Chapter Ten: The Five Step Program (Steps 1-4)

Authors Notes:

Sorry for the short chapter in advance, it's more of a prequel to the next chapter. Also, I have the final bits of the story set out and I am proud to announce that Fox McCloud: Ordo will be 15 chapters (It was going to be 16, but this chapter was supposed to be the first part of it and obviously that was way too short for a chapter so I blended it in with the other part.)

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Grief: Intense sorrow, great sadness, especially as a result of death. There are five stages of grieving: Denial and Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. People do not have to go through these stages in exactly that order, but it usually ends with acceptance.

Fox McCloud was on stage four, and deep into it…

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One Month Later...

Fox stumbled aimlessly into his apartment, drunk off of his ass. He wasted so much money at the bar that night, he wasn't able to pay for a cab home. So he was forced to walk home, scaring everyone that he passed.

The vulpine walked over to the couch, and with a hiccup, plopped down on it. He tried to fall asleep, but when his eyes shut, he would get a nasty case of the spins. It reached the point, where if he even blinked, he would be hurling all over the floor. It didn't take very long for him to get that end result. He looked around the room for something, whatever it was obviously wasn't there.

"Oh my god, not again! I'm out of carpet cleaner! STUPID FUCKING VOMIT!" He yelled out as he smashed his fist into the coffee table, leaving him in immense pain that he could honestly care less about. The room was still spinning so Fox got down onto his knees and crawled over to his room and saw the picture of the entire Star Fox team. Their smiling faces were almost mocking him and his pain. The vulpine steadied his head and focused on Krystal, wearing her flight suit she was buried in.

"Oh Krys…tall…why did you have to go you fucking bitch!" Fox yelled out in blind rage as he spat toward the picture, only to miss it by two feet. He could feel more puke coming up so he ran as fast as he could toward the bathroom. He stuck his entire face into the toilet, waiting for it all to come. "Oh my god, make it stop…make it fucking stop!" His skin beneath his fur began to become flushed as it came, and it felt like it would never stop. He flushed the toilet and laid on the floor, waiting for it all to end.

"Please God, just save me!" He cried out toward the ceiling. He could hear his own heartbeat as it pounded his eardrums like a full blown rock concert. The noise drowned out everything else, until he finally blacked out.

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Two Days Later…

Falco arrived at his good friends apartment, worried about his well being. He tried to call him for a few hours now with no response. When he reached for the doorknob, he found the door to be surprisingly unlocked. A foul stench was coming from the direction of the living room, which the avian found to be dried up vomit.

"Jesus Christ, what has he done?" He pulled his undershirt up over his face to shield himself from the smell. Upon further inspection of the room, he found crushed beer cans, cigarette butts, and adult magazines strewn all over. A noise reverberated through a room, it was a groan followed by a light whimper. This led Falco to the source, Fox was leaning over the tub, arm outstretched. The vulpine wrists were extremely bloody, and his brachial muscle was now being sliced open. He looked over and saw Falco standing in shock.

"FOXIE!?" What are you doing!?" He screamed, running toward him.

"Leave me alone! I just want to be with Krystal!" The vulpine stopped cutting and put the bloodied razor in his paw, curling it into a fist. Blood oozed from between his claws.

"Whoa! Please Fox, don't do this." He pried Fox's paw open and took the object out of his reach. "What did we tell you to do if you needed someone to talk to?" He gave his friend a very stern look. The vulpine didn't bother to respond. The avian was disgusted with the situation Fox had put himself in. " What would Krystal think of this? Hell, what would your FATHER think of this!?" He knew exactly how to cut his core and it bit him deep down inside. "You're my best friend and I won't let you do this to yourself!" Falco covered his face, trying to hide the shame he felt for him.

"You're right…What am I doing to myself?" The avian put an arm around him, looking strained.

"You're grieving buddy, I can understand that you're depressed, but don't do this to yourself Foxie…" The avian went over to the cabinet and got some dressings for his cuts. He let out a long sigh as he attended to the wounds. "Look, I think that we need to jumpstart the process before you do something you might regret."

"How?"

"Get yourself cleaned up and I'll show you…"