Preface: Star Fox Adventures has always been a personal favorite of mine, ever since I first played it as a child. However, as I've aged, I've come to realize that the story, due to the game's limitations and its troubled development, has a some severe flaws and plotholes that I think could use a bit of elbow grease. So, I have decided to try my hand at reimagining the story in the way I might have done it.

Now, please remember, this is only a reimagining. I'm not saying it's necessarily an improvement on the original, it's simply my take on what I think the story should have been. So, it may not accommodate to everyone's tastes.

I hope you enjoy.

On a distant planet, far removed from the confines of the Lylat system, the Sun had long since set over a thick, wild jungle, leaving only three, shining moons to give the land their meager light. The noise of the day had died out to only a subtle buzz as the denizens of the wild all fell into a doze. Few things were awake, and even fewer made a sound. All was quiet and peaceful. That is, until a strange voice, carried by some unknown power, entered into the jungle, and presently reached into the mind of the world's only visitor.

Xocf ij. Fcouj. No uh roadw ukkusbot.

Krystal, a young, blue and white vixen, opened her sapphire eyes slowly, and though she was still half-asleep, she quickly leaned up from the spot she lay.

"W-what?" She asked aloud.

She heard it again. Kxo Juhfscunj uh ukkusbadw. No suddek vawxk rusb. Jemed xocf ij.

Unsteadily and yet urgently, she climbed to her feet, and looked out over the broad expanse of jungle. What is that? And where is it coming from? It sounds as if they are in danger.

Udooed. Fcouj.

Krystal closed her eyes and concentrated, her powerful telepathic mind working to locate the message. Finding nothing near her, she focused her attention to the sky above. In time, she found that it indeed came from far away, on another world in fact.

Without hesitation, Krystal opened her eyes, grabbed a hold of the staff laying next to her and flipped it up into her hands, beginning a swift sprint through the lush, tangled jungle by the silver light of the three moons.

No uh roadw jcuiwxkohot. The voice pleaded. Av udooed sud xouh ij, jodt xocf.

Don't worry, Krystal thought. I will be there soon.

Dashing through the trees, leaping over roots and boulders, her eyes were set on a massive, stone ruin, towering above all else in the distance.

No uh uk Krazoa Fucus. Kxo komfc ad kxo jtoo. Fcouj, xocf if.

Krystal tried to interpret the pleas, but all she could understand from a rushed translation was "temple in the sky" and "help us."

With a grunt, she leapt over a fallen log, and slid down an inclined mound of dirt and plants. The flora that covered the jungle floor might prove to be a hindrance to most, but Krystal had lived in such an environment all her life, and could navigate such terrain with ease.

She hit level ground, and began sprinting again, listening for anymore of the mysterious message.

A distant screech suddenly pierced the night sky, ringing throughout the jungle and into Krystal's ears, breaking her concentration. She stopped running and spun around, searching for the cry's owner.

She recognized the sound: It was the cry of a Jugrath Bird, a vicious predator that never hunted alone. Krystal had had many encounters with the beasts in her time on this world, and had never come out of one unscathed. And this call sounded close by.

"Lovely..." She muttered. The only thing she could do was hope that the beasts didn't find her. Gripping her staff tighter, she set out once again for the ruin.

She focused her mind once more, trying to hear more off the distress call. However, it seemed to be becoming more distant, and difficult to understand. She could only make out a few garbled words, and even then she couldn't fully understand the strange language. But she could still feel the desperation in their pleas.

"Don't worry. I'm coming." She whispered. There was no time to take the carved path to the gateway around the back of the looming structure. She would have to make her own way to the top.

Reaching the foot of the great ruin, she stopped running, raised her staff up high, and slammed the end into the earth. The shaft of the mystic artifact began to glow blue, and with a rushing roar, a burst of flame erupted from the end of it, propelling both it and her straight up into the air.

Ending her flight with a graceful flip, she landed high up onto a protruding edge, and from there, began to use the hanging, criss-crossed vines to climb the rest of the way up to the ruin's peak.

There, from the top of the stone tower, she could nearly see the entirety of the thick, green jungle canopy, stretching outwards for miles. However, a beautiful view was not what her mind was dwelling on. Her eyes were instead set upon two, tall, stone pillars, stretching upwards and bending towards each other like snakes to form a great archway.

In front of this archway, she fell to her knees with the staff in her lap and closed her eyes, trying to see if she could find where the message came from and who was sending it.

Udooed...

Where are you? Who are you? She thought, hoping she could send a message of her own. However, they couldn't seem to hear her, and continued to plead for help.

Fcouj...

Concentrating harder, Krystal's mind followed the words until she managed to sense where the cry for help came from: A distant world, one that emanated a strange, mystic energy.

Hold on, I'm coming, she thought, and opened her eyes. Standing up with her staff in hand, she walked up to an altar in front of the great archway. She had been studying these ancient devices for quite a while now, and had long since learned how they worked. Even though she had admittedly never used one of them before, she was still confident the ancient structure would serve her purposes.

There, standing on top of the altar, she stretched her arms out into the air, and began to whisper softly, reciting a chorus that she had deciphered from etchings hidden within a dusty, dead tomb. Within moments, the archway began to rumble with a great power, and a blue, swirling portal sparked to glorious life in front of her, hopefully leading to the mysterious world.

Staff in hand, teeth clenched in determination, she prepared to leap into the vortex. However, she stopped suddenly as she felt her fur suddenly stand on end. There was a presence behind her. She sensed it long before she heard it. Spinning around in shock, her eyes fell upon the very thing she had been dreading.

Prowling menacingly up the steps of the ruin was a dark red Jugrath Bird; it's long, almost mammalian body hunched down low to the ground in the posture of hunting; it's yellow, beady eyes trained directly on Krystal; it's four, scaly legs, ending in feet of razor sharp talons slowly carrying it towards her. It was clear that it was hunting for meat, and it had found suitable prey.

And sure enough, it wasn't alone. Crawling up behind it, came four more of the beasts: Two were bright shades of green and cerulean, one a dark shade of blue and violet, and one a vibrant yellow. As always, this pack demonstrated the amazing variance between individuals that the predators were blessed with.

And despite how dangerous the Jugraths were, Krystal could never deny how beautiful they were. Their tall, regal heads; their long, powerful bodies; their sharp, curved beaks; and the handsome feathers on their backs that might at one time have been wings. They could no longer fly though, they had long since lost that ability.

However, Krystal was not currently concerned with the beauty of the creatures. Rather, she was instead focused on their threatening growls, and the fact that they were slowly moving to surround her.

Heart beating furiously, Krystal raised her staff, pointed it at the red Alpha, and from the end of it, shot a glowing, red ball of fire at the beast in an attempt to frighten it.

The Jugrath leapt backwards with lightning fast reflexes, dodging the projectile and making it burst onto the stone floor harmlessly. After shaking its head and growling, the creature began to slowly prowl forward again.

Krystal cursed under her breath and stepped backwards, towards the swirling portal. She could very easily jump through the gateway and escape to the other world, however, she had a feeling the pack of Jugraths would follow her through before it could close. She would have to stun, or if necessary, kill them first.

The Jugraths growled again, all eyes locked on their prey. Krystal could sense their thoughts; their hunger, their anger, their lust for blood. These beasts couldn't be subdued peacefully.

Gripping her staff tightly in both hands, she stood silently, waiting for the creatures to make the first move. And sure enough, with a raptor-like screech, the lead Jugrath suddenly sprang forward, talons arched, ready to dismember her.

With a single, spinning motion, Krystal flipped her staff up and responded with a single strike to the side of the beast's head. With a cry of pain, the red Jugrath was thrown sideways, away from the altar and the gateway. However, the other four were already making their move, quickly dashing around Krystal to surround her, and then each one jumping in for an attack.

Swinging the staff to the side, she blocked the slash of one of the green Jugraths, and quickly retaliated with a kick to its head, before striking the back of the blue one, whose talons were aiming for her throat. Both of the beasts jumped back, but recovered quickly and jumped in for another assault.

With a roar, the Alpha Jugrath who had been sneaking up behind Krystal suddenly pounced up towards her. However, sensing its presence long before it had struck, she was able to spin around and roll backwards, catching the creature with her legs and throwing it away again. As quick as lightning, she leapt back to her feet, just in time to parry another strike from another one of the creatures.

Using her staff as a powerfully quick offensive and defensive tool, Krystal was able to parry and counter every attack the Jugraths could throw. Unfortunately, she was still outnumbered, and would soon begin to tire. She needed to get more aggressive.

Blocking another slash by the yellow Jugrath, she quickly spun her staff around and knocked the beast hard on the small of its back. Crying out in pain, the Jugrath hunched down, giving Krystal a chance to hit it hard on the side of its face, and ending with a swift, overhead swing to its cranium. The beast fell to the ground, unconscious.

Seeing their comrade fall, the other four jumped back, growling and screeching, working their minds for another plan of attack. That was the true danger of the Jugrath Birds. Not their sharp talons, or their strong bodies, but their unusually powerful intelligence. They never attacked without a sort of plan, and their plans were usually deadly for their prey. And when a plan went wrong, they could always pull out a few deadly tricks.

However, they weren't the only ones with tricks up their sleeves; Krystal could do things with her staff that they would never expect.

And sure enough, as the Jugraths were circling her, preparing to all strike at once, she raised her staff in the air and slammed it down onto the ground. As the tip hit the stone, it sent a glowing blue shockwave outwards in all directions, throwing the predators out into the air and away from Krystal. Three landed hard and quickly recovered, slightly disoriented. However, one was unfortunate enough to be thrown off the edge of the ruin, falling to the jungle below.

Becoming enraged by the defeat of the two others, the green Jugrath pounced up and dashed for Krystal, ready to tear her throat out. But she quickly raised her staff and shot a trio of fireballs in its direction as it came for her, each burning projectile hitting their mark and taking it out for the count.

Starting to become more cautious than furious, the remaining two beasts began to slowly falter backwards, away from Krystal and her powerful weapon. After a moment of growling and pacing back and forth, the Jugraths began to do something unexpected; they began to back away. Krystal was surprised. She had never seen Jugraths retreat before. And yet, the two remaining beasts continued to slowly back away, soon stepping down off of the ruin's top and out of her sight.

Krystal kept her eyes and her staff trained on their movements for a moment, making sure they were out of sight and truly leaving, before she breathed a sigh of relief. Satisfied, but still alert, she turned around and faced the portal again.

Since that bit of bother is out of the way... she thought. I can get back to business.

She closed her eyes to see if she could still sense the strange message, but she could no longer hear the pleas of the desperate voice. I hope it's not too late.

She stepped up onto the altar again, and walked towards the swirling portal. Standing next to the vortex, she could feel the energy radiating off of the gateway. It was the most extraordinary feeling; almost a mix of blazing heat, and burning cold, and it pierced her to the bone.

Gripping her staff tighter and closing her eyes, she slowly raised her hand and touched the center of the gate. In an instant, her body was sucked into the vortex, and she was traveling through the fabric of space and time.

Krystal couldn't remember what she saw in that gateway. A part of her knew she was conscious when traveling through it, the same way that people know when they are in a dream. But no matter how hard she tried, she could never conjure up an image of what it looked like inside. Her best guess was that no mortal mind could comprehend what was seen in those portals, so it simply chose to forget.

Because of this, when she soon stumbled out into the physical world, she did so as though she were waking from a deep sleep. Dizzy and disoriented, with her vision half clouded over, the first feeling she noticed was a sensation of wetness on her fur. As her mind began to clear, she saw that the sky was raining a torrential downpour, and was already soaking her to the bone.

"Wonderful..." She sighed, wiping water from her face.

She looked around, trying to see if she could regain her bearings. The storm was cutting off much light, making it difficult to see, but Krystal could tell that she was standing on a small platform on a mountainside. In front of her, the ground suddenly dropped off steeply onto a sheer cliff face, and behind her, the full body of the mountain rose up into the sky, dwarfing her like an ant.

She stepped to the cliff's edge and peered over. Any solid ground seemed to stretch out miles below her, separated only by air and rain. Save for climbing the cliff itself, there was no way to get down that she could see.

I don't even know if I have to go down, she thought. I have no idea where the people who sent the message are. They could be anywhere.

"Temple in the sky..." She muttered. That could be talking about a temple that was on the mountain's peak, or it could simply be symbolic for something far more mundane. There was no way she could know. She racked her brain, trying to decide what would be best to do. She felt as though the messengers still needed her help, but she didn't know how to find them.

She was still pondering what direction she should take, when she was again interrupted by a sudden noise from behind. She spun around to see two red and blue forms suddenly fall out of the closing portal and stand up, growling angrily. Krystal gasped, totally shocked. The remaining Jugraths had followed her through the portal. She had been sure they had retreated, but it seemed as though they were simply trying to catch her off guard. And it worked perfectly.

With a screech, both of the vicious birds jumped up towards her, talons outstretched and eyes burning with a vengeful fury. Krystal, still a little stunned, was too slow to react as the red one tackled her and forced her to the ground.

With the huge Alpha standing on her chest, talons digging into her shoulders and threatening to pierce her skin, she was barely able to stop its powerful jaws from clamping down on her head by sticking her staff across its open beak. With its jaws thrashing, and its saliva dripping down onto her face, she desperately tried with all her might to force the Jugrath off of her. With a forceful grunt, she pushed her staff upwards just enough to flick it to the side, smacking the predator on the side of its head, and giving her just enough room to scurry out from under its weight.

However, as she tried to climb back to her feet, the blue Jugrath jumped forward and, though she raised her staff in an attempt to block the attack, she was too slow and the beast managed to slash her across the arm with its talons. Crying out in pain she dropped her staff and stumbled backwards, clutching her freshly-wounded arm. Trying to ignore the pain, she darted down to pick her fallen staff back up, but she was stopped by the snapping beak of the red Alpha.

The two beasts, walking closer with angry growls and deafening screeches, forced her to step backwards until she was stopped by the mountain wall. With her eyes darting back and forth from the two approaching Jugraths, Krystal desperately tried to find a way she could escape, but she knew inside that this was the end. She could sense the thoughts of the beasts; they both knew that they had won. They were going to feast on her flesh on that day. Krystal wondered if they even knew that they had to travel across space to accomplish that.

Even still, Krystal wouldn't make it easy for them. She clenched her fists, ready to fight back until the end.

With a screech, the Alpha Jugrath leaped forward, ready to give the finishing blow that would end Krystal's life. She raised her fists, preparing for her final stand, when a dark figure suddenly flew down from above, right in the path of the pouncing predator. Jumping in surprise and stumbling down, Krystal watched as the Jugrath crashed into the dark figure, and after a moment of struggle, was thrown down onto the ground.

Krystal watched in amazement as the strange, winged creature fought back against the livid Jugraths in the fury of the rainstorm. Snapping and slashing, both of the beasts leapt towards the creature, but it picked up its wings and flew straight up into the air, dodging their attack.

The flying creature, some type of winged reptile, much like a pterodactyl, was circling the Jugraths in the air. Flying just out of reach of their slashing talons, it suddenly called out to Krystal in a strange language.

"Xihoo! Kub ooeih noufed udt vcoo!"

Krystal understood what he was trying to say. Jumping to her feet, she dashed to her fallen staff and snatched it up. Spinning around, she watched as the creature dove down and crashed into the red Alpha. The Jugrath let out a roar of fury and tried to swipe back at the creature, but he flew away before the talons could hit their mark.

Spinning her staff around with her good arm, she dashed into the fight to help. Distracted by the newcomer, the Alpha Jugrath didn't see Krystal as she raised her staff high and brought it down hard onto its back. Screeching in pain, it jumped away from Krystal, only to again be attacked by the flying newcomer.

While the red Jugrath was fighting the newcomer, the blue one saw an opportunity to go for Krystal. Bending down low, it prepared to pounce forward and separate her from her weapon again, but before it could attack, Krystal spun around and shot from the end of the staff a gust of sub-zero gas. The gas froze the falling rain it touched into drops of crystal hail and, as it hit the ground around the Jugrath, encased its taloned feet in a mound of solid ice.

Biting and snarling, the blue Jugrath tried to free its feet from the ice, but it could no longer move. Ignoring the beast's pained cries, Krystal spun around and ran to help fight the last Jugrath, who was being tackled by the newcomer.

In a sudden fit of fury, the red Jugrath let out a deafening screech and hurled the newcomer off of it, throwing his body into the mountainside. Then, turning towards Krystal with a roar, it pounced in her direction. Raising her staff, she prepared to block its attack, however, she realized that didn't need to, as the Jugrath instead dashed right past her.

Krystal spun around in surprise, to see the red Jugrath stop near the blue one's trapped feet, and begin to gently bite and claw at the ice around its legs. She watched this odd behavior for a moment, a sense of shock in her chest at witnessing the almost tender action, when she was interrupted by an urgent voice.

"Sem! No doot ke coul!"

She spun around to see the pterodactyl-like creature standing on the edge of the cliff, stretching his wings and gesturing with his head. Krystal nodded and ran over to him, jumping on his back. With a swift flap of its wings, the creature rose from the mountain-side and flew off into the storm.

Krystal took a moment to look back and watch the two predators in the pouring rain, as the red one tenderly tried to free its blue companion. Even from here she could sense crude, animalistic feelings of grief, terror, and pity from the two beasts, though that didn't make those feelings any less real. Guilt suddenly seeped into her heart, and she turned away, keeping her eyes on the endless ocean of cloud and rain as her new friend carried her into the sky.