Dysphoria
Venom
As stated before, James and Peppy both found this an incredibly surreal day. And Pigma busting them out of jail after everything he's done just made it even more surreal.
"But why are you doing this?" asked Peppy incredulously as he walked out of the cell.
"Everything I've done was unforgivable," said Pigma, shooting a quick look at James. "This is my way of saying sorry."
"Well..." James looked down, then back up at Pigma. Here he was, looking at the one responsible for his wife's death, and yet... his anger was surprisingly suppressed. "I can't forgive you yet, but... you have my trust again."
Pigma nodded. "Then I should also tell you... I have the location of the bomb."
"You do?" asked Peppy.
"I should know it, I planted it. It's..."
Just then, a whole slew of jeeps began to surround the area, with an alarm buzzing in the distance. The three of them didn't even need to acknowledge to each other that they needed to split up and hide. James ran through an alleyway between two large buildings while Peppy and Pigma found themselves inside each of the buildings. The soldiers unloaded off the jeeps, starting their searches inside each of the buildings.
James peaked out of the side of the wall he was hiding behind, seeing maybe fifty soldiers; he couldn't tell from the fog, which wasn't as thick as before, but still lingering around the area. He slowly moved along the side of the wall, looking both directions. The alleyway was extremely narrow; if anybody came through here, he was done for. He kept moving until he heard several sounds of feet marching through. He froze, not knowing what to do. There was nowhere he could go; they seemed to be coming from both directions! Looking up at the wall, he paused. He turned around and looked at the other wall. It was worth a shot.
The two lizard groups met up near the center of the alleyway. They all were lined up one-by-one due to the narrow space. "Did you see anything?" asked one of them.
"Not yet," said another. "Let's split up into smaller groups; we'll cover more ground that way."
With that, they all walked out of the area. James, looking down as they passed underneath him, could feel all of the muscles in his body about to burst from strain as he held himself up between the two walls. The 30 lb. oxygen tank on his back didn't help much. When the last soldier was clear away from his position, he let out a sigh of relief as he dropped to the ground quietly and made his way through the rest of the alleyway.
Fifty Miles Away
The tank was gone, but there were still multitudes of soldiers running through. A Company kept their ground, moving back as the lizards moved forward. Daltrey could see the soldiers much better now, since the fog was almost faded away. Drenched in sweat and blood (either their own or their comrades'), they kept on fighting them off. As they shot down more and more soldiers, it seemed as though victory was inevitable. At least, until the fog finally faded away completely.
The A Company soldiers stopped dead in their tracks as they could see farther and farther away. The group they were fighting had been eradicated, but that's not what they were focusing on. It must have been a mile away, yet it was still the most intimidating image they had all ever seen; a tank brigade. Ten of those monsters were coming straight at them. No wonder it seemed like they were winning; the lizards had been retreating back to the tanks. Up above, there were dozens of enemy fighters approaching the area; some of the ships looked like Arwings trying to fight them off. Soldiers, which they all identified as Cornerians, were running away as the lizards plowed through them.
"RUN!" shouted Cpt. Hunt from the distance. A Company didn't even get a chance to recognize them all as D Company soldiers; they all obliged with Cpt. Hunt's orders. They could hear explosions off in the distance from the tank rockets and laser fire from the fighters.
"We never seem to get a break," said Daltrey to himself.
Town
Building 1267
Peppy looked up from the balcony of the second floor, seeing groups of soldiers pouring in. Thank God it was dark in this building; there were only slight shards of green light protruding through the window blinds. This place looked like an abandoned office building from long ago; he figured that as there were bodies long rotted all over the place. It was long enough ago for the lights not to work, although not long enough ago for the elevators to cease function, since he heard an elevator chime from the distance. With that, he ran, trying to find a place to hide.
Under a desk? No, too obvious. Behind the broken vending machine? Same thing, and besides, his oxygen tank was too big. Ventilation system? Ventilation system... well, it was the best he could find. On the wall was a small vent up above him. It was big enough to fit his body in; needless to say, however, it was going to be a tight squeeze. As quickly as he could, he pried open the vent. He slipped off his oxygen tank and threw it in, making sure he didn't accidentally pull off his mask doing so. He grabbed hold of the ledge and pulled himself up and in, pushing his tank out of the way. Alright, he was in... now what?
Building 1269
Pigma had managed to get himself on the 7th floor via elevator. He stopped himself when he realized how long it would take for him to get back down. He wasn't going to wait forever for these guys to leave! It was too late to fix his mistake, as he heard several soldiers moving about the area. He frantically looked for somewhere to go; taking the elevator again was out of the question. The soldiers must have seen the floor he was on. His heart sank as he heard more and more soldiers flooding the floor. There was no way out of this...
As he passed by a few desks, he noticed a couple sheets of paper lying around. He thought for a moment, then grabbed one sheet and reached for a pen. He then ran into a bathroom and hid himself inside a stall to buy himself some time. Scribbling on the piece of paper, he hoped that, somehow, James and Peppy would find this...
Up in the Skies
Nine Arwings, they had started out with. Now, Gilmore led a small group of three, not including himself, against the fighters right above the tank brigade. "How many smart bombs do you guys have?" asked Gilmore. "I'm out!"
"So am I!"
"I only have two!"
"One left for me!"
Shit. There were ten tanks, and all they had were three smart bombs left. They had wasted all of their ammo on the fighters. "Daltrey! Do you have RPGs?"
"We don't! D Company has... had a couple, but they've been wasted!"
Gilmore sighed. "Let's see if our lasers can penetrate the armor." He flew in close to one of the tanks on the far right, readying his sights.
"Wait, Gilmore! Watch ou-"
Surface
Daltrey watched in horror as Gilmore's Arwing was hit by one of the other tanks. The aircraft crashed and burned onto the tank he was aiming for. Most of the A Company soldiers didn't have a chance to witness this since they were trying to avoid the laser fire from the soldiers around the tanks. They were plowing right through D Company, which had been reduced down to about fifty.
"The rest of you!" Daltrey said, addressing the Arwings. "Avoid the tank fire as best as you can! Focus your attention on the fighters!"
"What a way to go out," said Plant.
"What? Being completely raped by a bunch of mutant lizards?" asked Page.
"Yeah, something like that..."
"Wait a minute!" Daltrey exclaimed. He pulled out his PDA again, contacting the Great Fox. "Come on, ROB!"
"Yes sir?"
Building 1269
As Pigma finished scribbling on the sheet of paper, he walked out of the stall and peaked out of the bathroom door. The lizards had the bathroom completely surrounded. He sighed, walking out with his hands above his head. The soldiers readied their weapons, pointing at him. He prepared himself for his seemingly inevitable fate...
Suddenly, a force from behind pushed him to the ground, the crumpled paper falling out of his hands. He rolled over and saw himself pinned to the floor by O'Donnell, holding a valve of liquid. Before he could do anything, O'Donnell ripped off his gas mask and spilled all of the contents of the valve into his mouth and held his snout shut. Pigma struggled to not swallow the liquid. This couldn't happen... Not again... He was so close to redemption... Why couldn't they have just killed him? Hot tears streamed down his face as the liquid found its way down his esophagus. Then, suddenly, the pain was gone. The emotions he was feeling just a second ago were washed away. He felt... nothing...
O'Donnell got up from the ground, letting the swine out of his grip. Pigma grunted, getting up from the floor. "Why didn't you kill me?" he asked, putting his oxygen mask back on.
"We figured this would keep you out of Heaven," said O'Donnell. "Now... we should get you treated. You've been exposed to too much Venom air."
"Fine then..." Pigma followed the soldiers out of the room, leaving O'Donnell, who had noticed the crumpled paper on the floor. He picked it up and uncrumpled it. To him, there was nothing but scribbles and lines. What the hell was this? he wondered. He stuffed it inside his pocket; he'll ask Pigma about it later.
Up in the Skies
Great Fox flew through the clouds, the soldiers of A Company cheering down below. The fighters started to ignore the Arwings when they saw this massive hulk of an aircraft and began to pummel the hull of the ship. ROB took some of them out with the ship's guns, while the Arwings took care of the rest. They chased them out of the way, making room for ROB to shoot. The robot aimed at a tank over on the left side. "Fire."
The ship let out a massive wave of laser fire upon the tank, completely obliterating it. ROB slowly panned over the next few tanks, firing more lasers and causing more tanks to explode in a heap of metal. The Cornerians couldn't believe what was happening; they were actually going to win this fight!
"Wait..." Daltrey said slowly, looking to see a lone fighter in the sky. The Arwings didn't notice it; in fact, it seemed like he was the only one who noticed it. He had to squint to see where it was heading. His heart sank as he saw it was aiming right for the Great Fox cockpit. "ROB, watch OUT!"
ROB couldn't react fast enough as he looked up to see a fighter aiming right towards him. In a moment of robotic instinct, he jumped out of the cockpit seat and tried to make his way out as the fighter made impact.
Outside, the Cornerians' spirits were crushed once again as they saw the Great Fox cockpit explode in a fiery blaze. It descended to the ground as the soldiers ran out of the way to avoid being crushed by the mammoth machine. The hull remained mostly intact, but down below, it collapsed into the ground. The Cornerians were almost knocked off their feet from the force of the impact. They didn't have time to look upon the damage; the five remaining tanks started firing again, and the soldiers once again engaged in this incredibly one-sided firefight.
Building 1267
Peppy wormed his way through the ventilation, pushing his oxygen tank forward and dragging himself along. He hoped nobody could hear him from the outside. But with all of the accidental clanging and banging on the sides, that annoying screeching sound whenever two pieces of metal slide against each other, and the reverberation of the pipes, that was unlikely.
It was also extremely hard to see where he was going. There was virtually no light inside, so he had to feel his way around. As if that wasn't hard enough without dragging this 30 lb. beast everywhere he went. He kept moving forward, noticing that his surroundings were starting to get brighter. And in here, "brighter" meant just a lighter shade of dark. But it was a good sign that he was nearing the end of the tunnel, which would mean outside.
Outside
James now found himself shimmying along a ledge on the west wall of building 1267. More soldiers were flooding the area, and he couldn't stay on the ground. Wandering around the building, he found a pipe that was strong enough to support himself and the tank on his back, so he climbed up here. What he was going to do now, however, he wasn't sure. He prayed that the fog would stick around, and so far, God seemed to be helping him out.
He kept his balance on the ledge, avoiding looking down. The ledge itself was only about three inches wide. It was hard to keep himself steady for more than five seconds; it was as if the tank on his back was trying to pull him down. Moving along the wall, he heard a loud clanging sound. He moved over to the corner; it was coming from the wall adjacent to this one. He slowly moved himself over to the next wall, seeing somebody climb out of a vent of some sort.
"Peppy?!"
Peppy turned his head to see who was calling. "James? Where's Pigma?" He handed James his oxygen tank while he took the rest of his body out of the vent.
"I don't know. I thought he was with you."
"Well, we gotta find some way out of here."
James thought for a minute, looking as the fog was slightly thinning. "You find a way out of here. I'll try to find Pigma."
Peppy had a look of bewilderment. "You sure?"
"He helped us out, Peppy. I know what he did, but... I have to find him."
Peppy looked unsure, but he nodded. "I'll try to get backup."
"Alright." James inched over to the pipe that he had climbed and grabbed hold of it. He slid down, followed by Peppy. He could see the outlines of a couple of jeeps parked outside, with a few soldiers standing around; most of them were probably still inside. James scanned the area to look for a place to hide after he had attempted this incredibly stupid stunt he was about to pull off. His eyes caught sight of a manhole on the other side of the street; that looked good. He took a deep breath, looked back at Peppy, and nodded.
The soldiers by the jeeps turned around as they saw a fox screaming at the top of his lungs sprint past them. They all looked at each other, incredibly confused, then bolted after the fox, who had disappeared into the fog. As they followed the fox's trail, they didn't notice a rabbit slip by, which meant they were also oblivious to the fact that said rabbit was about to hijack one of their vehicles...
Sewer
James slipped the manhole cover above him back on as discreetly as possible. He kept quiet as he listened to the soldiers step past the manhole. He kept quiet, despite what he was looking at...
This sewer was lit. Dim light bulbs lined the ceilings, but that's not what James was focusing on. Lizards. Hundreds of them splashed about in the shallow water. They were bigger than normal, although James wasn't too sure what size a normal lizard was; most he's seen were anthropomorphic. Still, these lizards were undoubtedly big; big enough to make it hard for him to walk around. He stepped over the lizards, trying to make his way through the tunnel. They bumped against him as they tried to get out of his way. He looked around, trying to step on any open spot he could find.
At the end of this tunnel was a door. On the other side of the door was a large room. In this room, James didn't know what the hell to make of this. He stepped onto a platform up above, and down below, more lizards, making a loud chatter that echoed through the room. But this time, there were even more of them. Millions, in fact! He couldn't comprehend the shear number of these things as he looked down upon them from the platform. He didn't even notice for a second these were almost as big as the ones he saw up above.
"Like what you see?"
James froze as he heard that voice. It was Andross! He'd recognize that voice anywhere! But something wasn't right... That voice came from inside... his head? No... no, that can't be right...
"40 million of them, growing at a rapid pace. By the end of the week, they will all be fully grown and trained..."
These were lizard soldiers? No way... 40 million... If these things were let out...
"Now look over to the left, and you'll see another door. Walk inside."
James stayed on the platform, not wanting to move.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Now, GO!"
Andross' shout caused James to shout out in pain. It was as if he was holding two amplifiers turned all the way up to 11 against both of his ears . He had no choice but to walk into the room. He did so, although he wasn't so much walking as he was crawling. The splitting pain started to go away as he opened the door and entered. There was a staircase leading downstairs; it was quite a long way down. He stood up, took a deep breath, and started to climb downstairs.
"What's taking you so long? C'mon, faster! Faster! FASTER!"
The voice made him lose his footing, and he tripped down the rest of the way. He reached the end of the staircase, groaning in pain. Trying to shake it off, he stood himself back up and saw another door in front of him. He opened it and went inside to find himself in another room; not quite as big as the last one he saw, but still big. Around the room, there were some tables lined with test tubes and other lab tools. He didn't even notice, however, as he was focusing more on what was on the other side of the room.
There were giant glass cylinders on the other side, containing some of the biggest, ugliest creatures he's ever seen. One of them, which looked like a giant grasshopper with more limbs, banged on the glass and growled as it looked down upon him. He looked over to another one to see that it was filled with water and down at the surface was a huge clam-looking thing. It opened itself, and inside, James thought he saw a pearl. He jumped when he saw that pearl was actually an eye! The last one was heavily heated; he knew that because it had a reddish color to it, and there was a large monster inside completely enshrouded in lava!
"As you can see, I've been doing quite well for myself. These monsters are only mere experiments. I needed to see the exact effects my pollution bomb had. The pollution bomb, not unlike the bomb planted in Corneria right now."
James couldn't believe what he was hearing. If this bomb were to explode in Corneria, they would all turn into this?! They needed to find that bomb! He wasn't going to let him turn the Cornerian citizens into these... monsters! He especially wasn't going to let that bomb take his son away!
"It is inevitable, James McCloud. Corneria will soon fall to my knees... along with the entire Lylat System!"
Andross then began to laugh, trembling through James' brain. He couldn't take this anymore; he had to get out of here! He ran back out the door and started up the stairs. The laugh still echoed through his brain as he made his way up the steps. When he finally reached the platform, he caught sight of something that stopped him dead in his tracks. Powalski's dead body was lying on the platform; it looked as though chunks of him had been chewed off. But by what? He got that answer once he looked to his left.
Above the lizard crowd was a gigantic, floating disembodied head smiling down upon him. It had a large beard around its face and long gray hair flowing from the top of its head. Its skin was heavily wrinkled and its teeth were rotted and crooked. Two disembodied hands floated beside it, and they were as grotesque as the head; yellow fingernails protruded at the tips and large veins pulsated underneath the skin. But what James really took notice of were its eyes: purple retinal blood vessels and orange irises.
"Recognize me?" the figure asked, smiling wider. James wasn't about to hang around to answer Andross' question; he bolted out of the room through the sewer tunnel, Andross laughing behind him. "Go ahead and run! Tell the others everything you've seen here! It won't make a difference! By the time you leave the planet, that bomb will have already detonated! And you will all be under MY control!"
James didn't listen; he wasn't going to let that happen! He ran through the tunnel, not caring what he stepped on. The lizards below screeched as he made his way back to the manhole.
Surface
On the jeep Peppy had stolen, a GPS system on the dashboard showed multiple targets about fifty miles away from here, so he drove in that direction. There were targets everywhere, but this position was the closest. It took him about twenty minutes for him to get there, and when he did, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Five tanks and multiple soldiers were chasing down soldiers he recognized as Cornerians. Cornerians that were in his company! Up above were three Arwings trying to fight off multiple fighters; one of those Arwings burned into the sky. In the background was a large ship that had crashed. It looked like... no... that can't be... He drove the jeep over to their position, seeing Daltrey and many others trying to hold their ground. He also saw Cpt. Hunt and few other D Company soldiers.
"Cpt.!" shouted Hunt. "We're being completely slaughtered!"
"I can see that!" Peppy shouted back, grabbing a weapon from a dead soldier on the ground. "Have you tried contacting Banks?"
"He won't answer! I can't get to Corneria either!"
Well, backup was out of the question then. He panned around the soldiers, who looked completely emaciated and desperate. Soldiers ran behind the Great Fox for cover, hiding in fear. Some tried to find any large debris from the fighters above while others were holding up the dead bodies of their comrades to defend themselves. A rocket fired, knocking Peppy, Hunt, and a few others off of their feet. Peppy shook off the loud ringing in his ears and looked around to see if everyone was alright.
He saw Barrett fall to the ground, being pummeled by lasers. Page was trying to help Plant up, whose leg had been blown off. Morgan and Harper had given up on trying to revive every casualty they saw. Daltrey shouted to the A Company soldiers, but he wasn't shouting orders; instead, what he shouted sounded like farewells, as if this was the end. Peppy hated to think of this, but it looked as though this really was the end for all of them. The Arwings up above were out of ammo, and these tanks were closing in on them. Their numbers were thinning out... they had no chance...
No... no, this can't be the end! They'll get out of it somehow! He knew it! Somehow...