FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

I was awakened before the sun rose by ROB64. I slowly crawled out of bed and grabbed for my usual clothes. However ROB stopped me.

"Fox has requested you put these on," He spoke and handed a new set of clothes to me. I unfolded them and studied it carefully. It was a black shirt and black pants. The shirt had gold letters strewn on the front that said CFA. Nothing was on the back. There wasn't much to say about the pants. It was completely black and had no pockets. There was a few belt loops though to work with. I quickly put on the new clothes and felt them adjust to my slim figure. I guess its a "one size fits all" set of clothes. I then walked to the desk and grabbed my new sword. I took the belt and wrapped it around my back to the way I could reach the handle with my right hand. I then walked down to get some breakfast. As usual everyone was already up and about. Bill was also there and he already finished breakfast. I walked in and everyone greeted me warmly, especially Bill. Slippy and Peppy only nodded and looked up as they were in the middle of a heated chess game. I quickly finished my breakfast while everyone else got ready to go.

"You ready Ryan?" Krystal asked as she walked out the door.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied and ran out after her. We all took public transportation. We got onto a bus that was conveniently heading towards that location. Throughout the ride I got my usual endless staring from the bus's passengers. Fox even had to tell the bus driver to keep his eyes forward once. After about ten minutes we arrived at the military building again. We all walked inside and I followed Falco to the secretaries desk in the lobby. She was a lynx and was hypnotizing to look at.

"The waiting room is down on the left hall," She said, "first door to the right." We both thanked her and followed her directions til got to the right door. I opened it slowly and walked in. It was a large room. Not much to see save for the few wooden benches and the red carpeting. I didn't pay attention to that as I looked at all of the different species in the room. There were nine of them, all in varying states of boredom and patience. Falco spoke and I turned to face him.

"Alright the rest of us have to report to our stations so you can handle yourself right?"

"Yeah, no problem," I replied.

"Okay then," Falco said and turned to walk off and stopped, "oh and uh you should talk to and befriend everyone here. This test is supposed to be a bond of new friendship towards those taking it together. Plus you need to find a partner for the field test." And with that he took off. I shut the door and followed Falco's advice. I thought of who to talk to first. I looked and sitting to my right by himself was a silver tabby cat. The light in the room reflected off his fur a little bit and made the three black stripes across his forehead more noticeable. He was a little shorter than me by the looks of it so I came and sat down with him. He was wearing a brown vest over a plain black short sleeved shirt. He was wearing dark gray pants that complimented his fur.

"Hi there," I said smiling. He looked at me for a second, then nodded back.

"Hi," He said, "you're that human everyone's talking about."

"Yeah that's me," I said again, "my name's Ryan Lewis, what's yours?"

"I'm Tri," he started, "Tri Gunner." I offered a hand and he shook it. He seemed a little shy but warmed up to me quickly. We talked about a few things about him and the academy.

"I've been training at the top of my class as a pilot," he said, "however, in the simulators I don't do so well because I keep getting lost."

"You'll get better with practice," I replied trying to make him feel better.

"I'm just worried because I need a partner," he said right then. I knew that I didn't have a partner either and figured I might as well ask him.

"How about you be my partner?"

"Really," things got a little quiet as he spoke and I could hear him purring heavily under this question. The slow soothing rhythm of his purring was relaxing and somewhat hypnotizing. He then stood up and gave me his answer.

"I'd love to be your partner," he stretched a little and sat back down again.

"Well if I didn't already have a partner I'd have asked Ryan already," we both turned around to see who spoke. I then saw someone and recognized him as a fox. He looked similar to Fox only his fur was more red and was taller by a few inches. We shook hands and he sat down next to me.

"Who's your partner?" I asked. He pointed over to the upper left of us and I spotted a white ferret. His fur was very white and he had a pair of yellow eyes. That was something I didn't see every day. He was handsome to boot wearing a silver collared shirt and brown pants, but didn't pay attention to anything at the moment. He was too busy reading a book to notice us looking at him.

"His name's Adair," the fox said, "he's a little shy, and I'm Kayrin, Kayrin Kamisama Squall. It's nice to meet you guys."

"Yeah you to," we spoke a little more and then I decided to talk to someone else. I got up and walked off leaving Tri and Kayrin to talk some more. I then saw another fox. This one however was taller slightly than Kayrin and had black fur, which sported hints of dark gray. His green eyes radiated from his dark face. I walked up to him. He was leaning his back against the wall and had his arms folded.

"Hi there," I spoke and he looked at me, "I'm Ryan, what's your name?" He looked at me for a second. He looked like he didn't even care.

"Kuro Razgriz," He spoke bluntly and to the point, "nice to meet you." We shook hands and I tried to spark a conversation. However shortly after he brushed it over his shoulder and walked away. I shrugged and noticed someone to my right. He was a husky with red fur and a white underside. His eyes sported a different color each. His right eye was green and his left eye was blue. I noticed that spot from his chest under his white tank top. He was wearing a pair of blue shorts that went over his knees and a pair of black sneakers. He was very well built and was tall. He seemed about 6'4" to me. I walked to him and he turned to face me. Before I could say hi he nodded and walked off towards where Kuro was standing. I figured that those two were partners for the field test. I shrugged my shoulders and moved along. The next person I saw was a grey wolf. He stood at about 5'10" and was wearing a blue shirt and red sweat pants. He was spinning a blaster as I approached him. He noticed me walking towards him and stopped.

"And who are you supposed to be?" He asked. He had quite the pompous attitude, but I ignored it and spoke.

"Hi, I'm Ryan Lewis. It's nice to meet you." I offered my hand but he ignored it and continued speaking.

"Vincent Kiba's the name. It's not everyday that a human is in my presence. Listen buddy, I'm going to wipe the floor with this test and don't you forget it." I ignored his rudeness again and nodded. I walked away leaving him to his blaster juggling.

"Just ignore him," I heard a voice say, "Vincent's a little too hot headed for his own good." I faced my left so see a lizard. He was sitting down on the floors with his legs crossed. He had green scales across his body which was easily seen because he was topless. He spotted a couple shoulder pads on as protection. He wore some plain white pants and a pair of black gloves. If it weren't for him being a lizard, he could easily be mistaken as a martial arts master. I noticed by his legs were a couple of short swords. They were both about 5 inches smaller than mine but he had two of them, so I figured that's how he fought.

"And who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Nevlamas," he began, "my precious few friends call me Bloodscale. And you're Ryan correct?"

"That is my name," I replied, "Is Vincent your partner?"

"It would seem so. I don't trust anyone though, especially people I don't know, that especially means you."

"I guess I won't bother you anymore then," I spoke and walked off.

"I don't mind it that much," He then got up and walked over to where Vincent was. I walked over to the last corner of the room, near where the door to the entrance was. There were two more guys speaking to each other. One was an arctic fox. His white fur matching well with his blue eyes. The other was a tiger. His orange fur complimented of black stripes. They both wore the same uniform which was a green shirt and black pants much like mine. The green shirts had the words mechanics club written on the front, accompanied by the picture of a wrench. They noticed me as I approached and stopped talking long enough to turn and look at me. They stared at some great interest, but didn't speak just yet. Instead of waiting for them I decided to break the ice.

"Hi there, I'm Ryan." I spoke and the Arctic Fox responded.

"Nice to meet you Ryan, I'm Robert McLarson." I shook his hand and then the tiger's hand afterwards.

"And I'm Kenji, Kenji Sasuke(saw-skay)," The tiger stated, "sorry for staring so much, we just never see a human is all." I dismissed his apology with a nod and we chatted a bit.

"What's the mechanics club about?" I asked them.

"Self explanatory mate," Kenji replied, "we build and invent things."

"It's a spare time hobby of mine," Robert followed, "I like to make things rather than break them." We continued to chat for a few but then Kayrin came over and asked me a critical question.

"So why are you taking the test today?" I tried to think deeply behind the real reason why. Was I just trying to fit in? Am I looking for a ticket home? Or did I give that up already? And is there something I always wanted to do but couldn't? The answer I came up with was plain and simple...

"I'm going to be the newest member of the Star Fox team." Everyone heard about this and gathered around with obvious questions flying through the air.

"Really?" Kayrin began, "I've always dreamed of being on the Star Fox team. Fox McCloud is my idol. Not to mention he's good looking. I hope I'll be as good a fighter as he is." Before I could tell him to believe in himself the opposite door opened. Everyone all split apart from the social circle surrounding me as I saw Fara walking inside.

"Alright everyone," She began and opened up a folder she was carrying, "everything for today's activities is set up for you. All we need to do now is take attendance. When I call out your name please reply. Kenji Sasuke..."

"Here ma'am," Kenji replied raising his hand.

"Tri Gunner..."

"Here ma'am," The cat responded.

"Red Lander..."

"Present," A firm deep voice responded. The first word I heard come out of his mouth before seeing him go back to his silent stature.

"Adair Zephr..."

"Present," I heard the ferret say as he shut his book.

"Robert McLarson..."

"Here..." Fara nodded and went back to her folder.

"Ryan Lewis."

"I'm here," I replied and raised my right hand. Everyone stared as she continued to read.

"Vincent Kiba..."

"Here," Vincent responded and sheathed his blaster.

"Kayrin Squall..."

"I'm here ma'am," he responded in a timid yet polite tone.

"Nevlamas the "Bloodscale"..."

"Present," The lizard bluntly replied and sat back down.

"Kuro Razgriz..."

"Present ma'am," He responded even more bluntly than Nevlamas. I figured then that was everyone however Fara said another name.

"Douglas Jorthon..." no response and I looked around for an unfamiliar face. No one else was there and she called again.

"Douglas Jorthon..." no response and after a few seconds she closed the folder. As she did and with impeccable timing I saw the entrance open and a figure rush inside. I focused on him and saw him to be a grey wolf. He was similar to Vincent in a couple ways but was an inch shorter and had slightly lighter fur. He ran right up to Fara and stopped, trying to catch his breath.

"Douglas Jorthon here," He responded after he finally regained a steady breath, "You can just call me DJ. Sorry I'm late my only excuse is oversleeping." She only nodded and DJ joined the rest of us. He sported on a black hoodie with the hood down. And he also had on a pair of silver shorts, going down to his knees. I could easily tell he had the athletic build on him. Not too big but not skinny either.

"Okay if that's everyone we can go inside and begin the written test," Fara spoke. It wasn't everyone. I heard another pair of footsteps and turned around. Walking towards us was an arctic wolf. He stood about six feet tall and had a hypnotizing pair of ice blue eyes. He was wearing a dark emerald robe over what I could tell from his lower legs to be ruby pants. On each of his sides I saw a katana shaped sheath in either side of them each with the blade inside. One sheath had a red marking on it while the other had a light blue marking on it. He was carrying a parchment in his right hand. He walked up to Fara and handed her the note and gave a low bow. He then walked over to the group and stood next to me, opposite of where Tri was standing. She read the parchment completely and then put it in her shirt pocket.

"Alright then and your name is?" Fara asked.

"My name is Nordic Icewolf," he spoke sternly, but was very courteous and could teach Vincent a thing or two about it.

"Sounds good," Fara thanked Nordic and spoke again, "now without further delay we shall begin the written test. Please follow me." Fara walked into the next room and we followed in shortly after. I was in front of the group so I didn't have to see over anyone. The room was in the same style as the room before. It was smaller and had 12 student sized desks strewn across the room. Peppy was sitting at a much larger desk to the right of the doorway we were standing at. He gave me the thumbs up sign and I nodded.

"Alright everyone please find the seat with your name on it," Fara ordered. We took a look at the desks until we found our correct seats. We were relayed the usual rules for a written test. You know, don't cheat and all that. When she finished we were handed a packet and answer sheet and pencils.

"You have two hours to complete 200 problems," Peppy exclaimed, "You may begin." I opened up my test and took a good look at the first problem. Throughout the test I struggled but did my best to remember what Slippy and Peppy taught me. Adair was the first to finish the test about 45 minutes into it, he turned it in to Peppy before walking out of the room. About ten minutes later Tri turned in his test and exited the room. He was shortly followed by Kayrin who did the same thing. I felt like I was trying to beat my first chess teacher with half my pieces missing. 1 hour and 10 minutes into the test and by then Kenji and Robert had finished their tests. I was only a quarter of the way through as I just completed the history section. I smiled as I turned the page to the Math section.

'Piece of cake,' I now proceeded to breeze through every problem with extreme speed and accuracy as I easily knew the answers. By about 1 hour 30, Kuro, Red, Vincent, Nevlamas and DJ had all finished their tests. Ten minutes after that and Nordic turned in his test, and I was the only one left taking the test. I still had a good twenty minutes left but had finished math and science and was nearly half way through history. Fara left the room after another few minutes. I figured that she was going to keep an eye on the group. The time was about 1 hour 56 minutes when I got out of my seat, my completed test in hand and I handed it to Peppy.

"Great job Ryan," Peppy said, "you can go back into the waiting room now." I nodded and walked back into the previous room.

"Glad to see that you've finished," Fara said.

"Yeah, we all figured that you wouldn't finish," DJ said from behind, "haven't got a chance to meet you yet. Ryan right?"

"Yeah, and your DJ right?"

"Yep, that's right."

"Alright Ryan you have a good 15 minutes before we begin the next test," Fara spoke, "feel free to talk with one another as you please." She went back into the test room and DJ and I talked for a good few minutes. We became very good friends almost instantly. After the small talk I walked over to where Nordic Icewolf was. He was sitting on his knees like he was in front of a memorial. I sat down in front of him and saw that his eyes were closed. He opened his eyes to see me then gave a sly smile. He spoke shortly after.

"Its not everyday that I see a human around," Nordic said.

"I get that a lot," I said, "my name's Ryan, Ryan Lewis," I offered my hand and he shook it.

"Nordic Icewolf," he stated, "pleasure to meet you. What are you testing for?"

"Star Fox team membership," I replied, "and you?"

"Body Guard," He replied.

"For who?" I asked.

"That's what I need to find out," He told me. Before I could carry the conversation further Fara came in and made an announcement.

"Alright everyone, please follow me down the hall to the simulator room. There we will proceed to your flight simulator test." We all gathered around her with me in front again. She walked out into the hall we came in from and headed to the right. After a few turns here and there we arrived in a familiar room. The same one I trained with Falco in. General Pepper was there and he greeted us as we came in.

"Please take your seat. Your station has your name on it." I looked around and found mine near the front of the room and sat down. Tri's seat was right next to me and he seemed kind of nervous.

"Just relax," I said, "you'll do fine." He nodded and looked at his screen. Everyone else got to their seats and after we were seated, Fara spoke.

"Now here you'll be tested on your flight training. Just follow the objectives given as best you can. This test will last 1 hour." She took a seat on a console in the front. It faced opposite of us so I figured it was the master console. General Pepper stood up and cleared his throat.

"Alright you may now begin." And with that we took off in our simulated ships. The goals were easy to figure out. Follow a specific flight path. Defeat the enemies present and suffer minimal damage. I had done these all the time with my training with Falco so nothing was new. Granted the difficulty had gone up a couple notches but I still enjoyed it more than the written test. When the hour was up we were told to stop and were escorted back to the waiting room. I stretched a bit from all of the sitting and stood up. Everyone seemed to be a little bit happier, It was still mid morning and half the test was over.

"You have a half an hour to get partnered up and prepared for the physical test," Fara announced and then left us to do various activities. Tri and Adair took a seat on a bench near me and Tri pulled out a blue cube. I knew it all too well as it unfolded into a chess set. The three of us played a few rounds together and then I decided to lie down and rest. The half hour passed by quickly as Fara came back.

"Everyone follow me again." We stood up and followed as this time we went down to the left of the hall. As usual I was in front of everyone else. We were eventually led outside and what I saw amazed me. A long line of different various obstacles spanned a large grass field.

"As I said before," Fara began, "this is a physical test in which you must work with a partner to get through the obstacles presented before you. You will be timed and a more favorable evaluation revolves around how soon you two finish. Once you make it to the end there is a large switch in which can only be triggered under the weight of both you and your teammate. Once both of you are on the switch, it'll be weighted down and the timer stops. That's why its favorable to work together. Now I need to know who's paired up with who." She pulled up her folder and clicked a pen. Everyone told her the partner arrangements and reconfirmed it with us.

"So we have... Ryan Lewis and Tri Gunner. Kuro Razgriz and Red Lander. Vincent Kiba and Nevlamas the "Bloodscale". Adair Zephr and Kayrin Squall. Robert McLarson and Kenji Sasuke. And finally Douglas Jorthon and Nordic Icewolf. Is this correct?" We all nodded, "Then that will be the order we go in. Now I'll run you through the obstacle course." She pushed a nearby switch and all of the obstacles rose ten feet above the ground. I looked at it and now had a reason to worry. Now the obstacles looked more imposing and more challenging.

"This course consists of five parts," She began and headed to the left towards the beginning of the obstacle, "This one is the Strength Boulders. There is a gap from this section on the left to the next obstacle. Push the boulders to make a bridge and continue. The second obstacle the Balance Pole also has a gap. There is a sliding rope that will safely escort one person to the other side. There a switch lies that when stepped on lowers a small metal pole to make a bridge. The other player must then make his way across in any way possible. If he falls off it he must climb back up this ladder and try again. Once you make it across you'll head over to the Stealth Trap. Here one person poses as lookout while the other tries to sneak past the automated guards. They move in a specific pattern and can't see past those pillars so you can hid behind there. The lookout keeps an eye on the guards and signals you to move to the next one. Once the stealthy one succeeds the lookout can get across without incident by stepping on the switch there. The fourth obstacle is a conveyor belt. The goal is simple just run across it faster than it reverses on you. The speed changes sometimes so beware. The last part is a 20 foot rope climb to the top. Once both of you are up and on the switch you're done."

"Did everyone get that?" another unfamiliar voice called out. Fara chuckled a little bit and we turned around. What I saw I wasn't prepared for, there was a man there who was what seemed to be a hybrid of a husky and a dragon. His body was that of a gray husky except his arms and wings which represented a green dragon. His body had very chisled muscles and it had the good looks for him.

"Everyone," Fara announced, "this is Balze Darkcry. He's one of the newer mercenaries who will be fighting one of you in the combat test."

"Nice to meet you everyone," All of us gave varying exchanges of greetings or ignorings and Fara continued.

"And he should be getting back to his post at the arena."

"I know but I couldn't help myself," he replied, "I mostly wanted to see Ryan here. Fox and his team hold him in high regards so I had to see for myself." And with that he waved at me and walked away.

"And now without further delay," Fara continued, "Ryan Lewis and Tri Gunner go first." I gulped. I was hoping I could go second or third so I see how the other teams do it. I walked up the steps to the starting line with Tri following close behind. We got to the line and stood there waiting. Fara pulled out a stopwatch and a clipboard.

"You ready, set, GO!" and with that we bolted heading right to the boulder closest to the gap. We got it pushed down after a good 20 seconds and saw it fit well into the hole. We did the same with the other two however it was quite the struggle after the third. We then got to the balance pole and I made Tri swing over. He did so and pressed the switch lowering the pole. When it stopped I carefully stepped on. Slowly but surely I made my way across, a minute later I got 3/4 of the way there when I slipped. I fell on my gut now facing perpendicular to the pole. I quickly shimmied my way across and Tri helped me up. I got up on the lookout spot and got a good view of the guards. It wasn't much trouble but Tri tripped once and cost us some time. He got to the end of it and disabled it. I ran across and we quickly ran to the conveyor belt. I was already tired but we both pushed as we tried to outrun the conveyor belt. They sped it up a little and after about 20 seconds it slowed down to the point where we could make it across seperately. It took another minute to get up the rope climb, but we did and succeeded with a time of 7 minutes and 32 seconds. We walked down the steps at the other end and walked towards Fara who was writing something down on the clip board.

"Good job guys," Fara complimented us and turned to face Kuro and Red, "now its your turn." They made their run and blew away mine and Tri's time by finishing in 4 minutes and 11 seconds. Each team went and ran through the obstacle. Vincent and Nevlamas followed up with 4 minutes 58 seconds. Adair and Kayrin pulled up a good 8 minutes and 9 seconds. Robert and Kenji came up with 6 minutes and 44 seconds. DJ and Nordic had a well off 5 minutes and 12 seconds. We all had finished through 3/4 of the test and we had to break for lunch. I knew that only the hardest test was to come. After lunch we were led from the mess hall to a new room on a higher floor. Fara opened it and went inside. I followed from the front again as usual and saw a large metal room. It looked like a big arena. The set up was like at a basketball court. Several lines of seats raising up to the next floor. All of them centered at the plain style court in the middle. A single large rectangle was drawn across the floor and there were a couple benches residing on both sides. On the other side on one bench was the entire Star Fox team, the five of them waved at me and I waved back. However opposite of them was the Star Wolf team. All of them exchanging looks of pleasure and displeasement at me. Panther kept up his sinister smile as he looked at me, and I didn't like it at all. Sitting next to the fearsome trio was Bill who smiled at me. Sitting next to Bill was the new guy I saw earlier, Balze Darkcry. He looked at me very curiously. I was used to it by now and nodded at him. Behind the line of fighters sitting on the first row was General Pepper. Sitting to the left of him wearing a black suit was a powerful looking grizzly bear. I remembered Fox saying one of the judges this time around was the President so that's who I thought he was.

"Alright everyone," Fara began her usual way, "great job up to this point guys, now we're at our final test, the combat test. Here each of you will be paired up to one of these ten mercenaries. Because of the extra two entries we have though, General Pepper and myself have agreed to each fight one of you. We'll call your name and you'll draw a parchment from this bag." She held up a scarlet bag from her pocket and held it up.

"The name you draw determines who you'll fight. Weapons are aloud for use and a time limit of five minutes will be instated. You can hurt each other physically but no injuring your battle partner. After the five minutes are up or you surrender the battle we will grade your performance. No hitting below the belt and eyes. Do I make myself clear?" We all replied with a yes ma'am and we began. General Pepper stood up and called the first name.

"Douglas Jorthon." He walked forward and placed a hand inside the bag. He drew the parchment and read it out loud.

"Peppy O'Hare," the bunny got up from his seat and took off his robe. Peppy stepped into the middle of the arena and the DJ followed suit. The rest of us sat down at the benches and watched in waiting. I guess Peppy still has fighting skill after retiring from the front lines. Fara stood outside the rectangle while Peppy and DJ met. I then saw a set of red numbers appear in thin air. It formed into 5:00 and hovered over the middle of the arena. The hologram froze into place there and General Pepper spoke again.

"Ready," Both fighters bowed. They were both unarmed and were ready to fight.

"Set," They got back up and made a different fighting position.

"Begin," the timer began counting down as DJ charged forward. Before he could attack though Peppy side stepped and countered. He caught DJ's arm and tossed him to the ground. DJ got up and continued fighting. I looked on for the next four minutes in awe. If Peppy could fight like that, then I was worried about the other competitors. I heard the buzzer go off and DJ stumbled a bit. Peppy panted a little.

"I guess these old bones of mine just aren't what they used to be," He helped DJ stabilize and shook his hand. As DJ walked off Pepper called the next name.

"Kayrin Squall," Kayrin got up and likewise drew a parchment from Fara's bag.

"Fox McCloud?" He shouted in surprise. I was surprised also. I knew Fox was Kayrin's idol but now he had to fight him. Kayrin hesitated but walked to the center to face Fox who was already waiting for him. The usual happened and the fight began. After two minutes Fox had Kayrin in an inescapable pin and the match was over. Fox helped up the defeated Kayrin and shook his hand. Kayrin seemed to have lost control of himself when I saw him collapse in the chair next to me.

"Being beaten by my idol," He said regaining his breath, "to me that was better than sex."

"Then you're doing it all wrong," I teased and he punched me in the shoulder. We broke into laughter and Pepper called out again.

"Tri Gunner," He got up from his seat next to me and walked down. He pulled out another parchment and read it.

"Bill Grey," he said and the dog got up from his seat. This was priceless, a standard cat vs. dog battle. I kinda felt sorry for Tri, but Bill didn't want to fight me because he still beats himself up from the peanut butter incident. This fight was also an unarmed battle. And about three minutes later, Tri surrendered with a bloody nose. Fara had a first aid kit and tended to the tabby.

"I apologize for that," Bill said to Tri.

"Don't worry about it," Tri said as he tilted his head back to stop the blood from flowing out. General Pepper made the next announcement.

"Nevlamas the "Bloodscale"," The lizard got up and drew his fighter. His eyes widened a little bit as he read the name.

"Krystal," Krystal got up and pulled out her favorite staff. Nevlamas matched this by pulling out his two short swords. Well, I guess they're small enough to be considered large daggers. He held his in a particular way as he pointed the blade backwards as if to guard his arms. The fight matched and Nevlamas weaponry skills showed as he quickly attacked Krystal. Krystal not to be outdone easily sidestepped and parried every blow and even landed a few hits every now and then. Their fight went on the whole five minutes. As I looked I saw Panther staring at Krystal again. When would that guy leave her alone? Their match ended and they bowed to each other before returning to their previous seats.

"Ryan Lewis," I heard this and calmly stood up. I knew now that I had to fight and I was going to be terrible. I walked up to Fara, Tri gave me a smile and a thumbs up with his free hand. His other piching his nose. I reached in the bag and pulled out my parchment. I slowly opened it and read it to my dismay. I couldn't believe the name I was reading but read it out loud.

"Panther Caroso," I looked over to him and saw him get up and walked towards me. That sinister smile of his was really getting to me. I noticed then he was holding something in his hand. I looked and saw he also had a sword. It was a bit shorter and had a red rose tied to the handle. The blade itself was blood red. I looked at it a little worried but didn't want to show such an emotion. I walked towards the center of the arena and drew my sword from its sheath. I saw the timer reset and then we faced each other. On que we bowed and pointed the blades at each other. I still had to hold mine with two hand but panther held his skillfully with one.

"Begin," Pepper said. Before he finished the word Panther lunged at me. I rolled to the side and came at him with my sword. He parried it and countered. I blocked it and he spun around. Again I deflected it and charged. He side stepped as I ran past him and turned to see him standing. He held his hand up and twiddled his fingers to taunt me.

"What the matter Ryan?" Panther said, "Afraid I might bite." He lunged at me with a stabbed. I jumped back and reflected it again and he did this a couple more times in rapid succession. After a fourth blow I struck again and he blocked it over his head. He pushed it out of the side and attacked again. I ducked his oncoming blow and jumped backwards to dodge another blow. I was getting angry and charged again. Throwing a couple wild hits which he blocked using both hands. He knocked my blade to the side and jumped. Spinning around and landed a kick right to my stomach. I landed hard on my ass with my blade still knocked to the side. He walked up and pointed it at me.

"Give up yet?"

"Forget it," And I took a leap of faith and kicked up. I hit his hand and he dropped the sword in obvious surprise. I then spun around and kicked his left calf of his leg with my heel. I used all my force and he fell backwards on the ground. I scambled up and got my weapon. I made another strike and he deflected quickly after he retrieved his own. He rolled over to the side and backflipped onto his feet. We matched swords again and I heard the timer go off. Panther glared at me tauntingly and we bowed again. I walked off and got back to my seat. This time Vincent was sitting next to me and he smiled.

"That was impressive fighting there Ryan," He said, "not as good as me, but still."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I looked around towards the Star Fox seat and they all flashed looks of admiration. Fox gave the thumbs up sign in which I returned. General Pepper called up the next name.

"Vincent Kiba."

"Well now its my turn," and with that he ran over to Fara and drew another parchment. He opened quickly and hesitated a little, but read out the name anyway.

"Wolf O' Donnell," I looked to see Wolf smile as he got up. He was in his Star Wolf uniform which was mostly black. He had on an eye piece over his left eye. The two fighters met in the center and bowed. Wolf and Vincent were unarmed this fight and when the timer began they came. Vincent fought valiantly but I saw that Wolf was toying with him. Vincent managed to land a punch to Wolf's left shoulder and he bounced back. He glared and came at Vincent full force. Vincent blocked and dodge the first few but was caught off guard. I heard Vincent yell as Wolf connected a hit right on Vincent's Solar Plexus. Vincent staggered and I saw Wolf extend some claws on his hands and slashed Vincent across his face.

"That's enough," I was tired of seeing Wolf do this and rushed forward. Vincent looked up and flinched as Wolf lunged for another attack but I stepped in just in time. I turned around and kneeled and his claws hit right against my sword sheath. Vincent looked up in surprise of seeing me and I saw him get mad. I looked around to many different looks of confusion and concern. I turned around to see a very pissed off Wolf. I glared right back at him and didn't hesitate to speak.

"What the fuck were you doing Wolf? You're not supposed to kill him."

"I wasn't but an enemy must be shown no mercy," Wolf replied and I got angrier.

"He's on our side. He has to treated like a person, not a piece of meat." Wolf huffed and went back to his seat. I looked to see Vincent to get up and look down to the floor. I walked over to him and tried to talk.

"Vincent are you...?" I never finished the sentence as he brought up a foot and I felt it hit right against my family jewels. I coughed out an air of pain and collapsed to the ground. I was in a fetal position and clutching right where I had hurt.

"Stay out of my business!" He shouted at me and walked out of the arena. I saw Fara, Bill, and the rest of the Star Fox team come to my aid. The Star Wolf team was howling with laughter and everyone continued to stare.

"You okay kid?" Bill asked as he helped me sit up.

"Hell no," I stated bluntly, "I got kicked in my most sensitive spot with a steel toed boot."

"Drink this," Fara said as she handed me a vial with a clear liquid inside it. I didn't argue and did so. Krystal massaged my shoulders and helped me relax my mind. After an agonizing fifteen minutes the pain was completely gone and Falco helped me stand.

"I guess Vincent has a bit of an anger problem." He said as I got up completely.

"I know," I said and turned to Fara, "do you know where I can find Vincent? I need to talk to him and apologize." She nodded and spoke.

"I usually see him hanging around the shooting range." I thanked her and pulled out my map. I walked around for a good ten minutes until I saw through a window the inside shooting range. I walked in to see Vincent shooting at the various targets. I was nothing short of impressed as I saw him shoot a perfect bulls eye for over 40 shots. After he stopped shooting he turned around and saw me. He wasn't angry and almost had the look of regret on his face.

"Vincent," I began at a small voice, "I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. I was just trying to help."

"I know," Vincent said, "I didn't mean to hurt you but I just get angry a lot. I was mad because I couldn't defend myself against Wolf like I thought I could. You came to my defense and I felt mad that I couldn't protect myself. Instead of thanking you I hurt you really badly. I realize now what a mistake that was. Could you ever forgive me."

"Don't worry about it," I said and continued, "that wasn't the first that happened and Fara fixed it up quickly." I offered my hand and he grabbed it, then pulled me into a hug. I liked that and returned it.

"C'mon let's go back to the others," I suggested. He nodded and we continued back. As we did we asked each other some questions.

"So how did you get so good at the blaster?" I asked.

"I practice at the shooting range to help vent my anger," he replied, "I guess I just got good like that though. I wish my piloting skills were that good. You said that me kicking you wasn't the first time. When did that happen?"

"Well," I began, "back home I have two brothers. My older brother kicked me there once hard because he missed my shin." I laughed at this as we got back to the arena. We both headed back to our seats and sat down with the other tested. Nevlamas changed his seat and sat down next to me.

"That was a very admirable thing to do for Vincent," He spoke and I nodded back in appreciation.

"So, what did I miss?" I asked.

"Well," he replied, "Robert got matched up with Fara and Robert just couldn't stop staring long enough to see a powerful punch to his stomach. He resigned two and a half minutes in. Red Lander got matched up with General Pepper and he drew with him the whole five minutes. Adair got matched with Slippy and that wasn't a very intresting fight. They had a good few attacks but I was bored for five minutes. Kuro got matched with Leon and that fight was very interesting and lasted all five minutes."

"So, who's next?" I asked and somehow the impeccable timing came when Pepper spoke.

"Nordic Icewolf." Nordic stood up and walked over to Fara to pull out another parchment. There were only two fight left and Nordic spoke.

"Balze Darkcry." Balze got up and proceeded to the center followed by Nordic. I was thinking that because everyone walked to the center I thought I was watching re-runs. Balze grabbed a small pole the size of a small scroll. He pushed a button and out came a huge broadsword, which he secured in both his hands. Nordic pulled out both his katanas and closed his eyes. I was caught off guard when I saw the red marked one glow an aura of fire around it. The blue marked one froze some of the evaporated water and it glowed a bright blue aura as an effect. He was a magic user and I nearly fell off my chair. I always wanted to use magic and thought it was impossible. That thought changed real fast. The timer started and the swords went flying. I thought I was watching Star Wars III again. It looked much like the part where Anakin fought Obi-wan Kenobi. This brutal brawl lasted for the full five minutes and then after they bowed and seperated. Then General Pepper got up announced the final battle.

"And last but not least we have Kenji Sasuke and Falco Lombardi." They quickly got up eager to finish this battle. They were both unarmed and Falco was easily victorious. Kenji resigned three and half minutes even from being hit in the ears. His balance failed him as his equilibrium was disturbed and was out. We all rushed to his aid but Falco helped him up first. They shook hands and Kenji joined the rest of us as we were gathered in a circle. The mercenaries all got up and left. Wolf, Leon, and Panther went first. Followed by Bill and the Fox and the rest of the team.

"We're gonna catch you later Ryan," Fox said, "you should spend your time waiting for your results by spending time with the rest of the Tested. And by the way you fought brilliantly. I need to reward you for that sometime." He then gave me a wink and I knew what he was going to do for later. I nodded and they left. Everyone on the team exchanged a good compliment with me as they walked off. I rejoined the rest of the group as Fara and General Pepper spoke to them. They saluted us and they did the same and then the judges walked off. The president who was silent the whole time spoke to me as he walked out.

"I'll be sure to keep an eye on you." And like that he was gone, leaving us to do stuff together while we wait for the results. I looked outside the window to see that it was still early afternoon. I noticed that Balze was still here and I spoke to everyone.

"We're all done here." I hear everyone cheer even Kuro smiled a little bit.

"So what should we do now?" Red asked. I liked his deep voice even though I didn't get to hear it much. Everyone at once shot out suggestions but I had an idea.

"Why don't we go to the beach?" everyone looked at me and smiled, well most of them did but then nodded.

"Then its unanimous!" I said and we head outside the door and made way to the entrance of the building.