Chapter 26: Monster
Black, what's happening? Fox urgently thought as Krystal let out a terrible, continuous scream.
We're too late, he replied, The transmigration is underway. The spirit is possessing the host; he will next inhabit the monster.
What will happen to Krystal? Fox was having trouble hearing his thoughts over the scream.
But Black remained silent.
Krystal's scream suddenly took on an unearthly tone; Krystal wasn't the one screaming anymore. The scream elevated in volume and pitch, until it began to make Fox's ears ring. He fell to his knees, covering his ears in vain as he watched Krystal. Before he was sure his eardrums would burst, Krystal's mouth slammed shut. She suddenly straightened up, rising into the air as far as her manacles would permit. Her eyes snapped open, but they were rolled back into her head. She fixed her blank, pupiless stare on Fox for one haunting second, then turned to a dark corner in the room. A dim light lit up the area to which she was looking at, though Fox didn't know where it came from. A hideous monster was revealed, a giant insect-looking mutant. It looked like a giant, metallic-green wasp standing upright on its back two legs. From its torso extended six legs in all, each one as long as a bus and ending in three massive claws that could crush a fighter if the chance ever presented itself. Its wings were small for its size, and folded uselessly on its back. But its face was the most hideous part of all; four eyes adorned the head like multi-faceted jewels, and a large mouth made up of four jaw segments. A beam of energy extended from Krystal's eyes to the monster's, and with that, Krystal dropped back down to the ground.
All eyes were on the monster. Nothing happened as first as the glow dissipated from its eyes. Then a sign of movement; the three claws on one of its arms twitched. Then the air was filled with the sound of fleshy and metallic snaps as the creature practiced moving every segment of its body. Then, satisfied with its new body, the creature opened its mouth and let out a guttural roar filled with plenty of spit and venom. The monster began to slowly advance forward on its hind legs.
The eight acolytes who had performed the ritual joined the remaining four guards, and they quickly surrounded Fox and Jet.
"Uh, Falco?" Fox spoke into his wrist comm. "I think now would be a good time to get in here!"
"Hey! I was just about to call you. We're almost there! Diving into the ocean now. Man, Slippy was a genius... these ships can do anything. Uh, Katt, whatever you're doing, it doesn't look cool."
"I'm trying! I can't help it if I've never flown one of these before! I haven't even gotten acquainted with the original model!"
"Yeah, well, I would expect you to at least know which of the three transformation buttons to press; they're pretty obvious... but you turned into a tank? Seriously? You're sinking like a rock!"
"Just hurry up and get here!" Fox yelled back, ending the communication, just in time to counter a blow from an acolyte carrying two scythes. The rest of the acolytes attacked, and Fox and Jet were getting overwhelmed.
"What do we do?!" Jet shouted to Fox.
Fox turned his gaze to Krystal, who was crumpled, lifeless, on the stone alter. The monster was headed in her direction.
"Help me get to Krystal!"
"Right!" Jet answered. As four acolytes charged him, he ducked under a saber and put one of his blasters to the owner's head, and fired. He then rapidly turned to face the others, leaping forwards and spinning around to perform two roundhouse kicks, temporarily felling two of them. The remaining acolyte swung his nunchucks at Jet, but he dodged left right, under, then dealt a swift upper-cut to the acolyte. Free for a moment, Jet spun around again, sending metal feathers everywhere, landing in the floor, walls, and unfortunate acolytes. Purple lasers sprang from the ends, creating his own personal web of deadly strands. The air was filled with the unpleasant smell of burning clothes, fur, and skin, as the acolytes frantically tried to destroy the annoying feathers. Fox took the chance to sprint on past the acolytes, but his heart faltered for a second when he saw the monster approaching Krystal.
Black? He asked.
Yes? I'm kind of busy right now; I trained these acolytes a little too well.
Is Krystal alive?
There was a silence in his head as Black thought for a moment. It became clear he wasn't going to reach Krystal's crumpled form before the monster did.
Would the monster be headed her way of she wasn't?
Fox felt a welcome onrush of adrenaline spur him on.
Krystal blinked her eyes open, groaning from her sore limbs. She pushed herself up with her arms... only to find the monster towering over her. The monster drew itself up to its full height, spread its clawed arms out, took in a full breath, and then released it in a thunderous roar that shook the whole sanctuary.
"Oh, God..." she whispered as she struggled to rise into a crouched position. She felt a new wave of energy come to her aide. The monster pulled back an arm, clawed hand stretching wide, and brought its hand done towards Krystal. She jerked to the side as far as she could, and the monster's three-clawed hand dug into the stone alter, making three holes and slicing through one of Krystal's chains. The force of the chain being broken dashed Krystal to the ground, and she had to struggle to stay conscious. She looked up again, her world slightly spinning as the massive insect raised its other arm to strike.
Suddenly, a golden figure bounded up onto the shattered alter, hurling a round object at the monster. As soon as it hit its head, a violent explosion engulfed the monster's upper body, the sound from the explosion mixing with the its screams. The golden figure sat down beside Krystal, laying her head in his lap.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
Krystal recognized that voice. It was... "Fox?"
"I'm here for ya," he said as he took out his gun and began blasting his way through the last chain attaching Krystal to the alter. Once free, he pulled Krystal into his arms, and looked back in the direction of the monster. The smoke from the explosion had cleared, and the monster once again was leaning in closer to the alter, insectoid sinews clicking. Fox turned on his wrist comm and shouted into it. "FALCO, KATT, WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU!" That was the Fox she knew.
"Ok, we just reached the sub-sea wall outside of the Sanctuary. How's that portal coming along?"
Can you open it now? Fox asked Black.
Sorry, I can't focus long enough; I'm protecting Jet. Maybe if I could just... no. No chance. I hate saying this... blow it in.
Sure thing.
And Fox... make sure it's a small hole. Not too big, you hear me? We put a lot of work into the Sanctuary.
Alright, I'll tell them. "Sorry, Falco; we can't open the portal; you'll have to blast your way in."
"What are you sorry about?" Falco replied, chuckling. "From the start, I wanted to blow our way in – "
"Just shut up and do it, will ya?" Fox began carrying Krystal away from the alter and the monster, back-paddling so he could keep an eye on the creature. It began to give chase; the grenade hadn't even made a dent in the creature's exo-skeleton. So much order had come from chaos; a small creature mutated to such extremes just from the random chemicals Andross used to pollute Zoness.
With a radio-squawking "YEEHAAA!" there was a ground-shaking explosion, and one of the walls of the Sanctuary caved in with a rush of dark, cascading water and a land-slide of mortar. All eyes, including the monster's, turned to focus on the roaring flow of water. The wave crashed onto the floor, quickly rushing across the dark surface and dispelling the green mist. Everyone was knocked back slightly from the first rush of water. The Sanctuary, however, was not filling up. Water poured into the arched doorways around the room, or drainage sewers placed at the walls. Immediately following the collapsing wall was an Arwing 3.0; it rode off the wave of water and into the air, transforming from submarine mode back into aerial mode, hovering in mid air.
"BOOM, BABY!" Falco's voice shouted through the radio again. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Now where is that ugly little – HOLY CRUD!" he exclaimed as he noticed the monster. He quickly began firing with his ship's plasma cannons, unloading the full load on the insect. Katt's ship appeared in the hole, distorted by the water pouring in. She, too, opened fire. The beast roared and attempted to swat Falco's Arwing, but he maneuvered out of the way just in time.
Well, I'm glad they got that under control, Fox thought, carrying Krystal into a corner, where he laid her down, carefully. He was soon joined by Jet, who was slowly retreating from the acolytes.
"Hey, uh, we're not done, Fox."
Fox was torn between helping Jet and tending to Krystal, but he knew it was for the best. "I'll only be a moment; stay here." As he turned to fight with Jet, Krystal gave him a questioning look that said, 'What else can I do?'
Fox smiled back, then unsheathed his staff and ran over to Jet's side. "How many did you take down?"
Jet's reply was delayed by a deafening roar from the monster, followed by a few crashes and another outbreak of lasers from Falco and Katt.
"Only three; still got nine to go." If I got the math wrong, it's Jet's fault.
"Good job," and with that, they charged the acolytes, Fox spinning Krystal's staff and Jet drawing his two blasters. When they reached the group, Fox knocked a blow from a saber aside, then ducked another swing at him, swinging his own staff and cutting into an acolyte's jaw.
Jet fired into the group, but his shots were just deflected with a wave of one of the acolyte's hands. He next rolled a grenade into the group, which distracted them. Another acolyte picked it up and cupped his paws around it, the explosion contained by magic again, but the distraction was all Jet needed to get closer to them. He pressed his gun barrels into the back of a lizard, and fired at point blank range. As another acolyte swung his nunchucks at Jet, he caught the falling lizard and used his body as a shield to block the blow.
Though their initial charge was strong, they began to flounder. Fox was struck from behind with a staff, and he fell to his knees. Before he could get up or roll away, his legs were knocked straight out from under him, and he fell on his back. His eyes widened as an acolyte brought a curved scimitar down at his face, and he snapped them shut before the blow hit.
But it never did.
He cracked one eye, and found that the blade was stuck an inch from his muzzle.
What, you didn't think I abandoned you, did you? Now get off your butt and kick theirs!
Fox felt himself become charged with new strength; he felt invincible. He swung himself around on the ground, kicking his attacker's legs out from under him, and bringing himself to his feet in the same process. He violently spun around, swinging Krystal's staff into the acolytes around him and sending them flying.
Now give Jet a hand, won't you?
Fox charged over to Jet, who was surrounded by more acolytes, but they knew he was coming. Fox swung at one, only to have him back-flip over him. He turned to face him, barely in time to whack away a karate chop from the acolyte's flaming hands. Fox noticed the acolyte's face wasn't painted with black, but gold; he was obviously of a higher rank, and therefore, much harder to kill. Fox shouted and swung his staff in a vicious attack pattern, only to have the acolyte block each and every swing with his trained hands. The acolyte returned the attack with his own, landing several hits on Fox as he pushed him back. The only reason he was able to survive the attack was because of the magical buff Black provided. Jet wasn't doing so well either; Fox had failed to get the acolytes off of him. They soon found themselves pushed back to the corner Krystal was in, fighting for their lives.
"How're you doing, Falco?" Fox asked, taking a moment to assess the situation.
"Not so well; we haven't made a scratch on the thing!"
"Somebody better do something, fast, or we're dead ducks!" Katt added.
You know what? Black said to Fox. I've been thinking of remodeling this room for awhile, and, since we already got it started...
Suddenly, there was a flutter of a black cloak as Black became visible again; he was floating above everyone, several feet in the air. The acolytes looked up at him, surprise painting their faces as they saw their master. Black flew even higher into the air, until he was in the middle of the room. He threw his arms out, and bright flecks of energy seemed to fly from the far edges of the room towards him. The energy continued to build up around him in a large ball, almost as bright as the sun. The monster lifted its claw to shield its eyes from the intense light, screeching in pain.
"Hold on... Fox." And with that, Black unleashed the energy in a massive explosion that burned the very air around them. The explosion blinded Fox's eyes, and he felt himself being forced away by the powerful blast; it was as if a sun had gone super-nova inside the sanctuary. As the walls collapsed in around them, the whole room, or what was left of it, began filling up with water. In his last moments, Fox dove for Krystal, grabbing onto her.
Then, everything went black as they were forced out into the ocean...
"I think I see someone!" Katt gleefully exclaimed over the radio link.
"Where?" Falco asked, jumping at the strand of hope.
"On the sandbar on our right!"
"Nice one, Katt. Let's pull over to pick this hitch-hiker up."
The two pilots maneuvered their Arwings into a landing position, smoothly setting their ships down at the opposite end of the sandbar. It was more of a small island than a sandbar; a palm tree or two was dotting the long stretch of sand. Falco popped open his canopy and hopped out, his fall absorbed by the soft sand of the island. From the sound of another object hitting the sand, Falco could tell Katt had jumped out, too. He slowly walked across the thin island towards the figure sitting at the edge of the beach, where the sea met the shore. He stopped a few feet away, finally able to make out who it was. It was a young raven dressed in a dark trench-coat and hat, starring out across the water.
Katt caught up to Falco, whispering, "Who is it?" She had never met Jet before, and therefore didn't recognize him.
"Jet Raven," Falco whispered back. "He's actually a member of Starwolf. We uh... ran into him on Fichina."
Katt grimaced, knowingly. "Under less than desirable circumstances?"
"You could put it that way."
They stared at Jet for a minute, looking quite lonesome against the background of the Zoness' endless sea. Falco made up his mind, and he walked over to him, sitting down beside Jet. Katt did the same, sitting on his other side. Jet showed know indication he knew they were there; he just kept staring. Falco followed his gaze out across the ocean, which he realized was a very stunning view. In the early morning light, the sun was barely peeking up over the horizon, casting soft blue lights across the sky, the stars just starting to melt away into the morning. It was a peaceful picture in stark contrast to the violent and dark Sanctum they fought through earlier. It was a much welcomed change that made Falco relax. His eyes moved from the soft sky to the sparkling water below. Shallow waves lapped against the white shore of the island, occasionally coming up to their feet. Falco almost couldn't believe his eyes; the sea had a blue hue; not green, but blue. The blue he remembered from years ago, when he still lived on Zoness. It must have been a trick of the light. Regardless, it brought back memories of countless nights spent on the beach with his old friends.
He glanced sideways at Katt, who was sitting on the opposite side of Jet. He noticed a tear slid down her face, and realized they were sharing the same memories; they were both having the same feeling of nostalgia. His gaze shifted to Jet, who seemed to be keeping a stiff upper beak. A thought struck Falco.
Turning back to the quiet sunrise, he said, awkwardly, "Hey, uh... Jet. You ever been to Zoness before?"
He nodded.
"Did you ever see it... before it was like this? When the water was blue, the sky was clear, you could walk out of your house without wearing a mask..."
"Smell the fresh sea breeze..." Jet added.
"Taste real kani," Katt said.
It was obvious Jet had lived there in his early years.
"How old were you before..." Falco couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence; his throat choked up.
"Five."
"Dang..." That put Jet at sixteen now. Only sixteen, and he was flying with the most notorious mercenaries in Lylat. How many people had he killed already? How many in that night alone? Falco remembered that Jet had once been a member of the Catalysts himself... did that mean he had been killing his friends? No... Falco couldn't believe any of them had ever been friends. "How did you run into the cult?" He asked.
"My parents... died, during the defiling. I became an orphan on the streets. The leader of the Catalysts, Black, found me one day, and decided to take me in. He payed more attention to me then any of the other members, even though he didn't teach me much; he couldn't bear to take me down that dark path. He felt like a father to me."
"I'm sorry," Falco said. "I spent my early years without any parents; I left my family when I was young. Couldn't stand to be tied down, you know? No one could keep me in one place. Not my gang, not Katt, not even Starfox, at times."
Jet laughed a bit at that, then continued. "Well, after that, Black signed me up with Starwolf. They liked my fighting style, so they took me on pretty fast. And that's my life story." His head tilted down, and he stared at the sand below him. Falco noticed a few tears drip onto the sand, making darker circles among the white grains. Katt scooted closer, silently putting an arm around his shoulder, still staring at the calm waves. They remained like that until Falco lost track of how long they had been there, lulled into a state of timelessness by the beautiful scene before them. Beauty from all the poison, pain, and fear Andross had tried to drown Zoness with.
Beauty from chaos.
Fox's eyes blinked open, only to be filled with stinging water. He clamped them shut again, realizing he was floating in the ocean. He was holding onto something... he just didn't know what. He stopped struggling in the water, letting himself and whatever he was holding float to the surface. When he reached the surface, he gasped, taking in his first breath of oxygen in awhile, and opened his eyes. He was floating in the middle of Zoness' ocean.
Zoness. Slowly, the events of the past night came back to him, up to the final explosion that ended the whole event. After all that exertion, he felt like just giving up and sinking into the waves for the last time. Then he realized what he was holding tightly in his arms; Krystal. He knew he couldn't give up now. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes were shut, and she didn't seem to be breathing. Fox looked around, spotting a small island with a lone palm barely poking out of the water. With his free arm, he began madly swimming towards the island, the soft waves helping him reach his goal. His strength eventually failing him, he turned his focus on just staying afloat as he was carried to the island, his eyes slowly closing.
He finally felt the soft sand brushing his side as they washed up on the shore, the waves gently lapping at their legs. He laid Krystal down beside him, still not letting go of her. Miraculously, she began coughing, spitting the salty water out of her lungs. Her eyes fluttered open, immediately finding Fox at her side. A faint smile graced her lips.
They were both alive.
Too tired to speak, they just stared at each other, smiling. Fox felt himself getting lost in Krystal's deep, violet eyes, sinking so deep he found himself in her onyx irises as dark as night... no, he had closed his eyes, that's why all he could see was black. He finally was succumbing to his lack of energy... he was drifting into sleep with Krystal in his arms.
Everything was the way it should be; everything was right. He could die right now and feel complete. He wouldn't mind.
As he was losing consciousness, he felt a hard bump in his pants pocket, but he couldn't tell what it was.
What have I got in my pocket? he thought before falling asleep.
A/N If you get that Lord of the Rings reference, you'll know what it is. Otherwise... you're just a pervert like Undead Assassin...