I am SOOOO sorry, I haven't updated for this story in half-a-year. For those of you who liked it, I owe you! Here, we add yet another Fox from yet another Dimension to really add a new dimension of beautiful confusion.

Let me know if this amused you people who follow this story. I had so much fun writing this chapter, it was insane. I hope you guys enjoy it! I edited cusswords and I plan to go back through and make a few edits. Perhaps I didn't quite understand the terms of "Teen" rating back when I first started on this, but trust me, it's the abridged version of this story, from the way it's written in Windows WORD. Heh, there's far, far less description in the intimate and innuendo parts. There's less cussing, and where it's used, it's edited out. I know some of you will have to re-read the story to remember where we are, but this is where it starts to get a bit more liniar. Leave feedback on how ya feel about the story! Toodles!

-kit


Chapter 8: "Raiders, Pirates, Mercenaries (oh my!), another addition!"

Somewhere on Fortuna… in a Lylat System somewhere in one of many Galaxies.

It wasn't a fashion or a fad. It was self amusement in rebellious form. The stark green tuft of headfur, pushed up into a Mohawk, was his second most striking feature. No matter what distance, it always seemed that his foes noticed his eye patch, first. Was there some sort of Bionic eye replacement underneath the eye patch? Rumors speculated that he was such a badass, that he didn't need such things. His reputation was a strong one, for sure.

The lupine glanced at his wrist watch, waiting in patience. The cable cars moved several hundred people a day up to the summit of Calgori Mountain, home of the richest bank on Fortuna. Problem was, their security detail was union and the bank was raising fees but cutting budgets. Security for the entire sector, employed by the parent corporation who owned this bank had only screwed themselves.

The Cable Car continued its upward ascension, carrying several corporate bigwigs to the top of the mountain to cash their corporate salary bonus checks, making Wolf's stomach turn. These slugs make an important call or two per month and let the rest of their board of members do the work every other day of the week. The very thought of their moneymaking bullshXt schemes had him seething in silence.

This cable car was filled with nothing but Illuminatiesque, unethical, esoteric, manipulative fart-knockers. Every one of them had a reason to go to this bank and an ulterior motive to do some banking today. It was the perfect group of left-wing, conspiracy-heading, conformity-loving bXstards to have in attendance today. Wolf couldn't have been happier.

Wolf O'Donnell ran a paw over his shoulder pack. High power hair dye removal gel, plastique explosives, a battery as well as jury-rigged equipment to cause the putty to explode, and finally a battery operated holographic display. With a countertop battery, he could have the thing run for about four minutes before it fizzled into oblivion. That would be four minutes he'd need to get things to happen.

The cable car shuttered as the brakes closed around the high tension line that carried the box to and from the city and bank, each day. Close to 600 people took this tram to the top of Calgori Mountain each day, with 14 cable cars in service at any given time. There were 20 bays, each with a tram to the mountain top, but several were usually out of service or unused except on holiday seasons when banking was at the busiest.

The door slid open and Wolf was the last one out, letting the rich hurry to grow richer, by making a beeline for the large revolving bank doors. Underneath his eye patch, the bionic eye emplacement began to generate a rewind video footage to his brain, showing and pausing on his prerecorded video of that trip to the planetary archives last week. Now he was looking over the blueprint plans for the bank, all recorded video footage that was stored in the jump drive keyring he carried, sending the information to his bionic implant, using 802.11X equipment.

There was a bathroom adjacent to the power grid control post, which let him kill two birds with one stone, if the deal went smoothly. There was no reason to conserve stones here, but Wolf liked to rate his game plans and the execution of these plans on point system, including style points, grace points and badass kill-score points. This one was going to be one of his better scores at the end, if things went well. But if they didn't, he could always make up for it in the coveted 'turn around' points.

He employed this system for a gig he did a year ago, when the entire plan turned to crap and he was surrounded, his only options seeming to be near death or capture. Somehow, luck was with him and he found a way out of the situation, simultaneously blowing the building up and roasting his Anti-Fanbase. He had to give himself turnaround points for that one, turning a screwed up plan into a graceful, kickass exit.

But with the way he'd planned this show, there would be no need for Turn Around points if he stuck to his plan. The revolving door scooped up several people at once, moving them into the lobby of the bank. He cut through one of the lines, heading for the bathroom. While doing this, he dropped his cellphone on the floor, which clattered noisily in the nearly silent bank. It was like a damn library in here.

Reaching for the cumbersome cellular telephone, a tiny silver diskette rolled out of his sleeve, resting on the ground and left behind. Once inside the bathroom, Wolf pulled out his hair-dye removal kit and poured the concentrated gel into his paw. After a moment of lathering the crap into his green mohawk, the lather turned to a pail greenish color and finally the naturally whitish coloration of his headfur returned. He leaned his head into the sink, washing the lathered gel out so that no trace of green could be seen.

Once this was done, he slipped into a bathroom stall, climbing up onto the back of the toilet. The heat vent above the third stall was removed and he shimmied his body up into the shaft, pulling the grate shut behind himself. It was another four meters to the power grid control office, dropping down into a crouch, relaxing his weight on his haunches. A picket sign was resting against the console, the words 'STRIKE FOR TRUTH' scrawled across both sides.

It only took a moment for his bionic optical implant to register the controls of the console, helping him hastefully determine which were the lobby lights. A flip of the switch and the entire bank was cast into pitch black. Wolf flipped a remote control switch in his pocket, mashing several buttons at once to engage the holographic image of himself in the green hair colored mohawk, standing there, trying to check stocks or.. Something... It was all done on an Internet-Ready cell phone.

After a moment, the lights were shifted back on and he picked up the public address microphone, saying, "Sorry for the mistake, ladies and gentlemen. Just a minor technical difficulty. We hope this hasn't caused any sort of banking inconvenience. Thank you," He said, releasing the 'talk' button, then adding, "FXXk-wads," with a publicly-unheard sneer of distaste.

He had four minutes. Wolf pulled sunshades down over his muzzle to obscure his eye patch, among other reasons. Dashing through the office and into the break room, he quickly elbowed a gentleman in the head, rendering the poor soul unconscious. A metallic lunch tray from the cafeteria was sitting on the counter which was quickly grabbed as he shouldered the next door open. Without even pausing, he continued into the next room, which was a hallway about 8 meters long that ran behind the main teller counter.

He dashed to the left, heading into an intersecting corridor that took him towards the vault. The glasses were designed for spot welding without blinding oneself, but Wolf had another purpose for them, besides concealing his beloved eye patch. In his back pocket was a flash grenade, pulled free and tossed into the clerk's office, knowing they had keys to the vault.

This grenade was a no-noise, low-magnesium flash explosive that generated several thousand candlepower watts, stunning and blinding everyone in the room. Thanks to the sunshades he only had mere spots in his good eye, nothing more. By the time he was back in the hallway, he had the key to the access shaft under the floor that was used to bring shipments of money up the mountain and into the bank above.

True, the rubberized conveyer belt wouldn't allow for the loot to slide down to his ship waiting at the bottom. But he had this planned out in advance, after all. Three minutes left until the battery ran out on his holographic distraction. It was a great little device rigged up by a friend of a friend. It even had a proximity detection program which was in effect even as Wolf worked his way into the safe.

Out in the lobby, a gentleman was approaching the holographic image, his gaze in a financial magazine. The Holographic image folded its arms and an audio emitter said, "Excuse you pal. Why don't you watch where the fXXk you're going. Step on my well polished shXt-kickers and I'll make sure you get personally aquatinted with them." The startled gentleman glanced up, stopping in his tracks. He nodded politely, going around the holographic image. So long as it didn't happen repeatedly, its battery wouldn't die early. Wolf accounted for such an occurrence to happen at least 3 times in 4 minutes. He could only hope these people wouldn't be more idiotic than a "3 or 4" ratio.

Not that Wolf worked in ratios but he had to know his gear to be a success. Within moments, the safe was open, the access panel in the hallway floor was open and six bags of well secured loot were sitting on the floor, waiting to be sent on their way down the mountain. They were resting in the metal food tray which was placed on the service rails on either side of the conveyer tunnel. The little indented hand-grips on either side of the tray fit perfectly over the service rails that ran along the tunnel walls.

Wolf rested several bags of money and platinum plates onto the tray and gave it a push. The incline of the conveyer shaft became nothing more than a sled on rails, sending the prize on its way. With his mission achieved, the sly pirate shut the access tunnel, tossed the keys into the doorway of the nearby office and planted his bomb on a nearby wall. This was distraction two, as well as getting rid of any forensic evidence.

A blast like this would incinerate any strands of fur that could place him in front of the safe and conveyer access. Anything anywhere else was going to have to be circumstantial evidence, since he had a job interview he never attended. That's right, a job interview as a security officer. Lord knows, the Bank would want to hire someone brave enough to work right away, in the middle of a strike. Who's to say the bomb wouldn't kill someone who may have talked to him at some point in the bathroom or power grid office?

The thought of actually showing up for an interview was hilarious, but he couldn't be placed in front of the safe, that was definitely for sure, especially with several eyewitnesses placing him out in the lobby. Now to throw the lights one more time, run out into the lobby, set off the bomb, wait until the emergency lights come on - which would take approximately one full minute in the dark - then let himself be seen in public, trying to 'flee for his life' when the bomb goes off in the back.

It wouldn't play exactly like that, but pretty close. He glanced into the office of staggering people, rubbing spots from their eyes, while rushing back down the hallway. He dashed into the office and shut off the lights then used the ability of his bionic implant to navigate his way out into the lobby and back into the bathroom. Wolf pulled out a can of green temporary dye from one of those fashion shops at the mall and sprayed his headfur as quickly as possible. The spray coated his glasses but they were no longer of any real use anyhow.

Once he felt his head was fairly soaked with the crap, he pushed the shades back into his shoulder bag and hurried out into the lobby. Just as he was picking up the holographic disc from the floor and deactivating it with his thumb, the emergency lights came on. He'd not only been ahead of schedule, having actual battery power left on his holographic projector, but he didn't break a sweat, either. Reaching into his pocket to conceal the holo-disc, Wolf groped the remote detonator and mashed the button.

It was time to 'panic' and evacuate with the dozens of fleeing bankers. When it came to solo missions like this, he had to play the game with class. He preferred to walk right in and light the joint up, but without a capable partner, O'Donnell had to play by a different set of rules.


Wolf wondered around the town for a little while. Calgori Mountain could wait until night time. He was in no hurry and he was definitely not in a hurry to get caught. The glasses were tossed into the booster on the backside of a Taxi cab. Next time the guy took off, they would be incinerated and it would be one less shred of evidence.

He reviewed the video recording of the events from the heist, pausing it at the part he went into the office to retrieve the keys after flash-popping the room. The name badge on the lady closest to the key ring read "Frannie". He then fast forwarded the footage to his glance into the room before leaving. Frannie was sitting by the doorway, rubbing her eyes.

With the bomb having gone off just outside of that doorway, she was absolutely dead and that meant if any investigators were to trace back to him being in the building at all, he would tell them his interviewer's name was .. "Frannie". They would reluctantly regret to tell him that "Frannie" was killed in a bank robbery; Wolf would gasp and say that her death was a shame and he would be scratched off the suspect list.

Not that the police had Wolf's DNA on file if they DID find a hair sample, but it was an easy cover answer. The sun set with practiced bravado, four hours after the bombing. That's when Wolf decided to make his collection. His fighter didn't have any of that high-tech shXt like Artificial Intelligence Computer flight or anything. He had to land, unnoticed, at the foothills of Calgori Mountain, then carry the prize forty-five yards to his getaway mobile. It was the crappiest part of the plan, but was the best way to pull it off, for now.

To Wolf's surprise, he found that the picketers never left. That wasn't something in his plan. He really didn't want to be spotted on the premises after a robbery, but here he was, returning to the scene of the crime to collect his prize. If he could afford a cloaking device, he could have blown their asses up and used his fighter to get the loot...he wasn't that lucky, right yet.

"We're STRIKING for TRUTH!" One of the people shouted, thrusting his sign upwards, once Wolf was spotted on his approach. "They're raising the fines and rates and cutting our pay! If they simply paid us enough to feed our families, we'd have been there to stop this robbery that happened a few hours ago! The greedy truth is that this bank's corporate people only care about pocketing more money for themselves!" the man continued, proudly.

"Give'em hell, man. I'm a mercenary, pal. I make my own work and send the bill in, minus a cleanup fee to get rid of all the bodies," Wolf said, boasting a sardonic smirk.

"Do you bank here?" The man asked O'Donnell.

"Oh me? No, when I heard about all the petty corporate crap, I made a large withdraw and walked away. After today, I probably won't even look back," The lupine said, keeping a straight poker face, but grinning inwardly at the double meaning.

"I hope that bank robber took every dollar!" The man said, continuing to grouse about his employer.

"You know what they say," Wolf replied. "The greediest bank robber gets caught. You guys are security for that place, why not see what's left and take it for yourself? Who's gonna know, the place was robbed and blown up according to the news. I'd say whatever is left of that place is yours."

"I have half a mind to do just that," The striker replied, several of his buddies agreed.

"I'm serious. If they catch you up there, just say you were just curious how much damage your strike caused, so you can better make a case to your employer, as to why you refuse to take a budget cut," Wolf said with a persuasive smile.

"Well, I am curious what's left, with there having been a bomb in there, and all," said the man in a sour tone.

"Better go see if you even have a job, before you strike against it. For all we know the place could have been obliterated. I just came up here because I saw you guys were still striking, on holovision. That's pretty bold; it takes balls to pull an all-nighter," Wolf offered, sliding his paws into his pockets.

"Who else wants to go and take a look?" The man asked his 4 buddies. Everyone agreed except for one, who demanded to hold his post until a resolution has been made. To Wolf's dismay, that left one man. Once the other 4 were gone, Wolf put his paws into his pockets, trying to decide if he should just blast this remaining boob for being a burden.

The frustrated desire to fry this moron finally got to him and he simply pulled out his stun blaster and shot the guy. Then he placed the stunner against the man's head and fired again. It left a light burn mark and a bruise against the man's forehead, slightly visible under the short hairs of his facial fur. At such proximity the high powered stunner killed the man, discounting him as a witness.

Wolf rolled his singular gaze, and headed for the access hatch delivery tunnel. He had to work quickly, carrying the bags of loot back to his fighter before heading back to the small field where the dead guy was...resting. He debated on carrying the body off, but when a missing person's report investigation lead cops to the group of strikers, they would make Wolf a suspect.

He finally decided to play the game in the opposite direction. He fished into his pockets, finding a business card in his wallet. It was a StarFox card and the clever lupine left it by the man's shoe. It was the only way he could try and manipulate the direction of a possible future investigation. Then again, he could just go up to the bank and blow away the strikers.

The problem with that was they were trained in security and out numbered him, 4 to 1. But the thought of having witnesses really bothered him. Once back in his ship, his stomach still didn't sit right with knowing four people saw his face.

"FXckkit, there's only one way to solve this," Wolf grumbled, firing his engines and lifting off the ground. He jerked back on the flight yolk, heading up the slope of the mountain, firing a missile directly into the bank. The explosion blew the top clear off the bank, leveling the building. Now he definitely had to hurry out of this place. Wolfy punched his afterburners, rocketing up through the atmosphere. No witnesses. Bigger body count. His score just went up, and it was all in a day's work.

Damn, he needed a partner. This could have been so much easier and so less time consuming. The Wolfen raced through the atmosphere, and that's when his proximity sensors went off.

O'Donnell sneered, his disdainful expression melting into one of challenge. So the mission wasn't over, just yet. Someone was trailing him, and he hated followers more than anything. A set of blaster fire lanced out through the void, striking the backside of his Wolfen, which reacted somewhat sluggishly with all the extra weight. He was still trying to break through the gravity pull of Fortuna and with his ship weighed down, it made maneuverability a bit more cumbersome.

Another shot was taken, this time his main engine began to groan from the stress. It was getting awfully hot and he knew if he didn't break through the atmosphere quickly, he was going to stall. Another shot slammed into the back of his fighter, followed by the blast of a Nova Bomb. His shielding was designed to protect against Nova shock but with his engine under so much strain, it finally quit.

The Wolfen began a freefall, spiraling towards the ground. He'd made enough of a running start, that he was hundreds of miles from the bank, but the real problem was the fact that he was still over Fortuna with a ton of money in his cargo hold.

Wolf balled up his left fist, punching the dashboard. He knew she was after him. He couldn't help but have a secret lustful crush on her, but this wasn't part of his plans and the meddlesome vixen was starting to piss him off.

The Arwing that tailed him, swooped around, following him back towards the Fortuna surface. If Wolf let her catch him, it would be a huge mess for everybody. The Wolfen's main thruster locked up, leaving only the G-Diffuser equipment and maneuvering thrusters. He fired the nose-cone brakes a few times, slowing his descent and waited until he was nearing 10,000 feet before popping the emergency chutes.

His Wolfen jerked hard as the parachute popped open, sailing gently to the ground heading for an old, abandoned Nuclear power plant. Fortuna had graduated from Nuclear Power over 30 years ago, but the plant still sat in the middle of the Del-Lusha valley, miles from anything important.

His ship gently landed upon the ground, upside down. His canopy, unable to support the weight of his fighter, cracked. There was no way he could open it or use the ejection pod, leaving him only one choice, to use his blaster and wiggle out from underneath of his vessel.

The Arwing settled upon the ground and the cockpit opened with a soft hiss, meanwhile Wolf was fumbling with his blaster, upping the settings on it. A shot was fired, lancing out through the glass, causing it to shatter completely. The frame of the cockpit cover was enough to hold the ship up a few inches, giving him room to scramble from his seat, half digging into the soft dirt, to pull himself free from underneath his Wolfen.

There she was, his gaze lifted, drinking in the lush little curves of a beautiful vixen, eyes that sparkled and a body that took away the breath of lesser men. Fox McCloud, the daughter of James McCloud, stood stoically, her balled up paws resting on her hips. She watched him stand up, sizing him up with a grin.

Wolf suddenly took two shots at her with his blaster, diving for the nearest building in the middle of the nuclear facility. All around them were old buildings, placing them in the courtyard. She ducked back, activating a temporary blast barrier on her computerized wrist gauntlet.

Wolf made a mad dash for the main building, blowing the doors wide open with his gun, which was beginning to get low on ammunition. Fox scrambled to her feet, running after him. She set her own blaster for 'stun', not exactly wanting to kill Wolf, at least not yet. There was some measure of chemistry to their cat-and-mouse game.

It was her one constant in life, anymore. The team was going hungry from lack of major work, Falco had run off, temporarily leaving the team due to a very short-lived, poorly maintained attempt at a relationship, and if she didn't hurry, Wolf was going to get away.

The problem with Falco was, the relationship was so short, and it resembled more of a fling. He stormed off, leaving the GreatFox, and now Wolf was giving her trouble. Fox wanted to sit down and seriously analyze the situation her life was in, but right now, her meal-ticket was getting away.

Two warning shots were fired, slamming into the doorframe, inches from Wolf's head. He kicked one of the metallic doors the rest of the way off its hinges, then picked it up and disappeared inside the building. Fox followed suite, cautiously stepping into the pitch black, waiting for a second for her eyes to adjust.

Foxes had natural night vision but with the twilight sun filtering in through the doorway now behind her, she had to squint at first. The thing was, their pursuit had taken them so far from the bank heist, they were in a different region of the planet, where the sun hadn't yet set.

Suddenly, there was incredible pain, as Wolf slammed part of the door across her back, then tossed the object over her fallen body. She grumbled at the burden, heaving the heavy metal door off of her backside, trying to concentrate on the sound of Wolf's footfalls as he hurried off.

She stood up, brushing herself off, scowling softly. "You know what they say about a woman scorned," She shouted, checking her blaster in the dim twilight sun that filtered in through the doorway. It was undamaged and for that small mercy of fate, she was thankful. Moving further from the entrance, her natural vulpine vision took over, as well as her sense of smell.

O'Donnell was still nearby and she didn't want to be clobbered again, so she kept her guard up. The shield barrier that deflected blaster fire began to fade, fizzling out and leaving her defenseless to being shot. She had to wonder if Wolf had his settings on 'kill'. Up ahead, she could make out the desk for a receptionist, and beyond was another set of doors. She kicked them open, raising her blaster, waiting for anything.

The hallway lead deeper into the bowels of the plant, ultra dim illumination filtered in through grimy windows that lined the hallway on either side. She was ready for anything, but she knew Wolf had the advantage here, with his rumored bionic implant. Her steps were careful, well placed, one foot in front of the other, keeping her hips turned to the side, so that she had the best balance, just incase of a frontal attack.

McCloud noticed herself beginning to breathe deeply. She frowned inwardly, taking control of her breath to maintain absolute silence. Her heart was racing, her breasts heaved with every inhale, her uniform clinging tightly to a curvy, slender frame. She knew she wasn't a super model or anything, PT every morning guaranteed she never had a weight under 100 pounds, but she had the right curves, and her ability to wield a gun made her pretty popular with most guys in this line of business.

With every delicate step through the hallway, she inched closer to the ultimate prize, her body ready and her mind sharp. She slowly raised her left wrist, using the butt of her pistol to press a button on the gauntlet. A bright green laser light reflected off of something at the opposite end of the hall. Had Wolf been standing there, waiting for her, the laser beam would have blinded him temporarily, but to her dismay, the rest of the hallway was empty.

She quickened her pace, bounding off towards the other end of the hall, kicking the next door open, and thrusting the blaster outwards, ready for anything. Nothing. She could have sworn that Wolf was very close, but so far, she was coming across rooms of nothing, one after the other.

There was a prep room and a hallway labeled, "PROTECTION ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT." The thing is, there were no longer any nuclear worries, beyond the spent fuel rods that were probably sitting in a tank that used to hold water. She glanced at her wrist computer and noted that the area was fairly safe, so long as she didn't stay for more than a few hours.

She took another sniff and grinned. Wolf was still close by. She approached the nuclear chamber, using her shoulder to ease the door open, peeking through. It was a very short hallway, possibly used for detox, with a set of electronic doors up ahead. They were pushed apart just slightly, in their metal tracks. Just enough for someone to slip through. Wolf, of course.

She eased between the doors, looking around the abandoned water pool area. The huge, square tank was over 15 feet deep and completely empty except for the spent rods down at the bottom. Actually, she was assuming they were spent. The fact of the matter was, the plant hadn't been in use for over 3 decades. She peered over the side and frowned. The water was gone and this place was never properly closed. It should have been bulldozed and yet it sat here, in silence.

Suddenly a light flickered on in a glass window above her head. Wolf's silhouette was easily identifiable and she raised the blaster, taking two shots at him. The gunfire ricocheted off the glass shielding, leaving Fox to curse softly under her breath.

She folded her arms, smirking up at him, not that he could really see her expression from such a distance. After a moment, she shrugged and headed for a nearby staircase. At the top of the steps, there was a metal hatch that was still half open. She eased through the space, leaving it ajar and headed for the control room. Wolf was probably still waiting for her, and she was all but certain he had welcoming plans.

The door was kicked so hard, that she managed to knock it free of its hinges, training her gun forward and inching through the doorway. The old control room was full of white cloth coverings that were draped over all the control panels except the one that Wolf was standing besides.

"What the hell are you up to, now? Robbing a bank, Wolf? Are you kidding? I've never seen you stoop that low before," Fox mused playfully.

"Times are hard. I need cash and as far as I'm concerned, so do you. Mercenaries at peace time?" Wolf groused. "Are you kidding, McCloud? I'd give you 15 if you walked away from this little chase, right now."

"Why not just blow a hole in your head and take all of it for myself?" She teased in reply, keeping the gun trained on him. Two could play at that game; she didn't need him making stupid bribes. She was the one in control here, and he was insulting her intelligence otherwise.

"Hm, suppose you could do that, but then that complicates things. After all, if you had all that money, who's to say you wouldn't get caught with it?" Wolf asked, a grin on his muzzle.

"After all I've done for Corneria? I'm the last person they would search," Fox quipped, taking another step towards him, the blaster still trained on his forehead.

Wolf shook his head slightly. "But there's a StarFox business card at the site of the crime. They're going to be looking for you anyhow. If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours and have one of my men verify an alibi for ya. How long have we chased each other around, Fox? There's no reason we can't make temporary poverty a thing of the past and continue with our personal grudges later," O'Donnell said, his paw resting on the control panel that he was standing besides.

"Think you're so clever, huh? How do you know I don't already have an alibi, Wolf?" She snapped.

"Because," Wolf started, tilting his head. He grinned sadistically then added, "You were on Fortuna, else you wouldn't have been there to tail me. How do you explain that you're on the right planet with your business card left at that bank, on the ground, with all that evidence stacked against you? C'mon Fox, let's just walk away from this, and 15 isn't a bad cut, considering you didn't do all the work I had to do for it."

Fox growled softly, "You know, I've taken a lot of shXt lately from jerk off men like you, who don't give a damn, one way or the other, about anything but your wallets and your peckers. I really don't need you playing head games with me, so I hope you're not too hurt that I not only decline to acquiesce to your silly little proposition, but suggest that you shove that 15 up your tailhole, O'Donnell."

"Good god you're sexy, sometimes," Wolf chuckled, reaching for a button on the control panel. There was a single yellow light on the entire panel, meaning that the auxiliary power supply was recently activated. Fox squeezed the trigger on her blaster, but not before Wolf pressed a button on the dashboard. Radiation protective shields dropped down around Wolf, which reflected her blaster shot. It bounced off the shielded panel and caught Fox square in the shoulder, spinning her like a top.

McCloud reeled back, knocking the hatch open and stumbling down the steps. She toppled end over end, landing flat on her stomach at the bottom, groaning from the weight of her body crushing her chest. She pushed her right elbow out, forcing herself to flop over onto her back, her body numb from the stun blast.

In an attempt to lift her arms or move her legs which felt like jelly, plagued with that awful pins and needles feeling, Fox simply laid there, her head swirling.

The little dots that floated before her eyes in the darkness seemed to dance teasingly before her face. Her muzzle parted open, her tongue half lulling off to the side, keeping her mouth open, so that she didn't accidentally bite it. She was numb from head to toe, and feared what her body would feel like once she got feeling back. After tumbling down a flight of metal stairs, she half hoped the numbing sensation didn't wear off for quite some time.

Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment, trying to ward off the stars but when she opened them again, Wolf was standing over her, paws on his hips. He was tall, his shoulders broad and his masculine features were sharp and well defined. In another world, he would have made decent eye candy, but nothing good could come from her lying there, temporarily helpless.

Wolf hoisted her up, taking the blaster that was lying on the floor besides her and pocketing it. He tossed her body over his shoulder, so that her face was buried against his back, and carried her into the room with the empty pool. Using his left paw, firmly placed upon her rump, he reached with his right paw to operate the controls on the wall.

Since activating the emergency auxiliary power, some of the control panels in the area were dimly illuminated. He manipulated the controls for a ceiling crane, picking up one of the radioactive fuel rods and lifting it from the empty tank.

"Hm, I could always tie you to one of those, but I hear radiation sickness can really do some internal damage. But let's see here," He said, releasing the fuel rod. It fell twenty feet to the bottom, with a loud clang. It was obvious that it didn't go back into it's designated space, laying perpendicular across the top of the chamber at the bottom.

He carried Fox to the edge of the empty pool and faced away from it, to let her look down into the massive square section once more. There were columns, each with radioactive fuel rods inserted. One of the rows had an empty spot, the radioactive rod lying across the top of the rows, like a straw that had been thrown carelessly in over top. The thing is, it may have resembled a straw from 15 –to- 20 feet up, but in truth, they were about 6 feet long, or more. She was hardly in any position to judge size in her current condition.

Wolf gave her rump a pat, although she was still too numb to notice, then he lifted her up, hooking her to the crane claws by her shirt and vest. It caused the cloth to become tight against her chest, suspended by the machine. Wolf's gaze raked over her form for a moment, then he walked back to the controls on the wall panel.

"You know, growing up, I had no idea you were a woman," O'Donnell mused aloud. He manipulated the controls, causing the crane to move, until she was way out in the center of the room, twenty feet away from the edge of the pool on all sides, and 25 feet above the fuel rods, glancing downwards with a frown. "And yet," Wolf continued, "Now that I know, years later, we keep running into each other. I can't believe what you've grown into, a few years later. Must have been something in the water, huh?"

"Kiss my ass," She grunted, trying to enunciate over her unresponsive tongue. "So, about that 15 percent," She added, as a joke.

"Right. I'm still open to the suggestion if I get a kiss for taking you down from there," Wolf replied with a joke of his own.

"I can't manage that, I can't feel my mouf," She noted. "And if I could, I'd probably bite your tongue," She continued, stealing another glance down at the radioactive pit below her. It was cliché, really. How many heroines were hoisted above a radioactive pit, in the old cartoons? It just seemed like the thing to do, these days. She tried to wiggle her toes, hoping the feeling would come back, despite the aches and pains she knew she'd be in from her stair tumble.

"That's a real shame, Fox. Are you a virgin? Is that it? Is that why you always have a stick up your butt, when you're around me?" Wolf scoffed, folding his arms, approaching the side of the empty pool, looking her over again. She was easily 20 feet away, out in the middle, now.

"Nope. Jealous, Wolf? Sad it wasn't you?" She sneered in a teasing voice.

"Wow, I'm half surprised. And yet you're broke and single, one of your key team members left according to scuttlebutt and, what else? Oh yeah!" Wolf said over laughter. "You're about to get dropped like a bad habit, because you can't manage to just let bygones by bygones!"

McCloud groggily shook her head. "Falco is on my shXt list, right now. You don't fare any better, Wolf. If I bring you in, I earn my meal ticket. I don't need you bribing me with 15. Besides, you couldn't handle me, anyhow," She said with a hint of challenge.

"Ah well, you're probably right," Wolf said. It wasn't so much a bluff, as a game of psychology. He lowered the crane, with Fox, about a foot, bringing her just a fraction closer to the old radioactive fuel rods far below. She rolled her eyes and Wolf smirked in reply, lowering her two feet.

"Keep playing games, baby." Wolf's grin grew, tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'd love to be the one to rescue you, but you cause too much trouble. I try not to mix business with pleasure. I've not met a girl yet who keeps me fed like a paycheck."

"You bore me," Fox said, attempting to yawn, regardless of her numb muzzle.

"Real cute," Wolf chuckled, lowering her two more feet. She was now even with the surface of the pool, just fifteen more feet, give or take, to the bottom. Wolf walked away from the control panel, placing his paws on his hips and standing at the edge once more, staring right into her eyes. "You know, it's a shame we couldn't see eye to eye like this, on other matters. No pun intended of course, I don't know if we'd be able to even fly a sortie without arguing, though."

"I've got an idea," Fox said, her tongue starting to become more responsive again. "You can let me down and I can stomp your tail, just like old times. How's that sound? Our past is undeniable, Wolf. We're meant for each other. I kick your ass, you go home with a fat lip and a broken ego. Remember the good ole' times? Just like back in school, Wolfy."

"Wow, are you always this clever, McCloud?" He snapped. She replied with a subtle smile that sort of melted into a sheepish grin. She knew she struck a chord and it felt good. It wasn't a huge personal victory, by far, but it was something.

"How about I drop your tail down in there, see what it's like for ya?" Wolf said, lowering the vulpine another foot or so.


Farrel Phoenix shook his head from left to right, glancing out the side of his cockpit. For several years now, he'd been trying to outfly his reputation as a rich boy, living on his father's wealth. Today was no different. The captain was a real jerk back on the base.

"Hey BackStreet Phoenix," The captain had said, referring to the slender framed fennec, with a doll-like face, by one of the richer boybands on the market. Farrel wore his headset communicator and it somewhat resembled a headset microphone used by on stage performers. He was extremely attractive, which got him picked on by other guys. The word Pretty-Boy was a disgusting term to the fennec, who strived hard to be a career-minded pilot.

"I want you to investigate an explosion on Fortuna. Get going, pretty bo--," The captain's words were cut off. Farrel had clipped the message before the jerk could finish his sentence. No sooner did he get into Fortuna's orbital pattern, did he see a dog fight in the atmosphere.

Phoenix hung back to wait it out, then followed the two ships down towards the surface. Everything was routine except for that dog fight. Going into the stratosphere, the Arwing began to shutter gently, falling victim to an odd occurrence of turbulence.

"What in the hell?" Farrel said under his breath. The G-Diffuser system was beginning to act up, making control feel stiff. Without the system, the large blue pieces of metal behind the cockpit acted as a deterrent to flight. They weren't aerodynamic; they were a hindrance to controlled atmospheric flight, without the G-Diffuser.

The turbulence turned into an incredibly violent shaking, which caused extreme pressure on one of the rear stabilizers. Before Farrel could react to it, the left wing began to crack, putting the Arwing into a spin.

G forces started adding pressure to Phoenix's chest, making it difficult to breath. He was trained in what to do incase of a red out or black out situation, but had never experienced the actual scenario itself. Gravity was hard on his blood flow, causing him to feel woozy. His paws were growing numb. Daddy's money couldn't save him this time.

He jerked back on the stick as hard as he could, his right foot going heavy on a rudder, just before blanking out. Fatefully, the hard right rudder eventually broke the spin and the flight yolk, which was pulled all the way back, ultimately caused the Arwing's nose to climb.

It was nearly seconds before slamming into the ground that the Arwing decided to become responsive again. It pulled up, heading right for a massive building. The Arwing passed through the facility's courtyard, disappearing through a set of double doors, blowing them off the hinges. The wings became ripped off, flying in different directions.

Each wing slammed into a wall in the Lobby, like massive metal scythes, while the Arwing itself was a wingless dart. Farrel's eyes began to flutter open just as the remainder of the Arwing's hull screamed a high pitch noise, dragging along the floor at a high speed. The fuselage buckled and began to tear from the friction.

Farrel Phoenix's fighter slammed into another set of double doors, beginning a tailspin in the next room. The fighter rolled, catching a work station and began to fishtail hard. The centripetal force pinned the fennec to his seat so hard that he blanked out again. The fighter's fuel tank ruptured, flames gushing the wrong way out of the booster, through a hole ripped in the belly of the Arwing.

Up ahead, a concrete wall collapsed under the impact of the Arwing or, rather, what remained of it. It came to a stop in a round room, connecting with a large pillar in the center. The nuclear reactor began an immediate implosion, and the entire nuclear power planet was sucked inwards by the force of nuclear fission. The critical power plant that powered the Arwing had decided to blow just as the nose of the Arwing began to crumple against the nuclear core reactor. The simultaneous explosions caused a literal rip in the very fabric of space time. A hole opened up, swallowing all living matter just as the implosion began a chain reaction that resulted in a nuclear blast, mushrooming debris upwards above the power plant.


The next dimension over…

The Imperial scowl loomed over the dark landing pad, outlined by soft reds and greens. The breeze had kicked up to a fair gale as the silvery colored freighter came down upon the platform, coming to a quiet rest. Just like that, the gale had died down and everything became silent. A moment went by before the large ramp door dropped from the side of the silver hull, landing upon the ground with a dull thud. A group of cheery looking rich couples began to immediately board the gangplank, heading within.

Inside, the millings of social-whores that flutter about in their butterfly state, locked within the silver cocoon of social bliss. Each man, each woman had a price tag here. Each of them had something to offer to the imperial fleet that grew stronger every day, helping their socialite tax dollars to flourish. There was a murky feeling in the air. It was easily detectable... something big was going down tonight and everyone could sense it. Was it their keen animal senses? No, of course not. Was it the fact that there were several hundred people here, all with expensive jewelry, large wallets and brilliantly tailored clothes? Who knows?

A young, female squirrel made her way from the dance floor towards the lady's room. Pushing the door open, she rested her purse on the sink, her tail gallantly swishing behind her. She stopped adjacent to a porthole window, facing a mirror, pulling out a tube of lipstick to run across her top lip, then pressed those rose-kissed tiers together and smiled. She was quite a sight, to be sure. Suddenly her ears perked up. There was a strange grinding noise coming from outside. Going to the window, she peered out into the inky tendrils of the abyss that was a quiet Cornerian night. Nothing.

Without warning, the porthole burst inwards, catching the young, rich squirrel across her maw, knocking her back, until her body spilled across the floor. In her unconscious state, she dropped the tube of lipstick that rolled across the floor. A shower of sparks burst over the porthole opening, and skittered across the floor. The lights dimmed as a silvery shoe wiggled in through the window. Followed by a second foot, a feminine form in a ruby hued gown began to wiggle in through the window, until dropping to their feet. A purse was slung over the shoulder, as the figure pulled out a blaster, scanning the now-dim room. Leaning down, the person picked up the tube of lipstick and began to apply it.

"Ladies first? What the hell is that crap?" The figure groused softly, staring into the mirror, squinting through the dim illumination. A moment later, the first was joined by another.

A set of feet pushed in through the window from outside, slipping through and landing on the ground with a thump. "Hey, if I asked for your crap, I'd have gotten a pre-recorded tape of it, alright?" It was the voice of an egotistical Falco Lombardi. The well dressed avian was sporting a lavish dress coat blazer and a vest, matching a pair of slacks and leather loafers.

"My feet are frickin' killing me in these stupid shoes, McCloud." Falco turned to the nearest mirror, tugged down on the bottom of his eyelid, peering closely into the reflective service. "Anyway. Let's put the porthole back into the window frame and get on with this," Falco continued with a sigh. The six foot, 5 inch avian ran his winged hand back through his feathery hair with a chuckle, turning to face Fox McCloud in a ball gown, wearing lipstick and eye shadow.

"If you say one word," Fox warned, growling softly. McCloud despised this entire mission. He didn't want to sneak in, among all these wealthy idiots that were foolishly giving their money to some stupid fund raiser that probably went to Andross, let alone disrupt a party where he might get spotted. Right now, things couldn't be worse.

"Boy, if I knew you didn't have a wang, I'd be flirting like crazy with you," Falco said with a devious grin.

Fox snorted. "Shove it, jerk. Why do I have to be the girl anyway?"

"Because I'm over six feet tall and masculine looking?" Falco grinned his cocky grin, at the corner of his beak. That had to ruffle anyone's fur or feathers. It definitely ruffled Fox. The angry vulpine snapped at Falco, gnashing his teeth before storming across the room to pick up the woman who had fainted on the floor. Dragging her body into a bathroom stall, Fox sat her up, propping her against the toilet so that it looked like she might have had too much to drink. Then he turned and shut the stall door, locking it on the inside, and crawled underneath to get out. With that in order, McCloud shoved the lipstick down the front of the gown and smirked.

"If girls can do it, what the hell," he said with a chuckle. Falco shook his head in reply and hid his blaster in his inside coat pocket, re-buttoning the blazer before running his feathered fingers over it, smoothing out any wrinkles. Fox also hid his blaster inside the purse, rolling his eyes at the situation.

"Alright, we're in," McCloud whispered, putting his paw against his ear. There was a small burst of static reply before Peppy Hare could be heard.

"Infiltration is a success you say? Good, good. Continue with the mission, don't screw anything up," Peppy warned. "Remember, no bickering." Fox and Falco's gaze met, each holding challenge in their eyes for the other, of whom they had been arguing with the entire evening up until this point. Neither was on the best of terms at the moment. That would be resolved eventually but for the moment, the two were at their usual arguing and disagreeing status. It wasn't pretty.

"All right, stick to the plan. This stupid party is being held by some art freak, who owns one of the Spell Stones as part of his collection. If we get it and get out, we're that much closer to being done. I really don't want to be dressed in drag all night, so get a move on. I'll scope out the artifact on display," Fox said.

Falco nodded and motioned for Fox to leave. McCloud opened the door to the lady's room and peered left to right. Once it was safe, he motioned Falco to get out quickly. Lombardi left the women's bath room and began walking down the hallway. Fox went back to the window on the other end of the bathroom, put the window piece back into place, then walked to the mirror and practiced his feminine voice a few times, clearing his throat between each attempt.

Once he was satisfied, he left the bathroom and headed for the gallery section. They had to act quickly to get it and Fox had never tried steeling something like this before. The mercenary version of himself was completely against the idea, wanting to go in, guns blazing. He didn't want to shoot the rich people, just scare them and make them lay on the floor, then steal the piece and leave. Junior didn't want the publicity of it all. Quick, quiet and out the front door if possible.

Fact of the matter was simple; the spell stone wouldn't fit out the port hole of the bathroom and the only rear entrance to the transport ship being used for this event was the cargo hold elevator. That, of course, would alert the bridge if it was opened.

Meanwhile, in the men's room, another strange occurrence was happening. A man and a woman were in one of the bathroom stalls, making out, when the lights went dim. A burst of hot wind filled the room and after a moment, the luminescence returned to normal.

A woman was lying on the floor, wearing a flight suit, with her paws knotted behind her back. She pulled her legs up, hooking her paws downwards and brought the knotted cable over her wrists up before herself. Within seconds, she was biting her way through the tether, freeing her paws of the bonding.

The woman sat up, looking around the area, curiously. Each stall held the same thing, a toilet. All except for the last one. The vixen nearly gasped, seeing the male husky lustfully taking a woman coyote, up against the wall. The woman had her foot propped up on a toilet paper dispenser, making their act easier to achieve.

The coyote didn't have anything on the bewildered vixen's physical looks, but it wasn't like either of them noticed Miss Fox McCloud standing there, gawking. They were dressed in formal wear. This was an obvious suit and gown party and Fox had become a fair chameleon with the ability to adapt and blend in to any situation.

The vixen version of Fox McCloud quickly reached into her flight vest, pulling out a blaster, set for stun. She knew that getting out of this place, wherever the heck she was, would take camouflage and the coyote woman looked to be Fox's build. The gown was a puddle of fabric, lying on the floor and Fox didn't want to have to stun them unless they noticed the vixen standing there.

McCloud stepped into the adjacent stall, kneeling down and pulling the gown from underneath the stall walling. Once she successfully swiped the puddle of cloth and sequins, she went to the stall at the end of the row and quickly changed. Not knowing what to do with her flight suit, she snuck out of the men's room and into the women's bathroom, tossing the clothes out through the porthole.

She turned back to a mirror, checking her physical appearance. She took a minute to arrange her hair a bit better, using her fingers as a brush. Behind her, one of the stall doors opened and a flustered squirrel came out, screaming to high heaven about someone breaking in. Fox could feel her heart began to race, so she turned and used her blaster, stunning the squirrel, who slumped back into the bathroom stall once more.

The lady dropped her purse on the floor, a hairbrush tumbling to the ground. The female McCloud didn't really care much to believe in the Goddess providing such a commodity; it was more of a coincidence. Once her hair was brushed, she pulled the purse off the floor, took the wallet out and set it on the sink counter, then shouldered the pretty handbag and left the bathroom.

Her attire was perfect and just as the couple from the men's bathroom and the lady in the women's bathroom were dressed, so too was the rest of the freighter. Rich looking couples milled about, decked out in their posh garment. Fox had no idea where she was. Last thing she remembered, she was hanging from a crane above an empty pool of nuclear fuel rods.

She recalled an explosive noise that sort of sounded like a ship crashing into a building. After that, everything went bright. Next thing she knew, she was laying on the floor in a bathroom, just a few feet away from a stall where two people were carrying on like immature, horny teenagers.

A tall man in the crowd stood out to the vixen's eyes. When he turned around, Fox's heart stopped and she wanted to pinch herself and try to wake up from this odd dreamlike situation. Falco Lombardi, dressed better than she'd ever seen him before, was in the middle of the room. He was groomed, his headfeathers looked brushed and the tuxedo was perfect. In one hand, he held a glass of champagne. Thoughts of Flyer, thoughts of Bill, even thoughts of her friend and mentor, Peppy, were gone for a moment.

Fox had to admit, he was attractive, especially like this. She'd not seen him in a while, since their last harsh fight. If this really was a dream, Fox felt she could let her inhibitions go for just one night, and so she approached him.

"Falco?" Her voice was subtle but firm. Her lashes fluttered, looking up at his strong, masculine face, their gaze meeting and locking. For a moment, the world disappeared behind them. The music in the background grew dim and distant. Everything seemed to fade away.

"Did you change something? I don't remember your gown having that low of a neck cut and," Falco's eyes stopped on McCloud's cleavage, his brows rising. Maybe the makeup specialist gave Fox some fakies or something, he wasn't sure, but it was really realistic.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" McCloud asked.

"My bad, I'm just saying, you're really hot in that get up, no offense. You're getting better with your voice thing, too. We may have just found something you're good at, Foxie," Lombardi said with a chuckle.

"None taken," the vixen said, in response to his comment on her appearance. "What're you doing here?"

"The question is," Falco said, shaking his head with another chuckle. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be somewhere else?" He reminded, referring to getting the job done. The female Fox, on the other hand, thought he was referring to going separate ways after that stupid fling. They'd hardly spoke since.

"I, I guess you're right," Fox said with a sullen sigh. She leaned up and brushed her muzzle against the side of Falco's head, whispering into his ear, "I'm sorry, Falco." Then she turned and walked back into the crowd. Falco felt that much more awkward, reaching to scratch the backside of his head.

"Uhm, no problem," He called, after her. "Just gotta keep doing what we've been continuing to do, up until now," he reminded, turning back to fake mingling with the crowd.

Meanwhile, over in the gallery, Fox Junior – son of Fox Senior – continued to work with diligence. Once he'd ascertained to the weakness of the protective structure that protected the Spell Stone, he walked along the line of art pieces and made his way into the ball room, looking for Falco. Junior gave a tug at the gown, adjusting important parts of his body, with the way the gown tugged at his frame, to make sure nothing looked…. Lumpy.

The vulpine reached his paws back up, adjusting a few strands of the wig he was wearing, when his eyes suddenly landed on his wingman. Junior approached Falco, ribbing him in the side, upon flyby. "Hey, I scouted the piece. It's here and it's authentic," Fox said.

Falco immediately noticed that the gown, while the same color as before, now had the top covering the collarbone once more. It wasn't cut like it was a few minutes ago. Lombardi reached his fingers out, touching the fabric, looking to see if there was a shawl or a zipper or something. Fox batted his hand away and glowered.

"Geeze, chill." Falco sighed, taking his hand back and putting his other up in a defensive posture. "You had your female voice thing going real good a few minutes ago, don't slip up," He added in a very soft whisper that only Fox Junior could hear.

"Whatever," the boy said, trying his best to speak in a slightly higher pitched voice. "I'm going to see if I can't find out what the guard rotation schedule is. I'll be back in a few minutes," Junior explained.

"How do you plan to do that?" inquired the falcon, his head tilting slightly.

"Dumbass," Fox snapped quietly. "I'm going to ask the guard when he gets off shift, and give him a fake number, you moron. Give me a few minutes, all right? I need to walk around for a minute and get into character, so I don't mess this up. I'll be back in a few," Fox said, shaking his head and disappearing into the crowd. He knew if he messed up, the guard would see through him, not give out the information, and they'd be in trouble.

In the next room, the Female Fox McCloud placed her paw over her heart and shut her eyes. It wasn't since that scrap in Venom, that she'd actually dated Falco. They were an item, sure, but the fling ended and no one was happy after that. The only happiness Fox found in her life was more or less, do-gooding.

She shook her head, those soft tresses bouncing about, partially obscuring her eyes in lush, full bangs. She pushed them aside once more, then turned to head back into the ball room. She wasn't sure if this was a dream, but the fact of the matter was pretty obvious: everything felt real and she had clear, concise, conscious thoughts. There was only one thing left to do. She had to see if it still felt right, so she could put everything to rest in her heart, once and for all.

The vixen reached for her gown, at the chest level, straightening her bust. It was time to be a woman and she was proud of who she was. She marched back into the ball room, and approached Falco, head on. He saw it coming, he saw Fox walking towards him. She reached her paws up, on either side of his beak, then pressed her muzzle against his mouth, kissing him hard.

The raptor froze. His heart stopped and his eyes went wide. He was in complete shock. Fox first tells him that he's going to go practice getting into character, before pretending to hit on the guard to find out what time his shift ends, then the crazy vulpine comes right back and kisses him so hard it made his talons curl.

Lombardi finally unlocked his brain and pushed his palms out, shoving Fox a foot away, his eyes wide as saucers. Fox looked completely embarrassed, almost about to cry. The vixen turned away, humiliated. That was the worst idea she could have ever had. Was she insane? Did she think that kiss would have ended in a ballroom dance? Her chest heaved from the heavy breathing, trying to keep at bay, those tears that threatened to well up, inside her heart.

"What in the world has gotten into you, McCloud?" Lombardi said, suddenly biting his tongue. He remembered the rules, no names, although Fox did whisper his first name to him, just a few minutes ago, so now he was completely confused.

"I'm sorry Falco, it wasn't supposed to happen this way," She said. Her voice was flawless, like a song. It made Lombardi shutter, Fox was a little too good at being a woman, suddenly. At least, in his eyes. The vixen shook her head softly, looking back at him over her shoulder. "Love isn't supposed to be a secret and I never really told you how I felt for you, in words."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" Falco said, lifting his hands once more, taking a step back. Either Fox was really getting into the girlie part or Fox was starting to scare the crap out of him. He shook his head, left to right, quickly. "No offence, but I don't date guys," He said quietly, so as not to arouse suspicion from over sensitive ears, elsewhere in the room.

"Hmph," McCloud grunted. She knew she had to pretend being a man to get through the academy, but Falco was being his usual self. He was being completely asinine about the entire situation and it pissed her off. Suddenly someone brushed against her arm in passing. She narrowed her eyes, ready to tear someone apart. She whirled around, her eyes meeting the eyes of another vixen. Both of them simply gawked.

Their jaws dropped and Falco's eyes went wide as well, seeing two Fox McClouds, staring at one another. Other than the slight difference in dress cut, at the neck, and the difference in fabric of their purses, they were identical.

Their eyes were nearly identical. Minus the style of the wig, their hair was the same color and nearly the same length. Their real difference was in the shape of the shape of their hips and the cut of their thighs. The vixen McCloud had a more feminine face, but with the makeup the other McCloud was wearing, it was hard to tell who was who. The female of the two had a slightly more delicate looking muzzle, while the other had a somewhat more muscular looking shoulder build, but the similarity was so strong that they passed for identical twin sisters.

"Who the hell are you?" One McCloud said to the other.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, but something tells me this mission is going to get weirder by the end of the day," Said the other.

"Mind telling me what's going on here?"

"It would be hard to explain right now, but all I can say is that I'm pretty pissed off. If I knew all this was going to happen, I wouldn't have let myself get gussied up in a cheap prom dress and back-killing high heels," The second Fox said.

"What are you babbling about and where the hell am I?"

"On Corneria, at a social meeting. This is going to take a long time to explain, but if you're part of this entire crazy mission, than we need your help and you've got to come with us."

"Give me a break, who are you supposed to be, anyhow?" She asked.

"C'mon, let's go somewhere less public. Bathrooms?" Junior asked.

"As unfond of the bathroom as I am, right now, that might just be a good idea. Let's go," She replied. Both Fox McClouds turned to Falco and, in unison, said, "Stay put, bird brain."

Falco just blinked. As they walked off, side by side, he managed to blurt out, "Hey…! That wasn't very nice!"

Another man approached Falco from behind, adding, "bagged yourself a pair of sisters huh? I bet your life is complicated, right now."

Falco smirked, glancing over his shoulder and replying, "You have no idea, man. This just isn't my night; you have no clue, bro."


Chapter 9: Awkward

PS: i'm working on all my fic's again, so stay tuned. wee.