CHAPTER SIX
Black and Blue
"Ugh…what in the world just happened…ouch…"
The last thing Krystal had hoped for and expected was a wormhole to suddenly pop out of nowhere while she and the rest of the Star Fox team were on a mission, let alone crash-landing on a planet that she didn't recognize as she shook the stars out of her eyes.
She stood up and looked around the area, finding that she was in a forest filled with pine trees. All the animals had seemingly fled once her Arwing had made contact with the ground, and speaking of her Arwing, it was anything but usable. She lifted her wrist communicator to her mouth and turned it on.
"This is Krystal. I'm not getting a signal for my location and my Arwing's totalled. I need evac ASAP."
She received no response.
"Falco? Slippy? Fox?! Anyone?!"
Still no response.
"Damn…well, that settles that. I'm stranded."
It wasn't really that she was nervous. She was more than capable of fending for herself. Really, she was more concerned. Star Fox had some of the best radio technology in existence, and if it didn't work on certain frequencies, their mechanic Slippy Toad would make it work in less than five minutes. She couldn't even detect the thought waves of her colleagues, and if that didn't work, she knew she was in a less that desirable situation. Not to mention she was still confused as to how she got to the place at all.
"Okay, think, Krystal. Think." she murmured, sitting down on a nearby log and pressing her fingers to her temples. "We were out scouting around Venom, looking for any suspicious activity. I thought I saw something, and me, Fox, and Falco went to check it out, and…"
Krystal's vulpine ears pricked up when she heard the snap of a twig as well as a voice.
"Dammit! Her trail stops right here! I could pick up her energy just on its own until…"
Krystal wasn't aware that the woman who was speaking had seen her until the tingling sensation in the back of her head warned her that the woman had come unnervingly close with offensive intentions. She rolled forward as she felt a rush of air behind her and flipped back to her feet to see a blonde-haired human woman in a black leather corset and leather pants with two pistols strapped to her belt. Krystal needed only a second to realize that the woman had swung her massive sword straight at her neck.
The woman smirked.
"Good moves, little foxy."
Krystal scowled.
"Who the bloody hell are you?"
"Call me Trish. And you?"
"Krystal."
"Hm. Nice name. What were you doing out here all by yourself?"
"That depends. Why did you just try to slice my head off?"
"It's kind of what I do."
Trish swung the blade again, and Krystal responded by whipping out a six-foot long metal staff and blocking the attack.
"And what do you do?" the cobalt vixen demanded.
"Kill demons."
"Joke's on you. I'm no demon."
"You certainly don't look the part, I'll give you that. On the other hand, there's always that side of me that just loves to size up the strength of something I've never seen before."
"Look, I'm lost and I've got no idea where I am. I'm really not in the mood for this right now."
"Okay, let me help. You're on Earth in a forest not too far from Osaka, Japan."
"Earth?!"
It wasn't that she dreaded coming to Earth. If anything, she had desired to visit it for quite a while considering Earth and her home planet of Corneria had established formal relations in the early 2020s. The surprise came from the fact that Corneria was a couple hundred light-years away from Earth, and she seemed to have gotten there in a matter of minutes. Even travelling at light speed would take longer than that…unless…
"The wormhole…" she muttered to herself.
"What're you going on about?" Trish asked.
Krystal shook the thoughts out and furrowed her brow.
"Listen, Trish…are those your friends over there?"
Trish followed Krystal's gaze and spotted several violet-skinned pig-like creatures, all wielding large spears and lanterns and walking around as though they were police officers on patrol. Their appearance was odd enough without their hulking size and goofy grin-like expressions, but just the fact that they even existed was enough to confuse Trish.
"Ew. Not a chance. They look more like the kind of things I'd kill for money."
"Things you'd kill for money?"
"Yeah, demons. Like you."
"I'm not a demon, for goodness sake...Goddamn, alright. Look. I'm sure we've both got better things to do, so how about you consider them the bad guys and leave me out of it? I need to find my friends."
"Who are your friends?"
Krystal bit her lip and hesitated before pulling out a photograph of her and the rest of her team. She handed it to Trish and pointed to the fox that was about the same size as her and the falcon who towered over her.
"Them. Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi. The three of us got sucked through some sort of wormhole and got separated."
"Hm…Fox seems to be a little more than friendly with you."
Krystal blushed with a light smile. She was hugged up against Fox in the picture and were both smiling as she was kissing his cheek, with Falco cockily leaning up against a wall with a smirk directed at them and Slippy photo-bombing the couple with rabbit ears.
"Yeah…he's my fiancé."
"Good pick. I'd probably snag him for myself if I wasn't already taken…that and I'm not really into fur. No offense."
"None taken, though you saying that is a tad ironic considering you tried to lop my head off a minute ago…Trish?"
"Yeah?"
"Left shoulder."
Trish stabbed behind her and impaled the pig-man that had been attempting to sneak up behind her, the group of them having been attracted to the scent of the two women. Another pig-man threw his lantern straight at Trish's head, but all that happened was the lantern was enveloped by a blue light before being tossed back at the pig-man, hitting his head and bowling him over. Trish noticed Krystal's hands glowing blue as this happened, which led to that all-important question that most Star Fox fans know the answer to.
"What the hell…are you psychic or something?"
"That's a bit of a broad term. I think you're asking whether or not I'm using telekinesis, which I am, though I'm also telepathic. For example, you're thinking that I'm completely insane, though you don't need to be a telepath to see that."
"Uhh…yeah. Great. Let's kick some pig ass. Please, before you confuse me even more."
"Gladly."
The nearest pig man to Krystal raised his spear and brought it swinging down toward her head, only to have it deflected and end up getting hit over the head with her metal staff. As three attempted a dog pile on her, she planted one end of the staff into the ground, a large buildup of energy appearing on the planted end before a massive amount of vapour shot from it and rocketed its wielder high into the air before she raised it above her head and went shooting downward, slamming the staff into the ground and trembling it enough to knock her attackers of their feet.
"Hm. Little fox has skills." Trish grunted. "I better start getting serious here before she steals my thunder…"
And what better time to do that then when one of the pig-men grabbed her from behind?
"Hands off the goods, Wilbur!" she yelled before vaulting him over her shoulder, whipping out a machine pistol and shooting him repeatedly afterwards. "Hey, Baby Blue! Heads up!"
Trish pulled out another machine pistol and tossed it to Krystal, who promptly spread bullets throughout the area like wildfire along with several blasts of fire from her staff. Trish looked at the weapon in envy before flipping in front of Krystal and slashing through the air with an uppercut, sending two of the pig-men into the air where she followed them up, seized one with her legs and impaled the other with her blade, and brought them both crashing back to the ground on their heads.
"Okay, lady." Krystal called. "If you're trying to impress me…it's working."
"Perfect. Just wanted to show that I've got a bit of fighting flair myself."
"We're fighting off anthropomorphic pigs. Where's the necessity for flair in that?"
"…honey, I gotta say you remind me way too much of Vergil."
"Who's Vergil?"
"No one important. By the by, one of those jerks threw his lantern a little too close. Your tail's on fire."
"GOOD GOD!"
Krystal swatted the flames on her tail out and grimaced at the dark patches left.
"Thanks. Perfect timing to tell me that on your part."
"Don't mention it. Kick those telepathic skills into high gear! There's more on the way!"
"Oh, for crying out loud…"
As Trish had just stated, more of the pig-men appeared as if from nowhere, forcing the two to press their backs to one another and slash and stab repeatedly at their foes to prevent any from sneaking up behind them, both performing stylish move after stylish move to do so. Trish pushed forward just as a pig-man struck, disrupting his balance long enough for her to vault him into the air with a kick to the groin and finish him off with a few well-aimed rounds from her gun. Krystal's staff emitted a thin stream of vapour that surprisingly welded one of the pig-men's feet to the ground before she slammed her foot into his chest and sent him flying away, yanking his spear away and telekinetically swinging it with all her might to strike more of the porcine adversaries.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Trish asked.
"If you're asking if I can hear what you're thinking, yes. And I agree with it."
"Good."
Just as they were about to be hit, the two flipped in opposite directions, landing outside the cluster of pig-men and planting their weapons into the ground. Krystal's staff released a heavy tremor that tripped their foes off their feet, while Trish's sword released a second and more powerful tremor that launched them into the air. Finally, the two vaulted themselves upward and, with their weapons glowing brightly, slammed the pig-men back down to the ground, forcing a giant column of energy and fire up from the ground to incinerate them on contact.
"In the mood for ham tonight?" Trish called.
"Nah. I prefer mine medium-rare, and we just burned it beyond recognition."
"Hm. You know, I take back the demon stuff. You're alright, Krystal."
"Same to oh my God, here come more."
More of the pig-men were charging down to them from a nearby hill, but interestingly enough, there was a strange being standing behind the group. A very tall and violet-skinned being that looked like something not of this world. Granted, Krystal herself wasn't off this world, but this was something else entirely.
Then he looked straight at Krystal…and she heard his voice in her head.
"You…can you hear me?"
"Yes."
"…come to me."
Krystal obeyed, sheathing her staff and flipping over the pig-men who didn't bother to follow her as Trish kept them occupied.
"Hey!" the human called out to her vulpine ally. "Don't leave me here by myself! What's wrong with you?!"
The being remained still as Krystal came up to him, staring down at her with his large and angry eyes.
"Would you care to explain what you're doing?" Krystal demanded.
"It is my master's wish…any adversary of his must be captured or eliminated."
"You sound unsure of yourself…and you feel that way, too. He's using you against your will, isn't he?"
"It does not matter. If you ally yourself with that woman, then I'm afraid I have no choice but to defeat you as well."
Krystal scanned the creature's mind yet again, finding that he didn't want to fight her or even be here. He was being held against his will as she had said, but what was strange was that she had to mentally battle her way through clouds of resistance to find anything. This creature was psychic, just like her. Whatever she was seeing were things he didn't want her to see, and he was doing a fairly decent job of combating her. She couldn't find his motive for going against her, but she did find a name, though a tingling sensation in the back of head alerted her that he had found hers.
"Mewtwo…you know you don't have to do this."
"You are wrong, Krystal. I must…for her sake."
"Her?"
"Enough! Draw your weapon and fight!"
Krystal reached for her staff only for Mewtwo to plant his three-fingered hand against her chest and repulse her. The cobalt vixen landed on her feet and rushed forward, avoiding the pulses from Mewtwo's hands as he swung them at her and kneeing him in the stomach. He did little more than grunt before widening his eyes. They flashed, and Krystal all of a sudden slumped over as she felt all of her strength flush out of her before it was kicked back into her system when she was telepathically thrown high into the air.
"A rather poor start on your part, I must say." Mewtwo sighed as he struck Krystal to the ground when she was within range again.
Krystal got to her feet, and as Mewtwo came forward to pulse her away again, she reached out with her mind and resisted. Thus, the two were locked in a telepathic struggle until Krystal saw a buildup of dark energy in Mewtwo's left hand, flipping out of the way when he launched an enormous sphere of shadow at her head. She retaliated with several blasts of fire from her staff, only for him to teleport back and forth to avoid them. She gritted her teeth and stabbed at him rapidly until she managed to nick his shoulder. Mewtwo grunted in pain and floated backward a few inches, a small but visible scratch on his shoulder where Krystal had nicked him but no blood to be seen.
"What are you?" Krystal demanded. "How are you this strong?"
"We both gained our abilities from our heritage, it seems. But that heritage…your family…everything you had…destroyed in the blink of an eye."
"And you...a girl. But not the one you were talking about earlier."
"That is not any of your concern."
"Neither is Cerinia any of yours."
Mewtwo growled and slashed his hand upward, shocking Krystal when she realized he had flipped her upside down in the blink of an eye. She demonstrated her incredible athletic skills again by holding herself up with one hand and pushing off it to kick Mewtwo square in the jaw. As he flew backward, he began rapidly firing more shadow balls at his blue-furred foe, who retaliated by planting her staff into the ground, producing a translucent blue force to deflect the tiny projectiles. Once the way was clear, she rushed forward again, every swing being blocked until Mewtwo struck again in the strangest way possible. His eyes and hands glowed as he held the latter upward after pushing Krystal away long enough, and when she made eye contact as she streaked toward him again, it felt as though she had suddenly slammed full force into a brick wall.
After shaking off the dizziness, she had only a split second to react before Mewtwo attacked her with more shadow balls. She swung as quickly as she could, reflecting them all back at the firer who simply waved his hand and dissipated them. Almost immediately, he pressed his hands together and Krystal spotted a large buildup of energy in them.
"Oh, so that's how you want to play it, eh? Alright, then."
She positioned herself properly and aimed an end of her staff at Mewtwo, willing the end to open and begin to charge its own buildup. Once Mewtwo had launched a massive beam from his hands, Krystal's staff fired its own beam, forcing the two to connect and detonate with such a force that it knocked both firers backwards.
"I must say…you are really starting to annoy me." Mewtwo growled. "I'm actually stunned by how resilient you are."
"You know what they say: a cornered rat will bite the cat."
"Don't forget. The cat has claws."
The two lunged toward each other again and began trading blow for blow, striking each other occasionally but never doing enough damage to put the other out of the fight. Krystal jabbed Mewtwo's chest and roundhouse-kicked his face. Mewtwo conjured two shadow balls and brought them slamming into Krystal's head before repulsing her a few inches away to catch his breath. Not to mention the two were constantly slamming each other with psychic attacks that continued to wrack each other's brains, granting them quick access to information about each other. From Krystal's end, she could pick up "clone", "Giovanni", and "Mew". Mewtwo, on the other hand, found "Sabre", "Corneria", and "Kursed". The two were as enigmatic to each other they could be, neither one being able to make any sense out of what they had heard from each other.
"Who is this 'Kursed'?"
"That depends. Who is this 'Giovanni'?"
Before Mewtwo could strike, Trish's massive blade slammed into the ground between the two foes and forced them apart before returning to its owner's hand, who had single-handedly killed all of the pig-men with relative ease.
"That also depends. How long before one of you starts drawing blood?"
Mewtwo sneered, though acknowledged that he couldn't stand to fight against two people at once. Not with the limitations they had placed on him.
"Damn…if only they hadn't done that to me, I could save Saya myself."
"What's that?" asked Trish.
"Never you mind…very well. I'll leave you for now, but do not think our fight ends here, Krystal. You are a formidable opponent, and if I do not fight you again for my master's wishes, I will fight you on the grounds that you are truly a challenge for me."
Krystal's expression softened. Something about Mewtwo seemed so out of place. She knew he was being held against his will by attacking her and Trish, but from how she had managed to read him and from the things he had said, it seemed someone had threatened him in a way. And then there was that name he mentioned.
She wanted to offer him a compromise, but by the time she'd thought about it, he had vanished.
"Well, wasn't he just pleasant." Trish said in a snarky manner.
"God…I feel so bad for him."
"Why's that?"
"I can't explain it, but I heard little snippets of traumatic events in his head. He's been through hell, and it really looks like he wants to go it alone."
"Guess there's nothing we can do to convince him otherwise."
"What is he, anyway?"
"By my guess, I'd say he's a Pokémon."
"A what?"
"A collective term for animals with almost human-like intelligence. A lot of them are really friendly, but…I suppose we just met one that was anything but. In any case, I think there's something like seven hundred species of Pokémon in the world."
"I'd say that was more than 'almost' human-like intelligence."
Trish stroked her chin and closed her eyes in deep thought.
"But that girl he mentioned. Saya…what could he possibly want with her?"
"Who is that?"
"Saya Kusanagi is a girl I was supposed to pick up earlier today, but she didn't show up. My only guess is that she got herself in a really tight spot."
"And you think Mewtwo and those pig things might have had something to do with it?"
"I'd almost guarantee it. Listen, Krystal. I know you have your own problems to deal with right now, but my associate isn't gonna get here for a while, and he's probably going to spend more time goofing around than actually doing something productive."
Krystal smirked as she scanned Trish's mind and located the man she spoke of.
"Dante. Seems like a good fellow."
"He is, but he's a real screwball sometimes. So, if it's not too much trouble, I need you to help me find Saya. If you do, I'll be more than happy to help you find Fox and Falco."
Krystal sheathed her staff and nodded.
"Okay. I'm not familiar with Earth, anyway. Having a native should make things a little easier."
"Funny thing is I'm not originally from Earth, either."
"Uhh…what?"
"Forget it. Let's get a move on, Baby Blue."
"What is that, my nickname all of a sudden?"
Krystal may have been sneering at that moment, but in the next, she was looking up at the moon shining high above. It was a real beauty, but it wasn't quite like the moon floating over Corneria at night, which was so close it was like one could reach out and touch it. And speaking of Corneria…
"Fox…please be safe."
There was no way she could have known, but somewhere else on Earth, Fox McCloud was wishing her the same thing.
I'm no "genwunner" as the Internet likes to put it, but there's no denying that Mewtwo is easily the most badass of all Pokémon (even though my favourites are Pikachu and Lugia. Just sayin'). There was no way I could keep him out of this story. The first Pokémon movie may or may not be as good as I remember, but it certainly left an impact on me even if it's apparently terrible like the majority of video game movies apparently are.
In fact, that's actually a fun question, so how about it? What's your favourite movie based on a video game? Mine is probably Resident Evil: Degeneration. Two things to say about it. One: Paul W.S. Anderson, stop trying. If Capcom can make one movie that's better than all five of your movies based on the same series, it really shows that you're just using the license for marketing. Two: LEON S. KENNEDY IS AWESOME!
Seriously, though, that movie convinced me to play Resident Evil 4 and I've been a fan of the series ever since. Eat your heart out, Silent Hill...actually, don't. You're pretty awesome, too. "No love for Fatal Frame?" T_T
SOUNDTRACK SO FAR
Saya, Ness, and Lucas- "Pollyanna" from Earthbound (SSBM)
Marth to the rescue- "Together We Ride" from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (SSBM)
X and Zero versus Kirby and Meta Knight- "Meta Knight's Revenge" from Kirby Super Star (SSBB)
Link versus Morrigan- Morrigan's theme from Marvel versus Capcom 3
Link versus Dante- "Never Surrender" from DmC: Devil May Cry
Krystal and Trish versus the Moblin horde- "Lock and Load" from Devil May Cry 1
Krystal versus Mewtwo- "Poké Floats" from Super Smash Bros. Melee (though it's actually a remix of the Trainer battle theme from Pokémon Red and Blue)