Chapter 1

Krystal Who?

A frigid wind whipped through the streets of Corneria, chilling everyone unlucky enough to be outside. Fox McCloud walked through the streets toward the spaceport, unconcerned about the weather. A major contract had just fallen through, and with it, any hope of stabilizing his business. As he entered the spaceport gates and walked to his carrier ship, Fox agonized over how he would break the news to his team. Lost in his thoughts, the journey to the Great Fox was a blur. 'Best get this over with' thought Fox as he entered the rec-room and met the rest of his team.

"Hey Fox, did we get the job?" Slippy inquired, eager to get a head start on prepping the vessel for departure.

"Afraid, not Slip. We couldn't come to an agreement."

Silence washed over the team, all of them knowing what that meant for their situation.

"But Fox" Falco spoke up "We haven't had a job in months. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, I guess we'll just have to keep looking."

"We could take a salvage job." Slippy tried to help "Or maybe some cargo transport."

"Fat chance" Falco replied "we don't have the cargo space to compete with the transportation companies or salvaging unions. We'd get outbid every time."

"We still have enough to get by until something comes" Fox tried to reassure everyone, even though he knew that 'enough' meant living on ramen and water for the foreseeable future. "Let me check my inbox again."

Fox left the rec-room and headed for his personal quarters, praying to anyone who'd listen that he'd have a job offer in his messages. After opening the inbox on his computer terminal, the vulpine's ears drooped. Not only were there no new job offers, but the space port had sent them an expensive parking fee. Eager to look away from the numbers, Fox leaned back in his chair, putting his head in his hands.

"Fox" a feminine voice rang from outside his door "can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah." Fox stammered, caught off-guard.

A blue vixen entered his room, shutting the door behind her. She had felt Fox's negative emotions radiating from across the ship and was eager to help calm him down.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this Krystal" Fox said with a sad smile as he turned his chair away from the door. "I didn't want to worry everyone else any more than necessary."

"Oh Fox" Krystal said as she moved in, putting her paws on his shoulders "We're your team, you have our support no matter what gets thrown at us."

Fox let out another sad smile upon hearing her words, head drooping forward. "I know that Krystal, but what are we going to do? With the aparoids gone, the whole system has gone quiet. If nothing changes, we'll be out of money in three months and thousands of credits in debt by the end of the year."

Undeterred, Krystal leaned down, resting her head on his. "We'll come up with something Fox, we always do."

For the first time today, a genuine smile graced Fox's face. All his worries evaporated as he melted into her loving embrace.

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Far from Corneria, on the frozen north pole of Papetoon, another vulpine was melting away as well.

"Oh, that's the spot." the white fox moaned as a lithe vixen massaged his shoulders.

For the first time in months things were finally going his way. His crew had plundered a convoy from MacBeth last week and on his birthday no less. Making more profit in 1 day than they had in the past 12 months. Now, he was lounging in a bubbling hot tub, in the company of three beautiful girls.

"Another sip?" a buxom female husky asked, offering a cup of wine to his parched lips. Grinning, he moved in to take a take a slow pull from the vessel, savoring the berry flavor as it ran down his throat. So distracted was the group that they didn't notice when another, much older fox entered the room, her blue frame gliding softly through the curtain at the door.

"Blizzard!" she shouted, causing the younger vulpine to spew out his wine, the unlucky husky squealing as she was showered in thousands of credits worth of red liquid. "What do you think you're doing with these...creatures?!"

All four pairs of eyes snapped to the woman in the doorway, three in fear, the last, merely annoyed.

"What does it look like!" Blizzard retorted, spreading his arms out "Enjoying my birthday party."

The elder vixen's eyes were cold as ice as she glared at the mammals in the tub. Despite the heat, the three girls found themselves shivering.

"Remove yourselves!" she spat at the other females, closing her eyes soon after. Moving unnaturally, the husky, vixen and kitten immediately stood up, each as naked as the day they were born. Together, they moved towards the door, as if guided by an unseen hand pulling them towards the exit. Not even stopping to gather their clothes, they left without a word.

"What'd you do that for?" Blizzard barked, grinding his teeth "That was my birthday gift from Flurry!"

"You're a bad influence on your younger brother." she responded dismissively "you should have refused them and set an example."

"I'm not your little kit anymore, I'm a grown fox."

Softening her voice, the vixen moved towards the tub, putting her hand on the white fox's head. "You'll always be my little kit, Blizzard" she said, a soft smile gracing her lips. "I just want what's best for my little fox" she continued as she started scratching between his ears.

'ugh' Blizzard thought, narrowing his eyes in annoyance as he slunk lower into the tub, putting his nuzzle under the water and blowing bubbles in frustration.

"The very thought of you together with those...things, is beneath your station." she cooed to him softly. Continuing to rub his head.

Blizzard swatted her hand away, soon standing up to grab his robe. "Way to ruin my big day." he growled as he stepped out of the tub. Putting his arms through the sleeves, he caught sight of the various clothes strewn about the floor.

"Don't catch up." he said, walking towards the doorway. Maybe if he moved fast, he could find his former guests and pick up where he left off.

"Your day is FAR from ruined my son." the vixen gently spoke "for I have finally found you a suitable mate."

The white fox stopped dead in his tracks, a hand already grasping the doorway curtain. For as long as he could remember, his mother had chased away any hint of a romantic companion. Even as a young kit, his mother forbade him from playing with female kits his age. No one was ever good enough. Dumbfounded, he turned around and saw a victorious smirk that only a mother who knows best could give.

"Who?" he meekly whispered, eyes hanging on her every word.

"A vixen of good breeding, with an unimpeachable pedigree…" she continued as she pulled out a data pad, a young blue vixen displayed on the screen.

"A future queen!" she finished.

Blizzard approached, hypnotized by the female beauty on the data pad, he slowly read the name at the top of the screen, savoring every syllable. "Krystal…"

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Author's notes: If you made it this far, thanks for your time. The first chapters are VERY hard to write; you must introduce everything and get the story started without it being clunky. However, now that the characters are introduced, I can step on the gas and not let up. The rest of the story is finished (barring minor grammar fixes). I hope you're there for the next five chapters, it's going to be a wild ride.

P.S. I'd also like to thank my SF fanfiction heroes for inspiring me: Nail Strafer, Vexed, BobLeRigoleur, XxSanitariumxX, Hopeless-Tyronos, SkullFox. If by some miracle you're reading this, you guys rock.