Cowboy Star Fox

By Wolf O'Donnell

WARNING: This fanfic will contain swearing, graphic scenes of death and violence and the use of British-English Spelling and Grammar. If any of these things offend you or if you are underaged, please do not read any further. Upon reading any word or letter in this file, you hereby agree to forfeit all your rights to sue me and that I cannot be held liable for any psychological or physical damage caused by the contents of this fanfic. Star Fox and all related characters (including me) are copyrighted by Nintendo. Scales, Dinosaur Planet and all related characters are copyrighted by Rare. The Gospel Army, Dr. Jerome Kano, the Sekai Foundation and all related characters and places are copyrighted by me.

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Episode 14: Want it all Back

"Miserable fools," growled Kano angrily, as he made his way through the shiny, clean lab. It was unnervingly clean, more sterile than even a hospital. The laboratory was enough to put the fear of hospitals into any person. "I'll teach them to mess with me." He reached out and grabbed a vial from the rack, simultaneously reaching out to press a button on the intercom that lay not too far away.
"This is Dr. Kano," announced the human sternly. "Prepare my personal escape ship." He let go of the button soon after that, after all, he had more important things to do. Rolling the vial in his hands, he checked that it was the right one. "I'll teach them. I'll set up a new laboratory and continue my research on my wonderful virus. Then they'll all pay. The Gospel Army is forever! All hail the Gospel Army!"
There was a deep chuckling behind Kano.
"Did I hear right? Are you claiming ownership of my virus?" asked a voice from behind Kano that mad the scientist whirl round.
"You?" exclaimed Kano in surprise, before his head fell down to the floor, followed seconds later by his now headless body.

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"I don't know the meaning of the word, 'outnumbered'," commented Krystal, before grabbing the nearest thing in hand and brandishing it menacingly. "Come on then," she said, gesturing for them to approach her. "Bring it on." She saw one of them rush straight at her and with one swift kick, she sent a trolley flying at the guard, knocking him backwards with the force of the blow.
The other guards rushed straight towards them.
Falco had an idea as to why they weren't opening fire. Kano probably wanted them alive and in one piece. The avian dived underneath a punch and scooped up a scalpel from the floor, rising back to his feet. With a graceful twirl, he cut through the strap of the guard's machine gun and whisked the weapon away from the feline.
"Thanks for this," he commented, before headbutting the guard on the back of the head with it. "All right, you guys. Hands up in the air or I'll shoot!"
None of them complied. Perhaps, Falco thought, he was wrong about Kano wanting them in one piece. The thought of how many lasers would be fired at him, made him wonder whether he had put his foot in. Out of desperation, he aimed skywards and fired.
The lights went out. Everything went black.

The lights went out. Everything went black. Which is a fancy way of saying, he was knocked unconscious.
Fox held his furry fist and caressed it with his other hand.
"Man, he had a hard head," commented Fox, as he looked at the sprawled unconscious figure that was Scales. He looked up and down the place. Where were Scales' accomplices? There wasn't a single one to be found. "Katt, you call for them to come in and help the patients and staff out," he ordered Katt sternly. "I'm going down."
"What?" exclaimed Katt in surprise. "Down where? The Gospel Base? Are you kidding me? You can't go down there alone!"
"Just watch me," replied Fox, before he turned his back on her and made his way towarsd the elevators. He reached out to press the button and call the elevator that would take him down to the very depths of a man-made Hell, but a hand reached out and stopped him. "Look, Katt, you can't stop me." He looked up. It wasn't Katt.
"Fox," said Fara sternly, "you can't go down there alone." She worried for him, like the time she worried for him when he went down into Andross' bunker alone. This was no different from the other times. The danger was there, she could sense it. "You'll be killed for sure."
For a moment, Fox didn't even say a thing in reply. It was as if he had deliberately chosen not to speak to her, as he waited for the elevator to come up. It was as if he didn't even care how she had managed to get in.
"Fara," he finally said, "I have to do this." He turned to face her. "Falco and Krystal are down there and it's all my fault. I can't just stand by and let Gospel kill them."
Fara shook her head with a sigh.
"Fox, look at your shoulder," she told him. "You're in no condition to go against the Gospel Army alone. You'll be killed, before you can even rescue them. Please, Fox. Let me go with you."
There was something in Fara's eyes. Fox could see it clearly. He knew what it meant. It had been said that eyes were the window to one's soul. If that was so, then Fox could clearly see that Fara's soul was in pain. She loved him with all her heart. He could see it clearly in her eyes, in her soul.
"Fara, I don't want you getting hurt," said Fox quietly and sternly. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt. I'm going to end this, right here and right now."
"But..." began Fara, only for Fox to silence her.
"No, don't," said Fox with a shake of his head, as he removed his finger from her muzzle. "Just promise me that you'll evacuate the entire hospital. Please, Fara."
The Fennec fox nodded in reply.
"Okay," she agreed. "I'll evacuate this place. You can count on me."
"I know," said Fox.
There was a chime from the elevator and Fox looked upwards at the light above the elevator doors. Going down? The elevator doors opened in front of him and Fox stepped in.
"I'll be seeing you, Fara," he said, as the doors started to close. Fox smiled at her and then waved, before the doors closed tightly and shut Fox off from the outside world.
Reaching into his pocket, Fox fished out the card he had taken from a Gospel agent. He inserted it into the slot below the buttons and then waited for a light to turn green. Once it did, he pulled the card out and the elevator started its descent.
As he stood there all alone in the brightly lit elevator carriage with his back to the large mirror, Fox thought of Fara and of Krystal. They both loved him. They both cared for him so much that they wouldn't have wanted him to descend into a Gospel Base. And at that point in time, as he stood there in the elevator, he realised that both of them needed him. Fara needed him to rid the Lylat System of Gospel. Krystal needed him to save her. They both needed him.
Fox looked up, as the elevator stopped.
"I won't fail either of you," he announced, as the doors slid open to reveal the Gospel Army insignia. He brought out a gun, holding it firmly, ready to pull the trigger and then stepped out.
The vulpine looked up and down the corridor to find that bodies littered the place. Fox's furry eyebrows rose upwards, clashing together. What was going on down here? Who had caused all this mayhem? Falco? Krystal? Well, there was one way to find out.
Fox walked quickly over and knelt down by one of the bodies. He rolled the body over and saw that someone had slit the throat.
"He had it coming to him," growled a deep, bass voice.
In one swift movement, Fox whirled round and aimed his gun. The sight of his opponent nearly made Fox step back in horror. He had his gun aimed at what looked suspiciously like a hospital patient, but this patient looked as if she had been burnt alive.
"Who are you?" asked Fox curiously.
The patient laughed in a deep voice that didn't suit her. In fact, it sounded unsettling masculine.
"Don't tell me that you don't recognise me," the patient told Fox. She would have shook her head, but it looked as if she had been so badly burnt that her neck wouldn't allow such movement. "This is the second time that you've failed to recognise my voice, McCloud."
"Andross?" exclaimed Fox in complete horror. "I don't believe it! How? I killed you!"
The burnt patient laughed, but this time, his/her voice sounded different. It sounded as if more than one voice was laughing and in more than one place.
Fox whirled round and saw the canine with the slit throat rise to his feet. He looked carefully and saw that the slit throat had healed quite well, albeit with still fresh scar tissue. The voice was coming from the canine as well as the burnt patient. How was this possible?
"I don't understand," said Fox with a shake of his head. "How is this possible?"
"The A-Virus," replied Andross, his voice coming out of the mouths of all the people in the corridor except for Fox's. "It was a special virus that I designed. It was specifically designed to infect the vocal chords and the brain, genetically altering them so that they would be more like my original vocal chords and brain." Andross chuckled. "I knew Kano would test my virus out and in doing so, he unwittingly created a whole army of me."
"You're not Andross," murmured Fox with a shake of his head. It wasn't possible for someone to survive death so many times, even if it was in virus form. "You can't be the real Andross. You're all a bunch of clones!" All this got from Andross was a laugh.
"Only you would fall for the same trick, more than once," laughed Andross.
"Only you would be mad enough to commit such an atrocity," growled Fox in reply, as he gestured around him.
"Karma, McCloud," retorted Andross. "It's not an atrocity. It's Karma. These people got what they deserved."
"An atrocity is an atrocity, Andross," shouted Fox angrily. "It doesn't matter if they deserved it or not."
"Maybe," said Andross thoughtfully. "However, who cares about the means, when all that matters are the results?"
"I care, Andross," shouted Fox in reply, as he aimed his gun at the burnt patient. "Justice is nothing, if you don't achieve it by the right means." He hesitated. Whatever he could do, Fox couldn't bring himself to shoot the burns patient or the other people that were starting to crowd into the corridor. He noticed that they were movingly stiffly, as if they were all suffering from rigor mortis.
Andross laughed Fox.
"You won't shoot," he told the vulpine. "You can't shoot. Though they may have my mind and my voice, you know deep down they aren't me. If you shoot them, you'll end up killing an innocent life." Andross laughed again. "Just relax and accept your fate. All of Lylat will have my mind and be linked to each other telepathically. There will only be me and no one else!"
So, this was the Aristocrat race that Kano dreamed of was it? Well, Kano could keep it for all Fox cared. He looked around him and saw the Androsses close in on him.
Fox ran for the single burnt patient and leapt out past her. He then ran for it, in the hope that he could somehow seal off the Gospel Base from the outside world. If he could contain Andross, then it would only be a matter of time before he could finally rid the Lylat System of the mad scientist. He skidded round a corner and was suddenly shot at. Fox ducked underneath the laser, narrowly avoiding being shot in the head.
He aimed his laser gun and then stopped.
"Falco?" he exclaimed in complete surprise. Fox suddenly began to wonder. Had Falco been infected with the A-Virus too? Was he too late?
"Fox?" exclaimed Falco. "What the Heck are you doing down here? You've got a bad arm, for fuck's sake. You should be back on the Great Fox."
"Fox!"
Krystal rushed past the blue-feathered avian and hugged Fox tightly.
"I'm so glad to finally see you again," she cried, as she hugged him tightly. "You have no idea what it's been like down here stuck with this blue idiot."
"Hey, I resent that!" protested Falco angrily.
"Yeah, well if it wasn't for you, none of this would be happening, now would it?" retorted Krystal angrily.
"Hey, whoa! Slow down!" called out Fox. "What happened?"
"I swear to God, Fox, it wasn't my fault," was Falco's reply. "It just sort of happened."
Andross' laugh suddenly echoed all around them. It came from down the corridor. His voice came from the PA System. It was everywhere. Andross was everywhere.
"You can't escape from me, McCloud!" chortled Andross. "I am everywhere and I am everyone! It will only be a matter of time before you become an A-Type just like the rest of us."
"Shit, they're coming!" cried Falco in horror.
Fox turned round and saw the shadows of the Andross clones.
"We've got to get out of here and seal this place up," he stated sternly. "You two got any ideas as to how to do that?" He saw them shake their heads in reply. "That's no good," he sighed. "Come on, this way!"

Fara turned back round to faces Scales.
"What did you say?" she asked sternly, as she marched straight up to him. She had the most intimidating look on her face, one that would have scared the toughest convict. "I said, What did you say?"
"I said nothing," replied Scales, as he turned his scaly face away from Fara.
The Fennec fox reached over and grabbed Scales by his collar, pulling him towards her.
"You said something about the A-Virus, now tell me what it is!" she shouted at him. "Tell me now, Scales, or I'm going make you wish you were never born." She snarled at him and it was a very menacing snarl that wouldn't have looked out of place on a Tyranosaurus Rex. "Now, spit it out! Tell me or else you're going to wish your scaly arse was behind bars sooner!"
"Wolf told me about the A-Virus," replied Scales reluctantly. "It kills whatever it infects and alters the brain so that all infected people are connected as one."

Falco sprayed the ceiling with laserfire until the thing was too unstable and fell with a hideous crash. He then turned and followed Fox and Krystal through the door, closing it firmly shut behind him.
"Uh, Fox, I hate to break it to you, but this is a dead end," he told the vulpine.
"Yeah, but I think we can access the records on this place," replied Fox, as he sat in front of a computer and began working it. "It would help if we knew the lay of the land, so to speak. Then we can get you two out of here."
Had she heard right? Had Krystal heard what she thought she had? Was Fox suggesting they leave while he stay behind and does battle against the A-Types?
"Fox, you can't stay down here," she protested. "You'll be killed or worse, you might become one of them." She glanced towards the door as she said that, before she turned back to face Fox. "Come back up with us. We can send in a team of soldiers to clean this place up."
Fox sighed.
"Krystal, I can't," he told her with a shake of his head. "You guys have to get out of here, while I deal..." He trailed off. The image on the computer monitor was that of the base's schematics. "Hello, what's this? Seems as if there's some kind of escape route near the main control room."
He rose up from his seat.
"Come on, let's get going," said Fox sternly.
"Fox, wait!" protested Falco. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, then you'd better stop right now!" He knew that look on Fox's face. It was one of grim determination and Falco had seen it before. "You're not going it alone!" he shouted at Fox. "Do you hear me?"
"Falco, I have to do this," he told Falco sternly. "Andross has to go down and I'm the only one that can do it."
"Yeah and how?" retorted Falco, who was sure that Fox hadn't even an inkling as to how to fight an enemy that was everywhere.
"I'm going to lock this place down and blow it up," replied Fox sternly. "It's the only way." He thought about all the people that had been infected with the A-Virus and realised that they would never get better. They were as good as dead.
There was a huge clash as of something smashing against the metallic door. There was another clash and then another. Soon the door was torn down to reveal a bunch of black-eyed A-Types. They were all stained in blood and each one looked thin as death.
The A-Types all smiled at Fox.
"It's over now, McCloud," said Andross, his voice echoing through every mouth. "Nothing you can do can stop me this time. All of Lylat shall fall under my power!"
"Yeah, right," scoffed Fox. "Come on, guys! Let's get him." He then grabbed a nearby chair and pushed it along its wheels, rushing straight at the A-Types. Fox bowled them. He punched one in the face, kicking the legs out from underneath the A-Type.
Krystal grabbed the nearest thing to hand and rushed at the nearest A-Type, dashing it over the head with the heavy manual she had torn off the desk. She wielded it like some kind of two-handed staff and was just as graceful with it as she was with her staff.
"Take this!" she cried, as she kicked the legs out from underneath another A-Type, knocking him over.
"Quick, this way!" called out Fox, as he ran for it.
"Hey, wait up!" cried Falco, as he ran out after Fox and Krystal.
One of the A-Types staggered back to her feet and glared down the corridor. She laughed in Andross' voice, and the other A-Types laughed as well. All of the A-Types in the base laughed, as all of them were Andross and all of them shared the same mind.
"I have been waiting long for this day, McCloud," sneered all of the A-Types, "the day when I can finally end the bloodline of the McCloud family!"

To be continued...