A/N: You know… I really don't have much to say about this chapter. Despite that the Title is just a knock off of the previous one, I feel this truly shows that Wolf is in control of the situation. He's slowly becoming more of a mastermind. Anyway, this chapter is one of my favorites and if you look at it the same way I did you'll probably see why too. The story is about to take a different path. Up until now we've only heard things ABOUT Wolf. Well, now Wolf is actually going to act and you'll learn a piece of his past as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Characters of Starfox, Nintendo does. Any relation to my original characters in anyway is purely coincidental.

Chapter 10: The Big Bad Wolf

He knows who they are! Krystal couldn't help but think about that. She'd just gotten back from the lake with Wolf but couldn't begin to understand just HOW Wolf figured it out. What gave Shane away? Was it the way he acted? Was it the way he ate? Was it… the way he smelled? So many questions but only one answer.

Krystal was getting into her night gown and still trying to come to a reasonable conclusion as to how Wolf figured anything out. He was sharp but his wits wouldn't fool her.

As Krystal slipped under the covers of the bed she heard a crash. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen but you could never be too careful these days.

She got up and grabbed a lantern. She slowly crept out of her room and began down the hall towards the kitchen. She knew Wolf was still awake and she prayed to Great Fox that it wasn't him. With any luck it would be Shane or Shannon. Shannon always gets up for a midnight snack.

As Krystal reached the kitchen she could see a black tail. She sighed with relief to find that it really was Shane. She went into the kitchen and saw Shane gathering up some pots and pans that had spilled out of one of the cabinets. It was then Krystal shined the light on him. "What are you doing?" Krystal whispered rashly.

Shane froze and nearly dropped another pot. "I may never have this much food again!" Shane whispered back with a smile.

Krystal giggled a little bit. "Aren't you supposed to be watching the cell in the dungeon?"

Shane smiled. "Like Fox is going to do anything on MY watch? He's my best friend. Besides, I'm hungry and I can't 'guard' Fox on an empty stomach. Nothing personal but bread and water has been my diet all my life. It's nice to be able to have something else for a change."

Krystal nodded. "Well, you shouldn't be in the kitchen this late. You could wake someone."

Shane didn't say anything in response. Instead he put back all the pots and grabbed a glass and filled it to the brim with lemonade. "You don't see much lemonade in the market place either." Shane smiled. "You want some?"

Krystal shook her head and looked behind her. Hurry up before someone sees us! Her mind kept screaming. "For a thief you sure aren't very professional."

"I never had to open up any cabinets on the streets. All I had to do was take."

Krystal was almost ready to go when she looked at Shane again. "Come back to my room." She said. "I have something to tell you. Something important."

Shane knew I must've been bad but he followed her regardless of what her tone of voice said to him.

When they were back at Krystal's room she turned the lantern off and let the lamp illuminate the room. As she did all this Shane only stayed in the doorway and watched her every move. "You don't have to be shy." Krystal waved him in. "Come in and have a seat. I don't have cooties." She patted the bed as she crawled in and wrapped the covers around her.

Shane closed the door behind him and walked up to the side and set the watermelon and lemonade down. He sat on the bed as was requested of him and Krystal sat up looking into his eyes. "I need to say something before it's too late."

Shane listened intently. His heart was racing a million miles a second waiting for the words to come out. "What is it?" As he was saying this, his paw was slowly reaching towards hers.

Krystal sighed and then blurted out what she wanted to say. "Wolf knows about you and Fox. He knows your both thieves and he knew this before Shannon recruited you as a member of the guards." At the mention of this Shane's paw stopped and he drew it back to him.

"How does he know? You didn't say anything did you?"

Krystal shook her head. "He didn't tell me how he knew. In any case, you being here is a potential danger now. You can't stay any longer."

"What?" Shane's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"You need to leave before Wolf does something about it. I know he will."

Shane was now shaking and Krystal could feel it. "This… isn't…. how?" Shane managed to spit out. "I haven't done THAT much to give myself away."

Krystal sighed. "Maybe you have… maybe you haven't. Either way I think it's best if you leave."

"I can't go." Shane shook his head. "I won't leave Fox. He's pretty much a brother to me. If I leave him in the dust to suffer I'm no better than Wolf."

Krystal smiled. "He must love having you around."

"Actually he can't stand me most of the time." Shane laughed but saw the smirk on Krystal's face disappear. "Seriously though, I can't leave him. If I leave him here who knows what Wolf will do to him. He seems to be calling the shots around here."

Krystal nodded. "You've got to watch Wolf closely. He doesn't look like the type to let on that he knows. He's also an excellent actor."

"Why do you say that?"

"The way he's fooled my mother and father. They love him to death and keep telling me, 'Isn't he a find catch?'. I don't want to be married to that inconsiderate, self-centered, snobby, scary, untrustworthy fluke." Krystal then grew silent for no reason at all.

Shane looked back at the door and then back to her. "Why did you stop?"

"Because I know he's watching me. From somewhere… he's watching me. His eye is on me… I know it's on me! He can hear us."

Shane looked around once more. "But--" Krystal put a finger over his lips.

"Don't say another word… listen carefully." Krystal warned and then let the room fill up with silence. Except it wasn't silent.

Through the walls and through the door they both could hear what sounded like breathing. They weren't sure but they were hearing something. The breathing sounded labored but all the same the room was not silent. "I'm scared Shane." Krystal said and hugged him close to her.

Shane let his eyes wander around the room as if looking for something. "I'll be damned." He suddenly spoke as he found nothing… but could sense something.

"What is it?"

Shane let Krystal go and looked around some more. He then got up off the bed and began to walk around. "He knows we're here!" Shane started to breathe heavily. "He can see us… AND hear us."

"How do you know?"

Shane looked to the door and saw a shadow disappear. "Because he's right outside the door. He's spying on you."

Krystal looked to the door. "He couldn't be."

"Of course he can. It's easy for him. He only has one eye… and its always watching."

Krystal curled up on her bed and closed her eyes. "Please stop Shane… you're scaring me."

"You don't know how scared I am at the moment either." Shane put his ear to the ground and could here clicking on the ground. "He knows we can hear him now. Don't make any sudden moves." Krystal did as she was told and Shane looked directly at the crack under the door. He's there! Shane screamed in his mind. He could SEE the eye and at that point in time it struck more fear in him than anything else… and he had survived much worse. "I'll be damned." Shane repeated and watched as the eye disappeared and the shadow run off.

"What is it?" Krystal asked.

"I was right… he is watching us. He just ran off."

Krystal started to feel frightened. "I don't know if I can take this Shane."

"You should start leaving your door opened." Shane cautioned her. "He's good… better than most of the others." Shane complimented.

"What?"

Shane stood up and scratched his chin. "He's… different from most royalty." Shane noted aloud. "He was too quiet… and sneaky."

Krystal couldn't figure out what Shane was getting to but Shane was quick to figure this out by the expression on her face.

"Krystal," Shane concluded, "I think Wolf was once a thief."

Krystal didn't say anything. "What makes you say that?"

"The way he scampered off when he knew he was caught. That and he was just too damn quiet. No offense but Royalty ALWAYS has to make an entrance. Royalty is too loud when they walk. I could hear Jade approaching from a mile away. Wolf was too silent and stealth-like. He may be a prince but he has some experience in being a thief or a sneaker no doubt."

Krystal began to understand and then there was suddenly a knock at the door. "Come in." Krystal said and Jade walked into the room. Krystal looked to Shane, who had a look on his face that said 'I told you so'. Her attention went back to Jade who just stood there with her arms crossed.

"Shane, what are you doing?" Jade asked and made note that Shane was still in uniform and Krystal was in her nightgown. "Shouldn't you be at the dungeon?"

"Did you notice anything on your way here?" Shane ignored her question.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Well, besides me not seeing YOU coming in here umm--"

"I'm talking about with Wolf. Did you notice anything?"

"I saw him scamper back into his room." Jade answered. "Now why are you in here?"

"Because he was helping me with a problem." Krystal answered for him.

"Would that involve eating the watermelon?" Jade asked as she eyed it. "Once a thief always a thief." She smiled. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone but you better get back to the dungeon young vulpine. If you don't Wolf will certainly deal with you."

Shane made note of that and grabbed his glass of lemonade and walked out the door leaving the watermelon behind.

As Shane strolled out the door he made a mental note to be wary of Wolf. The lupine was clever… VERY clever. No wonder he knows so much. As Shane passed by Wolf's room he noticed a distinct difference. He looked at Wolf's bed to discover that Wolf wasn't there! Immediately Shane dropped the class to the ground and it shattered into a million pieces.

Shane wasn't as good at being sneaky the way Fox was but he was smart enough to know a few tricks of trade. Shane finally sighed. "OK Wolf, you win. Come out of hiding."

Shane stayed stable for a few minutes when he suddenly felt an arm wrap around his neck and a knife to his back. "Don't move!" Wolf said and began to drag Shane back to the kitchen.

"Listen to me and listen well." Wolf began to speak. "You're a bit of a nuisance if you ask me. Give me ten good reasons why I shouldn't report you to the King and Queen about who you really are!"

Wolf had a strong grip on him that almost seemed to be cutting off the circulation of Shane's blood.

Once in the kitchen Wolf managed to throw Shane to the ground face first. He then got down on his knees with the knife to Shane's neck. "I could blow your secret anytime and then you wouldn't get sentenced to the dungeon. Do you know that if you deceive the King and Queen the penalty is execution?" Shane grunted as he tried to shake his head. "Well, you and Shannon both have your lives on the line now. But fortunately, I'm not a sadistic wolf." He pressed the blunt side of the knife to the back of Shane's neck. "I can help you, if you will help me." Wolf said.

Shane was silent. "I won't help you!"

"You will if you value your Goddamn life!" Wolf pressed the blunt side of the knife up against his neck harder that the sharp edges started to draw blood. "And you will if you value Shannon's as well. What a shame it would be to lose Shannon, Larc, Krystal AND Fox on account of you!"

"You've got NOTHING on Fox, Krystal and Larc!"

"Oh, but I do." Wolf said and relieved the pressure on Shane's neck. "Fox is already up for execution. I may yet be able to save him if you cooperate. And Larc? Well, he's been sneaking food down to prisoners lately and that surely violates the guard's code, which can result in him being dismissed from the guards. And Krystal? Harboring a thief and deceiving her own mother and father. Surely that calls for some sort of punishment."

Shane finally stopped struggling. "You're a real bastard!"

"I know." Wolf cackled. "But you have one chance to save them… and yourself. But you have to help me!"

Shane didn't want to make this harder than it already is. He couldn't just give away the life of the friends he just got to know and love. He certainly wouldn't EVER give away Fox's life. He'd do anything to save Fox and after all the times Fox had saved Shane… now Shane had to do the same for Fox. Shane finally sighed and realized that he had no choice but to give in. "What is it you want?"

"I want to be King and I want to rule Cerina."

"Why? You already got sent from your own Kingdom."

"But Cerina has more! It's bigger, more powerful. It's full of riches as well! If I ruled Cerina I could amass to many things. Corneria is dead to me! Cerina is my future now!"

"What are you after in Cerina?"

"A world where I rule! You'd benefit in ways too. Imagine not having to live on the streets. Imagine if you were in the palace as a servant!"

"That still doesn't explain why you can't go back and rule your own Kingdom."

"When you're a thief like James McCloud nobody minds a small little theft here and there as long as its food but when you're a prince and a partner in crime to the most notorious thief in the world your kingdom WILL find you. Cerina is also the most powerful kingdom in the world and I won't have to live with the conscience of James on my head any longer."

"What are you trying to say?" Shane said.

"I was James McCloud's partner. I want to start a new life now in Cerina! I want to run from my old one and pretend it never happened in the richest kingdom in the world!" Wolf hissed.

To Shane this so far made no sense. But he did understand one thing. THIS was the fur that Fox had been searching for all his life and THIS was the fur that was responsible for James abandoning his family. Now Wolf was trying to erase his past and start a new future.

"Think about it Shane. You won't be responsible for the death of your friends and you'd be doing a great favor to your precious Krystal and you'd CERTAINLY be doing a favor for Fox. You want to save Fox, don't you?"

Shane could no longer resist. He sighed and finally gave in. Not to save his own tail but to save Fox. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to help me become King. I want you to convince Krystal to merry me!" Wolf spoke softly. The entire time Wolf's voice was calm as he gave Shane his orders. "And if you can't do that then I want you to get rid of the King and Queen." Shane's eyes bulged open but he knew Wolf wasn't finished yet. "I don't want you to kill them, as I said I'm not sadistic. I just want you to get rid of them. Do you understand?"

Shane spit on the ground to insult Wolf but this only made the lupine chuckle a bit. "I knew you'd see it my way… Partner."

A/N: So what now? Shane has nothing else to do… and I know, Fox hasn't done much but he's locked up and CAN'T do much, remember? He'll get out soon but in the mean time what's going to happen now? Shane now HAS to cooperate with Wolf or else… But anyway, let me know what you think. RR and enjoy!