Cowboy Star Fox

By Wolf O'Donnell

WARNING: This fanfic will contain swearing, graphic scenes of death and violence and the use of British-English Spelling and Grammar. If any of these things offend you or if you are underaged, please do not read any further. Upon reading any word or letter in this file, you hereby agree to forfeit all your rights to sue me and that I cannot be held liable for any psychological or physical damage caused by the contents of this fanfic. Star Fox and all related characters (including me) are copyrighted by Nintendo. Scales, Dinosaur Planet and all related characters are copyrighted by Rare. The Gospel Army, Dr. Jerome Kano, the Sekai Foundation and all related characters and places are copyrighted by me.

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Epilogue Cii: Cosmic Dare

Fox looked down at his drink, as he sat the bar. He sighed miserably. With the destruction of the Gospel Army and the Lylat Syndicate, the Star Fox Team was now just as obsolete as they had ever been since the defeat of the Venomian Empire. A smirk spread across his face, as he thought about how it had been Andross that was behind everything from the Lylat War, to Scales' rise to power and to the Gospel Army.
"Andross sure was busy," he said to himself quietly.
Thoughts then turned to all the deceit that had led up to the events of the past, those horrific events. Could they have been prevented if the Super Vaccine Project had never been started? It looked that way. To Fox, it seemed as if all the problems were first started by the Cornerian Military. Was Andross really to blame for all that he did or did he have a helping hand in turning the Lylat System into the Hell hole that it had become?
Well, for now, it was back to being a bounty hunter, scouring the Lylat System for the scum of the Galaxy and handing them over to the police for rich pickings. An unstable source of income, but no more unstable than when they had been mercenaries during the Lylat War. Of course, then, they were always sure of having a job no matter what.
"You know, Fox, I've been thinking," said Peppy, as he sat on the opposite side of Falco, "is Andross really dead? I mean, we've killed him three times now."
"What are you saying, Pep?" asked Falco. "You think he can't take a hint and doesn't know that we all hate his guts?" He laughed and finished off his beer. "Peppy, Andross is gone for good this time. There's no doubt about it. He's dead as a doornail. He is an ex-Andross."
Slippy shook his head with a heavy sigh.
"I just don't understand it myself," he said to the others. "Once you're dead, you're dead. The Andross you guys faced down at Dinosaur Planet and the Andross you faced down underneath the hospital couldn't have been the same Andross." He then pushed his beer away from himself. "There's no possible way that you can come back from the dead, especially if your body is blown to smithereens." Slippy thought up of an explanation and he could only come up with one. "The different Androsses you came across could only have been clones of the real thing."
"What, including the one we trashed at Venom?" queried Falco, as he placed his glass back down on the table. "No way!"
"It's possible," mused Fox.
"Hey, we shouldn't be thinking about something depressing like that," protested Krystal calmly. "We're here to celebrate, aren't we?"
"Yeah, well it's pretty hard to do that if the beer's been watered down!" stated Falco quietly at first, but then raising his voice near the end. He looked at the new pint of beer in front of him. That was the tenth one so far and he wasn't even feeling the slightest bit of a buzz. "I mean, there's something really wrong if you can drink ten of these and not feel the slightest bit giddy."
Fox then thought about a drunk Falco Lombardi and then shuddered at the thought of it.
"Falc', no offence, but we really don't want to see you drunk," he told the avian. "Say, Peppy, Slippy, you guys remember the last time Falco got drunk off his feathered arse?"
"Oh, yeah," replied Peppy with a nod of his head. "Kept me awake all night with his singing and did it take us a long time to get him back to the Great Fox or what?"
"Never did get the smell of puke out of the seat covers," muttered Slippy with a shake of his head.
Krystal laughed at the thought of Falco drunk and sinking songs drunkenly. The strange fact that the image suited him quite well. Was there anything that didn't suit Falco?
"Well, I guess we'd better keep an eye on him," she stated. "You'd better behave too," she told Fox.
"Ahem, excuse me, but I think that you're quite mistaken."
"Oh no," sighed Fox, as he buried his head in his hands. It was Fara. He knew what happened when Fara and Krystal got together. The Lylat War had nothing on these two. The raging struggle between them made the Lylat War look like a friendly chess game. "Look, Fara, Krystal, would you two give it a rain check?" he asked the two. "The least thing we want is for you two to be fighting over..." He stopped and continued no further. There was no point. Fox heard the two of them bickering over who lay claim to Fox as a boyfriend.
Peppy leaned over towards Fox with a concerned look on his face, not that Fox noticed with his gaze focused on the bar table.
"You know, Fox, I think you'd better choose between one of them before things get really out of hand," he whispered to the vulpine. He had been consulted over Fox's dilemma a numerous amount of times and it not only gave him a headache but others as well, especially when Fara and Krystal started to throw things at each other and people got caught in the crossfire.
Fox gritted his teeth. The big problem was that he couldn't choose between the two. In his eyes they were both beautiful and he didn't want to see one or the other hurt, but at this rate, the two would hurt each other. He had never seen anyone so persistant and these two were very persistant indeed. Even with him not deciding between the two, they still fought over him as if he was the ultimate prize, which he probably was. The fact that he loved them both, drove him mad. What was a guy supposed to do in such a situation?
The vulpine thought back to when he had last been in a triangle relationship. It was before he met Fara and he had a girlfriend then. What was her name again? He forgot, but it was something along the lines of Ryoko. Anyway, he hadn't the nerve to dump Ryoko for Fara. In fact, he had ended up in a relationship with no displays of affection between the two girlfriends in fear of offending the other. He had never got round to dumping Ryoko. She was a formidable woman and Fox had learnt the hardway that it didn't pay to displease her. In the end, Ryoko had dumped Fox.
"Look, Fara, Krystal, would you two stop it?" shouted Fox.
"So, who do you love then?" asked Fara.
"Yeah, who?" asked Krystal sternly. "Me, right?"
Love had always been an awkard subject to Fox and he had never been very competent at it. He was always oblivious to woman that had a crush on him and it took him so long to try and ask a girl out that they usually asked him out first. This time was no exception. Fox started babbling incomprehensibly.
"What?"
"Uh, I have to go to the little fox's room," blurted out Fox quickly and ran for it. He quickly made his way past the drunks in the bar. How they had managed to get drunk, he didn't know, but they were drunk. 'They're probably drinking anti-freeze on the side,' he thought to himself, as he made his way through into the men's room. He quickly walked over to one of the sinks and peered into the mirror just to look at himself. It had been ages since he had really looked at himself and got to know himself a little better. Fox looked into the mirror and saw himself staring back at himself with ten times more intensity that he put in. Perhaps they were distorting mirrors, but Fox severely doubted that. "Urgh, they're starting to get to me," he sighed to himself, as he turned the tap on.
Fox scooped up some water and splashed it across his face. There. He needed that. Now he looked up and looked at himself in the mirror and started to smooth his fur down. As he did so, he tried his best to summon up all his courage to tell Fara and Krystal what he really thought about them. However, the courage soon swirled away as if it was water in a colander.
Why was it that he had enough courage to face down hordes of enemy ships, evil scientists, SharpClaws and even mutant monsters but had no courage when it came to girlfriends? It seemed rather bizarre and perverted even. Why was life like that? Fox just couldn't understand.
Closing his eyes, Fox thought about his father and what he would say at a time like that. That was an easy one.
"Trust your instincts," he recited carefully. "Never give up." Easier said than done. He feared what would happen if he rejected one of them. Would Fara or Krystal be like Ryoko? He had heard of rejection being painful and if any of them were like Ryoko, he would end up with all the pain and lots of bruises to prove it.
Still, things were better now than they used to be. Scales was behind bars. Andross was gone, as was Kano, the Gospel Army and the Lylat Syndicate. They were all gone. Even Andrew Oikonny, Leon Powalski and Pigma Dengar were dead. The Star Wolf Team was no more. Yet, now that he thought about it, he felt as if he had forgotten something or rather, someone. Someone was unaccounted for. Now who could he have forgotten? Caiman? No, that reptilian was safely behind bars too, but serving a reduced sentence thanks to his part in helping them find the Lylat Syndicate HQ.
Now his thoughts were focused on that someone, that missing someone. Fox couldn't quite figure out who it was that they hadn't apprehended or made sure was truly dead. There was someone whose body was never found, someone who could be out there and plotting their revenge against the Star Fox Team. Yet Fox just couldn't remember who it was.
Fox walked away from the sink and stepped back out in the bar. He looked towards his friends and saw the smiles on their faces. It seemed as if Fara and Krystal had somehow stopped fighting. They were happy, yet he had this worried feeling deep down inside him.
"I guess we'll just have to deal with him or her when they rear their ugly heads again," he sighed to himself, before he made his way back to the others.
Yes, they were victorious over their enemies, but not quite. The victory would be short-lived at best, yet Fox didn't want that to dampen their spirits. Together, they'd be able to face down whatever troubles came their way. Whoever it was that Fox had forgotten about, that person wouldn't be able to defeat the Star Fox Team, not when they have each other...
"Perhaps I'll go to Dinosaur Planet and see whether that Well in the Maze can give me any clues," thought Fox to himself. "Yeah, I'll go first thing in the morning." He decided that he'd leave by himself for Dinosaur Planet, visit Prince Tricky and then go to the Well in the Maze underneath the WarpStone. Fox remembered having a few tokens left over and he decided that he would use them in the Well. Perhaps he would be able to find out more about his future like he did the last time he visited there.

You and I are betting on words
You and I are wandering worlds apart from each other joined at the heart

That was when he saw her. Krystal. How could he have been so foolish? Sure, he didn't want to break Fara's heart by rejecting her, but what about Krystal? It didn't make sense how they would fight over him and yet it seemed as if Fara was the one was the only one that wouldn't be hurt.

You and I escaping the Earth
Tasting tears for all that it's worth apart from each other joined by a thought
Can you believe me?
Still sitting pretty with a pistol in hand
Living to love you will you be my man?
If I beg, If I plead
Would you please, please, please satisfy me?

Krystal, how many bad things had happened to her? The loss of her family? The loss of her people and their planet? She had lost so much to one man, Andross. Krystal was just like Fox in a way and when the vulpine thought about it, he knew that it was true. Both of them had lost their parents. Both of them were all alone in the world. Fox and Krystal, Krystal and Fox, the two of them were like one.
Yes, Fox loved Fara, but it was Krystal that he loved the most. How could he have been so blind as to ignore it? He'd been treating her the wrong way for far too long, as a friend and not a lover. Well, he would put an end to that.

Anything goes in this cosmic dare
Anything goes so take care
Did you feel my heartbeat to your lies
Listen close sweet love of mine

Fox saw her turn to face him and he smiled at her. She smiled back. In that very instant, nothing else seemed to matter. All time ceased to be. The Universe ceased to be. It was just him and her. Fox and Krystal. It was just Krystal and Fox. There was no doubt about it. The love he felt for her had been apparent from the very beginning. It was just the fear that had held him back, but now that he had faced down several living nightmares, his old fears didn't seem so strong and potent anymore.
"Krystal, I love you," he told her.

You and I are travelling time
You and I a moon rockets climb
In tune with forever, never say never we're told
You and I are floating in space
You and I are waiting to make the most of a moment alive in this silence so great

"I love you too, Fox," said Krystal in reply, as she looked deep into his emerald green eyes.
"Krystal, I've been a fool for all this time to make you have to fight for my love," said Fox quietly. "Will you forgive me?"
Krystal laughed.
"Of course I will!" she replied.

Can you believe me?
Still sitting pretty with a pistol in hand
Living to love you will you be my man?
If I beg, If I plead
Would you please, please, please satisfy me?
Anything goes in this cosmic dare
Anything goes so take care
Did you feel my heartbeat to your sighs
Mon amour sweet love of mine

Yes, he would go to Dinosaur Planet and use the Well in the Maze to determine his future. But first, he would treat Krystal to the night out that she deserved. A dinner, a movie and then back to their place. Sure, it didn't seem romantic once put like that, but he would make it romantic. He would ensure that she wouldn't be disappointed.
After all, he loved her and he would go to the ends of the Universe for her. That is, after all, why he had saved her from Krazoa Palace in the first place, wasn't it? Fox loved Krystal and she loved him back, and that was all that mattered.

Anything goes in this cosmic dare
Anything goes so take care
Did you feel my heartbeat to your sighs
Mon amour sweet love of mine
The End.

Congratulations! Your observations earned you the Krystal Ending. The lyrics featured in this Epilogue are from Yoko Kanno's, Cosmic Dare (Pretty with a Pistol). There is, however, one matter that is unresolved. There are two Secret Epilogues to this fanfic. To find them, translate and then answer the below question. Whichever answer you choose, follow the instructions attached to it. The following question is written in Dinosaur Language and some of it has been translated for you.

NXASX EV NECV'J OOOJ SUD JOO KXO VIKIHO, KXO COVK EDO EH KXO HAWXK EDO?
W--C- O- --L-'S EY-- -A- -E- -H- F--U-E, --- ---- -NE -R --- -IG-T --E?

Right ..... go to Secret Epilogue A: Blue
Left ....... go to Secret Epilogue B: Forever Broke