Note: I apologize if I made the last chapter a little short, I just didn't know how much I was going to write for it. Other than that, I have managed to write three chapters for a story in a single month. It's an unrelated story, but it's still a Star Fox story. My non-Star Fox stories need more love, so I hope that everyone can check them out. If you want to check them out, that would be appreciated. Before we move on, I have something to say to two reviewers.

Big Bossk Man 92: If the cure Star Fox made doesn't work, then the new cure that they'll make from the Jackal's blood might. They might need to test it out before going out to hunt vampires. As for the castle, it is a good question as to how it got made, or who made it. I can't tell if someone lives there or not, because that would be spoiling the chapter. However, maybe Krystal will find out if there's anyone inside.

King Tutanfoxenkhamen III: Well, the Jackal was probably a newer vampire, and Krystal's been one for much longer. I can't tell who the castle belongs to, but it probably doesn't have vampire hunters. It having monsters is much more likely. As for Star Fox, they'll have to test out the new cure before using it against Star Wolf. Krystal's probably going to have trouble from this point onward, as she's on her own. Thanks for the review, and I hope you like this chapter.

Now that I've said that, it's time for chapter sixteen.

Chapter 16: The Castle

Standing in front of the massive structure that stood in defiance of the sun, Krystal had a feeling of unease. The castle had no openings that allowed its inhabitants to see what was outside. In addition to that, the building was pitch black, looking like it had been damaged by fire. By using her telepathy, Krystal could pick up several different brainwaves inside. There were people inside of the castle, but it was hard to tell who they were. One brainwave overlapped the other, almost as if they were masking each other.

Before Krystal could walk away from the castle, the drawbridge suddenly lowered. Startled by this, the cobalt vixen practically jumped away from where she was standing. However, with the drawbridge down, she could see what the inside of the structure was like. The entryway was a long corridor that awaited anyone who stepped inside. It didn't seem to have much in terms of light, being lit with torches and lanterns. Outside of the poor lighting, there was nothing to indicate that anyone lived inside the castle.

Krystal was about to leave the forest when her telepathy picked up something inside. Given how horror movies showed that entering strange, mysterious places was a bad idea, the cobalt vixen wasn't willing to enter it. Even if she was half-vampire, she was hoping to prevent any wanderer from entering the castle. The last thing they needed was to end up as food for whatever lived inside. Worse, there was no telling as to what someone would encounter. Krystal even felt like shutting off her telepathy, despite that it would be dangerous for her to do so.

Without warning, a voice began to echo into Krystal's ears.

"Come in." The voice said. "Step inside. You'll be safer in here, than you are out there."

Unnerved by how sudden the speech was, Krystal covered her ears. This proved fruitless, however, as the voice continued to speak. It seemed as though it was able to bypass any attempt to shut it out. Keeping her hands over her ears, Krystal grit her teeth, trying harder to ignore the voice. Despite that, it just kept speaking, almost as if it were hypnotizing those who heard it. Nothing could stop it, and it just kept going.

"Come into the castle." The voice said. "Don't you want protection from the outside? It's safe in here. Come in."

"Stop!" Krystal shouted. "If you want me to come in, then shut up! Leave me alone!"

"Enter the castle." The voice said. "We've been expecting you."

"Fine then." The cobalt vixen said, intent on stopping the voice. "If you want me to come into the castle, then I'll do it! Just knock it off!"

Stepping onto the drawbridge, Krystal felt relieved at hearing the voice finally stop. However, she felt as though things were going to get worse from that point onward. As the drawbridge closed, the cobalt vixen's suspicions were confirmed. Inside the castle, there was nary a soul in sight. Despite her telepathy being on guard, the brainwaves Krystal had sensed were very faint, as if they were much deeper in the building. The brainwaves themselves didn't feel like they came from a sentient creature, but rather a violent creature that was incapable of thinking clearly.

With her telepathy scanning the castle's entrance, Krystal slowly walked through it. Looking around, the cobalt vixen could see that there was no rooms that were connected to the entrance. Finding such a fact unimportant, she moved on, coming at the end of the hallway. By doing so, the Cerinian vampire found herself facing a stairway. The stairway lead up to the next floor of the castle, which had two passageways leading to different parts. There was an entrance behind it, being able to be accessed by anyone.

Krystal walked into the entrance behind the stairway, deciding to see what it lead to. It was a laboratory teeming with beakers, supplies, and science books. By taking a closer look at the room, Krystal could tell that a rack full of DNA samples was in the middle of a desk. Each sample was taken from a different creature, with the Latin name for each being written near them. A notebook was next to them, detailing experiments conducted on each one. The experiments had been done recently, with some of them being done on the same day.

It's like the lab on Sargasso! Krystal thought to herself. Something tells me that it's only going to get worse from here!

Walking out of the lab, Krystal was ready to leave the castle. However, something was compelling her to stay for much longer. The cobalt vixen found herself unable to move, as if the feeling had paralyzed her altogether. She struggled to move, even wiggling her fingers. Nothing seemed to work, not even blinking. Krystal couldn't do anything, and whatever was inside the castle was intent on keeping her there.

After a minute of being paralyzed, Krystal was able to move again. However, she wasn't moving out of her own free will. Something was forcing her to walk up the stairway, as if she were being led up. Once the cobalt vixen was on the second floor of the castle, she was unable to stop herself from turning around and facing a near-empty hallway. There were rooms on each side of the hallway, making it different than the first floor. It looked like it was one of the more occupied parts of the castle.

Finding herself unable to stop moving, Krystal moved through the hallway of the second floor. While doing so, the cobalt vixen looked around, seeing how it was different than the first floor. On each side of the hallway, there was a room or two. For the left side of the hallway, there were two rooms, one of whom looked like a bedroom. As for the right side, it had only a single room. The room in-question had a desk, two bookcases, and office supplies. It resembled a study, but it didn't have enough space to be considered one.

By going through the castle, Krystal couldn't help but feel reminded of her home on Cerinia. She had been born to a royal family, but it wasn't something she liked. Her father had been King, but he refused to let her do anything that fit outside of his worldview. To the King of Cerinia, women weren't supposed to be independent or strong. While the Queen did everything she could to prevent her husband's tyrannical laws from being passed, he made sure that he had more power than the rest of his family, which meant that some of his laws were passed. However, she wasn't willing to let Krystal's life be ruined by the King.

This is familiar, but, at the same time, different. Krystal thought to herself. Unlike the castle I lived in, this one feels safer, and I'm not under constant threat of oppression. However, I'm being forced through it, so it's not a safe place. I just need to see whoever has been making me walk through the castle, controlling my body like a marionette.

With her telepathy on, Krystal could tell that she was getting closer to the castle's inhabitants. The cobalt vixen sensed five specimens facing a dozen more. While she hadn't sensed the others before, she had sensed the first five. She had encountered the quintet at separate points in her life, three of them being enemies, while the other two had been friends and allies. Everyone was on the next floor, and they were waiting for Krystal. One of them happened to be the source of the voice that had compelled her to come inside.

That was Panther's voice! Krystal thought to herself. His vampirism must've given him the ability to control women!

As she uncontrollably walked up the stairs, Krystal felt the brainwaves she sensed get stronger. Knowing who they belonged to, she was eager to destroy them with her staff. If that didn't work, then the cobalt vixen would fight as hard as she ever fought. Her hands tightened into fists, being freed from the hold Panther had put her under. Closing her eyes, the Cerinian thought about one thing: taking down those on the third floor. She braced herself, waiting for the opportunity to present itself.

Krystal then felt her body stop moving against its will. This caused her to open her eyes, allowing her to look at the castle's inhabitants. Standing in front of her were a group of dogs, alligators, and salamanders, and none of them seemed to have a heartbeat. On the right was Miyu, who was standing with Panther. Fay was next to the two felines, licking what seemed to be blood off her fingers. Leon was on the left of the group, holding a rapier in his hands. In the back of the room was a throne shrouded in darkness, and it wasn't hard to see who was sitting there.

"Wolf." Krystal spoke.

As if saying his name was the end result of an incantation, the throne was illuminated. Once that happened, Wolf was shown to be sitting in it. The one-eyed lupine had a smirk on his face, looking confident. He wasn't wearing his normal outfit, however, as he was dressed in new clothing entirely. The wolf was now wearing an azure jacket, a white shirt, a red undershirt, black leggings, boots, and a black cape with red trim underneath, lacking his eyepatch from before. With that outfit, he was practically dressed up like Dracula, but with minor differences in clothing.

"I was wondering when you would come in." Wolf spoke. "Of course, without Panther, we wouldn't have gotten you past the drawbridge."

"Forcing me to enter the castle was a foolish mistake, and it will be your demise." Krystal hissed.

"How is that so?" The one-eyed lupine snorted.

"Because I'm going to tear through your armies!" The cobalt vixen said.

"Well, you heard the Cerinian, gentlemen!" Leon said, tapping his rapier on the ground.

Upon hearing Leon give them the order, the group surrounded Krystal, ready to fight her. The cobalt vixen braced herself, knowing that there would be an incoming bloodbath. One of the dogs ran at her, so she dodged and fired her staff at him. After that, she impaled an alligator and another dog with her weapon. The Cerinian vampire felt her eyes glow, being fueled by the battle. The rest of the group had glowing eyes as well, showing that they weren't going to hold back against their enemy.

Wrapping Krystal's arms behind her back, an alligator vampire signaled for his fellow vampires to come over, so that they could subdue the vixen who had been fighting them. This ultimately backfired on the reptile, as Krystal broke free and impaled him. She then fired her staff again, killing several other vampires. Once that was out of the way, there were only two left: a dog and a salamander. The Cerinian vampire annihilated the salamander before grabbing the dog by his shoulders. He tried to break free, but he was soon paralyzed by his enemy's telepathy.

"Let go of me!" The dog cried. "C'mon, we're vampires, we should be on the same side!"

"I'm not like you, and I am NOT on the same side as you!" Krystal growled.

Before the dog knew it, he felt fangs jab into his throat. Krystal had bitten him, and she began to drain him. Star Wolf, Fay, and Miyu were all surprised, having not expected their visitor to attack a member of their army in such a way. They watched as he crumpled into dust, letting out an echoing scream that slowly distorted and faded. After that, Krystal faced the space pirates-turned-vampires, the blood of her enemy surrounding her mouth. The cobalt vixen's eyes glowed brighter, showing that he powers were growing. Her body was surrounded by an aura that was brighter in color than theirs.

After a minute of standing there with glowing eyes and massive aura, Krystal began to collapse. Draining the vampire dog had taken a lot out of the cobalt vixen, and it had caused her to lose consciousness. Upon seeing that, Star Wolf went over to the Cerinian vampire, wanting to see what had happened. Leon checked her to see if her heart didn't start beating again. It wasn't beating, but there was something inside that had caused her insides to work better. Wolf only watched as his men checked Krystal, waiting for them to find out what she had done.

"It's weird." Leon said. "Feeding on a fellow vampire didn't make her mortal, but it did something else to her body."

"What should we do with her, Wolf?" Panther asked.

"Take her to a room!" Wolf ordered. "And, while you're there, give her a weapon of her own! Things just got a little more interesting, considering what she had done!"

Picking up the unconscious Krystal, Leon and Panther were ready to carry her out of the throne room.

"Wait!" Wolf said. "Let me give her something! I've grown tired of looking at her dingy uniform!"

Snapping his fingers, Wolf watched as Krystal's uniform was replaced with a new set of clothing. Now, the cobalt vixen was wearing a cream blouse, black leggings, leather boots, and a purple scarf around her neck. On the scarf, there was a symbol that traveled from the beginning to the end. It was the same symbol that adorned the tapestries hung around the castle. This signaled that Star Wolf were the ones who owned the castle, let alone the clothing that Krystal now had on. With these new clothes, she was unofficially added to their army.

Now that Krystal was dressed in a new outfit, Wolf signaled for Panther and Leon to take her out of the throne room. With them gone, the one-eyed lupine smiled, knowing that his plans were back on track. Not only was the vixen he turned into a vampire let into the castle, but no one had come in with her. As such, no one would know what Star Wolf was planning next. It was just about time for them to set out and look for new victims. Whether they were drained or transformed, it didn't matter, as it would strength their army. Soon, the entire Lylat System would be theirs.

Note: Looks like Krystal fought as hard as she could, but ultimately passed out. However, she fed on a fellow vampire, which helped to incapacitate her. Could it have made her more powerful? Did it knock her out for the rest of the story, or will she recover? What's Star Wolf's next plan? Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!