F-Zero

Chapter 14: Death Wind Assault

Falcon pushed away the last of the reporters that swarmed him, and opened the door to the back room of the hanger. He just wanted a minute to hide out and think, but found the last person he expected to find already using the lounge. "Goroh," Falcon called. "I thought you weren't gonna show up to the races this time."

Goroh sat on one of the couches, watching the highlights play on the screen across from him. "I said I wasn't gonna be in the races," he corrected. "Figured I'd at least watch."

Falcon crossed his arms. "And what did you see?"

Goroh narrowed his eyes, focusing on the screen. "That last-minute-man," he growled. "Mane Killua... that's Black Shadow, innit?"

Falcon nodded. "I don't think he's really fooling anyone," he said. "But even then, it would draw more attention if people found out the biggest crime boss in history is racing in F-ZERO. Unwanted attention, of course."

"Of course."

Falcon shook his head, walking over to the couch, also watching the highlights. "Wouldn't it be great if we did this kind of thing for fun again? Instead of trying our best not to get killed for it?"

Goroh laughed. "You do realize what F-ZERO is, don't you!?"

Falcon smiled. "Yeah, well, you know what I m- what was that?"

"What was what?" Goroh grunted.

Falcon pointed at the screen, any sense of humor washed out by whatever he saw in the highlight reel. "What was that? Go back!"

Goroh scrambled for the remote, grabbing it off the coffee table and hitting rewind.

"There stop!"

Goroh hit pause and Falcon stepped closer to the screen. "Play it back slowly."

Goroh did as he was told and Falcon watched his ship as another came up behind him. Falcon hadn't seen this part, near the end. It was after the mine explosion, and apparently Black Shadow hadn't had much of a problem getting through it as Falcon had thought.

A ship came up behind Falcon, boosting and ready to tackle, when Black Shadow knocked the opponent out of the way before falling back behind a few other racers. It all happened so fast it looked like just a normal shove that ended up setting him back, but Falcon could tell; it was deliberate.

"He let you win," Goroh huffed, having caught it as well. "Guess you ain't as talented as you thought."

"I'm plenty talented," Falcon grumbled. "But no... there's something else to this... there always is."

Goroh sat down the remote. "You can go figure it out somewhere else," he ordered. "I don't want to be part of any more mysteries."

"Fair enough," Falcon nodded, starting towards the door. "Thanks for the talk." He gave a mock salute and stepped back outside. Racers were still just getting out of their ships after avoiding the press, and mechanics were still lingering while they fixed broken equipment.