CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Traitor

Moon Mountain Pass

"Well, that shopkeeper was quite a character…" Coyote said with a smirk. "Seriously, what was with that crap about Scarabs? And why in the hell wasn't he wearing pants?! No one wants to see his junk!"

"Give him some credit." Marcus replied. "We got what we wanted."

"And yet, still no pants. I mean, sure. He didn't have legs, but that's beside the point."

The three ran up the path on Moon Mountain Pass toward the Arwing III and the Iron Maiden still laying waiting for them. As soon as they loaded up their ships with the fuel cells, they'd be back at the Great Fox within minutes.

"So…this is it, huh?" Damalgo asked as they neared the space fighters. "You guys have to leave."

"Sorry, Da…hey, do you mind if I call you Al?" Marcus asked. "It would roll of my tongue a little easier."

"Yeah, I don't mind. Heck, I even get tired of saying it from time to time."

"Check. Sorry, Al, but we have to go back home. We're not used to the lifestyle here."

"Ah, don't sweat it. Tell you the truth, it gets rough down here even for me."

Coyote smirked.

"Talk about high expectations." she teased. "Lifestyles of the rich and the famous the only good enough thing for you, Mark?"

Marcus looked over his shoulder at her with an amused smile before turning back to their Sharpclaw friend.

"Hey, look on the bright side." he said. "You've done us a big favor. If it hadn't have been for you, this mission might have failed. You've done your part to help in the war against the Venomians."

"Have I, though? Don't you think there's more that I can do?

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm ready for a lifestyle change like you said. I'm going with you!"

Calling Marcus dumbstruck in that moment would have been an understatement as he analyzed what Damalgo was asking of him.

"You don't have to stay here?" he asked, Damalgo shaking his head in response.

"Of course not. There's nothing left for me here. My parents are dead, and you guys are the first real friends I've ever had. If there's anywhere I'm NOT staying, it's here."

"Hmm…I don't know…"

"Please? I can help around that…that starship thing you've got up there! I can build stuff! I can fix stuff!"

Marcus crossed his arms and smirked. Just a test of faith, and Damalgo had passed with flying colors.

"Hey, relax, man. I'm just messin' with ya. Of course you can come. Just promise me you won't screw anything up, alright?"

Damalgo smirked and gave him a military salute.

"Aye-aye, captain." he said.

Coyote, however, felt even more uneasy now than before. The entire trek there, she'd been thinking about Marcus and what he meant to her now. Everything that had gone on the past few days had brought them closer than ever before, and now…

"…I can't let up…I have to do it." she kept telling herself as she dropped the fuels cells into her ship's tank. "…even if he survives…even if it means that he won't like me anymore."

"Hop in and I'll be right with ya." Marcus said to Damalgo, who then hopped into the open cockpit while the pilot made the last few preparations and radioed the Great Fox. "This is Marcus. Do you read me, team?"

"Loud and clear, Mark." Falco's voice crackled. "What's up?"

"Mission accomplished. I'm returning to the Great Fox. Got some cargo with me, too."

"Define cargo."

"Well….you'll see."

"…huh. Alright, then. Over and out."

Marcus turned off the comm, hopped into his Arwing and ignited the engines. Coyote did the same with her ship, keeping her already regretful eyes on him the entire time. The cockpits closed and the two ships slowly rose off the ground.

"This is so cool!" Damalgo cheered.

"Trust me; it gets better." Marcus replied.

Marcus had turned the ship toward the atmosphere and was about to blast off when…

ZAP! Lasers came flying from behind him and grazed the wings of the ship.

"What the hell's goin' on now?!"

Marcus changed directions and flew over the mountains, hoping that he could shake whoever was attacking them. The lasers kept coming, and he looked behind him to catch a glimpse of his attacker, feeling his heart sink once he saw her.

"Coyote, what do you think you're doing?" he shouted.

Coyote remained silent for a moment. No words would justify this. She understood that, but she also understood that there was nothing else but completing the mission.

Completing her father's legacy.

"…I'm just…following orders."

Then it hit him. Coyote had been double-crossing him from the start! It was just a clever scheme to finish him off!

"Chase was right." he muttered. "I never should have trusted her."

"My father….no, my whole family has been living in your father's shadow for too long." Coyote said. "Today, I'm gonna prove once and for all that I'm better than you."

"And you have to kill me to do it? How can you say that with a straight face?"

"I'm sorry, Mark. I really am."

With those last words, the Iron Maiden came barreling at the Arwing at full speed. Marcus quickly looped over Coyote and was about to press the fire button on his ship when he started having another mental battle.

"What am I doing? She doesn't deserve this. She's just a girl after all...but I thought she cared about me."

He shook the thought out his head and glared at the Iron Maiden.

"Screw her. She's gone too far this time."

Marcus pressed his thumb down on the fire button and shot rapidly at Coyote, who somersaulted and got back behind him.

"Mark…please don't make this harder than it needs to be." she said meekly.

Coyote's thoughts were racing, too. She had already commenced her ambush. There was no way to take it back now. Her father and dignity said yes, but her heart said no. This was the boy who had shown her such affection last night…and now she was trying to kill him.

She shook the thought out of her head and bit her lip as she slammed a red button above her head, sending a homing missile shooting at the Arwing III. A light inside the Arwing started blinking rapidly.

"What's going on?" Damalgo shouted.

"She's got a lock on us...Al! You still got that flare gun?"

"Yeah, but why?"

"I'm gonna open the cockpit, and I want you to shoot a flare at the missile."

Marcus opened the cockpit. Damalgo leaned back slightly, carefully aimed at the missile and fired the flare. The flare smashed into the missile and detonated it, but suddenly Coyote fired at the Arwing with her laser cannons. The lasers rocked the Arwing with unbelievable momentum and sent Damalgo flipping out of the ship.

"AL!" Marcus screamed.

Marcus shot his arm out and grabbed Damalgo's foot, pulled him back in, shut the cockpit and swerved away before Coyote could fire again.

"Oh, God, I think I'm gonna puke!" Damalgo said when he was back inside the ship.

"I don't wanna do this, Mark." Coyote said sadly. "I'm not a bad person…I just don't have a choice."

"Then don't do it!" Marcus hollered back.

Marcus swerved away as Coyote fired again, and then did another loop. As soon as he was right over the Iron Maiden, Marcus ejected himself from his ship. He unsheathed his staff as he landed on the Iron Maiden's windshield.

"Don't mess with me, Mark." Coyote said.

The Iron Maiden barrel-rolled. Marcus lost his balance and slipped backward towards the ship's rocket thrusters. He seized one of the wings and held on for dear life, his tail dangerously close to touching the sizzling, hot flames.

Summoning all his strength, he pulled himself up.

"It ain't over 'til I say it's over." he growled.

Slowly, Marcus walked forward and climbed back onto the windshield. When Coyote saw that he hadn't fallen off her ship, she was shocked.

"No…I can't be beaten…" she stammered. "Not now!"

Without a word, Marcus impaled the Iron Maiden's engine, sending it hurtling to the ground as Marcus landed safely inside his Arwing. A few moments later, Coyote appeared in her escape pod

"Mark…" she said weakly, hoping in vain there would be something she could do.

Needless to say as Marcus glared at her one moment and then softened his gaze only to look away, there wasn't.

"I wanted to trust you…" he said.

With that, Marcus angrily floored the boost pedal and shot up into the atmosphere, leaving the heartbroken Coyote to sit there and feel sorry for herself. She'd already have enough explaining for her father, though that was nothing. He was never angry with her for anything. Not even disappointed, but no matter what Wolf's emotions were regarding this, Marcus's were much more painful to her.

Indeed, she had betrayed the one boy she felt she had loved.

The Arwing was in space in two minutes and slowed to a stop as it landed in the Great Fox's hangar bay. A brief trek through the interior later with Damalgo gawking at everything he saw, they stepped onto the bridge with Anna, Falco and Katt hounding them almost immediately.

"Phew! You made it!" Anna breathed before her eyes settled on Damalgo. "Who's this guy?"

"This is Damalgo." Marcus answered. "He helped me out down on the planet. He really knows it well."

"OK, but…why is he here?"

"Please keep your shirt on when I say this, but he wants to join the team."

The three looked just as surprised as he had been. Go figure.

"Are you showing your sarcastic side again or am I going deaf?" Katt asked.

"Why? Is there a problem?" asked Damalgo.

Marcus shot him a surprised look. He hadn't spoken the Dino language he'd been speaking the past few days. It was perfect English.

"I've actually known English for years." Damalgo said to Marcus. "You and Coyote weren't the first few Lylatians I've met, you know. But, seriously, is there a problem?"

"Well…no…" Anna said. "But are you reliable? I mean, you're a Sharpclaw, after all."

"Yeah, that's what I am, but don't let that keep you from making me useful. You all must be interested in what goes on down on Sauria, right? I've got years of experiences for you."

Being the planetary knowledge junkie she was, Anna smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Works for me." she said. "Welcome to the team. We'll teach you to fly an Arwing later if you like."

"Then I guess that settles…hey, what's Chase's beef?" Marcus said.

He had just noticed that Chase was sitting away from the others, his arms crossed and his hat on the metal desk in front of him. Marcus knew Chase well enough to know that he only took off his fedora when he was really angry…or when he went to bed. Marcus walked over to him and saw that he was frowning.

"Hey, what's eating you?" Marcus asked.

Chase looked at him and mumbled angrily.

"Uhh, what?" Marcus asked in a confused tone.

"I said 'Welcome back, boyfriend.'"

"What are you talking abo…this isn't about Coyote, is it? I really don't wanna hear anything about her."

"Great. There you go defending the evil stepchild again."

"Defending the evil…hey, just listen to me for a sec."

Chase stood up. Every time Marcus tried to say something, Chase cut him off. It would have been annoying if not for the fact that he was 100% right about everything.

"You and I have been like brothers since the first grade, so if I don't know you any better than O'Donnell then who does? I'm not about to stand aside and let some airheaded bitch swoop my best friend away from me."

Marcus sighed and smiled. He completely understood this, and had Coyote not turned out to be a two-timing liar just like her father, everything might have still worked out. But they couldn't go on without burying the hatchet, and hatchets should never exist between best friends nor borderline brothers.

"You're right. My best friend who I've known for ten years is worth much more than a girl I met…I dunno, like, two months ago. I mean, sure, she's smart and…" (Here he cleared his throat) "…sexy…but she's not the kinda person who'll watch my back through life and limb. There are only a handful of people who'll do that…and Number One is right here."

Chase hated that Marcus could win him over again so easily, but he didn't fight it. He let Marcus pull him into a quick brotherly hug, and just like that, he'd forgotten every last bit of anger he had built up over the past day or so.

"Besides," Marcus spoke up. "You were right. She was just luring me into a trap. She tried to kill me."

"What did I tell ya?"

"Thanks for not rubbing it in…"

Not that she didn't like seeing the two acting like the brothers they wished they were, but Anna saw fit to break up their embrace when she suddenly took notice of the large bump in Marcus' backpack.

"What's that thing?" she asked.

Marcus reached into his pack and pulled out the Krazoa's Orb.

"Hey, I know what that is!" Chase exclaimed. "The Krazoa Master gave you that, right?"

"Uhh…yeah. Why?"

Chase ran over to his computer and started booting up a program on it. After a few quick button combinations, he pulled out a strange helmet with wires connected to it.

"Alrighty, Mark. You probably have the most reactive brain here. The orb is supposed to show you whatever it is you want to see."

Only Marcus noticed Anna jokingly cover her chest in response.

"If I hook this helmet up to you," Chase continued. "We'll be able to interpret your brain waves on my computer. I'll analyze the data once we have everything."

"…okay. Makes enough sense…I guess."

Marcus sat down in a chair next to Chase's computer. He held the orb firmly in both hands as Chase carefully placed the helmet on his head.

"Alright, just let me boot up the analysis program…got it. Now close your eyes and clear your mind. Then, mentally ask the orb a question."

Marcus closed his eyes and tried his best to think of absolutely nothing at all. When his thoughts no longer clouded his imagination, he spoke to the orb.

"Who is behind the Venomian attacks, and what is their plan?"

The orb hummed in his hands. Suddenly, it seemed as though Marcus had slipped into a dream.

He was floating high above Corneria City, and was shocked to see that it was in complete Armageddon. Everyone was screaming and running away from laser fire raining down from the sky like hail. Venomian fighters were streaking all across the sky, and literally every building seemed to be doused in flames. For Marcus, it was complete sensory overload. A total descent to the darkest depths of Hell.

Next thing he knew, Marcus was floating in space high above the planet. As he watched, he could see groups of fissures forming on the planet surface far below. Then he saw the ground shake harder and harder every second. Finally, without warning, the planet erupted into a gigantic sphere of fire and sent pieces of fractured ground spewing out through outer space.

"Oh my God…how is this happening?!"

Suddenly, he couldn't see anything. He was floating in a black, empty space, though he could still see his body when he looked down. Just then, a loud hissing noise came from behind him, and that hissing escalated into demonic and maniacal laughter. He turned, and suddenly everything added up.

"No…it can't be!

His senses kicked into high gear and awakened him, the helmet and orb going flying across the room as he did so. His team members were already panicked, and when Marcus didn't answer their questions of what he saw, they started to dread whatever it may have been, and for good reason. Marcus could hardly believe it himself, but he finally found it in him to speak.

"It's him…he's…" he started.

"What, Mark?" Falco asked.

"…Andross."

Everyone froze. The name was enough to deliver chills in any given situation, but knowing this was just the beginning.

"How?" Anna asked. "He's supposed to be dead."

"He is," Marcus answered. "But…Chase, has anything gone on back home since we've been away?"

Chase immediately started scanning through the news feed on his computer, getting some rather unsettling results once it loaded up.

"Good God, where do I begin?" he said. "Well, looks like the Venomians tried to launch an offensive while we were gone, but the Husky and Bulldog units managed to drive them off, and then…damn. Two magnitude six earthquakes in two days. Nowhere near the city, sure, but damn if that's not crazy. Why do you ask?"

The dream wasn't just a dream. It was a vision, and now Marcus could feel nothing but fear.

"I can feel him…" he said. "Andross…he's inside Corneria. He's in the core."

"Why would he be there?" Katt asked.

"I don't know how he got there, but if I had to guess what he's doing…he's drawing energy from Corneria to try and resurrect himself."

A dangerous prediction if there ever was one, but the team believed him. There was no reason not to aside from not wanting the nightmares that came with it.

"But that's not everything." Marcus said. "It explains the earthquakes. If he's drawing energy from the planet's core, the planetary structure is starting to weaken. If it keeps going…"

"It'll vaporize the entire planet." Anna finished. "And everyone on it…how much time do you think we have?"

"At the most, I feel…two days."

For the next few minutes, the team sat in silence, a feeling of doom hanging over them as they let the situation sink in. The more they thought, the worse they felt, and yet none of them could bring themselves to think of anything else.

Everyone save Damalgo.

"Isn't there something you guys can do?" he asked. "I know I don't really have a voice with you at the moment, but I'm pretty sure it's not in your nature to give up just like that."

The team looked at him with warmth, visually thanking him for having such faith in them. Chase, however, took this faith to heart and thought his very hardest. There had to be something. Anything that could be done.

And it came to him just like that.

"No…there is something we can do." he concluded. "If I can use the satellite uplink on the Beltino Orbital Gate in orbit around the planet, I can open a wormhole leading directly to the planet core."

"And then we just gun Andross down?" Anna asked. "Will it be that simple?"

Marcus stepped forward with his fist clenched and his brow knit with determination as he spoke.

"Not that simple," he said. "But it'll get done. Andross is plenty of things, but he's not immortal. Let's get back to Corneria and alert the military. They need to know everything we can give them about this. Peppy will believe us. I'm sure of it."

"Well, if you're dead set." Falco said with a grin. "We're with ya all the way, Mark."

The rest of the team stood, pledging their allegiance and fuelling Marcus's confidence even more until a warning siren went off on one of the monitors. Anna ran to it and switched on, not pleased with the information waiting for her.

"Mark, we're getting a distress signal from Titania." she said. "It looks like a group of Cornerian militia's been stranded there."

Marcus ran to the monitor and checked the diagram Anna had for him. He couldn't believe that such a thing was happening at this moment, but the screen didn't lie, and Titania wasn't a world known for letting people off of it unscathed. But this kind of timing…he sensed it. Something was wrong. Something was trying to draw them away from their highest priority.

Whether or not it was a distraction, though, it couldn't be ignored. As much as he hated to admit it, stopping the Cornerian apocalypse would have to wait.