Elarix's A/N: Well look who showed up. Big surprise, I know. I guess after I finished my first stint with Sheppard, I realized just how addicted I was to making fun of him. Welcome one and all to round 2 of roasting Sheppard!

Sheppard's A/N: Ain't this just a kick in the teeth. I get recruited to write an arc of Elarix's Hunting Party, and it takes us almost an entire month for each chapter. I bring him on for Another Station, and we get the first chapter done in less than a week. Granted, I was sick then, but still. That doesn't seem fair.

Anyway, fellas, Elarix is on board for the next three chapters, and I probably will regret my decision in doing so very, very soon. I apologize in advance for the content. Take care, and enjoy!

[҉]

Chapter V — The Second Station: Subzero [Period One]

[҉]

*1st Intermission*

Rage Against the Machine — "Bombtrack"
Foo Fighters — "Savior Breath"
letlive. — "Muther"

[҉]

The next day, Star Wolf landed the Vigilant on Corneria—well outside the urbanized area of the main city. To avoid law enforcement completely, they landed in a well-forested wildlife reserve more than twenty miles outside the capital. From there, they piled into Fox's SUV and tanked the long drive to downtown Corneria City.

Within the next hour, Fox had driven the car through the massive skyscrapers and clustered buildings of Corneria's capital to the Space Dynamics Center, an arena aptly named for its sponsor, and because Elarix does his goddamn research about hockey.

Just barely finding an empty space in the crowded parking lot, Fox parked his truck and allowed the members of Star Wolf to disembark. They stepped out into the street in front of his SUV, taking stock of their team. Every member was disguised to some extent; Fox, Natalia, Adam, and Patrik all wore civilian clothes, effectively concealing the true nature of their occupations. Wolf took it to the next level, however; he wore a long brown trench coat that reached his ankles, a floppy western-styled hat that hid his brow, and a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes.

"Uh, Wolf?" Fox said. "Isn't that taking it a bit too far? You look like you're about to rob a bank, if I'm honest."

"My face could be all over Corneria, pup," Wolf explained through gritted teeth, barely moving his lips. Glancing between the street lamps that lit the parking lot, he continued, "I can't risk anyone spotting me—or Leon, for that matter. The feds have our profiles down to a T, you know."

"Hey, Fox, enough with Wolf. How do I look?" Sheila asked giddily.

The vulpine turned to look at Sheila, and was once again reminded of her ridiculous outfit. "That's uh... real nice, Sheila."

The husky was completely decked out for the sports event, as if she had been prepping for it her whole life. She wore a white jersey lined with black and red bands—a jersey much too large even for someone of her height. The front of the shirt bore the Major's logo, while the back displayed "Price" and the digits "31" in black lettering. The jersey would have been completely acceptable on its own, but Sheila decided to go all out for her team, smearing their colors across her face with paint and wearing a team-decorated ski cap on her head. Finally, to top it all off, she even insisted on carrying a large foam hand with one finger extended that proudly proclaimed, "You're number one!"

"Ugh, Sheila," Natalia grimaced, covering her eyes. "The idea is to not attract attention, or didn't you get the memo?"

Rushing to Sheila's defense, Fox said, "Actually, she's got the most convincing disguise out of all of us. With a wardrobe like that, no one would suspect she was a mercenary; she looks like any stereotypical fan. You all could learn a thing or two from her."

The coyote folded her arms and huffed indignantly. "At least I'm not bandwagoning off whatever team's popular at the moment."

"Lol: you're totally right," Kajær agreed.

Patrik raised his fist threateningly over the blue jay's head, deadpanning, "I thought I told you never to say that again."

In response, the blue jay cowered back and raised his hands defensively. "Wow, okay, no need to get all shitty about it. If it wasn't for the money, I would be so done with this team."

"What about you, Leon?" Fox asked. The chameleon was still in the front of the SUV, though he had shifted over to the driver's seat after the team piled out into the street.

"Er, no, I'm afraid I'll sit this one out," Leon intoned.

"Aw, what's the matter Leon?" Sheila pouted. "You're not a big hockey fan? Come on; you'll love it! If ice skating sounds too feminine for you, most of the game is actually fist-fights and brawls between teams, and people get beat up, and there's lots of blood and flying teeth and, and—"

"No, no, I couldn't," Leon repeated, shaking his head desperately, his eyes screaming at the rest of the team for help.

"Just try it for five minutes, please?" Sheila begged, giving the chameleon puppy eyes that would have melted Andross's heart. "I'll even let you use my ticket... but only for like, five minutes, and then it's my turn again!"

"Let the lizard be, Spitz," Wolf ordered, coming to Leon's rescue. The entire time Sheila was gushing, the chameleon had been slowly sinking down in his chair beneath the viewing range of the window, and even had a finger over the button to roll his window up if it came down to that.

"We already talked about this," the canid went on. "We only have enough tickets for ourselves, and we need Leon to be ready with McCloud's car in case something goes wrong. Plus, Leon was never good with crowded areas. Too many people."

Fox nodded knowingly. "Oh. Social anxiety, huh?"

Wolf smirked beneath his sunglasses. "Nope. The temptation to dismember things just overpowers him in large crowds."

Fox blanched. "Oh..."

"Well, come on already," Sheila said, grabbing onto Fox's shirt sleeve with the force and strength of a world-class athlete. "We don't want to miss the game!"

Fox let the hyper-active canine drag him over to the center's front entrance, with the rest of Star Wolf trailing behind the couple. They fell into a long line in front of the arena's doors, waiting their turn to get their tickets checked. While Sheila gushed in Fox's ear about her favorite players' stats, the vulpine couldn't help but notice Wolf's paranoia. The lupine constantly looked over his shoulder at the people standing in line behind them, and buried his muzzle in the flaps of his trench coat whenever security officers strolled by.

When it came time to scan their tickets, Fox stepped forward and offered the ticket master his and Sheila's slips of paper. Once through, they turned around and waited for the rest of Star Wolf to follow. Natalia, Adam, and Patrik were visibly nervous as their tickets were scanned, but Wolf had the worst reaction of all. He fumbled with his ticket, paws shaking as he handed it to the ticket master, then swiftly stooped over to pick the slip of paper back up when he inevitably dropped it. To his relief, he didn't draw the attention of a group of Cornerian police officers conversing nearby.

Chuckling, the ticket master scanned his slip and handed it back to the lupine. "Don't worry, sir; the crowd in Corneria City isn't a particularly violent one. I'm sure you won't get wrapped up in any fist fights... even if you don't side with the Corneria City Majors." And he jokingly glared at the canid.

"Er, yeah, thanks." Wolf straightened his hat after bending to pick up his ticket and hurried on, catching up with the rest of his team.

Fox smiled condescendingly at Wolf. "What was that!?"

The lupine cleared his throat, looking around nervously. "Uh, what was what?" he echoed as if to relieve the embarrassment.

"You were sweating bullets back there!" Fox exclaimed. "I have never seen you so scared before! And they were just checking your tickets!"

"Ah shut up, runt. At least I have the courage to pick up jobs well outside what the law finds acceptable for mercenaries."

But Fox wasn't about to let it go; for once he had found something to make fun of Wolf with. "Whatever you say, Butterfingers."

"The boss has the right to be worried," Patrik grunted blankly, slowly strolling by towards the direction of their seats. "We aren't exactly buddies with the CDF, and if that staff member recognized us, we'd have to call this whole thing off and abandon ship. You wouldn't want that to happen, now would you?"

"Heck no," Fox agreed. "Not after I bought the four of you tickets. All four of you tickets..." He cringed when he tasted the phrase on his tongue. "You know I'm out over 4k because of this?"

"Relax, pup," Wolf said as he rested a paw on Fox's shoulder. Ironically, behind his blacked out sunglasses the lupine's eyes were darting from security cam to security cam. "We'll make it up to you after we complete this operation. Muzzin isn't exactly Hobo Joe off the streets. He can pay up."

"Well, if you say so... boss," Fox mockingly answered, following the malamute towards their seats.

The six of them then cautiously, yet calmly trotted through the never-ending stream of fans sporting the Majors' red and black in an attempt to get to their seats before the game started. Fox noticed on the screens dotting the outside wall that the Majors' game was being played against the Larkinge Disciples, probably the second-best team in the league behind the Majors themselves. He groaned internally, knowing that it would most likely be a sold out crowd in attendance.

Thankfully, when they arrived at their seats—if they could be called seats—the game hadn't started yet. They had managed to buy six seats in a row in the back of section 117. The problem was, they were standing room only tickets.

At the head of the line of team members, Fox called out, "Alright. Here are our spots."

Confused, Wolf looked down at the ground, noting the neon-colored duct tape that designated their standing areas, along with the stainless steel ledge that lined the back of the last row's seats. Swiftly looking back up and glaring at Fox, he hisses, "You got us standing room tickets!?"

"Well what kind of tickets would you expect to find left the day before the game?" Fox shot back. "Center ice?"

"4k my ass!" Wolf barked. "Come on, how cheap were these tickets really?"

"As long as we're on the subject or your ass, haven't you been sitting on it all day? First on our way over here on the Great Fox—er, I mean the Vigilant—and then we drove for an hour after that. Tell me the truth; don't you want to give your butt a bit of a rest?"

"I swear to god, McCloud—"

"Woooohoooo!" Sheila cheered, suddenly jumping up between them and waving her foam finger wildly about. "Gooooo Majors!"

"Ugh, dammit Sheila!" Wolf tightened the flaps of his trench coat around his face and peered distrustingly around the arena. "You're going to blow our cover!"

"And could you lay off of her for one minute?" Fox chided Wolf. "She's just trying to have fun. Your highest priority should be finding Scarlet in the crowd."

"Fine," Wolf sighed. "As long as you'll shut up. Kajær, Dahlstrom: see if you can—"

"Already on it, boss," Patrik answered blankly.

Wolf and Fox turned to look at their teammates; both the malamute and blue jay were holding pairs of binoculars to their eyes, scanning the crowded stadium for the red vixen. In any other situation, Scarlet would be easy to spot; with her brilliant red fur, she would stand out in any crowd. Yet, with the red team colors interspersed with the hockey fans, finding her would be more difficult than usual.

After a few seconds of scanning the crowd, Kajær abruptly wolf-whistled and elbowed Patrik. "Saaaay, get a load of that cardinal chick. Damn, that's a fine rack!"

Still staring through his binoculars, Patrik asked, "Do birds even have breasts?"

"What!?" Adam exclaimed. "Of course they do! What fun would we have if our babes didn't have boobs?"

"I don't know, man," the malamute continued, adding enough tone into his voice to imply he was still interested, yet in all honesty he couldn't care less about the situation. "I just don't think birds have breasts. It's not anatomically correct. Think about it; you guys aren't mammals, and you don't feed your kids milk. So, why would your women need boobs?"

Kajær shrugged. "I dunno. Why do all guys have nipples?"

"Hmm," Patrik hummed. "Touché."

"And besides," the blue jay went on, "Haven't you ever heard of the red-breasted nuthatch?"

"That just refers to the plumage on their chests," Patrik countered. "I'm not a biology major, but I still know that."

"Alright, then what about blue tits, willow tits, and marsh tits? How do you explain those, huh?"

"I don't think those are the same kind of tits, Adam," the canine said, withholding a chuckle. "Plus, what kind of idiot would name their species after their sexy bits? What, do people call my species Fichinan boobies or tundra dicks? I didn't think so."

"Look, this would all be solved if you just looked at the chick," the blue jay huffed. "She clearly has boobs."

"I'm going to assume this woman's fictitious until I see her and her boobs with my own eyes. What section is she seated in?"

"Uh..." Adam swept his binoculars to the side, looking for the section number. "112. See her?"

"I don't see..." Patrik trailed off, frowning. With a deadpan tone that questioned his sarcasm, he blurted out, "Those are just implants."

At that moment, Fox's phone vibrated in his pocket. He immediately whipped it out and unlocked the screen, revealing a text message from Scarlet he had just received.

"What is it? What's it say?" Wolf asked, worriedly.

"Uh, it's just from Scarlet," Fox answered calmly. Silently, he read the message to himself.

I'm in section 232. Can see u and ur friends. Let's meet during 1st intermission

"I don't think we can see her from this angle," Fox explained, craning his neck. "But she wants to meet with us during the first intermission."

"Good," Wolf huffed, letting out a sigh. "The sooner we can get out of here the better. Every second we stay is just one more chance someone will recognize us."

Fox's phone buzzed again. He looked down at it.

B careful messaging back; my phone is on vibrate and I don't hav any pockets. U no where it is ;)

Quietly and coolly, Fox tapped through a few menus until Scarlet was once again blocked.

"I hate Scarlet sometimes," he deadpanned.

"Why?" Adam asked. "There bad blood between you two?"

Fox shook his head. "No, she's just… the walking definition of a rash decision."

"Dare I ask why?"

Again, the vulpine just shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough."

"She sounds interesting," Natalia piped in, poking up alongside Fox.

"Oh, she is," Fox was all too quick to answer. "She's extremely interesting."

"In a good way, I suppose?"

"Depends. On one hand, all she believes in wearing are these tight, form fitting catsuits that look like they're straight out of a porn magazine. On the other, she's… well… let's just say that she's not appropriate for kids… or young adults for that matter."

Natalia smirked. "Understood."

The team stayed silent all throughout the team introduction and Corneria's national anthem, more out of security rather than respect for most of them. The only noise that came out of any of the six of them was Sheila howling and cheering during the introduction. Nevertheless, while the surrounding fans packed into the seats roared and screamed in anticipation of the opening faceoff, both Fox and Wolf rested their elbows on the stainless steel ledge sitting comfortably behind the rows upon rows of seats. The view wasn't the greatest, and the fact that they didn't have actual chairs made it impossible to enjoy the game, but Fox knew well that they weren't there to watch. The away team won the draw, slowly bringing the fans' noise down to tolerable levels. As soon as Fox could hear himself speak, he shuffled his feet, cocking his body away from Wolf as he crossed his ankles.

"Not the greatest place to talk business," the vulpine remarked.

"I don't particularly mind it," Wolf responded, surprising Fox in a way. Never did he think Wolf would actually enjoy this setting, especially with such a secretive objective looming overhead. "Once the game starts, all the cameras are on the ice. We can relax for now, I guess; just so long as they don't crown Spitz the fan of the game."

"Don't you think someone'll overhear us?" Fox questioned, keeping his voice low.

Wolf chuckled, swaying his tail as he stared out at the ice. "I remember my first time operating above the law. It was terrifying, and I'll be damned if I said I didn't see myself in that same situation. Believe me, once you get a little confidence in this field, you'll start to loosen up."

Fox only nodded, continuously scanning his surroundings. "So, how're you gonna explain your fumble when we got in?"

"Did you not see the four Corneria City police officers standing right there?" Wolf retorted. "Those assholes have a damn database saved in their heads, and guaranteed I'm at the top of that flippin' list."

Fox let out a soft moan of realization. "Fair enough. Sorry for harassing you."

"S'okay."

The first whistle blew on the ice, stopping play and allowing an overused mainstream electronic song to sound over the systems as the players on the ice changed up.

"To answer your earlier question, no," Wolf added. "Have you ever been to a CHL game before?"

"Once, like, over five years ago," Fox answered. "And Fara took me, so we were up in the premium club seats with great food, drinks, and treated with the whole VIP package. I've never been down on ground-level seating."

"Oh, I see," Wolf said with a smug inflection. "Lettin' your rich girlfriend get you the nice seats."

Fox could've sworn he saw Sheila's head poke over Wolf's slouched frame, but he dismissed it and replied, "Well, at the time she wasn't; she just wanted to take me to a game since we were slow in the merc business. But yeah, Fara and I were off-and-on a thing for… well, ever since she convinced her dad to partner Phoenix Industries with Star Fox, and talked me into letting her join."

"Phoenix Industries?" Wolf scoffed. "I thought you didn't do business with them."

"I didn't, until Fara did that," Fox corrected. "Like I said yesterday, I was a main advertizer with Space Dynamics—kinda like this rink—'cause they made good stuff. But the only issue was that they weren't cheap, being an independent corporation and all, so by switching to Phoenix, we saved a lot of money. But, we lost reliability too. Most of our stuff had to constantly be repaired, which sapped up the money we saved by switching, and then some."

Wolf chuckled once more. "So, what made you stick your dick in her?"

"Come again?" Fox blurted out, a bit louder than he should have. He waited until the few people that looked back at him turned away to watch yet another faceoff before he continued in a hushed voice. "What's it to you?"

"Call the cops on me for being curious," Wolf said with a tone of short-tempered sarcasm.

"I just wanna know why you're curious," Fox stated, a smug smirk appearing on his muzzle as he cranked his head around to face him. "What, you gonna record my story so you have new material to jerk off to at night?"

"Don't push it, runt," Wolf growled, batting at Fox with his tail, applying as much force onto the back of Fox's knee as the bushy appendage could give out, which actually was quite a bit considering that Fox had to grab onto the narrow ledge to keep himself from falling as a result.

"Sorry," Fox chuckled to himself, repositioning his feet as he leaned more of his weight onto that ledge. "But, anyway, Fara was the one that was hot for me, thank you. You haven't met her, have you?"

"Only seen her on the news," Wolf replied with mock interest. "I always thought of her as a snotty, ungrateful rich bitch with all of the interviews and pieces they do on her."

Fox impulsively swing out his left paw and hit Wolf's shoulder, to which the lupine didn't even flinch, or react for that matter. "She's actually a very intelligent and sweet girl. She may flaunt that Phoenix last name and heritage, but she's one of the nicest people I've met."

"Then what's the deal with you going off-and-on with her?"

Fox sighed and let his ears fold back. "Well, she does have a bit of a temper once you get her going. And she's impulsive too, because you don't need to think too much into the future when you've got as much money as they do. Half the time I didn't even know what we broke up over, but if you gave her a few months she'd come crawling back."

Wolf shook his head. "I wouldn't be able to deal with that. If I actually went out with women, I'd have to mix it up every once in awhile, or I'd go... insane."

"I thought you were about to say gay," Fox subconsciously remarked, immediately slamming his lips shut.

Wolf gave him a nasty glare out of the corner of his eye.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Fox added in the midst of silent laughter.

"Don't even get me started," Wolf grumbled.

Fox looked back at the rink, watching as one of the referees escorted a home player towards the penalty box, with the player passionately trying to plead his case with flamboyant gestures and slightly audible foul language, but to no avail. As the away team—with the man advantage—lined up for yet another draw in their offensive zone, Fox got Wolf's attention with a quick bat of his tail to his behind.

"And what did I tell you about going gay, McCloud?" Wolf snapped his teeth together. "Touch me there again and I'm gonna use your tail as a scarf."

Fox lifted his eyebrows. "Okay, what do you have against them? Is there something I'm not getting?"

Wolf shuddered slightly and shuffled his feet. "Just the thought of it is disgusting to me. I mean, how can someone with a dick feel hot for someone else with a dick? I just don't understand that."

"My brother said it was a lot more than that," the vulpine interjected. "It's more than just an attraction, so to say. There's years of friendship between people like that. Todd was best friends with his now-husband for five years before he felt that attraction."

Fox was cut off by a series of whistles and a huge roar of cheering. Both canids looked down at the ice to see two opposing players flip the gloves off of their hands and grab each other's jerseys. The home player, a large alsatian, was the first to start throwing punches while the away player, a feline of some sort, did his best to try and protect himself.

Wolf started clapping and cheering them on. "Yeah! Kick his ass!"

Seemingly obeying the lupine's command, the shepherd started overpowering the smaller feline, pushing and dragging him around the center of the ice to try and knock off his balance, while the feline clung on and tried to land a few punches. The shepherd eventually got the upper hand, landing an uppercut so powerful that the feline's helmet popped right off of his head. Finishing the cat off, the home player pulled the feline's jersey over his head, starting an onslaught of punches that made the crowd explode in howling cheers. After a while, the canine pulled the opposing player down to the ice, prompting the officials to intervene and split them up.

"You wonder why I said I don't mind this?" Wolf asked rhetorically, raising his voice over the loud cheers of the surrounding fans. "I have to say that I like this just because it's the only sport that you can beat the shit out of someone you can't stand and only have to sit in a box for five minutes as punishment. Hell, I'd do it for a living if I knew how to skate."

Fox laughed and gave Wolf a gentle elbow. "I'd watch you fall on your ass any day."

"Bitch, please," Wolf scoffed in apparent disgust.

"It isn't easy if that's what you're thinking," Fox interjected. "You gotta stand on a fraction of an inch of steel on ice while five other guys try to beat you to death with sticks. Oh, and for skating, it's harder to stay on your feet the more out of shape you are."

Wolf shot the vulpine another nasty stare. "You wanna test me, McCloud? I'll fight your ass right now to show you I'm in shape."

"Round isn't a shape you should shoot for."

"You know what, runt, I'm—"

Wolf was cut off by an explosion of cheers, followed by a shrill, deafening goal horn, signaling the home team just shot one into the back of the net. Both canids abandoned their hostility to see the celebration taking place on the ice, and the sea of black and red in the stands that were boisterously proclaiming their undying affinity for their home team. Behind Wolf from Fox's perspective, Sheila was howling along, energetically jumping on her toes like she was celebrating with the team itself on the ice. Fox smirked at Wolf, who just rolled his eyes when he caught on to what the vulpine implied to him with that simple expression.

Once the cheers died down after the home announcer loudly retold the goal scorer's name and number, Fox shifted again, leaning more towards Wolf as he spoke.

"What were we talking about again?"

Wolf shrugged his shoulders, continuing to stare at the ice. "Something about you and Fara. Truth be told I couldn't care less about that, so I'm switching the topic to something more relevant."

"Good," Fox said, swishing his tail in apparent interest. "Hopefully something about this mission."

"Right," Wolf responded, putting most, if not all of his body weight into leaning on the metal ledge. "So, like I said, this is gonna require a lot of interplanetary travel, so we can't start anything until we clear our names off. Even so, we still gotta be careful. They might have specialists right on our tails, studying our every move, but clearing our names will make it easier to get around; maybe even slow those guys down or get them off our backs for a bit. Hopefully Vince can clear just the CDF's main database. He probably knows that there's more than one file on all of us. Anyway, as soon as we do that, we can start our first actual operation."

"I'm listening," the vulpine breathed.

"Muzzin's deal says that we need to do some, quote, "unorthodox manipulation", to push a little bit more following into his campaign," Wolf relayed. "His counter-attacks on his competition have backfired against him, so he's desperate for a break. He wants to avoid turning the campaign into a vendetta. Rather, he wants us to get involved. He wants us to create situations where his competition won't have a good enough reaction, where he can win the argument and gain some steam."

Fox blinked. "So we're basically terrorists."

"Not exactly," Wolf corrected. "We're simply hired guns, paid to create a little chaos that only one man—my stepfather—can potentially fix."

Again, Fox blinked, this time contorting his muzzle into a skeptical expression. "That… basically defines terrorism."

Wolf huffed and pivoted his body, leaning on the ledge as he faced the vulpine. "Listen, you're an underground mercenary now. You don't have to abide by the law anymore. Scratch that, don't abide by the law anymore. You need to harden up and stop acting like it's your god-given duty to be Mister Lylat."

"It isn't, and never was," Fox retorted. "I'm sorry that I grew up in a world where breaking the rules got you in trouble. It's gonna take a lot more to get me to do any of this without unconsciously hesitating every time I try to do something."

"Well you better learn fast," Wolf spat, turning towards the ice again.

"Ladies, you're both pretty," Natalia remarked, slipping between the small sliver of space the two canids left. Fox tried to back away out of impulse, but the coyote was quick to grab his arm and pull him back in. "What'cha guys up to?"

"Tellin' McCloud he needs to not be a pussy when we start getting physical," Wolf gruffly answered. Natalia snorted and started giggling, getting a curious glance from the lupine. After a moment or two, Wolf suddenly went wide-eyed and about stumbled backwards. "Not like that, you sicko."

"And you call yourself straight?" Natalia inquired with an all-too-confident smirk.

"Can we just stop with the labels?" Fox impatiently interrupted, gently pushing the coyote out of the way. "Hey, I don't have a problem working for money, alright? What I do have a problem with is my new homophobic misogynist boss that treats you girls like property."

Both Sheila and Natalia gasped, with Wolf rounding out the reactions with a low growl.

"Stay out of my personal life," Wolf snapped, keeping his voice low. "You wanna treat me like a boss, then fine. You're nothing more than an expendable employee to me then. But if you actually want to get on my good side and not worry about whether or not I stab you in the back when you least expect it, then give me some damn respect, understood?"

Fox let a breath tainted with subtle anger leave his nose. "Fine."

Wolf let a pleasured smirk crease his muzzle, setting his arm overtop Natalia's shoulders. "Good."

Seconds later, another horn sounded, this one quieter and less obnoxious, signaling the end of the period. A happy little organ chime sounded throughout the building as the benches cleared and funneled into the tunnels towards their respective locker rooms. As the announcer relayed a message about saving money by buying upcoming playoff tickets in bulk, Fox looked over to Wolf.

"Now?"

"Wait," Wolf stated. "Wait 'till people start walkin' around. That cover of people is what we need to stay under the radar."

Fox nodded, watching as the bright overhead lights dimmed down almost completely, darkening the ice while leaving the area for the fans well lit. As the dual zambonis painted in the Majors' red and black slowly crawled out from the large gate on the opposite end of the ice, a quiet and quickly paced bass guitar riff started playing.

"So, how're we splitting this up?" Fox asked. "Obviously we all shouldn't flock together to try to find her."

"Natty and I will go around the left side," Wolf explained. "You and Sheila can go the other way."

"You're putting me with Foxie?!" Sheila yipped happily. "Awesome!"

"Just don't make a scene out of it," Wolf added. "You still need to blend in."

"Got it," the husky affirmed, turning to watch the zambonis resurface the ice. Seconds later, the riff playing over the speakers progressively got louder, then suddenly exploded into a much more powerful chorus, so contagious that even Fox couldn't help but nod his head along too faintly. Sheila became much too occupied with the song playing over the loudspeakers to pay attention to Wolf's next sentence, or the rest of the conversation for that matter.

"Oh, and if you find Scarlet, bring her back to our spot," Wolf said, elbowing Fox for good measure. "Those two are gonna watch over us just to make sure that nobody is following. Right here is probably the safest place we got."

"And if you find her?"

Wolf pulled out his phone from one of his trench coat pockets. "I'll text you. Then get back here as soon as you can. We'll regroup once we get her, tell her our situation, and if we can get her on board, we bolt immediately. Good?"

"Sounds good to me," Fox said over the voice of the lead singer reverberating throughout the rink. "But what happens if something goes wrong?"

"You better pray that something doesn't go wrong," Wolf answered sternly. "But, if something goes belly-up, keep your eyes peeled. We'll need to get out as soon as possible if anyone gets caught. I've got Leon on speed dial, so he'll be ready if we need to get out. You just worry about getting Scarlet, okay?"

"Alright," Fox nodded, backing away from the standing area ledge. "Sheila, you ready?"

"Burn, burn, yes ya gonna burn!" Sheila sang along, oblivious to her surroundings as her head bobbed along with the beat of the song. Her full head of lengthy locks danced along with her nodding head, which all in all was quite a humorous scene.

"Sheila!" Fox barked.

Sheila jerked her head over instantly, waving her hair in an inadvertent and unintentionally dramatic way as if she was a part of a shampoo commercial. "Yeah?"

"Come on, we need to get moving," he said, waving his paw towards himself. Sheila squealed softly, set her finger underneath the ledge, then chased after him.

She turned around, walking backwards as she told the rest of the team, "Bye you guys! See you later!"

"Good luck, Spitzie," Patrik muttered, watching as the duo trotted away towards the right side of the rink. He looked over just in time to see Wolf and Natalia walk off in the other direction, eyes peeled for their target. That left him and the blue jay alone in their section, and at first he thought he might have a little time to relax, but that presumption was proven wrong when Adam slapped his shoulder.

"Dude," the avian nearly squawked, then started an onslaught of weak slaps against the malamute's shoulder in a panicked, flustered way. "Dude, that cardinal chick is coming this way! What do I do? What do I do?"

"Pretend like you've seen a woman before," Patrik answered uninterestedly, finding the zamboni's movements across the ice more intriguing than Adam's predicament.

The female cardinal, as Adam said earlier, was indeed stacked, yet had a rather slim and slender frame. She looked confused and disoriented as she slowly walked along with the crowd, her eyes wandering all over the place. Eventually, she decided to walk over to the blue jay, expressing a warm smile as she approached.

"Excuse me," she started softly, yet with a calm demeanor. "Do you happen to know where section 122 is? I can't seem to find it."

"Yeah, it's, uh…" Adam started with a slight stutter. "It's on the other side of center ice, I think."

"Thank you," she grinned again. "Uh, my name's Zoe, by the way."

"Adam," the blue jay responded, gently taking the cardinal's hand in his own.

Zoe's eyes narrowed. "Wait, that's a Cornerian name, but… you're obviously Katinian."

Adam's eyes widened in shock. "Yeah, exactly," he exclaimed breathily. "Wow, you're the first person to say that to me. You know, most people—ignorant people—don't even realize those are two different things."

"And they don't care either," Patrik butted in.

Adam waved him off. "How'd you know?"

Zoe giggled adorably. "I studied abroad in Katina while I was in college. It was a beautiful place… filled with beautiful people."

Adam blushed and chuckled to try to eliminate his embarrassment. "Kinda like this rink, right?"

Zoe laughed dryly and looked off to the side. "Well, it was nice talking to you. I'll see you around," she said happily, waving as she backed away. Adam also said his goodbye, and once the cardinal was out of earshot, he turned around and faced Patrik with an admittedly goofy expression.

"Did you see that?" Adam questioned.

"Ew," was all Patrik said.

"She likes me, right?" Adam said, beginning to get excited and giddy just thinking about it.

Patrik stayed silent for a few moments, but eventually admitted, "Yeah, she's totally into you."

Adam pumped his balled hand into the air with a grunt of approval.

Yet, a few seconds later, Patrik continued in a completely toneless voice, "Just not as into you as she is into that guy's mouth."

Adam turned around slowly, suddenly finding himself seeing Zoe with her beak pressed against a large robin's face in the corner of the rink. His own face suddenly contorted into that of sheer disgust and overall disappointment as he couldn't muster the strength to look away from the cardinal's kissing.

"Yeah, he's definitely gonna fuck her later and she's not gonna be thinking of you while it's happening," the malamute continued, fighting with himself to not let a smirk show.

Heartbroken, Adam turned back towards the malamute and sighed, "Dammit."

"Don't sweat it, buddy," Patrik grinned, patting the avian's shoulder. "Those breasts are definitely implants."

Adam sighed again and leaned up against the ledge, lowering his head into his makeshift fortress made out of his arms. "You're probably right..."

"But this raises another interesting question," Patrik mused, stroking his chin as he turned back to the ice. "How do birds even kiss?"

[҉]

The vulpine kept his head on a swivel, essentially scavenging the terrace and tunnels littering every other opening in an attempt to locate the scarlet vixen. All the while, while Sheila gave her best effort in assisting, she couldn't help but quietly sing along with whatever song started blaring over the speakers. The first song had ended—thank god—but to his dismay another rock song found its way into the rink, one that Sheila shamelessly expressed her love for.

About halfway through the song, as Fox slipped back through one of the tunnels, Sheila suddenly shouted "MINE!" in accordance with the song as it progressed into a howling guitar solo that rattled Fox's teeth.

"Sheila!" Fox shouted, cranking his head around. "Focus!"

"Sorry Fox!"

The vulpine sighed while shaking his head as he poked his muzzle out of yet another tunnel. He had to squint his eyes due to the sea of red and black in the stands, yet even so he still could not locate the vixen. The guitar solo slipped back into the vocals, and to his dismay he heard Sheila holler—

"BANG, BANG, BANG!"

"SHEILA!"

Slowly losing his patience, he glanced over the vantage point he had one last time, but instead of his eyes alighting on the fox he was searching for, they found two other vulpines who were just as, if not more familiar than Scarlet.

Turning around, he grabbed Sheila's shoulder and began walking back into the dark entrance gate. "Welp, no Scarlet here. Let's move on."

Shrugging his hand off, Sheila stopped. "What's wrong? You obviously saw someone. Who was it? An ex? Do you have an ex? Huh? Huh!"

Fox waved his hand dismissively. "No, it's just my parents."

At Fox's revelation, Sheila's eyes lit up. "Your parents? Really!? Come on! Let's go meet them."

But before the energetic husky could run off, Fox caught hold of her sleeve. "Whoa there, turbo. I don't really want to deal with them right now."

"What? But I'd love to meet your parents!"

"Yeah, well, we need to find Scarlet," Fox countered, beginning to sink back into the shadows of the entrance gate.

"Come on Fox," Sheila whined. "Introduce me to them! I am your girlfriend, after all."

Fox held up a finger and clarified, "Temporarily."

"Oh, I'm not taking "no" for an answer!" And with that, Sheila impulsively pinched his vulpine ear and painfully lead him back into the arena.

"Ow ow ow, what the hell Sheila!?" Fox hissed as he bent his head at an odd angle to minimize the pain. His face reddened as he noticed the majority of the spectators they passed turn and stare at him, some even pointing and laughing.

Once they reached the row of seats Fox's parents were seated in, Sheila finally let go of his ear and shoved Fox forward, waiting excitedly behind his back. When James and Vixy saw their son, they both stood up and fought their way out of their row of seats to join him in the main aisle.

As if Sheila emasculating him on the way into the rink wasn't enough, Vixy immediately leapt forward and wrapped him in a suffocating hug, planting a tirade of kisses on the side of his muzzle. Fox nearly fell backwards into Sheila, but by the skin of his teeth he managed to keep his balance.

"Whoa, geez mom, do you have to be so affectionate!" he said, raising his hands defensively.

Pausing her stream of kisses, Vixy explained, "Well I have to make up for lost time; it's been a whole year since I last saw you!"

Coming to Fox's rescue, James pulled Vixy back and separated her from Fox. "Come on now, honey; don't embarrass our poor kit. He's got an image to keep up."

"Ugh, you men and your images!" Vixy complained, rolling her eyes. "Why do you have to wear those silly sunglasses even inside the arena?"

Grinning slyly, James bent over and whispered in Vixy's ear, "Because, if any of these impressionable young women stared into my charming eyes they'd be completely hypnotized."

"Oh please!"

"It's true," James pressed, straightening back up and placing his hands on his hips. "It's how I landed you, after all."

At that moment, Sheila cleared her throat and nudged Fox in the small of his back. He grimaced at Sheila's touch, but finally gave in and stepped to the side, revealing his "girlfriend".

"Uh, mom, dad; I'd like you to meet Sheila."

With a warm glow on her face, Sheila bounced on her feet and waved happily. "Hiya! You must be Mr. and Mrs. McCloud."

James bowed slightly and took her paw, ceremoniously kissing it. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Sheila."

"Er, yes, quite," Vixy stumbled as she shook Sheila's paw. When she withdrew her own hand, she quietly slipped a small bottle of sanitizer from her purse and spread a healthy portion of it across her hands. She tried to pour a drop on James' paw as well, but he swiftly removed it, causing the sanitizer to splat on his shoe instead.

Hoping that Sheila didn't notice their exchange, James discretely coughed. "So, Sheila, Fox has told us so much about you!"

"Oh my goodness, he has!?"

"Actually, no," James lamented. "We only just found out he had a special someone yesterday. At least he didn't wait until the day you two were getting married to tell us!"

Vixy placed a paw on James' shoulder. "Uh, dear, let's not rush these things, alright?"

Fox awkwardly scratched the back of his head, thinking of something off the top of his head. "I admit, we've only been going together for… roughly a month, so it kinda—ha ha—slipped my mind."

"Excuse me, Sheila, but do you normally shed this much?" Vixy abruptly inquired.

"Huh? What?" Sheila asked, looking worriedly about. "What's wrong?"

Vixy explained, "I mean, do all huskies shed this much fur? I only ask because I'm not familiar with your... breed. You see, foxes don't normally shed much unless—"

James gently elbowed his wife in the ribs, then quickly tried to save the conversation. "But you have such a beautiful coat, Sheila, I expect it would be worth any amount of trouble. And your hair is absolutely gorgeous! I swear I've seen you somewhere before... maybe on TV? A commercial for something?" And he tipped his sunglasses down to wink at her.

"Oh, stop it!" Sheila giggled, waving a paw at James. Fox however was furiously steaming by her side.

Is it just me, or does dad try to steal every girl I bring back home?

He wasn't sure if his father's flirting was much better than his mother's insensitivity, but at least it put Sheila in a better mood.

"I'm truly amazed at your catch, Fox," James added. "I bet you two have a lot in common. Judging by her outfit, she even likes hockey!"

"Doesn't everyone like hockey in a Sheppard fic?" Fox mumbled through gritted teeth.

Interrupting their conversation, Sheila's stomach growled like a caged lion. Blushing, the canine placed a paw over her mouth and stepped backwards. "Oh my! Excuse me. I haven't eaten anything since we made landfall."

"Don't you even feed your girl?" James chastised Fox.

"Can you cook?" Vixy asked unabashedly.

Placing his hands on Sheila's back, Fox gently pushed her up the steps towards the entrance gate. "Er, Sheila, why don't you run along and get some food?"

"Oh, thanks Fox! I think I'll hunt down some nice cheesy nachos. I'll leave so you all have a chance to get caught up with Fox in private."

Fox released a large sigh as Sheila waved goodbye and hurried up the steps, disappearing into the gaping maw of the entrance gate.

"I don't know about you, but I'd ship it," James ventured, crossing his arms.

"Well, she is rather pretty... and she's got a nice personality," Vixy admitted, "But shouldn't you take a little more time, Fox? Aren't there plenty of other women out there you should consider?"

Shifting awkwardly on his feet, Fox looked from side to side. "Oh, like who?"

Holding her purse open and fidgeting with its contents, Vixy avoided Fox's eyes. "Well, maybe... Scarlet?"

Even at the mere mention of Scarlet's name, Fox felt his agitation begin to reach a crescendo. "But mom, Scarlet's my cousin!" he whined, hoping his mother would understand.

"Please Fox, she's your fourth cousin," Vixy corrected.

Placing his hands in his pockets, Fox repeated, "Fourth cousin? Wow, it seems like she gets more and more removed with each story she's in."

"Ah, but is it even fun anymore when she's that distantly related?" James commented.

Rolling her eyes, Vixy hissed, "James!"

"Darling, I'm sorry, but I honestly think Fox made a good catch with Sheila."

"I thought we always agreed Scarlet was the perfect match for Fox," Vixy reminded him. "I like Sheila and all, but she has way too much energy."

"Scarlet's always good for a little something on the side," James assured her, grinning evilly.

"Ew, James, please," Vixy nearly hacked. "Don't bring that up again."

"What?" James chuckled shamelessly. "All I'm saying is Fox shouldn't expect new results from an old tool, if you get the drift."

"JAMES!"

"Uncalled for, I know. I'm sorry..."

"Such a pervert," Vixy huffed, crossing her arms and blowing a stray hair out of her face.

"Takes one to know one, honey," James returned, ruining any shot he had at an early reconciliation.

Getting into one of the McCloud family's famous arguments, James and Vixy continued heatedly discussing Fox's love life—without once asking for his input. All the while, Fox stood idly by, slowly boiling over with rage. He would have erupted, too, if he hadn't gotten a text message at that exact moment. Ignoring his mother and father for a few seconds, he glanced at his messages and saw the most recent one had been sent from Wolf. He read the message, and immediately a wave of relief washed over him, dissipating his anger.

Are you ok? Found scarlet; said you weren't answering her texts. Return to our... "seats"

"You know, it was nice seeing you two again," Fox mumbled under his breath, attempting to back away, but to his dismay his father heard him and stopped him.

"Wait, Fox, hold on," he pleaded, gently setting a paw on his shoulder. "I'm sorry we got sidetracked, but I need to ask you something."

"What…?" Fox asked dryly, lowering his ears.

"Why did you need to see Scarlet so soon?"

Fox flushed. "Oh, well, I… uh, just wanted to, uh…" his eyes started wandering around the rink, as if something he could see could help him out in his situation.

James winked and leaned in closer. "Getting in touch with that little something on the side?" he cooed.

"For one, ew," Fox gagged. "For two, Sheila wouldn't like that. At all. And three; all I wanted to do was let her know of my status so that she didn't always assume I'm single, ya know? I'd rather not have her text one night and have it be really bad if Sheila saw. You know how she is."

James nodded knowingly. "Oh, okay. I understand. Heh, it's for the better, no?"

"I guess so," Fox answered distantly, sparing another glance to his phone screen. "Well, it was really nice talking to you two again, but I should be getting back to Sheila before she blows all of our travel money on popcorn and nachos."

James smiled and wrapped his arm around the vulpine in an improvised hug. "Thanks for meeting up with us again, Fox. And thanks for introducing your special lady to us."

"Just be careful around her, m'kay?" Vixy warned somewhat sternly, also giving Fox a warm embrace. "I love you two together, but don't do anything you or her will regret."

James chuckled and gently backhanded her shoulder. "Aw, come on Vix; let the kids have their fun."

Vixy just shook her head and backed up. "Well, sorry if I think they should think about their future before getting serious."

"You sure didn't feel that way while we were dating years back," James smugly commented.

"Whose side are you on here?!"

Awkwardly backing away from his bickering parents, Fox waved one last time and said, "Have fun you two," before silently slipping away, setting course for his seat.