A/N: My Star Fox comic is up and starting, if anybody wants to peek. It's starfoxtimelines on Tumblr, if you want to check it out!
-o0o-
"What do you mean we lost contact?" Bill asked angrily from his station on the air traffic tower.
"What I mean is I got one transmission before everything went to static!" Fay replied, distressed.
Wolf had took the elevator to the top of the tower after saying his farewells to Fox, and came in to witness the horrible scene unfolding in front of him.
"What? What transmission? Fucking put it on!" The lupine exclaimed, rushing over to Fay. He forgot that Marcus was in the room, but it wasn't important at this point. She hurriedly swiped a few things on her console, and a comm crackled to life. It was Fox's.
"It worked, but I'm crashing into Titania, and I can't do anything about it," Fox's voice rang out, before the feed cut.
"Oh God. I knew this would happen, but I didn't know how," Wolf whispered to Fay.
"I know, Wolf. I did too, but it wasn't like we had much of a choice," Fay replied.
"God dammit!" Wolf exclaimed suddenly, growling loudly.
"Hey, can't we just make another ship?" Marcus asked, suddenly speaking up. "One that'll go and get Fox?"
Fay sighed. "No. Not immediately, anyway. The materials used to make the drive are extremely rare and valuable. It'll take at least a week to find them all and get to work on another ship. Plus, it'll have to be built from the ground up."
"Crap. What can we do about this, then?" Falco asked.
"Get new materials and make another. We'll make one that fits two, has a bigger energy capacity, and has a better comm system," Fay explained.
Wolf was still fixed on those last few words. He knew that Fox would end up on Titania, but not when, or how. He slammed his fist into the console, cracking the screen.
"I can't believe I let him go alone!" Wolf shouted in pain.
"Wolf, calm down," Panther said gently.
"No! I won't fucking calm down, Panther! My Fox is stuck in another universe, and I have to wait a week before I can get to him! Fay, give me a list. I'm getting the materials right now!" Wolf exclaimed, glaring towards the canine. She obliged, and a short moment later, a holopad with a list of materials was thrust into the lupine's hands.
"Go. Get that stuff. I'll get the others to work on the framework," Fay said. Wolf nodded, still seething with anger and fear, walking out of the control room.
"Dude! I'm coming with you!" Bill exclaimed from behind him.
"Whatever. Just keep up if you're gonna," Wolf said, that familiar gruff and cold personality returning to him. Fox had worked hard to get rid of it, and now it was back. The demeanor would keep him from heartbreak. It's what he needed, the lupine decided, as he and Bill crammed into an elevator. Keep to the cold and warmth won't appear.
-o0o-
Fox groaned, shaking his head. His entire skull felt like it was going to shatter into pieces. He opened his eyes to see himself inside of the Flea's cockpit, but it was destroyed. In fact, it was a miracle he was alive and well. The vulpine climbed out of the shattered glass window, and looked around to faintly register that he was inside of some sort of lab. He looked up and saw a giant flaming hole in the roof. In fact, the ship was catching fire. It was going to explode!
"Shit!" Fox cursed, leaping off of the Flea and running down the corridor. He dove behind a hallway and covered his ears. A few seconds later, a quake rocked the area, a muffled boom sounding. The vulpine uncovered his ears, sighing.
"Well, I guess visions can't always be clear and complete," Fox said to himself.
He took stock of his outfit; it wasn't as damaged and ripped as he expected. There were a few holes and tears in it, and his blaster was still secured to his hip. The area of fabric where his metal leg rested was completely gone, though.
"Need to get going. I can't stick around," Fox muttered, starting down the hallway. The power was out, and nobody was in the building, which was odd. The building, which looked like a hospital, looked well kept, so the only logical answer was that everyone had evacuated.
The vulpine looked around for the exit, and ended up following the signs to a door. It was an emergency exit. Fox reached for the door, and his head felt pain like it was going to split open. He groaned, clutching at his head. A purple figured appeared in front of him, but the vulpine couldn't make out who it was. He shook his head, and the vision cleared.
Fox opened the door, and was hit with a blast of warmth and drought. He stepped out into a vast desert.
"Well, it's definitely Titania," Fox said, taking off his headset. He wasn't going to need it for a moment or two.
The vulpine heard a shout, and he knew then who it was. He saw smoke in the sky, and rushed towards it, his boots slipping on the sand as he rushed towards the crash site.
"It really is gonna be her, isn't it," Fox breathed, panting. He hadn't run twenty meters and he was already feeling like death incarnate.
He scrambled up a sand dune, and peered over to see the crashed Wolfen. It was real. The vulpine slid down into the the crash site, and looked at the ship. The cockpit glass was shattered, the whole fighter catching on fire. He climbed up the hot metal and grabbed the figure out of the ship, carrying her back up the sand dune to get away from the metal. Fox set her down, and took off the helmet, and despite having prior knowledge, he still gasped.
"Miyu... it really is you," he breathed. The lynx groaned, opening her eyes slightly.
"F- Fox? You're supposed to be dead," Miyu said, touching Fox's cheek.
"I'm not that Fox you know. I'm from another universe. I'm telling the truth, as farfetched as it all sounds," Fox explained, checking the lynx for injury. The mechanical eye made everything a lot quicker, with him just having to glance over her body to get a full medical analysis. The vulpine liked it. The diagnostic told him that she had a nasty cut on her right forearm, but that was about it. Nothing else had been damaged enough for immediate medical attention. He tore a piece of his suit off and worked to wrap it.
"Yeah, okay. I could always trust that Fox was telling the truth. I can believe that," Miyu said, grunting.
"Why are you with Star Wolf?" The vulpine asked as he finished the wrap.
"Well, it's a long story. It mainly had to do with Fox dying," She explained as the vulpine helped her up.
"Jesus. I don't even know what happened here. Wait-" Fox glanced back up at the sky after he wrapped an arm around Miyu to help steady her. The aparoids and Titanians were still fighting.
"What?" She asked.
"Where's the rest of your team?" The vulpine asked.
"Oh. Oh! Them! Should probably give em a call. Give me the helmet," Miyu said. Fox obliged, and she put the thing back on.
"Hey. Miyu here, still alive. I need help. Yeah, crash landed. Damn aparoids got lucky, I know. No, actually. Got someone here who rescued me. No. No, you won't believe who it is. Just get down here. Track the coords on the helmet. Thanks. Miyu out."
She took the helmet back off and set it on the ground.
"We should probably get comfy. They won't be here for a bit," She said, sitting down. Fox sat down nearby, facing her.
"How long has it been since the aparoids first attacked?" Fox asked.
"Eight months. It would've ended in the first month and a half, if Fox didn't die at the assault on the homeworld. After that, everybody else retreated, except Peppy," the lynx explained.
"Oh. Um… I see. What about Wolf's team?" The vulpine questioned.
"Oh, yeah. They escaped; Fox was the one to sacrifice himself for the retreat. Let's see, Katt, Bill, and Fay keep up the Star Fox team, as well as Fara. I was contracted to join Wolf, Leon, and Panther." Fara? He hadn't ever met a Fara in his life. He wondered who this mystery girl was.
"Whoa, you mean Star Wolf is up there?" Fox asked desperately, looking at her.
"No. Just Panther; Wolf and Leon went missing a few weeks ago. Panther and I are allied with Star Fox, at least until this is over and we find our friends," Miyu replied, hugging her legs.
"Who else is missing?" The vulpine wondered.
"Katt and Fay. Also, from the Cornerian Military is Falco, and Slippy. They all just vanished out of the blue," the lynx explained.
"Shit. This is worse than I thought," Fox muttered. The two were silent for a while, losing track of time and thinking. Miyu spoke back up with a confused look on her face.
"Wait, you knew about all this, yet you're from another universe?"
"It's really hard to explain; I get a headache just trying to comprehend it. Wait, what's that?" The vulpine asked, pointing to a dark patch in the sky. It was slowly getting bigger.
"Oh! That's our shared mothership. We call it the Lone Wolf," Miyu said, a smirk on her face.
"Lone Wolf, huh? Nice ring to it," the vulpine replied as the ship descended.
"Yeah. Wolf picked it. After the Great Fox totaled, he got a new mothership. Everyone just kinda migrated there," the lynx replied.
The Lone Wolf descended further down, and it eventually touched the ground around thirty meters from them. The mothership was shaped more like a wolf than anything else, reminding Fox of his battered mothership. The hangar doors opened, and the two ran towards it. Two figures waited in the hangar.
Miyu and Fox walked up the hangar door and were met with Panther and a female vixen. Fox figured it must've been Fara. The two both gasped at once, eyes widening.
"Miyu, is that really…" Fara trailed off, shocked.
"No. It's not Fox. Well, not our Fox. This one's from another universe," Miyu explained quickly.
"Uh, okay. I'll try to comprehend this later. Just hurry up to the bridge. Bill is waiting for all of us," Fara said, scratching her chin.
"Yeah. Come on, Fox," Miyu said as the other two walked back down the hangar. Almost as soon as Miyu and the vulpine were safely inside, the craft took off, the hangar door closing.
Upon further inspection, Fox found that the interior of the Lone Wolf was almost exactly like the Great Fox, except for ship placement, apart from the hangar door being smaller. There were five Arwings and three Wolfens inside of it, meaning that half of the ships were pilotless. Miyu and Fox ran to keep up with Fara and Panther, who were headed for the lift. As he was running, the surrounding area lit up in green polygonal shapes, before disappearing. Those same visions, or hallucinations even, were still happening to him.
"What does Bill want?" The vulpine asked after his vision cleared and they were in the lift.
"We were supposed to report to General Pepper about the failure of defending Titania," Fara said. "However, he might be very shocked to see you here."
Fox blinked. "Pepper? General Pepper is alive?"
Panther's mouth formed a silent O in understanding. He made a few signs to Fara, who made some back. Why were they using sign language?
"Our Fox and Wolf saved General Pepper during the assault on Corneria, but the planet suffered.. It was lost, and well… our base of operations is on Venom at the moment," the vixen explained. She flashed a few more hand signs to Panther, who nodded and made some back.
"Wait, seriously?" Fox asked in disbelief. It couldn't be possible; no way.
"I'm serious, Fox. Whatever universe you live in, this one is so, so much worse," Miyu stated, sighing. Fara glanced at Panther, who was flashing more signals. Fox really needed to ask at this point.
"Why the hell are you two doing that?" The vulpine finally asked. Fara hit heard forehead, groaning. Panther sighed.
"Shit, I didn't tell you. Panther cannot speak at all, and I translate for him. He- he saved-" Fara's voice broke, and she covered her mouth, closing her eyes.
"Panther pushed Falco out of the way of destroyed aparoid chunks aimed at his head during the escape from Corneria. It hit Panther in the neck, slicing his vocal cords. He literally doesn't have a voice anymore," Miyu finished for the vixen.
"Oh," was all Fox could say. He never expected that. It was so unreal; if he thought his world was backwards before, this one was so much worse.
"Yeah. He's no different than before; just can't speak."
Panther punctuated Miyu's sentence by smiling. Fox sighed; even in this universe, that cat was still in love with Falco.
The door slid open, and Fox was greeted with a bridge made completely out of rough grey metal, quite unlike the sleek interior of the Great Fox. A brown canine in a Star Fox flight jacket was at a holomap, looking over Titania. He looked up, and grinned in slight disbelief when he saw the vulpine.
"Oh, dude. Is that really you?" Bill asked, crossing his arms.
"No. I'm from another universe; I came here to track some things down," Fox explained, already getting tired of explaining everything.
"Ah. Well, dude, that's still awesome. I'll bet we can help you through this, but we've gotta get outta here. Titania is a bust, although evacuation efforts have been completed," Bill explained, shutting the holomap off. Everyone else, including Fox, walked towards the front of the bridge, where the monitor for communications was located.
"Let's see here, we've gotta contact General Pepper. Then we can decide what to do next, if anything. Alright," Bill muttered, tapping a few keys in a console. Shortly later, a much older looking Pepper's face appeared onscreen above their heads.
"Ah, Bill Grey. How goes the battle at- oh my God," Pepper started, staring at Fox.
"Pepper , I'm not from this universe, as everyone keeps thinking. I'm from another one, and I came here looking for something," Fox explained, annoyed.
"Ah. Well, um, this is just a shock to me."
"I figured, but we don't have time for that. Titania is lost," Bill cut in sadly.
"Ah. This is a dark day indeed. Another planet lost, and they're slowly inching to Venom. Papetoon shall be next, followed by Macbeth," Pepper replied. A chord struck within Fox at that latest statement.
"We will arrive at Venom in a day," Miyu said confidently. Fox wasn't focused on her anymore; he was worried about Papetoon.
"Good. I am glad to hear that. Get here as soon as possible. I have to go, there are more meetings to be held. I shall see you then. Pepper out." The feed closed, and Miyu walked to a console, sitting down. The vulpine was still thinking.
"Bill, who's in charge of navigation here?" Fox questioned.
"That'd be Panther," the canine replied, pointing to the feline, who was tapping at controls. Fara started translating for him, and Fox walked over.
"How long until we would pass Papetoon?" Fox asked. Fara translated, and Panther made some signs.
"Fourteen hours. The trip to Venom takes about twenty six. Why?" She asked.
"Because maybe something I'm looking for is on Papetoon. When we get close to it, can you tell me?" The vulpine asked. Fara translated, and Panther nodded.
"Thanks. Fara, where's the barracks?" Fox wondered.
"Down a floor. Empty room at the end of the hallway," She replied.
"Thank you," Fox said. He walked out of the bridge and got in the elevator. He hit the button for the floor below him, and slowly, the events of the past few hours rushed up to greet him. He barely was able to exit the lift before hitting a wall and sliding down it.
"I'm in another universe," Fox said. "I've met dead people. People I know are dead. I'm filling in for a dead man. His friends are missing. The aparoids are taking over. My real father is here somewhere," the vulpine said.
He covered his face in his hands. Everything was suddenly so terrifying. He was with people he knew well, but also didn't know. Who the hell was Fara? She sounded familiar, but Fox couldn't place why. And there was one more thing, too.
"Wolf. Oh, God, I've left Wolf. He probably thinks I'm dead," the vulpine whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek. He was going to die in this alternate reality.
To be continued…..