A/N: Here's another chapter. The fic as a whole may be a tad bit longer than expected but that's OK. Anyway, hope you enjoy. This chapter I don't feel is my best, as it seems more like an introduction to some of the characters rather than focusing on what the whole fic is about.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Star Fox, Nintendo and/or Rare do. Any relation to my original characters in anyway is entirely coincidental.

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Chapter 6: Fox's Crew

Fox hanging out with the wrong crowd? That was a little hard to believe. Krystal had seen such a different side come out in him. Was he really doing it just to hook up with her or was it really true?

"Krystal, don't worry." Bill comforted her. "Fox isn't a liar and he isn't a bad fur. I just think that someday Leon and Wolf are going to get him in trouble."

Even with Bill's words, Krystal couldn't have been entirely sure. "Tell me about Fox a little bit Bill. From your point of view. I want to know more about him."

"Then you shouldn't be asking me if you want to know him. Don't you think it would be better to talk to Fox and let his character come out?"

Krystal knew that Bill would say something like that. Bill was a very good fur and a good friend. The only downside was that Bill did have that tendency and arrogance to make him think he was always right. That was sometimes an annoyance, as you also could never prove him wrong. If you actually did then he'd be mad.

"I suppose you're right. But can you at least tell me some about Wolf and Leon?"

"What do you want to know?"

"I guess my first question would be why Fox hangs out with them?" Krystal said.

Bill shook his head. "I thought you were asking me about Wolf and Leon? You're coming back to Fox again."

"Bill, please?"

Bill sighed and agreed to answer. "I guess Leon and Wolf help make Fox's outgoing side come out. Fox is sometimes a shy fur you know. He's always so lively when Wolf and Leon are around."

Krystal took that to heart. He was a little shy towards her. She was still convinced that he was shy because she was a girl, as most boys she met tended to be that way. "But what makes Leon and Wolf so bad?"

"Well, Leon is just plain mean I guess. It's obvious that between the two Wolf is the one who takes charge. Wolf has been suspended at least once for bringing a weapon to school. He should've gotten expelled if you ask me, but you know how Pepper is. Leon got suspended for drug possession once. He claimed it wasn't his but we don't know. They're also guilty of arson at least once. They're pyromaniacs or something like that." Bill said. "They had a couple of run-ins with authority before. They do all that stuff like graffiti and stuff. But I assure that Fox is entirely innocent of these few deeds."

"What else do Leon and Wolf do?" Krystal asked.

'I can't believe she's never heard of them.' Bill thought. "They're idiots. They do really stupid things too. They've already got marks on their permanent records. They mooned the principal and got away with it."

They didn't sound like furs that Krystal would want to hang out with at all. But Krystal always thought that there was some good in everybody. "I think they could be better than that." Krystal said. "Everyone has some sort of potential."

"Sure they do." Bill agreed. "They're VERY smart. They may do bad things but they get good grades surprisingly. They know what they're talking about all the time. They're not stupid furs, just misguided."

Krystal thought about that for a moment. "You say Fox isn't involved? You're not doing it to defend him or anything?"

"Of course not. I'd much prefer he never hung out with those two but he keeps saying that everything will be fine. Wait until lunch." Bill said and then the bell to end first period ended. "Looks like we got to go."

***

On her way to second period, where she'd meet up with Katt, Krystal thought about Fox hanging out with two little hooligans. Fox still seemed different to her, but his character didn't seem right after what Bill had said. Krystal didn't think of Fox as hanging with the "wrong" crowd. But it made her think that the only reason Fox was acting the way he was, was to get to her.

When Krystal walked into her second period Geometry class she sat next to Katt like always. Her teacher always let the students sit wherever they wanted to. Well, he let sophomores and up do that, but never let freshman.

Katt looked at Krystal and noticed that something was up. "What's wrong? Fox dump you already?"

Krystal didn't find any humor in this. "I'm not even going out with him."

"Oh, you're no fun. But seriously, what happened?"

"I just found out some things."

"Like what?" Katt demanded and crossed her arms for some odd reason.

"Fox doesn't always hang out with the best of furs. Have you ever heard of Wolf O' Donnell and his friend Leon?"

Katt froze for a few moments. It was obvious she'd heard something about them, but Katt didn't take Fox for hanging out with that crowd either. "I've heard of them before. Let me guess, you didn't hear of them until now?"

"Yeah, exactly."

Katt wanted to say more but the bell rang and the teacher was standing at the front of the class. "We'll talk about this later."

***Later at lunch

When Krystal was out of her fifth period class and at lunch, she was a little relieved, but didn't know if she should be. She'd finally get this chance to meet Wolf and Leon. She didn't know if she wanted the pleasure of doing so.

Since lunch was usually in the commons where they set up all the tables, finding your friends was sometimes hard to do. As a result many furs sat at the same table day after day as to never lose one another.

What was nice about eating lunch was that it wasn't like the other schools where you got a tray and they'd put your food on it that was eliminated. Instead, it was like a mini snack bar. You went up there chose what you wanted to eat, and instead of serving you milk, you got your choice of any type of soda you wanted. They had more than soda; they had ice tea and juices as well. There was also pizza that they actually ordered out instead of making themselves. It was every furs dream. The only problem was that since there was a local store nearby the prices were outrageous. You could go to the market down the street (only five minutes away by foot) and buy a pop for one-dollar. The school, even at the vending machines, would cost you a $1.20. Some furs didn't mind paying the extra twenty cents. Others however looked at as a rip-off.

Krystal went into the snack bar hoping to find someone. A wolf bumped into her only saying "watch where you're going!" Krystal found that rude, but realized that it could be the same wolf she had to meet later. She'd take to note that he only had one eye, and a patch on his right one.

Krystal got a slice of pizza to satisfy her appetite. It was expensive but still, they didn't sell fresh pizza at the market so it was best. She turned around to be face-to-face with Fox McCloud. "Hi!" She stammered.

She almost fell but Fox was there to help her. "How's it going? I figured it'd be best if I showed you where we normally sit."

Krystal had no objections but she'd feel much more comfortable if Katt was with her. "I'd much rather Katt be here first so that--"

"She found us." Fox interrupted. "She's at the table with us. She told me to come and look for you."

What was Katt up to? Now it came to the point where Katt didn't even wait for her like she normally did. She went straight to Fox. 'Something strange about how she's acting.' Krystal thought. But she let it go for the moment and decided to follow Fox once she got all her stuff paid for.

She followed Fox to the back of the commons to the point where there were more of the rectangle tables rather than the circle ones. When they finally reached the table, Krystal eyed some of the furs there. Bill, Falco, Slippy and Shane were there. Although when Krystal came Shane got up and left. There was a newt and a wolf as well. It was the same wolf she bumped into at the snack bar.

Fox pointed around, "I think you know Bill and Shane enough already. This is Falco." He pointed to the blue avian. Then he went around in a clockwise fashion, "This is Slippy, who I think you know. This is Wolf and that's Leon." Fox said. "Guys, this is Krystal. I invited her to eat lunch with us today."

When Wolf looked up and saw Krystal he smiled. "Sorry about my rude introduction. If I'd known you were the one Fox was introducing us to I'd have never done it."

'He doesn't seem all that bad.' Krystal thought. She looked at Leon and the only thought that came to her mind was that he must've had a few screws loose in his head.

Krystal sat down next to Fox and was beginning to wonder where Katt was. It wasn't long before the feline came running back up with a soda and gave it to Fox. "Here you go." Katt said and gave him his change. 'That's her plan!' Krystal thought. 'She's going to butter him up or something.'

"Thanks Katt." Fox said and took the soda. "Keep the change though." Fox leaned back and put his feet on the table and looked at Krystal. "Relax, don't believe everything you hear around the school. Wolf and Leon are harmless."

Krystal wasn't quite sure if she believed McCloud or not. "OK then." She eyed the lupine and noticed him staring back at her.

"You act like you've never seen such a wolf before." He smirked.

"Well, I haven't really..I just want to know..."

"What's with the eye right?" Wolf finished for her.

"Yeah, what's with the eye."

"It was in a lab in science class, I blew it out." Wolf said and laughed. "It was pretty cool though. Lucky for me that was my lazy eye anyway."

Krystal found herself laughing at Wolf's statement. Perhaps Wolf wasn't really all that bad. Perhaps he was just misunderstood. Bill wasn't impressed by this story and usually wasn't impressed by anything Wolf did. Instead he shot Krystal that 'Beware' look.

"If you'll excuse me." Bill said and stood up and walked away.

"Stupid hound!" Wolf said. "He doesn't like me very much. I don't know why I even bother to hang around him."

Fox shook his head. "Leave Bill alone, he's fine."

Fox seemed like his same old usual self to Krystal. She still had to find out though if Fox was really feeling something for her, the way she was feeling for him. He seemed content, even with the rivalry that Bill and Wolf obviously had. Krystal's attention turned to Katt who was holding her hand up to her face making a phone. Krystal nodded and then looked to Fox.

Fox looked at Krystal for a brief moment and then looked away. It was obvious he was nervous and Krystal could understand that. Krystal turned her attention to Wolf who was busy biting into a slice of pizza. When he finally noticed Krystal staring he looked up with an amusing look on his face. "You look good enough."

'Good enough?' Krystal thought. 'What does he mean?' "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing I suppose." Wolf shook his head and went back to his pizza as if nothing had happened.

"What does he mean?" Krystal whispered to Fox.

"Just ignore it for now." Fox whispered back rather nervously.

Ignore it? Something was up again. Krystal knew something was wrong by the way Fox had responded to her. 'Maybe Bill was right.' Krystal thought. Then the lunch bell rang.

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A/N: Perhaps this little segment wasn't entirely necessary. But let's just say that there are a lot of things that Krystal doesn't know about Fox yet and that's what I was trying to make come out in this chapter. No, Fox doesn't get into trouble or anything; let's just say there's something about Wolf that Fox doesn't want Krystal to know.