One more chapter down. Is it the last though? Read on to find out.

Josie - Thanks for the kind comments. Am I professional quality though? Maybe with a lot of hard work, it's a possibility. As of right now though - no. Heck - I still look upon the first 2/3rds of my story with a grimace.

FraGmenTd - As you can see below, it's not quite done yet. Thanks for the kind comments though. Glad to see it's a great story in the eyes of the readers.

RedBay - Fay's visions are a very strange thing. And she hasn't been wrong, yet. As far as your comment about Andross though... Looking back, it does seem that he's lost some of the 'edge' he used to have from the beginning. Almost as if the team has crushed his will to slaughter them all. An interesting thought.


Chapter 53: A Love Lost

Did…did Fox say what I think he said to me? Did he really say that he loved me? But what did he mean by being sorry? – Fara

"Fara, you there?"

Fara was ecstatic upon hearing Fox's voice again. She'd grown extremely worried that she'd never see him again as they'd traveled through the base. Especially after following what looked to be a blood trail since the last intersection. "Fox? What—"

"Not now. Shoot a charged shot at the pillar I'm leaning against and then run. Got it?"

His voice sounded strained to her ears, as if he'd been severely injured somehow. If it wasn't for the fact that she had no idea where Andross was with his superior firepower, she'd leap in right now and run to his side. "Shoot the pillar and run. Yeah. Why?"

"Good. Fara…I love you. And I'm sorry."

She stood there, utterly stunned over what he had just said. After all of this time, he finally admitted his true feelings towards her. And she knew she felt the same way towards him.

Falco snapped her out of her daze as he asked from the other side of the doorway, "What did Fox just say?"

"N…nothing. Just to shoot the pillar where he's at and run."

"Did he say where Andross was?"

"No."

They both paused as they heard the unmistakable whine of a charged up blaster shot. Fara looked towards the wall where Andross' shots had practically melted the stone before she shook off her fear and looked into the room.

Bolts of lightning were jumping from column to column from the exposed sections of stone. She looked on in awe for a few moments until the beeping reminder of her gun brought her around.

The closest pillar was the only one out of four that was still fully intact. Facing away from her, she could see Fox's legs poking out and a splattering of blood as well. Her heart jumping over his possible condition, she restrained herself from running in and followed orders.

Her weapon struck like the lightning that was flying throughout the room. The upper part of the column crumbled to dust from the power of the blow and allowed the energy within to add itself to the dance of electrical forces going on around it.

Within seconds, the bolts of lightning began to combine and started arcing towards the stone walls. Fara covered her eyes from the near blinding light and was about to rush in for Fox when she heard a deafening crack from above.

"Falco, Fara!" roared Peppy from behind her. "Cave in!"

Instead of getting out of the way, Fara reacted by simply looking up. Cracks spider-webbed across the ceiling and smaller pieces of stone began to fall to the floor. It wasn't until the cracks grew exponentially and the entire hallway began to shake did she even think of moving.

Thankfully for her, Falco's mind was more on self-preservation. She was suddenly shoved aside and carried for a few feet before they both collapsed to the ground.

Moments later, the roof caved in and buried the hallway in front of the door under six feet of stone and rubble. Dust and powder raced down the hallway and coated the pilots in its grime. A few streams of sunlight beamed in from the now missing ceiling as well.

Fara looked back through the debris and choked back tears. "Fox!" she called out as she scrambled to her feet. She was about to run forward and try to find a way through the rubble, even if she had to dig with her bare paws, when she felt somebody grab her from behind around the waist. "Let go!"

"Fara, no." The calm voice from behind belonged to Peppy.

She squirmed to get free, but the hare only adjusted his grip to keep hold. "Let go of me!"

"I can't do that, Fara."

How could he not let her try to save Fox? The realization that the base was crumbling around her hadn't hit her yet – all she thought of was the vulpine trapped somewhere past the debris in front of her. Her own safety be damned. "Let me go! Fox is in there!"

Somewhere behind her, she heard another series of rumbles. She also heard Falco try to yell some sense into her. "This entire base is coming to pieces around us! We can't stay here!"

"And we can't leave Fox behind! He's just through all that mess!"

"How are we going to get through that? Shoot it? Dig?"

Fara screamed in frustration and continued her struggles. Failing that, she reached up and tapped her communicator. "Fox, are you there?"

Static.

"Please answer, Fox…"

Static.

"Fox…you have to be alive…"

Nothing but white noise continued to fill her ears.

She dropped to her knees as tears began to stream out of her eyes. Fox had to be alive. He just had to be. But now… "He…he just told me he loved me…"

Falco groaned. "Son of a…"

Fara felt somebody pry her blaster out of her paws. She let whoever it was do it, as she no longer had any fight left in her. She assumed it was Peppy, as she heard him try to comfort her. "Fara, we need to go. There's still a chance Fox is okay. He'll find a way out."

There was no reason for her to leave. Fox was nearby, and she had to go to him. And if he'd passed on… "Just…just leave me be. If Fox is—"

"And if Fox is alive," interrupted Falco, "which I know he is, he'll ream us a new one if we leave you here. He's survived worse."

"Just…go."

"Fine then." She screamed as Falco picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of food. She kicked his stomach and pounded against his back, but he refused to let go.

Falco took off as quickly as he could down the hall. After a few seconds, Fara gave up fighting and resorted to just sobbing quietly on the avian's shoulder. In the process, she missed a frantic escape that sent the pilots hurrying past falling debris and burning piles of stone.

Finally, she noticed that her surroundings seemed to be different. Instead of arid smoke, she smelled outside air. The artificial blue lighting had turned to natural sunlight. She opened her eyes to confirm, and after wiping the tears away, she found that her senses were working. She was outside.

And Fox was nowhere to be found.

"Thank goodness for little favors," she heard Falco say tiredly.

"Agreed," was Peppy's muted response.

She had a feeling that meant only one thing. She cleared her throat and asked, "The Arwings are here?"

"Hey, welcome back." With a grunt, Falco placed her back on her feet and continued. "About time."

Fara noticed that he still had his paws latched onto her side. She put her paws onto his arms and asked, "Will you let me go?"

"Are you going to run off?"

She looked over his shoulder at the base. Wisps of smoke drifted into the air in multiple places, and as she watched, the entrance they had escaped from collapsed into itself. She dropped her head and shook her head in defeat.

"Good."

She felt the avian release her and she turned to see the four Arwings behind her. As she had said what felt like ages ago, the craft had apparently spun off the vines and fronds they'd used to cover them and were facing them in pristine condition. Their cockpits were empty, awaiting the pilots to climb aboard.

Unfortunately, one of those pilots was never going to arrive.

Slippy cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Guys, based on how that base is reacting, I'm guessing the entire place is about to blow. We need to go!"

"We just can't abandon Fox here!" yelled Fara.

"We're not," replied Peppy. "You're coming with me."

"But—"

"One of Fox's final rules – 'If I fall in a dangerous situation, do everything in your power to make it out alive. Do not put your lives at risk to save me. Come back later when the situation permits.'"

"It's a rule Fox made us all commit by to each other," said Slippy as he climbed aboard his craft.

"I hated following that one," grumbled Falco.

"But it's saved our lives before on Papetoon," commented Peppy.

"Yeah, yeah." The avian sighed. "Fox is a fighter. He'll get through this. Somehow."

Peppy made sure that Fara climbed into the space behind his seat before boarding himself. She was left dumbfounded over the whole thing. How could anybody just abandon a teammate, a friend, like that? She could almost see their point, but… "You're all heartless," she finally said.

The canopy closed as Peppy punched in the startup sequence. "Some might think that, yes, but following orders in a war leads to fewer injuries and casualties overall. And I'm serious about it saving our lives before."

"What about following that rule when I was nearly killed by that three tubed spacecraft thing?"

The Arwing rumbled as it roared to life and shot out into the morning sun. They went nearly vertical as the hare applied the boosters. As the blue sky turned to the vacuum of space, Fara pestered him for an answer. "Well?"

"That was different."

"How?"

"We were no longer in danger once you destroyed that craft, so it became a simple search and rescue mission."

Fara grumbled under her breath. How could they not know how wrong they were in leaving Fox like that? All alone, his team gone, trapped in the middle of that base… "Stop the Arwing. I want to look for Fox."

"That I can do." He then flipped a switch and contacted the rest of the team. "Come about and slow to a halt. Also report your fuel and oxygen status."

As soon as Fortuna moved into view, she located Andross' base and zoomed in on it via her helmet. So intent she was in searching for Fox, she barely heard the conversation going on around her.

"Both fuel and oxygen is low," said Slippy. "How far out are we?"

"Some uninhabited jungle planet called fortune or something," replied Falco.

"Fortuna," corrected Peppy. "And it was inhabited – just by those with a far lower technology level than what we're used to."

"Same difference. And my status is the same."

Fara heard Peppy take a breath to continue, but he kept quiet as they all saw a bright blue light emanate from where the base was. It changed the hue of the nearby clouds to its color and streams of light shot past the clouds almost to the upper atmosphere.

Then, just as quickly as it started, it stopped. From their position, it looked as if nothing had happened.

But an all-too-familiar tone told them otherwise.

Peppy slowly stated the obvious a few seconds later to the team. "I…just lost the signal from Fox's Arwing. Can you confirm?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

Fara's stomach knotted up over the information. Was Fox really gone? "What about…did the transponder say he was moving?"

Peppy sounded choked up as he answered. "I'm sorry, Fara."

This couldn't be happening to her. Not now. Not after how he'd just said that he loved her. His proclamation was so sudden, she never even had a chance to respond. Tears streamed out of her eyes and turned her fur into a sodden mess. "We have to go back…and make sure."

"We can't, Fara. We have limited supplies and we need to go if we're going to make it home."

"We have…wait…" She sniffled and tried to get her breathing back under control. "Is this why you made me come with you?"

"It is. I knew you—"

"You son of a bitch!"

Fara's thoughts dissolved into tears and sorrow. Fay had been right. There was no way to change her futures once she'd seen them. That damned canine had been right all along.

I see Fox lying all alone, up against some blue stone. He'll make one final shot out of desperation, but that'll be the end of his aspiration.

She bawled in the back of the Arwing. Fox had truly loved her. She had loved him back.

She was just never going to be able to tell him.

She had been close to Fox so many times. So many times she could've poked and prodded Fox further to find out his true feelings. So many things she might've been able to do differently. Maybe Fox would know the truth, or maybe still be alive if she—

"Fara?"

She felt Peppy touch her on the side of her head. Between sobs, she responded. "What?"

"Don't doubt yourself, Fara. There wasn't anything you could've done to change things."

"What!" She pushed herself away from the back of Peppy's seat and wiped her eyes so she could direct her anger. "There was plenty I could've done! You stopped me!"

The hare wisely stayed quiet at this point, as she was ready to bite his head off. Finding no further arguments forthcoming, she simply resumed crying.

Short of some light banter between the pilots, the only thing Fara heard was her own sobbing. As far as she was concerned, a large piece of her heart, if not her very soul, was missing for good.

"Your orders?"

"Contact the base and inform them on everything, Falco."

"Okay."

Relative silence resumed in the Arwing. It wasn't until Pepper himself broke over the craft's speaker system was another coherent word spoken. "Starfox team, this is General Pepper. I…I am both greatly pleased over the rescue of your teammate and the permanent destruction of Andross, as well as deeply saddened over the apparent loss of Jun…Fox."

"I know that times like these may call for desperate and possibly violent actions, but please keep in mind the heroes that you four currently represent. Do not do anything that may tarnish that image, as the entire system holds you in extremely high regard for what you've done."

"That said, I am going to tell you right now that I'll do everything in my power to make sure that every inch of that base is gone through, no matter its current condition. The least you four deserve is the confirmation of what you think has happened. There is still a chance, no matter how slim, that Fox is alive."

"If you have the fuel reserves to do so, I request your immediate return. If you don't, inform me of which planet you'll be landing on so I can make sure the supplies are there for a rapid refueling."

"Once again, congratulations on your defeat of Andross once and for all. This system holds you in a debt that will never be repaid. It's just unfortunate of the circumstances surrounding his defeat."

"But there is still hope. Don't let that hope evaporate until we all know for sure. I await your return. General Pepper, out."

Fara shook her head sadly after listening to the speech and went back to her misery.


Peppy sighed as he touched the few buttons necessary to power down the Arwing. It was a very long and quiet flight back home as nobody was in any mood to converse. Then again, he didn't blame them.

He looked behind him at the now sleeping Fara. Just a few minutes into lightspeed she had fallen asleep, giving him some much needed quiet instead of her constant flow of tears. But he knew how she felt, too.

He'd known Fox ever since he was born. He'd been close friends with his parents and played an active role at their wedding. He'd also known James McCloud for some time before that.

He'd also been there for the bad times in the McCloud history. He offered what comfort he could when Vixy was killed. He'd done the same with Fox when his father came to his tragic end.

Now, with the last of the McCloud line gone, he was going to have to do the same with Fara.

"I'm getting too old for this," he murmured as he unbuckled the straps that held him in place. Freed of their constraints, he turned around and touched Fara on the shoulder. "We're home, Fara. Time to wake up."

She blinked a few times in confusion before she looked up at the hare. Her eyes were bloodshot and the fur around them was a soggy mess. She wiped her eyes and tried to make herself look presentable, but eventually gave up with a sigh. "I look like hell, don't I?"

He nodded. "You do. It's understandable though."

"Anyone out there?"

Peppy popped the canopy, stood up, and looked around before turning back towards Fara. "Short of the engineers and Pepper himself, no."

She looked down and groaned. "Fuck."

"He's more than likely there to offer his thoughts and condolences."

"Maybe I don't want his pity right now."

He wondered if Fara would ever be anything resembling normal ever again. Short of Fox's sudden return, he doubted it. "If you want to tell the General to shove off, you're more than welcome to. I won't."

Peppy thought he saw a hint of a smile appear before she went back to her stoic expression. "Maybe I will."

"That's up to you." He heard the soft clank of two pairs of boots dropping onto the floor outside and figured it was the other pilots. "The others have disembarked, so let me know when you're ready."

She sniffed one last time and said, "Well, there's no point in me staying in this thing. Let's go."

"Okay."

The hare tapped the button necessary to extend the ladder outside the Arwing and climbed down. He got out of the way and paused, turning to make sure that Fara descended safely as well. Afterwards, the four pilots gathered and approached Pepper.

The engineers they passed had their hats in paw and heads bowed low in condolence. In a muted voice only he could hear, Peppy heard a few offering prayers for Fox's safe return. He accepted them gratefully, but he knew the engineers didn't see what he had.

In short, he had no faith in Fox ever coming back.

Even his unexplainable sixth sense, an ability that had somehow guided him true when he needed help the most, was silent. Based on his prior experiences, that only meant one thing – the plan or line of thought he was following was simply the correct one. It was silent on him too when James was killed.

Suppressing a sigh, Peppy looked up to see the solemn faced Pepper. As what was left of the team came to a halt around him, he said, "General."

"Peppy. Starfox team." He paused to take a deep breath before continuing. "I'll keep this short, as I have little to say that I haven't already. I've sent out teams to search that base as I said earlier. I hope to have an answer one way or another soon. Either way, your services to this base and those that it protects are finished. Thank you. You're dismissed."

Peppy looked over the team as they continued onward without another word. All eyes were on him as he said, "You're all on your own. Just make sure you can keep in touch until we hear from Pepper."

The team split, but the hare watched Fara closely. Leaving her alone for long during this time of sorrow, especially considering how close she was to Fox, wasn't recommended at all as far as he was concerned.


The day continued tearfully for Fara. After landing, she headed towards her own room and was left with her grief.

She wasn't left on her own, however. About an hour later, Peppy was there with her and offered a shoulder to cry upon. While she wanted to be alone, the hare refused to leave her side.

Eventually, she calmed her tears long enough to try to get him to see her way. She pushed away from his gentle hold and looked him in the eyes. "Go away."

"Being alone at a time like this isn't advisable."

What the heck was he talking about? "Advisable? Who…who made you king of these matters?"

"Do you really want to know why?"

"Will it get you to shut up and leave me alone?"

The hare winced, but she didn't care. "It's because I've been there every time a McCloud has…moved on. I know how the other—"

"I don't care! Get out!"

"Okay." He slowly pushed himself off the bed and onto his feet. "If you need—"

"Go!"

Fara watched the hare leave, but he didn't get far before her door chime echoed throughout the now stifling room. "What?" she asked with an irritated voice.

"Fara, it's us." The voice belonged to Miyu.

She muttered incoherently under her breath. She wanted to be alone, but instead all of her friends wanted to make sure she was 'okay'. As much as she didn't want to see them, she figured that if she saw her friends for a brief while, they'd get out of her fur that much faster. "Come."

Fay entered first, followed by Miyu. Fara looked their way and noticed that the canine had been crying. Instead of feeling sorrow as well, her feelings suddenly changed.

They changed to anger.

She stood up and marched towards Fay. She pushed past the curious hare and came face to face with the one who started all of her fears and violently shoved her to the ground. "You bitch! It's all your fault! You caused this!"

Fara attacked the stunned canine with all of her might and continued to spout off obscenities one after another. It was her she blamed for everything. If it wasn't for her and her cursed premonitions, none of this would've happened.

It didn't take long before Peppy and Miyu dragged her off. She continued to swing, but her paws connected with only air.

"Fara, calm down!" That command came from the hare.

"It's all her fault!" she yelled back. "She's entirely to blame!"

"She did not cause Fox's death!"

Fay finally recovered enough from the sudden attack to respond. "I did, in a way."

The pair pushed Fara into a seated position on her bed. She shot daggers of hate with her eyes at both Peppy and Miyu for interfering. "Just sit there and calm down," ordered the hare as he glanced her way before looking back towards Fay. "That's technically impossible, as you weren't there."

"I was metaphysically. I can see—"

"Not this again," muttered Fara as she gave up fighting and collapsed onto her back. It seemed that her friends were going to haunt her at the time she most didn't want them.

Fay sighed. "I can occasionally foresee…people's deaths. I saw Fox…die, and unfortunately…I've never been wrong before."

"A terrible curse," commented Peppy.

"Yeah. And no—"

Fara had had enough. She was tired of all these people in her room. She wanted to be alone. She wanted some way to be able to tell Fox her feelings. She wanted time itself to reverse directions so she could've found some way to save him.

There was only a few of those things she could actually accomplish.

"Get the hell out of my room!" she yelled. "Go! Get out of here!"

"But—"

"NOW!"

"Fara—"

"I will call the guards and have you three thrown out if you don't go immediately!"

"Okay, okay." Peppy looked at the scientists and all but forced them to their feet with his gaze. "We're leaving."

"About damned time."

Without another word, the threesome turned and left.

Once the door slid shut, Fara flipped over on her bed and buried her head in her pillow. Finally left with peace and quiet, she shut out the world best she could and resumed her sorrow.

As fate would have it, simple silence was not to be hers. Via an automatic setting, her oversized plasma TV fired up about fifteen minutes later as the noon news was broadcast around the world. As her preferred station was heard via the speakers, Fara groaned and tried to use a second pillow on top of her head to block out the noise.

But her ears were too sensitive for a simple pillow to keep the chatter out. Pounding her fists against her bed in anger, she righted herself and leaned towards her nightstand for her remote.

As she found the device and aimed it towards the TV, she happened to pay attention at what it was showing. The screen was split into nine windows, each one showing a different station. The one in the upper left was currently echoing throughout her room, but she ignored it.

Instead, her eyes were glued to the center window. In it, it showed a reporter who had just run around the side of a building. The camera focused upon her for only a moment before it zoomed in on a fiery wreck being treated to by multiple emergency workers.

"Computer, focus TV window 5 and save recording."

The computer chirped to acknowledge her request as the other windows vanished and the voice she heard instantly changed. "—nowhere and crashed in the outskirts of the city."

"Was anybody hurt?" That voice belonged to the news anchor of the station.

"No bystanders were injured, but I believe the pilot ejected too late to fully escape bodily harm."

The camera bounced around and zoomed on the wreck for a few seconds before it tracked around to where the medics were loading somebody into a hovervan adorned with flashing lights. "Any idea who the pilot is?"

"Not yet, no. But based on the size of the wreckage, I'm assuming that it was only a single occupancy vehicle. Sports hovercar or some sort of small spacecraft perhaps."

Fara gasped as the driver's face came into focus for just an instant before it vanished into the ambulance. There was no way. It was impossible.

The face looked to be Fox.

"I'll gather additional information about this developing story and get back to you shortly. This is News Channel—"

"Computer, end recording and replay muted."

Fara jumped to her feet, remote in paw, and ran towards the TV. A pillow tumbled towards the floor from her sudden movement, but she didn't care. She now had hope.

She manipulated the broadcast with the remote and fast-forwarded it towards the end. Inches away from the screen, she advanced the footage frame by frame as Fox's head came into view. Once it appeared, she tapped a series of buttons on the remote to freeze the replay and zoom in and clarify the image.

A few seconds later, she had all the proof she needed. It was Fox. There was no doubt about it. There was nobody else it could be.

She quickly zoomed back out and rewound the video. It didn't take her long before she found a brief moment where the name of the hospital the ambulance belonged to appeared upon the screen.

Now knowing where Fox was, she took off out the door and ignored everything else. She ran out of her room, the door barely opening fast enough to allow her exit, and skidded into the opposite wall. She dashed back into her room and gathered the keys for her car before speeding down the hallway.

She was in such a hurry she didn't notice Miyu leaning against the wall just a few feet in the opposite direction. The lynx slipped into the room moments before the door slid shut behind her.


The drive to the hospital was completely a blur for Fara. She broke every single traffic rule in the book and used every shortcut she knew all in her goal to arrive at her destination as quickly as possible. Luck was somehow on her side, as she didn't pass a single police officer patrolling the skies.

Not like she would've stopped had she gotten somebody on her tail, anyway.

She abused her piloting skill and expertly squeezed her car into the first empty parking spot she found. She'd barely removed the keys from the vehicle before she shot out across the parking lot and raced towards the entrance. The sliding glass door got out of her way as she approached, and within moments she skidded to a stop right next in front of the receptionists' desk.

"I'm with the Starfox team. Where's Fox McCloud?"

The female raccoon behind the desk looked up with feigned interest. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are—"

"Where's Fox?"

"Ma'am, I can't—"

"Where's Fox!"

"I—"

She quieted as Fara bored straight to her soul with her eyes. Fara knew that she was acting like she was utterly crazy and hysterical, but she didn't care. All that mattered to her was finding Fox. "Where is he!"

"Hey, I know you. You're part of the Starfox team."

Fara wanted to reach over the desk and strangle the idiotic receptionist, but she controlled her seething rage with much difficulty. "Yes."

"Well…" The raccoon focused upon her monitor and started typing away on her keyboard. After a few seconds, she stopped and said, "I'm not supposed to do this, but you five are like our heroes and stuff." She smiled. "Room B413. But he—"

Upon hearing the room number, Fara had already run off, making anything said afterwards pointless.

The elevator ride up was a rare moment where Fara stopped moving for any length of time. She leaned against the wall and tried to calm her racing heart over the anticipation of seeing Fox again. What would she say to him? Or more importantly – what would she say to him first?

The doors opened and she continued her run down the hallways. She passed by a few nurses and doctors, all of which looked her way in curiosity, but nobody made any moves to stop her. She was simply out of sight before they could think such thoughts.

Finally she arrived at the passage containing Fox's room. As she neared the door at the end of the hallway, the door opened wide. Not wanting to push her luck further, she ducked into an adjacent room and closed the door behind her.

Voices from a pair of doctors floated through the crack Fara left in the door. "That's unusual.

"Most."

"McCloud seems okay, but seems to not be, at the same time."

"Chalk it up on what happened to him out there, I guess."

"Yeah. Well, our usual battery of tests should be back in about 15 or so, so I'm going to get some coffee. Interested?"

"Sure."

The pair continued to chat as they walked out of earshot. Fara waited a few more seconds before she pushed the door open. She poked her head out and watched as the doctors passed out of view. Knowing that she had at least a quarter of an hour alone with Fox, she smiled and calmly walked into the vulpine's room.

Fox lay still upon the medical bed with his eyes closed. There was a heavy sheet pulled up to his shoulders, and his arms were to his sides on top of that. He was so motionless, if it wasn't for the medical monitor above him on the wall slowly beeping in rate with his steady heartbeat, she'd assume that he was dead.

She shuddered at that thought and moved closer. Fox's arms and face were dotted with burn marks and marred fur, and an oxygen mask was attached as well. Her heart raced as she slowly reached out and stroked the fur on his arm, proving to herself that he wasn't just a figment of her imagination.

She continued to brush his fur and wished he'd wake up. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. So many things she wanted to do. But instead, Fox was just sleeping the afternoon away.

The minutes slowly passed by. Fara was content holding on to the vulpine, but as time passed, she wanted to do something more. She wanted to reveal her feelings while they were alone. But Fox was still out like a light.

She leaned in closer and cupped his head in one of her paws, while she used the other to caress his face. Afterwards, she kissed him on the forehead and basked in the love that she felt for him. After all of this time, she'd found her soulmate. Her perfect match. And she knew it.

"Why won't you wake up, Fox?" she whispered. "I'm here for you now. Nothing else is going to go wrong."

Her heart jumped as she thought she felt him stir. "That's it, Fox. Wake up. I'm here. We've won the war, we're all safe, and we love—"

Fox's eyes snapped open. He looked at her for only a moment before he reached up and locked his paws around her throat in a stranglehold.

Fara's eyes widened in shock as her paws instinctively went to his own. This couldn't be happening. Not to her. Not now.

But as Fox grinned the same evil grin she'd seen on every other android she'd encountered or killed, she knew exactly what was in front of her. She also knew how much trouble she was in.

She grabbed the android's paws and tried to loosen his grip. Failing that, she put her arms inside of his and attempted to pry his arms apart.

Both failed. The android simply had too much strength on her.

Stars danced across her vision as she gasped for air. She couldn't get the slightest bit of air down, however. He apparently knew exactly what he needed to do to completely block off her windpipe.

Fara bucked and struggled, but her attempts did nothing but piss the android off further. While still seated on the bed, he lifted her slightly off the ground and maintained his hold. "Goodbye, Ms. Phoenix."

There was nothing that Fara could do. She simply didn't have the muscle strength to even think about breaking loose, especially with her feet no longer touching the ground. Without her weapon, she was helpless.

Her vision darkened and she heard a roaring in her ears from her lack of oxygen. She looked down at Fox and thought about the vulpine it represented. At least they were going to be together soon.

And then the door leading into the room slammed open.

After a moment's pause, Peppy, Miyu, and Fay ran into the room and tried to free their friend. As they were weaponless as well, their only option was to try to pry Fara free from Fox's grasp.

As Miyu and Fay pulled, Peppy came into Fara's fading field of view. As far as she could tell, it seemed like he was looking for something. She wanted to tell them to leave, to save themselves as they would be next on this android's hit list, but she was in no condition to do so.

Embedded in the wall behind the bed was a defibrillator unit. Peppy grabbed the paddles off the device and flipped it on. "Clear!" he yelled just moments before he touched them to either side of the android's head.

Fara watched as Fox's eyes grew wide with shock as the voltage coursed through his body. She felt his deathgrip weaken slightly around her throat, allowing her to take a single gasp of life-giving air before his paws tightened again.

Peppy picked up the paddles and looked at the computer panel on the wall that controlled the device. "Come here," he ordered as he touched a few buttons and turned back around.

Miyu responded first. "What?"

"Keep touching the recharge button and pray this works."

Fara's world was vanishing once again, but she forced herself to focus upon the words so she'd remain conscious. Her friends were going to save her.

"Clear!"

Fox jolted back as the electricity blasted through his head. Peppy had turned the voltage up to the maximum setting, and with Miyu assisting, it was a near constant transmission of power.

The android held on for a few seconds before his grip began to falter. Able to get another few gasps of air down, Fara tried to fight back with what power she could pull from her oxygen-deprived muscles.

Finally, after spending what felt like forever trapped between Fox's paws, the vulpine let go. Fara dropped into Fay's waiting form, and the canine removed her from the still raging conflict.

Fox haltingly tried to bring his paws up to his head to save himself, but it was clear from how it moved that it had suffered severe damage from Peppy's sustained electrical shocks. The hare continued to pour on the power as the smell of charred electrical components overpowered whatever the hospital used to keep the rooms smelling fresh. Peppy was taking no chances.

An echoing crack deafened the group for an instant as the android's brain shattered inside its skull. The creature froze permanently in place as what little life it had to begin with faded away to nothingness.

As if fate was laughing at them, at that moment the two doctors came rushing back into the room with a trio of guards hot on their heels. The full medical scan had been completed, and it showed that Fox was anything but who he was supposed to be.

By that time, Fara had recovered enough to stand and move on her own. She took one last look at her shattered hopes and dreams lying in a smoking heap upon the bed and took off running with tears streaming down her face.