FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

***

Note: Things are about to get crazy. This chapter plays as prelude to one of the biggest bloodiest fights of the whole series. Enjoy, and feel free to comment and add favorites.

Characters from original VG series are copyright of Nintendo.

Inspirations and other themes are owned by Square Enix.

Original Character are owned by me. Please don't use them without permission.

All third party characters owned by their respective owners, please respect their ownership by not using characters without their permission.

***

This was a grave situation for the Star Fox team. The surprise attack left Peppy unconscious and badly wounded, and Slippy was caught in the chaos and was now being held hostage by the false human. The already hot climate of the lava planet grew hotter as the situation rose. Fox, Falco, and Krystal stood frozen, afraid to do anything that would put their comrade in danger.

"Help guys!" Slippy shouted, and was shut up by a sword pressed up to his throat.

"Enough," Replica Ryan stated, "one more word out of you and it's off with your head, same thing if you three take another step."

'Damn,' Fox thought in his head, 'if we move, Slippy's a goner. But if we don't then Peppy might bleed out. This is really bad.'

"Why are you doing this?" Krystal asked, "what do you hope to gain?"

"If anything it buys us time," the fake human answered, "I can't let the best team in the galaxy get the jump on my boys here. I only planned to lead you astray long enough for the prisoners to escape and catch you in an ambush, just like what happened to your daddy Fox." Fox growled at him as he continued.

"But in all seriousness, I never expected things to turn out this well. I've very well brought the best team to its knees singlehandedly. The higher ups will be so impressed."

"Like hell you bastard," Falco stated about to step forward, but Fox held a hand out to stop him.

"I'd keep more of a cool head like your foxy friend bird brain," Replica Ryan stated, "I'd hate for this to turn messy. There's no hope for you guys now." The three remaining members stood tense, trying to think of a way out of the mess, while poor Slippy held still, the amphibian not wanting to risk hurting himself.

"Well," the Replica pondered, "there is one hope left for you guys, but too bad he's not here right now."

"Ryan," Fox muttered.

"That's right," Replica Ryan answered, "you're wannabe hero would normally come to help out in a dangerous situation like this, but it's too bad he abandoned you."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Fox shouted as the replica started laughing, "Ryan's probably on his way here right now."

"Oh don't get your hopes up," he stated, "he's not even here, he's busy playing detective with a new set of friends. He doesn't even care about you guys anymore."

"He would never," Falco shouted next, "he's part of our team, and he wouldn't leave us hanging."

"Of course he would," the replica continued, "I mean, why would he separate from you to go on solo missions. Even he wouldn't be stupid enough to go out on his own at a time like this. No, Ryan found himself a new mercenary team to hang out with. If you don't believe me... Then ask the little blue vixen right next to you. She's been silent ever since I brought up the subject, and it's because she knows a thing or two." Fox quietly looked at Krystal, trying to make sense of everything that's being spoken. She merely looked back, a silent look of worry strewn about her face.

"Do you know something?" Fox asked. The false human laughed again.

"This is priceless, watching the team fall apart right before my eyes. How about we make this more interesting then," He looked at the vixen and pressed the sword closer to Slippy. "Tell him every little juicy secret you're hiding, and I won't slice his throat open. Come on now... my patience is running thin." The vixen looked on in fear, she had never been in a predicament where her telepathy failed her. And now if she doesn't tell them a secret that could destroy the team, then the team will have a few less members on its roster.

"Krystal?" Fox asked confused, "please tell us. We need to know for Slippy's sake."

"Come on," Replica Ryan stated, "I'm waiting."

***

The Star Wolf team and I arrived on the planet MacBeth not too long ago. The ship was held in one of the upper hangar bays where it would be safely away from the riot location. I look around, it was quite the trail down the mountain side, but it wouldn't take long to get to the processing factory. General Pepper is right; it would be hard escape from here if you were convicted. I wasn't used to such high heat, despite spending most of my life in a desert and was already wiping sweat off my brow. Zio noticed this and handed me a canteen of water to drink from.

"Thanks," I noted and took a quick swig, "are you sure you don't need any?"

"Of course not I'm fine," he replied, "my scales give me natural resistance to heat. It's not so bad to me here."

"Regardless we should keep moving," Wolf stated, "it'll be cooler inside, despite the riots going on." I nodded and we continued on down the trail, following closely to the path down a level on the outer rim. I kept my guard up, sensing that trouble would come rather quickly to us. It did, but not in the way I expected it to. Leon looked over the guard rail down the ledge.

"You guys may want to have a look at this," he said, pointing down. I was curious and looked over the edge completely shocked at what I just saw.

"Oh no it's Star Fox," I stated. Down the next level at the shipyard was indeed Fox and his crew, but they were in a tight spot. Peppy was laying down unconscious, and Slippy was being held hostage, a sword to his neck as far as I could see. The other three were at a small distance, unable to do much at this position. What surprised me even more is who was holding him hostage.

"Is that you I see down there?" Zio asked confused, "I thought you were here with us."

"It's the doppelganger of me that the Claxan created," I pointed out, "seems he's made another surprise attack."

"I'm not too surprised to see that to be honest," Panther stated, "he's even wearing your old uniform. They don't miss details for sure."

"We need to rescue them," I said and hurried down the stairs quickly.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Wolf intervened, "heartless as this may sound, we have more important matters to attend to."

"But-"

"If the riot doesn't get quelled soon the whole facility could fall under pandemonium. Besides, those clowns will be fine. I'm sure little Foxy will find some way of getting out of this mess."

"I understand that," I shook my head, "but no one might be able to help them immediately. At this rate their team may not make it. And not just that, but I'm still a part of their team too, and I'm not just going to up an abandon them like this." I turned and started running down the trail again, making whatever winding turns were necessary to get to the specific level.

"I'm right behind you," Zio shouted as he hurried to follow. Wolf stood there for a second before huffing and following behind.

"Don't worry so much," Panther chuckled as he ran beside Wolf, "besides their help may prove beneficial against the Claxan and their army."

"It's not the Claxan I'm worried about getting dragged into fighting this time around."

I was down another more earthy terrain as I got close to the crucial scene. Zio and I hid behind one of the large rocks that stood background to the group in trouble. Wolf and the other two hid behind another rock, their spot a little higher up. I could hear the conversation as I peered around the rock.

"This is priceless, watching the team fall apart right before my eyes. How about we make this more interesting then," He looked at Krystal and pressed the sword closer to Slippy. "Tell him every little juicy secret you're hiding, and I won't slice his throat open. Come on now... my patience is running thin."

This really wasn't good. I looked over at Wolf, who pulled out his blaster and ordered Leon to pull out his rifle. He then signaled me to do the same, which I did. With careful coordination we took our position, looking precariously from the rock and took our aim.

***

"I've waited long enough," The fake Ryan said to the blue vixen, "you've got three seconds to talk or I'm dissecting this frog." Slippy stayed quiet, whimpering lightly, and not wanting to point out that his last name ended in Toad. Fox felt helpless, he was running out of time and was now curious at what Krystal had to say. Was it really that bad?

"Three."

"Krystal," Fox stated, "please."

"Two." Krystal looked horrified, she didn't know what to do or say.

"Please give her time to answer," Falco shouted.

"One!"

"KRYSTAL!" Fox yelled.

"AUGH!!!" The crew heard, and looked in surprise. The shout came from the fake, his back had a little smoke rising from a blaster blast. He then screamed again as he was hit with two more shots, then a welcome sight was seen. A familiar looking sword slashed the replica's left arm, splitting the shoulder open and forcing him to release Slippy, who hurried over to Krystal. The fake turned behind and jumped to the side, kneeling in great pain.

"Fucking bastard," he shouted as he kneeled. When he jumped he revealed who his assailant was.

"Ryan!" the group shouted and sighed in relief. The real Ryan this time, only clad now in darker edgier clothing. He held his Bahamut sword firmly in his right hand and his left placed a blaster back in its holster.

"Are you guys alright?" The real human said, as Zio hurried past Ryan to tend to Slippy and Peppy. The three Star Wolf members quickly hurried onto the scene as well.

"There, we did your job Lewis," Wolf said, "now we should hurry." While Fox was relieved that his team was safe, he was now even more confused than ever. What was Star Wolf doing here? What was Ryan doing with them? And why is he dressed differently than the uniform he was given? All of this and more was floating around Fox's head. Krystal looked at the vulpine next to her in worry, hearing everything his mind had to say.

"This isn't over," The replica shouted and hurried off running through the expansive shipyard.

"Hey stop!" the real Ryan shouted, and sped off after him. Fox didn't even get a chance to stop Ryan for questioning before he was beyond ear shot. He held his head a bit and shook, trying to make sense of the whole situation.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Fox shouted, "The fake Ryan is going rampant, the real Ryan shows up out of nowhere dressed completely differently, and now the Star Wolf team shows up out of nowhere?"

"Well gee don't take your time thanking us," Wolf shrugged sarcastically. Fox looked over at Krystal, noticing her complete silence.

"Is this what you were trying to tell us?" Fox asked, "Is Ryan working with Star Wolf now?" She looked at him and held her head down, twiddling her fingers idly.

"You see all the pieces fall into place and you can't even come to that simple conclusion?" Wolf chuckled, "I figured you were at least smarter than that."

"Back off cocky bastard," Falco growled, "there's no way Ryan would leave us for you."

"They must still be in shock at the news," Leon smirked, "they're so gullible it's no wonder Ryan left them for us." Falco growled at his snarky comment, while Panther remained quiet, looking between Krystal and his own team.

"Please tell me it's not true," Fox pleaded with Krystal, and again she looked down.

"I'm sorry," she began, "it's true. I saw him board his ship back on Corneria, and he was carrying the uniform with him as he boarded." Fox held his hand in front of his eyes and sighed.

"Ryan," he began, "how could you?"

"Hurts when your friends stab you in the back is it McCloud?" Wolf taunted.

"Why would it matter?" Fox replied, "you guys aren't my friends. And I oughta clean your clock for sneaking Ryan away from us."

"You know what?" Wolf said, cracking his knuckles, "I agree, I've been looking forward to a rematch for some time now. It has been too long." Falco stepped up, next to his long time friend.

"Fine with me," he began, "and you know what? I never liked you guys, and I'm going to enjoy stuffing your big words down your throat."

"Looks like the birdie needs a little lesson in manners," Leon said stepping next to his commanding officer. "Haven't you learned yet how to address your betters?"

"Wait," Krystal said, "we shouldn't be fighting here, we have a job to do remember?"

"Seriously," Panther agreed, "I don't like them too much either, but we really shouldn't get too riled up in this mess. I mean what about the rioters?"

"What about them?" Wolf asked, "there are more than enough guards and mercenaries to handle the insurgency. And besides, we might not get another chance to test our skills here. This whole place is a testament to power, which makes this the best place for a real brawl."

"You're right Krystal," Fox said and she looked at him, "it is our job after all. So you go and check up on the others, and give Ryan a hand too if you see him."

"But what about you?" she asked.

"I'll catch up momentarily. It shouldn't take too long to deal with this clown." She looked at him, peering into his mind. His conviction was the same and she shook her head before running off.

"You're being stupid," she retorted before leaving.

"You too Panther," Wolf said, "if you don't want to fight go ahead and do your job, I like this little party here a little better." Panther looked quietly at Wolf as well, before shrugging and hurrying off to the appropriate site. Slippy and Zio helped prop up the still unconscious Peppy, looking at Fox and Falco with worried expressions. Fox looked at them and knew what they were thinking.

"You guys get Peppy back to the ship and get him to the sick bay," he began, "once he's secure, get the ship farther away to a safer spot, then Slippy once that's done, get your Arwing and join with the air fleet stationed here."

"Are you sure?" Slippy asked.

"We'll be fine," Falco began. "besides, Peppy really needs your guys help, and staying here isn't going to help him at all." Zio nodded in agreement, and soon with Slippy's help, started taking him to the path where the Landmaster is stationed, to drive back to the ship. Now the only ones left at the current site were Fox and Falco, and Wolf and Leon. The two pair were staring each other down, ready for one of the biggest fights of their lives.

"You know the rules," Leon stated.

"Yeah," Fox agreed, "no blasters, only our fists and feet, and whatever happens to be around. No bars hold."

"And the winning team gets to keep Ryan on their team," Falco added.

"Very well," Wolf said smugly, "this won't take me long."

"We'll see about that," Fox said, holding his fists up in his classical fighting position. The other three put up their dukes too, as the fight was ready to begin.

***

I finally managed to catch up with my replica as we got to the other end of the expansive shipyard. The run was about ten minutes, and he turned to face me, kneeling like before. He looked at me with an angry face before standing up slowly.

"You just don't quit do you?" he smirked.

"Give it up fake," I said holding my sword up, "you've done enough damage today." He simply laughed.

"Cura," he stated, healing most of the damage in his shoulder and raising his sword up.

"But it's just too much fun here," he continued, "besides if anyone is the fake around here it's you."

"Wanna bet?"

"I do. See I'm not just a copy of you, I'm also superior, in every way shape or form. My body is even a lot more unblemished than yours is. But that little bit doesn't matter. My point is that you're light years from being able to defeat me." He then smirked and charged up a dark violet aura around him. It shook violently and then flashed. When I lowered my hands from my eyes he had changed. Not much in physical appearance, but his wardrobe completely changed. The suit he was wearing was hard to describe. It was close to the Claxan's black robe, but it was worn like it was one piece. The suit was in varying degrees of black and white, and conformed to his skin tightly, so much that the fabric actually gave the illusion of being actual muscle, by conforming to his muscles to add the detail. From the neck down to his feat the suit brought out all his muscle, the only real difference was the soles of his feet, which were supported like boots. Around his waistline was a loose fitting belt, and connected to him was the lower half of a torn white trench coat. It only extended from his back to his sides, but the tattered and torn lower portion reached down just about a foot or so above the ground. He certainly looked more threatening than before, but to be honest. I wasn't that impressed.

"Nice pajamas," I replied, "what discount rack did you get that off of?"

"Very funny," he replied, holding his sword up in the same position I usually do, up by his face pointing at me, his other hand held out for defense and counterattacking purposes. "But this suit is more than accenting my good looks. It gives me increased speed and agility, and my magic and swordsmanship gets a mean boost as well. Perhaps I should just show you instead of talking about it all day."

"Fine by me," I said and held up the same position. This ought to be good. Am I good enough to beat myself I wonder? I was about to find out.

He was the first to charge, and he closed distance fast. He swiped down at me, which I sidestepped as I blocked the attack, then he swiped again and slide through in a sudden burst of speed. I was thrown off for a second. He wasn't kidding, he really is faster than I thought. But still, it wasn't something I couldn't handle.

'Concentrate,' Bahamut spoke in my mind, 'he's fast, but he doesn't keep his wits about himself. What does that tell you about him?' I thought for a moment as he charged. I was kept on the defensive as he barraged me repeatedly.

"Come on," he taunted, "is this all you got. I expected better." He spun and aimed for my abdomen. I quickly brought my sword down to block, and brought it back up just in time as he finished his spin aiming for my head. He kept it held there for a couple good seconds, before pulling off quickly. Before I could react again he got down and spun himself, kicking my legs out from under me. I landed hard on my back, and when I looked up, he already jumped, ready to land the finishing blow. I reacted with a sudden burst of speed myself and rolled to one side, his blade hit the hard metal floor just inches away from me, and I quickly kicked myself back to my feet. Bahamut was right, he was fast and keeping me on my toes, but he's going too fast for his own good. I jumped away a little bit and did some taunting of my own.

"Is that all you got?" I repeated to annoy him. He growled and charged again. As he did I concentrated on the path behind me. "Blizzara" I muttered under my breath and froze the path behind me. It wouldn't stay that way for long but it would be enough. As he swiped, I dodge and stepped aside. His foot caught the slick path and immediately slipped. As he lost balance, I knocked him off his feet by following with a Thundara spell, giving him a nice shock too. His trip ended when he slammed against the guard rail. By now the floor was back to its usual dry sturdy self, thanks to the extreme heat.

"I'm gonna wipe the floor with you," he gripped his blade hard and charged again. He threw me a tricky flurry, his sword and his other hand coming in left and right forcing me to guess as I blocked, ducked and dodged from each attack. I rolled away from the onslaught to his side and went for the stab as his attack finished. He countered his however by jumping, and standing right on my blade, keeping me still with this by making me use both hands to keep upright.

"Huh?" I muttered in surprise and he laughed.

"So predictable," he said and backflipped off my sword, using one foot to kick me square in the face as he did so. I startled back as my nose started bleeding and before I could recover I saw his free hand charging a strong spell before he even hit the ground. Once he did land he sent the attack sailing right at me.

"Dark Firaga," he shouted and sent a huge ball of fire right at me. Said ball was also surrounded in a dark aura. This attack was strong and I had no time or room to dodge the attack. I was going to have to block it. I held my sword up to position to block it and chanted the technique that Angulo taught me while he was my teacher.

"Runic Blade," My sword glowed lightly, some small runes appearing on the blade as it caught the attack. With a shaky slash I cut through the spell. The flames then imbued itself and surrounded my blade, adding its strength temporarily to my sword. The remainder of the attack left a trail of small flames behind me and I regained my balance. I noticed the blood and wiped it away, and quickly decided to heal the bruises I had on me.

"Cure," I stated and healed myself with the small aura. My clone looked at me curiously as I held up my blade, still supercharged with the dark power.

"It's my turn now."

***

Krystal kept running from Fox's orders, hurrying to catch up to the other officers controlling the riot. The vixen was aware of the fact that everything was starting to fall apart.

'What is Fox thinking picking a fight with them at a time like this?' She wondered, and her thought process was broken by a familiar shout.

"Hey sweetness!" Panther said as he caught up her, soon matching her pace, "seems your boyfriend can't control himself huh?"

"What in the world do you want?" She scoffed. Panther was familiar with this attitude towards him. He merely shrugged and continued.

"Just following orders, I'm here to control the insurgency just like you. And unlike the knuckleheads back there, I know that we need to work together to get this done. So for now, let's put our differences aside and get to work huh?"

"Fine, just don't try to sweet talk me like you usually do," Krystal replied and saw a duel going on ahead. "Wait, is that Ryan fighting?"

"Looks like it," Panther answered as they both stopped to see, "but who's he fighting?"

"It looks like his clone," Krystal replied, "come on let's hurry, we need to assist him." Panther nodded and followed close behind, one hand holding the hilt of his own sword.

***

Meanwhile, near the surface of the planet Aquas, Nordic and the president were nestled in a submarine approaching the surface. Their job was complete, and both of them seemed to be looking forward to some fresh air. The elder bear laid back in his chair and sighed a bit as he rubbed a tired paw over his face.

"Inspiring meeting Mr. President," Nordic stated, the arctic wolf turning to look at him after gazing out the nearby window.

"It's not much," the president said, "I'm just glad they were able to meet us so quickly. They seem just as restless as we do."

"That's true," Nordic said, "but hopefully now we might get some leads on their hideout." He then turned to face back out the window, which the President noticed.

"You have something on your mind," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just restless myself." The wolf answered.

"It's about the human isn't it? Don't deny it, I can read it right on your face."

"I just have a bad feeling about his mission on MacBeth," Nordic said, "I heard it's about a prison riot but there's a high chance that it's a trap."

"Wherever he goes I would expect that's where they would be," the President said, "that connection is all too easy to make, ever since the Claxan first made their appearance here." He then pressed the button for the console on his desk. "Oh captain."

"Yes Mr. President," another male voice addressed.

"Prepare the ship for a course the MacBeth. I have a sudden business interest to attend to there." The voice was hesitant, but agreed to set the course before disconnecting. "There you go, I'm assigning you to reconnaissance duty. Find him and bring him to me. I think it's high time I have a meeting with the human personally."

"Yes sir," Nordic replied and saluted, "thank you sir." He then thought closely, with Fira and Mira listening closely. 'I hope we get there in time. If it's who I think it is waiting for him, Ryan may not walk away from the encounter.'

***

I charged at my doppelganger quickly and clashed swords with him again. I kept most of my energy in reserves as I attacked. But the force from his own attack added to my blade was doing the trick. While he blocked and dodged easily I could see signs of him slowing down. The ambush from before had weakened him quite a bit, and he was using up much more energy than I was. I used that to my advantage and backed off a bit, using little to no energy to do so. He charged again, using more of his energy to boost his speed. I sidestepped and swiped back, but he was quick to block and we clashed weapons again. The struggle began again and this time I had the upper hand.

"Getting tired are we?" I asked him smiling and he growled.

"Not by a long shot," he said and let go, trying to trip me again like he did before. This time however I was prepared for the attack. I jumped and backflipped away from the attack. When I landed on my feet I concentrated, and swiped my blade, expelling the dark energy from my sword directly at him. When he got back up and saw the attack coming, he held up his sword in defense, since he only had time to do so. This time however I realized he didn't have the same technique I did, and the force knocked his sword clean out of his hands, several feet away from our position, and he hit the nearby wall hard. He hit the ground quickly after that, and struggled to his knees. That attack did the trick, he was exhausted and out of energy. So I sheathed my blade behind my back, letting it disappear and stepped forward.

"What's the matter?" I asked him, "I thought you were going to "wipe the floor with me"."

"Please," he said using the wall to stand himself up, "I'm still getting used to this body and my abilities. Plus you cheated with that attack from before."

"All's fair in love and war," I said as I stopped advancing, "and this ain't love fake. I'm mad enough as it is from you holding my comrades hostage. You should leave now before I decide to finish you off."

"Fuck you," he said, "I'm gonna kill you right here and now." He held his hand up to charge another attack but was interrupted.

"That's enough," I looked up after hearing the familiar voice. Sure enough, it was Angulo. He landed slowly in front of the clone and turned to face him. "You've done your job, report back to Cougar immediately."

"Why?" my clone complained, "I had him right where I wanted you."

"I saw the battle plain and clear," the pegasus explained, "he defeated you this time. If you had continued the match he would have killed you. Summon your blade and report back immediately." The clone growled but complied, he summoned his blade back and Angulo opened up a dark portal for the clone. Soon it and he disappeared and soon I was left alone with him once again.

"Congratulations Ryan," he began clapping his hands together, "you never cease to amaze me. You defeated your clone, and hardly exhausted your reserves doing so. You've improved your skills in such a short time. When you first arrived in this galaxy you didn't even know how to lift a sword let alone fight."

"That's enough," I cut him off, "I don't understand. First you come and help us, then you turn out to be a Claxan spy, and now you've lured me here to fight off my own clone. Why start a prison riot just to get me to come here, and why here of all places? Even more importantly why would you arrange a fight between me and my clone? From what I heard it wasn't pure chance that we ran into each other once we got here." He merely smiled.

"Simple," he said, "it was all to prepare you for your ultimate test. This here is the location of one of the most brutal battling grounds in the whole system. It was the perfect spot to see if you really are the chosen one. Everything you've done, every battle you fought was all preparation for this moment."

"I don't understand though," I stated again, "what does your organization hope to gain from all of this? And where do I come in on the equation? I need to know-"

"Ryan!" I heard Krystal shout, and I turned to see her accompanied with Panther. Each took close to my side and drew their weapon in preparation for a fight. Panther drew his sword, and Krystal her fighting staff. Angulo merely laughed at that.

"Your questions will be answered in due time," he replied, "but for now all I will tell you is to prepare you for your next fight." He then concentrated, and in a flash of light made his own large broadsword appear in his hands. I merely shook my head at him. I still couldn't bring myself to fight my old teacher, not just because he was my old teacher but because I also knew that if I fought Angulo I would surely lose. His power is in a league far beyond my own, and Bahamut knew this too.

"I don't want to fight you," I simply said.

"Of course you don't," Angulo said, "this is the third time you've refused, but you won't be getting out of this one this time. Not only must you fight me, but you must fight me alone. And I didn't want to do this, but I have no choice but to force your hand now." He held up his hand, and a bright aura erected from his hand. I suddenly heard shouts of pain coming from both my comrades.

"Krystal! Panther!" I shouted facing each of them. The dropped to the floor in obvious pain, and each held onto their necks in agony.

"C-can't... breath..." Panther shouted out, and I realized what was happening. They were being suffocated, and were fading quickly.

"Stop it!" I shouted back at Angulo, "let them go, this has nothing to do with them."

"Exactly," he replied his wings fluttering behind him, "but fight me and I'll release them from the spell. Their lives hang in the balance Ryan, please do the right thing." I again didn't understand him. He was killing my party members, and yet he's pleading with me to fight him. I didn't want to, but I really didn't have any choice.

"Okay," I said, "I'll fight you, now please let them go." He nodded and did so, the two scrambling to catch their breath. "Are you guys ok?"

"We're fine," Panther said jumping to his feet, his sword out and ready. "Let's do this."

"No guys," I shook my head as Krystal got up too and they both looked at me curiously. "You guys should go and quell the riots. I need to face him."

"But you can't fight him alone," the vixen retorted.

"I know," I said, "I'm not strong enough to beat him yet, but I have to try. He's desperate to get me to fight him for some reason, so I have to help him and take up the challenge. And I must fight this battle alone." Krystal delved into my mind again without me knowing, and sensed just like Fox that my conviction was clear. She eventually gave up and faced Panther.

"Let's go," she said to him then faced me, "Don't do anything stupid." She then turned and headed to a path downward. Panther followed her, but not before stopping to give me one last piece of advice.

"Ryan," he said, "if things get too bad for you, get out." I nodded and he took off to catch up with the vixen. And now once again I was alone with him, just like he wanted. This was different than my last fight. For once, I was terrified of lifting my blade up against him. A man who vaporized an opponent who nearly killed me with a flick of his finger is nothing to trifle with. The heat was also getting to me. Both as a practical means, and symbolically speaking, I took off my black Star Wolf vest, leaving me in my silver shirt, and I tossed it off the ledge. I needed as little weight as possible holding me down. And both Panther and Krystal, now at the lower level saw the vest as it fell off into the lava far down below. I then summoned Bahamut to my right hand. He could sense my fear just like I was sure Angulo could.

"Well then, time to get down to business," Angulo said and held up his sword in front of him, ready for the fight. And I slowly took my position, Bahamut using his energy to help ease my doubt. It wasn't working, I wasn't prepared for the fight that was about to begin. I had already come to the conclusion that I was going to lose.