Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox. I wish I did, though. Non Nintendo characters are mine.

*~

Fox woke up exhausted. Although he had no actual nightmare, he felt Irae's presence, and the feeling was slow to fade. Sitting up, Fox stretched and, remembering Krystal's message, fumbled around for the holo-screen remote. Finally finding it on his night stand, he turned it on.

"One new message" the computer told him. "Play?"

"Yes," Fox said, leaning against the wall as a hologram of Krystal's head appeared and the message began to play.

"Fox," Krystal said, seeming worried, "I need to talk to you. Please contact me."

The message ended, and Fox immediately contacted Krystal. Hopefully a working satellite would transmit the message. Fox waited. She might not be onboard, either.

"Connecting," the computer chirped; the message had gotten through.

Krystal appeared, smiling, on the holo-screen, but her face soon clouded with worry.

"What's wrong, Fox?" she asked. "You look tired."

"Never mind me, what did you want to talk to me about?" Fox asked.

"The satellites that have been malfunctioning," Krystal said. "It may have to do with the experiments going on at the Cornerian base."

"That's what we..." Fox trailed off; Krystal shouldn't know about those. "Do you know something?"

"I helped them make an inter-dimensional portal," Krystal said at length. "It needed magic to work."

"Maybe the others should hear this," Fox said. "Inter-dimensional portals are illegal. If the Lylatian Police find out..."

"I know, but the world they connected to... They said they may be able to contact the dead, and..." Krystal looked away. "Cerinia..."

Fox sighed. They had used Krystal, playing on her emotions to get her to help them. He made a note to find out exactly who had done it.

"Can I transfer this call to the cockpit holo-screen?" Fox asked gently.

Krystal nodded, and Fox left his quarters, transferring the call as he walked.

"Okay, guys," Fox said. "Everyone here?" Good. Well, it seems the scientists persuaded Krystal to help them make an inter-dimensional portal."

Slippy stopped typing. Sierra and Peppy stared at Krystal's image on the holo-screen. Even Falco was without a snide remark.

"Fox, just knowing about this and doing nothing makes us criminals," Peppy said solemnly. "And the penalty is exile."

"I know," Fox said. "But let's just hear Krystal out."

Krystal sighed heavily. "It's a unique portal in that you need to have your DNA inserted into the machine to go through, so nothing can... Escape. But ever since I finished, the satellite has been malfunctioning."

"Does Pepper know about the portal?" Slippy asked.

"Yes," Krystal said. "The whole project is his idea."

"We're in way over our heads," Sierra said softly.

"And since when do we ever play it safe?" Falco laughed.

"So you're willing to help us get the satellites working?" Fox asked Krystal.

"Yes," Krystal said, nodding.

"We'll contact you in a bit," Fox said.

"Okay, good bye," Krystal's face disappeared from the holo-screen.

Fox collapsed in his chair. If they said nothing to authorities about the portal and were found out, they would be exiled, probably to Venom. Fox looked to his team.

"If any of you want to back out of this, I won't say anything," he said.

"You know I'm in, McCloud," Falco said with a grin.

"You'll need my help," Slippy said. "You always do."

Peppy saluted, and Sierra smiled. Fox's team was loyal, perhaps to a fault, and Fox was glad to have them there.

"Okay, then," Fox said. "Now, should we contact Pepper and tell him we know about all this?"

Peppy's ears began to twitch. "From a monetary standpoint, we could get more money out of this job if we tell him we know. It may also loosen the tongues of the scientists."

Fox nodded slowly. "What about Krystal?"

"They'll need her to maintain the magical energy," Slippy said.

"Rob, set course for the Cornerian Military Headquarters," Fox said.

"Yes, sir," Rob said.

Fox stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to Krystal."

As Fox walked down the hallway, he felt eyes on him. Looking around, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, but his fur was still standing on end. He glanced behind him, and his eyes widened. Blood dripped from the ceiling and down the walls, pooling on the floor.

It was the hunger that frightened Fox most. It filled him and ate at him like a disease. The blood awoke his instincts, and his instincts were hungry for blood.

Fox was waist-deep in blood now. He panted as he fought to keep his instincts under control. The blood flooded the hallway completely, and Fox floated in the crimson liquid, still breathing despite being submerged. Breathing in the blood. He could taste it on his tongue, and he wanted more. Closing his eyes, Fox faded into blackness.

*~

Slippy sighed. The Katinan satellite was malfunctioning. It was spreading faster than Slippy had expected. Slippy's stomach growled; he hadn't eaten anything all day. Standing up, he headed down the hallway. He saw Fox standing stiffly a few yards away.

"Are you oka-" Slippy gasped as Fox collapsed. "Fox! Hey guys! Fox collapsed!"

The rest of the team gathered, watching as Sierra did a quick check of his vital status.

"He's fine," Sierra said. "He just fainted. What was he doing?"

"He was just standing there," Slippy said. "The Katinan satellite just malfunctioned..."

"I thought you didn't believe that?" Peppy asked.

"Well, three times is a lot of coincidences," Slippy admitted.

Falco carried Fox into his quarters. He woke up a moment after, a crazed look in his eye for a split second. A bloodthirsty look. Falco took a step back. Fox snapped back to normal an instant later.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You fainted," Falco said. "And then you looked at me like you wanted to kill me. Slowly."

Fox seemed startled, looking Falco hard in the eye to see if he was joking. Finally, he sighed.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," he said softly.

"We'll find out," Sierra said, standing in the doorway. "But you should call Krystal. That's what you were planning on doing, isn't it?"

Fox nodded, and Falco and Sierra left. Fox stared into space. Something was very wrong with him. He just didn't know what. Nobody did, it seemed. If they didn't figure out what was wrong with him soon, Fox didn't know what would happen to him. But he knew someone was going to die.