Chapter III

Eric and Slippy began repairing the hull, which had gotten smashed and dinged by the marauding Ice Goblins. It didn't take much, but the engines were badly frozen and would take a lot of work. In completing the task, they each taught each other the little tricks of the trade, both amazed at what the other knew. Fox, Falco, and Eclipse explored what was left of the base while Peppy tried to get the communications going. Fox was using Murasma to cut through ice walls, Eclipse used fire magic, while Falco bemoaned not having anything when he stumbled on a cylinder, roughly the size of the cardboard cylindrical tubes that give rolls of paper towels substance, only solid steel with a button on one end. Looking around, Falco pushed the button.

As soon as he pushed the button, it sprouted into a sudden sequence of growth and change. Falco yelled for a second in surprise, but suspecting trouble, the rest of the crew appeared (seemingly out of thin air, Falco thought) from four to fifteen seconds.

The cylinder was changing into an egg-shaped beige-colored object, with a medium-size slit where Falco's hand remained. Buttons and other electrical paraphernalia could be seen through what looked like ventilation slits. Fox and Eclipse readied their weapons, but Eric only stared. He, after seeing The Fifth Element one too many times, knew exactly what it was.

"A Z-1…" Eric gasped. Peppy stared.

"Let me have a look at that," Eric asked. Falco slid it off his arm while Eric examined it. "This is indeed a Z-1…"

"WILL YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THAT IS?!?" The other five people shouted at him. Or, to be more precise, Falco, Fox, and Peppy yelled, Eclipse merely inquired, Slippy squeaked it in a small voice that nobody heard.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, this here is the awesome power of the patented Z-1. Built for righties and lefties, doesn't show up on metal detectors and rounded shape causes it to be easily placed in overhead storage bins," Eric explained in a game-show-host-meets-Fifth-Element-Villain voice. "Several means of alternate fire, starting with the plasma shots that recharge over time. Also worth mentioning is the replay button. One shot-" Eric shot a pillar of ice. "-Press Replay, every subsequent shot returns to the same location." And with that, he started firing randomly, and yet the shots curved in midair to hit the pillar. "And the other features include Rocket Launcher, Dart Thrower, with poison and acid, Net Launcher, Flamethrower - My favorite - and the Freezethrower." These did not come with demonstrations, and when he was done with his Fifth Element rip off, he tossed back the Z-1. "That is one hell of a gun, Falco." Falco was looking at the gun with increased interest, and pushed the button to turn it into the cylinder form, which he pocketed. Eric made a mental note of this additional concealment factor.

With that additional excitement out of the way, the days repairs went slowly. Falco was practically dying of boredom over the next three days as Eric, Slippy and Eclipse (for magic transportation of equipment to save time) worked frantically on ship repairs.

Manipulating a few screws and springs, with Slippy for the stuff that Eric's mind did not comprehend, an, "Alright!" from the Great Fox and the roar of the engines told them they did their job. Fox handed Eric Murasma again as they started to climb in.

"It'll take a few minutes for the engine to warm up, guys, but in the meantime, we are out of here!" Peppy exclaimed, then started working on some maps.

Amidst all of the excitement of being able to leave the forsaken building, and not wanting to get involved, being the hermit he was, Eric walked off to the side and stared at the name on the hilt of Murasma.

"'Eric J. McCloud,'" and then went over every name he knew of that started with J. "James, Josh, uh… Jade…" he added, looking at his mutilated hand. Speaking of which…

He took the bandages off, and lo and behold, the major injuries Jade gave him were gone! The energies which healed Eric's ribs and back must have went the extra mile and helped his hand. Huzzah!

"Jake, uh, crap…" Eric muttered. He thought he heard something in the distance but figured his shades were on too tight around his ears. Then he heard it again and knew something was up.

Bump bum bum bum Bump bum bum bum…

It sounded like war drums, and it kept going, with increasing tempo and volume like…

Bump bum bum bum Bump bum bum bum…

It was getting closer…

Eric sprung to his feet and called for help. Drawing Murasma, he rushed to a large open door and started to close it.

Two blue arrows hit the door where he stood, not two inches from his chest. At the impact point, an icy circle formed as if the arrows froze what they hit. Closing the door, he looked frantically around for something to jam the door with and found it with two long, iron spears. The metal was cold and icy on Eric's exposed hands, and due to a numbness factor Eric had to force the metal as his hands lost strength. Before the door closed, Eric saw something that indicated this would be a hell of a fight.

Eclipse, Falco, and Fox showed up, staff, Z-1, and blaster at the ready, respectively. "What's up?" Fox asked. He was in professional mode, eyes half-mast, as if he was almost bored.

"A bunch of them Ice Goblins, armed with bows that freeze what they hit, and-" Eric sighed with foreboding and dread. "-Another Wendigo."

Standing back, Eric in front, Falco and Fox shoulder to shoulder right behind him and Eclipse in the back for some serious magic ("No more Lightwind, ok?") while Eric put away Murasma and drew the bow, aiming at the attempts to get through the door and keep them there. Fox was calling to get the Great Fox ready, only to receive bad news.

"It's still warming up! We won't be able to get it running for 45 seconds!" Came Slippy's desperate reply.

45 seconds… that can mean the difference between life and death! Fox seemed to be thinking the same thing as Eric, as he dropped the professional facade for a split second to reveal a face of worry. Fleeing would do no good until it was practically ready, as the GF was six seconds away and they had to wait for 45. Great.

A goblin head poked through a hole they made in the door, and was greeted by an arrow from Eric's end. Another head poked through as the door started to crack and bend. It wouldn't be long before it burst into melee. Fox fired a blaster shot and Falco put through a few Z-1 shots into the portal when it burst.

Eric quickly drew Murasma, then awkwardly tried to sling the bow over his shoulder. He succeeded, but took two dagger slashes to his right shoulder and then had Murasma secured firmly in both his hands. Eclipse let loose with a bright flash and the front ranks fell, but they were writhing on the ground. Thrusting to and fro, Eric managed to impale one goblin before one suddenly got flung out of the way by a huge icy hand. Looking up, Eric nearly fainted.

An ice wendigo, even bigger than the one at the entrance, had ripped itself its own in the door. It started to bring its hand down and Eric dove between its legs, giving a futile swing at its foot. It started hopping around, squashing goblins as an ice arrow hit Eric's shoulder. Instantly that side went numb; Eric felt barely able to hold his sword, let alone swing it. Pulling the arrow out (and leaving a good spurt of the red stuff over the wall) Eric swung for the center of an archer and barely was able to prevent the sword from flying out of his hands. He transferred it to his left hand and headed back to see how his friends were doing in time to see the Wendigo breathe an icy stream of frost at Eclipse and to gasp in shock as a disfigured cube of ice surrounded her, entombing her on the spot. Eric thrust the sword into the wendigo foot, but on a size basis, he might as well have been using a dagger.

The wendigo thwomped around in pain, flinging Eric off to the side knocking the wind out of him. He was starting to get some grip in his right arm, but he still had trouble moving it and the constant spurts of blood were no help. Eric didn't even have an idea his body had that much, but it was pumping like a fire hydrant with no look of stopping. Eric started to feel lightheaded, but continued to gore a goblin through the middle. His right side was stained a bright crimson as he took another arrow through the middle, while Fox and Falco were being hopelessly overwhelmed by goblin daggers.

In a blind spurt of rage, Eric spin-swung and bisected two goblins through the middle. Eclipse took two frozen arrows to her encased arm and that section of the ice cube started seeping red. Eric thought he was imagining things, but it looked like Eclipse's face had started to get contorted in agony.

Falco managed to get away from the marauding mob and fired a flamethrower blast at Eclipse, melting it almost instantly. Her fur was soaked in ice to the point that she didn't feel the fire, let alone catch her fur on it. Eric was swinging desperately, but the heroes looked like they were going to fall when Eric's incredible luck kicked in again.

Climbing a ladder, Eric had pulled out the bow and inserted two arrows neatly into the wendigo's crystalline eyes. It grabbed part of some chains normally used for holding up personal aircraft, like an ArWing. Swinging it at Eric, who dodged it with a mile to spare, and it crushed almost all of the ceiling by the entrance, rubble irreparably blocking the door. With only eight goblins in the room, Eclipse mustered what was left of her strength and took out four with a flame jet and Falco spewed phototronic plasma like a smashed fire hydrant.

It proved that this giant foe alone was more than a match for the battered team. Eric could feel blackout coming, Eclipse had two deep gashes that were going to need a little bit more than a band-aid, and Fox had numerous cuts. Falco was hurt more badly than Fox, but ego permitted him to act and use clothing to conceal most of his blood-matted feathers.

Falco fired a few rockets at the wendigo, but it only succeeded in shattering part of its leg. Flamethrower had limited range, and when something can crush you like an insect even the testosterone-driven mind of Falco Lombardi knew it's limits: getting close enough to use the flamethrower was asking for a messy death. Eclipse kept nailing it with was looked like Lightwind, only with fire, and explosive fireballs, but it kicked at the ground. The rubble rushed up, interrupted Eclipse's assault and knocked Fox out.

"Curse this blasted thing!" Eric raged as he nocked another arrow. "If only Krystal or Sarah was here, that'd even up the odds!"

The wendigo reached back and swung the chain again at the area Eric was standing on. With not a second to lose, Eric ran the length of the chain as the platform crumbled into dust. Drawing Murasma with the bow awkwardly in his still-numb right hand, he sank it deep into the wendigo's head. It flung around in agony as Fox fired multiple blaster shots to keep it confused, while Eric took a long, fifteen-foot fall to the floor. Writhing on the ground, Falco dragged him to safety while Fox's legendary aim kept it from advancing.

"IT'S UP!" Slippy's voice could be heard yelling. Huzzah! Now to escape!

Half walking, half crawling, Eric limped to the ship. Eclipse muttered some incantation and Eric's shoulder closed, although it still hurt. But at least he wasn't loosing any more blood. Fox and Falco, being faster than Eric and Eclipse, made it to the ship first as the engines started rearing to go. Eclipse, who was (for the most part) uninjured also made it to the ship and threw herself into the side door, but poor Eric was nearly left behind! He climbed in as the door started to close and held there for dear life, bow and sword slung over his back.

The wendigo, without the sting of Fox's blaster had advanced, swinging its chained hand wildly. Fox slid the door open and started firing, Falco, who was about to deactivate the Z-1, hit the thing in the chest and turned on replay. The stream of bullets was a wonder to behold, but in a last act of defiance it chucked the chains at the rear of the Great Fox and held on tight. The engines started to overload, unable to keep up with such weight. Swallowing his fear for the second time in three days, Eric jumped out of the side and slid to the back of the engines. The group called, but Eric's blood was pounding in his ears. The Great Fox was starting to be pulled back as Eric drew Murasma and sliced the chains. The wendigo shouted with fury as his grip stopped, and Eric held on for dear life as things became smaller and smaller. The sudden acceleration took him by surprise, however, and as he turned to get back onto the ship, he lost his grip and proceeded to fall into the jungle abyss a good two miles away from the hangar below.