Chapter 30: An Uncertain Future
(Corneria Hospital)
Inside an almost completely while room stood several animals, all dressed in white medical uniforms that hung loosely around their bodies. Each of these animals that stood nervously around the room each were watching in distress as the animal that laid towards the middle of the room, who could be identified as Fox McCloud, slowly slipped further and further away from recovery, something the animals in this room knew was imminent within the coming days, but they were determined to keep him alive as long as was in their power, knowing that the entire universe was counting on them to heal their fallen hero.
Fox's disheveled body sat quietly in an operating chair, which had white sheet that was tucked securely underneath him, small blood spots appearing at regular intervals disturbing the clean feeling of the room. The vulpines body was greatly exposed, wearing only a pair of white medical boxers, which was made necessary because of the several different areas the doctors had to work on to fully repair the greatly injured fox. He was unconscious at the time, mostly from the sheer amount of pain he was experiencing, but the doctors had also supplied him with a large amount of sleeping gas to be sure that he did not wake up at an inconvenient time. He had been operated on several times up until now, and even though the doctors were beginning to make slight progress, the diagnosis was still bleak.
Suddenly, one of the animals that stood closest the Fox's body noticed a small amount of blood beginning to fall from the bandaged area near the vulpines chest, he turned to his superior and said in a worried voice, "Doctor, something's going wrong, he's beginning to lose blood again. I don't know what happened."
The main doctor, who had at the time been looking over the life signs of Fox McCloud, quickly looked up and said with disbelief, "What? But how, we've already cut off all sources of blood to that area, he can't be bleeding."
Another animal that stood only a short distance from the body of the vulpine at a small machine motioned for the doctor, saying, "Here, look at this scan, a new vein has opened up, we'll have to stop it quickly. If we don't, he might die within the hour."
The doctor quickly looked over the scans, raising his vision towards Fox and saying across the room, "But we're not ready for another operation right now, we don't have any of the right equipment to prevent this from getting out of hand."
The animal that stood beside him explained with rapidly growing panic in his voice, "He won't hold on much longer, he's already lost more blood that he can afford. We have to do something, we can't just let Fox McCloud die like this…"
Suddenly, the animal that had first noticed something else emanating from the lying vulpines body, "Wait, Doctor! Something's happening, I've never seen anything like this before!"
The doctor looked up from the scanner he stood behind and asked with frustration, "What are you talking about? What do you…wait."
The doctor hesitated as he began to see it as well. A soft blue light began to surround the vulpine, causing the walls of the otherwise white room to become a gentle shade of blue as well.
The doctor looked on in disbelief as he exclaimed, "What the hell is happening? Scans! What are the scans showing?
Every animal in the room rushed to a different scanner, each giving the same result. One of the animals replied among the silence, "Nothing Doctor, it doesn't detect anything at all…"
The animals in that room now watched in wonder as the light slowly became stronger, filling the entire room with a strange blue light.
The doctor covered his eyes in an attempt to block the light from his eyes, while at the same time trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening. He found his attempts to be useless and could only continue to shield his eyes. Whatever was happening to Fox at this time, none of the animals in that room could do anything to help. They could only watch as the light continued to get stronger and stronger, until at last, it disappeared in an instant.
(In the Great Fox docking bay)
"I guess this is where we go our separate ways again, huh? Stay safe out there, and again, thanks for the help back on Katina…"
Bill, who stood looking out from the edge of one of his transports, took his last look at the crew of the Great Fox as he said this. At least, it was his last glance at Katt, Falco, and Krystal, who stood a short distance away from the four Arwings that now sat quietly in the docking bay of their ship.
Falco motioned towards the open docking bay door with his hand as he said, "Just get outta here, you still got work to do down there, don't forget that." Bill smirked as he heard this, responding, "Don't worry, you're the last person I'd want to disappoint, nothing good's coming my way once I'm on your hit list." Falco smirked back at this ego boost of a comment and gave him a friendly wave in reply. Bill waved back and slowly withdrew back into the transport, the doors closing in front of him as the small ship rose off the ground. The three animals watched quietly as the ship slowly drifted through the docking bay and out into space.
There was a brief silence that followed for a short time after, each feeling relieved to be back on their ship. This silence was abruptly broken however as the door to the docking bay slid open, causing the three animals to turn their heads simultaneously towards the noise. When they turned, they saw that the source of the noise was a small green toad, one that they had not seen for the past two days.
Slippy smiled as he saw his teammates standing in front of him and said with excitement in his voice, "Wow, I saw that explosion all the way from here! Was that you guys?" Falco nodded as he and the other two animals walked towards the green toad, "Ya, that was us." Slippy smiled back and continued in his eager voice, "That's great, I guess you guys completed the mission then. I haven't seen you three for so long, I was starting to..." Slippy hesitated as his eyes quickly scanned around the area for something. He soon redirected his attention back to the blue avian, asking, "Hey, what happened to Fox? Is he still on that other ship?" Falco quickly shook his head and responded, "No, he's not with us anymore. He got hurt during the mission and he got carted back to Corneria." Before Slippy had time to start worrying, Falco quickly added, "But don't worry about it, Pepper called up the Ladekahn this morning and said that he's fine, so I wouldn't worry too much about McCloud." Slippy found these statements very hard to grasp in such a short time, made apparent by the blank look on his face, but after a few quick blinks, he regained his focus and said in a trembling voice, "Fox went to Corneria? At least he's ok…but still, what happened? I want to know too…" Falco shook his head at the toad's comment and replied, "We'll tell you all about it later, but right now, we need to get to the bridge." Slippy gave the avian a sad looking stare in an attempt to pry the information from him at that moment, but it had no effect on the avian. Instead, Katt chimed in from a few steps back and added, "He's right Slippy, we need to get up to the bridge. Bill recorded our next mission briefing for us and I don't think it's a good idea to keep the General waiting for too long." Slippy lowered his head, slightly disappointed that he was once again left out of the loop, but soon nodded and said in a quiet voice, "Ok, let's go the bridge then…" Falco smirked at the look Slippy had on his face and said sarcastically, "At least now you have us around to keep you company, right?" Slippy gave Falco a cold glare, at least, as much of one as Slippy could possibly give, and replied, "Thanks a lot Falco…"
The four remaining members of the Star Fox team made the short walk up the bridge with little conversation, not even Slippy seemed to make much noise on the walk up. This silence seemed to be a welcome commodity for the animals that had just departed from the Ladekahn IV, after having gone through everything that happened the day previous, it was nice to merely be granted this period of calm.
It was not long after they had set out for the bridge from the docking bay that they stood in front of the bridge door. Falco was the first to enter, quickly followed by the remaining four animals that walked behind him. Upon entering, a familiar robotic voice rang from the wall farthest from the bridge window, "Confirmed captainship change. Captain Fox McCloud, inoperative. Registering Falco Lombardi as current captain of Great Fox. Change is valid until Captain Falco Lombardi deems it otherwise."
The team looked up in surprise as they heard ROB say these words. Slippy was the first to speak, stopping in place as he heard this, "Are you ok ROB? I never told you that there was a new captain, I didn't even know until Falco got back. What happened?" Falco snickered at the toads comment and replied, "Nothing's wrong with him Slippy, I just went ahead and changed his programming from my Arwing, hope you don't mind." Slippy glanced over at him and commented, "From your Arwing? But in order to do that, you'd have to get ROB's transmission code and know the passwords to his programming…" Falco smirked again as he now stood leaning on the arm of the former captains chair on the middle of the bridge, "Ya, well, it gets pretty boring around here sometimes, and…let's just say you don't do a very convincing job of hiding that kind of information."
Before this conversation could drag on longer than necessary, Katt quickly stepped in before Slippy could make any kind of response and said in a slightly annoyed tone of voice, "Falco, just a few minutes ago you were so worried about us screwin' off, but what do you call what you're doing." Falco turned from the toad and replied with a rather large smirk, "I'm just talking with my faithful crew is all, is that a problem?" Katt rolled her eyes as she leaned on the wall next to the bridge door as she usually did, "Well excuse me, but I think we have more important things to do…" Falco sighed as he reluctantly took his chair on the middle of the bridge, "Fine, whatever you say. Here Slippy, throw this into ROB's computer."
Slippy was barely able to look up in time before he noticed a small device that came flying towards his head. He reached up and hit the device, bobbling it around in his hands for a short while before finally gaining complete control over the small, circular object. He looked away from this device as he walked towards the place where ROB was standing and asked, "Is this the recording?" Falco nodded his head in response as he leaned back into the chair with one hand behind his head, "I guess that's why you're the brains of this ship huh Slippy? Just do what I told you and there won't be any problems." Slippy sighed as he stood next to ROB and his computer. He inserted the small disk into one of the many compartments that were integrated into the robot's computer, and it accepted it with a few short beeps. It took the computer a few seconds to load the information into the holographic screen, but when it did, the screen immediately came to life.
The crew looked on as a distraught looking General Pepper now sat in front of them, his hands folded on his desk. The General let out a gradual sigh before beginning his recorded briefing in a penitent sounding voice.
"Team Star Fox, we at the Cornerian Army Base have decided on your next destination on your mission. This next planet sits less than one sector away from the planet Aquas. Like many of the other planets you've visited so far, it is quite primitive, so many people have never taken much notice of it before. You're next destination is the planet Kharta, a planet inhabited by an indigenous tribe of mountain dwellers. The planet is covered by a constant mist of snow, which will make this planet one of the more difficult to liberate, but if you are able to forgo fighting the natives, this ordeal will prove to be much easier."
Pepper paused at this point to clear his throat, but continued shortly after in the same sad sounding voice.
"I'm sorry that we want you to carry on with this mission without Fox McCloud to lead you, but this mission is of utmost importance. And as far as your leader goes, as you already must know by now, he's in critical condition and recovery seems like an impossibility. Our doctors are trying everything they can to restore him to his former self, but from the reports I have been receiving, it seems like they are making very little progress. As hard as it may be for you all to accept, they say that Fox McCloud could…pass on anytime during these next few days. I'm sorry that you are forced to go through something as tragic as this, but you are not alone. The entire planet, as well as myself, are finding this fact quite hard to accept, but there is little we can do to prevent this from happening…all we can do at this point is wish for a miracle to save him…I wish you all the best of luck on your mission, Pepper out."
Immediately after the General finished speaking, the screen that had previously filled the middle of the bridge quickly vanished, leaving the room in complete silence.
Falco, who now sat a little more uneasily in his chair, quickly remembered what he had said about Fox's condition, but now that the General had just revealed the truth in that recording, he knew he was going to receive some comments from his team in a very short time. It was almost as if he could feel the eyes of the animals that stood silently on the bridge staring at the back of his chair.
Unfortunately for Falco, his thoughts proved to be as accurate as he had believed they would. Katt broke the silence in the room by slowly walking over towards the chair Falco motionlessly sat in, commenting in a calm sounding voice, "Hey Falco, didn't you tell us that Fox was going to be fine?" Falco did not turn around, merely giving a weak, "Uhh…ya, I did," in reply. Katt continued in the same voice as she had used previously, "You did? That's funny, I could've sworn that I just heard something different from the General." She paused slightly, giving Falco a chance to try and defend himself, but when he remained silent, she continued in a slowly rising voice, "And I think if I were given the choice of which one I believe, I'd have to take the General. What do you think? Is that a good choice?" At this point, Falco turned around in his chair to face the feline, donning a slightly regretful expression as he explained, "Ok, just listen for a second, I was just…"
Katt quickly cut him off, her face now showing her true emotions that she was feeling towards the avain's deceit, and yelled at him in a frustrated voice, "You listen to me blueboy! Back on the Ladekahn, you told me, as well as everybody else on this ship that Fox was fine! But guess what I just figured out? I just figured out that you just lied straight to our faces. Do you think that's a good thing to do to your 'crew'? This is exactly the type of thing I'd imagine you doing, and is also why I think you'd make a crappy leader!" Katt paused to catch her breath, which Falco quickly took as an opening to speak to the angered feline, "Hey, I was just trying to keep you girls from whining, cause I knew that's all you would do if I told you the truth. If you weren't such a frickin' whiner I would've told you without any problem." This seemed to enrage Katt to a much larger degree as she threw her arm out in front of her, pointing an angry finger towards the avian, "You wouldn't know the first thing about caring about someone else's feelings! Look at how you reacted when Fox first got hurt, it was like it didn't even matter to you at all! How can you blame me for wanting Fox to get better? Can't you see that everyone in the entire galaxy is worried EXCEPT for you? And you call him your friend?"
This argument stopped momentarily as the sound of the bridge door broke into their angry words. Katt took a quick glance back to see that Krystal had left the bridge, and she also noticed that Slippy was silently looking on, but his attention was quickly diverted to the computer that sat in front of him as he attempted to look like he was not paying any attention to their dispute.
Katt immediately turned her attention back to Falco and continued in the same angry tone of voice, "See that? You're upsetting everyone here! Fox would never do something like this! He actually cares about what happens to other animals, which is way more than I can say for you!" Falco stood from his chair with a smirk on his face and said in a sarcastic voice, "You sure talk about Fox a lot recently, sure you didn't have something going with him?" Katt seemed surprised to hear these words, but it only served to feed her already growing anger, "Are you joking me? In case you haven't noticed, Fox already has someone like that, and even if there was something between us, I'm sure I'd be a lot happier than I am right now having to listen to you!" Falco shook his head and replied in a slowly rising voice, "Maybe you should just leave then if you think that I'm such a terrible animal, no one's making you stay!" Katt turned her head from Falco as she replied, "If I were someone like you, I'd take that offer, but I made a promise to Fox when I sighed on with this mission. I have to stay with the team until this is over with. And I'm happy to do that for Fox, but with you as leader, I don't really know what to do. It'd certainly be a welcome option to get away from you." Falco chuckled at this, saying in an amused sounding voice, "See what I mean? Just listen to yourself whine. Is that all your good at?"
This was the breaking point; there was no way Katt could take anymore of this from Falco. She clenched her fingers tight against her hand, her arm noticeably shaking as the immense amount of anger and impatience flowed through it. She suddenly turned and raised her fist into the air, throwing it out in front of her. Falco, who was still chuckling from his previous comment, was caught completely off guard as the fist rushed towards his face. Katt let out a loud and frustrated grunt as her closed fist connected against the side of the avian's face, sending him quickly towards the ground with a slight grunt of pain.
Both animals hesitated as this happened, Falco laying limply on the ground, not making any effort to retaliate, and Katt who stood in place while breathing heavily, looking down at the fallen blue avain. Katt was the first to break this silence, now speaking with a mix of anger and distress, "…Maybe now you'll understand how I feel." Only seconds after saying this, Katt turned from Falco with tears slowly accumulating in her eyes as she slowly walked off the bridge.
Falco remained on the floor of the bridge, stunned at the action that Katt had just taken. He could taste a small amount of blood running into his mouth that resulted from Katt's blow. He hesitantly rose from the ground onto one knee, bringing one of his feathered hands to the point of impact. He could feel a good amount of blood coming from the area around his mouth. He slowly looked away from the blood that now settled within his feathers and looked out towards the empty wall of the bridge where Katt had just exited from. He remained in this position for a short while as he thought to himself.
What the heck was that for? We've always argued like that and now she decides to haul off and cuff me? I guess she really is gettin' defensive about McCloud...but to say that I don't care, where did that come from? I didn't think there was anything to be worried about in the first place. So Fox went to the hospital to get treated for a pretty bad injury, but how was I supposed to know that he was that bad off? Besides, I really didn't want to have to deal with stuff like this, but I guess with Katt, there's just no way around it...
Falco stood back on his feet shortly after these thoughts passed through his head, letting out a slight groan as he did so. By this time, Slippy had made his way down to the fallen avian, asking in a concerned voice, "Are you ok Falco? She got you pretty good, didn't she?" Falco smirked at this, wiping the remaining blood from his face, and replied, "Are you kidding, I didn't even feel that. I actually expected her to be a little stronger than that." There was a slight pause between the two animals before Slippy commented in a quiet voice, "Maybe you should apologize to her or something…" Falco gave a slight chuckle at the toads comment and replied, "Right, and just take another shot to the face? I think I'll pass. Besides, I'm sure she's gonna want some alone time anyway, she's gotta whine this out of her like she always does. Don't worry about it Slippy." The toad sighed as he heard Falco's stubborn answer, but was unable to respond as a small sound rang over the bridge. Slippy quickly responded by running up behind ROB's computer, commenting shortly after, "Hey Falco, we've got an incoming transmission. It's from…Corneria, a priority message." Falco paused as he heard this, but quickly responded with a curious tone of voice, "From Corneria huh? I guess we have to let this one pass. Let's see what Pepper's got to say to us now." Slippy nodded as Falco once again took 'his' seat on the middle of the bridge, watching and listening intently as the screen promptly lit up in front of him.
The image of General Pepper once again filled the screen as it had only minutes before, and once again, the General's expression wavered. He spoke in a strange tone; one that Falco had never really heard Pepper try to articulate himself with in the past. General started out in this strange tone of voice, his facial features seeming to be filled with many different emotions, "Team Star Fox, we've just now received the final diagnosis for Fox McCloud…"
(In a Great Fox seating room)
So it really was all a lie, Fox really is going to die...but how can that be possible? Of course, after all I've seen and all I've been through, it seems like anything is indeed possible. But, our tribes had always had faith in the scrolls to be true, that there really was a savior that would keep us safe, and if Fox truly is the one predicted in the scrolls...how could all this happen? I know my mother said that we would have to face great hardships, but...she couldn't have meant incidents such as these, if Fox were to die, all hope for the future would be lost...and I'd be left all alone once again. Alone with no place to call home, with no one to call my own...Why does this have to happen to me...to us? If this is the path we must travel to reach our goal, I want no part of it.
The lone cerulean-colored vixen sat quietly on a small couch in one of the many different seating rooms that were scattered around the Great Fox. She sat with her head in her hands, one of which she used to rub back and forth through the hair on her head. This feeling was remotely soothing, but it was nothing compared to when Fox had caringly done it for her. Tears continually traveled down her face as she thought back on all the wonderful times they had spent together, and knowing that she may never have another day with the dying vulpine was almost to much to bear.
Suddenly, her hand, which had been continually filtering through her hair, grazed across a cold and smooth object that sat upon her head. She removed her other hand, which had previously been held on her underside of her muzzle, and lifted the object up and off of her head holding it directly in front of her. It was her necklace, a linked gold chain with a beautifully crafted red gem that hung freely from the end of it. She took one of her hands and placed the red gem firmly in her furry palm, lowering her head as she did so. This gem represented the love that her parents bestowed upon her as she grew and matured, but to her, it was also one of the last remaining items she possessed that held the memory of her family within. The second of these gems she had given to someone else, someone she held very close to her heart. Someone that may not have the chance to live to see another day…everything that she had ever felt close to had some connection with these gems, and now it seemed like they would embody a different connection in a very short time. And that connection was by no means a happy one.
It seems that everywhere I go, disaster is not far behind. Why does it seem that everyone I have grown close to must be taken from me? First my family, then my planet, and now...but...I don't understand, if what the scrolls were saying are true, there should be no chance of anything like this happening. Unless...this is all a lie. It's like what Falco did to us earlier, keep the truth from us so that no one gets hurt. Maybe the scrolls were just...false hope so that we may feel secure during times of struggle, even though our true fate is already decided. So then...does that mean that all those things that I hold dear, everything that has been taken from me, they were all deceived as well? But...how can I say this when my tribe has believed in it for so many generations? This is all too much for me to try and sort out at one time...if I were stronger, I'd be able to solve this, and it seems that without Fox beside me...
"Krystal McCloud. You are scheduled for the following medical procedure: Stitch removal. Please report to medical center for repair." Krystal quickly broke from her thoughts as she heard these monotone words being spoken from behind her. She turned to see ROB walking away down the hall, his feet making an abrupt clanking noise as they contacted the metallic floor. Krystal them slowly rolled back the left sleeve of her uniform and quickly remembered about the stitches that had sat on her shoulder. She let out a sigh as she did so, knowing that the operation would probably be just as painful as the first, but knowing that she no longer had Fox to comfort her, she was actually quite nervous. She hesitantly stood from the couch and let out an uncomfortable sigh as she turned and walked in pursuit of the robot.
It was only a short walk to the medical center, but it was made substantially longer by the fear that the vixen was now experiencing. Her first operation went about with a great amount of pain, and she expected the exact same from this second operation. But at this point, Krystal felt as if nothing really mattered anymore. With Fox gone, it was almost to the point where she felt as if she really had nothing more to live for, so this pain that she was about it familiarize herself with was little in comparison to what was going on inside her at that time.
Krystal entered the medical center shortly after leaving the seating area, finding it to be exactly as it had been the last time she had visited this room. ROB stood next to the operation table, waiting patiently as Krystal slowly walked towards it and sat down upon it's cold surface. As soon as the robot saw the seated vixen, he commented to her in his usual monotone voice, "Injury requires un-attachment of stitching. Estimated procedure time: 2 minutes." Krystal nodded dully at the robot's words and he brought a pair of tweezers and a small pair of medical scissors up to her exposed shoulder.
She quickly looked away as the robot slowly approached her with these tools, cringing as she did so. Her entire left arm twitched abruptly as the cold feeling scissors gently contacted her skin, expecting the pain that would follow shortly after would be as bad as her first time in the medical center. Her opposite hand subconsciously reached out away from her, expecting someone to be sitting beside her, but her hand fell a short distance from where it had originally started and touched nothing but air, her hand coming to rest shortly after on the very table she was sitting on.
Krystal shocked herself when she felt this, quickly remembering that the comfort that her hand had been searching for was no longer with her. She hesitated as she felt the cold fsurface of the table underneath her hand, which surprised her to a great extent, her subconscious mind expecting Fox to be sitting beside her. She looked down towards her lonely hand, slowly balling it up into a fist as she quickly played back exactly what had happened to prevent him from sitting at her side this very moment. This reoccurring memory continued to get more and more painful the further she thought about it, and this involuntary act proved that she would have done anything to have her hand fall upon Fox McCloud's warm lap at that moment.
"Procedure complete, stitches successfully removed. Now returning to programmed duties on the Great Fox bridge." Krystal snapped out of her pensive state of thought as she once again heard the robot's unemotional words, and watched silently as he walked through the open door and out of sight.
Krystal looked over to her recently repaired shoulder, from which she could feel no discernable pain. It looked almost as if nothing had happened there at all. There was a small scar that was barely visible under her blue fur, but that was the only trace of evidence that anything had ever happened in that area. She quietly raised her opposite hand to her shoulder, delicately running her fingers across its surface, finding the place where the stitches previously occupied to be completely smooth. Usually she would have found herself fascinated by just how such wonderful things such as this were accomplished, but during this time, she found herself only about to fully and truly focus on one thing.
She let out a weary sigh as she looked away from her newly repaired shoulder, rolling the sleeve of her blue uniform down to its original position as she did so. She silently stood up to leave the medical center, not exactly sure where she would go from here, but knew that anywhere was better than in this uninviting and confining room.
Just as she walked through the doors that led out of the medical center, she quickly stopped as the intercom system became active from overhead, "Krystal McCloud, the captain of the ship, Falco Lombardi, requests that you report to your sleeping chamber immediately. There is a high-priority message waiting for your arrival."
Krystal sighed as she recognized the robot's voice over the speakers, hesitating as she heard his say these words. She didn't need to go to her room to know what this was about, she knew that this message had something to do with Fox, and she found herself quite unwilling to comply with her new captain's orders. She crossed one arm across her body and grabbed her opposite upper arm, slowly and gently rubbing this area of her arm as she let out another sigh. It was only a short back and forth dispute in her mind before she decided to follow her orders, making her way slowly down the hallways of the Great Fox.
She made a deliberate attempt to slow her pace as she walked through the cold metallic hallways of the ship, as if to try and slow the realization that he had truly met his end, and that she would never see him again. She knew how futile this attempt was, but she also knew that when she found out the truth, she would fall into utter despair, making this attempt to slow the process seem much more worth her while.
Even though she did take as much time as she possibly could have to reach her room, she still found herself at her required destination far to soon as she now realized that she was standing directly in front of the door that led to her room. She took a deep sigh as she stepped forward, causing the door to slide open on it's own, which actually surprised the frightened vixen to a small extent, but she quickly gathered herself and slowly entered into her room.
As soon as she entered, she noticed a small blinking light from her left. She turned to face the light and saw that it was being emitted from a small indicator that sat just below the small computer screen that sat just to the right of the threshold. She could see that on the screen, a small touch-screen button was displayed with the words, "Receive transmission," imbued within the gentle green background of the button. Krystal hesitated one last time as she saw this, slowly reaching out for the button, but abruptly stopping, her extended finger retracting slightly as she did so. She was noticeably torn between letting the transmission pass, or merely walking away. It was a simple task to perform either choice, but it was difficult for her to actually settle on one. But suddenly, as if something drove her to do so, her hand gently thrust forward, contacting the button that had been previously been shown on the screen as it was replaced by a temporary darkness.
It was only seconds after that the screen rapidly regained it's color, the image now displaying a completely different image than what it had previously. The room that could now be seen was almost completely white in color. It seemed like a large area, with several different animals, all of which were dressed in white robe-like cloths walked back and forth across the background. There were also several different machines in the room, which seemed to break the theme of overwhelming white.
But all of this was blurred out as Krystal stared upon the white, slightly bloodstained chair that sat squarely in the middle of the image. And upon that chair sat the one that she had dominated her thoughts ever since she had met him. His body was motionless as he sat in the middle of the image, his face appearing extremely pale and bruised. Krystal's eyes began to water as she saw the still body of the beaten vulpine, knowing that this was probably the last she would ever see of him. Her vision quickly blurred even further as the tears slowly began to obstruct her sight. She quickly began to cry, not only visibly, but audibly as well, her quiet sobs gently echoing throughout her room. The image that she had just seen burned into her mind, knowing that it was the last she would ever have, and to have it be such a sad image to remember him by, it was just too much for her to handle. She was on the verge of completely breaking down, but suddenly, almost as if she had imagined it, she heard a quiet and gentle voice interrupt her weeping. A voice that she had wanted to hear ever since their separation…
"Krystal, it's alright, I'm here for you."
She slowly looked up, not believing what she had heard. Her sight gradually returned to the screen, where her eyes suddenly met with his. She could detect a small smirk as he stared into his stunning eyes. The vixen quickly rubbed the tears free from her eyes, as if she was attempting to wake herself from a dream. But when she returned her sight to the screen, she saw that he was still sitting on that blood spotted chair, smiling back at her.
"It's…nice to see you again, I missed you Krystal."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, that's another chapter down, I guess a lot of you will be quite happy to find that Fox is alright after all, but heck, he's the main character, so you kinda have to expect that I guess…anyway. Oh ya, it doesn't really have to do anything with this story, but I saw a picture of Fara Phoenix for the first time a few days ago…ya, it was an experience to say the least, that's got to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen. But whatever, I cleared the 100 review mark last chapter, and dangit, I'm aiming to beat that kid Rick Ons for the most reviews on a Star Fox story…166 I think it was. But unfortunately, I can't help me with that, and I won't let my editor do it either. If I keep up this pace, I'll cover that mark with no problem, so all I can say is thanks for the support and I hope you continue to enjoy this story as much as you do already.
GOLF STATUS: …because I care.
April 7, 2005/ Cross Creek Golf Course: 1st place, 78
April 8, 2005/ Salem Golf Club: 1st place, 76
I'm undefeated in our division…I know you don't care, but you might as well know I can do something else well…
EDITOR'S NOTES: I just made a discovery about my editor! He speaks in a completely different language from any distinguishable human on earth, which is why his notes are so full of typos, but I've managed to get him to write a review in his original text, just for you, enjoy!
"Hi there its Justin Alan Haibon dajfv;klsadflkjadsfjkl;ewd908u4wjeklsruf9oiwasdfdfheklhrkltjkf;lad;lkfja;l
skdfj;oi32490t0
9423ewsld;ajsl;fasfandflkadfu0932op4 09q8e09r8sdfljl;asdfu8eo04wus;afdja;ljfa;l
see ya next time!"
Wasn't that an experience, bet you can't wait to tell you're kids one day that you read alien text…or you could just laugh this "kid" off and make him cry, which is way funnier…
MAIL CALL:
Ben Stylin
Katt's hitting on Fox?
heh... that's funny.
This is a pretty funny fanfictionahdo, actually.
If you kill off Fox, Krystal would become seriously PISSED and she would be all like, "I'm going to kill you, you stupid cloaked mother fu-"
Whoops, I almost said f-.
FoxMC: You like that word a lot don't you? And yes, I'm sure if Fox died, Krystal would be…saddened. But as far as Katt goes...I have no idea, let's just say that cats are confused creatures and they meow. Wait, does Katt meow? I don't know...maybe, well...whatever
JUSTIN ALAN HAIBON
YO Nick IT's me ur lovely editor lol hey man good chapter and story i cant wait to edit the rest
FoxMC: Don't you talk to me enough already? Get away, I get enough of you normally, but now you're making me reply to your review? You're an idiot...(I have more of chapter 31 for you, IM me when you get the chance.) And just so you people know, I did not make him review my story, I actually hate him for it because I know that's what you're thinking, but it is untrue, he did it of his own free will, and he won't do it again...hopefully...
deathscall
Why, why, why Falco? He can't lead, he's too cocky to lead, even Slippy could lead better than him. Bah, that aside, great chapter just the same, and well, I know Fox won't die, because then the story would end too soon and you'd be loathed and despised by all for it. Also, don't scare your poor editor, I could never replace him, i'm much too busy with quickly doing everything else to check if more of the story is completed or not. And with that all said, keep up the great work, or your editor most likely will get his family and friends after you again
FoxMC: Indeed, Fox dying would probably make a lot of people mad, and I don't want none of that. Plus, I love to scare my editor, that's what he's there for, at least, that's what I use him for. Pretty much my comic relief since he really doesn't edit anything...he just reads what I send him and says something like, "that stoyr is relay goed, i wat you to sned me morr rigt now." Actually, that's really close to something he'd say...try putting up with that everyday...ya.
Wolf O'Donell
great story, but you never mention anything about slippy, not that i care but im just wondering... did something happen to him or what
FoxMC: I know I didn't talk about Slippy at all the last few chapters, but really, why did we want to know about him? He's on the Great Fox, we were on the Ladekahn IV/Katina, and anyway, it's Slippy, who cares! ...heh, not me, but I don't really like Falco either...so ya.
Tie
This chapter made me think alot about Fox ( hope he doesnt die ). Well anyway good chapter hope to read the next one soon.
P.S. please dont make Falco the new leader, I dont think that he will make a good leader
FoxMC: Well, you got the answer to your, "I hope Fox doesn't die," comment. It'd be hard to write if the main character died, I mean, who wants to hear Krystal whine for the rest of the story anyway? Well, whatever…
Whinnie
Gosh, poor Fox! I hope that Krystal doesn't get heart-broken and all. Now, I wonder what's going on with Katt? ...I think she was being defensive since he helped her on what Falco thinks.
Also, I have an idea: you can put Wolf or Leon in the story and make either one like Katt, and then they start to like each other and Falco gets jealous, then Katt and her boyfriend break up and... Well, you get the idea. :p
Good job on the stody! I hope you post the next chapter soon:D ;)
FoxMC: First of all, CONTRATULATIONS! You've just given me my 100th review! You may be wondering what kind of prize is coming your way…well, keep wondering, cause it's hard to give a high-five over the internet…too bad. Anyway, the idea of putting in Leon (blech) or Wolf (meh) into the story would be kinda hard at this point...you're probably the only person who reviews my story that seems to actually care about this Falco/Katt thing...which is cool, but I don't think there's any way I'll be able to fit in any Star Wolf guys into the story...Well, Panther, but he had someone else on his mind…
Obsidian Thirteen
WHAT! How can you not know who Marvin the Paranoid Android is? Don't blame me for the name, blame Douglas Adams. I didn't write the book. Anyway, work, work, work.
FoxMC: I really don't know who the android kid is…And why blame Douglas Adams when I can blame Bill Clinton? Seriously…
demonslayer206
all i can say is this. story is kicking ass. encountering wolf may lead to some excitement or fear, depending on who everyone likes. (that guy always spooks me whenever he arrives in the games, he just won't stay down) I'll be waiting for the next chapter to come out soon, but i can wait (unlike some people cough Falco cough)
FoxMC: What's with you kids and wanting Wolf to suddenly appear in my story? I mean, Wolf's a great guy and all, but you think I can just magically make him appear AND fit into the storyline of the story? Goo…I'm an author, not a miracle worker, well, and I'm a good whiner to, but not as good as my editor.
BlueWolf419
I really don't know what to say for this chapter. It was good and sad for one. But I do know one thing. If you kill off Fox and/or Krystal I know that this will become my LEAST favorite fanfic! That is the WORST thing an author can do, that is kill off the Hero and/or the Heroine. Keep up the good work and the quick updates. Me likey the latter!
FoxMC: You people don't have to worry about Fox dying, he's gonna be ok if you couldn't tell already...Besides, the last thing I want is an angry mob of a fan base...anyway. As you would put it, "Me likey the reviewage."
Black Phoenix
Dude, my heart almost stopped when Pepper said Fox was gonna die. Really, it almost did.
FoxMC: Well, there can be two ways I could take that…1.) Sweet, I guess I must have done something right to almost kill one of my reviewers. 2.) Crap, I almost was responsible for killing someone, which would've sucked. I'll take door number one please...
Fox McCloudSaviour of Lylat
Wow. That's all I can say about this storey. Wow. I haven't been on this site 4 long, but i spent most of my time reading this story form start to finish... All I can say is that im totally ADDICTED to it! Keep up the good work, FoxMC.
FoxMC: Wow, that's all I can say about your dedication to reading my story. I mean, I'd never take that much time to read something this long, so I guess if you did take all that time, you really are addicted to it. Hopefully they will come out with a pill that will lessen your symptoms, unless you like the addiction, then it'd be like you were...getting wasted on my story...weird. Whatever, thanks for the reviewing action and I hope you stick around until I finish this...we still got a ways...