StarFox Fanfic
Paths of Contempt
Chapter 1: Slippy's Descent
It was a calm afternoon as the sun started its descent from the top of the Cornerian skyline. The streets were crowded with cars, each racing past one another. Upon the market of the main road, thousands of people walked, some just exiting their houses, others rushing home. Many not noticing the figures of people in a nearby restaurant, sitting behind a tinted window, merely passing them off as people they would probably never know in a universe as large as this. The people in the window however, merely watched many of the people rush by and continued to enjoy the meal set before them. One member of the group: a tall, suave, avian, took special enjoyment in the frantic pace of the people passing by the window.
"You know, I bet those people wouldn't be in such a rush if they knew that we were eating right here." the blue avian chuckled out as he swallowed another bite of food.
"Yeah, but then we wouldn't be eating here, would we? We'd be bombarded by all of them asking for autographs and pictures, and we wouldn't even get a chance to eat." replied a fox that sat across from the avian. "And that wouldn't be any fun, now would it, Falco?"
"Eh, you're right. Although, the praise is still pretty hard to ignore."
"What praise? Everybody just calls you an arrogant hot-head, Falco." a green toad interrupted.
"Like you even know what praise is, Slippy! Nobody even knows who you are! Remember that time you were mistaken as our luggage-carrier!? Or how about that time you were the chauffeur!?" the irascible avian shot back.
"Alright, gentleman. Calm down. We're in a restaurant for goodness sake." said an elderly hare as he put down his glass.
"Peppy's right, if we expect to be treated like heroes, we should at least act the part." the fox said.
"Fox and Peppy are right, we can't go around starting things up here." a blue vixen sitting next to the fox added.
"Pfft, I'm gettin' more food." Falco said as he left the table.
"Don't get too much, we should be leaving soon." the hare said, finishing the last bit of food on his plate.
"It's the middle of the day, Gramps! We should be out enjoying the world we've saved on countless occasions!" the avian said, pleading.
"We should get back, we still have to work out the payments for the last repair to the Great Fox. Or did you forget, Falco?" the hare asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, if Slippy watched my back like he was supposed to, I wouldn't have had to pull a stunt like that!" the avian snorted.
"If you were a better flyer, you wouldn't have had to use the Great Fox as a shield." the toad mumbled.
"You want to say that louder, frog boy!?" the avian said as he knocked the frog on the head, dislodging his hat.
"Enough of that, Falco, just hurry up." the hare pushed.
"Alright, alright, I'm goin'." the avian said as he headed for the buffet table.
"Where are we goin' after this, Peppy?" the fox asked.
"Oh, well, since it's almost four, I was thinking we could go shopping around for a little bit, like Falco said. It's not everyday when you don't get called in for work. Just don't tell Falco. I want him to suffer for a little bit longer." the hare explained with a smirk.
"Haha, that's perfect! Good job, Peppy!" the toad choked out, nearly falling over in his seat.
"What's so funny, I miss something?" Falco asked as he sat back down.
Eyes shot back and forth between the group.
"No, nothing, Slippy just ate something a little too spicy." Fox excused.
"Oh well, he never could handle heat. Don't tire yourself out too much though, frog boy. You're going to need your strength for bills. Man, I am not looking forward to today." Falco said into his plate.
"Just hurry up and finish." Peppy pushed, with a slight grin hidden behind his somewhat stern expression.
(On the streets of Corneria)
After Falco finished, the group set out. Falco, however seemed to drag behind. When they reached the corner of the street, the front of the group started to turn towards the shopping district.
"Hey, isn't home the other way? HEY!? GUYS!?" Falco asked urgently.
"Oh, didn't we tell you? We felt like having the rest of the day off, seeing as days without work don't come that often. But if you're in such a hurry to head home and do our bills, feel free. See ya later, Falco." Peppy said as the group hurried off.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!!!" Falco yelled as he rushed to the head of the group. "That's not funny guys. Playing me like that…."
"I don't know, I found it kinda funny." Slippy interjected.
"What was that froggy!?" Falco inquired angrily.
"Uh, nothing, Falco ol' buddy….OOH, what's that over there!" Slippy said as he rushed over to a store window.
(The Shopping District)
The group spent the rest of the day going through all of the shopping district. The sun continued to make it's trek across the sky. When the group had nearly finished, the sun was at the horizon, casting the orange haze of twilight across the streets of Corneria. The streetlights hadn't turned on yet, leaving some of the streets darkened as the buildings intercepted the sunlight.
"That was fun. We should all act sick one day and just do this again." Slippy said, resting on a nearby bench.
"I could pummel you and you could be bedridden, if you'd like that." Falco offered.
"No thanks, Falco." Slippy said as he cautiously glanced towards Falco to make sure he wasn't about to make good on his offer.
"Isn't the sunset beautiful, Fox?" Krystal asked, staring in the direction of sunrays.
"Yeah, it is." Fox responded, standing next to her.
When Falco turned away from the emotional drama of the couple, he caught Peppy winking at him. A sly grin slowly grew across his face.
"Oh, shoot. I forgot my reading glasses back at the restaurant!" Peppy exclaimed.
"Dang! I forgot my shades, too." Falco said on cue.
"What? You did?" Fox asked.
"Yeah, I guess we'll have to go back and get them." Peppy said.
"I could go get them for you guys. It's no troub-" Slippy was cut off as he was dragged off by Peppy and Falco. Falco had his feathers covering Slippy's mouth.
"Don't you two worry. Slippy, Peppy, and I'll go get our stuff. You two enjoy yourselves." Falco shouted back as he turned the corner with Slippy in tow.
"Well, ok then…" Fox drifted off.
"Would you like to walk Fox?" Krystal offered, pulling Fox's attention back over to her.
"Sure." Fox said, taking her hand in his.
(At the street corner)
"Hey, what was that all about!?" Slippy angrily asked after he was released from the pair's grip.
"DON'T YOU GET IT YOU NUMBSKULL!?" Falco exploded.
"We're trying to let Fox and Krystal enjoy themselves. They never get much time to themselves anymore with us always hanging around, so we decided to do something about that." Peppy calmly explained.
"So you guys didn't lose your things?" Slippy asked.
"Damn it! Do we have to spell EVERYTHING out to you!?" Falco screamed.
"Ok-ok. Calm down." Slippy said, backing off.
"Ok, boys. We should all rest easy now. Phew, actually, I'm starting to get pretty tired. I think I'll actually head home now." Peppy said, starting to feel the effects of the day's events.
"Meh, I still feel like wandering. I think I'll walk the streets a little more." Falco responded.
"Yeah, I don't feel like going home quite yet, either. Mind if I hang out with you, Falco?" Slippy asked.
"Ugh, fine. Just don't bug me too much."
"Ok, then, see you boys back at the house." Peppy said, heading towards the direction of the house.
"See ya there, Gramps."
"Bye, Peppy"
The two groups then turned in opposite directions.
(The Cornerian Boardwalk)
"You know, the beach looks a lot different from on the ground. Most of the time I usually see it from the cockpit of an Arwing with some sort of creatures running rampant on it." Fox explained staring at the beach and the multitudes of couples that dotted it.
"Yes, but it is nice. The way waves wash over it, erasing any trace of anyone ever being there. It starts out with a clean slate each day." Krystal thought aloud.
"Yeah, if only it was the same way with the city. Each time some crazy nut-job gets a new toy, he feels like breaking the city. It takes a lot to pay for the damages and just causes a lot of headaches." Fox said in an annoyed tone.
"You ought to relax, Fox. It's not everyday we get to enjoy ourselves." Krystal said in a playful manner.
"You're right." Fox replied.
"Come on, let's go on the beach." Krystal commanded, dragging Fox behind her.
(The Cornerian Hangars)
"Home, sweet home." Peppy said with a sigh as he climbed up the stairs leading to the Great Fox's hull.
The Great Fox was a large, dreadnaught-class warship. It had seen many battles and was constantly met with debris in space. It looked majestic in the hangar, it had been rebuilt since the fiasco with the Aparoids, with some chunks of the original ship salvaged from the planet. The parts were melted down to make parts of the new ship, so that way it some of it would still be the original Great Fox like Fox wished. But now, there was a large gash in a section of the hull. Soot had covered the area around the damage. This particular area caught Peppy's attention as he continued to climb the stairs.
"Ahh, Falco." Peppy sighed as he reached the inside of the hull and the stairs pulled up behind him.
ROB, the ship's operating computer/robot, slowly walked through the mechanical doors to greet Peppy.
"Greetings, Peppy." ROB said with a metallic clang to his voice.
"Hey ROB, turn on the lights in the living area, would ya?" Peppy asked, heading towards the door to the living area.
"Affirmative." ROB said as he moved his robotic digits in the air, pantomiming typing upon a keyboard. With a final click, the door before Peppy opened and the lights turned on.
"Thanks ROB." Peppy said as the door shut behind him.
Peppy moved toward the center of the living area and lay down upon a couch, his thoughts concerning today buzzing around in his head. His thoughts slowly turned to the past as he stared up at the ceiling.
"Ahh, James, if only you could see your son, now. It shouldn't have been you that died that day. I'd have gladly taken your place." Peppy thought.
His thoughts thrust him back to that day in the past. Peppy watched as the events of the mission played out in front of him. Three figures had just entered the bridge of a warship, the surface of a planet speeding below them outside the window. They had their blasters drawn. A cloaked figure stood before the three.
"We've got you now, Andross, just give up now. We got places to be and stuff to do, so just make this easy." a debonair vulpine said as he raised his blaster up, his eyes fixed upon the target standing before him behind his dark sunglasses.
"Ah, what a surprise this is. To meet Team StarFox in my own humble abode. It truly is an honor." the man before the vulpine said. "Tis a shame for you to have come this far only to fall now. Who knows how much of my army fell before you and your band."
"Come on, James. Just bag him so we can get back to Corneria, I got a hot date with Vivian waiting for me there." Young Peppy said impatiently, a blaster also fixed upon the cloaked figure.
"In a sec, Peppy. Let's try to do this with class." James responded.
"Too bad class is over Jamesy. It's time we finish this." the last figure said, slowly walking towards the cloaked figure.
"What're you doing, Pigma!?" Young Peppy asked. When the third figure reached the cloaked figure, he turned and raised his blaster up at the vulpine.
"Wus it look like? I'm winning! I'm looking out for number 1! Too bad number 1 doesn't include you guys." Pigma said.
"Yes, now get rid of them, Pigma!" The cloaked figure said, removing his hood and turning to face the remaining two figures. His face was twisted and wrinkled from age, a demented glare etched into his eyes.
"You got it!" Pigma chortled, pulling the trigger.
The vulpine pushed Young Peppy out of the way. He dodged behind some machinery as blaster fire continued to rain down upon them. Young Peppy slid and fell out through a ventilation grate on the floor, dropping him down to the floor below. He fell into a hallway, with actual Peppy following him after him, clutching his arm, remembering the pain the fall had caused.
"Get out of here, Peppy!!" the voice of the vulpine called out from the floor above.
"No Peps, come stay awhile!!! We're having a grand ol' time!!!" Pigma chuckled.
Blaster fire clanged out after the last chortle.
"NO, JAMES!! I'LL BE UP THERE IN A MINUTE!!!" Young Peppy yelled, looking for an easy way up.
"GET OUT, PEPPY!! GO!!! Just tell my son…..what happened. Now call the General and tell him to send up reinforcements."
With that last word, something on the floor above clicked. A second later, a blast shook the whole ship.
"NOW GO!!!"
More blaster fire rang out and Peppy could hear a gasp come out on the bridge above.
The last thing Peppy could bare to see was himself running headlong down the hallway toward the source of the explosion. "General…..send up some ships. Defenses are down here….."
Peppy returned back to the living area of the Great Fox. He sighed again as he settled back down. His thoughts were interrupted by an incoming message flashing upon the intercom on the wall next to the door. Peppy got up and answered it. Falco's face showed up on the screen, streetlights in the background rushing by.
"Hey, Gramps! We got a problem!!" Falco exclaimed.
(Cornerian streets)
"Say, Falco. Where do you go when you leave the team?" Slippy asked all of a sudden, continuing to walk through the streets alongside Falco.
"Huh, what?" Falco asked, his trance broken.
"I said, 'Where do you go when you leave the team?' You know, what do you do?" Slippy asked again.
"What's it to you, frog boy?" Falco retorted defensively.
"Nothing, just curious." Slippy said innocently.
"That's it, nothing. It's not important, k?" Falco said.
"Ok, ok, jeez, just thought I'd ask." Slippy said.
With that, the two continued to walk down the sidewalk. They didn't happen to notice that some figures had started to follow after them…
(Cornerian Beach)
"Is something wrong, Fox?" Krystal asked, concerned about Fox's expression.
"No, it's just that, something feels…..unsettling. Doesn't it?" Fox asked Krystal in response.
"Maybe, do you want to head back to the Great Fox now?" Krystal asked, concealing her discontent.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm happy just being here." Fox reassured her.
"Ok. You know, this beach reminds me of Cape Claw on Sauria…" Krystal said, remembering back to the time spent back on Dinosaur Planet just before leaving.
"Yeah it does, but instead of the cries of different dinosaurs, there's the roars of city life instead." Fox said with a smile as one of the countless cars honked its horn.
"Heh, yes, it still feels weird, I still haven't gotten used to this." Krystal smiled, looking at Fox's face.
Fox looked back at Krystal and the two started to lean in. Just as their lips were about to meet, Fox's wrist communicator came to life, Falco's face showing up. Flustered, Fox answered the communicator. Krystal looked on with a smile.
"Hey Fox! We got trouble, where are ya!?" Falco asked in a hurried tone.
"I'm at the beach with Krystal, why?"
"Great, they're turning that way. I'll come pick ya up. Get ready!" Falco yelled as the comm. link disconnected.
"What is he talking about!?" Fox asked.
"Fox, look." Krystal said, pointing to the streets. A black car sped past people on the boardwalk, pursued by a motorcycle. The motorcycle pulled over, the wheels being deployed, ending the hover-cycle. The driver was a familiar blue, avian.
"Hurry up!!!" Falco yelled. "We don't got time, use this!!" Falco yelled as he reached over towards a conveniently located stand and tossed over a hoverboard.
Fox rushed over and picked up the board. "Go back to the Great Fox, Krystal!!! We'll meet up with you back there!" With that, Fox mounted the board and held on to the motorcycle as Falco sped away. Krystal, sighing, started towards the Cornerian hangars.
(Cornerian Streets)
"Say Falco, why do yo-"
"Hey, Slippy, I got my own question. Why do you have a need to talk so damn much?" Falco snapped. "I let you come along under the conditions that you don't bug me. But here we are!"
"Geez, sorry. I was just making small-talk." Slippy regretfully said.
"Ugh, I'm sorry too I guess." Falco said. "I was just thinking a litt-"
"FALCO!! HELP!!!!" Slippy yelled.
Falco turned around to see Slippy get dragged off by a hound. A black car suddenly sped up from nowhere and the door opened. The hound shoved Slippy inside and climbed in afterwards. Suddenly, another hound came out of nowhere and swung at Falco. Falco ducked just in time and gave the hound a reverse-kick to the gut. The hound keeled over just as the car door slammed and sped down the road right past Falco. Falco sprinted after it. After several seconds, Falco started looking for an easier means of transport. He found a raccoon riding by on a motorcycle. Falco jumped out in front and pushed the raccoon off.
"I need to borrow this!" Falco excused as he revved the engine and went off, leaving the raccoon dumbfounded.
Falco managed to catch up to the car before it left sight. The car went on a straight-away that led to the edge of the city. Falco continued his pursuit of the car, weaving through traffic. The car ran through several lights, causing some cars to stall, not expecting wreckless driving. Falco had to dodge past them. The lambent streetlights became an audience to the spectacle occurring in the streets. The car was now back in the shopping district speeding down another straightaway.
Falco called the Great Fox on his communicator. "Hey Gramps! We got a problem!! Some goons got Slippy!!"
"What!? What goons!?" Peppy asked, concerned.
"I don't know, they just snatched him up out of nowhere!! I'm following them now. Don't worry, I'll get 'im back!" with that, Falco returned to his pursuit.
The car had neared the end of the shopping district. Falco, realizing that this was taking too long, decided to call for some backup.
With his wrist communicator on, he called his remaining teammates. "Hey Fox! We got trouble, where are ya!?"
"I'm at the beach with Krystal, why?"
At that moment the black car made a turn on to the boardwalk.
"Great, they're turning that way. I'll come pick ya up. Get ready!" Falco disconnected the link and turned on to the boardwalk. He stopped when he found Fox.
"Hurry up!!!" Falco yelled. He knew that Fox being on the back of the motorcycle wouldn't be much help so he looked around for something for Fox to use. He found a stand selling mementos and found a hoverboard, it wasn't a sidecar but it'd do.
"We don't got time, use this!!" Falco yelled as he tossed the hoverboard over. It landed in the sand.
"Go back to the Great Fox, Krystal!!! We'll meet up with you back there!" Fox yelled back before he mounted the board. He grabbed onto the motorcycle and Falco sped off. The car was nearly out of sight. Falco sped up so much that Fox could barely hang on.
"So, care to explain?" Fox asked, trying to remain on the board and bike.
"Those thugs just took Slips." Falco said, determined to catch the captors. "Hang on." Falco said as he took a sharp turn, nearly flinging Fox off the bike.
"They're heading towards the northeast section of town…" Fox analyzed. "They're base has to be there, there's not much else there."
The bike had closed the gap once again, reaching around 75 mph. Slippy looked out the back of the car window. He had tape over his mouth and his wrists and ankles were bound. He saw Falco and Fox closing in on them. The hounds inside however, did not notice.
"Heheh, that was easy. Too bad for Damion, though. That kick looked painful." one hound said with a laugh.
"Yeah, but now we're going to have to explain what happened to boss." the driver said.
"So what? With this little bounty we just picked up, who's gonna care? I wonder how much General Pepper will pay for this guy? To think, a member of StarFox, right here! AHAHA!!!" the last hound laughed.
"K, boys, hang on. We're heading towards the hover-gap." the driver warned the others.
Just then, Falco pulled up alongside the car. Fox reached over with one hand and grabbed onto the car.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" the driver asked, looking into the rear-view mirror.
"Hang on, I'll take care of this." the hound closest to the side Fox was on said.
The hound waited until Fox was close enough, then he opened the door. The door banged into Fox, but Fox managed to get a grip on the door handle. The board, however fell out from underneath Fox, leaving his feet dangling. Fox managed to jump on top of the trunk.
"That's it!" the first hound yelled. He pulled out a blaster and rolled down the window.
Falco, seeing this, pulled up and slammed the bike into the side of the car, knocking the blaster from the hound's hand.
"Here we go boys." the driver said.
The hover-gap is a section of Corneria that runs underground. It was intended to be a parking garage, but has since developed many shops and living areas, so much so that it has now been used as just another section of town. A road runs over the gap leading down into it, however. Cars have to hover over the gap, giving it it's name. Cars can be seen crisscrossing in the gap as well, deterring people from standing near the gap unless they had a death wish.
The black car suddenly went into a nose-dive down into the hover-gap. The car passed many floors, with Fox nearly falling off. Falco, not expecting the sudden nose-dive, attempted the same stunt but clipped the edge of the gap, jarring him loose from the bike.
Falco was then hurtling down the gap, screaming. Then, suddenly he crashed atop another car, leaving a massive dent in the hood of the car. Slightly delirious from the fall, it took a second for Falco to register what had happened. As he regained his senses, he was startled to see who was driving the car. She was wearing a red-headband, had brown-grayish fur, and sharp eyes.
"Katt?" Falco choked out as shock spread over his face. The driver looked out past the window after registering she had just had a person fall atop her car, and the same look of shock spread over her face.
"Falco?" the driver said. At that moment, another car rear-ended her and knocked Falco off.
Meanwhile, Fox clung to the car for his life. The car was about to crash onto ground floor when it straightened out. Inertia, however, made Fox bounce off the car and onto the ground. The car then sped down the tunnel ahead of it. Falco plummeted into a nearby pile of barrels.
"You ok?" Fox asked grinning, partially out of pain, partially out of enjoyment at his friends obviously painful fall.
"I'll live, albeit in intensive care for a while." Falco said, grunting as he struggled out of the barrels. "Say, what is this stuff?"
Falco was staring at what had cushioned his fatal fall. In the barrels, there were mounds of powdery substance.
"That doesn't look legal." Fox concluded, walking over to Falco's impact site.
"Yeah, we might be able to bust these dirtbags later for this, but first, we have to get Slippy." Falco said with renewed determination.
The two started down the tunnel in a brisk sprint. The tunnel had an upward curve, leading up to the higher levels of the gap.
"You ready? I see the car." Fox asked, nodding his head towards the direction of the black car after climbing several levels. It was hidden inside a shed next to a dank, decrepit structure.
"Oh yeah! Let's get our retard back and head home!" Falco said, beginning his approach towards the building.
"Shoot, I left my blaster on the Great Fox!" Fox said after checking his person.
"Come on, Fur-Ball, you never needed that toy before. Where's that killer-instinct from the Academy days?" Falco said shoving his leader up to the building ahead of him.
The two sidled up along the wall of the building. The windows were boarded up, but the handiwork was shoddy and easily allowed for anyone to see in. Fox peered inside to see groups of hounds drinking and laughing. There was easily six hounds in the one room. Lights were on in other rooms, and clanging and other noises could be heard, indicating more members remaining to be seen. Fox signaled to Falco the number he saw. Falco bent down and picked up a board that fell down from one of the windows.
Noticing the eagerness in his partner, Fox moved to the front of the door. With a forceful slam of his foot, he kicked the door in. Fox and Falco immediately moved in, using their enemies confusion to their advantage. Fox immediately moved towards the bulk of the hounds, all of which were settled down upon a couch. With a leap, Fox kicked one hound in the face, taking both the hound and himself over the couch. Falco, in the meantime, was using his block of wood with a fervor. He swung his board quickly, aiming for a hound resting against the wall, the board connecting with the hound's face. The hound was knocked out the boarded window. Falco continued his assault without hesitation, immediately dropping down, and, using the momentum from the previous swing, he took out the kneecap of the nearest hound.
The rest of the hounds, recovering from the shock of the sneak attack, finally got up, angry about being taken by surprise. The slightly drunk hounds started to circle around Fox. One hound behind Fox took the first swing. Fox ducked, catching the hounds arm mid-punch, and pulled. The hound flipped over Fox and was sent flying into the hound directly across from Fox. Another hound, seeing an opportunity, swung at Fox from his right, only to have Fox's left elbow meet with his gut. As the hound keeled over, the hound across from him in the circle dashed in to take out the enemy. Fox, however, unleashed a reverse-kick right into the hound's chest. The hound was sent careening backwards, right into the open doorway.
Falco, was mowing down enemies left and right using the piece of lumber. He was doing fine until he met a slightly more-sober hound. This hound caught the lumber mid-swing, trying to rip it from Falco's grasp. Unable to do so, the hound raised the piece of lumber, making Falco's arms raise with it, leaving his inner torso exposed. Before Falco could react, the hound raised his foot and shoved with great vigor, knocking Falco atop a nearby table and seized control of the board. The hound approached the table, switching the board into his preferred hand. Falco, opening his eyes after accepting the blow, immediately saw a bottle of some alcoholic liquid roll into his face. Falco grabbed the neck of the bottle and swung it up, smashing it into the face of the hound, just as the board was about to come down. The glass shattered and the hound fell over backwards.
With the last hound down, Falco fell down into a wooden chair nearby. Fox, tired himself, fell down onto the couch the hounds used.
"Hehe, you…..see their…faces?" Falco choked out through deep breaths.
"Oh yeah,…..the one….you hit….with the bottle. His….was priceless." Fox laughed out, breathing deeply as well.
"Doofus….has…to be..upstairs." Falco said, his breathing beginning to regulate.
"Yeah, let's go..get him." Fox said, lifting himself off the couch.
With one last breath from each, the two moved towards the back rooms. In the corner of what appeared to be a dining room, the two found a staircase. The two ascended slowly, backs to the wall, as they slowly climbed the stairs. The stairwell opened up into a narrow hallway, not wide enough to fit two people shoulder-to-shoulder. Fox lead the two, shoulder leaning against the wall, going up to the sole doorway. It had a smoked glass window, upon which read the words, Dolo.
Fox pressed his ear up against the window. He could hear a couple of voices being thrown back and forth.
"-s really nothing, boss. We just kinda snuck up on him when he wasn't looking and got him." one voice triumphantly spoke.
"His friend gave us some trouble though. Frickin' knocked a guy off his own bike to get us." another voice continued.
"Yeah, but we sent him down the gap, forcefully." the first voice continued, still sounding triumphant.
"Too bad it didn't work." a third voice said.
Realization ran through Fox's eyes. He kicked down the door and entered immediately, with Falco not far behind.
There were three hounds in the room, with Slippy tied to a swivel-chair off in far-right corner. Two hounds were from the car, standing, and the last sat in a large, high-back chair. They were standing in an office-like room, similar to a Private Eye's office, just with more space. Some more of the barrels Falco had fallen into were sitting adjacent to Slippy's corner. The two standing hounds looked startled, but not surprised. After a second, smiles grew across their faces. Fox cut right to the chase.
"We're here for our friend. Just shut your traps now, hand him over, and we'll leave you scumbags to continue festering in this crap-hole without bruises." Fox announced.
"Bold demands, Mr. McCloud. But you didn't think we'd hear the ruckus you caused downstairs? It was quite loud..." the hound in the chair stated.
This time, shock ran through Fox's eyes as he heard Falco's grunt when his face met the wall to the right. Two large bulldogs were behind Fox, the first one that entered resuming an upright position after knocking Falco aside, the second just entering the room from the hallway.
"It's called a rear-view mirror, Mr. McCloud. Even these moronic goons can tell when someone is on the back of a car." the seated hound called out.
The two standing hounds formed a circle with the two bulldogs around Fox. The second large bulldog then moved in, disarming Fox with a large bear-hug.
"Now we have three bargaining chips. What a pretty penny we'll get for the return of the famous StarFox team!" the hound laughed out.
Falco had just struggled back into consciousness. He remained on the ground, hearing voices other than Fox's, not trying to draw attention to himself. He looked around. Off in the corner, he saw Slippy bound to the chair. He then formulated a plan, and struggled to his knees, ducking behind the nearby assistant's desk.
"What do you expect to do…Dolo, was it?" Fox choked out, the immense pressure on his lungs hindering his audibility.
"What? You didn't hear me the first time. I'll say it again: I'm going to sell you back to General Pepper. Then I'm going to high-tail it out of this rat-hole. One-two punch if I say so myself." Dolo explained again.
Falco had managed to sneak over to Slippy undetected. He hid behind his chair, waiting for the right time. Slippy had just noticed Falco's presence behind him and started wriggling around in his binds.
"Stop moving you idiot!" Falco said loud enough for Slippy to hear. "Time to make yourself useful!"
With that last word, Falco shoved the swivel chair into a nearby hound, knocking him over and slamming him unconscious upon the ground. Slippy's eyes were screaming as his chair fell over. Falco jumped up and followed right after the chair, running in between the bulldog's legs, knocking him and Fox over. Fox managed to struggle his way out of the bulldog's grasp just before getting crushed, rolling right next to Dolo's desk. The bulldog smacked his head on the Dolo's desk and fell unconscious as well. Dolo jumped up, shock in his eyes, then calmed down and retreated to a drawer in the corner. Falco ended up in the corner opposite Slippy's initial corner, with the second hound closing in on him. Slippy was now on the floor, in the middle of the room. He was nearly stepped upon by the second bulldog as it started heading towards Fox.
The hound was now smirking as it edged closer to Falco. He reached inside his coat pocket and pulled out a knife. He took a swing at Falco, and barely missed as Falco ducked. Falco went around the hound and retreated to the opposite corner again. The hound continued his attacks, Falco nimbly dodging each one. Finally, Falco used an axe kick on the hounds hand, jarring the knife from his hand, then followed with a hook kick to the hounds' left side, knocking him out a window.
The bulldog, however, started his own assault. He tried stepping on Fox, but Fox rolled underneath Dolo's desk. The bulldog, now agitated, lifted up the desk and dropped it in an attempt to crush Fox, missing again as Fox rolled off to the side.
"That's coming out of your paycheck, you lug!" Dolo yelled, quickly returning to searching through the drawer.
The bulldog, now furious, searched around for Fox now, losing track of him after Dolo's threat. Fox had snuck behind the bulldog and kicked him in the back. The bulldog barely twitched. He turned around and picked Fox up by the collar of his shirt. He then ran Fox's body into the wall next to the door, creating a loud smack that sounded out in the room. Fox gasped out in pain. The bulldog started laughing as it started punching Fox in the face. Slippy, during the fight had wriggled himself next to the door, with the bulldog now merrily bashing Fox in the face. Slippy used the door hinge to remove his mouth gag. He then tried biting the bulldog's ankle, a task hard to do with no teeth. The warm sensation now registering, the bulldog started shaking his leg furiously in an attempt to shake Slippy off. Falco, now seeing the bulldog panicking, ran headlong into a full-body tackle into the bulldog. The bulldog and Falco went straight into the adjacent wall, the bulldog smashing his head on the way down. The bulldog lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
"You ok, Fox?" Slippy finally managed to ask after being freed from his gag.
"No." Fox joked, blood dripping from his mouth as he coughed out a couple of laughs.
At that moment, the sound of a blaster fired. Dolo had finally found the blaster in the drawer and fired a warning shot.
"That's it! I'm getting my money, one way or another! Now move!" Dolo commanded, his blaster trained upon Fox's head.
"Screw that!" Falco yelled as he picked up the first hound's limp body and tossed it in Dolo's direction.
Dolo was forced to duck to dodge the incoming body. Falco rushed to the opposite corner and ducked behind the barrels in the corner. Fox and Slippy, unaware of the current plan, stood there, dumbfounded. Dolo shot wildly into the air now, causing chunks of the ceiling to fall down, kicking up dust and debris.
"ENOOOOUGH!!!! I'm gonna make you regret ever coming here!!!" Dolo yelled as he walked towards Fox and Slippy. "ENJOY SUCKING ON LASER!!!!"
"Hey, Dolo!!!!! SUCK ON THIS!!!!" Falco yelled as he bashed Dolo on the back of the head with one of the barrels from the corner.
The lights left Dolo's eyes as he fell to his knees, a look of pain imprinted upon his face. Fox and Slippy looked up at Falco's smug face as he dropped the barrel to the ground. Falco dropped to the ground and panted. His jacket had several cuts from where the knife had just missed, and his right cheek was developing a bruise from where his face had met wall. When he regained his senses, he looked at his comrades. Fox had blood dripping from several cuts on his face and a darkened ring started forming around his right eye. Slippy was still bound to the chair and had a bruise on his neck from when the bulldog shook him around.
"You guys look like crap." Falco said after several minutes and fell over.