CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Marcus versus Marcus

Cornerian Police Station

8:45 p.m.

"But I don't understand! What did I do wrong?!" Marcus blurted out to the police officer sitting across from him.

He was sitting in an interrogation room at the police station. It turned out that he really was under arrest and that jail time was inevitable. Fox and Krystal were sitting on either side of Marcus and were in just as much shock as he was.

"Well, here are the facts." the officer said. "At approximately 2:30 p.m. this afternoon, a figure that bystanders claim was you appeared at the Katina Defense Outpost. Without warning, the figure damaged several sections of the base with what appeared to be a heavy-duty rocket launcher and severely injured about half a dozen of the troops dispatched there."

"What?!" Marcus shouted. "But I was never on Katina!"

"Oh, really?"

The officer turned to the other one behind him.

"Roll the clip."

The second officer pushed a button on the remote he was holding. A TV on the wall flickered on, and a scene began to play out.

The clip was from a monochromatic security camera positioned just underneath a rut in the base's wall. As Marcus watched the clip, he saw several large explosion coming from the base and Cornerian troops running toward a figure that seemed to destroying the base with large psychokinetic pulses from his palms. The soldiers had AK-47s trained on the figure, who suddenly stretched out a hand. As though something had seized their collarbones, the soldiers were pulled off the ground and suspended in the air. The figure flicked his wrist to the left, and the soldiers went flying in that direction. Just then, the figure turned and looked right at the camera.

Marcus' mouth dropped open. The figure was him!

The on-screen Marcus evilly smiled at the camera, and then suddenly bounded at the camera with his hand outstretched. The screen went black.

Marcus' looked at the officers in disbelief.

"That's…that's impossible! I've been framed!" he shouted.

"Yeah, and I wrote the Bible." the officer remarked sarcastically.

Marcus looked down at his feet. He had no proof that it wasn't him. He was doomed to be a convict for God knew how long.

"No point in denying it, kid." the officer spoke up. "It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal. You did it, no one else."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Fox shouted at the officer. "My son would never do a thing like that! How can you honestly think that he could throw six Cornerian soldiers without even touching them?!"

"And what the hell gives you the right to immediately declare him guilty?!" Krystal yelled, a rare curse word crossing her lips. "Whatever happened to freedom of speech?! Even I had that back where I came from!"

The officer rolled his eyes.

"Tell you what: I'll make you a deal." he said. "If you can somehow miraculously come up with SOME proof of your innocence, I can get you in front of a judge Wednesday morning."

Marcus' head snapped up in alarm. Wednesday was three days from then. If what Chase had told him and the rest of the team was true, everyone on Corneria (including him) would be dead by then, with their guts floating endlessly through space.

Marcus stood up and slammed his fist on the table.

"You don't understand!" he half-shouted. "Something very bad is going to happen in two days, and if you lock me up now, there's nothing we can do to stop it!"

The officer rolled his eyes.

"Don't get in over your head, kid. I'm sure it's nothing the army can't handle."

"No, it's worse than that!" Marcus said. "If you convict me, in two days we're all gonna die!"

"Alright, that's enough! I'm not going to listen to some kid tell me that I shouldn't lock him up for whatever reason. You've got three minutes to talk to your parents, and then it's off to the slammer for you."

The two officers left the room, but not before one of them muttered "This is what happens to flyboys who don't attend the flight academy…"

The door closed. Marcus slumped into the chair, put his face in his hands and furiously screamed and cursed.

"Marcus…" Krystal said, putting a hand on her son's shoulder.

Marcus looked up.

"I didn't do it, Mom." he said.

"We believe you." Fox said. "But these simpletons don't. We can try to find some proof of your innocence, but…what do you mean we're all gonna die?"

Marcus couldn't look his father in the eye. He just muttered his answer.

"…Corneria's gonna blow up."

Marcus' parents were absolutely speechless for about five seconds.

"But…how?!" Fox asked.

Marcus explained everything…what he had seen on the orb and what Chase had said.

"And now that I'm convicted, there's nothing I can do to stop it."

"Surely we can get you out somehow!" Krystal said. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Marcus was silent for a few moments, then he suddenly got an idea.

"Tell the team to get in contact with Peppy. They'll explain everything to him. He'll definitely put two-and-two together and figure out I had nothing to do with what happened on Katina."

Fox grinned.

"Good thinking, sport! Peppy has enough authority to spring you just by thinking about it."

"…but if you didn't attack the base on Katina," Krystal said. "Then who did?"

Marcus though about that remark for a moment. The figure on the TV looked exactly like him. In fact, that figure could have passed as a near perfect copy of him, save for its telekinesis and vicious nature….but who was he? WHAT was he?

"Hell if I know." he answered.

The door opened. The two officers stepped back into the room.

"Time's up, McCloud." one of them said. "Let's go."

Marcus gave Fox and Krystal each one last hug before standing up and stepping towards the guards.

"The way I see it, you two ain't gonna see this little scumbag for a while" the first officer said.

"Scumbag?! Looks who's talkin', you jackass!" Marcus thought.

The officer's remark was enough to make Fox crack his knuckles and come at the officer with his fist raised.

"You pompous, over-glorified, cocky son of a…"

"Dad!" Marcus said. "Don't. He's not worth it."

Fox hesitated, then lowered his fist, but not before pointing at the officer and slowly growling out a threat.

"Never insult my family in front of me. It may be the last thing you ever do."

The officers, shaken slightly by Fox's outburst, led Marcus out of the room. Fox sat down.

"How could this happen? My son…arrested for something he didn't do." he thought.

Krystal had sensed that thought. She felt his pain. She wrapped her arms around Fox's shoulders and gently kissed his cheek.

"It's alright, Fox." she said.

Fox touched his wife's face.

"It's not gonna be alright until we do what he asked. Let's find the team. Now."

9:00 p.m.

After forty-five minutes of mug shots and fingerprinting (as well as having his staff confiscated), the officers led Marcus down a hall lined with large cells

He wasn't worried about his punishment that much. They weren't allowed to perform capital punishment anymore. But they could still keep you in jail for the rest of your life if they had enough evidence against you, and that was just as bad as being executed. Most convicts committed suicide in less than a day.

Murderers, thieves, drug addicts and felons of all shapes and sizes. They were all there, and they were all yelling like crazy. They were all madly banging on the iron bars as Marcus and the officer passed. One of them even pointed at Marcus and crazily said "Fresh meat!"

"What kind of sick place is this?!" Marcus thought.

The officer opened one cell with two beds, a toilet and a sink.

"In you get." he said, shoving Marcus inside.

Marcus took one look at the toilet on the wall and winced.

"I have to go in THAT?! My God, don't these people even know what the word sanitation means?!"

The door shut and the officer walked down the hall. Marcus grabbed the iron bars and shouted after him.

"Hey, wait! Just let me speak to Peppy Hare! I need to talk to General…"

The door at the end of the hall slammed shut.

"GOD DAMN IT!"

Marcus growled. He inhaled and exhaled through his gritted teeth like a bull.

"Hey, mac." a voice said behind him.

Marcus looked behind him. Sitting on one of the cots was a tall, muscular pig wearing a tattered leather jacket, ripped jeans, a camouflage muscle shirt and a red ascot. He had spoken in a thick, matured Australian accent.

Marcus hesitated, and then replied as he turned to face the stranger.

"Hey."

"What're you in for?" the pig asked.

Marcus could guess from his voice that this guy was in his early 20s. Another thing he noticed was that he wasn't acting like a complete lunatic like the other prisoners. He seemed relatively laidback.

"Apparently, I attacked the Defense Outpost on Katina and nearly killed a few soldiers." Marcus answered.

"'Apparently?' You sayin' you didn't do it?"

"I think that's fairly obvious…but I don't have any proof."

Marcus stepped toward the pig and held out his hand.

"Anyways, hi. I'm Marcus McCloud." he said.

The pig grinned and shook Marcus' hand.

"Ah, the leader of the Star Fox team. Wasn't expectin' you to show up in here."

"Well, I'm here. And you are?"

"Peter Dengar at your service, mate."

Marcus' ears pricked up at the surname.

"Your last name is Dengar? Doesn't that mean that you're…" he started.

"Related to Pigma Dengar? Unfortunately, yes. Bloody oaf's my great-uncle."

"What did you get locked up for?"

"Have a sit and I'll tell ya."

Marcus sat down on the second cot and faced Peter.

"About six months ago, I saw this group of street punks chasing a seventeen-year old girl into an alleyway. I followed 'em and I'm not quite sure what they were doin', but it looked like they were tryin' to…let's just say they weren't being very polite."

"…Uhh…ooookaaaayyyyyy…"

"Anyhow, I couldn't take seeing that poor kid getting assaulted like that, so I grabbed the first little bastard's collarbone and smacked 'im upside his ugly honker. Then his buddies tried to give me the one-two, but I smoked them, too. The cops saw what I was doin' and hauled me off just like that."

"OK, who arrests someone for being a hero?"

"They thought I was just being a teen-hating jackass. My trial got stalled for a couple months, but they finally hit me with a whole year in this rat hole. Plus, my place got burned down while I was gone and my records got destroyed, so I can't get a decent job when I get out."

"What?! My God, that's just plain horrible!"

Peter nodded, but perked up a little bit.

"Still, I'm proud of what I did. The girl was at my trial, and when I ran into her in the hallway afterwards, she said, 'No matter what happens to you, I want you to know that you're a hero in my eyes.' Then she gave me a kiss on the cheek."

"You did the right thing. I'm sure that girl appreciates what you did for her." Marcus said, grinning slightly. "I bet she'll want to see you again someday."

How could he not grin? Peter was a self-confessed convict simply because he had been a real hero, and he didn't care that he had to suffer for it.

Peter sighed with a small grin on his face.

"Only problem is that I don't know what I'll do with the rest of my life when I get out. I'm nothin' but a guy with the pride of helping someone."

Peter looked at Marcus.

"So what exactly do you do in Star Fox?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Dunno. Just…what do you do?"

"Uhh…rescue missions, military assistance, and…"

Coyote suddenly flashed through Marcus' mind. The mere thought of her made him angry enough to make him feel like he'd burst into flames.

"Star Wolf!" he growled.

"Yeah, I've heard about those kinds of things. Doesn't sound like stuff any normal person would do."

Marcus started seething with anger, thinking about the girl that had befriended, seduced, and betrayed him. Peter was quick to notice.

"Oi, you alright?" he asked.

Marcus snapped out of his furious trance.

"Uhh…yeah…just got a little pissed off about something." he said.

"You won't be able to hold in that anger for too long, mate."

Peter cocked his head at the other convicts, who were still rattling the iron bars.

"They won't let you."

In a twisted region of space-time...

"What is your bidding, mistress?" Malice asked.

"Marcus has been imprisoned by the Cornerian Police Force, just as we planned." Kursed said, crossing her legs. "When the time is right, I want you to spring him loose from his cell and bring him to me."

Malice stood.

"What if he is able to resist confinement? I do sense a bit of spiritual strength from him."

"I sense it, as well. You have every right to be skeptical. If he can resist, then use force. Not deadly. Remember, I need him alive. He's no good to me if he's dead."

Kursed looked at the twisted skies of Limbo. To her and Malice, this was their paradise. To everyone else, this was the worst place imaginable.

"I will take back what my son has taken from me…and then…"

The first thing she would do was find Krystal, the traitor. She'd hurt her, make her cry bloody murder, then she'd kill Fox right in front of her. Finally, she'd tear Krystal's arms and legs off and then…

Her eyes narrowed at the thought of seizing Krystal's still-beating heart and ripping it right out of her chest.

"She must pay for betraying me."

The evil woman smiled. Nothing was more satisfying than watching a mortal fool scream, suffer and beg for mercy…especially when mercy was not granted. Pain was her ultimate arousal.

She looked back at Malice.

"Go. Find Marcus, bring him back alive…and don't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in your way."

Malice devilishly smiled. His favourite thing to do was murder an innocent person.

"Yes, my liege."

He bowed and walked out of the horrible place that he and Kursed called "home".

"So I finally get to meet that little squirt." he thought. "This oughta be fun."

40 hours later

Hours until doomsday: 8

"Hey, little boy." a scraggly woman in the cell across the hall said. "You wanna play with me? I'm real gentle."

Marcus and Peter both scowled.

"Jeez, what kinda scum do you live with?" Marcus asked.

"Murderers, thieves, drug lords…the usual deal."

Marcus was starting to get very worried. There were only eight hours left until the planet self-destructed, and he hadn't heard anything back from Peppy. In fact, he had used his one phone call earlier that day to call his parents and ask them about it. They had said that they had told the team about it, but that Peppy was away on assignment and wouldn't be back until later.

"Hey, you!" a man as thin as a wire shouted at Marcus.

Marcus glared at the man.

"What the hell do you want?"

The man started psychotically laughing, then his eyelid started twitching as he said "I'm gonna kill ya. I'm gonna grab your neck and snap it!"

Marcus wasn't impressed or intimidated in the slightest. For the past two days, every other convict in the hall had given him a death threat, so he was very much used to it by now. And that was besides the fact that most of them were about half his size or, like this guy, thin as a wire. One punch would knock them out cold. So he responded with the same way he responded with the other ones: he flipped up his middle finger. The man responded with the same way the others did: he laughed again and rattled the bars of his cell.

Marcus slumped back onto his cot.

"Peppy…please hurry." he muttered.

Marcus could see through the barred windows that it had started raining. His eyes grew heavy and he yawned.

"I guess forty winks wouldn't hurt." he yawned. "Jeez, I've had the worst day."

Marcus lay down and closed his eyes, but snapped them open two seconds later when the door opened.

"McCloud, you've got a visitor." the officer said.

Marcus sat up with joy, hoping it was Peppy or Bill or anyone else that could declare him innocent. But the person who stepped through the doorway wasn't any of those people.

The figure was Marcus' height, wearing black pants, black sneakers, and a black hoodie with the hood drawn up, hiding his face.

"Who is this guy, an emo version of the Grim Reaper or something?!" Marcus thought as he stood up.

"Be sure to shut the door when you leave, sir." the officer said. "We don't want any of these scumbags getting out."

"Thank you, officer." the figure said.

Marcus was shocked when the figure spoke. So was Peter.

"That voice…that's MY voice!" Marcus thought in panic. "Who is this guy?!"

The officer left. Marcus immediately wished that he hadn't been left alone with this stranger. Whoever he was, Marcus could tell that he wasn't normal. As soon as the door shut at the end of the hall, Marcus turned to the figure.

"Alright, who are you and what do you want?" Marcus asked.

The figure lowered his hood. Marcus gasped at what he saw. So did Peter.

"How…how is that even possible?!"

Marcus was looking at himself!

Malice smiled evilly.

"Surprised?"

"You…you're me!"

"Not exactly. I'm a little different…but I'm also better."

He had seen it for less than a minute, but Marcus could already tell that this thing was too full of itself. Different? Yes. Better? Who knew?

"Who are you?!"

"The name's Malice. I don't know if could guess from the way I looked, but I'm not of this world."

It didn't take long for Marcus to put two-and-two together and figure out that Malice was the reason that he was in jail.

"Then the guy who attacked the base on Katina…it was you! You framed me!"

Malice laughed.

"Very good, smart guy. You're not as stupid as you look. I was assigned by Great Mother to fool the military into thinking you were me. Therefore they would arrest you, allowing me to take you to Great Mother as her offering."

Great Mother? Who was he…wait…offering…Kursed!

"So you're just a pawn sent by Kursed to pick me up?" Marcus said, flaring his nostrils. "What, has the alpha female become a little pussy?!"

Malice's eyes narrowed.

"Huh. I take back what I said about you not being stupid…but I guess that's just it: you mortals are all the same."

Malice seized Marcus' hand.

"Come with me. You'll live longer than your dying planet."

"'Dying planet'?" Peter asked. "What's this marmaduke talking about, Mark?"

"Long story. I'll tell you later." Marcus replied before yanking his hand free of Malice's grip.

Marcus poked Malice in the chest.

"Listen, pal! I ain't goin' anywhere with you! Peppy will come for me, and when he does, me and my friends are gonna save this planet whether you like it or not."

Malice smirked and slammed his fists together.

"Oh, ho! So you wanna do it the hard way, huh?"

Marcus scoffed.

"Please. You couldn't beat me if I had both hands tied behind my back!"

"So be it."

Malice waved his hand. Before Marcus had time to react, his hands were pulled behind his back by an invisible force and tied there by a paranormal cord.

"Me and my big, fat mouth…" Marcus muttered.

"Now that we're all softened up," Malice said as he reached forward to grab Marcus' arm again. "It's time you got to see…"

Peter grabbed Malice from behind and pinned him to the wall.

"Mark! Get your staff!"

Marcus ran out of the cell as fast as he could. Malice seized Peter's collarbone and threw him against the iron bars of the cell door, knocking him unconscious.

"Don't meddle with Great Mother's influence, weakling." Malice growled at him. "It's foolish to resist her."

With that, Malice ran after Marcus. The staff was hung up on a wall at the end of the hallway. Though Marcus was fast approaching it, he could Malice come up on him.

"You can't escape me, you little bastard!" he shouted.

Marcus didn't care. He kept running, zipping past a passing guard.

"What the…prison break!" the guard shouted, running after Marcus.

Marcus flipped around when he reached the wall and pulled the staff off the wall, but right away he was staring down the barrel of the guard's rifle.

"Get back in your cell, McCloud!" he shouted.

"Look, there's a good explanation for all of…hey, watch out!"

Malice bowled over the guard as he streaked toward Marcus with his fist raised. Marcus himself dodged a heavy blow aimed at his head. Using what little movement he possibly could, Marcus kicked Malice square in the chest and sent him sprawling down the hall.

"What in the…there's t-two of you?!" the guard stammered.

Marcus knelt down next to the guard and tossed him the staff.

"No time to explain! Just cut me loose!"

The guard was bewildered for a moment, then took Marcus' staff and used the spear end to cut the ropes binding his wrists together.

"Thanks." Marcus said, taking the staff in his hands. "Now hide! This could get ugly!"

The guard couldn't believe that a prisoner had actually told him to hide, but after seeing the other one send him flying, he wasn't willing to take any more risks. After all, he had a wife and kids to take care of. He scurried behind the wall and hid.

Marcus extended the staff and crouched into a defensive stance as Malice stood up.

"Heh heh…not bad, kid. I'm impressed." Malice chuckled. "This might actually be fun."

"Don't try it, bub." Marcus shot back. "I'm deadly with this thing."

"As am I with these."

Long, chains appeared from Malice's wrists. His red eyes shone menacingly.

"Great…that's just great." Marcus grumbled.

Malice swung the chain on his left wrist. Marcus flipped out of the way, streaked forward and thrust his staff at his evil clone. The other chain wrapped around the tip of the staff. For several moments, the two look-alikes struggled to gain the upper hand. Finally, Marcus brought his heel down on Malice's foot and yanked the staff free.

Malice quickly recovered and swung the chains again. This time, they wrapped around Marcus' ankles. Malice slammed Marcus against the ground and held him down with his foot. Marcus responded by slamming his staff into the ground and knocking Malice off balance.

Malice growled as he recovered from the initial shock of the tremor.

"Stupid kid! I'm having a party with all the local whores when Great Mother eats you!"

"Okay, first off,…really? What the hell? Second, I already told that stupid bitch that I ain't nobody's damned lunch platter!"

The chains straightened into single-edged blades. Malice leaped at Marcus and swung his wrist blades. Marcus deflected the blows, then caught Malice's underarms and spun him in circles before slamming him into the wall.

All the prisoners were watching and shouting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Peter had woken up. As soon as he saw Marcus fighting Malice, he shouted, "Kick that ruddy dingo's ass, Mark!"

Malice front-flipped over Marcus' next attack, extended the chains, wrapped them around Marcus' wrists and slammed him into the walls, ceiling and floor. Marcus shook the stars out of his eyes and coughed the dust out of his mouth as Malice cackled over him.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do THAT, McCloud!"

Marcus growled.

"Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!"

Marcus angrily stood up and swung his fist at Malice's head. Malice himself performed a ninja-like jump and disappeared. Marcus' eyes darted around the room. Malice was nowhere in sight. Not above, not in front, not to the side, not behind.

Just then, Malice's wrist chains dropped from the ceiling and coiled around Marcus' neck, hauling him off the ground.

"Now are you gonna come quietly or do I have to go Hellraiser on you?"

Marcus rasped. Malice was cutting off his air supply. If he couldn't shake himself free, he'd suffocate within moments. Marcus didn't take any time to hesitate. He thrust his staff up and impaled Malice's chest. Malice screamed out of pain and dropped from the ceiling. The chains uncoiled and Marcus took in a few breathes as he regained control of his lungs. The two look-alikes glared at each other and were about to have at it again when the door at the end of the hallway was kicked open, and someone Marcus was overjoyed to see ran in.

"Peppy!"

As soon as Peppy was standing in front of Marcus and Malice, he whipped out his shotgun and aimed it at them.

"What the…Peppy, what are you doing?!" Malice blurted out.

"Hey! I'm supposed to say that!" Marcus shouted.

"Which one of you is the real Marcus McCloud?!" Peppy barked.

"I AM!" Marcus and Malice said simultaneously

They angrily looked at each other.

"Shut up!" they yelled at each other. "No, YOU shut up!"

"Looks like I've gotta resort to the heavy artillery." Peppy said, stepping closer. "I'm going to ask the two of you a couple of questions…questions only the real Marcus can answer! First one to get one wrong gets curtains!"

"Oh, please don't let this be too hard! Everyone's lives are on the line!" Marcus thought.

"First," Peppy started. "How old were you when you founded the third Star Fox team?"

"Ten!" they both said.

"Correct. Second, what were your grandparents' names?"

"James and Vixy Reinard McCloud!"

Marcus started sweating. Malice was a perfect copy! He knew everything Marcus knew. He remembered everything he knew! And worst of all, he was using it against him! This could go on all night…

"Third, what is your favourite video game?"

…or not.

"That's easy!" Malice said. "It's…uh…let's see. Favourite video game is…umm…uhh, gimme a second here…"

"Oh, please!" Marcus said, rolling his eyes.

Peppy nodded, aimed the gun at Malice and pressed the tip to his chest.

BANG! The gun echoed as Peppy pulled the trigger.

The impact from the shotgun shells sent Malice flying into a wall. Marcus breathed a sigh of relief.

"How'd you know he wasn't me?" Marcus asked.

Peppy turned to Marcus and grinned.

"Everyone I know knows that Marcus James McCloud is Corneria's number one Guitar Hero."

"Wait a second…how did you know I played Guitar Hero?"

"Krystal put up a camera in your room so she could watch you play without going in."

"…You're just telling me this now?!"

Malice roared angrily and stood up. The chains extended again, and he swung one at Peppy.

"Look out!" Marcus screamed as he tackled Peppy out of the way and blocked the chain with his staff.

He streaked forward. His staff glowed.

"Go back to hell where you came from! And don't ever come back!"

Suddenly, Marcus shouted something in a foreign language.

"PFI AR HTU ROVPAB!"

Using the staff, Marcus knocked Malice over and, with the cry of a mighty falcon, slammed the staff down on him with an earthshaking force. The light that emitted from the staff enveloped Malice and tore his shadowy body to pieces. Over the mighty roaring of the beacon of light, Malice could be heard screaming "My empress! I've failed you!" as he disappeared into nothingness.

The light faded. Nothing was left. Malice had been vaporized.

Marcus panted, then sheathed his staff and said, "Sometimes the hardest battle is against yourself."

Peter and Peppy looked at the spot where Malice had been.

"Uh…what exactly did you do to him?" Peter asked.

"Hell, I don't know. But if it got rid of him, then I'm happy." Marcus replied.

"In any case," Peppy said. "The team explained everything. The army and I have decided to follow along with your plan."

"They also told you that I was framed, right?"

"Yep. They said you were on Titania at the time of the attack, so that…thing pretending to be you was the one that attacked the base. So, what do you say we get out of here?"

Marcus looked at Peter. He felt sorry for the 21-year old guy who had been imprisoned for being a hero. For the entire two, miserable days that Marcus had spent in prison, Peter had helped him along the way. He was proud to call him "friend".

"Yeah…but only if he comes with us." Marcus said, cocking his head at Peter.

Peppy looked at Peter.

"Who's he?"

"Peter Dengar. He's a friend. Trust me; we'll need all the help we can get.

Peppy thought it over for a few moments, then grinned and answered.

"Mr. Dengar, how'd you like to fly alongside the Star Fox team?"

In a twisted region of space-time...

"Damn!" Kursed shouted, her loud voice echoing throughout the twisting vortex. "Even Malice couldn't beat him!"

She groaned.

"Ugh. He's better than I thought."

She slammed her fist on her undead throne and stood.

"That does it, Marcus James McCloud! You've pushed me to my limit!"

Kursed's feet began to spout a strange black vapour.

"I don't care if I have to follow you to the edge of the galaxy, Marcus." she said. "I won't rest until your blood is flowing over me like a blanket! I'm gonna make you scream like a banshee!"

The gas intensified and shot her up out of Limbo in a caustic meteor, maniacally laughing the whole way.