Parasite Awaiting

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox, but I own Galaxy Wulf.

Chapter 2 – The First Step

"Damn it!"

Bark Arfie, a brown dog with thick eyeglasses wearing white scientist robes, cursed himself and the event as Garou, Lupina, and Eagle retrieved Wulf's body. They were able to grab him out of the place, but the three were also horrified from what they saw.

"It was hard getting him out of there," Garou Kelvin, a white slender but muscular wolf donning a sleeveless green military jacket, vest, black boots, and black camo pants, panted as he laid a body covered with white sheets on to a bed.

Lupina Klaus, a female wolf with light brown fur and long black hair, wearing a red jacket, a short sleeveless pink top ending at her stomach, knee-high socks, white short boots, and short blue pants, also complained about their situation earlier. "The place was all so messy! It's hard to believe that that place used to be a science facility."

"It was a bio-chemical lab, Lu," Eagle Gerald, the tall, good build, bald eagle with scarlet wings on his back, donning a red bandanna, red sleeveless shirt, brown pants, and leather sandals, commented while he glanced at her. He felt quite worried when he saw Wulf. "Bark, you ought to take a look at Wulf… It's bad…"

The brown dog adjusted his glasses and nodded, "It's not bad… it's worse…" He took off the white sheet covering the lupine, and he was shocked, but only for a slight, since he knew this happened. "No… This is impossible… There's Anatyde in Wulf's blood. How can he be infected? Unless… the parasites are a lot stronger… this is bad…"

He slowly removed the sheets covering the infected Wulf. He was never like this before. His left arm now resembled a biological robotic arm of some sort. His left cheek showed signs of the parasite invading his nervous system. His chest already acquired metallic parts. Bark never encountered such phenomenon. Even if he's the smartest member of the team, and he's made different rescues and breakthroughs, for the first time, he felt unsure about this up to the point that he's questioning his own skills.

"This is going to be tough. The parasite in his body spreads fast. Even his Anatyde-fused cells couldn't fight the invaders."

Suddenly, Wulf opened his eyes. His left eye has a different color. From blue, it became dark yellow. He panted and growled, as pain slowly conjured inside his body.

Hurry guys… Kill me! Don't let me… kill and infect you…

His left arm thrust forward, trying to grab Bark's collar, but Eagle quickly restrained him. For a while, Bark thought it would be the end of Galaxy Wulf, their team, as well as the mission… Lylat would be in shambles if they let this pass!

"His arm… I know what to do…"

"What are you going to do, Bark?" Lupina asked with nervousness.

"I may not be able to remove the parasite in his body, but I can restrict them from invading his other organs by trapping it… and the best place is his left arm. Hopefully, his will to live could make his Anatyde strong enough to prevent the parasite from scattering…"

"Oxygen intake increased! Blood supply readied!"

Slippy nervously placed Wolf and Krystal inside the sickbay of Great Fox. He, with the help of the others, placed the unconscious bodies to the empty beds and immediately treated them.

"Damn Wolf, I knew playing on Fortuna was a bad idea," Panther growled as he looked at Krystal. "He's so impulsive! He should've at least given some thought about the battlefield if it was free from laser blasts!"

Fox patted his back. "I don't think you should blame Wolf about this. I think that photon blast was all of a sudden. Besides, he's not that only person who's in dire state!"

"I know! That's why I'm worried."

Panther just sighed with worries. Even if fighting Star Fox, he was careful not to injure his petit to a certain degree. Heck, he wished that Wolf would just forget about sparring with them for the sake of her.

Leon fumbled as he crossed his arms, "Don't tell me we have to stick with you until Wolf snaps back." He hated staying with them, and the fact that he couldn't stand being in a room with Falco. He exited the place, and at the same time, Peppy entered the room. He looked angry.

"Fox McCloud, I thought you're more than this! How can you be so irresponsible about your teammates!" he scolded him in a strict tone. "Why did you wish to go on sparring? Is the virtual training simulation mode not enough?"

"Not my fault, Peppy," he argued back. "Wolf challenged me, and well, there's no way around it when he started to challenge somebody."

"Then you should've just ignored him!"

"That would be a hard thing to do," Falco reasoned out to cut any upcoming lectures. "Knowing Lord O'Donnell, we couldn't just say we don't want to fight and tiptoe away."

"Besides, their sparring wasn't the cause of the incident," Slippy added also a fact, "it's from a photon shoot coming from an unknown source…"

Message from General Pepper… Priority One.

Rob announced from the speakers. Fox replied in confirmation, revealing a monitor from a wall.

"What is general?"

"Star Fox, thank goodness you're there!" General Pepper, the one on the other side of the communication, replied with uneasiness. "Mechanical robots just appeared out of nowhere! They dropped at Corneria City, and are now making trouble! Defense Force fighters already made an assault, but the situation is bad. We need your help!"

"Yes, sir! Star Fox and Star Wolf will be on their way."

"Star Wolf?"

Panther glanced at him with wonder. General Pepper also wondered.

"Yes, Star Wolf," Fox expounded his answer. "I'm one-man, or woman, short, and since Star Wolf's here for a visit, I'll just have to ask them for assistance." He then looked at Panther, and growled, "Besides, you have to make amends, even if it's not your fault."

Wulf woke up with an uneasy feeling. He felt that it was his last time breathing air. He then noticed his left arm covered with bandage, and a strange shoulder pad on his left shoulder.

That's a supersonic stabilizer.

Bark entered the room, clearing Wulf's missing information. "That should keep your cells in a good condition. By the way… Sorry, Wulf… I wasn't able to cure your condition. I was able to stabilize the parasite in your left arm, but I couldn't remove them…"

"It's okay… I know you did your best," Wulf replied in a low tone as he rubbed his left arm. "I wonder… what this looks like…"

"What did I tell you before, Wulf? If I wasn't able to successfully do something, then I didn't do my best!" Bark cracked up, making the wolf smile. "Oh yes, the facility suddenly charged towards the capital planet of Lylat – Corneria. Can you still do this mission with that condition?"

"Hey, I am ambidextrous, Bark, so I can," he smiled back as he stood up from the bed. "Besides, two things are running in my mind now. Save the system. Get revenge… All right, tell the guys to set a course to the planet. We have to stop these parasites."