Act 2

Chapter 12

"Something Old…"

~::::~

It had been a week. A painful, slow, agonizing week. Royce took a longer-than-usual drag on a cigarette, the stress graying a few of his hairs. He knew something was off about the job, but he still went along with it. It was too risky, he rushed it. Blinded by greed. Never again. Slowly, his eyes drifted to the empty purple Skyline, the crushing weight slowly starting to set in for him. The wind howled through the Factory, silence strangling any chance for conversation before Royce took another drag from his cigarette.

Looking down at his phone, Royce had spent a sleepless week searching for what had happened. He called every contact and used every favor he could, but no one on the planet had a solid explanation. Nothing made sense, it broke the laws of physics. The news was quick to bury the event, describing it as a simple car chase and robbery with the suspects still at large. With all eyes on the black Challengers, Royce took it upon himself to deliver each muscle car to the local scrapyard, each one crushed into unrecognizable cubes by the on-site compactor.

A low rumble filled the air of the silent factory, Royce snapping his head up to notice the familiar pearlescent white Dodge Magnum roll into the factory. It was the only car there besides Royce's Alfa and the untouched Skyline. Max stepped out of the vehicle once he parked it, looking like he had aged ten years. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked towards an expecting Royce with his hat tipped over his eyes. "Yeah, uh, I talked to those guys by Ambassador Bridge. Uh, they've got nothin'. All they know is that lab was doin' some crazy sci-fi shit."

Royce took a deep breath, tightening his grip on the phone before tossing it to the ground. The device shattered on the concrete as Max flinched. "Ridiculo! Not one person knows what happened?! Not one?! I have talked to contacts from around the world! Russia, Japan, Israel, the U.K, even back home in Italia! How does no one know?!" Royce ran his fingers through his hair once more, unable to break his mind away from what was happening.

With a downtrodden expression, Max leaned up against the brick wall at the base of the stairs. "So, is TJ…?" Royce paused his anger, turning back to Max. While his mouth did not move, his eyes said everything. "He's really gone then, huh?"

Royce let the silence overwhelm him. A failure this extreme had not been felt for decades. Breathing stung, his heart boomed through his ears, and a small bead of sweat ran down his forehead. Looking back at Max Royce tried to change the subject. "Where are Kylie and Victor?"

Max cringed slightly, looking around before slapping the sides of his pants with a sigh. "Kylie hopped back on a flight to Gold Coast, got her parents to transfer all of her credits to some preppy engineering college there. And Vic, well, he just kinda took off. Just hopped in his car and left. Hasn't called or anythin', won't even return a text." Max paused, looking back at Royce's unblinking form standing as still as a statue. "Look man, what am I gonna tell his mom? She was cryin' up a storm last time I was there, and I was kinda hopin' I could give her some good news…"

"There is none to give. We just have to move on."

Max paused at the response, his brow raising as he tipped his hat up. "Move on? What, we're just gonna forget about him?"

Royce sighed. "No, that is not what I meant. I just... Look, we took a job that we were not supposed to, and now he is gone. Simple as that. We have not heard from him in over a week, so… I don't know. We just have to assume the worst, learn from this, and move on."

"Yeah, yeah, move on… How are we gonna do that without a crew, man?!" Max quickly grew irate, gnashing his teeth as he got in Royce's face. "In case you ain't figured it out yet, I'm the only one left! Me! Kylie's back in Australia, Vic's up and gone, and now TJ's missin', yo!" He tried to hold back tears, but a few blinked down his face as he scoffed. "Man, you told us you were military! Some kinda badass spec-ops type! Was leavin' your squad in the rearview somethin' you just did on the regular? He's part of our squad, so we're-"

"Stai zitto!" Royce's voice boomed through the air, silencing Max. "I am not a magician! He is gone, swallowed by some blue light that we don't even know was real! I have been making calls non-stop for a week now, and I have gotten nothing! Pulled every favor I could and then some! But there is simply nothing we can do! No one has come forward, we have no leads, and that company that we robbed was nothing more than a shell company! The truck, the driver, the digital invoice, all gone! The trail has gone completely cold! So who are you to tell me about abandoning my squad when I have done all I possibly could have done, you little punk?!"

The air now carried the weight of tension on its trails as it billowed through the factory. Both men stared each other down for an eternity, waiting for the other to make the first move. Max finally did something, moving his hand into his pocket to grab his keys with a scowl. With a few clicks, the car started remotely, lighting up like a Christmas tree. "Thanks for nothin', old man."

Tipping his hat low, Max walked away from the man without saying another word. Royce said nothing in return, watching him enter his car and put it in gear without so much as an apology in his eyes. The Magnum slowly backed out of the factory, the tell-tale rumble of the HEMI engine slowly fading into the background noise of the city.

As soon as the car was out of sight, Royce took one final drag from his cigarette before stamping it out under his dress shoe.

~::::~

Anger filled Max's body as he drove through the packed city streets of Detroit, his flamboyant Magnum standing out amongst the civilian traffic. His mind began to attempt a rationalization of the past week, but nothing made sense. TJ had just vanished. It went against all laws of physics and reality. Someone doesn't just disappear like TJ did.

Max pulled up to the red light of a nearby intersection, realizing that he was first in line. It brought a small smile to his lips as he enjoyed his position before his heart skipped a beat. Across the street was a Detroit Police Department Patrol Charger. The officer in the driver seat of the muscle car was looking right at him. Max knew that he had been made. Calmly, he shifted into first gear and prepared to jump off the line. As he kept his eyes locked on the patrol car across the street, he noticed a second Charger slowly squeeze through traffic next to the first one. Then another. And another.

Looking to the left and right of the intersection, Max noticed more Chargers lining up. It quickly felt like a Western stand-off as the cars began to surround him. Thinking he could escape by pulling a 180-degree turn down the same road, Max moved his eyes in that direction only to be popped in the nose by reality. The cops were waiting for him there as well. The patrol cars had covered alleys, sideroads, and all other shortcuts. He was trapped.

Finally, it happened. The lights and sirens came on. Max floored it out of instinct, the HEMI engine spinning his low-pro tires at the rear as he came off the line. As soon as Max began to accelerate, a new generation Ford Mustang suddenly emerged from the line of cops. It was dressed up in the Detroit Police Department paint scheme, with the lights and push-bar to match. And it was aiming for Max. Before he knew it, his vision was replaced with white, as the Mustang had struck him in a head-on collision and activated his airbags. The chase was already over.

Max panted, his arms and face burning slightly from the airbag deployment as he looked around his new environment. Cops surrounded his car, now directing traffic around him. A few officers pointed their weapons at him, making sure he did not try anything he would regret. The rumble of his HEMI had died out, and with all the guns trained on him, Max did not bother to attempt to restart the engine. He could already tell it would not start, the visual of his hood bent upward giving him a clear indicator of what to expect if he tried.

The Mustang slowly backed away from the front bumper of the now-totaled Magnum, appearing none the worse for wear. The push-bar was only slightly bent as it ripped out the Magnum's organs, making Max wince as he noticed the gore. Finally, the Mustang came to a stop, allowing the driver to open the door. Sergeant Jackson stepped out with a massive grin on his lips, angling his sunglasses down so he could get a good look at the damage he caused. Max scowled but kept his hands at ten and two on the steering wheel.

With a cocky swagger, Jackson waltzed over to the driver's side window of the Magnum, displaying the police badge on his hip and tapping the glass with his knuckle. Taking his left hand off the steering wheel, Max depressed the switch to lower the window with a hum. With no barrier between the two, Jackson rested his arms on the door frame and got an eyeful of the driver. "So," he began with a partially surprised smirk. "This is the infamous Showoff. Man, that hick from last week was right, you are just a kid! I don't know if I should be impressed or pissed that it took me this long to bust your ass!"

"Is there a problem, officer?"

Max's flat response made Jackson chuckle. "Come on, don't play dumb. We've been tracking your car for the past week now, ever since you stopped acting like a vampire and started driving around the city during the day. What, you didn't think the cameras would track you down after all the heat you've been drawing?"

"What do you want?"

"I know your little posse was involved with that robbery last week. A massive heist goes sideways and suddenly the three most wanted street racers in Detroit and their bodyguard all stop showing up at races? The tactics, the driving, it was all you four. So, what I want is the whereabouts of your crew, and I'll see what the judge can do about knocking a few years off your sentence."

Max said nothing, instead turning his head to face forward. Jackson followed his head, chuckling once he saw what Max was staring at. "You like my new wheels? Well, Ford gifted us with a few of these interceptors to help curb the epidemic that you four caused. Man, that thing is fun. If I can be candid with you, I kinda wish that it was just you and I. Really stretch her legs, you know? But oh well, I suppose the others will put up more of a fight."

"I'm the only one left here. You ain't gonna find all of us."

"Oh really? And why's that?"

"You know why."

"The Viper. What happened to it?"

"I don't know."

"Bullshit."

"It's not bullshit. I don't know."

Jackson took a deep breath, rapping his fingers along the doorframe. "So, which one of you was behind the wheel?"

Max paused, chewing on his lip for a few seconds first. "…Phoenix. We ain't seen him since."

"What about the others?"

Max only shrugged.

Jackson sighed, shaking his head with a smile as he moved his fingers to the Magnum's door lock and flicked it open. With a thunk, the door opened, leaving no barrier between the street racer and the cop. "You're under arrest for multiple counts of reckless driving, excessive speeding, destruction of property, evading police, and armed robbery."

Max made no attempt to resist arrest, simply unbuckling his seat belt and putting his hands by his head as he stepped out of his car. As Jackson slapped the cuffs on his wrists and began reading him his rights, he wondered where TJ was. By some longshot, Max hoped he was okay. But none of that mattered anymore. All he had to look forward to now was staring at the same cell walls for the majority of his better adult years.

~::::~

"Yeah, I'm still by her side. I'm calm, Peppy. Okay, calmer than before. I'll see you soon." Fox could only sit on the chair next to Krystal's bed in the medical bay and watch as R.O.B. neatly placed the tools for minor surgery on a nearby metallic tray. The vixen herself had already been given a steady supply of morphine, dulling the pain. Despite Krystal's insistence that she would be okay, worry gnawed at Fox like a rabid beast, his stomach doing multiple somersaults in place as he put his PDA back in his pocket.

"Captain McCloud, are you okay?" R.O.B.'s voice broke Fox out of his trance, the vulpine snapping his head over to the temporary doctor. "My biometric sensors indicate that you have a resting heart rate of one hundred and fifty-five beats per minute. Do you need medical attention?"

Fox shook his head. "No thanks, I'm good. It's just that today was too close a call. We should not have been caught off-guard like that…"

A light chuckle came from Krystal, the vixen using her pillow to support her back as she sat up, letting her injured arm hang limply at her side. "Fox, you can not be on constant alert. No one expected this, we were all caught off guard."

Fox growled slightly, but not at Krystal. "I should have followed up with Shears in the lobby. That had to be him, I'm certain of it. I should have-"

"Do not anchor yourself in what you could have done, Fox," Krystal interrupted, pausing the vulpine's ranting. "Instead, focus on what you can do now."

Fox began to spin his mental wheel, heeding Krystal's advice. "…we can regroup, figure out if that really was Shears, and go from there."

Krystal smiled. "You always have a plan."

The med-bay doors suddenly hissed open, revealing Fay in her soot-covered dress. Moving like a machine, Fay quickly stripped out of the stained outfit before utilizing the nearby emergency shower. Cold water was dumped onto the soiled canine and her undergarments, but the water carried the grime off Fay and into the drain at her feet. Now sopping wet, Fay hopped over to the fur dryer and activated it. The massive silver machine bellowed hot air out from the many vents on it, flash-drying the canine in a matter of seconds. Now fully clean, Fay opened up a nearby cabinet and grabbed her new attire. Simple doctors scrubs, slippers, gloves, and a face mask would have to do for now.

In the roughly minute it took for Fay to change from a stained dress and soot-filled fur to a sterile uniform, Miyu waltzed in, covered head to toe in blood. Fox's jaw dropped when he saw the feline, her eyes and teeth being the only parts of her not coated in crimson. "Holy shit, Miyu," Fox exclaimed as he got an eyeful of the lynx. "Are you okay?!"

Miyu looked down at herself and shrugged. "Well, this isn't my blood."

"Whose blood is it?"

Miyu shrugged again. "I dunno. Some guy who was about to shoot me in the face. Panther came in clutch and shot the base of one of those giant marble pillars at the Congress. Thing came crashing down onto the guy just as he was about to shoot me and… splat." Miyu's story made Fox cringe as she hoisted herself onto one of the free medical beds and began to gently swing her legs off the side of it like a little kid waiting for their lollipop at the end of a visit to the doctor's office.

While Miyu slowly removed her stained clothes to use the emergency shower next, Fay operated like a precision machine. R.O.B could barely keep up with her rapid-fire requests as she began treating Krystal for her wound. Placing an assortment of needles, an electric razor, and a metallic splint on a silver tray by Krystal's bedside, R.O.B stepped back and let Fay work. Wasting no time, Fay quickly shaved the fur around Krystal's wound before injecting her with a variety of needles. The fluids were all different colors injected in various spots around Krystal's shoulder, some even entering her wound for the injection site. Krystal showed no pain to the process thanks to the morphine running through her system and simply locked eyes with Fox. There was a silent understanding between the two as Fay continued her swift surgical care.

Within a handful of minutes, Krystal's injury had been disinfected, patched up, and wrapped tightly with sterile gauze. Her arm was now covered by a metallic cast that had been dotted with small blue lights around it. Sighing, Fay removed her face mask to reveal a gentle smile on her lips. "You'll make a full recovery within the next few days, Krystal. The Osbond will reattach your bones while the Muscrep will do the same to the muscle and tissue that was damaged. The cast will keep your arm mobile while it takes a few days for your fur to grow back and your shoulder to fully heal."

Krystal gently nodded. "Thank you, Fay."

A whistle from the door frame broke the silence, all heads turning to notice Wolf leaning against the frame with his arms crossed a smirk on his lips. "Everyone still alive?"

Fox narrowed his eyes slightly but nodded in response. "Yes, we're all fine here." The vulpine chewed on his tongue for a second before raising his brow slightly. "How did you get off the Great Fox?"

"Easy," Wolf began with a smirk. "Gave the Tin Can there a good ol' logical dilemma. Hey, if it wasn't for me and my boys, you'd be hauling back caskets for a few of your squad. Or you'd be in one yourself."

Fox was unable to respond to Wolf's answer as Panther squeezed past his former boss, his eyes scanning the room for Miyu. He found her just as she pulled the handle to the emergency shower. Cold water was dumped on her stained and musty fur, making the feline hiss slightly at the feeling. Like with Fay, the blood was quickly peeled from her fur and sucked down the drain at her feet, leaving her soaking wet in her undergarments.

Panther's face instantly flushed red as he laid eyes on her. He felt like a cub who saw his first inappropriate video on the internet all over again. His heart ordered his body to grab a nearby towel hanging off the wall and intercept the lynx before she could reach the fur dryer a few steps away. With a few steps, Panther placed himself between Miyu and the fur dryer. Armed with a towel, he presented his gift to the soaking-wet Miyu with a suave grin. "Do you require some assistance drying off there, Miyu?"

Miyu looked at the towel with an amused smirk before she gently took hold of it. Panther narrowed his eyes with a smirk, ready to go in for the kill as Miyu examined the now-wet towel. His grin took on a slightly confused countenance as Miyu began to roll up the towel in a specific manner, shifting from a wide blanket to a thin tail shape in a matter of seconds.

With a sadistic smile, Miyu grabbed one end of the "tail" and whipped the opposite end at Panther's leg. A snapping sound filled the air as the tip of the wet towel cracked against Panther's thigh, causing him to let out a sharp and sudden yowl. "No touching the merchandise, big cat," Miyu taunted with a grin as Panther sucked as much air through his grimaced teeth as possible. As he began to gently rub his thigh with more hissing, Miyu chuckled and used the fur dryer to dry herself off.

"Anyway," Fox said in an attempt to move the conversation back to important matters. "I appreciate you showing up like you did, Wolf. Looks like you do have a heart of gold after all."

Wolf let out an amused snort as he rolled his eyes at Fox's judge of character. "I didn't do it just for the pats on the back. I'm still public enemy number one with a lot of CDF boys, saving your ass just means that I wouldn't get shot for "resisting arrest" by a squad of zealous MP's anymore."

"After what you did today, I don't think you're public enemy number one anymore."

Wolf put on a faux pout in response to Fox's uplifting words. "N'aww, but I liked that title. I had to work hard for that!" It made him smile all the more when he noticed Fox's ears drop with an unamused glare now crossing the vulpine's face.

Fox's response was interrupted once more, this time by Peppy entering the medbay. His face looked worn and heavy, as the activities of the morning added a few extra years to his age. Seeing Krystal laid out only added to the worry. Wasting no time, the hare knelt down at her side, wincing as he noticed her injury.

"I am alright Peppy," Krystal comforted with a soft smile. The worry instantly faded from Peppy's face, causing him to release a pent-up sigh of stress from his lungs.

"You had me worried there for a moment, Krys."

"You had us worried, Peppy," Fox said. "When Bill told us you were kidnapped, I thought… I'm just happy you're okay."

"You can thank that young man right there for that," Peppy said, pointing toward TJ in the hall. Cautiously, the young street racer stepped past Wolf and took his place next to the hare.

Fox cast his eyes on him with an appreciative glare. "Thank you, TJ. You did a good job today. If it wasn't for you, these guys would've had the General, the Premiere, and Peppy as hostages or worse."

"Thanks, man."

Fox took a deep breath, giving Krystal's hand a gentle squeeze as he did so. "Look, I have serious reservations about you being a member of this team, but I suppose having you on the roster for a week couldn't hurt. You practically are a member, since you've been sleeping here ever since."

The moment of levity spread smiles around the medbay, even placing a grin on Wolf's muzzle. It quickly went away however, as Wolf reminded the team that there were more pressing matters at hand. "We're gonna have to postpone the medal pinning and glad-handing for a bit, there's still two important pieces of info we're missing. Who's behind the attack, and who tried to ice me and my boys."

Peppy tilted his head at the lupine, an inquisitive glare twitching his nose. "The way you framed that question makes it sound like you think the two are connected, son."

"Yeah, I do."

"Why?"

"Because," Wolf began, pressing his back up against the walls of the medbay. "Maybe it wasn't just you they were after, old timer. Maybe it was the rest of the Space Boy Scouts."

"You think these guys were after us, too?" Fox asked.

"Why not? Your faces are everywhere, and you've got a long list of enemies, McCloud. Present company excluded."

Fox racked his brain for a second, narrowing his eyes. "It might be possible. The working theory I've had is that there's this CDF Captain who's targeting all of us. From what Krystal saw reading Panther's mind, the outfit was a match. And I swear I saw it before the ceremony. He'd be the only guy who could get his hands on a bunch of authentic CDF uniforms, troops, and gear as well."

"So it's some higher-up with a hard-on for you and me?" Wolf snickered, casting his eye on Peppy with a grin on his lips. "Well, all we gotta do is ask our friend with the General's ear here and we can have him in a cellblock with some Andross Lifers by tomorrow morning."

"He's supposed to be dead, Wolf. I killed him myself. Or I thought I did."

Wolf rolled his eye, releasing a pent-up frustrated sigh. "Sounds like an old online comic. So, this captain guy, he wants you and I out of the picture. The question is why?"

Everyone in the medbay traded glances, looking for answers from any face. Blanks stares met vacant ones for a few seconds before one voice spoke up.

"Maybe he's afraid of you guys?" The entire medbay turned to face TJ, who instantly found every pair of eyes on him. "I mean, if I had to guess an' all that…"

"What do you mean, son?"

TJ shrugged at Peppy's question "I dunno. You guys seem to have a ton of rep, though. If this guy's tryin' somethin' big, you guys might be in his way."

Silence filled the room before Wolf started chuckling. TJ slowly shrank into his skin as the lupine stomped toward him, stopping just short of his nose. He could make out each of the pirate's jagged and stained canine teeth, the slight snarl on his muzzle making TJ gulp down his fear. "Well, looks like this kid's got a brain after all. Hmm, I might have to eat it one night and see if he's got any other intelligent thoughts up there." TJ's eyes went wide in horror before Wolf threw his arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. "Ah, I'm just messing with you, kid! You don't look like you'd taste that good anyway."

"Wolf…"

Fox's call got Wolf to back off of the terrified teenager with his hands raised by his side. The grin disappeared quickly as Wolf moved to stand over the foot of Krystal's bed. "So, we're goin' ghost hunting?"

Fox nodded. "We have to close off this lead as soon as possible. I know it's a long shot, but I just want to rule it out before we try anything else."

"I can ask around Pepper's office," Peppy suggested. "See if I can get something to pop up."

Wolf shook his head. "Nah, that wouldn't do you any good. If this guy faked his death, any official records are gonna list him as such." A smile slowly crept onto his face as he turned to face Fox. "But I know just where to find dead men."

~::::~

"Who was there?!"

Andrew was furious as he directed his rage toward Shears. The attack had been a failure, with every member of the Star Fox team making it out alive and Pepper's rescue at the hands of the child. The throne room of Andross's Requiem was quite tense as the Emperor's shrill voice cut through the air. Shears darted his eyes to the lemur and lizard standing at Andrew's side, their disapproving glares telling him all he needed to know. Swallowing, he answered Andrew's question as he returned his gaze toward the simian sitting on his gilded throne at the head of the room.

"Star Wolf, sir. They must've survived the attack at the bar and have teamed up with Star Fox." The canine replied, stoking Andrew's rage further.

"I thought you dealt with them! Do you know how dangerous those men are?! If those cinder-block brains put together that you work for me, you'll be cleaning up quite the mess!" Andrew scolded, getting no reaction from Captain Shears besides a tip of his hat over his eyes and an apology. Andrew sighed as he crossed his legs on his throne. "I want info on how the Cornerians and Star Fox will deal with this attack," he ordered with a frown etched across his face.

"Yes, my Emperor. I refuse to fail you again." Shears saluted.

Andrew sat still for a moment on his throne before sighing with a disappointed countenance. "Any other news that I should be privy to?"

Shears nodded. "Yes, and I think it might help with the alien situation."

"Go on…"

"The thief I sent to Space Dynamics has turned up some interesting news. They are working on a way to return him back to his system, and they have some form of temporal disk that can be used to find the ripple his arrival created."

"And if this disk is stolen, I could use it to find myself an unsoiled system," Andrew interrupted.

"Exactly," Shears confirmed with a smile. "We would have to assault the Beltino Orbital Gate and hijack the signal, but we could force our way through and set up a choke point on the other side. Then you can lay claim to all the natural resources and wealth there before returning to rule the Lylat System."

"Speaking of resources," Andrew began with a wide smile. "How is our friend in the labs doing?"

"Stable somehow, my Emperor. I have no idea how, but his consciousness is still there. He responds to questions that your scientists ask him, but he still seems to suffer from some aftershocks of the corruption. Are you sure he'll work?"

A dark smile crossed Andrew's lips as he nodded. "Of course he will. With a few more prods and shocks, he'll be one of our most useful assets. Star Fox, Corneria, and anyone else foolish enough to stand in our way will have no idea what hit them. Assuming he is collecting the proper data from our other friend?"

Shears nodded obediently. "Yes, Emperor. The subject has been hooked up to his neural network. Everything he knows is being transferred over as we speak. All he needs is the proper equipment to utilize this knowledge and we will have everything we need. If I must be honest, I am surprised his brain is still functional."

"I am not. Those pods can support life for centuries, even when unpowered. But that is beside the point for now." The smile remained on Andrew's lips as his brain doubled back to the disk. Slowly nodding to his mental voice, he leaned forward in his chair. "General, I have a mission for you."

"Yes, Emperor?"

"When our thief steals that disk, go ahead and meet her on Corneria again. Take it and use our local tails to follow Star Fox's newest pet. Once news finally reaches them about the theft, he will come looking for it. Confront him and use the disk as a bargaining chip to do what we say."

"Do you think he could be a useful asset?"

Andrew nodded. "At best, a worthwhile spy. At worst, a distraction for Star Fox to deal with. You are dismissed."