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,
Kuro Youkai, and his pet Golden Bafomdad and all the other ones as well,
along with those stoopid people trying to keep our poor hero away from
Dinosaur Planet (except General Pepper). Sorry if the plot strays, 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'm afraid updating this fic will be slower than ever... I'm updating at
the point where hardly left has been written, so if you want this fic to be
updated after this, please be patient. I have demands in life that keep me
from the things I enjoy doing. ;_; Please review after reading. Thank you.
~~Imagen~~
***
Part II
Chapter 8: "Crumbling Dreams"
***
"Kuro? As in that hawk b@$t@rd?!" Krystal gasped as she shuddered in the crumbling earth in Walled City. "Oh, gawd, no..."
"MY BADGE!!! Give it back, you thief!" Tricky screamed as he lunged at Drip, pouncing on him. As soon as his weight suddenly fell on the little Golden Bafomdad, he coughed up and spat a small, golden object, glistening with drool from the sun.
James stared. "......................... A key......."
"It's the key to the chest!" Peppy called out as he ran to pick up the key. He wiped it with a leaf and examined it. "Yeah. I think that's what it is."
All was silent except for the blowing wind.
Diva muttered, "That... was... quick..."
((Diva points out of the computer screen. "Man, that was real cheap! I was expecting an arduous, tediously difficult journey of crossing the mountains, swimming the oceans, flying through the skies and pouring our hearts into this adventure of saving our beloved planet, regaining our lost lives and reuniting with our dearly friends!"
A sweatdrop appears on the author's head. "Aren't you glad I've made your afterlives a lot easier?"
Diva chuckled nervously. "Actually, yes!" ^_^
Everyone face falls. James smacks Diva on the head with a harisen and shoves everyone in-character.
A/N: Pretend this never happened.))
Suddenly the wind began to blow violently, and Peppy felt something quickly strike him on the face, making him fall and drop the key. He was dazed for a moment, but he managed to stand back up and rub his face, just to see a red-tailed hawk standing on a tree branch with the key and Drip in his hands.
"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm afraid you can't have this key. If you'd like to have it, though, you'll have to come for it in the Krazoa Palace Ruins," Kuro taunted as he tossed the key into the air. Peppy and Slippy raced to the tree where he stood when he vanished before their very eyes, the Golden Bafomdad and key disappearing with him.
The rabbit and frog glanced at each other and Krystal when they turned to run. James called to them, "No! Don't! It could be a trap!"
"Do we have a choice?" Slippy called back as soon as Peppy and Krystal began running. He turned to follow when James began running after them.
"No, McCloud-san! Let them run!"
"............. Into a trap?"
"I know what he really wants......... I'll go after them."
"WHAT???!!! Serena, no-"
"Please! Kuro and Scales have my son and Falco! If we get those two to reopen the gates, we can allow the Tanuki Tennyo to pull them out!"
"Serena..."
"You have the chest. Kuro has the key. We need to get it back from him if we need Fox to use the Spirit Weapon to fight Scales. All we can do now is work things out... besides, Fox is sick, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Then go back!"
James was left speechless when Diva turned to follow Slippy. He had nothing to say. What could he say? Everything.......... it's falling apart. Just when something was going right for once, it just dropped like a bomb..... what could he say? Diva was right. All they can do now is to work things out. But what things? Get the key back, risk the last members of the Team of losing them to Jigoku, open the chest to the Spirit Weapon, and have Fox save the day again? Yeah.......... that could be it........ but it would not be easy.......
Tricky's wailing interrupted James's thoughts. "MY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADGE!!!"
"Oh, shut it, Tricky..........."
***
"We're nearing Macbeth now," Katt said into her comlink. "How's Fox?"
Bill placed his gray paw on Fox's forehead. "Not too good... I think he's getting worse-"
"It's because of the conditions of space," Katt concluded. "We have to get him into some kind of infirmary. Fortunately, I know just the place!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What's that?" Fox whispered. Once again, he was in pitching darkness, with nothing to see, not even himself. Yet at a far distance, he could see something sparkling... a flame, perhaps? Fox started running to it, wanting to know what it was and satisfy his curiosity.
His running was long. Very long. No matter how much further he raced to it, or how long his feet dashed in the darkness, he didn't seem to get any nearer to the light. His running seemed to extend to eternity, as if that bright light was moving away from him as he furthers to it. Soon, Fox grew exhausted, and he fell to his knees. The light stopped with him.
"One day, Fox... you will be among the stars. You will fly higher than the stars. You can see them all that you like, and you can reach them and feel its brilliance."
"When, Papa? When?"
"When you grow up... you can join me and my Team."
"Team... are you really like the stars?"
"To shine together to bring light? Not exactly, Fox... not exactly... but if you think about it... yes. One cannot shine without the other to give light. That's why you have a Team. You work together for the benefit of others. Just like the stars."
"Stars..." Fox muttered as the words of his father echoed in his mind. He bowed low, as if mourning, clutching his head and yelling out in the top of his lungs. "But my Team is dead! DEAD! This world is falling apart! MY world is falling apart! We're losing..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Voices. People talking. Fox's ears twitched, his crystal blue eyes opening. People were around him. His people, anthros. There was a pinto mare and an armadillo woman, both in nurses' uniform. They were speaking softly to an elephant bull in doctor's uniform, discussing things to the nurses Fox cannot understand. Sitting on chairs nearby was Bill and Katt, chatting. Fox glanced at himself. He was lying on a mattress, covered in white sheets.
"Mr. McCloud, you're finally awake!" the elephant doctor said happily. "You've been asleep for four days."
"Four days....." Fox repeated. His shook his dizzy head, "W-Where am I?"
"You're in Macbeth, Señor," the mare nurse said in a thick Spanish accent. "You were taken in by your friends, Commander Grey and Lieutenant Monroe. You've been really sick with influenza, so thank them from taking you away from that horrible place. You now feel better, no?"
Fox's ears lay limp on the back of his head. "A little..." He looked up to the greyhound and pink cat, "Did you guys really take me away from Dinosaur Planet?"
"Before it would crumble completely," Bill said smirking.
Fox's eyes widened. "Crumble... completely?"
Katt nodded. "Check out the news, Fox! Dinosaur Planet is literally crumbling into a mass of floating rock and earth! It may be more of a meteor field rather than a planet!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???!!! HOW???!!!"
"There is some planet left, Señor McCloud," the armadillo comforted Fox. "Just little, though."
"A little? As in how much? How big?"
"About..." she turned to the mare and elephant. "A quarter left, no?"
'Oh, no...' Fox thought, slumping and burying his face into his hands. 'I may be too late...'
The doctor nodded to the nurses then faced Bill and Katt, "I'm afraid you two will have to leave-"
"NO!!!" Fox barked. "I'd like to speak to with Com. Grey and Lt. Monroe alone!"
"B-But-"
"NOW!!!"
The doctor sighed, nodded to the nurses again, then turned to leave the room, the mare and armadillo following. The doctor returned a bit to close the door. Bill and Katt rose from their seats and approached Fox's bed, his face still buried in his hands.
Bill leaned close to Fox's shoulders, his nose nearly sniffing his mussed fur and poking near his face. "Um................ Fox?"
Before anyone would react, Fox rushed to Bill and seized his neck, his black paws strangling the dog. Fox's eyes were on fire, his ears laid back stiffly and his tail flexed and straight. Bill choked, gasping for air and for words to stay, but his friend's hands just closed in tighter and tighter around his throat, closing the windpipe almost completely. Katt stood there, staring as Fox shook him as he strangled him. The cat sighed, retracted a claw from her index finger and scratched her itching temple, then extracted the rest to slash Fox's face. The scratches were not deep, but they did manage to leave red stripes across the vulpine's face. This caused Fox to release Bill's face, making the greyhound fall to the floor and gasping for air.
Katt ran to Bill's side. She yelled at the scratched fox, "Fox, what the hell is WRONG with you?!!!"
Fox clutched his face for a moment before answering. "Why....... WHY did you take me?..."
"You were sick!" Bill choked. "What, you want to stay in Dinosaur Planet and go down with it?"
"If I have to, YES!!!"
"Geez, Fox..." Bill coughed as he struggled to breathe. "Maybe you're not over your flu yet-"
"I'm just fine!" Fox grumbled as he hopped off his bed. "I'm going back-"
"WHAT??? WHY???" Katt yelled. "Dinosaur Planet's nearly completely destroyed! Forget about it! There's no hope for that world!"
'Damn...' Fox had to think of a way to persuade the to allow him to go. "What about the dinosaurs? What will happen to them?"
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for them," Bill said as he shook his head. "We COULD fly to Dinosaur Planet and gather the surviving dinosaurs and give them a new home, but-"
"That's not all what I'm talking about!" Fox slumped, trying to find something else to say. "......................... Peppy, Slippy, and Falco are still there-"
"WHAT???!!!" It was Katt's turn to do some strangling, wrapping her small hands around Fox's neck. "They weren't there when we got there!!! Where's Falco???!!! Where's my hunk-o-rama hootchie-mama cuddly-bird???!!! Tell me!"
"Katt!" Bill shouted as he pulled Katt away from Fox. "Now, now, kitty- Katt, we must not strangle a very ill sickie like a psycho, must we?"
"Shut it, Bill!" Katt screeched as she scratched the dog's face. Bill screamed as soon as red stripes appeared on his face.
Fox thought about what he said. 'I can't tell them the truth about what really happened to my Team. I mean, how could I tell Bill and Katt that Peppy, Slippy, and Falco were killed a long time ago when we crashed into Dinosaur Planet? How could I? There's no way...'
"Well?" Bill asked. "Where IS your Team?"
'.......................... They'll never find out.' "They're hiding somewhere on Dinosaur Planet. I'll go back and get them-"
"No, you're not!"
"WHAT???!!!"
"Katt and I will find them! You stay here. You're still sick!"
"No, I'm not! I'm over... my... flu... now..." Fox suddenly grew tired from the yelling and strangling and fell asleep, flopping backwards on his bed and snoring.
Bill and Katt stared. "Told you so."
***
Hours passed. Fox reawakened with the Macbethan sun setting softly in the dusty mountains. The lights in his room were dimmed, a tray of hospital food setting on a desk nearby. The young vulpine sat up and yawned, shaking his head, his dizziness faded but not completely gone. Fox noticed the stillness in his room, with absolutely no one inside but him and no sound ringing in his ears except for his breathing. He cannot even hear any conversing outside his door, nor did any light shine under it. Fox felt alone. Very alone.
'Blech... hospital food...' Fox thought as he leaned to his side and reached for his tray. He frowned as he scanned a bagel, butter, jam, rice, and red fruit juice, all of it cold and bland. But he hasn't eaten for days, so Fox reluctantly began eating his food, spreading the tasteless butter on the insipid bagel and biting it with the flavorless, soggy rice, leaving only the juice out. He had no choice. He has to gather up strength so he could go back to Dinosaur Planet and save what is left of it.
As soon as he finished his meal, Fox got up from his bed and walked to the door. He placed his hand on the cold doorknob and turned it. Locked. The fox began knocking on the door, the knocking echoing in the emptiness. Nothing. Fox's knocking turned to rapping, and very soon the rapping turned furious. Soon enough an orca wearing security uniform unlocked the door and opening it, his red eyes glaring at the fox. "What do you want?"
"I have to go out!"
"You're Fox McCloud, aren't you?"
"I can sign autographs later-"
"Look, sir, I'm sorry, but I was given strict orders from Commander Grey to not allow you to leave your room."
"WHAT???!!!" Fox flung his arms in the air angrily. "For crying out loud, it's JUST a flu! I'm over it now!"
"Maybe. However, because you just left yourself out in open sick while Dinosaur Planet was falling apart, Commander Grey and Lieutenant Monroe refuse to allow you to return there."
"Who died and made them boss? Let me go!"
The orca, without another word to say, simply slammed the door on Fox's face, causing the young canine to fall back, the security guard locking it. Fox rubbed his nose and ran back to the door, slamming his fists on it and striking it, yelling, "Let me out! Let me out!" After yelling for five minutes, however, he quickly became tired and barked angrily at the guard, "You'll regret this!"
Fox leaned on the door and slid to the floor (hey, that rhymes! ^^), feeling a bit exhausted. He sighed and pulled his knees up and leaned on them, his arms wrapping around his head as if crying. Fox sat there for several minutes, thinking. He thought, and thought, and thought. What can he do? He thought about escaping through the window. Fox stood up and walked to it and looked outside. Boy, he was WAY high up. Eight stories high, to be exact. At first, Fox was thinking of jumping out or climbing out by using his blankets as a rope, but now those were out of the question. Now he'll have to think of another way out.
The young vulpine looked at a chair that sat by the window. On it was a basket with Fox's own clothes, washed. The fox looked at himself. He was wearing hospital clothes. Fox looked into his basket and found his white vest, green pants and shirt, red bandanna, everything. Even the gauntlet that Slippy made for him for communication linking, maps, radar, tracking, translating, and even a SharpClaw disguise button. Fox turned back to his food tray. His red fruit juice was still sitting there, waiting for him.
Hmmmmmm.........
***
"GRRROOOOAAAAAAAARRR!!! MUAARRRR!!!! RAAAOOORRRAROOOROOR!!!!"
Noises suddenly rang out in Fox's room. The orca security guard, along with three of his comrades, was nearby, hearing what sounded like furious roaring in the mercenary's bedroom. All four of the guards ran to his door and unlocked then swung it open. Fox's room was a mess, the window shattered, the bed upturned, debris everywhere, and a lone SharpClaw, standing there roaring madly. His mouth and claws was stained with crimson, laying on his feet the Lylatian hero's hospital clothing, also stained with red.
"WHA-WHA-WHAT THE HELL???!!!" the orca gasped. The SharpClaw roared as if he was a velociraptor and leaped towards the guards, landing right on one of them. The guards, too frightened to fight off the dinosaur, fled in terror, abandoning their fainted comrade.
The SharpClaw stopped roaring and wiped his hands and mouth, then pressed his arm. The skin and armor of the dinosaur faded away, revealing the sly fox underneath the disguise. Fox McCloud chuckled and placed his arms akimbo, shaking his head. 'That was WAY too easy...' he thought. He looked down on the security guard on whom he stood on, who was a jackal. Perfect. His uniform seemed like it would fit Fox.
***
The nurses and doctors scattered throughout the halls in the hospital as Fox walked by them casually, disguised as a security guard. He had the identification card turned backwards so he wouldn't be mistaken for the jackal he spooked. Hopefully he could keep this disguise long enough to escape the hospital.
Fox felt as if his lucky star was shining on him, for he successfully walked out the hospital doors without being caught. He hid in the bushes and stripped off the uniform, his own mercenary clothing underneath it (must be hot). He snuck through the parking lot and ran to the pavement, then looked around. A taxicab was just driving by. Fox held a paw as a signal for the taxi driver to drive at his direction. The yellow cab stopped right in front of the vulpine. Fox immediately hopped in, sliding into the back seat.
"Where to, mate?" the driver, a kangaroo speaking in Strine, asked.
Fox sighed, relieved that the driver didn't recognize him. "To the Macbethan Army Base, please."
"Ay, that's fifty miles from 'ere! Plus it's quite dangerous there' at this time o' da day. Why in da world do ya need to go 'dere anyway?"
'Looks like I have no choice,' Fox thought. "Do you know who I am?"
The driver turned to glance at Fox. "'Ey! You're Fox McCloud!"
"Yeah... that's right!"
"Well, how do ya do, mate? Mi-name's Sandy Hoppa!"
"Yeah........ hey, Sandy-san."
"How may I help you, sir?"
"How about driving me to the Base?"
"Oh..... right..." Sandy began shifting into gear. Before Fox would put on a seatbelt, the kangaroo began speeding away forward, pinning poor Fox to his seat.
The vulpine tried to get a grip on the front seat before him. "HEY!!! Slow down, will ya?"
"Ya really need to get to the Base, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Hold tight!" Sandy placed his foot deeper into the pedal. Fox shook in his seat, still not wearing his seatbelt.
The kangaroo soon reached a right turn. Sandy quickly spun the steering wheel, the tires of the cab screeching as the car turned quickly. Fox rolled into the left side of the cab, rolling then ramming his head on the window. He rolled again forward when the driver reached a left turn. When Sandy approached the edge of a hill he began speeding downward, causing Fox to fall into the floor. The cab then reached the foot of another hill, and as soon as the front hit into the foot, Fox, who was just getting up, bonked his head on the ceiling.
"Feelin' okay, sir?"
"Yeah..."
"Don't worry! Just half an hour more!"
***
In due time, that yellow taxicab reached the Macbethan Army Base. The driver sped up to the front and parked suddenly, nearly sliding. Men and women who were nearby stared as Fox wobbled out the door, injured and dizzy, tumbling to the ground. The people gaped as Fox kissed the ground. "What the hell is he doing?" a woman asked her husband. The husband only shook his head and shrugged.
Fox struggled to get to his feet and leaned on the car door. "Okay........ how much?"
"It's for free, mate! Just driving the great Fox McCloud to his work is a reward itself!"
'Good, because if you're ask for payment then I'm gonna stuff the money down your throat!' Fox thought, not daring to say it aloud.
Storming through the crowd was a familiar face to Fox. An aging bloodhound in red Army General's uniform approached Fox, angry yet confused eyes glaring at him. "Fox?"
"Nergeral Repper! How rea ouy indoig?" Fox mumbled nonsense out of his jumbled mouth before he collapsed.
"Should we take him in, General Pepper, sir?" one of the men requested.
General Pepper sighed. "Why not?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Fox! Fox! Wake up!"
Fox's ears twitched when he heard someone calling his name. His head, while still lying down, felt as if it was spinning like a top. The young vulpine moaned as he heaved his shoulders, as if trying to get up, but he remained lying down, his ears lying back on his head.
"Fox! Yo, Fox!"
"What....." Fox grumbled as he opened his eyes. He saw that he was upon rubble, rocks, crumbled walls, and fallen pillars strewn across the earth he laid, dark clouds across the grey sky. The vulpine shuddered as he felt extreme warmth near him, and he sat up and turned to look. A fissure was opened in the middle of the rubble, with six figures sitting on rocks right by it. Fox rubbed his eyes and gazed back at the fissure. Fire spat from the chasm, chains everywhere at the mouth. On the rocks, the six figures gazed sadly at Fox, all of them covered with chains and haloes floating over their heads. Fox realized immediately it was his late Team and the two birds Diva and Starr.
"Why...?" Fox mumbled out, his mumbling then turning into shouting. "Why?! Why are you-"
"Covered in chains?" Slippy finished off, looking at the chains that wrapped around his arms and shoulders. "Well, Fox... you know..."
"Know, know what?"
"It's time for us to go."
"To............... to go? Go where?"
"To the next life," Peppy answered him.
Fox shook. "The... next life... why? Why now? I said I'll get those Golden Bafomdads and... is it... too late?"
"I'm afraid so, Fox," Krystal sighed sadly.
Fox shook his head, grasping it and kneeling. "No...... no you can't go....... not now..... NOT NOW!!!"
"Hey, c'mon, Fox," Krystal said as he stood up from the rock he sat on and began approaching him. "You're not gonna cry now, are ya?"
The young vulpine hesitated. "............... It's... just... it's just not fair! They gave me such a short time! How long has it been since we crashed into Dinosaur Planet.... a few weeks? There were ghosts that roamed on the earth for thousands of years and they were never pulled down!"
"Because their business was unfinished-"
"And yours aren't?!" Fox paused again as he hung his head as if trying to hide his face. "Those chains... I... I guess I can let you go... but why to Jigoku? What have you done? You don't deserve this! None of you do!" Fox held his head up again, and it was evident tears were forming into his eyes. He choked as he struggled to keep face, "Not you, Krystal... not you, you were pure-hearted and good..."
"Fox..."
He turned to the rest of his Team. "And you guys... you, Peppy, even though you made some bad choices, you still would do the right thing... you too, Slippy, especially... even Falco, I admit, he may be a hotheaded punk, but he's not evil or anything... and even you two birds, Diva and Starr, you don't deserve to go down too... but why...... why Jigoku? Why not Heaven?! What did you do to be pulled down to the pits of Hell than be ascended to Heaven?!"
"Fox, calm down!" Falco held his palms up. "I mean, why are you asking us? It's not like we want to burn forever or anything! You're right, we don't deserve this... but... the time's come. There's nothing we can do about it."
Sobs began to rise from Fox's throat.
Krystal placed her hands on the red vulpine's shoulders. "Fox... even if we're gone... you can handle anything alone..."
"W-What are you saying?"
"We're saying that there are people out there who need you more than we do... much more... like Dinosaur Planet!" Slippy said.
Fox's sobbing faded. "D-Dinosaur..."
"It's falling apart, but there's hope!"
"What... hope..."
"In Walled City," Peppy began, "there's a chest with something that will help you put it back together."
"How?"
"You'll see."
Before Fox would say anything else, the chains became taut. The fox watched in horror as all six of his deceased companions were dragged then pulled into the fissure. Fox ran after them, calling out their names and his hand reaching out, but they were to no prevail. All six of them were pulled into the chasm, dragged into the inferno and burning sulfur. Fox fell to his knees as the fissure closed. His last tear was shed.
"Walled City...."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*SPLASH!!!*
"What the hell?!" Fox screamed as he felt sudden cold touch his body. The StarFox Leader shot up, looking in all directions. He looked at himself, seeing he was drenched with icy cold water. Looking at his side he could see a certain bloodhound in red Army General's uniform holding a newly emptied plastic bucket.
"G-General Pepper? What are you doing here?"
"What, you don't remember that I was here the whole time?" the General said as he placed the bucket down. "You wobbled out of that taxicab and fainted in the parking lot. We found you there and brought you here. You were out like light for two days!"
"Geez, I've been sleeping a lot lately," Fox moaned as he shook his head. "And those dreams..."
"It's mostly because you're still sick. From that much sleeping, however, you should be completely healthy now."
"Sick... how did you-"
"Bill and Katt told me."
"Oh, no..."
"Don't worry," General Pepper said as he sat on the mattress where Fox lay. "I won't send you back to the hospital. For one, you're already well. Second of all, I think you've been trapped in there for too long already."
"Thank you, sir..."
The General stood from the mattress and turned to walk off when Fox did the same. The top dog turned back to him and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Back to Dinosaur Planet!"
"No."
Fox glared at him. "Oh, so now YOU'RE gonna trap me here to!"
"It's not that! It's just that I care for your safety. Your Team is already dead, and I don't want the same for you."
"Oh, no.... you..."
"Found out? Bill and Katt did too. They were speaking to some of the surviving dinosaurs with Slippy's translating device when they reported me their deaths. Let's see... Peppy, Slippy, and Falco died when you crashed into Dinosaur Planet, am I correct?"
Fox was silent for a whole minute. "Y-Yes, sir..............."
"Tragedy, indeed. Now, I'm just curious-"
"Curious?! Of their death?!"
"Yes. Fox, how did you crash into Dinosaur Planet? According to some of the dinosaurs, you were light-years away from the Planet when you came crashing down and that you were no where near the atmosphere, so it's not possible for you to be pulled in. I know you're not stupid enough to just fly into there or anything."
Fox was silent again. General Pepper was right. Fox never gave thought to how they crashed. Flashbacks came to his head...
~~~
"What's that sound?" Falco gulped.
Fox was almost breathless. "The sound of bending metal..."
"But I don't see any enemy ships surrounding the Great Fox!" Slippy gasped as he gaped back at the radar. Sure enough, the only thing surrounding the Great Fox was something cloudy.
Falco leaned forward to the controls, his raptorial eyes gazing out the windshield of the ship. Stars. Only stars. And endless darkness. That's it. He doesn't see anything surrounding the Great Fox but stars and space, that's practically it! What's surrounding the Great Fox? "I... I don't see anything!" Falco shouted.
Slippy saw something. Sparks. On the controls. Where Falco leaned on. "Falco!" Slippy warned. "Get off the controls-"
BOOM!!! The buttons, levers, gauges, wires, and monitors burst abruptly, fire, electricity, and blood flying everywhere. Falco was thrown across the room like a thrown stick from the exploding controls, his hands, arms, chest, and neck burnt and bleeding, eyes blanched and white.
"Oh, gawd..." Peppy gasped, air escaping his lungs quickly and disabling him to breathe in shock. "Falco!"
Fox and Slippy ran to the fallen bird's side. Fox shook the injured falcon, "Falco! Falco! Oh, geez, is he..."
"He's alive!" Peppy sighed in relief as he checked Falco's pulse. "But barely. He's in shock." Blood gushed from the tiercel's wounds like a river delta of thick, flowing crimson. Slippy stepped back, tears falling from his eyes. Fox was as still as a statue, unable to move. Peppy demanded to the shivering amphibian, "Hurry! Get the first aid! We have to stop the bleeding, now!"
Slippy nodded as he turned to the far end of the room, reaching into cabinets and searching for the first aid. Fox's ears twitched as the moaning sound of twisting metal rang like a dinosaur in pain. Slippy suddenly hesitated, his hands trembling and turning cold. He held the first aid kit in his hands, but he didn't move as soon as he grasped the plastic box. Fox noticed the frog's eyes shrink as the ceiling above him slowly bent. It first came out like a slight lump, but as Slippy's terrified heart beat like a drum, the lump grew bigger and bigger, the metal bending more and more. Pretty soon the lump turned into a thorn, then it bent into a corkscrew, the sharp point inching towards Slippy's head.
"Slippy!" Peppy screamed as he ran and grabbed the amphibian's arm and yanked him away from the forming corkscrew. The bent metal was only four inches from his head before it expanded into a larger metal finger then burst.
Fox fells on his face as more metal and wires flew everywhere. He lay there, shivering, trying to catch his escaping breath as sweat dripped down his brow. He gulped in some courage and looked up. It was too late. Some sharp metal was impaled through Peppy's shoulder and Slippy's stomach. It was the fox's turn to be as petrified as a rock. He could feel his blood flowing through his veins and turn stone cold, his palms sweating and shoulders heaving. His lips trembled, as if fighting to whether scream and shut up, but he cannot chose either. Before his very own eyes, his team was dying... dying a strange, bloody death.
Before the first tear was shed from Fox's eyes, the Great Fox shook more violently then ever, the ground literally tossing him about. Fox rolled into some fallen wires, still attached to the main electricity of the ship. He felt electricity sending throughout his body, the lightning shock fingering into his veins then running about along with his blood and clawing his flesh. It didn't take long for Fox's world to turn black, his skin turning numb and the rumbling no longer ringing in his ears...
~~~
"The metal began bending...... there were no ships around..." Fox began to murmur out from his memory. "On the radar, something cloudy was surrounding the Great Fox, but we couldn't see anything, not even Falco with his falcon eyes. Falco... the controls exploded on him, just like that, as if a fuse just burst then fired on him. Then the metal... it began twisting, then it burst, some of it impaling Peppy and Slippy.... the ship began shaking..."
"Fox?"
General Pepper watched the fox sit back down on the mattress as he continued to mumble. "It was as if," Fox murmured, "it was if we were attacked... by some strange force..."
The General looked up as if thinking. "Normally, Fox, when the radar scans the surrounding diameter of your position, it scans ships, not clouds."
"Clouds..."
"Maybe your radar was defective or something and was blocking your view of- "
"No..."
"What?"
Fox stood up again. "Our radar wasn't defective. Slippy checked on it once when we had a power outage in space, but otherwise he fixed everything, including the radar. The radar was in good condition when that cloud appeared."
"Fox, listen-"
"Something... attacked us..."
"Fox..."
"Something... supernatural..."
"Okay, now you're exaggerating..."
Fox turned to the General. "I'm serious, sir! Something attacked us when we were on our way to Dinosaur Planet! I'm... I'm sure of it..." he began yelling, his voice then trailing to a quiver.
The General's eyes changed from looking at him confused then gently. He sighed, realizing Fox's decision. "If you insist, Fox... there's another Arwing for you waiting at the hangar."
Fox's ears and eyebrows rose in surprise. Both he and Pepper were speechless for that while before the young vulpine slightly smiled and bowed. "Thank you, sir."
((to be continued...))
***
((*Trumpet fanfare* Now that the chapter's finished, please review! ;_; ))
~~Imagen~~
***
Part II
Chapter 8: "Crumbling Dreams"
***
"Kuro? As in that hawk b@$t@rd?!" Krystal gasped as she shuddered in the crumbling earth in Walled City. "Oh, gawd, no..."
"MY BADGE!!! Give it back, you thief!" Tricky screamed as he lunged at Drip, pouncing on him. As soon as his weight suddenly fell on the little Golden Bafomdad, he coughed up and spat a small, golden object, glistening with drool from the sun.
James stared. "......................... A key......."
"It's the key to the chest!" Peppy called out as he ran to pick up the key. He wiped it with a leaf and examined it. "Yeah. I think that's what it is."
All was silent except for the blowing wind.
Diva muttered, "That... was... quick..."
((Diva points out of the computer screen. "Man, that was real cheap! I was expecting an arduous, tediously difficult journey of crossing the mountains, swimming the oceans, flying through the skies and pouring our hearts into this adventure of saving our beloved planet, regaining our lost lives and reuniting with our dearly friends!"
A sweatdrop appears on the author's head. "Aren't you glad I've made your afterlives a lot easier?"
Diva chuckled nervously. "Actually, yes!" ^_^
Everyone face falls. James smacks Diva on the head with a harisen and shoves everyone in-character.
A/N: Pretend this never happened.))
Suddenly the wind began to blow violently, and Peppy felt something quickly strike him on the face, making him fall and drop the key. He was dazed for a moment, but he managed to stand back up and rub his face, just to see a red-tailed hawk standing on a tree branch with the key and Drip in his hands.
"I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm afraid you can't have this key. If you'd like to have it, though, you'll have to come for it in the Krazoa Palace Ruins," Kuro taunted as he tossed the key into the air. Peppy and Slippy raced to the tree where he stood when he vanished before their very eyes, the Golden Bafomdad and key disappearing with him.
The rabbit and frog glanced at each other and Krystal when they turned to run. James called to them, "No! Don't! It could be a trap!"
"Do we have a choice?" Slippy called back as soon as Peppy and Krystal began running. He turned to follow when James began running after them.
"No, McCloud-san! Let them run!"
"............. Into a trap?"
"I know what he really wants......... I'll go after them."
"WHAT???!!! Serena, no-"
"Please! Kuro and Scales have my son and Falco! If we get those two to reopen the gates, we can allow the Tanuki Tennyo to pull them out!"
"Serena..."
"You have the chest. Kuro has the key. We need to get it back from him if we need Fox to use the Spirit Weapon to fight Scales. All we can do now is work things out... besides, Fox is sick, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Then go back!"
James was left speechless when Diva turned to follow Slippy. He had nothing to say. What could he say? Everything.......... it's falling apart. Just when something was going right for once, it just dropped like a bomb..... what could he say? Diva was right. All they can do now is to work things out. But what things? Get the key back, risk the last members of the Team of losing them to Jigoku, open the chest to the Spirit Weapon, and have Fox save the day again? Yeah.......... that could be it........ but it would not be easy.......
Tricky's wailing interrupted James's thoughts. "MY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADGE!!!"
"Oh, shut it, Tricky..........."
***
"We're nearing Macbeth now," Katt said into her comlink. "How's Fox?"
Bill placed his gray paw on Fox's forehead. "Not too good... I think he's getting worse-"
"It's because of the conditions of space," Katt concluded. "We have to get him into some kind of infirmary. Fortunately, I know just the place!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What's that?" Fox whispered. Once again, he was in pitching darkness, with nothing to see, not even himself. Yet at a far distance, he could see something sparkling... a flame, perhaps? Fox started running to it, wanting to know what it was and satisfy his curiosity.
His running was long. Very long. No matter how much further he raced to it, or how long his feet dashed in the darkness, he didn't seem to get any nearer to the light. His running seemed to extend to eternity, as if that bright light was moving away from him as he furthers to it. Soon, Fox grew exhausted, and he fell to his knees. The light stopped with him.
"One day, Fox... you will be among the stars. You will fly higher than the stars. You can see them all that you like, and you can reach them and feel its brilliance."
"When, Papa? When?"
"When you grow up... you can join me and my Team."
"Team... are you really like the stars?"
"To shine together to bring light? Not exactly, Fox... not exactly... but if you think about it... yes. One cannot shine without the other to give light. That's why you have a Team. You work together for the benefit of others. Just like the stars."
"Stars..." Fox muttered as the words of his father echoed in his mind. He bowed low, as if mourning, clutching his head and yelling out in the top of his lungs. "But my Team is dead! DEAD! This world is falling apart! MY world is falling apart! We're losing..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Voices. People talking. Fox's ears twitched, his crystal blue eyes opening. People were around him. His people, anthros. There was a pinto mare and an armadillo woman, both in nurses' uniform. They were speaking softly to an elephant bull in doctor's uniform, discussing things to the nurses Fox cannot understand. Sitting on chairs nearby was Bill and Katt, chatting. Fox glanced at himself. He was lying on a mattress, covered in white sheets.
"Mr. McCloud, you're finally awake!" the elephant doctor said happily. "You've been asleep for four days."
"Four days....." Fox repeated. His shook his dizzy head, "W-Where am I?"
"You're in Macbeth, Señor," the mare nurse said in a thick Spanish accent. "You were taken in by your friends, Commander Grey and Lieutenant Monroe. You've been really sick with influenza, so thank them from taking you away from that horrible place. You now feel better, no?"
Fox's ears lay limp on the back of his head. "A little..." He looked up to the greyhound and pink cat, "Did you guys really take me away from Dinosaur Planet?"
"Before it would crumble completely," Bill said smirking.
Fox's eyes widened. "Crumble... completely?"
Katt nodded. "Check out the news, Fox! Dinosaur Planet is literally crumbling into a mass of floating rock and earth! It may be more of a meteor field rather than a planet!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT???!!! HOW???!!!"
"There is some planet left, Señor McCloud," the armadillo comforted Fox. "Just little, though."
"A little? As in how much? How big?"
"About..." she turned to the mare and elephant. "A quarter left, no?"
'Oh, no...' Fox thought, slumping and burying his face into his hands. 'I may be too late...'
The doctor nodded to the nurses then faced Bill and Katt, "I'm afraid you two will have to leave-"
"NO!!!" Fox barked. "I'd like to speak to with Com. Grey and Lt. Monroe alone!"
"B-But-"
"NOW!!!"
The doctor sighed, nodded to the nurses again, then turned to leave the room, the mare and armadillo following. The doctor returned a bit to close the door. Bill and Katt rose from their seats and approached Fox's bed, his face still buried in his hands.
Bill leaned close to Fox's shoulders, his nose nearly sniffing his mussed fur and poking near his face. "Um................ Fox?"
Before anyone would react, Fox rushed to Bill and seized his neck, his black paws strangling the dog. Fox's eyes were on fire, his ears laid back stiffly and his tail flexed and straight. Bill choked, gasping for air and for words to stay, but his friend's hands just closed in tighter and tighter around his throat, closing the windpipe almost completely. Katt stood there, staring as Fox shook him as he strangled him. The cat sighed, retracted a claw from her index finger and scratched her itching temple, then extracted the rest to slash Fox's face. The scratches were not deep, but they did manage to leave red stripes across the vulpine's face. This caused Fox to release Bill's face, making the greyhound fall to the floor and gasping for air.
Katt ran to Bill's side. She yelled at the scratched fox, "Fox, what the hell is WRONG with you?!!!"
Fox clutched his face for a moment before answering. "Why....... WHY did you take me?..."
"You were sick!" Bill choked. "What, you want to stay in Dinosaur Planet and go down with it?"
"If I have to, YES!!!"
"Geez, Fox..." Bill coughed as he struggled to breathe. "Maybe you're not over your flu yet-"
"I'm just fine!" Fox grumbled as he hopped off his bed. "I'm going back-"
"WHAT??? WHY???" Katt yelled. "Dinosaur Planet's nearly completely destroyed! Forget about it! There's no hope for that world!"
'Damn...' Fox had to think of a way to persuade the to allow him to go. "What about the dinosaurs? What will happen to them?"
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for them," Bill said as he shook his head. "We COULD fly to Dinosaur Planet and gather the surviving dinosaurs and give them a new home, but-"
"That's not all what I'm talking about!" Fox slumped, trying to find something else to say. "......................... Peppy, Slippy, and Falco are still there-"
"WHAT???!!!" It was Katt's turn to do some strangling, wrapping her small hands around Fox's neck. "They weren't there when we got there!!! Where's Falco???!!! Where's my hunk-o-rama hootchie-mama cuddly-bird???!!! Tell me!"
"Katt!" Bill shouted as he pulled Katt away from Fox. "Now, now, kitty- Katt, we must not strangle a very ill sickie like a psycho, must we?"
"Shut it, Bill!" Katt screeched as she scratched the dog's face. Bill screamed as soon as red stripes appeared on his face.
Fox thought about what he said. 'I can't tell them the truth about what really happened to my Team. I mean, how could I tell Bill and Katt that Peppy, Slippy, and Falco were killed a long time ago when we crashed into Dinosaur Planet? How could I? There's no way...'
"Well?" Bill asked. "Where IS your Team?"
'.......................... They'll never find out.' "They're hiding somewhere on Dinosaur Planet. I'll go back and get them-"
"No, you're not!"
"WHAT???!!!"
"Katt and I will find them! You stay here. You're still sick!"
"No, I'm not! I'm over... my... flu... now..." Fox suddenly grew tired from the yelling and strangling and fell asleep, flopping backwards on his bed and snoring.
Bill and Katt stared. "Told you so."
***
Hours passed. Fox reawakened with the Macbethan sun setting softly in the dusty mountains. The lights in his room were dimmed, a tray of hospital food setting on a desk nearby. The young vulpine sat up and yawned, shaking his head, his dizziness faded but not completely gone. Fox noticed the stillness in his room, with absolutely no one inside but him and no sound ringing in his ears except for his breathing. He cannot even hear any conversing outside his door, nor did any light shine under it. Fox felt alone. Very alone.
'Blech... hospital food...' Fox thought as he leaned to his side and reached for his tray. He frowned as he scanned a bagel, butter, jam, rice, and red fruit juice, all of it cold and bland. But he hasn't eaten for days, so Fox reluctantly began eating his food, spreading the tasteless butter on the insipid bagel and biting it with the flavorless, soggy rice, leaving only the juice out. He had no choice. He has to gather up strength so he could go back to Dinosaur Planet and save what is left of it.
As soon as he finished his meal, Fox got up from his bed and walked to the door. He placed his hand on the cold doorknob and turned it. Locked. The fox began knocking on the door, the knocking echoing in the emptiness. Nothing. Fox's knocking turned to rapping, and very soon the rapping turned furious. Soon enough an orca wearing security uniform unlocked the door and opening it, his red eyes glaring at the fox. "What do you want?"
"I have to go out!"
"You're Fox McCloud, aren't you?"
"I can sign autographs later-"
"Look, sir, I'm sorry, but I was given strict orders from Commander Grey to not allow you to leave your room."
"WHAT???!!!" Fox flung his arms in the air angrily. "For crying out loud, it's JUST a flu! I'm over it now!"
"Maybe. However, because you just left yourself out in open sick while Dinosaur Planet was falling apart, Commander Grey and Lieutenant Monroe refuse to allow you to return there."
"Who died and made them boss? Let me go!"
The orca, without another word to say, simply slammed the door on Fox's face, causing the young canine to fall back, the security guard locking it. Fox rubbed his nose and ran back to the door, slamming his fists on it and striking it, yelling, "Let me out! Let me out!" After yelling for five minutes, however, he quickly became tired and barked angrily at the guard, "You'll regret this!"
Fox leaned on the door and slid to the floor (hey, that rhymes! ^^), feeling a bit exhausted. He sighed and pulled his knees up and leaned on them, his arms wrapping around his head as if crying. Fox sat there for several minutes, thinking. He thought, and thought, and thought. What can he do? He thought about escaping through the window. Fox stood up and walked to it and looked outside. Boy, he was WAY high up. Eight stories high, to be exact. At first, Fox was thinking of jumping out or climbing out by using his blankets as a rope, but now those were out of the question. Now he'll have to think of another way out.
The young vulpine looked at a chair that sat by the window. On it was a basket with Fox's own clothes, washed. The fox looked at himself. He was wearing hospital clothes. Fox looked into his basket and found his white vest, green pants and shirt, red bandanna, everything. Even the gauntlet that Slippy made for him for communication linking, maps, radar, tracking, translating, and even a SharpClaw disguise button. Fox turned back to his food tray. His red fruit juice was still sitting there, waiting for him.
Hmmmmmm.........
***
"GRRROOOOAAAAAAAARRR!!! MUAARRRR!!!! RAAAOOORRRAROOOROOR!!!!"
Noises suddenly rang out in Fox's room. The orca security guard, along with three of his comrades, was nearby, hearing what sounded like furious roaring in the mercenary's bedroom. All four of the guards ran to his door and unlocked then swung it open. Fox's room was a mess, the window shattered, the bed upturned, debris everywhere, and a lone SharpClaw, standing there roaring madly. His mouth and claws was stained with crimson, laying on his feet the Lylatian hero's hospital clothing, also stained with red.
"WHA-WHA-WHAT THE HELL???!!!" the orca gasped. The SharpClaw roared as if he was a velociraptor and leaped towards the guards, landing right on one of them. The guards, too frightened to fight off the dinosaur, fled in terror, abandoning their fainted comrade.
The SharpClaw stopped roaring and wiped his hands and mouth, then pressed his arm. The skin and armor of the dinosaur faded away, revealing the sly fox underneath the disguise. Fox McCloud chuckled and placed his arms akimbo, shaking his head. 'That was WAY too easy...' he thought. He looked down on the security guard on whom he stood on, who was a jackal. Perfect. His uniform seemed like it would fit Fox.
***
The nurses and doctors scattered throughout the halls in the hospital as Fox walked by them casually, disguised as a security guard. He had the identification card turned backwards so he wouldn't be mistaken for the jackal he spooked. Hopefully he could keep this disguise long enough to escape the hospital.
Fox felt as if his lucky star was shining on him, for he successfully walked out the hospital doors without being caught. He hid in the bushes and stripped off the uniform, his own mercenary clothing underneath it (must be hot). He snuck through the parking lot and ran to the pavement, then looked around. A taxicab was just driving by. Fox held a paw as a signal for the taxi driver to drive at his direction. The yellow cab stopped right in front of the vulpine. Fox immediately hopped in, sliding into the back seat.
"Where to, mate?" the driver, a kangaroo speaking in Strine, asked.
Fox sighed, relieved that the driver didn't recognize him. "To the Macbethan Army Base, please."
"Ay, that's fifty miles from 'ere! Plus it's quite dangerous there' at this time o' da day. Why in da world do ya need to go 'dere anyway?"
'Looks like I have no choice,' Fox thought. "Do you know who I am?"
The driver turned to glance at Fox. "'Ey! You're Fox McCloud!"
"Yeah... that's right!"
"Well, how do ya do, mate? Mi-name's Sandy Hoppa!"
"Yeah........ hey, Sandy-san."
"How may I help you, sir?"
"How about driving me to the Base?"
"Oh..... right..." Sandy began shifting into gear. Before Fox would put on a seatbelt, the kangaroo began speeding away forward, pinning poor Fox to his seat.
The vulpine tried to get a grip on the front seat before him. "HEY!!! Slow down, will ya?"
"Ya really need to get to the Base, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Hold tight!" Sandy placed his foot deeper into the pedal. Fox shook in his seat, still not wearing his seatbelt.
The kangaroo soon reached a right turn. Sandy quickly spun the steering wheel, the tires of the cab screeching as the car turned quickly. Fox rolled into the left side of the cab, rolling then ramming his head on the window. He rolled again forward when the driver reached a left turn. When Sandy approached the edge of a hill he began speeding downward, causing Fox to fall into the floor. The cab then reached the foot of another hill, and as soon as the front hit into the foot, Fox, who was just getting up, bonked his head on the ceiling.
"Feelin' okay, sir?"
"Yeah..."
"Don't worry! Just half an hour more!"
***
In due time, that yellow taxicab reached the Macbethan Army Base. The driver sped up to the front and parked suddenly, nearly sliding. Men and women who were nearby stared as Fox wobbled out the door, injured and dizzy, tumbling to the ground. The people gaped as Fox kissed the ground. "What the hell is he doing?" a woman asked her husband. The husband only shook his head and shrugged.
Fox struggled to get to his feet and leaned on the car door. "Okay........ how much?"
"It's for free, mate! Just driving the great Fox McCloud to his work is a reward itself!"
'Good, because if you're ask for payment then I'm gonna stuff the money down your throat!' Fox thought, not daring to say it aloud.
Storming through the crowd was a familiar face to Fox. An aging bloodhound in red Army General's uniform approached Fox, angry yet confused eyes glaring at him. "Fox?"
"Nergeral Repper! How rea ouy indoig?" Fox mumbled nonsense out of his jumbled mouth before he collapsed.
"Should we take him in, General Pepper, sir?" one of the men requested.
General Pepper sighed. "Why not?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Fox! Fox! Wake up!"
Fox's ears twitched when he heard someone calling his name. His head, while still lying down, felt as if it was spinning like a top. The young vulpine moaned as he heaved his shoulders, as if trying to get up, but he remained lying down, his ears lying back on his head.
"Fox! Yo, Fox!"
"What....." Fox grumbled as he opened his eyes. He saw that he was upon rubble, rocks, crumbled walls, and fallen pillars strewn across the earth he laid, dark clouds across the grey sky. The vulpine shuddered as he felt extreme warmth near him, and he sat up and turned to look. A fissure was opened in the middle of the rubble, with six figures sitting on rocks right by it. Fox rubbed his eyes and gazed back at the fissure. Fire spat from the chasm, chains everywhere at the mouth. On the rocks, the six figures gazed sadly at Fox, all of them covered with chains and haloes floating over their heads. Fox realized immediately it was his late Team and the two birds Diva and Starr.
"Why...?" Fox mumbled out, his mumbling then turning into shouting. "Why?! Why are you-"
"Covered in chains?" Slippy finished off, looking at the chains that wrapped around his arms and shoulders. "Well, Fox... you know..."
"Know, know what?"
"It's time for us to go."
"To............... to go? Go where?"
"To the next life," Peppy answered him.
Fox shook. "The... next life... why? Why now? I said I'll get those Golden Bafomdads and... is it... too late?"
"I'm afraid so, Fox," Krystal sighed sadly.
Fox shook his head, grasping it and kneeling. "No...... no you can't go....... not now..... NOT NOW!!!"
"Hey, c'mon, Fox," Krystal said as he stood up from the rock he sat on and began approaching him. "You're not gonna cry now, are ya?"
The young vulpine hesitated. "............... It's... just... it's just not fair! They gave me such a short time! How long has it been since we crashed into Dinosaur Planet.... a few weeks? There were ghosts that roamed on the earth for thousands of years and they were never pulled down!"
"Because their business was unfinished-"
"And yours aren't?!" Fox paused again as he hung his head as if trying to hide his face. "Those chains... I... I guess I can let you go... but why to Jigoku? What have you done? You don't deserve this! None of you do!" Fox held his head up again, and it was evident tears were forming into his eyes. He choked as he struggled to keep face, "Not you, Krystal... not you, you were pure-hearted and good..."
"Fox..."
He turned to the rest of his Team. "And you guys... you, Peppy, even though you made some bad choices, you still would do the right thing... you too, Slippy, especially... even Falco, I admit, he may be a hotheaded punk, but he's not evil or anything... and even you two birds, Diva and Starr, you don't deserve to go down too... but why...... why Jigoku? Why not Heaven?! What did you do to be pulled down to the pits of Hell than be ascended to Heaven?!"
"Fox, calm down!" Falco held his palms up. "I mean, why are you asking us? It's not like we want to burn forever or anything! You're right, we don't deserve this... but... the time's come. There's nothing we can do about it."
Sobs began to rise from Fox's throat.
Krystal placed her hands on the red vulpine's shoulders. "Fox... even if we're gone... you can handle anything alone..."
"W-What are you saying?"
"We're saying that there are people out there who need you more than we do... much more... like Dinosaur Planet!" Slippy said.
Fox's sobbing faded. "D-Dinosaur..."
"It's falling apart, but there's hope!"
"What... hope..."
"In Walled City," Peppy began, "there's a chest with something that will help you put it back together."
"How?"
"You'll see."
Before Fox would say anything else, the chains became taut. The fox watched in horror as all six of his deceased companions were dragged then pulled into the fissure. Fox ran after them, calling out their names and his hand reaching out, but they were to no prevail. All six of them were pulled into the chasm, dragged into the inferno and burning sulfur. Fox fell to his knees as the fissure closed. His last tear was shed.
"Walled City...."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*SPLASH!!!*
"What the hell?!" Fox screamed as he felt sudden cold touch his body. The StarFox Leader shot up, looking in all directions. He looked at himself, seeing he was drenched with icy cold water. Looking at his side he could see a certain bloodhound in red Army General's uniform holding a newly emptied plastic bucket.
"G-General Pepper? What are you doing here?"
"What, you don't remember that I was here the whole time?" the General said as he placed the bucket down. "You wobbled out of that taxicab and fainted in the parking lot. We found you there and brought you here. You were out like light for two days!"
"Geez, I've been sleeping a lot lately," Fox moaned as he shook his head. "And those dreams..."
"It's mostly because you're still sick. From that much sleeping, however, you should be completely healthy now."
"Sick... how did you-"
"Bill and Katt told me."
"Oh, no..."
"Don't worry," General Pepper said as he sat on the mattress where Fox lay. "I won't send you back to the hospital. For one, you're already well. Second of all, I think you've been trapped in there for too long already."
"Thank you, sir..."
The General stood from the mattress and turned to walk off when Fox did the same. The top dog turned back to him and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Back to Dinosaur Planet!"
"No."
Fox glared at him. "Oh, so now YOU'RE gonna trap me here to!"
"It's not that! It's just that I care for your safety. Your Team is already dead, and I don't want the same for you."
"Oh, no.... you..."
"Found out? Bill and Katt did too. They were speaking to some of the surviving dinosaurs with Slippy's translating device when they reported me their deaths. Let's see... Peppy, Slippy, and Falco died when you crashed into Dinosaur Planet, am I correct?"
Fox was silent for a whole minute. "Y-Yes, sir..............."
"Tragedy, indeed. Now, I'm just curious-"
"Curious?! Of their death?!"
"Yes. Fox, how did you crash into Dinosaur Planet? According to some of the dinosaurs, you were light-years away from the Planet when you came crashing down and that you were no where near the atmosphere, so it's not possible for you to be pulled in. I know you're not stupid enough to just fly into there or anything."
Fox was silent again. General Pepper was right. Fox never gave thought to how they crashed. Flashbacks came to his head...
~~~
"What's that sound?" Falco gulped.
Fox was almost breathless. "The sound of bending metal..."
"But I don't see any enemy ships surrounding the Great Fox!" Slippy gasped as he gaped back at the radar. Sure enough, the only thing surrounding the Great Fox was something cloudy.
Falco leaned forward to the controls, his raptorial eyes gazing out the windshield of the ship. Stars. Only stars. And endless darkness. That's it. He doesn't see anything surrounding the Great Fox but stars and space, that's practically it! What's surrounding the Great Fox? "I... I don't see anything!" Falco shouted.
Slippy saw something. Sparks. On the controls. Where Falco leaned on. "Falco!" Slippy warned. "Get off the controls-"
BOOM!!! The buttons, levers, gauges, wires, and monitors burst abruptly, fire, electricity, and blood flying everywhere. Falco was thrown across the room like a thrown stick from the exploding controls, his hands, arms, chest, and neck burnt and bleeding, eyes blanched and white.
"Oh, gawd..." Peppy gasped, air escaping his lungs quickly and disabling him to breathe in shock. "Falco!"
Fox and Slippy ran to the fallen bird's side. Fox shook the injured falcon, "Falco! Falco! Oh, geez, is he..."
"He's alive!" Peppy sighed in relief as he checked Falco's pulse. "But barely. He's in shock." Blood gushed from the tiercel's wounds like a river delta of thick, flowing crimson. Slippy stepped back, tears falling from his eyes. Fox was as still as a statue, unable to move. Peppy demanded to the shivering amphibian, "Hurry! Get the first aid! We have to stop the bleeding, now!"
Slippy nodded as he turned to the far end of the room, reaching into cabinets and searching for the first aid. Fox's ears twitched as the moaning sound of twisting metal rang like a dinosaur in pain. Slippy suddenly hesitated, his hands trembling and turning cold. He held the first aid kit in his hands, but he didn't move as soon as he grasped the plastic box. Fox noticed the frog's eyes shrink as the ceiling above him slowly bent. It first came out like a slight lump, but as Slippy's terrified heart beat like a drum, the lump grew bigger and bigger, the metal bending more and more. Pretty soon the lump turned into a thorn, then it bent into a corkscrew, the sharp point inching towards Slippy's head.
"Slippy!" Peppy screamed as he ran and grabbed the amphibian's arm and yanked him away from the forming corkscrew. The bent metal was only four inches from his head before it expanded into a larger metal finger then burst.
Fox fells on his face as more metal and wires flew everywhere. He lay there, shivering, trying to catch his escaping breath as sweat dripped down his brow. He gulped in some courage and looked up. It was too late. Some sharp metal was impaled through Peppy's shoulder and Slippy's stomach. It was the fox's turn to be as petrified as a rock. He could feel his blood flowing through his veins and turn stone cold, his palms sweating and shoulders heaving. His lips trembled, as if fighting to whether scream and shut up, but he cannot chose either. Before his very own eyes, his team was dying... dying a strange, bloody death.
Before the first tear was shed from Fox's eyes, the Great Fox shook more violently then ever, the ground literally tossing him about. Fox rolled into some fallen wires, still attached to the main electricity of the ship. He felt electricity sending throughout his body, the lightning shock fingering into his veins then running about along with his blood and clawing his flesh. It didn't take long for Fox's world to turn black, his skin turning numb and the rumbling no longer ringing in his ears...
~~~
"The metal began bending...... there were no ships around..." Fox began to murmur out from his memory. "On the radar, something cloudy was surrounding the Great Fox, but we couldn't see anything, not even Falco with his falcon eyes. Falco... the controls exploded on him, just like that, as if a fuse just burst then fired on him. Then the metal... it began twisting, then it burst, some of it impaling Peppy and Slippy.... the ship began shaking..."
"Fox?"
General Pepper watched the fox sit back down on the mattress as he continued to mumble. "It was as if," Fox murmured, "it was if we were attacked... by some strange force..."
The General looked up as if thinking. "Normally, Fox, when the radar scans the surrounding diameter of your position, it scans ships, not clouds."
"Clouds..."
"Maybe your radar was defective or something and was blocking your view of- "
"No..."
"What?"
Fox stood up again. "Our radar wasn't defective. Slippy checked on it once when we had a power outage in space, but otherwise he fixed everything, including the radar. The radar was in good condition when that cloud appeared."
"Fox, listen-"
"Something... attacked us..."
"Fox..."
"Something... supernatural..."
"Okay, now you're exaggerating..."
Fox turned to the General. "I'm serious, sir! Something attacked us when we were on our way to Dinosaur Planet! I'm... I'm sure of it..." he began yelling, his voice then trailing to a quiver.
The General's eyes changed from looking at him confused then gently. He sighed, realizing Fox's decision. "If you insist, Fox... there's another Arwing for you waiting at the hangar."
Fox's ears and eyebrows rose in surprise. Both he and Pepper were speechless for that while before the young vulpine slightly smiled and bowed. "Thank you, sir."
((to be continued...))
***
((*Trumpet fanfare* Now that the chapter's finished, please review! ;_; ))