Janus waited until he had gotten out of sight and earshot from Leon, just in case the chameleon was actually paying attention to something other than the Star Fox bear. What he had shown his fixer obviously didn't work, but the hawk wasn't to blame. The fight came to him. And the bear wasted no time in demolishing him.

As he turned the corner, he walked into a stairwell and pulled out his communicator. He activated it and said one word: "Deploy."

The timing was sooner than he wanted, but he figured once the bear was finished with his fixer, they'd soon find access to his suite. And Krystal. If she was well enough to talk, it wouldn't take much prodding to get the intended locations of the bombs.

The message was directed to the military grunts he had entrusted with the bombs. The communicator was in the process of sending the coordinates to each of the five military dogs, where they could quickly place the bombs where they needed to be, activate them, and drive to the next location.

He chose those five military dogs because they had knowledge of the CM bombs. How to activate them. Where the death zone is once they explode. And the effects of what would happen to anyone exposed to the cores directly.

A voice soon returned through his communicator. "Deployment commencing."

He gave no instructions to begin evacuation of the residents. But all it would take was one death from direct radiation. Fear would take care of the rest. The denizens of the city would waste little time in heading for the mountains, where the cyanide lines could be activated.

Janus sighed, simultaneously anxious and excited. He was finally putting his grand vision of a new Corneria City into action.

"Let's see what he has on him," Leon rasped at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Ben looked at Janus' fixer with a cold expression and grinned almost imperceptibly. The hawk had struggled back to his hands and knees and was glancing fearfully at the bear in front of him. Ben strode toward the hawk's head and crouched slightly.

"No. No!" the hawk shouted painfully.

He tried to move his hands toward his chest to protect it from further destruction, but Ben slipped his right arm underneath his throat. Ben cinched his right hand in the crook of his left elbow and planted his left hand on the back of the hawk's head. Before the hawk realized it, Ben stood up and tightened his grip on the hawk's throat.

The hawk struggled weakly for a couple of seconds before his body went limp. Ben slowly placed the hawk face-down on the floor and immediately began searching his pockets.

He was in luck. On his first try, he produced a plastic card with the words "Luna Stone Hotel" printed on it in red elegant script letters against a white background. He showed it to Leon.

"Pick a door," he said.

Leon smirked and pointed to the white door a few paces down the hall from them. Suite 1609. Ben walked toward the door and inserted the card into the reader. He heard a lock click. Ben took one look at Leon and pushed on the door. It opened. Success.

Once inside, Ben made a mental note to save enough money for a one-night stay in a suite here. This place had to be almost as big as Fox's home. Ben and Leon walked through the main entry, glancing into a standalone bathroom to the right. As they approached the living area, there was a dining room table that looked too elegant to eat at. Behind the table was a small kitchen area. To the left was a large bedroom, which looked like it had been used recently, but nobody was there now. And to the right was another bedroom, which was currently in use.

Leon crept forward quietly, entering the second bedroom and noticed several handheld pieces of medical equipment. He saw an IV bag and oxygen tank connected to the individual in the bed. Moving closer, he noticed the individual was a vixen and had blue fur except around her face, where it gently faded to white. He knew exactly who this was.

Without thinking about the consequences, Leon idly wondered what she knew. Maybe she could help him prevent any CM bombs from detonating. He was mildly surprised when the vixen opened her eyes slightly and slowly focused on him. Her mouth was held open by a somewhat thick breathing tube shoved down her throat. She blinked, her signal that she had seen him. And she knew why he was here.

She felt another presence nearby, one she didn't recognize. As her consciousness defogged, her eyes found a bear standing nearby. He was wearing an off-white flight jacket, and on the left side of his chest was the Star Fox insignia. Her gaze focused on Ben's jacket, the memories of what Fox had done to her still fresh.

Leon heard her react to either him or Ben. She exhaled, trying to vocalize, but she couldn't force any air past her vocal cords. The breathing tube needed to be removed. Leon walked to the side of the bed and grasped on the breathing tube. And pulled. The tube came out of Krystal's mouth smoothly, although Leon felt her gag slightly as it was pulled out of her throat. The open end finally slipped free of her jaws with a reddish tinge on it.

Krystal exhaled weakly, a sickening wave crashing over her. She was content to breathe for a few minutes, not focusing on anything with her eyes. But her mind told her everything she needed to know. She knew Leon and this bear were working toward the same goal. For now, at least. She knew Fox was fighting to stay alive, and Wolf was near him somewhere in Corneria City. The surprise that Fox had felt as Janus' fixer had shot him was all too real. It had gotten her attention like a flood light pointed directly into her eyes. Fleetingly, she wondered where Falco and Slippy were, but the thought soon left her mind.

After a few minutes, Krystal felt stable enough to prop herself on her left elbow to get a better look at the bear.

"You're with Fox," she said in a quiet and precise lilt toward Ben. He nodded. There was a slight pause in her breathing, as if she was contemplating something. "He deserved it," she said toward Ben.

Ben blinked, thrown for a loop. "Deserved what? Getting shot?"

She nodded.

"Telepath," Leon said to Ben, pointing toward Krystal.

Ben tried to hide his flabbergasted expression, but soon realized it would never help him in this situation. She was gonna know about it anyway. This was the infamous Krystal, the drop-dead gorgeous vixen Fox had completely squandered. Fox had made her almost as famous as him, but for all the wrong reasons.

"I'm…I'm sorry for what happened to you," Ben said quietly, taking a chance at appeasing her.

Krystal's thoughts and feelings about Janus came quickly flooding back to her. And just like her former society on Cerinia, it pained her to even think about defying Janus. She squeezed her eyes shut at the intrusion, hyperventilating slightly. But she never said anything about them. Leon and Ben could only gather Krystal was disturbed by something. Maybe a thought or a presence nearby.

Krystal relaxed her eyelids as a tear rolled out. Before it could soak into her fur, she brushed it away with a hand, not even trying to hide it.

"Fifteen Cornerians," she finally said. "I killed all of them. He praised me every time someone died by my hand. He told me the world was better without them." Krystal paused with a long sigh, still looking down.

Leon was about to interject when Krystal winced slightly.

"You don't understand," she said, shifting her empty gaze toward Leon. "I was afraid to leave him. I was afraid of going through exactly what had happened with Fox. Janus promised me that would never happen, as long as I stayed near him."

That was the last thing Ben expected to hear from a former Star Fox team member. And it was definitely something a telepath would never say. As his mind whirred, he slowly realized what she was saying underneath those words. Janus had gone beyond teaching her to follow him. He had conditioned her.

Ben had no idea what to say. He simply looked away from Krystal in mild shock. His eyes found the window looking toward what was the interplanetary communications tower and settled there. He saw emergency crews were still working at the site, hoping to find the last few survivors of the attack. By now though, it had probably become a salvage, rather than a rescue.

As he ran her words back through his head, Ben's thoughts shifted to Janus. He had seen the smoldering hole where the communications tower was located. It angered him that someone could enlist others so easily to carry out an attack like this. And Janus wasn't stopping at the communications tower.

But Krystal stated she was afraid to leave Janus' side. Ben moved his gaze back to the vixen still in the bed, still hooked to several medical instruments. He couldn't get a word out before Krystal voiced his thoughts for both him and Leon.

"Janus is still here," she said. "He is at the stairwell, sending the coordinates for the CM bombs." She flicked her head to her left slightly, indicating the general direction toward him. "You can't do anything to stop this."

Ben interpreted her last statement as a dare, like she had challenged him to keep Janus from finishing the message about the coordinates. He took a step toward the door leading out of the suite.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said to Ben. "He's deploying the bombs now. If you kill him, the bombs explode."

"Wait. What?" Leon finally said.

"He has a trigger. And he has a failsafe if he dies before then. If his heart stops, a microchip will send out the signal."

Ben's right foot was pointed toward the door, ready to stop Janus. His left foot was still pointed toward Krystal. And at this moment, his body didn't know which direction to move. "Can you, um, at least give us the locations?" Ben asked quietly, his right side finally making the decision to stay in the suite.

Krystal nodded and slowly began moving to a sitting position in the bed. She was still generally weak from the inadvertent nanorobotics attack. Her weakness triggered something in her mind. "You have the remote," she said quietly, fixing Ben with a penetrating stare.

"For what?" he asked, thrown mentally off-balance.

"Nanites."

Ben paused. He had to think about when he had last seen nanites. After a brief moment, he remembered. "Yeah, Wolf has nanites in his bloodstream."

"They have the same signature as the ones in my blood," Krystal said, keeping her eyes locked to his.

Ben felt his stomach drop. On one hand, he was grateful he hadn't used the remote to activate Wolf's nanites. On the other, he realized the assassination attempt on Wolf caused collateral damage. "Um…" he started. "I don't know how to convince you of this, but-"

"You haven't used that remote," Krystal finished for him. She paused. "And you don't intend to."

Ben nodded silently, hoping he was being transparent enough for her.

"You can help me get rid of them, correct?" she asked. Ben nodded again. "And if I give the locations of the bombs, you'll help." Ben nodded once again. It was definitely uncomfortable knowing every single one of his thoughts was fair game for her to latch onto.

Krystal paused with a sigh and looked down. "Save yourselves. Leave Corneria City," she said quietly. Her tone of voice indicated she had no intention of revealing the coordinates. "The fire will be gone in two days."

"Remote, Ben," Leon said without trying to hide it. That was the first time Leon had called Ben by his actual name.

Ben reached into his left jacket pocket and pulled out the remote for the nanites. He handed it to Leon, too afraid to get Krystal's and Wolf's blood on his hands. "Coordinates. Now," he said.

Krystal glanced at Leon and asked, "Would that information be worth it to you if you had to use the remote?"

Leon's right thumb moved over the single button on the remote. He was dangerously close to pressing it, but he knew it would risk Wolf's life.

"You won't do it," she stated. "And Janus is at the door. So make it quick," she said tauntingly.

The lock at the door leading into the hall disengaged, and the door opened. A tall and well-built ram with brown fur, garbed in a dark blue jumpsuit, walked into the suite. He took a few steps into the main area and locked eyes with Leon and Ben.

They finally had a face. Janus went from a name to a real individual, and he wasn't more than five meters away from Leon and Ben.

"Did you give them the coordinates?" Janus asked after a thick silence. He saw Krystal shake her head slowly, her eyes clouding over in fear. He sneered and continued, "Good. Let's make sure they don't leave."

Ben's eyes widened in shock as what he had inferred about Janus twisting Krystal's mind was true. Instinctively, he whipped out the blaster he had acquired from Janus' fixer and aimed it at the ram's chest.

"Where did you get that?" Janus asked.

"My favorite hawk," Ben replied coldly. "He was the only one who remotely gave me a fight."

"Don't say a word," Janus said, aiming his words at Krystal.

Ben and Leon watched as Janus calmly pulled a blaster of his own from a holster on his right side.

"Stop right there!" Ben shouted. Janus continued moving the business end of his gun until it was nearly pointed at Ben's head.

"I SAID STOP, DAMMIT!" Ben screamed. Just before Janus finished pointing the gun at his head, Ben pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked, but there was no discharge. Ben felt a wave of freezing cold crash over his midsection as he realized the gun in his hands didn't work.

"Too bad," Janus said quietly. He squeezed the trigger.

Ben was locked in place, seemingly with a death wish. Just as Janus' gun fired, Leon dove toward Ben and shoved him out of the way. Ben dropped the blaster and stumbled to his left, turning his head just in time to watch Leon struggle to hold his balance. Leon hopped forward in reflex, bringing him into the line of fire. Janus's salvo collided with Leon's right arm, tearing his shoulder in two. His jumpsuit ripped at the neck as his arm was peeled away from his body. Leon crumpled silently on the floor, his severed right arm landing about a meter away.

Janus took one step toward Leon when he noticed Krystal gripping the sides of her head in anguish. She groaned, feeling the pain Leon was feeling.

Ben took advantage of Janus' momentary distraction and lunged toward him. On his last step, he leapt into the air with all five of his fingers on his left hand curled into claws. He slammed into Janus' right side, pinning his gun to his leg. Ben's left hand shot straight toward Janus' right eye and raked toward his snout. He felt his index fingernail scrape against a soft feature for just a second before contacting fur again.

Janus howled in pain as he dropped the blaster at his feet. His right hand instinctively tried to grab at his face, trying to shield his eye, but Ben was plastered to his side. Janus sucked in an involuntary breath and groaned again, turning away from Ben. His right hand shot toward his face and covered his eye, which had been gouged open.

Ben rushed forward in an effort to keep Janus off-balance, but Janus continued turning and lowered his head, his left horn crunching against Ben's snout. Ben's neck contorted as Janus shoved into him, the force tipping him off his feet. Ben fell down nearly flat on his back, landing on Leon's severed arm. The elbow jammed into his spine, causing his back to spasm and his legs to lose feeling for a few seconds.

Janus groaned again and checked his right hand. He was bleeding, and anything he could see out of his right eye was nothing more than a nondescript blur. He covered his right eye again and took one step toward Ben, who was just barely beginning to get feeling back in his legs.

"A taste of your own medicine, bear!?" he shouted as he stomped down on Ben's right knee. The joint buckled for an instant before the top of Ben's shin snapped.

Ben screamed in absolute pain as his body contorted, trying to pull itself in a million different directions. Janus backed away and glanced at Krystal, her face twisted into a grimace again.

Janus cursed as he checked his right hand a second time. His eye was still bleeding, and his vision was nearly gone on his right side. He reached down to the floor and picked up both blasters and the remote controlling Krystal's nanites. The remote went into his left pocket, while one of the blasters went into his holster. The other blaster stayed in his left hand.

"You. Little. Shit," Janus spat at Ben, who was still moaning in agony. There was a strong quaver in his voice, but nobody seemed to notice. "I don't care what your name is, bear. I ought to kill you now, but it seems your blue fox over here doesn't want that to happen. So why don't you just stay here while she and I leave this planet. I've told law enforcement to arrive as soon as the bombs detonate, and they'll find you here in this room. So don't disappoint them because they've been paid handsomely for this."

Janus strode toward Krystal and ripped out the needle attached to her arm. He hoisted her out of the bed without a word and dragged her behind him. On his way out, he grabbed the communicator off the dining table and headed toward the door.

As the wall began to obscure her view, Krystal took one last look at Ben and Leon, her last hope for an end to this nightmare. They soon disappeared behind the wall, Ben's moans echoing throughout the suite as a final reminder of how both he and Leon failed.