Chapter Text
“Shit” A young Wolf said, sat behind a few boxes in an abandoned alley on some random planet. The sky was a dark, sickly green, a random moon hanging in the sky. The alley was gross, and he had to breathe quietly to keep his exhausted panting from being heard, and there was a weird puddle by his foot that he really didn’t want to touch. That, and there was also a sack full of jewels in his lap. This stupid junk was why he was here in the first place, being hunted by the guards of some nobleman he didn’t bother listening about.
C’mon c’mon, think! Dad’ll be pissed if I don’t meet him at the place, and he already did so much to distract the guards! He thought to himself, looking around the alley for anything he could use. The cheap blaster his father had given him had broken after one use, as he was told it would, so that was out. He had to take all the jewelry with him to maximize profit, so he couldn’t sacrifice any of it. God knows what his father would do to him if he tried.
Then, he spotted it. A lone pebble on the ground by his foot. Yes! He thought as he reached forwards and picked it up. He peaked out around the boxes and saw the guards, walking slowly through the streets and checking everything. Wolf had no idea how these streets belonged to a nobleman, but assumed that he just wouldn’t care about anything other than their mansion. It would make sense, considering that Wolf was holding his large collection of prized jewels. It was his largest soon-to-be successful haul by far. Surely his father would be impressed. Just the thought of pleasing his father made his tail wag a bit.
He shook his head, clearing away those thoughts to focus on his current objective. No time for that. He saw the guards looking down an alley directly across the street from him. He waited until they started to turn away, and threw the pebble across the street towards them. The guards snapped back to the alley, flashing lights down it.
“He’s over there!” One called, running into the alley. Wolf took his chance and darted out of his own alley, and down the streets. The jewelry clinked in the sack thrown over his shoulder, feeling like a ton. He’d been carrying it so long, but the end was in sight. Once he turned down a few more streets, he’d meet his father and hand off the bag. Then, they’d escape together, and Wolf would be told that he did a good job.
He smiled at that thought, his tail beginning to wag again. It gave him the adrenaline rush he needed to run just a little bit faster. He heard his pursuers shout as they realized they’d been duped, but rounded a corner before they could exit the alley. Their enraged shouts about wondering where he went were all he needed to be sure that he was safe. He let out a breath, his tail wagging faster as his chest swelled with pride. Even though he was only a pup, he could do this. The physical hell his father had put him through to make sure he’d be up to the task wasn’t for nothing, after all. It held merit. He could survive now. He let himself slow down to a light jog as he mentally went over what the mission was, confirming that he’d done all the right steps and that his dad wouldn’t be able to tell him how much he’d screwed up.
Dad distracts the guards, and I climb into the mansion through the window on the left edge of the third floor.
Using my size to my advantage, get into the vents and sneak past security.
Kill the guard that will be guarding the treasury with my blaster, and use his key card to get in. Use the device Dad gave me to send out an EMP, and shut down the alarms.
Grab the jewels, and get out the way I came. I’ll be seen since dad can’t distract them after that first attempt. From there, it’s up to me. All I have to do is get far enough, and if I’m still followed Dad can take them out.
Wolf slung the sack down from his shoulder, holding it in front of him as he walked. He opened the sack, triple checking that he’d grabbed everything in the treasury. Exotic gem encrusted crowns, beautiful golden necklaces with diamonds, rings with thick gemstones, and single massive gems. He smiled to himself as he pulled out a single ring. It was, all things considered, fairly simple and inexpensive compared to the other trinkets in the bag that, totalled, would probably be enough to buy the noble’s mansion five times over.
He held the ring up, admiring it in what little light he had as he walked. A thin gold band with a thin purple gem that went around its entire middle. Wolf loved the color purple, and it looked like this was the only one like it in the bag. He wondered if he’d be able to convince his dad to let him buy a cheap knock off ring like this with his share of the money, or maybe even keep the ring entirely. If the worst happened, he’d be able to get Pigma to smuggle one for him. Although it might come at the cost of his entire share, given how greedy the pig was.
He rounded another corner, still admiring the shine the ring had. He could see his own reflection in it. Big, dark eyes, the messy grey fluff that made up his mohawk, the perpetually evil look he had because of his eyebrows, and his wide, toothy smile. He could even see his bushy tail swinging to and fro behind him. He wore a purple sweater beneath a dirty gray bomber jacket, and black pants with combat boots. With a haul like this, he’d be able to spend some money on a new outfit, too. A sudden, sickly cough pulled him from his thoughts.
He blinked once, and lowered the ring as he turned to the cough’s source. In yet another alley, he saw a wolf just like him. Gray fur and all. She was leaned against the wall, dressed in rags that bagged off of her thin figure. She looked sickly, on the verge of death. Wolf’s grip on the ring tightened as the sound of her stomach growling met his ears. He made a hesitant noise, and stepped towards her. Her eyes flicked up to his, and she backed away slowly.
“No no, I’m just...here.” He stopped a few feet away from her, extending his hand and offering her the ring. Her eyes lit up. She raised her boney arm, and her thin fingers reached out to him. Wolf stepped closer, until his hand met her’s. She felt a little cold, and her hand was rough. Wolf swallowed nervously, his father’s teachings echoing through his head.
“Don’t give anyone anything. They’ll only want more. In this life, it’s you or them, and it’s always best to look out for yourself because trust me, no one else will.” He remembered his father’s gruff voice saying. The expectant look in his eyes, and even the demeaning posture he held as he beat that lesson into his mind. Still, Wolf didn’t want to pull away and leave this woman to die. Her hand clasped over his, and Wolf froze. She held him as tightly as he could, and for a moment he was afraid that he’d screwed up. He was afraid he’d fallen for a trap, and that in the next three seconds he’d be killed, and all of his hard work would be stolen. But that didn’t happen. The woman held his gaze. It was full of...something. The emotion wasn’t hard, and it wasn’t cold. It was...nice.
“Thank you.” Her voice was hoarse, and raggedy. Like she hadn’t been able to speak in days. She pulled her hand away from Wolf’s, and with it the ring. Then, she turned, and limped down the alley. Wolf blinked at her, confused. It felt good to have helped her, and there wasn’t even that big a loss. He smiled to himself, tail wagging faster as he slung the bag back over his shoulder, and took off with pride behind every step.
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“You what?!” His father demanded, a harsh look in his eyes. It was one Wolf was used to, but that didn’t mean he was scared. His father held the sack of jewels in his hand, his lips pulled back in a snarl as he glared down at the pup. Wolf squirmed under his gaze, looking down at the dirty floor of their rickety star ship, floating through nowhere space. His tail was tucked between his legs, shaking slightly.
“I-it was just a really small ring that couldn’t have been worth more than 600$, a-and the woman looked like she was about to die…” Wolf defended weakly. His father growled.
“So what?! You should’ve let her! What the hell does giving her shit for free do to help you survive, huh?! It doesn’t!” His voice bounced off the hard walls of the ship. Wolf felt like crying, so afraid of when his father would shout.
“I-I just thought that-”
“I don’t give a shit what you thought! This is life or death Wolf, life. Or. Death. I don’t have any room for your fuck ups, or that bullshit sissies call “selflessness.” Go and be a hero if you want, but you get nothing in return, and people walk all over you ‘till ya die. Is that really the kinda life you’d rather be livin right now?” He demanded. Wolf swallowed, and shook his head.
“N-no sir…” His voice was barely above a whisper, but the larger Canis still gave a nod.
“That’s what I thought.” He walked past Wolf, aiming to go and schedule the jewels for auction.
“If you wanna help people, then go. Be a hero for ten minutes and then die and be forgotten for all I care. And untuck your tail, you look like a bitch.” He threw out casually. Wolf ground his jaws together, rolling his shoulders anxiously as he tried his damndest not to cry. Crying would only worsen the situation by an unknown multiplier. He bit his tongue to keep from hiccing, one hand reaching behind him and pulling his tail out from between his legs. It took all of his will power just to keep it from curling again.
“So much for a ‘good job,’ I guess…” He said quietly, trying to joke with himself. He hated this. He hated feeling so weak, and having no one else to talk to. He hated that there was no one weaker than he was, and how he couldn’t do anything as he was. He wanted to be like the McClouds, a legendary family of mercenaries who fought against evil, and who were loved by all. He didn’t want to be Wolf O’Donnell, the random Canis thug. But there was nothing he could do about that, except survive.
He’d long since realized that his dad was right. Being selfless never helped, and he always had to worry about survival. So, he’d pack away these emotions, bite his tongue harder, and play his role out perfectly. He put a smile on his face, turned, and walked to the door. As he neared, a faint banging noise reached his ears. A confused look passed over his face, and for a moment he thought his father was drinking again. But then the banging grew louder.
“-lf!”
He backed away from the door, scared of what his father might do to him like this, but the banging only grew louder.
“-olf!”
He started shaking, but he didn’t let his tail tuck. Don’t let your fear show, and meet every challenge with a confident smile. Show weakness, and you die. He sucked in a deep breath, forcing himself to stay as calm as possible despite the sudden cold numbness in his legs, and the shake in his arms.
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Wolf’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up in his bed. He couldn’t hear the banging on his door from the blood rushing in his ears, shaking with each heavy pound from his heart. He panted, eye wide as he stared at the other side of the room. He blinked as his breathing evened out, and swallowed. His legs still felt cold from the residual fear. He barely even registered the feeling of his bed beneath him, and it took him a moment to realize that he was awake now. But, as his heart rate slowed, and his blood pressure returned to noise, he finally registered the constant banging on his door.
“CAPTAIN! Your presence is required, we have a mission!” One of his teammates called. Wolf sighed, and dropped himself back down into his bed to stare up at the dark purple ceiling.
“Alright, alright, I’m up already! I’ll meet you in the briefing room!” He yelled back. The incessant pounding on his door finally stopped for a moment, before the voice came back.
“Panther knows you need your beauty sleep, but not everyone can strive to look as good as he does. It is imperative that you actually try to dress well, too.” Came the teasing voice of Panther. Wolf let out a low growl.
“I said alright!” He yelled, his voice louder. Panther sensed the rage, but he wasn’t intimidated. With a chuckle, he left the door, and walked through the base towards their briefing room. Wolf took in a deep breath, and let it out just as slow. He brought up his hands to scrub away at the tiredness on his face.
“That same damn dream again. Of course the pup would be in it. Even if it wasn’t much…” He threw his hands back down onto his bed, glaring up at nothing.
“I can’t keep goin’ like this.” He said tiredly, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed and standing with a light grunt. He hadn’t been sleeping well these last few months, and waking up early wasn’t helping. He scratched his neck, trying to get a crick out that had been in his neck since his last run-in with Star Fox a few weeks ago. The dogfight had ended in a draw, but it had been fun enough. He smiled to himself. “Fun.” A few months ago, that wouldn’t be a word he’d associate with the aptly named fox. Or was it a little over a year ago now? He didn’t know, or care.
He decided to forgo getting changed. He’d gone to sleep in his usual gear, minus the claws attached to his feet. He rubbed his face as he walked towards his door. His room was messy. Instant snack wrappers laid empty and crumpled on the table in his corner, a few pieces of clothing strewn about on his floor. He had a small, length light in the center of his ceiling, and a full length mirror next to his table that doubled as a long-distance video transceiver. He walked to the table first, pressing a small button on the side. A small black sphere at the top of his table projected a decently sized hologram into the air. It displayed a 3D version of the base and the asteroids around it, along with the various stats and numbers that indicated their current defenses. He nodded to himself, and pressed the button again. With an electronic buzz, it disappeared. He yawned as the sleepiness left his body, and arched his back in a stretch. He walked to his door as he raised his arms above his head, eyes flicking up to the sole reason he refused to let people enter his room.
Next to his door was a, rather high definition, poster of Fox McCloud. Well, to be specific, it was of the entire Star Fox crew, but it featured their leader on the front. He was crouched on one knee, blaster in his hand as he stared down the sights and straight into the camera. A confident smile on his face and a look in his eyes that Wolf dared to say he liked. He smiled at the poster, feeling a little better at the sight of Fox, and stepped through the doorway as his automatic door slid open.
The halls were cleaner than his room, but by no means were they spotless. The halls were dimly lit, the walls, ceiling, and floor all a marble white. Some parts were darker than others, mostly because of age and a lack of professional sanitation, but the base was home enough that he didn’t mind. He mindlessly walked through the memorized halls in a hunch. At one point, he passed by a packed game room. Even this early in the morning, he saw so many people together having fun. From what he saw, it looked like there was a black falcon arm wrestling with an ape. Around them, their gangmates cheered, some holding wads of cash to try and encourage the animal they’d bet on to win.
Wolf didn’t spend much time looking at them before he continued down the halls. Soon, he came to the familiar sight of the white metal doors. They parted upon his arrival, and he entered the briefing room. It was nothing special, really. An electronic war table sat in the center of the room, displaying a 3D copy of the Lylat system. Leon stood in a corner, leaning against the wall on one foot. One arm was crossed across his chest as he played with a serrated knife. Wolf watched for a moment as he balanced the sharp tip of it on his middle finger, before he tossed it into the air. He caught it, and twisted it between his fingers with practiced ease. He looked back to the table. On either side of it were dark red couches, both of which had various tears and stains. On the left one, sat Panther. He stared at a small tablet, scanning over the information available. He looked up when he heard the doors shut behind Wolf, and gave a teasing smile.
“Well, our glorious Lord O’Donnell is finally up.” He greeted, standing. Wolf rolled his eye, letting out a grunt of acknowledgement.
“Can it, what’ve you got for me?” He asked, cutting straight to the point. His tone made it clear that he wasn’t in the mood for any of Panther’s usual teasing, and the feline wasn’t cruel enough to do things just to spite his boss. Well, he was, but even he had his limits. He tossed him the tablet in his hand, and Wolf caught it easily.
“Something erupted out of an asteroid orbiting Fortuna, and so far it’s been unstoppable. It can propel itself through space using an odd sort of cannon-like attack, and it’s moving towards Fortuna. No one knows what it is, but General Pepper is asking everyone for help. And Panther means everyone.” Panther explained easily as Wolf looked over the screen. A colored, 3D model of a strange tentacle beast stared back at him. He could see the chunks of rock that had been stuck to its scaly appendages, and it looked like a mass of nothing but tentacles.
“Its skin is made out of an incredibly dense material, and so far nothing they’ve tried has gotten through. And when it opens its mouth...scroll down.” Wolf did as instructed, swiping to view the next page.
It displayed video of what appeared to be a military class Arwing. It was clearly battling the strange beast, flying around it at high speeds. It fired, but the red beams didn’t seem to affect the monster, only breaking more of the rock off of its tentacles. He watched as the vessel barrel rolled out of the way as one tentacle thrust at it, and flew a small distance away from it. It did a turn, and Wolf saw that it was a full Cornerian armada that was fighting it.
“I’m getting a read, it’s charging up again. Are the mother ship’s shields full? I don’t know if we can stall this thing.” An unfamiliar, feminine voice said.
“Yes ma’am, it should be able to-” Static filled the radio for a moment, and the feed gained a little bit of static over it. It made looking at the video a bit harder to view, but not much. He watched the tentacles part, exposing a large beak that flashed with green light. The light grew brighter for a few moments, before it eventually fired, sending a shockwave of green energy through space. The blast tore straight through the mother-ship’s defenses, blowing up the entire ship.
“SHIT!” The pilot said as more static filled the screen, and the video cut off abruptly. Wolf only hummed for a moment.
“A natural electromagnetic blast?” He asked. Panther nodded, catching the tablet as Wolf tossed it back to him.
“Yes, that’s what the General thinks. He’s calling for any and all help. He’s already called in Star Fox, and he’s paying them 5000$ if they win. Panther was thinking, since that offer extends to anyone and everyone that survives and kills it…”
“That we swoop in for the kill and get the cash. Rub it in Star Fox’s face how it’s done.” Wolf finished, a playful little smile on his face for a few different reasons. Panther nodded, and so did Leon.
“It sounds nice.” The reptile chimed in, earning a nod from Wolf. Wolf reviewed the information, happy that Star Fox was there. Though he’d never admit it to anyone, he liked the missions where they’d see each other, even if it was supposed to be in a fight to the death.
“That it does, boys, saddle up.” He ordered swiftly, already turning and exiting the room. The doors shut behind him, and he let his grin show full force. He let his tail wag freely at the prospects of this mission.
“5000 bucks and I get to see Fox, this’ll be one hell of a good day.” He said to himself, walking down the halls with a new, energetic bounce in each step.