Chapter 7

10:15 A.M.

Falco was relaxing on the bridge of the Great Fox II, searching through channels on the holographic television produced by a rather small device on the wall. A bruise had developed on the chin of the avian's beak due to an uppercut from a certain vulpine, "The kid can throw one hell of a punch, that's for sure." The avian was referring to Cross as he rubbed his beak. Falco was in simple attire with a white tank top, blue track pants, and a black pair of sneakers.

The door to the bridge opened as Fox walked in and noticed the blue avian on the couch, but the first thing the vulpine noticed about Falco was his bruised beak, "I guess Krys was right, it did leave a mark." Fox chuckled as he said this. The vulpine was wearing a black tee-shirt and a white pair of athletic mesh shorts.

"Eh, whatever." Falco shrugged.

"Anyway, where's Slip?" Fox changed the subject.

"Probably still asleep."

"Still?" Fox was surprised as Slippy was usually awake at this time of day.

"Yep, I guess yesterday took a lot out of him."

"Well Krystal, Cross and I are going back to Corneria for an hour." Fox told Falco.

"What for?" The avian asked.

"We need to get Cross some new clothes, mine are a bit too big for him."

"Ya think?" Falco asked sarcastically, "Hell, you might as well buy him somethin' from the infant section." The avian joked.

"He is small, I'll admit that," Fox agreed, "But he's a terrific fighter, I don't think I've ever fought someone as tough as Cross."

"How would you know?" Falco raised an eyebrow.

"We sparred earlier, around 2 o'clock this morning."

"Who won?" The avian was interested in this.

"Well...I hate to say it, but he beat me." The vulpine answered.

"He beat you!? How?" Falco was in disbelief.

Fox told Falco how the night went with every detail, by the time he was done, the avian started laughing, "That's the best thing I've heard all week! You got beat twice in one night!"

"Hey! Don't rub it in, it's not like you haven't lost before, I'll remind you that you haven't won against me at all."

"No, but I've never had my ass kicked twice in one night, unlike you." Falco said, still laughing.

A few minutes later, after Falco was done laughing, Cross walked in, "Mornin' Cross," Falco greeted the dark vulpine, "Fox just got done tellin' me how you beat him senseless in your sparring match."

"Oh yeah, about that," Cross said while looking at the ground, "I'm just wondering, you weren't hold back, were you?"

"Nope, besides, it wasn't a serious fight anyway, even though I don't think I would have a chance then either." Fox chuckled.

"So, when are we leaving?" Cross asked, changing the subject.

"As soon as Krys wakes up," Just as Fox said this though, Krystal came onto the bridge, fully dressed and ready to go, "How about that, right on cue." Fox turned towards the yawning Krystal who was wearing a light green tee-shirt, a light blue pair of jeans, and a pair of black sneakers with white lines around the edges.

"Good morning everybody." Krystal greeted them.

"Alright, let's get ready to go."

"Crap." Cross dreaded the fact that he'd be flying again, the dark vulpine knew it would come but he wasn't expecting it to be so soon.

"Well, if you don't want to go you can stay here, but she's picking out your clothes." Fox pointed to the blue vixen as he said this.

Cross thought for a moment and remembered how Krystal referred to him as 'cute' the night before, "Okay, I'll go."

"You sure?" Fox asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Cross knew the kinds of clothing Krystal would probably pick out, and that would mean a lot of insults from Falco.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't give you a chance."

The three foxes left the bridge and walked to the docking bay, nothing much was said besides idle chit-chat, when they arrived, "Cross, you're riding with me again." Fox told the dark vulpine as he opened the hatch to the cockpit.

Cross took a deep breath before crawling into the Arwing and strapping himself in while Fox double-checked everything as he always did, "Okay, I'm ready." Cross nervously said.

As Fox jumped in, he saw that Cross had tensed his muscles again, "You'll be fine, Cross." Fox assured the young vulpine.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Cross loosened his muscles and started to relax as Fox closed the cockpit hatch.

"ROB, get us set for launch." Fox ordered.

"Openeing docking bay doors, ready for launch." ROB said in his monotone voice.

"All systems go." Fox said as Krystal's Arwing took off into space, seconds later, Fox's Arwing did the same.

"You know, this isn't so bad." Cross said as the Arwing smoothly but swiftly flew towards Corneria.

11:00 A.M.

Fox's Arwing landed in the docking bay without any trouble as expected, and as Fox opened the cockpit hatch, Krystal was standing beside her Arwing waiting for the two vulpines, "So how did he handle it this time?" Krystal was of course referring to Cross who had dug his claws into the back of Fox's seat while panting heavily.

"We hit some turbulance when we entered the atmosphere, and he freaked out again." Fox answered as he jumped out of his seat.

"There's...got...to be... a better...way." Cross said in-between breaths.

"Well there's not, so you might as well get used to it," Fox said as Krystal giggled a bit, "So come on, we don't have all day to wait for you, or we can just fly back to the Great Fox." As soon as Cross heard this, he leaped from the cockpit to the ground beside Krystal.

"Well, let's go, Gordon's probably here by now." Fox said while turning to the large doorway of the docking bay, when the trio walked outside, sure enough the black feline was standing right there beside the black hover car in his traditional black suit.

"Hello, Mr. McCloud." The black feline greeted as he handed Fox the keys.

"Do I have to keep telling you? Call me Fox."

"I'm sorry, it's in my nature, well I must be going now, have a good day." Gordon said, turning towards a red hover car that awaited him.

"You too." Fox returned while opening the driver side door, Krystal got into the passenger seat which left the backseat for Cross.

"Wow, it's roomy back here." Cross said as the hover car drove off into the city.

11:15 A.M.

Fox dropped Krystal and Cross off at a small nearby clothing store, "Alright, we'll meet back here at twelve, that should give you two enough time to find what you need."

"Where are you going?" Krystal asked.

"I've gotta go see Peppy for a bit to talk a few things over with him." Fox answered as he glanced towards Cross for a brief second.

"Okay then, we'll see you at twelve." Krystal said before the black hover car drove off.

The two went into the store, they were surprised at the lack of customers, considering this place was well known, "Well, at least no one's hassling you." Cross told the vixen who giggled at the statement.

Krystal went over to the blue wall of sustained energy that held the clothes in the air, "This looks cute." She said as she grabbed a sky blue tee-shirt and placed it on Cross' chest neatly, "It's a perfect fit too."

Cross didn't want to be associated with anything that was thought to be 'cute', so he pushed the shirt away, walked over to the wall of energy, and grabbed a black tee-shirt with a circle of flames designed on the chest area, inside the circle of flames was a skull with red eyes, "I like this," Cross said showing it to Krystal, "Not that your choice wasn't good, it's just a bit too cutesy for me."

"Okay, how about this," Krystal started, "Tell me what you like best and it'll help me know what to pick out so that we can make this quicker."

"Well, anything that's black, red, or white I like the most, blue is okay, but only dark blue, but I hate pink, purple, or anything related to those, grey is fine too, just as long as it doesn't have something corny or prissy written on it."

"I'll see what I can find." Krystal said.

After a good half-hour, the two foxes walked out of the store with three large bags full of just-bought clothes, which Cross carried all three of them in his left paw, "Well, it's fifteen minutes until 'noon, want to go for a short walk to pass the time?" Krystal asked.

"Sure." Cross answered as the two turned to walk down the busy street.

Five minutes passed until they came to a dark alley, "Hey," A faint voice said, "Over here," The mysterious voice spoke again, the two foxes turned towards the alley, in which they spotted a light grey furred wolf with a large black trench coat, "Got some stuff you might be interested in."

The two walked into the alley, "Keep your eyes open Krystal, there's something shifty about this guy." Cross whispered to the vixen.

"I noticed." She whispered back.

As the two drew closer, "You just bought yourself a beating." The wolf said while pulling a knife out of the inside pocket of the trench coat.

Krystal and Cross turned to leave, but two other grey lupines cut them off, "You ain't goin' anywhere, Short Stuff." One of the wolves said as he shoved Cross back a few steps.

"Touch me again and you'll see how easily an arm can be broken." Cross said with a serious look.

"You threatenin' me, Boy?" The wolf brought his paw up to shove Cross again, but as soon as he made contact, Cross grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and slammed his knee into the wolf's forearm, snapping the bone with a gut-wrenching crunch. As the wolf cried out in pain, Cross then jumped into the air and landed a furious roundhouse kick to the side of the other lupine's head, completely knocking him out. Cross did all of this without letting a single piece of clothing fall out of the bags.

"What the hell?" The wolf in the trench coat wondered as he witnessed this mayhem, Krystal took her chance, kicking the blade from the lupine's paw and smashing him in the face with her palm, resulting in blood gushing from his nose as he fell unconscious immediately after the blow.

The wolf who's arm had been broken passed out from the pain, "Well, I guess they won't be doing that again." Cross said as he started to walk out of the alley.

"Good job, Cross, although I would say that breaking his arm like that was a bit harsh." The vixen told him as she followed him out of the alley.

"Well, sucks for him," The vulpine retorted with no remorse, "Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if you shattered the other guy's face."

"Neither would I." Krystal replied while looking at her digital watch that read 11:55.

The two foxes walked back to the store where they waited for Fox, when he arrived five minutes later, Krystal and Cross entered the black hover car, Krystal sat in the passenger seat while Cross took the back seat again.

11:15 A.M.

Fifteen minutes passed before Fox made it to Peppy's apartment building, went inside the building, walked up the steps to the second floor and knocked on the door, "What took you so long?" Peppy asked.

"Traffic of course." Fox joked.

"It get's worse everyday," The hare said, "Come one in, relax for a bit." He insisted.

"Actually I can't stay for too long, I need to pick up Krystal and Cross soon."

"Cross?" Peppy asked.

"Our new team member." Fox answered.

"So you found a replacement already?" The hare joked.

"Well, it's just temporary, but you remember the attack yesterday right?"

"Of course I do, we beat 'em too."

"Yeah, but the reason we won is because of Cross."

"Oh really?"

Fox told Peppy about the battle that had ensued, and how if Cross hadn't been there, they would have quite possibly been overrun, he also told Peppy about what Krystal showed him.

"I see, so Pepper wants to have this kid with you because he might make everything a little bit easier on your mission, and along with that, he doesn't even fully remember his past." Peppy said when Fox was finished.

"Yeah, but I don't think Pepper is giving us all of the details."

"How so?"

"Because Cross is..." Fox struggled for words, "well, he's hiding something."

"Maybe he isn't hiding anything, from what you've told me he doesn't remember much, so he doesn't really have anything to hide." Peppy explained.

"Do you have any advice?" Fox got to the point.

"The only advice I can give you is keep an eye on him, if what you told me is true about his memory, then something could trigger this again." Peppy answered.

"Will do," Fox said as he looked at his watch which read 11:40, "Well Peppy, it was good to see you again, but I gotta go, and thanks for the advice." Fox added while turning to leave.

"It's good seeing you too, and remember, Fox, never give up." Peppy reminded him of what James once said.

When Fox left the building, a large tiger approached him, "I've been sent to give you a warning."

"Warning of what?" Fox questioned the much larger animal, but without hesitation, the tiger threw a right uppercut at the vulpine, who quickly dodged as a left hook came his way, which was also dodged, Fox was confused why this sudden stranger was attacking him, but it was time to fight back, so Fox swiftly dodged another would-be knockout and shot a straight punch that slammed into the tiger's nose, making him stumble backwards in an attempt to regain his balance, but Fox was too quick as he ran up to the tiger, and did a back-flip as the toe of his boot connected with the tiger's chin knocking him out cold.

"I wonder what that was about." Fox said to himself as he opened the door to get back into the black hover car.

Fox drove back to the clothing store, "I see that they didn't have any trouble finding anything." He thought to himself when he saw the three large bags of clothing, Krystal and Cross got into the black hover car, but as Krystal closed the passenger side door, she noticed the blood on Fox's knuckles, and she took his paw to examine it, he saw the blood on her palm, "I'll tell you if you tell me." Fox said instantly.

Krystal told Fox what had happened to her and Cross, and in return Fox told them about his little fight as well, "Well, at least you're okay." Krystal said.

"Yeah, but I can't help but wonder, who would just attack us in broad daylight like that?" Fox questioned.

"I don't know, but they obviously didn't know much, otherwise they would've sent more." Cross said somewhat arrogantly as the black hover car drove towards the docking bay.

12:15 P.M.

The Arwing boarded the Great Fox II, the cockpit opened, and Cross leaped out, fell to his knees, and tried to recover from another panic attack as he was breathing heavily, "I...hate...flying." Cross said with wide eyes.

"You'll live," Falco said as he walked onto the docking bay, Cross shot Falco a small glare, "Hey, I could make some more jokes." Falco grinned a bit.

"Yeah, we saw how well that worked for you before." Fox reminded the avian as he crawled out of the cockpit and hopped onto the floor.

Krystal was standing next to her Arwing with the three bags of clothes, "So, have we gotten any calls?" The vixen asked.

"Nope, it's just as boring as ever here." Falco answered.

"At least we'll be ready then," Fox said turning to Cross, who had recovered from his ordeal, "Krys, why don't you go help Cross with his clothes, I'm sure he'll need the help with all of the stuff you bought."

"You didn't say there was a limit, besides we can spare some credits anyway," Krystal walked towards the dark vulpine, "Let's go then, shall we."

"Okay." Cross said as he followed Krystal to the door which led to the halls of the Great Fox II.

"So," Fox started, turning to Falco, "What's Slippy up to?"

"Well, right now I think he's making his daily checks on the ship." The blue avian answered.

"Alright then, I'm gonna go to the bridge just in-case Pepper calls us." Fox said as he walked towards the door to the hall.

Fox sat in his chair, anxiously waiting for that one call, Krystal and Cross had come into the room. Cross had changed his attire, wearing a black tee shirt with a circle of flames and a red-eyed skull inside them designed on it, a baggy black pair of jeans, and a white pair of sneakers with black covering the sides. A few minutes passed until, "There is a call coming from Corneria." ROB said.

Fox's eyes lit up with surprise mixed with happiness, "Patch it through." The vulpine managed to say.

Author's Note: Now that that's done with, I've realized that I like writing action sequences the most and I hope I've done well on them. Not really much else to say here so until the next update, later and I hope you enjoyed.