Chapter 98: One Last Enemy
The group returned victorious into Captain Falcon's hideout where Shadow Speedster couldn't wait to tell her Rainbow Dash and Apple Bloom (without forgetting the others) the good news. However, when they entered, they found the place empty. But they quickly found a message left.
Find us at the Bet & Race Dollars!
Pinkie Pie
"The Bet & Race Dollars?" Phantom asked.
"I know this place," Captain Falcon answered. "It's a bar that is also a lounge and inn where F-Zero racers regularly go to have a drink while betting and participating in races. Even questionnable people like Zoda and Pico frequent it, causing at worst a small bar fight. And while this is pretty much war on the tracks, it isn't rare to see what are usually enemies share a drink there. I saw for example Super Arrow and Zoda drink together at the same table more than once."
Shadow Speedster snorted. "When I will tell Spike that a superhero can have a drink and a civilized conversation with a supervillain without trying to fight each other, he won't believe it."
"Well then, lead us ta that bar, Captain. Ah already have an idea of what's awaiting us there," Apple Death said.
Sweetie Void giggled. "Anybody knowing Pinkie Pie a minimum should."
Following the Blue Falcon, they found the bar which was located in the entertainment district on the outskirts of Mute City, part of a huge chain of establishments called Casino Palace which included, you guessed right, lots of casinos but also huge casino-themed domes where F-Zero tracks were located for people to bet and race. Some of these tracks were even officially part of the F-Zero X Grand Prix even if none of them were used this year. No wonder F-Zero pilots frequented this place so much. It offered them many occasions to gain big amounts of money while waiting for the yearly Grand Prix and its billion in money award. The Bet & Race Dollars itself was linked to a casino area with a track.
They parked outside the bar and entered it, quickly hearing the cacophony of dozens of people speaking and laughing loudly in a good atmosphere that was usual in that kind of place (that or huge bar fights that included bottles and chairs being thrown and smashed) while a nice and catchy jazzy song was playing from a jukebox.
They entered the bar itself where they finally found the ponies as well as many F-Zero pilots, both who participated in the Grand Prix and who didn't. There were the Arrow couple with Mrs. Arrow holding a baby, Zoda who was at their table, Bio Rex who was drinking a bottle of beer in his corner, Jody and John who had both recovered but still had some bandages, Dr. Stewart drinking with Jack Levin, Gomar and Shioh, Silver Neelsen, The Skull, and Leon. Among the pilots who didn't participate in the Grand Prix but that Sweetie Void recognized were Mighty Gazelle, a racer who had been the most injured in the Accident to the point that they had been forced to almost entirely replace his body with mechanical parts, a dark skinned man in a purple suit known as Baba, a muscled man with various animal parts constituting his attire known as Beastman, and a dark skinned woman with afro hair who was a famous singer called Kate Alen. There was also a teen lightly clothed in red with lots of hearts decorating them, her hair even looking like one, and even Mr. Zero was present. Dr. Clash was the barman, his artificial arms on his back allowing him to serve drinks faster.
Pinkie Pie suddenly popped in front of the new arrivals. "Here you are! I knew you would defeat that Deathjerk so I prepared a party for you!"
Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Not a surprise party?"
"I know! But I wasn't able to convince these guys to remain silent more than five seconds..." the mare said sadly before her smile returned. "So I turned it into a normal party! I wanted to have it in Captain Falcon's hideout but I thought that he wouldn't like his hideout not being hidden anymore. And Phoenix's garage was out of the question because it's stinky over there. No offense."
"None taken. It's a junkyard after all," the time traveller reassured with a shrug.
The group advanced into the room where they were greeted by everyone.
"Ah! The guest of honor is finally here!" Silver shouted. "You sure put that Black idiot back to his place! Ah ha ha!"
"Your belt looks different from the one you won in the Grand Prix," Dr. Stewart remarked. "Did you win it by defeating that Deathborn?"
"Yeah, he merged his belt from the Underworld Grand Prix with the F-Zero X Grand Prix's belt and this is the result," Shadow Speedster answered.
"Oh! So this is, like, the ultimate Champion Belt? It looks gorgeous," Kate said. "But what will this mean for the future Grand Prix?"
"Well, no idea, but we have one year to figure it out with the merchants," Sweetie Void stated. "Including the fact that this is Shadow Speedster who won the Grand Prix instead of Captain Falcon. I don't know how this will go." She said this while eyeing Mr. Zero who could report this to his bosses.
Mr. Zero remarked this and gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I won't tell anything and will let you do it your way. With some luck, you will be able to convince them not to disqualify you and take back the belt to give it to Black Shadow. But since Black Shadow is gone, then Phoenix would probably be the one receiving it as he was the last one to fall off the track, unless they decide to just redo the race. But I understand that they wouldn't be able to take it back anyway, right?"
"Yeah. This belt has some force inside it that accepted me as its true owner after I won it against Deathborn. It won't let anybody take it away from me."
"A force, uh? So this is why Black Shadow and Deathborn were after it?" Zoda asked with interest, leading to Super Arrow giving him the stink eye as he guessed what he was thinking.
"If you want this belt for your evil schemes, you will have to win it in next year's Grand Prix," the Superhero warned. "And if you decide to participate, then I will too to stop you."
"If you want to stop me, then start by getting better at driving a machine! You are a disaster on the tracks!"
"Ugh... I wasn't that bad... At least compared to last year..."
"Yeah. I admit. You at least managed to not get yourself disqualified right at the first race."
If the fillies didn't know that these two were mortal enemies, they would think that they were just bickering rivals. Sometimes, people really had weird relationships.
"So, how did the race go?" Chromatic Bolt asked.
"It has been pretty close," Shadow Speedster answered. "I had the speed advantage, but the track had many twists and turns that forced me to limit it or be careful. It wasn't helped that there were many mines placed all over it, and hitting them not only damaged my machine but also gave it a sudden small boost. Made me hit the walls a couple of times. And meanwhile, Deathborn knew the track like the back of his hand as well as the placements of the mines and had a machine perfectly adapted to it. He was also extremely violent and he almost sent me flying above the barrier. And the worst part? No way for me to do one of my tricks to gain a big advance. The track had no place that would allow me to do it. So yeah, everything was stacked against me! But despite this, I won!"
The filly then proceeded to recount everything to everyone listening while the "party" started for good. It wasn't really what you would call a "Pinkie Pie Party" however. She set up food and games like usual, but they were still inside a bar, meaning that alcoholic beverages were also present in big quantity compared to the usually child friendly parties she hosted. Thankfully, Dr. Clash was very thoughtful and avoided serving such drinks to the fillies and the ponies in general unless they asked for one like, without surprise, the three Rainbow Dash as well as Applejack.
Phantom also joined in. "I may make myself look like a child, but I can be any age I want and half of me is an adult. So bring in the booze. The hard stuff. I really missed having a good drink. And sorry AJ, but your hard cider doesn't hold a candle to the real good stuff."
"Heresy!" the three Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Don't believe me? Alright. Doctor, give these mares the same than me!"
Let's just say that the pegasi will wake up the next day with a big hangover.
It was already late in the night so the party didn't last as long as the usual ones, but it still went on for a couple of hours before the ponies went to the rooms they rented in the inn part of the building. Captain Falcon didn't mind giving them some of the money he won thanks to Shadow Speedster winning the Grand Prix. He was even ready to give to her half of the billion for being the one who won it, but since she didn't have an account yet in this universe, he had to wait.
But before, some of the pilots present wanted to have a race. Not all of them could participate in reason of their machine not being repaired yet after the last race of the Grand Prix, but they were still more than enough to have a fun and challenging one, also using this as a new occasion to gain money through bets. The Shadow Raven not being in top shape after the race against Deathborn, Shadow Speedster wasn't able to participate in it, but she still enjoyed it among the public. The race ended with Dr. Stewart's victory, with Gomar and Shioh getting second place and Captain Falcon getting third. As good as Captain Falcon was, even him couldn't win every races. But he still showed why he was the one who had been about to win the Grand Prix. He remained at the head for a good part of the race and only lost because Dr. Stewart managed to push him onto a mud area, an area that had for effect to slow down any machine flying above one, in the last lap.
With the race over, everyone either left the building or entered a room to sleep. Upon morning, the ponies would then return to their respective Equestria after saying goodbye to Captain Falcon and the others. As for the diplomatic side? Well, this universe will need the intervention of real professional diplomats instead of Sweetie Void going to have the first talk. It had already been a miracle that she managed to convince the Galactic Federation from Samus' universe to open discussions with Equestria (helped a lot by her help against the Space Pirates and the Phazon threat). But this universe's Galactic Federation spread across seven galaxies instead of just one and had descent diplomatic relationships with most of the other organisations of this universe. As such, this universe was pretty unified compared to all the ones Sweetie Void visited until now, even Star Fox's universe. Convincing this Galactic Federation to join would mean convincing this whole universe, or at least the big majority of it. This was too much for just a single filly, and this would obviously take far more than just a few days. So yeah, professionals were needed. Many. And possibly from more than one universe.
So, first, Sweetie Void will have to talk to Celestia, who will then have to talk with other leaders such as Chairman Keaton or General Pepper to plan together how to proceed with beginning discussions with this universe. Succeeding in convincing this universe to join would be very good. The alliance Equestria and the other universes were forming would benefit a lot. Just thinking of what they could do with that technology they used to create the Phantom Road track... Which was actually very similar to the technology from the Pokémon World, used to turn Pokémon into data to store into computers. But here, it was actually like creating a whole pocket dimension out of data with a rift to allow even ships to enter it! Such technology was so advanced that it could be compared to magic! And even that was beyond what the more powerful mages in Equestria - including the alicorns - could do! Only beings like Discord, Phantom, and Sweetie Void herself could think of doing something of this level! But Sweetie Void didn't know yet how to pull this off. She still needed to train.
Also, Sweetie Void remembered to try to talk to DD about this universe's timeline. She owed this to Phoenix and the Time Patrol.
Shadow Speedster's sleep was suddenly interrupted by three voice echoing in her head.
Wake up!
"Waaahhh!!!" The filly brusquely bounced on her be before groaning and rubbing her eyes because of the abrupt awakening. "Ugh... Who the heck...?"
The three voices that she heard in her head then giggled, this time coming from the Champion Belt she placed on a nightstand beside her bed, before three lights came out of it and began to fly around her. These lights revealed to be the origins of these voices, and they continued to laugh.
"Scootaloo! Hahahahhh..." a first voice said
"Or is it Shadow Speedster? Mwahahahahahhhh..." a second voice followed.
"Let's go with Scootaloo. It's less of a mouthful. Ha ha ha ha ha..." a third voice finished.
Shadow Speedster looked around at the three lights, curling up a bit as she was getting scared. "Wha-what is going on? W-who are you?"
"Aww... Look as the little thing. Huhuhuhu," the first voice said with a coo that was obviously fake.
"Hehehehehe! Where did that bravado you used against Deathborn go?" the second voice asked.
"Don't worry. We won't attack you," the third voice tried to reassure, but Shadow Speedster still felt chills as she continued to look alternatively between the three lights.
But then, the lights returned inside the belt, or more exactly, inside the gemstone which was glowing again. Carefully, Shadow Speedster grabbed the belt to look closely at the gemstone. Inside it, she could see the ghostly form of three faces that were alternatively going forward as they spoke.
"We are the Creator," the first voice, from the face at the left, finally answered her second question.
"The Creator? As in... Gods?" Shadow Speedster asked.
"Not Gods. God. Singular," the second voice, coming from the face in the middle, corrected.
"We are a single entity," the third voice, coming from the face at the right, clarified.
"And as it implies, We created everything in this universe," the left face continued.
"Including Deathborn, who was Our best creation," the middle face said.
"What a surprise that you managed to beat him," the right face finished.
"You created Deathborn?! But why?! And why are you inside a belt?" Shadow Speedster asked, now truly terrified. If this Creator created something as evil as Deathborn and took pride in it, then this wasn't a benevolent God like Void or Arceus.
"We created him for pure entertainment purpose," the left face answered.
"We also wanted a powerful Champion to take their soul and make them Ours," the middle face continued.
"And We thought of using the F-Zero Grand Prix to test him," the right one said.
"Admittedly, in the whole universe, We find nothing more entertaining than F-Zero races."
"So We tricked Deathborn into believing that in order to gain Ultimate Power, he had to prove himself by winning the two belts containing the two gems that were supposedly containing the Forces of Light And Dark, which he had to convince the merchants to create first."
"But in truth, there was nothing in these belts. As soon as Deathborn would have won them, we would have taken his soul and turned him into Our puppet. There is no Ultimate Power. No universal forces, excepted Us."
Shadow Speedster couldn't believe what she was hearing. So all of this was just one big manipulation from this God to gain a puppet while getting some entertainment? The Ultimate Power, a big lie! All that happened, the Accident, the disappearances, the races to stop Black Shadow and Deathborn, for nothing!
"Hahahahahhh... But somehow, you defeated Deathborn and became the champion of the two Grand Prix," the left face continued.
"You proved yourself superior to him!"
"We knew this could be an eventuality, so this is why We tested him. We wanted nothing but the best after all. Uhuhuh..."
"And so, instead of taking his soul..."
"We will take yours..."
"And turn you into..."
"Our creation!" the three shouted at last before they burst out of the belt again, this time not as lights but as some kind of blue spirits each wearing some armor (helmet included), one bronze, one silver, and one gold. Reality distorted around the filly, finding herself in a completely different dimension that had absolutely nothing beside some multicolored fog that wasn't too dense. And yet, Shadow Speedster was still standing on some invisible floor, and she saw her Shadow Raven appear beside her, repaired.
"However, We will give you a chance, just to make it less boring," the spirit in bronze armor, which revealed to be the bearer of the first voice, said.
"If you defeat Us in a race, then We won't take your soul. We swear," the spirit in silver armor, bearer of the second voice, said.
"But there is no way this will happen. Ah ah ah ah ah ah!" the spirit in gold armor, the third voice, said mockingly.
Shadow Speedster gulped. Racing against a God? Was this even possible to win? But she had to. She didn't want to become this guy's puppet. So, filling with resolve, she said, "Challenge accepted! Bring it on!" before she jumped into her machine.
The three spirits gave her mocking laughs before they said, "Are you ready?" Then, in a flash, they merged together to form a ghostly copy of her Shadow Raven which placed itself beside hers. The multicolored fog then disappeared, revealing that they were in a dimension similar to Phantom Road, on a new track. On the little that she could see from her position, she could see no guard rail. She didn't know if this was the case for the whole track, but if that was...
The countdown then began and she quickly readied herself.
3...
2...
1...
Shadow Speedster and the Creator took off at the same time, the two machines going off side by side. The Creator having made an exact copy of the Shadow Raven, it meant that the two machines had exactly the same speed and power, so this race will entirely depend on the filly's skill. She however quickly found out something. The Creator's machine being ghostly, it was entirely intangible. No way to touch it, and thus, to attack it to make it fall beyond the edges of the track. This also meant that the Creator couldn't attack her.
So, again, pure skill in piloting the Shadow Raven will determinate who will win.
The race started alright for Shadow Speedster. She was side by side with her rival as they flew on a mostly straight line. Then, they arrived at a large turn to the right, nothing challenging. It was after this turn however that the real challenge began as more turns followed, starting with a U-turn that wasn't too sharp but still was a bit tricky as it was immediately followed by another turn. Then came another U-turn, this one much sharper, that formed an horizontal loop with the exit passing above the entrance. After that was an ascending spiral composed of two more loops, the second one much smaller than the first one, before this calmed. And all the while there weren't any barrier. Any screw up and the race would end for Shadow Speedster.
Because of this series of turns and loops, Shadow Speedster was forced to slow down to avoid such screw ups while learning the track's layout, allowing the Creator to take the lead. And the worst part was that this whole series of turns and loops didn't offer any occasion for the filly to do one of her tricks. At least, beside the absence of guard rails, there weren't any obstacles. And no Pit Row too by the way, meaning that she will have to be careful with the boost once she unlocked it.
But first, she reached an hill like there had been on the Slim-Line Slits track, allowing her to launch herself in the air, but no trick occasion again to her annoyance. The hill was followed by a series of four small jumps, the third one and fourth one each preceded by a sharp turn. Finally, before the line, there was a single Pit Row.
Just one Pit Row on the whole track? And just before the line? Gonna have to use the boost smartly.
While she did the first lap, she didn't just took note of the layout of the track, but also of how the Creator piloted. The Creator was an extremely good pilot, no surprise here. They drifted and took these turns and loops perfectly. However, she quickly saw that They weren't the daring type. They avoided all risks, not getting near the edges as much as possible. It meant that they weren't taking the turns as closely as They could to gain precious seconds, and remained at a safe speed while still making sure to remain fast enough.
Which wasn't the case of Shadow Speedster. She didn't know a filly more daring than her, without counting her crazy alicorn friend and her alternate selves. As such, after using a first boost in the straight line that followed the line, she made sure to take all the turns as tightly as possible, remaining close to the inner edges and using the boost when she felt it wouldn't send her flying off track. She especially used it at the top of the hill to remain flying longer. While in the air, thanks to the speed she gained, she was able to glide for a good while, skipping a good part of the track including the first two jumps, finally catching up to the Creator. She then passed Them thanks to the two sharp turns that followed, drifting close to the inner edges while going as fast as she could without going beyond the opposite edges.
As she passed Them, she made sure to give them the smuggest smirk she could. "Punny God."
After recharging her energy on the Pit Row and starting the third lap, she continued as she did. She took the turns dangerously even if it meant having half of her machine above nothing for a moment, leaving the Creator in the dust. The Creator did try to follow her example but They clearly hesitated, not as confident, and still weren't as extreme as she was being.
And so, Shadow Speedster passed the finish line several seconds before Them. Immediately, the track disappeared and the multicolored fog returned, covering back the dimension. The Creator, not believing that They lost, lost control of Their machine before They separated and flew away in different direction in total panic and confusion. The dimension then disappeared and Shadow Speedster found herself where she parked the Shadow Raven, not far of the entrance of the Bet & Race Dollar.
She let out a huge sigh, slumping against her pilot's chair. This race revealed to be less difficult than the one against Deathborn, but it still was a very stressful one because of the absence of guard rails and the fact that there had been only one Pit Row. This track forced her to dance with Death pretty much from beginning to end with how dangerously she had had to take these turns to pass her rival.
A big smile formed on her muzzle. "I beat a God in a race... Awesome! Wait until I say that to Rainbow Dash and the others!"
Meanwhile, DD finished Their snack. This Creator wasn't as tasty and filling as a third category God, but They made a good appetizer while waiting for the main course.
But there was one thing that DD could agree with the Creator, these F-Zero races made for a very good entertainment. The Devourers that directly devoured universes really missed a lot.
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YES!!
NEW CHAPTER!!
..also..first comment of the chapter!~
The stakes in this race hardly seemed fair. Scotaloo's loss meant losing her soul while her win was a big net zero. The Creator being turned into an appetizer seemed like a fair punishment for forcing her into a net zero race. Though I guess now the belt is nothing more than a shiny accessory.
11270255
And yet that's pretty much how it goes in the game. After defeating Deathborn, Falcon is challenged by the Creator who threatens to take his soul to turn him into Their creation. The only stake was whether Falcon keeps his soul or not at the end. Probably this race was just one big ego-trip for the Creator to show Their superiority.
11270265
Epic. Any hints on which world will have the next adventure in? Or will it finally be the SSB one?
11270372
Well, there's still one world from the first SSB to explore.
aaaaaaand just finished reading the chapter
another very good one...wonder whats next.
11270387
Earthbound?
11270473
I mean the first SSB wasn’t that big. Via elimination it’s pretty obvious.
What about Phantom? With the Phantom Ruby the illusions could replicate the things of F-Zero... And talking about Phantom, as I read her drinking... Could Sweetie Void also drink or she is not interested? And what about the 'Creator', did Sweetie Void not notice it? Or decided to leave 'it' alone? I could imagine even if somehow Scootaloo managed to lose, that Sweetie Void could try to recover her soul
11270473
11270487
Exact!
11270576
Right. Yeah. Sorry, I wrote this part very late in the night so...
She could, yes, but she is not interested. However, alcohol would have no effect on her if she wants. She could drink whole barrels and not get drunk, and not wake up the next morning with a monster hangover. When you can do whatever you want with your own body, you can easily reject substances you don't want in it or make it so it develop a total immunity to said substances.
She felt Their energy, but she couldn't pinpoint that this energy was actually a God or from a God. She can feel energies but not what is their sources. And the Creator made sure to remain hidden. However, yeah, the UME would have flipped the whole universe to chase the Creator and recuperate Shadow Speedster's soul. I don't know what were the limits of the Creator's power, but the fillies would have certainly kicked Their non-existent butt.
well that was close. Shadow racer scootaloo had to beat Deathborn just to keep him from gaining the ultimate power. only to out-race the Creator, who tried to puppet her soul? DAMN that was WAAAY too many close calls. at least DD made sure they couldn't pull this stunt again by devouring their exsistence.
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And that's just after winning a Grand Prix to beat the worst criminal in the galaxy, and maybe in some others, all the while being a beginner.