Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

United States, Earth – 6:53PM

Better known as the X-Men mansion, there wasn't a single day in which the young mutants focused institute wasn't facing a crisis or emergency. Between military raids, attacks from Magneto, alien invasions, or fellow mutants with catastrophic abilities, the students were used to the turmoil and destruction the place was known for. In fact, many of them were counting on the mansion blowing up in order to skip classes or get more time to study.

But when one of the mutants in the institute, that had precognitive powers, alerted everyone of the next particular catastrophe, they had little time to react. Many didn't even bother to go to their rooms and pick their belongings, they just headed towards the safe tunnels heading to the various bunkers nearby the mansion. A loud alarm started to sound, as Charles Xavier, the wheelchair-bound director of the institute, instructed the X-men to assume battle positions.

There was only one threat that although uncommon, was capable of mobilizing students and X-Men alike. Something that, proven unchecked, could amount to massive destruction and high rate of casualties. Something Prof. Xavier feared more than anything else.

An attack by Cain Marko, his step-brother, also known as the unstoppable Juggernaut.

They haven't even finished blocking the door and activating the defenses, when all of a sudden, a huge behemoth of a man in red armor landed in front of the mansion, leaving a huge crevice in his landing place. The round helmet, which had orifices for the mouth and eyes to be seen, allowed to see a man angry beyond belief. "CHAAAARLES" he roared, making the windows of the mansion rattle. "Where is it? TELL ME WHERE IS IT!?"

Knowing his psychic powers wouldn't reach his step-brother due to his helmet, Prof. Xavier activated the intercom. "Cain, please calm down. We did what we had to¬." He explained, calmly. He knew the priority was to defuse the Juggernaut as fast as possible, before he started destroying everything in his path.

"BULLSHIT!" Yelled Juggernaut, not getting any from his hated mutant of a brother. "The Crimson Gem, I know one of your mutants took it! And I WANT IT BACK!" He threatened him, hitting his left palm with his right fist. The power of the impact was such that the nearest windows started to crack.

"Cain, the gem was about to be taken by a radical group. We had in our best interest to…" Prof. Xavier started explaining, but Juggernaut wasn't having any of it. He imagined that Charles must have had a really good reason to take the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, the source of his powers, from its resting place. And he knew he wouldn't allow anyone near the gem to steal his powers. But still, it was a risk he wasn't going to take. He headed for the basketball court, effortlessly grabbing one of the basket posts, and bending it like soft clay.

"Chaaaarles… You know, that I'm not a patient man. You know, that I know, that there are six bunkers filled with fearful mutant kids I could easily smash into minced meat. And you know I am unstoppable. So, I'm going to count to ten, and if I don't have the gem by then… I WILL GO AFTER THEM, CHARLES! YOU KNOW I WILL! Juggernaut said, his loud and powerful voice being heard in a radius of at least 10 miles.

There was no response. The mansion became silent for an instant, as not even birds and squirrels were making a single noise. "Okay, little brother, have it your way… ONE! He said, raising his huge red finger. "TWO" He raising another finger, menacingly. "THREE. FOUR. FIVE!" He yelled, not even bothering with fingers anymore, when suddenly, the door to the mansion opened. Instead of relying on tricks or surprise attacks, Charles Xavier came out of the institute, carrying what could be described as a black shiny box. "Cain, stop. Here is the gem, you can have it."

"Finally, some sense into it." Juggernaut exclaimed, as he walked towards the front door. Xavier, not afraid of the massive monster in front of him, activated his wheelchair to move forward. When both of them were right in front of each other, Charles raised the box with his powers. Not wasting a second, he grabbed the box, which was completely opaque and was roughly the size of Xavier's head. "So… what happens if I break this polycarbonate box, and my gem isn't there?" Juggernaut threatened the professor. "Cain, you know I wouldn't stoop so low as to trick you. It was only for protection."

The Juggernaut picked the box with his massive hand, and using his index and thumb, he crushed the ultra-resistant material like it was a peanut, revealing its content: a big, shiny ruby, with ancient writings inscribed inside of it. "As I said, the gem is untouched. Nobody has seen the gem, and my intentions were only for safety purposes. You should learn to trust me, Cain."

"Drop dead, Charles. I don't need to be a psychic like you to see the thought crossed your mind." Juggernaut said, turning away from his brother. "And now, something I should have done a long time ago…." Grabbing the gem, Juggernaut started winding his arm. "Cain, what are you…" But Prof. Xavier couldn't finish his sentence, as the Juggernaut used his full strength to throw the gem away, with such strength that the clouds in its path were visibly pierced.

"There, problem solved." Juggernaut exclaimed, leaving Xavier speechless. The Juggernaut had supernatural strength that surpassed all charts and measures, even surpassing the Hulk, so a throw this powerful should be more than enough to launch the ruby towards outer space. "And now, nobody will be able to steal this power from me."

"You had what you wanted, Cain. Please leave the mansion and my students alone." Charles said, turning his wheelchair around, knowing Cain wouldn't just attack him. "Oh, you would want that, wouldn't you Charles?" Juggernaut yelled, defiantly. He wasn't going to blindly attack, but he wasn't letting his step-brother go so easily either. "Now nobody can stop me! You hear me Charles? I AM THE UNSTOPPABLE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH, AND I'LL NEVER BE STOPPED! NEVER! NEVER EVER! NEVEEEEER!

Four (Earth) months later

30 miles away from Casheen Military Base

Kathina, Lylat system

The Lylat wars, as the war between the Lylat system and Andross' military force was known, finally was drawing to a close. Aided by the mercenary team "Star Fox", and the tireless efforts from the Cornerian Air Force Army, peace was slowly yet steadily returning to the galaxy, including Corneria itself, whose citizens recovered from the attacks.

However, any victory celebration had to be postponed: even after Andross' fall, many radical groups that were still loyal to their cause still had their posts active in many planets. The situation worsened once that General Pepper, Cornerian's army commander-in-chief, discovered that Megaton bombs had been assembled on at least three different planets.

In order to preemptively stop those radicals from arming the bombs, General Pepper was forced to split his army towards planets Sauria and Aquas to find and disarm the bombs. However, the third bomb, located in Fichina, had been already assembled, and it was a matter of time before the bomb would render half the planet uninhabitable.

Not having other option, Commander Bill Grey decided to ask for Star Fox's assistance in the matter. Shortly after, the Great Fox (their mother ship) appeared near the planet's orbit, deploying four Airwing battle ships towards Casheen's military base, where the bomb's detonator was being configured by the radicals.

After the Airwings entered the planet's atmosphere, Fox McCloud, leader of the mercenary group, instructed the others to open their wings and verify their G-Diffuser systems. "All systems go, report!" He ordered, positioning himself in the front. "Falco Here." Said the avian pilot in the Arwing next to him. "Peppy here, a-ok" answered the pilot from the Airwing right behind them. "Slippy here, I'm fine!" responded the amphibian pilot on the other side.

Still fresh from the many battles during the war, entering planets and deploying had become routine for them. ¬ Fox checked the signals on his ship, waiting for Bill's signal on the radar. "Ok team, the plan is simple: we get rid of the detonator first, and let Bill and his crew deal with the rest. Slippy?"

"Well, it seems they are using old tech, so they still have a couple of hours to make the detonator functional" Slippy, who had one eye on the sky and the other on his control panel, managed to make calculations and estimations on-the-go, which was one of his most valuable skills. "Those kind of detonators rely on an external antenna, If we destroy it before it's completely configured, we'll be safe. "After hesitating for a second, Slippy continued. "However…"

"And now the bad news, right?" Falco, one of the most Skilled pilots in the team, snarked with a hint of sarcasm. "We can't just have a nice boring mission, it seems".

"AHEM! However…" Slippy said, regaining his concentration "There is a force field protecting the antenna that activates during the setup process. We'll need either a powerful detonation or a strong impact in order to destroy that antenna.

"That doesn't sound so bad!" Peppy Hare exclaimed "At least we have time aplenty before they finish setting it up! The Casheen base should be right after those mountains, 20 miles from here." Peppy pointed at his radar.

However, there was still something worrying Fox. "There's something weird however… Why there isn't a welcoming party of baddies already shooting us?" Slipply mumbled shortly before replying "It is weird… Fox, when did you receive the last transmission from Bill?"

Fox took a peek on his console "At least fifteen minutes since we were on the Great Fox… he said he was stalling for time. Yet again… at this point there should have at least a dozen enemy ships, right? Unless…"

In that moment, the ships overflew the mountain range behind which the base was located. However, as soon as they passed it, their communicators were filled with static noise, after which the raging alarm from the base was heard. The scene changed radically – cornerian ships chasing down Venom Fighters, foot soldiers attacking the base against Landmasters, and a huge antenna installed on the middle of the battlefield,

Suddenly, Bill's signal appeared on the radar, together with a message on the control panel – *Bill Grey – Incoming* "Fox, Fox! Please respond!" As Fox reacted to answer, he had to quickly turn right to avoid fire, as the ships dispersed. "Bill, what happened? Over."

"The antenna! We never anticipated they would set up a trap!" Bill, a Cornerian Bulldog and Fox's childhood friend, responded alarmingly, while shooting a pair of Invaders from his Arwing. "They have been using signal delayers and camouflage to gain an advantage on us!" Even while evading enemy attacks, Fox could deduce that Bill's warning message arrived at least an hour and a half later than it should. Which only could mean…

"Fox! The antenna is already operational!" Slippy stated. "They should be able to open fire in no less than five minutes!" Being always the first one to lose control under stress, Slippy gulped trying to keep his hands steady. "What do we do now, Fox?"

Assessing the situation as fast as he could, Fox used his leadership skills to determine a course of action. "Ok, team, full range mode! Slippy, Peppy, focus on diverting attention, destroy as many Invaders as possible! I will focus on the antenna operator. Falco, cover me!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm going" he answered grudgingly, always trying to appear defiant, but actually respecting and following through. The enemy ships gathered around the antenna, a couple of them managing to damage Falco's right wing. "Damn…" Falco cursed, as it thr

"Preparing Smart Bomb" Fox declared, activating the computerized target system to focus on the antenna, albeit the signal delayer slightly delayed the system's response. Fox knew that he had a limited supply of bombs, so he needed to be as accurate as possible to go through the barrier and destroy the antenna.

"Fox, heeeelp!" Slippy yelled. "I can't lose these two ships!" A pair of laser shots impacted on his Arwing's rear side, damaging it badly. Fox had to flight towards the antenna to aim more precisely, but he had to do a U-turn in order to catch up with Slippy and destroy the ships behind him. "Thanks Fox, I owe you one!"

As Fox turned around again, he aimed towards the antenna. "Launching first Smart Bomb!" Fox announced. However, the delay in the target system failed at the last second, missing the antenna's barrier by an inch. "It seems that the shot needs to be completely centered." As he prepared the second charge, another ship started shooting at him, prompting a dogfight.

Taking down as many ships as possible, Falco assisted Fox by shooting at some Bandit Fighters. "Sorry, got a little sidetracked. Focus on the antenna!" Falco remarked. The antenna was about to reach operational state, and there was even less margin for errors now.

Fox focused on the antenna one more time. "Please, please, make it work..." he prayed, and as soon as the focusing system was ready, he launched another smart bomb. This time the bomb impacted, although the barrier was sturdy enough to resist the impact, it gravely weakened it. "That's it, just one more shot…"

Right when he was turning around for a second shot, he got shot in his left wing, gravely affecting his stability. To make matters worse, an alert came from Peppy's ship. "Fox, there's an issue with the G-Diffuser! I need assistance!" Grunting, Fox needed to make a quick decision, either assist Peppy or focus on the antenna. Although there was another option.

"Falco, go with Peppy. I'll try to shoot it alone." Fox ordered. Falco didn't hesitate, but he asked nonetheless. "Sure you can do it, Fox? You only have one bomb left." Fox reassured him. "One shot, that's all I need." As he stabilized his ship, he turned around to focus on the antenna one last time.

Or at least he attempted to do so, as he noticed that, somehow, the antenna was now without a barrier. In a matter of seconds, the antenna started to bend, and it didn't took long enough to Fox to discover what happened. Everyone was so focused on the attack, that nobody perceived a strange body entering the atmosphere at full speed, destroying its barrier in one hit and impacting the antenna in its middle point, damaging it severely. The impact was so strong and sudden, that a massive gust of wind blew around the impact point.

"Whoa… Guys, what… what happened? "Slippy asked, as everyone else was silently trying to assess what happened. However, now with the antenna broken and no longer operational, the invading ships started to retreat. It was so anticlimactic, that nobody on the StarFox team, or Bill's soldiers, were able to say anything.

"So… is this "Mishon Compree" or not" Falco inquired, half-mockingly.

"Thanks, Fox! You were of great assistance today" Bill congratulated Fox, as his team had finished reagrouping the survivors. "There were no casualties, so everything's fine in the base!"

"It was... nothing, I guess. At least my guys are fine, only some damage on the wings" Fox said, still feeling cheated out for such a conclusion." In any case we will be retrieving the antenna's CPU to find out any possible supplier."

"Of course… I'll inform Captain Pepper what happened. Don't worry about payment, it's on me. Bill offered instantly. It was more of a formality at this point, since Star Fox prices weren't precisely 'cheap'.

"Fox, the Gyrowing is ready!" Slippy informed. "I'll take your Arwing for repairs while you retrieve the antenna's CPU. You sure you can handle it?"

"Don't worry Slippy, I know what a CPU looks like. Falco, Peppy, this won't take long." Fox said, lowering his airwing in order to board the Gyrowing.

"Wonder why we still have that Gyro-thingamabob… we barely have a chance to use it" Falco remarked. "Then hurry up, I really wanna call it a day."

As Fox descended onto the place where the antenna landed, he deployed the Direct-I to connect to the CPU and download all available data. "Who'd be selling this parts… I would've sweared we locked up every major crook in this side of the… wait."

As the Direct-I finished with the data download, Fox spotted something with his camera. It was a big, shiny red stone that was still covered in smoke, lodged in one side of the antenna. Maybe this was the object that impacted it? Whatever the case, it would easily net him some extra credits back in Corneria.

After retrieving the stone with the Direct-I, Fox send the signal to his team. "Guys, I got the antenna data. Heading back to Great Fox." After saying this, Fox enabled the auto-pilot as the Direct-I returned to the ship. Opening a small hatch behind his seat, Fox reached for the Direct-I and picked the shiny rock.

"Wow, it's a Ruby?" He said, examining it, "I Thought this kind of stone would be more fragile. Definitely should check it out once we're back in the Great…. Huh?" In that moment, the stone started glowing slightly. Right in the surface of the stone, some ancient writing appeared out of nowhere "Is this… an encoded message?"

As he tried to make sense of the strange writing, the letters started shifting and rearranging by themselves, until the text could be read in Lylat language. Fox couldn't help but read along the newly translated lines.

"Whosoever touches this gem shall possess the power of the... Crimson Bands of Cyttorak? Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become ... forevermore ... a human juggernaut…" Fox recited, with a puzzled face. "Hmm… What's a human?" As soon as he finished his sentence, the red gem began to glow brightly "What the…" was the last Fox could muster, before the glow expanded through the entire cockpit. Not only that, but he felt his body being covered by that same red aura.

Falco was the first one to notice. Deciding to take a short lap while Fox finished recollecting data, he noticed the glow emmiting from the Gyrowing. "Fox, are you alright?" Asked Falco to no response. "Fox? Fox, do you copy?" He insisted, to no avail.

"Falco, what's wrong?" Peppy inquired. "Something on Fox's ship is jamming his comms, I'll go investigate." He replied, as he headed towards the Gyrowing for a close look, when all of a sudden, the ship was hit by a powerful blast of red energy, coming from space. The impact was such, that it completely shattered the glass of the cockpit, as he could make a silhouette contorting inside.. Falco could barely react, before the Gyrowing started losing altitude, leaving a trail of smoke in its path.

"FOOOOOOX!" Falco, Peppy and Slippy yelled in unison, as the Gyrowing impacted the surface, ending in a huge explosion upon impact. "No no no…. no, It can't be!" Falco prayed. "What in the name of heck happened? An attack by an enemy ship?" Peppy was disconcerted, trying to find the source of the mysterious blast. "But there's no one above the Great Fox, we would have known!" Slippy pointed out.

And there, there was radio silence. None of them could believe their leader, which survived more dangerous battles than that, had been struck down by a single blast. Falco decided to break the silence. "ROB 64, are there any vitals from his ship? Any last message? Anything at all?" "Negative." The robot answered in a cold, emotionless voice. "

"Then I'll go take a look." Falco declared. "Wait, Falco! They could strike again!" Peppy remarked, as Falco descended his ship closer to the site of impact. Getting a closer look, all he could perceive was the remains of the Gyrowing, now burning ablaze after the explosion, but no signs of parachutes or seats that could suggest that anyone survived the crash. "Fox…" Falco muttered, still unable to process what just happened. They just had lost a leader, a great pilot, a good friend…

And then, out of the blue, he heard a *Thump* coming from the rubble. Falco looked in disbelief, hoping Fox to jump out of it with few bruises and charred fur… but he didn't expect a huge furred paw clenched into a fist rising between the remainders of the ship, launching metal scraps flying everywhere. What once was despair, which then turned into a glimmer of hope, had grown into bewilderment for Falco.

"What the…"