Belinda continued to charge through the stone walls and several short passageways until they reached a passage into another industrialized segment of the Mine, where she started to slow down...only to feel extra heat from behind her as Sunset urged her forward. "But there are Sharpclaws-"
"Leave them to me!" Sunset called out. "Just keep charging!" She tossed Tricky to Fox, who easily caught him. She then gathered power into her hands as she blazed forward into the next segment.
As Belinda charged out, Fox saw Sharpclaws go flying into the air to slam into far walls, or fall into pits of lava, or be obliterated by blasts of searing flame as Sunset zoomed around, seeking a way forward. He winced a bit at the sight, but said nothing. The Sharpclaws followed General Scales, who had with his intentions declared war on the entire Lylat System. In war, mercy to the enemy wasn't a viable option. Not only that, they still didn't know what had been done to Krystal. He wasn't going to rein Sunset in just yet, not as long as she didn't look to be taking pleasure in the killing itself. At the first sign of that, he would come down on her hard.
To Fox's surprise, Sunset was quick to find a path forward at the bottom level of the tall chamber after using her magic to blast open a few seals that had been artificially placed, made of material that normally would have had to be destroyed by the blast form a nearby mounted cannon. Sunset then flew down to the group. "Let's go!" she directed firmly, pointing into the small chamber thus revealed and trying not to meet anyone's eyes.
"You okay, Sunset?" he asked worriedly.
Sunset looked away. "...can we talk later?" she asked softly.
Fox stared at her for a time, then nodded. "Okay."
Smiling, Sunset led the way to the teleporter inside the small chamber.
On the other side of the teleporter, the group found themselves in a massive cold chamber, with stone walls and no sign of magma flow, the only light and heat coming from scattered torches. In the distance, a massive creature somewhat resembling a giant cockroach stood frozen in ice. At the sight of it, Belinda jerked back. "What's wrong?" Fox asked worriedly.
"It's Galdon!" she hissed out in fear. "He's one of General Scales' experiments! Before the General managed to catch father and I to force our cooperation, he unleashed it upon our tribe. It easily overwhelmed nearly all of our number, until father tricked it into a deep cavern and turned the area's ice magic against it, freezing it solid. It...it nearly killed me when it attacked, and father using that magic is what revealed to General Scales that he was a Gatekeeper..."
"So that's why it's so cold here," Sunset murmured as her aura of power rapidly faded and she began to shiver. "Well, we don't have to deal with-"
"Look!" Fox called out, pointing to where Galdon's two raised arms clutched an orange and black stone in one of its two hands. "Is that what I think it is?"
"The Spellstone!" Tricky gasped out excitedly. "But it's so high up! How are we going to get it?"
"Galdon's body, even frozen, is far too sturdy for me to damage it," Belinda explained. "Nothing we could do to it penetrated its exoskeleton."
"And with how cold it is in here, there's no way I can levitate myself or anyone else up to grab the stone out of his grip, even if we could," Sunset grumbled angrily. She pursed her lips, about to snap something...only to see Fox's disapproving glower. "...Falco!" she snapped instead.
Fox snorted, struggling to hold back his laughter. "Now that's an expletive I can get behind!"
"That's what Mom said."
"Hey!" Fox snapped angrily as Sunset and Tricky snickered.
"So what is the plan?" Belinda asked nervously.
"You said you couldn't do anything against him?" Fox asked carefully. "In that case, go back through the warp and wait for us to tell you the coast is clear. We're going to thaw him out, figure out how to kill him, and retrieve the Spellstone."
Belinda stared at Fox, eyes wide. "I don't suppose telling you this plan is foolhardy, potentially suicidal, and certifiably insane would dissuade any of you?" she asked nervously.
"Not really," Sunset replied with a wide grin.
"...then may luck and the Krazoa be with you," Belinda offered fervently before stepping back through the warp pad to wait.
"So what's the plan?" Tricky asked hopefully. "After I melt him out, I mean?"
"Observe, analyze, eliminate," Fox replied firmly, swinging Krystal's staff about as he prepared himself.
"So cool..." Tricky murmured in awe before rushing forward and unleashing his flame on Galdon's ice.
The ice slowly melted off of the giant insectoid, the Spellstone settling in his claw as he broke free. With a roar, the blue-green chitin of the creature was revealed, the spikes surrounding its head flexing as its stinger tensed. Without warning, it swallowed the Spellstone before roaring at the group.
"That's not good!" Tricky called out worriedly. "Didn't Belinda say its exoskeleton was invulnerable? How are we supposed to get the Spellstone out?"
"This is good for us!" Sunset called out. "The Spellstones absorb magical energy, and this thing is using internal magic to strengthen itself. Even with the Spellstone inactive, the area around the Spellstone inside it will be weakened by its presence, and if it lodges somewhere vulnerable..." She paused as a frown crossed her face. "But how to get a blow inside..."
"Get its attention!" Fox called out as he dashed forward, sliding under Galdon as it charged as well.
"How-" Sunset started to call out, only to feel her magic returning as the fall of the ice caused flame jets to start erupting. While not as powerful a source of flame magic as if magma were flowing, she still felt its power infusing her. Grinning, she dashed into the nearest flame jet before shaping its energies into a ram, slamming it into Galdon's face. With a roar, it charged her...only to scream in pain as Fox destroyed its stinger.
"Knew it!" Fox cried out excitedly. "I knew the sudden change in temperature would have weakened the armor on its extremities-" His voice cut as Galdon spun towards him, its beak-like face snapping down before closing around him, swallowing him whole.
"Dad!" Sunset screamed in fear, gathering as much power as she could. She knew this was risky with the planetary fields - especially as this was an area in flux between Flame and Cold magics - but she would not lose her father.
Before she could unleash her blast, however, Galdon jerked violently in several directions before making a gagging sound, a glowing spot appearing on its torso. It then leaned forward and spat Fox back out, along with a good amount of icky fluids. "Bleh!" Fox spat as he rolled away. "That was gross...but the Spellstone is in its stomach, caught in some sort of membrane! The membrane is weak, so if I'm able to break it free, it should spit the Spellstone back out with me next time!"
"You want us to make it eat you again?" Tricky gasped in shock.
"It's all but invulnerable from the outside, so the only way to attack is from the inside-"
"Taiyō Kaki Ha!" Sunset suddenly screamed out as the magically charged flames leapt forth from her outstretched hands, slamming into the glowing spot on Galdon's torso. The flames bored into Galdon's armor before finally punching through, only to be sucked into the Spellstone as the membrane holding it dissolved. Gagging and choking, Galdon collapsed as the Spellstone spilled out the wound, coming to a halt at Fox's feet.
"So much cooler!" Tricky squealed excitedly.
While Fox had to admit the technique was impressive, he found himself frowning. "Falco showed you far too much anime," he grumbled irritably, to which Sunset only smirked in response.
so cool
Now that's how you kill a giant bug!
8583307
Alternate Take.
Fox: Sunset, what are you doing?
Sunset: I'm casting Summon Bigger Bug.
Fox: I don't think that-
A portal to Solaar appears, and Buggy lunges through and eats Galdon before spitting out the Spellstone.
Sunset: You were saying?
8583311 I would also have loved to see that, complete with Sunset going, "I'll be by to visit as soon as possible!"
So would this be classed as heartburn or reflux. Either way never knew it could be deadly.
Guess Fox didn't have to swallow his pride to get at that membrane a second time.
Looks like we're about to see the first reunion between Mommy and Daddy. Excellent.
…
Please tell me Fox will recognize who the Krozoa spirit who talks to him is when he finally runs into it and that he's going to realize he's being blackmailed.
There is nothing wrong with too much anime.
Hey, sounds like the firebending's back on.
FALCO!!!!!
Fox, we need to have a chat about your MIB obsession and your behavior mimicking Tommy Lee Jones' character. It's not healthy.
While there IS that, there is also the WRONG kind of anime. Which usually amounts to the age of the viewer.
Fox, my vulpine spacepilot friend, there is no such thing as 'too much anime'. Just be thankful she didn't pull something from Dragonball. That said... Sunset's apparently all out of gum.
8583853
She technically did. The move was basically a Kamehameha made of fire, and what she shouted means "Sun Flame Wave".
As a former roommate of mine once wisely observed: "There is a reason people do drugs. It's cheaper than Anime."
8583311
I see you are likely a fellow fan of Darths and Droids
8584616
That I am.
I thought this meant they could just climb up and take the stone, but I guess the battle is cooler.
8584871
None of them are equipped to climb ice.
Too much anime?!
Blasphemy!!!
Galdon has always been an ideal First Boss in my opinion. You get that thrill of satisfaction/victory at beating a large beast, that traditional mechanic of being able to circle the enemy to learn its moves and find its weakness exists, He is slow, given he has 4 spindly bug legs holding up a reptile/arthropod hybrid, and true to Starfox form, he has specific weakspots to locate and hit.
Oh, and his roars are classics I've heard over several games/movies.
8587059
Seconded!
8583311
Question: With Fox having a staff and a jacket, why haven't you made a Dresden Files joke yet?
8591366
Because except for near constant barrage of "do something with Dresden Files" in comments on my stories or user page, I've never heard of it.
I just had a terrifying thought: During one of the flights to/from a chunk of the planet to the main body, a random rock sneaks in under the radar and hits their Arwing just hard enough to give Fox enough of a concussion to knock him out, forcing Slippy to give Sunset a hopefully not literal crash course in flying an Arwing to get them back to the Great Fox for emergency medical attention.
8591390
Ah. Fair point.
Just throw ina Forzare or something. That should satisfy most people. Or have him ride a zombie T- Rec.
...Dresden Files gets EPIC at times.
I'm also worried that if you do get into it, you'll be tempted to write fanfiction for it.
8591940
I choose not to reference something I've never read/seen.
8592197
And that's fair.
Yep.
How about Slayers then?
EEYUP