i
Sargasso Station
Wolf O'Donnell sat at his office desk, his organic right eye and the digital lens that had taken the place of his long-lost left eye glued to a computer screen.
The grey and white-furred lupine let out a huff and thought, "If I had known how much paperwork there was going to be, I would've told Pepper where to stuff that deal."
Letting out a breath through his nostrils, Wolf finished up the bill and sent it off to the client. As much as he bemoaned the extra tasks that came with Star Wolf now being a legitimate PMC, the deal that the Cornerian government had offered them in the wake of the Aparoid Invasion had been too good to pass up.
Names cleared, payment for helping the Star Fox team. Wolf would've been stupid to turn them down.
Shutting down the computer, Wolf stretched his arms towards the ceiling before standing up and grabbing his purple bomber jacket off the back of his chair, pulling it on as he left the office.
As he entered the space station's corridor, the lupine caught sight of a pair of simians. The two of them were part of a gang of ex-Venomian soldiers collectively referred to as Ruffians. Yet another thing that came with the territory of going legit was that Star Wolf now needed to pay their hired help a salary. Suffice it to say, Sargasso was a little emptier these days.
"Morning, Lord O'Donnell," one of the Ruffians curtsied.
"Anything I can do for ya, Lord O'Donnell?"
"Not right now," Wolf replied before dismissing the monkeys with a wave.
Continuing onwards, the lupine soon came up to the door of Star Wolf's private rec room. His ears twitched at the sound of voices from within.
"You're dead, you little bastard!"
"Oh please, pussy cat. I'll take that rose and stick it up your ass, stem first!"
"Next one of you to say anything gets dragged to the lower levels!"
Wolf smiled mirthfully at both the banter and the sounds of gunfire and explosions.
"Of course they're playing Redeye," he mused before hitting the open button and walking through the doorway.
Within the rec room, which had both the smell and the haze of cigarette smoke, there were three individuals, two of them seated on a couch and another in an armchair.
The man in the armchair was Leon Powalski, a green-scaled chameleon dressed in a dark purple flight suit. One of his yellow eyes flicked towards Wolf before turning back to the game.
The man on the right hand side of the couch was Panther Caroso. As his name would imply, he was a black-furred jungle cat with a scar running under his right eye. Clothing wise, he was dressed in a blue flight suit and silver body armor.
The last man was a grey-furred sportive lemur with red eyes and a devilish grin plastered on his snout. His choice of clothes consisted of a blue flight suit and a black bomber jacket.
He was Algin Hoffman, though most people simply called him Algy.
As the multiplayer game ended, the primate set his controller on the coffee table and shot a mischievous glance at his teammates.
"Ha hah! Algy-Sama wins again!"
"Algy-Sama is a cheat who always picks Oddball," Panther retorted.
"Oh come on, butthead," Algy shot back, "I beat you guys with Fangs that one time. Dude's got the biggest hit box in the game."
"He's got a point, loverboy," Leon conceded.
From there, the three of them turned their attention to Wolf.
Clearing his throat, the lupine stated, "Boys, we've had a busy couple of months. I daresay we've earned some R and R.
His teammates responded with nods and murmurs of agreement. Wolf waited for them to quiet down before setting his sights on the lemur.
"Hey Algy. That college friend of yours still working on Zoness?"
"Sure is," the primate replied as he fished a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket., "Finally decided to take me up on my offer, eh?"
Algy stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. After taking a drag and blowing out a foul-smelling cloud of smoke, the sportive lemur said, "Alright, big guy. I'll set it up. Of course, if you don't treat her right, I'm gonna have to kick your ass."
"In your dreams, little buddy," Wolf scoffed.
"Shore leave on Zoness. What fun," Panther said with a purr.
"Please," Algy snorted, "I could woo a drunk tourist in my sleep."
"Tourists? Is that the limit of your vision?" Panther asked in an exasperated tone.
Not missing a beat, the sportive lemur retorted, "Let me rephrase that. I could woo a drunk tourist or a drunk local in my sleep. Maybe even both."
Wolf had to suppress a snigger as he was reminded of his old friend's quick wit.
"So," the lupine said in an attempt to defuse things, "Panther and I have our shore leave figured out. What about you two?"
Algy blew out another cloud and then stubbed out the remains of his cigarette in a nearby ashtray.
"Ah, I figure me and Leon will go visit Uncle Gary, grab a bite to eat, maybe do some gambling."
The lupine gave a scrutinizing look to his analyst and his second-in-command before saying, "Well alrighty then," and then turning and leaving the room, Panther following close behind.
Once the two of them were out of the rec room and the door had closed behind them, Wolf glanced at Panther and cocked his head, signaling for the jungle cat to walk with him.
"You know what those two are gonna do down there, right?"
When Panther shook his head, Wolf elaborated, "They're gonna try to make some quick cash, end up in jail, and we'll have to bail em out."
"What makes you say that?"
"You don't know those two like I do," Wolf explained, "They'd jump into a pit of Papetoonian Leapers if they thought they could turn a profit."
As it turned out, Wolf's suspicions were right on the money, for back in the rec room, Leon and Algy were discussing their newest scheme.
"There's going to be a lot of seasoned players at Von Erich's card game," Leon mused, "We'll need a lot of luck on our side."
"Yeah," Algy replied while taking a drag on his cigarette and blowing out a smoke ring.
"Or," the lemur continued while shooting a glance at his colleague, "We could cheat."
Leon raised an eyebrow.
"Cheat some of the baddest men in the galaxy out of their hard earned credits? In a game put on by the Baron of Eladard?"
The lizard let out a chuckle.
"Algy, you really are the most devious creature in the cosmos."
The primate blew out another smoke ring.
"I do my best."
ii
Davenport, Zoness
Wolf was seated at a seaside patio, just one of many in the port city. As befitting the tropical climate, the lupine was dressed in a loose-fitting blue shirt, khaki shorts, and brown loafers.
The one-time outlaw threw a glance at Solar slowly setting towards the ocean, now back to its vibrant blue thanks to the post-Lylat War cleanup, before checking the time on his wristcom.
"Still got a few minutes,"
Letting out a sigh, Wolf was about to order himself a drink when he caught movement out of the corner of his organic eye. The wild dog briefly glanced over and then did a double take.
At the patio's entrance, currently speaking with the hostess, was a female dingo with sandy-brown fur. She was clad in a white sundress and her eyes were covered by a large pair of shades.
"Algy wasn't kidding. She's gorgeous."
Wolf kept his face impassive and his eye on his date's face as she was led to his table.
"I hope I'm not too late," the woman said as she took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of brown eyes that complimented her fur.
"No, you're just on time," Wolf replied before standing up and holding out his hand.
"Wolf O'Donnell."
"Carmen Sanders," the dingo replied as she shook his hand.
Taking their seats, both wild dogs ordered Saldera beers and then started pursuing the menu. Wolf ended up ordering steak and crab while Carmen went with fried Kani.
"Can I ask you something?" she said after the waitress took their menus.
"Shoot," Wolf replied before taking a pull on his beer.
"What's it like being legit?"
The lupine thought on that for a moment.
"Kind of strange, actually," he finally replied, "I was on the lam for a long time."
"Well, you deserve it for what you did during the invasion."
"I couldn't let the bugs tan the pup's hide. That's my job," Wolf scoffed.
He flashed a toothy grin, but quickly dropped it when Carmen fixed him with an annoyed glare.
"I'm serious," she said with a huff, "If it wasn't for you, Fox McCloud would have ended up as a red splotch on the pavement. I seriously doubt we'd be having this conversation right now if that was the case."
Wolf stared at the dingo for a few seconds before finally answering, "I see your point."
The arrival of their food proved a welcome distraction. Both wild dogs took a moment to dig into their meals. It was Wolf who decided to break the silence.
"So enough about me. What about you?"
Carmen chewed on a Kani limb before replying, "Not much, just an average Cornerian girl working for Space Dynamics. Parents died when I was young."
Wolf let out a grunt as he cracked the shell of a crab leg.
"My folks are gone too," he said as he pushed the meat out with a fork, "Still got my uncle, though."
"Get out of here," Carmen chuckled, "I didn't know the great Wolf O'Donnell had any relatives."
"Neither of us really advertises that," Wolf remarked, which seemed to give Carmen pause.
"Oh. You two aren't close?"
Wolf smiled mirthfully.
"Not close? I call Uncle Mike at least once a week."
Finishing off the last of his steak, the lupine added, "He's the kind of guy everyone should aspire to be like. Eighty five and he still moves around like he's twenty five."
The two canines shared a chuckle and then went about finishing their meals. By the time they were done, Solar had started to dip below the horizon.
"So," the felid waitress remarked, "Will it be one bill, or two?"
Carmen opened her mouth, but Wolf beat her to the punch.
"One bill, please."
After the waitress left, Carmen raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't have to do that."
"One of my uncle's teachings," Wolf replied, "Never split the bill with a girl unless you don't want to see her again."
"That's good advice," the dingo conceded.
After Wolf paid for their meal, both him and Carmen stood up.
"You doing anything after this?" the lupine asked.
Carmen shrugged.
"I'll probably just head home."
Wolf wasn't sure what came over him, but he found himself stammering.
"Uh, do you? Uhm, well do you…."
Collecting himself, the lupine said, "You know, there's been a few muggings around here."
"I'm not worried about that," Carmen dryly replied before patting her purse.
"But I would appreciate the company," the dingo added.
From there, the two canines left the patio and worked their way through the crowded sidewalks of Davenport. As they arrived in a less crowded part dominated by apartment blocks. Wolf was about to strike up a conversation when he caught movement from the entrance of an alley. He gently nudged Carmen, who said, "I see them," out of the corner of her mouth.
As three rough looking men came out of the alley, Wolf stood in front of Carmen and fixed them with a one-eyed glare.
"I'd be moving along, if I were you," the lupine growled in a menacing tone.
To his surprise, the thugs didn't seem the least bit intimidated. One of them, a Doberman Pinscher, even chuckled.
"Ah, if it isn't Wolf O'Donnell the civilian? The mighty sure have fallen, haven't they boys?"
Wolf practically turned red under his fur as the trio of thugs started to laugh. Tempted to reach behind his back and put an end to the lowlifes with the compact blaster he had holstered there, the lupine instead thought of a different course of action.
"Civilian, eh?" Wolf said as he stalked towards the thugs.
"Yeah," replied the Doberman, "You've gone so….."
His sentence was cut off by a right hook from Wolf that sent him spinning and a couple of his teeth flying. As he hit the ground, his compatriots, a weasel and a muskrat, pulled out switchblades, to which Wolf simply drew his hidden blaster.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to bring a knife to a gunfight?"
The would-be muggers exchanged a look before one of them shook his head and mumbled, "Not worth it."
The hoodlums couldn't get away from there quick enough. Wolf watched them go around a street corner before finally holstering his weapon. Carmen meanwhile, walked up beside the lupine, a coy smile on her muzzle.
"I guess the moral of that story is, going legit doesn't make you soft."
Wolf's only response was a grunt, which Carmen took as a signal to resume their walk. It wasn't long before the two canines were standing out front of the dingo's apartment building. Glancing over her shoulder, the dingo asked, "Do you wanna come in?"
Hearing those words made Wolf think of another of his uncle's teachings.
"When the time comes, don't hesitate. Just act."
And act, Wolf did.
"Absolutely,"
iii
Davenport, Zoness
Panther sat at the bar of a nightclub known as the Todora Lounge, nursing a glass of Zonessian Redeye. His yellow eyes were currently fixed on the elevated dance floor near the back of the club.
"Hmh, who to chase?" the wildcat thought as he glanced about, his eyes finally landing on a female cheetah dressed in a white tank top and black shorts.
"Showtime," Panther mused as he finished and paid for his drink.
Standing up, the jungle cat rolled his shoulders and started towards the dance floor. For clothing, he had chosen a black shirt with yellow and purple accents and matching slacks, both complementing his fur.
Panther let out a breath as he finished climbing the stairs. He wasted no time in showing the patrons what he was made of, busting out every move he knew, all while making his way towards the cheetah.
"You've got some moves, Caroso," the woman yelled in order to be heard over the music.
Letting out a pur, Panther replied, "I see my reputation precedes me."
As the two of them danced together, the jungle cat asked, "So, what's your name, sweetness?"
"Connie," replied the cheetah, "And please don't call me sweetness or anything else like that."
"Why not?"
"Because…."
Panther suddenly became aware of the fact that everyone had stopped dancing. He also noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye. Turning, the wildcat came face to face with a brown-furred jackal. A very angry jackal.
"You trying to prove something, Caroso?"
Panther only blinked in confusion.
Curling his muzzle into a snarl, the jackal hissed, "I turn my back for five minutes, and you're all over my girl."
"Shit!" Panther thought as he remembered the last time he had chased another man's woman.
His scar was a permanent reminder of that affair.
Nonetheless, the jungle cat attempted to defuse the situation.
"Look friend, if I had known she was with you, I would've gone after someone else."
"We ain't friends," the jackal growled before drawing a blaster out from under his shirt and pointing it at Panther.
"I think it's about time someone bumped your philandering ass off."
"Ernest!" Connie said in an exasperated tone, "Have you lost your fucking mind?!"
The jackal known as Ernest glanced at his girlfriend.
"Connie, could….."
Panther chose that moment to make his move, quickly lunging towards the jackal and grabbing his wrist, twisting it and making him drop the gun.
Unfortunately, both of them slipped on beer that had been spilled earlier, sending them crashing into the patrons behind Ernest. Within seconds, the dance floor was a confused mess of punches, kicks, and people simply trying to flee.
The melee quickly spilled into the rest of the nightclub, becoming so large that a pair of the bouncers exchanged a look.
"Hey Zeke!" one of them, a hyena, yelled over the noise, "Think we should call in the backup guys?"
Zeke, a vulture, ducked as a beer bottle was hurtled towards his head.
"Sounds like a plan, Darrin."
Elsewhere, in a back room of the club, a giant armadillo and a white-furred wolf sat at a table, both of them reading from datapads. The lupine's ears twitched at the sounds from outside.
"Think it's going to be one of those nights, Heinrich?" he asked.
The armadillo let out a grunt as a chiming emitted from their devices.
"Yeah Chad. It's definitely going to be one of those nights."
The two tall and burly men got up and left the room, soon entering the main area of the club. From there, the duo got to work, helping the regular bouncers break up the numerous brawls and toss the unruly patrons out the front door.
Finally meeting up with Zeke and Darrin, Heinrich ventured, "Alright, who's the idiot who started all this?"
"That would be those two," the vulture replied before pointing to a pair of men fighting on the dance floor, along with a cheetah who was trying to get them to stop.
"I'll be damned," Heinrich murmured as he caught sight of the black-furred jungle cat.
"Alright, let's grab em."
From there, the quartet pushed their way through the dying melee until they reached the dance floor, where Heinrich proceeded to pick up the wildcat by the scruff of his neck while Chad did the same with the jackal. Suffice it to say, neither of them was very pleased.
"Let go of me, you big oaf!" Panther hissed.
"My lawyer will hear about this!" growled Ernest.
"Oh please," Chad scoffed, "Save that for the cops."
Him and Heinrich hauled the troublemakers through the club and into the back halls. Passing by an open door, Heinrich directed Chad to toss the jackal into the room and close the door.
"Alright you two. Make sure he doesn't leave until the cops get here."
"Not to leave the room, even when the cops show up," Darrin joked.
All that earned the hyena was a trio of annoyed glares from his colleagues.
"Darrin," Chad grumbled while pinching the spot between his yellow eyes, "Don't be a moron."
"You guys are no fun," the wild dog moaned as Heinrich and Zeke dragged Panther up the hall.
As for the jungle cat, he kept his gaze cast downwards. How in Lylat was he going to explain to his team how he had managed to end up spending his shore leave in one of Davenport PD's holding cells?
"Algy will be the worst. The little jackass will never let me live this down."
The wildcat saw and heard the bouncers open a door and was shocked when he felt fresh air blowing through his fur. He was even more confused when the giant armadillo holding onto him gave him a gentle shove into what turned out to be an alleyway.
Absolutely bewildered, Panther turned around and gaped at the two bouncers.
"What the?"
The vulture leaned against the door frame and grinned.
"A friend of Algy's is a friend of ours."
Panther raised an eyebrow before replying, "Wow. He wasn't kidding when he said he knew all sorts of people in Lylat."
"Ain't that the truth?" Heinrich put in.
Panther met the armadillo's gaze and was about to apologize for his earlier remark, only for Heinrich to beat him to the punch.
"You think you're the first person to call me a big oaf?"
When Panther shook his head, Heinrich tacked on, "You'd better go. Cops'll be here any minute."
"Thanks," Panther curtsied before turning and quickly walking away.
iv
Davenport Docks, Zoness
Just as they had told Wolf back on Sargasso, Algy and Leon had spent a few hours visiting with the former's uncle in the suburbs before grabbing dinner from one of Davenport's many fish and chip vendors.
Now the two of them were off to go gambling. But unlike what they had told their leader, they were not going to a casino, or even a legal gambling venue for that matter.
At the moment, the two mercenaries had their eyes fixed on a large yacht that was currently moored at one of the piers. SS Tornado was etched onto the hull.
"Quite a beauty. Von Erich doesn't spare any expense," Leon remarked while Algy let out a whistle.
While the chameleon had retained his dark purple flightsuit, his colleague had opted for a red t-shirt and blue shorts. As they approached the yacht, they spotted a group of armed men, including a kelpie.
"I'm guessing you two are here for the game?" the canine asked as Algy and Leon approached.
"That's right," replied the lizard.
The kelpie, who Algy recognized as Mack Dillon, one of Franz Von Erich's lieutenants, nodded.
"Alright. Before you come aboard, I'm gonna need your pieces."
Leon and Algy did as they were told, taking out their blasters and removing the power packs before handing them to Von Erich's henchmen.
After the duo allowed themselves to be patted down, Dillon waved them aboard. Climbing up the gangplank, the two mercenaries spotted a bar near the stern and walked over, Algy quickly slapping down some credits.
"Two Salderas, please."
The ursine bartender took the money and then handed them their drinks. Clinking the bottles, Algy and Leon looked around at the various individuals on the deck.
"So, who do you think is playing?" Leon asked after taking a pull.
The sportive lemur moved his red eyes about the deck, soon catching sight of a black-wooled sheep wearing a purple dress shirt and black slacks. A scar ran through his right eye.
"Billy Bartok will be in for sure. He got his start counting cards for the syndicates on Macbeth."
"Such humble beginnings for the Pirate King of the Outer Fringe," Leon mused.
Algy's gaze then wandered over to a quintet of male mongooses, all of whom had a cybernetic right hand, or left hand in the case of the youngest one.
"Devon will probably play on behalf of his old man. They don't call him the Evil Genius for his health."
"Right," Leon nodded before mentally tacking on, "Not to mention that Harry's too dumb, Kenny's too crazy, and Mitch is a drunk."
The chameleon flitted his yellow eyes about before one of them came to rest on a rough-looking group of men. Two of them were brown and white-furred male wolves who looked identical aside from the fact that one of them wore a red shirt and the other wore a black shirt.
The rest of the group consisted of a Rottweiler in a black shirt with white floral patterns and black shorts, a polar bear who had a similar attire, but with a blue shirt, an orange-scaled salamander in a green t-shirt and blue jeans, and finally, a reptile in brown jeans and a white t-shirt who had both iguana and crocodilian features.
"Never figured any of the Axemen were into cards," Leon murmured out of the corner of his mouth.
"I hear Galtieri's pretty good," Algy replied and gestured towards the salamander with his beer.
"Can't speak for the rest of them though,"
It was then that the lemur noticed a pair of beings headed towards the bar. By far, they were the strangest looking beings on the yacht.
Generally speaking, they were canine in appearance and had fur, with one creature being brown and the other grey. But that's where the similarities to Lylatian canines stopped.
Namely, their muzzles were longer, their ears were larger and more pointed, and instead of a pair of eyes, single, large ones rested in the center of their faces.
Leon opened his mouth to ask who and what the hell these two freaks were, but was interrupted by Algy tapping on the bar to order more drinks. In the meantime, the two aliens, (for what else could they be?) closed the gap on the deck, the grey-furred one soon flashing a toothy grin.
"Algy Hoffman," he said in perfect Cornerian Basic, "I thought that was you."
Algy raised his beer towards the aliens.
"Gentlemen."
Glancing over at his colleague, the primate added, "Guys, this is my teammate, Leon Powalski. Leon, this is Volg Kozan and Garius Kagen."
"Finally, I get to meet the legend," said the brown-furred alien known as Volg.
"Pleasure," said the grey-furred alien known as Garius, who then added, "What's the matter, Powalski? Never seen a Savrian before?"
"You two are the first," the chameleon cooly replied.
Time passed, with the Tornado eventually setting sail away from Davenport and away from any prying eyes. All the while, Leon chatted with the two Savrians.
"So how dark is your planet?"
Volg cast a gaze out over the ocean that was slowly but surely passing by.
"Let me put it to you this way. If you went somewhere away from all the light pollution on this planet, people back home would still think it was too bright."
Garius meanwhile, was making eyes at the numerous women aboard the vessel.
"Quite attractive, for aliens," he remarked to Algy.
"Look who's talking," Algy snarked before a devilish grin crossed his snout.
"Say, I'm pretty sure that you and Volg don't have visitor's visas or any of that other stuff."
Garius was visibly confused.
"Hell no," the Savrian said as if Algy had asked him if the sky was blue.
The sportive lemur took a pull on his beer.
"So what you're telling me, essentially, is that the two of you are illegal aliens in the eyes of the Lylatian authorities?"
Garius narrowed his eye, and for a moment, Algy thought he had overstepped his boundaries.
But then the Savrian threw back his head and burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I guess we're a literal example."
From there, Leon and Algy excused themselves from the two aliens and walked to a secluded part of the yacht.
"Alright shorty," Leon muttered, "What's the game plan?"
Algy simply nodded towards someone behind the chameleon. Looking over his shoulder, Leon spotted a female coywolf with grey and brown fur and icy blue eyes. In contrast to all the other girls he had seen aboard the yacht, who were generally wearing expensive dresses, the wild dog who stood before them was dressed in a simple green tanktop and black denim shorts.
"Leon, this is my good friend, Rena Mouradian."
"Charmed," the coywolf said in a throaty accent while shaking Leon's hand.
"She's gonna help us with the game," Algy put in, to which Leon narrowed his eyes to yellow slits.
"How?"
"Easy, Powalski."
Leon's eyes widened right back up at the sound of Rena's voice. He hadn't seen her mouth move, and it sounded as if the words had been spoken directly in his mind.
"You. You're, you're a….."
"Yes. I'm psychic," Rena dryly replied.
Algy grinned widely as he started to explain his plan.
"We're gonna be pulling the same scheme as the one we did back on Macbeth. Rena's gonna tell us what hands the other guys have and we're gonna bluff them into folding."
"And just how are we going to bluff them?" Leon asked while crossing his arms.
Algy finished the last of his beer before answering, "Easy. Instead of having a poker face, we'll have anti-poker faces. Make the other guys think we have better hands then we actually do."
"Still might want to lose a few," Rena tacked on, "These guys aren't going to go to the cops if they find out you're cheating."
"Yeah," Algy conceded before lighting a cigarette.
Soon, it was time for the game to start. As Algy and Leon took their seats at the table, they glanced about at the other players.
Just as the lemur had predicted, Devon Von Erich, William Bartok, and Carlo Galtieri were all playing, though there were a couple of things that surprised even someone as analytical as Algy.
The first, which wasn't really a shock once Algy gave it some thought, was that Volg and Garius were playing. The primate figured that they hadn't come all the way from the neighboring Dellis system just to watch.
What did surprise Algy was the white-furred primate in the red and yellow jumpsuit. For he was none other than Andrew Oikonny; the nephew of the late Venomian Emperor Andross Oikonny and his self-proclaimed successor.
"He's desperate for credits," Rena signaled.
"Now I feel even less bad."
Once everyone had taken their seats, Franz Von Erich stood up and cleared his throat.
"First and foremost, thanks for coming. Always nice to see some familiar faces."
There were some murmurs of agreement before the Baron of Eladard waved for quiet.
"Second of all, have a good game, and don't cheat. I'd hate to have to throw someone overboard."
Now that the mongoose had said his piece, the game began. The dealer, a black-furred jackal woman, shuffled the deck and tossed the cards to the players. As the bets were being placed Rena sent out her first suggestion.
"Oikonny's cheating. Might want to hold off on the bluffing."
"Let me guess, the old cards up the sleeve trick," Leon mentally replied, "That's what he did when he was part of Star Wolf."
Sure enough, when it came time for everyone to show their hands, Andrew had three aces.
"Read 'em and weep, losers!" the ape taunted before taking a sip of wine.
But all that the other players did was fix the Venomian Remnant leader with annoyed glares.
"What the hell's going on here, Oikonny?" Devon Von Erich growled.
"You cheating us, boy?" snarled William Bartok.
"Cheating? Me? How dare…"
Before he could finish, Kenny Von Erich and Mack Dillon walked up behind Andrew and began frisking him, soon revealing the card dispensers up his sleeves.
Upon receiving a nod from Franz, the two men seized Andrew under the arms and dragged him kicking and screaming over to the railing, where they proceeded to throw him over.
Algy couldn't but snigger at the sounds of Andrew's screams as he plunged towards the ocean. At the sound of a splash, followed by several obscenities and screamed threats, Kenny launched into a bout of evil cackling.
Dillon, on the other hand, fixed the rest of the players with a nasty glare.
"If any of you muppets are thinking about cheating, feel free to join him."
A tense silence passed over the yacht, one that was quickly broken by Franz.
"Perhaps someone would like to take Mr. Oikonny's place?"
At that, the iguana-crocodile hybrid that Algy and Leon had seen earlier walked over and took Oikonny's seat.
"Deal me in," the man said before passing some credit chips to the jackal and taking a big gulp from Oikonny's wine glass.
As the second hands were being dealt, Algy reached out to his old friend.
"How good is Clegg?"
"He can hold his own. We might want to let him win if he has a high hand. If there's one thing about the Axeman of Titania, it's that he's unpredictable."
And so it went for the next three hours; Now and again, Algy and Leon would bluff the other players into folding by making what the lemur had referred to as 'anti-poker faces'.
Meaning that Algy would grin and occasionally let out a chuckle while Leon would narrow and widen his eyes. While they still had to lose a couple of hands on purpose, there were also times where the others didn't fall for their trick. There were even times where one of them would end up with the best hand of the group, something Rena was always quick to point out.
When it was all said and done and the final hand had been played, Leon and Algy were declared the winners. And to their surprise, the other players were more than happy to congratulate them.
"Well played," said Bartok.
"We'll get ya on the next one," Garius remarked while Volg offered a simple, "Congratulations."
The two members of the Axemen said much the same thing, which Algy was very thankful for. Carlo Galtieri had a reputation for being good with a knife, and Eugene Clegg looked like he could pound both him and Leon into the deck.
Last, but not least, Devon Von Erich offered his congratulations.
"Nicely done, boys," the mongoose said as he shook hands with them.
Leon and Algy had to fight to keep their faces impassive as Devon's metal hand threatened to crush theirs.
"Y'all should come visit our casino on Eladard. You'd have a great time."
"Something to think about," Leon replied.
Once Devon had his back turned, both the chameleon and the primate stealthily flexed their hands and then went to collect their winnings. Once the unmarked credits were put into two briefcases, Algy and Leon popped a champagne bottle and had just taken their first sips when Rena reached out to them again.
"We've got trouble, boys. Trouble with a capital S. Might want to grab a hold of something."
Upon hearing that, Algy and Leon quickly downed their glasses and walked over to the deck railing, taking a firm grip of it with one and keeping the other on their briefcases. A couple of minutes passed uneventfully, before the power suddenly went out all over the yacht.
Owing to the sudden loss of the engines, just about every person on deck aside from Algy, Leon, and Rena, was sent crashing down. Over the cries of surprise and the sounds of breaking glass, Franz stood up and glared around the deck, his muzzle curled back into a snarl. Leon could practically see the smoke coming out of the mongoose's ears.
"What the fuck is this?!"
Before the Baron of Eladard could say anything more, the yacht was illuminated by searchlights from both the port and starboard sides.
"Hands Up! This is the Zonessian Planetary Police!"
Shielding his eyes from the blinding glare, Leon leaned towards his primate colleague.
"How the hell didn't we hear those gyrocopters?" hissed the lizard.
"Must be those new stealth models they keep talking about."
The duo soon became aware of figures landing on the deck with the aid of jet packs, three of whom they quickly recognized.
Seeing that the trio consisted of an orange and white-furred vulpine, a blue and white-furred vixen, and a green-skinned toad, Algy initially thought that him and Leon's scheme was about to go up in smoke. But then he got another message from Rena.
"There's a speedboat on the lower decks. I'll give you an opening."
In the meantime, Fox McCloud and his teammates Krystal Burrell and Slippy Toad fixed their gazes on the two Star Wolf members.
"Hi boys," the orange vulpine said with a grin, "Fancy meeting you here."
"Same to you, McCloud," Leon hissed.
Krystal, for her part, eyed up their briefcases.
"You two might want to leave your ill-gotten gains behind. I'm sure the authorities will….."
The cobalt vixen suddenly let out a cry of pain and clutched her forehead. Realizing that this was the opening that Rena had mentioned, Algy bolted for a staircase with Leon in tow.
"We won this! It's ours!" the lemur called over his shoulder.
Fox let out a frustrated huff and turned to Slippy.
"Stay with her. I'm going after them."
"Fox…."
But the vulpine was already on the move.
Leon and Algy, meanwhile, took the stairs two at a time before arriving on the deck where the Von Erichs kept their getaway vehicle. While the lizard went about untethering the speedboat, Algy hopped into the pilot's seat and began attempting to hotwire the vessel.
Hearing the sounds of pursuing footsteps, Leon quickly undid the last mooring and hopped into the boat.
"Algy, can't you go any faster?"
"Gotta have the right touch, Leon. Which means you can't rush this."
The chameleon glanced over his shoulder and saw a vulpine-shaped shadow in the stairway.
"Algy!"
"There! Got it!" the primate exclaimed as the engines roared to life.
The lemur punched the throttle and felt the speedboat lurch under him and Leon. His actions weren't quite fast enough, however, as Fox reached the landing and jumped down the last set of steps.
From there, the vulpine charged across the dock and leapt off, landing right in the backseat as the vessel sped away from the dead yacht.
Picking himself up, Fox turned and aimed his blaster at the engines, only for Leon to vault over the gap between the front and rear seats and tackle him. The vulpine was knocked into the leather seats and lost his grip on his blaster, which ended up sliding across the stern of the speedboat and dropping into the ocean.
Feeling the lizard's arms begin to slip around his throat, Fox snapped his head back, being rewarded with a pained grunt and Leon releasing his grip.
Fox quickly whirled around and delivered a right hook to the lizard, though he quickly received one in return. After a brief exchange of punches, Fox growled, "Make it easy on yourselves."
"Never!" Leon spat back before catching a punch from the vulpine and wrenching his arm behind his back and pushing him towards the port side of the boat, wholly intending to throw him overboard.
"There was a time when I would've keelhauled you, hairball!"
In response, Fox twisted out of the lizard's grip and head butted him before drawing a compact blaster from under his grey vest.
Thinking quickly, Algy yanked the throttle back, sending Leon and Fox crashing into and over the rear seats, both hanging onto the stern for dear life. Despite the surf splashing against his feet, Leon cast a devious stare at the Star Fox leader.
"This is where you get off, orange boy!"
The lizard threw a punch at the vulpine, causing him to lose his grip on the hull and fall into the sea.
"Sorry to jet, but we're in a hurry!" Algy called over his shoulder.
As the two of them sped away from the now-very wet Fox, Leon climbed back into the front passenger's seat and threw a glance at the two briefcases full of money.
"We're gonna have to find somewhere to launder these credits," mused the chameleon.
Algy turned to his colleague and let a wicked smile spread over his snout.
"I know just the place."
v
Kamryn Peninsula, Zoness
In the days before the Lylat War, the warehouse had belonged to a local conglomerate known as Chorus Industries. Said conglomerate had gone belly up during the Venomian occupation and had been bought by an enterprising individual when real estate on the then-polluted planet had been fairly cheap. It had then been turned into a casino, albeit, one that was unlicensed by the Zonessian Gaming Commission, and never would be, if the owner had his way.
Gary Hoffman didn't think of himself as a crook so much as he thought of himself as a philanthropist. Jobs had been hard to come by in the aftermath of the war, so the sportive lemur had been more than happy to hire anyone and everyone. It was quite telling that most of his employees were still with him even after the tourist industry had picked up again.
At the moment, Gary was seated at the bar, listening to Algy and Leon recount the tale of their latest exploit.
"Ripping off all those scoundrels. Now you're really gonna have to grow eyes in the back of your heads."
"Please," Algy said with a roll of his eyes, "It's gonna be really hard to do anything from a jail cell."
Gary shook his head.
"If I know the Von Erichs, they'll be out by brunch," the older lemur remarked before his peach-coloured eyes caught movement at the entrance to his illegitimate business.
Following his uncle's gaze, Algy saw a group of six people at the entrance. Panther's presence was not a shock, nor was that of Heinrich, Zeke, and Rena. He had received a message that after letting Panther go and deleting all of the security footage, the vulture and the giant armadillo had gotten off work and bailed Rena out of jail.
What did surprise Algy was that Volg and Garius were with the group, though neither seemed to be very angry, considering they'd been cheated.
Indeed, as the entourage walked up to the bar, Garius broke into a toothy grin.
"Brilliant, boys," said the Savrian, "Your pals were telling me how you used to clean out all the casinos on Macbeth."
"They never could figure out why we did so well," Rena said with a sly grin.
Squinting at the two aliens, Leon enquired, "How the hell did you get out so fast?"
"Funny thing," Garius replied, "It turns out that Volg's brother is the Savrian ambassador to this fine planet."
For the first time since Leon had met him, Volg's muzzle turned up in a grin.
"Yeah. I don't think we were in the holding cell for five minutes before Ogden came calling."
Finishing his beer and ordering another, Algy eyed up the two Savrians.
"You boys feel like trying to win your money back? We'll play fair and square this time."
Even as the aliens murmured their agreement, Algy found himself thinking of something else.
"I wonder what the big guy's up to."
The Next Day
Davenport, Zoness
The pitter-patter of raindrops on the bedroom window roused the lupine from his sleep. Slowly cracking his eye open, Wolf let out a sigh and mumbled, "Rain-o, rain-o, rain-o."
Taking care not to disturb the sleeping dingo next to him, the wild dog reached out from under the covers and grabbed his wristcom off of the nightstand. Flicking through the messages, Wolf let out a loud exhale.
"Something wrong?" he heard Carmen ask.
Setting his device back down, Wolf turned and faced the dingo.
"Honestly, I don't know."
Seeing her puzzled expression, the lupine elaborated, "Well, Panther's allegedly been in a bar fight, though this is only from eyewitness accounts and the security footage has allegedly been lost. On top of that, Leon and Algy are wanted for illegal gambling, theft, and assault."
"Hmh. Guess you've gotta go deal with that."
To her surprise, a playful grin crossed Wolf's muzzle.
"Not right now," he whispered and then leaned in and locked lips with the dingo.
The End