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.
* * * * *
Episode 15: Wo Qui Non Coin
The doors opened and they stepped in.
Krystal wrinkled her nose in disgust at the sight of the blood
that had been spilled on the floor. Then she gasped. She
recognised the face that stared up from the floor. It was Kano.
Dr. Kano was dead.
"What happened here?" she exclaimed, but she didn't
expect an answer.
"Looks like someone got their just desserts," said
Falco, as he walked past her.
"Don't say that Falco," Fox told him with a shake of
his furry head. He made his way towards the large console on one
side of the wall. The vulpine saw several monitors there and each
had a different display. Some displayed text. Others displayed
graphs and charts. Two displayed the inside of what looked like
an operating room. "I bet we can activate the escape route
from here and the self destruct."
Fox saw all of the keypads and buttons and switches in front
of them. Some glowed. Others flickered. There were so many of
them.
"Now how do you work this thing?" he wondered out loud,
as he scratched his furry head. There were several options at his
disposal, several switches and several buttons and none of them
were labelled. He had no idea what any of them did and that
called for only one cause of action... "Hm, better press all
of them and see what happens." That's just what he did.
"Sheesh, talk about luck!" exclaimed Falco, as he
saw a door slide open to reveal a tiny room that looked like the
inside of an elevator.
The doors suddenly burst open and five A-Types marched in and
at their head was...
"Andrew?" exclaimed Fox, as he whirled round.
"I've had enough of you, McCloud!" growled Andross,
his voice coming from Andrew's mouth as well as that of the
A-Types. "This time it ends here." All the A-Types
shuffled forwards as if their limbs were too stiff to move. Some
of them looked as if they had died a day ago, others looked like
they were about to die. Yet all moved, as if they were still
alive, as if they were all as one.
"For years, I've been plotting my revenge against you and
the Lylat System," chuckled Andross. "I can still
remember the day when I was arrested for releasing a so-called
bio-weapon against Corneria." Andross laughed at that
statement. Andrew then turned to face the elevator and the doors
shut tight. "None of you are going to escape, you know. All
of you will stay here and witness the truth and the destruction
of the McCloud family."
"What are you wittering on about, Andross?" asked
Falco curiously. "What do you mean by the truth?"
All the various A-Types laughed, Andross laughed.
"It all happened fourteen years ago," began Andross in
a reminiscent tone, "I was working for the Cornerian
Military in developing a Super Vaccine against all types of
viruses. The Vaccine was to be for the use of military personnel
only and therefore its development was kept classified, so that
no potential terrorists could get a hand of it." Andross
chuckled at that thought. "Since it was classified, any
leaks were covered up as soon as possible."
Fox remembered what Andross was talking about.
"Yeah, Pepper told me all about it," stated Fox
sternly. "You were the Head Researcher and when they cut
your funding, you went mad."
"Cut my funding?" exclaimed Andross with a smile on
the faces of all his A-Types. "They did no such thing. One
day, there was a horrible accident that led to the spread of the
virus all across Corneria. People all over Corneria died and the
major cities were damaged from the accidents caused by such sick
people. The media got a hold of the story and blew it out of
proportions, blaming me for creating bio-weapons." All the
A-Types growled at the thought of the event. "So the
military made a big show of capturing me and exiling me to Venom,
but do you know whose fault it really was?"
There was silence, and none of the A-Types made a single move.
It was as if the effects of the A-Virus had weakened.
"James McCloud!" roared Andross all of a sudden.
"That fool was hired by the Alliance Military to find out if
I was doing my job properly. He triggered off a security
incident. I had my guards try to arrest him, but he managed to
escape and in his bloody stupid attempt to escape, he smashed
the lab equipment. Petri dishes with colonies of virally-infected
bacteria and cells, strewn all over the place. It's no wonder my
employees were infected. It was no wonder they unknowingly passed
the virus out into the wide world!"
Fox glared angrily at Andrew. Even now, he could see the
resemblance between Andrew and Andross. It was as if the A-Virus
was mutating the baboon into his deceased Uncle.
"That may be so, but it wasn't my dad's fault," he
protested angrily. Never had he felt so much rage against
Andross. Attacking his family was one thing, but blaming his
father for the deaths of thousands? That was where he had to draw
the line. "Your employees should have known that there
was a virus leak, and they should have been more careful. None
of those deaths had anything to do with my Dad. It sounds to me
that it was all a careless mistake, brought about by careless
employees that couldn't be bothered to take the proper safety
precautions."
"It was your fault," blamed Fox, "for not
installing better security measures in the labs."
"My fault?" screamed Andross angrily. "How dare
you say that?"
"Andross, don't you blame my Dad for something you
couldn't be bothered to do!" shouted Fox angrily.
"Know this McCloud, you will regret ever saying
that," growled Andross angrily.
"Oh my...!" exclaimed Krystal in horror, as she
backed off.
"Oh, shit, that's disgusting!" cried Falco, as he
backed off too. Like Krystal, Falco saw what was happening to the
A-Types behind Andrew. He could see their flesh turning to a red
slimy mass that surged and bubble and began to engulf Andrew's
legs. It travelled upwards, engulfing Andrew as his flesh melted
into the red slime that consumed him.
Andross began to laugh, as he took his new form. The red goo
rippled and vaguely formed the shape of his old face in its
surface, as well as a growing two gigantic clawed hands.
"Now I shall have revenge on all those that spurned
me," roared Andross, as the red bubbling mass began to take
on a form and a skin. "I will have my revenge and the Lylat
System will burn in an inferno of hate!" His laughter was
soon choked off, as if something was suddenly strangling him.
Andross lurched about violently before he collapsed and began
bubbling and growing to abnormal proportions.
The exterior of the virally created monster had Andross'
brown, wrinkled skin as did the insect-like legs that grew from
the base of the monster. They were, however, covered in black
hairs. His claws were inhuman and shaped like that of the Granga
that were used to invade Corneria. The rest of his body was
nothing more than one gigantic head, Andross' head to be exact,
but it was devoid of any hair at all.
Fox watched Andross scuttle towards him, as he brandished his
gun.
"Guys, stay back," he told Falco and Krystal sternly.
He raised his gun at the blood-shot eyes set into Andross' huge
head and then opened fire. "Shit! It's not doing
anything!"
Andross roared before lashing out with a claw that struck Fox
and sent the fox flying backwards. It scurried over towards Fox
and raised a sharp insectoid leg before stabbing it at Fox. The
A-Virus resurrected monstrosity didn't anticipate Fox rolling out
of the way and firing at his exposed underside. The lasers seared
into its malformed hide and Andross roared out bestially.
Before Andross could bring its legs crashing back down, Fox
quickly ran out of the way. He raised his gun and fired at
Andross' eyes again. They had always been the weakness of the
huge monstrosity that Andross inevitably became.
Falco opened fire, shooting at the same eye Fox was shooting
at.
"Damn it, he's tough!" cried Falco.
A claw lashed out and hit Falco, sending him flying backwards
and on to his back. Another claw lashed out at Fox, sending Fox
flying into the control panel. He landed into it with a painful
thud and slid down to the metallic floor.
Krystal quickly grabbed Falco's gun from off the floor and
aimed at Andross.
"Here, Andross!" she shouted at it, making it whirl its
round to glare at her. "You want me? Come get me!" She
opened fire, shooting lasers into his open mouth.
Andross screeched in pain and scuttled backwards, closing its
mouth to avoid being shot there again. It then rushed straight
towards her with the speed of a spider and lashed out with its
left claw and then its right, missing both times. Seeing that
Krystal had avoided both attempts at her life, Andross lowered
its head and the cranium split down the middle to reveal that
there was a jaw there.
Krystal screamed out in sheer horror, as tentacles snaked out
of Andross' open head. She opened fire, elicitating a demonic
screech of pain from Andross. The maw on top of Andross' head
opened up wider and she could see the brain underneath, pulsing
and beating like a living heart. One of the tentacles lashed out
at her and wrapped itself around her waist. Krystal dropped her
gun, as it squeezed her tightly.
"Let go!" screamed Krystal, as she did her best to
pry free from the tentacle. "Let go!" The second
tentacle lashed out at her and knocked her unconscious.
Fox dived for Falco's gun and picked it up with his bad arm.
He raised it with his gun and winced in pain. Despite the pain in
his bad shoulder, he kept the gun aloft and aimed it.
"Hey! You heard her! Let her go!" shouted Fox angrily,
and he pulled the trigger. With both guns ablaze, he opened fire
into Andross' open maw.
Andross screamed out in pain and threw Krystal's unconscious
body at Fox, knocking the fox off his feet. Lifting its head,
Andross then turned to glare at Fox. It scuttled straight towards
and lashed out with a claw. Fox leapt scrambled away, but was too
slow. The monstrosity scraped his chest and left a bloody claw
mark. Andross howled inhumanly, as if he had lost all sentience.
The monstrosity scrambled towards Fox and lifted one spidery leg,
its pointed edge hovering above Fox's heart.
Falco's gun was raised and Fox pulled the trigger, letting the
lasers sear Andross' underbelly. Fox knew that Falco's gun was
more powerful than the one he brought with him and so let Andross
have it. The monstrous creature scampered backwards, crashing
into the wall and crumpling it with its sheer weight.
This gave Fox an idea. If he could somehow get Andross to fall
onto the console, perhaps the electricity would electrocute
Andross to death. It certainly would be a long shot, but he
didn't have any other ideas at that point.
First, he turned to face Krystal.
"Krystal, you okay?" he asked her, only to find that
she was still unconscious. An angry snarl spread across Fox's
face. How dare Andross hurt the ones he loved? That was it,
the final straw! He'd show that freak show the consequences of
messing with his loved ones!
He staggered back to his feet and then glared at Andross.
"It's said the harder they are, the harder they fall,"
stated Fox. He lifted his gun and aimed it at Andross.
"Let's see how true that really is, shall we?"
The strange monstrosity that was Andross pulled itself out of
the dent in the wall. It roared wordlessly, before charging
straight at Fox and slashing at the vulpine with one claw.
Andross missed. It swung again with his other claw, but missed.
This time, a pincer movement, with both of its claws swinging at
Fox at the same time. Once again it missed, after all, it was
much larger and less graceful than Fox.
A red sphere of energy suddenly shot towards Andross and hit
it in the eye, making the monstrosity scream out in pain and stagger
backwards.
Fox turned round and saw Falco, brandishing Krystal's staff.
"I always wondered how she did that," commented
Falco wryly.
"Where'd you find that?" asked Fox.
"Over there," said Falco as he gestured with his
head over to a workbench cluttered with tools and devices.
"Seems as if Kano had a habit of taking weapons apart. Good
thing he didn't get round to taking this thing apart yet,
huh?" He aimed her staff at Andross and then braced himself.
"You ready for this, Fox?"
Fox laughed.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he told Falco.
"Then let's do this!"
The two of them then opened fire, shooting at Andross' body.
Each shot blasted apart the weak flesh to expose the inner core
of the beast that had been revived. Neither Fox nor Falco
relented with their onslaught against Andross.
Andross screamed, shaking its head as the flesh started
falling apart to expose the pulsing brain underneath. The claws
crashed to the floor with a hideous splat, but the rest of
Andross still stood on its spidery legs. The surface of its brain
began to crackle with electricity, as it crawled slowly towards
Fox and Falco.
A bolt of lightning split the air and both vulpine and avian
were flung backwards.
With rapid speed, Andross scuttled over and stepped on Fox's
gun and Krystal's staff. It towered over the two men and, if there
was a mouth on Andross, it would have smiled. As it was, all that
it did was crackle with electricity, its brain pulsing like the
beating of a heart.
"Here, Andross! Feast on this!"
A cable was suddenly thrown at Andross and its cut end with
its live wires touched the monstrosity's flesh. Electricity
suddenly surged through every part of Andross' body, each limb
convulsing with the surge of power. It was unable to move,
paralysed as it was from the passing current.
Fox saw Andross lift one of his spidery limbs. He rushed
forward and grabbed Krystal's staff, a foolish thing to do, and
then leapt back. He set the staff and then lifted into the air,
before letting its magic lift him up into the air and pound the
ground creating a shockwave that toppled Andross over and onto
the control panel. Fox watched as Andross crashed into it,
smashing it with its weight.
There was an explosion and spray of sparks. Andross' body
convulsed rapidly and then caught on fire and began to burn.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Falco, as he got back up to his
feet and watched in morbid fascination as Andross' new body
burned.
"We'd better get out of here and fast," commented
Krystal, as she took her staff from Fox's hand.
"Thanks for saving us back there," thanked Fox.
"There's no time for that now," protested Krystal,
as a feminine voice suddenly announced that the Self-Destruct had
been activated. "Come on!" She ran for the open doors
of the escape elevator, followed closely by Fox and Falco.
The doors slowly slid shut and the elevator rose upwards
quickly.
Not fast enough, according to Falco, who was fiddling with the
controls.
"Come on! Come on!" he cried. "Can't this thing go
any faster?"
Krystal noticed a large wound on Fox's chest.
"Oh my gosh, you're hurt" she exclaimed in horror.
"It's nothing, really," said Fox in a dismissive
tone of voice. "As long as you're okay, I'll be fine."
He smiled weakly at her. "Really, I'll be fine."
"Still, you'd better see a doctor the moment we get
back up," suggested Krystal.
Fox's keen vulpine sense of hearing suddenly detected
something. It was like a growling noise.
"Hey, do you hear that?" asked Fox, as he listened
carefully.
Falco listened.
"Nope," he replied with a shake of his head. Naturally,
his sense of hearing wasn't as good as that of Fox's or
Krystal's. All he could hear was the whirring of the elevator's
gears and... Falco was knocked over as the elevator jolted.
"Okay, I definitely heard that."
Something sharp pierced the bottom of the elevator carriage
and began tearing at the floor.
"Shit! It's Andross!" cried Fox, as he saw the brain
of the monster through the hole in the floor. He stepped sideways,
as one of Andross' spidery legs stabbed through the floor. "Guess
he just won't lie down and die."
Krystal grabbed her staff firmly and aimed it at Andross.
"Don't worry," she told him. "I can handle
him." She fired a steady cold stream of air at one of
Andross' limbs, freezing it. Another one stabbed at her, but she
narrowly avoided being speared by it.
"He's holding us back!" cried Falco.
"Take this!" cried Krystal, as she whacked Andross'
frozen leg with her staff and shattered it. Just to make sure,
she fired a blast of energy down at Andross, hitting it in the
brain.
They all heard a shriek of pain and saw Andross fall.
Falco felt the elevator rise faster. He could sense at what
level they were just from the pressure around them. Below, he saw
a brilliant flash of light and reasoned that the explosions had
begun. If he could, he would have been sweating bullets at that
time. But sweating's for pigs and humans and he was neither.
The elevator jerked to a halt and the doors opened. They
scrambled out quickly, making a break through the deserted halls
of the evacuated hospital. Moments later, the entire hospital
went up in flames and dyed the sky blood red with the glow of the
fires.
They all looked behind them and sighed with relief. The
nightmare was all over.
* * * * * * * * * *
What happens next in the fanfic depends on how observant you
were when reading it. Answer the below question and follow the
instructions to determine which ending you read. Which one is the
true ending? Well, it depends on how you answer the question, of
course...
Up to this point in the fanfic, how many times does the name
'Ookami' secretly appear?
A. 0 times ....... go to Epilogue A: Real Indication
B. 1 times ....... go to Epilogue B: Encore un Verre
C. 2 times ....... go to Epilogue C: Pretty with a
Pistol