Star Fox: Return

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, your ideas were a BIG help! Keep sending more, I need all the help I can get.

And yes, it is spelled Corneria. Sorry! I've seen it spelled both ways in one of the older games though, but it may be a typo or a glitch. In any case, I'll do my best to spell it right from now on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox.

Chapter Eleven: Kidnapped!

Jay Residence
Urano City, Katina
Fifteen minutes earlier…

Fara sighed. She wished she could still fly. After her own personal run in with the Aparoids, she had to avoid high velocities or risk her own lungs getting crushed. She wasn't the only one either. Quite a few of Kevin's wing mates could no longer fly for the same reason. It was part of the reason why she ran an intelligence network for the Cornerian Military now.

She grabbed her purse and opened the door to go to work. Just after she locked her door, a bag fell over her head and someone began to squeeze her throat. Gasping and pulling at the paws that were suffocating her, she lashed out. Kevin was a skilled fencer and martial artist, and he had taught her well. Her foot connected with her attacker's stomach, face, and crotch in three kicks in two seconds. She heard her attacker gasp in pain and loosen his grip on her neck. She tugged at the bag, and managed to pull it off before a well aimed punch struck her in her temple and she blacked out.

Abandoned Jail
Urano City, Katina
10:05 a.m. Katina Time

The vixen woke up twenty minutes later in an old jail cell. Cursing and rubbing her head tenderly, Fara looked around. She was in the section of the city that was abandoned during the Anglers, and someone had left her purse with her. She checked it and found that nothing had been removed, not even her credit cards.

Fara grinned and thought, Their mistake. She pulled out her lipstick and hair spray. Kevin had never understood why she carried them, seeing as she never used them. What he didn't know was that the containers actually held two harmless chemicals that, when combined, formed an acid that could eat through flesh, wood, and even metal. She used the 'lipstick' to draw two lines on three adjacent bars; one line on top and one line on bottom. Then she sprayed them with the 'hairspray' and grinned as the acid ate away at the bars till they clattered to the floor. She waited until the acid had spent itself, and then stepped out. No need to risk getting an acid burn on her footpaw.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she heard a moan coming from another cell nearby. Carefully, she past the different cells until she saw one with a very familiar black clad fox with sun shades inside.

"James McCloud?" Fara asked in surprise.

Apparently, James hadn't heard her because the first thing he said was, "When I get my hands on Thomas, I'm going to break his arm! He didn't have to hit me across the head ten times and drug me!" He continued to curse until he looked up and noticed Fara was standing there; or rather she was on the floor laughing.

James stood and studied the bars of his cell for a moment, and then grabbed one. He felt a slight twitching from his arm as the metal bar snapped out of place in his hand. He did the same to the bar next to it and stepped out through the hole, amused at the look of amazement on Fara's face.

"I picked up more than a few battle scars on Venom," he said, not wanting to bring up the fact that he also lost more than the years he had been unable to contact anyone. He motioned her to follow him and they carefully made their way around the prison. It was strangely empty; no lights, no cameras, and no guards.

It's almost as if whoever put us in here just left us for dead, Fara thought. James put his fist up and she froze. He stood still at the corner of another hallway intersection, waiting. Quick as a snake, he pounced as a lizard came around the corner, clutching his prey by the larynx to prevent the prison guard from making any noise.

James turned the lizard around to face him and Fara and grinned. "I was wondering who Tom hired to capture me," he said. "I guess it's somewhat ironic that it would be the infamous Star Wolf. I'm guessing he hired you to kidnap Fara as well. Is that right, Leon Polwalski?"

He let go of Leon's throat and the lizard gasped for breath. "It's not like we have a choice," he replied. "He put bomb collars on us. I can't even figure out the code to disarm them." Leon lowered his collar, revealing the bomb strapped to his neck.

"Did you try breaking them off?" Fara asked.

Leon scowled at her, "Are you stupid? The collars have a circuit in them that can't be disarmed without the code. If we tried to break them, the circuit would be broken and the bomb would explode."

James grinned, "Where's the joint of the collar?" Leon pointed it out. James pulled off his jacket and right hand glove. Fara gasped, realizing why James was able to break the cell bars with his hand. His entire right arm was artificial, and layered with metal armor. "I'm going to break the bomb collar at the other end and use my arm to maintain the connection so that you can slip your head out," he explained. Leon nodded, and they all got to work. James broke the bomb collar, and Fara helped steady it while Leon slipped out. As soon as the Star Wolf member was free, James took the collar and chucked it out a window. It exploded harmlessly in the air.

"One down, two to go," James said casually, and then turned to Leon. "Where are the rest of your friends?"

Orbit over Katina
10:15 Cornerian Military/Ship Time

The last of the Venomise ships spiraled and exploded. Fox took in a deep breath. It was over. He set up a channel to his dad and asked, "How many did you get?"

"Fifty," James replied.

Fox grinned, "I win! I got 67!"

"You've got a ship that isn't as badly damaged," his father retorted.

"You were the one who didn't want to pause for repairs," Krystal interrupted. "Fox, may I talk to you for a moment."

"Sure," Fox answered. He set up a secure channel between him and her and asked, "What's on your mind, Jewel?"

"If that's a new pet-name, I like it," Krystal giggled, then turned serious. "I don't think the fox in the black Arwing is your father."

Fox blanched, "What?"

"Your father is a telepath, we know that for certain," Krystal explained. "But whenever I reach out to that guy, I can't detect anything at all. Whoever he is, he's not telepathic, so he can't be your father. The Arwing is your father's though. I recognize it from the times he attacked me."

"Understood, but don't give away the fact that you know," Fox replied. Krystal nodded and signed off, and Fox sat back for a moment to think. If the fox with his father's Arwing wasn't his father, then where was the real James McCloud?

Fortuna
10:30 Cornerian Millitary/Ship Time

"Falco!" Dash shouted.

The falcon in question wrestled with the controls of his craft, cursing loudly. A single Venomise craft had decided to play chicken with him, and ended up as a kamikaze. Now he was spiraling out of control as sparks flew from his panels.

It never fails, he thought. I just polished and waxed this thing.

There was a sudden lurch as his ship suddenly stopped moving, and his Calec – a yellow juice drink that Falco was fond of – spilled all over his lap, staining his pants. He cursed again, glad that Fox wasn't there to see it.

If Fox was here, he'd start giving me crap, saying that I pissed my pants, Falco thought. He looked up, wondering why he stopped. What he saw would have made a lesser pilot pee their pants, and his face lost so much blood that his feathers began to pale.

He was caught in a tractor beam, being dragged toward one of the Venomise carriers.

I'm in deep trouble, he thought.

Shit!