Ugh...I'm not sure what to feel about this chapter, and on top of that I spent the majority of this day hugging my toilet as my stomach tried to force its way out of my body. I also have to go to the dentist today...awesome. Anyway, its long over due, and I feel its not as good as what I usually post with this story, but enjoy it anyway.

Star Fox: The Dead Planet Chapter 11: Getting Ready

They slept in shifts.

They may have barred the door to keep out any of the mutated Cerinians that found them, but they had all seen way to may horror movies to just let it be like that. Kursed and Katt got the first shift together, with Fox and Falco set to take the next one in a few hours.

Kursed was sitting in front of one of the columns near the entrance, keeping all of her senses on alert for the Cerinians. She had set up a small lamp and spread out a old cloth in front of her. Upon which sat her old pistol, its slide was removed and most of its internal parts were laying in front of her. She was taking each piece one by one and cleaning them, something to keep her distracted from her own thoughts.

Katt was leaning out on the balcony keeping a watch on the village below to see if the Cerinians went anywhere at night. After a while of this she sighed and walked back into the throne room, heading for Kursed who was slowly reassembling her pistol. Katt stopped on the other side of the light and sat down cross legged from Kursed. They stayed that way for a few minutes until Kursed reattached the slide to her weapon and lifted it up to her eyes, studying it, she finally turned her gaze to Katt while she pulled back the slide. "Well, go ahead. Ask me."

Katt blinked as Kursed released the slide and it hit home with a dull thunk. "So why did you leave?" Kursed was quiet while she stared at Katt who eventually sighed. "Come on Krystal, you can't invite me to ask then-"

Kursed cut her off. "Katt, if this is going to work, you need to call me by my name while we're near Fox."

Katt rolled her eyes. "I did, but I know what you mean." she reached down and picked at a crack in the stone they were sitting on. "You didn't answer my question by the way."

Kursed sighed and was quiet for a few moments more. "In part, I guess it started here."

Katt tilted her head then hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "You mean here, Cerinia? Why?"

Kursed nodded "Its a bit of a long story..." Kursed paused for a moment and when Katt didn't protest, inhaled slowly before she began. "I was born the only daughter to my parents, and when I was younger, I was allowed to do what I want. I grew adventurous and started exploring and fighting, things that a princess was not supposed to do. I had been training with the rest of our army to fight when I was prevented from advancing to higher classes. When I confronted my father about it, he told me how I need to start acting the part of a ruler."

Kursed shook her head. "Suddenly, my day was filled with learning how to be royalty. I didn't mind any of it, its just that, once I started it, everybody treated me different. I was no longer the adventurous daughter of the king and the queen, I was the princess and people needed to treat me with respect and all that." Kursed paused and reached for her empty clip and started loading the thick bullets into the chamber. "Fast forward a few years and Andross crash landed on Cerinia, by now, I was sick and tired of always being protected, always being stuffed to the side, never allowed to do what I want. So of course I was sneaking out, and it was one of these times that I rescued Andross, I brought him back to the palace and the doctors here healed him of his wounds. We started talking and I told him of my desires to be free of the rules, to go where I wanted."

Both Katt and Kursed looked over to where the men were sleeping when Fox moaned softly and rolled over in his sleeping bag. Kursed started at him for a few moments and reached out with her mind to make sure he was still asleep before she continued. "Andross offered to take me off word with him, and in exchange I just had to provide him with some information. At the time, I saw no harm, so, I answered all his questions, and set about my peoples down fall. He was with us for a couple months maybe before his men attacked. We noticed some of the outer villages falling silent, and our messengers never returned. We prepared for a battle that we were going to lose from the get go."

Kursed closed her eyes as she continued her tale.

Krystal ran up behind her father as the horns continued to be sounded from the gates. Her parents were standing on the balcony, staring out over the village as the column of lights approached the front gates. Krystal watched from her hiding spot just inside the throne room. She chewed on her lip as she tried to focus on keeping her father from sensing her while trying to feel for what was coming.

"What is it?" she heard her mother ask.

Her father shook his head slowly, and Krystal realized that he was already dressed in his armor, the only thing he was missing was his staff, still locked away inside the armory. "If I had to guess, I would say we're looking at the cause for the missing messengers and the rest of the villages going quiet." He growled softly as one of the horns above the gate vanished in a grand explosion, ripping apart the top section of the wall that it had previous sat upon. The burning debris rained down onto the village, collapsing a few huts when it hit, and lighting a few more on fire.

Krystal turned around as she became aware of somebody approaching the throne room. She moved to the side and hid behind a column just as the doors flew open, smashing into the walls behind them and straining their brackets. The noise caused her parents to come rushing out.

They stopped next to the throne as Andross walking into the room,he was no longer limping, he strolled along at full height, his presence just as imposing as the two slightly smaller apes that walked just behind him. The smile that had graced his face for the past months was gone, replaced by a disapproving frown and slanted eyes. He had acquired a change of clothes from somewhere and walked towards her parents dressed in a black uniform with stripes of white running along the sleeves, a series of metal badges bounced gently against his chest as he walked to spitting distance of her parents.

Her father gestured for her mother to hide behind the throne before he faced Andross and spoke up. "Dr Bowman, considering how your dressed I can assume your the one to blame for what is happening outside my walls?"

Andross smiled, and there was no kindness in it. "I'm glad to see you're not a stupid as you first seemed." his frown emerged again as he continued talking. "You would be correct of course, just a little demonstration if you will. Showing you just where you stand against me."

Her father snarled and took a step forward. "I stand miles above you! Get out of here Bowman, you disgusting, disgraceful liar, and take your men with you."

Andross chuckled softly. "Oh of course, allow me to leave right now." he turned around and made to take a step back towards the door only to spin around and reach out a large palm to back hand Krystals dad across his face. Andross sheer strength throwing the vulpine into the throne her mother hid behind. "I'll leave when I have what I need, and not a moment sooner. You will also refer to me by my proper title. Dr. Andross."

Her father stood up and wiped a small trail of blood off his muzzle. "You can threaten all you want Dr. Andross. But I will never give you what you want."

Andross just laughed and Krystal felt her heart sink, she knew what was coming. "Who said I was going to get it from you." Her father frowned. Andross was smiling again, and there was something, wrong, with it. "I have gotten quite friendly with your daughter in the time I have been stuck here. There is so much you don't know about her."

Krystal mother stepped around and pointed a finger at Andross. "Don't you dare touch my daughter!"

Andross just laughed again, clearly enjoying having the upper hand in the conversation. "Who said I was going to harm her? I have merely offered her what she wants most in exchange for some information."

Krystal saw the doubt pass over her fathers face for the first time. "What are you talking about?"

Andross gestured around him. "Such a magnificent kingdom, and yet you know nothing about your own daughter. Its quite sad, and predictable really. Krystal hates this life that your breeding her for, all she longs for is adventure and to escape this planet. So, I gave it to her, and in exchange my men landed a shuttle for her to take." Andross paused and glanced at the ceiling. "If she ends up making it there. Well, that's a different story."

Her father narrowed his eyes and reached into his combat armor, pulling out a long knife and making for Andross. He hadn't even taken two steps before one of the bodyguards blasted the blade clear off its hilt, leaving her father holding a slightly melted stub. He dropped the weapon and backed up. "You said you weren't going to harm her."

Andross put a palm over his chest. "I'm not. My men are."

Her father sighed. "Let me guess, this is where you offer to spare her if I help you?"

Andross just laughed again. "No. This is the part where I leave to take what I want." Andross reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "While we've been talking, my men have been busy at your front gate." He flipped open the top and pressed the switch that was underneath. Krystals parents turned around as the sounds of an explosion reached them. They ran to the balcony to see what had happened. Krystal was watching Andross as he turned and made his way towards the exit. Krystal waited for him to leave and checked to make sure he parents were still on the balcony before she ran out the door as well. She knew what Andross would need, and she would make sure that he wouldn't get it.

Knowing what she had to do, she stopped at the hallway entrance and turned back towards the throne room. She opened herself up mentally and sent out two words to her parents. "I'm sorry." Then she turned and ran, knowing that she would most likely never see her parents again.

She headed for the armory first. She had never told Andross where the armory was, so she had the advantage of knowing where she was going. When she reached the armory, it was strangely empty and Krystal figured that the rest of the guards were still trying to figure out what was happening. she ran to the center of the room where her fathers staff sat on a stone pillar. A blue light seemed to surround the staff and Krystal stopped and stared at it for a moment. She gulped softly and reached out a hand to grab the staff, pulling it free of its stand on the column and holding the collapsed staff in her palm.

She turned and paused to grab a coil of rope before she left the room. Her next goal already in mind. She knew where Andross had told her to go, and he had given her specific directions to follow. But after hearing what he said, she decided a different route would be needed. Ten minutes later found her out of breath and tying the rope to the balcony that stretched out over the wall. She threw herself over and quickly slid to the ground.

Leaving the rope where it was, Krystal made off into the jungle, the staff still clutched tightly in her hands.

She wasn't sure how long she had been traveling when it had happened. A bolt of pain shot through her chest and head and she stumbled to a stop, gasping for breath while she clutched at her chest with her free hand. She stumbled forward a few steps, tears building in her eyes as she forced herself to continue. However not even a full minute had passed before she gasped out softly and fell to her hands and knees as the pain shot through her being again. This time she let the tears fall and her vision blur. She knew what had happened, her parents were dead, and it was her fault.

She forced herself to her feet and continued her journey, the only thought in her head being that she needed to get away. She made it to the shuttle eventually, approaching from the back rather then the front. She stopped and crouched low, she could see several of the men that Andross talked about all standing around in front of the shuttle waiting for her to come down the path they were facing.

She made her way slowly to the shuttle, sneaking in through the open hatch and closing it quietly. She quickly entered the cockpit and sat down in the seat. She glanced at the console and was glad that Andross had taught her how to fly the shuttle, at least, he had told her. Whether she would actually be able to get it off the ground before the guards outside noticed...

She began the start up sequence, glancing through the cockpit window as the guards all turned around and started shouting. Krystal engaged the shields on the shuttle as the guards outside started firing at the craft. Krystal waited for a moment before she pulled gently on the stick and lifted the craft off the ground. After a close brush with a few of the treetops, she managed to get the craft upward into the sky. She let the computer do most of the calculations as she guided the craft through the atmosphere to come up on the other side of the planet, and away from a large ship in orbit.

"So, you made it off the planet, what happened after that?"

Kursed raised a finger to quiet Katt as she turned her gaze to where Fox was stirring. He sat up slowly and yawned, stretching his hands to the sky. Fox dropped his hands to his sides and slid out of his sleeping bag. "Don't stop on my account, I'm curious as well." He walked over and sat down in between Katt and Kursed.

Kursed turned her gaze to Katt and shook her head once when Fox glanced over at Falco. "I watched as the craft broke orbit. We weren't very far from it when it started." Kursed closed her eyes. "I can still see it, it started with the clouds all seeming to vanish in a matter of moments, then blue lines of charged energy seemed to jump erratically across the surface. They bounced around for a moment before they turned red and seemed to fade into the surface of the world, leaving behind glowing lines, and then..." Kursed paused and sighed. "It was just gone. No flash, no debris, just...gone."

The two other pilots stared at Kursed in silence as she inhaled slowly once again. She released the breath and opened her eyes, glancing around the room. "But, its here now, and everything its where its supposed to be. Aside from the Cerinians themselves."

Kursed fell silent and Fox rubbed the back of his head. "Who knows, when we go after what ever is in those caves, maybe we'll find out what happened, give you some sort of closure maybe."

Kursed locked eyes with Fox as Falco started to wake up. "Closure Fox? I could really care less about what happened here. I have a new life now, I'm a new person. I just want to get to the bottom of this so that we can leave and I can take off with my clean slate."

Fox glanced at Katt as Kursed finished her little speech, he turned his gaze back to Kursed. "Speaking of Kursed, I've been meaning to ask you something." Kursed raised an eyebrow at Fox but said nothing, so he continued. "Look, I know you didn't want to be here with us at the start, but you're a pretty good pilot, and with Falco and I starting up Star Fox again, we could use somebody like you on the team. We already have Katt coming on as our new third. Having you as our forth would really help the team come around."

Kursed blinked and stood up. "No." she said softly as she walked past Fox towards her own bag, pulling out her sleeping bag and shaking it out.

She quickly spread it out and was sliding into it when Fox spoke up again. "Just...think about it, okay?"

Kursed was silent for so long that Fox thought she was ignoring him again, but when her muffled "Okay" reached his ears he couldn't help but smile slightly at Katt who shook her head as Falco came up behind her. He sat down across from Fox and glanced at Katt, making a waving motion with his hands. "Go on, shoo, Fox and I got this now, and you need your beauty sleep."

Katt tossed a hand through some of her loose hair. "Are you saying I'm ugly?"

Falco opened his mouth but no sound came out. Fox shook his head and spoke up. "Just close your mouth Falco, there is no safe way out of that one."

Falco closed his mouth slowly and Katt chuckled as she stood up and moved to her own bag, getting her own sleeping bag ready for the night. Kursed rolled over in her own bag and fell asleep to the sound of Fox and Falco talking plans.

When she next opened her eyes, she blinked and lifted herself off the ground with her elbow, glancing around the room as she did so. After quick scan of the room, she shot to her feet as she double checked to make sure she was seeing correctly.

There was nobody there, no sign that they had ever been there. She took a step away from her sleeping bag, and reached down and picked up her staff, calling out softly as she did so. "Fox?"

She spun around, expanding her staff and getting ready to fight, when a voice spoke up from the direction of the balcony. "Do not worry, he is safe."

Kursed sighed and collapsed her staff, she dropped it back onto her pack and walked towards the balcony. She leaned up against the doorway that led out to the open air and spoke up. "What do you want now?"

Her 'Father' turned around and smiled at her. "You don't sound happy to see me, I would have thought after all the help I've given you you would be excited to be here."

Kursed scoffed. "Yeah, trapped in my own mind talking to a planets...spirit, or whatever the hell you are it right up there with everything else the excites me."

Her 'Father' shook his head slowly. "I know its not combat or sex, but I brought you here for a reason."

Kursed rolled her eyes at the dig at her choice in lifestyles. "Well then, thrill me."

"I know that you are planning on leading these outsiders to the crystal deep beneath the surface. Before you do that though, I must warn you, there is something down in the crystal chamber. I am not sure what it is, or if its even alive still. But ever since you left, it has remained there."

Kursed was silent for a moment. "I was already expecting that, Andross never gave up on anything easily. I fully expect to run into one of his bioweapons down there. How about you tell me something I don't know?"

Her 'Father' was silent for a moment before he smiled. "Very well, how about the secret passage to the crystal chamber?"

Kursed pushed off the wall, walking out onto the balcony to stand next to the spirit. "What secret passage?"

Her 'Father' turned back out to the view. "The one in the armory of course. I won't tell you how to open it, but there is one there."

Kursed turned around and scoffed. "You say you want me to fix Cerinia, then you don't even really help me."

Kursed glanced up and took a step back when she saw the spirit standing just in front of her. "Not true, I have helped you, and I'm still helping you, I'm not going to tell you how to open it, because any royal member of Cerinia can open it." he held up his hand and Kursed sawthe armory appear around them. He glanced at the stand where the staff once sat. "I know you'll figure it out."

With those last six words, the world around Kursed faded to black and she sat up in her sleeping bag. She glanced around the sunlit room and leaned back slightly when she saw Fox sitting next to her bag with a worried expression. "Something wrong?" she asked as she slid out of her sleeping bag.

Fox shook his head as he stood up. "Apparently not. We tried to wake you up a few hours ago, but you never did, and you didn't react to anything." Fox rubbed the back of his head. "I was starting to get a little worried actually."

Kursed glanced around the room. "Where are the others?" she asked as she rolled up her sleeping bag and attached it to her bag.

Fox went over to his own pack. "They went to go check on the ships with Bill, if Katts ship hasn't been sabotaged in anyway Katt and Falco are going to fly Bill up to the Great Fox to drop him off in the med bay and check in with General Peppy. After that, they'll fly back down and meet us at the landing zone and from there we'll follow you to the best path to get to the top of the mountain where Typhon went." Fox finished checking over his pack and slung it over his shoulders

Kursed grabbed her own pack and stood up. "How did they get past the Cerinians?"

Fox gestured to the open door before walking towards it and talking. "This morning when Katt woke up, we took a peek over the balcony and realized that none of the Cerinians were in the village, so we poked around in the hallways and they were gone from there too." He glanced over his shoulder at her as they walked down the hallway. "Weird huh?"

Kursed nodded, her mind for some reason flashing back to the night she left Cerinia and the strange energy that had covered it. "Yea...weird." she was silent for a moment as they walked through the hallway, when they reached the stairway and started down it she spoke up. "Sorry."

Fox didn't turn around as he spoke up, keeping his attention on the stairway. "Sorry for what?"

Kursed chewed her lip for a moment. "Sorry for worrying you."

Fox was silent until they reached the bottom of the stairs, then he turned around. "Its not a big deal, thanks though." Fox paused for a moment. "Last time you were like that, you woke up with the knowledge about the Cerinians. You learn anything this time?"

Kursed nodded her head as she led the way outside. Slowing down to crouch under the braced open portcullises that Fox and Falco had dropped earlier. "I did, but its nothing that can't wait until we meet up with Monroe and Lombardi." She glanced to her side as Fox caught up to her and matched her stride.

The two of them remained silent for the rest of the hike out to where they had left the ships. When they reached the clearing they found Katt and Falcos ships were both gone. Fox walked over to where Kursed had left her ship and sat down in the shade next to one of the landing struts. Kursed walked over and input her code to lower the ladder. After Bills story, she wanted to make sure all of her stuff was there. She stepped up just enough to glance around her armory, satisfied that nothing was gone, she dropped back down to the ground and retracted the ladder.

As it clicked into place Fox spoke up. "So have you made up your mind on if you're going to join us when this is all said and done?"

Kursed walked over to where Fox was sitting and sat down next to him, leaning on the strut and touching shoulders with him. She sighed as she got her weight off her legs and spoke. "I don't suppose you'll accept a simple 'No' will you?"

Fox chuckled softly next to her. "What do you think?"

Kursed shook her head, not even bother to sense the answer from him. "I didn't think so."

They were silent for a few moments before Fox spoke up again. "You said before that you ran to escape the pain, ran until you broke. Maybe you need to stop running, because no matter how far or how hard you run, the past will catch up to you." Kursed couldn't help mumbling "You have no idea." under her breath as Fox continued talking. "Who knows, maybe if you settle down somewhere, even if its only for a little while, you might just feel better. Perhaps a nice mercenary squad somewhere."

Kursed couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her as Fox finished talking. She remained silent though as she thought about what he said.

"Kursed?"

"Hmm?" she turned her head to face him and blinked when she found his face only a few inches away from hers.

"I also stand by what I told you before. I'll help you in anyway I can, if I can help fix what ever is broken, I'll try my hardest for you." Kursed tried to turn her head away but Fox gently raised a hand and stopped her, forcing her to lock gazes again. "After all of this, I want you to stay with Star Fox, to stay with me. I feel as if I know you, more then you've let on, and I feel like I'm the the only person who can help fix what ever you feel is wrong with you. All you need to do is let me in, and I know you'll feel the same way."

Kursed gulped heavily. "Fox...I..."

Fox moved one of his fingers over Kursed mouth. "Don't bother denying anything, we're already past that. Just remember, I'm here reaching, and I'm ready whenever you are." he grinned at her. "Just so you know that I'm serious about this..." he trailed off and leaned in, bringing their lips together and Kursed moaned softly as she closed her eyes and let her soul sink into the warmth that Fox was emanating at that moment, both physically and mentally.

That moment seemed to last forever and Kursed last track of time. At least until her focus was broken by the sound of an aircraft flying by overhead. She pulled quickly away from Fox, her cheeks heating up as she looked away from him.

Fox chuckled softly. "A little pay back for leaving me in the room like you did last time." his smile turned serious. "But I meant it Kursed, think about it."

Kursed stood up slowly as Katt and Falco brought their crafts into land. "Okay." she said softly. Her tone of voice letting Fox know that she meant it.

Fox gave her a quick smile before he turned and walked out from under her ship and waving at Falco as he hopped out of his Arwing. "How did it go?"

Falco brushed some loose dust off his clothes as he answered. "Bill's all hooked up in the med-bay with ROB watching over him. We sent off a report to Peppy and checked over our ships before we came back down."

Fox glanced at the Arwing next to them. "Nothing wrong?"

Katt called out as she walked across the small clearing. "With his. Somebody had tried to sabotage mine. They failed, but they tried."

Fox glanced at her as she came to stop next to them. "What do you mean?"

Katt shrugged. "They tried the same thing with my fighter that they did with Bills." Katt smiled. "But my fighter is anything but military ordinary. When the craft is shut down, all of the exposed parts for the for the engines are covered by recessed panels. So whatever was pushed into my engine got everywhere but didn't gum up anything, it just burned away when I started up my ship." Katt glanced over where Kursed was leaning up again another strut underneath her ship. "What about you Kursed? Anything wrong with your craft?"

Kursed shook her head and walked over. "Nothing inside is out of place, as for the engines themselves, it would take a lot to knock those bad boys out."

Katt raised an eyebrow and glanced at Falco. "If she sticks around I call dibs on fixing her ship." she glanced at Kursed. "Now I want to know what type of engines you have."

Kursed shook her head as she reached them. "Priorities Monroe, besides, shouldn't we be worrying about that other guy? Making a plan or something?"

Fox nodded. "We already have a plan." he glanced at Falco. "Did you do a fly over?"

Falco crossed his arms. "Of course, I didn't see anybody on that little overlook. But I saw the cave entrance that you talked about, only thing, you could fit maybe one ship, maybe two on that lip, and even that would be pushing it. There is no way all three of our ships are going up there."

Fox nodded and opened his mouth but Kursed cut him off. "Good thing only you and Katt are going that way then."

Falco raised an eyebrow at Kursed. "Why, are you and Fox going off to get married or something?"

Kursed rolled her eyes and Fox covered his face with his hand. "No you..." she trailed off and glanced at Katt. "There's another way into that tunnel, but I'm not sure how big it is, or how long its going to take to go through it. So while you and Katt are going through that way, Fox and I will be going through the secondary tunnel in the palace. I'm hoping that we'll all get there around the same time. But I've never been down there so I have no idea how long the trek is."

Falco turned to look at Fox who just gave a shrug. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Falco turned to Katt who nodded, he paused a moment before he turned back to Kursed. "So how come you're just bringing this up?"

Kursed was silent for a moment. "I just remembered it this morning. Its been a long time since I've been here Lombardi, some of the smaller things faded over time."

Fox held out a hand to stop Falco from responding. "Okay, we've got a plan, and lets assume time is of the essance. I don't see anything wrong with the plan, do you Katt?" she shook her head. "Falco?" The avian sighed but shook his head. Fox nodded. "Right, lets head out then, Kursed and I will check over our gear then head out for the village. You and Katt head for the cave, I doubt radios are going to work through all the rock, even if the jamming clears up in that area. So lets say that if we haven't met up in a day, to meet back at the palace." The other three nodded and and moved toward their ships. Fox went to follow Kursed then turned around and called out to Falco. "Make sure you take something to mark your path with, you might run across different branches."

Falco nodded and hopped up into his Awing, closing the canopy and starting his engines. Katt doing the same in her own ship, Fox followed Kursed up the ladder and stood behind her seat as she started up her ship. "I'm not sure about landing in the middle of the village. It may be destroyed and all, but still..."

Fox put a hand on her shoulder as she lifted the ship off the ground. "Sorry, time is of the essence right now."

Kursed nodded and spun her ship around and heading for the village and the palace while Katt and Falco gained height and headed for the mountains behind the palace. What had taken them five hours to hike through before, took just a matter of minutes to cover in Kurseds ship. When they approached the village Kursed brought the ship down in the clearing in front of the palace. Fox had just put on foot on the ladder when Kursed spoke up.

"Hey." Fox looked up to see Kursed holding out a belt towards him, handing off the belt tucked into a holster was a small pistol. "Just in case." Fox reached out and took the belt, letting it dangle from his hand. "Its a holster, for you back, keep it hidden." Fox nodded and dropped down the ladder. By the time Kursed had checked her gear and went down the ladder herself, Fox already had the weapon holster attached and hidden underneath his shirt.

Kursed gave him a nod as she led the way up the stairs, when they reached the landing Kursed paused to look around. After a moment, she closed her eyes and reached out with her other senses.

"Do you sense anybody?" Fox asked as he came up next to her.

Kursed shook her head slowly. "No, and I'm starting to get worried." She glanced at Fox as she opened her eyes. "Where did all the Cerinians go? It strikes me as pretty odd that they all just, vanished, during the night."

Fox nodded as he made his way towards the entrance. "Me too, I have a nasty feeling we're going to find them when we least expect it." He gestured toward the entrance. "Lead the way? I assume you know where the armory is?"

Kursed nodded as she walked past him and started heading for the armory. "Of course. Lets go."

Twenty minutes of quick walking later and the two vulpines entered the armory. Kursed slowed down as she walked in, Fox brushing by her to look around the room for this tunnel that would hopefully lead them down to where Falco and Katt were heading. He glanced over at Kursed and frowned when he saw her kneeling at a spot next to a stone stand. She had dropped to one knee, eyes closed and was holding a hand over her heart and one over her head, she was mumbling something under her breath and Fox felt like he was intruding on a private moment. He stayed that way until Kursed finished what she was saying and stood up, making a small symbol with her hands as she did so.

As she glanced at him Fox couldn't help himself. "What was that about?"

Kurseds voice was tight as she answered. "Praying for a fallen warrior." she walked up next to the stand and laid a hand on it.

Fox nodded. "Somebody you knew?"

Kursed glanced at the spot she had just left. "You could say that." she turned her gaze back to the stone stand and reached for her staff, keeping it collapsed and placing it inside its groove in the stand. She kept one hand on the staff and glanced around. "Its here somewhere." she said softly changing the subject.

Fox glanced around the room. "Yeah, but I don't see any locked doors or anything." he turned back to Kursed to find her with her eyes once again closed, her hand still on the staff. After a moment Kursed extended the staff and lifted it up, the tip covering in frost as she activated the cryo blast. She quickly ran the spray over the stone and the surrounding ground around it. Fox was about to ask what she was doing when she raised the staff above her head and the tip glowed red. Fox felt his eyes widen as he leaned up against the wall and braced himself.

Kursed slammed the staff down on the frozen ground and unleashed the super quake onto the fragile earth. Fox closed his eyes as he felt the rumble shake up his legs, accompanied by the sound of frozen stone shattering as it impacted on the ground after it a drop. He opened his eyes when the shaking was done to see Kursed grinning at him as she stood on the other side of a hole.

"You done panicking?" she asked with a small chuckle.

Fox shook his head as he stepped towards the hole, activating the flash light on his blaster as he aimed it down the hole. He glanced up at Kursed. "How did you know?"

Kursed collapsed her staff and pulled out her pistol. "Would you believe me if I told you a ghost gave me the clue?"

Fox glanced back down the hole. "You know, I just might."

Kursed took a step forward. "Good, lets leave it at that." With that she dropped down into the hole. Fox pausing for a moment before he dropped down after her. He dropped several feet before he landed on some hard stone. He crouched as he landed and took a few steps forward, tripping over some of the broken stone. He glanced up just in time for Kursed to light the tip of her staff like she did when they were exploring the dungeon. She glanced over her shoulder at him as the light revealed a tunnel in front of them. "Ready?" she asked softly

Fox adjusted his grip on his blaster and nodded, leading the way into the tunnel.

Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed.

Before I get into the guests reviews, a couple notes for you all.

So, first off, I realized that I have six active stories going on right now, and with the way my life is, that's just way too much. So, I'm going to drop a few stories, now before you fret, Dead Plant isn't one of them, neither is Destinies if you read that. I will leave two other stories active, and I'm leaving that choice up to you the reader, so go head over to my profile page and check out the poll, drop a vote, and let me know.

Second off, fifteen. That's how many reviews I got on the last update. So much awesome feeling, since the first thirteen were all in the first twenty-four hours of posting. You guys rock, thanks for the feed back, and as usual, there's a little something after the guest reviews for you. This is different then what I usually leave because of a few things.

Dead Planet just passed 5k views, so thank you, it is also my first and only story to have a 100 review mark. So, a deep thank you to all of you for following me on this little adventure so far, and I hope I can keep you coming back in the future chapters!

Third off, K.S. Reynard, I've been reading his stories lately, hes a damn awesome writer, much better then me, and I suggest you go check him out. I'm currently addicted to all three of his active stories. If your loving the drama between Kursed and Fox from this story, your are most definitely going to want to read his story 6 days and 23 hours, so far, just damn amazing.

Guest Reviews:

Blake O'Donnell: Glad you enjoyed friend. As for Katt and telling Fox, well, I have plans for that, don't you worry. : P By the way, you should write that story, as for the ReArmed Conflict, hopefully soon.

Guest: I'm glad you're enjoying and consider this one of your favorites! I only have one favor to ask of you, if you keep reviewing, come up with a name so that I don't have to worry about multiple 'guest' reviews to respond too : P

So, that should be it, I'm off, hopefully to get a good nights rest. Enjoyed your little bonus.

Not going to tell you anything about it, because I have no idea what I'm going to do with this. So I'll leave you with one word. 'Become'

Slippy shook his head. "It doesn't need to be big to cause destruction Falco, you should know that." He stopped in front of a computer and began typing on the keyboard. "Anyway, we're ready to begin the test, everybody good?"

Fox nodded, keeping his eyes on the small sphere in the middle of the room. He watched from the corner of his eye as Slippy paused in his typing and glanced at Amanda who was at a console next to him. When she nodded, Slippy pressed the enter key.

Even though he was keeping a sharp watch on the sphere, he still missed when it happened.

One moment the bomb was there, the next, it was gone, and the very air itself seemed to be pulled into a single point.

He didn't miss what happened after that though. It started with the column the sphere had been resting on, it seemed to crumple in on itself and vanish into a single point, then the claw joined it.

"Everything is going as planned. I think we got it."

No sooner had Slippy said the words then Fox reared back from the glass as a large crack made itself known with a loud sound. Fox felt his eyes grow wide as pieces of the glass started to be pulled off the thick panes and towards the light bending singularity. "Slippy?!" he called out as more shards were pulled towards the black hole.

"I can contain this, I planned for this." Slippy called out as he slammed his hand down on a large red button. The metal doors that had sat in the ground deployed, locking into place on the ceiling. The shards that had been traveling towards the singularity dropped to the ground with heavy thuds.

Slippy sighed. "Well, it was a bit stronger then I expected, but it should be dieing out shortly."

As soon as the words left his lips, there was a hollow sounding boom and several of the metal doors bent inwards. Fox didn't waste any time. "Go! Move! Get out of the lab, Second Floor!"

Slippy tried to protest. "But those door-"

Fox put a paw on Slippys shoulder. "Retreat Slippy. Now!" He gestured at Amanda, "You too, Go!"

Fox stayed behind while Slippy raced for the doors, slapping his palm flat on the glass and opening the stairway entrance. Fox was moving backwards as the rest of the group filed through. He just turned around to follow the group through the doors when the metal was pulled free and into the black hole, immediately followed by the rest of the glass.

Time slowed for Fox as he took a step towards the stairway and the rest of his team. Adrenaline was flooding his system, he had heard the glass give way, he knew what was going to happen in the next few moments, but he was determined to try. He felt it in the loose fabric of his shirt first, it was pulled tight against his chest, all of its slack suddenly gone as the shirt struggled against him. He had one foot in the air and he felt it bending back as the other foot started sliding along the ground as he felt the rest of the pressure pull at his body.

He locked eyes with Krystal who had grabbed her staff and extended it towards him. He blinked and suddenly she was much smaller and the pressure multiplied, pounding his being with pain. He blinked once more and Krystal had shrunk to a tiny pin point and darkness had set in, he heard one last thing as the pressure increased again and his mind subsumed to the pain his body was experiencing as every bit of his being was crushed by gravity.

It was the sound of Krystal crying his name out, her voice already thick with tears. "Fox!"

Peace!

- Emile