Star Fox: The Saurian Adventure
Chapter 17
As soon as the elevator dropped to the lower reaches of the temple, the trio set off into the tunnels ahead. As they walked into that tunnel, the heat started to intensify and the area became more volcanic. Krystal took off Fox's vest and started carrying it in her hand to stave off the exhausting heat. Two flaming bats started charging at the two vulpines, but they fended them off with their ice blasts, killing the bats instantly, before walking into the next room with Tricky in tow.
The next room was a series of narrow bridges across a lava pit. Krystal winced in terror as she hated lava pits. The one she nearly got killed in back at the Darkice mines was bad enough. Fox couldn't agree more.
Fox's communications device started beeping. Fox answered it. "You called, Peppy?"
Peppy was on the other line giving out his report of the area, "Hi, Fox. I've been studying the ancient records of this planet, and you might be interested to hear this: This temple has been build on a force point. A point where pure magical energy is forced up from within the core of the planet. This energy is so powerful that it continually attempts to break the planet apart. To stop this, the ancient Krazoa placed two SpellStones inside the temple to absorb the energy. When General Scales removed the stones, the planet began to fall apart. By returning the SpellStones back to the temple, you'll bring the planet together once more. Peppy out."
After the transmission ended, Fox turned to Krystal saying, "All right. Let's…" but then he noticed a very pensive look on Krystal's face. Something seemed to be going on in her mind. "Krystal?"
Krystal snapped out of her trance and shook her head to focus on Fox. "Oh. Sorry, Fox, but I was just lost in thought for a moment. I'll be okay."
"Good." Fox walked on the left walkway leading to the platform in the center of the room, with Krystal and Tricky walking on the right. Fortunately for the three of them, the walkway was thick enough so they didn't have to worry about falling to their deaths. When they got to the end of the walkway, they stood at a ring-like platform and were right in front of another terminal that required the SpellStone to access it. Fox placed the SpellStone at that terminal which apparently unlocked a seal on a door similar to the one they used to get into the room in the first place. The trio turned back and went back to the other side of the bridge back to solid ground. There was a flame to their right blocking their access to the door they just unlocked, but Krystal quickly put it out with her staff's Ice Blast. Aware that Krystal seemed to know the ins and outs of the place, Fox and Tricky decided to let her take the lead. They continued on through the corridor in the next room. Not only were there two lava pits that thankfully could be avoided, but the pits started spewing out streams of fire. As the trio walked past the pits, the sound of the fire caused Krystal to hastily duck, but then she started panicking when she noticed that she accidentally set Fox's vest on fire. She quickly threw it at a wall that wasn't next to a lava pit, then quickly doused the flame with her Ice Blast. Unfortunately for her, part of the vest was burned, bumming her out. They continued on at the end of the corridor to a room with a suspicious-looking platform in the center. After all three of them stepped onto it, the platform rose up, and as it did, Krystal looked at Fox's vest with a glum look. She liked that vest and it was a very thoughtful gift from Fox to her, Seeing it ruined like that really bummed her out. Fox placed her hand on her shoulder. "It's all right. When this is over, I'll buy you a new one."
The platform took the trio to a walkway leading to the next room. However, Krystal took a quick glance at the side of the room and noticed something peculiar. "Fox? I think that ladder leads to…"
"Maybe later, Krystal. For now, we've got a SpellStone to return." They walked down the corridor leading to a door they need to go through to return the SpellStone. But there was one major problem…
"The door's locked. What's going on here!?" Fox tried pounding on the door several times but to no avail. In fact, his hands started hurting after a while.
Krystal giggled. "Maybe going up that ladder won't seem like such such a bad idea now."
"All right, lead the way." The group went backwards and back to the ladder that Krystal mentioned earlier. Upon further observations, they found out that there was actually a ladder on each side. Fox climbed the ladder on one side with Krystal climbing the one on the other. and when they made it to the top, they found four red flames on Krazoa statues just like the ones they put out when they first acquired the Ice Blast. Each respective side of the room had two flames, and Fox and Krystal used their Ice Blasts to put out the flames on their respective sides of the room, causing the seal on the door to break and the door to unlock. Fox and Krystal turned back and went down the ladders and they, along with Tricky, walked through the corridor again and into the next room.
In the next room, there were a hole in two of the walls in the room, spewing out fire. Seemed easy to avoid, but then three SharpClaws appeared out of thin air, yet again, to ambush our heroes. Fox managed to beat the smaller one with a jab to the stomach and an uppercut to the jaw, but that left him and Krystal to deal with the two shielded larger SharpClaw soldiers. After how effective the Fire Blasts were against these brutes, Fox and Krystal wondered how effective the Ice Blasts would be. They quickly unleashed their icy power upon the two SharpClaws, barely phazing them at first, but after a few seconds, the SharpClaw warriors' bodies were frozen solid, and the two vulpine warriors finished each of them off in a single swing, shattering their bodies to pieces. The Life Force Barrier disappeared and our heroes were able to proceed to the next room.
The group noticed they had to get across a series of platforms with a few of the platforms moving and the stationary platforms being in between dragon-like statues that shot out flames every few seconds. Tricky whimpered at how impossible it seemed to cross it, especially for him, but Krystal patted on his shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to get you across. Right, Fox?" But when she looked back up, Fox wasn't there. "Fox?"
Then she looked forward and saw Fox leaping across the platforms. As soon as the flamethrowers stopped, the moving platform was just moving near him, so he quickly leaped onto it. It was only on the moving platforms where he was able to have any repose, though, because as soon as he landed on one of the still platforms, he had to jump over to the next platform fast or he'd be roasted dog meat. As soon as he made it across the lava, he surveyed the room. Krystal called to him. "Did you find anything to help Tricky across, Fox?"
Fox turned back to respond. "I'm still loo…" but then he glanced at the moving platforms again. He noticed switches attached to them and then activated his Fire Blaster and shot at the switch on the platform. As soon as the platform reached the center of the pit, it stopped moving. As soon as he leaped unto the platform that used to move, he aimed his staff at the switch on the other moving platform, and fired at it. That platform also locked into position, and as soon as it did, he lept back to the side of the pit opposite the one Krystal and Tricky were still on. "All right! It's all clear!" Tricky nervously hopped across to the next platform after the flamethrowers stopped. He trembled as she saw the flamethrowers blazing across the next platform, which meant that Tricky would have to make it quick if he didn't want to get fried. As soon as the flamethrowers stopped, Tricky hopped two platforms across very quickly so that he wouldn't burn, with Krystal jumping to the first formerly moving platform. As soon as Tricky crossed over to the side Fox was at, Krystal followed him, timing her jumps to avoid the flamethrowers as well. Fox spotted a flame grate and asked Tricky to breath fire into it. The Earthwalker prince did so, unlocking the door to the next area.
The trio walked through a corridor leading to a large circular room of metal walkways hanging above another lava pit. As soon as they walked in, a bunch of angry bats started attacking them. Fox quickly swatted one down with his staff but another lept onto his back and started biting into the back of his head until Krystal grabbed the bat's wings and ripped them off herself. While she did so, however, another bat latched onto her back and attempted to sink its fangs into her shoulder, but only broke its fangs in the process due to her wearing gold shoulder pads. She quickly grabbed the bat's head and snapped its neck and used her staff to swat down another bat. After all of the bats died, Fox, Krystal, and Tricky walked along the metallic walkways to a glowing circle in the center of the room. The three were instantly teleported to a large room with a huge stone monument in the center with four openings on each of its four sides, shaped like the SpellStone. "Well, this is it," Fox said to his two partners. This must be where we need to put the SpellStone." He put the SpellStone back into the large stone monument and a beam of light emanated from the monument and soared to the ceiling. The trio stared at the light in awe. Then the three of them disappeared from the room.
Back at the entrance to the Volcano Force Point Temple, Fox, Krystal, and Tricky instantly reappeared. Krystal remarked, "Well that's convenient, isn't it. I would hate to trudge all the way back through the temple just to exit it."
Fox shrugged. "Yeah, me too. Too bad we'll have to go back there a second time."
"Well, it shouldn't be too bad for us until then. Shall we head out?"
Fox nodded. He, Krystal, and Tricky left the temple back into the Moon Mountain Pass. Krystal looked bummed out that the vest Fox gave her had most of one of its halves completely charred. She had so much sentimental attachment to that vest and thought it was so thoughtful of Fox to simply hand it over to her. But Fox did promise her another one when the mission was done. Until then, Krystal planned on putting it back into the cockpit of Fox's Arwing. It broke her heart that such a special gift to her would get ruined so quickly.
As the trio started walking through the Moon Mountain Pass, Krystal felt she needed to tell Fox something important. "Fox? I don't think finding the SpellStones is all we need to do to save Sauria. We also need..."
But then, suddenly, a figure as tall as a 6-story apartment building appeared before the group. Its body looked like a long red cloak and its face looked like that of the Krazoa Spirit that Krystal freed earlier… because it was the Krazoa spirit she freed earlier. Prince Tricky looked up at it in awe. "A Krazoa!"
The Spirit spoke. "It's a pleasure to see you again, last child of Cerinia. My gratitude is boundless."
Krystal knelt in sentiment. "I feel honored to see you again, your excellency."
"And I see you brought a friend with you this time. Does he wish to accept our test?"
Fox felt kind of baffled. "What is it talking about? What test?"
Krystal filled Fox in. "Krazoa Spirits put their chosen ones through tests before you could free them. I was the one who passed his test, releasing him. Before we met, I received a distress signal from Krazoa Palace. When I got there, the Earthwalker warriors sent to guard the Palace were attacked. They told me that the spirits were dying. And that in order to save them, I needed to release them so that they could help to restore the planet."
"Indeed. You two must collect the remaining Krazoa Spirits for only the pure of heart can enter our shrines."
Krystal felt she had to tell Fox what was on her mind back at the Volcano Force Point Temple. "Fox, remember what Peppy said back at the Volcano Force Point Temple? The spirits placed the stones there to absorb the destructive energy flowing from the planet's core. However, I suspect that unless we release all the Krazoa spirits, the SpellStones will be useless without their power."
Fox understood what she meant by that. "All right. Restore the stones and the spirits. Sounds simple enough."
The spirit continued. "Find the remaining five Krazoa Shrines. Complete the tests within each, and bring the spirits to Krazoa Palace."
Tricky remembered something important. "The WarpStone can get you there!"
"If you don't return all the Spirits, the planet will die. And the tragedy will repeat itself. Defeat the creature to collect a MoonSeed." A large stone door opened before them. The spirit then disappeared.
Krystal looked downward, clenching her fist. Fox wondered what the spirit meant by "the tragedy," but a quick look at Krystal's facial expressions made him suspect that she actually knew. "The tragedy… Did he mean…"
Tears started to drip from Krystal's eyes. "Yes…"
"I'm sorry of what he said inconvenienced you."
"Convenience means nothing to me. Especially not when lives are at stake." Krystal headed down towards the door that the Krazoa Spirit just opened as Fox and Tricky followed her.
Fox smiled in admiration. "Spoken like a true warrior."
Author's Notes
I have been reading ninjafoxshadow's fan fiction of Star Fox: The Saurian Adventures and I liked it. The fact that it was a version of Star Fox Adventures where Krystal doesn't get captured and has to wait for Fox to rescue her? Not only that, but in this version, Krystal travels with Fox and battles at his side! Sign me up! Not only does it make Krystal into an incredibly strong and independent woman, but the relationship between her and Fox develops so believably in this fanfic, making their interaction in Star Fox Assault more believable. Unluckily for the fans of the fanfic, myself included, he stopped making chapters for the fanfic since 2009, so I decided to make a fan fiction that picked up where his left off. I especially enjoyed re-writing the scene with Fox meeting the Krazoa Spirit to accommodate not only Krystal's significantly more active role in the fan fiction, but also her more in-depth backstory, which was briefly mentioned in the manual and that's it.
