Chapter 29: When Christmas Rolls Around
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
When Christmas Rolls Around
December 24th, 2053
McCloud's House
Several weeks after the war (appropriately dubbed Lylat War Two, considering Andross was the cause again), the entire planet was still buzzing about it…everyone except those who actually fought in it.
Fox, Krystal, and Marcus were settling down into the house again after it had been fixed. Every year on Christmas Eve, the McClouds had a huge party that all of their friends came to. It was the same thing every year: the adults talked and laughed and drank and whatnot, while Marcus, Chase, Anna, and sometimes Tyler (and on rare occasions the Toad triplets if they weren't out with their girlfriends) played a giant set list on Guitar Hero on Marcus' Wii U. This never got boring, though.
At the moment, it was about five minutes to eight, and Fox, Krystal, and Marcus were each doing different things. Krystal was preparing a few refreshments in the kitchen, while Fox was in the living room putting the last few ornaments on the tall spruce tree sitting a few feet from their fireplace. Marcus, meanwhile, was in his room, but neither of them had any idea what he was doing.
"Hey, Krystal?" Fox called.
"Yes, Fox?"
"I can't get the star up on the top. You've got long legs. You think you can get it up there for me?"
Krystal walked into the living room, pulled off the oven mitts she was wearing, threw them on the couch and crossed her arms.
"Even with my 'long legs' I'm still two inches shorter than you. If you can't do it, then I certainly can't."
Fox smirked and crossed her arms.
"YOU'RE saying you can't do something? First time I've heard THAT in a while."
Krystal realized that her husband was just doing this to poke fun at her. Even he had a sense of humour when it came to his family.
Krystal groaned.
"Fine. You got me."
She took the star from Fox, stood on her toes and tried the best she could to reach up and put the star on the top, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach it. She was just too short.
"See, Fox? I told you, I'm just too…Whoa!"
Before Krystal could finish her sentence, Fox had heaved her onto his back. Fox grinned as he lifted Krystal, who was now sitting with her legs dangling over his shoulders.
"I'm pretty sure you can get it now." he said mischievously.
Krystal smirked and rolled her eyes.
"What do you think, you sneaky joker?" she giggled.
With incredible ease now that Fox was supporting her, Krystal popped the star up on top of the tree.
"You know, you're still as strong as you were back when we first met." she pointed out. "Have you and Marcus been working out when I'm not around?"
"Well, I hit the bench press sometimes, but I think Marcus just seems born with it." Fox answered.
Fox bent over. Krystal slid into his arms, one arm behind her back, and the other under her thighs.
"Now was that so hard?" he asked with a big smirk in his face.
"Not only are you still strong, but you still have that habit of sweeping me off my feet per se."
They both smiled and shared a five-second kiss, before Fox stood Krystal back on her feet.
"Hey, speaking of Marcus, what's he doing upstairs, anyway?" Fox asked, looking toward the stairway. "He's been up there for a while now."
"Not sure. Maybe he lost something."
Fox pricked up his ears and listened carefully. He could hear a low booming noise coming from Marcus' room.
He smirked.
"I think I've got a pretty good idea about what he's doing."
Krystal grinned.
"I'll get him. Get the door if Peppy and the others show up."
Upstairs...
Marcus wasn't just in his room. He was in the game, too.
The game being Guitar Hero: Universe Tour, easily one of the greatest games he had ever played. At the moment, Marcus was singing. He usually played lead guitar (hence the name GUITAR Hero), and only sang when he was in a really good mood. He'd been in a good mood ever since Coyote blew that kiss at him. Maybe he was just getting his hopes up, but he was hoping that maybe Coyote would want to see him again, so she'd convince her parents to let her come down and spend some time with him. After all, she was vindicated now, so no one would mind.
But in the game, no one could touch him. The Nintendo VBV (Virtual Boy Visor) made it look and feel like he was actually there in the game. On the TV, he was the singer avatar. And while he was belting it into the microphone, Axel Steel, Johnny Napalm, Casey Lynch and Echo Tesla were slamming down on the guitar, bass, keyboard and drums as they all rocked out to "I Miss You" by Blink-182.
The song ended. The video crowd went nuts and started jumping up and down, cheering, moshing, and calling out Marcus' name. Marcus, Echo, Axel, Casey, and Johnny each put down and stepped away from their instruments and threw up the devil horns. The crowd cheered even louder.
Then, Krystal's voice went through Marcus' ears.
"Having fun?"
Marcus yelped, pulled the VBV off his head, and whipped around. Krystal was leaning against the door frame, smiling.
"Uhh…you didn't hear me just now, did you?" Marcus asked as he turned off the Wii U with the remote in his hand and slipped off the sensor bands on his wrists (Unique elastics that made the avatar on-screen do exactly what you were doing).
"Well…I heard enough." Krystal said, coming into the room.
"You know you could have just tapped me on the shoulder. I mean, it's not like you purposely tried to scare me or anything but…"
"Just call it payback for that little prank you pulled off a few weeks ago."
"Yeah, ha, ha. Laugh it up."
Marcus sat down on his bed. He felt good for serenading someone who wasn't even there, but now he felt extremely embarrassed considering the fact his mother had heard him.
"So how good of a mood are you in right now?" Krystal asked as she came in and sat down.
"…a good enough one, I'll give you that."
"Anna's family's almost here. I was hoping you could help me and your dad put up those last few lights on the stairs."
Marcus sucked in a deep breath. Now the whole serenade thing was bugging him. When in doubt, mum's the word.
"Mom, can I talk to you about something?" he asked.
"Of course! I'm your mother, remember?" Krystal answered. "You can tell me anything."
Marcus gulped and twiddled his thumbs for a moment as he said what he needed to say.
"What if…hypothetically, of course…I had a crush on a girl and that it would probably irk you if you knew who it was?"
Krystal didn't need to scan his mind to know what he was talking about.
"And would this girl's name happen to be Coyote O'Donnell, by any chance?" she asked.
Marcus sighed.
"Umm…yeah….you're not mad, are you? I mean…she's Wolf's daughter, after all."
Krystal laid her hand on Marcus' thigh and smiled at him.
"Marcus, it doesn't matter to me who you think your soul mate is." she assured him. "That's up to you to decide. I don't care who you fall in love with. I only care about whether she makes you happy or not."
"…yeah…she does." Marcus answered. "She's pretty and really fun to be around. I like her...and I think she likes me, too."
"There you go! If she makes you happy, you should date her. Your father and I did the same thing, and things are going really great for us."
Marcus looked at her with a mischievous look on his face. Krystal's smile turned into a look of confusion.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"You mean like that time I came downstairs and saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus?"
Krystal blushed and burst out laughing.
"You were only four years old then. You still remember that?"
"Who wouldn't? Y'know, I never really believed in Santa Claus, anyway." Marcus laughed. "Just the whole concept of it all seemed ridiculous."
"That wasn't the only thing that was ridiculous." Krystal thought.
She shook her head and drove the thought out.
"Alright, you've had your fun. Now it's MY turn!"
That shut Marcus up.
"Wait a minute! I thought this was a mother-son bonding moment!"
"It is, but really. Remember when you were seven and you started looking in such inconvenient places for presents…when it was still two months until Christmas? You just couldn't wait for December 25th, could you?"
"Hey, come on! I was SEVEN!"
"You of all people should know that patience is a virtue!"
They both looked like they were about to explode into a full-out argument, but then they both burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I AM kinda impatient. My bad." Marcus chuckled. "Hey, you remember when you and Dad were setting up the tree back when I was thirteen and the base came loose and the thing nearly fell on you?"
Krystal grinned and blushed slightly.
"It's thanks to your father that I wasn't hurt. But believe me; that's nothing compared to what happened to you last year."
Marcus' eyes bulged out. The one she was referring to was the most embarrassing moment of his entire life.
"Wait, Mom, please don't bring that up. It's humiliating enough just thinking about it!"
"Sorry, but it was just so funny!" Krystal laughed. "You got your foot snagged on a strand of lights, then you tripped over the banister and got hung upside-down by your ankle. Honestly, you were dangling there, screaming and flailing your arms around like a fish before we finally got you down."
"...heh. Yeah, maybe it was a little funny. I mean, you both laughed yourselves nearly to death at that."
For several moments, neither mother nor child could stop laughing their heads off. So many embarrassing memories, yet they welcomed them as if they were long-time friends.
"Well, thanks for reminiscing, Mom." Marcus said, finally able to stifle his laughter.
They stood up and started heading toward the door.
"Time to set up those lights, I guess. Kinda figured I'd have to do it sooner or later."
Krystal stopped. Marcus had his head turned to her, so he didn't see that he was walking right toward the banister. He'd already gotten his ankle snagged in the bundle of lights lying on the floor.
"And hey, my friends are coming over, so we DO wanna look our absolute best, right?"
"Marcus, look out!"
Too late. Marcus slammed into the banister and went flipping over it. The lights uncoiled and snagged on one of the metal bars, while the part around Marcus' ankle tightened. When the calamity had ceased, Marcus was dangling upside-down in front of the door. Krystal ran down the stairs and Fox ran in from the kitchen. When they caught an eyeful of their son playing worm-on-a-hook, they nearly fell over in fits of laughter.
"GODDAMN IT! NOT AGAIN!" Marcus screamed and trashed around.
Right at that moment, the door opened. When Anna, Bill, Lucy, and Peppy saw Marcus, they stopped in their tracks.
"…of all the things I planned on seeing tonight, this wasn't one of them." Bill smirked.
"Mark, are you okay?" asked Anna.
"Oh, I'm fine…just hangin' out." Marcus replied.
Everyone, including Marcus, chuckled. Marcus himself reached up as best as he could and pulled at the knot on his ankle until it came undone. Unfortunately, this resulted in him falling and hitting the floor. Hard.
"Ah, my neck!" he groaned.
He jumped to his feet. His neck felt extremely stiff.
"You okay?" Peppy asked.
Marcus quickly rolled his head. A loud crack came from his neck, and the stiffness ceased.
"Yeah. Just a crick. Come on in, guys."
The four came in and took their shoes and coats off. Peppy, Bill, and Lucy followed Fox and Krystal into the living room, while Marcus led Anna upstairs to his room.
"You're looking nice tonight." Marcus said, looking at Anna's T-shirt that had "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts" stencilled all over it.
"Thanks." Anna replied. "You know, I swear to God that I can't leave the house without someone thanking me or saying 'You go, girl' at me. I mean sure, we're heroes and all, but doesn't it feel a little…awkward?"
"Hey, we'll just have to live with it. Besides, it'll blow over eventually."
They walked into Marcus' room at sat down on the bed.
"Umm…Mark?" asked Anna.
"Yeah?"
"Do you have any dating tips for me?"
Marcus repeated Anna's sentence in his head. Dating tips? Why would she want to know that? Wasn't she cool enough to know all about that on her own?
"Err…why?"
"You've already landed two smooches on Coyote, and you already know that I'm crushing on Chase. He's coming tonight, and I kind of wanna…you know…get things started between me and him. I was just wondering if you could help me out."
Marcus pooled over her words carefully. She should have been asking a girl like Katt or Lucy, but he had something that she could use either way.
"Well…try not to overdo it around him. If you do, you might end up making him shy and convince him to avoid you."
"Okay…anything else?"
"My suggestion is that if you're gonna start things off between you two, you need to land one on him. Starting a conversation is also a must, because once they're talking to someone who's close to them, people start to really show their true feelings. And don't forget to be nice to him."
"You sure that'll work?"
"…tell you the truth, you really should be asking a girl, but it's worth a shot, I guess."
Anna smiled.
"Ah, no biggie. You tried. Thanks, Mark."
Marcus grinned.
"You've been my friend since before I knew what Star Fox was. If there's one person I'm always gonna be there for, it's you."
Anna smiled and hugged her friend. Talking to him had made her feel much better about the whole situation. She felt like she could date Chase, marry him, and give him a kid all in one night now. Speaking of Chase, just then the door opened and Chase stuck his head inside.
"Feliz Navidad!" he shouted with a big grin on his face.
Marcus and Anna quickly unhugged and stood up to greet their friend.
"Hey, Chase! How goes it?" Marcus asked enthusiastically giving him a high-five.
Anna sucked in a breath, and pulled on a lazy smile and seductively said, "Hi, Chase."
"Hey, Anne." Chase replied. "…uhh…are you feeling okay? You sound a little...sick."
Marcus slapped himself in the face immediately seeing that whatever Anna was trying to do, it wasn't working. When he had said to try and get a conversation going, that's not what he had meant.
He figured that the least he could do was go ahead and break the tension.
"How 'bout we head downstairs? Falco's probably bringing those guys with him."
The three teens got downstairs just as the door opened. Damalgo, Peter, Falco, and Katt came inside.
"Merry Christmas, kids." Falco said when he saw them coming down the stairs.
"Nice place you got here, mate." said Peter. "Hey, mind if I use the thunder box real quick?"
Marcus chuckled.
"Sure, Pete. Up the stairs. It's the second door on the right."
The four stepped in and took their coats off. Just to check in on how much Damalgo liked Corneria, Marcus struck up a conversation with him.
"So how's Corneria treating you, bud?" he asked.
"This place is great! There isn't something around every corner trying to kill you, everyone speaks the same language…and hey! You've even got a holiday where you give each other presents…actually, tell you the truth, I don't really get the whole concept, but it sound pretty nifty."
Now everyone was sitting down in the living room, talking. As soon as Peter came back from the bathroom, Falco whistled to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone, I've got something really important that I wanna…"
Before Falco could finish his sentence, the doorbell rang. Marcus jumped. He wasn't expecting it simply because everyone who was SUPPOSED to be there was there and accounted for.
He took a quick count of heads. Fox, Krystal, Chase, Slippy, Amanda, Tyler, Beltino, Anna, Bill, Lucy, Peppy, Falco, Katt, Peter and Damalgo.
"Who are we missing?" he wondered as he walked over to the door.
Marcus grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. As soon as the door was open all the way, strong arms flung themselves around his shoulders and pulled him into a big hug.
"Hi, Mark! Did you miss me?" Coyote asked excitedly.
Marcus was speechless. Coyote and her family had actually come!
"Coyote…Wolf…Lori…Panther?"
Not that he was thrown off, but he felt both shocked and happy to see them there.
Coyote broke off from the hug with her hands still on his shoulders.
"What? You're surprised to see us?" she asked.
"…why?" Marcus asked.
"Well, we figured it was Christmas, and it's thanks to you that we've been vindicated, so…"
"No, I mean, why did you bring him?" Marcus asked, glancing at Panther.
Krystal came over to the door to see what all the commotion was.
"Marcus, is everything alri…what the?!" she sputtered when she saw Panther.
Panther himself simply chuckled.
"Ah, Krystal. Still as lovely as ever. If only the beauty of a luscious sapphire rose could belong to one who could handle its strength."
Marcus got an awkward look on his face. Coyote took her hands off of his shoulders and nervously scratched the back of her head.
"That's why. When he figured out where we were going, he tagged along."
Krystal was unimpressed by Panther's poetic statement.
"Listen, Panther. Whether you like it or not, I'm happily married and that's not going to change anytime soon."
"You never know." Panther replied with a predator grin on his face. "You many suddenly develop the almighty urge to turn to a true man."
"NOT GONNA HAPPEN!"
"Ugh. Why is he on the team, anyway?" Coyote asked her father.
Wolf shrugged.
"Honestly, we take whatever we can get. At least he's good with a gun."
Lori smiled at Marcus.
"Come on, Marcus. I want to see my big brother. Are you gonna let us in?"
"Uhh…sure!" Marcus said with a grin forming. "The more, the merrier, right?"
The four came in and took off their jackets. Marcus stopped to look at them for a moment.
Wolf's ocular lens had been repaired from when he had smashed it. Lori looked a bit like Bill now that he thought about it. Maybe they were twins. Panther wasn't as imposing in a muscle shirt as he was in the cockpit of the Black Rose, and Coyote…
"Whoa!" That was all Marcus could think
Coyote had brushed back the fringe in her hairdo, so now Marcus could see both of her big blue orbs. She had taken off the smoky eye shadow that he normally saw her wearing, though the eye liner was still there. She had a streak of navy blue going through her ponytail, and she wore a black tank top that had skulls along the hem and what appeared to be fake blood stains stencilled all over it. Her leather pants went down to just above her ankles, and there was a metal chain loop hanging from her belt.
She was a walking, lupine, metal goddess.
"Hey, where's Leon and Oikonny?" asked Katt when the four new house guests walked into the living room.
"They couldn't come." Coyote answered.
"Couldn't, or wouldn't?" asked Amanda.
Wolf took a moment to think about it, but he could come up with a logical answer in about two seconds.
"Wouldn't. You know what they're like."
"Pff! Typical Leon for ya right there." Falco scoffed. "Not like he'd show up even if you paid him. That selfish, cold-blooded creep."
No one was quick enough to warn Falco that Leon had suddenly dropped from the ceiling and landed directly behind him.
"YAH!" the chameleon shouted into Falco's ear.
Falco yelled out of shock and fell flat on his butt.
"Leon?!" he shouted.
The cold-blooded creep cackled.
"What's up, Falco? You're shaking."
Wolf smirked.
"So you're not such a secluded outcast after all. That's a first."
Falco grumbled to himself before getting back to his feet.
"Okay, Falco. You were saying?" asked Fox.
"Huh? Oh, right." Falco said, shaking off his scare. "Everyone listening?"
All eyes were on him.
"Okay, good. There's something I want to say to Katt."
Katt stepped in front of him with an eager look on her face, even though she had no idea what he was going to say.
Falco sucked in a few breaths, then stated the absolute opposite of what Katt thought he was going to say.
"For almost thirty-five years of my life, you've been a thorn in my side and have picked on me whenever you got the chance. You even did the same thing with my friends regardless of what I would think, and not only that, but you can't go one day without nearly getting yourself murdered."
Katt stepped back. She looked more hurt than she had ever been in her life. Little did she know that Falco was just building up the tension.
"Because of that, there's something I've wanted to say to you for years, and now I'm gonna say it so everyone here can know exactly what I really think of you."
"This could get ugly…" Marcus thought.
"Katt Monroe…"
Faster than the eye could see, Falco was down on his knee and had whipped out a velvet box from his pocket and opened it.
"Dear God! Did he just…" Chase whispered.
"Will you marry me?" Falco asked.
Literally everyone was speechless. The Falco they knew wanted absolutely nothing to do with girls, leading them to assume he didn't want a wife or kids. But it looked like things had changed…BIGTIME!
Katt was silent as she slowly picked up the ring and fit it over her finger. Falco stood. Katt said nothing for a few more moments, then flung her arms around Falco and pulled him into a hug.
"Yes, I will!" she joyfully sobbed.
Next thing anyone knew, Katt pulled back and kissed Falco's beak. Everyone cheered loudly. Coyote even jokingly added "Get a room, you two."
With that moment of suspense past, everyone began talking. Anna walked over to Lori, who was sitting next to Bill.
"So…you're my aunt?" she asked.
Lori looked at Anna and smiled.
"It's about time I met you. Your father's been telling me all about you." she said. "Looks like my brother knows how to raise a kid after all."
"Ah, shut up." Bill said, lightly punching Lori's arm.
Anna sat down next to Lori, smiled, and within moments, they began talking as though they'd known each other since the day Anna was born. Marcus meanwhile saw Wolf sitting next to Peppy. He felt the sudden urge to speak with the father of the girl he had fallen in love with. Just to see if he was okay with it.
Marcus gulped and walked over to Wolf.
"Mr. O'Donnell?" he said.
Wolf looked at Marcus.
"Ah, Marcus. Please, call me Wolf."
"Alright…Wolf. Uhh…I'm not sure how to put this…heck, I don't even know if you know about it, but I…"
"You're in love with my daughter."
Marcus sighed.
"Yeah…you're not angry, are you?"
Wolf stood up and put his hand on Marcus' shoulder.
"A few weeks ago, Coyote taught me a very valuable lesson: parents can't control their children forever. I figured that out at the expense of her running away from home. When she did that, I knew that the only person she could run to was you, because even when I questioned her about it, she wasn't afraid to admit that she adored you."
Marcus' face brightened. Wolf gave him a small-half-smile.
"The only reason that I objected to it was because you were Fox's son, so I thought you were the same as him. But after I watched you battle Andross with such might and ruthlessness, I knew you had something that neither I nor Coyote could ever gain. I still don't know what it is, but I DO know that you're destined for great things. Anyone with eyes could see that."
"You two behaving over here?" Fox asked, crossing his arms.
"Yes, Dad." Marcus said rolling his eyes.
"Not picking on him, are you?" Coyote asked Wolf.
"No, Coyote."
Wolf stepped in front of Fox. He had to be at least four inches taller than Fox, not counting his pricked ears.
"You've got a good kid, Fox." Wolf said.
"Thanks. You, too."
"You know, my daughter taught me something else as well."
Coyote nudged Marcus with her elbow.
"This oughta be good." she whispered.
"No kidding." Marcus whispered back.
"She taught me that just because you're better than me doesn't mean I have to hate you for it." Wolf continued. "Your superiority has always been the thing that bugged me the most about you. But now that I have a family of my own, I finally think that it can change."
Fox held up his hand.
"Say no more. I know exactly where this is going."
Everyone, particularly Lori and Krystal, was paying attention now. They all wanted to see exactly what the two had to say to each other.
"You want to end our rivalry." Fox finished.
"Exactly." Wolf replied.
Coyote was silent, but on the inside, she was whooping and pumping her fists.
"Yeah, baby! About freakin' time!" she thought.
Wolf held out his hand to Fox.
"Of course, that's what I want. It's up to you to make the final decision, pup."
Fox thought it over for a few moments before he grew a large grin.
"On one condition."
"What's that?"
Fox grinned even more and took Wolf's hand.
"Stop calling me pup."
Wolf smiled and shook Fox's hand.
Everyone started talking again, and right away Wolf and Lori looked at each other, then at Coyote, then at each other again, then nodded.
They had to tell her now.
"Coyote? Can we talk to you for a moment?" Lori beckoned as she and Wolf sat down again.
Coyote walked over to her mother.
"What's up?"
"Sweetie, there's something…difficult we have to tell you."
"Uhh…okay. What is it?"
"We would have told you sooner, but we wanted to surprise you."
Coyote groaned. She didn't like being put in suspense, especially by her parents.
"C'mon, guys, what is it? You're not filing for a divorce or something, are you?"
Wolf laughed.
"No, nothing like that. At this rate, that'll probably never happen."
"Then what?!"
Lori took a breath before answering.
"I'm three months pregnant."
Coyote's jaw dropped, then shut, then dropped again. She was WHAT?!
"By who?" she asked.
"By your father, of course." Lori laughed. "Congratulations, dear. In a little while, you're going to be an official big sister."
Coyote was silent, then teetered backward and keeled over.
"Incoming!" Marcus called stepping forward with his arms outstretched.
Coyote fell nearly unconscious into his arms.
"I…I'm a…I'm a…" she gasped.
"No need to explain it. I heard the whole thing."
"Hey, now that I think about it," Fox said, looking at the two teens. "you two would make a great couple!"
"What the…Dad!" Marcus whined.
"Hey, you're right!" Lori giggled. "You two look so adorable together!"
"Mom!" Coyote groaned as Marcus stood her back on her feet.
"Whoa, hold the phone!" Chase laughed from behind them. "Are you two gonna start dating or something?!"
Marcus fumed bright red.
"Chase…" he seethed.
"C'mon, guys! Let's see a little romance over here!" Anna joked. "One kiss for us all to see!"
Coyote started steaming.
"Anna…" she growled.
Chase and Anna both laughed. Just when neither of them expected it, Coyote and Marcus spun around.
"SHUT UP!" they hollered.
Chase and Anna were silent.
Ten minutes later
Marcus and Chase were talking to each other while everyone else sat in the living room. Anna had asked Marcus to swear he wasn't going to tell Chase about their talk earlier, but it had somehow slipped. Chase fortunately thought that he was just pulling his leg.
"Oh, get real, Mark! Why would Anna have a crush on me?" he said with his arms crossed. "I mean, sure, we're friends, but you know…I'm a bit of an ass towards her. If that doesn't turn her off, I don't know what will."
"So NOW he admits it…" Marcus thought sourly.
He sighed out of impatience. He had tried for at least three minutes to explain to Chase what was going on with Anna, but he didn't seem to believe him.
"She was talking to me about it earlier. No doubt about it, hombre. She wants you BAD!" Marcus replied.
"Wait a second, she asked YOU for dating advice?"
"What's wrong with that? Gimme one good reason why she shouldn't have asked me."
"I can give you two good reasons. One, you're a guy, and two, you're not dating…yet."
"Ah, come on! At least give her a chance, dude!"
Chase rolled his eyes. Listening to Marcus telling him that Anna Grey wanted him was like saying that his mother was the devil. You just don't do it.
"Yeah, whatever. Hey, I'm gonna go get a drink." he said, stepping toward the kitchen. "You want anything?"
"Nah, I'm…uh, Chase?"
Chase had stepped into the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. Anna was standing there, too.
"What?" Chase asked.
Marcus pointed over Chase's head. He looked up.
A bough of mistletoe was hanging from the doorway, and both he and Anna were standing right underneath it.
"Oh, damn the torpedoes." Chase panicked.
He looked at Anna, who now had an oddly salacious grin on her face, along with tired and lazy looking eyes. A bedroom face.
"Uhh…am I supposed to…" Chase started.
Anna giggled.
"If you like." she said.
Chase gulped and propped up his fedora. Even though he was taller than his father, he still had a whole head to go before he caught up with Anna. Everyone's eyes were on them. Chase nervously leaned forward, as did Anna. The next thing he knew, Anna's lips were pressed against his mouth. She kept them there for a considerable amount of time. Both of them were blushing bright red. Coyote stood next to Marcus to try and talk to him, but when they caught sight of what Chase and Anna were doing, they took one look at each other and nearly fell over laughing their heads off. Anna felt completely exhilarated, while Chase nearly swooned. Anna had just snogged him right on the lips!
Anna slowly pulled back and giggled again.
"Now wasn't that nice, Chase?"
Chase was literally seeing stars as he started to sway.
"I'm sorry, conductor. I seem to have lost my ticket." he said in a dazed tone before passing out.
Slippy smirked.
"Our son's first kiss and he can't even stay awake for it."
Marcus groaned.
"I'll handle this."
He slipped his hands under Chase's arms and pulled him up the stairs to his room.
"Always gotta do things the hard way, don't we?" he grumbled.
Marcus set Chase down on the floor in his room.
"Hello?! Anyone in there?!" Marcus shouted right in Chase's ear.
No answer. Just a simple stir. He grabbed his alarm clock.
"Oh, I hate to do this."
He held the alarm clock near Chase's head and slammed the alarm button.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP, the clock blared.
"AAUGH!" Chase screamed as his head shot up.
"Nice display back there, Romeo." Marcus said sarcastically. "You okay?"
Chase, still incredibly dazed from his first smooch from a girl, turned to Marcus.
"Yeah, I'm just fine." he mumbled. "Except my head is spinning and I'm losing contact with reality. You, on the other hand, are so used to that kind of thing that you no longer complain about it."
"That comment was uncalled for in so many ways."
Chase sat up and buried his face in his hands.
"Great! My first kiss and I pass out! Who in their right mind passes out on their first kiss?!"
"Apparently you do."
"Can it, puppy-boy!"
Chase got up and sat on Marcus' bed.
"All that stuff you said Anna said…I guess it wasn't bull after all. She really DOES have the hots for me."
Marcus crossed his arms and smirked.
"And how do you react to this?"
"I'm not gonna say it." Chase replied.
"Either you say it or I scan your mind and say it for you."
Chase gulped, then mumbled something that Marcus couldn't understand. A really bad habit of his.
"Can't hear ya." Marcus said, pricking his ear up and leaning toward Chase.
Just like that, Chase blurted out his response.
"Fine! I like her! Alright?! Are you happy now?!"
"Hey, calm down, man. It's no big deal." Marcus assured.
"Uh, correction, wisenheimer: it's a VERY big deal! Maybe I've been TRYING to work up the nerve to tell it to her like it is, but it just so happened that because of what happened tonight, I might never be able to talk straight to her again!"
"Ain't that an accurate prediction..." Marcus muttered before shaking himself back into submission. "Dude, chillax. You'll get used to it…eventually…or maybe you won't."
"You remember when we were eight and we thought love was gross and girls had cooties and other random crap like that?"
"Oh, yeah. We more or less had no respect for women back then, but things change, I suppose."
"You know…it was kinda nice just to have a talk with you, Mark. It gets kinda awkward when Anne's listening in most of the time."
"Yeah…don't get me wrong, having her around is fun, but you and I like to do stuff just by ourselves sometimes, right?"
Chase grinned and flipped his fedora back on.
"Like maybe…" he started.
He cocked his head at the GH guitar controller leaning up against the wall.
Marcus grinned.
"Exactly like that."
He turned on the TV and the Wii U, but before he did anything else, he decided to look around the ceiling. If he was right, then the thing he was looking for would be…
"There it is!" he said when he spotted what he was looking for.
Right as he started scaling the bookshelf, Anna and Coyote came in.
"Hey, boys!" said Coyote. "What's going o…hey, you've got Universe Tour, too, Mark?!"
"Yep. Had it for ages." Marcus replied as he double-checked the black spot on the wall.
"Sweet! Anne told me that you guys like to play it all the time. So…is there room for one more bandmate?"
Marcus was taken aback. Coyote, the coolest girl he knew, was into VIDEO GAMES?!
"Sure!" he answered excitedly.
"Just don't ragequit on us if you fail, alright?" Chase joked.
Coyote glared at Chase.
"You. Zip it. I can FC 'Knights of Cydonia' on Expert."
Anna picked up the microphone and handed Chase and Coyote each a VBV before grabbing one herself.
"Mark, you coming?" she asked.
"One second." Marcus said, looking hard at the black spot on the wall. "They should be turning it on any second now."
Back downstairs, as soon as Krystal heard Coyote and Anna shut Marcus' door, she rushed over to the TV and turned it on.
"Krystal, you know it's sort of a privacy invasion to spy on our kids when they're playing Guitar Hero." Bill said. "Suppose they ever found out about it."
"Uh…what's Guitar Hero?" Damalgo asked.
"Bill, even YOU admitted that you liked this idea." Krystal said in response. "ESPECIALLY that one year they played 'Sweet Transvestite'."
"Snooping in on your own children. You McClouds are more immature than I thought." Wolf said with a smirk on his face.
"Immature or not, it was pretty hilarious!" Fox chuckled.
"If Coyote's going to be singing, let me tell you that she has an absolutely lovely voice." Lori said. "When she starts belting it, good God does it ever sound angelic."
"Okay, now just gotta change the channel…" Krystal said.
As soon as she did, however, Marcus' grinning mug immediately appeared on the screen.
"Well, hello there." Marcus said.
Krystal yelped and fell backward.
"Yeah, that's right, Mom. I know about the camera. You can thank Peppy for that."
Krystal looked at Peppy, who smirked and shrugged.
"Sorry. Just sort of slipped."
"Now normally I'd be pretty mad because teenagers hate to have their privacy invaded. But tonight's a special night, so we're okay with it." Marcus said. "Right, guys?"
Chase, Coyote, and Anna all grinned and nodded.
"Okay, then." Marcus said, looking back at the camera. "Sit back and enjoy the ride."
Marcus grabbed the bass guitar, Coyote the drums, Chase the lead guitar, and Anna the microphone after they had all slipped on the sensor bands. A warning sign on the TV alerted them to put on their VBVs. They flipped them down over their eyes, and in moments, from both their perspective and the adults', they were in the game.
20 minutes later
After rotating spots clockwise and each getting a chance to sing, the kids had finished up a five-song setlist and were full of adrenaline once it was over. Marcus was literally blown away by how well Coyote could sing. It was almost as entrancing as her ghostly howl. And when they all sang together, it only made the feeling even stronger. They were inseperable.
Downstairs, the guests all cheered. The kids felt like real rock stars now, except that they had been using plastic controllers instead of real instruments, but the way the video crowd was going nuts, they couldn't have cared less. ("So it's a video game! Alright, I gotcha.")
"That's enough of that." Slippy said as he turned off the TV downstairs. The guests all groaned, but within moments they acted as though nothing had happened. Up in Marcus' room, the kids let out loud whoops as they took off the VBVs and the sensor bands.
"Okay, THAT was awesome!" Chase said as he put down the drumsticks. "You know what they say: games are most fun when enjoyed with friends." Anna said.
Coyote looked at Marcus.
"Does she always do that?" she asked.
"Yeah." Marcus answered. "You get used to it after…well, actually you need to know her for at least a year to get used to it."
Marcus looked at the other three teens and grinned.
"Look at us, all getting along and having fun like we're a bunch of childish best friends." he said.
Chase crossed his arms and smirked.
"That's slightly ironic considering we ARE all best friends here,"
Coyote smirked at him.
"Oh, so you're finally accepting me into your little group here? Or are you even the leader?" she asked.
"It took me some time to figure it out, but now I know you're nothing like your dad."
"FYI, Mark's dad and my dad aren't enemies anymore. Didn't you hear them when we were down there before?"
"Let me tell ya; that rivalry was actually pretty badass. But then they end it with a freakin' handshake? Come on, I mean, what kind of peace treaty is that?"
Chase and Coyote started bickering like two little kids. Marcus and Anna initially thought of butting in and breaking them up, but in a matter of seconds it became too entertaining...at least, it was until Marcus looked out the window. A bright flash had come from the first floor balcony. But apparently no one else had seen it. Chase and Coyote were still throwing curse words at each other, and Anna kept watching with her arms crossed and with a smirk on her face.
Marcus stood up and opened the door.
"Something wrong, Mark?" asked Anna.
Marcus didn't answer. He ran downstairs to the sliding glass door in the kitchen and looked out at the balcony. The sight he saw made him turn around and run into the living room.
"Mom! Dad!" he shouted.
He slid to a stop in front of Fox and Krystal.
"What's wrong, sport?" Fox asked.
Marcus sucked in a quick breath, then asked,
"Do you believe in ghosts?"
Neither Fox nor Krystal had the slightest clue about what he meant.
"What are you talking about?" Krystal asked.
"Follow me."
Fox and Krystal got up and followed their soon to the glass door. Marcus pointed outside. They looked. Two foxes, one male and one female, were standing out on the balcony, holding each other's hand and smiling up at the night sky. Their fur was brown. The male wore close to what Marcus usually wore during missions, while the female wore a long-sleeved sweater and skirt that went down to her knees. Both sets of clothing were snow-white.
"Who is that?" Krystal asked aloud.
Fox gave a small smile and felt a joyful tear fall from his eye. He knew…and he could just barely believe.
"It's my parents." he answered.
Fox quietly slid the door open and stepped toward the glowing forms of his deceased parents.
"We've been waiting for you, Fox." James said in a soft voice.
Fox stopped ten inches from them. They turned to him with bright smiles on their faces. James took of his sunglasses to reveal his eyes glowing like pure gold.
"Mom?" Fox said looking at Vixy, who then smiled. "Dad?"
"You seem surprised to see us, son." Vixy said in the sweet voice that Fox thought he'd never get to hear again.
"But…how?" Fox asked in a meek voice. "I thought that…you're supposed to be dead."
"Unfortunately, we are dead." James replied. "But we've come here to have a real talk like a true family should."
Fox was speechless. It seemed like that was the one thing they wanted to do in their afterlives, not something like avenging their own deaths. Even they must have known that Andross would murder them at some point. They just hadn't been expecting it to happen so soon.
"Fox," Vixy spoke up. "You've come so far since we left you. You defeated the enemy that neither of us could. You've believed yourself and your friends. You've fallen in love and gotten married. And with your wife, you gave birth to one of the most noble young boys that ever was."
"And what a beautiful wife she is." James said, smiling at Krystal, who was now cautiously coming forward.
Krystal stood next to Fox.
"You've done such incredible good for our son, Krystal." Vixy said with a warm grin. "We can't thank you enough for that."
Krystal looked at Fox and whispered, "She knows my name!"
"We've watched you both for the entire eighteen years that you've been married." James said. "You two seem to be so happy just to be near each other."
"We've made it through some tough times together." Fox replied.
James looked at Krystal with a sincere, yet kind stare.
"Krystal, we know that you've been put through the same tragedies that Fox has. And we know it hasn't been easy for either of you to live through them, but in the end, you still managed to pull through in ways that neither of us ever could."
James smirked and scratched the back of his head.
"To be honest, I'm actually a little envious of you."
"You? Envious of me? Yeah, right!" Fox said.
"I'm serious. You, your family, and you friends have risked life and limb to protect the wonderful world in which you live, and let me tell you: that's something worth being acknowledged for. Krystal, I wish I could have said this when I was still alive, but welcome to the family."
Krystal smiled.
"Thank you…Dad."
Fox smiled. Krystal held his hand.
As he watched, Marcus could hardly believe what was playing out on the balcony. His dead grandparents had come all this way just to talk to their son. He knew they say that seeing is believing. (Either that or vice versa) Even though he could see it as clear as day, he just couldn't bring himself to believe it. Fox took a glance at Marcus, grinned, and then looked back at his parents.
"…you wanna meet your grandson?"
He looked back at Marcus and cocked his head. Still staring at his ghostly grandparents, Marcus came forward.
"Hello, Marcus." said Vixy. "It's so nice to finally meet you."
"Uhh…hi…is this for real?" Marcus asked, still unsure of whether he was going insane or not.
"As real as it gets." Krystal replied.
"You've come a long way for someone only sixteen years old." James started. "But even when you're tasked with defending this galaxy from unthinkable horrors, you're one of those young ones that still have the courage to stand victorious against them."
Marcus slowly smiled. Now he knew this was as real and plain as the fur on his face.
"Yeah…but I never do it alone." he replied. "I have help from my family…and my friends."
"It's not discouraging to work alone, but united with those you love and care for, you form an army that can topple any wall, storm any fortress, and win any war." Vixy stated. "And all you need to do is guide them along the way and trust your instincts."
Marcus clenched his fist with a look of triumph.
"That's what being a leader's all about, isn't it?" he said.
The four adults laughed.
"I guess he really is our grandson." Vixy chuckled.
"Alright, you three." James said once everyone had gotten a grip. "It's time for us to go."
"Huh? Already?" Marcus asked. "But you just got here!"
"Spirits can only wander the galaxy until they've tied up all their loose ends. This conversation was the only one that either of us had." Vixy replied.
James laid a hand on Marcus' shoulder.
"Marcus, remember one thing for me: you're not a hero to make a name for yourself. You're a hero to defend what's right in the world. The fate of this galaxy rests in your hands. Don't let anyone down."
Marcus smiled and saluted his grandfather.
"You have my word as a Star Fox pilot!"
Vixy took Krystal's hand
"Krystal. Within dwells pure love for Fox and your son. Though you've only met us just now, I hope you accept our blessing for the future."
Krystal smiled into the bright, golden eyes.
"I do." she said.
Finally, James came to Fox.
"Fox, though you're no longer a pilot, we couldn't be more proud of you if we tried. Forever and always…we love you, son."
Another joyful tear fell from Fox's eye, then he hugged his parents. Krystal and Marcus were quick to join in.
"I love you guys, too." Fox said happily.
Vixy and James stepped back and smiled.
"So long, kids." James said with a grin on his face.
"Farewell." Vixy said, taking James' hand.
They turned and stepped onto the railing. They stepped off of it, but instead of plummeting to the ground like any normal creature would, they floated in mid-air. The spirits turned and smiled back at their family, who smiled and pulled close together.
"You finally got your final wish, Dad." Marcus said.
"What's that, sport?" Fox asked.
"You finally got to say good-bye to Grandpa and Grandma."
Fox grinned at his son.
"Trust me, buddy; I've still got loads left to live for."
"And what would that be, Fox?" Krystal asked.
Fox hugged his wife and son
"You two."
Marcus smiled and hugged his father. Krystal smiled and kissed her husband on the cheek. They returned their attention to the spirits, who gave one final wave. Fox, Krystal, and Marcus returned the wave.
"Mom…Dad…good-bye." Fox whispered.
The spirits turned and flew off toward the massive ocean. With wide eyes, the living foxes watched in amazement as the two glowing spirits skimmed the surface of the water and shot up through a hole in the clouds. The living family shared another sweet embrace, knowing that two beings high in Heaven were forever watching them.
That was the last time James and Vixy Reinard McCloud were ever seen, living or dead.
