I

As the Great Fox landed, Krystal was the first to walk out. Preppy and tall. She had recovered well and was ready for another mission. When she walked out she was hit with a wave of strong, dirty stench and a massive wave of heat. Krystal plugged her nose. "It smells like the countryside in Corneria on a Monday." She spoke through her hand. "Yeah, it does." Slippy admitted. Slippy looked around. "Where is Wolf, he was supposed to be here right now-."

"Hello." Wolf said in his usually gravelly voice. Slippy screamed as Wolf had creeped up to him and made him jump. Wolf chuckled. "I'm not here to hurt you kiddo, I'm here to make a deal with your furry friends, you amphibian." Wolf had said in a more serious tone. "So Wolf, what's the money on the table." Fox asked. "Ten mill, boss thought that would be 'nough." Wolf said.

"Who's this little guy?" Wolf asked while looking at Doris. "I'm Doris, I come from UTAA, not as spy but escapee." Doris replied. "Err… don't look like a spy." Wolf said inspecting his uniform that was still, mildly covered in sand. "Well, boss will take a look at ya'. You look like a proficient fighter, young man, Doris." Wolf complemented. "Thank you very much… err… what is you name?" Doris asked. "Wolf. Wolf O'Donnell." He responded.

"Who's this boss, Wolf?" Fox raised an eyebrow, being suspicious of Wolf. "Tommy Ocelot, the leader of the Anti-End Fourend. He didn't really trust himself with that amount of money and thought that if you guys were against the End Fourend movement, and you guys are Star Fox after all, you could use it a lot more responsibly than him." Wolf explained. "In check or cash upfront?" Fox asked. "Of course it's check, you blockhead." Wolf gave Fox a nuggie.

"Ten mill's a lot of money. Ton of people ain't know that." Peppy said slowly. "Ol' man's right, pup." Wolf assured him. Fox became angered. "I've dealt with ten mill before! Trust me!" He argued. "If you say so. The check won't come until the mission I have for you is accomplished, 'ya got me?" Wolf firmly asked. "Yes." Fox said as he was full of anger, his face turning red. "Aww, look! The kiddo's blushing!" Wolf was tossing Fox around. Fox nearly had an outburst, but he could contain his anger quite well.

"Alright, Wolf are we done messing around and can we get to the mission now?" Peppy asked angrily. "Err...yes. Sorry for goofin'. C'mon kiddo!" Wolf called out to Fox quickly. Fox strolled over to Wolf. "We have to find Panther first. That damned predator ran away when we were fuelin' up. Fun thing is, I know where he works. Get in." Wolf angrily opened his car door. That name, that one name sent shivers down Krystal's spine. She wanted to speak to Wolf as her fear tried to overcome her. "You drive, pup. I trust you." Wolf said to Fox.

Krystal lightly tapped Wolf on the shoulder. She spoke in a weak, soft voice. "Err… Wolf. Could you at least put me out of Panther's sight when you find him?" Krystal asked. He knew all about what Krystal went through with Panther and he sighed. "Yes, for your safety." Wolf comforted her. "If Panther does get his hands on 'ya, I'll give 'em the ol' one two!" Fox said. "Calm down, pup. That won't be necessary."

Wolf walked up to a gas station. "Wait here." He said as he ran into the gas station with a bag. The team'd obeyed as they sat there in silence. The silence became more awkward by the second and Slippy couldn't take it. They heard a loud bang in the gas station which got their attention. They saw Wolf sprinting out of the store with a bag in his hand. The bag was loose and some currency flew out. "Go, go, go, step on it!" Wolf demanded as Fox used all of the force in his foot pushing the gas down.

"What the hell did you do in there?" Falco asked while trying to climb to the front seat. "I robbed it." Wolf sighed. "Why did you rob it? I heard a gun, who did you kill?" Fox asked quickly. "I killed the cashier, Panther." He responded slowly. Fox was shocked and sat there saying nothing along with the rest of Starfox. Wolf got his cigar pack out of his pocket.

"You smoke?" Falco asked slowly. "Yeah, not as much as Leon though. That cross-patch is gonna get lung cancer soon, just wait. Then it'd be just me on the team." Wolf said. "It's not a team if there's only one person." Fox said. "True." Wolf agreed as he started to light up his cigar. "If, eventually, he does die, guess there's no other choice to join you guys." He said as he blew smoke out the car window. Fox nodded his head in a tired manner.

II

"Fox, this is the address boss gave me. Let's just hope this is correct." Wolf said as he flung the car door open. He was done with his cigar and threw it on the ground. He opened the door as Fox, Falco, Slippy, Krystal, Peppy and Doris followed. Wolf had his gun in his shoulder. "This is Star Fox. You will have 11 minutes and 25 seconds to compromise and or comply. If you don't do those things in the aforementioned time, you will be forced. Either come out with your hands up or wait." Wolf recited.

Eventually, the time of 11 minutes and 25 seconds passed and the team started to infiltrate rooms. "Falco, southwest. Slippy, northeast. Krystal, southeast. Doris, northwest. Peppy, north. Wolf, south. I'll go east and I'll save the west for later." Fox quickly told the directions to them and they followed. Fox barged through the door, but something seemed off when he did.

There was no one in the room. No windows have been broken and no decor has been raveled. He coughed as the place seemed a bit dusty. "Fox to Wolf, I'm not seein' anybody in 'ere, copy." "Wolf to Fox, same here, man. This whole place just seems off, copy." "Falco to Fox and Wolf, I don't see nothing either. Either this place is abandoned or these folks are extremely well at hidin', copy."

Fox's ears perked up as he heard crying from a room to the west. His ears immediately dropped. He opened the door as he saw a man crying in his work chair. "Err...hello?" Fox called out. The crying man looked up at him with puffy eyes and stuffy nose. "Oh. Hello." He said in a weak wobbly voice. "What happened to everyone? Where did they go?" Fox asked. "They've abandoned me. I was left all alone." He said. "Who's they?" He asked. "Tommy. Tommy Ocelot and his men." The man responded.

"Fox to Wolf, I'm gonna need you to come in here. I got a code SA1 on our hands. Notify everyone, copy." Fox sent to Wolf. Code SA1 meant Suspicious Activity, SA2 means Supply Ammo. Wolf opened the door slowly as he entered the room. It was eerily silent. The weak man looked up at Wolf. "He's a monster compared to me." The man thought. Soon Falco, Doris and the rest of the team entered through the door. Falco was the first to speak out from the bunch.

"Are you OK, man? Something happen?" Falco asked. The man explained. "Tommy Ocelot and his men had strapped me to this chair. I've been stuck here for, what seems to be, 48 hours. He's lost it, gone insane." "So, if my boss, Tommy Ocelot, gave this address and nearly everyone had left and you're an employee working for him…" Wolf started to plan. "It was because I 'ticked him off', but I didn't. I did nothing to him and all of a sudden he's starting to get destructive." He said.

"If this guy runs a big corporation, starts to get destructive and leaves their workers to die, he's obviously quit on trying to get Fourend back together." Fox said. Wolf's phone started to ring in his pocket. "What the hell? Who could be ringing me at this time in a mission?" Wolf looked at his phone. "Oh, great it's boss." Wolf sighed as he picked up the phone. It was completely silent on the other end of the call. Tommy quickly answered the phone.

"Err… hell...o...Wolf. I ju...st wan...ted to cal...l and see ho...w you're doi...ng." His voice was cutting out. "Sir, your voice sounds like it's cutting out." Wolf said. The call ended right after he said that. Wolf attempted to call back as no one answered. "What is with this phone service." Wolf raged. "Wait, who called?" The weak man buzzed. "My, well, our boss, Tommy." He said. "What did he say, I've heard and seen the phone ring multiple times. I answered it once and he said he wanted to see how I was doing. Strange, though he left me to die." He said.

"Can I listen?" The man asked. "Why?" Wolf asked back. "Every time I answered the phone, it sounded like the exact same recording." The man conspired. "Fine, fine. Here." Wolf reluctantly handed the man his phone. Wolf was never as nice as giving a stranger his phone. Not for a second. The man played the recording back close enough to his ear to hear. He handed it back to Wolf. "It's the exact same one. It cut out and everything." He said.

"Strange." Wolf started to conspire in his mind. "Maybe it's a goodbye message from him. We don't know." Fox chimed in. "Well, we are about to find out." Wolf said as he started to untangle and cut the ropes that were tied around the weak man. The man stood up and felt like a totally different person. "Thank you, very much. My arms are gaining circulation again." He said as he moved his hands in a circular motion while walking around the room. He was finally unfettered and winsome.

"Bro, we need to know your name." Falco said to the man. "Oh, my name is Mary." He said. Falco chuckled. "That doesn't sound like a male name!" Falco tried his hardest to contain his laughter. Fox punched Falco in the arm playfully. "Falco, come on, be nice. Sorry, Mary, my friend can really be a prat sometimes. Don't take things he says literally all the time." Fox said. Falco still was chuckling.

Soon, Wolf and Doris started to snicker quietly in the corner throwing his name about every couple of seconds and when they did, they laughed louder. "Come on guys, it is not that funny." Fox yelled to them in an almost exasperated tone. Wolf slightly frowned as Doris followed him out of the door of the room. "Follow us, Mary. I'll take ya to Wolf's car." He said as he picked him up and brought him outside.

Mary opened the door and slammed it as he sat in the comfy backseat. "Geez, Mary, you sure are forceful." Wolf said as he lightly chuckled. He started up the car and drove away from the given address. "I didn't know our boss would do something like this. He's gone mad. If he eventually, does leave, it could be the end of a galaxial federation, a big deal." Wolf said in a worryful way. Fox started to realize how much chaos would spread if he eventually did end it.

III

The Cornerian press and news sources almost started to go into an all-out riot mode when they heard they would split. Corneria was the leader of the Lylatian Federation. Of course, the leader should be the strongest of the planets. If these planets split, there could be a hoard of money and power lost. Also, they could rise to power by making a strong army, becoming a stronger, larger Venom. That is what Andross wanted.

"Andross...Andross...Andross." Fox thought through his mind. "You don't think Andross is cajoling Tommy into stopping this galaxy-wide campaign?" Fox asked. A light bulb went off in Wolf's mind. "That is a plausible theory. Cajoling isn't really the right word. He suborned him? Yeah, that sounds better. Anyway, we don't know yet, and we won't know until we get to the HQ. It's been a while since I've seen boss." Wolf said as he opened his car window. He loved to let his fur out of the window. The only downside was, it smelled terrible outside.

Wolf's sentence was one of the last times people talked on the extensive car ride. Wolf became really irritated that no one was talking. He was a civil, "yakkin' about nothing" sort of guy. "Come on, guys! Talk about something! You guys are so silent, it's weird." Wolf whined. "What is there to talk about?" Fox asked. "Eh, we're almost to the HQ anyway, you guys behave when we get there." Wolf told them.

"We know Wolf, we're not kindergarteners!" Slippy retaliated. Wolf looked slightly irritated as he stopped the car. "We're here!" Wolf said. Fox peeked out the window. "There's nothing here!" He said. "Exactly, now come on." Wolf walked out into a small farm. There was a small post with a speaker. There was a button underneath it. He pressed the button as the speaker reluctantly spoke. "Code word?" It asked. "Amphisbaena." Wolf said the long word into the speaker as the floor opened.

Fox and the rest of them stood there in awe as the field opened and a white, bright stairwell showed. "Well, are you gonna stand there like vegetables or follow me downstairs?" Wolf asked, annoyed. The team followed and looked at the walls. The walls were painted a pretty shiny white as well. Fox's lamp-black colored arms were behind his back. It looked conspicuously like a music video set. Krystal was almost blinded by the light in the hallway after the stairs.

"How do you handle with this brightness, Wolf?" She asked as her eyes were nearly fully closed. "I got used to it pretty easily, kind of pissed me off the first few times." He said as he walked toward the elevator. "Right now, we're on the 12th floor. Boss is always on the third, we should see him there." He said as he pressed the down button. The elevator came with its significant dinging sound. "WELCOME TO EFEHQ." The robot voice came over the speaker.

The elevator was playing jazz music. Slippy couldn't help but start dancing. "Slippy, what are you doing?" Falco said while giggling. "W'd'ya think? I'm dancin'." He said. "You won't be dancing for long once we get to the third floor, fool." Wolf said. "Why do you have to be such a buzzkill?" Slippy asked in an angry tone. "My employees I work with and I am friends with will think I'm a nutcase." Wolf said through his fangs, bitterly. No sound of raillery in his voice.

IV

The elevator opened and Wolf walked toward Tommy's office. He knocked, no answer. He tried to knock again, still no answer. "I'm about to barge down this lunatic's door." Wolf said loudly. Tommy was inside the room and he wouldn't answer anyone. He heard Wolf call him a lunatic. "Oh great. It's Wolf." He murmured under his breath. Outside the door Wolf whispered in Mary's ear. "When I say go, you have to say your name. Once he knows you're here, there's a chance he'll come outside."

One of Wolf's most valuable friends and partner in adventure and crime, Leon came up to him. He had just gotten out of jail. "Don't even bother trying to get his door open. He's been stuck there for three days. His door is strong, strongest out of everyone." He explained. "Look, Leon, we aren't going to give up until he budges his lazy tail off his seat and open his damned door." Wolf gritted his teeth. "Alright, good luck then." Leon started to walk away.

"Oh, wait, Leon. I need to tell you something." Wolf said as his face darkened. "What. What is it." He flapped his arms in the air. "Panther died. He got shot in the head. Some guy killed him." Wolf lied about the 'some guy' part. Leon was shocked at the news as he looked at the floor. "I know. It's alright. I loved him too." Wolf lied again. Leon just walked away the most depressed he's been this past month and sat back down in his cubicle.

The building didn't allow smoking but Leon pulled his pack out of his pocket anyway. He lighted up and started typing and making and answering phone calls. "See what I mean, Fox? He's tearin' that pack down." Wolf justified his claim he made earlier in the car. Wolf couldn't stand waiting. "Go." He signaled Mary. "Open the door, Tommy, It's your neglected employee, Mary." He yelled. It got Tommy's attention. He started to think.

"No, that can't be him. He can't be right outside my door, unless Wolf had something to do with it." He started to creak the door open as Wolf barged through, making him fly back and roll on the floor. He gripped his hurting knee. "Wolf, you bastard… why would you do this?" He whispered in pain. "Why would I do this? Why would YOU do this?" Wolf asked back, exasperated. "Are you trying to destroy our galaxy's unification?" Fox asked.

Redundant voices were asking him redundant questions. His mind couldn't take it, as he has already gone mad. "Stop! You are all wrong! Let these planets die." Falco said. Everyone in the room except Tommy gave Falco a nasty scowl. "Are you serious?" Fox blurted out. "This mission is useless. These planets are dead anyway." Falco said. "The Lylatian Federation had only been founded two years ago! They're still developing!" Fox said.

"No. No they're not. We're using this money for the wrong reason." Falco said as Tommy kicked him in the back. Fox started swearing at him. "Do you know how damned important this mission is for the galaxy, Falco?" His voice was starting to crack as he started to lam Falco. "Boss hasn't lost it at all." Wolf said as Tommy had gotten up from the cold tile floor. "Damned bird! My money has been given for good reason and if you don't like it, then don't 'andle it!" The ocelot roared.

"Falco. Listen to what he said and stop makin' an ass out of yourself." Wolf said. Falco breathed slowly as he started to calm down. "You know what, you're right." Falco said as he got off the floor. The door wasn't shut all the way and employees could hear and see the fight through a slight crack in the door. "I'm sorry if I was being an idiot. You guys are right." Falco said in remorse. "Yeah, yeah just don't do it again Falco." Wolf said opening the door and exiting Tommy's office.

Wolf spoke back with Tommy. "Man, we thought you lost your mind. Glad to see your okay, boss." Wolf said, relieved. "I didn't lose my mind. What are you talking about?" He asked. "Oh, you know, you neglected your employee, Mary." Wolf said. "I didn't neglect him. I punished him. He was causing a lot of trouble. Thing is, he's a great liar." He said. "Hold on, boss. I'm going to have a little talk with Mary." Wolf shut the door as he booted toward Mary.

"Wait, wait, wait. Wolf, I just wanna say, I'm sorry." He said. "Why are you saying sorry to me?" Wolf asked. "In the letter I sent you I accidentally copy-and-pasted the wrong address." He said. "Why did you accidentally copy-and-paste that address?" Wolf asked. "Because I was going to copy-and-paste that address to a different letter. A letter to my men to set fire to that building, the one Mary was stuck in, I'm sorry." He apologized.

"Well, what was the address you were going to send me?" Wolf asked. "4957 Larry Street, in Venomia City. You know the place, about twenty miles from here. Both addresses are horrible places. You may want to get any lasting survivors out of that building." Tommy demanded Wolf. "Ok. I just wanted to make sure you were alive. That's the only reason I came to Venom after all. I will make sure that my team understands of the situation." Wolf assured Tommy as he walked, again, toward Mary.

V

"I know you're lying, Mary." Wolf jumped in front of Mary, cornering him. "I don't know what you're talking about." Mary said. "Boss is the most honest man I know, and I know he wouldn't lie about a little piece of filth like you. I bet he wants to expose all your truths." Wolf breathed in his face. "Boss is lying!" Mary said back. Wolf slapped Mary in the face and lifted his coat, along with his body.

"Hey Wolf. Bring Mary over here. I'll give 'em the ol' Wolf O'Donnell treatment." Tommy said as Wolf walked toward him with a big grin on his face. He threw Mary in a chair and tied him up. Wolf turned off the lights and turned on a little dangling lightbulb. Tommy got out his tripod and camcorder and pressed record. "Tape 704, action!" Tommy said as he started the video. "Anything you want to say, Mary?" Wolf asked, standing next to him.

"No." He said after thinking a while. "Good." Tommy got a fork out of his drawer and drawed it toward his left eye. The fork rapidly went through Mary's eye as he was screaming. "Aaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhh!" He held his bleeding eye socket. Tommy held the fork, which was holding Mary's eyeball, in his hand twirling the fork around playfully. "Look, it's his eye!" Wolf said laughing. "And cut!" Tommy ended the video.

Tommy and Wolf left the room and locked it shut. Mary was trapped in that room forever. Left to starve. This wasn't a harsh punishment to him. It was kind of like putting a preschooler in time-out. Mary actually got his eye back. Mary's punishment was palpebral damage, which was not a harsh punishment in Tommy's books. Fox and the rest of them were waiting down the hall from Wolf. He sprinted toward them. "We have a new mission assigned by Tommy. I'll explain once we get in the car." Wolf said as blood was covering Wolf's leather jacket.

"What happened? There's blood all over your jacket." Krystal asked. "Err… I just got a cut on my stomach." Wolf lied. He pressed the down button on the elevator. The robot then said goodbye to them. "THANK YOU FOR COMING TO EFEHQ." The robot thanked them. "You're welcome robot." Slippy said giggling. "Jeez, Slippy, you are such a stooge." Falco said and couldn't help but smile. You didn't see Falco smile that often. He was stern and blunt most of the time.

Wolf ran out to his car as he opened the door. The car started. The car was a beater, Wolf liked driving those around. It started to drive downhill as they saw the city, big tall factory buildings polluting the air. The city was surrounded by messy and mangled powerlines. They constantly had problems with the power going out and powerlines falling down, due to them being so cheap.

"Hold on, guys. We're whizzin' over these roads." Wolf said as his speedometer read "84 MPH". He made a sharp turn which made Slippy and Doris sick to their stomachs. They couldn't complain though, it was a fun ride. It was like a rollercoaster ride whenever Wolf was in a hurry. The car was now in the city as Wolf turned into Downtown.

VI

"Arriving to address in 800 feet." The robot GPS voice said. Wolf stopped the car abruptly as they all got out. The building was on fire as wood was falling like snow. Wolf was speed-walking to the back door as he flung it open. Fox started to shoot active hackers in the room. They all screamed in terror. "Is this how I'm gonna die?" A hacker thought hiding under a table in the kitchen with his hand on his head. Slippy went in with a pump shotgun and destroyed furniture. Falco stole all food supplies they had left. Though this wasn't left of the group. There were many more in Fourend's Arspace. Mostly toward Zoness.

"I'm calling for CARA support this time, Falco." Krystal said out of the corner of Falco's hearing. "Alright, alright. You can call 'em." Falco said as he sat on one of the kitchen chairs. "So. This really could be the end of Andross once and for all." Fox said. "Of course. I can't believe I worked for someone that scummy before." Wolf said with no remorse. "It was all for my friend Andrew, after all." Wolf started to tear up.

You rarely ever saw Wolf cry. This was among the few times that he actually did. He didn't cry when his father or mother died. Didn't cry when a girlfriend of his broke up with him. Wolf was hardhearted, but it seemed at this moment that he really wasn't. Wolf went outside to see a giant aircraft hovering. The few remaining grass particles were blowing like the wind. It landed in the alley.

"Hello, team. We have arrived for pickup. Is there any injuries?" The guard had asked. Doris looked at all of his friends. "No, sir. Some minor injuries that can go away though, like Wolf getting a cut in his stomach." Doris firmly replied. Wolf laughed. "That wasn't a cut. I was lying. Someone else's blood got onto my jacket." He assured both the guard and Doris. "Wolf, come on board, we need you for this next mission." The guard demanded. "Well, I got nothing better to do." He said as he walked into the aircraft's hangar.

One by one, each member got on board to the temporary Great Fox and set off. "There is a new mission for you guys. This time being Zoness." The guard said. "What must we complete sir?" Fox asked. "Wild and violent refugees have illegally emigrated to Zoness from Titania and MacBeth. You must destroy all wild refugees. We will assign you more information as we approach the planet." He explained. "Thank you, sir. I'll make sure to tell everyone." Fox assured.