Rogue Fox Spare Your Soul
XXXVI
Wesetna
SyxxFox

The smell of fresh air, the sight of blue sky, thin white clouds was a welcome change to the apocalyptic blood red skies of Corneria. Syxx pointed his nose into the air, taking in a fur breath of the cool fresh atmosphere of Katina. He let out a long sigh, as he tightened his arms around themselves, crossed over his chest. He grit his fangs together, and rubbed one of his upper arms with paw, trying to sooth himself from the dizziness and nausea from the radiation from the surface of Corneria. Though the effects of photonic radiation were temporary, they were difficult to handle without treatment. He looked into the sky through his sunglasses as he leaned up against the cool brick wall of the building. He tapped his boot-tip on the sidewalk, as he balanced most of his weight on one leg. The black vulpine cleared his throat. "Hurry up."

Beneath him, lying on the concrete with his head and shoulders shoved into the bottom of a machine was Pyro, with his ringed tail waving up and down on the sidewalk beside of him. His voice was a little muffled and echoed from where he was. "Hey, I don't remember the last time that I did this. Just give me a little bit."

Syxx tightened up his arms around his shoulders. He looked up and down the streets, seeing a few people walk them, going in and out of stores and businesses in the area. The fox lowered his head, and closed his eyes. "You were a thief."

Pyro took a pause as he worked in the machine. His fangs held a few coloured wires, while his paws gripped other ones. He opened his lips about to say something speaking from the corner of his mouth, but before he could, all his fur stood on end. His tail shot straight out behind him and his body froze up for a moment. Instead of being able to speak, a muffled Mmph escaped his maw, as a jolt of electricity ran through his body. He went limp, as his breathing quickened for a moment before he was able to calm it again. He whimpered a little as he kept working. "Owwww. That hurt so much…" He took a deep breath, as he uncrossed the wires that he had been working on. "Now, to do the exact same thing again!"

Syxx kicked the ATM, making it rumble around the raccoon. "Well?"

He spoke while a few coloured wires hung out from his fangs, making small sparks right in front of his nose. "Everyone likes to assume that of raccoons I guess. Maybe it's the mask I'm wearing. Ya' know? The one I can't take off?"

Syxx rested back on the wall, scanning the streets with his eyes, as he rubbed his own shoulder with an open paw. "I didn't hear a 'no'." He growled a little and let out a sigh of frustration, chewing on the inside of his lip a little bit. "We're running out of time."

Pyro yanked the wires with his fangs, pulling his head to the side, as a small spark of electricity right in front of his eyes. The scent of burning electronics and fur filled the air around them. "Hit one-two-nine-two."

Syxx pushed off the brick wall with his shoulder pushing him forward. He turned around to stand over Pryo. He tapped in the numbers quickly, and the machine started making sounds as the screen went black for a moment. He tapped at the keyboard edge impatiently with his paw as the screen lit up again and started flashing. Syxx rubs his paw tips together. "What now?"

"What its say?"

Syxx watched the screen flicker one more time before text started scrolling across it. "Diagnostic Mode." He said simply.

Pyro's face lit up. "Okay! Yeah-yeah-yeah! Just starting hitting 'ok' a whole bunch of times."

Syxx did as he was told, and started hitting the green button on the console. Mechanical components in the ATM starting churning, before blue paper and plastic bills started pouring out of the machine and Syxx started grabbing them as fast as they came out, stuffing his pockets full of the bills. Pyro got up beside him, and started doing the same thing as he kicked the service door shut with his boot. Pyro looked over his shoulder behind them, looking all around as he stuffed his pockets full of the cash.

Syxx looked over his shoulder too. "Yeah not suspicious at all…"

Pyro chewed on his lip. "Okay-Okay-Okay. That's good, let's get out of here."

They both spun and they started walking down the street together, not looking over their shoulders, and a little faster than they usually would. Pyro motioned his head to the right as they came to the next intersection. They rounded the corner, just in time to see a police car drive past them. The raccoon hissed. "Don't look."

Though Syxx never made direct eye contact with the car, he could feel the officers inside the car looking at them as they were walking. Syxx was grinding his fangs together in his mouth as they passed by giving him a sense of relief. That sense was short lived, when the sound of a pulsing siren came from behind them. Pyro spoke through his fangs. "Don't take off your sunglasses. Don't say a f-ck-ng word."

They both turned around as the police car pulled up to curb beside them. Blue and red flashing lights spun mounted to a light-bar atop the black and white vehicle. A suburban style vehicle, a large SUV with off-road wheels, a kill-grill mounted on the front and tinted windows all around stopped at the curb beside the undercover Slayers. Pyro put his shoulder in front of Syxx's as the black window rolled down, and a red fox in sunglasses and a black uniform with golden badges on it looked over the two Slayers.

Pyro spoke before the officer had a chance to say anything. "How's it going boys?"

The fox in the passenger seat cleared his throat. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. We got a call about two suspicious men wearing flight coats. Call came from just down the block."

Syxx noticed the driver's side door of the vehicle open, and a rather large German Sheppard step out, and slowly step around to front of the vehicle, stepping up on the sidewalk standing beside and behind the two Slayers. Syxx looked with his eyes only, keeping an eye on him as his glowing blue eyes hide behind his sunglasses. He fought to keep his mouth shut, letting Pyro handle the situation.

The German Sheppard motioned his head toward the hood of the truck. "Go ahead and put your hands on the hood gentlemen you're both under arrest."

Pyro gave them a shocked look. "I'm not putting my hands on the hood guys. Alright?"

The fox went through his note pad. "Well we've got a description here of two military style personnel looting an ATM back there at Seventieth Ave. One with a ring tail, and one black fox. You guys fit that description perfectly. I have to say, my hands are tied. We're just going to bring you downtown and ask a few questions. If you've done nothing, then you have nothing to be worried about."

Pyro narrowed his eyes, and threw out his arms. "Yeah, no sh-t! I know what the description is! I was the one that called you guys! And you got the description a little f-ck-d up too! When I called you guys I said it was a raccoon and a wolf. I didn't say a fox!"

The police officers looked at Pyro both a little stunned, before the raccoon went on. "Look I'm sorry guys. But if you would have gotten here when I called you twenty minutes ago, you would have caught them, but they're gone now. You're too late. Ya' f-cked up. Me and my buddy here just got back from the FOB, and thought we'd do some good. We didn't want to cause any trouble, so I thought we'd call you guys." Pyro slowly reached into his coat. "I'm just pulling out my wallet. Don't f-ck-ng shoot me alright?" Pyro pulled a wallet from the inside pocket on his jacket. He slowly opened it and handed the German Shepard a white card. "I'm Lieutenant Ramirez, this is Foley. We're not looking for any trouble."

The German Sheppard in the black uniform took the card from Pyro. He bent it a little and ran his paws around the edges. He took a deep sigh. "Sh-t. Sir I think they got us again."

The fox in the passenger seat pulled the glasses from off his head, and tossed them across the dashboard. He cussed, and rested his elbow on the edge of the open window. He rested his cheek down on his paw. "Damn-it… we're sorry guys. We've just been under the gun lately. Especially with this war going on, we're trying to track down small time thieves when we got way bigger stuff to do. It's just the third call we've got today, and we thought we'd caught on to the guys who have been doing this."

Pyro nodded as he reached into his coat again, and pulled out a little white box. He pulled the box open, and took out one of the many white darts inside of it. He placed the smoke at the corner of his mouth, and flicked open his lighter. He shook the lighter, and flicked the flint with his thumb. "That's okay guys. I just want you to do your job. Just think about who you're stopping from time to time." He took a long drag from the cigarette as the flame singed the tip before catching it on fire. He let a breath out through his nostrils, and coughed a little. "I'm not gonna' report it this time, but you guys gotta' get your shit together."

The officer in the passenger seat turned his head away a little bit. "Yeah we know. Sorry Lieutenant."

The German Sheppard in black started walking back around to the driver's side of the Heavy Duty SUV. He stopped and looked from across the hood at them. "Hey, you guys need a ride or something?"

Pyro glanced over at Syxx. "Yeah, that'd be great. We we're gonna' call a cab, but if you guys are offering, a ride would be great."

The dog, tipped his head toward the vehicle. "Get in then."

Pryo took a long drag from his smoke, and tossed it on the ground. He tipped his head as well motioning for Syxx to get in. The black fox scoffed and smiled from the corner of his mouth. He shook his head slowly, as Pyro opened the door, and hopped in. He walked around to the other side of the vehicle, and opened the door. He paused to take a look around before hopping into the seat behind the driver, and closed the door behind them. As the door shut, the instincts of the Slayers booted up. His enhanced eyes darted around the cab of the vehicle. They were separated from the drivers with a black metal grating, below the mesh was a half wall of metal. He could see a set of glowing fibre optical sights peaking up just in above the divider in the cab. The windows on the passenger seats also had steel grating over them. It was more than just a police car. It was a light assault ready vehicle. It was lightly armoured, even with a brush guard on the front bumper. All their gear was in the front seat on mounts with them. Some gadgets hung off the windshield, suction cupped to it. Their computer sat between them on a small stand that mounted to the dashboard.

Pyro asked before Syxx could. "Are all police cruisers like this?"

The fox officer looked over his shoulder. "Most of the outlying communities surrounding Wesetna don't have a police force. We need to be ready to move out there at any given moment, with all our gear. This must be your first time here."

Pyro thought up an answer fast. "I spent most time training on Corneria. As did my friend here. We got off Corneria just before it went up in flames."

The officer didn't think about Corneria, as he took a long awkward pause. "Where can you drop you boys off?"

Pyro sat back, and looked out the window. "Nicest hotel in town."

The dog in the front seat put the SUV into gear. "Yes Sir."

They made small talk on the way to the hotel. Neither Pyro or Syxx knew exactly where they were going. In the moments of silence, they picked up on the traffic of the police radio, and Pyro's eyes were fixated on the screen of the computer, sitting on the center console. He was trying to pick up on anything that would give them away. Syxx however was laid back in his seat, trying to keep his eyes open, even though the sunglasses hid the blue fire of his eyes.

In fifteen minutes the vehicle pulled up to a tall building and the SUV came to a stop. Syxx reached for the door handle, and pulled it. His heart skipped a beat, as the door didn't open, but in another moment, the officer opened the door for him, and Syxx stepped out the cruiser.

The hound closed the door as the black fox got out. "Sorry Sir."

The vulpine just nodded once, and started walking toward the doors of the hotel. The red fox closed the door as he sat back down in the passenger seat of the SUV. He pointed a finger at the black Slayer as he walked away. "Is he… okay?"

Pyro looked over his shoulder. "Him? Oh yeah, he's fine. He just got off a long recon mission. Hasn't slept in a couple days."

The officer nodded. "Alright. Well, thanks for being understanding."

Pyro turned his back and waved over his shoulder. "Thanks for the ride!"

Pyro caught up to Syxx who was waiting in the hotel lobby. The black vulpine had his arms crossed over his shoulders as he paced back and forth a little bit. "That was pretty smooth."

Pyro shrugged. "Cops, ya know?" Pyro opened up his wallet. "Alright. We've got enough cash for two days." He laughed to himself. "Three if we don't eat. We're gonna need to get into some new gear tomorrow too. We're going to have to get another gig if not tomorrow, the next day for sure. We're on a tight budget."

Syxx lowered his head, and spoke in a low impatient tone. "I don't care what you do Pyro, just get me a bed for the next twenty –four hours."

Pyro nodded once. "Let's check in."

The raccoon glanced over his shoulder as he saw Syxx following behind him. He stepped up to the reception desk. He placed his arms down on the high-desk, and smiled, looking down at the little vixen behind the counter. He dipped his head a little. "Hello Miss, I'd like to get a room for a couple nights. You have anything available?"

The little red vixen behind the desk looked up at Pyro and smiled back at him. She put her paw on the mouse and another on the keyboard. She stared at her computer screen as the mouse clicked a few times. She nodded slowly a couple of times after that, and turned her head to look up at Pyro. "Yes Sir, we have a standard room, and one executive suite available. Just one person checking in?"

Pyro pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Me and my friend over there."

The vixen perked her ears up, and sat up straight in her chair to peak up over the counter top, her eyes locking on the handsome black-furred man standing a few feet behind the raccoon. She stared a little too long, before getting back to her computer, just as the vulpine turned his head she quickly looked back down to avoid him, but still being caught by his gaze. "Of course, Sir."

Pyro leaned over the counter a little more. "You guys offer any sort of discount for military personnel?"

She nodded. "We offer fifteen percent off to any military workers. All I'll need to see is your Military ID."

Pyro reached into his jacket and opened up his wallet. He reached into it and pulled out the card and slid it across the desk where the little red vixen picked it up. She inspected it, before setting it down on her keyboard. Her paws danced over the keys as she occasionally looked down at the little white card, and back up at Pyro. And before long, she opened up a drawer under the desk and put two cards over top of the Military ID card.

The little fox cleared her throat. "So I have you in room two-o-five. The pool and the gym are open at seven in the morning and close at ten. You may have alcohol in the whirlpool, just no glass please. Breakfast starts at six and goes until ten. And the hotel pub is open until two AM. What card will you be putting this on?"

Pyro scratched the back of his head. "It's going to be cash."

The vixen smiled. "That's fine, we'll just need the damage deposit up front, and you can pay the rest when you check out in a few days."

Pyro reached into his wallet. He pulled out the wad of cash, and started flipping through it. He hesitated before placing it down on the counter, and sliding it to the vixen. The raccoon glanced over his shoulder, "Cliff."

Syxx's ears perked up as he picked up on the name. It was one that he had used before while he was under cover. He took a few steps forward, and reached to his coat pocket. He started flipping through bills, before putting almost everything he had down on the counter.

The little vixen reached her paw out, and slid to money into it. "Cliff. That's a unique name."

The fox just smiled ever so slightly, not bothering to take off his sunglasses or offer any sort of rebuttal. He simply dipped his head in return, before taking any money that he had left, and putting back into his pocket.

Pyro took his cards and ID back. "Thank you."

The vixen smiled as she watched the two men walk toward the elevator. "Enjoy your stay Mister Ramirez."

The raccoon hit the button to the elevator, and crossed his arms as he stepped back, pacing a little in front of the doors. "Remind you of anyone?"

Syxx didn't say anything. He just stared at the base boards, and let out a gentle nod. "We've got a hundred credits left."

The elevator doors opened up, and the pair of Slayers stepped in, and the doors closed. They were only on the second floor, but chose to take the elevator anyways. Their room was close to the elevator too. Pyro slid the card into the slot on the door, and the electronic lock clicked. The lights switched on as the door opened up, to reveal the room. The walls were washed white, and inside were two beds with a kitchenette and black tile floor, black appliances, and island counter top. On the other side of the room, was a big black leather couch that overlooked the TV, which was just a pane of clear glass, until it was turned on. Just off the doorway was the bathroom with a large rainfall shower, and a glass door with a balcony and small patio set just off the small living room, which over looked the pool below.

Pyro stepped in taking a look around. "Haven't been pampered like this in a while!" He went straight for the fridge, opening it up. His paw grabbed a darkened bottle, and placed the edge on the counter and pulled down it, hooking the lid of it on the edge. A sharp hiss filled the air followed by the clinking of a bottle cap bouncing across the tile floor of the kitchen. "Still civilization somewhere."

Syxx stood at the door for a moment longer. "What's left of it."

Pryo grinned, and tipped the bottle of lager back, with his mouth around the head of the bottle. He took a long swig, as air bubbles started to fill the bottle. Syxx watched him, thinking that he would stop as some point, but just kept tipping the bottle back farther and father, as the beer drained into his mouth. His eyes shut, as he enjoyed the drink, the bottle already sweating is his paw, as he finished off the bottle, and set it down on the counter firmly, letting out a long belch and wiping his paw across his muzzle. He turned back to the fridge opening it again, and took out another bottle, once again, opening it on the edge of the counter. "You want an eight dollar bottle of beer?"

Syxx shook his head, as he reached up to remove his sunglasses from his head, tossing them down across the table. He ran his paw back through his white hair, as his fangs were shown a little. "No." The fox sat down on the edge of one of the bed before laying down on top of it, boots and all resting his head back on the pillows.

Pyro smiled from the corner of his mouth, taking another beer from the fridge. He walked over the edge of his bed. He jumped onto the bed, landing flat on his back, he bounced on the bed resting his drink on his stomach, and dropped the other bottle on the night stand between the two beds. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. The flat pane of glass lit up, and Pyro started flipping through channels. "So what's your plan again?"

Syxx rested one leg over the other, with his eyes shut. "Plan?"

Pyro tipped his head back taking another sip from the bottle. "Your plan." He rubbed his arm over his mouth. "They already know we're gone. Peppy isn't gonna' be happy."

"We work on my terms, and my schedule."

The raccoon smirked. "Yeah I guess we'll have to see about that." He took a long pause as he crossed one leg over the other. "So you're really into this, eh?"

Syxx raised an eyebrow even as he kept his eyes shut. "What do you mean?"

"Destroy the system, and swoop in to save it. Really heroic. What changed?"

Syxx breathed softly to himself. "Slayers move forward. No matter what."

Pyro snorted. "This goes beyond being a Slayer. We're the most elite warriors in the universe, but you're a War Lord."

Syxx didn't reply. It was the moments like this where the Krazoa was the loudest in his head. His ears almost ringing from the whispering that ran through his mind. His fangs bore, as his lip curled up just a slight. He put a paw on his head, covering one of his eyes. The ringing and whispering just kept getting louder until Pyro stared talking again.

"I was a bandit."

Syxx took his paw off his head, and opened his eyes, turning his head on the pillow and staring at Pyro, laying across the other bed. He didn't say anything. He just gave him a firm, yet interested look. His bright Silver-Blue eyes, asked to hear more, as he narrowed them a little bit. Pyro stared at the TV, the volume was low, and he took a sip of the drink from time to time. The raccoon could still tell that the black fox was looking at him.

Pyro tipped his head back, drinking back the rest of the beer. He tossed the bottle on the floor, with a little bit of force, and it bounced into the kitchen. Though the cap on the bottle was a break-off, he just twisted with his paw, and pulled it off, and tossed the cap across the floor. It rolled across the glass floor until coming to a stop under the cabinet. He took another long drink, and Syxx came to realize that maybe it was a little more of a sensitive subject than he thought it might be.

Syxx stared at him, before he turned his head back to look at the ceiling. "It shouldn't have taken you a six pack to tell me that."

Pyro shrugged. "Plenty more in the fridge."

"A burglar?"

"Was more than just small crime. We were professional. Stealing and parting cars, jewelry shops. Our big money maker was banks robberies. It so easy, but so hard at the same time. Doing it is easy, getting away with it, is the hard part."

"You worked in a team."

"It's not a business that you can do alone. You need a help, and you need to be able to trust the people you work with. I started off in the chop-shop when I was sixteen. I started taking things apart, and started learning how they worked."

"That explains your mechanical skills."

"When it came apparent that I had… pyrotechnical experience, I landed a job on the team, and got out of the chop shop. I traded a wrench for a rifle. My job was to get into vault doors, and I did that the only way that I knew how, by blowing them up. And you know what? Robbing a bank is a lot easier than you think. I remember watching TV when I was a kid, you know, shows where the bad guy is getting sent to jail. In a place as big as Corneria City the truth is that the bad guys don't get caught that often."

"Then what happened?"

"Jobs kept getting bigger. More technical. Worse of all people started dying. When an armed bank security guard points a Blaster at you, and you were born and raised in 'the hood' you don't hesitate on the trigger. A job went bad, and we had to shoot our way out. We got away, but when someone in your crew ends up dead, it's not hard to track everyone else down. The cops located the Chop Shop, stolen cars, high explosives, weapons cache, unmarked bills. Everything got pinned on me. All the people who I thought were my friends, placed the blame on me. I got pinned with everything you can think of. Everything from grand theft auto to multiple accounts of murder, and ring leader walked away Scot-free." Pyro started grinding his fangs together, when out of nowhere he tossed the beer bottle across the room, and it smashed on the hotel room door. "The recruiters for Slayer found me in my own jail cell a few months later. It was the only way out of a life sentence and I saw it, so I took it. Friends are important Syxx, everyone needs at least one. When I see you there, fighting at my side, taking a bullet for me, and getting me in and out safely, I know I'm right where I wanna' be."

Syxx put his head back and closed his eyes. "Not everyone gets out safe every time, Pyro."

"When was the last time you thought about Kyla, Syxx?"

Syxx took a long pause. He had never stopped and talked about her with anyone, and tried to put her out of his head the best that he could. He couldn't say anything though. He just closed his eyes, and remained silent.

Pyro went on. "Cause I think about her every day. You, me, her and Cobalt. What happened to Kyla wasn't your fault. You never hung her out to dry. We searched for her. You didn't put it off, until the mission was complete. You sent a team out right away to look for her. And when we found the remains of her Hook Echo, and the way you acted… well… you tried… we all did."

"When I was captured, you came for me."

"You would have done the same for me. Maybe not the other Slayers, but you would have for me. You're a warmonger, and a criminal, but you're not a back stabber."

Syxx sighed with an emitting growl. "I am a back stabber."

Pyro snapped back. "You've been a back stabber, when someone twists the blade in your back first. We're Slayers, Syxx!" He calmed himself a little and took a deep breath. "It's an eye for an eye, but when someone takes our eye first, we take two in return."

Syxx had never realized that Pyro had such depth thought. He was more than just a hard shell and a comedian. He'd been betrayed, and friendship was the most important thing in his life. That's why Pyro had stuck at his side through all of this, even after the Slayers disbanded. His friendship with Syxx was more important than anything to do with Slayer. The few drinks that Pyro had downed so fast had really opened him up. He was too busy thinking about everything that Pyro was saying that he didn't even have time to think about Kyla at the moment. It was Falco that had always been his wing-man, and though he and Falco had always been friends, he could never be the friend that Pyro was being right now.

"The fate of the entire Lylat System is up to you, just as it's always been, Fox McCloud."

Syxx shut his eyes again. "We keep moving forward, Pyro."