And the Dance Continues
Peabody's was a small cafe by Mute City standards, little more than a handful of tables behind a fence on the sidewalk of the busiest street of the commercial district. Kate glanced out for a moment, watching the street machines whirr by. "It's strange to hear yourself on the radio," she mused, tapping her fingers lightly on the table, along with the beat of the music that gently filled the air around them. "Almost as strange as being asked out by Captain Falcon."
From across the table, Falcon winced. "Look, miss Allen, that's not why-"
Kate laughed. "Oh I know, I'm just teasing," she giggled as Falcon quietly groaned. "So tell me, what have I done to deserve the attention of the famous Falcon?"
"Not what you've done, but who you might know."
Kate's eyebrow arched. "Go on."
"I'm sure you remember, but it's about your former record label being a shell company for Black Shadow's credit laundering operations."
"Who could forget? I'm just glad they didn't pull me down with them."
"And if I remember correctly, you did most of your recordings there in the basement suites, didn't you?"
Kate smiled. "You've done your homework."
"Enough homework to know that the central server room was nearby the recording suites," said Falcon. "Nobody ever got convicted in the scandal, so names of the staff are hard to come by. You wouldn't happen to know the name of anyone who worked the IT department, would you?"
Kate hummed. "Its been awhile," she said. "Let me think... umm... Dewey!"
"Dewey?"
"Yes, that was his name, Dewey... something. Looked a lot like Roger Buster, with dark hair and if he gained twenty pounds. He was the chief engineer for the facility when the hammer came down."
"Where can I find him?"
Kate shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine- no, wait, now that I think about it, I vaguely remember him speaking on the phone one time about some property of his."
"Property? Like a house?"
"Something like that, yes. I don't eavesdrop on people on purpose, I'm sure you understand."
Falcon nodded. "Of course. Did he mention where this property was?"
"Somewhere in the northwest of Red Canyon, I believe."
Falcon groaned. "Of all the places..."
"That's where your best friend hangs out, isn't it?"
"Best friend, sure.."
"On the bright side, if Dewey's place is still there, it'll be the only one there for miles."
"Small comfort," Falcon muttered. "Thanks for your help."
-
The thick cloud of dust scattered into a fog as the Blue Falcon's G-Diffusers set the machine gently down into idle, the landing struts nestling deep into the rusty dirt below. The decrepit shack greeted Falcon with the sound of wind rustling through the holes in its walls as he hopped out of the Blue Falcon, waving the dust away from his face. Falcon stepped before the front door, and pressed his hand against it. The door's hinges squealed as they slipped from their moorings, and the door fell flat inside the shack. "Can't break and enter if it's already broken," Falcon reasoned to himself as he stepped into the shack.
Falcon tapped the side of his helmet, and his visor lit up, illuminating the shack with a beam of light. As he scoured the dust-blanketed room, Falcon looked down at his feet. "Tiles?" Falcon asked himself, wondering why this little shanty would have a tiled floor. Dropping to his knee, Falcon ran his fingers along the edges of the tiles, hoping to find something unusual. Something unusual quickly found him, as one tile shifted suddenly from his touch. Falcon dug his fingertips under the tile, pulled it up, and looked at the underside. There was something that looked like a panel inside of it. Giving the tile a little shake, it felt surprisingly light. "Now what's in you?" Falcon asked, tapping the panel.
The panel suddenly sprung open, revealing a thin data port. "Good enough for now," said Falcon to himself as he stood up and headed for the door, "Gotta get out of here before-"
As soon as Falcon stepped outside, he froze in his tracks. Circled around him was a familiar mob of hooligans, and grinning back at him was a familiar face. "Well well, look who it is!"
Falcon grimaced. "I don't have time for you, Goroh."
One of Goroh's thugs hopped into the cockpit of the Blue Falcon, stretching his legs out over the dash. "You're gonna make the time, Falcon," Goroh sneered, "or you'll be walking back to Port Town!"
Falcon growled under his breath. "What do you want?"
"Payback!" Goroh roared. "Nobody beats me on my own turf and gets away with it!"
The race between the two from three months ago flashed through Falcon's mind. "I got away with it pretty handily," Falcon smirked, "and if you want a rematch, I'll gladly do it again."
In an instant, Goroh's massive hand grabbed the collar of the bandit in the Blue Falcon, and effortlessly tossed him out. "Then get ready!" Goroh bellowed, "Today, Samurai Goroh bests the mighty Captain Falcon!"
Goroh slid over the hood of the Blue Falcon, and hopped into the cockpit of the Fire Stingray parked beside it. Keeping an eye on Goroh's henchmen, Falcon climbed into the Blue Falcon. Bringing up a map of the area on the Blue Falcon's HUD, Falcon could see the same twin spires that served as a finish line for his last race against Goroh. "Let me guess," said Falcon over the radio, "first past the two towers wins?"
"You got it!" Goroh replied as one of his men stood between the two machines, their G-Diffusers roaring to life. And with a quick wave of his arms, the bandit covered his ears as the Blue Falcon and the Fire Stingray shot past him.
Barreling down the badlands, Falcon watched as the Fire Stingray steadily crept up beside him, spying a sinister smile begin to stretch across Goroh's mouth. The Fire Stingray suddenly swerved towards him, and Falcon jerked his machine further away, narrowly avoiding a sideswipe. Regaining control, Falcon watched the Fire Stingray zoom into the distance ahead. Pressing the button on his steering column, the Blue Falcon shot forward with a scream of its engines, briefly narrowing the gap between him and Goroh. As they approached a high canyon wall, Goroh suddenly nudged his machine into the side of the canyon. With a rumble of the canyon floor, several boulders dislodged themselves from the top of the cliff face, charging down the sides like a legion of juggernauts. Falcon boosted the engines again, zipping through the avalanche of rocks. The last boulder clipped the wingtip of the Blue Falcon, dipping the machine down into a crazy wobble.
Goroh glanced behind him, and laughed. "This one's as good as mine!" He gloated, boosting the Fire Stingray again.
Falcon finally stabilized his machine, and began mashing his boosters with his thumbs. As he began gaining ground on Goroh, the Blue Falcon's monitor flashed red with all sorts of alarms, an engine blowout being one bad bump away. As Falcon soared past Goroh, he suddenly cut in front of him and braked. Goroh swung wide to his right, and crashed nose-first into the canyon wall. Seconds later, Falcon was sailing by the two spires alone. Falcon brought up the rearview camera on his monitor, waiting to smirk at his handiwork. His jaw dropped when he saw the Fire Stingray lying on it's side, a fire bursting from it's engines, and Goroh nowhere in sight. Power sliding his machine around in a quick U-turn, Falcon raced back towards the Fire Stingray, sliding to a stop beside it. Falcon's hands flew to the release latch on the cockpit, and saw Goroh struggling to get out, his leg pinned between buckled sections of the cockpit. "I've got it!" Falcon said, lurching in and pulling the laces of Goroh's boot apart. With a mighty heave, Falcon pulled Goroh free from the cockpit, dragging him behind the Blue Falcon just as an ear-bursting explosion rocked the Red Canyon landscape.
Falcon waited for the bits of shrapnel to stop raining against the hull of the Blue Falcon before peering back at what used to be the Fire Stingray. Goroh groaned, and held his ankle, blood seeping through his sock and leaking through his fingers. "Keep pressure on it," Said Falcon, hopping back into the Blue Falcon as Goroh's thugs converged on them. "See you at the Grand Prix."
Falcon took off, and Goroh pounded the dirt with a frustrated snarl.