A/N: Is anyone out there curious to see what Sky looks like? I was thinking about doing a bit of artwork and posting it somewhere online. I know he isn't the best OC, but he still has an interesting description and appearance… with a touch of swagger. I haven't drawn him yet, and for some odd reason it just begs to be put on the canvas. It might just be my obsessive fondness for big cats, who knows.

Of course, I know I'm not going to draw in many voters, but for those who can, just leave a review or a PM if it doesn't trouble you too much. Thanks in advance.

ONE MORE THING – How do you guys feel about me writing romance? Feel free to give me some ideas if you'd like, because I just started a new story that follows the ending of this one. I might take down the project if it goes too wrong, which it is prone to doing since I don't find romance to be one of my particular strengths, but hey, let's just see how it goes.

Anyways, thanks again for reading that little update. Now for the main event!

CHAPTER 14: House Call

Nothing but a blurred shadow on the wall and silently awaiting a specific target, Cadavera remained crouched on the cold, metallic surface of her location almost as though she were a statue.

She was dressed in a bodysuit that provided instant camouflage, but she barely found the need for it. Keeping hidden in a location as dark and obscured as her current one would make even the worst hide and seek players seem like chameleons. Her environment consisted of uneven sediment formations, and she was closed into a tight space in the wall of a large complex. There was an indent to one side where she could look out into the asteroid-ridden cosmos of Meteo, and opposite to that was an indent that gave an overhead view of a giant, seemingly vacant hideout base with quite a rusted, worn-down infrastructure.

There, she spotted a few more shadows that entered the large building through its main gate, and the silhouettes belonged to ruffian figures that shuffled in with permanent scowls and mumbled to themselves or incomprehensibly to one another. Among them were a large, intimidating lupine, a sly-looking and sinister chameleon, and a panther with fur that was almost as dark as outer space itself.

Wolf O'Donnell and his team had countenances that exuded boiling frustration. The lupine leader grunted and furrowed his brows while he made his way down to his sleeping quarters, strung out after a long day and especially disturbed after hearing about the horrible loss of Zoness. His teammates caught on to his viral irritation and silently cursed and spat their own ramblings. None of them spoke a word to each other, but they all expressed loathing malice towards the Star Fox team for being involved in the cataclysm. They wanted to beat those moronic, heartless jackasses to a pulp and show them the same excruciating pain that had already set into the hearts of the entirety of the Lylat population… They wanted to confront them and settle the score, but they were all forced to keep the lid over their rage for the moment.

Of course, they were completely unaware of who else could possibly be lurking inside since they were normally the only ones present. They suddenly decided to stop in the main hallway so they could discuss a few quick things before getting some shut-eye, and that left them wide out in the open. This couldn't have been an easier mission for Cadavera…

Wolf immediately started barking angrily while the chameleon and the panther attempted to mirror his indignant tone and speak out, only to be harshly cut short by the lupine without even getting a syllable out. The screaming rant went on for a minute or two until finally he calmed down enough to keep his body relatively still and relax, even though his chest was still heaving. From there on out, a somewhat calmer conversation took place among the three Star Wolf members.

Now was her chance. Their guard couldn't have been any lower… Once she activated the catalyst, all she would have to do is wait…

Wait.

…

Falco leaned onto the edge of the entrance to the hospital facility with Sky close to his side and Fox sitting on the front steps not too far ahead. It had been a quiet, average afternoon with nothing else special going on except for some breaking news headline about Zoness being televised on every big screen in downtown Corneria City for the umpteenth time.

The avian ruffled his feathers a tad before glancing over at the tired vulpine, who had his legs sprawled out on the steps below him while he propped himself up with his palms and stared out into the slow-going traffic. He had visible bags underneath his eyes that complemented his exhausted expression, and he couldn't find much strength to move after finally being able to get out of his hospital bed. His mental damage had not been completely repaired, but it was nothing alarming for him to concern himself with anymore.

Wanting to break this dreadful silence, Sky found the courage to speak up, "So what is our next move?"

It was Fox who cleared his throat before answering hoarsely, "We're headed to Sargasso as soon as everyone is prepped and briefed. We'll be going with the same crew that we traveled to Zo-"

The vulpine had to stop himself while he cringed painfully at the memory of how the team's last objective turned out, then he continued a few seconds later, "The… The same crew that we did our last mission with…"

Falco joined in, "In other words, we're goin' aboard the Mercury again, just not with those damned suits this time."

"I just can't believe that something this disastrous would go down," Fox changed the subject while frowning and rubbing his forehead with both palms. "Everyone must be furious with us… me especially."

Sky took a step forward and refuted his theory strongly, "Nobody is disappointed in us, and there are no malicious feelings being projected towards you. You must understand that there was nothing we could have done to prevent the black matter from destroying Zoness once that thing, whatever it was, had set in."

"Plus, I spoke with the General a little while ago. He's already confirmed to the public that we aren't the culprits of any crime," Falco added.

"I guess you're right, guys," the vulpine leader sighed. "There's still one thing that puts me on edge… They traced everything to Sargasso, but I don't even know if Wolf could possibly be involved in something as dark as this."

"We'll find that out after we fuck 'em up hard," Falco's feathers bristled as he let out a low growl.

"No," Fox narrowed his eyes at the ground, "let's approach this situation without violence first off. We don't want people to think any differently about us after the General went through all that trouble to cover our asses."

"Hmph… What happens after they swing first then, eh?"

The exasperated vulpine didn't feel like answering a question like that directly. He didn't know what would be in store for his team, which was all the more reasoning he needed to keep his guard up. He glanced back at Falco with a rather pleading expression as he let out a quiet grunt and very slowly got to his feet, "Just… try and keep control for as long as you can."

Instead of persisting in getting Fox to fully sympathize with him, Falco eased up a bit and relaxed his shoulders before scoffing silently and turning his head, "Tch, pacifist."

"Listen… I remember what they did to us. I know there's more bad blood flowing between us than I would prefer, but right now isn't the best time for both squads to try and tear each other apart, kapeesh?"

Fox leaned against the same wall that Falco was propped up against, and he very slowly positioned himself until the two were posed quite similarly with their arms folded and one leg crossed over the other. The two teammates took no notice of this, but Sky glanced over and stared at them both for a moment from a distance. At last, he hesitated before walking over quietly and joining them in leaning against the wall with the same pose. The three now stood with their eyes closed all in a straight line, attempting to keep themselves calm while a typhoon of thoughts churned within their consciences.

Fox was especially in deep contemplation… Things had turned in such an unexpected manner. He felt as though each new event was building upon the last, like a movie plot. The only concept he didn't want to think about was the climax since Corneria and the rest of the Lylat system had already gone through so much—total war, two almost apocalyptic invasions, and the tragic loss of an important planet. Instead, he found himself questioning something else…

How much more could the Lylat take? Would he and his teammates be ready?

…

Leon and Panther rushed through the hallways towards Wolf's office and burst through the door, one after the other, then stepped towards the main desk and reported urgently. The chameleon was the first to speak.

"Wolf, we have some unannounced visitors. They're docking right within our radius and dispatching a team that's headed straight for the main gate."

The lupine turned his head around, but quite slowly. His eye was wide open and his pupil shrunk, but there was no shocked or outraged expression reflecting from the rest of his face, which seemed much more placid in comparison. When he finally made eye contact with his teammates, they noticed a darker violet hue that glinted from his good eye and drew their attention more than the mechanical hi-tech patch that covered his other socket. The gray fur on his face was slightly ragged as though he had woken up from a long nap, but they all knew he had too much to rage about to actually fall asleep. The manner in which he gazed at them both and his twitching body movements brought Leon and Panther to the realization that something wasn't right. Their leader had a very ominous aura emitting from his body that they couldn't explain, but they felt a disturbing presence and could almost see a cloud of purple tinting the air around the room, which they hoped was only their imagination.

At last, Wolf spoke in his familiar growling tone, "And who might they be, Leon? I hope you know I ain't in the mood to party."

"Panther is led to believe that they are most likely part of Corneria," Panther calmly answered.

"Well then, what are you both waiting for? Roll out a fuckin' welcome mat!" The lupine answered sharply while twitching again and coughing quietly after finishing his sentence.

"With pleasure," the other two answered in unison. With that, Wolf jumped unexpectedly out of his desk chair and hopped over the table as if he were going to sprint to the main gate, but instead he immediately slowed down and walked rather awkwardly down the hall, noticeably shivering, with his skeptical teammates following at least ten feet behind. Leon and Panther exchanged worried glances, but kept their mouths shut as the ruffian trio rushed from their quarters to Sargasso's central hall.

However, when they arrived, there wasn't a soul to be found yet… Not even the usual criminals were lounging about the entrance, which was to be expected with every visitor that Sargasso received, but Star Wolf anticipated that something much worse than a measly patrol officer was about to step foot in their territory.

Leon tilted head, confused, and cleared his throat, "Is this some sort of prank?"

Just when Wolf let out an angry "Bah!" and turned around, a new voice echoed across the darkened room and reverberated in his eardrums, and it caused new feelings of hatred to boil within him from unpleasant past memories being brought up in his already troubled mind. His team froze in their steps and turned their heads around to see a familiar auburn-furred pilot standing, with two teammates backing him up, right in front of the entrance gate about thirty yards away.

"I can assure you, we'd never stoop to a level as low as ding-dong ditching, particularly in this kind of situation."

Fox McCloud stood tall, his visage seeming to show much livelier energy than before, and strode in confidently without a trace of his bed-ridden days being revealed. He was joined by Falco Lombardi and Sky Felis as they demonstrated the same oomph in their step as their rejuvenated leader. Wolf let out a low chuckle and bared his fangs, lowering his sight and glaring at the arrogant vulpine. The daunting criminal leader's claws were unknowingly unsheathed while almost every one of his defined muscles tensed in preparation for what was about to happen. He grinned to himself and twisted his neck from side to side before flexing a tad and puffing out his chest.

"You certainly have some guts, kid," Wolf sneered, "even though you of all people know who's about to walk out of this place in ten seconds with all of his bones snapped in half."

"Please, let's save that for another time," Fox replied while taking a deep breath and meeting his rival's terrifying glare. "We're here to clear a few things up, and that's a bit more important than what you have in mind right now. Just trust me on this one."

"Well, for fuck's sake, you egotistical bitch, let's hear it then!"

It was not only Fox's fur that fearfully stood on end after hearing that loud, harsh response being spat out directly into his face. Wolf's negative aura spread about the room and made everyone else's skin crawl with apprehension. The lupine was known to be sharp, but to act so intensely during a primary confrontation? That seldom happened. Leon and Panther shared grave expressions with Falco and Sky, who decided to take caution for their own good rather than turn away and laugh.

Sky, who had had his palm cupped around the hilt of Aegis's Tail ever since they entered Sargasso airspace, blinked a few times before communicating a mental message to Fox.

Black matter. It has left its mark all over Wolf and taken advantage of his anger and weariness. Use extreme caution, and don't say anything that'll provoke an over-the-line reaction.

With another deep breath, Fox silently acknowledged the lynx before reluctantly returning his focus to the Star Wolf trio. His confidence hadn't faltered, but it was fading just slightly by the minute as he observed his furious rival, who seemed as though he were ready to explode forth and rip his entrails out any second. He was forced to disregard that… Right then, he instead decided to draw in a bit more energy from the memories of his last mission to Zoness and the medical procedures performed on him to fix his critical brain injuries, and from that alone he had to keep from clenching his fists and furrowing his brows. Even though he was determined not to let this situation fall into chaotic bloodshed, the vulpine felt a warmer sensation of resentment and anger flow through his body before he continued.

"I want to start by telling you that we did everything we could to stop whatever the hell was taking over Zoness. Essentially, we destroyed that thing that was lodged into the crust, but the chain reaction produced an ending that none of us wanted… For that, my team and I are deeply sorry, but hear me out. We didn't blow the planet up deliberately."

Wolf gave another fierce snarl, one that wasn't as loud as his previous outburst but still just as potent, "You liar! Deep down, it's blatantly obvious you don't give a damn! Don't give me that bull unless you want me to take your head off!"

"He is speaking the truth," Sky quietly spoke up from behind his leader.

Almost a split second after those words left the lynx's mouth, the enraged lupine effortlessly yet brutally shoved Fox a few feet out of the way, causing him to stumble and almost fall over onto his side with a surprised yelp. Wolf paid no more attention to his disoriented nemesis as he stepped forward and grunted through clenched teeth while narrowing his blazing eye at the foreigner who dared to challenge him, "Who's this fucker? Why does he feel the need to show his sorry ass here?"

"My name is Sky… Sky Felis." The lynx shuddered violently within himself as the exuding black matter intensified even more in response to Wolf's growing tension. On impulse, as soon as his leader had endured the lupine's physical contact, Sky had lowered his position into a defensive stance with his hand tightened around his katana's grip as it remained sheathed on the side of his belt. All in a split second, standing utterly still with two slit topaz eyes countering Wolf's glare, he bent his knees and spread his feet across a bit more while flexing his upper body and preparing himself to strike out, should Fox be harmed again. His new passion to help his friends and protect them gave him a sudden rush of bravery.

However, that boldness was quickly put to rest as Fox screamed loudly from meters away something within his own conscious for Sky to hear as though it were being projected through an 11-decibal megaphone. The vulpine got back to his feet and shot his bristling teammate a desperate look.

Sky! Whatever you do, don't retaliate! Just stand up straight and keep your cool!

It took him a few seconds, but Sky gradually eased out into a normal stance with both arms freely hanging at his sides as he took his palm off of his weapon. He put on his best composure once more to disguise his sudden flash of emotion. With that, Wolf smirked and folded his arms, unknowingly digging into his forearms with his claws.

"So how 'bout it, Sky? If you're so willing to vouch for this crook, then enlighten me! Just try and convince me why I shouldn't have his hide right this moment."

Clearing his throat to respond, the lynx's tufted ears twitched in irritation and his eyes remained slit. He began, "I shall indeed explain. Once my teammates and I encountered the entity of black matter inside of Zoness, we gave an effort to abate its harmful effects on the planet and tried to put an end to it without bringing such a disastrous demise upon the Lylat… It was not bound to work by any means." At this point, he raised his voice slightly and almost took a step forward, "Meanwhile, every qualified and credited Cornerian scientist currently alive is tracing black matter towards this location, Sargasso, the place which you and your teammates just so happened to be residing when Zoness was first engulfed."

Wolf, thoroughly not amused, drew his teeth back in a quiet growl while answering, "And your point? What the hell kind of dirt are you tryin' to get on me?" Before Sky could open his mouth, Wolf snarled at a much louder volume and opened his eye wide, leaning his muzzle into Sky's before continuing, "You got as much of a chance as an ice cube's survival in hell if you think I'm gonna buy that. You were the ones in there in the first place, and you were the ones who meant to pull whatever trigger it was that blew everything to bits. It's you who's to blame this time, it ain't us! If you have any sense left, you'll turn around and run back to whoever sent you here and leave us the fuck alone before I claw out your eyeballs and rip you all into bloody fuckin' shreads!"

Unable to hold himself back at that point, Sky clenched his fists with an increase in his breathing rate and retorted through grit teeth, "You're reeking of the same substance that took Zoness, the same material that we tried to get rid of! If you have any sense left, you'll back down and let us do our job so that it doesn't take over your body and destroy it! And also… You shouldn't touch my leader again like that. It was a very foolish mist-"

"I AIN'T FUCKIN' AFRAID OF YOU!" At that moment, right after Sky called him out on his advance towards Fox, Wolf furiously bellowed out right into the lynx's face before he could finish his sentence. After he was done yelling, a swift right hook from the infuriated lupine caught Sky under the chin unexpectedly and caused him to arch his back and jerk upwards. He was launched half a foot into the air with a grunt of pain from the incredible force of the blow, and immediately after, Wolf's boot almost bore through his stomach as he was then hurled at high speeds across the ground before coming to a skidding stop on the ground ten yards away and writhing in agony.

Wolf was still snapping his body back into place after throwing a punch with such power and momentum that he couldn't sense anything behind him. Unfortunately for the lupine at that point, a hard object slammed into the backs of his knees and caused him to crumble painfully to the ground with a loud roar. Fox had sprinted towards the scene as soon as Sky was launched, then he stopped a few feet away and pivoted off of one leg while performing a 180-degree turn and swinging his leg full-force into his rival's back lower half. Wolf didn't have enough time to quickly recuperate and interpret his surroundings as he was lifted up off the ground by both Falco and Fox and barraged with a series of hard blows and kicks to multiple areas of his upper and lower body.

After being bashed viciously by Fox's knuckles and the heels of Falco's boots in retaliation, the dazed Wolf decided to try and make another move. He tensed all of his muscles, enduring the pain from Fox and Falco's offensive onslaught, and used his brute strength to unleash a massive amount of arm strength and hurl the two away from his body with another raging warcry. Fox tumbled over repeatedly after being thrown through the air, but regained his balance and stood up quickly while Falco only had to flap his wings once and skidded his boots across the metal floor before gathering his bearings once more. The avian concluded that, seeing as Wolf was stumbling about and barely being able to hold his fists up from their two-man attack, multiple bruises and bloody cuts all over his body and face and also with his mechanical eye-patch knocked away in the process, Wolf's KO would be better suited for Fox.

The auburn-furred vulpine's chest heaved as he kept his fists clenched and made his way over towards his opponent. By now, there had been a circle with a wide radius being formed around the two brawlers as Leon, Panther, and Falco stepped back to give them space. Fox held up both fists and covered his face as he drew his teeth back and bared his fangs with furrowed brows and a furious expression. He bounced lightly back and forth on his feet while keeping his flaming glare fixed on his target, who weakly attempted to mimic his fighting stance while spitting out blood and trying to get blurry spots out of his eyes. It was Wolf who jeered first and growled through bloody teeth, "Come at me, you little shit!"

At a distance, Falco was tending to the lynx as he was very slowly coming to his senses, but at the same time he was encouraging his teammate to deliver the final blow. The adrenalized avian was satisfied with being able to take out his tension and somewhat balance things out with Star Wolf by giving their own highly feared and monstrous team leader a classic beating. Now, he just had to make sure that Sky wasn't too badly out of it, but more importantly, he just had to ensure that the deal would be sealed between the two famous rivals. He shouted excitedly, "Finish him, fool!"

Fox took advantage of the opportunity and lowered his body, flashing forth and dishing out two hard punches to Wolf's open stomach. Wolf was knocked back some, but no more wind had been forced out of his lungs compared to before as he was easily able to recover and counter the vulpine's blows with a strong outward hook towards the left jaw. Fox's heart pounded like a timpani as he bent backwards on his own two feet to avoid receiving a blow as devastating as the one that Sky had suffered, and he took a few more steps back into his comfort zone while regaining his stance. Beads of sweat flew from his matted fur as he tried to keep mobile, but to his despair he noticed that the blood-covered brute was making his own advance now.

In response, Fox lowered his fists and spread his legs farther apart while keeping on the heels of his toes. Wolf cupped his fist in one palm and raised both arms over his head as though he were preparing to swing a sledgehammer down and smash it onto the ground. During the split second that his opponent's blatant opening lasted, Fox considered how useless it would be to try and deliver punches to his chest and stomach, keeping in mind the size difference between the two contestants. Instead, on impulse, he hopped on one leg to help him gain momentum for his next attack and drove his leg out at a much higher velocity from being bent at the knee and brought back all the way to his chest, sending Wolf stumbling backwards with a huge kick underneath his chin as his attack was interrupted. Fox brought his leg down quickly and rushed over towards the disoriented lupine as he continued stumbling while clutching his jawbone and continuing to roar, then the vulpine instinctively pivoted on one foot once again and sent his other foot jamming into the brute's heels, sweeping him out quite swiftly from underneath and bringing him onto the ground hard.

He let out another painful grunt and felt agony and soreness shoot through all of his body at once during that instant. Wolf panted heavily and squinted his eyes shut, limply sprawled out on the surface, and cursed profanely in a much weaker tone while blood spattered from his mouth and his cracked lips. Fox stepped over top of him, reared back his right arm, then swept it as hard as he could with a balled fist across the right side of Wolf's face, rapidly throwing his head to the side and officially flipping the light switch.

The battle had finally been won…

Fox remained standing, trying to calm down his breathing rate as he looked around the Sargasso gate blurrily. His adrenaline rush left him much faster than he had expected it to, and he struggled to keep from kneeling down as fatigue plagued every muscle in his body and forced him to endure gravity's worst effects. He caught sight of Panther and Leon at last once he had recovered just enough to recognize them as they sat and watched in silence while their leader was unconscious on the floor after being beaten squarely in a battle of fisticuffs. They gave him solemn glances, which he returned with a rather relieved and grateful expression that seemed to have said, "Sorry, but it was for the best. No hard feelings."

Once Panther and Leon made their way over towards Wolf and hoisted his limp body up to carry away somewhere else, Fox stumbled over towards Falco and Sky and sat down next to the unconscious yet peaceful lynx. Of course, he would probably have to visit the hospital just to make sure there wasn't any serious damage dealt towards their poor white-furred friend… But that wasn't the team's major concern currently. Falco chuckled to himself and gazed out into Meteo as big bulky asteroids lazily drifted across outer space, obscuring the stars and distant planets. Fox babbled out almost incomprehensibly, "I take it you're a happy camper?"

"Damn straight. I got to take part in spraying Star Wolf with a can o' whoop-ass, although I would have preferred it to be Leon, and I also got to see you take down someone at least twice, if not three times your size pretty handily. Let's gather the team up and head back to Corneria, how's that sound?"

"Sounds pretty good to me… Let's go get those drinks we were talkin' about getting earlier in Peppy's office."

Oh, yes... Things are only going to get better from here. As long as it took me to finish this chapter, it was considerably longer than my others and involved more action, like how a majority of the rest of this story's chapters are going to turn out.

Once again, reads and reviews are appreciated. Thanks in advance, and look out in the future!

-PastaUnit-