Author's Note*

Please do not use the following w/out my permission

Corneriette Priyme~Vixen Foxxler~Manito O'Donnell~Poodle O'Hara~Mortisha Freeling~Viceroy Lombardi~Croakella Froggen~Candy Monoham~Dire Martin~Strykir Priyme~Felix Priyme~Lenny Martin~Germaine Jorden~Lerchen Gretchen~Moon Neyegla~Luna Polegun~Lisboa Diago~Kugar Fangreer~Linus Tylip~Jason Negatron

These Characters are from DreeElle1~Karma Leafbarer& Amber Dove.

This Character is from KattMonre~Maxine Wolf.

Don't even let the thought of using them without their permission enter your mind. *~(*(*(*THANK YOU*)*)*)~*

Echoes in the Darkness

Lerchen slipped down another muddy escarpment. She tried to stop herself from falling down another steep hill by clawing at the damp ground. I have to get up...even if i fall again. I have to get myself out of here. But where is here? Lerchen scared herself with thoughts. She had crash landed on..well...somewhere. She didn't quite know. Images of the dogfight between her squadron and the Androssian squadron were all she could remember. She glanced up. "Whoa. I must've rolled all the way down that hill!" she said as she skided to a stop. "Finally!! Omigod! My ship!!" The ship was busted. A large hole decorated it's left side. It was definitely where she had fallen out of her mangled ship. When she had fallen out, she took a few steps back so she could see what had happened. Thats when she fell.

"So...you crash landed too huh?" A female's voice questioned as Lerchen was tapped on the shoulder. Lerchen could smell the woman's perfume. Expensive. Hmmm. Good taste, I like that perfume. Lerchen thought to herself as she spun around, and almost into the woman behind her. "Excuse me. I didn't mean to knock you aside." Lerchen apologized. "Yeah that's okay. I crash landed too. I'm part of your squadron. Damn Androssian's! Who do they think they are anyway? This is the first time I've ever had to crash land. My ship's engine is busted." the woman said, pointing in the direction of where her ship landed.

"Me too. I mean, it's the first time I ever had to crash land. I think I could fix your engine for you. You have any tools? You're part of the Altiwif squadron? I've never seen you before. I'm Lerchen Gretchen." she said as they shook paws. "Uh...yeah. I'm new though. Just a cadet. My name's Maxine Wolf. Yeah I got some tools with me. C'mon. I'll show you my ship." Maxine led the female Dog over to the SHE WOLFEN, her custom built ship.

"There, all fixed! It was just overheated and some screws were loose. It's fine now." Gretchen reassured the Wolf. They shook paws again. "Thank you. But I think there's something else you forgot to fix..." Maxine said. "What?" "I've got some more tools over in my kit, by that tree. Hand me the wrench, I wanna show you somethin' that needs a fixin'." As Lerchen approached the tree, she found that there WAS no tool kit lying in the tall grass of the strange planet. As she bent down to get a better look, Maxine took out her phaser. "Thanks for fixin' my ship sweetheart!" Maxine grinned as she shot Lerchen in the back. One shot was not enough, so Maxine decided on three. She climbed into her ship and took off into the stratosphere.

Slippy turned on the lights. Luminescent white light shooting out from his lamp made him bury his head back under the pillow. He came out two minutes later still blinking. He scratched his head, licked his lips and then streched. The normal things he did to wake himself up in the morning. He threw off his blue pajamas, and jumped into the shower. Through the shower door, he could hear a muffled ringing sound that seemed to last for minutes. Next he heard mumbled screaming and knocking on his door.

Grabbing a towel and then a bathrobe, he climbed out of the shower and answered the door. "Wadda ya want Falco?!" "Shudup Slippy! Answer your damn phone. It's been ringing for hours!! It's probably Croakella calling for the third time. I don't know why she bothers with YOU. She's way to good for a short slob like you. She should be with me. And take that shower cap off of your head!!" Falco said as Slippy rolled his eyes.

"Excuse me boys. Slippy?? Great getup!! i've GOT to borrow that pink showercap of yours sometime! But on a more serious tip, Croakella's here. And answer you dang phone!" Corneriette laughed and then left the room, dragging Falco with her.

Great! Croakella's here. But please don't let who I think it is be on the phone. Slippy thought as he reached cautiously for the phone. He picked it up. "h..Hello?" he said, meekly,above a whisper. "What's wrong with you son? Can't you speak up. You're 19. How've you been? I've been trying to reach you for the past half hour." Beltino questioned his son. "Sorry dad. I thought you were someone else. Did you finish my new electroscope?" "Who did you think I was, the boogey man or sumthin'? Yeah I've got your electroscope. What did you think I was calling for? So when are you going to pick it up? I finished it yesterday. I haven't seen you for two weeks. Your mother misses you y'know." They talked for a while until Slippy's dad had to go run some errans for his wife. Slippy was relieved. But nothing had taken away his questioning fear. He got dressed. "I've got to let Croakella Froggen know. It's not right to love her the way I do." Slippy said as he reached for the door knob. "It's not fair to Ka--" The phone rang just as he was about to leave the room.

"Hello?" "Heya Slip!" a familiar female's voice greeted Slippy. "How have you been Slippy? I tried calling you before but your phoneline was busy. I'm back Slippy. I survived the attack. I'm on leave. I can come home now. Oh, I've missed you so much. I can't wait to see you. Did you miss me Slippy?" Slippy wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. It couldn't be her!! It CAN'T be her! Can it? Slippy thought. "Hello? Hello? Slippy? Are you still there?" He had let the phone drop from his hand, though not on purpose. "Uh...yeah...Hi. I..uh..I well. Um yeah I've missed you." It was true, he did miss her. But why NOW? Why did she come back now? Why did she come back AT ALL? No..no it's not right to think that way. I'm glad that she's back. But why now? Slippy fell into deep thought. He claimed that he had to go somewhere with Fox and that later on he would go see her.

"Dire Martin! Lenny Martin! Linus Tylip! Get your butts in here! I've got a job for you!" Germaine Jorden screamed from his office. He was a grey Baboon. His sister, Amytheste Jorden, who was killed in a space fight between StarFox and their allies NebulaStorm, and Amytheste's squadron, ChaosGrotto,left him with no choice but to take her spot as leader and appoint his own team. The new ChaosGrotto consisted of Germaine Jorden, Linus Tylip, Dire Martin,Lenny Martin,and Kugar Fangreer. Besides Germaine, they were all Cougars. Except for Kugar, he was a black Leopard.

"Hey boss, what about Kugar?" Linus motioned. "I've got a special job fer him. He's not yet known as a member of ChoasGrotto, so he'll play a major role in my plan. His job is to go to the Evermore Mansion. In disquise of course. Your job is to shut up and do what I tell you, when I tell you. NebulaStorm ticks me off til no end. Especially since Vixen Foxxler's in it. That tramp! Mortisha Freeling's too patriotic. Poodle O'Hara's worth a lot of money if General Pepper finds out that she's missing, she's his niece y'know. Viceroy Lombardi is a smart alec. Corneriette is...well..she's Corneriette. Crush their base. It's what they deserve after Corneriette accessed that disk. She didn't know about the back up disk. Andross isn't stupid!!" Germaine pounded his fist on the desk. In the darkness of the office, where only in one corner dim yellow light graced the room, the rest of Germaine's team watched as he threw sharp pointed darts at the picture of the StarFox team. They weren't sure of their new leader, but he was one of them. Dark, evil and twisted.

Corneriette Priyme sat in her large, expensively decorated living room. Candy, asleep in Corneriette's lap, purred softly. Neri,as Corneriette liked to be called, brushed back her adopted daughter's long red hair that was cropped into a layered bob just a few inches past her shoulder. The Evermore Mansion now housed the StarFox team and the NebulaStorm team. After her mother died, Corneriette had to live by herself, with her daughter and brothers, until she invited her friends to stay with her.

Neri looked out of the window. It looked as if someone were tossing buckets of water against the window panes. Thunder cracked, once,again,then another thunder sound, another. Lighting lit the sky. There was a knock on the large brown oak door. "Nah, don't get up Neri, I'll get it." Viceroy Lombardi ran to the door. He was Falco's younger twin brother. "Um hi. This the Evermore Mansion? I'm here for the nanny job. It says on this ad to ask fer Miss Priyme. Is she here?" a black Panther inquired. "Yeah, she's here. I forgot all about that ad. A male nanny huh? Anyway. C'mon in." Viceroy shrugged his shoulders. "Thanks Deevo." the Panther said as he walked in and set his dripping coat on a hangar and put it into the closet.

Deevo? Only Neri calls me that. How'd he know? Ah well I guess he just read the article about our team in the newspaper last week. Viceroy said to himself. "So..what's your name?" Neri asked the man as she handed her three year old to him. She was still asleep. The man took the child and held her. Corneriette could swear she saw him grin evily but shook it off. "My name's...er...Jason Negatron. I hear you need someone to watch Candy Monoham when you're off with the StarFox team." After a while of interview questions, Jason was hired as a move in.

"Friggin' Altiwif squadron!" Maxine said as she threw off her mud stained clothing. She put on her favorite green outfit after she took a cold shower. "Tsk Tsk Maxine. You've never been shot down before. Are you losing your touch?" Wolf asked as he walked into her room. She loved his slight accent, the eye patch made him look even more attractive. But she had only seen his eyes once. The were two different colors. He's different than his twin brother Manito. She thought. I can't believe we lost that fight. Dang Altiwif squadron.

"Wanna come with us?" Wolf asked when he finished kissing her. "Where? I really feel like recking something expensive!" She searched her mind for the perfect target. "Like...the NebulaStorm base, NovaStone??" Wolf grinned. He glared out of the window. "Good idea. Corneriette thinks she's so smart for destroying most of Andross's bases. No one guards NovaStone since they all moved in with Corneriette. How will they know what we do to the base if the Evermore Mansion is in a different town than NovaStone? It's a perfect idea. Glad I thought of it." Maxine said. Wolf sarcastically rolled his eyes. "We'll be going with the ChaosGrotto squadron. I know you hate them, but we'll need their help." Wolf knew Maxine would like it better if it were just the two of them, but she loved to create havoc, or damage things so it would take more than hate to make her refuse such an opportunity.

Slippy arrived a few minutes early to Karma Leafbarer's house. She had been the one on the phone. He had gone out with her for a year or so. Karma was a yellow TreeFrog and a middle child. She had joined the Cornerian Navy, just to have a break from the rest of her family's being pilots and all. Her father was left blind when a Nova bomb exploded too close to his ship. Slippy loved her name, likewise did he love the color of her eyes and everything about her. I must be crazy, to come out here..in THIS rain. But I've got to see her. She's been gone for so long. How am I ever gonna break this down to Croakella.

A few hours later, Slippy decided that Karma just wasn't home, so he stopped at a bar for a drink before he went to Evermore Mansion. Big big big mistake!

Upon opening the door, Falco jumped up out of his seat and ran to Slippy. He was followed by Manito and Fox. "Hey buddy. Where've you been. You went out two hours ago." Fox reached Slippy first. Panting, he looked at Slippy and shook his head. Slippy couldn't understand what was going on. Bill came into the lobby of the house next. He had a slight grin on his face. "DUDE!! You should'nt go in there." He said as he looked at Slippy. "That is...unless you WANT to die." Falco said as he punched Slippy's shoulder playfully. "You should plan for these type of things Slippy. Shall I get you a helmet and a sheild. Or will you be brave and go in like a man, with nothing to protect yourself." Manito asked as he looked down the hallway to the room they all ran out to greet Slippy from. "What are you guys TALKING about? What am I gonna need a helmet for? What does a sheild have to do with anything? What should I have planned for?" Slippy asked bewhildered. "Slippy Toad!!!! There you are!!!! Get in that room and straighten things out RIGHT NOW!!" Katt Monroe shrieked as she walked down the hall with one hand on her hip.

Slippy obeyed the pink Cat and walked down the hallway and opened the door to the room everyone had come running out of. When he opened the door he finaly realized what Manito meant as a purpose of having a helmet and sheild. Slippy was certainly going to need one NOW. He almost fainted at the sight of just WHAT was in the room. His throat closed. His muscles tightened. He couldn't breathe. He didn't want to. The room seemed to spin. And the a bunch of thoughts clouded his mind. Scenes from his past that were connected with the contents of what was in the room whirled before him. He could never have prepared for it. He shouldn't have let it begin in the first place. Perhaps he should have stayed all night in the bar, or out in the rain. Everyplace besides where he was seemed better than his current location.

He tried to speak but no sound came out. He wanted to run, but he had to let something off of his chest first. But he couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to do it. "Hi Slippy. Where have you been? Your cousin Croakella is a very nice person and I--" Karma started. "Oh no sweetheart. I'm not his cousin, I'm his girlfriend."Croakella corrected. "He doesn't HAVE a girlfriend SWEETHEART. You know how I know? 'Cause I'm his FIANCEE!!!"Karma looked Slippy dead in the eyes. Croakella jumped up and glared in the face of the TreeFrog. Karma, inturn, got up and did just the same to Croakella. "I think I'd better leave!" Corneriette, Vixen and Poodle said in unison. They had been sleeping in the large room, but consious of the conversation. They left quietly. Slippy, inside, wanted to beg them to stay. Instead, they closed the door, symbolically locking him in. "Slippy, would you please correct this yellow HARLOT by telling her that I've been your girlfriend for the past TWO years!!!"Croakella turned to Slippy and put on her sweet little innocent girl look.

"OOOOO! Slippy's gonna get it. Slippy's gonna get it!"Candy said as she danced into the room where Slippy was. He hadn't even noticed her when she tugged on his wet jeans. "That's right little girl. Slippy IS in trouble." Karma reached past Croakella, purposely hitting her in the leg as she bent down to pick up the three year old TabbyCat. Candy didn't have stripes like most TabbyCats. She just had light orange fur, red hair and a pink nose. Her brown eyes glittered as she was snatched from Karma's arms by Croakella. "Now tell me Candy, who's Slippy's REAL girlfriend?" Croakella gentley demanded.

"We will, we will...rock you! Rock you! We will, we will--" Strykir sang loudly, but was interrupted by his older brother, Felix. "Shut up will ya!!!" Felix poked his head into the docking bay of NovaStone. Felix, Strykir and Corneriette Priyme were siblings. Strykir being the youngest and Corneriette was the middle child. They were Catoxes. A Catox being one who is half Cat and half Fox. Jason Priyme was a brown Fox and Veronica Priyme was an Angora Cat. Their offspring had light beige fur, long dark brown tails and brown hair. Corneriette was the only person on both sides of her family with brown eyes for 6 generations. She had a tail and ears like a Fox. She was telepathic, but her brothers posessed ESP. Their father was brutally murdered by Leon.

"Felix! Bro! Don't scare me like that!!" Strykir put a paw over his heart. Felix's eyes narrowed. The lights went off and then the door swung closed. He knew Strykir and Corneriette were afraid of the dark. Who wouldn't be if they were tortured on a base for years? Strykir banged on the door. He screamed to get out. He was 18, Felix 21 and Corneriette 19. Felix had used his ESP to shut off the lights and lock the door. He heard Felix laughing on the otherside of the door. Moments later, Felix decided there were better ways to die than laughing so he opened the door. Strykir had not yet mastered holding things or lifting free objects so he couldn't open the door if he wanted to. He could only focus on fixed things, like flicking lights on and off or changing TV channels, or typing or playing instruments. That kind of stuff.

"Would you two stop playing around!" Herring Jianlos said. He was a Catox also. He was part SnowFox and part PersianCat. "Yeah okay." Felix said ashamed but still laughing. Herring was 19 just like Fox was. He was related to Katt on his mother's side.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"Lisboa Diago said as she got off of the elevator and entered the docking bay. Lisboa was a grey Wolf with off black hair. She brushed her bangs back. They were always getting in her way. She planned to cut them, but she was too busy.

The four of them maintained the NovaStone base when NebulaStorm wasn't there. "I found out there's a new ChaosGrotto." she said as she held out her laptop computer. "There's a new WHAT!!!??!!!" Peppy yelped. He had been concentrating hard on Lisboa Diago from the Evermore Mansion. He read her mind. He read everyone's mind. But nothing had ever scared him more than what Lisboa had found out. It had taken them nearly an hour and a half to kill off the first ChaosGrotto. Would this mean even MORE trouble from the new one? He questioned. "I hope not Peppy. Now stop reading my mind. I'm a mind reader too y'know." she answered him out loud. "Nothing's gonna happen to you y'know."she reassured him.

'We're coming over now okay?'Lisboa said telepathically. 'Be careful. And hurry up on over. There's trouble brewing here.' Peppy cautioned.

Once they arrived, they were told of Slippy and his two girlfriends. Corneriette hugged her brothers, then she told Lisboa of a small phone book that had fallen out of Karma's raincoat. Lisboa found only two names of people that lived on Corneria. She called them, but for some strange reason, she told them to go to NovaStone instead of coming straight to the Mansion. What's worse is that she told them specifically not to look at the base, but down at the city. And to stand exactly 75ft away from the base. But why did she tell them that? What difference would it make? And anyhow, NovaStone is located on Alumni Point in Corneria. Evermore Mansion was also located on Corneria, but 2.5 miles away from NovaStone. The Evermore Mansion was in Corneria City!

"I'm on Croakella's side." Vixen said. "Me too, and Poodle, whose side are you on?" Mortisha questioned. "I'm on Croakella's side. Duh. I don't even know who this Karma chick IS. And Croakella HAS been dating him way more than a year and a half. Not just a year like this Karma so and so says." "I think you're retarded for even making such judgements. None of you are Frogs, none of you have boyfriends, none of you could even spell love if the letters jumped off the page and hit you in the face. I say stay out of their business. Don't even say you're nuetral. Just stay out of their business." Katt marched into the living room, Falco right behind her. "Well..before I stay out of people's business, why is Falco always with you?? You two don't even go out. And why weren't you in your own room last night Katt? You DO have your OWN ROOM RIGHT?" Mortisha teased. "Shadup Tish!" Katt said playfully. Katt wasn't in her room because she had gone out with Bill and Fara to catch the latest movie. But her friends always made jokes about why Falco was always with her. She was used to them, she didn't mind.

"All right. Where's the base?" Dire said as he looked out from his ship. "Who are you again? And how do you pronounce your name?" Pigma glanced at the vidoe com that showed everyone's face. He switched the camera to Dire Martin's ship. "I'm Dire Martin. It's pronounced Di-err okay??" He had the baddest attitude. It made Leon hate him more than Falco, or Bill. "Look! Just show us the base and shut up!" Maxine said, agitated.

"Are you stupid? It's right there." Lenny exclaimed. "What did you call me, you round headed bug eyed furfaced-" "Knock it off Maxine!! Give him a piece of your mind LATER! We've got more important things to do."Andrew screamed. "Yeah whatever! There's the base. Let's crush that baby good!" Maxine was first to drop down from above the base. She shot the first nova bomb and took out half of the left side of the base. She did a U-turn and shot again, taking out the rest of the left side. Leon and Wolf worked together to take out the roof and the third floor. Chunks of cement and metal flew off from the base. Smoke had filled the atmosphere. Pieces of the base chipped off in large chunks and landed nearly 70 feet from the base. The explosion was soundless, but powerful. It created a strong gale. Bright light shot out from the building and lit the sky. It was enough to blind a person unless they weren't looking in that direction. The whole place was leveled in twelve minutes.

"Guys...hey!! You guys!!!" Lisboa ran from the kitchen. "An explosion! An explosion!!" she screamed. Lisboa didn't actually hear an explosion...no one did. "What? I knew this would happen! NovaStone. Tell me. Was it NovaStone?" Peppy ran right into Lisboa. She wasn't a mind reader. Peppy thought. She's an ORACLE! Lisboa shook her head. She lowered her eyes to the floor. "I knew something was going to happen Peppy. I could FEEL it. I just didn't want to have you scared." Diago said and she gentley pushed him aside. "We have to go NOW. I told two people to be there. For Karma. We have to hurry. I hope they didn't get hurt!" Lisboa ran down the hallway to alert the others.

"Omigod! What happened? Is that?...Was that NovaStone?"Luna Polegun questioned as she picked up pieces of ruble. "Hey Amber? Who is this Lisboa Diago and what does NovaStone have to do with Karma Leafbarer?" "I dunno. But what..or WHO happened to this base? Was there anyone inside? You got here before I did." Amber Dove said as she looked at the smoking building. She was a gray Dove with black eyes and Karma's very bestfriend. She was the one who hooked Slippy and Karma up. She was overwhelmed with joy when she found out that they were engaged. Luna Polegun was an ambino white Skunk with green eyes. She wore nothing but purple and funerals were no exception.

StarFox and NebulaStorm had arrived in two cars. Everyone from the StarFox team, jumped out of Fox's convertible when they saw the reck. Peppy shook his head. "It's a shame. It's just a shame." Slippy said when he saw the base. It was all he could say. Words escaped him. He wasn't only talking about the base. But about his perdiciment with Karma and Croakella. He loved them both, but felt strongly for Croakella.

Croakella walked around to the former right wing of the base. She couldn't take it anymore. Tears overwhelmed her. "How could he!! How could he do this to me??!!!! I would have understood. He didn't have to keep it from me. I would have simply aquiesed to the whole ordeal!!" Croakella sobbed. She ran blindly into Karma.

"YOU!!!!" Karma screamed. She was crying too. "Yeah it's me! Wadda ya WANT!" "I want you to apologize for running into me THAT'S what I want!" "HELLLLL NO!!" Croakella pushed Karma down. She hit her head on some concrete. Karma wasn't gonna let THAT stop her. Heck no. She stood up again. She kicked Croakella in the face and then punched her in the eye. "Why you little..."Croakella started. Froggen picked up a jagged piece of rutsed metal and swung it at Karma. She moved back rather quickly to avoid being hit with the metal pole. Karma did a cartwheel and caught Croakella's face with her foot. I'm not letting her get away scot free! Karma thought. "I'm really starting to HATE you!!"Croakella said nastily as she rubbed her face. "Your point being....?" Leafbarer said a few feet away from Croakella.

Croakella threw a rock at Karma's face. It didn't hit her. But Karma ducked down too hard and too fast. The force and weight of her body had knocked her down. She fell foward and onto her face. She and Croakella were lifted into the air. They spun in a circle at least five times. What was happening? They came down hard on the ground. How'd I get up there? she thought. Croakella,pondering the same question that she was. Was I flying?

Karma looked up. Felix Priyme stood infront of her and Croakella. "What the HELL do you think YOU'RE DOIN' Felix!!!!" Croakella screamed as she got up. "You IDIOT!!! You let me fall to the floor after you spun me in midair! You have ESP or somethin'?" Leafbarer said as she stood up and rubbed her back.

"I'M an IDIOT?? Well you two aren't the SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAW EITHER!! And stop fightin. The whole gang's looking at you like you're idiots!" Felix crossed his arms. "This won't be our LAST confrontation Karma. Just you remember that!!!" "You know WHAT?? GO TO HELL CROAKELLA!! Do me that one favor, will ya??" Karma whispered under her breath as she exchanged a dirty look with Croakella. Luna rushed over to Karma, followed by Amber. Slippy tried not to notice the fight as he got back into Fox's red convertible. He was the one who told Felix to go beak up the fight. He was really in for a wild ride.

"It was silly of Corneriette to leave me here with you Candy. I'm not even a Panther and my name's not Jason Negatron! It's Kugar Fangreer and I'm a black Leopard!!" He laughed loudly and evily. Candy tried to scream, but she was bound and gagged. She squirmed but nothing could lossen those ropes. "Well, this was an easy task! How could someone who just escaped from a twisted base be so trusting? You're a cute 'lil kid y'know that? Worth a lot of money too." Candy flexed her claws and tried to tear off the ropes that held her arms together. She couldn't move them. Her hands just stayed the same way, not moving. Kugar picked her up and flung her into the back of Falco's car.

"Who did this? StarWolf couldn't have done it alone, could they?" Neri sighed as she bent down to pick up a piece of metal. It was a button for the elevator. She could tell because it said "DOOR OPEN" on the front of it. "Good thing our ships weren't at the base though." Manito said. "Yeah, but our memories were, and still are I guess." Viceroy turned around to face Manito. "Uh...Neri. There's a new ChaosGrotto. They must've helped StarWolf do this to your base." Lisboa motioned. "WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?!?!" Corneriette stared wide-eyed at her friend. Her mouth shaped into an O of surprise. She couldn't believe it.

"What are we gonna do now? There's no base. Our weapons, our team! What kind of team DOESN'T have a base???" Vixen was bewhildered. "YOURS DOESN'T!" Fox and Bill said together. "We'll help you guys out." Bill said. "Yeah. And if you need supplies, you're welcomed to have them." Fox offered. Mortisha sighed as she walked over to Croakella. "You have all the rights in the WORLD to be mad Croakella. But I still think you could have KILLED that dumb bit-" Mortisha stopped herself in midsentence. She felt ashamed for even speaking. Katt stood infront of them, glaring at them as if they had just befriended the devil.

"Mortisha!!Croakella!! Don't tell me that you two've lost you magnanimous attitude!!!You two are too OLD for such behavior. I've seen Tadpoles and Kittens act WAY older than you two."Katt narrowed her purple eyes. Mortisha Freeling was a Siamese Cat. She was third in command when Viceroy(second command)or the NebulaStorm team leader, Corneriette wasn't there. Corneriette had xenophobia, so why did she trust Jason Negatron? She didn't even know him. "Look at our base!!Look at it!!DAMN IT!!TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT IT!!" Corneriette screamed. Mortisha and Croakella looked at their leader, and then at their base.

"You see that? HUH? Do you see it? It's ugly isn't it? It's ugly, deformed, delapidated, decadent, smoking,ruble matted and JUST PLAIN DEMOLISHED!!!!!!" Neri yelled at them. They covered their ears, but she only yelled louder. "That's what you two look like to me! That's how your attitude is. I'm telling you NOW...ANYONE who sides either with Croakella or Karma, and is on MY TEAM...will be off it for 30 days or more ya understand? There's no room in NebulaStorm for people who feel they can take sides. That's why they call us the NebulaStorm TEAM...cause we're a TEAM! That means we're on the SAME side for one or more reason, event, or cause. If I hear of one more confrontation between YOU and KARMA, it will be the LAST NebulaStorm sees of YOU. Ya got that Croakella? It's collary that Karma upsets you. But you should control yourself!"Corneriette shrieked.

Everyone stared at her. They had never known Corneriette to be so mad. Fox and Bill would have given the same speech to their teams also. No one liked to be on Corneriette's bad side. They all wished her the best. She had gone through so much.

Finally escaping a base for six years. When she finally did escape, she learned her father had died the month before, her mother gave up her life for her and Fox when they were on Bolse. It was blown up, but when it exploded, Veronica Priyme, Corneriette's mother, was already dead. Neri had been marked for death when she was 16. But her death was delayed until later, when Andross'new weapons were complete. The marking of death was very simple. A slash on the back of your ear meant you were an insurgent, a slash on your shoulder meant you had escaped a base more than once and were a wanted prisoner. But a metal claw on your right hand, on the middle finger, and a metallic collar around your neck meant that you were essential to Andross in more ways than one, and that there was a reward for your capture. Corneriette had all of these. She was the most respected person of her team besides Viceroy.

"What's the kid for."Maxine ran over to Kugar. "Why,Kugar, you shouldn't have!"Leon swished his claw at Fangreer in a girly motion as he batted his eyes. "No Leon! She's not for you to PLAY with!" Germaine roughly pulled the child from Kugar's hands. "Damn it!!!"Leon said with discust. "C'mon...let me play with her!!I just got a new shipment of electric wire and butcher knives. They're no good if ya just let them sit there!" Leon pleaded as he and Pigma gave each other daps.

"I said NO!" "Well that's just too bad now ain't it!!"Leon countered. "Yeah but whatcha gonna do about it. It's not MY ORDERS take your sorry butt and complain to Germaine about it if ya want the child so much." Kugar yelled as he walked down the hall. He was probably the only one who didn't fear neither Andross OR Leon. He simply just didn't care. A loner type of thing y'know. No one could understand him. He was just THERE. He did what you told him, but he just seemed to FLOAT around. Like a ghost, materializing only when you call their name. He was evil though, that's for sure. He had a realm of Evilness all his own, but something about him made you feel you've known him your whole life. As if he were the best behaven person in the Lylat. And THAT'S what made him the most dangerous person on the ChaosGrotto team.

"You're not supposed to even go NEAR guys like THAT. My uncle told me so. You can never trust them, you'll never know when they'll turn on you. He could be ploting against us right now. I DID see him by Maxine's ship though. My uncle says stay away from guys like him. Stay clear away from them."Andrew said as he came out from behind Wolf. "Ill!!Get off of my you queer!"Wolf pushed Andrew away from him. He stumbled over and then regained his balance. "Your uncle says...your uncle says..." Pigma mocked Andrew. "All you know is what your uncle tells you. I feel bad for Andross 'cause he has family like YOU!"Pigma laughed. He knew he was making Andrew upset, but the thought of that made him laugh.

"You saw him buy my WHAT??How long did you see him there for?" Maxine whirled around to face Andrew. "About a half hour. He had tools with him too. So I thought,no big deal, maybe he was just fixin your ship. You did say you crash landed today didn't you?"Andrew said. He sounded kind of far away. He hasn't been the same. she thought. Pigma's comments don't even affect him anymore. He's kinda been distant since Amytheste died. Wait a sec. It's pronounced Am eh thist right? Like the birthstone? What the hell do I care anyway. I wasn't in love with her. Andrew was. Maxine thought to herself.

Karma's medium length brown hair, seemed matted down, and the bounce had gone out of it. She walked with a slight limp, her leg ached her. It was what she fell on when Felix had picked her up. The collar of her green T-shirt had been ripped. Her jeans, muddy and dirt stained. "I..I'm sorry about what happened to your base Neri. I'm sorry for fighting."Karma blushed. "No! I'm sorry for not recruting better behaved PILOTS." Neri said as she purposely pushed Croakella, though she meant it playfully. "You can stay with us for awhile, I mean..at my house, if you want to."Neri said. "No she's not! No she's not! Not until my body's COLD IN THE GROUND!"Croakella screamed. The glitter left Karma's eyes. It was replaced with coldness, meaness and apall. "Well, if that's what you WANT..I could put you there REAL FAST!" Karma retorted.

"Ok. So how's we gonna go about with disposing Candy?"Germaine questioned. "Let's drown her!"Dire yelled. "Nah, not fun enough. Let's STRING her."Lenny said as he grabbed a rope. "You want us to HANG her??How much fun will THAT BE? It'll last for three minutes and then it's over with."Dire said as he grabbed the rope from Lenny. "Hey!!Give that BACK!" They struggled with each other, pulling on the rope.

Kugar marched into the room carrying a self-destructer. He set the heavy object on the floor and snatched the rope from the two fighting Cougars. "You're SICK man! Just plain SICK!!You're gonna blow her up?"Leon said as he barged into the room right after Kugar. He wasn't a fan of bombs and stuff like that. He liked direct ways of killing and torturing. "Not just HER, but the SILVER RAVEN also!! I hate that ship and I hate those pilots. That ship cost me my job and my life. All I wanted to be was the highest officer in the armed forces. And I was..until I was shot down. I was rideculed and laughed at til no end. Corneriette and Viceroy were the ones who took out nearly half of my squadron. Their ship, the SILVER RAVEN, can fly on it's own. It was programmed to do so. Neri didn't shoot me down. Her SHIP DID!!"Kugar picked up Germaine's coffee mug and threw it across the room, coffee and all. Germaine was too awefilled, and afraid of Kugar to do anything about it, even if he was the leader, Kugar was stronger, smarter than him.

"CALM DOWN!!!It's only a ship!"Lenny pleaded. "ONLY A SHIP!!It cost me my job!!!"Kugar said as he prepared to through a table across the room. Maxine stopped him. "I hear you were touchin' my ship. If I EVER hear of you or see you by my ship again...your body will be floating in a river, dead and cold, contaminated with filth and a million bullet traces will line your face and body. Ya got that?"she grinned, showing her fangs. Her hand was on her gun, and the gun prodded Kugar in his back. He put the table back down and picked up his explosives.

"S'what are we doin' anyway? What do you need StarWolf for?"Wolf asked causually as he walked into the room. Pigma also came in, but tripped on the spilled coffee. "As a diversion. Get Corneriette out of her plane, or better yet...kill her while she's still in it. Candy's been marked for death months ago. I still don't know how she got off of Macbeth though. Who cares. Corneriette has GOT to go!"Germaine said.

"We'll take care of NebulaStorm and StarTrash. But what are you gonna do?"Andrew said loudly. As if to say 'Hey look at me!!Here I am!!'

"I'll take care of Candy and Neri."Kugar said.

"What do you mean she's gone?!"Fox screamed loudly. "Fox..Candy's not here. She's been marked. They must have her. ChaosGrotto must have done it Fox. That Jason guy DID seem kinda shady."Viceroy motioned.

"So what does THIS mean?"Manito questioned. "What else CAN it mean." Bill sad quietly. "It MEANS...it means I'm going to find her. I've seen the termination process before. It's not humaine the way she'll be killed."Corneriette said from just beyond the threshold of the room.

Croakella had gone onboard GreatFox. She didn't want to be in Neri's house if Karma was going to be there. She searched Slippy's room. In a box, behind some clothes that had fallen from hangars in the closet, she found a cardboard box.

Inside were pictures. Pictures of Slippy and his family. Pictures of him and Croakella. But there was a false bottom to the box. Under it, there were even MORE pictures. They were old and dusty, they were of him and KARMA! There was a letter there also. Caked and dried, the white paper was now stained yellow with time. Croakella read the letter, and then went pale. Her skin felt cold, her breath went out of her in a rush. Her eyes had an icy glare. "So you WERE engaged!!Damn it Slippy Toad. SHE'S not yours....I am!"Croakella lunged onto the bed and buried her face in the pillow.

"No you're not!!You shouldn't lie to yourself. I am engaged to Karma, but that doesn't mean I don't LOVE you. I only want to be with YOU now. Do you think you could do me that one favor? I'm sorry this happened. I should have told you before."Slippy said from the other side of the room, where he had been watching her since she walked in. Croakella jumped in surprise. After talking for awhile, she decided to go to the kitchen for a drink.

A shilouette painted the walls of the empty room, as only one dim light from the many on the ceiling was turned on. Mocking the movements of it's creator and dancing playfully as the one who made it,moved silently through GreatFox. The stranger breathed heavy, sharp long breaths. Tip-toeing through the heavy carpet on the living room floor, the intruder slipped slightly on a misplaced magazine that had been looked over a thousand times. It was evident that the person was not nocternal and that their eyes weren't used to adjusting to the darkness of the room. This was obvious because the person zoomed in on the wall, thinking it was the way out of the living room. After the impact of slamming into the wall waved away the pain by newly fresh thoughts of dominerance, the stranger exited the room.

Karma continued trotting through GreatFox, looking for Slippy's room. She had never seen a ship so big before. And being inside one was far more breath taking than looking at it from the outside. She rubbed her head where it hurt from the bump that had formed on her head. "Dang wall!" she whispered a little loud. "Huh? Who..who's there?"Croakella whirled around, staring into the unanswering darkness. She grabbed a butcher knife from the sink. She hated putting her hand in the dirty, dish water-filled sink. She was too afraid to think about that now.

"Croakella!!That little witch!"Karma glared straight ahead. There wasn't anyone there, it was were she thought the voice had come from. Karma kept walking foward, hoping that she was going in the right direction. She hadn't noticed that she walked right past Croakella and the kitchen, but something in her head told her to stop and when she turned to face Croakella, she did a double take.

The knife glittered in the beam-light of the kitchen. Karma was not intimidated. She was never not prepared. Her boot had a knife holder, and whats a knife holder with out the knife?

"Look you!!I'm not here to deal with tadpoles, I'm here for Slippy!But if you're going to attack me with that knife or somethin'...you just go on ahead and DO IT! You look rediculous anyhow, that knife is bigger than YOU. I mean..c'mon. Who do you think you ARE? Who do you think you're FOOLIN'? Is your hair really pink? Nah. You're not bold enough to opt for fake stuff like that. But then again...you ARE dreamin' about a fake relationship with Slippy! Aren't you?" Karma folded her arms. It was collary that her comment made Croakella fume with anger. "What are you talking about?! FAKE relationship? I've known him longer than you have. You just came out of no where. You weren't even around for the past God knows how long."Croakella gripped the knife tighter.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. Just leave Slippy alone. Ya know what, leave ME alone while you're at it. And stay way clear of Slippy. And if you wanna live, you'll leave here NOW." Karma said as she ran towards Croakella and knocked her on the floor. In surprise, Froggen lashed out with the knife. It dug into the flesh on Karma's arm, not deep. Well...not deep enough to stop Karma.

She didn't feel the slash from the knife. Didn't feel the cold steel which tore at her arm, didn't feel the warm blood trickling from her arm. Karma only felt escalating anger. She tried to grab the knife from Croakella and as she gripped it, her hand was cut and bleeding as it clamped onto the knife. Karma jerked her hand back quickly, bringing the knife with it. It clattered to the floor. She pushed Croakella down. With a grunt, Froggen hit the ground and on her way down, she hit the counter TOO. Her eyes flew open. Croakella was quicker to get up than Karma had expected. Now it was HER turn. Croakella sweep kicked Karma, over and over until Karma fell a third time. She kicked Karma in the stomach. Or more so, she tried to bury her foot in Karma's stomach.

Karma felt the air rush out of her lungs but she was determined not to go out that way. "I am NOT giving UP!"Karma said to herself. She could hardly hear herself, at first she thought she said it to herself but in reality it was aloud. She stood up and did a roundhouse kick. It caught Croakella in the stomach and sent her crashing to the floor. Croakella got up, and clutching her stomach she ran towards Karma and slammed right into her, but kept running. On purpose she did this so she could mole Karma into the side of the refrigerator. It worked. Karma lay on the floor, and was about to get up. As soon as Karma sat up, Croakella opened the door for the fridge and slammed it into Karma's face. Her nose bled, the room, hazy, now glossed over. "I DON'T THINK SO!" Croakella cried angrily.

"NEITHER DO I!!!!!"Corneriette said as she did a roundhouse kick that sent Croakella flying over the table and landing hard on a wooden chair that broke when she fell on it. "I'm sorry....maybe it's my Hungarian. Let me translate into ENGLISH! If anyone one MY team sides with Croakella OR Karma is OFF THE TEAM. And if I heard of ONE more confrontation between you two, then it will be your last day on NebulaStorm until I TELL you to come back!! I gave you your chance. Goodbye Croakella. You've got thirty days then you're back on the team." Neri said in a freakish, I am high and mighty tone.

"You can't kick me off the team!!Man...you know what! I quit! I'm not coming back to your team!!Forget you!"Croakella screamed, she turned to walk out, but a certain sound made her stop dead in her tracks.

"You'll come back in thirty days you know why? 'Cause you'll do what I say or I'll do something to you...and I don't know what that is 'cause everyone's always done what I say!!!!"Corneriette said calmly. The sound that made Croakella stop was Corneriette's LaserCannon Gun. It made a clicking sound when it generated energy. By itself alone, it was just as powerful as a hyperlaser on an arwing. Her father had made it and it was the only one of it's kind.

Neri's finger gripped tighter on the trigger. Croakella's eyes seemed fixed on the gun and filled with fear for her own life. This time, Neri was serious. Corneriette looked down at her watch just before she put her gun back in it's holster. She had two watches, one on each arm. For no reason. "Man!!I've gotta go! Check ya later. Oh...and you WILL be back on my team in thirty days. Ya hear?" Neri said as she turned to leave. "Wait..Corneriette? How'd you know I would be here? Were you really going to shoot me?" Croakella asked. She still couldn't believe that her best friend pulled a gun on her.

"I just knew you would be here."Neri said as she was getting ready to help Karma. Before she could move Croakella asked "Yeah but were you really going to shoot me?" Corneriette took out her gun again and shot at the counter. It was a direct hit. The counter blazed with bluish white light and then crumbled to a fine dust. Croakella's eyes widened. Corneriette HAD warned her to cool off but she just wouldn't listen. "Tell Fox I'll have to pay him back for demolishing his counter. Gotta go!" Neri said coldly as she telepathically told Slippy to come help Karma. "Wait..where do you have to go? What about Candy? Where are you going?!!" Croakella screamed. Corneriette had all ready disappeared into the darkness of GreatFox. Only the outline of her body could be seen.

Croakella watched Neri walk away until she was no more than covered with the darkness of the living room. Peppy drove Karma home and Katt put the proper bandages on Karma's swolen arm. No one knew where Croakella was. She had left when Corneriette did, going a different way though.

"Okay Viceroy. Let's go get my daughter. Thanks for letting me know where Croakella was. Frankly...I thought THIS would be the LAST place she would go." Corneriette said blankly as she got into the driver section of her ship,the SIVER RAVEN. "Nah. Midus told me where she was. Croakella took her tracking device with her. Midus found her location." Viceroy said as he clicked some buttons on the Co-Pilot section of the two seater plane. His section was in back of Corneriette's. Midus was the name of the computer in the ship. It was like ROB. Though Midus could only be heard from the speakers. She wasn't a robot. She was voice-command and computer manager.

"Ready for acceleration."Viceroy said as he strapped on his air mask. "Coordinates set! Location confirmed! Boosters check! Lasers locked!" Midus' soft but loud computer voice said. The two pilots could feel the ship adjusting to the set options. Their destination was ChoasGrotto Base, in Papetoon.

"Hey...Kugar! Check you long range computer radar." Linus said with a smile as he turned to his right in his large swivel computer chair. "Hugrmphhphhhmmm...?"Kugar mumbled as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He sat back in his chair and yawned loudly. Wiping his eyes again, he scratched his head and shifted in his chair. He raised his sleepy eyes to his computer screen and clicked the radar option.

Kugar's eyes flew wide open in surprise. His mouth dropped open. He leaned foward to get a better look at the screen. Nope! His eyes weren't decieving him. He saw what he saw. And what he saw made him growl with anger.

"Happy Birthday Kugar!"Linus said as he folded his arms and grinned with an evilness that matched Kugar's. It wasn't Kugar's birthday but what was on the screen was a present of oppertunity for him. The SILVER RAVEN was approaching the Papetoonian City Limits at 175 miles an hour. They would be at ChaosGrotto base in 5 minutes.

Kugar jumped up and grabbed his sunglasses. He stormed out of his office. "Wait! Wait for the rest of us! We can take her out better if there were more than one of us."Linus Tylip yelled down the hallway. Kugar had all ready reached the docking bay. He didn't hear Linus call him back into his computer office. Maybe he did and just didn't care. Kugar's one track mind only focused on revenge.

As Kugar got into his ship, He saw Linus and the others running after him. "What are you DOING? You CAN'T leave without my ORDERS! Get back down here...we'll all leave together!!!I'm the leader! Not YOU!" Germaine yelled. Kugar reopened the hatch for his ship and stood up on his seat. He gave Germaine the finger and then muttered something bout being back in ten minutes and not to wait up for him. Kugar sat back down in his green ship marked the NIGHT STALKER. He sped off and out of the docking bay.

"Uhhh...what's that green thing? Was that a-" Viceroy started as a green object wizzed past them and created a turbulance that might have toppled the SILVER RAVEN over. "SHIP!!"Corneriette screamed as the green blur flew past her jet black ship again. "It's your turn!" Kugar said as he wizzed past them again. "Kugar Fangreer! Alias...Jason Negatron!" Midus said smoothly. "Huh?" Neri and Viceroy said. "Damn computer!" Kugar sneered as he locked onto Corneriette.

He fired a shot. Corneriette barrel rolled away from him. The rain had let up hours ago. It was now 6:52 pm. The two Papetoonian suns were getting ready to set. One bright orange sun cast a shine of magnificent rays onto the black coat of SILVER RAVEN. Neri put her air mask on and flew higher into the stratosphere. Kugar was quick to follow her.

Viceroy was in charge of missles and bombs. He selcted the missles of his choice and fired them wisely. Kugar countered them with somersaults. "Not this time Neri..I don't think so!" Kugar rammed into the side of Neri's ship. Viceroy's head swung violently to the left. The force of the hit caused the SILVER RAVEN to topple over in midair. Kugar executed a smart bomb that knocked off the right wing of Corneriette's ship. Another wing replaced the former one. Kugar switched to bullet missles instead of lasers. He shot at them fiercly. Corneriette twirled away from him and dove down 50ft. "Crawgnet bomb ready and locked." Viceroy said as he clicked a few buttons. The Crawgnet bomb had just been built and a few had been tested. All of them successful. It could wipe out anything in it's path, but wasn't as powerful as Corneriette's Sluggnaut gun. It was enough to take out a ship though.

"Ready Viceroy?" "Yeah, get'em in the back of the ship." Corneriette zoomed foward and then fired at Kugar with her Tri-Laser. Three laser energy beams shot out from her ship, Kugar's ship caught fire and careened into a cloud bank. It disappeared and then SILVER RAVEN was bombarded with two laser missles and snipers. If you asked Viceroy what had happened, he would have told you it seemed as if the cloud were shooting red lasres, that his ship rocked and swayed from hits.

The windshield was broken off. Neri ducked down to avoid getting hit, but her shoulder was shot in the process. "Neri!! You can't fly like that!! Let me have the controls! You'll hurt yourself." Viceroy pleaded. "No Viceroy. You're doing fine back there. I can fly! I've GOT to try!"Neri said as she grabbed the steering wheel with her right paw. She broke into a sweat when Kugar popped up behind her and chased her, coming so close he could have been inside of her ship. He shot at the back. The engines smoked the started to burn. Viceroy tried to fire the Crawgnet bomb. But it wouldn't fire. It was locked and wouldn't execute. The bomb was stuck in the plane. If they were hit a few more times, it wouldd surely go off. "Losing altitude! 20 degrees! 30! 45!" Midus said. Corneriette tried to pull up.

Dials and meters spun wildly as the computer system began to slowly shut down. The spedometer read fantastic numbers that weren't actually true to the situation. The final engine clicked and sputtered, then died out. "Computer progamming system shut down. System failure to communicate with engines. Lasers will not respond. Radar lost. Voice command and computer frequency depleated!" Midus' voice said as it began to get slower and sound more manly, drowned out and then nothing at all. All Corneriette could do was steer. But where? Why even try? "Where's Kugar? Why isn't he behind us?" Viceroy asked, he didn't hear the roar of Kugar's jet behind him anymore.

"You guys created such a good diversion. I've got Candy!" Manito cried over the com. "Linus can put up a fight can't he? Man! He hit me pretty hard! But I told him, DON'T MESS WITH KATT!! He must not have heard me so I had to show him physically. I didn't know I could damage someone like that! Nothing a little Katt-power couldn't fix!" Miss Monroe said cooly over the com. She gave a quick wink and then did a somersault and sped off in a straight line, twirling at the same time. Katt was coming straight at Kugar. She was about to hit him head on, then she stopped in mid flight and shot a direct hit to the nose of the NIGHT STALKER. Kugar never expected it.

Kugar jumped back in surprise as flames shot out from the front of his ship. The flames licked the paint of the ship, they started spreading, devouring the wings. Smoke filled his cockpit. A red warning light flashed on and off and painted the cockpit an insanly bright shade of red. He grinned. As far as he was concerned, SILVER RAVEN was almost history. He knew Corneriette couldn't ask for help over the com...she could only recieve messages not make them. He busted her ship too much for the door to open again. She was trapped in her ship, Trapped in her ship with a bomb stuck in the launching bay ready to go off. Her ship was on fire anyway, she was going to die.

"Corneriette? What are you doing here?"Croakella screamed. "My job! I had to get Candy! It's my job to take care of her..I promised her parents. I told you! You're off of NebulaStorm!Get outta here! I told you I don't wanna see you for a month."Neri retorted over her head com since the computer com was busted. "Neri? Wadda we gonna do. We have no power. We can't fly. The missile's stuck. It was a dud. So if we DO die..it won't be much of an explosion."Viceroy said, his voice teeming with grief.

"Don't even kid like that Deevo."Neri said. She sounded just as lost as he did. "Neri...I told you I QUIT!! FINE! If you don't want me here I LEAVE!"Croakella yelled. her eyes stone cold and hate filled. "Oh, you can leave all right! RIGHT NOW!!!"Kugar said as he appeared on the horizon and rushed towards Croakella. He swooped down from the clouds and fired a sniper missle. "Huh? Who the heck are--" Croakella started.

Corneriette dipped down fast and steered to the right. The SILVER RAVEN slammed into Croakella's ship and was it in the center with the sniper missle. Corneriette flew back in her seat, the force of the bomb had propelled her ship into the atmosphere. The Crawgnet bomb and the sniper missle took out the large ship. "What the heck?"Manito screamed as he, Katt and Croakella flew over to the SILVER RAVEN that was cascading from the sky.

The ship crash landed on a hill. It landed right next to another plane. Manito was first to reach the wreck. Smoldering, charred pieces of metal laid on the muddy ground. "GET THEM OUT OF THE SHIP!!"Croakella screamed over and over. She couldn't see anyone inside of the ship. She was afraid to look. Manito and Poodle stepped over a small engine fire and peered into the ship. Poodle and Vixen had just arrived. Vixen called for help on the cellular phone in her jet.

Katt bent down and picked up a piece of lammenated plastic. It looked like an identification card. She wiped off the mud. "Who's Lerchen Gretchen? Isn't she the first Lietenant of the Altiwif squadron for Titania? What's that smell?" Katt asked as she covered her nose.

"Yeah. She was reported missing after their last battle. SHE'S what you smell!!" Vixen said as she came out from behind a tree holding the dead body of a female Golden Retriever. Katt yelped and then started to run. "Wait! That's her ship up there! Those tire marks are from Maxine's ship. She's got crummy tires. We'll have to take Gretchen with us."Vixen said as she laid the dead body in her ship. Katt made a face.

"Mommy? Where's my mommy!! I want my mommy!"Candy screamed. she panicked when she saw Manito pull Corneriette's body out of the smoldering ship. Her mother's eyes were open,but stared blankly at the sky. Candy grabbed her hand,expecting Corneriette to hold onto her little paw. Corneriette's hand only fell limp and hung loose again. Manito gently placed her in the back of his plane. Her body was sprawled out on the seat that was put in a down position. Viceroy's body was in better condition. He was still breathing. His heart had a faint beat. His beak moved like he was talking but no sound was coming out. His feathers were matted with mud and he reeked of engine fuel. Corneriette's fur seemed much too light. She was almost white, except for her muddy clothing. She too reeked of fuel.

"Mommy..wake up! It's not time for bed mommy. Don't go to sleep." Candy banged softly on her mother's chest. She wasn't breathing. Candy banged harder, and then Corneriette sucked up a large, long, painful, ragged breath. Her eyes still stared blankly ahead of her. She couldn't feel, coulnd't taste, smell, hear. She couldn't remember.

"Soooooo! Look who decides to show up NOW!" Germaine said from the office. He was followed by others. "Yeahhhhh. What are YOU doing here."Linus questioned. "It's Kugar. How've you been buddy?"Lenny questioned from behind him. "Nice to see ya again pal." Dire said from the right of Kugar. They closed in on him. "You see...on MY team...we don't tolerate insurgents!! You'll just have to learn it the hard way. I don't know how to set up the self destructor..but you might wanna give it a try..eh Leon?"Germaine said as he turned to face Leon who was behind him.

"Heh heh heh! I told you..butcher knives and electric wire don't have any use if you just let them sit there. Thanks for keeping me occupied Kugar."Leon glared. "What-what do you mean...I just killed Corneriette and Viceroy! You're not going to kill me are you? 'Cause if you are...go on ahead!" Kugar bluffed. "Surely!"Leon grinned. Kugar's mouth shaped into an O of surprise as Maxine stepped out of the corner and ran towards him with a knife in her paws. The light went off. Kugar's screams echoed through out the base. Andrew was right. The self destructor wasn't for Candy Monoham. It was for the ChaosGrotto base. He planned on using Maxine's ship to house the bomb. Wolf had checked it out and found that Kugar was part of a rebel group. The same one Falco was from.

"I'm sorry Karma. I didn't mean for thins to happen to you. I'm sorry. I apologized to Croakella too. So, you forgive me or what? Do you take me back?"Slippy pleaded. "Yeah..you know I do! Silly! So here's how I want you to make it up to me...tomorrow I want you to-"Karma's voice was drowned out by the ringing of her phone. Peppy answered it. "WHAT?!"He screamed into the phone. "Calm down Pepster. Viceroy'll be okay. He's awake now. He just went into shock. His left wing is broken and he may never be able to fly on his own. His beak needs surgery, but he ought to be able to leave in a week or so."Vixen said over the phone, trying not to make the situation sound worse than it all ready was.

"What do you mean he'll never fly on his own!!What happened to my twin brother?!!" Falco snorted. Peppy forgot Vixen was on speaker phone.

Fox and Bill looked at each other. "What about Corneriette? Is she okay? She can leave when Viceroy does right? She's okay right" Peppy asked. "Uhh not quite. She's...she's um. She can't exactly leave..."Vixen started.

"What do you mean she can't exactly leave?" Peppy cut her off. "She's in a coma Peppy." Vixen yelled. "She might never wake up again. She's in intenseive care. She's got first degree burns all over her body. Those will heal though. She had fuel in her eyes. She might never open her eyes again...let alone be able to see if you know what I mean. They had to shock her to keep her breathing. She's not moving. You can bearly even tell she's alive. They're talking about taking her off of life support. She's in too much pain Peppy, it's not fair to her. I know if I were her I'd want someone to take ME off life support." Vixen said as she calmed down a bit.

"Well you're NOT her...and YOU'RE NOT in a COMA!! Hang up the phone!"Croakellasaid as she grabbed the phone from Vixen. "Wait..wait!! Where are you? What planet are you on?!" Fox yelled. He jumped up and grabbed the keys for his arwing. "PAPETOON!"Croakella screamed just before she hung up the phone in the hospital.

Everyone arrived in DeBuke hospital just before visiting hours were starting. They were allowed to visit Corneriette and Viceroy. They were in the same room of Intensive Care. "Viceroy! Are you okay?" Falco and Bill ran over to him. Candy sat in the chair by a desk next to Neri. "Wake up mommy. Don't go to sleep. This isn't your bed. Wake up, wake up, wake up."she chanted softly as Peppy stroked her soft red hair.

Croakella had left the room to get some fresh air. On the way out of the room, she saw Slippy and Karma holding hands. Grief and guilt controlled her. Neri warned her, she didn't listen. She felt so guilty for not listening. She waved to them. She smiled at Karma. She didn't want to do it. But she knew if Corneriette was there, it would have made her happy.

On her way back to the room, something told her to check the third room from Corneriette's and Viceroy's. "KUGAR FANGREER!!!"She screamed. She balled her fists and wiped away tears before she went into the room. "YOU!! You were the cause of Neri's accident!! You almost killed her! Viceroy's hurt because of you!!" Croakella took out her phaser. She ran towards his bed. He layed on his bed with an intravenous sticking out from his arm. His head and chest were wrapped in bandages.Some fingers were missing. His right eye was bandaged also.

Croakella tripped and fell onto his life supporter. The wire came out and the plug came loose. "Well...you were gonna die anyway. Only..I won't get blamed for shooting you." Croakella grinned as she watched Kugar's eye fly open and look at her. He looked at his life supporter. The main wire wasn't plugged in. She enjoyed the terror on his face. She liked the helpless gleam in his eye. She watched as he struggled to breath. She tired of it and left the room. Kugar died 6 minutes later.

"Corneriette! Corneriette! I just found out where Kugar is. He's dead now! I killed him." Croakella ran into her room. "Shhh Froggen!" Fox corrected her. She didn't listen. "Corneriette, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. You shouldn't have blocked my ship. I would rather have gotten hit with that missle. I wanna be back on your team Neri. It wouldn't be the same without you. It just wouldn't be the same."Croakella cried. She grabbed Corneriette's cold paw. It didn't move, there was no feeling in it. It just hung in Croakella's hand, limp.

Corneriette couldn't see or hear while she was in a coma. What Croakella said sounded only like echoes in the darkness. And nothing more.