Star Crossed [an old and terrible Star Fox fanfic]

C6 - Shovin' Into Overdrive

Fox was sitting at his desk in one of his Flight Math classes, crossing his legs as he jotted down the equations. They were simple enough: almost all story problems, involving adding and subtracting degrees. He was doing very well, really, both in class and on the field. Everything was sailing smoothly enough, and the first half of the year would soon lead onto the second. He was reviewing for the test, not truly trying to concentrate on what he knew he already had down.

Bill sat further away than before, having severed his friendship with Fox. The bulldog started to see through McCloud's weaknesses, and potentially traitorous ideas... and also glared at Falco, at the other end of the room, sitting adjacent to his former fox friend. Where did Fox's patriotism go? Did he not see cracks in these ideas of acceptance? He kept this fuming frustration in the back of his mind while he worked.

Slippy was, meanwhile, in an engineering class. He was working on an Arwing, screwing a bolt securely in place on one of the wings. He tested it, pressing on some certain points, and then stepped off of the ladder he was on. It was a one-student class, as only three people even decided to pursue the career of an engineer, which was often viewed as monotonous and unrewarding. Thus, they were all in their own class, only brought together for group activities.

However, they had the privilege of being taught by someone special... someone famous, even! Slippy felt grateful for this opportunity, which wasn't openly advertised due to the fact that so many people last year joined only to interview the instructor. The frog, however, knew that inquiries about this teacher's past life were often met with stinging silence and tears.

This teacher, of course, was none other than former Star Fox member Peppy Hare. The rabbit still moved quickly with his age, hopping over to watch Slippy make a safe way down after having fell last week.

"Good job, Slip, you passed your review," he said, in his charming Southern accent.

"Thanks, Mr. Hare," Slippy replied with a gleeful ribbit.

"I'd be damned if you failed anything. You're the brightest potential engineer I've known in a long, long while," Peppy described.

"Really? Who was the last?" the amphibian curiously asked.

"My former teammate," Peppy sighed.

Slippy raised his brows, and sighed. "Oh... I really don't want to turn out like him."

"You won't," the old hare assured. "I'm sure of it. He was a jerk from the start. You're his exact counterpart, really. Similar, but in an opposing sort of way."

"Oh," the frog nodded, smiling now. That statement filled him with hope. "Well, if we—"

Slippy was suddenly thrown into the wall of the carrier, as was Peppy. Everything felt achingly hot, then strangely cool. He opened his eyes, and saw orange, first of all. As his vision cleared, and the ringing in his ears from a noise too loud to register faded, he backed up, and then stood. He was fine, other than hitting his head, but the room obviously wasn't. The roof was gone, as was one of the non-reinforced walls. Everything was on fire. The ships were all obliterated, and Peppy slumped on the opposite wall.

It was a flash bomb, the frog knew. Meant to destroy ships, usually with its inhabitant inside. The force of it, however got him away from the deadly setoff point, as it did Peppy, who similarly got up and saw the destruction.

"Oh my sweet fortunes," the rabbit quietly gasped, "we're being bombed. Slippy. Come with me."

• • ● • •

"And if you turn eighty degrees to the left, you'll—" the teacher of Fox's Flight Math class was in the middle of a sentence when the first of the bombs hit. The entire class jolted, and everyone turned to look at each other. What was it? A faulty engine that exploded? Or something more maniacal? Did an antigovernment protester set something off?