Chapter 2: Out in the world
It was another great day on Great Fox ever since Krystal announced that she was three months pregnant. Now that five months passed in this world, it was becoming increasingly obvious now. Krystal made her way down the hall and Falco passed by. Falco's eyes widened and he stifled a laugh just when Slippy came down to meet him.
"Whoa, lady, you're getting huge! At this rate, you'll be bigger than the arwing." Falco joked.
"Oh, Falco, give it a rest." Slippy said as he slugged the bird's arm.
"It's okay, Slippy. I'm a little uncomfortable with this too. I don't think I'm used to being this big." Krystal said as she put her hands on her round belly.
Falco looked for a second as Krystal became trapped in a maternal moment.
"Yeah, yeah. We heard about the baby. Now, c'mon! Fox says he has an idea." Falco said, beckoning forward.
When everyone was in the main control room, they all took their seats. Falco hopped in and propped his feet up on the table. Krystal took her new spot right next to Fox's seat while Slippy sat next to a snoozing Peppy. Peppy woke with a start (and a snort) just when Fox raced through the door. He looked like he had just won a million dollars, but Peppy guessed it was something even better.
"So, Fox? Why'd you drag us all here anyway?" Falco asked, shrugging.
"Well, Falco, the reason I 'dragged you all here' is because…I think we should go back to Hyrule and visit Link. Y'know, kind of…a vacation of sorts and for Krystal, it's safe to say it could be a baby shower." Fox suggested, causing Krystal to feel rather warm.
"Hyrule? You mean with that Link guy?" Slippy asked.
"Yes. He did help us out with Allos, so I think it's fair to say that he would enjoy a visit from the Star Fox Team." Fox reminded.
"Oh. Well, I suppose we could…" Falco began, but Peppy cut him off.
"I say it's a good idea, Fox. I'm sure we would all like to see our friend again."
Fox nodded in agreement and turned to Slippy.
"Alright, Slip. You better get that Dimension Ring ready. We're all going." Fox suggested.
"Right away, Fox." Slippy said as he raced off.
Falco shook his head with a shrug.
"Fox, you're the only man I know who would do somethin' like this."
In another dimension, Sonic the hedgehog was hanging out with his best bud Tails. The two-tailed fox had recently received a telescope and he had a lot of fun looking at the stars and planets. After a while, Tails raced over to Sonic, looking like an energetic three-year-old.
"Thanks, Sonic! I just LOVE this telescope!" Tails said as he hopped up and down, excitedly.
"I knew you'd like that, buddy." Sonic thought to himself, "It's a shame that Knuckles and all your other buddies couldn't come over. Shadow came over, but he's just been standing there since he got here."
"Ah, that's okay. You're the best friend a guy could ask for." Tails said, shaking Sonic's hand.
Some thirty feet away from Sonic was his black counterpart, Shadow. Ever since their last adventure through the dimensions, he had been spending a lot of time looking at the stars at night and the clouds during the day. He only had one person on his mind whenever he did this. Sonic wanted him to talk about it, but it pained the black hedgehog to do so.
"I'll never forget you…Zelda. I hope Link is keeping you happy like he promised me." Shadow thought as he closed his eyes.
It was true that Shadow liked Zelda, but he knew he couldn't have her. The reason he liked her, if you remember, was that she reminded him of Maria: an old friend that passed away. He vowed that he would return and that they would meet again.
Just when Shadow was beginning to calm his mind, Tails spotted something.
"Hey, Sonic! What's that?" He asked.
Sonic went over to the telescope and peered through the lens with one eye. For a minute, he couldn't see anything and was pretty curious on what Tails was talking about.
"Uh, what am I supposed to be looking at, buddy?" Sonic asked.
Tails moved Sonic aside and peered into the telescope. He adjusted it and then allowed Sonic to look into it again. What the blue hedgehog saw was somewhat horrific.
It was a kind of comet surrounded by a deep red cloud. It couldn't be the Black Comet, it was deterred some time ago thanks to him and Shadow. As he tried to adjust the lens for a closer look, he saw that the comet looked like it was ALIVE. It was heading in a direction Sonic knew all-too-well. That was where the Arwing II came a while ago.
"OH MY GOSH! Tails! We need to find the Chaos Emeralds and get going!" Sonic said in a very desperate tone.
"Why? Is something wrong with that comet?" Tails asked as he scratched his head.
"Tails, that's the same direction where Fox and Link came from! That…thing is no comet. It's alive! That thing is going right to Hyrule!" Sonic said, even more urgently if that was possible.
Upon hearing those words, Shadow acted up for the first time since who-knows-when. At first, he was just standing there like a zombie. But when he heard the word "Hyrule", he almost instantly changed from wonder to worry.
"Hyrule? If you're going there, count me in!" Shadow said as he raised a fist.
Sonic was slightly shocked. Ever since their meeting with Fox and Link when Shadow found out that Zelda didn't accompany the hylian hero, he either didn't talk or kept his conversations short. Of course, that was always a part of his nature.
Sonic shrugged and uneasily said, "Okay then."
The blue blur looked out into the world and seemed to concentrate hard on where the emeralds were. This was going to be one tough challenge.
"I'm going to find the Chaos Emeralds. If I'm right, they will warp me through the dimensions. It'll take time. But with Shadow, we'll find it in no time." Sonic said to pretty much no one.
Shadow took off in the opposite direction from Sonic and the hunt was on.
Dimensions away, Link was racing off to the castle. For the last two and a half years, he had had several adventures through the dimensions and now he thought he could take it easy. He had fought Concolor, the ferocious feline that experimented with the dimensions to try and bring back Ganon. And he defeated Allos, the bounty hunter that actually did what his predecessor failed to do; and he had to fight Ganon for the second time in his life. Ever since that adventure, he had actually proposed to Zelda and she had accepted without him even asking. Now that he had a wife, he had new responsibilities to take care of. During the past nine months, the happy couple had done virtually everything together. And about a month later, they found out that she was bearing a child. Still, Link had to get back to the castle as soon as he could.
"Whew! I thought I was done for with that monster. Zelda's going to kill me; better hope that she's not in one of those mood swings…" Link said to himself.
He was about halfway there when there appeared to be a huge gust of wind. Link looked up and saw what appeared to be a big, electric blue portal. He remembered seeing something similar, but this one was much larger.
"This looks familiar…" Link said, remembering that fateful day.
Somewhere back at Hyrule Castle, Zelda looked out the window and saw the portal. Even from the castle, she could see it.
"Is this what I think it is?" She asked herself.
Without another word, she hurried off as fast as her swollen womb would allow her. It took about half an hour, but she finally found Link and when she looked up, she almost fainted.
An enormous flying object was flying out of the portal like a pterodactyl flying out of a cloudbank and it was moving. It slowly flew to the borders of Hyrule. Then, slowly, it sank past the mountain range.
"Did you see that?" Zelda asked, holding Link's shoulder.
"Of course he did." A voice said.
Link whirled around and almost knocked Zelda over to see the Star Fox team right behind him.