Chapter 97: Deathborn
Everybody was back on Twist Road where Shadow Speedster, still as Captain Falcon, went to retrieve the Champion Belt from the committee under the cheers of the public and of some of the racers. The transformed pegasus reverently grabbed the belt and admired it for a long moment, especially its ruby, before she rose it high above her to show it to the public, making the cheers double in intensity. She then placed it around her waist.
"What a Grand Prix this has been," Mr. Zero said. "While we will probably never know what that stuff at the end was all about, I think that I can safely say that this Grand Prix went down in legends. I could spend the rest of the evening reminding all that happened in the five races that composed it, but do I even need to? This Grand Prix beat all the records. We wanted a show? We sure got one! And what a show! It was as if the whole universe had been at the edge of its seat. Especially during that last race. And I'll be proud to say that I was here to comment it. And right now, it's with pride that I announce that it is time to cloture it. I congratulate Captain Falcon for becoming the Champion for the second time in a row. I congratulate all our racers for their participation and for giving us such memorable moment. Yes, even Black Shadow. He played a big role in it. That was Mr. Zero, until next year."
Shadow Speedster joined everyone in the garage where the now badly damaged Blue Falcon was stored, remarking that Phoenix and QQQ were also present. Before anything could start, Sweetie Void teleported everyone as well as the Blue Falcon to Captain Falcon's hideout to have privacy. Then, she turned her back into her pegasus form.
Finally, all the ponies went to congratulate her. She was buried under hugs. Some gave her congratulatory pats. Chromatic Bolts threw her upward and caught her before also hugging her and ruffling her mane with the proudest grin she could give.
Sweetie Void then gasped and pointed at Shadow Speedster's flank. "Scoot! Look at your flank!"
Eyes becoming like saucers at Sweetie Void's implication, Shadow Speedster freed herself from Chromatic Bolt and looked at her flank. There she saw it, her very own Cutie Mark. A shadowy pegasus with a trail behind it to give the illusion that it was moving very rapidly.
The following squeal which was quickly shared by Sweetie Void and Black Apple almost turned everyone else deaf. A second round of congratulation then came and several minutes passed before the ponies calmed down enough that they were able to have normal discussions (Pinkie Pie being without surprise the last one to calm down as she talked without stopping about Shadow Speedster's future cute-ceañera and the others had to make her stop).
"Eh. Look at that. We got ya the nickname Shadow Speedster and yer Cutie Mark's... a shadow speedster," Black Apple remarked, amused.
"What a strange coincidence..." Sweetie Void said. Right, Writer? she then thought while looking at nothing with a deadpan expression.
Twilight chuckled. "Magic sometime works in strange ways."
"Yeah... Magic..." Sweetie Void maintained her deadpan expression.
Shadow Speedster's smile was still stretching to the point that her cheeks were hurting, but then, her eyes fell on Captain Falcon who had remained at the back with Phoenix and QQQ to give the ponies their moment. Her smile disappeared and she went to grad the Champion Belt which she left on the ground when Sweetie Void transformed her back. The belt now was easily her size so she had to work a bit before she was able to put it on her back. She then walked toward Captain Falcon with it.
She dropped the belt on the ground against her and moved it at Falcon's feet with a small smile that the man reciprocated. He took the belt, only to lower himself on a knee and to put it back on Shadow Speedster's back.
"You are the one who won this belt. Not me."
"What? But I only won the last race! You had already pretty much won the Grand Prix with all the points you had gotten!"
Captain Falcon rubbed the filly's mane. "But Black Shadow would have won the Grand Prix if that hadn't been for you racing. Not only that, you actually won the race instead of letting Black Shadow reach the line first in an impressive show of skill never seen before. You deserve this belt." He gave her a thumb up. "Come on, Champion, take it, and show to everyone what an amazing pilot you are. And I hope to see you in next year's Grand Prix so we can race each other. It would be an honor."
Until today, Scootaloo had had only one idol, one person she looked up to with high esteem to the point that the person in question was invincible for her: Rainbow Dash. However, as the mare saw how the filly was looking at Captain Falcon with reverence, stars in her eyes, with a very visible intention to not let him down, she understood that her spot was now shared with this man. And she frankly didn't care. He was a great man. The kind that Rainbow wanted to become one day, that inspired the younger generations to follow their dreams. Like Spitfire.
And this convinced her to work even harder to be worthy of sharing this place with him and to herself continue to inspire Scootaloo to become one day a mare even greater than her and him.
Phoenix then advanced. "Now, time to decide what to do with Deathborn. He defied you in a race for the belt, right?" he asked Shadow Speedster who nodded.
"Well, first, I can tell you, there's definitively something powerful in this belt," Sweetie Void informed. "I can feel it. There's a power in it. A huge power. In the ruby."
"Let me see," Twilight said before she tried to levitate the belt off Shadow Speedster's back only to be zapped by it. "Eep!"
"Woah! Ya alright, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Yes, don't worry. It's just a small burn."
Sweetie Void eyed the belt and attempted to touch it only to be zapped too. Her burn immediately healed. Phantom and Apple Death also attempted to touch it only to get the same result.
"Seems like only Shadow Speedster can touch it," Phantom concluded.
"This can't be that. Captain Falcon also touched it," Phantom Belle pointed out.
"Only F-Zero racers can touch it?" Little Ghost proposed.
"Unless Captain Falcon could touch it because Shadow Speedster willingly gave it to him," Phantom said. "Shadow Speedster, try to give the belt to Sweetie Void."
The pegasus agreed and dropped the belt before sliding it toward her alicorn friend. "There. Take it."
Carefully, Sweetie Void placed a hoof on it. This time, she didn't get zapped and could take it. "This must be why Black Shadow and Deathborn couldn't steal it. The belt has to be won or willingly given."
"Which's why Deathborn defied Shadow Speedster in a race," Apple Death said.
""Willingly given", uh? Then, Scootaloo, give this belt to Mr. Falcon or Mr. Phoenix so you won't have to race against that... monster," Lofty ordered Shadow Speedster.
As soon as her words came out, the belt zapped Sweetie Void's hoof before it floated back to Shadow Speedster. "Eep! Hey! What the hay?!" the alicorn yelled out.
Twilight looked at the belt in awe. "It's as if it doesn't want anyone else than Scootaloo to race Deathborn!"
"Wait. Are you saying that the belt is alive?" Chromatic Bolt asked.
"It seems at least to have some form of consciousness. It doesn't want anyone else than the one who won it to race for it. Maybe some spell put in it or something like that so only someone worthy can use it."
Shadow Speedster groaned. "You must be kidding me..."
"Then maybe she could just... not go?" Holiday suggested.
"Then who knows what Deathborn will do," Phantom said. "He has the power to move through space and time. He could very well hunt her to another universe."
"Or we could simply go to the coordinates Deathborn gave us and then deal with him without having to race," Sweetie Void suggested in turn.
"Ah don't know why but Ah feel it won't be that simple," Apple Death said.
Sweetie Void sighed, knowing that her friend was certainly right.
"So, I guess that I'll prepare for the race," Shadow Speedster said. "But first..." She pointed at the still damaged Blue Falcon. "We need to repair it."
"Actually..." Phoenix interjected. "How about we make a machine just for you?"
"In less than a day?" Scootabot asked.
Phoenix shrugged. "I will call for help."
Chronos read the report sent to him by agent Phoenix. And after what happened with the anomaly, he was glad to see that it was mostly good news.
The anomaly, or anomalies, for starting, revealed to be nice creatures who didn't want to cause harm (excepted to the ones who deserved it) and who were terribly sorry about what they caused to the timeline. They thankfully assured that they knew a way, or someone, that could bring it back and ensure that it won't disappear again. This removed a huge weight from Chronos' shoulders.
Then, for the matter of Dearthborn. He finally showed himself. He had forcefully enlisted Black Shadow to race in the F-Zero X Grand Prix to gain the Champion Belt for him while he participated in the Underword F-Zero Grand Prix. They still weren't sure what was his participation in the Accident and the following disappearances, but they were certain that these last ones had something to do with eliminating the competition. The reason behind the Accident itself, however, was still unknown. But at least, Black Shadow failed to get the belt, thanks to one of the anomalies winning the Grand Prix for Captain Falcon, forcing Deathborn to appear and banish Black Shadow before challenging the anomaly in a race for the belt in the Underworld. No doubt that this race also concerned the Underworld belt that Deathborn certainly won.
Speaking of the belts, an unknown powerful force was apparently in the one won in the F-Zero X Grand Prix, and so, no doubt in the Underworld belt too. This explained why Deathborn was after them. They would certainly give him immeasurable power and allow him to conquer the universe. To use the power of the belts, however, you had to win them in a race. And it seemed that the Champion Belt really wanted this race to happen. How Champion Belts for a racing competition ended up with this power in them was unknown, but in the current situation, it didn't matter. The fate of the universe depended on the outcome of this race. If Deathborn wins it, everything was over. So the anomaly, who had never participated in a F-Zero race before the one she had against Black Shadow where she miraculously won, had to win at all cost.
So he wasn't surprised to see that Phoenix asked him to send everything he could to help build a F-Zero machine for the anomaly in less than twenty four hours.
"For the sake of the universe, you didn't even need to ask," he muttered.
Phoenix moved everyone to the abandoned garage that he and QQQ used for their machines, easier to access and bigger than Falcon's hideout, just beside a junkyard so there were also all the pieces they would need.
"So, you want it fast with a good maneuverability in the air," QQQ said as it was starting to scratch something on a piece of paper. "Anything else? Colors for example? Or some special design you want it to have?"
"Mmh... Could it have wings looking like the ones of a bird?" Shadow Speedster asked.
"I don't see any problem with that."
"Great! As for the colors... Maybe black? Or at least mostly black? You know, for the whole "shadow" part."
"Black. Very well." QQQ already had a good idea of what the machine will look like. And its name.
While Shadow Speedster was with QQQ, everyone else was searching in the junkyard to find and gather the pieces. Rarity was very reluctant to do this but still went on (it wasn't much different than searching for gems). Pinkie Pie easily found a lot of the pieces along with other little treasures that she wanted to bring back home. The three Rainbow Dash made it a competition with Applejack to find as many pieces as possible, and the best ones.
The only one who wasn't searching was Phoenix who had prepared the equipment in the garage and was now waiting at the entrance for someone. He didn't have to wait long. A large group of men, women, robots, and all kinds of creatures arrived with a big amount of material. They were his fellow agents from the Time Patrol, as he had hoped.
Immediately, after presenting them to the ponies, they began to work with the material they brought and the pieces that were gathered from the junkyard to build Shadow Speedster's machine. Shadow Speedster was excluded because they wanted to keep the final result a surprise from her.
So the filly used the occasion to sleep even though she had some difficulty because of how excited she was about finally getting her Cutie Mark and also because of how worried she was because of tomorrow's race. The other ponies eventually joined her. While it was still the middle of the day back in Equestria, it was the middle of the night here.
When they woke up, the agents were still working in the garage so, after a breakfast, they spreed around, either searching in the junkyard again to find nice things or exploring or entering the garage to help.
Lunch came and went, and then, after a few more hours, Phoenix came out of the garage and called Shadow Speedster, looking ready to pass out. Everyone entered the building where the pegasus filly was led to her newly built machine. As soon as she saw it, she froze in awe.
As she had wished, her machine was black. entirely black. It was a bit flattened with a rather slender body. The cockpit was at the head, behind what looked like a beak (as black as the rest), large enough so she will be able to enter it even when she will be an adult. At both sides were the wings like the filly wanted, and at the back were the thrusters made to look a bit like the tail of a bird.
"We present to you the Shadow Raven," Phoenix said.
QQQ opened the cockpit to show the inside. The chair was clearly too big for her but they made sure that she could still reach the commands. It even had a computer like the Blue Falcon.
"The wings can also unfold," the robot informed. "Unlike the Rainbow Phoenix where they expand only during a boost, yours expand only when you are in the air. It should allow you a better control when you do your... stunts. Be warned however, your machine is the frail kind. Its weight was limited as much as possible to the detriment of its solidity. Also, it will be easy for your adversaries to send you flying off-track."
Shadow Speedster wordlessly nodded to show that she acknowledged QQQ's words before she approached the machine and touched it, not believing that this was real.
"I... I-I-I don't know... How can I thank you? I can't think of anything to say or do."
"Win the race," one of the agents said with a smirk.
"Can I... Can I test it? Now?" Shadow Speedster asked.
"Of course! You need to get the hang of how it works. It's very different from the Blue Falcon," QQQ answered.
This garage not having a simulation mode, they had to bring it back to Captain Falcon's hideout (after thanking the agents and saying goodbye to them) where the Captain moved the Blue Falcon elsewhere. Once the Shadow Raven was at the Blue Falcon's place, they linked the machine's computer to the one in the hideout and activated the simulation mode.
Shadow Speedster immediately saw the difference. The Shadow Raven had a much higher top speed than the Blue Falcon, leading to many changes in how to control the machine and how to approach the tracks. It was also lighter so, allied with the greater speed, it allowed her to plane longer after a jump. And as she had wanted, she had greater control of the machine while in the air, allowing her to do crazier things.
One after another, she tested the machine on the tracks that the computer had in its simulation and completed all of them in record time, especially the ones that gave her the occasion to work her magic. If she found a way to take a shortcut by doing some stunt no matter how dangerous it was, she used it. She soared over the tracks and was having the time of her life, feeling in her element.
And most of all, she felt more confident in her victory against Deathborn.
Four machines flew through the tunnels of the Underworld. At the head was Captain Falcon's Blue Falcon who was following the coordinates given by Deathborn. The three others were Phoenix's Rainbow Phoenix, QQQ's Rolling Turtle, and Shadow Speedster's Shadow Raven, who were following the first. In the Shadow Raven were also Sweetie Void, Phantom, and Apple Death. All the others remained in Captain Falcon's hideout where they could only wait.
They reached a huge gate which looked like it was made of giant bones, including a giant skull with the eye sockets glowing red. At their approach, the gate opened, allowing them to continue.
Behind the gate was a track with the path that they were following leading them right onto it, before the line. The ceiling of the chamber they were in had a very long backbone right above the track with its ribs surrounding it. They couldn't see it, but the computers in their machines also warned them that there was lava under the track. Thankfully, there were big bone-like guard rails that will ensure that nobody will fall unless they were propelled above it. Looking at the guard rails, Shadow Speedster wasn't even sure that she could use the same trick than she used in Phantom Road.
The four machines stopped before Deathborn who was standing, waiting with a belt in his left hand. Shadow Speedster then opened her cockpit to show herself to her current enemy.
"So this is what you look like, Champion of the F-Zero X Grand Prix. I've been waiting for you. I see that you brought some friends to witness your death. Did you bring the champion's belt?"
Glaring at Deathborn, Shadow Speedster put her belt on her back and jumped out of her vehicle. "I did. Now what?"
"Good." He released his belt which floated up toward the ceiling of the chamber. To her surprise, Shadow Speedster's belt also floated up to join it. The two belts then started to circle each other faster and faster as a huge quantity of some green energy gathered between them.
"Let me guess," Sweetie Void began. "We won't be able to simply kill you and be done here without racing, right?"
"You guessed right," Deathborn answered her. "But you can try to attack me and see for yourself."
Hesitating a bit, Sweetie Void fired a beam at Deathborn only for it to be intercepted and destroyed by a bolt of energy coming from the belts.
"Darn..."
Deathborn laughed. "Nothing will work. These belts will ensure that. The two universal forces of Light and Dark that make up our universe are condensed within them."
"The forces of Light and Dark?!" Phoenix shouted before, in a blinding flash, the two belts merged into one and began to slowly descend onto an elevated area beside the track, accessible by a small staircase.
"You heard me right. And when these two forces become one, it becomes possible to seize that power. But first, it must be won. Only its Champion will be worthy to use it. And it will allow no one to interfere with the race that will decide who between me and you..." He pointed at Shadow Speedster. "will become that Champion."
"But how come these two forces are in these belts?" Sweetie Void wondered.
"I am responsible of that," Deathborn answered, making everyone look bemusedly at him. "Through space and time I travelled in search of artefacts left by the Creator to discover how to obtain the Ultimate Power. Despite many setbacks, especially caused by your cursed Time Patrol..." He glared at Phoenix and QQQ at this. "I gathered all of them only to find out that I had to win this power from an F-Zero race. And in order to do so, I had to find the Light and Dark rubies and convince the merchants at the head of the F-Zero competition to put them in belts for two different Grand Prix so the two champions would then race each other to determine who would get the power. Yes, I was as bemused as you when I found out," he said upon seeing everyone's faces. "I have no fucking idea why this had to be this way. I'm suspecting that the Creator is just eccentric and loves F-Zero races so They decided to turn them into an ordeal to decide on who would obtain this power."
"Seriously?" Apple Death deadpanned.
"I couldn't think of a better explanation! Shut up! So, anyway, I found the rubies and caused what is now called the Accident to put a temporary end on the F-Zero Grand Prix in order to prepare everything. I showed myself to one of the merchants and gave him the rubies before convincing him to put them in new belts for two Grand Prix for the revival of the competition, the usual one and a new one in the Underworld. I then charged him to convince the other merchants to agree to the idea while I recruited Black Shadow to work for me. While I would compete in the Underworld Grand Prix to obtain the Dark Belt, he would compete in the other Grand Prix to obtain the Light one, and he had carte blanche to do everything he could to ensure his victory. I would then race him to obtain his belt and obtain the Ultimate Power. And yet, despite killing almost every racers who previously became champions, and cloning Falcon, he managed to lose last year, delaying my goal. I still gave him a second chance only to lose again! And to a newcomer in addition to that! So I decided that enough was enough! Instead of taking the belt from him, I will take it from your corpse!"
"In your dream, Glasshead! I will get this belt!" Shadow Speedster shouted.
Deathborn laughed mockingly before he climbed into his machine that reminded of a purple dragon. Shadow Speedster climbed back into her Shadow Raven too while the others quickly moved the remaining machines back on the path leading to the track to be out of the way.
"How I waited for this moment!" Deathborn exclaimed from the cockpit of his vehicle. "The world will fall into total darkness."
Shadow Speedster glared at him as she took place beside his machine. "Let's go!"
Everything activated, and the countdown began.
Three...
Two...
One...
They both took off at once, and Scootaloo immediately took the lead with the speed of her Shadow Raven.
Piece of- "Gwah!"
Shadow Speedster suddenly flew into a landmine placed on the track, not long after entering a tunnel. Thankfully, it wasn't a powerful one. It just damaged her machine a bit and she was quickly able to regain control, the explosion even overcharging her engine, giving her a small boost. However, she saw that a couple more followed this one here and there, and certainly there will be more elsewhere.
This turned her speed against her. With how fast she was going, if she saw another one right on her path, she won't be able to react in time to avoid it. Her machine being the frail type, taking too many of them could destroy it, and the sudden boost could even lead her to crash into the guard rail if they were placed at turns. Thankfully, the mine she crashed into had been in a smooth turn and just before a Pit Row (with no mine on it).
But to avoid crashing into more of these mines, she decided to slow down. Deathborn took advantage of this and caught up, almost getting her with a Spin Attack that she barely dodged. The jerk obviously knew the placement of the mines because he didn't have any problem avoiding them despite his speed.
After the Pit Row, they exited the tunnel and entered a huge lava chamber that seemed to be the core part of the track as there was a U-turn section passing above the one they were currently on. The rib cage of a huge creature encompassed the two sections, like in the first chamber, excepted that the backbone wasn't against the ceiling and ended right above the entrance of the next tunnel.
Shadow Speedster had to avoid more mines, but she was now wondering if she should just say "screw it" and accelerate at the risk of hitting them to catch up to Deathborn who was getting further and further away from her. Also, even if they damaged her machine, the small boost they gave was non-negligible. It would be a risk to take. And this could even make her future laps easier. The more mines she destroyed in this one, the less she will have to avoid afterward.
So she did that as she entered the tunnel at the other side of the chamber. She accelerated and, as expected, ended up hitting a mine, getting a boost. However, she quickly regretted her decision when the mine was followed by a very sharp U-turn. She reacted in time to drift, but still ended hitting the guard rail and scraping it as she continued to advance, damaging her machine a bit more. She didn't slow down however, not deciding to back up. She still hit another mine, and her machine was already near the breaking point. Another mine and this would be the end.
But luck was at her side as she didn't hit more mines and reached a Pit Row that repaired her machine. She sighed in relief only to quickly move to the right as she spotted a lava area at the left just after the end of the Pit Row. More lava areas followed, and Shadow Speedster had all the pain in the world avoiding them, still ending up flying above one of them so her machine was damaged again. But Deathborn didn't place mines among these lava areas so at least there was that small respite. And another Pit Row even followed as they returned inside the lava chamber, now on the U-turn section under which they passed earlier.
The mines were back after the U-turn however and she hit one just before they entered another tunnel just at the right of the exit of the previous one. She took a second mine but mercifully reached yet another Pit Row. This track revealed surprisingly generous in them, even if this last row was rather short. Still enough to repair the Shadow Raven after these mines. Then she took two more mines and finally caught up to Deathborn while reaching a fifth Pit Row not far before the exit of the tunnel where they finally returned at the line. There was one last mine that she avoided only to be hit by a Spin Attack from her rival that almost sent her flying above the guard rail.
Growling, she quickly recovered and passed the line starting the second lap and unlocking the boost. Having cleaned the track of a good half of its mines and having an idea of the placement of the remaining ones, she didn't hesitate activating it even if it meant bringing the Shadow Raven near its breaking point. Again, she caught up to Deathborn after reaching the first Pit Row inside the first tunnel. Side to side with him as they entered the main chamber, she avoided an attack from him only to run right into a mine again. The boost it gave her allowed her to take the lead, but Deathborn immediately boosted to catch up and attempted to ram her just after they entered the second tunnel. She avoided him but, as a result, he took the lead again.
Shadow Speedster didn't attempt to catch up right away with a boost as they reached the sharp U-turn. This time, she was able to avoid hitting the wall and then let herself being hit by a mine to gain a boost while ensuring that there will be one less mine to worry about in the third lap. She repaired her machine with the Pit Row that followed and caught up with Deathborn before they reached the lava areas. Knowing that a Pit Row followed, she decided to be reckless and didn't hesitate flying above these lava areas while avoiding a Spin Attack from Deathborn. She attacked him with her own Spin Attack in return but he avoided her too and accelerated with a boost. Seeing that she managed to avoid taking too much damage with the lava, she boosted too, hot on his tail. She made sure to not miss the Pit Row as she returned in the main chamber.
With another boost after the U-turn, she was able to take the lead, and this time, she then boosted again to not lose it as Deathborn boosted too to try to get it back. The two were going absolutely wild with their boost, Shadow Speedster avoiding all the mines and flying over all the Pit rows. She gained more and more distance on him, and by the time she reached the line, she was far enough ahead that she started to get confident that victory was hers. But she knew not to let her guard down. She still had the third lap to go through, and anything could happen.
When they returned in the main chamber, Shadow Speedster contemplated if there was anyway she could do a stunt to take a shortcut to the U-turn section, but she found none. Too bad, finding a way to reach the U-turn safely from here would have assured her victory. Instead, she boosted and boosted to keep her lead as Deathborn was also boosting.
Only to hit a mine again before the sharp U-turn in the second tunnel, leading to her hitting the wall again.
"Darn it!"
Deathborn obviously used the occasion to pass her and take the lead, but she didn't lose time and quickly went after him, rapidly catching up. But she remained behind him until reaching the Pit Row as the Shadow Raven was almost at its breaking point again. Once they passed the row, she then accelerated only for Deathborn to place himself in front of her to stop her from passing, not hesitating to go on the lava areas for that.
"Out of my way!" she shouted as she attempted to pass again and again but failed.
They passed the lava areas, and then the U-turn section. Finally, she was able to trick him by making it look like she was going to pass him by the left only to go by the right at the last second. Now, the two were side by side in the last tunnel before the finish line. she had the speed, but this last tunnel had some twists and turns that really worked for Deathborn, especially a last sharp U-turn before the last Pit Row. As a result, the two were constantly taking the lead back and forth while they also attacked each other, Deathborn being the more violent of the two without surprise.
But then, as they reached the last Pit Row, Shadow Speedster remembered that there was one last mine right after it. Acting quickly, she baited Deathborn to attack her, and he took it. He attempted to ram into her only for her to suddenly slow down, letting Deathborn to go too much to the left before her. She then quickly boosted to catch back up and did a Spin Attack.
She hit him and sent him right into the mine. Because of him missing his attack followed by taking Shadow Speedster's Spin Attack, he had already badly lost control of his vehicle. The mine finished to send his machine out of control, ending up with him passing above the guard rail to fall into the lava.
"It can't be! Nooooooooooo!!!" His scream brusquely stopped when him machine crashed into the lava and exploded.
Right as the explosion resounded, Shadow Speedster passed the finish line, winning the race. Victorious, she stopped right before the stairs leading to the belt. She jumped out of her vehicle and was immediately joined by her friends.
Sweetie Void tackle-hugged her before doing a spin with her against her chest. "You did it, Scoot! You won!"
"You got him good with that last one!" Phantom said.
"Yeah. We couldn't see much of the race because there weren't screens to follow, but we saw that last part and, darn, girl! That's savage!" Apple Death exclaimed.
Sweetie Void released Shadow Speedster who turned to look at Captain Falcon, Phoenix, and QQQ. The Captain gave her his proudest smile and a two-fingered salute while Phoenix signed for her to go take the belt and QQQ simply clapped with its pincer hands. Now having a huge grin splitting her muzzle, Shadow Speedster climbed the stairs and waited as the belt lowered from its position to go to her hooves.
She finally had a good look at the new belt that came from the two merging. It remained golden, but it now was two times bigger than the original ones, had wings, and a huge gemstone. But when it got close to her, the belt shrunk until it could suit around her barrel. Once it was in place, the gemstone started to blindingly glow yellow.
"Now, even if you still thought that you didn't deserve the previous belt, you do deserve this one," Phoenix said.
"I agree. By defeating the Champion of the Underworld, you proved yourself to be the real Champion of the F-Zero," QQQ added.
"I... I... Woah..." Shadow Speedster was just speechless. She didn't know what to say. Everything went so fast. And becoming the ultimate Champion of some racing competition... It had only been in her wildest dreams, and they all involved flying competitions, not racing with vehicles.
Before she could find anything to say however, she saw a figure limp its way through the line, using a guard rail to keep itself from falling.
Deathborn was still alive, but in terrible shape. His body was terribly damaged, his cape was pretty much gone and his clothes were also very badly burned, exposing more of his mostly mechanical body which sparked every now and then. Also, the glass covering his brain was destroyed, leaving his most vital organ vulnerable. The brain had some glass shards poking out of it by the way. It was a wonder that he was still alive.
Seeing that Shadow Speedster had her attention on something else, everyone turned at where she was looking. Upon seeing him, they all readied themselves. But before they could act, Shadow Speedster walked down the stairs and passed them to face the defeated evil overlord.
"How... could I lose...?" Deathborn questioned.
"Pure skills," Shadow Speedster smugly answered.
A terrifying growl came out of Deathborn's breathing mask before he pointed a finger at her. "Next year, I won't lose! I will get this belt!"
Shadow Speedster shook her head. "There won't be a next year." She took the belt from her barrel and raised it with her hoof, its gemstone facing Deathborn. A beam of light then came out of the gemstone and hit the villain. Deathborn yelled in pain as a huge quantity of energy coursed his body for several seconds. When it stopped, he had to kneel.
He saw then that Captain Falcon and Phoenix were beside him, having placed themselves so he was between them and the guard rail.
"Deathborn, your threat ends tonight," Phoenix said.
Captain Falcon cracked his knuckled. "You said the world will fall into darkness, but you will be the one falling into the light. Falcon..."
"Phoenix..."
The two readied a punch, fire enveloping their fists. Deathborn could only look in horror, not even able to scream.
"PUNCH!!!"
The two punched him in the face exactly at the same time, one with a fist covered in a falcon of fire, and the covered in a phoenix. Deathborn's breathing mask was destroyed and his face was burned and slightly pushed into his head, crushing his brain a bit as some of it spilled through the opening left by the glass. He was then sent flying above the guard rail to crash on the wall of the chamber, leaving a small crater, before he fell into the lava below.
Sweetie Void went to observe his fall, watching from above the guard rail. "Mmh... I don't think he will come back from that."
Phoenix snorted. "If he somehow comes back to life despite that, I give up."
"Bah, if he comes back, we will be here to make him regret returning," Phantom said with a tone that indicated she hoped this would happen to have some fun with him. "Right, Bloom?"
"Eeyup!"
Sweetie Void gave a creepy giggle. "I know some nice games we could play with him."
Shadow Speedster gulped. "These three scare me..."
The three other pilots silently agreed.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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11258705
The last world from the original Smash Bros not yet explored: Earthbound/Mother.
11258708
Wait, so Ness was not Sans?
11259079
Nope.
I just realized what Sweetie's interactions with you as an authorial entity remind me of: many of The Narrator's lines in The Stanley Parable. Specifically scenes where Sweetie does, says, or thinks something snarky at you and then you snark back in the narration remind me a lot of how the Narrator's lines are written. As examples: "Stanley went around touching every little thing in the office, but this did not serve to progress the story in any way", "But Stanley was in such a rush to get through the story, he didn't have a single moment to stop and just let the Narrator talk", "At first Stanley thought he had broken the map, but then he heard this line of dialogue and realized that it was an intentional part of the game's design all along", and one of my personal favorites: the entirety of the Broom Closet scene. I doubt it's intentional on your part, but the way you respond to Sweetie evokes that style of writing and I absolutely adore that!
11259641
Yeah, this is a bit the same stuff.
I never heard of this story before you spoke about it, and it seems hilarious.
WOO!!
new chapter!!~
I'm really hoping there will be a part where Sweetie's negotiations with the merchants ends up with them coming up with an idea for a multiversal grand prix.
11259773
Before you have them leave this universe, could you have Captain Falcon and Shadow Speedster race only to get a tie? That way, Speedster can leave the belt with Falcon until the next race. Plus it would just be epic seeing those two race each other.
11262902
The problem is that having a tie in a race, especially in a F-Zero race, is almost impossible. You have to cross the finish line at exactly the same time. Not just the same second, or not even at the same millisecond, but at the same nanosecond, at least.
11262988
At least have them race once before you move on to the next world.
Punch-Out!!! Wii!