Author's note: This chapter probably could've used a tiny bit more editing, but I'd already been keeping you guys waiting for a long while, so I figured it was now or never. Provided I don't get too distracted by work or school, I should have the story finished in maybe two or three weeks.

Chapter 12 - The Final Battle

---

Sarah climbed into the back of a pickup truck; which another spy was driving. She then pulled a sniper's rifle off her back, loaded it, and signaled the driver; who rolled down the windows and turned on the radio. It wasn't long before all the zombies in the area heard the music and started moving in on the source. After letting the music play for a few seconds, the driver slowly started driving away. Like the Pied Piper, they soon acquired a trail of zombies all limping after them.

Sarah started scanning the crowd, looking for the heavily deformed zombies. She soon found one that she'd recognized. It was a male cougar; whose left arm was missing and whose organs had already started rotting. Sarah never did like him very much when he was alive. She brought up the rifle and aimed at his head.

"Sorry, Phil." she said, as she squeezed the trigger.

A few other zombies had to be dispatched by Sarah as well, but the majority of them only had minor wounds when they were infected with the virus. Eventually, the spies came to a checkpoint where two Katinan tanks were waiting for them. The driving spy increased speed until he passed the tanks.Once the spies had passed, thetanks turned sideways, thereby preventing the zombies from pursuing them. The driver stopped and Sarah jumped out, with a briefcase in her hand. Inside was a bomb containing some of the countervirus. She opened the case, armed the bomb, placed it on one of the tanks, and ran for cover. After a few minutes, the bomb went off, releasing a cloud of mist in the air. Soon afterwards, the zombies started falling to the ground. It wouldn't be long now until their lives were restored.

Sarah called General Pepper on her PDA.

"Mission successful, sir." she said.

"Okay, O'Donnell." Pepper responded, "Your work's done over there. Head back to HQ."

"Yes, sir."

Sarah opened the truck's passenger door and got in the front seat.

"Listen, Sarah," Pepper continued, "I realize you must be really anxious to get back to your family and your husband is really anxious to see you too. So, I'm authorizing you to head home as soon as the Star Fox team makes it back from Venom."

Sarah smiled.

"Thank you, sir." she said.

Her partner drove to the extraction point.

---

With his binoculars, Fox scanned the area surrounding the laboratory. There were a number of soldiers patrolling the area and ready to fight. Fox, Kyle, and Wolf were a few yards away from the base and taking cover behind a large boulder.

"That's a lot of soldiers." Fox said, "This won't be easy."

"There's something strange about them." Kyle said, "They're walking kind of funny and they look like their weapons are weighing them down."

Fox zoomed in on one of them.

"You're right." he replied, "It's almost as if..."

Wolf suddenly felt a sneeze coming. He tried to hold it back, but he wasn't fast enough. Upon hearing the loud sneeze, one of the soldiers turned his head and caught sight of Fox.

"Over there!" he shouted.

"Shit!" said Wolf, "We've been spotted!"

The soldiers opened fire on their position. Fox, Kyle, and Wolf returned fire, but couldn't stop the soldiers on their own.

"Damn it, there's too many of them!" said Fox.

Fox turned on his PDA.

"Falco, we need you and Slippy to clear the area, quick!"

"We're on our way!" Falco responded.

As Falco and Slippy's Arwings entered the area, one soldier looked up.

"Look out!" he shouted, pointing in the air.

But he'd spoken too late. Falco and Slippy opened fire on the crowd of soldiers; who all began screaming in pain as laserbolts burned through their flesh. In just a few minutes, the area was secure.

"Oh yeah!" said Falco, "Got them scumbags!"

Fox pulled out his binoculars and quickly scanned the area one last time.

"Thanks, guys." he said, "Looks like the way's clear. Falco and Slippy, head back to the Great Fox. Kyle and Wolf, Let's go."

Fox, Kyle, and Wolf all ran for the entrance.

"Sorry, Fox." said Wolf, "I should've been more careful."

"Don't sweat it, Wolf."

Upon entering the base, they soon found a number of zombies awaiting them. A few blaster shots later though, the zombies were all disposed of. As they pressed on, they came across three different doors; each one leading to a different room.

"Let's split up." Fox said, "I'll take the right door. Kyle, you take the left. Wolf, take the middle."

Kyle and Wolf nodded and they each went through one of the doors.

---

Wolf walked through the room with his blaster pointed in front of him. He could hear blasters firing in the other two rooms, but couldn't see anything in the room he was in.

"Maybe I should've taken one of the other rooms." he said to himself.

"Who's there?" a voice said.

Wolf turned towards the voice and found Igor in the room with him. He pointed his blaster at Igor, but something inside him told him not to fire. He slowly holstered his weapon and started looking him over. Igor did the same with Wolf. Somehow, they both knew each other.

"Have we met before?" Igor asked.

"I don't know. Who are you?"

"I... I can't remember."

"Igor!" Logan shouted as he entered the room, "Our troops are falling! Are you going to do something about this or..."

That was when he noticed Wolf; who stared back at him in awe.

"You!" he shouted.

"Well, if it isn't my old enemy." Logan replied, "I might've guessed that eyepatch of yours was fake."

"You're the one who sent those zombies after my family!"

Logan nodded.

"Guilty as charged. I would've loved to see the look on your face after the zombies had finished devouring the flesh from their bones!"

Wolf's face turned red with anger as he ran towards Logan and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Wolf viciously punched him several times, but this just made Logan laugh.

"What's so funny!" Wolf shouted.

"You can attack me like that all you want." Logan said, standing up, "It won't do you any good."

Logan punched Wolf in the stomach.

"I'm already dead!"

He then kicked Wolf to the ground and pulled out a blaster.

"Which means you can't hurt me, but I can hurt you!"

Logan fired his weapon, hitting Wolf's left shoulder. Wolf screamed in pain and held his hand to his wound, desperately trying to slow the bleeding. Logan smirked.

"Goodbye, Wolf O'Donnell." he said.

That name sounded familiar to Igor. He remembered being called by the name O'Donnell as a pilot. Suddenly, it all came back to him. He remembered everything now. He was a recon pilot in the Cornerian air force; who was killed in action during a mission on Venom several years ago. Most importantly though, when he died, he had left behind a son.

Logan pointed the weapon at Wolf's head. But before he could fire again, Igor ran up and tackled him.

"Igor, what the Hell are you doing!" Logan shouted at him.

"My name is NOT Igor. My name is Lupus O'Donnell."

Logan's eyes opened wide, as well as Wolf's.

"You're… the father of…"

"Yes. That wolf is my son and I won't let you kill him!"

Wolf could hardly believe it. For a long time his father had been gone from his life. Now, there he was, defending him.

"Well then, 'Lupus', is it?" Logan said, "Why don't you just try and stop me?"

Lupus and Logan started fighting. Neither of them were hurting each other seriously, since they were both already dead. Kyle, having overheard the commotion from another room, ran in.

"Logan! It can't be!"

He then noticed Wolf lying wounded on the floor.

"Wolf!"

Kyle ran up to Wolf with his medical supplies ready.

"Have you been bitten?" he asked.

Wolf shook his head.

"No," he said, "Just shot."

Kyle opened his bag.

"Hang on. I'll patch you up."

After patching Wolf's wound, Kyle took a good look at Logan.

"Is he… a zombie?" he asked.

Wolf nodded.

Getting an idea, Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out the vaccine. He then ran up to Logan, plugged the syringe into his neck, and injected the vaccine into him. Shortly afterwards, Logan pushed Lupus off him and stood up. He then grabbed his gun and was about to point it at Kyle, but suddenly stopped.

"I… I feel so… weak!" cried Logan, "Wh-what did you… do to me!"

"Just given you a taste of MY own medicine." Kyle replied, "I and a few scientists on Corneria managed to come up with a vaccine for that virus, which should be taking effect right about…"

Logan started feeling very light headed. Then he collapsed onto the floor, lifeless.

"…now."

Kyle took Wolf's hand and helped him up.

"You okay, Wolf?" he asked.

Wolf barely acknowledged Kyle's presence.

"Dad? Is it really you?"

Lupus threw his arms around Wolf.

"Son!" cried Lupus, "I'm so glad you're alright!"

"What happened to you?" Wolf asked, "How did you die?"

"Several years ago, I was sent on a recon mission to Venom. During that mission, I was spotted and my ship was hit by an anti-aircraft missile. I tried to eject before my ship crashed, but I was too late."

Wolf could feel tears coming to his eyes.

"Ever since then, I'd been watching you from Heaven. When my body was reanimated, I somehow completely forgot who I was and everything that had happened in my life. But now, I remember everything."

"Well, well, well, what a touching moment we have here!"

Kyle, Wolf, and Lupus turned to face the voice. To their astonishment, Logan was standing there, pointing his gun at them.

"Logan!" cried Kyle, "What the…? How…?"

"Thank you, Kyle." Logan replied, "Your little antidote not only destroyed the virus inside of me, but also restored me to life! You can't imagine how unpleasant it was being a zombie. And even better, I now have you all right where I want you!"

"Hey, Logan," another voice said, "You forgot someone!"

Logan turned to see Fox standing there, pointing his blaster at him. But before he could react, Fox fired, hitting him square in the chest. As Logan fell to the floor, Fox walked up to him and kicked the fallen gun far out of his reach.

"So, Kyle," Fox said, holstering his blaster, "it seems that vaccine was more powerful than expected."

"Yeah." Kyle said, "I don't believe it. I mean, I always knew science was amazing, but damn!"

"Fox McCloud, I presume." Lupus said.

"Yes." Fox replied, "And you must be Lupus O'Donnell. I couldn't help overhearing your conversation while I was in that other room. I would've gotten here sooner, but I was ambushed by a few more soldiers."

"Okay," Wolf said, "but Dad, how do you know Fox?"

"Like I said, I've been watching you from Heaven ever since my death. I've seen everything you've ever done since that moment, including the day when..."

Suddenly, alarms started blaring throughout the lab.

"Emergency lockdown sequence initiated. Self-destruct sequence has been engaged. Ten minutes until detonation."

"Shit!" said Fox, "That doesn't sound good."

Wolf glanced at the spot where Logan had fallen. Now, all that remained there was a trail of blood.

"It must've been Logan." he said, "That guy just doesn't know when to give up!"

Kyle tried the door, but it wouldn't open.

"Damn it! The door's locked!" said Kyle, "There's no way out!"

Fox soon noticed the ring on his finger.

"Yes there is!" Fox said, holding up his hand, "Remember this?"

Kyle and Wolf looked, then sighed with relief.

"You're a lifesaver, Fox." Kyle said, taking Fox's hand.

"Go on without me, Son." said Lupus.

"What! No! You're coming with me!"

"Just leave me, Wolf. I belong dead."

"Wolf, come on!" cried Kyle.

Wolf hesitated.

"Wolf, don't worry about me. It was my time. Besides, you have a son of your own to get back to."

Wolf knew he was right. He nodded and hugged Lupus.

"Goodbye, Dad." he said, "I'm glad I got to see you again, even if only for a few minutes."

"Hurry, Wolf!" Fox shouted.

"Take care of yourself and your family, Son. I will always watch over you. Now go."

Wolf ran up to Fox and took his hand. Using Fox's ring, they all teleported back to their Arwings.

---

Krystal walked into the infirmary with Ray asleep in her arms.

"You're quite energetic, you know." she said, "I'm just about as tired as you are."

She placed him in one of the beds and tucked him in.

"But some day soon, you'll have a new friend to play with."

Krystal then kissed his forehead and walked back to the command post.

"Do you think they're alright?" asked Slippy.

"Will you quit asking that?" Falco replied, "They're gonna be..."

Everyone was startled as the laboratory suddenly exploded in a giant fireball.

"Oh my God!" cried Slippy.

"Okay... that was unexpected." Peppy said, "I sure hope they got out of there before it blew."

For a few seconds, no one said anything.

"Wait..." said Krystal, "They're alive! I can feel it!"

The two Arwings emerged out of Venom's orbit.

"Gee, guys," Fox joked, "We didn't know you cared."

"Jeez, Fox, don't scare us like that!" said Falco.

The Arwings went to the docking bay. After a few minutes, Fox, Kyle, and Wolf arrived at the command post.

"I knew you'd make it back." Krystal cried as she threw her arms around Fox.

Fox grinned as he returned her hug.

"I promised I would, didn't I? Besides, I wasn't about to let myself get killed without having a chance to meet our baby."

---

"…and with the military base retaken by the Katinan military, and more zombies being neutralized each day, it shouldn't take long until the planet is safe for civilians to come back. This is Brian Rowley reporting live from the military base on Katina. Back to you, Susan."

Wolf turned off the TV and sighed as he glanced at his cell-phone on the coffee table. He'd been waiting a patiently for it to ring, so that he could be reassured that Sarah was safe and would be returning soon.

"You gonna be alright?"

Wolf turned his head to see Fox standing there.

"Yeah, it's just a shoulder wound." he replied, "Kyle says it'll..."

"No, no. I mean about your father."

"Oh, right."

Wolf sighed.

"Well, I'm trying my best not to let it bother me." he said, "Still, I wish I could've spent more time with him when I was a pup. He was the only family I ever had, other than Ray and..."

Right at that moment, Wolf's cell-phone started ringing.

"...Sarah!"

Wolf snatched the phone off the table.

"Sarah?"

"Hi, honey."

"Thank God you're alright. I was starting to worry."

"I just had a little more business to take care of, but my job's done now. General Pepper's letting me head home as soon as you get back to Corneria."

"Fox, how much longer will it be until we reach Corneria?"

"ROB says we should be arriving by tomorrow morning." Fox said.

"We should be back by tomorrow morning."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you then. I love you."

"Love you too."

Wolf hung up the phone and put it down on the table.

"So, I take it you're gonna be just fine, right?" Fox asked.

"Yep."