Cold as Ice (F-Zero)

This was a oneshot created by TheIkranRider based on the seventh episode of the F-Zero anime, Michael Chain's Trap.

In it, Tinsel has just arrived at Task Force headquarters while Rick was involved in a tough race, and one of his opponents was the pseudo hero known as Super Arrow. The King Meteor lost to the Dragon Bird because of his cockiness causing him to spin out and have Rick take the lead, making it his first F-Zero victory. Back at base, Rick was celebrated with his friends, but Dr. Stewart theorized that he actually wanted to win in order for the criminals who were capturing champions be lured to him. He just walked it off, and Tinsel grew very concerned.

Apparently, she missed out on the rumors because she was hanging out with her Duelist friends, Yugi and Joey, who had just given her a Duel Disk to try; although it was too large for her stature, causing it to slip from her arm and leave it sore. Plus, it was designed to hold multiple decks to which she never needed.

Before that race, Rick met a young woman named Dream who was Burt's assistant at the Falcon House. He saw them later inside an antique van with her beloved, a rich, young nerd named Truman. They were being attacked by a street gang, but Rick rescued them. In exchange, Truman wanted to invite Rick to his mansion to celebrate Dream's birthday, and he wanted to bring his friends along. Mr. EAD declined, with Rick making a joke that he should loosen up before he burns his motherboard since he's an android. Jack also called out, as those types of she-she parties aren't for him, surprisingly. Lucy and Tinsel decided to go with him, with the latter to show off her new Disk, although Stewart warned that the Arrows have been invited and the put "the zero in F-Zero." Tinsel then explained that they're a superhero-wannabe couple and she wasn't fond of them as fakes, not even when Arrow convinced the Congress to lift F-Zero from suspension after seven years, hence the F-Zero X competition.

The next night, they arrived, and Truman explained as to how and why he was attracted to dream; not the fact he's rich from the inheritance from his grandfather, but because she saved his life. He was going too fast and the vehicle lost control on a curve, then Dream took him into the hospital and watched over him all night, even when he told her to return home; because she wouldn't leave his side, he called her a "dream come true." The Arrows and Lucy commented on the love story, though Rick joked that birds of a feather flock together, especially since they're cuckoo birds, to which Tinsel smirked.

After the caviar dinner Truman invited everyone to go to the basement where a surprise awaited for Dream. Everyone went except Tinsel in which she had an accident when the Disk fell and scattered her cards. She picked them up, albeit injured, and refused Dream's help. Then she noticed an ominous glow which later belonged to Michael's gang; she remembered the assembly of Wild Boars in she, Yugi, and Joey dealt with last year while they were following Falcon to Lightning thru the Big Blue highway. She urged Dream to hide and headed to the basement where he saw Truman's true colors. The nerd captured Rick, Lucy, and the Arrows in a red laser gate which was fatal to the touch; Mr. Arrow tried and failed, and his owl wasn't around.

Having the courage she snuck out and confronted the traitor and Mikey, the "big, black oaf." He intimidated her saying the Task Force is locked up, and that Truman was the one who helped the Bloody Chain to capture F-Zero racers, presumably Falcon. She stuck out her Disk and loaded Kuriboh, to which the gang was horrified by that incident when it was launched by the Catapult Turtle and multiplied destroying their machines. With Mike denying the deadly monster, she loaded the Multiply card causing the same effect, but also as a beacon for the Galaxy Police. Tinsel actually called them for the emergency before she confronted the Chain.

It worked, and Mike was incapacitated on impact, and he and his gang were apprehended. Truman was the next victim, and the destruction also disabled the gate. Tinsel actually shown a little compassion, saying that he was the culprit capturing the pilots, conspiring with the Bloody Chain, but it was all for the sake of Dream. However, after the police left, Tinsel went apeshit, blaming the whole thing on Truman, and kept forcing him to find the remaining racers in a neck lock. Forcing him down, she stormed away and had a nervous breakdown while returning to base. She unveiled everything to Dr. Stewart and Jody Summer, to which they were impressed how a rookie stood up to a whole gang! They forgave her actions, as Jody said it was done by motherly instinct, even though Rick and Lucy were stupefied by her cold heart when she snapped. She wanted her to be evaluated later and still keep her job since she saved everyone, instead of being in trouble by her using brute force. She returned home and agreed with Stewart of his comment about the Arrows...

Rick came in and they assured she'll be ok, just to have a day off to calm herself as well as be evaluated.

Meanwhile, Black Shadow watched the whole spectacle, impressed of Tinsel's dark side. He then wanted to put it into good use, and he ordered his new subordinate, The Skull, to unleash his next plan on the new champion, Rick, and meet his beloved from 150 years.

Trivia

 * The title was a homage to the Foreigner song of the same name; Kelly Clarkson's "Dark Side" was also pretty fitting.
 * The confrontation of the Bloody Chain was one of the flashback scenes featured in Ending it All.
 * TheIkranRider despises the outcome of the episode, even Truman himself; hence Tinsel's sudden outburst of pure hatred.
 * Unlike the episode, Mr. Arrow's owl was never present; Ikran's not a fan of the Arrows either.
 * It's based on the seventh episode, Michael Chain's Trap; specifically the English Dub.