20

CELEBRATION

Fox, Krystal and Falco walked to the Great Fox's control room. Upon arrival there, the group was seen looking at the control room's computer screen which showed a diagram showing the Cornerian Starship's flight towards the base. Isaac came towards Fox in excitement and said, "You're not going to believe this, Fox! We're saved! Yeah!"

"You can shout out your happiness later, Isaac," Fox said as he, Falco and Krystal went to Peppy. "In the meantime Peppy, who's calling us?" "The person who contacted us wanted to be called anonymous for the time being," Peppy said. "He said it would take three minutes for the starship to arrive here," "How long before the base explodes?" Guntz asked.

"Seven more minutes," Rebecca answered. "Let's hope the ship makes it!" Chris said. "But, wait, it doesn't even have anything to break through the force field!" Kennedy said. "Don't worry," Peppy assured with a smile. "Haven't you forgotten? We Cornerians have a trick up our sleeves especially since we have advanced technology,"

Inside the Cornerian Starship, at a control room, a grey white dog in a grey white tuxedo was standing at the center of the room issuing orders to the staff. The dog even wore sunglasses. The starship had arrived at the base and was remaining stationary in the space sky. "We're here, people. Launch the field jamming missile!" the dog commanded. "Yes, sir!" replied one of the staff while typing fast on his control panel's keyboard. "Initiating missile launch!"

At the bottom of the starship, a large missile was brought out under it's body. "Start the countdown!" the dog commanded. "Roger!" the staff who typed on his keyboard said. "Ten seconds! Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One…!" "Fire the missile!" the dog instructed. "Launching missile!" the staff said as he pressed a button.

The missile was launched out from the starship. In the Great Fox's control room, Rogan asked, "What is that thing heading to the base?!" "That is a field jamming missile as displayed on the screen here," Peppy said. "It's a missile which can temporarily jam force fields of any kind," "We better hurry out of here. There's only two more minutes left," Kennedy said.

The missile hit the base's force field at full impact. Slowly, one big portion of the force field disintegrated. "Cornerian Starship to Great Fox, this is your chance to escape. The force field will regenerate at a fast rate so make a move now," The dog commanding the Cornerian Starship had communicated with the Great Fox. "Now's our chance! Let's go!" Chris exclaimed. "R.O.B! Full speed!" Peppy instructed.

R.O.B. flew the Great Fox up to the part where the force field had disintegrated. As it flew at the fastest speed, the field was seen regenerating at a fast rate. The ship's control room's computer screen showed the view of the ship's front. "The force field's regenerating faster than we are heading towards it!" Guntz said.

"We won't make it!" Isaac exclaimed. "Have faith!" Katt said. "We can make it!" The Cornerian Starship fired a pink laser beam out of one of it's cannons which connected to the Great Fox. "Hey, what's going on?!" Kennedy asked. "It's a tractor beam! We're saved!" Falco said. "What's a tractor beam?" Jill asked. "It's a laser beam which can pull objects magnetically. But, I've never seen one installed in a starship before!" Fox said.

"Other than that, we've got one more minute before the base explodes!" G said. "C'mon move ******!" Isaac shouted at the computer screen. The tractor beam pulled the Great Fox at a fast speed. This coupled with the Great Fox's speed enabled the ship to move towards the disintegrated part of the force field real fast.

"We'll make it!" Rogan said.

"Ten more seconds before the base explodes!" Slippy said. Finally, the Great Fox went out of the force field and was away from the base. The force field was fully regenerated and the tractor beam pulling the Great Fox was deactivated. "R.O.B! Move the ship away from the base!" Falco said. Inside the Cornerian Starship's control room, the dog commanded, "Move away from the base! Accompany the Great Fox as well!"

The Great Fox moved towards the Cornerian Starship which was moving away from the base. As the Great Fox caught up with the starship, the base exploded. In the Great Fox's control room, the group saw the base's demise in the computer screen. "We… We made it…" Lisa said. "Yeah, we made it, everyone. We did it!" Rebecca stated with a smile.

Peppy contacted the starship. "Great Fox to Cornerian Starship, may I ask who is commanding the starship and who sent you to the Earth?" "We will talk about that another time," the dog replied. "If you want to know about that, come and see me at a place called the White House tonight,"

"The White House?! Wait, what's going on? How would the starship's crew know about the White House?" Claire asked. "Guess I'll have to tell you all," Kennedy said. "You know about that?" G asked. "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave. I am heading back to where I came from, the White House. Over and out," the dog said.

With that, the communication was switched off. "Hey, Kennedy," Falco then said. "How would a Cornerian Starship end up in the Earth?" "Tell us. You said you know about that," Wolf said. "Okay, but, I'll just tell one thing. The starship arrived at the White House right before the Star Fox team came to the Earth," Hearing this, everyone became surprised.

"Wait a minute, Kennedy," Rogan said. "You mean to say the White House let Lylatians enter the Earth just like that? I thought the White House was more cautious than that. What's going on?" "I'm afraid you all will get the answers from the captain of the starship himself. It's best to wait until you all meet him," "Why can't you tell now?" Powalski asked.

"Because the captain of the starship is someone whom Fox knows very well," Kennedy replied. "Someone I know very well?" Fox said. "But, who would it be?" Krystal asked. "That's for you to find out," Kennedy said. "It's a surprise," "By the way, enough about the serious stuff for now. Aren't you all **** glad we got out of the base alive?" Isaac said.

"Yeah, about that, we are," Claire said, smiling. "Guess you all know what that means," Fox said. "Yeah," Klonoa said. The group became silent. Soon, every member cheered loudly. Some of them jumped around happily while most of them gave high fives to each other.

"Yeah, we're ******* safe, man!" Isaac shouted as he jumped around.

"Wahoo!" Klonoa shouted.

"Three cheers to us!" Chipple exclaimed.

"Yahoo!" Fox shouted.

The group continued shouting out loud happily as the Great Fox went towards the Earth.

* * *

The night has come. Inside the White House, at a large hall, the group was sitting at chairs on a stage. The prisoners in the Great Fox have been returned to their homes. Klonoa's grandfather was placed at the AMS base in Metro City. A lot of the White House's people were seated in the hall. Reporters had taken the front seats and were eyeing the anthros in order to get good shots of the anthros themselves when they have the chance.

"The speech is going to start soon," Rogan said. "Where's our mysterious saver from before?" "Beats me," Miyu said. "Who else do we know would come to the Earth?" Fox asked his team members. "I have no clue. Let's wait for them to show their faces," Krystal stated. "They better hurry here before the president comes and gives his speech," Kennedy said.

All of a sudden, the audience who took the back seats cried out in awe as they turned their heads back to look at the hall's door. A large group of grey white dog-like anthros clad in jackets and long pants came into the hall. Seeing this, the reporters rushed towards them to snap photographs of them. As the group saw the anthros, Fox said, "Hey, I recognize that clothing. That's the Cornerian Army's standard uniform!"

"Cornerian Army?" Krystal said. "Fox, I think we should walk to those Cornerian Army soldiers and find out who our saver from earlier was. I have a hunch I know who it is," "Sounds good. Let's see who wants to follow suit," Soon, Fox decided that he, Krystal, Slippy, Falco and Katt will go and meet the Cornerian Army soldier and they then walked to them.

As the five reached them, one of the soldiers said, "Well, if it isn't Fox McCloud, the leader of the Star Fox team!" "Who sent you here?" Fox asked the soldier. "Well, your friend did. He's at the back of us soldiers," "The back?" Katt asked. "Hey, Fox!" a voice called out from behind the soldiers. Three anthros came and met Fox and his company. The first was the captain of the Cornerian Starship from yesterday who was the dog wearing the tuxedo and sunglasses. The second and third were a pink rabbit with red moe eyes who was wearing a grey jacket with a white shirt underneath plus long, blue pants and a pink frog with blonde hair wearing a green short-sleeved jacket with a yellow shirt underneath plus long, brown pants.

"Hey, Fox," the dog said as he took off his sunglasses, revealing his handsome blue eyes which caused the reporters to aim their cameras towards him. "It's been some time since we talked," "Bill?!" Fox exclaimed in surprise. "Lucy and Amanda too?!" Katt exclaimed in the same manner. "What are you three doing here?!" Slippy asked. "I'll explain everything later, you all," Bill said to Fox and his company with a smile. "In the meantime, let's avoid the paparazzi first and get our seats,"

Bill then turned to Lucy and Amanda and added, "C'mon, girls," "Coming up. Later, Slippy," Amanda said as she went to get seats along with Bill and Lucy. "See ya after the speech, Krystal," Lucy said. "Uh, okay…" Krystal said, her mouth slightly open in surprise. As Bill, Lucy and Amanda along with the Cornerian Army soldiers went to get their seats, Fox and his company walked back to their seats.

"What's Bill doing here?!" Falco asked Fox as they walked. "How would he know about us being involved in the zombie cases?!" "Let's tell the rest of us about this. I think we'll find the answer to your questions soon enough," Fox replied. As Fox and his company came back to the group, Fox told the group about Bill's appearance along with Lucy's and Amanda's.

"You're not kidding?! Bill Grey is here?!" Miyu asked. "Now that's a surprise," Peppy said. "And what's more, wouldn't it be dangerous for him to bring Lucy and Amanda here?" "I think we'll get our answers later," Wolf stated. "I'll tell you guys about Bill later. In the meantime, the president's here," Kennedy said. Sure enough, the president has arrived. He walked up to the podium on the stage and spoke using a microphone.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," the president started his speech. "Today, we are all gathered here to celebrate a great event. The case of the people whom were kidnapped by mysterious UFOs has been solved," The audience began talking to each other in surprise and excitement. The president then asked them to settle down.

"As all of you who work in the White House know, we had sent the White House's best agent, Leon S. Kennedy, to investigate the case. His investigation has led us to a great discovery which is surprising and at the same time, interesting. I would now like to ask Leon himself to give his speech about this,"

The president then stepped away from the podium and allowed Kennedy to use it. The president stood next to the podium itself. "Thank you, Mr. President," Kennedy said. "Yes, as you all have heard, the president has stated that my investigation resulted in a great discovery. It is a discovery which can be considered to be something which would surprise the whole of mankind. In fact, it is this,"

Kennedy pointed to the anthros sitting on the stage. The reporters were about to move in to take photographs of them but, Kennedy stopped them by raising his hand up. "You may ask any questions to them later," Kennedy added. "Now, regarding the fact of how they came to the Earth, I would like to pass the time to Fox McCloud, one of our furry visitors who is sitting on the stage here,"

Fox went out of his seat. "Thank you, Kennedy. Now, I know you all are surely surprised about my looks and the rest of my friends' looks but, I'll explain about that. To be precise, I would like to start my speech by telling all of you about myself and about them," Fox then explained about the Lylat System and it's inhabitants.

After explaining about them, a reporter asked, "Sir, why is it that Lylatians look like animals?" "Well, that is something which is hard to answer. Perhaps I can say that Lylatians were created that way since they are beings which are outside of the Solar System," Fox answered. "Do you eat animal food?" another reporter asked. "Err… Not really. Don't get the wrong idea. Lylatians are not mere animals. They are just like humans except that they have the looks of animals,"

"Do Lylatians of only the same species mate?" asked one more reporter. "Actually, Lylatians mate with each other or to be precise, get married or whatsoever regardless of their species," "That's out of the world," the same reporter commented. "Yes, it's out of the world to you. Anyway, back to my speech, I am now going to explain about how I and my friends got involved in the case of the kidnappings done by the UFOs,"

Fox started to explain to the audience about the events that he and his friends had went through so far. "So, that's it. Any questions?" Fox said as he finished talking. "Mr. Fox, through all that you have said, I want to ask-Would Earth face another possible threat from outer space?" asked one of the reporters. "I cannot say whether that would happen for sure but, anyway, there is no more threat now so, the Earth is safe,"

"Mr. Fox, speaking of the case of the UFOs, why is it that you and your furry friends have come to the Earth?" asked another reporter. "Well, the truth is…" Fox stopped talking for a moment as he thought of what to say next. Finally, he added as his lips turned into a smile, "…I'm on a honeymoon," "In that case, may I ask whether your wife is of the same species or of another species?" asked the same reporter.

"Well, umm… about that…" Fox said, blushing. He was getting nervous. "Yes, she is of the same species as me. In fact, my lovely wife is over there," Fox pointed towards Krystal. "She's beautiful," commented the reporter. "Err… thank you but, if you have any comments or whatsoever, do give them after this. Thank you all," The audience clapped their hands as Fox went back to his seat.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen," the president said as he went back to the podium. "We have come to the end of our speech. To conclude, I would like to notify that refreshments will be served at the White House's dining hall and do please enjoy as much as you can for agent Leon and his friends including our furry guests have saved the Earth from danger. Thank you,"

* * *

All the people whom were in the hall gathered at the dining hall. A long table with various foods on it was there. Chairs were placed everhwere for people to sit on. Everyone ate and talked to each other at their seats. The reporters were having their food and eyeing the anthros at the same time, looking for a chance to interview them. The group was sitting together waiting for Bill, Lucy and Amanda.

"What's taking them so long?" Falco said. "Patience, Falco. We're not in any hurry or anything," Fox said while picking up a blueberry tart from his plate. "Yeah, I know that. I'm just eager to know why Bill is here," Falco replied. "Regarding Bill, he looked different than before," Katt remarked. "Yeah, I wonder why he changed his looks," Miyu said.

"Even Lucy changed hers too. Could you believe her look just now? She looked so much better without being bucktoothed!" Falco stated. "I think she's more beautiful that way," Panther commented. "Was that supposed to be a flirtatious comment?" Katt asked. "Katt, I was just expressing my view," Panther replied. "Fox, who're Bill, Lucy and Amanda actually?" Lolo asked.

"I'll introduce them to you and your friends later, Lolo. In fact, here they are," Bill, Lucy and Amanda walked towards Fox. "Hey, Fox. Sorry for the long wait. The three of us got caught for an interview by the paparazzi," Bill said upon his arrival. "It's been some time, Bill," Fox said. "You've got some human friends here I see. Not to mention some anthros whom I've never met before," Bill stated.

"Oh, yeah, about them, let me introduce them to you," The introductions were then done. "Pleased to meet you all," Lucy greeted the humans. "Hi," Amanda said to the humans. "Pleasure to meet you," greeted Rogan. "Anyway, Bill, could you please explain right now about how you were tied to Kennedy and about how you knew about our case?"

"Yes, that's right. Okay then, listen carefully," Bill explained that days ago, the Cornerian Army under the leadership of General Pepper had detected some strange activity going on near the Earth. "You mean you found Andross's base at that time?" Fox asked. "Precisely," Bill answered. "I was assigned by General Pepper to command the Cornerian Starship which you saw earlier to go to the base. My squad thought of infiltrating the base to get some info,"

"Was the infiltration successful?" G asked. "Yes. Apparently, we found out about Andross's plans regarding infecting the Earth with some kind of virus called the Aparoid Virus. He even created zombies using that virus and used a special teleportation device to send them here in an instant," "We knew about that. We found the plans written on papers which were found in Andross's base," Chris broke in.

"Well, it's good if you knew about the plans already too. Anyway, continuing my explanation, after infiltrating the base, we thought of finding a place in the Earth to watch for any other strange activities from. That's when we found the White House," "That's when I got to know Bill," Kennedy added. "He informed me and the White House about Andross's base and the potential threats from the base itself. However, Bill knew that the Star Fox team would come to the Earth for a vacation so he let them come first before he took any action,"

"But, why wait for us? And also, why not tell us earlier?" Wolf asked. "I figured I wouldn't want to ruin your vacation," Bill said to the Star Fox team. "And I chose to wait for you all because Andross had not done anything yet during the time when I was in the Earth. While waiting for all of you, I continued monitoring Andross's activities and you all just came exactly at the time when Andross started his plans,"

"You mean you predicted that Fox and his friends would come at the exact time where Andross would start commencing his operation?" Guntz asked. "Yes, and I chose to let the Star Fox team come first also because Andross was a very dangerous adversary. What I'm trying to say is that since he had schemed various treacherous acts which grew more and more dangerous back in the Lylat System, I thought that direct action would lead to him launching a great counterattack which could lead to serious consequences to both my squad and the Earth,"

"Well, looks like we've found the answer to the Cornerians knowing about the White House," Rebecca said. "Our questions are solved," Rogan stated. "Well, that's about it for my explanation. That aside, it's good to see you again, Fox," Bill said. "Same here, Bill. By the way, I want to ask you two things. Firstly, how come a tractor beam was installed in your starship? Starships never have those," Fox said.

"Well, General Pepper ordered for my starship to be well equipped since it was Andross I was about to face. And what's the second thing you wanted to ask?" "How come you and Lucy changed your looks?" Bill laughed upon hearing this. "Oh, this? Well, actually, since it was my first time going to the Earth, I thought I'd go and make myself more stylish so that I would look like an inviting visitor to the Earthlings. Lucy had the same idea cross her mind and you know the rest,"

"Lucy you look so much more beautiful!" Krystal commented. "Thanks, Krystal," Lucy said. "Lucy looks kinda hot here. Say you wanna date?" Isaac said to Lucy. Lucy laughed and said, "Are you kidding me? If you want to do that, you got to ask my father here," "I'm afraid I wouldn't allow that, Isaac," Peppy said. "Aw, man. Ah, never mind. I can hit on other girls," Isaac replied.

"By the way, Fox, you were quite nervous when you spoke in front of the audience earlier weren't you?" Amanda asked. "Somewhat…" Fox said. "It's my first time speaking in front of humans," "And you even had the guts to say that I'm beautiful in front of them," said Krystal as she gave Fox's cheek a peck. "Thanks, Foxy honey,"

"No problem, Kryssy honey," Fox replied. He then licked Krystal's cheek. The group chuckled. "Okay, now that Andross's done for, how shall we have our own celebration?" Bill asked. "Well, before we met you, Bill, we thought of having a vacation after taking care of Andross. You're welcome to join us," Rogan said. "No problem. I can ask my troops to come along," Bill said.

"That's great! The more the merrier!" Slippy said. "Oh, I cannot wait!" Fay said excitedly. "Me too," Miyu said. "We can start tomorrow," Kennedy suggested. "Alright, we all are in. Ready, all?" Fox said. "You bet!" everyone except Fox said.

* * *

The next day in the afternoon, at a beach in Sunset City, the ocean waters were still. The bright sunlight glistened on the water's surface. The water was all still until something brushed above the ocean's surface. It was a yellow surfboard riding on a small tidal wave. Klonoa was on top of the board, wearing blue swimming trunks with green diamond-like patterns on them.

Other surfers who were adults surfed next to him. They all looked at him in surprise and awe due to Klonoa looking a little too young to go surfing. The adult surfers all were then swallowed by the tidal wave. At the beach's shore, some women in swimwear were amazed at Klonoa's prowess and cheered for him. Even Lolo, who was in a pink one piece swimsuit, cheered for Klonoa.

"Wow, look at him! He's so amazing!" one of the women said.

"He's so cute!" another woman said.

"Go, Klonoa!" Lolo cheered.

Klonoa continued surfing on the tidal wave with great efficiency. The remaining adult surfers who continued looking at him in awe tried to compete with him. However, Klonoa outmatched them with an array of tricks which were never seen before by an average surfer. Klonoa then ended his surfing by jumping in the air towards the shore.

"Wahoo!" he shouted.

Upon reaching the shore, Klonoa quickly took his surfboard under his feet with his hands and landed safely on the ground with both his bare feet. The women in swimwear and Lolo then went towards him. "You were amazing!" one of the women said to Klonoa. "Where'd you learn how to surf well at your age?"

"Thanks for the comment. This may be hard to believe but, actually, I learned how to surf by myself," Klonoa replied. "Really?! That's amazing!" the woman replied. "You're so cute! Can I pat you?" another one of the women said to Klonoa. "Uh, sure…" Klonoa said, feeling a little uncertain.

"I want to pat him too!" another one of the women said.

"I want to hug him!" a fourth woman said.

"Uh, miss? Relax. You can all pat me one by one… Hey, what are you doing? Wait…!" Klonoa said as the women began to close in on him to adore him. Meanwhile, at another part of the beach, Chipple and Lucy, whom were in swimming trunks and a black one piece respectively, were playing volleyball with two human men. Despite Chipple being the youngest and shortest among the players, he was able to play with great skill. A small crowd who was watching the volleyball game was amazed at Chipple's playing.

"Look at him go!" a man in the crowd said.

"Yeah, he's amazing!" a woman from the crowd replied.

Soon, Chipple along with Lucy overwhelmed their opponents. At the final score, Chipple said, "And that's game!" The crowd clapped their hands after witnessing Chipple's amazing game. "You were great, Chipple!" Lucy praised. "It was nothing," Chipple replied with a smile. Chipple and Lucy's opponents, the two men, came up to the two. "You've got skills, boy. Where'd you learn them?" the first man asked Chipple.

"Oh, I play a lot of volleyball back at my home," Chipple answered. "You were amazing, kid. Man, you must have trained real hard," the second man commented towards Chipple. "Thanks and not really," Chipple said. "Speaking of which," the first man said as he turned his eyes towards Lucy. "You look cute you know. Wanna join me for a drink or something?"

"Cut the flirting man," the second man said to his friend. "You're scaring the girl," "No, it's okay," Lucy said with a chuckle. "About joining you, I'm afraid I'll have to pass," Lucy then said to the first man. "Aw, man…" the first man said. His friend placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Unless if you win in another volleyball match with me," Lucy added.

The first man's eyes lit up. "Okay, bring it on!" he then said. "Come on, man!" he then added towards his friend. As Chipple's team and the first man's team prepared for another match, the humans were watching the anthros having fun from inside an open bar. The humans wore simple clothing and were seated and at the same time, having drinks. "Looks like Fox and the rest are having lots of fun," Rogan stated. "Yeah," G said.

"I wonder where's Fox," Jill said. "Over there, having a good time with his wife," Kennedy stated while pointing towards somewhere. Fox and Krystal were sitting next to each other under a palm tree. The couple's bodies were quite close to each other and the two were even licking each other's faces. "That's sweet of them. And the rest?" Claire said. "Well, Miyu and Fay are adoring some dogs there, Panther's flirting with lots of women and the rest are playing ball in the sea," Chris stated.

"Panther never changes," Rebecca commented. "That flirt," Ada said. "That aside, it's quite an adventure we had back then with our furry friends, huh?" Rogan asked. "Wonder if there's more to come," Lisa said. "I wonder," Kennedy said. "Hey, look, Amanda's coming towards us," Rebecca said. Amanda reached the humans and said, "Hey, you all, Lucy just thought of snapping a photograph of us at the beach here using a camera of hers. She's got someone from the beach to snap the photo for us,"

"Sounds nice. Let's go," Chris said as he got out of his seat. In a short while, the humans joined the anthros whom were gathered in front of the sea to have a photograph of the group being taken. "Here I am, Fox," Rogan said. "Good timing, Rogan. Let's get started," Every member of the group got into their positions. "Okay, are you ready?" the person holding Lucy's camera, a man, asked the group.

"Yeah!"

"Alright, one, two, three! Say cheese!"

"Cheeeeese!"

With that the photograph was taken. It would become a great memento for the group as well as one for humanity…

THE END