Author's note: So I'm changing Shadow's theme song to Social Suicide by Bad Religion. It was originally Comatose by Skillet but that didn't really fit him. Anyways we're getting closer and closer to the final showdown and this chapter you meet Fox McCloud… again. Enjoy!

Chapter 26: The legend

Fred walked through the halls of the military base. They had finally located Fox McCloud and he was currently in the base waiting to give strategic advice to defeat Shadow and Void. He continued walking until he reached two metal doors at the end of the hall. He entered a code at the keypad next to the doors and they slid open, revealing the people inside.

The oval table in the center of the room was filled with Fred's top advisors. Zach was at the front of the room, hands in his pocket. Next to the blue avian was an old vulpine in a wheel chair. It was Fox. Diamond lingered in the shadows of the corner, leaned up against the wall her arms crossed and her head down. Fred took his seat at the head of the table and cleared his throat. "I see we're all here so let's begin," he said putting a folder onto the table.

The advisor next to him, a raccoon with a literal black eye, spoke up, "We have reason to believe Shadow is about to make his next move very soon. A town over in Kew has been completely taken over and the planet is showing no signs of resistance." Another at the other end of the table chimed in, "As of Void no one has heard, or seen him since his betrayal. It appears he's gone into hiding." Fred nodded solemnly. There was a silence before Fred finally spoke up. "Fox, do you have any idea what Shadow's next move might be."

The vulpine looked up from a crossword puzzle he seemed to have pulled out of nowhere. He thought for a minute before finally speaking, "Well, that depends what was his last move?" Everyone at the table and Zach stared at Fox wide-eyed. Diamond remained in the corner, her head down. "Well, he destroyed the town of Kitan shortly before Void's betrayal, and it seems that he is slowly turning Kew against us," Fred said. Fox nodded slowly, deep in thought.

"May I see that folder?" he asked. Fred hesitated then slid the folder down to Fox. Fox grabbed it and began to look through it, nodding and mumbling as he did so. "Mark O'Donnell hasn't been in the picture for a while I see." Fred nodded and replied, "Star Wolf disbanded a few months ago, he hasn't been seen since." Fox closed the folder and laid it down on the table. "It also said that Shadow has taken over the underground organization known as Delta, which has employed Star Wolf before while Mark was the captain. It stated that Shadow was slowly taking over Delta, but was cut short after he was sent to prison for reviving Andross and killing thousands of people."

Fred opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Fox, "Shadow now officially took over Delta by killing the former leader, who was responsible for the revival of Andross, but managed to escape arrest. As we all know Shadow and Void have a history together, as do Mark and Void so it seems to reason that both Mark and Shadow want Void out of the picture. As they worked before in the past Shadow might try to reemploy Mark once again, as they share a similar goal, so he can have a master pirate working for Delta again."

The advisors at the table looked at one another, mumbling to each other. "This all may be true but how can Shadow even find Mark, nobody knows where he is!" Fred said. "Shadow is the leader of Delta; he'll have spies and informants all over the Lylat System. He'll locate him fast enough if he puts in the effort to find him. Now before arriving here I did my research and a pink fox had been looking around for Mark for about a week before suddenly going off grid. A witness said he saw her leave Corneria with somebody else he didn't get a good look at.

This information gives me reason to believe this pink fox has also found Mark and somehow managed to convince to do whatever it is she wants him to do. If I know about it then Shadow most likely knows about this as well and will probably be looking for both of them. This may explain his recent activity on Kew, where I know for a fact Star Wolf had a secret base on." Fox finished his statement and took a deep breath. The advisors looked around wide-eyed and mumbling. Fred finally found his voice and spoke, "So, you're saying if we go to Kew we can find Mark and this pink fox, and maybe Shadow as well?" Fox shook his head and replied, "You can find them yes, but you most likely will not find Shadow." Fred's expression turned to one of anger and he said, "Then why would we waste the effort to go to Kew!"

Fox chuckled and said, "If you play your cards right you can use them to have Shadow come to you. And hopefully use Shadow to capture the ever-elusive Void." Fred's eyes widened. "Fox, that's brilliant! I can't believe I hadn't thought of that!" he exclaimed. Fox merely chuckled and went back to his crossword puzzle. "Zach take Mr. McCloud back to his hotel room. Make sure he's well-guarded." Zach nodded and wheeled the old vulpine out of the room.

When he was out of the room one of the advisors took a picture left on the table. "It's that pink fox he was talking about!" he exclaimed handing the picture to Fred. Fred looked up from the picture over to Diamond, then back to the picture. He did this multiple times before Diamond finally spoke "What do you want?!" Fred put the picture down and sat in his chair. "This vixen is Cerinian like you Diamond." Diamond's eyes widened and she raced over, looking at the picture. She stood there for a while, studying the picture before she gasped. "It's her!" she exclaimed before racing out of the room.

…

Night time finally hit and Zach finished getting Fox onto the bed. "Alright I'm going to leave for the night, but I'll be back early tomorrow morning," the avian said walking towards the door. Fox merely nodded and turned his attention to a book he held in his hands. "Good night Zach said before exiting the room. Fox read for a while before he put the book down and sat in his bed for a few minutes.

He turned off his light and prepared to go to bed. As he lay in bed trying to fall asleep Fox couldn't shake this paranoid feeling he had in his gut. It was making it impossible to sleep and he tossed and turned for an hour, or so. Finally he began to feel himself drift off to sleep when suddenly a sharp breeze snapped him awake. He sat up and realized the room was more illuminated then before.

He sat for a minute looking around when he saw it. His window was open, the curtains flapping in the breeze. His eyes narrowed and he looked around the room. He felt a strange presence and he called out, "Who's there?" No reply came, but he did not try to fall asleep. He sat in silence, deep in thought. The presence he felt did not leave and he finally broke the silence. "So, you finally came for me." A dark figure stepped from the corner into the light everything but his face illuminated. "Nice to see you too," a dark voice sprang out. Fox stared at the figure intently. "I knew you couldn't resist the temptation to take me out yourself. A thorn in your side am I?" Fox said.

The figure grunted and replied, "So, you do know why I'm here." Fox nodded sadly. "I can't say I blame you. These fools are leading themselves into a war they cannot win. You know it's bad when what you're doing makes the most logical sense. Hiding from the war, and fighting it off before it can begin. I refuse to take your side however. You're not the same, not the one I knew anyways. You've lost your sanity Void; you're slipping, taking more risks. You keep failing to take out the person who can destroy all of your plans." Void stepped completely into the moonlight. His face was cold and expressionless, he wore a black shirt with a silver band running diagonally from the left shoulder to the right hip, the right sleeve extended down to his wrist while the left cut off just below his shoulder.

A dark cape hung from his back, moving slowly in the wind. His pants were as well dark and he had a huge knife sheathed on his knee, a katana resting at his hip. "I may not be who I was before, but I assure you I'm more then capable of carrying out my plans." Void drew the knife, twirling it and stepped closer to Fox. "You're leading them on a wild goose chase. Shadow has spies all across the Cornerian military; he'll figure out the plan and counter it." "I know," Fox replied sadly, "I told them this information because this pink fox is Cerinian and can be of big help to us."

Void's eyes narrowed. "She's here then." "Ah so you know the pink fox." Void nodded. "So, she must've been looking for Mark to find you." Void shrugged and moved to the side of the bed kneeling down. "I don't have long McCloud, so you'll excuse me if I have to cut off our chit chat." Fox nodded and said, "Do as you must Void just make me a promise. Promise me you'll take down Shadow." Void stood up twirling the knife and smirking. His look was deranged, one worn by a man who has lost his mental state.

"I promise." With those words Void stopped twirling his knife, and moved in for the kill.

…

Zach walked up to the hotel room, sliding the key card and entering. Upon entering the room Zach gasped. Blood stained the bed and walls, and the window was wide open. Along with this Fox was nowhere to be seen. Zach rushed out of the room and out of the hotel. He ran up to a fellow Cornerian officer. "Fox is gone!" He yelled. The officer nodded and replied, "Look."

The officer pointed to the front of the hotel. Zach's eyes widened at the sight. Above the entrance to the hotel was a gigantic V with a slash going diagonally through it made entirely out of blood. In the middle of the V was the mangled and bloodied corpse of Fox McCloud. "What the fuck?!" Zach yelled. "Who did this?!" The officer shook his head.

"Nobody knows." Zach clenched his fists, his arms trembling with rage. A police officer came out of the alleyway next to the hotel. "You guys might want to come see this." Zach followed the police officer into the alleyway and looked at the wall. The avian growled, blood leaking from his hands from clenching his fists too hard.

On the wall was a message written in Fox's blood.

"Kneel before the Void."