Revenge
CH 1
Wolf sat silently in the cockpit of his Wolfen, tapping his fingers against the metal of the console before him. His mechanical eye slowly looked from one side of the ship to the other, surveying it, watching the different and unnatural patterns form. Sometimes he preferred the eye patch over this piece of machinery.
Space was horribly silent, almost to the point where it was maddening. Still, despite the silence, Wolf's mind was quite loud. It was practically screaming at him, anger, hatred, anything unpleasant. It wouldn't have shown though, as he remained calm and cool as always.
There was a blip on his radar, nothing that he would have typically found to be significant, but considering the situation, he knew that it would be otherwise. Oh how he hated passing through this part of Lylat. Meteo was always filled with mining ships, and with those ships came loads of patrols. Corneria couldn't risk having their precious ships ambushed while they were mining. That wasn't what Wolf wanted to do, however, but he knew that he'd be taken in anyway.
Wolf closed his good eye and thought to himself. He had been hired by an anonymous crime lord to steal some important information from a military base on Katina. Apparently the Katinian government was performing some kind of experiment and this guy wanted to get a piece of it. Whatever the hell it was, Wolf didn't care, he was promised a huge reward, so he took the job without a second thought.
There was a sudden clanking sound, like rock hitting against metal. Wolf was stirred from his thoughts and looked around the cockpit. It was probably just some debris. He closed his eye once again and lost himself in deep thought.
He was alone right now, solo. He had wanted to get some time away from the rest of the team and Sargasso. Could anyone blame him though? There was so much to be annoyed with right now. Between trying to keep Leon sane, trying to prevent Panther form groping every woman in the vicinity, fighting with Star Fox, and managing the entire station, he needed a break, or at least some time to himself. Whatever you want to call it, he was getting what he wanted.
Another blip. Wolf opened his eyes and saw that there was something right on top of him. His muscles tensed as he gripped the ship's controls, thrusting it away from the flashing dot. With unrivaled elegance and precision, he maneuvered the Wolfen in between two large asteroids, putting himself out of radar distance. It was a dangerous place to be sitting, but it was better than being captured, wasn't it?
Katina was about another two hours away, at least while moving at this sluggish pace. He'd have killed to speed through the asteroid belt, whipping by the patrols and other ships, taking daring dives between colliding space rocks, but he couldn't afford to. He feared capture too much to attempt something like that.
Maybe that was one of his problems. He feared capture so greatly that it prevented him from really succeeding. Sure, he had gotten far, but the lupine knew that there was more that he could obtain if he could just get over that one, huge mountain.
An asteroid floated past him, blocking his field of vision for a brief moment. It collided with another rock, and the two kept pushing on with each other, revealing a large, unoccupied area. Wolf noticed this, and his eyes went wide with surprise. Had that always been there? Well, that didn't really matter right now, all he knew was that this would be his ticket to a speedy exit. As far as he knew, he was still out of the patrol ships' radar range, so he'd be able to take it.
Hastily, he accelerated over towards the newly found gap, not thinking about the consequences of his action. Suddenly, there was a loud blasting noise. Wolf straightened up, his muscles tense yet again and his eyes darting from left to right, up and down. What had just happened, did something explode, was he being shot at?
His radio crackled, someone was trying to contact him. His paw hovered over the comm link's button, unsure if he wanted to press it. Wolf took a deep, slow breath and exhaled, calming his nerves. No one's gonna catch you, you're Wolf O'Donnell, you can out-fly damn near everyone! He thought to himself. His finger pressed down on the button, ending the flood of static and white noise. There was a momentary silence, but soon his cockpit was filled by the voice of... him.
"Wolf, didn't expect you to be out here by yourself. Not a smart idea on your part," Fox said, his tone serious as ever. Wolf cringed. his teeth pressing against each other with such intensity that they could have easily shattered.
"McCloud..." he grunted with such horrid malice. Though he could not see the vulpine, he knew that he was bearing a smile. Fox knew this territory better than he did, and would easily be able to over power him. Not only that, but he also had those damned patrol ships on his side.
"I guess it's just my lucky day. Star Fox is in need of some cash, and I'm sure that bringing you in would do wonders for our debt," Fox sneered. Wolf "hmphed" loudly, letting Fox know that he was not going down without a fight.
"Gimme your best shot pup, I'm not letting you win this time," Wolf snickered, pretending like he had some devilish plan hidden up his sleeve. In reality, he was just going to end up improvising everything, that was how it had always been. "Oh, and one more thing. Let's keep this between us, one on one. No bringing in any of those patrol ships, and none of your buddies."
"I wasn't intending to."
"I'm sure you weren't," Wolf spat back, sarcasm flooding his tone. "Face it, you've never taken me by yourself, and quite frankly, I don't think you can."
"You'd be surprised Wolf, I'm not a kid anymore," Fox shot back.
"And you're still not as good as me," Wolf snickered. Perhaps that was a bit much. If he did loose, then he'd be eating those words and kissing his rivals ass. Whatever, it was too late to take them back now.
"Heh, we'll see." Fox's Arwing appeared out of nowhere, releasing a furious stream of laser fire at him. Green bolts of energy painted the area, hitting rock after rock, but missing Wolf's ship entirely.
"You won't catch me if you shoot like that, pup!" Wolf shouted over the roar of his engine. He made a quick barrel roll in between two asteroids before they collided. That's keep Fox off of his trail for about three seconds, just enough time to get beside him. In that position, Fox would be stuck between the Wolfen and the asteroids, and since the Arwing was smaller and less durable, he wouldn't be able to ram his way out.
His plan worked perfectly, and he soon found himself flying directly next to Fox, edging closer to him, forcing him over towards a massive space rock. Just when he thought he had him, Fox made a quick maneuver, flipping his ship over Wolf's and ending up on the other side. Wolf gritted his teeth in frustration. He should have seen that coming, Fox wasn't just an average pilot.
"Nice try, but you'll have to do a better than that," Fox chuckled. Wolf could imagine another grin on the vulpine's face. It sickened him.
"Damn it..." he whispered loudly. Fox hit his accelerator and pulled in front of the Wolfen, then turned so that he would face the lupine. A few seconds passed, and it looked as though he was going to play chicken. This was not so, however, as Fox let loose another storm of laser bolts, all of them heading directly at Wolf. Surprised, Wolf quickly turned his ship away. Despite this, he still took some damage to the hull and right wing. Right now, it looked like he would be eating his words.
"Ready to eat those words?" Fox shouted, sounding very cocky. What a coincidence that he would bring that up now.
"Not yet, I haven't even gotten started," Wolf laughed, trying to hide his disappointment.
"Good, because neither have I!" Fox yelled back. Wolf hit his accelerator and flipped his ship over, racing right towards Fox. He was playing the same that Fox had played with him, but this time he wasn't going to stand still. Fox would have to react quicker than he did. After all, this wasn't just laser fire, this was an entire ship, and if there was no reaction, then they'd both go down. Luckily, Fox was able to react in time, though his wing was nearly clipped.
"Jesus Wolf, I knew you had some anger issues, but I didn't know that you were crazy!" Fox mocked as he flew away from the Wolfen.
"Pup, there's a lot of things you don't know about me," Wolf replied as he went after Fox. "Ya know, you're really wasting my time. As much as I'd like to watch your ship burn into nothingness right now, I'd really prefer to get my job done and over with."
"You'll receive no such luxury from me. Besides, I always took you for someone who enjoyed a good dog-fight," Fox sounded a little disappointed, which surprised Wolf, a she had always taken Fox as someone who didn't go along with rivalries.
"I'm being promised a good reward for this, and I'd like to get it." He could feel himself growing more and more agitated. It was unusual for him to act like that when the situation concerned Fox, but he really just wanted this to be done and over with. He just wanted some alone time, and he couldn't even have that!
"That's a shame. Not sure if I should let you go though, after all, you are a wanted criminal," his voice sounded unsure, though he was probably just mocking Wolf.
"And you're telling me that you're entirely innocent? Hm, maybe you really are Pepper's bitch?" Wolf growled in a sinister voice. He knew that this could have provoked Fox, but if he was lucky, then Fox would want to prove him wrong. He was lucky.
"Maybe some other time in that case..." the vulpine whispered softly. Wolf must have really given him something to think about if Fox had responded in such a tone.
"Good then..." was all Wolf could say as he turned off his comm link and flipped his ship around. There was a part of him that was still a little uneasy. Fox could easily ambush him now that he had his guard lowered, for the most part. Even if he didn't, there was still the chance that he would rat him out to the Cornerian military. If that happened, then there would be a massive search al throughout Meteo, and he would be unable to get back to Sargasso.
Maybe he was being a little too pessimistic, but maybe he was being rightfully apprehensive. Everything that he thought of was plausible, so why not worry about it? He had to know what could happen, fear that it would happen so he could formulate against it.
The path was clear from there until the end of the asteroid belt. No sign of Fox, patrols, or anything of the sort. He was home free, so to speak. Wolf felt his grip on the controls loosen as he saw Katina before him. It would only be a matter of minutes now until he reached his destination. He could feel his back sink into his seat, it felt good to finally be able to relax, though he knew it would be short lived.
Space looked beautiful when it was in silence. No chaos, no battles, no traffic. Just the jewel-like stars and the magnificent brown planet before him. It was breath taking, and wasn't something he often took the time to appreciate.
Just as Wolf finally allowed a smile to draw upon his face, there was another loud noise. This one, he knew, was not blaster fire. It was much louder, much more monstrous, much more devastating. He shot up, his fur standing on edge, his paws gripping the controls so tight that his hands could have started bleeding.
There was no time to react. Wolf felt his ship tumble, toss, and flip through space. He tried to regain control, but couldn't keep the damned thing straight! What had happened, how, who, where did it come from? There was only one explanation, it had to have been Fox! There was no other way! He was the only one who saw where Wolf was headed!
He saw his console light up in flames, throwing dangerous sparks towards his face and body. Wolf threw up his hands, protecting his good eye from the heat, flames, and flaring electricity. With this new danger, it would be completely impossible for him to control the ship and land it safely. Either it would explode in space, or would end up tumbling towards Katina's atmosphere and burn up. There was no way to escape, this was it.
The cockpit grew hotter and hotter, it was unbearable! How could he have been so stupid? How could he have turned his back on McCloud, fall right into his trap? He knew that Fox usually wasn't one for keeping grudges or seeking revenge, but Wolf had downright tortured him, forced the little guy to hate him. Why was he so surprised then? Fox had a right to get revenge, and Wolf was too stupid to see that it had been his fault. In these last agonizing moments that he had, Wolf wished that he could have taken it all back. But it was too late for that now, he was going to die, and nothing could stop it.
He curled up into a ball like a child hiding from the monsters in his closet and waited for that one last burning sensation to overtake him. A minute passed, then two. Why hadn't it come yet? If he hadn't exploded, then he'd surely be in the atmosphere by now, burning up. I'll just look for a second. Wolf thought to himself. He split his middle and index finger, giving his good eye a view of the cockpit. It was still aflame, but the fire didn't seem to be growing, that was good. He looked up at the canopy and saw Katina's brown sky. What? How was it that he had yet to disintegrate in the atmosphere? Was he still that high up, or had he actually made it down to the lower levels of the sky?
Slowly, he uncurled from the ball and looked around. The flame was threatening him, but his curiosity easily overpowered it. His eyes surveyed the outside of the window. Indeed, he was quite low to the ground. Low enough so that he could eject and land safely! Acting fast, Wolf grabbed several supplies to hold onto. A pair of binoculars, a first-aid kit, and the survival essentials kit.
Using his left hand, he reached over to the ejection button. Flames nipped at him, trying to consume him. Wolf would not allow this, he would not die now that he knew that he had a chance! He shut his good eye and slammed down on the button.
For a second, there was silence. Then he felt the wind around him. The canopy had popped off, and the seat would follow only microseconds later.
The sound of the wind howling was deafening to his sensitive ears, but he couldn't afford to let go of his supplies in order to cover them. Maybe he screamed, he couldn't really tell with the wind blaring in his ears. His good eye cracked open and he saw that he had to open the parachute now or else he would land too hard. Without any grace whatsoever, Wolf reached over to a lever on his left and yanked it as hard as he could. The seat jerked as the parachute caught the wind.
Wolf released the breath that he hadn't even realized that he had taken. It would be much nicer from here, at least he hoped so.
The wind wasn't blowing as hard now, something that his ears were thankful for. There was still plenty of adrenaline pumping through his veins, so he wasn't really sure if anything else had been damaged during the ejection. He felt a little dizzy, probably from the initial force of the wind smacking against his body. His head rolled to the side as his body started loosening up. So, exhausted, he was so exhausted from all of this. Wolf could feel his eyes starting to close, slowly, sluggishly.
His body hit the sand with a muffled thud. It didn't hurt much, seeing that the sand was so soft and what not. Wolf welcomed it's warmth and softness as he rested his head against a small mound. He was stuck in a barren wasteland, but right now, he couldn't have cared less. He was exhausted, sore, and weak. He needed sleep, and he needed it now, and with that, he dozed off.
Fox threw a punch towards him. Wolf ducked out of the way, landing on his side and adjusting himself so that he would go into a roll. He came out of the roll, and popped up next to Fox, curling his fingers into a fist and tossing it forward. His paw made contact, he saw it, but then Fox disappeared.
Wolf was alone now, alone in the dark. He looked around from side to side in frantic motions. What happened to him? How could this be?
The floor felt weird, he looked down and saw that there was none. He was falling into nothingness! His claws extended and grabbed at the air, though it would not help him. Never had th lupine felt such fear. This strange emptiness, it was familiar, yet it felt like it had been distant for a very long time.
Blackness, that's all that there was. Wolf fell further and further into the darkness, until finally, there was something. It was a powerful red glow from below him. He fell into the red, landing in its warmth. No, it wasn't warm, it was scorching hot! Wolf yelped in pain as the red burned him. He fought it, slamming his fists down against it again and again. His arms felt exhausted and his body burned. Finally, he gave up fighting, and embraced the burning sensation.
The second this happened, all of the burning stopped, and he felt okay again. He sat up and looked around, noticing that the red was shrinking. But that wasn't all, it wasn't just shriveling down, it was converging on a point, the exact spot where he sat! What was happening? Why?
Finally, the red dissipated, and all that was left was Wolf. Alone, he was alone again. He stood up and looked around. There was no ground really, but he wasn't falling.
Suddenly, Wolf doubled over, feeling an intense pain in his gut. It was the same feeling as the red. He shut his eyes, squeezing them together furiously, then finally, it was gone again, just like before. Wolf opened his eyes and saw... Fox? Fox was lying before him, motionless.
The sand blew up his nose, causing him to choke. Wolf stirred and opened his eyes wide. The sun was beating down on him, causing him to sweat profusely. He groaned and tried to turn over, only to be choked by his seatbelt. Slowly and wearily he reached down to the buckle and undid the harness. He rolled over onto the sand and laid there for a moment, then sat up and leaned his head back.
The sun was unbearably hot, and the thick coat of fur that covered him didn't make him feel much better. His mechanical eye was a bit fuzzy, and it wasn't picking up the surroundings very well. He went over to it and adjusted it, moving it around a little but and flicking it a few times. It fuzzed up a bit, then went back to normal. Wolf let out a sigh of relief. Thank God, he wouldn't know what to do without both eyes working.
He tried to get up, but was halted by a sharp pain in his legs. It didn't feel like it was broken, but he knew his muscles were very tensed. He went back down, took a deep breath, then slowly rose up, feeling his legs stretch out. It hurt a little less this time, and was more relieving.
"Ooooh, that's good," he moaned as he finally got into a straight posture. His tail wagged to and fro, as he stretched out the rest of his body. Miraculously, nothing seemed to be too damaged, which provided him with some relief. Though, there was still the pressing matter of being lost in the desert. Maybe his binoculars could help out with that. He walked over to his seat and looked around for the supplies. Hm, they were no where to be found. He remembered having them when he landed in the desert, so where were they. Wolf looked around and saw several objects about twenty yards from him. Did he drop them? It was all such a blur, but then again, it didn't really matter now.
Wolf trotted over to the supplies and observed them. They were all in tact, good. He picked up the binoculars and dusted them off. After taking a few more seconds to make sure that they were alright, he placed them up to his eyes and looked through.
At first, there wasn't much to see, just dunes for about three to five miles. A little annoyed by this, Wolf changed the range up to ten miles. A smile crossed his face as he saw a large structure. It must have been the base! He lowered the binoculars and looked over at the other two packs. He probably wouldn't need the first aid since he hadn't been hurt, so he'd take the binoculars and the essentials kit.
Within a few minutes, Wolf was ready to set off. He had removed his upper garments so that he wouldn't overheat, and had strapped the kit and the binoculars to his side. He looked over to where he had seen the base and took his first steps in its direction.