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Just throwing this little piece in here for information's sake.

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"...in what Military leaders are calling a 'personal attack' on Team StarFox. Cornerian fighters found Fox McCloud's flagship, GreatFox, in a state of peril as Venomian planes and troops swarmed the area. Amazingly Cornerian troops managed to get aboard and fight off the remaining soldiers, while hopefully managing to save the lives of the two, still unidentified members of the team, who we are led to believe are Krystal and Fox himself."

"So they're okay?"

"We are still awaiting further information regarding the current medical state of these two, who are currently in the Cornerian International Space Station receiving much needed medical attention. That's all the time we have right now but we will keep you updated as more information is given out. Stay tuned to transmission channel 104.64 for your latest tunes and up to date news."

The lupine narrowed his gaze at the speaker in his Wolfen; that hadn't been what he had wanted to hear, but it was better than finding out they were dead. At least Fox was still alive, even if he was lying in some hospital bed with intravenous drips running up and down his arms. As long as he lived Wolf would be content.

Panther's cynical plan had failed, and it had cost him his life in the end. He had so obsessed with getting the sapphire vixen that he hadn't taken into account the extreme measures that McCloud was willing to go to protect her. But none of that bothered him. Panther's death was saddening yes, they had been comrades for years and the cat had been one of the few animals that Wolf would trust with anything relatively important, and to some extent maybe even his life.

But time would go on. StarWolf would still exist, though its fighting force was halved, and Wolf hoped that sometime, in the near future, he would finally get to settle the score with his rival. He didn't want the vulpine dead, but it wouldn't hurt his feelings if that happened to be the outcome. No, he simply wanted to test his skills against the famed pilot. He needed to know if he was better than the vulpine.

Then, and only then would he be truly satisfied.

He looked to his left and seen the dark shape of Leon's Wolfen following him a few miles out. They had easily fought off the remaining fighters. The combination of skill along with the confusion of the Invader fighters allowed the three pilots to drop another dozen planes before even being contested. They had done their part, and Wolf tried not to cringe as he realized he was being what one would almost call 'heroic.' He would have to make sure that no one knew of their assistance, and the first step in doing so would be to make sure they were back on Sargasso before Cornerian forces made it that far.

The massive space station was well within view now and the lupine checked his 6 one last time before sending in the order to dock. They hadn't been followed, which either meant the Cornerian forces were content with simply saving StarFox and didn't want to risk losing any more lives, or, they thought that the entire Venomian force that had been attacking was destroyed. Of course that wasn't true, not counting himself and Leon the lupine had seen almost a dozen Invader fighters take off into deep space, wanting to get away from the intense fighting to live for another day.

He brought his Wolfen down to the entrance of the station and docked, resting his head against his seat and allowing the events of the night to sink in.

Panther was dead, or at least that's what the report was. McCloud and the vixen were floating above Corneria in some medical bay in critical condition, neither one of them stable yet. The entire force that Panther had assembled was either destroyed or awol, thanks to Leon and himself taking out those cruisers.

What else is there?

A pecking on the side of his canopy jerked the lupine out of his thoughts and he looked down, thankfully through tinted glass, at Leon.

"What?" he growled, throwing the top open and hauling himself over the side.

"Just making sure you weren't dead," he muttered.

"From what?"

"I don't know," the chameleon replied with a shrug, "Maybe from being so heroic."

Wolf sneered at the amphibian, getting a smirk in return as the two pilots made their way across the hanger.

"Anyways. Call me crazy, but I'm actually glad we did what we did." Leon added, his voice not as sinister as usual.

"I don't know what Panther was thinking," he continued after receiving a dry look from Wolf, "But if anyone is gonna kill Lombardi its going to be me, not him. And especially not over something as stupid as love. I mean, of all the reasons why he could have wanted them dead, he picked that. Its just stupid."

Wolf nodded, making his way up the stairs to the bridge. He didn't agree with Leon completely, but he could understand why the chameleon wanted to be the one who killed Falco. As for the motive, well, that was something that Leon would never understand...and something that Wolf would never forget. He knew what it was like to kill for someone you loved, but he had never told anyone other than his victim why. Leon wouldn't understand, he had never felt anything close to what Wolf had felt then, or what Fox felt now.

There were some things that you would die for, things that you would kill for. Fox had Krystal, alive and breathing, at least as he thought this. He still had his reasons, his motivation to live, and Wolf felt nothing but envy for the vulpine.

Cherish what you have McCloud because nothing has changed. I still want to face off with you one more time, and whatever the outcome is we'll have to live with it.

(Author's Note: If you haven't caught on by now then I'll just say it: I'm hinting at a possible story I might type in the late future concerning Wolf and his long lost love. This is just a little foreshadowing I included because it works for this part of this story anyways.)

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An all too familiar sound greeted the vulpine's ears as his mind finally managed to claw its way back into consciousness. Painfully he turned his head to the right and seen exactly what he had expected to see; the sleeping form of Falco Lombardi sprawled out in a chair, snoring like crazy with a yo-yo still hanging from his middle finger.

He couldn't help but grin, wishing he had a camera but knowing that he wouldn't have enough strength to even hold it up to take the picture. His eyes easily adjusted to the light of the room and he instantly realized the familiar surroundings of the Cornerian Space Station's medical bay, a place that he and Falco had been in more than once. As usual there was only one window and it was on the side of the room behind Falco, the darkness of space lying in the background, not allowing him to see the massive shape of Corneria from his bed.

Sighing he turned his head back around and stared at the ceiling. He didn't know what to focus on now. He felt the morphine drip in his left arm, but after all these years he liked to believe that he had built up an immunity to it. The morphine IV was not alone however, and he looked down his other arm, still broken in many places, to see several other tubes pumping what he hoped was necessary fluids into his body. It was then that he noticed the oxygen mask on his face, aiding in his breathing as his body tried to heal itself.

Reaching up with his left hand he pulled it off, snorting in distaste as his nose went from pure oxygen to just 'normal' oxygen. With the mask gone he decided to check his blast wounds. He pulled back the covers below him and instantly realized that they had only been over his body for show as they revealed a massive bandage over his stomach where his gut had take the full force of a blast. Timidly he reached behind himself and felt for the other side, grimacing as he realized the shot had went completely through his stomach.

I could have so easily died from that one. Its just a miracle I'm still here.

And then the real blast hit him in the gut as he remembered the whole reason he had went through all of this.

"Krystal."

He gasped in pain as he instinctively pulled his body into a sitting position, his gut and leg wound reminding him that they were nowhere near healed. But he had to know. He had to find out for himself if she was okay.

"F-Fox?"

He turned to Falco and met the bird's sleepy gaze, "Krystal. Where is she?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Krystal!" the vulpine demanded, not wanting to put up with Falco's jokes, at least until he knew she was okay.

The avian snorted and leaned back in his chair, yanking the yo-yo back up into his hand before responding, "She's next door,"

"Is she okay?" he asked, knowing that regardless of his answer he would have to see for himself.

"From what I've heard," Falco replied, dropping the yo-yo and pulling it up once more, "She was in worse shape than you, as impossible as it may seem. They said she was in shock and had lost a lot of blood."

"I figured I'd stay in here with you while she was being worked on," he continued, "But I guess I was a little sleepy."

"But she's okay right?" the vulpine asked hopefully.

Falco's look lost its casualness and he brought the yo-yo back up into his hand one last time before answering. "I don't know. I figured if anything bad went down they would've told us."

"Us?"

"Slippy and Peppy are in the bay with Pepper and some other troops."

He knew he should have been grateful that his three oldest friends were okay but his heart wouldn't be content until he knew if she had made it. She was all that mattered to him. She was his. He was hers. They had been through hell just to protect the other, and he knew that he'd do it all over again if that's what it took. But now, all he needed to survive was her. He had to know if she was okay.

He swung his legs to the side of the bed, yelping as a sharp splinter of pain ran up his leg and stomach but not stopping. Seconds later his feet hit the floor and his reflexes through his arms forward to catch himself on the bedside table as he fell. Fortunately he caught himself from falling flat on his face. Unfortunately he forgot about the multiple IV's in his right arm and was soon greeted with the pain of numerous needle's being pulled from his arm.

Falco sighed and made his way across the bed, grabbing the pillow and yanking the case off before wrapping it around the vulpine's right arm. Fox nodded his thanks before grabbing the morphine drip stand that was running into his left arm and dragging it behind him as he limped his way out the door.

"Thanks for helping me." he said, feeling the bird's shoulder around his numb right arm.

"I knew you'd have to see for yourself,"

The vulpine didn't like the way Falco had said that but he knew he could do nothing but take it one painful step at a time. They made their way out of the room and and down the hall the few feet to the next door, the vulpine now realizing that, except for his boxers, he wasn't wearing a thing. But that didn't matter now. Neither did the annoying IV stand that he was pulling behind him. He leaned down and bit on the cord, pulling the needle out of his arm before reaching forward and placing his hand on the switch to open the door.

"Please," he whispered desperately, "Let her be okay."

000

Get up! Don't let him die for you!

The feeling of helplessness that she felt while lying there in a puddle of her own blood, watching her mate take the beating of his life for her, it was the worst possible torture she could ever endure. More than anything she wanted to do something to stop it but at this point it took all the energy she had left just to stay conscious. But for what? To watch him die for her?

The images blurred together, she watched the vulpine hit the ground in front of her, almost wanting to believe she felt his hand in hers. Then he was back against the wall, the blaster shoved in his mouth as Panther readied his finale. And all she could do was lie there, struggling against the pain that covered her body to stay conscious as she watched all that she had caused unfold.

Now he was on the ground, holding his side, screaming in pain as blood poured from his stomach. Still she could do nothing...but watch. He hit the floor, a look of shock and unconsciousness blanketing his face as he fell on his stomach.

No...no! This cant be happening! This cant be happening! Fox! Fox!

She wanted to scream his name across the galaxy, hoping that it would be enough to keep him alive somehow. But instead she remained on the ground, her tear filled eyes being the only sign that she was still conscious as they streamed the salty liquid down her face. All she could see was the vulpine's back, and the ugly blaster wound that went through its lower half. Agony had to be the emotion to describe this. She was in agony. Both of them were.

Out of the corner of her eye she seen Panther fall to his knees but paid it no mind, figuring he was just getting closer to Fox in order to issue one last dark promise about what he'd do to her. Instead she focused on the only being that she could find comfort in; dead or alive. Even if it was just his backside.

She watched in sorrow as the blood from his back and leg dripped to the floor and pooled up, eventually making its way over to her own.

The last time we'll ever touch, and its after hes dead.

"What have I done..."

The vixen's eyes finally closed out of sheer exhaustion as she allowed the pain and heartache to overwhelm her and thrust her into unconsciousness. At the last second she thought she heard voices, voices she couldn't recognize, but they were faint and, at the point, didn't matter.

Fox was dead. Panther had won. She was going to wake up to an entirely different world...one without Fox in it. Suicide was just a sweet escape now.

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