Author's note: Sorry for the long delay, but it took me quite a while to write this chapter and not make it suck, which I'm pretty sure it doesn't. Also, the S.T.A.R.S Alpha team, who had a brief cameo in the previous chapter, don't belong to me. They are the property of Capcom.

Chapter 8 – A breakthrough

The wolf slowly opened his eyes. After looking around a bit, he sat up.

"Yes! Yes, it's really working!" Dr. Taylor said, excitedly.

Bewildered, the wolf looked at himself.

"Wh-where am I?" he said, "Who am I?"

"You are my servant." said the doctor, "I am Dr. Zachary Taylor and I have brought you back to life to serve me."

The wolf tried to think about who he really was and what had happened to him, but his mind was completely blank.

"All right, I'm here." a voice said, "What's your plan B?"

The wolf turned towards the voice. Standing in front of him was Captain Logan.

"And who is this other wolf?" Logan asked.

"Ah, Logan." Dr. Taylor said, "You're just in time. This is our new servant. For now we will call him Igor. I have discovered a way to reanimate bodies that are already dead, and Igor here was my test subject."

Logan looked him over with astonishment.

"Come." the scientist continued, "I have something else to show you."

The scientist led him to a room filled with dead bodies. All of them were being preserved and were dressed in Venomian military outfits.

"These are all bodies of Venomian soldiers who lost their lives in the Lylat war."

Logan couldn't believe what he was being shown.

"You mean to tell me that you preserved all their bodies and now you're going to reanimate them?" he asked.

"Precisely. And this time, they will be unstoppable."

"Well, doctor," Logan said, "I must say I completely misjudged you in the past. By the way, did you happen to recover the bodies of the former Star Wolf team?"

"No. Regrettably, Leon's body was already partially decomposed when I found it. Pigma's was badly burned when he crashed and Andrew was shot in the head, so I couldn't reanimate them."

"Hmmm… oh well. They were bumbling fools anyway. These soldiers will do fine. And this time, we will not be stopped."

---

Bill walked into the command post, where Fox was sitting in his chair, reading his book.

"Well, Fox, I better get going now." he said, "Thanks for the hand."

"Oh, no problem." Fox said, "Glad I could…"

"Sir," ROB interrupted, "we are receiving another transmission from General Pepper."

Fox sighed, expecting to hear more bad news. But when Pepper appeared on the screen, he looked much more relaxed than last time.

"Fox," he said calmly, "whatever we're paying you, it's not enough!"

Fox never thought he'd ever hear Pepper say something like that.

"What do you mean, sir?" he asked.

"According to Intel, all the zombies on Corneria have been eliminated."

Fox's eyes went wide.

"All of them?!"

"That's right. Thanks to Wolf and Kyle, the entire horde of zombies was stopped before they could cause much trouble. We've also managed to acquire a few samples of the virus from some of the slain bodies. Hopefully, our scientists can come up with a cure."

Fox was amazed by what he was hearing.

"Be sure to give your teammates my gratitude when they get back."

"Will do, sir."

With that, the transmission ended.

"Maybe Krystal's right." Fox told Bill, "Maybe I have been worrying too much lately."

Bill smirked.

"Well, anyway," he said, "I'll catch ya later."

"See ya, Bill."

A few minutes after Bill left, the door to the command post opened and Wolf walked in, with Ray in his arms and Sarah by his side. Fox got out of his chair and walked up to him.

"Wolf," he said, "you and Kyle both did a great job out there. Sorry I tried to stop you."

"I understand." Wolf replied, "You were obviously concerned for my safety. Apology accepted."

"Wolf tells me that you're expecting a baby." Sarah said, "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Fox looked at Ray.

"Is that your son?" he asked.

"Yep." said Wolf, "Want to hold him?"

"Umm, sure."

Wolf handed Ray to Fox. Ray looked up at Fox with curiosity.

"Hi there." Fox said.

Fox tickled Ray's chin and he started to giggle. He playfully pulled his hand away as Ray tried to grab his finger. Then he started tickling him again and repeated the process.

"So, what's his name?" Fox asked.

"His name's Ray." said Sarah.

"Ah, named after a Ghost Buster eh? You lucky lucky man!"

Sarah whispered into Wolf's ear and Wolf nodded in response.

"Say, Fox," he said, "you think you could watch him for a while? Sarah and I need to… speak to each other."

Fox nodded, knowing exactly what Wolf meant.

"Sure. No problem."

---

Sarah sighed with pleasure as Wolf started massaging her feet.

"I'm so glad you came when you did." she said, "I knew you'd rescue us."

"Well, I did still owe you one." Wolf replied, "And I wasn't about to let them get you."

Sarah smiled.

"By the way, that was pretty brave how you rescued Ray." Wolf continued, "Of course, I always knew how brave you were before I married you."

Sarah sat up, threw her arms around him, and kissed him.

"Enough with the small stuff." she said, "Let's get to the point."

Wolf nodded, let go of her foot, and put his arms around her. As they began to make out, he pushed one of his boots off with one foot and did the same with the other boot. Sarah lifted Wolf's shirt and rubbed her hand across his furry chest. Wolf threw his head back, closed his eyes, and raised his hands; allowing her to remove his shirt.

"Been too long since I've gotten to enjoy this." he said.

"Just wait." Sarah said, taking off her shirt, "It's gonna get better."

Then, just as she was about to remove her bra, Sarah's cell-phone rang. Sarah motioned for Wolf to wait and picked it up off the nightstand.

"Hello?"

"Agent Johnson, this is General Pepper. I trust that you and your son are all right?"

"Yes, sir. We're fine. And by the way, it's O'Donnell now."

"Right, sorry. Anyway, I'm sorry to separate you from your family, but I have an extremely important mission for you. I need you here within two hours."

"All right, sir. I'll be right there."

After hanging up, Sarah sighed.

"You're not needed again, are you?" Wolf asked.

"I'm afraid so." she replied, "Pepper needs me in two hours."

Wolf and Sarah looked at each other and nodded. Then Sarah got back on the bed.

---

Igor walked around outside, taking a look at his surroundings.

"This place…" he said to himself, "It looks… familiar. I've been here before. But when?"

Igor could barely remember being on Venom at one point in his life. He remembered being in a fighter jet, flying over that area. The next thing he remembered was crashing into the ground. Other than that, he couldn't remember anything else.

"I… I was a pilot. I crashed on this planet. And I… died here. But how did I…?"

His thoughts were again interrupted by Logan's voice.

"Igor, what are you doing out here?! Get inside and get back to work! I want every last soldier ready by the end of the month! You got that?"

Igor didn't really want to serve him, but realizing he had little choice, he just nodded and walked back inside. Deep down inside, he also knew that his name wasn't really Igor, but he couldn't remember what it was.

---

Wolf walked into the command post to find Ray sitting in Fox's lap, laughing and clapping his hands as Kyle entertained him with a puppet. The puppet had a red body with a white star on the front, a white head with two beady eyes, and a blue hat with a propeller. Krystal and Falco were also there watching.

"You gotta do the best you can, and work out twice a day." Kyle sang in a cartoon character's voice, "Don't ask me why I said it, cause I already forgot."

Wolf grinned as he watched his son enjoy the entertainment.

"You're pretty good with children." Krystal complimented.

Falco was the first to notice Wolf coming in.

"Hey, Wolf," he said, "I heard you and Kyle got rid of all the zombies on Corneria. Sorry for underestimating you."

"Forget about it." Wolf replied.

"So, where's Sarah?"

No sooner than he'd asked, Sarah came in wearing her spy gear and carrying a backpack full of supplies.

"Be good for Daddy." she said to Ray, "Mommy's gonna be back soon. I promise."

Sarah kissed him on the cheek and handed the backpack to Wolf.

"I've packed a few extra diapers and some changes of clothes." she said, "And if he gets hungry, there's some food in there too. I'll call as soon as my mission's over."

"Thanks, honey."

Wolf and Sarah kissed, then simultaneously said, "I love you."

With that, Sarah walked out the door.

"Ah, I see." Falco said, "Well, I know how that feels. Katt and I had to postpone our date after the zombies appeared on Corneria."

"Tough break." Wolf replied.

After a while, Ray suddenly started to cry.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Kyle asked.

"Do you think he's hungry?" asked Krystal.

"I don't think so." Wolf said, "Sarah just fed him."

"In that case," Fox said, "it must be…"

Fox checked Ray's diaper.

"Yep."

"Oh, allow me." Wolf said, realizing that no one else was going to volunteer.

He grabbed an extra diaper out of the bag, picked up Ray, and took him to the bathroom.

---

Later that night, Fox stood in front of the bathroom sink in his private bathroom, brushing his teeth as he and Krystal spoke to each other telepathically with their rings.

"Do you really think I'll be a good mother?"

"Honey, I don't think so," Fox replied, "I know so."

Fox spit out the toothpaste into the sink.

"You've already proven to be a better wife than I could ever ask for, so I have no doubt that you'll be a great mother."

After rinsing his mouth and drying his face, Fox checked his teeth in the mirror and put his toothbrush away. Then he walked into his bedroom, where Krystal was waiting for him in bed.

"It's just that I've been looking forward to this for a long time and I want to make sure that I'll be ready for it." Krystal said.

Fox climbed into bed with her.

"I know what you mean." he said, "Wolf seems to be doing well as a father though. If he can do it, so can I."

With that, Fox kissed her muzzle and said, "Good night, Love."

He then reached for the light switch and turned out the light.

---

Wolf walked into the infirmary, holding Ray; who was fast asleep in his father's arms. After putting him in one of the medical beds, Wolf kissed his son's forehead and glanced over at Kyle; who appeared to be working on an experiment at his desk. Kyle sighed heavily as if disappointed by the results.

"What's up?" Wolf asked.

Kyle turned his head to face him.

"Oh, I was just experimenting with a sample of the virus." he said, "They're trying to find a cure and, since I'm one of the few people who know how the virus works, I just thought I'd look into it myself."

"And I take it you're stumped?"

"Yep."

Wolf felt an itch on his left eyebrow. Then, just as he reached up to scratch it, he suddenly remembered how Kyle had created a formula; which restored his eye.

"Kyle, what about that serum you created last year?" he asked.

"Huh? What serum?"

After noticing Wolf's left eye, he instantly knew exactly what Wolf was talking about. Frantically, he began searching his desk drawers until he found it.

"Yes!" he said, "I think this might…"

Wolf suddenly put his hand over Kyle's muzzle and pointed to Ray; who was still asleep. Thankfully, Ray hadn't woken up.

"Oh. Sorry." Kyle said in a quieter voice, "I think this might help, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough. It might need to be tampered with so that it'll attack the virus. I think I'll stay up a bit and see what I can do with it."

"Well, I'm gonna get some sleep now." Wolf said, "Good night. And good luck."

"Thanks."