Authors note:

I've noticed fair amount of hate in the reviews on this story, but it doesn't really bother me. I know they are reviewing only for hate, but I haven't even gotten to the part of the story where Fox and Wolf even meet so their comments are irrelevant. Thank you everybody else for reviewing my story and giving me help on how to improve. Onto the story

Chapter 3: First Encounter

Birds tweeted melodically in the park, basking in the sunlight from above. Two days after the meeting with the general, Wolf was still not sure on what to do. He knew the benefits of accepting his offer; a job, money, fame. Despite the Aparoid Invasion being five years ago, and the Lylat war even further back, they were still popular, more so than the president or other celebrities. This fact annoyed Wolf more than anything though, almost all advertisements used the fame of Star Fox, primarily Fox, to show off their product. It was a stupid ploy for money, but it works.

And then there were the disadvantages of joining the team, the main one being under the command of Fox. Wolf thought it would be far too degrading to have to work for somebody else, let alone Fox. He wasn't sure if he could swallow his pride and work for him. Also, there was his team. He knew for sure that they wouldn't be happy about this. He had fought against them on several occasions, almost killing them. 'I hardly believe that they would sweep all of that under the rug...'

From this, people believed Wolf to be the 'Fox McCloud of Venom', which doesn't sound nowhere near as bad as it was. The public thought that Venom was a planet full of psychopaths, sociopaths and exiles, a land of death and destruction, and to be the poster boy of that served no benefit. In a way, that is what Venom is, a breeding ground for crime, but it wasn't always that way.

Venom used to be habitable by only few, lizards mostly. But after Andross, some parts of the planet were revitalised by him, so other species could survive. Wolf had only spent one year in Venom, training for his army, the rest of his life spent on Corneria. While living with his parents, Wolf developed a hate for the planet and it's justice system. In his naivety, he thought it would be a good idea to leave for Venom and join Andross. His ideals then seemed reasonable, the belief that Corneria was corrupt, not caring for those whose fate was not kind to. His lies weaved into the minds of his subjects, controlling them. And now, he was caught in the bad image of Venom.

He couldn't get a job in any other mercenary team as most other teams were either terrified of him or wouldn't risk their reputation with him. Star Fox was his only way forward, and as much as he wanted to deny it, he took out his communicator from his jeans pocket and flicked through his contacts.

The phone flickered to his touch and began to dial. After a few seconds wait, the screen lit up brighter and the image of General Pepper hovered as a hologram in front of him.

"So Wolf, I take it you have thought about your answer to my proposal?" Pepper asked. Wolf let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before he replied.

"Uh, yeah... I accept your offer on joining the Star Fox team." He would have never thought for those words to ever leave his mouth in his life.

"Is this your final decision? You know you can not take back your word after you have accepted." Pepper clearly stated.

"Yeah yeah, don't make me doubt myself on this now." Wolf was rethinking over the situation, wondering if he made the right choice.

"Okay then. I will call Fox and tell him of the proposal. I would like for you to come to my office later today, in around an hour. Goodbye Wolf." Wolf couldn't dwell on the thought of him making the wrong decision as the light from his phone died down into a gentle glow. 'Well, I guess that's that.' The park wasn't too far away from the main military building, so he decided to wait a while before starting on his way to the building.

The Star Fox team, excluding Falco, all sat in the recreational room of the Great Fox. The week had been slow for the team, no jobs for them to do, which was practically a given. Some would consider four pilots being a small number for a mercenary team, never mind three. Most employers would still go to Star Fox to help, since they knew of their expertise and work they did in the Lylat wars, but now with three, not much could be done. Most teams had around 6 to 10 pilots on their ship, and being the lesser of those gave them a lot of competition.

The team had agreed to meet on the ship every morning around 11 o'clock, to check if they had any mission requests or any messages from anybody else wanting to contact them, but this proved to have no avail.

"Why do we all have to come to the Great Fox? We only really need one person to check and they can notify the rest of the team of an assignment..." Slippy groaned. "I could be spending time with my girlfriend now." The frog looked impatient, waiting for himself to be dismissed so he could go.

"I don't mind it really. At least we're being social with each other, talking, hanging out. That kind of stuff." Krystal replied. "Besides, why have to tell the rest of the team when we can all be here? It's not that long, only an hour of our time a day."

"An hour too long if you ask me." Slippy remarked. As he said this, he got a sharp look from Peppy, sitting at the other side of the table from him. Slippy looked down, slightly ashamed. 'Kids...' he thought to himself.

A monotone, mechanical voice sounded through the speakers of the room. "Star Fox team to main control center. A message has been received from General Pepper."

"See Slippy? I knew it would be a good idea for us all to meet here." Fox told him. "Come on guys, lets go."

The team quickly scurried onward to the main room, all standing behind Fox. "ROB, read the message out." A holographic image of General Peppers face appeared in the room, casting a blue glow around the area.

"Greetings Star Fox. I have a proposal of you which I hope you will be happy to hear. This may solve your problems of no jobs. I would like Fox to meet me at 12 o'clock later today, and if any body else wants to join him you're free to do so. I will tell you the details there. Goodbye". The hologram disappeared and the room returned to normal.

"Just Fox huh? Guess I don't have to go. I'll see you later guys, I'm off to go hang around with Amanda." Slippy said as he walked away to the docking bay.

"I'll miss this one out too Fox. Tell me about it tomorrow, okay? I want to know what this 'proposal' is what Pepper is going on about." Peppy stated as he followed shortly after Slippy.

"So Krystal, what do you plan on doing? You could do anything." Fox asked, slightly hoping she wouldn't come with him for the sake of awkwardness.

"Oh, I was wondering if I could come with you? I would have thought you could have done with the company." She replied calmly. Thing was, Fox didn't mind having her come along, he liked the company of Krystal. She always knew what to say, probably because she was a telepath and could tell what to say from that, but she was nice. The only reason Fox didn't want her to come with him was that she always tries to try get Fox to go on a date with her, or she might treat it as a date.

Fox could remember the time he and Krystal were away from the team during the Aparoid Invasion, he had felt awkward. Especially after Tricky made his comment about their honeymoon. It made him wonder more about his 'relationship' with Krystal. Krystal's face after Tricky said that was priceless, her face lit up but then quickly her ears flattened on her head and looked away shyly.

"I guess we should get going then." Fox started walking and Krystal quickly followed. They had around half an hour to get to the main military building, and the walk was fairly long. It was a warm summers day, the sun bearing down on them, making them hot. The walk itself was peaceful, not many people were on the streets of Corneria. Many of them were either at the park or on the beach with their families. Fox thought sourly on how everybody else got to have fun, out on this beautiful day while he had to have a meeting with the general. Whatever it was, it had to be important.

As Fox was walking, a tall, grey furred figure caught Fox's eye. He was walking in the same direction as Fox and Krystal, so he couldn't see them. 'Is that, Wolf? It couldn't be...'. Upon further inspection, he could identify the lupine as Wolf. 'The nerve of that guy! How can he be here as if he's done nothing wrong? Guess the meeting with Pepper has to wait, Wolf has a meeting with my fist first!' Fox thought bitterly about his 'Rival'. Krystal realised these thoughts and attempted to grab Fox's hand before he did something stupid, but she was too slow.

Fox quickly ran forward and lunged, thrusting his fist to the back of Wolf's head. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed as he fell forward, face first into the pavement. Fox quickly picked Wolf up by the back of his shirt collar and threw him against a wall. The few pedestrians around the scene either watched the spectacle or fled, hoping not to be caught up in it.

He span Wolf around, keeping his hand connected to his collar, curled up into a fist. "What are you doing here!? You think you can just walk around here, acting as if you haven't done anything? WHY! You almost killed Falco! He's in a coma because of you!" He screamed in his face. Krystal had never seen this side of Fox, so vicious and hateful. Any other encounter with Wolf seemed like it was just a minor annoyance to Fox. Normally he was calm, collected, mature. She peered into Wolf's mind to see what he was thinking, and he was surprisingly calm. She normally would have expected him to be angry, furious at this attack. She wondered if Wolf had even done anything wrong.

Fox hurled another fist into Wolf's face, but he moved his head to the right and dodged the assault. He moved his head forward and headbutted Fox, making him stutter back. Using this opportunity, Wolf quickly threw a punch of his own. The punch was slow, heavy, and predictable. Fox quickly grabbed his arm and used the momentum of his punch to push Wolf down on the ground. He grunted as he fell to the floor yet again, ungracefully. Fox quickly grabbed both of his hands and held them together, immobilising Wolf. "You're getting sloppy Wolf."

It was true, his time in jail had not helped his case either, his combat skills lacking from what they used to be."Ugh. Somebody, help! This mad man is attacking me!" Wolf shouted out.

A nearby police officer looked at the situation and frowned. "Right, that's it, get off him!" the officer commanded Fox. He then recognised his face, slightly in awe. "Wait, Fox McCloud? What are you doing?" He had never caused trouble with the law before, so this was surprising to him.

"Taking down this trash. He doesn't deserve to be out here, I'm taking him to jail." Fox replied, voice full of Venom. Wolf spluttered on the ground as he fought against Fox's grip.

"I haven't done anything officer. I was just on my way to meet with General Pepper when this guy randomly jumped me." Wolf informed the guard. 'Wait... Wolf was going to meet the general? What kind of lies is he spreading now?' Fox wondered.

"Oh really? We were just on our way over there now. How about we escort you, to make sure you're not lying? I wouldn't put it past you to run." Fox offered, his voice spiteful. Krystal was wondering why he was being so awful. She also knew Wolf was the cause of Falco's condition, but attacking him helps with nothing.

"Fox! Let go of him, now! He hasn't done anything." Krystal told Fox sternly. He was taken aback by her response. 'She's siding with him?' Fox slowly, and reluctantly, let go of Wolf, letting him stand up. He took a deep breath, after his lungs being crushed under Fox.

"Thank you Miss. Can you watch them to make sure they don't get into another conflict? I'd rather not have to have somebody else intervene." the officer told her.

"It's no problem, I have Fox under control, and I doubt Wolf would attack Fox if he know what's good for him." She replied. The officer slowly walked away, going back to his car. The three then continued their journey to the main military building.

"Thanks Blue... I doubt anybody else would get him away from me. I appreciate it... Could you please stand between us? I don't want him attacking me again." Wolf said as he looked evilly at Fox. Fox returned the look with an equally insulting glare.

The three finally made it to their location, Wolf's clothes dirtied from the conflict. They looked up at the clock to look at the time, 12:32. "Great... Now we're late because of you!" Wolf said to Fox. Fox continued onward, ignoring Wolf.

Wolf had known this was never going to be easy, but he still went anyway. He started having second thoughts on joining the team again. If Fox was like this, there was no way he would be able to stay anywhere near him, never mind on his team.

They quickly got in the elevator, Fox and Wolf staying at opposite sides of the box. As they made it to the fourth floor, Wolf quickly left the other two on their own as he knocked on Peppers door. "You're late." Pepper remarked. Fox and Krystal followed shortly after. "So, what's happened here?" Pepper looked at the state what Wolf was in and was confused.

"Take a wild guess." Wolf said as he turned away from Fox.

"Fox... What did you do?" Pepper scolded Fox. It seemed like everybody was against Fox for some reason. 'Sure, it's my fault.'

"Wait, you're serious? You actually wanted to meet him? What the hell?! Why? This isn't making any sense, he should be in court now, being sent to jail!" Fox was seething. Why wasn't Pepper capturing Wolf?

"Well, he's part of my proposal. Meet your new replacement for Falco." Pepper stated clearly. Fox's eyes widened greatly, shocked by this.

"I'm not so sure about this any more general. I don't think I'll be able to stay anywhere near this psychopath." Wolf told him in a sour voice.

"Oh, I'm the psychopath? I wasn't the one who tried to conquer the entire of the Lylat system" Fox replied in a tone just as sour.

"Shut your mouth pup!" Wolf snarled back to him.

"Make me!" Fox snarled back.

"Both of you, stop!" Pepper barked. "You're just going to have to deal with each other, unless you want to be out of action for the next two months until Falco gets better, if he does that is. You could be out of jobs forever." He added.

"Personally, I think it's a good opportunity. We would be one pilot up, not to mention a good one." Krystal added to Pepper's points. She quickly got close to Fox. "Plus, it would be better if he was on our side instead of fighting against us" she whispered to Fox.

"How do we know he isn't just going to betray us?" He replied back "If he's on our ship, it would just be easier for him to kill us!"

"Just trust me, he won't betray us. And if he ever does in the future, I can tell before it happens." she told him. At some points, he forgot she could read others minds. With her assurance, he thought he could trust her judgement, even if he didn't entirely trust Wolf.

"Tell me this general. Why are you asking him to join our team after what he did to Falco? He's the reason Falco's in this situation in the first place, and you just want to replace him with Wolf? He's crazy!" Fox asked. Wolf turned away with a 'hmph' and looked out of the window.

"That wasn't Wolf, Fox. Did you even look at the ships they were piloting?" Pepper asked.

"Of course, they were all in Wolfen's. The only team to pilot such a ship is Star Wolf, so how was it not him?" Fox asked. He was starting to get impatient, they were withholding information from him, and he wanted to know what it was.

'Oh right, he had no idea I was in jail for the past four years...' Wolf thought. "Heh, Star Wolf? Might as well call them 'Star Lizard' or 'Star Panther' or whatever stupid name they thought of. I left the team a while back. I thought you of all people would know that pup." He informed Fox.

'Pup'. That name really aggravated Fox. Not only was Wolf only a year or two older than him, but Fox was a better pilot then him, he had bested him in the sky several times. To say he had the nerve to belittle him with that derogatory name really ticked something off in Fox.

"Like I believe that! You want me to believe they can run a team on their own? They're just loose cannons, ready to break." Fox shot back. "You were the only reason that team could stand up on it's one leg in the first place." Fox then chastised himself internally for accidentally complementing Wolf, saying he was the only stable one on the team.

"Believe it or not Fox, Wolf has been gone for four years. He's served his time in jail and is now pardoned for his crimes. I wouldn't be asking him to be Falco's replacement had this not happened. He even offered himself up." Pepper told Fox. Fox's face was a muddle of expressions, confusion, distrust. But he had no reason to distrust Pepper, it was Wolf who he didn't trust.

"Four years? That's a little short for what he's done to this. Do I have to remind you he almost took control of the entire system under the control of a maniac? How can you trust this lunatic?" Fox's bitter attitude to Wolf had not changed throughout this meeting.

"Still can't let go of the past, can you pup?" Wolf quietly uttered. "Even after all I did to help you in the Aparoid Invasion, you still don't trust me? I personally saved your life and you're still at my throat. I'm starting to feel there's no point arguing with you." he also mentioned. Fox had completely forgot about that.

He remembered standing on top of a skyscraper, ready to get into his arwing when he was suddenly ambushed by those, bugs. He had no choice but to fall off. If it wasn't for Wolf coming to save him, he would have hit the street face first, his journey and life ending there. Although he hated to admit it, Wolf saved his life. Krystal noticed his change in mood, noticing he was calming down a bit. She put a hand on his shoulder, happy that he calmed down.

"Fine. He can join. But let me tell you this O'Donnell, you try anything funny, anything at all, and you're off the team. Got it?" Fox quietly stated. Wolf was also surprised by his sudden change in tone.

"As long as you stop being so insufferable, you have yourself a deal." Wolf added. He held out his hand to Fox, exchanging a peace offering. Fox looked at his hand hesitantly, and slowly and carefully, took his hand in his own and shook it. He quickly let go, and looked at Pepper.

"I guess that's it. I will see if there are any missions for your team and message you through the Great Fox. Now that you have Wolf, you might be able to do missions now." Pepper remarked as he opened the door. "I'll be seeing you later, goodbye, all three of you."

"Bye" Wolf said as he quickly left the room. Fox and Krystal following after him.

"Goodbye general." Fox and Krystal both said as they left. They looked ahead and noticed Wolf far ahead.

"Hey Wolf! Be on the Great Fox, 11 o'clock sharp!" Fox shouted ahead at Wolf.

"And where would that be?" Wolf shouted back. He had no idea where anything was in this city. It had changed since he had lived here.

"Space port. It's close to this building, huge. You can tell which building as soon as you see it. Figure it out." He replied. Wolf quickly walked away from the two, leaving them alone.

"Well Fox, I'm proud of you. You could put your differences aside for the benefit of the team. By the way, there's still a few hours before the sun goes down... Would you like to, maybe, I don't know, go to the park for a while?" she asked. Although he wanted to decline, he couldn't shut her down. She had been the only one who wanted to spend time with him, so he should spend time with her.

"Sure Krystal, but only for a while. I've got to get home soon, got errands to do, that kind of stuff." He told her back. Her eyes lit up, this had been the first time he had agreed to her asking. She felt like she was finally making progress.

The walk to the park had been short, and they sat on a bench by the lake. They talked for a few hours, about anything. They talked about what their interests were, favourite food, drink, all of the random things which they doubted they would remember in a vital time, but it was nice to know these little details about each other.

They both stood up and watched the sunset on the lake, casting an orange glow on the land. They stood and watched it for a while, until the orange started to turn into a darker blue. "I guess this is it then Krystal. I had fun, but I better be going now. I'll see you tomorrow." Fox said as he turned to her.

"I had fun too, we have to do this again sometime!" Her face showed how content she was with the time she spent with Fox. Before Fox had anything to say back, she quickly hugged him and started walking. "See you later Fox." She said as she walked off.

As Fox walked off back to his home, he thought about what the time he spent meant to Krystal. He felt that the time he spent had just made him walk directly into the thing he wanted to avoid. While it was true, he did enjoy spending time with Krystal, it was only as friends. Krystal wanted more from it, which was dangerous. He preferred not having this risk of something bigger happening, as it would probably cause more problems in the future.

As Wolf got home, he went straight to his room. He went straight to his room to go to bed. His sister wasn't home, probably out with her boyfriend again. That guy really annoyed Wolf, his arrogant, obnoxious and sadistic attitude towards him. He was surprised he hadn't punched him in the face yet.

As he was preparing for bed, he looked at himself in the mirror. He wondered about the things Fox had called him. 'Lunatic'. 'Crazy'. 'Trash'. He wasn't sure what to think of himself now. He thought he got over all of his past, trying to start anew. But if he was still thought of this, what was he to do? He was conflicted at this point. 'Guess I'll just have to prove them all wrong' Wolf thought as he got into his bed. The last thoughts in his mind before his slumber were on the conversation with Fox. If that was a civil meeting, he dreaded to think what it would be like on a natural basis.

And that's it for Chapter 3. Sorry about the delay with me releasing this, been doing revision for some exams. Just because I'm doing that, I won't leave this story unfinished unless I specifically say so, which I highly doubt I will. See you next time.