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"…It must never fall into the wrong hands again." -Unknown Knight: In reference to the last Bearer.

“Why me?” Muttered the young rabbit as she looked at the condemned building in front of her.

~ Because you were the closest Knight about my pupil ~ Arion’s voice rang in her head, ~ and that Rogue inside has stolen something very powerful, it must be recovered. ~

Mariko shook her head, ~ May I remind you that I’m kinda a new at this? I just left your tutelage about a year ago! I’m still a Novice, and you want me to go against a full Rogue Knight?! ~

Mariko could have sworn that she heard Arion give a great sigh before continuing, it gave her pause, if he was close enough for a mental chit-chat why didn’t he go after this Rogue? ~ I would do it myself but guess from whom the Rogue stole the item from? ~

~ Oh. ~ Replied Mariko, “Well Mariko, you wanted to become a Knight, here goes nothing!” With that the rather nervous, yet determined, girl walked into the building.

Inside the building a slim form was opening a small yet very ornate casket. The form smiled as she looked inside, there it was the key to almost unlimited power and it was all hers, that fool Arion had tried to keep it away from her, but it was her destiny! After all she was the only student of this generation, and the only one who could have it. She reached inside the box and carefully lifted out the precious contents.

It was a gauntlet, it’s silver scale like plates would cover the arm from the wrist to the elbow, the hand portion was made from smaller scales on the back of the hand and the top of the fingers. Across the knuckles four precious stones were set, a red ruby, a green emerald, a white pearl, and a golden topaz. In the center of the back of the hand was a huge black diamond. The form smiled and attempted to put her paw into the gauntlet, at that precise moment Mariko entered the building…

Mariko looked up at the startled shriek from a few floors above. Thinking that the Rogue had taken a hostage she sprinted up the stairs at double speed, using the natural skills given to her species to navigate the rickety stairs.

The shadowed form clutched her hand while the gauntlet lay on the floor, no sooner did she get her paw a few inches inside then the blasted thing hissed and shocked her. She glared at the offending item and spat. “You are mine! Why do you fight me?”

A low hissing voice seemed to come from the gauntlet itself, {There are two to choosssse from thissss generation, you are not the one we sssseek…}

The form let out another howl of fury before cocking her head toward the door. Someone was coming! Another Knight? “So Arion was able to find a would be rescuer, well they picked a bad time to challenge me!” The shadow whipped out two sabers and hid in the room’s shadows waiting for the right moment to bring the weapons to life and attack.

Mariko kicked open the door with her saber drawn ready for anything, but the lack of an enemy. Blinking she looked around trying to pinpoint where the Rogue had gone. The room reeked with negative energy, so either the Rogue just left or was still here. Her light gray saber gave off some light and it caught the glitter of something metal. Looking down she spotted a gauntlet; a short distance away there was the casket Arion had described to her. The casket was open and empty. Mariko deactivated her saber and hung it on her belt, “I guess you are the item I’m suppose to get back,” she bent over and picked up the metal object, “well back in your box you go.” The second she touched the gauntlet it came alive, the metal began to twist and morph and lunge toward Mariko.

{You are the one we ssseek!} It hissed, trying to attach itself to her. Mariko, now completely freaked out, cursed a blue streak and with perfect aim tossed the now living gauntlet back into the box and with a twitch of her powers slammed the lid back down. As she sat on the floor trying to catch her breath a soft whistle and the electric hum of a saber caused her to roll away as fast as she could.

The two blood red sabers sliced through the air exactly where Mariko was, on instinct she reached for her own saber to find it missing from her belt. A glance around the floor soon spotted the weapon, under a booted foot. “Uh oh…” Gulped Mariko, and looked up.

The figure that loomed above her was a female off white cat, with cold yellow eyes, blood red hair, and a black version of her own tattoo over her right eye. She had two red sabers and her face was contorted in fury. “You little witch!” the cat roared as Mariko’s saber shattered under her foot. “You have ruined everything!” The sabers came down straight for Mariko.

Mariko dove away from the pissed feline and with a few quick flips to get back on her feet and got behind her. Deciding not to waste words Mariko launched her foot up and was relieved when her kick connected with the back of the Rogue’s skull, sending her sprawling and her sabers rattling off into separate directions.

On reflex Mariko focused on one of the dropped weapons and called it to her hand. “Okay, what the hell did I do to piss you off!?” Snapped Mariko.

The Rogue looked at her with pure hate. “Arion will rue the day he chose another student!” She snapped, “The Weapon was to be mine! Instead it has chosen you! For that you must die!” The second saber slapped into her hand and its eerie red blade sprang to life.

“Okay.” Grumbled Mariko dodging the almost wild slashes of the red saber. “If you are talking about that gauntlet, no problem. I would let you have it, but I gave a promise to get it back. That thing gives me the creeps!”

“If only you knew the power it holds little girl,” Came the hissing retort, “then you would not be so quick to throw it away!”

Mariko finally activated the saber she stole from the cat; red blade met red blade in vicious combat. Mariko had no clue how she was doing it but she matched the Rogue, blow for blow, strike for strike. Finally Mariko spat out, “As you can see I have no need for more power to deal with the likes of you!” With her next blow Mariko spotted a small opening in the Rogue’s defense and scored a direct hit to her sword arm. With a howl of agony the feline stumbled away. Mariko moved forward to deliver a deathblow, as was her duty, when the feline tossed the rabbit back with a twitch of her powers.

“I am Vixen, little girl! Remember my name for we shall meet again to finish what was started!” With a final hiss the cat simply vanished into the shadows and out of the room.

A groggy Mariko was putting the pieces together as she got up and collected the pieces of what was her saber. Thankfully the crystals were still intact. “She has the same tattoo that Arion and I have, that means Arion trained her, but she went Rogue sometime afterwards. And there is something about that gauntlet…” Mariko shuttered as she looked at the closed casket, too many questions. Mariko had a sick feeling that Arion would be reluctant to supply her with the answers she wanted.

"Why is it that the authors who profess to love certain characters go to extreme lengths to put them through hell?" -ShadowWing AKA Becky Abram: 2001

After Mariko watched Shade leave to find Tayna and begin his own training, she looked at her former teacher, and flatly stated. “Vixen is still alive.”

Arion swallowed and cringed, “It was too much to hope for that somebody was able to kill her, you know how we can stop her Student.”

Mariko’s eyes narrowed, “Like hell I’ll touch that thing with a ten foot pole! I’ve brushed up on my history since we last met! Every single person who’s been near it has gone stark raving mad, Vixen included. I want no part of it, period, end of story, leave it for the next generation.”

“If you are killed my dear, then she will have it!” Arion sighed with exasperation; “Neither of us wants to see that result now do we?”

“No.” Replied Mariko “We don’t want to see that. So I better stay alive now shouldn’t I?” Without another word Mariko pivoted on her heel and made her way out of the room and toward the hangers.

After she was out of the room, Arion sighed again. Whether she liked it or not, Mariko would eventually have to pick up the Gauntlet, it was as inevitable as the rising or the setting of a sun.

With a great sense of relief Shade Monroe finally spotted the New Atlantis in orbit around the small planet known as Bangkok. After that last message he received from Beatrice he was in a full panic, all the indicators he read in that message translated into a full-blown disaster. Fox McCloud and Mariko’s twin brother, Usagi, were missing, Vixen was also somehow involved, and Mariko herself had evidently gone on a rampage and vanished without a trace. Then she reappeared. Pregnant.

“There’s the ship, any sign of damage Iriah?” Asked Shade, he was so tightly wound up he was about to snap the jet’s control stick into two with his bare paws.

{None, I have contacted Delphi, all systems are running at normal levels.} Came the voice of the Iriah in response.

“Great then let’s dock and find out what the hell is going on around here.” Just before Shade reached the larger ship to dock he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A second ship leaving orbit around the planet. A very familiar swan shaped ship, the Great Fox. “Hello.” Muttered Shade, “This keeps getting stranger by the second.”

Boomer Gray was sprinting to the hanger bay as fast as her feet would carry her. The second Delphi announced that they had received word from the Iriah and the jet was preparing to dock, Boomer had wasted no time in getting down there. It had been almost a year since Shade had started his Knight training, and right now Boomer was never so glad to see that little white jet as she was at that second, and was even happier to see Shade climb out in one piece. After the two were able to separate from each other on the main floor in the hanger Shade asked the first thing that came to his mind. “What happened?”

Boomer sighed, Shade noticed that she looked worn out and that worried him a lot. “Where do you want me to start?” She asked.

“Mariko.” Muttered Shade. “All this mess deals with her I’m assuming, so I guess that’s where we should start.”

Boomer sighed, “Let’s get to the rec areas, this is long story and it’s not a pretty one.” Shade simply nodded and followed her to the spacious room that served as the eating and recreation room on the New Atlantis. The room was very large; one area was a sizable kitchen while the rest was filled comfortable furniture and other forms of relaxation. Books, vid screens and a few games, both traditional board and CGI versions. Boomer grabbed herself and Shade a couple of cups and a pot of tea that was already being kept warm on a stove. “We’ve had a lot of late nights lately.” She explained pouring the two cups before sitting next to Shade on a couch.

After they were both seated Shade nodded at Boomer to begin her tale. With a great sigh she began. “I guess all this insanity began almost immediately after Mariko came back from wherever you two split off for your training. Soon after she returned Ariel and told us that she had found a job for the team. It was a simple recovery mission, we go in, get the stuff, get the hell out and hope that nobody sees us. Well it was during that mission that we all picked up that Mariko wasn’t acting like herself…

Boomer rolled her eyes as the firefight continued around them, “Actually no I don’t and you know what Ariel told us, if a group of guards tried to get down that hall we were to distract them.” Boomer peeked over the group of crates and tossed another one of her custom flash-bang bombs into another group of soldiers.

After the blinding light and the ear-shattering explosion Wolf stopped ranting long enough to quickly step out from his cover and cut down a few souls that were not killed by the explosion with his blaster. When the last one was dead on the floor he continued, “For some people a distraction does NOT mean an explosion that kills off at least a dozen people!” Snapped Wolf.

“It does in my book.” Smirked Boomer leaning against the crates.

“You.” Spat the lupine, while shaking his finger at the grinning husky “are NOT at all like your brother!”

Boomer broke into an even bigger grin, “Thank you Wolf, I think that’s the nicest thing you said to me yet!”

“Argh!” Scowled Wolf as he trotted away from her. Then he looked around, “Uh… Where’s the mutton?” About fifteen minutes earlier the trio had been ambushed while waiting for Ariel to get back. When the soldiers began to open fire all three dove for cover, evidently Mariko was separated from Boomer and Wolf.

Boomer looked about, “She was right here a second ago.” Several screams caught their attentions. “Never mind I think we found her.” Both sprinted to see what poor soul Mariko had just found and discovered that it wasn’t just one soul but about a half a dozen instead. They were all dead by the time Wolf and Boomer got there. Mariko was just putting her saber back on her belt when they came to a quick stop.

“They were silly enough to attempt to ambush me.” Stated Mariko flatly, she knew that it was Wolf and Boomer without even turning to look. She still didn’t look at either as she slipped off to finish checking the huge storage room for more pockets of guards. Wolf swallowed as Boomer knelt by one of the bodies on the ground.

“I’ve asked this before, and I’ll ask it again, if I ever piss that mutton off, shoot me before she kills me, it’ll be less painful.” Muttered Wolf. When her heard no answering retort from Gray he looked over his shoulder to see what she was doing. Her face was very pale as she looked at each of the six bodies on the floor. “Gray?” He asked.

Boomer spoke in very low tones; “Do you see anything strange about these bodies Wolf?”

Wolf cast his eye about the six, two tigers, a lion, a lizard, and two falcons, all were in the same dark gray outfits as the rest of the guards in this complex, all were armed with a hand held blaster and laser rifle. “Other than they all died from Mariko’s saber? No.”

Boomer took a deep breath; “They were all hit from behind.”

“Yeah, so? She’s a rabbit I’ve seen her leap behind an opponent before.” Snapped Wolf not quite getting what Boomer was trying to tell him.

Boomer shook her head, “Okay these guys were behind these crates waiting for one of us to walk along the other side, then pop over the crates and shoot at us. If this did happen and Mariko caught it in time, what would you do if you saw her leap over these crates?”

“Turn and shoot, fast.” Answered Wolf. “Or maybe duck to keep my head attached to my body.”

“Okay, now keeping that in mind look at these wounds again.” Motioned Boomer.

Wolf did and his eye widened all the fatal wounds were right between the shoulder blades or across the back of all six of the soldiers. That seemed to indicate to the pair that Mariko had gotten the drop on the soldiers, not the other way around. But even if she did get the drop on them, it was more Mariko’s style was to call the fight to her, not attack first, let alone kill an enemy from behind. “Oh boy.” Whispered Wolf.

Boomer nodded, “Mariko deliberately snuck up and killed these guys from behind. They never had a prayer, the first few must have never known what hit them. The rest were just not fast enough to have a chance.” Boomer shook her head, “That’s not like Mariko at all.”

“Yeah,” Hissed Wolf, “That mutton has such a sense of honor and fair play that it makes me want to throw up at times, but how can you explain this?”

Before Boomer could answer there was a yell from an above catwalk, “Okay team I got it… Oh no not again! Boomer! I thought I told you…” Ariel was standing on the catwalk holding a black case in one hand and a blaster in the other surveying the damage caused by the husky’s bomb.

Boomer looked up and shrugged, “Sorry, I had to think fast, they weren’t distracted by Wolf and I shooting at them so…”

Ariel shook her head before leaping to the main floor below. Boomer and Wolf ran to join her. “Never mind, let’s get this toy delivered to the rightful owners and get off this stinking moon, where’s Mariko?”

“Here.” Stated Mariko as she popped out of the shadows right behind the other rabbit. Ariel almost jumped out of her fur, “Are you sure you don’t want to become a thief Mari? You got the sneaky skills down pat.”

Mariko simply shook her head. Ariel shrugged and tapped her wrist, “Delphi, activate the transporter and get us out of here.”

“Acknowledged, prepare for transport, activating sequence now…” Answered the computerized voice of Delphi.

A soft shimmer of light and a minute later the Black Dolphins had vanished without a trace.

Shade shook his head, “Wolf was right, Mariko normally wouldn’t do anything even remotely close to murder, Knights are already governed by a code of conduct, Imperials, especially high class Imperials like Mariko, have an even stricter code of conduct called Bushido. Mariko has always followed both codes in both body and spirit. Why would she go against everything she was ever taught? Everything she ever believed in?”

“Let’s see now.” Snickered a voice at the door to the rec area. “She had risked her life for the sake of a system she was never from on various occasions. Freed it from the reign of a tyrannical maniac, and in return that self-same system has practically branded her a traitor all because of who and what she is. I would be a bit pissed if I were she…”

Shade’s head jerked up and saw Wolf O’Donnell in the doorway of the Rec Area; he looked a tad better than he did when he was working with StarWolf and Andross. Okay he still looked like trouble with a capitol T, but at least it appeared that the three female members of the Black Dolphins had at least introduced the lupine to the concept of baths and the occasional shower. Being in close confines with a smelly wolf was not an option Shade assumed. “There is miffed and then there is going against the beliefs that you have held since your were a child Wolf.” Replied Shade in a matter of fact tone, “I cannot believe Mariko could or would ever go that far.”

“Believe it Cat.” Spat Wolf, “At first I kind of like the change in the Mutton, less goody two shoes, more of a harder edge to her. At least I did until I saw the darker half of what that Mutton could do.”

“Darker?” Whispered Shade. If what Beatrice told him was true, Mariko had savagely murdered a half dozen people. What more could she do? What worse could she have done to even spook Wolf O’Donnell himself? For a brief instant he thought of Shadow, the Rogue Knight that was somehow imprisoned inside his mind. Shade internally shuttered and realized how much damage Mariko could really cause if she decided to do so.

Wolf nodded, “You never heard about this little bit of trouble Gray, but it’s the nasty episode that occurred during that scout mission that Mariko and I were on about eight to nine months ago. It was the reason why Ariel began to look for ways to contact the Great Fox without the CMF finding out about it.” As he continued to talk Wolf trotted over to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of something, he came back and plopped down in another chair before opening it and taking a big glug out of it. Boomer wrinkled her nose.

“How can you drink that stuff?” She muttered leaning away from where the lupine sat.

“Easily.” Snickered Wolf, “I just put the can up to my lips and…” An incoming pillow from the couch tossed by Boomer stopped Wolf’s retort as he ducked to save the can and his dignity. Shade couldn’t read the label on the can but he guessed it was not something he would like to drink himself. Before his girlfriend grabbed another pillow to hurl at Wolf Shade snatched the pillow from her and interjected.

“You were saying about Mariko?” He asked. He caught a whiff of something awful, it had to be whatever Wolf was drinking, Boomer was right… ick was an understatement he silently thought while wrinkling his own nose.

Wolf threw a glare a Boomer before continuing. “Yeah, for a future job we needed some info, the two best to get that information was the mutton and I, me for my old pirate contacts, Mariko for her knack. So the two of us went down to a few seedy ports in the area to convince the locals to share that info. Good plan, we got the info, but it’s not an experience I would like to repeat ever again.”

“That bad?” Muttered Boomer. What Wolf considered bad by his standards was considered a disaster waiting to happen by the rest of the team.

Wolf looked the husky in the eye and replied in a deadpan tone. “It was worse.”

"What is it with me and Bar Fights?" ShadowWing AKA Becky Abram 2001

This place is bad news, even by my standards. Thought Wolf as he slunk through the extremely seedy bar, he was looking for one particular slime ball, and was wondering how that person got here in the first place. Ariel would have killed him if she had even a clue that he was looking for somebody other than an informant who had the info they needed. After what seemed like forever he finally spotted a lone chameleon sitting in a corner table with his back against the wall. Wolf grinned this was going to be fun. As he moved through the assorted scum toward that table his comm buzzed in his ear.

“Yo.” He muttered while tapping the switch located in his badge on his collar. Normally he hated to wear any kind of badge or insignia, but since Gray had designed the comlinks that the Dolphins used to be as invisible as possible, it was a necessary evil. The badge was not only a touch switch that activated and deactivated the device, but it contained a small voice mike as well. Located close to the neck it picked up his voice even at the lowest of volumes, and the voices around him. The receiver was a small earplug currently lodged in his right ear.

“A WolvenII is docked at this port and I ain’t sensing Vixen, you are looking for Leon aren’t you?” Came Mariko’s rather irritated voice, her tone was more of a statement than a question. She, as expected, already knew the answer, damn her knack…

“No I am not looking for Leon, at least not any more, I just found him.” He allowed himself a small grin at the various growls from Mariko. “Chill out he might know who to talk to around here about that information Triton wanted us to dig up.”

“Boomer will have your hide nailed to the wall if she figures this out.” Snapped Mariko as her mind turned over the various ways that Boomer would make Wolf pay for this. None were lethal, but all were embarrassing to say the least.

“If Gray wanted him dead or in custody that badly she wouldn’t have left him behind on Venom, granted she didn’t expect him to be able to move after shattering his knee cap and almost twisting his wrist off, but details…” Replied Wolf with a smirk.

Mariko gave a great sigh, “Just get the info Wolf, I’ll keep an eye on things out here. Don’t forget that you’re dead okay?”

“Yeah, Yeah, I get it don’t get your ears into a bind over it.” After the comm clicked off Wolf grabbed a drink from the bar and made his way to the table where Leon was sitting. It looked like he had some type of brace on his leg and a cane was leaning on the wall next to his chair Boomer must have done a serious number on his kneecap. The choice to keep his back to the wall and facing the door was a smart one, nobody could sneak up on you that way, but it was pretty much useless if you were lost in thought like Leon was. Wolf was able to get within arms reach before the lizard even had a clue he was there.

“Ya know if I wanted to kill you off I could have done so by now?” Smirked Wolf as he calmly looked down the barrel of Leon’s blaster. The look on his former wingman’s face was priceless in Wolf’s opinion.

Leon’s yellow eyes grew wide and his jaw about hit the floor. There at the end of his blaster was none than Wolf O’Donnell. But last Leon heard a Cornerian Soldier, or Vixen controlling that soldier shoved him out of an airlock. After he saw a demonstration of the Rogue’s mind powers he doubted the ‘official’ story Andross told the rest of the StarWolf team. “What in the hell…” He whispered.

Wolf calmly pulled a second chair over to the table with his foot and sat down. “Long time no see eh Leon?” Remarked Wolf to his former wingman’s stunned face, he was thoroughly enjoying himself at his wingman’s expense.

“How did? I thought you were? Where the hell have you been?” Snapped Leon. To say he was irritated was a severe understatement, he was a bit peeved and Wolf’s grin was not helping his mood at all. He promised some for of revenge at a later time. For now he decided to get some information first.

“If you haven’t figured it out Vixen was ordered by Ape-Face to kill me. As you can also see she failed, it would have worked but luck was actually looking out for me with a sick sense of humor.” Smirked Wolf remembering when he woke up alive and seeing Triton, Mariko and Gray smirking at him.

“I figured as much, liked the woman’s methods but hated her personally.” Remarked Leon putting his blaster away.

“Methods?” Muttered Wolf, Leon was an expert in the art of torture, if Leon admired her methods of torture then that feline was a nastier piece of work than he originally thought.

Leon nodded, “You should have seen what that witch did to McCloud, it put me to shame. She did to that vulpine in a few hours what it took me a week to do with Bill Gray and there was barely a mark on his body when she was through.” He paused with a shutter remembering Fox’s ear shattering screams. “So that doesn’t answer my question, where the hell have you been?”

“Around, helped some people kick Andross where the sun don’t shine and scooted out of the system after that.” Remarked Wolf taking a sip from his drink.

Leon looked over his old commander carefully, he looked pretty much the same except it looked like whoever he was working with now had threatened him with water and soap on a regular basis and crammed him into a set of decent flight gear. Leon would have paid good money to see that. Until he spotted the small badge on Wolf’s collar, it was a shape Leon knew all to well. He sputtered while taking a drink, “The Dolphins!” He practically yelled.

Wolf blinked looked down at the comm badge shaped like the Dolphin’s logo, he mentally cursed before replying; “Will you keep that piece of info quiet? Triton has ripped off a few of the nastier scum bags here and I’d like to stay in one piece thank you.” This was the reason why he hated to wear badges; he’ll try to explain to Gray, again. Leon was still glaring at the one-eyed lupine Wolf sighed in response. “It took you this long to figure that out? Come on Leon! Who else would have known about the WolvenIII, the Forever Train and the Katina Weapons Cache besides the members of Star Wolf?”

“You worked with Mariko and Gray!?” Leon was about to start hyperventilating; double crossing Andross was one thing. But working for the enemy while doing so was a little tough for Leon to swallow, I mean this was Wolf O’Donnell.

“It was either work with them or take another space walk without a pressure suit, given my options I figured it was the better deal. Mariko may be a pain but Gray is not so bad once you get used to her. She is nothing like her brother, believe me.” Wolf raised an eyebrow at the glaring Leon. “Don’t get all high and mighty on me, if you were in my shoes and Andross tried to kill you off would you have passed up on the chance to get even?”

Leon thought about it for a few minutes before replying. “Good point, are you still working with them or are you solo?” Remarked Leon with a grin it didn’t fail his notice that though he remarked on Beatrice Gray and Mariko, Wolf omitted his views on the suspected Black Dolphins Commander, Ariel Triton.

“Still with them, lets face it Gray and the Mutton are a lot easier on the eyes than Pigma and Andrew ever were.” Snickered Wolf with a sly grin, until an incoming basket of peanut shells nailed him in the head. He was still grinning. “I think that’s the Mutton’s subtle way of telling me to get back to work.”

Leon swallowed. “She’s here?” As his eyes darted about the bar looking for the Knight. Given the fact last time he saw her he was trying to kill her, Leon was not in any condition or mood to see her again any time soon.

Wolf grinned, “Calm down if she wanted her pound of lizard flesh for what you did to her on Venom she would have nailed you before you even knew what hit you.” He quickly yanked the basket off his ear and shook off the remaining shells scattering them about the area.

Leon raised an eyebrow as he spotted a white, black and red shadow slip out of the bar; he gave a small sigh of relief. “Or that was a hint to quit making lude references to your teammates, another thing you would never say or do around Pigma or Andrew. So what are you doing here if you are on the clock so to speak?”

“Some rather valuable items grew legs and walked away from their owners. We’ve been hired to get them back and are looking for the people to gave the items those legs in the first place, or at the very least info on who the thieves are or where the stuff went.” Remarked Wolf.

Leon nodded thinking of the perfect revenge for Wolf’s little return from the dead, “I heard some hard cases bragging about a heist of some type earlier. They are in the back areas.” He motioned with his head to several back rooms where the real business of the bar took place. “Watch yourself those guys didn’t seem to be the type to spill information unless you have lots of cash or can inflict great pain in large amounts.”

Wolf grinned again, “Well I got one of those covered at the very least, thanks for the info, I’ll see ya around Leon.” Wolf got up from the chair and moved toward the back areas. Leon shook his head and went back to his drink, Wolf didn’t mention which he had covered, having cash or inflicting pain. If that was Mariko he saw in the area then he felt confident it was the pain department that was covered.

Wolf tapped the badge again to get Mariko’s attention, he had the transmitter on during the whole conversation; “I take it that you heard most of that?”

“Yes I’m at the back doors, give me a description of whoever you think has the info and I’ll tag them if they exit or try to escape here.” Replied Mariko moving in the shadows outside the bar, making her way to the back door.

“Will do.” Replied Wolf as he prayed his reputation was still nasty enough to get what they needed with very little fuss.

An hour later found Wolf O’Donnell lying in a pile of rubble and dirt that was once a window and part of the wall, evidently his reputation was not as nasty as he thought it was, at least outside of Lylat. Leon did this on purpose; set him up knowing how those creeps would react to his inquiry Wolf was sure of it. He slowly got up thanking himself for yelling at Mariko though the comms on where one of those idiots was going.

He asked a few casual questions and was directed toward a back room and was told to talk to some rat named Raphael. As soon as he entered the room he saw two huge Komodo dragon lizards while the third member of the party, a filthy rat Wolf assumed was the aforementioned Raphael slipped out of the room. Evidently they had been tipped off, if not by Leon then somebody else who heard that the Dolphins were on the case. Wolf has no chance to either snarl a threat or offer a bribe. One of the lizards simply picked up Wolf and tossed him out the window one handed.

Wolf was also thankful for the fact that it was a ground floor window and the wall was mostly half-rotten wood, not brick or metal plate.

He dusted himself off and climbed out the pile of debris before the authorities arrived on the scene, if they ever arrived, the area was that bad. As he slipped out of the alley he saw something that caught his attention. Actually it was several things. First of all the authorities had arrived on the scene. Second was the severed lizard claw that was lying on the ground, it used to be attached to the arm of the thug that threw him out the bar’s window. The rest of the body was in parts and scattered about the area close to the back exit to the bar. Wolf could only assume that the Dragon’s partner was here as well, but he didn’t feel like taking inventory of the parts to make sure.

Several swear words behind him caught his attention, it was Leon coming to see what all the fuss was about. “What the hell happened here?” He remarked picking his way through the carnage.

“Good question.” Sneered Wolf, “All I know is that claw was attached to an arm that threw me out the window over there.”

Leon kept one eye on the local cops while Wolf took a closer look at the claw. “Oh boy, this wound has seared marks on it…”

Leon swallowed, “That means Mariko’s saber made the cut, no other weapon can create cut marks with burn marks around it that I know of.”

“Or another Knight is in the area, I’m not sure. I told that mutton they were heading out the back. I was hoping that she would stop them, but I didn’t expect her to be so brutal about it.” Muttered Wolf as he continued toward another group of people who were gathering around something further down the street.

Both he and Leon arrived just in time to see somebody being loaded into a medical transport. A closer look revealed that it was the rat Wolf had seen escaping earlier evidently he tried to escape while his bodyguards stayed behind to give him time. They got slaughtered for their trouble and whoever did that had eventually caught up with Raphael by the looks of things. Casually Wolf asked an onlooker what had happened.

“He was found by some slut taking a short cut through the alley like that, out cold and unresponsive, the meds think he’s in a coma and may never wake up. Good riddance though.” Snickered the bobcat toward Wolf. Leon swallowed, Wolf didn’t need to ask why. He had a sick feeling that this was reminding the lizard about the work of Vixen. According to Mariko, that particular Rogue was not even in the area.

“Yeah.” Wolf swallowed with a nod to the bobcat and quickly left the area. As soon as he was out of Leon’s earshot he tapped on his badge to turn the receiver back on and hail Mariko. “Yo Mutton, where are you?” He wanted to get off planet with or without that information before somebody found the parts of those bodyguards and his name came up in the investigation.

“Almost to the hangers, I got the information we needed.” Came a rather terse reply. Wolf also took note that Mariko’s voice had a much colder edge to it than it did before. Almost like Vixen’s…

“Did that rat have it?” Wolf asked almost hoping that she would say no.

“Yes he did and he was very reluctant to hand it over, but I got it.” Replied Mariko.

Wolf’s blood ran cold, between Mariko’s tone and how he had found both the bodyguards and Raphael himself spooked him. There was something seriously wrong with that Mutton and he made plans to have a nice long chat with Ariel after he got back to the New Atlantis.

When the KnightFall and the WolvenIII landed in the hanger of the New Atlantis Wolf quickly got out of his jet and borderline sprinted out of the hanger. He barely slowed down when he entered the main halls of the ship as he made a beeline for Ariel’s quarters. After he burst into the room without so much as a knock Ariel calmly put down the PADD she was looking at and glanced up at Wolf.

“I assume it went well?” Snickered Ariel. She gave his rumpled, torn and dusty clothes a look over.

“Define; Well.” Spat Wolf back. He barely spoke to Mariko on the trip back; he didn’t trust himself to speak at all. Partly due to anger and partly do to fear of what Mariko might do next.

“Did you get the information?” Asked Ariel in a strained voice.

“Yes, but it’s how we got it that’s the problem.” Muttered Wolf, He tossed another PADD onto her desk and snarled in the most irate tone Ariel had ever heard, “That mutton is now officially off her rocker and running amuck!”

“And how did you come to this conclusion O’Donnell?” Muttered Ariel, Wolf had no room to talk when it came to being a candidate to a mental ward for insane actions.

“We found a boss who we think had a hand in the theft. After I asked for the info he had his bodyguards toss me out a window while he escaped. I called the Mutton and had her tail the guy, telling her he might have the info we wanted.” He plopped down into a chair, “The bodyguards were found in multiple pieces scattered about a 10 foot area while the boss is now in medical care, in a coma, technically brain dead. After I found out that piece of info I called Mariko to see what she knew. All she told me was that she was able to get the info from the rat and she did state that he was reluctant to hand it over but she managed.”

“You think Mariko put that rat into a coma, and diced a few bodyguards into multiple pieces?” Gasped Ariel.

Wolf shook his head, “I don’t know for sure, I didn’t ask details… Hell I didn’t want any details!”

“That’s not the way Knights work, Rogues maybe, but Mariko is no Rogue Knight.” Ariel sighed and rubbed her temples. “Do we even know that a Knight, Rogue or not can put a person into a coma?”

Wolf nodded, “I learned from my short time working with that witch Vixen that Knights can extract information from the minds of stubborn witnesses, the side effects can be extreme though.”

Ariel continued to rub her temples, “Tell me everything Wolf, everything that happened while you were down there, I think I know of something that might turn Mariko around but I need to know everything, Boomer has already told me about the incident with the so-called ambush. What do you know?”

“Not much. I never saw anything, like I said I found out about the rat’s medical condition after the fact.” Wolf plopped down in a chair and muttered, “Here’s what I do know about this whole mess…”

“Okay.” Gulped Shade. “Within a period of two months, Mariko murdered six people, butchered two others, and put another one into a coma? Was her tattoo still red after all that?”

“No different than usual, I never really paid attention to it.” Shrugged Wolf. “Any reason why it should have changed color?”

Shade sighed, “In case you didn’t notice Mariko and Vixen have the same tattoo, just that Mariko’s is red and Vixen’s is black. From what I learned the tattoo stands for several things, what type of Knight you are and your allegiance. Mariko’s Teacher, Arion also has a red tattoo identical to Mariko’s. I didn’t learn this next piece of information from him either, my teacher told me that Arion trained both Vixen and Mariko, Vixen went Rogue afterwards and that turned her tattoo black.” As he paused to catch his breath he noticed both Boomer and Wolf’s jaws were on the floor.

“You meant to say that the same yahoo who taught the Mutton everything she knows also taught Vixen?!” Gaped Wolf.

Shade nodded, “From what I could tell, he trained Vixen first, and then Mariko began her training well after Vixen went Rogue. Per Tayna there was an important reason to why Arion took on another Novice, but she never told me that reason. I assumed it was to keep an eye on Vixen, but is there another reason we don’t know about yet?” Muttered Shade as both Boomer and Wolf swallowed.

“Well, shit.” Muttered Wolf. “That answers a few questions.”

“A few? Try all the holes in this story that neither Mariko, Fox or Usagi were willing to fill in for us.” Quipped Boomer.

“Um…” Shade asked. “Could somebody fill in the blanks for those of us who were absent during this chaos?”

“Sure.” Sighed Wolf. “It took Ariel months to get a message to the Great Fox, nothing was working right. Ariel knew her messages weren’t being ignored, so we assumed they were being lost. By the time Ariel finally got a message through and a response back from the Great Fox, Mariko was getting worse by the day. When we received that response it almost coincided to the minute with the time we first arrived here at Bangkok, I’m beginning to wonder how much of what happened with those messages was fate or deliberately planned…”

The slim off white paws carefully tapped along the console as various screens flickered and hummed as dozens of communications scrolled across. Vixen smiled as she spotted yet another urgent message tagged for the Great Fox heading through the maze of satellites and relay stations to it’s final destination. “Ariel Triton is either getting very desperate of very clever to route it though those relays. Pity.” A few clicks on the keypad and that message was lost forever in the electric byways of space communication.

After it’s disappearance the off-white feline smiled and leaned back in her chair. It was a shame she couldn’t accomplish everything she needed and wanted to do while she was in the Lylat System. Evidently Fox McCloud was of a Knight bloodline; he recovered far too quickly from her attentions to be completely normal. Therefore other routes would have to be taken to accomplish her goals. Mariko really had no clue to what she accomplished when she prevented the theft of the gauntlet or what course both of their lives would have to take from that point on. If Vixen didn’t hate her so much she’d almost feel pity for the Imperial.

Almost.

Vixen snickered and looked out the window of her haven. She set this place up years ago, just after she fully realized the potential of darkness. The Imperial moon was full of various illegal activities and scum across the scale, from the highest-level crime lords to the lowest harlot on the street. This planet had it all. Its primary business was the flesh trades, and was a popular shore leave for pirates and some lower class military ships. Vixen reveled in its dark atmosphere and darker pleasures; one could hide in plain sight here and never be found or have fear of arrest or capture. What passed for law-enforcement was under the pay of the current leader of the various crime families. In exchange for small favors on her part, she was granted complete immunity while on the moon’s surface. Her WolvenII jet was safely hidden away in a private hanger, and her home was furnished with all she needed and desired.

To prepare for what was to come, the Gauntlet had to be merged with it’s chosen bearer. Originally Vixen was to be that bearer, but her dear former Teacher Arion had thwarted that plan by choosing and training another Knight in the hopes that the Gauntlet itself would pick the second student. His gamble paid off and the very determined device had indeed picked Mariko over Vixen. Therefore one of two things had to occur if the plans were to go forward.

Either Mariko would have to be turned to darkness before accepting the Gauntlet. Or if she couldn’t be turned, she would simply have to die and Vixen would then be the only being available wear the Gauntlet. If not one than two in Vixen’s mind, she would really have to thank General Grayson for his little role; getting Mariko to flee Lylat was a fine way to start the Mutton on a dark road indeed. The father of Beatrice Gray had no idea how well his ambitions fit into the grand scheme of things, but fit they did and Vixen wasn’t about to look that gift in the mouth.

The key to getting a good Knight to go bad so to speak was to take everything they ever believed in and prove it false. Doubt and fear were the keys and could easily be turned into anger and hate with the right push in the right direction. Mariko’s belief in the laws and the system she defended for so long would have been horribly shaken with the warrant for her arrest, add to that the fear for her beloved and his teammates, and well you had a very pissed Knight just ripe for the picking. If these communications from the New Atlantis could be trusted, then Mariko was coping with these radical changes with violent acts that were growing on intensity by the day. The raw stew of her powers and her emotions was nicely simmering, but it needed a bit more time to cook before Vixen added the final ingredients.

And speaking of which, she better get those last pieces moving. First and foremost was getting the Gauntlet back into her possession. If she attempted to steal it herself again, well every Knight in the sector would be on her tail. So time for her to call upon the fine resources of her current location. A few tidy sums of cash in the right paw and a well-made map would soon have the finest thief enroute to where Arion had hidden the Gauntlet after Mariko recovered it.

The second trick was some good old-fashioned bait to get Mariko in her grasp so to speak. Vixen had thought long and hard on exactly what to use to draw Mariko here as well as piss her off. It had to be very personal, Fox McCloud was to be a part of the ploy but something else was also needed. Vixen curled her lips into a slow smile; she finally had the answer.

The key was in Mariko’s past. While she was a member of the StarWolf team and had uncovered exactly where Mariko had gotten her custom jet. An Imperial Samurai named Miyamoto Usagi had delivered the jet with the aid of a pirate named Rhogen. Mariko itself was an Imperial name, so Vixen did some digging into why this Usagi would just hand over such a valuable and expensive item to an unknown wanderer like Mariko without a huge fuss. More digging found the reason why, seemed like Mariko’s full name was Miyamoto Mariko, she was none other than Usagi’s twin sister.

More digging and Vixen discovered that Mariko had assisted in saving Lord Kiyoshi from a Rogue Knight assassin, add to that her family connection to the high ranking Usagi and well it was easy to see how Mariko was able to acquire that jet she now flies. So the next part of her bait was going to be easy, her brother would do nicely. She’d time the Black Dolphin’s arrival on Bangkok so that they would arrive about a month or so after she had kidnapped Usagi. She wanted the samurai nicely broken in before Mariko saw him again.

She got up from her sitting position and moved to the next room that held her various weapons and began to prepare. Her next stop would be White Star Castle and a careful evaluation of how to enter and exit without being seen, especially exiting with an out cold samurai in tow…

Commander Miyamoto Usagi of the Shirohoshi Clan was looking out the window in the small private room he was recovering in the New Atlantis’s medical bays. He closed his eyes and wondered what demons seemed determined to cause his family harm. They had seemed to living under a curse for years. The assassination of his father, the death of his Lord Hideaki, the several near attempts on the young Lord Kiyoshi’s life, the death of his beloved Tomoeh. Those were his own tragedies, and they almost paled next to what his sister, Mariko had gone through in the past year.

First came the hard to swallow news that though Andross was all but defeated, he had enough resources to launch a secret blitz attack against the rest of Lylat. Since they were not prepared for such a maneuver from an almost defeated enemy, the Cornerian forces fell and broke down like rice paper. Foolish assumption, never underestimate your enemy, especially when they are wounded and all but defeated. That is when they are the most dangerous.

Lylat learned that lesson the hard way it seemed. When White Star had received word on the take over Usagi’s blood had run cold, his newly restored twin sister was not only in the Lylat System, but she was also a member of the mercenary team that Andross wanted dead, StarFox. Then came the rumors of StarFox’s capture, Usagi could only sit and wait for either word of the team’s eventual execution or of their escape. Thankfully Mariko was able to escape by the skin of her teeth, badly injured from her time in Andross’s prisons. He was happy to help her, providing her with a prototype jet they had developed. A few short months later, the Lylat System was free and the long war with Andross had finally ended.

But for Mariko and her new found allies, only a battle had ended and the next phase of the war had only begun. Dishonored by Lylat and accused of betraying the system they had fought so hard for, Mariko and her friends had no choice but to leave Lylat and begin anew elsewhere.

For the next few months it appeared that all was going well, but Usagi was disturbed at the darker tone the messages he received from Mariko were getting. He pushed his concerns aside at that time. Looking back he wondered if he had spoken up, could he have changed the outcome of what was eventually to come to pass?

"Master of Puppets I'm pulling your strings…Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams…Blinded by me, you can't see a thing…Just call my name, `cause I'll hear you scream…" -Excerpt from "Master Of Puppets" by Metallica: Master Of Puppets

Miyamoto Usagi had clicked of the small communications device in his quarters. He had just finished reading the latest message from his twin sister Mariko. He had finally gotten over his urge to journey to Lylat and demand to see the so-called evidence against her. He was furious to see how badly they had dishonored the proud Imperial Knight on the thinnest evidence that she had betrayed them. How soon they forgot that she had laid her very life down to save them, and refused numerous offers by himself and others to escape Lylat and live happily elsewhere after Andross’s takeover.

Now his need to see Mariko’s name cleared was overpowered by concern for her. These last few messages he had received from her, with each passing one her tone seemed to becoming darker and harsher. Very unlike his usually calm and tranquil sister. He quickly pushed these worries aside; Mariko had just gone through a major upheaval and Knight or no it would take some time for her to cope with it all. Hopefully she would be able to get some time away from this new team she was with and visit for longer than a day or two. The peace and quiet of White Star might be a welcome change for pace for her.

A soft chime from the castle’s internal communication system broke his train of thought. He quickly answered is. “Yes?”

“Commander, you have a guest in observation room 5 on level 14. Should I send her up to your quarters?” Came the formal reply.

Usagi gave a small smile, here he was just thinking of Mariko and here she was for a visit. It was unlike her not to call first or give him a clue that she was planning to visit, but maybe she didn’t have time to do so. Maybe Mariko and her team happened to be in the area unexpectedly and she decided at the last moment to stop by for a visit. He quickly answered the intercom. “No need, please inform her I’ll be there to meet her in a few minutes.”

“Understood Commander.” Came the reply before the link was turned off. Usagi quickly removed his swords from the black lacquered stand and placed them inside the sash of his kimono before leaving his rooms. He was happy to see Mariko again, and he’d see with his own eyes that he had nothing to worry about her. As he approached the observation room he nodded his greeting to various acquaintances he met along the way as he finally entered the room.

When he entered Usagi saw the familiar cloaked figure of his sister with her back to the door looking out the huge window that covered almost an entire wall of the room. For some reason she always found these rooms with the unhindered view of space calming. He had spent so much of his life in the castle that he didn’t see the vast expanse of space and stars the same way she did. Usagi stepped into and felt the door automatically slide shut behind him as he approached her. He was about to open his mouth in a greeting when he suddenly felt an invisible force wrap around his neck and squeeze. He tried to lunge at the figure, wondering what the hell was going on.

Almost as an after thought the figure sidestepped the rabbit’s lunge. Barely holding on to reality Usagi looked up at the black cloaked figure and his blood ran cold.

It wasn’t Mariko after all, but an off white cat wearing a hooded cloak identical to Mariko’s. She had cold yellow eyes and a black tattoo over her right eye that was the same shape as Mariko’s too. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what this feline must be.

Vixen smiled has the samurai rabbit on his hands and knees before her tried desperately to break the mental chokehold she had on him. “That’s right my dear Usagi, I am a Rogue, and by the time your miserable little sister finds out what has occurred here today it will be far, far too late for her to save you, much less save herself.”

“Like…hell…” Was all he was able to rasp out before he finally succumbed to the blackness. His last thoughts was the faint hope that Mariko would find this monster and stop her before it was too late for both of them.

Back on the New Atlantis, Mariko suddenly felt an odd choking sensation around her neck and almost as quickly as it came it left. Her mind then went over the various reasons to why she would have felt such a sensation. One possibility was a Rogue in the area, but since she was the only Knight on this ship that reason went out the window. The other two were not too pleasant to contemplate. Something had happened to either Fox or Usagi, and lucky her New Atlantis was too far away from both to contact them with a quick note to see if they were all right.

Mariko sighed with the insanity of it all, it was most likely nothing, if Usagi was in trouble Rhogen would yell for her in no time, while either Peppy, Falco or Slippy would find some way to get a message to her if anything had happened aboard the Great Fox. She would have to subdue her instincts for now and hope for the best. She never did believe the old saying that no news was good news, but it this case she would have no choice but to try it.

These past five months were a sore trial to Mariko; she was finding herself using more extreme methods during her missions. Before she left Lylat she would have beat herself silly for even thinking of mind wiping another living being. The fact that she actually did it to that scumbag Raphael and it wasn’t even phasing her scared the young rabbit to her very core.

But there was another part of her that kept telling her that the creep deserved what he got and deserved no tears to be shed over his passing. A now much smaller voice inside her yelled that he was still a living being and that the taking of a life, any life under such circumstances was unacceptable. Again the much louder voice inside her head countered that he wouldn’t have given her the information any other way, therefore the methods used were justified.

Were they? The softer voice countered. Did she even try any other way to get the answers she needed? No she did not. And some how that didn’t bother Mariko in the slightest. And that truly shook her resolve…

How did she come to this point? The reasons just kept heaping on top of each other, the whole mess with Vixen back in Lylat, her concerns for Fox and the strain on their relationship, her run in with Arion when Shade left for his training and his not so subtle reminder of her so-called-destiny. Just thinking about that made Mariko’s blood boil. She ran away from her home years ago to escape from others planning her destiny for her. An arranged marriage and a dull life under the control of a husband was not the life she wanted for herself then or now. So she ran away and hoped to make amends later.

And where did she run? Smack dab into another group that also had plans for her. Arion took her in with what she assumed was care and worry for a young girl all on her own in the world. The fact she was a Potential was icing on the cake. How was she to know that the main motivation for Arion training her was not for her sake but to save himself from the mistake of training Vixen. Oh she found out a great deal about her predecessor as she traveled, how he took her for training when others refused, after she went Rogue the only hope was to quickly train a second Knight and hope. To Mariko's dismay it worked and again she was stuck with a future that she didn't want.

Hell her life and her destiny were hers damn it all, nobody could know what course or how her life’s path would run. She wanted nothing to do with that Gauntlet, it was too much power for any single person, Knight or not, to contain or handle. She sure as hell wasn’t worthy, and Vixen was even less so, just the thought of that feline gaining a hold of it sent shivers down Mariko’s spine. Sure if she accepted it, as it so obviously accepted her, it would be out of Vixen’s paws forever, but at what cost to her?

In Mariko’s confused state of mind it seemed easy enough to allow the Gauntlet to remain safe in it’s hiding place until a truly worthy bearer could be found, a Knight with the balance and discipline needed to fully master and control it. One who could use its power for good. Mariko had heard horror stories of the last bearer of that weapon, it had gotten in the hands of a Knight and the destruction that soul created, to make matters worse that Knight had been a good and loyal soul, yet somehow the power had corrupted him. How he died was even more disturbing, the legends stated that the Gauntlet had practically absorbed him whole. The only trace was the empty weapon at his last known location.

Mariko was broken from her darkening thoughts by somebody entering the Rec Area where she had been writing in her journal in an attempt to clear her head of the disturbing thoughts when that odd choking sensation had broken her train of thought. She looked away from the window to see Boomer entering. Mariko cracked a slight smile; Boomer always seemed to be able to cheer her up. Bless her, she was able to keep Mariko's flagging spirits up despite her own depression of being separated from her boyfriend Shade Monroe.

Boomer grinned when she saw Mariko as she held up a PADD. "Guess who I finally heard from?"

Mariko blinked. "Who?" Her mind going over the possibilities and coming up with either Bill or the crew from the Great Fox back in Lylat.

Boomer grinned bigger. "Shade, he was able to route it from the Iriah to several relay stations to us."

Mariko blinked again. "Really? How is he did he find a Teacher?" She was shocked she remembered her own training, she was so busy in the first few months that thinking was a rare occurrence, let alone finding time to write down your thoughts. But then she remembered that Shade had some training prior to this, so maybe he was able to steal some time to send a quick message to Boomer. He was completely devoted to her.

"He's fine…relatively speaking and stated that he will rip Arion a new one when he sees him again for not fully preparing him for the Teacher he was sent to." Replied Boomer looking at the PADD.

Mariko busted out laughing for the first time since she left Lylat, much to Boomer's relief and surprise. "Oh yes, I have heard rumors about Tayna, she is a brutal little thing and was the Teacher that trained Arion. Arion has a twisted sense of humor as well and deliberately sent him there ill prepared."

Boomer raised an eyebrow. "Is there a Knight in existence that doesn’t have a sick sense of humor?" She asked.

Mariko thought about it. "I haven't met one yet, though I haven't met that may outside Arion's circle of friends. Most likely there are but I have yet to see them."

Boomer shook her head. "If he survives this I think Shade will fit in just fine."

Mariko sighed, "Tell him that I'll be happy to hold Arion still for him if he wants to rip into him after his training." She finished the sentence with a wry grin.

Boomer grinned back. "Will do! Any thing else?"

Mariko shook her head in the negative before picking up her journal from the table and walking out of the Rec Room. Shortly after she left Wolf and Ariel entered.

"Was I hearing things or did the Mutton actually crack a smile and laugh?" Grumbled Wolf.

Boomer smirked. "You were not hearing things she did laugh, she found Shade's current situation amusing."

"Well that's a good sign isn't it?" Replied Wolf.

"Not really." Hissed Ariel. "I've sent word to the Great Fox at least a dozen times since Mariko started acting funny, no answer or I get word weeks later that the message has been lost. Did Shade mention getting word from the Great Fox or his sister?"

Boomer shook her head. "Nope but I'll ask him I'm writing back now, at least it seems like our messages are getting through to him at least."

"Could there be something wrong with our communications?" Replied Wolf.

Ariel scowled. "Think about it O'Donnell, Shade is in a more remote area of the galaxy than the Great Fox is in… How can they work for him yet not for Lylat?"

Wolf snorted. "Just a suggestion that you might have made a mistake…"

"Like I'd make the same mistake oh…a dozen times." Ariel's voice was quickly becoming a low growl to match Wolf's tone.

"There's be a first time for everything." Smirked Wolf back.

Boomer had been quietly tapping on a console to send a message to Shade and gave a sigh at the build up between Wolf and Ariel. Those two were so predictable it was kinda funny these days. With Mari's mood swings she had to take it where she found it. As the pair moved out of the Rec Room and down toward the private quarters, Boomer silently wondered if Wolf and Ariel were even aware of what they were doing at these points…

At long last Usagi slowly came back to reality. His neck hurt like hell as he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He found his wrists tied behind his back and his arms tied to his sides, another rope was attached to his back somewhere and his feet were about a foot off the ground. His kimono and hakuma were gone, but he was still wearing his under kimono. At last he remembered what had happened and silently wondered what that Rogue wanted with him…and his sister Mariko…

"Ash to Ash. Dust to Dust. Fade to black... But the memory remains." - Excerpt from "The Memory Remains" by Metallica: Re-Load

Fox McCloud was in a bitter mood.

That was a rare occurrence, usually Fox had the habit of looking to the brighter side of things, he always had, it was the only way he could cope with the horrors and tragedies than had haunted most of his life. He had lost his parents at a young age but had been comforted by the fact they there were in a better place now and somehow some way they were keeping an eye on him. His home system had been wracked by a bloody war, but he held on to the hope that they would prevail over Andross and a brighter future was to be had by all.

That dream almost died the day that Star Wolf had boarded the Great Fox and captured his entire team. How they had all been dragged to Venom to suffer at the hands of Leon, gods he could still hear the screams of Peppy, and Bill and Leon and Vixen ripped into them, for the sole crime of knowing those who dared try and help Lylat.

He knew their names now; he knew the truth on what had occurred. Boomer Gray, Ariel Triton and surprise, surprise Wolf O'Donnell himself. Finally there was Mariko.

Gods he couldn't even think about her without his gorge rising.

Ever since he met her he thought he had a pretty good idea on what the Knights were, the only one he ever knew was Mariko. She was strong, noble and had a sense of honor that he had never seen before. It had impressed him and was one of the main reasons he had followed Peppy's suggestion on letting her join Star Fox in the first place. He never dreamed he'd fall in love with her, never dreamed what the price he would have to pay for doing so.

He closed his eyes remembering, what Vixen showed him in that cell in Venom, she told him Mariko had the same skills the same powers. She filled his mind and heart with doubt on how well he knew about the woman he loved. Twisted his perception so far that he didn't know what to believe anymore. He finally came to terms with that and had planned on having a nice long talk with Mariko and try to discover more about her and her powers. He believed that she would tell him the truth and maybe he could trust her, put Vixen’s torture behind him and they would start fresh.

Fate intervened yet again and the warrant for her arrest came through. Mariko ran, at first he thought it was because of him… He hadn’t been exactly nice to her in the weeks prior to her leaving Lylat. Looking back know he saw her logic. Less than an hour later 'General Grayson’ was aboard the Great Fox ready to seize it and arrest them all. Thank gods Slippy and ROB had been able to swap the computer records to show Mariko's departure hours before the warrant was issued they couldn't touch Star Fox or the Great Fox now.

Those had been dark months; the Great Fox seemed a tad empty without Mariko around. Everybody missed her, cuffing Falco when he stepped out of line, discussing some strange topic with Peppy, or defending Slippy when they teased him a bit too much, gossiping with Katt about everything. When they finally got a message from the New Atlantis they broke out in cheers and Fox was all too ready to accept those jobs in far away Bangkok. A change of scenery seemed like just the ticket the team needed.

Why oh why did the dream become such a horrid nightmare?

Fox was attempting not to check on their ETA every fifteen minutes. It wasn't easy it had been over six months since the New Atlantis left Lylat under cloak due to the warrants issued for the crew's arrest. Mariko was one of those crewmembers.

Gods did he miss her. He tried not to be conspicuous as he wandered up to the command deck of the Great Fox. It didn't work as Peppy Hare stepped out in his way. "You asked ROB about our ETA 10 minutes ago Fox." He was trying not to grin…and he was failing.

"I don't know what's wrong with me!" Growled Fox. "You think she was dying or something."

Peppy sighed and mused. "Young Love..." As he strolled away from the Command Deck and dragging Fox with him. They had several hours to go before they reached the moon that Ariel told them about.

If Fox was this bad he could only imagine how much trouble Mariko was giving Ariel right about now.

Back on Bangkok Ariel had made it a point not to tell Mariko the exact time the Great Fox was due to arrive. They had a last second recovery mission and Ariel needed Mariko's full attention on the job at hand. Add to that the sheer joy of surprising Mariko with StarFox's arrival. Well what else would an ex-thief in her position do?

Thankfully the recovery of the stolen heirlooms went off without a hitch and no injuries on the Black Dolphins side, and no deaths either. As they headed back to the main port of call Ariel tried to be casual as she checked her watch. Wolf however noticed.

"Wait don't tell me you have a date?" He joked. Wolf knew on this rather liberal planet anything was possible and he was itching for an excuse to explore some of it's darker regions.

Ariel tossed him a look and answered. "No but you may have to make yourself scarce. Guess who's due to arrive tonight?"

Wolf groaned. "Aw nuts…why'd you have to invite that loser and his merry band here?" Tossing up his paws in frustration.

"To stop Mariko from going off the deep end?" Ariel tossed him a wry grin, "Unless you want that job Wolf."

"Nah, I'm already there." He smirked. "I don't have a problem staying out of sight while Foxy-Boy is here. I can find lots of things to keep my occupied while he's here." Wolf was wondering if Ariel would take the bait.

It was barely seen but Wolf almost whooped with joy when he spied Ariel flinch ever so slightly at his implications. Ariel was jealous! Oh he was so going to enjoy this. "Whatever Wolf…just try not to get your tail arrested will you?" Ariel replied not quite keeping the venom from her voice.

He grinned and began to make his plans for after StarFox's arrival as he melted away in the shadowed leaving Ariel fuming in his wake. Meanwhile Boomer was several yards in front of Ariel and Wolf talking to a subdued Mariko.

"So how are you doing Mari?" She carefully asked.

"Okay." Replied Mariko, "I'm worried though I haven’t heard from my brother in a month it's not like him, he's usually very good about keeping in touch with me."

"Maybe he got caught up in something, he's the Lord's Personal Guard isn't he?" Asked Boomer trying to calm Mariko's fears, it was the last thing she needed these days. More stress and worry.

"Maybe…but still I can't shake this feeling that something is wrong.. I think I'll send a message to Rhogen tomorrow…if anything is up with Usagi, he'll know about it." Replied Mariko, relaxing a little.

Boomer looked up and her jaw hit the floor. "I think you'll be a bit to busy for the next few days to do that Mariko." The canine broke into a huge grin, "In fact I know your going to be extremely busy."

Mariko looked up into Boomer's face trying to figure out what she meant when the next thing Mariko knew she was spun around and being kissed, very thoroughly. It took Mariko all of two seconds to figure out that the only being alive who would dare to try this on her was none other than Fox McCloud.

Boomer looked around the oblivious fox and rabbit and spied the rest of the team grinning at her, she quickly jogged over to them knowing that Mariko was in very good paws now. Good thing Bangkok was so liberal or else those two might have been arrested by now. At last the pair was fairly alone when they finally came up for air. Mariko was the first to be able speak.

"What brought that on?" She muttered, not that she was complaining at all.

Fox sighed not letting her go. "I missed you Mari…I missed having you cuff Falco upside the head, boggle the rest of us with your discussions with Peppy, help out Slip when he needed it. I missed hearing you wake up at obscene hours of the morning making the rest of us look like slackers…" He sighed, "Do you want me to go on?"

"Only if you want too." She replied with a smile. "But it's not necessary." She kept her paws on his arm as they walked off. "So how long are you here?" She softly asked inwardly dreading the answer.

"Later." He replied, freeing his arm from her grasp and wrapping it around her shoulders. "We'll worry about that later, right now we are overdue for some serious private time." Mariko was more content with that answer as they vanished into the night.

After Wolf did his vanishing act Ariel spied Boomer with the rest of the StarFox Team chatting away. No surprise at all was the fact that Fox and Mariko were nowhere in sight. "So the lovebirds have already flown?" She smirked as she apporached.

"Yep." Falco leered. "I swear he had a homing device on Mariko, he made a beeline right for her after we landed!"

"Trust me he didn't." Snickered Ariel. "So when do you guys start working?"

"In about a day or so, we decided to arrive early since we knew Fox was going to be distracted." Replied Peppy rolling his eyes. "How'd you keep Mariko from going nuts on you?"

"Easy." Replied Boomer, "She didn't tell anybody when you were coming!" Giving the female rabbit a poke in the ribs.

"Hey Mariko's a psi…she'd pick up in less than thirty seconds if I told anybody!" Laughed Ariel, "Let's find some food, you guys must be famished."

The small group headed off for one of the moon's tamer quarters for a spot to eat. After they left the area a slim figure appeared on top of a nearby building watching them leave. Vixen smiled darkly. She was never given another chance to follow them for her powers alerted her to a second person on the roof with her. As she expected.

"Do you have it?" She asked without turning around.

The lizard that had just stepped on the roof to deliver his package was momentarily shocked that she knew he was there. But he was smart enough not to comment on it. You didn't stay in business long on this moon if you asked too many questions. He simply nodded as she turned to face him fully. He placed the casket containing the gauntlet on the ground before him. Vixen smiled, the nest phase was well underway. Now it was time to put the last wheels of her plan into motion.

Vixen shuttered in agony as another wave of pain hit her full force. Her injuries were severe even for a Rogue of her caliber. Her off white fur was torn and covered with deep scratches. Some must have been contaminated with a poison that she couldn't identify. Fever wracked her body as she tried to fight her instincts to give in to oblivion. As she lay there in her hideout she mind went over the events of the past two months like a bad dream, even for her.

It wasn't just a bad dream it was a nightmare. She had failed.

All her plans and plots. All her preparations and safeguards. All her hopes and ambitions. Details laid out months and years in advance, to prevent anything going wrong. Gone. Shattered and left to crumble to dust. She knew she couldn't think about that now. She had to focus the last remnants of her power on healing her broken body. She had been practically stripped of her powers and her abilities, she had given everything she had in her last battle and it was all for nothing.

She had failed. She deserved to die. But not today, Vixen would fight the dark reaper with every ounce of power she could muster. After all that was only a battle she lost. The war between her and her hated rival was still alive and well. As long as the pair of them drew breath it would go on.

Mariko would regret the day she decided to spare her life.

And those two who had helped her they would regret it as well.

"Oh yes." Vixen rasped to no one in particular. There will be a reckoning Dolphins. Now you cannot hope to avoid what is to come, for you have the keystone to the coming storm in your own ship and even you cannot avoid destiny's call. Just ask Mariko about that!"

Another wave of pain and seizures hit the feline and unable to fight her body's instincts any longer she tumbled into darkness, but not death. Against her will she witnessed her greatest failure and unknowingly tipped the scales of future events…

"I'm your Truth, telling lies. I'm your reason, alibis. I'm inside, open your eyes. I'm you, Sad but True…" -Excerpt from "Sad but True" by Metallica: Black Album

"Okay." Remarked Falco, looking warily at Wolf O'Donnell next to him. "Whose brilliant idea was this anyway?"

"The Black Dolphins and StarFox working together on a job? Or letting Gray play in the armory?" Answered Wolf giving Lombardi the evil eye as well. At least he wasn't stuck with McCloud that would have been torture.

"Both." Snapped the falcon as another explosion shook the ground beneath them.

"Gray's in prime form today." Remarked Wolf after the shaking stopped. They were both taking cover behind some very sturdy metal containers. "Well it was Triton's and McCloud's idea to work together on this job, I have no clue who let Gray play with the high explosives though. Whoever it was should have known better!"

"I saw her with Slippy." Falco winced.

Wolf simply made himself more comfortable. "I don't think I'll be moving from this spot unless necessary, those two together make me rather nervous."

Falco couldn't believe what he said next, but he knew Slippy and he knew Bill's Sister. "I completely agree with you." The falcon and the wolf decided to sit tight while the two weapons experts had their bit of fun.

Peppy and Ariel nearly knocked into each other after that last explosion. "Peppy, we never leave Boomer and Slippy alone with high explosives ever again!" She snapped.

"Deal!" Remarked the older rabbit has he regained his balance. "Where's that safe room again?"

Ariel checked her wrist display, "Down this hall second door to the right. I hope Mariko and Fox can handle the rescue…"

"They'll be fine." Peppy smirked. "A two month reunion has done them a world of good."

Mariko laid her paw on a door and scowled. "They are in here." The anger in her voice wasn't the least bit concealed. Fox didn't blame her one bit for being angry; he couldn't even imagine the vibes she was feeling right about now. Over the past two months Fox had screwed up the courage to ask Mariko some very pointed questions about her powers.

She had dodged a few of them and answered the rest as best as she could. It wasn't what he was expecting, but it was a good start. "Easy Mari, don't lose it now." He muttered. Behind that door was a few dozen children that had been kidnapped or worse yet sold then shipped here. All destined for the various brothels scattered over Bangkok. StarFox was hired to free them; most were from a nearby planet. By pure luck, children weren't the only things being smuggled here and the Dolphins found themselves looking into the same crime boss as StarFox. Both teams had pooled the clues they had already gathered, and worked together and dug up a few more. That had led to tonight's raid, a combo rescue mission and some good old-fashioned stealing. To make the messy job faster and easier Ariel and Fox had decided to break the combined group into four teams of two members each.

Boomer and Slippy were in charge of distraction. Judging from the shaking and the explosions, they had found a cache of weapons and were doing a damn good job of distracting every bad guy in this joint.

Peppy and Ariel went to retrieve the smuggled blueprints and plans that the Dolphins were asked to find and return. So far they hadn't seen too much resistance.

Falco and Wolf got teamed up, both protested about to but quickly shut up with glares from both Fox and Ariel, they were to keep an eye on the escape routes to the transports and provide back up to whoever may need it.

That left Fox and Mariko to free the children. Fox nodded to Mariko and she activated her saber and with two quick swipes cut through the hinges and the lock. She jumped back and pulled the door toward her with a twitch of her powers. This way she wouldn’t hurt anybody in the room with the falling door. Deciding to play it safe Fox entered the room and left Mariko to watch the door.

He was glad he did so, Mariko would have lost it. Hell he was damn close to losing it. The children appeared to be on average eleven years old, they were half starved and chained to the walls, they looked at him with pure fear. He couldn't begin to understand what they had been through, but he shoved his feelings aside for now. He had to get these kids out of here. He checked the chain and noted that it ran through a hoop that was on each child's manacles. Cut the main one to the wall and they'd be able to move.

With one blaster shot he severed the chain from the lock on the wall and pulled the chain through the links. Some of the kids figured out what he was doing and helped it along, after they were all loose he grinned. "Okay kids, what do you say we head home?"

Some looked at him is disbelief, others looked hopeful. Fox continued. "Stay together and keep moving, if you can't keep up…call out and either myself or my friend will help you along. Do you understand?" The all nodded and he guided his small party out the door. Mariko was waiting outside and followed behind Fox and the group of children as they wound their way back toward the transport that would take the kids back home.

Mariko was seething. If she saw anybody try and stop them, she'd kill them, and she'll enjoy every second of it. Somehow she doubted that Fox would try and stop her either, he was as furious as she was at the condition of these kids. Either Boomer and Slippy had run out of explosives or all the thugs in this warehouse were dead. The place was strangely quiet as they finally met up with both Wolf and Falco.

"Transports in one piece and this way." Motioned Falco as he helped Fox usher the kids inside. Wolf drifted behind and kept his one eye on Mariko, she looked like she was about to explode. She hadn't been this bad in months. A soft noise behind them caused Wolf, Falco and Fox to pivot blasters drawn. Mariko being the furthest behind the group did a bit more.

She was the closest to the huge bear that came out from behind another group of crates unseen by both Falco and Wolf, as well as having escaped the bombs of Slippy and Boomer and rushed toward the group. The kids screamed in horror turned and stampeded into the transport. Almost knocking Falco down in the process somehow he was able to keep upright and facing the bear with is blaster drawn. Looking back on it later, Falco was glad that the kids didn't see what happened next.

The bear was in the process of drawing his weapon when he went down. Without a second hesitation Mariko had her saber drawn and activated, one swipe upward sliced the bear from his crotch to his neck, but not deep enough to kill, he howled in agony for a few terrible seconds then a second swipe took his head cleanly off his shoulders. By the time his body and head had dropped to the ground Mariko had her saber deactivated and back on her belt as if nothing had happened. Appearing to be oblivious to the shocked looks on both Falco and Fox's faces, and the resigned look on Wolf's.

Looks like the reunion didn't help as much as we thought. Wolf mused as the rest of the teams caught up with them, they all split among the transports to get the hell out of here before they were caught.

On the way back to the Great Fox, Fox roped Wolf into coming along with him in the transport with the kids, everybody else would be in the second transport. The trip would be hell to say the least, but a tad better than traveling with everybody else and Mariko in her current state of mind. While Fox looked to the kids, Wolf set the course and got the transport under way, then readied the autopilot so he could activate it as soon at the yelling began.

After the kids were settled in Fox wordlessly entered the pilot's compartment and shut the door behind him. Then he sat down in the co-pilot's chair and without looking at Wolf ground out. "How long has she been like that?"

"How do you know that this wasn't the first time something like this has happened? The guy was scum McCloud." Answered Wolf, hoping he wouldn't have to go into details.

"You were the only one there who was not surprised by what Mariko did, let alone her lack of emotion while doing it. So she must have done this before so how long has she been like this?" The only thing that kept Fox's voice from reaching yelling levels were the kids in the back area.

Wolf decided to tell Fox part of the truth, he'd leave the details to Mariko, if McCloud ever got the guts to ask. "She started going weird on us a month after we left Lylat and has been getting worse ever since."

"Why the hell did you wait so long to call us?" Snapped Fox scowling at Wolf.

"We tried!" Wolf hissed back keeping his tone down. "Triton was getting panicky there, she was trying for months to relay a message to you, just when we were about to risk all and head back to Lylat, then bam! You got that last one. Call it fate McCloud, and it has a nasty sense of humor."

Fox was deadly silent for the rest of the trip. Somehow Wolf would have preferred the screaming.

Mariko made it back 'home' first. She and Fox had pretty much rented a small place since he arrived on Bangkok, it was not much a few rooms nothing fancy, it was a spot where they could go to get away from each others teams. Especially with Wolf on one ship and Falco on the other they'd never get a break. So here she was waiting for him to come back from the drop off point.

The second she saw Fox's face after she killed that scum she knew she had finally done it…she stepped over a line with him that she shouldn't have. If he never came back she wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Hell she deserved it now. Part of her wanted to destroy her saber and shatter it beyond repair; it wouldn't hurt anybody again that way.

She snatched the saber off her belt and looked at it. It looked harmless now, just a slim silver cylinder three quarters of an inch in diameter and about a foot long, closed at one end and open at the other. A switch, almost flush with the surface and the heavy leather wrapped grip were the only clues that it wasn't so innocent. She flicked the switch on, and the pale gray beam came to life, powered by a small battery and three crystals that focused the energy inside to form the powerful blade that extended another three feet beyond the handle.

"How many have I killed? How many more will I kill?" Mariko's face contorted in pure fury as she shut down the blade and roared. "NO MORE!" She pivoted and hurled the saber out the open window with every ounce of her power. She clearly heard the saber strike the wall of the neighboring building and clatter to the ground if it fell in one piece or pieces she didn't know and didn't care as she continued her rant.

"DO YOU HEAR ME ARION! NO MORE! YOU WANT THAT WITCH VIXEN DEAD? DO IT YOURSELF! YOU WANT THAT DAMN GAUNTLET IN SAFE HANDS? TAKE IT YOURSELF! I'M NOBODYS PAWN! NOT YOURS, NOT MY FAMILY'S NO ONE!" Her fury subsided; Mariko slumped to the ground, falling to her knees and began to sob. "Why the hell can't I live in peace…"

Mariko didn't know how long she knelt there, tears streaming down her face. She felt alone and lost, adrift. Years ago she looked into a calm pond and asked her own reflection who she was. After she returned from the mission today, after seeing Fox's shocked face she looked at her reflection again and was forced to realize that once more she didn't know the person that stared back at her.

At a crossroads again, she bitterly thought, what choice do I have this time?

Light gave way to the coming night and Mariko remained motionless. Sometime after that, Fox must have entered at last. Mariko didn't know how long he was there watching her, but she knew he was there when he gathered her up in his arms and silently walked toward the bed. She silently clung to him and hoped that the dawn when she would have to explain what had happened would never come. Thankful she wouldn't have to do it tonight. She didn’t remember much for the rest of that night.

Mariko woke up the next morning alone in the bed; she opened her eyes and looked around. Her ears picked up the water running and realized that Fox must be in the shower or something. She sighed, "Better get this over with." As she gathered up her clothes and got dressed she faced the bitter fact that she had been in denial long enough. She was going Rogue and the only way to stop herself from going further was to give up her Knighthood and her saber. The saber was easy, she'd toss the thing whole into the Great Fox's reactor core, and it'll be melted to vapor in seconds. Giving up her Knighthood was trickier, she knew where Tayna was hidden, she would go there and ask the ancient Teacher to grant her request.

After that? He mind nagged, Where would she go?

If Fox still wanted this relationship she'd go with him back to Lylat and clear her name. If not, and despite what happened last night she still had her doubts, she'd swallow her pride and go home to Usagi and White Star Castle. After her visit with Tayna, she may not have access to her powers, but she was still one hell of a hand to hand fighter. She would find some way to survive. The water finally stopped running and she quickly finished getting dressed, she spotted the window and inwardly groaned. She had tossed her saber out there yesterday. Hopefully it shattered, if not…well the police in this town were not going to be happy about that. She'll look for it after she talked with Fox.

She busied herself with making some tea and soon heard Fox enter the main room. She was about to open her mouth to say something to him. The words never reached her lips as a searing pain tore through her body. The teacup she was holding fell from her paws and shattered on the floor. Dimly she heard Fox yell, but another voice crowded his out as she followed the same path as her cup of tea.

Fox was all ready to have it out with Mariko. It was time to face the facts both of them had be ignoring, when he found her on the floor last night, he felt she was ready to do so. After the air was cleared then they would figure out what to do next. After he stepped out of the bathroom and into the main room he was not at all surprised to see her up and about. She was about to speak when something hit her.

Mariko looked like she had been hit with a train and she began to fall to the floor. "Mariko!" He yelled and sprinted across the room to catch her before she hit the ground. She was only out for a few seconds and began coming around as he set her on the floor. "Say something Mari…what happened?" Fox muttered.

"Usagi…" She muttered. "It's him…he's in trouble."

"Hold it." Remarked Fox. "We are light-years from White Star Castle, how can you pick him up from this distance?" Fox remembered that Mariko and her brother were twins, and they, like most twins, had a unique bond, but it didn't kick in at this distance, unless it was really bad.

Mariko swallowed, "He's got to be here then, on Bangkok. It's the only thing that makes sense, but where and how?" She shook her head in disbelief.

Fox opened his mouth to reply when all hell broke loose. On cue the windows and doors broke inward and the room was flooded with dark suited thugs in masks. Both Mariko and Fox flew into action hoping to reach the door before they were taken down. Fox soon found three of the thugs jumping on him and pinning him to the ground in a matter of seconds. Mariko was high kicking another when she went flying, not under her own power into a wall.

Fox felt the blood drain out of his face as a very familiar figure entered the room. Gods no…not her…ANYBODY but her… He prayed, but he knew he was not dreaming or in the middle of a nightmare, this was an all too real reality.

"I'll be with you in a minute McCloud, I have some unfinished business to discuss with Mariko here first." Purred Vixen as she strolled to where Mariko was getting back to her feet. "Been awhile hasn't it?" She sneered at the groggy Knight.

Mariko snarled something unrepeatable and lunged at Vixen, only to be stopped short by another wave of agony from her brother. On her hands and knees she rasped. "You…you have him… Why!?" Mariko snarled.

"You know why Mariko." Purred Vixen. "You know what I want and you know the only way I can get it."

"Then do it Vixen." Hissed Mariko. "Kill me and be done with it…but let Usagi go!"

"Oh no." Sneered Vixen as Mariko slowly got to her feet. "It doesn't work that way. Years ago some snot nosed, long eared little Novice beat me in a duel. I want a rematch."

"If I refuse?" Spat Mariko finally getting to her feet.

"Then the Gauntlet will be safe, but the lives of your brother and McCloud will be forfeit." Vixen replied.

"Two lives gone in exchange for the hundreds saved if you never touch that thing." Replied Mariko her voice beginning to crack, "What makes you think I'd ever agree to those terms?"

"Because I know you too well Mariko." Muttered Vixen. "I've had years to study you and your habits, I know you better than you know yourself. You will go to any lengths if there is a slightest chance to save a life. You cannot change what you are now can you?"

Mariko lunged again, and this time the pain was too much, she fell to the floor and into darkness with Vixen's cruel laughter, Usagi's screams, and Fox's yells following her all the way down.

"Hate. I'm your Hate. I'm your Hate when you want Love. Pay. Pay the Price. Pay, for nothing's fair. Hey. I'm your life. I'm the one who took you there. Hey. I'm your life. And I no longer care…" - Another Excerpt from "Sad but True" by Metallica: Black Album

"…So." Asked Shade. "How did it all end?" He, Beatrice and Wolf had been talking for hours; Wolf had just finished retelling the tale of that last mission with StarFox, and his chat with Fox afterwards.

"Shortly after that incident." Boomer began. "Wolf came back alone and we all wondered where Fox was. Mariko had left as soon as we all returned. She didn't say a word that whole trip back. If neither of them returned or had called by late next morning we decided to search for them." She sighed and got up to get herself another cup of tea.

"I guessed Fox had an idea on where Mariko went and followed to have it out with her on what had happened in that warehouse. I figured they'd be okay, we had no clue at that time that not only was Vixen on Bangkok, but she had Mariko's twin brother, Usagi, captive." Wolf rolled his eye.

"Yeah now all that insanity makes sense, why you couldn't get through to the Great Fox till Mariko was at the point of no return, getting StarFox here period, it was all a set up. Vixen plotted it all out to trap Mariko." Shade sighed "But why? I know that Vixen hates Mariko with a passion, but what caused that hatred in the first place?"

Wolf paused for a moment and bit his lip. Boomer fixed him with a hard stare. "Wolf you left here that night, you never told us where you went…did you find Mariko after all?"

"Yeah I found her all right, and I think I got your answer Shade. I think I know what Vixen wanted." Muttered Wolf.

"What?" Asked Shade on the edge of his seat. "What did Vixen want?"

Wolf matched Shade's gaze and replied. "She wanted Mariko's worst nightmare…"

Monsoon season had hit the moon. It was a time of year when most sane souls kept inside the well-built buildings if they had to stay, and left the moon's surface if they could.

Ariel Triton was not a sane soul.

She was perched on the edge of a roof overlooking a few street corners known to be hangouts for the cronies in the service of Vixen. It was hard to see the street below with the driving rain and wind pounding on everything in sight. The occasional flashes of lighting did help and told Ariel that she was too late.

Somebody had already beaten her here.

And that somebody didn't care that she left a few bodies behind either. Ariel sighed and climbed down the rain slick building to check the unconscious bodies that littered the corner and the street for any clues. She didn't expect to find anything, as usual, but she went through the motions anyway. Hope sprang eternal. As expected though they were all breathing, they were not going to be doing much of anything for a few weeks. The red haired rabbit checked them all and in every pocket and in every hiding place she could find. Nothing. If there were any clues on where Vixen was holed up either it had already been beaten out of them, taken away, or washed away by the rain.

Ariel sighed and stood up and began to wind her way back. During her walks back to the Space Port where the New Atlantis and the Great Fox were docked she sent an anonymous message to the local law enforcement on where to find those thugs before they either died of their injuries or drowned in this storm. She pulled her long coat and hat tighter about her, but it wasn't mush use, both were soaked through and it was only a matter of time before she too was soaking wet. Enroute home she almost ran over another fool insane enough to be in this weather. It took her about thirty seconds to figure out who it was.

"Anything?" She asked Wolf O'Donnell as he peered at her from under his own protective gear.

"Just more half dead punks." He scowled. "This is a needle in a haystack Triton! The only person who could find Vixen on this stinking moon is the one who's out here somewhere running amuck!"

"I know, I know!" She snapped back. "But we got to find them both before anything else happens. You saw her Wolf! You saw Mariko when she got back, her fury could twist steel! Gods if I had only known I would have avoided this blasted moon like the plague!"

"Quit blaming yourself." Snapped Wolf back. "We had no clue Vixen was on this moon, let alone plotting to kidnap McCloud, and that pirate pal of yours warning us that the Mutton's brother was missing and possibly bait in a trap." He shook some of the excess water from his own hat and lowered his voice. "Let's get back to the ship, we ain't going to do the Mutton any good soaking wet…"

"Your right, but I hate sitting around doing nothing!" Ariel snarled and the rest of the trip was made in silence. Neither knew that both were thinking the same thing. About that day almost two weeks ago when Mariko appeared after that messy rescue mission. Wolf was the first to see her, she entered the ship via the landing bays where he was doing some standard maintenance on his jet.

He said hello and didn't get a response at first. Wolf wondering why he didn't get a cutting remark in return jumped down to the main floor to get a closer look. Mariko looked like hell. It appeared like she had been at the receiving end of twenty to one fight. Mariko being the one that is. He yelled again to ask what the hell happened to her, and then she finally turned to look him in the eye.

For the first time in his memory Wolf O'Donnell backed down. He could stare Andross dead in the eye and not even flinch; he was spooked by Vixen but never gave the witch the satisfaction by showing it. He'd faced down countless enemies in the air and on the ground and never had more than a tremor of fear or apprehension. But Mariko at this moment was that exception. Wolf had never seen anyone, anything look so cold, her eyes were dark bottomless pits and promised to smother any fool who dared cross her. She radiated a fury so hot Wolf almost believed that if he tried to touch her he wouldn't get his paw back. If it didn't burn away she'd break it off. She said only two words. "Back off." They came out in a low hiss that made his fur stand on end.

He quickly obliged and notified Ariel what the hell just happened. She had caught up to Mariko in her quarters, by that point Mariko had changed into her dueling armor and black cloak. Before Ariel could say a word Mariko spoke in that same icy hiss that she used with Wolf.

"Vixen is here. She has Usagi and Fox; I'm getting them back. If you are smart you'll stay the hell out of my way." With that she flipped the hood over her head and marched off the New Atlantis.

That was the last time they had seen her. All they could be certain of now was the fact that Mariko was alive and ripping through Vixen's known associates like wet paper. Because Bangkok was so closed at points there was only so much information they could get at a time. So the Black Dolphins and StarFox had no choice but to wait and hope for either word of a sign of where their missing friends were.

The only thing that Fox McCloud was grateful for at the moment was that this time Vixen didn't seem to have the drive to put him through the same hell as before. Unfortunately she seemed to have gotten that urge satisfied by putting Mariko's twin through hell instead. Usagi looked almost as bad has Fox himself did when was able to escape the feline's clutches. Both were hanging from the ceiling above by ropes. Usagi appeared to be unconscience at the moment. Another plus was that Vixen seemed to be occupied with other matters, too busy to come in here and personally torture them, make them extremely uncomfortable yes, but not torture them.

For the most part the room he was in was rather dark and dim. There was a large skylight in the ceiling and large windows along one wall since he was seeing large flashes of lighting through both areas from the monsoon outside. From what little he could see the room was fairly large, and mostly empty. Fox wondered what it was used for, but part of him tried not dwell on that much.

Back in the rooms that he and Mariko had rented out Vixen had left Mariko out cold on the floor. Before he was knocked out by the assorted scum he did see Vixen drop something beside Mariko's body.

At first Fox thought it was a bomb of some type. Then common sense kicked in, if Vixen wanted a duel with Mariko so much to use himself and her brother as bait. Why kill her with a bomb. A second look showed the object to be Mariko's saber. But how did Vixen get her paws on it? Mariko kept it with her at all times, however Fox couldn't remember seeing it on her belt when he picked her up the night before… What had happened before he got there?

He wasn't given another moment to think about it when a few more lights came on in the room and the lady of the house entered so to speak. Vixen was dressed in a more revealing version of Mariko's dueling gear. Mariko's was black one piece and sleeveless, Vixen's was two piece and dark red. "Be happy McCloud for your stay here will be over tonight…one way or another." She finished with a smirk. She was carrying a small ornate casket under one arm and dark red cloak over the other.

"Oh have you seen the error of your ways and decided to let us go and turn yourself in?" Snapped Fox.

"No…this is the night when I finally show that pathetic girlfriend of yours whose the better student and who gets this little toy." Vixen gave the casket under her arm a pat as she carefully placed it on a small table.

"What's in the box?" Fox swallowed nervously.

"You'll see." She replied coldly. Vixen cocked her head and cackled with glee. "She's here right on cue." She fixed the out cold Usagi with dark stare and he quickly came around with several words in Imperial. All was describing Vixen and not one was repeatable in polite company.

"I agree." Muttered Fox, he didn't know the exact translation, but he got the general idea.

Usagi finally realized that it was Fox McCloud tied up behind him and groaned. "Live bait, I hope you get torn to ribbons witch!"

"Watch it you two, you should feel honored, a duel like this hasn't happened in centuries, and you have front row seats. Enjoy it while you can." Muttered Vixen darkly.

Usagi lowered his voice. "Do you have any idea what this is about?"

Fox whispered back. "Not a clue but I think we are about to find out." No sooner did he finish speaking then a shadow by the door moved slowly. It glided to the center of the room without a sound. As it entered the light, all you could see was a figure in a black cloak with the hood drawn up concealing the wearer's face.

"Ah it's about time you showed up." Purred Vixen fastening her own cloak about her shoulders. "Did you like the path I laid before you to find me?"

"No." Mariko's voice snapped from under the hood.

"Then by all means, let's get started…" Replied Vixen as she pulled out her sabers but didn't activate them quite yet.

"Let's." Came Mariko's voice again. The next thing Usagi and Fox saw a second later was Mariko's saber coming out of nowhere and Vixen's howl of pain. The cat staggered back, never having a chance to activate her sabers, a huge burn lanced across her exposed mid section. Her face was contorted in pure hate as she pivoted to see Mariko on the other end of the room deactivating her saber.

"That was a dirty trick." Vixen spat.

"No." Came Mariko's reply as she pulled down her hood. Both her face and her eyes were like ice. "It would have been a dirty trick if I had my saber at full power…" Mariko pulled something out from her belt and shoved it into a small compartment on her saber. "That was a lesson… I could have dropped you easily Vixen that's a fatal blow at full power. Last chance, let them go, leave the Gauntlet here and you walk out of here alive."

"I don’t think so." Hissed Vixen, powering up both of her sabers. "That's twice I underestimated you. I don’t think I'll do it again."

"So be it." Replied Mariko as she melted into the shadows.

"Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be… Now the will see what will be, blinded eyes to see…For whom the bell tolls" Excerpt from "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica: Ride the Lightning

Vixen moved across the room in lazy circles muttering all the while, trying to get a fix on where Mariko was and how she would strike next. Her blood red sabers where active and cast an eerie red glow across the room. It had been about five hours since the duel began and there was only one word from Usagi and Fox's perspective that could be used to describe it.

Brutal.

Neither opponent was playing exactly fair, and neither was holding anything back. Fox cringed as Mariko appeared from the shadows and got a split second drop on Vixen. Giving her a powerful roundhouse to the cat's jaw and was bringing her saber down to finish the job. When Vixen got her wits together enough to send Mariko flying into a wall will a sickening crunch. The cloaks of both fighters had been reduced to tatters hours ago and had been discarded when they became more of a hindrance than a help.

Mariko got to her feet and plotted her next move never letting Vixen out of her sight for a split second. She was covered with minor bruises and major scratches; she counted at least three cracked ribs and had come dangerously close to dislocating her sword arm twice. Somehow she had focused enough of her powers to keep the shoulder in its socket. She saw beyond the pain however and focused on her goal. That was to put Vixen out of her and the universe's misery forever.

Opposite Mariko, Vixen was hissing softly under her breath, as she wiped the blood from her jaw. That last kick had almost shattered her jaw. Damn the rabbit to hell. Her tail was whipping back and forth in a physical sign of her anger; she too kept that damned rabbit clearly in her sights. For somebody with pure white fur Mariko sure as hell found it easy enough to completely vanish in these shadows and reappear at a moment's notice. Most of the time it was directly behind Vixen in an attack. She too had her share of injuries, she believed that several bones, including her jawbone, had hairline cracks in them, and another few hits and they'd be broken. However in every one of those attacks a deathblow had been open to Mariko.

She didn't take the opening, and Vixen gave a grim smile.

Oh yes Mariko was going Rogue, more so by the second. But not quite enough to kill in cold blood, not yet. Vixen had no such hindrances and that was how she was going to win. If she ever got the opening that is…

Mariko was hoping that Vixen would just fall and give up, that it wouldn't come down to death. She hadn't heard a word from either Fox or Usagi since the duel started. She hoped that they were quiet to keep from distracting her, however she had a sick feeling that it was more shock and horror that made them silent. As the duel approached its sixth hour Mariko was slowing coming to the grim reality that the only way to end this was with death. However Vixen was now wise to her shadow tricks and that advantage was lost.

She cursed herself for not taking those openings when she had them, as someone once said to her long ago… Both good and bad deeds will come back to haunt you, so be careful whom you show mercy to… Now she would remember that…

Neither fighter wasted time with witty banter either, preferring to let their actions do the talking for them; the duel so far had been in silence. Only interrupted but the grunts and yelps of pain along with the electric crackle as their sabers struck the walls and each other. At last Mariko saw another opening and decided to end this madness once and for all. She raised her saber high and prepared to bring it down on Vixen.

Vixen wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes. The blasted Mutton finally was ready to cross the line. She had deliberately dropped her guard so that Mariko would commit herself to another attack. Vixen never dreamed it would be a fatal one. No problem, Vixen instantly brought saber up to counter Mariko's strike and drove her second blade straight through Mariko's midsection. With a sneer at her rival's shocked expression she kicked Mariko off her saber and watched her stagger a short distance away.

The pain from her cracked ribs paled in comparison to the agony Mariko was feeling currently in her mid section. Since a saber burned as well a cut deep wounds were hard to heal and seemed to hurt a hundred times worse than those from a standard sword or blade. She staggered back a few more steps; her saber dropped from her paw as her other reached for her wound. Usagi and Fox were to her left side numb with shock and horror. She could feel Usagi's rising panic for her, she quickly shut it out of her mind, as if there was much hope for her now.

The room's windows were to her right, and between her and the windows was a small table just outside the fighting area.

On the table was a very familiar casket it gave Mariko an insane idea, one that she stood no chance of surviving from. Weighing her options quickly Mariko made her decision in a matter of seconds. She was dying, she knew this. But if she was going to die this night, she was going to take something with her as well as piss Vixen off royally. Mariko used every ounce of power she had left and lunged for the casket and the windows beyond.

"NO!" Vixen screamed, the first word spoken since the duel began. She clearly saw what Mariko's intent was. If Mariko was able to bond with the Gauntlet then die from her wounds, or to her death by falling out the window, it would be out of Vixen' reach forever. With a panicked wave of power she attempted to steer Mariko away from the casket and through the windows. It almost worked, but the hours of battle had taken its toll on Vixen's focus. She succeeded in making sure Mariko flew out the window, but damn her as she went sailing toward certain death Mariko's last act was to seize the casket with her own powers as her body shattered the glass and plummeted toward the street below.

CRACK! Mariko hit a flagpole dead on the force was so strong that the wood gave way as she fell on it. She felt her ribs finally give way and shatter, piercing her right lung in the process.

SLAM! She then glanced off a stone ledge that wrapped around the building a few stories down. Her shoulder finally dislocated completely.

With a final bone cracking slam Mariko hit the pavement of the street, by now she was almost beyond pain, if the saber stab didn't kill her, the blood filling up her lungs was going to in a matter of minutes. Seconds before oblivion hit Mariko a slim coil of metal inched to her right paw it's source was the casket she grabbed before her free fall dive that lay open less than a foot away from her body.

Since she had returned to the New Atlantis, Ariel had been watching the transmissions that bounced around the moon like a hawk. She knew that eventually that either Mariko or Vixen would do something that even the highly corrupt law enforcement of Bangkok wouldn't be able to ignore. It was only a matter of time, however when you were dealing with two highly angry, and extremely aggressive Knights, time was something you didn’t have much off.

But she was not given much choice in the matter so Ariel watched and waited for the signal. About four hours after she had gotten back, Ariel had hit paydirt. There was a report of an apparent suicide, or a murder. Somebody either jumped or was thrown from the top story of a building. What caught Ariel's attention was the next note, a figure was seen in the hole in the window that the jumper or victim left behind, the figure appeared to be holding to glowing red sticks, as if they were swords…

"Vixen…" Whispered Ariel as she skimmed the report looking for the buildings location in the report. Once she found it she quickly committed it to memory and bolted into action. "Delphi! Tell everybody to rise and shine and get cracking, I expect them to be in the hanger ready for action in five minutes!"

"Confirmed, and if they ask for a reason?" Asked the AI Program.

"I found Vixen." Was Ariel's only response as she opened a channel to ROB on the Great Fox. If she didn't include the rest of StarFox in on this rescue mission, she'd never hear the end of it…

Five minutes later the Dolphins were assembled in the New Atlantis's main hanger opening up the weapons lock boxes and readying themselves for anything and everything that Vixen could toss at them. As soon as they were prepped Delphi signaled that StarFox was just outside the ship. "Everybody ready?" Ariel asked.

Wolf shouldered a double-barreled shotgun and grinned darkly. "Ready to kick some pussy cat ass…" Boomer mimicked his grin and nodded holstering a set of blaster pistols and small shoulder pack filled with her special toys.

Ariel nodded and led the trio out to meet StarFox, and together the six of them went off to find their missing friends.

Vixen just stood there at the hole that both Mariko and the gauntlet flew out of. Unsure exactly what to do now. The Gauntlet had absorbed its last bearer body and soul, would it bond with the dying Mariko then absorb her as well? Would it decide not to and bond with herself as planned? If it did bond with Mariko, then she died; it would be out of Vixen's reach as well… The only way to be sure was too go down and search for both Mariko's body and the Gauntlet.

She pivoted to exit the room when the skylight above shattered into a million pieces, Vixen quickly jumped away from the flying glass and brought her sabers back up to full power. The rain poured into the room from the now open skylight and laser blasts erupted from the edges of the skylight and two figures that had entered the room via the broken skylight. Vixen cursed and had no chance but to fall back to the shadows.

Of all the bad timing…the Dolphins, making a trademark entrance… Vixen silently fumed, as she picked up the thoughts of Boomer Gray and Ariel Triton in the room and of Wolf O'Donnell above her coming down. A bit more focus found the strong presence of Peppy Hare as well. That meant that the rest StarFox must be here too.

If Vixen was going to survive this mess she was going to have to pick her targ