SOLE SURVIVOR
 
 
 

new cast:
 

janet: janet is the sole survivor of the apocolypse on earth not the most mentaly stable person in the galaxy.

artemis: a mysterious goddess dedicated to evil and the suffering of others, she likes to feed of the pain of sole survivors of great tragedies, but her true motivs and origins are unknown.
 

            ;         Chapter 1       "i can take their awful dead blue skin, but i cant deal with thier cold dead eyes" -fox mc cloud
 
 

            ;                     a lonely setting sun cast a few last weak rays of golden light on the dirty streets of new york city, it was truly an awful sight, the once bustling city reduced to ruins in five short weeks, not a soul could be seen for miles down the winding alleys and cluttered backstreets. rows of rusted cars sat along side the roadways as a silent testamonyn to a once prosperous time as the cold wind blew a small scrap of newspaper bouncing along the road like a tumbleweed. the paper had been one of the last published, but no one really cared to read it since by now everyone in both the lylat and earth galaxies knew the horrible truth. somehow a few weeks ago on earth, the dead began to mysteriously return to life driven by an unknown unstopable hunger for the flesh of the living. it had been to much for weak humanity, theyre faith in god totaly lost by years of suffering and neglect, most people were just wandering thru their meaningless empty lives like sleepwalkers anyway, so when armageddon erupted, no one knew how to survive, and no one really cared either. once again empathy and death ruled the silent streets of all earth cities, the only ones who come out now are dead, but they to have begun to dissapear because all their food is gone. earth was not alone in it's darkest hour, they had gotten help from corneria, but alas it was to late, their rescue crews arrived on the scene to find nothing but carnage and the dead, thousands of them. one such rescue squad was still there, floating over new york like a savior angel, the great fox stood as a physical representation that not all were cold and rotted with empathy. the captain of the great fox, fox mccloud was out on another of his searches, thru the entangled maze of buildings hoping to find someone, anyone left who could be saved from certain death. that was the night that he met janet, the earth's sole survivor.
 
 

        "peppy, do you think we can break thru this thing"asked fox to peppy hare beside him as he motioned to the heave wooden barracade piled over the fron entrance to an old fixed rent apartment. "it's to dangerous to use the explosives, a fraction of more force than nessasery is all it will take to send this garbage pile to the ground" answered peppy as he dug thru his bag and pulled out a chainsaw, "i guess we will have to do this the old fashioned way". quickly sawing thru the the boards, peppy stood back to watch each and every one fall cleanly from the doorway revealing a darkened hallway. stepping inside fox and peppy could see that the building hadnt seen much usage even before the apocolypse had claimed its last tennants. the single room lobby was just large between the coffee table and the dirty regestration desk for both of them to fit inside without much contortions. "do you think we should check the desk" asked peppy as he inched his way over to the desks rotted surface. from behind the desk, they could hear a peculiar crunching sound, almost like a dead rat caught in a machine, "i dont like this at all" said fox as he slid thru the swinging door onto the other side of the desk where he almost threw up in disgust. there lying on the floor was a man in his mid fourties, chewing huge bites off what appeared to be a human arm, glancing up numbly from his meal, the man slowly stood up and streatched long thin blood covered arms twards fox hoping to tear into his flesh. with one quick shot, peppy blasted the mans brains out sending him to the ground dead. "geez fox be more careful, he almost killed you" warned peppy as he opened the door for a shaken fox, "are you sure you 'r ok". "im fine" said fox with new determination as he strode over to the small elevator.

the small car came to a grinding halt on the second floor hallway, the place was a mess, there were empty bottles and newspapers everywere, and two doors, leading into two apartments. "i'll take this one, you take the other one" said fox to peppy as he strode over and kicked in the door, gun ready. nothing, no zombies, the interior of the small apartment looked more like the interior of a high school gym locker, but without the pleasent atmosphere. finding nothing in the main room, fox walked softly into the bedroom stopping suddenly at the bed, there was something in it. raising his gun, fox pumped four shots into the sheets hoping to kill whatever might be there, slowly pulling off the covers, fox was releived to find just a pile of blankets. sudenly there was a hard thump from the bathroom, walking in, fox gasped in terror as he saw the most horrifying sight in his short life, there on the floor was a woman, naked, covered in blood, both wrists slit, and she was getting up. fox had no trouble with the zombies dead blue skin, but the worst part was their eyes, they would stare at him un comprehensingly, like he was nothing but a piece of dead meat. fox pulled up his gun, and closed his eyes and pulled the trigger dropping the woman like a puppet with it's strings cut.
deep in thought, fox was startled by a woman's scream, running to the hallway, he saw peppy trying to hold back a hysterical young woman who was now sobbing uncontrollably. "is this her" asked fox to peppy, "earth's sole survivor". "it appears so, but she isnt responding, help me take her back to the great fox" said peppy as he sedated her and picked her limp body up.  suddenly they both heard a tremendous crash from the first floor, the zombies had found them. "ill go check to see how many there are" said fox as he glanced down the stairs into the lobby, and almost fainted, the lobby was being filled with about twenty zombies, pushing thir way up the stairs. "the roof" said peppy as he pulled fox away from the stars, they ran for what seemed like forever, but theyt finaly reached the ladder, and they climbed up leaving the mass of screaming dead behind. the roof provided them a view of the entier city, there were about a thousand zombies erupting from everywhere heading towards the apartment. quickly fox pulled out the com-link and spoke into it in a shaky voice, "rob.. rob64, we have the woman, get us out of here". in under a minuet, the great fox soared over to the roof and a small oppening formed in the side and a long ladder dropped out. with a bit of trouble, fox and peppy managed to get the woman into the ship, and closed the door behind them.
 

            ;                         & nbsp; Chapter 2        "we knew from the begining that something was not right with this woman, but we could never imagine how not right" - peppy hare
 

            ;    all the woman could see was a dull light as she slowly regained consionceness, there were four cornerians standing around her, a fox, a hare, a frog, and a bird. "where am i" asked the woman groggily as she sat up. "the name is fox, and your on the great fox" said fox as he helped her from falling unconcious again. "a little bit cocky arent you" said the woman as she coughed out a laugh, "calling your ship great fox". "right" said fox in a cynical tone, "listen, can you tell us your name. "name... janet" said janet wearily. "last name" said fox questioningly". "janet, just janet" said janet annoyed, i dont have a family" said janet coldy. "geez, sorry for asking" said fox a little taken back, "these are my freinds, peppy hare, slippy toad, and falco". after everyone introduced themselves janet sat up and looked at them, "when you found me, did you also find a woman, in the other room" asked janet shakily. "yes" said fox, "but she was dead, sorry". suddenly janet's face became devoide of all emotion, and she looked down and whispered "oh god, anne". "who is anne" asked fox curiously. "anne was, well, she was my closest freind" said janet  as she hugged herself almost as if she were cold. "listen, um guys, do you think we could have some time alone" said fox to the others as they all left, "listen, janet, its very important that you come with us, we'll take you to a safe place". "safe" asked janet coldly, "i'll never be safe". "listen, youve been thru alot, youll need a lot of time to heal, but ill be here for you if you need me" said fox as he helped her into one of the beds, "you rest now, we'll call you for dinner.
 

            ;        later that night fox was finishing up the report for general pepper when janet walked in fully dressed now. "hey fox, i ave an idea, why dont you come with me to the shopping mall and i'll show you how to make a real meal" said janet almost playfuly. "um sure, but isnt it dangerous" asked fox a little skeptical. "of course not" said janet cheerfuly, "they dont normaly hang out at places like that, besides, i have a diversion if we need one. "well ok" said fox as he sent the file and got up and walked for the exit. down on the night streets, fox and janet made their way thru the maze of wrecked cars to the largest shopping center in new york. "watch this fox" said janet as she went up to the sliding doors and inserted a makshift key and pulled it open. "impressive" said fox truly surprised at her ingenuity. "well a innocent girls like me dosent survive on the street for this long without picking up some skills" said janet with a smile as she pulled him into the darkened grocery store. with a little messing with the electric box, the grocery store was bathed in the dull white light that had illuminated it before the apocolypse. "come on over here" said janet as she pulled fox thru the isles to a small hole in the wall containing an impressive magazine rack, "i used to come here alot when i was with my parents". "i thought you said you didnt have a family" said fox confused. "well not anymore, but i used to" said janet with a pained look in her eyes, "they used to fight alot, they never really screamed at me, but they hated eachother, anyway, i would spend hours here reading all these magazines in a way to avoid them". "im sorry, both my parents are dead to, but they never argued said fox also reminising about the past. "really, what did they do all the time if they never fought" asked janet a little confused. "well, we did alot of stuff, i guess you could say we were a close family, but we had all the problembs of any family" said fox. "a close family, well, my parents were always to wrapped up in their work for the government, so they never really noticed me" said janet  closing her eyes almost as if to shake off a bad memory. " my father worked alot to, he was part of  the original starfox team" said fox, "he was away on duty alot, but we were still close, what did your father do to keep away so much". "well, they never really traveled anywhere, but my mother was drunk most of the time and my fathersinfedalities tore us apart i guess" admited janet sadly. "in fi what" asked fox confused. "you know, cheating, he fucked alot of women not his wife" said janet bitterly. "thats awful" said fox, my father would never do that, he was an honest man". " how did he die" asked janet. "well, he was betrayed by his teamate, well ex team mate, his name was pigma, and he never returned, i was 17 at the time, bill, my only real freind was with me when we heard about it" said fox as he sat next to janet. "bill, was he a close freind" asked janet. "well, very, like you and anne" said fox looking at her trying to see what emotions were in her grey eyes. "really" said janet with a laugh, "i dont think it was anything like me and anne, unless you havent told me something about your lifestyle yet". "gross, no, not like that' said fox disgusted, "i mean he was my best freind". "i bet" said janet laughing harder than before as she got up and pulled fox onward. "where are we going" asked fox a little worried. "you'll see" said janet as she walked on. "here it is, this is the most important place in my life" said janet showing odd the isle. "hmm, the drink isle" said fox a little sarcasticly. "this is where i first met anne" said janet as she leaned agains the isle smiling as if she were re living a happy memory,  "oh, gross, what is this nasty stuff" asked fox as he handed her an open can labeleb cranberry. "you fool" said janet with a laugh, "this says concentrate, damn this must be bitter". "ha ha ha, you must delight in the misfortune of others right" said fox coldly. "only you said janet as she took a large gulp of the concentrate and almost threw up, "damn this is awful". "anyway, why dont you show me where the real food is" said fox anxious to leave the isle. "food, why didnt you just ask" said janet as she pulled him off to another isle, this one surrounded by small freezers. "ok, what woman did you meet here" asked fox jokingly. "none, this is the frozen food section" said janet as she showed him isle anfter isle of frozen meat. "hmmm lean beef with real cheese product, yum yum" said fox jokingly as he flipped thru the piles of budget meat. "oh look here" said janet, "freezedried lamb supplement, just the way mother natutre intended it, and with a re sealable package". shouldnt we be going now" asked fox a little nervously. "oh ok" said janet as she piled the last of the groceries into and abandoned backpack and walked up to him, "arent you goint to escort a lady back to your ship". "ha ha ha, very funny" said fox cynicaly, but he took her and anyway, and the two of them walked hand in hand out of the grocery store, and even despite the freezing tempature, janet felt warm and alive.
 
 

            ;           Chapter 3     "a womans heart is a dangerous thing to fuck with" - janet
 

          leter that night when they were all crouded around the dinner table eating their "earth meal" fox first began to sense something wrong with janet. "hey janet" said fox as he leaned back in his chair, "do you think your really the last living human on earth". "well, it dosent really matter" said janet a little coldly, "it's not like we could save them if there was a them". "where were you when you first learned of the dead returning" asked slippy. "i was... can we please not talk about that" asked janet suddenly nervouse and scared. "ok, fine, what do you want to talk about" asked peppy. "why dont you tell me about your arwing" said janet with a playful look in her eyes. "well, its just your average arwing, not custom made if thats what you were wondering" said fox a little confused about her sudden interest. "well, how big is your arwing" said janet almost as if she were saying something cleaver. "well, its fairly big" said o not really sure what she was getting at. "well, fox, why dont we leave these children behind and you can dock your ship in my docking bay" said janet her voice suddenly a little deeper. "um, i dont know whats going on" said fox confused. "i dont know either" said slippy all innocent looking. "well i dont what to know" said falco. "trust me" said peppy eyeng janet oddly, "you dont want to know".  "well fox, could you please come to your room with me" said janet looking at him in an unclean way.  "listen, ill go see what janet wants and ill be right back" said fox to the others as he followed her to his his room. in his room, janet was sitting on one of the chairs, there was clearly something wrong. "what do you want janet" asked fox as he sat next to her. "i want you" said janet as she pulled him over. "um isnt this a little fast janet" said fox very nervously. "janet is such a weak bitch dont you think" said janet coldly. "what are you talking about, snap out of it janet" said fox really worried now. "im not janet, im artemis, goddess of all that is evil" said janet as she pulled him an inch away from her, "listen fox, what i want i get, and nothing stands in my way" said janet her eyes fires of cold emotion. "wake up janet" said fox as he slapped her across her face. stunned, janet looked at him with no comprehension, "oh my god, what happened" asked janet suddenly herself again. "janet, you were trying to seduce me" said fox totaly confused. "it wasnt me, it was artemis, she makes me do bad things" said janet terrified. "who is artemis" asked fox concerned. "please go away, i need to be alone" said janet frightened. "ill be back later when your ready to explain" said fox as he got up and left the room.
 

    "what was up with janet" asked peppy as fox returned to the mess hall. "i dont know", said  fox, something is wrong, we need to get her to a docter, and fast". "what happened" asked peppy. "i dont knnow" said fox, "one moment she was fine, then she was babbling on about some artemis woman"
suddenly peppy looked at him in mortal fear, "listen fox" said peppy urgently, "we have got to get janet to corneria as fast as possible, oh god, artemis, it's happening again".
 
 
 

            ;       Chapter 4           "artemis is evil, pure evil" peppy
 
 

       "who is artemis" asked fox confused. "artemis, is evil made flesh" said peppy with a scared distant look on his face. "what does that have to do with janet" asked fox. "well, rememberhow i told you your father died at venom" said peppy ashamed. "yes what about it" asked fox with growing suspicion and confusion. "well, he didnt die at venom, he died on th way back" said peppy caught in the grip of an awful memory. "what are you saying, how did he die" asked fox angrily. "well, on the way back, we got a distress signal, from a smll planet, not even on any major galaxy chart, on this enigmatic planet, their lived a race of human like creatures who had mild telepathic powers" said peppy darkly, "they had fallen under attack, their dead were returning to life and killing the living, just like on earth, and we barely pulled out a woman, her name was leslie, she was very weak when we got her on board, and she immediately fell in love with james, your father". "but he was married" said fox confused. "thats not the point, when leslie learned about your mother, she got very angry, and she started attacking him, she called herself artemis, and she caught him when i was away, and oh god" stuttered peppy trying to go on, "she castrated him, and she poisoned him with gallons of estrogen, he died of estrogen poisoning, and loss of blood, i couldnt save him, i didnt know what i was doing, leslie claimed she didnt know what happened, but i was in a mad rage, i killed her". "what are you talking about, but leslie is dead, are you saying that janet is responsible for james' death" asked fox unbeleiving. "i was hoping it wouldnt happen again" said peppy sadly, "that leslie was just insane from what happened with her race, she was after all, the sole survivor".
 

            ;  Chapter 5    "she preys off the sole survivors of great catastrophes" fox
 
 

     it was the middle of the night, yet fox still lay awake in his bed, he was scared, confused, what was this artemis thing, and why did it kill his father, he didnt know, but he felt totaly helpless, whatwas he going to do, he certainly couldnt trust janet anymore, what if she fell under the control of artemis again, what if it was just a big coincidence. suddenly, the night was torn apart by an ear peircing scream, it was janet. running to her room, fox forgot all about getting the ohters, he needed to know what was happening and fast. in her room, janet lay twisting in bed screaming like someone undergoing horrible tourture. "janet, are you all right" asked fox , slowly she came into focus, and stared up at him meekly. "fox, it was awful, oh god it was awful" said janet frightened. "whats wrong janet" said fox as he bent down and stroaked her forehead gently. seeming to calm down a little she looked at him, "its corneria, somethings wrong, there all dead, i saw them in my dream, artemis showed me the cornerians, screaming in pain as their dead tore them to peices, and you were there, oh god, i was dead to and i was eating you, i was tearing your flesh from your bloody skeliton". "calm down jaet" said fox soothingly, it was just a dream. everything will be alright". "fox" said janet scared. "what is it" asked fox patiently. "could you please stay here tonight, i cant be alone" asked janet pleadingly. "all right said fox as he climbed in next to her and held her close, janet, what happened on your first night of the apocolypse, i need to know". "janet looked up at him scared, she closed her eyes and swallowed hard and began her story, "well, i had just been talking to my parents, and i had told them about anne, and they were angry, they never wanted to see me again, so i left, i ran and ran to a small feild, i had a radio a bottle or two of beer, and a gun, i sat and looked up at the stars and turned the radio on, i drank the beer, listening to all my favorite songs, then i lifted the gun to my head, i was about to pull the trigger, when they announced over the radio that the bodies of the recent dead were returning to life, funny isnt it, that what sent millions to their deaths was the only thing that saved my life". fox didnt quite know how to respond, he wanted to help her, but he didnt know anyone could do that type of thing to their own children, but than again, he was learning new awful things about the human race every day. "janet, i need you to tell me everything you know about artemis" said fox. "well, artemis, i first met her a year ago" said janet, "she visited me in my dreams, she told me that i was very special, and i was destined to rid the galaxies of evil, she told me with my help, there could be an end to suffering". "an end to suffering" asked fox confused, "how did you help her do that". "well, it started with stealing, she would have me steal un godly amounts of estrogen from chemical factories, and she made me store it for her, she said with it we could cleanse the world of evil" explained janet with a hard edge to her voice. "listen" said fox, "artemis is evil, she killed my father, by using victims like you, i did some reading on anything about artemis, and i found that in a pagan religeon, artemis is the goddess of evil, and her goal was to rid the world of all men, and she would gather souls of the deceased, and put the men in slavery and she made the women into an evil army of amazons, she preys off the sole survivors of great catastrophes" finished fox . "what should i do" asked janet scared, "what if i kill you". "dont worry" said fox, ill protect you, now please go to sleep, we need all our energy if we are going to make it to corneria by tomorrow".
 

            ;           Chapter 6 "janet was my ideal victim, she had enough hate and confusion in her sick mind to destroy an entire galaxy" -artemis
 

            ; the next day was rather un eventful, of corse it is rather hard to tell the difference between night and day in deep space, fox spent most of the trip home in his office with the chess simulator. it was a very hard game, fox was always amazed at the depth of the computers strategy, it made his limited skills look like crap, suddenly the door slid open and janet walked in wearing a orange sweater and dark blue pants. "hi fox, peppy said i could find you here, whats up" asked janet as she took her place on the other side of the chess board. "well, im getting my tail kicked in chess" said fox deep in thought, "care to try". "why not said janet as she stared at the board, "it's obvious how to wn, just move here, and the ohter player is screwed". "um, thats me" said fox jokingly, "why dont we play a game". "sure, why not" said janet as she pulled the ai disk out and pulled out a music cd, "mind if i play this". "what is it" asked fox curiously. "it's earth music, a band called fun factory, just your average mindless dance group" explained janet as she set up the play list. "oh yeah, this is intelectual, what the heck does ring-ading-ding-ring-a-ding-dong mean" asked fox cynicaly. "absolutely nothing, you dont listen to the lyrics" said janet, "your supposed to let the beat become one with you, and groove like this". "oh , ok" said fox as he began to sway back and forth a little. "oh come on, you look like a drunk rocking horse, you do it like this" said janet as she began to do all these wierd movements. "damn, you look like a rat being electricuted" said fox laughing. "well excuse me" said janet a little offended, "fox, i need you to tell me something". "what is it janet" asked fox curiously. "well, whats so special about corneria, why do we have to go there" asked janet a little nervous. "well, corneria is where i live, and they have a clinic set up that can disperse things like your problemb" explained fox trying to avoid clasifying her as anything. "so im getting an excercis" asked janet jokingly, "you cant, my head hasnt spun around yet". "ha ha ha" laughed fox out loud as he almost fell off the chair, "sort of like that". "hey fox, whats the password for the computer in my room" asked janet as she lay back in the reclining office chair. "oh, it's 12/2/74" said fox as he moved his last open peice. "whats so special about that date" asked janet. "nothing, i chose it out of the blue" said fox. "oh, well, checkmate, ill be in my room using the computer if you need me" said janet as she got up and turned to leave, "fox, i just wanted to thank you for being there last night". "your welcome" said fox blushing a little. "your the only decent man i know fox, id just like to thank you for the time weve shared" said janet as she left him.
 
 

            ;  back in her room, janet logged onto the computer and typed in the password, the welcome screen came up and the entire crew's files were seperated into their seperate catagories. "i wonder what skelitons fox has on his hard disk" thought janet as she opened his area, "hmmm fara.jpg, i wonder what this is". janets heart stopped as the file came onto the screen, there was a woman, a fox, and there was a  note on it, love fara, "what the fuck is this crap" asked janet confused, "he spent the night with me, i know he loves me". "that type of man does not love anyone" came a odd voice from behind her, turning around janet almost screamed when she saw a tall long haired blond woman behind her, she looked beautiful, almost angelic. "it's me, your only true freind, artemis, i have protected your soul all along" said artemis in a soothing voice, "look at that little tramp whore, she wants to steal fox from you, she wants to see you in pain". "but i dont even know her" protested janet. "dont give me that crap, the little slut whore wants to die, cant you see it in her eyes, cant you feel it" said artemis coldly, "and you, we must make fox pay, he dosent love you, he used you when you were weak". "yes, he used me, fox used me" said ajnet with growing conviction, "let's do it, we'll kill the fucker like the scum he is". "now thats the spirit" said artemis, "together, nothing can stop us, he wont know what hit him".
 

         Chapter 7 "once i steal your souls, the curse that binds me will be no more and i will destroy all life" -artemis

     it was mid day now, and most of the fox team was in the rec room while janet controlled by artemis was in the kitchen preparing the poison for fox and the others. "thats right" said artemis in a condescending tone, "put all those estrogen pills into the soup, yes, we will purify them of thier evil". "your insane" screamed janet inwardly trying desperately to stop what she was doing. "you'll thank me later" said artemis decisivly, "now dont mouth off on me or i'll kick you to the back of my mind". "if only there was a way to warn them" thought janet desperately as she watched herself add the last pills into the poison. "stuck up bitch" cursed artemis, "he is using you, the little player". "listen, i ... he is not using me" screamed janet, "he loves me, i know it, he said it". "you dont seem so sure" said artemis obviously enjoying janet's inner struggle, they will all be cured with this, then the final steps will be taken once they are unconcous". "what are you talking about" asked janet with growing fear. "we want to cure them, they are cursed with being filthy men, we want to cure them". janet got up and took the soup into the mess room and set it on the table, "soups on" she exclaimed in a strained voice. "within a few second, they were all at the table, they were eating the soup, janets stomach reeled in disgust at what was happening that she could not stop. "listen artemis, he might have this other woman, but that's no reson to kill him" pleaded janet as she lunged at the mental cage that kept her from her body. "stop it fool, when i take their souls, i will have enough power not to be binded by this curse" laughed artemis maniacly, "then i will end all life, starting with corneria". with all her strength, janet plunged headfirst agains her binds finaly tearing thru, she had to stop them. suddenly janet began to thrash around the room trying desperately to push artemis from her mind, fox and the others just stood there stunned as she screamed out hundreds of obsenities in two very different voices. "what are we going to do" asked peppy as he tried to stop her from hitting anything dangerous, "come on people i could use a hand here". after a long struggle, they managed to calm janet down with a sedative, a little more relaxed, janet looked over at fox and spoke in a weak but strong with conviction voice, "listen, we dont have much time, i know what artemis' final destination is, it's, it's corneria".

   to be continued......
 

will fox and his freinds be able to stop artemis from taking corneria, will they be able to free janet from her possesion, and just what is this curse that binds artemis, all these answers will be found in the next thrilling segment of
 

 sole survivor
 
 

email the author at Cait_Sith64@hotmail.com for comments/suggestions