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 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.

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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