Chapter 35: A common enemy

Diamond's mind was racing with thoughts and emotions. On one hand she despised Void, every fiber of her being wanted to rip him apart. On the other, he was right. Shadow was their shared enemy and no one knew him better than Void. If anyone could find a way to defeat him, it was Void as much as Diamond hated to admit it. Diamond snapped out of her thoughts to the sound of Void snapping in her face. She blinked a couple of times after suddenly being brought back into reality. "Earth to Diamond," Void said, "You mind paying attention for a second?" Diamond scowled and replied, "You mentioned you had a plan. Do YOU mind telling us what the hell you're talking about?" Void smirked and said, "If I just flat out told you that would ruin all the fun." James growled and stepped closer to the Void, towering over the dark vulpine. Although Void appeared to be a bit taller, James was much bigger in mass. "You better start explaining yourself Void, or there's no reason for me to keep you alive." Void stepped closer to James no so the two were standing face to face, their muzzles almost touching.

"I'd like to see you try to kill me chubby," Void said in a low growl. James growled in return, but before anything could start, Diamond stepped in between the two and pushed them apart. "Knock it off you two," Diamond said before turning towards James, "James, I hate to say it, but we probably need Void's help. He knows Shadow better than anybody; he could help us take him down." "Thank you Diamond," Void said in the background, causing James to scowl. "I don't need his help," James said, "He's a traitorous bastard and he can't be trusted. I'll kill him and then take Shadow down myself." Before Diamond could reply, Void spoke up. "No, I hate to say it James, but you won't stand a chance against Shadow. At this point, I'm not even sure I could beat him in a one on one battle. He's a lot better than he used to be, and whatever training he's been doing must've been a lot more vigorous and intense than ours."

Void's expression had turned solemn and his eyes were facing the ground. "I'm sorry for what I did, really I am," he said. Diamond looked at the dark vulpine, bewilderment in her eyes. Void had just apologized! "What the hell are you going on about?" James said, clearly still angry. Void shook his head and replied, "I fear I'm but a fraction of the man I used to be. I've let my emotions consume me, and it seems I've gone too far to recover." James' expression softened as he realized Void was being sincere. "I've done some terrible things I know, I've even enjoyed doing it. I've hurt people I once called my friends and I've taken more lives than you can imagine. You have every right not to trust me, to hate me, but I truly need your help this time. I can't beat Shadow by myself. I'm begging you James." James looked confused, as if he couldn't believe this was happening.

Diamond had trouble believing it herself, but what really got to her is that Void was looking right at her whilst begging James for his help. He had a look in his eyes that she couldn't explain, one she couldn't understand. It was like Void knew something about Diamond that even she didn't know. "Why should I help you?" James' voice broke the silence, anger appearing in it again. Void looked at James, his solemn expression gone, replaced with one of stone. "Because once Shadow's dead, it'll be you and me." Diamond's eyes widened at Void's response, but he wasn't done. "If you win, you'll have your revenge and you can take charge of my army. If I win, I'll keep you alive and leave Corneria."

James stood there silently, obviously thinking it over. A smile crept onto his muzzle, causing a shiver to go up Diamond's spine. "Alright," James said, "I accept your terms." "James!" Diamond protested, but she was cut off by Void. "Excellent," the dark vulpine said, "Then let's get started." Void was about to continue, but Diamond finally spoke up. "Wait just a minute! James do you not remember what happened last time you fought Void?!" James' expression turned grim, his eyes looking to the ground as Diamond continued. "I remember it very well! He almost killed you!" "That won't happen this time," James said, now looking at the enraged vixen. "Bull shit!" Diamond cried. James' eyes widened at this explosion of anger from Diamond. "Diamond…" he began, but was cut off. "And even if you do go through with this meaningless squabble of yours, do you even have a plan?!" Diamond was looking at Void now, who seemed completely unphased by the outburst.

The familiar smirk Diamond had seen so many times returned to Void's face. "I always have a plan Diamond, you should know that by now." "Is that right?" Diamond continued with less volume, seemingly a bit taken aback by Void's response, "Well, I'd love to hear it then!" Void's smirk didn't fade and without skipping a beat he said, "If I told you, that would ruin all the fun." Diamond growled and lunged at Void. The vulpine sidestepped and Diamond barely managed to stop herself from flying face first into a pile of rubble. Void's smirk was gone now as he looked at the enraged vixen. "Diamond, you need to calm down…" Void began, stopping short as Diamond growled once again. "Calm down?!" Diamond screamed, standing back up, "Why the hell would I calm down?! Here you are, after betraying us for your own selfish desires, challenging James to yet another fight even though you nearly killed him the first time, and you're asking us for our help?!"

Void didn't reply and Diamond took this as a sign to continue. "There is absolutely no good reason why we should help a bastard like you! You've betrayed our trust time and time again, even going as far to fake your own death and kill the people who once called you their friend! You don't deserve Corneria's help, you don't deserve any help at all. You deserve to rot in the fiery pits of Hell!" There was a long silence as the three stood there. Void opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by an explosion that shook the ground, knocking them off balance. When Diamond regained her footing, Void was leaning up against a building, his teeth gritted and his expression angry. "Damn it Diamond, I know I've done terrible things, but if you're looking for an apology, some admission of guilt you're going to be mildly disappointed. I can't say I haven't enjoyed making people suffer, causing them both physical and emotional pain, but I'll be damned before I let Shadow take over the Lylat System! Everybody questions my mental stability. They call me insane, they call me a psychopath. That may be true, but if you want to see the work of a real psychopath, look around you. Shadow is pure evil, there isn't a shred of morals or mercy anywhere left in his heart. He has been driven to the brink of insanity and beyond. If you think what I do is evil, if you think that I'm the real villain here, you're wrong. It doesn't hold a candle light to what Shadow has planned. If he is allowed to win, there won't be a chance for you to take your revenge. He'll destroy everything, starting here in Corneria. He won't stop until the entire Lylat System is nothing, but a dark, lifeless void! That's why I need your help, Shadow can't be allowed to win, or there'll be nothing else to fight for!"

Diamond stood there, unable to speak. As much as she hated to admit it, Void was right. Void never tried to bring destruction and chaos over the Lylat System. The more she thought about it the more she realized just how tortured the black vulpine was. Just how much neglect, and pain lay in his heart. He didn't want the destruction of Corneria, he didn't want the entire system to burn like Shadow did. He wanted revenge. He wanted the world to be fair. All he wanted was to satisfy the dark, consuming void that lay inside of him, taking away any scrap of sanity, or goodness he had left.

He wanted people to know how much pain and suffering their actions can cause. Diamond opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by yet another explosion. Void stepped closer, his eyes pleading with the blue vixen. "It already kills me enough to admit this Diamond so please, I need your help." Diamond growled a bit, thinking it over. No matter how much pain Void had suffered through, he was still evil. He had done terrible things to innocent people for his own enjoyment. On the other hand, Shadow wouldn't rest until Corneria and the rest of the Lylat System was in ashes. Diamond closed her eyes and shook her head. "Damn it, fine!" she said, "It sickens me to do it, but I'll help you." A smirk crept on Void's face, but quickly vanished when Diamond added, "But only this one time. After this you're as good as dead." The smirk didn't stay gone for long as Void replied, "I'm looking forward to it."

James, who had been silent for a while, spoke up and said, "Alright then Void, what's this great, ingenious plan you've concocted. What do we need to do?" Void pointed to the sky which was now dark red. "The photonic cannon on Shadow's battle ship has been taking out, and my sources say we have Yuki to thank for that," Void said. Diamond felt a surge of happiness take over her and she said, "Yuki did that?! That's awesome!" Void looked at the joyous vixen, his expression made of stone. "My sources also tell me, there's been no word from his since he entered the ship as his Arwing was destroyed upon entry." Diamond's smile faltered as Void continued, "There's also been no reports of him making it off the ship after the cannon was destroyed. As for the time being, Yuki is MIA." Diamond's smile was now completely gone, and she looked to the ground.

James walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Cheer up Diamond, its Yuki. I'm sure he found a way off that ship." Diamond smiled weakly and Void continued. "As you can see from that trail of smoke, as well as the smoke rising into the sky, Shadow's battleship has been shot down. Although that seems like a victory for us, that's exactly what Shadow wanted." James's eyes widened, but then he shook it off and laughed. "Are you kidding me? There's no way Shadow would risk that much just for one silly plan that might not even work." James continued to laugh, but it gradually got more awkward and forced as he realized Void was dead serious. His laugh eventually faded away completely. "I wish I was kidding," Void said, his gaze once again shifting to the ground. "Unfortunately, Shadow hopes to take advantage of Corneria's greed." Diamond snarled and replied, "What the hell are you talking about?" Void glanced at the vixen before tapping his foot on the ground and continuing, "Underneath Corneria City is a powerful gem that has been designated as the Phoenix Stone due to its bright red color. It was discovered by Fox McCloud back in his Star Fox days…" "Before you killed him," Diamond growled, cutting Void off. Void sighed and said, "Yes before all of that. Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Void said glancing at Diamond angrily, "The gem was discovered to contain incredible energy. If this energy were to be harvested, it could power an entire galaxy for years to come." Diamond jumped in as she realized where Void was headed, "You mean Corneria harvested the gem's energy?" Void nodded and replied, "Yeah, in a way. They found a way to control the gem's power, or at least how much of it the gem was able to release at one time. The Phoenix Stone is currently being used to power Corneria for fear if they try to power anywhere else at this time, the gem's power will rocket out of control." James stepped in, clearly confused, "Wait, if they can control the gem's power why can't they power the entire Lylat System without worrying of it overloading, or whatever?"

Void shook his head and said matter-of-factly, "It doesn't work like that. As I said before they found a way to control how much energy the Phoenix Stone releases, but they haven't found a way to control the energy itself." James gave Void a blank stare, and the dark vulpine sighed. "Look it at this way. It's like having a shot gun, you have to load it right, or you'll blow your arm off. The stone is the gun and the energy is the shell. If it's not loaded right, or in this case they use too much energy, the gun may explode. In the case of the Phoenix Stone the energy might rocket out of control and take out Corneria as well as a large chunk of the Lylat System along with it." James' expression changed as he seemed to be starting to understand, but as he was about to say something Diamond jumped in. "Okay, great you've given us a lecture about this "Phoenix Stone" that I'm still not entirely sure exists. What does that have to do with Shadow and his battle ship?"

Void pointed back towards where Shadow's battleship. "While you idiots are out here celebrating the fact you took his ship down, Shadow is currently making his way through that battleship sized hole in the ground and towards the Phoenix Stone." Diamond's eyes widened and she replied, "What? Why would Shadow want the Phoenix Stone? More importantly, why would he sacrifice his ship as well as hundreds of his soldiers' lives to get it? That's a big risk." Void nodded, his expression grim. "Shadow doesn't give a damn about his troops, or anyone else for that matter. All that matters to him is his goal of galactic destruction and he'll do whatever it takes to achieve it, even putting himself in harm's way." Void gazed off into the distance, deep in thought. "How does he even know where it is?" Diamond asked. "Shadow's laid dormant for years in that prison. If I had to guess, he probably had spies in the prison feeding him information. On top of that he had time to do some quality research while Corneria was focused on bringing me in. Odds are he figured out its location and had you guys shoot down his ship right where it needed to be. He plans to harvest the stone as a weapon, and destroy the galaxy by only winning one battle."

Diamond growled and said, "Why do you keep saying you guys? You're Cornerian too." Void continued to stare off into the distance as he replied in an emotionless tone, "Not anymore." Diamond felt a pain in her heart as she shifted her gaze to the ground. Sensing her silence James jumped in. "How do you know this is what Shadow has planned?" Void looked back at the two and smirked. "I do my own research. Now come on, if you want to save the Lylat System, we've got to get moving."

….

Yuki felt pain all over his body. He couldn't move and every breath he took provided him with more pain. His leg, shoulder, and side all burned as well as his lungs. I've really pushed myself too far this time, Yuki thought. Everything was pitch black until he saw a flash of white light. Yuki thought he was dead until he realized it was coming from a flashlight. His eyes slowly fluttered open, blinking as the bright light hit them. A voice rang out, but before Yuki could make out what it had said he felt himself being yanked up by his arm. Pain shot through his arm and into the rest of his body, causing Yuki to cry out and fall back to the ground. He felt a sting on his palm and he realized he had cut his hand on a shard of metal. "I said get up," the voice repeated. Yuki felt a hand grab the collar of his tattered shirt and yank him up to his feet.

Yuki could hardly stand. As soon as he put weight on his legs they threatened to collapse again, but he feared what would happen if he fell down again. His legs wobbled and his stomach churned. Pain shot from all areas of his body, and he quickly leaned up against a wall to prevent himself from falling over. He felt woozy, and wished he had never woken up. "Well isn't this a lovely surprise," a silky voice said, from right behind Yuki. Yuki's eyes widened as he looked up. He was horrified to realize that he wasn't leaning up against a wall at all, but instead a dark gray fox, with a demented smile on his face. Before Yuki could pull away the vulpine grabbed his shoulders and squeezed tightly. Yuki cried out in pain and fell to his knees. "That's no way to thank me Yuki, now get up," Shadow said. Yuki looked up to see Shadow pointing a gun into his face. "We've got a stone to find."