Note: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH WARNING!!! I probably should have gave you all more time to guess who was going to die in this chapter, but I felt the urge to continue the story. I'm sorry if I did that. However, I admit that I should have said that the story will have dramatic elements. I am a newcomer to this website, so my stories aren't what you would consider art that will be vindicated by history. Now that I have gotten that out of my system, I will let chapter twelve arrive.

Chapter 12: Goodbye

Volk carefully walked into the coffin room, where he could hear moaning coming out of the coffin Krystal was in. Walking towards the coffin, the King of the Vampires opened it and saw the cobalt vixen tossing and turning (or what amounted to tossing and turning in a coffin).

"Bad dream, Krystal?" Volk gently asked.

Snapping awake, Krystal sat up and stared the one-eyed lupine in the eyes, "Fox is here."

"Figures," The mercenary-turned-vampire said, "the Pup comes no matter where I go. Looks like I'll have to kill him. His next encounter with Star Wolf will be his last."

"But he's not the only one who burst into the castle." The cobalt vixen said as she stepped out of the coffin.

"Who did he come with?" Volk asked.

"Fara and Mr. Helsing." Krystal answered.

"Dammit!" The one-eyed vampire groaned.

"I know," The vixen looked down, "we need to get rid of them."

"Or better yet," The lupine smiled, "we could lock the Phoenix girl and Helsing in a cell along with the other prisoners."

Panther walked into the room, "Lord Volk, we have a visitor!"

"Is it Fox?" Volk asked, "Krystal told me that he's here with Fara Phoenix and Orlando Helsing."

"Actually," The feline said, "it's a gray fox wearing a white business suit. He came in through one of the windows."

"That's Robert Zimmerman." The lupine vampire said.

"No doubt that he's here for revenge because of what you did to Simon Zimmerman." Krystal said.

"Close," Panther said, "he actually came here to steal some treasure."

"Shall we deal with him?" The cobalt vixen asked.

"Of course we should, my dear." Volk said, "After all, it might be fun to see Zimmerman die."

Down on the first floor, Fox, Fara, and Orlando has gotten finished fighting the creatures that were in their ways. With them down, the three continued on their way to Star Wolf. However, they walked towards three different paths.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Fara asked.

"Wolf was really eager to keep us from getting to him!" Fox noted.

"Never mind that," Orlando said, "we still need to defeat him and his minions!"

"We should split up!" Fox said.

"Are you crazy or are you just plain stupid?!" Fara asked.

"If we split up," The vulpine surmised, "one of us could make it to the throne room!"

"Besides Fara," Orlando said, "it's just a working theory!"

"What paths should we take?" The fennec asked.

"I'll take the one in the middle!" Fox said.

"And I'll take the one on the right!" Orlando shouted as he ran off.

"Looks like I'm taking the left path!" Fara sighed as she faced said path.

"Good luck, you guys!" Fox said as he walked into the middle path.

Volk and Panther led Krystal to the throne room, where they were greeted by Leon.

"I see that our Queen just got up!" The chameleon smirked.

"She also sensed that Fox arrived." Panther said.

"I tried to warn him to leave with my telepathy," Krystal said, "but he didn't listen!"

"Don't worry," Leon knelt down in front of the vixen, "we'll deal with him, my Queen."

"By the way, where's Zimmerman?" Volk asked.

"Miyu's bringing him here." The reptile smirked.

True to his word, Miyu walked into the throne room holding Robert Zimmerman in a headlock.

"Unhand me, you creep!" The gray fox screamed.

"So that you could rob us blind?" Miyu snorted, "Not a chance, buck!"

Zimmerman turned his head towards Volk and Krystal, "Wolf O'Donnell and Krystal Bodimead, eh?"

"It's Volk now, if you didn't get the message." The lupine said.

"So you're the two who killed Simon?" Zimmerman asked.

"I killed him," The one-eyed vampire said, "Krystal and I just so happened to meet on that day. When she got injured, I made it up to her by turning her into a vampire."

"Just explain to me why I'm here!" The gray fox yelled.

"We want to punish you for breaking into the castle." Panther stated.

"What's my punishment?" The vulpine criminal asked.

"To become a servant to our Queen." Volk gestured to Krystal.

Zimmerman chuckled and said, "Like I'd listen to that Skank!"

Leon wrapped his tail around the fox's throat, "We'll give you a chance to apologize, or your death will be slow and painful!"

"No," Zimmerman spat, "I'd rather die than become a servant to some dumb vixen!"

"Want to just kill him?" Panther asked as he handed Krystal her sword.

"I'll give you one more chance to apologize." The cobalt vixen coldly said.

"Fuck you!" Zimmerman shouted, "You should have died along with Cerinia!"

Krystal pulled him towards her with her psychokinesis.

"I'm sorry!" The gray fox whimpered, his voice barely covering his cowardice.

"Apology denied!" The cobalt vixen snarled, "I can deal with insipid swearing, but I cannot deal with any of your other stupid remarks! I am NOT dumb, I have a higher IQ than a foolish lowlife like you! I am NOT a skank, you hateful idiot! You might be a member of a crime family on Corneria, but NO ONE talks about my home planet like that!"

"Let me go!" Zimmerman pleaded.

"No." Krystal said before biting down on the fox's neck, draining him of his blood. In only a few seconds, Robert Zimmerman had died screaming, with his screams dying down to panicked gasps. When he was drained of blood, Volk carried Zimmerman's corpse to the window and dumped it out.

"You're becoming more ruthless," Leon chuckled, "I like it!"

"I only show mercy to those who need it," Krystal said, "while I kill those who have proven to be absolutely reprehensible."

Volk sat down on his throne, happy that the cobalt vixen had gotten more used to feeding on blood. If only he could convince her to feed on the vulpine who had bothered him for so long: Fox McCloud.

Fara walked into a room that was full of prison cells. Inside of them were Falco, Slippy, Peppy, Katt, Bill, and Lucy.

"So this is the dungeon?" The fennec couldn't help but ask.

"There you are, Fara!" Falco said.

"Fancy meeting you guys here." She responded.

"Can you get us out of here?" Peppy asked.

"I would, but I don't have a key." Fara sighed.

"Well damn," Katt frowned, "we might never get out of here!"

"I'm sure that Wolf has the key," The fennec ventured, "but do you know where he is?"

"He's upstairs." Slippy said.

"I might as well go help Fox fight him." Fara cracked her knuckles.

"Wait!" Lucy cried.

"Why?" The fennec asked.

"Wolf isn't going to be the one to kill Fox!" Bill said, "Panther spoke to us minutes ago!"

"What did he say?" She asked.

"He said that Wolf is going to have Krystal kill Fox!" Katt said.

"Oh no," The fennec shouted in dread, "I've got to get up there before that can happen!"

"And grab the keys while you're at it!" Falco shouted.

"Can you also tell Fay that I always liked her?!" Bill called.

"I'm going to get the key and prevent Fox's death," Fara said as she ran out of the room, "see you guys later!"

Orlando had went down a flight of stairs. Down the stairs was an area that had water in-between platforms.

"Where's the water coming from?" The coyote asked.

Out from the water came gilled monsters with sharp claws. These creatures ran towards Orlando, their hunger for his flesh showing in their eyes.

"Come and get me, you creeps!" He challenged as he took out his whip and a stake. As he slaughtered each creature, he found himself able to progress through the room. While the gilled monsters did prove to be a challenge, Orlando triumphed over them with ease. When all of the monsters were dead, the coyote found himself at a dead end.

"Great!" He complained, "What am I supposed to do now?!"

Orlando looked around the room, but was having no luck due to everything being walled-up. That was until he pushed on one of the walls, which caused it to slide back. When the wall was gone, a stairway that led up to the next floor could be seen.

"Star Wolf just had to pick a castle with bizarre secret passages, now did they?" Orlando couldn't help but say as he began to walk up the stairs.

Fox was now walking up stairs when he heard a scream. The scream had to have belonged to a male, given how deep it was. However, it wasn't as random as the vulpine thought. In fact, he had seen the now vampire Miyu carry a gray fox in a white business suit up the stairs before he had a chance to.

"Someone fed on Robert Zimmerman?" Fox asked, "Judging by the voice, should I take it that it was Krystal who did it?"

As he walked up the stairs, Fox saw that he was getting closer to a large door. This door was blood red and it had a bronze trim.

"That must be one of the main rooms in this castle." The vulpine quietly spoke.

When Fox reached the door, he pushed it open and saw that Volk was sitting on a throne with Leon, Panther, Fay, and Miyu standing near him.

"Wolf!" Fox yelled with naked hatred.

"My, what a surprise." Volk smiled, "I didn't expect that I, Volk: King of the Vampires, would encounter you again after all this time, Fox."

"Where's Krystal?!" The vulpine asked in anger.

"Don't worry," Panther said, "she's getting changed."

"Getting changed?!" Fox asked, not satisfied with the answer that he got.

"We decided that she needed some new clothes in order to replace that trashed uniform of hers." Miyu glared at the vulpine.

"It's just one of those things that we could do for our Queen." Leon smirked.

Smirk all you can, you gutless, sadistic bastard! Fox's thoughts were furious, I'm going to ram my sword through you and your cronies! Krystal's not your Queen, she shouldn't even have had to go through this!

All of a sudden, a door opened up. Out from the doorway came Krystal, who was now wearing different clothes. Her uniform had been replaced with a red and white dress, metallic bracelets, black boots, and a scarf that had an odd emblem on it. In addition to that, her hair was now much longer, as it went down to her shoulders. On her back was a scabbard with a sword nestled in it. To Fox, it was astonishing how much the vixen had changed.

"Krystal ..." The vulpine was speechless.

"Fox," The cobalt vixen sighed, "please just leave. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Not a chance, Krys," Fox drew his sword, "I'm getting you out of here!"

"My, my, how unfortunate for you." Panther glared at the orange fox.

"Why is that?" The vulpine clenched his sword, intent on slicing that feline to pieces.

"Because you have to fight our Queen!" Fay blurted out.

"Fay!" Volk warned.

"I'm sorry, Lord Volk." The spaniel said timidly.

"I won't do it!" Fox said, "I would rather fight you over Krystal any day of the week, you blood-sucking bastard!"

"Are you afraid of losing to a girl, McCloud?" Miyu mockingly asked.

"No," The vulpine glared, "I'm just afraid of hurting her!"

"Enough of your blathering!" Volk shouted, "Fight Krystal or die, Fox!"

"Fine then." The orange fox looked down in shame. He didn't want to hurt Krystal, but he had to take her down before he could kill Volk.

"I hope you're ready, Fox." Krystal said as she drew her sword.

"Krystal, forgive me." Fox said softly.

As he walked up the stairs from the secret passage, Orlando heard shouting.

"Fox must be in there." The coyote said to himself.

All of a sudden, there was a metallic noise behind the door that was on top of the stairs. Orlando recognized this sound from anywhere: the sound of colliding swords.

"Be careful McCloud," The vampire hunter whispered, "I hope that you are doing okay."

Fara was now walking up the stairs that Fox had walked up in order to get to the throne room. That was when she heard the shouting and the sounds of swords hitting each other.

"Fuck!" The fennec said under her breath, "If I don't get up there in time, Fox could be done for! What's worse is that Wolf is forcing Krystal to fight him! That scumbag! It's bad enough that he made the last Cerinian into a vampire, but now he's forcing her to fight Fox?!"

She continued to walk up the stairs, where she found herself near the door. Before entering, she took out a stake and sighed.

Hang in there, Fox! Fara thought to herself.

Back in the throne room, Fox was having a hard time sword fighting with Krystal. It would have been hard enough if she wasn't a vampire, what with her being a telepath. The battle was now more difficult due to the fact that the cobalt vixen was now a vampire. With that in mind, the vulpine needed to be careful, lest he risk falling to the Cerinian-turned-vampire's new abilities.

"Come on Krystal," Volk shouted cheers of encouragement, "show that Pup what you're capable of!"

Krystal lifted Fox with her psychokinesis, then threw him towards the door.

"Fox, this is your last chance, leave now!" The cobalt vixen warned.

"I'm not leaving," The vulpine said as he got up, "I'm getting you out of here when I kill Wolf!"

"But you can't beat him!" The vixen said, "Don't you get it, Fox?!"

"I get it," Fox approached her, "I get that he turned you into an undead creature. None of this is your fault, Krystal. If anything, it's no one's fault that you're a vampire."

"How long is this going to go on for?" Volk loudly asked.

"If you want to stay a vampire, that's fine." Fox continued to talk to Krystal, "It wouldn't hurt the team if you fed on an occasional enemy, not even Falco would tease you for being different. What I'm trying to say to you is this: I love you just the way you are."

"Enough of this mushy stuff!" Volk groaned, "Finish him off, Krystal!"

"Fox ..." The cobalt vixen was near-speechless.

The vulpine pulled her into a kiss. However, the Cerinian pulled herself off of him.

"What's wrong?" Fox asked in concern.

"I'm ..." Krystal tried to speak before her eyes turned dull, "sorry."

Without warning, Fox felt something sharp enter his abdomen. When he looked down, he saw that Krystal's sword was impaling him. Looking at the cobalt vixen, Fox saw that she had an emotionless, hypnotized look, as if someone, or something, was controlling her. As the blade left his body, the vulpine fell to the ground, clutching his wound. He could see Volk smiling, the lupine-turned-vampire satisfied that his rival was dying. In addition, he heard two separate doors opening.

"Fox!" Fara cried.

"No!" Orlando screamed.

Their voices snapped Krystal out of her hypnotized trance. The cobalt vixen then looked down, where she saw Fox slowly dying.

"FOX!!!" She wailed in sorrow, tears running down her face. Running towards the vulpine, Krystal took him in his arms.

"Why ... did you do ... that?" Fox moaned, his expression more hurtful than angry.

"That wasn't me!" Krystal sobbed, "Fox, I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"

"Don't apologize Krystal," Volk called out, "you did great!"

"He ... made you ... into ... th-" The vulpine tried to speak.

"Don't try to talk!" The cobalt vixen sniffled.

Fara and Orlando approached the two, with the former having an angry, yet saddened look on her face.

"How could you do this?!" The fennec screamed, sounding on the verge of tears of herself, "How could you work for Star Wolf?! Why did you kill Fox?!?"

Krystal cried harder.

"Why did you do this?" Orlando asked, more horrified than angry.

"I w-wasn't in control of m-myself!" The cobalt vixen violently cried and wailed, "I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry!! Fox, please f-forgive me!!!"

"I think that you need to head back to your coffin so that you can calm down." Volk put his hand on her shoulder.

"No!" Krystal whimpered.

Volk sighed and said "Can someone comfort her? I've got something to take care of."

"Come on, Krys," Panther gently led her out of the room, "let's get you all settled-down and happy."

"I'll be there if you need a shoulder to cry on." Miyu calmly told the weeping vixen, who was practically drowning in her own tears.

When Krystal was out of the room, Volk was now able to grab Fox.

"You bastard!" Fara wailed, "Let go of him!"

"Leon, escort those two out!" The King of the Vampires said to his chameleon supporter.

"On it!" The chameleon said as he led Orlando and Fara our of the room.

"You won't get away with this, you demon!" The coyote screamed prior to the door closing.

Volk chuckled as he found himself face-to-face with Fox.

"It's a shame, really." The one-eyed vampire formally known as Wolf O'Donnell smirked, "You could have made an excellent soldier in my army of the undead. Hell, I should have had Krystal made you into her servant. But now, you're going to die, Fox."

"Krystal doesn't ... belong with any of ... you!" The vulpine gasped, barely holding onto his life.

"She does now." Volk stated, "Face it Fox, I have finally won. You have failed in your mission to take Krystal back, and, just for spite towards you and the rest of your team, I'm going to marry her and make her into my Queen. Oh, how lucky she'll be."

"I will ... be ... back!" Fox snarled, not caring about the pain that was claiming his life.

"We shall see." The King of the Vampires said as he threw his former rival out of the window, with the vulpine landing in a lake near the castle. As the waters carried his corpse away, his final thoughts poured out.

I guess that this is how my life ends? Fox thought, hoping that Krystal and the rest of the team would hear him, I'm sorry that I failed you Krystal, I should've had the team do tests on you when you came back. Now you're a vampire and Wolf is going to make you his. I hope that he takes good care of you, better care than I did, in fact. Falco, if you hear this, stage an uprising. As for you Slippy, can you slay some vampires in my honor. And Peppy, I'm going to where Mom and Dad are now, so don't cry for me. If any of you are able to kill Wolf, please keep each other safe. Do it for my sake. As a final note, Falco, if you and Katt have kids, please name one of your kids after me. Goodbye, my friends.

Note: RIP Fox McCloud. Don't worry, he'll be back. In fact, he'll take on Wolf againwhen he comes back. If any of you were upset with Fox's death, I'm sorry, I really am. However, we shouldn't automatically blame Krystal for what happened, as Wolf was controlling her. Let's just say that Wolf/Volk has the ability to control the minds of his fellow vampires (SW-42 infested or bitten). That explains why Krystal went emotionless before impaling Fox, our favorite vulpine will even figure it out next chapter. To those who think I hate the Wolf x Krystal shipping, I don't. I even liked Sheppard SD's story "Everchanging". I hope that everyone is doing okay now, considering how the pandemicis still going on. What did you guys think of this chapter? Let me know when you leave a review. Until next time guys, peace!