Disclaimer: Star Fox © Nintendo. Original Content © Me (See A/N)


Chapter 7: Night Terrors


It was mid-day when Fay and Miyu finally left the park. One of a few forests grown within the city mostly for the sake of tourism, essentially a nature park, that Fay decided to take Miyu to for some quiet sight-seeing. All in all, things went fairly well, and Fay was ready to discuss where they'd go next when she felt a raindrop hit her nose. Blinking, she looked up at the sky to see dark clouds above the city. She glanced at Miyu, "You still want to try and go to the fairgrounds?"

Miyu shook her head, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to just head back to the apartment, though I'm feeling a little peckish. Mind if we pick up something sweet and unhealthy?"

Fay smirked, "Of course not, Miyu."

Before either of them could really say or do anything else, someone stumbled out of an alley and limped toward them, very clearly in distress. The snow leopard looked like she had just gotten in a fight, with a torn jacket and a scrape visible on her cheek, "Please! Help me!"

Miyu stepped in, grabbing the snow leopard by her shoulders, "Calm down, what happened?"

The snow leopard pointed toward the alley, "There... in there..."

Miyu glanced at Fay, who shrugged, before the duo pulled out their pistols (the snow leopard seemed surprised when she saw the weapons) and headed toward the alley. The alley had nothing notable about it, save for the large bloodstain and a small trail on one end, leading deeper into the alley. Sidearms readied, Miyu led the duo deeper into the alley in the hopes of finding out what was going on. They reached a small back area and immediately, Miyu realized something wasn't right. There was a corpse sitting in a puddle of blood, and from the way it was sitting against the wall, it had been dragged there if the bloody drag marks were any indication. The corpse also looked relatively old, flies buzzing around it. Miyu glanced up at Fay, who looked behind them to see the snow leopard, a sadistic sneer on her face.

Before either of them had the chance to ask questions, the snow leopard seemed to explode into a mass of winged critters that swarmed around Fay, lifting her off the ground and carrying her away. Miyu felt powerless to stop her, she couldn't raise her weapon, she feared that she'd hit Fay if she tried to shoot them. She could only scream as Fay was carried off. There was a sudden feeling of numbness in her legs and she fell to her knees, eyes wide open and staring blankly at the ground. She couldn't think straight, her mind was running wild with uncontrolled fear.

She heard the voice of that snow leopard, speaking to her, "If you want your lover back, come to the ruins of Old Cornelius City by nightfall. I'd like to have a little chat with you." She looked up and saw one of those creatures, perched on top of a lamp-post. Seeing it look down on her caused her to snap. With a furious cry, she trained her pistol on the creature and pulled the trigger. The creature fell, it's head now just a bloody stump. She took a moment to settle down a bit, then got a good look at the creature she just killed. It almost looked like one of those wild bats she'd seen once, and not like the Lylatian kind. This one had black fur with a sleekness and sheen that seemed unnatural. If it's head was still intact, she probably would've gotten a good look at it's face. Instead, she saw strange black swirls slithering through the spilled blood. She didn't want to risk touching it, so she backed away from it. Miyu realized that she couldn't go there alone, especially since the being hadn't specified it, so she contacted the Livid Vixen.


"...All this time... He's been conducting an investigation into all of this? Behind our backs?" Fara was awestruck when she saw the massive board filled with various drawings, newspaper scraps and pieces of a map. She'd known Saru was secretive, but she didn't think this was why.

SADIE spoke up, "He asked me to remain silent about it, he feared that it would place you three in danger if he brought you into this."

Fara clenched her fist, "He's not supposed to make those decisions... And it doesn't matter, because we're in danger anyway if he's right about all this."

"Incoming call from Miyu," SADIE announced, before a holo-screen appeared before Fara, showing Miyu in a back alley.

Miyu seemed vicious, "Fay's been kidnapped. I need you and Saru down here now."

Fara shook her head, "Remember that vixen that Saru was talking about? She got on board the ship somehow. Saru's gone and she's still looking for him. Miyu... He was investigating the murders. They're part of something much bigger. Something that he felt was dangerous enough to keep secret from us."

Miyu snapped, "I don't care, get your ass down here! I'm not going to leave Fay in the hands of that shapeshifting freak-of-nature when it could be doing Lyla-knows-what to her!"

Fara growled, before muttering, "Fine. I'll be down as soon as possible." She closed the call and addressed SADIE, "I have to go. Take care of the place while I'm gone, alright?"

SADIE understood, "I will forward you Saru's notes on this investigation. If Fay has been kidnapped by whom Miyu described, it may help ensure her safety."


Serrin couldn't shake the odd feeling that something bad was happening. For a moment, she could've sworn she'd sensed some kind of panic. She was never really good at emotions. Knowing where everyone was was more her specialty. She soon overheard Yaru speaking on the phone and decided to listen in, "...that's terrible! What can I do about it? ...Are you sure? It's my understanding you didn't part with them on the best of terms... I'll see who else I can send and if nothing else, I'll send for them."

He hung up the phone and noticed Serrin standing there as she asked, "What's going on?"

Yaru shook his head, "Nothing you need to worry about."

Serrin wasn't having any of it, "What's really going on, Mr. de Pon?"

Yaru sighed, "It's Fay. She's been kidnapped. They're holding her for ransom. She told me that it's in Old Cornelius City."

Serrin raised an eyebrow, "Old Cornelius City?"

The old raccoon nodded, "It's the ruins of Cornelius from the Lylat Wars. It's basically abandoned save for the occasional squatter. There's not much left after the meteor struck it, the city crashed down about 30 miles outside of new Cornelius City."

Serrin nodded, "No problem. I can get there quickly." With that, she strode off and with a single glance toward Sabre, they got up and left before Yaru could ask any questions. John watched them leave, before asking Yaru where they were heading.

Yaru shook his head, "Nowhere good." He looked at John and asked him, "You ever used a gun before?" John nodded, unsure of what the question meant. Yaru walked into the kitchen and tapped a tile on the wall. The hidden button slid in and immediately, the wall next to it slid open to reveal a small cache of weapons.

John was hesitant to take any of the weapons, seeing as his experience with them was limited mostly to firing them at monsters that used to be human. Yaru took note of his hesitation, "Not comfortable with them, are ya? That's alright. Some people just never get used to them. But, I'd advise you take one with you anyway." John stared at the various rifles, shotguns, and pistols, a bit surprised that a nice old raccoon like Yaru had an arsenal like that hidden away. He could only wonder about it as Yaru finally gave up and pushed a pistol into his hands. John stared at the pistol in his hand, unsure if he was really ready to use a firearm again. Nevertheless, he accepted it and the holster that was offered, strapping the holster to his belt and holstering his pistol. Yaru seemed a bit impressed, "You handle it like you're a natural, kid. What kind of careers did you work before you ended up here?"

John paused, unsure of how to answer that. After a moment, he settled for simply saying, "I'll tell you later."

He inquired about their destination and Yaru replied that they were going to meet an acquaintance, someone who owed him a favor and he was going to call it in for back-up, seeing as Miyu was going to need it. John asked why they would need it if they were going to the ruins of an old city. "Because, what your friends wouldn't let me say before they went off is that the Ruins also serve as a good place to hide if you're not on good terms with the law. I'm worried about all of them getting in over their heads if they go alone."


It was dark when her cell-phone rang. Grumbling, the lupine reluctantly lifted a hand out from under the covers and answered, "It's 10 at night, what do you want?" She clumsily lifted herself upright when she realized who it was, "Mr. de Pon, what a surprise. Is there a reason you called so late?" She listened to the old raccoon for a minute, before pinching the bridge of her muzzle, "...I was kinda hoping you were joking about that favor. Alright, I'll be right over. ...No, he's not coming with me. No reason to get the wonder boy involved in something serious." She paused as she threw aside the covers and got out of her bed, walking over to the apartment window and pushing aside the curtains to stare out into the Cornerian night, "Speaking of which, what exactly am I needed for? ...Hostage situation? Involving two of your other former students? Alright, I'll be right over. ...You're picking me up? If you say so." She closed the curtains, "I'll be waiting, don't take too long."

As soon as she hung up, she headed over to her dresser and began digging through her clothes for something to slip on quickly. She had just finished putting on a t-shirt when a male voice asked, "Miranda, what's going on?"

Normally, she was very patient, but considering the time, she wasn't really feeling it as she sighed aloud, then replied, "Go back to sleep, Justin."

"And how do I do that while you go do something late in the night that could be exciting for our viewers?" There was a flirty note in his tone that made her feel a bit agitated.

"You have an interview in the morning, now go back to sleep before I bruise more than just your ego."

The vulpine shrugged, "Whatever you say, boss… Try not to show up wasted, tomorrow."

She finished buckling up her pants and flipped him off as he left.


She recognized Yaru's skycar the instant she saw it out in front of the apartment. As she walked up to it, Yaru opened the passenger-side door and beckoned her in. Miranda, upon pulling the door shut and buckling herself in, went straight to the point, "Alright, so, where is this hostage being held and are we gonna need to make a pit-stop for any sort of special firepower?"

Yaru pulled the skycar out onto the highway, "The ruins. No idea where in the ruins, though. We're not entirely sure about the captor, only that they possibly have some sort of access to advanced holographic tech and some kind of flash-stepping device, seeing as they were able to literally kidnap Fay in broad daylight."

A ring from the back seat made Miranda nearly jump out of her seat as someone held an archaic-looking cell-phone up to Yaru, "It's for you, Yaru." Miranda glanced into the back seat to see what looked almost like an ape Cornerian. She turned to Yaru as he simply returned the stare, wordlessly implying that he'll explain later.

He leaned into the cell-phone as the alien held it up to his ear, "Yes?" The caller relayed some information to him, to which he only nodded and gave a quick, "Mm-hmm. We'll be there as soon as we can." With that, the alien removed the cell-phone from Yaru's ear and leaned back. Yaru glanced at the two of them and relayed what he'd been told, "Miyu just got a meet-up location from the kidnapper. She wants to meet in the old Church of Lylat."

The alien decided to ask, "Church of Lylat? But, isn't Lylat the name of this star system?"

Miranda beat Yaru to the punch, "The Lylat system is named for the star, Lylat, but it's also named after Lyla, the Goddess of creation and founder of Lylatianism."

"Oh…" The alien acknowledged with a tone of voice that suggested that he still didn't understand.

Miranda decided to change the subject, "Well, how about you? You're not from around here, so what are you, who are you, and how are you speaking Lylatian?"

The alien leaned back, eyes wide, "My people called the language English."

Yaru took a moment to comment, "You should see him try and use a computer, though."

"Bite me. Fonts aren't easy."

Miranda gave a half-smile before holding out her hand, "I think you and I will get along famously. I'm Miranda Swift, leader of QuestForce, former understudy to Mr. de Pon."

The alien shook her hand, "Uh… John. John Vordenburg. Um… I'm a human… and that's really the only outstanding thing about me right now..."

Miranda looked confused, "How is simply being another species the only thing worth being proud of?"

"Miranda? Is there a chance we can talk about that later?" Yaru interrupted their conversation as the scenery changed suddenly as they diverged from the sky-lanes and headed towards the forests below the hovering city. John leaned forward as Miranda turned around as they could see, off in the distance, the ruins of Old Cornelius City.


A/N

→ Original Content (QuestForce & associated characters) used with permission. Credit goes to Tobias Umbra.

→ I have returned from my hiatus, and I come bearing gifts. Or rather, a new chapter. I always thought the idea of "celebrities behind the camera" was interesting, and QuestForce, even though it's something of a derisive joke among other mercenary teams within their home continuity, seemed like something worth writing about.