"You freaking cretin! You RUINED me! YOU KILLED US BOTH!" Gary continued yelling at me, until he finally just broke down into hysterics, curling up in a corner of his office and beginning to bawl his eyes out.
I stood up, holding his PDA in my hand. I looked around the office. In the corner, right behind the computer, was a security camera, its lens pointed right at me, reflecting the pale expression on my face. And that handsome mug was now on CCTV.
Hi, mom! I'm about to die!
I dropped the PDA. Oh, I'm screwed. I'm so screwed. Something told me the police weren't coming. Nuh uh, something muuuuch worse was bee-lining straight toward my direction now. I couldn't move. Where would I even go to? If I head back home...mom and grandpa...oh, I can't even think about that...
Oh my stars, just what have I done?
Suddenly, Gary runs up to me, he grabs the PDA off the floor and he quickly dials up a number, "H-Hold on, I can fix this! Maybe I can fix this!" He says hysterically. I take a step back. He couldn't decide himself between giggling or crying hysterically. I could hardly blame him. I was doing exactly what he was doing myself, only on the inside.
His boss picks up, "B-Bale! Bale, look! We won't tell anyone! S-Seriously, we're not going to tell absolutely anyone! I-I...t-the guy? U-Uh...I-I killed him!" He looked up to me, flashed me a thumbs up, "H-He's dead, he's-...no! No, no, no, I didn't kill him in my office! NO, NO, WAIT, I-I mean, I mean, I DID! I-I choked him death! There's no blood. I'm about to stuff him in the trunk and toss him in the water." The dingo winked at me. What he probably didn't realize was the security camera right up there in the corner, recording all of his lies and his terrible acting skills, "Trust me, I would never go behind your back, boss. Trust me on this, I'm getting rid of him. No one is gonna know. He just...snuck up on me, that's all."
It was a moving scene, truly, but I had to move. When the dingo turned his back to me, I bolted right out the office without even looking over my shoulder. I flew down the hallway, sprinting. I felt like if I got as much as ground between me and that dreaded office with that terrible insulated carpet floor I could maybe outrun this nightmare. I closed my eyes as I ran for a second, prayed I'd simply suddenly would turn up back home and just fall right off my bed. But nah, this was no bad dream, Chase. And you better open those eyes before you slam into that wall.
Skidding around the corner, I bust through the first door on the left that had an exit sign hanging above it. It took me to a catwalk that surveyed that entire warehouse. Man, was it huge. All those crates, all those trucks, forklifts, dudes in hard hats walking around. For a second I wondered what was stored in there aside from all that TV equipment I had seen the other day. But there was no time to daydream.
I ran downstairs and right out the first open garage door I saw. I look over my shoulder and see that number again, garage door number 4.
"Oh, well, look at that, looks like you didn't need help after all!"
And there they were. Tara and Mr. Goodnight. My lovely 'bodyguards'. Such a good three-person team we made.
No. No more sarcastic thinking. Things weren't looking funny at all.
"What'd you see in there, boy?" Leo would say, chuckling as he crossed his arms, "Find any TVs you wanna take home? Y'know, I could just buy you one for your birthday."
"Stealing all the fun for yourself, huh, champ?" Tara would say, poking my shoulder, "What'd you find now? Tell me!" She said, smiling at me. That smile, then, faded. She blinked, her brows furrowed. Oh, those sister instincts. She always knew when her little brother was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
I had no idea how I was gonna break out those news to them. My mind raced. Thoughts flew past like Arwings on fire over Titania. Flashes of light in my vision. My hands shook, sweat went through the fur on my brow. Like a pilot's life flashing before their eyes as they crash into the ground, "Tara...Leo. You two...you gotta go."
Tara's face displayed even more puzzlement. Leo looked confused, "We gotta go? What about you, you gonna stay around here?" He asked.
"No, both of you gotta go. You gotta leave. You gotta get out of here." My mouth seemed to be on autopilot. A mix of befuddled thoughts and stirred emotions being vocalized at will.
"Chase...what are you talking about?"
"I'm serious." I grabbed onto Tara's shoulders, "You need to go. Out of town, out of Corneria, grab an Arwing and just...fucking fly away!"
"Yo, what's with the profanity?!" Some random forklift operator shouted behind me as he drove by, "Gosh, kids these days..."
"Chase, what are you talking about?! What did you find in there?!" Tara responded. Her face. It hurt to see her worries being put on display like that, her eyebrows raising, forehead wrinkling through her brown fur, brown eyes piercing through mine.
"I saw something bad. Real bad. Look, you...you gotta go. Get mom, get grandpa, leave. This is for your own good, sis. I'm serious!" My breathing intensified, "I-I don't know what's gonna happen to me...but I gotta be on the run. Please, just listen to me!"
"Chase, what did you see?! What did you do?!" She grabbed my collar, shaking me, I could see the tears staring to well up in her eyes. The waterworks flowing free. The shakiness of her voice.
For a moment, her eyes turned into black holes. I was sucked in deep. Deep in there, I saw ourselves in a black void. Her shouting turned into mom's shouting. And somewhere deep in there, I could hear dad shouting back. The dark void then shifted, distorted, warped into the dim, cramped enviroment of a closet. Jackets and shirts hung above us and those doors looked so massive. I looked back to Tara. I saw those tears again, her finger going up to her lip, telling me to hush.
Dad's yelling would only get louder. The sound of combat boots stomping outside got more vigorous as furniture rattled, being violently shoved aside. Mom's shouting turned into wails. Then sobs.
And then, I was back at the docks.
"CHASE!" Tara shook me, "You're being delusional, bro! Just...just tell me, what did you see?!"
"Yeah, dude, did somebody die in there or something?" Leo asked, stepping up to me, "You're freaking out your sis, man, so speak up!"
"I-If I tell you...they're gonna kill you. They'll kill you too." I spoke back. My lungs hurt, yet I had barely talked. It hurt to speak. It was as if my body was shutting down, shriveling up into itself.
"Who is 'they', dude, what the hell are you talking about?" Leo leaned in, "Give us a straight answer! Dude, if we gotta pop some heads, we'll pop some heads, I got the thing with me and I swear on my life, I'll protect you and your sis from whatever's coming your way."
"I-It's...It's Wolf! Wolf is coming back!" I spoke up. I really shouldn't be saying that out loud with so many witnesses nearby. I have no idea if some random docks worker heard me say that, but by that point, I could hardly care.
The two of them went quiet. Hah, man, I didn't think I was gonna see Mr. Goodnight gasp, but all that stone cold, badass protector attitude immediately flew out the door the moment I said that. The hairs on his mane stood, I could even see the little hairs on his coat perking up.
"T-The Lylat Butcher?" He said, then he put his hand on his forehead, "Oh hell no...hell no, no," He put his hands to his head, shaking them, "Nuh uh, you're screwing with us, right? That isn't funny, man!"
Tara's tears stopped flowing, but her face said it all. She looked terrified. She knew me well. I wouldn't dare speak of Star Wolf unless I had a real reason to. I suppose this was her way of seeing that I meant business, "Chase...Wolf has no reason to come back...Are you...are you-"
"There's more." I interrupted her, " It's Bale. Bale is behind this too." I really needed to learn how to keep my mouth shut back then. Giving out such thing to both of them in public like that was sloppy and stupid. But I ran my mouth anyway, "Bale Domino. He's...He's involved."
"What the hell are you talking about?! How does Bale tie into this?!"
"I...I don't know...I don't know what they're planning, I...look, we gotta go. You need to get out of town. Go back home, get mom, get grandpa, leave."
"W-Where are we gonna go?!" She asked me, rubbing her eyes, sniffling. This felt so wrong. This felt so...sudden. I was cherishing her presence the other day, wishing she'd be with me for every step of my life and now, here I was, panicking telling my sister to hit the road. A daytime night terror.
My head hurt. I put my hands to my temples, ears folding down as I thought of the many places around Corneria City, the smaller, rural towns. Well, as rural as you can get when all of your farms are automated and all you have to do is sit back and sip Powerbox while you watch.
Where should they go? Pepper's Step? No, that's too far! Think, Chase, think...maybe...
Hopeville. A small little town, right on the outskirts of Corneria. Not too close, not too far. Yaru de Pon's hometown to be exact, before he left to form Space Dynamics here in the City. I was there on vacation with Jim the other year, visiting his mother. We fished, we went camping...fun times. I should give him a call soon. He still owes me a new fishing rod after I lost mine from him toppling the boat over on a rock.
"CHASE!" Tara shook me again.
"Oh, wuh, I-I...ugh, sorry, I..." Spacing out, my specialty, even more so in moments like this, "...Tara, go to Hopeville. It's a town just towards the east. It's a small town, I've been there before with Jim. Rent is cheap, people are nice...u-uh, GREAT food! Y-You can do it."
"H-Hopeville? Chase, that town is bad news, it's RULED by crime! Bale said so last week on his show!" She argued.
"Well, so?! We live in the worst neighborhood in the city and we turned out fine so far, didn't we?. Listen, just trust me on this...I just need you all out of town for...I don't know, a week?" Oh how little I knew back then, "I'll get this mess sorted out, I promise."
"Chase..." She stood there, rubbing her head, before simply stepping up to me and wrapping me in a tight hug, "Chase, please, please, please stay safe...look, come with us. You don't need to involve yourself in this. Lay low with us."
"I can't...I'm gonna bring trouble your way." I hugged her back. Usually, hugs aren't this painful. I didn't want to let go. I wanted to hold her forever. I needed time to stop, to freeze, just for a few minutes. What a mess I was making of things, huh? Putting a target on my head, driving my sister to hysterics, embarassing myself in front of her boyfriend. Leo looked at me with this concerned look in his face. I couldn't get a read on him for the life of me.
Leo. So different from me, but cut from the same cloth. His green eyes just stared down at me, that big boxy snout with his mouth pouting as he wondered what this stupid kid was up to. Guy looked like he could be between 20 to 40, hard to guess from how gaunt he looked in the face. And still, even with all the crap's he seen on the streets, he looked worried, especially after whose name I dropped. Growing up, I used to think street thugs and gangsters had nothing to fear because they had nothing to lose.
He was different. He had my sister to lose. I could tell that terrified him.
"I'm gonna be fine. Just trust me. Go to Hopeville. I will message you when the coast is clear. Trust me. Trust me." I would lean out of the hug, holding her shoulders, "I love you, Tara. I could've never asked for a better sister..."
"I love you too, Chase..." She looked back to me. While sniffling, she would step away. I noticed her reaching behind herself, "If...If you're gonna be in danger...here." She pulled the blaster out, offered it to me, "Take this. It's the least I can do."
My spine froze, looking down at that thing again. I used to wake up in the night to the sound of blasters firing off in the distance. Then I'd wake up again to the sound of sirens. Then next morning, I'd find out that somebody was gunned down not even three blocks away. For a while, as a kid, it was scary. But then eventually I got used to it. And then, it became white noise.
Still, weapons terrified me when they weren't in a video game. Gunning down digital Aparoids at the arcade? Fun as hell. The thought of holding something that can end a life if I so much squeeze the trigger the wrong way while trying to show it off? Terrifying.
, "...Tara, I...I really can't. It's just...this is not in my nature."
"Take the freaking gun, bro!" Leo picked up the blaster of her hands, held it out for me, "Damn! Listen to your sister for once!"
I had many reasons to be upset with the man that day, but this wasn't one of them. He was right. I had my nose up too far my own rear and look where it had gotten me, huh? Some adventurer I was.
And well, no adventurer is complete without some way to defend themselves. Star Fox all have blasters...and so does Star Wolf.
With a hefty sigh, I picked up the thing, holding it in both of my hands by the grip. I never expected a real blaster to feel so heavy. Huh. They looked so light in video games and movies. Felt surreal. Then again, everything did.
And so, doing what everybody else does in this City, I simply stuffed it into where I assumed there was a secret bottomless void in my clothes where all weapons go so that I can pull them out in the time of need...the back of my pants.
"...So...is that it? Do we just go now?" Tara asked me. I put my hand on my hip, rubbed my head, trying to scratch some answers out. Gotta go someplace where Bale and Wolf won't find me...not an easy feat considering they know just about every single crevice of this planet and this whole galaxy, huh?
No hole to hide in. I needed a fortress around me. A well-armed fortress, with people that won't give me up, not out of fear or for money...so, I ruled out the Cornerian Police Department right away. Stinking cowards.
The Cornerian Army...would definitely not take me seriously. No. There was only one way to go.
I had to go to Star Fox.
"Leo." I looked up to him. His ears perked up, his eyebrows raised, "Dakota Stewarts. You know where that is, right? The convention center? I gotta go there."
Leo frowned, throwing his arms up, "The f-?! Why?! Why would wanna go to a convention about now?!"
"Hey, trust me on this!" I exclaimed back to him, "I need to get there, as fast as possible. I need...need to find that cheetah girl."
The cheetah girl. The one that presented Star Fox to the crowd the other day. She'd know where they are, right? She looked like she ran the place. Dressed all fancy on the day, looked like a serious businesswoman...
Ergh, can't stand the Cornerian elites. Most of the time, I'd steer clear of people wearing Kenoby suits because I felt like if I even so much as bumped into them, they'd accuse me of being a pickpocket. That cheetah was wearing a Kenoby dress on the day of the QnA. I think I had an idea of what her personality would be like based off of that alone. But I had no other choice.
"Cheetah girl? You done lost your mind. What cheetah girl?" Leo inquired.
I stormed past him and Tara, "No time to lose, man. Let's go! Either that or at least hand me the keys."
"What?!" He stormed toward me, "Nah, nah, nah, get your hands away from the door, nobody drives that thing but me!"
Shifty personality aside, he at least did have good taste in cars, I'll give him that. Hopping into that Melbrook, we peeled out of there.
Silent car ride. The roar of that Melbrook had never been so louder. The greenest fields passed behind the window. Then, homes. Then, buildings. The tires screeched to a halt.
SKKKKRRTTT
Ah, downtown of Corneria City, yet again. I did not miss that smoky smell of burnt rubber in the air.
Stepping out of the car, I felt a level of exposure I had never felt in my life. I felt as if camera flashes would start surrounding me, papparazi hounding a famous book author. You could replace camera flashes with muzzle flashes and have a situation more accurate to mine, though.
I shut the car door and turned back around. Tara rolled the window down.
"...So...this is it, huh?" I said. She barely could work up the nerve to look me in the eye. She sat in the back with me the entire car ride despite Leo's pleas to have her move to the front. Poor girl, just really wanted to be with her brother for a bit longer before he'd disappear from her life for longer than she were hoping. I held her hand during it, but she never managed to look at my face.
"I will...mom will be hysterical, but...I'll try. I'll try my best." She said, sighing, "...I hope you know what you're doing."
Mom. Oh, mom. My big ears folded back against my black hair, I closed my eyes. I could already imagine her screaming and kicking trying to run out of the house to find me. Tara would have to hold her back. She'd better, because that lady would track me down faster than Bale and Wolf combined. She somehow always knew how to find me. If anything, maybe I should be hiding from her.
"You can count on it." I assured Tara. She turned her face to me, slowly. I smiled, admiring her. Her brown hair with a red streak running down to her shoulders. In my mind, I took a picture of her. Something to look back to and remind myself why I needed to stay alive.
I turned my attention to Leo, "And you, Mr. Goodnight? You better keep my family safe."
Leo adjusted the rear mirror, pointed it at my face. In his mouth, a lit cigarrette hung off his lips. He blew smoke toward the mirror, obscuring my reflection, "Anything for my Tara, bro. If anybody tries to screw with us, they're gonna regret it."
"My mom and my grandpa too, huh?" I reminded him with a fierce tone.
"No one's gonna mess with your family dude. I will make damn sure of it."
I had only known him for a few hours or so at best now. Gosh, look at me, entrusting the life of my entire living bloodline to a stranger. It wasn't so much as me trusting him as it was me trusting Tara, hoping she really had made the right pick. It was stupid. It was dumb. This is my mother's nightmare come true.
"I hope you stay true that." I told him.
Before I could turn my attention to Tara, Leo spoke up, "Yo, Chase?"
"...Yeah?" I flicked my attention back his way, hair covering part of my face.
"You're a good kid, bro." He turned his head, looked over his shoulder to me, "Tara says a lot of things about you. You're a good brother, man. A bit of a dopey dork, not gonna lie, but like, not totally dumb, y'know?"
"...Uh...well, gee, thanks."
"Leo's saying he thinks you're smart, Chase." Tara spoke up, resting her elbow on the windowsill and her head on her fist, "He's...not really good at compliments."
"Hey, you got street smarts, kid." Leo added, "We ain't too different, you and I. I've seen the hood you grew up in. Takes guts to survive in that enviroment. You'll know what to do, I'm sure of it."
His tone sounded sincere, at least at first hearing. I had no idea if he was saying that to me because he meant it or just because he was trying to comfort Tara. Probably the latter, mostly. But I still appreciated it regardless.
"...Appreciate it, man." I told him. Leo stuck out his hand for a fist bump and I gave him one.
"I'm sure you'll be seeing me again sooner than you think, homie." Leo said, "Just stay safe, alright?"
I nodded, then turned my attention to Tara. Tara looked up to me. She seemed calmer, at peace, at least from the outside. Maybe she was finally coming to terms with everything. Leo's words most definitely had helped, "...I love you. Remember that. Your lil bro will be fine." I smiled to her, "Trust me."
"I trust you. Take care, Chase." Truthfully, I wanted this moment to never end, but time was running out fast. I let go of the Melbrook's window and stepped back.
The Melbrook roared as the engine was fired up. Tara's eyes would not leave mine. I looked at her and she looked back at me, a hand raising so I could wave goodbye to her. She didn't reciprocate.
And so, they both drove off into the distance. Lovey couple, end of fable, happily ever after and other nonsense...if only. My heart sank, watching that metallic blue paintjob disappear among the endless sea of gray and white sedans and SUVs. I stepped back toward the crowd behind me. And with that, we disappeared from each other's lives.
I turned to the convention center. Surprisingly, the front doors were open, and nobody stood by guarding the entrance. Like a bug attracted to light, I wandered inside. All I saw was a janitor wiping the floor. All the chairs from yesterday were gone and so was the big stage, leaving one big empty lobby behind.
As I walked up to the janitor, I could hear him humming a song to himself. A white bat about my height and seemingly about my age, couldn't tell if the black markings around his eyes were eyeliner or eyebags, headphones over his big ears as he existed in his own little world where it was just him and that mop.
So I did the sensible annoying thing to do and pulled him right out of his planet and back to Corneria by tapping on his shoulder. This startled him, making him turn with a yelp, knocking his bucket of water over and pointing his mop at me, all like he's about to give me the greatest beatdown since Star Fox's contact with Star Wolf at Fichina, "Woah, woah, woah, calm down, man!" I pleaded.
The bat lowered his mop, holding it with one hand as I took off his headphones, "W-Wha-...what are you doing here, dude? The QnA was yesterday, you're like, super, super, super duper late!"
"Oh no, uh, listen, I need to get in contact with uh...with Star Fox. It's important, I need to talk to them."
"Star Fox? Why do you wanna talk with him?"
Oh for the love of-
My inner fanboy nerd bubbled up like mom boiling water to make spaghetti, "No, no, no, Star Fox is the name of the team, not the name of-...ugh, look, where's that cheetah girl?"
"Cheetah girl?" He tilted his head, his ears scanning around like two big sattelite dishes, "Oh, you must mean Ms. Turner, the one who hosted the QnA? She's in the bathroom, over there. I'm her friend!" He says, super upbeat, while pointing off in the direction of the bathrooms. I couldn't help but eyeball the same one I hid in the other day. Man, that was embarrassing, "I'm her favorite janitor, o-or so she says!"
And as soon as he says that, she comes right out, fixing her green curly hair, dressed in a black vest, a white shirt and a black skirt, wearing red high heels. Huh, nothing from the Kenoby brand, but still looking like a stuck up richie all the same. Compared to the state of the convention center, she stood out like a sore thumb. And she seemed to be in one heck of a hurry.
"Thanks, bro!" I thanked the janitor, who happily smiled to me and gave me a salute as I turned toward the cheetah.
"Tell her Ron says hi! A-And that he left chocolates for her in the office!"
A quick jog and I was already walking side by side with the lady, "E-Er, excuse me, Ms. Turner, aren't you? I need to speak with you."
She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at me, "And who are-" The moment her pink eyes scanned over my face, her expression soured, "...Oh..." Her face went from sour to...horror. Straight up horror. A jarring sudden change, "You. You-" She began backing away. What the hell was this? Did I do something wrong? "You get back! Stay back!"
"Ms. Turner? H-Hey, look, hold on a second, lady, I have some important shit to discuss!" I walked in her direction, as she walked back. Thinking back now, this was the worst possible thing I could've done in that situation regardless of intent, "Hey, hold on! Please, just, give me a second!"
She turned around and start fast walking away from me. Then, she broke into a full sprint, the click-clack of her high heels speeding away from me, at least, as said heels could let her go. Still not exactly following my best instincts and instead choosing to be completely socially inept, I sprinted right after her, "Ms. Turner! C'mon!"
This gave her exactly what she needed to turn things against me. She looks over her shoulder then runs toward a parked Cornerian PD cruiser. Both cops were just standing idly by sipping coffee. Who even drinks the coffee from downtown? It tastes like motor oil!
"Hey! HEY!" She yells toward them, two beefy looking german shepherd dudes, one wearing sunglasses, the taller one, and one with a nose piercing, the shorter one, turned their heads right toward me. Both wore bulletproof vests and visored riot helmets, gear that became standard-issue for Corneria City's peace enforcement forces after the crime rate skyrocketed a few years ago, "That creep back there is chasing me! Help me! Somebody help, please!"
Oh, here we go. My feet screeched to a halt as I realized what she said. She runs past the two donut lovers who then immediately turn their faces toward me and boy, they were not happy. They frown and, just like that, the automatic visors on their helmet flick shut and they immediately reach for their belt, pulling out batons that flick out and then spark with electricity at the tip.
"You! What do you think you're doing?!" The cop on the right steps up. At this point I'm already feeling my heart rate spike, cold sweat rush through my brown fur as adrenaline shoots into my bloodstream. I put my hands up to my chest and step back.
"Hey, hey, hey, hold on," I say as I walk backwards, both officers still powerwalking toward me, both of them towering over me, "This is a big misunderstanding! Hang on!" Judging by them tapping the tips of their batons together, causing both of them to generate more electricity to beat the snot out of me with, it didn't take a genius to figure they clearly didn't like that answer.
Welp, I tried.
Doing a full 180 and almost tripping over myself, my legs do like Turner's did and break into a full adrenaline-fueled sprint across the street and the two behind me give chase! A car stops inches to my left, honking at me and I skid over the hood of another as I pick up speed. Say what you want about growing up in the bad part of town, but one thing you learn early is how to freaking run for your life!
I ran and ran. And then ran some more. And they were not letting up behind me. I dodged men and women alike as I zig-zagged through the confused crowd, people gasping and yelping as I zoom past them before they could even see me properly. One tries to trip me, making me tumble over myself and land on my side, allowing me to roll right back onto my feet and keep running anyway. There was no stopping me. The adrenaline rush, the feel of it...holy shit. I felt...
I felt alive.
I felt like a kid again, running from the cops after breaking into a store at night just to steal candy from behind the counter and sprint home. Like running from an angry mob after getting into a fight with the local popular kid at school. I felt like the world wanted me dead right then and there.
Hah. The world was gonna need to catch me first!
"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" I shouted into the air as I turned into an alleyway, defying fate, laughing to myself like a runaway clown from the insane circus. A chainlink fence blocked my path. With one not-so calculated leap, my red kicks leave the ground as I fly toward the fence, grabbing onto the top and pulling my body over it as fast as I could, landing on both of my feet on the other side and continuing my mad dash away from the law.
I look over my shoulder, something that in retrospect you should never do while running from something, to see how the two gumshoes were holding up. The smile I had on my face was wiped when I watched both of them make over the fence with as little difficulty as I did. And they were mad. Oh, you bet your butt they were mad.
"STOP RUNNING, YOU LITTLE PUNK!" One shouted.
"GET BACK HERE!" Another yelled.
It was back to running. And running. I put in as much work as I possibly could into my legs. I ran until my blood was starting to boil inside me and my muscles were begging me to slow down. The world got blurrier, hazier, the sound of my heart beating echoed in my ears, my mouth began to feel dry.
I was now at least two blocks away from Dakota Stewarts' and I was still dashing like a madman through the streets, the cars and the people. All eyes on me, the star of the show. But the curtains were closing.
Busting right through a wooden fence, I realized I wasn't gonna be able to carry on anymore. My soles ached, burned. And then I felt myself slowing down.
"N-No, no, no, no..." I whispered to myself, putting my hand to my neck, feeling my heartbeat. Goddamn, was it pounding. It felt like a bomb was constantly going off in my chest, a neverending explosion of fire bursting apart my ribcage. My mouth now felt like the deserts of Titania, dry and warm. My head, spinning like an Arwing going down...and finally, my feet going numb.
I tripped over myself, landing chest first into a puddle, knocking the remaining wind out of me and soaking me in the polluted ground rainwater. Before I could even think to get up, two brutes tackle me from behind, pushing me deeper into that puddle, almost burying my face into the water.
"Hands behind your back!" One shouts as they pull my arms back, pushing them against my lower back. That hurt like a motherf-
"Think running is fun, huh?!" The other shouted, smacking me behind the head then pulling me by my hair, "You still think you're tough, punk?! Do you?!"
I couldn't respond, I had water up my nose and I was coughing it out through my mouth.
"Let's give this little sucker a lesson he won't forget, Moe!" I was tossed onto my back, landing right onto my both of my hands. I hadn't even realized they had slipped me into cuffs. Goddamn force cuffs! They held my wrists together using gravity, meaning I didn't have to deal with cold tight metal around my wrists but instead just the feeling like somebody I couldn't see was constantly holding my wrists behind my back.
And just like that, both of the armored psychos in front of me pull out their batons again, sparking electricity in my face. I was no stranger to an electric beating...but the spark of a baton sure looked a lot more menacing when you are covered head to toe in water.
"I'm wet, you crazy assholes!" I shouted at them, which probably sounded really funny out of context, but I was definitely not laughing at the moment, "Cut it out!"
"You're about to become paperwork, you little perv." One of them snarled, "Bale's gonna love reporting your death as a 'freak accident'."
"...What?" I froze up.
"HAH!" The one with the nose ring cackled, "FREAK accident! Get it?! 'Cause, he's a freak, right?!" He said, slapping the other one in the chest with his hand.
Not good. Not good at all. I wormed myself away from them on my back, terror in my eyes, "N-No! No, no, no, you can't do this to me!"
I still had that Blaster in my back pocket, but there was no way I could grab it with my hands stuck behind my back like that. And to die with a gun with me...what will my family think when they watch the news?
My heart was somehow pumping even faster than when I was running. They continued to approach me, batons sparking all the time, "Get away from me! N-No! NO! DON'T! HELP!" I hate thinking back to the times I begged for my life, but what else was I supposed to do?
I thought back to my sister. To my mother. To my grandfather. Hell, to Leo even. Jim. Fay. How I was never gonna see them again, but they sure would see me. As a fried corpse on a morgue slab. It was...revolting. And it was becoming reality.
I closed my eyes. The least I hoped for was that the pain wouldn't be too unbearable before I lost consciousness.
...Then my knight in shining armor appeared.
"Leave the kid alone, boys." A booming, deep, confident voice spoke up, "I saw what happened. That girl's one heck of a bad liar!"
"Mr. Lombardi?!" They both said. Heavy metal footsteps came our way. I opened my eyes and looked behind me. There he stood, like a blue angel with a sea of grime behind him.
"She played you two like fiddles. Higher-class trash always squeal at the sight of anyone one penny poorer than them." He mindlessly adjusted his outfit, dusting down his signature jacket, speaking with a smirk on his face, "Get outta here, you two, don't you have better things to do?"
A silence ensued, "Y...Yeah, uh...we do."
"We do?" The one with the nose ring responded. This earned him a knock on his helmet from his partner.
"We do. Let's get out of here, Jack."
Their batons simply turned right off, those electric sparks coming off the tip ceasing as those shafts retracted and they both hung them by their belts. Walking past me, the german shepherd with the sunglasses couldn't resist glaring at me through those sunglasses. He stopped, stared and then grimaced.
Oh, right, the cuffs.
I turned my back towards him. And just like that, my hands were free, like if nothing were holding them together at all. The cops walked past Falco and then, right out the alley.
And with that...Falco turns to me. The legendary rogue ace pilot himself. From the Corneria Flight Academy, to Free-As-A-Bird, to Star Fox and now to some wet panicky jackal in an alleyway. Looking up to him, up close and personal, was...certainly a feeling. A feeling of being starstruck. And definitely thankful. He extended me his hand, "Falco Lombardi, kid. You?"
I grabbed his feathered hand, squeezed it firmly, looking him in the eyes, "Chase. Uh...massive fan." He squeezed my hand back tight, pulled me right up to my feet. His grasp and strength was otherwordly strong, the kind of grip strength that immediately let me know that I should never try to arm wrestle this bird anytime soon.
"Chase, huh? Cool name, cool name." He said as he let go of my hand and crossed his arms, "Very fitting, even. 'Cause, man, you gave those cops one hell of a run for their donuts. I ain't never seen the blues run like that before!" He laughed, "Reminds me of my younger days."
"You said you saw that girl making shit up...?" I asked.
"Oh yeah. I heard you asking around for Star Fox in the con center. I had just gone back there to visit a friend when I heard you asking around and then I saw you trying to ask out that lady."
I shook my head, "I wasn't-...I wasn't trying to ask her out!" I chuckled as I tried to explain myself. Usually not the kind of thing I'd laugh at considering the circumstances but, this was Falco. This was exactly the kind of thing he'd say. I couldn't even be mad at him, "I was trying to...well, I was trying to reach you, actually. One of you."
"One of us?" He asked, tilting his head, "Like us, the Star Fox team?"
"Yeah, uh, I have a...I have a message to you guys." Calling it a message was one way to put it, I guess. It was more like dropping a Smart Bomb on them.
"A message? Heh, you got into a whole chase with the fuzz just because you wanted to deliver fan mail?!" He laughed, "Man, you're crazy. Look, we usually hire somebody to go through our junk. Trust me, we get a lot of messa-"
"No, no, no, no, dude...dude." I interrupted him, "This is...this is a really serious one. I need to speak to Fox, urgently."
Falco now looked confused, shifting his eyes and tilting his head at me, "...Reeeaally now?" He'd ask, blinking a few times, "...Well...we're gonna be in town for a while. We were planning to lay low for a bit. Some...concerning news came up, maybe you'll find us aro-"
"It's about those news. The dingo? I met him. I know what he's on about." My tone was firm, my eyes were right on his, I had to show him I was serious, he needed to believe me, "Star Wolf. They're coming back. Bale Domino is involved."
Falco's feathers stood, his eyebrows rose up, leaning his head back, "...Bale Domino?"
"Look, I'm gonna sound like one crazy conspiracy theorist right now, but trust me, he's hunting me down." Such things coming from a guy drenched in Corneria piss water probably would make anybody just turn their gaze and walk away, but thankfully, he was willing to hear me out, "I need protection. Give me that and I will tell you everything I know. I promise you." His avian eyes told me everything, he was beginning to believe me, his stare said it all, tilting his head, fully paying attention to me.
"...O...Kay...kid, you're either telling the truth or you're absolutely batshit insane and I cannot tell which one is the better alternative. You've convinced me." Falco nodded at me, then, put a finger up toward my face, "But you better not be bullshitting, huh? You wanna know where we are? Then come on, come with me."
He waved over his back and turned the opposite way, beckoning me to follow. Like a good waterlogged terrified jackal, I did.