Star Fox: Ballad Of The Phoenix

by DeltaERB

Tyler Jacob Koen; Detroit's best street racer. After he and his crew are contracted to steal a certain car, TJ finds himself stranded in a faraway galaxy. With no crew and a sliver of hope rapidly fading away, TJ will do whatever he has to do in order to get back home. Even if that means crossing lines he never thought he would have to.

13. And Something New

Act 2

Chapter 13

"…And Something New"

Fox never imagined that he would be returning to Sargasso so soon, let alone ever. As he slowly approached, the pirate hub was bustling with ships flying around it like a nest of hornets. An asteroid belt surrounded the station, giving it natural cover from any prying eyes. That did not stop rogue asteroids and debris from floating dangerously close to Sargasso, but the massive sonic mining cannons took care of that problem.

Fox's hands wrapped around his flight stick in a death grip, dressed in his usual pilot attire and ready for a dogfight or to beat a hasty retreat any second now. Taking a deep breath, he centered himself as Krystal taught him to. In through the nose, hold for five seconds, out through the mouth. Repeat until calm.

The sound of his comms unit activating nearly caused Fox to fire a laser shot as he sat upright, Wolf's grinning visage appearing just beneath his heads-up display. "That's a sight that never gets old. Hopefully, no one staged a coup while I was gone."

Fox raised a brow at Wolf's comment. "Uh, is that going to be an issue?"

Wolf rocked his head from side to side, the words backed up in his mouth like a traffic jam for a few seconds. "Eh… it's a strong maybe. You're shoot-on-sight 'round these parts, McCloud. But I might be enough to keep your tail attached to your ass, so long as you behave."

"And how do I behave in a place like this?"

"By shutting your mouth and staying right behind me. Let's move."

The Arwing and Wolfen quickly flew into Sargasso's range, picking up on the various radio chatter. It was like listening to multiple different radio stations at once, as voices and music overlapped with one another. Just as Fox was becoming accustomed to the noise, it all went silent. The music was slowly lowered, while voices became hushed whispers. Fox felt as if the station itself had grown a pair of eyes and was staring right through him.

Wolf let a smirk cross his lips as he opened up his comms line to the station, broadcasting his message. "Alright, you wretched mongrels. This is Lord O'Donnell, coming in to dock with a plus one. Clear my path or get cleared out, got it?"

Silence filled the airwaves as Fox stuck close to Wolf, keeping a death grip on his flight stick. If this was a precursor to an ambush, he was ready to counterattack instantly. The radio remained silent for a few more seconds before a voice came over the empty space. "Lord O'Donnell? We thought you were dead…"

"Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, Lord! But, is that Fox McCloud flyin' with you? Why'd you bring Corneria's golden boy to Sargasso? And where have you been for the past week or so?"

Fox could hear Wolf chuckle slightly as he responded to the call. "This line of work makes strange bedfellows, Marcel. Someone tried to plug me, and the pup here wants to help figure out who. Turns out they might be gunning for him too." Wolf's face suddenly twisted into a snarl, anyone with proper comms receivers could now see his glare staring back at them. "So this is a warning to all of you. McCloud is mine, no one else's. I don't wanna see anyone else here trying to claim the price on his head; firstly because that belongs to me. And secondly, he's under my protection. You hurt him, and I wipe your name and anyone who's ever looked your way from history. Lord O'Donnell, out."

The radio went silent once more, before the usual chatter slowly returned, albeit in more hushed tones. It brought a wide smile to Wolf's lips as he jumped to a private comm channel and hailed Fox. "Whattya think, pup? Pays to have a pirate king on your side, huh?"

Fox huffed as he watched the various pirate ships give him and Wolf a wide berth, allowing them to easily pass through the field of debris and ruffians. "What was that about a price on my head?"

Wolf let out a deep laugh from his gut, before he paused mid-cackle when he realized Fox's face had not changed. "…are you serious? You've been the pirate's bogeyman for roughly ten years now. Hell, your whole team has prices on their heads, even the froggy and the good doctor."

"I know that," Fox groaned, remembering the slew of bounty hunters that tried to take him and his team out over the years. "But what did you mean when you said that my bounty belonged to you?"

"I've told you before, so I'll tell you again. The only person who gets to take you down is me."

"So does this mean you'll try to kill me once we take out Shears?"

Wolf let out a solitary, deep chuckle as he flew ahead of Fox, causing the vulpine to swallow a lump in his throat as he followed. Every ship kept their berth, even if they could not keep their eyes off of the duo. A path was cleared for the Wolfen and Arwing to enter a private hangar on the north side of the abandoned mining station. The entrance wasn't visible and was instead hidden to deter snooping eyes. As the two ships approached what seemed like a large metal panel, the panels suddenly slid open to reveal Star Wolf's private hangar.

It was a lot less tidy than the hangar of the Great Fox, but it was still more neat than a usual pirate spot, which was not saying much. Fox spotted a few of the Landmasters that Wolf and his team had stolen, repainted black and red to match the color scheme of the Wolfens. Various stolen and fenced goods, from credit servers to priceless artifacts, were also present. Fox wondered how many of these illicit goods were tied to an unsolved number of cold cases and missing from shipping manifestos after raids. A dull thud suddenly caught his ears as the aged but well-maintained mag rails caught his Arwing, allowing him to power down the fighter. As soon as the hangar's pressure was stabilized and the oxygen was flowing, he popped the canopy and climbed out.

The stench of poorly recycled oxygen made Fox nauseous as his head involuntarily shook in response to the musty air stinging his nostrils. Meanwhile, Wolf was unaffected as he hopped out of his Wolfen, taking a deep breath of the den. "Ah," he sighed in bliss. "Smells like home."

"Yeah, but would putting up some air fresheners kill you?"

"Aw, it's not that bad! You'll get used to it soon enough, trust me." There was slight pause before Wolf's eye lit up, "Oh! Right, I almost forgot, I told my boys that I'd pick up some of their clothes for 'em while I was here. Gimmie a sec." He quickly walked off to a door across the hall and disappeared behind it.

After minutes of waiting around, the door hissed open again, revealing Wolf in a new outfit. Replacing his jacket, tank top, jeans, and work boots was a gunmetal grey flight suit, which was partially covered by a sleeveless purple leather jacket with pink stripes running horizontally on it. An unbuckled black leather belt had been looped around the hem of the jacket, and Wolf was now wearing a pair of purple flared fingerless gloves. Two spiked shoulder pads surrounded his head while a pink scarf gently rested below his neck. His work boots had been substituted for a strange pair of grey boots that looked like brass knuckles for his feet. Four sharp horizontal razors stuck out of the toe of each boot, riding up to spiked knee pads. His footfalls were much louder as he approached, but Fox was more concerned with what was on his hip. Connected by a wallet chain, a double-belted holster concealed a modified blaster pistol. Along the lower receiver of the weapon was a jagged piece of metal that had been fashioned into a makeshift bayonet.

In Wolf's hands were four black duffel bags, slowing him down slightly as he waddled to his Wolfen. Remotely opening the cargo bay, Wolf quickly shoved each bag into the hold before closing it. As he turned back to Fox, the vulpine had to address the main issue. "What's with the gun, Wolf?"

The lupine snorted. "It's Sargasso, pup. Gotta show people that I'm not out for a stroll, you know?"

Fox rolled his eyes at Wolf's lackadaisical response, instead moving his mind onto more pressing matters. "So," he began with a cleared throat. "Who can find proof of Shears?"

Wolf motioned for Fox to follow his lead as he began to walk, his heavy boots echoing his footsteps in the stale air. "Girl calls herself Bella. She's former CID, but thought she was too smart to work for a bunch of government stooges," Wolf began as he opened a nearby door to an elevator. After Fox stepped inside the cramped cube, Wolf stepped in behind him. With a sniff, the lupine walked over to the controls of the lift and pressed a certain button. Within a few seconds, the elevator began to descend, and he continued his story. "Some false reports, a few filled bank accounts of taxpayer credits, and one tiny allegation of high treason, she fled and covered her tracks well enough to end up here. We've basically got our own government spook keeping an eye on the system for us, as long as she gets her payday too."

The doors to the elevator opened with a corrupted chime, revealing a long, blank hallway. It resembled a kill box, as Fox instantly clocked the two laser turrets suspended just above the elevator. "Are those safe?"

Wolf nodded. "Yeah, you'll be fine. Don't worry, they ain't even programmed to kill. Only to stun. Trust me, people 'round here are more scared of being stunned by our little home security system than axed by it."

"And why is that?"

"Leon."

Wolf did not need to say anything else, as Fox fully understood the implications. "Well, as long as he doesn't plan on doing that in the future aboard my ship."

Wolf chuckled, putting his hands in his pocket as he walked down the hallway. "Eh, I don't know. Once we catch Shears and his cronies, they might not make it to lock-up. That is, if you really think another ghost has come back to haunt you."

Fox said nothing else as the duo continued to walk through the pirate hideout. It wasn't too long ago that the same halls that the vulpine and lupine walked were a shooting gallery. Memories of the Aparoid Invasion stung Fox like an angry hornet as he remembered his trip to this station. The aftermath of his marksmanship was still visible when the vulpine walked by a wall scorched by laser marks. There was more black than silver on the structure, making Fox's muzzle scrunch up. "Hey, Wolf," Fox called out. Wolf stopped in his tracks and turned to face Fox with a questioning glare. "Why'd you never fix these walls? We must have passed a few dozen of them marked up like this now."

Wolf scoffed as he tapped the scorched wall with his claw, before looking back at the fox. "Cause it gives this place character," the lupine smirked. Just as Fox was about to join him, Wolf's muzzle suddenly grew serious. "And the folks here don't like to forget." He growled out before tapping the wall and continuing his stride forward. Fox kept pace with the lupine, letting his words bounce around in his skull. Even with Wolf guiding him, he was still getting dirty glares from passer-by's. Some were just narrowed eyes, while others were motioning that they were going to slit his throat. Not exactly a warm reception. But he couldn't really blame them.

Before Fox could ponder the realities of war any longer, they had arrived, and Wolf had a large smirk on his muzzle. Their destination was a large metal door with random scribbles and scratches all over it. It looked as if someone had let a hyped-up child go crazy with crayons. Multiple security cameras were pointed at the entrance, making sure that the viewer could see every strand of fur on the two. Finally, a perfume-heavy stench hit Fox's nose, and it was powerful. So powerful that Fox had to pull his scarf up to his mouth and use it as a makeshift gas mask against the scent of bottled flowers and lime.

Wolf knocked on the door in a specific pattern, his fist echoing throughout the empty hall. After a few seconds, the cameras began whirring and buzzing around them. Wolf scoffed and held up both middle fingers to as many of the cameras as possible. "Stop bein' a bitch and open the door, Bella," he chided with a smirk. The silence was broken up only by mechanical whirring before an excited voice shrieked through the door. The sounds of locks unlocking went on for a good twenty seconds before the large door was flung open. In the doorway was a golden-furred pit-lab mix. Her deep brown eyes were as wide as dinner plates as soon as they fell on Wolf, practically jumping out of her stained mechanic's jumpsuit as she rushed her lord with glee.

"Wolfywolfywolfywolfy! Heyheyheyheyhey, how've you been, how've you been?!" Bella exclaimed, her thin tail wagging at full force. Wolf chuckled, keeping the canine at bay with his arm outstretched.

"Still alive an' kickin' over here, Bells," Wolf smirked, before looking over at Fox, who was politely standing to the side. "Oh, yeah, this is the Fox McCloud. Decided to tag along for now," Wolf introduced. Bella's expression soured as Fox outstretched his paw for a shake.

"Fox McCloud, huh? The Boy Scout of the Lylat System?" Leaning in Wolf's direction, Bella cupped her hand in a way that only he could hear here, leaving Fox in the dark. "Does he have a gun to your head, Wolf? Say the word and I can zap him with enough volts to fry the fluffy tail of his."

Wolf snickered at the request before shaking his head. "Nah, it's alright. He managed to swing me and my boys full pardons, so I gotta help him and his wife out with a little problem in return."

"What, he needs help getting it up?"

Bella's no-hesitation answer made Wolf release a snort so powerful it gave him a temporary sore throat. Despite her infallible cupped hand communication, Fox heard every word and frowned at the immature joke. "Wolf told me that you knew things, but I guess he was wrong. I'm done wasting my time here, I'll be waiting back at the hangar."

Wolf cleared his burning throat within a split-second in an attempt to warn Fox about walking away, but the scarred pirates now blocking the hallway were enough to get the vulpine to pause his walk seconds after starting it. With his voice back and now by Fox's side, Wolf spoke up. "Yeah, best you stick close to me, pup. Trust me, that's a fight you won't win."

Fox rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, staring down the sneering legion of pirates with confidence beaming from his body. "You know firsthand just how skilled I am in hand-to-hand combat."

"Against me in a fair fight? Sure. But uh… these guys don't play by your little dojo rules. I'd bet you a hundred credits they've each got a shiv up their sleeves, and they're gonna slide them into that honorable little heart of yours if you don't shut your damned mouth and fall in line. Got it?"

Wolf's words broke down Fox's wall of resolve, the realization that each pirate was armed with various blades causing him to shrink down in size. He was an excellent martial artist, but all it would take was one lucky stab from any of the ruffians. Without saying another word, he slowly walked back to Bella with Wolf, not taking his eyes off any of the snarling pirates staring him down until he was face-to-face with the golden canine once more.

"Sorry about that, Bells. Boy Scout here just forgot that he's not where people kiss the ground he walks on," Wolf growled, making sure that Fox knew to stay by his side until they were both back in the hangar.

Bella narrowed her eyes for a moment, looking back at Fox before casting her gaze down the hallway now clotted with pirates. After a few seconds, she sighed and stepped back into her sanctuary. "In here," she ushered with the enthusiasm of a teenager's first retail job. Wolf took the invitation to step inside, making sure that Fox was practically glued to his tail before the door slammed shut behind him.

Bella's room was full of paraphernalia fitting that of a stereotypical teenage girl. Shirtless male models littered her walls like a shotgun spread, while her double bed was covered by pink bed sheets, throw pillows, and an army of stuffed dinosaurs. The L.E.D lights in her room gently waved over the bodies occupying it as she sat down on her bed and grabbed a large stuffed dinosaur from the back of her bed. "So, what brings both of you to Sargasso?"

Fox looked at Wolf, who looked back at Bella, now behind her large stuffed dino. "The Cornerian Congress just got punched in the mouth by a bunch of terrorists packing some serious firepower, and we've just been contracted to figure out who and why." Wolf paused for a second, before stepping closer to the golden pit-lab with a slight tinge of worry in his eye. "First things first… it wasn't anyone from here, right?"

Bella raised a brow before she began tapping away at the small arm-mounted computer she wore. Silence filled the air for a solid minute as the canine browsed every dark web page and auction house with the speed of a laser from a blaster before finally shaking her head. "Nope, nothing on the net says anything about this attack. Most I've got is a bank job on Titania that went south, definitely not your guys."

"So you're saying that this was an inside job?"

Fox's question made Bella smirk as she cast her gaze on Wolf. "Sharp as a tack, this one," she scoffed, causing Wolf to exhale air out of his nostrils with a smirk while Fox glared at her with a drooped tail. "Well, you're right," she confirmed as she continued to browse her computer. "From what I can see here, looks like a ton of the firepower was stolen. I've got a few invoices that label some of the weapons and gear used in the raid as missing or lost, so someone was able to get these weapons without raising alarms."

"Was it all from one place?"

Fox's question was met with another headshake from Bella. "Nope, piecemeal. Small amounts missing here and there from CDF bases across Lylat. Looks like this took a few months to arm this force up, too."

"A few months… how did we miss this," Fox mumbled under his breath. Looking up at the canine Fox cocked his head to the side. "Is there any mention of a Captain Benjamin Shears at all?"

Bella had to hold back a chuckle as she cocked her head in a mocking pose. "Shears? You mean the guy you squashed like a bug under some freaky clone of Andross a couple years back?"

"Yes," Fox replied, his eyes slowly drifting back to the screen. "I swear I saw him yesterday before the ceremony. He could be using an alias, changed his appearance, anything."

Bella huffed, moving her eyes back to the computer on her arm. There was a deathly silence as her eyes ran through the thin screen. After a minute beat, the golden canine's eyes lit up. "Boom! Got him!" Turning her wrist computer to Fox and Wolf, Bella's screen was frozen on a security feed from the Congress minutes before the attack, with the captain from Fox's memories. He was still in his green officer's uniform, blending in seamlessly into the crowd. Fox's blood boiled as he looked back at Bella. "I'm gonna assume this is your guy?"

Fox lunged for Bella's wrist, nearly ripping the device off her arm. His eyes burned through the touchscreen as a snarl took over his muzzle. The outfit, the posture, that fake forced smile on his lips. It was exactly as he remembered. Fox's rage partly subsided as he noticed who Shears was standing next to. "Who's the stag?"

Bella locked her eyes in on where Fox's were fixated, raising a brow in the process. Next to Shears was a well-dressed buck, holding himself in a dignified manner. Both arms were behind his back, standing tall in a sharp black suit as he silently stood to the side. "No idea… I'll have to dig up some info on this guy. Have Wolf come back with his crew in about a week or so. I should be all ready by then."

Fox raised a brow at the request, folding his arms in the process. "Why Wolf and his crew? Why not me?"

"Because," Bella began as she fell back onto her bed with a stranglehold on her stuffed dino. "You draw a lot of heat, McCloud. Heat that this place doesn't need. And if these guys are trying to burn you, I wanna keep my distance."

Fox scoffed. "And Wolf doesn't draw heat?"

"Cause people expect the grumpy cyclops to be here. If word gets out that you keep showing up, all the wrong eyes are gonna be locked on us. People come here for the exact opposite, McCloud."

Wolf huffed, looking toward Bella with a narrowed eye. "Sorry to freak you out, Bells. But me bein' alive has already put eyes on this place. Now that we know Shears tried to kill us, me bailin' Fox and his team out yesterday means that Sargasso's on his map. Chances are he'll start staking this place out as soon as possible."

Bella's expression darkened as she pulled her legs into her chest. "Well, I'm not just gonna e-mail this info to you. But I don't want his goon squad flying in and wrecking this place."

"Come on, like that's gonna happen." Wolf let a smirk split his lips as he looked over to Bella's computer. "The only way he'd get past you and our defenses is if he could teleport or something! Relax, he's not touching Sargasso."

"Well, I'm still getting extra muscle just in case. I'm not taking any chances." After a few seconds of silence, Bella pulled up her wrist computer again. "Anything else you want to know?"

Wolf nodded. "Shears had two goons with him, they were almost able to put Leon and Panther down for good. One was a lemur with some kind of light combat armor and a sniper rifle, while the other was a komodo and dressed like a time-warped ninja."

Bella narrowed her eyes as she typed the descriptions into her computer. Silence once more drowned her room before she appeared to strike gold. "Eeesh. Alright, I think I've got your two friends here. The lemur's name is Jacques Baumire. Seems like he's a former Androssian, dedicated to the cause and all that. High-profile assassination using a sniper rifle, takes kinetic rounds too. After the war, he went into hiding."

"And the komodo?"

Bella shrugged, looking over her computer multiple times. "Not much to say about him. Guy's off the radar for the most part. All I've got is a name and M.O. Ke'ai. Seems like an assassin as well, but I'm not sure if he's also former Androssian or not. He's definitely a ninja alright, keeps out of sight and cloaked in almost every CCTV shot I can grab of him.

Fox raised a brow at the assessments, looking over Bella's shoulder to confirm her words with visuals of the two henchmen. "Former Androssians? What the hell is Shears planning?"

"No idea," Wolf replied. "But I've got a feeling we'll be seeing those guys soon enough." Looking back toward Bella, he gave her a quick nod. "Keep us in the loop. If you find out anything about that stag, ping me and I'll be back here before you know it."

Bella nodded her head with a smile in response, grabbing another dino plush to cuddle the life out of. "Looking forward to it, Wolfie! Good luck!"

With final goodbyes exchanged, Fox and Wolf left Bella's den, her door hissing shut and locking behind both of them. As soon as Fox turned to head back to the hangar, he froze in his tracks. Both ends of the hallway were now clogged with pirates. Each one was armed with some form of blunt or sharp weapon, staring down the duo. Fox took a deep breath. He expected this. Cooly, he rested one hand on his blaster, ready to rip it from the hip holster and start putting down targets.

Before Fox could act, his sensitive ears picked up a low growl coming from Wolf. "What the hell is the meaning of this?"

One pirate, a gorilla in a patchworked Androssian uniform with makeshift armor layered on top of it stepped forward, gently tapping the palm of his hand with a blunt metal baton. "You've gone soft, O'Donnell. The CDF clears your bounty and now you've got McCloud there as your wingman? Your time as Lord of Sargasso is over."

"So you're trying to stage a cute little mutiny, huh? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"A weak little bitch who doesn't have the stomach for this life anymore." The gorilla began to step toward the duo, banging his baton against the metal wall of the hallway. With a smirk, he looked towards Wolf, his muzzle now showing off his razor-sharp stained teeth. "But don't worry, you're getting off easy. We're just gonna beat you to death right here. McCloud on the other hand? We're gonna make sure he dies nice and slow in the Bowels. Then he can go back to hell with his pathetic little daddy."

In a flash, Wolf suddenly ripped his own blaster from his holster and aimed square at the gorilla's forehead. Wolf pulled the trigger in the same split second, sending a bolt of light through his forehead. The gorilla suddenly crumpled to the floor, falling face first at Wolf's feet, dead as could be. The lupine wanted to send a message, so he lifted his foot up and stomped down on the dead mutineer's head over and over again. The sounds of wet cracking mixed with a heavy boot stamping on metal eventually, before Wolf finally pulled his now-crimson boot back and looked around.

Both sides of the hallway were frozen in fear, mouths agape at the turn of fortune. Fox kept his eyes off the grizzly scene, pushing what Wolf was doing out of his mind. Making sure that both sides of the hallway acknowledged his authority, Wolf spoke up. "Does anyone else wanna join him on the sole of my boot?! Huh?! Does anyone else feel like continuing his stupid little mutiny?!" A wave of silence responded, prompting Wolf to continue. "I am Lord O'Donnell, you weak, pathetic pieces of shit! Don't you ever forget that! As far as I care, you all should count yourselves lucky I don't rip out each of your skulls and build a throne with them!"

Save for the odd twitch from the gorilla's corpse, no one else dared to make a move. With the hallway subdued, Wolf looked toward Fox with a snarl. "We're going. Now." Fox did not argue as Wolf marched ahead, still gripping his blaster tight. Walking up to the wall of pirates, Wolf said only one word. "Move."

The pirates immediately complied, forcing themselves to the side of the hallway as the duo walked by. Fox stuck close to Wolf's tail as they made their way back to the private hangar. Fox's sharp eyes noticed Wolf walk with an agitated gait, his footfalls louder and heavier than usual. Not a word was traded before the two arrived back at the elevator.

With an angered huff, Wolf jammed his finger into the button, letting the doors creak shut. Over the ambiance of the elevator, Fox could hear the lupine's rage-fueled breaths break through the still air. There was a volatile amount of rage permeating the air, and he had to address it. "Wolf," he began.

Before another word could exit his lips, Wolf suddenly snapped his head toward Fox. "What," he snarled, his muzzle contorting to show off each of his razor-sharp fangs. "Do you not approve?! Do you think I care?! That's how it works on Sargasso, someone steps up and you put them down! You don't show weakness around here! I wasn't gonna just sit there and have some goon and his cronies kill me! I did something about it! And if you've got a problem with that, then too bad!"

"Are you okay?"

Fox's response caught Wolf off guard. He was prepared to defend his place while Fox challenged him. Venomous words would be traded, and maybe even a few punches would be thrown. But the light behind Fox's eyes was genuine. There was no judgment, no malice, no condescension. Only compassion.

Wolf huffed, his muzzle no longer snarling as the elevator doors opened to the private hangar. "…I'm fine. We got what we needed." As he walked out of the elevator, every other step resulted in a wet splashing sound echoing across the bay. Looking down, he noticed his purple and black combat boot caked in crimson, some dry while other parts were still moist. Looking at Fox, he sighed as he sat down on a nearby crate and began to remove the soiled shoe. "I've got some wet wipes in a cleaning kit near my Wolfen. Mind grabbing them for me?"

Fox nodded, briskly walking to the Wolfen and looking around. He quickly noticed the container and grabbed it, jogging back to the frowning lupine and handing him the wipes. Wolf remained silent as he removed his boot and began cleaning it, resting his foot on his knee to keep it off the dirty hangar floor.

As Fox watched Wolf scrub each speck of blood off his boot, he raised his brow with a slight smirk. "You never struck me as the one for self-care, Wolf."

Wolf scoffed, flipping the boot over and meticulously rubbing the brains off it. "Your dad made sure I kept all my clothes neat and clean for the most part, blame him."

Fox chuckled, taking a seat next to Wolf as he continued to clean. "Sounds like my dad alright. Glad that much stuck with you."

"Fay'd also have my head if I came back with a bloodied boot and no good excuse. I don't think she'd buy the excuse that I slipped in a blood puddle either."

The response caught Fox by surprise. "And you're listening to Fay now?"

"I can't ignore the doc, she won't let me," Wolf jested, doing one final check on his boot. She's constantly runnin' check-ups on all of us, and she's making sure I don't smoke anymore. You know she's got me wearing a patch?"

Fox almost choked on his own tongue. "She is?"

"Yep, and if I take it off, she'll know. Trust me, I tried."

"Honestly, I'm surprised you let her do that."

"If there's one thing I've learned, it's to never mess with a doctor. She would've put it on me in my sleep anyway, so I just bit the bullet. I gotta admit, it does feel nice not craving a smoke every few hours."

With one final pass, the boot was now free of blood, allowing Wolf to slide it back on. Tapping the toe into the steel, Wolf looked back at Fox with a smirk. "Ready to deliver the news?"

"Let's move."

~:::~

TJ ran the rag along his Viper, sopping wet with the weight of water as the street racer attempted to clean the dirt and dust off of the supercar. Running it through that construction yard yesterday left it covered in sawdust and wooden splinters, hiding the beautiful red coat of paint it wore. It worked as a form of mediation, the soapy water removing the dirt and dust from the body of the car while it scrubbed the worry from his mind.

Falco eyed the street racer from across the hangar, slowly tuning out Slippy's technical talk about the various systems of his ship as he watched TJ clean the same spot on his Viper repeatedly. The motion made Falco scoff, prompting Slippy to pull his head out from the bomb bay. "Was it something I said? I thought you told me you wanted to fix the gimbal cannon stability…"

Falco shook his head. "Nah. It's that kid," he mumbled, his eyes running over Panther and Leon working on their own Wolfens for a second in the process. "I trust him even less than Wolf's footstools over there."

"Falco," Slippy sighed, looking between the avian and the human. "He saved Peppy's life. I don't know what else he would have to do to get you to trust him."

"He thinks he's hot shit with his fancy little toy there."

"Not to be rude or anything, but I feel like you've said the same things about yourself before."

"Come on, Slip," Falco scoffed. "Look at him. He's a punk!"

"He's not doing anything. Just leave him alone if you've got a problem with him."

"You know I can't do that." A small smile slowly crawled across Falco's beak as the words spilled out of his throat.

Slippy knew what that look meant. From the Academy right before Falco broke a fellow student's collarbone in a cafeteria-wide brawl to the time he threw down against three CDF troops with fast mouths but slow punches at a local bar. "Oh no, no no no. Falco, please. Fox is gonna be so pissed if he comes back and finds out you started a fight for no reason!"

"So let him cry about it. Time to teach this punk a lesson."

"Falco!"

Slippy's cries were ignored as Falco put his wings in his pockets and walked up to TJ. Panther watched Falco's stroll from his side of the hangar, a smile soon spreading across his lips as he nudged Leon. "Look at this. I have a feeling that Lombardi is about to do something interesting."

Leon said nothing, silently watching Falco's descent upon TJ as he leaned back against his Wolfen.

Slippy was not fast enough to run up and try to hold Falco back. With a metallic clang, Falco planted the sole of his boot on the hood of TJ's Viper. The clang could have been heard from around Corneria as TJ paused his scrubbing, his eyes locking onto Falco's boot before it ran up his leg to the cocky grin that the avian beamed.

There was a silent pause, Slippy recoiling slightly as TJ locked glares with Falco, who sneered down at him. After a few seconds of deafening silence, Falco spoke up. "Nice toy."

TJ narrowed his eyes as he released his rag, letting it hit the deck plating with a splat. "Yeah, she looks nicer when some asshole doesn't put their boot on her."

Falco held his smirk, looking down at his boot before chuckling. "Oh, look at that. How rude. 'Scuse me." A metallic screech could be heard as Falco dragged the sole of his boot down the hood of the Viper. TJ could feel a vein start to throb in his forehead as he watched the scratch marks left behind by the boot. Finally setting his boot down on the floor, the avian shook his head as he looked back at the car. "Nah, I guess you're right. It looked better before. You got a big scratch on your hood."

Invading Falco's personal space, TJ sized him up. Falco was taller, stronger, and older than him. But that never stopped him before. "You got a problem with me, Birdie?"

Falco rolled his tongue around in his mouth. He seemed to chew on it for a second before opening his mouth. "You better scram in the next minute, kid. This ain't your world."

"Yeah, well, nothin' would make me happier than never havin' to see your face again. Thankfully, that's gonna be in about a week or so."

"I'm not waiting a week to be rid of your sorry ass."

"Too bad. You ain't Fox, so I'm stayin'."

"I don't remember givin' you a choice. Get in your little toy car, and get the hell out of our hangar. Now."

TJ scoffed and rolled his eyes, before he raised one hand and extended his middle finger to the bird. "And again, you ain't Fox. Last I checked, he gave the marchin' orders 'round here. I ain't gonna sit here and take shit from his number two, 'aight? So get the hell outta my sight before I drop you like a bitch."

Falco quickly began to snarl in the street racer's direction. The smile was gone, he was in no mood to play any games. Slippy knew better than to interrupt Falco in this state and simply prayed that this would end quickly.

TJ kept his eyes on Falco, but he moved too quickly for his brain to process. In a flash, Falco's boot connected with TJ's jaw, sending him spiraling down to the floor. The kick stung like an irate hive of hornets, silently screaming as he cradled his mouth in his free hand. "Get. Out. Of. My. Hangar." Falco's icy stare burned a hole through TJ, but the street racer held a trick in the palm of his hand.

Falco was shocked when the washrag was hucked from TJ's palm to his face, splashing into his eyes. In the next second, the soapy water made the avian shriek in pain, his eyes burning from the cleaning concoction. TJ took the opportunity to tackle the blinded fighter and began to rain down punches. He was only able to get a handful of blows in before Falco's extensive martial arts training kicked in.

With a curled beak, Falco grabbed TJ's lapel and placed one foot on his chest. TJ went flying through the air with a textbook single-leg monkey flip, landing hard with Falco quickly kipping up to his feet. Before TJ could scramble back to a vertical base, the toe of Falco's boot suddenly slammed into his ribs, sending him rolling with a guttural wheeze.

Fay entered the hangar with her datapad, her headphones over her floppy ears as she bopped her head along to her own music as she prepared to run diagnostics on her own ship. The look of joyful bliss was turned into one of abject horror as she noticed Falco and TJ trading blows, with the former delivering a right hook to the cheek of the latter, causing a mouthful of crimson to splatter onto the sports car.

Knocking her headphones down to her neck and shoving her datapad into her jacket, Fay sprinted past Slippy to break up the fight in the form of pulling TJ back. Seeing Fay spring into action Slippy attempted to hold Falco back as well, but both the spaniel and frog were no match for the sheer rage pouring from the avian and the human. Quickly juking Fay, TJ slipped past her just as Falco broke Slippy's grip around his waist. Thinking in a split-second reaction, Fay yanked Slippy back to safety, saving him from being in the path of a recoiling Falco.

Turning towards Panther and Leon, Fay yelled across the hangar with a furrowed brow. "Why are the two of you simply standing there?! Give us some help, please!"

The two outlaws traded glances, before looking past Fay to notice Falco shove TJ into the door of the Viper. "Koen is a highly emotional child swinging wildly," Leon began, his eyes refusing to lock with Fay's. "And Lombardi would likely use this opportunity to kill either of us and claim self-defense. We are not intervening."

Fay gave up her attempt to convince the outlaws to help her almost instantly, huffing before sprinting out of the hangar. Slippy was at a loss for words and quickly jogged back to try and pull the duo apart once more.

Running through the halls, Fay did not slow her pace until she reached the hand-to-hand training room. Opening the door, the sole occupant was standing on the sparring mats, working over a punching bag in a blood-red martial arts gi. She gave the bag a booming kick just before the spaniel got her attention.

"Miyu!" Fay cried out, verbally pulling Miyu away from her punching bag.

"Yeah? What's up, girl?"

"TJ and Falco are fighting in the hangar, you have to separate them! Slippy and I tried, while Leon and Panther are refusing to help!"

Miyu scoffed, leaning on her victim with a toothy grin. "Boys are gonna be boys, Fay. Let them slug it out. I'm sure they'll come out of it with smiles."

"I'm serious Miyu! Stop them!"

Miyu held her smirk for a few more seconds before she realized that Fay's anger was laced with genuine concern. Looking at her slides discarded at the side of the mats, Miyu sighed and rolled her eyes. "Take me to 'em."

A minute later, Miyu walked into the hangar with Fay practically hanging off her tail. Her slides slapped against the soles of her feet as she made a determined stride towards the brawling duo. Slippy was trying to hold them apart where he could, but a fist would always slip through his poor defenses and land against the body of the brawlers. TJ used Slippy's shorter height to his advantage and hopped up to tag Falco across the beak with a Superman punch. The punch had little effect if any, as Falco answered back with an uppercut that caught the rim of Slippy's hat.

The blow to TJ's jaw was softened by the hat, but only slightly. Slippy simply crouched in place with an unhinged jaw, shaking slightly as he replayed Falco's fist inches from his bulbous eyes over and over. With no one to interrupt them, the brawl continued clearly for the next few seconds, unimpeded. Slippy was once more about to enter the fray to pull his friends apart when he felt a powerful hand squeeze his shoulder tightly.

TJ and Falco were oblivious to Miyu's presence, both grabbing the other's collar and throwing punches. They were very quickly made aware of her when she wrapped her hands around each of their throats and slammed them on the hood of the Viper, staring into their souls with narrowed eyes. While Falco wore a smug grin and spat out a small splotch of blood onto the hangar, holding TJ down was like trying to wrangle a wild and bloodied animal that was a few seconds away from bursting into tears. Miyu closed her fist ever so slightly around TJ's throat, the pain compliance kicking in as TJ stopped thrashing.

"Now now, boys," Miyu growled slightly, making sure they were both looking at her and not each other. "Cut the slap-boxing out or I'll give you a real fight. Got it?"

Falco put his wings up defensively with his grin still present. TJ meanwhile began to thrash slightly, wriggling like a pinned worm as he glared daggers at Falco. "That asshole started it!"

Miyu squeezed his throat once more, zapping him back into submission with a pitiful squeak. "And I'll end it. Understood?"

After a few seconds of hesitation, both brawlers nodded. Miyu released her death grip allowing TJ to gulp down air while Falco simply rubbed his throat. Despite the fact that the fight was now over, TJ knew better than to rush Falco from behind. If the avian didn't catch him first, Miyu would certainly drop him. There was that overwhelming rage that just would not go away. TJ knew there was only one thing he could do.

Without saying another word, TJ threw the door to his Viper open and put the key in the ignition. The V10 wailed to life as TJ shifted into first gear and sped off. Falco chuckled as the sound became quieter with each passing second, watching the Viper catch a small amount of air from how quickly it drove off the Great Fox's hangar ramp.

The bay was now deathly quiet, silence cutting through the still air like a searing hot knife through cheese. Falco panted with a smirk as he cleaned the excess blood off his beak and wiped it on his pants. "Heh, kid can't throw a good punch to save his life." A trio of heads turned to face Falco, his comment drawing ire from the scowling visage of Fay and the disappointed glare of Slippy.

"Do you want to tell me exactly what happened, Falco?" Fay's scrunched-up muzzle was not in the mood for any jokes or quips, but it failed to wipe the smile off Falco's lips.

"Just a bit of hazing for the newbie, nothing more."

"And if your 'hazing' drove him off for good?"

Falco shrugged. "I don't see how that's a bad thing. He's a freakin' kid, he don't belong with us. Watch, I did him a favor."

"What will Fox say?"

Falco gave an exasperated scoff, looking around the hanger for support. "Wha- my word don't mean anything anymore?"

Fay crossed her arms, glaring the ace pilot down. "Is it so difficult for you to bite your tongue for just a week? If you have nothing nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all, even less so with picking fights."

"Why do you think I started it?"

Fay and Miyu suddenly looked toward Slippy, the frog feeling all eyes on him. There was a silent warning in Falco's eyes, but Slippy was fatally honest. "…you did start it, Falco."

"Gee, thanks Slippy. See if I tell you any secrets again."

Fay was not amused. "Falco," she began, like a mother punishing their child. "You're going to tell Fox what you did."

"Why?"

"Because he will want to know where the person he promised he would help return home is."

"And how should I figure out where he went?! Corneria's huge!"

"Well, that sounds like a you problem. Now come on, you're coming with me to get patched up."

Falco rolled his eyes as Fay began to walk. Looking back at Slippy, Falco huffed as the frog wrung his hat between his hands. "You couldn't've covered for me?" Falco questioned with a whisper.

Slippy wrung his hat between his hands, looking down at his feet with a guilty glare. "I'm a terrible liar, Falco… You know this…"

As pissed as Falco wanted to be at Slippy, he could not bring himself to that level of rage. Slippy was an awful liar after all. Fay calling his name snapped Falco back to attention, causing him to shove his wings into his pocket and follow the canine out of the hangar.

Miyu and Slippy were left standing in place, silent at first before a soft chuckle passed Miyu's lips. "Well, that was a fun distraction. I could use a good sparring match right now, Slips. What do you say-"

"Hard pass."

"You know I'll keep bugging you until you actually step on the mats one day, right?"

"And I'll keep saying no, as I have for the past fifteen years. I don't like fighting."

"But you'll fly an Arwing into battles?"

"We've gone over this a million times," Slippy sighed, putting his hat back on. "Flying is different than fighting. You know how much I hate ground ops."

Miyu put her hands up by her shoulder, rolling her eyes with a smirk. "Alright, fine, it was worth a shot." Looking across the hangar, Miyu quickly locked eyes with her next victim. Panther could not keep his eyes off her, still staring even when she caught him. She pointed right at him, knocking him out of his trance. "You!" She shouted, making sure she had his full attention. "Dojo! Ten minutes! Don't make me wait!"

A blush instantly filled Panther's cheeks as Miyu strutted by. The suave style came back instantly as Panther cocked a grin in Leon's direction. "See? Courted and around my little finger. I would wager that she wants some one-on-one 'sparring' with yours truly." A seductive growl finished off the sentence, but Leon cared little about his wingman's mating habits.

"Have fun." That was all that Leon said as he resumed Wolfen maintenance, ignoring the feline as he unknowingly walked with a bounce in his step towards his doom.