F-Zero: Seppuku - Part 1/3, Lap 4

Lap 3 < | > Lap 5
The race finished and Chiya had surprisingly encountered Seppuku at the bar. With some hesitation, Chiya felt forced to approach him, the time was now for Chiya to learn the truth about Seppuku, was he a friend or foe?
==Chapter Reading==
==Lap 4==
Seppuku caught her eyes, there was no turning back on the man now. Chiya could have simply sat down at the counter, but it was too late, she already found herself walking toward Seppuku and Baba as if she were being pulled in. The Man of Darkness revealed the smallest grin as she approached the two, able to tell that the young woman wanted an audience with him. Just as Chiya came up to the table, Seppuku turned his attention back toward Baba.
“I forfeit.”
Baba raised an eyebrow, “You realize we threw two hundred credits on the table?”
Seppuku nodded affirmatively, “Yes, just take the money and go.”
Baba smirked and swiped the pile of credits off the table, “Your loss, fool!” He then walked away from the table.
Seppuku smacked his lips around while watching the man walk, then glanced at Chiya.
Chiya rubbed her foot in shy circles, but gained enough courage to grab the chair Baba had gotten out of, “Can I sit here?”
“Go for it.”
She sat down at the table with Seppuku, but was afraid to look into his eyes. Chiya had no idea what to ask him first, so she broke the ice, “So, you got fourth place. That was really good!”
The man shrugged, “I guess, the Red Dove could use better boosters.”
Seppuku stood up from his seat and dug around in his coat pocket; he pulled out a wallet, planet passport, some money, a bullet, and a printed image. Chiya stared at the bullet as it rolled along the table, confused as to why the man would carry this around. She then jolted up with a startled look as Seppuku slammed the printed image in front of her. The image consisted of various photos of the Red Dove in different angles, the photos were taken somewhere after the first race.
The man's finger poked down on a rear view photo, specifically at the boosters of his machine, “See that?”
Chiya took a few moments to examine the photo and soon spotted a dent in the left booster, “Yes sir, dented booster.”
“The damn Blood Hawk barely touched me, yet, my booster was completely wrecked.” Seppuku tilted his fedora to hide his visor, “Basically what I’m saying is that those boosters are just play things, not competition worthy. This was a mistake on my mechanic’s part.”
Chiya hesitantly poked her finger down on a photo and looked up at him. “I see the left flank of your machine was damaged as well. That must have made it hard to drift.”
Seppuku growled, “What..?”
The girl widened her eyes and fell back into her seat trembling in response to his fierce attitude. Seppuku tilted his hat back up and looked into her scared eyes. He changed his angered expression into a grin and performed a silent clap for her.
“Well done, not even I noticed that.”
Chiya smiled with pride, “Thank you, F-Zero has always been a fascination to me. I was raised in a place with little to do.”
An extensive moment of silence followed as Seppuku gazed deep into her eyes, Chiya's smile was weak and shaky, especially with the awkward silence. The man very slowly grinned and hummed positively, having discovered something about her.
“Your eyes are blue as the sky...” Chiya lowered her eyebrows and smiled more nervously. The man then leaned forward with an almost interrogative look, “And your hair is gold as an F-Zero trophy...”
The woman dipped her head down while trembling somewhat, she nodded while rubbing her slightly sweating forehead, “Th- thank you...”
Seppuku crossed his fingers together, now finding the girl hiding her eyes from sight. Within mere moments, the man had quite possibly uncovered a unique secret from the young woman. With more moments of silence following, Chiya briefly glanced up at him, then looked away quickly. Now he was certain that she was trying to hide her eyes.
“Mysterian Blue...” Seppuku answered.
“Uh..!”
“You're a Mysterian, aren't you?”
The woman grit her teeth in panic and looked at him, “Uh, I- I might have some relatives from that planet...”
The man chuckled softly while shaking his head, “Impossible. You are not of the five human races, you are a pure bred Mysterian. Not Asian, not Caucasian, only Mysterian.”
Chiya lowered both her eyebrows almost hostilely and smacked both fists down on the table, “H- how could I be from Mysteria? It is illegal for citizens of Mysteria to leave their planet! How would I have gotten off of the planet if this were true?”
The man cracked another grin, “Exactly my point...”
The woman puckered her lips for a moment, then face palmed. Her knowledge on the planet's laws practically sold her out. Seppuku chuckled and pat her back.
“Don't worry, I've no reason to send you back. Just curious how a Mysterian got all the way to a Federation planet. The Mysterian Empire isn't exactly a good friend of the Galactic Federation.”
Chiya finally sighed and nodded, “I snuck away from the planet a little more than five years ago. Fled to Earth by sneaking onto an embassy ship. I've been a bum in Mute City ever since.”
“Interesting...” He rubbed his chin with a smirk, “A Mysterian; I should have guessed from the moment I saw your skin color.”
Chiya raised her arm up with a raised brow, “What's wrong with my skin?”
“The Mysterian skin tone is pale and pink, almost albino.” He shrugged and pointed at her face, “But aside from the skin, you've got the eye color that only a Mysterian comes with, and of course, the pale blonde hair.”
She nodded understandingly, “Do you hate Mysterians?”
He shook his hands negatively, “Not I, but others may not be so understanding. Mysterians are often regarded as the warmongering race, but of course, this is merely a stereotype.”
The woman glared, “Us? The warmongers!? That's ridiculous! The Federation were the ones to pillage our planet! They're the warmongers!”
The man let out a single chuckle, “Ah, well... Should've expected that you're a brainwashed drone to your oppressive government...”
“What do you mean?”
Seppuku dropped his smirk and shook negatively, “Anyways, I've been to Mysteria a few times in the past, mostly to race. But no one likes racing on your track.”
“Mist Flow?”
He laughed, “Yes, Mist Flow. No one likes that track.”
“Why not?”
“The fog, it’s unbearable, plain and simple. Any attempt to attack a racer through that thick fog is a deathtrap waiting to-”
A horrific scene interrupted Seppuku, as suddenly, an explosion erupted behind him. The wall behind them had instantly been blown open. Smoke filled the entire bar as patrons proceeded to scream. Chiya had fallen to the floor, but was fortunately unharmed. She got on her knees and looked up, but was unable to see anything past the smoke.
“Help!” she screamed.
Seppuku stood up from the ground and calmly brushed off his coat, “How rude, I was having a conversation...”
Through the smoke momentarily came three large muscular men, all bodybuilders with muscle shirts. The center bodybuilder had an enormous display of egoism on his face—it was Michael Chain and his goons. The three were holding AKP-55 assault rifles, a futuristic variant of the AK-47.
Chain approached the now fallen gambling table and let out a heavy laugh, “Lieutenant Seppuku! So sorry, sir; that was meant to kill you!”
Seppuku stood perfectly still while Chiya trembled in fear of the gangsters. Despite having lived in the Lower City for more than five years, this was the first time she had ever seen one of the two major Lower City gangs. Coincidentally, the first gangster she had ever seen was the Bloody Chain leader himself.
Chain stomped his foot down with great pressure, then pointed at Seppuku with a thick finger. Chiya dropped her jaw at the sight of his finger.
“My goodness! I'm pretty sure that finger is as big as my foot!” Everyone, including Seppuku, turned their attention toward Chiya; this caused her to close her lips with wide eyes, “J- just saying... please, carry on...”
Chain looked at Seppuku and growled, “Well, Seppuku! That race was within my reach before you stole it from me!”
The Man of Darkness sarcastically chuckled, “Oh, well, sorry for having the superior F-Zero handling. You win some just as you lose some, get over it, punk.” Seppuku then removed his hat and brushed his fairly long hair back, “Or are you just pissed that I still have majestic hair?”
“I had that race buckled down-” Chain interrupted himself to growl, then muttered, “...I'll have you know, baldness is cool as ice if you have the right attire to go with it...” Seppuku and Chiya exchanged momentary glances, Chain then shook a fist, “That race was going well in my favor until you took things too far! I would of won if it weren't for you and your floating 'Red Dumpster'!”
Seppuku continued to chuckle sarcastically as pieces of the roof fell around the five.
“Oh please, even if I hadn’t been in that race you would’ve gotten your ass kicked by Captain Falcon, or maybe even someone as pathetic as Baba.” Chain grinded his teeth with increasing tension. Seppuku was clearly failing to become intimidated, despite the fact that Chain had an assault rifle aimed at him. “Now why don’t you just drop those toys of yours and go work out some more,” Seppuku proposed before poking Chain in the ribs.
The gang leader continued to shake angrily, “I- I- I’ve had enough of this!”
Without further exchanging of words, Chain fired a single bullet through Seppuku’s chest. The bullet sent Seppuku down onto the floor bleeding, though his facial expression didn't change in the slightest. Chiya dropped her jaw and looked down at Seppuku in fear, she was in deep trouble. The woman then looked up at Chain and gasped loudly, she was easily outnumbered by three.
The gang leader raised his assault rifle up with shining teeth of pride, “Hey, little girl. Hope that wasn't your daddy, cause he's on his way to the finish line.”
Chiya gasped again with a stunned look, her eyes quivered in absolute fear. Ultimately, she had but one resolution. Without thinking through her options, she pulled out her handgun while the three laughed and quickly plugged a bullet into the bodybuilder's chest. Chain was sent back about two meters. He grasped his chest in pain. Somehow, though, the thickness of his body had caught the bullet like a vest.
“S- stupid girl!” he said lifting his assault rifle up.
But to Chain's surprise, Chiya had vanished. His two associates had been looking at Chain, neither of the three saw where she went. Chain growled and flailed his arms in the air.
“Let’s get out of here, boys! Before the cops get here!”
Chain and his goons departed out of the building, leaving a room filled with smoke and debris. Chiya popped her head up from behind the fallen gambling table, then gazed in horror at a bleeding Seppuku. The man's face remained calm.
“Seppuku! Lieutenant Seppuku!”
The man remained still and made unclear responses. Chiya grasped his coat and shook him constantly; clear sparks of life were still present in his body. While continuing to shake her, the sound of jingling metal could be heard coming from below her. She widened her eyes, looked down, and discovered something in his hand. The key to the Red Dove.
The girl grunted with a motionless face. Is he hinting for me to get him to his machine..? She clicked a button on the key and almost instantly the Red Dove drove from the parking lot to the front door with the autopilot feature. Chiya tried lifting Seppuku up, but ultimately had to carry him over her back, for she was not a strong or healthy person.
“Come on, sir; you have many races left to win!”
She managed to carry Seppuku outside the building, but was struggling to keep him over her shoulder. Police sirens could be heard in the distance, but she knew that the police would only hold her up if she didn‘t leave immediately. Seppuku needed to reach a hospital quickly.
“Sir, sir! You have to drive to the hospital!” she yelled after placing him against the Red Dove.
A drop of blood trickled down his mouth, “You…” he muttered.
Chiya dropped to her knees and held his wound while at the same time trying to keep blood from making contact with her hand.
He managed to exhale, now able to breathe without all the smoke in the air, “You need to drive me back to my place,” he faintly made out to her.
A shock went through her body at the request for her to drive racing machine. She hadn’t driven a normal vehicle for many years, now she was expected to drive an F-Zero machine, “I- I don’t-”
Seppuku interrupted her with a loud grunt, “Shut up. Don’t think, just do it.”
“B- but-”
“Are you prepared to watch me die on your account..?”
Her eyes widened, “No!”
“Drive...”
Chiya found her options very limited. Either she drove the machine or let him bleed to death. She exhaled in immense frustration, but ultimately decided to put him in the passenger seat. She then leapt into the cockpit and scouted the dashboard for the ignition. She found it and inserted the key, lights lit up all over the cockpit upon doing so. A large GPS device turned on above the dashboard with several bookmarked locations, one being labeled 'Home'.
“Home?”
Seppuku nodded slightly while biting his teeth down. For whatever the reason, the man insisted that she bring him back to his home, rather than a hospital.
Chiya enabled directions to Seppuku's homestead and put her foot on the accelerator. She began to accelerate after swallowing down her emotions. They took off from Rough Odds slowly, as she typically feared how challenging this would be. Chiya had driven vehicles before, but F-Zero machines were much different than the ordinary hovercraft. The Red Dove was moving at a fast pace already, which delivered the feeling as though she were driving a lightning bolt down the street. She would need to make a turn at an intersection in a few moments.
The Mysterian widened her eyes, having just remembered the report she gave on the damaged flank, which would make turning right possibly a challenge. Chiya slowed down at the intersection and took an easy turn. Indeed, turning was difficult with the damaged machine, but she completed the turn without an issue. Chiya exhaled in relief, now realizing that piloting the machine wouldn't be as hard as she thought. The real issue at hand was Seppuku's declining condition. She had to drive fast.
Unknowingly to her, however, Seppuku continued to watch her with an almost intrigued look. He nodded his head with a grin, then rested his head back.
Chiya had been driving for about two minutes now, simply driving down a long road. All had been calm until now, where a bright flash briefly blinded her. The flash came from her side view mirror. She widened her eyes and grunted upon looking into the left mirror. The headlights of three pursuing vehicles were blinding her, but momentarily turned off. To her horror, the Wild Boar and two identical gray machines were on her trail. Michael Chain wasn't through with Seppuku.
“B- Bloody Hell!” she panicked.
Chain laughed while gaining on the machine, “Don’t let that fool, Seppuku, escape alive!”
The three machines were attempting to trap the Red Dove. Michael Chain was trying to move in front of the Red Dove while his goons would cover both sides. They believed that Seppuku was the one piloting the Red Dove, not Chiya. But no one would argue if they killed both.
“Oh no, oh dear!” Chiya panicked frantically.
Chiya had gotten the hang of F-Zero piloting, but she wasn't ready to take on F-Zero combat. Against an ace like Michael Chain, Chiya was in severe trouble.
Just as the Wild Boar prepared to move in front of the Red Dove, something came dashing in at incredible speed. It was the Blue Falcon. A Bloody Chain goon was side attacked and propelled into a building by Captain Falcon. Chain slammed his fists down on the dashboard in anger at Captain Falcon‘s intervention.
“Screw it, this is too much to chew on!”
The Wild Boar did a very sharp spin and retreated with his lone ally. Chiya widened her eyes and gasped as the Blue Falcon followed her. This wasn’t a dream. The Blue Falcon continued to follow the Red Dove for a few seconds before spinning around to pursue Chain. Chiya exhaled in relief as they were now out of danger and approaching the destination. Chiya took a few moments to catch her breath and brush off what had just happened. She could recollect what had happened later, there were bigger matters to attend to.
“How are you doing, Seppuku?” Chiya asked nervously.
No response was provided by the man, he was gazing at her and only breathing, at least indicating that he still lived. Chiya grunted in fear, wondering if she was going to make it in time and exactly how Seppuku was going to heal himself when they arrive at his place. These were questions that would soon be answered.
Chiya moments later approached an alley big enough to hide a vehicle. She drove into the alley which revealed a metal door. She assumed that Seppuku always parked his vehicle in this alley, therefore, she turned off the machine. The building entrance opened as Chiya dismounted from the Red Dove. Someone had exited the building and walked up behind her, though Chiya didn't bother to turn and greet the person. She grabbed Seppuku and turned around to face a man.
“We need to revive him, quickly!” the man panicked.
The two suddenly gasped after meeting eyes, it was Earl Bendek. Chiya was staring into his eyes with a startled look, but despite the surprising reunion, both nodded and ran Seppuku into the building. Chiya was immediately surprised by what she was looking at. This trash infested alley was just a cover up, it was actually hiding something much more than a simple building.
Now inside the building, the two walked together. Earl looked back and forth between Chiya and a door, then spoke with a grin, “So, uh, about that Casino Palace date...”
The Mysterian glared, “The man's bleeding, Earl!”
He turned his head and nodded, “R—right. Stay here young lady, the Lieutenant will want to see you if he makes it through this!” Earl then rushed Seppuku into a hallway.
Earl and Seppuku disappeared behind the metal door, thus leaving Chiya alone. The woman exhaled and finally collapsed onto her knees. Chiya wiped her forehead with closed eyes, ultimately in a state of disbelief at what she had just gone through. She gazed upon her hands with a disturbed expression while kneeling over the cold metal floor. What was mere minutes felt like hours, but it was only minutes ago that they had escaped from Rough Odds.
She opened her eyes and rubbed her beanie hat, then looked around the dark room in confusion. “What is this place?”
The room she sat in was like a lobby, but had only a single light hanging in the center of the room. It was practically pitch dark all around her except for the center. She had no idea where she was and what was going on.
Chiya had learned something that hour. F-Zero may typically be viewed as just racing, but she was beginning to understand what it truly was. F-Zero wasn’t just high speed racing, it was a war for one billion credits. One prize, but many combatants; and the fights could take place off the track, as Michael Chain had now demonstrated.
To be Continued!
Lap 3 < | > Lap 5
==Author Notes==
====The 'End' of F-Zero: Seppuku/Revival Day====
This chapter was written in the Fall of 2012 and would be the final written before F-Zero: Seppuku was declared a canceled story that winter. My reasoning at the time for ending the story here was, simply, from a lack of interest and confidence that it was a strong enough writing to move forward for any longer. While this chapter came out fairly fast and without complications, the story would be left on a terribly exciting cliffhanger for many months. Fortunately, while this story gathered dust and cobwebs for almost a year, I would make the miraculous decision not to delete the story due to pride in what had been accomplished; the several other stories written alongside Seppuku would not receive the same mercy. F-Zero: Seppuku being allowed to live would give me the time needed to reflect on the story's potential, and come June 10, 2013, I would agree to take one more shot at the story with a fifth chapter. June 10 would go on to become known as 'Revival Day,' the official holiday of the Siontix Realm, after F-Zero: Seppuku's miraculous revival on that day would lead to a booming production that would see it become a 1.6 million word story.
====Chapter/LAP Change====
Historically, up to this point, chapters for F-Zero: Seppuku were simply called 'Chapters,' thus this chapter was released as 'F-Zero: Seppuku - Chapter 4.' Following Revival Day (June 10, 2013), as part of my mission to truly revive the story by giving it more of a unique polish, I decided to take inspiration from the F-Zero anime and change 'Chapter' to 'LAP,' and so this became 'F-Zero: Seppuku - LAP 4.' Eventually, when it would be decided to make this a saga of 'Parts', the word 'LAP' would change to 'Lap' as well, thus it would eventually become 'F-Zero: Seppuku - Part 1/3, Lap 4.'
====Doctor Bendek/Concept Art====
An unsurprising bit of trivia is that Earl was originally meant to be the personal doctor for Seppuku, as well as his mechanic. While it would be a mystery to me what exactly went on inside the base beyond this cliffhanger pre-Revival Day, the one matter I had always planned for was to have Earl take Seppuku in for surgery. While this technically remained true to this very day, Earl's role as a medical expert was essentially nuked; it can currently be surmised that Earl is not a medical expert, just that he has some very basic medical experience from his days in the Korean military, and possesses basic medical equipment. Later development of Seppuku's character would reveal that he didn't really even need much help at all with dealing with flesh wounds, and so it is even more likely that Earl just removed the bullet from Seppuku while he tended to his own wound.
Despite the story being canceled after this chapter, I still went ahead and released Earl's concept art which depicted him in a medical lab coat. This was, at the time, the first ever full-body drawing of Earl Bendek, and therefore his concept art, as the image used in Lap 2 did not come out until 2013.
==Chapter Illustration==
Lap 4 carries a significant milestone for being the chapter to prompt the first ever official 'chapter illustration'—an image made depicting a scene from the chapter it is uniquely representing. Unlike in Lap 2, where an image was used depicting a scene but not designed for the chapter, this image depicts a scene from the chapter and was made to directly complement the writing. The image itself is a shameless tracing of a bodybuilder with a Michael Chain design, as well as a shameless tracing of an AK-47 put to an all-metallic coloring. The scene depicts the moment Chain blows open Rough Odds with his gang. A unique aspect of Michael Chain in F-Zero: Seppuku is that his shirt has 'Chain' written on it in Japanese to reflect the setting of the story taking place in future Tokyo.
This chapter illustration was produced over Paint.NET on August 9th, 2013, thus coming out almost a year after the chapter itself came out.
==Characters Introduced==
====Baba====
Baba is an F-Zero racer who is introduced in Rough Odds, playing against Lieutenant Seppuku before the latter forfeits due to a desire to speak with Chiya instead. Little more comes from Baba at this point, however, he would return in Part 2/3 and 3/3 for minor roles, as well as appearing in races across the entire saga.
====Michael Chain====
While technically making his debut in Lap 3 during the race, Michael Chain makes his formal appearance in this chapter when he and his gang, the Bloody Chain, attack Rough Odds in search of Lieutenant Seppuku, seeking revenge for the recent race. Seppuku, wanting to test Chiya, boldly allowed Chain to take a shot into him and fake a fall. As Seppuku had hoped, Chiya responded by taking out the gun Seppuku gave her in Lap 1 and firing into Chain. The shock of Chiya putting up violence to Chain led to her escaping with Seppuku through the smoke, and by the time Chain got a hold of himself, the police were closing in on Rough Odds. This would mark the last of Michael Chain for some chapters, but he would return many times throughout the story.