Fox sat in his room aboard the Great Fox 2 as an empty shell. Sure, being a famous mercenary and all has it perks, but in this case, it didn't help Fox at all.
He sat alone in his empty room, sighing to himself, replaying the same memory over and over again throughout his mind. The memory alone was enough to drain his energy and will to do anything in life, as he thought he had it all.
Fox realized his mistake before and thought he had finally come to terms with it when Krystal rejoined the team to help defeat the Anglars, only to be struck down again a few weeks later as she left him again.
"Fox, I can't stay here like this! I feel like I'm only going to get hurt again…" He remembered Krystal sobbing to herself as he was trying to take a hold of what she just said. "What do you mean?"
"I'm leaving you Fox, you broke my heart and I don't feel like I can ever trust you again…"
It's been at least a year and a half since that day, but he still remembers it just as if it happened only a short few hours ago. He still feels like it happened only that long ago, pain and sorrow building up inside.
All of his friends tried and tried again to help him through it, but it seemed as though he was deemed a lost cause through their eyes as they all got up and left him there in his room. Sure Slippy and Peppy tried hard, but it actually pained Falco to see him this way.
He remembered Falco trying desperately to try and get him going on a mission again, hoping it would spark his good friend's lust for battle like it used to, but it quite didn't do it. The avian didn't give up soon, however, as he continued to try and find remedies to fill his friend's pain and sorrow.
After several months of trying, he finally gave up. "Look, I've tried and tried to help you, but it's impossible to help someone who isn't willing to help themselves in the process. I hate to break it to ya Foxie, but it looks like it's the end of road for me here. If you feel any better, just contact me alright?" Falco's words stilled echoed through his mind.
Fox shook these memories off his mind, and took a deep sad sigh. He turned to his stereo, popped in a custom burned CD, and pressed play. As the lyrics passed through his mind, he settled further down into depression, clearing his mind and taking in the lyrics.
Cold am I
I'm beside myself
Because there's no one else
Have I grown
So blind
Only god could save you
If you knew your way to the light
So fly away
And leave it behind
Just stay awake
There's nowhere to hide
Fox sat there, staring at the ceiling with an emotionless glare. He continued to listen to the song, not knowing that an idea was soon forming within.
I see you
Cause you won't get out of my way
I hear you
Cause you won't quit screaming my name
I feel you
Cause you won't stop touching my skin
I need you
They're coming to take you away
Fox saw the face of his love in his mind's eye, as slight tears started to form in his eyes. This would all change, however, very soon. He just didn't know it yet.
Frail and dry
I could lose it all
But I cannot recall
It's all wrong
Don't cry
Clear away this hate
And we can start to make it alright
So fly away
And leave it behind
Return someday
With red in your eyes
Fox, who closed his eyes from to try and stop the flow of silent tears, now shot up with wide eyes as he thought of something to do, something that he would try and attempt to save everything. This song he was listening to was his motivator, his drive, to attempt this plan of his. He kept listening, intently.
I see you
Cause you won't get out of my way
I hear you
Cause you won't quit screaming my name
I feel you
Cause you won't stop touching my skin
I need you
They're coming to take you away
He took in the moment of the lapse of lyrics, within the small guitar rift playing in the background, until the chorus came back into play, fading with slight echoes of the singer's voice.
I see you
Cause you won't get out of my way
I hear you
Cause you won't quit screaming my name
I feel you
Cause you won't stop touching my skin
I need you
They're coming to take you away
(Away by Breaking Benjamin, one of my favorite bands and songs :D)
Nearly instantly when the song ended, did Fox get up with new determination in his eyes. He would go, find Krystal, and bring her back. He didn't care if he would get shot down, at least he would know he tried, instead of sitting in his room, falling deeper into depression. He walked over to the bridge, which was a long one, when he listened to his music still playing through the intercoms.
You take the breath right out of me.
You left a hole where my heart should be.
You got to fight just to make it through,
'cause I will be the death of you.
(Breath by Breaking Benjamin, section of the chorus. Another great song :D)
He didn't quite understand the fourth part of the chorus, but it still got to him. He was going to find Krystal, track her down, and bring her back before she makes the biggest mistake of her life. Fox found out recently that she was involved with Panther Caroso, one of Star Wolf's members.
"I honestly don't know why out of all people in the Lylat system, that she chose him… I mean doesn't she know he probably cheats on her 24/7?" Fox thought to himself. Finally, he spotted the bridge door and walked onto. ROB, as always, was sitting there doing calculations on the massive ship.
"ROB, I need to you verify the location of former Star Fox member, Krystal." Fox found out that his new plan had rid him of his previous emotions that were eating him away from the inside out. He finally smiled ever since she broke up with him in the past.
"Affirmative, tracking Krystal of Cerinia now, estimated wait time 2 minutes and 37 seconds." The robot's voice was never going to grow on Fox, every time he heard it, it gave him the slightest shivers at the sound of the monotone and scratchy voice.
"Thank you ROB, I'm going to grab something from the kitchen real quick. Tell me the results when I arrive back onto the bridge."
Fox left the bridge and walked a short distance to the mess hall and kitchen of the Great Fox 2. It wasn't much different from the old Great Fox's layout before the Aparoid Invasion, except every room was a little bit larger and contained better technology.
He walked over to the fridge and looked at the contents that it contained. He noticed several hard drinks, such as rum, vodka, and tequila, but grabbed a water bottle instead. It seems he wouldn't be drinking anymore, as he needed to focus on what the future contained.
He walked back to the bridge of the Great Fox 2 and waited for the results of ROB's information on the whereabouts of Krystal. "Well ROB, what've you found so far?" The tan vulpine replied.
"Whereabouts of former Star Fox Member Krystal have been found. She appears to be on the planet Katina, exact coordinates are unknown."
"Thank you ROB, but I need you to run another scan for me. Are any Star Wolf members in the region of Katina?" Fox wanted to know if she was with Panther, as he wanted to get there quickly to confront her and finally find a way out of his dark depression.
"Negative, former Star Fox member Krystal is alone."
The vulpine let out a sigh of relief. "ROB, do we have enough fuel to reach Katina?"
"We are currently running on 40% fuel capacities at the moment. We have enough to reach Katina, but only enough to reach halfway to Corneria on our departure back. We will need to either fuel up now, or on Katina."
"Roger that ROB set us a course for Katina. I want to get there as fast as possible before she leaves."
"Getting coordinates for planet Katina and locking onto orbit. Engines are at full capacity, estimated arrival time is 4 hours and 43 minutes." Fox sighed to himself having to wait that long. "Well I should be able to think of what to say if I do confront her…"
"ROB, set the alarms to go off on our arrival. I'm going to take a nap before we arrive to Katina." The vulpine started to walk towards his room and heard the robot's monotone voice reply "Affirmative, Captain McCloud."
Fox set his head down on the pillow and turned off his music, trying to get an idea of what to say to her when he arrives and finds her. "Come on Fox, you saved the Lylat system three times now, you should be able to sweep her off her feet…"
Fox may have been the savior of the Lylat system and a battle hardened mercenary, but he still couldn't muster the courage to speak the right words without stuttering in embarrassment when he talked to Krystal. She actually found it quite cute, which blossomed their relationship in the beginning before it came all crashing down.
"If I'm going to get her back I need to be bold and confident. I need to show her that I've change from the old Fox McCloud to make her know that I'm not hoping to get her back, but that I will get her back. Funny how I've been wounded several times and always recovered… But it only took one strike from her and I nearly gave up on life."
Fox fell asleep with that as his final thought, drifting away from consciousness into the realm of dreams.
Fox walked down a small pathway, leading down onto a tropical beach. He remembered instantly where he was after taking the surroundings. There was a huge Krazoa face statue leading to the Ocean Force Point Temple, and the several caverns that littered the cliff sides. He always seemed it to be quite peaceful here, and the sound of the waves crashing and lapping against the sand gave him a sense of clarity from all of his problems.
He took in a deep breath, standing on the shore and letting the warm water soak his feet. It seemed the water was able to wash away all of his problems that occurred in his life, and wished that he could stay like this for the rest of his life. He felt a warm embrace come from behind and turned around to see a blue vixen holding onto his waste from behind. It was the happiest he's ever seen her in his whole life.
Suddenly, everything went black, and her caring smile turned into a horrific expression. He would never forget that face, it seemed to have burned itself into his mind. The day that he kicked Krystal off the team… Her voice echoed throughout his dream "You broke my heart and I will never be able to trust it to you again…"
He collapsed holding his chest, noticing an incredible amount of pain rising from within. It seemed his insides were on fire. Fox's whole body was wrenching in pain, as he watched his only true love walk away from him a second time, and it seemed right then and there would he die from the pain, until he heard a loud ringing noise.
Fox instantly jumped up, breathing heavily, his whole body covered in sweat from the horrific reminder of his past mistakes. "Seems like some things take longer than others to heal…"
He rose out of his bed, and took a quick shower before departing to the bridge.
A few minutes later
"ROB, what's our status at the moment?" The vulpine came into the bridge in a near sprint. He wanted to speed things up as fast as he could. He looked out onto the onboard monitor, showing the front of the ship. He saw that they were indeed in orbit of Katina, and have been contacted by a nearby army base to verify their identity.
"Katina Military Base 049, this is Captain Fox McCloud of the Great Fox 2 requesting to land. I repeat this is Captain Fox McCloud of the Great Fox 2 requesting to land."
There was a slight pause on the communication channel that was patched through, but then a feminine voice replied. "Verification granted. Welcome to Katina, Captain Fox McCloud and enjoy your stay."
They landed the massive ship in one of the docking hangers of the several military bases around the planet. There wasn't much here, besides several military bases and a few colonies, which actually got Fox wondering why she was here in the first place. When he stepped out of the docking bay of the Great Fox 2 and into the hanger, was he greeted by someone who he didn't expect to see here.
"Fox!" A large greyhound made his way towards the tan vulpine. "What brings you here my old friend?" Bill Grey opened his arms wide to give his old childhood friend a hug. Fox returned the gesture, smiling how he was still his friend over all these years. "Last I heard you were dating that vixen with the blue fur, by the way how is that going?"
The vulpine's warm smile turned to a serious expression. "Well that's the main reason why I'm on Katina. I'm looking for her Bill, and I need help finding her."
"Well you came to the right place my friend; here is the largest surveillance base on the whole planet. We nearly have every planet's surface mapped by cameras ever since the Aparoids attacked us way back when." Fox was impressed, he didn't expect that. "That's quite impressive Bill, did General Peppy approve it?"
"Peppy actually proposed the idea. He didn't want our top secret military bases being compromised by some curious civilians or enemies of Corneria. If you have a photo of her, we can easily run a scan of her facial features and find her in no time, Fox."
Fox pulled out a picture that he would never give up in his whole life. Even if it meant his death, he probably wouldn't part with it. It was the last happy moment that they shared together before they were hit with a wave of drama that basically destroyed his life.
It was a photo of a vacation they spent together on Sauria shortly after the Aparoid invasion. It was there that they took their relationship to the next level. (I'm not going to go into details about it, so don't ask lol you should know what it means) It was a picture of her giving him a warm smile, while given a tour of the walled city by Prince Tricky, who actually got quite big in the year that Fox left from his original encounter with the young prince on Sauria.
They walked over to a small building on the far side of the base and went inside. There was a huge monitor on the wall, along with a large machine that resembled a large vending machine. Obviously it wasn't one, as Bill walked up to the machine and pressed a few buttons. "Alright Fox, hand me the photo."
The Vulpine pulled it out of his pocket, looked at it for a second and sighed. He reluctantly handed it over to Bill. "Don't worry you'll get it back. It only needs to scan it for a second." He slid it inside the Machine, and came back out after a large ray of light appeared from the scanner. He handed the photo back to Fox who put it back into his pocket carefully.
"Ok, it's grabbed her facial features and body shape, and is starting a scan on every camera that's connected to the database, which should be all of them, as we have sensors that go off if one of them isn't functioning."
Fox noticed the monitor was flashing vibrantly then finally stopped. It showed a large portion of a continent and slowly zoomed in on top of a location only a few miles from here. It was a small colony, and it zoomed in on her slowly driving a hover bike to a shop further down the road.
Instantly Fox's stomach filled with butterflies as he saw the love of his life on the screen, alive and well. "Come on, we'll have the guards give you a hover car get to her." Bill walked out of the station and over to another building with a small garage next to it. Fox waited outside until he heard a slight humming sound and saw a large hover hummer driving out of the garage. It was a military grade vehicle, used for multi-purpose missions.
Bill got out of the car and beckoned Fox over. The vulpine got into the driver's seat and looked around the vehicle. He had a constant GPS navigation to Krystal's position. "Remember just follow that little dot, and you will be home free. Good luck buddy!" Bill gave him a pat on the back before stepping down and walking off to his duties.
Fox pulled out of the military base and out into the dirt road on his way to the small colony nearby.
Katina Colonization Project 032, 1732 hours Military Time
Krystal walked into a small building and walked to the front counter. It was a fairly small building, but was decorated ornately with several marble structures and a beautiful fountain in the middle of the main entrance.
"This doesn't feel right... Maybe I should…" Krystal instantly shook off the thought. "No, I've made my decision and I'm going to stick with it. Even if it has to be this way, I'm going to follow through with it."
The lady at the front desk spoke to her in a calm and sweet voice. "May I help you, young lady?"
"Yes I have plans to arrange a Wedding for a Mr. Caroso." Krystal stated, almost painfully.
"Ok, so you must be Krystal then. Follow me then and I'll lead you to our Wedding Planner." The counter lady got up and led her through a door and down a hallway. She walked up to another door and opened it, motioning for her go in.
"Krystal! Good to hear back from you so early! I take it you wish to plan the Wedding now and get it over with?" The man was a short Fox with arctic white fur in a black tuxedo. She gave him a small nod. The white vulpine smiled and led her out of the door. "Follow me now and we will discuss what I've already planned out."
Fourty minutes later…
"I wait to hear back from you Krystal. Send Panther my congratulations!" The white vulpine walked back down the hallway and into his office.
Krystal walked out of the door and got onto her bike. She drove over to a small grocery store to buy something to drink to refresh her and hopefully clear her clouded head. She pulled up to the parking lot, parked her bike, and walked inside.
Instantly, she picked up on a very, very familiar thought pattern. "Why would he be here? Didn't he get my messages?" Truth be told, after all of the messages being sent to Fox to help him through his time in need, he shut off his communicator, and hasn't turned it back on since. "Maybe he doesn't know I'm here…" She was deeply in thought that she walked right in front of someone and stumbled into him, knocking her to the ground. Krystal glanced over to the man who she tripped over and noticed he fell also. He got back up and looked over to her, and Krystal instantly recognized who it was.
"Fox? Is that really you?" She said with a hint of happiness, yet there was sadness in the voice as well. "This is going to be really awkward…" Krystal never really got over what happened between them, and she still loved him deeply. But her mind took over her heart, and she went to Panther instead.
"Krystal!" The tan vulpine said with joy as he helped her up. "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same thing, but since you asked first, I'll answer." She read his mind, sensing his intentions. "Oh shit this isn't going to end well… He didn't get my messages…" She felt sorrow rising up from within. "This is going to break him even more…"
"Fox I take it you haven't gotten my messages yet?" She noticed the spark that she originally saw was back in his beautiful emerald eyes. "No, I haven't why?" He sounded a little worried.
"I don't know how I'm going to explain this to you Fox, but please, don't be upset. I'm getting…" She stuttered nervously as she didn't want to say it, wanting to spare her true love the misery and even further heartbreak. Krystal didn't even want to be with Panther to begin with, but she knew that he loved her and accepted this. It wasn't the same however as she thought she loved Panther, but her heart told her no.
"I'm getting married, Fox. To Panther…" She watched the sparkle in his eyes replaced with something she never wanted to see. Reading his mind made it even harder for her. "I'm to become Krystal Caroso in four weeks. I sent you an invitation through your communicator but you obviously didn't receive it."
Fox was in shock. First he gathered his motivation to track her down, meet her, and hopefully bring her back into his arms. Yet fate had other plans for him. To die a lonely man and the only remainder of the McCloud surname. The sparkle in his eye was replaced with a fire. A burning fire of hate, hate overwhelming for Panther.
He gritted his teeth and turned his back to Krystal, trying to hide his tears of sadness and his expression of pure hate. He knew he couldn't hide from her; she was a telepathic after all. He mustered up whatever life he had left within and said "Krystal, I'm going to leave and you'll never hear from me again, but think about what I'm going to say to you. Think very hard about what I'm going to say, as this is the last thing you hear me say to you directly." He choked up a little and Krystal had several tears forming in her eyes. She didn't want it to end this way, but it had to. She couldn't break out of her marriage right now, it was too late. "Krystal, I love you deeper than anything I have ever felt. Nothing will ever change that, but it seems you made your choice, and I will leave you to it. You'll never hear from me again, and I hope that you have made the right choice. I won't be attending your wedding, as it will only make things more complicated for me, and I only want what is best for you. Goodbye Krystal of Cerinia, I'm leaving, forever."
The vulpine walked to the front entrance of the store and looked back into Krystal's eyes one last time trying to imprint that image of her face in his mind last time. His beautiful vixen, the one he yearned to call his own, was gone. Now, all that was left of him was his will to live to the end of his days, alone in solitude.
That look that Krystal received was heart wrenching. It was one of utter despair and desolation. Tears were streaming down her face, looking into the man who she wished belonged to her. Instead, they were torn apart painfully and she felt the bond with him severed. That was it, he finally let go of his ambitions to be with her. Krystal felt it within his mind, complete and utter hopelessness.
She fell to her knees as Fox turned and walked out, tears silently streaming down his face. His heart was completely broken in half, and she felt the most horrible pain that was ever inflicted before in his mind. He was at the lowest point of sorrow, the most alone one could ever feel.
The cerulean vixen, who thought she had what she wanted in life, was split in half. She broke down on the floor, crying uncontrollably. She didn't care if people looked; she knew she would have to live without Fox in her life, which was almost impossible to think about. Krystal always thought they would have a dream getaway and escape their lives and live in peace, but with Krystal engaged that would never happen. She was too loyal, and now her loyalty and stubbornness caused her the most emotionally painful moment she ever experienced.
