The Final Ooh Rah

I sat in my room, laying on my bed and looking up at the ceiling. Thinking about what had just unfolded and thinking about the loss of Beta Fox. I just couldn't believe that they all forgot about the Arwing's emergency hyperdrives, capable and taking them away in the case of an ambush or overwhelming attack. I couldn't believe that Fox was so quick to send our best squad, our best friends, to die… it made me unimaginably angry every time I thought about it and I simply couldn't handle it.

"How many allies have I witness die?" I asked myself quietly, "How many more must I see before it stops?" I spoke even softer. I felt a tear roll down my face. Just the thought of Beta Fox gone was so much, I couldn't handle it. It was just like a hole was being punched right through my heart whenever I think about them, Fox being so selfish, and the helplessness of this mission. Austin was becoming stronger and stronger by the minute and we couldn't do anything about it besides watch and hope for some kind of miracle to occur. All the years I've been with the team, advancing with them and becoming a great fighter, and yet we couldn't stop Austin.

I closed my eyes, and felt my mind drift off as I began to flashback back to when I first joined Star Fox. That was a day that I will never forget, the day that I was asked to come with the man I thought was only a figment of someone's imagination. That day I knew my life would start anew, but I never thought I would suffer so much just to have it the way I envisioned it.

"I want you to come with me" I heard Fox's voice echo. I saw him sitting on my couch back home, smiling at me with his eyes fixated on the covered Arwing outside in my yard.

"You're serious?" I heard myself ask, "I… I'm…" I saw myself standing in front of Fox, falling back in the chair in disbelief at the thought of my life possibly starting over for me to make right. "Absolutely! It'd be an honor!"

I sighed to myself. I was so naive and anxious that I didn't think about the consequences that would come of this; the endangerment of my own planet, my own life, and the lives of others. I never anticipated that I would witness death, fight for my life over and over again, and have to cope with the new ways of my life. Albeit I had little issues with my new life in terms of living the way it was meant to be, but I never thought that the death, the fighting, and the sacrifices would be so damaging to me.

My mind drifted even further. Back when I first met Austin. "You two are staying right here." I heard my voice echo once more. I was now standing in what looked like a holding area for prisoners, jail cells spanning several levels on each side of the room. Two armored guards sitting in one cell as I stood with a rifle and nothing but my under armor, disgust and anger on my face.

I then saw myself standing with a rifle aimed at the guard's head, ready to fire if he cried for help. "What's the fucking code?!" I heard myself yelling before I saw a black suit of armor being lowered before me. The suit opening up like some sort of transforming machine and allowing me to step inside of it.

My mind then drifted to the one and only fight that Austin and I had. Krystal and I against the last Cerinian besides Krystal. Fighting greatly, trying to counter his own telepathy and kill him, only to be bested by him and nearly killed.

"KRYSTAL!" My voice echoed largely as a new scene faded into my vision. The blue vixen laying on the floor motionless as a white vulpine stood over her, blood on his knuckles and a large horrifying smile on his face. I watched as I stood up myself and charged for the man, fists blazing and anger driving my mind to the vengeance that I was seeking.

I opened my eyes slowly, looking back up at the ceiling and forcing my flashbacks to end. So many things were on my mind, so many little thoughts, so many little emotions, and so many feelings running through me. Death, hatred, sorrow, anger, and the lust for revenge were all I could think about and the only things I cared about.

"So much has happened..." I said to myself, "…we can't even fight a telepathic…" I stopped myself dead in my tracks.

"Wait…" I said once more. I was slapped in the face by a sudden realization. "Oh god…" My telepathy isn't strong, but it was capable of becoming a weapon, much like Austin's. My field I created wasn't perfect, it only blocked a form of telepathy. But, it was nowhere near as secure as what Austin could create or go against.

Beta Fox's death was not by the hands of Fox. It was not by the hands of the others.

"Oh my god…" I dug my face into my hands in pure horror, "…the mission was all suicide…" I said, realizing that Austin actually penetrated my protective barrier and manipulating the team's memory. It was no wonder Fox and the others were so focused on saving themselves and not using the hyperdrives or helping Beta Fox. "Why didn't I see this…" I spoke softly as I felt complete embarrassment and shame overcome my mind; not only did I fail to protect the team, but I even attacked Fox on the account of him causing the death of Beta Fox. None of that was true, it was all Austin using his telepathy and my failure to keep him out. My weakness and ignorance was what caused the death of our close friends and best squad.

I slowly walked out of my room and headed back for the bridge. I couldn't believe any of it, I simply couldn't! My mind shifted from Beta Fox's death to the fact that I harmed Fox and wrongfully accused him and the others of leaving Beta to die at the hands of Austin. Shame from not being capable of protecting the team and coming up with this mission, basically being a suicide attempt overwhelmed my mind. The more I thought on this, the more I found reason for me to blame on Beta Fox's death; if I had practiced more, if I had come up with a safer plan, if that plan hadn't even existed, Beta Fox would still be here with the team alive and well. The only reason why the plan went through was because Fox trusted in my power to keep them safe, when in truth it did absolutely nothing.

The doors to the bridge slid open. Fox and others looked over at me as I lowered my head to the ground. I felt Fox's emotions, he was embarrassed and felt the same amount of shame I had felt, almost as if he had a complete shift in emotions.

"I have only myself to blame for this…" I said softly as I entered the room. Instantly I felt everyone become confused and wonder what it was I had meant, "… Fox, please, forgive me."

"What do you mean?" Fox asked with subtlety in his voice, "Why would you think this is your fault? Explain to me why you are to blame."

I looked up and walked over to him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and journeyed into his mind. Immediately I could tell that he was tampered with by an outside source, meaning Austin really did find a way around my protective essence.

I looked around at the others, "None of this was your faults. If anyone is to blame for the death of Beta, it's me."

Krystal shook her head slowly, "Kevin, why would you think such a thing."

"I!" I said rather loudly, stopping and speaking at a lower tone "…couldn't protect you all. My little 'barrier' was completely futile against Austin." My voice trembled slightly, the thought of the plan, the death, and the hopelessness of fighting overwhelmed me, "I came up with this plan to attack with me keeping Austin out of your heads, but it never worked!" I shook my head, "Why would you all forget about the Arwing's emergency systems? Why would you all let Beta Fox stay behind?" I asked repeatedly, "My essence never protected you, Austin bypassed it with ease and MADE you all forget, he MADE you all feel the way you felt just then!" I paused, tears rolling down my face, "This plan only exists because I had the audacity to think I could be as strong as Austin and keep you all safe! I can't even do that against this fucker!"

Krystal's eyes widened in horror, "You mean…"

I nodded my head slightly, "He's using telepathy that neither of us can even fathom…" I shook my head and threw my arms up in confusion, "As of now I know of only one way of killing this… thing."

Fox spoke up rather suddenly, "You're right, we're going to devise another plan and we're going to see if we can discover a flaw in his power."

It was silent for a second. I broke it as I slowly began to laugh, quickly breaking into a hysterical laughter. The idea of Austin's power being so much, any attack would be worthless, "No…" I said mid laugh. I calmed myself and took a deep breath, "WE aren't going to do anything… I am."

Falco chuckled, "Whoa whoa, don't make me laugh Kev, I've been through a bit to do that."

Slippy sniffled and wiped his face from tears, his voice shaking vigorously, "Yeah, come on Kevin. We just lost someone, we don't want to lose another."

I looked back at the avian, "I'm not joking. I told Fox that I would handle this if the idea didn't work out and if the plan failed miserably. It did, and we lost Beta Fox as a result. I am to blame, I made the plan, I made the promise of protecting, and I was blind to the possibility of Austin completely negating my protective essence." I said with determination in my voice. I was serious, Austin was to die by my hands, just as he did before. "I'm going back, and I'm doing it myself. I wasn't affected by Austin at all, I still had my memory, I still had my own mind. I can protect myself from him." I paused, "The last time I blocked his telepathy in a one on one fight, I broke his back and snapped his neck. I have so much more power than before, I have teachings by my side that are incredibly powerful, think of what I can do to him now." With that I turned and left the bridge. Rose didn't oppose my plan, Krystal didn't try to stop me, and I could feel that Fox was hopeful and knew that I would come back. In other words, they believed that I could end this once and for all, before it turned into a war against a god.

As I walked out and down the hallway, I could still hear the other speaking, faintly and softly as the walls dampened their volume.

"So, you're going to let him go out and kill himself?" I heard Falco say rather loudly.

Fox chuckled slightly, "The day I asked him to join I knew he would become something that no one would dare oppose. I was right, and I feel he can do this. You yourself have seen what Kevin is capable of." I could sense the trust he still had in me and the hope that he held onto. Regardless of the fact that we just failed a mission and lost our best squad in the process, he still believed in my potential and power.

"You trusted him to protect us, and he failed, you think he can take everyone one of those ass hats by himself?" Falco argued.

Slippy mused in as well, trying to protect me and go against my decision, "Austin is so god like that I don't think Kevin can actually protect himself. Sure he wasn't affected just now, but what if Austin did that on purpose to lure him out?!"

I stopped in my tracks, waiting for Fox's response. I listened intently, waiting to hear my leader's words.

"Kevin is much more powerful than any of us." Fox said, "He destroyed a planet, killed a power hungry being with god-like powers once, and defeated our arch nemesis that we had been hunting for years." He sighed, "I think Kevin is capable of doing whatever the fuck he needs to do."

I smiled at the words. Fox really believed in me and I had all the more reason to go out there and take down Austin once and for all.

Heading into the elevator I began to wonder. Austin had a large attack force, however it was dwindled greatly thanks to the Nova bombs that Diego and Rose had fired. Based on the amount of loss I had felt, I expected there to be at least 100 of Austin's men still alive, not counting his guards on-board his ship.

As the elevator doors slid open, I slammed my fist into the ground and activated my flight suit. The white, slightly armored, one piece smart suit instantly beamed onto my body, activating and doing what it did. Two lights, one on each of my hand that extended p my arm, and one on my back activated signaling that its bio systems were active and ready to go.

I ran to my Arwing and jumped up, opening the canopy and starting the systems. Typing various commands I started every system I had, even AI, whom I had stopped using after I had trained in my telepathy. The only system I kept off, however, was the communications array. I was doing this alone and only relied on AI, my telepathy, and my Arwing combat skills to get me through this.

"Welcome back AI" I said as the computer started.

"Oh? Captain Michelson? What seems to be the cause of my activation?" AI asked.

I smiled, "God I forgot how advanced you were. I activated you for one reason, I'm going to need your help."

"I was created to do just that." AI replied.

I smiled even more, "Great, as soon as I exit my hyperspace jump we will do in a few, I want you to run a bio scan of the area we're in as well as any other scan you have equipped."

AI replied quickly, "Affirmative, I'll do so as soon as we exit the jump."

I nodded, "Good"

With that I initiated the launch sequence and released the lift lock on the Arwing. The ship lowered slightly and the small walkway besides me were lifted up and away from the ship, sent into the safe position.

"Kevin" Fox said over the bay speakers. I looked up and around the bridge, listening intently, "Go kick some telepathic ass"

My ship then lunged forward as it was shot out of the Great Fox and into space. The wings expanded and the Arwing was now in my control.

"AI, set the coordinates to the previous hyperspace jump vector. I'm assuming you have the data stored from a few minutes ago?" I asked.

"I do, the coordinates were stored it appears. They have been placed and hyperspace is available." AI replied.

I steered my ship and looped around, passing Great Fox I and II towards the hyperspace vector to return to Austin's rendezvous point.

"Pardon me, but it appears more ship signatures have appeared." AI suddenly said just before I launched into hyperspace.

I looked around, speaking to myself softly, "More ships?"

"Yes," AI replied, "They appear to be Arwings."

I sighed and knew exactly what it was, "Oh no…"

"Opening communications channel with the group…" AI said as it started the comms array and opened the channel.

A few familiar faces were on the other end of the HUD displays.

"So, where do you think you're goin?" Jayce asked me with a stern look on his face, "I certainly hope you aren't going to complete the mission we made by yourself."

I sighed again in frustration.

Myla giggled slightly, "Come on Kevin, don't give us a plan and then expect for us to simply give up on it."

Ryleigh then coughed, almost as if he was in a fit of nervousness, "I mean, it's our job right? We do what it is we're told and we do it well."

I shook my head, "Guys, you can't…" I said, "… you saw what just happened. My entire plan failed miserably. I can't protect you all against Austin, he's just going to do something worse and possibly kill you all."

Zion let out a huge belly laugh, "Ah my friend, we're not going to let you fight this monster by yourself. Like it or not we're coming with you. Besides, my mini gun wants to shoot some of those freaks!"

I thought about the possibility of me being able to strengthen my essence in a smaller area, rather than a large one. Maybe if I made a smaller barrier it would be strong enough to hold Austin back and keep Delta and Foxtrot Fox safe. I sighed at the thought but knew I had no choice in the matter.

"Fine" I said, "I know I won't get you to change your minds, so you're coming with me. All of you need to stay close to me and I will try to keep you all safe. If you're closer to me then my field may be stronger and may keep Austin out."

Jayce smiled and nodded once, "Deal"

I smiled and looked over at the feed for Foxtrot, "And, uh, sorry Foxtrot. I know you guys have seen almost no action since this started."

Foxtrot's leader, Cayden Armstrong, simply smiled, "Don't worry about it, we're still able to fight. Besides we had plenty of action back during the fight against Prometheus; the Lombax's certainly knew how to fight."

"That they did" I replied. It was a shame that we couldn't contact Ratchet and the others to assist in this as well. For some reason our communications was smashed after something on their end caused their communication form to be severed with us.

"Coordinates punched in and ready to go!" Jayce said with a smile and a thumbs up.

I nodded, "Everyone ready? Stay close to me when we get out and don't even attack the ships. I want to try something when we come out of jump."

Another teaching Krystal had shown me was something that could get rid of someone's attention to something. By going into their mind, I could force their attention away from me, making me "invisible" to that particular person, regardless if I was standing right in front of them. If Delta and Foxtrot was close enough to me, then I could possibly make the enemy pilots not see us and completely negate their attention of us.

All 9 of our ships lurched forward as we instantly sped to the speed of light, heading straight for the rendezvous point.

"Here's the plan. When we arrive, I will try to make us 'invisible' by diverting all of the enemy pilot's attentions. When we land, Delta and Foxtrot will head straight for the holding cells to retrieve Penny, if she is still alive."

Jayce cut me off, "Which she is! I know she is."

"Right, I can still feel her essence, but I fear it may be a fraud made by Austin. Regardless, you and Foxtrot will retrieve Penny. While this is happening, I will be heading towards Austin, diverting his attention and keeping him from harming you when you're getting Penny."

"Sounds like a plan" Myla said with glee in her voice.

Before we arrived, I had started to focus the energy I needed to make the field and expand my essence to keep the two squads safe. It was going to be a smaller area, so I didn't use all of my energy.

Almost instantly did we come out of hyperspace and back into the rendezvous point. The three large ships were still present as well as the large amounts of enemy ships still swarming around like insects.

"Alright, stick close to me" I said, "I'm about to go silent. AI, autopilot and land in the main ships landing bay. Make the path as straight as possible and at decent speeds. Everyone else get close now."

I focused the energy and made my essence barrier. I could feel that it was incredibly strong, in fact it was so strong that my energy wasn't being depleted at all, it was simply being maintained because the barrier wasn't able to become any stronger, thus allowing me to keep my energy conserved.

The 8 other Arwings flew close and stayed in a tight formation around my ship. We slowly flew towards the main ship and closer to the enemy fighters.

I stayed focused and paid close attention to the thought patterns of the fighters. When we were close enough I reached out and negated the pilots' attentions, making our formation invisible to them. I then noticed that their thought patterns shifted to alert. They had seen us, but now they couldn't, making them alert and worried. They flew over to where we were a few seconds ago and tried to look for us in open space.

"Well now" Ryleigh chuckled, "Who knew you could look so hard when you're in the middle of deep space?"

We continued forward until we were right behind the main ship, ready to land. I released my grip on the pilots' minds and focused my energy back to the barrier I had been making. AI landed my ship and the others followed suit.

I loosened my energy usage to a minimal and stopped producing the barrier. I waited a minute for me to regain my mental stability. The powers I was taught may use little energy, but regardless, they require so much attention and take a lot out of me just to use them.

I shook out of my state of trance and jumped out of Arwing. As I landed, I slammed my fist into the ground, activating my armor and replacing my flight suit; the white armor plates covered my body and my hands were encased in gloves. The armor doubled as an exoskeleton, giving me added strength and stamina.

"Alright, you all know the drill." I said as I grabbed my D-9 Rifle from my back magnetic plate, "Let's finish this damned fight and keep Beta Fox's death from being in vain."

Everyone else jumped out of their ships and readied themselves. They all had their armor and their weapons ready.

"Good luck" I said before I turned and ran up the steps beside me to the upper level of the landing bay. I looked back and saw all 8 of the others run through the door on the bottom floor, leading them towards the holding cell.

I activated my helmet and loaded the interior map of the ship. Right away AI mapped a route that would take me directly to the bridge, where Austin was supposedly waiting for me. I could sense his presence and knew that he was in fact on the ship and waiting for me to burst through the bridge doors guns blazing.

"Scans have been made" AI said, "I read several bio signatures on board the ship, however their exact locations are not known."

"Eh" I said as I continued down the corridor with my rifle raised, "Don't worry too much about that. I think I can handle anyone I see, or sense."

There was a cross in the corridor that lead left and right. The path on my minimap told me right, however I could sense a large presence of enemies down the path; on the left were hardly any signs of life.

"Hmm" I said as I looked down both ways, "Which way is the better way…"

AI quickly replied to my self-questioning, "The right corridor is the only known path that can lead to the bridge."

I sighed and lowered my head, "Great… looks like we'll be fighting before we get to Austin."

I started to jog down the corridor. "And to think I thought we would be able to head straight for Austin." The path led through a door at the end on the left. This door led into a room that was teeming with life; I sensed so much that I couldn't really 'see' it.

"Alright" I said as I grabbed a grenade and armed my rifle into fully auto mode, "Let's see how many of these fuckers I can get."

I shot the keypad to the right of the door, causing it to shoot up and open, revealing what appeared to be a mess hall. As soon as the door opened, I armed the grenade and lobbed it inside. Everyone then scurried, trying to get to their weapons.

"What's up you sick sons a' bitches!?" I yelled as I started to fire. Very quickly was I able to mow down almost the entire room of enemies before I retreated back behind the wall for cover. Some of them had made it to their weapons and began to fire back. Thankfully, I had killed enough to tell the difference between one mind and another; I scanned the room with my telepathy and pinpointed the exact locations of the remaining hostiles.

I felt my mind fly through the room, physically being able to see it and the ones within. Two were behind a table towards the right of the door, another was behind a table as well, but towards the center and a bit further back. Two others were behind the food table with their weapons drawn over the glass.

I opened my eyes and readied myself. Sticking my rifle out from cover, I blind fired into the room, aiming directly at each of the hostiles and landing each and every hit, without ever coming out of cover. Several thuds were heard from the room, causing me to come out of cover and assess the damage; every hostile in the room had been killed.

"I'm reading no scans of life in this room." AI said after it scanned the room, "All hostiles are eliminated within the general area."

"Awesome" I said as I ran through the back door, continuing forward toward the bridge. I continued running until I made it to a large room. A large metallic door with two guards on either side of it awaited on the end of the room, both of these guards were armed with rifles and large spears on their backs and encased in what seemed like exoskeleton suits.

"Well now" I said as I deactivated my helmet, "What do we have here?"

I quickly mentally scoped the room in front of me. I felt 2 separate essences inside, presumably Austin and another guard, possibly an elite that is far more skilled than the previous guards.

"So, the other guy inside the bridge" I said to the two guards who had their rifles drawn on me, "is he some kind of elite bodyguard? If so I can't wait to fight him."

The left guard snapped at me, "Too bad you won't make it to him."

I raised an eyebrow, and re activated my helmet, "Oh really? You know I thought you two would be smart, but apparently you don't know who I am nor do you know what it is I'm about to do to you."

Both guards armed their rifles.

"Well now, come on, how about this. You two against me in a fist fight, or a spear fight if you so choose." I said as I tried to persuade the guards. I was indeed in a predicament as I had no cover to go to if the two opened fire.

The two guards looked at each other.

"Come on" I said as I dropped my rifle to the ground, "A good old fashioned fight, none of that shooting nonsense."

For some reason, my playful side began to show as it does on missions that involve incredible risks and ridiculous odds.

The two guards then slowly lowered the rifle and dropped them, letting them fall to the ground with a loud thud. They then both grabbed their spears from their backs and activate them. Electricity flowed and electrocuted the tips of their weapons.

"Oh that's pretty neat" I said, "Electric staffs, not bad." I then shot my right arm up, launching my own staff into the air. It extended to full length and I caught it with style, spinning it around my body multiple times and ending in my ready stance. "Now then" I said as I activated the fire essence in my staff, causing both ends to ignite in a blue flame. "shall we dance?"

The two guards then let out a war cry and sprinted for me. I readied myself and prepared for their attack. Scanning their minds I spun my staff and around and ended by holding it out in front of, deflecting both the guards downward jump strike. They pushed against me and tried to get me to the ground, however I countered it easily by sliding towards them and ducking under their staffs, moving nimbly behind them. The two stumbled as they hadn't expected their weight to give in so suddenly. I turned back towards the two and spun my staff around, landing a clean hit to the face of the right guard. The left guard was able to stumble to his feet before I could hit him and managed to dodge the swipe.

I swung his staff from the right. I dodged it and leaned to the right, allowing it to barely hit me. I came back up and followed up with a spin kick to the guard's side. Using the momentum from the spin, I spun once more, jumping and landing a clean and hard hit to the guard from above. The guard stumbled back and aimed his staff at me, firing a bolt of electricity at me. I anticipated the move and ran towards him, jumping into the air with a side spin to dodge the bolt. As I landed on my left foot, I spun with my staff extended and swept the guard's feet from under him, causing him to land on the ground hard. Very swiftly, I followed up with a good swipe to his head, knocking him unconscious, as I did with the other guard. Even with the amount of lust for blood I was feeling, I didn't have it my heart to end the guards' lives, after all I toyed with them.

"Lucky sons of bitches" I said as I walked away and towards the metallic door. I retracted my staff and placed it back my arm piece, then picking up my D-9 rifle. I walked up to the control pad and fired several times at it, causing the large door to open slowly and eerily. I walked back and stood right in front of it, waiting for it to finish.

Inside, I saw Austin standing with his back towards the door. No one else was inside and all the seats with displays at them were empty.

"Kevin" Austin said As I slowly walked in with my rifle drawn, "I've been waiting for you. And by what it looks like…" he chuckled, "your friends will be too… they'll be waiting for you to die as soon as I finish them."

My emotions suddenly shifted to pure anger and my lust for blood was back, "I DON'T THINK SO!" I yelled as I reached into Austin's mind. I felt it, he was already harming Delta and Foxtrot Fox, thankfully none of them had been killed yet. As he did this, I reached into his mind, deep into it, and shut him out of his own power, I used a special disabling technique used in the teachings of the Council that was meant to temporarily block the usage of telepathic powers. Austin fought back, but I had the upper hand and element of surprise, he had not anticipated the attack and wasn't prepared for it.

"ARGH!" Austin yelled in pain as he stumbled back and nearly feel to his knees. He held his head in pain and slowly looked back at me, "Clever human…" he snarled softly, "… you may be strong, with the council teachings on your side… but you can't kill me!" He said as he then sprinted towards me.

I then unleashed a barrage of bolts at him, nearly hitting him several times and hitting him only twice. As he got close, showing no signs of letting up, I threw my rifle to the ground and reached back into his mind. Using another technique that caused immense pain; I reached into his mind and rendered his motor skills useless, Austin fell to the floor, almost paralyzed yelling in pain. He landed mere inches away from me.

I kneeled down slightly, "You know what? You pathetic Cerinian?" I said softly, "You should have stayed dead the first time."

I could hear him snarling in pure anger, "And you should die with me!" He yelled as he swiped at my feet, causing me to land on my back. He then jumped up onto me and began to hit me over and over. Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone came from the side and tackled Austin to the ground and off of me. I rolled over and grabbed my face in pain. "Argh, shit that hurt." I said softly.

Over my back I could hear a struggling voice, a female voice to be exact. I slowly stumbled back to my feet and turned around. What I saw was not what I expected and I was caught completely off guard.

Austin was already back on his feet and had a lupine in his arms and a pistol held to its head. The lupine was none other than Penny. She was struggling greatly trying to break free from Austin's grip.

"Don't do anything you'll regret Michelson!" He yelled, "I'll splatter her brains all over this fucking room!"

I simply looked at the two, worried and scared for Penny's life.

I tried to come up with something to do. I couldn't think of anything and didn't want to try anything. I could have gone into his mind and paralyzed him once more, but he would only get back up in seconds or pull the trigger as soon as he realized I was in his mind. He may not be able to use his telepathy, but he was still trained to know if he was being intruded upon.

I slowly raised my hands slightly, showing that I wasn't going to do anything.

"Come on you psychotic son of a bitch. Look at you… an extremely powerful being, cut down in mere seconds and stripped of your power by someone you thought you could handle." I said, trying to buy time for some miracle to happen.

I was honestly surprised myself. Just by reaching into his mind, I was able to save the two squads, strip Austin of his power temporarily, and cause him to fear for his life after he had caused so much death and loss before hand. His power was so grand, and yet I was able to completely negate all of it with a simple technique that the Council had created long ago.

Austin started to laugh manically, "You really think I'm powerless. You only crippled me temporarily! My power is beyond anything you can imagine!" He yelled, still with the gun at Penny's head.

"You are a power hungry coward! You hid behind the wall of your power! You are weak, you can't fight against me, and you can only defend and cause damage from afar!" I yelled, "The power you had took you over and made you its puppt." I paused, "and I will be the one to put you out of your misery, just as I did before."

Austin only laughed.

"Good god" I said as he did this. I sensed the miracle coming up from the hallway across from the bridge entrance, "such power, and yet you couldn't sense… well…" I paused and looked over, "…that" Delta and Foxtrot came sprinting in and stopped at the entrance of the bridge.

Austin shot his head over. Jess stopped his sprint midway to the bridge entrance and fired at Austin. The bolts were aimed ever so carefully and hit Austin's hand, causing the pistol to fly from it and allowing Penny to break free. As she did so, I sprinted forward towards Austin with my fists ready to meet his face.

"PENNY GET BACK WITH THE OTHERS!" I yelled as I sprinted across towards Austin, whom had stumbled from the pain of the bolt hitting him.

Penny did so and the two squads watched as I ran for Austin.

Jess was quick and ran up beside the others, "Don't shoot!" He yelled as the others were about to open fire on the exposed Cerinian in front of them.

I had made it to Austin and landed a clean side hook to his face.

Jess smiled, "Kevin's got this" he said, "Come on, we need to get Penny back to Great Fox!"

Austin swung back at me, but I dodged it and landed a clean jab at his gut, "Go" I said, "I can handle this fucker!"

The two squads then began to retreat back to their ships while I stayed and fought with Austin.

"Come on you pathetic Cerninan" I said as I easily dodged and deflected every strike he swung at me, "Is this all you got? Is this the power you said you had?!"

I deflected his right hook and landed several more jabs to his gut before finishing with a clean upper cut and a spin swipe at his feet.

Austin fell to the ground. He caught himself and lifted himself up slightly with arms propped up under him. He coughed several times, large amounts of blood spewing out with each one.

I was breathing heavily as the anger and blood lust overcame me, "The immensely powerful and all mighty Austin, cut down by a mere human."

He coughed several more times, "No…" he said, "… that's not how it works."

Suddenly, I felt an immense amount of pain in my head. I dropped to my knees as I felt my mind burn with the sensation of fire. I screamed in pain as Austin slowly got back up to his feet, looking at me with the same look he gave me when he had captured me the first time. The pain was so intense, I couldn't stop it regardless and I wasn't able to focus my essence to block him out.

"You say my power made me cocky." Austin said softly, "and yet you forgot that my crippled power was only temporary. I don't do damage from afar, I kill whatever is right in front of me without lifting a single finger. THAT is the extent of my power."

I tried to look up at Austin, but I couldn't. The pain was so intense I couldn't think and I couldn't do anything. I tried to hold back the screams from the immense pain, and even then I could hardly do that.

"You… disgusting… fuck" I managed to say.

"Oh" Austin said, "I like that…say it again. I love hearing when the one I'm defeating is angry. It makes me feel good; almost like it's my energy source."

I snarled and struggled to get up, but the pain was so much.

"HEY!" I heard another voice yell from my left. I tried to look over but couldn't tell who it was, "Why not fight someone your own size" I heard the feminine voice say.

"No..!" I thought to myself as I tried to look over.

Austin laughed and laughed, "Oh my, and here I was thinking you had been dead all these years."

I managed to look over slightly, only to see Krystal standing in the immense, open doorway with her staff ready.

"Enough…" she said, "I'm not going to fight you Austin."

"Kr…" I tried to speak, "krystal... don't do it!"

Austin raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What is it you're going to do then?"

"It's simple" she said. Suddenly, the immense pain I had felt had disappeared and Krystal screamed as she dropped to the floor. Whatever it was she had done, it cause Austin's power to fade from me.

"Krystal!" I yelled as I almost instantly shifted my body over to see her.

"KILL HIM!" She screamed as she squirmed and yelled from the pain.

I looked up at Austin and tackled him. Very quickly did I go into his mind, deep into his power and use the technique once more; this caused him to be crippled temporarily.

Krystal stopped yelling as the pain faded and she stayed on the floor with her hands on her head, trying to get the aftermath pain to fade as well.

"Now then" I said, "I'M FINISHING THIS!"

I clenched my fists and started to slam them into Austin's face over and over and over again. I let all of my energy loose and continued to hit the bastard until it started to deform from the broken bones and the blood splatting all over the place.

"DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH! DIEEE!" I yelled ferociously as I continued to slam my fists into his face. All of my hatred, all of my rage, all of my emotions being poured out to finally kill and to finally end what hell had been started.

I stopped after several minutes and looked at the monster in front of me. His face was bloodied and his skull bashed in so much you couldn't even recognize him; it was terrifying to look at, but I simply stared and felt relief overcome my senses. I was breathing heavily and looked down at my hands, they were drenched in blood and I could feel and see the blood that had splattered drip from my face. What was done had been done, Austin was dead and would stay dead.

"Let's see you come back from this one…" I said as I slowly began to breathe normally.

I looked back and saw my rifle on the ground a few feet away from me. I stood up from on top of Austin, walked over, and grabbed the rifle. I walked back over to the dead Cerinian and opened fire, letting lose the entire energy clip into the body, making sure that he was to never be revived and brought back to life. Whatever brought him back before will definitely not be doing so now.

I felt my emotions instantly fade, my anger became peace and my lust for blood vanished, replaced by my kind hearted nature that I'm so used to showing. It was kind of weird to feel my mind and emotions make such a sudden shift, but I couldn't care less about it; this war was done, Austin was dead, and I was able to make Beta Fox's death worth something more than just a futile effort to give us an escape from nothing.

I looked back and saw Krystal sitting up, her hands still on her head, trying to sooth the aftermath pains from Austin's telepathy.

"You okay?" I asked as I walked over to her, kneeling down to her.

She nodded once, "Yeah, I'm… I'm fine." She grunted in pain, "I didn't think that'd be so strong."

I looked back over at Austin's body, "What did you do to him? From what I saw it looked like you absorbed his mental path."

She smiled and chuckled, "Something I hope I don't have to use again. But yes, I grabbed onto his essence and forced it onto myself." She grunted again from the pain.

Raising my hand to her head, I closed my eyes and entered her mind. Since I had contact with her I had much more control and much more power to manipulate her head; with this I searched and found the lingering essence still within and causing her mild pain. Instantly, I eradicated the remnant essence and freed Krystal from her mild headache-like pain.

"Thanks" She said as she lowered her hand and smiled.

I simply chuckled, "I think I need to say thanks. You saved my life just now. I think I owe you some preeetty hefty favors in the future."

She chuckled and shook her head, "Of course not" she said with some sass in her voice, "In case you forgot, what I did was a favor for you saving me. So now we're even."

I smiled and slightly chuckled, "Yeah? Well good, cause I wasn't gonna do any favor too big, like carrying shopping bags or something." I teased as I helped Krystal to her feet.

"Oh hush now, I won't be the one asking you to do that." She mused back at me.

I raised my arm to activate my holo comms device, "Fox…" I said with a pause to catch my breath, "…this is Kevin." I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, "This fight is over.."

Fox let out a massive sigh of relief, "Holy shit Kev" he said through his sigh, "is he really dead this time?"

I looked back at the body of the Cerinian and then back forward, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he won't be coming back."

"Jesus what did you do to him?" Fox asked with concern in his voice.

I cleared my throat once more, "Let's just leave it at this, Foxy, MICHELSON didn't kill Austin, Michelson's ANGER, killed him."

"Huh?" Fox said before getting it, "…oh… soooo I'm assuming you didn't stop when he was already dead…"

I smiled, "Anything to keep this fucker gone."

"You have no idea what you've done just now Kevin. You stopped an insane maniac from pretty much killing us." He said, "Get back to Great Fox so we can te-…" he said before stopping dead in his tracks, "… oh yeah"

Krystal and I laughed, "Ah Fox, a bit used to working for the money, aren't ya?" I shook my head with a huge smile on my face, "Krystal and I are on our way back now."

And with that, the small, unknown war had ended. The war between who had the stronger will and the stronger spirit. The war that was the true danger, which had been the true challenge and the worst I have ever faced. It came at the most dreadful cost, but it came to be what it had to be.

I always believed that everything happened for a purpose, regardless of what it was. If it happened, then it needed to happen and there was to be no other outcome beside that certain one. It didn't matter what you did before, it didn't matter how much you tried to do something else, if fate had an outcome, it was to happen and it was to happen for a good reason.

Star Fox was to happen. I had faced a rogue mercenary squad, defended my home planet, was controlled by a god, killed a god, destroyed a planet, escaped death countless times, defeated a power hungry Cerinian, and still never once felt regret. Fate had me where I needed.

This team is my life… all the way till the end.

The End… to the Final Adventure…

Finished. It's all done, it's all complete, all has been done, and it has been a ride.

This book, this story, this was the last piece written with my very first Universe I had created. The Crossed Paths universe has come to an end and the adventures of Kevin Michelson have ended on a strong note, defeating his biggest challenge and doing his job.

Thank you, everyone, for staying with me. Those who read my first book that I had EVER written (Crossed Paths) and those who came afterwards, I love you all.

Until next time everyone… in a new world and in a new universe…