-Any man can overcome adversity. If you truly want to test a man's character, give him power-

Abraham Lincoln

Prologue

The Vixen, The Ghost, and the way things are

Six years ago

Shortly after the attack on the Lylat System known as the Anglar Blitz, life attempted to return to normal. The planets of the Lylat system slowly rebuilt, slowly resurrecting what life had been taken from their cities, among the happiest individuals in all of Lylat however, was one Fox McCloud. The young mercenary had managed to convince his lost lover to return to him after a bit of persuasion, he managed to remind Krystal of the love they shared for each other, the peace was not to last however. The latent feeling that the young vixen harbored were like a ticking time bomb, she hated constantly waiting for the time when he would finally send her away again...several months after returning to Corneria the vixen came forward. She could no longer lie to herself, she wanted to stay, but, at the same time she could not bring herself to stay with someone that did not want her around. McCloud almost instantly feel into a mote of depression from which there seemed to be no return, Star Fox fell into ruin, the Great Fox was taken in order to pay debts the team had accumulated over their long past. The Fox's Den was repossessed by the Cornerian Military; McCloud quickly found himself moving from one place to another. As the years moved by he found that even the citizens he'd once risked his life for slowly began to forget about him, placing their faith in the hands of newer, younger mercenaries, and even the vixen that had broken his heart when she decided to return to her former position with Star Wolf...

News of the reformed Star Wolf's fame and accomplishments began to spread almost instantly after their pardon from the Lylat's most wanted list. Wolf set his team through a very strenuous program, they trained much more often, they were supplied new gear and weapons, near upgraded Wolfens. Even Leon developed a fan club in those days, however, despite the fact that Krystal had gained a new sort of popularity. At first the slings and arrows were nearly too much for her to bare, but slowly the people began to accept her unparalleled flight capabilities. She found a new love in life, though rumor about Lylat was that her new love was one Panther Caruso, truth be told her only love...was her work...

Oddly enough it seemed to be the only animal that still cared enough to continuously check on McCloud was none other than his childhood pal, Slippy toad. This was the same animal that reported him missing one hot summer day, from his parents' beach house in Papetoon. Most Lylatians that knew of McCloud's unstable condition gave in to the idea of suicide; the young toad was appalled at how quickly everyone simply passed off the young fox as dead, instantly willing to move on. It seemed like even Falco Lombardi was willing to give into the popular belief, it seemed the only person other than Slippy who still believed that something was wrong, was Katt Monroe. However in the passing years something even began to change in her mind, and six years is a long time to change a person's mind. Fox McCloud became a memory, one that most people were quick to forget. With the efforts of the new and improved Star Wolf in the mix, none bothered, none cared, they were taken care of, and with that simply allowed life to go on...

Present Day

Corneria City, Wolf's Den

2100hrs July 29th

The Fox's Den quickly came up for lease, after all with no Star Fox the tower had no means of being paid for, and it only seemed right for Star Wolf to be close to the main body they were paid to protect. The tower was no different than before, spare the fact that the five story tower now carried the black and red colors, as well as the logo of Star Wolf. Inside, a young vixen stood near a large mirror, her nightly routine of exercises had only just finished. Her figure had become far more muscular than it had been with Star Fox, though her physique took away very little of her feminine beauty. She had allowed her hair to grow out long, now reaching past her shoulders. Every night was the same for her, she completed her nightly routine of exercises, most of the time in little more than her bra and underwear before a warm shower and going to bed. Warm showers however did little to soothe her mind anymore, it used to be that the hot waters reminded her of Cerinia. Back home she would spend hours in a day at the hot springs near her village. After her shower, the blue furred vixen stepped out of the familiar, plain bathroom brushing her hair while she walked toward the bra and underwear that she left sitting on her small double mattress bed. Her ear twitched against the air, it was not from a sound, rather a twitch that had developed from years of hearing the thoughts of other animals. Folding her arms over her bear breasts and turning to looking at her bedroom door the vixen sighed...

"Caruso..." She called, "...I gave you the courtesy of a five count last time, this time you only get two. If you're still in here I promise the only thought on your mind for the next three months will be nothing but gay porn."

Suddenly the small closet near her bedroom door burst open and a black panther stumbled out backing toward the door, "Anything but that I'll leave..." He said holding out his hands defensively before slipping out the door that slid shut behind him.

As she turned again she sighed angrily, "Panther I know you're still there."

She felt his mind quickly retreat, and after sliding into her black lace panties, and began to fasten her clean bra about her body a familiar voice came through the small communicator that lay on her nightstand, "Sorry about that Krystal...I tried to warn him but, that bastard's got a perpetual fixation on your tail."

Krystal sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed, "I know..." She replied, "...normally I'd be flattered but, after what happened with..." She paused refraining from mentioning his name, "...after what happened, I just want nothing to do with another male."

A light chuckle of Wolf's voice came through the communicator, "This mean the pup turned out over to the other team? You're not into girls now are you?"

Krystal laughed, "Wolf, don't be disgusting. Besides Panther is a bit to flamboyant for me. I suppose I also still think about..."

Wolf sighed, "Yeah so do I. Look, I didn't want to bring this up but, I have a job that I think only requires the two of us. You know the usual routine, just give me the sign if something isn't right and we'll find out what he's hiding. Six plots against the council in less than a year, something is going bad. Crime has been escalating on Kew ever since the Hot Rodders decided they'd spring back up, last I heard they were trying to turn Lombardi into one of them again."

Krystal sighed as she fell back onto her bed laying there staring at the ceiling, "They're just going to send us after this Ghost person again. We looked, we've searched every scene that we come across and there is no sign of anyone having been there."

"That's why they call him the Ghost of Lylat, Krystal." Wolf chuckled, "just make sure that you get a good amount of sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be hell, we have to go do some more work for those pricks at Vector Industries too, apparently they've got a new line of toys they want us to test in the field for them again."

Krystal yawned, "I see..." She said, "...good night Wolf."

As she lay there the vixen thought back, when she'd first met O'Donnell he was cold, cruel, and above all he seemed completely heartless; but, when all else failed he was the very first person to welcome her. He demanded nothing of her, only that she did her very best at everything regarding the team, he did not threaten her with abandonment, and he did not put her at second to anything...she was simply a part of the team, just as much as any other member. It seemed odd that he would be the single animal of the three other member to reach out to her those first few weeks; he alone helped her through the agonizing depression of what had happened between herself and McCloud, and without asking or thinking that she owed him anything in return. Panther had of course been there for her, or so he said, though at most time he was simply looking for a reason to hug her at any given opportunity...a game that the telepath was very quick to pick up on. Wolf had become one of her closest friends, while Panther became her only source of entertainment with his constant attempt at getting her in bed. She knew that she should have been happy at least in those last days but, even with everything seeming to go her way for once, something still weighed heavily on her mind, keeping her laying there most of the night, watching the thoughts in her mind dance across the ceiling of her room...

0600hrs

July 29th

Early mornings were a routine in Star Wolf, training was held every other day. Krystal would always seem to draw up sparing with Panther, a time she detested as the fact was he was particularly well versed in hand to hand combat, and more than one time in a match would manage to grab her buttocks or breast. Often enough the match would become a fight that dragged out Krystal's real Cerinian potential leaving the hormone driven feline laying in a small puddle of his own blood and self-respect. This morning was different however, instead of her scheduled bout with the feline, that she was actually looking forward to after his earlier attempts as spying on her while she dressed, Wolf was found knocking on the door to her room. She quickly rolled out of bed finding her way to her clothing; in this case no more than a gray tank top, and a pair of loose fitting black jeans, with her standard black boots, not too much unlike the ones worn by Fox McCloud some time ago. Across her lower back was holstered a familiar looking golden staff, who's ruby fitted headpiece was now tipped with a foot long, fanged spear head. Wolf often wondered why the staff was so important but, then again being the only reminder she ever saw of her people, family, and home, he often found himself answering the question for himself. Krystal wasn't too surprised with the early time he'd decided to wake her, he always had been an early bird...

As it was always with Wolf, he wasted little to no time getting himself and the vixen to their destination. Krystal was however surprised to find that they'd actually appeared outside of Nantech Industries. Nantech was very seldom mentioned in public, mostly because the company dealt with technology borrowed from the humans, a race the council had decided was still unready to join the Trinity Accord. Because of the utter panic it would cause knowing what the company dealt with, most often it was only handled by the military and higher links in the Council's chain. Mostly, as the company's name implies, it deals with nano-technology, a form of advanced bio-engineering and advanced robotics that most common day scientists could scarcely fathom. It was no surprise to Krystal that Slippy had recently spent a year or so there. However there was one familiar face that she was not used to seeing there. In front of the doors was standing a slightly tall feline, her pink fur was highly maintained and carried an gorgeous luster that most animals didn't seem to bother with, her bright blue eyes only seemed to enhance her naturally lovely face and brilliant smile as she welcomed the vixen into a friendly embrace...

"Katt...where have you been?" Krystal asked, "I haven't seen you in years."

The Zonessian sighed, "It's...complicated. When Fox first disappeared I went looking for him, " She said shaking her head, "I didn't find much," She replied in a depressed tone of voice, "anyhow. How have things been going as Corneria's new superhero team of Mercenaries?"

Wolf chuckled lightly, "I wouldn't go that far Miss Monroe. Where is that big mouthed boyfriend or yours?"

Katt snorted angrily, "Don't get me started on Lombardi...moron wouldn't know a good thing if it bit him on his ass."

Krystal chuckled into the back of her hand, "She has bitten his ass..."

Wolf smiled shaking his head lightly, "Monroe, I've known you long enough to know that you would do your best to look another way."

The feline sighed, "I have...I hold up two jobs now and I love ever minute of it."

Krystal cocked her head, "I thought you were just a lingerie model now."

Katt chuckled, "Okay three jobs; I do my job as a merc still, but, when I'm not I'm a dancer at a local fella's club, and on top of that yeah I do some modeling here and there. I believe I tried to get you into the profession too."

Krystal shook her head, "I tried Katt...but, those camera men had some really foul minds. You know that one of them was fantasizing about raping me. Then again back then I wasn't even sure what it meant, I thought he was just lusting over me," She said, "but that's enough of that why are you here? What's going on Katt?"

Katt sighed as they entered the large building in front of them; the main lobby was full of chairs and recliners or the guests, the floors were covered with delicate red carpets, and the halls were lined with potted trees that were lovely but, nowhere near too big for the area. Several animals moved about the area, making their ways back and fourth from their jobs or appointments in the building. The two females found a place to sit while Wolf made his way to the red feathered receptionist that sat behind the desk in the center of the room...

Wolf found his way back to his own seat, "So...you know anything about this?"

Katt sighed, "You two have heard of this guy calling himself The Ghost of Lylat haven't you?" The two simply looked to each other then nodded to her, "apparently he stole a piece of modified human technology from this place. The CEO here sent me more details than you two because there was a chance that I wasn't going to make it this morning. He said that the technology that was stolen is a three part system; one part biological engineering, one part nano-fusion technology, and one part advanced weapon technology. Now this Ghost guy is good," She said, "this facility goes three miles underground, and yet he managed to get in, take what he wanted and get out before anyone knew something was missing. They have some surveillance footage but, even the footage doesn't show a clear image of him. It's almost like this guy really is a Ghost...anytime a camera even looks in his direction it just..."

"Snows out..." A voice said causing the three to look to a middle aged looking white wolf in a while lab coat.

"Hello Verne..." Wolf said, "...how's Sasha been?"

The scientist sighed, "She left me two years ago, said that my work was too important and she didn't want to get in my way. Apparently it was already hard enough on her and the kids being labeled an O'Donnell, she wasn't going to take the fact that I was ignoring my family, or so she said."

Krystal looked between the two, apart from the fact that this other wolf was snow white from head to toe, he was almost Wolf's exact double, "You have a brother?" She asked.

Wolf nodded, "Yeah, family sort of broke up when dad kicked. Pretty boy Verne here takes after mom...I got the short end of the stick ended up looking like our old man. Speaking of which..." He said turning to Verne, "...I didn't see you at mom's funeral."

Verne sighed lowering his head, "I just couldn't do it Wolf..." He replied, "...not mom. I couldn't see her like that."

Wolf shook his head, "Hmm...maybe Sasha was right," He said, "either way lets see this footage, and I want details on the stuff that was taken, in depth details..."

Verne nodded, "Right...if you three would place follow me."

Krystal looked to Wolf, "Why do you need so many details?"

Wolf looked back to her, "Think about it. Nobody would dare sneak into an underground facility like this one to go after just any piece of tech, there's something more behind this and I want to know what it is. You remember what I asked you last night?"

"Of course I do I've been in his mind since he took us from our seats." Krystal's voice responded in the back of Wolf's mind.

"Good...keep at it," He whispered, "he's my brother...well he's not the most honest person in Lylat."

Katt sighed, "Seems to be a family trait wouldn't you say?"

Wolf cast an eye at the feline, "Don't start with me Monroe." He chuckled.

Leading them through the building, and down an elevator that took roughly several minutes; Katt found the trip down the elevator to nearly be claustrophobic, but, then again Krystal didn't seem to like it too much herself. When the doors finally did open, the two ladies were the first to exit the lift, only to find themselves in a large hallways that led through the facility. Verne lead them through the halls one after another, like some horrible labyrinth from which there was no real escape. However, their white furred guide led them into a massive room where several other animal stood by, some were clearly military, while others were investigators with the LCI (Cornerian Central Intelligence) realizing what was going on in this one room caused Wolf to bend toward Krystal...

"I told you it was bigger than he made it out to be."

Verne quickly led the three mercenaries to a small viewing booth where they began to watch the video of the robbery, however, there was only a view of the animal's back. He was slightly tall, and well built, but, wore a strange sort of long white trench coat with a hood that covered his head. At the center of the back of the coat, was a symbol not much unlike a large circle with a straight line breaking it in half. Krystal instantly froze...

"Wait..." She said, "...rewind this. Back to when he enters the room, just before if starts to go snowy."

Verne placed his fingers on the screen dragging his fingertips to the left, causing the scene to play backward, "There." Krystal quickly said causing him to pause the screen, "I know that symbol..." She said tapping the image of the animal's coat, "...from Cerinia."

Wolf looked to the sapphire vixen, "Are you telling me that this guy is a Cerinian?"

Krystal nodded, "It is a definate possibility, " She nodded to him before looking back to the screen, "there were four escape ships when the planet was destroyed, one was caught in the aftermath, and I have never seen anything of the other three. I was loaded onto a personal ship by my parents to make sure that I was off the planet before it happened."

"Krystal...?" Katt asked placing her hand on the vixen's shoulder, realizing that something was wrong, "what does that symbol mean?"

Krystal shook her head, "Vengeance."

To be continued...

Maniacal Laughter Inc

This Fic is a joint production of:

The Eyes Under the Stairs

The Footsteps in the Darkness