A/N: I had the idea for this fic a couple years ago, and wrote up the prologue and a rough outline, but never got around to starting it proper. A little proofing and thought later, this is the result. I won't promise I'm going to finish this, but I hope to at least begin writing it the way I once hoped to. I'm currently adjusting to a new schedule, so I may not be able to write very often, but I plan to at least try. We'll see how it goes.

So, without further ado, I present...

STAR FOX: RECURRENCE

Prologue

Fox woke up slowly, not thinking very clearly. After a short time he realized that his eyes were closed, and tried to open them, but the glare of a light above him quickly made him keep them shut. He groaned and tried again, this time giving himself time to adjust to the level of light in the room around him. As his vision got less blurry, he took in his immediate surroundings. White sheets – his own were a dull orange. Where was he?

Groaning again at the dull throbbing in the base of his skull, he shook himself lightly and looked around again as he sat up. There was a lot of white around him. White sheets, white walls, white doors. Also a few other beds besides his own, each impeccably clean. Come to think of it, he himself was much cleaner than normal. He made a quick scan of his own body and sighed as he realized where he was. The periodic beeping from the computer behind him confirmed his suspicions and he looked back down at the many tubes protruding from his arms, legs, and torso. There certainly were a lot more of them than there were during his last visit to the Great Fox's hospital bay.

Knowing from experience that he would only make things worse for himself by getting up, he lay down and closed his eyes. The sensors that were connected to his temples and chest would have alerted the others to his awakening and they would be in shortly to deal with him. He had no recollection of what had landed him here, which probably meant it was bad. Perhaps a landmaster had blown up around him. That generally resulted in a lengthy hospitalization. Whatever the cause, Krystal had talked him into not doing anything out of his league for a while after waking up in the hospital, and he grudgingly waited for someone to come tell him what had happened.

When the doors finally opened, he briefly forgot his condition and sat up too quickly, groaning again as his back and head erupted in pain, more from soreness than injury. He heard worried voices around him and opened his eyes again to see Slippy checking the state of his various monitors as Falco sat down beside him, smirking.

"How ya feelin', hotshot?"

"Shut up and tell me what happened."

Slippy chuckled, knowing from his diagnostics that Fox was still okay. "Yeah, we figured we'd need to fill you in on this one. Not a pretty crash."

"I assume my Arwing will be in for repairs for some time, then."

Falco's grin vanished as he looked awkwardly around the room. "Not exactly."

Fox hesitated. "What happened, Falco, and where is my father's ship?"

"It… Wolf shot you into an exhaust port on the Sargasso space hideout. Your Arwing was blown off course into the landing bays, but after you ejected the ship hit an ammo crate. There's… not much left."

A crushing sadness hit Fox and he recoiled. Sure, he knew the old ship wouldn't last forever, but that didn't mean he wasn't devastated as he lost another reminder that James McCloud had ever lived. He slumped over and put his head in his hands. After a while, he nodded at Falco to continue without looking up.

"Anyway, you hit the wall at a nasty angle and it really messed up your back. Broke a couple ribs, too, and we kinda expected you'd have a concussion. I'm not surprised you can't remember."

Fox shook his head sadly and looked up, wiping the moisture from his eyes. "I don't even remember why I was fighting Wolf. Hell, until you said so I didn't know I was."

"Eh, the idiot was just pulling his usual crap. Simple pirate job."

Slippy spoke up again. "Anyway, we're all just glad you're okay. Peppy was really worried about you."

Fox chuckled. "Yeah, I bet he was. Guy needs to relax a bit, though, I'm fine. Where's Krystal?" He frowned when Falco and Slippy were silent, blinking in confusion. "Okay, what's up? Did something happen to her?"

Slippy just reached for an intercom, frowning and obviously concerned. "Peppy, get in here. This concussion is worse than we thought."

Fox sat up straighter. "Okay, what gives? You're acting like I'm totally crazy; fill me in here."

Falco grabbed his paw, the usual confident smirk wiped from his expression. He paused before speaking, looking at Slippy for confirmation. "There is no Krystal here, man. Amanda and Katt are the only two women who've ever been on this ship."

"What do you mean? Krystal? We met her on Dinosaur Planet when we faced Andross again? Krazoa spirits, General Scales, Tricky? Any of this ringing a bell?"

"You've never been to Sauria in your life, buddy. That never happened."