CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The Rain will Kill us All

McCloud's House

Hours until doomsday: 4

Fox sat outside on the first-floor balcony with a grim look on his face. He in such distraught that the last thing he wanted to think about was how in four hours, Corneria would be no more. From the way that the sky had grown dark and the way the wind had picked up, he knew that there wasn't much time left. He didn't even know whether Peppy had gotten Marcus out of jail or not.

At that moment, the glass door behind him slid open. He looked back. Krystal stood there in the doorway. He half-smiled at her, then regained his meek expression and looked back up at the stormy sky. Even her beautiful face could only cheer him up for a brief moment.

"What's the matter, Fox?" Krystal asked. "You've been sitting out here for almost a half hour."

Fox sighed.

"I don't think they're gonna make it in time." he sadly said. "What if we really are all gonna die?"

Krystal sat down next to her husband and hugged him.

"I know it seems like that, Fox, but don't worry. They'll make it. We just need to leave everything to Marcus. It's all we can do."

Fox looked at her. He had a big grin on his face.

"What?" Krystal asked as a smile started to stretch across her own face. "Come on, don't grin at me if there's no reason for it."

"I was just thinking about something…you remember when we first met?"

Krystal laughed. That had to be one of her fondest memories, considering it was the first one she and Fox had shared together.

"Only every day, hero."

23 years earlier (Yes, I know this isn't exactly what happened in Star Fox Adventures, but c'mon. That scene could have been way better.)

"What's going on?!" Fox screamed at the Krazoa Spirits. "You said this would save her!"

Fox had released the final Krazoa Spirit back into Krazoa Palace. From what the first Spirit her encountered had told him, if he brought the remaining ones to the palace, it would free Krystal from the life-absorbing prison that she motionlessly floated in.

But now, as the Spirits went shooting into her, it looked more like Fox had just made things worse.

The Spirits pummelled into Krystal, horribly wracking her body.

"NO!" Fox screamed as he ran forward.

As the last few Spirits collided with Krystal, her eyes snapped open and her body wracked once more as the Spirits shot out of her and into the gigantic statue in front of her. Suddenly, her prison shattered into pieces and she screamed as she went tumbling toward the hole below her.

Fox didn't need to be told even once. He sprinted forward, dove across the massive hole and caught Krystal in his arms. The two crashed on the other side of the hole and went rolling head over tail until Fox finally came to a stop with Krystal lying on top of him.

They both shook the stars out of their eyes before Fox perked up the nerve to speak.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a dazed voice.

Krystal looked at the strange being that had spoken to her. Whoever he was, he was not a Cerinian. Regardless of that, Krystal couldn't take her eyes off him. Never once in her life had she seen something like him. He had bright green eyes that had a look of pure sincerity in them. His fur was reddish-brown, and he was quite strong and muscular. He was quite handsome for an alien.

But the thing that turned her on the most about him was the fact that he just saved her life…but why did he look so familiar? She rolled off of him and continued to stare into his eyes.

"You…were in my dream." she said, finally pulling herself together. "What…who are you?"

Fox was speechless for a few seconds before finally replying.

"I'm Fox McCloud."

Fox was expecting her to be overcome with gratitude…maybe lunge at him and kiss him almost hysterically, or at least say "Thank you", but instead, she started stammering again.

"W-Why did you save me?!" she asked. "You didn't even know who I was! I…I could have been evil for all you know!"

Fox smirked.

"First off, I know exactly who you are. The CloudRunner told me that your name was Krystal. Second, I can give you two good reasons why I saved you. One: those Spirits are working to put the planet back together. Two: I'm not one to turn down someone in need. Besides, you don't look evil to me."

"Huh? Why do you say that?" Krystal asked in a confused tone.

Fox shrugged.

"I dunno. I just don't think someone with your looks can be evil."

Krystal blushed slightly when he said this, but then a small grin stretched across her face before she giggled.

"Well, thank you, Fox McCloud. I am eternally grateful."

In the present...

"That wasn't much of a conversation, but hey! Look at us now!" Fox said with a grin on his face.

Krystal laughed.

"Yes. We've come a long way since then."

The two kissed each other.

"But…tell you the truth, I'm a little worried about Marcus. I'm just scared that Andross might be too strong for him."

"Don't worry." Fox said, gently squeezing her shoulder. "He's smarter and tougher than either of us ever could be. And as long as he has our love as his parents, he'll never fail."

They held each other's hand and looked up at the sky once again. Suddenly, Krystal saw something. She squinted at the strange flash in the air.

"What's that?"

Fox looked to where Krystal had seen the object and squinted at the object. It was too far away to make out much of its form, but as soon as it got close enough, its features were visible. Fox's eyes widened in horror.

It was a fleet of Venomians fighters! And they were headed right at them!

"Get down!" Fox screamed, pushing Krystal down to the floor before dropping down himself.

The enemy ships shot a metal rafter underneath the balcony. It gave way and Fox and Krystal yelled out in terror as the balcony violently shook.

At the city one thousand feet below, however, things were even worse! Every Cornerian was screaming and running for their lives. The Venomian ships overhead launched bombs through almost everything they came across; buildings, streets, monuments…everything! Another half of the Venomian troops ejected from their ships and began firing at everything that moved. No matter how far the Cornerians ran, they couldn't escape what seemed like their eminent doom.

Suddenly, the Star Fox team and Coyote dropped into the atmosphere and blasted the ground on which the evil soldiers stood. Every single one of them was fuming with rage from what the Venomians were doing, and none of them were going to stand by and watch the horrible scene play out.

"These bastards are just plain sick!" Chase shouted. "I can't believe they'd do something like this!"
"If I ever see something like this happen again," Falco growled. "I'm gonna grab the neck of the first Venomian I see and wring it so hard it'll make his ancestors choke!"

"Why…why are they so cruel? Why are they doing this to us?" Anna asked faintly. "We never did anything to them!"

"That doesn't matter anymore!" Coyote said angrily. "They're not gonna get away with this!"

Marcus didn't participate in or even pay attention to the bickering going on between his teammates (and Coyote). He was too focused on getting to his house and seeing if his parents were still alright.

Katt noticed his seriousness and spoke up.

"Mark! Get to Fox and Krystal! We'll take care of these apes!"

Marcus looked at Katt and hesitantly nodded. He didn't want to leave his team in the thick of things, but he had to get to Fox and Krystal before the Venomians found them.

"Okay. If I'm not back in ten minutes, don't wait up for me." he said.

Katt nodded in response.

"Gotcha. Now go!"

Marcus slammed on the boost pedal and rocketed off toward the cliff where his house was perched. Within seconds, he could see it on the horizon. He engaged the landing sequence and the Arwing III landed perfectly on the driveway.

He opened the cockpit, jumped out, ran toward the front door and kicked it wide open. The house seemed perfectly intact, except that the back door had been blown off its hinges. Fox and Krystal weren't in the front hall. Marcus ran into the living room. Not in there, either. He ran into the kitchen. Not there.

Maybe they were upstairs.

"Mom?! Dad?!" he called into the empty house.

Out on the balcony, Fox and Krystal slowly got to their feet. The Venomian ships that attacked the house had headed down into the city to see what was going on.

"Is…is it over?" Krystal stammered.

For a moment, it seemed like it was…but then, the unthinkable happened: the balcony gave way. A piece of the metal platform broke off from the rest of the house and plummeted to the ground far below. Fox and Krystal slipped just as Fox grabbed the edge of what remained of the balcony with one hand and seized Krystal's hand with the other. They both clung on for dear life and watched in terror as another crack on the balcony began to form near them.

Marcus meanwhile had heard the deafening crack and turned his head to the source. He looked out the back window and could see his father just barely holding on to the edge.

"MOM! DAD!" he screamed, breaking into a sprint toward them.

Fox looked up when he heard Marcus shout, and breathed when he saw him running toward him as fast as he could.

"He made it…"

"Don't let go!" Marcus shouted as he came closer. "I can't do this without you guys!"

The crack widened and drew closer to Fox and Krystal. Fox looked down at his wife, who had tears forming in her eyes. As he looked back at Marcus, he could feel his eyes growing moist. Marcus saw the huge crack, too. It only made him run faster.

"I'm sorry, son." Fox called with a small, melancholy grin of his face.

The balcony cracked even more. Taking one last chance, Marcus took a flying leap towards Fox.

"NOOOO!"

The final piece gave way just as Marcus hit the ground. Fox and Krystal fell with it. Marcus watched teary-eyed as his parents fell away from him, 1000 feet to the ground.

He was too late…they were gone. They'd never survive that fall.

He slammed the balcony with his fists, reared back his head, and angrily screamed into the sky. He didn't care who heard it. He didn't care how long he'd have to scream to make himself heard. He just wanted everyone to know that he had no parents anymore because of the Venomians.

When he had finished pointlessly screaming at the stormy clouds above, he buried his face in his hands and burst into tears. He was crying over the loss of his parents, but also crying out of fury at himself for not being able to save them.

Thunder echoed across the sky and rain began to fall. It seemed like God Himself was mourning for the deceased parents of Marcus James McCloud. They were gone…and he'd never see them again.

Marcus' ears pricked up as he heard a ship coming toward him, but he didn't look up from his hands as the Iron Maiden landed on what remained of the balcony. Coyote opened the cockpit and hopped out. She had seen what had happened, and as she watched Marcus break down and cry, she couldn't help but feel his pain. She slowly walked up to him and laid her hand on his shoulder.

Marcus turned and looked at her, with tears still streaming from his hazel eyes. He sniffled and stood up. Coyote had a very sympathetic look on her face…one that she almost never wore.

"I…I'm so sorry." she said. "Really, I am."

Marcus started sniffling as the tears began to fall again.

"C'mere." she said, stretching out her arms.

Normally, Marcus would have turned her away on the spot, but he was so grieved that now he didn't care. He stepped into her arms and let her wrap them around his shoulders. He really needed this hug. He had lost the most important thing in his life. A hug was the least anyone could do for him.

"It's okay, Mark." Coyote said.

"No!" Marcus said between each sob. "It's not okay! My parents are dead…I could have saved them…what am I gonna do?"

"Hands up, scum!" a Venomian soldier barked.

Marcus looked up from Coyote's warm embrace to see five Venomian soldiers pointing their guns at them.

"I said hands up!" the soldier shouted again.

The grief washed away in a flood of anger. Marcus couldn't see it, but as his rage quickly flared up, his eyes turned blood red. Suddenly without warning, he reached into Coyote's holsters, yanked out her auto pistols, broke free of her grasp and held down the triggers on both guns. The bullets ripped through the air and shot through the soldiers, either knocking them to the ground or throwing them against the wall.

Coyote was thrown off by Marcus' sudden mood change, and when he turned his face and showed his fiery eyes, she stood there in shock.

"Mark, calm down!" she said, seizing his wrist. "We've gotta get back to the others and head after Andross!"

Marcus growled and pulled his arm away from her. Then he spoke to her in a coarse voice that sounded like he had turned into a demon.

"Don't you realize what they've done?!" he shouted. "Thanks to these black-hearted apes, my parents are dead…NOW THEY"RE ALL GONNA PAY!"

Marcus took a superhuman leap off the balcony and glided in the air for at least a mile until he landed heavily on the barren landscape outside of the city. A Venomian soldier holding an AK-47 quickly took notice of Marcus and trained his gun on him. Marcus himself streaked forward and delivered a heavy punch to the soldier's face before wrenching the gun out of his hands and hitting him with the butt of it.

Several more Venomians soldiers ran at Marcus and began blaring their guns at him. He ducked, cartwheeled, and flipped over, under and between the bullets, then aimed the gun he now held and blasted them all in the head.

Marcus ran through the piles of the dead Venomians' bodies and blared his gun at the enemy ships high in the sky. The lead bullets crashed through the ships' windshields and hit the pilots. Without someone to drive them, the ships came careening to the ground.

Two more Venomians came at him. One of them threw a grenade at him. Marcus retaliated by grabbing the grenade in mid-air, seizing its thrower's collarbone and throwing him to the side before throwing the grenade at him. The other Venomian was about to draw a knife when Marcus jumped on him and snapped his neck.

While his physical being seethed with unstoppable rage, Marcus couldn't help but think about how what he was doing was normally unthinkable in his book. He was RUTHLESSLY murdering Venomian soldiers. He wasn't one to kill Venomians for revenge, and now was certainly not the time for battling them (The planet's time was slowly running out), but his rage was so intense that he no longer had any control over it.

He pulled a knife from the pocket of the Venomian he had just killed and flung it into the chest of another one, then shot two more and strangled the one that swung his fist at him.

But right when Marcus was about to run for a group of Venomians that were exiting the city, his brain felt like it had caught fire and his limbs went numb.

Marcus screamed, grabbed his head, and fell down to his knees. He knew that feeling all too well. In seconds, the evil bitch would be in his head again.

And sure enough, right then she spoke.

"Yes, Marcus, that's right." she scoffed. "Let you hatred and fury wash over you. Can you feel the power of sin flowing through your body? It feels good, doesn't it?"

Marcus looked up. His eyesight had gone horribly red and seemed to be pulsating. He could see Kursed slowly coming toward him with her frighteningly demonic eyes flashing.

"Go away! Get away from me!" he screamed. "I'm not like you!"

"Are you sure about that? Just look around you. You've murdered countless Venomians just because they brought your parents to the death. If they had any blood at all, your hands would be soaked!"

Any blood at all? What was she talking about?

"I can feel your anger." Kursed said with an evil smirk on her face. "It gives you the focus that makes all beings strong. Soon enough, that mighty power will be mine once again."

"Dream on, Scary Godmother!" Marcus yelled back. "I'm not just gonna lay down and die if that's what you were hoping for!"

"I never said you had to die. You just have to give up. After all, who is left to cheer you on? Your parents are gone, and you can't take one look at poor little Coyote without insulting her!"

His parents…Marcus had been so consumed by his rage that he hadn't even considering grieving over his parents. Knowing that just made him even angrier.

"If it hadn't have been for Malice, I could've gotten Mom and Dad to safety…and if it hadn't have been for you, Malice wouldn't even have existed."

Kursed crossed her arms and smirked.

"Go on. Say it."

Marcus gritted his teeth and looked up at Kursed, who was now standing right in front of him.

"My parents are dead…AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

He stood up and swung his fist at Kursed's head. Right as his hand was about to slam into her, she vanished. Without warning, a burning sensation licked across his whole body. He fell down again and screamed as it slowly got worse.

"Know your place, Marcus." Kursed mocked. "You couldn't best me even if you were as strong as the devil himself."

Just then, Marcus remembered something that his mother had said to him long ago when he was afraid of ghosts. She had said that if he thought that a ghost was in his room, all he had to do was say a few words that she taught to him. The next time he thought he heard a ghost, he said the words and felt much better.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but he decided that now was the time to utter those gibberish words that Krystal had taught him.

"Gcyfyh nusabu! Toebh zu ba zafu! Nopw ha htu onlhh rfaz ktypt lai pozu!"

Marcus originally thought that it was some kind of lullaby because Krystal mixed it with a song that she used to sing to him, but seeing the way Kursed was reacting to it, apparently it was more than just that.

Kursed had suddenly gasped as soon as Marcus finished the first sentence.

"I-impossible! How did you know the Seal of Spirits?!"

"Seal of Spirits?" Marcus thought. "THAT'S what it was?!"

The burning stopped as a loud rushing noise went through the air. Kursed growled. Marcus' vision was flashing from black to blue to white and finally back to normal.

"This isn't over, Marcus! Not by a longshot!" she shouted, her voice slowly growing fainter. "You win for now, but I'll be back someday!"

The voice stopped. Marcus had concluded something after he had uttered the so-called "Seal of Spirits." When he had shouted something like it when he finished of Malice, his staff's power had grown to exponential heights. If he could make things happen by speaking that way, then the only possible conclusion was that he had spoken in Cerinian, his mother's foreign language.

The strange thing was that other than the Seal of Spirits, Krystal never taught a word of Cerinian to Marcus simply because there was no need to. So why did he know so much of it?

Marcus shook these thoughts out of his head and got to his feet. Almost immediately, dozens of Venomians surrounded him and trained their guns on him. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger. All that came out was a loud click.

It was empty! Right when he really NEEDED to use it!

"How inconvenient." he muttered as he dropped the gun and raised his hands over his head.

Suddenly, the Sky Claw came barrelling down from the sky. Falco ejected from the ship and fired off the Gatling gun in his hand. The Venomians surrounding Marcus all went sprawling to the ground as the lead rain came down on them. About a hundred more came running toward them. The other six pilots ejected from their ships. Katt landed with a laser rifle, Chase with a shotgun, Anna with a sniper rifle, Coyote with her auto pistols, Damalgo with an M-16, and Peter with a grenade launcher.

Marcus lowered his hands, meekly grinned and pulled out his staff.

"You guys are the best." he said.

Everyone aimed their weapons forward at the oncoming group of Venomians.

"FIRE!" Marcus shouted.

Bullets, lasers, grenades, and the Hyper Beam went flying into the Venomians at full force. The impact sent out enough dust to hinder their sight for a few moments, but when it cleared, all the evil soldiers lay dead on the ground.

"How's the situation in the city?" asked Coyote. "Did everyone get away alright?"

"Yeah, they made it. We made sure of that." Anna replied. "It's a miracle no one got killed."

If only she knew…

Marcus felt sad for the loss of his parents (and he normally wasn't one to brood), but he also felt guilty for ruthlessly brining hundreds of Venomians to their deaths. Did killing people for revenge make him a sinner? It certainly got Kursed riled up at him. But what did she mean by "If they had any blood at all"? Either way, Marcus fell to his knees and looked down at his hands. Now he knew what a murderer felt like after he realized that he isn't loved anymore.

Marcus' classic boast was now different: He could cheer anyone up in the blink of an eye…

… anyone but himself.

Falco saw Marcus on his knees and ran to his side, thinking that he nearly passed out.

"Mark, what's wrong?"

Marcus didn't look up.

"They're dead…I couldn't save them." he muttered sadly.

"What are you talking about? Who's dead?"

"Mom and Dad…they…they fell off the balcony."

Falco helped Marcus to his feet.

"Mark...I'm so sorry." he said.

"It doesn't matter. No matter how many times any one says they're sorry…and no matter how much I brood or cry…they're not coming back."

Marcus looked up from the ground. He was just going to have to suck it up and finish what they started.

"It's time to end this once and for all." he said.

The wormhole was only 300 yards away from where they were standing. Marcus remotely called his ship.

"Everyone stay back. I'll handle this myself." he said as he began walking toward his ship.

"Whoa, no way!" Falco said sternly, stepping in front of Marcus. "You're not going down there by yourself. I promised Fox that I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and I ain't gonna break that promise now!"

Falco sounded like a responsible parent. He didn't even have children, yet he was willing to raise Marcus as his own if necessary.

"I'm coming, too!" Chase said. "You're my best friend! If you think that I'm just gonna stand back on the sidelines and watch you get your ass handed to you, you've got another thing coming!"

"And me!" Peter said. "I owe ya for gettin' me out of the hole. No matter what happens, I'm gonna stay with ya until I've paid you back, mate!"

Marcus smiled.

"These guys really are the best friends a guy could have." he thought.

"Alright. Katt, Anne and Al, you guys stay put here. We might need reinforcements."

The three nodded. Falco, Chase and Peter ran toward their ships. Marcus was about to run to his when Coyote grabbed his hand.

"Wait! What about me?" she asked.

Marcus looked at her and sneered.

"Allow me to answer that with a question of my own: What the hell are you still doing here?"

"You know perfectly well why I'm here! I'm helping you!"

Marcus yanked his hand away.

"I don't need your help anymore! Go back home, and don't ever let me catch you sneaking around here ever…"

Before Marcus could finish his sentence, Coyote cut him off. She had stood there and listened to him insult her for long enough. Now she was fed up.

"You know what?! All I'm trying to do is help you! But now it's all suddenly all about you! You're too stubborn to listen to at least one word I say! Well now it's my turn! So you just shut the f*** up and listen to me!"

Marcus kept his mouth shut. He had no idea what Coyote had to say to him, but after hearing her drop the F-bomb, he didn't want to interrupt, fearing that she'd break his jaw if he did.

"I can't go home because I don't have a home to go back to anymore! Two days ago, I told my dad that I helped you on Sauria and he blew his top. He couldn't accept my decision...in fact, he was just about to send me after you again, so I ran away!"

Marcus shook his head in disbelief. She ran away?! Was she really that caring of him?

"But…why?" he asked.

"Because…I wanted to help you. I intercepted a transmission and figured out about the whole apocalypse thing. Right when that happened, I decided to do whatever I could to help. I'm not a bad person, Mark. I just don't have any self-esteem."

"…you finally said no to him." Marcus said.

Coyote sniffed and nodded. Her eyes were rapidly getting watery.

"Please…stop rejecting me. My father rejected me and…just look where I am now. I'm not the devil or anything. I'm just a stupid girl. I'm not nearly as brave or strong as you, and I'm not afraid to admit that. And I'm not lying when I say that…I'm scared for you…please forgive me."

Marcus felt so guilty. He had hurt this poor girl so much that now she was on the verge of tears. He felt his heart soften, and before he knew it, he was smiling.

"Hey, no tears, alright? You can stay if you sure you want to."

The tears disappeared. Coyote looked very alert now.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go with you?"

"I'm sure. I don't want you to get hurt."

"But…will you make it back?"

Marcus felt meek. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know if they'd make it back or not. As soon as they went through that hole, they weren't going back until Andross was dead.

"Maybe…but then again, maybe not. You know what they say: a good captain goes down with his ship."

Coyote got a worried look on her face. She didn't want Marcus to die. He still had so much left to live for.

"Then don't be a good captain."

She grabbed his jacket and pulled him against her.

"Just be you."

Marcus wasn't prepared for what happened next. Coyote had pressed her lips to his mouth and was now holding him in a passionate embrace that felt like a motherly hug. This whole time, she had just been trying to please everyone, and she ended up not pleasing anyone at all. She wasn't evil. She had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. All she wanted was to find her place in the world.

Whatever the case, Marcus was enjoying every waking moment of her expression of love. He never wanted it to end. If he had a choice, he'd stay there in her arms forever. But he had a demented ape to assassinate. Nothing would stop him from doing it.

Coyote broke away. Marcus gently touched her face and sighed.

"Goodbye, Coyote." he said. "…I forgive you."

"Quit pissin' around and get going!" Katt shouted from a few dozen yards away.

Marcus jumped inside his ship, closed the cockpit, and ignited the engines.

"OK, boys." Marcus said as the four ships rose off the ground. "Let's take it to 'em!"

The four ships zoomed off toward the wormhole. As they rocketed away, Coyote felt at her lips with her fingers. She could still feel Marcus' warm breath. She wanted to feel it again.

She closed her eyes.

"Don't die, Mark." she whispered.

The four ships looped up, then back down into the wormhole. With that, their descent into the core had begun.