Chapter 42: Prelude to a Journey Apart

"…Fox? Fox, where are you? Can you hear me?"

The vixen's lonely words did not echo, but merely seemed to break the instant they contacted the decorated walls of the grandiose hallway she now found herself standing within. She had been doing this for some time now, but each call ended with the exact same result, silence. It had only been seconds ago that Fox was standing by her side, but it seemed that after they passed through that door, they had somehow become separated. How such a thing could happen, the vixen had no idea, the only thing she knew at that moment was that she was completely alone inside this enormous building. Many things entered into her mind at this point, what could have happened, where he could be, why he had suddenly vanished, but these things were not at the front of her mind. Instead of letting this hinder her in any form, she quickly cut these thoughts off before they were able to manifest within her and began to make her way down the elegant hallway.

I may not know what has become of Fox, but I do know that whatever it is that separated us, it will not be able to keep us this way. I will press on until I find him, and I know that he will do the same. The best action for me to take now is to continue on, hoping that somewhere along the line, Fox and myself will be reunited. I have no need to worry, my only concern at the moment is finding Scales, because that is where Fox will be, and I'm not about to make him wait.

With such optimistic thoughts in her mind, she unwaveringly made her way across the floor of this striking hallway, and not once did her vision falter, her determination telling her that such distractions could only further hinder what she had set out to accomplish. Not even the fountain which sat in the middle of this extravagant hall merited a glance from the passing vixen, she was focused on one thing and one thing only, and that was the lone door that sat at the end of this plush red and gold carpet.

It took a very short time for the vixen to make the trip across the length of this hallway, due mostly impart to the brisk pace she had set, and when she did, she stopped for the first time since she had begun this short walk and took a slight sigh. She knew that she could not let herself be weakened because of the fact that Fox was no longer present with her, but even she began to feel the effects of this occurrence. She had lived in solitude for much of her life, but now that she had experienced what it was like to have another to help her through life, it seemed almost impossible to carry on alone as she once had. It seemed strange, that at such an important moment, she would suddenly begin to feel something that she had experienced only a few days previous, when the one that was now missing from her side was lying in a coffin with no more breaths remaining in his icy cold body. As hard as she tried, this feeling, a feeling of gradually rising fear, slowly found its place within the vixen, and the talks of her having to avoid such feelings only added to them, because now that she found that it would serve nearly unattainable to do so, another feeling came into the vixen, and that added to another, slowly building within her as she stood in front of that door. Pressure, anger, anxiety, all of them slowly became apparent within her, but she tried her best to suppress it, knowing that if she let such things control her, she would ultimately fall victim to them, leaving her with nothing but thoughts of doubt and failure. But as she began to realize all of this, she quickly continued her stride towards the door, its surface slowly opening in front of her, allowing the vixen to walk through unimpeded into the next room of this enormous building.

The vixen came to an abrupt stop as this new room opened up in front of her. Not unlike the first room that she and Fox had visited, this large room was bland in color, not anywhere near the elegance of the previous room. A faint light shone from above, casting light and ominous shadows from the objects that sat in front of Krystal. This time, there were no enemies, no fights to be had, there was nothing. All that stood within this room was a choice, a choice of four different doors that stood ominously in front of the slightly confused vixen. There was nothing that made any of these doors stand out from the other, but on the floor beneath each of these large open portals sat a small mosaic of sorts, their colors differing from door to door. Krystal had not the smallest idea of what these colors were supposed to mean, but understood that she must choose one. Perhaps one door would lead her to Scales, or reunite her with Fox, and then there was the obvious possibility of her walking straight to her death if she were to choose the inappropriate doorway. With this in mind, the vixen found that the most appropriate course of action, at least for the time being, was to wait and try to think through which doorway was the correct path.

Those minutes that she stood in that spot, contemplating which door she would choose, seemed to pass slowly. She had spent only a few minutes within this new room, but it had seemed like hours, and understandably so. With so much on the line for her, the vixen had to make sure she made the right decision, but with so little to try and solve this problem, she found that it would take some time before she chose a door. This however was remedied as Scales voice once again rang above the vixen's head, his voice sounding greatly amused as it did so, "Well, I see that my little vixen has come to a bit of a standoff. I would think that in your predicament, you would hasten the speed of you decision, seeing as how I could be putting your companion Fox McCloud through all manner of torture at this very moment. Well, if that is not enough to motivate you, I think you will find my method far more effective."

Before Scales had finished speaking, several vents opened from a few feet above the vixen on the walls of this otherwise empty room. Only seconds after this occurred, a strange green gas began to pour out from these newly revealed vents, its mass slowly moving down to where Krystal now stood. She quickly knelt down to the floor as she saw this, but could only listen as Scales continued on, "You see, these fumes that are being released are quite deadly, only a few breaths of this and you'll find yourself unable to move, and before you know it, your breathing will cease and then, well, I'm sure you can figure the rest. With that said, I'd say you may want to speed your decision making, otherwise, you may not live to see that friend of yours ever again, at least, not in this galaxy."

Scale's voice once again disappeared from around the vixen, but at the moment, that was the last thing on her mind. A potentially life-threatening substance was slowly drifting down upon her, and if she wished to remain alive, she would have to choose one of these four doors that sat in front of her. Even with this new threat upon her, she still remained indecisive in her action, after all, what good would it be if she escaped death just to have that same fate imposed upon herself? But it was no use, she had no choice, it had not even been more than a few seconds after this gas had entered into the room, and already she noticed that her arms and legs slowly losing their feeling. Before matters could get any worse, the threw her head to the ground, taking a deep breath of whatever traces of clean air there was to be had within this room, and with growing desperation, she quickly stood and ran off in the direction of the door that sat to the far left, which was the one she found was closest to her. As soon as she passed through her door of choice, it quickly and abruptly slammed to a close behind her, leaving the danger of the fumes behind her, but had instead left her in the same vulnerable position she and Fox had first experienced upon their arrival in this place. She had escaped the gasses, but once again, she found herself in complete and utter darkness.

It was immediately after she found herself in this familiar darkness that she stopped dead in her tracks, knowing that if she was the keep running through this area of zero visibility, it would probably do her more harm than good. And so she stood, nothing moved, nothing was heard, all she knew was that she was completely alone within this new room with no way to know what it held or how she could get out. It was at this point that the realization of her fears became greatly apparent. She had fought Sharpclaws, been separated from Fox, almost gagged by a strange gas, and now she was lost in this darkness, all in what must have been only a handful of minutes. She fell to her knees, covering her eyes in hopes that it might distract her from the black void that surrounded her, and not to her great surprise, tears slowly began to form in her eyes. It had been so long since she was forced to handle so much stress and anxiety on her own, and now it all seemed to overwhelm her. It didn't matter that the fate of the galaxy hung in the balance of this mission, it didn't matter that she may be doomed within this very room, not even the fact that the revenge for this planet was in her hands seemed to carry any importance any longer. As the vixen's body hunched down on the cold floor that sat below her, there was only one thing that she wanted, only one thing that really mattered to her anymore.

"Fox…I need your help. I cannot…carry on by myself any longer. I've tried my best…but now I need you Fox. Please…help me through."

"Ahh, I see that you have finally reached your breaking point, without Fox McCloud to help you through this magnificent place, you are nothing more than a weak little girl. For you see, it was only on his strength that you have managed to get this far, you have done nothing to aid him. Fox is the one who has carried you this far, and now that he is no longer at your side, you find that taking action on your own proves too great a task. Perhaps a separation like this was just what Fox McCloud was waiting for. For now, he no longer has to be burdened by your presence."

Krystal head had immediately jerked up as she heard this voice echo around her once again, and after hearing what it had to say, she seemed to be filled with anger, made apparent as she spoke back in a harsh tone, "No, Fox would never think like that! We have both done what we knew was requested of the other and we both depend on each other for strength. My personal weaknesses have nothing to do with Fox!" She paused for a breath, finding herself tired from all the mixed emotions that were running through her at that moment, but continued shortly after in the same voice, "And if you think that I have merely given up because Fox is no longer with me, you could not be further from the truth. Whatever has happened to him, I will find him, and I know he would do the same for me in no less than a heartbeat."

Shortly after the vixen had finished speaking, Scales' familiar booming laugh was heard throughout the entire darkened room she found herself within. This laughter subsided soon after as Scales continued to speak in a somewhat amused sounding voice, "Is that so? Well, I have someone here that may tell you otherwise. Someone who I'm sure you would prefer to see face-to-face, but this is the best I could do at the moment. What you hear my come as a shock, but you cannot say that I did not warn you my dear vixen. Now Fox, is there anything you would like to say to your friend here?"

There was a brief silence, but it was soon broken by the voice of the vulpine that had stood at her side only a few minutes previous, "Krystal, what are you doing? Can't you see he's trying to get inside our minds?" Her eyes opened wide as she heard this voice, even though it seemed slightly tampered, she knew it was him speaking in the room, just as Scales had been ever since they entered into this place. She looked up into the black void and replied desperately, "Fox, where are you? We were separated and I have no idea where you went. Please, help me Fox." The vulpine's voice came back into the room, a slightly quieter tone of voice echoed in the room as he spoke, "Krystal, with you, I have no chance of making it through this place. We both know that." The words hit Krystal hard, never before had she heard Fox say such a thing to her before in her life. Her face looked greatly betrayed, no one would be able to tell among the darkness, but it was there. As if this was not enough of a shock, the vulpine continued on with his words, "I can go on without you Krystal. When you're with me, I feel like I'm being held back, and right now, that's the last thing I want." With these final words, Fox's voice quickly faded from the room, but the silence did not last long as Scales began to speak once again in his still amused sounding voice, "You see, Fox has realized that you are nothing more than a hindrance to him. Besides, was it not the very scrolls you follow that say that he is the one to save this planet. Your part in that was to merely stand by his side, but you have no right to continue to do so." The vixen looked up at the ceiling once again, tears now falling from her hurt-looking eyes, and said in a wavering voice, "How would you know such things? You…are nothing more than a wretched dinosaur, how would you know of the scrolls?"

"Why my child, you have not figured that out for yourself? I was the one who convinced your father to assemble all the pieces of the scroll in the first place, and it was my mission to make sure all life that once thrived on this planet was destroyed. And I must say it worked quite well…for the most part."

The vixen's expression froze as she heard these words. It had been over four years since she had departed from this planet, leaving behind everything she had ever known, but even as she did so, she never really had any clear idea of what had happened. She knew that her father had assembled the scrolls, and that it created distrust between the tribes of Cerinia, but even this would not have caused such a war between those different tribes. But perhaps a mind-controlled push from General Scales could. Something like that could have easily been averted diplomatically, but if Scales were to take the mind of several of the tribes, war would have been impossible to avoid. When Krystal had first departed from Cerinia before its surface was destroyed, she was determined to find the real cause of that very war, and now here she stood, alone in the darkness, back on the planet from which she had begun this journey, only to find out at such a tremendous moment as this to finally realize that Scales was the one who started it all. Her hands soon joined her knees on the floor as she tried to grasp everything that had just happened to her in the past few minutes, but it all seemed like far too much to handle in such a short time.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I seem to have caused a bit of negative emotion to rise up within you. But rest assured, when this day reaches a close, you will return to those of this planet who have fallen before you, and I will make sure that I am personally responsible for that send off. So with that said, I'll show you the way out of that dreadfully dark room. I'll be waiting for you my dear girl, so until we met again, I bid you farewell."

The lights that hung high above the vixen suddenly shone with a bright clear color, filling the previously darkened room with much needed light, but at that moment, the vixen could care less about such things. Even though her exit was now sitting in plain sight, the vixen remained with her hands and knees planted firmly into the cold stone floor beneath her. I was not just the fact that she had to go through so much up until now, or that Scales had revealed himself as the one who had destroyed Cerinia, there was one thing that she had just learned of that tore at her heart, something she had never expected to hear from…him.

I just…don't know what to do. Fox seems to have his own plan in mind, and from what I understand, I have no part in it. Never before…or rather…never did I ever expect to hear such things from him, after all that we've been through together, now it seems as if he no longer wants any part of me. I feel so…betrayed. Ever after I said I would commit myself to him for the rest of my life, he now finds me nothing more than a stepping stone on his way to Scales…

"Why Fox…what did you gain by doing such a thing to me?"

Within the silence that this room held, the sound of Krystal's muffled sobs could be heard drifting slowly across its cold floor. It was as if she were reliving the time she had spent when Fox died some days ago, only this time, it was slightly different. Fox had abandoned her, leaving her to be alone as she had all those years before she had met him, before she had ever gotten caught up in this mission. It was not only sadness that filled her, but also feelings of infidelity and disbelief, things she had rarely experienced throughout her entire life. She had grown so close to him, to the point that she was willing to submit to him and become his wife, but now this happened, and no matter how many good times they had shared together, they were now tarnished, to the point where they were almost unbearable for the vixen to think back on.

She continued on in this manner for quite some time, her mind simply not allowing her body to recover from such a shock. It was some time after this before she finally raised her vision from the stone floor that sat below her towards the door that Scales had opened in front of her. She continued to stare at its inorganic surface for a few seconds, not knowing if she would be able to continue on knowing that Fox did not want her to interfere, but suddenly, the vixen's expression changed from that of sadness to one that suggested forced determination. Krystal stood from the floor, wiping the few remaining tears in her eyes before turning to face this new passage that sat inconspicuously in front of her. She hesitated for a moment, speaking to herself in a wavering yet slightly angry sounding voice, "If I cannot do this for Fox, then I will do it for my father and my planet. Scales must pay for the damage he has done…I don't need Fox to realize that." With her new mindset, the vixen gradually made her way towards the door, the thought of Fox still lingered in the back of her mind, but as far as she was concerned, whatever they had promised each other, whether it be that they would fight for each other, or even the fact that she had given herself as Fox's wife, it meant nothing. Everything they had shared, everything they had enjoyed was all voided, and at that point in time, this vixen could care less of what became of this vulpine, the one who stole all of her hopes and dreams with only a few words. He had betrayed her, and she would never find it within himself to forgive him.

As she slowly walked through this new door, she wondered what else this building could possibly hold. Even with the lingering fear that another trap awaited her, it all seemed to be blurred by the thoughts of Fox. At this point, Krystal was no longer concerned with what happened to herself. As long as she was able to defeat Scales before he own demise, she would be happy, because as of only a few moments ago, it was the only thing she had to live for. With this mindset, she soon found herself passing through this door, leading her into an empty room, a room that held only the presence of one other door. Guessing that this was her next path to take, she gradually made her way towards this new passage, but before she could do so, the door she had been heading for suddenly swung open, and walking through it came her betrayer, Fox McCloud. He glanced at her with an expression of both relief and disbelief as he spoke in a quiet voice that mirrored his expression.

"Krystal…is that really you?"

(Fox)

No matter how hard he searched or how many times he checked, Krystal was still nowhere in sight. He had spent nearly five minutes checking every crevice that this decorated hallway may have had, but never once did he find even the slightest clue of what had happened to his female companion. So with a hesitant sigh, he turned to face to door that sat at the end of the hallway, able to see its surface only by looking through the gently spraying water from the fountain that sat in front of it. The vulpine gave up his futile attempt to find Krystal and slowly began to make his way out of this hallway. His previous attempts to convince himself that he could successfully navigate this place without Krystal's help was in vain. He was used to working alone, just as he had on Dinosaur Planet, but after having experienced what it was like to work so closely with another, especially with the kind of bond the two of them shared, he found it hard to adjust. Despite these feelings, he still made his way towards the door at the end of the hallway, knowing that if he remained strong and made his way forward, he would eventually run into Krystal, and he did not think that moment would ever come soon enough.

As Fox found himself at the end of this highly decorated hallway, the door that sat in that same area slowly opened in front of him, revealing the next room that he would have to visit, and much to his relief, he found that it was well lit. With the state of mind that at least he would not be able to fall victim to an ambush as he had in the first room, he strode through the open door, which once again disappeared behind him after he passed through its open threshold.

Once inside of this new room, he walked forward for a short while, eventually coming to notice that it was totally empty, as was the case with the first room of this complex, and there was no way out. He turned back to make sure that the previous door had disappeared, but was stopped from doing so as he noticed several Sharpclaw soldiers running his way. This took the vulpine completely off-guard, but he somehow managed to narrowly avoid the several attempted attacks from the claws of these familiar enemies, making his way towards the far side of the room in order to give himself time to take action. Immediately after he found adequate space between him and these Sharpclaw, the vulpine reached down towards the holster that sat on his leg, only to find that his blaster no longer sat within. He thought for a second before giving himself a mental slap in the face, he had forgotten to recover his blaster after the fight in the first room. He was quickly forced to shake off such feelings however as the Sharpclaw began to gain on the vulpine. There were only a handful of them, but unlike his first fight in this building, he was completely on his own.

Fox quickly took a defensive stance as he watched the creatures approach him in their version of a brisk jog. He knew he was faster than them, and that would be the key factor in this fight. None of the Sharpclaw's seemed to have weapons, which meant that this fight would be fairly even. As the creatures finally came within a few yards of Fox, they all barred their long, unkempt claws and slashed out at the vulpine. He had expected this sort of unorganized strategy from the Sharpclaw, who he had known for some time now not to be the brightest of all creatures, and was able to easily jump free from their attacks. This caught several of the creatures off-balance, leaving them wide open for attack. The vulpine leaped forward and connected with the back of one of the Sharpclaw's head, riding it until his feet smashed the creatures head into the ground, creating a loud cracking noise as a result. From this position, the vulpine jumped a good distance off of the downed Sharpclaw's head and landed a solid punch to the side of one of the creature's heads, instantly causing him to fall unconscious onto the ground below. While the confusion from these attacks ensued, Fox continued on the offensive, using a nearby wall as a means of strengthening his kicking power, jumping up and lunging free of its surface to dispatch another of the Sharpclaw with a powerful kick. Once he landed, the vulpine forced himself to back away to catch a quick breath. The Sharpclaw seemed to be hesitant to attack the vulpine after that display, giving Fox ample time to regain his breath. He only needed a few brief seconds before he was back in the action, besting each Sharpclaw with great ease until eventually, none remained standing within the room.

Almost immediately after finding that he had taken care of every Sharpclaw in the room, Fox fell to his knees, finding his legs and arms were beginning to grow tired from both of the fights he had just been forced into. As he knelt in that spot on the floor, he raised his hand up to his neck, rubbing a tense area that sat within as he commented to himself with a slight chuckle, "Well, so much for not being ambushed…"

Fox's moment of reprieve was cut short however as a booming voice echoed from above him, "So I see that even without your companion, you are still a most courageous fighter. I did not know that you could hold your own so well with on one to support you. Despite what little strength you may have, it will only be a matter of time before you fall weak before all this place has to offer, you can be sure of that my friend."

Fox quickly disregarded these words and asked in a stern voice, "What have you done to Krystal? Tell me where she is right now!" The dinosaurs laugh that resulted from Fox's question lasted for some time, but Scales managed to continue on by answering, "Oh, do not worry about the girl, I will make sure nothing happens to her, but I cannot say the same for you my friend. Now, with that in mind, allow me to open your next pathway. Be careful however, I would hate it if you were to perish at the hands of my minions, I myself have been waiting some time to bring you to your death, but I suppose that will come in due time. Until we meet again, farewell Fox McCloud."

With those parting words, another door opened within the room, giving Fox another pathway to what he was sure would be another fight. With this in mind, he gave himself ample time to sit in that same spot to regain his breath. As he looked up towards his next destination, Fox took a deep sigh, knowing that the longer he sat on the floor, the bigger window of opportunity he was giving for Scales to get to Krystal first. It was an unpleasant thought, but for the moment, there was nothing he could do but try and recover as quickly as possible from the previous brawl.

Krystal might be on her own for now, but I know she can take care of herself…probably better than I can protect myself. When she's got that staff with her, she can really bring it together in a fight, I never really thought she had anything like that in her…heh, she just never fails to impress me. She may have lost everything she's ever known, but she just never gives up. I guess that's just one of the millions of reasons that I fell in love with her so quickly. And it's that attitude that gives me the will to keep going during times like this. I might be tired…

"…but I'm not ready to quit."

As the vulpine said these words, he found his place back on his feet, his face pointing towards the open door that sat at the far end of the room. He had no idea what this next room contained, traps, darkness, more Sharpclaw, anything could have happened, but no matter what it ended up being, he would face it head on, feeling at that moment that whatever Scales decided to throw his way, he would meet it head on, and he would not fall at the challenge. And so with a few short strides across this large room, he soon found himself standing within this new room, the door slamming to a close and disappearing as soon as he did so.

It was only seconds after his entire had passed through this new door before the vulpine found himself in immediate danger. As the door that now sat behind him disappeared, he was barely able to dodge a rapidly approaching arrow; one that shattered against the wall behind him due to the force it was fired with. Fox did not turn to see this however, his attention diverted onto the one who fired it from the other end of this large room. Fox seemed to have been caught off-guard as he realized who exactly it was that had attacked him. At the other end of the room stood three animals, all of which were very familiar to the vulpine. The one who had fired the arrow was a raccoon, and by his side stood an echidna and a Kymachian. Fox hesitated for a moment as he saw these figures, not knowing how this was even possible.

What? These were the animals I had to fight during the past week, but how is that possible? Did Scales save a few of these guys from each planet to fight me again? That has to be right, because we saved all of those planets, so they couldn't be under mind control unless that's what happened. Well, it doesn't matter how they got here, all that matters is that I get out of here alive, Krystal can't be much farther…

Fox quickly exited from his thoughts as both the Kymachian and the echidna charged at him with their all to familiar grunts and screams. These creatures did not seem to be much more intelligent than the Sharpclaw he had faced, knowing that if they were merely to continue charging at him, he would have an easy time dealing with them. But as Fox waited to take the offensive on these two charging animals, we quickly discovered that it would not prove as easy of a task as he had thought, made apparent as another arrow missed piercing into his chest by mere inches. Not only would he have to avoid the two charging animals, but he would also have to keep an eye out for the arrows that were being fired by the raccoon that stood quietly in the corner of the room. It was because of this that Fox realized he must take great caution when attacking, because if he did not, he would eventually fall victim to either of the physical threats that stood within this room.

For a while, Fox did nothing but parry the attacking creatures, while at the same time keeping an eye on the constant stream of arrows that came at him. But as this went on, he began to rapidly grow fatigued, his muscles becoming weaker and his breaths coming faster as he tried to avoid being done in by these creatures. Unfortunately for the vulpine, no matter how much distance he put between himself and these creatures, he never had time to regain his breath, the raccoon's arrows making sure of that. Soon after finding this out, Fox knew that he would have to take the offensive before he collapsed from exhaustion, or before he could no longer effectively dodge the arrows that flew across the room. So faced with such little choice, the vulpine rushed towards the creatures that were also coming at him, knowing that if he could not successfully destroy them in this attack, he may have little chance of gaining enough strength to mount another.

Fox may have been at a great disadvantage, but he would not allow himself to fall after all he had already been put through. As the vulpine ran towards the advancing creatures, he was forced to dodge several arrows, which proved difficult due to the pinpoint accuracy this raccoon possessed, but was able to do so despite this, allowing himself to achieve an attacking distance on the Kymachian and echidna. Once he did so, he threw out a solid punch to the animal that stood about the same height as himself, causing the echidna to stagger back after receiving the blow, which Fox followed up with a low kick to the short Kymachian. The smaller creature slid back some distance from the impact, but it was not long before both these animals recovered from Fox's attacks. The vulpine was forced to recover quickly as well, his attacks had left him wide open for the raccoons arrows, but he managed to duck under many of them before they pierced into his body.

As he stood up, he realized that there were now many arrows lying sporadically across the floor of this room, which instantly gave the vulpine a plan of attack. He ran away from all the animals, giving himself better change to avoid the raccoon's attacks, and swiftly bent down to recover one of the many arrows that sat beneath him. The point of the arrow may not have been the sharpest he had ever seen, but its jagged stone tip would be enough to whittle away at whatever disadvantage he had found himself at as this fight began. With this new weapon in hand, he merely allowed the two charging animals to close in on him, hoping that this arrow would accomplish what he was intending.

It was only seconds after Fox had managed to separate himself from these animals before they were once again in attacking range of his body, but this time, he was much more prepared. The echidna was the first to reach him, and as he did, it let out a deafening scream as it threw out its short claws towards the vulpine. Fox quickly hoped clear of this attack, and with a hopeful thrust, the vulpine pierced the side of the echidna with this arrow, meriting another scream from the creature as the wound Fox had just created began to bleed furiously. Leaving the arrow where it was now lodged, Fox quickly turned from the echidna and delivered a powerful kick to the short Kymachian, one that it was not so fortunate to recover from as it had during Fox's first attack.

This left Fox alone with the only creature that remained standing within the room, the raccoon that stood unwaveringly in the corner of this large room. Both animals stared the other down for a short time, giving Fox a brief period to both breathe and think. Trying to even get anywhere near the raccoon would prove difficult, thanks in part to the fact that the closer Fox got to the raccoon, the more accurate and powerful his shots would become. But even with this in mind, he still had to chance it. There was no other way to get to the raccoon besides trying to get within attacking range without falling victim to the animals arrows. So after feeling he'd regained as much breath as he needed, the vulpine began his charge towards the raccoon, hoping that this attack didn't end up being as irrational as it seemed at the moment.

As he expected, once he began to quickly make his way towards the raccoon, the arrows began to fly all around him. Because of this, the vulpine was forced to run towards his adversary in a very erratic pattern, hoping that it would somehow decrease the chance of him getting hit by one of the raccoon's projectiles. This seemed to work for longer than Fox had first expected, but as he got closer, so did the arrows. On several occasions, these missiles only missed him by nothing more than the hair on his body, but luckily for him, the raccoon had to continually reload his weapon, which gave Fox several chances to make a straight dash at the creature, and before very long, Fox had reached his destination, knocking the bow free from the raccoon's hands, causing it to fly several feet away from either of the creatures, giving Fox the chance he had been waiting for. Before the raccoon had any time to react after being disarmed, Fox threw his fist into the creatures stomach, and as his body hunched over from the impact of the blow, the vulpine raised his knee swiftly into the face of the creature, causing his body to lurch upward, only to have it fall hard onto the ground below.

As soon as the vulpine saw this, he to fell to the ground, panting desperately for air. He may have been victorious in these previous battles, but now the fatigue of it all was quickly catching up to him. His muscles ached, his breath came much quicker and took much more effort just to do so. He attempted to stand, but was quickly discouraged from doing so as he felt a sharp pain run up one of his legs. Not once had his many adversaries successfully attacked him, he had fought perfectly, but now he doubted he could do so for some time. If it was Scales' plan to wear the vulpine out before he could reach him, the dinosaur had done so very well. For the moment, all Fox could do was remain in that spot, waiting for another door to open. But for the vulpine, it was a welcome pause.

Unfortunately, this moment of respite lasted for a far shorter time than the vulpine had either wanted or expected. As he sat in that same spot on the ground, trying to give himself ample time to recover, the very floor that he was resting upon suddenly gave way, and after a short and surprised yell, the vulpine quickly fell down into a new room within this immense complex. He didn't really give himself the chance to notice this however as his body, which had been falling for several seconds now, contacted the floor of this new room, meriting a painful grunt from the vulpine as his plunge came to an abrupt end. It had been quite a long fall to where he now could be seen collapsed on the floor, the fatigue of his previous battles only adding to the pain he was now experiencing. He managed to prop himself up onto his arms, only to find them to be almost completely numb from the combination of fighting and his recently experienced fall into this room. He ignored this for the moment, instead placing his attention on the room that now sat before him.

Not surprisingly, this room did not seem to hold anything within its bland looking walls, not unlike just about every room he had visited so far. But unlike these previously empty rooms, within this one sat an open door at the opposite end. This allowed Fox to take a breath out of relief, seeing this door led him to believe that he would have nothing to face in this room, which would give him as much time as he wanted to try and recover from his previous battles. And so with this in mind, he let his arms fall out from beneath him, causing the vulpine fall flat on his back, his vision wandering casually around the ceiling above as he slowly gained back the energy he had expended during the last few minutes of his journey within this place.

He carried on in this manner for some time, and thanks to this rest, he slowly began to feel himself regaining what he had lost in the previous rooms of this building, but just as he thought he was ready to move on, he heard the familiar sound of door opening behind him, and before he could turn around, he heard the same door come to a harsh close. It was almost immediately after this final noise was heard before his head came fully around so that he could see what had caused the noise, and when he did, whatever energy that remained lost from the vulpine seemed to flow back as he saw who it was that had come through this door. He immediately stood from his spot on the ground, but for some reason, he found words did not come easy to him at this moment. Because of this, he could only watch as this newly appeared creature slowly made its way towards him.

It was only a matter of seconds before this creature made its way into close range of the vulpine, speaking in a quiet voice as it managed to do so, "Fox, I am glad to see that you are well." Fox smiled back at her, hearing that voice seemed to make him forget all that he had endured during those few previous minutes, "I'm glad to see you too, we got separated a while back but it looks like we're back together again, huh?" Krystal's face seemed to remain in an emotionless state as she responded back in the same voice as before, "Yes, we have been reunited, but I caution, we should not move on. It is far to dangerous for either of us to continue." These words came as a complete surprise to the vulpine. Never before had he heard the vixen utter such negative words, and so he replied with a puzzled look, "What do you mean by that? We've got this far and I'm not about to stop now. We have to keep going, we didn't come all this way just to give up, right?" At these words, the vixen slowly moved behind the vulpine so that she stood directly in front of the door that sat open at the opposite end of the room. After finding herself in this position on the floor, she faced the vulpine and held her arms out from her sides, speaking as she did so, "I have seen what Scales is capable of, we have no chance to defeat power such as that. If we were to face him, we would surely fail." Fox was even further taken aback by these words, and replied in a worried voice, "What are you doing Krystal? Can't you see he's trying to get inside our minds? You don't have to go through this place alone anymore, and don't worry, we can take down Scales together." The vixen shook her head, her arms still outstretched as she replied back with the same flat voice, "No Fox, it is futile. I will not allow either of us to rush needlessly to our deaths." The vulpine shook his head, taking a step forward as he responded in as positive a voice as he could muster at that moment, "You're wrong, we're the only chance this galaxy's got to take Scales down. But…Krystal, without you, I have no chance of making it through this place. We both know that." The vixen lowered her head, as well as her previously extended arms, as she quietly responded, "You already have no chance of defeating Scales, with or without me. If you want to continue on, it will be without my aid. I do not want to die in this place, but if you are foolish enough to think you can defeat him on your own, go ahead, I will not make any attempt to stop you." It took the now greatly confused vulpine almost no time to reply to the vixen's comment, which he did as he quickly walked into arm's length of his counterpart, "Krystal, I don't know what Scales did to you to make you suddenly think we have no chance of beating him, but just listen to me for a second. If you don't come with me, I know I won't survive a fight with Scales. I've known that ever since we fought on Katina. I just… I can't go on without you Krystal. When you're not with me, I feel like I'm being held back, and right now, that's the last thing I want…for either of us. We have to take Scales down together. If we do, I know there's no way he can beat us. We can finally bring peace back to the galaxy…back to Cerinia. That's what you've wanted since you left this place all those years ago, right? So…let's go. We'll take him down…together." At this, Fox slowly extended his hand towards the vixen, hoping that she would find truth in his words and accept his hand, making it clear that she was ready to finish out their mission, no matter what great obstacles lay ahead. But despite all he had said and all he had tried to instill within her, she only turned her head from his outstretched hand, speaking in a suddenly irate voice, "You are more a fool now than you ever have been. You have experienced his power first hand, what more could you accomplish with me standing idly by? I realize that I have no chance of besting Scales; even with your pathetic help…it's time you do the same and just leave this place with your life. Accept the fact that Scales is just too great, you know it to be true Fox. You cannot go on thinking in such a optimistic manner when it will only bring about your end."

Fox did not need to hear anymore, his previously extended hand clenched into a tight fist, his teeth barred tight as he tried to block out all that Krystal was saying. It was true that he had been beaten one-handedly by Scales back on Katina, but this time, he was prepared for such an attack. Not only that, but he knew that he would have Krystal by his side as he did so…but not this one. The vulpine quickly cocked his fist at his side, thrashing out with it as he spoke fiercely through his clenched teeth, "I don't want to hear it anymore, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but there is one thing I can tell you right now. You…are not Krystal!" The words spewed over with rage and emotion, not unlike his closed fist that now flew towards Krystal's body. His eyes came to a tight close, not allowing himself to see what damage he may cause, but to his great surprise, his fist passed through nothing but air. He quickly looked up and saw the figure of Krystal standing in front of him, motionless. His features suddenly relaxed to a large extent as confusion replaced his anger. The vulpine moved the hand he had used to deliver his errant punch, only to find that it was able to move freely throughout the body of the vixen. Fox quickly withdrew it from the vixen's body as her image suddenly faded away into nothingness. The vulpine's focus held to the floor she had disappeared into, speaking to himself in a quiet and relieved voice, "It was…just a hologram. Just another one of Scales tricks to get me distracted…" He looked away from the floor towards the ceiling above, calling out in a voice that hinted the slight joy he found in this victory, "But it didn't work, did it General? Krystal would never turn her back on me like that, too bad you can't understand what it's like to have someone like that with you."

"Oh, my dear friend, you would be surprised of all the benefits I have reaped with help from the right friends, but I digress, you have managed to see through this trap, but perhaps the next will prove…too real an experience for you, shall I say? But on the positive side, there are very few rooms left separating you and I, Fox McCloud. You would not believe how much I've been anticipating your arrival. So until that time, I bid you good luck, because frankly, I do not see much it in your immediate future."

"And when that time comes, I'll be ready…" Fox words trailed off as Scales' did the same. The vulpine had had to endure much during his short time in this place, but his determination had hit a peak at this very moment, one that was matched only by the time he and Krystal had spent preparing for this very mission. He resolutely turned his attention to the door that remained open at the far end of the room, slowly making his way towards its surface, knowing that his journey to find Scales would soon be over, and nothing like this could ever happen again.

Of course, there was still something missing from this grand picture Fox had freshly painted within his mind, that being the vixen that had been absent from his side for some time now. But as he came within inches of this open door, the greatest surprise of his entire experience in this place made itself known, for there she stood, only inches away from himself. The blue fur, the red gem hanging between her eyes, the staff that lay sheathed across her back, it was her, the one and only…his one and only. He scanned her face with great eagerness, his voice seeming to project itself in a slightly quieter tone than he had intended as he spoke in astonishment, "Krystal…is that really you?"

The vixen stood in astonishment as well, never expecting to be reunited with her vulpine counterpart so early, and much to Fox's surprise, she failed to make any gesture of her being even the slightest bit content about their getting back together. Her expression remained the same, the mood around her did as well, making it almost seem as if she was seeing him for the first time. The vulpine didn't seem to mind however, made apparent as he quickly bridged the few steps of distance that had previously separated them, speaking in a relieved voice as he did so, "I'm glad you're alright, no telling what Scales might have done to you if…"

Fox slowly cut himself off from his statement as the vixen quickly made it apparent that she did not wish to hear him speak, made clear as she turned her back to him and began to backtrack into the room she had appeared from. For a short while, Fox only watched in complete confusion as she did this, but quickly broke from this immobile state and chased after her. After passing through the door she had walked through, he positioned himself in front of her body and stopped, causing her to do the same. Even though her head hung towards the ground, Fox looked into what he could see of her face as he asked in a concerned voice, "What's the matter Krystal? Aren't you glad to see me? Did Scales do something to you?" There was no response from the vixen, who only continued to stare blankly into the ground below. Fox was getting more and more confused as this silence carried on, not understanding why she would appear so distraught after they were reunited. He asked again in a quiet and sympathetic voice, "What's wrong? I hate to see you sad like this, but I can't do anything to help until you tell me what's bothering you. Just talk to me…" As he said these final words, he extended his hand to gently contact the vixen's shoulder. This attempt to comfort the vixen was not accepted as the vulpine had at first thought it would be, which he quickly found out as Krystal raised her own arm and forcefully pushed Fox's approaching hand away from herself, causing the vulpine to take a step back in complete surprise. It was almost no time after this before she looked up at him, her eyes full of upset tears, speaking in a voice filled with mixed emotions, "…It is not Scales that troubles me Fox…It is you."

This took the vulpine even more off-guard than when Krystal had rejected his attempt to comfort her. Despite this, and the fact he had no idea why she would say such a thing, he replied in the same voice he had used previously, "Me? Did I do something wrong?" The vixen's tear-filled eyes suddenly pressed down against his own, speaking in a painful sounding voice as this happened, "Do not pretend you do not know what I am talking about, you know very well what you said, and I'll let you know this right now…If you think that way about this mission, than I do not wish to take any part in it. Is that not what you desire?" The even expression that Fox had been trying to hold onto for the past few moments suddenly gave way to one that conveyed obvious bewilderment. He shook his head as he responded in a sketchy voice, "What I said? But I've been…I mean…I haven't even seen you since we got separated. Are you saying that…" Krystal cut off the vulpines speech by merit of her hand waving flippantly in front of her, adding in a similar voice to the one she had just finished with, "Listen, I do not wish to hear you feed me any more lies than you already have Fox. What you said I cannot forgive of you. It is as simple as that. And so, knowing that you do not wish for me to stay, I will leave you. I hope you accomplish whatever fool thing it is you wish to…"

Before Krystal even had the chance to turn and attempt to walk away, Fox took both of his hands and clasped them firmly against the shoulders of the vixen, speaking before she could resist him, "Hang on a minute Krystal. I don't have any idea what you're talking about here. I haven't said anything to you since we came here, and I don't know where you got the idea that I don't want you around, I mean, that's the last thing I want right now." Whatever he had said, it seemed to have captured the vixen's attention, which was made clear by the fact that she was not trying to repel his hands from atop her shoulders. After seeing he was finally making progress, Fox quickly continued on with his words, "I need you to help me defeat Scales, but that's not the only thing we're fighting for here. We're fighting for this planet…this universe, and without you, I just can't do it. I've seen what Scales can do, he was the one that killed me, but you know who never gave up on me? It was you…and because of that faith you had, I'm able keep fighting for what I believe in, fighting to defend what I love in life…" Krystal eyes slowly traced up to Fox's steady gaze as she heard him speak, the tears beginning to bead up once again within them. They remained this way as the vixen spoke back in a meek voice, "How can you say such things…after all you've imparted to me already…after saying you no longer needed me…that you would rather go after Scales on your…"

Before Krystal could go any further, Fox quickly removed his hands from Krystal's shoulders and gently wrapped them around her back, causing the vixen to stop mid-speech, and in turn, causing her tears to flow freely along with the sobs of her forgotten endearment. Her arms as well came quickly around the back of Fox McCloud, her mind merely not allowing herself to go against this vulpine. No matter what she had heard, false or not, she simply could not hold it against him, and as she held the vulpine in her arms once again, she could feel the sincerity in both his words and this genuine display of affection. She knew that Fox would never say things like she had heard, and was suddenly ashamed that she had ever believed a word of it, causing her hold on Fox to become even tighter. The vulpine smiled as he felt this, feeling that whatever had happened to make her act as she had was no longer within her. He gently moved his hand up and down against the back of the vixen's uniform, speaking quietly as he did so, "We'll be alright…now that we're back together. And don't think for a second that I'd ever abandon you here or anywhere else. We both made a promise, and I'm ready to keep it." The vixen did not look up, but merely nodded against the vulpines chest, speaking between her muffled sobs, "Fox…I'm glad to…have you back with me…"

"Well, this is all quite touching I must say. I suppose there may be something the two of you share that is difficult for me to break, but even so, I applaud you both. I had my doubts that either of you could come to terms with the other after what I have put you through. I suppose you have earned slight respect in my eyes."

Fox looked up to the ceiling, but said nothing in return to the booming voice of General Scales, which allowed the dinosaur to continue on, "Well, seeing as how neither my minions nor mind games could hinder you from reaching this point, I suppose it is finally time for our meeting. I've been waiting some time for this moment, and now it has finally arrived, I can hardly bare the anticipation. This is the final door; I suggest you pass through it prepared. I would hate for you to go through all that trouble for nothing."

The vulpine's attention was quickly diverted from the ceiling and was instead directed at one of the walls within the room. One moment, nothing stood against its empty surface, and then the next moment, Fox saw a large, highly-decorated door slowly emerge from behind the wall, making a loud grinding noise as it did so. It was only seconds after this happened that this final door was fully revealed to them, waiting for them to pass through. The vulpine looked down into the face of the vixen, noticing immediately that she was already doing the same to him. He helped steady the vixen on her own to feet and asked in a solid tone of voice, "So, I guess this is it…are you going to be alright?" Krystal nodded, her tears seemed to have faded as her face slowly became filled with the determination she had made clear on the Great Fox, and replied shortly after in as solid a voice as Fox had ever heard from her, "Thanks to you Fox, I've never felt better. Now…let's head through this final door and end this journey. This is the moment we've been anticipating since we began, and it is now finally upon us. Together, we'll finish what we started…" At these words, the vixen smiled and held her hand out to her side, continuing on shortly after, "What do you say to that, Fox McCloud?" The vulpine smiled back, more than happy to have regained the Krystal he had known since this mission had began, and gladly took her hand into his own, speaking devoutly as he did so, "I don't think I have to say any more. We know what we have to do, what's ahead of us. So let's do what we came here for…Scales won't have a chance." With these last words, both vulpines turned toward this final door, the door that would lead them to their last fight with their ultimate enemy, and as they both passed through its large, open surface, they felt as if nothing could ever bring them down. They had faced so much up to this point. Things that brought them pain, things that pushed their emotions to the edge, things that seemed impossible to grasp, but they had overcome it all, now the only thing that remained to be conquered waited past this door, the very door that they now found themselves standing beyond, the door that now closed behind them, leaving them alone at their final destination.

As they found themselves in this final room, they also found that it was not unlike the first, due to the darkness that filled the room, except for a single ray of light that shined down upon the two vulpines as the door had come to an abrupt close behind them. Because of this, these two animals could only see the space in their immediate area, which was not much, considering how narrow this single beam of light was. They both looked at each other with puzzled expressions, neither of them had any idea what to do to surmount this situation or even tell if this truly was the final room that was held within this large complex. Their situation was quickly remedied however as another ray of light shone into the room. It was only a short distance away, and inside the beam of light, both vulpines could see a short figure casting a shadow within this new light. Fox crept slightly closer, only venturing a few steps from the light that shone above him as he tried to identify this new creature. He studied the body for a short while, noticing its torn cloths, bruised looking body, its strangely hopeful expression…

It was at this moment that Fox realized who it was that sat huddled on the floor only a few yards from himself. At first, he simply could not believe it was true, but after having looked over the familiar looking body so many times in mere seconds, he knew it was him. It had been more than fifteen years since he had last seen him, before he left on that ill-fated mission to destroy Andross. It seemed like so long ago, but all of that time that had separated them seemed to matter little to the vulpine, who continued to look upon this new figure in disbelief. He took more step forward, losing himself in the darkness that the light above did not uncover as he quietly asked, "Father…is that…really you?" There was a long pause, a pause that the vulpine did not expect to be broken, but some time after Fox had spoken, the hunched over form that sat clumsily against this rooms cold floor quietly raised his head, his eyes filled with tears as he spoke in response, "Yes…Fox, it's me. You…didn't think I'd give up on you and Vixy like that…did you?" Fox's formerly sturdy expression quickly fell as he heard his Father's voice. It was really him, there was no doubt in his mind, no matter how much of a sheer coincidence it seemed, it was really him, he had finally found him after all those years of searching.

Fox slowly crept through the darkness that separated himself and his Father, and as he did so, James McCloud did his best to face his son, speaking in the same slightly strained voice as before, "So…I guess you made it here alright, but…where's Vixy? Didn't she…come with you?" Fox hesitated as he heard this, not wanting his Father to hear what had become of his wife during his years away from the family. Before Fox could find it within himself to break the news to his Father, James squinted his eyes over towards the vixen that stood in the beam of light not far from him. The beaten vulpine smiled and said in a less painful sounding voice, "Oh, there she is…right over there. Sorry about all this Vixy…I was a little careless. Hope you can forgive me for leavin' you alone with the kid…" As his Father said these words, Fox made his way into the same light James occupied, speaking with his head slightly lowered, "Father…that's not Vixy. She died a long time ago…looking for you." There was another pause between the two vulpines, but it was broken a short time after by James, who spoke in a regretful tone of voice, "Oh…Is that right…Well, can't blame her…I mean, I should've known Andross was too tough for me, and she was the one paid for my failure. She was always like that…she'd never give up on something she really cared about, even if she had to die for it. That's what made her so special to me…but still, something's wrong. If Vixy's dead, then who's that standing in that other light over there?" James son did not need to look where his Father was weakly pointing to see who he was talking about, and he supplied an answer shortly after, "That's Krystal. I saved her on one of my missions. We've been fighting together ever since then to bring Scales down." James let off as much of a smirk as he could in his current condition and commented in an almost pleased sounding voice, "Krystal huh? She looks just like your mother…" The feeble vulpine motioned with a weak hand towards the vixen as he spoke in a voice that projected just far enough from her to hear, "Can you come over here…Krystal, was it? I'd like to take a better look at you…guess my eyesight's not as good as it used to be." The vixen did not hesitate to do as he said, and soon, she found her place next to Fox under this single light. James' smirk changed into more of a smile as he was able to see this young vixen more closely, "Yep, she looks just like your mother Fox. I don't know if you remember her that much, but there's definitely something familiar about them." James turned his head from the newly arrived figure back towards his son, talking to him in something just louder than a whisper, "You said that you've known her for a while, huh? Don't think you can go wrong with this one son. This…might make me seem a little old but…you planning on making me a grandparent already?"

Generally, comments such as this would embarrass Fox to no end, but now that both he and Krystal knew what they had promised each other, Fox found absolutely no reason to feel uncomfortable in the least about his Father's question. The vulpine smiled upon hearing this and looked back towards Krystal as he responded with a slight chuckle, "I don't know, haven't really thought about it. But maybe one day…if you're lucky." James let off a slight chuckle as well as he heard his son's words, adding in a sarcastic voice, "Lucky? I didn't know getting to feel old was a good thing. Sure can't be worse than this place I guess." This beaten vulpine's more lighthearted words suddenly shifted as he looked up into his son's face, seeing him after all these years, seeing what he had become, it filled him with a feeling he had long forgotten. He spoke shortly after finishing his previous statement in a more quiet voice, "Fox…I'm so glad to see you're doing so well for yourself. No matter what happens to me, just know that I'm proud of you Fox. You've done everything I wanted to accomplish when I was your age…looks like you've done one better than your old man, and I don't regret that at all. I'm just proud to have a son like you Fox." James' son smiled again, but this time it was not because of some lighthearted comment. This smile was one that showed he appreciated what his Father had just said, made more clearly by the slowly forming tears that accompanied this smile. This had to be one of the greatest moments in the vulpine's young life. For so many years, he lived with the mindset that his Father was dead, that he would never be able to see him again. But here he was, holding onto whatever life he held left within him, speaking to him in a voice that was previously a mere echo in the back of his mind. The teary-eyed vulpine lowered himself onto one knee, placing himself at an even height with his Father, and shortly after doing so, he threw his arms out towards James, feeling that his Father's embrace would relieve him of all the painful memories he had had to endure over those fifteen years without him. His voice was shaky, but he managed to speak before his arms came into contact with James, "Thank you for…holding on for so long. I missed you…Father. I…"

No…

It was as if it were a dream, or rather, his greatest nightmare. As the vulpine had reached out for his Father, just as his arms were about to wrap around the beaten vulpine's body; he suddenly found that there never was anything sitting before him. His arms clumsily passed through his Father's figure, only to have his hands slap against the ground behind his image, saving himself from falling on his face. The vulpine heard Krystal take an abrupt gasp, seeing what had happened surprised her almost as much as it did him. His Father had never been there, it was never him talking, it wasn't his Father who instilled him with all these wonderful thoughts. It was nothing but a hologram, and Fox could only stay on his hands and knees as he reeled with disbelief. "No…it can't be. He was just here…I know it…" Fox's hands both clenched into fists as he said these incredulous words. "…How could I be fooled like that…I should've known…" Anger and rage now coursed through the vulpine's body, but it was lessened slightly as he felt the contact of a warm hand against his shoulder. Fox didn't have to look up to see who it was, he knew it was Krystal, he knew that she was trying to comfort him, but to the vulpine, kind words would not come anywhere near to healing this wound he now found within himself. The vixen that stood next to him knelt down at his side, her hand now moving through the hair on his motionless head as she spoke, "Fox…I'm sorry for what has just happened. Scales has done you a terrible injustice by tormenting you in such a way." Fox looked up, his eyes full of tears as he did so, which was a sight that tore at Krystal's heart as soon as she saw his expression. Her parents may have been gone from her life, but that could be nothing compared to having them appear to return, only to have them striped away just as you think you will never leave their side ever again. He continued to stare at the vixen with those same pitiful eyes for a short time, seeming to take slight comfort in her comforting actions and words, and was soon after ready to speak, but just as he found himself able to do so, another voice broke into the room, and this time, it did not emit from above, but rather at another location within the room these two vulpines were now held within.

"So, it appears that your Father has left you once again. Pity, it was so heartwarming to see you two reunited, but I suppose the truth can be a painful thing, your Father is dead my friend, and I'm afraid there is little you can do to change that."

Both of their heads seemed to turn in approximately same direction as they tried to pinpoint the location of his voice, but it could only be a rough guess due to the amount of darkness that filled this room. This didn't seem to matter to Fox, who suddenly stood up from the ground, tears still fresh in his eyes as he called out to the darkness that surrounded him, "Scales…where are you! I know you're in here somewhere, and I know you want a fight. So stop being such a coward and show yourself!" Krystal quickly stood up, placing a hand on the vulpine's arm as she spoke to him, "Calm yourself Fox, there's no need to rush into this with such haste." Fox hesitated, but eventually submitted to the vixen's words, giving a slight nod he as he took a deep breath to center himself. It was as he did this the previously darkened room suddenly became flooded with light, which greatly surprised the two vulpines at first, but their eyes quickly adjusted so that they could see a lone figure standing at the corner of this large, empty room. Its green, scaly body easily stood out from the bland colored walls that this building seemed to be filled with. The figures rough looking face soon donned an aggressive looking smirk as it crossed it arms. He cocked his head back slightly, a quiet chuckle arising from deep within his lungs as a result, and immediately after, he attention centered on the two vulpines that stood on the other side of the room, and with a confident gait, he slowly began to make his way towards them.

"So, I see my visitors have finally arrived. I do hope you have come prepared as I had previously requested, unlike our time spent together on Katina. A fight such as that did little for me, but I'm sure you will not disappoint me like that again, at least, I would hope not. Weak enemies prove to be so little fun…"

Both Fox and Krystal remained stationary, even as Scales continued to approach their position, neither were going to back down from him, no matter what they felt at the time. Fox showed he was not afraid of his nearing enemy as he took several short steps towards the dinosaur, speaking in a slightly angry sounding voice, "You will pay for all you've done Scales, as if it wasn't enough to control all those planets…you baited me into thinking my Father was alive. You've hit an all-new low Scales, and we're going to stop you before you can take this any further." The General smirked again, never stopping from his advances as he spoke in reply to the vulpine's comments, "It makes no difference to me what you think Fox McCloud, I'll do whatever I want, and no one will be able to stop me…neither you or that little vixen that insists to stand by your side." This time it was Krystal's turn to close the distance between herself and Scales, making her way quickly to Fox's side while speaking in a voice slightly less harsh than her counterpart had used, "I insist on doing so because we know that what you are trying to do is wrong. I do not know how you became such a twisted creature, but know this. This building, its traps, they all failed to stop us from reaching this point because of the very reason I fight by Fox's side, and it will be that same devotion that we share that will bring about your downfall." It was as he heard these words that the slowly approaching dinosaur came to a complete stop, the smirk on his face growing ever larger as these vulpines tried to talk down to him. He shook his head passively as responded back in an even voice, "And this is supposed to impress me? Am I supposed to be so taken by your words that I should just give up? I'm sorry to say that when you two cannot even make it through this place without collapsing, as you both did, it seems to belittle all the threats you cast upon me." Both Fox and Krystal remained silent as they heard these words, which allowed the General to continue on, "You know, if this place had really held any real threat, I may have been impressed that you had made it this far. Yet, as you are soon to find out, this place…not unlike your Father who vanished in front of your very eyes, is nothing but an illusion." It was only seconds after Scales had said these words before Fox asked in something just below a yell, "What are you talking about Scales?"

The dinosaur shot a piercing glance over towards the inquiring vulpine, one that was accompanied by that same spiteful smirk that was becoming so familiar to the vulpine couple. His gaze remained steady as he raised one of his arms above his head, speaking shortly after doing so, "This is what I'm talking about my friend." After saying these words, he gave nothing more than a slight snap of his fingers, and in an instant, the building that they had been held within ever since they arrived on this planet suddenly vanished. The walls, the floors, everything suddenly disappeared into thin air, returning the pair of vulpines to the surface of Cerinia, just as they had been before entering into that imaginary complex.

This took both Fox and Krystal by complete surprise, their eyes no longer focused on the dinosaur that stood only a few short yards away from them. Their attention was quickly brought back to their enemy as he began to speak once again, "You see, this place never really existed, nothing that you have seen today were real. Nothing but myself and the very planet we now stand upon. You may have fought to the best of your ability, but it was all for nothing, neither of you were in any real danger…but I must admit, I enjoyed watching your struggle through that imaginary place." Fox once again stepped forward as he replied in a firm voice, "The building might not have been there, but those had to be real Sharpclaws. I understand my Father was just a hologram, but I could feel those Sharpclaw…" The vulpine cut himself off as the sound of Scales maniacal laughter seemed to echo across the empty landscape that surrounded them, to which he quickly followed shortly after his laughter came to a halt, "You would think that to be true, but sadly, there was never anyone in that building, spare we three. You may have felt every blow you each delivered to those illusionary creatures, but you never actually came into contact with them. I'm afraid I had a major part in that my friend. You see, when you were about to contact on of my holographic minions, I would simply tweak your minds into minds into feeling each blow you delivered, when in reality, your fists contacted nothing but air. Control of the mind is such a wonderful thing, isn't it?"

After hearing Scales explanation, it was Krystal's turn to make a comment, joining her vulpine counterpart who stood only a few steps ahead of her as she spoke, "Even if that were so, even if you were able to control that aspect of our minds, it would have only been nullified due to the devices we carry with us that serve to prevent such control." Scales gave a slight nod to the vixen's comment, as if to say he agreed with her way of thinking, but then replied shortly after, "Yes, I suppose that would make sense, but I'm afraid the device you carry with you does little more than give you the state of mind that I cannot take over your mind. I could very well control both of you right now, despite whatever precautions you may take to prevent it, but being the honorable reptile that I am, I withhold from doing so…" It was at these words that Scales unsheathed the large, curved sword that sat at his side, which he quickly held out in front of him. "Besides, I've been waiting far too long for this moment to merely end it before it starts. So with that in mind, please ready your weapons, I'll try my best to draw this out as long as possible. It would serve to be little fun if you knew you never had a chance to begin with."

Fox and Krystal looked on as their ultimate enemy was now ahead of them, sword drawn and ready for their final showdown. The vulpines exchanged a quick nod, a simple motion that seemed to say hundreds of things. This was the last part of their mission they had yet to complete, and the time to accomplish this great task was finally upon them. Without hesitation, Krystal drew her father's staff, while at the same time Fox took a defensive posture with his fists at his side. The fate of the entire universe depended on the outcome of this very fight, a single clash that could change the face of the galaxy forever, and the only thing that remained was this dinosaur. They had faced him before on Dinosaur Planet, where they had successfully defeated him, but now they were faced with the same task, with an enemy that seemed immensely more powerful than during their previous meeting. But none of that mattered; they could not allow such thoughts to hinder themselves from what they had set out to do. From the first day they had caught wind of these mysterious mind controls, they had worked towards this very moment, and neither of them would allow this opportunity to pass them by. In perfect unison, the two vulpines rushed towards General Scales, their minds set on one thing. This dinosaur had to be stopped, and they had to do it…together.

Scales did nothing but watch as the two vulpines quickly approached his position, ready to mount the first attack. He merely shook his head and raised his hand out in front of himself, as if signaling for them to stop. After doing so, he spoke in a calm sounding voice, "You think a tactic such as this is prudent? I'll show you that this fight will take much more than blind, tactless assaults such as this." As soon as he spoke these words, a faint green light began to shine from his hand, but even so, this did not stop the vulpines charge. This strange light quickly became brighter and stronger until it abruptly burst into a blinding light that seemed to surround the entire area these three animals were standing within. This caused both Fox and Krystal to come to an abrupt stop only a few yards from their adversary, their eyes now shut tight due to the intense glow from this light Scales had revealed. It was less than a few seconds after this happened that the vulpines were able to open their eyes, but when they did, they noticed that a strange, clear green bubble surrounded Scales. Both animals stood in wonder of this new object, but were quickly forced to take action as this green bubble began to expand. It was quickly growing larger, and with each passing second, it came closer and closer to the two vulpines. Upon seeing this, both Fox and Krystal turned and ran in the opposite direction of the quickly approaching wave of energy, hoping that they could somehow avoid coming into contact with its green surface. Unfortunately, this green sphere had expanded far too fast for these vulpines to have any chance to evade it, and only seconds after it had first appeared, it had found its way towards the retreating vulpines, and the results of this action was made immediately apparent to both animals.

Fox had run his hardest to try and escape the quickly approaching wave of green, but to no avail. Its clear green surface soon came into direct contact with his back, sending the vulpine flying across the landscape. He found himself drifting through the air for some time, only to land harshly a short time after against the rough surface of Cerinia. He lay motionless for only a few moments, feeling a few now open cuts bleeding slightly from several parts of his body, but he quickly disregarded these thoughts and soon found himself back on his feet. After finding himself back up and ready to fight, the vulpine turned back to see if the green energy that had just knocked him down had disappeared, but much to his surprise, he saw that it was still standing in its same clear green color, only now this bubble covered a much greater area on Cerinia's surface. His eyes quickly scanned all across its large surface, but his attention soon became focused as he soon noticed a familiar figure standing on the inside of the bubble's green glow. It took him no time at all after he recognized this figure to run towards it surface, disregarding the possibility that it might expand once again.

In almost no time at all, the vulpine was standing inches from this strange green bubble, and inside, only inches away as well, stood a lone blue vixen, one of which looked at him with desperation through the light green tint. No matter how much she tried to break its surface, it would not seem to give way in the least, merely knocking both her and her staff back when she tried to break free. Fox attempted to do the same, only with his fists, and soon found that he was also unable to penetrate the outer surface of this strange entity.

It was after several of these failed attempts by both the vulpines before another figure emerged a good distance behind the vixen, one that spoke with that same iniquitous smirk he seemed to enjoy so much, "Your attempts to free yourselves will continue to prove futile. To enter into this sphere of energy I have created, you must possess a great amount of energy yourself, I believe you refer to this as the Energy of Life. Unfortunately, it appears you, Fox McCloud, do not have enough of that energy within you to enter into my new arena." The dinosaur paused for only a seconds as his focus centered clearly onto the vixen that stood within this sphere, and continued on with his smirk still present, "But it seems that my little vixen does have the required energy. Unfortunately, you will not be able to escape this place; no matter how hard you try. Sadly, I too am under the same circumstance. Not even I am able to break free from what I have created. There is but one way to lower this sphere of energy from over our heads…we must fight. When I first summoned this sphere, I set forth a challenge, one that could only be accepted by the few who still possess power enough to pass through this green surface. And by doing so, you, my little vixen, have accepted the challenge I have set forth. Now that you have received my challenge, no one may leave this sphere until either of the combatants fall. This energy that now surrounds us will only lower itself when one of us is no longer living…you see my girl, this is a fight to the death. I had expected to fight the both of you at once…but I'm sure you will do your best not to disappoint me."

Scales' words shocked both vulpines, but Fox was the first to make any sort of reaction against it. He desperately slammed his fist into the surface of the green bubble, his gaze focused squarely on the one that stood so close, but according to what the dinosaur had just said, there was absolutely no way for him to reach her. His fist came into contact with this green entity once more, his expression growing more desperate with each passing second, and spoke shortly after in a voice that matched the look on the vulpine's face, "Krystal, you can't fight him alone. All this time we've been talking about how we had to face Scales together, but look what happened. I don't want you to fight him alone, I…won't let you."

Krystal looked upon the vulpine with sympathy, but she knew there was no possible way he would be able to join into this fight; Scales had made sure of that. The vixen held the vulpine's frantic eyes, trying her best to calm him down as she spoke, "Well, it looks as though we don't have much of a choice Fox. If I must, I will take Scales down on my own." Fox shook his head quickly, firmly planting his hands against the side of the clear green surface that sat in front of him as he replied in the same voice as before, "No Krystal, I just can't accept that. I didn't come all this way just to watch you fight. And besides, you saw what that guy did to me on Katina…I don't want that to happen to you too…" The vixen lowered her head, knowing how hard this must be for the vulpine to have to accept, but there really was nothing he could do to help her now. She spoke from this position, trying to conceal the anxiety that was slowly beginning to build within her, "Perhaps there is nothing you can do help me fight Scales at this point…but there is still something I need from you, something that I cannot do without." These words at least stopped Fox from beating his fists into the green bubble that separated the two vulpines; instead, he now gazed eagerly into the face of the vixen, asking in a concerned tone of voice, "What do you need? I'll do anything, just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it." The vixen gave a slight nod upon hearing these words, and shortly after raised her vision towards the face of the vulpine, her face looking almost as if she were about to cry. She reached up and placed both her hands against the same spot where Fox had placed his against the green surface, answering quietly shortly after, "Fox…we've both fought our hardest these past few days to reach this very moment. I know you feel as though you should have a part in this fight, but even if you cannot fight, there is still one way you may aid our victory." She paused slightly, as if she were trying to fight back tears that were trying to surface in her eyes, but the vixen continued on shortly after with clear eyes, "All I need…all I want is your undying support Fox. It may be difficult for you to see me in such a situation, but even though we are separated, we are never apart. Even when you had appeared to have died…to have left my side forever, you were still with me, even if it was hard for me to discern it at the time. If you have any doubts about my fighting Scales on my own, you may as well bid me farewell beforehand. I don't want to let you down Fox, and I want to emerge triumphant from this battle, but without your support, it will be nearly impossible for me to do so. Fox…Can you please do this one thing on my behalf?"

Fox gave a simple nod in reply to the vixen's question, but his response went further than that. All this time, he had been fighting for this very moment, and now that it had finally come, he couldn't even take part in it. On top of this, Krystal was going to have to fight their final enemy on her own, which was something Fox had never anticipated would happen, and because of this, he simply could not find it within himself to let Krystal do such a thing as this without him there to help her. His mind kept flashing back to the time on Katina where he had attempted to fight Scales, how he had almost died because of it. There was no way he was simply going to sit back and watch Krystal fight his battles for him. But this way of thinking seemed to have diminished greatly as he heard this vixen's request. As much as Fox did not want to admit it, he would not be able to help her defeat Scales, but even so, if he could not fight beside her, he could fight within her, giving her the support and strength she needed to destroy Scales. It was a difficult fact to accept, but it was the only thing he could do at this point. And so, after he had given this slight nod, he looked back towards the vixen, the distress seeming to have gone from his face as he spoke in an even voice, "Alright, I'll do it. I know you can do this…it's just…hard for me to have to let you go like this, ya know? …But I know you won't let me down, I really do believe in you Krystal. Just…be careful, alright?" Krystal broke a slight smile as well as a nod as she responded, "Thank you Fox. And don't worry, I'll make certain that I'm the one to escape from this prison, of that, you can be quite sure…"

There was a short pause after this exchange by these vulpines, each seeming to wish they could merely feel the warmth of the others hand through this shield of energy, but such a thing never came to pass. They merely stood in their same spots, staring into each others eyes, knowing that despite all they had said to one another, this fight may well end up heading in an undesirable direction. Even with this in mind however, they still remained positive, even though no words passed between them, the mood was strangely optimistic, but this would be the last of these moments as Krystal was forced to turn from Fox's caring eyes in able to face the now laughing figure of General Scales. She quietly withdrew her staff and held it out in front of her, preparing for whatever this dinosaur had in mind.

His laughter soon subsided as he saw her now revealed weapon, looking upon its golden surface with an amused look on his face as he spoke, "I see you're finally done with your farewells. I hope you made good use of that time, because it is certain to be your last." The vixen looked resolutely into the face of the dinosaur, her eyes not at all seeming to reflect the thousands of thoughts that ran through her at that moment, and spoke in a voice that reinforced this fact, "You may think so, but I know as long as Fox is standing here by my side, I will not allow myself to let him down. Neither you nor anything else in this life will ever manage to do so, you can be sure of that." Scales expression suddenly went flat as he held his sword out in front of him, now speaking from behind the large blade of his sword, "I see, we'll just have to test your theory in battle. But I'm sorry to say you may find your idealistic state of mind to be shockingly mistaken." The vixen's grip on her father's heirloom became slightly tighter as she heard these words, not allowing the dinosaurs reasoning distract her in any form. Her gaze remained steady as she resolutely spoke back in response, "Have you ever thought for one second that it might be you who is wrong Scales? I suppose there is only one way to find out." The large reptile barred his sharp fangs at the vixen, his body beginning its way quickly towards her as he replied with a now enraged sounding voice, "Such delusions, you will see that you have been mistaken by such thoughts since the day you were born. Now, fall at my feet like all the others!" Scales' words seemed to fuel his power as his blade came rushing towards the vixen at a furious rate, but with a superb reaction to this first attack, she managed to raise her staff out in front of herself, her hands spaced out evenly on each end of the staff, allowing her to cause Scales' sword to come to a grinding halt against her father's golden staff. The final battle had begun, and only the winner of this duel would emerge, not only with their life, but also with the fate of the universe in their hands.

Scales looked hard into the eyes of the vixen as he tried to push past the staff with his currently stymied blade, but found himself taken slightly off-guard as she gave her weapon a full twist, causing the dinosaur's sword to slide free of the staff and come into contact with nothing but the ground that sat below them. Immediately after Krystal saw this slight miscue by Scales, she used the momentum of her spinning staff to send a blow towards the General's face, which caused the dinosaur's head to jerk to the side slightly when it connected on the side of his scaled face. The vixen was glad that she was the first to make a successful attack, but found that after she had done so, the already fierce look in her adversaries eyes seemed to grow, almost as if his eyes were glowing deep red from the rage that was beginning to accumulate within him. Krystal's attention was quickly diverted from this however as she saw Scales once again swing his large sword in the vixen's direction, but she was able to jump free from his attack with little trouble. This time however, Scales was able to keep perfect balance during his attack, giving him the opportunity to continue on the offensive, which he did with a flurry of enraged attacks towards the vixen. Krystal found that running from this outburst of attacks from Scales was not an option, forcing her to block his attacks by merit of her staff, which she managed to do with great difficulty, only to have her staff and Scale's sword come to a halt as they were, once again, grinding against the surface of the other. Unlike the first time however, Scales took the initiative to break the standoff as he abruptly pulled the blade of his sword away from the vixen, and due to the amount of forward force she had been applying to repel the dinosaur's attack, both her hands and the rest of her body followed, causing her to take several clumsy steps forward in order to prevent herself from falling to the ground. Scales quickly stepped to the side, allowing the vixen room to stumble in front of him, and after she had done just that, the large reptile took a mighty swipe at the vixen, catching her right across the back, slicing through both her vest and undershirt to create a thin, open cut that stretched across the entire width of her back. She winced in great pain, but did not hesitate to find her feet once again, knowing that if she were to think on her wound for too long, she would receive many more.

Meanwhile outside of this battle, Fox watched on in great apprehension as Krystal received this cut, noticing that it had also begun to bleed a good amount and was beginning to soak through both layers of her uniform. Once again, he found himself in contact with the green bubble, his hands both spread open across its surface as he watched on. He may have said that he had believed she could do this, but seeing them fight, it made him feel so helpless, and because of this, his faith in the vixen was slowly fading. His entire being wanted to take part in this fight, to help the now bleeding vixen that stood within, but with this green entity in his way, he could do no such thing. The fact that Scales had said he did not have what was required to enter into that place was not enough, he was going to prove it on his own, still not willing to give up whatever chance he had at joining the fight that was being held right in front of him. The vulpine backpedaled a short distance, still facing the green energy that he had been watching through this entire time. With a deep breath, he began to sprint as fast as he could towards the sphere, lowering his shoulder just as he was about to contact his surface, hoping that the force of this impact would somehow let him break through the clear green surface. He closed his eyes hard just as he was about to contact its surface, but much to his surprise, he felt nothing. He opened his eyes, optimistic that he had somehow been successful in entering into the sphere, but was quickly brought back to reality as the impact of his attempt sent him flying back to the ground. He hit the surface of Cerinia with some force, and after finding himself once again upon the surface of Cerinia, he noticed that the shoulder he had used to ram into the bubble had gone completely numb, which made it hard for the vulpine to simply regain his footing. He moved his now immobile arm with his other hand, hoping to regain feeling within as he continued to do so. All he could do now, as he finally accepted that he would not be able to join this fight, was watch in trepidation as it was carried out, hoping that somehow, Krystal truly would be able to escape with her life.

Back inside their green, enclosed arena, Krystal found herself in great pain from Scales previous attack, knowing that a good amount of blood was flowing from her back. She did not let this appear on her face however, her vision never even hinting at the fact that she was in pain. Despite this however, Scales seemed to be able to sense the fact that she was in pain, made obvious by the slight smirk that broke into his otherwise aggressive-looking face. This smirk was followed a split-second after as Scales flew towards the vixen with blinding speed, an action that caught the vixen completely off-guard. She managed to raise her golden staff just enough to deflect to blow that resulted, but because of the sheer force of his attack, she was sent hurtling back across the ground, coming to rest a short time later, her body bouncing and rolling abruptly against Cerinia's surface before coming to a complete stop. The vixen let out a quiet moan as she lay there, trying to will herself into standing up, which she did a short time after with great difficulty. Not only were the affects of Scales' attacks starting to take an their toll on her, but the mere fact that her stamina was quickly fading also factored into what she felt at that moment. She would have liked time to take a quick breather, but this was not to be, Scales made sure of that as he once again charged towards the vixen. Not knowing what she could do to stop him in her condition, she merely swung her staff ineptly out in front of her. The advancing dinosaur saw this futile attack and merely raised his arm to prevent it from contacting him, which allowed him a completely unobstructed angle of attack on the vixen. The dinosaur raised his sword high in the air, and with a deafening roar, the blade of the General's sword swiped cleanly across the diagonal of the vixen's body. From a length that extended from her left shoulder to her right hip, a large, open cut was revealed; one that began bleeding furiously from the moment Scales' sword had carved it out. He landed some distance behind the vixen, and remained that way, knowing that after a blow such as that, this battle was all but over.

"Krystal! NO!" Fox's desperate words echoed across the barren landscape, making itself heard several times before it gave way to silence. The vixen's eyes opened wide, her face filled with the intense pain that filled her. She did not scream, she did not panic, she merely looked forward, staring with her now void looking eyes towards the vulpine that had just yelled her name. Her focus remained in this same spot for what seemed like several minutes, both unwilling the be released form the others gaze, but soon, as the vixen fell to her knees, her hand clasping frantically around the long, bleeding wound that ran across her entire upper body, their gaze did break, and the vixen dropped face down onto her knees, her now motionless body lying in the small pool of blood that she had just created.

The shocked vulpine that stood outside the green surface could only stare at her body, not believing what had just happened. Suddenly, the green surface that had previously stood between himself and the vixen vanished, causing the vulpine to fall clumsily onto his hands and knees, his head hanging between his arms as the tears of this loss quickly beaded up in his eyes. He shook his head gently, causing several of these newly formed to spray free from his eyes as he spoke, "This…can't be happening. We were…supposed to be together…but now…no. Krystal…you can't be gone, you just can't…"

Between his hopeless sobs, Fox suddenly heard the sound of a familiar laughter coming from a short distance away, and soon after, the one who had been responsible for all of this began to speak in an amused voice, "Well, that fight was certainly a disappointment, but seeing you squirm at the result seems to make up for whatever was lacking from these past few moments." Fox made no attempt to move, but merely continued to let his tears flow freely as the dinosaur slowly made his way towards him. There was no reason for him to try and escape, to try and fight back. Whatever good this life had held no longer existed for the vulpine. His father was still dead, his mission was a failure, and now Krystal had been killed in front of his very eyes. There was no point in living when you had nothing to look forward to, and perhaps if he allowed Scales to kill him at that moment, he and Krystal could be reunited once again, but in a state that could never be broken.

After seeing that Fox was going to make no attempt to escape, a smirk crept across Scales' face as he gently placed the blade of his sword against the bridge of the vulpine's neck. But still, the vulpine made no gesture that he was going to fight back or simply try and run. The dinosaur let out a slight chuckle as he spoke in the same amused voice, "That's right Fox, bow before your superior. I'm sorry this all had to be pressed upon you, but you cannot say that I did not warn you. And now, time to meet your end Fox McCloud, it's been a great pleasure getting to know you so well."

The feeling of the cold blade against his neck suddenly disappeared, and he knew that meant Scales was about to do just what he had done to Krystal only moments before. Despite this, he never cringed, he never objected, he merely accepted the fact that this truly was the end, and there was nothing he could do but wait for the eternal darkness that awaited him. He could envision what was to happen after his demise, Scales would go on to control the universe, he would take control of everybody in the galaxy and force them to do his bidding. Planets would be destroyed, lives would be lost, and it would all stem from this very moment, a moment that Fox was eager to finally be put to an end.

Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes and hours as Fox awaited his end, but there was something strange about the time after Scales had lifted the sword from his neck. Even though time seemed to have slowed substantially, it soon became apparent that Scales was not going to finish him as he had once thought. He made his first movement in some time, his head slowly rising from the space between his arms as he attempted to see what Scales was waiting for. Before he could open his eyes to look however, he felt a sort of gentle warmth hitting him in the face, one that seemed to be accompanied by a blue glow that managed to enter into his still closed eyes. Confused, Fox quickly opened his eyes to see what the cause of this could be, and when he did, the answer came as a complete and utter shock, because as his eyes opened and he looked forward, he noticed a figure floating a short distance above the ground, surrounded in a bright blue light that cast strange shadows across the surface of the planet. It took him no time to realize who this figure was, but it took him a longer time to actually believe it was true.

No way…Krystal?

As hard as it was to believe, it really was her. The vulpine eagerly scanned her body, noticing that all the cuts that Scales had created were still bleeding heavily, made obvious by the fact that there was a steady drip of red falling from the otherwise blue and shining vixen. Her eyes were no longer the void and lifeless color they once were, but were now a strange, translucent shade of purple. She hung in the air, not limply, but as if she were standing on some invisible platform. The vixen looked down towards the place where Fox was standing, but quickly removed her focus from him as she saw Scales approaching her at a rapid pace. He screamed out just before thrusting his sword out in front of him, "I thought you had already learned your lesson little girl. This time you won't get back up!" At these words, the enraged and slightly confused dinosaur attempted to stab at the levitating vixen. At this, she merely raised her hand in front of her, and just as the sword was about to pierce through her stomach, a powerful barrier emerged from the spot Scales had attempted to run through with his sword, which caused him to fly back several feet before falling awkwardly against the bridge of his neck. He let out the first cry of pain either of the vulpines had ever heard, and as he attempted to stand, he found that he had become paralyzed from his abrupt fall.

As Scales attempted to stand, Krystal revealed her father's staff and held it out in front of her, the head of the staff pointing directly at the faltering body of General Scales. Soon after doing so, the glow that surrounded her began to grow even stronger, the blue radiance seeming to tint everything around her into the same shade of light blue. Not only did the aura that surrounded her body begin to glow more brightly, but this massive blue energy soon filtered into her staff, where the intense light began to focus at the head of her staff in a rapidly growing mass. The paralyzed body of General Scales attempted to use whatever was left in his body to escape from Krystal's impending attack, but soon found that his efforts were futile. Feeling that his end was inevitable, the large reptile turned his body to face the vixen, speaking out at her in a weak voice that neither of the vulpines had ever heard before, "You may have defeated me, but know this you wretched vermin. By my death, you will accomplish nothing but the prolonging of your ultimate end. There is another who will take my place, and unfortunately…he will be far greater a challenge than you will ever be able to comprehend. He is the one that…gave me these powers, and you will stand no chance against his wrath. So…do not celebrate, you will soon meet the same fate as I intended for you both." With these final words, Krystal's staff suddenly exploded with this strange blue energy, causing a vibrant beam of this same energy to rush forth at a furious pace towards General Scales. This blast ruptured the ground it passed over, creating a deep trench as it traveled forward, until eventually it immersed their adversary within its brilliant blue glow, and after several seconds, this devastating beam of energy faded, leaving nothing but empty space where their enemy had just sat.

The glowing vixen slowly retracted her staff from in front of herself as she saw that Scales was no longer. Her expression remained even however, as it had during the entire time her heavily beaten body had been enveloped within this blue light. But it was at this moment as her staff returned to her side that the mysterious blue glow of energy that had surrounded her body quickly faded away, causing the vixen to noiselessly fall back to the ground with nothing more than a slight thud. She was completely exhausted, the fight, her wounds, whatever had just happened to her a few seconds previous, it had all drained her, and because of this, she discovered that merely finding the strength to continue breathing to be greatly difficult. She ineptly attempted to stand, but immediately found the pain that now surged through her body was far too intense to overcome. With this in mind, she laid her head back on the ground, hoping that she would somehow be able to see him one last time before her breathing stopped completely.

Fox watched on in complete amazement as this was all carried out in front of him. The power that Krystal displayed only a few moments ago had come as a complete surprise to the vulpine, along with the fact that she had done away with Scales so easily. This all seemed to be pushed back into the furthest corner of his mind as he quickly realized that Krystal was still greatly wounded, and not wanting to waste any time, the vulpine quickly made his way towards the beaten vixen, hoping that when he found himself at her side, she would still be alive and well.

Unfortunately, the vulpine was not able to take the chance to do just that. He had run the short distance towards his vixen counterpart, but just as he found himself only several more steps away, the ground suddenly vanished from underneath him, instead, it was replaced by a familiar, never-ending flow of blue. He quickly stopped in his place, finding that Krystal had disappeared from his sight, and promptly began to scan the immediate area. He had been to this place twice before, once in a vision on the Great Fox at the beginning of this mission, and once more before Krystal had revived him with the aid of the stone that sat upon her head. It took several seconds, but after this time passed, he noticed a figure slowly approach him through this misty blue environment some distance away. He walked towards this new figure, hoping that it would shorten the time he and Krystal were separated, but he quickly stopped short as he saw a white vixen break the constant flow of blue that made itself prominent within this mysterious place.

He watched in silence as the figure slowly approached him, immediately recognizing who exactly it was that was coming in his direction. Before he could speak out to her however, this pure white vixen broke the calm silence before Fox had the chance.

Fox, you have managed to destroy Scales and bring peace back to the planet of Cerinia. We of the Spirit Realm are overjoyed, and I couldn't be more proud of you my son.

The vulpine hesitated as he heard his mother's voice. It was such a peaceful tone, one that could comfort even the greatest of your sorrows in an instant, but for this vulpine, there were more important things he wanted taken care of rather than having his mother speak to him. At the risk of sounding slightly impolite, Fox asked his mother's figure soon after she had finished, "Where is Krystal? She's really hurt and I need to save her before she…"

Fox's mother shook her head gently, causing the vulpine to cut himself short from the rest of his question. She looked up at him with great sympathy in her eyes, and spoke shortly after doing so.

My son, Krystal is speaking with her own father and mother. There are things she must know before she is to join us, as is the case with you. I must tell you of things that are to come, things that you must do to complete the predictions foretold in the Scroll of Destinies.

Fox's eyes suddenly snapped open as something within his mother's words caught his undivided attention. His expression suddenly grew more desperate as he spoke in response, "Did you say…Krystal is joining you? But doesn't that mean that…is she going to die?"

The white vulpine's head lowered slightly as she heard her son's words, knowing this was the last thing he wanted to hear, but for his sake, she continued on in the most comforting voice the vulpine had ever heard articulated.

Fox, I know this will be very difficult for you to accept, but yes…she is fated to pass on. As I said during your last visit, Krystal's journey lies on a different path that your own. But know this, even in death, she is not completely lost, you are all the evidence you need for that to be proven. That jewel you wear around your neck possess the power to bring the young Cerinian back to life, but with both your strength and knowledge of the Energy of Life being as small as it is, you will not be able to accomplish this immediately. For the time being, you will merely have to accept her death and press on.

Whatever optimistic energy Fox had gained from his witnessing the downfall of General Scales was immediately drained from him, and he once again fell to his knees. So much had happened in a single day, and it was now beginning to overwhelm the vulpine. He had fought so hard, only to find that no matter what he would have done, Krystal never would have lived to celebrate this victory with him.

His mother slowly approached him, as if she were about to place a comforting hand upon his shoulder, but even if she had attempted to do so, her hand would merely pass through him, just as it had been with his Father earlier. Instead, she was only able to speak to the vulpine in the same voice as she had been using previously.

I'm sorry that all this has to be pressed upon you at once, but there is still more you must know before you return to your own universe. Scales last dying words warned of an oncoming threat, of one that had bestowed him his terrible powers. He spoke the truth, and his name will surely bring about many negative feelings for you my son. I don't wish to see you like this, so I will say only that you already know this new enemy, you have faced and destroyed him twice before. But beware, his powers have grown vastly since you have last encountered him, and only after you have gained the ability to efficiently use the Energy of Life will you be able to defeat him. The journey ahead of you is a great and imposing one, you will visit several strange planets, encounter even greater dangers than before, but if you stay strong, I know you will emerge victorious.

Krystal's death, a new enemy, a journey to discover his true power, it was all too much for him. The vulpine clenched his fists tight, the wave of confusion and sorrow suddenly pouring out as he let out a deafening howl, one that was distorted only by the tears that now fell rapidly through his golden fur. He had had enough of this place; there was only one thing that he wanted at that moment. Her fate may have been sealed, but he longed to see her face one last time before she became a resident of the Spirit Realm. He looked up at his mother, the tears still flowing from his forlorn eyes as he spoke in a greatly wavering voice, "Can…I see her…one last time?"

Of course my son, but you will be sent back to your own universe to do so. You may not see this place for a very long time, but always remember that I am here for you, and please Fox…never give up. Even in death, Krystal will always be with you. Do not forget what I have told you Fox, the fate of both our realms depend on it.

Fox merely nodded in response to his mother's request, finding himself far to lost in his own thoughts to regard whatever his mother had to say. And so, in no more than a blink of an eye, the strange blue mist suddenly lifted, and Fox found himself once again upon the rough surface of Cerinia, and only a few feet away sat her barely breathing form. He did not attempt to stand, but merely crawled over to the spot where she laid. It was only seconds after he had set out for her position before he found himself at her side, his head hovering above her still greatly bleeding body. The vixen's head gradually and painfully rolled across the bloodied ground that she laid within, and it continued to do so until she caught the disturbed stare of the teary-eyed vulpine that hovered above her. She didn't make any gesture of how she dreaded what was about to happen to her…to them. Much to Fox's surprise, the vixen's face broke from its comatose state as a weak smile quietly made its way to the surface. Krystal's voice was very faint, but it was there, just enough for Fox to hear as she spoke to him, "It seems as though…this is where our paths truly split. They told me…that I was to join them. But…I don't want to…leave you here Fox." The vulpine's expression suddenly weakened, even further than it had been already. He shook his head gently, causing several tears to spray free from his eyes as he spoke back, "They said…that I would be able to save you. That I could bring you back…like you did to me. I won't…" The vulpine abruptly cut himself off as Krystal's voice continued on, weaker than before, "Fox…can you hear me? I'm…not going to last much longer…" Fox shook his head once again as he heard the vixen's words, she had grown so weak from her experience that her senses were slowly leaving her, and from her words, he knew she could not hear him speaking to her. If words could not convey what this vulpine was feeling, then he would try something else, something that spoke more clearly to her than words ever could. He slowly bent over, raising the bloody vixen from the ground slightly before he quickly wrapped her arms around her beaten body. The blood that had soaked into her fur stained his own uniform, but nothing could be farther from his mind at that moment.

It didn't matter how much pain it caused, the burning sensation of her wounds were merely an afterthought now as he barely managed to feel Fox's comforting arms around her bloodstained body. She motioned to retaliate, but was quickly and silently discouraged from doing so as several sharp pains were sent through her arms. She could feel death slowly coming in on her, her vision was blurring, her hearing had left her, taking a simple breath of air required more strength than she could muster at that moment, but none of it seemed to matter. She had Fox present during her final moments, and despite how much she knew this would affect him, it also gave her the hope that it would not be long before they would be reunited once again. She adjusted her vision, finding it hard to move in even the slightest, but somehow managed to direct her muzzle close to the vulpines ear, her frail words entering into it with great difficulty, "Fox…my love…don't ever give up. I…eagerly look forward to the day…when we are reunited…but until that day comes…remember…I love you, Fox McCloud…don't ever forget that…"

Those words…her final words, echoed through his head endlessly. Even as her body fell limp in his own arms, his mind remained on those words. She had not feared death, she had accepted it, known that it was what she truly had to do. But for this vulpine, such feelings came with much less ease. A whole new journey stood before him, but this time, Krystal would only be with him as a spirit, and that was not something this vulpine was ready to accept. He looked down into her face, her expression no longer expressing pain, but his reflected just the opposite. Fox squeezed his arms around the now dead body of his companion, his greatest friend, speaking even though that he knew she could no longer hear him, "Krystal…I love you too…but…how can I go on without you? I need you back Krystal…please…" It was almost as if he had expected a response, as if he thought she was still breathing in front of him, but it was as this silence continued on that it finally set in. She was dead, and she was not coming back.

Fox McCloud reared his head back to the empty Cerinian sky, screaming at the top of his lungs, as if for Krystal to hear in the place where she now resided.

"…Krystal!"

His words echoed far, but there was no one to hear them. For now, the only one that existed on that entire planet was this one vulpine, this one vulpine that had lost everything that had mattered to him. He could only sit there and listen to his own voice echoing across the landscape, across this lonely, barren landscape. A feeling that now matched this vulpines very existence in this universe, and as long as she was not at his side, he would feel this way until he as well was no longer. And so, with a deep sigh, this deeply disheartened vulpine stood, the limp, cold body of his love in his arms as he spoke into a small communicator that sat on his wrist, "ROB…we're heading back."

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, there you have it. If you're still awake after reading all that, well, that's good. That was really long…Anyway, as you have noticed, this is not the end for our friend Fox McCloud, it seems as if he still has some stuff to take care of. So, for those of you that wished that I would continue writing, salvation! I will continue writing…for a while at least. The reason I am ending the story here is that the next portion is so much different than this. It'll probably be a little darker, and you'll see both the journey's of Fox and Krystal…which I haven't really figured out how to do, but I'm sure I'll manage. All this aside, this story was really long and I'm tired, but I'll keep typing. Thank you all for your reviews/support/hatemail, they were really cool. I also hope that I will continue to merit your people's support as I continue on with my writing. I believe that with this chapter, I shall pass Eye of Darkness for most reviews (313). But even if I don't, it'll still be one of the most reviewed Star Fox stories at this site, so that's cool. Now I must take my leave from this place, but do not fret, I shall return shortly. Until we meet again, here's something to think on while you wait for my new installment…

A Journey Apart
Fox and Krystal have been separated from each other, and there is only one way for our vulpine hero to bring them back together. He's going back into space to learn the ways of the Energy of Life, but is he going to recover fast enough to will himself into doing so? In a different realm, Krystal finds that she must fight off a threat that has been plaguing the Spirit Realm for some time now, but what threat could possibly arise between already departed souls? Meanwhile, Katt and Falco continue their arguments, but with Krystal no longer in the picture, will a certain feline try to claim what Krystal had left behind? New enemies, new powers, new relationships, more absurd plot twists? It's all here and it's coming your way! Prepare for the next installment of FoxMC's tale, coming at you this fall!

Reviewer Props: Reviewers are cool, and if you were cool enough, you get your name right here in this section. These people have left multiple reviews and have made reviews that really stuck out to me, for any of several reasons. I know a lot of people who reviewed this story aren't in here…and that's why I'm thinking this isn't a good idea, but I left out all the people who were named stuff like Guest, unknown or something like that, I can't keep their reviews straight…anyway, here's my two bits on my cool reviewers…

KrystalFox/GreyFox2610: My entire fan base for the first ten chapters. Thanks for stickin' around, because of you guys, I'm still typing right now.

Whinnie: My most loyal reviewer, also left the 100th review for this story. Also the only one I think really cares about the whole Katt/Falco things.

FoxJD: I don't think he's from New York, but it sure sounds like it. Another of my more loyal reviewers, reminds me a lot of my editor…

deathscall: Still haven't got my Amy plushie…

Ben Stylin: One of my favorite reviewers, known to let his face simmer in bowls of ramen. …I don't get it either.

MasterChief101: As far as I know, the only other person besides me that fully appreciates the wonder that is WarioWare.

Obsidian Thirteen: The one that imparted upon me the legend known simply as Marvin the Paranoid Android.

SonicBreezie4ever: Pen name says it all. A fellow Sonic lover is always welcome in my book. Generally leaves quite lengthy reviews, and that's also very welcome in my book.

halomasterchief: I was responsible for making this child cry for the first time…well, while he was reading a fanfiction of course.

Wolf O'Donell: Sporadic in reviews, but he's been there for a while, gracias!

Cut It Out Of My Soul: Still waiting for that idea on a new Sonic story…

Bane the Mad Demon Slayer: Changed his pen name, don't know why. Was very happy to see Fox was alive…had a nice way of saying it too!

BlueWolf419: Said killing Fox was the worst thing I could do, I did it, I undid it. He changed his mind (I think) Probably hates me for what I did this time, hope he's cool wit' it…

Fox McCloud Saviour of Lylat: Responsible for both my longest hatemail and apology. And the only one with a typo in his pen name…unless you live in Canada of course!

Tim Digidestined of Loyalty: Taught me the true meaning of Gomen, and currently writes my favorite story to read…I don't remember what it's called, but it's got Sonic in it…too bad I never have time to read it anymore…

DragonOTDarkFlame: Questioned me on what side of the bed I wake up on, which was strange, of course, I knew what he meant, but I don't take anyone seriously. By the way, I wake up on the right side, not the left as I had said before…heh…

Looneyman: He's serious about his reviews. Questioned my plot, and I never really answered…oh well, I guess there's more to come…as well as more to dig myself a deeper hole…

MAIL CALL
SonicBreezie4ever
Wow. That was quick. Seriously, this is the best fanfic I've ever read. You've done a really awesome job with everything. The romance is sweet, the plot is dramatic and just amazing, I love it all. I'm a little sad that the next chapter is the last, but I'm sure I'll love it very much. (And you say it's most likley the longest so that's good. I love longness.)But anyway, I loved the chapter, it was awesome. And I can't wait for the last. I'm sure it'll be really great.

FoxMC: I guess I did an alright job if I did all that stuff so well. And this chapter was really long, so you must have loved it…I guess.

Fenrir Hellfyre
Wow, dude. I thought this was gonna be the last chapter. Can't wait for the next one. You're so friggin' awesome I can't stand it!

FoxMC: Friggin' thanks new reviewer kid. You joined late, but I'm sure this isn't the last I'll hear from ya, we've got some crap to cover before this story is really over!

Coldfire
Good work on Chapter 45! It's sad to hear that this story has to end soon. xx
But still, your writing is some of the best I've seen. If made into a book, it would be a bestseller, I swear...

FoxMC: Would it really…well, that is if I could get Nintendo to lend me the license in the first place…

deathscall
I know I said I'd wait till your last chapter to review again, but... I couldn't stand it... and now to my, completely useless review :P ... again, great chapter, i'd be inspired to write a story or somethin, if... blank paper and computer screens didn't completely terrify me, and yea, great great great great X 20 + 10 chapter, sad that your next is last, flowing tears but, sniff sniff, I shall remain a loyal reader of your stories, as you are by far, the best author who's books or stories I have read

FoxMC: I want my plushie! And by the way, just what kind of number is X 20+10 anyway? …Plushie?

Dreamer for lyf
I loved the chapter. I got my dose of action in it too so dont worry. Man, I hope you update soon, becuase I'm hooked! Can't wait for the next chapter
-DFL

FoxMC: Thanks, I hope you loved this chapter equally as much. I mean, it pretty much covered all the genres available on this site…except humor, but that's ok I guess…

Guest
(yes, i'm that same guest person from before, for those of you wondering.)
Wow... awsome job with this chapter. I really like the way you've portrayed Scales, it really makes him seem like a MUCH bigger villan than he did in StarFox Adventures. (not to mention it makes him seem a lot smarter too!)
Dang, 1 chapter left? I've just gotta say: Good luck. You've still got several loose ends to tie up in my opinion, and 1 chapter is going to be hard to do that in. You're probably going to have to write one heck of a huge chapter for the grand finale. Can't wait to see what you have planned to wrap this up, and when you're done, make sure you write another StarFox fanfic soon! (please...)

FoxMC: Well, looks like I got a lot more chapters to tie up loose ends now, and I guess I don't have a choice BUT to write another fanfic soon…this just never ends…

Specter117
Hey, Fox MC! Great job with this chapter. I'm thinking of a Starfox fanfic of my own. Just three questions. I thought James McCloud died a long time ago. How did he survive? Are you going to have an emotional reunion with the whole gang including Fox's old man? There's gonna be a wedding, right? Oops. This stuff's classified. I shouldn't bother. Anyway, phenominal work with this absolutly astounding, epic, romantic, intense, and emotional story.

FoxMC: I guess your questions got answered…and nice variation of adjectives at the end there, my compliments to your spell checker…

Whinnie
Wow, that was fast. Lol. Anyway, I'm curious as to what happens. Update soon, PLEASE:) (Shows big, cute eyes.)

FoxMC: I wonder what those big cute eyes look like now…

Bello Autore
claps hands ooh this is really good! i cant wait to read more!

FoxMC: Thanks, your name is very suave sounding…either that or I just can't say it right.

NTHRUST69
Damn it! Why idn't you E-mail me about this! Once again, the audience loves you and you shatter my writting skills down to the dumps. Anyway, this is a great chapter. Loved it and you my friend have great writting techniques. I'm thinking about doing a story but I want you to help me with it. Please send me an E-mail with ideas. Otherwise, excellent, excellent.

FoxMC: Ideas? You think I have ideas? If I was that creative I'd be writing as many stories I could at the same time. I don't know what I can tell you now, but reading actual books can give you ideas…not that it's creative to copy their idea…but come on, who reads real books anyway?

Krystal fox2
This chapter is probably the best yet. The coment about the translation thing, it took a while but i finally finished it. it was pretty cool that you could download it after you beat it too. Best of luck with your future stories.

FoxMC: The best yet huh, I hope my next installment can at least come close to this one...Only one way to find that out I guess...

Jason Y. Insane (x2)
1.Even though I'm not a huge Star Fox fan, I heard how great this story is and bam! I instantly became a fan myself. 2.Wow you have got something going on and it ain't good. This story is the perfect story I have been waiting for. It has:
No bad punctuation
Nicely sized paragraphs
Nicely sized chapters and
Well Written
10/10.. I haven't seen a story with so many reviews like this.

FoxMC: 1. Ohh...Instant fan, just add storyline. 2. Cool, those are some good things for a story to have, as well as a few good reviews I guess…

halomasterchief
God, been a while, huh? Don't worry, you haven't lost me, I've just been TOO busy writing my own fanfic. I loved this chapter, and HOLY CRAP! James is alive? I should have expected something this crazy, since you did kill off Fox for a while. lol, I like it. Wow, I can't believe that next chapter is the final one. It just blows my mind! Well, since I have the chance, I want to thank you for giving me the inspiration to write my own fanfic. I probably wouldn't have done it without reading this fic, even though my fic isn't a Star Fox fic (weird, huh?). Sorry to see you stop this fic, but I guess things have to come to an end eventually. So, for the final time, I'm going to say: Keep up the good work!

Your friend, halomasterchief

FoxMC: And for the…oh, I don't know, fourth or fifth time, I'm going to say, "Ha, I tricked you again!" Well…ya, don't trust anything I say ever again. This story shall press forth!

Ricky
come on. You can't end the story so soon. Sequal. I'm begging you. Please. Screw golf. This is your calling. Don't let me or any of your other fans down. By the way, great chapter.

FoxMC: Golf is equal toscholarship money. This story is equal tocure for boredom. You decide… Ehh…thanks for the review

EXTENDED ENDING: A Memory Never Forgotten

"Fox McCloud, the doctor is ready to see you now. I believe he has news on…"

The receptionists voice trailed off as she noticed Fox's blank expression as he walked past her desk. He continued in this manner before vanishing behind a swinging glass door, one that sat just adjacent to her desk. He never said a word, he never even glanced at her, he was there for one reason, and that was the only thing he cared to focus on at the time. Even if the vulpine had seemed slightly rude to this receptionist, she could never hold it against him. It had been almost a full three days since Fox McCloud's return to Corneria, and during that entire time, much celebration had been stirred because of this vulpine's success, but unknown to the masses, something had gone awry on that very same mission. Many on that planet may not have known it, but the workers of the highly regarded Cornerian laboratory knew all too well. Fox had lost something very dear to him during his mission, and it was their job to do all they could to help, even if the vulpine's requests seemed slightly fanatical.

The vulpine quickly made his way down the preceding hallways that followed the door he had just passed through, hoping that his plan had gone as well as he had first conceived. He soon made his way to the end of this seemingly never-ending path of hallways, and as he passed through the door that led him free from this labyrinth, he found himself standing in a large room, one that held several strange looking container all along the outer part of its pure white walls. As soon as he entered into this place, he was greeted by what he determined to be the head doctor of this laboratory. After giving the vulpine a nervous nod, the doctor spoke in a flat voice, "Fox McCloud, how nice it is to see you. I think you will be pleased to know that we have figured out a way to greatly hinder the decaying process." The vulpine merely gave a slight nod at the doctor's words, and shortly after, he found himself standing in front of a large machine, one of which was controlled by a small control panel near its metallic base. The vulpine stood quietly as he waited for the doctor to continue, which he did shortly after he found his spot in front of the machine, "This machine will halt any signs of bodily decay for quite some time. You can be sure that he body will remain in fine condition within this device." With a few quick button presses, the metal that sat just above the control panel slowly slid open, giving the vulpine his first look at his vixen companion after she had left her at this place. The doctor continued as the metal fully retracted, giving the vulpine a complete 360 view of his deceased companion, "You see, we've implemented a new technique that we call, Cryogenical Freezing. By the use of low temperatures and high pressure, the body is able to retain all its aspects for a very long time."

Fox slowly approached the figure that he could now see within this machine. Her body seemed to be floating within the nothingness that this container held, looking almost exactly as she had when she had defeated Scales…back when she was still alive. The vulpine placed a hesitant hand on the glass-like substance that surrounded her, speaking to the doctor in a passive voice, "Is it hard to move this machine around?" The doctor shook his head at the vulpine's random question, and responded shortly after, "Oh no, these machines are very mobile. They use the same hover technology as many of our transports in the city do. As long as you have the appropriate outlet for this machine's power supply, you could move it virtually anywhere." Fox looked over from the vixen's body, his ears perking up as he heard these words, "Anywhere, huh?"