Chapter 20: The Agent of Fate
August 14th, 4:46 Lylat Standard Time
Venom High Orbit
Fourteen Minutes before Conduit Activation
"It all comes down to this." Fox whispered.
The Arwing II and the Cloudrunner erupted in flame as they dove into Venom's atmosphere. There wasn't a speck of resistance left, and they were directly above the tunnel that would lead them to the core. The same tunnel he traversed eighteen years ago.
The same tunnel where he thought he had killed the maniacal Andross.
Rather than putting his fears aside, they only built up stronger within him every time he saw the green blip that was Krystal close behind him. A couple of times on their flight he almost let it become anger.
"Still no convincing you to let me do this alone?"
"I'm not leaving you."
He already knew that was exactly she was going to say. For the first time since he got her back, he understood why he asked her to leave over Kew almost six years ago. He loved her more than anything, but that made her a viability. A distraction. Her presence was a threat to their success and she knew it; but still she came. Was it stubbornness? No. She loved him, and he loved her in return. Ultimately, she was right; the risk was worth going through this together. That optimism didn't satisfy the pit of worry in his gut, though.
He sighed in vexation, pulling up when they were only a few hundred meters above the ground, the two skirted across the perfectly flat planes surrounding the entrance. They weren't the same wastes he flew the warpath over eighteen years ago; rather they were a lush plain that reminded him of Corneria... of home. They were on the daytime side of the planet, the decievingly warm light showing him the path to his final confrontation innocently.
It was only several moments later they found the accursed wart that was the tunnel entrance. It was exactly as he left it. A golden dome adorned with ornamentations and strange writing, with a hole facing towards the stars more than large enough to fit both of their Arwings.
"Here we are. Are you ready, Fox?" his love asked him.
"I was ready for this ever since that bastard killed my parents." He pulled into a loop, Krystal following suit on his tail. Upon completing it he was facing the gaping maw of the planet, the throat of Venom itself.
"This is for you, Dad."
The darkness swallowed the two fighters whole, and it took several seconds for his eyes to adjust to the decreased light. His Arwing's bow spotlight activated on its own, amply filling the tunnel with light as far as a couple of hundred meters ahead of them.
Krystal scoffed. "You would think the pig would have the courtesy to leave the lights on..."
Fox stayed silent. He was in his combat zen; it was just him, the tunnel, and the two green blips that were himself and his love. The reflection stopped; the seemingly endless tunnel granting him no opinion of success. Just the slow trickle of adrenaline into his blood. He almost jumped when his comms sparkled to life.
"Ahh, the son of James McCloud...."
Fox bared his fangs. He still didn't completley believe Andross could have returned, but hearing the madmans voice with his own ears finally put the uncertainty in his heart to rest. "Your first words to me, how could I forget? I thought they were one of your last, too. My mistake."
"You will find that will be one of your final mistakes, Fox. Not even you and your ragtag gang can stop me this time."
Fox decided to play mind games of his own. "I hope you're ready to make due on your threat, Andross, because every time in the past it was far too easy..."
He ape kept quiet, Fox saw fit to finish. "The only legacy you left behind was the story that made me and my team famous. Did you hear? The biggest paychecks I ever got were from stopping you. All you managed to do was fill my bank account. What are you trying to accomplish this time, putting me into early retirement?"
Fox waited patiently for a response, but when he recieved his answer, he wished he kept his mouth shut. "On the contrary, my legacy remains unscathed. Venom stands, the portal to Cerinia stands, my Grandson gained enough power for me to return with, and my prime amplifier remains standing. Even now I can still feel the link to it... your friends are far too late. By the time I am done with you, they will arrive in time only to be turned into my slobbering thralls."
"Guess I'm going to have to take you down quick then, huh?"
The two Arwings burst into the core chamber that invaded the vulpines nightmares for eighteen years. It made just as little sense as it did before; the...walls... were just random splashes of colour that shifted rapidly like some kind of psychidelic abstract art. He almost expected too see the giant head and hands right away... but all the two vulpines saw was a small platform in the center of the expanse. He could practically smell his target standing ontop of it, beside his grandson Dash, and infront of what looked like a giant ring standing up on its side.
He should have seen it coming. He should have been ready. His bloodlust made him completely ignore the possibilty that he wouldn't just stand there in the open while Fox burned him down. As suddenly as he entered, he was jarred to a stop. Some kind of bright blue net of beams was holding his fighter in place. He quickly checked his radar, Krystal was in the same perdicament.
"Fox, I'm stuck! I can't break free!"
The old apes laughing, like a sick symphony from a composer left only with the grief of witnessing a million deaths, filled his ears. "So naive you are, child. Now that I have you sitting still like a good kit, its time to begin the ritual."
The colour sank from his face. He was so close, yet so far. Everyone was fighting on the other side of the planet to give him this chance, and he threw it away. Walked right into a trap.
A shadow, like some great black hand extended from the platform Andross stood upon and gripped Krystals fighter. He had no idea how loud he roared, screaming for vengeance. "Put her down, you overgrown maggot! I'll tear your eyes out, I'll-"
"SILENCE!" the ape roared. He had no idea how, but he was forced to obey, it must have been the amplifier... he was immune at long range, but now he was too close.
Krystal cried to him.. and he was forced to watch as the Cloud Runner opened its canopy freely, his love being taken by the shadow. She disapeared amongst the black tendrils which contracted back to the platform. "Fox! No! Help me!"
The rage in Fox only got worse with every word from Andross. "How stubborn she is... you know of what I speak. Told her to stay, you did. Did she listen? No... now every one of you are going to pay with your lives."
"Fox... I'm so sorry..."
He zoned out. There was nothing he could do. He had lost. Lylat had lost. Every single one of them was going to die. His surroundings turned to haze as the fear and rage inside him threatened to tear him apart. He saw the ring -the conduit, Andross had called it- light up, its expanse filled with a blue light. The ape turned, raising his arms as though welcoming a long lost child home.
Never give up, trust your instincts!
He heard it. It was the same as before. The haze blocking his vision cleared instantly; his body was his own again. "This one's for you, dad." His mind chugged back up to pace, adrenaline coursing through him. "Blue beams. Ion net. Can be dissipated by a magnetic pulse... but..."
"DO A BARREL ROLL!"
Of course! The Arwing two created a localized magnetic field when it barrel rolled, as a more modernized way to deflect beam weapons. He tried, tilting his fighter hard to starboard, the fighter barely moved. He kicked the G-Diffuser into overdrive, swinging the fighter back and forth...
He watched the shadow holding Krystal, it was squeezing something out of her... some kind of blue dust. He knew he didn't have long. The Arwing budged harder and harder as his diagnostic board lit up with successful released of an opposing magnetic force. The net started to flicker.
"Just a little more..." He saw the ape carry Krystal through the portal, Dash collapsing to the ground the moment his grandfather was absent. He was out of time. He needed to break free.
And break free he did.
The Arwing made a complete roll, shattering the hold the energy net had on him. It was mere milliseconds of reaction time before his foot was on the boost pedal, sending him crushed into the back of his seat from the acceleration, his G-Diffuser whining in protest. The blue ring, Andross' last invention, swallowed his fighter whole.
Into the breach, once more.
???????
He didn't have a moment to act, as soon as he was through, the head and hands he was looking for found him first. He didn't even get to see his surroundings before he sent himself into a barrel roll to get the hell out of the way. Wherever they were, it was like an endless rolling plain dotted with trees, a parardise... being torn apart by a wicked storm. The clouds swirled towards the portal in the sky he had just bottomed out of. He pulled out of his dive immediately, just barely outrunning another swing by the giant hand.
He could hear the wicked laughing as his lasers pinged off his seemingly invincible face. Unlike the fleshy head he appeared to be before, he almost looked completely molded out of some kind of purple crystal. His eyes glowed white, teeming with the power of Cerinia.
The hands swatted at him a second time, he flew straight up to escape the first, then cut his engines, freefalling downwards and watching the second fist overshoot him. He kicked his thrusters in again, going for a head to head against his assailant. His aiming reticule darted around desperately seeking a target in the thick rain. It flashed red over the bright probe in the palm of his hand; the same weakness he explosed again and again. He went all out with his hyper lasers, but to no avail. Pulling out of his dive bomb and getting a close look a the hand as he passed, he didn't appear to do any damage.
He checked his radar for some sort of hint; some sort of indication where he should shoot. Instead, his own green dot was joined by several others appearing from the portal...a standard Wolfen that appeared to belong to Dawn...Skye's Assassin appeared right behind her... the Ranger, Janice's Arwing... Vince... Fay... Katt -he swore he could have told her to run-... Slippy's Bullfrog... Amandas Tadpole... he even spotted Bill Grey's customized Cornerian fighter, but the last one he never could have been prepared for. An assault class Arwing dropped through the portal as well, the IFF tag belonging to Peppy.
His godfather spoke to him. "We're here to help, Fox, this is Lylat's fight... not yours to fight alone."
"Peppy... Everyone..."
Andross flailed wildly trying to knock the intruders out of the air. Not one gave way to his attacks, and even Fox could begin to see the panic in his eyes.
"Thank you."
He grouped up with three other fighters to try to knock out the hand again. No words were required between them... their intentions flowed through him like an open book. Four sets of lasers punched the hand, making it detonate. Even through his canopy and the open air Fox could hear the blood curtling scream of his foe. He was losing again.
Two green dots flickered out of the air when his other hand struck to retaliate... Slippy and Katt winked off his radar without fanfare. He couldn't worry about it now. He was still alive, and he would fight until the end.
He recognized Andross' next move. His massive jaw agape, the winds changed direction to him. He was sucking in everything. Trees were uprooted from the ground, chunks of land... and their fighters. Fay was the unfortunate victim, disapearing into his gaping maw forever. His jaw shut, and he chewed his food. Fox winced in empathy for his friend.
He warned everyone else with his thoughts what was coming next.
His jaw flew open again, chunks of debris flying at insane velocities. A pit grew in Fox's stomach when he saw three more explosions from chunks of land slamming into the fighters. He had to barrel roll out of the way of a tree himself. Checking his radar, Skye, Vince and Bill were no longer on the map. He gritted his teeth. Heroes were dropping like flies.
It was time to hit the other hand. Three fighters formed up with him again once the storm settled, but Andross decided to play keep away, anticipating their move. The fist flew towards them again, only two of them reacted fast enough. Two more green dots vanished... Amanda and Janice.
That left Katt, Peppy and Dawn. They needed four to destroy the other hand and they knew it. Despite the risks, they grouped together again before the last hand finished its swing, as soon as Andross let his fist open, they poured out on it. The hand was torn apart by the sustained fire, leaving Andross vulnerable.
Not even Fox anticipated his next move. The glowing eyes suddenly emitted deadly beams, tearing up the landscape below. Dawn and Katt were pulverised.
Him and Peppy split up, emptying out on the now vulnerable head. Chunks of the purple crystal were torn out of his face, detonating upon release. His only comrade left was consumed by the bursting sections of his arch-rival.
He was alone again. His lasers roared with relentless fury, taking the mad scientist apart. Almost dead... almost dead...
Then his own fighter shuddered. He heard alarms, his cockpit electronics shut down, the canopy began to crack.
"Is this how it ends?"
.....
He was awake again. He lay upon a grassy meadow, the grass was red. Red with his blood. He saw the gashes in his arms, and it hurt terribly to move. He couldn't hear his own scream. Had he gone deaf?
He looked up, the giant head was still there. It was looking down at him, the jaw and one eye still mostly intact but mostly damaged beyond repair. He was a freak showm hungrily looking down to the innocent Fox.
A new set of lasers punched into its face. Did he have a friend again?
"Don't ever give up, my son."
He yelled up to the Arwing dancing around Andross. "Father!" he cried helplessly. He mustered all of the strength he could, and found he could stand. His wounds healed up, and it didnt hurt to move. His Arwing however was beyond repair, in ruins and three seperate pieces scattered across the meadow behind him.
All he had left was his staff, the crystal on which was growing brightly. It was already extended, stuck in the dirt beside him. He ripped it out, pointing it at his arch-nemesis and roaring.
James gave him the chance he needed. A smart bomb exploded, dropping debris from the injured Andross all around him but luck was still on his side, none of it crushing him. The head slammed into the ground but was still moving, it was only a couple of hundred meters away from him. Staff in hand, Fox ran as hard as he could. He moved far quicker than normal. Every step sent him flying forward.
As though by instinct, he stabbed his staff into the ground mid step and he was propelled mid air, landing ontop of Andross, in a crater his lasers had left. The lasers from his eyes fired as the head took to the air again. Fox kept grip by holding onto a tuft of the massive creatures hair that was still in place.
He couldn't stop. He climbed. Up he went, one hand after the other. The head swung around rapidly and it was hard to keep his grip. His father didn't fire, only dodged Andross' relentless assault, he was waiting for Fox to deal the final blow.
He was ontop. Despite the head swinging around he didn't need to hold grip anymore. His balance was perfect. His stance, his resolve; all for this moment. He didn't know what it would do, only that he had to. He stabbed the staff downwards as though planting Lylats flag atop the highest, most challenging mountain.
"You've become so strong, Fox."
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Can't I escape the beeping, even in death?"
No. He wasn't dead. If he heard the beeping he was in his room on the Great Fox. Or was he? No, he was lying on grass, not his bed.
He creaked his eyes open, it didn't even hurt. Hell, he didn't even feel tired. His vision was filled with a spectacular view of the stars; but he couldn't absorb the view yet. He needed to find the damn beeping first.
It was coming from his belt. His arms, with no sign of the injuries he had sustained in the battle, didn't hurt when he reached for it. It was his persa-com, and it was lighting up with a call.
It was from Krystal. Turning it on, he put it to his ear. "Krys?"
"Fox! Thank god you're alright, I've been trying to call for half an hour! When Andross took me I fell unconcious but I woke up.. and... I don't know, where are we?"
"I don't know..." He finally took the chance to look around at his surroundings. He was in the middle of an evergreen forest, in a clearing. The night was illuminated by a fire not far away. "I see a camp fire, is that yours?"
"A camp fire..? Oh no, if I can't see a fire we must be miles away from eachother! Our communicators aren't working properly. I have no idea where you are."
He stumbled towards it; his legs felt like he hadn't used them in days. It took him a few moments to realize they had been asleep; he must have been laying down wrong. "better than both being broken." he thought to himself. That was when the confusion hit. What happened? He just got out of the battle with Andross... He saw everyone die. When he stuck his staff into Andross...
Where was his staff? He checked his belt where he usually hung it, but it wasn't there.
Maybe it was a dream. "Krystal, do you remember the staff you made for me?"
"Of course I do, why? Did something happen to it?"
"... No, it's nothing. I'll explain later."
"How am I going to find you?"
"Let me investigate this fire, if its on its own, maybe i can cook it up a little, make it more of a signal for you."
"I guess thats a better plan than any..." He made his way through to the clearing, was someone there that could help? Maybe it was someone stranded like he was? Maybe someone else survived the battle?
As he pushed his way through the last bush, what he saw filled him with rage.
It was Andross, sitting on a log staring into the blaze. The old ape looked at him solemly.
"Come to finish the job, have you?"
Fox couldn't help but feel pity, despite everything that had happened. There wasn't even a hint of begging, or fear in his voice. He spoke as one who had completely submitted to his fate. Fox reached for his blaster, and found that it wasnt there regardless.
Taking the Fox's silence as a no, he took the liberty to speak. "Well, if you're not in a rush, take a seat. I imagine you have some questions for me."
The old man was right, he did. He sat on the log as if he was meeting Andross as a stranger for the first time, sitting on a park bench. It was ridiculous really, but he saw no reason to rush the apes death. Not yet.
"Let's get the obvious one out of the way." the elder said.
"Where am I?"
The old man chuckled. "How I am so easily defeated by such a simpleton..." his chuckle turned to a sigh. "We are on, as you may have suspected, Cerinia. This is an image, saved in time, of the world before it was turned into a wasteland by whatever terrible war that could wrought such devastation."
"Are there any Cerinians here?"
"Yes, and they have been hunting me ruthlessly. The only function I have managed to get out of my nearly destroyed amplifier is blocking out telepathic signals, ironically. This is the reason your woman has not been able to find us yet."
"What about the battle? What happened?"
"Ah, that. You see, we didn't even really do battle. Not in a physical sense. All of that was, basically, a projected dream. I had made some... errors... in my calculations, and the amplifier overloaded. While I gained all the power I wished, it was only in a subconcious sense... all I fought was your mind. I would have destroyed you if all had gone to plan, but your subconcious mind brought about images of all of your friends which destroyed me, and the amplifier. For the entire battle I was just as asleep as you just were. The Cerinians probably recovered your fighter."
"Wait, so none of my friends are dead?"
"No, infact, the only ones here are you and Krystal. I believe a couple more have just arrived as well, but I can't tell thanks to the destruction of my device."
"I see..."
Fox looked into the fire. Here he was, having a debrief chat with the man he just swore to kill. "So, what happens now?"
"I imagine your friends will come and find you, if the Cerinians don't find us first, in which case they will kill me on the spot and probably take you to James."
"James? My father is here?"
"Well, yes. Of course. I watched as the bastard pulled you out of my grasp eighteen years ago. You see, I never mentioned it in my log, but I later hypothesized that when he escaped my grasp, he didn't translocate in a standard sense; rather he warped into this image of Cerinia. He created his own conduit out of sheer luck. Chances are he is probably still here, living out the last of his days amongst his new Cerinian friends."
"One more question."
"Go ahead..."
"Why?"
Andross reeled back, turning his gaze to the stars. It was the question he was both most prepared and least prepared to answer. Their thoughts were interupted as an Arwing shot overhead, illuminated by its exterior lights. The spotlight was scowering the ground. His communicator buzzed again. "Fox! I see you down there!... but, is that... is that Andross?"
"We were just having a friendly chat, hows the view up there?"
"What the... Fox, I'm coming down."
"Okay." He turned his attention back to Andross. "Well?"
"There is many answers I could give you, McCloud, but let me ask you... Would an answer satisfy you? Would knowing why I did what I did make your justice any sweeter?"
Even more than Fox's question had disarmed the elder, Andross' completely caught Fox by suprise. Not once did he think about it. All he ever desired was revenge for his fathers death. Ever since Peppy, with a shaking hand, told Fox the news making the young kit burst to tears, it was all Fox ever wanted. He wanted to see Andross die. Did he question what Andross' motives were? Sure, plenty of times.
Not once did he ever think about whether he cared about Andross' true ambitions. If no one he knew was injured, would he ever have cared at all? Was justice truly his motive all these years?
"No, I suppose it wouldn't."
Andross smiled. It wasn't the sick, deranged smile of a mad scientist, but one who was accepting of what life had dealt him. Fox found it hard to believe that such a kind smile could have been buried under all of the animal's hatred. "Then, at least, I can have that much peace."
"One more question, though." He could hear crackles in the forest only a hundred meters away, Krystal must have been running for him.
"Hmm?"
"Why are me and my friends immune to the effects of the amplifier?"
"Ahh..." Andross shook his head. "Of all the mysteries in Lylat, McCloud, that is the one I could never crack. As a scientist, the only thing I ever feared were uncrackable mysteries. Uncrackable mysteries like you and your gang."
"You really don't know?"
"Perhaps you should ask your father, when he arrives."
Krystal burst through the bushes, pointing her blaster at the madman. "Hands in the air! Release him, you monster!"
Fox turned around. "Wait! Krystal, he surrendered, don't worry. I was just getting some answers." It seemed to calm her down, but she was still on end. Maybe she was a bit more sane than him, remembering the threat the doctor posed and everything he had done; or maybe he was the sane one, knowing that the man was nothing more of a husk of the danger he used to be. Either way, Krystal did look very uptight. She kept her blaster pointing anyway. Fox stood, walking beside her casually. "Here, give it to me."
She was confused. She couldn't sense his mind and had no idea if Andross had control... but she trusted him regardless. She handed over the blaster.
Fox checked the charge, walked over to the ape, and pressed it against the back of his head. "Any last words?"
"Just a question. For you, this time."
"And?"
"If you had to guess as to why you were immune to the effects of the amplifier, what would you say?"
"Hmm..." he took the time and really though about it, not sure why he was doing the doctor the favour.
He came up with his answer. "Because I don't think it was designed to affect Cerinians."
"What? You don't mean..."
Rather than fire the blaster, Fox decided to put the old man out of his misery with a reminder of the terror he had inflicted... Fox's prosthetic leg. "Remember that one research station you led us to? With the mutants crawling around it?"
"Of course I do, so sorry about your le-"
He never finished his sentence. Fox lifted his prosthetic leg, and jammed his heel down into the old mans spine as hard as he could. All three heard the excessively loud CRUNCH, immediately followed by a howl of pain from the doctor, who collapsed, limp, in the fire. Just to shut up the screaming from the now paralyzed and burning scientist, Fox lifted the blaster again.
Crack. The laser found homage in the back of the apes head. Thousands of lives were finally avenged. The two vixens found homage in silence.
For a few seconds, anyway. A voice yelled at them from behind. Turning around, Fox couldn't hear where it came from. "0ei! Thef 0eih noufed udt 0ei nacc dek ro xuhmot!"
Fox whipped around and looked at Krystal, she whispered to him. "He said put down your gun, and he won't hurt us." He complied immediately.
Krystal tried yelling into the blackness. "Nxe uho 0ei?!"
Fox felt an impact on the back of his head, and the last thing he saw was Krystal falling beside him.
The Next Morning
He groaned, this time with the pain he expected from an impact like he recieved the previous night. He wondered what was with Cerinians and taking prisoners unconcious from a hit to the head; Skye told him about how they did the same to him on the abandoned colony.
He took note of his surroundings, his head aching as he forced his eyes open. He was in some sort of log cabin as far as he could tell from the roof and the wall he was facing. He was lying on an... odd feeling bed. Some kind of primitive animal fur.
Hopefully primitive animal, anyway.
He flipped around, facing bulk of the room. His eyes took a minute to adjust to the strong morning light. When they did, he saw that someone was waiting for him there. Waiting for him to wake up. He thanked his stars, they had brown fur. Hopefully they could understand him.
"Hello?"
The figure jolted upright, they must have dozed off. When he spun around, Fox's jaw went agape. It was his dad.
"Good morning, Fox."
"DAD!" He tried to leap out of bed, but he was way too sore. He reached his arm out as though he could catch the man that faded into his memories for so long. Oddly, he didn't know how to react. Just like chasing Andross, he was like a dog chasing a bus. He didn't know what he would do if he actually caught one, but he chased them on anyway. Now he was here, reunited with his father. Was it a dream?
"No, it's not a dream."
"Damn, it has to be a dream." he thought to himself. "I didn't say that out loud."
"I'm a telepath, Fox. You were right... Your guess was spot on."
Fox was out of breath with bewilderment. "You mean..."
"Your grandfather, and your mother, were both Cerinians. I also happen to know that most of your friends are closely descended from them, too. Hell, Slippy Toad's grandfather lives in this very village."
"Really? But..."
"Andross tried so hard to tear open the conduit, to get here... when all he really needed was the right key to get here all along... I'ts ironic, really. If he knew the true nature of Cerinia, we may have all been doomed before you were even born. Yet, despite his continued failure to understand what we are, he still managed to almost cause a catastrophy. None of us saw his entry coming; it's a good thing you followed him through and stopped him in time." His voice boomed in Fox's ears, it was like the old man hadn't aged a day. He still remembered his voice exactly as it was the week before he left... and was captured by Andross.
"I love you, Dad." It was all he could say.
"I love you too, son." he paused. "I felt so bad, Fox... I watched from afar all of these years as you became a hero. I could have stopped it at any time... intervened and killed Andross... but it was always our mandate to watch from afar as Lylat grew. I watched you grow into a hero. Do you know what Lylat is?"
"The system? What do you mean?"
"I think it's about time I told you about Cerinia."
"Okay."
The elder Fox sat beside his son. "What do you know about the age of Humans?"
"The humans? Not a lot... just that we evolved from them over a thousand years ago."
"That's only half right. About three thousand years ago, this system's only inhabitable planet was Cerinia, which you now call Venom. The primitive Cerinians were a peaceful race that avoided developing technology, for they had everything they needed to survive with their rare gift of telepathy. They lived as hunters and gatherers, revered their gods, and lived in serenty... and still do to this day... at least, before the Humans came."
"What happened?"
"The Humans were a terrifying race bent on claiming every livable planet for their own so they could support their massive civilizations. One of their scout ships found Cerinia, and dismissed the fact that a primitive sentient race existed on it. They tried to set up colonies, and at first were accepted by their furred hosts... until the pollution started."
James rolled his neck before continuing, getting comfortable. "The Cerinians rejected what the Humans were doing, dumping garbage and wastes into their oceans and cutting down their forests. They rebelled, destroying human colonies and stealing their weapons. Before long, human military fleets were sent to lock down the planet."
"They must not have known about their telepathy."
"Exactly. The entire fleet was taken by suprise and turned to serve the vengeful Cerinians. All they wanted to do was defend their home, and they did so valiantly, using the stolen vessels to fight off Human ships that came. As long as the Cerinians had the advantage of being able to read the Humans' minds, not a single Cerinian ship was lost. They would have been forced to leave, until they came up with a new plan."
"Fight fire with fire."
"Exactly. Using captured Cerinians as a blueprint, they created a DNA strand that they would inject into a human to gain a Cerinians powers. Rather than gain the telepathy they sought, they were turned into human and animal hybrids. They were called the Lylatians."
"You don't mean..."
"Yes."
"What happened to the humans?"
"The Lylatian DNA strand proved to be quite contageous, and started infecting their civilizations by the millions, and eventually the billions. Civil wars burned away billions of lives, fueled by racial bigotry and fear of change, all the while they still never really gained the means to fight the Cerinians. In a desperate act of revenge, surviving humans launched obsene numbers of nuclear warheads to completely turn Cerinia to dust. Their own form of justice."
"And it became Venom..."
"Exactly. They managed to destroy Cerinia and all of their core worlds in the devestating conflict, and for all we know, the Human race is now completely extinct. The Cerinians on the surface of the planet at the time of the bombing pooled their power to create a temporal image of Cerinia, hiding it in a cross-dimensional conduit, the entrance to which they hid in the core of Venom. That image is where we are now."
"What about the rest of the Cerinians?"
"The Lylatians that survived the human civil war, no longer having any planets to inhabit, resorted to terraforming planets... They used a device called the Alpha Warhead. No one knows how it worked, but they apparently fired this weapon at Solar, causing a reaction to all surrounding planets -other than the radiation crushed Venom- to begin a state of Genesis. Corneria, Katina, Aquas, Zoness and Macbeth all reacted favourably, and the Lylatians began their new civilzation in what became the Lylat System, the leftover residue from the warhead creating the X,Y and Z nebulas."
"That's so tragic..." Suddenly, the younger looked at his father puzzledly. "But what about the Cerinians that weren't on the surface?"
"They went into hiding for three thousand years... only occasionally leaving their space station in times of dire need, when their gene pool needed to be polluted by Lylatian DNA for their own survival."
"That's how you were born?"
"Yes. Myself, Beltino, Wolfgang... the list goes on."
"So that's why we were immune to the amplifier..."
"Exactly. It was never designed as a weapon, you know. It was actually the device used to make this temporal image so Cerinia could live on."
Fox just stared at his father, blank in the face, causing the elder to chuckle. He patted his son on the back "Are you okay?"
He hesitated. "Well, I just had my very existence explained to me in a matter of minutes, and I think I have a concussion."
James laughed full out, putting an arm around his son and giving him a noogie. "I'm damn proud of you, boy. I'm proud of what you've accomplished. Everything."
Thinking of accomplishments sent his thoughts back to his love. "Is Krystal okay?"
"Yes, she just had all of this explained to her by the village chief... She was a... special circumstance."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you see, when the temporal image of Cerinia was created, some Cerinians were trying to escape the planet at the time. Their ships were caught in the temporal rift... some still appearing in Lylat today as if the whole Lylatian war happened yesterday with their memories irrevertably damaged by being in temporal stasis for so many centuries."
"Krystal was one of them?"
"Yes."
"I bet she took that hard."
"No doubt. Wanna go see her?"
"Okay." They stood together, and James led them out of the small cabin; only then did he notice how he was dressed. He was in a Cerinian loincloth. Somehow he could never see his father dressed like that, and it took a moment for him to adjust to how ridiculous it looked; but it was nothing compared to everything he just heard.
Blue furred animals of every species occupied the small village, which he could see end to end with a twist of his neck. In reality, he was turning around looking for Krystal, more difficult to spot now that she was amongst those with her.
Doubtless, she had spotted him first. "Fox!" his lover came from practically nowhere, tackling him to the ground, their lips meeting passionately.
The older blur furred feline behind her yelped after her. "Be careful, Krystal, remember that your stomach is not only your own, now!"
The comment made Fox freeze. "What?" he whispered, she kissed him again.
"Fox... I'm pregnant."
That finished him off. He wakes up to find his father, find out the history of his species in five minutes, then walks out to a place that only exists in his wildest fantasies to find out that Krystal was pregnant. His heart couldn't take it anymore. "Are.. Are you serious?!"
"Yes!" She was positively glowing.
"I don't... I don't know what to..."
He was interupted by James extending his arms to them. "Get up, you two. You have a cerimony to attend to."
Fox took his hand, Krystal his other, and they were hoisted up. Fox shook his head wildly, trying to shake the shear magnitude of everything he was hearing out of his ears so he could concentrate. "What do you mean, cerimony? What cerimony?"
Krystal answered for him. "Remember when I was telling you about Cerinian customs on how they... we... deal with mating?"
"Uhm..." then he remembered. They didn't have marriage in a tradtional sense, rather, they were bonded the moment....
The moment she was impregnated.
"We're about to be married?" he was quickly kicking himself with how blunt he said it.
"I know it's sudden but..." She almost looked dissapointed. Had he insulted her?
"No! I'ts not that!" Fox leaned in and kissed her again. "This is just a lot for me to compute so fast."
She giggled again, pulling him in closer. She whispered in his ear. "We're going to have twins...."
"Twins?!" he bellowed. "No way."
The day seemed only that much brighter from that point forward. The beautiful light of the three thousand year old copy of Solar felt like a spotlight on his day.... on his whole life. Maybe things could have a happy ending after all.
"We need to postpone this."
"What? Why?"
He had heard the engines, three fighters skyrocketed above through the sky. He recognized them as Dawn's Wolfen, Skye's Assassin and Janice's Ranger.
"Because, love." the fighters above must have spotted them, because slowed and started into a loop to land. He asked himself whether the day could be any more perfect; the pain he felt the night previous only a dream... the images of all of his friends dying to fight his battle, all an illusion. Now, here he was with everything he could have ever wanted. The spoils of war; his prizes for all of his suffering... he looked at his leg... and his victories... he placed a paw on Krystal's stomach.
"I want everyone to be there."
She positively beamed at him. "Of course! We have to invite everyone." She spun around, trailing off with a finger to her lip counting off people in her head. "We should call Beltino, we definitely need to call Slippy and Amanda... We should see if Wolf, wants to come too... and..."
As she trailed off, Fox looked to the rising sun to the west. The first day of the rest of his life. James stepped beside him, wrapping an arm around his son... soon to be a father himself.
"What'ya gonna do now, big guy?" James said.
"I think it's about time I got out of this business. Gotta buy a house, and raise these kids right."
"Good man."
"Oh yeah... Dad..." James looked at him, puzzled, as Fox fumbled with his belt. He found the pouch he was looking for, and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. "These belong to you."
He took one look at them. "No, Fox." he pushed them back. "You're gonna need those when your own children need something to remember you by."
Looking down at them, Fox flipped them open, and put them on. They didn't feel heavy anymore; as with his fathers blessing the responsibility and expectation that came with them was alleviated.
James, the exact same height as his son, looked at him straight on. "I'm so god damn proud of you, Fox. I'll never say it enough. Those shades fit you perfect." he paused, his expression turning one to guilt. "I need you to promise me something, Fox."
"Hmm?"
"Don't make the same mistakes I did. Be there for your children. Be there for your wife. Watch your kids grow up, and live with your family and die old. Alright? Do you promise?"
Despite being his roughly thrown together plan from the start, Fox was taken aback by the proposal. It didn't occur to him that from this point forward, it was his responsibility to the family he was about to start to never fight again. Even when the system was in danger, it was no longer his place to intervene... his only mandate now was the angel that was Krystal, and the two little ones she carried with her.
He looked to the sun, it heralding the start of his new life, and the view of a gorgeous natural landscape, evergreen forests on rolling hills as far as the eye could see. He finally remembered the question he wanted to ask since the very beginning of the suspicions of his fathers survival. "Are you coming back with us?"
James sighed, looping his arm around his boy's shoulder again. "I'll stay for the wedding, but my place is here, son. Remember; to Lylat, I'm a dead hero, and I have to stay that way. Out there is your world now, your life... and eventually your children's world."
His words hung on the wind. "Their lives."
They must have stood there for hours, father and son. All the words they ever needed were already spoken; all there was to do now was enjoy the moment.
After all, his next few months... nay, years... were going to be very busy... and for once, with his own life, rather than the fears and hopes of billions.
The End
Epilogue
The McCloud wedding turns out to be one of the biggest events of the post-war celebrations; it was all over the news. Everyone involved with the final battle on Venom -both directly, and indirectly- was there. Falco and Katt showed up, Skye and Janice showed up, Wolf, Dawn, Vince, Fay and Drake showed up, Beltino showed up, Sabre and Miyu showed up (arm in arm), and James did as well; although he went disgused despite Fox's protests. Falco, and Wolf, now becoming close friends, did a dual proposal during Fox's wedding as a joke; Falco proposing to Katt and Wolf proposing to Dawn. They both accept, the former more certainly more emotional then the latter. Slippy and Amanda were the only big players that didn't show up, as Amanda went into labour only an hour before the cerimony. The McCloud family purchased a gorgeous beach property with the massive payoff from selling the Great Fox II and their Arwings to the Cornerian Museum of Aerospace History, where they plan to raise the children. Krystal stays at home, furiously studying up on pregnancy, while Fox takes up a job as a flight instructor at the Cornerian Flight Academy, where he is recieved warmly and without a moments hesitation. Nine months later, Krystal has her twins, a blue furred boy they name Marcus, and a brown furred girl they name Marie. The two grow to be strong, healthy children.
Skye and Janice reinstate their vows in a private cerimony only involving the members of the Scarlet Hand, as they did before. Victoria shows up as well, having been reuinited with her body as Skye had promised her. The only one that doesn't, mysteriously, is Vince, who disapears completely at the end of the war, never to be seen again. Skye and Janice lay down their weapons permanently, and buy a farm on Corneria, "coincidentally" near the McClouds. Skye is invited to teach at the Cornerian University of Aerospace Science, and accepts. He also stays in touch with Slippy Toad, the two making extra money on the side selling technological advances they make together to the Cornerian Military; but vowing never to help develop a new generation of Arwings for them. They eventually have a child, a boy they name Aryn, who turns out to be just as much a genius as his father... but as good a fighter, is yet to be seen.
Falco recovers from his injuries with little more than a few broken bones and cuts. Him and Katt get married only months after the McClouds, and Falco discovers something very suddenly; that Katt was not only pregnant, but she had been since the first night they made love on the Great Fox II and she never came out and told him. In a panic, realizing their pairing made no genetic sense, they run to Beltino Toad, who calls upon unproven research to genetically modify their child so completely that Falco's genes are almost completley erased. The result ending up as a beautiful baby feline boy with blue fur. They name him Jordan, after Lombardi's great grandfather that started their family crime business. Only two years after Jordan's birth, they have a second child; Slippy helps them program the baby's genes with plenty of time to spare, allowing more of the avian to show in their child; the result is an amazing baby girl, who is mostly a pink furred feline if not for a pair of angelic wings. They name her Amy. The Lombardi family starts up a Private Mercenary Corporation based on Katina, which becomes the first call for all unsavoury problems, from dealing wth pirates to just harmless escort missions. They strike it rich and live happily.
Wolf and Dawn, despite Wolf's promise to the Cornerian governement to live an honest life (an agreement they let him off with after Peppy's appeal to his release), run off to Kew to immediately to take advantage of the power vaccuum left by the death of Jim Draigan. Wolf quickly becomes an influential crime boss, to the point where he almost completley gains control of Kew's economy; and he gains the title of Warlord, with a fleet large enough to prevent the Cornerians from takeing democratic control of the planet even if they wanted to. Seriously regretting their decision to let him loose, they are forced to watch as he becomes a filthy rich dictator. Fair, but filthy rich. Warlord O'Donnell and his "Empress" have a child, a stunningly intelligent and good looking daughter they name Karen; she gains a rare cerinian gift of telekinesis, making her eyes naturally a deep blood red.
The Toad family inherit the Toad Development Enterprises Station over Corneria, which they have moved into the orbit of Aquas where they pour the company's massive monetary resources into planetary recovery efforts. Their child, the orange skinned Benjamin Toad, gains his mothers intense sense of adventure and almost completely forsakes the path of science despite his natural intelligence, to Slippy's dismay. Slippy works closely with Skye to bring in extra income (ontop of Toad Enterprises' massive workforce bringing in a profit already) developing new technologies for both military and domestic use. While the TE label goes on their inventions, Skye is paid excellent royalties, a trade-off he doesn't mind in the least.
Peppy Hare keeps his word and retires immediately after he ensures that all is well and that the military is set without him. As is tradition, he passes off the Supreme Generalship to the officer of his choosing; Bill Grey. Grey accepts and is named General of all Cornerian forces, a role he is both glad and prepared to take on, to Peppy's relief. He lives to see his grandson Dennis, daughter of Lucy, grow up to take military training and come out at the top of his class. Peppy dies peacefully an old man with no regrets, and his funeral is one of a hero. Thousands show up, including news media and all of the heroes of the Venomian Conflict.
Sabre Lionidis is promoted to Colonel, and is given charge of training and deployment of special operations squadrons. He goes on to marry a gorgeous young lioness named Kris Mirage, and they have a strong young boy they name Zeraph. They live a peaceful life in Corneria City where Zeraph follows in his fathers footsteps, not coincidentally ending up in his training regiment.
Miyu Clawford, still young during the Venomian conflict, gets promoted to Captain and is given command of Blackhook squadron, and lives a long career as their leader, giving Blackhook a name almost as revered as the great Dagger squadron themselves. She dies in an intense firefight in a Katina airport, but not before defusing explosives that would have killed the thousands of civilians inside. She is granted the Gold Medal of Honor at her funeral and a statue is erected in her honor at the Gage Birse Academy on Corneria.
Fay Spaniel, tired of war, takes her pay after the final battle and starts up a mechanic shop on Macbeth, where she remains for five years making an honest living fixing up cars and fighters alike. Her talent becomes noticed by a military recruitment drive going through the slummier section of Macbeth city she works in, and she agrees to sign up to be a naval engineer, making a hell of a lot more money with the hopes that she could travel like she used to.
Every year, all of them would get together in the summer time and have a reunion party, reminiscing about old times and catching up to eachother... and not a single one of them, not even the sinister Wolf O'Donnell, missed a single one.
SPECIAL THANKS:
Foxmerc: You're an inspiration and a fantastic author, one of the damn finest. You've been supportive through the whole thing and your input made my first completed book that much better. Without examples set by guys like JZ I probably would have quit this a while ago.
Skullfox: For putting me in his special thankz..... JK. Skullfox's "Tails Luck" was the first fanfiction I ever read, and was my inspiration to start my own before I was exposed to guys like Foxmerc and chaos_leader. I owe this guy a lot as far as my writing career goes. Rock on, skull!
chaos_leader: While he didn't get directly involved like JZ did, and probably will never see this, this guy is a big inspiration of mine and a fantastic writer. Looking forward to the conclusion of Legacy!
KibaKurokage: If I have any actual "fans", this guy is one of them. Hell, he learned about the Star Fox fandom just so he could track this story, and asked for my permission to post my stories places... etc. While I did kinda deny him (which I feel guilty for) it was always heartwarming to get a PM from him. See you around mate, and good luck with your own works!
Guitardude: An avid follower of this story and it was always a pick-me-up to see his reviews first on the block whenever I released a chapter. Rock on, man.
And Thank YOU, all of the readers not on this list. I appreciate every time someone comes to view my work. Thank you for your continued support!
Anywho, I'm going to update this a bit more in regards to removing authors notes and general clean up, even perking up a couple chapters a bit more. PLEASE, REVIEW, GIVE ME YOUR CRITISISM. I'm still gonna work on fixing this baby up! I need to know what I do wrong, and what my strengths are. Tell me everything that comes to mind! I WANT TO HEAR YOU RANT.
........To Be Continued