Author's Note: I don't anything here. All related to StarFox and StarFox
Adventures belong to Nintendo and Rare. Otherwise the only thing I own here
is the plot and Diva and Starr Jenson and Kuro Youkai. Thank you.
~~Imagen~~
***
Chapter 9: "Troubles Deepen"
"Geh... G-General Scales???" Fox repeated. "But he's..."
"Dead?" Kuro completed Fox's statement. He scoffed, "Duh, so am I! And that goes for your Team too..." he turned to Diva, who was still pinned down by his telekinesis. "And soon, my woman shall join them all."
"Your WHAT???"
Tricky swam back on the bank and coughed and spat out the water and fish that were in his mouth. He rubbed the big welt on his side then glared at Fox.
Fox stood there, glaring at the empty space, thinking of what he should do. 'If I can't hit a ghost... he thought.... but another might be able to fight....' "Tricky!"
"I'm not doing it!" Tricky complained.
"Listen to me, ya little twerp! Go find the ghosts and get them!"
"What?"
"You heard me! Go find Peppy, Slippy, Falco, and Krystal! And hurry!"
"WHY should I listen to YOU???"
"Gawddammit, Tricky, JUST DO IT!!! Diva's life's in danger!"
Tricky shuddered. Fox was right. Even if he cannot see this "Kuro Youkai," he knows he is still a threat. Tricky watched in horror as Kuro rolled Diva's skirt all the way up, showing her panties. Both their faces flushed red, but this was no time to be ogling at a woman's underwear. Fox rushed and grabbed Diva's wrists, and miraculously broke Kuro's spell, setting Diva free. He flapped back down her skirt and threw her on his shoulders, then started racing down the river. Fox yelled back, "Tricky! Hurry!"
"Got it!" Tricky yelled back as he turned back into the forest.
***
"Put me down, Fox! I can run with my own two feet!" Diva screamed as she pounded Fox's back. Poor Fox toppled to the ground, dropping Diva and himself. The young woman rolled to her feet and started racing ahead, Fox following.
The frustrated vulpine yelled back at the bird of prey, "Is that any way to thank me, b!tch?"
"That's FALCON to you, buster! Ya got the wrong species!"
"Hey!"
"Look, I can take care of myself! Run and save yourself!"
"Save myself? YOU'RE the one who's in danger!"
After running for fifteen minutes, Diva and Fox halted for a breather. They both fell on the ground and panted, trying to catch their breath. Fox looked around, "Hey, where's that Kuro guy?"
"Gone, thank God," Diva sighed in relief. "But I seriously doubt we'll see the last of him!"
"Diva..."
"Yeah?"
"What did he mean by 'my woman'?"
Diva trembled. "He... Kuro... is Starr's father... the one who violated me back at Zoness..."
"What?..."
"He followed me all the way here to Dinosaur Planet. That's how I got stranded here, since both our ships had a crash landing, and neither of us is able to get back. He was killed when Starr chased him into a RedEye."
"Then wha.... he's... Oh, gawd..."
Diva looked up and sighed. A thought suddenly appeared in her head, and she shortly gasped and screamed at the same time. "Oh, my gawd..."
"What now?" Fox mouthed.
"Starr... oh, my gawd, Starr.... Fox, Kuro's after Starr!!!"
***
"Starr! Peppy! Slippy! Falco! Krystal!" Tricky called as loudly as he could as he made haste through the Cape Claw forests, leaping over streams, rocks, and logs and ducking over low branches and log bridges. He ran as fast as he could, his eyes and ears searching for the boy and the ghosts. Trees and boulders zipped by as the little EarthWalker prince dashed faster and faster, hurrying through the green and brown shrubbery of the forests like a cheetah chasing an impala across the savanna.
Very soon he came across Starr's camp, where he sat by a colored boulder and a campfire, waiting for his Uncle Fox and mother to return. Even though Tricky cannot see them, Starr's "uncles and aunt," the StarFox Team and Krystal, sat around him, surprised to see the rushing EarthWalker.
Slippy was the first to speak, "Prince Tricky? What's going on?"
"I-It's Fox and Diva!" Tricky warned. "K-Kuro Youkai's after them!"
"Kuro Youkai?" Starr repeated. "Who's that?"
"I'm not sure, but whoever he is, he wants to... *gulp* sully your mom..."
Starr gasped. "Wait... is he a red-tailed hawk?"
"Huh? I don't know... but all I know is that he's just another ghost..."
"Oh, no..."
"Who is he, Starr?"
Starr choked, "He's my papa-"
"Ya got that right!" a voice spoke out of nowhere. Before the ghosts' eyes a dark, feathered hand gripped Starr's neck and lifted him in the air. The StarFox Team watched in horror as Kuro held his son in the air, his iron grip choking the poor boy.
Falco recognized the red-tailed hawk right away. "You!"
"Ah, you remember me... Falco, am I right?" Kuro said, chuckling as he tightened his grip around his son's neck. "Of course, you do. Hadn't you come in to protect your lover in time, this boy would have never been born!"
"Diva's not my lover, for crying out loud! Put down that boy, you b@$t@rd!" the rash tiercel bellowed as he rushed in to roundhouse the rapist hawk.
Kuro reacted quickly by leaping back before Falco's foot would touch his face, proving that ghosts can fight each other. He bounded atop of a tree branch, his hand still around Starr's neck. He called back, "If you want this boy alive, then come to Krazoa Palace with Fox McCloud and my woman!"
Before anyone else would say anything back, Kuro vanished in thin air, with Starr still in his grasp.
***
The armored ghost, the one who haunted the Krazoa Palace and set it on fire to destroy it, strolled across the rubble. This ghost, known as General Scales when he used to live, waited for too long for the deaths promised by his new servant, but he was wise enough to know he should not be impatient. It takes time and caution to take on Fox McCloud and destroy him. He knew that. He did it before. Just approaching him and killing him in an instant is but a miracle. The death of Fox McCloud and that woman, Serena Jenson, would take time.
The servant, Kuro, reappeared with his son still in his grasp, just right outside the wreckage. General Scales turned to face the hawk holding his fledgling in his hands. "What is this?" he bellowed.
Kuro smiled as he held Starr in the air with his mind rather then with his hands. "Bait."
"Is he not Jenson's son... and yours?"
"Indeed he is, my lord. And Jenson's. She'll come after him. And Fox too. And then..."
"I can kill him myself," Scales completed Kuro's statement. He bent down, his hand and claws and arms covering his face, then leaned back in harsh, exhilarated laughter. "I like the way you do things, Kuro! Surely you shall have your woman! And I shall have my revenge!"
Scales stormed up to the floating Starr, who was crying like any child in danger would. The giant SharpClaw ghost held the boy by the collar with his only hand, putting his face right near his.
Starr shouted at the dead dinosaur, "You're... You're General Scales!"
"Ah, you can see me. Excellent, yes," Scales cackled. "How do you know of me?"
"I lived here all my life, OF COURSE I know of you!"
"What a rude child!" Scales growled as he threw the eyas on the ground. Starr yelped as he felt the impact of his forehead smacking the rubble, his head cracking almost completely open from the tyrant's strong throw.
Starr held his wound and growled, his down ruffling from anger. "I swear, I'll kill you!" he screamed as he ran forward to attack him (musta forgotten he's dead). Scales laughed again as he tripped the child with his tail, letting him stumble and fall. He picked him up again then looked into his eye.
He cackled, "Hah, young man! I love your spunk!"
Starr spat in Scale's face. Of course, it went right through him and landed on a broken pillar. He cried, "My mama and Fox are gonna come for me and kick you @$$, you frickin b@$t@rd!"
"Tut tut, such language, coming from a nine-year-old child!" Scales chuckled as he dropped Starr to the ground and placed his invisible (not to Starr) foot on his head. He began placing his weight on his foot, nearly crushing the boy's skull as he continued, "Of course they'll come for you. That's why we have you here, boy. Now if you don't cooperate, you'll be among us ghosts, just like me, your father, and your 'aunt and uncles'!"
Starr heard Scales and Kuro laugh heartily, their victory only but a breath away. He felt the scaly foot on his head, his heavy weight crushing him. He may be a ghost, but only ghosts can touch other people, but people cannot touch them. That's their gift. But Starr didn't give up hope. He knows his mother and hero will come, even if they can't fight a ghost. But there is a way to fight him. There is...
Kuro sat there and watched his son cry, the child's dying face satisfying the sadistic father. "All is sweet, my lord," he chuckled, Starr murmuring for his mother and Fox. "Soon they'll come. And you shall have your revenge."
***
Diva immediately fell to her knees in hysterical sobbing as soon as she arrived in the empty camp. Fox halted after much running to search about the camp. Only the dying campfire, the mats, the leafy canopy, and that colored rock were present in the camp. Nothing else. Poor Starr was absent.
"Starr? STARR!!!" Tricky cried as he rushed around the camp. He crept under the mat, looked into logs, and even overturned several rocks to search for the boy.
Fox felt tempted to kick the little dinosaur again. "Tricky, you idiot, that won't work!"
"Helloooooooooooooooo! I'M DESPERATE HERE!!!"
Fox shook his head. A thought then came to his head when he suddenly remembered something. "The ghosts..."
"Starr's uncles and aunt!" Tricky ran to the weeping falcon mother, "Diva, where's-"
"That's what I want to know!" Diva struggled to stand up, but her sorrow kept her down on the ground. Tricky and Fox assisted her to stand, giving her a hand and horn. Diva held her head back, her sharp beak in the air, "STARFOX!!!"
"We're right here!" Krystal said as she appeared directly behind Diva. The poor woman nearly fainted from surprise.
Of course, neither Fox nor Tricky could see the Cerenian vixen, but they could hear her voice. "Krystal! Where's-"
"They're at Krazoa Palace Remains!" Slippy's voice spoke up. "We're sorry, Diva, we couldn't save him-"
"Save your apologies for later!" Diva called back, already several feet away, running. "You guys are lucky you're already dead, 'cuz if you weren't, I'D KILL YOU MYSELF!!!"
"'Day-um," Falco muttered.
Fox thought he heard a crack. "What was that?"
"Krystal just smacked Falco on the head," Peppy explained.
Fox thought he could hear Falco's groaning. "Wha... she can hit him?"
"A ghost can fight a ghost!" Falco grumbled, holding his head, somehow in pain even if he didn't have a body. "Ya didn't know that?"
"You guys come with me! We'll need you!" Fox commanded as Tricky turn to dash after Diva.
***
"How much longer?" General Scales asked Kuro, his hostage, little Starr, inside a cage. The deceased tyrant created the cage himself with the bent metal from the Palace's remains.
Kuro looked at the sky. The sun was high in the sky, but it was already past noon, and it was but forty-five degrees away from the horizon, another forty-five needed for sundown. "At sunset," Kuro informed his lord. "When the sun sets, they arrive."
"And if they don't come?"
"Well..." Kuro took a glance at his son, who was crying miserably in his cage. "We can kill the boy."
"But......... isn't he your son-"
"Jenson is not the only woman I have claimed. I have been a father of many in the past, but I made sure they and their mothers no longer exist. I shall see to it that Jenson and her son will join them all soon."
***
The flight to Krazoa Palace was but a long trek from Cape Claw to the WarpStone. The sun was patient to the journeying StarFox Team, taking baby steps across the sky to his bed, the horizon. As he made his own journey to the other side of the planet, the sun grabbed his most favorite paintbrush- the cloud, and painted his sky blue canvas to breath-taking colors of red, yellow and orange. He did this all too slowly and subtly, carefully painting the sky completely before he would let his sister moon take over, letting her use her clouds to paint the canvas sky with dark blue and speckles, which are the glistening stars.
Neither Fox nor Diva nor Tricky nor even the deceased StarFox and Krystal stopped as they ran throughout the realm across Dinosaur Planet. They dodged monsters, ran through mazes, jumped off cliffs (Diva, of course, fell off them), swam through rivers, and climbed rocky walls, from Cape Claw to Lightfoot Village to ThornTail Hollow. As soon as Fox caught sight of the roaming ThornTails and the clueless Queen EarthWalker, the sun was just sitting at his bedside-the only light remaining was his yawning rays of brightness.
Diva, who never ran this far all at once before, struggled to stay on her feet as she panted for breath. "Hurry, Fox... I don't know how much more time we have left..."
***
Starr gasped as the last of the sun set in the horizon, shaking in his cage. General Scales laughed, then stood over the small jail like a tall statue, "So, Starr, where is Fox and your mother now?"
"They'll come! You'll see! They're just running late, that's all! After all, Cape Claw IS far from Krazoa Palace!"
"Well, then consider me impatient. I've gotten tired of waiting." Scales turned to Kuro, who was sitting patiently at a partially fallen pillar. "Kuro, my good man, take care of this brat."
"My pleasure," Kuro laughed as he slid off the pillar and approached Starr's cage. With his telekinesis he burst open the cage and lifted the boy by the neck in midair, the child's beak close his father's.
Starr began crying again, "Papa, please..."
"Papa? Strange. Coming from the same boy who led me to my death. Come to think of it, I was very much of a coward at the time, to run away from an armed child." Kuro laughed again, "Not so high and mighty without your spear, are you... son? Even if you did have your weapon, I will not run again from such a missed opportunity to kill you-"
"Over my dead body!" Falco bellowed as he air kicked Kuro in the back of the neck. The hawk dropped the boy on the ground, his head smacking into a boulder hard and knocking him out. Scales's eyes widened, and then he stepped back behind a pillar once he noticed the arrival of the StarFox Team.
Kuro yelled back as he leaped on his feet and rubbed his neck, "You idiot, you're already dead! Both of us are!"
Falco looked around. "Um.............. HAH!!! I knew that! I was just testing you to know if you're facing a fellow ghost!"
Kuro stared.
Scales leaned back from the pillar and saw the StarFox Leader, Fox McCloud, dash in. The tyrant smirked as he drawn his sword and walked quietly to Fox, like a shadow creeping behind the man, knowing that such a moronic fox cannot see a him. He held the blade up, ready to stab the vulpine in the back. Scales can already picture Fox's shed blood flowing through the Krazoa Palace rubble like a river, the taste and smell of victory in the air. "Finally," Scales whispered under his breath, Fox unable to hear the ghost behind him. "Revenge shall be mine..."
((to be continued...))
~That's right folks, Fox's in danger in being killed again (ain't we all tired of that by now ^^;?)! Will Starr be rescued from the clutches of Kuro and Scales? Will the deceased StarFox defeat the ghastly menaces? Will Diva overcome her past to escape the man who violated her? And will Tricky's big fat welt heal? ~
Tricky: HEY!!! That's not funny, Imagen!
Imagen: Sorry! I know the plot seems to be straying away, but bear with me! I've been writing this ever since November, and now it's near to completion, but I'm submitting it to FF.net little by little, so, yeah! Review, please! ^^
***
Chapter 9: "Troubles Deepen"
"Geh... G-General Scales???" Fox repeated. "But he's..."
"Dead?" Kuro completed Fox's statement. He scoffed, "Duh, so am I! And that goes for your Team too..." he turned to Diva, who was still pinned down by his telekinesis. "And soon, my woman shall join them all."
"Your WHAT???"
Tricky swam back on the bank and coughed and spat out the water and fish that were in his mouth. He rubbed the big welt on his side then glared at Fox.
Fox stood there, glaring at the empty space, thinking of what he should do. 'If I can't hit a ghost... he thought.... but another might be able to fight....' "Tricky!"
"I'm not doing it!" Tricky complained.
"Listen to me, ya little twerp! Go find the ghosts and get them!"
"What?"
"You heard me! Go find Peppy, Slippy, Falco, and Krystal! And hurry!"
"WHY should I listen to YOU???"
"Gawddammit, Tricky, JUST DO IT!!! Diva's life's in danger!"
Tricky shuddered. Fox was right. Even if he cannot see this "Kuro Youkai," he knows he is still a threat. Tricky watched in horror as Kuro rolled Diva's skirt all the way up, showing her panties. Both their faces flushed red, but this was no time to be ogling at a woman's underwear. Fox rushed and grabbed Diva's wrists, and miraculously broke Kuro's spell, setting Diva free. He flapped back down her skirt and threw her on his shoulders, then started racing down the river. Fox yelled back, "Tricky! Hurry!"
"Got it!" Tricky yelled back as he turned back into the forest.
***
"Put me down, Fox! I can run with my own two feet!" Diva screamed as she pounded Fox's back. Poor Fox toppled to the ground, dropping Diva and himself. The young woman rolled to her feet and started racing ahead, Fox following.
The frustrated vulpine yelled back at the bird of prey, "Is that any way to thank me, b!tch?"
"That's FALCON to you, buster! Ya got the wrong species!"
"Hey!"
"Look, I can take care of myself! Run and save yourself!"
"Save myself? YOU'RE the one who's in danger!"
After running for fifteen minutes, Diva and Fox halted for a breather. They both fell on the ground and panted, trying to catch their breath. Fox looked around, "Hey, where's that Kuro guy?"
"Gone, thank God," Diva sighed in relief. "But I seriously doubt we'll see the last of him!"
"Diva..."
"Yeah?"
"What did he mean by 'my woman'?"
Diva trembled. "He... Kuro... is Starr's father... the one who violated me back at Zoness..."
"What?..."
"He followed me all the way here to Dinosaur Planet. That's how I got stranded here, since both our ships had a crash landing, and neither of us is able to get back. He was killed when Starr chased him into a RedEye."
"Then wha.... he's... Oh, gawd..."
Diva looked up and sighed. A thought suddenly appeared in her head, and she shortly gasped and screamed at the same time. "Oh, my gawd..."
"What now?" Fox mouthed.
"Starr... oh, my gawd, Starr.... Fox, Kuro's after Starr!!!"
***
"Starr! Peppy! Slippy! Falco! Krystal!" Tricky called as loudly as he could as he made haste through the Cape Claw forests, leaping over streams, rocks, and logs and ducking over low branches and log bridges. He ran as fast as he could, his eyes and ears searching for the boy and the ghosts. Trees and boulders zipped by as the little EarthWalker prince dashed faster and faster, hurrying through the green and brown shrubbery of the forests like a cheetah chasing an impala across the savanna.
Very soon he came across Starr's camp, where he sat by a colored boulder and a campfire, waiting for his Uncle Fox and mother to return. Even though Tricky cannot see them, Starr's "uncles and aunt," the StarFox Team and Krystal, sat around him, surprised to see the rushing EarthWalker.
Slippy was the first to speak, "Prince Tricky? What's going on?"
"I-It's Fox and Diva!" Tricky warned. "K-Kuro Youkai's after them!"
"Kuro Youkai?" Starr repeated. "Who's that?"
"I'm not sure, but whoever he is, he wants to... *gulp* sully your mom..."
Starr gasped. "Wait... is he a red-tailed hawk?"
"Huh? I don't know... but all I know is that he's just another ghost..."
"Oh, no..."
"Who is he, Starr?"
Starr choked, "He's my papa-"
"Ya got that right!" a voice spoke out of nowhere. Before the ghosts' eyes a dark, feathered hand gripped Starr's neck and lifted him in the air. The StarFox Team watched in horror as Kuro held his son in the air, his iron grip choking the poor boy.
Falco recognized the red-tailed hawk right away. "You!"
"Ah, you remember me... Falco, am I right?" Kuro said, chuckling as he tightened his grip around his son's neck. "Of course, you do. Hadn't you come in to protect your lover in time, this boy would have never been born!"
"Diva's not my lover, for crying out loud! Put down that boy, you b@$t@rd!" the rash tiercel bellowed as he rushed in to roundhouse the rapist hawk.
Kuro reacted quickly by leaping back before Falco's foot would touch his face, proving that ghosts can fight each other. He bounded atop of a tree branch, his hand still around Starr's neck. He called back, "If you want this boy alive, then come to Krazoa Palace with Fox McCloud and my woman!"
Before anyone else would say anything back, Kuro vanished in thin air, with Starr still in his grasp.
***
The armored ghost, the one who haunted the Krazoa Palace and set it on fire to destroy it, strolled across the rubble. This ghost, known as General Scales when he used to live, waited for too long for the deaths promised by his new servant, but he was wise enough to know he should not be impatient. It takes time and caution to take on Fox McCloud and destroy him. He knew that. He did it before. Just approaching him and killing him in an instant is but a miracle. The death of Fox McCloud and that woman, Serena Jenson, would take time.
The servant, Kuro, reappeared with his son still in his grasp, just right outside the wreckage. General Scales turned to face the hawk holding his fledgling in his hands. "What is this?" he bellowed.
Kuro smiled as he held Starr in the air with his mind rather then with his hands. "Bait."
"Is he not Jenson's son... and yours?"
"Indeed he is, my lord. And Jenson's. She'll come after him. And Fox too. And then..."
"I can kill him myself," Scales completed Kuro's statement. He bent down, his hand and claws and arms covering his face, then leaned back in harsh, exhilarated laughter. "I like the way you do things, Kuro! Surely you shall have your woman! And I shall have my revenge!"
Scales stormed up to the floating Starr, who was crying like any child in danger would. The giant SharpClaw ghost held the boy by the collar with his only hand, putting his face right near his.
Starr shouted at the dead dinosaur, "You're... You're General Scales!"
"Ah, you can see me. Excellent, yes," Scales cackled. "How do you know of me?"
"I lived here all my life, OF COURSE I know of you!"
"What a rude child!" Scales growled as he threw the eyas on the ground. Starr yelped as he felt the impact of his forehead smacking the rubble, his head cracking almost completely open from the tyrant's strong throw.
Starr held his wound and growled, his down ruffling from anger. "I swear, I'll kill you!" he screamed as he ran forward to attack him (musta forgotten he's dead). Scales laughed again as he tripped the child with his tail, letting him stumble and fall. He picked him up again then looked into his eye.
He cackled, "Hah, young man! I love your spunk!"
Starr spat in Scale's face. Of course, it went right through him and landed on a broken pillar. He cried, "My mama and Fox are gonna come for me and kick you @$$, you frickin b@$t@rd!"
"Tut tut, such language, coming from a nine-year-old child!" Scales chuckled as he dropped Starr to the ground and placed his invisible (not to Starr) foot on his head. He began placing his weight on his foot, nearly crushing the boy's skull as he continued, "Of course they'll come for you. That's why we have you here, boy. Now if you don't cooperate, you'll be among us ghosts, just like me, your father, and your 'aunt and uncles'!"
Starr heard Scales and Kuro laugh heartily, their victory only but a breath away. He felt the scaly foot on his head, his heavy weight crushing him. He may be a ghost, but only ghosts can touch other people, but people cannot touch them. That's their gift. But Starr didn't give up hope. He knows his mother and hero will come, even if they can't fight a ghost. But there is a way to fight him. There is...
Kuro sat there and watched his son cry, the child's dying face satisfying the sadistic father. "All is sweet, my lord," he chuckled, Starr murmuring for his mother and Fox. "Soon they'll come. And you shall have your revenge."
***
Diva immediately fell to her knees in hysterical sobbing as soon as she arrived in the empty camp. Fox halted after much running to search about the camp. Only the dying campfire, the mats, the leafy canopy, and that colored rock were present in the camp. Nothing else. Poor Starr was absent.
"Starr? STARR!!!" Tricky cried as he rushed around the camp. He crept under the mat, looked into logs, and even overturned several rocks to search for the boy.
Fox felt tempted to kick the little dinosaur again. "Tricky, you idiot, that won't work!"
"Helloooooooooooooooo! I'M DESPERATE HERE!!!"
Fox shook his head. A thought then came to his head when he suddenly remembered something. "The ghosts..."
"Starr's uncles and aunt!" Tricky ran to the weeping falcon mother, "Diva, where's-"
"That's what I want to know!" Diva struggled to stand up, but her sorrow kept her down on the ground. Tricky and Fox assisted her to stand, giving her a hand and horn. Diva held her head back, her sharp beak in the air, "STARFOX!!!"
"We're right here!" Krystal said as she appeared directly behind Diva. The poor woman nearly fainted from surprise.
Of course, neither Fox nor Tricky could see the Cerenian vixen, but they could hear her voice. "Krystal! Where's-"
"They're at Krazoa Palace Remains!" Slippy's voice spoke up. "We're sorry, Diva, we couldn't save him-"
"Save your apologies for later!" Diva called back, already several feet away, running. "You guys are lucky you're already dead, 'cuz if you weren't, I'D KILL YOU MYSELF!!!"
"'Day-um," Falco muttered.
Fox thought he heard a crack. "What was that?"
"Krystal just smacked Falco on the head," Peppy explained.
Fox thought he could hear Falco's groaning. "Wha... she can hit him?"
"A ghost can fight a ghost!" Falco grumbled, holding his head, somehow in pain even if he didn't have a body. "Ya didn't know that?"
"You guys come with me! We'll need you!" Fox commanded as Tricky turn to dash after Diva.
***
"How much longer?" General Scales asked Kuro, his hostage, little Starr, inside a cage. The deceased tyrant created the cage himself with the bent metal from the Palace's remains.
Kuro looked at the sky. The sun was high in the sky, but it was already past noon, and it was but forty-five degrees away from the horizon, another forty-five needed for sundown. "At sunset," Kuro informed his lord. "When the sun sets, they arrive."
"And if they don't come?"
"Well..." Kuro took a glance at his son, who was crying miserably in his cage. "We can kill the boy."
"But......... isn't he your son-"
"Jenson is not the only woman I have claimed. I have been a father of many in the past, but I made sure they and their mothers no longer exist. I shall see to it that Jenson and her son will join them all soon."
***
The flight to Krazoa Palace was but a long trek from Cape Claw to the WarpStone. The sun was patient to the journeying StarFox Team, taking baby steps across the sky to his bed, the horizon. As he made his own journey to the other side of the planet, the sun grabbed his most favorite paintbrush- the cloud, and painted his sky blue canvas to breath-taking colors of red, yellow and orange. He did this all too slowly and subtly, carefully painting the sky completely before he would let his sister moon take over, letting her use her clouds to paint the canvas sky with dark blue and speckles, which are the glistening stars.
Neither Fox nor Diva nor Tricky nor even the deceased StarFox and Krystal stopped as they ran throughout the realm across Dinosaur Planet. They dodged monsters, ran through mazes, jumped off cliffs (Diva, of course, fell off them), swam through rivers, and climbed rocky walls, from Cape Claw to Lightfoot Village to ThornTail Hollow. As soon as Fox caught sight of the roaming ThornTails and the clueless Queen EarthWalker, the sun was just sitting at his bedside-the only light remaining was his yawning rays of brightness.
Diva, who never ran this far all at once before, struggled to stay on her feet as she panted for breath. "Hurry, Fox... I don't know how much more time we have left..."
***
Starr gasped as the last of the sun set in the horizon, shaking in his cage. General Scales laughed, then stood over the small jail like a tall statue, "So, Starr, where is Fox and your mother now?"
"They'll come! You'll see! They're just running late, that's all! After all, Cape Claw IS far from Krazoa Palace!"
"Well, then consider me impatient. I've gotten tired of waiting." Scales turned to Kuro, who was sitting patiently at a partially fallen pillar. "Kuro, my good man, take care of this brat."
"My pleasure," Kuro laughed as he slid off the pillar and approached Starr's cage. With his telekinesis he burst open the cage and lifted the boy by the neck in midair, the child's beak close his father's.
Starr began crying again, "Papa, please..."
"Papa? Strange. Coming from the same boy who led me to my death. Come to think of it, I was very much of a coward at the time, to run away from an armed child." Kuro laughed again, "Not so high and mighty without your spear, are you... son? Even if you did have your weapon, I will not run again from such a missed opportunity to kill you-"
"Over my dead body!" Falco bellowed as he air kicked Kuro in the back of the neck. The hawk dropped the boy on the ground, his head smacking into a boulder hard and knocking him out. Scales's eyes widened, and then he stepped back behind a pillar once he noticed the arrival of the StarFox Team.
Kuro yelled back as he leaped on his feet and rubbed his neck, "You idiot, you're already dead! Both of us are!"
Falco looked around. "Um.............. HAH!!! I knew that! I was just testing you to know if you're facing a fellow ghost!"
Kuro stared.
Scales leaned back from the pillar and saw the StarFox Leader, Fox McCloud, dash in. The tyrant smirked as he drawn his sword and walked quietly to Fox, like a shadow creeping behind the man, knowing that such a moronic fox cannot see a him. He held the blade up, ready to stab the vulpine in the back. Scales can already picture Fox's shed blood flowing through the Krazoa Palace rubble like a river, the taste and smell of victory in the air. "Finally," Scales whispered under his breath, Fox unable to hear the ghost behind him. "Revenge shall be mine..."
((to be continued...))
~That's right folks, Fox's in danger in being killed again (ain't we all tired of that by now ^^;?)! Will Starr be rescued from the clutches of Kuro and Scales? Will the deceased StarFox defeat the ghastly menaces? Will Diva overcome her past to escape the man who violated her? And will Tricky's big fat welt heal? ~
Tricky: HEY!!! That's not funny, Imagen!
Imagen: Sorry! I know the plot seems to be straying away, but bear with me! I've been writing this ever since November, and now it's near to completion, but I'm submitting it to FF.net little by little, so, yeah! Review, please! ^^