Chapter 5: Turned Tables
Fox raced down the steps at the embassy in Rome. He hoped that he wasn't too late to find and stop Granger. As Fox burst into the room, he found Sonic with a sleeping Wolf along with Mario, Luigi, and Link. "Are you okay?" Fox said loudly as he tried to catch his breath. "We've been here for a while now. Colonel Campbell told us to meet here immediately for an update on the case." Link said. "That doesn't make any sense!" Fox said. "Yes it does. I captured Wolf, found the shipment, and plenty of other things too!" Sonic said. "No! I mean that I visited Andrew on Venom and he told me that Granger was behind the whole thing! He's creating an unstoppable virus that he..." Fox was stopped and started to sniff the room's air. His eyes suddenly became wide and he looked towards his partners. "The rooms filling up with gas! Everyone out!" The heroes all got up but the doors closed and locked. Not even Link's sword or Mario's fire powers could get through them. Suddenly, one-by-one the heroes felt their eyes getting heavy and they slowly fell to the ground.
It sounded like birds to begin with, but it slowly became clear to Mario that it was actually a commercial on a nearby TV. As his vision slowly came to him, Mario could see a commercial about a special new product that had something to do with birds. Mario looked around the room he was in. He saw that he was in some kind of stone dungeon and there were stone gargoyles all over the walls. He turned to the right and saw his partners all waking up but they were chained to the wall. Mario tried to break free but his chains were too tight and if he tried to break free, he would break his hands. Just then, Granger and Wolf entered the room. Wolf was carrying a large crate while Granger was empty handed. "So, you're the universe's greatest heroes? Ha! Pretty pathetic if a mere mortal, like myself, can easily capture you with a simple weapon like knock-out gas." The well-dressed villain chuckled as he observed his hostages. He turned and walked over to Fox and Sonic. "You two have been the most troublesome. First you destroy the only known factory that Dawson built for the single purpose of creating this virus and then you pry information from one of my good friends. Didn't you mommies' tell you it wasn't polite to stick you noses' into other people's business?" Granger chuckled as he talked. "Where's Slippy, Falco, and the Colonel?" Fox yelled. "Don't worry about them. They're all locked up here in the embassy along with Snake. They won't be alive for much longer and neither will you." Granger said. "But why? Why go to all this trouble to create a virus?" Sonic asked. "Boy, you obviously don't understand proper business. Let me explain it to you all very slowly. I will dump this chemical into the water supply of New York City and since it is untraceable, no one will be able to find it. Afterwards, I will contact every terrorist organization in the universe and let them see the virus at work in the city while I offer the poison up for auction. I will make billions and no one is going to stop me from achieving my goals!!!" Granger yelled as he finished.
The heroes watched Granger closely as he motioned something to Wolf. Wolf smiled fiendishly, got up, and left the room. "Now then Commander McCloud, I have something here that might interest you very much." Granger said. Moments later, Wolf returned with someone tied up. Fox became panicky as he saw who the person was. It was Krystal!
"Get your hands off her you son of a..." Fox was cut off by Granger. "Come now Commander McCloud, there's no need for such language. I'm not even going to kill her.....yet!" Granger finished with a loud chuckle. Granger walked over to the crate and pulled out a needle and filled its container with a greenish substance. "No! That'll kill her just like Dawson!" Sonic yelled. This statement caused Fox to panic even more as he struggled to break his chains. "No Fox! Don't try to break the chains! They're set up a certain way that will cause to break your hands too!" Mario said. "Excellent deduction, Mr. Mario." Granger said pleasantly. "Now then my dear, don't worry. It will hurt, but I promise you it won't kill." Granger chuckled. "Fox! Help! Stop him! The baby!" Krystal yelled as Granger plunged the large needle into her furry arm. Krystal screamed while Fox watched in horror as he tortured his wife and was possibly killing his unborn child. "God, please no! Not my child! Not my child!!!" Fox thought to himself as Krystal continued to scream in pain. Sonic and Mario both continued to try and break their bonds but it was no use. Moments later, Granger removed the bloody needle and approached Fox. "The poison won't kill her, but this baby you speak of....well, lets just say that in case this poison doesn't work on New York, it will be the future way to have an abortion." Granger laughed like a madman while Wolf watched Fox suffer with enjoyment.
As Krystal started gagging, Granger motioned for another needle so that he could inject the rest of the heroes with the poison. Just then, a loud shot rang out in the hallway. Granger dropped the needle and motioned to Wolf to escape out the back entrance. As the two villains left, Snake broke into the room bloodied and beaten. "Am I too late?" Snake asked as he breathed heavily. "Quick! Untie us! Krystal is in pain and her baby is about to die!" Mario yelled. Snake looked at Krystal and knelt down beside her. He took out another needle from his pocket and injected some more greenish liquid into her. "What are doing!? You're giving her the same stuff that's killing my child!!!" Fox yelled. All of a sudden, Krystal stopped gagging and fainted. Snake got up and began untying the others. "While I was re-cooperating, I kept in touch with Colonel Campbell on your mission. I had Otacon do some testing for me on the stuff Sonic described and he came up with a solution to the virus. If you give too much of it, it won't work." Snake said as he finished untying them. "Granger and Wolf are taking the shipment to New York City where they're going to dump into the water supply!" Luigi said quickly trying to act smart. "Then we must hurry and get to New York. But first, lets make sure Krystal is okay." Link said as Snake and Fox picked up the sleeping vixen and moved her out of the room.