Twisted
Shadows:
A New Star Fox Saga
By Wolf O'Donnell
Author's Note: Here goes! It's another one of my
What-happens-next-after-Andross-dies' fic. Once again,
it's set in a different dimension from the other of my
fanfics. And once again, it features characters from the Netherworld.
The swearing has been censored, once again, with little asterisks
that hides the second and third letters of the f**king swear word!
Please send comments to me at w_donnell@hotmail.com.
* * * * *
Chapter 4: Ankoku no Hohoemi
The object of Lord Jingoist's desire lies in the
barren wastelands of Titania, a once fertile planet destroyed by
its own people. The Shadows of Abomination of Titanian Legends
lies hidden in the ancient city of Amenophis that disappeared
long ago during the Great Disaster. All resources have been
redirected successfully to the search for the Shadows of
Abomination, a post-disaster nickname for the Titania Engine.
Extract from Trade Guild Classified Report
Trade Guild Usurper Jets flew around the Great Fox, circling
it like flies to a horse's behind. Another smart bomb flew
towards the great ship and hit it, exploding and rocking it
violently. Five Arwings suddenly flew out from the hangar of the
Great Fox, and divided, each taking on a Usurper Jet.
"Be careful, guys," said Fox over the com-links.
"You remember what happened last time. Let's not have a
repeat of that incident again."
"Don't worry about us," said Falco whose proud
nature had not faltered since the victory over Andross. "You
worry about your own hide, Fox. We'll be just fine." He
pulled on the trigger, letting a stream of lasers hurtle towards
the jets, memories of his first battle against the Usurper Jets
flooding back into his mind. He performed a barrel roll, the
lasers deflecting off the spinning body of Falco's Arwing,
some of them hitting the grey, green and black Usurper Jets. The
emblem of the Trade Guild was painted on to each one proudly,
which Falco took great pleasure in defacing with his lasers. He
fired a laser at the side of a Usurper Jet, the lasers scratching
the paint off, before blasting through it. The ship burst into
flames, sending metallic shards flying everywhere.
Suddenly, his ship shuddered violently and its lights
flickered momentarily. He glanced at the radar screen and then at
his shield gauge. He was being attacked from behind. He pulled
back on his control stick hard, the nose of the Arwing pulling up,
the entire ship somersaulting over the four pursuing Usurper Jets.
"Take this, you Guild scum!" cried Falco, as he fired
mercilessly at the jets, reducing them to nothing but a bad
memory. He veered to his left, avoiding a set of lasers and then
veered back to the right to face the oncoming ships. He pulled
the trigger and a stream of green lasers shot out. The ships
shuddered, and the formation of three Usurper Jets broke up,
circling around Falco's Arwing like vultures.
Suddenly, all three Usurper Jets burst into flames, as green
lasers hurtled through the air.
"You'll be just fine, eh?" exclaimed Fox with a
smirk on his face, as he blasted the last of the Usurper Jets
around Falco. He flew over Falco's Arwing, firing at an
oncoming formation of five Usurper Jets. He charged up a plasma
bomb before letting it fly towards them. It hit the middle
Usurper Jet, exploding and taking out the others in a spectacular
green explosion. "Scratch five down! Slippy, Peppy, how are
you guys doing over there?"
"We're fine," said Slippy, as he destroyed
another Usurper Jet, reducing it to metallic shards. "I
think I'm getting the hang of fighting these guys off."
Four Usurper Jets suddenly flew up behind him and opened fire.
Four more Usurper Jets flew towards Slippy, firing at him and as
a result, sandwiching him between them. He pulled back on the
control stick in the hope that he could fly over the ones in the
front, but no such luck. The ships also pulled up, so that they
ended up level to him. "I take that back!" exclaimed
Slippy in a sudden panic. "Help me!"
"Not again!" sighed Falco. He found that he was the
nearest to Slippy, and so flew towards him, firing at the Usurper
Jets that surrounded his Arwing. They scattered like cowards, but
a few turned round sharply so that they faced him and flew
towards him, firing mercilessly at his Arwing. He fired his
boosters to speed towards them and then pulled up to fly above
them at the last minute, leaving the pilots behind. He U-turned
and then dived down back towards the Usurper Jets and fired. The
lasers hit each one, splitting them apart. "That's two
down! Who's next?"
A few lasers hurtled past his Arwing, alerting him to the
presence of a few Usurper Jets firing to him from his right. He
looked to the right, only to see another Arwing fly past with
five Usurper Jets on its tail. In its cockpit was Fara McCloud,
with a strange smile on her face. She pulled back on her control
stick, and the nose of the Arwing lifted up, it flew higher into
the air, and circled, somersaulting over the Usurper Jets. The
nose lowered down to point at them, and she pulled the trigger. A
stream of green lasers hit each Usurper Jet, making a few of them
shudder and fly off course, while a few others exploded in a
burst of flames. She flew past them.
"Nice one, Fara," said Fox's voice over her com-link.
"Thanks, Fox," she said with a smile on her muzzle.
Her Arwing suddenly shuddered, alerting her to the presence of a
few bogeys behind her. She pulled back on her control stick,
letting the nose of the Arwing rise up. It flew higher, the
Usurpers flying past underneath, as she somersaulted, so that her
Arwing ended up behind the Usurper Jets. She aimed at them
carefully, before opening fire on them. A flurry of lasers
smashed into each one, ripping them apart in one fell swoop.
"Whoa!" exclaimed a gruff voice, one that could only
have been Peppy's. "There's no end to these guys."
He barrel-rolled, deflecting another wave of lasers with ease.
Four more Usurper Jets were flying towards him. "This brings
back old memories, eh, guys?" There was no reply. The others
were too busy with their own agendas to reply. Suddenly, he
spotted an all-too familiar Darkwing Jet flying towards him. It
fired furiously at his Arwing, allowing him no time for relief.
Peppy performed a barrel roll, deflecting as many of the lasers
as possible. He fired back furiously at the Darkwing Jet, which
did the veered, darting in between the lasers and returning fire.
"Peppy, I didn't know you had it in you,"
exclaimed Kappa Morton, the pilot of the Darkwing Jet. "I
always thought you were a blabbering old coot." He charged
up a vicious plasma bomb and sent it flying towards the hare's
Arwing. "I apologise for what I thought of you. Here, take
this plasma bomb as a gift of forgiveness!" The ball of
energy hurtled towards Peppy mercilessly, as several Usurpers
surrounded him, firing at him. He was unable to escape the path
of the plasma bomb.
"You can't defeat us Star Fox members that easily!"
cried Peppy, before he fired at the plasma bomb with every laser
cannon. It detonated before it could even reach him, the
explosion catching a few of the Usurper Jets, throwing them into
other Usurper Jets. He then turned his fire on to Kappa's
Darkwing Jet.
"Help me!" cried Slippy, as he found himself being
pursued by Miasma O'Leary and four Usurper Jets. His ship
shuddered as the lasers smashed into the Arwing. There seemed to
be no escape for the green and slimy amphibian. He banked to the
left and then to the right, trying his best to avoid the lasers
but they were still there. "I can't shake them off my
tail!" His ship shuddered as the left wing was torn off his
Arwing. It banked to the left and curved back round. He watched
with a smile on his face, as he flew past Miasma and the Usurper
Jets. That smirk was quickly wiped off his face, when Miasma and
the Usurper Jets did a U-turn and followed after him, firing at
his jet. Slippy's eyes suddenly widened in fright, as he saw
another five jets flying towards him.
"Slippy, when I tell you, pull up," said Falco
sternly, as he flew towards him. They were on a collision course
and were getting closer to each other every second. "Now!"
cried Falco. Slippy pulled up quickly, flying over Falco, as he
pushed his control stick down. He dived underneath Miasma, as the
two groups of Usurper Jets flew towards each other. Her Darkwing
Jet dived underneath the advancing group of Usurpers, missing
them narrowly, before the two groups of Usurper Jets smashed into
each other with a huge explosion that caught Miasma and tore off
the right wing of her jet.
Dr. Kano looked quietly out of the porthole and towards the
battle around the SS Great Fox. None of the Star Fox members had
noticed the battleship floating quietly outside of the battle. He
turned round and walked away from the porthole, walking over to a
set of radar screens.
"Release the Kimonos," ordered Kano, as he gazed into
each screen carefully. A smile spread across his face. He was the
Chief Engineer behind the Kimono Jets, special remote-controlled
jets that had been programmed with special attack and defence
manoeuvres. They were machines, never tiring and never
questioning. They were his pride and joy. "Now to prove to
Lord Jingoist that my Kimono Jets are worthy of the Guild's
use."
"Bogey's coming in from starboard bow," stated
Slippy. "They look different." Sure enough, groups of
green and grey jets were hurtling straight towards them.
"Damn it!" cursed Kappa angrily. "Kano's
launched his Kimono Jets. I thought Lord Jingoist ordered those
to be dismantled."
"He did!" came the reply from Kofu. "Obviously
Dr. Kano wants to get in trouble with Lord Jingoist. Well, I have
nothing against that. Let's just get rid of Star Fox as per
his Lordship's orders and get out of here." He banked
to his left and suddenly fired at Fox's Arwing. "And
that shouldn't be too hard, especially with their inferior
jets." A smile formed on his muzzle, as he watched the
Arwing pull up and fly above him. "You can't get the
better of me, Foxie." He pulled back on his control stick
too, just as Fox's Arwing ended up behind his. "What
you can do, I can do better!"
Fox saw the Darkwing fly above him.
"Where'd he go?" he exclaimed in surprise. His
ship suddenly shuddered violently. When he saw his shield gauge
dip, he suddenly realised what had happened. "He's
behind me," growled the vulpine. He banked to his left
quickly and then to his right, pulling back on his control stick
to perform another somersault, all the time, receiving a volley
of hits to the tail of his Arwing. "This ain't good!"
He suddenly saw two of the grey, green Kimono jets heading
straight for him. "They just don't quit," he
sighed, as he opened fire on the two unmanned fighter jets.
Each one exploded, sending metallic shards flying away into
the vacuum. Fox piloted his Arwing skilfully through the debris,
not letting his jet hit any stray piece of metal.
"Whatever you do, Foxie, you can't best me,"
the fox heard Kofu's voice growl over his com-link.
"Don't bet on it, buddy," growled Fox, as he
fired his retro-boosters and pushed his control stick forward,
letting Kofu's Darkwing fly overhead. He pulled back up,
firing at the black jet and watching it shudder as the lasers hit
it. His Arwing suddenly shuddered and he was jolted forward.
"Bogey's on my tail. Figures." He performed a barrel-roll,
deflecting as many of the lasers as possible, while pulling off a
somersault. He watched them past and then opened fire, tearing
them apart with laserfire. Fox's eyes suddenly widened in
disbelief, as he saw another Darkwing flying straight towards him.
He opened fire, but it wouldn't stop.
Quickly, Fox pulled right on the control stick and the Arwing
banked to the right suddenly. However, it was too late. The
Darkwing had already fired a bomb straight for his ship and it
looked as if it had homed in on the heat his jet was generating.
There was a loud roar of an explosion before everything suddenly
went black...
* * * * *
Fox circled the gigantic brain trying to find the lobe once
again. He had shot the eyes down a few minutes ago, and now...
"Damn it!" he cursed loudly, as the brain teleported
out of the way. "Andross, stay still, damn you!" ´I'm
afraid I can't do that, McCloud` he thought, or rather,
Andross did. "Get out of my mind!" shouted Fox angrily.
He heard laughter in his mind, an insane and deep laughter that
could only have come from the Emperor' himself. He
checked his sensors. "Behind me," he thought. The
vulpine pulled back on his control stick and U-turned.
Orange spheres floated away from Andross' brain and straight
towards Fox. He pulled on the trigger, firing at the vesicles but
they didn't seem to want to be destroyed. He dodged each one
skilfully, as the brain floated towards him.
"It's over, Andross!" cried Fox, as he pulled up and
flew over the brain. He quickly U-turned and then fired at the
exposed lobe. He heard the mad scientist cry out in agony within
his very own mind.
There was a brilliant flash of light, as the flames burnt the
brain. Then Fox heard Andross loud and clear, all around him.
"If I'm to go down, I'm taking you with me," growled
Andross. There was a brilliant explosion and suddenly everything
went white, as Fox's Arwing was rocked violently.
The vulpine screamed in fear, as the flames apparently
engulfed him.
"Don't give up," he heard a voice whisper to him
suddenly. "Trust your instincts."
"Father?" exclaimed Fox in surprise. Was he dead?
Was his father alive? He wasn't sure, but the answers to his
questions were answered as the brilliant white light subsided. He
saw that the entire place was on fire, as his Arwing flew
straight towards the tunnel that would lead out of the bunker.
And ahead of him was another Arwing. "Dad?" he
exclaimed.
"Follow me, Fox," said the voice which sounded a lot
like his father's.
Fox fired the Arwing's boosters and flew faster ahead of the
advancing flames, but no matter how fast he flew, he couldn't
overtake the phantom Arwing in front. Always firing his boosters
whenever the phantom Arwing in front disappeared round the corner,
he kept up with his father. The flames were closing in on him,
licking the back of his Arwing and he could feel their heat, his
tongue lolling in a futile attempt to keep cool.
"Never give up," he heard his father's voice say to him.
"Trust your instincts."
The phantom Arwing turned right and he followed after it. He
could see the opening of the tunnel up ahead.
"You've grown up to be so strong," said his father's
voice. "I'm proud of you." The phantom Arwing
disappeared, as they flew out of the bunker, Fox's Arwing rising
high up into Venom's sky, the flames following after him.
Fox broke out of Venom Air Space and up into space, rejoining
his crew. As they rejoiced and called out congratulations to him
over the com-link, he looked to his side in search for that
phantom Arwing. It was nowhere to be seen. He began to wonder,
whether he had really seen his father's Arwing in front of him,
guiding him the way out, or whether he had just hallucinated it
all. He felt his head. It did seem a little sore, as if he had
bumped it.
"Fox," said Peppy's voice loud and clear, breaking
his train of thought. "You okay? What's the matter?"
"Nothing," replied Fox. "Nothing's wrong."
* * * * *
Groaning, he clutched his head as he slowly opened his eyes.
Placing one gloved hand on the metal slab he lay on, he slid
himself up into as upright a position as he could manage. Fox
looked around him, amazed to see that he was still alive.
"Where am I?" he moaned, before looking around him. It
was a dark and dingy cell that reminded him of something, of some
place he had been.
Before he could figure out where and when, the door to his
cell opened and someone marched in flanked by two guards wearing
the military uniform of the Trade Guild. This person was wearing
a white labcoat, black trousers, and immaculately polished black
shoes. His tie was black as well and his shirt was blood red, as
was the symbol on the breast pocket of his lab coat, a Chinese
character- Wing, meaning, Forever- within a red circle. This
scientist was a grey rat with a wild untamed mane of white fur.
"I trust it that you have had a good sleep?" asked the
rat, his voice having a nasal tone of voice to it, as if he were
suffering from a blocked nose.
"No, I haven't," replied Fox. "Who are you and
where am I?"
"My name is Dr. Jerome Kano," replied the rat with a
sneer, "and you are on Battleship 42, one of the many
battleships of the Trade Guild." He smiled smugly, as the
two soldiers advanced towards him. "And you are our prisoner."
Star Fox and all related
characters and places are copyrighted by Nintendo Ltd.
Jingoist, Dr. Kano, Kofu, Miasma and Kappa are copyrighted by me.