Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.
 -Benjamin Franklin

Chapter 3: Fall of Zoness

Timothy sat in his own apartment for the first time since he joined the team. He had been awaiting the return of his father or mother so he may speak to them about the situation. He had been waiting for at least 10 minutes. He suddenly felt a presence all of a sudden. He turned and out of the corner of his eye he saw his father. Coyote had the scariest glare on his face that Timothy had ever seen. For the first time he was terrified for his life this time. Timothy stood without fear and turned to face his father.

"Go ahead, spit it out, you know what you did," Coyote demanded. Timothy bared his teeth.

"Nothing wrong, just finding the truth….about how I was supposedly the greatest Cerinian who ever lived? More skill than anyone, even you," Timothy retorted. Coyote let up a bit.

"Greatest? Hardly. You're still far too young for that," Coyote responded. "Krystal told you this?"

Timothy nodded heavily, easily noticeable. Coyote let up a bit more. Then, it all returned.

"They said that you threatened them," Coyote stated with a glare. Timothy laughed. He had never heard something so stupid before.

"Threatened?! No! Fox threatened to beat me! And if he did…he would've gotten it!" Timothy challenged. "You need to tell them to back off, or there are going to be some issues!"

Coyote had had it with his insults. "Enough! How dare you insult them like that!"

Timothy wasn't going to let up. "I did, and they deserved it!"

"I'm going to throw you out the damn window!"

"I dare you!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! I'm not afraid to hit an old man!"

Coyote lunged at Timothy and grabbed him by the leg. He easily flipped him off his feet. However, Timothy seemed to be ready. He caught himself and freed his leg easily. He jumped back up and punched his dad in the chest. He retaliated by a right hook to Timothy's shoulder. He was knocked off balance, but once again caught himself. He executed a sideways flip to dodge another blow. Suddenly, he was tackled by a strange figure. He was pinned down. He was about to throw a punch at his attacker until he recognized her, his mother. He wouldn't dare hit her. She pinned both of his arms down with her own. He tried to free himself, but she was shockingly stronger than him.

"ENOUGH!" she screamed. "What were you two thinking?!" Timothy struggled more, but she pressed harder on his wrist, causing him to groan in pain.

"Calm down," Ashley told him. Timothy finally froze and panted in place. Ashley sighed and slowly let him free. She leaned back until she finally sat down. Timothy didn't dare to move in fear of his mother's wrath. When she finally seemed to calm down, he slowly rose to sit himself.

"I'm sorry…" Timothy was interrupted by Ashley's raised hand.

"Don't be," she paused. "S**t happens."

Ashley got up and headed to her room. Timothy watched his dad offer his hand for him to take. He grabbed his outstretched hand and lifted himself up. Coyote nodded and Timothy nodded back.

The orange toad, Drew, and new Starfox Team member, sat in the bridge with Marcus and they talked business.

"Ship's nice," Drew commented. Marcus nodded.

"Our parents got the money for us, so here we are!" Marcus replied. They were interrupted by flashing lights on the screen in front of Marcus. Marcus spun in his chair and read the screen.

"Oh my gosh….Zoness is lost," Marcus said. Drew was shocked.

"Ambush?" he asked. Marcus nodded. Marcus punched some buttons into the control panel. Drew watched as the Great Fox IV entered a hyperjump. Before long, the planet of Zoness appeared. 100s of frigates blockaded the planet. The planet looked in extremely bad shape, it looked darker and small orange dots of fire were scattered over the planet. They didn't just invade the planet, they sacked it.

Drew looked down and sighed, while Marcus growled in anger. Drew was anxious for his first mission, and attacking them was suicide.

"That's too bad," Drew commented. Falco came running in and was shocked at the sight. Not once had a planet been sacked in the Lylat System. Zoness was ruined.

"They're trying to scare us, don't let it affect you," Marcus stated. Falco wasn't satisfied.

"Oh yeah?! What if they do this to Venom, Sauria, or even Corneria! Then what?!" Falco challenged. Marcus knew if something like that happened it would be over. Then, Marcus saw as the ships turned to execute a hyperjump.

"Track them!" Marcus ordered. Drew jumped to the keyboard and attempted to track their jump, but they got off too quick. Marcus slammed his fist into a panel.

"Damn! Now we don't know who they're going to sack next!" Marcus cursed. "Where are they going?!"

"Venom," a familiar voice answered. Marcus turned to see Timothy standing at the hall.

He made his way to the hyperjump controller and punched in Venom's coordinates.

Marcus attempted to stop him, but Timothy swiped his hand away.

"Do you want to die?!" Marcus challenged. Timothy whirled around.

"Do you want to lose everything?!" Timothy retorted. "While you three sat on your asses, I actually did some work. I learned from a few troops that Zoness wasn't the end. Venom's next, then Corneria!"

Everyone on the ship gasped. Corneria was a target. They had to stop them at Venom, at any cost.

(Timothy has changed from a laid back team player to a cold and serious one man army. It didn't take much! The next chapter will have the first big battle, so get ready!)