Note: Halloween might be over, and the story might not have gotten completed by that holiday, but that doesn't mean that it can't keep going. In fact, this story might go until next year. Perhaps it will be completed by the Halloween of 2024. I don't know for sure, but it all depends on what happens. Before we move on, I want to say something to two reviewers.
Big Bossk Man 92: It was one of the few things that Death could do. Fox could have all sorts of abilities, but we don't know what they are. He had just become a monster, so it might take time for him to find out. I hope you're ready for what happens next.
King Tutanfoxenkhamen III: Well, he's more of a wraith with the abilities of a vampire. Then again, there wasn't much to do in Fox's situation. Either he's dead, or he's back in the land of the living, fighting evil. His powers could be anything, but I won't reveal what they are here. I doubt that Volk and his army will be prepared for him, though. Stay tuned for what happens next.
Now that I've done that, it's time for chapter twenty-one.
Chapter 21: Back to the Castle
Inside the dungeon, Peppy and Slippy were waiting to ambush whoever came in. With their captors being vampires, they knew that killing them would be hard. There were multiple ways to kill a vampire, but only one could have been used at the moment: staking him/her in the heart. Looking at his blaster, Slippy was intent on shooting whoever arrived in the dungeon in their chest cavity. If they weren't a vampire, then he would feel bad about killing someone who had been brought here against their will. If whoever arrived was a vampire, then the toad would have killed one of the monsters plaguing the Lylat System.
Upon seeing a silhouette, Peppy signaled for everyone to get in position. They sat in their cells, waiting for a member of Volk's army to check up on them. Footsteps echoed through the entrance, complete with the sound of dragging. Whatever was being dragged, it was metallic, as if it were a sword. Everyone braced themselves, hoping that they would be able to fight whoever came in. However, something told them that it would not be that simple.
Someone came into the room, their eyes glowing like the sun. It turned out to be Volk, formerly Wolf O'Donnell, who happened to be carrying a sword with him. Everyone looked down, trying to prevent him from knowing what they were up to. The one-eyed lupine ignored their expressions, only walking around. He seemed to be looking for something, probably an escaped prisoner. No one had gotten out of their cells, being unable to break the bars to begin with.
"Strange," Volk said, "Lombardi should have arrived here by now."
"What have you done to Falco?" Peppy asked.
"Oh," the one-eyed lupine said, "I only had Leon teleport him here. But, it would appear that he hasn't arrived yet. I should have Leon work on his teleportation spell."
"Falco better not be dead, Wolf!" Katt spoke. "If he is, then I won't hesitate to fire my blaster in your chest!"
All of a sudden, there was an ethereal noise. Falco then fell out of a green light, landing in one of the dungeon's cells. Once that was out of the way, Volk smirked, knowing that his new prisoner was here. Everyone else glared at him, knowing that he was up to something sinister.
"Now that everyone is here," Volk spoke, "perhaps I should tell you that the next phase of my plan is about to happen."
"What would that be?!" Peppy spoke. "You turned Krystal into a monster, you are making an army of the undead, and you have my little girl locked up somewhere! Isn't that enough?!"
"Well, since you asked me, I'm going to have my army spread out and start turning the residents of certain planets into vampires." The one-eyed lupine said. "And, when we've been through every planet in the Lylat System, we will travel to other star systems and look for sentient life that can help my army grow and survive!"
"That's crazy!" Bill cried. "You can't do that forever, because you'll run out of food!"
"Fox will stop you!" Slippy yelled. "You might have imprisoned us, but he'll stop you!"
"Oh, I wouldn't count on it, Toad!" Volk chuckled.
"What do you mean?" The Aquatian asked. "You didn't -!"
"He did, Slippy!" Falco spoke, having regained consciousness. "When Fox finished fighting with Krystal, Ol' One Eye put his arm through him!"
With that being said, Peppy, Slippy, Katt, and Bill were horrified. Ever since Star Fox had entered the castle, it seemed as though the team wouldn't make it out. Now, that fear had come true. Not only were Falco, Peppy, and Slippy in the dungeon, but Volk had impaled Fox with his arm. Falco had told Krystal to save the orange tod, and he only hoped that she did. However, no one else knew that. As a result, they felt like mourning the death of their friend and loved one.
"It can't be!" Bill said.
"You're lying!" Slippy cried. "Falco, please tell me you're lying!"
"He isn't." Volk said. "You see, the Pup and my apprentice were trying to throw me off by pretending to fight, so I decided to put a stop to it. Needless to say, I picked the winner!"
"So you killed Fox?!" Bill shouted.
"Well, I had to get rid of him somehow." The one-eyed lupine said.
Looking at each other, Peppy and Slippy knew that one of their worst fears had come true: Fox was dead. Falco's words were true, and they stung like a wasp. Volk only looked at his prisoners with a satisfied expression, letting them know that he had achieved victory. He had wanted to put an end to Fox for quite some time, and had finally succeeded. With no word on what happened to Krystal, everyone feared the worst for her. Falco knew what happened to her, but he felt as though he wouldn't be able to tell his allies.
"Oh, James, I failed you." Peppy said softly.
"We're screwed, aren't we?" Slippy asked, sounding on the verge of tears.
"Not quite!" Katt spoke, focusing her attention on Volk. "You might have killed Foxy, O'Donnell, but we aren't gonna let you take over the galaxy and drive your own army to extinction! We're gonna break free and kill you!"
"I wouldn't say that to someone who could crush you in an instant, Katt Monroe." Volk said. "Now that I'm in charge of an army of monsters, you should mind your manners."
"And just who are you to tell me about manners?!" The pink cat shouted. "Keep in mind that you were a raucous creep even before you turned yourself into a bloodsucker! You are the LAST person who should be saying something like that!"
"You've always had a mouth on you, kitten, but I feel as though you could have another use for it." The one-eyed lupine said.
Opening the cell, Volk slowly made his way to Katt. Not willing to let him do anything, she drew out her blaster and opened fire. However, none of the rounds the pink cat fired seemed to do any damage. Rather, they bounced off of Volk. The one-eyed lupine only grabbed Katt by her face, looking her straight in the eyes. It was evident that something terrible was going to happen unless someone did something.
"You let her go!" Bill screamed, drawing out his knife.
Just as he was about to do something to Katt, Volk felt something stab into him. Looking behind him, he saw that Bill had attacked him with his knife. The blade didn't strike the one-eyed lupine in his heart, so he wasn't immediately killed by the attack. However, it was painful, and it caused him to let go of Katt. The moment Bill retrieved his knife, he was going to stab the space pirate-turned-mercenary again. Even if it didn't kill him, it would be enough to cause some damage.
Once Bill had gotten his knife back, Volk was ready to tackle him and drain him of his blood. However, he restrained himself, knowing that there was something more important in the way. The one-eyed lupine used his vampire powers to teleport out of the dungeon, leaving his prisoners to grieve for Fox McCloud. Falco made sure that Katt was alright, even though Volk had done nothing to her. The others watched this happen, hoping that someone would take down Volk's army.
By entering the castle again, Fara, Orlando, and Owen knew that they had to find a way to help those who were being held prisoner. As her allies (sans Fox and Krystal) were in the dungeon, Fara hoped that the key would be easy to find. Of course, that didn't mean that whoever had it would hand it over to the fennec so easily. If a monster had the key, then the vampire hunters would have to fight it. They had the right gadgets for the job, and a few that Star Fox had given them. Even if they couldn't defeat Volk by themselves, they could still fight any creature in their way.
Walking through the main corridor of the castle, Fara had the Helsings look for the key to the dungeon. They could not rescue Lucy at the moment, but they had no choice but to ignore her for the time being. For now, they had to get those who were imprisoned out. If there was a shortcut to the thirteenth floor, then they would take it. If not, then they hoped that Lucy would be alright, assuming that Volk hadn't already gotten to her. His army was still growing, and the vampire hunters needed to stop it from growing.
"Alright, what could that key be in?" Owen asked.
"It wouldn't be in a room by itself, so it's probably near the entrance to the dungeon." Fara said. "Question is, where could it be?"
"Let's look around." Orlando spoke. "Owen, you look with Fara, while I look for it by myself."
Splitting up, Owen and Fara decided to check certain rooms on the right side of the corridor. They searched through each compartment of the rooms, checking to see if the key was hidden somewhere. Fara looked in drawers, jars, and anything else that could be opened. As for Owen, he moved certain objects around, thinking that the key could have been hidden behind something. Unfortunately, the key to the dungeon wasn't in any of the rooms they had looked through. In fact, it seemed as though Volk and his army had made sure to not leave it behind.
On the left side of the corridor, Orlando checked to see if the dungeon key had been hidden. He had less rooms to work with than Fara or Owen, but he figured that the key would be easy to find. The coyote moved objects around, opened drawers and cabinets, and even used some of his detective gear to search for hidden compartments. Upon not finding the key, the vampire hunter felt stumped. If Fara, Owen, and himself were going to save those in the dungeon, then they had to keep looking for it. Where it could have been was what they needed to know.
Meeting up in the corridor again, Fara and the Helsings were about to check the side opposite of where they searched. That was until Owen noticed something glistening on the roof. It was the chandelier that was hanging above. While it was a shiny metal object (one that was ironically in a castle owned by vampires), Owen wasn't focused on the chandelier in general. Rather, his eyes focused on something in the middle. It was reaching down to the floor, more so than the rest of the structure. It looked almost like a pulley.
"Guys, I found something!" Owen spoke.
Turning around, Fara and Orlando saw Owen pointing up at the chandelier. He had Fara come over, so that he could try to pull down the chain in the middle of the structure. Giving the coyote a hand, the fennec yanked at the chain, doing her hardest to pull it down. By pulling it together, they managed to trigger it. Once the chain reached the floor, there was the sound of a mechanism activating. With that in mind, Orlando had Fara and Owen walk into a room with him, so that they could wait it out.
With the sound of stones moving, the vampire hunters hoped that this would reveal the entrance of the dungeon. They stepped outside, only to see that an opening had showed up in the floor. Being cautious, Orlando had Fara and Owen get behind him, all while he got out a stake. No sound came out of the opening, so it was safe. Inside were stone steps leading down, which meant that it was likely the dungeon. As there was no one else approaching, Fara, Orlando, and Owen went down the steps, heading down to rescue their allies.
Being as careful as they could, Fara, Orlando, and Owen approached a dimly lit room. Holding his arm out, Orlando told the others to wait until after he checked the room. Looking inside, the coyote saw jail cells, complete with metal bars. Inside each cell was one of Volk's prisoners, including Falco, Peppy, and Slippy. Katt Monroe and Bill Grey were with them as well, having been abducted by Volk and his forces back when they were Star Wolf. With that in mind, Orlando stepped into the dungeon, Fara and Owen behind him.
"Guys!" Fara spoke.
Upon hearing her voice, the prisoners turned and saw Fara with the Helsings.
"Oh no, they got you too?!" Peppy cried.
"No," Orlando said, "we're here to bust you out of prison. Just hear me out and I'll free you."
"You're a vampire hunter, right?" Bill spoke.
"Actually, I'm a detective." The coyote said. "However, I do like to search for supernatural creatures."
"Then why didn't you stop Wolf from killing Fox?!" The greyhound cried. "How could you let that happen?!"
"There was nothing we could do, Bill." Fara said.
"Is Krystal with you?" Katt asked.
"No, but she'll probably be here at any moment." The fennec said. "Don't worry, she has Fox with her."
The prisoners looked at each other for a moment, then back at the vampire hunters. Volk had said that Fox had been killed, so there was no way he would come back. Once someone died, that was it. There was no such thing as a second chance, nor was there a way to resurrect the dead. Stuff like that only works in fiction, from books to movies, as science had not found a way to bring back the deceased yet. With that in mind, Fox could not come back from the dead, no matter what anyone did. Krystal was likely carrying his corpse, mourning his death in a twisted way.
"That's crazy!" Falco said. "Krystal can't bring Fox with her! What's she gonna do? Show his corpse to us?"
"Not exactly." A voice rang out.
Turning their attention to the back wall, the vampire hunters and the prisoners watched as it got a ripple in the middle. After that, a familiar blue vixen stepped into the room. Now that she had arrived, Krystal looked at everyone in the room. She began to speak to the prisoners, trying to mend their spirits so that she could surprise them. Fox was just outside the castle's walls, waiting for the cobalt vixen to signal for him to come in. Hopefully, no one would freak out when they saw him.
"Everyone," Krystal spoke, "you have to believe me when I say this: Fox is not dead. In fact, he's about to come in."
"How?" Peppy asked. "Didn't Wolf kill him?"
"Fox is a ghost now!" Slippy cried. "Oh, I hope he's not going to haunt me for eating his crackers that one time!"
"I won't haunt you, old friend." A voice spoke. "You are not my primary concern."
Upon hearing that voice, Krystal and the vampire hunters knew that Fox was about to enter the castle. Everyone else was startled by it, however, having never heard it before. Given what Krystal had said, it seemed like the voice belonged to Fox. However, no one believed that it was really the orange tod speaking. The voice sounded like his, but it had a slight accent, having hints of either Geordie or Anglo-Saxon. Krystal herself seemed a bit tense, as if she wasn't ready for what was about to happen herself.
All of a sudden, something had phased through the castle's walls, arriving in the dungeon. It looked like a fox tod, but the entity looked like something one would see in a horror movie. He had maroon fur, glowing eyes that were tinged light green, claws for hands and feet, and a skinny body. There were no clothes on his body, apart from torn pants and a scarf that surrounded his mouth and nose. It didn't take long for everyone (except Krystal, Fara, Orlando, and Owen, who already knew who it was) to figure out who they were looking at. This wasn't some random creature of the night, it was Fox.
"Oh my!" Katt gasped.
"Fox?" Bill asked.
"Geez, man, what happened to you?!" Falco shouted.
"You look like a ghoul!" Slippy cried.
"My dear friends," Fox spoke, "I have merely been saved from the brink of death by Krystal. If not for her, I would have been a goner."
"Then why do you look like that?" Peppy asked.
"The Grim Reaper himself turned me into a creature of darkness." The orange tod said. "I will remain like this until we are able to defeat Star Wolf."
"It's nice to know that's temporary," Falco said, "because that's not a good look for you!"
"You're one to talk, Falco!" The vulpine chuckled.
Everyone shared a laugh, all except for Krystal. Her telepathy had picked up something approaching the entrance to the dungeon. It wasn't some random monster Volk had sent, but rather one of the higher ups. With that in mind, the cobalt vixen gestured for Fox, Fara, Orlando, and Owen to come near her. They got in a huddle, keeping a conversation to them. It was for a good reason, as Krystal had to find a way to hide her allies.
"What's going on?" Fara asked.
"Someone's approaching the dungeon!" Krystal whispered.
"Shall I phase us out of the castle?" Fox asked.
"No," the cobalt vixen said, "we won't have enough time! Fox, think of something else!"
Thinking quickly, Fox touched Krystal, causing her body to turn invisible. Afterwards, he did the same for Fara and the Helsings, keeping them hidden to the naked eye. Once that was out of the way, the orange tod turned himself invisible, but not before telling the prisoners to be quiet about where he and the other four were. He even signaled for Krystal and the vampire hunters to not make a sound, as to not blow their cover. They crouched near the back wall, hoping that whoever came in wouldn't sense for them. If that happened, then all was lost.
A silhouette approached the dungeon, getting bigger as it got closer to the entrance. The person it belonged to turned out to be Leon, who was carrying some chains with him. Given how the chameleon had a penchant for torture, everyone figured that he was going to bind someone with the chains. That, or he was going to whip them with the metal. Either way, they tensed up, awaiting whatever diabolical plan the Venomian vampire had in mind. Krystal and Fox only glared at him (albeit while they were still invisible), wanting to fight him as quickly as they could.
Rattling the chains, Leon smirked as the prisoners covered their ears. As for the others, they did not let the noise keep them from blowing their cover. Even though they wanted to kill the chameleon where he stood, they felt as though he had backup on hand. The creatures Volk had at his command had powers of their own, and Leon's could have been something exceptionally deadly.
"How's that?" Leon spoke.
"It's terribly annoying, if you ask me!" Falco said.
"Well, this is only the beginning." The chameleon said. "Soon, one of you will either be picked to be fed on or turned into a member of our army. Now, who should it be? Will it be someone in here, or will it be that adorable doe on the thirteenth floor?"
"You creep!" Peppy shouted. "Leave Lucy alone!"
"You won't get away with this, Leon!" Slippy yelled.
"Mr. Helsing will stop you!" Falco said.
"Krystal's with him, too!" Bill spoke. "She'll help him kill Wolf and his army of monsters!"
His grin turning into a scowl, Leon formed a fireball in the palm of his hand. Once it was big enough, he threw it at the roof, causing the dungeon to shake. Everyone tried to hold onto something, so that they didn't fall over. Fox had Krystal and the vampire hunters hold onto him, not wanting to alert Leon to where they were.
"His name is Volk now!" Leon snapped. "Get it right, or I'll make sure that there's nothing left of any of you!"
Once that was out of the way, Leon walked out of the dungeon, causing Fox to turn himself, Krystal, Fara, Orlando, and Owen visible again.
"We should've taken him down as soon as he walked in." Fara said.
"Don't worry, Fox and I are going to fight him." Krystal said. "As for you, Fara, you should wait here with the others until the fight is won. I'll notify you with my telepathy."
"Sounds like a plan." The fennec said.
"Rip his head off for us, guys!" Falco spoke.
"Or beat him to a pulp!" Bill said.
"That depends on what happens." Fox calmly said, approaching the entrance of the dungeon.
Going after Fox, Krystal began to walk out of the dungeon with him. Once they got out, they agreed to take on Leon together. Even if the chameleon wasn't hard to fight, the two vampiric foxes did not let that possibility keep them from fighting. By working together, the Papetoonian and the Cerinian could accomplish anything. They had done so back when they were normal, and they could still do it now that they were up against Volk's army. As they left the dungeon, Fox and Krystal agreed to take down Leon as quickly as they could, then continue to fight the army of the undead with their allies.
Note: The chapter might not have ended with a fight against Leon, but at least our heroes are back in the castle. Can Fox defeat the chameleon in battle? If not him, then can Krystal do it? Will they work together when the situation calls for it? Does Leon have a dirty trick planned? Will the vampire hunters give their undead friends a hand?
Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!