Author's Note: Ah, I thought I'd get this out of the way. I understand this chapter took me a while, but that's the way I do. I put it off for weeks, then one day get inspired, and write a whole chapter in a few hours, then start over. But anyway, this is the chapter that pretty much sets up the rest of the story, so you may be referring back to it from time to time, assuming I don't change my vision of the story on a random whim in the future. Also, I did give Krystal the random surname Lambert for the sake of this story. It's in no way official, but little of this is, so bleh. Anyhow, I listened almost solely to the Megadeth album 'Rust In Peace' while writing this, so if you like to listen to some music while you read, that's some good stuff. (But In My Darkest Hour from 'So Far, So Good...So What?' and Devil's Island and Good Mourning/Black Friday from 'Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?' are brilliant as well. This isn't a paid advertisement, I swear.) Enjoy!
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Fox sat alone in his dorm at his computer, taking in all that had happened today. Dad's death, Peppy's proposition, Wolf's reappearance, it was all very confusing. He watched the computer monitor closely, deciding carefully what to write. Fox maintained a weekly blog via the internet, which various friends read and took interest in. He wanted to keep all that was happening under wraps, as he should, but he tried to hint, at least subtly, at the way he felt. Writing was an art that had come easily to him since he was little. Many people had complimented him on it, although he didn't think it was that difficult, so he had decided to make it a regular thing. But his outpouring of emotions was interrupted when a window appeared on his screen, bearing text.
How have you been doing, Fox? I'm going to a party at Christie's tomorrow with my new boyfriend. I thought you might want to meet him. Get back to me if you're interested.
Krystal. Fox really hated her. When he read the part of the message about her new boy-toy, he almost wanted to throw up, but didn't deem her worth the food he'd be regurgitating. He wanted so badly to tell her how much contempt he held for her, but always seemed to find something holding him back. Krystal, however, had no qualms about openly tormenting Fox over the fact that he hadn't fully let go of her yet. This, rubbing a new boyfriend in his face, was the least of the things she had done to lash out at him. He had taken it all, like a gorilla on the ground, quietly letting the snake strike him over and over again. He probably couldn't do much to her anyway, as she had been the smarter and sharper-tongued of the two when they were together.
Fox closed with disgust off of his computer. He would finish his blog later, he didn't feel like writing anymore. Maybe he would sleep or some such. But then a knock at his door told him his next move. He went to open it and see if it was anyone he felt like talking to. It was Wolf.
"Wolf, I wasn't expecting to see you by here tonight." Exclaimed Fox.
"I know. I need to speak with you. May I come in?"
"Of course, have a seat." Once they were situated inside Fox's dorm room, Wolf began.
"Fox, the job Peppy offered you, the special team designed for combating the mad scientist. Have you thought about it?"
"Well, yeah, I guess so."
"Good. I'm here to tell you that you must accept the job."
"What?! Wolf, what are you talking about?"
"Listen to me, Fox. Your father-James and I never saw eye to eye. We disagreed on a number of things, mainly our methods of teaching you. But in spite of our differences, I had a tremendous respect for your father. He was a great fighter. But that isn't what I came here to tell you, what I came here to tell you is this. When I transferred off of Corneria, I was placed in charge of an installation on Macbeth, on the other side of the system. My base was the last stop your father and his companions made on their way to Venom. While he was there, James and I talked some more. He gave me something for you in case he didn't make it back-a message, and these." He held out to Fox two photographs. The first was himself several months ago. He was on the beach with Krystal, with his best friend Bill and some others in the background. He and Krystal looked like genuine lovers, both of them appearing as if nothing could make them unhappy. Fox knew the photo well. It used to sit on top of his dresser, where he would look at it every morning. It was long gone now, of course. The other photograph depicted Fox's father, James McCloud, with his old friend Matthew Anderson. It was a surprise photograph taken on an assignment around the same time as the picture of Fox and Krystal, so neither was smiling. Anderson appeared to be pointing out something while James silently pondered. Fox didn't understand the significance of either picture, and he figured Wolf didn't either. He looked up at length and continued.
"And the message?"
"He said, 'Look at these photos, reflect, and then stop him'. Fox, James understood how dangerous this man is, and he wanted you to take over in fighting that madman once he was no longer able to. You were his son, so you must understand that he would never ask you to do this if it wasn't absolutely necessary. That's why I came here. To tell you that if you want to honor your father's legacy, you'll finish his fight. Nobody else will."
"Let me guess, you've given me your senior officer recommendation?"
"Yes. I can't tell you what to do, but I thought you might want to know what he wanted. What he would tell you to do. You're a good kid, Fox. I hope you do the right thing." He said.
"Thanks, Wolf." Said Fox airily, seeming somewhat spaced out. The two men rose and embraced once more before exchanging goodbyes as Wolf left the dormitory. Fox returned to the room and sank down in a chair. He pulled out his phone and looked at it, the struggle over what to do tearing him apart now more than ever.
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Fox stepped out of his car and onto the pavement, looking up at the bar, the place where Peppy had instructed him to come. It was a midtown bar, attracting less of the terribly unsavory characters, but still somehow enough to make it seem like a less than fitting place for the first meeting of a clandestine government strike team. Despite his doubts as to whether he had been given the right address, Fox entered the building.
Inside was more or less what he expected. Most of the patrons were sitting alone, silently drinking their troubles away. But of course, there were the few who were being rather rowdy, being loud, pushing each other around and the like. As Fox walked through, he bumped into one of the more quiet ones, a tall weasel in a suit, who quickly rounded on him.
"Watch where you're goin', asshole!" He barked at Fox. Fox quickly and reluctantly apologized and made his way further in, where he felt a hand on his shoulder. A familiar voice spoke to him.
"Fox, I'm glad you made it. Right this way." It was Peppy, wearing casual clothes, and beckoning Fox toward a door to the left of the bar. He followed the man into a sort of back room, rectangular with a table in the center. There were several characters standing in that room, but one particular sight made him sick.
It was Krystal, who looked as beautiful as she always had. She wore short shorts and a small purple t-shirt, allowing one to see just how fit she was. But what made him sick was the figure she was draped over like a blanket. He was a handsome blue-feathered falcon, clad in jeans and a black sleeveless t-shirt. He was muscular and looked very confident, as did Krystal, whose expression seemed only to become more smug and victorious upon spying Fox's face. The other figure in the room was a frog of slightly below average height. He wore a large yellow shirt and pants sloppily held up by a belt. Peppy motioned around with his hand as he introduced the ones Fox didn't know.
"This," He said, motioning towards the frog, "is Slippy Toad, our tech and mechanical expert. His father is Beltino Toad, the head of the interplanetary technological corporation Toad Industries. And this," He motioned now towards the bird, Krystal's latest puppet, "is Falco Lombardi, our vehicular expert, who also has some extensive mechanical knowledge."
"Where'd you become such an expert on vehicles, I wonder?" Inquired Fox snidely. Falco raised an eyebrow at the vulpine.
"I bet you'd like to know, wouldn't ya? Just leave that stuff to me and do whatever it is they've got you here for." He replied. Fox angrily opened his mouth to respond, but Krystal beat him to it.
"Oh, Fox, try not to nag too much. I seem to remember that your ego got in the way of a lot of things before. Do at least try to restrain yourself here." Interjected the vixen. Fox was about to reply something nasty when Peppy interrupted.
"Enough, you three. Let me make this perfectly clear: your personal relationships are not going to interfere with our mission. We're doing something important. Can you work together or am I going to replace the lot of you?"
"No...we're fine." Said Fox, still resentful, but ready to get to business.
"Right, then it's time you all understood what we're here to do." Peppy laid on the table a photograph of an older primate in a labcoat. "This is Andross Oikonny. He used to be the head scientist of the Cornerian R&D Department. Now he's a vicious criminal who stands in violation of at least eleven Fortuna Conventions. He was banished to Venom on the outskirts of the system years ago, but has resurfaced. Around a year ago, a patrol reported suspicious activity in that sector. Around this same time, we lost track of Oikonny. So, after much deliberation, a group of agents including myself were sent to Venom to investigate. We located Andross and verified that he is indeed illegally amassing a force to achieve an as yet unknown end. We also found out that he is constructing a superweapon of unknown nature. Unfortunately, before we could find Oikonny and uncover further intelligence, one of our agents defected, leaving one of us dead. I barely managed to escape. It is for the purpose of apprehending this man and halting his war machine that the four of you have been assembled."
"Wait a minute, Captain Hare." Said Slippy Toad after a long silence. "Are you telling us that this guy, Oikonny, is plotting a systemwide war? To try and conquer or destroy Lylat? How big is this?"
"We don't know, exactly. All we have for the time being are several individuals who we've verified are aligned with him. The first is Pigma Dengar, a former Cornerian agent and friend of mine. He betrayed us and joined Oikonny during our investigation, in the process murdering one of our closest mutual friends, James McCloud." Fox's fist clenched and he felt his whole body start burning with rage. He noticed Krystal looking at him with, possibly for the first time since their breakup, genuine emotion.
"Fox, I...I had no idea. I'm so sorry." She said sympathetically. Fox cringed at the thought of garnering her sympathy.
"What else?" He asked of Peppy. Peppy looked at him regretfully and continued.
"It can be assumed that Dengar is currently in hiding with Oikonny himself."
"Then he ain't much of a lead, is he?" Interrupted Falco.
"Watch your mouth, you're a soldier now, you'll conduct yourself like one." Retorted Peppy. Falco scoffed and gave a nonchalant "Whatever..."-type response as Peppy continued.
"Another accomplice we have is Oikonny's nephew, Andrew Oikonny. He is known to have been involved in the Katinian government, but he has disappeared upon investigation and his whereabouts are currently unknown. There is an unidentified other man known to be one of Oikonny's highest officers. It can be assumed that he is dangerous, as he has evaded all attempts to locate or even identify him. The only other potential lead we have is this man." He slid onto the table a photo of an aging, quite morbid-looking chameleon. "His name is Leon Powalski. He is the mortician at the lower-city mortuary. He's gone missing since the discovery of a dead federal agent in his workplace. Investigating Powalski's mortuary will be our first assignment. I've sent you all directions via email. We'll meet at the mortuary at 1400 hours. That's 2:00 for you less informed individuals. I suggest you all go prepare. Dismissed."
Fox remained for a moment as the others gathered their things to depart. While he stood, Krystal and Falco came up to him.
"Fox," Krystal began, "I'm sorry about your father. But if you want to be on this team, I do hope you won't get so sentimental as to compromise what we're doing here."
"I don't need anyone to tell me that, least of all you." Snarled Fox. Krystal shrugged and continued walking.
"Fine, we won't talk about it any more. Falco, baby, let's go." As Falco passed by, he and Fox locked gazes.
"If you do anything to hurt her, I'll kill ya." Said Falco evenly so that Krystal couldn't hear.
"It's not her you ought to be worried about. Watch your own back." Replied Fox. Falco grunted and resumed following Krystal. Fox left the room before Peppy could tell him anything similar to what Krystal had said, wanting now to just get out of there. He would go home, shower, and prepare for his first assignment as part of this new team. This was starting to sound worse all the time.
