CHAPTER 09 - STRANGERS
* On board the Great Fox *
"Now entering the mesosphere of Planet Neightyvee." ROB 64 affirmed over to Fox and Peppy, who were both silently slumped in their chairs. "Commencing procedure for the ship's atmospheric descent. ETA to final destination, Midair Stadium: twenty minutes."
"Alright, and we already have clearance from the Orbital Authorities." Peppy added on with a weary sigh, "I guess we're on the home stretch now."
Outside the huge bridge window, the planet now filled the entire view like a stunning panorama. They were approaching from the side still facing away from the Nassazar, so the great shadow line crossed the planet's rim in a beautiful arc; starkly contrasting its barrier of day and night. Small web-like clumps of orange and yellow city lights could even be seen down there on the darkened side. It was a gorgeous vista to be sure, but within it all, a rather cold and unsettled feeling lingered.
Fox blinked quite a long time before finally breaking the silence. "Uh, Pep? Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah?" The hare glanced over at him.
"When you talked to the Orbital Authorities... Did you mention anything about the energy anomaly?"
Peppy was silent at first, but shook his head slowly. "... No, I didn't."
Fox sighed through his nose, concerned. "Well, maybe you should have at least said something... you know?"
"Believe me," the hare added, "The thought was really bangin' in my mind... but I just figured I'd keep quiet."
"Do they even know anything about it, I wonder?" Fox couldn't help but also speculate.
"Hmph, hard to say." Peppy shifted his back so he'd be more comfortable. "That's the thing. They didn't mention a word, so..."
"But, it's just... I can't stop thinking about it." The vulpine lightly set his forehead upon two of his fingers, with the white tip of his bushy tail slowly swaying from side to side as he sat there in his chair. "It was all so... sudden and unnatural."
"Well, what I can say is we've had more than a few run-ins with electro-magnetic blasts before." The hare sought to clarify, but ended up thinking harder on it. "... But none ever like this; not like a huge beam of pure concentrated energy."
"Mm..." Fox was also deep in thought. "... Almost like it was a gamma ray burst or something."
"We'd be nothin' but ashes and dust if that'd been a gamma ray." Turning back to a mainframe computer, Peppy observed the information onscreen and hypothesized, "Do ya think... by chance, it could've just been a concentrated solar flare, hence the radiation readings?"
"A solar flare...?" Fox seemed a little pragmatic in his disbelief. "So how'd you explain the 'no exterior damage' part, then? Let alone, there's been no large flares coming from the Nassazar. We would've gotten warnings from the Orbital Authorities way ahead of time if there were."
"... You're right." The hare nodded slightly, taking off his small circular glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Those other times, our shields were up... and it seemed the Great Fox still got scathed every dang time we ran into 'em. I know Pepper always got bitter whenever it happened."
The vulpine leaned forward with his chin resting upon his knuckles, trying hard to think about it all.
"Yeah, I know." He finally replied," It makes no sense... and that's what's worrying me most..."
As if realizing there was something urgent he had to check, Fox clicked a small button on the side of his helmet's communicator and flipped down the little microphone next to his maw.
"Slippy? You read me?" He started into the mouthpiece, waiting a moment until the mechanic's voice answered.
"Roger, Fox. I read ya loud and clear."
"You down in the hangar bay yet?"
A slightly agitated groan came back from him. "Nope, still on level Two-D... the long trudge down the whole hull past all these storage rooms. I'm down for a little chit-chat though if you are, 'cause we've got time."
"Ah yes, that trudge." The vulpine smiled. "Well, at least you have something you're doing to help pass said time."
"Heh, yeah..." The mechanic took a breath and then said, "But really though, I feel kinda bad about that third match you can't see."
Acknowledging these friendly words, Fox raised his green eyes and stared solemnly out the front window; where the large blue-tinted planet filled the entire view even more. He sighed softly, gazing out at this beautiful canvas of their destination.
"Yep, it's sure a bummer. Don't feel bad about it though, 'cause it's nothing you did." With a quick chuckle he jokingly added, "Hmph. I just seriously hope we weren't the only ones to lose signal, you know what I mean?"
Of course, Slippy knew what he meant. "You and me both, Fox. Some luck that'd be, huh?"
"Ha, wouldn't it?" Agreed the vulpine as another moment went between him and his amphibian friend. "That would be our luck, part of me is willing to bet..."
Slippy soon asked a final question, though his breathing sounded more like he was in the middle of doing a workout of some kind. "Say, you know what this ship really needs that most other CDN frigates have?"
Fox scoffed. "What?"
"... Hover scooters."
The Great Fox's hangar bay was quite literally trashed in every sense of the word.
Dozens upon dozens of cargo crates had once been stacked neatly and were now strewn all about. Some were even broken apart with their contents spilling out. That was among other debris scattered across the metallic floors, but just as it had been detected, the four Arwing fighters were completely dislodged from their stationary mounts and were scrunched up against the walls, with one of them capsized completely.
All of this had been much worse than what the computer's analysis labelled as only minor damages.
Maybe the force was able to blast in so easily because the actual opening of the hangar bay was only protected from the vacuum of space by a very thin layer of energy shields. It bore the full brunt as that energy grazed along the ship's entire side, with even a part of the actual beam blasting here inside the hangar and thus causing all this damage.
A sound of boots trodding on the metallic floor promptly rose over that deep ambient hum of the ship. It was those of Slippy's as he came into the hangar bay, but as this true sight of destruction greeted his eyes, the mechanic's whole face dropped.
"D'oh, for the love of... Ughhh!" He didn't know what to say or do other than groan and smack his forehead with the palm of his hand. Eventually though, he started to walk through the hangar and take a sour look around. The air in here was chilly, making Slippy's breath come out as little puffs each time he exhaled.
He got out the little communicator from his back pocket while observing all the damage and clicked the talk button, wearily saying into it:
"Fox, you there?"
A couple of cold seconds passed before the vulpine's voice came back. "What's happening, Slip? Everything alright?"
"Well... no, actually." He reluctantly explained with a damp sigh, "I'm in the hangar bay now and, I'm not gonna lie... it's a total wreck down here. The crates are all broken up, equipment's lying all over the place. Lotsa fixtures have come loose, too."
"Damn..." Fox's tone was definitely more bitter. He was almost unwilling to ask, "Um, and what about the Arwings...?"
Slippy took one look at the fighters in their current state and simply shook his head, biting down on his lower lip before declaring, "They'll definitely need my attention, that's for sure."
"Alright, so... why is the only affected place the hangar bay?" Fox asked, frustrated. "Can ya answer me that, Slip?"
"Heck if I know...!" The mechanic kept going, observing the damage around the hangar. "Might just be the fact this is the most vulnerable area on the ship, 'cause its practically opened to space."
"But, none of our main shields were even partially up. The whole ship should've been fried like a spit, that's what I'm saying...!" The vulpine attempted to explain, but Slippy was just as confused as he was.
"I know... I hear ya, and it really beats me too." He agreed wholeheartedly, "But what especially beats me is how the ship's damage report called this minor damages. You might wanna tell ROB to double-check all those response systems, 'cause it's sure as heck a freakin'-!"
He stopped dead in his tracks, freezing mid-sentence due to noticing something very odd amidst the hangar's whole scenario.
"... What, Slip? What is it...?"
Fox's voice inquired a bit suspiciously after this sudden onset of silence. Slippy had begun slowly walking over to what had prompted him to cut off his words, until he came to a stop over the motionless body of a human laying on the floor. Now his eyes widened with a very confused realization.
"... Slippy? You there?"
This human looked quite young and couldn't have been older than one's early twenties, but it lay here facing upright in a contorted position as though the body had been roughly thrown around. Slippy couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl, though it had a slender and somewhat effeminate body.
Covering most of the face was longish dirty-blonde hair which had once been styled off to one side, but now it was all ruffled and in a complete mess. The eyes were closed with lips completely still. Not a single sign of life shown.
"... Slippy? Come in!"
Yet, unlike the boy just discovered in Midair Stadium, this human wore very different clothing; a slim-fitting yellow and blue shirt with dark capris pants. On the feet were a pair of thick wool socks, the kind one would definitely wear during winter, but strangely enough they appeared quite wet to the touch from something that must have happened.
"... SLIPPY!?"
The mechanic finally held his communicator back up and spoke rather shakily as he stared down at the human.
"Uh, F-Fox...? R-roger that to your question about there being a problem down here... 'cause there really is."
"WHADDYA MEAN?" Demanded the vulpine, but Slippy could do nothing except breathe deeply in, then slowly out.
"... I-I think you and Peppy better get down here right now... 'cause I'm standing over a human's body on the floor."
Only a ghostly silence of frail white-noise was returned over the communicator to those words.
Music: "Running Out"
* Midair Stadium *
The crowds all murmured much more worriedly in seeing the team of paramedics far down there on the smash platform. Not only that, but the smoke and ash had cleared up enough so the body of that strange human boy was now visible for everyone else to begin noticing. Yet, that huge and ominous question of how he suddenly got there hung darkly over everything.
Mario, Kirby, and the nervous Toad referee watched closely as the paramedics were gathered around and inspecting the blonde boy. One of them opened up the case he'd brought which held emergency equipment including a portable breather, an pressurized oxygen container, a defibrillator, bandage wraps, as well as some other items.
"Alright. This boy is alive, like you said." The head paramedic then confirmed to Mario, who nodded briefly.
"Mhmm, his pulse-a-was very slow. I think-a-he needs a strong dose of-a-oxygen."
"... Seems you're right on that one, Mario." Another one of the paramedics agreed. He'd attached some sensory tabs on parts of the boy's bare-skinned areas with one hand, while holding a portable monitoring device in the other. The small screen displayed vital life-sign feedback, but right now all those readings were quite far down.
"He's unconscious due to very low blood pressure. Barely any oxygen is getting to his vitals, so I'd agree. A blast of O-two will go a long way for him. Here, get the canister and mask..." With that, he and another paramedic got out the portable breathing device and carefully began placing it around the boy's limp head.
Meanwhile, as if it were a sense of intuition, Mario glanced up over his shoulder; meeting the tiny but shocked eyes of Peach and the other princesses who stared down from their seats on the royal balcony. Both she and Zelda held a hand near their mouth, often turning to one another and asking what looked like worried questions. Daisy on the other hand was frequently looking back to others in the royal audience, doing the same and trying to get answers. Like most people in the massive crowds, they didn't know what'd happened down there on the platform, but could now see the boy's motionless body there in the crater.
Then the plumber's eyes lowered, resting on all his fellow smashers standing there just across the walkway ramp. He noticed how they too were really trying to see what was going on, but just couldn't from where they stood.
Of everyone though, it was Lucina who'd suspiciously observed how Mario and Kirby were in fact standing behind the paramedic team. She took a brief beat off of Mario's concerned gaze back to her and the others, before quickly letting out a sigh.
"What are they doing over there?" She couldn't keep quiet due to all of her own uncertainty. "The physicians definitely gathered around something..."
"... Or someone." Ike added in the same tone, but little did he know. These brooding thoughts were probably on every smasher's mind as they all stood here, crowded together and just waiting for something to be announced. They heard how the stadium's crowds were becoming much more anxious since they could obviously see something that they couldn't.
It even seemed like this grand Bicentennial Smash Tournament had suddenly been forgotten entirely, in wake of that mysterious lightning blast.
"Well, that's it." Finally, after what felt like an agonizing few minutes, Captain Falcon uncrossed his arms and took a broad step out onto the walkway ramp whilst breaking the silence, "I'm goin' over there to see what the heck happened. They never said we couldn't. Anyone wanna come with?"
Hesitation fell among all the other smashers at first, but it was Link who silently stepped forward to join the F-zero racer. He turned back, gazing upon the others with his piercing sky-blue eyes to see if anyone else would consider.
"I'll come with you two." Now Ike confidently took a step forward.
"... Make that you three." Red started walking too after a quick swivel of his cap, along with Pikachu still sitting on his shoulder.
"Pika." He agreed. Those few ended up spurring Luigi to go forward to join with them, which subsequently made Little Mac think about it as well. He ran his hand back through his spiky black hair without saying a word, and like a chain effect, he ended up stepping forward too.
Finally, Lucina let out another quick sigh as she gave somewhat determined looks to Marth and Roy just beside her. The three Heroes of the Emblem quickly chose to hurry forward as well, joining with Ike and the rest of that little group.
As they headed out across the walkway ramp, the others now in the front traded uneasy looks and talked amongst each other over this whole situation. Yoshi and Red's troupe of other pokémon seemed to want to go over there with them, but in the end they figured it was probably better to stay right where they were.
"... Okay, we got a slow but steady breathing going again." The head paramedic declared with a hint of relief, pulling up the stethoscope's head which had been pressed under the boy's charred sweater while he listened closely. "Now, all we can really do is wait for his consciousness to come back."
"How long-a-will it-a-take? A few minutes, or...?" Mario asked concernedly, as this Toad paramedic wiped a hand across his forehead.
"More or less... well, at least it should." He turned to the Koopa paramedic who was holding that portable monitoring device and said, "Right, keep a close eye on that respiratory pulse."
Tense moments kept mounting until Mario turned back to look again, but was rather surprised to see the small group of his companions, along with his brother, approaching instead.
Kirby had also noticed them, uttering a bit of an anxious, "Poyo...!"
"Mario, you guys alright?" Captain Falcon spoke up, "What's goin' on over here?"
Luigi, Link, Marth, Roy, Ike, Lucina, Little Mac, Red, and Pikachu seemed to share that very same thought. The red-shirted man, however, retained a darkly dubious expression on his mustached face.
"Well..." He made a small gesture. "Come and-a-look for yourselves..."
Once they were finally able to see the unconscious boy's body from over the shoulders of the paramedics, it seemed they couldn't speak another word due to their profound shock. Perhaps not surprisingly though, the only one of them who was rather unfazed in his reaction was Link.
"Hey, everyone, just... stay back a bit, please." The head paramedic glanced up, firmly commanding the group of smashers. They obeyed and silently took a few steps back to stand with Mario and Kirby.
"M-Mario...?" Luigi anxiously turned to his older brother and stammered, "Wh-who is that...?"
He just shook his head. "I... I don't-a-know, Luigi."
Nobody knew what to think or even feel at first. Though Mario had already noticed it, the others were now able to see that familiar symbol on the front of the boy's sweater, leaving them confounded all the same.
"His garb..." Marth was the one to finally say something. "Look at that emblem on his garb...! Why does he wear the tournament's emblem...?!"
Silence seemed to be the only answer.
"... But, where did this guy even come from?!" Red then spoke up from his own confusion, with his pokémon partner fully seconding that.
"Pikachu...?"
Red's eyes wandered a little and rested on Little Mac who was standing a few people down from him. He looked at Mac, then down at the unconscious boy, and then up to Mac again. He seemed to notice something physically similar between the two.
"Wait a sec... this just hit me, but do you guys see who this kinda looks like?"
After being returned some blank stares by the others, he clarified, "He... he kinda looks like Mac."
"Huh...? You think he looks like me...?" The boxer squinted unsurely, trying to see any resemblance. The trainer nodded quickly though, rather certain in his observation.
"Yeah, a-a little bit...? I mean, he's kinda got a similar athletic figure to you... not to mention a similar face shape, m-minus the blonde hair of course. See what I mean?"
Interestingly enough, this blonde-haired boy did share a bit of a physical similarity to the boxer like Red had pointed out, though he wasn't nearly as muscular. While their little side-talk went on, however, the paramedics kept a close watch on their monitoring device. So far, it'd been showing a slow and steady rate of pulses coming from the sensory tabs placed on the boy's upper arms and neck.
Then, they began to speed up without any explanation.
"Hey, hey look... the rates are increasing...!" One of them pointed out as the pulses continued rising faster and faster. The other paramedics became transfixed as well, because they truthfully didn't know what to expect from this whole situation.
"How's the blood pressure?" Another inquired, to whom the former answered concernedly upon reading the device.
"It's... It's climbing rapidly too...! Past normal... rising to higher levels...!"
Suddenly, the boy's eyes snapped wide-open, revealing they were a bright blue color. His once-huge and dilated pupils instantly shrunk to a pin-sized dot from the intensity of the sunlight, and his mouth opened to let out an utterly terrified cry.
"... AAAAAGHHHH!"
The paramedics all about leaped back in surprise; so did Mario and the others standing just a few steps behind them. The boy writhed about as though he were struggling to feel what was around himself, before he finally got a grip on the breather around his nose and mouth. He frantically tore it off, allowing a huge gulp of fresh cool air to fill his lungs as he rolled over onto his hands and knees.
He was totally discombobulated though; he stumbled on the crater's slope and immediately collapsed on his front side once he stepped out. He panted very rapidly, but the entirety of his body was also beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
At the same time, the whole stadium seemed to erupt with loud anxious clamor from some two-hundred thousand people witnessing this blonde boy awaken like that. All the other smashers crowded at the end of the exit hall could finally see what the focus of attention was, and many of them were also left bewildered or just gasping.
Likewise, the group out here on the platform exchanged shocked glances with each other as the boy started emitting small whimpers of pure fear in-between breaths. He kept laying there on the ground, shivering through every nerve in his body.
Mario was the one who finally took a confident breath of his own and approached this strange boy in front of them.
"Ehh, h-hello...?" He asked carefully, "Can-a-you hear me...?"
The boy tucked his arms and legs up tightly, staring at nothing with his wide blue eyes even though he faced in the direction of Mario and the others. What they didn't realize, however, was that this boy didn't even see them. His vision was nothing but scattered, blurry smudges of faint objects amidst a pale void. Filling his ears to the brim was a loud, low-toned ringing that no one else could hear except him.
Nevertheless, Mario kneeled down directly in front of him and tried to ask again, "... Can-a-you hear me?"
Several more moments passed of receiving no response from the boy, other than his shivered breathing and trembling body.
The plumber noticed how his eyes were fully opened, but they didn't seem receptive in any way. He slowly waved a hand right in front of the boy's face, and his little suspicion was confirmed when no reaction came. Glancing up to his companions at his flanks, he shook his head.
"He can't-a-see anything, it seems..."
Lucina gave him a worried look. "Gods... He's blind...?"
Mario exhaled unsurely, "Well, he's not-a-reacting to anything... not even us-a-standing right here."
The truth was though, he just didn't know for sure. None of them could, for that matter.
It was Link who approached next, kneeling down beside Mario and the incapacitated boy due to suspecting something himself. He let one of his hands hover out over the boy's ear facing upward for a moment or two, before snapping his fingers several times to see if he could hear anything.
The boy didn't react in the slightest, so Link looked back at the others; shaking his head and motioning around his own ear to describe how he couldn't hear any sound either.
"You mean, he can't see or hear anything...?!" Roy then spoke up from the group, equally confounded. "But... is it permanent?"
There was yet another uncomfortable silence among everyone, but the head paramedic seemed to have a different take on it.
"No, I don't think it's permanent. This just looks like a reaction as his body reawakens. What are the readings on his vitals now?"
The other paramedic, who'd been checking the monitoring device this whole time, replied, "Heart and respiratory readings are really high. His blood pressure though seems to be gradually lowering back down, but they're still quite high."
"When'll we be able to take off the sensory tabs?" One of the Shy Guy paramedics suggested from behind.
"Not for a while, that's for sure." The head paramedic shook his head, explaining, "A sudden shift in any of these readings could have substantial consequences on his present condition either way. That's why we need to have live feedback we can monitor. This boy obviously can't see or hear anything right now, and we don't know for sure about his other vital systems other than these three necessities."
Lastly, he sighed and concluded to the others, "Right now... I hate to say it, but this boy really is beyond our capabilities for treatment. We can't even call in Life-Flight since all our radios are dead, so we have to stay right here with him. But let's try to look at it this way... first he had low blood pressure, no consciousness, and now he has a sudden awakening like this with temporary blindness and deafness. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he'll have memory loss when he comes back to his senses."
Captain Falcon briefly took his helmet off and rubbed his forehead which seemed to be aching.
"Agh... what's any of that even supposed to mean, doc?" He demanded in a bit of a protest, stressed over all this medical jargon he'd been listening to. Mario understood though, and tried to fill him in through very simple terms.
"What-a-he means is... there's nothing any of us-a-can do right now."
Music: "No Need to Come Back"
* On board the Great Fox *
With care, Slippy had adjusted the body of this other human so it lay more straight on the hangar's metallic floor. The skin may have been cold to the touch, but at least it wasn't so contorted like it'd been. All the mechanic could do then was stare the unconscious figure up and down, silently observing its strange yet casual clothing.
Really... what the heck are you...? He warily moved aside the rest of the thick dirty-blonde hair which covered part of the face. This human definitely looked young once it'd been cleared, though Slippy couldn't help but wonder another thing now.
Are you a... girl...? I mean, you kinda... look like one...
He really felt that he had to know, so his cheeks burned red as he slowly reached his hand up along the human's slender body, up to its chest. Rather to his surprise, he felt it was completely flat.
Oh... y-you're a guy...!? Huh, alright then...
What truly confounded Slippy though was how this human could've possibly ended up here in the first place. There had been no one else aboard the Great Fox other than the Star Fox team, and even so they'd departed from Corneria a full day prior, making no stops since.
None of this was making a lick of sense for him. Clouding his mind were brooding thoughts on that massive energy beam which had blasted out of nowhere, yet caused no real damage on the Great Fox even with shields down. Only here in the hangar bay was there damage, along with this strange human boy to top everything off.
The fact of the matter was however, Slippy's good-willed heart wanted to do anything to try and help in a situation. Even here and now, it was no different.
Quickly glancing around, he spotted an emergency first aid kit lying on the floor amid all the other debris. He hurried over to retrieve it and rushed back to where the boy lay.
Kneeling beside him, Slippy opened up the kit and saw there were three separate compartments with different medical supplies. He wiped his forehead free of sweat in unison with a nervous sigh and proceeded to read aloud the set of holographic-like instructions imprinted on the inside of the case.
"Okay, okay... let's see... If the victim is still conscious, refer to pack one." He took a single look at the human's current state and shook his head. "Nope... not that one..."
He read the next section, "Uh... If the victim still shows visible signs of life, refer to pack two... but, I have no freakin' idea...!"
Again, Slippy couldn't tell whether or not this boy was alive in any way, so he read onto the third set of instructions.
"... If the victim appears to be completely incapacitated, refer to pack three..."
He quickly figured this was the one he needed, so he clicked opened the third compartment and saw a number of advanced little Cornerian medical gadgets inside. His eyes darted from side to side as he silently read some further instructions, before carefully pulling out a large syringe which held a dense bluish liquid called Hypo-Blue; something that was standard in every first aid kit that came from the Lylat System.
This substance contained a special extract of adrenaline along with other enzymes in order to help restore a victim's consciousness, but not overload all their senses at once like most similar substances might do.
Slippy popped off the needle's protective cover by yanking on it with the corner of his mouth, but hesitated and thought hard.
Should he really be attempting this? He knew he was just a mechanic after all and had no medical experience other than some very basic first aid training. Yet, like always, his mind was telling him to try and help in any way possible, so he decided to follow his rather overpowering conscience.
"Alright now..." He assured himself, "Nice and easy..."
Thus, with great caution, Slippy lifted up the boy's right arm and rolled up the short-sleeve all the way. He positioned the syringe just above the skin and was about to push it down when the entire hangar suddenly started jolting a bit. His steadiness with the needle got thrown way off so he glanced out the opening of the hangar bay. Huge fiery streaks of heat reached up and fanned across the translucent energy shield.
Mm, mm, mm... that was a little too close...! We must be passing through the atmosphere... He told himself, trying to keep at least somewhat of a lighthearted side in his thoughts.
Readying the syringe again, the mechanic held his breath tight and finally let the needle pierce down into the boy's bare shoulder. After pressing out only half or so of the liquid, he gently withdrew the metal from the cold skin and set the syringe down while letting out a deep sigh.
That large puff of cold breath soon vanished once he realized all he could do now was wait.
His mind raced with countless thoughts all at once, ranging from anxiety and even fear, to a confidence that insisted everything would hopefully turn out fine. In trying to ease himself, he clicked on his little communicator in order to talk to his vulpine companion.
"... Fox?" He uttered.
"Yeah, Slip? Talk to me." Fox's voice answered between a crackly breath of static.
Slippy was visibly uncomfortable but asked nonetheless, "Y-you and Peppy almost down here?"
"Roger that. We're coming as fast as we can, but... I just don't believe any of this."
"Me neither. I'm just down here, waiting..." The mechanic nodded, a bit relieved before also wondering, "Hey, is Falco with you guys?"
"Nope, he left right after you. As a matter of fact he's showering up for our arrival in less than twenty minutes. We're pretty much through the atmosphere as we speak."
"Hmph..." Slippy scoffed lightly, "Yeah, I noticed. Some timing, right?"
There was a slight pause before Fox returned with another inquiry. "What's the situation with that human, anyhow?"
"Still unconscious..." Slippy looked down rather nervously at the opened first aid kit laying next to the boy. He knew he had to tell Fox what he did.
"Well... about that, actually..."
"Mm? What about it?" Asked the vulpine, to which his amphibian friend promptly cleared his throat.
"... I-I found a first aid kit down here," he explained, "So I went ahead and gave a single dose of the Hypo-Blue for incapacitated victims."
Another lengthy silence arose, but Fox then came back quite concernedly. "... I... wouldn't have done that if I were you. You don't really know what the human's condition was."
Trying to justify his assisting action, Slippy refuted, "But, why not...? He's obviously unconscious, and-"
"Wait, wait..." Fox interrupted, "HE's unconscious...? So you're saying it's a guy?"
"Look, forget about that right now!" The mechanic was trying his best to keep calm. "I read the instructions, and it clearly said for an incapacitated victim like this, to inject half the Hypo-Blue through the upper arm!"
"Slip, a human's reaction to that stuff might be totally different than ours... in a bad way for all you know. There's a reason Cornerian first aid kits are meant for Cornerians." Fox hesitated yet again before darkly speculating, "... So, I can't help but wonder... what if the human's dead now because of that?"
"I... I was just trying to help, Fox." Slippy took a deep breath, "Yes, the skin was on the cold side, but that's 'cause it's pretty dang cold here in the hangar. Call me Mr. Optimistic, but I think I did the right thing."
"Well..." Replied the vulpine's voice rather dubiously, "I guess we'll know for sure when we get down there."
That tense silence overcame the two once more, but not for long.
"... Oh, but also, the instructions said something else." Rubbing his forehead, Slippy wanted to mention one final thing.
"Uh-huh... What else did it say?"
"They mentioned if the victim still wasn't giving visible signs of consciousness within five minutes, then give them a-!"
His words suddenly cut off right there, along with the optimistic look on his face, for his eyes had fallen back down on the human to notice something astonishing. The boy's eyes were opened and staring upward, revealing to be a light hazel color!
"... S-second dose...!" Slippy almost choked on those last two words due to surprise, but he went on to stutter, "F-Fox... Th-the human...! The human's awake...!"
"Ah shit...!" The vulpine's voice came hissing back through the communicator. "Alright, I'm running ahead of Peppy. I'm nearly there, so just hang on. Try to, I don't know... talk to it or something!"
With that, their conversation promptly ended by a click of static and Slippy was left all alone with this boy who was now conscious.
He kept his eyes nervously locked on the young human, who seemed to be in a kind of disconnected trance. He'd propped himself up on his elbows and was just staring upward at the hangar's high metallic ceiling, with its cold white lights shining down from above. His mouth had opened slightly with lips quivering, but most apparent of all, he didn't even seem to notice who was standing right there next to him.
Finally, Slippy swallowed hard and slid his communicator away into his back pocket. He figured he'd just try and possibly say something.
"Uh... h-hello...?"
Seconds passed, but nothing whatsoever came from the boy. Growing more and more anxious, Slippy just wanted any kind of response so he bent down and carefully rested a hand on the human's slender arm closest to him, asking once more:
"H-hello...? Can you hear me?"
The human's eyes blinked only once, albeit long and slow. All his paralyzed senses seemed to suddenly snap back to normal, and this time he did give a reaction.
His cold gaze shifted and stared straight into Slippy's, but he didn't make a single sound. It didn't even seem like the boy was willing to breathe in response to seeing this face that struck an indescribably fearful sensation inside him.
It was almost as if, he somehow knew this face from somewhere.
"Hi... w-what's your name...?" The mechanic attempted to ask a third time, still with a kind of friendliness in his tone.
"Um, can you... understand what I'm saying...?"
The slender-figured boy just persisted with that blank and pale stare from deep within his eyes. Their very surfaces were glossed, and he hadn't heard a word that Slippy had said.
"Come on... come on, Fox, where ARE you...!?" Slippy muttered under his breath, anxiously looking back over his shoulder at the hangar's entrance door. These tense moments just kept mounting, and were reaching a point to where he couldn't take it anymore.
But then, without any warning, the boy's entire body surged with a wild energy. He scrambled up to his feet, causing Slippy to yelp and stumble before falling down hard on his own backside.
"Hey! Hey wait! Stop! STOOOP!" He yelled while struggling to get up. All he could do though was watch in horror as the human began running toward the door which led out of the hangar, and into the bowels of the ship.
"Crap...! F-Fox! Come in, Fox!" The mechanic howled wildly, reaching into his back pants pocket and fumbling to bring out the communicator device.
"We got a bigger problem now! The human's running out of the hangar! I repeat, the human is-!"
His eyes fell on the communicator clasped tightly in his hand, but to his utter dismay he saw it'd been crushed by the sharp impact of his body weight just falling on it.
"Ugh...!" His entire face dropped and he grumbled in utter hopelessness, "Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me...!"