Author: SOVANJEDI
Subject: Trading Places, Fox's Side
Posted: MAY 10, 1999 00:30

Trading Places- Fox's side

Aboard the Great Fox in outer space, listening to the gentle humming of
its presence beyond the stars, Fox looked out at the twinkling white
specks before him at the large window. He stood there, for no real reason
he could think of. For a brief moment, perhaps only for those minutes he
was there, he was experiencing a relaxing sensation he had not
experienced for a long time. The notion that all was well throughout the
Lylat System. The planets were all at peace, the people were all at peace,
even his teammates were at ease. Nothing felt any better than the world
that he knew being absolute right. He wasn't bored of the thought of
quietness, like he had imagined, rather relishing it in his own little
way. So he stayed, and looked.
'Psst.'
Fox quickly glanced behind him. He heard something from the doorway to the
room. Yet when he looked, nothing was there. Relieved, he turned to look
at the stars again, although he was slightly alert, just in case.
'Hey, you.' A little voice whispered.
Now Fox looked around again, and stared. All he could see was the open
doorway, leading to a dark corridor. It wasn't completely black, but
looked more colder than where he was at the time. But he watched
carefully, for signs of anything moving.
'That's it.' The voice whispered again. 'Out here.'
This was intriguing Fox ever more- the person could obviously see him, yet
he was not there. Curiosity filled Fox's mind. He walked closer to the
doorway, slowly stepping to it, slowly away from the window, and closer to
the doorway.
'Thaaaats it.' The voice whispered. 'Closer.' Like a chilled wind it
brushed past Fox's ears.
Fox stopped. He pondered on what the voice said last, and the tone it
used. That was the kind of thing said to mean trouble. It was now apparent
to Fox McCloud that the speaker meant trouble, too. Yet, yet he couldn't
just ignore the voice now he had shown so much interest in it.
He stood his ground. 'Who are you?' He called to the door.
'Heh heh heh' the voice whispered. 'Timid little Fox, aren't you?' After
that, it was silence.
'Well?' Fox asked.
'Not telling.' The voice whispered back, seemingly smug.
So much for introductions, Fox thought. He might as well go and see who it
is, so he walked up to the doorway anyway. Already he felt cool, just by
being next to the open doorway.
Cautiously Fox poked his head out of the doorway, looking to the left. The
passage down to the hull of the Great Fox was shrouded in black- he
couldn't see anything, and it was cold. But nothing appeared to be down
there anyway.
Fox looked right. A pair of bright yellow eyes and a toothy grin faced him
from the other corridor. Its body has hidden by the blackness of the
corridor. 'Boo.' It whispered. Then it laughed silently.
With lightning reaction Fox forced his back up to the wall, on the right-
hand side of the door. Panic struck him like a blow to the chest, and he
was breathing heavily. His eyes darted around nervously.
Yet before he could do anything else a large muscular arm flashed around
the door, firmly gripped Fox's waist, and pulled him to the doorway. He
didn't even have enough time to scream for help as he disappeared into the
darkness of the corridor. As he saw the only lighted part of the corridor
fade away from him to the distance, he felt a soft crack to the back of
his head. He dropped his head, and went relaxed. All that could be heard
was the clanging of his metal boots along the corridor from being dragged
backwards.


Time had passed. Fox was now asleep. He kept his eyes closed, because he
wasn't particularly enthusiastic to wake up. So he relaxed as much as he
could, turning to his side.
And falling on the floor with a thud. Immediately he shook his head and
leaned up from the floor. His head was throbbing badly. 'Ow.' He remarked.
He got up onto his knees, then onto his feet. He looked around him- and
felt giddy. All around him was a green pattern with splashes of polka- dot
pink, yellow and orange. He looked down at the floor, only to see nothing
except the patterned 'sky'. He felt wary.
Next what had struck Fox was where he had fallen from. There wasn't
anything around him, object wise. He kept his head low, though, because of
his headache. He tried raising his head to see some more- and saw two
pairs of feet, a few feet from him.
He looked straight up, bearing the numbing pain in his head, and looked at
the two people. Both seemed like apes, but were standing upright, with
less hair and more proportioned facial features. Both were garbed in
different- looking clothing. They both stared back at Fox McCloud,
ignoring the fact of their location in some strange dimension.
'So you woke up.' One of them said. He was the shorter of the two, and
wore a top hat and a cape. He looked like one of those magicians hired for
birthday parties, or a gentleman dressed in first- class clothing. But he
himself looked slightly mad. 'We've been waiting here for ages for you to
wake up, you lazy fellow.'
Fox glanced at the other person. He was taller and better built. He was
wearing a green tunic and white tights. He had a sword buckle tightly
fastened across his chest, and Fox spotted the sheath his sword was kept
in. He also donned a long, green hat upon his blonde hair. Another thing
that caught Fox's attention about this new man was his ears- they were
pointed, unlike the other man's ears. The pointed- eared man looked at
the other, then back at Fox with a hint of a smile.
'I'd like you two to meet acquaintances, if you don't mind.' The man in
the top hat spread his arms to envelope the two in his presence.
The man with the pointed ears looked down at Fox, and held his gauntlet
hand out to him. Fox boldly accepted it, and shook it vigorously. 'Hello,
I'm Link.' The man politely said, smiling.
'My name is Fox McCloud.' Fox replied.
'Yes, yes, that's enough of that.' The other man said irritably. He seemed
to be as anxious as he was mad. 'Now I suppose you two are wondering why
you are here, no?'
Fox and Link looked at each other. 'Link, how did you end up here?' Fox
inquired.
'I was dragged beyond my own will to here.' Link explained.
Fox nodded. 'Same here.' Then he turned once again to the man in the top
hat. 'I think we both are curious about that fact, yes.'
The man tipped his top hat to them. 'You are both here for entertainment
purposes.' He calmly told them both. 'You are both to take part in a
little game.'
Fox was a bit surprised. 'A game?' He exclaimed.
'Entertainment?' Link also said profanely. 'We were dragged from our own
homes! We have lives to live. Why should we participate in your own
entertainment?'
For some reason the man found what Link said to be of humor. He chuckled
quietly. 'If only you knew your existence...' He said quietly.  


Ignoring this, Fox backed the man up. 'Link has a good point. We don't
need to do what you tell us- you took us against our wishes.'
The man jumped to action. 'Persuasion is obviously needed.' He clapped his
hands delicately.
From nowhere a huge creature appeared. It was like a cross between lots of
different creatures, but nothing distinctively noticeable. Perhaps all it
could describe it was the word 'beast'. Nevertheless, it still looked down
at them with a toothy grin from its dizzying heights.
The man gestured with his gloved hand. 'If you don't agree, your faces
will be, what is the term.....?' He put a finger to his mouth. Then a
second later he clicked them. 'Re- arranged. That's what I was looking
for. They'll be re- arranged by Rosebud here.'
Both Link and Fox McCloud frowned- Rosebud?
A click of his fingers, and Rosebud was gone. 'Now it is time for what you
are going to do for light entertainment.' It was clear now he was waiting
for this time, to tell them of what they are going to do.
'What?' Link asked.
As he spoke he pointed to each of them in turn. 'Fox McCloud will be Link
for the day, and Link will be Fox McCloud for the day!' The man now
laughed uncontrollably, so much so he even fell on the floor rolling
around and clenching his sides. They both watched him, uncertain of what
to do.
'Trading Places!' The man shouted, jumping to his feet. 'It's a work of
genius!' He coughed politely. 'If I do say so myself, that is.'
'Well to be quite frank, you are insane.' Fox stated, with Link nodding
agreement.
He looked quickly at each of them close in the face, then skipped back. 'I
don't care! It will be a hoot! It will be the challenge of your lives!' He
took time to calm down, and to wipe the base of his eyes of tears from
laughing so much. He sighed. 'You both live in very different worlds and
very different lifestyles. In fact, a lot of each others worlds don't
exist in the others.'
Fox scratched behind his head- around his bump- and tried to think of it.
He certainly wasn't making much sense, but that was all Fox could make
out.
'Link here, Fox.' The man nodded at the man with the pointed ears. 'He
lives in a land full of magic and evil sorcery, of dragons and gods and
medieval times. Technology barely exists there. He is an adventurer, and
the Hero of Time.' Link looked serious at Fox, standing tall and proud.
'Meanwhile Fox McCloud here.' He nodded at Fox.' Lives in a world of space
travel and star wars. His adventuring takes place between planets and in
the sky. He is an elite pilot.' Fox looked serious at Link, standing as
tall and proud as he could.
'Now imagine if you were to swap places for a whole day, to live as the
other person, imagine how fun that would be!' His face was covered ear-
to- ear with a big grin.
Link and Fox weren't very enthusiastic about the idea. 'If technology
doesn't exist there......' The notion dawned on him. 'I've never had much-
hand- to- hand combat beyond my blaster gun!'
'I don't even know what half of the things Fox does is!' Link exclaimed.
'I'm doomed!'
The man snickered. 'That's the whole point!' You'll have to learn by
yourselves, in the whole day. And to add to the excitement, I've set up my
own scenarios for you to spend the whole day in. This should be good.'
There wasn't much Fox could do, seeing as the man was entirely convinced
on this ridiculous task. But Fox was more worried about whether he could
survive or not, without what his whole world was dependent on.....
'Enough talk, now let's get going!' He flashed his hands before him, and
both Link and Fox McCloud zoomed in to each other, passing through each
other. This was it- no other thing to do but to go along with it.
'Trading Places- who will know what happens next to these great duo,
Up in space, back in time,
Fighting creatures, saving planets,
A whole new life in a day.
He who doesn't survive, will not come back.
Link, Fox.
Who will last?'


Author: FJMCCLOUD
Subject: Trading Places, Fox's Side
Posted: MAY 14, 1999 22:34

Well, although I don't have much time to spend on this, maybe I can at
least start it:
--------
Fox turned again to look at Link and his captor, but as he did so the
world around him seemed to fade to a white fog that grew thicker and
closer. Suddenly the fog grew black and Fox lost consciousness.

Fox awoke to the sounds of birds and wind rustling through leaves. A
bright, warm sun greeted him. It was Link's realm, a world called Hyrule.

"Great...I have to survive in this world for one day?"

Fox's ears quickly focused on the sound of people in a nearby village, so
he cautiously approached it, avoiding trails and sticking to his baser
tracking instincts.

"Kakariko Village" Fox read the sign above the town entrance as he peered
out from a nearby shrub. "I guess it seems peaceful. Maybe I can get some
information from these inhabitants?"

With the wonderful courage and gusto that he was known for, Fox dove out
of the bushes and strolled brazenly into the city.

"Eeeekk! A Dark-Worlder!!!" a woman screamed.

"Dark worlder?" Fox wondered as he noticed he was becoming the center of
attention. "I guess this won't be as easy as I thought..."

--F.J.