StarFox Fan Fiction ❯ Star Fox Recruits ❯ Dino-Dangers ( Chapter 11 )

CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

After a long while on space-patrol, the Great-Fox needed refueling and servicing again. So it was back to Corneria. Peppy and Slippy stayed behind to help with the servicing and to sort out a few things… while General Pepper gave the rest of us time off… Keeping in mind that even with the Great-Fox out of action, the Arwings were still operational. We could still be sent off on a short-distant mission anytime.

 

Falco hopped on his hover-bike and hit the streets like he always did. The rest of us just decided to take it easy and enjoy a beautiful day in the grassy fields near the woods… away from the base and all that high-tech stuff.

 

The girls and Donny were out hiking while Fox and I were minding lunch. A huge pot of beef-stew with vegetables; Just the thing for the great outdoors. I sat on a rock near the picnic area while I whittled away some dead bark with my pocket-knife. As I sat there in the shade, I couldn't help but chuckle softly the way Fox was acting…

 

He was just sitting there, staring into space, while absentmindedly stirring the stew. He was humming casually. I could tell exactly what was on his mind or who for that mater. “Oh, lover boy…” I called to him, “How's that grub coming man, I'm starving.”

 

Fox didn't respond, and just kept humming casually.

 

“Fox…?”

 

No response.

 

“Fo-ox…?”

 

No response.

 

“Ro-bear…?”

 

Still no response…

 

“HEY…!”

 

Fox finally snapped out of it, “Huh? What did you say…?”

 

I thought as much as I shook my head. “You're minds not on the food. You're thinking about someone special. About, you're height. Blue fur and you smell that sweet scent that is her.”

 

I sniffed the air, and suddenly I gasped and coughed hard. Then suddenly, Fox and I noticed the black smoke form the pot of stew sitting on the fire too long. “Hey, whoa… it's boiling over!” cried Fox.

 

I quickly grabbed the pot off the fire and slammed it on a rock to cool. “You idiot, you're burning the chow!” I growled as I fanned away the smoke with my jacket.

 

Fox felt really ashamed, which led me to believe I was right. He was thinking about Krystal again. “Are my feelings that obvious?” he asked me. I gave him the traditional look that mean, “Yes…”

 

Fox sighed; he was finding it harder and harder to keep his feelings for Krystal way down. “Look, Fox…” I said to him as I tried to fix what was left of the burned stew, “Just stop moaning and groaning all the time. Well know you and Krystal have it for each other… why don't you just pop the question to her already?”

 

Fox's face turned red, but at least since Krystal wasn't around he made no attempt to hide it this time. “I can't just do that.” he said, “I mean sure, we're both part of the Cornerian force, and we love to spend time together, but that's it. I mean… that's just not the way it would work out for me.”

 

“Oh, come on Fox…” I said. “Look what you two have done to get this far. You saved her life on Sauria. You gave her a home and a new purpose in life. You've always been there for her. I'll bet you Krystal would go wild if you asked her.”

 

Fox still wasn't convinced. He admitted that I was right about all that other stuff, saving Krystal's life and looking out for her, but to him it just wouldn't work, “Besides… what else have I really got to offer her? Other than a life of danger, and missions and things like that…”

 

I sniffed a spoonful of the burned stew; it still smelled like burnt rubber. “Well… for one thing, you can't cook.” I joked.

 

Now it was Fox's turn to give me a look. “Mykan, I'm being serious! Krystal's more than just a warrior. She's the most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on.”

 

“So, she's pretty… what's so bad about that?” I asked.

 

Fox finally admitted that he just wasn't so sure about asking Krystal to share his life with him, unaware that Erin was just coming by on her own. “I can't just ask Krystal to risk her life every day until she gets killed. What kind of a proposal or a future is that?”

 

“Oh, Fox… lighten up…!” Erin said which surprised Fox so much that he fell off his feet. “Oh, don't tell me you're going to start…”

 

Erin waved her hands, “Whoa… somebody's having a bad day.”

 

Fox sighed. He was really confused. “Haven't you guys ever been in love before?” he asked us, “And you feel like you get cold feet?”

 

Erin shook her head, “No way am I getting messed up in that stuff.” she said. “I'd rather keep it myself until I meet someone guaranteed to love me just for me, and not my looks.”

 

Fox thought she was being silly, the way she was dressed in her uniform and those shades over her eyes. She's looked like a regular rebel. “What about you Mykan…?” Fox asked.

 

That's when he noticed that I began to look down in the dumps, but unlike Fox I decided not to keep it to myself, and I admitted that there was a time when I thought it was for real…

 

It was in High-School, when a pretty girl I thought I was in love with took an interest in me. She thought I was handsome, cool, and yes she liked me because I was an expert gamer. She was into video-games a little too… and we hung out a lot.

 

I thought I had found someone other than Donny, and Erin to share my interests with, but… that's when the blow of ill fortune struck me. The girl made some new friends… those that thought video-games were silly, and they thought I was pathetic…

 

I tried to explain to them that it wasn't true, but even the girl began to treat me like them, and her interest in video-games had vanished. “I'm sorry, Mykan… but Things Change.” she told me, “I grew out of it, and I know soon you'll do the same.”

 

I refused to grow out of video-games. They were half of my life, and part of what made me who I was. They helped me make money too. So I decided to dump the girl for the way she treated me…

 

She begged me to forgive her, but I never gave her the chance. Too upset and too angry to have a care in the world, and that's when I put on my sunglasses for the first time, and hardly ever took them off… wearing them as a sort of mask to hide my eyes, because I was shamed.

 

Erin and Donny hated to see me like this, and they began to wear shades too showing how much thy cared for me, and I would always cherish them for perking me back up.

 

“I never trusted another girl again.” I said, “And I decided to just avoid all romance entirely. This way I'm guaranteed not get hurt again.” It also made me feel happier to know I was thousands out light-years from Earth and I wouldn't have to worry about it as much.

 

Fox didn't know whether to feel pitiful or sorry for my troubles, but above all it didn't help him work out what to do about Krystal. Even when the whole gang gathered for lunch… everyone could catch a glimpse of Fox peeking over at Krystal. Even Krystal herself couldn't resist peeking back at Fox.

 

Donny, Erin, and I exchanged looks of dismay. Those two were acting more stubborn than Falco was. “Pst… yo…” Donny whispered to us, “Do you think those guys will ever get it on?”

 

Erin and I had our doubts, but no mater how much we wanted to see it happen, it wasn't our position to try and force Fox and Krystal together. They would have to decide for themselves.

 

After we ate, Fox stood on the edge of the forest entrance by himself while Erin, Donny, and I cleaned up around the picnic site. We also saw Krystal sitting alone on a rock near the entrance where Fox was. The both of them were alone, and they were talking to each other… this looked like it would be it!

 

Krystal had told Fox how sometimes she felt like she couldn't be safe anywhere, even on Corneria. Fox knew how she felt, having seen her home planet explode and barely escaping from it alive. “Sometimes… I feel like I don't know what the right decision is to make.” Fox said. “I don't know if putting everyone in danger all the time is always the right thing to do.”

 

Krystal thought it was almost cute that Fox cared so much about everyone's safety. “Fox… all I know is, no matter what danger comes near, you'll never be alone, and you don't have to be alone.”

 

Fox was grateful to hear those words, and he gently placed his hand over Krystal's, “Thanks, Krystal. That does mean a lot to me.” he said with a smile. Then he and Krystal realized that they were lost, gazing deeply into each others eyes, very slowly their face moved towards each other…

 

“Go on! Go on!” I muttered under my breath, but just as their lips were centimeters away, “General Pepper here…” the moment was spoiled, much to everyone's deepest dismay. Nevertheless we were being called to duty, so we had to head back to base…

 

Once we met up with Falco at base… we were given our mission brief. There had been reports of a crash-landing of ships on Planet Fortuna.

 

“Fortuna…?” Donny asked. “Isn't that supposed be another dinosaur planet?”

 

“Correct Donny… but nothing at all like Sauria...” Pepper explained. Fortuna's inhabitance were savage dinosaur machines, created by Andross during the days of Foxes first missions. The planet was now a living disaster are that everyone knew was to be treated with extreme caution while attempting to explore it…

 

“So who crashed on the planet…?” Krystal wondered.

 

Pepper didn't know how else to say it so he was just blunt. “It was Star Wolf…”

 

Fox, and Falco gasped, and their featured changed as if they had just bitten into lemons. Erin, Donny I were confused, “Who's Star Wolf…?” Erin asked.

 

Krystal whispered in her ear the word rival, and the rest pretty much spoke for itself. It didn't matter that much to General Pepper. Even though Star-Wolf was originally hired by Andross to kill the Star-Fox team, they no longer worked for him, and weren't exactly bad guys by Peppers point of view.

 

We were told to go off and investigate, and those were Pepper's orders.

 

…

 

Slippy and Peppy stayed behind, while the rest of us headed out into space with the Arwings, seeing as how Fortuna wasn't really that far. “Of all the guys in the system, why did it have to be him?” Fox groaned. “I mean, what's to say that this isn't another one of his set-ups to kill us?”

 

“For once I actually agree with you, McCloud.” Said Falco, “I'd like to give that Leon Powalski as taste of my beak's sharpness.”

 

“All right… that's enough you two.” Krystal said. “I'm sure that Wolf has a good explanation for getting trapped.”

 

“Oh, right… who do you expect will back up his story, Panther, maybe?” Fox argued. Krystal thought that was very childish of Fox to say that. As for me and my siblings, we couldn't take much more of all the bickering, so we turned off our free-wave radio's and only kept in contact with each other until the others straightened out…

 

It wasn't long before we reached Fortuna, “Aw, man… look at this place!” Donny said as he motioned to the wastelands down below. It was mostly just rock canyons, and dilapidated forests. The only thing that actually seemed remotely clean were the lakes and rivers… that is, if they weren't home to so many hungry-looking machine-dinos.

 

One of them stuck it huge head up and growled at me, I just shot at it, “Ahh… Shut up!” I growled at it. The Dinosaur roared at me this time, “Ahh, Shut you're big yap or I'll give you another-one!”

 

“Way to tell him, Mykan…” Erin complimented.

 

I gave my sister a thumb-up, and we all continued on our flight. That's when Krystal's scanner began to detect energy sources, and as we neared the source of the signal, “Hey look down there…!” Donny said.

 

We could all se bits and pieces ship wreckages. Fox recognized those ships anywhere, “The Wolfens…!” which he explained us where what the members of Star-Wolf piloted… like us in the Arwings.

 

“Let's set down and take a closer look…” Erin suggested.

 

We all pulled on our steering controls, but as we got closer to the ground. I suddenly got that feeling up my spine that something bad was about to happen… and suddenly… SMASH! “Whoa…!”

 

“Mykan…!” cried Donny, “What's the mater?” and then suddenly he felt something hit his ship as well. “Hey…! What the--”

 

Suddenly, everyone felt their ships being hit by something big. “Let's get out of here!” cried Krystal, and we all hit our boosters and zoomed away fast. We finally touched down somewhere flat and safe from any dangers that we knew of… and inspected our ships. A few huge dents were seen in the hulls… but so far no major damage.

 

“What the heck hit us…?” Fox wondered.

 

None of us had the answer, but we could suddenly hear giant footsteps heading our way. “Uh… anybody else know what that is…?” Donny asked.

 

Whatever it was, it was getting closer as the footsteps became stronger. “Look… there's a cave.” cried Erin.

 

“Well what are we waiting for…?” Falco practically snarled, and we all dashed away from our ships and into the cave. “We should be safe here for a while…” I Fox said.

 

“Uh… I wouldn't be so sure of that… Look!” cried Donny. We all turned and saw a spooky shadow along the cave walls. Fox got out his blaster, and I got out my staff. “Well, well… look what the Cornish Cornerian's drove in. Always shooting before asking, Fox?”

 

“Wolf…!” Fox gasped. “Wolf O'Donnell... so this isn't a set up. Is it…?”

 

“Well duh… you think.” Wolf protested, and then his eyes fell upon me and my siblings. “Well, well… look at this, you got yourselves some new recruits. Never thought you had it in you, McCloud.”

 

Erin, Donny and I could suddenly see what made this guy a rival to Fox. “Does he ever say anything nice?” Donny muttered.

 

After a few, so-called introductions, we met Panther, and Leon, who were also in the cave. Panther was still holding onto a rose. “Ahh… the lovely lady Krystal it is.” He said trying to flirt with her. Krystal only sighed, and Fox turned red as a beat but he kept his cool.

 

“So… I hear you kids came from a planet called Earth.” Leon questioned us. “Very interesting… but what brings all of you here is what we wish to know.”

 

We explained to them about hearing word of the team crashing, “And as amusing as it is to watch you squirm… we had to help out.” Fox mocked. “But something began to attack us out there… so we ran here for shelter.”

 

As much as Wolf wanted to laugh at us he just didn't have the heart, “We came here on this planet to explore it some more, but we were all shipwrecked.” he told us. “I don't know how to tell you-kids this... but you just walked right into a trap.”

 

He then motioned us to look at the cave entrance, and there it was, a Monarch-Dodra, twice as big as any Fox had ever encountered. It was standing right at the cave-entrance growling at us.

 

“We are so boned…” Erin groaned.”

 

…

 

We all sat around and chatted awhile about what to do. It became obvious that this Dodra was the one that attacked us in our Arwings, but what we couldn't understand was why…

 

After Fox and crew first battled their way to Venom, Fox destroyed one of the former Dodras prompting all of the planet's Dodras programming to always steer clear of Fox or anything like him.

 

“What would prompt this one into attacking us…?” I wondered.

 

“We haven't the slightest idea…?” Leon said. “Besides… even if we find a way to get out of here, what good are the chances that your Arwings aren't still in one piece?”

 

That's when we noticed that the Dodra was no longer at the cave entrance; we all rushed over and could see that it was gazing at our parked Arwings. “Look all you want, dude… just don't hurt them…!” Donny muttered softly.

 

The Dodra's two heads gazed upon two of the ships with curiosity, when suddenly… “Dodra…Halt!” called a familiar voice, it was General-Tobor. He was holding a remote control in his hand, and the Dodra seemed to be obeying Tobor's commands.

 

“You must save your batteries and keep watch over the cave.” Tobor scolded, “Now that we have Star-Fox, Star-Wolf, and the X-team where we want them, it is only a matter of time before we finish them off for good, and then you can go as you please.”

 

“So… Tobor's behind all this.” Falco said, “And where' there's Tobor…”

 

“There's Andross!” Fox sneered.

 

“So what are we going to do now…?” Panther wondered.

 

We couldn't call the Great-Fox, as it was still being serviced on Corneria, and the only way to stand up to that monster was to get back into the Arwings; easier said than done now that it was blocking the cave entrance again. None of our weapons could even stun the beast; even Krystal's Staff-barrier couldn't protect us against anything that big.

 

“Hey! I got an idea…” Wolf said.

 

“Great, I hope it's better than getting us into even bigger trouble.” Falco mocked. Wolf simple sneered and then explained his idea was to wait until night-fall. “Even machine dinosaurs don't have the proper night vision they should have.”

 

We all began to catch on to his plan. If we tried to move around at night, we would have a chance to make it to the Arwings's without being seen or get caught as easily.

 

“Wait… what about Tobor?” I asked. “Surely he has the power to see in the dark, what if he signals the Dodra to go after us?”

 

Wolf explained that someone would have to try and break for the Arwings, while others would take hiding places and be ready to shoot at the Dodra and Tobor to distract them. “It's only choice. You in or not…?”

 

Most of us jumped at the opportunity, and we all gave Fox and Falco looks telling them, “Come on, guys…” and they too agreed, though they had a feeling deep down they were going to regret trusting Wolf and his gang.

 

We all decided to just spread out and rest as we would need our strength for when night would fall. Finally, when it got dark some hours later… it was time to make our move. Tobor was resting, or charging his batteries as he was a machine…

 

The point was, he didn't seem to be paying attention, and the Dodra was doing the same. It was time to make our move. Fox and I would try and head for the Arwings, while Krystal, Panther and Wolf took hiding places to create distractions.

 

“Don't worry Krystal… I won't let that Dodra harm a hair your pretty head.” Panther flirted.

 

“Thanks…. I guess.” Krystal said, but Fox was still not impressed. “Hey, come on, Fox… let it go.” I whispered to him, then he and I began to move out of the cave side-stepping along the walls on the steep ridges.

 

Donny, Erin, Falco, and Leon could only watch from the cave while the plan went into action. Falco and Leon got into a little small argument of whether or not Fox would fall over and hurt himself.

 

But Fox didn't fall over… I did! “Ohh…! Ah!” I slipped of the ridge and sprained my leg. “My leg…!” I cried. “I sprained my leg!”

 

My shouting awoke the Dodra… and Tobor. “Huh… What?” then he saw what was happening, and whipped out his control box. “Dodra quick, attack!”

 

The Dodra began to awaken, “Fox, Keep going, don't worry about me!” I called. Fox hesitated at first but kept right on going. I was still feeling okay enough to get out my staff and begin firing at the monster, but just as we figured, my attacks did nothing. The Dodra was just too big, but luckily the others began to fire at Tobor, causing him to lose concentration and control as he tried to avoid the blasts, allowing Fox to continue.

 

The Dodra was spinning around all confused and disoriented for Tobor wasn't giving it proper commands. “Keep going guys…” Donny called from the cave.

 

Finally, we managed to shoot the control box out of Tobor's hand completely destroying it. “No!” Tobor cried. Then, things got worse instead of better, as the Dodra was now free to do as it pleased, and it had its two huge heads fixed on me, and I was still trapped as my leg hurt too much. “Mykan!” cried Krystal, “Mykan, get out of there!”

 

“Ugh… Ow! I-- I can't! I can't move my leg…”

 

The Dodra was getting closer, and it looked like I was finally going to meet my maker when suddenly, an Arwing came soaring over the hillside. “Fox…!” I called.

 

The Dodra growled at the ship and began to follow it away from the caves. “That's it big-boy… come and get it.” Fox mocked.

 

Finally once the Dodra was far enough from the caves, using the same method he used last time, KAPOW… Fox blew it to bits. Sad to say that Tobor was not impressed, “GRR…! Curse you Fox McCloud! You and you're team!” and then he noticed that he was surrounded by the all the others.

 

“Surrender, Tobor!” Erin snarled at him.

 

“No where to run now, Dude.” added Donny.

 

Tobor's growling suddenly turned to laughter, “Hmm, mm, mm… you're right. So I guess I'll just take the fast way out. Ta-ta! Ma, ha, ha, ah, ah…!” and he vanished into thin air.

 

Everyone gasped in anger, “I finally thought we had him…” said Krystal.

 

“We'll get him someday, Krystal.” Fox said over his communicator, “Right now, lets just be glad were all still in one piece.”

 

That's when I cleared my throat. “Excuse me…” I said pointed out that my leg was still sore, “But, now that the danger's over, would someone care to HELP ME OUT OF HERE…!”

 

Meanwhile…

 

Tobor flicked on his holographic transmitter, where an image of Andross was shown, “General Tobor, reporting…”

 

Andross' eyes narrowed in anger, “So… not only did you fail me again, Tobor, but you managed to even let the Star-Wolf team get away!”

 

Tobor tried to speak in his defense, “Master, please believe me… I was so close this time.”

 

“Close does not cut it, Tobor…” replied Andross, “And secondly, I did not ask for you to speak! Wait here while I decide what to do with you…” then he was gone.

 

Tobor clenched his metal-fists angrily, and vowed that we would all pay for this outrage! “So long as I survive…!”

 

Meanwhile…

 

All the Arwings were heading for the nearest armory where we could drop off the Star-Wolf team. I flew my ship by remote control, since my leg hurt too much to use the pedals, and Wolf and his men rode in the emergency capsules. Wolf with Fox, Panther with Krystal, and Falco carried Leon…

 

“How are you feeling, Mykan?” Krystal asked me.

 

“To be honest, I feel pretty useless with this plaster on my leg…” I said, but at least I would survive, and it was a good reminder of how much that no matter how good I was at video-games… this was not a game!

 

“I'm so glad everyone made it out alright…” Panther said, “Especially you Krystal.”

 

Krystal actually thanked him for his concern this time, “I'm glad you're okay too Panther.”

 

Fox heard that, and as they continued to talk to each other, he just shut off the transmission and sighed. My siblings and I caught a glimpse of his sad face, but we knew there wasn't much that could be done now.

 

Someday we knew Fox and Krystal would be together… we hoped!