Fox and Ben exchanged glances one last time before reentering the interrogation room with Wolf and Leon. They were putting their trust in one of Fox's most hated enemies. Moreover, Ben had an empty feeling that he was on the wrong side of the battle. It was different, to say the least, asking a criminal for advice on how to stop someone they didn't even know. But if nothing else, they all knew Janus was some kind of megalomaniac. And he had resources, to boot.
They reentered the interrogation room. Ben produced a knife and waited for Fox to inject a microchip into Leon's upper left arm. He backed away as Ben moved forward and cut the zip ties binding Leon to the chair he was seated in.
Leon rose slowly to his full height, which was a good ten centimeters taller than Ben. He stretched his neck in a show of getting ready for a fight. He glared down at the bear before turning his attention to Fox with a sneer.
"How are you gonna help us get to Janus?" Fox asked as Leon's eyes met his.
Leon let the moment hang before glancing at Wolf and then Ben. He blinked. "Don't know." He began walking toward the door leading out when Ben pushed himself between Leon and the door. "You don't scare me, teddy bear."
Leon reached his right hand for Ben's throat, but before his hand could make contact, Ben's hands shot through the gap between Leon's middle and ring fingers. He grabbed onto Leon's fingers and wrenched them backwards, peeling them apart in the process. Leon's eyes went wide in pain as his knees buckled. Ben responded by pushing Leon's arm toward his shoulder and stepping forward, causing the chameleon to sprawl flat on his back in an effort to relieve the pressure on his hand.
"How about now?" Ben taunted. "Oh, and you'd better get this answer right, lizard. Unless you want to lose your right hand."
Leon looked at Ben and realized he was deadly serious. He arched his back on the floor and grimaced, as Ben was essentially locking him in place using his fingers. Ben simply responded by pulling his fingers a little further apart and dropping his right knee onto Leon's chest. "A little," he finally conceded while squirming in tortured pain.
This kid knows how to fight, Fox thought.
"I'm going to let you go and stand up," Ben said to Leon. "Don't try to do anything stupid, okay?"
Leon nodded in pain. He couldn't afford to provoke the bear anymore, considering he didn't have to go much further in order to break his fingers off or dislocate his shoulder.
As quickly as Ben had applied the pressure, he let it go. Leon let loose a short whuff, relieved to not be in pain anymore. And when he opened his eyes again, Ben was standing over him, blocking his only means of exit. He groaned slightly as he stood and glared at Ben.
"That was a dirty little trick," Leon said to Ben. The bear simply glared back at Leon in silence.
"You're going to help us get to Janus from here," Ben finally said after a long silence.
"And what happens if I don't?" Leon probed.
"I do absolutely nothing," Ben said with a surreptitious glance at Fox. Fox winked back at Ben, acknowledging him.
"That's right," Leon whispered. "Because you can't do anything about this. You're asking for my help, but I don't see any gain in this for me."
"You help us, and I don't make the rest of your life miserable," Fox said from behind.
Leon rolled his eyes, partly because he knew Fox had a point. Star Wolf was almost hapless when it came to dogfighting against Fox, or any time Fox needed to infiltrate Sargasso. And the little victory they tasted a few days ago incapacitating Falco and Slippy would have only meant Fox would return with a vengeance.
Oh, wait. He was going to anyway. The Arwings were still hangared at Sargasso.
"What about the bounty on us?" Leon asked Fox, motioning between him and Wolf.
Fox raised his eyebrows in mild confusion. "I don't think you understand how this works. I can call off the bounty, but it doesn't mean all of Corneria will suddenly think you're a friend now."
Leon grumbled. Fox had another point. "All right," he conceded after a short silence. "I need a communications terminal."
"You're in the right place," a voice announced over the intercom. It was Peppy. The door leading out of the room buzzed, indicating it had been unlocked.
"Make sure he doesn't try to escape," Fox instructed Ben. Ben nodded and exited the interrogation room first. He was also the first to notice Peppy had a military dog with him. A greyhound he didn't recognize. He was highly decorated, so he must have been one of the top positions in his respective food chain.
As Fox and Leon filed into the panel area, Peppy addressed all three of them. "I've just been informed that Janus' next likely attack is the weather grid," he said matter-of-factly.
Fox's eyes brightened slightly. "What are we doing here then? We can get to the weather grid quickly, right?" he said, eager to prevent another attack on Cornerian soil. Fox took a step forward, but nobody else moved.
As much as Ben wanted to follow Fox's lead, he had a sinking feeling about what Peppy had just told them. Even though he was only supposed to be a pilot for the Cornerian air force and now Star Fox, he knew a startling amount about several topics in science and medicine. Thanks, of course, to his father, who was a doctor at the West Hill Hospital. But Ben had a particular fascination with meteorology, and the weather grid had piqued his interest from an early age.
It was colloquially known as the weather grid, but a more appropriate name would have been "weather management station." The denizens of Corneria often were under the assumption that the weather grid controlled the planet's weather. In reality, the grid could only manage certain aspects of it, such as adjusting the intensity of a rainstorm, for example.
Moreover, Ben knew actually controlling the planet's weather was nigh impossible. Adjusting the global average temperature or rainfall would take decades at the quickest. He was acutely aware that disabling the weather grid would have almost no effect on anyone. Nobody would notice. And if Janus was on some kind of radical campaign, wouldn't he want his actions to be noticed?
So instead of agreeing or disagreeing with Fox, Ben turned to the military dog and asked, "Sir, can you step inside with us?"
Fox immediately turned toward Ben with a confused look on his face, but somehow held his tongue. Ben looked back at Leon and held eye contact with him. A signal, telling Leon he thought this military dog would provide a link to Janus. Leon nodded surreptitiously at Ben, telling him he had received the message.
"If you have anything to ask, we can talk here," the greyhound said, pointing to the floor at his feet.
"Okay then," Ben said after a short pause. He was acting as if the decision to ask a few questions outside of the interrogation room was something that carried weight. In reality, he was trying to figure out which questions to ask so he could get a definitive link to Janus. "Isn't that kinda odd? Attacking a weather station?" he probed.
The dog shrugged. "I don't know. What if he caused rain for months at a time?"
"I…don't think that'll happen," Ben countered, turning slightly toward Leon for a brief instant. His hunch was starting to look more real.
"Well, that's just one outcome," the greyhound pointed out. "He could do anything with the weather grid, like create a heat wave. Or a tornado."
Yeah, right, Ben thought. "How certain are you about this being his target?"
"Ninety nine percent," the greyhound answered without missing a beat.
From behind the military dog, Ben noticed Leon's eyes widen. Two questions, and they had already found a link to Janus.
Score, Ben thought. Janus had gone from simply a name to an individual he, Fox, Leon and Wolf could get access to. And even though he was about to turn on a fellow military cohort, the empty feeling was going to be lessened, simply because he didn't know this individual.
Ben made a show of pacing and said, "Thank you, sir. I appreciate the information. Mister McCloud has a few more questions for you."
Ben saw a flash of confusion across the greyhound's eyes. That conversation took maybe fifteen seconds. As the greyhound turned toward Fox, Ben made eye contact with Leon one more time. And nodded.
Leon's face broke into a grin as he silently stepped forward and whipped his arms around the greyhound's neck. His right arm tightened across the dog's neck, and his right hand latched into the crook of his elbow. Leon squeezed his arms together, using his left hand to push the greyhound's throat further into his arm.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Peppy shouted at Leon. Fox was still getting over the confusion of Ben vetoing a trip to the weather grid. Once his mind had registered what was going on, it was over.
There was almost no struggle. For someone who was so trained, judging by the amount of decoration on his uniform, Leon's attack took him completely by surprise. Within five seconds, the greyhound's eyes lost focus as consciousness slipped from him.
Leon bent down slowly to keep from injuring the greyhound and then instructed, "Get his feet. We're extracting everything he knows."
Ben grabbed onto the greyhound's legs and lifted with Leon, bringing him into the interrogation room.
"I'm sure you'd wanna hear this too," Ben said to Fox as he carried the military dog back into the interrogation room.
"Uh," Fox started. "Yeah, I would," he said, finally getting his mind into the present tense.
They set the greyhound on the floor, waiting for him to wake back up.
"Remove the zip ties from Wolf," Leon instructed Ben.
Ben took a deep breath as that same empty feeling returned when he put his faith into Leon's hands. Granted, it hadn't completely gone away yet, but when Leon instructed him to let Wolf free, that same pang reintensified. Without saying a word, he produced his knife and cut the zip ties binding Wolf's hands and legs to the metal chair. Wolf was still weak from the near-death experience with the nanites, so he simply looked at Ben for a second and then relaxed in that chair. Ben stowed the knife, knowing Wolf wasn't going too far any time soon.
"Everybody, get out of here," Leon announced. He paused, grinning, and then continued, "I want some time…alone…with our new friend." He emphasized the word "alone," which made Fox shudder on the inside. Peppy was probably twitching at the console on the other side of the one-way glass pane as well.
The other three filed out, Ben supporting Wolf on his shoulder. The door slid shut behind them as they turned to face the inside of the interrogation room. Peppy was shifting nervously on his feet and fidgeting with his hands.
"You're just gonna let Leon torture him?" he asked after a silence.
Ben looked at Leon and the greyhound, who was just barely beginning to stir. He knew the greyhound would be confused for a few moments as he got his bearings back. He looked back at Peppy and nodded with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
Peppy closed his eyes and pressed into his forehead with two fingers. "There's gotta be an easier way to get this information. Think about what this will do to your image throughout the Lylat System. You don't think you're gonna lose credibility after this?"
"I'm not here to politick with anyone," Fox said quickly, taking Wolf, Ben and Peppy by surprise. "I promised to protect Corneria and the entire Lylat System. I don't care how I do it, as long as everyone stays safe. And before you say anything, I've already failed at this. The communications tower blew up, and I couldn't do anything about it. So what makes you think I care about 'being pretty?'" he asked pointedly.
There was a long pause as Peppy gathered his thoughts. His own protégé and teammate had basically shoved everything he had been taught right into his face without a second thought.
Before Peppy could say anything, the speaker sounded with the greyhound's voice. "I got nothing to say." And it was silent after that. Leon was stock-still on his feet, glaring at the military dog, chipping away at his state of mind.
After a few moments, Leon slowly stepped toward the greyhound without saying a word.
"What the hell are you doing!?" the dog whispered, backing away slightly as he stood up. This caught the attention of the four standing outside of the interrogation room. Nobody said a word as Leon slithered his way toward the greyhound. His back was turned toward the glass pane, so it was difficult to determine his facial expression, but both Fox and Peppy had a good idea it was a stone-dead face. Something to unnerve his target.
The military dog uncomfortably backed away from Leon until he felt the wall behind him. And Leon was still advancing at the same pace. Everything about what Leon was doing told the military dog there would be no mercy. No levity. This was all business until he gave up what he knew.
Leon was still advancing when the greyhound planted his right foot against the wall and lunged in an attempt to tackle him. Leon simply turned out of the way and grabbed the dog's ear as he flew past. The dog's head whipped sideways from the force of two different pulling directions.
The greyhound screamed in pain as his ear was ripped halfway off his scalp. Peppy, Fox and Ben winced as they watched, but didn't say a word.
Leon shoved the dog to the ground using his head and continued his slow and steady advancement on the greyhound. He knew it would take a while to break him, considering his time in the Cornerian military, so he stayed patient, waiting for the information he needed.
The greyhound looked up and saw Leon's gangly form approaching, so he shifted himself to kick at Leon's knees. His boot thrust forward, completely missing Leon's right knee. He had seen that kick coming from a kilometer off and slowed just enough to avoid getting hit. As his leg straightened, Leon's pace suddenly changed into hyperdrive. He caught the greyhound's leg, stepped forward and kicked him in the groin, just hard enough to send the dog into agonizing pain. The greyhound doubled over on the ground, trying to wrench his leg from Leon's grasp, but Leon responded by squeezing the sides of his calf muscle together, eliciting another wave of screaming from the greyhound.
The military dog couldn't breathe fast enough to keep yelling, and the chameleon torturing him showed absolutely no signs of stopping any time soon. There was zero change in his demeanor, not even a glimpse of Leon showing he actually enjoyed this.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" the greyhound finally shouted in between gasps for breath as Leon kept a death grip on his calf. He squeezed tighter after a brief pause, sending a new wave of agony through the greyhound.
The dog responded by jerking his leg backwards, which was probably the last thing he should have done, as it raked his calf muscle against Leon's fingertips, causing more pain. The greyhound's lower leg tensed from the pain, beginning to cramp. Leon watched impassively as the military dog groaned again, his calf muscle tightening painfully without any control. Eventually, he tired of waiting and gave another kick to the dog's groin, making him yell out in excruciating pain.
From outside the interrogation room, Peppy was still shifting uneasily on his feet. He had his hands jammed into his pockets, clenched in fists, to keep himself from intervening over the intercom connected between the two rooms. Both Fox and Ben had given their okays for Leon to do this, which just made him even more uncomfortable. In the back of his mind, he thought Fox and Ben would defect to Star Wolf within the near future.
Several times, Peppy had to look away as Leon methodically brutalized the greyhound in front of him. The dog's voice was already spent, and he was getting exhausted from all the tensing he had done in response to Leon's pain compliance techniques. On occasion, the greyhound was able to actually hit Leon's arms or midsection to get him to stop briefly. But Peppy never saw any indication of Leon stopping his assault. He simply resumed what movement the greyhound had stopped, eventually getting through.
On one occasion, Peppy's right hand flew out of his pocket and came dangerously close to switching on the intercom as Leon reached around the greyhound's neck with his left hand and shoved his right index and middle fingers into the dog's throat. The gagging sound was unmistakable as the greyhound choked for a good five seconds. Leon let go, and the dog slumped slightly against the wall for about ten seconds before Leon started choking him again, this time holding longer. The military dog seemed to lose control of his movements as his arms flailed uselessly at his sides, a combination of exhaustion and panic.
As Leon let go, the dog slumped to the floor in resignation. He struggled to his hands and knees as Leon prowled to his right side.
"S-stop…" he managed to say. Leon simply walked closer and closed his hand around the greyhound's ripped ear, which had by now scabbed over. The dog groaned in pain as he felt Leon slowly ripping his ear from his head. "STOP!" Leon didn't respond, except by pulling upwards, bringing the dog's head up as well.
"I-I'M A DECOY!" he finally shouted hoarsely.
Leon stopped, holding his ear in place. There was just enough pressure to keep the greyhound in pain.
After a moment, Leon started pulling again, which was his signal for the greyhound to continue spilling the truth.
"J-Janus told me t-to give a false lead!" Leon stopped pulling again, conditioning the greyhound that he wouldn't have as much pain the faster he told them everything. "I-I don't know what his next target is…"
Finally, Leon said something. "Who could tell us?" He increased the pressure just slightly on the greyhound's ear.
"I-I don't know…" Leon wrenched on his ear. "I DON'T KNOW!" The military dog groaned in pain as he felt his ear slowly being ripped again. Regaining a semblance of control, he shoved his right hand into his uniform and brought out a communicator. He threw it on the ground for Leon to see, a desperate attempt to relieve the pressure on his head.
Leon slowly let the dog's ear go and picked up the communicator. "What if I crush your face with this?"
The greyhound knew Leon was being absolutely serious, and responded, "A hawk connected to Janus used this to tell me what to do."
Ben's eyes went wide. It was probably the same hawk who tried to assassinate Wolf.
"Should I get a hold of him from here?" Leon asked.
The greyhound nodded in exhaustion. "Y-yes, you can reach him."
Instead, Leon simply kept the communicator in his right hand. He had no intention of using it now. Even getting the greyhound to speak with that hawk was no good, considering the state he was in. His status as a decoy meant he was expendable to Janus.
"When did you last speak with him?" Leon asked.
"About two hours before the communications tower blew up," the dog answered quickly. Leon simply glared at him, waiting for him to continue. "All…all he told me was to throw Fox off. H-he sounded worried that Fox was…was gonna stop him and Janus before everything was complete." Leon's expression didn't change throughout the explanation. He only responded by kicking into the greyhound's elbow, knocking his arm out from underneath him. The dog grunted and collapsed on the floor with a whuff, the wind knocked from his lungs. "I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING!" he shouted in between gasps.
"No. You didn't," Leon quietly said back. He stepped forward, bringing his foot dangerously close to the greyhound's nearly-severed ear.
"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! JUST STOP!" he shouted.
Leon slowly brought his foot down, beginning to rip the dog's ear once more. When the greyhound tried to remove his foot, Leon responded by putting all of his weight on his foot. The dog shouted hoarsely in pain, feeling his ear hanging on by a thread.
"HE SAID SOMETHING ELSE!" the greyhound shouted in panic. Leon lifted his foot slightly. "He paid me for access to our store of nova bombs. He's gonna use them to attack the city somehow. Something about driving them into the hills, where the case-in had been restocked."
"What's 'case-in?'" Leon asked.
"I don't know, I swear! He only said something about a hazmat team removing what was underground."
All of the blood drained from Fox's face when he heard the word 'hazmat.' The cyanide leak that had occurred the day before they left for Sargasso was going to happen again, this time without any hitches. Nobody knew about the fact that the underground was once again a gas chamber in waiting.
Out of nowhere, a muffled thunk sounded from just outside the door leading into the foyer of the space port. A small explosion some seconds later blew the door open. Ben, Fox and Peppy instinctively dove for cover, and the sound broke Leon's concentration as he looked toward the glass pane.
Wolf was last to react, still being weak from the nanites. As Ben looked up, he saw Wolf's head pitch backwards, his scouter covered by a dark-colored mass with a small timer embedded.
"Oh, shit," he mumbled. He scrambled forward and ripped the scouter and headgear off Wolf's face, along with a handful of grey fur, and threw it out the door. The headgear exploded in midair, raining shrapnel throughout the foyer. Against his better judgment, Ben leapt toward the door, slamming it shut. He knew he didn't have much time, because another bomb was probably going to embed itself in the door and blow a gaping hole in his side.
"Fox, you got a blaster?" Peppy asked quickly.
Fox didn't acknowledge the question. "Get Leon out of there, and stay clear of the door."
Peppy quickly punched the button granting access into the interrogation room. The door buzzed, sliding open just as another thunk echoed into the room from outside. Ben grunted and leapt back from the door. Two seconds later, a deafening bang echoed through the foyer and interrogation room, blowing a fist-sized hole in the door's structure.
Fox drew his blaster and lay prone on the floor. He saw a brief color change from the drab off-white of the foyer to dark green as someone walked past the door. Whoever, it was, that individual stopped at the door, thanks to the shadow that was still visible through the hole from that bomb.
Wait for it. Wait for it. Fox focused his sight through the reticule on his blaster. He noticed the figure at the door move suddenly, either getting out of the way of something or setting up for a kick.
A second later, the door gave way as it was kicked in. Fox didn't even think when he pulled the trigger. His training had done everything for him. He felt the recoil from the blaster in his wrists, and a split second later, watched as a military dog stumbled backwards from the doorway, a bleeding hole torn into his midsection. The dog collapsed on his back after about five steps, his feet twitching, but otherwise motionless. A killing shot.
Just to make sure, Fox quickly scanned the area in the foyer he could see through the doorway and noticed it was empty, save for one dead soldier. The grenadier, whoever it might have been, was nowhere to be seen.