Alright, I'm back with an update after a few months. Just letting you guys know that I'm still alive. :)
The alarm system began to beep as Fox opened the door to his apartment. Six. Nine. Six. One. The beeping stopped. He flicked the light switch, dispelling the gloom. Clothes were strewn across the floor and a few spare Arwing parts littered the hall in front of his bathroom.
He walked to the kitchen, and found a large bottle of whisky on the counter. Popping the top, he downed the entire thing in a few gulps. Under the daze of alcohol, he wobbled over to the living room and plopped himself down onto the couch. It was very soft. It felt as if he was sinking into a giant fuzzy marshmallow. The light above began to spin above his head as he steadily and slowly lost consciousness...
The crash shook the den. "What was that?" Ike rushed to the window. Smoke began to rise from the forest. He turned to Marth, who had his hands on his ears, cursing for being rudely awakened from his beauty slumber in his chair.
"That's what I should be asking!" yelled Marth. He moodily began to comb his hair with his fingers, muttering obscenities under his breath. As he looked outside, however, he grew more solemn. "You don't think-"
The doors flew open with a slam. Fox, followed by Peach, Ness, Lucas, and Wolf, dashed into the room. Peach gasped as she saw the steadily ascending column of smoke touch the sky.
"Oh, no..." she clutched her breast as she sank to the couch Marth was sleeping on.
"Where's Falco?" asked Ness. Fox's eyes widened. Without thinking, he ran towards the front doors, but before he could pry them open, a claw pulled him back.
"Let me go, goddammit!" he shouted, fighting Wolf's grip.
"Calm down!" Wolf barked as he slammed Fox into the wall. "Think for a second! Or have you forgotten how to do that?"
"Shut up!" Fox threw Wolf off of him. He flung the door open and ran into the forest.
"What should we do?" asked Lucas, quite shaken with Fox's outbreak.
"We're going after him," said Wolf. "That idiot's not thinking straight."
Aside from the low crackling of a downed aircraft far away, the forest was silent. A light breeze passed the leaves and branches, creating the illusion of trees guiding Fox to where his nightmare became reality.
After what seemed to be an hour, Fox cringed at the strong smell of burning metal. He could hear the crackling of flames emanating from the wreckage. He began to dig through the twisted metal, hoping to find Falco, injured at the most. His hands stung as the flames licked at his paws. He heard a flurry of footsteps behind him, but paid them no heed.
"Fox!" he heard Peach cry from behind him. "Stop it! You're hurting yourself!" He ignored her, and continued to dig through the warped steel, lacerating his hands in the process. Once again, he was pulled back by Wolf.
"I told you to let me go!" he shouted, struggling to free himself from the lupine's powerful grip.
"He's not there, McCloud!" Wolf snarled, flinging Fox into a nearby tree. Peach looked in on horror.
"Lucas, could you put that out with your PK Freeze?" asked Ness. Lucas nodded, and conjured a giant snowflake which burst above the wreckage, putting out the flames with a shower of ice shards. Fox hastily got back up and started digging through the Arwing again.
"He's... not here." Fox stopped, letting the pain catch up to him.
"No shit," Wolf muttered under his breath. Peach went up to Fox.
"Come on Fox, let's go to the infirmary."
"Ow!"
"Sorry, Fox, but it's going to hurt a while," Peach said as she wiped Fox's wounds with disinfectant. Dr. Mario was busy treating Sonic for tripping and falling down three flights of stairs. Fox hissed as the solution burned and fizzed at the cuts.
They remained silent (as much as Fox tried to be) for a few minutes. Finally, Peach finished, looking quite satisfied. "All done."
"Thanks." An unnatural silence filled the air. "Look, Peach, I'm sorry that I snapped at you guys."
"Fox, I-"
"No, I am. It's just, well, you know. Falco and I have been best buddies ever since I've recruited him from the Hot Rodders."
"Fox, I understand." Fox remembered the day that Falco received an invitation to the Melee tournament.
Falco was on the Great Fox when ROB handed him something. "Hey, Fox, what's this?" asked Falco. He was holding an envelope with a seal of and off-center cross.
"Hey, you got one, too!" Fox held up a similar looking envelope. He grinned.
"Ok, but what is it?"
"Remember how I left for a few months? This is where I went!" said Fox, as he opened his envelope. His eyes scanned the letter, inviting him to the Melee tournament. "So, guess I'll be showing you around when we get there."
"Ok, but where's there? How the hell are we getting there?"
"They'll be coming for us in two days. Get packed."
"Ok..."
Two days passed, and the rest of the team had come to say goodbye.
"Have fun, you two!" said Peppy.
"Come back safe!" Krystal gave Fox a peck on the cheek.
"Bring back souvenirs!" yelled Slippy in his high-pitched annoying voice.
"So, uh, how are they, whoever this Master Hand is, picking us up?" asked Falco. As if on cue, a shimmering blue portal opened before them. Everyone but Fox was wide-mouthed. "Ok, that can't be real." Fox nudged him into the light.
The radiance faded as they stepped into the other side. They were in front of a pair of gates, separating them from a large mansion. "Huh, they sure beefed it up since the last time I was here." The gates opened as they walked towards it.
"So, uh, what kind of tournament is this?" asked Falco.
"Well..." Fox was thinking of the right words to use when a pink marshmallow creature walked in front of him.
"Poyo, poyo!" it shrieked as it dove into Fox's arms.
"What the hell is that thing?" Falco took out his blaster, ready to turn that marshmallow thingy into charcoal.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Falco! It's safe! This little guy here's Kirby!" Kirby looked at Falco, walked over, and swallowed the blaster whole, still in Falco's grip. He was shocked and angry.
"Give me back my gun, you little-" Falco muttered as he stuck his wing into Kirby's mouth.
"Um, you might not want to do th-" Fox's warning came too late. The bird went straight down Kirby's stomach before being spat out. "Told you so."
"It's getting late," said Peach. Indeed, the sun had fallen beyond the horizon, leaving behind only a hint of orange in the west. "Well, see you tomorrow, Fox." She left for her bedroom.
The night was uneventful. The survivors slept, as if they didn't know their impending doom still lingered above them. The only sound tonight was the sound of flapping, like a Zubat, though they did not live in the area. The wind swept through the trees, as well as something a little more sinister.
The chirping of birds woke Peach the following morning. The gloom in her room was pierced by a solitary ray of light. Stretching her sore shoulders, she rose from her bed and began applying makeup in the dark. Yes, that's correct; the princess didn't wake up very well with the sun in her eyes. Besides, her skin would age faster.
The chirping from outside the room caught Peach's attention. Wanting to say hi to her small cheerful forest friends, she pulled the curtains apart.
Fox was on his way down for some breakfast when he bumped into Popo. "Hey there," he said. Popo smiled and shrugged his shoulders in greeting. "So how's your sister?"
"Oh, doing fine." Popo rolled his eyes. "She thinks no one knows, but it's pretty obvious she and Toon Link are an item now." Fox laughed. Ah, how innocent it was to see two little kids as a couple.
"I still can't believe we're being kept here," said Fox. "It'd be really nice to go home." Popo looked down. Fox felt a pang of guilt as he remembered that Popo and Nana no longer had a home.
Fox was spared an awkward silence as a scream came resounded down the stairs.
"Peach, are you okay?" Fox yelled as he burst into the room.
Peach was trembling. "Fox, the-the-" Fox gripped her by the shoulders.
"Peach," he said calmly, "are you fine?" Peach gulped, and gestured toward the window. Looking past her, Fox's heart plummeted to the pit of his stomach when he saw the body of his best friend dangling from the tree right outside her window, held aloft by strings, as if he was a tangled puppet.
As Fox walked forward, the branch snapped and Falco plummeted to the ground. Somewhere downstairs, a shrill scream had the two running down immediately. Nana was petrified, shaking, as her eyes were glued to the window.
"I, I thought I saw-" Without waiting, Fox continued down another flight of stairs and charged out the front doors. An empty feeling grew and grew as he neared the body of Falco Lombardi, ace pilot and faithful friend.
Yep, I'm going to see if I can find any inspiration for the next chapter. Until then, toodles!