Something I should have done ages ago. My most popular story ever, the G-Zero Chronicles is finally getting the remaster it deserves. I hope you will enjoy this remastered prologue. More is on its way.

Prologue: The Death of a Hero

"Wow, I can't believe he was just hanging out here this whole time." comments Falco, slightly exhausted from blowing Pigma to pieces. "How boring!"

The remark about how much fun it was, was really meant for Fox but he's not in the mood for it. In his faithful Captain's chair, like so many others have, he stares deeply sunken in his own thoughts at the black, with star-sprinkled space in front of him. His elbows are placed on some unused iron between buttons and switches that do all sorts of stuff he should know but he chooses not to on purpose. His mind is full enough as it is. His right paw is clenched into a fist with the other covering it, like paper covering rock in that hand game. Both cover his mouth. Staring out the window usually calms his mind however this is a different story.

He does not have to make a hard decision. One that might influence the outcome of this Here's another. That has become the nickname for this war; at least, as he heard a couple of Cornerian fighter pilots chatter about over unprotected communication channels. Kind of stupid when you think about it. Instead, that decision has already been made. And he has the haunting feeling that it wasn't the right one.

Going after Wolf. Why the heck did I choose for that option? spooks through his mind. His choice to pursue Wolf in an attempt to him down finally, end his endless rivalry between them, might have been very wrong. His gut is telling him that. Telling? More like shouting, screaming, yelling and shrieking it. It turns him nuts and makes his stomach churn.

Was I so blinded by anger... That I forgot to look past this rivalry and see the bigger picture? That I couldn't see the obvious trick that they were playing on me? That they wanted me to follow them? Besides, why would Pigma even be here?

He recalls the floating cube with an ugly pig face's words. Somehow he was able to suggest that Wolf and co were good people. Even though they kicked him out of Star Wolf because he was a pain in the neck.

It all becomes a little too overwhelming for him alone. He rises from this chair and turns around, walking towards Falco standing across the hologram projector used for communication. It resembles the same look as it did when they were on Sauria with the original Great Fox. Somehow Slippy, before he scooted off to Aquas to marry some unknown woman, managed to recreate a near identical twin. Only now the bust of the person who is on the line appears instead of just a floating head.

He doesn't greet Falco or say anything to him for that matter. Falco doesn't do any effort either. The situation turns cold-hearted; both can feel it hanging in the air. Falco more so than Fox but with his arms crossed, stern look on his face and an attitude that screams "I couldn't care less" he hides it. Fox however...

The door of the room suddenly opens and ROB comes into the room using some train tracks to move around the Great Fox II. He brings a cold breeze along with him, giving Fox even more chills than he already had. Otherwise hardwired to the ship, this allows him for more direct interaction with both Fox and Falco with the added benefit of being able to observe problems and fix them directly instead of detecting it and sending Fox after for the billionth time. It's almost as if he can feel more than any robot usually should.

Beeping a happy tone, like he was whistling, he joins Fox and Falco at the hologram projector. He sees the pretty harsh look on Fox's face but a change to ask him about it is not given to him.

"ROB? Any information on Wolf?" asks Fox just so it breaks the tension. He can see Falco is relieved that something is being said as well.

ROB was going to try to ask it again but is suddenly informed that something came from the Cornerian Army. Since it has Priority One written all over it, he puts emotions aside and goes to pre-scripted sequences.

"I am receiving a message from General Peppy." he reports. "It was broadcast to all inhabited worlds in the Lylat system. Shall I play it?"

Fox looks over at Falco to see if he's interested in it. The avian shrugs somewhat indifferent but seems to want some distraction. "Please." answers Fox.

The holographic transmission opens and General Peppy appears on screen, wearing the red uniform General Pepper used to wear. Several sizes smaller of course since he's shorter than the old hound. His white mustache is completely grown and his ears turned floppy since their last encounter. All suggesting that he's growing very old.

"This is General Peppy Hare of Corneria!" he proclaims very enthusiastic, almost at the top of his voice. "As of this moment, I am announcing out total and complete victory! A brave fighter squadron managed to penetrate the Venom Sea! These heroes wiped out all the enemy ships and bases!"

"That's...That's incredible!" says Fox flabbergasted and curious as to who did it. Cause that ended very quickly.

"To help mark the occasion of this most glorious of days... I have asked the heroic squadron leader to say a few words!"

Peppy disappears from the projection for a while only to make place for something that makes Fox almost scratch out his eyes out of their sockets. A blackish grey wolf dressed in black and blue leather, shoulder pads and having a light blue with grey visor hanging over his left eye that he always pretends to be a cybernetic eye that allows him for better target acquisition appears on the projector. The best worst pickup line one could ever use.

"Good people of the Lylat system... My name is Wolf O'Donnell. I am the leader of the Star Wolf squadron!"

"Him?!" exclaims Falco. "Oh, you've gotta be frickin' kidding me!?"

His best friend's astonishment and anger reflect Fox's thoughts perfectly. No question about that. However he's frozen in astonishment. The calm, kind of friendly voice in which Wolf addresses himself to the people of Lylat. He! That stinking lowlife of a man. One that would sell his mother for only a buck that meant he could have some stinking cash. Alongside with him are his associates, most of them just as rotten to the core as he is.

"We know that many of you have a somewhat negative opinion of us. This saddens us greatly, for we love all the people of this great system. Nevertheless we placed our lives in peril with no thought of reward or glory. Perhaps now, you might find it in your hearts to embrace us as equals. For even the coldest of hearts sometimes yearns for friendship."

"Yeah!" yaps another filthy low life named Leon who appears in the picture. "And we're not done with the whole peace and love thing, either! We'll keep serving the community! Y'know... Aiding weaklings and stuff?"

He's clearly having no clue what he's talking about. If he even knew a grain of what he was talking about, he could have sold it as "pretty genuine". Even a toddler can see through his obvious faking. The snigger he has at the end every sentence that rolls over his lips just indicates evil shown in kids' shows where they teach right from wrong.

The next person coming into the picture is another piece of crap. Maybe the biggest pain Fox has ever encountered. Whereas Wolf is a thorn in his eye, Leon being the equivalent of a paper cut, this one is a stake through his heart. The purple furred panther with a scar running over one of his eyes begins to speak in his overdone, maybe for some desperate woman attractive deep voice. The biggest ego in the universe aside from Falco of course.

"And now, Panther would like to introduce a new team member! We could not have saved you all without her help! A former Star Fox member and the most beautiful pilot outside of me... Krystal!"

If Fox had something in his paws, it would have fallen if not shattered on the ground. He hears Panther's word circulate in his inner ear maybe a thousand and yet it's like loud static to him. Suddenly, the wrong choice dilemma he had comes to a resolve. One Fox wishes he never had to hear.

"...Crud."

A simple uttering, soft and sad. Fox can barely control the shock that is running rampant throughout his body. He feels his breathing slow down, his heart skipping a beat or two. Despite his best efforts, a tear sprouts out of his tear-duct, slowly moving downwards to his cheek.

"Some time ago I was asked to leave team Star Fox." says Krystal in her cute British accent. Her sweet voice feels like the most corrosive acid, the most lethal gunshot wound and the most venomous snake bite Fox has ever felt. The churning in stomach turns into gross belch which he can cover up by coughing in between.

The coughing doesn't stop Krystal's talking however. "I thought that pain would never end. But now I have a new team! And a new life... And I couldn't be happier with my fantastic new partners! From now on, I fight with them for the glory of Lylat! With our help, this system will know endless peace and harmony!"

With that, the transmission ends. Chaos ensues in Fox's head as the hologram closes and the light it shined tones down to none. What sounds enter his ears is nothing more but static. Grey, snowy and meaningless static. His mind begins to be covered by thunderclouds, as violent as psychopath on acid and as black as the depth of Wolf's non-existent heart. His thoughts are getting fogged up. Nothing will come in and nothing will come out. A total isolation. A lock is placed on his heart, with the key thrown away and crushed into tiny fragments.

How could she drill him and Star Fox so deep into the ground? Couldn't she see that it was tough, if not near impossible for Fox to leave the team? How many nights he cried for her, feeling the empty, cold sheets of her side of the bed? How many morning he sat on a chair with a plate in front of him, a glass of juice or water next to the plate, where he would just stare at Krystal's seat for minutes uninterrupted? Imagining her sitting there, laughing, eating, talking. How she would look at him, if she was just there for only the slightest, shortest minute and he would ask, if not beg her on his knees for her to forgive him. To stay with him forever and ever.

Of course she couldn't. She was gone. Never to be heard from again, only by rumors he caught once in a while. For the rest, there was nothing. No picture, no appearance of her anywhere until this very communication. Wolf obviously did this to rub the bad break-up between him and Krystal in. Pouring salt into an open wound. Krystal however wouldn't do this out of revenge, she isn't like that. Her words are true and that is the most painful part of it.

The whole thought process he just went through is being hidden within the fog. For simplifying reasons, Fox imagines the process to be a circle as the process never ends, never getting a conclusion that is satisfying. And that stays in the fog. The fog is getting thicker and begins to feel like a wall slowly being built up. Fox sees it and allows it to happen. The circle disappears more and more and only several seconds later, it's nothing but whiteness.

At first, having lost those thoughts feels like a huge loss. One that could rip Fox's heart to even more pieces. But only the blink of an eye is necessary for Fox to snap back to reality. His eyes dart immediately to the only person left in his life since Star Wolf took everything else. His pride, his reputation as the faithful protector of Lylat, strangely enough Peppy's trust as no private message came from him to maybe comfort Fox a bit and most importantly his one true love.

"What a total snow job!" cries Falco out in a fit of stamping anger. "They don't care about any of that stuff! Except for Krystal but..." He calms himself a bit, taking a breather, putting his hands in his sides and looking at his pal who's distressed beyond belief. "Well... They get glory and we get the bum's rush! Bah! I'm gonna puke." he says still quite aggravated in Fox's defense.

The red vulpine appreciates it but nothing about him shows that. Several more tears have come out and get stuck on his cheeks. He snivels and looks about like nothing matters to him. He feels on the verge of an anger fit. Not that Falco would mind that. In fact, he would encourage it. Only if he can help, that's only natural.

Fox looks up after a few seconds of absolute silence in which Falco hasn't moved an inch, loyally awaiting Fox's answer. "...Say, Falco?" says the hoarse inbred of a voice that was Fox's at one time. "There's a... A nice little shop on the planet of Papetoon. It's quiet. Relaxed. Away from everything and everyone."

"Papetoon, eh? Yeah, that's pretty much the edge of everything right there."

"You...You wanna go with me?" asks Fox opening up more while holding back more of his tears.

"...Sure, buddy. Let's go." says Falco as he comes closer to the vulpine and hugs him like only best friends can. It's just the support Fox needs and on Falco's supporting shoulder, every clogged up emotion comes out. The fog stays however. Only remnants are cried out but it's enough for Fox.

What's behind the fog doesn't exist anymore. He has to move on and Falco is the ideal person to get that done for him. Even though the remnants will ruin much and will stay for a very long time, someone like Falco always has a great idea to turn the table in his favor. In this case, Fox's. It's a sacrifice that egocentric avian grants out of the graciousness of his heart.

Falco lets go of Fox at the perfect moment as both walk to the Captain's chair. Fox standing on the right side and the Falco on the left. Both staring at the space ahead of them.

"ROB." says Fox out of nowhere. "Set course for Papetoon. And don't spare the horses."

"Affirmative."

"One other thing: Don't spare the Great Fox either." This remark surprises the robot a bit. Falco not so much. "I want it completely gone... All of it. No Star Fox for Fox McCloud anymore. Without her... What am I? A helpless hunk of flesh and bones without a purpose in life." he shrugs getting all sad again.

Falco starts to think about that and comes to a very different conclusion. "Hmmm... You know buddy?" Fox looks his way. "I think you're quite wrong about that... Ever heard of G-Zero?" he proposes to Fox more than asking if he knew it.

A long silence takes over. Fox takes a seat in his chair with his head bowed down towards his own legs. His fingers on several keyboard keys, tapping them in a simple melody that soon turns into pretty complicated symphony. One that is stuck in his head for some reason now.

"You know what... Falco?"

"What is it Fox?" asks Falco, not looking at Fox.

"Who is Fox?" says a different toned voice coming from Fox's chair as Falco puts his hand on the vulpine's left shoulder, showing his support. If that is what will make him feel better, than so be it. He'd rather see someone who calls himself by a different name, dressed up as someone he isn't then someone who's drowning in misery and darkness.

With the engine exhaust flaming, they enter the green planet of Papetoon's atmosphere, turning their backs on their present life and looking ahead at the future. A month later, the Cornerian Army found the Great Fox II without its occupants floating in space. General Peppy was called to investigate the matter personally. The old rabbit agreed in concern for his protégé's and his friend's life and escorted by his personal guards, he found ROB disabled. He turned him back on and asked what happened to Fox and Falco. The robot however refused to tell anything other than that they were fine and happy with their new life without Star Fox and everything is association with that.

Seeing no use in trying to convince the robot, Peppy ordered the ship back to Corneria where it would be disassembled to find traces of where Fox and Falco went. Maybe audio recordings might make him wiser. When it didn't arrive however but suddenly found that loads of cash had been transferred to the Cornerian Army central bank account, those in charge must have sold the ship. To who was unknown. Fired on the spot they were!

Peppy had nothing but he kept on searching. Years passed on without any word of our heroes. As days turned into months, the idea of Star Fox missing disappeared from mainstream attention as the heroic deeds of the rising Star Wolf team where all that was highlighted. Star Fox became a distant memory after only a year and nothing but a forgotten legend hidden away in books in a library no one ever looks for.

Only true supports, like Bill Grey and a vast majority of Cornerian City citizens stayed supportive of what Star Fox has done. Bill even went out of his way to organize search groups without any orders given. Peppy hated to do this but he didn't have any other choice. Because of this, Bill had to be court martialed. He was sentenced to a few months in prison and was dishonorably discharged from the Cornerian Army. His search however never stopped, no matter continuity of disappointment. Logically, it wore on him. So much so, that in a drunken fit of crying and panic he jumped over the railing of a balcony and fell to his death. And with that, all the remaining support that Star Fox had left.

I hope you enjoyed!