Starfox

Season One

Episode Three

James

(Great Fox, Galley)

(Earth Date: 5, 7, 2091)

(Time: 8:34 am)

Fox sat down at a table and sipped at his coffee while scrolling through electronic books on the PAD that everyone 'shared.' Falco always seemed to have it more than anyone else for some reason though. Fox was reading reports of his father on his different missions, but could find little fully accurate information. Suddenly, Peppy walked in.

"Reading fanfictions again?" He asked as he poured himself a glass of sweet tea and sat across the table from Fox.

Fox looked up. "I haven't done that since I was twelve, but you're actually the person I want to see. I was wondering if you could tell me about my father." Fox said as he deactivated the PAD and set it on the table.

Peppy became intrigued. "Jim, huh? I don't see why not. There was this one time…"

(Meteo Asteroid Belt)

(Twenty Six Years Ago)

Peppy shifted in the pilot seat of his AR-wing as he attempted to gain a superior view of the asteroids quickly surrounding his AR-wing. He looked at the other two AR-wings with James and Pigma inside them as they slowly left visual range. "Jim, what are we doing out here again?" Peppy asked over the communication link.

James: "We're supposed to be investigating the disappearance of a civilian engineer."

Peppy scoffed. "And Ruth sent us out here why?"

James: "Because she's the Empress of Macbeth and we need the money."

"I guess."

Pigma: "What are you complaining about, rat? You should be glad we're getting money so we can stay fat."

"Coming from a pig, I can't say I'm surprised to hear that." Peppy said and quickly he muted the transmission link while Pigma was screaming his head off. 'I swear, sometimes I wonder if he should be a part of the team.' Peppy thought. The AR-wing's sensors picked up debris and the three AR-wings came to a full stop while facing the debris. Peppy unmuted the transmission link.

James: "This must be the wreckage."

Pigma: "Okay, mystery solved, let's go get paid."

"No, there's a survivor." Peppy said as he spotted a humanoid space suit freely moving about.

(Sargasso Space Station #2)

(Two Hours Later)

James leaned the suit against a wall as the being inside slowly woke up. "Who are you?" James asked as the being looked up at him through the large helmet visor. The being quickly scooted away into a corner and James slowly kneeled down in front of it. "It's okay, I will not hurt you." James said as the being slowly calmed down and began unlocking its helmet. The helmet detached from the suit and revealed a purple eyed, jet black curly hair, human female. James stepped back in surprise as Pigma walked in and saw the human.

"Ugh, what is that ugly thing?" Pigma remarked. The human didn't take that lightly because before Pigma knew, she had him on the floor with his arm behind his back. "AHH! Get it off, get it off!" Pigma yelled as the human twisted his arm even farther. Neither James nor Peppy did anything about it because in a way, Pigma deserved it.

"I have feelings too, you know!" She yelled as she continued twisting his arm until James finally pulled her off of Pigma and put her into a headlock. "HEY! Let go of me!" She yelled as she attempted to break free.

"Hey, we're not here to hurt you, we were sent here to investigate a disappearance." James calmly said as Pigma slowly and painfully stood up. "Calm down. What is your name?" James added as he slowly let go of her.

"My name is Juniper. I know who you are. You're the Starfox team." She said as she slowly moved away from the three of them. Peppy stepped up and spoke.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from the planet Jehj. It is not of this universe." Juniper replied as she latched her helmet and walked over to the airlock. James closely watched her until she opened the airlock door.

"W-WAIT, YOU CAN'T-!" James said before he was flung out of the airlock along with Juniper. Suddenly, a hand grabbed him, it was Pigma. The emergency force field activated and everyone fell to the floor. James slowly stood up as a shadow covered the entire station. He looked up and saw the flat belly of a massive starship with a large cache of mounted turrets targeting the station. Suddenly the ship flashed a bright light over the station and opened fire with bright red streaks of light.

"Oh, crumb…" Peppy muttered just before the stations' alarms went off. Peppy noticed James was in a trance and grabbed him by the arm. "Jim, we have to leave!" Peppy exclaimed. James shook his head and broke his trance, and then he quickly began running to his AR-wing with Peppy and Pigma right behind. The three AR-wings launched out of the hanger and the unknown spaceship opened fire with small rapid fire bullets, making the three pilots extremely uncomfortable.

"James, there are still people in there! We have to help them!" Pigma yelled as he read over the scanner system in his AR-wing.

James: "Okay! Pigma, disable their guns! Peppy, try to agro the anti-fighter turrets!"

The two pilots quickly complied while James rushed the starship, weaving in and out of its mounted turrets. Juniper grabbed onto the hull of the ship, opened a maintenance airlock, and crawled inside. The starship ceased firing and activated its main engines, quickly putting distance between itself and the station. Without hesitation, the three pilots chased after the starship and barely managed to catch up. The starship changed course towards the thick of the asteroid belt as its engines began letting out ultraviolet gasses.

"They'll never make it past the asteroids! We've cornered them!" Peppy said as James inquired about the strategy this ship was setting them up for.

James: "Wait, everyone stop!"

The three pilots came to a quick stop just before a massive purple energy shield appeared no less than three feet in front of them. The starship began shooting a path for them to move through as they slowly left visual range. "They got away…" Peppy muttered as he watched them disappear from sensor range.

James: "She said she was from another universe…I doubt they'll come back here."

"How are you so sure of that?" Pigma asked. There was a long silence. James knew why, but he couldn't put it into words. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't explain why.

(Great Fox, Galley)

Suddenly, Krystal walked in, interrupting Peppy's story. "Guess who I found out of jail." She remarked before grabbing the persons' arm and pulling them into the room. It was Joseph. He looked slowly looked around and then nervously spoke.

"Um…I was told you were offering jobs. Is that still an offer?" He asked as he made eye contact with Fox, who was attempting to stare him down. Fox thought for a few moments and looked at Krystal. Suddenly, he stood up and gently led Krystal out of the room.

"Are you sure about this?" Fox asked as he looked Krystal in the eyes. Krystal slightly nodded. "Okay. He can be a part of the team." Fox said which made Krystal nearly jump in excitement and tackle Fox to the floor. As if it was planned, Falco walked by and looked at them.

"Huh…I guess Krystal couldn't control herself." Falco muttered to himself as he walked by and around the corner. Fox and Krystal soon realized what he meant and looked at each other, blushed, and then looked away. Krystal got up and helped Fox up off of the floor.

"L-lets go inform Joseph that he has a job." Fox stuttered. The two of them walked back into the room and faced Joseph. "You start tomorrow; welcome to the Starfox team."

(Corneria City, Junkyard)

(Two Days Later)

"What do you mean I can't have her?! She's my ship!" Joseph exclaimed as he pointed at the Endeavor from behind the gates of a junkyard. The owner shrugged.

"You should have come yesterday before I sold her, sorry." The owner said as he looked down at his clipboard. "I can't be bothered to help someone who won't pay credits. I have things to do now, goodbye." He added as he began turning around, but was stopped by Joseph, who grabbed his jacket through the gates.

"Now hear this, if I don't get my ship by tomorrow, you won't have a scrapyard." Joseph said in an angered tone as he stared into the fearful eyes of the owner. The owner quickly nodded, but before Joseph could respond, an explosion rocked the ground, causing them to fall to the ground. Joseph quickly got up and turned around to see that the Pride of Corneria skyscraper was putting out smoke. Joseph then noticed a multitude of small machines attacking the city.

Joseph quickly turned around, kicked down the gate, and ran to the Endeavor, but was stopped by a pair of the machines. "Nasty little things, aren't you?" Joseph said as he drew his blaster that Fox had given him. The machines rushed Joseph, but were stopped when Joseph shot one and used the other as a jumping platform. Joseph landed on the cargo bay door of the Endeavor and shot the other machine before it could react. Suddenly, the Endeavor was struck by one of the machines and the machine began absorbing the Endeavor. Joseph took aim, but before he could shoot, the machine had full control of the ship.

"You have to be kidding me…" Joseph muttered as the Endeavor slowly lifted off of the ground and began arming its antimatter torpedoes. Joseph slowly turned around and then quickly ran in the opposite direction. Endeavor slowly hovered over him until it fired a single low yield torpedo, vaporizing a large chunk of the ground next to Joseph, and sending him ten feet ahead. Joseph rolled and continued running until an idea came about. He turned around, ran towards the Endeavor, jumped, and grabbed onto a support strut on the belly of the ship. Joseph attempted to pry open a small emergency hatch, but suddenly, the Endeavor pitched upwards and activated its spatial engines, quickly entering the high atmosphere. Joseph clung to life as he barely opened the hatch and scrambled inside.

The hatch slammed shut, nearly slicing off his left foot. He quickly stood up and began running to the bridge of the ship, which was covered in some type of biomechanical mesh. He ran to the helm console, but saw that it was covered in this slimy scaly material. Joseph ran over to a control panel on the wall, but was stopped when the machine outgrew a pair of clamps, grabbed Joseph by the waist, and threw him into the opposing wall. Joseph slowly got up and lazily shot at the arm with his blaster. The arm ceased to function and the machine let out a high pitched screech, nearly busting open Josephs' eardrums. He aimed at the helm console and fired a few blasts. The machine let go of the console and screeched again.

Joseph quickly ran to the console and attempted to put in commands, but the Endeavor was still under the control of the machine. Joseph looked up at the viewscreen and saw that he was in space and the Endeavor was attacking Cornerian warships. Joseph quickly reacted by shooting the areas of the bridge that the machine still inhabited. The machine screeched again and slowly ceased to function. Joseph gained control of the ship again, but was soon surrounded by eight larger machines. Joseph sighed and loaded all five of the torpedo tubes.

(Cornerian Medical, Cornerian City)

(One Week Later)

Joseph slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes to see a brightly lit room filled with doctors, nurses, medical beds, and the stench of blood. He painfully looked over to his left to see the form of a body covered by a sheet. He quickly sat up and a nurse immediately pushed him back down. "Where am I?" He asked which brought great surprise to the nurse.

"Y-you're in the morgue. U-uh, one second." She said before waving a doctor over. Joseph thought for a moment. 'Wait, did she say morgue? What am I doing in a morgue!?' He thought as he quickly sat up again. The doctor immediately ran over from another patient and forced Joseph to lie back down. Suddenly, four more medical beds were rolled in. The doctor inaudibly said something to Joseph and then ran over to help the other patients.

"LET ME IN! THEY'RE MY RESPONSIBILITY!" A voice yelled. Joseph looked over and saw Peppy shoving doctors and security guards out of the way to get to the four medical beds, but was soon stopped when five more security guards struggled pulling him back out of the room.

"Huh? What the heck people?" Joseph mindlessly muttered to himself before feeling a sharp pain in his left thigh. He groaned in pain and looked down to see that he was profusely bleeding and that the wraps weren't enough to stop it. Joseph looked around before seeing a box of wraps on a shelf to the right of his medical bed. He reached for the box and pulled out a roll, and then began painfully wrapping it around his leg. Joseph tied the ends of the wrap and looked at the four medical beds in which, Fox, Krystal, Slippy, and Falco were occupying.

Joseph quickly attempted to get up, but couldn't due to the pain in his thigh. Another doctor quickly walked over to him and injected a cold liquid into his arm, instantly forcing Joseph to lose consciousness.

(Location: Unknown)

(Time: Unknown)

Joseph opened his eyes and realized he was standing up. He looked around and saw that he was in a perfectly white area. There didn't appear to be any walls or doors, just white. Suddenly, a person appeared, it was a light tan furred lynx in a white long flowing dress. Joseph felt like he knew her, but he could not remember who it was. She walked up to him and whispered in his ear.

"Joseph, we will be meeting soon. Please remember me this time." She whispered.

(Cornerian Medical, Cornerian City)

(Earth Date: 19, 7, 2091)

Joseph, once again, slowly woke up and saw that he was in a light teal medical room. He started looking around, but was stopped when he felt extreme pain everywhere on his body. His vision became unclear as a personage leaned over him and spoke.

"Joseph? How are you feeling?" She asked. Joseph blinked a few times and saw that it was Krystal. Joseph groaned in pain as he attempted to speak. "Okay, nevermind. You were hurt very badly. It is a miracle you're able to move." She added as she sat down in a chair that was to the left of the medical bed. Suddenly, Fox walked in. His forehead had stitches in it and he had a cast on his right arm.

"Hey, I brought lunch." He said as he set the three trays down on a table that was latched to the rails of the medical bed. Fox sat down in a chair next to Krystal at the foot of the medical bed, looked at Joseph, and sighed. "Wow, they said you were hurt, but those burns are pretty bad." He added as he opened the food container. Joseph slowly sat up and looked in a mirror that was hanging over the bed. His skin was now burned so badly that it was black and flaky. "The doctors said it'll peel right off as soon as your normal skin regenerates." He added before taking a bite of a pear.

"Fox, do you want to break the news to him?" Krystal asked as she looked at Fox. He stopped eating and solemnly nodded. Joseph looked at Fox with a look of worry.

"Joseph, your ship, the Endeavor…it was badly damaged. The Aparoid that took control of it severely damaged the main computer core. You took down a whole third of the whole Aparoid fleet and gave us a chance to fight back. Sadly, Endeavor was damaged beyond repair and it's been in a hanger since." Fox explained and Joseph immediately had many questions.

"Fox…Where's your ship?" Joseph said in a near whisper. Fox sighed and took another bite of his pear. "Where's Falco and Slippy?" Joseph added as he became even more concerned.

"They're at the Cornerian shipyards trying to convince a team of mechanics to build another Great Fox. It was lost at the end of the war when the Aparoids tried to block us from infiltrating their base." Krystal explained as her ears drooped. "There were…there were just so many losses. We're homeless now." Krystal added as she slowly opened her food container and began eating.

"General Pepper allows us to live in spare military barracks, but that's no better than a fifty year old flat." Peppy said just as he entered the room. "Well, it seems you're alive, Joseph." He added as he sat in a chair on the right side of the medical bed.

"Hey Peppy, do you think you could finish that story you were telling me about?" Fox asked as he attempted to change the subject.

"Uh, sure."

(Sargasso Space Station #2)

The three pilots jumped out of their AR-wings and looked around. The station was in shambles, but only a few were hurt. Suddenly, a brown vixen approached James. "A-are you the ones who saved us?" She shakily asked.

James shrugged. "I guess." He said not really sure of what he had actually done. The vixen quickly hugged him and James nearly jumped out of his skin. "Um...uh…" He couldn't think of anything to say. He never was good with girls. The vixen looked up at James.

"What's your name?" She asked as James desperately tried to remember. "Come on, you've got to have one." She added which only made James even more nervous.

"M-my name? My name is James McCloud." He stuttered. Peppy nudged Pigma and they both busted out laughing. James was too nervous to even notice that they were laughing. "W-what is your name?" He asked.

"My name…my name is Vixy."

[End Episode Three]

Ammon Note: "Hello ladies and gentlemen, as I promised, another episode, hopefully I can start updating episodes bi-weekly. Bit by bit, I'll be able to upload at least once a week. Remember that present I said I was working on? Well, it's not finished yet. I still need a few things. Believe it or not, I'm actually in contact with a Japanese album company just to get this gift finished. So…yeah, all of you better like it because this has taken me a lot of time to finish. G.M.E. is actually the one who will present it to all of you. I'm just doing all of the work. Make sure to leave a review, favorite, and a follow. Finally, make sure to check out my DeviantART profile (The link is in my Profile and Biography.) and wherever you are, make sure to have a wonderful day. Read on..."