F-Zero: The Rising Hero

Chapter 6: Training

       Ace Winters woke up at 7am like he was instructed the night before. Mute City was still dark at that time, so he had to turn on the lights. After getting dressed in his racing uniform, he headed to the garage to meet Jody. He found Jody Summer next to her machine, or rather on top of it. She was patiently waiting for him. "I'm glad you could make it," she said. "I know it's never easy waking up early. I figured we'd start with training with racing, you'd enjoy that." Nothing more needed to be said, Ace just smiled. Ace was an F-Zero fanatic like most speed demons, he loved the speed and adrenaline. "Get in the Green Amazone and follow me," Jody told him. Ace fastened his helmet on his head and hopped in his machine. Jody led the way as her and Ace drove through Mute City early in the morning.

The two machines finally stopped at a track, it was Mute City IV. This track wasn't very popular with most F-Zero Pilots, but it was best to race on early mornings. "What are we doing here?" Ace asked stepping out. "Training," Jody replied. "First, I want to ask you. Do you know how to perform race combat?" "What's not to know?" Ace asked confident. "Okay tough guy," Jody smiled. "What would you do if someone like Michael Chain spun your machine?" "Easy," Ace spoke. "I'd just gain control and hit him back." "No," Jody laughed. "A better move would be to spin as well. If you spin faster than him, the force from your spin will knock his machine away." "Okay," Ace shrugged. "You learn something new every day." "For now do a time trial," The senior officer said. "Race one lap around this track and show me what you can do."

Ace nodded and headed to his machine. After starting its engine he waited for Jody's cue. Jody had pulled out her stopwatch and was counting down. "GO!" she shouted. Ace Winters gunned the engine of his machine. He accelerated quick and boosted often. In his opinion he was doing extraordinary. He finally braked right where he had started and where Jody was. "Four minutes and fifteen seconds," Jody shook her head. "No good." "What do you mean?" Ace exclaimed. "That run was historical!" "Not altogether," Jody replied. "You ran into every rough patch, you didn't utilize the huge jump plate and you relied only on your acceleration. The Green Amazone's acceleration is unparalleled, but you can't rely on it ALL the time. Try again."

The young rookie ran the course again, this time he lapped four minutes. That time still wasn't great. "Ace," Jody spoke. "Try to boost at appropriate times, use your boost to support your speed." She knew that his machine did not have that great of speed, so he needed to make decisions to help his speed. This may be harder than I thought, Ace Winters thought as he climbed in the race again. He took Jody's advice, boosting at appropriate times only. The rough patches he considered to be necessary, as well as the straightaways. When he finished racing he turned to Jody. "Good enough," Jody told him still glued to her stopwatch. That was good enough for Ace's ears, he didn't need any more.

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The training went on. Ace now raced in simulations of real-life tracks. They time trials or races. Training for regular races was great, but he secretly was really planning to take down Michael Chain sometime. "Alright Ace, Let's call it a day," Jody said motioning for Ace to hop out. After stopping the simulation, Jody left the training room. She thought Ace would stop too, but Ace Winters drove his machine out into the city. He had something special in mind......