Chapter 95: Aeropolis
The ponies were now all in the Falcon Flyer, flying toward the planet where Aeropolis was located. Like with Big Blue, the journey will last a few hours so the occasion was used by Captain Falcon to rest while the ship's computer worked on repairing the Blue Falcon. The ponies were also sleeping, gathered in a pile, excepted Sweetie Void and the Death Quatuor who were using the ship's computer at the cockpit to learn more about their destination while trying to not bother the sleeping Captain on the chair just beside them.
Aeropolis was a sight to behold, that was sure. The photos showed a city of skyscrapers in a bright yellow sky. Because of the brightness, nothing much could be seen beyond a certain distance, but apparently, this was a very huge city, going for dozens of miles. The skyscrapers themselves could measure a good mile or two or even three in height. Huge machines called Neo Uranos constantly constructed new skyscrapers to house the ever growing population, and all of this was managed by a supercomputer called Mother-Q.
Mother-Q really was responsible of everything. It was a giant white sphere that moved around, storing and analysing every single little bits of information in the city including from the citizens to create the perfect living environment. A place seemingly as close to an utopia as it could be. Now THAT was what one thought when thinking "future".
Such a city really seemed too good to be true. The fillies couldn't help themselves but wonder what was the catch. Well, they found one: a total absence of privacy. Mother-Q knew absolutely everything that was going on in the city. All your life was constantly observed. When you woke up. If you did push ups after waking up. What kind of shampoo you used. What kind of toothpaste you used. What you ate. What shows you watched. If you liked or didn't like your boss. If you were overweight. You stole a cookie in the cookie jar? Mother-Q saw that. You wanted some alone time at your computer? Too bad! Big Sister Mother-Q was watching you! E-VE-RY-THING! ALL! THE! TIME!
Well, at least, Mother-Q knew to keep all these info to herself. And thankfully she wasn't the blackmailing type. She was purely professional. So the citizens learned to not mind her. And this had the upside of having crimes being pretty much non-existent in the city. If anyone tried to do something against the law, or even planned to do something, Mother-Q immediately knew and acted in consequence. The only things she could do nothing against were spur-of-the-moment actions, like someone grabbing an object in anger and smashing it on another person.
It meant that they won't have to worry about Black Shadow attempting anything in the city. Mother-Q would immediately know and this would end up very badly for him. Was this why they chose Aeropolis? After what Black Shadow did in Lightning? Or was it planned from the start? The fillies weren't sure.
Also, the city was pretty minimalist and monotone. Most of the buildings looked like each others and lacked details and decorations that would give them a little personality. At least, the skyscrapers in Manehattan each had a little something that made them different from each others even if it wasn't always obvious.
"If Rarity had come, she would have been disgusted by the total lack of glamour and style of this city," Sweetie Ghoul eventually whispered, making all of them laugh quietly.
They arrived in Aeropolis, landed in a spatioport, and booked an hotel and a garage for the Blue Falcon. Contrary to previous tracks, Dragon Slope apparently didn't have any structure to house public, pilots, and machines, so they had to do with what was around. Captain Falcon thankfully didn't mind giving some credits to them for the hotel. And as soon as they were settled, they returned to sleep.
And Sweetie Void, who still remained up, went to observe the track. And the less she could say was that Mr. Zero hadn't been kidding. Half Pipe had been nothing compared to what this one had in store for the racers.
The track was pretty much composed of three sections: the first was some weird loop that looked like a one hundred eighty degree folded hairpin, first making you roll parallel to the walls of the skyscrapers and then upside down before entering a tunnel, the first two turns (the one making you enter the "hairpin" and the "folded" part) each having a Pit Row; then came a series of four massive drops, three of which made you land on small floating pieces of track which had even smaller pieces (two per section, the top one smaller than the bottom one) hanging above them for the racers who were able to jump far enough to land on them, and none of these sections had guard rails; finally there was what the track was named after, a big climb back to the start of the track that twisted like the body of an oriental dragon, which didn't have guard rails either for the first half, and even had a slippy row halfway through that first half in the middle of the road. To note that the climb narrowed a lot at the second half but, thankfully, guard rails were present there, and a Pit Row was also present at the beginning after the slippy row. The track also passed before the line in the middle of the top of some building from which vehicles constantly left and entered using vertical roads built on its walls at both sides of the track.
Sweetie Void was sweating. These drops promised nothing good, and that slippy row with no guard rails around... Yikes...
And that was "just" the fourth race? What did they prepare for the fifth one then?
She then heard a sound that she identified coming from her dimensional phone. Taking it out of her mane, she looked at it and saw that she received a text from the Pokémon World.
They identified the location of a second Team RR hideout, this time in the middle of a vast tropical jungle, and they asked for her help.
Well, neat! But this meant that her friends will probably have to return to Equestria without her help. At least, she could count on Apple Death and Phantom to bring them back. And she will have to hurry up to not miss the next race.
She quickly took a lot of photos of the track before she returned in the hotel and warned the Death Quatuor, who had been playing with cards, that she must go and why she had to go before she gave them the photos. These will allow Captain Falcon to study the track and determine the best course, especially to avoid a fall. She made sure to take ones where everything was visible, including the position of the boosters.
Finally, after a "See you quickly!" she opened a rift to her Equestria, where it was very early morning, and gathered her Pokémon to bring them with her. She didn't get to let them out last time, when she fought Ghetsis, but this time, maybe she will finally see the fruits of their training. They were still far from the level to take on the average RR grunt, but together, they should be able to do some damage.
Once she had all her Pokémon in their Poké Balls, she left a message to Rarity about not being able to go to school because she had been called to help against Team RR before she opened a rift to the Pokémon World.
Appearing before the complex of the portal island, she saw Gordon himself waiting for her. The old man pointed in a direction and said, "If you go a little over two thousands miles in this direction, you will reach the jungle. Others are already present in a camp at the jungle's edge."
"Thanks! You got any problem since Ghetsis' attack?"
Gordon snorted. "Believe it or not but that fool returned with another group of idiots. But this time we were ready and I personally showed Ghetsis that this is not because he has a Legendary dragon and he thinks of himself as all mighty that he can walk on everyone else."
Sweetie Void whistled. "You really earned your reputation, uh? Not even one of the most powerful Legendaries in the world scares you despite you having no Legendary in your team. Well, all right then, off I go! Continue the good job!" And she flew away in the direction pointed by Gordon.
She rapidly reached the jungle and, after some searching, found the camp. The jungle was really huge so searching the hideout won't be an easy feat without knowing its exact position. If they used the same method than last time to discover it, then this shouldn't be a problem. Among the trainers present, she found many she knew such as Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, without forgetting Champions and ex-Champions. Much more than in the assault against the island. Among them were Red, Blue, Gold, Ruby, and even Victor. Calem, the Champion of Kalos who possessed Yveltal among others, was also present, as well as Hilbert, ex-Champion of Unova who currently possessed Zekrom, Rosa, current Champion of that same region who possessed Reshiram and Kyurem, Lance, Steven, Alder, Iris, Diantha, Leon... Even N was present, really not liking how Team RR was treating the Pokémon! They really were sending almost everything this time!
Dawn wasn't present however, obviously still guarding Spear Pillar. Elio was also absent, probably still searching the Rainbow Rocket HQ in the Ultra Space. Gordon had remained guarding the portal. And Cynthia...
Sweetie Void really hoped to encounter Cyrus during this assault to make him regret being born.
"You gathered pretty much all the Champions and ex-Champions in the world and some trainers as powerful as them among many others and you still called my help?" she asked jokingly once she landed beside Red.
The man shrugged. "Better be cautious. Team Rainbow Rocket already proved that they are very tough."
"True."
The alicorn remarked that Red, as well as a few others, were now equipped with a Snag Machine. Nice! By capturing the Rockets' Shadow Pokémon, they will reduce the enemy's forces and, by the same occasion, add the captured Shadow Pokémon to their own teams to face the grunts. Shadow moves weren't effective against other Shadow Pokémon, but not all the Rockets' Pokémon were Shadow ones so having some will be a huge advantage against the ones that weren't.
With Sweetie's arrival, they were ready to go. So, in the following minutes, they left the camp and entered the jungle.
Only to almost immediately be ambushed.
These poor fools...
The ponies left in the F-Zero-verse had to wake up and return to their Equestria for school without Sweetie Void, but Apple Death didn't mind opening a portal for Black Apple, Shadow Speedster, and Chromatic Bolt. The next F-Zero race won't happen before the evening (in Equestria) so they didn't worry about having to miss school again. They told Miss Cheerilee why Sweetie Void was absent, and class started.
When school ended, Sweetie Void still hadn't returned. Thankfully, Phantom came to bring them back to the F-Zero-verse, once they warned their families that they returned there. The Rainbow Dash also returned, now caught in the F-Zero hype too despite their initial doubts due to the dangers. They still had them, but to Tartarus with that! These were epic races at the speed of sound on tracks that can have loops and all other kinds of cool sections worthy of the best rollercoasters! And the dangers added more thrill to them! Of course, they hoped that nobody will die but, so far, everything went well. The pilots were prepared. The only hazard really seemed to be Black Shadow. If Little Ghost hadn't seen Blood Falcon put the bomb in the Blue Falcon, Captain Falcon... would have actually been alright. Captain Falcon told them after the race that he had a computer aboard his machine that would have detected the bomb and warned him about it.
That made the whole thing hilarious. No matter what, Black Shadow's plan would have failed. Little Ghost just made the failure painful to him. And with some luck, Black Shadow took his anger on Blood Falcon and the clone won't be able to race anymore in reason of... very bad injuries. At best. They also hoped that Black Shadow wasn't able to repair his machine in time but they doubted it. He was the head of such a powerful organization, they obviously had the technology to repair the Black Bull no matter the damage, or may even have copies of it in the worst case scenarios such as a fall. Unless he was one of these bad guys who thought that there was no way something like that would happen to them.
When they found Captain Falcon in the garage where the Blue Falcon was stored, he was still studying the photos left by Sweetie Void, especially the ones of the big climb. While the drops were the really dangerous part, the many twists of the climb, the slippy row in the first half, and the narrowing path in the second half made it the trickier part to drive on. Accidents could easily happen there, even with the reduced number of racers.
As soon as they entered, the Captain looked up from the photos and immediately remarked Sweetie Void's absence. "Mmh? Your friend still hasn't returned?"
"Yeah, probably still fighting Team Rainbow Rocket," Shadow Speedster answered.
It was pure apocalypse in the jungle. Dynamaxed Pokémon and Shadow Pokémon moved everywhere, spreading destruction with their Max-moves (Z-moves and moves from mega-evolved Pokémon also helped a lot in the destruction). Large chunks of the forest were gone, and part of the rest was on fire or frozen or flooded. There was now a huge crack separating it in two where the Rocket hideout could be seen under the surface. Mega-Mewtwo Y attacked Dynamax Shadow Primal Groudon and sent it flying far away while Mega-Rayquaza swept the jungle with Dragon Pulse, leveling more of it.
Tank, who had just now evolved into a Blastoise after helping taking out a Shadow Ninetails, propelled Volta at a Dynamax Shadow Gyarados using his water cannons on his back. The Pichu was able to grab the crest on its head before she used her most powerful Thunderbolt. Being a Pichu, the attack hurt her, but it was extremely effective against the Gyarados whose two types (Water and Flying) were both weak to Electric-type. The Gyarados moved erratically its head to make her let go, but Volta stubbornly held on and continued the Thunderbolt until the giant Pokémon eventually fell unconscious, right beside a huge pile of unconscious Pokémon and RR grunts on which Sweetie Void was sitting while repeatedly slapping a Shadow Arbok.
"Good job, Volta!" she congratulated.
"Thank youuuuuhh..." the Pichu slurred, dizzy, before she fell from the Gyarados' head. She then glowed before her body changed, finally evolving into a Pikachu.
Sweetie Void immediately dropped the unconscious Arbok and went to hug Volta. "You did it, Volta! You evolved!"
"F-finally..."
"There." Sweetie Void healed the Pikachu.
"Thanks!"
"Now, let's continue to kick butts!"
"Yay!"
Sweetie Void then flew to punch Dynamax Shadow Xerneas who was in the middle of battling Dynamax Yveltal, not minding a group of bird Pokémon that was swept away by tornadoes sent by Lugia.
"We don't know when she'll be back. Time in the Pokémon World's much slower than in this universe. She may end up missin' the race," Black Apple said.
"We can't do anything about it," Scootabot said before she climbed at the desk before the Captain and looked down at the photos. "So, you think this track will be a problem?"
"Yes, obviously," Captain Falcon answered. "The drops, for starting, will be perfect for Black Shadow to throw the others off track. Just a little push while in the air and they can miss the landing. For the same reason, it will be the perfect occasion to get ourselves rid of him and Blood Falcon, at least for this race. Then there's the climb. I don't think that Black Shadow and Blood Falcon will take the risk of trying anything during the slippy row section. It would be too easy for them to slip off track while attacking the others. However, that narrow section would be perfect to cause a pileup. We will have to be cautious there, me and the others."
"Maybe we should find the other racers and talk to them about this," Phantom Belle proposed. "Discuss together about avoiding the worst."
Captain Falcon agreed.
Thankfully, he had contact with some of the racers he became acquainted to during this Grand Prix and previous ones, such as Dr. Stewart, Phoenix and QQQ, the couple Arrow, Silver Neelsen, and a few others, so it was easy to come up with a place to gather and talk.
The solution was simple: avoid Black Shadow. Try to keep a distance from him. Especially at the narrow section. A pileup was the worst thing that could happen in this track. It could potentially wipe out a lot of racers, and who knew how many among them would be able to repair their machines in time for the last race. And the more racers started the last race, the better.
The time of the race eventually came and Sweetie Void still hadn't arrived.
"And here we are, ladies and gentlecreatures!" Mr. Zero began from his pod. "In Aeropolis! Joined by the wonderful supercomputer Mother-Q herself!" The camera then moved to show Mother-Q's giant white sphere now present above the second half of the climb, just after the Pit Row after the slippy row. She had linked herself to the buildings around, but also to the track, holographic windows with all kinds of informations present around.
"Woah! That's one heck of a guest!" Apple Death exclaimed in surprise. "Ah didn't think she'd come!"
"I would ask her to join me in commenting the race but she's sadly the silent type," Mr. Zero continued. "Anyway, let's start with the bad news. Black Shadow is still in the course! It's your cue to boo." Booing came from many of the buildings around the track. "Also, as you can see..." He showed the racers at the line. "the precious track did a number on our participants. Pico, Dai Goroh, Michael Chain, QQQ, Octoman, and Zoba all had to withdraw, putting the total of remaining racers to seventeen. But the reduced number doesn't mean that this race will be boring, far from it. Look over there."
Mr. Zero then proceeded to show the few quirks of this track, mainly the drops and the huge twisting climb that promised a good show. Nothing the fillies and most of the racers didn't already know.
"So, are you hyped or are you super hyped? Because I am super SUPER hyped! Let's start the race now!"
The countdown began and ended with the now usual shout from Mr. Zero, and the racers kicked off like rockets. They passed the hairpin without trouble and reached the drops in just about fifteen seconds, which was already a lot considering that a lap in the first track lasted about half a minute without using the boost and less than twenty seconds with the boost. That was saying something about the size of this track as the hairpin was just a very small part of it.
As planned, Captain Falcon and the others who had been with him tried to avoid Black Shadow but it wasn't easy as the King of Evil continued to play brutal and did everything he could to approach the other racers to attack them. And even when they managed to avoid Black Shadow, they still had to contend with Blood Falcon and, to some extend, Samurai Goroh and Don Genie who were both more brutal than average as they attacked every now and then, but not as much as the two members of the BS Group. Antonio Guster was mostly violent to Samurai Goroh so they didn't have to worry about him. All the others were mostly pacifists but still bumped and twirled if needed, and avoided to do this to allies.
Thankfully, even while in the air, the machines could still be steered to control where they would land so, even if they were pushed, that wasn't the end. So, contrary to what many thought, nobody ended up falling off track during the four drops. It really helped that it was very hard to hit another racer while in the air. Some machines could glide further and fall more slowly than others depending of their design, speed, and weight. Phoenix's ship-like machine, for example, was very advantaged in this. Good luck reaching him mid-fall. In the last drop, he could even soar over a big part of the beginning of the climb. When he landed, he found himself at the lead far ahead of the others. Black Shadow was in the second position, followed by Captain Falcon, Blood Falcon, and Dr. Clash.
Speaking of the climb, the real battle started there. Just after the landing, Blood Falcon managed to send Dr. Clash off track while Black Shadow went after Captain Falcon. The attacks didn't last long however as they reached the slippy row and nobody was crazy enough to attempt anything while on this section. Zoda would have certainly tried something, but thankfully, he was out.
They reached the end of the slippy row which marked the halfway point of the climb where the barriers returned. As they passed under Mother-Q, Black Shadow and Blood Falcon teamed up against Captain Falcon, surrounding him by the time they reached the narrow section that was just large enough for their three machines side by side to pass without touching the guard rails.
"Seems like Black Shadow and Blood Falcon decided that enough was enough and now really want to end Captain Falcon. Will he be able to come out of this situation in one piece?" Mr. Zero wondered.
The path didn't remain narrow for long, thankfully, and by the time they passed in the middle of the top of the building, Phoenix decided to slow down and to let the three pass him before he accelerated to chase them. When they unlocked the boost at the start of the second lap, he immediately used it to ram Black Shadow from behind, causing him to lose control a bit. This gave Captain Falcon some much needed respite as he used the first Pit Row to replenish the Blue Falcon's energy, now only having to deal with Blood Falcon. Luckily for Phoenix, he didn't end up facing Black Shadow alone as he was quickly joined by Mrs. Arrow and The Skull finally catching up to them. The Skull wasn't part of the alliance formed by Captain Falcon and some of the others but he knew that Black Shadow had to be stopped so he was willing to put aside any rivalry to help against him.
"Captain Falcon will owe one to Phoenix after this race," Mr. Zero commented while the ponies sighed in relief.
Again, the drops happened without incident. However, at the slippy row, Antonio Guster ended up falling off track because he attempted to use his boost to ram into Samurai Goroh only for him to dodge at the last moment, leading to Antonio sliding uncontrollably before falling.
"I thought nobody was supposed to be stupid enough to try anything while on this section," Scootabot said.
"Anger can make you act stupidly," Phantom explained. "And remember that this guy is very angry at Goroh. Something about being betrayed by him."
While they talked, Black Shadow was able to damage Mrs. Arrow's vehicle enough that she was forced to give up the race just as they passed under Mother-Q (Black Shadow kept her away from the Pit Row just before so she couldn't replenish her energy), but James McCloud thankfully came to take her place.
Which was a wrong decision to take because the narrowed section followed and this was the occasion Black Shadow waited to do an ugly. Phoenix saw this and panicked but could do nothing as Black Shadow sent The Skull crashing against the guard rail right in the path of James McCloud. Dr. Stewart then crashed into James McCloud, Samurai Goroh crashed into the two of them, followed by Don Genie, Roger Buster, Gomar and Shioh, Silver Neelsen, Draq, and finally Jack Levin. Of the seventeen racers that started the race, only four remained: Captain Falcon, Blood Falcon, Phoenix, and Black Shadow.
The public gasped. This brought back some bad memories of the accident. And the ponies could only look in horror as their worst fear happened. Even Mr. Zero was silent.
Black Shadow cackled as he left his art behind, Phoenix slightly ahead of him. The time traveller had his teeth clenched but he decided to not try anything anymore against Black Shadow as he used his boost to catch up with Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon who were just a bit further ahead, side by side.
As they started the third lap and went through the hairpin, the damaged vehicles were quickly removed from the track, all their pilots confirmed alive but more or less injured.
Mr. Zero spreed the news. "They are alright everyone! I just got words that nobody got killed! But apparently, James McCloud and Roger Buster are in pretty bad shape. I hope they will survive their injuries. God... Why did we let Black Shadow participate...?" he wondered to himself. "Uh... What...?"
Everyone's attention returned to Captain Falcon, Blood Falcon, and Phoenix. As they approached the drops, the time traveller bumped into Blood Falcon from behind, destabilizing him. Captain Falcon then twirled, causing Blood Falcon to spin uncontrollably. He wasn't able to regain control in time as they reached the first drop and ended up falling.
The public cheered very loudly from the buildings around. Blood Falcon was out. And, hopefully, he won't be able to return in the next race with his machine totally destroyed by the fall. Bloop Falcon still was able to get out of his vehicle using a jetpack, the clone looking ready to explode.
But that wasn't enough. There was still Black Shadow. During the climb, he caught up to Captain Falcon and Phoenix using his boost. But the other two also had their boost so they used and abused it, reducing their machines' energy to almost nothing. Thanks to this, they were able to avoid Black Shadow until they reached the finish line. The two reached it pretty much at the same time but it quickly turned out that Phoenix reached it first by a few hundredths of a second.
"Well, so... First, Phoenix. Second, Captain Falcon. And third, Black Shadow. Aaaand... that's all." Mr. Zero said. "Now... that's a race that will remain in everybody's memories. That's for sure. Now, the last track will be in..." He looked down at a paper. "Phantom Road? Slim-Line Slits? Where the hell is that? Sorry everyone, I don't have more info. Seems like the bosses want to keep the surprise. They just say to gather back at Twist Road in Mute City fifteen minutes before the usual hour. Then, a Transport Ship will transport the racers and their machines to wherever Phantom Road is. Mmh... To be frank, I don't know what to feel. After what happened, I'm not really up for a surprise. But this will still be the last race of the Grand Prix, and I'm even more excited to see how this will end than ever. Will Black Shadow win? Seems unlikely considering how low in the ranking he is. But, I must remind you of the following rule: in the last race of the Grand Prix, if a racer is not able to reach the finish line for one reason or another, then it will be considered as an abandonment and their name will be retired from the ranking, like the names of all the racers who had had to give up until now. You know what this means... See you t... What now?"
Just as Captain Falcon got out of the Blue Falcon, Blood Falcon landed right in front of him. Before he could react, the clone grabbed his arm before he shouted "Do it! Now!" The next instant, the two were warped away.
Silence followed for several seconds before Mr. Zero yelled, "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"
Black Shadow cackled again before a black ship with a similar design to the Black Bull suddenly came and took him and his machine using some tractor beam. Phantom suddenly teleported above it, ready to attack it in a way that it wouldn't kill Black Shadow so they could question him about where Captain Falcon was warped to, only for it to fly away as rapidly as it came. By the time she could even think of following it, it had already disappeared into the brightness of Aeropolis' sky.
"Shit!"
A couple of hours later, Sweetie Void came out of a rift in the hotel where she found all her friends.
"Hey everyone! I guess that I missed the race. Sorry, but Team Rainbow Rocket fought really hard. But we won! Yeah, a jungle is now destroyed, the climate is screwed in the area, there's a few new lakes, a couple of new volcanoes, the tectonic movement must have been turned upside down, but that's okay! We showed these Rockets not to mess with us and I even made a few new friends that I saved from their clutch. Well, these new friends still need to be purified but I can work on this later. So, how was the race?" she asked before she remarked everyone's mood. She immediately frowned. "Okay, who died?"
"Nobody. Well, we think," Apple Death answered.
"As we feared, Black Shadow caused a pileup. Nobody died, but some pilots got seriously injured. Captain Falcon and Phoenix still won over him and even managed to make Blood Falcon fall from the track, but then, that bloody clone came and warped away to who-knows-where with Captain Falcon before Black Shadow fled in a ship. We don't even know if he's still alive by now," Phantom recounted.
"And the worst part?" Shadow Speedster continued. "Since this is Blood Falcon who kidnapped Captain Falcon while he was still on F-Zero ground and not Black Shadow, then only Blood Falcon was disqualified! Black Shadow will still race next time!"
"The merchants still got very angry at him and put the BS Group in their enemy list. But since Black Shadow didn't personally do anything against the rules, then he can still race," Zapp finished.
"And nobody knows where Captain Falcon was warped to?" Sweetie Void growled out.
"They think that he was warped into the BS Group's HQ, but nobody knows where it is," Phantom Belle answered.
"I know where it is," suddenly said a robotic voice from the entrance of the room they were in. When they looked to see who it was, they recognised Captain Falcon's robot who usually remained in the Falcon Flyer to operate it. "I received a signal from the Captain. I know where he is. I can guide you to him. However, there are bad news."
"What are they?" Sweetie Void asked worriedly.
"Wherever they are, it is moving away from the galaxy. If we go now with the Falcon Flyer, I estimate that it will take us almost one whole day before we reach him."
"Dang it! Black Shadow really took everything into account. Even if help is sent to retrieve Captain Falcon, he won't be able to return in time for the race," Phantom said.
"But I could teleport us back once we save him," Sweetie Void reminded. "Where is the next race taking place?"
"Somewhere called Phantom Road," Little Ghost answered. "It's some place apparently totally unknown. Not even Mr Zero knew about it. So the racers must gather first back in Twist Road fifteen minutes before the usual hour before they will be transported to wherever this place is."
"Alright. Well then..." Sweetie Void opened three rifts. "Time for everypony to return to their Equestria while I go save Captain Falcon with Apple Death and Phantom."
"Wait! What if you don't return in time for the race?" Shadow Speedster asked.
The others exchanged looks at this. "Well, Ah guess then that we'll have ta trust Phoenix and the others ta win," Apple Death answered.
"I... I don't know... Black Shadow almost won today..." Shadow Speedster said. "W-what if someone takes Captain Falcon's place?"
"You mean a substitute? Someone taking over Captain Falcon? Sorry, but I guess that that's against the rules," Phantom replied.
"Yes but... I was more thinking of... Sweetie turning someone into him? A double? I mean, Captain Falcon is number one in the ranking! If he is disqualified, then his points will be gone! But if "he" races, then his points will remain! And even if "he" doesn't win the race, "he" will still win the Grand Prix as long as "he" reaches the finish line!"
"That's a good idea, Scoot!" Sweetie Void exclaimed happily. "I can turn one of the disqualified racers into him! Buuut..." She lowered her ears. "I don't see who among them would agree to this and be skilled enough to hold their own against Black Shadow and reach the finish line in one piece."
"The answer is simple. Nobody," Phantom said. "The few who would agree and would be skilled enough are either at the hospital or still running - if they haven't been injured enough in the pileup to be forced to withdraw -."
"Maybe there are other racers who haven't participated in the current Grand Prix who would agree?" Sweetie Ghoul proposed.
"Finding one in less than a day, it'd be a miracle," Phantom Bloom countered.
"Maybe if we can convince one of the racers still participating to withdraw only to take Captain Falcon's place..." Phantom Dash proposed in turn.
"I'll do it!" Shadow Speedster suddenly shouted, interrupting everyone who turned to look at her in surprise.
"What?" Chromatic Bolt asked.
"Hum... I'll do it?" Shadow Speedster hesitantly repeated. "I mean, I drive with my scooter at crazy speeds and do crazy stunts with it all the time!"
Many of the ponies raised an eyebrow, excepted Scootabot who agreed.
"That has absolutely nothin' t'do with F-Zero racin'," Apple Death said.
"Driving a scooter is nothing like driving one of these machines," Phantom added.
"And there's no way I will let you participate in one of these death races!" Chromatic Bolt shouted.
"Come on, girls! Let me try at least! I have a whole day to train anyway! And remember that it's only if you don't return in time with Captain Falcon!"
Everyone could see the determination and the conviction in her eyes but were still very reluctant to let her race.
"The Captain has a hideout in Mute City with a simulation mode. I can tell you how to access it and she could train there," the robot informed.
A moment of silence followed before Chromatic Bolt asked, "You really want to do it, Scoot?"
"Y-yeah... Since the first day of the Grand Prix, I really loved watching these races, and I thought that, maybe, one day, I could race too. You know, since I met you, I always dreamed to one day race like you. But because of my wings, that will never be possible. But these F-Zero races... They are the closest experience that I would have to this."
"Aww, Scoot, you know that you don't need to be like me, right? You are already awesome in my eyes. You don't need to race."
"I know, but I still want to. I really love the feeling of speed. The thrill and everything. So... I really want to have a F-Zero race. I know that it will be dangerous with Black Shadow, but... But I won't be alone! Phoenix will be there! And Dr. Stewart! And Mrs Arrow! And all the others! And I can try to remain away from him! I don't need to win the race, right? I can just remain in the back while Black Shadow will probably be at the head! And if something goes really wrong, the girls will be there to save me!"
Chromatic Bolt stared intently into Shadow Speedster's eyes as she debated internally what to do. "We will talk with your aunts and ask them. We will see then."
Shadow Speedster agreed.
Stats
Page generated in 0.051 seconds
Total duration
1,049 users online
1,600,702 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well, let's see if she is enough to participate in F-Zero
I haven't been keeping exact count, but it might be mathematically impossible for Black Shadow to overtake Falcon at this point. Playing it safe at the cost of ultimate victory is an entirely believable move for someone who's already explicitly created an alliance to ensure a specific guy doesn't win.
11253533
Remain to see if Shadow Speedster will be able to play it safe from beginning to end. Because Black Shadow knows what you pointed out and will want her death.
Unless he tries to go for the disqualification route by proving that Captain Falcon was still kidnapped by him at the time of the race.
Don’t want to be that guy, but if he indeed managed to free everyone including himself from emotion like he wanted he would just lightly Scold himself for even bothering with team RR in the first place at best, and just mindlessly Shrugs with a bored look even if Sweetie was to promise him eternal Hell at worst.
11254196
This won't be much different of how he usually acts.