Chapter XIII
Shattered
Chapter XIV
Krystal and Fay looked at him expectantly for an answer. Honestly he was dumbfounded. "I don't know what to say."
"It's simple, do you like her?" Krystal said.
"Yeah, but I'm already with you." He answered back awkwardly.
"So?"
"Back in my reality we only ever had one significant other." He explained.
"Well here it's not unheard of for their to be multiple people in a relationship."
"I don't know,'it doesn't seem right." Alex said reluctantly.
Krystal looked upset. "Is it so wrong for more then one person to like each other?"
"No bu-"
"No buts, its a simple choice, do you like her?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what's the problem then."
"What about you?" He attempted one last objection meekly.
"I helped her get the courage to ask, and here you are being very rude." Krystal scolded, and demolished his last argument.
He sighed, why was he even arguing? Most guys would love for this to happen. He looked to Fay who had a worried look on her muzzle. "So...you like me?"
She nodded enthusiastically, long brown ears flopping cutely. He guessed that the most she could do was that, clearly gathering the courage to do this was her limit.
"Okay then, that's good cause I like you too." She slammed into him happily, tail wagging ferociously. "Although I don't know what I did to deserve this wonderful attention." He added out of breath.
"Silly, it's who you are." Fay finally said.
"Who am I?" He asked her curiously.
"A funny, kind, strong, dependable, and brave man." Fay replied vigorously.
"Wow, I sound awesome." He chuckled, eliciting a giggle from the both of them.
Seconds later Fox came from a side hallway and was not paying attention. He collided with Alex sending the both of them to the floor spluttering. They immediately leaped up and brushed themselves off dignifiedly. Acting as if that had not just happened, ignoring the uncontrollable giggles coming from the two girls.
"Sup Fox." Alex said nonchalantly not looking in the direction of the vulpine.
"You know, just walking around." Fox replied equally nonchalant and looking straight ahead.
"Cool, cool." Alex said smoothly.
"What a bunch of bozos." Krystal whispered loudly to Fay.
"So where are you off to in such a huff." Alex asked steering the topic away from their collision.
"Actually I was looking for you. I wanted to see if you would like to go to the mall." Fox offered.
"The mall." Alex deadpanned.
"Yeah, considering our big payout from Pepper, I thought we could go get some stuff, and set up an account for you."
"Huh...thats actually a good idea." Alex said in surprise.
"I take it that means you want to go?"
"Yeah sure."
Krystal and Fay squealed excitedly. "The mall!" Alex had a very bad feeling about this.
An hour later Alex and the rest of Starfox were standing outside a massive mall. It was over ten stories tall, and went underground. "Damn." Alex muttered. "That is a big ass mall."
"Pssh they have a bigger one on Katina." Falco scoffed.
They walked into the ridiculously huge lobby. It was full of cornerians going through their daily routines. Their were dozens of species. Unfortunately, as soon as they entered all eyes fell on them. Not only was the famous Starfox team there, but they had the alien from the news with them. Thankfully no one stopped to talk to them, all they did was stare and occasionally take a picture.
Alex was once more reminded of the cafeteria on Aquas right before he left to destroy the marker. All those eyes, even more then last time. And they all were centered on him. It was unsettling.
His attention was drawn away from the all the prying eyes when he noticed the decorations all over the inside of the mall. No way....they celebrated Christmas. Or at least something that was extremely similar to Christmas. Either way if these decorations held any truth to them, he would buy something for every member of the team. It would be a great way to pay them back for all that they had done.
"What's with the decor?" He asked Krystal.
"It's for the end of the year holiday, Donum Dans." She answered and gave him a quick hug.
"What is it for?"
"It's when you give gifts to all your friends and family to show your appreciation."
So it wasn't Christmas but it was close enough. After his musing, he came back to reality and followed his friends, they did their best to ignore the stares and go about their business. First thing they did was go to the bank to set up the account for Alex. With help from a way too energetic owl they finished in good time. After that Slippy and Peppy wandered off, the girls dragged a reluctant Miyu to the women's clothing store, Lupa was manipulated by Penelope to go to the candy store, which left Fox, Falco, and Alex who went to the gun shop.
Alex didn't want anything as he was happy with his current arsenal, but he did buy some equipment for the fabrication of rounds and components that he could repurpose to keep his blade in top shape. (This was after several minutes calming down the ecstatic cashier). As he was purchasing the things and placing the order for it to be moved to The Great Fox, he saw Falco eyeing an exotic handgun. He looked depressed. Alex walked over to him. "What's the problem?"
"I can't afford it."
Alex took a closer look, it was called the Golden Falcon, and cost ten thousand credits. He had to admit, it was a beautiful weapon. It's muzzle was a screeching falcon's head and was enameled with feather like etchings. Obviously something that Falco would love.
"Yeah man sometimes you can't get want you want." Alex said sadly.
Falco sighed and walked away. After that he went to go look for Fox, who he found in the armor section of the store. He was looking at a light body suit. The sign in front boasted of its defensive capabilities and comfort. It was form fitting and black. "Watcha looking at Fox."
"Just something that's caught my eye for the last two years."
"Why don't you get it?"
"I could, but I would rather save the money." Fox answered.
"Huh."
"Well I got what I needed." Fox said, he raised up a paw to show the bag he was holding with a few supplies in it, probably for maintaining his blaster. "I'll see you outside." Fox left with Falco.
Alex walked over to the panda clerk. "Hey I'd like to buy a few more things.
With his plans in motion he left the store and found Fox and Falco leaning on a railing and watching the crowds. He moved to join them. They stood there silently for awhile before continuing their quest for things.
"Where is everyone?" He asked.
"I don't know, wanna go find them?" Falco suggested.
"Sure." Fox agreed.
The first member of the group they found was Peppy, he was at an old fashioned bookstore, the kind that still sold paper ones. A big reader himself, Alex bought some books, he was interested in seeing what they would be like. While there he had a short conversation with the old hare. "Someone else who enjoys books." Peppy said jokingly when he saw Alex reading a back of one of the novels.
"Yeah I know, we're a dying breed." Alex fired back with a small laugh.
"Indeed, indeed." Peppy said chuckling.
"Ha ha." Falco said "yes that's interesting and all, but we should be finding the others." Fox also did not look so interested in the bookstore.
"Alrighty then spoilsport." Alex grumbled. Leaving the Store with his new purchases. (He had decided to buy a few books for Peppy when he was distracted.) He followed them for a few minutes, he still was bothered by all the staring, he did his best to get used to it. It was going to be a challenge.
When they located Slippy they had to drag him away from the hardware store before he could have a fit. It took all of them to pull him out. "Noooooo!" The amphibian shrieked. "I want it!" He was trying to grab a ridiculously expensive all in one type cabinet. Designed for storing and working on projects.
The toad was mollified when Fox brought him to the side and calmed him down. Alex ducked in real quick and bought the overpriced thing and asked for it to be delivered to the ship. Just as he got back Sliopy sat on a bench looking depressed. Alex saw him as being a little childish, but let it go as Slippy was a little young.
With a slight amount of hesitation the group of guys went to track down the women. They all feared that the girls would delay their departure by several hours.
They found Krystal, Miyu, and Fay at a women's clothing store, the name was Gloria's or something like that. Alex didn't really care. They stood outside.
"Who's going in." Fox said seriously.
"No way in hell man! You can't make me!" Falco flipped out backing away slowly. "I won't let what happened last time haunt me again!"
"Okay Falco calm down, I'm sure they forgot what happened with the dressing room." Fox placated.
"I haven't!"
"How about you?" Fox asked as he looked at Peppy.
"I doubt such an old hare as myself would be of any use." Peppy muttered, slowly backing up to where Falco was.
"Slippy?" Fox sounded desperate.
The toad was nowhere to be seen. They swore they could see a fair outline of the amphibian's from where he was last standing.
"Guys?"
Fox was on the edge of panic, his fur was bristling and his eyes looked crazed. Alex didn't understand what the big deal, was so he offered to go.
"What! You would willingly go in there?" Fox exclaimed in disbelief.
"Sure." He shrugged "what's the worst that could happen?"
"Nothing of course!" Fox said suspiciously and abruptly. "Well what are you waiting for?" Fox started to push him into the store, Alex looked back one last time and saw the piteous expressions on the guys faces, almost overwhelmed by the look of relief, suddenly this didn't feel like such a good idea.
"Uh Fox ma-"
"Uh uh uh, you volunteered." Fox cut him off. Now he was really worried. Before he could object Fox flung him into the store. He hit the ground with a painful thud. Alex got up and took a look around. Their was.......allot of furry women. And they all were staring at the human that had just been dumped into their midsts.
"Crap."
Meanwhile the girls were browsing the selection of female apparel. Miyu was reluctantly tagging along. Sure she loves to have nice clothes, she just loathed the time it took for her friends to pick what they wanted.
"Are you two done yet?" She muttered angrily, for the fiftieth time
"Just a little longer." Krystal replied distractedly, she was holding up a yellow skirt and trying to figure out if she liked it.
"You said that an hour ago!" Miyu groaned, tail lashing in annoyance.
"Things like this take time." Fay sagely refuted. She was comparing a blue and red dress.
Miyu sighed in defeat and collapsed on the waiting bench. She glanced to its other occupant. The male black bear was watching his wife go through a rack of pants. His look mirrored Miyu's, despair and suffering.
Miyu hear a commotion at the front of the store. She couldn't see it from all the way in the back, so out of boredom she investigated. At the front she was confronted with a odd sight. Alex was here, and was swarmed by all the women nearby. His expression was one of absolute confusion. He was being bombarded by a wave of questions. He locked eyes with Miyu and conveyed a heart felt plea for aid in that one second of contact. She was happy to help.
"HEY!" She shouted throttling the voices of the curious women. They all turned to the perpetrator. "Can't you see that you are smothering the poor human?" She was sure that they were too surprised to see the human from the vids to recognize what they were doing. But when they did they ashamedly backed off a little giving him some breathing room. He looked incredibly relieved and thankful.
"Sorry." One of the women, a tiger, said sadly with her head down. Soon they all were apologizing profusely.
He spoke. "It's alright, I can't say that it was completely unpleasant." The women laughed. He was startled that he was handling all this well. Still, he would get Fox back for this. "Maybe I can answer all of your questions another time. For now I have to find some of my friends." The group of females dispersed and Alex was left with Miyu. "Thanks for the help back their, I swear I was a goner!" He said jokingly.
Miyu giggled and snorted. She gasped and covered her muzzle, fur flushing. "Sorry."
"For what?" Alex wondered.
"For the snort, I know it's not pretty." Miyu said shamefacedly.
"Are you kidding, that was adorable!" Alex exclaimed,
Miyu was mystified, people had always thought that her laugh was weird. "Really?"
"Yes, I for one liked it, you should laugh more." He answered.
Miyu blushed even more and went silent, pondering on what he said. She led him back to Krystal and Fay who embraced him as soon as they spied him approaching. "Alex!" They had both squeaked.
"Hey girls." He said and picked them up and hugged them tightly. Miyu watched from the sidelines with an odd feeling in her chest. She felt a little...hollow. She brushed it off and looked at her friends happily.
"Why are you here?" Krystal asked as she held onto him.
"Fox and the others sent me to check on you guys." They faintly heard him mumble something about "vengeance" but he stopped before they could ask. "So, how's it going?"
"We're almost done." Fay answered, Miyu scoffed.
"Why don't you help us?" Krystal suddenly asked as the idea formed in her mind.
Alex's face fell and he looked to Miyu once more for help, she looked at him and smirked. "I'm sure he would love to." The look of betrayal on his face was comical.
"Et tu Brutus?" He asked sadly.
Miyu just laughed evilly as she stood by and let Krystal and Fay drag him off to help them pick clothes.
"Do you think he's dead?" Slippy asked. They had been sitting outside the store for over an hour. No word had come from the sacrifice they had made.
"I'm sure he's fine." Falco answered with little confidence.
"He's fine." Fox agreed.
"We should pray for him." Peppy suggested.
Before they could Alex emerged from the dreaded store. His face was battle hardened and grim. He was holding onto an innumerable amount of bags. The women chatted happily as they walked out with the poor human in tow. "Hey Fox!" Krystal greeted and hugged him.
"Took you long enough." He grumbled back.
"You can't rush perfection." She retorted sticking her tongue out.
Alex interrupted by dumping the pile of bags in Fox's and Falco's laps. "What's this for?" Falco demanded, groaning in pain as the heavy bags had landed on a....sensitive area.
"Vengeance." Alex replied simply before walking over to Slippy and Peppy. Falco and Fox grunted with exertion as they tried to carry the bags, it appeared that the human was stronger then they thought. Between the two of them they could barely lift and move the bags.
Alex watched in satisfaction as the two tried to keep up with the group. "We need to find Lupa and Penelope." He said to his friends.
"I know where they are!" Slippy pipped up helpfully.
"How?"
"I saw them when I was ru-walking away earlier in front of the store." He tried to play it off, but it was futile, Alex knew what he meant.
"I see." He said darkly. 'Soon' he thought to himself. 'Soon Slippy will get his!'
"Y-y-yeah their this way." Slip guided them to a place that resembled a food court. It was a huge expanse of small shops with vendors selling a wide variety of food and drink. The rest of it was covered in a swath of tables and chairs, most being occupied by families and what appeared to be teenagers (it was hard to tell from the distance). Alex spied Lupa vainly trying to control a sugar infused Penelope, the little wolf cub was quivering with uncontainable energy. It seemed that taking her to a candy shop was a bad idea.
Seeing the canine's plight he moved to assist her leaving the others in the dust. As he navigated the maze of chairs and tables he couldn't help but feel all the eyes watching. He understood why they did that, but he really wished that they would stop. Some people probably would have enjoyed all the attention. Not Alex, he was perfectly fine with being a little known figure in the crowd. Here that wouldn't happen. He was too different from them to every truly go unnoticed, realizing that it would be like this for the rest of his life, he tried his best to ignore it.
"Need a little help?" He asked the exhausted looking canine.
Lupa looked to him, her muzzle shifted into a look that reminded him of a drowning man spying out a lifeguard. "Yes please!" She begged.
Chuckling heartily Alex turned to address Penelope. "Hey little one."
Her mouth was currently stuffed with some sort of sweets. "Awex!" She shouted, her voice muffled by the candies lodged in her muzzle. She flew of her chair and hugged him with insane strength.
"Hi." He groaned out.
"Wesh hash uo been?" She inquired as he gently removed his excess baggage (Penelope).
"Just getting a few things." He explained. He leaned down conspiratorially "hey, you know, Slippy has something for you."
"Really?" Her ears perked up and her poofy ebony tail wagged excitedly.
"Yeah, why don't you go ask him?"
"Okay!" Penelope shouted and flew off like a rocket at the approaching group. Slippy was curious as to why Penelope was speeding toward them. When he looked at Alex and saw his viscous grin, his face lit up in realization and terror. Just as he turned to run he was intercepted by a black fuzzy bullet. "YAY PRESENT!"
Smirking Evilly he turned back to Lupa. "Problem solved." Lupa was laughing uproarsly and was close to tears, in fact not only was the rest of Starfox laughing along, the whole court was reverberating with laughs. "Why don't you go to them." Alex suggested to the still laughing woman. "If they ask tell them I went off to get something."
Lupa nodded still smiling and quickly rejoined the group. As Alex walked away he could see the flustered and confused toad as he tried to explain to the energetic ball of fur that he didn't have a present. Now satisfied that his vengeance was complete he went of to buy the last few gifts, for the women and Penelope.
He walked out of the store with his new gifts in a securely wrapped bag. These last ones had almost drained his current balance. But it would be worth every credit to see the women smile. He headed back to the food court to see them all sitting at a table and eating food that looked allot like hamburgers and hotdogs.
"Hey guys." He greeted taking a seat next to Krystal and Fay.
"Sup Alex." Falco said while handing him a burger lookalike.
He eyed it for a few seconds before shrugging and taking a bite. It wasn't half bad. "This is pretty good."
"Yeah I thought you might like a burger." Falco said smugly.
'So, some foods had the same name here, curiouser and curiouser.' He mused to himself. They spent a short time eating and talking. Penelope crashed and fell asleep in the middle of eating. Her muzzle fell onto her plate of salad, smearing it with dressing and bits o lettuce. Alex softly lifted her head and cleaned her with a napkin. He was smiling as he did it. It really was adorable.
"I guess we should call it a day."
"Yeah I'm getting kinda tired." Falco replied stretching and yawning.
"I'll hold Penelope." Alex said and picked up the conked out pup. "You guys can get the bags." He had stored the gifts he had brought with him on his device so thankfully no one would discover them.
Slippy, Falco, and Fox groaned and picked up all the bags, their were...quite a few. Peppy lucked out, he said his age prevented him from heavy lifting. The women didn't have anything so they walked ahead of the men. Alex walked with them and talked. As they went back to The Great Fox, Alex smiled. 'Today was a good day."