Chapter XXVI- Just before I die.
Following the GPS, Fox went to a strange place. Almost as strange as the things he saw in Venom.
He saw a corridor made of mirrors, with four lights at the four edges of the corridor. He could see his reflection whether which direction he saw. It is like as if he were in a tesseract. Seeing himself in all directions in the 4th dimension. Each one of himself doing the same thing. Looking endlessly at his endless reflection that duplicated infinitely.
Was it himself? He thought. The endless words that are inside his mind? Or parallel universes that indicate his fate? Would Coneria be defeated in the Lylat wars, and all of his loved ones die, including himself? Or one that he failed to save her, and the general succeed in attacking and conquering Fortunia, letting the third form of Andross turn the planet into a Chemical wasteland? Zoness has suffered. And even it used almost a decade to rebuild with the help of the Earth Federation, it still is not fully recovered. The seas still did not recover its color. Would it be Fortunia which suffered from this too? Or perhaps...his father did not die from Mr. Dengar's hands, the hyper lasers that blasted him to death, and he had a happy family? But perhaps, this will not be possible. Memories were memories. Fascinations were fascinations. The reality is separated with dreams.
Walking to the edge of the corridor, there are eight cameras looking at him. At the side, there are four, and at the front there are two, and from up above there are two.
Bringing his laptop that only have a couple of underscores left for the address, he was told to connect the laptop to the camera, the ninth one, on the table.
When he connected the camera with his laptop, there was a hooded figure inside the screen. It was a recording made by the killer.
"Greetings, Fox Mccloud." Said the hooded figure, with a voice which is processed. "You have completed the trails I wanted you to do. Now it's the ultimate challenge. In this bottle, there is poison which will kill you in an hour and a half. After you drank it, you will receive the last words and numbers for the address. If you do not drink it, you will not receive the last numbers. Will you successfully finish the challenge and meet your lover and say the last words to her? The choice is all yours."
"Should I drink it?" Fox asked himself. His left hand grabbing hold of his right arm.
"I cut my finger, and now the killer wanted to be a vulture. Looking at my life...shoot."
He looked at the poison, then looked at his reflection in the mirrors. His handsome, orange face with stripes of white.
There were two things in his mind, looking at the clear substance with a hint of light blue. One is that he did not drink any of it, and they two all suffered:
It was at the high court of Coneria Capital City. Where the judge had used its wooden hammer.
"Order! Order!..." the judge gave a strange echoing voice. Almost same as Andross.
He saw himself in a shirt of black and white stripes. With his hands chained. The chains were crown steel. And was reflecting a deep, silvery black glow.
When the judge wanted to say something, someone stepped in. It was Hyacinth, with Falco at his side.
The two brothers then stepped to the side of the judge.
"Mr. Mccloud is innocent. Judge, your exaltedness."
"Why did you suddenly became this fake?! You know that we wanted to..."
"No, friend. Court manners." Said Hyacinth. In a calm way.
"Yeah. Keep on your stupid..."
"Enough of this! Stop it!" Yelled Hyacinth suddenly.
Fox looked at his surroundings. Strangely the court is person-less. And it was night time. Which he had seen at a window.
The tempest was fiercer than never before. That he could hear the glass is cracking. But they didn't. He had suffered so much, yet he still had the willpower to carry on.
Suddenly Hyacinth went soft and chatted quietly with the judge. But it seemed that the judge did not approve in his point of view.
Soonly, Hyacinth went mad again.
"Goddamn! Fox Mccloud is fucking innocent!"
When he heard a small laughter, it was Pigma down there. Who appeared out of nowhere.
As the judge has announced that he was found guilty, Hyacinth and Falco both grabbed out their weapons and fired at Pigma.
The two shouted very loudly. While Pigma did not even experience a scratch.
The Summer Horizon Destroyer suddenly broke in the ceiling. And it fired the most destructive weapon of the galaxy:the Valkyrie Missle system 1A. With the rest of its cannons and lasers. All firing at the same spot.
Still, the antimatter warhead and a lot of bullets and laser beams did not inflict any damage. As the pink, fat figure stretched his hands long, and held the two on their necks.
Fox was already very anxious and worried. And now the judge disappeared, as he saw the two struggling.
"No!" Yelled Fox. But he could not move. The steel was too heavy for him to move even a bit.
The pink, fat figure crushed the two with his hands.
"NO!" Fox yelled, so loud that he coughed afterward.
Their heads were detached from their upper torso. As the heads remained their faces of terror and fear. Blood went out of their remainders of their bodies. Their heads had a little. With blood vessels visible since the detachment areas were irregular. Their upper body was crushed. And a mixture of blue with crimson red and cloth appeared on the floor. Flowing like liquid. Their legs cannot help but fell on the ground. Also giving out large amounts of blood.
Fox cried in despair. He could not save Krystal already. Now, even his brothers.
The next scene was in prison. He was sent to Conerian Prison suffering a lifelong penalty. And he was sitting on a chair. Looking at his table.
The table was a solid white one. It was scattered with several things: papers that wrote his love to his loved ones. Paper hearts that he folded, varying in color. And bottles of empty ink, fountain pens, with some of the ink scattered on the table and ground. He just made a bottle fall down. And blue-black ink flowed out. Damping everywhere it went in its color. And some of them managed to get to the side of the table. Dripping on the ground.
"Drip...drip..." the ink slowly dropped on the floor.
Out there it was raining.
He calmly, solemnly, painfully looked at the things.
He stood up, and went to the toilet, where there was a broken mirror. And the mirror reflected parts of his face. However, it was scattered. Shattered. Forced apart.
He finally made his choice.
He stepped up the chair, put the rope which was attached from the ceiling around his neck.
He closed his eyes.
He kicked the chair away.
That was when he woke up from his indifference. Everything was so magical and real. Would it be his fate?
However, another thing is his memorable times with Krystal. Ones that were too good to be not forgotten.
He still remembered when he first saw her. In the amethyst. And he saved her.
She tried to teach him magic with her staff made of Hazelwood. But he failed. And they laughed.
Later, it was when he met Hyacinth whom Falco has always talked about. And as a man of etiquette, Hyacinth gave Fox a big bow. With French words that Fox did not understand.
Later, it was the memory when he cried in despair, and the blue avian hugged him. Or perhaps, being sensitive for the first time.
Are there so many things that he would lose, yet he could sacrifice himself to save? Would he paint rainbows for them, so that they can live happily, as time flies by and it washed away his identity? After times, his family met the stone which carved his name?
He thought. But then reached a conclusion:
"I can only give them so much, I cannot expect their eternal contribution. Then why I cannot drink it, and all of them can live happily? It's only me. Only myself. And this only has proven one thing: not only Krystal. But also to Falco, Hyacinth, my long lost friends. Ones I wanted to protect...I love all of you very, very, much."
Finally, he decided to drink it. He wanted to end this once and for all, even if it means to lose his life.
He drank it. The taste was unpleasant.
"Oh, god! This is worse than those bitter melons!"
As he swallowed it, a strange feel appeared in his stomach, then came Fox's comment.
"Congratulations. Mr. Mccloud." Said the voice. "You will receive the last numbers and letters for the location of your lover. You only have an hour and a half left, please make good use of the time." As it appeared: 'Route 70, number 11, Coneria.'
As Fox knew this will be the end of his life, he hurried off with the address.