Hey guys, I'm back with another update to this story. The show must go on and I feel like it'll be important to explain a few details for this AU I'm working on. So I hope you'll like what I'm gonna show you. Also a heads up, the formatting will be a little strange as POV's will change slightly. Apologies for any confusion this may cause and I promise I will explain it at the end. Also what will be seen next will justify the rating change, you have been warned... I did say this story would be dark.
Also for contextual reasons, in this AU, Fox and Krystal are the same age and Wolf is only a couple years older. For example, Fox (23) and Wolf (25).
Anyway, let's rock and roll!
"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone
when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" - Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Great Fox, Corneria Armed Forces Shipyard, 4:30 AM
beep beep... beep beep... beep beep... bee- *SMACK*
"Aww come on..." a groggy Fox McCloud said as he slowly sat up in his bed, doing his best not to disturb the blue vixen that slept peacefully next to him. Fox could not remember much of last night after everyone had left the restaurant, but he did remember that he had far too much to drink as the throbbing headache he was greeted with upon waking up intensified. He hissed as the pain intensified for a moment before subsiding, returning to that of a dull ache in his head. He yawned before looking over at the alarm clock next to his bed. It had read "0430 hours" in military time, emitting a groan from the vulpine as he registered how early it truly was.
There was no sense in going back to sleep, the vulpine thought, standing up out of his bed and walking over to his personal bathroom. He flipped on the light and made his way over to his mirror, giving himself a good once-over. His fur was messy, the mohawk he was growing out was uneven, and dark circles were found under his eyes, leaving him to wonder just how much sleep he actually gotten. He sighed, quickly undressing himself before stepping into his shower. He turned the dial and hot water began flowing out from the showerhead, running through his fur to get rid of any sweat, dirt, and grime he may have had after his night out with the team. Fox had silently hoped that he hadn't done anything stupid the night prior; he would ask Krystal if he did do anything, but dreaded the possible response he may have received.
After a good long soak, the vulpine stepped out of his shower and quickly dried himself off. He also made sure not to step out of his bathroom looking all puffed up, which was one of the downsides of having fur. After making himself presentable, he threw on a fresh set of clothes and quietly stepped out of his bedroom, looking over at Krystal who was still sleeping soundly.
I'll wake her up soon. I'll just let her sleep for now. he thought, quietly stepping out of his quarters and shutting the door behind him. The halls of the Great Fox was very silent, and thankfully not all that bright as the only light that came in was the lights that illuminated the walk-ways on the ship. He began to quickly make his way over to the mess room, thoughts of coffee flooding his mind as he did so.
As he had made it to the mess hall, it had looked like someone was a step ahead of him. There stood Wolf, dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and a pair of shorts as he tiredly sipped on a cup of coffee. He looked up and saw Fox, standing in the doorway, giving the captain a wave before letting out a chuckle. "Good mornin', ya drunk." said the lupine as he continued to drink.
"Mornin' Wolf." Fox said tiredly, not paying any mind to Wolf's comment as he stepped over to the coffee maker and grabbed a cup, along with some cream and sugar, before sitting down in a spot across from Wolf, who gave him a look that indicated he was trying to contain his laughter. "Wait... drunk?" asked Fox.
Wolf couldn't contain his laugh any longer and let it out. It wasn't loud, but it did make Fox a tad uncomfortable. "Well, Pup... let me start off with how last night went." he told the Star Fox captain before setting his coffee cup down.
"What happened?" Fox said, the skin beneath his fur turning white.
"You got pretty carried away with all the drinks you had. I frankly never thought you drank but oh how wrong I was." he told him, giving the vulpine a grin. " After we left the resturant; we all went to a nightclub, you drank so much you got us thrown out and then you jumped into a plaza fountain, talking about how much you wanted to go swimming." Wolf told him, a few more laughs escaping his muzzle as he took another sip of his coffee. "Panther and Falco had to drag you out and carry you back here."
Fox buried his face in his hands as it turned completely red, completely embarassed. "Oh man... did anyone see?"
Wolf slid Fox a datapad that was opened to a news article, seeing the vulpine's eyes go wide with horror as it was from a tabloid. The article was titled "Lylatian Hero or Lylatian Drunk?". Wolf could only watch as Fox stared, so far just seeing the article's headline and the photo of him jumping into the fountain. "You bet your ass." Wolf told him.
Fox gulped as he read the article over and over. Once, twice, thrice... it only made him feel more and more stupid each time he had read it. Oh Peppy is REALLY gonna let me have it now. he thought as he gave the datapad back to Wolf. "How did Krystal react?" he asked, the grimace on his face showing.
"You definately have a keeper, Fox." Wolf stated. "She was laughing at you the whole time."
"She was?" Fox raised an eyebrow.
"Not sure how long she'll be laughing after she sees this." Wolf said, tapping on the datapad.
Fox felt his heart jump into his throat as the thought of her seeing the headline crossed his mind. "Don't show her that."
"Don't show her what?" Asked the lupine, giving Fox a smirk.
Fox let out a chuckle, finishing off his coffee before standing back up. He looked over at the clock on the wall. "0503 hours" it read. "Better wake Krystal and Panther up now." yawned Fox, stretching himself before walking out of the mess room. "Make more coffee. We're gonna need it."
Wolf deadpanned before standing up himself, quickly opening the cupboard and pulled out the coffee and a new filter. "A 'please', would be nice." he said to himself. "Then again, I never said 'please'. Hmm."
As Fox walked along the hallway of the crew quarters, he very tiredly knocked on Panther's door. "Hey Loverboy." Fox said, knocking on his door again. "Time to get up, gotta get moving." he said. Fox could hear what he thought were audible groans on the other side of the door, but they sounded strange to him, almost feminine. Fox stepped away from the door in suprise, not really sure what to think. As the door opened, Fox raised an inquisitive eyebrow as he saw a brown furred lynx standing in the doorway, wearing only a long white t-shirt. "Uh... Miyu?"
"Fox?" the lynx responded, the haze of sleep still present around her. "What're ya doin' here?"
"Miyu... this is my ship." Fox responded plainly, trying his hardest to keep his gaze on her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
The lynx rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, blinking several times as her sight began to adjust to the light that came from the hallway of the Crew Quarters. "Oh, well I'll be damned."
Fox shook his head and rolled his eyes before dropping the subject entirely. "Miyu... is Panther in there with you?"
Another figure rose out of the bed behind the lynx, kicking the covers off of himself before standing up. "I'm up, McCloud... be out in a few minutes." he groaned.
"Just get moving, we gotta run a few checks before we ship off." Fox told him as the feline grabbed a shirt from his locker. Fox turned his attention back to Miyu and sighed. "Listen Miyu, we-"
"Say no more, Fox." Miyu responded chipperly, grabbing her own clothes. "I'll get outta your fur so you guys can get goin'." She responded, turning around and shutting the door behind her, leaving Fox outside in the hallway.
Fox walked further down the hall towards the Captain's Quarters, opening the door and stepped inside. The vulpine pushed a button on the wall and on came the bright light, emitting a groan from the blue vixen who slept peacefully under the covers. She pulled the covers over her head in an effort to block out the light so she could go back to sleep, only to feel a tug at the sheets from the other end of the bed. "Just five more minutes." the vixen groaned, fighting her hardest to maintain a hold of the blanket.
"C'mon, Krystal." Fox chuckled, pulling the blanket a tad harder. "It's time to get up, we gotta get the ship ready for takeoff."
"Why do we have to get up so bloody early all the time?" the vixen grumbled, the covers getting away from her with one strong tug, after that she pulled a pillow over her face. "My head hurts."
"Did ya have too much to drink last night?" Fox asked jokingly only to be met with a pillow thrown in his face.
"You're one to talk, Fox." laughed Krystal before rolling her feet over the side of the bed. "You were so drunk you made Katt look sober."
"Everyone told me that thus far." Fox rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish grin on his face. "Even the ta-" Fox stopped himself, eyes going wide with what he was just about to say.
Krystal gave fox an inquisitive look. "Even the what?"
"Nothing." Fox said quickly, turning around to catch his breath. "Get some coffee and meet me on the command bridge as soon as you can." he told her, walking out of the room albeit with a nervous skip in his step.
Krystal stood in silence for a few moments before grabbing a fresh set of clothes and quickly made her way to the washroom. Fox is lucky I love him. she thought to herself, shaking her head before stepping inside the washroom, and shutting the door behind her.
After roughly an hour and fourty-five minutes of running around and doing every nesscarry check. Each check was rather basic, ensuring they had all the basic supplies they needed, along with ammunition and weapons, even ensuring their arwings and wolfens were ready for takeoff in the hangar. After ROB ensured that all systems were green, everyone made their way towards the command-deck after grabbing a quick breakfast and coffee. Fox quickly sat in the captain's chair of the Great Fox and looked over to ROB who stood towards the front of the ship, standing at attention and awating command.
While Wolf stood at attention rather easily, indicating he was far more used to being up in the early morning hours, Krystal and Panther on the other end both looked as though they could fall over at the slightest quake beneath their feet. While they both looked clean and presentable, their attitudes clearly reflected that they would rather be asleep and back in bed. Wolf laughed and made fun of them, sipping on some more coffee. "This is how Fox and I have operated for a long time, you two." Wolf told them, a smirk on his face. "You should be used to it by now."
"You know I was never an early riser." Panther tiredly retorted.
"I thought I was a mercenary, not a soldier." complained Krystal.
Fox turned from the seat in his chair, looking over at Wolf, Panther, and Krystal as they all stood shoulder-to-shoulder. He saw how tired both Panther and Krystal had looked as the two sipped on their coffee. Fox smirked and stifled a laugh as he looked over to his fiance, who had only one eye open as she leaned against a chair. "You had so much energy when I woke you up."
"I still have kind of a hangover."
"You hardly drank anything last night." Panther respnded.
Wolf snickered under his breath, turning his head so Krystal couldn't see him. "Heh, lightweight."
"ROB, establish a connection with the CAF control tower, please." Fox ordered.
"Aye, Captain." ROB responded, pushing several buttons on his console as raido-chatter began to buzz through Fox's console. "Connection successful."
"Come in, CAF Control, do you read?"
"Loud and clear, state your name."
"Captain Fox McCloud of the CSV Great Fox, requesting permission for takeoff."
"Transmit clearance codes."
Fox sighed and rolled his eyes once more, his irritation with the security protocols of the CAF bothered him to no end. Begrudgingly, he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and began to read off of it. After reading off a long list of military codes and numbers, Fox caught his breath and leaned back in his seat. "Anything else?" Fox asked.
"Clearance granted." the officer on the other end told him. "Have a safe trip, Captain McCloud." the raido buzzed out as the officer on the other end hung up.
Fox sighed and was glad to be leaving Corneria for a change, the CAF made things far more difficult for him and his team than they needed to be. He was happy to have his ship back and that it was free of any government goons trying to hold them back with all kinds of red tape, litigation, and paperwork. "Everyone strap in, we're gonna be leaving the atmosphere here pretty soon."
Wolf, Panther, and Krystal all headed to their respective seats, strapping themselves in as the Great Fox lifted off the landing platform, a violent jerk shaking them as Fox and ROB steadied it before lifting off towards the sky. After a few minutes of readjusting, Fox then activated the ship's thrusters and propelled into the atmosphere, moments later the Great Fox was greeted by the vastness of space, soon after the artificial gravity activated the safety mechanisms keeping the team seated were released.
"ROB, activate FTL. Destination: Outer Rim." ordered Fox as he stepped towards the helm of the ship.
"Aye, sir." ROB responded in his typical robotic voice. "Estimated Time of Arrival: One-hundred-and-fourty-four-hours."
Fox shrugged and looked over at his team. "Well, looks like we'll have plenty of down time aboard the Great Fox." he said, looking over the system map. "Don't know what the rest of you are all doing, but I'll be in the training room."
"Mind if I join you?" Panther asked. "I wouldn't mind a sparring match, and sparring with Wolf has gotten a little boring."
Wolf huffed in response to Panther's remark, obviously a little offended.
"Apologies Wolf, but I've sparred with you so much that I can literally predict your every move." the feline added, looking over to Wolf with a smirk. "No fun fighting someone I can always beat."
"I've won quite a few matches against you."
"You've lost far more than you've won." Panther laughed as he walked by Wolf, giving him a playful punch in his arm.
Fox let out an annoyed sigh and nodded, granting Panther his request. "Honestly, a good spar wouldn't hurt and I've never fought you on the ground before." Fox stated, opening the door to the exit. "It'll give me some insight on where a lot of my own weaknesses are."
Panther walked past Fox, giving him a smug expression. "Just don't expect me to hold back, McCloud."
"You can expect the same from me, Caraso."
The two walked off the command bridge, their trash talk continuing before becoming a faded muffle beyond the door.
Moments later, Wolf decided to do the same thing. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my quarters." he said as he crossed his arms and proceeded to exit the bridge himself, letting out a sigh as he passed through the doorway. But before he could leave, he felt something tug on his shirt. He turned to see Krystal, holding onto his shirt as a means to get his attention. He saw the look on her face, a mixture of seriousness and of worry. "What is it, Blue?" he asked, turning to face her as she let go of his shirt.
Krystal crossed her arms as she looked Wolf dead in the eye. "I want to ask you about yesterday..." she started.
Wolf let out a very agitated groan, his stance becoming rather agressive. "Not this again..." he muttered before looking Krystal in the eye once more. "Look, Blue. I'll tell ya what I told Fox, I don't want to talk about it." he said angrily. "It's nothing you need to worry about."
"Are you sure?" she asked him.
"I'm one-hundred percent sure." Wolf growled as he turned away to walk out of the room, not wanting to look her in the eye. "Now, leave me alone."
Krystal sighed and crossed her arms as the doors slid shut, the room becoming rather devoid of life with the only company being ROB. The vixen began to quietly pace about the bridge, her mind fixated on the dark cloud over Wolf's head. Not a whole lot got past her sixth sense and it wasn't easy to lie to her. The negative emotions she could feel eminating from the lupine were far stronger now than they were the day prior, no matter how well Wolf could fake it, there was no fooling the cerinian. Krystal figured she could just root around in Wolf's mind to figure out the problem, but she knew better than to use her abilities to pry into private affairs. She would just have to wait for Wolf to tell her or someone else what the problem is.
The training room of the Great Fox was a must-have for any space-farer as spending a lot of time in space had plenty of downsides. Fox always felt it was important to stay in tip-top shape while out-and-about, even though a solid majority of them took place in the cockpit, there was always the few on-foot missions he had to do. The training room had pretty much your standard affair of equipment that your everyday gym had. Weight racks, treadmils, pedal bikes... but this was Star Fox and with the money they had recieved from their assistance with the Aparoids, Fox was able to upgrade the training room to give it a few extra luxuries. He opted for things like massage chairs and even a sauna. In the dead-center of the room was a padded octogonal ring. Panther and Fox sat on a bench just outside of it, both barefoot and wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts.
"Honestly never get tired of this ship, McCloud." Panther said as he was sliding on a pair of padded gloves and leg guards. "Not even Sargasso had this many luxuries."
Fox tightened his gloves, ensuring they were fastened securely as he did the same with his leg guards. "It pays to keep the team in fighting shape, plus it helps with morale and stress." Fox told the feline, grabbing a mouthguard. "I'm sure you would know this."
"That I do." Panther said, hopping on both of his feet to ensure his leg-guards were on properly. "Leon's missing out."
"Whatever happened to that guy?" Fox asked, looking at the feline while Fox mimicked his movments. "He got a pardon, but then threw it all away."
Panther sighed as he grabbed a second mouthguard, stepping towards the ring as he held the gate open for Fox. "Leon wasn't a fan of leaving everything Star Wolf had built to just fall to pieces." Panther shook his head. "It wasn't an easy thing for Wolf to do, you know? Just giving up everything he had made for all for a lucky shot at having our bounties removed."
"Well, that's his loss." Fox said nonchalantly. "He became a criminal once more, while you and Wolf turned your lives around."
"It's funny you mention that..." the feline said with a chuckle. "Don't tell him I told you this..."
Fox looked up and gave Panther an inquisitive stare before quietly stepping into the ring. "Tell me what?" he asked as the gate was then shut behind him. He then walked over to a console that sat just outside of the ring, but was something he could still reach from the inside. After he pushed a few buttons and entered a few commands, a holo-referee hovered just above the two. "Are we doing KOs, TKOs, submissions...?" he trailed off.
"I thought this was a sparring match."
"I know." Fox said with a grin. "But I've recently gotten into MMA and I've been waiting for an excuse to finally use this thing."
Panther huffed and smirked as he got into a fighting stance. "Just TKO's is fine."
Fox pushed a few more buttons and the holo-ref began to speak, it's voice sounding an awful lot like General Pepper in his younger years. "Fighters, are you ready?"
Both Fox and Panther nodded as they took their posisitons in the ring.
*DING DING DING*
Fox wasted no time closing the distance between him and Panther, holding his fists close to his chest before hopping on the ball of his foot. He swung his arm out and managed to punch Panther square in the stomach. The shockwave of the attack itself was enough to push the large feline back a few inches but he kept his footing.
Panther coughed as he felt the shock of the blow, very suprised that for someone of Fox's stature was capable of that level of strength. "Not bad, already got the first strike in." Panther groaned as he stood up, a smirk now on his face. "But..." he lunged for the vulpine, ducking down to the mat for a swift leg sweep. The heel of his foot connecting with Fox's calves with enough force to trip the vulpine. "... I can still sweep you off your feet." he joked.
"Heh, good one." Fox sprang back to his feet with much more pep. "About that thing you wanted to tell me..." Fox mentioned as he managed to dodge a few punches and a roundhouse kick.
"Tell you what, I'll tell you if you win. Deal?" Panther asked, moving back a bit as he began to sidestep around Fox, making sure his guard was still up.
Fox smirked before lunging at the feline once more, jumping up to kick Panther in the chest. "Deal!"
The two began their bout as they both showed off their hand-to-hand fighting prowess. Fox was able to keep Panther on his toes as he showed him just how fast he truly was, his kicks and punches almost looking like orange and red blurs.
Panther was no pushover either. Despite Fox's speed and agility, Panther's dexterity made it difficult for Fox to land a lot of blows on him. The large feline sidestepping Fox multiple times to show just how good his reflexes were. However, while Panther was able to dodge all of Fox's attacks, he had little to no opportunity to counter as the vulpine continued his assault. "You're gonna tire yourself out doing that." Panther said as he continued to dodge.
"That's what you think." Fox said through gritted teeth as he lept forward, kicking Panther square in the chest and knocking the feline onto his back. "Point for me." he taunted, moving back to his corner of the ring.
"Tell me something." Panther said as he stood back to his feet, moving back to his corner as well. "What made you want to join Star Fox?" Panther asked.
Fox massaged his joints and arms as he caught his breath before turning his head to face Panther again. "At first, I only did it to get back at Andross for killing my parents." he told him before moving back towards the center, taking a fighting stance once more. "But then I got wrapped up in it, the team was my Dad's legacy."
Panther chuckled "Like father, like son." he then too moved towards the center of the ring.
"The longer I stayed, the more I became attached." Fox moved swiftly, throwing out his leg as fast as he could to kick Panther in the stomach. "But I was still kind of a kid. Leaned on Peppy for advice after joining, he was both a friend of mine and sort of a godfather, you could say."
Panther dodged the kick aimed for his stomach and responded. "I do know he was on this team far longer than you." the feline said before returning the kick with a swift elbow to the jaw. "But I didn't know he was a godfather of sorts."
Fox quickly rubbed his chin before returning the elbow with a punch to Panther's abdominals. "Peppy's been there for me since I was just a kid." Fox said through exhausted breaths. "Was even at my high school graduation after my Dad died." Fox said as he threw his knee into Panther's jaw, sending him to the ground once again. "That's two, one more and I win." Fox taunted.
Panther smacked the mat beneath him before springing back to his feet, he moved over to his corner once more and caught his breath. He wiped his forhead clean of sweat before taking his shirt off and throwing it over the side. "Damn thing is starting to stick to me." he said before returning his attention to Fox. "Guess I'm gonna have to get serious if I want to beat you."
Fox smirked and taunted the feline once more. "You only got one on me." the vulpine responded in a cocky tone. "Hit me with your best."
Panther chuckled as he stepped towards the center, his stance changing to something much more defensive than before. "You first, Leader." he said, putting his hand out and motioning to Fox in a way that said "Come at me".
Fox smirked and did as Panther had requested and began to launch a kick at him, once again square in the chest to knock Panther down one more time. Only this time his foot collided with nothing but air. Fox knew Panther was taking a much more defensive stance than before, but this was... different. Fox punched and kicked so much and so fast, but not a single attack was connecting. He could scarcely make out Panther's expression, narrowed eyes with the most smug look he's ever seen on someone's face. He was making him work so hard to hit, but the feline wasn't hitting back. What's his angle? Fox thought. However, as Fox's attacked continued, he started to feel his breath shortening and his footwork begin to slow down. His vision was tunneling as he kept his focus on the large feline as his heart raced. It then finally clicked... Panther wasn't just dodging, he was wearing Fox down.
Panther kept dodging all of Fox's attacks with minimal effort and still giving the most smug smile he'd ever given anyone. "Sure, you made it hard for me to fight back." the feline taunted. "But I did say you would tire yourself out." and he finished his response with a powerful roundhouse kick to Fox's shoulder. The shock from the kick combined with Fox's exhaustion was more than enough to send the vulpine to the mat. "Now we're tied."
The holo-ref held up one finger and said "Match Point."
Fox took a moment to catch his breath as he too took off his shirt, throwing it aside. "D-damn..." he said between breaths. "I under... underestimated... you."
Panther laughed as he leaned back against the gate of the ring. "You're good, McCloud. You're fast and teneacious." he crossed his arms and sighed. "It's a strength for certain, but it can also be your biggest downfall."
"Guess it means I'll just have to get a little more creative." Fox said arrogantly as he touched his two fists together. The fox soon then closed his eyes and began to breathe in and out deeply.
Panther raised an inquisitive eyebrow at what he just saw, to him it's just deep breathing exercise, perhaps to lower his heartrate and regain some of his stamina? Doing that, in the middle of a fight? He's wide open. Panther wasted no time and took the opportunity, lunging at Fox as fast as he could to get the winning point. But as he neared Fox, he stopped. Was he hallucinating? The feline could swear he could see electric energy swarming about Fox's body, almost as if he were an electric conduit. Fox's eyes opened and his green eyes glowed brightly. In an instant, Panther collided with Fox... or so he thought. Briefly, he could make out a blue translucent figure of Fox before it faded. He turned to his left and saw Fox standing, lunging at him once more only to collide with the same thing. "H-how?!"
"It's a fancy trick I picked up when I was on Sauria." Fox said with confidence. "I call it "Illusion", and it's helped me out in a few scraps with the Sharpclaws." The vulpine continued his attacks, each afterimage colliding with Panther multiple times as each blow began to wear the feline down more and more. Panther had some difficulty staying upright, his defensive strategy proving innefective against this bizzare technique Fox was showing him. "Much like how I can't keep attacking you forever, you can't dodge me forever." the vulpine continued his speedy assault, slowly bringing Panther to his knees before stopping in front of the feline's face... and giving Panther just a single flick to the nose before he fell to the mat.
*DING DING DING* THE WINNER IS FOX MCCLOUD
"Not gonna lie, Caroso." Fox said as he held out his hand to the feline. "You almost had me."
Panther sat up off the mat and quickly caught his breath before grabbing Fox's hand, being helped back to his feet. The large feline let out a hearty laugh, holding onto his knees for support. "You really are full of suprises."
As the two gathered their sweaty shirts and tossed them into a hamper, they walked over to the sauna and grabbed a towel before sitting down on opposite sides of each other. After the steam got going and the heat kicked on, the two relaxed their muscle aches and pains. After many moments of silence, Fox quickly spoke up. "Now then... you owe me a story."
Panther shrugged and leaned forward. "A deal is a deal."
I guess I'll start with how Star Wolf was formed...
Wolf sighed softly as he stared up at the cieling in his quarters, the lights were off and the only other source of light came from the stars out in the vastness of space. Many thoughts ran through the lupine's head as he kept thinking about his past endevors, mainly the ones involving his episode at the CAF HQ. He cringed and gritted his teeth as he tried to focus on other things. He looked over at his bedside nightstand, on top of it was a framed photo of him and Fara, smiling back at the camera during one of their dates at one of the many parks in Corneria City. He always wondered how in the universe he managed to get a girlfriend like Fara, but he counted himself lucky. While Corneria had it's very negative opinion of him with him having much of the same to it, Fara made it one of the most important reasons for Wolf to not return to being a criminal.
I don't deserve her. the lupine thought before taking the photo into his hand, staring at it with a somber smile on his face. She convinced me to stay on Corneria, convinced me not to follow Leon... convinced me to swallow my pride and ask Fox for a job. He chuckled at the last thought before setting the photo back down. Pup didn't see it coming either.
Wolf kept a lot of his focus on Fara, all the time they have spent together when he would come back from missions, and was always waiting for him. It felt good in his mind to know there was truly someone waiting for him to return home. It made the harsh view and opinions he recieved from the CAF and the planet's citizens bearable. It made him feel like his life truly mattered.
Wolf chuckled and rubbed his eye before staring up at the ceiling again. Just where did these sappy feelings come from? he thought to himself. Not complaining though... it's better than being angry all the time. He said before looking at the photo again, focusing intently on himself this time. Better than running all the time too.
Wolf felt the world begin to slow to a crawl once more as the thought of "running" crossed his mind. He shook his head to push the thought away, rubbing his eye once more as he tried to refocus it on something else. But try as he might, the word "Run" began to play in his mind on loop as if it were a broken record.
Run...
Run...
Run...
Run...
The lupine's heart began to race once more, his chest began to feel much tighter and tighter as the world he knew faded from view once more. He found himself once again in the endless black void before it began to form shapes. This time he got a much clearer picture of where he was, the room he was now in was a rather large corridor with ominus red lights along the floors, bloody crates and empty cages lined the walls. The deafening sounds of alarms blared in his ears as ran with panicked breath after panicked breath. He was running as fast as his legs could carry him, his wrists bound with a bloodied hand that covered his eye.
But with the lack of depth perception the lupine's footing was all but sure, stumbling with nearly every step he took with the only thing keeping him going was nothing but sheer adrenaline. The Wolf looked back at his pursuer, a tall shadowy figure he couldn't make out chasing after him as hot pain and fear filled tears streamed down his face.
"Run all you want, boy." the voice said as it continued it's pursuit. "I'm gonna catch ya sooner or later."
The smaller lupine picked up the pace as best as he could, doing everything imagineable to outrun his pursuer. He turned over crates and cages, hoping to use them as cover and obstacles to slow the figure's chase.
But it didn't let up, nothing seemed to slow the figure's pursuit as it leapt over the obstacles with ease as the footsteps quickened. He reached out a hand to grab at Wolf who just narrowly avoided the grab, ducking his head down before jumping over another crate.
Wolf ran forward as he looked around the corridor for anything he could run into, anything to allow him to escape, just to get away. As luck would have it, he ducked into a room in the corridor and quickly shut the door, breaking off the pursuit as he locked it. It was dark and it stank, not that it mattered. On a small cart, he was able to make out a sharp knife. Quickly grabbing it, he began to cut away at his bindings. After freeing himself, he quickly pocketed the knife and looked around for any exit. Whatver room he was in had no exit he could see with the exception of the door he came from.
Whatever relief the lupine had was shortlived as the door was slowly being cut into, sparks hitting the ground by his feet. There had to be another way out, there just had to be. Wolf frantically looked around the room for any exit, a few open compartments, all felt empty and somewhat squishy but had dead ends on the inside. No good he thought as he looked around.
Each second that passed, Wolf became much more frantic as he debated just tearing everything up. He even debated just taking the knife and sticking it in his throat to end the nightmare for good. He looked around and his luck turned, a large drawer was found and it looked as though it went down somewhere, but he wasn't sure as it was too dark for him to see. He paused and thought his plan over for many agonizing moments, the fact the figure chasing him was now almost through the door.
The time for debate was over, it was now or never.
Swallowing his fear and anxiety, the lupine quickly climbed into the large drawer and began to slide, to where he didn't know but he didn't care. He just had to get away. After many moments of sliding downwards, he managed to hit something rough and squishy once more and this time fur accompanied it. Wait, fur? he thought as he reached into the pockets of his worn leggings and pulled out a lighter. It was a wonder why it wasn't taken from him. After cursing a bit and a few flicks, the flame from the lighter came to life and around him made the lupine scream in absolute terror...
Wolf jolted from his bed and leapt to his feet as sweat poured from his face and down onto his sheets, he looked over at his clock as it read "1750 Hours". It was just a dream. he thought to himself as he rubbed his forhead, wiping off the sweat. He could hear a knock at his door and a soft voice from the other side, the lupine groaned and he could only guess at who it could possibly be.
Reluctantly, the lupine walked to his door and quickly opened it, on the outside stood a blue vixen, her arms crossed and her eyes half closed as she peered into the room and then to Wolf. "Knew those emotions were yours." she said before stepping inside.
"Dammit, Blue!" Wolf said angrily, baring his fangs at her. "Get out!"
"No." Krystal said firmly, pointing a finger at Wolf. "Your emotions have gotten too strong for me to just ignore."
"What're you gonna do?" he taunted. "Gonna interrogate me or something?"
Krystal sighed and shook her head before looking Wolf dead in the eye. "I want to know what is eating at you... and you're gonna tell me weather you like it or not."
"Like hell I am." Wolf spat, turning away from her. "I told Fox to drop it, I'm telling you to-"
"I won't ignore this, Wolf." She said, raising her voice. "Not when your emotions are so strong. Not when they're showing me nothing but fear." Krystal's voice and expression softened, sounding similar to that of a mother who was trying to comfort a terrified child. "I just want to help you. We need you at your best."
Wolf paused for a moment in silence, staring in both awe and shock at the vixen. He wanted to yell, he wanted to shout his head off and call her all kinds of names in an effort to get Krystal to leave him alone. But she was a telepath, and while she could not read his mind she could read and feel his emotions with a kind of empathy that only she would have. Everything told him to try but logic knew otherwise, he knew Krystal was stubborn and would not stop until she got to the bottom of whatever problem she faced. After letting out a defeated sigh, he sat back down on his bed and pointed to the chair at his desk, motioning for Krystal to sit down. "You better not mention a word of this to Fox... got it?"
"It's just you and me here, Wolf." Krystal said softly. "I won't say anything to Fox... but you will have to tell him at some point."
Wolf nodded as he looked down at the floor, inhaling deeply before looking up at Krystal.
Guess I'll tell you everything about my life before Star Wolf...
And that is where we'll end it for now, I am sorry I focused heavily on Wolf again in this chapter but I had the idea in my head and had to put it to paper as fast as I could. I want to try a format where Panther and Wolf will tell a story from their perspective, but as if they're having a full blown conversation with the people they're talking to. So kind of first person but also not... hard to put into words, but I will show you in the next chapter. Also hope that the inclusion of "Fox Illusion" from Smash Bros doesn't feel out of place, thought it would be cool to include and give you a peek at another story in the future.
Leave me some comments, tell me what you think, leave me some of your own ideas if you'd like, and I'll see you all again next time.
Peace out!
