Chapter 9

Fox and Krystal slept in, but no one disturbed them. Once they were both awake, they were both reluctant to leave the bed. Krystal kissed Fox again, keeping her arms around him.

"Good morning, Fox," she murmured.

Fox returned the welcome and finally got up from bed. Still, it had been the best night's rest he had ever had. Krystal got up too and began to walk to the door.

"I'd better get back to my cabin," she said. "I'll see you soon, Fox."

"Bye," Fox called after her.

Once he was alone, Fox began to think about what he should do next about Panther. Was a full frontal assault too risky? He supposed for now they could take their time though.

Falco suddenly came into the room without knocking. Fox stood up from the bed.

"What's wrong?" Fox asked.

"We forgot about Katt…" Falco replied. "I tried calling her four times so far, and she hasn't answered…"

Fox suddenly felt guilty again. He should have been the one to remember; he was the leader in this. He knew Falco would feel even worse since it was his fiancée.

"I'm going after her," Falco declared.

"Wait! We're supposed to stay here, remember?" Fox reminded Falco.

"I don't care," said Falco. "She always answers her phone; I don't what the heck's going on, but I'm gonna find out. See ya, Fox."

Falco left the room in a huff. Fox felt sorry for his companion; he was also praying that Katt was alright. Knowing Falco, he might take it out on Fox. Fox might never forgive himself if Katt died out of his irresponsibility. On the other hand, he knew it was mostly Falco's fault since it was him who was getting married to her. Either way, all Fox could do was hope for now…

Fox decided to go out to the dining room for breakfast now. He figured almost everyone had already eaten by now. After walking through a few corridors, he found Peppy, Wolf, and Bill at the dining room table. Fox went over to sit with them.

"I assume Falco told you about Katt," Bill started. When Fox nodded, he continued, "I let him leave for now; I understand how important she must be to him."

"Also, we need to get supplies," Peppy added. "I was wondering if you wanted to help me bring it home, Fox."

"Sure, Peppy," Fox replied. "We should probably wait for Falco to get back here first, though."

"There's one more thing, though…" Bill said.

"What's that?" Fox asked.

"Wolf said he needed to speak with you privately about something," Bill explained.

Wolf nodded, standing up from chair.

"Alright," Fox agreed, and he followed Wolf back to his cabin.

Once the two were alone, Wolf's face became serious.

"There's something I need to tell you that I never planned on telling you before," Wolf began.

Fox nodded, ears listening in anticipation of what was coming.

"Andross didn't kill your father," Wolf stated. "Panther did."

Fox's jaw dropped; he was completely unbelieving of what he had just heard. This whole time, he didn't even know who had killed his father!

"What? How do you know?" Fox asked.

"I was there when it happened," Wolf explained. "After Pigma betrayed Star Fox, he turned James over to Andross of course for his profit. However, Andross had a new recruit named Panther Caroso. Andross told Panther that if he killed James and proved his worth, he'd have a higher ranking in the army. Once Panther had gone ahead and killed James, Andross kept his promise and rewarded him with the rank of admiral and increased his salary. Eventually, Panther showed enough promise to the point where Andross insisted he could have a place in Star Wolf. However, Andross was supposedly destroyed by you shortly afterwards. Even though Andross had been revived on Planet Sauria, I didn't know at the time. During that time though, Andrew Oikonny left our group and I kicked Pigma out due to his disgusting greed. Once the spot was open, I decided to let Panther into our team since Andross was dead and only Leon and I had been left. I understand this must be hard for you to take in, but it was Panther who killed your father."

Fox stared at the ground, absorbing the fullness of Wolf's story. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He felt angry and sad at the same time. But now, he felt he had a renewed energy for killing Panther.

"Thank you; I'm glad you told me this," Fox said at last.

"I felt you needed to know now that we're not enemies," Wolf said. "I already told Peppy."

Fox nodded, and quietly left the room. He had never hated anyone as much as Panther right now. All Fox wanted to do at the moment was strangle that creature to death. After keeping this thought in his mind for at least an hour, Fox decided it was time to cool off for the time being. However, when he went into the main lobby, he was greeted by an unpleasant surprise.

Falco was wailing in anguish, his hands covering his eyes. Katt's dead body was on the ground in front of him; her face had been completely cut up, some gashes deeper than others. She had also been stabbed through her chest several times it appeared.

Fox had never been so angry in his life; he had never seen a murder so sickening and gruesome. He instantly knew it was Panther's fault, too. Soon, all the others arrived to see what had happened. Fox knew at that moment that killing Panther was the only way he could be satisfied.