F-Zero: Seppuku - Part 1/3, Lap 2

Lap 2 < | > Lap 3
After a terrifying night on the streets, Chiya somehow finds herself safely inside the abandoned building she currently resides in. Chiya now finds herself with questions for the man who saved her from a terrible fate.
==Chapter Reading==
==Lap 2==
The young woman, Chiya Flower, found herself lying on a mattress in a trash covered room the following morning. She brushed her bangs away from her eyes and sat up slowly. After blinking cluelessly a few times, it had become apparent to her where she was. She was home, or at least what she considered to be home.
Chiya was a 23 year old without a job, yet, she had high hopes that good fortune would soon come. For the time being, the woman lived in an abandoned warehouse in the Lower City. The structure she resided in had no working appliances, not even a light. She was lucky enough to occasionally get her hands on a candle, but otherwise, the night brought about pitch darkness into her already dark enough life. One needn't argue that these were horrid living standards, but sadly, she still had life better than most Lower City citizens; most of who were forced to live together in dirty alleys.
With a powerful yawn, she got off the mattress and entered a restroom. Stripping down into nothing but her underwear, Chiya walked into a tub and grabbed a plastic deodorant bottle she had sitting near the faucet. The deodorant bottle, however, was full of pure water. With both eyes closed, she began to spray her body. She followed this same practice for washing her hands, which she rarely did anyway. Considering the difficulty of locating water, Chiya mustn't waste what she has. There was no soap to work with, but washing her body with water would at least kill a good majority of the germs and suppress part of her odor. Still, she had lived a better hygienic life than most citizens.
After 'showering', Chiya approached the mirror above the sink, which was still surprisingly clean—but cracked. With the tips of her fingers, she removed any ruffles in her hair and flattened it out. While combing, she raised an eyebrow and looked down at her chest with raised eyebrows.  It was only now that she realized one of few shirts had been destroyed. She was left with only so many articles of clothing to wear.
The ripped shirt was taken back off, and so she moaned, “What an awful night...”
Chiya left the restroom and changed her shirt, now wearing a similar gray turtleneck. Her usual attire consisted of a pale green stock hat, purple shorts, gray turtleneck, and a pair of boots—she had been wearing this same attire for years. Before leaving the warehouse she noticed the box containing the supercharged engine. Chiya had brought back an F-Zero engine, but the man she met yesterday going by the name of Lieutenant Seppuku stated that the engine was of no use to him, but could be of use to her.
With a somewhat frantic look, the woman entered brief thought. Does he mean the engine is useless? Cause I spent all my money buying it... Chiya considered this for a few moments, then set the thought aside in place of something more exciting to her. The annual Grand Prix was to start today, the most anticipated sporting event of the year—aside from the final race. The grand opening to the annual Grand Prix would start in Mute City later on at night. Unfortunately for her, this first race was both expensive and taking place in the Upper City. She could, however, watch the race on screen at the only bar in the Lower City.
The annual Grand Prix was a sports season consisting of five randomly selected racing tracks, the winner of the Grand Prix would receive a golden trophy and one billion Federation credits. F-Zero was without a doubt the center of attention in Mute City. Chiya was one of the many obsessed fans of F-Zero and a diehard fan of Captain Falcon and his machine, the Blue Falcon. Anything could happen in F-Zero, as the Grand Prix permitted the entrance of the most corrupt and evil individuals. Dark hearted racers could compete without police interference, for the F-Zero committee had special rules in place that, essentially, ruled out the idea that the Federation owned them. In this sense, it is often said that F-Zero is its own nation with its own laws. Racers like Captain Falcon, however, would use the Grand Prix as an opportunity to fight these criminals on the track, as this was one of the easiest ways to get near bad individuals, such as Blood Falcon or Samurai Goroh.
Chiya finally left the warehouse and was on her way to the local bar. It was late in the afternoon, therefore she would likely not run into trouble this time. One of Chiya’s toughest questions was where she would obtain the next parts for an F-Zero machine. The body, or chassis, of the machine would be very difficult to obtain, as this was not something that one could find in an ordinary junkyard. She required a body that could fit all of the machine parts, but unfortunately, the fact was that the woman came unqualified in the engineering field. If she had any hope of creating an F-Zero machine of her own, she'd need help eventually.
The bar that the woman was visiting had a drinking limit that only allowed a certain amount of alcohol to be sold per person to avoid over-intoxication. This rule was designed to help prevent bad scenarios from occurring on the already corrupt streets, much like the scenario Chiya recently found herself in. Regardless of the alcohol limit, this bar obtained much business whenever the annual Grand Prix would start. Not only could one watch the races on screen, but gambling stations were also set up.
Chiya entered the bar called, 'Rough Odds' with an almost frightened expression. Many individuals were inside the bar, despite the fact that the Grand Prix wouldn’t kick off until later in the evening. The young woman silently sat down on a stool but did not wish to order anything yet. She was still traumatized by what had happened to her the previous night and simply needed time to cool down. Rough Odds was one of the few places she felt relaxed at, despite being surrounded by drunkards. Chiya, herself, was a strong advocate for prohibition, as she firmly believed that bars and taverns should only be for conversation and fun.
A loud sigh from the woman caught the eye of a gentleman sitting at a gambling station. An Asian face, brown hair, a thin beard, and a brown leather jacket; the man raised an eyebrow at the woman and smirked.
The bald bartender turned to face Chiya, then asked, “Can I get you anything?”
She lifted her chin up from the counter and faintly smiled, “M- maybe, some juice?”
“We're out of juice, gave it all to some children.”
Chiya nodded, then placed her chin back down while holding her stomach, “...bloody Hell...” she muttered.
Momentarily after putting her chin down, the man who had been staring at Chiya forced himself down next to her with a massive grin, “So—o, what’s a pretty flower like you doing in a dark place like this?”
Chiya didn't offer much of a response, “Huh?”
She soon gazed at the man in confusion, the term 'flower' threw her off because of her last name being of the same term. After studying the man for a few moments, she soon realized he was complimenting her. This wasn't uncommon for her, but in almost every occurrence it was merely a guy trying to score casual sex off of her—something she'd never partake in. The face that this man was giving was clearly fake and almost cheesy, and thus, she could expect no different intention. Oh God, here we go… she thought with an irritated look. With both her eyes closed angrily, she revealed a fake smile.
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly afford to go to an F-Zero race in person, so I come here to watch them for free. I also like to come here for juice. That's it. That's the only reason I come here, nothing more.”
The man smiled quickly. He could easily read the tenseness of her response, but didn't let this obstruct his objective. “Of course, no one living down here gets to see the races in person. The only people able to afford tickets are the upper class citizens, and even they don’t get the luxury seats that others get. Considering the committee makes so much money, the entry fee is pretty sick, am I right?”
Chiya remained quiet for a few moments, she was contemplating whether the man was safe to get into a conversation with. She wasn’t very trusting of men after the previous night, but this man didn't sound like a rapist, murderer, or thief; he genuinely sounded like a guy looking for either a girlfriend or person to have sex with. Chiya wasn't looking for either of these two things, and thus, she wouldn't do any of the two. As long as she restricted herself from dating or having intercourse, she was safe to talk with this man.
She dipped her head down and smiled with her eyes closed, “I always pictured that the races are amazing up close and that there's some kind of smell to it, a smell you would always remember.”
The man spun his beverage of alcohol around a little, “Smell, huh?” He looked up at her with yet another unrealistic smile, “Well you got that part right. Whenever those racing machines dart past, it’s as if you can smell the speed.”
It’s as if you can smell the speed… This sentence bounced around the walls of her head constantly. These simple words made the race sound incredible up close. Chiya always dreamed of seeing an F-Zero race in person, but could never make the money to fulfill this ultimate desire. Of course, seeing an F-Zero race was at the bottom of her aspirations; for she wanted to one day take part in an F-Zero race.
Chiya exhaled with a smile, “I've always loved the smell that comes with opening an engine...” the man widened his eyes with puckered lips. “I've worked on engines for much of my life, and I've never gotten over the smell of a running engine—especially after you finish cleaning-”
The man grit his teeth in great surprise and brought his hand down, “Get out of here, you're into engineering!?”
“Sure! Just supercharged an engine last night. Only took me a minute or so. Didn't even need to touch the fan belt, piston, or carburetor.”
The man was left with a trembling lip and quivering eyes, he had instantly become lost in the unique blue eyes of the woman. After half a minute of awkwardly staring at the woman, he shook his head with a grin.
“My name’s Earl Bendek, by the way...”
Chiya grabbed his hand and shook, “Pleased to meet you, Earl Bendek.”
For a moment, Earl became lost in her eyes again, still trying to get over the fact that he met a girl who held an interest in machinery. “Wow, gorgeous and a fellow oil licker...” He looked away from her and continued, “...you must have a really proud boyfriend...”
She rolled her eyes away and hummed soundly, “Yes, well... I'm actually kind of the isolationist, you see, I'm not from around here...”
“I could tell by your eyes that you're an off-worlder. Those eyes are as attractive and majestic as the splashing waves of Big Blue...”
Chiya covered her mouth and turned her head slightly to block a blush. Bloody Hell, this guy's good...
Earl smirked and nodded at the woman, able to see the progress he was making very clearly. “You know, I do have a ticket into the race tonight, if you wanted I could try and bring you in with me...”
Chiya’s eyes spun at the offer, the opportunity absolutely stunned her. Earl smirked at her, trying to appear cool as possible. This man she had only met moments ago was offering the best gift she could ever want for free. However, Chiya knew when something was too good to be true. Right, where you’ll bring me into an alley and mug me…
With closed eyes and another fake smile, she swished her hand at the man. “I’m sorry. I’m positive that you’re a great guy but I had a few issues last night with two men, and I would rather not get into any more messes.”
“Wh- what..!?” He forced his head down in embarrassment, “Oh no, no, no. Trust me, I understand. I did kind of just insert myself into your comfort zone…” he said with a shell-shocked look.
“Sorry, I'm just too scared is all. See, I've always wanted to save myself for marriage, and-”
“Huh, wait, what? I'm not trying to-” Earl immediately chuckled and face palmed, “Oh my goodness...”
Silence ensued between the two, undoubtedly, this was an awkward moment for both young adults. Chiya wanted to give the man whatever he wanted, but she simply had to watch out for herself. Whether or not Earl actually saw something of romantic interest in Chiya or not was a mystery. In all fairness, she understood that her fairly large breasts was a lure for perverts and lustful men alike, so she couldn't simply jump into situations without thinking carefully.
Earl rubbed his chin for a moment then grinned as he quickly came up with a new plan, “Alright, you can have the ticket for yourself.” Chiya widened her eyes in immense shock, “But next time, you have to go with me, perhaps to the Casino Palace race?” Chiya swallowed while tapping her fingers down. “Think about it, I could buy you a drink, popcorn, maybe some candy...”
Though Chiya's brain would have prevented her from accepting the offer, her tight and empty stomach spoke for itself. She tapped her fingers more quickly while contemplating what to do. She could tell that he wasn’t a criminal on the account that he had just offered her a very expensive ticket. But at the end of the internal debate, what Chiya had to keep in mind was that the decision to date the man was her choice. In that sense, there was no sense in declining the offer.
“You’re annoyingly persistent, Mr. Bendek,” she muttered with a grin. “However, I’m going to take you up on your offer.”
Earl grinned victoriously and handed her the ticket, “Excellent. It's all yours.”
The ticket she was given allowed access to the stands in the Mute City race track. Chiya held the ticket up in amazement, both eyes quivering in absolute awe. She observed every part of the ticket with glory, as if she had just won the raffle. Earl could tell that he had sealed the deal with her, having persuaded her like a cat with a treat.
“I- I don’t know what to say!” she responded in shock.
“You’re welcome. Next race, just meet me back here and I'll drive us to Casino P-” A pager Earl had clipped to his belt began to ring. He looked down at the pager, then looked back at her, “I have to go, my boss needs me...” he said as he began to back away from her.
Chiya nodded and waved farewell to him, she had somewhat of a blush on her face. Earl left the bar, and Chiya was now left flattered. Chiya hardly regarded the fact that she now had a date with a handsome guy, the race was truly all that mattered to her. She had no intentions of waiting around the bar, she needed to find a way to the track quickly. The race wouldn‘t start for quite a while, however, she would need to make her way to the Upper City without a vehicle. This in itself would be a great challenge.
Later that night, vehicles had begun rushing down to the race track. Chiya had ventured all the way up to the Upper City on foot. The sun had set minutes ago, thus leaving the Lower City nearly pitch black, but the Upper City illuminated with an orange glow. The trip to the Upper City had left Chiya exhausted, much of the travel was spent sprinting. Overall, the very last thing on her mind was how she would go about getting home.
Chiya had no idea how to enter the stadium, but momentarily spotted a door people appeared to be crowding around. She merged into the large crowd of people, then found a line ahead of her. There was an F-Zero official collecting tickets up front.
Through five minutes of waiting Chiya had given the official her ticket and moved toward the massive stadium door. She was astonished to see how many people were wandering the stadium hallways. It was a fairly humiliating realization for the woman that she looked nothing like the many wealthy fans surrounding her. Most fans were either from the Upper City, other cities, or even other planets of the universe. Chiya’s clothing was much more bland, yet, unique in its own way.
At long last she found the door leading to the millions of seats. She entered and widened her eyes. Behind the door revealed all of the chairs, there were thousands of people in this area—a nightmare for a socially lacking person such as Chiya. With a look of immense shock, she took a seat and looked down at the track. The track was not yet lit up with lights. Everything felt like a dream to her; the music, the people, the track, everything she dreamed of was in front of her and each thing left her absolutely amazed.
About an hour passed since her arrival, and during that time she had learned there was an installed cantina in the vicinity, the track was a place of amazement for her. Even after an hour Chiya still felt her heart beat rapidly, even though she was sitting still. She looked back and forth between the track with a smile, but soon found herself frowning in shame.
...this is the greatest gift I've ever received; yet, I turned down Earl's request to go with him. How selfish of me...
Chiya's eyes closed for a moment, but then came a bright and determined look, “I'll be certain to go with him next time.”
Music then began to play and the fans cheered. It was at long last time to introduce the racers, and the only one more ready for the race than the racers was Chiya Flower. Chiya clenched one fist excitedly, bit on the other hand, and bounced on her rear a few times. The track was lit up with lights and the intercom began to buzz.
The committee announcer spoke, “Ladies and gentlemen! The F-Zero committee would like to thank you for attending yet another annual Grand Prix. The season returns and one racer is to leave with one billion credits!”
Chiya widened her eyes in awe, “That’s a lot of money!”
“We will now introduce the contestants!”
A large orange F-Zero machine was bulking its way up the track. The body was shaped like a shell with four triangular spikes erecting off the roof. This was the Wild Boar.
“Leader of the notorious Lower City gang, the Bloody Chain; Michael Chain!”
The machine stopped just short of the starting line. The very enormous dark skinned man known as Michael Chain got out of his machine and flexed toward the fans. Michael Chain was an extremely muscular man—some speculation to be on steroids. He was bald but full of pride, wore shades, and hanging from his neck was a large golden necklace made of chains. Michael Chain was regarded as one of many 'bad' racers, as he lacked both morals and good intentions.
“The living cyborg, he can calculate paths, maneuvers, and attacks faster than any human on the track; Mighty Gazelle!”
The cyborg drove the Red Gazelle up to the starting line and stopped beside Michael Chain. He remained inside of his machine choosing not to acknowledge his many fans. Mighty Gazelle was once a fully human man who fell victim to an F-Zero event known as the 'Great Accident'. The end result reduced the man into nothing more than a charred corpse, but he survived through intensive care and made a return as the Mighty Gazelle—humanity's greatest cyborg.
“Created in a lab by the outlaw, Black Shadow; he is Captain Falcon’s clone and blood rival; Blood Falcon!”
The Blood Hawk was the machine of the notorious Blood Falcon—dark clone of Captain Falcon created by a master of evil. He quickly parked next to the other machines. Even without exiting his machine, it was clear that he was unleashing one of his classic evil laughs to himself. Blood Falcon wore the same type of clothing as Captain Falcon: A leather suit, metal boots, metal gauntlets, shoulder pad, scarf, and a helmet with visor—just like Lieutenant Seppuku's. The main difference was that Blood Falcon beared a red suit, silver boots, purple gloves and helmet, and a yellow scarf. To finalize his unique appearance, he had had a skull crest over his helmet, rather than a falcon.
“A living legend, bounty hunter, and returning Grand Prix champion; Captain Falcon!”
Captain Falcon made his way onto the track in the Blue Falcon. Several fans cheered at the sight of the Blue Falcon, clearly, he had the most respect in the entire stadium. Chiya felt her heart beat especially fast at the sight of Captain Falcon. This man was her childhood crush for many reasons, but most of all, the bulging muscles of his person. Chiya lowered her eyelids, smiled, and grasped her cheek as she exhale passionately.
“The man of isolation and mystery, on no one's side; Lieutenant Seppuku!”
Chiya released a loud gasp at the sight of the Red Dove, Lieutenant Seppuku’s F-Zero machine. She had no idea that the man who saved her actually competed in the Grand Prix. Oh my God, it's him! He's an F-Zero racer..!? Chiya grit her teeth in amazement and held both sides of her head in awe.
Seppuku did not give any recognition to the F-Zero fans. He simply drove up to the starting line and parked beside the Blue Falcon and Blood Hawk.
The homeless woman remained seated with widened eyes and a beating heart. The excitement of being here especially came with the fact that she'd see Captain Falcon race; little did she know up until now, Seppuku, her savior, was racing as well. However this race turned out, Chiya knew one thing to be true; Lieutenant Seppuku would be the one she pays most attention to.
To be continued!
Lap 2 < | > Lap 3
==Author Notes==
====Cut Content - Chiya Scavenging====
This chapter started out with the mission of establishing a foundation to who Chiya as a character is. The direction taken was to focus on Chiya's willingness to occupy an abandoned structure and make it her home, but also show her inability to adapt to it. In my original vision, Scene 1 would transition into an unreleased scene of Chiya scavenging the streets and nearby buildings for food or things of value. A more radical idea at the time was to make Chiya an artist who produces F-Zero models out of scrap pieces found in the Lower City; I chose not to do this, believing that making Chiya an artist would conflict with her future professions. In this hypothetical Scene 2, Chiya would not have put together these models, rather she would gather some resources to do so, but ultimately bring her bag of scraps into Rough Odds, where the existing scene with Earl would play out. The bar scene would have played out differently only in that her bag of scraps would be left behind at the bar as she excitedly runs off for the Upper City race. While I did in future years contemplate bringing this scene to life, my reason for maintaining the status quo is due to not wanting to reference her artistic side throughout the story. I found it easier for the reader to just make whatever assumptions they might about how she got by.
====Earl's Call====
Interestingly, while canonically Earl is called away by Lieutenant Seppuku during Scene 2, at the time of this chapter's release, it was not yet decided on who exactly Earl was responding to, as Earl's linkage with Seppuku would not be established until Lap 4. Indeed, it was very much possible that Earl was originally responding to a legitimate job call; this would have fit into the original plan for F-Zero: Seppuku, which planned to have Earl and Seppuku not know each other at all.
====Conflict of Distance====
A questionable component of the chapter has always been over the fact Chiya runs from Rough Odds to the Upper City racetrack within a matter of hours, not to mention her capability to then also return home. While the distance between these two points were impossible to measure as of the chapter's original release, content from the hundreds of future chapters does further stretch the plausibility of Chiya's run, as in almost all other circumstances travel between the Upper and Lower City demands the vehicular speed; in fact, F-Zero machines frequently navigate these areas at heightened speed. While not necessarily a plot hole, this matter has, nevertheless, raised question as to whether Chiya should summon a bicycle for this chapter—also raising question of whether bicycles still exist in this time.
====Prize Money====
This chapter played a minor and yet major role of establishing that the prize for winning the Annual Grand Prix is 1 billion credits. The significance of this value is that it informed my writing for the entirety of the saga on what the value of a Federation credit likely is, such as what constitutes as a little or lot of money in my take on F-Zero.
==Chapter Illustration==
By Lap 2, the concept of 'chapter illustrations' was still not invented, but an image depicting the moment Chiya and Earl met was created for use in a video narration of the chapter; this picture would be later used to represent the chapter itself, essentially making it the first illustration to depict a scene. 2 years later, dated exactly August 11, 2015, a revisit of this chapter occurred that saw an official chapter illustration installed using what at the time was known as '3rd Gen.' art style, the consistent style used for much of Part 3/3's illustrations. The scene, too, depicted the moment Earl came and hit on Chiya at the bar and emphasized a dirty look about her due to her unsanitary living conditions; similarly, Earl was given rather exaggerated facial hair when compared to all other existing depictions of him.
The original image was produced over Paint.NET in November of 2012, and suffered from horrible resolution. The 2015 illustration to replace it was made in 2015 using Adobe Photoshop.
==Characters Introduced==
====Earl Bendek====
Earl plays a significant role in F-Zero: Seppuku and is introduced in this chapter when he appears to Chiya in the Lower City and hits on her at the bar, Rough Odds. Identifying Chiya as an F-Zero fan, he enticed her with tickets to the Annual Grand Prix opener taking place in the Upper City that very night; she rejected his proposal that they go together, but took one of the tickets for herself on the condition that they go out on a date another time. Earl, simply out of a desperate enough desire, agreed to these terms and let her walk off with a ticket. Their meeting together, regardless, is cut short as Earl is paged via a device and summoned away from the bar.