As always, this took far too long. I have GOT to update this more often. Kudos to those who can tell what the title references to.
By the way, I've gone back through the entire story and revised all the chapters a while back, so feel free to read the story from the start again. Trust me, the chapters are much better than they were before.
Chapter 42:The Great Cave Offensive
"Well...this is a problem..."Wolf muttered, cautiously scanning the hundreds of thousands of subspace bugs just meters above their heads. The trio had managed to climb half-way up the mountian before coming across the eye-sore of an obstacle."How the heck are we supposed to get past this?"He glanced at the Ice Climbers, who looked at each other while scratching their heads.
Popo suddenly smiled as an idea came to him."I know! Nana, do you remember that secret tunnel we found?"
Then the pink climber smiled."Oh, yeah! The one that leads near the top of the mountain!"
Wolf blinked."There's a tunnel? How many times have you two climbed this mountain, anyhow?"
"We lost count,"they replied without hesitation.
"...Right,"Wolf said, sweatdropping."So, where is this tunnel?"The duo simply motioned for the lupine to follow, and he did just that, following them down a path that slowly curled down the mountain, until they eventually reached the entrance to a cave. The kids started to walk in, but Wolf grabbed their shoulders, causing them to look back at him."Hold on, kids."He pulled out his blaster, holding it in both hands."We'll need to be careful going in there. The place could be filled with enemy soldiers."The duo looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at Wolf and nodded. He nodded back."Alright, I'll take point."
"Take what?"the two asked, confused.
Wolf sighed."Just follow me."
"Oh."
With that said, the trio advanced into the cave, watching out for any subspace creatures that could be waiting in ambush. As they continued, Wolf couldn't help but feel awed at the sunlight shining through the ice, creating a beautiful rainbow effect throughout portions of the cave.
After a few moments of silent walking, Wolf decided to make a comment."Sure is a nice-looking place,"he admitted.
"Yep, we love this place!"Popo said cheerfully.
"Hey, look!"Nana chirped, pointing. Wolf raised an eyebrow as the climbers quickly ran over to a wall covered in scratches that looked like primitive drawings.
As he walked over to them, he said "I thought you two said you were the only ones who ever climbed this mountain."
"We are,"the two kids replied, glancing back at him.
"So, you two drew all this?"Wolf asked, motioning to the drawings.
"Umm, no,"they admitted.
"These were here the first time we climbed the mountain,"Popo said.
"Yeah, we dunno who made 'em,"Nana said innocently, shrugging. She blinked, looking at one drawing in particular that she didn't recognize."Hey, Popo?"
"Yeah?"the blue boy asked.
Nana pointed."Were those drawings there before?"Her friend blinked, looking over at the drawing with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I don't think so..."Popo murmured. Wolf looked over at the drawing they were talking about, walking over.
"Hey, that looks like a wolf!"Popo remarked, pointing at a part of the drawing that indeed looked like a wolf."What are those things around it?"Surrounding the wolf were strange rectangular blocks, and the real Wolf stared at the drawing with a wide eye, a blank expression on his face.
"Ooh, there's a fox!"Nana remarked, looking at a fox drawing outside of the circle of blocks surrounding the wolf and facing the other direction. A sad frown crossed the innocent child's face."Aww, I think it's leaving the wolf there..."
"Why would it do that?"Popo asked, also feeling saddened. The duo looked at Wolf, who was staring vacantly at the drawing, eye still wide. What neither of them knew was that the drawing was dredging up an incredibly painful memory for the lupine pilot...
In his mind, the drawings were moving. The wolf was trying to fight off the strange blocks, howling at the fox to help. But the vulpine didn't seem to hear, and ran off, leaving the wolf to continue fighting the blocks on his own. Without warning, a small laser rung out from one the blocks, striking the wolf in the eye...
"Hey, Wolf!"the Ice Climbers shouted, shaking the pilot out of it.
"Wh-what? What is it?"he muttered, looking back and forth between them.
"Are you okay?"Nana asked, a concerned frown on her face.
"You like kinda shaky,"Popo said.
"I-I'm fine,"he stuttered, actually feeling rather weak."Let's just get out of here."He abruptly turned and walked off, leaving the kids to look at each other in concern before following their companion.
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Andrew smirked as he watched the trio on a screen from his seat, taking note of Wolf's shaken expression.
"Heh, it worked like a charm,"he chuckled, but then he frowned."Still, it's probably not enough to mess with him that much, but at least I get to have some fun!"
XXXX
"Duck!"Wolf barked, quickly doing just that, the Ice Climbers following suit to avoid a flurry of small laser blasts. As the scope primids fired their weapons again, the lupine quickly whipped out his reflector and held it in front of himself, pressing a button and creating a spherical shield of energy that reflected the energy bullets back at the creatures, forcing them to scatter. Popo and Nana quickly composed themselves, then held their hands forward and unleashed a mini-blizzard that buffeted primids, allowing Wolf to get in close and slash them to ribbons with his claws.
"Look out, Wolf!"the Ice Climbers cried.
"Hmm?"Wolf looked over his shoulder to see a large primid looming over him, fist reared back to land a punch. The kids quickly covered their eyes as the primid swung, and not even a second later, they heard a laser blast, followed by a large thud. Curious, the two peeked out from behind their hands to see Wolf standing with his blaster pointed where the primid's head had been, said primid dissolving into shadow bugs. The kids smiled and cheered as Wolf holstered his weapon, sighing.
"Can't believe I let that guy sneak up on me..."he muttered as the Ice Climbers ran over.
"Wolf, you are so cool!"Popo gushed.
"You're amazing!"Nana cheered.
"We're not out of trouble yet,"Wolf warned them."Now we know this place is crawling with the Subspace army, and those punks were just the welcoming commitee. Be on your guard."The two blinked, then nodded, gaining more serious expressions on their faces. The trio continued advancing through the cave, taking out small groups of creatures at a time. After a while of this, they were just about to go down another turn, when Wolf just managed to pull the kids out of sight before they could be spotted, quickly covering their mouths before they could protest."Quiet. Don't let them hear you."The two shut their mouths as Wolf carefully looked past the wall, seeing primids either wandering around or working what looked like advanced excavating equipment. Wolf raised an eyebrow as primids carted large shards of ice further down the cave and out of his sight.
"What are they doing?"Popo, who's head was peeking out over Wolf's, asked.
"They're taking the ice,"Nana, who's head was peeking out over Popo's, said, stating the obvious.
"What're those freaks planning?"Wolf asked, mostly to himself. Then he blinked and glanced up."Wait, what are you kids standing on?"The Ice Climbers hesitated, looking at each other in puzzlement."...I shouldn't have asked that, huh?"
"...No."
THUD!
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End of Chapter
Whuh oh! Looks like they're in trouble!
OMFG, I finally updated!