Chapter 3: R&R Time is Over
Krystal stirred slightly in her large bed as a beam of light made it's way into her room and onto her face. It continued to get brighter until Krystal finally had to wake up altogether. She sat up in her bed and yawned, stretching her arms out as far as they would go. Krystal stood up from her bed, and walked out the door. She noticed on her way to the bridge that there was music playing very quietly out of speakers attached to the corners of walls in the hallways. She stopped and listened, and could barely make out the words,
Can't you feel the poison rising, straight to the heart, from the venomous bite?
Krystal soon decided that this was a rather vulgar song, and continued her walk to the bridge. The hallways of the Great Fox were unnaturally decorative, with plants in small pots sitting on tables every 20 yards or so, and some very interesting artwork hanging awkwardly almost out of place with the rest of the ship.
It must get rather boring being up in space for such long periods of time. All these decorations must be tools for livening up this ship, they were probably Fox's idea, him being such a fascinating creature. He really does have a good eye for art.
Krystal gazed into a particularly odd painting of what looked like a small town with a mountain looking structure on the left side, and bright yellow stars over head. The entire painting was made out of swirls. Krystal smiled at this unique painting and strained her eyes to see the artists name on the lower right-hand corner. "Van Gogh". She shrugged and plodded on towards the bridge. It took her a while to find the correct path, but she eventually made it to the bridge. Upon entering, she saw a pair of arms dangling over the sides of the captain's chair.
"Fox…" she thought to herself and smiled. Krystal quietly approached the chair and leaned over the top of it. The upholstery of the chair squeaked, and Fox turned around, looking happy as a lark. He removed a cup of steaming, dark-brown liquid from its cup holder on the chair and took a quick sip.
"Well, good morning, Krystal!"
"Good morning, Fox McCloud! Are we on our way to Corneria?" Krystal replied enthusiastically.
"We're almost there; actually, we just came out of hyperspace. We should be preparing to land in about 15 minutes or so." Krystal nodded.
"Where are the others?" she asked.
"They're down at the kitchen having a bite to eat. You should go down there and eat something; we have a big day ahead of us." Krystal looked down at Fox with a sly look on her face. Fox immediately knew what she was thinking.
"I'll take you down to the kitchen, and I swear, I won't fall asleep this time." Krystal laughed and took Fox's hand. Holding hands was beginning to become a familiar gesture for the two young vulpine. After a minute or so of walking, they ended up in a rather large room with shiny, metal objects placed on some of the walls. Falco and Slippy were sitting at a rectangular table attached to the wall chatting furiously about sports. Krystal entered the room and stared inquisitively at the item ROB was preparing in a pan over an open flame.
"Fox, what is this strange yellow food item?" Krystal asked.
"Oh, that's an omelet, it's a cooked egg with cheese, onions, and other ingredients inside. They're really good, you should have one." Krystal smiled.
"I shall. ROB, could you please prepare me one omelet? I would appreciate it."
"Affirmative, preparing one omelet, your gratitude is not required." Fox chuckled and said,
"Well, while you are having breakfast, I will go prepare the Great Fox for landing."
"Right," Krystal began, "I'll be up in a few minutes." Fox walked off.
"Preparation of omelet is complete. Would you like to specify a new task for me?" ROB's usual voice came from the stove.
"No, that will be all ROB, thank you." ROB brought the omelet over to Krystal who began eating. Krystal's eyes widened.
"This is delicious…" she said amazed at the tasty mixture of a three-cheese blend, sausage, and egg, all cooked to perfection, "so many different flavors!" Slippy and Falco looked at her for a moment and continued their conversation about who would win this year's Galaxy Bowl. Krystal smiled and shook her head.
(The Great Fox Bridge)
Fox sat down in his chair and punched a few numbers into the keypad built into the arm of the chair. A woman's voice came on, sounding slightly cheerier than anyone would normally want to talk.
"Contacting: Cornerian Head of Defense; General Pepper." Fox shook his head, remembering how tired he grew of hearing the same woman's voice every time he tried to contact someone. After a few long minutes, each of which seemed like an hour, Fox became very bored, and started to make shadow puppets with his hands and fingers on the wall nearest the docking bay, located just to the left of the ominously large main window overlooking all that sat in front of and below the Great Fox. Fox was quite startled by a chuckling emanating from a deep voice, somewhere near the center of the bridge. Fox turned quickly, acting on instinct, and put his hands up for a fight. This action seemed to further the amusement of the floating figure which Fox now recognized as General Pepper. Fox put his hand behind his head, and hung his head down low.
"Sorry, General." General Pepper shook his head.
"Ha, it's quite alright, Fox, anyway, I am requesting that you land the Great Fox on platform I-728 of docking bay 94 upon entering Cornerian airspace. I've already informed the auto-defense network of your arrival, so don't worry about sending a clearance code to land. I'll be waiting there for your arrival, then we can discuss matters of payment." Fox smirked at the last word. It wasn't that Fox was greedy or material-obsessed, it was just that the Great Fox was in bad shape and in need of repair, and the arwings had also seen better days, and he was looking forward to getting them replaced or repaired. Plus, if the General was in a good mood, they might just have a generous amount of extra money to spend on themselves.
"Now you're speaking my language, General." Fox replied, acting as blasé as possible. The General chuckled and said,
"Of course, Fox, well anyway, I look forward to your arrival." Fox nodded and terminated the hologram transmission. Fox sat back in his chair with a completely satisfied look on his face.
That mission on Sauria completely changed my life for the better. Here I am with good friends, and a charming and beautiful woman that I could most likely have a chance with, and if that's not already good enough, I am about receive a hefty paycheck! Man, a great team, a great woman, and I'm about to be rolling in the Benjamins? Life is just too good to be true right now…
(The Great Fox Kitchen)
Krystal was just finishing up her omelet, when a familiar voice came over the P.A. system.
"Good morning, my oh-so loyal crew! This is your captain speaking, we have arrived at the docking bay, so I humbly grant you permission to leave. Please watch your step on your way out, that first one is kind of tricky. When you get outside of the Great Fox, General Pepper and I will be waiting for you at the taxi station on the left side. Fox out." Krystal stood, with some difficulty, for she had just consumed an enormous omelet, and she was quite full. An extremely cheerful smile came across her lips and she spoke,
"Well, duty calls!" This statement was followed by a few moments of silence, then a rather disheartening snigger from Falco, who was obviously poking fun at her. Slippy looked angered by the extremely rude laughter coming from Falco, but couldn't help but chuckle a bit to himself. Krystal looked about ready to start crying, but just shook it off and swiftly walked out of the kitchen and towards the gangway leading down from the bridge and into the bustling city that was Corneria. Once she set foot outside, she was blinded by a bright light from the sun directly over her. A gentle breeze slightly ruffled her bangs that complimented her already stunning face. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, her jaw dropped at the overwhelming sight that met her. An extremely large city with cars floating beside the tops of skyscrapers, billboards portraying their advertisements for miscellaneous items, a large, elevated stretch of road making loops, and coming back full circle all the way around the city, and finally, a marvelous set of picturesque mountains sitting neatly in rows showing off their green sides in all of their glory sat before her, gleaming in the sunlight. Krystal said quietly to herself, gaping,
"Nxuk u muhloceij fcuso!" Fox heard, and walked swiftly to her side, putting a caring arm around her shoulders.
"I have no idea what you just said! Come with me, General Pepper has given us time off to ourselves in the city while he gathers the money for our payment." Krystal, still gazing intently upon the wondrous city wrapped both of her arms around Fox's.
"Not that it's any of my business, but I am curious. Exactly how much money are we receiving for your services down on Sauria?" Fox gave her a questioning look, and then shot the same look towards the General. General Pepper seemed to immediately understand what the look was for and whispered something into Fox's ear. Upon hearing the quiet, yet apparently powerful words, Fox's eyes grew to the size of saucers.
"Ah hombre, eso es mucho dinero!" Fox spoke these words quickly and quietly, walking back and forth with a baffled look on his face. Pepper merely smiled and said softly.
"I'll contact you when the money is ready." And with that, he disappeared into the hull of a cab, chuckling to himself. Krystal giggled at the genuinely shocked state Fox was in, and kissed him gently on the side of his head.
"How much, Fox?" Fox stopped pacing, and stared intently into her soft teal eyes.
"Five-hundred million lylatanian credits." Fox chuckled at the unreasonably large amount of money they were going to receive, not really believing it. Krystal put a hand over her mouth, and took a step back, eyes wide.
"Oh my, well…ha…that's a…very large amount of money, Fox." Krystal let out a chuckle of her own. Falco, who had apparently been standing right behind the two the entire time, stuttered,
"fi-fi-five HUNDRED?!…million…" Falco looked a bit flushed and just staggered back up the gangway and into the Great Fox. Fox smiled and turned his full attention to the unbelievably beautiful vixen that stood mere inches from his own body.
"Krystal, would you be so kind as to…allow me to…squire you about the city, marveling at the architectural and cultural pleasantries, as one fox helping another fox get to know this place, and…" Fox's nervous speech was cut short by a now intensely giggling Krystal, finding great amusement at the shy vulpine.
"You want to take me to do social things together in this large city? Is that what you're saying?" Fox kicked the ground sheepishly.
"Well, 'social' as it were, is such a strong word, I mean, what is the definition of this 'social' in this crazy universe…well, yeah, that's pretty much it, you got me." Fox had really never been around women much at all in his entire life, so he wasn't exactly a lady-killer. Krystal nodded and put her arm out in front of her, letting her hand fall limply, fingers pointing straight towards the ground, as if motioning for Fox to take it.
"I would be honored, Fox McCloud."
Well, I must be doing something right. Maybe having success with women is a McCloud trait, or something, because I've never been on a date in my life…
Fox put on an unusually large grin, taking her hand, and silently thanking the maker for this opportunity.
Oh man, this tops it all. I would give up every bit of my 500 mil just for more things like this to happen between me and her. What is this strange feeling I get when I'm around her? It's like nothing I've felt before. Could this possibly be love? The great Fox McCloud is in love. Heh, go figure.
Fox and Krystal stepped forward onto a large circular platform that sat on top of a large tube going straight down to meet the ground. Fluorescent Halogen lights encircling the platform lit up brightly, and the platform dropped swiftly down the tube, the unusually large city coming closer and closer yet into contact. Slightly scared by this unusual dropping platform, Krystal held tightly onto Fox's arm. The platform slowed substantially and eventually came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the long tube. A door in front of the vulpine duo slid into the wall it was connected to, revealing a set of stairs gently sloping down onto an empty alleyway. Fox held his palm open towards the now open doorway as if to say, "Ladies first." Krystal merely stuck her nose high in the air and held her hand out. Fox took the hint and ran to the side of the stairs, taking her hand and gently guiding her down them. Krystal smiled and then chuckled a bit.
"Such a gentlemen!" Fox smirked. He thought back to his father, whom he had not seen for a very long time.
"My dad would be proud." He didn't remember much about when his parents were still alive, but he remembered that his father loved his mother more than anything could possibly comprehend. Fox couldn't exactly remember what happened after his father died at the hands of Andross, because he had tried for so many long years to shut it out of his memory.
Could Krystal and I end up married like my mother and father were? That would be nice, but I really hope we don't have the same ending as they did…
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Okay, I know the chapters are short, but I promise, they will get longer, I just kind of have to get into the story first. Oh yeah, guess what? SF: Command ruined everything. I'm serious, it did. 9 endings 9 pains in my heart. KRYSTAL with PANTHER? Dear God, what is the world coming to? Nintendo better get her and Fox back together in the next game, or I'm gonna be pissed.