I couldn't stop thinking about mom. I couldn't bear to imagine the amount of mental turmoil she was probably going through right now, thanks to yours truly. Having to leave that old home that she lived in her entire life, the same home that was passed down to her from her own mother. That house spanned generations. This was probably the first time it was gonna be completely vacant for a while. Leave it to me to bring change to our boring systematic family, only in the worst way possible.
At this point in time, I really couldn't figure out what I was even feeling anymore. The horror of screwing up my life still resided within me. I couldn't stop wishing I could just head back home and forget I brought all of this onto myself. Part of me wanted to believe that if I just stepped through the front door again, went to the bathroom, took off my wet clothes, took a long warm shower and went to bed, tomorrow would just be a brand new regular monotonous day in the life of Chase...which would mean going back to work at Jim's at the register to make pitiful pay, come back home, sit in front of my computer and then try to write what was just basically amounting to Surface Tension fanfiction...rinse and repeat for the rest of my life. A lame author stuck in a sea of his own words.
Urgh. Urgh indeed.
Street lights shined over us as we drove down the empty road on the outskirts of town, just behind the border. My eyes watched over the Cornerian skyline at night. Spotlights shined into the sky, illuminating invisible spaceships hiding behind the dark cloudy skies above us. Neon danced through the smog as holograms blanketed the sides of those skyscrapers, flashing and jumping with color, a spectacle of the modern age. I used to look at photos of Corneria twenty, thirty years ago on the internet out of curiosity and I always found funny how different, yet at the same identical it looked. A paradox caused by the lack of neon and holograms everywhere all those years ago, back when Corneria was under General Pepper's command.
Can't imagine how it'd be today if we were still under a military government. Perhaps in better shape. Perhaps not. Mom always said the best years of Corneria were doing that time. 'Streets were safer', she'd say, 'You kept your nose clean or Pepper would clean it for you', she'd declare. Sounded terrifying to me.
We had been on the road for a while. I didn't really expect Falco to be the kind of guy to drive a Wanabi Fandango. This is as budget as a car can get. Boxy, definitely not aerodynamic, takes up a ton of space on the road, rusty on the outside and smelled a lot like mildew on the inside, strangely enough. I get it though, it was a low profile car for a high profile man to hide in. Still couldn't help but voice my concerns though.
"Hey, uh, Falco?"
"Sup, champ?" He said, still eyeing the road.
"Tell me you weren't the one who picked this car to drive around in."
He immediately broke into a hearty laugh, "Hah! Nah, absolutely not! This old bathtub was Peppy's idea. Figured we shouldn't be driving our own vehicles because he was afraid somebody might try to break into 'em or vandalize 'em, so he made us rent a bucket car each."
I couldn't help but chortle, "Well, I don't think the Roadmaster is street legal, is it?"
"You crazy?" He faced me, "No way we'd be driving that around!" He chuckled, "Nah, I got a Wutana parked in the Great Fox. Absolutely beauty of a car."
"Oh! What model?" I asked, "It...It ain't a Melbrook is it?"
"What you got against Melbrooks?" He retorted, then shook his head, "Nah. ZR-22."
"ZR-22? Man, that's an oldie!" I said, palming my forehead. ZR-22s went out of line about fifteen years or so ago. Most of them had gotten recalled due to 'issues regarding the stability of the car's A.I', which was a whole mess of its own. Most ZR owners went as far as having their cars illegaly modified to not link up to the Wutana Corp's net, preventing the A.I from, well, shoving your car into a ditch because it decided to make a sudden U-turn without your input.
"Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it..." He snickered.
"Not sure that applies to the ZRs, dude!"
We both shared a laugh. A good, hearty laugh. Falco's personality was intoxicating, he just had that natural ability to make you feel better, even if just for a moment.
"Hey, maybe it doesn't, but you gotta admit, when you get it fixed, you don't need any other car in your life. Been going strong for fifteen years with that ride, the ladies still love it!" He bumped my arm with his. I grinned.
"Oh, I bet, man. I bet they do." I said. The conversation went silent from there on to our destination.
Soon enough, the bright red neon sign of a bar would pop into view. The Fandango would slow down as it approached. Staring out the windshield as that red color shined over my face, I read the name out loud, "The Shock and Shudder...huh. Never heard of this place before. Sounds like a nightclub."
"It's a pub." Falco pulled up to an empty parking spot, stopping right in front a pair of hoverbikes, and shutting off the Fandango, "Gonna look a bit scary on the way in, but trust me, you'll get acclimated. Come on!"
Going inside of the bar, I was honestly surprised that they had chosen this place of all places to stay at. It was...genius, actually. Hiding in plain sight! Badass! I couldn't help but fall in love with the moody lighting on the inside. A soothing jazz piece played in the background, the enviroment was foggy and smoky, neon signs and colorful lighting scattered across the bar created this beautiful mish-mash of moody colors.
Stepping up to the counter, I'd spot a lemur chewing gum, working the bar, eyes yellow, wearing a red shirt, black tie and an apron. He nodded his head to Falco, then set his eyes on me.
"Oy, who the hell are ya supposed to be?" He questioned.
"Hey, now, he's with me." Falco informed him, putting a hand on my shoulder, "This here is Chase, he's gonna be hanging out with the team tonight."
The lemur blew his bubblegum, "V.I.P treatment, eh? Too right, mate. Just remember what Captain Seamus used to say about bringing civvies to your FOB-"
"Yeah, yeah, I still got those tapes, Darius, don't worry about it. I watch them every single night before bed. I promise." Falco displayed a goofy grin. Leonard just rolled his eyes.
"Right, well, carry on then. Don't let me keep ya." Darius stepped up to this shudder door right beside the liquor shelf. Placing his hand on the hand scanner made the shudders open right up with a little mechanical squeal.
"Thanks, Darius, I appreciate all of your assistance and patience." Falco said as he stepped in, following me suit.
"Right, just don't forget to pay your bar tab, you soggy cu-" The door squealed shut.
I took a look around this back room we had stepped into. It looked like the typical staff break room you'd see in a supermarket or convenience store, complete with a small kitchen, couch, TV on a coffee table and small round table to have lunch at, quite unusual for a simple pub located out of the city. I couldn't help but notice the camera looking right at me in one of the corners of the room. I whistled in awe, "This bar has better security than some of Corneria's banks."
"Yeah, you're about to find why, little man." Falco stepped up beside me, waved at the camera, "Peppy, I know you can see AND hear me! Bring us down!"
The room suddenly vibrated, the floor beneath me shaking, as suddenly the floor under us started to simply lower into the ground. A secret elevator! I lost my balance, falling on all fours, "W-Whoah!"
"Heh." Falco chuckled, "Nobody can stand on their two feet the first time."
"A secret elevator?!" I said, childish glee beaming from my voice as I got back up, "This is...this is awesome! U-Uh, highly impractical, but, awesome, I mean..." I looked around, the walls were completely metallic, we were really descending into a secret bunker, kitchen and all.
"This used to be the entrance to one of Corneria's military shelters during the Lylat Wars. The Cornerian Army brought civvies here when the fight came to Corneria, kept them sheltered while Andross' forces attacked. It got retired right after when the Army started building bigger and better shelters. Darius, old pal of ours, came in not long after and refurbished the place. Now, here we are. A secret base all to ourselves." Falco explained, hands behind his back, waiting for the ride down to end.
"This is awesome!" I said as I looked around.
"Yeah, yeah, just, strap in for a bit, this thing goes down a long way."
And it did. A minute and a half of descent actually, enough to make me think we were going to reach Corneria's mantle. The army definitely wasn't playing around when it came to safety underground. Eventually, we reached the very bottom, and we'd be facing a deep, surprisingly colorfully illuminated cave, with pinks, blues and yellows leading down the depth of the cave, also illuminating big, steel doors, likely housing tons of unused military equipment and vehicles.
Man, it was BIG in there. Definitely designed to be traversed by vehicle, probably using those little utility cars I saw parked by the elevator. I could only wonder how'd they even bring stuff down there. My guess was that there was another much larger secret entrance some place else. Though I'd wonder where, considering all around The Shock and Shudder seemed to be just woods.
"Stick close, can get lost in here." Falco said, turning around to look over to me.
"No kidding..."
While we walked, I couldn't help but notice the decorations set up on the walls of the big bunker. Drawings on the wall, military posters showing Cornerian Army soldiers with giant moustaches and tophats, not exactly the kind of stuff I was expecting to see from Corneria's best merc team. Then again, I guess they never were affilitated with the government. Lots of twinkle lights set up around too, which I soon noticed seemed to be leading us both a certain way.
Eventually, we passed a big, huge silo door. I had to stop for a moment to gaze at it. The number 64 painted on it. Huge enough to fit a Landmaster through, "...Whoah..."
Falco stopped in his tracks, looked back to me, "Hey, step it up, kid! This ain't a museum!"
"S-Sorry!" I ran up to him to catch up. We kept following the twinkle lights, but my mind was still stuck back there on the huge blast doors, "...Hey uh...what was back there?"
"Hm?" Falco looked toward me, "Oh, you're not authorized to know about those."
"Really?" I asked, then, grinned, "Well, that just makes me more curious, doesn't it?"
Falco stopped, then glared at me, "No, man, seriously, you can't know what's behind those doors. Fox's orders. Peppy's orders. I'm already taking a massive risk bringing you down here with me. So, please, stay close and don't mess around, alright?"
It was one hell of a sudden, stern talk, one that definitely caught me with my guard down. The way he spoke, like a drill instructor barking orders at someone below their rank. It was a reality check. One I needed, to be frank. I was almost forgetting why I was there in the first place. This was no walk in the park.
"...Yeah...yeah, my bad, Falco." I nodded, lowering my voice. Falco nodded back and then kept walking.
"Almost there now."
One more elevator ride down and we'd stop right outside another shutter door. Falco placed his hand on the hand scanner and the doors flung open. Stepping inside, I was greeted by deep, oceanlike peaceful blue lighting and a very unique room. Book shelves on the left, computer monitors and server farms right beside them, beeps and boops coming from them and the exact same on the right side. And at the very end of the room, one big, beautiful bright aquarium, with colorful algae swaying to and fro with schools of Cornerian fish swimming between them. Falco tapped my shoulder, led me into the room, my eyes constantly flicking between things to look at, from the armchairs placed facing the aquarium, to the big computer monitors scrolling through endless green text while the servers flashed beautiful red and yellow lights at me.
Falco went through an open doorway on the right and then stopped me before I did the same, "Hey, guys?" He spoke, the rest of the Star Fox team hidden around the corner, "Brought a civvie in. Says he got something to say. Something apparently stupid important."
"Oh yeah?" Fox's voice came from around the corner. Falco stepped aside and then, right in front of me, pops out Fox McCloud himself. Fox McCloud. My idol. My icon, now standing right in front of me, painted in the blue light, wearing only a white tank top and his iconic green pants. Don't think I've ever seen him out of those now that I think of it.
Wait, that sounded weird.
"Hello there!" He'd smile, stepping forward, extending a hand. He was...a lot shorter than I thought he'd be. We were pretty much face to face, same size. I never realized just how much Falco towered over him and me both. I grinned. I stepped forward and I shook his hand.
His handshake. Firm. Honest. He smiled at me, those big green eyes tinkling in the dark, that sharp look in his face, now all in front of me. I felt a lump stuck in my throat. I couldn't speak. I felt weightless. Floaty. For a moment, everything suddenly felt alright again.
Fox McCloud. Hero of Lylat. Corneria's savior and defender. Looking into his eyes, I couldn't help but remember how much I wanted to join the Flight Academy. Ah, the dream of every Fox fan, to be just like the man himself. Soaring through skyes, cutting through the void of space...seeing new sights, battling new and old foes. A space cowboy. Me and my friends used to make up codenames during class, fly around little paper Arwings until the teacher came to take them away from us.
Time, for once, felt frozen. A thousand thoughts, a thousand feelings, all at once. And all of them positive. Up close and personal with my heroes.
I dreamed of a day like this. For many, many years. And now, here it is. Not exactly the best way to come to it considering the circumstances and the news I still had to break to them...but I was here. Right here. With Star Fox.
"Wait a second..." Fox said, his eyes widening a little as he tilted his head, "...I...I recognize you. You're the guy from the QnA, aren't you?"
And the moment was gone. A shiver ran through my shoulders and down my chest, "U-Uuhh..." I couldn't help but feel a bit of embarrassment in my chest growing in, "Yep, that's me. Name's Chase. Pleasure to meet you, all of you."
Suck it up, Chase. That was something that happened and you have to come to terms with it.
Falco stepped up behind Fox and eyeballed me, hard. It seemed like he had finally realized it too.
"Oh...shit, yeah, yeah that's who he is!" He said, putting a palm up to his forehead, "No wonder you looked familiar. Man, am I coming down with something? Must be getting dumber with age!" He chuckled.
"Oh, come on, Falco," Fox gave a friendly light punch to his shoulder, "We're only in our thirties-"
"Fourties for you, brother." Falco corrected.
Fox narrowed his brows, "Thanks for reminding me. But, hey, look at Peppy. If that were true, he wouldn't be the brains of the team now, would he?" The fox let out a hearty laugh. Speaking of the man himself, Peppy showed up right behind Falco and just stood by him, hands behind his back, giving me a single nod.
"Very funny, McCloud." He simply responded. And, finally, Slippy Toad would appear from behind Peppy, standing right beside him. Was pretty funny seeing them lined up like that. Could easily tell who was shortest and tallest.
"Slippy Toad!" He introduced himself, extending his hand to me, to which I respectfully shook, "It's not often we get visitors. Must be a pretty important reason for you to be here."
"You must be a big fan of us, kiddo, getting this far to find out where we stay while we're on Corneria."
"You guys always reside here?"
Fox enthusiastically opened his mouth to respond, but Peppy loudly cleared his throat, interrupting him before he could start. He, then, simply responded with, "Eeehhh...confidential. Can't tell you all about that."
I nodded, "Yeah, uh, Falco gave me a pretty stern talk regarding confidentiality around here."
"You bet I did. Mmmhm." Falco nodded toward Peppy proudly, expecting some approval from him. Peppy looked to him and gave him a nod.
"I suppose you met Darius upstairs, huh? He and us go way back. He's the reason we got this old place for ourselves." Fox spoke up, taking a step back, his tone was boastful, proud of himself. I loved to see it, "We gather up here to avoid the spotlights. Can't complain honestly, we got everything we need here. Food, water, the net, our data storages, contact with the Great Fox, it's sweet."
"Ahem," Peppy interrupted, "...Today, we gather here for a good reason. We need to focus on our current mission, not be...pulled aside by distractions." He looked at me when he said that. A tingle ran down my spine.
"Hate to say it kid, but Peppy's got a point!" Falco exclaimed, "I brought you here for a reason, not just for us to shower you with greets and autographs. So, hey, speaking of which," He turned to me, crossing his arms, "Buddy, er...Chase, right? You wanna start talking?"
I nodded, "Yes, yes, just...hold on, I need a moment to recollect my thoughts...I mean, meeting you guys, it's...it's a lot, you know?" I would say. Peppy rolled his eyes, Falco tilted his head, Slippy kept smiling and Fox just kept on grinning.
"Ah, it ain't nothing, bud. We're just your friendly neighborhood merc team like any other!" Slippy'd say, but for a moment, his smile seemed to fade as he looked to the side, his face momentarily showing a puzzled look, before he beamed up again, "I mean...still better than many others out there, that's for sure!"
I smiled, nodding, "Yeah...that's why you guys are my childhood icons." Saying that felt...good. It felt...liberating. I've always wanted to say something like this to them. Just how much they meant to me. How I grew up with them. Followed them from the very start up until this point, where I was now face-to-face, speaking with my childhood hero. It had been a disastrous couple of years for me, but especially for them. And yet...we still all could smile, even if just a little bit. Felt like I had these guys to rely on now, for real.
But I knew it wasn't all going to be pretty. It was time to break the news, "Well, uh...I have...news about Wolf...Star Wolf."
It was insane how one name could completely turn the atmosphere of an entire room one hundred and eighty degrees instantly. Slippy's face immediately came down with complete worry. Fox's eyebrows jumped and his smile disappeared. Peppy turned his attention back to me, frowning. Falco stayed the same.
"I stumbled into something big, Wolf's involved. That guy, uhh, the dingo who said those words at the QnA? I followed him. He went to the docks. There was a red warehouse there, owned by Bale Domino."
"Bale Domino?! The TV show guy?" Slippy spoke up. Peppy turned around again after shaking his head, it seemed like he didn't believe me. Fox shook his head too, it seemed like he was struggling to follow as well.
"Yeah. Rich dude, horribly sense of fashion, irritating as heck on TV...but anyway. The next day, I snuck around the back, found a way in through the windows..." I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. Breathe Chase. Don't forget to organize your thoughts. You need to sound coherent. You need them on your side, "...There was a computer. It belonged to the dingo. I went through his e-mails and there was one from a guy called Eldon."
As soon as I said that name, Peppy immediately turned his attention to me again. Now, he looked shocked. Fox's eyes shrunk, his maw hanging agape, "...Eldon...that's how Wolf has been signing his e-mails...even the ones he keeps sending to us."
"Any idea why he does that?" I paused for a moment to ask that question. Fox shook his head.
"He always changes it. Eldon, Ledon, Nedol...big fan of anagrams. A recent development for him." Peppy would respond to me, "...Can't tell you why."
"Strange..." I would cross my arms, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Anyway, 'Eldon', O'Donnell, obviously, sent the dingo there himself to say those things to you. Left a note in the desk, then dipped out. And y'all know what happened next. Apparently what he said meant something big to you, Fox...?"
"Yeah..." Fox responded. His tone, now, was somber, "...'The weather sure is holding up nicely, isn't it?'" He echoed the words spoken by the dingo at the QnA, his head hanging low. Slippy, Peppy and Falco all grew desolate looks in their faces, "...The words he said to me right before I found about Krystal...right before those pictures started appearing all over my Arwing's HUD." Right after he said that, his breathing got uneven, his voice audibly trembled. I noticed how his fists curled.
"Hey, hey, Fox," Slippy put a hand on the vulpine's shoulder, shaking him, "Come on now, be strong. Breathe deeply. Remember what I said. Deep breaths." He said, his tone sounding like one of a concerned grandfather,"Deep breaths."
"Deep breaths." Fox breathed in deep, held it for a moment, then exhaled, saying, "Deep breaths...okay, I'm good." Fox returned his eyes to me, "What else did you find out, Chase?"
"Well, the e-mail ended there. Then, the dingo walked into the room, answering his PDA. Before he could get away, I tackled him and took it for myself. He was speaking to Bale Domino. It was his voice. Could recognize it." The moment I said that again, they all seemed to become uncertain once more, "He was saying something about a script, something about somebody being here in two days. I demanded answers from him. He threatened me and hung up." I paused for a moment. My head spun a bit. Holy shit. To think of all that went down just a few hours ago. Just this morning I was thinking about what I wanted to have for dinner tonight. And now look where I am.
"...I'm in danger. My family is in danger. I told my sister to gather everyone up and get out of town. They went to Hopeville. I...I need protection." I requested, "...I uh...I need you guys."
The enitre Star Fox team, all looking straight at me. Collectively puzzled looks. Slippy looked worried, even stepping up to me and putting his hand on my shoulder. Peppy turned around again and walked away. Fox and Falco looked at each other, then back to me. Just what were they thinking? Hell, what was I thinking?
"We have an interview with Bale Domino tomorrow." Fox said, looking at me, "...I've known Mr. Domino for nearly five years now. These are...strange things you're saying about him..." He gazed at me, I could feel his doubtful stare knocking at my soul, "Are you sure the voice you heard over the PDA was Domino?"
"Absolutely." I responded, my voice cracking for a moment. All that confidence telling that story...where did it go?, "His voice, his speech mannerisms...all of that happened in Domino's warehouse."
"Just because that dingo guy works at an warehouse that belongs to Mr. Domino, it doesn't mean Wolf is directly involved with him. His e-mail account can't possibly be locked to that warehouse." Falco would tell me. I hated to admit it, but he had a point.
"I promise you guys, I heard Bale over the PDA. That dingo guy? He freaked out when I spoke up. Domino said something about having to 'retire him'. I-I..." Suddenly, I felt the words running out. Not the air. The words. It felt like I was running out of things to say. I had no method of proving what I heard to them. Walls were closing in.
"Are you sure it was Bale Domino? Could've been Bale Fitzgerald, the owner of Powerbox. He's always up to some shady stuff." Falco joked, "Fox, remember that one time he handed me a Powerbox Soda and the thing just blew up in my face?"
Fox laughed, "Hah, yeah, I do. You hadn't looked so orange since we were flying on Titania at dawn!"
Jokes. This was what they were doing now. Jokes. They weren't taking me seriously. Why should they? Look at me. A nineteen year old dork wearing soggy clothes smelling like shit and shouting conspiracy theories at them. Could I blame them?
My eyes wandered off of Fox's face, stared ahead blankly into the next room. Behind Fox, behind Falco, was a wall of medals. Medals and trophies, memories of better times, of a friendship forged from the fire from an Arwing's engines. A tight-knit group of mercenaries who had learned a long time ago to not trust just about anybody.
My eyes trailed down, then became unfocused. My thoughts followed in similar fashion. I had forgotten, these are mercs. They don't work for free. They have good intentions, but they are mercs at their core. Not that it's a bad thing, after all, I, too, did a lot of things for money just for the sake of surviving. Just for the sake of seeing the smile on mom's face when I bought her new shoes. Nothing too insane like killing for cash or destroying for gold. But at the same time, nothing heroic to be proud of.
"...Kid?" They stood next to me, but their voice sounded so distant. Like they were at the entrance of a cave and I was in deep, deep inside, "Yo, kid?" Fox bumped my arm.
"...Hm?" I perked my ears up, looking at him, then the rest of the team, their attentions turned to me.
"Was there anything else?" Fox asked. He had this worried expression on his face, yet, his words...felt robotic, in comparison to when we began talking. Maybe I was just hearing things. Maybe he really didn't trust me.
"...No, no, nothing at all. That was...well, that was everything." I concluded.
A silence ensued in the room. The team members looked amongst themselves, before Peppy broke the silence.
"Chase, you have a lot of courage to seek out one of our own and then come all the way to our base just to tell what you've been through. But do understand, these are some very serious allegations you're bringing up against a very respected friend of the team. Domino was here for one of our toughest moments in our career, that being what happened to poor Krystal. He sheltered us when we had nowhere else to go, when Corneria's starports refused to take in our ships. He got them open for us."
This stunned me. Krystal's situation had only been merely a couple of years ago, yet, I had believed this were their first time here in a decade.
"...Wait, so you guys had been back before...?" I questioned.
"We have." Fox answered the question, "...It was a rough time. We didn't want anybody knowing we were in town. It was kept under wraps...it was...it was for her funeral." He concluded, "...When the news broke out to the public, we were already gone. I didn't-" He paused, bit his lip, then continued, "We didn't wanna stay around for too long."
"Are you sure you heard who you think you heard over the line?" Peppy questioned me once more.
Defiantly, I retorted "I know what I heard." Peppy's stare remained stoic.
"I'm sure you have. We will take it to heart."
I gazed over to Fox. His smile was a memory to him. His eyes scanned aimlessly at the floor. Then, he looked up to me, "We don't believe you're lying, bud." He said, "But we can't just take a stranger's word against a dear friend. It might've been a misunderstanding-"
"What about the e-mail?" Slippy spoke up, "Are we just gonna ignore that? He knows about Wolf's anagrams! Come on, guys, you can't just gloss over that!"
Slippy Toad. To some, the least liked member of the Star Fox team. At a point, I didn't like him very much either. High pitched voice, childish attitude in the interviews and...not so easy on the eyes as the others. And now, the only one willing to stand up in my defense...against his own team. Funny how fate works like that.
"Are we not gonna talk about how Wolf came directly to Bale's warehouse to deliver that note to that...that dingus?" Slippy continued, "No way Bale would just allow him in his own property like that. Security would've shot him out of there the moment he showed his ugly mug!"
"Hate to break it to you, Slippy, but security at the port is pretty lacking." Falco spoke up.
"I can...vow for that." I said, raising my hand.
"Even with all the cameras? He would've been caught. Wolf isn't known for subtlety, no one on Star Wolf is...except for Leon."
Leon hasn't been seen in years. Star Wolf always refused to talk about him since his disappearance. There's been rumors he's residing in Corneria, laying low. Used to creep me out a bit when I was a teen.
"And if the cameras did catch him, so what?" Falco asked, "It ain't Bale's job to go after the dude."
"That's our job." Fox muttered.
"GUYS!" Slippy spoke up, tapping his webbed foot on the floor, "You are all missing the point! Star Wolf is coming back! They're planning something! They wouldn't have played mind games with us using that dingus otherwise!"
"Peppy, my dear friend, we know you don't check your e-mails often since you leave it for R.O.B to do it for you, but if you did, you'd find that Wolf has been trying to pull off these twisted mind games with us for years. He is completely, utterly deranged." Peppy spoke calmly.
"Yes, but this is new. NEW!" Slippy frowned, I had never seen him get this passionate in an argument before, "T-This is, this is, this is next level and Wolf knows it! This is, this is, this is, this is, this, this-"
"Slow it down, Slippy." The team all collectively spoke at the same time. Huh.
Slippy took in a deep breath, "...This is bad guys. This is a message. And this kid right here." Slippy pointed to me, "He's onto something. Why else would he be here? To spin overcomplicated lies? He's got school tomorrow!"
Oh my stars.
"Uh...Slippy, I already finished high school." I informed him.
"Oh! Uh...my bad! Well, you got work tomorrow, don't you?"
"As a matter of fact I-" That was a good question. How the hell was I gonna get to work? I needed to let Jim know. Let him know that...that...I was a wanted man? No, that's...that's not good enough. Crap.
"See? He's got better things to do than to mess with us. I say we trust him!" Slippy said, clenching his fist against his chest, "Who's with me?!"
The other members traded looks, tired sighs, all in silence. Then, Falco curled his fist and brought it to his chest, "This little dude was running for his life from the cops when I found him, all because he wanted to speak to us. I'll give him a chance."
Fox remained unmoved. His head hung low, arms crossed, deep in thought. Peppy simply looked over the rest and then sighed.
Looks like I was sticking to Falco and Slippy for now.
It hurt. Seeing the team divided like this, over me even. And it hurt more that Fox chose to not trust my word. 'A close friend of Domino'? When had this even become a thing? I suppose the thing about living in desperate times is that you start to realize how little you actually know your world.
"Right." Falco said, "Well...in that case, Chase, I'll keep in contact with you."
"And I will do the same!" Slippy cheerfully spoke up.
"Yeah." Falco added, "Pass me your PDA's ID file later and I'll save it on mine. Do us a favor, if you can find out anything else about Domino, could you let us know?"
"I wouldn't even know where to start..." Fox and Peppy walked out of the room, leaving just me, Falco and Slippy.
"Well, you can't go back to those warehouses. No doubt they're expecting you to come back, especially after you assaulted that dude. So you gonna have to get real creative now."
I snapped my fingers, "Ms. Turner."
"Ms. Turner?" Slippy asked, "What do you want with her? She's just a manager at that con center. Really rude one at that too! She spilled water on my jacket and didn't even apologize!"
Falco cleared his throat, "Slippy..."
"...Right, uh, sorry..." He awkwardly rubbed his head.
"I'm gonna be real with you, Chase, it was odd to see her just turn to the cops so quick when you tried to talk to her. She's a bit stuck up, but the way she reacted? Either you and her got some serious relationship issues or she saw something in you she didn't like."
"I never met that woman in my life until at that very moment, Falco, believe me." I crossed my arms. It was starting to feel really cold in those moist clothes. Brrrr.
"Hm...well, looks like we have our first lead, don't we?" Falco smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder, "But you can't just walk up to her and ask questions like you did, clearly she doesn't like you...so how's about you let this charming old bird do the talking for you?"
"And what are you two gonna talk about?" I questioned, "If this is just a way for you to score a date with her, forget about it, man."
Falco frowned, "What? No way, man, I wouldn't do that. This is pure info only. I'll talk with her, see if I can get her to speak up about the whole commotion that happened earlier today. Maybe she'll say something about you, what set her off like that. It's a start, ain't it?"
I took a deep breath, nodding, my tail swishing left and right casually behind me, "...Suppose it is, Falco."
He grinned, unfurled his arms and offered me a high-five, "There we go, lil man!" I mustered up the energy to high five him back. All the running from earlier, then the walking and talking...was leaving me extremely exhausted, "...Jeez, you're all wobbly." He said, shaking my hand, and me, back and forth.
"I'm...pretty freaking tired, not gonna lie." I responded.
"Yeah, no kidding...though I don't think there's any place for you to sleep down here. We only got two bunk beds and all the spots are taken-"
"No, no, no, man, it's fine, I'll head back up to the bar and find some corner to sleep in, no problem. I've done it before."
Contrary to what I just said, no, I had never done that before. I just said it because I didn't want to be a further pain in the ass to Star Fox like I already have.
"What?!" Slippy exclaimed, "Absolutely not! Do you know the types of shady people that show up up there every night?!"
"Yeah, it's pretty bad, dude, we watch them on the cameras, it's like...bar fight central!" Falco said as he walked around me, tapping my shoulder, "How about this, lil man...you can sleep in my car. In the backseat. I'll bring you a pillow and a spare blanket. Think ya can manage that?"
I simply nodded my head, turning myself toward him. Then Slippy raised his voice, "Oh! Oh! Fresh clothes! He needs fresh clothes! I'll get something." He turned, ran into the other room.
"Oh, uh, yeah, man, no offense but...you kinda smell like shit." Falco gave it to me straight. Couldn't blame him, that was the unmistable smell of downtown Corneria all in one person.
All I could muster up was a dumb, sleep-deprived, weak smile, "Just get me to your car, Falco."