Chapter 18: Null and Void

(The Great Fox)

"How are you feeling?" Fox asked, wheeling his teammate down the hallways of the Great Fox, heading towards the Living Area for the team's breakfast.

"Like I've been shot in the chest, then had it stitched up. What kind of stupid question is that!? How am I supposed to feel? Chipper!? Peachy keen!?" Falco complained.

"Jeez, I was just asking. You can simmer down." Fox backed off.

"Let's just hurry up and get to breakfast, I've got this empty feeling where my chest is supposed to be."

Well, he's mostly back to normal.

Fox pushed the button on the wall, and wheeled Falco into the Living Area.

(The Cornerian Academy)

"Begin."

The Dalmatian circled the Iguana, studying over his body for the slightest inclination of movement. The Iguana did the same, searching for a gap in his opponent's defenses. The two competitors continued to circle one another, each one taking caution with each step. Then, the Iguana lunged, trying to strike at the crux of the sternum. The Dalmatian braced for impact, creating a circle with his arms. He took the shock from the blow, letting it sink in. Then, in a swift movement, the Dalmatian gripped the Iguana's arm, which was caught inside the circle his arms made. He immediately turned to the side, still gripping the Iguana's arm. He pulled violently downward, using his back to lift the Iguana from the ground. The Iguana flipped over the Dalmatian's back, smacking into the floor with a grotesque thud that echoed throughout the gym room, catching the attention of several other classes that were in session. The Dalmatian followed the Iguana down to the floor, continuing to grip the arm. He quickly flipped over the Iguana down onto its stomach, folding the one arm back, holding it in place as he pressed his knee into his back.

"That's enough. The match is over. The winner, Robert Virkyle." an ancient stork announced, separating the two combatants. "Nice try Allen, you did well."

The Iguana went to the edge of the ring, while the Dalmatian remained standing.

"So, who's next?" the stork inquired, glancing around the ring, a smile permanently attached to his face. His eyes peered very slightly through nearly closed eyelids, looking for a willing volunteer.

"What's this? No one wishes to face Robert? He shall go unchallenged? Why, I did not expect th-"

"I'll face him." a young vulpine announced, standing up from the corner of the ring.

"Ah, splendid!" the stork clapped, his ever-present smile growing wider. "Now if you would take this corner."

"Fox, are you sure?" Slippy asked, tugging on the vulpine's shirt.

"I'll be fine. Relax, Slippy." the vulpine reassured his friend, taking his corner.

"Alright, Fox versus Robert, ready…. begin!"

The two immediately began to circle each other. The Dalmatian surveyed his opponent carefully, trying to look for an opening. When the two switched corners, Fox broke the tension. The vulpine dashed in, swinging his left leg at the Dalmatian's head. The attack caught the focused Dalmatian off guard, causing it to instinctively cringe, as he braced for impact. Fox quickly pulled back his foot, circling around the defending Dalmatian. He immediately intertwined his arms with the Dalmatian's, interlocking his fingers behind the Dalmatian's head. The vulpine kicked out the Dalmatian's knees, forcing him to the ground.

"Alright, Fox, that's enough. The match is over, winner, Fox McCloud." the stork announced cheerily. "Very well done Robert, take no shame in your loss. You fought valiantly."

Murmurs echoed through the class, which settled down as the stork clapped his hands.

"Very well. Shall we get the next round ready?" the stork asked again, scanning his students for another volunteer. "What? Again? Will no one challenge Fox?"

More murmurs burst out, students claiming that they wouldn't dare. Finally, a single hand raised.

"I'll knock him off that pedestal, and laugh as he falls all the way down." the owner of the hand announced.

"Ah, Falco, good. Come to this corner if you would." the stork instructed, indicating a nearby corner.

As Falco walked over, Fox caught his eye. When they made eye contact, Fox only glared, silently snarling at him. Falco merely brushed it off, making a brushing motion over his shoulder, only infuriating Fox even more. Falco took a battle stance, causing Fox to do the same.

"Falco versus Fox, ready…. begin!!"

The two didn't hesitate, dashing into the center of the ring, the rest of the class immediately backing away from the ring. Falco swung his right leg into a round kick, aiming for Fox's head. Fox blocked with both of his forearms, quickly readying his own counter. Fox did a sweep kick, aiming for Falco's single leg. Falco immediately retracted his leg, connecting into a backflip, striking Fox's chin with the flat of his foot. Fox stumbled back as Falco landed on the ground, dashing in to follow up his attack. Falco swung with a right hook, only to stop short as Fox countered with a reverse side-kick. Falco doubled over on Fox's leg, the breath getting knocked out of him. Fox continued his assault, hitting Falco with his own round kick on the left side of his head. Falco was flattened upon the ground. Fox, however, was unrelenting, following after Falco as he fell to the ground. Fox knelt over Falco's body, preparing to strike him in the face. Falco regained his senses just as Fox was about to strike, wrapping his hands around Fox's neck. Fox stopped, gasping for breath, slowly reaching his hands around Falco's neck. Falco then gave one last shove using his remaining energy, placing Fox on the ground.

"Enough, enough. Stop it you two. We're all friends here, aren't we?" the stork asked, pulling the two apart by their collars, his smile a little less friendly, but still there. The two coughed as they glared at each other in disgust. The stork merely smiled as he glanced at the two, his eyes almost entirely closed.

"Well, class is almost over, everyone go get changed and prepare for your next class." the stork dismissed. Fox and Falco continued glaring at each other, their breathing rough and heavy.

"You're lucky…he…interrupted, Fox." Falco said with a smirk.

"Wanna say that…again!?" Fox shot back, Slippy walking towards Fox.

"Yeah…next time, I'll beat you into the ground." Falco said.

"Like hell you wi-"

"FALCO!!!" a voice called from the doors of the gym. The group looked over to see a feline running over. "FALCO! HURRY UP!!"

"I'm coming, Katt!" Falco replied, giving one more glare at Fox.

"C'mon, the period's almost over! I don't want to be late again! Now HURRY UP!!!" Katt demanded, dragging Falco away by the arm.

When Falco was out of sight, Fox went to get his things with Slippy following closely behind him.

"You ok, Fox?" Slippy asked. As he asked the bell rang.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Fox replied. "He just pisses me off."

(The Living Area)

Fox wheeled Falco into the Living Area to be greeted by the rest of the team. Krystal was working with Peppy on breakfast, Slippy was watching television, and Katt sat at the table, glancing at the TV every couple of seconds.

"Hey, you guys finally made it!" Slippy announced, sitting up on the couch. Krystal and Peppy walked out of the kitchen as Katt looked up.

"Yeah, so where's breakfast!?" Falco asked, the smell of food lingering in the air.

"All ready, we just finished!" Peppy announced. "You can eat, and when you're done, you can take your medicine."

"Ah, yes! Where's my drugs? This hole here is kind of bugging me a little."

"ROB!" Peppy called out.

"Here's your medication, Falco." ROB stated, presenting Falco a vial of liquid.

"Lessee. SC-1108974: Mass Mitosis Stem Cell Regenerative Serum. Damn. How much did we pay for this?" Falco asked, eyeing the vial.

"Oh, the General paid for that." Peppy explained. "He said that the citizens were more than happy enough to pay for that ever since the scare yesterday. Apparently the citizens are pretty generous if they are just saved from cataclysmic destruction."

"Good thing, huh?" Slippy snickered. "Otherwise we'd be eating Roasted Falco for breakfast."

"You wanna say that louder, Frog Boy!?"

"Oh, what's a wheelchair-bound cripple gonna do?"

"Get over here you little twerp!" Falco roared, fervently wheeling himself over to Slippy's position.

"AAAH! Make him stop!" Slippy screamed, keeping one piece of furniture between Falco and him as he dodged around the room.

As the two argued, Krystal walked down carrying plates of food.

"Hungry, Fox?" she asked, offering him a plate.

"Yeah, thanks Krystal. Smells good."

"Yes, we made pancakes. Although Peppy burned some of them." Krystal added.

"Hey, you lose track of pancakes making all this other food." Peppy laughed, indicating the rest of the dishes. Katt picked up a pancake, showing Fox the black underside.

"It looks like a burnt-out sun." Katt laughed. "Hey, Falco, Slippy! Hurry up and come eat your pancakes before the smoked flavor sets in!"

Slippy and Falco joined the others at the table as they began eating.

"So, what do we do now?" Falco asked, finishing a mouthful.

"What do you mean?" Fox asked.

"Well, we blew up our one big lead in the Cornerian atmosphere. Now what?" Falco continued.

"Nothing for now, I guess. General Pepper said he'd contact us if anything comes up." Fox explained.

"What about the guy that took my bed?" Slippy asked, giving a big yawn. "You don't realize how sleepy you get until you sleep outside of your bed."

"We'll wait until he wakes up. It should be soon, seeing as it's almost been eighteen hours since he fell asleep." Peppy said, checking the time.

"Well, I'm done eating anyway." Falco said, pushing his plate away from him. "Time for the meds."

Falco took out the vial, reading its instructions.

"Are they serious!?" Falco exclaimed, reading the vial.

"What?" Krystal asked.

"I have to stab this thing into the target site and inject the serum in." Falco said, slightly grossed out. "Well, here goes nothing!"

He stabbed the needle into his chest, grimacing as the pain took hold. After a second, he was able to sit back up.

"Ow, hurts like hell." Falco said rubbing his wound.

"How long till the medication takes effect?" Katt asked.

"Two hours. This IS the good stuff." Falco laughed.

"Well, guess we have to wait until that scientist Shih Tzu wakes u-"

As Falco was about to finish his statement, the Living Area doors opened, revealing the disheveled Shih-Tzu from the Defense Outpost.

"Morning everyone." the Shih Tzu yawned.

(The Bridge)

The team sat in a circle around the Shih Tzu, who sat in the chair near the Bridge door. He had a certain anxious energy around him.

"Ok, let's start off, what's your name?" Fox started interrogating.

" Menoway. Head Researcher upon the Solsen Defense Outpost.

"Ok, Dr. Menoway. Do you recall what happened upon the Solsen Defense Outpost during the attack?"

"Yes, my colleagues and I were examining some data regarding this carrier ship one of our scouting ships found. As we were examining, we felt the ship shake. We entered into lock-down mode, waiting for the troubles to pass over. Yet, the assailants were able to break their way into our research lab. They demanded that I retrieve the information about the carrier ship and download it to a disk. When I refused, they used force. After several tries, they threatened to kill my colleagues. They went so far as to demonstrate how far they'd go. I finally complied. They said they would stop murdering my colleagues, my friends. But, as soon as the download finished, they killed them all off, and tied me to a chair. They left me in that room for storage until your green friend found me."

"Ok, that's a start. Do you happen to remember what the data entailed?" Fox continued.

"It was about that carrier ship. When our scouts found it, it was abandoned. Some empty cages were found in the main hull. Apparently, the ship was transporting some animals of a kind. They were coming from Quanzan, the planet at the heart of the Quanzas sector." Dr. Menoway finished.

Falco eyes widened as he remembered what the soldier upon the Outpost told him.

"FOX! We have to find that ship!" Falco called out.

"What!? Why!?" Fox asked, his attention turning to Falco.

As Fox asked Falco, the holographic projector in the middle of the room lit up, projecting the head of General Pepper.

"Fox, we have trouble."

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Author's Notes: Son of a bitch. I apologize many times over. I seriously regret not having this up about half a year ago. You see, I had trouble with my computer as of recent, it catching a virus and all. So yeah, I had to have my hard-drive wiped clean, including the original first half of this chapter. Then, my schedule was kind of hectic, what with all of these sport teams and school. Not to mention my social life. So with all of that, here's another filler chapter. Now for reviews.

Reviews:

-theXbeat08
2009-01-30 . chapter 17

Sorry, not as hyper this time. Great chapter, though! I was waiting for it!

Well, I'm glad you threw in the assasination attempt. Helped prove these 'Hands of Lylat' guys mean business. And I'm also glad Falco's okay, and Katt's not leaving. It'd be pretty boring without them.

Also, I'm glad someone's updating. I keep meaning to, but I never remember. Oh, well. Eventually. Keep this up, in the meantime!

Good luck!
theXbeat08

Yes, it's gonna take some time to get back into writing. So let's see. Yay, Falco's ok and is on drugs. Katt's still here. For now. *wink wink*. Am I serious? No one knows. So here's another cliffhanger for you. And again, sorry about not updating. Here's to finally getting another chapter up.

-Mr. Benzidrine
2009-01-30 . chapter 17

Woohoo! An update! and yet another cookie is JUST out of reach... Oh well. I can't think of anything, so all that's left to say is UPDATE! SOON! FF(dot)N NEEDS MORE ACTION! ADVENTURE! AND ORIGINAL LOCATIONS! *Rips off Caps Lock key*

there. oops! now i can't write correctly!

~FFA, who ate half a barrel of sugar!~

Yay, yet another update. And here's the answer to the cookie question. "Simple as can be" is a line from the Eight Melodies used in the Mother games. Sorry, I'm a huge Earthbound fan, as well as Starfox and Legend of Zelda. So here we are, I got two out of three demands right. More timeliney action/adventure sequences and more original locations. All I need to do is work on updating! And eating questionable amounts of sugar sounds like fun, I ought to try it sometime! Here's to another chapter!