PART TWO: THE ORACLE'S TRUTH
"Phantom? Give it to me."
A table appeared before the group. There stood Gex, flanked by Fox, Samus, Ganondorf, Mewtwo, and Kirby, all of them BUT Fox sporting their stylish designer shades. And on the table sat an array of weapons. Mostly consisting of guns, there were a few small round objects Fox recognised as...
"Grenades. Now, we hopefully NEVER have to use these. As you can see, Fox, we're only actually bringing two," Gex explained to Fox. "Now, no matter WHAT Ganondorf told you about explosives effecting programs... although he was probably right... we NEVER use explosives unless it's ABSOLUTELY necessarry. Usually it's just a Cornerian Force we have to deal with, which is what the guns are used for, you see? Rarely ever do we actually blow things up. You MUST understand that."
"Awwww... that's no fun..."
"This isn't meant to be FUN. It's meant to save our entire civilisation from enslavement. Now grab a laser and let's get on with this."
Fox picked up one of the blasters from the table. This gun was quite good; one of the later models. Stunned like a power gun, but had a quick rate of fire. Pretty deadly if used properly. And Fox? He was a pro at using things like this properly.
"Are we prepared? Lovely." Gex whipped out his phone and contacted Phantom. "Go ahead." He pocketed the phone.
Fox was surprised to see a world rush in around him from nowhere. Walls, floors, a ceiling, and all sorts of appliances, furniture, and gadgetry flew into the whiteness from all directions, finally comming together into a sensible room. The final thing to appear was an old telephone on a table in front of the group. Gex picked it up.
"We're in and ready to move."
"All right, Gex. You know where to go. Our hardline back here's still good, so just get on back to this building to get out again."
"Thanks."
Gex pocketed the phone and led his team out of the building.
It was immediately clear to Fox that they were back on Corneria. The silouetted cityscape on that beautiful sky made Fox sigh. This place didn't even really exist anymore. It was just... a cruel game of make-believe. How sad...
Samus read his mind. She put her hand on Fox's. "I know. It's hard the first few times back. Sad to think of what these things have done to our lifestyle, isn't it? Look at how we used to be. That was over a thousand years ago."
Fox nodded. He did't know what to say.
The team boarded a shuttle. This would take them through the streets of Corneria to the Oracle. Fox was actually looking forward to this visit. He would apparently be able to do all sorts of incredible things if he only knew WHAT to do. It made him nervous, and anxious, but excited all at the same time. Mix that with his confusion, sadness, and slight depression, and you've got yourself one messed-up Fox.
Fox was gazing out the window of the shuttle at the passing buildings, vehicles, people. It all looked so... fake to him now. So unreal. It was unbelievable.
"Unbelievable, isn't it?"
"Hey, you read my mind!"
"Of COURSE I did. I'm Mewtwo, you fruitcake."
Fox nodded.
"And stop... NODDING. You're really doing that repetatively in this story."
"Sorry... I'll just shut up."
"NO no no no... we've got Matrix quotes to rip off."
"You're right... hey! I used to eat there! Really good noodles..."
Samus turned to look at him.
"I have all these memories from my life..." He said to her, "None of them happened. What does that mean?"
"That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are."
"And an Oracle can?"
"That's different."
"...You went to her."
Samus nodded.
"What did she tell YOU?"
Samus looked back at him. "She told me..."
But she cut herself off. Fox looked inquisative, but she just turned back to the window.
"We're here. Fox, come with me."
Fox followed Gex out of the shuttle into a building. This place reeked of old...ness. It seemed to be held together with duct tape, and it was really torn apart and used... but it still seemed kind of home-ish.
Gex led Fox into an elevator near the back of the building. Heh, Fox thought. No dropshafts. What an old mess this place is. Gex pressed a number on the elevator, and it carried them up.
"Sooo... this is the same Oracle that made the prophecy?" Fox asked.
"Yes. She's been with us since the beginning."
"Of what?"
"Of the resistance."
Fox nodded. "And she knows... what? Everything?"
Gex smiled. "She would say she knows enough."
Fox opened his mouth again, but Gex cut him off. "You know, Fox, we should just stop ripping of the Matrix again, to let the author get at least SOME creative juices flowing."
"Author? What author?"
"Never mind. We're here. Follow me."
The elevator door slid open, and Gex led Fox out, through a series of hallways. Finally, he came to a door. It automatically opened, and Gex gestured for him to go in, saying that he would wait outside. Fox took a deep breath and entered.
It seemed like some kind of... tea shop. There were tables lining both sides of it, there was a small gathering of broomsticks in one corner, and there was dust lining the wooden floor. Fox walked down the middle of the hut-style room, to approach a figure sitting at the opposite side, sipping tea. This one was an elf; it at least resembled one, perhaps with Hylian origin, like Link. He was really quite small, and was sipping a cup of tea.
"Hello," Fox said to him.
He stood up. "You're looking for the Oracle, aren't you?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Mido, her guardian. I can bring you to her. But before I do, let me first apologise..."
"Apologise for what?"
"For THIS."
The one called Mido brought out a staff and swung it at Fox! Instinctively, he lept backwards, and snatched up a broomstick. He didn't want to shoot this guy; he just said he'd bring him to the Oracle! It was time to subdue him and FORCE him to take him there. He guessed.
Fox swung. Mido dodged! However, a cloud of dust rose from the head of the broom, making Mido sneeze. Fox capitalised and launched a few staff attacks, which Mido SOMEhow got his own staff up to block. He then tried a jump-kick, Fox sidestepped this and landed a leg sweep-esque trip. Down went Mido, and his staff clattered across the floor.
Fox tried an overhead swing, to finish Mido while he was on the ground. However, Mido rolled out of the way and kicked Fox's chest. Fox stumbled back, and Mido scrambled back over to his staff, and retrieved it. NOW Fox capitalised by swinging his broom with a wide horisontal attack. THIS one caught Mido on the shoulder, and he rolled across the ground. Fox finally decided to go for his blaster, but before his hand got even halfway there, Mido slapped it with his staff.
"OWWWWW!!"
Fox swung wildly at Mido... but he was just being careless now. Mido ducked under his attempts, and unleashed a blow to Fox's head. Fox finally jumped back, regained his composure, and... hurled the broom at Mido! It struck his head, and he soared into the back wall. However, he kicked off it after impact, and flew at Fox! Fox dived out of the way quickly, and Mido sailed headfirst into a pile of brooms!
A cloud of dust and splinters later, Mido rose, shaking, from the ground.
"E... *cough* ugh... Enough. Good. Again, I apologise, but I had to be sure."
"Of what?"
"That YOU are a potential."
"Pish... you could've just ASKED..."
"No. You do not truely know someone until you fight them. Please, come with me."
Mido pulled of his Kokiri-style hat, and under it was... a ring of keys! Fox looked a bit puzzled, but didn't ask any questions. Mido strode up to the door Fox had come in, inserted one of the keys, and swung the door open.
It wasn't the hallway Fox had come in through at all. THIS hallway was completely different. It consisted of one long... REALLY long... as in, endless-long... hallway, with doors lining each side of it. Green doors, to be exact. Except for the doors, the whole hall was white. It was pretty unnerving.
But not for Mido. He had an almost arrogent stride to him, despite the utter defeat he just fell victim to. Fox just followed him, still with that same expression on. Mido then turned slightly to speak to him...
"Do you know where we are?"
"I haven't the faintest idea."
"These are back doors out of The Matrix. Programmer exits, if you will. They can use them to get from one end of this digital world to the other in minutes."
"How do they work?"
"The code is hidden in the tumblers of the locks. One position opens the door normally, but another one, when a certain key is used, will open one of these doors."
"Programmer exits... are YOU a programmer?"
Mido shook his head. No.
"Then what exactly ARE you?"
Mido finally approached one door, slid a key in, and turned the lock. Before he opened it, he turned to Fox and said,
"I protect that which matters most."
He swung the door open, and gestured for Fox to go through. Fox entered, and was surprised by what he saw.
It appeared to be a park. Situated between a few apartment buildings, this was a cemented, open space, with a few people walking around, enjoying the lovely day. However, Fox noticed more than anything a figure sitting on a nearby bench. This figure was throwing seed to a bunch of nearby birds. Fox strode towards this figure, drawn to it, almost.
"Well, come on, Fox, I'm not going to bite you... come around here, and let me have a look at 'cha."
The figure waited, without turning around, for Fox to come around in front of it. Oh well, he thought. Here goes nothing.
He strode around in front of the figure.
It was a human.
Or, it at least appeared to be a human. Fox couldn't believe his eyes. A real human being! These creatures were said to be extinct for thousands and thousands of years! Fox didn't really dare to believe it, at least not just yet.
It was a female, and an aged one at that, with dark skin and black, curly hair. Fox stared at her, not saying anything for a bit.
"My goodness, Fox, look at you. You're certainly cuter than I thought."
Now the human was hitting on him. This was getting awfully scary. Fox almost started to back away before he realised that would look extremely rude. So, despite his... fear... Fox stayed put.
"I can see why she likes you."
Fox opened his mouth to speak.
"...And don't say 'Who?' just to keep up the Matrix quoting-spree," the human cut him off. "Feel free to let the author of this story actually come up with some dialogue."
Fox relaxed a bit. "Yeah... that sounds fair."
"Now, why don't you come sit down?"
Fox waited for a moment. "You can see the future... you KNOW if I'm going to sit down?"
"Wouldn't be much of an Oracle if I didn't!"
"But if you know that, then how am I supposed to make a choice?"
"Because you're not here to MAKE any choices, you've already made them. You're here to understand WHY you've made them."
Fox looked at her for a bit, but finally did sit down.
Fox opened his mouth again.
"And I know you're really confused right now. We'll get to that. Right now, the important issue at hand is..."
Fox nodded. "Am I the One?"
"Well, what do YOU think?" The Oracle asked him. "Do YOU think you're the One?"
"Well, I honestly don't know."
"You know what that means? It's latin. It means, 'no'."
Fox just stared at her.
"Let me get you in on a little secret, Fox. Being the One is just like being in love. Nobody can TELL you that you're in love, you just KNOW it. Through and through, balls to bones."
"Well, I can't say that I really feel... One-ish..."
The Oracle gave him a withering glare. "Then THAT means..."
Fox faltered. He understood. "I'm not the One."
"Well, not yet, anyways."
"What do you mean, 'not yet'?"
"You'll have to overcome another personal barrier, Fox. You... well, your inner self, anyway... seems to be waiting for something."
"For what?"
"A great challenge, maybe? Who knows... you haven't seem to put yourself through enough stress."
"STRESS? STRESS?! YOU THINK I HAVEN'T BEEN !STRESSED! ENOUGH?!? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I'VE BEEN FIGHTING TO THE EXTENT OF MY ABILITY... NON STOP... FOR THE LAST TEN FREAKING YEARS!!!!"
The Oracle, unfazed by his yelling, responded calmly, "Not to your extent, no. When you feel like you can fight no more... that moment when you're even on the edge of death, possibly... you'll understand. You'll KNOW. Trust me, Fox."
Fox was breathing heavily now. He couldn't believe his ears. He had been fighting all his life as hard as he could, and apparently, even THAT wasn't enough.
The Oracle smiled at him. "I said TRUST me, Fox. You'll know. You always do."
Fox slowly nodded. All right, he thought. We'll see about this.
"Yes," the Oracle said suddenly. "We WILL see, won't we?"
Mido approached her from the side, and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"We must go."
"Our time is up," she said. "Listen, Fox. You have to do little more than what is meant for you. All I can tell you is... BELIEVE in yourself, Fox. Don't listen to anyone else; listen to YOURSELF. Understand?
Fox nodded again.
"Good," she said. "Best of luck, kiddo."
The Oracle was lead back through the "magic" door. Mido stepped in himself, bowed, and closed it behind him.
Right after it shut, Fox heard a cawing of birds behind him. Curious, he turned around.
It was an Agent. The ruthless, savage computer program Ganondorf had warned him about.
"Mister McCloud," he said.
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Outside the Matrix, Phantom was fidgiting in his chair.
"Run, Fox. Run."
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Instead of running, Fox did the unthinkable for a rebel in this situation... believed in himself, turned around, and faced the Agent.
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"What is he doing?" Zephyr asked Phantom.
"He's beginning to believe."
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Fox hesitated only for an instant... and CHARGED at the Agent! Fox immediately hit a triple-punch combo, dodged around behind him, hit a double-kick, then leaned back and wailed him with a massivly hard punch.
The Agent didn't move.
"Damn it."
The Agent turned and blasted him backwards with a single punch. Fox flew across the park and smashed into an apartment building's brick wall, crumpling to the ground. Lying there, in the dust of the incinerated portion of wall, he thought, well. This should challenge me.
Fox lept up! The Agent approached him! Fox quickly Illusioned behind him, pulled his blaster, and fired for all he was worth. However, his... weak blaster only really gave the Agent damage percentage, as opposed to knocking him back. Ergo, the Agent approaced again, more menacing than ever. He was just about to reach Fox to attack when...
Fox pocketed the blaster, jumped up... really, really high up... and came back down with a sumersault-kick. The Agent actually staggered a few steps backward! Seeing his advantage, Fox quickly dashed forward, hitting two consecutive chin-kicks, followed by his Smash attack! The Agent staggered back a bit more! Finally, Fox charged up for a Fire Fox...
Uh-oh. There was more than one Agent here... three, in fact. Two had grabbed Fox from behind a millisecond after he started charging his attack. They were about to throw him backwards when he activated his Reflector! Both Agents were blown off in opposite directions, leaving Fox facing one tired, dazed Agent. Fox tried charghin his Fire Fox once again...
Oops. He had underestimated the Agent once again. Fox didn't even have time to partially charge the Fire Fox before the Agent hit a single "Field Goal" kick that sent Fox flying way, way, WAY up... at least five stories... before slamming back down to the ground, creating a small crevice in the pavement.
The other two Agents joined the first, and the three of them approached the crevice Fox's carcass had made as it made contact with the pavement.
Lying there, breathing very... very slowly... and eventually, not at all... Fox wasn't moving.
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"Phantom. He's killing him. Get a hold of Gex NOW!!"
Phantom wasted no more time. He made the call.
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Gex's phone rang. Gex, still waiting in the apartment building, answered it.
"Problems?"
"Ye... no. No, there's not."
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Fox had sprung to his feet. For the tiniest fraction of a second, he wondered how. But then, he understood. He KNEW.
Fox was The One.
The Agents looked confused. During their hesitation, Fox got a good look around. He could see the Matrix... not a realistic simulation, but a code. Not only that, he understood every line of it. He noticed the three Agents there. Three programs. My, their coding was interesting. It was very complex... it seemed to be able to temporarily replace any other mind's coding in the Matrix. Well... oh, shoot. No more time for thinking. The three programs were now approaching Fox. Well, he thought. Time to test-drive this baby.
He walked over to a nearby sign ("Pick up after your pet!"), grabbed its pole, and yanked it right out of the concrete. One Agent approached him... LARGE mistake there... and Fox just swatted him out of the way. The sign itself flew off the pole, and some of the cement stuck to the end shattered off into powder. The Agent himself flew backwards through a fence and onto a road, where he was struck by a transport. His program immediately left its host body.
The other two Agents stopped short. They observed Fox with... was it possible? Uncertainty. Fox twirled the pole around in his hands, and beaconed to them. A challenge.
No way could they just stand there like idiots NOW. Fox had just taunted them. Time to remove the system of this rebel.
Fox swacked each of them in turn, helicopter-spun over them, and ran to challenge one Agent. He floored him with a wheel-hit, then smoothly turned and smacked the other Agent out of the air, who was attacking from behind. Fox suddenly looked out to the road and saw his target... a gasoline transport. Fox hit BOTH Agents sky-high, jumped up and struck them similtaniously into the transport. It exploded the instant they made contact, terminating both of them.
Suddenly, the other Agent that had been hit before returned. Fox hadn't blown HIM up, so his code hadn't disemminated properly. He returned in a new body.
Wait... something told Fox he didn't have time for this. He dropped the pipe, crouched down, and took off. Flying. Effectively breaking the rules of the Matrix, as he knew he could.
Flying, leaving the Agent gazing up in his direction, away from the smouldering remains of the transport and the other two Agents. Towards... Gex's code. He flew straight towards the building, flipped, and landed gracefully on its roof. From there, he took the stairs down to Gex's level.
Fox approached Gex, who appeared to be hanging up his cell phone.
"I'm finished."
"So I've heard. Phantom tells me you put on quite a show back there. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I wasn't really... but I'm fine now. Let's go. The Gluggs, remember?"
"Right, they'll be tracing us. More Agents are the last things we want. Time to go. The others are waiting."
The duo proceeded down the hallway, to the stairwell again. Gex started down, but Fox grabbed his shoulder.
"No... let's go this way."
Fox led Gex up to the roof, grabbed his collar, and took off flying again. Gex's eyes widened in shock and amazement as Fox flew him through the clouds of Corneria's bustling cityscape, finally landing him down in front of the building where they jacked in.
"Whoa whoa whoa WHOA! I asked the others to meet us here! Where are they?"
"You don't suppose..." Fox trailed off.
The two glanced at each other. Fox suddenly took off flying again, up into the Cornerian sky.
Gex called Fox on his cell phone. "Fox! What can your One eyes see? Can you find their code?"
Fox glanced at the descending green symbols that formed the shapes of buildings, transports, shuttles, and ships. Finally, he spotted them... a cluster of differently-coded individuals. Their signals were NOT comming from the power plant, but from a remote location. He immediately recognised Samus's hair. Hey, he was her boyfriend! He could notice this kind of thing from a distance.
"It's them. They're moving... fast. And..."
Fox spotted a code trailing theirs, one he recognised from before.
"...They've got themselves some Agents on their tail. Gex, keep the hardline clean, I'm going after them."
"...Fox!... Be careful."
"But of course, good Gecko."
Fox closed his phone and flew towards his friends. There, through the clouds, he spotted them. A number of Cornerian Defence Shuttles were on their tail, and leading those shuttles was a different shuttle... but with a different coding inside of it. Agents. Two of them. One driving, one taking shots with a Stunner... that Stunner's coding was set for "Fry 'Em Alive". These guys weren't foolin' around.
Fox descended... descended... down onto a skyscraper to witness the chase. How could he get them out of there without harming too many civillians? ...And then he had the answer.
Swooping down towards his friend's Shuttle, he focused his mind on the coding of the road behind it. He was able to alter it to the point where a large chunk of the road rose up from the ground, creating a large, lumpy roadblock. The chasing Shuttles crashed in a heap, and the Rebels were able to escape. Fox breathed a sigh of relief. They'd head over to the hardline now. Time to meet up.
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Finally, the group of them were standing back in the room they started out in. They were all standing in a semicircle around this old-style phone, waiting for Phantom to connect to it. It was an awfully strange-looking situation.
It rang. Each of the rebels in turn took up the phone, put it to their ear, and dissintigrated into it, returning to the real world. Finally, it was down to Fox and Gex.
The phone rang. Gex gestured towards it.
"You first, Fox."
"No... I insist."
Gex picked up the phone, answered it, and disappeared. Milliseconds after, a bullet struck the phone, destroying it. Fox spun around to see who the culprit was that ruined his hardline.
His question was answered in seconds...
CLICKLICKITTYCLICKICKLICKLCICKCLICK.
About fifty handguns were now pointed at Fox's head, held by Cornerian Defence officers. In the lead was an Agent.
Fox's head hung. "Oh, MAN..."
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"Phantom? Give it to me."
A table appeared before the group. There stood Gex, flanked by Fox, Samus, Ganondorf, Mewtwo, and Kirby, all of them BUT Fox sporting their stylish designer shades. And on the table sat an array of weapons. Mostly consisting of guns, there were a few small round objects Fox recognised as...
"Grenades. Now, we hopefully NEVER have to use these. As you can see, Fox, we're only actually bringing two," Gex explained to Fox. "Now, no matter WHAT Ganondorf told you about explosives effecting programs... although he was probably right... we NEVER use explosives unless it's ABSOLUTELY necessarry. Usually it's just a Cornerian Force we have to deal with, which is what the guns are used for, you see? Rarely ever do we actually blow things up. You MUST understand that."
"Awwww... that's no fun..."
"This isn't meant to be FUN. It's meant to save our entire civilisation from enslavement. Now grab a laser and let's get on with this."
Fox picked up one of the blasters from the table. This gun was quite good; one of the later models. Stunned like a power gun, but had a quick rate of fire. Pretty deadly if used properly. And Fox? He was a pro at using things like this properly.
"Are we prepared? Lovely." Gex whipped out his phone and contacted Phantom. "Go ahead." He pocketed the phone.
Fox was surprised to see a world rush in around him from nowhere. Walls, floors, a ceiling, and all sorts of appliances, furniture, and gadgetry flew into the whiteness from all directions, finally comming together into a sensible room. The final thing to appear was an old telephone on a table in front of the group. Gex picked it up.
"We're in and ready to move."
"All right, Gex. You know where to go. Our hardline back here's still good, so just get on back to this building to get out again."
"Thanks."
Gex pocketed the phone and led his team out of the building.
It was immediately clear to Fox that they were back on Corneria. The silouetted cityscape on that beautiful sky made Fox sigh. This place didn't even really exist anymore. It was just... a cruel game of make-believe. How sad...
Samus read his mind. She put her hand on Fox's. "I know. It's hard the first few times back. Sad to think of what these things have done to our lifestyle, isn't it? Look at how we used to be. That was over a thousand years ago."
Fox nodded. He did't know what to say.
The team boarded a shuttle. This would take them through the streets of Corneria to the Oracle. Fox was actually looking forward to this visit. He would apparently be able to do all sorts of incredible things if he only knew WHAT to do. It made him nervous, and anxious, but excited all at the same time. Mix that with his confusion, sadness, and slight depression, and you've got yourself one messed-up Fox.
Fox was gazing out the window of the shuttle at the passing buildings, vehicles, people. It all looked so... fake to him now. So unreal. It was unbelievable.
"Unbelievable, isn't it?"
"Hey, you read my mind!"
"Of COURSE I did. I'm Mewtwo, you fruitcake."
Fox nodded.
"And stop... NODDING. You're really doing that repetatively in this story."
"Sorry... I'll just shut up."
"NO no no no... we've got Matrix quotes to rip off."
"You're right... hey! I used to eat there! Really good noodles..."
Samus turned to look at him.
"I have all these memories from my life..." He said to her, "None of them happened. What does that mean?"
"That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are."
"And an Oracle can?"
"That's different."
"...You went to her."
Samus nodded.
"What did she tell YOU?"
Samus looked back at him. "She told me..."
But she cut herself off. Fox looked inquisative, but she just turned back to the window.
"We're here. Fox, come with me."
Fox followed Gex out of the shuttle into a building. This place reeked of old...ness. It seemed to be held together with duct tape, and it was really torn apart and used... but it still seemed kind of home-ish.
Gex led Fox into an elevator near the back of the building. Heh, Fox thought. No dropshafts. What an old mess this place is. Gex pressed a number on the elevator, and it carried them up.
"Sooo... this is the same Oracle that made the prophecy?" Fox asked.
"Yes. She's been with us since the beginning."
"Of what?"
"Of the resistance."
Fox nodded. "And she knows... what? Everything?"
Gex smiled. "She would say she knows enough."
Fox opened his mouth again, but Gex cut him off. "You know, Fox, we should just stop ripping of the Matrix again, to let the author get at least SOME creative juices flowing."
"Author? What author?"
"Never mind. We're here. Follow me."
The elevator door slid open, and Gex led Fox out, through a series of hallways. Finally, he came to a door. It automatically opened, and Gex gestured for him to go in, saying that he would wait outside. Fox took a deep breath and entered.
It seemed like some kind of... tea shop. There were tables lining both sides of it, there was a small gathering of broomsticks in one corner, and there was dust lining the wooden floor. Fox walked down the middle of the hut-style room, to approach a figure sitting at the opposite side, sipping tea. This one was an elf; it at least resembled one, perhaps with Hylian origin, like Link. He was really quite small, and was sipping a cup of tea.
"Hello," Fox said to him.
He stood up. "You're looking for the Oracle, aren't you?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Mido, her guardian. I can bring you to her. But before I do, let me first apologise..."
"Apologise for what?"
"For THIS."
The one called Mido brought out a staff and swung it at Fox! Instinctively, he lept backwards, and snatched up a broomstick. He didn't want to shoot this guy; he just said he'd bring him to the Oracle! It was time to subdue him and FORCE him to take him there. He guessed.
Fox swung. Mido dodged! However, a cloud of dust rose from the head of the broom, making Mido sneeze. Fox capitalised and launched a few staff attacks, which Mido SOMEhow got his own staff up to block. He then tried a jump-kick, Fox sidestepped this and landed a leg sweep-esque trip. Down went Mido, and his staff clattered across the floor.
Fox tried an overhead swing, to finish Mido while he was on the ground. However, Mido rolled out of the way and kicked Fox's chest. Fox stumbled back, and Mido scrambled back over to his staff, and retrieved it. NOW Fox capitalised by swinging his broom with a wide horisontal attack. THIS one caught Mido on the shoulder, and he rolled across the ground. Fox finally decided to go for his blaster, but before his hand got even halfway there, Mido slapped it with his staff.
"OWWWWW!!"
Fox swung wildly at Mido... but he was just being careless now. Mido ducked under his attempts, and unleashed a blow to Fox's head. Fox finally jumped back, regained his composure, and... hurled the broom at Mido! It struck his head, and he soared into the back wall. However, he kicked off it after impact, and flew at Fox! Fox dived out of the way quickly, and Mido sailed headfirst into a pile of brooms!
A cloud of dust and splinters later, Mido rose, shaking, from the ground.
"E... *cough* ugh... Enough. Good. Again, I apologise, but I had to be sure."
"Of what?"
"That YOU are a potential."
"Pish... you could've just ASKED..."
"No. You do not truely know someone until you fight them. Please, come with me."
Mido pulled of his Kokiri-style hat, and under it was... a ring of keys! Fox looked a bit puzzled, but didn't ask any questions. Mido strode up to the door Fox had come in, inserted one of the keys, and swung the door open.
It wasn't the hallway Fox had come in through at all. THIS hallway was completely different. It consisted of one long... REALLY long... as in, endless-long... hallway, with doors lining each side of it. Green doors, to be exact. Except for the doors, the whole hall was white. It was pretty unnerving.
But not for Mido. He had an almost arrogent stride to him, despite the utter defeat he just fell victim to. Fox just followed him, still with that same expression on. Mido then turned slightly to speak to him...
"Do you know where we are?"
"I haven't the faintest idea."
"These are back doors out of The Matrix. Programmer exits, if you will. They can use them to get from one end of this digital world to the other in minutes."
"How do they work?"
"The code is hidden in the tumblers of the locks. One position opens the door normally, but another one, when a certain key is used, will open one of these doors."
"Programmer exits... are YOU a programmer?"
Mido shook his head. No.
"Then what exactly ARE you?"
Mido finally approached one door, slid a key in, and turned the lock. Before he opened it, he turned to Fox and said,
"I protect that which matters most."
He swung the door open, and gestured for Fox to go through. Fox entered, and was surprised by what he saw.
It appeared to be a park. Situated between a few apartment buildings, this was a cemented, open space, with a few people walking around, enjoying the lovely day. However, Fox noticed more than anything a figure sitting on a nearby bench. This figure was throwing seed to a bunch of nearby birds. Fox strode towards this figure, drawn to it, almost.
"Well, come on, Fox, I'm not going to bite you... come around here, and let me have a look at 'cha."
The figure waited, without turning around, for Fox to come around in front of it. Oh well, he thought. Here goes nothing.
He strode around in front of the figure.
It was a human.
Or, it at least appeared to be a human. Fox couldn't believe his eyes. A real human being! These creatures were said to be extinct for thousands and thousands of years! Fox didn't really dare to believe it, at least not just yet.
It was a female, and an aged one at that, with dark skin and black, curly hair. Fox stared at her, not saying anything for a bit.
"My goodness, Fox, look at you. You're certainly cuter than I thought."
Now the human was hitting on him. This was getting awfully scary. Fox almost started to back away before he realised that would look extremely rude. So, despite his... fear... Fox stayed put.
"I can see why she likes you."
Fox opened his mouth to speak.
"...And don't say 'Who?' just to keep up the Matrix quoting-spree," the human cut him off. "Feel free to let the author of this story actually come up with some dialogue."
Fox relaxed a bit. "Yeah... that sounds fair."
"Now, why don't you come sit down?"
Fox waited for a moment. "You can see the future... you KNOW if I'm going to sit down?"
"Wouldn't be much of an Oracle if I didn't!"
"But if you know that, then how am I supposed to make a choice?"
"Because you're not here to MAKE any choices, you've already made them. You're here to understand WHY you've made them."
Fox looked at her for a bit, but finally did sit down.
Fox opened his mouth again.
"And I know you're really confused right now. We'll get to that. Right now, the important issue at hand is..."
Fox nodded. "Am I the One?"
"Well, what do YOU think?" The Oracle asked him. "Do YOU think you're the One?"
"Well, I honestly don't know."
"You know what that means? It's latin. It means, 'no'."
Fox just stared at her.
"Let me get you in on a little secret, Fox. Being the One is just like being in love. Nobody can TELL you that you're in love, you just KNOW it. Through and through, balls to bones."
"Well, I can't say that I really feel... One-ish..."
The Oracle gave him a withering glare. "Then THAT means..."
Fox faltered. He understood. "I'm not the One."
"Well, not yet, anyways."
"What do you mean, 'not yet'?"
"You'll have to overcome another personal barrier, Fox. You... well, your inner self, anyway... seems to be waiting for something."
"For what?"
"A great challenge, maybe? Who knows... you haven't seem to put yourself through enough stress."
"STRESS? STRESS?! YOU THINK I HAVEN'T BEEN !STRESSED! ENOUGH?!? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I'VE BEEN FIGHTING TO THE EXTENT OF MY ABILITY... NON STOP... FOR THE LAST TEN FREAKING YEARS!!!!"
The Oracle, unfazed by his yelling, responded calmly, "Not to your extent, no. When you feel like you can fight no more... that moment when you're even on the edge of death, possibly... you'll understand. You'll KNOW. Trust me, Fox."
Fox was breathing heavily now. He couldn't believe his ears. He had been fighting all his life as hard as he could, and apparently, even THAT wasn't enough.
The Oracle smiled at him. "I said TRUST me, Fox. You'll know. You always do."
Fox slowly nodded. All right, he thought. We'll see about this.
"Yes," the Oracle said suddenly. "We WILL see, won't we?"
Mido approached her from the side, and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"We must go."
"Our time is up," she said. "Listen, Fox. You have to do little more than what is meant for you. All I can tell you is... BELIEVE in yourself, Fox. Don't listen to anyone else; listen to YOURSELF. Understand?
Fox nodded again.
"Good," she said. "Best of luck, kiddo."
The Oracle was lead back through the "magic" door. Mido stepped in himself, bowed, and closed it behind him.
Right after it shut, Fox heard a cawing of birds behind him. Curious, he turned around.
It was an Agent. The ruthless, savage computer program Ganondorf had warned him about.
"Mister McCloud," he said.
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Outside the Matrix, Phantom was fidgiting in his chair.
"Run, Fox. Run."
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Instead of running, Fox did the unthinkable for a rebel in this situation... believed in himself, turned around, and faced the Agent.
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"What is he doing?" Zephyr asked Phantom.
"He's beginning to believe."
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Fox hesitated only for an instant... and CHARGED at the Agent! Fox immediately hit a triple-punch combo, dodged around behind him, hit a double-kick, then leaned back and wailed him with a massivly hard punch.
The Agent didn't move.
"Damn it."
The Agent turned and blasted him backwards with a single punch. Fox flew across the park and smashed into an apartment building's brick wall, crumpling to the ground. Lying there, in the dust of the incinerated portion of wall, he thought, well. This should challenge me.
Fox lept up! The Agent approached him! Fox quickly Illusioned behind him, pulled his blaster, and fired for all he was worth. However, his... weak blaster only really gave the Agent damage percentage, as opposed to knocking him back. Ergo, the Agent approaced again, more menacing than ever. He was just about to reach Fox to attack when...
Fox pocketed the blaster, jumped up... really, really high up... and came back down with a sumersault-kick. The Agent actually staggered a few steps backward! Seeing his advantage, Fox quickly dashed forward, hitting two consecutive chin-kicks, followed by his Smash attack! The Agent staggered back a bit more! Finally, Fox charged up for a Fire Fox...
Uh-oh. There was more than one Agent here... three, in fact. Two had grabbed Fox from behind a millisecond after he started charging his attack. They were about to throw him backwards when he activated his Reflector! Both Agents were blown off in opposite directions, leaving Fox facing one tired, dazed Agent. Fox tried charghin his Fire Fox once again...
Oops. He had underestimated the Agent once again. Fox didn't even have time to partially charge the Fire Fox before the Agent hit a single "Field Goal" kick that sent Fox flying way, way, WAY up... at least five stories... before slamming back down to the ground, creating a small crevice in the pavement.
The other two Agents joined the first, and the three of them approached the crevice Fox's carcass had made as it made contact with the pavement.
Lying there, breathing very... very slowly... and eventually, not at all... Fox wasn't moving.
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"Phantom. He's killing him. Get a hold of Gex NOW!!"
Phantom wasted no more time. He made the call.
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Gex's phone rang. Gex, still waiting in the apartment building, answered it.
"Problems?"
"Ye... no. No, there's not."
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Fox had sprung to his feet. For the tiniest fraction of a second, he wondered how. But then, he understood. He KNEW.
Fox was The One.
The Agents looked confused. During their hesitation, Fox got a good look around. He could see the Matrix... not a realistic simulation, but a code. Not only that, he understood every line of it. He noticed the three Agents there. Three programs. My, their coding was interesting. It was very complex... it seemed to be able to temporarily replace any other mind's coding in the Matrix. Well... oh, shoot. No more time for thinking. The three programs were now approaching Fox. Well, he thought. Time to test-drive this baby.
He walked over to a nearby sign ("Pick up after your pet!"), grabbed its pole, and yanked it right out of the concrete. One Agent approached him... LARGE mistake there... and Fox just swatted him out of the way. The sign itself flew off the pole, and some of the cement stuck to the end shattered off into powder. The Agent himself flew backwards through a fence and onto a road, where he was struck by a transport. His program immediately left its host body.
The other two Agents stopped short. They observed Fox with... was it possible? Uncertainty. Fox twirled the pole around in his hands, and beaconed to them. A challenge.
No way could they just stand there like idiots NOW. Fox had just taunted them. Time to remove the system of this rebel.
Fox swacked each of them in turn, helicopter-spun over them, and ran to challenge one Agent. He floored him with a wheel-hit, then smoothly turned and smacked the other Agent out of the air, who was attacking from behind. Fox suddenly looked out to the road and saw his target... a gasoline transport. Fox hit BOTH Agents sky-high, jumped up and struck them similtaniously into the transport. It exploded the instant they made contact, terminating both of them.
Suddenly, the other Agent that had been hit before returned. Fox hadn't blown HIM up, so his code hadn't disemminated properly. He returned in a new body.
Wait... something told Fox he didn't have time for this. He dropped the pipe, crouched down, and took off. Flying. Effectively breaking the rules of the Matrix, as he knew he could.
Flying, leaving the Agent gazing up in his direction, away from the smouldering remains of the transport and the other two Agents. Towards... Gex's code. He flew straight towards the building, flipped, and landed gracefully on its roof. From there, he took the stairs down to Gex's level.
Fox approached Gex, who appeared to be hanging up his cell phone.
"I'm finished."
"So I've heard. Phantom tells me you put on quite a show back there. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I wasn't really... but I'm fine now. Let's go. The Gluggs, remember?"
"Right, they'll be tracing us. More Agents are the last things we want. Time to go. The others are waiting."
The duo proceeded down the hallway, to the stairwell again. Gex started down, but Fox grabbed his shoulder.
"No... let's go this way."
Fox led Gex up to the roof, grabbed his collar, and took off flying again. Gex's eyes widened in shock and amazement as Fox flew him through the clouds of Corneria's bustling cityscape, finally landing him down in front of the building where they jacked in.
"Whoa whoa whoa WHOA! I asked the others to meet us here! Where are they?"
"You don't suppose..." Fox trailed off.
The two glanced at each other. Fox suddenly took off flying again, up into the Cornerian sky.
Gex called Fox on his cell phone. "Fox! What can your One eyes see? Can you find their code?"
Fox glanced at the descending green symbols that formed the shapes of buildings, transports, shuttles, and ships. Finally, he spotted them... a cluster of differently-coded individuals. Their signals were NOT comming from the power plant, but from a remote location. He immediately recognised Samus's hair. Hey, he was her boyfriend! He could notice this kind of thing from a distance.
"It's them. They're moving... fast. And..."
Fox spotted a code trailing theirs, one he recognised from before.
"...They've got themselves some Agents on their tail. Gex, keep the hardline clean, I'm going after them."
"...Fox!... Be careful."
"But of course, good Gecko."
Fox closed his phone and flew towards his friends. There, through the clouds, he spotted them. A number of Cornerian Defence Shuttles were on their tail, and leading those shuttles was a different shuttle... but with a different coding inside of it. Agents. Two of them. One driving, one taking shots with a Stunner... that Stunner's coding was set for "Fry 'Em Alive". These guys weren't foolin' around.
Fox descended... descended... down onto a skyscraper to witness the chase. How could he get them out of there without harming too many civillians? ...And then he had the answer.
Swooping down towards his friend's Shuttle, he focused his mind on the coding of the road behind it. He was able to alter it to the point where a large chunk of the road rose up from the ground, creating a large, lumpy roadblock. The chasing Shuttles crashed in a heap, and the Rebels were able to escape. Fox breathed a sigh of relief. They'd head over to the hardline now. Time to meet up.
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Finally, the group of them were standing back in the room they started out in. They were all standing in a semicircle around this old-style phone, waiting for Phantom to connect to it. It was an awfully strange-looking situation.
It rang. Each of the rebels in turn took up the phone, put it to their ear, and dissintigrated into it, returning to the real world. Finally, it was down to Fox and Gex.
The phone rang. Gex gestured towards it.
"You first, Fox."
"No... I insist."
Gex picked up the phone, answered it, and disappeared. Milliseconds after, a bullet struck the phone, destroying it. Fox spun around to see who the culprit was that ruined his hardline.
His question was answered in seconds...
CLICKLICKITTYCLICKICKLICKLCICKCLICK.
About fifty handguns were now pointed at Fox's head, held by Cornerian Defence officers. In the lead was an Agent.
Fox's head hung. "Oh, MAN..."
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