Author Notes: To Begin, I would like to thank everyone who has not given up on this story. My life has taken some major twists and turns and must say that it has indeed had an effect on this story; whether it is my parent's divorce, my pondering enlisting in the army, or coming home after my escape from family to find love...all of it has taken a toll on this story. I have to say that those of you that were the most impatient were the biggest help, truly your guilt trips make me desire to write and please you all that much more rewarding now that I've accomplished this. I will be getting back into my pattern of writing and I am now out of my writer's block! I doubt you want to hear any of this anyway, that's what blogging is for...so I give you the first of the last three chapters...QK Krystal.
Krystal turned a yellow red-tipped flower between her fingertips.
- -
Rain pounded the small garage and collected in the roof's tin-waves and rolled downhill until it found a leak. The droplets fell inside, colliding against the shed's innards: onto a shelf, down a pipe, along a rust-eaten workbench. There the water swirled with the dirt and rust before splattering downward upon a wrench. The droplets ran towards a drain at the center of the garage. This helped the blood puddles spiral away.
Sparks would light the room for only moments as metal was being cut away from the Wolfen. The machinery screamed as its blade cut again into the hull and more sparks scattered against Slippy's beaten and bleeding body. His assailant finally managed to rip something from the ship as the figure turned to Slippy's begging eyes. Slippy tried to mouth a plea for mercy. The flickering of his communicator pulsed in his open palm.
The figure shook his head. The ship began rise and hover right over Slippy. He stepped into the shadows and the ship dropped from the air. Slippy only closed his eyes.
--
Krystal woke from her night terror. She pressed her hand to her heart as she fought to catch her breath. She checked the clock beside her bed, its red glow showed 3AM. She clenched her eyes and rubbed her temples before throwing the covers from her lap and stepping into the galley.
The swift movement stirred Fox as he awoke with a yawn. He sat up and placed his finger on the calendar, on a date that was circled: F.L.'s B-day. Jumping out of bed he forced himself to pull some jeans over his legs and turned on his bedside lamp and sat at the foot of his bed. He reached down and picked up the remote, which fell from the bed the night before, and turned on his radio. The smooth acoustics and vocals filled his dormitory and Fox bounced his paws against the carpet. Fox drew his face back with his hands and stood and moved over to his dresser, grabbing some towels, pushing aside Falco's gift for later that night and moved for the shower.
Migraine medicine and anti-depressants; removing it from the cabinet where she had hidden them inside the empty coffee can, Krystal threw the pills into her mouth and swallowed. She chased them with water and collapsed into a seat at the breakfast table watching the still of the morning through a window.
"Another dream, Krystal?" Peppy entered in a robe with an empty coffee mug in hand.
Krystal nodded.
"Are we still out of coffee?"
Krystal nodded once more, looking up as Peppy took a seat beside her. "Good morning, Peppy."
Peppy rolled the coffee mug in his hands. "You haven't been sleeping well, have you?" He looked toward their dormitory from where he could hear Fox's shower.
"I haven't." She shook her head and continued looking at the still dark morning. "What're you doing up so early anyway?"
He sighed. "I had a few things I needed to take care of this morning in the security room."
She took another sip of her water and chewed at her lip as she pulled the glass away from her face, resting it on the table between her hands and staring at where they were placed. "Peppy, if you knew something bad was going to happen...but you would have to do something truly awful to prevent it, would you?"
Looking aside, Peppy squeezed the back of his neck. "We do what we can, Krystal. I've asked the same questions of myself. The exception with you is your ability to witness the future and it sounds to me like you have a gift that you've been trying to kill." He tried to smile.
"You don't understand." She sat further into her seat. "Normally the messages are clear, there's a threat and we destroy it. I can't see what's watching us, there's something horrible going to fall on all of us but I can't see whose hand controls the trigger."
Peppy watched Krystal's rapid, axe-like hand motions and raised an eyebrow. "What is it you keep seeing, Krystal?"
"It's Fox. No matter what I try to change the result is the same, Fox..." The sounds of the shower hissed to a halt. She lowered her voice, "Fox is in grave danger, threatened by someone who cannot be seen."
Peppy lowered his ears and hunched his shoulders as Fox's dormitory opened. "Perhaps there's something you need to see. Come with me to the security room."
Krystal gave a bewildered nod and stood from her seat, catching her foot on Fox's.
"Whoah!" Fox managed to catch his footing but dropped his towel. He nervously pulled it back into place. "C'mon, Krystal, don't tell me you didn't see me coming." He said with a laugh.
"I can't foresee everything, Fox!" In the commotion her glass of water had spilled onto the table, she reached over for a cloth to dry it but found Peppy had already reached for one and was blotting the spill.
Peppy said with concern. "I got it."
She apologized and excused herself from the awkwardness, leaving Peppy and Fox, and marched for the security room.
"Did I miss something?" Fox asked, watching Krystal stomp off.
Peppy shrugged and shook his head.
Moving to the door, he called after her, "Krystal?" He turned back to Peppy who hadn't moved from his seat. "I swear I don't know what's gotten into this girl."
"Do you love her, Fox?"
"I--" His eyes grew wide. "Excuse me? Look I'm not having this talk right now. She's probably just upset that I've been putting too much into Falco's birthday and haven't given her much attention lately."
"What if she's seen something?" Peppy sucked at his teeth, turned in his seat, and put and elbow on the table for support.
Fox looked away. "Then we'll be ready for it, but she's got to tell me what's on her mind. I gotta know these things, right?" He continued to drip.
"I'm not sure you understand what I mean."
Fox froze and stared at the floor.
"I've known since I've done weekly review on the security holotapes. Don't worry, I'll keep it between us and have the records deleted. I can't risk people's trust in us being broken, they just wouldn't understand."
Fox nodded and still refused to look Peppy in the eyes, "Format all drives, delete all records. Please tell no one." Then met Peppy's gaze.
"Sure thing. I'll get started right away. Don't let it happen again, Fox. What if your father was watching?"
Fox left the galley.
Peppy sat there a few moments longer, staring into his empty mug.
"Hey, old man!"
Peppy turned at Falco's voice. "Happy Birth-"
Falco walked too quickly to be able to keep himself from slipping on the wet floor and collapsed, spilling the contents of a paper bag all over the floor. Falco groaned as he rubbed his head and stood. "Who the hell booby-trapped the floor?"
"Fox didn't dry...Falco did you buy some coffee?"
"Yeah, sure did. Since you'll be baby-sitting Slippy and the Great Fox, figured a hare of your age could use some assistance. Why are you staring at me, is there something on my face?"
"...Your neck."
The very can that Peppy spoke of found itself magnetically attached to the electric-collar that Falco hoped to hide.
"Peppy, I can explain this."
- -
Krystal flipped the switches and panels of the security terminal but the device was beyond her understanding. "Maybe this thing will explain who the unseen one is in my dreams." She opened a couple more folders before stumbling onto the security tapes of the dormitories. She stared at the log that had a playback of herself sleeping. "Oh this is disgusting. It's no wonder that little creep keeps volunteering for this position, I'll have to have a little talk with Slippy." She halted on Falco's tape. "But what are you up to?"
Falco was pacing his room with a communicator. Krystal activated the audio.
"...Bruno, I could give a rat's ass if you get this message. I did you a service in making sure she wouldn't testify against you. That wasn't part of our agreement, so we're done now. I ain't killing no more. My debt is repaid."
She narrowed her gaze. "...Who's Bruno?"
"He's a warden of a large prison ship. He's been in the news lately because he's been accused of inhumane treatment, torture, and killing his inmates." Peppy entered, sipping coffee. "I see you were exploring. Shut the door please."
How long was he listening in? Krystal stood and pressed the button to seal the door and returned to her seat.
Peppy moved the windows around on the computer screen before indicating his selection on the tapes. He selected all of the ship's records and pressed delete.
"Peppy?! What did you do that for? I thought you wanted to show me something."
"I did."
The ship chimed: now formatting drives 15%...
"Well?"
"You just watched me delete the ship's records." He stroked his brow.
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing you couldn't learn if you probed my mind." The pale light of the terminal filled the dark room with small blinks as the progress-bar increased. "Krystal, I've been forced to take responsibility for the sake of the members of this team; don't make this any more difficult than it already is for me. I had to make this decision and I had to keep a promise."
Krystal balled up her fist and pounded the counter. "I really am growing tired of people keeping secrets from me because they assume that I'll try to read their minds. If none of you are going to help me solve the secrets of these dreams, then I'll do it myself. I'll get my answers."
"What are you doing?" He watched Krystal pull a mobile phone from her pocket, she began to dial. "Krystal?"
"Operator, I'm trying to reach warden Bruno. Can you connect me, please?" She covered the phone with her hand and said to Peppy, "I'm going to remove some pieces from play. It will be easier to know who's responsible for killing Fox this way."
The computer announced: Deletion Completed.
- -
"This is where he was hiding."
The morning was cold and wet from the rainstorm of the night before. The two had crossed the way early from their apartment to draw less attention. Falco brought Wolf to the small shack made from sheets of tin and scrap.
Falco grabbed the handle to the sliding door and tried to push it aside. "Mmff. The thing's stuck. Give me a hand."
Wolf obliged, pushing it from the other side. Pressing his back against the frame and using his legs to push it open. There was a scraping sound as the heavy door slid, something was pressed against it, blocking the entrance. They stepped back to look into the few feet of opening. They stared as sparks fell from the ceiling and pipes hissed steam and the exhaust escaped into the air.
"Looks like he didn't hide well enough."
Running to the side of the building, Falco drew his blaster. "Wolf we gotta make our own door, he might still be alive!"
Wolf walked over with little concern.
Falco began shouting "Move like you got a purpose! He's a friend of mine."
"He's already dead, Falco, there's no need to rush. Why don't you give me a boost through one of the windows, shooting this early will just draw attention." Wolf pointed with his nose to an open window on the second floor.
Falco holstered his blaster, "Good idea." He moved beneath the window, and cupped his hand to create a foothold.
Wolf put his boot into Falco's hands and put his hand on his shoulder for support but Falco cried out as he put all of his weight into the jump and his grip was broken, dropping Wolf into a puddle. He stood, dusting the mud off himself, "What is it now?!"
Falco hissed as he held up bleeding hands "Your boots are spiked?!"
"Yeah they help with finding grip in hard places and for kicking face."
"Ugh, damn you. Here, give me a boost then." Falco spat into his hands and rubbed them together.
With a grunt and a smirk, Wolf changed positions with him and helped Falco catch the window and began climbing in. Before getting his legs inside he told Wolf not to stare too hard at his backside.
Wolf spat and Falco then tossed down a rope and helped pull Wolf inside.
The smoke was thick and the smell of exhaust was still there but most of it had trailed out the sliding door, making visibility somewhat easier.
"You're kidding me, right?" Wolf stared at his disassembled Wolfen that was in parts across the small garage. "You stole my fighter?"
"Yes and no. Slippy had the idea of getting your Wolfen's black-box. Ah damn it, Slippy!" Falco's eyes darted around the garage looking for any sign of his friend.
"Don't get emotional. Focus." Wolf motioned at Falco to look at his eyes. "Why'd you steal my fighter?"
"For its black-box. We believed that there might be details there that might clue us in over what took place in the F Hanger of the Great Fox."
Wolf nodded. "Good work."
"Just help me find him." Falco's words were lowered to a sharp whisper.
"I see some burns over here running along the wall that seem have been caused by blaster fire. At least, from what I can tell, your little tadpole put up some fight. Don't see any blood though, guess he was as poor a shot on foot as he was in the air." Wolf stepped over the scattered remains of his ship and ran his fingers along the walls of the make-shift garage.
Falco had stopped in his search, finding Slippy's crushed body. Wolf approached, taking notice of Falco's revered silence.
Wolf couldn't find any words to comfort him and made guttural mumbling and stepped aside.
"He crushed him." He said in disbelief.
Wolf nodded. "Yup."
Falco looked upwards to the ceiling. "He used the hydrolift. Released the Wolfen onto him."
Looking upwards, Wolf curled his lips in a look of admiration. "That's different." Falco stared angrily. Wolf redirected his words, " I'll see if I can find the remote, maybe he left something behind."
"Yeah why don't you do that." Angrily and abrupt were Falco's words.
The right side of Slippy's body was the only part free of the weight of the Wolfen and in his hand was the pulsing communicator. Falco unwrapped Slippy's fingers and took the communicator, stepping away from the wreckage. He took a few seconds, drew a breath, and activated the saved message:
His heaving breath swallowed his words and they were difficult to make out through his terrified and choking gasps.
If...you get this, he's got it. [static] He shot me...he shot me! Please, please... he's got an accent...he's a pilot...he's taking the box, the box...the box...he knew where it was...why...how... [static]
"A lot of good that does us. All I got out of that was he was shot by a pilot who's got the box."
"He had an accent."
Wolf's attention was on the ship's hull which had been cut into by a rotary cutter. "Right, that too. This guy..." Wolf's words trailed.
"What is it?"
"It's just that whoever did this knew where we stored our blackboxes...to be this accurate...to the 'T'." Wolf's head was inside the Wolfen's hull now, his voice echoing through what he assumed were Slippy's previous attempts. He freed his head and looked around. "I got nothing as far as finding any sign of the remote to the hydrolift, our little thief left a clean escape. Thinking he left the way we got in here."
Morning light flickered against Wolf's face in the shape of a small circle. Falco pocketed the com-link and approached Wolf. "Quit moving for a second."
Wolf turned, "What did you find?"
Falco reached for Wolf's head.
He threw his face away from his touch. "Don't touch me."
"Stop! I think I found something."
"Tell me without touching me."
Falco followed the light with his fingers to the furthermost wall. There was a large hole punched through the sheet metal. "Here."
"I see. A large-caliber shot. Must've been using a nega-scope."
"He was able to watch Slippy through the walls of this place. Sniper. I was targeted by the same powerful rifle before, punched through a dumpster." Falco put his eye in the hole and noticed the adjacent building. "Maybe there're more answers in there." He turned as far as he could to notice the flickering lights of police patrol cars parking nearby. "We've got to get out of here!"
Wolf tried to look over his shoulder through the gun-shot peep-hole. "What is it?"
"Cops. I see a couple of cars. Someone must've called in a disturbance." Falco pulled himself away from the hole and tried to look for a means of escape. His eyes followed Slippy's pooling blood to a drainage grate. "Help me lift this thing, would ya? Not trying to get aiding the escape on my list of damages."
With a grunt the two were able to pull aside the grate, revealing the crawlspace beneath. It was stained with oil and blood.
Falco found the time to be funny. "This time you go first, I don't want you goosing my tail the way in there."
Wolf scoffed and climbed down, getting on his belly and slithering his way through. Falco gave a last glance to Slippy's body and followed Wolf into the darkness; closing the hatch behind them.
The space they were crawling in was so tight that if it hadn't been for what felt like an earlier oil change, this task wouldn't be possible. They grunted where the passage narrowed and Falco's breaths came faster. Wolf halted. "Are you all right?"
Falco was gasping, she shook his head forgetting that it wasn't possible for Wolf to turn around.
"Falco!"
He gulped. "I'm fine. Please, go! Go!"
They were almost there, the light of day shining from a grate ahead. He lifted himself upwards and lifted the grate, light pooled in. "It looks clear." Wolf hesitated before leaving and climbed, getting his foot caught on something. He looked down.
Falco had his hand scratching wildly. He managed to release the boot and climb up where Wolf was standing. He was hyperventilating, he fought for his breath.
Wolf motioned his hand over Falco's shoulders and stopped.
He laughed as he tumbled out of the fighter right onto Fox. He rested his hand on his shoulders, pinning him down and looked into his eyes. At first Fox struggled to get his paws off him, but was caught by his glance.
"Wolf? Stop looking at me like that. It's the flowers, Wolf. Wake up. They sent you there to..."
Wolf shook his head and patted Falco's back. "Hey are you okay?"
Falco fell onto his backside and used the nearby brick wall as support. His breath began to normalize. "I'm okay. I just...closed-spaces...Slippy's blood...I could smell...''
Wolf knelt beside him and rubbed his shoulders.
Falco looked up confusedly, still trying to catch his breath.
"I know what it's like to lose a comrade. But don't lose your head now. Look." Wolf pointed to a trail of boot prints, soaked in blood. "Seems our thief wanted us to believe he cut his way out of the garage. These should lead us to the sniper's perch." Wolf lifted Falco's arm over his shoulder to help him to his feet.
Falco raised his brow at Wolf then followed the footprints with his eyes. "It's that one, with the glass roof." Falco pointed and began to lead the way to the base of the building.
It was an old building, carved from stone. The masonry and mortar had been worn by age but stood strong at five-stories, the red paint chipping around its corners. It was a tall and long building with what Falco mistook as a glass roof in his daze. They approached its double doors and stoop. The door stood ajar.
Falco held his blaster at the ready and motioned the unarmed Wolf back. He used a free hand to push the door aside. Darkness, the windows had been painted and covered. Falco pressed a button on his blaster and the mounted flashlight came to life. He stepped inside and Wolf moved closer behind, arming himself with an iron bar that was nearby.
Falco moved slowly, unsure what might be lurking in the shadows. He followed the boot prints but they were growing more faint, they lead up the stairs to no surprise. The innards of the building may have been an office at one time, there were many chairs and papers that were scattered about. Terminals that had long been broken were also crunching beneath their booted heels. As they ascended the stairs Wolf took note to the graffiti there.
He said quietly, "Marks of the monkey. Here. And there along the banister."
"Monkey? Venom? Swear you had rats everywhere."
"They weren't with me, I never have agents. This looks like sympathizers or perhaps posers though. Only squatters adopting scary signs to ward off intruders, they're probably long gone."
They continued up the stairwell and could see the door leading to the rooftop. Falco looked back to Wolf, "Right, I'm going to kick down this door and see if we can't surprise the Sniper. Just stay back and try not to get in my way."
"Don't let your emotions get in the way of your job. Just do it." Wolf jumped and turned around quickly. "I thought I heard something. I'm ready."
Falco took a breath and counted to himself. He grunted and gave the door a kick. The sound echoed through the entire building but the door did not budge.
"Wonderful. He's probably not going to be surprised now."
Falco delivered a second kick, ripping the door from its hinges. Unfortunately, not enough to break its grip on the door frame. The door sagged against its frame. Falco cursed and shot the door, finally dropping it. He ran into the light of the day.
Wolf waited a few moments, turning around again. He followed Falco upwards. The change of light Wolf was unable to stop his dash before bumping into the back of Falco. When his eye finally found focus he found himself in a green house, surrounded by flowers. "What is this?"
Falco shrugged and moved forward. He followed the aisle of flowers until he reached the Sniper's perch. "Right here. Take a look at this."
Wolf followed the flowers with his eye; each and every one of them had some significance to him somehow. They were the same flowers that had been haunting him in his dreams. Wolf finally looked where Falco pointed. "That isn't pointed at the garage. Why is the perch facing this direction?"
The rifle was missing from the perch, though the spotter's scope rested on a portable card table beside the rifle's steel swivel.
"It's because it's pointed at the hospital, Wolf." Falco opened the lens of the scope. A small paper fell from it.
"So?"
Falco read the paper and handed it to Wolf. "It's because that's where Fox is being kept alive. But who knows for how long."
Wolf opened the paper and it read simply: The quadrant killer is in Fox's room, trying to fix HER mistake. He froze and dropped the warning.
- -
…'Incoming craft: assuming docking procedure - Bay F." The ships chiming woke her. Krystal left her dorm room and walked a few steps and opened the door to Falco's dormitory. She found him breathing exhaustedly just as she feared: he found a way to elude his master and find a way to board the ship. She reached for the trophy that Falco had dropped on the floor and made her way to Bay-F.
She opened the doors to the hangar and watched as Fox searched the Wolfen. She stepped inside and struck him with the statue. He rolled onto his back, shouting in pain. He rolled onto his back and looked her in the eyes, "You?" She couldn't hold the teardrop back and delivered the second blow and ran away.
She ran past the restrooms and huddled in a corner in the kitchen. She reached up in the cabinets for her stash of medicine and pondered taking them all. By then panic had found her heart as an alarm sounded and she could hear a familiar howl.
She began to hear the voices that had been warning her that his might happen. "Krystal, my child what have you done?"
"Exactly what the spirits told me to do. It was the only way to save him."
"His life is still in danger as long as his lover lives."
"I won't kill myself. I can't."
"Sweet thing, did you think we meant you? Everyone's hiding it from you. He lies with the Wolf."
She stood shakily and made her way back to the hangar.
"They can't find out."
She watched Falco hold Wolf at gunpoint. "Death's too good for him." She intervened.
Krystal stood and pulled the flower from its vase. And she turned the yellow red-tipped flower between her fingertips. "Just keep sleeping until I can make sense of this, Fox. I love you." She pinched a petal and ripped it away and held Fox's mouth open. She forced the flower down his throat.