Meanwhile far off in the reigns of space, the destination of Fox and Wolf planet Venom. And on that planet was Krystal being held by her captors Leon and Panther.
The group had arrived on Venom only a few hours ago. With not much else to do they set up a small camp. Every so often Leon would have to stop Panther from flirting with Krystal.
The land of Venom was very dark and dense. The whole area looked like it had been scorched, like nothing alive was around for miles.
Shortly after establishing a camp Leon had made a fire and he and Panther began to boil a pot of stew.
Krystal sat by in the tent while her two kidnappers stood around the fire.
"I'm starving." Said Leon as he stirred the spoon in the pot." All we need is a few taters." Panther however was not listening as he kept his eyes on Krystal the whole time.
Just then Leon reached over and tapped him on the head.
"Ow." Groaned Panther to his comrade.
"Keep your mind out of the gutter." Said Leon pointing a finger at Panther."Wolf's orders not to touch her."
"My mind was not in the gutter." Replied Panther."I was merely thinking of how she and I could-"
"Stop, stop." Interrupted Leon as he waved his hands in the air."The less I know about what goes on in your mind the better." Then Leon turned back to the pot of stew."Ah it's ready." He said.
Then he dipped his spoon in and began pouring it into the bowls they had. At that time Panther looked back to Krystal.
She lay in the tent on the hard earth, most likely frightened and confused at what was going on.
"Here you go Panther." Said Leon as he handed his friend the bowl although he didn't look up at him. Then when Panther did not the pot Leon looked up at him."Oi!" he said attracting Panther's attention.
"We should bring her over here." Said Panther."She's probably hungry."
"NO, no please don't do that." Said Leon. But Panther did not listen and walked over to get Krystal."Goddamn it." Groaned Leon as Panther got up.
Then Panther walked over to Krystal.
Krystal heard the footsteps coming from behind here. She frantically turned around to see who it was, and then she saw Panther approaching her. Then Krystal frantically tried to crawl away but to no real avail.
Then Panther leaned down and put his arms on Krystal's shoulders.
"I won't hurt you." He said."I'm just bringing you over so you can get some food."
"I refuse." Said Krystal as she turned away.
"Sorry bosses orders." Said Panther. Then gently he brought her up to her feet, then he allowed her to walk herself over to the fire.
Leon looked up and saw the two walking over, and then he sighed with great annoyance.
Krystal walked over, Panther right behind her. Then Panther walked around her and sat across Leon as he had done before. Then still unwillingly Krystal sat down next to Panther.
"Hey you brought her over." Said Leon as Krystal sat down."Fran-freaking-tastic."
"Give me the bowl." Said Panther. Leon picked up Panther's bowl and handed it to Panther who took it.
Panther blew on the bowl and dipped the spoon in the stew. Then he turned and offered to feed Krystal.
Leon covered his eyes and signed again. Panther moved closer in an attempt to feed Krystal.
But she choose to difficult and turned away from him. Panther took the hint and then put the spoon in his mouth and ate the stew.
The three stood there in silence for a few moments as Panther and Leon ate the food. But then Krystal broke the silence.
"What's this all about?" she asked. Leon and Panther looked up at her."Why have you kidnapped me?"
"Well my dear you see." Began Panther.
"Panther don't." said Leon cutting him off.
"Relax chameleon." Said Panther dismissively."She has a right to know." Leon leaned back and rubbed his head, Panther turned back to Krystal."You see my dear." Began Panther once more."Our leader Wolf has put this plan together in an attempt to get under Fox's skin."
"Does he plan to bring him here and kill him?" asked Krystal.
"Wolf sees the bigger picture in things." Told Panther." He'd see no point in that."
"Then why?" asked Krystal.
"I don't know." Replied Panther. It was then his eyes trailed off over to Leon who was eating his stew."Leon." he said attracting the Chameleon's attention."You've known Fox and Wolf longer than the two of us have, what do you think this is about?"
Leon sighed once again. He surely didn't want to be involved in this conversation, but now he couldn't stay silent any longer. He could have said he didn't know but it would obviously be a lie and Panther would know it and call him out. So really there was no point in it.
"In order to understand this, you would have to back to a time when things where much simpler." Began Leon." Back to our younger days back in the Cornerian Flight Academy." Panther and Krystal leaned in." Back then we were just boys but things were not as different as they were now but we, but Wolf was much different, he was much more like Fox back then. It was Fox and Falco against Wolf and myself. I can't hardly think back to a time when Fox and Wolf weren't ever rivals, always trying to outdo the other. And whenever one of them would the other would always beat him, and that cycle continued for a long time until." Leon stopped for a moment.
"Until what?" asked Krystal.
"Until a terrible accident occurred." Continued Leon. He then leaned forward."One day during weapons training Fox and Wolf were competing against each other to see who could hit the most targets. They jumped left and right blasting all the targets they could find, Wolf in the lead by only one target. Then Fox turns around and BAM!" exclaimed Leon with a clap of his hands causing Krystal and Panther to jump."He hits something, only it wasn't a target. He shot Wolf in his left eye." Leon stopped and remembered that tragic day for his best friend." He was never the same after that." Leon looked on the faces of Panther and Krystal who were totally entranced by his story." Wolf and I dropped out of the academy after that and formed the Star Wolf team. Years later we learned that Fox was leading a team called Star Fox and was on his way to battle Andross. Thus the Wolf we know today was born; he said it was his purpose to destroy Fox." Leon took another short break." So we went to Andross and offered our services. Of course we asked for money, if we did it for free it would have looked to suspicious. But Wolf had his own agenda, Andross hired us and the rest is history.
Krystal and Panther sat silently as they let the story sink into their minds.
"That's quite the story Leon." Said Panther.
"A truly sad one." Said Leon. Then he stood up." I don't what Wolf's planning, there's never been a time before when I couldn't read him, but I do know this." He took another moment to pause and look at Krystal." Whatever he has planned cannot be good for McCloud."
Then Leon after saying much more than we wanted to say walked off.
Krystal then began to think about Fox. She couldn't help but fight the feeling that something horrible would happen if he showed up here. But there was nothing she could do, no way she could warn him, it was inevitable.