A/N: Hey everyone! Just got chapter ten done, hope you all enjoy it. I'll have another chapter up sometime soon. Thanks for the support and don't forget to R&R...^_^
The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox
Frag the weak, Hurdle the dead ~ Mykll
Chapter 10: The face of the Enemy…...
…...Zoness...…
Creed burst though the door of an underground facility; a small place not familiar to very many animals at all. The large bulkhead door that he swung open marked with a large V with a spread pair of wings. It was a division of people that once worked with the Wraiths that now called themselves Valkyrie. Quite a relevant name actually as it turned out every member of this particular sect was female. Luckily at least two of the members that called this place home actually stayed in contact with the Wraiths. It was as he rushed inside laying the beaten and bloodied Fox in his arms on a nearby sofa that a familiar looking feline entered the room rubbing her eyes. Her fur was dark orange with black stripes and dark blue eyes, she wore a single thick golden hoop through one ear. At the moment she wore a red tee shirt, a bit too big for her, and a pair of tight spandex shorts that she clearly used for sleeping attire…
"Creed?" She asked, "What the hell are you doing here? This place isn't safe."
Creed looked to the feline, "Miyu…come here." He winced, crumbling to one knee as his arm went to his side.
The Lynx quickly rushed over examining a bleeding wound that gushed blood out over the vulpine's metallic paw, "Holy shit you're really bleeding all over the place…who…" She began as she turned to the injured animal laying on the sofa, "Oh…my god."
Creed quickly jerked the feline down toward him, "Don't say a word."
She looked to Creed then back to the injured animal, "Is that…who I think it is?"
Creed stood up growling in pain, "Yeah…" He replied, "…look just get this bullet out of my side and I'll explain everything alright?"
Miyu had trouble holding back her tears, it'd taken her so long to consider the fact that Fox McCloud was dead, and now he was laying in a bloody heap in her team's living room…
"Creed I need someone to take care of him…" She said hitting a button to a PA system on the wall as they entered the Lynx's room, "Chloe, get your ass to the living room right now! It's an emergency!"
It took little time before Creed found himself looking out of the room at a young, attractive skunk that hung over Fox wiping away at his injuries, making certain that he wasn't bleeding too horribly. Her fur was a light platinum color, housing a bluish gray shine, while the white stripe that arched up her fluffy tails, traveled up her spine ending as it vanished into the white of her muzzle. Her light green eyes seemed to look on the animal with worry…
"Chloe's a good medic she'll take care of him." Miyu said as she showed Creed the bloody bullet that the forceps in her paw held, before dismissing it to a small tray, "So…you gonna tell me what the fuck this is all about? Cuz I'd really like to know why there's a man in my living room that's been dead for three years."
Creed gasped in pain as the lynx began to bandage the wound, "He was never dead…in fact without him; me and Reiko would be."
"I can see that…" Miyu chuckled, "…without him a lot of people'd be dead."
"That's not what I mean…" Creed said keeping his eyes out on the animal being tended to by Chloe, "…you recall the job don't you?"
Miyu sighed, "How could I forget? It was why I left the wraiths."
Creed grunted in pain as the Lynx tightened his bandages, "The job was more than we wanted to say. We were hired by the Cornerian alliance before that; hired to take out whatever remnants of Andross's forces there were. Andrew was working behind the scenes, we never even realized it. Reiko was pretty quick to strike up a deal with Andrew, he wanted Star Fox out of the way." He said taking a small breath through his teeth as Miyu rubbed something on his wound, "You know how Reiko is with his plans; he decided that if we took Andrew's job and brought Fox McCloud to the new emperor. He figured that if we got that close, we'd have the opportunity to attack him…but, we were wrong. Andrew plotted us out. He was smarter than we gave him credit for. He had an inside man, we're still not fully sure who it is. When we approached Andrew, we were instead ambushed by his little group of loyal ass kissers. Wolf O'Donnell, Panther Caruso, Leon Powalski, and a few other animals that joined them more recently. We were attacked and thrown into the prison." He sighed, "It was odd but, in the time that it took for both me and Reiko to come to…McCloud already had the door opened somehow. When we ran he took a bullet for Me, the other two hit my arms." He said patting each of his metal forearms, "Severe nerve damage. They needed to be replaced. When we finally made it out of there; McCloud went into this fit of depression, until he went back to his old base alone one night. Something he saw there or did changed him. He came back and demanded that we let him join the Wraiths. Started hunting down just about any important member of Andrew's army. Made me and Reiko promise that we wouldn't tell anyone that he was actually Seven. That way he could hide under you guys's noses and keep an eye on you all, while he got back at those fuckers for taking his life away."
Miyu held her paw over her mouth, "That's why Seven saved me, and Lucy, and Katt. He…he came to save us all. So that he wouldn't loose anyone else."
Creed thought for a moment, "Yeah. And now we've got a bigger problem." He said, "he's gone and picked a fight with the Angle of Death. Kursed herself has been hunting him down. Nearly killed me too…she fights like some sort of demon."
Miyu stood up leaning against the wall near the door, "That's not good, I heard she turned in 160 top wanted bounties across the entire Trinity Accord, in less than one year. Something about her using some kind of mind power; three of her old victims are confined to mental illness facilities. One of them she hypnotized or something when she was angry; he's been deemed completely blind, but, his eyes are perfectly fine, his mind just doesn't register his sense of sight anymore, another she just touched on the back of the neck, he's now registered as a terminal quadriplegic…no feeling below his neck."
Creed sighed, "Yeah. Same shit she used on me. I'm not sure what the fuck she did, but, she slapped my shoulders and my arms stopped working for about eight hours." He said, "Well that's not important now though. Reiko's on his way to get me and Fox out of here…but, you listen to me. Nobody outside of me and you is to hear this."
"Why?" Miyu asked.
"Think about it…" Creed replied, "…how fast will Andrew come at us if he finds that we've got McCloud in our ranks? There'd be no stopping him…he'd wash over us like a typhoon, and there'd be nothing left. Right now we're just a minor annoyance, but, with Fox McCloud…we're a legit threat."
"Well you two can wait here." Miyu said, "just be careful around Chloe she's got a slight problem with hitting on…well just about anything that moves."
Creed looked out into the living room where the attractive you skunk waved to him, "Good to know."
All that was left to do was wait; Miyu sent out a scout to keep an eye on the soldiers that patrolled the streets. While Creed sat back and watched Fox, who so far showed no signs of waking up…
...… …...
A pale furred vixen stepped out of the small hanger that led to the small Zonessian city; the temperate climate of this area of the planet mixed with the early morning hours caused her white fur to stand out against the moisture in the air. She'd only been to Zoness once really, years ago when she was still a member of Star Fox. The place wasn't in much better shape now, there were plumes of dark smoke that rose from different areas above the city's high rise. The campfires of the homeless towering up from between the buildings, if she had to say so this city was far worse off than Kew City. The streets were dark, the fog was thick, and she could tell by the scent in the air that something was coming. She looked to the pink feline and gray coyote that both stepped out of the hanger…
"There's a storm coming." The vixen pointed out.
Katt sighed, "Yep. That's home for you, wether's never what is should be. Zoness is about as temperamental as any female ever was."
Reiko laughed, "I hope you're not including yourself in that mix." He replied, "Cuz trust me. Everyone's seen you when you're in heat, you're a bit more than temperamental."
Kursed chuckled, "He's right you know." She said, "There was that one time you nearly bit Fox and Slippy's heads both off."
"Hey!" Katt protested, "I had a headache and they would turn that god damned music down. I'd have been pissed even if I weren't…look can we just stop talking about this? There are more important matters as hand. Like finding Creed alive."
The white vixen chuckled, "Katt…just remember that, anywhere we go, you cannot call me by my real name. If Andrew or his men get word of it, they'll come down on me hard. I don't think that would help your cause very much at all."
Reiko sighed as he thought for a moment, "Listen…Kursed. I want to apologize for…you know…trying to kill you and all. In my defense I really did think you were attacking Katt though."
"Forget it…it's in the past." The vixen said heading out into the streets.
Katt stayed behind looking to Reiko with slight disbelief, "You…you thought she was gonna kill me." She said, "She took out Creed. You knew she could kill you."
Reiko sighed a bit as he headed out after Kursed, "Yeah…I know."
As he walked the feline's paw pulled his shoulder causing him to stop, "Why? Why would you do something that stupid?"
Reiko took a deep breath, "I really think we should catch up with Kursed before she leaves us behind."
Though she had no idea where it was she was going, Kursed headed out into the streets and stood on the sidewalk's edge, looking to the skies as light raindrops began to fall. Even against her will, the sights here, and the rains brought her back to the one time that she'd been here before, with Fox. She saved his life here keeping him from being shot. Of course him being shot at wasn't her most favorite memory, the fact that it was one of the first times he actually smiled at her. She'd decided that day that she had feelings for him, feelings that she knew she couldn't tell him of, she also had no intention of relaying to Fox that Falco had protested to her ever saying anything to her captain and leader about her feelings, she couldn't help but wonder why. She sighed a bit as Katt approached her…
"Hey what'cha thinkin' about?"
The vixen sighed through her nose, "Nothing…let's just go."
"You got it." Reiko replied, "This way come on."
The coyote led the two ladies through the streets; Kursed wasn't sure exactly where it was Reiko was leading her, but, thanks to the fact that she was with them there was less and less chance of her being attacked. She liked the idea of not being attacked, but, unfortunately she was certain that this wasn't going to last. The vixen simply followed beside Reiko with Katt at his other side before Kursed moved ahead of them. In an instant however the pale furred vixen stepped to one side into an alleyway causing the two to fallow after her. They both found themselves pinned to a wall, by the vixen whom held her finger over her lips for a moment…
"Keep it down." She warned them.
There was a moment before three animals rushed by, each bearing a large automatic rifle. As they passed by Reiko looked to Kursed, who simply nodded, before looking to Katt…
"Why can't you do that?" He chuckled.
Katt glowered at the coyote, "Hey it was just a joke." He replied throwing his paws up defensively.
"If we're going there we'd better get there soon." Kursed said, "According to the wolf in that group. There's a whole platoon of soldiers in this area. I can keep us out of sight but, I've never kept a group our size charmed for very long."
Reiko thought for a moment, "Charmed?" He asked.
Kursed sighed, "Cerinians used to call it Charming the mind. A powerful enough telepath could convince another mind that he or she was not there, in that respect we become invisible to that person's sight."
Reiko thought for a moment, "How many minds can you block out at once?"
"When I first came to Corneria…" She started, "…I managed to hide myself inside a ballroom. Fox said there were just over six thousand in the area."
Reiko scratched his chin, "Are you telling me that you can just vanish from sight."
For an instant Reiko's eyes met the vixen's and there was a pang of pain in the back of his mind, and as he blinked however, the blurred form of the vixen in front of him vanished…
"Okay…" He said feeling around, "…I'm convi…huh?" He wondered as his paws met something.
Suddenly something very solid met his cheek slamming him against the wall behind him, Kursed quickly reappeared with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him intensely…
"Sorry…" Reiko said, "…I really didn't mean to. I thought you'd moved."
"Ever touch me like that again…" The vixen said quickly bringing the point of her scythe to his throat.
"I…get the point…" He said looking to the weapon, "literally. Can you please get that thing away from me now?"
Kursed sighed shaking her head as she put her weapon away, "Sorry…I think I just overreacted a bit."
Katt noted as the vixen walked a short distance away, she'd changed a lot over the course of three years, and not just in the sense of the fact that she had actually dyed her beautiful blue fur white. It was more the sense that she didn't seem to care anymore…the Krystal she knew had told her how terrible it was for a telepath to take a life. It meant feeling that person's last moments for herself; their fear and pain…
"You're still feeling it aren't you?" Katt asked as the vixen suddenly stopped, "You know. It wasn't your fault, you didn't have much of a choice. If you haven't killed Verra, she definitely would have killed you."
Kursed pounded her fist against the wall next to her, "It's not about Verra. That bitch got what she deserved…it's about this guy from your group…Seven." She said, "I've been trying to get him out of my head but…I can't. There are so few people that I can't read, it just disturbs me when I find one."
Reiko thought for a moment, "How may people like that have you met before?"
The vixen sighed as she lowered her head, "Three. The first was on Cerinia, my father was always so calm and relaxed that, his thoughts were never opened to anyone. The second was…Fox…I have no idea why but, his mind was always shut out to my abilities, even when I knew he was opening up to me, his mind was completely blank."
"What about me?" Katt quickly asked.
Kursed chuckled, "No offense, but, your mind doesn't exactly have powerful defenses Katt."
The feline sighed, "None taken." She replied, "however, I do think we should save this chat for later on, when we're off the streets."
"Good point…" Kursed replied, "…us I can hide, our voices not so much."
Again Reiko led the way, a bit more silently this time, but, a bit more out in the open since he'd learned that Kursed could keep them from being spotted. The pale furred vixen was amazed at just how far into the city this base was; most bases like this were posted around the outer rim of the city to make for an easier get away just in case the place is discovered. Eventually their way led to a flight of stairs that hooked back into itself sending the group three stories down, before leading to a bulkhead door in the side of a small building. Reiko knelt down in front of the door removing a small portion of the stone floor at his feet, this revealed a small number pad. He pressed a series of buttons which caused the door to make a loud metallic, hollow sound before he replaced the floor piece. He pushed open the door and stepped inside allowing the two females to follow behind him…
"Shouldn't we be a little more careful about this?" Kursed asked.
Reiko sighed, "Even if someone found that pad; thanks to friends there is little to no chance of them discovering the code sequence. They'd have to have inside information."
Kursed sighed, "So then…who's all a part of this Valkyrie group in the first place?"
Katt chuckled, "Well…for starters Miyu, and Fay." She smiled as Krystal looked to her, "Miyu and Reiko had a difference of opinions almost two years ago…she ended up leaving."
Their short walk led them down a long corridor, through which Kursed noticed several cameras that were watching them. It was after going through another large metal door that she saw a large room laid out in front of her. It was dark, bathed only in a dim light that didn't help much at all. As they walked in she noted the place definitely had Miyu's fashion sense; it was bland, and undecorated with little in the way of furniture, spare two large chairs and a small sofa. It was as the white vixen sniffed the air that she drew closer to the sofa wiping up a small spot of blood which she brought to her nose…
"Funny…" She thought to herself, "…smells kind of familiar."
"Somebody was bleeding pretty heavily here." She pointed out, looking to a small trail of blood that led into the room.
"Two people…" A familiar voice caused her to look to a familiar looking Lynx, "Mind if I ask what the fuck she's doing here?"
"It's a long story but, in short she's with us." Reiko replied, "Where's Creed?"
Miyu sighed walking into the room, "Sleeping, him and Seven were pretty messed up when Creed carried Seven in here. Looked like someone beat the hell outta Seven, while I had to dig a bullet outta the big guy's side. He's lucky the shot missed his kidney." The lynx paused as she noted the white vixen's look at her, "What the hell are you staring at?"
Katt stepped forward, "You don't recognize her do you Miyu?" She asked, "I don't blame you I didn't at first either…just look at her eyes."
Miyu sighed, Katt had always been a trusted friend to her; she did as the pink furred feline asked and looked the vixen in the eyes. There was something inexplicably familiar about those incredibly light blue eyes, like they were staring right into her, piercing her mind and soul. It was a feeling she only really recalled from one place, and that was when she'd first met…
"Krystal?" She finally gasped leaning in to examine the vixen's face.
The vixen only looked to the ground, nodding lightly. The feline quickly reached out wrapping her arms around the vixen, pinning her arms to her sides…
"I can't believe you're alive." She said pushing her back to arm's length, "What did you do to your beautiful fur?"
Kursed sighed, "It was necessary at the time. I needed to die or they'd come after me as soon as I showed my face again."
Miyu thought for a moment, "And what's all this Angel of Death crap I keep hearing about? You can't tell me you're actually enjoying having people call you that."
The vixen looked to the ground, "It doesn't matter anymore does it? The team's gone, I'm the only one alive; where else can I go? What else can I do?" She said, "I'm going to find the real people that killed Fox and the others, and I'm gonna show them what fear and pain really mean. Because I promise you that by the time I finish with them, they will beg me to kill them."
Miyu sighed as she turned finding a seat, "I preferred the vixen that was too shy to tell one of my closest friends that she had a crush on him."
The pale vixen turned around, "Well…she died when he did." She said walking back out into the city.
Miyu started after her only to have Reiko grab her arm, "She'll be fine. They have no reason to hunt her down right now. They're after us. Plus she has…methods of staying out of sight."
The lynx quickly turned shoving Reiko, causing him to stumble into a far wall, "Why haven't you told her yet?" She demanded.
Katt was quickly to rush to the coyote's side, "What the hell are you talking about?"
Miyu looked to Katt with a shocked expression, "Oh I can't believe you're such a fucking hypocrite." She huffed, "All that bullshit all those years about never lying to the team…and you didn't even tell Katt. What kind of a heartless bastard are you? You see what this is doing to Krystal, and you're not even trying to do anything about it."
"What the hell can I do!" Reiko shouted.
"You could start by telling her the fucking truth…" The lynx tried her hardest not to scream in Reiko's face, "…you can start with Katt. You know, since you've always trusted her so much. Go ahead Reiko tell her what you and Creed have been hiding right under her nose this whole time."
Katt looked to Miyu with a questioning look for a moment, she'd never known the lynx to get this emotional, "Reiko what is she talking about?"
"I can't…" The coyote replied.
Katt quickly placed a paw on each side of his face, making him look her in the eyes, "Reiko…what…is she talking about?"
Reiko pulled away from the feline and walked to the other side of the room, "Seven…there's a reason why he came after you, and Lucy, and Miyu, and Fay…"
"Yeah because Fox told him to if anything happened to him." She said looking to Miyu who simply folded her arms over her chest and looked to the ground with a sigh, "Right?"
Reiko sighed deeply as he rested a paw on the metal wall, "No. Seven came after you because…because he is McCloud…he made us promise not to tell…anyone."
Reiko closed his eyes tightly against the sound of the metal door slamming shut as Katt rushed out of the room. Reiko sighed as he felt Miyu's paw on his back, "You know you couldn't go forever without saying something. If you had she never would have forgiven you. You did that right thing."
Reiko finally stood up looking over his shoulder, "Then why do I fell like so low?"
…... …...
The feline rushed out into the streets, she knew where she could find her friend, in her current state the vixen had become far too used to being up in the rooftops looking down on whatever pray it was she was hunting. It didn't take her long to find the vixen either, up high atop the building that Miyu's small family called home; so much more than twenty stories up. It was as Katt stepped out onto the rooftop that she noted this particular building had clearly been under construction, as there was no roof here, and it looked as if the structure was meant to be built quite a bit higher than it actually was. Along the edge of one of the massive steel beams that held the structure together, the white vixen sat looking down over the city, not bothering to even take note to the rain. Kursed was already well aware that the feline was there, she simply didn't bother to say anything…
"You know Miyu didn't mean anything by what she said down there…" The feline said approaching the vixen and sitting beside her, "…she always was a little too forward."
The vixen sighed, "Yeah, I know. I guess I just have to learn how to let this all go…move on with my life. I just can't." She said turning to the Katt with tears in her eyes, "It's not fair…I…I never even got to tell Fox how I felt. I still feel like I failed somehow."
Katt was shocked for a moment as the vixen lay her head on her shoulder, this caused Katt to wrap her arm around the vixen, "Well…" She wasn't sure why she could say it, "…listen, they never found Fox's body right? Andrew SAID that Fox was dead, there's no guarantee that he's dead. Right?"
The vixen rubbed her eyes against Katt's wet fur, "I've kept telling myself that for all these years, but, no matter how hard I search, I can't find him. Him or any signs of him…it's like he just completely vanished."
Katt finally wiped her own tears from her eyes and pushed the vixen from her shoulder looking her in the eyes….
"Krystal listen…it's about Fox…he…."
Her words were cut off and the vixen quickly put her paw over Katt's mouth, and looked down below them. Suddenly the vixen pulled Katt with her laying down as a single knife soared over them barely missing the vixen's nose. She rolled off of her back and onto her feet spinning in place. Her paw released something that Katt could not place, as a small gleam shot out striking at an animal wearing a robe very similar to the Wraiths. Whatever kind of animal he was he was keeping it well hidden as his robes concealed any particulars of his species; however, as the animal stood there certain that Kursed's attack had missed, he readied a pair of small curved knives…
"You're the bastard that killed Slippy." Kursed growled.
As Kursed bolstered her scythe, a light gust of wind blue through the unfinished floor of the building, causing the gust to tug at the assassin's hood. Kursed's attack showed that it was nearly on mark, as a fine split in the top of his hood caused the fabric to slip down around his head in two separate pieces. Katt instantly slapped her paws over her mouth, while the vixen's expression simply twisted into an expression of extreme hatred. Katt couldn't believe her eyes, Krystal had fingered her as being the one she'd watched kill Slippy. The assassin's head was that of an avian with dark blue fathers, large round patches of red circled his light Azure eyes…
"Falco?" Katt gasped.
Looking to the pink feline, the side of the bird's beak curled, "Hey Kitty how ya been?"
