Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers

by Lucar

Chapter 93: Big Blue

Sweetie Void wasn't the only one deciding to remain behind. The Death Quatuor (Apple Death, Sweetie Ghoul, Scootabot, and Little Ghost) also decided to not go back to their Equestria right away, having no need to sleep and all. Of course, they warned their families that they were going to spend the night in this new universe.

How to leave the track depended of the pilot the same way it depended of the pilots to enter it. They could either use their own ship or use an F-Zero transport ship to transport them and their machine back to Mute City, the city below. However, the track didn't have something like a ship park so the ships had to land wherever they could, on the track itself or on the roof of the building surrounding the starting/finishing line. But the roof was mostly for the transport ships for the public because there was no way for a machine to reach it.

As such, the fillies, flying on a magic platform that Sweetie Void materialized, followed Captain Falcon on the track as he was driving to an area that wasn't too obstructed by the floating buildings surrounding it that seemed to serve as decoration. Once reaching such an area, Captain Falcon used a control panel to call his own ship which arrived not long later.

The Falcon Flyer was a small star cruiser the size of a large truck, designed after a falcon. Its head and back were golden with two green windows serving as the eyes, the wings and tail were dark blue with a red band with a yellow arrow on the wings, and had a metallic grey belly.

A hatch in the belly opened and a ramp came out, allowing the Blue Falcon to enter it followed by the fillies. Once inside, a robot greeted them.

"Welcome back Captain. That was a good race. I heard that the next one is on Big Blue. Shall I fly us directly to there?"

Captain Falcon jumped out of the Blue Falcon's cockpit. "Yes. And start the reparation process on the Blue Falcon."

"Of course. Right away." The robot passed the room that led to the cockpit. A few seconds later, mechanical arms coming from the walls with various tools began to work on the Blue Falcon.

Captain Falcon then looked at the fillies who had now landed on the floor beside the vehicle. "There is not much to do now beside waiting. We won't reach Big Blue before a few hours."

"Alright," Sweetie Void said.

Scootabot looked horrified. "What? There is really nothing else to do? But it will be boring just waiting! How do you do, Captain?"

Captain Falcon shrugged. "I rest on the cockpit chair, or work on the Blue Falcon, or look at the wanted posters over there and think of who will be my next target and how I will proceed to find them and deal with them."

"Right. Ya're a bounty hunter," Apple Death remembered.

Sweetie Void got a fond smile. "You know, Captain, you are not the first bounty hunter I meet. In another universe, I teamed up with a woman named Samus who was also a bounty hunter, and together, we fought Space Pirates and saved several planets. I wonder how she is doing."

"Seems like a nice lady that I would like to meet," Captain Falcon said with a chuckle before he walked toward the cockpit. "Do whatever you want as long as you don't break anything. If you need me, I will be in the cockpit, resting."

Scootabot groaned. "So, what do we do, girls? If I had known, I would have brought a board game." She saw the robot from earlier come out of the door to the cockpit. "Hey, Mr. Robot! Is there anything in this ship to avoid getting bored?"

"I'm sorry, little bot, but we have nothing that can help. Maybe exploring?"

"There isn't much ta explore. That ship isn't big," Apple Death said.

"Wow! Look at some of these wanted posters!" they suddenly heard Sweetie Void exclaim. Everyone turned to look at her as she stared at the wanted posters that were on a board on a wall, above a desk. "Iron Pincer... Twenty thousand space credits. Oh! Here's Zoba! One million! Wow! Mork Alar... Thirty five thousand. Big Tom... Ten thousand. Scarface, two hundred thirty five thousand. Darn, he looks scary. Aaand here we have Black Shad..." Her jaw dropped. "Holy mother of Void!"

"What?! What's the reward?!" Sweetie Ghoul asked.

Little Ghost moved above Sweetie Void's shoulder to look at the poster, and her jaw dropped too. "T-t-ten b-billion credits!?!"

"Black Shadow is the biggest threat of the Galactic Federation," the robot informed. "He spreads death and destruction everywhere just for his sadistic pleasure. Many went after him, but all failed and most were never seen again... at least alive. The Captain, however, was able to capture and eliminate many members of his group, the BS Group, and stopped many of his plans. And yet, they still seem as powerful as ever, and their threat only grows as the years pass. It doesn't help that Black Shadow has managed to clone the Captain. More than once, the Captain has been accused of crimes because of him. Thankfully, each time, he was able to clear the mistake."

"... Yep. Definitively dealing with him as soon as I have the occasion," Sweetie Void said.

"And yet, what Phoenix said about Deathborn makes Black Shadow look like a simple thug in comparison," Apple Death said.

Phoenix told the filly everything he knew about Deathborn. Where Black Shadow was a threat to the Federation, Deathborn was a threat to the whole universe and had the power to back it up despite being a lone wolf contrary to Black Shadow. He also caused many tragedies all over the timeline despite the Time Patrol's best efforts to stop him. That he somehow managed to come back from death more than once didn't help.

He may not be as powerful as some baddies Sweetie fought even back when she had just been an unicorn, certainly nothing compared to Void, but it was clear that the guy was just as dangerous.

The fillies spent some time looking at the many wanted posters. There were easily dozens of them on the board and even more in several piles on the desk and also inside a drawer. Probably the ones on the board were the ones that Captain Falcon had his attention currently focused on, with Black Shadow right in the center and Blood Falcon (reward: fifty millions) just beside.

However, the posters didn't keep them entertained for long so, after placing them back in their places, Sweetie Void materialized a deck of cards, much to the others' - especially Scootabot - joy. They then played card games together for the following hours under the watchful eye of Captain Falcon's robot.

---

As Captain Falcon said, they arrived on Big Blue in just a few hours. Unlike Aqua, Big Blue was very industrialised despite its surface being entirely covered in water without counting the few rocks that protruded out of it here and there. There were many buildings pocking out of the water, mostly hotels and other buildings focused on tourism, which were generally linked to each others by roads built inside underwater tunnels.

They quickly found the track of the next race, Drift Highway, and Captain Falcon had no problem finding a location to park the Falcon Flyer with a path leading to a garage for his Blue Falcon. Once they all disembarked, the robot flew the ship away.

From what they could see, Drift Highway deserved its name. It had a few sharp twists and three U-turns including a sharp one that will force the racers to drift to avoid crashing, especially at top speed. If a racer didn't know how to drift without losing control of the vehicle, they should as well give up. But it was still an easy track, large enough in the first half, slightly smaller in the second half, with two big jumps above large gaps and an area with Pit Rows just before the second one. To note that the departing line was in an area where the sea had been separated in two so it was just between two large waterfalls, and the track passed under a huge building before the first jump with a lot of solar panels around it. The inside had many balconies for the public. The smaller buildings all around the track could also be used to admire the show. Since most of the race happened in underwater tunnels, however, there won't be much to see without using the TVs.

Having not received much damage, the Blue Falcon was already repaired and ready to race. But it won't start before before a moment, they still had a good three quarters of a day to go through. At least, being early evening on the track, it meant that the racers, at least the ones who already arrived, will be able to have a good night of sleep before it would start toward noon tomorrow, local hour.

Sweetie Void really wished to remain to keep guard just in case, but she would eventually have to return to her Equestria to go to school. She didn't want to have Rarity screaming at her for willingly missing it for one of her adventures especially if there wasn't a good reason like trying to stop a villain from killing someone, destroying something, or conquering the country/world/universe. Here, it seemed that not even Black Shadow was willing to attempt anything on F-Zero ground. Were the merchants organizing it THAT powerful? And Frankly, there wasn't much that the fillies could do beside watching the races. It was all up to Captain Falcon and the others to ensure that the belt doesn't end in wrong hands. But there was the possibility that Black Shadow, or even Deathborn, would attempt something outside of F-Zero ground, anything to make it easier for them to obtain the belt, and they wanted to be here in case this happened and they could do something about it. Actually, maybe Deathborn would feel bold enough to do something inside F-Zero ground. He probably had the power to not care of the consequences of messing with the merchants. He seemed to want to remain off the radar since he already had the Time Patrol on his back, but if he felt that he was about to lose the belt, then he could try something drastic (while making sure that the Grand Prix won't get interrupted, of course).

But "body guarding in case a villain tried anything" wasn't a good enough excuse, so off to school it will be unless the plan with the Phantom Copies worked. Really, they didn't want to miss any of the races. They were really exciting to watch! And Shadow Speedster and Scootabot would never recover from missing one. And even Phantom's inner Scootaloo had been clearly showing itself during the earlier race.

So the fillies hoped that this would work.

---

They didn't have to worry in the end. Phantom did a test and found out that Phantom Copies disappeared if she left the universe they were in. The copies needed a constant supply of Phantom energy to maintain their existence which couldn't happen when she wasn't present in the same universe. But Phantom was a smart one! She determined that as long as she maintained a rift between the universe she was in and the one where the copies were present, even a micro one, then she could continue to supply Phantom energy to them. Thus, as long as she kept rifts between the F-Zero-verse and the fillies' three Equestria open, the copies won't disappear.

Thanks to this, the fillies were all able to witness the next race.

And thankfully, Black Shadow and Deathborn didn't try anything while they were away. All thirty (thirty one actually because there were two piloting a same machine) were accounted for and there were nothing bad reported. However, Bio Rex had to withdraw because he couldn't repair his machine in time despite the best efforts of the scientists that created him. Black Shadow really did a number on him. The Skull also almost came too late. This meant that twenty nine contestants remained.

Before the race would start, the fillies went to one of the buildings surrounding the track that gave a good view. Not long after they arrived, Mr. Zero appeared on many of the TVs present to follow the race, the cyborg now inside a floating pod not unlike Eggman.

"Welcome back every creatures from all over the universe! Are you excited? Because I sure am! The first race went beyond all our expectations, and the second promises to be even better despite the absence of Bio Rex who had had to withdraw! We are now on good old Big Blue, always a sure win when it is about choosing where to race, probably the most popular location. And I must agree! Just look at the view!

And here we have our participants arriving at the departing line. Woah! I can feel the tension from here! I don't know what happened, but it looks like some of the racers are ready to enter into war. Black Shadow looks absolutely murderous! Well, more than usual... And at least half of our participants are outright glaring at him and at Blood Falcon, and even at the other known criminals present! I never saw so much hostility on a F-Zero track since the competition's foundation! Now, I don't know what to expect! And this makes it even more exciting!

Now, time for the race to start!"

As the countdown began, the fillies waited with enthusiasm but also with apprehension. They had a feeling that things were going to get ugly in total contrast of the beauty of the environment.

"And START!!!" Mr. Zero yelled.

The race barely started and it was already apparent that Black Shadow pulled off the kids gloves as he was attacking anyone that he could. He was losing a lot of speed because of the constant twirling he did, but it seemed that he wasn't working on winning the race himself. Blood Falcon, however, was as he tried his best to reach the first place, but he had to contend with Captain Falcon and Dr. Stewart, as well as John Tanaka, Mrs. Arrow, and Pico who weren't far behind, the last two fighting each other. Roger Buster was almost sent crashing into Jack Levin by Don Genie but was saved by the intervention of Draq. And there was a fierce battle between Michael Chain, Samurai Goroh, and Antonio Guster.

And before even reaching the first jump, in the hard U-turn, Black Shadow made his first victims of the race, sending Billy crashing into Super Arrow who were then both crashed into by Leon. The Skull and Phoenix also crashed into them but their machines were able to push through them and to continue the race despite the damage they took.

"Yeouch! Three in one!" Mr. Zero shouted with a wince. "Black Shadow isn't screwing around this time. He is ready to turn this race into a massacre."

The fillies growled. "I wish I could do something to stop this guy right there and then," Sweetie Void said.

"It's so frustrating that we can't touch him as long as he is on F-Zero ground," Phantom added.

"And impossible ta find him when he isn't here," Apple Death finished.

No more accident thankfully happened during the rest of the lap, but things still became very violent in the second half where the track wasn't as large. The vehicles were bumping into each others like bumper cars and there were many close calls. Antonio Guster was able to take the lead from Goroh and Chain only to hit a wall in the form of Mr. EAD who was doing his best to stop him from passing. Mrs. Arrow was able to pass everyone and to reach the line first while Captain Falcon and John Tanaka were still fighting Blood Falcon, joined by James McCloud.

With the second lap the boost was unlocked, turning the race even more crazy. One after another, racers found themselves out of the race because they used the boost a little too much and Black Shadow, like a predator over a weakened prey, went for the kill. Jody Summer, Dr. Clash, Draq, Phoenix, and even Samurai Goroh. Dr. Stewart also got Don Genie not long after the first jump while QQQ got his revenge on Pico right where there were two sharp turns one after another not long before the Pit Rows area.

The public was wild!

"Excuse my language but holy shit!" Mr. Zero exclaimed. "They are falling one after another! Ten racers in less than two laps!" Right as he said this, Black Shadow bumped repeatedly into Mr. EAD in the Pit Rows area in a way that eventually sent him spinning uncontrollably before falling right into the second gap. Mr. EAD was able to eject himself from his machine but it was a close call. "Make that eleven."

As the third lap started with Mrs. Arrow still in the lead with Dr. Stewart just behind her, Black Shadow seemingly decided to stop going after the other racers and started to try to join the ones at the head, probably to help Blood Falcon against the others constantly working to ensure that he couldn't take the lead. But then, just after the first jump, having used too much of his boost to do so, he was attacked by both Silver Neelsen and Dai Goroh, falling victim of the same strategy he used just a few seconds earlier.

You could hear him yell "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" as his machine stopped advancing, becoming too damaged to continue.

"Unbelievable! Black Shadow fell! The number of racers being eliminated should diminue for the rest of the race," Mr. Zero commented.

Many let out a big sigh of relief, including the fillies.

With Black Shadow out, as Mr. Zero thought, no more accident happened during the rest of the lap although Blood Falcon tried to send Captain Falcon falling into the second gap like Black Shadow did to Mr. EAD earlier, but failed. The race ended with Dr. Stewart stealing the victory from Mrs. Arrow at the last second, Captain Falcon arriving third, Blood Falcon arriving fourth, and John Tanaka arriving fifth.

As soon as the first racers arrived, many among the public felt lighter. This race had been something else.

After Mr. Zero finished listing the racers as they arrived, he exclaimed, "What a race, everyone! What a race! It sure will go down in history as the most violent one so far. But we haven't seen the last of Black Shadow, this I can guarantee. And because of this, the next race may be even worse. Well, we won't have to wait long to see. Tomorrow, same hour, in Lightning, back on Earth. Half Pipe. Time to up the difficulty a bit. Or a lot. See you quickly!"

---

Being third, Captain Falcon added 87pts to the 100 he already won from the previous race. With 187pts in total, he remained at the lead.

Once the fillies joined him in the hallways of one of the tracks, they congratulated him. Yes, he didn't reach first place like in the previous race, but he was able to ensure that Blood Falcon didn't win and he was still first in the ranking.

"So, next race's somewhere called Lightning. Is that really the name of a place?" Black Apple eventually asked.

"Yes. Back on Earth, there's an area where pollution created a perpetual lightning zone," Captain Falcon answered. "While that's as bad as it sounds and solutions are being worked on, compagnies got the idea of harnessing the bolts of electricity constantly hammering down there to generate a huge amount of power and sell the excess to nearby planets."

Phantom snorted. "They don't lose North. When there's an occasion to make profit, they will take it no matter what."

Captain Falcon laughed. "No truer words. And it seems like the organizers of the F-Zero X Grand Prix got a similar idea. I had no idea that they built tracks in there. They probably thought that it would give a better show with the lightning. A better show means more people watching, and so more money to make. I'm frankly not surprised they did it. They like to build tracks in dangerous places for this very reason."

They reached the cafeteria where they got to meet again some of the pilots that also decided to remain to have a meal. The moral... seemed so-so. With all the damage Black Shadow caused during the race, that wasn't surprising. But at least, Black Shadow and his bootlicker of a clone lost again. Even better, this time, Black Shadow tasted his own medicine. But no doubt that, after that, he will be even more brutal. They will have to be careful.

Even Don Genie and Pico got a big defeat. If any of them was the one working for Deathborn (for the ones who still thought that it wasn't certain that Black Shadow was the one working for him), they fell far behind in the ranking. Catching up to Captain Falcon and the others at the top will be difficult for them.

Right now, Blood Falcon was the higher criminal in the ranking, making him the priority target in the next race. Michael Chain was the next one but he was a gang leader so he wasn't really a danger. Same for Samurai Goroh.

After a few minutes, Captain Falcon remarked something. "Say, where's your little ghost friend?"

The fillies looked around, finding out that Little Ghost was, indeed, gone.

"Uh. When did she...?" Sweetie Ghoul asked.

Just at this moment, Little Ghost phased through a wall, looking proud of herself.

"Where did you go?" Scootabot asked.

Little Ghost giggled and gave her evilest smirk. "Well, I saw a little cheater try something and... You will see in the next race. An advice to everyone here, remain away from Black Shadow during the race. Make sure to spread the word."

Everyone could only exchange looks, wondering what she did.

It wasn't long after that the fillies returned to their Equestrias. Since Lightning was back on Earth, Sweetie Void thought that it shouldn't be difficult to find the place. However, the race will happen right in the middle of the night in their respective universes. This won't be a problem for the Death Quatuor and Sweetie Void, but the others will have to ask permission to spend the night in the F-Zero-verse with promises of making sure that they will be well-rested for school by the time they returned. Thanks to time being a bit faster in the F-Zero-verse, this won't be a problem. As soon as the next race will be over, they will sleep until it will be time for them to return.

Little Ghost was already laughing, thinking of what will happen tomorrow.

Comments

[Windy0]

Any hints on what LG did?

[Lucar]

11248124
Nope. You will see next chapter.

[herobrins mom]

11246412
ok

[herobrins mom]

11248126
...its a bomb or an emp isn't it one of the criminals planted a bomb or something like that on captain falcon's vehicle and she moved it into or onto black shadow's vehicle...

am i right??

[Lucar]

11249365
Are you Pinkie Pie?