Chapter Six
"We have to do something, General." Said Peppy, looking at the screen. "It's been over two months. We know he's got to be alive, but we don't know how much longer he will be. We've got to try to pick him up."
"I know, Peppy, but hell, you remember what they said in their messages. If we attempt pickup or any sort of attack, they'll kill him immediately." Pepper spread his hands helplessly. "Hell, Wolf even told me they'd drag him in front of the camera and blow out his brains in front of us to drive the point home."
Falco put his hands on the back of Peppy's chair and leaned down to look at the camera. "Have you ever heard of a 'mercy killing,' General?"
"Falco!" Peppy practically gasped.
"You know you're thinking it too, Pep. He's been in Andross' control for two months. I doubt they're just leaving him in a cell. We've all heard what happens to Andross' prisoners…" Falco closed his eyes. "He's probably better off dead. I hate saying it, I hate it, but it's probably more then true."
Pepper closed his eyes and disconnected, shutting off his phone and sitting back in his chair, lifting a shaking hand to rub his burning eyes. Fox, captured. Fox, being experimented on, tortured. Fox, better off dead…
He shook off and steeled himself. He knew Fox. He knew that even as young as McCloud was, the first chance he got, he'd escape.
He didn't contemplate the possibility that Fox had no way to…
Fox tried very hard to ignore Andross, continuing his run on the treadmill as he always had while he was in the military, stride long and efficient. Though no marathon runner, he had a lot of endurance. While in boot camp he had been able to run three miles without a break. He hadn't softened up much since then.
He felt the press/pain of a needle from the secondary monitor wrapped around his lower left arm, and seconds later his eyes dilated completely as the drugs hit his system. His pace doubled, arms pumping, heart thundering in his chest. On the treadmill to his right, Ash also sped up. She had only done minor jogging before her capture, but now she struggled to build her endurance to where his was, keeping his pace as well she could. As they ran now they were in perfect sync, steps thumping, arms swinging, hearts pounding in time. Most free thought dropped away. What mattered was speed and endurance. Their minds wrapped together, emotions entangled like their DNA was.
Pigma watched with awe as the two teenagers kept the maniacal pace for over twenty minutes, their vital signs streaming across the monitors on the wall. In sync, as always. He looked at Fox, crossing his arms. He paid little attention to the girl; he didn't care much what happened to her. But he did have some history with Fox…
He had watched as over the last two months Andross had used drugs and tests to break open the pair's minds, pry them open and take a look to see if his theories were right. He had watched as Fox grew angry and restless, lost weight and his healthy tone. Even now the look in Fox's eyes was distant and cold, but there was little true fire there. Another month or two, and Fox would want to die. Pigma mused he'd be only too happy to grant that particular wish…
With a sudden hard jolt of movement, Ash stumbled off her treadmill, falling to her hands and knees in the space in between her and Fox's treadmills, panting, sweat streaming down, shaking. Fox leapt off his treadmill only milliseconds later, dropping to his knees and drawing her close, rocking her back and forth, making a noise deep in his throat that near as anyone could tell was some sort of coo, a soft reassuring noise. As far as anyone knew, foxes couldn't make a noise like that.
Pigma looked at the screens, watching as the pair of heartbeats steadied and slowed, as well as respiratory. The mind monitors, however, started showing increased activity, as did the emotion monitors.
"Whatever you shot them up with, I want some for my next workout." Pigma remarked to Andross, watching neutrally as Fox rubbed Ash's back absently. She had moved to return his hold, limp in his arms.
"No, actually, you don't." Andross handed him the bottle.
Warning: May cause seizures, brain damage, cardiac arrest, death.
"Nice, boss."
"I thought so." Andross tapped the end of his pen against his notes and smiled to himself. "Have you ever seen anyone move that fast?"
"Can't say I ever have… I heard that you're considering this part of the experiment over. What do you plan on doing with them?" He gestured at the pair.
"Actually I have other plans for them. Do you know what psychemicals are, Dengar?"
"Yes, and I know that unwilling subjects given too much power fight back."
"They don't dare to…" He turned to Andrew. "Nephew, make a note. Tonight we're going to start them on a new series of shots."
"Right." Andrew dutifully wrote it down. "What serum?"
Andross had already tucked the clipboard under his arm and was walking away from the pair. "Seplacon."
'Fox…'
Fox didn't so much as twitch, he was so used to mental whispers. 'Yeah Ash?'
'What is Seplacon?'
Fox didn't have a clue and sent her an emotional shrug and spread hands. All he knew was that the last shot they had gotten before bed had hurt like hell, easily double what the others had.
There was a long pause.
'I nearly had a heart attack today, Fox.'
'I know. I felt the spasm clutch your chest…' He closed his eyes for a moment, rolling on his side and looking at his arms. Where once muscle rippled, ready to be used, bone was starting to become more visible. He had been steadily loosing weight since he had arrived, practically. Ash, who weighed less then he did, was in an even worse state.
Silence, then fear trickled through his mind, spikes of intense gold with a shiver of blue. He tried to soothe her, but he was frightened as well.
'What would happen to us if we got rescued?' She asked in a distant, drifting voice.
'Months and months of rehab.' He replied tiredly. 'Then maybe we'll be able to get on with our lives…'
'But… Fox… my life before was practically without you, your presence… you're my other… I don't think we can be separate anymore. We're almost one person.'
'I know.' He let his eyes close, and fell into a fitful, restless sleep.
Ash curled her hands into fists as Fox did, watching and feeling as he was shot up with Seplacon again. Neither had been informed what it was, but they both knew whatever it contained was dangerous and nasty. Since their first injection, they had both had pounding headaches that boarded on migraines which worsened with each shot, and even as she watched, Fox rubbed his temple, pulling his throbbing arm away.
She stepped forward and offered her arm. After so many needles, she didn't whine, didn't delay, just got it over with. The malicious serum set her veins on fire, making her bite her lip, and within moments her head started hurting again.
"I'm going to ask again. What is this stuff? You've cut back on all the tests and just seem to shoot us full of this crap and watch us…" Fox looked at Andross, eyes narrowed to slits. His hatred burned through him, flowing to her, but she had more then enough of her own.
"I don't think you need to know." Andross replied.
"I think we do. This is the fifth shot, Andross. Tell us." Fox's voice was low and angry, but also dull somehow, full of the pain in his head.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Fox's arm shot out and got Andross around the throat, taking his enemy to the floor in one motion, setting his knee on Andross' chest. "Tell us." He snarled.
Andross only smiled. "Good. I barely saw you move."
Then Fox and Ash both went into convolutions as the electricity seized their nervous systems, Fox collapsing backwards as Ash fell to the ground, both going into near-seizures.
Andrew let up on the button. "You ok, Uncle?"
"Fine." Andross stood, rubbing his throat and looking at his two unconscious subjects. "See that these two get to a room and get some sleep."
"All right."
Fox woke up with a start, muscles locking up. His head still throbbed, and his spine still tingled from the shock he had received. There went another few years off of his lifetime, he mused, struggling into a sitting position.
He was back in his room, and since he was alone he automatically assumed that Ash had been returned to hers. After a long time of being dumped into the same room, that was a bit odd unto itself. Oh well. He rubbed the back of his head right above the monitor absently, pushing off the bed. The lights in the room came up automatically, and he went through some stretches, trying to loosen up his tense muscles.
He caught a reflection of himself in one of the metal walls, and paused, looking at himself. He found himself wondering who he was looking at. He didn't remember being this skinny, with this thin of face and such desperate, pained eyes. He stepped over to the wall and set a hand on his reflection, looking at himself. He was wasting away.
He snarled and thumped the wall with his fists, turning away from the image. He hated what he saw, because what he saw was a dying man. He fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands, shoulders trembling.
He felt Ash reach out and touch his mind, then grow alarmed at his feelings, trying to consol him. He tried to shrug it off and apologize, but she wouldn't let him just brush her away.
'I'm wasting away, Ash. I'm dying.' He looked at himself in the metal floor, looking at his haunted eyes.
'We both are, Fox.'
His hands curled into fists, fury rising so suddenly he choked on it. 'So do we allow ourselves to die without a fight, or do we die fighting?'
She considered that. 'We die fighting.'
He grinned, but it was without humor.
Falco!
Falco staggered, clutching his temples, crying out. The mental shriek had pierced his brain, emotions slamming him, but after a moment to recover, he knew who it was.
Falco, Peppy, Slippy! Can you hear me?
Peppy lifted a hand to his temple absently as Slippy very suddenly sat down on the floor. The team had been on the bridge, quietly whittling away the time, when the voice had slammed them.
"Fox?" Falco asked the air, voice blank and stunned.
Yeah, it's me. Listen, I don't have much time. I want you to attack the cruiser I'm on.
"They'll kill you if we do, Fox." Slippy said in a trembling voice.
Not surprised, but that doesn't matter much.
"Why not?"
A feeling of amusement reached them. Because I'm dying. Catch you guys on the flip side. Now come get me.
The alarms rang, long and chiming, making Ash lift her head. This was her signal.
She stood and walked to her door, and was surprised when it opened as she reached it. A hand grabbed her shirt with a grip of iron and yanked her close to its owner, liquor-touched breaths fanning her cheek.
"We're under attack." Said Leon, voice still sharp and twisted in spite of the alcohol. "So I decided, hey, it's now or never."
Fox snapped his head up when Ash told him what was happening, rage burning through him, charging his cell door and snapping into a side kick. The metal was made to withstand laser blasts, but still his impact left a dent. He fell back, leg tingling, cursing helplessly. Leon had Ash. He knew that within five minutes, ten at the most, cuts would start to spread artfully over his body as he reflected the abuse put upon Ash. He stood, choking on his panic and rage, listening to the alarms… and felt something much like light explode through his head.
Rage. Panic. Pain. Helplessness. How dare Andross. How dare he treat his fellow human beings like this.
He had to be stopped.
Fox stood there, shaking, hands curled into fists, and let his anger flow.
An explosion went off in front of him, air blowing around him for a second, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the door had been completely blown off its hinges, the electronic locks blown and sparking, the ruined door having slammed into Ash's door and flown into the abandoned room. The metal around both shredded doorways was blackened and pitted.
Fox looked down at himself, and saw blood dripping from his fingertips. Not a wound done to Ash, but some sort of reaction to what he had done.
So this was what Seplacon did.
He set his jaw and strode out of the room, turning and walking down the corridor, letting his storm of anger ride with him and in front of him, like lightning could ride in front of a storm. The walls on either side pitted and bent, some plates popping loose to show the rooms beyond. Soldiers, already running around, to battle stations, to planes, turned and pulled guns on him, shouting at him to stop, shouting at others to tell Andross that he was loose. He only grinned, and the expression was full of insane fury and hatred. Then the explosion ripped out from him, the lights going off in his head again, blood streaming from his hands and arms, body temperature soaring. The pale fire-lightning rode down the corridor, propelled by the metal walls, and hit the soldiers. The Venomians, already panicking, flew backwards on the wave, slamming into the walls because of the force of it, falling, spitting blood. The wave stopped, and Fox calmly walked past them, leaving a trail of blood.
One of the soldiers, who was still clutching the high-caliper laser pistol, managed to lift it and fire.
Fox turned and looked at the shot of energy, which dissolved in midair. Then he lifted a hand, shaking a finger back and forth in a classic 'no' gesture, then wove the hand brutally. The explosion rocked the corridor again, and the soldiers all died.
He turned his back on the bodies, continuing to walk, heading in the direction of Ash. He ignored security cameras, he was sure that the entire cruiser knew he was loose. He didn't care. He just kept walking.
"Something's going on." Falco said, circling the cruiser, watching as some of the Venomian fighters broke off and docked.
"They're not surrendering." Said Slippy.
"Yeah, but… something is going on inside the ship…"
"Let's try to force a docking, then." Katt said, firing at one of the remaining Venomian fighters. "Maybe it's trouble in our favor."
The angry noise of the chain gun blasted through the air, the bullets a storm of metal and lead away from the barrels. Fox watched the bullets approach, then leapt straight up and twisted, grabbing the ceiling and bracing, watching the bullets pass beneath him. As the bullets aimed for him again, he twisted and dropped to the floor safely, eyes flashing. The man shooting the gun reeled and died, falling on the gun. The flow of bullets stopped, and Fox was able to pass.
Colors were exploding in his head, and the trial of blood he left was even worse. According to Ash, Leon was not only drunk, he was convinced he was going to do what he liked with her. He judged he had about two minutes before the pain started.
He twisted, waving a hand, and two more soldiers dropped, coughing up blood. He shrugged and continued on.
"What the hell?!" Pigma demanded, stepping into the corridor to intercept him, holding a hyper blaster. Fox smiled at the weapon, knowing it wouldn't be able to touch him. Pigma looked at Fox, and didn't see the proud pilot of Star Fox, he saw a psychotic, escaped experiment, dripping blood from strange wounds on his hands, eyes blank of pity or regret. "What the hell happened to you, McCloud?"
"Your Emperor did." Was the simple reply. "What did you think that Seplacon did, pray tell?"
"My Emperor wouldn't give you so much power!"
"Better run and tell him you think that. You have ten seconds until I kill you."
Pigma gawked, dropping the hyper blaster, turning and running. Fox let off a dry laugh and continued down the corridor.
"Jesus, what happened here?" Fara asked, looking down the corridor of the cruiser.
"Looks like a massacre." Falco replied, straight faced. "But what in hell happened to the walls?"
The team looked at the damage, and saw that after the 'blast damage' had been done, someone had still been alive. Every now and then, bloody finger marks would trail down the wall, or claw marks, or a handprint. Fara walked over to the visible handprint and rested her hand over it, looking at the size compared to hers.
"What?" Peppy asked, already dreading the answer.
"Fox." She whispered in reply.
"Guess that means we follow the trail of destruction." Falco grunted, picking up a high-impact laser rifle from one of the bodies and leading the way down the hall.
Five minutes later they saw a thin form sitting against the wall, legs hugged to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, head down. It took them a few minutes to process who it was, and it only hit them when the person looked up.
"Fox? Jesus Fox is that you?" Slippy blurted, staggering forward and kneeling beside his friend.
Fox looked at him, eyes hollow and blank. "Hi Slippy."
"What happened here?"
"What does it look like?" Fox slowly licked one of his hands, and Slippy gasped when he saw the blood streaming from odd wounds there.
"It… it looks like one of Andross' experiments got out…" Katt said slowly.
"Yup." Fox looked at them. "And you're looking at him."
Their looks were uncomprehending.
"For the last few months, I have been experimented on, shot full of unknown drugs, abused. I told you. I am dying…" He snapped his head back, holding his arm out, not even wincing when thin, almost artful cuts spread up his arm.
"Fox!" Falco shouted, watching, wondering what horror movie he had stepped in to.
Fox gave Falco a demented grin. "It's not me being tortured. It's Ash. I've got to find her." He lurched to his feet, oriented himself, and sprinted down the corridor.
"Look at him move…" Peppy whispered. "God, Fox. What did Andross do to you…"
"He's snapped." Falco hung his head. "Did you see his eyes? I've never seen eyes like that."
"Anyone know who the hell Ash is?" Fara demanded, taking the rifle from Falco, and following Fox.
Fox leapt up and kicked the door in a roundhouse. It flew off its hinges, bent from the slider, pitted and burned. Leon looked up, and seconds later was flying backward through the air, slamming into the wall and falling to the ground.
"Fox!" Ash cried out automatically, then he touched her. She reeled, feeling the power blast through her. It wasn't good power. It was ill, wrong power. But it was power none the less. She looked at the bonds forced on her, and they fell away, and she stood, blood dripping from her arms. He wrapped his arms around her wordlessly for a moment, supporting her weight in his arms as she trembled.
"We'll get you to a doctor." He promised, watching the colors in his mind.
"What about you?" She looked at his wounds, eyes widening.
"I'll be fine." He released her, looking at Leon as his enemy pulled himself to his hands and knees, gasping.
"How… how… you can't move that fast… not possibly…" Leon gasped, looking at Fox, shaking.
"Who says I moved?" Fox grinned, and made a throat-cut gesture with one hand.
"You wouldn't."
"I'd make peace with God. Right now."
Then Leon was picked up and slammed into the wall again, this time hard enough to break ribs and dislocate his shoulder. He let off a thin screech, and the next impact brought him to his fate. A splatter of blood was rubbed against the wall when he dropped, slowly pooled around him. Fox didn't so much as shudder.
"This is wrong." Ash whispered.
Fara strode in, took one look at Leon, then looked at Fox. "Fox?"
"Yes?" Fox turned to look at her, arms crossed, blood dripping even faster from his hands.
"What is that on the back of your neck?"
"It's a monitor." He shrugged, brushing by her. "Now excuse me, I must see to having it removed. Ash?" He turned and held out a hand.
She stepped forward, taking his hand, and both moved as one, down the hall in seconds, turning the corner, skidding a bit then finding grip.
Fara looked at Leon's prone form, hugging herself, then turned and started to follow Fox, the others joining her. "Falco?"
"Hm?"
"Not long ago, you mentioned 'mercy killing.' The question is… can we do it?"
They all looked at her. She said nothing.
The alarms still rang.
Fox and Ash didn't hear it.
They walked down the hall side by side, about a foot apart, strides perfectly in synch. As they passed the walls, the metal pitted and deformed, burned marks forming. Their hands were curled into fists, opening only to make savage, killing gestures. Where they walked destruction followed.
It was a short time before they reached the bridge. Those there stood, crying out, staring at the two almost demonic forms, looking to their Emperor. Andross only held up a hand, turning to look at Fox and Ash.
"Well. You have caused me a world of hurt." Andross said very calmly.
"In exchange for the hurt you caused us." Fox said in a harsh voice. "Remove the collars, Andross."
"How many of my soldiers did you kill?" Andross tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair, raising an eyebrow.
"We don't know." Ash said.
"You don't care." He corrected.
"Remove the collars, Andross."
"All right." Andross stood and walked over to them, gesturing for them each to turn. A swift motion of his fingers and the monitors pulled off, leaving two deep punctures in the back of their necks. They fell to their knees, finding each other's arms automatically as a source of comfort. "You are aware that you will no longer be accepted by your peers right?" He looked down at the two pathetic forms. "You just slaughtered my soldiers."
Pigma, Wolf, and Andrew walked forward to stand in rank with their Emperor, Wolf having to grin at what Fox had become.
"You've wasted away, McCloud."
"You never protested it." Fox replied without looking at his enemy. "I thought you valued a fair fight."
"I value winning."
"This isn't winning." He closed his eyes, tears of blood coming down.
"Well, you've lost. So what have I done?"
Fox lifted his head very slowly, looking at the remaining members of Star Wolf and their Emperor, and saw flashes across his vision. He saw Pigma betray his father, he saw his father die, shouting his name, panicked. "I know what you have done, and I know what you are going to do."
"Oh? And what's that?"
Fox very slowly stood, eyes beginning to light up. Ash stood up beside him, silently agreeing with him. Andross had destroyed them. They would return the favor.
"Do you think, Andross, that your experiment went as planned?" Fox asked in a harsh whisper.
"I'm about to find out."
The remaining Star Wolf members lunged away in different directions, pulling laser pistols and opening fire. The shots dissolved before they could hit Fox and Ash. Moving as one, they lifted their hands and made savage, ripping downward and out gestures. Various equipment around the bridge exploded in showers of sparks, artificial lightning lancing out. The lights flickered, dimming and brightening, as the pair turned back to back, building their awful power again. This time, they went for the other living people on the bridge.
Andross stood there, watching with amazement as death occurred all around him. The first of the Star Wolf team to fall was his nephew. Fox took down Pigma next, mercilessly, then Wolf. Then only Andross remained.
"Well?" Fox asked. "Successful experiment?" He spat it.
"I'm afraid so." Andross smiled slowly, and made a gesture. "Finish it."
As Star Fox approached the bridge, they stopped, seeing Ash and Fox come out, sealing the air tight door behind them. "We have to go now." Ash said shortly to the Star Fox team as they passed, speeding up to a jog as Fox did.
"What? Why?" Falco asked.
"Three minutes until self destruct." Fox replied. "And I want to see my ship again before I take the final bullet."
