Chapter 10b: Echoes, Fox's Story

How long had it been? Fox almost didn't care anymore. Between all of the jobs his father had to work, he certainly had no time to see him. He uttered a small groan and fell back onto the bed. Was he at the bottom of his dad's to-do list? It felt like that at times. No… it felt like that all of the time. Every time was the same old thing. "Sorry son, but dad has work to do. See you around." And then he would leave, without another word.

"And to think I trained at the academy all of those years to end up like this… to be like him." Fox said with a hopeless sigh. "I'll just say I wanted to join the military. I'm sure they'll take me, I've got good grades." Fox smiled at himself. He remembered how it was before, when he was much younger. Back when he actually looked up to his father. He would see his father go out flying in the older arwings, before they had the more technically advanced ones available in schools today, and he would marvel. Loops, barrel rolls, U-turns, he could do it all. And he'd always come back the same way. With a smile on his face, his sunglasses pulled down over his eyes, and without an iota of fear or sickness. "How'd you like that, Junior?" That's what he used to want to be. But with age comes wisdom. Fox knew his father as heroic, those years ago… but he was a villain now. His mother was gone, his father always away… what kind of hero would leave his only son alone like this?

"Fox? Oh, dangit, my back." A stretched voice almost rasped from the doorway of the older Great Fox.

"Peppy!" Fox smiled and jumped off the bed with a sounding thud. He hummed his way across and down the steps to the lobby. The pristine walls were just cleaned, and the carpeting across the lobby just recently installed. It was a good life with respect to money, as James was never out of work. Sure, it was a price to pay, but Fox didn't think it was entirely bad. At least he got good food and a nice home, even if it was moving.

"Well, dagnabbit, Fox! You're just gonna leave an old rabbit at the doorway?"

"Hold on Peppy… and you overestimate yourself, you're in a prime age." He looked through the peephole in the door and saw his mentor in a bit of pain, his arwing behind him with a fresh paint job, nicely parked in the hangar. After analyzing the ailing rabbit, he unbolted the door with a few flicks up the claw and pulled the relatively heavy door ajar. "Why hello, Peppy, welcome back."

"Dah… y'act like you own the place, Fox! Don't forget that-"

"Please, Pep… not another lecture. Were you with dad, where is he? How is he?"

"He's fine, he's fine. Calm down, y'got plenty of time to-"

"What's he up to? He say anything about me?" Fox's doubts and dislikes of his father were quickly swept away by the greeting of the old hare, himself regressing back to a stage of hopeless heroic seeking. "He do anything cool? He gonna get me anything? Like, souvenirs?" What planet is he on, again? He's not hurt, is he?"

"Well, dagnabbit! Can't you give an old geezer a moment to speak? Or breathe for that matter?" The flustered hare burrowed his face in his hands and sighed, shaking his head back and forth. "What happened to 'Dang! When's dad gonna get home? It's, like, been, like, a week.'?"

"Uh…" Fox stammered and snickered, noticing that he'd been quickly caught and analyzed on the basis of his earlier conversation. "Well, maybe I like my dad. Sure, he's a pain, but… ah…" Fox reclined on the lobby sofa. "He's an interesting conversation topic, isn't he?" Fox smirked at the clearly frustrated Peppy.

"Uhkay… gimme a moment." Peppy reflected on the matter with his once impeccable memory and drew in a deep breath. "Yes, at work, fine, o' course, dunno, dunno again, Titania I believe, and o' course not." He finished his monotone responses and sat down with a plop.

"Y'know, Pep… those were about the most generic responses I've ever heard. Like, ever."

"That happens in your old age." Peppy smiled sadly.

"But… you're not old, Pep. I told you time and time again… and why so down? I swear, it's like you brought a rain cloud down on the whole ship… that's not very polite, you know. You being my godfather and all. You're supposed to set a good example for me. Make me strong and cheerful so I can get a job and-"

"D' y'ever stop talkin', Fox?" Peppy stared at the teenage fox and grimaced.

A long and awkward silence ensued. Fox slowly tilted his head down to look at the floor and sunk his shoulders and head down, bit by bit, until they were about level with each other. Suddenly and without warning, Peppy broke into bellowing laughter and Fox's ears perked straight up with shock.

"Uh! Uh… y'know, that wasn't very nice. You don't have to scare the crap out of me to prove your youthfulness."

"But it was fun. I admit that now. Besides, you need a scare every now and then." The hare continued to chuckle and wiped his eye.

"Anyways… onto a more useful topic, Pep, got a little concern with all of this… it's the mid-morning, dad's at work, you're his teammate… and you're here. Why, exactly? Shouldn't you be helpin' the man?"

"Hm." Peppy curled his lips together and thought. "Mmm... hm. Well… I'm not so sure either. This morning, they just up and sent me home. James said his farewells, they chucked me into my arwing, and they sent me home. I'm guessing that it's a private thing with the others."

"So… that's why Pigma isn't here… that would make sense." Fox stalled his conversation for a few second and gazed at the carpeting, falsely pretending to find interest in it, though actually in a state of thought. "You ever think you're gonna die in this war?"

"Oh… another problem with your dad."

"No, I asked you. Not about my dad, about you. Do YOU ever think you're going to die in this war?"

Peppy smiled and waited until he had the perfect answer, as he was very capable of doing.

"Well, Fox… no. I don't think so. S'long as I'm on your father's team, I don't think I'm in any danger. You know as well as I do that he can outfly anyone who's anyone."

Fox sighed and grit his teeth for a moment with exasperation, then relaxed his mouth to a closed state and eyed up to the ceiling with a second sigh, his shoulders into his motions as well.

"Fine. If you say so."

"And…" Peppy resumed slowly. "That Andross is a load of hot air. Reports…" He laughed and held two fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Reports say that he's mutated himself into a head with hands. He's got a good brain, hence why he can go and command all o' those ships he's got, but we know that it's only a matter of time before we blow him to kingdom come. All it's gonna take is the right time slot and a few good arwings… and we'll have him." He pounded his fist into his open hand. Fox finally smiled and relaxed.

"I guess you're right, Pep. The problem's on the ground and you're all an aerial force, right? No problem then."

"Attaboy, attaboy. Now… back to the 'My dad's the coolest' stage?"

"Eh… maybe. I'll be in my room." Fox gave Peppy the thumbs-up signal and hopped up the stairs back to his room.

That was all he really needed to ask Peppy. He knew that his dad would never be shot down, he was just too good, and the arwing abilities were far superior to anything Andross could cook up in such a close budget and time. But he still had the feeling all scared kids have… the feeling that they all felt, despite who comforted them, or how much. He was happy again for now, and he was unsuspecting… he hadn't known Pigma as well as he had hoped, but he did find him a slob. He didn't like him very much, but nevertheless found him sufferable. Sufferable for now… but those who know the story of Fox's past should know what came next. When Fox had to truly come to discover the extent of his father's weakness… as well as Pigma's weakness, and possibly even his own weakness. The news came a week later, after Peppy had to return to his work and the Star Fox team received the "Time slot" for what they were hoping.

Fox sighed and lay on his bed. He was bored again, and with boredom came thinking. Thinking of too many things for him to tolerate. Too many regrets. Too many desires. His father, Peppy, Fara, a future girlfriend… he felt as if he had too many problems. Fresh out of school and still jobless. "Not until you've had more training… actual training. Actual experience." His father was quite firm on that, and Fox despised it. "Actual training… actual experience…" Fox spoke aloud to himself, mocking his father. "Well, I can't get experience until you let me fly, now can I?" He smacked his fist against the bed with a creak, and heard an incredibly loud crash. He swung his torso and sat up, his eyes wide. The sound was hard to pinpoint, sounding as if it came from both nearby and far away. It wasn't long before he was on his feet and downstairs, searching for the sound.

"Whoa, what the heck is going on?" He slid across the floor in his efforts to stop once he had eyed the smoking doorway to the hangar. "Dad…?" He trembled a little and spoke quietly, moving his claws slowly to the door and swinging it open. His eyes widened in shock again and he gawked downward at a wounded creature, its body covered with the bland beige color of an ejection parachute, though he doubted he had meant to eject from the smoking arwing in the side of the hangar. "Peppy! Are you okay?"

"Now, t-that's no question, do I LOOK okay?" Peppy growled and stumbled to his feet with a disdainful crackling of his back. "Your dad… your dad!"

Peppy was the next to be dashing about the area. Fox, watching the cosmic shenanigan, shouted out with a very expected response.

"What about my dad? What happened, Peppy?" He began to pant with fear, heat, frustration.

"He…" Peppy gasped and grabbed at a walkie-talkie-like device. "We have an emergency situation, code 1336-"

"What happened, Peppy?" Fox persisted, now grabbing forcefully at Peppy's arm.

"I repeat, code 1336… we have-"

"What happened?" Fox nearly stabbed his fingertips into Peppy's arm until all went silent.

"Your dad… he's in trouble. Pigma betrayed the team… he gave James to Andross." Peppy spoke honestly, for the first time in his life unable to face Fox in the eyes.

"In trouble... how? What's… what's going to happen to him, Pep?" Fox queried innocently, though he knew it all already… what was going to happen, though not what would become of his future.

"We have to go back for 'im… we can get some others, and… we can get him back, we have time, don't we?"

"T-time… time before what?"

Peppy did not respond. He quickly gathered up supplies and went about his business. Fox's panting slowed, though his breathing quickened. His eyesight began to fade into a blurry view, and his combined emotions, be they anger or surprise, hatred or disappointment, sadness or fury, exploded out of him in a roar. The angriest Fox had ever been in his life… a memory that had long since been purged from his memory in self-defense, a scream of pain that thrust him back into the conscious world.

"Aah! Nnn…nn…gggaaah!" Fox threw his head back in agony and stabbed his claws into his leg. "Why? What…" He trailed off and felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"I can fix it… I know it hurts."

He looked down at his leg, at a long shard of metal from his destroyed arwing. A long shard of metal piercing through his right leg and out, about a foot out into the air. Then at the voice behind him… at Fara.

"You're… ah." Just as Fara had, the memory of what had happened prior to his awakening came back. "You're okay!"

"You, too. I was surprised to see you here… and I cleaned up most of the blood, the tough part is getting the metal out of your leg."

Fox was pale with fear and blood loss, but he knew he was going to be okay. After all, it wasn't a grave wound. After all, others had to have survived. After all… Fara was here with him again, her head patched, though a bit dry with blood. She searched through some of her emergency supplies and obtained from it a small torch-like tool.

"This might hurt a little… I have to cut it close… you ready?"

"What are you gonna do with that…" Fox's eyes became wide again.

"Separate the metal… I can't remove it entirely quite yet, but we can't go walking around with a three-foot spear coming out of your leg, can we?"

"Right…" Fox swallowed with a loud gulp and closed his eyes as she melted the metal away at the top and bottom of the entry points and ripped the metal into three pieces from there. He whimpered quietly with the closeness, but she never really let the fire touch at his fur too much. Once he was sure she was done, he spoke again. "You said walking… I don't think I can walk on this leg."

"Yeah… but you can walk on the other. And I can walk with both." She smiled and removed him from the arwing, holding him up with her weight and steadying him on one leg.

"Careful, careful…" He looked up into her almost-cheerful and calming emerald eyes. "And just how did you find me?"

"Easy, I looked." She continued to smile and grunted with the effort of holding him up on her own. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Oh… yeah." He began to hop and Fara sighed with the ease of his pressure lifting off her smaller frame. "But this place looks big… how did you know where to find me?"

She sighed and tugged on him harshly. "Questions later! For now… are you gonna walk or not?"

"Yeah, yeah… calm down." Though worried, he was happy to feel a small and barely noticeable smirk cross his face. "I'm coming. Just don't leave me behind, will you?"

"I would never." She smiled just as he did and the two left to find the next life in need of aid.