Note: Three chapters left after this one, so I'm glad that I'm almost done with this story. Before we move on, I have something to say to a frequent reviewer on this story:

Hawki: I know, I probably shouldn't give away plot points or say what the ending will be like. Also, I know, my dialogue skills aren't the greatest, but I'm trying to fix that. I'll stop calling Sabre a "former Knight of Cerinia", seeing as we all know about his former profession. As for the battle with Hughes, it was kinda short, but there was only so much I could write in that chapter.

Okay, now that I've cleared that up, let's move on to chapter eleven.

Chapter 11: Fighting DiMaggio

Maria was walking through the forests of Fortuna, until she heard a beeping noise in her pocket. The noise was from her communicator. Pulling the device out of her pocket, the rabbit opened it up and saw a message. The message read like this:

Maria,

Did you manage to kill DiMaggio? If so, call back and tell me how it went.

Steve Armstrong

"Right," Maria said to herself, "I should go back to DiMaggio's ship and kill him so that I can collect my reward. But what about the other three? Personally, I couldn't care less if DiMaggio put the ice on them. But if they manage to kill the rich bastard before I do, I'll kill them. Even if it's not part of my job, I will kill anyone who gets in the way. Just you wait, DiMaggio, you're not getting off of Fortuna alive!"

Taking her blaster out of its holster, Maria began to walk to where DiMaggio's ship was at. No matter what happened, she was going to get her revenge.

Sabre, Randorn, and Bill were having a difficult time finding the room where DiMaggio would be in. The ship was much larger than they had realized. Despite being on what they considered the second floor of the ship, their quest to stop DiMaggio was turning out to be quite hard.

"Are you sure that there are only thirty-two rooms in this ship?" Sabre asked Bill.

"I'm sure," Bill spoke, "why do you ask?"

"It just feels like there are more than thirty-two rooms in here." Randorn stated.

"How many rooms have we been in?" Sabre asked.

"Seventeen, if I counted right." Bill said.

"Maybe DiMaggio will be in the next one." The Cerinian suggested.

"Solid guess, but I doubt it." Randorn said.

Coming up to a door, Sabre opened it and let Randorn and Bill enter the room before he did. Much to their surprise, DiMaggio was waiting for them, complete with a large container full of heliotrope fluid.

"DiMaggio!" Bill cried.

"I see that you made yourself comfortable with my cameras." DiMaggio greeted.

"And we captured Bloodscourge!" Sabre added.

"We also killed the bull downstairs!" Randorn boasted.

"Dammit!" DiMaggio growled before brightening up, "But that doesn't matter anymore! Once I get this virus on Corneria, General Pepper will be begging me to release the antidote! When I release the antidote, I'll kill Pepper and declare myself the new leader of Corneria! I'll even kill the leaders of the other planets in the Lylat system, and spread my armies all throughout the galaxy! The galaxy will be a patriotic place when I get done with it!"

"You're not a patriot, you're a monster!" Sabre shouted.

"What will you do when Star Fox tries to stop you?!" Bill challenged.

"Not to mention Star Wolf!" Randorn growled.

"I'll pump the guys full of strychnine!" DiMaggio stated, "As for the girl, I'll force her to be my patriotic servant along with Monroe and that Phoenix chick!"

"Krystal will stop you," Sabre said, "she has telepathy!"

"True," the rich cougar snorted, "but I can update my machines to withstand her telepathic gifts! That Cerinian might be level-headed, but I can take her on! If she refuses to be my servant, I can use electroshock therapy and show her what I did to the rest of Star Fox! Not sure if she would care about Star Wolf, though."

"None of what your planning is going to happen!" Randorn said.

"You think that you can stop me?" DiMaggio asked.

"All three of us will stop you," Bill said, "just wait and see!"

"Well then," the feline said, "I guess that I can rack up a body count before my conquest begins! Let's not forget to enjoy this, don't you agree? All three of you are going down!"

Sabre drew his sword and ran towards DiMaggio. Swinging his sword, the wolf was intent on beheading the rich cougar. However, the feline's arm became a massive blade that was about as large as Sabre himself. The blade countered the Cerinian's sword, nearly throwing him off balance.

"As you see," DiMaggio said, "the virus can't just make people sick. In fact, it can cause a mutation in a certain few with an odd genetic makeup. I happen to be one of those individuals."

"That's not going to keep me from fighting you!" Sabre growled.

The two continued to exchange blows from their weapons. That was until DiMaggio's arm changed back to normal. Seeing an opportunity, Sabre raised his sword towards the cougar. However, DiMaggio then fired an energy blast towards him. Alarmed, the Cerinian tried to counter the blast with his sword. Luckily, it worked.

"That all you got?" Sabre challenged.

DiMaggio fired some more energy blasts, which Sabre managed to deflect right back at him. However, the wolf was knocked down by another blast.

"Sabre!" Bill cried.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Sabre groaned.

"Who's next?" DiMaggio challenged.

Randorn fired a few magic bolts at DiMaggio, who effortlessly caught them with his bladed arm. After that, the lupine mage found himself being lifted in the air. The old wolf had seen psychokinesis before on Cerinia, but he never thought that he would be a victim of it. He had to act fast before DiMaggio killed him.

"Eat this!" Randorn shouted as he fired another magic bolt at DiMaggio, which knocked him off his balance. This freed the lupine mage, who landed on his feet.

"Hey DiMaggio, over here!" Bill yelled.

DiMaggio got up and saw Bill holding his blaster near the virus.

"Take one step and I'll blow this virus to kingdom come!" The soldier challenged.

"That won't kill the virus, it will help it spread!" DiMaggio chuckled.

"But we're still gonna stop you before you spread it over Corneria!" Bill pointed his blaster at the cougar.

However, Bill found himself being pulled towards DiMaggio via psychokinesis. When he was near the cougar, the canine soldier found himself getting cut in the chest by the cougar's bladed arm.

"Bill!" Randorn cried out in horror.

DiMaggio then fired an energy blast at Randorn, taking down the lupine mage.

"Leave them alone! Your fight is with me!" Sabre ran towards DiMaggio with his sword. However, despite the wolf's bravery, the cougar quickly took him down. The rich feline then grabbed the Cerinian by the throat, lifting him in the air.

"You see, boy?" DiMaggio taunted, "You can't beat a true patriot in combat, not even if your life depended on it! Looks like your end is near, Cerinian!"

"Star Fox ... will stop you!" Sabre struggled to speak.

"I doubt it, say goodbye!" DiMaggio raised his bladed arm towards Sabre. With nothing else he could do, the Cerinian closed his eyes, waiting for his death to happen.

Krystal, I'm sorry! The wolf thought to himself.

However, Sabre didn't feel the blade pierce his skin. In fact, he felt DiMaggio let go of his throat. This dropped him to the ground, where he saw that DiMaggio was also on the ground. Looking up, the Cerinian saw a familiar face looking at him through the doorway.

Note: You can probably guess who the person that saved Sabre is. As for DiMaggio, he's supposed to represent that one person who claims that he/she is a patriot, even if their views shift more towards fascism and terrorism. I'm not criticizing patriotism in general. If you're reading this, EquinoxWolf, I hope that you have enjoyed the story. What did the rest of you guys think about this chapter? Let me know when you leave a review or give a constructive criticism. Until next time guys, peace!