Chapter 13: Up in Flames
(Cornerian Academy)
The distraught avian ran down the hall, forcing himself to keep from crying. He stopped to catch his breath, unable to control his sniveling. Katt caught up with him as he panted for breath.
"Hey, what was all of that back there?" Katt asked, her hands on her knees, out of breath as well.
"Nothing! Just leave me alone…" Falco said, turning away from her, his head down.
"C'mon, tell me." Katt said, putting her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"No, just go away." Falco said, starting down the hallway again. Katt just watched him walk.
"It was your father, wasn't it?" Katt called after him. "What happened, Falco?"
Falco stopped, picking his head up. Streams of tears ran down his face, yet he spoke in a solid tone.
"He was an engineer, on the S.S. Artavon." Falco started. "He left for duty two days before my birthday. He said he'd be back soon, he said he'd bring back a present. That was the last thing I heard from him. The Artavon was ambushed at Sector Z by Andross' forces."
"Falco, I'm so sorry. But, I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted you to act this way." Katt said.
"Shut up! It's not that…" Falco said, his head dropping down again. "My mother died when I was four, her immune system attacked her own body. She caught a disease, and, unable to fight it off, she died. My father remarried. My step-mom didn't have a job, and when the army told us about my father, she killed herself, leaving me and my step-brother alone. My family's gone! But does anyone care!? NO! But him, that fox. His father died, and the whole world stopped! Everyone cares for him! Everybody tries to comfort him! But does anyone care for me!?" Falco asked, breaking down entirely. He fell to his knees, then punched the locker next to him.
"Falco…my father…died too. He was a soldier on Titania. He was stationed at one of the bases there. I don't even remember what he looks like, he left when I was two. We got a call one day…his base was attacked by one of Andross' bioweapons. The whole base was destroyed." Katt explained, tears forming in her eyes. Falco looked up.
"Katt. I'm sorry. C'mon, let's go back." Falco said, standing up. He held out his hand.
"Ok, let's go." Katt agreed, wiping her eyes. She took his hand, letting her head rest against his shoulder. The two slowly walked down the hall, back to 203.
(Cornerian Department of Medicinal Research)
Fox paced back and forth outside the emergency care room. Krystal sat on a chair, switching between watching Fox and looking down at the floor. Katt went into the bathroom, saying she needed to splash some water on her face.
Fox, Krystal, and Katt found Falco and Slippy in the wreckage of the van. They took the two to the emergency room two hours earlier. They were in intensive care ever since.
"Damn it! If I paid more attention on Jatria, all of this could've been avoided! Damn it!" Fox said, continuing his pacing, hitting his palm.
"Fox, it's not your fault. None of us could've seen this coming. There was nothing we could've done to prevent this." Krystal said, trying to console him.
"That's not true! We should've noticed something was wrong when Nordon sent out the truck!" Fox yelled, frustrated with himself.
"Fox, we had a job to do on Jatria. If we didn't stop Nordon, all of Jatria would be under his control!" Krystal reminded him.
"Ugh. You're right. I just wish we could've done something different." Fox said, slumping into a chair.
"Me too, Fox. But we've done all we can. Now we just have to wait. I'm sure they'll be fine." Krystal said, sidling up close to him.
"Thanks, Krystal." Fox said. He sat up in his chair as Katt walked into the room.
"Anything yet?" she asked, sitting down in a chair opposite the two vulpines.
"No, nothing." Krystal informed her. Katt just sighed.
The three spent the next ten minutes in complete silence. Peppy walked in to break the silence.
"Are they ok!? I stopped by General Pepper's office to inform him of the situation." Peppy said, jogging into the room.
"We don't know yet, Peppy." Fox said with a sigh.
"They're still in there." Krystal said afterwards.
"Oh, ok then." Peppy accepted, sitting next to Katt. "I'm sure they'll make it out! Slippy's incredibly lucky, despite his clumsiness, and Falco's just too stubborn to die." Peppy joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, I sure hope so." Fox said, sighing again.
After several minutes, a doctor emerged from the emergency room.
"Well!?" Katt asked, standing up immediately.
"They'll be just fine. They had many serious burns, as well as some broken bones. I'd give them two days of complete rest and they'll be fine." the doctor explained with a smile. Everyone took a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness." Peppy said, wiping his forehead.
"May we see them?" Krystal asked.
"Of course, they didn't take their medications yet, so they should still be up." the doctor said, letting the team in.
Falco and Slippy sat in two separate beds, both of them covered in bandages. They looked over to the doorway as everyone walked in.
"HEY GUYS!!!" Slippy yelled, wiggling in his bandages.
"You guys doing alright?" Fox asked.
"Do we look alright, idiot!? We're lying bandaged in the hospital, barely able to move two centimeters!!!" Falco exploded. He cringed in pain as he moved his arms.
"Calm down, you're gonna end up hurting yourself even more." Peppy said, trying to prevent further injury.
"Yeah, yeah." Falco said, propping himself up in his bed, trying to avoid any painful position. Katt went over to a chair next to Falco's bed.
"What do you think you were doing, driving that van away!?" Katt demanded.
"Well, I was trying to lessen the effects of the mind-control chips! I figured the farther away the signal, the less effective they would be. Then, when I thought we were at a safe enough distance, I asked Slippy to jam the signal. I think the terrorists triggered an explosion to stop us, though, knowing we had the van." Falco explained.
"Well, actually, I didn't know if the signal was strong enough, so I cranked up the power. I think the powered up jamming signal caused the devices in the van to overload, causing the explosion." Slippy laughed.
"Wait, so YOU caused the explosion!? GET OVER HERE YOU DAMN TOAD!!!!" Falco said, wriggling in his bed, stopping when the pain took effect. "Damn it!!! For sweet love, WOULD SOMEONE KICK HIS ASS!?!?!?"
"Ok, guys. Calm down." Fox said, laughing. "You guys are gonna have to rest. The doctor says you'll be fine in two days."
"That's good. I can't stand not being able to move." Falco said with a smirk.
"Well, I guess we'll leave you two to rest." Krystal said, the rest of the team walking out. As she said that, Fox's communicator sprung to life. It had General Pepper's face on it.
"Fox! Fox, come in!" the General commanded.
"What is it, General?" Fox asked.
"I need you to mobilize, now!" the General said hurriedly.
"What? But, Falco and Slippy are still in the hospital!" Fox pleaded.
"Well, move them to the Great Fox! I need you to move now! We just received a distress signal from the Solsen Defense Outpost!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes: Hot diggety daffodil! Happy New Year! First chapter of 2009! Happiness abounds! Yay, the bird and toad are ok. More backstory is revealed! Ok, this was a relatively short chapter, totaling 1240 words. Hey, at least I broke 1000. And come on, at the rate I'm uploading chapters, you should really appreciate it! Ok, yeah, I stuffed the chapter with a lot of emergency room anticipation, but that had to come in somewhere! At least I got that comedy part in inside the emergency room. Oh, and before anyone asks, let's just assume Corneria has way more advanced medical tech than we do, able to mend broken bones and fix burns in a heartbeat. I don't want any reviews saying 'How can they leave the hospital in two days with 3rd degree burns and a shattered ribcage?' Ok? Good. And another cliffhanger, I know. That's what happens when you watch too much anime that ends like that. Prepare for a lot more. Now for the first review section of the new year!
Reviews:
You guys are getting quick. A day within the chapter's upload and already I have reviews.
-paranoidsocialclub 2008-12-30 . chapter 12
Well, that would explain it... I never saw the movie. Woohoo1 Another cliff hanger to leave us on the edge of our seats! I wonder if they will be okay? I believe in your last chapter, you mention something about Star Wolf? Guess i'll just have to wait and see.
You really ought to see the movie. It's quite funny. I also suggest reading the book, although you can do either one, the movie's incredibly accurate. Guess what? ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER! Time for some more action coming up! Oh, and by the way, bravo. Not even six hours before the chapter's uploaded and you already have a review up. You deserve a medal or something. Yeah, I'm planning on getting Star Wolf and Bill Grey in this story, somewhere. But that won't be until later chapters. I got a lot of stuff to pack in between now and then. Hope this new chapter will suffice in the meantime. Here's to another chapter!
-theXbeat08 2008-12-31 . chapter 12
ANOTHER cliffhanger?!? Wow, you must really like these.
So now, Falco and Slippy are...dead? Wait, no, that's not right. Is it?
These Hands of Lylat guys are really starting to creep me Patrick one of the ones Falco fought?
Ha, you read those talkshow chapter things? I was just really bored and had writers block when I did those. Glad you liked it though! Keep up the story - it's getting really intense!
Good luck!
theXbeat08
Hmmm. Another cliffhanger? I didn't really notice…just kidding. Yeah, these here cliffhangers are my one joy in life. Not really. They're just fun to do. Yeah, the Hands of Lylat dudes are creepy, and they'll get creepier, I think. This story is like 85% made up as I'm writing, so yeah, they'll probably get creepy as I add in creepy adjectives. And Patrick Henson was the driver of the van. He took a pretty hard fall after Falco kicked him out bleeding and dislocating his arm and whatnot. The only reason I mentioned his name was because I mentioned it in a small paragraph in Chapter 11 that everybody probably overlooked. Sorry for the confusion. His part of the chapter was another add-in I thought of mid-type. I needed the devices to activate so I could have the asplosion cliff-hanger. And yes, I read the talkshow. I found it funny. And I really have no idea why people have Fox and Wolf gay for each other. Clearly, Fox is heterosexual, ogling Krystal while she was trapped in Starfox Adventures. And obviously, Wolf has too much testosterone for any relationship. Hence the "Lone Wolf" thing he has going. I'm about halfway through that story, and I plan on finishing sometime soon, when I'm not writing another chapter. Here's to another chapter in the meantime!