Whoo...This is another of those Meh and yay chapters for me, some of it feels a little off, but other parts, just kinda felt right. So, I'll let you get right into it so you can tell me how I did. Enjoy. : }

Edit: 08-06-13 Below.

Star Fox: The Dead Planet Chapter 12: Into the Depths

Falco double checked his hull cameras and glanced outside his cockpit as he very slowly lowered his Arwing to the ground next to Katt's ship. When he was sure that he wasn't going to hit her ship in anyway, and that there was enough room for him to hop out he shut down the ship and popped the canopy, he reached down and grabbed his belt and holster for his revolver and put a hand on the side of his cockpit and vaulted out, landing lightly on the ground besides his ship. He spent a few seconds swinging his holster around his hips and buckling it together.

He crouched underneath the Arwing and opened its storage compartment and grabbed one bag of his explosives, attaching that to the belt on his other thigh. Remembering what Fox said he also grabbed a set of small thermal flares that would burn for a full day to mark their path as they descended into the earth. He tucked the pouch into his back pocket and closed the hatch on his Arwing, walking around the ship to meet up with Katt who was leaning up against the rock wall next to the cave.

"Done accessorizing?" she asked with a grin as Falco approached.

Falco shook his head as he rested a hand on his holster. "Funny." he said shortly as he glanced towards the entrance. "I see I'm not the only one who decided to ditch the heavy bags while we're going through there."

Katt shrugged, her own belt had two holsters on it, one for each of her small customized illegal pistols. A pouch behind each holster held extra clips for her weapons, and she had a combat knife strapped on her boot. "Seem like a bad idea to take a bag down there, we plan on coming out soon anyway. Until then I'll just have to suffer off ration bars."

Falco started to walk towards the entrance. "Mmm...Ration bars, I hope they have my favorite flavors, cardboard, chalk, or pavement."

Katt shook her head as she pushed off the wall to follow Falco.

"Hey Katt?"

"Hmm?" Katt answered as she glanced up into the sky.

Falco had stopped where he was and his back was to Katt. "I was just wondering..."

Before he could continue though Katt called out. "What the fuck?!" she called out as she stumbled backwards and tripped over a rock, and landing roughly on her rear end as she gazed into the sky.

Falco spun around and took a few quick steps to reach Katt, leaning down to see if she was okay. "What's wrong?" he asked as he laid a hand on her shoulder. In response, Katt just raised her arm and pointed into the sky.

Falco frowned but raised his gaze, he blinked and after a moment spoke. "I think that deserves a what the fuck."

In the sky, just above the peak of the mountain, a film of what looked like blue plasma was slowly stretching out in a line. It seemed to spark and glow with some sort of energy as it wormed its way through the air above the two pilots.

"Look." Falco turned his head when Katt spoke, looking where she was now pointing. "One is forming over there too."

Falco nodded, watching another vein of the blue plasma form in the sky and start to slowly stretch out. After a minute he reached down and helped Katt to her feet, and while he turned back to the cave, Katt couldn't take her eyes off the sky. Falco waited a few moments before he spoke up. "What has you so locked onto those things?"

Katt glanced at Falco before facing the cave. "Kursed told me how her planet vanished, and she mentioned streaks of blue in the sky. The way she put it, it sounded like they had expanded quicker then the ones we're see right now, but still..."

Falco blinked and faced the cave as well. "When you put it that way, I better try and warn..." he trailed off and raised his wrist gauntlet, sorting through the channels and trying to see if he could raise Fox. He shook his head a moment later though and let out a sigh of frustration. "Damn it, can't reach Fox. We're just going to have to head and down and hope we run into them, either that or head back in a day and hope this planet hasn't vanished again."

Katt nodded and followed Falco into the cave, as they started following the pathway Katt spoke up. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Kursed finished sliding on her belly underneath the low hanging rock. She reached forward and pulled herself a few more feet into the tunnel, wincing as the sharper rocks poked her through her clothes. She had already hit quite a few corners with her elbows and knees and knew that tomorrow she was really going to hate walking, but she just kept pulling herself forward.

"Hows it look?" Fox's voice came from behind her where he was waiting, crouched down at the entrance to the collapsed tunnel. He leaned down and looked into the small opening that Kursed was now making her way through.

"Cramped." she stopped and took a moment to catch her breath, it was hard work pulling her body like this, and since they were deep inside the planet, heat stuck around for a fair while with no cross breeze that she could feel from larger caverns. She shook her head slightly to try and get some of the sweat out of her eyes as she called back. "I think if you push, or drag the bags behind you, they'll fit."

The pair had already ditched their bigger bags for smaller versions earlier in the tunnel, taking only what they deemed was required. That had worked well in the tight tunnel until they had reached the collapsed section, after a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to see who would go first to see if they could continue through the tight tunnel, a smug Fox had informed Kursed, that she would be the one to to go through first.

Another few minutes passed of her scraping her way along the tunnel until she lifted her hands up and grasped at a edge instead of more collapsed stone. "Thank the gods." she muttered as she found a quick burst of strength to finish pulling her sore body out of the hole and sitting down next to the exit. She panted there for a moment before she called out. "Hey Fox, want to try and roll a bottle of water through?"

She didn't hear an answer, but a short while later she heard something clunking against the rock and she let out a snort of amusement when her canteen rolled out of the exit to stop next to her foot. She quickly grabbed it and greedily gulped down some water, sighing as she leaned back against the rock and waited for Fox. After about twenty minutes she heard scuffling and grunting coming from the collapsed section. She crouched down and watched as her bag appeared to be moving down the tunnel. When it got close enough she leaned down into the collapse section, grabbing a strap and pulling the bag the rest of the way out.

As she stood up she heard Fox's voice. "Its like crawling through Hell right now! Damn!"

Kursed chuckled. "Yeah, and right now, with those bags, I bet you're thinking that you should have chosen to go first instead of sending me with that smug grin."

She heard Fox scoff and she grinned. "Yeah, I should have realized I would be dragging one bag and pushing another." he paused and she heard more scuffling as he pulled himself another few feet. "Why didn't we bring more rope, could have just had one dragging behind us attached to the bags, then pulled them through."

Kursed glanced down the length they still had to go. "I have no idea, I thought we had more, but we must have left it in the bigger bags back when the tunnel first narrowed." She turned back to the tunnel and crouched down, reaching a hand out. "Come on, give me your hand."

Fox gratefully clasped her paw in his own and working together, Fox reached the end of the tunnel much quicker. When Fox was clear enough to stand up, Kursed let go and reached down to her bag where her staff was, she ignited the end and frowned at her hand, as she tucked the staff into its holster before clipping the belts back over her back.

She turned back to Fox who was drinking from his own canteen. "Is this what I think it is?" she asked sharply as she held the hand he had grabbed out in front of him.

Fox just looked at her out of one eye as he continued to down water before he glanced down at her palm where the ruby liquid coated her palm. He finished his drink and sighed softly wiping his mouth before he responded. "If you think its blood, you would be right." Fox held out his own hand and Kursed sighed softly when she saw the large ragged cut that covered his palm.

She knelt down next to her bag and pulled out the small med kit. "How did that happen?" she asked as she opened the kit.

Fox shrugged. "I grabbed a sharp rock and pulled, it sliced right through." he paused when he realized what she was doing. "It can wait Kursed, I'm fine."

Kursed glanced over her shoulder at him with a raised eyebrow. "Bullshit, that needs stitches, and at the very least a bandage." she pointed to the rock wall next to her. "Sit."

Fox shook his head and chuckled softly as he sat down next to Kursed and held out his hand. Kursed turned to him with a roll of bandages in her hand. "What's so funny?" she asked as she placed a gauze pad across the cut and started wrapping it.

Fox was quiet for a moment before he responded. "Krystal used to treat me like that when I got hurt in the field." Kursed raised an eyebrow and Fox continued. "Forceful you know, she would make sure we were in a safe area then force me down on the ground while she took care of it." he laughed softly again. "At this rate I should get a punch card from you. 'Get fixed up two more times and get a third one for free!'"

Kursed scoffed as Fox chuckled softly as his own joke. "You sound like Lombardi."

Fox just grinned. "That is not always a bad thing." his grin vanished though as he raised his other arm. "That reminds me." he took his paw back from Kursed as she tied off the bandage. Gently he checked through the signals on his gauntlet to see if he could reach Falco. "Nothing." he said with a small sigh

Kursed stood up, throwing her pack over her shoulders, she had to bow her head slightly to avoid touching the roof of the cave. "Even if we're in the cleared area, there is way to much rock between us for the gauntlets to work without something to bridge the signal."

Fox stood up, shouldering his pack one handed as he stood up. "Your right of course." he slipped his injured paw through the straps of his bag slowly. "Still, I had to try."

Kursed nodded then turned and led the way down the tunnel, they continued is silence for a moment before Fox spoke up. "Hey Kursed, you said this leads to the crystal right?" Her response was one word "Yeah." Fox frowned as he voiced what was on his mind. "Then shouldn't we be going down at some point?"

As he finished his question, Kursed stopped moving and so did Fox. "Funny you should say that..." she trailed off and Fox glanced over her shoulder.

In front of them, the cave floor dipped sharply, turning into a steep slide the led down into the darkness. Fox whistled softly. "Any idea how far it goes like that?"

Kursed shook her head. "No." Kursed dropped to one knee near the edge. "It doesn't look that steep, I bet we could slide down on our backs and be fine."

Fox nodded. "Until we hit sharp rocks, then we'll regret that."

Kursed flicked a loose pebble away from her knee and the two vulpines listened as it clacked its way down the incline, after a minute they couldn't hear it anymore. Kursed glanced up over her shoulder at Fox who managed to stand next to her on the ledge. "I didn't hear it hit bottom, did you?"

Fox shook his head slightly, staring down into the greedy blackness that swallowed their lights "I don't like it, but what other choice do we really have? Go back and try to land on the cliff side next to Falco and Katt and race down to meet them? For all we know they ran into the same thing." He looked at Kursed. "You've never been down to the crystal?"

She shook her own head, standing up. "No, at least, not that I can remember. We're flying blind here."

Fox sighed and closed his eyes. "Alright," Fox reached over his shoulder and pulled a flare gun from the side of his backpack. "Glad I kept this." He checked the weapon over to make sure it had survived being dragged through the small tunnel before looking at Kursed. "Wait ten minutes, if you see this flare go off, come down." He glanced once more at the blackness before looking at Kursed with a grin. "Hope I don't go over an edge." He paused and his grin got wider. "Kiss for luck?"

Kursed raised an eyebrow before shrugging. "What the hell." She leaned forward and pecked him quickly on the side of the cheek.

Fox rubbed his cheek. "Wow, now I know I got to survive, Kursed actually did it."

Kursed rolled her eyes as she stepped back from the edge. "Go."

Fox walked up to the edge and glanced over his shoulder. "If you don't see the flair, try to backtrack and find a way to catch up to Falco and Katt."

Kursed nodded and Fox swallowed once before putting one foot on the incline and lifting his other foot off the edge. He dropped to his rear and felt gravity grab him as he started to slowly slid down. He kept his good hand braced on the wall and his feet pressed against the floor, keeping his slide at a safe speed that would hopefully allow him to stop in case the incline just dropped.

After a while the drop smoothed out and Fox used his momentum to rise to his feet, coming to a stop as the incline flattened out. He glanced at his gauntlet and saw that seven minutes had passed as he slid. He grabbed the flare gun and pointed it up the drop. He was about to pull the trigger when a few loose pebbles rolled down to stop next to his boots. He blinked at them for a moment before he took a few quick steps back as Kursed came sliding to a stop in front of him.

"So much for waiting." Fox said softly as Kursed stood up and brushed off her rear.

"Rough on the tail." She said as she ran a hand over her tail to brush it free of loose rocks. She glanced up at Fox to see his frown. "I got bored, and I saw you on your way down, figured if I used both my hands I could stop myself if something happened." She paused and frowned. "Also, I feel like we need to hurry."

Fox tucked the flare gun back into his backpack and grabbed his blaster, turning the light on again. "Why?"

She shook her head. "I don't know why, I just know we're running out of time." Fox sighed and she continued. "I'm not any happier about it then you. I would tell you more if I knew more."

Fox started walking, Kursed following him. "I know Kursed, lets just keep going and hope the crystal isn't too far away."

They walked in silence for almost an hour until Fox killed the light on his blaster and waved at Kursed to kill her staffs glow. Kursed pulled her staff out of its holster, extinguishing the light at the tip but extending the weapon and keeping it in her hands as Fox the led the way towards a glow at the end of the cave with his blaster pulled to his shoulder and ready to fire.

As they rounded a corner Fox lowed the blaster while Kursed let out a low exclamation as they walked into a large cavern.

The cavern was lit by glowing stone that dominated the center of the room, the stone's eerie glow a pale white that lit every corner and crack of the cavern, casting it into sharp relief. Fox glanced around the cavern, keeping his blaster at the ready while Kursed approached the stone wall in front of her. As she got closer her mind flashed back to the bonding ceremony she had done as a child as he head filled with the whispers of those that had moved on. She slid her staff into its holster as she reached her hands out and laid them against the stone, closing her eyes as the voices got louder.

"Kursed."

Kursed glanced over at Fox as he called out her name. She felt her eyes widen when she saw Fox standing next to a computer station and a generator providing power. As she walked over Fox glanced at her. "I'm sure I know the answer, but I gotta ask: This doesn't belong here does it?" Kursed shook her head and Fox sighed. "I thought not." he holstered his blaster and bent over the keyboard. "Its not locked or anything, thank god, otherwise there is no way we could see whats here. Unless you know how to hack into systems like these?" he glanced at Kursed to see her shake her head again. "Thought not, alright, let's see what we got."

The files were well organized and it didn't take Fox long to find a folder marked 'Journals'. He opened the folder and glanced through the marked dates. The earliest folder was from six years ago and Fox chose that one to open. A collection of text and video files met him and he clicked on the oldest video file.

He stepped back from the screen as the video opened and Andross's face appeared on screen. "It has been two years since the 'event' has taken place. I have only just managed to get this system running and I'm not quite sure where in the universe I am at the moment. Or if I'm even in the same dimension anymore. The comet that originally led me to this backwards planet was rumored to be able to travel across time and space. My only saving grace has been the fact that I had landed my cruiser before the planet warped. Although my men on the surface died as we warped, there seemed to be no damage to the planet itself or my systems. Whatever happened, its as if it only affected living beings, not organics per say, but those that had say a heartbeat, and even then, only those on the surface.

"The Cerinians that lived here, those that survived my original assault anyway, retreated to caves where they would be safe before we warped, almost as if they knew it was going to happen. Those that I have captured have not been able to give me a straight answer, always claiming that some nonsense god or other impossible thing told them to hide in the caves." Andross paused and rubbed his chin. "At the very least they make good test subjects. I have subjected them to the same tests I ran on myself to increase my own life span and durability from back on Venom. I of course modified the experiment to reduced defiance and make them more susceptible to my command. I'm still not sure if its from my modifications or if something in the Cerinians genetic code that causes it, but all of them that I expose to it, molt their fur and their skin turns an ugly gray. I'll document the full process in another file, but for now, they follow my commands, but they seem to be quite dense and capable of little thought of their own, I have released most of them to the surface to see if they will try to live their lives as they used to.

"On another note though, I did achieve success on my nano machine reanimation project, out of some spite that I have held onto over the years, the subject I choose to test this on has responded well. Part of his brain tissue remains intact and he has several of his earlier memories. But he's loyal to a fault and has increased strength." Andross glanced behind him at the stone wall in the background. "All of this has been possible just by studying the rock wall behind me. It didn't take me very long to realize that this wall was not the Crystal that I originally came here for. I am sure that the Crystal lies beyond the wall, but everything I bring to bear on the wall leaves not a mark." He turned back to the camera. "I am sure now that somehow the staff that young Krystal stole before she made off in the shuttle somehow is the key to getting through the wall. All I can really hope for is that some time in the future I can find my way back to Lylat and try and track her down. I already have an idea on how to trigger these planet jumps, but I have no way to set a goal. It's not as if I have someplace important to be, or will be running out of time anytime soon, but I would like to get back to my actual lab on Venom before it rots into nothing." Andross paused again and his face hardened. "Mark my words, I will get that Crystal, or I will die trying."

The video log closed out and Fox glanced at Kursed. "Well, we know that Andross was alive at least two years after you left."

Kursed nodded. "The question is if hes still alive now."

"Yes."

That simple word had Fox and Kursed turning around while drawing their weapons, Fox readying his blaster, while Kursed readied the plasma blast on her staff.

She shouldn't have been really surprised, but standing across the cavern stood Andross Bowman, alive and well, and looking almost exactly like he had the last time she had seen him. His uniform was quite a bit more worn, with patches crudely sewed on in numerous places, but the heavy blaster he carried loosely in one hand looked perfectly normal. His white hair surrounded his head almost like a lion with the way it connected to his beard, he had several stands of hair wrapped in small bands and held away from the bulk of his head, giving him a slightly wild look. Combined with that fire that burned in his eyes, his hard face, and his imposing height, Kursed couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Andross narrowed his eyes as he pointed his larger gun at Fox. "Fox McCloud, how you have grown. I can assume its safe to say that I'm back in range of Lylat." he turned his gaze to Kursed. "I see you have found Krystal, thank you for returning her to me. She holds something I need."

Fox glanced at Kursed and her staff before he spoke up. "You act like you've never seen me before Andross, I've killed you a few times at least. As for Krystal, shes dead, died a long time ago, this is Kursed."

Andross narrowed his eyes. "You've killed me? When?"

Fox blinked, surprised by the question. "Once on Venom, where you're experiments caused you to turn into a giant head with no body but two huge hands, and again on Sauria where you tried to revive yourself."

Andross nodded. "That would explain why Venom never contacted me again. You killed my bioweapon, although the fact that he had figured out a way to come back to life is interesting, I shall have to look into that. After I dispose of you and take that staff of course." He focused on Kursed. "You say that Krystal is dead, but its hard to believe that when she is standing next to you. True her eye color has been artificially changed, and her tattoos have been covered up with a dye, but that is Krystal." Andross shook his head. "Its of no matter really. Marcus, take care of the one who looks like your daughter, I shall handle Fox."

Before Fox or Kursed could react, a rough hand clasped Kursed on her shoulder and spun her around before a hard palm strike to her chest sent her stumbling back towards the glowing wall. Andross moved forward, firing at Fox who took cover behind the computer console to avoid Andross's shots.

Kursed recovered from her hit and raised her eyes to her opponent, she couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips. His fur was dirty and stuck together in places, with some places missing it altogether and revealing the pale and sometimes black patches of skin below. His face was scarred and there was a large patch of ugly skin over his bare chest. His eyes however were the same turquoise green hue as her eyes had originally been, that combined with the name that Andross had used, and Kursed couldn't deny the fact that she was looking at a shell of her father.

Kursed tightened her grip on her staff and spoke up softly. "Father? Are you in there?"

Marcus growled low in his throat and took a step forward, Kursed back away a step to keep distance between them. "...Daughter..." his voice was rough and sounded like it was coming out of a bad speaker.

Kursed felt tears form in her eyes and she frowned and took another few steps back. She inhaled and straightened, holding a hand out towards Marcus. "Father, I don't want to fight you, I know part of you is in there, fight it, fight him."

Marcus paused for a moment before dashing forward suddenly and sliding underneath her outstretched arm, spinning around and grabbing her arm in one hand while he drove an elbow into her gut with his other arm. Kursed cried out in pain as she felt one of her ribs break, before she had even finished her cry though, Marcus brought his other hand up and using her arm, flipped her over his body and smashed her roughly into the ground. Kursed's cry turned into a groan and she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth against the pain. When she opened them, she sat up slowly and grabbed her staff from where she had lost it after hitting the ground.

She spun around and readied herself for a fight. She knew that she was already at a disadvantage with her broken rib, but she was going to try and free her father from Andross's control. Her Father lowered himself into a combat stance, his hands open and ready to catch any blows she rained on him with her staff. She briefly thought about using her pistol, but after what had happened last time she knew that she would just have to disable her father. She slid her hand along her staff, triggering the cryo blast. She swung the staff up into the air and created a fog of freezing air, she twisted her hand and activated the blaster, shooting the plasma into the cloud and turning it into an expanding cloud of steam.

As Marcus faded from sight, Kursed took two steps into the fog and swung with all her might where she knew his middle would be, just like he had taught her. But since he was the one that taught her, and he still retained some of his memories, his hand was waiting for the staff and he locked a steel grip around the pole, pulling Kursed forward out of the cloud and driving his other arm into her left shoulder. Hitting hard enough to damage the shoulder blade and pop her shoulder joint out of place.

Kursed let out a small cry at the pain and stumbled back, losing her hold on the staff as Marcus pulled it out of her slackened grip. Kursed held her injured shoulder with one hand while she panted in pain. She closed her eyes for a second before dropping her good hand towards her holster. She quickly loosed her magnum and raised it, pulling the trigger twice. The first two shots bounced into the ceiling of the cave as Marcus activated the shield function of the staff. Kursed felt panic overtake her, something that had not happened in a very long time. She waited for the shield to phase out before she pulled the trigger two more times.

Marcus had already moved away and dodged both shots, she turned around to keep him in sight and backed away until her back touched the glowing wall behind her. She gulped heavily as Marcus advanced slowly towards her, behind him, she could see Fox pop out of cover and send a few shots towards Andross, but the ape just activated a barrier and deflected the shots into the side of the cave.

She focused back on Marcus and pulled the trigger, but every shot missed as Marcus dodged from side to side, too fast for her injured body to keep up with. When her slide locked back with a heavy click Kursed felt her eyes widen and her heart beat faster as she thumbed the clip release, already lowering her hand to slide in another clip.

She never got that far.

Marcus dashed forward and jammed the staff into Kursed's stomach, lifting her up off the ground with his enhanced strength. He held her painfully against the wall for a moment and Kursed's wide eyes melt his soulless and cold ones. Before she could do anything else, Marcus adjusted his grip and shoved forward with the staff, driving the point through Kursed lower abdomen and slicing right through her insides. Kursed couldn't help the scream of pain as Marcus kept pushing, shoving the staff right through her spine and causing her legs to go numb and dangle below her. Kursed grabbed the staff to try and pull it out, her own life blood keeping the staff slick against her grip. Her breaths came in short painful gasps as she tried to pull herself off her own weapon. It was at the point that she realized the Marcus was still pushing, the staff having exited her back and sliding into the glowing stone like it was water. He only stopped when he was left holding two hand spans of the staff outside of her body. Kursed saw the edge of her vision started to fade out and knew that in a few moments she was going to be dead.

She briefly heard Fox call out her name and she watched through blurring eyes as he took a energy shot right to the chest, spinning around and dropping to the ground, Andross advancing on him and readying for a kill shot to the back of his head. Kursed felt strength leave her neck and her head dropped loosely to the side as Marcus backed away, leaving Kursed hanging from her own staff, her life blood running down the wall behind her to pool on the ground.

As her vision continued to be eaten away by blackness she reached out to Fox with her mind since her mouth refused to work right. "Fox...I'm so sorry...this is all my fault...my fault for running...my fault for lying about who I am...Please forgive me...I still love you...I'll always love you" As she stared out with her head tilted to the side, she saw herself standing further down the cave, her hands pressed to the wall, as she locked eyes with herself, she heard a voice speak up.

"It doesn't look like you get a happy ending..."

Kursed stepped back from the wall quickly and ran her hands over her belly where her own staff had punctured her, but there was no pain, or wound. She looked up and saw the ghost of Marcus standing in front of her. She glanced around him and saw Fox standing in front of the console, stock still.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

'Marcus' glanced towards the glowing wall to their right. "This close to the Crystal, your abilities have been magnified significantly. Since your are of royal blood, your link to the Crystal has let you see a version of the future that might happen." Kursed glanced around at the frozen time and 'Marcus' chuckled. "Time isn't frozen, this is all in your head." He walked towards her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "What happens next will decide the fate of not only you and your mate, but of your friends as well. Choose wisely" 'Marcus' smiled. "Better not miss it." he snapped his fingers and Kursed jerked back from the wall with a loud gasp.

"Kursed?" Kursed blinked and glanced down at her hands before looking over at Fox, who was watching her with a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

Kursed thought quickly. "Yeah sorry, I'm fine." She paused. "But we're not alone in here, somebody is coming this way, and we need to be ready for them. Hide behind the console, I've got an idea." Fox looked at her confused while she moved to the center of the cave. She glanced over at him and pointed at the console. "Go! Trust me."

Fox glanced where she was facing but after a moment he nodded and moved back behind the console, crouching down and staying out of sight. Kursed felt Andross getting closer and she gave one last bit of instructions, sent directly to Fox. "No matter what happens, Don't move until you know you can get them both."

Fox frowned before he nodded. Kursed drew her staff, leaving it collapsed, and faced the direction Andross would come. Before long she met his eyes as he came around the bend in the cavern. His step halted for a moment before he moved closer, getting with in a few body lengths of her. He bent over and studied her face for a moment. He straightened a second later. "Eye dye." his voice was the same as her vision, and the same voice she remembered. "Some sort of skin altering pigment. Voice changer in your throat." He rubbed his chin for a moment. "I must say, its a lot to go through to change your looks Krystal. What was the point of it all? Although I can guess that by your presence here, Cerinia is close to Lylat at the moment, correct?" He didn't even let her answer. "Its of no matter, I can confirm shortly, I had almost given up on ever getting back to Lylat. But if you're here, then that means there is a ship that I can scrap for parts." He turned around and clasped his hands behind his back. "Surely you must know what happens now? You have the staff and I need it to get through that wall. Now the question is: Are you going to give it to me, or will I be taking it?"

Kursed glanced down at the staff in her hand. "So...First thing, Krystal is dead, she's been dead for years." Kursed looked up and started at Andross who turned around to face her. "Second, as for the staff," Kursed tightened her grip on the collapsed staff causing a build up of red energy "You can have it after you pry it out of my cold dead hands!" Kursed extended the staff and activated the super quake function jamming the staff into the ground and causing the entire cave system to shake, dislodging pieces of the ceiling and creating a multitude of cracks in the ground around them.

Andross reeled back as the shaking started, leaving Kursed free to active the cry blast function and freezing the air around her, she swapped to the blaster and melted the frost into steam and stepped into it right as Marcus reached for her shoulder. Before he could recover from missing his grab the staff came flying out to jab him hard in the gut, forcing him back a step. Kursed stepped out of the steam, appearing like a ghost, swinging the staff with all her might at his head. The staff connected with a heavy thud and sent Marcus stumbling. Kursed turned back around and dropped the staff to the ground, activating the shield function just in time to send Andross' blaster shot flying into the ceiling.

Before she could stand back up, she felt two strong hands clamp down on her shoulder, and the next thing she knew she was flying through the air towards the glowing wall. She tightened her grip on her staff and closed her eyes as the wall rushed to meet her. For a second she felt like she had been thrown into a pool of water, her speed dropped quickly and before she could even open her eyes or inhale she landed roughly on her shoulder with the glowing wall behind her. She kept her eyes closed and reached out with her mind past the barrier.

She felt Fox's panic as he prepared to try and reach her. "Fox, I'm okay, I'm on the other side, just stay hidden, don't attack yet. The Cerinian Andross has with him is stronger then you can handle. Just wait for a few more minutes and he should be removed from the fight."

She heard Fox's voice as he though out an answer to her "Kursed?! How did you ge- Wait, never mind, what are you going to do that will get rid of Andross's helper"

Kursed opened her eyes and stared out at what was in front of her. "Hopefully fix Cerinia." She severed her connection to Fox as she stood up and walked slowly towards what was in front of her.

The Crystal was large, at least twice as big as Kursed was, it sat in a small crater that Kursed stopped on the edge of. She had expected something floating, or at least glowing, pretty even. But the Crystal her eyes landed on was a deep, dark, light engulfing, black, and was pulsing with a deep and wicked purple energy that ran along the surface in waves. It was laying crooked inside the crater as if had been carelessly dropped there. As she stared at it she couldn't help herself.

"This isn't right." she said softly as she crouched down on the lip of the crater, collapsing her staff and laying it on the ground next to her.

"You're right." Kursed didn't even bother turning around to look at 'Marcus' "The Crystal has been corrupted by what took place here so many years ago, and by what the ape has done to its people." he paused for a moment. "It's power has been dampened by the darkness, that is why Andross controls your fathers body when he should have long ago moved on, that's why the rest of our species has been following his orders for these past years. Their bonds to the crystal have been blocked by this darkness...they have lost their will to fight..." he trailed off into silence.

Kursed sighed. "Is there anyway to fix this?"

'Marcus' knelt down next to her. "There is." he pointed at the staff next to her. "You can burn away the corruption, the darkness."

Kursed picked up the staff in one hand. "But?"

'Marcus' glanced at her "It will cost you, more then you or even I can really know."

Kursed glanced down at the staff, her grip tightening over the pole. She glanced up at 'Marcus' "But it will save Cerinia?" He nodded silently "...Then I'll bear the cost, no matter what." She paused for a moment more. "Is this all in my head as well?"

He grinned at her suddenly "What do you think?"

Kursed blinked and found herself staring at the corrupted Crystal again, her staff in her hand. She stood up and stared at the staff for a moment, she extended the staff and pointed it at the crystal. She took a couple deep breaths before she twisted her palm and activated the blaster function. "I hope this works." she said softly as she ran her thumb along the staff, causing the blast of energy to fly out and strike the Crystal.

As the energy dissipated across the black covering the Crystal, Kursed cried out and dropped to the ground, holding her paw against her head. Her eyes watering, she glanced up at where she had hit the Crystal, the black was cracked and a dull blue light could be seen shining through. Kursed took a couple more deep breaths and forced herself to her knees, she braced the staff against her once more and aimed at the cracked spot. She fired again and this time some of the black actually vanished underneath the heat, revealing the bright glow of the Crystal beneath it. Kursed cried out again, this time dropping the staff as she grabbed her head with both hands, the pain was extraordinary, far beyond anything she had ever experienced before. It felt as if her very soul and spirit was being torn apart.

After a moment though, Kursed grabbed the staff and stood up, her head still splitting, and her eyes still wet with tears. She stood shakily for a moment before taking a step down into the crater towards the Crystal. She hadn't even made it two steps though before she stumbled and fell, rolling the rest of the way to a stop next to the Crystal. She laid there for another moment before she forced herself to her feet again, She managed to pull herself onto the side of the Crystal and make her way towards the top. When she reached the top, she braced herself and started charging her super quake. When the staff vibrated gently she raised the staff high above her head and brought it smashing down on top of the Crystal.

She cried out in pain again as cracks spread out from where she had hit it, covering the entire Crystal and letting more of the glow out. She felt her powers flare wildly and out of her control as the pain scraped its way across her nerves. She dropped to one knee, only managing to remain that high because the staff caught in one of the many cracks. As she tried to pull herself together, she briefly touched Fox's mind

"Kursed? What's going on?! I'm seeing...Krystal...?"

Krystal felt a different type of tears form on the edge of her eyes as she forced herself to stand up again. Her entire body felt like it was coated in lava and she wasn't sure if her mind could handle anymore. As she charged the super quake again, she spoke up in a ragged voice, repeating the words from her vision. "Fox...I'm so sorry...for running...for lying about who I am...Please forgive me..." She brought the staff down again, and this time the thick shell of black flew away from the Crystal as the quake hit it. The force was so strong, that it even flung Krystal into the air. Krystal screamed as the pain made her feel like her entire body was being ripped apart, bit by tiny bit. As she flew through the air, she felt her consciousness start to fade. She landed roughly on the ground at the lip of the crater, the staff flying from her hands, as the Crystal slowly floated into the air above her.

Darkness was eating at her vision, and she by now was just numb to the pain, and she knew what was happening. Her body was slowly shutting down, nerves by nerve, and organ by organ. As her eyes started to glaze over she felt a smile play at her lips as she stared at the Crystal, pure once again, a single tear crowing at the edge of her eye as she whispered into the air. "Please forgive me...Fox..." her head tilted to the side as the last of her strength failed her and her eyelids started to close. "I'm sorry, so sorry...please...I...I lo..." Her breath petered out of her lungs and her vision blacked out as the one last tear ran down her face to drip to the cold, hard, ground.

...Is the evil laughter even required at this point?

Anyway, like I said up top, still not sure how I feel about this, the whole Kursed vision thing is kinda what worries me, so, I would love some feedback on what you all thought. Now to be clear, I don't think any of it was badly written, I'm just not sure if it fits with the story, ya know? Also, I see a lot of rage coming my way for the cliff hanger, so go rant at me in the review box.

Speaking of, its of course, Guest Reviews! Only one this week.

Black O'Donnell: Glad you enjoyed, and be truthful, after reading this new chapter, Are you still excited for the update, given everything that happened at the end? Thanks for your vote though, and explaning your reasons, I'll make sure to keep that in mind when I close the poll here in a few days. As for the after story one shot, best response ever, gave me a good chuckle.

So, a few notes for you of course, first off, after feeling like utter crap for the past few weeks, I'm finally starting to feel like myself, thank, god. Because it was honestly so bad, I couldn't even type some days because I would feel sick after a little while. Anyway, I'm already hard at work on the next chapter, I won't say when, but hopefully it will come sooner then expected : }

Also, the cover image, the background of Kursed was from an artist that I commission to do a piece, but shes been awol on that bit for a few months, and she released the image to the public on her DA account and told me it was practice, So, I'll be using that until she comes back with the image I actually want. By the by, her name is Katalicious and she also writes some good Star Fox stuff when she ever gets around to it, but like I said, awol, so none of it has been updated in a long time.

Oh, and of course, Thirteen reviews! Woots! Destinies just broke two-thousand views a few days ago, and since I last updated Dead Planet, it got six-hundred hits! You guys are awesome, here's something else salvaged from my hard drive for you!

"Fox!" The happy cry came from the brown large eared fennec sitting on the arm rest of one of the couches.

Fox grinned as he stepped towards her. "Fara, long time, how you been?"

Fara Phoenix had a grin that split her face in half as she answered. "Oh you know, been busy, doing a little of this, a little of that." She was dressed in a black denim jacket with a dark red cut off shirt exposing her midriff and cut low enough to show the top part of her bra. She was wearing red pants that ran down to thigh high steel toed boots . The hand she waved at Fox was covered with a few metal rings and from her left ear hung...

"Earrings? Really? I thought you hated those things." Fox asked as he took a step forward and shook her hand.

Fara laughed as she reached up and ran a finger over the three large hoop earnings that hung from her left ear. The thin pieces of metal clinked together to create a ringing sound. "I know, but I just got off an assignment, and this was all part of my cover." Her grin changed to a guilty one as she stared at Fox. "But now that I have them in, I kinda like em."

Fara worked in the special or black operations area of the Corneria government. She had used to be an instructor at the academy where Fox and Falco met. Her skill in an Arwing was matched only by those of Star fox themselves. Although she occasionally flew with Star Fox as the leader of third squad made up of recruits looking to prove themselves. Her main source of income was the Corneria government, and she had been undercover somewhere for the past few months, trying to root out some crime lord.

"Well, I for one like them." this came from Miyu Lynx, the third pilot underneath Fox and Krystal. The brown and black spotted Lynx was lanky and had as much attitude as Falco did. Miyu had been a mercenary in a group that Fox had fought with over some mission. She had been left for dead by her group after Fox and Falco had shot down her boss, and Fox had rescued her. She had quickly warmed up to Star Fox and joined them as a back up pilot. Now that there were two main squads she flew with Krystal and Fox on all missions. Although she still occasionally struck out on her own from time to time, it was always after she made sure that Fox didn't need her for anything.

Edit 08-06-13: So, sorry for those that came here today to look for an update, or for any readers that just got finished here. I wanted to try and get this updated today, but I just ran out of time. Still, with what I have done, as long as nothing bad happens, I should see you all next week. Also hopefully on Saturday with a Destiny update.

Peace,

- Emile