Corneria City Suburbs: 3 days later

Ever since his father had showed him the spot on the giant oak tree, Fox would sit up there for hours on end listening to music, working on schoolwork, or just taking time to relax. The tree branch suspended forty feet off the ground was Fox's one place where he felt free. He felt at home being held off of the ground by the giant tree. He felt like nothing could go wrong from up there. Though he almost killed himself falling from that branch three days ago, Fox felt like that branch was his second home, even if his first home was merely twenty footsteps from the base of the tree.

This day, Fox was sitting on that branch with his back up against the trunk. If he looked to his left, he could see his house, and turning to the right would give him the breathtaking view of Corneria City. The city looked even better at night. All of the massive buildings were illuminated, and it looked like a picture straight out of a magazine.

He had his modified sleek black guitar with him with the special built in amplifier that his father had made for him. It was Fox's prized possession. He got it for his twelfth birthday, and within months of getting it, he learned to play it flawlessly. What he loved about it was that it could switch its sound output from electric to acoustic, base, or even synth with the simple flick of a switch.

He began to strum some of the strings into a tune that he had heard on the radio a while back. He instantly fell in love with the song and practiced playing it for weeks on end until he could play it almost perfectly. The notes were low to start out, and as the song progressed on, Fox began to faintly sing along. He wasn't a prefect singer… well, not like most of the others at his school, but he could do it.

"Keep you in the dark, you know they all… pretend," he sang softly, not breaking his concentration on the instrument. In the same way he sand the first part he echoed the next verse. "Keep you in the dark, and so it all… began…"

He suddenly shifted his handle on the guitar and strummed it in a much faster, more aggressive pace. The volume of the notes increased, as well as his singing for the next part.

"Send in your skeletons, sing as their bones go marching in… again… The need you buried deep, the secrets that you keep are ever ready, are you ready?" He slammed on the strings, making the next verses louder and more powerful.

"I've finished making sense, done pleading ignorance, that whole… defense…" He again made another ear splitting strum on the strings, and switched over to another louder riff.

"Spinning infinity, boy, the wheel is spinning me, it's never ending, never ending, same old story!" He sang loudly, exploding into the next verse.

"What if I say I'm not like the others?! What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?! You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?!" Fox sang, completely immersed in his performance. The guitar was wailing loudly as his claws flawlessly made one string ring out right after the other.

"What if I say I'm not like the others?! What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?! You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?!" he repeated, just as perfect as his first outburst. He shifted back down to his first riff and brought his volume down quite a bit as well.

"In time, or so I'm told, I'm just another soul for sale… oh well… The page is out of print, we are not permanent, we're temporary, temporary," Fox raised his voice again as he finished the verse. "Same old story!"

Fox shifted back to the chorus flawlessly and seamlessly, not losing any momentum in his song. "What if I say I'm not like the others?! What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?! You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?!"

Pretty soon Fox wasn't the only one hearing his music. James and Vixy both stepped out of the back door and watched their kit shred the guitar as his song continued to reverberate through the neighborhood. James had a cheesy smile creased across his face as Fox repeated the chorus.

"What if I say I'm not like the others?! What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?! You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?!" Fox extended the ending just as the actual song did as he transitioned from the high powered chorus to the next verse. The tempo dropped drastically as well as the volume as Fox's paws played the next notes. His voice also lowered quite a bit as the words came back.

"I'm the voice inside your head, you refuse to hear… I'm the face that you have to face, mirrored in your stare…" He picked up speed, but still continuing the same tune.

"I'm what's left, I'm what's right, I'm the enemy… I'm the hand that will take you down, bring you to your knees…"

His voice started rising again, as well as the guitar's volume. "So who are you? Yeah, who are you?"

He shot into another high powered tune as the next words came screaming out. "Yeah, who are you?! Yeah, who are you?!"

Fox suddenly lowered his voice almost to a whisper as he gracefully sang the next words in a nearly silent tune with the guitar. "Keep you in the dark, you know they all… pretend…"

He drew out the last note longer than the actual song did to increase suspense, and when he thought he had waited long enough, he exploded into a high powered and high volume chorus, much louder than the previous ones. The sudden loud, almost sonic-boom sound that emanated from Fox's guitar tore off a few leaves from the tree he was perched in, and rattled the windows in nearby houses. He sang the words in a very graceful fashion, not losing his tune or rhythm.

"What if I say I'm not like the others?! What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?! You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?! What if I say I'm not like the others?! What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?! You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?!"

Keeping the same loud chorus riff, he slipped into a quieter, familiar verse. "Keep you in the dark, you know they all… pretend…" After repeating that verse, he swiftly reengaged his voice to his high powered chorus, not losing any momentum.

"What if I say I'm not like the others?! What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?! You're the pretender! What if I say I will never surrender?!" Again, Fox drew out the ending as he transitioned into the next words, still hitting every single string damn near perfectly.

"So who are you? Yeah, who are you?! YEAH, WHO ARE YOU?!" Fox screamed at the top of his lungs as he closed out the song with the last six loud strums from the guitar. As soon as his outburst was over, he sighed and dropped his head back on the tree, and let the guitar fall into his lap. There was a serene silence for a few seconds, until two sets of paws broke the silence with a loud cheerful clapping.

"You never told me you were that good!" James laughed, grinning from ear to ear.

Fox smiled and grabbed at his neck. "Wow, thanks," he strapped the guitar on his back and climbed down the tree to see his newest fans.

"I didn't recognize the song, what was it?" James questioned.

"Oh… it wasn't Cornerian music," Fox said hesitantly.

"Not Cornerian music?" James echoed curiously. "Then what is it?"

"It's from System U-8, the satellites were sending back music from their radio stations. They have channels that play their music, and it just got stuck on me."

"Wow… the humans made those kinds of songs?"

"Must be so," Fox smiled, and went to put his guitar away. James stopped him right as he stepped into the doorframe.

"You know any other songs?" James asked, looking at his sleek black guitar.

"A few, yeah… why?"

"You wanna play them for me whenever you get the chance?"

"Uh…" Fox stared blankly at the dark shades on his father. "Sure… If you want me to."

James nodded and followed the kit into the house. Fox ran upstairs and stowed his guitar in the closet in his room, before rushing back downstairs and back outside. Before he even knew it, he was back up on his usual perch on the giant oak tree. A few minutes later, Fox heard a faint sound below him, and suddenly felt a paw grip onto his shoulder.

"What'cha doin', Foxie?" Vixy purred, gaining a comfortable spot on the branch.

"Mom? What are you doing up here?" Fox giggled, watching as his mother struggled to get a good grip on the tree.

"Ah, just wanted to find out what was with you and this tree. Ever since your father showed you up here, that's all I see you anymore is up here."

"Getting lonely?" Fox taunted, wrapping his left arm around the vixen.

"Nah, I just want to spend more time with my kit."

"So, basically you're lonely?" Fox chuckled, which made Vixy's face turn a deeper red. "It's fine, I love you too," he smiled. Vixy purred and nuzzled closer to the teen. Fox suddenly heard a faint screeching sound and saw something just out of his peripheral vision.

"Hey, a meteorite!" Vixy squealed, pointing at the streak in the sky. Fox turned his head and instantly found himself drowning in awe. It looked like a meteorite alright; a small chunk of rock streaking across the sky with a bright yellow-orange tail behind it. It was beautiful, but it still intrigued the vulpine. He had never seen a meteorite glow with such a bright color before. The only meteorite he saw before had a dull yellow tail, not this bright orange.

"Hey hon," Vixy yelled toward the house's open window. "Come look!"

"What is it?" a faint yell came from the house.

"A meteorite! It's really cool, come look!"

Fox was still staring at the blazing hunk of rock soaring across the sky. It looked as though the streak was going away from them, but Fox noticed the rock chunk was getting progressively larger. He didn't know much about physics and gravity, but it does not take a degree in rocket science to know that objects shouldn't get larger unless they are coming towards you.

Vixy noticed this fact as well. "James…" she said loudly, but softly.

"I'm comin', hold on!"

The streak had its trajectory going right over Corneria City. However, as the streak kept inching closer to the city skyline, it didn't get smaller. It kept growing. It had its target in its sights, and there was no way around it.

It was headed straight for the capital.

"James!" Vixy barked firmly. "Get out here right-"

Pain. That's all that could be felt. The excruciating sound emanating from the capital deafened anyone in a 100 mile radius. The blinding white light that poured out from where the streak had stopped attacked the vulpine's eyes. The shock wave that resulted from the cataclysmic explosion violently shook the ground, blew the glass out of the windows of their house, and ripped branches off of the tree they were perched in. As a result, the two foxes were thrown from the tree, landing on the ground forty feet below. The impact, surprisingly, didn't hurt Fox as much as the assault on his senses. Fox landed on the damp grass, temporarily blinded and unable to hear anything but ringing. He only had one thought on his mind.

What in god's name was that?

As the ringing began to subside, Fox heard a voice cry out faintly from behind him.

"Fox! Vix! What happened?" James yelled, bending down near the injured vulpines. He stumbled a bit when the ground shook again like aftershocks after an earthquake. It felt as though something extremely heavy toppled onto the ground, and taking into consideration where the shock waves started from, James hoped there would still be a building still standing in the capital.

Fox rolled over and attempted to stand up, but instantly crumpled to the ground as he felt his right leg explode with pain. It felt as though someone had stuck a grenade in Fox's lower leg, and it just now detonated, sending waves of sharp pain over the vulpine's senses.

Wolf shot out of the rattling house and bent near the crippled kit. "Fox! You alright?" he asked, lifting him off the ground.

"My leg," Fox moaned. "My leg's broken. I-I can't move it."

"What the hell happened?"

"I-I don't know," Fox stuttered, unable to withhold the pain.

Wolf cranked his head to James, who was crouched over Vixy. She was lying face down, and was not moving at all. He shouted over the countless car alarms blaring around the house.

"James! We need to get Fox to – James?"

James was shaking the vixen's shoulders gingerly. "Vix?" he called out softly and shakily. She hadn't moved a muscle since she hit the ground. Her tail and ears were motionless.

"Ah, fuck it," Wolf growled silently, the raised his voice to get the vulpine's attention. "I'll get you to the hospital Fox. We'll take my bike."

"But, mom," Fox whimpered, crouching down and wrapping his paw around his shattered right leg.

"Dad'll take care of her," Wolf assured. "I'm more worried about you Foxie. Come on, gimme your arm."

"Mom!" Fox called out to get her attention, but she still was not moving.

"Fox, let's go," Wolf commanded.

Fox reluctantly accepted Wolf's paw, and he grabbed the vulpine up and carried him into the garage. James still hadn't made another move, accurately imitating his wife's movement (or lack thereof).

"Vixy?" he repeated with more inflection, and more strength in trying to arouse her.

No response.

"Vix, get up…" James choked, tears beginning to form in the vulpine's green eyes. He tore off his shades and threw them against the tree, shattering them.

Still no response.

"No… no… no no no, Vixy, please wake up," James cried softly, lowering himself to almost a crawl. His voice was breaking with every time he repeated his wife's name.

Vixy still was not moving.

James sobbed as he dropped his face onto hers. "Vixy, say something, please!"

Still no response. Not even a tail flick, an ear twitch, or even a breath of recognition.

James surrendered to the fact of reality, and softly exploded into tears. He lifted her limp body off the ground and laid her unmoving head in his lap. He couldn't bring himself to speak again. His voice was too strung out and too drowned in sorrow to work. He could only sit there with his unresponsive wife, making a faint, emotional whimpering sound as tears continued to stream down his fur.

Kennedy Space Center

Fifteen confused and petrified scientists yelling and asking questions all at the same time is not a sound you ever want to hear. Luckily, someone got tired of the incoherent yelling and instantly silenced the room with one loud, glass-shattering command.

"SOMEONE JUST TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!" Trent barked, instantly quieting the scientists.

"We lost our satellite," someone courageously piped up after a brief silence.

"Lost? You lost it?" Trent irately shot back.

"I-I-I don't…"

"Someone please explain what went wrong!" Trent snapped, looking away from the stuttering scientist.

"Sir, our satellite malfunctioned," Grant reluctantly explained.

"How?" Trent questioned sternly.

"Well, sir, turns out this system with the planet in it was a binary star system. We never took that into consideration," he responded hesitantly.

"How does that murder our satellite?" he questioned acidly, making the bearded scientist cringe.

"One- one star was much larger, with a heavier gravitational pull. It threw off our satellite's flight course," he explained, stuttering in fear.

"Did it crash into that star?" Trent asked, his rage beginning to subside.

"I don't think so. Our satellite never transmitted higher temperature readings. It did, however, radio in an increase in drag, signifying it came into contact with the atmosphere of another planet."

"So it crashed into a planet?"

"That's what I'm thinking," Grant assumed, continuing to scroll through the satellite's data.

"Alright," Trent lifted his head back up and raised his voice. "Get all the information you collected and-"

"Sir?" Sanders interrupted, holding up his arm.

"What is it Sanders?" Trent questioned, walking over to his station.

"We…" he started shakily, his voice breaking with every word. "Our satellite reported large amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere before we lost contact."

Trent's eyes almost shot out of his skull. "Oh fuck, did we…?"

Sanders nodded with a horrified look.

"We crashed into Corneria."

Cornerian Defense Force HQ

The entire city fell into a state of panic.

It all started when one of the scientists at the CDF HQ reported an unidentified object entering Cornerian atmosphere. He speculated that it was some kind of meteorite, much like the McClouds did, but as it came closer and closer to the capital, it did not lose its shape. It retained its shape, and increasingly picked up speed. The atmosphere did not slow this object, and before anyone could get the slightest bit of warning off in time, it struck.

It hit the ground 5 miles away from the main city square. No matter what time of day it was, that plaza would always be crowded. Even at 21:45 Cornerian time, there were still bound to be thousands gathered at the city square.

The object, to the amazement of bystanders, exploded on impact. It wasn't a controlled missile test either; it was a full-on B-52 bombing raid compacted into one measly tube. The explosion shook the city with the force of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. Corneria City never had to deal with earthquakes before, so the buildings weren't up to snuff in defending against them. Five large skyscrapers were instantly destroyed in the primary explosion, while seven others of similar size crumbled to the ground as a result of the colossal shock wave.

The buildings of the capital were not the only things that suffered. As a result of almost half of the city crumbling to dust, almost half the population crumbled with it. Of the 2.2 billion inhabitants of the massive city, there were an estimated 750 million mortalities in this sudden apocalyptic scene. That's three quarters of a billion people for those keeping track at home… gone. Most were killed instantly, as the explosion exceeded thousands of degrees, and the force could rip apart an entire planet if used correctly. They didn't even know what hit them. One moment, they are with their families, as happy as they could ever be. The next moment, they are corpses in a pile of burning rubble, unbeknownst of what caused their demise.

To add insult to injury, the sudden blast obliterated the city's power generator, plunging what was left of the city into darkness. This did not help matters in the crippled capital whatsoever. However, that didn't stop a particular arctic fox from finding out what caused the city to go into such a state of disarray. He pulled out a flashlight and began searching around the massive HQ after the ensuing aftershocks subsided.

"Is anyone here?" Vince called out shakily. He could not hold the flashlight still, because his paw was shaking so badly at the events that had just transpired. First, the ear splitting sound of an explosion. Then the building went dark. To make matters worse, he heard the sound of splintering wood and grinding metal. The only way he could have heard that is if part of the building itself had succumbed to the blast.

He slowly walked through the seemingly desolate hallway, coming up on the doors of the mess hall. He knew there wasn't going to be anyone in there, but it was worth a shot. It was late, way past the building's closing hours, but he was so caught up in his research he just couldn't bring himself to stop. As he placed his paw on the handle, he heard someone shouting on the other side of the hallway.

"Anyone there?" a deep voice yelled out, while the sound of footsteps progressively got louder as they worked their way around the corner and came within viewpoint of the arctic fox. Vince sighed in relief as he instantly recognized the massive raven.

"Dennis! Thank god you're alright," Vince shouted, placing the beam of light around the bird's 6 foot 6 frame.

"Oh, Vince, it's you," Dennis sighed, lowering his large rifle. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Vince stated frankly, tilting back his ears. "I was getting ready to leave when this all happened. I heard an explosion, and the power cut out. Literally right before this, I saw something enter the atmosphere though… like a meteorite."

"So it was a meteor strike?" Dennis questioned.

Vince frowned and shook his head. "Meteors don't explode, Dennis. Something hit the planet and I have no idea what."

"Whatever it is, we need to get outside. It's not safe in here; the building is falling apart."

Dennis reeled around and sprinted down the hall. Vince had to struggle to keep up with the raven, since he was significantly shorter and less fit than Dennis. As they exited through a set of double doors, they froze at a horrifying sight.

The city was almost completely destroyed.

"What. The. Fuck." Dennis squawked, dropping the rifle from his hands.

Vince pulled out his transmitter and tried to patch a call through. He growled as he lowered his wrist after an unsuccessful fifteen seconds.

"I can't get a call through," he said disappointingly, which made Dennis' rage even stronger.

"Great!" he started sarcastically, throwing his wings into the air. "No power, no comms, no anything. Not even a fucking capital city anymore!"

Vince suddenly gasped. "Where's Pepper? We need to find him!"

"Agreed," Dennis grunted, and pulled his flashlight back out. "We gotta find a way to get to his quarters from here."

"Ah, that's easy," the vulpine responded quickly. "This way, hurry!"

#####

"Should be right down this hallw– are you serious?" Dennis complained, looking at the charred remnants of the HQ's main hallway. Turns out, by a sadistic twist of fate, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the capital toppled onto the main lobby, completely destroying it and shrouding it in dust and rubble. Pepper's room was on the other side of the mountain of rubble, but there was no easy way to get around it.

Vince staggered backwards, almost as if someone punched him, and gripped the cracked concrete wall. "What… what is hap– oh god…" he whispered faintly, trying to regain his sanity.

"General? You out there?" Dennis shouted over the pile of rubble. He waited a few seconds but did not get a response. He turned to the petrified arctic fox and laid a giant wing on his shoulder.

"You know of a better way around?" Dennis asked, making a faint glance to what should have been the rest of the hallway.

Vince regained his bearings and pointed at an adjacent hallway that was surprisingly not buried under concrete. "Through there… I… I can't breathe…" he struggled, his breathing intensifying into short bursts.

"Vince, calm down buddy," Dennis commanded calmly, patting his shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of this. Just sit tight, breathe, and I'll go find Pepper."

Vince nodded, and Dennis raised his rifle and ran through the exposed corridor. Vince sat down on a giant chunk of concrete and placed both paws over his face. His confusion and paranoia only increased as he caught a faint whiff of the city's smell.

Fuel?

Vince picked his nose up and tried sniffing out the unknown smell. It was fuel alright, but from what? There were no gas lines or gas stations on Corneria, but that smell was unmistakable. He mustered enough strength and walked out of the shattered glass doors and out into what was left of an empty parking lot. The smell only intensified.

"I picked the wrong day to stay late," Vince whispered with a faint grin, slowly walking out to see the skyline over the HQ building. He worked his way around the building, climbing over large chunks of material taken from adjacent buildings. His heart instantly fell into his stomach as he gazed out into the city. The burning, crumbling, nonexistent city.

"Holy shit," Vince whispered, feeling lightheaded and staggering down to solid ground. He plopped down on the front steps of the HQ and buried his paws into his hair.

That wasn't a meteorite… What was it then? Was it a missile? It'd have to be a missile. But why? Why would someone attack our capital? And who? Who in their right mind would try to instigate us? Do they know who they're dealing with?

Whoever it is, I'll say it right now: they're in for a world of pain.

And it won't be pretty.


A/N: Dun dun dunnnn... XD

Anyway, for those of you wondering, the song Fox was singing was "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters. It's one of my personal favorite songs so I figured why not? Haha regardless, I hope you guys enjoyed, and If you guys are interested on what happens next, go ahead and follow or favorite this. Not only does it benefit you guys, but it tells me if you guys are truly enjoying this story and are dying to see more. It's a win-win for both of us! :)

You guys have a good one, and I'll see you guys next time!