"Is it ready to launch?"
"Yes, my lord. It's on its way as we speak."
"Good. Inform me of any progress."
"Yes, my lord."
"And do calm down. I can't have jumpy servants, can I?"
"No, lord."
"I didn't think so."
XI
The Star Fox team had gone into warp again, to the coordinates of the Hellborne planet…
"Hmm?... Slippy, what was that just now?" asked Fox. He had been dozing off in the command chair when a beep from the radar woke him. Fox automatically looked down at the radar, but saw nothing, and looked up at Slippy for an answer.
"Well, we're in warp, so we wouldn't see anyone on the radar… They'd be going too fast." Slippy looked at his radar and typed in something on the console in front of him. "Must've been a glitch." Fox nodded, almost satisfied. He'd never experienced a glitch before… strange…
Krystal went into her room, showered, and changed into her sleep clothing. Her head was pounding… Uhh, why me? She got into her bed, and laid their for awhile, trying to fall asleep. Which is harder than it sounds, she thought.
About an hour later, she was dosing off, drifting into darkness… when she saw the door open slightly. She sat up and rubbed her eyes of sleep… "Mmm… someone their?" she asked, a bit irritated. She looked at the crack of the door, saw something move…
Krystal looked closer at the doorway, saw that it was shut. Her mind rang of confusion. But, I could've sworn… Gah! She hastily covered herself with the sheets, irritated at her own senses. And now I'm awake, because of my eyes and ears playing tricks on me… Still angry, she shut her eyes…
Fox was about to get into bed when he heard a ping at the doorway, signaling that someone was at the door. "Come in," he said to whoever was outside the door.
Krystal looked in at him, eyes mischievous, smiling slyly. She said silkily, "Hello, Fox. How're you doing?" Her looked at her… she looked even more beautiful than normal! He shook his head slightly when he realized he was staring. "Uh, fine," he responded, not quite sure what to do. Krystal giggled slightly and walked in, her aroma filling the room. She was in her normal Star Fox uniform, but she looked… different. Fox realized his heart was going faster, and he felt that if he tried to move, he wouldn't be able too.
"So, what're you doing?" she asked, eyes looking around briefly, then at Fox. Her gaze penetrated his, and he found he couldn't look away. Something inside him told him to look away, but he couldn't. "Uh, I could ask you the same," he stuttered. She giggled again, and Fox's heart went soaring. But the feeling of unease grew, and wouldn't go away. She stepped closer.
"Well, I think we both know what I'm here for. Don't you?" She came closer, almost to the point where they would bump into each other. Fox's unease screamed for him to move, to look away, to do something… "No…" he said quietly.
She laughed quietly without opening her mouth. "Yes," she told him. She brought her arms up around his neck, and kissed him full on the mouth.
Fox stared straight ahead, over Krystal for a long moment, and then rage erupted in him, overriding any paralysis that may have been plaguing him a moment earlier. He pulled away; his face a mask of anger, and shoved her into the wall on the left of them, simultaneously drawing his blaster and putting it to the middle of her chest.
"F-Fox…" she said, looking as if she'd been shot by him. "W-what're you-"
"Quiet. I know you're not Krystal, for a couple of reasons." He looked directly into the eyes of his captive, by choice, and saw fear there, and something he couldn't place…
"B-But…" she whimpered.
"First of all, Krystal would never come into my room in the middle of the night, come up to me, and kiss me without my saying so. She'd never do that!" His teeth were bared now, showing his outrage for this, this imposter, tricking me by a guise of Krystal, my Krystal…
"Second," he went on, "I'm not sure what you used on me to screw me up like that, but the real Krystal wouldn't drug me!"
"But-but I didn't… You just didn't move, it wasn't my fault…" She sounded almost confident of this. "I thought you liked me…"
Fox was almost shaking now in anger. "Third, and last of all, when you kiss someone…" He spat out at this point. "Don't use your tongue. It's forked."
Fox's imposter looked blankly, as if forgetting something and just remembering, then smiled sarcastically, in hatred, her eyes burning in anger. "So," she said, her voice changed, "You've figured it out."
The thing kicked out, catching Fox squarely in the stomach, sending him flying back into the side of his bed. "I would've liked to have fun with you before I killed you, but, sadly, we all can't have what we want." She started to change before his (slightly dazed) eyes. Her legs re-curved, as would a satyr's, and her muscles grew slightly all over her. Her hands grew 6-inch long talons that looked razor sharp, and her eyes turned red and glowed. Her hair grew longer.
And then, this thing, this warped impression of Krystal, walked toward him slowly, as if contemplating her next move. Fox looked around for his blaster, and saw it, three feet away from his hand, useless now to him. The thing got him gently by the neck, talons encircling his neck, but not cutting into.
"I want to tell you something before you die," the thing told him. It waited for a response, but when it got none, it went on. "I didn't use anything on you to stop you from moving. You didn't have the strength of will to do anything but stare at me, like I was the best thing in the world. You wanted me, or at least this form I'm in." The thing looked mock-flattered for a moment, and said, "I haven't gotten any attention for awhile, but I guess that's because my relationships never last."
Fox saw movement to his right, slightly blocked by the thing that now held him captive, but he had no time to look as the thing raised a clawed hand. "And neither did this one," it said, and started to bring down the hand…
That's chapter IX. I'll write again soon, please review.
Black Footman342