A/N: these chapters seem to be writing themselves. LOL. Not much I can really say other than thanks for the support and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Thanks all...
The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox
Frag the weak, hurdle the dead ~ Mykll
Back doors to problems lead to better results and hidden treasures ~ Jamie
Chapter 12: Vindication Part 2…
Kursed knelt down near the far wall and prowled around the facility with her mind; she could fell the thoughts of several animals but, it was not a great number. She looked back to Jamie and held up five fingers signaling to her that there were only five soldiers near the wall. Jamie simply gave the white vixen a thumbs up before pulling her pistols…she slowly screwed a long shaft to the end of each barrel. She took a deep breath kissing the silencer at the end of each gun before nodding to Kursed and rushing at the kneeling vixen. Kursed interlaced her fingers, catching the red vixen's foot and launching her up and over the wall. Jamie found that her mind was riddled with images of the place, images that were being fed to her from Kursed's telepathy. Knowing all the soldiers' positions instantly, the vixen flipped forward in mid flight firing one silent shot at the animal that was directly against the wall spattering a mixture of blood and brain matter against the stony surface. While still upside down the vixen twisted causing her to spin horizontally this time before landing softly on her feet. Two soldiers sitting near the tree she'd landed by quickly stood but, fell just as fast each from a deadly shot from the lethal vixen's pistols. Before Jamie could even realize it the white vixen she'd left on the other side of the wall landed behind her, with slightly more noise than she had. She looked back to Kursed for a moment and smiled; she'd never dreamed she'd get to see Kursed in action one day, and even more so she never imagined that she'd be working with her…
"Really sure you can handle this?" Kursed whispered.
Jamie chuckled holding up one of her still smoking weapons, "You kidding me? Who's got the higher kill count here?"
Kursed had liked the sound of that, chuckling a bit she held up her scythe, "You really don't want to make this a competition. Do you?"
Jamie chuckled again, "Not really." She replied pointing to a small shed at the end of the yard, "Well that's where we need to go. The vent should be inside that shed somewhere." She pointed out, "So do we split up or stick together?"
Kursed pressed herself up against the wall near her inching along the way; the wall around the place was a perfect square, accept the for small square section in the front that pushed in forward leading to the main entrance of the base. She stood there for a moment at the corner of the section peeking around the corner; there were two animals there, both wolves. They were clearly guarding the gates. Jamie watched as the vixen swiftly moved around the corner, her eyes widened as a large spray of blood shot from the corner followed by a severed head. She was surprised at how fast the vixen was considering the size of her weapon…
Kursed looked over the halved torso of the second guard wiping the blood from her face before rushing off along the walls in an attempt to stay undetected by the animals within the yard. As she did so she found that she ran into very little of the guards, until she approached a large tree, the one that Jamie had pointed out earlier; she only counted six animals. She'd faced worse odds before. The vixen didn't bother with calculations, if they noticed her they'd call for back up and that'd be the end of everything. Before any of the soldiers could realize what was happening two of them quickly gasped clutching at a small metal spike protruding from their throats before falling to the ground gasping desperately for oxygen. Two other soldiers managed to pull an assault rifle each only to have a massive arching swipe of her scythe cause the barrels to fall from their guns. Quickly pivoting on her heel, Kursed spun about lodging the blade of her weapon into the chest of a third animal before she lifted herself off the ground in a small spin causing two more small metal spikes to fly from her paws. One drove into the right eye of one of the three that approached her, while the second shot into the forehead of another. The final animal that stood there was a middle aged raccoon, who seemed shocked that the vixen had taken down five men in a heartbeat. As she tore her scythe from his companion's chest, the lone ringtail gasped as the vixen's face passed over a small bit of light upon standing up…
"Kursed…"
The poor raccoon was frozen completely with fear; gun or no gun he fully understood that he had no chances at all of fighting off someone like her. He'd heard so many stories about how she could kill a man with her look alone, and though he was certain that those stories were elaborations created by the fear of her finding people…it didn't stop him from dropping his weapon…
"P-p-p-plese don't…" He begged falling to his knees, "…you-you're here for those guys we took in a few hours ago right?" He asked pulling a small card from his pocket, "…here's my access card…just please don't kill me." He pleaded, "…I…I have a family."
With a sigh he vixen snatched the card from the raccoon's paw; and as she walked away she waved her paw. The raccoon swayed a bit for a moment until his eyes rolled into the back of his head, he'd wake up in a few hours completely unharmed. Not sensing any more active minds in the direct area other than Jamie's, Kursed rushed to the shack where she found the red furred vixen, like herself covered in sanguine liquid. In her paw she held a small dagger, no more than a foot in length, however a small section was missing from its tip, from the center of the blade a thin cable snaked down to the ground where, at its end, lay a small triangular blade. Jamie pushed a button and Kursed could hear a whirring of a gear as the cable quickly snaked back into the blade snapping the metal end to the tip of her dagger completing the blade before she placed it back into the sheath in her boot…
"Aren't they beautiful?" She asked, "Chloe can make some really weird weapons sometimes." She said looking to Kursed, "Wow…you look good in red."
The white, blood saturated vixen rolled her eyes, "This really isn't the time for small talk. I got an access card off one of the guards."
Jamie chuckled, "Really?" She asked holding up a small fan of cards, "I got five."
Kursed stepped toward the door of the small shack shaking her head lightly before her scythe tore the lock from its place….
"You seem a little angry." Jamie chuckled.
Kursed rotated her shoulder a bit, "My shoulder hurts." She replied shaking the rain and blood from her fur, "And it's cold out here."
"Speaking of which…" Jamie stated as they walked into the small building, "…how can you walk around out here and not get sick in this weather?"
Kursed sighed, "Cerinians don't get sick."
"Lucky you."
Kursed took a moment to wipe the blood and water from her fur; Jamie had told her that they wouldn't switch the guard until morning, that gave them plenty of time. The vent they found was an old, round pipe, its top covered by a small grated lid and locked shut, its lock was of course removed with the same prejudice as the one that had barred the shack door shut. Since she had seen blueprints of the facility before, Jamie was first down the vent, with Kursed following shortly behind her. It was as they crawled along the vents that Jamie thought for a moment…
"Say…how are you fitting that scythe down here?" She asked.
"It collapses." Kursed replied, "now focus and keep it down."
After a short while Kursed pulled Jamie to a stop, "Wait. This is good." She said looking to a vent just beneath them.
Jamie managed to maneuver herself, turning around in the narrow vent, "A bathroom?" She asked looking to the stall below them.
"The soldiers outside were proof that they don't follow standard military protocol here…they were wearing civilian clothing." Kursed pointed out, "You can sneak in there, you have an access card. And I can follow behind you I can keep myself charmed a lot longer than multiple people."
"Charmed?" Jamie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hard to explain…" She replied, "…just go."
Jamie slowly pulled the vent cover out of place lowering herself down into the empty stall. She was glad nobody else was in the room, or she was sure she'd have been caught. It was as she landed that she found felt Kursed land behind her, however, the vixen was nowhere to be seen. Jamie simply shook it off until she heard something…
"I'm right behind you…" Kursed whispered, "…don't make me explain it."
"Works for me." Jamie replied.
The two stepped out into the bathroom; it was a large room, clearly military in fashion, as the floor was the only part of it that didn't seem to be made of metal. Heading out into the halls, Jamie looked around, the place was large, and they were clearly underground. The catwalk they stood on was all grated metal, down below she noticed a few animals scuttling around; god only knows what they were doing. It was as she stood there that Kursed sighed…
"I'm going to look for the prison area."
Jamie quickly turned to see a familiar looking black panther walking her way, "Then go, and hurry."
It wasn't until Kursed looked his way that the white vixen half considered leaping out of her invisible state to tear him apart. She was happy enough that he couldn't see her so she quickly made her exit. It was however as Jamie stood there looking over the catwalk that the panther stopped before her…
"Well…hello." The feline said in a slightly flirty voice, "I don't remember ever seeing you here. Tell me would you be one of the mercenaries that the Emperor sent?"
Jamie smiled only looking to him from the corner of her eyes, "Actually yes I am."
The panther growled lightly as he looked the vixen up and down, "I must say…mercenaries certainly have become much more lovely over the years." He smiled, "allow me to introduce myself…Panther Caruso…General Panther Caruso."
Feigning interest the vixen widened her eyes, "General?" She chuckled, "Oh my…" She said turning to him, "…a very handsome one at that." She replied with a bright, flirtatious smile as she flitted her hair a bit.
Panther chuckled, "Oh my dear you are far too kind…" He said his eyes still roaming over the vixen's body, "…would I be stepping over any boundaries if I were to tell you that you have an amazingly gorgeous body?"
Jamie chuckled, "No boundaries that people haven't stepped over before," She smiled, "thank you very much by the way. Tell me are you this polite to all the female soldiers around here?"
Panther laughed lightly, "Not at all…only the most beautiful suit my tastes."
Jamie laughed, "General…that might be coming on a little strong."
"Well…" Panther replied, "…I believe that there is no need holding back in life." He smiled, "I apologize, I didn't catch your name…"
The vixen extended her paw, "Lilith…" She replied, "…Lilith Voyaer."
The suave feline took her paw lightly kissing it, "Ah…it is beyond a pleasure. Such a lovely name…your name is matched only by your beauty."
"Haven't you got anything better to do other than fraternizing with the help General?"
The panther chuckled, "Not at all my dear," He replied, "at the moment, I am simply in charge of the base itself."
The vixen chuckled to herself, "Well…I certainly feel safer knowing that." She said, "well. That means that I am in your care for now. Why not show me around?"
Panther held out his arm happy to accept the vixen's, "That sounds like a wonderful idea." He replied.
... ...
Kursed smiled to herself, she'd used her abilities to block herself out of far more minds than this before. The chuckled lightly to herself in remembrance to the time she'd taken out a mark while charmed, and it began to spread a rumor about the building being haunted by a murderous spirit. Here all the animals of the area seemed to simply ignore everything around them. She could however see into their minds; she already knew that this place was a weapons facility…and luckily she'd read Caruso's mind when she'd noticed him on the catwalk. He was blissfully unaware that all the men in the yard were dead. Her exploration eventually led her to read a few minds until she had the full scope of the layout of the base, there were three floors. The top floor was only a small office space, just to keep people for asking questions; the second floor, was where she was at the moment, productions and such; and the bottom floor was used for a multitude of other things, such as containing POWs. It took her no time at all to reach the bottom floor, but, she was slightly surprised when she found the cells that Reiko and his friends were being held in. The entire area was nothing but metal walls and solid floors. The cells' doors were covered by a familiar humming screen of green light just like the doors on the brig of the Great Fox. Oddly enough there were no guards in the room at the time…though there were several light patrols that she noticed walking through the area. The vixen slowly approached the screens, though keeping her distance so that nearby cameras would not spot her. It was as she stood there that Reiko's nose twitched a bit…
"Kursed?" He whispered.
The vixen looked around, "Against the wall…under the camera. Don't look this way you'll give me away." She said looking around the corner to make certain nobody was coming that could hear her, "Is everyone there?"
Reiko sighed, "That son of a bitch never brought Katt back here," He sighed, "and, and they took Seven about an hour ago. Said they were taking him to the Emperor."
Kursed sighed, "Well…I have someone named Jamie here with me. Miyu do you know anyone by that name?"
The lynx chuckled, "Oh she's a good girl. Until you piss her off…" She laughed, "…where is she?"
"Flirting with Caruso…"
The orange furred feline grimaced, "Bad news for him."
"Why is that?" The white vixen asked.
Miyu sighed, "Jamie can be really persuasive. If she's got the freak in charge here, she's just stalling to buy you time."
"She's a good kid…" Kursed chuckled, "…you've got a great little friend there. Now where can I go to turn these static fields off?"
The pink furred skunk girl, Chloe stepped forward, "These fields have to have a cut off somewhere nearby. It can't be more than a hundred feet away. Cuz the soldiers didn't say or do anything to close them off, they were using paw signals so it's somewhere in this room, and somewhere they can see from right where you're standing."
The pale furred vixen sighed, "Hang on…" She said looking around.
It was as Kursed examined the area that she noticed what looked like a breaker box on the far wall from her position, "Well…that looks promising."
... ...
Katt awoke to a painful sting in her neck and a horrible pounding in her head; her arms were bound holding her up on her feet, and the stress of her weight on her wrists caused blood to trickle down her arms. It was as her eyes fluttered open that she saw the familiar blue shape of the animal that had knocked her out. He didn't say anything, he simply seemed to sit there studying the lovely feline as she hung there, while clutching a small blade in one wing. A slight chill in the air caused the feline to shiver, and a familiar feeling caused her to notice that most of her clothing was missing; the only thing that really remained was her underwear. It was as she looked herself over that she looked around the room, she couldn't place it, it was open, dark, but there was light around the two of them. She was certain that it was some kind of building…
"What are you doing? Where are my clothes?"
The bird simply sat there, "Shut up…" He replied harshly in a low voice, "…I wasn't interested in you before and I'm not now. You're lucky I got back here before the boys got started. So just shut up before I let 'em have their fun."
The feline shook her head, "What happened to you? I never thought you were the kind of person that would turn your back on everyone that ever cared about you."
The bird suddenly shot off his seat pushing the feline's head upright with his knife, "NOBODY CARED!" He shouted, "Nobody ever cares. Once you let your guard down everybody just turns their backs on you." He said, "People tell you they care…they'll call you family, they'll welcome you. In the end there's only yourself to rely on. My parents did it, the Hot Rodder did it, and then Star Fox did it." He said turning and walking away, "once things seem like they'll be alright…everybody"ll let you down." He said, "so I decided that the best thing for me to do was look out for number one from then on. Me. Seemed fair enough, with everyone leaving, going off on their own making their own lives, how was it not fair that I did the same thing?"
"You're out of your mind Falco…you've completely lost it." The feline said trying not to let him see her tears.
The falcon chuckled, "Yeah, that's what I've heard." He said looking back to her.
Katt seemed to simply stand still before the avian finally was within reach; the pink feline quickly kicked the blade from his wing. To Falco's amazement the feline somehow swung herself upward swiping the blade across the rope that held her in place; holding the weapon between her feet, flipping over onto her feet again. The bird simply stood there for a moment in shock…
"I'm not as helpless as you think I am Falco." She huffed, "I never was." She said taking a familiar fighting stance.
Falco smiled, he knew the stance she was using, "So…when did Foxie start teaching you?"
Katt glowered at the animal, "He didn't…James did. Fox just finished what he started."
Suddenly the feline lunged at him, however as the avian swung a powerful punch in her direction, Katt dropped into a split sliding between his legs before snapping back to her feet behind him landing a sharp elbow to the back of the bird's neck which caused him to reel forward a bit. Falco laughed a bit rubbing the back of his skull…
"You really are flexible." He said, "I'm not surprised that James taught you, he made Fox look like a joke."
At that moment Falco turned falling into his own stance, "Well…this should be fun. Maybe I'll test out that flexibility of yours…before I kill you. After all, now that you're loose, I think it's only fair not to follow orders."
... ...
Kursed wiped her scythe clean as one of the guards on the floor had noticed her for a moment only to be instantly cut down, once she'd turned off the screen that held Reiko and the other screen, the dark gray coyote rushed by her barreling up the stairs recklessly. She could feel what was going through his mind at the moment. He knew how he could find Katt. Kursed rushed to the others, only to find that two were still somewhat hazy…
"What happened to all of you?" She asked.
Miyu stood up, "A whole mess of Andrew's soldiers came. After the door blew, it was all so fast, they piled in and before I realized anything had happened…we were being hit by taser shots. I think Creed got it the worst. They must of saw the size of him and let him have it extra hard." She said, "Now where's Jamie?" She asked helping a familiar white furred poodle girl up off the floor, "And where did they find you? I thought you were out on recon?"
The canine winced, "I was…just proof that they've got someone good working for them. I turned a corner and four apes jumped me. I woke up in here."
Kursed sighed, "Jamie's upstairs, last time I saw her she was picking up some extra baggage."
"How long has it been since you saw her?" Miyu asked.
"I've been looking around this place for about twenty minutes before I managed to find you."
The white vixen looked to Creed, "Where did Reiko run off to so quickly?"
The large vulpine sighed, "Where do you think he went?" He asked, "He went after Katt. We're all marked with a tracer just so we can't get lost. That means he should be looking for our gear right now."
Kursed only had to look from one of the animals to another, before Chloe looked to her, "In a facility like this they'd usually put prisoners' gear in a holding vault somewhere far away from the prison cells just in case there was a break out."
Kursed thought for a moment, "Then it should be upstairs…you all follow me."
The vixen looked over everyone they seemed fine enough, if not a bit groggy…luckily the guards that were once patrolling the area had left some weapons behind when Kursed had relieved them of their duties. There was suddenly a blaring alarm that caused the small group to rush upstairs, only to find the base in a panic. The animals that had been tediously working on the floor, were now scrambling for the doors, trying their hardest to get out of the building. The five quickly made their own ways along the catwalk that Kursed and Jamie had come in on only to be stopped by a familiar looking red headed vixen, who simply smiled. Miyu shook her head as she stepped forward…
"Why do I have this feeling that this alarm had something to do with you?" She asked looking Jamie over noticing a bit of red on her jacket, "and this blood."
Jamie chuckled, "Caruso needed a little convincing before he'd tell me how to sound the alarm." She sighed, "At first he didn't seem all that bad but, once he got me alone he got kinda handsy. Come on the storage area is this way, I just passed Reiko a minute or so ago, he was in a hurry to get there."
The escapees rushed after the sanguine haired thief making sure to keep on her tail as the alarms blared in the background. As they ran Kursed sighed, there was no stopping it now, if Andrew hadn't marked her as an enemy yet, he definitely would now. She wondered how it was that she got dragged into this…but, she knew that it was all her own fault, if she'd learned to let it all go years ago…she wouldn't have been in this situation…no, she'd be on Sauria drowning herself in her own misery and sorrow. Reiko had the only real information that she needed and now he was running off to get himself killed. Kursed growled out loud as she ran. Everything had become so complicated in so little time…all she could really do now, is hope and pray that Katt would be safe, and that Reiko knew what it was he was doing…
... ...
Katt reeled back falling to one knee, she held a paw over her ribs while wiping a bit of blood from her lip; as she knelt there Falco shook his head and tried for a moment to open his right eye. During their brief exchange the feline had landed more blows than he thought she would, one of them dragged her claws across the side of his face. He wasn't sure about the extent of the damage but, he knew that it hurt unlike anything he'd ever felt, and the eye simply refused to open. He laughed out loud as he wiped the blood from the right side of his face flicking the sanguine liquid from his fingertips…
"You're not kidding…you fight more like James than Fox," The bird said, "you know I used to spar with the old man. Never laid a finger on him."
Suddenly Katt sprung forward in all her cat like grace; her form was unlike anything he'd ever seen, actually contacting the floor on all fours bounding back into the air before driving her heels into the animal's sternum causing him to fall back where he barely managed to catch himself on one knee. When she flipped back onto all fours, he found that she bared her teeth at him, and her tail stood on end. She looked like some sort of feral animal ready to attack someone. Falco slowly stood up spitting out a bit of blood before she charged again…
"HE'S ALIVE YOU KNOW!" He suddenly shouted causing the feline's eyes to open wide.
Thrown by the avian's sudden words Katt snapped back to her sense, Falco took the opportune moment taking her by the wrists before swinging her painfully over his shoulder onto her back before pinning her paws to the floor…
"Fox never died." He smiled, "he broke away from HQ along with those other two freaks you hang around with. He's been right under your nose for four fucking years and you never even noticed it." He laughed, "Ever wonder why Seven never takes off his mask, why he's always got his tail bandaged, never shows any part of his body to anyone?"
Katt couldn't believe what it was she was hearing, "And now he's on a one way trip to Venom." The avian chuckled, "He'll be executed, along with all your happy little family. This whole situation will be placed on your heads, then everything'll be fine again. Looks like he really was dead all these years…he just didn't know it yet."
As he was at the moment sitting on the feline's abdomen; Katt managed to wrench her arms free, Falco attempted to grab her as Katt seemed to snake between his legs only to grab a small piece of cloth instead, the feline arched her back until she was quickly standing all the way up behind Falco and suddenly turned driving her fist into the back of his head with a force that threw him to the hard stone floor. Falco seemed to recover in an instant as he leaped up swiping his heavily booted foot only inches away from the pink felines' face. Katt quickly replied slamming her knee into the small of his back, as the force of his kick caused him to spin slightly; and as Falco arched his back in pain the feline wrenched him back by a fist full of his head plumage slamming him back first into the unforgiving floor. In an instant Falco spun on his back sweeping the feline's feet from beneath her, and a moment later Katt rolled only to have the bird's feet land where her chest had been, she turned to face him only to have the animal pivot on his left heel swinging his right into the side of Katt's face causing her to roll a short distance spinning sideways across the ground. Katt cried out in pain but, found herself on her paws and knees attempting to stand before the avian's heavy boot was brutally driven into her gut from underneath. Katt let out a low grunt of pain as the air escaped her lungs. Falco watched as Katt rolled on her back struggling desperately to regain control of her breathing…he took the moment to reconstitute himself. Unfortunately Falco had again underestimated the young feline; in a surprisingly fast display, Katt seemed to leap forward from her position rolling off the back of her neck and as she rolled in front of him the feline rose up off her paws swinging her legs over the avian's shoulders, locking her ankles behind his head. Before he could react Katt swung her body up in a full sitting position driving her elbow down on top of his skull. Falco's knees instantly buckled under the crushing blow causing him to fall to his knees, and in an equally impressive display. Katt reached down digging her claws into his broad shoulders before whipping her legs into the air until she was almost standing completely upright on his shoulder before swinging back down driving her feet into his gut. Falco instantly lost his breath as a spray of blood hit the feline in the face as he was torn from her claws. The blue bird skipped and rolled across the hard floor until his momentum was stopped by some foreign object that didn't seem to hurt any less, the impact caused his vision to blur…
Katt lay there on her back, bloody feathers rained from the air and as she looked to her paws, there were small clumps of red muck and blue feathers. Her lungs burned and her muscles ached, and now that she bothered to notice, her left breast was exposed as Falco had snapped the strap when she had escaped from beneath him. The feline managed to quickly make it to her feet when she heard the avian stand up before the mad creature rushed in swinging a potentially lethal pipe at her. Katt skipped back every swing, causing Falco's swings to barely miss by a bit until she dodged to one side causing her arm to swing a bit wildly. Falco instantly brought his crude weapon down across the feline's forearm causing her to scream in pain before diving out of the way of another attack. As she stood there now, Katt found herself holding her broken arm with her good arm to keep it from moving too much. It was as she stood there that she felt a familiar object brush up against her foot…Falco's knife still lay where she'd dropped it long ago. Falco suddenly rushed again swinging his weapon high over his head only to have the feline dodge to one side before spinning to her left driving her foot into his shoulder. An instant shock of pain caused the avian to drop his weapon before falling back a bit reaching for the wound, only to find a small stab wound, looking down the bird chuckled as he noticed a familiar knife tightly gripped between her first two toes of her right foot. A crooked grin tugged at the corner of his mouth…
"James teach you that?" He asked, "Funny…I think I've seen Fox do something like that too."
Katt huffed heavily, trying to catch her breath, "Wouldn't…you like to know?"
"You know James gave me that knife…" The avian smiled, "…I'd like that back."
Katt breathed heavily, "Don't worry I fully intend to give it back."
Falco feigned a threatened face which only caused the feline to throw another kick, but, as her foot grazed past his chest Falco realized that he hadn't been cut. As her foot hit the floor however, the feline's other foot made an equally fast pass across his chest. This time the attack laid a gash open in his shirt. It was as he stumbled back that Falco realized, he couldn't see the knife. She was perfectly hiding the blade under her foot, switching the weapon from one foot to the other. Katt quickly took a step forward, throwing another kick only to have Falco hook his own leg around hers before kicking the weapon from her grip causing the knife to flip off into the background, clattering through the darkness. Falco simply stood there now, he wasn't sure what to expect, the feline had already proven that she was far more capable a combatant than he'd thought…but, now that he knew she'd been taught by James, he really wasn't surprised that she was putting up such a fight. If James taught her, that means that Vixy most likely had her say in Katt's training too, and he was certain that Vixy had been a far better fighter than James. This time the two seemed to rush each other at the same time, but, as they met Falco leaned in dodging a sharp kick before Katt screamed out in pain falling to her knees as the bird wrenched her broken arm painfully about by her wrist. He'd only needed one weakness, one chink in her armor before he could get to her, and this had been it. He was breathing heavily as he held her wrist, any time she attempted to fight back the bird would give a painful jerk of her arm, causing her to scream again before the pain caused her to stop fighting…
"You know what?" He whispered in her ear, "You should be proud of yourself…Fox didn't even manage to do this much. I think you may have even put my eye out…but, I'm not worried, Andrew can patch that up for me with no problems."
A familiar sound caught Falco's attention as the entire area slowly grew brighter illuminating the area to Katt, it wasn't until now that she realized that she was in an old hanger. Off in the doorway the feline could see a familiar shape, a gray furred coyote. Falco quickly swung Katt around holding her by the neck…
"I really expected you guys to take a lot less time."
The coyote slowly stepped toward the middle of the room brandishing one of his gunblades while holding up a small object in his other paw. It was a familiar looking object, shaped like a fox with wings arching from its front shoulders; Falco knew the object, in fact he knew a great deal of things about it that other animals had no clue about…
Chuckling at the avian's dismay Reiko stepped a bit closer, "I guess that means he was right then. You do know what this does. I guess that's why he left it with me. Fox really is always ten steps ahead of you. Isn't he?"
"What are you…talking about Reiko?" Katt groaned in pain.
"What am I talking about bird boy?" Reiko asked, "Why don't you tell her what Fox told you all those years ago…what you told Andrew to convince him that he needed your help. Why the first thing he did was send after Star Fox." As he spoke Falco refused to speak, "Truth is Katt…."
"Shut up!" Falco screamed pulling back on Katt's chin, "You follow me and I'll break her fucking neck." He said slinking back a bit.
Reiko held up the small object in his paw, "You leave here with her, and I activate this device…" He warned the bird, "…then I kill you in ways that'll make Satan himself pray for mercy on whatever pieces of you are left over."
Falco took another step only to have Reiko aim his gun this time, "You know…friends of mine have a nickname for me…" He pointed out, "…they called me Dead Eye. Dead Eye Reiko…"
"And why the fuck would I care about that?" Falco shouted.
A sudden roll of thunder shot through the empty hanger and Katt fell to the ground as Falco reeled back screaming in pain holding his beak with both wings…
"Cuz I never miss…" Reiko finished still aiming his weapon, "…I really should kill you right here and now; but, you're not my target. There are two people out there that deserve your hide a lot more than I do. So get the fuck gone…"
Keeping his sights on the avian, Reiko circled around with the bird until he was standing over Katt while Falco stood near the door, "Oh…asshole!" Reiko called causing the bird to look in his direction only to have him press a small button on the Star Fox insignia he held throwing it to the bird, "Tell your boss I wish him luck…he's gonna need it."
Falco quickly threw the object to the ground before rushing out of the building, Reiko managed to see the large chip in the top portion of the bird's beak his bullet had caused. However, his real concern was for the pink feline that lay on the cold stone floor. Helping her to sit up Reiko pulled the off the tank top he was wearing, which the feline slowly slid on, though with some slight difficulty due to her injured arm. She looked up to him as Reiko wiped a bit of blood from her face. At first she wasn't certain what was going on, Reiko wasn't saying anything and at the moment he was being uncharacteristically gentle. Suddenly he pulled the feline into a tight embrace…
"Don't you ever worry me like that again." Reiko whispered.
For a moment they two only sat there, with Reiko keeping his eyes on the door waiting for Falco to return, but, with the scare of having that object activated there was a better chance of him running home to his emperor. After a moment or so Katt slowly pushed Reiko to arms length, only to notice a small stream of tears rolling down the right side of his face. At first she questioned it until she recalled his injured left eye. She gently used her paw to wipe away the tears, and before Reiko could make a reaction to her, Katt slowly leaned forward pressing her lips against his. For a moment neither of them moved until Katt pulled back away from the coyote…
"What was that for?" He slowly asked.
Katt chuckled a bit before grimacing and holding her arm, "For saving my ass." She said as he stood and lifted the feline into his arms, where she lightly kissed his cheek this time, "and that was for everything else."
As the two moved by the door Katt looked to the small device that Falco had thrown on the ground, "What was that thing? And why was Falco so spooked by it?"
Reiko sighed, "Cuz that was our last resort. Something that McCloud has been holding back for four years now." He replied, "it's a transponder…linked up with thousands more just like it. Star Fox is nothing like you believe it is, and it's a lot bigger than any of you think."
Katt gawked at the thing, "How big?" She asked as they stepped outside where Reiko looked to the skies.
"Big enough to end a war…" He replied looking to her, "…or start one."
