The Bossk Man's recommended listening: Careful With That Axe, Eugene by Pink Floyd

Calhoun, Fichina

There was a nip in the air of the university town, signaling that it was the start of autumn. It was certainly cool enough for Lucy Hare to see her breath.

At the moment, the pink furred doe was walking back to her apartment after a long day of teaching astrophysics. Clothing wise, she was wearing a green windbreaker over her teaching attire and had a satchel full of assignments to grade slung over her shoulder.

"Two hours, then I stop," she thought to herself.

At the moment, Lucy's magenta eyes caught sight of a white delivery van parked on the side of the street and a brown and white furred wolf in a red windbreaker and black cargo pants seemingly checking on the packages in the back.

Suddenly, her sensitive ears picked up the sounds of rapid footfalls approaching from behind. Before Lucy could turn around, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

Panic surged through Lucy before she quickly remembered the self-defense lessons her father had made her take as a teenager and snapped her head back. The doe was rewarded with a yelp of pain and her attacker releasing his grip.

Looking ahead, Lucy saw the lupine van driver running towards her. Thinking quickly, the hare took her satchel off her shoulder and swung it, striking the wolf in the chest and knocking him to the sidewalk.

Lucy spun around, intending to do the same to her other attacker, who was also a wolf, and, aside from the fact that he wore a black windbreaker, looked identical to the van driver.

Unfortunately, this lupine was ready for the attack and caught the satchel, yanking it out of Lucy's hands and scattering the papers to the wind.

Realizing that she could not win this fight, Lucy fled towards an alley. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, the doe saw the wolves in hot pursuit.

"Get back here, you little fucker!"

Lucy kept running into the alley, all while attempting to fish her communicator out of her jacket pocket. Just as she got the device out, a pair of strong hands grabbed a hold of her shoulders and pinned her to the alley wall.

As one of those hands clamped over her mouth, Lucy's eyes widened as she gazed at the green scaled lizard in the black jacket and brown jeans. For she recognized him as Eugene Clegg, the man who had murdered Fox's mother twenty six years prior.

The hare whimpered as Clegg leaned in and growled into her ear, "You're lucky our client wants you alive."

With his other hand, the iguana-crocodile hybrid plunged a syringe into Lucy's neck. The doe struggled in vain, but soon felt her body going numb and saw darkness gathering at the edge of her vision. Eventually, her eyes became too heavy to keep open.

As Hare's daughter passed out, Clegg gently lowered her to the ground and glanced at his lupine accomplices.

"Ivan, get the truck," he said to the wolf in the red windbreaker.

"Da," the wild dog replied before turning and leaving.

From there, Clegg secured the unconscious hare's hands behind her back with zip ties while the other wolf did the same with her ankles. As the reptile gagged the doe with a white cloth, he caught sight of his cohort tracing their captive up and down with a lustful look in his brown eyes.

"Don't get any ideas, Nikita. Marshal Koates wants her alive and unharmed."

"As if he would even know," Nikita mumbled.

"He always knows," Clegg retorted before standing up and drawing a switchblade.

"Keep it in your pants, Nikita. Or I'll cut it off," the lizard growled.

Shrugging, the wolf replied, "Whatever you say, Gene."

His point made, Clegg put the knife away and scooped Lucy's unconscious form into his arms. Both him and Nikita left the alley, where they saw that Ivan had backed the delivery vehicle up to the entrance.

While Nikita joined his brother up front, Clegg layed Lucy in the back of the van and then climbed in, taking a seat on a crate. As the van got underway, the iguana-crocodile hybrid reached beneath his white shirt and drew out a silver chain that he wore around his neck.

Attached to the chain was a quartet of souvenirs from different points in the lizard's life. One was the corporal's tags from his time in the Titanian Defense Force, before they'd drummed him out.

Another was a golden wedding ring, one that had come into Clegg's possession almost three decades prior.

Twenty six years ago

Corneria City

Clegg was crouched behind a hovercar in the parking garage of Thurman Incorporated, his target's heeled footsteps getting closer.

Although Clegg had chosen to strike here due to it being a blind spot for the security cameras, he had left nothing to chance. The lizard was clad all in black, including a balaclava that only showed his yellow eyes, gloves so that he wouldn't get fingerprints everywhere, and even a sleeve for his tail.

The target was really close now. Clegg tensed and readied his switchblade as the footsteps got louder.

And then he struck.

The lizard sprang from his hiding spot and quickly crossed the distance towards his target, an orange and white furred vixen dressed in a blue blouse and skirt. Her mouth was moving to scream for help, but it was too late. Clegg grabbed hold of her and buried the knife in her chest right below the lungs.

Hearing the vixen let out a pained gasp, Clegg let her fall to the pavement before retracting the blade and putting his knife away.

Glancing down at his target, Clegg saw her attempting to form words, though all that was coming out seemed to be a cross between a cry and a wheeze.

Though Clegg knew that the vixen would be dead within minutes, even now, her lungs were slowly filling up with blood, he saw no harm in hurrying that process along.

Kneeling down beside her, Clegg grabbed hold of the vixen's muzzle and placed his other hand over her nose.

That seemed to ignite a fire in the dying woman, for she desperately attempted to claw at him. Clegg ignored her struggles and simply stared into her blue eyes.

Slowly, but surely, the fire went out of them and her struggles ceased. Clegg now saw something else in those eyes; Despair, likely at the thought that she would never see her husband and little welp again.

"Nothing personal, McCloud," the lizard whispered, "It's just business."

Soon, Vixy McCloud went limp and breathed no more. Checking her vitals, Clegg recalled his client's instructions.

"It must look like a mugging. Her death cannot land at my feet."

With that in mind, Clegg quickly snatched the vixen's necklace and wedding ring, making both disappear into his pockets before grabbing her purse, intending to search it for valuables when he was very far from the scene.

The present

Clegg let Vixy McCloud's wedding ring fall out of his palm and then gazed at a silver pair of rings with spiral shaped markings on them.

Cerinian symbols, as he now knew.

Three years ago

Marshal Koates had said a lot of things about Marcus and Corrine Burrell.

He had not mentioned how stubborn they were.

The iguana-crocodile hybrid snarled under his balaclava while gripping the throat of the white furred vixen bound to a chair.

"Stop wasting my time, bitch. Where the hell is your daughter?"

"I'm not telling you anything, you bloody bastard!" Corrine spat back, her face a mess of cuts courtesy of Clegg's switchblade.

Tempted to take his weapon back out and give her a few more, Clegg instead shot a glare towards her husband.

"Well?" the lizard growled.

The blue furred vulpine, also bound and so far mostly unscathed aside from a few bruises on his face, simply shook his head.

"You're going to kill us no matter what," the former Cerinian prime minister said, "But know this, assassin. You'll never catch Krystal. She's stronger and smarter than either of us could ever hope to be."

"We'll see about that," Clegg growled before snapping Corinne's neck with a sickening crack and drawing his switchblade.

The present

Clegg smiled and tucked the chain back under his shirt. Soon enough, Star Fox would be coming for him and his gang.

"And their heads will snatch us a nice payday."

New Providence, Venom

Prime Minister Blaine Freeland glared out the tinted limousine window at the protestors outside of the Presidential Palace in the Venomian capital.

Scenes like this had been commonplace even before the news broke that the Venomian Remnant was being led by Marshal Koates, but they had intensified since then. On both Venom and Macbeth, Imperial nostalgia was at an all time high.

The spider monkey had seen the slogans and heard the chants so many times that he could recite them in his sleep.

"Fuck Truman!"

"Why can't you get my husband a job?!"

"Scrap the treaty!"

"Better Koates than Allen!"

Freeland looked away and focused ahead on the Memorial Museum, its spires reaching towards the auburn sky. Not so long ago, it had been Andross' palace, back when New Providence was known as Imperial City.

"It will be known as Imperial City once more," the simian thought to himself, though he kept his face set in stone, a skill passed down from his father and grandfather.

Andross may have been Venom's most ambitious tyrant, but he had not been her first. Nor would he be the last, if everything went to plan.

Freeland carried that thought with him as the limo turned and descended into an underground parking garage. After stopping, the bodyguards on either side of the spider monkey got out of the limo and cleared the area before signaling that it was safe.

Stepping out, Freeland caught sight of an olive-drab staff car of the Venom Self-Defence Force and a yellow scaled gecko in a general's uniform standing next to it. He knew this man to be Augustin Peña, the commander of the Self-Defence Force.

"Wait here," the simian ordered his guards before walking towards an elevator, Peña doing the same with his driver.

"General," Freeland said in a neutral tone as they boarded the lift.

"Prime Minister," the lizard replied in an equally neutral tone as the doors closed.

The two were quiet as the lift began its ascent, though Peña soon broke the silence.

"Your information was good. Paul Rodman won't trouble us any longer."

Nodding, Freeland replied, "Perfect. The last thing we need is him gumming up the works."

Peña chuckled, causing Freeland to raise an eyebrow.

"You know, amigo," the gecko said, "You just might have a future in the new order."

Freeland shot a glare at the General.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" the simian retorted, "I returned to the fold when the VSS contacted me, the same as you."

At that, Peña glared back at Freeland and growled, "You returned out of fear, not loyalty. Do not pretend to have anything in common with me, you up jumped student leader. I never stopped serving Emperor Andross."

Freeland's gaze briefly wandered to Peña's holstered blaster before he turned away from the gecko, glad to see the lift doors open. Both beings stepped out of the lift and approached a security station.

"Excuse me, General," one of the guards said to Peña, "Please remove your sidearm."

"Of course," the gecko replied before taking his blaster out, pointing it upwards and ejecting the power pack.

After Peña had turned his weapon over, the guards ran scanners over him and Freeland before letting them pass. The simian was sorely tempted to shake his head at how lax security had gotten in the post-Imperial era. He had been half tempted to try and sneak a briefcase bomb into the palace more than a few times, just to prove a point.

Nonetheless, both Freeland and Peña were shown into the office of President Victor Allen, a peregrine falcon clad in a blue business suit and a red necktie.

"Thank you both for coming so quickly," greeted the avian as the door closed.

"Well, you did say it was urgent," Freeland replied.

"Indeed," the president stated before sliding a document across the desk.

"Prime Minister, I need you to sign off on an emergency order to break up the protests outside the palace and near the Cornerian Embassy."

Freeland crossed his arms and shook his head.

"No disrespect, Mr. President, but I'm not signing that."

"Freeland," Allen said in a stern tone, "The ambassador has been riding my ass. Something needs to be done, and quickly."

"That's funny," the spider monkey retorted, "I think the ambassador would share my sentiment that we must defend the right to protest. Even for those who, as you like to put it, hold unacceptable views."

The falcon narrowed his eyes.

"Alright, Prime Minister, this is your last chance. Sign that order, or I will dissolve the coalition between my Socialists and your Centrists and call another election. Is that what you want?"

Freeland made a show of rubbing his forehead and letting out a huff.

"Get me a pen, damn it," the simian growled.

After being handed a pen by President Allen, Freeland scrawled his signature on the document and slid it back to the avian.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Allen gloated before turning his attention to Peña.

"General, I need you to provide some extra muscle for the police."

"I'll draw up some mobilization orders immediately," the gecko replied.

"Good. That will be all, gentlemen."

Walking back to the elevator, Freeland thought, "You'll get yours, Mr. President. You just wait."

Great Fox II

Peppy shook his head as he read the headline of the news article on his tablet.

'Macbethian prime minister Truman appeals for calm amid pro-Imperial protests.'

"Damn, have they forgotten about the massacre after we destroyed the weapons factory?"

The lepus let out a sigh. As much as he wanted to throttle the protesters, he could at least understand where they were coming from. Macbeth had not been a nice place to live for the average citizen when the corporations had the run of the place. It was no small wonder that there was still some support for the Empire on the mining planet.

A smile dawned on Peppy's face as he saw that he was getting a call from Lucy.

"Always a welcome distraction," the hare murmured before he hit the answer button.

And was greeted with a sight from his worst nightmares.

"Hello Hare," Eugene Clegg crowed, his lips skinning back from his teeth in a wicked smile.

Peppy was so shocked that he had to reach up and stop his eye glasses from falling off. Regaining his composure, the leporine glared at the iguana-crocodile hybrid.

"Where's my daughter?" he growled.

Chuckling in response, Clegg said, "You know, Hare, it's a funny thing. Your team interferes in my client's world, so he sends me to destroy yours."

"Where's Lucy?!" Peppy screamed, only half aware of the bridge doors opening and Fox and Krystal entering his peripheral vision.

Clegg continued to laugh as he walked to the side, revealing Lucy bound and gagged to a chair in front of a kitchen table.

"She can't talk right now, but don't worry. Uncle Gene is taking real good care of her," the lizard taunted as he set a hand on her shoulder.

That finally caused Peppy to snap.

"YOU SO MUCH AS SCRATCH HER, AND I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Clegg's smile turned into a grimace and he glanced off camera.

"Ivan, Nikita," the hybrid ordered before walking out of the frame, two identical looking wolves taking his place.

"Hold still," one of them growled as they freed her right arm and pinned it down on the table.

Lucy began to let out muffled screams as Clegg walked back into the frame, hatchet in hand. He shot a glare at the camera, before raising the hatchet and swinging it towards Lucy's arm.

Peppy flinched as he heard the axe smashing into wood. But although his daughter was screaming, he could clearly see that Clegg's weapon hadn't struck her.

The reptile pulled the hatchet out of the table and pointed it at the camera.

"Mouth off again, long ears, and I won't miss."

At that point, Fox leaned in beside Peppy and locked eyes with his mother's killer.

"Say your prayers, Clegg," the vulpine said in a flat tone, "Cause we're gonna fucking kill you."

The lizard smiled and twirled the hatchet in his hand.

"Come find us, Star Fox. We'll be waiting," Clegg taunted before cutting the feed.

A tense few seconds passed before Peppy turned his chair towards ROB.

"Please tell me that you got a trace."

"Affirmative," the robot replied, "The call was made on Papetoon."

"Then let's go get her," Fox said before noticing that Krystal had her fists clenched and was visibly quaking in rage.

"Krys…"

The cobalt vixen didn't reply, but merely turned and stormed off of the bridge. Staring after her as the doors shut, Fox shared a glance with Peppy.

"I'll be back," he said before setting off after his girlfriend.

Following her signal on his wristcom, Fox found Krystal in the exercise room, angrily striking a punching bag. He also noticed Fara, clad in a black tank top and gray sweatpants, slowly approaching her from behind.

Reaching out and setting a hand on his ex's shoulder, Fox whispered, "Don't. I tried that once and she nearly took my head off."

"Oh," Fara replied before asking, "What's going on?"

"Lucy's been kidnapped. By the same man who killed my mother."

"Oh my!" Fara exclaimed as she brought her hands up to her muzzle.

Throwing another glance at Krystal, the fennec added, "I'll leave you to it."

After Fara departed the room, Fox hooked his thumbs on his belt and watched Krystal continue to throw punches and kicks before she finally stopped, breathing heavily and, to Fox's curiosity, sobbing.

"What's wrong, honey?" the vulpine asked cautiously.

Turning around, Krystal met her boyfriend's gaze.

"It was him," she said.

Seeing Fox's confused look, Krystal reached out with her telepathy and showed him one of her father's last memories. Though his killer's species could not be made out, the voice was as clear as day.

"Where is she, prime minister? Tell me, and I can make your end that much quicker."

Fox stared in shock as the memory ended. Then he walked up and pulled Krystal into a hug.

"We'll find him and make him pay for what he did, I swear it," the vulpine said as a few tears escaped from his eyes.

Later

Fox had assembled the rest of the team on the bridge and filled them in on the situation, along with contacting Admiral Yateman and informing him.

At the moment, they were going through a list of Clegg's known associates, starting with the two wolves from the call.

Ivan Viktorovich Kolov

Nikita Viktorovich Kolov

The image of the identical twins was replaced by one of a polar bear in a blue windbreaker and black cargo pants.

Alexei Borisovich Kamenev

The next member of the gang was an orange scaled salamander in a gray windbreaker and blue cargo pants.

Carlo Luigi Galtieri

Krystal noticed that the images of the Kolov twins and Galtieri were stirring up memories from Falco and Katt's past, back when they had been part of the Hot Rodderz.

It seemed that after stealing from the Castillo crime family, they had ordered the trio to send a message. The wolves and the lizard had single-handedly slaughtered the gang, save for Falco and Katt.

In the meantime, the image switched to a Rottweiler in a brown bomber jacket and black pants.

Peter Garret Beauregard

Their rap sheets all read much the same: Murder, kidnapping, assault, extortion.

"At the very least, we can expect these guys to be backing Clegg up," Fox explained.

Falco, who had a perturbed look on his face, said, "Something's not sitting right with me about that message being traced."

"I agree," Katt put in, "These guys have all been on the lam for years. Seems a little suspicious that they would make a rookie mistake like that."

Krystal put a hand on her chin in thought.

"Given that Clegg all but stated that he was working for Marshal Koates, it has to have been deliberate."

"This is a hell of a time for you guys to be jetting off," Admiral Yateman said from over the hologram, "With the unrest on Venom and Macbeth and the Katinese rebels gearing up for another offensive, it's almost as if Koates wants you guys out of the way."

"Oh, he does," Peppy growled, "But if we do nothing, those creeps will kill my little girl."

Yateman nodded solemnly.

"I hear you, Hare. I've got three kids."

Fox glanced around the bridge.

"It's settled then; We'll go to Papetoon, rescue Lucy, and get back here as fast as we can."

"Good luck, Star Fox. Yateman out."

After the Dutch Shepherd cut the line, Fox said, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office."

As her boyfriend left the bridge, Krystal massaged her forehead. Try as she might, the cobalt vixen could not shake the feeling that things were going to take a turn for the complicated, just as they had on Kew six months prior.

Fox, meanwhile, entered his office and took a seat behind the desk. Booting up the terminal, the orange vulpine scrolled through a list of names before finally stopping on one in particular.

Dale

Fox's finger depressed the enter key, causing a rotating blue circle to appear on the screen. It was soon replaced with the image of a vulpine with a shade of rust coloured fur similar to Fox's father, though parts of it were starting to go gray.

"Ah, Foxy," the older vulpine greeted with a Papetoonian drawl, "Haven't heard from you in a while."

Fox's somber expression gave the other vulpine pause.

"This ain't a social call, is it?"

"No Dale, it isn't," Fox said with a shake of his head, "Peppy's daughter's been kidnapped by Eugene Clegg. We traced them to Papetoon."

"The same Eugene Clegg who butchered your mama?" Dale asked, to which Fox nodded.

"We're gonna need your help. You know the northern hemisphere better than we do."

"I'll be glad to help," Dale stated before adding, "It'll be good seeing you again, Foxy."

"Same to you, Dale," Fox replied, "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Elsewhere, Peppy had returned to his quarters and was currently seated on the edge of his bed, staring down at a framed photo of himself, his late wife Vivian, a green furred doe, and Lucy, who had been around four when the picture had been taken.

Glancing upwards, the lepus murmured, "Viv, I don't know if you can hear me. But if you can, please watch over our little girl."

The hare set the photo back on the nightstand and let out a breath. He would not rest until every single one of Lucy's kidnappers lay dead.