Fox and Krystal were surrounded by vicious and hungry ShadowHunters on all sides. The two vulpine warriors readied their staffs, preparing for the impending attack. Two of the ShadowHunters then jumped at Fox and Krystal and they counterattacked. The ShadowHunter that charged after Fox opened its jaw to take a bite of him, but Fox quickly jumped out of the way and struck at it in the jaw, knocking some of its teeth out. Meanwhile, Krystal backflipped over the ShadowHunter trying to attack her, and as soon as the beast was right below her, struck at the beast's back before she even touched the ground. The beast staggered while Krystal landed on the back of another ShadowHunter, grabbed it by the throat from behind, and squeezed it so tightly that its neck snapped in an instant. Fox dodged yet another ShadowHunter's attempt to bite him, and then smacked it in the jaw, then hit another one in the knees so hard that it completely crippled its movement, as Krystal stabbed yet another ShadowHunter in the eye with the tail end of her staff, sending an electrical shockwave into the beast's body, killing it. But then, yet another ShadowHunter leaped out of the bushed and attempted to bite Krystal, but she immediately had her staff in the beast's mouth, pushing the beast away with all her strength. She kept struggling to push the ShadowHunter back, but it kept trying to get her staff out of its mouth so it could sink its razor sharp teeth into Krystal's skin. Then Krystal had an idea. Taking advantage of her staff being in the monster's jaw, she lept in the air while still holding on to the sides of it and wrapped her legs around the ShadowHunter's neck. She then placed her left hand where her right hand initially was and vice versa, and then tugged the staff so that her hands ended up in their original positions again. She struggled hard as the ShadowHunter's neck was thick, but she pulled her strength together and quickly turned the staff 180 degrees, breaking the ShadowHunter's neck in the process, killing it. When the ShadowHunter collapsed on the ground, dead, Krystal yanked her staff from the beast's mouth and charged at one more ShadowHunter while Fox struck yet another one in the back with the head of his staff, shattering its spine, killing it. But before he even noticed it, yet another ShadowHunter viciously bit into Fox's shoulder, but he shoved the tail end of his staff into the beast's eye. The beast roared, causing Fox to be released from it grip, and when he pulled it out, it bled to death and collapsed. But due to how badly he was bitten, Fox clutched his shoulder in pain.

Krystal noticed Fox's injury. She had to use her magic to kill the ShadowHunters more quickly so that neither she nor Fox get eaten alive by the evil beasts. She shouted, "Fox! Activate a Ground Quake!" Fox nodded. The vulpine duo jumped into the air and charged up energy in their staffs for a ground quake. The jewels in the heads of their staffs started glowing very brightly, then the slammed the tail ends of their staffs into the ground unleashing two Ground Quakes simultaneously, creating a massive shock wave made all the stronger due to two Ground Quakes being used at once, causing the ShadowHunters to stumble and stagger. Krystal shouted, "Now use your Ice Blast!" Fox and Krystal stood back to back firing their Ice Blasts at the downed ShadowHunters, freezing them solid. The staggering made the ShadowHunters unable to resist the power of the Ice Blasts fired by the vulpine duo. Their bodies were instantly frozen solid, then Krystal unleashed yet another Ground Quake, sending another tremor that shook the ShadowHunters' frozen bodies causing them to collapse on the ground and then the impact shattered their bodies into thousands of pieces. Fox and Krystal breathed heavily from battling the ShadowHunter horde. Fighting ShadowHunters was nothing like fighting SharpClaw. ShadowHunters were quick and intelligent and had sharp teeth and claws that they used to hunt down their prey. They also hunted in packs and didn't seem to have any regards for whether or not they attacked their own, unlike the SharpClaw that didn't want to hurt their allies, apart from General Scales, who would kill any SharpClaw that fails or disobeys him. Compared to the SharpClaw, the ShadowHunters posed a serious threat. Fox and Krystal would have to be careful in order to survive.

Krystal turned to Fox, saying, "We'd better get out of… Fox, you're hurt!" Krystal quickly healed the wounds from the ShadowHunter's bite on Fox's shoulder with her magic. Fox felt right as rain in an instant as his bite wounds vanished.

"Thanks, Krystal. Now let's get out of this jungle before we become lunch. Can you detect any source of magic?"

"Give me a second." Krystal focused for a moment, hoping to detect a source of magic. It would be likely that it would be from a teleportation pad that could potentially be a way out of the jungle. She reached deep within her inner focus and hoped to feel the energies within the aria. Then she finally picked up on a reading. She pointed somewhere in the jungle. "That way!"

"Thanks, Krystal. Hopefully we won't run into any more of those… things." They walked through the jungle in the direction Krystal indicated, but Fox felt uneasy. He felt as if he and Krystal were being watched… and maybe he was right.

As Fox and Krystal continued their walk through the jungle, he said to him, "Those ShadowHunters are pretty scary. I thought those monsters would eat me alive for sure."

"They are the most formidable beasts I have ever faced, but fighting them is much easier with an ally beside you. When I defeated the ShadowHunters that were attacking those ThornTails, the ThornTails did their best to hold the ShadowHunters off, but they were ultimately powerless against them. So I might as well have battled them alone."

"Well, I'm glad to be of some help to you, this time, Krystal."

"Thank you, Fox. I…"

But then all of a sudden, the vulpines heard a loud, ominous roar behind them. They quickly looked behind them and heard loud, thundering footsteps. The footsteps got louder and louder… and then they saw a large beast appear before them. It looked somewhat similar to the ShadowHunter only it was incredibly large and its body wasn't as lanky. Its teeth and claws were sharp and it had large, angry red eyes. The beast roared, angrily, and Fox knew in an instant that he and Krystal were facing a member of the most insidiously evil tribe on all of Sauria: the RedEye!

Krystal readied her staff. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to fight one of these." Of course, Fox was dreading this battle even more, but the vulpine duo had no choice. They charged at the beast full force.

Fox aimed at the beast's leg and struck at it with his staff, but nothing happened. He kept attacking, but to no avail, until the beast lifted its foot to kick Fox. Fox knew from the sight of the RedEye's spike-like toenails that getting kicked by a RedEye could easily result in impalement. He quickly dashed out of the way, while attempting to strike the beast again, but to no avail. Krystal, thinking that Fox may be in danger, dashed to him and grabbed him and moved him out of the ReyEye's reach. As soon as she got them out of the way, she said to him, "What were you thinking!? The RedEye are immune to simple strikes from our staffs, remember?"

"Right."

But then, the RedEye opened its monsterous maw, and attempted to take a big bite out of the two foxes, but they both dashed out of the way just before it could reach them. As soon as the beast's mouth snapped shut, Fox rushed back towards the beast and viciously swung the head end of his staff into its teeth before the RedEye could lift its head back up again. The sheer might of the swing shattered a whole cluster of the RedEye's teeth right out of its maw, as it bled from the mouth, roaring in pain. Krystal immediately took advantage of the beast opening its mouth wide open, and kept firing her Fire Blasts into the beast's mouth. The RedEye roared in even more pain as each Fire Blast entered into its mouth, until finally, it collapsed to the ground, dead.

Fox really liked what he saw. "That was awesome! Nice wo…"

"Get down!" Krystal pushed Fox out of the way, saving him from a lunging bite from a raging beast in the jungle. Krystal turned behind her, and she and Fox saw the monster that attempted to eat the two vulpines: a second RedEye! Krystal charged at the beast and just as it was about to lift its head up, jumped in the air, and grabbed the ridges on the beast's face like the edge of a cliff with one hand and rammed the tail end of her staff into the monster's eye with the other!. She jumped up to and latched onto the brute's nostrils before the beast lifted its head up in the air, screaming in pain. As the beast roared in agony, its head pointed towards the sky, Krystal held on tight to prevent herself from falling to her doom. After the RedEye lowered its head back to a horizontal position, Krystal latched onto the beast's forehead, hoping to get closer to her staff so she could ram it further into the monster's skull, killing it. But then, she read that the monster would tilt its head back yet again, so Krystal jumped to and grabbed the staff while it was still dangling from the RedEye's eye socket. As soon as the RedEye tilted its head, Krystal swing her body so that she was now on top of the beast's face, while still holding her staff with one hand. She pushed her staff deeper into the beast, causing it to roar in pain again. She held on very tight to her staff and the monster's face to keep herself from falling, then pushed the staff just a bit further in. The the RedEye roared in pain yet again, then started to lifelessly collapse to the ground. When its head lowered, Krystal slid down the RedEye's back and tail like Tarzan on a large tree branch. When the beast collapsed, dead, Krystal pulled her staff from the dead RedEye's eye socket and putting it back into her hand.

Fox was amazed at what he just saw. "That was amazing, Krystal!"

"Thank you, Fox. I also strangled a RedEye by sitting on top of its neck while putting my staff underneath it, and pulling with all of my strength. It was a pretty effective way of killing RedEyes."

"Sounds pretty cool."

"It sure does, doesn't it. You should see me doing that sometime. I personally think you'll find it to be a…" She started suggestively rubbing her staff "...gratifying experience."

Fox blushed intensely. He kept on insecurely stammering around.

Krystal giggled. "Anyway, you were pretty amazing yourself. I never would have thought of smashing the RedEye's teeth. I thought their eyes were their only weak point, aside from being vulnerable to being throttled. But you discovered a new week point for the RedEyes that even I haven't thought of."

"Why thank you, Krystal."

"You're welcome. Anyway, I don't think we're that far away from the source of magic that I detected. I think it's… that way."

"Lead the way, Krystal."

"Okay. I'd invite you to watch my butt wiggle again, but this jungle is way to dangerous for us to afford any distractions."

"I wasn't looking at…"

"I know you weren't. I just like it when you do." She winked at her handsome stud of a pilot.

Fox blushed, but then he and Krystal continued on their journey. He activated the communicator on his wrist. The image of Peppy came on, and Peppy immediately asked, "You called, Fox?"

"Bad news, Peppy. My Arwing has been shot down and we've crash landed in this horrible jungle. A jungle infested with carnivorous beasts that want to eat us alive."

"That's terrible! Fortunately, since I have retired from piloting, I can send you my Arwing if you'd like."

"Sounds great, but I don't want to run the risk of it getting shot down too. I think that whoever shot us down is still out there, and unless I see anything that indicates otherwise, I don't want to run the risk of your generous donation being in vain."

"Very well, but be sure to let me know if you've changed your mind. I'll inform Slippy at once. He'll probably get my Arwing in top shape before we send it to you in the meantime."

"Thanks, Peppy. I'll tell you when it's safe to deliver the Arwing. Fox out." Fox deactivated the transmission

Krystal replied, "I hope we can borrow Peppy's Arwing when we get out of this jungle. We shouldn't be too far from that source of magic, though."

"I hope so. Considering what kind of jungle we're in."

"Well, it shouldn't be far from here. It should be just beyond those trees. If we keep moving in this direction, we should be there in time."

"You know, Krystal, when we were shot down, I suspected that Wolf may have been the one firing at us. But now… now I'm not so sure. I mean I know he hates me, but he has always challenged me face to face like a true warrior. A cheap and dirty sneak attack just isn't his style."

"Does that mean that he sent one of his one of his co-pilots after you?"

"I think you're only half-right. If Wolf really does want me dead, then he'd want to finish me off himself in a duel to the death. I think one of his co-pilots attacked us without his authorization. I think it might have been…"

But then, all of a sudden, the two vulpines heard the sound of an engine up above them. The Wolfen that attacked them earlier swooped in above them, and then slowly landed right in front of them. The Wolfen then morphed into a mech resembling a wolf, and the pilot let out a nasty sound that one couldn't tell whether the pilot was laughing or coughing. The pilot then said in a hoarse and raspy voice, "Well, well! Shame I didn't find your precious gem or your smoldering corpse by your crashed ship. At least I can change that now, eh?"

Fox quickly recognized that voice.

"Pigma!"

Author's Notes: In Star Fox Zero, when you fight Star Wolf, the Wolfens can turn into wolf-like mechs. I thought I'd incorperate that into this story.