Chapter Three: Darkness
Muffled sounds of people talking and the faint feeling of a cold floor were all that Fox McCloud could process. There was no way to tell who or how far those people were, nor to know how much time had passed. He could, however, think clearly enough to regret his previous, unprofessional move.
All those years of training at the Cornerian Army and the Corneria Flight Academy specifically taught him not to shoot at that moment. The shooting trainings, the anger management and self-control lectures that popped up from time to time, hell, even Fox's personality made it clear when it was and wasn't safe to shoot. Seeing his best friend and lover disappear right before his eyes was of greater impact than any general slapping his face for a mistake.
As Fox's sight started coming back, only allowing him to see blurred dark figures, he heard two gunshots followed by two heavy thuds. Moments later, the sound of a rusty metal door being dramatically kicked in startled him; but before he could react, someone lifted his body, placing it on their shoulder.
"Come on, you lazy dog. Wake up! I already took you out of that cell, now start walking," said a rather familiar voice.
"Who… who are you…" said Fox, still incredibly groggy, as he was quickly carried around the halls of the enemy base.
"You can't seriously be this fucked up, can you? Gee, they gave you something. Hold on, I know where to take you."
A few minutes later, Fox was gently placed on a cold metal floor, just to be suddenly splashed with cold water. "Ow, what the hell!?" yelled Fox at his savior, realizing he was in a dimly lit janitor's closet. The water dripped from his wet fur as Fox shivered and gradually regained consciousness.
"Shit. Hold on, let me get you a towel…" said the mysterious figure.
As they kneeled to carefully rub his fur with an old towel, Fox started to recognize familiar traces from what the light coming from under the door could reveal. As if that wasn't enough, he also recognized the voice and smell of such person, but most of all, the feeling of their arm occasionally touching his.
"...Falco?" Fox tilted his head in confusion.
"...the one and only," replied the bird, in a playful manner.
"But… I thought you were-"
"Dead?" Falco interrupted, "...haha, you silly fox. I guess you just don't know me well enough, do you?"
"But I saw you getting… you know, sucked out of the ship! How could you possibly be here? I mean, I'm glad and all, but-"
"Shh," he interrupted again, "they could hear us," he paused, putting the towel away. "I'll explain later, Fox. Now we gotta go."
As Falco attempted to put him back on his footpaws, Fox surprised him with a big, tight, warm embrace, immediately shedding tears onto the avian's shoulder.
"Great…" said Falco, playfully, "...now you're getting me wet."
"Falco, I was so fucking scared," Fox whispered, nearly stammering, as Falco gladly returned the hug, understanding what he was truly feeling at that particular moment.
The hug lasted for a couple of minutes, when Falco finally started to give some attention to the moment's priority. He handed Fox his own blaster, which the guards had obviously apprehended, and carefully looked through an opening on the door to see if there were any guards nearby.
"It's clear. Think you can walk?" whispered Falco, readying his weapon.
"I don't think I can run," said Fox, wiping away his tears, "but I can walk just fine."
Falco discreetly opened the door and came out with Fox, both of them already checking for possible threats, firmly holding up their blasters.
"This way, Fox," said Falco, pointing him towards the security control room.
They passed through several different halls, feeling like rats in a maze, eventually having to strategically avoid a guard or two, until they arrived at the room Falco mentioned. It was located at the end of a single corridor, guarded by a big metal door with a digital security lock.
"Shit…" said Falco, who hadn't noticed that detail whilst on his way to find Fox, "...now what?"
"If it was a regular lock we could just shoot it open. And it looks like this door won't get any damage from the blasters," added Fox. "If only Slippy was here…"
"Halt!" yelled a security guard, surprising them both, having Falco immediately point his gun at him, "put your weapons on the ground and surrender, or else you will be executed!"
Shit, thought Fox as he carefully followed the guard's orders.
"What are you doing?" whispered Falco. "We can handle this, Fox…"
"Do you wanna end up in that room like I did?" he replied, placing the blaster on the floor.
"Hey birdbrain, drop your weapon!" demanded the guard. "Now!"
Crap. I gotta find a way to stop him, thought Falco, slowly leaning forward to put the gun down as he observed the guard's each and every move. The ape held a fixed stare at him, steadily holding his weapon, until a beeping noise from his communicator caught his attention. The brief moment in which the guard leaned to look at the device attached to his belt was enough for Falco to quickly raise his gun and shoot his wrist, making him immediately release the weapon. In a matter of seconds, Falco ran straight to the wounded guard, kicking his weapon away and, in a swift movement, grabbing him by the neck and pointing the gun at his head. Fox, surprised, picked up his blaster and held it towards the other end of the corridor, intending to fence off any other guards that could show up.
"Cadet Caesar, what's your status? Respond! Respond!" said a voice coming from the communicator.
"Well, cadet, I don't think he'll get that info if you don't tell us the code to that security room! Start talking," said Falco, pressing the end of his blaster against the guard's head.
"I… I don't know!" said the terrified ape.
Falco, impatient with the situation, grabbed the guard by his neck and slammed him against the wall, holding him up and pressing the blaster against his jaw. "Speak. Or else."
"I'm telling you, man!" he swore, coughing. "I'm just a cadet, and you know it! Only some people in higher positions can have the code!"
"Oh, you little..." said Falco, moving the blaster into the guard's mouth.
"Falco, just look at him. He's telling you the truth," intervenes Fox, taking a step closer to them and moving his eyes to the ape's communicator. "You. Can you request permission to have the code?"
"I… I think so, yes," the guard pressed a button on the device, staring straight at Falco's blaster. "H-hello, sergeant Grayson? I'd like to request the passcode to the security room. Over."
"For what matter? Over." said the sergeant through the communicator.
"Uh… my squadron's leader was in a hurry and told me to go to the security room to, uh… check if he left his bag in the cafeteria. He said he had to meet with someone and the cafeteria is too far, so he told me to check here, and-"
"Enough, cadet. The code is 24601. It'll be changed in ten minutes, so I hope you follow your orders quickly. Over and out," replied the sergeant.
"Go ahead, Fox. You heard the code," said Falco, still firmly holding the guard against the wall.
"You'll let me go now… right?" asked the cadet. "Please, I'll pretend nothing happened. Just let me go."
"I'll look into that," said Falco, with a tad of sarcasm. "How's it going, Fox?"
McCloud walked towards the small touchscreen near the door, quickly typing the code. '24601. Passcode accepted. Open? [YES] [NO]'
"Hm…" Fox turned to Falco, hesitating to open the door. "The passcode is correct."
"Fine. You're free to go, but don't do anything stupid," Falco warned the guard as he slowly released him. "You're dealing with Star Fox."
The guard pretended to limp away from them and, as Falco started looking away, he pounced onto his gun attempting to grab it shoot them both, but his hand was greeted with the avian's boot.
"I told you," said Falco, delivering a shot through cadet Caesar's skull, watching as his brain painted the corridor's floor. "You're dealing with Star Fox."
"Okay, ready?" asked Fox as Falco approached the door, with his index finger hovering the 'YES' button as he clenched his paw on the blaster.
"Well, we got nine minutes. Ready when you are," said Falco with a smirk.
The fox pressed the button, opening the door and promptly shooting the single guard that happened to be taking a nap on duty. Falco headed to the security management terminal, scrolling through a list of commands and observing the map blueprint close to the dead guard's mug.
"So… what exactly are we doing here?" asked Fox, shutting the door.
"Basically…" he executed a small command that opened the hangar door and started the always present self-destruction sequence, "...we're getting the hell out of here."