Chapter 2: Academic Standards

The day was cloudy, much like everyone's emotions. The raid had failed. Only Peppy Hare, the last remaining member of the StarFox Team returned, his sullen expression not boding well. Nobody was on the streets, nobody wanted to be out. Only those that had places to go would be caught outside at a time like this. Many losses had been sustained and national morale was at an all time low. Only one car could be found on the main road, others either not leaving their houses or taking a side road.

"Come on, buddy. Cheer up. You can't start a day out like this." a blue avian stated.

"Leave me alone." a second blue avian said, defiantly. He was smaller than the first one, at most 6 years old.

"I'm upset, too, everyone is. But I-"

"SHUT UP!!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU!!!!" the younger avian yelled out, staring only at the clouds outside the window.

The car the two were in pulled over. They had reached their destination. The younger avian had opened the door as soon as the car stopped and was about to leave when his hand was caught by the older avian.

"Falco,…I know he wasn't my biological father, but he was still my dad…too…" the older avian said solemnly.

"I SAID, SHUT UP!!!! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!!!!" the younger avian said, ripping his hand away, running towards the Cornerian Academy.

The older avian reached over and closed the door.

"Have a good day at school…" the avian said into the steering wheel. The car waited, then pulled out into the darkened morning.

(The Great Fox)

The stairs leading to the hull of the Great Fox descended slowly. It took a good hour and a half to get out of the hover-gap, considering Fox was beaten into a bloody mess and Falco had damaged depth perception from his encounter with the wall, leaving Slippy to take most of the load of carrying Fox out, with occasional aid from Falco when he wasn't nauseated. It took another 40 minutes to reach the Cornerian Hangars, while paying off the taxi driver not to ask questions. By the time the trio reached the Great Fox, the moon had already risen to the top of the sky, casting its moonlight upon the Cornerian Streets, only to be blocked out by city-lights. The three climbed the stairs, moaning every inch of the way. They walked into the living area, where they encountered Peppy, Krystal, and ROB waiting for them.

"OH MY GOODNESS!!! FOX!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?!?" Krystal yelled out, running over to the battered vulpine, his blood already dried.

"Oh yeah, we're fine, no need to ask." Falco sarcastically uttered, plummeting to the couch, exhaughsted.

"Initiating medical procedures." ROB said, his analysis of the returning three finished.

"Thanks ROB." Fox said.

"So, care to explain, gentleman?" Peppy asked.

"Slippy was an idiot and dragged us into it, but Foxy here and I handled it." Falco said as his face was being treated by ROB.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault I got captured!" Slippy said in his defense.

"Oh, so who's fault is it!? Krystal's!?" Falco said, returning to his usual demeanor as ROB finished his treatment.

"Well-uh…"

"COME ON, OUT WITH IT!!! You got nothin', don't you?" Falco said, a smile growing across his face. "AHHH, I'm just joking, you green balloon. Just glad to have ya back!"

Falco walked over to Slippy and drilled his knuckle into the top of his head.

"OW!!! FOX!!! HELP!!!!" Slippy pleaded.

"So what happened?" Krystal asked, settling down after ROB started Fox's treatment.

"Well, like I told Gramps on the comm. message, we're walking down the street, and some goons pop up out of nowhere and snatch Slips up." Falco explained. "Thank goodness I was there to chase after him."

"You knocked some guy off his bike and ran past the speed limit." Slippy said.

"Would you have preferred it if I left you there?" Falco asked, a grin now forming on his face.

"Uhhh-"

"Didn't think so, now let me finish. So, after several minutes of chasing these guys, I know that I'm probably gonna need some help, cuz I knew I couldn't stop them if I had to keep driving at that speed, so I call Fox up." Falco continued.

Krystal blushed as Fox scratched his head.

"So I find these two on the boardwalk, and Fox gets on a hover-board." Falco continued to explain.

"Then Falco nearly flung me off…" Fox said under his breath.

"Hey, you can get things done right, or we let Frogger there eat up Corneria's budget just to get him back." Falco joked.

"So Fox jumps onto their car after we pull up alongside them, and we have to work to keep him there. Then these guys plummet into the hover-gap." Falco went on.

"Yeah, and you fall off your bike." Fox laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, but then I fell…on a…car…" Falco drifted off.

"Really? Is that what happened? I was wondering how you didn't end up part of the pavement." Fox joked. "Falco? FALCO!"

"Huh…, oh, yeah, so now we're at the bottom of the hover-gap. Those guys had their drug-ring or whatever going on down there, but we sneak up anyway. Fox busts down the door and we knock the heck out of all of their cronies. Then we make our way up to the next floor. There they got Slippy bound to a frickin' swivel chair. So we bust our way in to confront their boss-"

"And you get sent into the wall."

"Shut up, they took me by surprise."

"They were twice your size!"

"SHUT UP!"

"So, while genius here was on the ground, I start negotiating with their boss." Fox took over.

"And then Falco pushed me into them…" Slippy said, shuddering at the memory.

"Which was a sufficient way of distracting them, thank you." Falco said to Slippy. "And then Fox and I finished the job! Took a barrel to their boss' head! It was a thing of beauty!" Falco said triumphantly.

"Sounds like you two did a good job. But, maybe next time you guys can try dodging a couple blows…" Peppy said, bringing attention to their injuries.

"Eh, we've had worse." Falco said, nonchalant.

"Ahh, you two still act like you did at school." Peppy reminisced.

"Yeah, but I wasn't as kick-ass back then." Falco said, attempting to brag.

"You still aren't." Slippy said, a smile on his face now.

"Hey, refresh my memory, were you ever popular, Tads?" Falco asked, the smile going from Slippy's face to Falco's.

"HEY! You said you wouldn't call me that anymore!" Slippy exclaimed.

"Get over it."

"You all went to school together?" Krystal asked, intrigued in the past now.

"Yeah, Falco, Slippy, and me. Same classes, same grade." Fox explained to Krystal.

"Yep, I remember it all, they were just a bunch of rascals back then." Peppy said, grinning to himself.

"Yep, we all watched each others backs." Fox said, reminiscing.

"Yeah, it was fun." Slippy repeated.

At that instant, the clocks inside the Great Fox toned, alerting everybody inside to the current time: 12:00 A.M.

"Wow, we stayed up late. Time for bed." Falco said, stretching.

"Yeah, we're gonna need our rest, we're probably gonna get called in tomorrow." Fox said, realizing how fatigued he was from everything that had happened today.

"G'night everyone." Peppy yawned, leading the group out through the door to the rest of the Great Fox.

"Night." Slippy said, following Peppy out the door.

"Good Night, boys." Krystal said, also heading for the door.

Just as Falco was about to leave the room, he was pulled back by Fox.

"Falco, you okay? You kinda stopped short in the middle of your narrative today." Fox inquired.

"Hmm, oh…yeah." Falco nodded.

"Well?"

"I saw her today, Fox. I saw Katt." Falco said glumly.

"WHAT!? Where!?"

"That is, I think I saw her. I was kind of disoriented. Remember that car I said I fell on? I think she was the one driving it…"

"So she's here? In Corneria?"

"Maybe, I told you, I fell on top of the car. It's kind of hard to focus when you're senses are knocked right out of you."

"Well, you gonna be okay?"

"I'll be just fine, don't worry about. Now let's get some sleep." Falco said, eyes starting to grow heavy.

"K, after you." Fox said as the two walked down the metal hallway to their quarters.

(Cornerian Suburbs)

"Peppy! You're back!!!" a young vulpine said as he rushed to the figure standing in his doorway.

"He doesn't know, does he?" the hare asked the vixen standing inside the house.

"No, I was hoping someone close to James could tell him. Someone there. That way, there would be no doubt." the vixen responded.

"Tell who what?" the young vulpine inquired thoughtfully, his eyes staring up at the figures looming over him. "Hey, Peppy, if you're back, does that mean Dad is too?"

"Now, Fox, you're going to have to be strong for me, alright?" the hare asked, kneeling down to look the young vulpine face-to-face.

"Sure, Peppy, what is it?"

"You know that your father cared for you very much, right? You knew that…you knew that he wanted you to grow up to be strong and kind, right?" the hare asked, losing his resolve.

"Yeah, but why are you saying 'cared' and 'wanted'? Shouldn't it be 'cares' and 'wants'?"

"Fox…, the reason he's saying it like that is…because…Fox…your father is-" the vixen tried to explain.

"NO. I'll tell him." Peppy exclaimed. "Fox, your father, he…he….he died. Pigma, he betrayed us. He's passed on."

"What do you mean? He can't die, he's the leader of StarFox! He can't die. He hasn't before! Why now!? Peppy? Where's Dad? He's not dead. He can't be dead! Peppy…" the young vulpine stammered.

"Fox…Fox…come here." the vixen said, reaching her hand out.

"He can't be dead. He's my daddy! He can't die!" the vulpine yelled out, tears streaming down his youthful face.

"Fox…this must be hard. But, remember, your father wouldn't want you to be upset. He wanted you to become strong…Fox. Take this." Peppy said, reaching into his pocket.

"Wh-what?" the young vulpine said, his eyes murky with tears.

"This." Peppy said, reaching pulling an object out of his pocket. It was blue, and glossy. It had the face of a fox upon it, with wings stretching out on either side.

"The StarFox emblem?" the vulpine asked through gasps for air.

"Yes. That was your father's original. It was the only thing he left in storage. He had another made after you born, he was planning on giving that to you when you graduated from the Academy. But I feel, that, now, you should have it. That way, you'll have the courage you need to face your problems, without your father now." Peppy explained. "Just one thing though, you cannot have it, unless you're willing to accept the responsibilities that come with having an emblem. You cannot face away from danger. You cannot let others be hurt when you can help it. You must defend those that are dear. You must be strong for those that are weak! Will you accept these conditions?"

"Yes, I'll do it for dad." the vulpine said, his tears drying up.

"Good. You know, the Academy will be opening soon, the war has suspended since Andross is missing in action right now. Your father wanted to see you attend there, just like he did, isn't that right, Vixan?" Peppy asked, looking at the vixen standing behind Fox.

"Yes, he always talked about seeing you graduate, passing the torch of leading the StarFox team from himself to you." the vixen remembered.

"So, Fox, will you go to the Academy?"

"Yes, sir, Peppy!" the vulpine said without hesistation, his tears for his father beginning to well up again.

"Good, James'd be proud." Peppy said, and for the first time since the long trip home, Peppy smiled.

(The Great Fox)

Three of the five members of the StarFox team woke up sore. It took them a good while to get out into the main living area of the Great Fox after exiting their beds. When they finally entered, Krystal and Peppy had already started the day's activities. Peppy was in the kitchen, which was up the stairs and the opposite side of the door. Many different tantalizing aromas wafted down throughout the whole room. Krystal was setting up different plates and silverware at the dining table, which was located right next to the kitchen stairs.

"Morning, boys." Krystal said with a smile.

"What was that, Krystal?" Peppy yelled from the kitchen, the sounds of food cooking drowning out most of the noises within the two rooms.

"They're up!" Krystal yelled back.

"Oh good." Peppy said, walking out of the kitchen. He had an apron on, with a spatula in one hand, a serving fork in the other. "You guys want your pancakes a special way?"

At that moment, a bursting noise sounded from the kitchen.

"Yuh-oh…" Peppy said, waddling back into the kitchen.

"That geezer is going to hurt himself…" Falco said, taking a seat at the dining table.

"Yeah, maybe someone should help him…" Slippy said, unnervingly.

"Why don't you? I'm still aching from yesterday." Falco said, cracking his neck.

"ME!? Why ME!?"

"Well, first of all, you brought it up. Second of all, you were tied to a chair the whole time, Fox and I were the ones fighting yesterday."

"HEY! I helped too you know!"

"Yes, you were a very good projectile, then you made a very nice ankle weight. Now get moving!" Falco commanded.

"Alright…" Slippy said sullenly, climbing the stairs and grabbing an apron from a hook next to the kitchen entrance.

"Are you ok, Fox?" Krystal asked Fox, who was feeling the new contours of his face.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm ok, just a little swollen is all."

"Swollen is an understatement." Falco said, eyeing Fox's injuries.

"Eh, it'll go down after a little bit, maybe some ice will help." Fox said, standing up.

Another blast sounded from the kitchen as Fox stood up, with some yells following afterwards.

"AHHH, HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!" Slippy screamed, his cries echoing out of the kitchen.

"You're going to need backup if you're going in there." Falco said, getting up with Fox. "We replaced the old fire extinguisher, right?"

"HOLD STILL, SLIPPY!!! I GOT IT!!!!" Peppy yelled, a noise of foam blowing out of container following afterwards.

"Good thing we replaced it. Otherwise, we'd be having frog legs for breakfast…" Falco said, following Fox up the stairs.

"Come on, Krystal, we might need you to find those two, considering the smoke they made." Fox said, indicating the smoke rising up into the ceiling, going out the ventilation ducts.

"Ok." Krystal said, quickly following the two up the stairs.

When breakfast was finally served, one apron was destroyed, singed in some places, foamy in the others. Slippy had a slight cough after exiting the smoke, and Peppy had a newly formed lump on his head when Slippy fell down after stepping on the fire extinguisher, knocking a frying pan into the air and consequently, falling upon Peppy's head. Yet, despite the mishaps in the kitchen, the food looked decent.

"How the heck did this happen?" Falco asked, swallowing a bite of egg.

"How did what happen?" Peppy asked.

"You guys might as well've been making a bomb in there, but the food looks and tastes fine…" Falco said, poking his food with his fork inquiringly.

"I did tell you how I learned to cook, right?" Peppy said, raising his eyebrow.

"No one wants to know what factory taught you how to do what you did in that kitchen." Falco said, attempting to avoid an anecdote.

"Nonsense, it's actually a very interesting story…" Peppy began.

At that moment, a robotic voice crackled onto the speakers in every room of the Great Fox.

"Attention. Attention. Incoming message from General Pepper. Incoming message from General Pepper. All StarFox personnel, report to the bridge. All Starfox personnel, report to the bridge." ROB's voice announced.

"Right on schedule. Any second later and we'd have been learning why adding cinnamon to curry doesn't work." Falco said, nearly sprinting out of the room.

"So much for another day off…" Slippy said sighing.

"Well, if you used the right ingredients…maybe cinnamon would work in curry…" Peppy said to himself, lost in his thoughts.

"What do you think we'll be doing this time, Fox?" Krystal asked Fox.

"I don't know, it's always a different thing with the General." Fox replied.

The group headed to the bridge. They exited the living area out into the metal hallway, turning down towards the exit, after a couple of feet down the hallway, they turned and entered an elevator. They rode the elevator up, exiting into the bridge. The bridge had screens and monitors of all sizes lining the perimeter of the room. The large front window revealed the interior of the Cornerian hangars. ROB was standing on a raised walkway of to the left, pantomiming more keyboard controls, which would activate or deactivate a function on the ship, depending upon the situation. There were several chairs in the room as well, one for each member. Fox took his seat in the Captain's Chair, pressing several buttons upon the armrest. In an instant, a holographic image appeared, showing General Pepper's head. The rest of the StarFox team stood behind Fox's chair, opting not to take a seat to make it easier for the general to see them.

"Ah, StarFox team! I take it you enjoyed your day off yesterday?" the General asked.

"Yessir, General." Fox replied, nonchalant.

"Good, because you might not have one for a while, a new threat has appeared, one that threatens the safety of the Lylat System. One that could rival that of Andross."

Author's Notes: Yeah, this chapter kinda went slowly, I know. But I had to get what happened after the team got back out of the way somewhere, so as soon as possible is good. But yeah, it's going to pick up, just like any story does. Thanks for reviewing all of two people. So here's their shout-outs:

-notfromearth7 2008-11-17 . chapter 1

I like where this is going!

Thank you very much. I like to utilize those skills I picked up from my English classes over the years.

-paranoidsocialclub 2008-11-16 . chapter 1

This story is very well written. Everything fit together perfectly. This must have been murder to write. a perfect 10/10
~PSC~

Again, thank you. I like it when you're able to have a character do something on one side of the story from another character's perspective, then show them doing it on their side of the story, like with Falco's comm. conversations. And yeah, it was murder. Up till four in the morning. Luckily for me, it was a weekend. I'll go for more tens!!!