TWO

Falco put on his nonchalant sarcasm. "Well, if it isn't the mangy, greying coyo-"

"C'mon Fox..." Wolf cut in. "You aren't seriously letting this bundle of feathers run things, are ya? Then again, you have been quite disappointing these last... five years, wasn't it?" He heckled grimly, with a chuckle. "That was quite the protest against our little friend's scheme."

Fox cringed, desperate to spit a clear retort, but his words only jumbled in his head as he struggled to spot Wolf and his team; frustrating him further.

"I know you can hear me Fox… It's not my fault we're here on this battlefield together, so how about we be civil and catch up."

Fox finally spotted the shimmering flurries of blades that were the silver plated Wolfens rounding up a group of Aparoids and Anglars; the bare, gold sphere crest identical to Peppy's remained uniformly engraved on each side of the Wolfen's reflective hulls.

Within the hoard the two starfighters were pursuing, Fox spotted a couple of Androssian fighters. The Cornerian!

Fox's eyes scanned the area around his Arwing and located the Cornerian pilot that was being chased by the Dragon just up ahead and to the left. The pilot had lost the Aparoid but was still running from the Androssian. Fox sped up and fired multiple laser blasts right through the center of the hostile fighter then zoomed overhead the leftover scrap. He turned his Arwing around and made eye contact with the Cornerian pilot, who gave Fox a thumbs-up from his cockpit. Fox replied with a curt nod, his eyes lowering to the starfighter's own gold crest that adorned the entire Cornerian fleet. Fox's ears lowered over a muted, frustrated expression as he turned his attention back to tracking Wolf and Leon's fighters.

"Oh, and speaking of which," Wolf continued. "I'd prefer to mitigate as much risk as possible by making sure everyone here is compatible with each other; at least to an extent. So if you and Krystal have anything you'd like to get off your chests…"

A silver bullet whipped right overhead of his; time slowing as he spotted the pilot.

"Now's the time." Wolf finished, his tone bleeding the self amused smirk on his face.

Fox wasn't sure if Krystal had noticed him; her eyes were locked on her target. Her reflective armored Cloud Runner was headed straight for the Convoy's main battleship that had attracted a swarm of the Aparoid moths who were ripping into its hull with their pincered legs and blasters. Krystal held her speed and tilted her fighter, angling her glinting edged wing towards the core of the first Aparoid she was to make contact with, and sliced straight through it as she passed. Within seconds, she had flown through and severed every Aparoid without her wings taking so much as a scratch.

Fox's eyes were wide yet unwavering; grimly concentrating on her Arwing's new ability with little more than a twitch of his ear.

"He won't be having any problems." Growled a new, yet all too familiar voice. "And he knows why."

Fox was utterly defenseless to the heat the speaker ignited him; boiling his blood and radiating through his fur as he struggled to keep his vision clear.

"So if he has any respect for the past and those he wronged and abandoned…" The growl trailed off into a low, gutteral purr; savoring the impact of his words. "He'll stay quiet and worry about himself."

Fox heard Wolf's voice again. "Better duck Fox, gotta stampede coming your way."

Fox's vision cleared to see the group of fighters Wolf and Leon had been rounding up heading straight for him. Fox pulled up on his controls and ascended without fail, getting out of the way just in time. He continued flying vertically until he was more than four hundred meters above the group, then he flipped around and dove straight towards them.

"Better duck, Wolf." Fox said as he locked onto an Aparoid in the center of the herd, arming his cannons with two of its Nova bombs. He waited only a moment while the Wolfens slowed, then launched a Nova bomb and retreated to a safe distance just before it went off, decimating the whole squad.

"That works; though I was enjoying the sight of them running scared." Wolf said.

"Like shooting Anglar in a barrel." Leon joined in.

Fox cracked a grin. "I prefer dropping dynamite in the water."

"Maybe not so disappointing after all, pup." Wolf commented with a hint of sincere admiration.

Falco's voice came over the headset, sounding irritated. "Hey, you guys gonna quit the pillow talk? Or are Lucy and I gonna clear this perimeter ourselves?!"

"Tweeter says what?" Leon snickered.

"What did you just call me?!" Falco retorted, his irritation spiking.

Fox intervened before things could escalate. "I'm coming over Falco."

"Not so hasty Fox, we're gonna show you how it's done." Wolf said as he and Leon took off towards the convoy.

Fox shook his head and was about to follow, when his mind snapped back to the vexing growl that had raked him earlier. He searched frantically to spot its craft, and his gut churned with anxiety and rage with every passing second that he couldn't. Just let it go… He ordered; remembering Slippy's words. Star Fox needs you. Still filled with desperation, he shoved it to the back of his mind and took off after the others.

Upon reaching the frigates, they found that Falco and Lucy had already taken out a large majority of the opposition. Fox also noticed that most of the Cornerian fighters had rallied up and joined the cause; their silver hulls stained and battered with the scars of their near defeat. He jumped in and began to chase down the remaining fighters in the area, spotting Krystal doing the same thing a few hundred meters below him.

He watched her Cloud Runner despondently, his visor zooming in on her cockpit and enhancing the image to give him a clear view of her. Her fighter moved and turned too swiftly to make out any expression; all he could interpret from her body language was her determination and sharp focus towards her every opponent. Steadily his gaze hardened as he looked away and focused on his own targets. "It doesn't... matter…" He murmured.

"Alright Falco, perimeter secure; we're ready to push out!" Lucy announced, her voice full of excitement and adrenaline.

"Alright then, let's break'em up and send'em runnin." Falco replied as he faced his fighter away from the convoy and towards the ring of chaos that still surrounded all of them. "Slippy, Amanda; is our escape route still nice and thin?"

"Didn't even have to try!" Amanda gleefully hollered.

"Much thanks to the extra missiles R.O.B. and I installed on the Great Fox II!" Slippy cheerfully exclaimed.

With that, they all flew straight into different parts of the ring, shattering the enemy force into several small, more manageable groups. Both teams kept pushing through, dodging scrap and bullets, then returning fire and taking down their adversaries.

Falco had a target lock on an Anglar and was about to shoot, when Leon swooped in and obliterated it with a charged blast before Falco could pull the trigger.

"Hey!" Falco exclaimed, "Just what do ya think you were doin'?! That was my kill!"

"The early bird gets the fish." Leon flew his Rainbow Delta directly above Falco's Sky Claw, openly displaying a conceited smirk. "Looks like you're going hungry."

"You calling me slow?! You're a freakin' Chameleon!"

"Yes, but we move quietly and unseen; with a tongue swifter than lightning. In terms of the Rainbow Delta, a laser turret does just as good." Leon had a taunting calmness in his voice, riling Falco up even more.

"Why you little piece of dried out-"

"Careful with your temper bird. I may be bound to let the Star Fox team help out and not cause them trouble, but I am more than willing to defend myself if necessary." Leon's voice turned sinister. "It doesn't take much to convince me that something is...necessary."

"Brush it off Falco..." Fox chimed in. "As the leader of Star Fox, your team shouldn't have to tell you that you're above cackling jackals."

"Oh, and like you and Wolf did any better?! Let me have this!" Falco demanded, a slight whining bleeding through his infuriated tone.

"I never took the first shot at Wolf, let alone attack him in the middle of a mission where we have lives to save."

"Listen to your master, little parakeet." Leon hissed with glee. "You should've known better than to think he'd actually freed you from your cage…"

Silence shadowed all three of their movements as they continued engaging other hostels in wait; Falco's assault sharpening as he suddenly ended Anglar after Androssian after Aparoid after Androssian.

"You're right Fox." He admitted shortly, to Fox's stunned disbelief. "To you, I'm sorry."

"I'd say Polly's earned a cracker." Leon threw in quickly.

"I won't forget this Leon." Falco grumbled menacingly.

"I know you won't." Leon snickered.

Fox watched Falco a moment longer, ensuring he wouldn't have any second thoughts about attacking the Chameleon, when an enormous flash lit up his vision; his eyes snapping forward to see that the hostile he was pursuing had suddenly erupted into fire and scrap. "What? Who the...?" He murmured as he studied it. His visor picked up on another eruption not far from him, then another, and another as all the hostile fighters seemed to be self-destructing in unison.

"What the fuck?!" Falco exclaimed. "Anyone else seeing this?!"

"Princess, you got anything?!" Wolf urgently inquired.

"How did I not see this before…" Krystal answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Out with it!" He barked.

Fox had already been searching every sector within his sight as Krystal gave her haunting answer.

"Their emotions are faceless… There's no shock, no fear, no dread, no rage… Nothing."

Within five seconds every Androssian, Aparoid, and Angler on the field was obliterated; their fires suffocated as the battlefield dimmed back to its star lit darkness. Every surviving spacecraft slowed to a cruise; watching and waiting in somber silence.

After a minute of no activity, the remaining Cornerians cautiously gathered around the convoy's main frigate and began landing all the damaged fighters in its hangars for repair while the rest took up their spots around the cruisers to provide security.

Wolf's voice finally filled the gap in the comms. "Recon MAC4, you still breathin?"

A young dog answered the transmission. "Yes sir, we're fine; can't say it would've been the same if you hadn't showed up though."

"Thank us by getting back to MacBeth; it shouldn't be long until your intended reinforcements show up."

"Actually sir... new intel's showing they're still ten minutes out. They said that they ran into another group of the same enemies that were waiting for them near one of the planets they had to pass by to get here. The force was much smaller, they said it was more like a distraction, something to slow them down and keep them from getting to us in time; makes me even more thankful that you all arrived when you did."

Fox's fur had already been standing, and now his expression tightened in frustration. Damn it... By Wolf's response, Fox could tell he felt the weighing edge too.

"Well…" He exhaled. "Ain't that just peachy… Either way, you guys have been licked enough. Get back to Macbeth, we'll stay here until they show up." There was a brief pause, and Fox shuddered in irritation as he could feel the prod coming. "Ay Fox; would you and captain cocky mind keeping us company a little longer?"

"Absolutely." Falco cut in. "It would be such a tragedy for us to leave Star Wolf alone with whatever's going on; I wouldn't dare turn away from such a promising opportunity."

"So you do care..." Wolf mocked.

"Sooo-ho-ho mu-" Falco attempted to mock back, but Wolf cut him off.

"Well then Fox, while we've got some downtime, I've been meaning to chat with you for a long time. Catch up, remember?"

Fox closed his eyes and shuddered, yet as it ran its course, his shoulders relaxed and the idea actually intrigued him. With an amplified sigh, he gave his answer; hiding his interest in a dull voice. "Why not."

"Follow me." Wolf finished pleasantly.

Fox watched his fighter bolt off towards the southernmost sector of the planet. A feeling of unease churned in his stomach as he glanced around the lifeless battlefield. "You good with this Falco?"

"I have no idea…" Falco answered, sarcasm completely ejected from his tone. "But it could be a benefit to have someone in the distance with a bird's eye view, so I guess just don't go far... and glance over your shoulder every now and then." Even the tone of his pun yielded no humor; the falcon spoke every word in earnest.

"Can do." Fox answered, pulling back on his thruster and launching after Wolf. As he flew, he received a transmission on a private channel; connecting it through his visor. "So why all the privacy and distance from the group? We could've spoke on a separate comm channel right where we were."

"We may be in our own separate starfighters, but I'm a classy cannis. I still prefer to have one on one conversations somewhere they actually feel one on one." Wolf answered nonchalantly.

"Fine." Fox answered, equally uncaring. "What do you want?"

"Lylat, you have changed." Wolf stated; earnestly intrigued. "You may have been pathetic these last few years, but they molded you."

Fox slowed his speed as he approached Wolf's pristine fighter, hovering casually still underneath the colossal red rock; bathing in its murky glow. The comment had been almost everything he'd hoped for, but his pride barely flourished as it was drown in more anxiety; choosing wary silence as the best answer.

Wolf sighed, actually sounding disheartened. "Fox, neither of us are blind on this battlefield. I think I can say in confidence that we both know something bad is about to happen; it's been coming for a long time."

Fox's intestines constricted as his pulse heightened, his eyes narrowing as his gaze dropped just below the Wolfen's cockpit, staring at the barren gold planet stamped into the starfighter's armor.

Wolf paused for a moment before continuing. "Bad, Fox... I know I don't have to explain to you what I mean." He took another pause, then proceeded by asking a question that his tone revealed he already knew the answer too. "You know the proverb, 'You often meet your fate on the path you take around it.'?"

Fox swallowed, his vision sharpening as his grip on his controls tightened. "Right alongside 'hope for the best, plan for the worst.'"

"I can tell, especially now." Wolf formally praised. "I'm proud of you pup, I mean that."

"You'd best get to the point, Wolf." Fox's teeth grit firmly, taking a swift glance around his sector before locking back on the Wolfen. "You're making me nervous."

Wolf breathed a short sigh in surrender. "Normally I'd tell you to relax; remind you that we're supposed to be catching up." He gave a weak chuckle. "Just know, with what's coming; I am rooting for you, Star Fox."

Fox's conviction shook from the unending honesty of his tone.

Wolf sighed again, his own confidence sounding weak as he sounded to either be thinking or waiting. "And looks like he's going through with it… Alright Fox, I'm gonna step back and let him take it up with you, pilot to pilot."

Almost instantaneously, Krystal's voice shouted in his head, -Roll!-, and an alien instinct brought him to throw his fighter into a sideways roll; dodging the electric blast from beneath and the pointy steel blur that followed it; How the hell?! Fox mentally exclaimed as he immediately recognized the blur's hull adorned by the red rose etched on the right side of the fighter's cockpit, directly over its own sphere crest.

"Hello McCloud," Began the soft, yet baleful purr. "You don't know how long Panther has been waiting for this."

"What's the meaning of this Panther?!" Fox exclaimed, doing a brief look over his radar and targeting systems, baffled that the feline had been able to sneak up on him and still remained a ghost to his systems. "What did I ever do to ruffle your fur?!"

"Mere duty McCloud." Panther growled in self amusement. "You've been marked; for your treachery and cowardice towards Corneria." Panther swooped around and took another shot at Fox, who bolted forward, clearing the way of the blast. "I've been tasked to carry it out."

Krystal's floored voice burst over their comms. "Panther! What the hell are you doing?!"

"What only I have the sense of duty to carry out, my rose. This is no longer about my vendetta against this naive fox; his own crimes have brought this upon him."

Fox grit his teeth in frustration as he kept his Arwing in motion in order to avoid getting disintegrated. "So do fill me in!" He barked. "Are you trying to tell me that Peppy ordered me dead?! Cause the Cornerian reinforcements are on their way, and whether or not you've fulfilled your contract, they aren't going to take kindly to you attacking even a distant ally."

"Feel free to ponder that all you like, McCloud. I have my orders, I know who they're from, and at the end of this day; I will be praised as the hero that brought Corneria your head. "

"Panther!" Krystal hollered. "You need to stop! We need to leave now!"

"Do not interfere, Krystal. I assure you this is above us, and I will not have your empathetic emotions attempting to save a traitor to our system."

Falco tore into the comm lines. "Whatever the hell is going on-"

Fox's eyes darted toward Falco's last location to see him, Lucy, Slippy, and Amanda darting toward their location.

"-Star Fox isn't just going to stand by while a mangy coyote allows his pretty pussy to attack one of our own!"

A heavily charged laser blast interrupted Falco's flight path, with Leon following suit. "Oh contraire, you feathered rodent; that's exactly what you're going to do."

Fox scanned his systems again, finding Leon as invisible as Panther.

Falco's eyes narrowed on the Delta, his instincts overturning his will as he gripped his thrusters tightly. "Alright you cold blooded dust eater." He hissed. "Let's see how well you use your 'tongue' when a falcon is hunting you down!" He whipped around and began to chase Leon, but before he could fire, the Rainbow Delta physically vanished before his eyes. "What the...? Where the hell did you go!?"

Only Leon's voice reappeared on the comms. "Amongst many, there's something that makes me all the more superior to you bird. Not only are we chameleons stealthy movers, but we also have the ability to blend-in with our surroundings; for the Rainbow Delta, a cloaking device. You will notice I've never even been on your radar as well, making me completely invisible to both you and your fighter. You are not the hunter anymore, falcon; I am."

Lucy, Amanda, and Slippy watched in shock as Falco flew off on his own, and Panther continued to pursue and fire upon Fox.

"Let's get in there!" Slippy ordered. "We're not doing any good sitting here with our jaws open!"

"You said it, sugar!" Amanda added. The three pilots began to head toward the skirmishes, but went right back to a halt when Wolf zoomed in and placed himself in their path.

"I know a thing or two about pride, so I'm gonna do ol' Fox a favor here and keep things between him and Panther."

"Go chase your tail Wolf!" Lucy replied, "It's all you're good for if you think that you can keep all three of us from aiding our friend!"

"You're right; I do seem a little outnumbered, don't I?" Wolf instantly pivoted his fighter towards Slippy's and hammered dual laser blasts into his right wing, bursting through the shield and tearing the wing to shreds; with a shrieking Toad in the cockpit . "There, now I only have two pilots to deal with."

"Slippy!" Amanda exclaimed. She looked back at Wolf, staring him dead in his red iris'. "You're going to wish you had never even got in our way!"

"Control your temper, toadess, and heed my warning. I only damaged Slippy's fighter enough to keep him from interfering; he can still make it back to your flag ship. As for you and the general's daughter, here's what I would suggest. If you look over to your left, you will see that Falco has lost technological and physical sight of Leon. Any second now he will reappear and blow that bird to bits. Now, Fox is in a... reasonably fair firefight with Panther. You also know Fox to have much better judgment than Falco, most of the time. I would strongly advise you choose to help the one who is truly in need, instead of your real leader who can hold his own."

Amanda and Lucy looked at each other, then Amanda looked back over at Slippy. "Can you make it back hun?"

"Th-There's a reason I-I built myself a strong-ger shield gener-rator! D-don't worry a-about me babe! You j-just help out the others; I'll b-be f-fine!"

Amanda fretfully looked at her husband. "Be safe…"

"Tick, tock." Wolf remarked nonchalantly. "There's Leon now."

Lucy and Amanda watched as the Rainbow Delta began to reappear right behind Falco's fighter.

"Oh, and don't even think about splitting up and helping both." Wolf added, displaying a grin. "I'll be taking care of whoever tries to head toward Star Fox over there."

The two girls looked at each other, each second that passed driving a dagger deeper into their hearts. Lucy looked back out towards Fox's blur of an Arwing as he fought to outmaneuver Panther. "Fox…?"

"Not like Falco's vendetta is any less personal than mine." He answered, his voice drained of emotion. "Hell, you girls might as well sit back and watch the show…"

Amanda's frustrated tone took the reins. "You know what, fine. All these males got such an ego to prove, I say we just take care of the wolf." She ended, eyeing the Wolfen maliciously.

"Shouldn't take long." Lucy nervously concured, still eyeing Fox.

Wolf smirked. "In your shoes, I would've done the same thing. What I wouldn't have done, was stay in one place so close to a foreign fighter."

Suddenly an electronic, high pitched howl sounded in the cockpits of both Lucy and Amanda's fighters as their engines shut down, disabling everything except emergency life support systems and comms. Both females gawked at their lifeless screens in horror; completely illuminated in flashes of red light from their consoles as they began frantically trying anything to get them back and running.

"Such a shame being stuck in mere modded civilian star cruisers. Didn't take long to hack into your systems and put you in limbo. Not like being in your Arwing two-point-O's would've been any different. I'm sure you've seen for yourselves how far Star Fox tech has fallen behind the times.

"When, did you, become a hacker!?" Lucy hollered. "I'm pretty sure Dash built you all those Wolfen whatever point O's!"

"That's the beauty of the ever coming future sweetheart." Wolf exhaled in bliss, "I didn't have to do anything but keep you still and activate a few commands." Wolf turned his fighter back toward the skirmish between the Fox and the Panther. "Now you both just sit tight, I'm sending you to the hangar of our nearby medical carrier where you'll be safe until the dust settles; long as you don't shoot up any of the CSC who'll attend to you." He warned with amusement, then paused a moment before delivering another warning. "This could've been the end for you, just like Slippy." Then his thrusters fired up and he was gone in the blink of an eye; just as both the female's vision filled with an aquatic-like energy field that engulfed them both.

….

Falco frantically searched the area looking for Leon's fighter. "Show yourself, you little green coward!"

Leon's voice came over the headset. "This is not cowardice, falcon. This is superiority."

"Why don't you come on out and show me just how superior you are!"

"All in good time, I warned you that we chameleons are slow and steady movers. Patience is key when we are on the hunt. But after a long wait, our chance is upon us." The coms grew eerily quiet, then Leon continued. "Believe me when I tell you..."

Falco looked in his rear-view camera panel to see the Rainbow Delta slowly re-appearing behind him, with its laser charged and ready to fire.

"We take it."

Falco jerked his fighter to the right just in time to avoid the blast.

Leon snickered ominously. "Well done Falco," His Wolfen dissipated as swiftly as it had reappeared. "I'm going to get to play with you after all."

Falco looked up to see the large red and white diamond shaped object descending upon him. He slammed down on his controls in an attempt to outrun it, but his speed didn't clear the blast radius. The bomb went off, shattering his shield and ripping into his hull; sending Falco's Sky Claw spiraling into the distance; with Falco blacked out in the cockpit.

…..

Fox maneuvered through the leftover scrap from the battle he had just come out of, dodging blasts from the fighter above him in the battle he just entered. "Krystal." He addressed sternly. "I'm not gonna run for much longer."

"You will not be addressing her McCloud." Panther warned, as he fired another shot directly in his flightpath. "You're even worse filth than I thought if you'd dare ask for help from the first that you betrayed."

Krystal's voice interrupted, her tone lowering with a darkness that Fox had never heard before. "I said…"

A loud, sharp hollar from Panther followed.

"'Stop.'" Her command was as loud in Fox's head as it was over the comms, and bore a sincerity that sent shivers down his spine.

The Black Rose veered off course and began spiraling out of control as Panther continued hissing in agony.

Fox turned his Arwing to circle the scene from afar, directing his visor to the cockpit of the Cloud Runner. Krystal's eyes were fixed on Panther, burning unsympathetically at the feline's disobedience.

Caruso's voice whined through his growl, his fighter slowing to a stop. "I warned you…" His whine slowly became more firm as his hiss regained its strength. "To never use your witchcraft on me again."

"Try it." She growled back, the firmness in her tone wavering.

All five of Fox's senses were honed in on Panther, ready to attack if the Black Rose dared even tilt.

"Now's not the time." Caruso replied, his tone softening to a near purr. "We'll make amends later." He paused a moment, then sorrow bled from his tone. "My rose I… I'm so sorry it had to come to this."

Fox zoomed his visor in on the Black Rose's cockpit to see him activate a command on its starboard display, and instantaneously the Cloud Runner dawned a transparent, glowing blue skin.

'Panther, no!' Her cry was strictly telepathic, but it did nothing to stop her fighter from dispersing into a mist of energy that faded into space, leaving silence and emptiness in her stead.

Fox had seen everything he could stand as he silently flipped his fighter around and headed straight for Panther, sending a swarm of lasers toward him. Panther maneuvered through the fusillade and zoomed right over Fox's head. Both fighters flew out a good distance before turning to face each other again.

"What did you do to her?" Fox demanded flatly.

"If you think I'd kill my Rose, I'm not as heartless as you." Panther purred with hostility. "My rose is much more valuable to me; without her, I am incomplete." Panther sighed in bliss. "I was truly blessed the day she came into my life... I had never seen anything so beautiful and so majestic."

Fox steadily activated his thrusters towards the Panther as he spewed words like a poet, watching and planning his attack as their distance closed.

"She was so graceful, so talented, and very strong hearted." Panther's voice turned back to a growl. "She would never accept defeat, she would always fight for what she wanted; do you even remember what that was Fox?"

Fox struggled to stay focused as he fought the torment Caruso's words brought. His hands tensed as he prepared to activate the triggers on his thrusters, when the Black Rose launched upwards of his fighter and bolted off into the distance; turning to circle Fox's position once distance had been regained.

Panther continued, "It was family, someone that she could rely on and trust when she was in need; much like you. She had always hoped that you would be her family, that you could be there for her by understanding what she was going through; but there was one thing stopping you, wasn't there?"

Fox's pain only increased, his veins pulsing harder and faster as he strained to keep calm and patiently follow the panther; watching for his next opening.

Panther smiled at Fox's silence. "Yes…" He purred, eerily. "Selfishness. You were afraid to lose her and in your fear, in order to feel better about yourself, you withheld her one wish from her. You left her all alone, with no strength to fall back on; but worry not Fox, she is safe. For in her moment of darkness, a light shined bright. She was hesitant at first, but she chose to reach out and grasp it. From that moment on, she felt safe again. She had strength to rely on once more. We are her family now, and she turns to me for comfort, love-" Panther paused, savoring the moment and taking pleasure in what he was about to say next. "-and pleasure."

Fox's nerves burned hot at that last word; creeping toward the Black Rose at a faster pace than he realized.

"Ohhh the riches I've spoiled her with since we became Lylat's Heroes." The feline purred. "She's worn the finest garments and jewelry, nourished her body at the finest establishments, hydrated her bare fur with the richest of soaps while soaking in the most luxurious of bathes;" Panther paused again, but it did nothing to stop the dagger from driving deeper into Fox's heart from the words he already knew were coming. "Making love in those bathes and the softest of beds; both accompanning the most breathtaking views."

As much as he knew it was coming, the statement couldn't have burned worse. He was now trembling in his seat, his expression contracting into blood lustful hatred.

"She will never turn to Star Fox again; she will never turn to you again."

As his fingers twitched to strike again at his tormentor, he paused; forcing his eyes to close calmly as he exhaled slowly. Suddenly he brought his Arwing to a dead halt, opening his eyes to watch the Black Rose continue on without him. After a moment of silence, the silver fighter arched off to the left and began warily circling back around to Fox's location; keeping its distance in silence.

Fox kept his eyes trained on him, his posture relaxing from its tense state and resuming its proper form. "You're the one with the order to kill me, so why don't you get back to it; you yapping Jackal.

It wasn't long before he heard Panther grunt in amusement as he drew closer. "You're dying words McCloud?" He chuckled tauntingly. "So be it. Face my rose's sentence; can you overcome it?"

Fox tightened his grip on the Arwing's controls, his visor calculating the Wolfen's increasing proximity as he mentally prepped for the coming assault. "Let's find out."

….

When the vortex cleared, Lucy's eyes fell upon a large, open, glistening white hanger with gold trim artistically lining it all. It was filled with various Cornerian fighter craft, maintenance equipment, all shapes of steel cargo containers, and the ever increasing amount of cornerian pilots and soldiers moving within it; foremost the armed ones already surrounding both her and Amanda's grounded fighters. They stood seemingly relaxed, even with their rifles at shoulder ready. Had it not been for the gold crests adorning their snow white uniforms, they'd have been all but inextinguishable from the sterile background.

A Mastiff bearing a concerned smile divided them. He was unarmed, and merely raised his hands level with his chest as his jowls moved to speak; his voice amplified through speakers built in somewhere throughout the hanger.

"Greetings, members of Star Fox. Please do not be alarmed, we mean you no harm."

Lucy looked down at her controls to see they hadn't changed, aside miniature coding spawning in the corners of each of her screens.

"We have prepared most any accommodation you may desire; you are free to exit your fighters to partake. Nourishment, hydration, medical-"

Lucy rolled her eyes, not giving the Mastiff a second glance as she visually searched and researched for any possible way to reactivate her fighter herself; but her eyes kept catching sight of the generating text on her screens. They're probably locking it down even further…

"We only ask that-"

Even with his projected voice, Lucy heard the click and lowering of the Tadpole's ramp, with Amanda marching down and stepping sharply off in the Mastiff's direction.

"My husband," She began, her tone as sharp and charged as her step, pointing a finger at him as she approached. "Your once glorified savior, Slippy Toad, is still out there with a damaged wing and caught in your cross fire." She was now nose to nose with him, stirring the nerves of the surrounding soldiers as they raised their rifles, but the Mastiff calmed them with a gesture as he maintained his own demeanor; showing all the more concern at Amanda's news.

Amanda stopped at none of it, continuing to fire off at the hound. "I don't give a straw from a hay bale what your faux furred wolf ordered. You pull that nightmare of a virus from our fighters this instant and let us go, or so help me I will pluck an eyeball from each and every one of these CSC soldiers sockets with my Creator gifted tongue until someone with sight left wises up; starting with you!"

The Mastiff's jaw was ajar as he swiftly snapped his fingers in the air and called out as he looked back, "Get two fighters dispatched to the battlefield to locate and extract Slippy Toad of Star Fox; top priority!" His frantic, yet still gentle gaze returned to Amanda. "We will get your husband Mrs. Toad, but I must stand firm on-"

Amanda thrust her hands to his collar and jerked him to his knees; ignoring the rifles snapping up to her position. "You must not have heard me correctly." She hissed, keeping her eyes mere centimeters from his. "And it's mighty hard to repeat myself once my tongue's out."

Lucy observed it all with a tickling mix of amusement, pride and horror as the Mastiff continued to plead that she not push them to use force of their own, when another sound pulled everyone's attention. Blaster fire discharged from a rifle on an adjacent platform, sending the targeted soldiers on said platform into a fit of convulsions as they collapsed to the ground. The still standing CSC members raised their own firearms at the canine assailant bearing their uniform, when a dense blue wave tore across the area and engulfed half of them. It proceeded through them and dissipated shortly beyond, leaving all its victims encased in a thick layer of ice.

Lucy traced the wave back to its source to find a starcraft she was shocked she hadn't noticed before. There lie the Cloud Runner, with none other than Krystal crouched at its side. She wielded her golden staff, the gems at its head and heel burning bright as she darted forward and used the head of her staff to send another wave of ice at her remaining opponents as an automated voice came over the hanger's loudspeakers.

"LEVEL ONE SECURITY BREACH IN PROGRESS. COUNTERMEASURES NOW ACTIVE."

Lucy's eyes snapped back to Amanda to see her toss the Mastiff to the side and begin wrestling a rifle out of the hands of a baffled soldier.

"That won't end well…" Lucy murmured, manually unlocking her cockpit with one hand as she unsheathed her blaster with the other; switching it to stun. Shoving the cockpit open with her unoccupied shoulder as she rose from her seat, Lucy observed her fear of the rest of the squad taking note of Amanda's assault on one of their comrads. Lucy swiftly took aim at the nearest armed soldier to the one Amanda currently sparred with and hollered in a flirty tone, "This way soldiers!" Before they could even turn their heads toward her, she began firing away at as many as she could; buying Amanda the second that she needed to free the rifle from her opponents hands and join her in the ignited firefight.

Against her best efforts, Lucy became quickly overwhelmed and had to curl up in her seat; flattening her shoulders and head against her dashboard as much as she could to ensure she was in cover. As she waited for a break in fire, she heard and observed two more giant blue waves tear along both sides of her fighter, and the immediate vicinity went quiet. She poked her head out just enough to see all her frozen opponents, with Krystal standing firm exactly where she had calculated the blasts had originated.

Lucy's manner darkened as she took in the sapphire furred vixen in her glistening white bodysuit that may as well have been painted onto her curved, slender figure; starting from a gold collar just below her jawline, coming to a gold trimmed, symmetric point at her center fingers, and transforming subtly into well polished, knee high, gold trimmed boots on her feet. Standing out from it all were two, flat gold spheres contrasting themselves effortlessly from her uniform; one on her right deltoid and the other just under her left collarbone.

Just fit right in with your jewel laden, Cerinian heritage… Lucy inwardly scoffed before her attention was pulled to Amanda as she ducked out from a single crate she'd managed to find cover in; locking eyes with Lucy in a moment of relief that both of them had made it. The toad then immediately headed towards Krystal, whom had already turned and was walking away; both of them disappearing behind the various stacks of crates and equipment.

Lucy's expression hardened again as her muscles tensed, a suppressed fire kindling in her chest as her legs propelled her from her seat and onto the hanger floor. From the squat she landed in she sprung forward, catching up to her companions within a couple bounds; tuning-in to Amanda just as the toad herself had managed to keep pace with the blue vixen.

"I take it you have a solid plan to get us out of this mess?" Amanda asked Krystal, unable to completely hide the frantic plea from her serious tone.

The intercomm kicked in again and drowned out any further conversation as they strode. "Please lay down your weapons, kneel, and hold your hands above your head. If you proceed, lethal force may be used."

There was a tense silence as they were about to step into a clearing, but Krystal's undeterred stride answered Amanda's question. Right as the scattered battalion came into view, Krystal twirled and sprayed a wall of fire from her staff, creating a heat blind that forced all the soldiers into cover. She instantly followed it up with multiple waves of ice that covered the area in sections and froze most of the defensive equipment and soldiers; with Amanda and Lucy picking off any that hadn't immediately popped out of their cover to be hit with the polar blast. Krystal joined in, and in seconds the entire opposing force had been subdued. Again their vicinity was quiet, and Krystal collapsed to the ground, subtly panting.

Amanda went straight to her side. "Did you get hit?!"

"No…" Krystal murmured. "Just… where's Lucy?

Amanda looked back at Lucy as she walked over to the couple on que.

"Present." The hare started cutely.

"Take my staff and cover me, more will be coming."

Amanda tensed up as if to leapt back, but remained put to help the vixen up. "She can… do that?!"

"Mmph, she's done it before…" Krystal strained to answer.

Amanda shot Lucy a surprised, uncertain glance.

Lucy's demeanor mirrored Amanda's as she admittedly nodded, then her eyes sharpened as she looked at the staff with sudden determination. "I've got a few tricks." She answered, as she stepped in and snatched up the staff. The moment her hand touched it, a surge of energy flowed through her nervous system and travelled straight to her brain stem; pulling her from her current reality. She saw her most cherished and hated memories flash before her, but it was as if it were through eyes not her own.

Blissful times as a child with her mother and father. Her fond yet occasional friendship with kit-Fox due to differences in social needs, the pained distance furthered by his insufferable grief at the loss of his mother and later father to the murderous beast. Her passionate pursuit of astrophysics and endless hobby of flying and spacecraft modification. The pain of losing her own mother to an illness she couldn't understand; that no one could. Her frustration of her first request to join Star Fox being denied by Fox himself, then later joy of his change of heart in recognition of her help on Fitchina. The thrill and terror of skybound combat and coming out alive with those she charished. Her reawakened feelings for the vulpine and the rare times of fun and laughter she connected with him on and off mission and training; thrilled whenever she'd managed to get through the emotional distance he'd tried to keep between them. "I can't get close." His distant voice echoed. "I won't. I won't put anyone through that again."

"Haven't you learned your lesson in making a female's decisions for her…?" Came her soft answer, her seduction followed by all the bittersweet moments behind closed doors with him; the memories tainted only by their vexing, non-committal relationship caused by his undying heart for the blue vixen. "Why can't you let her go…?" She heard her broken voice plea, the attempt to sway him leading to the torment of his permanent denial of her affection. "It can't go on." His dejected answer passed as cold as the day he gave it. "We… I can't handle more."

In each and every memory, Lucy felt all of her different emotions being individually triggered by supernatural sensations, and her morals being amplified in her head involuntarily by her own voice; then, as if it had overlapped the same moment, she felt the connection. As the staff now knew her, she knew the staff. Her eyes cleared as she looked upon Krystal and Amanda again; Amanda watching her with worried awe.
"...Again?" Lucy asked, still shaken.

"It has been awhile..." Krystal replied apologetically, already back to her feet. "Remember: be careful. Without other sources around for it to draw its energy, it'll take it straight from you." Her expression abruptly became staid as she stepped closer to her; resting a hand on one of Lucy's gripping the staff, and the vixen's voice was suddenly in her head. 'You remember how it felt, right? The time I showed you?'

As Krystal spoke, Lucy was pulled from her reality again and found herself back on Fichina, out under a clear sky in a snow covered canyon with the sapphire fox.

'How much even the beginner generations took from you?'

The sound of a soft, steady breeze occupied Lucy's ears as the memory played out in silence. Krystal's lips moved as she transitioned her body through different postures with the staff that echoed peace and adaptable control. The following flash retold Lucy's own various achievements with the staff, and the eager rabbit instantly noted that they were a spark compared to what the vixen had summoned at present. Lucy found herself bothered as she watched her figure drop upon her cottontail, her bewildered gaze heaving for breath with the memory of Krystal worriedly kneeling beside her.

'It takes time to build one's energy's resilience in order to conjure more. Without time, you could spend the very light behind your eyes.'

Lucy's sight cleared again, finding Krystal before her just as she had been; only now her expression showed genuine concern.

'For your own sake, Amanda's, and Slippy's; stick to what you've done. No matter what happens, pushing your limits will not help them.'

As earnestly pleading as the last request was given, Lucy couldn't hold back an irritated glare at Krystal's unspoken suggestion as she recalled the vixen's own collapse just moments ago. 'Like you did?'

A corner of Lucy's mouth twitched upward as Krystal stepped back in afflicted surprise. The sapphire vixen's vast ocean blue eyes wavered dejectedly as her ears sank and her posture almost seemed to shrink. Then, as quickly as it'd taken hold, her brows furrowed with her hardening gaze as she swiftly turned and made her way underneath a line of scaffolding that stretched nearly to each side of the hanger along one of its walls.

Amanda piped up again. "Okay, so what the hell is the plan?! I see a platform, a wall, and a window ten-plus meters up without a starfighter even a stone's throw away! We're as good as trapped!"

Lucy looked from her to Krystal, then back to Amanda as the toad stepped back suddenly and her whole expression changed to amazed understanding. Lucy's expression took on one of sole confusion as Amanda looked at her and stated, "Okay, we have to cover her."

Lucy's attitude slumped to annoyance. "She show you?" She asked, feeling exhausted.

"Would, yes, get you to focus? Staff bearer?" Amanda asked as pleadingly as her terrified, impatient, scornful mood could.

Lucy's frustration reclaimed its grounds, but she displayed acceptance by turning toward the direction the reinforcements would be coming and began planning how she could manage them. After scanning the area a couple times through, her ears perked up to another intercom announcement, drawing her eyes back to Krystal as it spoke.

"Cheif, with all due respect, lay down your arms now and all charges will be dismissed. You aren't even in the right place!"

"No-" Krystal's response was barely loud enough for Lucy's hypersensitive hearing to interpret as the vixen approached the glistening white wall and placed her hand on it. "-but you are."

What followed from the overhead speakers made Lucy's fur stand firmer than it already was.

"Wha- what the- A-aaaaahhhh!"

Lucy's eyes darted from the widespread, opaque, gold trimmed glass above to Krystal below, observing her posture shake ever so slightly as her lips tightened together from the subtle strain.

Amanda's shout barely brought the hare back to the battlefield. "Lucy, here they come!"

Lucy snapped her sharpened gaze back to the stage ahead of them, focusing her mind to conjure the indescribable force that propelled from her core; travelling through her arms and into the handle. The head of the staff instantly glowed with a fiery overlay before impelling blasts of condensed, infernal heat that Lucy directed at the oncoming CSC seeming to spawn from their matching white backdrop; keeping her ears trained for more of the struggle behind her. The attempt was in vain as her offenses quickly took their toll.

After a few generations of the paranormal spheres, Lucy began to tremble as a heavy exhaustion weighted on every muscle in her body. A haze befell her eyes as she strained to stay focused on her ever increasing targets, as it felt like her very soul began aching for respite. Come on…! Lucy groaned in annoyance, ignoring the calls as she caught sight of Amanda struggling to maintain the upper hand. Another few blasts and her thoughts began to scramble, then she blinked and found herself slumped on the floor with her back against the crate she had stood behind, heaving for air with sweat rising into her fur. Damn it! Lucy cursed herself. Why couldn't I ever figure this out?

She rolled her head over towards Amanda, seeing a fuselage of red bolts drive her behind her crate. As the haze lifted from the rabbit's eyes, a long forgotten pique erupted into wrath as she watched her dear friend relentlessly try to peek out of different spatial areas and fire off a few more shots; her eyes emanating desperation and panic.

Feeling her strength slowly returning, The haze lifted from Lucy's eyes as she tilted her head to Krystal, who now seemed completely emotionless as she stood effortlessly still; completely withdrawn from the world. How is this… how are you… possible?

Movement out of the corner of her vision drew her attention to soldiers moving up and along the platform above to flank them from both sides. "CSC to the rear!" Lucy hollered as she propped herself up on her knee and began projecting fire blasts at the ones on the left, striking a few and sending the rest into a retreat. She spotted Amanda managing the same, when her ears picked up the sound of boots hurriedly stepping softly closer to her and Amanda's current cover. Suddenly a small, flat device slid across the floor in between their two crates. Just as she could see the electricity begin to activate from it, she instantaneously aimed the staff and froze the device, then used her legs to launch herself high into the air and twirled as she sent as strong of an ice wave as she could at the displaced four-anthropoid line that had advanced on them; then everything went dark.

The faintest voice hollered far off in the murky void, growing louder and closer with each call, before her eyes fluttered open. Her thoughts were still clouded, the hare's eyes focusing as her blurred vision sharpened and she began to register Amanda hunched over her. Her nervous system steadily recognized Amanda's hand gripping and shaking her shoulder. Lucy's sensations continued to wake to her body laying on its side, sprawled over the cold, polished floor.

"Lucy! Thank the stars… Are you alright?! Does anything hurt?"

Lucy's ears finally deciphered her friend's cries, yet her mind instantly recalled her previous actions. "Useless… golden… snake…" She mumbled as she rolled to her front and began to push herself up.

"You did manage to chill them to a crawl. Rascals were shivering so bad they could barely lift their arms to shoot right." She held out her hand for Lucy to take. "I might as well have been blasting scarecrows!"

Lucy looked from Amanda's hand to her surroundings, spotting the staff about three meters ahead of her. "They probably wouldn't have gotten that far if it hadn't already completely drained me from a few plinkers." She took Amanda's hand who lifted her to her feet; Lucy immediately felt her legs shaking to maintain balance. "I'd have been better off sticking to-"

The automated voice from the loudspeakers cut her off. "SECURITY BREACH MAINTAINED. DEACTIVATING COUNTERMEASURES."

Amanda and Lucy both diverted their eyes over to Krystal, who pulled her hand from the wall and fell back against a support beam. Amanda rushed over to her, whilst Lucy resentfully looked back towards the staff and walked over to retrieve it. Upon picking it up and turning back towards Amanda and Lucy, she observed them both already striding towards her; the determination in Krystal's exhausted eyes clearly driving her past any fatigue.

"Both of your ships have been reset; I'm sorry that Wolf allowed this..." Krystal reached out and grasped her staff; keeping her eyes lowered from Lucy's. "I'm going to fix it." The sapphire fox turned to leave with her scepter, but Lucy tightened her grip; stopping the vixen in her tracks.

"Maybe you should stay here." Lucy suggested in a friendly monotone.

Krystal didn't react, not even reattempting to pull her staff away.

"I mean, haven't you done enough?" Lucy pressed, manifesting concern.

The graceful ease in the vixen's turn blasphemed her cold, unwavering expression that speared the hare's eyes; joined by a searing pain in the rabbit's hands.

Lucy released the brief fire lit staff handle with a slight yelp, jumping back and shaking her mitts rapidly as she shot a fierce glare back at the vixen; but she had already turned away.

With one swift motion, Krystal drove the end of the staff to the ground and a blue fire ignited, burning bright before launching her forward into the air; high enough to clear all obstructions between her and the Cloud Runner further down.

"Let's go." Amanda ordered.

Lucy turned to see that she too was already bounding off with her own amphibian strength. Lucy leapt forward and matched her friend's pace. "Shouldn't we take more caution? What if there's stragglers?"

"Then keep your eyes open." Amanda huffed, not slowing for a second. "You heard the intercom, but Krystal said there'd be a response team far worse coming if we didn't leave before they figured things out."

"Are we sure we can trust her?"

"It's a little late for that question." Amanda grunted unconcerned as they both reached their fighters and began climbing in.

Lucy dropped into her pilot seat and woke her dash screen with a touch; activating the commands to fire things up. Everything at her station illuminated as her engines roared to life.

Amanda's voice chimed in as their comm links reconnected. "You got me Lucy?"

"Yeah." She answered as she buckled herself in and closed her transparent hatch; sealing herself inside her Sky Bunny before using the controls to lift from the hanger floor. "After we check on Slippy, we should head for Fox."

"You do what you have to. Soon as I know Slippy's safe, I'm getting that wolf's hide."

Lucy frowned with disappointment and worry as she pulled back on her joysticks and her fighter launched forward. "We should really stick together, and Fox would be more than will-"

"Fox can handle himself; that's all he ever worries about anymore anyway."

Lucy's ears sank, falling in behind Amanda's Tadpole as they both burst through the atmospheric shield of the Cornerian Carrier into the cold vacuum of space. "You know you don't mean that..."

"Honey, do not tell me what I mean right now." Amanda spat as her fighter bolted forward in a flash and began tearing towards Venom.

Lucy followed suit, doing her best to keep up as her eyes still struggled to adjust to the dark contrast of space from the bright walled Cornerian Hanger. She glanced down at her navigation systems, noticing they weren't as far from Venom as she feared; but judging from Venom's apparent size and the size of Macbeth in the opposite direction, she knew it would still take more than a minute to reach the battlefield. "We're going to make sure Slippy's safe." She firmly reassured. "But I really want to keep thinking on helping Fox. He'll want Wolf dead just as-" Lucy halted her tongue, rethinking her words for a moment. "He will assist us in taking down Wolf."

Amanda gave no response as the Tadpole kept sprinting towards the red, gaseous planet.

Lucy's churning gut relaxed a little. "Hang on Fox." She murmured, having muted her audio. "We're not long."

"That's strike two, Fox; surely you have more to you than that."

Fox's head was pulsing, feeling shere exhaustion as Panther's comment pulled him from the black, and he acknowledged the rising emotion he dreaded; he was scared. His reflexes had taken over, dodging every bullet while his dedicated focus watched and waited for an opening. He'd rolled with the Black Rose, going in tight circles as the two fought desperately for the lethal hit, then they'd break and create distance, moving to tail each other in hopes to gain the upper hand; and through it all, Fox had barely landed a few good blasts. His ears above his quivering, wrathful eyes slowly sank as he began to wonder how much longer he could keep it up.

"Don't let your anger cloud your judgment; that's exactly how you lose the match, McCloud"

"What, match?!" Fox barked, all the exposed fur on his pelt standing firm.

"Mmm-hmm-hm, so you have been observant? If it helps, Panther is equally frustrated." The feline chuckled vainly, savoring his boastful lie. "You have failed being lulled into any of his snares."

"Can you do me just one, fucking favor… kill me," Fox brought his fighter to a halt and trained it's nose just ahead of Panther's, "or die!" He growled as he fired away, pivoting like a turret as the Black Rose continued evading in it's usual graceful manner.

Panther's tone painted a triumphant smile. "As you wish McCloud; it is time for our final joust. Prepare yourself, for only one of us will emerge victorious."

Lylat, you just won't shut up! Fox silently spat as he watched the Black Rose perform a twirling summersault and head straight for him. Fox prepped his thrusters and fired a smartbomb just before throwing his Arwing into a backflip, his G-Diffusers pushing him away from the looming planet above. Once his fighter's nose was directly opposite of Pather he engaged his thrusters and rocketed as far from his assailant as possible just as the bomb ignited; nearly engulfing his own fighter in the quickly suffocating flame as the propulsion wave smashed into the rear of the Arwing. As his speed increased to a nearly uncontrollable rate, Fox still kept his eyes trained on the screen projecting his rear view; searching for the fate of the Black Rose. It was gone, but so was the debris; nothing existed.

"God damn it." Fox growled. "Where are you?!"

"That… hurt." Came Panther's winded, factual statement.

Fox's heart cringed as he proceeded to look even harder, sweat seeping swiftly into his dense fur.

"Right here, McCloud."

Fox jumped in his seat as a white gloved hand smacked itself onto his cockpit's transparent hatch, thin blue spheres glowing bright on it's palm and along it's fingers as it pulled into view a white helmeted, gold trimmed silhouette of a feline skull with a wide visor, displaying two focused, luminescent yellow eyes.

Without wasting time to question it, Fox threw his Arwing into a fierce, unending Aileron roll; holding its consistency even against his own head spinning his conscience into a blur. He now felt numb; twisting and churning became his world as he fought to regain full consciousness and grasp his situation. As his daze cleared he found his starfighter slowing to a stop, with Panther floating to his feet on the Arwing's snout; the outline of his white boots sole giving off the same bright blue glow against the starship's hull as he remained in a crouched position. Fox's hands moved to his targeting screen when his fighter's wing was sliced in half by a large, dense blur. The impact sent the Arwing into a partial roll before slowing again; inflicting a migraine on Fox's mind as he strained his eyes to stay trained on Panther, who rose to a firm stance.

"You have lost, McCloud." Steadily his left hand travelled to a sheath on his left hip, drawing a gold hilted sword that bathed in the same murky, scarlet glow as his reflective white bodysuit. His arm raised above his head at an angle, then he swiftly brought the blade down across his core.

The blur struck Fox's fighter again, this time at its nose; nearly severing it. The assault sent the Arwing tumbling; making it near impossible to track the assailant. Fox's impaired vision caught just enough to interpret Panther simulating another slash, and he felt the third impact tear through his rear propulsion engines. Fox could hear his various flashing screens alerting him to the countless damage to his systems; fighting his twisted eyesight desperately to decipher each one and formulate his next move. His peripheral vision caught the Black Rose rising from below his Arwing directly behind Panther; bits of scrap floating off its scratchless, razor sharp wings. The cockpit opened whilst a blue field conjured in its place. Panther crouched before jumping off the Arwing with ease, manipulating his body into a backflip and phasing through the field; seating himself perfectly inside as the cockpit sealed.

"I lied about one thing, McCloud." Resumed the feline's burning voice as the Black Rose took off and created distance. "I do this for far more than Corneria's sake."

Fox returned his full panicked attention to his controls, attempting any of his defenses to no avail. His power had been diminished, all his systems in emergency mode merely supplying the oxygen he needed to keep breathing.

"So now, for my Rose…" He purred as his fighter flipped around and took its course back to Fox. "You will meet death!"

All his efforts exhausted, in that moment, Fox found a sudden, calming sense of peace in confirmation. His entire body relaxed, nearly slumping in his seat as he closed his eyes. This day was always coming… Fox looked back up and saw Panther fire an electric blast straight at him. Nice to finally know how.

Seemingly out of nowhere, another burning blue blur dashed between him and the shot; taking the impact. Fox watched in horror as he realized the fighter that saved him was Krystal's.

Panther released a drawn out roar, his tone spitting pure fury greater than any kind of remorse as the Black Rose veered off away from Fox and his savior.

Fox immediately looked towards Krystal's fighter to assess her status. She had performed a barrel roll on her way in, activating her shields that sustained most of the damage from the blast, but it failed to stop the bolt completely as the Cloud Runner's rear right propulsion engine exhausts were disintegrated enough to look as if something had taken a bite out of them.

"Once more... you... abuse her; McCloud." Panther panted in a low, guttural, spiteful growl. "Her feelings for you like a poison that has finally claimed her breath."

Fox's throat tightened as he watched her Cloud Runner drift lifelessly through space, rotating around torturously slow to where Fox yearned to see Krystal in her cockpit. He forced his gaze over and began scanning for the Black Rose, spotting him setting up his flight path for the same exact death stroke. Fox's ears sank as he returned his gaze to Krystal's starfighter and directed his HUD to zoom in on her as the Cloud Runner cockpit came into view. The shot had knocked her unconscious, but besides a little bruising she appeared to be intact. Fox let out a sigh of relief, but terror immediately filled him again.

In his skirmish with Panther, Fox had forgotten they all were only about a few thousand meters away from Venom's atmosphere, and Krystal was drifting straight towards it.

….

Falco came out of his unconscious state with a small headache as a souvenir; groaning as he brought his feathered hand to his forehead and went to sit up. His head was forgotten as he noticed he was still sitting upright in his cockpit; and that the whole thing felt as if it was swinging. Next he registered that everything was bathed in a red glow; its source being the dense red mist outside. That's when he saw the line, his clearing vision assessing the claw firmly bitten into the Sky Claw's nose, tracing it till it disappeared shortly into the murky fog. A set of engines from beyond roared from applied power, and the haze above dispersed rapidly to reveal the rest of the cord to its origin; the belly of the Rainbow Delta, with Leon's silhouette peering over it's edge.

Falco's expression hardened from panic, instantly propping himself up and working to fire up his own fighter again, muttering silently as each system powered on, "Come on, come on, that's it, that's it, there you go baby, just a few more…"

His next glance up at Powalski found him working his way down the cable, head first; the lengthy appendages on his hands and feet steadily grasping and releasing the steel cord in turn.

Falco returned his attention to his controls to find the many different damage assessments halting his progress. The shields were gone, the hull bore a few tears from the explosion's impact, but fortunately no essential systems had been completely severed. Falco directed his console to bypass all alerts and resume normal functions, when he looked up again and saw the chameleon at the end of his cable. His face was masked in a material that only gave subtle hints to his species, though through the wide visor he could still feel the lizard's icy, piercing blue stare.

"Fly or fall, little bird." Came his voice, whispering tauntingly through Falco's comms as the lizard made a slow slicing motion with his hand across the line. Instantly the claw detached, and Falco felt his world swiftly turn into a spiraling free fall. He could barely make anything out, gravity shoving him time and time again between his harness and his seat. Running strictly off what color he could make out, he reached over and tapped his chosen screen repeatedly until his G-Diffusers lit up. He then felt for his throttle levers, timing his manipulation of them to begin stabilizing his Arwing. Within a few more rolls, he finally gained control and kept the Sky Claw's belly facing the ground; instantly slowing his descent to a stop. The breath he'd been holding exploded out his beak as he began gasping for the oxygen to calm his racing heart. He looked out his transparent dome, able to see the all too familiar jagged mountains only a few hundred meters below him. "Fuck… that… chameleon…" He grumbled in sworn vengeance, grabbing his controls and bracing to fly back towards the action, when he saw hundreds of darting lights out of the corner of his eye. He looked towards the distraction, and what he saw halted his breath again. "Oh hell..." He whispered.

…..

"Panther, she's drifting right towards Venom." Fox warned his coming reaper, racing to avoid the fate the feline carried as he tried anything to get his Arwing to power back up.

"Your fault McCloud." He growled, "First, you die."

Fox looked up, feeling the peaceful call of acceptance return as he watched Panther enter firing range, when the Blackrose was swarmed on its port side by a fuelselage of laser fire that sent it veering sharply off course.

"You fucking mongral!" Panther screamed. "We had a deal!"

"A deal she wasn't part of." Wolf answered, his Wolfen fervently pursuing the Black Rose; keeping it on the run with the endless rain of infernal bolts.

Fox returned to his desperate efforts to start up his fighter, settling on his last resort. He activated a shutdown command to the emergency life support and took a deep breath, followed shortly by everything in his cockpit going dark. "Please…" A few seconds passed as Fox remained still in the silence, his eyes trained on the Cloud Runner steadily drifting above him towards the planet that lust to absorb her. Finally his eyes averted to a certain switch on the underside of his dashboard, lifting it to its opposing position. The fighter remained silent. Fox cursed under his breath. "Please." After repeating the process, he looked back up towards Krystal. She was picking up speed as the distance closed between her and Venom, and gravity tightened its grasp. Fox looked back at his Arwing's ignition and continued his attempts. "Come on... Come ON!" Out of his peripheral vision, Fox noticed a sudden amount of activity. He looked back up towards the movement and froze.

Emerging from the mist covering Venom's surface came another wave of enemy fighters, much larger in number than the previous group, headed straight towards Krystal and himself.

"No... no, no, no, NO!" Fox hit his ignition one more time, and finally had success as his control panel lit up. He manipulated the menus and roared his engines to life, turning his Arwing towards Krystal's then sent his thrusters to full blast, racing the swarm to get to her. He could feel sporadic bursts and crackles through his back from deep within the engine, catching the abnormal flashes and sparks in his rear view screen bursting out the damaged exhaust and sliced open components. Before he could even utter a prayer for the Arwing to hold out, Fox watched as an incoming Anglar fighter aimed its blasters toward him. He stopped its intentions by firing first, blowing the craft to bits. His shots only gained the attention of three other fighters that converged on his Arwing instantly, letting their laser cannon's loose on him. Against his wishes, his instinct drove him to flip around in order to avoid the blasts; leaving Krystal to continue rising into Venom's atmosphere.

He sped ahead of the group, putting distance between him and them; flying to a higher elevation before he flipped around again and headed straight towards them from above. He looked past all the fighters to see Krystal's Cloud Runner now in an upwards free fall into Venom's clutches as gravity took complete effect and left all weightlessness behind. Oh no you don't! Fox increased his Arwing's speed and flew right into the storm of enemies, dodging lasers from what felt like every direction.

Lucy's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Fox! Do you have a death wish?! Get out of there! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I already should be!" He barked.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Panther had me! He was about to take my life when... when she swooped in..."

"…Krystal..."

"Yes! She put herself between Panther and I and took the blast for me! Now she's drifting into Venom's atmosphere and I'm going to lose her any second! I won't let her die for my sake! It's my life that should be gone right now, not her's!"

Fox finally made it through the army of fighters, only to watch Krystal's Cloud Runner complete her rapid ascent into Venom's dense blanket of fog, disappearing from sight. The planet had taken her.