If imagination demands...
Proudly presents:
A tribute to thetwinphoenixes' The Keyholder,
Wave of Destruction: Liberation
-By Phantom R.D.S. Foxx
With a large swing, he throws everything from the kitchen on the floor. Glass and porcelain, beautifully decorated and very expensive looking, break on the white paved kitchen floor. He pulls out the drawers one by one and empties them rampaging. The cutlery and various other kitchenware clang on the floor as well.
He gasps for air, stomping his paws on the side of the sink. His head is spinning like a merry-go-round on drugs. The stomach reacts to that, burning his gullet up. It's inevitable: He throws up in the sink, barely avoiding the faucet hanging over the chrome, now more yellowish sink.
As the last clots of vomit of are spitted out from his mouth, he bumps the back his head against the faucet when he lifts it from the sink. He's still wearing his headset-helmet, therefore only increasing the pain since it wasn't designed for that in the first place. Cursing and mumbling, he pushes it away before turning to another set of glass and porcelain he missed; they too are not to be spared. As the last piece breaks on the floor, he feels the same nausea coming up, as he had for three days straight.
SON OF A BIIIIII…! he thinks as loses his balance. His right shoulder slams against the edge of the upper cupboards. He doesn't feel the pain over the agony lingering in and around his mind. Numb, he glides onto the ground against the lower cupboards. His helmet slides off his spot and falls casually over his face, with the wires messed up all over his body.
He looks around the room as he disconnects the wires and throws the helmet in a faraway corner. It's a complete mess. Closets opened, doors off their hinges, the fridge standing tilted and flipped over against a large dent in the glass where the fine afternoon sunlight shines through. Dirty clothing is everywhere. Raveled and at least as old as the moment everything went down the drainer.
The smell adds to the sickening atmosphere lingering in the house. A cold breeze, coming from the open door leading to the staircase towards what used to be their room, is the only thing that feels humane to him.
Underneath the kitchen table's table-leg, he notices is a piece of paper. It was meant to stop the table from wobbling around. Somehow, it didn't annoy him enough to break the table in two but to rather solve the problem. A rare moment of sanity, seeing as an empty wine bottle sits on top of that table.
He grabs it and pulls underneath it, therefore ripping a small piece of it. The wobbling it causes, makes the wine bottle tumble of the table. It's strong enough to stay together and roll towards the couch in the living room.
"Lucky bastard…" comments Fox McCloud with a drunken and bleached face. He unfolds the paper and looks at it.
To Do-list
- Buy gift for Krystal
- Make sure that Falco doesn't visit too often. Starting to look like a creep (as of 20th June 14ALW, this is no longer an issue. He found a girl. Guess three times who.)
- Get all the stuff for Marcus' room
- Sell your Arwing
- (Possible option) Reprogram ROB to function as some sort of butler for our own convenience
Some tasks are already done. But his complete attention is pulled towards the small purple heart drawn close to the only time "Krystal" is written. He strokes the name with his fingertip as tears come too his eyes.
Why must this happen to me? She was all to me. Now that she's taken from me… all is shattered. What keeps me here then? Why can't I be with her? Why must I always suffer!?If even a motherfrickin' bottle can survive!?
His rage continues as he rips the paper to pieces and rises from the ground. He tramples the headset he threw on the ground and stamps over to the living room. As he plans to do the same to the bottle on the floor in between the couch and a transparent glass closet, he hears a car horn honk from outside. He looks up, at the closed curtains hanging before the windows.
A crack within the enclosure allows a small ray of outside light in. It shines unluckily right in Fox's right eye. He was willing to except that someone or several were outside, but not anymore.
I wasn't expecting anyone. Leave!
He leaves the fallen wine bottle alone and walks towards the cozy living room. He slams the door leading to the staircase shut.
From the coffee table in the midst of the living room, a couch, the TV and two lazy chairs, grabs a fairly heavy vase and throws it towards the front door without saying a single word or uttering a sound. Instead, he converts all his anger into in the toss.
The vase breaks into a million pieces and leaves a pretty big dent in the door. He can hear gasping outside; someone is outside his door. Completely done with anything and anyone, he stamps towards the door.
"Nobody's home!" he shouts at the top of his voice as he kicks the dent even further in.
He hears nothing further. To check if those at the door are really gone, he comes closer to the door. Through the peep-hole build in the door, he vaguely sees a pink furred kitten and a blue feathered avian.
He can't get a clear picture: The late afternoon sun however is poison to his by alcohol weakened eyes, forcing him to move away from the peep-hole.
It angers him even more. The boiling point has been reached too many times now. Unable to think straight, he begins to abreact on the door handle. It breaks off as the rest of it is torn out single-handedly.
A certain silence is created after that. Fox stumbles away, back into the kitchen. With only a slight push from the avian still outside, the door opens by himself as all is busted. It lets even more sunlight into the room. It shines upon the lower legs of Fox.
With open mouth, the avian and the kitten are staring at Fox McCloud, weeping and raging in himself as he holds his head in his paws. He's sitting on the side of a lazy chair in the living room.
The once proud leader of the elite mercenary squadron Star Fox is reduced to a pile of misery and self-pity in their eyes.
'I told you...' whispers the pink kitten known as Katt Monroe shocked in Falco's ear.
'Uuuh... Fox? Buddy?' calls Falco soft out to Fox. He sounds very uncertain, his voice incredibly shaky.
Fox turns his head towards the blue feathered avian coming closer. The sunlight makes it very hard to see him clearly. Looking up aches his head. And Falco's presence here makes it even worse.
"What!?" screams Fox hoarse as he raises his paw in the air. "What is it birdbrain!?"
His eyes move to the right, to see another shadowy silhouette. Adjusting what he can, he can make out it's Katt. Falco's proud catch he couldn't shut up about the last few weeks.
"Is that it? Showing off your prize eh? Get lost… both of you!" says Fox very restrained, looking away from all the pain he can't bear to stand any longer.
"B-but Fox... it-it's me bud. Falco Lombardi?" ensures Falco with the best straight face he can put up.
In vain however as Fox doesn't move a single muscle. He just repeats what he said before. "Get lost…"
"Come on Foxy. Everyone needs a little companionship. Especially in tough times like these."
That sentence didn't arrive as the good willing one it should have been. Fox turns his head back to Falco, only to look creepier than anything else.
"You don't know jackshit about time... or rough times like these." he says with a hissing voice and with a strong wagging finger pointing at Falco.
Fox rises from the couch and turns his back on Falco. He walks back towards the kitchen at a snail's pace. He has a little more to say to his best friend.
"Actually… Gah!" He turns around. "You don't know about anything I'm currently going through. You can… can… o-only guess! And nothing else!' accuses Fox abrupt as he continues walking away at the slow pace.
He notices the large transparent glass closet on his right, filled with photographs of the past and present the two lovers on the picture used to give to each other. He feels a stranger in his own home.
"I don't fit here anymore!" he suddenly screams as he waves around with his arms like a madman. He turns around to face Falco again.
"I don't fucking fit here anymore. Ha. I'm not Fox McCloud anymore. No... I'm not." he rambles on. Madness has gotten to his head, which he grabs with both of his paws. He laughs creepy as he ponders around.
"I'm a mess!" he concludes with a feigned smile on his face. "First it was my mother. Then it was my father. Thought that was all huh? Oh no: now my wife and my unborn son too! BAM! One blow took all my remaining loved ones away."
Falco feels that that's not true, since every one of the Star Fox team is still around. But when he wants to remark that, Katt pulls on his shoulder, urging him not to do this. Falco still tries it, but no words leave his opened mouth. Fox meanwhile continues.
"My whole life has been a nightmare, a chain reaction of misery cloaked in segments of happiness."
He quickly takes a peek at the glass closet and back at Falco.
"You know what that is?" he says while pointing at it and stomping over to it. "This! This is the very cherry on the cake of denial. Presents we gave each other... photo's we made... everything. It's not ours anymore. She's gone. She… is… gone! Grrrrrrraaaargh!" he screams as he grabs the neck of the wine bottle and slams the entire closet to pieces with a swing to his right.
He slashes right through the middle, decapitating the closet. The 'head' shatters in millions of tiny pieces before Falco's feet. Fox turns around, facing the kitchen. He throws the bottle in his last act of vile rage and breaks the window with the large dent in it. The fridge leaning against, it slams on the ground outside the house.
While the sounds of destruction roam and echo on for a few more moments, Fox breaks down. Tear-infested, drunk, exhausted and overburdened, he sits down on the couch again as Falco sits down next to him.
"It's okay buddy." assures Falco as he embraces his crying friend. "Let it all out. It's heavy... I know. Nothing can tip that."
While he's saying that, Falco reaches into one of his pockets.
'Wh-a is that?' sniffs Fox as he lets go of Falco.
Falco retrieves a small chest from his pocket and opens it; Krystal's wedding ring. The beautiful, diamond-engraved golden ring with the big ocean blue sapphire on top. Fox found it next to Krystal's dead body after the accident. That he off all people had to find her, face down on the ground. Not breathing and her sparkling eyes slowly dying out. She became cold within hours. Fox lost the ring in all the ruckus that followed and Falco took care of it for the time being.
"Come on." suggests Falco. "Let's give it to her. At least something else you can check that task of your list." jokes Falco while padding on Fox's shoulder. Fox feels in much better mood somehow and rises simultaneously with Falco.
"Let's go then." states Fox still sniveling as the three walk out of the house.
The sun outside doesn't seem as bright and painful to his eyes anymore. Though he still has to cast a shadow over them by blocking the sun with his paw. He looks straight ahead and sees a casual, cobalt blue 4-seater sedan. Falco gets in behind the wheel while Katt remains standing on the porch.
"How about the door?"wonders Katt as Fox passes her by. He doesn't give anything about that broken door. All valuable stuff is already shattered or otherwise destroyed so a break in isn't of any concern.
"Like anyone wants broken stuff eh Fox?" jokes Falco to the detriment of Katt. Fox gets a cheap laugh and Katt knows her place now.
"Yeah... sure sure." says Fox absent. "Can we go now?"
All three get into Falco's car as they drive off towards the cemetery. Katt brings up the inappropriate joke Falco made a few times in a row. With Falco answering it with "I'm sorry." all the time.
For the rest, the whole trip goes smooth. The road is fairly bumpy towards the cemetery. Falco is behind the wheel, Katt sitting next to him and Fox is staring out the window, holding his chin in his paw.
As the two lovebirds made up and enjoy singing a jazz song together (Victoria's Secret by Sonata Artica), Fox sees how Solar, the dwarf star in the middle of Inner Lylat, slowly descents behind the Cornerian mountaintops.
Below those tops, lays Corneria City. It has a sobering effect on him. Just like the chilling cold within the car. Falco already turned on the heat but it doesn't light a fire inside Fox.
Morning dew is still present on the outside of the car window while the corners on the inside are frosted. He starts to draw certain things in it. An Arwing, just a few random lines and the best recreation of Krystal's face one can make by 'finger-painting'. He remembers the first day, seven months ago, that he heard that he would become a dad.
Fox! What are you doing home so early? I thought you stayed at the Academy till six?
Why? Is your secret lover still around here? Haha... no Peppy decided to stop in and take over my classes for the rest of the day. It's not every day that your class is taken over by the General of the Cornerian Army.
Actually, I'm quite glad you came home early. Come on and have a seat, we have to pick out some new furniture. Do'h! Where did I left that pad?
This one?
Huh? Yes! Pfieuw... I thought I lost it. Thank you Fox.
Why so very upset about that? Wow, I needed that seat. Now, what's up?
Nothing. Nothing's wrong. Start scrolling down… Oh! Stop right there!
The children's department?
Indeed.
With all the baby stuff?
Hmhm.
Is this a nod to... what I think it is to?
Yes Fox… it is.
With the sudden braking of the car, Fox wakes up with a start as he seems to have been drooling. The shape of his chin is formed in the palm of his hand. He apparently shed a tear or two as well.
"We have arrived at our destination." comments Falco. "Hey sleepyhead. We're here. It's time for her present. You ready buddy?"
Self-confident, he nods towards his best friend. The doors of the car open...
The first updated chapter for Wave of Destruction: Liberation. I hope you are ready for the next updated chapters!