The Battle of Nightmares

It was time for the war to begin as a new day began. Who was going to come out the victor in this battle of life and death? Asura or Elise?

Asura prepared Star Fox a list of situations at the training center. "I can ensure you guys that there will be no water elements coming after you. I've got that covered." Next, she went over what may happen and how long of a duration. "Potentially, it could go over the course of a week but a minimum of at least a day. We will be at war for a while, so don't lose your guard and hope. And prepare on rations and other necessary supplies." Asura looked at Slippy to see if her gear was in top shape and performance.

Slippy took the blade from inspection and handed it over. "It's light now?"

Asura grinned. "It's supposed to be, I mean why wouldn't it?" He shuddered but said the other day it weighed like a ton to him. "You are one silly frog, it's lightweight because you created it." Asura hugged the green toad with joy and later kissed his cheeks. He was left blushing red on his green skin."Dragon scales are exceedingly durable, strong and extremely lightweight like a feather." She mentioned that her tail is almost healed back up after the incident. She thanked him again and continued with the plan. "Keep your eyes peeled for anything that happens on the battlefield. I feel as if Corneria is the entire field."

Fox didn't know how to respond knowing the home he grew up after Papetoon would be heavily destroyed. He had uneasy thoughts about the people, his home and friends, and his family. Krystal cheered him up and said together they would not fall. Falco rallied the two up along with Slippy. "We are Star Fox, we don't lose to anyone. Corneria is relying on us to defend the home they know now." With one hand in the air, the entire team shouted hurrah and quickly prepared for what was ahead of them.

"I've already perfected all my abilities, what more is there?" Asura thought to herself. She recalled all the information inside of her thoughts. It included the past, the present and a bit of the future. Though she was struggling to use her sister's foresight ability to its fullest extent. "Kuro? I don't know how to use his Phantom Mimic ability, it would be a struggle to learn without the person himself. Kira doesn't have any special abilities to use because the book doesn't teach superior magic. Star Fox members are not capable of full magic, well maybe Krystal actually but still." The book Kira had left behind had nothing left for her to learn.

~Transitioning~

Elise sat in her false world of Cerinia. There was nothing living, nothing but a bunch of fallen souls roaming around. All of them were doing her bidding without complaint. Who knows if they are suffering or even conscious or aware. "This world drives me of pleasure for control. Once I gain control of Asura's friends, I can send their minds away with the dark power." Then she remembered that if two people fight with the same element, it would result poorly since both are immune to its properties. Elise didn't give a damn since she wanted to kill them all. With Star Wolf at her side, she had people who could back her up. At a high price, Wolf agreed to accept the payment. He and his team would give it there all and would not fail her.

She had her right hand up with a sphere of water. There was a holographic image of Corneria's field. "I am not used to this terrain, too many buildings, and roads. What the hell. I'll just give them nightmares at the beginning, it will be fun." She disappeared into a spiral of water.

~Transitioning~

Asura came up with a bright idea but it could also be deemed risky to attempt. After hours of recalling, recreation and perfecting, she was able to master something new and showed it to the team. "This is another one of my specials from all my friends back in school. I was able to gather past information from rank 4 and use it to my own."

Falco really was curious since he enjoyed fantasies and such. "What could it be?" Asura walked on over to Falco and handed him a knife. He was confused as to what it was for. She asked that he would throw it really hard at Asura, without hesitation. Falco glanced over with a strange expression. "Y-you want me to throw this at you?" Asura nodded and smiled. Falco gripped onto the handle and threw the knife directly into Asura.

The momentum suddenly stopped and it formed a barrier blade around her. She began to giggle, "You didn't have to be afraid, I wanted to test your bravery, Falco." She quickly did her experiments with all the knives in her possession. "Back in school, I had a friend who was ranked 4 of our school and she was efficient with knives and daggers. She was a great thrower and I was quite the same but only with swords and blades." She said this only because her weapons were quite larger and much more difficult to throw. It would then be rewarded by high damage output if successful. "I'll tell you this, she was really tough to duel against." Asura allowed the barrier to disappear and the knife reappeared in her hands. "I'll be using these for you guys if anything happens, and with that, I can use my ultimate ability against Elise when the time is right."

She left the group behind in order to recreate her same designs and effects. She said she will be back before the battle begins. Fox began to rally his team for combat later into the day. "Alright, remember to check your gear before heading out. If there is something wrong, Slippy will be there to fix the issue." Fox was getting ready to leave as he waved Krystal goodbye. When suddenly, his body started to turn clear water. It started in his toes and into his feet. The transformation made it way up into his legs and towards his torso.

Everyone noticed how strange it has become. It concerned Krystal the most and she was worried. The blue vixen rushed on over but Fox was already more than halfway covered in water. The upper half of his body was starting to change slowly. Krystal felt a dark omen emitting off of him and she knew something tragic was going to happen. She ran up to Fox, and hugged him and begged for him to revert back to normal. Krystal's fur was soaking with water from Fox's changing body. No one knew what was going on with him. "Fox! Don't go, please..."

It was too late as Fox disappeared into a splash of water. The water remained on the floors as Krystal was lost in her thoughts. She fell to her knees and looked at the puddle of water that was left behind as Fox's body. "Why did you disappear?"

"Because of Krystal." The three remaining members heard a voice from behind them. They each turned around to see a human known as Elise. "This is only the beginning. I planted a curse onto Fox and now that you have touched him, it now spreads to others."

"Curse? What the hell did you do to him?" Krystal said crying in tears.

Elise looked at her with a grin. "This is a special kind of curse, I planted it into one person, and it only spreads if you touch x person. It turns your body into water and will eradicate your entire body into my bidding." As they spoke, Elise showed an image of Fox listening to her every command. She started to laugh and she pointed at Krystal. "You are next, my dear. Then your other friends will soon be mine."

Krystal was angered to the point of becoming enraged. "Bring him back!" Krystal clenched her hand into a fist and threw a punch into Elise. Elise blinked behind her and kicked her back onto the floor.

"You seem very desperate, Krystal," Elise said. She made an offer with her. "I'll make an exception, you trade your body and soul for Fox's body and soul. You will follow my orders and he will be the one who suffers while you are gone forever." Krystal felt extremely desperate, and she gave into Elise's offer. She agreed and her body started to disappear. Krystal saw the eyes on Slippy and Falco. She linked them one last thing, "Tell Fox, thank you for being the one and only person to treat me well." Krystal disappeared and Fox reappeared in her place.

He looked confused as he came back to reality. "What the hell?" Fox looked at his hands to see that he returned back to Corneria and not some unknown realm. Immediately, he looked frantically around him, but Krystal was nowhere to be seen. He saw Elise smiling at Fox. "Elise? Where is Krystal."

"Quite the amusement, sweetie." Elise opened up her right hand to project a sphere of water. Everyone witnessed Krystal inside and trapped again. Fox had lost his mind right here and now. "She exchanged herself in order to have you stand here. You should be thankful for her bravery."

Fox became angered and punched Elise. He also missed his attack since she moved a lot quicker than usual. "I have no more offerings to give unless you want to beg on your knees and give up." Slippy suddenly made the move to tackle Elise. He used his entire body to pin her down, but he phased right through her. Elise was very disappointed in him for his terrible attempts. "I'll curse you too!" Elise closed her hand and Slippy vanished into the same sphere.

"Slippy!" Falco called. He armed his blaster and fired onto Elise. The blasts didn't even get close to her as they disintegrated. They began to trade shots back at each other, both were equally as fast. Falco continued to fire his blaster and Elise threw water balls at him. Fox didn't know what to do as he sat there and watched. He felt hopeless after Krystal saved him. All he wanted was her to be back to him, instead of suffering.

The prolonged running wore out Falco as his legs started to give out. Elise readied another water ball as she panted. "Looks like I win." Elise struck Falco with the water ball as his body was disappearing from reality. He disappeared in an instant and Fox was the remaining one.

He watched each of his teammates disappear before his very eyes. He was the one to suffer the most as he witnessed Krystal disappearing. Fox stood up, he felt weaker without his friends. Especially, without Krystal by his side. "She was the only reason for living, and you took that away from me." Fox ran up to Elise and dealt a punch to her stomach. "Why, why must you make us suffer." Fox grabbed Elise and threw her to the ground.

Elise, who was slightly beaten up, still smiled. "Because, Fox. Suffering is what I find to be amusing and enjoyable." Elise summoned her waterlings to grab hold of Fox. They held onto his every limb to restrain his control. "I gave you one chance to redeem yourself, but it seems like you declined it, Foxy boy." Elise cursed Fox and his body was transforming into water.

"I'm back," Asura walked inside to see Elise before her very eyes. She was just finishing up her work with Fox and was spotted by Asura. "Elise!" Asura unsheathed her sword and dashed forward. Elise had a mean look before she disappeared, almost getting struck by the tip of Asura's sword. "Damn it, Elise. Stop playing your stupid games, release all of them at once." There was a silent response, Elise did not reply.

Asura sheathed her sword back, took the time to think about what would happen. "By the gods, I can't believe this is happening to them," Asura called for Peppy and told him of the news and status of each of them. As she spoke, no one knew what could be happening to them. "Krystal, Slippy, Falco, and Fox are now missing and I am not sure how to bring them back, Peppy."

Peppy replied, "It's alright, dear. You did your best, now we need you to come back. It's an emergency with Pepper." Asura acknowledged Peppy's orders and quickly made her way to the command center.

Asura arrived at his office and was greeted to Peppy. "What's happening?" Peppy pointed to Pepper's chair and his body remained. Asura freaked out, and almost wanting to throw up from the loss of lives. Peppy sighed, today was a tragic day for the team as five members were taken out. Asura touched Pepper's body, she felt his pulse resonating. Peppy only knows that Pepper is dead, but Asura knows something else. Asura cleared her throat and sang a song with her voice.

Pepper's body started to glow and he was slowly waking up. Her song ended and Pepper was able to recover in merely seconds. "I suspect whatever happened caused him to faint since you know he is older." Asura sat him down on the long couch in his office. She checked for temperatures and other vitals. Pepper was doing alright after just waking up. "Let him rest, and I need to find a way to bring back those four. It will take me a while to establish a connection back."

Peppy mentioned that there was more help for StarFox. "We can contact Fara, Faye, and Miyu to help you out." Asura never met either of them but she could use the extra help. Peppy contacted all three of them to the office. They showed up in their personal uniforms.

"What's up, I'm Fara Phoenix." The fennec fox stood firm and shook hands. "Owner of Phoenix Corporations, and friend of anyone loyal to Corneria and StarFox." Asura was quite the guest to her.

There was Faye who greeted her with a hug, and she was grateful for seeing the berserk dragon for the first time. It made Asura blush because that's not what she really was. "Faye Spaniel, I never knew you to be so cool up close, ya know? It's nice meeting you, Asura, and happy you are on StarFox." Asura felt the joyous emotion expressing out of her and an even stranger sensation in her heart. As it started to beat faster for unknown reasons.

Then comes Miyu, "Miyu Linx, we three are apart of Fara's team and corporation. I hope we can work well together, Asura." Asura was grateful for Miyu's optimism and the two shook hands.

Asura quickly laid out the plan for them, even though she had no idea where to begin. Fara stepped up to assist in her every need. "What is the goal we are currently trying to attain, Asura?" Fara took notes whenever Asura said something important.

"So far, there are four people we are trying to free: Fox, Krystal, Falco, and Slippy." She explained that they are trapped in what is known as the other world. Whatever that meant, Fara thought. Asura confessed her story to the three currently listening in on the mission. "Elise and I used to be best friends, and her powers were quite unique. She created worlds but I was able to explore them by opening rifts to their dimensions. Taught to me by my former master, who Elise killed." Her master's name was Jin. The previous elder for the element of light. He was a very kind person, teaching both Asura and Kira. However, Kira changed her element to darkness as it suited her better. Jin did not mind helping her learn darkness, but it was a struggle doing so.

It was known that Elise's jealousy was the factor that ruined their friendship. Elise was always one step lower than Asura on the learning scale. An under stepped shadow to a prodigy. They went to school but Asura and Kira were accepted by the scouting system. Elise lied to herself and faked a smile whenever she saw them leave and come back. She practiced on her own time and that everything turned against them. Her hatred carried over until they were all masters. Elise was given the opportunity to sabotage their minds against each other. The twin dragons turned and fought against each other, and carried out Elise's plans. She was a smart one, alright.

Fara watched as Asura unsheathed her blade. "I'm ready to open the rift to the other world." Fara, Faye, and Miyu nodded their heads. They were prepared to face what was ahead of them. They readied their blasters and Asura struck opened a rift to the other world with her sword. "Tread carefully, this place may be similar to Corneria, but it's not what it seems." No one knew what that meant, not even Asura herself knew. She wanted them to stay alert for any dangers. Asura walked into the rift first, followed by Fara, Faye and then Miyu.

~Moving Forward~

Krystal opened her eyes to view herself inside the other world. What is this place, she questioned. She tried to move, but her arms were suspended in the air by water chains. Unable to move, Krystal struggled but nothing happened. A lance made of water suddenly flew straight into her abdomen and Krystal's eyes shot open. An extreme amount of pain was dealt to her and she did nothing but scream. There was no blood but the pain she was feeling was immense. The shock had almost made her faint as she was barely holding on.

Elise appeared in front of her, and Krystal was looking down with fatigue. She raised her chin upwards to allowed eye contact between the two. "It's quite rude to look away from someone's eyes, Krystal." Krystal was not in the mood to speak since the shock took away most of her stamina. "Your sacrifice for Fox really didn't matter, he still fell under my hands." Elise started to laugh manically and she plunged the spear deeper into Krystal's body. Krystal screamed louder as the pain increased tremendously. "I'll just leave that there, you won't die but the amount of pain will want you to accept death's door. I'm off to let your other friends suffer, goodbye!" she said happily.

Krystal started to hallucinate an almost transparent door. Her mind was already wandering off to death. The pain was terrible and she wanted to escape. Who knows how long it might take for rescue to arrive? Maybe the door will open before her and she'll die? Or maybe she will live long enough to see freedom.

~Moving Back~

Miyu was the last to enter the rift to the other world. It was just like Corneria, only much different. The skies were darker and the landscape was altered heavily, showing nothing but water. It must have been Elise's mind at work if she managed to create such a world. "I don't know much about this world, so much that its design is unique. Stay cautious." Asura said.

Every step they took made a tiny ripple in the water. The water itself was not deep enough to be sunken into. Asura stabbed the water with the tip of her sword. It only made a larger ripple. Fara was confused as to why she did it. "Sometimes, there are faults in a world, Elise isn't perfect just like everyone else is." Asura pointed out there could be openings where Elise left opened because her mind wasn't 100% perfect." Asura noted that it was normal where they stand. The group continued forward, treading carefully with every step. Asura scanned the area once more before halting the team from moving forward.

"Does anyone here, care about anyone or anything?" Fara, Faye, nor Miyu responded since they didn't have anyone in mind. "Okay, promise me that none of you three are lying to me as we speak." They all swore they didn't affiliate with anyone else. Asura's behavior has become more suspicious as they talked about this. Then they saw something appear behind her. Each of them looked and jumped out of fright. Asura was the last one to turn around. "Master?"

A silver fox stood in the distance, surrounded by calm waters. He stared down his pathway to Asura. Asura ran up to him, she had her arms opened and wanting to hug him. "Master Silver!" The fox smiled at her, and Asura started to tear up. Asura's arms wrapped around his body and the two embraced each other. "S-Silver, I can't believe you are in here. Elise must have taken your soul."

Silver showed a sign of happiness and excitement. He was probably like 65 years in age but with young looks. "It's good to see you again, young Asura. I see that you were protecting your friends."

Asura nodded and she bowed down. "Of course, I must follow your will, I will protect my allies and allies' of other allies."

Silver smiled, "I'm glad to see you again, after many years. My training curriculum has paid off and you will eventually surpass my expectations. Especially with your dual powers of light and darkness." He looked behind her to see the other squad members. "I see you have met with other allies, are they here with you?"

"Yes, they are Fara, Faye, and Miyu. We are on a mission to free the other souls." Silver knew she was going to say that since he allowed Asura to inherit his powers. He said to get going before something happens, but Asura wanted him to come along. "Silver, what is going on?"

"I'm sorry, Asura, but this world is strange, if I were to fight alongside you, it will increase the difficulty of your mission by hundred times the amount." He could not explain much about the world, otherwise, he would have been suffering an eternity. "Just go, the monsters here are going to be after you." He disappeared in a blink of an eye, he whispered her an apology and his voice vanished. They all left in pursuit of finding others.

Fara was running behind Asura when she spotted Slippy in the distance. Clearly, he wasn't having a good time. He was running and being beat at the same time. Slippy was extremely exhausted and seriously injured. "We must get going, Faye and Miyu, follow Asura."

Asura spread her wings and grabbed both Faye and Miyu. "I hope you two can fight because I'm about to go all out." She soared at high speeds and immediately reached Slippy's location. Faye and Miyu were dropped off at the same location as they fought the waterlings. Asura went back for Fara and the battle was on. They each worked together to reduce their numbers to a minimum. Fara blasted away two, while Faye and Miyu took at one each. Asura hacked around two attacking Slippy. He took a huge beating and had serious wounds on his body.

They finished off all the remaining ones and Slippy was now safe. Fara checked on his wounds. It was quite serious and Asura said her song of healing is weak here. It would heal nothing in this world. Asura opened a rift back to Corneria. "Someone has to go back and mend his wounds." Fara volunteered to do the job and she left with the unconscious Slippy.

There were only three Star Fox members remained. Asura spoke to Faye and Miyu. "It is pretty dangerous here, my magic does not work here so we much rely on instinct and pure skill." They sat down and rested for a bit before moving onward.

"I can see that, Asura," Miyu spoke. "I expect that things may not go into our favor." She turned back to Faye, who was quite slow but still at a high skill level. "Faye, now that Fara isn't here, we must be able to work together to reduce our remaining comrades."

"Of course, Miyu." Faye wanted to talk about themselves more. "Asura, we should discuss about ourselves, what to do and all that."

Asura nodded, "I come from another world, it's long gone but we can bring is back. The person you saw earlier was my master, his real name is Silver but sometimes he goes by Jin instead. I was his main pupil before my older sister came along. He trained us well and I took his place as the elder of light. Master Silver comes from Cerinia, Krystal and Grey's hometown."

Faye was intrigued by the story. "I've heard that you and Grey are together, like Fox is with Krystal."

Asura blushed, "Oh, I didn't think everyone knew. He keeps me company and I care about his personality and looks." She was more embarrassed to talk to Faye. She couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. "I-I also think you are kinda cute, along with Miyu and Fara." Asura quickly turned around to hide her red face.

"Asura?" Faye went over to her. She tapped her shoulder. "Does something bother you?"

Asura relaxed her hands and realized something. "I-I apologize, that was very abnormal of me. It has something to do with my sister. She was killed by our past selves and I inherited her powers. I probably took her personality and behaviors." She wasn't wrong about behaviors since she almost wanted to kill her friends before. Something that wasn't part of her normal memories. Asura's face blushed red again out of nowhere. "If you haven't figured out, Kira, my older sister was a lesbian. She had a thing for gals, but not for guys. I swear I am not bisexual or lesbian, but it's Kira who made me feel this way."

Faye understood quite well what she meant. "That's alright, Miyu and I are together. There isn't anything wrong with that, Asura." Asura felt grateful for absorbing Kira's odd sexuality. She confesses that Kira always wanted to have Krystal by eliminating Fox from the issue. Though it was a weird time to mention it, she just wanted to get it off her chest anyways.

"We moving out or what?" Miyu said. They finished resting and quickly made their way to find the other three. Falco was currently on pursuit, he was seen running away from strange creatures, as thought by Miyu. Asura sheathed her sword and started running towards Falco. "Falco!" she shouted. Their distance between each other was larger than expected. "Please don't die on me, someone out there is looking for you."

Falco tripped and fell into the water beneath his feet. The water splashed into his feathers and he was soaked. "Ugh..." The creatures behind him were ready to strike as Asura blocked the attack with her scaly wings. She mumbled quietly to Falco, "I made a promise... I would do anything to keep you guys alive... Katt's promise." Asura's wings shattered into many fragments and became no longer usable. Asura unsheathed her sword and slashed forward, killing off any creature in her way. "She told me... keep everyone... alive... I agreed at the cost... of my body and soul." She kneel herself to stay upright, only barely feeling okay. "You alright?" Asura started breathing harder after taking a destructive blow.

"Thanks to you, Asura," Falco carried her by his shoulders, able to assist her standing upright. "I'm glad you all showed up just in time, I found Krystal's location while I was trying to escape my area, she is being held captive by Elise." Asura was glad to know Krystal's current whereabouts.

"What about Fox?" Asura asked. Falco was, unfortunately, unable to detect or locate Fox's position. "Take us to Krystal, she can locate Fox using her telepathy since Fox's location is non-existent." Falco led the team onward to Krystal's location. He was probably the only one prepared to face Elise so suddenly. Falco did manage to land some hits onto Elise before losing his breath and fading away.

Falco led them to a clear colored door. The transparency was almost camouflaged with the water on the ground. It was nearly visible to those close enough to it. Asura got off Falco's shoulders and slowly propped her way with her blade. "I never saw such a thing before in a counterfeit world. Whenever Elise creates another world, it's usually will be based on the world she created it in. This is Corneria's Alter, look around us, everything is similar in their position. Only that the material is made of water." Asura struck the sword into the door's keyhole and turned her sword according to the lock. The door unlocked and she opened the door to reveal what was inside.

It was another room, it was quite familiar to something on Corneria. Faye and Miyu did not recognize this place since they were never introduced toward it. Falco and Asura scanned the familiar area to obtain a clue about it. There was something strange, Asura nor did Falco spot, Krystal, the moment the doors opened. Suddenly, Asura fell to the ground and felt weaker in her legs. "Asura? You okay?" Falco kneeled to her side. She was in pain, something was agitating her legs to upset her balance.

"It... it hurts." she cried. Asura fell flat onto her stomach and tried to crawl with her usable arms.

When Falco started to look, he noticed her legs were beginning to crack. Her legs were about to give out and she might lose them. "Asura! What is happening to you?"

"I.. don't know.. everything hurts." Asura could no longer stay conscious enough to move. Her legs started to shatter slowly and fade away. Falco grabbed her and carried her by his back. "I can't leave you behind, I will carry you to Krystal." He rushed deeper inside the familiar room. Faye and Miyu tried to follow them, but a mysterious barrier prevented them from moving onwards. They had to be left behind as Falco continued onward. He turned through many hallways, passing by multiple rooms. "Where could she be? Krystal!" he shouted.

The avian ran into another hallway before being stopped by a water barrier. Falco immediately turned around before being interrupted by another water barrier. He was trapped inside the hallway with no exits. "Damn it, we are trapped."

A voice could be heard behind Falco as he turned around to check on it. He saw Krystal, who was looking grimly into his eyes. "Krystal? Oh, thank goodness you are alright." Krystal turned her head sharply upward and pounced onto Falco, tackling him and Asura into the ground. Falco became feared for his life the moment he saw her eyes. "Krystal?" She started to choke Falco's and grasp around his throat until he was turning red. "S... st... op." Krystal started to laugh manically until she was knocked off Falco. Asura, who was barely struggling to stay upright, punched Krystal in her cheek. Falco was able to catch his breath and got up from the floor. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Krystal did not respond but only stared into his soul. "I want to... to kill... kill." She set her arm outward and what materialized in her hand was her staff. Falco was terrified for the sake of his life, but then he realized. Quickly, he grabbed Asura's sword which was still in its sheath on her waist. It responded to Falco's courage for protecting Asura. "Don't make me do this, Krystal." Falco raised the sword up to his shoulders and then pointed it at her. "This is it, I know you are controlling her, Elise."