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It was a red feathered hawk. He seemed rather my size yet more intimidating with his black uniform brushing along the direction of his gigantic sand twister. He slowly lowered himself down to the ground, not breaking his gaze from me for even a millisecond. I could tell by the death stare of his that he was looking for blood.

"Who, are you?" I managed to cough out against the sand.

"My name is Venir," he began, "that's all you need to know. Unlike my so called superiors I know how to finish the job." The hawk held out his right arm to face directly at me and I braced myself, my guns held firmly in hand. It wasn't until a split second after he launched it that I realized what it was. I ducked as a shining ring of metal barely flashed over my head at amazing speed, probably due to following the course of this guy's wind tunnel. Venir caught the blade swiftly in his hand. It was fully round like a frisbee but was about the size of half his arm.

With a swift grin the wind picked up very rapid speed, quickly and surprisingly sending me high into the air once again. I yelped in surprise as I found myself upside down and a split second later felt a heavy thud hit the resting blade on my back. By the time I realized it was the crazy frisbee did I see it coming square at me. I was at serious disadvantage and only managed to slide by it with a piece of my jacket being sliced clean off. There was no way I was going to be able to get the upper hand if I couldn't even coordinate myself away from this tornado of death and the hawk's weaponry. As I managed to spot the blade whisking its way back to me, I put up my blasters and with desperation, pulled the trigger.

***

The look alike was back from hiding, and stronger than ever by the looks of the struggle. The Star Wolf team was slowly getting out classed even in a three on one battle.

"Come on," Replica Ryan stated, "I was expecting a better fight from the great Wolf O' Donnell." With a burst of energy he thrusted himself at the awaiting trio, whose attack was quickly blocked by Panther's swift movement of his blade. Wolf and Leon charged in on both sides, coming in with swift attacks in perfect sync, making it rather difficult for the replica to dodge. However, he seemed to be able to predict everyone of the teams moves, either deflecting both attacks at once or dodging one or both while deflecting the other. It seemed almost inhuman how he's been able to accomplish such actions.

‘Come on Panther,' Wolf thought as he and Leon kept up their precarious assault. They managed to keep the replica from landing a single hit but haven't managed to land a single hit themselves, regardless of numbers it was a fairly even match. Panther kept out of the replica's sight as he awaited for the right moment to strike. He closed in as the other two continued backing the look alike in a relentless assault. With one final lunge Wolf and Leon put as much effort into the attack, although the replica took the full hit, he was pushed enough to land right into a slash from Panther's blade. Replica Ryan gave a loud shout as he back off several feet. The team regroup and charged as they viewed the success of their sneak attack, blood gushing clear down the center of the clone's front. The clone growled and charged a high powered energy attack, waiting for his own moment to unleash his attack. As they were within six feet he unleashed the full fury of the blast on the team. Wolf spotted this and lunged forward activating his ray shield as the other two got knocked far back. Shortly after the clone found himself caught in Wolf's aggressive charge and found it difficult to recover as Wolf came after him with the same attack strategy as before. Wolf quickly chuckled as he found the clone's reaction speed greatly reduced as he landed blow after blow unhindered at his opponent. One more swift kick and the clone staggered to stay on his feet.

"Not so tough now aren't you bitch?" Wolf snarled, "didn't you say you we were no contest to you?"

"One lucky shot," Replica Ryan said as he regained his balance but not his fighting composure, "and it took three of you to pull it off. I thought you were stronger than that." Wolf looked back at his comrades, who were barely trying to stay conscious let alone get up on their feet.

‘Damn he's right,' Wolf thought, ‘we only have him defeated because we worked as the team we were. If only Ryan was here.' He brought his dukes up, "yeah well I was smarter than to come alone, now roll over and die." He charged and the replica snapped his fingers and a flash of light quickly blinded the charging wolf. As soon as he regained his sight, the fake was gone.

***

I manage to block off most of the attack, enough to render the blade useless after several blasters shots, but at the cost of a huge deep cut the cut up my left arm. The pain was only escalating with the blowing sand that added in the powerful tornado. The wind also gave him incredible speed, allowing the hawk to easily dodge shot after shot that I gave. I was making no progress on my end and slowly being whittled down on my energy. This guy definitely knew what he was doing, and wasn't playing any games with me. He was cunning yet relentless and is effectively reducing all my energy and recourses to oblivion. I could only back off a bit, until I dug my legs a foot down to help resist the current of the upscale wind, it kept me on the ground but seriously hindered my ability to shoot back.

‘Damn, if only I wound up somewhere else,' was what I thought, but I seriously couldn't blame Jovey for this. It's not his fault that he couldn't control the spell's location. The problem was I was seriously losing the battle and couldn't see help anywhere in sight. A huge force hit my chest and I collapsed on my back hard against the sandy ground. I wasn't cut but the sheer force of the hawk's attack knocked the wind out of me.

"Ready to die yet human?" Venir said cynically as he approached slowly, another burst of wind revolving around both of his hands. This was it, I had to stand my ground here. I only had the energy to sit up a bit as he prepared his attack. I tried to seek out the magic to use, but soon found that I just couldn't reach the words or the energy. With a grunt, the hawk sent the huge gusts of concentrated wind right me, and in a split second, a large blade stood in front of my face. The wind quickly curving around the blade and wrapped around it. I couldn't even register what just happened as I looked up. Standing right there as if on cue, was Angulo. That stallion always seems to be there when I needed him most. He looked down at me and then back at a surprised hawk, who looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"You?" he shouted pointing, "what the hell are you doing here?" I was surprised, did he really know him?

"I'm sorry," Angulo said, "you must have the wrong person. But I'm afraid it's time you went away." With a serious face he lifted the blade, holding it close to him.

"No need to play hero to this worthless freak of nature," Venir said, "you really think you're that powerful?" With a flick of his wrist the wind contained in Angulo's blade was released and returned to the owner's hand. That was a first I ever saw someone break that power, proves just how outmatched I was this battle.

"Not bad," Angulo said as he held his blade up in defense.

***

Wolf looked up as he saw the Great Fox close in on his location, just as Panther and Leon came to it.

"So much for the plan," he muttered to himself as the giant ship landed. A particularly shocked Fox, Falco and Krystal approached the beaten up team.

"What in the hell happened?" Falco asked.

"Who had the power to do this?" Fox asked, "I thought you guys were stronger than this."

"Like you could have done any better Fox," Wolf snarled, "the rogue clone was the one who attacked us."

"Very well," Fox said, "we'll take over from here, you're dismissed."

"On what basis?" Leon asked coldly, "what gives you the right to order us around like this?"

"He's our teammate so he's our responsibility," Krystal began just as coldly, "also this is a time where we need to start cooperating and putting ourselves together. We've easily seen that the Claxan are much stronger than anything we've encountered in the past." A while past before the Star Wolf team responded.

"I don't work with fools," Wolf began, "usually. But, just don't drag me down." Wolf walked to where knocked down speeder is and picked it up, reactivating it and getting on, as Panther gave a shout.

"Look guys, it's Ryan and that stallion instructor of his," Everyone looked at him in surprise and then in the direction he was pointing at. Among the horizon spotted a pure white Arwing, flying in right at their location. They were easily able to tell that it was Angulo in the pilot seat, with Ryan's silhouette spotted in the back seat. After a quick minute they landed right next to the Great Fox.

Angulo and a very tired looking Ryan staggered out of the ship. Fox, Falco, and Krystal quickly rushing to their beat up comrade, immediately offering him support.

"Ryan," Fox began, "what the hell happened to you?"

"You okay?" Krystal asked. He was silent, not giving an answer.

"Allow me to explain since I know he would later," Angulo offered and began.

***

Venir and Angulo were exchanging blow after blow. Somehow the hawk even without a weapon managed to have a more aggressive upper hand on Angulo, much to my surprise. Angulo just couldn't seem to get out of the blocking phase to attack at all.

"Just give it up and die," Venir shouted with a leap to the air to unleash an even bigger blow, actually knocking Angulo off of his feet. I continued to watch from the spot I remained at as Angulo landed just right behind me. I could see from the intense look Angulo was giving that he was running out of steam. Just from how close he was I could hear what he was whispering.

"I was hoping to avoid this," he said and slammed his blade into the ground and ran after him. I was already surprised by this sudden burst of energy. He ran right at him with the hawk staying stationary, posed as if charging an attack. Angulo quickly leapt high into the air, probably easily fifty feet by the looks of it and shouted loud.

"YOU! ARE FINISHED!!!" He quickly swished his whole arm and a bright intense light flashed from the sky. I couldn't see anything in the blinding light and had to shut my eyes from it. Shortly after came a loud shrill shriek from the hawk, and then complete silence. I waited another few seconds before attempting to open my eyes, and what I saw blew me away. Nothing, absolutely nothing, Angulo stood there by his lonesome, the only remains of the hawk a few ashes that blew away quietly in the once again calm wind. I could have told whether or not I'd received Venir's powers yet or not, but I was too tired, and too freaked out by Angulo's sudden display of power. I just still couldn't register what the hell happened. Angulo approached me slowly, retrieving his blade before speaking to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Who, are, you?" I asked slowly.

"I'm not any different that I was the last time we spoke, that's all you need to-."

"No one I know anywhere has that kind of power," I interrupted, "not even Cougar."

"A sad mistake," I heard a voice from above speak. I looked up to see a very tall green dragon looking down at us.

‘Draxor,' I thought. It was certainly a while since I last ran into him. "What do you want?"

"I have all the info I needed from both of you," he turned his gaze from me to Angulo as he landed on his feet, "but you my friend were the juiciest of all." Angulo chuckled.

"I don't see anything interesting about me," Angulo said.

"Don't try to fool me Mr. Louis," Draxor stated confidently, "I can easily tell that... You're dead!"

"WHAT?!" I shouted out loud. Looking between the two quickly, my head spinning. ‘How is this.... He's dead? How in the world does that happen? Dead people don't just get up and walk around on their own. Draxor is out of his fucking mind.'

"So what if I am?" Angulo said in a calm cool manner.

"Trust me I know," Draxor said, "there is no person alive that can pack that kind of heat and still be walking other than Cougar. Venir was a powerful son of a bitch, but you completely vaporized him with a flick of the wrist. Only Cougar has that kind of power in his disposal." That triggered another thought of mine.

‘He's right. I can't think of any other explanation. A spellcaster can't use more energy in their spells then they have in their life energy unless they face death as a consequence. But this still doesn't explain how Angulo's still walking himself. Did he find out some special secret? Was he brought back from the dead? That's impossible, no one has the power to bring back the dead, it's a physical impossibility. Those who've tried faced worse things than death. So many questions...'

"So what are you going to do about it Flametongue?" Angulo asked still containing his usual cool demeanor.

"Right now, nothing," Draxor began, "I have all that I came for, more than enough to secure a nice little promotion in the organization. Maybe now I can be the number two member. I'm definitely more deserving of it than that fat lazy pig. But just remember, the next time you get in our way, I'll ice you personally. Right now I'm of no match against you, but will change soon." With a flick of his wrist he dissappeared. This day was certainly filled with surprises.

"Well," Angulo sighed, "good to know you're safe, eh Ryan?" I didn't answer and he could see the problem plain on my face. "Ryan?"

"Is it really true?" I asked him, "are you really dead?" He sighed.

"If you truly must know, yes, I'm walking, fighting, and breathing as a dead person," he said.

"How?" I asked.

"You're not yet ready for the answer yet," he said outright, "to know requires much mental stamina and will destroy your sanity if I told you now." I thought hard for a second before buying his little story.

"Very well," I said, "but when the time comes, you better damn well give me some answers."

"We have a deal then," Angulo said, "oh and one more thing. Don't mention my death to anyone at all. This is for all our benefits if we keep this between us, alright?"

"Alright," I said, "but just answer me this, does anyone else know about your death other than the Claxan?"

"Yes," he said, "only one person and I've sworn an oath not to tell, so please don't push the subject. Now let's get moving, my Arwing isn't too far from here and Star Fox is about to touch down, so I plan to meet up with them and discuss what happened, as much as we can." He started to walk off and after a few seconds I followed. Throughout the whole way my thoughts were flying.

‘Who knows of his death? How did he die? Why did he die? What purpose does he have for coming back here? Is it just because of me? All I know is that he's more dangerous than I thought, and that makes him extremely dangerous. Plus his sudden change of mood completely makes him even more unpredictable. Urghh... I just can't make any sense of this.'

***

I just sat there under the shade of the Great Fox listening close to Angulo's explanation about our encounter with Venir and of Draxor as well. He very easily sidestepped the details about the revealing of his death, or of how exactly he killed Vanir, so to not raise suspicion. After having a little time to collect my thoughts and store them away from Krystal's abilities, I couldn't help but see Angulo in a completely different light. Krystal was sitting right next to me, making sure that I was well kept and recovering. After he was finished, I steadily dozed away from the conversation. I didn't know what they said, nor that I cared at the moment. All I cared about was getting a little rest, and Krystal whispered to me that it was probably for the better anyway. At least until my communicator blared to a loud level. I picked it up and realized it was General Pepper.

"General," I began, "what's going on?" He didn't waste any time.

"Star Fox, everyone, we have a major crisis. We're receiving a transmission that penetrated all of Corneria's broadcasts. Head for the Great Fox bridge immediately, we'll send you a link to the transmission." Everyone heard this and we scrambled as quick as we can to the bridge. The worry in General Pepper's voice easily meant a cause for alarm. We got to the bridge in no time flat and even Star Wolf was running with us to get to the display hologram. Fox jumped into his captain seat and turned on the display. Cougar's face immediately came up.

"Cougar," I shouted. He smiled.

"Attention all of Lylat," Cougar began, "you may or may not know me by face or name yet, but I hope to make it known now. My name is Cougar and I'm the leader of the Claxan. Now that you know me better I can start with my new proclamation."

"Proclamation?" Peppy said and quickly silenced to listen in.

"I shall cut to the chase as my time on this broadcast is short. I'm making a proclamation of war on Corneria. Look now as you see on this new display the bulk of our hidden armed forces known as the Dawx rebellion." Half of the display cut off to reveal an entire army that couldn't even be near to completely seen by what was filmed. Robots and men of all types were assembled and armed. He wasn't fooling around this time. "I have now played my cards, and you have two to play. Either surrender immediately to proclaim me as your new ruler or die by our hands. I shall await your answer within 30 days. Please choose wisely. And one more important message to you Mr. Ryan Lewis, eventually you'll have to make a choice for yourself. You, or the galaxy." He gave a loud laugh as the display cut off to the usual blank screen.

"War?" Slippy said slowly as I sagged. The word rang loud and clear in my mind.

‘This can't be happening,' I thought with a wave of new emotion. "WHAT IN THE HELL HAVE I COME BACK TO?!"