The incredibly loud rock music blared from within the bathroom. Inside, steam billowed everywhere. You couldn't have seen your own hand in front of you if you tried. The music could have been rocking the ship, but the soundproofing in the room more or less prevented that.
Fox McCloud was in the shower, getting into the music more than he would have displayed in public. But he wasn't in public, now, was he?
"Ahh!" he sighed. "Hot shower, loud music, what could be better?"
Suddenly the door whooshed open. Fox wouldn't have noticed it at all, except that the steam suddenly rushed out of the room. Fox rolled his eyes, knowing who was coming in.
"Is there enough room for me in there?" Krystal yelled over the noise.
Fox reached for a panel above his head, which he could barely see through the steam still in the room, and turned the music down considerably.
Suddenly the shower door slid open, and Krystal's naked form appeared before him. She placed her paws on her hips in annoyance. "Did you even hear me?"
Fox turned and smiled, taking her in for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, I heard you. Of course there's room in here for you." He moved over, and gestured her to come in beside him. "But you might have to leave some of your prettiness outside, because it might not fit in here."
She rolled her eyes, grinning. "Are you trying to be funny, or cute? I'm not coming in there to play, I'm coming in to get clean!"
Fox wrinkled his nose. "Get clean? Why would you want to do that?" He grabbed Krystal around her waist and pulled her in, while she giggled at the sudden move. He pulled her close to him, and her body was soon drenched with the water pouring over her. She licked his muzzle, and soon they were kissing passionately.
When they pulled away, Krystal spoke again, giggling lightly. "So when are you going to give me kits, love? We've been together for 2 years. Don't you think we should settle down?"
Fox smiled at her. "When are you going to let me marry you?"
"We already are. Kind of..."
Fox glanced at the necklace around his neck. Since Krystal had given it to him, he'd never taken it off. "Yeah, but not officially. Besides, you need a last name! Why not have mine? I think Krystal McCloud has a nice ring to it!"
She giggled. "Yes, I suppose it does. But would it... mess things up with the team? I've been a full-fledged member for a while. Do you think it would disrupt anything?"
Fox shook his head. "No. You've proven your skills. God, this whole Aparoid thing was the biggest conflict since the War, and you jumped right into active flight duty with only a little training. And you did really well. This team needs you." He hugged her close, kissing her on the forehead. "And I need you, too. I won't let the team stand in the way of us, and I won't let us stand in the way of the team. And if we have kits..."
"We'll bring them along?" Krystal looked deeply into his eyes. "Think about it, Fox. If we'd had kits to deal with during the Aparoid conflict, one of us would have been out of the loop. I couldn't bring myself to take them with us. Not in that kind of situation. But I love you, and want to be with you. I don't want to take you away from the team. But I also want children. I'm at that age, and you've almost missed your chance!"
Fox glared at her. "I have not! You make it sound like I'm as old as Peppy, for god's sake!"
Krystal laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like that. But the work we do... it's too dangerous for children."
Fox looked at her, tenderly stroking her cheek, and she nuzzled his paw in response. "I didn't really know you wanted to have kits so bad. I mean, I like the idea, but... I see your point." He kissed her again. "Oh, they'd be fine. After this last thing, we're not going to have another big job for awhile. If you want to have children..." He shrugged. "At least you're coming to me with it, instead of, you know, not telling me it was important to you."
She beamed at him. "So you'll do it?"
He smiled. "Yeah, I'll do it."
She almost tackled him joyfully, licking his face over and over. "Oh, thanks, Fox!" She held him close. "I love you so much." She buried her muzzle in his chest fur. "We'll wait for a little while, though. Just in case, you know, something comes up."
Fox nodded, then sighed. "Great. So no messing around for a while."
She cocked her head to the side. "Um, Fox? Did you forget I have an implant?"
Fox thought for a second. Then he remembered. "Oh! Right! The birth control thing. Right. Jeez, I forgot about that!"
She shook her head. "Well, silly! How else would I have prevented being pregnant all this time?" She sighed. "I don't know about you sometimes..." She smiled at him, and nuzzled his face. "But I love you anyway."
"So does that mean we can-"
Krystal clapped her paw over his muzzle. "Yes it does."
Fox lifted her by her thighs and pushed her against the wall. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, and the two began kissing intensely.
"Dagnabbit, Falco!" Peppy yelled, slapping his forehead.
The kitchen was full of dark smoke, and Peppy was rushing in to see what had gone wrong. Falco was not the cooking type, but he'd insisted on cooking lunch because he was tired of Peppy calling him a slacker. Peppy had finally decided to give Falco something simple, but it seemed that even this was too complicated.
"What?" Falco complained, holding the griddle in front of Peppy, who gagged and tried to wave the smell of charred food out of his face. "So it's a little burned. It's not like it can't still be eaten!"
Peppy glared at him. "Would you eat that?" He pointed angrily at the griddle. "They're called grilled cheese sandwiches, not charred cheese sandwiches! Your attention span is as small as your ego is big! Face it, Falco. You can't cook!"
"Well, what else am I supposed to do so you don't keep getting on my back about slacking off?" Falco retorted.
"I don't know, but at this point I'd rather have you continue to be a slacker than cook my food! Now go on, I'll see if I can't clean up in here."
Falco threw off the apron he was wearing. "Fine!" He started out, then stopped and half turned around. "By the way, when will you have lunch ready?"
Peppy growled at him. "Out, Falco!"
Falco shrugged. "Okay, later." He calmly walked out of the kitchen. He passed by Slippy, who was tinkering with something at the table. As Falco passed him, Slippy coughed as he caught a whiff of Falco's attempt at lunch."
"Jeez, Falco! What'd you use, the plasma stream from your Arwing's engine?"
"Oh, shut it, Slippy! I knew I couldn't cook that stuff! I told Peppy that, and he made me anyway. Now we'll never get any food!"
Slippy tilted his head to a unit on the wall resembling a refrigerator. "There's a replicator over there."
Falco snorted. "Yeah, and it replicates crap! The stuff that comes out of that thing doesn't even look like the food it's supposed to be, let alone taste like it."
Slippy shrugged. "The newer models are better. They make tasty food."
"Yeah, and how much do they cost?"
Slippy smirked, looking over his toy more closely. "A lot more than we have."
"Yeah, that's my point," Falco said grimly, plopping into a recliner across the room. Suddenly his temper flared up again. "Damn that Pepper! How are we supposed to live the crappy pay he gives us? He hasn't called with a job in months!"
Slippy dropped the equipment he was holding and glared at Falco, his eyes narrowing. "He's recovering from the Aparoid infection, Falco! Or did you forget that's how close we came to all being wiped out by those damn bugs?"
Falco hadn't seen Slippy react like that before. "Jeez, sorry. I didn't know he was still recovering, that was some time ago. Peppy got infected, and he's been okay for a while."
Slippy was still glaring. "Pepper had them all over his body! Jeez, don't you pay attention? He almost died! Do you not get that?"
Falco sighed, not wanting to continue the argument. "Okay, Slippy, okay. Sorry I even said it."
Slippy went back to tinkering, muttering something Falco couldn't hear, but that closely resembled "asshole". A moment later, Slippy's anger lifted. "There! Done." He held up the device he'd been tinkering with. It was a portable comm unit.
As if on cue, Fox and Krystal walked into the room. Slippy looked up the vulpine he'd wanted to see.
"Hey Fox!" He held up the comm unit. "Finished it." Fox held out his paw, indicating Slippy to throw it to him. Slippy tossed it, and Fox caught it easily in one paw.
Fox activated the unit, and instantly smiled in approval. "Remote control of all vehicles in our control, holomap displaying all other units within a ten mile radius, passive and active mechanical and life scanning, a built in cloaking device, personal shield generator..." he turned off the device. "And a computer overriding interface. You've really outdone yourself this time, Slip. Excellent job."
Slippy took a brief bow. "I figured it would shine the best on ground missions where we have to split up. I have a second unit. If we do have a mission soon where were on the ground, we can test it there. If it works out, I'll built more." He chuckled. "I bet if we showed this to the guys at CSF R&D, or even SpaceDynamics, they'd crap themselves!"
Fox laughed. "Yeah, they probably would. The space force can't spare the money for major R they don't have the funding. SpaceDynamics might, but they don't have any creative engineers over there anymore. They outdid themselves with the first Arwing, and the later upgrades to it, but there's no way they can do that again."
Slippy nodded, then laughed. "Maybe I should ask them for a job!"
Fox shook his head and chuckled. "No way, Slip. This team is nothing without your technical expertise."
Slippy nodded. "I know. I was just joking, Fox. This team is my life."
Fox smiled. "Good. Nice to know you're still with us." He plopped himself down in a chair. "You know, I just realized I haven't had breakfast yet, and it's already lunchtime!"
Krystal gave him a sideways glance and grinned slyly. You already had breakfast, love! she said to him telepathically.
Oh, right. I did, didn't I? he thought back to her. A beautiful blue vixen, if I remember correctly.
Mmm-hmm. was her response.
Suddenly a holographic representation of the ship's robotic caretaker, ROB, appeared in the middle of the room.
He turned to Fox. "Fox, message from General Pepper."
Fox beamed. "Send it down here, ROB."
Falco jumped out of his chair. "Well what do you know? The old dog has something for us after all!"
"Alright!" Slippy cheered.
"Hey Peppy! Come in here, Pepper's got something for us!" Fox called in the general direction of the kitchen.
Peppy came strolling out, wiping his paws on a rag, just in time to see the General's face come up on the holo-projector in the middle of the room.
Pepper cut right to the chase. "Greetings, Starfox team! I have some good news for you!"
"Great! What's the head's up?" Falco said impatiently.
The General smirked at Falco. "I'm alive and well!"
The whole team smiled. Except Falco. "Um. I think we knew that already. You wouldn't be calling us if you weren't!"
Pepper chuckled. He looked over the rest of the team. "I have an... unusual mission for your team, Fox. Rather unorthodox, to be sure. The only thing it involves saving is the financial instabilities both the Cornerian Defense Force and our biggest contractor, SpaceDynamics, have run into in recent days."
Fox nodded, musing to himself of the irony, having mentioned this very thing only a few minutes ago. But the other members of the team looked puzzled. Fox decided to address their concerns himself. "What have you got for us, General?"
Pepper assumed a more dignified pose. "We have recently become aware of a sporting event which has just in the last few years reached our region of the galaxy."
Everyone in the room thought the same thing at the same time. Sporting event?
Pepper decided to continue, preventing utter confusion. "The event is a racing league, called the XGRA. It originated on Earth some 700 years ago, and has, over that time, become very popular in that area. Many other systems in the United Planetary Alliance have participated in it as well, and since we were admitted to the UPA five years ago, word has leaked out to us that the XGRA's governing committee wants to build a series of racing tracks in our system. One to be set in Corneria City itself."
The team nodded, and Fox decided to say something. "How will this solve the military's financial problems, and what does it have to do with us?"
Pepper nodded. "I was getting to that. The race is so popular that it will draw many tourists from all over the galaxy to our system. This will help our economy greatly. Also, the league uses racing vehicles which we have little experience." An image flashed up on the screen. It was a two-wheeled machine, with a large glass canopy, and engine exhaust ports on the rear of the vehicle. The image spun slowly around, as technical specs flooded the display. Pepper continued to talk as this was happening. "The machines are called Hyperbikes. And from what I have heard, they're extremely difficult to pilot. That's where you and your team come in, Fox."
Fox grinned. "This sounds easy, General. We'll do this with no problem. These things can't be as hard as Arwings to pilot."
Pepper shook his head. "Ah, but there's a catch..." the image of the Hyperbike disappeared, and was replaced by a long winding ribbon. It twisted in on itself many times, and large loops were in a few places as well. "This is a layout for one of the tracks."
Slippy emitted a long low whistle.
Pepper smiled. "You will be cruising along this track at a speed of 600 miles an hour or more, with that glass canopy and a shield the only thing separating you from the track. On top of this, you will have no fewer than 12 other riders actively pursuing you."
Fox's eyes went wide.
"Oh, it gets better," Pepper chuckled. "Those other riders will be shooting at you with all kinds of nasty weapons."
Fox shook his head. "What kind of race is this? It sounds ridiculously chaotic. I like this idea!"
The General grinned. "I knew you would. The good part about all this, for us and for you, is that we get to modify our own Hyperbikes for each rider on your team. But in order for a team to be official, it needs a sponsor."
Fox smirked. "Let me guess. SpaceDynamics is more than happy to sponsor us."
Pepper nodded shortly. "You got it, son. As a result, they have been putting a lot into R&D on these things. Not just in weapons, but in everything. Right down to the bike's body design. You will find some... familiarities in the design. As well as the weapons. You won't be going out there unequipped. We picked you for one simple reason. Your team was the only group of people skilled enough to pilot the Arwings when we first used them, and we don't think we could find anyone better suited to the task of piloting yet another quirky vehicle. What do you think, Fox?"
Fox thought for only a moment; he'd already made up his mind. "Sounds like a great idea, General. We'll do it."
Pepper smiled broadly. "Very good. You can come in as soon as you're available for further briefing, and, if you'd like, a tour of what we've been up to. I know Slippy will be excited to see the guts of these machines."
Slippy tried to keep from jumping up and down, and just barely managed to contain himself.
"We're ready now, General. We're not doing anything."
"Excellent!" Pepper definitely seemed pleased. "Oh, and did it mention- winning even a minor race in the XGRA will earn a great deal of money, with most of it going to your team."
The team gave various cheers of approval. "That's great to hear, General." Fox beamed.
"There is a small fee to register a team, but that will be taken care of. I am looking forward to seeing you for the briefing, team. General Pepper out."
The team cheered once again. Fox then noticed that Peppy looked rather depressed. He approached his mentor. "What's up, Peppy?"
Peppy shook his head. "Aw, nothing, Fox. It's just, I'll be out of the loop for this. I can't pilot one of those things."
Fox smiled, patting Peppy in the back. "I'm sure we'll find something for you to do other than sit up here with ROB to keep you company."
Peppy smiled a bit. "Not like I wouldn't enjoy the peace and quiet, or anything like that."
Fox just rolled his eyes. The he tapped a panel on the wall. "ROB? This is Fox. Set a course for Corneria."
"Understood," grated ROB's metallic voice.
Krystal walked over to her unofficial mate. "Aren't you glad we didn't decide to get me pregnant this morning?" She grinned, and they hugged tightly for a moment.
Fox kissed her on the cheek. "Yeah. Although I was kind of looking forward to it."
She giggled. "You still can. It would be a few months before it would get in the way of anything."
Fox leaned in close to her, speaking softly so as not to be overheard. "I know what I'm doing tonight, then."
Krystal playfully pushed him. "Yeah, you do that!"
There was a brief lurch as the ship jumped into warp, and it sped silently toward Corneria.
A/N: So what do you guys think now? I did want to address something as well, so as to clear up any confusion in those of you who read Hope for the Lonely. This is NOT a sequel to that story, despite some of the elements I decided to put in here from that story, most noticeably, that Fox has the necklace that Krystal gave him in Hope for the Lonely. Fox isn't a Cerinian in this story, but he is wearing the necklace. Also, the soundproofing in Fox's room. Both of those things I though should be carried over into this story. Also, I didn't go into a lot of detail about it in the story, but this is AFTER the Aparoid thing in Assault. So the timeline is a little later. I would say it's been about 6 months after Assault. So I hope that clears up any confusion there might be.