As Don Genie walks through his mansion, looking at all of his ill-gotten gains, and wondering what more he can acquire, his thoughts drift back to the deal that he made with McCloud. He wonders if James can actually pull through on any of the promises about getting him into the Grand Prix. He might have to make a contingency plan or two, just in case James screws up, and he has to take matters into his own hands. That's something you have to do a lot when you're a man in Genie's position.
Suddenly, Genie gets a call on his comm device from an unknown number. However, he already knows who it is. He's been expecting a call from this mystery person. "Black Shadow, what can I do for you today?", he says in a smug tone.
"Cut the banter, Genie. I need to know where Antonio is, you promised him back days ago, and I need him back. What's the holdup?", Shadow says, already sounding like he's fed up about something.
"Yeaaaaaaa, about that, Shadow…"
"Please don't do this to me right now. I need Guster back to lead my men against the GSF. They just took one of the production bases, and we, keyword: WE, need that base back to continue our plan."
"Oh, we do, do we? Well then, why don't you just get Samurai Goroh to lead them for you?"
"Wha… Goroh? I told you, Goroh got away in Mute City, I haven't managed to track him down yet."
"Oh really, Shadow?", Genie says as he tone gets higher and more crazed, as he can see right through Shadow's lies. "Because I did a little snoopin' around, and I found out something very peculiar. I've got a friend who sent me a picture of all the people you're looking for. Ten racers on that list, Shadow, and somehow, Samurai Goroh ain't one of them? You wanna try that one more time, and maybe this time, ya don't lie to my face?"
"Look, Don, I don't know what information you got, but I swear, I never got…"
Don just starts laughing maniacally as Shadow just keeps on digging and digging a hole for himself. "Oh Shadow, Shadow, Shadow. Why do I do this to myself? Why do I keep inviting people into my circles who're just as big of scumbags as I am? Honestly, it's probably my own fault", Genie says as he lets out a long sigh while shaking his head. "Here's what's gonna happen, big guy. Guster ain't coming back. Whatever thing you need to do to keep our plan moving along, you better figure it out. But don't worry, you're a smart fella. You'll come up with something. Let me know when you get our base back. And if you lie to me again… we're done."
The connection drops and Shadow is left stunned. He slams his fist down on the control panel of his ship in frustration, ready to put a hole in something. He gets back on the comm device, and calls up someone new. "I have a new assignment for you. Track down those damn racers. Details are being forwarded now. Bring them to me alive and kicking, though. Those fools are going to pay, and I'll take care of them myself." The figure he's talking to is obscured by shadows, but he simply nods, and disconnects the call. Shadow is left alone in his ship, furious at the universe and everyone in it.
"So, we've been trying to figure out where we might find a few of these people, and one of them… we're gonna need some help on", James says to Atchwa. "What do you know about the EAD? If Shadow's got Mr. EAD, surely those guys have an idea about where he is, right?"
Atchwa leans back in his office chair, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Not a whole lot. We had to investigate them one time for illegal weapon building, but it was like pulling teeth trying to find anything out about them, and we just sort of left them alone until we could find out more about them."
"Do you think you guys could do a little digging on them and see if you can pull anything up about them? The more information about them that we can gather, the better chance we have of finding him, and trust me, we're gonna want to find him, specifically, soon. From what I've heard, the guy's basically a super soldier, and would be really bad in his hands. It's basically him, Super Arrow, and Falcon who are 1-2-3 on our list of people to get quickly."
"Mmmmm, I'll put our best investigator on the job for that. We should be able to find out something that can help with that. Speaking of, I also talked to the F-Zero Grand Committee, and I was able to get the season postponed a little bit, but they've still got contracts they have to hold up to, and if they wait too long, they could lose their galati-vision contract, and that would be it for them. How quickly do you think you can rescue them all?
James just shakes his head and tries to do the math. "I'll be honest, for a lot of these people, we just have ideas about where they might be. Even if the season is pushed back by a month, I don't think we'll get them all by then. I do have something that could fill out the numbers a little bit, but I don't think you're gonna like it."
"Oh goodie, I love it when you start talking about stuff I won't like. What's the bad news?", Atchwa asks, ready for James to give him an aneurysm.
"While we were rescuing Guster, I did have to make a deal with Don Genie. I'm not necessarily proud of that, but it was a deal I had to make… Genie wants to race in next year's Grand Prix, and I promised I'd get him a spot in it", he says while wincing, waiting for Atchwa to drop the hammer on him. Instead, Atchwa smiles and fist pumps a little. "Well damn, I read that reaction wrong."
"We've been trying to get better tabs on Genie for a little while now. His planet has satellite jammers on it that make it impossible for us to send video back from his homeworld. But if he's out and about more, specifically to run in a Grand Prix, he won't be able to avoid surveillance, and we'll be able to track him more efficiently."
"I'll be honest, Judy was not happy with that news, especially with how the last bad guy they let in the series worked out so well for everyone. So I was expecting you to just lose it, but that does sound like a good plan, chief", he says as he breathes a sigh of relief.
"I mean, it is risky, I won't lie to you about that, but it might be our best chance to finally put him behind bars for good. We'll make it work", Atchwa says as he stands up from his desk. "That being said though, unless you have anything else for us, you might want to get moving. You're working on an expiring timer, and every second counts if you don't want the F-Zero to end on this kind of note. I'll keep in touch with you and Jody if any new information comes up."
"Thank you, sir", James says as he reaches out and shakes Atchwa's hand.
James is about to walk out the door, but Atchwa stops him. "One last thing, getting Genie into the series is a good idea, but you might want to consider some other people for the series as well. There may be a few more vacancies if you don't get absolutely everyone, so try to think of some new people who might want to join. People are understandably a bit nervous about wanting to join at the moment, but I think you guys might have some good connections for this sort of thing. That is all. Good luck."
As James heads back to the ship, he walks into the elevator, and on his way back up, Jody joins him on the elevator. "Well, James, I can't help but notice you aren't in shackles, guess you got off easy?"
"Oh yea, Atchwa gave me a month and a half of detention, and told me no video games until after all my chores are done", he says back with a smirk as Jody just rolled her eyes at him. "Honest answer though, they investigated, said I made the right call to avoid a chase we'd be outnumbered for, and he said I did nothing wrong."
"Whatever…", Jody says as she shakes her head in disgust. "I still know you shouldn't have done that, but I guess if Commander Atchwa isn't hung up on it, then I have no reason to be, I suppose."
"Hey, where's the Doc? I thought you led him inside?"
"Yeaaaaaa, there's been a little change of plans…", she says a little hesitantly. Before she can say anything, he gets a notification on his comm that says a deposit has been made in his account. However when he checks the amount, instead of seeing 100m credits, it reads 350m credits.
"What on Earth?", he says, wildly confused. However the door of the elevator opens at the loading bay level, both of the Doctors are there to meet them, Clash and Stewart. "Hey guys, what's going on? Jody just mentioned a change of plans."
"Well, James, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I can bring to the table on these kinds of missions, and I don't know if being in the field with you guys is necessarily the best use of my talents."
Dr. Stewart chimes in, "Dr. Clash and I did a little bit of talking about this Shadow Serum that the GSF recovered, and it's absolutely fascinating. This substance has incredible practical uses, and we might be able to learn a lot about it, including how to reverse its effects on people."
"But in order to do that", Clash adds, "I would need to stay here. I've offered to do just that and help these guys find a cure for the Shadow Serum, which should let you collect my bounty. I'll do my best to stay available to you guys if you need devices or weapons or anything else that I can provide."
James thinks about it, and is tempted to try and convince him to stay on board, but he knows that this is probably the best place for him to be to help everyone. He reaches out and offers Clash a hand shake, which Clash quickly accepts. Jody does the same, and even though he hesitates for a second, he shakes her hand as well.
"It's been a pleasure working with you, Doctor. Can't wait to race against you again soon", Jody says to him with a competitive smile.
"Yea, hopefully we'll all be back on the race track together very soon."
