As Kalihn crept down the corridors of the lab, towards his freedom, he was drawn towards one of the rooms that flickered with a dull golden light. He couldn’t open the door, but could just make out the form of someone, much like himself, strapped to a table.

“Hello?” Kalihn hesitantly called into the room. Then, as a flicker of light hit the figure’s face, Kalihn saw himself, only he saw in the eyes of that figure a rage, so insatiable for death that all he could do was whimper, and run away towards the exit. The screams of the doppelganger echoing in his ears…

The Shadow of FlyerFox

Facing Yourself

Chapter One

“I have a past I’d rather have in the past… but as they say, the past will always catch up with you. And in my case, it came back with a vengeance…” ~ FlyerFox, pilot in the Cornerian Special Forces Team, ‘The Pirate Killers’, Corneria.

“Pleased to meet you” Flyer shook Amber Squire’s paw, “What do you wish to speak to me about?”

“Well” the Red Panda tilted her head to her right and looked as if she were studying Flyer, “I’m here about your twin”

“You have a twin?” Finnius gasped. Flyer had just returned from captivity on a religious groups space station, there with the help of Rudarius Cormack’s team, they rid the group of a plotting monk.

“Well, I…” Flyer struggled to explain,

“How come you never told us?” Lyn interrogated,

“I…”

“You’re our friend!” Tourican threw his wings up in disgust, but then placed them on his beak, as his ache came back,

“Steady on” Amber stepped in to defend Flyer, much to his surprise, “I may have only just met him, but I know about his twin… and if the twin knew about you three he’d kill you”

“That’s what I was trying to say” Flyer gave a sigh of relief,

“Anyway,” Amber continued, “I have been paid to kill him by an Ape who’s son was killed by him”, Amber knew she was good at twisting the truth, because an Ape HAD given her the orders to kill, but also to take FlyerFox to Venom.

“Can we talk about this later?” Flyer asked, “Cause I’d rather not get my friends involved, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, when we set out to get him. Meanwhile, my friends and I are going for a drink”

“And maybe an explanation” Finnius muttered.

Later at the local café that the Pirate Killers used, ‘The Arwing’, the friends drank, and Flyer explained part of his history, leaving several bits out, but not adding any lies. He would tell his friends, but only after his ‘twin’ was taken care of.

“So let me get this straight” Lyn leaned across the table at Flyer, staring him straight in the eye, “You say that you were taken aboard that space station cause Andross wants your hide?”

“That’s right” Flyer answered without flinching under Lyn’s inquisitorial gaze.

“And you don’t know who your parents are?” Finnius asked,

“That’s right” Flyer answered again, and took another drink of Titania Whisky to cure the ache in his left leg, where a level one laser had struck him,

“And you aren’t on Venom’s side?” Tourican added his ten credits worth,

“No, not like Finnius was” Flyer looked at Finnius, who replied with a scowl,

“Good enough for me!” Tourican raised a drink and gulped it down,

“That’s not gonna help your beak in the morning, “Zaphir commented as she sat down,

“Ah who cares. You’re not my mother anyway” Tourican dismissed Zaphir’s worrying with a wave of his wing.

“You’ll care in the morning Tourican, she’s right” Lyn added.

“Great, first you pick on Flyer, and now me!” Tourican moaned,

“I have one more question” Finnius interrupted and narrowed his eyes, “Why the hell is your Arwing called ‘The Shadow of FlyerFox’?”

“Because, it makes a shadow, and I fly it” Flyer explained and rolled his eyes when finished,

“Hey Flyer, are you sure you won’t need our help?” Lyn asked,

“Yeah, you said that twin was a real wacko” Tourican pointed out,

“I’ll be fine, he won’t try and kill me straight away anyway, after all, he’s my brother” Flyer smiled, but he was really thinking, I’m not gonna let him find out about you guys.

“Flyer” Zaphir leaned over and patted him on the shoulder, “I’ve just put a tracker on you, so if you’re in trouble, we’ll know” she whispered in his ear,

“Thanks” Flyer whispered back, and hoped he wouldn’t lose his jacket.

The cold blizzards on Fortuna had arrived, and all who’s houses had been decimated in the constant attacks of Venom forces were forced to take refuge in the many bases, and bunkers. One such place was an abandoned lab, recently rediscovered, without a soul in sight. There were sign of scuffles, and marks made by laser shots, but no blood, or bodies were found. Several pieces of equipment were found, and the soldiers could not tell who used it, or what it was used for, all that mattered was that this lab was fully operational, and the heating systems were perfect. Unfortunately, in all the confusion of finding a place to bunk up for the blizzards, many evil-hearted Fortunians could take advantage of this situation, and one such Fortunian, a sly faced numbat, was making an almost literal killing on the other poor individuals. A female Bandicoot and her child were searching from room to room, the child occasionally lingering in those rooms, having a good explore. The labs were huge, so it would be easy for the Numbat to take a prize, as his own son had been killed in the trek to the shelter. He hid in the shadows till the adult Bandicoot had passed, and then, as he little child skipped past he reached out, and grabbed the child, covering her mouth with one hand, and holding her around the waist with the other. He then turned and silently ran down the hallway and turned a corner, the mother had not even noticed, but someone else had. As the Numbat ran he heard a whirring sound, and before he could turn around, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his right shoulder, causing him to relinquish his hold on the child. As the child ran away before his eyes, the Numbat felt a sharp jerk as whatever that had been jarred into his shoulder, had left. The Numbat quickly, but painfully, turned, a knife drawn, and at the other end of the corridor was a figure clothed in a black coat, all that was visible on the figure was some blonde hair, and a face like a fox.

“A fox huh?” the Numbat started to back away as the figure almost silently strode forward “I’ve never killed a fox before”

“And you never will” a harsh, male voice shot out as the figure got closer,

“You won’t stop me” the Numbat threatened as he searched for a way out, but he’d backed into a long hallway, with no corners or doors,

“Yes I will fool” the figure threw of his coat and revealed two metal arms, and attached to those arms were tattered wings,

“Son of a bitch!” the Numbat reeled in shock, “Who or what are you?”

“The name’s FlyerFox” the figure answered, “And I’m the one who’s going to end that pitiful life of yours”, the figure stopped and raised his left claw.

“What are you gonna do from that distance, and unarmed” the Numbat asked warily. ‘FlyerFox’ did not reply, but instead widened his blood red eyes. Suddenly a clicking sound emitted from ‘FlyerFox’s’ wrist, and the claw seemed to detach itself from the wrist before, with a dull whirring sound, it shot out and hurtled towards the Numbat. In such a narrow hallway, all the Numbat could do was turn and run, but before he could get even a meter, he felt another stabbing pain, and then a ripping sound came from his chest, the Numbat saw nothing more as he past out from the pain. ‘FlyerFox’ jerked his left arm back, and the long, thin, metal chord started to wind back up into his arm, till the claw came back into place and the wrist clamped back onto it.

“I’ve been meaning to try this out” he laughed as he dropped the red vital organ to the ground with an almost casual air, “And now all these trespassers will feel the same, except the one’s too young too know…”

Chapter Two

“He is not the real FlyerFox. I am! I am the true one! And yet he is the one chosen! Him! He is no match! I’ll prove to Andross that he should have chosen me!” ~ FlyerFox Doppelganger, last seen on Fortuna.

Aboard Amber’s transport, dubbed ‘Squire’s Mount’ Flyer was getting to know this Bounty Hunter who had just mysteriously out of the blue and demanded his help.

“Exiting Corneria airspace” Amber announced,

“Right. You know what my ‘twin’ really is right?” Flyer asked,

“Not really, but I have grasped a bit of facts on him” Amber replied calmly, she could lie into a detector and get a 100% truth rating.

“Do you want me to give you some extra information?” Flyer added,

“I know everything up to how you escaped from the lab” Amber again replied calmly, this she was telling the truth on.

“Well, I saw him as I escaped from the labs, and when I told Dr. Dean what I saw, he loaded up his computer and showed me that my ‘twin’ was an experimental clone, the first ever in the Lylat system. Sure, they’ve cloned Tornab Crab, and plants and such, but I was the first of the intelligent life forms. Anyway, the cloning was not too successful, and so they decided to do some experiments to improve on him, but apart from that, I have no more information on him than you” Flyer explained, and hung his head dejectedly, “I should have saved him, maybe he could’ve turned out better”

“It’s better that you didn’t” Amber comforted him, although she meant better for her.

“Thanks, how much longer before we reach Fortuna?” Flyer looked up again,

“Two hours at the least, and then we gotta pierce the blizzards” Amber sighed, and turned back to the controls of her transport,

“Two hours eh?” Flyer frowned, “I hope my friends don’t mind waiting for me to return”

“They’d better” Amber sneered, away from Flyer’s eyes, “Cause this may take a long time”…

“You got that thing working yet?” Finord asked Rudarius, who was fiddling with some wires on a small television screen,

“Just finished” Rudarius smiled, and flicked it on, a map of the Lylat System popped up, and a light blip came up on the screen, just exiting the Meteor Fields,

“Thanks, I got time off from working as the technician for those pack of yahoos” Finord smiled and wheeled over to a window in the barracks, “So I have a lot of free time to kill”

“You mean your friends?” Rudarius placed himself on a desk chair and slid up next to Finord,

“Yeah, all their ‘yahoos’, and ‘great shooting’ and other such lines, they must forget that I’m listening, and that I’d love to take part, to feel the joy of flying for myself once more” Finord sighed,

“Don’t worry Finord, you’ll get back up there some day” Rudarius reassured Finord,

“Well, I feel like time’s wasting me away and I might just miss that chance” Finord looked up at the sky, an Arwing flew over and u-turned, Finord turned away and wheeled back over to the desk where the monitor was, “And I don’t have any real reason to go out” he sighed,

“Not true” Rudarius slid his chair back next to Finord, “You aren’t the only ex-pilot in your position, you should get out there and meet people who now how it feels, find solace in their comfort”

“Thanks Rudarius, but I have to stay and watch for any sudden movements away from Fortuna” Finord brightened up slightly,

“That’s where you’re wrong” Rudarius smiled and handed him a watch, with exactly the same picture and blip as the television screen, “You can zoom it in by turning the knobs marked ‘Zoom’” Rudarius explained,

“Thanks!” Finord gave Rudarius a hug and placed it round his right flipper, “What do you say we go to ‘The Arwing’?”

“I say… let’s go!” Rudarius stood up and laughed, and as they left the barrack,

“You have a very good way with dealing with mood problems and depression” Finord commented,

“I once had to pretend to be a psychiatrist” Rudarius replied, and they both laughed as the door swung closed.

The lab was cleansed once more, and ‘FlyerFox’ stood in the center smiling proudly to himself. When the blizzard ends, and they discover over 100 Fortuna citizens missing, they would send some special teams in, and he would kill them all till they sent FlyerFox, and then he would be the true one. He opened and closed his left claw, and grinned at the whirring and clicking sounds it made, as the soft humming of the garbage disposal cut and added fragrance its grizzly load.

“I guess I might as well get something to eat now” he laughed out loud and walked down to where the rubbish would be off-loaded, a skip in his step as he went.

Chapter Three

“They call me a clone, but I’m really an improvement” ~ FlyerFox Doppelganger, last seen on Fortuna.

“…And touch down” Amber announced,

“Good, it was getting stuffy” Flyer sighed in relief as he opened the bay door and stepped out, a shiver ran up his spine.

“Cold isn’t it?” Amber switched a few of the buttons and powered down her transport, “At least the blizzards have stopped for awhile”

“Good point, let’s get some snow-riders and get over to that lab, I still know the way” Flyer leaned back into the transport and clenched his claw, “I just hope he isn’t expecting us”

“Yeah well, I hope so to” Amber climbed down onto the airstrip and closed the bay doors, “We’ll get a map anyway”

“Good idea” Flyer nodded in approval, and as they started walking towards the supply depot, he suddenly asked “Where are you from anyway?”

“I come from Macbeth” Amber answered, which was true, “I was born there, and was taken by Venom, forces, who trained me to be a killer. By some stroke of luck they decided to let me go, so I became a neutral bounty hunter”

“Venom eh?” Flyer suddenly felt like he was being lied to, “How come you knew what you did about me?”

“Easy” Amber spoke as she opened the door to the supply depot, “I managed to get a look at some of the files on you, the others were difficult to crack”

“Right” Flyer felt a little better, but still the feeling of doubt lingered, he had trusted her till now, and decided to look over his shoulder from now on”

The female Bandicoot crawled weakly through the deep snow, and wept tears which clung to her face as she remembered what had come to pass but a few ours ago…

“You okay?” a Fortuna soldier, dressed in woolen gear stopped her as she made for the entrance area, he was obviously concerned,

“My daughter has gone missing!” she had frantically explained,

“Right then, you make for the entrance where the commander is, I’ll radio in for your arrival” the soldier had spoken calmly,

“Thank you,” she had said, as she looked at the ground. It was then she heard it, a whirring sound that stopped above her head, “W-what was that?” she had stammered to the guard. When she looked up she saw the guard convulsing on the end of a thin metal chord,

“Run… for the love of god…” the guard spluttered, and she had not hesitated, she’d rushed past, and towards the general direction of the entrance screaming,

“EVERYONE! GET TO THE ENTRANCE! WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY A MONSTER!” but despite all her warnings she was ignored, and she hadn’t stopped to try and persuade them, and soon, their screams had slowly echoed their way into her ears, clutching at her mind, threatening to tear all sanity from her mind. She’d run so scared that she had shot straight out of the building and with little thought, into the cold snow outside, leaving the others to their fate. And now, she was about to give up all hope of making it to another base to warn, to get that thing stopped. She started to feel weak, a faint humming drawing near, “Angels” she smiled through her frozen lips, and slowly drifted into darkness.

“You see what I see?” Flyer called out over the sound of the returning blizzard,

“Yep! Looks like we’re on the right track!” Amber called back, “We should see if she’s okay!” to this Flyer nodded and they dismounted from their snow-skis and knelt down by the still body of the Bandicoot.

“She’s gone, we just missed her” Amber announced as she felt for a pulse, “Let’s move on”

“No” Flyer replied,

“What? Why?” Amber looked up bewildered,

“She deserves a burial” Flyer got up and walked to his snow-ski. He fumbled around for a moment and then drew his demolition class shotgun that he had stolen from the space-station, and aimed it at the ground near Amber and the body. Before Amber could say anything Flyer had fired into the snow, and after a second, it was thrown up revealing somewhat of a burial spot.

“Roll her in and I’ll bury her” Flyer ordered, “She was trying to warn us about my twin, she deserves this at least”

“I understand, Amber said, and she placed the cold body into the ground and Flyer then buried her under the snow, “Now let’s go”, they both moved back to their snow-skis and proceeded along their way.

The snow-skis slowed to a halt just in front of the lab, the old letters worn almost off, saying ‘SSORDNA LABORATORIES’, it loomed out of the snow, and proclaimed doom for the duo.

“SSORDNA?” Amber asked confused,

“Read it backwards” Flyer instructed through clenched teeth,

“Ah, I understand” Amber replied, “So now we should get in there and get that fool”

“Did you bring thermo-charges?” Flyer turned to Amber,

“Sure” Amber smiled slyly, “Why?”

“Go around the sides, and place them all around, and after 15 minutes of me being in there, I want you to demolish it” Flyer instructed and got off his snow-ski,

“Okay” Amber started her ski’s engine and moved to drive off,

“Hold on” Flyer reached behind his head and drew from its sling the shotgun, “Take it, cause I reckon he’d gonna kill me, and you need something as proof”

“You’ll pull through” Amber smiled and sped off, and left Flyer wondering about whether the tone of her voice was edged with hope or not.

Inside, Flyer beheld he dark place that was his home for 16 years of his life, where he became what he was, and where his clone came from too.

“FlyerFox, you’re here!” An evil voice echoed down the corridors and straight into Flyer’s ears,

“Yes, I see you’ve gotten the place all neat for me? Where are all those people that would’ve taken refuge during the blizzards?”

“My stomach, lab rooms, and the garbage disposal” the voice laughed,

“Time for a meeting don’t you think?” Flyer called out, but got no answer, so Flyer closed his eyes and threw his head back, and made his radar call, his mind receiving the bounce-backs of all the siren sounds bouncing up corridors, and the last returning echo gave him the position of his doppelganger. Flyer drew his sword and powered up his pistol as he strode down the hallway, keeping half his senses on alert for more radar calls, and as he walked on he realized he was being led passed all the experiment rooms, to his left was a saw, to his right a freezing chamber, and in front, at the edge of the corridor the huge battle room, where Flyer was trained with a wooden sword. He looked into the rooms and saw the whimpering figures of children, strapped up, reminding him of his own past. His twin was taunting him, defying him to remember his past, trying to get him enraged, so that a clear headed attack would win decisively, but Flyer’s nerve held resolute, and he vowed to rescue the children once he was done. His boots emitted a hollow echo as he picked up his speed, nearly eight minutes had already been wasted in his search, but now, in the battle room, his foe awaited. Flyer stood at the door, and hesitated, did he really want to kill his own flesh, but he remembered the woman in the snow, and the children in the labs, and also the marks on the walls, and he stepped inside.

Chapter Four

“There will be a reckoning for this, this, what they did to me.” ~ FlyerFox, pilot in the Special Forces Team, ‘The Pirate Killers’.

Flyer took in the large scene before him, and saw that from across the arena was another figure, much the same to him, except for the two bright red lights that flared from the head.

“Welcome” the figure spoke,

“Hello ‘Doppelganger’” Flyer suddenly found himself spitting out that name,

“You are wrong there, you are the doppelganger” Doppelganger retorted, “And you will not leave here alive”

“Now that’s what I want to now, why do you want to kill me? Is it because I left you behind?” Flyer called out,

“No! It’s because you were chosen over me!” Doppelganger yelled out, and raised his left arm,

“Chosen for what?” Flyer asked as he poised himself for whatever his clone had in store,

“Don’t act the fool! I’m the superior! I should have been chosen!” Doppelganger screamed, “No more! You die!” Flyer heard a click, and a whirr, and had barely a second to avoid a claw that embedded itself in the wall behind him, and almost as quickly returning to Doppelganger,

“You are very good, you are the first to avoid my claw” Doppelganger laughed, “But don’t get too hopeful”

“Same” Flyer growled, his only chance was to get close to Doppelganger, and had just thought of a way to do it, up above was a long thin plank that he used to walk across, and now he had to get up there.

Fortunately, the laughing clone threw his claw at Flyer’s feet, and so he used the chain as a boost, and boosted himself up,

“Playing games?” Doppelganger mocked as he retracted his claw, “Tut, tut” he laughed and propelled his claw at the plank, shattering it into splinters, and propelling Flyer to the ground in front of him. In a flash Flyer was up, and so was his sword, sparks flaring as it connected with a metal claw.

“Up close eh? I’ll still win out” Doppelganger laughed again and brought the other claw to bear. As the two identical figures clashed, the only thing distinguishing them were their coats, black and white, whirling and mixing till they stopped, in a final battle for supremacy. They stood facing each other, forcing their full weight, trying to grind the other down, but they were too equal.

“Give up?” Flyer panted as he stared into Doppelganger’s red eyes, and much to his shock saw tiny wires centering onto the pupils,

“Never!” Doppelganger growled, to Flyer there was only one chance now, he simply rolled himself backwards and threw Doppelganger over, the last thing expected, and as Doppelganger hit the ground, Flyer’s watch went off, the alarm, the reading was fifteen minutes gone.

“Shit!” Flyer ran for the door as Doppelganger stood up, the building beginning to turn white,

“Come back coward! I’m not through yet!” Doppelganger yelled before a piece of falling roof silenced his cries,

Flyer ran to each of the lab rooms and wrenched the children free, their faces wet with tears, and he lead them out just as it exploded, collapsing itself.

“Good work Flyer” Amber smiled as she stood near him, her shotgun aimed at him,

“Thanks but…” before Flyer could finish Amber Squires had fired at the ground near him, and sent him sprawling, “W-why?” was all he could stammer, his energy spent,

“I’m supposed to, my client is Andross, in fact, he’s my boss” and before she started to tie him up, he drifted into unconsciousness, at least he was alive, and Doppelganger was dead, hopefully…

“I think we should head back now” Rudarius slurred to Finord,

“Really? Why?” Finord drawled as they left ‘The Arwing’,

“Cause we both won’t be able to walk soon!” at this they both cracked up laughing, “Hold on, you’d better check the watch” he added,

“Sure but, hey, it’s moving again!” Finord proclaimed,

“Where to?” Rudarius asked,

“Uh… Venom”

To be continued in the Final Story of the Shadow of FlyerFox trilogy, ‘The Father Gone’.

*Author’s note: Once more I would like to thank Finnius Krill and Lyn Veaver for the use of their characters. To see who belongs to who, just read my author’s note from the last Shadow of FlyerFox story.