Chapter 24: Skies Have Fallen
"Cross," Ecks yelled as his upper body shot up from the bed he was laying in, startling the vixen beside him.
"Ecks what's wrong," Zivia asked, there was a slight hint of irritation in her voice.
The dark blue vulpine looked around the room, breathing heavily. "A dream," He said softly. "All a dream." Ecks knew it wasn't just a dream, no dream ever felt that real.
"About what," The orange vixen asked as she put her hand on his shoulder.
Ecks looked to the vixen and smiled. "Nothing, it's over now." His breathing had slowed down. Ecks looked over to the clock, it read 11:30 in the morning, "We should check if the others are awake, we have a big day today," He said as he pulled the red covers off of himself. Ecks was getting more comfortable with being around Zivia as not only had he decided to sleep in the bed with her, but he also slept shirtless. Ecks thought back to his dream and realized that he was sleeping on the couch in the dream, at least that was a difference, but for some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that something would happen, and not in the good sense either.
After a few minutes, Zivia had stepped out of the personal restroom with a new set of clothes on, not her normal revealing wear, but something more suitable for combat, it was the exact same silver flight suit she wore in his dream. Ecks didn't like this, he was going to have to make sure to keep his eyes open for anything. "Zivia, may I ask you something," Ecks asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. The blue vulpine was wearing a white tee-shirt and a pair of light-blue jeans.
"What's that?"
"Could you possibly stay here, on the ship? I don't want anything to happen." The blue fox tilted his head forward as he looked up at Zivia. It was almost as if he was begging.
Zivia smiled at the young vulpine, "Ecks," She started as she sat down beside him and put her hand on his back. "I know you're concerned for me, and I thank you for that, but nothing will change my mind about this, I'm going with you. Besides, you might need my help."
"Yes, but if anything were to happen to you..."
"Don't talk like that, you know I can handle myself pretty well," she cut him off, then sighed. She needed a way to change the subject, and fast. "Hey, tell me something," The vixen started. "What was your father like before he went insane," She asked, hoping that she didn't hit a nerve.
Ecks sighed, he knew this question would pop up, "Well, first, my father's name was Deidrin before he changed it for the worse. He was actually an extremely kind man. I remember he'd use to sit and tell my brother and I about all the times in his life, good and bad. He dreaded the days when he would have to stay at the laboratory and work on further studies. He was trying to find a way to create a weapon powerful enough to protect us from any who might try to harm our homeland. But, after so much work and dedication put into it, he gave up on it. Then, when my brother and I became seven years old, our home was robbed by a bunch of thugs. For some reason they didn't take anything, my guess is that they were looking for the research to create the weapon. They couldn't get into the lab, and it wasn't there anyway. They found out that the research was somewhere in our home, but after hours of searching for it, and us, they became frustrated and left. My father didn't want something like that to ever happen again, just in case he wasn't there to protect us. That is when he thought up the idea for his scientists to make us into experiments, just to give us abilities to protect ourselves." Ecks laid back onto the bed, and stared at the ceiling, a saddened look sweeping across his face. "Then he became corrupt with power. He realized that us two could possibly destroy planets, which is an extremely inaccurate assumption, and thought who could stop him? But there was one problem he overlooked, my brother has had a temper even before the experiments, and the work they did to him only increased his rage. Thus, is the reason my father tried to have him disposed of. I've told the next part countless times, I don't feel like telling it again."
Zivia took in Ecks's words, then, after a few moments. "Hmm, what is your real name, and Cross's?" The vixen's words made Ecks jump a bit. He wasn't expecting that question.
"Well, my real name is Quelin, and my brother's name is Shrieth. We both prefer what we go by now. Anymore questions?"
"Nope. We should get going. Nice name by the way," The vixen said, leaning in and planting one quick peck on his forehead before standing up and walking to the door. "You coming?"
"Oh, yeah," He said, floating over to the vixen. A few things were still on the vulpine's mind though. Was Chaos expecting them to attack? Did he already have his legion ready for defense? Would Zivia truly be alright? The vulpine could only hope.
***
Everyone was on the bridge, going over strategies on what to do as Ecks and Zivia entered. "Fox you sure about this," Hax asked. "I mean, we're not exactly at even odds here, there's what, nine of us here, and about a thousand of them?"
"Ha," Cross cut in. "Numbers don't mean shit. all we have to do is take out Chaos. Once he's dead they won't even know how to wipe their own asses. They're too dependant."
"And thanks to Vaughn hacking one of their defense systems, we know what the outside looks like," Alexia cut in, eaning over and resting her head on the black lupine's shoulder.
"I try," Hax said as he brushed the white lock of hair over his eye, only to have it return to the same spot. He clicked his tongue in annoyance
"We leave in three hours," Fox said, turning around. "We're in the planet's orbit now, so everyone needs to be ready by then." With that, the captain left the bridge.
"You know, you two haven't really told us anything about yourselves," Krystal said, turning to Hax and Alexia. "Since this could be a final mission, you might as well say something."
Hax sighed. "Alright. Well, anyway, I went to public schools, got picked on for being a 'nerd' or whatever. So then I decided I was pissed and hacked the military system just for the hell of it. Turns out they caught me, had me arrested, figured they could use my skills for special purposes. I couldn't agree more. Since then I've been with the military, it's a rare case that they call on me to hack a system or whatever. But at least I'm not in prison or anything." He shrugged. "That's really all there is to it. Learned how to fight, still hackin' shit, now I'm here, waiting to go against some asshole who's trying to take over the universe or something like that. Don't really care for the details much."
"What about you," Kystal asked, looking at Alexia.
Alexia was a bit hesitant, "Uh, I'm not sure."
"Oh, come on."
With a sigh of her own, Alexia started. "Well, when I was younger I would always get into fights constantly, no matter who it was against. I wasn't your typical little girl by any standards. My dad was an engineer for the military, he worked on the vehicles and such. One day, someone decided to target him. Both of my parents died in a car explosion when I was ten. I used fighting as a way to get rid of the pain from losing them. Then I joined the military because I realized I needed discipline. So there's my little story. Now can we please get ready for this mission? I have a few bones to pick with these bastards, you know, since they kidnapped me, attacked my planet and what not."
"Well, this has been a fun little history lesson about everyone," Falco started, stretching his arms. "but I'm gonna head out and get some rest. Got some flyin' to do, after all."
"Yeah, nice learning about your guys's pasts and everything," Slippy said, following the avian out to the hall.
"Time to train," Cross said, not waisting any time as he left the bridge as well.
The rest of the group had left the bridge as well to prepare for the mission. Some had thoughts of fear, while one had vengeance. The battle would be hard, and the end result, was a mystery. Although the group was outnumbered, they still had a few tricks left. The hours passed on, the group went through the plan, and they descended for the finale of this mission.
***
A red blur dashed through a forest, not even making the slightest bit of noise, until it came to a sudden stop to reveal a dark red vulpine. Cross spotted a group of six purple-clad soldiers walking through the forest, the leader of the group was the only one without a helmet, it was a white tiger, he had a scar which was shaped like a hook, going straight down his forehead and curving in the area between his eyes, he was a bit on the large side in muscular build but nothing Cross couldn't handle. The vulpine's body was perfectly concealed as he had found a bush to hide behind which was, oddly enough, crimson red. The vulpine looked onward to see that the soldiers were making their way back to the large red base, luckily it was a bit far in terms of walking, "Looks like I get to have some fun." The vulpine stalked the soldiers, they weren't even aware of his presence, even in the daylight, he was completely silent, one of the soldiers was trailing behind a bit, Cross smirked. A red blur suddenly shot out at the soldier, not even a scream could escape from the purple armored enemy as he was taken out of sight into a patch of bushes. The leader of the group turned around just in time to see the red flash, the other soldiers mirrored the leader's movement and stopped as well, the white tiger motioned to one of the soldiers by nodding his head in the direction in which he saw the red flash, the soldier obeyed the tiger and left the group to check it out, the soldier went into the bushes, he saw his purple-clad ally lying on the ground with his helmet off, it was a light brown husky, it looked as though the canine's throat had been slashed open by something, he didn't even have to feel for a pulse as it was clear that the husky lying on the ground was dead by the blank look in his eyes, but the soldier noticed something, a small hole in the ground, the soldier carefully walked over to the hole as he pointed his rifle at it, but lowered it as he saw a pair of golden eyes shining in the light, but then the eyes changed to a crimson red, the soldier had no time to react as a red hand shot out at him.
"What's taking him so long?" The white tiger asked himself. The feline's voice was a bit hoarse as he glared in the direction where he saw the red flash, suddenly, a purple-armored body shot from the bushes, slamming into a tree with a sickening impact, the soldier's head snapped back as soon as he hit the tree, the body lay there motionless, his head was tilted at a disgusting angle. The remaining soldiers looked on, although it could not be seen through their helmets, they practically reeked of fear, one of the soldiers decided to run towards the bushes where Cross was, despite the white tiger's shouting for him to stop, the soldier disappeared into the bush. The purple-clad enemy didn't hesitate in firing down the hole, when the soldier was finished with his outburst, he looked up only to see a dark red vulpine hanging upside-down from a branch with a smirk on his face and his arms crossed. The soldier quickly hoisted his rifle to fire at the vulpine and pulled the trigger, but nothing came from the barrel, the soldier had fired all of his shots into the hole, and Cross simply smirked as he flipped off of the branch, landing directly in front of the frightened soldier. The purple enemy attempted to hit Cross with the butt of his rifle, but it was pointless as Cross simply put his left arm up and blocked the attack with ease, while at the same time grabbing the soldier by the throat with his right hand.
"You picked the wrong asshole to side with." Was the only thing Cross said before digging his claws into the soldier's throat and ripping it out, blood spewed onto the vulpine's face as the purple soldier grasped is neck struggling to breathe, but to no avail as he dropped to his knees, after a few seconds, the soldier fell limply onto his back as his life ended. Cross simply looked down at the dead body, and then casually walked out from his hiding place with his hands in the air, the two soldiers and the tiger had pointed their rifles at Cross, they were each standing side-by-side, the red vulpine simply winked at the middle soldier who suddenly pulled a combat knife from the sheath on his waist and slipped it into the opening of the neck area on the soldier to his left, then pulled it out quickly, blood leaked out from the purple-clad soldier's neck. The attacking soldier then pulled off the helmet to reveal the bright orange face of a vixen. The white tiger never even had a chance as Cross was almost immediately standing in front of the feline with a clawed finger at the tiger's neck.
"You will not stop us." The feline said. "Your efforts will be in vain." Cross simply chuckled as he dug his clawed finger a bit deeper into the tiger's neck.
"Is that so, well, either way, you won't be around to see the outcome." The red vulpine suddenly pulled his hand away from the feline's neck, then thrust it forward, shooting it straight through the tiger's stomach, a red hand burst from the tiger's back, through the purple armor. Cross pulled his arm from the cat's stomach, allowing the feline's body to limply fall to the ground, Cross looked down at his blood-dripping arm, then to Zivia.
"We should get going, the other's are probably inside or something." The red vulpine then walked off toward the base.
"Stick to the plan, Cross." Zivia told him. The vulpine turned his head, a smirk showing on the side of his face.
"You know me."He chuckled before dashing the base in a red blur.
Zivia picked up the purple helmet. "Yes, and that's what I'm afraid of." She said before putting the helmet back on and walked to the base as if nothing happened.
"Why did you take off the helmet only to put it back on seconds later," A familiar voice asked, the vixen instantly knew who it was.
"Well, Ecks, I wanted to get some fresh air, this damn suit isn't exactly light, or fashionable for that matter," She answered. Zivia heard a chuckle from the blue vulpine as he communicated with her.
"So, are you still clear on the plan," The vulpine asked.
"Yeah, but that wonderful brother of yours killed those guys who were with me," Zivia answered, even in her thoughts there was a bit of an irritated tone.
"Sounds like him." Ecks paused for a moment. "Alexia is on her way, it seems this might be a bit easier than we thought, she has drawn attention to herself as planned, you know the rest, see you inside." After this, Zivia began to run, she could hear blaster-fire from her right, and a voice as well.
"Wow you guys are slow, I'm barely even breaking a sweat," Good old Alexia, she always knew how to get under someone's skin. A moment later Zivia saw the light grey wolfess run out from the bushes, not even a foot away, the female lupine shot a glance at the armored Zivia before being tackled, the two rolled on the ground for a few seconds before Alexia found herself planted face-down on the ground, with Zivia on top of her, pinning the wolfess's arms behind her back.
"Good timing," Alexia said quietly before two purple-clad soldiers came into view, the female lupine then began to struggle a bit to make it look convincing, but Zivia held Alexia's arms tightly and pulled the blaster from her hip holster as she pressed the barrel to the back of the light grey lupine's head, Alexia stopped struggling and sighed. Zivia looked up at the two soldiers, one of them nodded towards the base, Zivia returned the gesture, nodding at the soldier, Zivia stood up, pulling Alexia up with her, Zivia made sure the keep the barrel of her blaster on the back of the female lupine's head as they began to walk to the base.
***
The small group had made it to the massive red base. The structure had to have stood at least one hundred feet tall, although it was hard to tell, considering how large the trees in the area were as well. Along with that, its width expanded maybe even farther than the eye could see, however, that wouldn't be easy to determine, seeing as how the trees blocked the structure from being seen fully. Nothing on the base stood out, it was completely plain. Not a bad idea, even though it was huge, it wasn't flashy, which is good for not attracting attention. However, it did attract attention, the wrong kind of attention. The lead soldier pulled a small card from an area on his chestplate and placed it into a slot beside the door, a moment later, Zivia felt the ground shake from beneath her as a large area of the red wall before began to lift, the door lifted slowly from the ground as the opening to the base was revealed. The four stepped inside, the inside of the base was blood red, Zivia expected nothing different considering she had been to one of their bases before. The group of four walked down the blood red hall, a few minutes later they came to another door, after it opened, the group entered the massive room filled with more purple-clad soldiers, the was a stage to Zivia's left where she saw Fox, sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind his back and his feet tied to the legs of the chair, one of the soldiers directed Zivia to take Alexia to the chair next to Fox, Zivia did so, and tied the wolfess up in the same manner as Fox.
"Nice job, Zivia," Fox whispered.
"Thanks, she was a bit easier to take down than I thought she would be," Zivia replied, whispering as well.
"Only because I let you," The wolfess cut in. Just then, the lights went out, all except for the one which pointed to the stage at a podium where a microphone was perched on, and a famaliar cloaked vulpine made his way onto the stage, complete silence filled the massive room as the cloaked figure stood before the microphone.
"Comrades, we have captured Fox McCloud," The black vulpine yelled throughout the room, the hollow walls echoing his voice. Every soldier cheered with excitement. "Now, after the 'Hero of Lylat' is dead, there will be nothing to stop our destiny, a new era shall dawn in Lylat. An era controlled by me," Chaos snickered. "Then, the entire universe shall bow to my will!" More cheers erupted fromthe audience of soldiers as Chaos pulled a new blade from the sheath at his waist and walked over to Fox. "Now, it is time," The black vulpine cackled as he drew the blade back, but just as he did this, a white sphere shot from the other side of the massive room, Chaos barely even had a chance to see the sphere before it slammed into his chest, smashing the black vulpine into a wall. Not even a moment after this happened, a large white beam erupted seemingly from now where as and covered an entire line of soldiers, completely disintegrating them. Everyone looked to see who had done this, and they saw a familiar dark blue vulpine floating just above the ground, each soldier aimed their rifle at the vulpine and fired, Ecks vanished just before the red lasers hit him, then a large explosion came near the entrance to the base, and a dark red flash dashed into the room, a few soldiers fell to the ground, blood spurting from every throat. Fox and Alexia had noticed that the ropes on that had bound them were now gone as the red flash shot past them, the two grinned as Zivia removed her helmet, the three of them quickly found cover behind the stage as soldiers had found that they were free.
"This seems to be working perfectly," Fox chuckled. "Three. Two. One." As the vulpine counted down, Krystal emerged beside them, holding a weapon for each. "Right on cue," Fox chuckled again. "So how's it going out there," The light brown vulpine asked as Krystal handed his blaster to him.
"The military is giving their all, it's hard to believe a place like this didn't have a security system," The blue vixen said as she took off the large grenade launcher that was strapped to her back, handing it to Alexia.
"How's Vaughn," The light grey wolfess asked as she took the large weapon from Krystal. Fox peeked his head out and looked to see what was happening, the place had gone from an execution to a warzone as laser fire shot from both sides, he noticed a black lupine with a rifle, taking down multiple purple-armored soldiers left and right with a few well placed shots, each shot smashing into a purple helmet.
"I think he's doing okay," The light-brown vulpine smiled as he turned back around to face the women. "But we're gonna need a plan, we can't just run out there into the middle of the fight."
"I got the perfect idea then," Alexia grinned. The Wolfess pivoted around the corner and fired a shot from the grenade launcher, the grenade landed right in front of three purple-clad soldiers, exploding as it did so.
"Not what I had in mind, but alright," Fox said before running out from behind the stage, the others following his lead. Krystal pulled her staff out and fired a small ball of flames at one of the purple soldiers, hitting him square in the chest, the soldier fell to the ground, a large hole in his chest. Just then Krystal felt herself slammed into a wall, the vixen cringed from the sudden impact, she opened her eyes to see the cold eyes of Chaos as he held her up by the neck.
"Give me the weapon," He demanded, tightening his grip on the cerulean furred vixen's throat.
"You'll have to kill me first," Krystal said as she struggled to escape from the black vulpine's grasp.
"That I can do," Chaos snickered as he unsheathed his blade and held it to the vixen's throat. "It would've been so much easier for you to comply with my wishes, you could've been my servant..." The vulpine leaned in closer, his mouth right next to her ear, "...and what a wondrous servant you would be." The black vulpine whispered before licking the inside of the vixen's ear. Krystal took her chance, quickly pulling her staff from the holster on her hip, she jabbed the blade with the end of her staff, knocking it away, then she quickly shot her left foot straight up, the toe of her boot smashing into the black vulpine's jaw, this caused the grip on the vixen's neck to be released as Chaos stumbled back, Krystal landed and crouched, sweeping at the black vulpine's legs with her staff in the process, Chaos didn't have time to counter this as the vixen's staff swept him from his feet, Krystal followed this up quickly, spinning as she stood, shooting her right leg out, connecting hard with her heel to the black vulpine's chest, sending him crashing to the floor just a few feet away.
"It will be a pleasure to end your life," Chaos said as he stood up, a moment later the black vulpine dashed at Krystal with his sword drawn, he wasn't as fast as Cross, but he would still prove to be a challenge, Krystal raised her staff and blocked the blade as it shot at her, but she couldn't block the fist that shot into her gut, driving the air out of the vixen and lifting her into the air, in one mere second, the black vulpine chucked the vixen at a wall. Krystal closed her eyes waiting for the impact to come, but it didn't, there was no pain, as the cerulean furred vixen opened her eyes, she looked into the emerald gaze of a familiar light brown vulpine, holding her in his arms.
"Can't let you out of my sight," Fox said, it was almost as if he was complaining. The vulpine rolled out of the way as the black fox slammed into the wall, Fox looked back to see the cause of this, and noticed the crimson furred vulpine.
"You two get away from here," Cross shouted. "This is my battle," He growled, Fox and Krystal did so and found some cover behind a few stray metal boxes as the father and son stared each other down.
"I shall give you one last chance to abandon this worthless scum and fight along side me, my son," Chaos said as he stood up, glaring at the short red vulpine.
"No, you are nothing, you are scum, I have no father," The crimson vulpine growled as he took his fighting stance.
"Then it will be my pleasure to end yours," Chaos said with an evil grin. The two vulpines dashed at one another. Cross aimed a swing at Chaos's face, hoping to end the fight in one quick fatal blow. The black vulpine had other plans as he leapt over Cross and dashed out of the base. Cross wasted no time in pursuing the black vulpine into the seemingly endless forest.
As Cross left the base, the battle raged on. Soldiers slaughtering one another, countless bodies falling to the ground, some not falling at all, rather being impaled on a wall or blown to pieces. In any other area, this truly would have been a disturbing sight. But here, in the base, the walls were already red. This was nothing different, just added decoration.
Fox had enough of this, everytime he stuck his head out to see if the coast was clear, it was almost taken off within an instant. "Alright, we have to come up with another plan, just rushing out there isn't going to do anything for us. We should..." The vulpine was cut off as a loud noise erupted from the battle. Fox leaned out to see that a wall had crumbled, in the hole, a small, orange light could be seen. Just then, a large red beam shot from the hole, completely destroying any soldier in its path, whether they be purple armored or Cornerian, it didn't matter, bodies fell everywhere. Some went without a hint of pain, others however, were torn in half or had limbs missing. They wouldn't be saved, only death awaited those who were in the path of the blast.
A large black furred lupine came into view from the hole in the wall, his left leg and right arm were not covered in fur, however, but metal, as was the left side of his neck and face, "I live again," The massive figure said in a low tone.
Kystal reached for her staff, but when she felt nothing, "It's gone!"
***
Ecks floated down the halls of the base, the battle was exhausting, he found it hard to believe that there weren't any of the purple armored soldiers here. It was as if every last soldier was out in the huge room by the entrance to the base. The vulpine was worried for Zivia, but something told him that she was doing just fine. After floating for a few minutes, he came to a large metal door, pentagrams were indented within various areas of the door. It was red, just like the rest of the base. "These guys really need some variety," The vulpine commented. He gathered some energy before ripping the door down with a telekinetic pulse. Then floated in.
"No reason to hide. I sensed you before I even came in here," Just after Ecks said this, a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows. "Mother."
"I see your abilites haven't diminished since our last meeting," The vixen said. "That's good. If there ever was a time for death, it is now." A thin smile crept along her muzzle.
"So tell me, even though you don't approve of father's plans, you will still fight your own son," Ecks shook his head.
"I have committed too many sins. It only seems fitting that my life end by your hand," The vixen took her stance, shifting her left foot backwards a bit. "However, I shall not make this easy."
***
The battle outside was as intense as the one inside. Arwings and purple fighters duking it out in the skies. Slippy and Falco were among the many helping with the fight. Purple aircrafts were dropping like flies, left and right. Of course the occasional Cornerian fighter falling too. But it was clear who would win the battle. Fox and the others just had to do their part.
Cross dashed through the woods. "This is it," he thought to himself. "Finally, the time is here. You don't know how long I've been waiting for this day." A fierce look in his crimson eyes. After a few minutes of running, Cross stopped in a small open area. Large trees stood around the area, each looked as though it was over one hundred feet tall. The young vulpine looked around. "Stop hiding, come on out and get your ass kicked like a real man."
A figure emerged from behind the trees, just who Cross was hoping for. "If I had known that you would be this much of a bother, I'd have killed you myself." The black vulpine said.
"Well then it's a good thing you don't think this kind of stuff through."
"I beg to differ," Chaos said as he pulled a familiar looking staff from behind his back. "I think it's time to tell you where this weapon came from, since you will be dead soon," He snickered.
Cross's eyes widened. "How did you get that?"
"You must have missed it when I punched her in the stomach. I pulled it from her grasp right before throwing her at the wall. Now, I don't know where this weapon came from. But I created another weapon soon after you and your brother were born. The barrel and the grip. Normally, when these two weapons are put together, it's powerful enough to completely destroy someone. But for some reason, this staff also can be attached. With the three combined, nothing can stop me from accomplishing my greatness," Chaos snickered again.
"Then why did you make Ecks and I into lab rats," Cross growled.
"The 'higher ups' said it would corrupt my mind and make me evil, so they locked it up. Little did they know I had backup plans. You probably don't remember, but after you were completed, I sent you to retrieve the weapon from their little vault. I told you they were threatening to kill me, so you went and retrieved the weapon for 'protection'. Unfortunately, one night you became enraged, and destroyed the weapon. Your brother was having a dream, and within that time he scattered the two parts throughout the universe. How coincidental that both just happened to end up in the Lylat system."
Cross chuckled, "You know, normally I'd be pissed about you using me like that, but I don't think I can hate you more that I already do. So, I say we quit with this bullshit about the past. I wanna kill you so I can get on with my life."
"Too bad you won't have a life to get on with when this day ends." The black vulpine aimed the end of the staff at Cross, and a large ball of flames exploded towards the young vulpine.
***
Alexia looked out from behind her cover. "Didn't we kill that ugly bastard," She asked, crouching back down.
Hax suddenly emerged from the battlefield, finding the group and taking cover with them. "Yeah, but now he's back, and even more of an ugly bastard. It seems he also has some new weaponry too." He poked his head out to take a look at the massive lupine. He looked to the enemy's right arm which, where a hand should be, now had a large barrel at the end of it. "Damn, I want that gun," He added.
"In any case, we need to take him out," Fox stated. "It looks like he could blow all of us to bits in one shot, so rushing him is out of the question," The vulpine said, poking his own head out to see a group of Cornerian soldiers running at the massive foe, only to be completely washed away by the beam. "Yeah, rushing is definitely not an option."
"Then what are we gonna do? I could try to snipe him, but he'd probably spot me before I had a chance to. Then we'd be royally screwed," Zivia told them. "And I don't think that the stuff we did before would work so well this time, he won't fall for any of it again unless he's a complete and total idiot."
"If I had my staff we would have a better chance," Krystal told them. "I should have been more careful," She looked to the ground.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure that even with your staff, that big ass gun of his would still make our shit weak," Hax commented. "But damn, I want that. It's like a freakin' super beam. Badass." The lupine was awe stricken as he crouched back down.
"Yeah well that 'super terrific badass gun will tear us to shreds if we don't think of something quick. So quit drooling over it and help us with a strategy." Alexia smacked the back of Hax's head as if he was a child.
"Oh. Right. Well, uh...I got nothin'."
Alexia sighed, "Sometimes you're so useless," Then she looked back at the others. "Alright, I'll provide a distraction," The light grey wolfess said, cracking her neck as she hoisted the grenade launcher up with one arm onto her shoulder. A grin crept along her muzzle before she darted out into the open. "Hey shithead!" She shouted to the massive lupine. Alexia always liked to take on her opponents when she had their attention, "Got a nice little gift for you," She said softly before firing a grenade at the massive enemy. "All I gotta do is take out that arm. Who's shit will be weak then?"
Despite Thrash being huge in size, he still managed to move around much quicker than one would guess as he dove away from the explosion. The lupine landed on his left shoulder and rolled, quickly positioning himself into a crouch, aiming the barrel of his cannon arm directly at the wolfess and firing. A massive red beam erupted from his arm like a small volcano.
Alexia fired a grenade into the air just as the enemy lupine shot his beam of death at her. Luckily she had managed to get out of the way before the beam would have most certainly killed her. She heard an explosion as she rolled. When the wolfess got back to her feet, she smirked a bit. Thrash's arm had been damaged, and it seemed he couldn't fire the beam anymore. A plus for everyone else. "Now what, your arm is gone, and little old me has a grenade launcher. Unless you can move like Cross does, I'd say you're pretty much screwed."
"Dumb bitch. You think this is my only weapon," The massive lupine laughed. "Learn what you're fighting against before running out like a complete idiot." Thrash pulled his free arm from underneath his cloak, holding a blaster. The lupine fired, the laser moving towards Alexia, going straight into her chest.
The wolfess's eyes widened as the steam rose from the hole in her chest. Her fall felt much longer than it should have, it seemed she was looking at the ceiling of the base for the longest time before finally falling to the floor.
Hax saw this, and sighed. "Damn it, Lex. I thought you knew better." He shook his head. "You three, take her, get out. I'll handle this overgrown fuckhead." The lupine stood up, then walked out into the open, he slowly stripped off the belt which consisted of ammo, took the blaster from the holster on his left leg, ejected the battery, and tossed the weapon aside. As he did this, Zivia, Krystal, and Fox took his advice, lifting the limp wolfess to her feet, and heading further into the base.
Fox turned around, looking at Hax. The fire in the lupine's eyes were the only visible aspects of his fury. Fox simply nodded, then left with Krystal and Alexia, further into the base.
"See, you kinda messed up, because, that's my chick," Hax told Thrash. "Sorry, I'm not sure how you guys do it here on your sacred little shithole, but I don't really care for it when someone shoots her." The lupine placed his hands in his pockets. "Come."
***
"Mother, I do not want to fight you. You can still stop and help us end all of this," Ecks pleaded just as Viera teleported in front of him.
"My son, I have done too many wrongs to go back now. I want to die like a warrior, so that I can accept death. It is the only way." The vixen shot her knee up, driving the wind from Ecks, then she shot her palm into his chest, sending the vulpine crashing onto the ground hard.
"Please, mother," Ecks was cut off as he saw a boot coming straight down at his face, he closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. His eyes opened a moment later saw was the blue vixen standing over him, her foot next to his head.
"End my life, in battle, the way a true warrior would," She said, not an ounce of emotion in her voice. The look in her eyes told a story of regret, and pain. Regret, for going along with Chaos's plans, and for not spending time with her children the way she should have. Pain, for watching those children suffer. Suffering through the pain of being used. Suffering through the pain of being tossed aside like trash. Suffering, by never having a true family.
"No, mother. I can't," Ecks' voice cracked, tears forming in his eyes.
The vixen crouched down, placing her hand on his chest. "My son, you must do this. It is too late to go back now." The hood fell from her head, revealing long, voilet hair, with streaks of scarlet running down as well. Her facial features were also revealed. A small white dot sat in the middle of her forehead, white also covered the end of her muzzle.
Ecks stared at her, thinking of what to do. "Mother, it isn't too late. You can help us, and we can end this once and for all." The pressure on his chest from the vixen's hand began to increase.
"No, it is not. I've wanted death for seven years now. Will you grant this request from your mother?" She stayed poised just in case he refused. She didn't want to, but if he wouldn't fight, she had no choice in the matter.
"As you wish," The vulpine closed his eyes and thrust his arms forward, a heavy blast of air shooting up at Veira, slamming into her chest. The vixen was shot into the air, then vanished a moment later. She appeared directly above Ecks again, shooting her foot straight down at his head. The vulpine teleported, just barely dodging the would be killing blow. He appeared just a few feet away from his mother, extending his arm, his palm facing Viera. His paw began to glow white, then, a beam erupted from it.
***
A red figure dashed around the forest, dodging the heavy attacks which destroyed the trees upon contact. The crimson vulpine leapt away once again as Chaos emerged from the wreckage.
"What is the matter? Have you lost your will to fight? I thought you were going to end my life, yet I only see you retreat," The black fox grinned. "Do you run, because you are afraid? Have I imbedded true fear into your mind?"
Cross growled, and dashed at Chaos once again. The black vulpine kept his grin, taking a swipe at Cross with the staff. The red vulpine ducked, then as he came up, shot his foot up at Chaos' jaw. The kick connected, sending the black vulpine flying into the air. Cross took this opportunity to leap up, and sent his fist into his father's stomach, completely taking the wind from him. The crimson fox added to this, grabbing Chaos's throat, and hurling him back at the ground. Dust shot up from the earth as the ground was turned to rubble from the impact.
Cross smirked as he landed on his feet. "C'mon. I thought you were going to end my life. Have you lost your will to fight," He asked mockingly. But just as his sentance ended, a black blur shot from the crater, and a blade shot into Cross's stomach and protruded from his back, dripping with crimson liquid. The vulpine gasped, blood shooting from his mouth, then looked up at the one who held the weapon. Chaos. An arrogant grin on his face. His cloak ripped and torn.
"Yes. You will die," The black vulpine said, spitting out a clot of blood. "Although, I know you can handle more than this. So, I plan to cut off your head. A fitting death to one as pathetic as you," he snickered.
Cross looked from the sword to the one who held it. A smirk appeared on his face. "I wonder how well you'll do without this..." The red vulpine took both hands, and placed them on each side of the blade. He growled a bit, then snapped the blade in half. The red vulpine jumped away, and looked at Chaos. "Yeah, I might die, but I could really give a shit right now. Killing you is all that matters," He then placed a paw on the blade which protruded from his back, and pulled it out, causing a squelching sound and a groan of pain from the vulpine. He looked at the bloody half of the sword, then tossed it aside. "I want to rip you apart with my own hands." The vulpine became a red blur just after saying this, and rushed toward Chaos.
The black vulpine tossed the broken piece of his sword aside, and, still in his other paw was Krystal's staff. He quickly aimed it, and shot a fireball at Cross.
The red vulpine leapt over the attack, his momentum carrying him the distance he needed. His knee shot out, and connected hard with Chaos's chin, lifting the black fox into the air. Cross didn't let up on his assault as he planted a foot on the ground, and shot his hand out, grabbing onto Chaos's ankle, and hurling him toward a tree. The black fox landed with a heavy thud against the wood, and was followed by an even heavier elbow to his stomach, the impact causing the tree trunk to crack a bit. As Cross pulled back his fist for another attack, Chaos slammed his knee into the red vulpine's stomach, causing even more damage to the wound inflicted by the blade. The red vulpine groaned in pain, and couldn't avoid the heavy fist that smashed against his face, sending him tumbling a few feet back.
"Why don't you show me that transformation of yours one last time. I'd like to see you die in that form," He said, pulling out a grip and a barrel shaped piece of metal. "Your friends need to keep track of what they carry around," He added with an evil grin, attaching the grip and barrel to each end of the staff.
Cross stood, blood dripping from his muzzle. He was hunched over. "Sure thing," was all he said as his eyes began to wash over with a crimson like liquid. The vulpine dug his claws into the ground, then looked up to the sky, a bloodthirsty roar erupting from his mouth, powerful enough to send a shiver down even the most fearless warrior's spine, which is exactly what it did to Chaos, despite his grin.
***
As Fox and Krystal helped the injured Alexia through the blood red halls of the base, the lupine had passed out from the pain in her chest. Her breaths were faint, she was beginning to lose feeling in her body. They had found an area for Krystal to start the healing, it was safe, for now, at least. They laid her down gently onto the floor, Krystal put her hands over the wolfess's chest, and they began to glow white. The blue vixen closed her eyes, the procedure would take a bit to fully heal the wolfess. As Kystal concentrated, Fox spotted a soldier down the hall, then looked to the nearest door, only a few feet away. The vulpine ran to it, and noticed a little device beside the door, "Fingerprint scanner. Crap," he said, snapping his fingers, he then looked to Krystal, "Keep with the healing," he told her, disappearing into the shadows. A few moments later, the soldier came across Krystal and Alexia. He immediately aimed his rifle at the cerulean furred vixen's head, but, before he could pull the trigger, an arm wrapped around his chest, and a knife was planted into the small opening between his chestplate and helmet, slitting his throat. Blood poured out, and the soldier fell limply to the floor as Fox emerged from the shadows. The vulpine bent down, grabbed the soldiers paw, and quickly sliced a finger off. "Hope this works." He muttered, walking back over to the door, ignoring the blaring alarms. He placed the finger on the scanner and, to his surprise, the door slid open with a hiss. He heard the sound of multiple boots tapping against the metal floor. He took a moment to count. One. Two. Four of them. Maybe more, were coming their way, and wasted no time in getting Krystal and Alexia into the room, temporarily stalling the healing process. The vulpine ran down the hall, then disappeared into the shadows as he neared the soldiers.
Inside the room, Krystal still concentrated, healing the hole in Alexia's chest. The hole was beginning to regenerate, but the wolfess was still unconscious.
"Do I have guests?"
This broke Krystal's concentration, she looked to where the voice had come from. What she saw, was a tall, white furred female lupine, half naked, wearing only black undergarments, a bra, and panties. An innocent, but afraid look on her face. Her pitch black hair was long, running to her lower back, and perfectly straight. It looked as if it was taken care of every single day, for hours at a time. Every inch of her body was covered in white fur, all except for the tips of her muzzle, tail, fingers, and ears, which were black. But what stood out the most, were the lupine's eyes, her irises bright red, almost like a flare glowing in the darkness. The stare in her eyes gave Krystal an uneasy feeling in her stomach, she couldn't understand why she felt so terrified of this lupine.
"Hello, are you the new guards," the lupine asked, taking a step forward, "and what's going on, I hear a lot of noise," she added, then noticed the door was open. Without even glancing at Krystal, she walked out of the room. The lupine looked down the hall, and heard a faint noise, curious to see what it was, she began to walk toward it, then a purple clad soldier ran past her. Without even noticing, she wrapped her arm around his neck, and then twisted, resulting in a loud crack. The soldier's body fell to the floor, and she continued to walk. She stopped a moment later, looking down, the lupine had stepped in a puddle of red liquid. A small smile crept across her muzzle as she bent down, and dipped her finger into the puddle, letting it sit there for a few moments. She then brought that finger to her lips, and licked the liquid from it. The taste. The glorious taste. How lovely. After the lupine took her finger from her mouth, she smiled, a devious, psychotic smile. The wolfess then took off running down the hall, where she had originally heard the interesting noise.
***
Fox crept within the shadows, staying completely silent. The four soldiers he counted turned the corner, and ran right past him. His eyes widened as they were heading in the direction of the room he had put Krystal and Alexia in. He remembered that he hadn't closed the door. The vulpine took careful aim on the soldier who trailed behind the other three, and pulled the trigger, a green laser blasting from the barrel. Within a heartbeat, the laser went through a small opening between the soldier's helmet and his backplate, penetrating through the back of his neck. As his lifeless body fell to the floor, the remaining three soldiers turned around, wondering what had killed their comrade. One soldier noticed a slight amount of movement within the shadows, and aimed his rifle, the barrel pointing at Fox. As the vulpine, still hidden, aimed his blaster again, he noticed a white furred lupine running at the three soldiers. They obviously heard her footsteps as they turned around, but, just before any could fire, the lupine leapt into the air, and slammed her knee into the visor of a purple clad enemy's helmet, smashing it. The glass, with the added force of the knee, went into the soldier's face, one of the pieces of glass, a rather lengthy one, went directly into his forehead, causing instant death. The lupine landed in a crouch, and looked to the last two soldiers, a smile on her face as she stared them down with her bright red eyes. The lupine brought a finger to the cut on her knee, and wiped the blood from it, then put her finger to her mouth, licking away the red liquid. After taking her finger away, she inhaled deeply.
"So...exhilarating," she said, breathing out. She kept staring at the soldiers. "Are you afraid," she asked. No reply, although one of them did shiver a bit. Without warning, she lunged at the one who shivered, performing a cartwheel as she did so, and before he could raise his rifle, her legs clamped around his neck as she was upside down. The lupine maneuvered her body around the soldier, snapping his neck as she did so. Just as the other soldier raised the barrel of his rifle to her head, a green laser shot from the shadows and shattered his visor, penetrating his forehead. The lupine stood, a curious look in her eyes as she looked to the light chestnut furred vulpine who emerged from the shadows, his blaster drawn, the barrel aimed at her head.
"Who are you," Fox asked, keeping his distance from the strange wolfess.
She put a finger to her lips. "Me," she questioned. "Just a girl looking for a fun time," she answered, still keeping her psychotic grin. "You seem to know your way with that weapon," she said, walking toward the vulpine.
Fox lowered his blaster a bit, still aimed at the lupine, but not at her head. Something was telling him he could trust this one, even though she didn't look very stable. He kept his guard up, just in case she decided to do something unexpected.
"Oh, I know," the lupine suddenly said cheefully as she clapped her hands. "You can help me find my stuff!"
Fox raised an eyebrow. "Your...stuff?"
"Yes, oh how lovely this is! I had almost forgot about my possessions, they had me locked in there for far too long. I wish to taste that glorious liquid again, but not yours," she said, placing her paws on his shoulders, she was a bit taller than he was, and quite the looker. "I will be most greatful if you help me with this task, maybe we can both dine in that beautiful sticky substance." The lupine licked her lips.
"Uh...sure, where do you think your stuff is located," Fox asked, still a bit weary of this woman.
"This way," she called, already a good distance down the hall.
Fox scratched behind his ear, looking back to where he had left Krystal and Alexia then back to the half naked wolfess, she had stopped running and was now looking at the vulpine, her head tilted to the side.
"What's wrong?" The white lupine began to walk towards him.
"Well, you see, I kinda have some friends back there, and I can't abandon them, so why don't we go get them, then get your stuff."
The lupine clapped her hands together. "Oh, goodie! More friends! I can't wait to meet them, would they like to dine as well?" The lupine was already walking off in the direction she came, not caring for an answer.
Fox simply followed behind, shaking his head. "Why me?"
After a short time of walking, the two had made their way back to the room where Fox had left his two comrades. He let out a sigh of relief, seeing that the two were unharmed. Well, mostly unharmed, Alexia was still recovering, but at least Krystal had healed the wound in the wolfess's chest.
"Who's your new friend," Krystal asked, looking up at the white lupine, then to Fox.
Fox began to speak, then stopped, placing a paw to his chin in thought. He then looked to the mysterious lupine. "Actually, I never did get your name."
"Katasha." The lupine looked from Krystal, then to Fox. "Now then, if everyone is ready, I want to get my stuff." She took off out the door, not even waiting for a response.
Krystal looked at Fox, who simply shrugged. Then the vulpine walked over to Alexia and picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. It didn't seem that the wolfess would awaken anytime soon. Fox then nodded at Krystal and walked out of the room, the vixen following close behind.
***
Zivia had left the group to find Ecks a few minutes after the four had entered the crimson halls of the base. Fox and Krystal tried to tell her it would be safer to stay in a group, but she didn't care, she needed to be with him right now.
"This place is so annoying," she said to herself as she walked along the blood red halls. "So stupid. Red, red, and more red. I mean fuck, these idiots can't have anything else other than red, put some white, or black. Hell, even pink would be good." The vixen thought for a moment. "No, forget that, pink would suck, especially mixed in here." After sighing and complaining to herself about the area more, the vixen saw a doorway, but just within that doorwar, lay the door itself. She ventured further, and to her surprise, saw Ecks. She wanted to squeal like a little girl, but something was wrong. The blue vulpine looked serious. "Ecks," Zivia called, but the vulpine didn't hear her. She began to walk closer to the him, but as she did, he vanished.
"Where'd he go," she wondered out loud. The vixen felt something smack hard into the back of her head, forcing her body to fall forward. But as she fell, so did she vanish. She didn't expect to see Ecks lying beneath her, and her on top of him. "What's going on?"
"I'm fighting my mother, you walked in, she hit you," he explained, not paying attention to where his left paw was positioned. Right on Zivia's breast.
"Uh..." The vixen's face was extremely red, but she couldn't bring herself to take his hand away. It felt good, to say the least.
"Hm?" Ecks looked back at the vixen, seeing the red on her face. He raised an eyebrow. "What's the problem?"
"Your hand," she replied with a small flinch, nodding down.
Ecks looked to his hand, then to what it was grasping, he immediately took it away, not daring to look the vixen in the eyes. "Sorry about that."
Zivia sighed a bit. She really didn't want him to take his hand off, but there were more important things right now. She'd have to corner him later. The vixen rolled off of Ecks, allowing him to get up. The two looked around, but then suddenly, a foot slammed against Ecks's chin, sending him up into the air. His attacker, Viera, then vanished, and appeared just above Ecks, slamming her fist down into his back, causing him to fall towards the ground. As this occured, Viera teleported again, and appeared on the ground, sticking her foot high into the air, slamming it into the vulpine's stomach.
The world seemed to have stopped for Ecks, he felt immense pain throughout his entire body. He never even saw Viera coming, she had appeared right before him, that was when it all went downhill. He spat out a clod of blood. He couldn't move, the foot which was jammed into his stomach was causing so much pain. As time seemed to come back, the foot moved, as did he, and slammed him hard into the floor, causing even more damage to his already injured body. He rolled over onto his stomach, using all of his strength to stand up. His breaths were heavy as he looked at Viera.
"You're much better then this, Quelin." She sighed. "You must fight at full strength, or you will die." Her gaze shifted to Zivia. "As will she." Just after this was said, she vanished, and appeared in front of Ecks, aiming a kick at his face. However, this kick was parried, by another leg. Viera looked to see Zivia, blocking her shot. "Somewhat impressive."
Zivia said nothing, the fire in her eyes told everything that needed to be said. In an instant, she dropped down, her right leg still hooked onto Viera's. As the orange vixen dropped, she shot out her left leg, kicking Viera's out from underneath her. Zivia aimed the point of her elbow at the blue vixen's face while she fell, unfortunately, Viera vanished just before the strike could connect, and appeared in her previous spot. Just a few feet from the two.
"Even more impressive. I must admit I didn't see that coming."
Zivia stood up, and took the sniper rifle off of her back. She then stripped the purple armor off as well, leaving her in a silver, skin tight battle suit.
Viera teleported infront of Zivia, aiming a palm thrust for the orange fox's chin. Zivia countered, quickly bringing her forearm up to knock away the blow, while at the same time bringing her other fist around in a hook. The strike brushed against the blue vixen's jaw, causing her to move back a bit. Zivia then quickly spun, crouching, and sweeping her leg out at Viera's feet. But then the blue fox disappeared, Zivia stood back up, and spun, aiming a kick seemingly at nothing. Her heel connected with Viera's muzzle, causing the vixen to stumble back a bit, rubbing her chin.
"I've underestimated you. Quite impressive indeed." The blue vixen took her stance again, "But now that I've seen what you're capable of, I can beat-" The vixen was cut off by a fist to her nose. As she stumbled back, blood leaked from her nostrils, dripping onto the crimson floor.
"You talk way too much." Zivia was shaking her hand, trying to free the sudden numbness from it. "Damn, you have a hard head."
"You little wench. How dare you strike me when I'm speaking!"
"Hey, you shouldn't be talking in the middle of a fight." Zivia shrugged.
"I see. Well then, I'll just have to teach you a little lesson about manners." With that, Viera teleported, just above Zivia. She swung her foot out, landing a heavy kick to the back of the orange fox's head. As Zivia stumbled, Viera had vanished in the middle of a spin, outsretching her leg. She appeared in front of the orange vixen with her heel slamming into Zivia's jaw, the impact causing her to fall onto her back with a thud. The cloaked enemy had vanished, and appeared above Zivia with a boot aimed at her head. Zivia brought her arms up, crossing them in front of her face as her forearms took the blow.
"Interesting. I figured that would have ended you." She pressed her foot down harder.
"The same trick can only work so many times." After saying this, Zivia quickly shot out a leg, striking her opponent's shin, the one she was standing on. This forced Ecks's mother to teleport again, away from Zivia. However, as she appeared, a force impacted her, slamming the vixen into a wall. After falling to the ground, she looked up, seeing her son floating in the air.
"I see you're willing to fight now. Good. I wouldn't have it any other way."
***
"Alright, this is getting boring. You're not gonna beat me with those obvious attacks," Hax said to the fallen behemoth of a wolf. "You see, when you fight, you gotta be more uh...how to put it. You gotta be more unpredictable." The lupine took his stance again, placing both hands in his pockets.
Thrash stood up, "I don't need lessons from someone like you. You're just getting lucky."
Hax raised an eyebrow and grinned. Almost as if saying 'are you kidding me?'.
This infuriated the large lupine as he wasted no time in rushing for another attack. Rearing a fist back and aiming for Hax's face. However, Hax simply grinned at this,and sidestepped, grabbing the bigger wolf's arm and using his own momentum to flip him to the ground. With just a flick of his wrist, the large lupine had been flipped, and landed with a heavy thud on the floor.
"Okay. This is just pathetic. Now, I can understand you falling for it once. But three times? C'mon. Don't be such an idiot." Hax found this rather amusing. Here he was, fighting against someone who could possibly rip him in half, and was treating it like a game.
"You'll regret those words." Thrash stood once again, towering over the lupine.
"Yawn. Wait, what was that? Sorry, kinda busy here, you know, not paying attention." Hax examined his palm absently.
A low growl rumbled from Thrash. He reared back his fist, and shot a right hook at Hax's face. The smaller lupine smirked, and went to flip the large wolf over again. However, after three times of doing so, Thrash expected this, and as Hax grabbed his arm, he threw out a left straight, smashing Hax square in the face, causing him to release his grip. The blow knocked him into he air, and onto his back. The wolf slowly stood up, bleeding profusely from his nose. His eyes watered, not from pain, but from his nose possibly being broken. All it took was just one strike to turn the tides.
"Guess I'm gonna have to be serious now." The wolf wiped the blood from his snout, but it was a futile effort as the red substance just kept pouring out. He looked up to see Thrash charging at him. As soon as the larger wolf was near, he shot his palm up, connecting with the large enemy's chin. As Thrash stood a bit dazed from the strike, Hax pivoted around him, and reached his arms up, wrapping them around the wolf's head. He jumped up, and wrapped his legs around the enemy's waist, pulling him down to the ground. Hax grunted as he tugged on the large wolf's head, trying to snap his neck. However, he caught an elbow to the ribs. A very, powerful elbow, possibly breaking a few ribs. Unfortunately, the strike had caused Hax to release his grip on the large wolf's head. Thrash reached around, and grabbed Hax by his neck, standing up and lifting the wolf with him. He slammed Hax up against a wall, and held him there.
"Now, I'm going to enjoy ripping your limbs from your body. Let's start with the arms." The lupine took hold of Hax's right arm. Thrash's hand was about three times the size of Hax's own, gripping his arm was taking hold of a child's. The massive lupine grinned wickedly as he clenched his fingers around the arm. All it took was a small flick of his wrist to snap Hax's arm. An ear shattering scream of pain erupted from the wolf's muzzle. "I bet it hurts. Now let's move to the other arm." As the half metal wolf reached for Hax's left arm, the smaller lupine raised it up quickly. Thrash was now staring down the barrel of a blaster pistol. One that Hax had picked up just before being slammed into the wall.
"Here's another lesson," Hax said weakly. "Don't talk shit, and don't torture someone in a fight. Especially when they have brains. Like I said before: you messed up." With that, he pulled the trigger. A green laser shot out of the barrel, and penetrated Thrash's skull, right between his eyes, and shot out from the back of his head. The massive lupine fell to his back a moment later, dropping Hax to the ground.
Hax looked to the fallen behemoth, then propped himself up against a wall as he sat. He reached into his side pants pocket, and pulled out a cigarette. "Sorry, Lex. Sometimes there's an occasion for it." He chuckled, then lit the cigarette, taking the first drag and feeling the nicotine enter his lungs. He breathed out, the smoke flowing from his muzzle like a river. "Huh. Forgot it was menthol. Nice."
***
Katasha skipped happily along the halls as she led the group, every so often looking back at them, her gaze mainly focusing on Alexia each time she did. She motioned for Kystal and Fox to stay put as she turned the corner. The two foxes did as she silently suggested. A muffled yelp was heard from around the corner, and then a moment after, Katasha appeared with her cheerful smile. "All clear!"
Fox and Krystal then followed the lupine, each of them draping one of Alexia's arms over their shoulder. The light grey wolfess was still unconscious. Fox then noticed the body on the floor, the body of a purple armored soldier. The visor of his helmet was shattered, the glass stuck inside the poor soul's head. Fox then looked to the white lupine, wondering how someone who acted so innocent and cheerful could kill another within an instant and think nothing of it. He watched as she skipped along without a care in the world, shaking his head at her. Soon enough, they came to a stop, and Katasha turned around, still with that ever so gleeful smile on her face.
"Okay, I think this is where my stuff is. Not sure, but anyway, we're going in there, and if there are any baddies, we kill them." Katasha inched closer to the door, still grinning. For some reason the door wasn't red, rather, it had somewhat of a shade of brown, as if the metal had rusted. It didn't have a palm scanner or anything of the sort. Katasha stepped in front of the door, and it slid open. To her surprise, no one was in the room. "I guess I scared them off," she said with a light giggle as she walked over to a large metal desk positioned against a wall. On this desk, was a black tanktop, light tan hiking shorts, and a pair of hiking boots, just a shade darker than the shorts. But among the more interesting items was a .50 Desert Eagle. Fox's interest was piqued as he carefully let go of Alexia's arm and walked over to the weapon.
"I've seen this before," he said, nodding as Katasha lifted the weapon. "Not many times though, this is the first time seeing one up close."
"My baby. Oh how I've missed you. We've had such good times. Shh, don't worry, you will be killing again soon." Katasha rubbed the pistol with a delicate touch, almost as if it were a child. She picked up a magazine, and shoved it up into the cartridge container. "I know it hurts, don't cry. Mommy's gonna let you burst again."
Fox now had a concerned look on his face as he stared at Katasha. "Wait, that wasn't a battery pack, was it?"
"No. They were bullets, silly!" The lupine poked him on the nose with her finger. "I love leaving a mess." She breathed in, slowly. It was as though she was being pleasured by a lover. The wolfess slipped on the clothing, then slung a strap over her shoulder with a holster at the hip. She holstered the pistol, then looked at the two switchblade knives on the table. "Oh, my precious babies!" She quickly grabbed up the two knives, and kissed them in a very mothering way. "I know, I missed you two. Soon you shall feel flesh again." She bent down, and slipped the switchblades into her hiking boots. "There you go, a nice, safe, warm spot for you."
Fox's eyebrow had raised seemingly on its own accord. He looked back to Krystal, who was tending to the still unconscious Alexia. The vixen was as surprised and shocked as he was. Fox looked back to Katasha, who was now eyeing the three foot long, sheathed katana.
"Hello, love," she said, unsheathing the katana. She stared at its beauty while holding it above her head, then lowered it. "No. No more crying from you. You'll get yours as well, my beautiful blade." The lupine opened her mouth, and licked the blunt end of the katana, moaning lightly as she did so. "The taste is just how I remembered." She resheathed the blade, and as doing so, she gasped. It wasn't a surprised gasp, however. It was more of a pleasured gasp, as if she was about to have an orgasm. She turned back to Fox. "My babies want to kill, but you helped me find my stuff. Oh, such a difficult decision."
"Then shut the fuck up and let me make it for you," Alexia said as her eyes opened. She stood up, glaring at the white lupine. "Stay away from this woman. She's insane."
"Hello, Alexia. Good to see you're awake. I've been so lonely without you." The wolfess reached up, her hand pressing against her breast. She began to massage it, while still keeping her eyes trained on Alexia.
Fox looked to the light grey wolfess, his face twisted into a puzzled expression. "So where do you know her from?"
"There's something I haven't been telling you. I wasn't kidnapped. Well...I was, but I was kidnapped on purpose. I was hand picked to retrieve her, she's wanted for many murder counts. Many. So I got the same room with her. Turns out, she's not a half bad fighter. Whipped my ass. We became friends though, in a sense. So now, Katasha Malin, you're under arrest." Alexia took out a pair of handcuffs from her back pocket.
"Lovely story, my darling. How about a kiss, sexy?" This sudden question caught the grey wolfess off guard. and Katasha took her chance. She ran at the light grey wolfess, then she jumped into the air, placing her hand on Alexia's head, leap frogging over her. Alexia was still too stunned from the previous question to react.
Katasha continued her run, jumping, and flipping, towards the end of her flip however, her legs managed to scissor themselves around Fox's neck, and her lower front was pressed to his face. "Oops. Sorry about that, love." She bent down and gave him a quick peck on the top of his head, then jumped off. She hopped over a sitting Krystal and stopped at the door, turning around as she did so. "Tata, my lovelies. Hope to see you again sometime!" With that, the lupine waved to the three with a napkin and let it float to the ground as she ran off.
Alexia shook her head, then began to take off after Katasha. But Fox put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "She isn't our main concern right now. The only reason we found her is because we were trying to find a safe place for Krys to heal you. We stumbled on her by accident. Don't worry, it's not like she blends into a crowd. She'd be the one killing people."
The wolfess simply growled a bit, then turned back to Fox. "Alright, but there was also something else we have to do. You have the charges?"
"Yeah. Right here." Fox pulled out a remote detonation bomb. Even though it didn't seem like much, this one bomb would be enough to destroy the entire base. "So, let's get on it. According to Slippy's calculations, we're pretty much in the middle, which would probably be the best spot for this." The vulpine set the bomb down slowly, and gently. Then he backed away. "Alright. Let's go find the others and get outta this hell hole." The three of them ran out of the room, back in the direction of where they had left Hax.
***
Zivia slammed hard against the floor after being hit with a telekinetic blast. She coughed a bit, her stomach was taking most of the damage. Luckily she had Ecks with her, meaning that she wouldn't be pounded on constantly. Always a plus. The vixen watched as the two teleported from area to area of the room. She felt useless, to an extent. But then, she remembered about her sniper. The vixen grinned as she took her rifle off of her back, and took aim, looking down the scope. Watching. Waiting. All she needed was one shot.
Viera vanished, then appeared behind Ecks, aiming a straight kick towards his head. He teleported as well, appearing above Viera. A white sphere formed in his paw, and shot down at the vixen. The sphere connected, exploding upon impact as it collided with Viera's chest, causing her to fall towards the ground.
Zivia quickly took note of this, and set her sights on the falling vixen's head. However, just as she pulled the trigger, the blue vixen vanished. Zivia cursed under her breath as she watched the two again. And waited.
Viera appeared in front of Ecks this time, aiming a palm thrust at his face with a bit of added telekinetic pressure. Ecks created a barrier just in time to block the strike. However, his barrier wasn't strong enough to fully withstand the attack as he was shot back, into a wall. As he bounced off the wall, he yelped in pain. Viera appeared in front of him, aiming to land a heavy knee to his face. But, suddenly, she stopped, and looked down to see steam coming from a wound in her stomach. The vixen descended slowly to the ground. Ecks teleported, and appeared beside her. He outstretched his right paw, his palm just a few inches from Viera's face.
"I'm sorry, mother." Tears streamed from the vulpine's eyes as a massive white beam erupted from his paw.
A young kit was encased in a glass tube, filled with water, looking out at the scientists. Their white lab coats all went down past their knees. He thought they looked rather silly in such things. He was only in a pair of skin tight underpants while he floated in the liquid. His pure white fur was so clean, not even a single mark. Of course it was clean while he was submerged, but even on a regular basis, it remained stainless. He watched the many scientists pass by, although one remained still, watching him with a warm smile.
"Alright, my son. Are we ready," he asked. It was a black fox, his smile was as warm as the sunny skies themselves.
The white furred kit simply nodded. A button was pressed, and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Until the kit felt a throbbing pain in the back of his head. He grasped onto his head, no matter how much he writhed in pain, it only grew more intense, as if rusty nails were scratching against it. Alarms blared within the room, scientists scurried about in a state of panic. None of them knew what to do. The kit's pure white fur began to turn a navy blue, all except for a white plus sign on his forehead, which began to glow.
"Get him out of there, now," The black fox screamed, but the alarms only drowned out his voice.
Finally, the glass broke, seemingly on it's own, and the now blue furred kit spilled out along with the water. He fell out, however, into another's grasp. A warm touch that only a mother could know. The kit immediately returned the hug, wrapping his arms around the figure as rivers of tears ran down his face. The white plus sign on his forehead was still glowing.
"It's okay, my child," the figure said in a gentle tone, petting the back of the white kit's head softly. "You will never have to go through that again. I promise."
"Thank you, Quelin," Viera said with a smile as she closed her eyes. A tear ran down her cheek. The beam of energy took over her body. There were nor screams of pain. No cries for help. When the attack was finished, nothing remained.
Ecks fell to his knees, his hands over his eyes as he sobbed. He then felt something grab hold of him, something soft rubbing against his face. He didn't want to open his eyes, for her already knew who held him.
"It's okay, baby," a gentle voice told him, stroking the fur on the back of his neck. "It's all over. We need to leave this place." Ecks nodded, tears continued to stream down his face as he was lifted, his legs wrapped around Zivia's waist, and his arms around her shoulders. The two left the room. There was only one more thing to be taken care of.
***
Chaos dashed away from the beast who chased him. Bloodthirsty roars could be heard throughout the forest. As Chaos ran, his red furred pursuer appeared in front of him. The black vulpine acted quickly, aiming the barrel attached to staff at his son. A burst of flames erupted from it, covering the area in front of him. The blast caused trees and plants all around to be set ablaze. He smirked, but that smirk soon disappeared as he heard a growl from behind him. He turned around just in time to catch a heavy fist to his jaw. The impact sent him flying through the flames and into the trunk of a tree. Before he could react, he felt a pressure against his throat.
"So this is what you've become," the black fox snickered a bit. "I guess my experiments payed off. It's only a matter of time until-" The vulpine was cut off as the pressure increased, causing him to gasp for air. He looked to the one who held his fate, seeing the true essence of rage. His son's fangs were bared, foam dripped from the corners of his mouth as he snarled. Chaos shot out his knee, aiming for the wound in Cross' stomach. His attack connected, but it had no effect on his blood furred opponent. Instead, Cross spun in a circle, pulling Chaos with him. He slammed his father's head into the tree, cracking the bark. Then he threw the black fox to the ground, pressing a foot to his neck.
As Chaos looked up into the full, crimson eyes. He thought of something. "Please, my son. I'll change my ways. I'll change you and your brother back to normal. Anything you wish. Just don't kill me," he begged. He didn't expect this to work, but somehow, he had a feeling that it was.
Cross took his foot off of the black fox's neck, and stepped away. His eyes faded back to their original golden shine. "Do you seriously believe that would work? That shit was so fucking cheesy that I should've crushed your throat right there." The red vulpine shook his head. "If you're gonna beg, then there's no reason to kill you anymore. You're too pathetic to kill." He looked up at the calm skies. The battle up there was over. "Chances are that everything's done. You're finished, all of your soldiers are either dead or captured. You have nothing left." Cross began to walk away, purposely making this mistake. He picked up the staff that Chaos had dropped, then ripped the barrel and the grip from it. He dropped the barrel to the ground and stomped on it, crushing it into oblivion. He then clenched his fingers around the grip, destroying it as well. The pieces fell to the ground.
Chaos stood, a hateful look in his eyes. He charged at the crimson vulpine, quickly snatching the staff from his paws and jamming it into his son's stomach, just after the short fox had turned around. Unfortunately for Chaos, Cross had expected this,and just as the staff was jammed into him, he sunk his teeth into the black fox's throat. Cross pulled back, biting down harder and ripping half of Chaos' neck out.
"Like I said: you're finished," Cross repeated as the black vulpine fell to his back, blood gushing from what used to be his neck. Cross fell to his knees, pulling the staff out from his stomach. He coughed a bit, then rolled onto his back. "Guess it's over for both of us."
He lay there, on the ground, smiling. Smiling at the fact that the fight was finished. His father was dying, slowly, gasping for air. Soon enough, those gasps faded. Cross smirked, showing his left fang. His eyelids began to fall, his eyes now half closed. But then, a figure appeared in his vision. Glowing white. The vulpine chuckled a bit. He already knew who it was.
The battle was finished. Chaos had been defeated along with the rest of his legion. It was all over. Arwings and Cornerian fighters left the planet. As they did so, an explosion rocked the planet, destroying the base completely. However, just before the explosion happened, a small escape pod left, in the opposite direction of the Arwings.
***
Author's Note: Okay, this took way too long to update. Eight months, to be exact. Way. Too. Long. So I apologize for the lack of updating. In any case, yes, this is the final chapter, and in my opinion, my greatest chapter as well. The reason I didn't update, is because sadly I lost interest and became lazy for a while there. I didn't show nearly as much dedication as I should have. But I've gotten back into writing, and I'm having fun once again. Constructive critism is welcome, extremely, there is still so much I have yet to learn *Looks at previous chapters, and shudders* XD So, as always, I hope you enjoyed. Also, I hope the fights weren't too confusing. XD
Wait...what the hell am I doing? TIME TO THANK PEOPLE!!! YUS!
To all readers: I can't stress enough how grateful I am to you. The fact that you have read this fic and continued reading it from the beginning is a wonderful treat. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
notfromearth7: You sir, were one of the first reviewers, and a great author. I've learned a bit from your fight scenes, and built on them. I thank you for critiquing and complementing my fic. And you've been a wonderful friend.
Skullfox: Another first reviewer, and an amazing author as well. I thank you dearly for reviewing my fic, and supporting me since the beginning. You. Kick. Ass. EVERYONE! GO READ HIS STUFF! IT BE EPIC! GOGOGOGOGO! Now. Or else, you get the smiley face of DOOM! :D
Pasta Masta: I have enjoyed our conversations that we've had recently. You are one goofy guy. XD But then again, I'm not too far from that myself. In any case, you deserve a thank you just as much as the rest of these people. Believe it or not, conversing with you, talking about other fics and what not, has also helped me get back into the spirit of writing.
Foxkong, theXbeat08, and JVNemesis: You three...you wonderful, tremendous three. You guys have inspired me, helped me grow, helped me become a better writer. You three helped me so much, and for that, I thank you. Nothing can compare to the friendship I have gained. All three of you, limitless talent, limitless writing ability. Let the epicness flow. You guys are the true driving force behind this fic. All three of you, amazing writers, and even better friends. And FK, I thank you, for even introducing me to such awesome people.
This, is for all of you.
Any success I gain, I take no credit. Instead, I deliver that credit to the ones who have inspired me, for they deserve it far more than myself.
~Metallic Soul