Author's Note: Kept you waiting, huh? I'm sorry it took so long. Personal difficulties happened in my life which affected me badly enough to make me stop writing for a while. Things should be getting back in control for now, but I'm not making any promises.

Questions. Questions. Questions.

"What are your opinions on the current state of Corneria's suburbs?" One excited journalist would ask.

"Uh...we just got here. I think I need to formulate a better answer for that one, otherwise I'll just help create controversial headlines." Fox responded.

"What was the toughest fight during the Aparoid War?" A chubby hyena questioned.

"Oof, that's a good one..." Fox rubbed his temples as he begun thinking, "...Man, the battle for Corneria, for sure."

"Corneria was a piece of cake to defend." Falco shrugged.

"No, it wasn't!" Fox's voice cracked at his buddy's blunt remark, earning a few laughs from the audience, "Oh dear..." He cleared his throat, not wanting to sound like he was going through a second puberty, "...Corneria was a tough fight. So much that those things almost had me for a second. Then...well, you guys know who came to my rescue." The last part sounded bitter, emotionless. Clearly, Fox still had resentment for what Star Wolf had done during their betrayal.

The room was silent for a moment. Some looked at each other, as if expecting someone to say something regarding Star Wolf. It were no secret, but no one really wanted to touch upon it, as tempting as it could be.

"I'm handing the microphone to Falco." Fox said as he passed the mic over to his feathered friend.

"Alright, alright, alright. Shoot them questions." Hands raised up again. I had mine raised, with a question just floating around my brain. A simple one. And what would you know? Falco pointed over to me, "You, uh...jackal?"

I nodded. Falco was all ears for me already.

Then, it hit me, like a sudden drag to reality.

Falco was listening to me.

The whole Star Fox team, in fact, had their eyes to me. My idols.

It was a delayed reaction for sure, but it struck me. It struck me hard. I had raised my hand thinking that Falco wasn't going to pick me, but he did. It was a complete reality check. I no longer were someone in the background, someone just sitting there and watching. I had a question for the Star Fox team and they were going to answer it.

My hands were shaking. My mouth hung open as I just looked to Falco awestruck, silent.

"...Uh?" He uttered into the microphone. Someone behind me gave a slap on the back of the head that put my brain back to work.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah!" I stuttered, some people laughing around me, "Er...h-how did...how did you get that scar, on your eye?"

Falco opened his beak...and didn't speak. His eyes looked at me, but then, wandered, rolling around in its sockets. He took his mic away from his beak as he exhaled. He seemed...lost? Did he not expect someone to make this question to him?

Then I noticed Fox giving the weirdest glare to me. It looked dry, sour. It looked...spiteful. He turned his head to Falco, patted his shoulder, said something into his ear. Tension in me was rising now.

I looked at Slippy, his fist curled and resting in front of his mouth, looking awkward. I felt anxiety building up in my chest.

Peppy had stopped scribbling, but had his pencil resting on his notepad. He sighed. I gulped.

I turned my head to the left. Everybody was looking at me. Every single one. Shocked faces, mouths agape, eyebrows furred down.

What? What did I do wrong? I didn't insult him. I didn't say something hateful.

But everyone, everyone in there, was looking right at me. And they were shocked. They were angry, they were thinking "how the hell could this guy ask such a thing?"

And I just sat there, looking back, feeling that antsy feeling. The feeling of doing something wrong and not knowing what.

I looked back to Falco. He coughed, looking down to the mic, "...I...take it you haven't been keeping up with the news?"

News? What? I always kept up to date with Star Fox. I never missed a single thing about them. I followed dozens of Star Fox blogs and their official accounts on social media. What did I miss? What did everyone know that I didn't know?

Then, it struck me.

Star Wolf's betrayal.

I was always so focused on the worst part of that betrayal, that I had hid the rest of it in the back of my mind. Something so awful that had made me shelve it deep into my brain in order to not think about it, along with some crucial details that were there, but I had forgotten about it. Something I censored within myself. Something so deeply hidden in me, that not even I could find it myself, so many years later.

I messed up. I did exactly what I didn't want to do. Exactly what they didn't want me to do and exactly what so many fans didn't want me to do.

"...I..." I said in a low tone, being barely heard, "...I...I forgot. I forgot about...not about the entirety of it, but..." I began choking up, the tingly, messy feeling inside of me growing higher. My legs were trembling, cold sweat going down my shirt, a cold chill up my spine. I felt like I was going to puke, "...Excuse me, for one second."

I stood up and I took the walk of shame towards the nearest bathroom. I weren't careful about picking my words but at least I were careful with going into the right door.

I stumbled towards the sink. I couldn't hear anything from outside. No voices, no boos, nothing. Not even from Star Fox. They were all uncomfortable and didn't know how to proceed.

...Damn it. It's not entirely my fault. I mean...I mean, come on, someone was going to ask a question regarding that horrible time sooner or later. Not everyone keeps up with the news, right?

Even though it was on every Cornerian newspaper, web article...it was everywhere. It was like the goddamn mayor had been assassinated.

Except it wasn't the mayor. It was Krystal.

Krystal...assassinated by Star Wolf after she refused to join them. Had an affair between Fox and Wolf and at the end, she chose Fox. She chose poorly. Wolf came and took her from them by force.

...Bastards spread parts of her body all across Lylat.

I turned the sink on. I needed white noise. I needed to forget, forget those things, put them back in their place, never let them out again. I'll wash my face, go out there, apologize, sit back down and everything will be fine.

I could hear Fox's voice through the wall, muffled. I had no clue what he was saying, but his tone made me think that the conversation topic had already switched.

I walked over to the door, put my hand on the handle...then froze. My limbs wouldn't move. My muscles stopped, as if turned to stone. The feeling grew stronger, louder. I wanted to get out but my body wanted to stay in.

A strange ache came over my joints.

I really, really didn't want to go outside.

I stook a step back. And another. Then another. I stared at the door and simply lowered my hand, letting go of the handle. I kept looking at it.

I waited ten years to come to a Star Fox QnA, offend all of them at once and then, watch a green bathroom door like it were a TV playing an episode of that Niko The Space Monkey show.

The sink was still flowing. It was all I could hear besides Fox's voice now. Oh man, just what do I do?

What do I do...?

My head sagged and my hands came to it. I rubbed my temples, grasped at my hair. I was trembling so vigorously, like a malnourished baby thrown in the snow.

I messed up so goddamn bad...

I wasn't keeping track of time. I must've stayed in that bathroom for fifteen or so minutes. I had hid inside a stall, even made the effort to put my legs up. No one had come in, but it's not like someone wouldn't feel nature's calling during a 4 hour QnA session.

I still had my hands holding my head, my body rocking back and forth as I kept shaking my head in denial. I still couldn't believe I had ruined things so badly for myself.

Then, the door opened and I froze up completely. Whoever came in closed it behind them and spoke up, "Hellooooooo?" I could hear them walking around, going past my stall, "Fox said you can come back. They're not angry at you."

For some reason, I didn't want to buy into it. I knew poking my head out of that bathroom would just earn me an awkward silence. My status as 'party pooper' was already set up for the participants of this convention. They didn't need to see a wreck of a man visibly regretting their actions via panic attack.

I held my breath.

"...Hello?" They asked again, knocking on a stall's door. My anxiety was spiking through the roof.

What were I even going to say when I came out of here? "Hey, I'm really sorry for having short-term memory and not remembering the most crucial of things?"

Was I overreacting? Or...or were they overreacting?

"HELLO?!" He suddenly knocked on my stall's door loudly, enough for my legs to jolt and one foot hit the floor loudly. With no hesitation, the fan opened the door right open, seeing me sitting on the toilet, gripping the seat, "...Dude, get a grip of yourself."

The man who opened the door was a bit taller than me. He was an iguana, who rested his hand against the stall and put another on his hip.

"Leave me alone." I requested, waving him away.

"You're overreacting, man." He shook his head, "You're only making it worse for yourself by acting like this."

"If I go out there, I'm going to get lynched."

"What are you talking about? No, you won't!"

"I'll be humiliated. Everyone's going to be poking fun at me!"

"Where do you think you are? High school?"

I didn't say anything else. I simply got up from the toilet, still looking down, "...I didn't wait ten years for this..."

"Bro, seriously, stop blowing shit out of proportion. No one's going to laugh at you. No one thinks you're a joke. You just made a poorly timed question, that's all."

"..." I looked up to him, nervously. He extended me a hand.

"Get out of there." He asked me, "Staying for too long in these bathrooms might give you a disease."

I grabbed his hand and he pulled me right out of the stall. And back I were heading to the main room.

What was that I saw back there, then? Hundreds to thousands of death stares and no one wanted to wish me harm? Bullshit. The moment I come out of here, I'm going to have a tomato smashed against my face.

The moment I go through that doorway, I'm dead. The moment I go through that doorway I'll hear...I'll hear yelling...cheering, clapping.

Clapping?

I went through the door and now, everybody was now applauding me. And no, it didn't feel good. It felt sarcastic...ironic. They were only doing it to break out of the awkwardness I set.

Fox, Falco and Slippy were doing it too. Fox had a smile on his face, but Falco...Falco didn't want to look at me, simply looking down to the table they sat at. Slippy, with his everlasting enthusiasm, also were smiling to me.

But those smiles...they bounced right off the feeling that had wrapped around me like a python. Shame and disgust.

I didn't want to stay there for a second longer.

"Now, come on, go to your seat." The iguana behind me pat me on the back, rather forcibly, almost shoving me.

All the clapping and cheering slowly subsided as I sat back down, with everyone focusing their attention back to the team in front of them. Fox cleared his throat, now having the microphone in his hand, "So, to answer the guy's question, Falco got it in a pretty nasty fight. I think at this point, everyone in the team has a scar one way or another. Slippy's the most embarrassing one, ain't that right?"

Slippy looked over to Fox with furrowed brows, making a sideways chopping move at his neck, telling Fox to cut it out. But Fox kept on, "Because Slippy still has a pretty nasty bruise on his leg from falling down the ship's stairs and taking Peppy along with him."

The frog palmed at his face while the audience just broke into a warm fit of laughter. I let out a chuckle, but at this point, I could barely keep my head up anymore. Looking at them gave cold chills down my back. Worse was looking at Falco. He wasn't smiling. He wasn't even looking at us anymore. He had his head down, hung in thought. My skin crawled thinking about what could be going through his head.

Slowly, things were picking up again. Everyone seemed to be moving on. I didn't dare raising my hand again, but at least the black clouds above the team seemed to be going away, with Falco even going back to answer some questions. My own black cloud, however, remained right over my head.

I hunched over, resting my head on my hands with my elbows to my thighs. I closed my eyes, still shaking my head at the ludicrous amounts of awkwardness I put everyone through with one bad question. No one was happy when I came back. I bet they were all told by Fox to clap for me just to break the ice. I could tell. I could feel it. Everyone right next to me didn't think any better of me after I walked out of that door. Everyone still hated me for being an ignorant ass.

...Should I really be blamed? For simply not knowing? Not remembering? I've been stressing over so much stuff these past few years, how the hell was I supposed to wake up everyday and think about what Star Wolf did?

Whatever...rest assured, everyone will forget about it in an hour or two. I hope.

"One last question!" Fox cried out. The fact he managed to stay upbeat for so long was mesmerizing, "One last question before we have our departure, guys!"

The crowd did that disappointed cheer sound you hear whenever something's about to end.

"Don't worry about it, we still have autographs to give out! You ain't seen the last of us yet!" Fox announced with a wink, "Now, who'll be the lucky one?!"

Hands raised again, this time, much lesser. Everyone already had gotten their answers except for a dozen or so. A dingo got picked.

"You, dingo! In the suit and glasses!" Fox announced, "Last question of the day!"

He cleared his throat, seemed to shuffle in his seat. The whole crowd had their attention to him. Then, he stood up.

"It's not really much of a question." He spoke. His tone was formal, his voice having a deep baritone, "...Just wanted to say something, really." There was a moment of silence, everyone started looking at each other, including the Star Fox team.

"...Well, do please go ahead?" Fox requested.

The suited canine in the crowd smirked, "...Well, first of all, thank you for your collaboration to Corneria. Second of all...the weather sure is holding up nicely, isn't it?"

Time seemed to freeze. I looked over to Fox. He...was petrified. Frozen in his seat, looking to the suited male with an expression that seemed to be a mix of surprise and horror. Falco seemed confuse by the question, eyes narrowing and slightly tilting his head forward. Slippy was the same as Falco and Peppy...

Peppy legitimately gasped. He looked up and his pen fell from his head.

I looked back to the dingo. He turned left and began making his way to the exit. The whole crowd started asking each other confused questions, some calling over to the man in the suit, but he simply waltzed right out of the doors.

What the hell was going on? What was that all about? Well, surely, that made up to be an even worse moment than the one I had before, but...what did this all mean?

I looked back to Fox. He now looked over to Peppy, eyes bulged out at each other. Then, he turned to the microphone, picking it back up and audibly nervously clearing his throat, "Er...folks, we're deeply sorry for the inconvenience, but...we're gonna have to cancel the autograph session."

The whole room broke into confused murmurs and questions. Meanwhile, the team simply stood up from their chairs, with Fox leading them off the panel.

Something definitely wasn't right, at all. No one knew what to do now. Remain seated? Get up and leave? Was something dangerous coming our way?

And then, finally, the booing started. Insults and mockery began being thrown at the team's way as they left the stage.

"Leaving us in the dark again! What freaking heroes you bunch are!" One shouted by me.

I figured I'd might as well use the racket to sneak out of there. People were actually trying to charge towards the stage to demand some answer from the team, only to be stopped by security quickly. Some were already going out the entrance, me included.

My curiosity was now talking louder than the sense of awkwardness I was feeling before. I had to find that dingo. I had to find what was so unsettling about that guy that it made the heroes of Lylat simply stand up and leave.

Luckily, looking to the right, I could see the same man in the same suit making an apparent PDA call next to his car, just as he were stepping into it. I jogged over to my bicycle, just as I heard the roar of his engine and his car drive off. Quickly, I was onto him.

Whatever I were putting myself in couldn't be good in the slightest. But what harm could tailing a possible felon who made a vague threat do after you embarrass yourself meeting your idols after ten years, right?

Right...?