Author's Note: I don't anything here. All related to StarFox and StarFox
Adventures belong to Nintendo and Rare. Anything related to Japanese
mythology (Jigoku and the chains) belong to... well, Japanese mythology.
Otherwise the only thing I own here is the plot and Diva and Starr Jenson
and Kuro Youkai. Sorry if the plot strays a bit, the second part of the
story is a bit chaotic, I'm struggling to keep face. I've been writing this
fic ever since November, and it's near completion now, but that doesn't
mean I'll update my fic every day because of school. I've taken The Grammar
King's suggestion to change the genre, but I'd rather keep it in the horror
section because the story centers around ghosts, death, and Jigoku. I mean,
c'mon, "The Frighteners" (a movie starring Michael J. Fox or someone) was a
horror movie, but for most part is humorous ^^. So in other words, if I was
to make a full genre, this story would be
Horror/Action/Adventure/Humor/Angst (angst for things involving Diva, and
no, I don't mean her falling into holes ;). Don't worry, Grammar King,
the scary stuff will return soon, and the deaths of the StarFox Team will
be taken more seriously, just wait a while. Please R&R. Thank you.
~Imagen~
***
Part II
Chapter 3: "Stealing From Shabunga"
Diva was forever pinned to the ground. She could not move at all, only breath and blink and talk. Iron rings from Jigoku pinned her close to the floor and literally glued her there, preventing her to escape in anyway. She cannot ghost through the rings. She will have to stay there forever and be a victim to Kuro as long as she remains in the afterlife. Even as a ghost she suffers like that of the living. Perhaps Jigoku is merely nothing compared to what she is going through now. Then again, it could be worse...
The trapped woman shed tears of suffering and sadness down from her eyes, trickling down her face and unto the ground, making tiny pools of waters of agony. She sorrowfully gazed into the starry sky, the stars twinkling over her. Diva felt as if the sky was taking pity on her, crying along with her. She felt like the moon glanced at her and sighed forlornly, wanting to step down from the silver disk she sat on and release the bird who was once free. But no, they were only feelings. Feelings of freedom. But it'll never come. All hope was lost for her. She longed to be roaming happily in the forests of Cape Claw (falling into holes and off cliffs don't count), being with her son and dinosaur friends.
Her son.......... Starr........ how is he?
The sky sighed sadly as she brought the bad news to the pinned falcon woman, revealing a jasper-colored star losing its brightness, slowly fading.
"Oh, no.... no... it can't be....." Diva's quiet crying turned to heavy sobs, wailing and bawling.
General Scales, who was still nearby, listened to the woman's cries, had enough. He stormed to her and kicked her side, "Shaddup!"
"Have pity on me, sir, please!" Diva begged.
"Why should I? You are not my responsibility."
Diva wept even louder as Scales abandoned the woman into miserable loneliness as he left for a stroll away from the Krazoa Palace.
***
There was someone who did have pity on the trapped woman. Yet he cannot go near the poor falcon. He cannot be seen, but he truly, deeply, wanted to comfort her. He could not stand the woman's position, being the object of rape and lust from a man who owned her soul. He too felt like crying alongside, feeling sympathy pains of the prisoner. It was quiet crying, however, yet only a few tears fell on his face. His heart ached, and he cannot stand it any longer. He quietly took off his glasses and wiped his tears, placed them back on, then picked up the Golden Bafomdad that sat beside him and approached the woman.
He walked around her at a certain distance that neither Diva nor General Scales could see. He then approached her and sat upon a boulder near the top of her head. He sighed, fixed his glasses, then greeted the prisoner softly and gently, "Hello."
Diva could not see him, for her neck was also pinned to the ground, disabling her from lifting her head. She only turned at an angle to look at the stranger. She could only see his knees and part of his face, plus a tail that swished like a waving leaf in the wind. She whispered, "Who are you?"
"A friend. Don't worry."
"A-A friend...?"
"I didn't come to increase your sorrow, rather, to decrease it, and hopefully also to give you strength as you go through these hard times."
"W-What's your name?"
"Just call me 'Jim'."
"You can see me?"
"I'm also a ghost. Actually, I've been dead for nine years."
"How did you die?"
"The man who killed General Scales also killed me. In one way, I am against Scales's plan, in another, I am for it. For if the man who killed him never dies, then I can never rest. My son could have set rest for me nine years ago, but no, that man escaped the clutches of Jigoku. That's why General Scales was able to open the gates at will. He made a deal with death. The gods of the dead are calling for the man who killed us, and they have given Scales the power to open the gates of Jigoku so he can ensnare the man into a fiery demise. However, Scales is also misusing them, planning to take down other people as well, especially for a friend of yours and your son... and mine."
"Your son.......... who is he?"
"You already know him."
"What?"
"Jim" looked up and saw General Scales coming in at a distance. "I must depart now, Miss Jenson. Be strong. Your suffering will end soon, and you will be reunited with your son and go home."
"Jim?"
Before Scales would see him, Jim vanished from Diva's sight, the Golden Bafomdad left. The little furry creature whimpered then approached her. It leaned onto her and nuzzled her, then gave her a light kiss on the head.
Jim's voice was heard, "Hope, let's go!"
"Hope?" Diva repeated.
"Yes, this little Golden Bafomdad's a girl. I named her Hope for a very good reason. You shall see soon enough, Miss Jenson, before the angels come and take me away," Jim said as Hope hopped away into the shadows.
***
"Okay, so we got the LightFoot's Golden Bafomdad, who is Hoppy here, and we also got the EarthWalker's Bafomdad, who's Haughty..." Starr stated. "So, what's next?"
"How about the ThornTails?" Tricky suggested. "After all, we're already here at ThornTail Hollow."
"Great idea, guys," Fox assented. "I'll ask one of those guys right now." The young vulpine stood up from under the tree and stretched, then approached the nearest ThornTail. "Hi."
"Before you ask, we don't have it," the ThornTail grumbled.
Fox realized that this was the same ThornTail that refused to talk and lead a revolt against Scales back in his first mission on Dinosaur Planet. "Wait a minute, you don't even know-"
"What your looking for? Too late. Shabunga found him, he keeps him. The furry creature was once owned by a little ThornTail girl who named him Happy, but one day after playing 'Hide-and-seek', that guy Shabunga snatched him out of the bushes and held him captive in his store."
"Oh, great......." Fox muttered.
"Poor girl," Tricky said as he shook his head. "I'll bet that girl misses little Happy."
"What's the deal with naming Bafomdads with stupid names starting with the letter 'H'?" Falco asked. "Hoppy? Haughty? Happy? What kind of names are those?"
"Pet names, that's what they are!" Starr said as he wrapped a pink colored string around Hoppy's neck as a collar, with Haughty having dark green.
Falco stared. "What are you doing?"
"Giving Hoppy and Haughty collars!"
"How can you tell the difference? They look absolutely the same without those collars!"
The Golden Bafomdad with the green collar hopped on Falco's head and stomped on it several times, pounding Falco's face into the ground.
Slippy snickered, "Well, at least we know what THAT one is!"
"Oh, shaddup!"
"Okay, guys, settle down!" Fox shouted as he began heading towards Shabunga's shop while looking into his wallet. He sighed, "Ten scarabs? I seriously doubt that'll be the price."
"I'll help you, Fox," Tricky said as he ran after him. "Mom gave me a full wallet of two hundred scarabs! Even if that's not enough, I'll just ask my mom!"
"Why doesn't she just tell him to hand it over for free?" Peppy asked.
The Queen sighed. "Shabunga's not an EarthWalker, so he doesn't necessarily have to obey the rules here."
"What is he, then?"
"Beats me. A legless SharpClaw perhaps?"
***
As soon as Fox and Tricky entered Shabunga's shop, they caught the legless dinosaur in a far corner of the first room asleep. Tricky laughed, "Great! Now we can steal it!"
"Tricky..."
"Okay, okay, fine!"
Fox entered the room where Shabunga kept miscellaneous items he found lying around in Dinosaur Planet. He searched up and down the shelves and tables, overlooking the bags, toys, books, etc., ignoring items he found quite useless. After searching throughout the entire room Fox sighed, "It's not here. Go look for it, Tricky."
"Why me?" Tricky grumbled as he turned and ran off while Fox moved unto the next room.
Tricky ran down to the Scarab Room then entered. After seeing that it was empty, he turned and became ready to run back when he tripped over a rock and rolled into the secret room covered by an illusion wall. He rolled into the giant boulder that lay right in the middle, where a cage and an imprisoned Golden Bafomdad sat on top of it.
"Fox! Fox! I found it!" Tricky yelled. But Fox didn't respond, and the EarthWalker Prince assumed the vulpine never heard him, so he decided to get the little Bafomdad himself. He backed up and prepared to leap onto the boulder when Shabunga got to there first, appearing suddenly in midair then snatching away the cage. At once he disappeared with the Bafomdad, Tricky yelling out, "HEY!!!"
Shabunga reappeared right behind Fox, who was peering into more of the dinosaur's shelves. In the corner of his foxy eye the vulpine caught sight of the sneaking giant lizard, and he quietly followed him for a few steps before pouncing on him. Shabunga was much quicker, however, and he managed to teleport behind the lunging fox. "Ah-ah-aaah! Too slow, furball!"
Fox only pushed himself off the floor and dusted himself. He asked him, "All right, Shabunga-san, how much does that Golden Bafomdad cost?"
"Nuttin!"
"So it's free! Great!"
"It's not free either, foxy boy!"
"What?"
"This little baby ain't fer sale," Shabunga said as he stroked the cage as if it was a cat. "Of all the things in this store, this one stays here forever! Once I die, I can use this precious to revive me the moment I breathe my last!"
"Why don't you use a normal Bafomdad? They're more common than the Golden ones!"
Shabunga gave Fox the lazy eye before he continued, "I've worked very hard to capture this baby! This one ain't fer sale, and that's final!!!"
***
"Worked very hard to capture that thing? I don't think so!" Tricky grumbled after he left the store fifteen minutes after arguing with Shabunga. "I mean, he stole the thing from that poor little girl! And he probably did it like taking a candy from a baby!"
"So what are you going to do know?" Krystal's voice asked as she approached the prince and fox without them seeing her.
"I know two wrongs don't make a right," Fox began. "But it seems like we have no choice."
"What?"
"I have an idea, but we're going to have to wait until nightfall to place it in action..."
***
The cattails slapped each other as the wind blew in between them, the leaves thrashing about in unison. Scarabs, green, red, and gold, scurried about in between the tall blades of grass as the wind howled, the air rushing into freezing chilliness. The ThornTails that roamed about in the fields shivered in their sleep, many of them huddling closely together by their beacons, trying to get warmth. The smoke from BombFlowers faded, spores dashing quickly as the wind continued to blow. Even inside the EarthWalker Palace was there shaking and shivering in the cold, Fox fighting with Tricky over a small blanket as they leaned on the Queen like a pillow. Both were lying on her side like little babies playing tug-o-war with the tiny blanket, both of them too cold to give up the fight yet too sleepy to actually get up and fight for real. Starr, who was lying in between the fox and the dinosaur prince, felt lucky he didn't have to fight over the blanket. He didn't mind the fabric rubbing against him. It only made him warmer.
Peppy and Krystal, who could hardly feel the cold, shook their heads as they sat by the wall across the room, watching Fox and Tricky war over a measly blanket. Yet they can only imagine how cold the air must be, since they no longer had bodies. They do, however, remember what it was like lying on the cold floor with only a tiny blanket to keep warmth, and the experiences were horrible.
Krystal sighed, "You know, they could just go to Shabunga and buy a much larger, warmer blanket."
"Not now, though," Peppy told her. "Shabunga's asleep... hopefully."
The blue vixen sighed again. "What is TAKING them so long??? It wouldn't take Falco and Slippy a whole hour just to get that Golden Bafomdad, would it?"
***
Both Slippy and Falco wanted to do the whole thing as quickly as possible, but they knew that it might end disastrous, so slow and steady seemed to be the best way to go. However, both were quite the impatient types, so they tried to do it also very quickly... now if only there was a faster way to do it without waking Shabunga up...
By the time nightfall came, several hours ago, Fox placed his plan into action. They would wait until Shabunga sleeps, then two of the ghosts would go and steal back the Golden Bafomdad. Sounds simple, right?
Slippy and Falco thought so too... that was, before they found out Shabunga placed a high-tech security around the entire cage atop the boulder like it was some kind of museum display. And it ain't just any other security. Ropes, knives, axes, crossbows, anvils, security cameras, lasers, and steel balls were hung and set up everywhere around the little Bafomdad's cage, ensuring nobody, NOBODY gets that little Bafomdad.
"WHERE THE HELL DOES THAT OVERGROWN LEATHER HANDBAG GET ALL THIS JUNK???!!!" Falco yelled.
Slippy hushed the yelling tiercel as he smacked him on the back of the head. "Quiet, ya birdbrain!" he hissed.
Falco noticed the laser shooting across the floor. "I assume that if we cross this laser, the trap will be unleashed."
"We won't have to worry about detected. We're not even of organic material. But what we should worry is the Bafomdad."
"Why is that?"
"Take a look," Slippy pointed the lasers surrounding the cage. "If we move the cage away from its spot even an inch, the traps will be unleashed."
"So?"
"SO??? With that many traps around the cage, it'll be killing the Bafomdad with us if we were still alive! Plus it'll be making a lot of noise, which will be waking up Shabunga!"
Falco tilted his head slightly so his raptorial eyes could glance at the sleeping lizard at an angle. Shabunga sprawled all over the floor right next to the well, snoring loudly with his tongue hanging out like a vine over a wall. The blue tiercel made a face as he shook his head while Shabunga muttered sale prices in his sleep.
"I have an idea," Slippy said as he nudged his comrade. "In the bushes just outside of this store, I saw a normal red Bafomdad hopping around. Get that, and we'll replace the Golden Bafomdad with the normal one. While you get it, I'll see if I can remove at least the laser traps and the cameras so we can open the cage without being detected."
"Oh, sure, like I don't have enough Bafomdad problems already-"
"Just do it!"
Slippy rubbed his hands as Falco stormed out of the store, grumbling. The frog reached up to the security cameras and detached the wires from the cameras to the electricity. He then searched for the wiring for the lasers, which were inside a metal box against the wall. When Slippy opened it, he slowly clipped the wiring, the lasers disappearing as soon as he cut them in halves.
It didn't take too long for Falco to get that normal Bafomdad. He found that little critter sleeping in the bushes, and he picked it up gently and softly before it would wake up. He tiptoed back into the store, but as he passed the snoring Shabunga, the little Bafomdad woke up. It squirmed and whimpered in Falco's arms, then tried to leap away, but the blue tiercel just tightened his arm around the creature and muffled it.
Slippy shook his head when he saw the bird with the Bafomdad. "You could be gentler!"
"I was, until that Shabunga b@$t@rd snored like a moose making his mating call!"
Slippy sighed as he took the Bafomdad from Falco's arms and turned to the cage, only to find a lock. "It's locked."
"NOW YOU TELL ME!!!"
"SHHHH!!!"
Falco looked back at the sleeping dinosaur. Around Shabunga's neck was a chain, with the key attached. Slippy stared at Falco for several minutes, giving the hotheaded bird his message. Falco grumbled, "I'll get it, lazy @$$."
The bird quietly approached Shabunga, still sprawled across the floor. Falco bent down and slowly grasped the chain when Shabunga suddenly turned and wrapped his arms around the bird of prey's waist. He pulled him down and hugged him like a pillow then licked his feathery face. "Yo, baby..." Shabunga muttered in his sleep. "Where have ya been all my life?"
Slippy chuckled, the red Bafomdad snickering with him. "Falco," Slippy whispered. "You can just ghost right through him!"
"I was ABOUT to do that!" Falco growled as he passed through Shabunga's arms like the ghost he is. He grabbed the chain and snapped it in two, the key falling unto the floor. The tiercel picked it up, walked to Slippy, and held it right into his face. "There!" he barked. "Ya happy now?"
"Shhh! You'll wake him up!" Slippy hissed back as he snatched the key and started walking to the cage. As he began unlocking it, he began to chuckle. "You know, I don't know what's funnier, Fox running around in a dress or you receiving some lovin' from Shabung-"
"Just open the gawddamn cage!"
Slippy quickly opened the cage and reached in for the sleeping Golden Bafomdad. The little critter stirred and turned its head and faced the frog, who looked at it with a gentle smile on his face. "Shhhhhhhh... don't worry, little guy. We'll help you." He opened his hand, gesturing the golden critter to hop onto it. The Golden Bafomdad stepped on it, and Slippy slowly took it out, then placed in the red Bafomdad. He quietly closed the cage and locked it. The red Bafomdad, too tired to even try to escape, just went back to sleep.
Both Slippy and Falco sighed in relief. "Whew!"
By the time Slippy turned around with Falco and Happy the Golden Bafomdad, he accidentally knocked the cage with the red Bafomdad inside off the boulder with his elbow, landing right on one of the ropes, snapping it and unleashing a loud, blaring siren.
Falco glared at Slippy, "NOW you've done it!"
((to be continued...))
***
((Dun-dun-DUUUUUUUUNNN!!! Now that chapter's finished, please review! ^^)
~Imagen~
***
Part II
Chapter 3: "Stealing From Shabunga"
Diva was forever pinned to the ground. She could not move at all, only breath and blink and talk. Iron rings from Jigoku pinned her close to the floor and literally glued her there, preventing her to escape in anyway. She cannot ghost through the rings. She will have to stay there forever and be a victim to Kuro as long as she remains in the afterlife. Even as a ghost she suffers like that of the living. Perhaps Jigoku is merely nothing compared to what she is going through now. Then again, it could be worse...
The trapped woman shed tears of suffering and sadness down from her eyes, trickling down her face and unto the ground, making tiny pools of waters of agony. She sorrowfully gazed into the starry sky, the stars twinkling over her. Diva felt as if the sky was taking pity on her, crying along with her. She felt like the moon glanced at her and sighed forlornly, wanting to step down from the silver disk she sat on and release the bird who was once free. But no, they were only feelings. Feelings of freedom. But it'll never come. All hope was lost for her. She longed to be roaming happily in the forests of Cape Claw (falling into holes and off cliffs don't count), being with her son and dinosaur friends.
Her son.......... Starr........ how is he?
The sky sighed sadly as she brought the bad news to the pinned falcon woman, revealing a jasper-colored star losing its brightness, slowly fading.
"Oh, no.... no... it can't be....." Diva's quiet crying turned to heavy sobs, wailing and bawling.
General Scales, who was still nearby, listened to the woman's cries, had enough. He stormed to her and kicked her side, "Shaddup!"
"Have pity on me, sir, please!" Diva begged.
"Why should I? You are not my responsibility."
Diva wept even louder as Scales abandoned the woman into miserable loneliness as he left for a stroll away from the Krazoa Palace.
***
There was someone who did have pity on the trapped woman. Yet he cannot go near the poor falcon. He cannot be seen, but he truly, deeply, wanted to comfort her. He could not stand the woman's position, being the object of rape and lust from a man who owned her soul. He too felt like crying alongside, feeling sympathy pains of the prisoner. It was quiet crying, however, yet only a few tears fell on his face. His heart ached, and he cannot stand it any longer. He quietly took off his glasses and wiped his tears, placed them back on, then picked up the Golden Bafomdad that sat beside him and approached the woman.
He walked around her at a certain distance that neither Diva nor General Scales could see. He then approached her and sat upon a boulder near the top of her head. He sighed, fixed his glasses, then greeted the prisoner softly and gently, "Hello."
Diva could not see him, for her neck was also pinned to the ground, disabling her from lifting her head. She only turned at an angle to look at the stranger. She could only see his knees and part of his face, plus a tail that swished like a waving leaf in the wind. She whispered, "Who are you?"
"A friend. Don't worry."
"A-A friend...?"
"I didn't come to increase your sorrow, rather, to decrease it, and hopefully also to give you strength as you go through these hard times."
"W-What's your name?"
"Just call me 'Jim'."
"You can see me?"
"I'm also a ghost. Actually, I've been dead for nine years."
"How did you die?"
"The man who killed General Scales also killed me. In one way, I am against Scales's plan, in another, I am for it. For if the man who killed him never dies, then I can never rest. My son could have set rest for me nine years ago, but no, that man escaped the clutches of Jigoku. That's why General Scales was able to open the gates at will. He made a deal with death. The gods of the dead are calling for the man who killed us, and they have given Scales the power to open the gates of Jigoku so he can ensnare the man into a fiery demise. However, Scales is also misusing them, planning to take down other people as well, especially for a friend of yours and your son... and mine."
"Your son.......... who is he?"
"You already know him."
"What?"
"Jim" looked up and saw General Scales coming in at a distance. "I must depart now, Miss Jenson. Be strong. Your suffering will end soon, and you will be reunited with your son and go home."
"Jim?"
Before Scales would see him, Jim vanished from Diva's sight, the Golden Bafomdad left. The little furry creature whimpered then approached her. It leaned onto her and nuzzled her, then gave her a light kiss on the head.
Jim's voice was heard, "Hope, let's go!"
"Hope?" Diva repeated.
"Yes, this little Golden Bafomdad's a girl. I named her Hope for a very good reason. You shall see soon enough, Miss Jenson, before the angels come and take me away," Jim said as Hope hopped away into the shadows.
***
"Okay, so we got the LightFoot's Golden Bafomdad, who is Hoppy here, and we also got the EarthWalker's Bafomdad, who's Haughty..." Starr stated. "So, what's next?"
"How about the ThornTails?" Tricky suggested. "After all, we're already here at ThornTail Hollow."
"Great idea, guys," Fox assented. "I'll ask one of those guys right now." The young vulpine stood up from under the tree and stretched, then approached the nearest ThornTail. "Hi."
"Before you ask, we don't have it," the ThornTail grumbled.
Fox realized that this was the same ThornTail that refused to talk and lead a revolt against Scales back in his first mission on Dinosaur Planet. "Wait a minute, you don't even know-"
"What your looking for? Too late. Shabunga found him, he keeps him. The furry creature was once owned by a little ThornTail girl who named him Happy, but one day after playing 'Hide-and-seek', that guy Shabunga snatched him out of the bushes and held him captive in his store."
"Oh, great......." Fox muttered.
"Poor girl," Tricky said as he shook his head. "I'll bet that girl misses little Happy."
"What's the deal with naming Bafomdads with stupid names starting with the letter 'H'?" Falco asked. "Hoppy? Haughty? Happy? What kind of names are those?"
"Pet names, that's what they are!" Starr said as he wrapped a pink colored string around Hoppy's neck as a collar, with Haughty having dark green.
Falco stared. "What are you doing?"
"Giving Hoppy and Haughty collars!"
"How can you tell the difference? They look absolutely the same without those collars!"
The Golden Bafomdad with the green collar hopped on Falco's head and stomped on it several times, pounding Falco's face into the ground.
Slippy snickered, "Well, at least we know what THAT one is!"
"Oh, shaddup!"
"Okay, guys, settle down!" Fox shouted as he began heading towards Shabunga's shop while looking into his wallet. He sighed, "Ten scarabs? I seriously doubt that'll be the price."
"I'll help you, Fox," Tricky said as he ran after him. "Mom gave me a full wallet of two hundred scarabs! Even if that's not enough, I'll just ask my mom!"
"Why doesn't she just tell him to hand it over for free?" Peppy asked.
The Queen sighed. "Shabunga's not an EarthWalker, so he doesn't necessarily have to obey the rules here."
"What is he, then?"
"Beats me. A legless SharpClaw perhaps?"
***
As soon as Fox and Tricky entered Shabunga's shop, they caught the legless dinosaur in a far corner of the first room asleep. Tricky laughed, "Great! Now we can steal it!"
"Tricky..."
"Okay, okay, fine!"
Fox entered the room where Shabunga kept miscellaneous items he found lying around in Dinosaur Planet. He searched up and down the shelves and tables, overlooking the bags, toys, books, etc., ignoring items he found quite useless. After searching throughout the entire room Fox sighed, "It's not here. Go look for it, Tricky."
"Why me?" Tricky grumbled as he turned and ran off while Fox moved unto the next room.
Tricky ran down to the Scarab Room then entered. After seeing that it was empty, he turned and became ready to run back when he tripped over a rock and rolled into the secret room covered by an illusion wall. He rolled into the giant boulder that lay right in the middle, where a cage and an imprisoned Golden Bafomdad sat on top of it.
"Fox! Fox! I found it!" Tricky yelled. But Fox didn't respond, and the EarthWalker Prince assumed the vulpine never heard him, so he decided to get the little Bafomdad himself. He backed up and prepared to leap onto the boulder when Shabunga got to there first, appearing suddenly in midair then snatching away the cage. At once he disappeared with the Bafomdad, Tricky yelling out, "HEY!!!"
Shabunga reappeared right behind Fox, who was peering into more of the dinosaur's shelves. In the corner of his foxy eye the vulpine caught sight of the sneaking giant lizard, and he quietly followed him for a few steps before pouncing on him. Shabunga was much quicker, however, and he managed to teleport behind the lunging fox. "Ah-ah-aaah! Too slow, furball!"
Fox only pushed himself off the floor and dusted himself. He asked him, "All right, Shabunga-san, how much does that Golden Bafomdad cost?"
"Nuttin!"
"So it's free! Great!"
"It's not free either, foxy boy!"
"What?"
"This little baby ain't fer sale," Shabunga said as he stroked the cage as if it was a cat. "Of all the things in this store, this one stays here forever! Once I die, I can use this precious to revive me the moment I breathe my last!"
"Why don't you use a normal Bafomdad? They're more common than the Golden ones!"
Shabunga gave Fox the lazy eye before he continued, "I've worked very hard to capture this baby! This one ain't fer sale, and that's final!!!"
***
"Worked very hard to capture that thing? I don't think so!" Tricky grumbled after he left the store fifteen minutes after arguing with Shabunga. "I mean, he stole the thing from that poor little girl! And he probably did it like taking a candy from a baby!"
"So what are you going to do know?" Krystal's voice asked as she approached the prince and fox without them seeing her.
"I know two wrongs don't make a right," Fox began. "But it seems like we have no choice."
"What?"
"I have an idea, but we're going to have to wait until nightfall to place it in action..."
***
The cattails slapped each other as the wind blew in between them, the leaves thrashing about in unison. Scarabs, green, red, and gold, scurried about in between the tall blades of grass as the wind howled, the air rushing into freezing chilliness. The ThornTails that roamed about in the fields shivered in their sleep, many of them huddling closely together by their beacons, trying to get warmth. The smoke from BombFlowers faded, spores dashing quickly as the wind continued to blow. Even inside the EarthWalker Palace was there shaking and shivering in the cold, Fox fighting with Tricky over a small blanket as they leaned on the Queen like a pillow. Both were lying on her side like little babies playing tug-o-war with the tiny blanket, both of them too cold to give up the fight yet too sleepy to actually get up and fight for real. Starr, who was lying in between the fox and the dinosaur prince, felt lucky he didn't have to fight over the blanket. He didn't mind the fabric rubbing against him. It only made him warmer.
Peppy and Krystal, who could hardly feel the cold, shook their heads as they sat by the wall across the room, watching Fox and Tricky war over a measly blanket. Yet they can only imagine how cold the air must be, since they no longer had bodies. They do, however, remember what it was like lying on the cold floor with only a tiny blanket to keep warmth, and the experiences were horrible.
Krystal sighed, "You know, they could just go to Shabunga and buy a much larger, warmer blanket."
"Not now, though," Peppy told her. "Shabunga's asleep... hopefully."
The blue vixen sighed again. "What is TAKING them so long??? It wouldn't take Falco and Slippy a whole hour just to get that Golden Bafomdad, would it?"
***
Both Slippy and Falco wanted to do the whole thing as quickly as possible, but they knew that it might end disastrous, so slow and steady seemed to be the best way to go. However, both were quite the impatient types, so they tried to do it also very quickly... now if only there was a faster way to do it without waking Shabunga up...
By the time nightfall came, several hours ago, Fox placed his plan into action. They would wait until Shabunga sleeps, then two of the ghosts would go and steal back the Golden Bafomdad. Sounds simple, right?
Slippy and Falco thought so too... that was, before they found out Shabunga placed a high-tech security around the entire cage atop the boulder like it was some kind of museum display. And it ain't just any other security. Ropes, knives, axes, crossbows, anvils, security cameras, lasers, and steel balls were hung and set up everywhere around the little Bafomdad's cage, ensuring nobody, NOBODY gets that little Bafomdad.
"WHERE THE HELL DOES THAT OVERGROWN LEATHER HANDBAG GET ALL THIS JUNK???!!!" Falco yelled.
Slippy hushed the yelling tiercel as he smacked him on the back of the head. "Quiet, ya birdbrain!" he hissed.
Falco noticed the laser shooting across the floor. "I assume that if we cross this laser, the trap will be unleashed."
"We won't have to worry about detected. We're not even of organic material. But what we should worry is the Bafomdad."
"Why is that?"
"Take a look," Slippy pointed the lasers surrounding the cage. "If we move the cage away from its spot even an inch, the traps will be unleashed."
"So?"
"SO??? With that many traps around the cage, it'll be killing the Bafomdad with us if we were still alive! Plus it'll be making a lot of noise, which will be waking up Shabunga!"
Falco tilted his head slightly so his raptorial eyes could glance at the sleeping lizard at an angle. Shabunga sprawled all over the floor right next to the well, snoring loudly with his tongue hanging out like a vine over a wall. The blue tiercel made a face as he shook his head while Shabunga muttered sale prices in his sleep.
"I have an idea," Slippy said as he nudged his comrade. "In the bushes just outside of this store, I saw a normal red Bafomdad hopping around. Get that, and we'll replace the Golden Bafomdad with the normal one. While you get it, I'll see if I can remove at least the laser traps and the cameras so we can open the cage without being detected."
"Oh, sure, like I don't have enough Bafomdad problems already-"
"Just do it!"
Slippy rubbed his hands as Falco stormed out of the store, grumbling. The frog reached up to the security cameras and detached the wires from the cameras to the electricity. He then searched for the wiring for the lasers, which were inside a metal box against the wall. When Slippy opened it, he slowly clipped the wiring, the lasers disappearing as soon as he cut them in halves.
It didn't take too long for Falco to get that normal Bafomdad. He found that little critter sleeping in the bushes, and he picked it up gently and softly before it would wake up. He tiptoed back into the store, but as he passed the snoring Shabunga, the little Bafomdad woke up. It squirmed and whimpered in Falco's arms, then tried to leap away, but the blue tiercel just tightened his arm around the creature and muffled it.
Slippy shook his head when he saw the bird with the Bafomdad. "You could be gentler!"
"I was, until that Shabunga b@$t@rd snored like a moose making his mating call!"
Slippy sighed as he took the Bafomdad from Falco's arms and turned to the cage, only to find a lock. "It's locked."
"NOW YOU TELL ME!!!"
"SHHHH!!!"
Falco looked back at the sleeping dinosaur. Around Shabunga's neck was a chain, with the key attached. Slippy stared at Falco for several minutes, giving the hotheaded bird his message. Falco grumbled, "I'll get it, lazy @$$."
The bird quietly approached Shabunga, still sprawled across the floor. Falco bent down and slowly grasped the chain when Shabunga suddenly turned and wrapped his arms around the bird of prey's waist. He pulled him down and hugged him like a pillow then licked his feathery face. "Yo, baby..." Shabunga muttered in his sleep. "Where have ya been all my life?"
Slippy chuckled, the red Bafomdad snickering with him. "Falco," Slippy whispered. "You can just ghost right through him!"
"I was ABOUT to do that!" Falco growled as he passed through Shabunga's arms like the ghost he is. He grabbed the chain and snapped it in two, the key falling unto the floor. The tiercel picked it up, walked to Slippy, and held it right into his face. "There!" he barked. "Ya happy now?"
"Shhh! You'll wake him up!" Slippy hissed back as he snatched the key and started walking to the cage. As he began unlocking it, he began to chuckle. "You know, I don't know what's funnier, Fox running around in a dress or you receiving some lovin' from Shabung-"
"Just open the gawddamn cage!"
Slippy quickly opened the cage and reached in for the sleeping Golden Bafomdad. The little critter stirred and turned its head and faced the frog, who looked at it with a gentle smile on his face. "Shhhhhhhh... don't worry, little guy. We'll help you." He opened his hand, gesturing the golden critter to hop onto it. The Golden Bafomdad stepped on it, and Slippy slowly took it out, then placed in the red Bafomdad. He quietly closed the cage and locked it. The red Bafomdad, too tired to even try to escape, just went back to sleep.
Both Slippy and Falco sighed in relief. "Whew!"
By the time Slippy turned around with Falco and Happy the Golden Bafomdad, he accidentally knocked the cage with the red Bafomdad inside off the boulder with his elbow, landing right on one of the ropes, snapping it and unleashing a loud, blaring siren.
Falco glared at Slippy, "NOW you've done it!"
((to be continued...))
***
((Dun-dun-DUUUUUUUUNNN!!! Now that chapter's finished, please review! ^^)