Note: Welp, the Pandemic is clearing up, so I'm starting to mellow out. That being said, I should really take more time on stories like this, as I have other stories open. Despite that, I will try to start new chapters of my other stories, so have faith. Before I move on, I will say something to two reviewers.
The White Wolf named Alex: Don't worry, Crimson Unit #21 will get his. Outside of that, he's one big King Crimson joke. If you haven't listened to them before, I recommend their music.
Yamagata: Yeah, the game that the Cornerian Knights attended quickly turned into a failed kidnapping, as Ivanovich tried to bring Katt to his employers. As for Prowl, I guess that you can say that he's like Jotaro Kujo.
Okay, now it's time for chapter seven.
Chapter 7: Back to Corneria
Prowl felt his head ache as he got up from the bed. Walking to the door, the snow leopard was greeted by who the voice was coming from: a black panther.
"Well," the feline spoke, "how are you feeling now that you've recovered?"
"Great, I guess." Prowl answered. "Who are you? You remind me of Miriam."
"The name's Panther Caroso, lad." The black jungle cat said. "Those who see my rose are faced with their imminent deaths."
"Well, I'm Prowl Granger, tough guy." The snow leopard stated. "I'm a member of the Cornerian Knights."
"Cornerian Knights?" Panther had a puzzled expression on his face.
"Looks like Pepper has a new team of brats at his command." A chameleon said as he walked up to the two felines.
"You must be Leon Powalski." Prowl looked at the reptilian.
"Indeed, I am." Leon smiled as he spoke. "And you're Prowl Granger. For an arsonist, you don't look so tough."
"Wanna bet?" The snow leopard asked.
"Not really," the chameleon said, "but it's a nice offer. I felt like harvesting your organs, but Wolf and Romeo here told me that you were alive."
"Well, how did I get here?" The spotted feline asked.
"Someone brought you here after they saved your life from that explosion." Panther stated.
"Make that two people." A gray wolf said as he approached the three.
"Wolf O'Donnell." Prowl said. "I never thought that I would meet you."
"And I didn't think that two people would bring some kid to Sargasso." Wolf said. "C'mon, let's get you to that flimsy ship of yours."
Prowl followed Star Wolf over to the docking bay of Sargasso, where he saw someone cleaning up the Zipper. The ship was not damaged, looking like how it did prior to being caught in Indiscipline's explosion.
"That thing had some bad wing damage, so I got to work on it." Wolf stated. "However, the thrusters might be a little messed up. Just don't think that we did this out of kindness."
"Who's the guy cleaning it?" Prowl asked.
The unknown person climbed off of the Zipper, turning his attention to Prowl. The person just so happened to be a familiar face.
"Dash?" Prowl asked.
"That's the name, don't wear it out." Dash smiled as he approached the snow leopard.
"Didn't think that Andross' grandson would bring you here, now did you?" Leon asked.
"I just didn't expect to see him again." Prowl said.
"I didn't bring you here alone," Dash stated, "I had some help from a lady who is a blue as the sky."
"Krystal?" The snow leopard asked.
"That's her name." The monkey said. "Before we brought you here, she had me launch a bomb at some ship that was near your Zipper."
"You mean Epitaph?" The spotted feline asked.
"Epitaph?" Panther looked at him.
"It's the ship of Crimson Unit #21." The young man stated. "He's the bastard who brought the Mauricio Family and the Zimmerman Brothers together to nab most of Star Fox."
"The Mauricio Family?" Wolf spoke. "Ugh, not those mobsters!"
"You've heard of them?" Dash asked.
"Indeed," Leon said as he rolled his eyes, "they make us sick, especially their boss, Giorno. He's so condescending and rude, it's a miracle that even the Zimmerman Brothers could stand to be around him."
"What I wouldn't give to snap Giorno Mauricio in half!" Wolf growled.
"Well, you might get your chance." Prowl said. "All we need to do is to save Falco, Slippy, Fay and Miyu."
"Miyu?" Panther looked mortified. "Those bastards have my desert rose?"
"Not for long." The snow leopard said as he cracked his knuckles. "All we need to do is get back to Corneria and regroup with the Cornerian Army."
"Correction," Leon said, "you and Dash need to get back to Corneria. As much as the Mauricio Family annoys us, we feel like this is a job for you and your team. Not that we mind Panther going with the two of you."
"I'll go with them, alright." Panther said, cracking his knuckles.
"Panther, stay here." Wolf told him before turning to Dash and Prowl. "As for you two, get going before I turn you into my personal targets."
"Right." Prowl said.
"Let's go." Dash said as he ran to his ship.
Once they got into their ships, Prowl and Dash flew out of Sargasso, setting a course for Corneria. Now that they were alone, Wolf looked at Leon and Panther.
"Get in contact with General Pepper." The one-eyed lupine told them.
Back on Corneria, Krystal had finished speaking with General Pepper, Bill, Art and Steve about Prowl's survival while they were at the Flight Academy. During their talk, Pepper was even told to have some of the soldiers remain on guard.
"You have the right idea, Krys, but why?" Bill asked.
"Because," Krystal spoke, "even though I had Dash launch a bomb at Epitaph, I have a feeling that Crimson Unit #21 isn't dead yet."
"What about Prowl?" Art asked.
"He's on his way to Corneria with Dash, I can sense him." The cobalt vixen answered.
"Dash is a reliable lad." Pepper said. "And to think, he's the grandson of Andross."
"He even said that he was cursed like the rest of his family when we met him." Steve added. "But, given what how helped Krystal, we could easily make Dash a member of the Cornerian Army."
Fox walked up to them, carrying a piece of paper.
"What is it, Fox?" Pepper asked.
"Well, I've got some good news and some bad news." Fox stated. "The good news is that Dash has returned with Prowl."
"Really?" Bill asked.
"Yeah," the orange tod said, "he's in the garage."
The four followed Fox down to the garage, where they saw Prowl speaking with his teammates. In addition to that, Peppy, Fara and Dash were standing by the wall, smiling at the touching scene before them. As for Katt and Lucy, they were standing on the opposite end of the room.
"For a zecond after ze explozion, we thought zat you were killed, Prowl!" Pierre said.
"I thought that I would die, too, but I got saved from the explosion." Prowl stated.
"I had a feeling that you would survive, but I acted like you wouldn't." Collin said as he placed his hand on the snow leopard's shoulder.
"Who knew that Star Wolf would fix your Zipper?" Miriam asked.
"Star Wolf?" Peppy looked at Krystal.
"Why'd you take Prowl to Sargasso with Dash?" Fox asked.
"Well, it was the best I could do on such a short notice." Krystal said. "Besides, I told Wolf that it was an emergency, even though I had to give him something in exchange for having him fix Prowl's Zipper and tending to his wounds."
"What did you have to do?" Fara asked.
"Give him a hug, seeing as he told me that every daughter must do that with her father." The cobalt vixen answered. "As for Dash, I told them that he wasn't going to hurt anyone at Sargasso."
"Hard to believe that Wolf O'Donnell is your father." Steve said to Krystal.
"We could barely believe it when he told us." Peppy said.
"It still won't make up for him not being in her life for nearly twenty-one years." Fox said. "I understand that he had no choice in the matter, but he could have led a revolt to dethrone Cerinia's King."
"That wouldn't have lasted," Krystal said, "Opal was prone to executing and imprisoning anyone who opposed him."
"And we should be glad that he's in jail, paying for everything that he has done in the past." Bill added.
A Dalmatian came into the room.
"General," he spoke, "you have a call."
"Alright," Pepper said, "I'll be right back."
General Pepper then followed the Dalmatian out of the room, which allowed a familiar face to enter: Sabre. The brown wolf ran up to Fara, hugging her.
"Fara, I'm so sorry!" Sabre cried.
"For what?" Fara asked.
"For not knowing that you and the others were in danger!" The wolf said. "I might be staying out of conflict nowadays, but that doesn't mean that I should keep myself from helping out in a mission!"
"Sabre," the fennec spoke, "it's okay. You weren't informed about the mission. It was better for you to not get involved anyway, as the Mauricio Family and the Zimmerman Brothers have a LOT of men at their beck and call."
Bill and Art then looked at Fox.
"Well, what's the bad news?" Bill asked.
"The Mauricio Family made a public announcement today, and they mean business." Fox said as he played a video that showed Giorno and Daniel near Falco, Slippy, Fay and Miyu, the four being bound and gagged.
"People of Corneria," Giorno spoke, "you might feel safe now that the Army and their new cronies, the Cornerian Knights, are taking down our organization one-by-one, but we still have four of the members from Star Fox in our grasp. Tomorrow, we will execute the boys by using concrete shoes. As for the girls, we'll dip them in liquid latex so that they can be decorative latex statues for whoever wants them."
"And don't try and stop us." Daniel said prior to the video's end.
"That's not all." Krystal said as her telepathy picked up something. "I can sense that he's back."
"Who?" Steve asked.
"Crimson Unit #21!" The cobalt vixen stated.
Upon hearing that, Prowl got up from his seat and started to head to the door.
"Where are you going, Prowl?" Jethro asked.
"I have to go take care of something." Prowl said prior to leaving. "If I'm not back, tell me if I missed something."
"We will." Flora said.
Prowl left the room, which caused the Cornerian Knights to look at each other.
"How are we going to fight Crimson Unit #21?" Collin asked.
"Prowl was lucky to survive," Jethro said, "but we might not be."
"You'll survive, trust us." Fara stated.
"Why?" Shelly asked.
"Because we have a plan." Fox said.
Note: I'm ending the chapter like that in order to show how our heroes are planning to get ready for their next encounter with the Mauricio Family. Do you think that their plan will work? Until next time guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!