FOUR
It took everything Fox had to keep himself from sprinting his way to Krystal. With over four and a half kilometers left to go until he reached her last known location, abusing his endurance would only slow his trek. He had to keep a steady pace to avoid stumbling to the ground and coughing up his own lungs; his snout cover tempted him to do that enough already.
Fox figured he had been running for around eleven minutes since he left the hotel, he'd be to Krystal in another twenty. He was forced to take a break when he came across one of the exposed metro tunnels. Warped, melted, and torn up steel based material from the once solid ceiling overlay roughly the entire bottom of the trench. Despite this, Fox was able to depict six rails running across the tunnel floor; with a civilian platform placed between each. He estimated the trench to be nearly ten meters deep, about half of a kilometer wide, and the length of it ran out of sight on both sides of him.
Fox looked back down at the tunnel's rugged ground far beneath him. "This isn't going to be fun..." He utterly dreaded the coming task; his clothes were now soaked with sweat to the point of replacing the blood that had stained them; every muscle in his body burned and throbbed, begging to drop to the ground and rest for hours. Fox emittted a quick shiver before gritting his teeth. Stop complaining and just do it!
Taking one more look around for hostile activity, he set his rifle down and removed a coil of a dense, non-combustible line he had wrapped around his upper body from his left shoulder to his lower right side. He had found it on the roof of the hotel he was at a few kilometers back; the rope was left from a once attached swing stage scaffold. Regardless of its weight, Fox had seen the trenches ahead from his previous viewpoint and knew it would be needed. He picked up his rifle, attached it to the back of his vest, and walked over to a street light near the metro tunnel. Line in hand, he wrapped it around the light post so that the cord was divided into two even ends; which he threw over the side of the trench. Against his hopes, it wasn't long enough; leaving an uncovered distance far enough that dropping from would be fatal. "Fuck…" He grumbled.
His ear swiveled backward beneath his scarf, then suddenly he dove behind a nearby hovercraft, got up on one knee and peeked over the hood; scanning the area through the sights of his blaster. He wasn't sure if it was keen hearing or paranoia, but something from behind him set both his ears and his instincts off. Fox stayed there for several minutes; his eyes constantly searching the ground, windows, and roofs of his surroundings for anything sketchy. Time continued to pass, and everything remained still. Finally, deciding he'd been there too long, he chose to keep moving; but kept his ears trained hard for even the smallest noise.
Re-attaching his rifle to his back, he swiftly ran to the line, undivided it, and tied one end to the pole; doubling the length that now reached the ground below with length to spare. "If only it was enough to take with me…" He groaned with frustration. He then checked his black and red trimmed leather gloves; inspecting their condition before he gripped the rope with both hands, backed himself to the edge of the trench, and after taking a moment to clear any loose debris that the line could send down after him, he began promptly stepping down the wall.
He kept it as slow as his muscles would allow, releasing one hand with each step to grab the lower part of the rope, then repeating with the other; reaching the bottom in under a minute. He could feel his arms shaking with that last five meters, and gave into sliding to ensure he reached the ground before they failed him. Once on solid ground, Fox reluctantly released the cord, removed his laser rifle from his back, and began to make his way along the metallic terrain of the metro floor.
To Fox, the term concrete jungle was starting to take a very literal sense. He ran along ground that was warped, twisted, and ragged; dodged pieces of track that stuck up left and right; stepped over the rising count of corpses not far from ash piles; dove through miniature tunnels formed from large pieces of the pre-existing ceiling; and maneuvered through and around severely damaged metro cars that lay all over the trench.
It was towards one of these cars that Fox was headed. It had been thrown vertically up against his destined side of the tunnel wall, providing the perfect makeshift ladder. Clearing the rest of the obstacles, Fox arrived at the car and took a minute to clear the area, catch his breath, then pick out a safe climbing route up the car. He checked inside for the condition of the seats. A few were still intact, but most were torn from their place and tossed around the cabin. "Windows it is." He looked at their condition. Each frame was glassless, but the warped and torn condition of the frame held risk to slice his hands clean open. Glad I always wear my gloves... Fox thought as he lifted his hands to inspect them again, releasing a smirk. Fingerless as they are… Sliding his firearm onto his back, he began to climb; continuously checking for the safe placement of his hands as he went up. The car creaked and moaned, but seemed to remain in place.
Fox now stood on the skyward end of the metro car, figuring how to clear the remaining two-meter distance of the tunnel wall from his head, up. He figured he could jump about one meter, and his arm could reach about six to seven decimeters, which left another two to three decimeters for him to make. I might make it with a running start… He thought eagerly. Not much room to run though… A sudden, loud shift of metal made its cry, and the car began to move beneath his feet. Please Lylat, no!
The steel box rocked from side to side, determining which direction to fall. Looks like I've got no choice! Fox prepared himself as the large steel box finally chose to tower towards the east of itself. He tensed up, then exploded into a short dash towards its northwest corner. As he placed his foot's final step onto the corner's edge, Fox put everything he had into pushing his body off the platform and up towards the edge of the trench.
Fox felt the blood pulse from his heart as his hand came within a decimeter of its goal, then shock rippled through his flow as he began to feel gravities pull; the shock turned to terror as the pull increased and he entered free fall.
No! Fox swung up his other hand, stretching it far enough to cover the remaining distance and grab onto the edge. He hung off the cliff as he watched the metro car topple over to the ground with a booming crash; spitting up dust in a thick, spreading cloud which settled as quickly as it all fell silent. That crash was loud enough to hear for kilometers… Fox thought as he listened eerily for some form of reaction. Detecting nothing else, he felt his arm begin to weaken and gripped the edge with his other hand to pull himself up just enough to see the terrain ahead of him. There were fewer buildings now, mostly all rubble. He observed the layout for a few more moments. Still nothing. His arms not allowing him to hang there any longer, he pulled himself the rest of the way up and rolled onto the edge of the cliff.
I made it! Fox thought with a smile as he worked to calm the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He looked down a diminished pathway to Krystal's crash sight. Excitement threw his attempt to ease his heart rate to waste; the Cloud Runner was now only four kilometers away. He quickly rolled to his feet and took off running, rifle in hand, hardly able to keep himself from a full-on sprint as he forced himself to stay close to any form of cover; keeping an ever-trained eye and ear actively on guard. He didn't like how he was still alone.
…
Swords of light continued to rain from the cannons of the Cornerian battleships present on the battlefield, each blade hoping to pierce its intended target. Daggers rained back from the enemy pilots, hoping to puncture any exposed vital organs on the couple steel beasts. Hardly anything could be made out anymore. Alongside the beams of light: Anglars, Aparoids, Androssians, Cornerians, and New Cornerians had congregated into one area, making it difficult for both sides to distinguish who to shoot. Star Fox had kept to the outskirts of the firefight to help contain the situation and avoid death by confusion.
Inside her battleship, Admiral Shepherd aggressively paced back and forth in front of her targeting screen, thrusting a straight hand at various soldiers and barking orders; fueled with fire from the stress. The admiral stumbled as her entire vessel shook from a trio of Nova bombs that assaulted the upper hull. "I thought I ordered those mutts on artillery not to let another shot hit our ship!"
A young Beagle directly behind her answered. "They're at the top of their game ma'am, but the New Cornerians know our firing patterns; they know where to fly in order to steer clear of our cannon shots!"
Shepherd grabbed the hound by his shirt collar, yanking him over and scolding him with a low, sharp growl. "If I hear you call those scum, Cornerians, one more time Lieutenant! Get this through your canine skull: those traitors are no better than the scaled bastards that crawled out of Venom's crevices, nor the apes who lead them, and they shall be referred to as such!"
The Beagle's eyes grew fearfully wide. "Ma'am, all Androssians will be dealt with; ma'am!"
The admiral grinned and released her grip. "Back to your station soldier." The ship rocked again from another hit. "And somebody keep those damn fighters OFF OF US!"
Falco was currently being tailed by one of the New Cornerian dogs. The chase had gone on for several minutes and Falco still couldn't shake him. This is embarrassing! He thought heatedly, dodging another squad of bullets from his pursuer.
"Why couldn't our military fight this well during the Lylat Wars?" Lucy voiced into the team's comm line, feeling similar frustration via constant failure to hit her target.
Amanda stayed in vicinity of the Great Fox II, attempting to protect it from incoming fire. "I don't know about our military, but these New Cornerian pups certainly know what they're doin!" She said out loud.
"I heard that missy!" Shepherd snapped.
"You may call me Mrs. Toad, Admiral." Amanda sassed. Forgot we opened our radio channel...
"Amanda, please don't piss off the admiral." Slippy piped in.
"Baby, please stay out of this. Just keep doing a wonderful job of operating the Great Fox, m'kay?"
Her threateningly cheerful tone made him change subjects. "Yeah, well she's almost out of energy! R.O.B and I don't have long till I'm gonna have to withdraw to let her cool down and recharge. Plus, she's taken a lot of hits; not to mention I only have two missiles left…"
"Bucket of bolts." Falco teased.
"She's not, a bucket, of BOLTS!" Slippy hollered.
"First Great Fox never had that problem."
Shepherd interrupted. "For the sake of the universe, SHUT THE HELL UP! How the hell have you all survived this long?!"
"Beats me." Falco replied, finally gaining the advantage over his follower and filling the New Cornerian fighter with holes.
"I'm pulling back. Too dangerous to stay any longer…" Slippy whimpered.
"You said other reinforcements were en-route; any idea when that'll be Admiral?!" Amanda jabbed.
"I can call in a couple more battleships, but if another wave shows, Corneria will initiate a last resort response."
"Another lightning show?" Falco amusedly asked.
Lucy instantly interrupted. "That can't happen! Fox is still down there!"
"What?!" Falco yelled.
"It won't be another AEM; all that does is purge the surface." Shepherd's voice became very grim. "Next step is an invasion."
"Fox flew down to Venom?!" Falco yelled again.
"Invasion?" Lucy asked.
"We would go in and personally clear the planet down to its core; something the military desperately wants to avoid." Shepherd's voice grew quiet. "Something I desperately want to avoid…"
"Would someone tell me what happened to Fox?!" Falco yelled furiously.
"Not now Falco!" Lucy snapped back; Falco shut his beak with pure shock at Lucy's explosion. She spoke again to the Alsatian. "Corneria has that kind of power?"
"Yes and no. The consequential result of the worst case scenario could lead to our final decimation. We have no idea what we'd find down there, but waiting to find out would guarantee it."
"All in or bust," Falco commented with a grim smirk. "I'm starting to like you."
"That said," The Admiral growled, "It's still a hasty, desperate option we fervently want to avoid." The admiral fell silent, then spoke again with a determined tone. "We will hold the line. We will stop this here."
"You know how many times I've heard Corneria alone say that?" Falco prodded.
"I should execute you for your disrespect; mercenary." Shepherd growled.
"Just sayin' it like it is." Falco shrugged.
Shepherd looked over her shoulder. "Lieutenant?"
The overwhelmed Beagle spun around and yelped, "Yes ma'am?!"
"I want that bird gunned down."
The Lieutenant froze, his jaw twitching in vain to voice it's bewilderment.
The admiral dropped her head with a sigh. "Fetch a sense of humor, Lieutenant."
…
Fox could hardly contain himself. "One kilometer, only… one kilometer! You can make… one kil…ometer!" He huffed out. The cloud of trailing smoke that kept growing closer only made Fox run faster, pushing himself beyond his limits; he no longer cared about his lungs or legs. His heart jumped when the body of the Cloud Runner came into sight, she had managed to land it in an empty street with hardly any additional damage to the fighter. I'm here Krystal, can you hear me?! Seconds passed with no response. Krystal, please tell me you're alright?! Only silence responded.
Fox thought of her last words. 'Fox… They… they have me…' Over half a kilometer out, he slowed himself to a walk, then stood still. 'They have me.' He repeated. "They…" Fox whispered. He dropped and rolled to a large, nearby piece of rubble; trying to control his huffing as he watched and listened for nearby hostiles. How could I have been so stupid?! I was about to sprint right into a possible hotspot!
Fox visually swept the area around him: the charred carcasses surrounding him remained eerily still, and there wasn't much else to act as concealment with what Fox guessed to be around fifty buildings total that could be considered still standing. There should be more activity here…
His entire trek had gone unchallenged, however there was no time to clear every single edifice he came across. All he could do was rigorously sweep the area with his eyes as he ran, keeping as close to large objects as possible should they become needed. Fox began to dash his way to each available cover ahead of him, cautiously growing closer to her fighter. With few building corners to hide behind, demolished hovercrafts and large pieces of debris were his main guardians. He had just begun to run from a piece of debris to one of the surviving structures when a strong sense of peril came over him.
A split-second whistle followed by a sharp sting in the back of his neck confirmed his feeling. Fox hurled himself into the side of a nearby street barricade and quickly pulled a short, thin object from where he felt the hit; bringing a silver dart into his eyesight as he was overcome with dizziness and blurred vision. Fox knew he had less than three seconds to act; he needed five.
Without hesitation, Fox's right hand pulled his tactical knife from his vest, but his fading heartbeat stopped as he observed less than half a blade. In the second he gained from the shock of the horrific discovery, he assessed the edge to still be jagged enough and brought it down fiercely into the unplated black leather covering the center of his right foot; piercing into his flesh and muscle. A short, sharp yowl escaped his lips, but he kept himself focused as he brought his opposing fist down upon the knife's handle to drive it the rest of the way through to the ground. He hollered in pain again, proceeding to use the time his sensory nerves gave him to dig into his medical pack and pull out an adrenaline shot. Fox quickly unzipped his vest, coat, and tore open the chest of his under shirt; then he removed the adrenaline shot barrel's safety cover located on the needle end, and aimed the shot at the left side of his exposed, fuzzy chest.
Without pause, he shoved it into his skin, felt the needle extend out of the barrel, pierce through his pectoral muscle, between his chest cavity, and straight into his heart. He gasped at the brief, crushing sensation the organ emitted, but immediately felt his head clear up as the injected fluid spread through his body. He conquered the final sting as the needle retracted, then he tossed the shot aside and took a moment to regain control. He was panting heavily, feeling his blood rush through his entire being; his heart racing to keep it going as his muscles spasmed from the war between the numbing agent and the fiery rehabilitating agent. Fox's head flipped through a countless amount of thoughts per second, but stopped when it came to a certain one. Who shot me?!
Fox went to remove the blade from his foot but stopped just as quick; cursing himself at realizing what he had done. The moment you pull that out, you're going to bleed out! "You fucking IDIOT!" Fox barked as he thought through his options, coming to one conclusion. "DAMN IT FOX!" He pulled his hand blaster from its holster and aimed it where the blade pierced through his boot; grasping the handle of the blade with his left hand. Three… two...
Fox ripped the blade directly upward from his foot and growled in pain; briefly losing focus. Forcing himself to regain control, he put the barrel of his laser pistol to the flow of blood gushing from the slit in his boot, and fired a shot. Fox underwent the same amount of pain he felt upon stabbing himself; falling to his side as he dropped the knife and the blaster, and grasped his foot. He glanced at the wound best he could through his blurred vision to ensure he was successful, finding a four-centimeter-thick, charred black hole running straight through from top to bottom; the only blood left was the thickening glaze on his boot. His entire body pulsed as the adrenaline helped him fight the pain. Get up! He scolded himself. Your attacker is waiting!
Still growling from the infliction, Fox sat up and secured his hand blaster to its holster. He then grabbed his broken knife, wiped both sides of the jagged blade against his pant leg to remove the caramelizing blood, and returned it to its sheath; zipping up his garments afterwards. Fox's rifle caught his eye where it lay a meter from him. Picking it up, Fox lay flat on the ground, crawled to the edge of the barricade that was his shelter, and peeked around it; taking in a mental overview of the area the shot came from. He left his head out only for a second before withdrawing it, hoping to avoid a second shot, but what he saw forcefully drew him to take a second look.
Standing openly on the roof of a five-story building under half a kilometer from him was a tall, black, burly figure with what Fox assumed to be a sniper rifle resting in its hands. Two large, red eye-ports burned profusely from its mask. The figure stood perfectly still, clearly unafraid of being spotted.
Neither of them moved, focused on each other with an unbreaking stare.
Fox slowly rose and stepped from his cover until he was completely exposed, keeping his gaze locked on the figure as all fear left his expression. He tilted his head ominously as he began stepping toward the being, eyes remaining locked on it as each step quickened.
The figure remained still, holding the expressionless stare that its mask gave until Fox noticed the being's shoulders begin to pulsate, hearing the distant sound of hearty laughter echo through the air. The figure then tensed up, and followed up its laugh with a deep, bone chilling roar; the same roar that Fox heard on the hotel roof eight kilometers back. The sound was nearly deafening; bringing Fox's brain to burn from the mix of noise and adrenaline. Once refocused on the weighty beast, Fox dove behind another nearby block of debris as the figure raised its rifle to take aim. A shot fired off and Fox could hear the blast burn into his cover and dissipate somewhere deep inside.
Fox looked towards a severely contorted entrance near the building which the beast stood upon. It doesn't want to kill me, but another tranq' and it's over… Fox reached toward the left side of his belt to retrieve his reflector, but found it to be missing. Damn it! I gave it to Slippy for maintenance after it started shorting out on me… Fox fought his panic by trying to come up with a different solution. Okay… Plan B… He secured his rifle to his back, pulled out one of the two flash grenades his vest carried, and shot up a prayer. Go!
Fox burst from his shelter in a mad dash toward his destination, counting to two as he ran. Once two was reached, he pulled the pin from the first flash grenade and sent it straight up in the air; going off with an ear-splitting bang and flash behind him. After four more seconds passed, Fox tossed up the second; preparing his ears for another painful round of ringing. Once dispensed, he gave it everything he had to make the final thirty meters. He counted another four seconds, then leapt into a roll towards his hunter; just missing another subtle, high pitched whistle. He got back to his feet and kept running towards the door. Three meters, dive! Fox dove into the door; smashing through some remaining, warped glass and rolling to his feet; paying no attention to the thousands of shards that spread across the floor.
He grabbed his rifle off his back and observed his surroundings. The room in which he stood was so deformed he couldn't discern what it had been before. He switched to searching out a way to the roof, finding a set of stairs with just enough skeletal remains to, at the very least, make it to the second floor. He began his ascent; keeping his eyes, ears, and rifle trained for his attacker.
The stairs took him to the third floor, with as little as a gap or two to be hopped over, until it cut off from the aftermath. Fox searched out another way, spotting an emergency ladder clinging to the building's exterior right outside the floor's windows. After checking the roof above for the predator in waiting, Fox tested the ladder by yanking on it with all his might. Receiving little more than mere wobbling, Fox slid his rifle onto his back and began his climb to the fourth, then fifth floor. Within arm's reach of one of the fifth-floor windows, the top end of the ladder abruptly gave and peeled loose from the building; leaving Fox hanging in mid-air. Damn it!
Looking up, Fox saw the beast peek over the roof's edge and take aim. Simultaneously, Fox went for his pistol with his right hand and began desperately firing off suppressing shots. Fox was victorious, not sure whether to thank his quick draw or hesitation from the beast. Either way, the being disappeared back onto the roof.
Fox re-sheathed his pistol and quickly began to sway himself from side to side to gain enough momentum to make it to the windows above. Bringing his right hand to the left side of the ladder, he timed the removal of his left hand, swung up towards the window, and propelled his left hand forward to grasp the sill. His palms met the structure and he quickly pulled himself back into the building. Once standing, he scanned the fifth floor for his enemy. He heard footsteps on the roof. He's waiting for me. Fox knew it was suicide to attempt to go up to him. Guess I'll have to bring him to me!
Fox stepped out of the room into a nearby hallway. Once there he pulled a B-bomb from his vest. "Time to raise the roof." Fox thought with a short smile, tossing the small sphere in his hand like a baseball. "And what goes up must come-"
Without warning, five blasts simultaneously sounded off and the entire ceiling crumbled. Fox fell to the floor in a fetal position, shielding his head with his arms and rifle from the rubble that buried most of his body; rendering his frame completely numb as everything went black. He began to cough from the oxygen that had been forced from his lungs, gasping to get it back. What… what the… what ha… happened… Fox opened his eyes and tried to revive himself from the unfeeling darkness his consciousness was slipping in and out of. His vision was blurred, but he had no issue seeing the black figure walking down a large mound of debris towards where he lay.
Fox's heart rate quickened as he raced to get his strength and back. Who... who are you…?
The creature drew closer.
What do you… want?
The beast stopped and observed him from a one-meter distance. It held a built male figure, dressed from the neck down in a matte black exosuit that displayed every muscle bursting from its body; its robust mask sharing the color. All that could be discerned of the being's image was from the mask's shape; holding a burly, mid-sized snout and two short, round tipped ears.
Fox's mind was drowned in dread over having to challenge this brute, but his goal left him no choice. You… you know where she is. His fear began to burn by a spark of rage. Fox looked the being in its mask's demonic red eyes. You are going to tell me… where, she, is! The remaining adrenaline kicked back in. Fox was filled with energy and began working his way to his feet, feeling his numbness reveal the pain it hid from the debris that had assaulted his body. Fox ignored it, but found the rubble heavier that he expected when his second attempt failed. He looked up at the beast, it hadn't moved. It just stood there; continuously watching in all manners of silence.
That's it! Fox shoved his hands to the floor and pushed himself up as his body uncurled and forcefully sprung himself to his feet, using the momentum to toss himself into the predator; striving to tackle it to the ground. Fox succeeded in sliding the beast back a couple meters, but the creature found its traction and brought the two to a halt with its might, shoving Fox off then landing a wood-splitting forward kick right into his abdomen. Fox curled over and fell to his knees; fighting to keep the contents of his stomach inside his body; fighting for air he could never seem to retain; fighting to stay conscious for Krystal's sake.
No further blows came. The creature had merely slid it's rifle across the floor, away from them both, and once again stood still and observant; the scarlet red eyes locked on Fox.
Once Fox found his breath again, he struggled to his feet and met his opponent face to face; his hand zipping toward his blaster.
"Don't." Came a deep, bass filled growl from its still frame.
Fox felt a bolt of terror strike him as he found himself disabled by his opponent's warning. He abhorred the idea of words rendering his weapons useless, but the creature's demeanor forced him to obey internal wisdom; the fact he had yet to be stripped of them worried him even more. Fox furrowed his brow, his left lip twitching up as he retorted through grit teeth. "Where is she?!"
"Safe." The beast responded, throwing a right hook towards Fox's face. Fox managed to duck under the strike, but was met afterwards with a knee to his jaw that flowed into a side kick to the chest; knocking him rearward to where he had started, his back smashing into the rubble. He quickly forced himself up and assumed a fighting stance; anger suppressing his body's agony. This guy's fast! Fox thought, suppressing the urge to draw his blaster. His opponent knew exactly what it was doing; unsheathing a weapon now would mean wasting what could end up being his only chance.
The beast began walking towards where Fox stood. As the distance closed, Fox saw an opportunity and feigned a left punch at his opponent's face, then threw a charged strike at its stomach with his right fist.
The creature saw past the trick and caught the real attack with its hand, then retaliated by thrusting its forehead into the top of Fox's snout; right between his eyes.
Fox staggered away from the being, who followed up by charging into Fox with his shoulder and smashing him up against a corridor wall; with force comparable to the debris that had buried him. Fox found himself once more on his knees only to be thrown further down the hallway via a powerful kick to his left cheek. He landed on his side and slid to a halt, feeling the sensation of blood trickling from his nose and his mouth inside his mask; already feeling completely broken. His entire skull pulsed and his vision was beyond blurred; colors and lights flashed and everything twitched and vibrated as if he were viewing the world through an ancient recording. Gotta… keep… fighting… Fox rolled onto his front and started to push himself up with his forearms, collapsing back to the ground as he found no strength to take from. Come on! GET UP! He tried again, slowly gaining success. He could hear the footsteps of his coming adversary. Not this time!
Fox waited until the footsteps drew closer, then he pushed himself backwards into a rear kick, landing it right into the beast's face. Fox's desperation gave the kick strength, and he didn't give his enemy any time to reciprocate. Standing back up, he drove a right punch straight into the brutes abdomen, and brought his left knee up into its face as it curled over.
Fox's opponent stumbled back, and Fox went to deliver a low, wide swinging kick to its left side.
The beast caught it and went to drive its elbow into the leg's knee for a cracking blow.
Fox loosened his muscles and rotated himself towards the ground so the pit of his knee received the brunt of the force. Shaking his leg free, Fox swept his other leg into his adversary's ankles, sending it crashing to the floor.
Both animals got to their feet and went at each other again.
Fox slowly began to adapt to the creature's fighting style, but it allowed him little more than landing a few extra hits throughout the skirmish. Most of his attacks were countered by bone numbing blows from his opponent.
Another elbow to Fox's middle, followed by an uppercut to his chin landed him back on the ground. Blood was now oozing out his mask, joined by bleeding from cuts spread across his face. His entire body burned with soreness from countless bruises. Fox began mouthing his thoughts. "Gotta… keep… fighting…"
"You're beginning to disappoint me, McCloud." The predator growled, towering over him with a sense of power that Fox was failing to overcome.
"I… I won't… let you take her!" Fox coughed out. He forced himself to sit up, roll onto his feet, and launch another punch at the beast's abdomen.
His adversary caught the fatigued attack, pulled him in by it and sent a fist surging straight into Fox's core.
That did it, Fox couldn't hold it back any longer. He released a violent, uncontrolled flow of vomit into his mask. His coughing worsened and he began to choke on the contents of his stomach. Unexpectedly, he felt something slash through the straps of his mask before it fell from his face, to which the blood infused contents of his stomach followed suit.
The creature released him and Fox collapsed to the ground, his face splashing in the puddle of bile and blood. He coughed up the remaining glop that rested in his throat and began to dry heave, not giving any further thought to the heavily toxic air he was now breathing; the burn in his lungs from the exposure and the smell of vomit that filled his nostrils were nothing compared to what his body was undergoing. Though he didn't dwell on it, he was subtly impressed his goggles hadn't fractured or given him more trouble.
"You should thank me for that." His adversary scoffed.
"Right… after… I break… you!" Fox spat back, coughing throughout his retort. He could feel his rage boiling inside him again. Strength gloriously found him, and he began to work his way to his feet, ignoring the scarlett vomit that slid off him.
"Enough." The beast stated.
As Fox stood and faced his opponent, he felt five blades pierce into his chest as he was shoved up against another wall. He looked down to see the creature's left hand as the culprit, and the blades were its claws. Fox cried out in torment as the predator slid him up the wall, driving its talons deeper into Fox's skin. Fox's eyes flashed with opportunity as he went to draw his knife, his action stopped by the beast's free hand.
Despite the sharp sting in his chest, Fox mustered a grin. "Kitty made a bad move." With both the beast's hands occupied, Fox drew his laser pistol and shot the hunter twice in the upper left leg.
The predator yowled in pain, releasing Fox and falling to the knee of the injured leg; grasping it with both hands.
Fox landed on the floor and staggered sideways until he found his balance; grasping his own chest while aiming his pistol right at the creature's head. "Now, you're going…" Fox erupted into a fit of mad coughing, however he pulled himself together and resumed his order. "You're going to tell… tell me what you've done with Krystal." Fox took another shot at the beast's shoulder, to which the hunter shrieked and fell over on its side. "Or I'll just keep shooting you in… non-lethal areas until… your clotting blood bursts from your seared veins. Take… your pick."
The beast uttered what sounded like a laugh/growl hybrid. "Never before has an opponent found a way to evade my sniper fire, refrain from going under a tranquilizer dart, and outsmart me in a sparring match; all in one battle. I must say McCloud, you are truly a worthy opponent. I look forward to adding your mark to my Angel."
My Angel? Fox pondered. "I could tell… tell from the start…" Another cough broke his words. "...that you aren't a good listener." he fired off another searing round into the hunter's foot.
The creature hissed.
"Tell me where she is!" Fox was yelling now, his urge to cough dissipating.
"I'll do better than that, fox." The beast groaned with a chilling calmness. "I will take you to her."
"No. I'm not risking a trap, and I won't sit here like a fly waiting for an ambush."
"You speak as if you have a choice; you think you've won this fight?" The predator released another menacing chuckle.
Fox's nerves stood on end, he knew that didn't mean anything good. He aimed and fired into the hunter's shin. "Listen closely: you're not walking away from this alive. Your victory here is how soon you die, and making sure that those you work with go down with you." He growled earnestly as he fired another blast into the same shin and barked ferociously, "WHERE IS SHE?!"
The beast hardly flinched at the assault. "Worry not, you'll be meeting her in moments."
Fox became furious and prepared to take another shot, when a sensation like a roaring fire ignited in his chest, his entire body grew weak, his head spun, his stomach twisted, and his hands began to shake. The vibrating increased until he could no longer hold onto the hand blaster.
The predator stood up with little effort and watched the ailing Fox; seemingly unaffected by the five holes singed into its frame. "Good night, fox."
Fox shook his head; he could've sworn that was Krystal's voice. "What in… what did… what have you done to me?!" His legs gave out and he crumbled helplessly to the floor.
Cries from Krystal were joined by Lucy, and he could feel the oncoming weight of Peppy's rage. "You could never have protected them, boy; you could never even protect yourself!"
"Peppy? Lucy?! KRYSTAL?!"
A flame suddenly ignited on the ground next to the quivering vulpes, taking off and surrounding him in a ring of fire that quickly engulfed the rest of the room. Their cries grew louder into ones of great suffering, constricting Fox in a pitiable ball on the floor as his mentality fell. "Where… where are you?! Please… let me… no… no it's, it's not real!"
Fox's terror-stricken eyes caught the approaching hunter. His mass had doubled and the mask's red portholes now spat flame; his hulking arms now carrying a black, herculean, distorted steel spear. Fox's pupils swiftly dilated as the predator ended its pause; raising the head of the spear up and jetting it into Fox's head.
Blackness consumed him as he heard the blue vixen's voice whisper two final words: "Sweet dreams."