I'm going to be gone from June 22- July 3, so there will be no more stories until after that. I'll try to squeeze in one more before I leave, so don't worry if you don't see a story from me for a while...
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Chapter 7: Darkened Shadow

Fox slowly walked through the halls of the Great Fox; he sauntered through the many halls with no particular purpose. Suddenly, he heard a scream coming from deep inside the ship. He turned around and ran down the long, narrow hallways of the Great Fox. He dashed down the stairways, feeling he had too little time to use the elevator. He came to the bottom floor where the training simulator was held. All the carefully placed ship models and decorations had collapsed and the broken pieces were scattered across the floor. Fox saw a shadowed figure...exactly like the one in the vision...and he had a tight hold on someone. Fox ran toward the figure in a confused rage, but the muffled screams came to a stop and the shadowed figure let go of its victim. The body fell to the ground and laid motionless. The lifeless body fell under one of the lights that illuminated the room, it was Krystal, and she was dead on the floor. The hooded figure slowly hovered over to Fox, he pulled his blaster and shot furiously at the dark body, but his shots traveled through the body without resistance. The figure stopped in front of Fox and spoke in a low voice, "You understand so little, you cannot save the universe...see her? She is dead, the energy of life is nothing compared to the power of pure evil. No one has the power to defeat true evil...not even you..." The figure began to remove the hood that covered its face. Just as the shadow of its face was lifted...the world went dark, and Fox suddenly began to feel the sweat running down his face and into his eyes and mouth.

Fox sprang up and yelled, "No! Krystal! What have you..." He looked around and saw that he was in his bed, and he wiped the stinging sweat from his eyes. He glanced over to his clock and the florescent blue numbers shone 01:39. Frustrated, he fell back into his bed and forced his eyes shut. What was that...that could not have been real...but neither could that vision...why am I seeing all this...does it have to come at me all at once...That shadowed guy...he was the one in the vision...the one who was talking to Krystal's father...who is he...I wonder if he has something to do with the mass mind controls...

Fox realized that he probably would not be able to sleep any more this night, so he got out of bed and went to the door of his room. Before he could reach it, the door opened itself and Fox saw a figure standing in the doorway. He jumped back and grabbed for his blaster, the silhouette entered the room and activated the lights. Fox clutched his blaster and turned around to face the figure. He was about to fire, but before he could, he saw that it was Krystal, and she had a concerned look on her face. Fox sighed and threw the blaster back on his nightstand. He looked back at her and yawned, "What's up, something wrong?" Krystal replied timidly, "I couldn't sleep, I had this dream where you..." Fox stopped her and replied, sounding surprised, "You had the same nightmare too? Where you died and...the shadow figure..." Fox stopped as he saw Krystal's distressed face. She replied, "Yes, I believe we did, but, I'd rather not talk about it..." Fox tried to think of what to say, but he could think of nothing. Neither of them could figure out what any of this meant.

Again the door opened and a robotic figure appeared in the doorway. "Disturbance detected in sleeping chamber designated to Fox McCloud, is there a problem?" ROB asked in his usual monotone voice. Fox shook his head, "No, nothing you can fix anyway...Oh, ROB, how long until we get to Kymach?" ROB stiffly replied, "Destination, Kymach, will be in range in approximately 8 hours, 27 minutes. The time will be 10:09 during approach to the planet Kymach. Is there anything else?" Fox replied, "No, that's all, thanks ROB." The robot wheeled out of the room and the door closed again.

Fox yawned and said, "Well, I'm gonna try and get back to sleep, we're gonna start our big mission today, you should probably get back to bed too." Krystal nodded and headed for the door. Fox got back into his bed and Krystal deactivated the lights as she left. Fox held his eyes shut and tried to fall asleep, but the nightmare was haunting his thoughts. So Krystal had that nightmare too? How can that be possible...Can I never truly understand this? Krystal doesn't even understand and she knows the energy of life so well...so...how hard will it be for me to figure it out...

After a while of the same thoughts running though his mind, Fox heard the door to his room quietly open and then close again. He leaned up slightly out of his bed and peered into the darkness. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear the sound of soft footsteps coming slowly towards him. He felt something place its weight on the opposite side of the bed. He could barely see that far due to the complete darkness that filled the room. He heard a quiet voice speak to him, "Fox, is it okay if I rest with you until morning? I can't sleep at all..." Fox was a little surprised by her question, and he weakly replied, "Uh...sure, I guess...that's fine." Fox groggily moved from the middle of the bed over to the left side. Krystal lifted the covers and tucked herself comfortably under them. Fox felt rather awkward about the situation, and made it even harder for him to relax and fall asleep. Krystal looked up at the ceiling and said, "It's so cold in here, what is making it so cold? It was a perfect temperature in my room." Fox answered in a tired voice, "The air conditioning in my room is broken so it never turns off, Slippy said he'd fix it but he never seems to have the time, It doesn't really bother me that much...you don't want me to fix it right now do you?" Krystal did not respond, instead, she slowly moved across the bed and placed her body right next to Fox. She put her arms around him and said, "I think I'll be fine." Fox was facing away from Krystal, and he could feel a soothing energy coming from her. Fox took her hands off his chest and held them tight. They both felt comfort come over them as they felt each other's soothing warmth. They were finally able to forget the nightmare and fall asleep.

(Later that morning)

It was well after 07:00, and most of the Star Fox team was up and preparing for the day ahead. Peppy and Slippy were up on the bridge, preparing the Great Fox for geo-synchronized orbit, and Katt was down in the docking bay, getting her small pink fighter ready for departure. No one had seen Fox or Krystal yet, and Peppy was the first one to notice. He left the bridge and looked all over for them. He passed the docking bay and saw Katt. He approached her and asked, "Hey Katt, have you seen Fox anywhere, we need him to access the orbit codes, but I can't find him anywhere." Katt responded without stopping her work, "Well, where have you looked?" Peppy answered, "I covered the kitchen, and the uhh...well, I forget, but I haven't seen them today, that I'm sure of." Katt stopped and turned to Peppy with a smirk, "I bet I know where they are..."

(Back in Fox's room)

Fox slowly stirred in the bed, he opened his eyes slightly and saw that it was still pretty dark in his room. Well, even if I do sleep in a little, I don't think I'll be missing that much, they don't really need me for anything up there. Krystal was still curled up close to Fox, sleeping peacefully. Fox did not dare move, he did not want to rouse Krystal from her sleep, and besides, he was feeling pretty comfortable himself. Fox closed his eyes again, slowly fading back to sleep. Suddenly, the door to his room opened and he heard two distinguishable voices talking from the doorway. "Heh, well, I knew they'd be in here...oh, look at them, that's so cute." Katt mockingly told Peppy. Peppy replied, "Uhh, I think we better leave, I'll just wait a little longer for those codes..." As they walked out, Fox could hear Peppy whisper to himself, "What if Fox's father was here right now and he saw..." Fox couldn't hear the end, but he could feel guilt coming over him. Oh man, I better get to work before everyone gets angry, I told them I'd start doin' more work, and I still really haven't done anything. Fox slowly moved out of the bed and into the hallway outside his room. He looked back to see Krystal alone in his bed, beginning to shiver slightly. Sorry Krystal, but I gotta be with the team, I can't let them down...

Fox jogged through the Great Fox trying to get to the bridge as fast as possible. He got to the escalator that lead up the incline of the ship and hastily ran up it. He stopped in front of the bridge door and calmly walked in. As he entered, all three of the other crewmembers looked up at him. Fox stopped and saw that they were all staring at him; he felt a little awkward but managed to speak. "ROB, how long until we can achieve geo-synchronized orbit above the planet?" ROB replied, "Activation of geo- synchronized orbit above Kymach will commence in approximately 2 hours, 54 minutes. Insufficient data for geo-synchronized orbit, missing information...access codes. Do you wish to enter them now?" Fox walked up to the Great Fox's main computer and typed in the access numbers. "There, is that fine ROB?" ROB computed the data and replied, "Access number...873-642- 916...sufficient data acquired, activation of geo-synchronized orbit is now on stand by." Fox looked away from the computer and saw that everyone was still watching him. "What? What are you staring at, aren't you all supposed to be doing...something?" Katt smirked and said, "Heh, so how'd it go?" Fox looked at her, that look she gave him reminded him of Falco, "What do you mean...what are you talking about." "Oh, don't pretend like you don't know, we saw you two in there..." Katt replied plainly. Fox didn't know what to say, it's not like he could explain the whole thing to her, and even if he did, she probably wouldn't believe him, "I really can't explain, trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway...besides, don't you have something better to do?" Katt just smirked and continued working on the computer in front of her. Fox walked over to his chair in the middle of the bridge and began preparing the ship for orbit.

(Meanwhile back in Fox's room)

Krystal was still sleeping serenely as Fox worked up on the bridge. As she slept, the gentle, cold breeze from the faulty air conditioner began to penetrate her warm fur. She reached for Fox, seeking the warmth of his body, but her hands were met with only more cold air. Her sleep became disturbed and she slowly opened her weary eyes. She looked over and saw that Fox was no longer resting next to her. She couldn't feel the energy that was concealed deep within him, and she rose from her peaceful slumber. She looked around the room, and saw a narrow beam of light coming through a small window on the far wall of the room. She walked over to the window and gazed out into the endless expanse of darkness. It seemed as if nothing could overpower this infinite darkness. She scanned over the black void and saw the bright orange sun and the thousands of stars, as they seemed to pierce through the darkness with effortless beauty. Krystal felt the warmth of the sun as it gently shone through the window and landed on her furry body. The sleep in her eyes slowly faded and she was now fully awake.

She began to take a closer look around Fox's room. There were many different types of old weapons and mementos from his other exploits. Krystal noticed a peculiar looking blaster enclosed within a sort of glass case. She walked over to it and saw an inscription by the bottom of the glass. It read, "To Fox: Happy Birthday son, I know your getting to be a great pilot, and I'm proud, this was my first blaster, and now its yours, and maybe someday, you can pass it on to your kids. I guess it's an heirloom now, so be careful with it and don't play with it too much. Whenever you're in space, you have to remember, Trust your instincts, that's what my father told me, and I leaned that his advice was one of the most valuable things to me. Keep flying, and have fun out there. Love, Dad" Krystal realized how much Fox must treasure this, she almost began crying, she knew how his father met his unpleasant end, how preventable it could've been.

Krystal searched around the room some more, and suddenly realized that Fox's collection was incomplete. It had nothing to show that he had been to Dinosaur Planet. Krystal walked out of Fox's room and made her way back to her own room. She rummaged through her dresser drawers and found her staff. The staff that Fox had used to fight his way across Dinosaur Planet, the staff she had dropped as she fought Scales from the back of a flying dinosaur. She thought of what a coincidence that Fox, of all animals, had found the staff first. It must have been part of destiny's plan to get them together so they could save Cerinia. Krystal walked back into Fox's room and propped the staff up against the wall next to his nightstand. She carefully moved it again and again, trying to make it blend in with his other keepsakes.

As she finished adjusting the staff on the wall, the door behind her opened and Fox walked in with a smile. He walked over next to her and looked at the carefully placed staff on the wall. "It looks good with all the other stuff in here, but do you really want to give it to me?" Krystal nodded silently and said, "Yes, I want you to have it, I don't think it is of much use to me now." Fox asked, "Then your gonna need a new weapon for our mission, huh? Do you want to go pick one out?" Krystal replied, "A weapon like your blaster?" "Ya, I think we have some extra blasters laying around back in the armory. I don't know how many of them actually work, but you'll need something when we get to Kymach." Fox motioned for Krystal to follow and he led her into the rear of the ship and into the small armory.

The armory was full of different weapons. Fox grabbed a few blasters from a nearby workbench and showed them to Krystal. They each had a different look to them, but they were all very dusty and unpolished. Krystal picked one and Fox put the others aside. He guided her to a shooting range in the back of the armory and gave her the blaster. Fox told her how the shooting range worked and Krystal nodded in acknowledgement. Fox activated the targets and a timer began. Many electronic targets began to hover around the large black screen. Krystal started out slow, missing the targets to the left and right, but eventually, she got used to this strange, new weapon, and began picking off the targets with ease. The timer ended and the targets disappeared. Fox reviewed the results on the computer. He informed her, "Well, not bad, you started off missing your targets to the left, about 38% of the time, then you started picking off some targets and you hit a couple dead center. So I'd say that's pretty good for your first time with a blaster. How did it feel?" Krystal looked down at her new weapon, "It feels much different than my staff, but it works fine...I just need to get used to it." Fox nodded in approval and led her back to the workbench. He found a blaster strap and gave it to Krystal. She looked curiously at it for a while and asked, "What does this do?" Fox replied, "You tie it around your leg and you can put your blaster in it so you don't have to carry it around." Krystal set the blaster down and securely fastened the strap just under the cuff of her dark blue shorts, which were well above her knees. She picked up the blaster and placed it in the holster. She reached down and pulled it back out, making sure it was high enough for her to reach. Fox smiled and said, "Well now you're ready to roll when we get to Kymach, are you ready to fight?" Krystal replied timidly, "Are the other forces on Kymach going to be difficult to defeat?" Fox replied, "Probably not, Pepper said that these planets under mind control were primitive, they might just try and club us." Krystal's anxiety faded as she laughed with Fox.

Just then, the door to the armory opened and Katt walked in, with a smirk on her face. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything special, but we're approaching Kymach, I thought I'd let you know." Fox glanced at her and asked, "Don't you have anything better to do than to follow me around like this?" Katt replied, "It's not my fault I catch you like this, maybe if you hid a little better I might not be able to find you." Fox just smirked and said, "Fine, let's get to the bridge then..." Fox and Krystal followed Katt through the Great Fox and arrived back on the bridge.

Fox sat at his chair in the middle of the bridge and Krystal stood next to him. Through the bridge window they could see a yellow planet coming into sight. They seemed to come up on it quickly and soon, they were hovering just above it. ROB broke the silence on the bridge, "Destination, Kymach, has been reached, activation of geo-synchronized orbit will commence in 10...9...8. Fox got up from his chair and walked behind ROB. As the count reached 5, Fox disabled all thrusters on the ship. The noise level on the Great Fox suddenly lowered and all you could hear were the computers busily working. ROB finished, "2...1...Activate geo-synchronized orbit." The Great Fox lurched about as it positioned itself over a location on the planet below. The ship now moved as the planet rotated, remaining stationary over the same spot on the planet below. There was silence for a while on the bridge, until ROB announced, "Receiving transmission from planet Kymach, addressed from a small resistance group on the planets surface. Decoding and projection commencing." A few seconds passed and then the holographic screen in the middle of the bridge hummed to life. The image of a bruised and bloody echidna appeared on the screen. He spoke in a weary and solemn voice, "Cornerians? What are you doing here...You must leave now...before they get you too..."