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June 25th, 2003Alone. And outnumbered sixty-three to one. Eh, I've survived worse. The fox shook his head as he surveyed the fighters all killing time until the tournament started. Last year he had been knocked out in the first round. He'd been unlucky enough to start out against one of the veteran contestants, and his own lack of hand to hand combat skills certainly hadn't helped. What I wouldn't give to be in an Arwing right now... he mused. He was Fox McCloud, the son of James McCloud. And out of all the heroics accomplished by the sixty four competitors, his achievement was arguably the greatest-he liberated an entire solar system from enslavement. Sure, Samus destroyed the plague of Metroids that threaten to wreak havoc on the order of the galaxy-but he had done with his four Arwings what an entire army could not. He had gone from planet to planet, destroyed Andross's incursions into the Lylat System, and finally beaten the evil ape himself. To be fair, he did have the element of surprise, a level of skill and experience which outmatched Andross's best pilots, and the best wingmen any pilot could hope for. But they're not here now, Fox thought. It's just me. Falco would be itching to fight by now. Peppy would probably be better than me at anticipating what the other fighters would do. Heck, I'd even take Slippy right now. Fox studied the other fighters. He was a tactician by nature. He knew about how armies operated, and how battles worked on very large scales-but one on one combat was still wildly unpredictable. He knew his own skills were better suited to flying, but he had to take the role he was chosen for. Being a fox, he still had a manuverability, speed, and reflexes which more than likely outmatched any of his competition, and his blaster enabled him to keep the battle at a distance if he so chose-and he had learned a lot about fighting in close quarters since saving the Dinosaur Planet. Sam Fisher, Dante, Gordan Freeman, Master Chief, Max Payne, and Tommy Vercetti-they were all gunfighters it seemed. He knew their guns weren't quite like his, but they had more in common with him then he did with Samus, Zero, and MegaMan, whose preferred method of fighting was varied energy blasts. He was somewhere in between the two groups of fighters-and he would feel fairly comfortable going up against either one-they would use similar strategy to him, and he hoped his speed would give him an edge. Then there were the swordfighters. Squall, Auron, Ramza, Alucard, Vyse, Cloud... Cloud. He was the fighter who shared his name, and had humiliated him last year. It was a close range battle, and his opponent also had various magical forces at his command. Not good. But moving on... Link was also a sword fighter, at least in part. He also seemed to have some kind of magic he could use. If Fox won his first fight, he would likely end up facing Link-which wasn't too encouraging. At least I could say I lost to the champion this time, Fox thought. Crono also seemed like Cloud in his use of magic and weapons... but they were all a ways away. His first opponent was a little enigma named Pikachu. The little rat always seemed buzzing with energy. Electrical energy, as it turned out. Watching the creature zip around, Fox had his doubts about whether his speed would be enough. Under different circumstances he might consider adopting the little thing as a pet, now, it was just an obstacle to his advancement. Well, play it safe. You may not have to keep your distance, but try not to get shocked. Fox was interrupted from his strategic reverie by a tall man with shades and a blonde crew cut. He also had what many of the contestants would have referred to as a BFG-Big Friggin' Gun. He had ammo strapped to belts on his chest. Apparently I missed one of the gunfighters... "I'm Fox McCloud, nice to meet you." He offered his hand to the stranger who shook it, with a smile on his face. "Pleasure's all mine. Duke Nukem. And no, I'm not royalty in my dimension, my name is actually Duke. I saw you checking us all out. We've got some freaky types out here, huh?" Fox wondered if that applied more to himself or to Duke. "Yeah... it's just a little hard to guess what's going to happen." "Eh, don't worry about it." Duke grinned. "These guys may look tough, but if I know anything, it's that there's nothing enough ammunition won't take care of. You just keep blasting away and anything has to crumble eventually." Nice Philosophy, Fox thought. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." "Yeah... watch your back kid." Duke Nukem fired a dozen round burst over the heads of a couple well known Italian plumbers and laughed as they stared at him questioningly. "If you're not watching your front that is." Duke continued. "See ya Fox." Duke walked away, apparently looking for some more diversions that involved leaving a trail of smoke and noise. He seemed reckless... but that's what everyone always told Fox as well. Without being as foolhardy as he had, he never would have tried taking on Andross. Never give up. Trust your instincts. Fox reminded himself, quoting Peppy. He had a shot, he knew, and might as well give it everything he had. Next Entry Back |