PART THREE: THE MEROVINGIAN
"Mister McCloud," the Agent said, "Welcome back. We MISSED you."
Fox glared at them for a moment, then Focused. Time around him slowed to a crawl. Fox lept up and over the Agent in a forward flip, and landed a kick to the back of his head. The Agent flew forward through the table and the now-broken phone. The other officers opened fire on Fox... but he was ready for them.
Still Focusing, Fox backflipped, avoiding the first barrage of bullets that came his way. He then jumped sideways, kicked off the wall, and sailed back the other way across the room. Yet more bullets wizzed by him on every side. Fox pulled out his own Blasters as he landed and fired, dropping a few of the Officers. However, it would take seemingly forever to stop all of them this way...
Fox sighed. "Enough of this..."
He put up his paw. The rest of the bullets that were fired simply stopped in midair before they even reached Fox.
The Officers stopped firing, in complete disbelief.
Fox LOWERED his paw, the small collection of bullets falling to the floor with it.
The Officers just ran at that point. Fox turned around to face the Agent, who was just getting up from the huge blow he had suffered to his head. Reeling slightly, he glared at Fox.
Fox glared right back, fearless. The Agent charged! Fox ALSO charged! Fox drew back his fist as he ran, and connected with a swift blow to the Agent's chin. He sailed upwards through the roof and out of sight.
Fox sighed again. He pulled out his phone and called Phantom.
"Hey, Phantom. They took out the phone."
"I know! You're going to have to find another hardline... unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless you'd like to do some work while you're in there."
"What kind of work?"
"Oh, come on, Fox. The Disks, remember? As long as you're in, you might as well. Our ship still has plenty of energy, and there's no sign of any opposing forces anywhere back here. Why not fly up and take a look around? See what you can see."
"All right... if you're sure..."
Fox soared skyward again. He swivelled around, just below the clouds, looking for such a Disk. However, he couldn't locate any such coding offhand. He would have to move a bit.
"Phantom? I'm going to fly South a bit. The Cornerian Ministry of Defence is there. If there's any such Disks stored on this planet, there's a good chance they'll be there."
"All right... just... try to stay in some cloud covering, all right? You're a wanted animal. They've got the entire System looking for you. Be careful."
Fox shut the phone, pocketed it, and took off. Fox then tried something he never tried before; he soared up, up, WAY above the clouds. Heck, flight shuttles were still miles below him. He continued to soar Southwards, still tactically avoiding shuttles, ships... anything that might spot him and recognise him. Finally, he reached his destination.
Fox looked downward. Yep, there was the Ministry, all right. A large building situated at the heart of bustling Corneria City, the Ministry was very big and very intimidating. However, it wasn't even the building itself that caught Fox's eye. He looked towards the edge of the City, where a large field spanned. Right there, he noticed...
The Great Fox.
His ship for years on end. It was there, right there! All his friends... all those that were still in the Matrix, anyway... were in that Ministry of Defence!
Ministry... Ministry of Defence! Shoot. Fox had to get in closer to see if a Disk was located in the Ministry! There was no time to worry about friends now... well, there WAS, but it would be too unsafe... the last thing Fox wanted was attention. Resisting the screaming, inner urge to go to his ship, Fox swooped closer to the Ministry.
Sadly, Fox was frustrated by failure. The coding for the Ministry was extremely heavy; he wasn't able to see what was within it. He would have to sneak into the Ministry instead.
Fox picked up his phone. "Phantom! I'd like to get into that building! I can't see past the code."
"Oh, there's an idea. Just WALK RIGHT INTO your enemy's BASE. Good thinking, Fox..."
"What? I could take all those guys in there with one paw."
"Yeah, great plan. Just eliminate all of Corneria's defences. Lovely. That's JUST the thing we need."
"Oh... right... the Gluggs would know it was me..."
"Yuh-huh... they'd send their entire army after us in the real world! Fox, listen. You're going to need to get inside that building eventually. Just... not now. It's broad daylight. Just get back here, please? I've got another hardline set up so you can, on Maine and Wells."
"Fine."
Fox hung up his phone, frustrated. Not really at the 'No Entry to Base' situation, but the 'Can't See Your Friends Ever Again' situation. If he had snuck in, he might've been able to see them again... make sure they were all right... assure that they were all still free, as opposed to inprisonment. Heck, the Ministry was nothing but a load of idiots. Fox could see it happening.
So, instead of searching, he just left.
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Fox awoke. He looked around at his team, who were unhooking him from his chair.
"Well? Is there ANY sign of enemy activity?"
"None whatsoever."
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but in an hour or two, I'll be ready to head back in. Hey, there's fifty disks out there, surely they're not secured in that one building."
"Well, of COURSE they aren't... Fox, listen. Remember Ganondorf talking to you about the Merovingian?"
"Yes... yes, I do."
"Well, he controls all sorts of illegal programs in the Matrix. He's the really big, powerful outlaw that controls all sorts of illegal programs. He'll undoubtedly be in control of at least one of these disks. We can get in to see him in a few hours."
"Perfect. See you then. I want some more training..."
Fox left the room, all eyes following him.
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Fox hadn't been training for TOO long when Samus came to check on him. He was hooked up to a training simulation program, much like the Matrix. This program was basically a large, peaceful rock garden. Fox really liked this Garden; this was apparently where Gex had always trained when he was a rookie rebel. It was a quite well-structured program, complete with rock-benches, a river running through one end of the garden, and a wooden bridge connecting the two parts of the garden. It was also complete with some other large impressive rock-structures.
Fox was sitting in one area, surrounded by stones, in deep concentration.
Suddenly, a rock bounced off his head. Fox toppled over.
"You call THAT concentration?"
Looking up through blurry eyes, Fox saw Samus standing over him, tossing a stone up and down.
"Hm! I didn't think you'd have the guts to come back to challenge me after that swift defeat on the Infinite Glacier."
"That, dear Fox, was an act of pure mercy after having beaten you... how many times before in training? Gosh, I guess I lost count when it hit double-digits."
"THAT, dear Samus, was typical of the codding members of my sex must bestow upon members of your sex to cajote them into playing."
"Oh yeah, that's it. You've done it again. You'll eat those words and half the rocks in this garden."
Samus then whipped the Stone she was tossing at Fox, who swiftly caught it. He then beconed.
"Come awn, Samus. MAKE me."
Now Fox had REALLY done it. He'd taunted her before their fight had even begun. Time to take out the trash, she thought.
It was Samus that first rushed, executing a spinning heel kick that Fox barely ducked under. She jumped up to try a toe kick to his head, but Fox rolled under that as well. She landed, with Fox behind her. He swiftly started into a Fox Illusion, and swept past her, knocking her into the air. He quickly started up his Fire Fox to finish her off, but Samus pegged him with a Missile before he could, and then rushed him and shoulder-bashed him backwards. Fox flew, spinning, and landed hard on the bumpy surface.
"O-O-OWWW!"
Fox lept up, and rushed back at Samus, going for a jumping kick. She rolled under this, and as she did, let off a few bombs. Fox caught fire and couldn't put himself out until he rolled into the nearby river. He shook himself off, and noticed Samus charging him... he whipped out his blaster, dove sideways, and fired off a few rounds. Samus tripped because of this, and landed face-first in the crystal-clear water of the river.
Fox stood over her. "Had enough?"
"Of course not, silly."
She kicked him from her spot on the ground... her foot connected squarely with his jaw, and he sailed backwards through one of his rock-benches. It shattered into two halves.
Fox lept up again. Time to get serious. He lept into the air, sailing over Samus's head. He kicked off a pillar structured out of rock and rebounded right at Samus; striking her with his paw and sending her flying backwards. As he landed, he started to charge up the Fire Fox for the second time... unfortunately, Samus was able to shoot off another quick Missile before he could finish, and she landed safely on her feet. The second she did, she started up with a Charge Shot. Fox dashed at her to stop her, but instead of waiting for it to fully charge, Samus shot Fox with it 3/4 finished. This was still enough to knock Fox backwards, off his feet again. Samus dashed forward before Fox could react and nailed a Screw Attack! Fox flipped back down to the ground.
Augh... no WAY could Fox lose to Samus after those pre-practice words! Fox backflipped back up, kicking Samus's chest protecter as he did, sending her stumbling backwards. Fox then started up the Fire Fox for a third time... but this time, as Samus retaliated with a Missile, Fox was ready. He cancelled the move and switched on his reflector as soon as the Missile was about to make contact, and instead of hitting HIM, it flew back and struck Samus! Once again, Samus was dazed, giving Fox the exact opening he had been looking for. He charged the Fire Fox...
And hit it! Samus flew backwards and struck the rock pillar, which cracked, and tumbled to the ground. Samus was defeated.
Quickly, Fox ran over and pulled her up.
"Damn... you ARE good, Fox."
"You're not BAD... you're just a little distracted," Fox said to her.
"Yeah... I suppose so." Samus removed her helmet, allowing her sleek blonde hair to flow down from within it. How beautiful, Fox thought.
They sat down on an... intact rock bench.
"Hm... made a mess of your garden..." Samus said, looking around at the scene they had created.
"Hey... I kinda like it," Fox responded, smiling.
"...Fox, can I ask you a serious question?"
"Of course."
"What happened to you? All I know is that you were stranded on the Control Ship as it exploded. How the heck did you live?"
"Mewtwo."
"What? HE saved you? How?"
"He used a couple of Bombs and an Arwing, and a few... short-worded instructions, but he got me out."
"That's impossible... he'd only have had a few seconds!"
"Precisely."
"A miracle... a complete miracle that you're still alive. I can't tell you how grateful I am."
She snuggled up to Fox, which, despite her clunky armor, was appriciated by Fox nonetheless.
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"All set?"
Fox had made his way back to the main deck, and was assembled with the rest of the crew. He, Gex, and Samus were to jack in to visit the Merovingian. Of course, without an appointment, it wouldn't be extremely easy. But then, nothing much that they did anymore WAS.
Phantom rolled the beam up to Fox's neck. "Good luck, buddy."
Fox nodded in thanks as Zephyr activated the computer. Fox felt his mind float from his body...
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And became aware of him, Gex and Samus standing back in that white construct.
"All right, guys. We can't take any weapons to go see the Merovingian, that'd look intimidating, and we don't want ANY of his programs to go thinking that. We WILL need a Transport, though..." Gex looked meaningfully upwards.
And a Transport came, bulding itself out of nowhere, out of nothing. Suddenly, walls, a ceiling, a floor, furnature... a telephone all rushed in as well. The phone rung.
"We're in fine, Phantom. We'll call you when we get there."
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Another transport ride later (Fox refused to fly, he wanted to conserve his energy) the trio disembarked in front of a glamerous building. It was many stories high, and its outer walls were completely made of tempered glass; so Fox could see the Cornerian skyline reflected in its massive size.
"Let's go," Gex said.
They entered the front lobby. This place was as large as the building's size suggested, and Fox recognised the coding used in most of the wall and floor details as marble. Since the place they were going to meet the Merovingian in rested on a higher floor, the three entered one of the numerous elevators that lined the room. Another group of people approached to enter the elevator; Gex simply shook his head, and they stopped short, their curious gazes disappearing behind the swiftly-closing steel doors.
Gex spoke the second the doors closed, inquiring about the building's base code.
"What can you see, Fox?"
Fox couldn't quite make out what it was. He knew it was a program, yes, but what kind, he wasn't sure. It seemed different... encrypted, maybe. Not only that, but every floor of this building was wired with explosives. Whee, he thought.
He voiced this to Gex. "Well then... that's not the greatest news. Oh well... here we go. Get ready..."
The trio walked out of the elevator towards the Restraunt, the Merovingian, and of course, their first Disk.
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Zephyr spun around in her chair. Right now she had little more to do than wait for the three of them to be finished, and well, she was bored. She decided to pester Phantom for awhile with random gabber.
"So, what do ya think of this Fox we've picked up?"
"Incredible... did you see his movements? So fluent and precise... I really can't see how we'll lose this war now!"
"Yeah, that's nice, but what do ya think of HIM?"
"What? Well, he's a nice enough guy, I guess... he DOES need time to settle in... now, would you please? I'm trying to work. Go bother somebody else... the entire rest of the crew is in here somewhere just WAITING for you to lighten up their day with... what was it the author called it? 'Random Gabber'."
"FINE," Zephyr sighed. "Geez. You're NO fun at all..."
Zephyr trapsed down to the crew's chambers. She checked each one... yup. All of them were training. There were SOME advantages to not being able to use these brain-type programs... this was NOT one of them.
Zephyr charged back up to Phantom. "They're all busy. Heh heh... it's a bad day to be you..."
Phantom groaned. This would be long and...
"Wait! Zeph! Check the radar! What is that?"
She did so. "I don't know! Is that some kind of..."
"...hostile? I don't know," Phantom finished. "I haven't seen anything like that before... what could it be? It doesn't appear friendly OR nasty..."
"Hmmm..."
"What? Can you get a visual of it? What does it look like?"
A screen flickered on as Zephyr fiddled more with her keyboard. An image of a long, serpant-like robot came into view. It didn't appear to be doing anything nasty, though.
"We CAN'T be too careful."
"Right. I'll call them... wait. They're in with the Merovingian. It'd be just too rude to interrupt that... you know what he can be like."
"Of course. They'll be outta there in five mintues or so anyways..."
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The trio had made their way up to the front desk of this restraunt. Like the lobby, it was quite glamerous. Fox wasn't used to this much class; he'd never got anything like that when he'd been doing solo work for the Cornerian department. He had to struggle to get by.
"Hello," Gex said to the host, "We are here to speak with the Merovingian."
"Well, of course," he replied, "He has been expecting you. Follow me."
The host led the trio into the restraunt. It was magnificant! It was set in one large room, with a main hallway cutting it in half. This 'hallway' was lined with pillars constructed of dark green marble. The floors and walls were mostly constructed of this same material, but Fox was moreso aware of the numerous tables on each side of the restraunt, filled with customers. At the front of all this was a very long table, at which was seated a line of important-looking people. Fox got a glimpse, but only a glimpse, of the one sitting at the head of the table. That face... he'd seen that face somewhere before...
No matter. Fox went back to examining the room. In an offset corner he saw a collection of... thuggies, if you will. Bodyguard programs designed solely to protect the Merovingian and his property. Fox recognised a pair of them that stood out... Twins. They were sitting with their backs to him at the moment, but for some reason, he still felt that they were watching him. Wierd.
Well, the trio WAS being watched, without a doubt. Many pairs of eyes followed them as they advanced onwards to the head table. It wasn't them that fazed Fox... it was those Twins.
Or was it the Merovingian himself? Fox's attention turned back to him. Fox got another good look at him, and gasped.
It was Wolf. Star Wolf! Fox's old nemesis... how had he gotten so much money?! If Fox didn't have the whole "indestructable One" reputation to keep his jaw would be hanging open in awe. Wolf smirked a bit as they approaced.
"Ah, here he is, McCloud! The One himself... and the legendary Gex as well... and Samus of corse, so beautiful she makes me suffer... I have heard so much! You honor me, please, sit, join us. This is my wife, Persephone," he said, gesturing to a wolf sitting at his left. She was indeed quite pretty, and Fox actually had to force himself to avert his attention back to the Merovingian.
"You know why we are here," Gex said.
"Hmmm," he nodded. "I am a trafficker of information, I know everything I can. The quesiton is... do YOU know why you're here?"
"We're looking for a Disk."
"Yes, yes, it is true... the Disk, of course. But this is not a REASON, this is not a `why.' The Disk itself, its very nature, is means, it is not an end, and so... to look for him is to be looking for a means to... do... What?"
"You know the answer to that question," Fox said.
"But do you? You think you do, but you do not."
"What? We want to disable the Glugg's technology!"
"Oh... well, not only did you prove me wrong, you bashed another set of Matrix quote rip-offs. So onwards and upwards. You'd like me to just give you this piece of information that you require? And why exactly should I do this? Fox has ALWAYS been my enemy, and now suddenly you have associated yourself with him, this has not put you very high on my "liked people" list... yes, well. I have something you need. NOW the question is, do you have anything I need? No. No, you do not, at least, not at the present time... you have nothing I would like. You have access to nothing I require. And so... I see no reason to give up the disk to you. No reason at all."
Wolf stood up to leave at this point, seeing the conversation over.
"This isn't over," Fox said.
"Oh, yes it is!"
"Really? Aw..."
Wolf disappeared through a door in the back of the room. Immediately, the programs from the corner of the restraunt came over to escort the trio out. One guard reached forward to lay a hand on Samus's shoulder.
Without turning around, she snapped back at him.
"Touch me, and that hand will never touch anything again."
Finally, the trio was escorted to the elevator again, where they were dispatched of with a menacing glare from the Twins.
"Well, that didn't go so well," Fox said to Gex.
"Hm. How're we going to get past him? He's got at least one disk in his control."
"Maybe we said something wrong," Samus offered.
"Or DIDN'T say something."
"No," Gex cut Fox and Samus off, "What happened happened and could not have happened any other way."
"How do you know?"
"We are still alive."
"Yeah. Wonderful."
The elevator doors suddenly slid open, although they had not yet reached the ground floor again. The reason for this was soon exposed... as Persephone the wolf came into view as the doors vanished from view.
"If you want the disks, follow me."
She led them into a lavatory (that means a bathroom, silly)... a MEN'S one, at that.
"GET out," she said to the only person in there. He swept out, cussing.
She strode over to a mirror, started fixing her fur and began talking immediately. "I'm so sick and tired of his bull. On and on... pompus prick... a long time ago, when we first came here, things were so different... HE was so different..."
She looked in the mirror at Fox's reflexion.
"He was like you."
She turned to face them again, looking at Fox.
"I'll get you what you want, but in return, you must give ME something."
"What?"
"A kiss."
Samus's expression went furious. "Excuse me?"
"I want you to kiss me, as though you were kissing her."
Fox tilted his head. "...Why?"
"You LOVE her. She loves YOU. It's all over you both. A long time ago, I knew what that felt like... I want to taste it... I want to SAMPLE it. That's all... just a sample."
Samus raised her cannon and aimed it at Persephone's head. "Why don'tcha sample THIS instead?"
"SAMUS," Gex said warningly. Samus didn't budge.
"How can we trust you?" Fox asked her.
"If I don't get you what you want, she can kill me."
"All right."
Fox rolled backwards, and Samus jumped in front of him, her cannon now pointing against Persephone's head.
"NOW. As you said. If you don't get us our disks, you will die, right here, right now. What's it going to be?"
Persephone looked shocked. Samus had an almost evil smile on her face. Gex looked neutral. This COULD go either way, really. He decided to just let it play out.
"Very well, you got me. Should've phrased that better. Now, follow me."
As Persephone led them out, Fox traded a wink with Samus. Even for the sake of the entire Lylat population, he didn't betray his beloved. This would be one to remember.
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CONTINUED NEXT CHAPTER
"Mister McCloud," the Agent said, "Welcome back. We MISSED you."
Fox glared at them for a moment, then Focused. Time around him slowed to a crawl. Fox lept up and over the Agent in a forward flip, and landed a kick to the back of his head. The Agent flew forward through the table and the now-broken phone. The other officers opened fire on Fox... but he was ready for them.
Still Focusing, Fox backflipped, avoiding the first barrage of bullets that came his way. He then jumped sideways, kicked off the wall, and sailed back the other way across the room. Yet more bullets wizzed by him on every side. Fox pulled out his own Blasters as he landed and fired, dropping a few of the Officers. However, it would take seemingly forever to stop all of them this way...
Fox sighed. "Enough of this..."
He put up his paw. The rest of the bullets that were fired simply stopped in midair before they even reached Fox.
The Officers stopped firing, in complete disbelief.
Fox LOWERED his paw, the small collection of bullets falling to the floor with it.
The Officers just ran at that point. Fox turned around to face the Agent, who was just getting up from the huge blow he had suffered to his head. Reeling slightly, he glared at Fox.
Fox glared right back, fearless. The Agent charged! Fox ALSO charged! Fox drew back his fist as he ran, and connected with a swift blow to the Agent's chin. He sailed upwards through the roof and out of sight.
Fox sighed again. He pulled out his phone and called Phantom.
"Hey, Phantom. They took out the phone."
"I know! You're going to have to find another hardline... unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless you'd like to do some work while you're in there."
"What kind of work?"
"Oh, come on, Fox. The Disks, remember? As long as you're in, you might as well. Our ship still has plenty of energy, and there's no sign of any opposing forces anywhere back here. Why not fly up and take a look around? See what you can see."
"All right... if you're sure..."
Fox soared skyward again. He swivelled around, just below the clouds, looking for such a Disk. However, he couldn't locate any such coding offhand. He would have to move a bit.
"Phantom? I'm going to fly South a bit. The Cornerian Ministry of Defence is there. If there's any such Disks stored on this planet, there's a good chance they'll be there."
"All right... just... try to stay in some cloud covering, all right? You're a wanted animal. They've got the entire System looking for you. Be careful."
Fox shut the phone, pocketed it, and took off. Fox then tried something he never tried before; he soared up, up, WAY above the clouds. Heck, flight shuttles were still miles below him. He continued to soar Southwards, still tactically avoiding shuttles, ships... anything that might spot him and recognise him. Finally, he reached his destination.
Fox looked downward. Yep, there was the Ministry, all right. A large building situated at the heart of bustling Corneria City, the Ministry was very big and very intimidating. However, it wasn't even the building itself that caught Fox's eye. He looked towards the edge of the City, where a large field spanned. Right there, he noticed...
The Great Fox.
His ship for years on end. It was there, right there! All his friends... all those that were still in the Matrix, anyway... were in that Ministry of Defence!
Ministry... Ministry of Defence! Shoot. Fox had to get in closer to see if a Disk was located in the Ministry! There was no time to worry about friends now... well, there WAS, but it would be too unsafe... the last thing Fox wanted was attention. Resisting the screaming, inner urge to go to his ship, Fox swooped closer to the Ministry.
Sadly, Fox was frustrated by failure. The coding for the Ministry was extremely heavy; he wasn't able to see what was within it. He would have to sneak into the Ministry instead.
Fox picked up his phone. "Phantom! I'd like to get into that building! I can't see past the code."
"Oh, there's an idea. Just WALK RIGHT INTO your enemy's BASE. Good thinking, Fox..."
"What? I could take all those guys in there with one paw."
"Yeah, great plan. Just eliminate all of Corneria's defences. Lovely. That's JUST the thing we need."
"Oh... right... the Gluggs would know it was me..."
"Yuh-huh... they'd send their entire army after us in the real world! Fox, listen. You're going to need to get inside that building eventually. Just... not now. It's broad daylight. Just get back here, please? I've got another hardline set up so you can, on Maine and Wells."
"Fine."
Fox hung up his phone, frustrated. Not really at the 'No Entry to Base' situation, but the 'Can't See Your Friends Ever Again' situation. If he had snuck in, he might've been able to see them again... make sure they were all right... assure that they were all still free, as opposed to inprisonment. Heck, the Ministry was nothing but a load of idiots. Fox could see it happening.
So, instead of searching, he just left.
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Fox awoke. He looked around at his team, who were unhooking him from his chair.
"Well? Is there ANY sign of enemy activity?"
"None whatsoever."
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but in an hour or two, I'll be ready to head back in. Hey, there's fifty disks out there, surely they're not secured in that one building."
"Well, of COURSE they aren't... Fox, listen. Remember Ganondorf talking to you about the Merovingian?"
"Yes... yes, I do."
"Well, he controls all sorts of illegal programs in the Matrix. He's the really big, powerful outlaw that controls all sorts of illegal programs. He'll undoubtedly be in control of at least one of these disks. We can get in to see him in a few hours."
"Perfect. See you then. I want some more training..."
Fox left the room, all eyes following him.
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Fox hadn't been training for TOO long when Samus came to check on him. He was hooked up to a training simulation program, much like the Matrix. This program was basically a large, peaceful rock garden. Fox really liked this Garden; this was apparently where Gex had always trained when he was a rookie rebel. It was a quite well-structured program, complete with rock-benches, a river running through one end of the garden, and a wooden bridge connecting the two parts of the garden. It was also complete with some other large impressive rock-structures.
Fox was sitting in one area, surrounded by stones, in deep concentration.
Suddenly, a rock bounced off his head. Fox toppled over.
"You call THAT concentration?"
Looking up through blurry eyes, Fox saw Samus standing over him, tossing a stone up and down.
"Hm! I didn't think you'd have the guts to come back to challenge me after that swift defeat on the Infinite Glacier."
"That, dear Fox, was an act of pure mercy after having beaten you... how many times before in training? Gosh, I guess I lost count when it hit double-digits."
"THAT, dear Samus, was typical of the codding members of my sex must bestow upon members of your sex to cajote them into playing."
"Oh yeah, that's it. You've done it again. You'll eat those words and half the rocks in this garden."
Samus then whipped the Stone she was tossing at Fox, who swiftly caught it. He then beconed.
"Come awn, Samus. MAKE me."
Now Fox had REALLY done it. He'd taunted her before their fight had even begun. Time to take out the trash, she thought.
It was Samus that first rushed, executing a spinning heel kick that Fox barely ducked under. She jumped up to try a toe kick to his head, but Fox rolled under that as well. She landed, with Fox behind her. He swiftly started into a Fox Illusion, and swept past her, knocking her into the air. He quickly started up his Fire Fox to finish her off, but Samus pegged him with a Missile before he could, and then rushed him and shoulder-bashed him backwards. Fox flew, spinning, and landed hard on the bumpy surface.
"O-O-OWWW!"
Fox lept up, and rushed back at Samus, going for a jumping kick. She rolled under this, and as she did, let off a few bombs. Fox caught fire and couldn't put himself out until he rolled into the nearby river. He shook himself off, and noticed Samus charging him... he whipped out his blaster, dove sideways, and fired off a few rounds. Samus tripped because of this, and landed face-first in the crystal-clear water of the river.
Fox stood over her. "Had enough?"
"Of course not, silly."
She kicked him from her spot on the ground... her foot connected squarely with his jaw, and he sailed backwards through one of his rock-benches. It shattered into two halves.
Fox lept up again. Time to get serious. He lept into the air, sailing over Samus's head. He kicked off a pillar structured out of rock and rebounded right at Samus; striking her with his paw and sending her flying backwards. As he landed, he started to charge up the Fire Fox for the second time... unfortunately, Samus was able to shoot off another quick Missile before he could finish, and she landed safely on her feet. The second she did, she started up with a Charge Shot. Fox dashed at her to stop her, but instead of waiting for it to fully charge, Samus shot Fox with it 3/4 finished. This was still enough to knock Fox backwards, off his feet again. Samus dashed forward before Fox could react and nailed a Screw Attack! Fox flipped back down to the ground.
Augh... no WAY could Fox lose to Samus after those pre-practice words! Fox backflipped back up, kicking Samus's chest protecter as he did, sending her stumbling backwards. Fox then started up the Fire Fox for a third time... but this time, as Samus retaliated with a Missile, Fox was ready. He cancelled the move and switched on his reflector as soon as the Missile was about to make contact, and instead of hitting HIM, it flew back and struck Samus! Once again, Samus was dazed, giving Fox the exact opening he had been looking for. He charged the Fire Fox...
And hit it! Samus flew backwards and struck the rock pillar, which cracked, and tumbled to the ground. Samus was defeated.
Quickly, Fox ran over and pulled her up.
"Damn... you ARE good, Fox."
"You're not BAD... you're just a little distracted," Fox said to her.
"Yeah... I suppose so." Samus removed her helmet, allowing her sleek blonde hair to flow down from within it. How beautiful, Fox thought.
They sat down on an... intact rock bench.
"Hm... made a mess of your garden..." Samus said, looking around at the scene they had created.
"Hey... I kinda like it," Fox responded, smiling.
"...Fox, can I ask you a serious question?"
"Of course."
"What happened to you? All I know is that you were stranded on the Control Ship as it exploded. How the heck did you live?"
"Mewtwo."
"What? HE saved you? How?"
"He used a couple of Bombs and an Arwing, and a few... short-worded instructions, but he got me out."
"That's impossible... he'd only have had a few seconds!"
"Precisely."
"A miracle... a complete miracle that you're still alive. I can't tell you how grateful I am."
She snuggled up to Fox, which, despite her clunky armor, was appriciated by Fox nonetheless.
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"All set?"
Fox had made his way back to the main deck, and was assembled with the rest of the crew. He, Gex, and Samus were to jack in to visit the Merovingian. Of course, without an appointment, it wouldn't be extremely easy. But then, nothing much that they did anymore WAS.
Phantom rolled the beam up to Fox's neck. "Good luck, buddy."
Fox nodded in thanks as Zephyr activated the computer. Fox felt his mind float from his body...
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And became aware of him, Gex and Samus standing back in that white construct.
"All right, guys. We can't take any weapons to go see the Merovingian, that'd look intimidating, and we don't want ANY of his programs to go thinking that. We WILL need a Transport, though..." Gex looked meaningfully upwards.
And a Transport came, bulding itself out of nowhere, out of nothing. Suddenly, walls, a ceiling, a floor, furnature... a telephone all rushed in as well. The phone rung.
"We're in fine, Phantom. We'll call you when we get there."
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Another transport ride later (Fox refused to fly, he wanted to conserve his energy) the trio disembarked in front of a glamerous building. It was many stories high, and its outer walls were completely made of tempered glass; so Fox could see the Cornerian skyline reflected in its massive size.
"Let's go," Gex said.
They entered the front lobby. This place was as large as the building's size suggested, and Fox recognised the coding used in most of the wall and floor details as marble. Since the place they were going to meet the Merovingian in rested on a higher floor, the three entered one of the numerous elevators that lined the room. Another group of people approached to enter the elevator; Gex simply shook his head, and they stopped short, their curious gazes disappearing behind the swiftly-closing steel doors.
Gex spoke the second the doors closed, inquiring about the building's base code.
"What can you see, Fox?"
Fox couldn't quite make out what it was. He knew it was a program, yes, but what kind, he wasn't sure. It seemed different... encrypted, maybe. Not only that, but every floor of this building was wired with explosives. Whee, he thought.
He voiced this to Gex. "Well then... that's not the greatest news. Oh well... here we go. Get ready..."
The trio walked out of the elevator towards the Restraunt, the Merovingian, and of course, their first Disk.
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Zephyr spun around in her chair. Right now she had little more to do than wait for the three of them to be finished, and well, she was bored. She decided to pester Phantom for awhile with random gabber.
"So, what do ya think of this Fox we've picked up?"
"Incredible... did you see his movements? So fluent and precise... I really can't see how we'll lose this war now!"
"Yeah, that's nice, but what do ya think of HIM?"
"What? Well, he's a nice enough guy, I guess... he DOES need time to settle in... now, would you please? I'm trying to work. Go bother somebody else... the entire rest of the crew is in here somewhere just WAITING for you to lighten up their day with... what was it the author called it? 'Random Gabber'."
"FINE," Zephyr sighed. "Geez. You're NO fun at all..."
Zephyr trapsed down to the crew's chambers. She checked each one... yup. All of them were training. There were SOME advantages to not being able to use these brain-type programs... this was NOT one of them.
Zephyr charged back up to Phantom. "They're all busy. Heh heh... it's a bad day to be you..."
Phantom groaned. This would be long and...
"Wait! Zeph! Check the radar! What is that?"
She did so. "I don't know! Is that some kind of..."
"...hostile? I don't know," Phantom finished. "I haven't seen anything like that before... what could it be? It doesn't appear friendly OR nasty..."
"Hmmm..."
"What? Can you get a visual of it? What does it look like?"
A screen flickered on as Zephyr fiddled more with her keyboard. An image of a long, serpant-like robot came into view. It didn't appear to be doing anything nasty, though.
"We CAN'T be too careful."
"Right. I'll call them... wait. They're in with the Merovingian. It'd be just too rude to interrupt that... you know what he can be like."
"Of course. They'll be outta there in five mintues or so anyways..."
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The trio had made their way up to the front desk of this restraunt. Like the lobby, it was quite glamerous. Fox wasn't used to this much class; he'd never got anything like that when he'd been doing solo work for the Cornerian department. He had to struggle to get by.
"Hello," Gex said to the host, "We are here to speak with the Merovingian."
"Well, of course," he replied, "He has been expecting you. Follow me."
The host led the trio into the restraunt. It was magnificant! It was set in one large room, with a main hallway cutting it in half. This 'hallway' was lined with pillars constructed of dark green marble. The floors and walls were mostly constructed of this same material, but Fox was moreso aware of the numerous tables on each side of the restraunt, filled with customers. At the front of all this was a very long table, at which was seated a line of important-looking people. Fox got a glimpse, but only a glimpse, of the one sitting at the head of the table. That face... he'd seen that face somewhere before...
No matter. Fox went back to examining the room. In an offset corner he saw a collection of... thuggies, if you will. Bodyguard programs designed solely to protect the Merovingian and his property. Fox recognised a pair of them that stood out... Twins. They were sitting with their backs to him at the moment, but for some reason, he still felt that they were watching him. Wierd.
Well, the trio WAS being watched, without a doubt. Many pairs of eyes followed them as they advanced onwards to the head table. It wasn't them that fazed Fox... it was those Twins.
Or was it the Merovingian himself? Fox's attention turned back to him. Fox got another good look at him, and gasped.
It was Wolf. Star Wolf! Fox's old nemesis... how had he gotten so much money?! If Fox didn't have the whole "indestructable One" reputation to keep his jaw would be hanging open in awe. Wolf smirked a bit as they approaced.
"Ah, here he is, McCloud! The One himself... and the legendary Gex as well... and Samus of corse, so beautiful she makes me suffer... I have heard so much! You honor me, please, sit, join us. This is my wife, Persephone," he said, gesturing to a wolf sitting at his left. She was indeed quite pretty, and Fox actually had to force himself to avert his attention back to the Merovingian.
"You know why we are here," Gex said.
"Hmmm," he nodded. "I am a trafficker of information, I know everything I can. The quesiton is... do YOU know why you're here?"
"We're looking for a Disk."
"Yes, yes, it is true... the Disk, of course. But this is not a REASON, this is not a `why.' The Disk itself, its very nature, is means, it is not an end, and so... to look for him is to be looking for a means to... do... What?"
"You know the answer to that question," Fox said.
"But do you? You think you do, but you do not."
"What? We want to disable the Glugg's technology!"
"Oh... well, not only did you prove me wrong, you bashed another set of Matrix quote rip-offs. So onwards and upwards. You'd like me to just give you this piece of information that you require? And why exactly should I do this? Fox has ALWAYS been my enemy, and now suddenly you have associated yourself with him, this has not put you very high on my "liked people" list... yes, well. I have something you need. NOW the question is, do you have anything I need? No. No, you do not, at least, not at the present time... you have nothing I would like. You have access to nothing I require. And so... I see no reason to give up the disk to you. No reason at all."
Wolf stood up to leave at this point, seeing the conversation over.
"This isn't over," Fox said.
"Oh, yes it is!"
"Really? Aw..."
Wolf disappeared through a door in the back of the room. Immediately, the programs from the corner of the restraunt came over to escort the trio out. One guard reached forward to lay a hand on Samus's shoulder.
Without turning around, she snapped back at him.
"Touch me, and that hand will never touch anything again."
Finally, the trio was escorted to the elevator again, where they were dispatched of with a menacing glare from the Twins.
"Well, that didn't go so well," Fox said to Gex.
"Hm. How're we going to get past him? He's got at least one disk in his control."
"Maybe we said something wrong," Samus offered.
"Or DIDN'T say something."
"No," Gex cut Fox and Samus off, "What happened happened and could not have happened any other way."
"How do you know?"
"We are still alive."
"Yeah. Wonderful."
The elevator doors suddenly slid open, although they had not yet reached the ground floor again. The reason for this was soon exposed... as Persephone the wolf came into view as the doors vanished from view.
"If you want the disks, follow me."
She led them into a lavatory (that means a bathroom, silly)... a MEN'S one, at that.
"GET out," she said to the only person in there. He swept out, cussing.
She strode over to a mirror, started fixing her fur and began talking immediately. "I'm so sick and tired of his bull. On and on... pompus prick... a long time ago, when we first came here, things were so different... HE was so different..."
She looked in the mirror at Fox's reflexion.
"He was like you."
She turned to face them again, looking at Fox.
"I'll get you what you want, but in return, you must give ME something."
"What?"
"A kiss."
Samus's expression went furious. "Excuse me?"
"I want you to kiss me, as though you were kissing her."
Fox tilted his head. "...Why?"
"You LOVE her. She loves YOU. It's all over you both. A long time ago, I knew what that felt like... I want to taste it... I want to SAMPLE it. That's all... just a sample."
Samus raised her cannon and aimed it at Persephone's head. "Why don'tcha sample THIS instead?"
"SAMUS," Gex said warningly. Samus didn't budge.
"How can we trust you?" Fox asked her.
"If I don't get you what you want, she can kill me."
"All right."
Fox rolled backwards, and Samus jumped in front of him, her cannon now pointing against Persephone's head.
"NOW. As you said. If you don't get us our disks, you will die, right here, right now. What's it going to be?"
Persephone looked shocked. Samus had an almost evil smile on her face. Gex looked neutral. This COULD go either way, really. He decided to just let it play out.
"Very well, you got me. Should've phrased that better. Now, follow me."
As Persephone led them out, Fox traded a wink with Samus. Even for the sake of the entire Lylat population, he didn't betray his beloved. This would be one to remember.
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CONTINUED NEXT CHAPTER