XII

The New Man in Charge

Luigi slouched in the wheelchair, his head still swimming from the anesthetic. An equally tired nurse pushed him through the recovery hall and back out into the waiting room. She scanned the discharge holos to his omnitool and headed back. On one of the sofas, Fox and Falco sat next to each other. Falco was reading an old In Power magazine from back when they still used paper, the pages torn and yellowed from years of use. It was a small miracle they hadn't disintegrated yet. Fox was passed out with his head back, his tongue lolled over his sharp teeth. He snored loudly, drawing dirty looks from the other patients. Falco kicked him awake, his snore catching in his throat.

"Well, well," said Falco, jumping to his feet. "Looks like you can put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

Fox wiped the drool from his whiskers. "How ya feelin', slugger?"

"The fingers itch but other than that, it feels okay." He flexed and extended his fingers. They made an odd mechanical whirring noise that he didn't like. Just another thing to get used to, he thought with a pang of regret. Out loud, he said, "Kinda feels like it's floating. Like it's not really there, y'know?"

"No, I've never lost an arm before," said Falco, snorting out a chuckle.

"Ignore him," said Fox, who then elbowed Falco in the ribs. He scowled but was quiet.

"Thanks for coming with us," said Daisy, refusing to make eye contact with the rude bird. "I know we put you out."

"Yea, you did," Falco replied as he rubbed his side.

"We're just happy you guys are okay. Right, Falco?"

"Yep," he said through a pursed beak.

The four of them exited the medbay back into the main chamber of the lower decks. Toad was waiting with his back against the wall, chomping on a lit cigar. They walked right past him. "Where's Mario?" he said, blowing a plume of acrid smoke in the air. They wheeled around at the sound of his voice to see him in a pair of aviators, the glass reflecting like black mirrors.

"We haven't seen him," said Daisy. She rolled her eyes at Toad's tough guy act. Still, she couldn't be too hard on him because at least he paid the bill. For that, she was eternally grateful.

"Maybe he's still with the council," Luigi offered.

"Then, let's head to the Presidium," Toad suggested. "We can wait for him there."

"We'll join you. We'd like to say farewell to Mario."

Falco scoffed at the suggestion but was careful not to draw Fox's ire, lest he get another jab in the ribs. They headed for the elevator to take the long trip up to the Presidium.

Two hours had passed since they left the medbay. They waited outside the Presidium but had seen neither hide nor hair of Mario. Fox got the sinking feeling that they had missed him and that perhaps he had returned to the Great Fox and was waiting for them. He was about to suggest that they return to the dockyard when the arched doors to the Great Hall opened and out stepped Mario.

"Brother! Over here."

"Hey, guys. Luigi, good to see you in one piece again. How are you feeling?"

"A bit itchy," said Falco, answering for him.

"Fox. Falco. Thank you for staying."

"We just wanted to offer a quick goodbye," said Fox, extending his paw.

"So, about that…" said Mario, trailing off. He shuffled from side-to-side.

"Oh no," said Toad, the panic rising up. "What did you tell those backwards bureaucrats?"

"I told them the truth."

"The troops in the walls?" asked Daisy.

Mario nodded. His face was grim-serious.

"You idiot," Toad spat. "You can't trust visions from a warp pipe." He didn't want the government in his business. As far he was concerned, the less they knew the better.

"I know what I saw, Captain. And they believed me."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"They made me Spectre."

"What?" asked Luigi. His mouth fell open, uncertain of what his brother had said. He managed the walk from the lower decks to the Presidium with help from Fox and Daisy but he was still a little woozy from the anesthetic. Perhaps, it had affected him more than he realized because he couldn't believe what he heard.

"First Class," said Mario without any trace of humor.

"So, now you're a superhero," asked Luigi, green with envy.

"They must've been desperate," Toad chuckled.

"Congratulations, agent," said Fox, extending his paw again but again, Mario refused to take it.

"And I'm a synth with this stupid arm," Luigi complained, looking at his hand with disgust.

"Give it time, honey," she said, squeezing the hand that still had blood.

"Commander, I think this has been a more than adequate goodbye," said Falco, the remainder of his patience finally exhausted. "Mario, it's been a pleasure. As for you, Toad, rot in hell."

Toad's eyes fell to the floor. His voice was low and monotone. He knew it was a mistake before he said it. "Conkdor Canyon was a long time ago, Falco."

"You think time is gonna fix what you did?"

"Alright, I think that's quite enough. We're gonna get lost." Fox made to move past them but as he did so, a hand caught him on the arm. He stopped short, looked at the hand gripping his arm, and then looked at the owner in the eye. Mario's face was stern but unreadable.

"As I was trying to say, I'm First Class to replace Lady Bow. And they've given me a mission. Peach has gone missing."

"What's happened to my sister?" Daisy felt a pit in her stomach. Her sister had a knack of getting herself into trouble. Getting herself out of trouble? Not so much.

"That's what we're going to find out. And since the Odyssey was lost, the council has given me the Great Fox. And they've put me in command of it."

"It's not their ship to give," Falco protested in vain. "Star Fox is a private company. We don't even have federal trackers. Fox, tell him." His head bounced between the two who eyed each other carefully. There was a long silence held between them.

"But you use the Mass Relays," Mario said at last. "There's a price for that."

Fox narrowed his eyes and then acquiesced. "He's right, Falco. The council can claim any vessel that uses their Relays if they have sufficient cause for it.

"And a missing princess is plenty of cause," said Mario.

"So we're looking at a more permanent partnership?"

Mario nodded. His face was grim-serious.

"Okay, commander," said Fox, putting a taste of sarcasm on the second word. "Where are we going?"

"Shiveria."

It was then that the anesthetic had worn off and Luigi's nerves had caught up to him. At the name of their next destination, he ripped ass.