Oh man. I have just been loaded, vacation over new year's that put me back a ways on the comic, then I had to catch up with the comic. . . Well, check out inthenewage.keenspace.com. Because it's cool and you know you want to.


Chapter 50: The Halls of the Sky


"Calling Hunter HQ, come in, HQ. . ."

"We can see you over the video connection just fine, sir."

"Yeah, I knew that." Sean nodded vaguely, "So, anyway, we're going to be raiding the castle. Don't worry about sending down pickup ships until we report back."

"Sir?"

"Did I ask you to question my order?!"

Sean was being very uncomfortably sarcastic with the communications officer, who replied, "Sorry sir. I was just concerned that, you know, you might not come back out."

"That's okay, we'll just load back out last save if that happens!"

Rock smacked Sean over the back of the head, "I know you're the leader and all, but do you always have to act so stupid!?"

"Well, excuuuuuuuse me!" Sean said, holding the 'u' for emphasis, "But I kinda get spaced out every so often. This place is a lot less real than my home world."

"That's uhh. . . what Danielle pointed out to you?"

"Technically, yeah, I hadn't noticed how unreal everything was and just diverted subconsciously to my video games part of my brain."

Rock really couldn't tell if Sean was toying with him or not, considering that Sean never seemed like he meant any serious statement he might make. He'd been acting that way since forever, probably. It was almost rude how he'd acted like that even since they got back to the crash site and repaired some of the computers with help from he wiring faults Crystal helped them with a while ago. But it was still too embarrassing. That, and Sean was buttering his gun.

"Do you do these stupid things just to purposely get on my nerves?" Rock yelled.

"Actually, I do them because they get on my nerves. No, wait. . ."

Suddenly, Tad tumbled out of the galley and across the communications room floor, landing on his back. He had a black eye and broken glasses, with incriminating fist mark on the rest of his face.

"You jerk!" Danielle yelled, stomping across the floor, kicking the dweeb in the face a few more times while he was down, causing him to almost cring up like a dead bug.

"I'm sorry!" He yelled in his soft-spoken high pitched voice, "I didn't mean to peek in!"

The next few words Danielle said were censored to the more sensitive viewers, "You had a video camera!"

Sean watched in amusement as Tad tried to explain, "I wanted to document our trip, and I was just testing. . ."

"MY TAIL YOU WERE TESTING!" Danielle kicked him a few more times for good measure, "YOU WANTED TO TEST IN THE SHOWER ROOM, HUH?"

"I just needed to go!"

Danielle ripped the now slightly broken camera out of Tad's hand, "The record light was still on, you jerk. You're either a jerk or you're sick."

"S-sir!" Tad pleases to Rock and Sean, who were more amused than alarmed. The beating goodness continued.


"Weren't you worried about me?" Danielle asked Sean later, in a private room.

"I always worry about you. . ." Sean replied, "Though I would have liked to get my hands on that tape. . ."

Danielle blushed, "You dummy, I can't rightfully forbid one person and allow another, even if you are my boyfriend."

"Right, right. . ." Sean chuckled a bit.

Danielle sighed and looked off to the side. "I never wanted this."

"Hmm?"

"I know, back before when I wrote stories about myself being placed in the StarFox universe. I kept giving myself some ridiculous power and threw myself at the male leads, you know, those old stories before I met you?"

"Yeah. . ." It didn't faze Sean too much, it was pretty much a natural self-insert tendency for story writers, and he couldn't expect to be upset over that. It'd be stupid. He'd known about them before, anyway.

"It's not like that. You never really expect something like that, from you're dreamworld, to happen, until it actually does. I've tried, but I don't think I have the courage. Do the mission without me. . ."

"No. You're coming with me."

"But I can't do it. . . it just feels so real now. . ."

"Danielle?"

"I'm not sure if I want to go home. . ."

Sean sighed, taking off his somewhat heavy breastplate, as he figured he'd be in here for a while, "Could you tell me why?"

"It wasn't the adventure I craved. I wanted the people. Animals as people."

"Furries." Sean said, using the blunt term.

"You could say that."

Sean sighed again, leaning back in his chair, "Danielle. . . are you sure you're happy with me?"

"Yes!" Danielle blurted out instantly, "I-it's an odd like I have, it's. . ." Danielle looked away for a moment. Sean leaned back in his seat.

"You don't want to go back."

"I want you here with me." She confessed, turning back at him as Sean looked away. Now he was the badguy, it seemed. . .

"What about everyone else? What about this world? Are you so selfish that you want to live a fantasy and let everyone else suffer?"

"No, I don't. . ."

"Corneria is gone. You heard Ben, this whole world is just inside one big box of a universe. There's no going back there, there's nothing for you there."

Danielle sniffed, a tear starting to roll down her cheek, "I'm sorry, Sean. . . I don't know what I was thinking. . ."

Sean got out of his seat, moving forward and hugging her. "It's alright, sweetheart, just think it through next time. . ."

Danielle smiled a little. "It's amazing how you can tell me that and yet it usually seems like you're the one who doesn't think it through. . ."

Sean put a finger to his lips, "They don't have to know that. . ."

The door opened up quickly, Rock was there with his gun out, "It's almost twilight. We need to hurry."

"You dummy, can't you see we were having a moment!" Sean yelled at him.

Rock almost cringed, "Sorry, sir. . ."

"But anyway!" Sean seemed to get over it immediately, putting one finger in the air, "All the big guns are set?"

"Yes they are."

"Gun arms ready?"

Danielle looked up at Sean, "I thought you were going to use laser rifles."

"Well, those run out of ammo. The gun arms apparently, when they were duplicated from Samus Aran's armor, have infinite ammunition. These aren't nearly as strong as hers was, but they are handy as a backup. Plus, the ice beam is wicked cool!"

Danielle laughed, "Well, the largest weapon we have is the FireEye Plasma Cannon, which has such an enormous kickback that it has just as good a chance of hurting you as the enemy. But, that could be easily solved with those power suits of yours. . ."

Sean grinned, "Ours is what I affectionately call the Ludicrously Enormous Gun. The shot's kickback isn't that high, but the gun is rather heavy, so you not wearing the powersuits might find it just a bit easier to not collapse under the weight. Do you know how bulky these things are? Look at this, I turn left, I turn right, and NOW I CAN'T STOP!" Sean let his momentum carry himself into Rock, and the both fell onto the floor. Danielle laughed out loud.


I hope that was at least decent. So, Next time, on Video Game! The party suddenly comes across the remains of. . . oh, well I just can't give that away, now, can I? All that and more, same Video Game time, same Video Game channel! Until then, Ciao!