RusVal-Hey, I'm not dead!

Jazz-(without emotion) Yeah. Happy day. Oh, joyous… joyous occasion.

(RusVal rolls eyes and hold a cookie in front of Jazz's face)

Jazz-OH BOY! HE'S BACK! ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD!

RusVal-Good boy. (feeds Jazz the cookie)

Jazz-(eating cookie) You know… I'm going to get you back (GULP) for that.

RusVal-Yeah, I know. Anyway, I don't know why I bother with a disclaimer, like I do much anyway. So, on with the story!

StarSonic

Ch. 7: Dressing for the party

Rotor was tinkering with his device, waiting for Sonic, Sally, and Tails to return. When Tails had landed, the young fox had immediately run off, leaving the walrus by the Hurricane. Instead of trying to catch up, Rotor thought it best to keep an eye on their equipment. From a distance, he saw the two space ships, as he interpreted to being, land where Sonic and Sally were. After about an hour or so, he saw them take off, although one had barely avoided crashing into a tree. –Guess one of the aliens isn't good a takeoffs- Rotor concluded.

A rustling in a nearby bush brought his attention to three figures walking up: A blue hedgehog, a red haired squirrel, and a single tailed fox. Rotor went back to his equipment. The walrus then paused. -A SINGLE TAILED FOX?!- Giving a startled look, Rotor shot up straight, turning towards the upcoming group. Indeed, it was a single tailed fox. The surprises didn't stop there, however, for this fox also had the body, and height, of a short overlander.

"Hey, Rotor!" Sonic greeted his surprised buddy.

Noticing Rotor's stare, Sally quickly went into introductions, "Rotor, this is Fox McCloud, a fighter pilot from the planet Corneria. Fox, this it Rotor, our local mechanic."

"Aw, don't be mild, Sal," Sonic bragged as he placed a hand on a still-stunned Rotor's shoulder, "this guy is a genius. He is always coming up with some sort of gadget or another."

"Nice to meet you Rotor," Fox held out his hand, which Rotor shaked while still staring, "You can blink any day now."

Rotor shook his head, "Oh, sorry. It's just that…"

"Yeah, I know," Fox chuckled, "I got that from these guys, too."

Sonic and Sally gave each other surprised looks.

"What?" Fox gave an evil grin, "You guys thought I couldn't see you two? I can spot a meteorite from a distance that most people couldn't using a High Def Scanner. Spotting two Mobians who are staring at you like you had grown another leg is no problem."

Sally blushed, while Sonic just crossed his arms, grumbling to himself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"This is so awesome!" Tails shouted.

Despite almost hitting a tree, Tails had gotten to fly an Arwing very well. It wasn't long before he was flying in tight formation with Falco. It also helped that he was in contact with Slippy, who Fox had standing by to give advice on the Arwing's basic controls. The entire time, Slippy gave instructions through Fox's headset, which Tails was wearing. Tails learned quickly, and was having the time of his life. Although he could not reach the pedals, as Fox explained that Slippy would have had to modify to accommodate for Tails' height, the two-tailed youngster was fine just using the thrust and control sticks for his first Arwing flight. What surprised him was the fact that the words on the screen were the same language as the ones that everyone on Mobius used. –Maybe English is a universal language- Tails wondered to himself.

"So, I take it that you are enjoying your first flight," Slippy pointed out over the comm unit.

"He also is flying better than you ever had, Slip," Falco jibbed.

"Quiet, birdbrain!" Slippy shot back.

Falco laughed. Tails could tell that they didn't always get along. He did note however, that their tones were more joking than hurtful.

"Uh, guys," Tails spoke up, "We're almost there."

"So, what is this place again?" Falco asked.

"It used to be an underground base that we used before moving to present-day Knothole," Tails explained, "There's a hanger that we stored any planes we had."

"I take it that it's made for horizontal landing aircraft?"

"Yep," Tails answered.

"It shouldn't be a problem, Falco," Slippy noted, "We basically do the same type of landing with the Great Fox."

"Yeah, but there are mechanisms that catch our craft when we enter. The Arwings don't have wheels on them."

"Still shouldn't be a problem for an EXPERT pilot," Slippy slipped some emphasis into 'expert', "such as yourself."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Falco snapped.

Tails realized what Falco meant. The child fox had barely avoided becoming scrap metal on takeoff, and now he was going to be making a difficult landing using an aircraft that wasn't built for that type of landing to begin with.

"Maybe Tails should practice hovering in midair before trying to land?" Slippy suggested.

"Sure, but we can't take too long," Falco noted, "Two spaceships floating in midair are bound to attract unwanted attention."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After Rotor had recovered from meeting Fox, the group had discussed how they were going to get said Cornarian into the palace without attracting too much attention. Fox at first believed it wouldn't be too hard, but quickly learned that keeping secrets wasn't easy at Knothole. He was especially surprised when he learned about the Majesty's 'Secret' Service.

"Uh, if everyone knew about them, why was it still known as the 'Secret' Service?" Fox asked, baffled.

"Geoffrey St. John isn't too bright," Sonic stated bluntly.

"Sonic!" Sally scolded, "Be nice!"

"Well he is!" Sonic argued in defense, "I even had to save him when he was going after your bro!"

As the couple continued to argue, Fox turned his head towards Rotor.

"Rival over her heart, by chance?" the pilot asked.

"How'd you know?" wondered a surprised Rotor.

"They were holding hands earlier," Fox noted.

"Didn't realize it was that obvious," the mechanic laughed, "but yeah, Geoffrey was in love with Sally one time, but recently gave up."

After letting Sonic and Sally argue for a couple more minutes, Fox gave a light cough to get their attention. For a moment, the hedgehog and squirrel just stared at the vulpine and walrus, before blushing terribly, trying to regain their composure.

"You know," Fox grinned, "if I didn't know better, I would have thought you were already married."

As if it was possible, Sonic's and Sally's faces became even redder. Rotor's face, in the meantime, was red for another reason altogether. He was currently trying, and failing, to stop laughing. It wasn't until a full 5 minutes later that the Knothole mechanic was finally able to regain control of himself.

"Well, to try to save what little is left of these guys' dignity," Fox said, gesturing towards Sonic and Sally, "When I meet the king, he may want to talk to General Pepper."

"How will he be able to do that?" Sonic asked.

"With this," Fox pulled out a small device from his backpack, which he had recovered from his Arwing.

Everyone else looked questioningly at him, before Fox sighed and pushed a few buttons on the device. Immediately, the contraption hovered out of Fox's hand, and projected a three-dimensional rabbit head.

"Wow," Rotor gapped, "a floating holo-projector! I've been working on something like that for years now!"

"I see you like our technology," the head spoke before introducing himself, "I am Peppy Hare, one of the original members on the Star Fox team. I'm retired now, but I still give Fox directions on his missions.

"Sort of like an advisor to the team," Sally deduced.

"Right you are, young lady," Peppy nodded.

"Oh, Peppy," Fox jumped in, remembering he hadn't introduced the group yet, "she is Princess Sally Acorn of Knothole Village. The blue hedgehog's Sonic, and the smart one right there is Rotor."

"A pleasure," Peppy nodded again, "So Fox, I'm figuring you want me to contact Pepper as you visit the King of Knothole."

"That's right, Peppy."

"Well, as it just so happens…" Peppy's head then was replaced by a head of a dog wearing a General's hat, "…I am already standing by, Fox. The only thing you have to worry about is trying to get in."

Pepper's head then turned back into Peppy's.

"We'll be waiting, Fox."

"Ok, Peppy. Fox out," Fox hit some more buttons on the projector, shutting it off.

"What else you got in that backpack, Fox?" Rotor asked, curiosity peaking.

"Later," Fox promised, "Now, you have a robe I can try on?"

"Actually, it's back at my house," Sonic admitted, "Hang on, I'll run back and get it for you!"

"What?" Fox looked at Sonic in bewilderment, "you're going to run ALL the way there, and then ALL the way back?"

"Sure," Sonic shrugged.

"Uh… Won't that take a while?"

Sonic just looked at him. Before Fox knew what was happening, the Hedgehog wasn't there anymore. Looking around in surprise, Fox noticed Sally had a smile on her face. Rotor was smiling, also.

"He's not called 'Sonic' for nothing," Sally stated matter-of-factly.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bunnie Rabbot sighed as she looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the wild blue yonder, at least on this part of the world. She had heard that Sally and Sonic were going on a rescue mission, but found out that she wasn't required to come along. Because of this, she decided to do something she hadn't done in a while: have a picnic with Antoine. As usual, her boyfriend had cooked up a great meal, which the couple was enjoying fully. Currently, Antoine was biting into a watermelon when he noticed Bunnie staring into the blue sky. Putting the half-eaten fruit down, the French fox edged closer, staring at the sky with her.

Unfortunately, a romantic moment was not to be. A faint humming sound drew their attention.

"Hey, sugah, what do you suppose those thangs are?" Bunnie asked, pointing to two specks in the distance.

"Sucre bleu. Az Soneec might zay, 'I 'ave'nt zee clue'," Antoine admitted.

"Whateva' they are, they sure aren't freedom fighta'," Bunnie concluded, "Antione, run back an see if Sonic's back. If he ain't, get someone else to come by and check this out."

"B-but," Antoine sputtered, "I can't leave ze ladiee by herzelf! Itz not gentlemanly!"

"Don't worry, sugah. Y'all know I can take care of myself," Bunnie reassured him.

Reluctantly Antoine agreed and hurried off, but not before picking up the picnic basket and blanket. Shaking her head, Bunnie turned around to face the two specks in the sky. Activating the rocket boosters in her legs, she took off, in hopes to find out who the sudden guests were.

RusVal- PHEW! THAT was a lot of work! Sorry it took so long. I have had a lot of things happen at home, and couldn't find the time.

Jazz- Yeah, but you sure found time to play Half-Life.

RusVal- Shut up you. Anyway, I would like to say that I did not give up on the Datafiles thing, I just have been too lazy to get all the necessary info. (By the way, if anyone knows characters' different heights, I'd greatly appreciate it if you put it in your review. I am taking anonymous reviews now)

Jazz- Dude, so when do you think the next chapter will come out?

RusVal- I am not sure. That is all I am saying. By the way, I will be trying to fold the Sonic comic story into this one as much as I can, and I may bring in a few new characters as well.

Jazz-Really, dude? Who?

RusVal- I'm not saying, but I will say that there may also be some ex-girlfriends entering the picture.

Jazz-Who's girlfriends, dude?

RusVal- I'm not saying.

Jazz- I sense a pattern here…

RusVal- So until next time, speed on, full afterburner!