Prologue

Fox McCloud was lazily lounging about in the living room of his home. Suddenly, Krystal walked up to him, and said, "Fox, your son wants you."

Fox jerked up from his lounging position, and sighed heavily. Krystal cleared her throat, and said, "Um...now would be nice."

At that comment, Fox hastily yelled, "Alright!"

Krystal kind of flinched and stepped back at Fox's outburst. Fox saw this, and said, "Krystal, I'm sorry. I've been kind of down a lot. Maybe I'm not as ready to be a father as I thought."

Krystal cocked an eyebrow, and said with a smirk, "Well, you chose to go as far as you did, and now it's too late. I kept saying you should have taken some kind of precaution."

Fox smirked back, and said, "Well, we could always put him up for adoption."

Krystal placed a paw over her muzzle as she gasped, and said, "You can't be serious!"

Fox couldn't help but laugh, and said, "Of course I'm not serious! Still, it was good for a laugh."

Krystal was fuming at that, but she managed to calm down, and said, "You are such a tease."

Fox smirked again, and said, "I know, aren't I?"

Then Marcus, their son, called Fox again, and Krystal said, "I think you should go to him."

Fox then asked Krystal, "And he can't come to me because...?"

Krystal gasped in disbelief, and hit Fox over the head with her open hand. Fox rubbed his head afterwards, and asked, "What was that for?!"

To that, Krystal replied, "You're the one who told him to go to his room for an hour!"

Fox then thought for a little while, and hit himself at the forehead, and said, "I can't believe I forgot."

He then went to Marcus' room to see what he wanted. When he opened the door, Marcus simply stood there, a nervous expression on his face, and his hands behind his back. Fox tried to peer behind his son's back, but Marcus just turned to prevent him from doing so. Fox then said sternly, "Paws out front."

Marcus simply stood there. Fox tapped his foot impatiently, and said, "I know this is why you called me here, now show me."

Marcus again did not move. Fox then yelled, "NOW!!!"

Marcus jumped, and swiftly thrust his paws in front of him in compliance to his father's demands. Fox gasped when he saw what he held. He asked Marcus in a stern voice, "Where did you get this?"

Marcus did not answer. Fox then said, "I prefer not to use force with you."

Marcus then sighed, and said, "I found it at the corner of Main Street and Pepper Avenue. I wasn't sure what it was, and no one would tell me."

Fox then said, "Destroy it."

Marcus suddenly got a curious look on his face. Fox then yelled, "NOW MARCUS!!!"

Marcus gulped, then nodded. He placed it on the ground, and stepped on it. However, it did not break. Fox sighed, and said, "Great. How did it get here, anyway?!"

At that point, Krystal walked in, and said, "What is it, Fox?"

Fox picked up the object, and showed it to Krystal. She gasped, and said, "Impossible!"

Fox then said, "Exactly what I thought at first."

Krystal then began sobbing, and said, "Not again..."

Fox embraced his crying mate, and said assuringly, "Don't worry, we won't let it happen again. But we have to get rid of that as a first step."

Krystal nodded, and said, "So, Fox, how do we do that?"

Fox thought about it, and then said, "Let's talk to Beltino about it. If anyone knows how to destroy it, it should be him."

Krystal nodded again, and said, "Well, let's go."

In response to that, Fox said, "You're right. We can't give whatever Aparoids somehow survived the Apoptosis program a chance to pinpoint the location of this Core Memory."

Marcus saw something fall from the sky, and said, "Hey, mom, dad, did the weather channel mention a chance of the sky raining insect-like things?"

Fox gasped when he heard that, and Krystal couldn't help but cry again. Fox said in almost a whisper, "Oh no, they've found us..."

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Well, I think that's good for a prologue. Yes, the Aparoids are back.