Chapter 2

The simulator room stood in front of Marcus and Timothy. They watched as 18 other students followed them in. The room was lined with at least 25 simulators for the school only. The class filed into the room. The instructor shut the doors behind him when all of the students made it in. The instructor walked up to the front of the class.

"Alright pilots, we are going to be here training for the day. We will also be seeing who has learned the most," the instructor explained. Marcus practically had this in the bag; he was the best by far. Timothy knew he could only come second best, and he didn't like that. He growled under his breath.

"But, we have two special guests here today!" the instructor informed them. Marcus's smile soon faded.

What? Who? He thought.

"Help me welcome….Fox and Krystal McCloud of the Starfox team!"

"What?!" Marcus and Timothy said in unison. Fox and Krystal came through the door. The students cheered and threw their hands up in the air. They were basically their idols. The two made their way to the front with the instructor. Marcus still had his mouth open, while Timothy was recovering. Fox took the front.

"Hello everyone! We will be joining you in this free-for-all!" Fox said. The students basically freaked out that they were even going to battle the Starfox team. The instructor then informed them that they would need to take their simulators. The students rushed to the end of the hall of simulators to take their own. Timothy took the fourth one to the front while Marcus took the third. Marcus climbed into the box-shaped simulator. It was dark; the only light was the super-realistic screen that was in front of him. He sat in the "cockpit" of the room. It was almost exactly like a real fighter, just missing a few buttons. He clipped on the straps to hold him in his seat. He waited for a bit until the instructor spoke into the speaker.

"Okay all, it's a free-for-all, shoot everyone you see," he said. Marcus nodded to himself. He was then brought up to the fighter select screen. He was upset to not find the Arwing V, which was still in development. He looked through until he found something else: the Arwing IV 2.0, which was the newest ship. It looked exactly like an Arwing IV, but it was faster, and more powerful. He was then transported to what looked like a launch rail. He looked in front to see that the map they would battle on. It looked like some kind of jungle map, with trees everywhere, this would make things harder. He would be forced to fly high, which was not his style. He liked to attack from below. Soon, his dashboard screen lit up to show a face camera of everyone. He saw his father and mother as well. They looked confident. He wasn't intimidated however, he was here to win.

The screen in front of him started to show a countdown. It went from 3 to 1 and they were off. He felt as the simulator felt like a real takeoff. Marcus instantly banked left, attempting to avoid his parents. He knew a fight against them was hopeless.

Timothy, however, had different ideas. He gunned straight for the two. He had chosen the FA30 Commander, like his father. He saw that Fox had chosen his Arwing IV, and Krystal had chosen the FA30 Exterminator.

So a 1 on 1 with Fox is hopeless, and escaping Krystal is near impossible, so why don't we switch it up?

Timothy pushed his engines to the max and gunned for the two. They seemed to be working together. Then it hit him.

"Marcus! Help me take out the competition!" he said into a private comm. line. Marcus nodded to the camera and gunned for Timothy. Before Timothy hit Fox and Krystal, Marcus reached him. They both then were a couple hundred feet from the two.

"So you want a fight? You got one!" Fox spoke in to his comm. to them. When they met, Timothy barrel rolled and fired. Krystal dodged his incoming attack. Timothy shot past her within inches. Marcus had dove under his father's ship. Timothy watched how Krystal reversed her fight and was already gunning for him. A million options ran through Timothy's mind. He eliminated all that required speed. He then found one. His father had perfected it and taught him. Timothy then forced his ship to point upwards. He dumped all of his speed in one moment and reversed his ship. He then boosted forward.

"So your father has taught you a few moves?" Krystal said to him. Timothy smiled. He decided to go for the same approach and barrel rolled while firing. Krystal simply tilted her ship to dodge. Timothy growled in annoyance as he missed again. Suddenly, he was hit. His shield gauge had 1/3 left of a bar. He dove suddenly and banked right. He looked back to see Krystal's ship behind him still. He executed a loop to attempt to fall behind her. To his luck, he had escaped, but he was not behind her. She blasted in front of him at an impossible speed. She was lost and there was no way for him to catch her.

Marcus was having his own problems. His father had given him a run for his money. Finally he had a clear shot to his father. He took it. He hit Fox's ship and sent it tumbling to the trees.

"Ahh! Damn! Good shot Marcus," Fox complemented. Marcus nodded as he flew towards the other pilots that he had left alone. Suddenly, Krystal's ship whizzed past him and was being followed by Timothy's ship. He watched as Timothy desperately tried to reach her, pushing his ship to the limit. Timothy was not nearly as experienced at this speed as Krystal. He was forced to slow down before he lost control. Krystal took off, leaving him behind. Timothy then realized that the rest of the pilots had been taken down except for one. That one was heading straight for him. Like an experienced pilot, Timothy fired at the ship. All beams hit, sending it down.

Well that was kind of pathetic. He thought. He then forgot about Krystal, who was firing at him from behind. His ship went down into the trees.

"Wha-? Ahh! Come on! That's ridiculous!" Timothy complained in his simulator.

"Don't let your guard down!" Krystal taunted. Timothy shook his head and sighed as she laughed.

Marcus was silently making a b-line for Krystal's ship as she searched for him. He lined up his crosshairs to her ship and opened fire. They hit home, completely trashing her ship due to the poor armor. Her ship tumbled out of control and crashed, ending the round. Marcus let out a sigh of relief. He had won.

"Man I can't believe I let my guard down!" Timothy protested. Marcus and Timothy walked the same sidewalk they walked to the academy. Marcus was happy about his win. Not only that, but he had defeated his parents as well.

"She's a lot better than most think she is!" Marcus said. Timothy stopped and put his arm in front of Marcus to stop him.

"I don't care, I still could've won but-," He was stopped by a shady wolf in a black jacket and hood bumped into him. A strange, black and green crystal hit the ground.

"Hey! Watch it!" Timothy yelled to him. The wolf turned to him.

"Sorry about that," he said. Timothy nodded. When he did, he spotted the crystal on the ground. He cocked his head and bent down to pick it up. When he touched it, it began to glow a bright green. He stood back up straight.

"Woah! Is this-," Timothy was interrupted by the wolf snatching it from his hands.

"Don't touch that!" the shady character yelled. He then abruptly ran away from the two.

"Hey! Wait! Awww….whatever," Timothy complained. Marcus was confused.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"No idea," Timothy replied. Marcus then gestured Timothy to follow him back home. Timothy nodded.

I've seen those things. My father has shown me replicas of them. They hold great power, and they are used to unlock…something.

Shaking his head, Timothy continued after Marcus back home.