Author: MYSTOUT
Subject: The Fight for Fair Play
Posted: NOVEMBER 17, 1998 00:35
Hey! Anyone want to read a story I wrote in 9th Grade? //FJ,
this one's for you!//

STAR FOX: THE FIGHT FOR FAIR PLAY


I was sitting at home, as usual, playing Super Nintendo with the
only good video game I had at the time, "Star Fox." I had only
started to bang up the first level when I noticed something wrong
with the game. One of the enemy aircrafts was out of place. It
started shooting different lasers at me that were NOT its original
type and had caused me to crash. When I restarted the level,
there were three more enemies in that same area. I tried to get
out, but I stood no chance...I had crashed again. I had had
enough of them cheaping me out, but before I could make my
move, forty-six of them came after me. Not the same, but all
different from the sixteen different sections of the game. I couldn't
take them all! I shot a nova bomb, but could only see the
white-blue explosion in the air, and then a red one. I crashed for
a third and final time.
The "Game Over" screen appeared and the most unusual thing
happened. Andross, the main enemy of the game, laughed at me
and called me a loser. Then I saw the black hole. It started
coming closer to me. I felt something magnetize me towards the
screen. It came closer to me and the force got stronger. The
screen got wavy and I couldn't hold myself any longer. I closed
my eyes and I let go.
I fell down on a hard metal floor. When I opened my eyes, I saw
the foot of a dog. I looked up to see the rest of the figure. It was
General Pepper, leader of the Star Fox Team. He glared down at
me in disgust. As I looked at my surroundings I saw three more
figures standing. I looked at them long and hard until I made out
their faces. One was Slippy Frog, the second was Peppy Hare,
and last //and the rudest to say the least// was Falco Lambardi.
With a false chuckle I said, "Hello."
"Hey!" greeted Peppy.
"G-g-greetings!" said Slippy.
"What's there to greet for?" said Falco.
"Kid. . ." warned Pepper. " . . . you've got a lot of nerve breaking
down McCloud like that."
"Fox?" I confirmed.
"Indeed. I think the suspect should serve as a replacement. What
do the rest of you think?" Pepper directed to his men.
"He could make a g-g-good wing man!" suggested Slippy.
"Maybe, Slippy, but I don't think he should be punished or so
rudely treated. I mean, many kids lose at a game once in a while,"
said Peppy.
"I think we should go and look for Fox ourselves rather than have
a mere kid in our formation," Falco said.
"Look for him?" I asked. "Where is he?"
"Kid, he took a diver, went down, lost his marbles!" said Falco.
"Excuse me, son, but there ARE such things as extra lives in a
game you know," said Peppy.
"If you g-g-get two of them, let Fox borrow one and give him
command of your ship," explained Slippy.
"Isn't borrowing lives illegal in this game?" I asked.
"When the enemy cheats, it's time to even the odds," said Pepper.
"Woah, I see why you're the General around here," I told
Pepper, took a small glance at Falco and turned back to Pepper,
"so when do I start training?"
"What's your name, kid?"
"Myst. MystOut."
"I have three Arwings left. Until I can make more, take one to the
training course. If you crash, you still have two more left. Make
sure you don't crash more than once you'll need the last one or
two for combat. Now off with you! Of course, Myst, you know
how to control the 'wings I assume."
"Yes sir!" I agreed.
"Please don't call me that. I hate being called sir..."
Soon I was in the privacy of my own Arwing and on the training
course. I used the Super Nintendo controller instead of the
joystick to control the craft because I thought it was easier to
maneuver. I chose control type D for better button
configuration, even though Pepper recommended type A or B. I
swerved through the rings and around the buildings with no
problem, but when it came time to format the ships, I fumbled the
barrel rolls and turns. Falco still thought I was a wimp, but I'd
show him.
Level 1: Corneria //the home planet//. I was there. I shot every
enemy I saw and it seemed like there was no stopping me.
Unfortunately I forgot all about the forty-six enemies that now
grew into a hundred seventy-three with their high-density lasers
all pointing in my direction.
"Guys, what are we going to do about this?!!" I asked over the com.
"We'll shoot a nova and blast the heck out of here!" suggested Peppy.
"All of us? And blast underneath?" I asked.
"Right!!"
At that moment we counted down from three to one and all shot
our nova bombs out towards the fleet of ships, then used our
retro rocket boosters to speed our ships underneath the fleet. The
nova flash was so bright, they didn't even see us pass by!
The rest of the game was a snap since there were no enemies left
in the rest of the levels, because the enemies that came to
Corneria WERE from the other levels. The whole game came
after us! So we took the third route to the planet Venom //where
Andross is// and planned to take that monkey out!
"Hey Myst?" called Falco.
"'Sup back there?"
"Well, you may think we're in the clear, but as our fearless leader
and all it's your duty to watch our backs," I looked behind us. At
first I thought it was an illusion, but as they got closer I realized
that we were being followed by the hundred seventy-three fiends
again. They are planning to trap us at Venom.
"Crew, I think we're falling for a trap."
"What makes you say that Myst?" asked Peppy.
"They attacked us at Corneria, right? We flew by them, correct? So why
didn't they stay and destroy Corneria as Andross
originally planned? And why aren't they shooting at us now?
Look. . ." The crew looked back. ". . . they're not getting closer.
They're planning to attack us at Venom. Also, there are usually
more enemies in the game than that. I bet he has the rest of his
allies down there now just waiting to corner us. Those groups'll
crush us like two walls closing in on us."
"Myst, if so then we must think of a way to destroy the group at
Venom right now. We only have thirty minutes to think of a plan!"
After that, we stared into space and thought, holding the controls
to our Arwings in one hand and the com. in the other, ready to
click the switch as soon as an idea pops in our heads.
"I've got it!" burst out Falco. We all put our ears to the speaker.
"All we need to do is turn around and blast those punks behind us
so we don't have any more pressure on our backs."
"Falco, they are an invincible force, The crew at Venom must be
smaller than the crew behind us. We can blast them." 
"Well, I'm getting bored just sitting here playing with these darn
controls. I need some action," Falco demanded.
"Slippy's been kind of quiet lately. You got any ideas?"
"N-n-nope. 'cept lunch."
". . . right. Welp, I've got an idea. Sneak around to the back door
in the second course," I said.
"Brilliant!" Peppy shouted. "But wait! We forgot about Fox!"
"I have two lives left, right?" I asked.
"Yup." said Slippy
"Great!! Now, how do I let Fox borrow one?"
The com. fell silent.
"Come in Corneria!!!" I yelled through the com.
"This is Comeria! Who is this?" asked General Pepper.
"Myst. Hey, how do I let Fox borrow a life?"
"Do you promise not to tell anyone the two player code?"
"Promise!"
"You have the controller in your hand?"
"Got it."
"Left, left, up, right, L, L, X, R, Select, Start, B, B, A. All of that
in less than five seconds. Got it?" I tried it. I couldn't get it with
the first six tries, but I got it the seventh. Suddenly, Fox fell on the
ship floor behind me.
"Woah, what a trip! Thanks for springing me, kid!" he thanked.
"The name's MystOut. Good to finally meet the character I've
been playing as for the past year and a half."
"You did that code?"
"Yea."
"You going to let me drive?"
"Yea," I got up to let him sit. "Why?"
"You're out of formation." As he said that I realized that I was
supposed to activate the joystick before attempting the code. I
covered up my mistake by saying, "Aww, well I was never good
at that formation stuff anyway."
We made it to Venom fine, but I wasn't expecting an empty
planet. Nothing but red sky and dirt for a ground. Almost like
being on Mars //or that's what I think about the situation from
what I've heard about Mars//, only the ground dirt was just plain
dirt and not red sand. We flew through the back and into
Andross' chamber door. He was expecting us. Fox flew around
behind Andross' figure of a face and began to shoot at the eyes.
One blew up. Then Fox stopped shooting when he saw the
hundred seventy-three-ship fleet come through the door. Falco
controlled his ship with his attitude and right now it looked like he
had enough of this playtime. He shot the other eye and Andross
was revealed. Then Fox called all the ships back to formation and
flew in front of Andross. The ships started attacking with their
lasers again, but wound up hitting Andross. We escaped without
a scratch and soon were out of the chamber. The door closed
behind us just before the big explosion. Andross has been defeated again!
We left Venom in time to see the whole planet blow to
smithereens. The game was over. We had won. And at least I had helped
//instead of just playing around//.
Back at Corneria we had an award ceremony to present Fox
with a Welcome Back plaque and me with a bravery pin.
"Wish you good luck in the future, kid," said Pepper.
"Please," I replied, "don't call me that. I hate being called 'kid',"
The black hole reappeared and I was sucked back in.
I landed on my bed at home next to my TV. The training course
was on and Pepper left a message on the bottom of the screen. It
said: THANK YOU FOR THE HELP. Fox then said: ALL
SHIPS CHECK IN! All of the ships came together in their
formation. Fox said: THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, MYST! They
made a scene where all the ships circled around in the sky to
create patterns with their smoke strings. When they were done, it
was an image of an Arwing followed by text that said: LOOK
ON YOUR FRONT LAWN.
I ran to the front. I looked up. The Arwing was there in the
clouds with the text. When I looked down, there was a real
Arwing sitting there. I got in and turned it on. It hovered up and
off it went. I was flying.

~MYSTOUT~