C H A P T E R nine:
Parabola
Fox tucked his brush between his legs and rolled behind the boulder adjacent to him. He kept his body low, but cautiously peered to the side. In his periphery, he was able to make out the shadows of his approaching assailants. He cursed quietly to himself as shots of plasma whizzed past his fur. The lethal shots left nothing but the smell of ozone in front of Fox's nose and scorch marks where they made contact. Slowly, Fox pulled an MSB —a bomb with motion-sensing capabilities— from his belt. He engaged it and placed it just next to himself. Green and red lights emanated faintly from LEDs beaded on the front.
He could hear the ground depress slightly and dead leaves crinkle as the foot steps came closer. Krystal, he thought. Where are you? Are you hurt? He waited for some kind of response, but none came. He cursed quietly again, sliding around the side of the boulder as the footsteps approached. It wasn't long before his attackers unwittingly triggered the clandestine MSB, blowing them into oblivion. Fox took advantage of the explosion to dart out from the area, keeping low and ducking frequently to avoid possible sniper fire.
He had crawled up twenty feet to the north and was resting behind a large schist when a nearby rustling alerted him. He was wary of attackers, so he immediately pulled a flash bang from his belt. He approached the source of the rustling, a large shrub, shrewdly; his thumb hovering over the arming button of the grenade. When he was within five feet of the shrub, he was surprised into inaction by a swift movement that launched him backwards. He hit the schist behind him and felt his tongue lull out of his head momentarily. Blood leaked down his brow from an unseen source.
A figure approached him, but he was well aware that he was too incapacitated from the concussion to be of much help. He yelled into his mind, shouting his love to Krystal and fearing that his life was about to end. Suddenly, the figure ducked, giving Fox a moment to examine their face in his current state. He was overwhelmed with surprise at the blue avian who stood before him. "Falco," he whispered, his voice nearly silent.
Falco grabbed ahold of Fox's wrist and began to take his vital signs, concern apparent on his visage. Upon ascertaining that, aside from the concussion, Fox was fine, Falco withdrew a minute autoinjector from a first-aid kit on his belt. Fox watched through bleary eyes as Falco brought the autoinjector down hard onto his thigh. He cringed a little bit at the pain brought by the pressure and the needle, but remained inert as the drugs marched through his system. He felt his vision clear and he felt the pain slip away as the blend of ibuprofen lysinate and epinephrine perforated his system.
Finally able to turn to his friend, Fox nodded gently. "Thanks," he whispered. Falco simply nodded in return. Fox began to lift himself up from the ground, his legs feeling weak beneath him. Falco rushed to his aid, supporting the struggling vulpine's arms. Slowly, the two staggered away from the area, with Falco leading the way. He brought Fox to a small clearing nestled in the forest. Inside this clearing rested the SkyClaw, Falco's personal star-fighter. Sitting Fox down just outside the ship, Falco ran to get more supplies. Fox simply stretched his legs out before him and tried to regain his coordination while Falco rummaged through the ship.
Returning with a hefty amount of medical tape, gauze, and a fiberglass casting sheet. Falco wound the tape around the top of Fox's head, securing gauze over the wound. He then took the fiberglass casting sheet and folded it to the necessary size before taping it over the gauze. From there, he simply removed a small UV gun and cured the fiberglass quickly. Fox simply observed his friend's rapid movements and sat still, not wanting to disturb the process.
When Falco was finished he sat down and faced Fox. "Man, are you in deep sh*t, Fox," started Falco. Fox grinned at his friend's typical behavior and shook his head slowly. Falco chuckled and became serious again. "That guy you wanted me to check out, Marius… Suffice it to say that he doesn't take nothing from no one. He wants something done, it gets done. He don't care how. People who deal with this walrus get killed, man." Fox nodded solemnly.
"So I take it he wants me dead?" asked Fox. Falco simply nodded grimly in response. "Figures," sighed Fox. "What about Krystal? He wanted her alive." Falco's eyes swelled inside his head.
"Dude, Marius' guys got her," Falco said softly. Fox felt his heart hammering in his chest. He felt anger swell in the pit of his stomach as his eyes turned red with rage. He didn't even know why Marius wanted Krystal so bad, all he knew is that he had lost Krystal once and refused to lose her ever again. Fox stood up quickly and looked his friend in the eyes.
"You know what I have to do now, right?" he asked Falco quietly. Falco shook his head, feeling unsure of the situation. Fox sighed gently and blinked his eyes before responding. "First, we wipe out his boys who were hunting for me. Then, we find him. Finally," Fox turned away and marched toward the SkyClaw, preparing for battle. Perching himself on the wing, he looked at his friend. "Finally, I kill the b*st*rd with my bare hands." Falco felt a grin form on his face. He got up and marched toward his ship, ready to help out his friend.
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The first thing Krystal noticed was the stale breeze that was washing over her person. This was followed shortly by the sound of wheels creaking beneath her and the inconsistent glow of fluorescent bulbs overhead. Krystal groaned, her mind spinning as she tried to get a grasp on her surroundings. She felt sick. After mulling it over, she remembered the chain of events. She and Fox had gone to Sauria on a whim, simply filled with the merriment of being together again. Suddenly, they were attacked by mercenaries they had never run across before. Fox and her had split up in an attempt to confuse them, but Krystal had been overtaken by the faster aggressor. She remembered his knees digging into her back and a small prick on the back of her neck before the world in front of her melted.
She didn't know how she had ended up where she was, but she assumed that the man who employed Fox to capture her, Marius, had something to do with it. She attempted to lift herself from the cot she was in, but found it impossible when the realization hit that she was restricted by leather constraints on her arms and legs. "Damnit!" she muttered.
"Such a dirty word from such a pretty face," said a voice. Krystal only looked around, shocked. She had been so focused on her predicament that she hadn't realized another person was in the room with her. "Now, now. I assure you, it will be fine." The voice spoke casually and reasonably, but it still made Krystal shudder. The voice had a smarminess —an edge that didn't sit well with her— that made her worry. She heard the sound of someone heavy approaching her. Turning her head, she was able to make out the massive outline of Ben Marius. As he came closer, she could see his rolls of blubber quivering inside of his suit.
"Oh my dear Kursed," he sighed. He rested one of his gray hands on her head. She immediately snapped at him, and his hand moved away quickly to avoid the vixen's teeth. His eyebrows turned down at the ends and his mouth transformed into an angry grimace. "Dear Kursed," he said. "That is no way to treat your jailor. We wouldn't want any unfortunate incidences, would we?" His voice dripped of irony, which he wielded like a dagger. The anger immediately evaporated from Krystal's face as concern for her own safety took over. "There, there," hummed Marius. "Don't worry. I simply wish to keep you here long enough to punish you for what you did to my good friend."
The confusion must have been obvious on Krystal's face, because Marius became enraged. "You don't remember?! You cannot recall taking the life of a person I valued?!" Krystal felt gobs of his spit land on her face. Internally, she felt disgusted, but she said nothing, and her face remained blank. Krystal felt Marius subdue his rage before he started speaking again. His voice was quiet. "My friend, Ophelia Fenson, who you so rudely dispatched." Krystal thought back and was able to summon the job from her memory. Ophelia was a she-wolf wanted for crimes that could be a chapter unto themselves. Many people had cheered when she was taken out, and Krystal was pleased at the bounty she received.
"Either way," said Marius. "I will be making it up to her, my dear Ophelia." Krystal felt the loss in his heart, but refused to feel sorry for him because of the predicament she faced. His eyes wandered away as he spoke. He turned back to her and grabbed a hold of her muzzle, clamping it shut. "I will make it up to her by giving her you." His eyes locked with hers. She could feel hatred pouring out of him. Probing deeper, she was able to see what he intended for her. She shuddered, cold chills racing up and down her spine and making her unable to move. Marius grinned at her and abruptly waddled from the room.
Krystal tried to relax on her cot, feeling afraid and alone. She tried to organize her thoughts and come up with an escape plan, but her mind constantly wandered. Every time she tried to think her mind twisted back to the same thing. Fox… she thought. I'm here. With Marius. Save me. Please. Her eyes began to well with tears at the idea that she might never see Fox again. How badly she wanted to close her eyes and open them to him lying next to her, a goofy grin plastered across his face. How desperately she wished to invade his dreams and playfully toy with his thoughts. She simply laid there, alone.
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Fox toyed with a handheld communicator he had taken off of the body of one of Marius' men. He was piloting one of their ships, a souped-up version of a midline unit, toward Marius' base. Even he had to whistle as he approached it. From a distance, it registered both visually and to scanners as an asteroid. However, upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be a base with an advanced cloaking mechanism to deter unwanted pests. Fox peered out the cockpit at Falco, who was also piloting an enemy ship. Falco made eye contact with Fox, and his voice crackled from the communication system.
"Hey Foxie, we got a plan?" asked Falco. Fox took a second to ponder it before responding. He leaned into the mic and began speaking:
"Here's the plan, we get in. From there, we creep around until we find Krystal. Once we get our hands on her, we bust sh*t up and leave." He leaned back into his seat and heard Falco's unruly chuckle,
"My kinda plan, Fox." he laughed. Even Fox, who was far from being in the mood for such flippancy, found himself grinning at the avian's remark. Suddenly, his attention was immediately focused back on the task at hand when a third voice came from the handheld communicator.
"Ship 613," it droned. "Has the objective been reached?" Fox was unsure of the exact nature of the "objective," but took his best guess and returned the question.
"Affirmative. Target destroyed," he waited a few seconds, his breath caught in his chest and his head throbbing. The response came back swiftly.
"Good work, 613, you are clear for landing. Over and out." Fox sighed and gave the thumbs up to Falco. The cyaneous fowl responded with a nod, and they both aimed their ships at the docking bay which had opened on the surface of the base. They maneuvered inside deftly and landed quietly. The exited their ships and conferred silently about the next course of action. After a few seconds, they began to move deeper into the belly of the base.
Krystal, thought Fox. I hope to high hell you can hear me. I'm coming to save you, don't worry. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and continued his forward trek.
Author's Note:
Told you the next chapter would be better...
-][nquerius
