VI. Resident

Miyu pressed a hand against the dilapidated door of the Phoenix Hotel. She pushed it out of its track and onto the tiled floors. The lynx stepped first into the decomposing foyer, followed shortly by Krystal and Fay. All three were armed with light guns and equipment. They didn’t expect to stay too long. The only objects they were searching for were weapons and spare parts. Maybe the dreary weather would clear up in the meantime. Miyu considered maybe lifting a few objects from the abandoned hotel, but gave up hope of finding anything valuable after seeing the mouth of the building.

“Are you sure we’re going to find anything good in here?” Miyu asked.

Krystal shrugged, pushing blue bangs out of her eyes. “We might as well look.”

Miyu reciprocated the action and continued into the lobby. Walls that had once been pristine were now molding and overgrown with vegetation. Potted plants had either grown out of their vases into the ground or withered away. Wooden paneling had turned into a sour state of red. The teller’s heavy desk was lopsided, a large hole punched out of the right-hand side. Discarded metal coat-racks lay on the ground like chopped trees, and all of the keys were coated with foul rust. It looked like no one had touched this place in decades.

“My dad said this used to be a great vacation getaway spot. Looking at it now . . .” Fay shook her head. “It’s an awful waste.”

Miyu snorted, almost embarrassed by her colleague’s attitude. “Krystal, did you ever hear the rumors about the founding family? The Phoenixes, right? They were super-rich. Always going to parties, always giving to charities, true yuppies through and through.” She hopped behind the dilapidated desk and started looking for cash in the drawers. “One day, they fly too close to Venom, and bang! Their ship gets instantly toasted.”

Krystal wrinkled her nose. “How terrible.”

“And by toasted, I mean they blew half the damn ship off,” Miyu added. She fished out an old wallet, but there was no money in it. She tossed it off to the side and continued, “Then some space pirates showed up, and—”

“That’s enough!” Fay barked. She stared at Miyu for a moment, and then she shook her head. “I’m sorry. Bad reaction. I was just thinking about. . .” She mouthed something to Miyu, but Krystal didn’t recognize it.

Miyu sighed and jumped off the desk. “It’s okay.” She brushed off the topic, stepping into the hall to the right. Fay followed her shortly afterwards, leaving Krystal mildly confused. She shook her head and went after them. She didn’t want to be left alone in any abandoned location for too long. Situations tended to happen if she wasn’t on her guard. She hated thinking about the time she spent half-frozen in an ancient temple in a distant sky.

The next room was an abandoned bar. There was a cabinet wedged in the northeast corner, covered in dust and cobwebs. Yellow liquor in glass bottles sat in designated spots behind it. Mirrors were coated in a slight film, distorting the trio’s image as they passed by. Chairs and tables lay around the room in various levels of decay. A billiard table was snapped in two, colored balls spilled onto the red carpets. There was a regal air in the room, even in its state of disarray.

“Could you imagine how great this place used to be?” Fay smiled. She dropped her gun back into her holster and flopped into a chair that was somewhat in decent shape. “This isn’t even the dance hall, and look at it!”

“All I see is a bunch of wasted alcohol,” Miyu frowned. She nudged Krystal in the ribs, “Whaddya say? Should we take ‘em? We could improvise bombs!”

Krystal shook her head. “I just don’t think that is what we need.” She turned back towards the door, tail flicking in frustration, “What we need are more—”

There were several simultaneous clicks as Krystal glanced towards the hallway. Her eyes widened as she recognized cold, black muzzles pointed at the trio. All three women crouched down and ducked behind any piece of cover they could find. Red blasts flared over their heads, singeing the tattered remains of curtains along the walls. They retaliated, blaster fire drilling into the wooden doorframe. Both sides stopped firing as soon as they recognized their assailants.

“Shit,” a raspy voice cursed. “Star bitches.”

Fay snarled back, “You watch your tongue!”

Three men stepped out from the shadows of the hallway. All three were dressed in heavy leather jumpsuits, mostly decorated with black and blue details. They were all well renowned for their insatiable appetite for battle and cutthroat tactics. Krystal wasn’t sure if it was bad luck or destiny that this group of men kept crossing the path of the Star Fox team. It seemed like wherever there was a mission, Star Wolf was there, lurking in the shadows and feasting on the fallen.

The newest member seemed a little startled, “Say, boss? I hate to state the obvious, but shouldn’t McCloud be around here somewhere?” He squatted down next to Krystal and gently cupped her hand, “I mean, it seems so—what’s the word—dishonorable to let flowers fight alone.” Krystal started to feel a little squeamish under his grasp.

“You’re on to something, Panther,” Wolf smirked, “But, could you cut it with the Casanova crap? I don’t pay you to seduce women!”

Wolf’s scaled counterpart smirked, “You wouldn’t get any money off of him if you tried to sell him out.”

Panther let go of Krystal’s hand and snapped at Leon, “I would make an excellent gigolo, you slimy, callous beast!”

Both of Wolf’s subordinates began to fight with each other. Miyu sat chuckling the entire time, crossing her arms and trying to avoid Wolf’s glare. Fay gritted her teeth and looked to Krystal for direction. The vixen shrugged and stood up. She felt like their time investigating the Phoenix Hotel was coming to an abrupt close.

“If you’ll excuse us, we’re done here,” Krystal brushed past Wolf. The lupine sighed and snatched her by the wrist. He dragged her back in front of him and dropped her on the ground. Both of her teammates snapped their guns up, but Krystal waved them off. Wolf was merely toying with them for the moment.

Wolf rolled his eyes, “You’ve got guts, gal. I’ll give you that.” He crossed his arms and leaned his head back, “Now, if you’re all good little girls, I’ll let you go. But I want some information, all right?” Krystal motioned for her companions to stay still, so they waited for her to regain her composure.

“That depends on what you want to know,” Krystal grumbled.

“All right. That’s at least an open response,” Wolf smirked. He clicked his tongue, just slightly bearing jagged teeth, and began asking questions, “So, what’s a bunch of nice ladies like you all doing on a dump-hole planet like Zoness?”

Miyu took the first question, “Communication problems.” She chuckled and fired back, “How about you? Decided to pick up a beach-front mansion?”

Panther broke out of his fight with Leon, “You know, boss, this could be a pretty swanky place with the right cur—”

“Stuff it, would you?” Wolf snapped. He whacked Panther upside the head and made a smart-ass comment to Leon. “I swear, there are no true mercenaries anymore.”

Leon shrugged and shook his head, “They just don’t come out of wars the same anymore.”

Fay demanded that the group get back on track. She snapped her fingers once, instantly catching all three of the foes’ attention. With a small growl, she yipped out, “Well?”

“Touchy,” Wolf faked a surrendering gesture. “Leave it to the poodles to be the interrogators.” He crossed his arms again and finally answered, “Same issue. Thought it was a local problem, but it extends around the entire planet. It doesn’t make ordering a pizza simple.”

Leon took over the bantering, “All right, ladies.” He kneaded his hands over his knuckles, carpel tunnel pains soothing. He twisted his head and glared crookedly at the three ladies, “Where’s Fox and his wingmen?” The lizard almost snickered on the last word.

Krystal’s face kept stoic. “Out.”

Panther lifted an eyebrow. The amber parts of his eyes came alive with a wild passion. He dropped his jaw just a little, curling it back into a smile. He started chewing on his gloves to keep from laughing. Wolf almost whacked Panther on the head again, but decided to forego it. The moron would get to his conclusion short enough.

“Now, when you say ‘out’ . . .” Panther grinned and paced around Krystal. He twirled a lock of hair and let it fall back into place. “You mean, he isn’t around, correct? He isn’t . . .with you? Missing in—”

Miyu nudged Panther away from Krystal. “That’s exactly what she means. Now, back off before I claw your eyes out!”

Wolf stepped in between the two groups. “All right, you sissies. Knock it off.” He feigned a smile and asked, “Where did they go?”

Krystal didn’t feel so talkative anymore, “Ocean range. About a hundred miles from here.” She crossed her arms, “But that was hours ago. If they were still there, we would have found them by now.”

“Well, at least you all have some common sense.” Leon snickered. “I mean, knowing your bozo friends, they would have just gone straight after missing personnel without analyzing the situation. You’re doing yourselves a favor by staying low.”

“We’re going after them,” Fay corrected him. The lizard seemed mildly surprised, but the mixed expression faded within a few seconds. He rolled his eyes, pupils wheeling in strange directions.

Miyu frowned. “Don’t look at us like that. We only stopped here for supplies.”

“I can’t believe that they are all so suicidal,” Panther was taken aback. He turned to Wolf, “Boss, you don’t think—”

“Cram it.” Wolf turned his back on the girls and pondered for a moment. After a few seconds, he signaled Leon and Panther over. The group murmured something, but it wasn’t in a tongue that any of them recognized. Krystal thought parts of it sounded like Venomese, but it was too rough for her to translate. The group broke apart and turned to face the women, all three smiling a little too wickedly.

“Ladies, I hate to break to you, but I suggest that you all high-tail it out of here,” Wolf made a swift fist, pointing his thumb behind him. “You don’t want to deal with what’s out there.”

Krystal lowered her eyebrows, teeth slightly glinting. “We aren’t leaving until everyone in our team is home.”

Wolf snorted, somewhat amused and skeptical. He shook his head, eyes closed in embarrassment. “There’s that annoying perseverance again.” He pointed one hand out and tapped Krystal on the nose, “You whelps have no idea what’s out there, do you? You were probably all bopping around in high school when the Lylat Wars were happening!”

“We’re not kids!” Fay raised her voice. Her eyes pierced into Wolf’s gaze, nearly burrowing into the back of his brain. “We can handle whatever’s out there.” She lowered her naturally peppy voice several steps, “Do not underestimate us.”

Panther seemed a little unnerved. He tapped his boots against the floor, not looking at his boss or the poodle snapping in his face. It was a little intense for his nature. Leon cracked his knuckles, entertained and bored at the same time. It had been a while since the Star Wolf team had a face-to-face confrontation with their rivals, but this episode was a little boring for his taste. There wasn’t nearly enough gunfire to keep him amused for long.

“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Wolf gave up. He nodded his head towards the window, indicating the smoggy sea behind them. “Your good buddy Fox took care of a lot of garbage out there. He knocked out a shitload of Andross’s best weapons.” The lupine paused, and then scratched the fluff under his chin. “But he didn’t get rid of everything out there. You think the damn ape was stupid enough to only have one bio-weapon per planet? There could be a lot of remnants out there, you know . . .”

“And you think some dead monkey’s toys scare us? If that’s what’s out there . . .” Miyu made a smacking noise with her lips. “Poof. That’s what’ll happen.”

Wolf didn’t seem to care how Miyu felt. He shrugged off her statement, “Well, I hope you’re right. It would be a damn shame to not personally kill you all.” He turned around and signaled for his men to follow him out. “Just get out of my sight. If you happen to figure out what’s wrong with the signals around this planet, you have my thanks.”

He walked out of the room and up a distant corridor, whistling for Leon and Panther. The lizard trailed after him, hissing at the ladies before he followed suit. Panther was uneasy about following the order. He glanced at his comrades, and then turned back to Krystal. He smiled and pulled a card out of his back pocket. It was completely red, save for a black rose and contact information.

Panther flashed a flirtatious smile, “Say you do find something, and the communication clears up around here. You need help, maybe?” He patted Krystal on the shoulder, “Just let me know.”

There was another harsh whistle, and then a voice bellowed, “Dammit, Panther! Now!”

“I gotta go,” Panther’s ears went flat against his head. He kissed Krystal’s hand, winked, and bolted out of the room. Krystal paused in shock and curiosity, and then shook her head. She slipped the card into a pouch on her belt. Miyu made a gagging noise, swiping at her throat like she was going to hack it off. Fay seemed confused, but blew off the gesture. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that somebody as hardcore about killing as Wolf O’Donnell would hire such a philanderer.

The trio snuck out of the hotel, not wishing to attract any more unwanted attention. Mist developed into trickling, warm rain. White fog enrobed the island, gently obscuring the horizon. They dashed under nearby trees, stepping around large, leafy ferns. For a moment, the planet seemed normal, like it used to be. They walked for several meters in silence, ground changing from red dirt to gray sand. Within a few more minutes, they arrived at the Great Fox II. It was nestled in a circle of trees, but it looked only like a shell of itself. It seemed so empty.

They entered the ship soundlessly, not making a word as they headed for the bridge. Miyu jumped over Rob’s fallen body and flung herself into a chair next to a broken jukebox. Fay sat opposite her, staring out into the ocean. Krystal hesitated to sit, fingers tapping on the top of the captain’s chair. There were so many memories flooding back, so many worlds she had seen standing behind that chair. The ship had never felt this small and dingy before. She finally sighed and sat down.

“I hope one of you has a plan,” Fay murmured. She leaned forward, her head resting on both hands.

The rain came down heavier. A small burst of thunder rolled over the ship. Miyu let it pass before speaking, “Well, we could go scouting in that. It could be better at the crash site, but—”

Krystal shivered. “Don’t call it that. Just, not for now.”

Miyu cocked an eyebrow, and then shrugged. “Okay. Anyway, we could still go out there.”

“How long do you think it would take to get the Arwings ready?” Fay asked.

“Without ROB online, maybe twenty minutes.” Miyu scoffed a little bit at their situation. “Not that time is much of an issue at this point.” She turned around and played with some nearby controls. There was a soft beep, and a black and green screen flashed information. “Communications are still down. Looks like our radar’s on the fritz now, too.”

“That’s fine. Miyu, do you think you can get the Arwings ready?” Krystal asked. She had a new determined gleam in her eyes. The lynx enjoyed this spark of enthusiasm and gave her a thumb’s up.

Fay interjected, “I’ll go pack a few things. We might as well have some emergency kits set up.”

Krystal nodded. “Good idea.” She slid off the chair. “I’m going to do a last minute security check around here. Then, I’m going to grab a few extra weapons. I’ll meet you guys in the hanger in fifteen minutes.”

Her wing mates stood up almost simultaneously. They all smirked, and then ran off to deal with their own separate tasks. There was little time to waste—they’d burned enough time trying to look for extra supplies. It was time to hunt whatever was out there, bio-weapon or not. Something was preventing their friends from coming home, and that was bad enough.

The bridge went completely dark, save for a blinking computer screen. It had a new message, flooding the screen over and over again. The eerie light fell on the fallen corpse of ROB, casting an emerald shadow across the floor. It kept burning into the screen, the same lines casting its image into it permanently. Finally, the computer overheated and stopped running. The screen was eternally fixed on the same line now.

It read “5768657265206973206865?”

All right, little Orphan Annie fans! Set your decoders to ASCII, hexadecimal values! Here’s a hint: you don’t need to decode the last symbol.

Yes, that is my way of being a jerk. You wanted something cool? Binary would have been way the hell too long. It’s lucky for you that there are many ‘ASCII converters” on the Internet. Why, all you have to do is “Google” it! It might be on the “first page”!

Shut up. I’m very bored.

I can’t say I planned this chapter to go like this. I just thought it would be cool. Maybe Wolf will show back up. Well, damn, probably. But not, like, until the end. I guess. DRAMATIC PLOT TWIST ENSUES!

My life’s been stressful. I hope you were at least entertained.