F-Zero: Seppuku 3/3 - Lap 74

==Lap 74=

There were many discoveries made that night, but of all things, the biggest shocker was Megan's intention to rebel against the Federation. Having been cornered, Megan was at the mercy of Team Seppuku—who reluctantly let her off the hook for the night. Seppuku had just nearly been arrested along with Chiya and Earl, he didn't want to risk getting in trouble right away by mentioning how they broke into a restricted room.
Unfortunately, Megan's memo had been practically burned to ash, with only few paragraphs still visible. Even more unfortunate, Megan's burning of the office, as planned, completely fried every record. Since Earl and Seppuku had left the discovered folders on the desk, there wasn't a single file relevant to her betrayal left to read. Megan was practically off the hook.
Even with Megan likely to try and hunt them down and a Federation Civil War to possibly break out, the two lovers had their attention trained on the closer issue. The Grand Prix final.
To prepare for the final race, Chiya was doing exactly the opposite of what one should do. In bed with Earl, she continued to shovel down vanilla ice cream. Earl didn't object to this, but of course, even he feared that Chiya may be asking for a massive weight gain if she continued to pattern. Given the fact that she rarely ate ice cream at home, Earl was confident that a few days of this wouldn't hurt. The food she prepared at home normally covered the entire food pyramid, so exercise was truly the only component Chiya was missing.
As Chiya ate, the two watched late night F-Zero TV—which simply played random races from past Grand Prix. This one was of a classic Mute City race from F-Zero X, which included Black Shadow as a racer.
Chiya's eyes remained locked on the Black Bull every time the screen permitted, she felt almost honored to have witnessed the evil F-Zero machine in person, given that it was no longer a registered racing machine. But the machine on screen was different from the one she saw. The F-Zero X era Black Bull seemed just as regular as all the other machines and even had red painted spikes on each side. The machine she faced was nothing more than a block of pure steel—it was clear to just about everyone that Black Shadow had successfully made his machine impossible to beat. As to how Chiya would survive the final race in the event that he returns, she was unsure. In that scenario, she could only hope that the committee would have her back.
The camera focused on the Blood Hawk, which was very basic looking at the time. Chiya scratched her chin and hummed.
“I already forgot that there was a Blood Hawk, I feel like I've been racing the Hell Hawk all my life.”
Earl nodded, “The Hell Hawk is a terror, no doubt. But that combat module you have installed makes the Purring Kitten more powerful than ever.” He closed his eyes and smirked, “In all honesty, you have Blaskovitz to thank for much of your success. That Red Star combat module really got us out of a lot of pickles, even gave you the winning edge over Rose in that Vegas Palace race.”
Chiya's eyes slightly scrolled down to her waist, then a slight frown came upon her, “I felt humiliated and sad when Seppuku took me out, I can only imagine how humiliated Rose must've felt, having been defeated publicly by her arch nemesis...”
“And don't forget, Excalibur was present to add on to the humiliation.”
Even more, Chiya's eyelids lowered. She couldn't help but feel remorseful for the woman now inside her body, but deep inside, Chiya knew that everything had happened for a reason. Rose was dead, but only physically. Her soul now flowed within Chiya's blood, and now Rose could be a Grand Prix winner with Chiya.
“You're just gonna have to come in with your A-game on. I have no idea what to expect on the track, and I don't know where we'd find Bart. Seppuku planned out what we'll be facing, but his information is probably a bit outdated.”
Chiya sighed and nodded, “I'm keeping my neck covered, I know Blood Falcon's going to present some kind of obstacle for me. But with no allies, and no trust from his fellow racers, what could he possibly pull off on me..?”
Earl gave her a strong nod, “That's a good mentality to have, but worry about the race—not Blood Falcon. It's the job of your allies to keep you safe. Your failure is their failure, but mostly their failure for denying one such as yourself a well deserved title.”
While Earl spoke on this matter, Chiya had walked into the kitchen and put away her ice cream. She approached the window rather than returning to bed and gazed upon the crescent moon. Her fingertips were placed against the window as a thought finally came to mind.
“But here's the biggest question. The topic we should really be fretting over...” Earl switched off the television and raised an eyebrow. “That Blood Falcon we killed aboard the ship...” Earl's eyes widened, having completely dismissed this for many days. “What was he? Are there more?”
“I don't wanna think about that right now, Chiya. Let's just focus on us for now...”
She scraped her toenails against the floor and slightly glared at Earl, “Do you not fear that our efforts of cutting Black Shadow's chain of command may be in vain? Has he simply replaced Rose, Skull, and Blaskovitz with replicas of Blood Falcon?”
“I don't know,” he responded in frustration. “All I do know, is that we tore him to shreds before he could even touch us.”
Chiya remained standing with a serious expression, then nodded, “Maybe you're right, maybe there is nothing to fear.”
Earl closed his eyes and got under the blanket, “We have Black Shadow's address, it's only a matter of time before we just launch thousands of nuclear missiles into that sector of space.”
“He has the abort codes, Earl!”
The Korean grasped his pillow tightly, “Enough! There's no room for Dark Million fear right now, we have a huge race to win. Fearing about Dark Million will only cloud your vision. Have faith that the Federation will tend to the matter.” Chiya got into bed with him, but continued to stare at his face, “We were caught off guard last time. If Black Shadow hadn't disabled our naval force that was over Green Plant, the battleships would've blown him to pieces. If anything, we spared him last time.”
“Very well, I'll stop worrying about him.”
Earl grabbed onto her hand without opening an eye, then smirked. “Just worry yourself about how we'll spend the prize money once we've won.”
Chiya beamed at him, then fell onto her back excitedly. That's such a good question, though. What will I buy..? No matter what, though. Chiya knew that many of her purchases would go towards starting a life with Earl outside of the base. One billion credits could buy them a lot, and if they were smart, they'd invest in something that would bring them revenue, which would in turn earn them even more that one billion credits.


The following day initially presented no problems to Seppuku. Near the river across from Buckingham, Seppuku sat alone at a very small table with Jody. An umbrella covered their heads whilst they discussed, and not a single soul stood present around them. They had picked an excellent location for such a serious discussion. Jody was impatiently tapping her finger down.
“What were you doing at Megan's annual party, and how was that fire started?”
He chuckled, “Oh, come on. You know I bring the flame to every party!” Jody's eyes slowly narrowed in anger, thus causing Seppuku to retract his humorous persona. He crossed his fingers together and shrugged. “I didn't start it, Megan did.”
“I suppose I understand why Megan would attempt such a thing, but to burn down such a historical office?” Jody struck her fist down with a glare, “Very ancient documents and paintings were lost with that office! Just what the Hell really happened?”
With a nod, Seppuku dug into his coat pocket and pulled out what was left of the memo. Jody raised an eyebrow, especially after spotting the burnt trims of the paper. The memo that was once white had turned golden from the intense flames, but remained partly intact. Reluctantly, Seppuku presented the paper to her.
“I admit to making a mistake. If I were thinking straight, I would have just given the memo to Bendek while he escaped through the air vent. Unfortunately, I held onto it after he left.”
Jody looked down at the paper and lowered her eyebrows as she began her inspection of the paper. The body of the memo merely displayed the bits about Megan's negative opinion of the current Federation leadership. This, however, was enough to make Jody raised her eyebrows. She tried her hardest to read the final line of slightly visible text, but the black ink was camouflaged into the charred end of the paper.
“Lieutenant, what is this?”
The man smirked, “Simply put, Megan has lost all confidence that the Federation is in good hands. She believes you are an incompetent leader and will only pressure her out of office.”
“Half correct.”
With an even more sly smirk, Seppuku scratched his throat, “So----o, to resolve this issue, Megan threw some credits around certain individuals-”
“Bribes? To who?”
“As I recall, the leadership of Sand Ocean, Devil's Forest, Big Foot, and the Empyrean Colony.”
Jody appeared disgruntled by the mentioning of the Empyrean Colony. This was widely agreed by all Federation officials—including Megan—to be the best solution for overpopulation. A space colony with the sole intention of providing a home to a major proportion of the universe's population. Jody, at many times, had recommended trying to form a new colony for the Lower City bums to be deported to.
“What, Lieutenant, does Megan want with them?”
“Is it not obvious? That closet fascist has formed a secret umbrella of treason, one that seeks to usurp your position as future commander.”
The woman's eyes widened, “A rebellion?”
“She called it, the 'Galactic Space Confederation'. A small alliance of planets with the ambition of gaining independence, then eventually full control of the universe.”
Jody's pupils had dilated for a moment, “A civil war? Is she mad!? Black Shadow would capitalize off of that in an instant!”
“Correct. Megan doesn't give a rat's ass about 'what ifs', she simply wants action now.”
“She failed to gain the interest of the Federation! I was chosen, not her. If she can't gain power the elective way, she probably shouldn't be in power at all.”
“Inside of that office were several maps showing the military installations of each rebel planet. Upon declaring war, these installations will likely be captured and used against us.”
Three white doves flew past their table and proceeded over the glimmering river of Bianca. The harmonic setting did not orchestrate with Jody very well, however. Full of rage, she struck her fists down against the table.
“Then we need to arrest her!”
Seppuku snapped his fingers, “You could do that, but you risk jump starting the civil war. Do keep in mind, the planetary leaders are the real looming threats.”
“Th- then we must arrest the-” Jody lowered her eyelids and growled in frustration, “But we can't arrest them without proper reasoning...”
“We could pull on a full investigation, but unfortunately, that would most likely jump start the civil war.”
Jody rubbed her thumbs together frantically, “And if we wait too long, Megan will proceed on with her plan for civil war...”
Seppuku sighed and shrugged, “Yep, we're screwed. Unless we obtain solid proof of Megan's treason and involvement with the other traitors, there's nothing that can be done.”
Jody leaned forth and sighed heavily, then closed her eyes angrily. “I'll just have to bring this matter up with the Commander, but one as sick as himself...” her eyes slightly opened, “I'm not sure if his orders would solve anything.”
“That is if he'd even listen in the first place. The only evidence we have of Megan's treason is what's left of that paper, and my word of mouth—which is the weakest possible claim.”
“Son of a- you're right, Megan's practically untouchable...”
Seppuku looked up at the Elizabeth Tower, then tilted his head with a twisted grin, “But how about I cut you a deal?” Jody turned her attention up at him, “You go out looking for Megan's successor, and I'll see to it that Megan accidentally falls from her balcony one night...”
Jody gasped loudly, “Se-”
“Or, if you prefer the classic way. I could just snipe her. It'd be a straight on headshot, I never miss my target...”
“You realize I could arrest you right now for saying that..?”
“All you'd have to do is blame the assassination on Black Shadow. By doing so, we both lose a rival and turn the populace against a common enemy.”
Jody grit her teeth, “An inside job?”
“You make it sound so bad, Summer. We're talking about preventing a civil war from occurring.”
Silence ensued, Jody was left wondering about just how moralistic this suggestion could truly be. But ultimately, she shook negatively and gave her rough companion a glare.
“We will dispose of Megan in a non-lethal way. This is the Federation way of getting things done, and pacifism will prevail in the end.”
With a smirk, Seppuku shrugged and sat back in his chair, “I guess. I'm just saying, could end this all now with the pull of a trigger.”
Jody further narrowed her eyes at him, then shook negatively, “Just focus on protecting Chiya tomorrow. I have a bad feeling about Blood Falcon...”
“You and everyone else. Perhaps Black Shadow will make a fun return for such an important race.”
“If that's what it comes to, we're going to be in quite the mess...”
The two both finally looked up at the massive race track that blanketed much of the city. Seppuku was conveying a look of curiosity, while Jody appeared overly nervous.
“Another Blood Falcon victory cannot occur. Chiya has got to win this...” she concluded.



Once again, Earl found himself once again weightlifting beside Chiya, who was lying on the bed in everything but her stock hat. And again, she remained seated eating ice cream. Of course, the only thing she found slightly more interesting than F-Zero TV, was Earl's bulging biceps. The Mysterian could and would never be able to control herself. She simply loved the package that muscular men brought, but not the Michael Chain package. Earl was the perfect example, though, she was still secretly a bit more turned on by Captain Falcon's body. She could only imagine the most magnificent looking man underneath the helmet.
With a squirmy mouth, Chiya placed a spoon of ice cream in her mouth and let out a disturbingly high pitched giggle, “Y- you know, this ice cream is almost as savory as those popping muscles..!”
Without looking back at her, he grinned and brought one of the dumbbells back up to his chest, “I don't like to bra---ag, bu---ut, I think a fight between Seppuku and I would be pretty explosive.”
“No, a fight between you and Captain Falcon would,” Earl turned his head and smirked, the woman put on a dazed look and exhaled, “You and Captain Falcon, fighting shirtless, in a flower field, maybe you kiss a little...”
Earl's eyes had suddenly flashed open, but Chiya was quick to change the subject.
“I wonder why Blood Falcon hasn't been at Captain Falcon's neck lately.”
“Probably because we've been the closer threat. I'd like to think that Captain Falcon is searching for Black Shadow as well, but clearly, he's not finding as much success.”
Chiya turned her head to the television again, then lowered her eyelids with only the slightest of a smile, “You know, I'm actually kind of scared...”
“Of Dark Million?”
“Of tomorrow's race. I have one rival, even Guster and Fat Sammy are on my side. It sounds easy, but too easy to possibly be true...” Earl nodded understandingly. “As long as I finish the race at least in fifteenth place with Blood Falcon still behind me in the end, I win, it sounds so simple; but it can't be. And that's why I'm scared. I just don't know what to expect from Black Shadow's favorite puppet...”
“Do you feel ready?”
Chiya frowned, then dipped her head down, “I should have been training more...”
“It's not your fault, there's hardly anywhere to train in this big city. It's not like we can just whip around the place at maximum speed. And driving out in the country is pretty much pointless if there's no turns involved.”
“Yeah, I suppose you're right...” she muttered before turning her attention to the television.
F-Zero TV was in the middle of a report, Chiya's eyes had caught a small Blood Falcon icon in the corner, signifying that a report on Blood Falcon was upcoming.
“- to conclude the week, Pico can race happily knowing that his movement has finally banned the hunting of sea turtles on Big Blue.”
Chiya leaned forth with her eyebrows lowered, Earl gave his attention to the screen as well while continuing to lift.
The blonde reporter put her hands together with a serious expression, “Blood Falcon made a surprise appearance today near Bianca's F-Zero TV station. We interviewed the man before the police could arrive. His comments, well, mostly aggressive ones aimed at Chiya Flower.”
Chiya grunted softly and leaned in even more. The screen switched over to a recording of the tall darkly clothed clone, standing before a microphone. This was very strange to see, given that Blood Falcon was willingly standing before human beings with no intention of harming them.
“So you're looking to retain your title tomorrow?”
A simple nod was given, “That's right.”
“And you realize, you have to place higher than Chiya Flower in order to do so?”
Blood Falcon smirked and snapped his fingers, “Didn't even cross my mind, I'm much more concerned about Captain Falcon.”
The reporter grunted, “C- Captain Falcon? But he's not only behind you and Chiya, but Lieutenant Seppuku as well.”
Very hostilely, Blood Falcon swiped the second microphone away and brought it up to his face, “Neither of those two amateurs have a chance. Lieutenant Seppuku will fall once more, and Chiya Flower will be humiliated by my hands.”
Chiya's jaw slightly dropped in great offense, Earl saw this and reached for the remote control—but Chiya pushed it away from Earl. She wanted to hear the whole interview.
“Um, well, Chiya Flower has shown amazing results this year. Don't you fear that she may give you a run for your money, given her track record?”
Blood Falcon barred his sharp teeth, “Chiya Flower is nothing. She's just a dumb female who understands the difference between the brakes and accelerator. Dark Rose was no different. The universe claims Chiya to be some kind of miracle racer, some idiots, even claim that she is the reincarnation of Professor Kevin Stewart. Ridiculous, and if she is foolish enough to show up tomorrow, I will-”
“Wait, but how do you explain her track record? She has won a few races now and was nearly awarded the Best Rookie title trophy last year.”
The clone growled, “Flower is nothing more than the common damsel. She is kindhearted, so those gullible enough will protect her. She was given those races because of her charm, nothing more. She's a terrible racer if it weren't for those intrusive allies.”
“You really believe she's a terrible racer?”
“Terrible racer, terrible person. She is undeserving of the final victory, and will merely be put in her place once and for all by the true Falcon.”
Chiya cracked her knuckles and furiously bit down on her lip, the reporter cleared her throat, “Do you have any special plans on how you'll remove the threat?”
He chuckled, “My machine is far superior to the Blue Falcon at this point. There-”
“I mean, Chiya Flower. How will you ensure that she doesn't win?”
Blood Falcon nodded, “She is no threat. Expect her to crash and burn at the second lap, if not, she will definitely fall to my power on the final lap. But believe me when I say...” the camera zoomed in on his face, “That little girl won't come close to crossing that finish line...”
The interview switched back to the reporter at the station, who had been asking the questions before. She nodded at the camera, and despite the fact that F-Zero TV officials were to be unbiased, she appeared somewhat nervous. It was very evident that the reporter was opposed to Blood Falcon beating Chiya.
“Strong words, but he sure sounds confident. Were those words true? Does he honestly think that Captain Falcon has a better chance at winning than Chiya Flower or Lieutenant Seppuku?” The reporter blinked, then gave the camera a very steady stare. “Truly, many would agree that Chiya Flower falling to Blood Falcon would be the perfect crushing end to what very well could have been a story to be discussed in the F-Zero community for centuries...”
Chiya swallowed with an unbreakable stare, mostly filled to the brim with frustration. Her eyes remained locked onto the displayed photo of Blood Falcon, as if he had been her arch nemesis for years. Blood Falcon spoke words that she knew to be untrue. She did have many allies, but for the two years that she had now been racing, she indeed had many obstacles. She fought Brock Blaskovitz, Blood Falcon, Dark Rose, and the many racers who Blood Falcon had bribed onto his side in the final race. Against all of these odds, Chiya had never been retired from a race—aside from he own ally. Chiya knew that she was a good racer, and she also believed it to be true that this would be the hardest race of her life. But regardless, Blood Falcon's interview had failed to do what he likely intended for it to do. Break Chiya's morale.
While Earl continued to stare at her, waiting for a sorrow filled reaction; Chiya did something much stranger—but amusing. She reached for the brim of her turtle neck shirt and threw it off. Now in only her socks, panties, purple shorts, and a bra, Chiya stood up.
“Chi'?”
The woman took a heavy breath in, now having left behind the bucket of ice cream. The purring kitten had within an instant, unleashed the roaring lion within.
The next thing Earl knew, both of his dumbbells had been stripped away from him. Chiya sat down next to him and proceeded to mimic what he had been doing. Though very hard for someone as weak and nimble as her, Chiya managed to lift and push both dumbbells up to her breasts constantly.
“Chiya...”
“He's not going to beat me. I may not be as muscular or tall as him, but I won't give up. I won't let him humiliate me.”
Earl raised an eyebrow, wondering what this had to do with the sudden weightlifting. It was within a few more moments that Earl had been enlightened of the answer. The look in Chiya's eye was unmistakable. Rather than pigging out on ice cream and crossing her fingers for a victory, she wanted to practice not her strength—but her willingness to keep moving.
And he was right.
After about ten pulls, Chiya let out a pant and barred her teeth down, then brought the weights back down to her waist.
“Blood Falcon can boast all he wants. He is a muscular man, he's a good racer, but he's also a bloody cheater...”
Earl nodded, “He is.”
She resumed lifting the dumbbells, now with a very weak posture. “He's exploited the F-Zero rule book for long. He wouldn't even be close to beating me if it weren't for his cheating. Well, let him cheat. I'll work for my victory, and once that's achieved, he'll face more humiliation than I ever could. For a cheater of his skill to lose the Grand Prix against me will be pathetic...”
“And the weightlifting?”
She pulled the weights up to her chest and grunted loudly, she did so with every pull, “I'm going to exercise my mind, and prove that I can push the limit!”
Earl watched closely as Chiya struggled to lift both dumbbells, then, with a determined face, he nodded.
“And so we train...”



Chiya found herself running on the treadmill at a moderate speed. Earl stood beside her with a bottle of water within his grasp. For every two steps she took, a loud pant was released. For someone like Chiya, exercising was never easy. She was a teenager who had been accepted into varsity soccer through exercise and vomiting—the exercising often inducing unintentional vomiting. While she was still a fit woman, she retained the heart of an overweight teen.
Earl handed Chiya the bottle of water, she immediately chugged down a major portion of it and handed it back to him. Afterwards, Earl rushed for the kitchen to refill the bottle. Chiya dipped her had down with a very exhausted look, but the thought of Blood Falcon's gloating kept her moving.
Her lover returned with the water, which was stolen out of his hand again. Just like that, Chiya drank the bottle once more. He was given it back, then once again, ran for the kitchen.
Chiya glanced down at the treadmill screen, which displayed her heart rate and progress. Her goal was to run one the equivalent of one mile, but simply couldn't find the power within to go the extra quarter. Just as Earl had returned, Chiya had hopped off. Earl raised an eyebrow and was given a disappointed shrug.
Next, Chiya and Earl were standing beside each other, both swinging single dumbbells through the air. They were doing the same moves in unison, but Chiya was lagging behind Earl. After completing the swinging exercise, they began to perform a more simple lifting exercise. Earl did so without a problem, but Chiya was greatly struggling to keep her balance. She could feel the sweat building up on her face, and it was bothering her.
“Switch hands,” Earl issued sternly.
Upon issuing the order, both switched to lifting with their left hands. They returned to doing the swinging exercise afterwards. Earl nodded at her while swinging, realizing how exhausted Chiya was becoming in contrast to himself. Chiya barred her teeth down and narrowed her eyebrows.
After several moments of doing this, they returned to lifting the weights. Chiya barred her teeth down more tightly, but upon pulling the weight up the third time, she exhaled and dropped the dumbbell. She collapsed onto the bed panting, Earl looked down at her and momentarily dropped his as well. And after wiping the sweat off his hands, handed her the water bottle.
About five minutes later, the two were lying on the ground doing sit-ups. Both had their hands over their shoulders and their knees up in the air. Earl shouted, “Up!”
Chiya performed another sit-up, “Twelve!”
She remained up for about two seconds, then back down to the floor. Earl wiped his fingers, then again shouted, “Up!”
“Th- thirteen!”
This pattern resumed at the same pace, but was all the same very difficult for Chiya.
“Up!”
She lifted herself up with tightly closed eyes and barred her teeth, “Th- this isn't fair. I have such heavy boobs!”
“Fourteen,” he answered for her.
Finally, the two had entered the stage of push-ups. Earl and Chiya both had their hands planted firmly on the floor with the tip of their toes pushing down with great force. Even Earl was struggling with this one.
“D- down..!” he mumbled.
Earl swiftly slammed his chest against the floor, but Chiya did so very slowly. The very tip of her breasts touched the ground, and after pressing them down like a pillow, raised herself up while trembling. Despite it, technically, being winter; Chiya could feel herself melting like a candle. A candle that was nearly out of wax.
“E- eight.”
“Down!”
She came down again, this time followed by a disgruntled pant. Earl swallowed down the struggle, then lifted himself back up. Chiya did so with a very dazed look. Of course, one of the important things to keep track of is whether one can handle such amount of work and stay conscious.
“Ni- -ne”
“Down!”
Chiya pressed her breasts down again, but this time had her whole body come crashing down. She landed on her chin and blew out a heavy exhale, having surrendered for now. Earl stopped doing push-ups as well and handed her the bottle of water.
She uncorked the cap with lowered eyebrows, then narrowed her eyes at the thought of Blood Falcon.


Blood Falcon stood by his new machine, currently wired up to various computers. He placed three of his fingers over a purple glowing screen, which was displaying the condition of the special combat module—which allowed him to use the special hurricane attack.
The regular side and spin attacks were at optimal condition, as was the hurricane blast. But he was certain to do whatever he could to win. He converted the energy that would be used for regular side and spin attacks, and instead, maximized the power levels of the hurricane blast. This would ensure that anything he hits with the blast would take even more of a hit than usual.
He did so with little shame for what was essentially considered cheating.


Again, Chiya found herself running on the treadmill. After having taken a break to hydrate, she got right back to exercising. Earl was watching her from the kitchen while filling up the bottle of water. Her gleeful look was all but present, she appeared much more determined than ever to succeed.
The woman was pushing her arms back and forth while running, and just as Earl had approached her, she finally began to pant. Earl looked over her shoulder and briefly widened his eyes, realizing that she had already long passed her last record of ¾ of a mile. He lowered his eyebrows nervously and looked up at her. She was panting heavily, and of course, Earl had to fear whether Chiya was overdoing her training. There was no common standard for all people; but there was a specific standard for all people. For one who rarely exercised, Earl was unsure of what Chiya's standard was.
She handed the bottle back to him and resumed panting, and despite the blazing feel coming from within her chest, Chiya continued on with running. Earl quickly began to fill up the bottle, understanding that Chiya would need him to pick up the pace if she were to reach the mile goal.
He ran back to her, had the water swiped, then placed back into his hand all within ten seconds. Chiya narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, practically snarling at this point. She held onto each handle with all her strength and gut it out for the remaining segment of the run.
“Come on, Chi', you're almost there!”
Chiya's panting intensified as she anxiously waited for the treadmill to give her a positive number. The numbers increased slowly, but after much work, finally passed over 1.00 in distance. Chiya closed her eyes and exhaled, and to Earl's surprise, continued to run. He was conflicted on whether to stop her here, but decided to get her more water. Before he could reach the sink, though, Chiya had stopped at 1.12.
He spun around to face her, she in turn, looked at him and swallowed with a heavy pant.
Not much later, the two returned to the weightlifting. Chiya was much more red looking now, as was Earl, but retained the much needed confidence to push onward. She swung, lifted, then swung again within certain time frames. Earl gave her another nervous look and licked his lips.
Chiya barred her teeth down and exhaled, “This is the year of the Flower...” she muttered after switching hands for the fourth time.
“Up!”
Chiya, with a very struggling expression, brought herself up, “Twenty!”
He smirked at her and exhaled in mutual exhaustion, “Up!”
“Twenty-one!”
“Down!”
Chiya pushed herself down with a blazing red face, “Ten!”
Earl pushed his fingertips down roughly and grit his teeth, “Down!”
“Eleven!”
“Down!”
“Twelve!”
After licking his lips, Earl's arms began to wiggle, “D- d- down!”
“Th- thirteen..!”
Earl let out an intense pant, then closed his eyes, “D-” and with only a letter out, he collapsed onto the floor and grunted.
Chiya performed the push-up, but stopped after finding that her coach had fallen.


Blood Falcon opened up three large tubes below the rockets of the Bahamut. With little of a struggle, he placed a large capsule-like object inside of each one. Another last minute addition to his F-Zero machine that no other racer possessed. Just like with the energy converter, he shed no remorse for cheating.


For the third time, Chiya found herself swinging her arms. This time, she did so without a dumbbell. Meanwhile, Earl found himself lying on the bed simply trying to hydrate himself back to full condition. Chiya's arms swung left and right constantly, which was proving to be an almost relaxing exercise routine. She did this while occasionally moving her legs back and forth. Earl raised his head up and gave her an amazed stare. She wouldn't stop, like a machine. And even after swinging her empty hands for so many minutes, she soon found herself doing so with weights again. Earl swallowed and shook negatively at her.
How can this be? Is this why Mysterian females are chosen to be soldiers rather than men? Because they're physically superior..?
“Up!”
Chiya did so with barred teeth, “Twenty-eight!”
He licked his lips and landed down, then back up, “Up!”
“Twenty-nine!”
“Up!”
“...thirty...” she muttered in exhaustion.
“Down!”
“Twelve!”
“Down!”
“Thirteen!”
Earl turned his head and smirked, “Are we done yet?”
“Down!”
He widened his eyes, then did as ordered, “Uh, fourteen...”



Finally, Blood Falcon hooked up a special controller to his machine—a controller he had put together before leaving Black Shadow's ship so long ago. He smirked at the controller and pressed down on the power button, which momentarily brought up a secret map of the Bianca track, which displayed where each boost, restoration, traction, and jump pad was located. But this wasn't what the controller was used for. The controller was designed for something much more devious.
He looked into the mirror of his machine and smirked proudly.



Chiya and Earl, rather than running on the treadmill, were later running outside on the streets. Chiya was still without her shirt, but made sure to keep her bra on extra tightly. The two were simply jogging around the city.
Of the two, neither appeared willing to break down in exhaustion. Chiya was running just as she would while on the treadmill, but appeared much more relaxed.
While running, many heads were turned. Almost everyone recognized this woman as Chiya Flower. To the surprise of both Chiya and Earl, a few citizens had stopped what they were doing, then decided to pursue her. Some wanted autographs, while others wanted to run with her.
Neither of the two stopped, however, they continued to run. Soon, the once small pursuing crowd had increased in numbers. The larger the crowd became, the more magnetic it was to other pedestrians. The support of her fans only pushed Chiya to exert more power.
Chiya was soon running with a fairly sized crowd wide enough to disrupt the flow of traffic. While continuing forward, Chiya and Earl exchanged glances. Both grinned at one another, then continued on with the exercise.


Jody and Seppuku had at long last stepped out of the scenic area where they had been discussing Megan. But oddly enough, both seemed fairly concentrated on the final race. Ensuring that Chiya won was crucial, as another Blood Falcon victory could further raise respect or fear for Dark Million.
As they stood by the door, though, their concentration had been disrupted by the sound of an approaching crowd. They turned their heads, and both grunted in surprise.
Chiya, Earl, and the pursuing supporters had passed the two. Both Jody and Seppuku backed up against the door to let the runners through.
“What are those two doing!?” Jody panicked.
Seppuku turned his head with a retained look of shock, but after closer inspection, grinned at the slight view of Chiya's green stock hat. He nodded respectfully and took a bow.
“Thata girl...”


Finally, Chiya and Earl reached the park that they had been to the previous day. Much of the crowd followed her straight to the park, but the elderly runners were forced to stop as she ran straight up the most escalated hill in the park—where a single pine tree stood tall. Earl stuck with her to the very end, despite the exhaustion of both. Then, after having reached the top, Chiya came to a stop and fired her fists up into the air.
“Chiya..!” Earl called out after reaching the top.
She didn't respond to him, as she was too caught up with the moment. But in all actuality, all Earl wanted to do was congratulate her. He smiled at her, regardless of the absent response. While panting, Chiya looked up toward the sky and clenched her fists.
“I'll never give up! I'll keep trying, keep fighting, and I'll keep winning!” she stretched her arms up high into the air and widened her eyes, “I am Chiya Flower—legend of the Flower name!”


To be continued...