Star Fox: The Unexpected Mission, Ch5: A Simple Mind Game
#5 of Star Fox: The unexpected mission
I'm baaaaaaaaaaack~! With another installment of Star Fox! And guess what people, this entire chapter is dedicated with all out action, and a pinch of dialogue. I will also let you know that there will be a really nice treat for you all on the next chapter, so stay tuned! Anyway, here's the next piece of Star Fox!
o0Recap0o
Fox went out for a bit to try and discover some information that will fit well with his revenge, and what better place to go to than the pub? Unfortunately, Fox was getting a little more than what he bargained for, as the rowdy customers went on an all out assault on him. Fortunately, not one of them stood a chance against Fox's flawless combat abilities. As Fox left, he encounters a young lad named Kei, who sells valuable information to people, and he has all the information Fox needs...well he claims that he does. He's willing to tell Fox everything he needed to know about the Sharp Claw for free, if he does one small favor for him. What does Kei have in store for Fox? Read on, and find out.
Chapter 5: An interesting mind game.
"Small favor my ass.." Fox thought to himself, as he hid in the trees, and pulled out a pair of binoculars to gaze upon the large mansion that stood before him, checking for guards, security cameras, and anything else he will need to get through. It was now 12:00 midnight, and the only thing that gave him the light he needs to advance, is the garden lights that decorated the paths towards the elegant mansion. The mansion itself could not be seen in full detail due to darkness, but based on the size, and it's shape, it was designed to look like a Gothic castle from the middle ages. "Here I am, the former leader, and founder of the new Star Fox team, son of the famous James McCloud, hero of Coneria and many other planets across the Lylat system....being reduced to a petty thief.."
Fox puts away his binoculars, and leaps off the tree he was currently sitting in. He silently made his way across the large sea of grass, trees, and bushes, inching closer towards the massive mansion. He drew a mechanical device, and punched a few buttons into it, then tossed it on the ground. "That jammer should work well on those cameras, and motion sensor alarms throughout the entire area...but I only have an hour to get what I need, and get the hell out of here."
Fox made his way towards a large black, Gothic style gate, and kept himself hidden in the bushes. It didn't take him a long time to realize that the gate was too long, and too narrow for him to climb, or squeeze his way through. The only entrance he has, is right at the front gate. The problem is, there is a guard who is posted there, and only he can open the gate. Luckly, there was an alternative he could take. Fox was going to hate this...but he had no choice. He created a distraction, by pulling out his matter transmitter, and drew what he was looking for, a simple lighter. He ignights the flame, watching it for a few seconds, as it burns brightly in all it's blazing glory, tosses it right next to a tree that was not to far away from him, and makes a break for it.
The guard was occupied by a game that featured an elf in green clothes, and goes on a long journy to save a princess, and stop a great evil force. He was really having a fun time, that is, until he realized that there was something out of place.
"Ugh...I know the fairy is there to help you, but if it were me, I'd probably stab it with the master sword by now." The guard mumbled to himself. He appeared to be a golden retriever, just doing his job of protecting the gate from outside intruders...although he was too into his game at the moment. His fun was interrupted when his nose picked up on the scent of smoke. "Hm? Why does it smell like something is burning?" He looked up from the TV for a moment, to see that a tree, and a few bushes were burning right in front of him, the fire eating away at nature's creations. To make matters worst for the guard, the fire was hungry for more, as it begins to dance along the area, more plants falling victim into the blazing destruction. "AWWW HORSE SHIT!" The guard dropped the controller, and rang the emergency alarm, like a hyper active child that had too much sugar. He opened the gates in the process, allowing a fleet of guards to emerge through, and try to take care of the flames, before the owner would take notice. The panic that was clearly on their faces, made it rather difficult to put it out. One of them apparently tripped while they ran out, and tangled all the guards in the water hose. Now the guards were trying to untangle themselves, almost fighting each other, and squirming about like a cage that was crammed with rodents. Seizing the opportunity, Fox makes a mad dash inside of the gates, and quickly enters through the mansion.
"I cannot believe I am still doing this...I'm sure if I tried harder, I could have found a better way to get my information on the Sharp Claw, but nooooo...I just HAD to agree to this. Why? Oh that's right..." Fox thought to himself, as his mind enters a flash back, while he navigates his way through the mansion as stealthy as possible.
o0Flash back: In Fox's home0o
"Wow! I knew they were going to hook you up, but this is MUCH more than I expected!" Kei was running around Fox's home, exploring every corner that he could get into. He was currently acting like a rabid fanboy, who just had his wish granted, of being in his idol's house....oh wait, Kei IS a fan.
"Hey, enough fooling around, lets get down to buisness." Fox sat down on a master chair, and pointed at the couch across from him, with the table right in the center.
"You have such a nice entertainment station..." Kei was observing Fox's games, his plasma television, and his game systems with various "oooo"s and "ahhh"s.
"Kei, come on now." Fox called him, rolling his eyes, and wanted to talk already.
"Your kitchen is second to none...i mean you even have the chef master 3000..." Kei was very taken by Fox's wonderful kitchen, exploring it as if it was a lost undiscovered tomb.
"Kei...sit down." Fox was now sounding a bit annoyed.
"Lets go see what your bed room is like!" Kei was now making his way towards the stairs, a bright and hyper active smile on his face.
"Alright, I guess you can find someone else, while I go find another way to get what I want." Fox said, as he stood up, clearly stating that he lost his patience.
"Alright, alright! Yikes, someone can't keep their pants on..." Kei finally sat down on the couch, and Fox sat down as well, mumbling something about wanting to strangle that raccoon.
"Okay! So then, you want to talk about the small favor I have for you..." Kei began, as he fumbled with his fingers.
"Yes....that's why we are here to talk." Fox was not even attempting to hide the annoyince in his voice.
"Well...you see..first off, do you know about Empress?" Kei asked while tilting his head.
"Empress...what?" Fox asked, expecting a name after that title.
"Just Empress..that's her name. She's one of the top ten attractive models, and she's made a quick name of herself throughout the galaxy, although she has this somewhat...unusual mystery about herself. How could you not know about her?" Kei asked him, a little bewildered about someone not knowing about someone who is so famous. This was like seeing someone who did not know how to breathe.
"Kei, I spent most of my whole life in space, fighting and protecting the citizens from harm. Because of that, I didn't have the time to keep track of celebrities and such." Fox defended himself.
"True, true. Well, the reason why I asked is because...she has something very important to me, and I need you to go on and retrieve it from her." Kei begins to explain. "You see, I went on a mission, requested by a fanboy with an offer I could not refuse...which is a limited edition copy to my favorite anime, Zu-Gi-Oh! It's never before seen episodes, including banned ones! My mission is to gain as much information on her as possible, and I heard that she was a real challenge. I wanted some excitement in my life, so I took on that offer, and went on an information hunt." Kei begins to smile as he tells his story.
"The guards there were idiots, and breaking into the mansion was super easy...I mean, I managed to draw me an entire blueprint of all three levels, along with the left, and right wings, all while avoiding the guards, security devices, and Empress herself. I was beginning to wonder where the challenge was, and without my satisfaction, I had lost the thrill. So I was going to head on home...until I stumbled upon something that shocked me..and creep me out." Kei gulped at this, and held his neck for a moment, feeling very uneasy to talk about this.
"Ok and..." Fox didn't care what it was, as long as he gets to the point.
"Yeah...anyway.." Kei cleared his throat and continued. "I went into a hidden passageway, hidden in her library..It lead downstairs into her basement which turned out to be some kind of...some kind of..." Kei shut his eyes tightly trying hard to remember what he saw, but there was no avail. "Ugh...I can't remember. All I remember, was waking up outside, near some bum in an alleyway. The Bum told me that a limo dumped me here, and he took care of me until I woke up." Kei explained, and Fox was getting more uninterested by the second. "I had all my tools and items in tact..then it hit me full on, when I realized I lost my most valuable item."
"So...what was the item that you missed?" Fox asked with a raised eyebrow, who really just wants to get to the point already.
"My....." There was a long pause, and Kei looked at Fox with a grave expression. "Game Station Portable."
Silence filled the room shortly after Kei explained his answer. Fox had closed his eyes, his face reading both frustration, and annoyance, before he spoke. "Ok, Ok, so let me get this straight...you want me to risk my reputation, infiltrate a creepy looking castle, trying to sneak around someone I barely know about, let alone, reduce my heroic pride to a petty thief, all for just a game system that you can easily replace?" Fox stood up, and was sounding rather mad about this, as if all of this was supposed to be a joke.
"It's not just a hand held game system!" Kei shouted, jumping to his feet. "I hacked that thing from top to bottom! It can do so many things, it's considered irreplaceable! I put my heart and soul into that GSP. And I can't just let some bitch take it from me like that! I have to get it back! Please Fox...this is coming from a helpless civilian.." Kei got on his knees, and was pleading now.
"Yeah. A civilian capable on getting information on pirates, gangs, clans, breaking into the most dangerous places in the world, I wouldn't really consider you a helpless civilian..." Fox looked down at him with folded arms, not even cracking a smile.
"Come on...I promise. If you do this for me, all the information you need to know on the Sharp Claw, will be yours." Kei was looking up at Fox with determination, and his face can clearly say that he is desperate.
Fox thought about it for a minute, and closed his eyes. Then he nodded slowly and agreed to help. "Alright...but if you are playing games with me, you'll live to regret it. Just let me change my fur to white, and put on my cloak. Then I'll be ready to go." Fox told him, and helped him off his knees. "And don't even think about hugging me.." Fox could sense one coming, and did not feel like enduring it.
"Gotcha!" Kei saluted him, with such a bright smile on his face.
o0End Flashback0o
"Well..one thing for sure..he's right. The guards are really stupid here...still, I had not ran into Empress yet.." Fox takes a quick glance at his watch, to see that he only has 35 minutes left, before the jammers wear off. "I better make haste..now if I were an Empress...house full of guards...of course...an item like a GSP would be in her room..it cannot be anywhere else. I have to get her out of her room first, if I want to get it." Fox thought of himself.
As if his prayers were heard over the cosmos, he saw the Empress walking out of two double doors, then down the hall, and making her way towards the stare case that lead to the lower levels. It was rather dark, so Fox could not see exactly what she looks like at the moment, but he could tell she has a really nice figure. Fox quickly hides himself, and waits for her to make her leave..but something was wrong. She suddenly stopped in place..not moving an inch..as if she just suddenly froze in time. Not even her tail was moving, and by the look of the tail, and the ears on her head..she had to be a vixen.
Fox watched her from his current hiding place, which was right behind a corner, under a low table, which was perfect to crawl under. Then, a chill went down his spine, as Empress suddenly turned her view towards Fox's location..and the way her red eyes glowed in the dark like this..made Fox very nervous. It was hard to tell if she spotted him or not. Unfortunately for Fox, that fear did not go away as soon as he wanted it to, because she slowly begins to walk towards Fox's current location. Fox could hear every step she made on the tiled floor, as she walked in such a slow, steady pace. Each step grew louder as she inched closer towards Fox's current hiding spot, making his heart race, and his temperature begins to rise. The steps was like a ringing echo of panic and fear..there was such an unusual feeling from her, as she walked. A feeling that made Fox's fur stand straight up.
Empress stopped right in front of the table, and she was not moving an inch. Fox could only wait for the moment that she would catch him. He begins to pant, shutting his mouth so that she won't hear him breathe. Then, his temperature sky rocketed, as he saw her get down on her knees, and placed her hands on the floor. "Dammit...dammit..dammit..dammit! This is it...I'm going to get busted...right here...I can't...I just can't..." Fox was now sweating like no tomorrow, as she begins to inch her body closer to the ground...it felt like time has slowed down, and his breathing became so fast, it felt like he could faint.
"Lady Empress! There's a fire on your front yard! Come quick!" A maid came running in to get Empress to take a look at the damage. Empress slowly got up, and walked with her servant.
"Very well..take me to the fire." She ordered, in a graceful, yet stern voice. She sounded rather pissed about the situation.
Fox waited until she was long gone, before he got up from under the table. "Holy shit...that was TOO close.." He was breathing pretty heavily, as his hand rests upon his heart. His fur was drenched with sweat, and he was slightly dazed from what has transpired. He wanted to take a break, and let his body calm down before he continues his mission, but he knows that he has no time for that. A quick glance at his watch told him that he now has 20 minutes to get that GSP.
"That raccoon...better be true to his word..." Fox was still panting, as he rested against the wall for a few seconds. Then, he made a mad dash towards Empress's room. He knew where it was, by simply retracing Empress's footsteps.
As Fox entered Empress's room, he pulled out his matter transmitter, and drew his reflector. He turns on the switch to activate it, and sets it on the ground, allowing it's sky blue glow to light up the entire room. With his light problem solved, he went through Empress's things, not caring if they were out of place, or if it made him look suspicious. After that run in with Empress, he just wanted to get the hell out of her house already. He just wanted to look back at all of this, and laugh at such an experience. After digging through just about all of Empress's things, he finally found what he was looking for: A GSP that had Kei's name engraved on it. Fox's smile was so bright, it would have done a much better job in lighting the room, than his reflector. Fox quickly sends it into his matter transmitter, picked up his reflector, then he made his way out of Empress's room, shutting the door, leaving the room a total mess. The room went from an elegant paradise, to something that a tornado just ran through.
Fox made his way back to the entrance of the castle-like mansion, but he couldn't help but notice that the entire mansion was empty. Not a guard, or maid was in sight, it was just far too quiet for any comfort. Fox decided to ignore this, and ran outside of the large double doors, happy that he could finally get this job done. His feeling of relief did not last, as he noticed the guards were still trying to put out that fire. Something was strange about this scene..he clearly heard Empress ordering her maid to take her to where the fire was. And based on how the Empress sounded, she should be out here doing one of the following: Yelling at her guards for failing such a task, or freaking out about her garden. But that was not the only thing that did not look right in this picture. Seeing as how the whole garden was designed to look like a forest, the fire should have spreader, and eat the entire garden, if it was burning for this long. But here it was, in the same exact size, burning the same exact plants that Fox had set on fire earlier. Even the guards should have been untangled by now, but they were still in a huge mess. To further Fox's assumptions, the smoke...didn't smell like anything. Fox actually got close enough where he should gag, and choke on the strong black smoke from the flames. But here he was, not feeling, or smelling anything.
"Something isn't right here...." Fox shook his head, and was about to walk away from this odd fiasco. Suddenly, the entire scene had vanished, right before Fox's eyes. The guards were gone, the flame was gone, and the only thing that remained, was the damage that the flame has caused..and judging by it's damage scale..the flame only burned for about five minutes at best. Fox knew right then and there, that he needed to get out of here. Unfortunately for Fox, that plan was not going to happen, for the moment he attempted to run, his body refused to move.
"Argh! What gives!" Fox squirmed, and struggled, trying to get his body to move already. Sadly, he was not making any progress, as it felt like an invisible giant hand was holding him, right in that spot. Soon, a clapping of the hands were heard, followed by footsteps...the same footsteps that he heard, when he was hiding under that table.
"My my...your sharper than I imagined...after all, it is expected from someone of your caliber." That familiar, graceful voice spoke out to Fox, and he could feel his body temperature rising, once again.
Dun dun duuuuun!!! Fox...has been caught...by Empress. Just what kind of vixen is she? And what was with that event that just transpired? Will Fox be able to escape? All the answers will come clear to you, on the next installment of Star Fox! And I apologize if I was a little late on this upload. I have absolutely no excuses...two online games caught my eye at the moment, and I had to keep up with them both. If your interested in them, leave a comment, and I'll reply ASAP.