Fang led the charge as he flew towards the southwest section of Necross, he and the others ignoring the Cyber fighters as they all tried to lead the group northeast instead. He looked at his scanners, and then to his communicator.
"Keep your eyes open, guys…" He said, "According to Peppy's coordinates, we're almost sitting on top of where Krystal and Topaz went in."
Falco flew along, as he saw one of the arwings suddenly turn away from the group.
"Panther…" Falco furrowed his brow. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Shhhh…" Panther put a finger to his mouth. "I've been on the run from you all for a while now…if there's anyone here who knows how to find a hiding place, it's me…now please, let me concentrate…"
Fang nodded over to Falco, letting him know he should leave Panther alone, as the former Star Wolf fighter flew slowly past the others, getting closer to the rocky surface of Necross.
"If I were him, I wouldn't be flying so close to the ground." Fulton spoke up.
"Well…you're not him, are you?" Falco grinned a bit as he looked on, wondering if Panther could really survive such a bold move.
Panther eyed every part of the planet's surface carefully, before two guns suddenly fired out from behind a huge boulder in the distance.
"Ah-ha!" Panther yelled, as he swerved and avoided the shots, firing his guns off and blasting a huge hole in the boulder, revealing the entrance to the base. "The key to revealing your enemy's location is always to provoke them into showing themselves."
Fang watched Panther fly right into the entrance, before looking over to Falco. "He's good…"
Falco shook his head. "Let's just hope he's not good at getting us all killed."
He then reluctantly went off with Fang and the others, as they all flew into the special entrance that Panther had just created for them.
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Diamando leapt into the air with her staff pointed out, shooting the flamethrower as Topaz and Krystal rolled aside, Topaz swinging for Diamando's head with her staff, while Krystal swung for her legs.
The cyber vixen landed and jumped out of the way of Krystal's staff, sending her to the ground with a sidekick, before knocking Topaz's staff away with her own, and performing an impressive standing backflip, bringing her feet up to Topaz's head from underneath, and smacking her hard under the chin.
Topaz yelled out in pain as she gripped her head, as Krystal got right back up and ran for Diamando, swinging for her belly, as the green vixen simply dropped her own staff, and caught a hold of the head. She jumped into the air while still holding it, Krystal gripping onto the other end as Diamando flipped over to the other side, and used her momentum to flip Krystal using her staff, letting go, as Krystal flew over and hit a nearby wall hard, grunting as she landed on her stomach on the ground.
Diamando turned to see Topaz suddenly come in and try to hit her with a spinning roundhouse kick, catching her foot in her arms. Topaz hopped a bit on her other leg as Diamando tried to swing for her with her right fist. Topaz ducked her head, and suddenly went down, bringing up her other foot and smacking Diamando across the temple as she fell and rolled back, getting up and chasing her.
Topaz ran after Diamando as she ran near the same wall where Krystal was recovering. Before Krystal could realize what was going on, Topaz ran in and swung for Diamando as they were right up to the wall, only to have Diamando quickly leap to the wall with one foot, and spring off it with her other foot, performing a backflip right over Topaz's head, and landing right behind her.
Krystal had no time to warn Topaz as she turned, while Diamando brought up her right leg, nailing the blonde vixen with a hard front kick to the chest, making her staff return to her hand afterward. Topaz fell back as Krystal caught her, and tried to catch Diamando in an ice blast. Diamando activated the flamethrower on her staff, and twirled it, the flames easily melting the ice, as she tried to let the two have it with a well-placed flame shot.
The two Cerinians rolled out of the way, before they jumped up together, and brought both of their staffs down, as they landed, creating a doubly powerful shockwave in the ground, as Diamando stumbled and fell, grabbing hold of a counter nearby, as Topaz ran in and jumped, smacking her in the face with a well-timed jump kick.
Diamando fell back, and tried to defend herself as Krystal yelled and leaped in with her staff at her side, swinging it for Diamando as she managed to catch it behind her staff, using it to pull the cyber vixen in as she spun and extended her left leg, kicking Diamando in the back of the head, making her stumble into the waiting arms of Topaz, as she grabbed Diamando's left arm, and flipped her over onto her back.
Diamando grunted, and responded by suddenly bringing up her right leg as she lay there, hitting Topaz right in the forehead, and rolling out of the way as Krystal tried to let her have it with a fireball from her staff. The cyber vixen held out her staff, and shot out another bolt of electricity.
Krystal had no time to jump out of the way, holding out her staff as she felt the current travel into the weapon, and through parts of her body, making her shake violently
"Krystal!" Topaz yelled, as she ran up and spun her staff above her head, bringing it down off to her side as she smacked the head into Diamando's face, making her fall back and stop the attack.
Krystal's staff had taken much of the punishment from the attack, the head absorbing the energy, so it didn't kill her. She still was taken aback by the power, falling over onto her side and grunting, smoke coming off her body, as Topaz yelled and swung repeatedly for parts of Diamando's head and shoulders, the cyber vixen bringing up her staff and blocking each attack. She then tried to hit Topaz with a front kick, only to have the blonde vixen grab a hold of her foot with her left hand, using her right to swing her staff right for her face. Before it could reach her though, Diamando suddenly smacked Topaz with a vicious right hook, using her other foot to spring off her shoulders, and maneuver her feet around her head from behind, flipping over in a sommersault and taking Topaz down with her, as she hit the ground hard.
Diamando then put down her staff, and went over to Topaz's slightly stunned body, and, held her head up in her left hand. "Playtime's over, bitch…" The cyber vixen growled, as she held up her right hand, the long, metal needle shooting up from it, still stained with blood from when she wounded Krystal.
Krystal looked over and saw this, groggily, as she felt her mind flash back to many different events that had happened to her recently…meeting Topaz and befriending her, treating each other as sisters, as well as her recent meetings with Fox, their relationship seeming to improve with each one. She began to breathe heavily as she realized how much possibility was still left in her life, as well as that of Topaz, and that it was now all going to be robbed of them from this metal monster before them. She couldn't let that happen…
She sat up, and just before Diamando could drive the needle through Topaz's heart, she shot off a fireball that flew over so quick, Diamando could only turn over and look, as it smashed her right in the face, making her head catch fire.
The Cyber vixen screamed as Topaz quickly got up and kicked her away, running over to Krystal. The Two cerinians nodded to each other slowly, as they both put their fingers on the edge of their staffs.
"Noooooo!" Xerxes yelled from the screen in the room, having been monitoring the whole fight, as Diamando ran around wildly, fumbling for her staff, as the two vixens yelled out "Spirit Fury!" Making their staffs glow to life at the same time.
Topaz ran in just as Diamando was making a grab for her staff with her left arm, bringing her glowing staff down vertically as it quickly sliced off the arm. Diamando howled out again as her pain receptors went off like crazy, sparks shooting from the spot where her arm used to be, as Krystal ran in and lopped off the other arm with her glowing staff, making the cyber vixen cry out as the fire consumed her skin covered face, leaving her metal skull behind as wrenched back and forth, its jaw opening and closing.
The two vixens cancelled their attacks, as Krystal walked over and picked up the severed right arm, the metal needle still extracted as she walked up to Diamando's remains, leaning back against a wall as she held her neck in place with her left hand.
"This is for Fox…" She spoke, before bringing the hand up, and impaling Diamando through her metal forehead with the needle. Sparks flew, as the metal skull's jaw dropped, before a metallic whine echoed through her body, the glow in her eyes fading into nothing.
"Now you've done it…" Xerxes growled, looking on from his monitor. "Now you've done it!" Doors opened from all corners, as Cybers all began to march into the room. The two vixens, both weakened from the fight, prepared to defend themselves as best they could.
"I suppose I made the mistake of having too much faith in Diamando's abilities." Xerxes spoke as he scratched under his chin some. "Rest assured though, I shall not make such errors from here on."
The Cybers then held out their arms, and began to fire off their blasters, as Topaz quickly ducked and rolled, making them hit each other a few times as Krystal did the same, freezing the head of one of them with an ice blast, and letting another one have it as she got up and spun her staff, letting out another fireball.
Topaz spun as well as another cyber fired, deflecting the shot with the head of her staff, as it ricocheted right into the stasis tube where Fox was being held, shattering the glass.
Krystal gasped and looked over as this happened, the Cybers stopping and watching as their hostage spilled out onto the floor with the liquid of the tube, rolling onto his back as Krystal ran over and helped Fox up, sitting him up with her right hand as she rubbed his back.
"Fox!…Fox!…" she yelled, trying to bring him back to consciousness.
Topaz looked on as the Cybers stood, unsure of what to do now, as Fox coughed a bit and rubbed the thick liquid out of his eyes, very groggy as he slowly began to speak.
"W-where am I?" he slowly answered, looking up and seeing Krystal. "Is it 7:00 PM already?"
Krystal chuckled a bit and smiled. "Oh, Fox…" She hugged him softly, forgetting any animosity she had borne against him over the past since their breakup. "I'm so glad you're all right…"
"Touching…" Xerxes spoke as he stood in the monitor with his arms at his sides. "I'm sure that whatever's left of my old, naive self would be weeping in joy for you two at this moment. But, it is only for a moment after all…as you can see, all of you are outnumbered, and still trapped in a base controlled by me…So you are still going be a part of my grand plan, whether you like it or not."
Krystal frowned at Xerxes as she held Fox up, who was slowly remembering where he was, as his eyes went wide. Topaz used this moment, where the Cybers were all focused on Fox and Krystal, and jumped past them, kicking some of them aside, before sliding into a passageway nearby.
"We shall deal with her later!" Xerxes called out to his Cybers, before turning his attention back to Krystal. "It looks like I won't have to delete you for your cells after all, now that I have both you and your fox cornered…Take them to lab 118y, and put them both in stasis down there!"
"Affirmative…" The Cyber in front nodded, before walking over and reaching for Krystal.
But before he could get her, a shot came out from nowhere, and slammed right into its head, making it stumble and fall off to the side. All heads turned to see Fang, Fulton, and Panther standing in the doorway.
"Touch her, and you're aluminum siding!" Fang shouted, having been the one who had fired.
The Cybers then turned and began firing at the three fighters; Falco and Slippy back at the hangars, defending the ships from other Cybers. Fang ran in and ducked to avoid more shots, springing up and smashing his metal knee into the chest of a Cyber, before blasting it right in the face.
Fulton stood his ground, as he fired at Cybers here and there, providing backup for Panther as he jumped up and kicked one Cyber out of his way, spinning and firing his gun at two others, taking them down.
"Panther!" Krystal shouted as she looked on, and twirled her staff, knocking away another Cyber. "Who let you out of your cage?"
"Easy now, love…" Panther grinned as he fought. "I'm on your side now…"
"He is, Krystal, believe it!" Fang nodded, as he ducked and fired away with his gun, Fulton still firing and running to the different corners of the room, trying to give himself some distance, as even Fox now, who was slowly waking up, got up and fought as best he could, without his weapons.
But there were just two many Cybers in the room, as Panther was overpowered and thrown into the center of the room by two Cybers, near Krystal and Fox, as Fulton was pushed into the same area, Fang fighting on furiously, before one Cyber let out a blast from his wrist, as it smashed into Fang's gun, rendering it useless, as he slowly backed into the center.
"I have had it up to here with all of this resistance…" Xerxes growled as he looked on to the surrounded group of heroes. "Despite all of your best efforts, Corneria WILL be reborn as a Cyber world, and you shall all be here to witness it, to see your home go up in flames, and be no more. You are all great fighters, but you all still fail to realize the force and conviction behind Life 2.0…well, no longer…Prepare to watch yourselves all become extinct!" He motioned to the Life Force device, which was now being loaded into the surviving wolfen craft.
But before Krystal, Fox, or anyone else could think of a way to get past all of these Cybers, the door suddenly opened, revealing Topaz behind it, holding her necklace.
"Father!" She yelled out, as Krystal's jaw dropped. Topaz had just called Xerxes the very same thing that she had once pledged to never call him again, after they had left Mondas.
"Father, stop this madness now!" She yelled, holding her necklace plainly in view, as the Cybers turned, ready to fire at her.
"Wait!" Xerxes spoke to them, getting a good look at what she was holding. "That object…something is..familiar about it…"
"It should be, father…" Topaz spoke softly. "I was on my way to find where your brain was being kept, before I looked at this necklace for a moment…it reminded me…of a time when you were very different, father…when you were the person who gave me this present…"
She looked to her necklace, and clicked it open, the lovely tune beginning to play on it, as the photo of Xerxes and Rose, her mother, came into view, the two of them holding hands together in the background of a beautiful sunset on Cerinia.
"That song…" Xerxes' eyes went wide, as he looked to the photo as well, admiring his late wife standing next to him. "…She used to sing it to you when you were just a baby…"
Topaz nodded gently. "And you remembered it, note for note, and programmed it into this necklace, when you gave it to me for my birthday…" she looked at him with emotional, tender eyes. "I remember you back then father…so full of life…full of love…and compassion…before you got lost in your work, your disease… before you turned into the monster I've known for so long, whose disregarded all other life for his vision, even the life of his own wife and daughter…before you became so wrapped up in defeating death and decay, that you forgot what living life actually felt like… …"
Tears began to well up in her eyes as she looked down, the others simply watching. "I wish I could see the father I used to know again, from all those years ago…even if it was for just a moment…"
Xerxes examined the photo a little more, getting lost in the moment…He felt it then…the pain, the guilt, the sorrow he had been burying deep inside of him, which he had almost completely forgotten, but the photo, and the sound of the song had now forced him to remember.
"Rose…" He spoke to himself, before he slowly began to lower his head in shame. "What have I done?…"
Topaz looked up quickly, tears in her eyes as she realized that she had in fact reached the part of him that could still feel. "Daddy?…"
Xerxes looked on at Topaz, his showing their first sign of compassion in ages. "My child…" he looked to photo of him and her mother, before looking back at his daughter. "I'm so sorry…"
With that, Topaz quickly walked up, and leaned against the monitor, Xerxes looking on from behind the screen as he brought down a mechanical arm from the ceiling, gently stroking his daughter's back with it as she nuzzled up to the glass, tears running down her cheeks, as a single tear even welled up in Xerxes' right eye, clearly touched.
"Do not listen to her, creator!" A Cyber protested. "She is trying to deliberately bring your guard down!"
"You will be silent!" Xerxes yelled, as he sent out an energy wave from the room, shutting the Cyber down as it went limp.
"You will all be silent!" He yelled, emotionally, as he sent energy waves through the room, and throughout the base, each and every Cyber stopping what it was doing as he forced a base-wide shutdown. Fox, Krystal, Fang, Fulton, and Panther all looked around them as the Cybers that surrounded them went limp.
"What the hell is going on?" Falco asked, as he entered the room with Slippy moments later. "We were busy fighting in the hangars, and everything just shut down around us!"
Xerxes used his mechanical arm to lift Topaz's head back up, as he smiled lightly down to her.
"The Cybers will be of no trouble to you anymore, child…you've helped me at this moment, more than you'll ever know…" He then looked to another screen. "But…there is only one way in which I can atone for all that I have done in my life…"
Alarms suddenly began to blare in the base, as Xerxes motioned to another monitor, Topaz and the others looking over, and seeing something glowing and flashing inside of it. Xerxes had activated the Life Force device, right there on the base, making adjustments to its programming.
"What are you doing?" Topaz shouted, as her eyes were wide open.
"Leave this base…" Xerxes answered softly. "It's all going to end now…"
"No! Father, don't do this!" She shouted, frantically, as Fang, Panther, Falco, Fox, and Krystal all made a run for it, heading back to the ships, as Fulton stayed behind for a moment, walking up behind Topaz.
"I should have died a long time ago, Child…" Xerxes spoke gently. "Instead I robbed your mother of her life, and nearly robbed you of yours, all for my monstrous vision…it's time that I finally accept my fate."
"C'mon, Topaz…" Fulton spoke to her as he tapped her shoulder. "I've only just said hello to you…I don't want to say goodbye yet…"
"Go, child…" Xerxes motioned to the doorway. "Go, and live…"
Topaz nodded slowly. "I love you, father…" She spoke to him one last time, before finally running off with Fulton, joining with the rest of their group as they all got into their arwings, and blasted off, flying out of the entrance, and heading right for the Great Fox, which was now fairly close to the planet.
Xerxes looked around at his de-activated Cybers, the remains of Diamando, and then over to the other monitor as the Life Force device got ready to go off, watching on another monitor as the ships all flew off together and boarded the Great Fox.
"Rose…" Xerxes said to himself, as he closed his eyes. "Forgive me…"
With that, the device went off, creating a loud, spectacular explosion, one unlike anything heard or seen before, which echoed through the planet just as everyone had gotten out of their arwings, looking down at Necross in stunned silence.
The force of the explosion came up from underground, obliterating the base, and the Cybers inside of them, destroying them once and for all, as a bright energy wave slowly began to consume the planet.
Everyone watched from the window of the Great Fox, as the Life Force wave worked its magic, the planet no longer a lifeless mound of rocks and boulders, as streams of blue began to manifest themselves in the crevices, the heat from the huge energy wave dying down as great patches of green and brown began to appear with the blue, a stable atmosphere beginning to form over the planet as well.
Krystal gasped, as she ran right over to the window, the surface of the planet beginning to take a familiar shape. "I can't believe it! I can't believe he actually did that!"
Fox ran over to her side as the others watched. "What? What is it?"
"Cerinia!" Krystal exclaimed, as she pointed to the planet as it slowly began to finish its rebirth. "This place now looks exactly like Cerinia!"
Fox grinned and looked on as she stated this, putting his arm around Krystal. She smiled, and in that moment, remembered everything that Fox had done to make her happy in the past, and leaned over, kissing him lovingly, as he returned it.
"Hey! Hey!" Falco put his hand over Fang's eyes. "Not in the front of the kids!"
"Shut up!" Fang laughed, as he threw Falco's hand off.
Panther smiled to himself. "I never thought I'd say this, but it actually felt good to be doing something on behalf of the other side."
"It's the first step to a new life, Panther." Fang grinned as he brought over his canteen of Red Cactus over. "And I for one welcome you to it…How about a drink?"
"Sure…" Panther smiled as he took the canteen. "There isn't a drink out there today that can get the better of Panther Caros-" He took a sip, and promptly spit it back out from the strength of it. "My god…what do they put in this stuff?"
Fang laughed and drank his share, as Topaz stood near the window, looking at the reborn planet, and holding her necklace as it was open once more, looking over the picture of her parents as she heard the pretty tune play on.
"Father…" She spoke as she lowered her head, and gripped the necklace tightly in her hand. "Thank you…"
With that she turned, and walked over to the smiling Fulton, the two going off to chat for a while, as Krystal and Fox looked on fondly out the window to the planet, Peppy smiling to himself as he left the room, giving the two some space.
Stay tuned guys! There's a little more to come.