A/N: Chapter 3!
Fox awoke to the new morning light seeping through the curtains. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, the other wrapped tightly around Krystal who was still sleeping. She let out a small murmur and cuddled closer to him. Fox grinned and kissed the top of her head.
He lay back into the pillows, staring up at the ceiling.
Fox was starting to realize he was more than glad to get away from the mercenary work for a while. It was taking quite a bit of toll on his nerves as of late. Between the Aparoids and random attacks, he felt the pressure starting to get to him. It wasn't so much that Fox couldn't handle it, it was just he worried about his team mates.
Every time they venture out into space to combat, Fox finds himself nervous and fidgety. He knew they could take care of themselves but it didn't stop his worries. He was their leader. He was responsible for them. If something ever happened, he would never forgive himself.
Fox briefly remembered when Slippy was lost on Titania. After taking a load of damage from Andross's secret weapon, he spun out of control towards the planet. The whole time Fox roamed the surface in the Land Master, he couldn't stop blaming himself for what happened. His team mates tried to convince him it wasn't his fault, that Slippy just rushed into things. But Fox refused to listen. If he had been paying more attention, he would of saw Slippy break formation.
The sudden shift of the body next to his, snapped Fox out of his thoughts. Krystal yawned and ran her hand up and down his chest.
"Mmm...morning." She greeted softly, a small smile upon her muzzle. Fox looked down at her and returned the smile.
"Well how do we feel this fine morning?"
Krystal laughed softly and nuzzled his cheek with hers. "Like a million dollars."
Fox let out a chuckle of his own and turned onto his side so he was facing her. Krystal kissed him softly as she pressed herself tighter against him. They broke away and Krystal sat up out of his embrace and stretched.
"I'm going to hop in the shower. I wouldn't mind some company just so you know." She said slyly and gave him a wink. Fox watched her disappear behind the door and sat up.
"How does a goddess like that end up with a bum like me?" He wondered out loud. Fox sat up and stretched as well. Again he rubbed the sleep from eyes. This intense heat was making him drowsy. He turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Nothing too interesting was on so he started to get up to join Krystal in the shower when the TV caught his attention suddenly.
"The Cornerian police are both baffled and terrified at a gruesome finding last night."
Fox sat back down and the TV showed a picture of an elderly cheetah. "Leader of the Black Rose gang, Aaron Xanatos was found dead along with members of his faction. Their bodies were stripped of their skin as well as disemboweled."
A brief clip showed a camera trying to get a glimpse of the bodies from behind the police barricade. It was a short clip as an officer stuck his hand over the camera but Fox saw a glimpse of those bodies. A small knot was forming in his stomach. He got this kind of feeling whenever something bad happened and it was going to involve him.
The bathroom door opened and Krystal poked her wet head out.
"When I said I wanted company, I meant you Fox." Fox silenced her with a hand and kept his focus on the TV.
"Witnesses said that they heard extremely loud gunfire and screaming. A call was made to the police and shortly after arriving at the scene, their Patrol Fighter caught this footage of these two men fleeing the premises."
The shaky footage from the Fighter showed two figures dashing out of the alley.
"Unfortunately, their was a short radar interference that caused the Fighter to lose sight of them. But from the footage, the two men have been identified as Wolf O'Donnell and Leon Powalski from the fugitive StarWolf team."
Fox turned off the TV and threw the remote across the room in frustration. He knew something like this was going to happen and he knew it was going to be him to clean it up.
"StarWolf's alive?" Krystal mumbled, looking to Fox who avoided her gaze. She frowned and retreated back into the bathroom, finally aware of what Fox had been hiding.
As if on cue, Fox's communicator on the dresser started to beep, indicating that General Pepper need to talk with him. Sighing heavily, he answered it.
"Fox here."
"I'm assuming you saw the news." Came the General's response.
"Unfortunately."
"I'm sorry Fox. I didn't contact you before because I knew how much you needed this time off. And frankly, I never thought Wolf would stoop to something like this. But this could be a serious threat to Corneria. If StarWolf has gone off the deep end, we'll need the best."
"Understood General. Fox out." He shut off the communicator and rubbed his temples.
Krystal emerged out of the bathroom in a robe and leaned against the door frame, arms across her chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Fox scratched his head in frustration and turned to face her. "Because I didn't want to worry you guys. I didn't want you to go back to that god damn ship and rot away like we've been doing."
Krystal sighed and climbed back onto the bed, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry this happened Fox. But I need you to be honest with me. And with the others. We would have understood. Even if we hated what it would mean."
She said softly and kissed the back of his neck. Fox rubbed her thigh and replied, "I know, I know. I'm sorry."
Krystal gave him a squeeze and got up to pack her things. Fox's thoughts came back to the bodies. He shivered as the images flashed in his brain. He never thought Wolf would be capable of something like this.
Fox's ears flickered in thought. This doesn't seem right. Wolf's been "dead" for the last few months so why would he all of a sudden reappear and start a massacre? Even Wolf wouldn't go that far to let the Lylat System know he's back.
He sat and pondered for awhile longer until he got up to get changed.
"The minute I see that little shit Leon, I'm going to shove his tail right up his goddamn ass for ruining my vacation." Falco said more than annoyed.
The team had gathered in the lobby, their luggage beside their feet. The only one missing was Fox as he was taking his time getting down there. Peppy wiped some more sweat from his forehead.
"Damn...I was really looking forward to Aquas too. Feels like I'm going to die in this blasted weather." He said. Slippy took a giant swig from his water bottle, agreeing with Peppy.
"Ditto. And I'm sure not looking forward to being cramped in an Arwing in this heat."
Krystal fanned herself with a pamphlet from the front desk saying, "I'm not too thrilled about it either but let's not complain in front of Fox. He's just as angry and I fear pressing the issue will make matters worse."
She had broken the news to them all and their reactions were all the same. Anger mixed in with pure disappointment. Slippy took it the hardest, looking as if he was going to break out into tears. Krystal left out the fact that Fox had not told anyone about knowing StarWolf was alive. The team was already in a fowl enough mood.
"Krystal is right," Peppy nodded. "Fox has been working hard enough and he doesn't need the additional stress from us."
As soon as Peppy finished his sentence, Fox came down the stairs in uniform, identical to the one he wore when he first landed on Sauria. His wing mates stood at attention.
"Ready to go Fox." Slippy said.
"Awaiting orders Fox." Peppy replied.
"By your side." Krystal said softly with a smile.
"Let's go kick some ass already!" Falco shouted. Fox would have smiled at such loyalty and enthusiasm from his team but his expression was soft and somewhat troubled.
"Put your bags down. Your not going anywhere." He said. Everyone gave him a confused look. Krystal eyed him suspiciously. He was hiding something again.
"What do you mean Fox? The General called us in to find StarWolf." Slippy croaked. Fox sighed. They weren't going to like this.
"I managed to convince the General to let me handle StarWolf and you all stay on vacation."
They looked at him in surprise and confusion. "Why the hell would you do that?" Peppy asked slowly and in an irritated manner.
"Because none of you need something I can handle on my own to interfere with your time off." Is all Fox said. Already he could feel the tension starting to thicken.
"But...I want to help you Fox." Slippy said. "As do the rest of us." Peppy added, giving him a stern look. Peppy hated it when Fox did this. He was obviously trying to protect them and put just himself in danger.
"Fox, quit being so damn selfish. We can take care of ourselves out there. You know that." The old hare stated, a bit of anger in his voice. Fox's ears flattened in annoyance.
"Don't argue with me Peppy. My decision is final."
Peppy just snorted in disgust, picked up his bags and headed back to his room in a very fowl mood.
"I don't know why I even bothered to come back to the team when you won't even let us help you." Falco spat and followed Peppy. Slippy didn't say anything. He just gave Fox a sad look and trailed after Falco.
Krystal stood in front of Fox, her arms folded across her chest and a small scowl on her face.
"Well? Aren't you going to scold me too?" Fox mumbled. Krystal just shook her head.
"How could you do this to us Fox? After all they have been through. After all we've been through. You are being selfish."
"By giving up my time off so that you can have it? Yeah, that's selfish alright." Fox said sarcastically. Krystal let out a tired sigh. "I told you we don't care about time off Fox. We care about you and what will happen when we're not around," As she spoke, her voice was getting louder and angrier. "And it's selfish for you to go out and risk your life and all I can do is wonder if your coming back to me!"
Her voice cracked a bit on that last word. Fox could see her trying to fight back tears. He wanted to hug her and comfort her but he had to stay strong. For them and her.
"That's why it makes it so hard for me to do this..." He practically whispered. He stood up straight and addressed Krystal sternly.
"As your commanding superior, I order you to stay with the team until further notice."
Fox felt somewhat sick after the words left his mouth. He has never had to use the 'superior' line before on anyone. What's worst is that he used it on her. Krystal just stared at him, a hurt and angry look on her face.
"Yes sir." She said in a venomous and low voice. She grabbed her things and headed up the stairs, not even bothering to watch Fox leave. Krystal entered the room she was sharing with Fox and slammed her luggage on the bed. She leaned against it, breathing hard. Never had she felt so frustrated and angry with him. Didn't he trust them to take care of themselves? Didn't he trust her?
Krystal looked at herself in the mirror. She was not going to take this lying down and neither would the others. He needed them. Some way or another, they would prove it to him.
Night had fallen over the city and the moon was full and very large. A moon that large was often referred to as the Hunter's Moon. The moonlight acting as a guide to help predators find their prey.
Tonight was no different.
It silently ran from rooftop to rooftop, clearing the spaces between them easily with powerful jumps. Jumping down, It perched itself on the branch of a nearby tree. With the leaves and It's camouflage, the being was completely invisible.
The beings vision was similar to that of a heat seeking device. It could pick out It's prey by detecting their body heat. Everything else, such as buildings, transportation units or trees were a dark blue color.
It searched the streets for a worthy trophy. So far, It found nothing but random homeless people and prostitutes. It clicked in annoyance. An uneventful hunt tonight. It was about to leave when It picked out another heat signature from the corner of It's vision. It pressed some buttons on the gauntlet It wore on It's left wrist. Three lines that form a triangle focused in on the heat signature and lines of information started to scroll down on the left side of It's vision.
A mammal, Panthera family, well built, blaster in a holster on it's back, approach with caution; could become hostile. Fair game.
Perhaps there would be a hunt after all.
Panther Caruso strolled to his Speed Bike in a happy mood. Another woman satisfied by the famous lover. "That makes four this week..." He said to himself.
"Alas, they are no Krystal."
Panther sighed. The vixen of his dreams was always out of his reach. She constantly shot down his advances and seemed to show no interest in him. A foreign concept to Panther.
Plus she seemed to have a thing for that vulpine McCloud.
Putting such thoughts aside, Panther hopped on his bike and stuck his keys in the ignition. The engine roared to life and he took off down the street. The wind rushed through his fur as he darted past car after car. Wolf had been giving him shit for staying out so late when they have a warrant out on them. Panther smirked, whizzing past a loading truck.
Wolf needed to get laid. Maybe then he wouldn't have a stick up his ass all the time.
Panther turned off the main road and onto a small dirt one that lead a bit out of the city. As he got farther away from the city, the more trees and other organic structures appeared. Ten minutes later, he arrived at a small clearing. Parking his bike behind some bushes, he made his way to a thick section of brush. Spreading the branches apart, a small hatch door was found. Twisting it, Panther opened the hatch and stepped down a ladder, closing the door after him.
Inside was a long tunnel that stretched for a good forty yards or so. Panther casually made his way through, his footsteps echoing through out the tunnel. He finally came to a door at the end which he pushed opened to reveal a room. There were dozen's of large crates everywhere suggesting that this used to be some sort of underground storage abandon long ago. A couple pieces of furniture were scattered among the room. A couch, a table, some chairs, a TV was in the corner supported by a box. The exposed lighting tubes hummed and flickered, adding some flash effect against the wall.
Leon sat in a chair, reading the Art Of War. He briefly stopped reading as he shot a glance at Panther but then continued. Wolf sat on the couch watching the TV. He didn't even acknowledge that Panther was there. His focus was glued to the screen.
Panther shot a glance at the television and saw the replay to this morning news. He saw the bodies and grimaced. Then he heard that StarWolf were the suspects. His brow wrinkled in confusion and slowly looked to Wolf.
"I hope you have an explanation." He said. Wolf turned off the TV and stood up.
"No I don't. All I can tell you is that Leon and I made the deal, found out Xanatos short changed me and we came back, the place was a slaughterhouse. We just happened to be lucky enough that the police arrived and managed to pin us as the main suspects." Wolf walked over to a fridge and pulled out a drink.
"Of course you would have known this hadn't you been out fucking every woman in the Lylat System."
Panther flashed a toothy grin and pulled out one of his signature roses. "Don't be jealous O'Donnell. Can I help it if woman are attracted to my flawlessness?"
"Tell that to McCloud's blue woman." Leon muttered behind the pages of his book. Panther growled at him. "Like you know anything about women. In fact now that I think about it, you seem to ignore them. To busy trying to get behind Falco eh?"
Leon threw his book down at reached for his blaster but Wolf slammed his drink down onto the table, startling them both.
"Both of you shut up and listen! In case you haven't notice, we got bigger problems than Panther's gigolo service and Leon's suspected homosexuality."
Leon shot him an icy stare but sat back down. Panther just sniffed his rose and played with it's pedals. Wolf continued.
"We are being hunted as fucking mass murders. The sky's are going to be patrolled non stop now and the streets will be filled with cops. We're not just looking at jail time here. Execution has been branded on our asses. They may just shot us on sight instead of arresting us."
"Well then what do you propose O'Donnell? Stay in this God forsaken shelter for the rest of our lives?" Leon asked tiredly. Wolf pulled out a map from his back pocket and unrolled it on the table. It showed a detailed patrol pattern of the Cornerian Air Force.
"When there's a threat to the city, they usually have only a few Fighters patrolling. But due to something like this, it's going to increase ten fold."
"Then how will we get off the planet?" Panther asked, trailing his rose along the edges of the map. Wolf pulled a knife from his boot and traced it to different sections of the map.
"Every three hours a Fighter has to land to rotate pilots. Their landing zones have been labeled here," He pointed to three separate areas of the map. "We recon to the zones and hijack the Fighters. From there we fly to Macbeth."
"Macbeth?" Leon asked a little surprised.
"I have some friends there that owe me some favors. We're going to need weapons. Lot's of em." Wolf explained.
"Why do we need weapons?" Panther asked slowly. Something told him he wasn't going to like what Wolf was going to say next.
"We need all the fire power we can get for when we come back." Leon nearly fell out of his chair. "What!? You want to come back!? We just sold a truck load of weapons to get money so we could leave this place! Your insane O'Donnell!"
"Hey, I'm not going down for someone else's dirty work! I told you before, no one fucks over Wolf O'Donnell. I'm going to have this guys head on a platter so help m..."
Wolf was cut off by the sound of the hatch door slamming shut. The sound echoed through out the tunnel right into the room. Wolf pulled out his blaster and bore holes into Panther.
"You didn't lock the fucking hatch?" He whispered. "I did." Is all the passionate feline said, pulling out his own blaster. Leon was up beside them, his weapon ready to fire. They waited for what seemed like forever. All they could hear was the humming of the lights and the occasional drip of water from some pipes.
Suddenly the door was blasted off it's hinges and Star Wolf dove for cover. They fired shot after shot into the doorway. They were greeted by another blast of laser fire from their visitor.
"Bastard must of trailed Panther..." Wolf thought as a stray blast took out part of the crate he was hiding behind.
The onslaught of laser fire ceased for a moment. Smoke hung heavily in the air and the smell of singed wood was burning in Wolf's nostrils. He could see Panther crouched behind another crate and Leon pulling a flash grenade out of his belt. He nodded to Panther then Leon.
Wolf rolled out as well did Panther, both firing one or two shots each then diving back for cover. As soon as the two hit their cover, a bolt striking just a millisecond from where they were before.
Leon stood up the moment the blast was fired and drew his arm back to chuck the grenade. But it wasn't fast enough as another bolt was fired and separated Leon's hand that held the grenade, right off his wrist. Leon didn't even have time to scream as another blast took out his chest, sending across the room.
Wolf felt his stomach lurch forward. Leon was dead. A blast took out the crate he was hiding behind and he dove behind the couch. Panther took a chance and unloaded shot after shot directly in front of the doorway. Surprisingly, no blast took him out. He kept firing until he was out of ammo, the sound of clicking ringing through out the room.
"Get the fuck down Panther!" Wolf called to him, but it was too late. Panther was lifted upside down by his feet by an unseen foe. Wolf's one eye widened in horror. A large shimmering shape held the struggling Panther. Two knives seemed to pop out of nowhere and slice him in two.
Wolf wanted to throw up but he kept it down. Whatever this thing was, he couldn't fight it. Panther and Leon were trained killers and they were taken down in a flash. He had to get out of there now. Wolf bolted up and knocked over a tower of crates, making a barrier between the two. But it was temporary as a blast took the crates apart.
Wolf ducked and weaved between the crates, trying to get to the back of the room. There was a small emergency hatch only a few feet away. Wolf was just about there when a clawed hand, dug into his shoulder causing him to drop his blaster. He bit back a cry of pain and struggled against it.
A long, pale yellowish colored arm with some sort of armor which the hand belonged too was poking through two crates, pulling Wolf towards it. Wolf tried to beat it off but the grip only got tighter. His eye searched everywhere for a weapon. His blaster was out of reach and he had lost his knife during the fire fight. Then he notices something green resting on a crate.
Leon's hand. Still clutching the flash grenade.
Wolf reached for it. It was just a few centimeters away but the arm was winning the tug of war. Forcing all the strength he had, Wolf lurched forward and grabbed the grenade. Pressing the activation button, he tossed it behind him. A loud bang and blinding flash occurred which caused a roar from his assailant and released it's grip.
Wolf dove towards the hatch and kicked it open. He climbed up a ladder and pushed open another door, emerging outside. Wolf then broke the handle off and fell backwards. He panted hard looking up at the starry sky.
Leon. Panther. Dead.
Wolf struggled to his feet, his shoulder bleeding and throbbing in extreme pain. He looked down at the hatch where inside were the remains of his two team mates. Wolf had an odd sensation of pity and grief come over him. But he shook it off.
They were dead. There was no point crying about it. It was either them or him.
But Wolf knew as he hobbled off into the woods that Leon and Panther's death's would haunt his dreams forever.
It growled in annoyance as It emerged from the hatch. The mammal had disappeared into the forest.
He was cunning prey. Blinding It for a moment so he could escape. It was impressed but still annoyed It let him get away. But the night had not been a total loss. He had two new trophy's tucked away in the bag that hung across It's chest.
It was creating quite a collection. The more trophy's It brings back to the clan, the more respect and status It will earn. The promise of more hunts and It's own harem. It clicked in approval of It's future rewards.
It pulled out a small object from It's loincloth. Panther's rose. It ran a clawed finger across the pedals.
When the time came, It would find It's prey once more and collect It's trophy. The prey can only hide for so long. And when he runs out of hiding spots, It will be there ready and waiting.
A/N: There ya go! Sorry to all Leon and Panther fans. Chapter 4 on the way!
