Rise of the Alters

by Kazufox

An alter user in search of his friend who becomes apart of an evil plan to take over Lylat. The Starwolf team are blamed for all of it! Can the Starfox team up with the young alter user and find the real culprits before it's too late? Chapter 10 up

11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Kidnapped

Pepper was in his office working on paperwork after just coming out of another meeting. Dealing with the Aparoid aftermath was harder than he anticipated especially since he found out that another problem he had with alter users had returned and was worst than before. On top of that, his health had been slowly declining. The hound thought that he was still weakened from when the Aparoids tried to absorb him or it was just a cold. Either way, he didn't have much time to think about it. The monitor on his desk began to start beeping.

"General Pepper, sir." Called the female husky, who was the general's secretary, "You have an incoming call from the Starfox team."

"Put them on." Pepper answered. The collie nodded and a minute later, Fox's image appeared on screen with the rest of the team in the background. "Yes Fox? What is it?" Pepper asked. He saw that Fox wasn't in too good of a mood, Pepper and knew right.

"Pepper, I know you were after someone who was traveling with us. I want some answers as to why and a full record to everything he's done." Fox demanded.

"Fox, I can't talk to you about it now." Pepper said, "Meet me at my office to talk more on this matter in person." And with that, the channel was closed from Fox's end. Pepper then leaned back in his chair and breathed deeply. He knew there was trouble ahead. He could feel it in his old bones.

"How do you think the colonel obtained his information?" The parrot asked as she and the greyhound walked down the hallway.

"Who knows, it's none of our business to find out." The canine replied.

"Kevin, what if the colonel had sent a spy in the military to find this information?" The female avian mentioned, "If so, the colonel could end up being court marshaled."

"I thought you have more faith in Wesley than this, Sarah." The greyhound said, "Even if he is, you know that he does it because he thinks that's the right thing to do and not by the Cornerian government's standards. Do you plan on telling?"

"Of course not!" Sarah answered firmly, "I still trust the colonel."

"Then there shouldn't be a doubt in your mind." Kevin said as they kept walking. They walked past the restrooms but then Kevin picked up some noises. He used his acutely sensitive ears to detect voices coming from inside the men's room. "Hold on, I have to use the bathroom."

"Okay, don't take too long." Sarah sighed watching the canine enter through the door.

Kevin walked inside not to use the restroom, but to listen in on others that were already inside, a collie scrubbing the floor and a dalmation washing one of the sinks.

"Man, this really sucks, you know?" The collie said as he scrubbed the floor with a brush.

"I know Steve, but at least we aren't like Zack." Dan said wiping behind the faucet.

"You mean, the poor guy is still outside cleaning the base?" Steven asked in surprise.

"I heard he's just finishing up with the waxing now."

"And to think, it's all because he got caught with the lieutenant's underclothes. It's not like he was trying to mess with it on purpose. The colonel was the one who sent him on laundry duty anyways."

"I know, but at least the guy is still getting paid."

"I still hate the way the colonel gives us this lame ass work that he calls punishment!"

"So, you two have a problem with how the colonel deals with his punishment?" The greyhound said. The two stopped both frozen with fear and looked over at the greyhound who remained hidden the whole time they were talking.

"K-Kevin! You!" The collie stammered.

"Please don't tell Colonel Summers!" Dan pleaded, "We're begging you!"

"Yeah, there's no telling what he'll do to us. Especially since the lieutenant isn't here."

"Don't worry. I came by to tell you two that I'm off on a mission and I thought I should tell my favorite troublemakers so I'm not going to tell the colonel." After the greyhound said those words, the other two soldiers looked at each other with a relieved look on their faces.

"I guess you're not such a bad guy after all, Kev." Said the dalmation.

"But in return for keeping this a secret, I want you guys to clean up my room. I expect it to shine when I get back." Kevin smirked as he walked towards the door leaving the two soldiers with a disappointed look, "Oh and, don't bother looking in there for any dirt on me. Unlike you two, I keep it clean for inspections."

"Crap!" Dan yelled as he threw his rag at the wall.

"All done?" Sarah asked Kevin as he walked out with a small grin on his face.

"Yep, I feel a lot better. Now let's go." The greyhound said with a smile.

"Talk pirate." Commanded the old hound dog. He was standing up looking across a table at the eagle pirate who was sitting in a chair with two armored guards on each side of him, which happen to look like pit bulls. The room itself was white with a large one-way window on the side. The canine walked over to the eagle and placed his paws on the table. "Well? Aren't you going to say something? I've given you enough time to get your thoughts together, now talk!"

Shawn looked up at the old dog with a disdained look, "I'm not telling you anything, mutt."

The old hound was enraged and punched the eagle. In the hound's old age, he still had a strong punch. "Worthless Venomian scumbag! When will you learn that you've lost so tell me what I want to know!" The eagle only spits since his wings are cuffed together behind the chair. The old hound growled at the bird but then a dark smile appeared on his face. "Well, since you won't tell me, then I guess I'll just hold onto this." The dog said pulling out the picture that belonged to Ralph.

Shawn's eyes looked up in surprise and he looked at his pockets and realized that they stole it from him while he was unconscious. He glared at the hound, "Give that back!"

"You want this?" The hound mocked as he moved his other paw to the picture ready to rip it, "Then start talking, pirate. Unless you want to see only half of this picture."

"You son of a bitch! Give that back!" Shawn yelled as he rose up from his chair and tried to lunge towards the old hound. The two guards had stopped him and knocked him to the floor with their beating rods. The hound gave the signal for the two armored soldiers to attack and they began to kick and stomp Shawn. The pit bulldogs kicked the avian all over, wearing their thick boots, ignoring the fact he was still recovering his injuries. The guards kicked him in his stomach, his arms, and his beak nearly breaking it. The only reason they avoided Shawn's chest was because they were specifically instructed by the major not to strike him there, at least until after he told them what they wanted to know. The dogs kept stomping the pirate until he started to bleed at various places on his body. Seeing this, the hound gave the signal for them to stop and the two guards picked up the eagle and placed him back in the chair then stepped back towards the wall. Shawn looked up with disgust and anguish in his face and a trail of blood running from his mouth.

"Try something like that again and it will be worst. Now tell me all you know about Wolf and where the rest of the scumbags are hiding."

"You bastard," Shawn coughed out more blood onto the table, "You can just go to hell!"

The hound nodded to one of the guards. One of the guards walked over and struck Shawn in the back of the head with the metal rod. He then grabbed the avian's feathers on his head and pulled him up to hit him with the rod again on the forehead causing blood to drip from his head and the soldier slammed the eagle's head on the table before stepping back.

"Remember your place in life, pirate." The hound said pulling Shawn's head up by pulling on his head feathers. A trail of red ooze trickled down the pirate's face dripping onto the table. "You are nothing more than piece of shit to society. The lowest of the low, a lowlife scumbag everybody hates and wants to get rid of! You are nothing and will always be nothing."

Shawn was trying to avoid loss of consciousness as his vision started to get blurry, "Even so…but at least, I won't be a damn dog of the military."

The hound was fed up and shoved Shawn down to the floor and then kicked him. "You have no right to say things like that to me, scumbag!"

Summers walked down to the interrogation room. He was waiting from the outside and looked into the room through the window and saw the horrible sight of Shawn being beaten and didn't hesitate to rush in.

"Major!" Summers yelled out, "I'd like a word with you."

"Don't worry, I'm almost done with him." The hound answered.

"Outside, now!"

The old hound looked at the wolf with a stern look and followed the colonel out of the room. Shawn looked up and spat towards the ground while cursing his rotten luck. Outside, the colonel looked through the window at the beaten pirate. He then glared back at the hound, "What the hell were you doing in there?"

"I was trying to get information from that lowlife." The hound answered.

"With brute force?"

"There is no other way to deal with those Venomians."

"You're a fool!" Summers scolded, "We're not trying to beat whoever we capture inches of their life, no matter who or what they are. Venomians or not."

"Are you taking the side of that pirate!" The hound asked in surprise, "The only way to get anything from them is to show them who's in charge!"

"I see you did a good job. Nearly killed him while you're at it." The wolf said with sarcasm noticing the bird choking a little on his own blood, "If we use methods of torture to make them talk, then we're no better than they are."

"What…did you just say!" The hound screamed. His voice echoed through the halls getting the attention of several soldiers and guards who heard the yelling. "You've got a lot of nerve saying that to me. I've been in this army while you were still a pup!" The hound yelled as his face was red with anger, "And after all this time, I'm only at the rank of major while you are a colonel! Those fools in charge now lost their minds putting young soldiers like you in control and that's why we were nearly destroyed in the Lylat War! Just look around! All these fools around here who can't do anything because they're too damn lazy to do it on their own!"

"That's enough." Summers said as calm as he could, "I think it would be best if you took leave from here and take a small vacation to cool your head. You're dismissed."

"Why you…" The major glared, "with newer soldiers like them, they'll die…they'll all die just like Hudson!" The hound was almost instantly knocked to the floor with a hard right to his face. He looked up at the wolf that had struck him.

"You are way out of line!" Summers shouted, "I will not have anyone speaking ill of our fellow fallen comrades. Even you should know how wrong that is. Now then," Summers said grabbing the hound's uniform and pull him up, "I want you to take your things and leave this base. You may only return once you have seen a doctor and they say you are in proper condition to come back, then I'll decide for myself whether or not you're competent enough to work here. If not then I guess you'll be having an early retirement. Now get out of my sight." Summers pushed the old dog back, "Oh, and I'll hold onto this picture that you took." The wolf said holding the picture he swiped back from the hound when he lifted him up, the old dog wiped his face where Summers had hit him and was too upset and stunned to say anything. The old dog just merely turned and walked off. Summers watched the dog as he walked off with his tail between his legs. He then walked back into the room where Shawn was still sitting being guarded. "You two, uncuff our prisoner and escort the major off the premise. Make sure the major doesn't try anything funny." The wolf ordered. The two guards looked at each other then back at the wolf.

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself here?" One of the guards asked.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

With those assuring words, the two pit bulls nodded and released Shawn from the handcuffs. The two then proceeded to walk out of the room each giving a salute to the lupine. Shawn watched a little surprised at what he heard from the wolf and could only guess what he had in store. The eagle watched as the colonel took his seat on the other side of the table.

"I apologize for what the major has done to you." Summers said, "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Shawn seemed a little shocked to hear that then thought about it for a moment, "Why? Didn't get what you wanted out of me? And why'd you tell those other goons to leave? You plan on finishing me off yourself?"

"I have no intentions of harming you."

"Yeah, that's a laugh." Shawn said trying to chuckle but only coughed. More blood slowly dripped from his forehead to his beak and onto the table, but his head bleeding was slow, almost stopped.

"I found something that belongs to you," The colonel said looking at the photo with two gators in it, "Or should I say someone you know?"

"You're here to mock me too?" Shawn spat.

"No, I just want to know what happened on Fortuna."

"Like I'd tell you."

"I'll give you this picture," Summers said as he slid the picture across the table to the pirate, "and to compensate for what that hound did, I'll make a deal with you."

"A deal? Ha!" The eagle laughed, "Don't insult me!"

"I see how it is. But tell me this, did it have something to do with a young fox with the ability to change his right arm?"

The pirate looked up, "Who wants to know."

"I know that you and your band of pirates have been using beings known as 'alter users' and I want to know more about them."

"Why? Wasn't the ones you sent enough?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb! You guys have those alter guys too. 'Cept ours are stronger."

"The Cornerian army has them too? Then maybe that boy was one that had escaped them." Summers thought.

"It doesn't matter, once my buddies come to get me, you'll all be in big trouble."

"When you fought against Starfox on Fortuna, was that fox boy there too?" The wolf asked.

Shawn only looked downwards, "You bastards sent him as a spy didn't you?"

"As you should know, we were attacked too. Several ships were destroyed and large amounts of cargo was stolen." Summers informed, "But how about this, I'll do whatever it takes to put a stop to that boy for information about these alter users you've encountered. The boy's name was Kazufox, correct?"

Shawn looked up and had remembered how he considered the alter fox as a friend and how he betrayed them, "Yeah, that's his name."

"So not only did you lose the fox boy, but you also damaged the Great Fox!" Pepper said trying to keep calm while talking into the monitor with the image of the doberman showing.

"The Great Fox had moved in our line of fire and when we tried to stop the missiles, it was too late." Serris explained.

"I should've known better than to leave things in your hands." Pepper scolded, "Do you have any idea where the boy is now?"

"Yes, we have a team out now tracking him as we speak."

"For your sake lieutenant, you had better find him." Pepper threatened before closing the connection. Pepper turned in his chair and sighed deeply. "It's hard to believe this is really happening…I let things get out of hand. I can only hope and pray the other one hasn't found a way off Corneria. For everyone's sakes."

A boulder was shattered to pieces and then another and so on. Soon the ground was covered in small rocks and pebbles. The one destroying the rocks was the squirrel alter user and a clear blue colored whip that had been formed from diamond crystals. The frustrated Aron cracks his whip at another boulder shattering it into little pieces. Aron breathed heavily after doing a lot of training with his crystal whip.

"Aron!" Called a female cream colored rabbit, "Aron, look at you. You need to rest."

"I can't!" The squirrel cried out, "I'm sorry Tabby, but I won't stop."

"Aron."

"It's my fault…It's all my fault Serena's gone!" Aron cracked his whip on an area on the ground, "I couldn't help her…I have to keep getting stronger…It's the only way I'll be any use."

"Aron, it doesn't help if you kill yourself trying." The female rabbit said, "You haven't stopped to even eat in days have you?" She then watch Aron panting and gasping for air, then fall to the ground. "Aron. Aron!" The rabbit cried out, "Wake up. Aron!"

"It's…my fault, I let them get away." Were Aron's passing thoughts before his mind faded out.

Aron had finished working for the day. His job was to direct where supplies would go, checking inventory, and also help in building construction. After a hard days work, the squirrel began walking towards his home. He overheard something interesting, two females talking about a fox returning to the land again.

"A fox…it couldn't be, could it?" Aron asked himself. He then looked up the road and saw a cat walking by herself. "Serena. Serena!" Aron called out as he ran over to her.

Aron had managed to talk with Serena and find out that Kazufox had returned to the Lost Ground. However, he was wondering why and for what purpose. Just then, Darian and Suichi appeared.

"Well, well Aron, long time no see." Said the mouse.

"Not you two. What do you want?" Aron demanded.

"We came here for that girl you were just talking to." The Darian answered.

"What do you want with her?"

"That's none of your business." Suichi hissed.

"I won't let you two slimeballs lay a finger on her." The squirrel said as her started glowing. A small chunk of the ground disappears and forms into three diamond shaped crystals that floated around Aron.

"Hehehehe. I wonder how much stronger he's gotten." The mouse laughed.

"I doubt if it was much at all." The horse added in.

Aron narrowed his eyes towards the two while the crystals floated around him. He remembered seeing Darian being dark brown but now had a noticeably green tint to his coat, and Suichi still wore his sunglasses that were to protect his eyes from his own alter powers, and his fur was sticking up around his neck and head from his own static. Both of them wore black uniforms with white in the front and four black buttons on each side lined up on the chest and abdomen area. They wore long dark colored boots and white arm covers that went from the wrist to the elbow, but enough for full articulation of the arm.

"So, who are you losers working for?" Aron asked.

"That's None of your business." Suichi proclaimed.

"Fine, I'll just have to beat you two then."

"We're not the same as before, squirrel." Darian said, "We're a lot stronger than last time."

"We'll see about that!" Aron said grabbing one of the floating crystals. He snapped it down to his side while the other two crystals conjoined with the one in a chain link and instead of three large crystals there was a chain link of small sharp crystal gems. A crystal-like whip was formed.

The other two alter users only snickered at Aron as they both formed their alters as well. Darian formed a small tree-like creature while Suichi formed the lightning conductors on his shoulders and metallic gloves and boots. Darian sent his alter to attack first launching a wave of razor leaf blades. Aron easily took care of the attack with a swing of his whip cutting all the leaves in two. The horse was slightly surprised since before, Aron had trouble before avoiding the leaf blades.

"In case you didn't notice, I've gotten better too." Aron said.

Suichi went in next taking the time to charge up his attack and then fire lightning bolts in Aron's direction. The squirrel used his crystal whip to deflect the lightning bolts. Darian and his alter moved to Aron's left side and sent vines to strike. Aron managed to block some of the vines while the others struck him in the face and chest knocking him to the ground. The squirrel looked up and saw Suichi in the air above. The mouse was all charged up and dropped a large bolt of electricity down on Aron. Aron rolled out of the way to end up in the path of more razor leaf blades. Aron knew he couldn't dodge this attack so he took up his whip and began swinging it in front of him in a clockwise motion, and as the leaf blades entered the crystal whirlpool, they were each cut into pieces. The ground below then began to give way so he jumped away as roots coming from Darian's tree alter tried to snag his feet.

"Looks like Aron's got a little quicker on his feet." Darian noted.

"Let's see him dance then!" Suichi yelled out firing more electric bolts of energy at Aron's feet trying to trip him. Aron, however, had easily been able to keep up with the mouse. He then cracked his whip at Suichi, the mouse jumped back at the last second to avoid being cut in two. His shades had been cut though, exposing the mouse's formerly green eyes now more of a yellow color.

"Ha, now that you don't have those sunglasses to cover your eyes, you won't be able to use your alter." Aron smiled, "Otherwise you'll just blind yourself!"

"You…those were a custom pair!" The mouse said charging up the conductors on his shoulders sending the energy into the metal gloves. The rodent then launched a powerful bolt at Aron. The squirrel tried to run out of the way, when the bolt touched the ground it caused an explosion sending Aron to fall over. The mouse looked into his hands and was surprised. "I…didn't go blind. My eyes don't even bother me." Suichi thought to himself, "I guess those pods we we're in really must've helped. Like how the commander said."

"Hey, are you alright over there?" Darian asked.

"Yeah, I'm just great!" The mouse answered charging up his energy again. The two had surrounded Aron.

"Oh no…I'm trapped!" Aron thought, "I better think of something quick."

"I'm tired of this, let's end it now!" Darian said having his alter launch more leaf blades at Aron while Suichi fired a charged up lightning bolt.

Aron knew he was done for if he didn't do something right then and there. He then crouched down on one knee and crossing his arms. "Crystal Barrier!" The squirrel yelled out. The crystal whip then started to form over his body hardening it like a diamond until his entire body was covered. As the leaf blades struck, they only bounced off and the lightning bolt was deflected back at Suichi. The mouse moved out to avoid it as it then crashed into the ground.

"So the Crystal Squirrel still manages to retain his name." Darian scoffed, "He can form an unbreakable shield over his entire body."

"Heh heh heh…to bad we know how to stop him this time!" Suichi laughed.

Suichi began to charge up a large amount of electric power. Darian had his tree alter wrap its vines around Aron's hardened form.

"Hey, are you ready?" Darian asked.

"All set over here!" The mouse replied.

"Then blast him."

Suichi then fired a blast of all the stored energy he had built up in Aron's direction. Instead of going directly towards the squirrel, the bolt made an arc towards Darian's tree alter. Once the plant was hit, it didn't flinch as the energy was transferred down to the vines as it made its way to Aron. The squirrel was trapped in the full force of the attack and in that form, he couldn't move. His shield would block attacks of all kind but he had never dealt with a concentrated blast of constant energy like that. The crystal began to crack. After the energy rush had stopped, the vines released Aron and returned to the tree. The crystal had completely shattered leaving Aron fried from the attack. He then fell forward on his face groaning in pain.

"Ha ha ha! Look at who's the loser now!" Suichi mocked.

"Shut up…"Aron managed to speak, "You dirty rat…"

The mouse was furious by that. "Why you! I'm not a rat!" Suichi yelled as he kicked Aron in his side.

"Whoa, take it easy. The commander doesn't want any casualties here." Darian reminded, "At least, not yet."

"Let's just get the girl and get outta here." Suichi hissed.

"Aron? Aron are you alright?" Serena asked running back to check up on the squirrel only seeing Aron lying on the ground.

"Serena…get out of here!" Aron yelled out. The cat didn't need to know anything else figuring that the other two figures were a threat. She turned and ran back down the rocky road. The two alter users snickered to themselves as they chased after the feline. Suichi had charged up some power and fired a bolt in front of Serena causing her to stop long enough to be surrounded by the two. Darian came up from behind and reached his arms under the young cat girl's shoulders and locked his hands behind Serena's neck. Serena kicked and flailed her body as much as she could to try and escape and cried out for help.

"Hey, hurry up and grab her legs!" Darian said while trying to keep the girl still.

"Hold on, I'm trying!" Suichi said trying to grab Serena's feet, "Can't you keep her sti-"

Those were the rodent's last words until he felt an incredibly sharp pain surge through his body. Serena had her foot lodged in the mouse's groin making him fall to the ground wailing in pain.

"Man, that had to have hurt." Darian said not paying attention to notice Serena jerk her head close to the horse's right and bite his arm. Darian screamed out, loosening his grip on the feline. Serena managed to pull her right arm free and at first chance, swung at Darian's face hitting him on the nose. Darian was a little surprised how strong the young girl was. Serena punched the horse again causing Darian to lose his grip enough for the girl to pull her other arm free and then began running again.

Suichi looked seeing the girl running, "Oh no you don't!" The mouse charged up again, this time firing a bolt at the girl's feet tripping her over. She tried to get up but was tangled in a bunch of vines from Darian's tree alter and was reeled up to it. The tree began to shake some of its leaves making purple colored spores fall. Serena tired to hold her breath and not inhale in the spores but it was too late as the spores had begun making her drift to sleep.

"Why couldn't you do that sooner?" Suichi asked staggering to his feet while holding himself between the legs.

"Think I had any idea how much trouble she would be?" The horse answered wiping his snout, "Well, we got her now. The commander will arrive soon."

"That stupid little…" The mouse started before looking back finding a small suburban area not too far down the road, "Hey, look over there."

"I've got an idea, how about while we wait we have a little fun?" The horse grinned mischievously.

"No…" Aron said with the little strength he had left grabbing onto Darian's leg as they walked past him, "Let her go…!"

"Let go of me you piece of garbage!" Darian commanded kicking the squirrel off him. The two continued on their way with Serena still being held by Darian's alter.

The cream colored rabbit was sitting in a chair next to the bed Aron was resting in. She had just tucked the squirrel in bed when she heard a knock on the door.

"Who could it be now?" She sighed getting up and walking over to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw a short dark feathered crow wearing a purple uniform with white on the front and black around the shoulder area, dark boots, white arm guards. The bird had a parted feathery hairstyle. A large panda who also wore the same type of uniform accompanied him, but his was unbuttoned showing the white fur over his round shaped stomach. The large panda had a long piece of grass in his mouth that he usually carries with him and looked like he was carrying something over his shoulder. "Oh! Helios, Odion, it's good to see you two." The rabbit greeted.

"Hello Tabbitha." The crow said.

"Hey, how've you been?" The panda asked.

"I've been okay, thank you." Tabbitha replied.

"Is Aron in?" The bird asked.

"He is but I'll explain. Come in."

"Okay, hope you don't mind having room more three." The panda said.

"Three?" The rabbit wondered. After the panda had walked in, she noticed the unconscious Cornerian soldier and gasped in surprise. "What happened?"

"It's part of the reason we stopped by so suddenly." The crow explained, "We need to see Aron."

The skies on MacBeth were as gray as ever, if not grayer. Many furs and otherwise were worked under forced labor in the mining area. Keeping them in line were many soldiers in Venioman uniforms. They had metallic rods and would beat those who slacked off or took a break mercilessly but not enough to cause them to bleed, only to bruise. Many men, women, and children no matter how young or old, were all being worked to near death. All were mining for valuable minerals to send them to the processing plant nearby which was also the base of operations for the mining. There were captives that would be taken away on a regular basis to the base. The next person that was taken was an adult male gray furred squirrel. Two guards were escorting the prisoner into the main base. Another group of soldiers noticed the next prisoner brought in the base.

"There goes another one." Said an ape soldier, "Sometimes I wonder what the commander does with all of them?"

"Heh, who knows." Answered a kangaroo checking his blaster polishing it.

"I get a creepy feeling with that guy." A swine soldier said.

"He's an insane nutcase if you ask me." Added a crocodile.

"It's none of our business anyways." The kangaroo said placing his blaster back into its holster, "Remember the last time someone got a little curious?"

"Don't remind me!" The pig squealed.

"No one saw the guy again." The croc remembered, "Only his organs…"

"I just said don't remind me!"

"Sorry if you can't stomach it." The reptile said with a sarcastic tone, "But you could loose the weight anyways." He then noticed an artic wolf mechanic in a gray mechanic uniform and hat walking around nearby. "Hey you!" The mechanic looked over towards the soldiers. "I need you to look at my ship for me, it seems to be stalling a little. Go fix it." The crocodile ordered.

"And fix mine while you're at it." The pig snorted. The mechanic simply nodded and hurried off towards the hangar.

"For some reason, I don't like that guy." The ape soldier said.

"I've got that same feeling, but we just have to keep working." The kangaroo said.

The mechanic had his hat cover over most of his face. He walked into the storage hangar. It was almost empty with the exception of a few other mechanics doing checks on the other ships. The wolf walked over past them looking for the ships belonging to the two soldiers which happened to be on almost opposite sides of the large room. He first went to the one at the very end, which belonged to the pig soldier. The artic wolf went into the cockpit, which was very spacious for him. He removed his hat to get a better look at the controls with his noticeably blue eyes. His white hair was wild and in need of a trim, it grew until he had a ponytail that was held together by a small blue band. The artic wolf began a system check as normal, but this time, he tampered with the distress beacon and sent out a signal before he left the ship going to the crocodile's. The mechanic put on his hat in deep thought, "I just hope help arrives in time."

Kazufox had heard a noise of a motor heading in his direction and stood by the pine trees waiting to find out what it was. Snow had continued to fall slowly from the clouds above. He soon saw something approaching in the distance and wondered who or what it was. The vehicle soon came into view clear enough to tell it was some snowmobile that had some type of platform in the back with someone standing on the back of it. The fox knew there was trouble coming his way, either the Cornerian army was looking for him still or it was someone else wanting his power because that's how it usually went.

Jetters continued riding on the back of the vehicle as the gorilla he called 'Metalfists' continued driving towards the forested area where they found rising smoke. The leopard looked around through the trees finding a point of entry until his eyes had spotted something hiding in the trees.

"Alright, head over there." Jetters pointed out to the ape. The gray haired ape obeyed and drove over to the area. The lights were on the figure hidden in the tree. Jetters saw a fox that looked a little familiar. "Stop here." The leopard ordered and the gorilla stopped the vehicle. Jetters had looked over at the vulpine to see that he was the same fox that he had planned to save for later. A small grin appeared on his face as well as a slight chuckle.

Kazufox had stepped out from behind the trees to get a better look. The lights from the vehicle had blinded him until the lights were then cut off. The alter fox took a good look at the vehicle and who was on it. He couldn't really tell who the driver was except for the teal colored hair. He did have full view of the rider in the back, a leopard about his height if not, taller wearing a black uniform with white in the front and two rows of four buttons on each side, a pair of dark color boots, and white arm guards.

"Is this guy with those others I met from before?" Kazufox thought to himself.

"Hello there and welcome to Fichina." The leopard greeted, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Kenneth Jetters and I noticed that there was a ship that crashed not too far from here and I figured it might've been yours." He could tell the fox wasn't really interested in what he had to say. "I know that you are an alter user."

"I knew it! He's with those Cornerian bastards!" Kazufox thought as he took a fighting stance with his fists raised glaring at Jetters.

"Take it easy," Jetters said raising a hand up, "I'm not here to fight you because I too, am an alter user." He noticed the vulpine lower his fists but still had a glare. "I understand how you must feel about those 'naturals' chasing after you all the time, hunting you down because of your power, your abilities, your gift." Jetters heard a small scoff from the young fox after saying that. "But, there is a way to stop them, but I need your help. If you join with my forces, we can work to stop these 'naturals' and make the Lylat system bow to the superior beings, us, alter users." He then saw the fox turn and start to walk away. "Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm not interested in your little war." Kazufox answered, "I fight my own battles and I won't join up some group and take orders from anyone."

"Don't you understand what me and the others are fighting for?" Jetters asked, "We are going to make those naturals pay for everything they've done to us! The kidnappings, the experiments, treating us as lower life forms! Don't you get what I'm saying!" The leopard questioned with his voice in more of a yelling tone.

"Don't think I already know? That's why I keep fighting them. Hell, it's the reason I'm even on this planet to begin with." The fox explained, "I don't plan on fighting anyone's battles, I'll fight my own. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks."

Jetters was becoming furious at Kazufox's response, "Is that how you thank the person responsible for saving your tail on Fortuna?" Kazufox then stopped and glanced over, "Yes, I was the one responsible for saving you, not those mercenaries, what were they called, Starfox was it?"

"What are you talking about?" Kazufox asked.

"After their leader left you to die, I had one of my troops place you in a recovery capsule. Which was the only thing keeping you from death, but as to how they ended up finding you, I have no idea. You were fortunate to have me there watching the battle to help you out there." Jetters was hoping that the fox would be more willing to join knowing that he had helped him.

Kazufox then continued walking again, "I appreciate the help, I'll find a way to repay you for it some other time. I've got something I need to do right now."

"You…you ungrateful brat!" Jetters screamed as an aura began glowing around him meaning he was about to form his alter, "You stubborn little punk, I'll make you join on way or the other!"

Kazufox looked up to see Jetters leap towards him as he used half of the snow vehicle to form his alter. The fox jumped out of the way as Jetters crashed into the snow hitting it like an explosion. As the snow cleared and Jetters was visible, Kazufox saw some type of armor on him. A metallic gray chest plate covering his upper body, the same type of color on the gauntlets on his arm replacing the white arm bands with a yellow ring on the back of his paw. His legs were also covered in the same type of armor covering most of the boots below the knee. Large wires of red and gray were connected from the back of the armor to each limb linking to the arm parts together.

An almost emerald colored energy began to flow through the red and gray wires into the gauntlets as Jetters powered up. He then dashed towards Kazufox and leaps up again ready to pounce. The fox jumped back just before Jetters crashed, but the leopard then pushed himself off the snow covered ground towards Kazufox with a shoulder tackle knocking the fox down on his back.

"You'll understand why they call me the Crush Leopard." Jetters said, "I'll crush anything in my path!"

Kazufox then stood up on his feet forming his Shell Shurigun alter form. He used the eye to try and lock onto the spotted feline. Jetters then leaped up again still powered up preparing to attack with a powerful punch. Kazufox returned one of his own colliding in a burst of energy. After pushing each other back, Kazufox was the one sent flying back into another area of the woods. Luckily, the snow had softened the blow for him. He then started to get up.

"Man, as soon as I'm done with all of this," The fox began to say, "I'm going on a long vacation."

Jetters breathed hard as he looked around for Kazufox. He was still fuming from the vulpine's refusal to join him.

"Are you just gonna sit there or are you going to do something useful?" Jetter asked turning to the gorilla in the snow vehicle. The ape then got out and then transformed the vehicle into his alter. A pair of giant metallic floating hands with small semi sphere in each palm. The gorilla then went into the woods to try and find Kazufox having the metal hands rip apart the trees in his path. "Now that's better." Jetters said watching the ape head deeper into the forest, "Dammit! I'll make that brat pay…"

Back at the Volstra base, the Starwolf team had made their return. As their highly damaged ships approached the fortress, the doors opened to the hangar. The three Wolfens glided inside the base with the gate sealing shut behind them. Once the three ships had parked, Wolf, Panther, and Leon jumped out of the cockpit and onto the metal floor. The mechanics went to work scurrying trying to check the damage Wolfens, which looked like they could fall over at any minute.

"Oh no…" Panther cried, "My beautiful Wolfen is…"

"Quit your crying." Leon said, "Just be glad we managed to get over here." Wolf walked off while Panther still saddened by the sight of his destroyed ship. Leon saw Wolf head off and followed him. "Hey Wolf, aren't you going to get some rest now? We'll need some if we want to keep our heads straight."

"I will. I just need to check on something." Wolf replied as he went into the elevator and its doors closed behind him. The elevator reached one of the floors and the two exited walking down the hall. Soon enough, they reached the room containing the refined alter users in their pods only to find the numbers had decreased.

"You, tell me what their condition is." Wolf ordered pointing to one of the soldiers in charge of watching them.

"Lord O'Donnell it's good to see you back sir." The bulldog greeted.

"Save it and tell me what I want to know."

"Very well, as you can see, most of those things used up too much power that they collapsed." The soldier reported, "Luckily, we were able to keep any more from dying than the ones from before while you were on Fortuna."

"Good. We'll need as many of those as we can." Wolf said as he looked around at some of the pods seeing some with red lights. Those were probably the ones that were using their alter powers to power up the Wolfens. Others were in the green, which were ready to be used in battle. "Let me know as soon as they are all ready to fight again."

"Understood Lord O'Donnell." The bulldog saluted.

Wolf exited the room finding a waiting Leon leaning next to the doorway.

"I knew I'd find you here." Leon said standing upright.

Wolf looked at the lizard as the doors slid shut behind him. "What are you up here anyways?" Wolf asked.

"I got fed up with Panther's whining and decided to find out what you were up too."

"He's still crying about his ship?" Wolf asked not really surprised and started walking.

"He's getting on my last nerves with all that boo hooing." Leon answered following Wolf, "Sometimes I wish I could just slit his throat and rip out his voice box. That would shut him up."

"As much as I would enjoy not hearing Panther whine so much," Wolf said with a smirk as if he enjoyed Leon's idea, "We still need him."

"Bah. I sometimes wonder why you even let him join." The reptile wondered, "He's almost as annoying as Andrew."

"Panther is nowhere as bad as Andrew." Wolf said, "And if Panther wasn't such a skilled pilot, I would've gotten rid of him a long time ago."

"Humph." Leon scoffed, "So what are you planning now?"

"First we'll rest up. And after all those alter soldiers are recovered, we'll take them with us back to Sargasso. We'll then find a way to eliminate those dogs before they do any more damage."

"I suppose this means we'll make a direct attack on Corneria then?" Leon asked as the two went back into the elevator.

"If it comes to that…so be it." Wolf said as the doors shut closed.

In a small dark room, computer regulators surrounded a recovery pod. The red light flashing on one of the monitors soon turned green. The stasis pod soon opened releasing a cloud of smoke and gas as the pressure around it stabilized. Inside the pod was the liger still in his dark uniform similar to what Jetters and his other alter soldiers had except it was drenched with liquid. The fluid inside was soon drained and the half-bred feline rose up removing the oxygen mask covering his muzzle. The white liger looked over on a stand nearby finding a change of clothes, the same uniform but dry and a towel. Thomas stretched his neck, legs and tail, and then looked at his paws. He closed them into fists and opened them again feeling a little stiff, but not as stiff as when he used up a lot of his power before days ago.

"I wonder how long I was out this time." Thomas said in a sad sigh, "If all is going according to plan, then I don't have anything to worry about. But I should pay a visit to our little guest." The liger walked out of the room as the doors shut closed behind him.