Chapter 9 – Wolf's reward
Wolf walked through the door and started down the aisle, where several Cornerian soldiers were facing him and saluting. As he reached the podium, where General Pepper was standing, the soldiers turned to face the General and stood at attention. Fox and Bill were standing on either side of Pepper.
"Wolf O'Donnell," Pepper said, "For your efforts in helping to save Corneria, I have hereby dismissed all charges against you. You are an enemy to our planet no longer. Furthermore, it is my privilege to present you with a medal of honor."
Pepper handed the medal to Bill, who walked up to Wolf. Wolf lowered his head as Bill placed the medal on Wolf's neck and shook his hand.
"Congratulations."
Fox, Bill, Pepper, and the soldiers applauded. Wolf's tail was wagging with joy. For the first time in his life, he had done the right thing and was being appreciated for it. He felt as if he had died and been reborn.
* * *
"Kyle, I want to thank you… for saving my life." Wolf said, as he and Kyle headed to the pool.
"Oh, no problem." said Kyle, "I was… pardon?"
"Ever since we got separated, my life was getting shattered. I lost my eye, I lost you: my best friend, and I was hated across the Lylat system. Just before I caught your scent back in that alley I was about to kill myself."
Kyle's eyes opened wide. He could not believe what he had just heard.
"But you, stopped me from doing the unthinkable." Wolf continued, "It was you who helped me get back on my feet again. If I hadn't met you, I might never have amounted to anything. I couldn't ask for a better friend."
Kyle smiled.
"Right back at you." he said, as they hugged each other.
"Now, last one in's a rotten egg!"
* * *
After spending an hour or two in the pool, Wolf looked up at Fox, who was playing his chess game in front of the pool with his paws in the water. He growled as the computer took one of his Rooks. Wolf waded up to him.
"Fox, could I ask you a favor?" Wolf said.
"What's up?" Fox asked, keeping his eyes on the game.
"I guess you kind of figured, but Andross didn't train me very well. Do you think you could give me some better training, so I could be more useful to you."
"Sure. No problem."
"Thanks, Fox."
Wolf looked at the chessboard and whispered, "Knight to D-6."
Fox was about to make a different move, but looking more closely at the board, he smiled and made the move that Wolf told him. His Knight was putting the computer's King in check and its Queen was also in the Knight's path. The computer had no choice but to move its King, and afterwards, Fox took the computer's Queen. After a few more moves, Fox was able to put his Queen right next to the computer's King, with the Knight in his Queen's path.
"Checkmate." the computer's voice said, "You win."
"You know, Wolf." Fox said, "I think it's gonna be good to have you on the team."
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I do sincerely hope you all enjoyed this story, and I would like to thank all of you who have read and reviewed it. God bless.