Beth is in the mansion making her way to the garden area to meet up with her brother and their guests for tea. The female teacher bumps shoulders with Wolf who was walking down the hallway.
Wolf turns to Beth and snarls. "You better watch where you're going woman. You should apologize for bumping into me if you know what's good for you." He threatens.
Beth turns to the space animal with her eyebrow raised. She was wondering who the hell this person was talking to. Usually if someone was rude to her, she wouldn't hesitate to sock them right in their face. However, she decided to hold back for now. "I was going to apologize, but seeing how much of an ass you're being I think I'll refrain from doing that." She snarks.
Wolf takes out his blaster and points at Beth. "Not a wise choice woman. I'm usually a very reasonable guy, so I'll give you a warning for next time. You better try to get on my good side or I'll make sure I make your time here a living hell. The name is Wolf O'Donnell by the way, don't forget it."
"Ohhhh. Scary. I'll be sure to be extra careful then around you." Beth says sarcastically. "Listen, you don't scare me. I don't care about being on your "good side" either if you claim to have one. How about this? I stay out of your way and you stay out of mine unless we have to fight. Deal?"
Wolf puts his blaster in his holster. "Hmph. Fine with me. Just stay out of my way." The space animal walks away.
The female professor rolls her eyes and starts making her way to the garden again. She looks to see the basement door opening. Coming out of the door was the Ashen Wolf student, Hapi. The student with a strange curse and known for having nicknames for everyone she meets.
"Hey Titty Teacher, what's up?" Hapi waves.
"Hapi! My favorite rat! How are you and the others feeling adjusting to your new life?"
"We're doing okay. I still find it strange that two sentient hands are able to house all of these people and be guardians of an entire realm. I won't complain since they gave us a home here. The basement down here is actually very spacious for all of us. It's like our own little hideout. I just got done coming up with nicknames for everybody that lives here. There are a lot of people here so I had to do a lot of work. By the way, how's Chatterbox? Is he feeling better?"
Beth nods. "Yeah. Byleth is feeling much better."
"That's good to hear. When you see him, tell him I said to keep his head up and keep being himself. The Ashen Wolves will always be by his side."
"I'll be sure to tell him. Give Yuri my thanks for cheering up my brother. Be careful of yawning by the way. There are a lot of monsters here to attract." Beth warns. She waves goodbye to Hapi and continues to walk to the garden.
In the garden, Byleth is sitting down having tea with Fox and Falco. The two space animals are talking about the times back in Melee where they dominated the tournaments. Byleth was impressed to hear how strong the two space animals were.
"Fox and I were the top guys back in those days. There wasn't anybody back then who couldn't match up against either of us. Especially me, because I was just that damn good." Falco brags.
"So you're just going to gloss over the fact that Marth, Jigglypuff, and Peach were constantly kicking your ass back in those days? Okay." Fox snarks as he takes a drink of his tea.
"Ahh keep your mouth shut Fox. You know if Jigglypuff wasn't around, I'd be winning everything with no issues. Stupid balloon."
"Sure Falco. You said the same thing about Meta Knight in Brawl and the same thing about Bayonetta in the last tournament. To be fair though, you were very lazy last generation. You were losing a lot back then."
"I-I was just holding back! Wanted to give some other people some time to shine, that's all. That also gave me time to go on all of those trips to Mexico, huhey." Falco smirks.
Byleth turns to see his sister coming. "Sister there you are. I was worried that you weren't feeling well."
"I'm alright Byleth. Just had a bit of a run with some furry pirate." Beth says taking a seat next to her brother.
Fox groans knowing who Beth is referring to. "Ran into Wolf?"
"Yeah. Real charming guy." Beth says sarcastically. "Friend of yours?"
"Ha! As if we'd be friends with that jerk wad. He's just some asshat leader of a group of other asshats who likes to get in the way of our missions back in the Lylat System." Falco says.
"So Fox, you're the leader of your own crew correct? How did your team come about?" Byleth asks.
"Well it wasn't always my team. It started off as my father's team. My father James Mccloud was the greatest pilot in the Lylat System. My father was betrayed by his own wingman Pigma and got led into a trap which led then lead to his death at the hands of a man named Andross. So I'm taking up his mantle as the new leader of Star Fox. With Falco, my father's old partner Peppy, and Slippy." Fox explains.
"I'm sorry about what happened Fox. I'm sure it must have been hard." Byleth says.
"It was. I wasn't really ready for the leadership role at the time. But my father told me to never give up. It took a lot of hard work, but things are well now. I can't take the credit though, I wouldn't be here without my teammates. Especially Falco, he saved my life from Andross and helped me defeat him for good."
"Hey, I wasn't going to let that destroy the world and eat you in the process." Falco rest his hand on Fox's shoulder and gives a thumbs up.
"So what made you decide that you wanted to join Fox in his team?" Beth asks Falco.
"Fox and I were already good friends. Before I joined him, I used to be in charge of my own group called The Space Hot Rodders. Had a bunch of crazy and reckless adventures back in those days. I was starting to get annoyed that my teammates constantly kept getting into trouble, forcing me to save them again and again. Eventually I left the group and decided to join Star Fox. I did leave for a little bit to do my own thing, but I came back. I missed the excitement."
"I wouldn't call eight years a little bit, but it was good to have you back Falco." Fox jokes. "But yeah, I consider the Star Fox team my family. They've been with me through thick and thin and the best teammates a guy can ask for. Our team used to be bigger but…" The red fox falls silent and starts drinking his tea.
Falco turns to his teammate. "Hey Fox, no need to talk about it. That's all behind you now."
"If you have something you wish not to discuss, you don't have to. We won't pressure you into talking." Byleth assures.
"Yeah seriously, we respect your privacy." Beth states.
"No it's okay. I can talk about it. Nothing serious anymore." Fox sighs. "We used to have another member named Krystal. Her and I were in a serious relationship for years. I was concerned for her safety so I chose to discharge her to protect her. She decided to leave, break up with me, and join our rival team Star Wolf. Having a relationship with one of their members as well. It was...hard for me to take in that's for sure. When we met her again, she tried to kill us. After the war we had, she disappeared. Didn't hear much from her again until Master Hand invited her here." He explains.
"Wait. She's here? That must be awkward having to see her walk by after all of that."
"It was, but I settled things with her. Told her I wanted nothing to do with her. To leave me and my team alone. With the help of a few friends, that weight finally lifted off my shoulders." Fox smiles.
"I don't think I would be able to handle another heartbroken depressed Fox. Helping him get over the first time was already a struggle. Had I not convinced him to compete in those galaxy races with me, he'd be stuck in a bar drowning in his sorrows. I couldn't have that again." Falco says.
"It's good to hear that you've recovered from your heartbreak Fox. I wish I could understand how you felt, but I've never experienced falling in love before. You hear love stories in fairy tales and see them from others, but I've never understood what it was like being in that kind of relationship." Byleth says.
Beth snickers. "Byleth, I'll be surprised if you ever find yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend with how dense and stoic you are. Not saying you can't, but that's highly unlikely you'll notice someone having feelings for you. Just know that if anyone tries to do you wrong, I'm killing them." She says the last sentence in a serious tone.
"It shouldn't be too hard for you to find a lover sister. I remember a lot of boys taking a liking to you when we were younger."
"Yeah, but I never got into a relationship with them. They were all too scared of me. I wasn't the ladylike princess they wanted me to be. Also being known as the daughter of a mercenary who beats her victims to death with just her fist didn't help my case either."
"Mercenary? I thought you two were like teachers or something?" Falco questions.
"We are, but we didn't start off that way. We were mercenaries for hire working alongside our father. After some state of affairs, we became professors in a church." Byleth answers.
"I see. So you were just following in your father's footsteps as well beforehand. I hope you don't mind me asking but, where is your dad?" Fox asks.
"Dead. Stabbed in the back by an enemy posing as our own." Beth answers angrily as she tightens her fist.
Fox now regrets asking his question seeing the deamour of the twins change. "I'm sorry I asked. I didn't realize-"
"No need to apologize. This isn't the first and probably won't be the last time people asks us that question. It happened very recently so it's still fresh on our minds."
A beeping begins to sound off from Falco's visor. He was receiving a call. He presses a button on his visor to answer. "This is Falco Lombardi of Star Fox, what's the problem?" It was General Pepper speaking. "Alright, I'll let him know." He ends the call and turns to Fox. "Duty calls Fox. General Pepper needs us for a scouting mission back in the Lylat System."
Fox nods. "On it." He turns to twins and shakes their hands. "Thank you for inviting us. The tea was good. It was nice meeting you both. Also, don't give up. It may be hard now, but I'm sure your dad would want you to keep moving. For him."
Falco salutes the twins. "See you two later. Thanks for the invite."
The two space animals run out of the garden to get in their Arwings.
"Fox is right. Daddy would want us to keep going and never give up. Hadn't been for Yuri's words and...Bernadetta's kindness. I wouldn't know where I'd be right now. It still hurts to think about, but I'll keep going for everyone. They need their professor." Byleth says.
"The students love you brother. They'll always be there to support you. You're an inspiration to a lot of them. Hapi wanted me to tell you to keep your head up. We're going to get through this together. I'll be there fighting you By. You know that." Beth assures.
A smile appears on the male professor's face. "You haven't called me By since we were little." He hugs his sister. "Thank you for always being there."
"Geez you're showing much more emotion than usual now. I'm going to need to get used to this." Beth jokes as she returns a hug.
