Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox! It's owned by Nintendo, and Terra System, names, etc. are license of Galaxy Wulf, in which I own. The story took place during Star Fox 64, sometime after your battle with Star Wolf at Venom 2. I was wrong about my first two disclaimers. There will be FEW flashbacks here. Anyway, the narrator is obvious. Go and read!

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Rivals or Friends

Chapter 8: Qualm

Inside the Great Fox, where everywhere is quiet, I was sitting on the couch, thinking deeply. I looked at an object on the desk beside me. I noticed that it's Wolf's eye patch. I held it close to my heart, and then I remembered everything that he told me earlier. I threw it off away, as my rage wants his body to be ripped apart.

I didn't know that Peppy was observing my actions. He walked towards me, offering me a hot cup of java, and asked, "What's the sudden rage against Wolf? I thought that you two were already close." Before I could answer though, Falco, who was eavesdropping, butted in from our conversation.

"I told you he's a traitor!" he snickered as he sits beside me. "You don't want to believe this Falconstein that knows almost everything, but I was right all along!" He then continued laughing, making Fox mad and delivered a sucker punch towards the bird, making him fall down with his bleeding nostril.

I growled at him. "If you don't want to be my punching bag for my rage, then shut up!" Peppy looked rather concerned towards me. I was never this angry. I helped Falco stood up, but then I didn't talk to him. Something's strange going in me, but why does it happen? Wolf's nothing compared to my pals, but… why does his loss makes me angry?

Just then, Ruby entered the room. She looks tired after searching for Wolf. "I couldn't find him," she whimpered in front of Peppy. She then growled at me. "If you helped me search for him, or if you could've at least stopped him, he won't leave us like this!" I know she's right, but I'm so mad at him right now.

"Weren't you listening earlier, Ruby?" I shouted back to calm her down. "He said that he has done something for the enemy, and that he doesn't want to return to us!" In frustration, she sat down on a seat, breathing out a somewhat excruciating sigh.

"What happened out there?" Slippy, who just recently finished his work, asked. "Maybe you could share it to us, Fox."

I nodded to think deep. I don't know if I should tell it to them or not. However, I mustn't confine myself with such strange anger also. Maybe telling this would ease me… "All right then. But I want you all to listen, since I'm not going to repeat myself!"

This happened when we saw Wolf running away from the target base. His body is covered in blood, and even his snout and face has stains of crimson. We wondered why, so Ruby and I tried to confront him. All he said was not to follow him.

Of course, we won't allow it, with the exception of Falco. He just went back to his Arwing, telling us that he's a jerk and other unimportant words. We didn't listen to him, and we immediately followed Wolf. We tried to catch up on him.

"Weren't you two listening to me?" Wolf growled back from the monitor. "Don't follow me! For your safety, I can't let you have me aboard!"

"You're our teammate, Wolf! We don't want you to leave!" Ruby cried out. She knows she needs Wolf in the team. "If there's a problem, then maybe we can talk about it!"

I then added, "She's right! Wolf, I told you that I'd back you up if things go wrong. From the way you look, we know that you need us! Remember that I, no we, will help you change, Wolf!"

It seems that our sentiments were either unheard or Wolf ignored us. He growled back from the monitor, now looking serious. "Can't you see?! I'm trying to flee and get out form this place! Don't follow me and force me to come back! I… I was actually working for the enemy… and… I just killed a Cornerian soldier there… yes… that's right… and… I was just playing along… Fox… I'm… I was not really changing my attitude, but I'm only faking it out… I know it'll shock you but that's the truth! So… will you please leave me! Otherwise, I'll have to kill you two. I can still remember what you've done for me so I'll give a chance to go away…"

It punctured my chest down to the heart. I couldn't believe it. As he boosted away, Ruby kept on nagging me on following him, but I was as deaf as a stone. She then began to search alone, while I, with grief, kept on pondering about what happened.

I then concluded, "Wolf's a traitor. He used his handicap to exploit my weakness… and he was good about it…" As I said those words, I couldn't help my feelings. My tantalizing eyes dropped a tear, and slowly followed by a few more. "He… was no friend! And I thought that our friendship was just about to begin…"

"I don't want to believe it!" Ruby argued my statement. "He's not bad! Maybe he's hiding something… Maybe the enemy has done something to him and he doesn't want us to find out about it…"

"Ruby might be right," Peppy agreed. "He didn't do anything suspicious here in the ship, and as far as I can say, he's the type of person who hides such things…" Falco however, scoffed at the two.

"If I were you Fox, I'd forget about him…" he told me.

As for me, I ignored them. I picked up Wolf's eye patch from the floor, squeezing it tightly as thoughts flow in my mind. "Wolf… You're really mysterious… Why must you run away when you have friends waiting for you?"