A Krystal Encounter Ch.2: Trial By Fire
Same disclaimer applies here, I don't own any of the Star Fox characters.
Hope you enjoy it.
Story ©2010 Kira Kitanya
My joints slowly started to gain consciousness as I opened my eyes. What happened earlier was something that I'll remember for the rest of my life. I suddenly felt warm air on the nape of my neck and it kind of startled me at first. But much to my surprise and relief, I beheld Krystal's face still sleeping close to mine. I smiled and tried to rise without disturbing her, while I was still tired, I slept much better that night. I slowly walked over to the large window until I was close enough to touch it, and once again, I got lost in stargazing.
Then I started to recall this song I listened to once; there was a set of lyrics that always stood out to me:
"I wonder what it feels like to find the one in this life.
The one we all dream of, but dreams just aren't enough. So I'll be waiting for the real thing."
It reminded me of when I made the promise to never pursue love until "the one" makes herself known. I guess now that all the hidden messages and signs to be patient were pointing to a moment like last night. "Thank you." I didn't know who or what I was speaking too but it just had to be said. I decided to return to my room and change up and check the clock next to my bed. The digital numbers read: 7:42. I assumed that since there wasn't any AM or PM next to the readout that this ship ran on the 24-hour clock. After shutting the door behind me, I rummaged through the white bag and pulled out a pair of tan cargo shorts and a black shirt with a scene of three wolves howling at the moon on it. As I took off my shirt something stopped me; the arrowhead necklace I was still wearing began to develop a strong, white glow. The necklace never did this when I wore it the previous night but then again, I was probably just seeing things anyway.
I dressed and cleaned up at about the same pace as if I was getting ready for school, which was pretty quick. In about five minutes or so, I was done. When I stepped back out into the lounge, I saw that Krystal was still fast asleep. I surmised that the others would be asleep as well, so I decided to play a bit of my favorite DS game, you can probably guess what it is. As I walked over to an armchair by the window, I flicked the DS's power switch. As the ocean's Great Guardian swam beneath the waves at awesome speeds, the title faded in: "Pokémon Soul Silver".
After loading my save file I saw that I was in the second room of the Elite Four: The Poison User: Koga. After enduring his hollow and arrogant claims of being "The Master of Shadows", the battle began. The fights leading up to the Championship bout were at times, pretty tough. But my team was resilient and I didn't give up. Finally, I walked into the large golden hall with the Champion waiting for me. My Feraligatr nodded slowly as I approached Lance.
"I expected that I would eventually meet you here Justin." He said.
"You have definitely taken my advice to heart since we worked together to topple the Team Rocket Hideout. But now, I must fulfill my obligations as a trainer and battle. Therefore, I, Lance: Pokémon Champion and Dragon Tamer, accept your challenge!"
With that, Lance sent out his Gyarados first and I ordered Shen (Feraligatr's nickname) into battle. As the fight continued, I began to think that I'd never beat his Dragonites, but I was far from done. And my Lapras pummeled him with Ice beam. Suddenly, He had one Pokémon left: Charizard, "This is my chance!" I thought. With my heart racing, I called out the final move:
"Shen, use Hydro Cannon!"
With a mighty blast of water, Lance's Charizard fell. "...It's over." Lance said.
As I read those words, I couldn't help but stand up and thrust my fist into the air.
"I did it!"
I acted like I was screaming the words but I just whispered them. I felt so proud when I saw the shot of my entire team behind me: Feraligatr, Scyther, Lapras, Dragonair, Raikou, and Lugia. I was the Champion! I soaked in every second when my Pokémon entered the Hall of Fame, and Lance named me a worthy successor. My expression of glee didn't change for a moment as the credits rolled, and soon, I was back at my room in New Bark Town.
"I can't believe it. I actually beat him!" I said to myself.
"Beat who?"
My DS nearly flew out of my sweaty hands when I darted my gaze towards Krystal. She laughed a little at how I reacted but I couldn't blame her either, I would've laughed at it too.
"Please don't do that again." I said putting a hand to my throbbing chest.
"I'm sorry, I thought you knew I was awake." She said still chuckling.
I had gotten enough of that when I was with my brother and now, it comes back to haunt me. Ah well, she didn't know. I returned to the DS and quickly tapped the SAVE button on the touch screen. As I navigated through the menus I saw that Krystal was curiously looking over my shoulder fixated at what to her was a strange object. As if reading her mind for once I spoke up,
"This is just my DS game system. 'DS' stands for Double Screen."
She seemed to be highly interested so I continued. And by a stroke of luck, I turned into a video game representative for that brief moment. I had always thought that describing something like this would be difficult, yet there I was going on and on about the device as if I had been doing it for years.
Soon my eyes met Krystal's eyes and scanned down her perfect figure. Before they lingered too long on her chest area, I turned my head away and tried to come up with a response.
"So, did you sleep well?" Was the best I could muster.
"Yes, thank you for asking." She replied.
I must've looked like a complete moron with how I tried to hide my actions. I can't help it, whenever I'm around her I just stare at her as if she's a goddess.
"You seem to enjoy looking at me don't you?" She said crossing her arms.
I didn't know what to say.
"May I look at you?"
I was pretty puzzled by her request, she was already looking at me wasn't she? Unless she meant... Oh man. It's like ever since I came aboard I've been breaking down mental barriers left and right but now, I don't think I can follow through with what she asked. Then again, I have been looking at her like this since joining them and she's seen nothing of me. I let out a sigh and began to pull at my shirt. I really hope my self-consciousness doesn't get the better of me. It was only fair that she sees who I really am. After removing the garment, the only thing that remained on my upper body was the silver arrowhead. I wasn't expecting her to be impressed with my skinny physique.
"Is this what you wanted to see?" I asked. Our eyes met again and she simply nodded.
Before I could respond, she suddenly put her hand to my chest and started to slowly feel around. It felt like a smooth cloth as her hand glided down my stomach and my sides. The whole time she felt me, she was smiling. How could I let her do this? Am I that complacent in the fact that it's innocent enough? On the other hand, no girl ever touched me like this and it felt great, aside from her sharp nails slightly digging into my skin. Krystal then reached for the arrowhead and eyed it curiously.
"Why is your necklace glowing?"
"I don't know, it's been doing this since last night." I answered.
She continued to study it for a minute or two.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"Oh nevermind, it's nothing. You should probably get ready to meet the rest of the crew at breakfast."
My ears perked, "Oh yeah, I forgot that Peppy and Slippy still haven't met me."
I pulled away from Krystal's hand and put my shirt back on. Pretty strange of her to be interested in a family trinket, it was probably just a reflection from the stars or something, that's all.
"Where do you guys usually meet for a morning briefing?" I asked.
"Right in here actually. We keep our food in those storage units over there."
Krystal said pointing to a pair of refrigerator-like cabinets.
"Do you have water?"
"Of course, but you have to try my baked Cerinian Spearfish! I think you're gonna love it!" Krystal said as she seemingly skipped to the exit.
"I'll be right back, I just need to change up!"
After the door slid shut, the lights suddenly came to life. It nearly left me half-blind with their luminosity, but I adjusted within minutes.
_"I'm sure it's good but what the hell is a spearfish?" _I thought.
If this room is where they all met then I should be seeing them any moment now. As the reality of the situation set in, I began to get extremely nervous. Once again, I was in a spot where I would either leave a good impression or totally embarrass myself in front of them. My stomach started to churn while I was waiting for the door to open. Worse yet, if I try the spearfish and say I hate it, then that will hurt Krystal's feelings since she made it herself. The combination of all these thoughts was absolute hell on my body. Still I clung to one ray of hope: After they all meet me on good terms, then I'll treat them as friends and vice-versa.
_"With all that's happened, this'll be easy. Just be yourself." _I took a deep breath and looked at the door,
"Bring it."
Then as if on cue, the door opened. On the threshold stood Krystal clad in a skin-tight purple and dark blue jumpsuit. She put her hands to her hips and asked,
"Well, how do I look?"
I smirked, "Do I really need to say anything? You look good."
"Thank you. Now are you ready to meet the others?" She asked walking over to me.
"No not really. I'm horrible at making first impressions."
Krystal put her arm on my shoulder and looked me in the eye.
"And what of me?" She asked with a smile.
"You're different. I...I just, I don't know what they'll think." I answered.
Krystal let out a childish giggle, "Don't worry, I'll speak up if you don't know what to say."
I smiled, "Thanks, I'd appreciate that."
Then sounds of footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door. Along with the sound of my heart-rate spiking.
"Oh, I should get the food out!" Krystal said dashing over to the refrigerator.
Fox was the first one to walk in after the door opened.
"Good morning Fox, you sleep well?" I asked.
He merely brushed passed me with a discouraged look on his face. He didn't say anything nor did he acknowledge me at all.
"What's up with him?" I wondered.
"Would ya stop complainin' about the G-Diffuser, I told you I'd get it fixed as soon as I got the parts!"
"Alright! I'm just sayin' that it deactivates everytime I-Oh, hey Justin." Falco said as he approached.
"Who's this tall guy?" Slippy asked looking up at me.
His round, green head was offset by two bulbous eyes with a red and white cap between them. As I talked with him, his frog throat inflated and deflated rhythmically. I nearly laughed at the way he described me in his high-pitched voice, yet I acted casual.
"My name's Justin, nice to meet you." I said outstretching my hand.
I shivered a little when I felt how cold and slimy his hand was when I shook it.
"Hiya Justin! The name's Slippy. I'm the team's weapons specialist." He said proudly.
"Yeah, I've heard a lot about your work. You designed the weapons that Fox and Falco use right?"
"That's right! And they've never had to be replaced or repurposed."
He shifted his gaze to Krystal who was still pulling things out of the Fridge and setting them on a counter.
"Krystal is makin' the food again? Awesome!"
"Have a new friend there Slippy?"
We both turned to a middle-aged hare who eyed me with surprise as he trotted into the room. He donned a white labcoat with a shirt and tie underneath. He had two long ears that stretched far above his head and a very thick white mustache. The one thing that was truly recognizable was his white rabbit teeth that stuck out from his upper lip. His tone was respectable and very laid back.
"What's your name son?" He asked.
"I'm Justin, nice to meet you."
I exchanged the usual pleasantries and discovered his name was Peppy.
"So, how did you find your way onboard?"He asked suddenly.
"It's kind of a long story. How 'bout we talk it over the food?" I suggested.
Peppy smiled, "Sure, sounds good to me!"
After sitting down with the food on the table, I actually began to relax. Everyone seemed to be interested in what I had to say, yet I always answered: "There's not much to tell." I told them about me, how I got here, that sort of thing. And the rest of the time was spent exchanging stories and such. It was great and so was the food. Krystal did look pleased when she saw me eating the Spearfish she made, come to think of it, the fish didn't really taste much different from the ones on Earth. The cool part was when Krystal showed me that you can drink the gel that existed in the "blades" of the fishes' noses. Honestly, it looked gross, yet it tasted so good! Fox was very quiet during this time and only producing mono-syllabic words like "yeah and cool" whenever he spoke.
"Wow Krystal, you were right! This was good!" I said after cleaning my plate.
"It's my parents' specialty. I'm glad you like it." Krystal said happily.
"Need some help with cleaning up?"
"Yes I'd appreciate that."
While the others talked amongst themselves Krystal and I washed the plates in the sink. It really surprised me how strong the water flow was coming out of the tap, almost as strong as an Earth-based garden hose with a high-powered nozzle. We were just about to finish up when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Fox standing with his arms crossed and looking none too pleased.
"Justin, can we talk out in the hallway for a minute?" He asked. I thought nothing of it, so I agreed.
"Sure no problem."
As I followed him out of the room and into the corridor I began to sense that this wasn't just going to be idle chit-chat. When I saw him earlier he was definitely ticked off about something. But what?
"You've been making yourself at home so far huh?" He suddenly said.
"What?"
"Been getting very comfortable, maybe too comfortable."
I started to get a bit nervous. "Is there something wrong here?" I asked.
Before I had time to react, he dashed in my direction like a lightning bolt and pinned me against the wall. The impact was firm and nearly knocked the wind out of me. I wasn't sure if the others heard the bang, I hope they didn't.
"Yes, there is." He snarled.
Fox had his forearm pressed against my neck and I began to choke trying to speak. What I saw in his eyes terrified me: Absolute fury, unfettered and raw. No matter how much I struggled, his grip didn't move an inch.
"What the... hell...is... your problem?" I asked gasping for air.
Fox bore his sharp teeth and tightened his grip.
"You."
His tone started to grow very menacing. I couldn't find the strength to speak at all, and throughout the conflict, I had to stare into Emerald eyes that were filled with hatred.
"Don't you ever go near her again! Understand?" He roared.
"Who?" I stammered.
He pushed my neck harder against the wall,
"Don't play dumb with me! I know what you've been doing with Krystal."
"Fox, she...came to...cugh! me! I didn't do anything!"
He only shoved his forearm against my neck even harder. I could feel my body growing limp as I tried to focus.
"Fox cugh, cugh, please! I can't... breathe!"
"Good, I hope you friggin' suffer!" He yelled.
What did I do to channel his anger? Krystal? Was it our time together? I began to realize that he had feelings for her as well, he probably thought I forcibly did it. But she came to me! I didn't mistreat her in any way. But at that moment, none of it mattered. Fox wanted me dead and I was powerless against him. Just before everything grew dark, she saved me like I saved her...
"Fox! What are you doing? Let him go!"
"You stay out of it! I'm ending this now!"
I then saw Fox reach for his blaster.
"NOOO!" Krystal screamed.
After that, the only sound I could hear was my rapidly beating heart. Yet in that moment of fear I was relieved, because when I heard Krystal yell in protest, I realized who I had been looking for all this time...
Before I permanently lost consciousness, I saw Krystal run toward and tackle Fox, releasing me from his vice grip. I felt myself fall and I immediately threw my hands out to cushion the landing. I sucked in air as if it was mana from the Gods and with every breathe, my awareness slowly returned. I was still very dizzy and could barely stand. I then felt my body jerk upward as if being pulled.
"Justin, you okay?
I heard Falco's voice as I tried to regain control. I turned around saw Krystal grasping the side of Fox's coat. I thought I heard her yelling but it was very indistinct.
"Come on, don't make me cradle ya." Falco said putting my arm around his shoulder.
"No, I can make it... I'm fine." I closed my eyes and went limp.