The following morning, Fox and Krystal woke up in one of the best moods they ever felt. Though she didn't want to admit it, Fox felt even closer to Krystal after the infamous kiss at Panther's house.
"Good morning, beautiful." Krystal purred as they put on their cheerleader outfits for the second day of the bet, "What's on the schedule for today?"
"Training." Fox explained, "Arwing simulations to be more specific."
The pair put on their heeled boots, as mandated by the bet.
"The Andronian military defeated by cheerleaders." Krystal mused as they walked to the kitchen, "They could save themselves embarrassment by not attacking this week."
The pair ate a quick breakfast and went to the simulation room. As Fox set up the simulation, she got a message on her communicator.
"It's from Wolf." Fox told Krystal as blue vixen climbed into the simulator cockpit, "He says he had a great time, apologized for Leon, and says he wouldn't mind seeing us in combat, with or without the cheerleader outfits."
"I got one from Leon." Krystal told Fox, "He says he wants us to kiss again, but for longer. He says we should also kiss the other blue lesbian. She could use some loving too."
"At least we found out who their team's Falco is." Fox pointed out.
"I'm not sure that Katt friend of Falco's would have approved." Krystal told Fox.
"I know Katt." Fox explained, "Trust me when I say she'd more than approve of it. She'd join in too, record it, and make it a mandatory Saturday thing. It's best not to give her any ideas."
Fox selected the program and began the training. Krystal eased the Arwing out of the virtual Great Fox and toward the first obstacle course. She dodged asteroids and flew through increasingly narrow tunnels. Afterward, she engaged in a simulated dogfight. Then she flew through a longer obstacle course and fought a bigger number of targets.
Fox monitored Krystal's training. Krystal had been using the simulator, flying through simulated obstacle courses and engaging in virtual dogfights for hours, but was showing no signs of fatigue. Fox was genuinely impressed.
"Fly into the simulated Great Fox." Fox ordered. Krystal did so, ending the training.
"Now we just need you to complete your ground training and pass the test and your training will be complete."
"Really?" Krystal asked, excited. Now that her goal was closer than ever, it felt too good to be true. She knew that meant making a hard choice she could potentially regret for the rest of her life. Krystal procrastinated the choice again, deciding to make her choice when the time came.
The pair walked to the kitchen for lunch. While she waited for her lunch to heat in the microwave, Fox thought about Krystal's test. Every member of the current team had to complete a costumized test. Half of Falco's was a written test and an essay, which he hated. Fox's test had a portion where he had to lead a group of drones safely through an area with more aggressive "enemy" drones. Slippy's was a dogfight with drones, which he failed repeatedly.
So far, Fox decided it would start with an Arwing portion through an obstacle course to simulate the crowded environments Star Fox often flew in followed by an on-foot section. The test would be completed with a dogfight using either Arwings with modified weapon systems or drones. Fox contemplated adding a time limit.
"Something on your mind?" Falco asked as he ate his sandwich.
"Just planning Krystal's test in my mind." Fox answered.
"Is she going to have to write an essay detailing the uses, pros, and cons of each and every maneuver?" Falco asked.
"Are you still upset about that?" Fox asked, "The test needed to be both hard and relavent to the job in some way. Just be glad you passed on your first attempt. If you failed, you'd have quit before you failed as many times as Slippy had."
"No one likes essays, Fox." Falco explained, "Nobody's going to hire mercenaries to write a five thousand word essay."
"I still needed something to challenge you." Fox argued, "You should feel flattered that a simple flight and combat test would have been too easy for you. If you want hard, you should try the escort mission I had to do with the braindead drones. I had to dogfight while also protecting and micromanaging a small fleet of unarmed drones. The tests were all custom tailored to drive us insane."
"Whatever. I have to help Fara train."
Falco walked off, leaving Fox alone with Krystal.
"There's not going to be any essay in your test." Fox assured Krystal, "It'll be strictly flying and fighting since we haven't gone over all the maneuvers in enough depth."
"I won't let you down." Krystal assured Fox.
The pair sat down and ate their meals when Fox received another message on her communicator.
"It's from Fara." Fox told Krystal, "Her father's company has developed special suits for us to test, using the data we collected on our last mission. They should be ready in about a week."
"Good timing." Krystal observed, "That'll give us enough time to complete our punishment for losing the bet."
"This punishment can't end soon enough."
"It's not that bad." Krystal assured Fox, "You do look good in that cheerleader outfit."
"Why couldn't you have lasted even a half-second longer?" Fox asked Krystal, "That bird's big ego would have been given a big reality check."
"He got the reality check." Krystal pointed out, "And we have you dressed like a cheerleader. It's win-win."
Fox sighed. The week didn't feel any closer to being over.
"What if I learned a cheer just for you?" Krystal asked, "I know you'd like it."
"Fine." Fox sighed, her mind going back to Krystal's upcoming test. She wondered what Krystal hated the most about flying and combat. It was practically tradition to customize each test to annoy and infuriate the individual as much as possible. Fox wondered what would annoy someone that seemed to love, or at least easily tolerate, everything about fighting, even the pain. Was it even possible.
Fox made a mental note to find out what she hated most. She knew Krystal wouldn't tolerate Fox breaking that tradition for her.