Epilogue
After the Star Fox team returned to Corneria, they broke news to the General. During the war, The General was lucky to have not been killed. The wounded hound was heartbroken to hear of Kevin's sacrifice, but knew that it wasn't in vain.
The team then had sent out a release to the entire army, telling them that they could leave the squad and return to the CDF, or stay and continue to serve on the Mercenary Squad. The response was surprising for the team; nearly 99% of the Star Fox Army had opted to leave and return to the CDF with reasons such as them knowing it's where they belong and that mercenary work didn't fit them. Fox agreed with this and let the team go back to the CDF, still keeping a good number of the pilots. What was first a 6 person squad turned into an army, was now a 25 man Mercenary Unit.
General Pepper had quickly started the rebuild plans for Lylat and had already had it underway. The first thing done was to recall the entire CDF force from Morilia, the planet used for the Lylatians to evacuate to. As soon as the forces arrived, the mass rebuilding of the system began. Countless Lylatians volunteered to assist rebuild their home from the devastation caused by the Yuthan menace.
Several months passed and Lylat was starting to become its old self once more. The capital city was completely rebuilt and the civilized planets were restored from what little damage was done.
Fox had begun to cope with the fact that Kevin was gone, as well as Rose and Krystal, whom took it much harder than the rest of the team. Getting help from Krystal and her abilities, the trio were able to leave their states of mild depression and see the good out of what Kevin had done.
Not long after Corneria was finished, a new building was constructed in the center of Corneria City. The building was small and had no name on it, though was meant for something. General Pepper had ordered for such a building to be made and invited the Star Fox team to see it's reveal.
On that day, March 23rd, the team arrived at the building. Inside and outside the building were countless Lylatians, crowding the streets and the building to see what it was. On the large screens outside, news stations broadcasted the event of the mysterious reveal.
Pepper greeted the team formally and prepared for the ceremony. Since it was a late notice, he wanted it to be done quickly and with respect.
"As many of you all know, several months ago marked the end of the gruesome war against the powerful Yuthan species and Star Fox." Pepper started, "Thankfully, our heroes were able to pull through and defeat the menace, but at a cost." He paused and looked back down at his paper, "The Star Fox team lost many lives during the war, with two of them being major loses. Kevin Michelson, the lone human of the team, sacrificed himself to end the war. ANother great loss was one of the Lombax leaders, Dylan, whom held off a wave of pursuing Yuthans so that the team could escape from harm." Pepper continued, "The countless other lives lost during this fight will not be forgotten. To make sure of this, I called for what is behind me to be created."
Pepper then turned around and grabbed hold of the tarp covering whatever it was that stood there, "It is my honor to reveal to you all.." he pulled the tarp away and revealed a large statue with the original Star Fox team, Beta Fox, Neal, Ratchet, and Dylan.
"...the Star Fox Memorial." Pepper finished. Everyone began to clap and cheer.
Up in front of them all was a human, smiling proudly and wearing what looked like a suit of armor. Below the human read "Kevin Michelson: Born- 1996 (Earth) Died- 17 ALW".
Fox felt his heart drop and his emotions stir. His face instantly teared up as he saw the statue of his friends and the one that saved them all. He slowly got up and walked over to the General, giving him a hug and thanking him.
"Thank you so much, sir." Fox said.
"It's an honor to do this for you all." Pepper replied.
The rest of the team got up and examined the statue. Krystal was on the verge of tearing up and could hardly hold the sadness and joy built up in her. Fox then wrapped his arm around her and smiled.
"He did do a good thing" He said, "And we're all proud of this accomplishment."
Falco then wiped a tear from his face, which Slippy saw.
"Are you crying?" Slippy said as he was shedding tears of his own.
Falco shook his head and chuckled, "Nah, just tears of joy."
"Thank you Star Fox, for all that you've done." Pepper ended.
Several Months Later…
"Falco" Fox yelled from the top floor of the new Star Fox household, "Do you have any idea where my keys are at?"
Falco yelled from the living room area, "You expect me to know?"
Fox then came walking down the stairs, "Well I could use some help."
A new face among them, Jess, smiled, "You might want to help the boss out." Jess was among the 25 that stayed on the team.
Falco then looked around the room without getting up and shrugged, "Nope, can't find them."
The Beta Fox squad, whom were huddled in the kitchen area, chuckled at Falco
Fox sighed at the laziness of his friend, "Thanks"
As he returned back up the stairs, another new face passed by, a female by the name of Penny. SHe walked down and leaned up against the couch Falco was laying on.
"So, we got plans for today?" She asked.
Jess shrugged, "Not that I know of unless you all want to do something."
Michael shrugged as well, "I'm down with whatever it is you all want to do. It'd be fun with all of us out and about."
Falco snickered, "And have the paparazzi following us? No thanks."
All of the sudden, there was a knock at the front door. Penny, whom was right in front of it, turned and smiled.
"I'll get it." She said as she walked over and opened the door.
Upstairs, Fox was getting ready for a meeting he had with General Pepper regarding the payment for their duties in the war. It had taken some time for it to be made up due to the rebuilding of Lylat costing so much.
Krystal was with him and she was simply watching him pace back and forth, "You know you won't find your keys doing that."
Fox chuckled, "Yeah, I know, I'm just going over the meeting. I get we're getting paid a lot for what we did, but I think we should decrease it. I mean we have all the upgrades we need."
Krystal smile and shrugged, "That's up to you. After all, you are the leader."
Suddenly, Penny opened the door to Fox's room. Her face was rather pale, as if she had seen a ghost.
"Uh, Fox?" Penny asked.
The vulpine turned around, "Yes Penny?"
The female avian simply pointed down the hall, "There's someone at the door for ya. Says he knows you."
Fox raised an eyebrow, "Did you let him in?"
Penny shook her head, "No, I think you should just go out and talk with him."
Fox looked back at Krystal, "Do you know who it is?"
Krystal shook her head, "No.-" she suddenly stopped, "...I… don't know…"
Fox then walked out of the room and headed down stairs. As he walked into the living area, he looked over at the team lounging about, "Do you guys know who it is?"
Falco looked over the couch and shook his head, "Nope, didn't even bother looking back."
Fox continued to walk for the door, "Well Penny seemed pretty spooked about it."
This time Falco and the others watched.
Fox grabbed the door handle and slowly opened the door. Standing right there in front of the vulpine was an all too familiar face. Fox's jaw dropped and he gasped in total disbelief and shock.
"...wha… what?"
"Hey bud" the man said, "Did you miss me?" He said in a calm voice.
The man was none other than Kevin Michelson himself.
End
*sigh* and there we have it- the end of the Crossed Paths Universe. I had to give you guys this cliffhanger, I just had to.
Well now that this is over with, a few words from me to you. Please read this.
I want to take this opportunity to say to you all… Thank you. Thank you so very much for reading and loving the book. It means so much to me that you all stuck with me through all the books in the universe up until the end. When I wrote the first chapter for Crossed Paths, I thought I would be done by chapter three. But, I received an incredible amount of views and received amazing feedback from you guys that I continued on. I had no idea that I was able to give you guys something good to read. It is because of you that all of this was possible.
Thank you all so much for reading. You have no idea how much it means to me.
Next Book (it will be a single write)- Star Fox: Fall of the Jedi.
It's a single write because I still can't figure out a plot for United Legends.
Until Next Time…
-jon3s115