The Fire Down Below

Tourican stepped through the wooden doorway, into an old warehouse somewhere in Corneria City. Pausing for a moment, he allowed his senses to sharpen, he did this whenever he felt anxious about a situation. After a few seconds he heard what he

thought was someone calling his name, and was followed by a bass beating sound, possibly on metal. Tourican ran in the direction of the sound, his blood pounding in his ears. After a brief period he came across a metal door, and behind it he heard

the voice, screaming his name, and the sounds of fists being beaten for all they were worth.

"Hold on!" Tourican yelled "I'm here!", and he grabbed hold of the handle, it was hot, so hot it burnt his flesh and his bright blue feathers. With a hard yank Tourican brought the door flying open, and was hit by a wall, a wall of pure fire, that hurled him to the floor and surrounded him. Screaming for all he was worth, Tourican tried to get up, but couldn't, the fire taking all ability in his legs from him. And as the fire slowly consumed him he heard that voice... so familiar, calling his name...

Tourican...Tourican... Tourican...

Fire Down Below:

Part I

Chapter one

"I don't hate fire... It's just that I don't like getting burnt" ~Tourican Down, pilot in Special Forces Team, 'The Pirate Killers'

"Tourican! For god's sake wake up!" the voice snapped Tourican from the warehouse,

"Aaah!" Tourican screamed jolting upright in his bed, and staring right at him was his room-mate Flyer, who was wearing a very puzzled face.

"Finally" Flyer sighed in relief, "Guess what?"

"What?" Tourican asked,

"We've got a mission" Flyer answered, obviously not liking the idea at all.

"Oh man! Again?" Tourican groaned as he wiped the sleep from his eyes, which were wide open.

"Yeah, I know, those pirates must have a problem with staying quiet" Flyer nodded, before walking over to the fridge and grabbing a Cola.

"What are those punks up to now?" Tourican asked, secretly checking his wings for scorch mark.

"Some yahoo group thought it'd be funny to go into Sector Y and trash anything they can find" Flyer explained between mouthfuls.

"Oh great, then we can expect them not to retreat" Tourican groaned, picking his uniform out of his cupboard.

"I just want it over with" Flyer rolled his eyes and placed the can in the bin, "See you at the hangar", Flyer walked for the door and grabbed his coat, a fine white coat, that looked like a cross between a lab coat and something else.

"See ya" Flyer smiled as he walked out the door, poking his head in for a last comment, "And another thing, I'm not hauling you home from a party this time"

"Yeah yeah" Tourican dismissed the warning with a wave of his wing as Flyer walked out, the last thing he heard of Flyer was him saying hi to Finnius, and soon after Tourican was alone in his thoughts. The voice in his dreams was not Flyer, Tourican was sure of that, and yet the voice was so familiar. Casting his mind back to the dream he remembered the voice as his own, but with a more feminine ring to it. He decided that he'd better go to the hangar for the mission, after his morning shower... but the dream still lingered in his mind, it was so real...

Lyn Veaver stood in the Special Forces Hangar bay, staring at the team's planes, the Arwing 'Class B'. The 'Class B' was much more maneuverable, and slightly smaller than the Arwing that Star Fox use, these Arwings being used in situations where the team is grievously out numbered and if in any other craft, out maneuvered too, in other words, all the time. The g-diffuser in this craft is much larger than the 'Class As' but in order for that to happen laser power had to be sacrificed, still, they hadn't let the team down yet, and pirate ships are poorly shielded, forsaking their shields for laser power, so neither had any real advantage, except for the piloting skills. Lyn enjoyed flying in these Arwings, they gave her a better sense of freedom in an enclosed cockpit, and she could run rings around Falco Lombardi too.

As Lyn stood there eying up her Arwing, the sound of Finnius and Flyer arguing filled the air,

"I'm telling you Finnius, Tourican was sweating! I've never seen him so agitated!" Flyer exclaimed,

"Look Flyboy" Finnius replied, "Tourican doesn't sweat even in summer, you must have been mistaken"

"Yeah Flyer, Tourican can handle most things in his way" Lyn agreed,

"Except from what I saw on the bus incident involving the grenade" Finnius laughed,

"Yeah, good joke for someone with a hole in their head" Tourican's form appeared in the doorway, "And you'd better learn some respect" Finnius snapped back, obviously not agreeing with the tone of Tourican's voice,

"Shove it up your..."

"Ready to go sir!" A jaguar's head popped out from one of the black and yellow arwings.

"Ok Mace" Finnius turned and looked at Tourican, and copped a nasty gesture,

"Let's go sergeant" Tourican spat, obvious to all that something wasn't right.

"This could get bad" Lyn whispered to Flyer,

"Yeah, something's coming up, and I don't like it" Flyer agreed.

One month ago...

Psychiatrist Mendel Rutargis went over his clipboard with information on his patient. On this board were words like, 'obsessed with fire', and 'Reoccuring memories painful', all these words described his patient well, and although he thought better of it, she had been showing signs of recovery from her traumas. The patient came in, her pretty face covered partially by her hair, her feathers deep blue, her visible eye, as green as the fields of Corneria. Her mind was fragile, and she nervously sat down, awaiting the verdict.

"We have noticed your improvements" the hamster began, "And we have decided that you are cured"

"You mean?" the patient smiled

"I hereby pronounce you, Zaphir Down, cured"...

Chapter Two

"To see Tourican like this is worrying, I've never seen anyone shaken like he was that morning. But I've also never seen him shaken before that" ~Flyer, pilot in the Special Forces Team, 'The Pirate Killers"

Back in the present...

Across Corneria City, Kierin the market owner trudged wearily home, the weight on his back of so much responsibility, too much for a 60 year old panda, and just one month away from retirement, he yearned for a good pension and a peaceful life, walking further on he came to his house, an old derelict from long ago, that Kierin had bought cheaply, and it was a castle for someone on his salary. Reaching the door Kierin sniffed the air,

"That's strange" he muttered to himself, he smelt smoke, and looked around for the source, and saw a cloaked figure huddled up in front of a flaming dust bin. Sighing about the state of the world he placed his key in the lock and discovered the hole blocked, surprised, he tried the door handle, and found that it turned. Believing his house to have been burgled he put his full weight on the door and pushed... a rush of fire greeted him at the doorway, and threw him onto the pavement. No one saw the rush of flame light up the night, only the cloaked figure in the street, and Tourican returning from the mission...

"Holy crap! Did anyone see that?!" Tourican called over his comm-link

"Huh?" Flyer replied, his comm-link crackling from slight damage,

"Ignore him" Finnius snapped ,still angry about the earlier incident, to Finnius it seemed uncalled for,

"Hey Flyer!" Tourican spoke across the comm, "When we get dismissed, if we get dismissed, come with me"

"Sure, but I'm gonna personally check out my wing first," Flyer rolled and showed the underside of his wing, which had scorch marks and chunks taken from it.

"It doesn't look that bad" Commented Lyn, "You could have ended up like Corith"

Corith was a sloth whose father position in the military got him a position in the force. Corith met his end when a pirate's ship went through his windshield.

"Poor Corith" Lyn shook her head "If only he'd been a bit faster"

"He was a sloth Lyn" Finnius piped up again, "Oh, and Tourican, be careful how you land, I saw a laser shot hit your under carriage"

"Yes sergeant", Tourican raised his eyebrow and smiled.

When the team landed and looked over their planes before the mechanics came, they went their separate ways, Lyn and Finnius went off to meet Finord and go to 'The Arwing” to take a look at the new section, called 'Class B', while Flyer and Tourican went off to investigate the fire Tourican thought he had seen.

On the way to the café Lyn talked with Finnius and Finord about Tourican's behaviour,

"It's been gradual" Finord noted as he wheeled down the sidewalk,

"Yeah, he's acting like a jerk" Finnius mumbled

"I heard that" Lyn frowned and elbowed Finnius in the stomach,

"Oof!... fine...I...get...your...point" Finnius gasped for air.

Walking onwards they reached the café, and just before they got to the door it swung open and a male peacock stormed out,

"Out of my way cripple!" the peacock spat, knocking Finord onto the road and into the way of a speeding car.

"You idiot!" Finnius yelled as he pulled Finord back onto the pavement, the wheelchair twisting into a metal heap under the big tires. Lyn attempted to follow but lost sight of the peacock.

"I'll remember that face" she snarled.

"So why are we going downtown again?" Flyer asked Tourican, who's stride forced Flyer to jog.

"I saw something very bad, fire lighting up the sky. And I wish to see what happened" Tourican answered,

"But why" Flyer asked, puzzled.

"Curiosity" Tourican replied simply,

"But that could be anywhere" Flyer moaned,

"It's close, I can smell it," Tourican turned his head and sniffed the air, "This way."

"Funny, I didn't notice till you mentioned it" Flyer stated. Turning the corner the two came across what they were looking for, the building looked alright from where they stood, but the telling signs were the scorched doorstep, the police tape, and the chalk outline of a figure sprawled on the ground at the foot of the steps.

"Looks like you were right" Flyer frowned as he looked around for an official.

"You ask around buddy, I'll check the scene" Tourican said just before he ducked under the police tape.

"I don't even know why" Flyer groaned before turning off in the direction of a store.

As Tourican entered the building he was surprised by the scene before him, the damage seemed so severe for a fire, ash lined the walls and every other part of the building's interior. Tourican took a few paces into the building and checked the floor, there

seemed to be footprints in the ash, and they seemed to lead into an area and right back again. From what he saw of the chalk outline, Tourican believed that this was not the victim. Tourican stood up and moved some more, trying to reach where the

footprints stopped and turned round, a creaking sound gave him early warning, a large brick fell from the roof, and Tourican dived out of the way, and out onto the street again. Dusting himself off, he walked over to the outline. All that was here was an old trash can, and an over turned car. Sensing a hunch Tourican walked over to the bin and reached inside, the bin felt moist, and after a bit he came across what felt like paper,

"Ah-ha!" Tourican smiled as he pulled out a folded up note, all covered in ash. Unfolding the note Tourican wondered why it wasn't burnt at all. With the message unfolded Tourican read the note to himself, it read: How does it feel when fire courses

your veins?, confused, Tourican pocketed the note.

Ducking back under the tape, Tourican walked over to Flyer, who was just leaving a store.

"You find anything?" Tourican asked,

"Nah, and the store keeper made me buy this sword" Flyer replied, "You?"

"Possibly, let's get back to the base" Tourican put his wing out for a taxi, "Nice sword"

"Thanks," Flyer smiled as he attached the sheath to his belt.

"Did the shopkeeper say anything at all?" Tourican asked as the taxi drove up,

"Only that we should leave this to the police," Flyer replied as they got into the taxi, "What about the house? Corneria Military Base please"

"The house was a mess, I nearly got hit on the head by a brick" Tourican frowned as the taxi drove towards the base,

"And what was the 'something' you found?" Flyer continued to ask,

"Something asking about fire" Tourican frowned again,

"What a waste of time" Flyer groaned,

"And you had somewhere better to be?" Tourican raised his eyebrow,

"Yeah, yeah, don't rub it in" Flyer rolled his eyes "I wonder how old this sword is, could be eons old."

"Or hours" Tourican joked,

"It'd probably be stronger then" Flyer smiled back and eased himself back into his seat, "Wake me when we get there.”

Chapter Three

"Anyone who gets in my way, ends up out of my way. Anyone who crosses me, had better not cross me again... for their sake." ~ Lyn Veaver, pilot in the Cornerian Special Forces team, 'The Pirate Killers'.

Upon arrival back at the base, Flyer and Tourican met Lyn.

"It's about time you two got here, Tourican, come with me" Lyn grabbed hold of Tourican's arm and dragged him away from the taxi, in the direction of the supply depot.

"I'll go see if I can find Finnius" Flyer called out as he paid the taxi driver, "Though I hope I don't". Flyer didn't care too much for Finnius, he was too much of a windbag I his opinion, though Lyn liked him well enough, but Tourican's opinion he wasn't so sure on, after the morning's development anything could be in Tourican's opinion.

Walking some more he saw what at first glance was Tourican, but at a closer look Flyer realised he was mistaken. The figure was a female, who had a slim figure and the unmistakable beak of a toucan. Flyer was about to say hello when as if on cue the

figure turned and looked at him, the figure then waved and ran over to him. At a close distance Flyer noticed she had deep blue feathers, much like Tourican's, only lighter, she had green eyes, very green eyes, and part of her black hair was covering her face, and to Flyer this seemed like some bad detective cliche from the movies, the black and white ones.

"Hi" the toucan nervously started off, "Do you know a Tourican Down?"

"Yes I do" Flyer tried to sound as polite as possible,

"Really? Wow! I never expected to find someone who knew him THIS quickly!" the toucan visibly brightened up, "I'm his cousin Zaphir Down", Zaphir held out her wing,

"I'm Flyer" smiled shaking her wing with his claw,

"Just Flyer?"

"Yeah"

"So where do you know Tourican from?" Zaphir asked eagerly,

"We're room mates, and in the same squadron" Flyer replied,

"Do you know where he could be?" Zaphir continued.

"Not really, but he'll be back at his room soon"

"Lead on" Zaphir smiled, gesturing off vaguely in some direction.

"Why did Pepper send us?" Tourican asked Lyn as they walked through the supply depot, "And for what?"

"I dunno, he just ordered me to join him, and told me to go here, with you" Lyn replied, confused. Glancing across the long depot, at all the ships unloading, and across to the face of someone familiar,

"Him" Lyn gasped, Tourican raised his eyebrow.

"Get down!" Lyn hissed as she ducked down, pulling on Tourican's shoulder for him to follow.

"What?" Tourican whispered,

"Shh, he's coming" Lyn whispered, giving Tourican a sharp glance that meant for him to wait, and as the figure went right past the box Lyn caught sight of some tail feathers and a badge marked 'Lt Macauly'.

"That guy almost got Finord killed a few hours ago", Lyn explained as the peacock left the depot, Lyn's voice sounding very annoyed and upset, "And I want to get him back... big time!"

"How do you expect to do that?" Tourican asked, standing up,

"I'll bet that he wasn't here to check on supplies for the base" Lyn smiled cunningly, "I'll bet he has a private stock of fancy food"

"Oh," Tourican nodded, "Spiking the officers food! Nice way to get back for almost manslaughter"

"It's the least I can do"

"I'd hate to see the most"

"Anyway," Lyn continued as she stood up, "I reckon that one of these boxes has something we could use...". Looking round the boxes Tourican found a hammer with a nail removing part at the back.

"Pick a box, any box" Tourican smiled, handing Lyn the hammer,

"Thanks Tourican" Lyn smiled as she knelt down and begun to remove the nails,

"You're welcome"

"Hey Tourican," Lyn raised her head for a moment,

"Yeah Lyn?"

"You haven't been, well... yourself lately, and I was wondering,"

"Why?" Tourican finished for her.

"Yeah," Lyn nodded,

"Well..." Tourican began, drawing a breath, "I have been getting a sense of foreboding recently, and I was getting the notion now that something bad is gonna happen, to someone close"

"You know who?" Lyn asked as she pulled out nails from the crate lid,

"Someone, that's all I know" Tourican sighed,

"Ah-ha!" Lyn beamed, pulling out a can marked 'Titania Chilli Powder' and laughed.

"Invisible to the eye, and to the nose" Tourican laughed back, realising the luck they had,

"It makes up for it in the taste!" Lyn laughed, sounding a tiny bit evil, but revenge is like that.

"Where to now?" Tourican asked, scanning the depot,

"To where he was before" Lyn smiled, knowing that no-one would get away with doing anything to her or her friends.

"Lead on" Tourican gestured in the direction of where the peacock was originally.

Walking on the two finally came to some crates marked 'Lt Macauly',

"I'll start on the crate" Tourican held out his wing,

"Okay Tourican" Lyn smiled, pawing over the hammer,

"He won't know what hit him" Tourican laughed as he eased the nails out.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" an angry voice cut through their revelry,

"Oh great" Tourican groaned as he dropped the hammer, the last nail pulled out,

"Turn round slowly" the voice ordered, and they had no choice but to obey, and then they saw who the voice belonged to, a grey fox, with violet eyes, a name tag saying 'JW' and a laser gun primed to injure,

"You guys don't own that," 'JW' snarled menacingly, "I was just talking to the Lieutenant who owned this, and although he may have been a pratt, I'm not gonna let someone ruin the goods that I had to risk my butt for"

"Uh-oh" Tourican whispered to Lyn "I hope this guy sees reason well"

"What are you two up to?" the fox continued, Lyn stood up and looked him in his purple eyes, almost mesmerising her in their uniqueness, but her purpose kept her mind on the explanation,

"That Lieutenant almost killed a friend of ours" Lyn yelled, "And all we want is silent revenge, not with poison, but with chilli" Lyn shoved the can under the fox's nose, causing his eyes to water,

"Fine, fine! Get it away!" JW pushed the can away, "But I'm still not convinced"

"Look J," Tourican reached into the crate and pulled out a crab, "We're only doing one"

"Crab?" the fox looked sickened, "Give me pretzels anyday, ok, just one crab, I don't want any complaints from this peacock"

"You can rely on us" Lyn smiled as she opened the can, "One can, for one crab"

"One whole can??? Are you nuts?"

"No, and I'll have you not call me that again" Lyn growled,

"Why?" the fox asked,

"This is why," Lyn laughed as she kicked the gun straight from the fox's hand and sent it spinning across the floor,

"Point well proven" the fox grumbled, annoyed at how some upstart could pull a trick on him that no-one had been able to do for eons.

"Thanks for the permission" Tourican smiled as he tipped the contents of the can onto the crab.

"Your wel... hey, do you have a sister?" the fox asked Tourican,

"No, why?"

"Some toucan named Zaphir was looking a relative"

"Holy crap!" Tourican jumped up and handed Lyn the crab, "I gotta go, catch up with me Lyn!" Tourican called as he ran off out the building,

"Is he okay?" the fox asked,

"He's under stress" Lyn replied,

"Oh"

Running across the grounds towards the barracks Tourican's thoughts raced through his mind faster than his arwing could fly, Zaphir? What's she doing out? Please be no connection.

Running further on Tourican came across Finnius, who was aimlessly ambling around looking for something to do.

"Hi Tourican, sorry about before" Finnius apologised,

"Same here Fin" Tourican returned the apology, "Have you seen a female Toucan round here?"

"Nope, a relative of yours?"

"Cousin once committed" Tourican replied,

"She's a loon?" Finnius asked,

"The impolite term, yes" Tourican replied, "Come on Fin, follow me!" and with that Tourican started off again,

"Okay buddy" Finnius shrugged, looking over his shoulder Finnius saw Lyn running to catch up, "Hurry up Lyn!"

"What? Oh great!" Lyn called back sarcastically.

Running onwards Tourican had to run through a truck tunnel, one used as a gateway between section walls, and round the end of the tunnel he ran right passed Slippy and Falco, who were arguing as usual.,

"WOAH! Watch out!" Slippy called out to Tourican as he ran off round the corner of a building, "Sheesh!" Slippy continued as he turned the tunnel, walking smack bang into the hulking form of Finnius,

"Oops sorry helium boy" Finnius laughed as he got up and hopped after Tourican,

"HELIUM BOY?!" Slippy yelled,

"It suits you frog lips" Falco laughed as he moved round Slippy,

"HEADS UP!" Lyn yelled as she ran past, catching Falco's arm and pushing him onto Slippy,

"Hey!" Slippy and Falco yelled together as Lyn disappeared from view,

"Why I oughtta..." Falco shook his wing in rage, "This isn't over!"

Chapter Four

"And so, like the Phoenix, I am born again from the fires, and I will never go back" ~ Zaphir Down, Cornerian citizen, recently released from Cornerian Mental Hospital in Kilnara, just south of Corneria City.

Reaching the barrack door Tourican took a deep breath, Is she here?, he thought, but decided not to leave it any longer, and opened the door quickly, there at the eating table was Zaphir, talking to Flyer,

"Tourican!" Zaphir exclaimed, jumping up from her seat, 'I've missed you so much!" she cried as she wrapped her arms round him in a grip she never wanted to release, and Tourican could see she was crying in happiness.

"Same here little cousin" Tourican smiled, all his tension slowly dissolving,

"She missed you heaps" Flyer stated, the scene getting to him,

"When did they let you out?" Tourican brought his cousin's face up to meet his,

"One month ago," Zaphir looked into Tourican's eyes, before placing her head back down on his shoulder, "I'm free! I'm finally free! I'm never going back!"

"You need some rest, I'll get you a nice fancy hotel to stay at, Flyer? Do you think you could arrange that?"

"Sure thing" Flyer replied,

It was at this point that Finnius and Lyn ran through the doorway, slamming the door behind them,

"This just keeps getting better" Lyn giggled,

"Um, Lyn, Finnius, this is Zaphir my cousin" Tourican introduced to them,

"Pleased to meet you Zaph" Lyn smiled,

"Same here" Finnius shook her wing,

"So Zaphir, what brings you to this neck of the system?" Finnius asked,

"Relatives" she smiled, "And a new start",

"From what?" Lyn asked, the only one who didn't know about the committal,

I'll tell them" Tourican spoke warmly, "You get some rest, use my bed, door to the left"

While Zaphir slept Tourican told them about how, as a child, Zaphir was beaten by her father, and how one day her father hit Tourican's mother, and how later that night Zaphir poured petrol on him and lit him up like a candle.

"Soon after she was committed," Tourican sighed before continuing, the story trailing into the late night,

"That is so sad!" Lyn sniffled,

"I always knew you were a softy" Finnius teased,

"Grrr"

"Cut it out you two," Flyer snapped, "This isn't your time"

"I'm up" Zaphir walked back out of Tourican's room all bright eyed and cheery,

"Hey Zaph," Tourican called, "You wanna go for some coffee?"

"Yes please!" Zaphir brightened up even more,

"Well then, make yourself ready and we'll go!" Finnius smiled,

Mace walked across the grounds towards the 'greenies' hangar, his orders to pick up a package for General Pepper. Why at night and why in a hangar Mace didn't know, but he was used to following orders to the letter, and so didn't really bother thinking it through.

"Wow!" Zaphir exclaimed as she took a drink of the coffee, "I like this!"

"You obviously haven't drunk coffee before" Finnius joked,

"I was only allowed water," Zaphir looked down at the floor, "And sometimes they forced me to drink it, even when I wasn't thirsty."

"That gets me right here!" Lyn pointed a furry paw to her chest,

"Softy!" Flyer and Finnius called out at once,

"Hey, where'd she go?", Flyer asked Finnius, who shrugged. Their answer came in the form of their heads connecting,

"Cut it out you two!" Lyn growled. Zaphir laughed at this, while Tourican simply raised his eyebrow. Suddenly the door opened, and a very bruised, and very angry Falco stood in the doorway, his beak pointed angrily at Lyn,

"Gotta go!" Lyn jumped up from her chair and ran out the exit.

"Oh no you don't!" Falco yelled jumping over tables to catch up with Lyn, following her out the door,

"Is life always like this?" Zaphir asked,

"Sometimes," Tourican raised his eyebrow,

"I'd better make sure Lyn doesn't beat up Falco," Flyer got up and walked out the exit,

"He just doesn't want to pay the bill," Finnius whispered to Zaphir, who laughed and spilled her coffee,

"Let's go" Tourican laughed, "You've just got a bad case of the sillies tonight,"

"Hee hee" Zaphir laughed, "Let's go"

Lyn was still being chased by Falco as she ran into the hangar area, and she was loving it,

"C'mon Falco! I've seen turtle run faster!" she called over her shoulder,

"Just you wait lynx!" Falco's voice gave away the fact that he wasn't enjoying himself,

"Why? Don't tell me I hurt the great Falco Lombardi!" Lyn teased, running past the 'greenies' hangar.

"When I get my feathers on you I'll..." Falco's voice was lost in the explosion that ripped through the hangar, hurling Lyn through the air like a rag doll,

"LYN!" Falco yelled in horror as Lyn hit a wall and crumpled in a heap on the ground, Falco ran over to her as fast as he could.

"Lyn! Speak to me!" Falco grabbed Lyn's shoulders and shook her heavily, hoping for some form of life,

"Huh?" Lyn was dazed and bruised, and not quite aware of what was going on. Quickly, Flyer ran round the corner,

"Holy crap! What the hell happened!" Flyer yelled in shock,

"She's okay Fox-bat," Falco called back, "The paramedics should have heard the explosion from their building on the base!"

"Looks like you weren't so slow" Lyn spluttered, blood leaking from her arm, "But did you have to tackle me so hard? My ears are ringing now,"

"Mine too" Falco smiled, pleased that Lyn wasn't dead,

"Um, that IS ringing" Flyer looked around for the source,

"God dammit!" Falco cursed, the sound getting to him,

"Hello?" Lyn spoke into her hand, she was getting more delirious. Looking into a corner Flyer saw a mobile phone,

"Ah, finally," Flyer grabbed the phone and handed it to Falco, as Flyer didn't know how to work it.

"That's what happens when you live on Fortuna," Flyer rolled his eyes. After a few seconds the police and paramedics arrived with sirens blaring,

"C'mon Lyn, let's get you into the ambulance" Flyer helped Lyn groggily to her feet,

"Okay Mr McCloud," Lyn giggled,

"Funny" Flyer rolled his eyes, "Hey Falco, who called?"

"A recording of us," Falco frowned, placing the phone in his back pocket, "I'm gonna go with Lyn to the hospital"

"Fine, I'll hang around", Flyer sensed some guilt in Falco's actions.

As the ambulance drove off with Lyn and Falco Flyer walked over to the investigating sergeant, a hawk, much like the one on the bus.

"Whatchya got?" Flyer asked,

"A body" the hawk replied gruffly, "Can you ID this jaguar?" the hawk pointed to a disembowelled figure on the ground, its legs crushed by debris, and one of its arms dislocated and twisted round the back.

"Joseph Mace, special forces" Flyer replied grimly,

"Hi!" a bomb expert arrived at the scene, a proud Doberman, "Rudarius Cormack"

"Flyer"

"Were there any objects at the scene?" Rudarius got straight down to business,

"Only a phone" Flyer replied,

"Where is it?" the hawk asked,

"Falco took...it..." Flyer trailed off,

"Oh crap" the hawk swore, "He'll be at the hospital by now,"

"Let's go!" Flyer urged, "I'll call my friends on the way on your car phone"

"Right, let's go!" the Doberman agreed,

"Hello?" Tourican yawned on the phone,

"Finally! Flyer here! Get your feathered ass down to the hospital right away, we may have a major crisis on our hands!"

"Huh? Oh, okay," Tourican yawned again,

"See you there" Flyer spoke before hanging up,

"Who was that?" Zaphir asked, still hyped up from the coffee,

"Flyer, I have to go to the hospital,"

"I'll come along" got up, still in the clothes she wore to the café.

"Okay, but stay out of my way if things get bad,", unbeknownst to Tourican Zaphir physically twitched,

"Oh, okay," Zaphir stuttered as she tried to suppress a bad memory.

"Well? Are you coming?" Tourican called as he opened the door,

"Uh, sure" Zaphir replied, walking out the door, Tourican following after her.

Chapter Five

"You have to be careful with a machine, if you don't know what's going on in that tight group of wires and cogs, you might end up just another mark on the wall" ~ Slippy Toad, member of the mercenary group, Star Fox.

At the hospital the ambulance stopped in the emergency space, and medics rushed out with a wheelchair to meet their patient,

"What happened to her?" one of the medics asked Falco as they lowered Lyn into the wheelchair,

"She was thrown by an explosion into a wall" Falco replied,

"Right then, we'll take her in for immediate x-rays," the medic told her team. Falco attempted to get off the back of the ambulance but tripped and landed on his face with a thud,

"Damn" Falco groaned as he got back up, "Let's go in"

As Tourican and Zaphir rode a taxi towards the hospital, Zaphir cast her mind back, back to her 9th birthday, 6 years ago...

"Happy birthday you worthless piece of crap!" Zaphir's father was drunk, and was ruining everything, "I'd have bought you a present, but you weren't worth it!" he spat as he took another swill of Titania whisky. All this abuse was too much for Zaphir who broke down and cried, but that only drove her father to what he did best,

"Why you... I'll beat you to within an inch of your life!" her father rolled up his sleeves and threw the bottle away,

"Please, no!" Zaphir's mother pleaded,

"Stay out of my way!", and the last thing Zaphir saw was her father's wing connecting with her mother's face.

"You okay?" Tourican asked,

"Stop the taxi please" Zaphir ordered the driver

"You got it" the taxi stopped on the side of the road,

"I shouldn't have gone out with you" Zaphir frowned, "I'll see you back at the barracks"

"Oh, okay, driver, drive on" Tourican sighed as Zaphir closed the door.

Back in the hospital Lyn had just returned from her x-rays, Falco was still feeling guilty.

"What's the diagnosis Mr Lombardi?" Lyn groaned, the pain finally getting to her, "I feel like I hit a brick wall"

"You hit a concrete one" Falco smiled,

"I remember now" Lyn shook her head, and then smiled slyly, "You look guilty",

"Well..." Falco turned his head away,

"I did knock you over," Lyn smiled, "Though I didn't expect to hurt your head, it being thick and all."

"Hey!" Falco snapped, "I'm not the one in the hospital bed"

"Life's funny like that"

"EVERYBODY GET OUT!" a burly hawk ran into the room, followed by a Doberman and Flyer,

"Settle man" Flyer held is claw out to the hawk and walked over to Falco, "Falco, what did you do with the phone?"

"The phone..." Falco muttered, patting his pockets, "It must have fallen out when I fell out of the ambulance"

"Where was that?" the Doberman asked,

"The ambulance space at the emergency entrance"

"Let's go!" Flyer grabbed Falco by the wing and ran out of the room, the others close behind.

"Don't mind me" Lyn called from her bed.

Flyer was the first to reach the entrance, and bursting through the door he saw the phone, a safe distance away, lying on the ground.

"Everybody clear the area!" Flyer called to all the staff and civilians, and because he was wearing a military uniform, no-one disagreed.

"You worked quick" Falco remarked as he arrived with the other two,

"Well... this is a possible bomb we are talking about" the hawk cut in,

"Uh... guys" Rudarius pointed out towards the phone, "Who's that?", following the bombs expert's finger the four saw a figure standing a short distance away, silhouetted in the moonlight.

"Tourican! Get the hell away from the phone!" Flyer called out over the sounds of the traffic,

"What?" Tourican called back,

"The phone!" Flyer called again, the sound getting louder,

"That phone?" Tourican pointed to the possible bomb,

"Get..." Flyer never got the chance to finish, the bomb exploding mere feet away from Tourican,

"NO!" Flyer and Lyn screamed out together, the sky lit up into a deep crimson...

To Be Continued...

*Author's note: The names Finnius Krill, and Lyn Veaver were not created by me, but by Lyn and Finnius, regulars at Fox's Crew. If you wish to include them in your story/stories, you'll have to e-mail them.

If however you wish to use the characters Tourican, Zaphir, Flyer, or any of the others, you'll have to e-mail me.

And finally I would like to thank J Wolfman for allowing his character (J Wolfman funnily enough) to be included in this story.