A/N: On...my...FREAKING...god... Have you people SEEN the new Zelda trailer? IT IS SO AWESOME! I'm serious, it's fricken kewl. I won't spoil it for the rest of you, though. You'll have to find out by yourself why I'm so excited about it (those I've already told on IM, DON'T SAY ANYTHING!). If you guys can guess, I'll...do...something... Maybe another pic like last time... In fact, I have one in reserve for any who are interested, so go on and take a wild guess. Anyways, I've rambled on enough about Zelda: Twilight Princess to the point where Skye Agony's gonna fricken strangle me (not that she's reading this fic...), so I'll just start the chapter for y'alls.
"No, you're not the first to fall apart,
But always the first one to complain.
You better get careful or you'll
Compromise everything you are..."
Brother Squadron: Chapter 8: Code 42
A few days passed as Mario recovered, along for the ride as the Squadron continued their endless journey, leaving Krakow southwest across the dunes. Mario quickly adapted to the new environment as a new recruit, impressing his fellow Nintendians with his sniper skills. Every so often, as the caravans bounced across the cracked earth, fellow comrades from inside the lead caravan (where he was staying with his brother) would watch as Mario would find a few Wire Frames traveling by foot, unaware of the Nintendians' presence. Swiftly and skillfully, he sniped out each one of them before they knew what hit them, his shots right on target despite the wind redirecting his aiming. He never failed to arouse his comrades with wild abandon. All except for one.
Falcon barely left the caravan anymore, usually stuck in his own, blissful world. He was usually found huddled in his corner, protected from the outside by a pile of blankets, snapping at all who tried to invade his space, coiled up like a hissing rattlesnake. And so, for the sake of not starting a conflict, the group ignored him completely, trying not to listen to his dreamy giggles from within his world.
Right now, the group of three, Mario, Luigi, and Fox sat playing regular Poker, using discarded bullet shells as betting chips. The cards were traded, and the betting began.
"Alright," Fox began, a shell balancing on his thumb. "I raise the pot a copper pistol shell." He then flicked the shell into the pile, clinking among the rest of them.
Just then, a confident grin spread across Mario's face. "Well, I raise you a .22 caliber." He placed a larger shell in the pile, which surprised the other two.
"Oh ho, ho, this is getting interesting," Luigi chuckled.
"You are so bluffing, little man."
"You wanna bet?" Mario gave Fox a sly smirk, which was swiftly returned, followed by a few laughs.
Falcon began to giggle again. They were used to it by now, so they barely noticed...
Luigi dropped his hand face up. "Diddly-squat."
Fox slapped his own hand down, grinning smugly. "Straight Flush."
Mario's eyes moved back and forth between Fox and his hand, then he grinned in satisfaction and slowly flipped down his own hand. "Royal Flush."
Fox gaped as Luigi burst into laughter. "Son of a bitch!"
Falcon, in a delusional trance, slowly crawled out of his sanctuary and slinked across the floor like a drunken tiger. No one noticed quite yet...
"The pot goes to me!" Mario trilled as he dragged the pile in with both hands and set it all beside him. Fox gathered the cards and began shuffling the deck.
Luigi sat there, bored, cheekbone resting on his knuckles. And then he heard the giggling he was used to, but much closer. Alarmed, Luigi turned quickly to meet Falcon face-to-face, and the youth jumped in surprise, then cooled down.
"Oh!... Uh, hey, Falcon." He tried to be pleasant, but the man was uncomfortably close, almost literally on top of him. Luigi's Adam's apple bobbed in nervousness.
Falcon grinned happily. "Did you hear? Did you hear?" he spoke giddily, moving behind Luigi, placing his hands firmly on the nervous youth's shoulders and whispering into his ear. "It's today!"
Luigi shivered, feeling the hot breath running down his neck slowly. He shakily asked, "W-what's today?"
Falcon gave him an unbelieving look. "You mean you haven't heard...? We're going home! I know it for sure!"
Luigi grew curious as Falcon laughed in glee. He was about to ask how he knew such a thing, but he found Fox's stern gaze, who silently shook his head. But Luigi didn't mind so much, as he never had much hope in believing Falcon anyway.
"Why the long face?" Falcon asked, voice shaking with instability. "You should be happy! Home at last!"
"Falcon," Fox began, the unstable man turning towards him with his arm still around an uneasy Luigi. "We're not going home today."
"Yes, we are!" he bellowed defiantly, drawing away, much to Luigi's relief. "I know we are! Today is the day, I know it!"
"It's always the day with you!" Fox replied hotly. "Wake up, Falcon! You can't predict the day, if you ever live to reach it!"
"SHUT UP!" he yelled defensively like a young child, frustrated tears welling up in his eyes. "Shut up shut up shut up!" Desperately, he crawled like a wounded beast up to Mario and grasped him tightly by the arms. "You believe me, don't you? Don't you?" He began to shake Mario back and forth. "DON'T YOU?"
"Falcon, let him go!" Fox shouted, rushing to pull Falcon off the flustered and surprised Mario, but Falcon responded by snarling and swinging a fist into the side of the vulpine's snout. "Get him down!" he ordered, thoroughly annoyed. Immediately, Mario and Luigi pinned Falcon to the ground, who struggled violently, then finally gave in, head slumped and sobbing softly.
From his place in the front, Link had heard the whole thing, sighing ruefully as he knew this would happen eventually. Unemotionally, he lightened the force on the gas pedal, slowing down as he spoke into the speaker, "Stop the trucks. We've got a... Code 42..."
The rest heard this, and Fox gave his leader an unreadable look as the caravan lurched to a stop. Screeching in the sand outside indicated that the other vans stopped without question. Mario looked to Luigi for guidance, but the youth shrugged, not knowing what was going on themselves.
After the engine's purr died, Link stepped out from under the tan drape, glancing down at the pathetic Falcon in a mix of pity and regret.
"Get off of him," he ordered not too sharply, and the brothers quickly got off of Falcon, who made no effort to pull himself up, still sobbing woefully. Link stood above him, checking his revolver and slipping it into its hoister, then kneeled beside the broken man, face softening.
"Douglas..." he whispered his name softly, instantly gaining his attention as he raised his damp gaze up at Link. No one had called him by his actual name since he was back home...
Suddenly, Link became someone else in Falcon's mind, an old face that only he knew. No one else could tell who he saw, but all the same, Link remained patient as he continued.
"I have some great news, Douglas," the elf spoke softly as if speaking to a young child. "You were right- today is the day."
Falcon's face instantly brightened, allowing Link to prop him back on his feet. With one hand grasping his wrist, Link beckoned with the other and said, "Follow me."
The rest watched them begin to leave. Cautiously, Mario reached slowly for his sniper rifle, but then a hand quickly grabbed his wrist as if snapping no, absolutely not. Both brothers looked up questioningly at Fox.
"We go unarmed," he explained lowly in three simple words.
"But Link, he..."
"Unarmed," Fox repeated heavily, following them out of the caravan. The Mario Brothers exchanged stares, then stepped in unison outside.
The rest of the Nintendians all stood huddled together, and the three quickly joined the crowd. They watched silently as Link helped Falcon step out of the vehicle and into the scorching noon sun. Falcon gazed around in awe, seeing things he wanted to see in replacement of reality, seeing old faces and his old homeworld in glee. To him, his friends were smiling, welcoming himself warmly, but in reality, the Nintendians looked at him gravely, most of them knowing what was going to happen.
Link turned Falcon out towards the endless dunes of the wastelands. "Tell me... What do you see, Douglas?"
Falcon did not respond at first as he stared out into the endless abyss, reaching a hand out longingly. "Home... Everything... Just as I left it..." He began to trail on dreamily. "The busy streets... The blue skies... It's beautiful..."
"It is," Link softly agreed, his hand slowly reaching for his revolver.
"Look, there's the F-Zero Track!" He pointed up into the sky and the invisible racetrack, where his long ago passion laid. "I remember racing so long ago..."
"You were the greatest racer, Douglas, always smoking the competition," Link sighed, trying to seem happy, but failing. Falcon never noticed, however. He was so deep in his hallucinations, he didn't even notice the click as Link cocked his gun and slowly raised it up, the barrel pointing at the back of his neck.
Falcon sighed happily. "I knew this day would come... I knew I'd come home..."
Link nodded slowly, beginning to lose his nerve as the gun shook in his hand, and he swallowed a lump in his throat before he spoke these words. "Welcome home, Douglas." He then shut his eyes fleetingly and pulled the trigger.
A single bang echoed across the desert, and one was all it took. With a bullet to the certain segment of his neck, Falcon died instantly without pain, his body slowly crumpling to the caked earth. Link kept the smoking revolver suspended in the air for a few more seconds, shaking in his trembling hand. Realizing this at last, he swiftly lowered it down to his side, eyes still shut in remorse. Mario and Luigi stared at the limp body of Falcon with wide, glazed eyes, not believing what they were witnessing. They gazed around uncertainly at the other Nintendians, who all bowed their heads in respect as Zelda began to sing a remorseful requiem, backed up with her tears.
"Belone, tarune noneyune sav de... Tono moniye..."
Finally understanding, Mario bowed his head as well. Luigi did the same, but without the understanding, his gaze still resting upon the stiff figure of Link. Despite the magnitude of the event, no tears came to his eyes, as if he had done this many times. Too many times.
"Preay day mona... tiode say mudo ney..."
Once Zelda was finished, Link turned away towards the caravans, avoiding the others' gazes. "Come on." His tone was soft and impassive. "Everyone back in the trucks."
The rest of the afternoon was quiet, at least inside the lead caravan. Fox was sleeping in the hammock as if nothing had happened. Mario sat near the Wanted Poster wall, gazing up and down his sniper rifle, then over at the pile of blankets that Falcon once occupied, then back to his rifle again. Luigi sat beside his brother, many questions that needed to be answered burning in his naïve mind and bothering him greatly. Finally, he couldn't take it any longer, wordlessly getting to his feet and pushing past the tan drape into the front seat. Link didn't notice or didn't care as Luigi climbed into the passenger seat, keeping his gaze ahead with unmoving eyes, face without emotion. The windshield had been completely removed, and dust blew in their faces, but neither cared as they shared a heavy silence. Luigi fidgeted to get comfortable, then sighed and brought his gaze up to Link.
"...How many times have you done that?" He started out with a more simpler question.
Link never drew away his attention from the road, but he sighed and responded nonetheless. "Too many."
Now for a harder question. "Why?"
Link shut his eyes briefly, then sighed and begun and explanation. "Our... situation gets to some of us sometimes... They go insane and delusional, and... well, there's no use for them anymore."
Luigi's brows furrowed, a little angry. "So is that it? You kill 'em off when they become useless?"
"No, it's not like that..." Link hastily added, but not with that much energy. "You see... It's really for their sake, not ours. It's hard to survive in that sort of condition, and for some reason, when the Frames catch them, they put 'em in a sort of insane cell where they torture them until they die. Trust me, I've seen it happen to many Humans. Don't ask me why they do it."
"They're sick bastards, that's why," Luigi grumbled, but his mood lightened when he saw a smile lighten up Link's face in response.
"Yeah, but that's why we kill them early on. And we always make sure they die happy. Falcon... was easier than some of the others..."
Luigi nodded, finally understanding, and sat back in his seat, satisfied with the humane answer. He gazed out the side window at the rolling, sandy hills, framed by the red, dusk sky, trying to see what Falcon had seen: home.
Instantly, the images of Mushroom Kingdom came to him: the rolling green hills, the bright blue skies, mushrooms tall as trees, the Mushrooian people, always kind and friendly and welcoming to the brothers, who had gained fame for saving the realm countless times from Bowser, the Koopa King. At home, they were heroes... yet here... they were traitors, enemies. Luigi missed those days of glory, and he'd rather fight Bowser everyday for justice than to fight countless enemies on this doomed world for survival.
"... But you'd best not get insane on me," Link's voice broke his train of thought, and the images disappeared to be replaced once more by the endless desert. Slightly disappointed, Luigi turned back to Link again, who now had his full attention focused on Luigi. Though he raised a brow threateningly, a good-natured smile was stretched across his face. "You hear me?"
"Oh, y-yeah, don't worry about it," Luigi replied hastily, focusing his gaze up ahead. "I-I do miss home... But I got Mario... And I gotta stay sane for his sake."
Link nodded in agreement. "Good. You keep that up, then." Luigi noticed fatigue entering his voice, as the sun began to sink below the far-off mountains. Luigi watched silently as Link looked ahead, then reached down and clicked the speaker out of its holder, holding it to his face as he spoke into it as if giving an announcement over the intercom. "It's gettin' late. I see a cavern in the cliff wall two miles due west. We're stayin' there for the night." And then he returned the speaker to its holder, and no one responded as if it was an order.
Luigi sat back in content, watching as the cliff became visible on the horizon...
"The world is a drought when out of love.
Please come back to us, you're all of the above.
'I'm making a choice to be out of touch.
Leave me be,' he said, he said, he said.
'Leave me here in my
Stark, raving, sick, sad little world...'" -Sick Sad Little World, Incubus (Falcon's Theme)
A/N: Yep. I killed another Nintendian. Please don't get mad. AND WATCH THE ZELDA TRAILER! 8D (faints with excitement) PS: Review, please!