"You freaking cretin! You ruined me! You ruined all of us!" Gary continued yelling at me, until he finally just broke down into hysterics, curling up in a corner of his office and beginning to bawl his eyes out.

I stood up, holding his PDA in my hand. I looked around the office. Finally, in the corner, right behind the computer, facing the door, was a security camera. And my face was on CCTV. Hi, mom. I'm about to die.

I dropped the PDA. I was screwed. Something told me the police weren't coming. Something told me something much worse was coming my way. I couldn't move. Where would I go to? If I head back home...mom and grandpa are gonna be in danger.

Oh my good god, what have I done?

Suddenly, Gary runs up to me, he grabs the PDA off the floor and he quickly dials up a number, "H-Hold on, I can fix this! Maybe I can fix this!" With his PDA up to his ear, he waits for somebody to answer. When that happens, he begins talking to who was clearly his boss once more, "B-Bale! Bale, look! We won't tell anyone! S-Seriously, we're not going to tell absolutely anyone! I-I...t-the guy? U-Uh...I-I killed him!" I looked up to him, frowning, "H-He's dead, he's-...no! No, no, no, I didn't kill him in my office! No, I choked him death! There's no blood. I'm about to stuff him in the trunk and toss him in the water." The dingo turned to me, then winked. What he didn't realize was the security camera right up there in the corner, recording his lies, "Trust me, I would never go behind your back, boss. Trust me on this, I'm getting rid of him. No one is gonna know. He just...snuck up on me, that's all."

That's it, I had to move. When the dingo turned his back to me, I simply went right out the office, shutting the door behind me. I was in a hallway now, with multiple offices around. I simply went to the last door on the left and opened it up. It took me to the second floor platform of the entire warehouse. I could see all of its space, all the garage doors. It was absolutely full of trucks full of what I assumed to be TV equipment. There was no time to admire it all. I went downstairs and ran out the first open garage door I saw. Garage door number 4.

Just as I did this, I'd end up meeting them again outside. Leo and Tara, my trusted 'bodyguards'. It was no time for sarcastic thinking.

"Oh, well, look at that, looks like you didn't need help after all!" Leo would say, laughing as he crossed his arms, "What'd you find in there, boy?"

"Stealing all the fun for yourself, huh?" Tara would say, poking my shoulder, but then she smiled. I don't think I ever appreciated her smile as much as I did now, "What'd you find now?"

"Tara...Leo..." I looked up to the big horse. Seems like they noticed the concern in my voice, "You two...you gotta go. Leo, find somewhere safe, somewhere out of town. Take my sister there and don't come back."

Tara's face went into a complete shock. Leo looked completely confused, furrowing his brows, "Is...is your brother okay, Tara?"

"Chase...what are you talking about?"

"I'm serious." I grabbed onto Tara's shoulders, "You need to go. Out of town, out of fucking Corneria, get a spaceship and just...fly away!"

"Hey, what's with the profanity?!" A random worker shouted behind me as he walked by, "Kids these days..."

"Chase, what are you talking about?! What did you find in there?!"

"I saw something really bad. Look, you...you gotta go. Get mom, get grandpa, leave. This is for your own good, sis. I'm serious." My eyes were beginning to tear up, I could feel the waterworks coming. My breathing intensified, "I-I don't know what's gonna happen to me...but I gotta be on the run. P-Please, listen to me."

"Chase, what did you see?!" She grabbed my collar, shaking me, I could see the tears staring to well up in her eyes as well, "What are you talking about?! You're being delusional, bro! What did you see?!"

"I-If I tell you, they're gonna kill you!" I yelled back.

"Who is 'they', dude, what the hell are you talking about?" Leo stepped up to me, I don't think I ever realized just how tall he is until now, "Just answer you goddamn sister! If we gotta pop some heads, we're gonna pop some freaking heads!"

"I-It's...It's Wolf! Wolf is coming back!"

The two of them gasped, I never thought I'd see Leo gasp, but all that stone cold, hard gangster attitude immediately left the moment I said that. The hairs on his mane stood, I could even see the little hairs on his coat standing up.

"T-The Lylat Butcher?" He said, then he put his hand on his forehead, "Oh no...oh no, no, no, no, no..." He turned around and he simply began walking in circles, holding his head in panic.

"C-Chase, you're...you're crazy, Wolf...Wolf has no reason to come back..."

"There's more. It's...It's Bale. Bale is behind this." Little did I know how much I was condemning my own sister with this information, but I just simply could not hold myself back from saying it. Maybe it'd be better if she knew. Maybe she could spread it to others, "Bale Domino. He's...He's involved."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Not an unsurprising reaction considering how big of a fan she is of Bale. She used to watch the show with my mom pretty often, "How does Bale tie into this?!"

"I...I don't know...I don't know what they're planning, I...look, we gotta go. You need to get out of town. Go back home, get mom, get grandpa, leave."

"W-Where are we gonna go?!" She asked me, rubbing her eyes, sniffling.

"Think, Chase, think..." I paced back and forth trying to think of something myself, until an idea popped into my mind, "...Got it! Go to Hopeville. It's a town just towards the east. It's a small town, I've been there before with Jim. Rent is cheap. You can do it."

"H-Hopeville? Chase, all towns outside of Corneria City are ruled by crime!" She argued.

"Well, so?! We live in the worst neighborhood in the city and we turned out fine so far. Listen, just trust me on this...I just need you all out of town for...I don't know, three months. I'll get this mess sorted out, I promise."

"Chase..." She stood there, rubbing her head, before simply stepping up to me and wrapping me in a tight hug, "Chase, please, please, please stay safe...look, come with us. You don't need to involve yourself in this. Lay low with us."

"I can't...I'm gonna get you all killed." I hugged her back. It was a painful hug. I didn't want to let go. Dear lord, I did not want to let go. I wanted to hold her forever. I wanted time to stop, to freeze, and just let me hold her like this for the rest of my life. I didn't want to lose my big sis. I really didn't. But there was no other way. What a mess I made for myself.

Me and my big, stupid mouth.

"I'm gonna be fine. Just trust me. Go to Hopeville. I will message you when the coast is clear. Trust me. Trust me." I would lean out of the hug, holding her shoulders, "I love you, Tara. I could've never asked for a better sister..."

"I love you too, Chase..." She looked back to me. While sniffling, she would step away. I noticed her reaching behind herself, "If...If you're gonna be in danger...here." She pulled the blaster out, offered it to me, "Take this. It's the least I can do."

My spine froze, looking down at that thing, "...Tara, I...I really can't. Killing is not in my nature."

"Take the freaking gun!" Leo suddenly came back, picking up the blaster and holding it out for me, "Listen to your sister for once, for god's sake!"

I couldn't be mad at him. This was all my fault. My own mistake. The least I could do right now, is listen to her advice. With a hefty sigh, I picked up the blaster, holding it in my hands. I never expected a real blaster to feel so heavy. They look so light in video games and movies. It felt surreal. Everything felt surreal.

Doing what everyone else does, I simply stuffed it into the back of my pants and made sure to pull my hoodie over it.

"...So...is that it? Do we just go now? Goodbye, Chase...?" Tara asked me. I put my hand on my hip and rubbed my head. I had to think of something, somewhere to go. Hiding underneath an underpass for three months would only get me so far. No, I had to go somewhere else.

Somewhere that'd protect me. Somewhere where I could think straight. Somewhere that would have people protect me. The cops? Pfft, funny joke. No...

I had to go to Star Fox.

"Leo." I looked up to the horse, "Take me to Dakota Stewarts Convention Center."

Leo furrowed his brows, "The f-?! Why?! Why would wanna go to a convention about now?!"

"Trust me on this!" I exclaimed back to him, "I need to get there, as fast as possible. I need...I need to find that cheetah girl."

"Cheetah girl? You done lost your mind."

I stormed past him and Tara, "No time to lose. Let's go. Either that or at least hand me the keys."

"Oh no, nobody drives that thing but me!" That got Leo to follow me. Tara, still looking down, followed after me. I hated seeing her like that. I had nobody to blame but myself. But I was gonna fix this mess. One way or another, I'd fix this mess.

The car parked right outside the convention center, right in the middle of downtown. Stepping out of the car, I had never felt this exposed in a while. I shut the car door and I looked back into the window. Tara had cuddled me the entire car ride here, having chosen to sit in the back with me. I missed her grasp already. She looked at me and I looked back at her, "Tara...take care of yourself. Tell mom I love her. Tell grandpa I love him too."

"I will...mom will be hysterical, but...I'll try. I'll try my best." She said, sighing, "...I hope you know what you're doing."

"You can count on it." I turned my attention to Leo, "And you. You better keep my family safe."

Leo looked over his shoulder to me, "Anything for my Tara. If anybody tries to screw with us, they're gonna regret it."

"I hope you stay true that." I turned my attention to Tara, "I love you. Remember that. Your lil bro will be fine." I smiled to her, a genuine, hopeful smile, "Trust me."

"I trust you. Take care, Chase." I wanted this moment to never end, but I knew that every second was precious right now. I let go of the car's window and stepped back. The window would slowly close. I didn't take my eyes off my sister's for a moment.

And with that, the car drove off into the distance. The last time I'd see my sister for months. The last time I could possibly see her forever.

It hurt. I couldn't even get the chance to say goodbye to mom. Or grandpa...and what grandpa said today...

Did he know? Did he know what was about to happen? There...there's no way.

I shook the thought off my head. I turned to the convention center. Surprisingly, the front doors were open. I wandered inside. All I saw was a janitor wiping the floor. All the chairs were gone, so was the stage. As I walked up to the janitor, I could hear him humming a song to himself, a pair of earbuds in his ears. He seemed to be a bat, looked middle-aged. It was a long shot, but he was the only one I could ask right now.

Tapping on his shoulder, I seemed to startle him by accident, the bat knocking over his bucket of water and turning around, holding his mop up defensively. I held my hands up, "Woah, woah, woah, calm down, man!"

The bat lowered his mop, holding it with one hand as I took off his earbuds, "W-Wha-...what are you doing here? The QnA was yesterday, you're like, super, super late!"

"Oh no, uh, listen, I need to get in contact with uh...with Star Fox. It's important, I need to talk to them."

"Star Fox? Why do you wanna talk with him?"

My inner fanboy nerd suddenly bubbled up, "No, Star Fox is the name of the team, not the name of the-...ggrh, look, where's that cheetah girl?"

"Cheetah girl? Oh, you must mean Ms. Turner, the one who hosted the QnA? She's in the bathroom, over there. I'm her friend!" He says, rather upbeat, while pointing off in the direction of the bathroom, the same one I hid in yesterday, "I'm her favorite janitor, o-or so she says!" And as soon as he says that, she comes right out, fixing her hair, dressed in a black vest, a white shirt and a black skirt, wearing red high heels. Very formal apparel in contrast with the rest of the convention center. She looked like she were in a hurry, making her way to the exit.

"Thanks." I said to the janitor, before jogging over quickly to Ms. Turner, "E-Er, excuse me, Ms. Turner, aren't you?"

She looks at me and she gives me this confused, yet, horrified look. She frowns at me and then just...keeps walking. Walking faster this time. What?

"Ms. Turner? Hold on a second, I have an important matter to discuss!" I followed after her. This probably looked really wrong out of context, "Would you please give me a second?"

She just keeps walking faster and faster. Then, she just breaks into a full sprint, as fast as she could run in high heels at least. And then, she yells, "Somebody help me! There's a creep following me!"

What...What the hell?!

By this point, we're both on the sidewalk outside. I screech to a halt. Everybody around is suddenly looking at me.

It's happening again. Oh no. It's happening again.

All the looks. The stares. All judging me. All misunderstanding completely the context of the situation. All nasty looks. Whispering among themselves.

And then, two men run up to me to my right. I turn to them. They're two cops, two beefy looking wolf dudes in blue uniforms, "You! You stalking that lady?!"

"N-No, this is...this is a big misunderstanding!" I take a step back. They clearly don't like the answer. One pulls out his nightstick. I'm a mouse cornered by two cats.

But I'm not letting myself be caught. I turn around and I sprint across the street and they give chase. A car stops inches to my left, honking at me. I run into an alleyway, jumping straight up onto the fence and hopping over it as fast as I could. The two guards jump onto the fence, though they're not as fast as I am.

Lucky for me, a good chunk of my childhood was spent staying physically fit. How, you might ask? Free running. Robert Kale, the actor for Iguana Trevor in Corneria Vice, was my childhood idol, before the whole cheating scandal, but that was a story for another time. RIght now, I was Iguana Trevor, running from two thugs. I ran. I ran so far away.

But I couldn't get away.

After running for what felt like four blocks, I finally hit a dead-end. I tried making my way back, but the two cops finally cornered me. They were pissed. Both of them held their nightsticks and they looked reeeeally angry about me making them run so much. I was screwed. This was it. I had a blaster in the back of my pants. I had been accused of stalking a lady. Prison life, here I come. Maybe it'll be safer inside?

Just as I'm about to fall on my knees, thinking about what prison food must taste like, a whistle comes from behind the two cops. They both turn around, confused. Then, they both gasp.

"Leave the kid alone, boys." No. No way, "I saw what happened. That girl's a liar!"

"Mr. Lombardi?!" They both said. Footsteps came our way. I look past the both of them. They weren't lying. It was Falco himself. He walked up to the two cops and pointed over his shoulder.

"She played you two like fiddles. Higher-class trash always squeal at the sight of anyone one penny poorer than them." He mindlessly adjusted his outfit, dusting down his signature jacket as he talked, "I speak from experience. Go on, I'm sure you two have better things to do."

"Y...Yeah, uh...we do." To my surprise, both of them just complied, walking past Falco just about borderline kissing his hands. Looks like the influence Star Fox had on people wasn't entirely lost. And I had just been saved by it.

And with that...Falco turns to me. The ace pilot himself. He walks up to me and offers his hand, "Falco Lombardi. At your service. No need to thank me, I was in your position, a long time ago."

I look down at his feathered hand. Surreal. Absolutely surreal. I grabbed it, squeezed it firmly, looking him in the eyes, "Chase. Massive fan."

He smirked. I could see that scar down his eye, still clear as day. Just knowing the story behind it made me shiver.

And to think that story is about to have its continuation...the thought of that disturbed me to the core, "And Falco? I have a message for Fox McCloud."

His smirk disappeared and his eyebrow cocked, "A message? We usually hire somebody to go through our e-mail. Trust me, we get a lot of messa-"

"No." I interrupt him, "This is a serious one. I need to speak to him, urgently."

Falco now looked confused, shifting his eyes and tilting his head at me, "...Reeeaally now?" He'd ask, blinking a few times, "...Well...we're gonna be in town for a while. We were planning to lay low for a bit. Some...concerning news came up, maybe you'll find us aro-"

"It's about those news. The dingo? I met him. I know what he's on about." I spoke firmly, looking into his eyes, I needed to sound honest, he needed to believe me, "Star Wolf. They're coming back. And Bale Domino is involved."

Falco's feathers stood, his eyebrows rose up, leaning his head back, "...Bale Domino?"

"He's hunting me down. I need protection. Give me that and I will tell you everything I know. I promise you." I could see he was starting to trust me, his stare said it all, tilting his head, fully paying attention to me, "I promise all of you."

"...O...Kay...alright, kid. You've convinced me." Falco would nod at me, then, he sighed, "But you better not disappoint. You wanna know where we are? Then come. Come with me." With that, he waved me over, telling me to follow him.

Things were getting good.