Chapter 4
1:00 P.M.
As the group cruised down the streets of Corneria to meet General Pepper in his office, there was much silence for the first fifteen minutes of the ride until Falco spoke up, "You got lucky Cross." He said, his arms folded.
"It was much more than luck Falco, you are the lucky one here." Cross said, looking out the window of the back seat.
"Oh really? And how exactly am I lucky?" Falco was now looking past Slippy at the dark vulpine.
"You still have your life." Cross answered while keeping a straight face, not even glancing towards the avian.
"So I underestimated you, big deal, that won't happen next time." Falco was very irritated at the lack of respect this young vulpine was showing him.
"Get over it Falco, he had you plain and simple, let's leave it at that." Fox ended the argument while keeping his eyes on the road in front of him.
"Yea whatever, he still got lucky," Falco sat back into his seat and folded his arms once again, "Bastard." He muttered under his breath.
"So Cross, does that X on your head symbolize something or is it natural?" Slippy asked.
Cross turned his gaze from the passing buildings to the mechanic, "Well, basically it means if you're on the battlefield, and on the other side, you're screwed." He answered, not even changing his facial expression.
"Then I'm glad you're with us," Krystal chimed in, turning her head to look at the dark fox, "Although I would like to spar with you some day, it would be fun." The vixen added while snapping a grin.
"What do you mean 'spar with me'?" The dark red vulpine asked with a confused look.
"You know, have a friendly fight but not a serious one, don't tell me you don't know what sparring is." The blue vixen answered.
"Actually I've never heard of this before, a friendly fight? How does one do such a thing?" Cross asked, still confused.
"Wait, you've never sparred with anyone before, have you?" Krystal was now turned completely around in her seat, looking at the fox with a raised eyebrow.
"No I haven't, every time I fight I aim to kill my opponent."
"Well then, we'll just have to teach you." Fox cut in, looking at Cross through the rear-view mirror of the black hover car.
"Sparring is not fighting from what you have told me, it seems pointless, why would anyone want to have a 'friendly' fight if it is clear that there is no winner?" Cross was getting tired of asking questions, but this 'sparring' as they called it interested him, he needed to know more.
"You don't always have to kill someone to win a fight, Cross" Fox answered, the dark red vulpine had no retort for this, instead he leaned his head on his right paw and turned back towards the window to look at the scenery, even if it was just a bunch of buildings stacked together.
1:15 P.M.
The group arrived at the building of which inside was the General's office, as they entered, they were greeted by a smiling female possum at the front desk with a few splotches of black here and there on her fur, "Hello Mr. McCloud, I'm guessing you're here to see the General, he's been expecting you for some time, fifty-third floor."
"Thanks Abby, I'd love to talk but we're kind of in a rush." Fox said, turning towards the hall where the elevator was.
"No problem, it's just nice to see you in one piece," She said while looking back at her computer screen, "I have a lot of work to do anyway."
The group made their way to the elevator, Fox leading them with Krystal by his side, "How did she not notice you Cross?" Fox asked.
"I don't know, I guess it's my height." The young vulpine answered.
"She noticed you, she was just informed ahead of time." Krystal said.
"So you read everyone's mind, huh?" Cross was beginning to enjoy being around this group, despite just meeting them a short time ago, they were extremely likable, he just couldn't figure out why.
"It's a valuable asset," Krystal replied with a slight smirk, "You'd be amazed at the information one can gather with telepathy."
"Oh it makes you look like an ass alright." Falco cut in, walking behind Krystal and Fox.
Fox tried his best to keep his laughter hidden, but to no avail as he and Slippy bursted out laughing almost in unison, this caused Krystal to elbow him directly in the ribs, normally it wouldn't hurt but she always found the most painful spot every single time, "I'm sorry Krystal but it's true, it does make you seem like an ass sometimes." Fox said, clutching his ribs.
"It does not!" Krystal almost yelled, elbowing him again in the same spot as before, but much harder as her elbow dug into his side deeply.
"What I meant was, I love you honey." Fox corrected himself, giving the vixen a peck on the cheek as he was now bent slightly forward, still holding his side.
"That's what I thought." Krystal said with a now victorious smile.
The group had arrived at the elevator, as everyone entered, "I'll take the stairs instead." Cross assured them while turning towards the door past the elevator that led to a staircase that.
"You sure about that? It's the fifty-third floor, that's a lot of walking." Fox informed him.
"Its okay, I don't really like elevators much." The dark vulpine turned his head to reply to him.
"Well suit yourself, if you wanna take the stairs I won't stop you." Fox said, turning to re-entering the elevator and pushing the buttons that read '5' and '3'.
While the team was in the elevator awaiting to reach the floor where General Pepper's office was, Falco started, "I don't know about this 'Cross' guy."
"What do you mean?" Fox asked, somewhat confused.
"There's somethin' about him that creeps me out." Falco had his eyes trained on the floor.
"Like what?" Fox quirked an eyebrow at the avian.
"Oh please Fox, you haven't noticed anything eerie about him?" Krystal cut in.
"Nothing aside from the 'X' on his head or the way he dealt with those soldiers, why, did you?" Fox was curious to know what the vixen saw in Cross that he didn't.
"What about the fact that he doesn't even know what sparring is?"
"Yea but--" Fox began to say before he was cut off.
"And when I got into that little fight with him, I could've sworn that his eyes turned red." Falco told the vulpine.
"What? No way, someone's eyes don't just turn red." Fox was having a hard time believing this.
"How do you know Fox? Did you even look at them?" Krystal asked.
"Well, I...um," The vulpine was struggling to find an excuse, "No." He answered.
"Exactly, we can't be sure about him until we know more." Krystal ended the conversation.
"When we get out of the elevator, I need to use the bathroom." Slippy broke his own silence as he hadn't said a word the entire ride, causing everyone else to laugh.
When the door opened Slippy was the first to exit as he rushed out towards the left and turned the corner a few feet away. Cross was already sitting beside the door to Pepper's office, "What took you?" He asked rhetorically as he started to stand up.
The group was surprised that Cross was already there, "How long ago did you get here?" Fox shared the same jaw-dropped expression that Krystal and Falco had.
"I'd say about thirty seconds after you got in the elevator," The dark vulpine answered, popping his trademark smirk, yet again exposing his left fang, "Why so surprised?"
"Well let's see, if I sprinted as fast as I could up that staircase, it would take me at least forty-five minutes to make it up here, and I'm not exactly slow." Fox was still amazed at what this vulpine was capable of.
"If it makes you feel any better, I ran as fast as I could," Cross assured him, still grinning, "So, do we stay here and wait for Slippy, or do we go in?"
"We should probably wait here, I have a feeling this will be very important, so we need everyone with us." Fox answered, walking to Cross and sitting beside him on the left of the door, Krystal did the same while Falco just stood on the right side of the door. Slippy returned and they entered the office.
The group noticed Bill and Sergeant Alexander were already sitting in front of the desk where General Pepper was, "I see everyone is here, but I don't quite have anything for you except one thing." Pepper spoke up not even ten seconds before the group had entered the room.
Fox sighed, "Well what is it?" He was irritated that they came all this way seemingly for nothing.
"All we have on our attackers is that they call themselves 'Doombringers' and they seem to have set their sights on Lylat for some reason because we have received calls from Katina and Tatania saying that they too were attacked, but they weren't hit with the amount of forces that we were." Pepper informed them all.
"So is that the only thng you have to tell us? Cause you could've told us that over the intercom." Fox sensed that there was more because the General wouldn't have called them all the way to his office unless it was something more than simple information.
"Well, there is one more thing." Pepper started.
"And that is?"
There was a short pause for a moment as Pepper hesitated, "Cross is going with you back to the Great Fox II." He finished.
"What! Are you out of your mind?!" Falco yelled, "We don't even know who this kid really is, let alone if we can even trust him!"
"Would you please stop yelling? I am standing right beside you." Cross said.
"And that's another thing, quit bein' so damn calm all the time, it's freakin' me out!" Falco yelled again.
"ENOUGH!!" Pepper yelled, "Cross is going with you and that's FINAL!!"
"No complaints here, I think he'll prove to be more than valuable to the team." Fox said.
"You too?" Falco looked at Fox, surprised, "I'm just surrounded by crazies ain't I?"
"C'mon Falco, lighten up." Fox said, infuriating the avian.
"Whatever, I'll be on the Great Fox." With that, Falco stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
"What's gotten into him?" Bill asked, confused.
"He's just mad 'cause he got into it with Cross and lost." Fox gave them the short version.
"Well, none the less," Pepper spoke up, "I will contact you on your first mission ASAP."
They all left the office and made their way to the elevator, Alexander and Bill stayed in the office to catch up with Pepper, and Cross decided to take the stairs again, so only Slippy, Krystal and Fox were in the elevator as it descended to the first floor, "I hope you know what you're doing, Fox" Krystal said, giving him a questioning look.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we can trust him, I mean he did save our lives after all." Fox replied.
"Yes but what if he's unstable?"
"You're being paranoid Krys, I'm sure nothing bad is gonna happen, he was normal on the ride over here wasn't he?"
"Normal?" Krystal raised an eyebrow.
"Well...normal enough anyway."
When the elevator reached the ground floor the trio stepped out to see Cross once again waiting for them, they weren't surprised this time, "I thought you guys would never make it down here." Cross joked.
"Oh so you have a sense of humor after all." Fox returned with a joke of his own.
"Doesn't everyone?" Cross was grinning yet again.
"That's true, now let's get going, it's been a long day and I think we all need some rest," Fox said, putting a paw on Cross' shoulder, "Welcome to the team."
They left the building with their new temporary team member and Fox dove them back to the docking bay, "Are we all ready to take off?" Fox asked as they walked to their individual Arwings.
"Yes." Slppy and Krystal answered in unison.
"Alright Cross, you're with me." Fox said, walking to his Arwing.
"Is there any other possible way we could do this?" Cross asked, hoping for the answere he wanted.
"What do you mean?" Fox asked, curious as to what the young vulpine meant.
"Well, I have this fear of flying." Cross said, a little embarrassed.
"You have a fear?" Fox asked, surprised.
"It's not so much flying as it is being inside something that moves."
"So that's why you took the stairs?" Fox was still surprised that this vulpine was frightened by something he did almost every day, "Wait, you didn't seem to care when we were in the car, how is flying much different?"
"It's more of a height thing, being in a hover car is okay, but I hate being high in the air." The dark vulpine who seemed to have no emotion was now completely embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, but there's no other way," Fox assured him, "But hey, I'm piloting, so nothing's gonna happen, you're in safe paws."
"Thanks." Cross said as he hesitantly made his way to the Arwing.
"It's okay, just hop in the back seat." Fox said as he was double checking to see if everything was functioning correctly.
Cross was shaking as he slowly climbed into the back seat of the cockpit, "Alright Cross, this isn't anything at all, you basically took out an entire army by yourself, you can handle this no problem." He thought.
Fox climbed into the front seat and closed the cockpit hatch, "You're doing great Cross, now just sit back and relax," Fox said as he flipped the switches to ignite the engine, "All systems go."
The Arwing shot out of the docking bay as Fox and Cross both shot back into their seats, this was no problem for Fox, as he was used to this, Cross on the other hand, was not as calm as usual, "What's going on!?" He panicked.
"It's just the recoil from take off, nothing big." Fox comforted the young vulpine as best as he could.
As the Arwing entered the atmosphere, it started to shake, thus resulting in more panic from Cross, "Is something wrong?" He was panting heavily, eyes moving from side to side as his claws dug into the back of Fox's seat.
"It's turbulance, no big deal," he said calmly, "You're hyperventilating, slow your breathing and relax, it'll be over soon."
Cross did as he was told, and soon enough, the two vulpine's left the atmosphere of Corneria. Cross gasped at the sight of space, "It's...amazing." He said, looking at the stars, the grip of his claws loosening from their grasp on the back of the front seat. This was nothing to Fox, as he saw this sight many times before.
"And there it is Cross, the Great Fox II." Fox informed dark vulpine, pointing to the extremely large ship.
"Whoa, it's huge." Cross said, awestruck at this sight, he had never been in space before, or seen a ship for that matter.
"It's funny, this kid is a warrior beyond all measures, and simple things that I see all the time have this effect on him." Fox thought to himself as his Arwing neared the ship.
The Arwing docked on the Great Fox II, and as soon as Fox opened up the hatch, Cross leaped out of the cockpit, "I'm never doing that again." He exclaimed as he was on all fours looking at the ground.
"Well I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to eventually." Fox reminded the dark vulpine, who simply groaned.
"What's with him?" Falco asked, it seemed as though he was over his little tantrum he threw on Corneria.
"He's afraid of heights." Answered Krystal.
"How did, Fox stopped mid-sentence, "Never mind"
"Telepath, remember?" Krystal asked in rhetorical fashion as she pointed to her head.
"Aww, does the baby need his bottle?" Falco teased.
"C'mon Falco, don't be a jerk, it was his first time flying, and remember, he's only fifteen." Fox told him
"It's not my fault that he's a wimp." Falco shrugged his shoulders.
Just then, Cross lunged at the avian, hitting him with a right uppercut, the impact lifting Falco a few feet in the air, and then landing hard on the floor, Falco sat up, dazed for a second, "Aww, did the baby get a boo-boo?" Cross said, baring his fangs.
"Alright Cross, let's show you to your room, you need some rest." Fox said as he pulled the dark vulpine away from Falco.
"Just remember Falco," Cross said while shaking Fox's grip and raising a claw to his own neck, "Just. One. Swipe." He finished, making the same cut throat motion as he did earlier.
As the two vulpines were walking down the hall to the guest room, "You really need to get a handle on that temper of yours." Fox said.
"He started it." Cross replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Yea he did, but you gotta know when to fold, you don't wanna make enemies with whoever you are living with," Fox put a paw on the dark vulpine's shoulder, "And Falco isn't such a bad guy, he's just high strung, you can't let him pull you into these things."
"I'll try to remember that," Cross looked up at the light brown vulpine, "How do you deal with all of this insanity."
"I guess I've learned to live with it, and you need to do the same, I don't want a broken jaw just in-case I piss you off," They stopped next to a door, "Here we are, it's not much, but at least you have a bed."
"Thanks, I need to get some rest after that experience." Cross told Fox.
"Well, get used to it, 'cause it's not the last time you're gonna fly." Fox put his paw on the scanner, resulting in the door opening.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Cross said as he entered the room. There was a bed, next to it was a desk.
"You'll get over it." Fox said as the door closed.
Cross didn't waste any time making his way to the bed, he didn't even take the time to remove any clothing because he was too exhausted from his flying expierience. As he lie down on the mattress, the vulpine thought about this group, he still couldn't figure out why they were so likable, a smile of happiness ran across his face, he didn't understand why this occurred, nor did he think about it, the vulpine just closed his eyes as he was taken away to the depths of slumber.
Author's Note: Wow, Cross has a pretty bad mean streak huh? Anyway, I know there wasn't much action here but I'll try to work some into the next update. I would like to thank everyone who reviewed my previous chapters, and apparently I have potential. So once again, thank you all. Until the next update, later and I hope you enjoyed.