CHAPTER 14 PAINFUL MEMORIES

The drill chugged along through the ground as Falco watched the odometer count down until he calculated that they were directly underneath Showdown Town. He suddenly brought the tank to a halt, jarring Kazooie from her nap.

"Are we here?"

"Yea, we're right below the center of town." He said unbuckling the harness and climbing into the cabin behind the drivers seat.

"Where are you going?"

"Back here to lay down. We cant break in there in the middle of the day, that would be suicide. As you are no doubt aware, we don't have any weapons."

"Dont worry about firepower, theres plenty of that to go around." She said confidently.

Falco was going to question it, but decided to leave the source of the so called 'firepower' alone.

Kazooie unbuckled herself as well and climbed toward the back with Falco. She sat leaning against the drivers seat while he was at the opposite end of the tank, a few feet from her.

He checked his watch, as it had automatically adjusted itself to this planets day/night cycle.

"We've got a few hours until dark." He said.

"Ugh, stuck in this thing with you? This has to be what hell is like."

"You're no picnic either sunshine." He snapped back at her, folding his arms the way he was accustomed.

After a minute or so of silence, Kazooie spoke up once more.

"So whats your story? Have you always been a terrible pilot or where you drunk when you crashed into Mumbos house?"

"For your information turkey, I'm the best pilot in this part of the galaxy! Leon took a cheap shot and got lucky."

"Who's Leon? Your life partner?"

"He's my rival from Starwolf, you know them, the ones who currently rule your primitive knuckle-dragging planet?" He growled back.

"What about you? How'd you and Banjo end up living together?" He asked

She hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell him about her shady past. After all, as soon as they rescued Banjo, he'd be out of here, so it couldn't hurt.

'Who's he gonna tell?' She reasoned

"Well...He found me outside his house one day in the rain. I was pretty banged up, and much like you, he took me in, and fixed me up. After I got better, I was dead set on leaving...but I just couldn't bring myself to do it without trying to pay him back. Then the witch kidnapped his little sister, and I helped him rescue her. After that though, I could either go back to the life I had before, or stay with him out in the country. The choice was obvious..." She said, not having told this to anyone. Surprisingly, it felt good to open up about one of the many sources of her hostile personality.

"Huh...What did you mean by, the life you had before?"

"Hold on there buddy. I told you part of my story. Its your turn now." She said avoiding a very painful subject for at least a brief period. No one knew about her past, not even Banjo. But, it felt good to talk about her arrival at her honey bear friends house...why wouldn't it do the same for her past?

Falco sighed, as his thought process was the same as hers.

"It was just me, my mom and my older brother Ozzy growing up...my pop was never around. Matter of fact, I never knew him at all. My mom worked in some office in the city where I grew up, and me and my brother came home to an empty house after school. She made enough to keep us in livable conditions, but one day she got laid off. She took another job, but the money was nowhere near the same. She tried as hard as she could, but she couldn't work enough hours. So in order to get more money, she started taking amps. Soon she was hooked on them, and more money was going towards her habit than food. Ozzy saw how much money mom was spending on drugs, and decided to get into the business of supplying them. For a while, he supported the both of us, and I thought everything would be ok in the end. But in order to get the drugs, Ozzy had to buy them from the Bovine mafia. I guess he pissed off the wrong person one night..."

Flashback

A twelve year old Falco lay on his bed doing his math homework with the t.v. on as his older brother walked by on his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He was about twenty years old, but was pretty much an older version of Falco.

"What're you workin on sport?" He asked.

"Math...My teacher assigned alot of it, but I'm almost done."

"Good stuff buddy." He said mussing the feathers on his head, eliciting a smile from him. He loved his brother, and everything he did for him and his mother.

"Do you know when mom is coming home?" He asked.

"Not till the morning. So make sure you have all your homework done so you can show it to her ok?"

"Yeah yeah..." He said putting his beak back into the book as he kept his pencil busy. School had never been a problem for Falco, other than the fact that he hated it. He was an A student, but he was always able to get by without studying night and day.

They lived in a middle-lower class neighborhood of mostly other avians with a few other species thrown about. Overall, not a dangerous place to live, but every now and then violence would flare up on the outskirts of the neighborhood.

After a few minutes, Falco closed his math book and sat on the edge of his bed and watched the cartoons in front of him, not noticing the headlights outside his window. Two bulls in suits sat in the car and immediately killed the lights as they cased the house.

"Only two people in the house. Call Don Hephiere and let him know." The other bull produced a mobile phone from his pocket and called the mob boss.

"Godfather, the pidgeon is in the nest, shall we proceed?"

"Yes. Wait until the moment is right."

"Yes Godfather." He said hanging up the phone and nodding to his partner in the drivers seat.

"Ok Falco you've got school tomorrow, time for bed."

"C'mon, I'm old enough to stay up till eleven aren't I?" Falco complained.

"Nope. Maybe when you're thirteen." He teased as his little brother climbed into bed. Ozzy pulled the blanket over Falco as his sat on the edge of his bed.

"Now dont turn the t.v. back on when I leave." He said leaving the room they shared.

Falco lay there trying to sleep as Ozzy cleaned up the kitchen and living room. Almost as soon as Falco was about to drift off to sleep, he felt natures call. He got up and walked out of his room to see Ozzy looking tired on the couch with the t.v. on.

"Falco? What are you doing up still?" He asked groggily.

"Relax, I just have to go to the bathroom."

Just as Falco finished his sentence, he heard car doors slam and footsteps running outside their house.

Ozzy caught a glimpse of who was outside the house which put his heart into his stomach.

"Falco, get under your bed!" He shouted in a whisper.

He was too startled to move as his brother snapped at him again.

"Now Falco!"

He snapped out of his surprise and dashed to his bed, wiggling under it as his front door began to thump with the weight of two adult bull shoulders behind it.

Falco shut his eyes as tight as he could, terror gripping his young heart as he clutched the carpet.

"Oz! You rat bastard. You thought you could steal from Don Hephiere without him finding out?" A strange voice said. The strangers must have gotten in the house somehow.

"I didnt take anything from the Godfather! You're out of your tree! I give him his cut and I keep mine!"

"Then why did he give you 50,000 credits worth of product, and all he got was 60,000 back? Thats not 70-30 my friend."

Falco had no idea what they were talking about, nor who or what this 'Godfather' was, but it was apparently serious.

"I'm telling you, I didn't cheat Don Hefiere!"

"Then how did he come up short?"

"How the hell should I know? Probably your bovine math skills!" He snapped, immediately realizing what he had just said.

Falco heard a smack, then a thud. As he crawled closer to the door, he saw his brother on his knees, one hand on his face.

"Listen jerk-off, I'll make you a deal. You give me the 10,000 credits, and I'll forget your last comment." The bull growled menacingly.

"I...don't have it. I told you that already!" He said standing back up. His brother was strong, he played football for his high school team all four years, but these bulls were about his size and outnumbered him.

"Then I guess we'll have to go with option two. Don Hefiere sends his regards."

Ozzy's eyes widened as they produced two machine guns from beneath their jackets.

Falco gasped as the loudest noise he had ever heard filled his house. He shut his eyes for what felt like forever until the noise stopped, the acrid smell of gunpowder greeting his nose as he heard the door close and a vehicle speed away.

"O...Ozzy?" Falco called into the living room. There was no answer. He worked his way out from under his bed and cautiously stepped out of his room.

"Ozzy? Are you okay?" He asked timidly, still not getting a response. He stopped at the corner to the living room where his brother had confronted the strangers. He gathered his strength and looked around the corner. For years afterward, he would wish he hadn't.

His dear brothers blood was splattered onto the couch and the wall, as well as numerous small holes. He lay on his back, motionless. The muscle shirt he was wearing was stained a bright red to match the pool he was laying in.

Falco's eyes filled with tears as he realized what he was looking at. He ran toward his brother and held his head up in his arms. It was limp as he put his head against his brothers, tears running freely from his eyes.

"Ozzy...no...please wake up..." He sobbed, grabbing his brothers hand as the warmth of life faded from it.

He spent the rest of the night there against his brother, wishing in vain that he would come back to him.

"Once my mom got home, she called the police. But they were on the mobs payroll, so no one was ever arrested. After that, I never went back to school. I was getting in trouble with the law alot. I was in and out of jail, and by the time I was 18, my mother had to be committed. It was a combination of the speed and what she saw that night. After that, I was on my own."

"My god...Falco, thats awful..." Kazooie said dumbfounded, not expecting something so deep from her snappy traveling companion.

"Well, its not all bad, before I left, I decided that I had to avenge my brother. And one night, after months of careful planning, I got my chance..."

Falco's rightious vengence is next chap! It will be swift and just! or will it? mwahahahaha!