "How? We don't have boost power and I'm several racers behind."
Jody, riding right behind the Blood Hawk, said, "I'll claw him back…"
Despite having both Captain Falcon and Dr. Clash on him for those coming moments, Black Shadow was relatively calm about the situation. If anything, he was more interested to see Jody trying so hard to tail Blood Falcon. It was no coincidence to him that Stewart was following her tracks.
"Blood Falcon, dear boy, I believe we've a coalition formed against us. You've got bogey on your tail."
Blood Falcon looked back at the White Cat and laughed, "That it? A shady politician and amateur lab coat?"
The Emperor finally found a decent side attack to make on Captain Falcon, though the lack of distance between the machines meant that it was very minor in effect. Nonetheless, it disrupted the good position Falcon and Clash had him in before. The three machines proceeded to drive alongside each other for the much longer stretch of track ahead of them; each of them were likely to disregard the upcoming boost pad—Falcon and Clash out of choice, Black Shadow without choice.
For his next move, Black Shadow built up room between he and the Blue Falcon, preparing for a strong side attack. The Captain responded by placing his finger over the spin attack trigger, ready to repel the attack. The Emperor moved in as expected for the attack just as Falcon also performed the inevitable spin attack—the result was to shock, however, as Black Shadow in fact played a ruse. Despite moving in toward the Blue Falcon, it was in fact the Crazy Bear that he side attacked.
"No, no—o!" Clash shouted.
The impact of the attack was even stronger than the last dealt to Stewart; the Crazy Bear was not sent back, but rather, into the safety rail to the right. His machine proceeded to ricochet around like a pinball for some time.
Seppuku grit his teeth, "Clash!"
Jody and Stewart both broke their concentration to investigate what happened, they were too far ahead to see.
"Clash, what's wrong? Report!"
Dr. Clash found himself recovering from the massive blow, but was in a rather confusing situation. The energy alarm within his cockpit rang as to suggest that he still had energy, yet there was a total loss of control, regardless. He could still drive forward, but hardly, much like a wheeled machine with no traction.
"I- I cannot keep my machine steady, but I still have energy. I can handle it!"
Seppuku jumped, "Your right-side gravity coil's fluctuating, pull up!"
"I can handle it!"
"Pull up, dammit!"
"W- Wait, I can handle-"
At that moment, an explosion and follow-up flame came from the Crazy Bear's right side, followed by the loss of gravity on one side. As such, the right side of the machine hit the ground while the left remained hovering; he still had energy, but regardless, it was a lost hope.
Out of necessity, Clash pulled the emergency ignition to force his machine cold—like unplugging a computer, rather than shutting down. Now the Crazy Bear simply fell flat and slid many meters in a showcase of sparks and flame.
"Sorry, everyone. I'm out!" Clash reported.
Jody smacked a fist down, "Damn!"
Black Shadow laughed to the sight of a lone Blue Falcon, "Oh, how the mighty bear falls!" Following this, Black Shadow looked back to the other twenty-some racers. "Zoda, why not lend me a hand with Falcon?"
From within the blue Death Anchor, a squeamish Zoda, with his obnoxious voice, said, "I'd love to but I'm stuck in twenty-sixth!"
This was to Black Shadow's great anger, conveyed through a sheer look of spite.
Meanwhile, Blood Falcon, Jody, and Stewart all hit the boost pad that would lead up to the checkpoint. Stewart remained behind in 5th, behind Jody in 4th, and Blood Falcon in 3rd. 2nd currently belonged to an ecstatic Roger Buster, and 1st to Octoman.
Buster and Octoman, in an entirely different situation from Falcon and Black Shadow, found themselves duking out the punches. The Deep Claw attempted to side attack Buster, but to no fruition. As such, Buster made a delivery of his own, and like all his deliveries, it was made.
The Deep Claw took a powerful hit, enough to send it backwards like a bullet and out of control. Blood Falcon, Jody, and Stewart were all forced to make last second dodges of the oncoming wreck; this was, apparently, just what Jody and Stewart needed, as it put them closer to Blood Falcon.
The race commentator spoke, "Octoman is added to the list of retirees! More mayhem, and by the looks of it, more to come if Blood Falcon and Black Shadow are anything to go by!"
With Jody and Blood Falcon once more at each other's side, the woman knew she had to make an attack that would really count. Fortunately, she was driving one of the best machines for quick side attacks.
Jody, preparing for an attack, explained, "The White Cat is one of the greatest machines in offensive capabilities. The sharp fins on the front make for a great cutting edge and, if presented to an opponent perfectly, can leave them decapitated on the spot."
A moment of silence ensued, until Seppuku said, "Summer, who are you talking to..?"
The White Cat performed a side attack, but was met by a Blood Hawk spin attack. The sheer force of the side attack was enough to penetrate the defensive edge of the spin attack. Her machine thus collided with Blood Falcon and even managed to poke a hole into her opponent's body. Because of her decision to strike into a spinning machine, there was a repercussion cost of energy. Either way, both racers came out of the strike harmed.
Blood Falcon received Jody with a growl as their machines were now stuck together. "This woman's giving me more flak than Captain Falcon..!" Before his master could respond, the clone turned a disgruntled face into a humored one. "Determined is all she is; foolishly determined."
Despite her best effort, Blood Falcon was able to shake her off him by spin attacking. This, unfortunately, also led Stewart to passing both machines. Stewart now assumed 2nd place, Jody 3rd, and Blood Falcon 4th. At this point, they all had to also face the reality of an approaching Black Shadow, Captain Falcon, and Michael Chain. The latter racer could potentially stir up extra trouble if someone in the Federation got in his way.
At any rate, that one hot lap had at last ended. Roger Buster would enter the second lap still in 1st, meanwhile with the other Top 6 racers retaining their previous positions. With boost power now coming into the equation, the second lap was to be an energetic one for certain.
Everybody in front decided to boost the moment they could, and it was while boosting Jody decided to also get a situation report.
"Seppuku, what's the word on Captain Falcon and Black Shadow?" But there was no answer. "…Seppuku? Seppuku. Come in." Stewart, Jody, and Blood Falcon all convened after boosting and returned to the immediate game of battle. "Stewart, where's the Lieutenant!?"
"Knowing the Lieutenant, he could've left for any reason…"
Seppuku was leaning against a counter of a fast food station, a cool look on his face as he continued ordering, "… large fries, then small fries as well—in case I'm still hungry afterwards—and a large burger, hold the pickles." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, and beer." Past the order, he looked past the worker's shoulder and eyed up a young woman in the back. "Damn, how much I gotta pay for those buns?"
"Sir, I'm going to need to see some identification for the beer."
He snarled, "Um, why?"
At this point, Roger Buster led the pack by only a hair, tailed closely by a fighting duo of Jody and Blood Falcon. The plan of having Jody and Stewart fell apart early into the second lap as Michael Chain made the scene to give Stewart an unprecedented duel. As if that were not bad enough, the very dangerous likes of Captain Falcon and Black Shadow were at last catching up—only a second or two behind Stewart and Chain. When fighting, the Blue Falcon and Black Bull was like a quick moving tornado—it was best to just stay clear of it.
Both the Captain and Black Shadow were left boosting down the track in this early lap. Fortunately for Falcon—who had a fair booster—Black Shadow had a very poor one, or rather, one that couldn't efficiently carry the large machine that was Black Bull. Because of this fact, there was no way of outboosting the Captain.
Black Shadow looked back at his rival and snickered with a calm face, "Ride after me all you want, Falcon. I'm still leading this race, from a certain point of view…"
On that note, Blood Falcon continued to demonstrate mastery over the competition, though with Jody's hostility to make things harder. Were it not for her, this race would be well under Blood Falcon's control.
The clone was not as pleased as Black Shadow, "Grr..! This persistent bat won't go down!"
He performed a side attack, but Jody masterfully did one as well in the other direction to avoid him. Then after, she initiated a spin attack and came sliding over his way. This was nothing but a predictable move to Blood Falcon, who countered the spin with one of his own. The clashing of spin attacks did nothing in terms of battle, however, it did slow them down enough for Stewart and Chain to pass by and steal 2nd and 3rd.
The doctor had every bit of intention to intervene against Blood Falcon, but he couldn't help with the Bloody Chain's leader attacking out of spite. Even so, Stewart remained calm whilst defending against Chain's every attack.
"I am conflicted as whether to cede 2nd place to him or finish the fight."
Jody's whole body shook as both she and Blood Falcon engaged in a series machine shifts, the point being to intimidate or fool the other into suspecting a side attack. Nonetheless, Jody kept partial conscience on her allies.
"Cede 2nd to who?" she soon replied.
"Mr. Chain himself."
Despite being in the thick of a Dark Million war, Jody answered, "Deal with Chain. I'll be damned if we risk a billion credits going toward drugs and gang violence."
With that being said, there existed three separate fights on the track, each involving a law enforcer.
Blood Falcon, despite already being in the yellow zone of his energy meter, decided to push through with more boost power. The Blood Hawk thus took Jody by surprise as it blasted away from her, past Stewart and Chain, and already close to the jump that would take them to the restoration pads. It was painfully obvious to Jody by this that the Blood Hawk had a top-performance booster installed; the White Cat had a Rank C booster, like the Blue Falcon. It was hopeless catching Blood Falcon before the restoration pad.
Nonetheless, Jody boosted forward with a plan. Her machine shifted more into the track's center during the boost.
Michael Chain rammed into Stewart whilst chuckling, "Federation dogs should be in the ground!"
Chain was no Dark Million associate, spite for the Federation was of his own. To defeat one as famous as Dr. Stewart in F-Zero battle would bring a lot of prestige in the eyes of the common criminal. Part of Stewart's plan was to hold down the Wild Boar by pushing against it, disallowing any side or spin attacks. Since both machines were so similar in chassis, doing so had no repercussions—it was like bumper cars colliding.
"Uncivilized brute..!" Stewart growled.
"Stewart!" Jody shouted. "Side attack away, now!"
Without question, Stewart yanked his machine aside with a side attack, and at that same moment, Jody came boosting in to deliver a surprise side attack to the Wild Boar. Before Chain could gasp what was happening, the sharp frontal fin of the White Cat—plus the fat rear—delivered massive damage to Chain's flank. The gangster was left shouting and sent over the safety rail for an unquestionable retirement.
Stewart exhaled in relief, "Good move."
Jody nodded, "That's one burden out of the way, now we need to deal with another…"
Moments later, the racers would take off the track and descend into the restoration area. Of course, all racers tried to hit the restoration pad for a refund of energy. This was also the closest thing Jody could get to a break.
"Stewart, we need to catch Blood Falcon and do one of two things: Either knock that sucker out, or drag him closer to last place."
Then, just as the plan was coming back together, a complete change of pace occurred as the Black Bull came boosting through the restoration pad and ultimately around Jody and Stewart. In this instance, he seemed avoidant of combating the Federation officers, more interesting in regrouping with the imposter Falcon.
It was as Jody tried to collect what had happened that the Blue Falcon boosted up to pace with Stewart and Jody. At last, the three were together again in an arrow formation.
"Change of plan, Stewart. Follow the Captain and I in pursuit of those two, try and hold one of them against the other. Falcon or I will find a way to retire one or both."
Though he agreed, Stewart questioned, "Do you think Captain Falcon is aware of your plan?"
"He'll figure it out. Now, move!"
The White Cat, which was leading the trio, boosted down the center in hot pursuit. Stewart and Falcon followed suit at the perfect time. They were at long last back in sync with each other.
Blood Falcon, now riding alongside Black Shadow in 2nd, commented, "Here they come for Round Two."
The sight of the three did not frighten Black Shadow at all, "I do wonder who my next victim will be."
Regrettably, it would take the three one last round of boosting to catch the two, ultimately putting them in an inferior situation of energy. It was to no one's surprise in the coming seconds that both Dark Million racers would greet them with spin attacks. In response, Stewart and the Captain moved apart from Jody to prevent running into the spinning trap. Jody, however, was persistent and merely controlled her speed in face of the threat.
In no time, Stewart took on Black Shadow's side, while Captain Falcon took on Blood Falcon's. Jody, for the time being, reinforced their attack by sticking to their rears; this way she could hopefully block any backward retreating.
Finally, a familiar voice returned.
"Damn, you're putting Stewart up against Shadow?" asked Seppuku.
Stoic of the criticism, Stewart replied, "You do forget, Lieutenant, I'm one of the oldest racers and learned from one of the best. If Falcon can handle Black Shadow, I can do so just as well."
Stewart went far in showing this, too, as he rammed into Black Shadow and held him right against Blood Falcon. There was no way for Black Shadow to respond for the moment.
Jody narrowed her eyes whilst continuing to cover the rear, "And where were you?"
"Trying to get hammered on beer, also hoping to hammer a hot babe." Seppuku shook his head. "I failed on both fronts."
Stewart flipped his hair, "Always the card, Seppuku."
Just as things took a turn for the worst on the Dark Million front, both men decided to boost out of the jail of machines—the only way to retreat in such a circumstance. Of course, the coalition-three followed suit with the intent of forming the exact same situation for the two.
Seppuku was observing the situation thus far very closely, but also looked for any impending dangers. Zoda remained far behind, but there was one upcoming situation of note.
"Guys, Goroh's got momentum on his shoulders. I'd estimate he'll be with you in a minute."
This time, Jody took on Black Shadow while Stewart covered the rear. Captain Falcon was met with initial flak from Blood Falcon in the form of a weak side attack, which broke the perfect prison system they had put in place. Still, Stewart remained behind the group in hopes that it could be rebuilt.
A second attempt to side attack Captain Falcon was made, but this one was blocked by the Captain's spin attack. The result had Blood Falcon taking the most damage, but the Captain assuming some as well. Regardless, this second move completely reshaped the track and would make reconstructing the prison system impossible. Jody was the first to notice.
"Stewart, I want you to help Falcon take out the clone."
"What about you?"
Jody got a grip of her steering wheel, now putting her eyes on the Black Bull, "He's mine."
To this, Seppuku switched to the Jody channel and stomped in protest, "Stay away from Shadow, Jody, dammit! You don't have any quarrels with him."
This was offensive in its own, to Jody, "Black Shadow is evil, Lieutenant. You don't know him like I do. I've been investigating him since the moment his name surfaced."
"Leave him to Falcon… This is Falcon's war, not yours!" Seppuku argued. "Focus on the damn race, Summer!"
His suggestion went unappreciated, as Jody proceeded to line herself up against Black Shadow in person-to-person combat. Stewart and Captain Falcon, meanwhile, gave Blood Falcon a hard tussle. With the checkpoint leading to the final lap right up ahead, many would agree that this race was anything but a snoozer.
As a final remark to the second lap, Seppuku groaned whilst shaking his head, "If I were a racer, I'd never get involved with this; I'd just shoot for the gold every race…"
They all drove past the starting line with Buster still leading everyone. For the moments that preceded the point, things went rather unchanged. Buster led, Jody was taking on Black Shadow, and the Captain plus Stewart were ganging up on Blood Falcon. The main difference, however, was the emergence of Samurai Goroh to the front. There was little a chance of him intervening into a fight, but he'd feel practically obligated to attack a racer who's driving alone. With this said, Buster was likely his target.
Seppuku grit his teeth, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Summer." Jody found herself handling Black Shadow's many swipes and spins, but in fact found herself with a nervous face. "One landed blow to the side and you're done for. Black Shadow will have kicked your ass, inspired people to flock to his cause, and probably win the race all in one move."
"Thank you for your concern, Lieutenant..."
Blood Falcon went into this race with a very thick situation; odd was the fact that all race it was he who had to deal with being ganged up on, despite Black Shadow having the bigger machine. Two racers weren't much of a threat to someone of Blood Falcon's expertise, but in this instance, he was under pressure by two of the most elite racers in the game.
The clone spooked his opponents off with a spin attack, and right after, proceeded to boost away from the fight. Stewart and the Captain followed suit, but not only them; coincidentally, Samurai Goroh came boosting alongside them.
Goroh, while boosting, raised his brow to the sight of a Blue Falcon, "Oh, what's up, buddy..?"
For the seconds to follow, Goroh repositioned himself in a manner of pursuit, deciding suddenly to try and take Falcon down. The Captain received the Goroh threat with gritted teeth, but was certain that he could dissuade the pirate from turning this into a war.
As fast as he could, Captain Falcon grabbed back onto the Blood Hawk as though, ironically, to cling on for help. With Stewart jumping into the pile, Goroh was, indeed, turned away from jumping into the mess. He instead boosted a second time to assume 2nd place. Goroh was Buster's issue now.
With the restoration area only a few hairs away, a chain reaction of boosts occurred as instigated by Black Shadow. He boosted, then Jody, then Blood Falcon, and soon Falcon and Stewart. This, once again, broke up the combat positions everyone had and ultimately left everybody scattered.
Jody recognized this problem and thus issued the order, "Stewart, no change in plan. Once we gather more energy, get right back on Blood Falcon."
"And you?"
"As I said, no change in plan. I will continue my fight against Black Shadow." Both Seppuku and Stewart were left quiet as a response. "I can do this, trust me."
They made the final jump, landed in the restoration pad, and all drove together in a line. For a moment, a strange peace existed between the two factions, until during the restoration process Black Shadow decided to spin in front of Jody. The attack was fairly pointless, but did slow her down a bit.
"Bastard!" Jody complained.
Black Shadow, with a large grin, laughed and boosted out of the restoration pad, "I must say, the woman's pointless perseverance does come off amusing!"
Just then, the Emperor dropped his grin as life flashed before his eyes; a sudden blur of bright blue came flying in his direction. A grunt was all he could manage before a blazing Mighty Hurricane came flying right at his machine's cockpit tower.
In an absolutely absurd series of circumstances, Goroh had retired Roger Buster and sent him flying back, who proceeded to fly into the Black Bull's cockpit tower, and by extension, flip the machine backwards.
Everyone moved out of the way as the Black Bull fell over, but continued to rocket forward, regardless. With full energy and a well-conditioned machine, it was indeed humiliating to call this a retirement, but it was.
The F-Zero commentator stood up and shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen! The amazing horror of it all! Racer Goroh's attack on Roger Buster has led to a malfunction on Black Shadow's part, essentially eliminating him from the race as well!"
Black Shadow, upside down, looked everywhere for a way to flip his machine back up; there was no way. Even if there was a way, it would soon be regarded pointless as the twenty-some racers passed him. Unfair as it was, the Emperor's race was over.
"Incompetent humans!" he shouted with a fist down.
The racers were now on the move toward the finish line, and rightfully so, Blood Falcon was a bit panicked to find Jody, Stewart, and the Captain all giving him chase.
Seppuku put himself on the Blood Falcon channel and said, "Think we learned something about the Black Bull today."
"We're not out of the woods yet, Seppuku," Jody replied.
Blood Falcon's game plan changed drastically with his master retiring, this was no longer a situation where he could put up a fight, it wasn't a risk worth taking. He had to try and settle with 1st or 2nd while he still could.
In that final stretch, Blood Falcon exerted as much boost power as he saw applicable, his three opponents did the same with Dr. Stewart leading—due to his high-performance booster. After the third series of boosting, it became evident that neither Jody nor the Captain could catch the Blood Hawk, it was up to Stewart.
With the finish line so close and Blood Falcon left with an energy alarm going off, Stewart would likely only have enough time for two or three attacks—maybe not even, given that he may accidentally retire Blood Falcon past the finish line. One thing became certain: Samurai Goroh was to finish in 1st.
"Stewart, listen up." Seppuku put on a serious face, concentrating greatly on the Blood Hawk. "Two things need to happen here. You need to, first, scare him into a spin attack. After that, you gotta nail him with a side attack immediately; don't even let him stop spinning."
The doctor prepared his thumb for a side attack, "I'll take your gamble, Lieutenant."
Every second spent had Blood Falcon's chances of finishing in 2nd increasing; but there was no doubting there'd still be a brief fight with Stewart. Blood Falcon had to choose his response, also acknowledging that his opponent was low on energy as well. Blood Falcon either needed to survive, or take Stewart on in a one-shot duel.
As Stewart came right up to his rear, it was revealed that the clone would go with the former by performing a defensive spin attack. Stewart, with a sweat, quickly moved around the spin, waited two seconds, then blindly came rushing back in towards the Blood Hawk. The side attack was made, landed, but didn't quite go as hoped.
The premature side attack worked in taking out Blood Falcon, but with the spin still active, Stewart took a hit as well. Both men lost control of their machines in the final meters to the finish line; the silver lining was that Stewart continued to slide forward, while Blood Falcon was left hitting the safety rails. In the moments to pass, the race ended with Stewart managing to slide his dead machine through the finish line.
The crowd cheered on the conclusion of an exciting race. Captain Falcon was even thankful enough to cede his position to Jody, allowing her to finish before him.
In the end, it was Goroh in 1st, Stewart in 2nd, Jody in 3rd, Captain Falcon in 4th, Bio Rex in 5th, and Mighty Gazelle in 6th…
Soon enough, Jody, Clash, Stewart, and Captain Falcon all convened in her private booth to celebrate a great victory. It wasn't good that Samurai Goroh topped everyone with 1st place, but on the other hand, this race saw the retirement of Blood Falcon, Black Shadow, and Michael Chain; also, the high placing of Stewart, Jody, and Captain Falcon. Despite Goroh being in front, it was true enough that the real winner of this race was Lady Justice.
Jody raised a glass of beer to the Captain, "We may not have executed Blood Falcon or Black Shadow today, but we just swept their asses out the door in terms of F-Zero."
Falcon crossed his arms, "That imposter will be out looking for me, but I'm more worried that he'll show his face at your door."
To this, Stewart retorted, "All Federation political structures are armed to the teeth with resistance. The first layer of security is completely robotic—supplied by Aeropolis—and are built to destroy. We're in no danger."
"In that case, it'll be up to me to finish the fight this Blood Falcon started. Nonetheless, Blood Falcon's existence has made clear that we need to put special focus on-"
At that moment, Seppuku kicked open the restroom door in-sync with a flushing toilet. Taking two steps out, he turned his head to Falcon before holding out a paper.
"Here, Falcon."
No one knew what this paper of Seppuku's was, not even Jody. The Captain did, of course, approach the Man of Darkness to receive it. Avoiding any possible hand contact, Seppuku dropped the paper in the air, forcing Falcon to catch it.
"What is it?" he asked before examination.
"A property lease. Small place in the Upper City I found; small on the outside, suitably large down below." Seppuku sneered and pointed back to the door. "I already bought the place for you, you can handle future payments. Take it, and get the hell out of the HQ."
Jody walked forward while gawking, "Seppuku, that was nice of you…"
Seppuku rejected her passion, "I don't like birds crapping over my stuff is all."
The Captain, still reading the lease, nodded, "…interesting location you've given me. It's the opposite of hidden and will probably require me to put on a persona…"
The Man of Darkness turned and walked away, "Then you better get your story straight now, cause you're not coming home with us…"
Falcon watched the lieutenant take leave, and with what little respect he could possibly have for the man, returned an appreciative nod…
Black Shadow and Blood Falcon were left sitting in their own private booth, both had their hands to their cheeks in frustration as they waited for their downed machines to be taken off the track. Both men were alarmed by the sound of approaching footsteps, then annoyed by the face.
Zoda leaped in front of them with great enthusiasm, "Aw shucks! I got twenty-sixth! But, oh well! Maybe next time we'll get that pesky Falcon, eh!?"
The Emperor blinked a single time.
"You're fired."
