Chapter One

It was a cold, dark night, on the planet of Kew where the Bounty Hunter sat within the Hotel Room. She had just received an incoming transmission on her laptop, which had the capabilities to be used as a Holo-Transmitter if need be. The blue-furred vixen, which came to call herself Kursed, was residing in a Hotel room suite, waiting for her next hit from one of her contacts within the City and it seemed to be that this is the call that she had been waiting for.

She let the transmission through, and spoke to her contact, a Weasel clad in black and a stalky build, about who she was to hunt down next. "I'm assuming that you have work for me, Will?" Kursed said coldly.

"Yes as a matter of fact I do. Before I send over the file with the descriptions of your target and reward, I need to tell you something about this target. He is high profile, and from the person who commissioned this bounty, said to use extreme caution when apprehending him as he was requested alive for the bounty to be paid. It seems he has his own plans for him." Will replied.

"I will take note of this Will, thank you for your warning. I'll contact you when I have captured my target and am ready for you to take him off of my hands or if I have any further questions about my target." She ended the transmission, and downloaded the file that was sent to her directly. There was what it looked like to be a security photo of the man, standing in an alley with his blaster drawn at someone on their knees. His profile said that he was a dangerous Mercenary and was experienced in the Martial Arts, who seemed to mercilessly dispatch his enemies without hesitation or remorse. It stated that the man was cold blooded when it came to his job and has apparently been taking missions from whoever had the credits to support his work. It also states that he rarely misses a shot with a blaster, proving himself to be quite the marksman. There isn't his actual name on file, but everyone seems to call him Jay.

"No wonder he has a bounty on his head… This could prove to be interesting, as it could be one of my toughest missions yet. To have to apprehend him alive with the skills the profile stated may prove to be extremely challenging."-Kursed thought to herself with a slight frown.

She flipped to the next page on her touch screen laptop, and read up the physical description of her target. He was a very well built Vulpine with golden and white fur, and is usually seen wearing a black vest, with a white long sleeve with blue jeans and black tinted sunglasses. At the sight of those words, she felt emotions slowly welling up inside of her. When she realized this, she pushed her emotions back down farther, thinking to herself that she was over that part of her life. The thought of what she did to the only person who loved her, made her swell with regret to the point of absolute desolation. It's been long enough however, that she was able to suppress these emotions, and leaving her feeling as if she was just a cold hearted shell.

What had happened several years ago in the Lylat System was most likely the biggest mistake of her life she ever made. Fox McCloud, the one who cared for her so much, had shunned her away from the famous mercenary band of Star Fox. He stated to her that, as long as she was a part of the team, he couldn't stand to see her be put in danger. He forced her off the team out of love, but she took it far worse than he thought she would. She hated him with every ounce of her body at the time, equal to the amount of sorrow as her heart was crushed with the news she was hearing.

She soon then vanished, and later appeared to be a member of the Star Wolf team, and was romantically involved with the pilot, Panther Caroso. She thought she was doing the right choice, but she knew after years of reflection, that she did it to get back at Fox, the only man who truly loved her. This didn't faze Fox the most however, out of all of her deeds. The worst was when he requested the captain of Star Wolf, Wolf O'Donnell, to help him receive a machine that reduces the acidic levels of Venom's inhospitable ocean so that they can successfully launch an attack on the Anglar fortress deep within the waters.

When Fox finally delivered the Coup de Grace on the massive Bio-Weapon on Titania, he soon received an incoming transmission from Wolf. Fox put the transmission through, not knowing that the conversation between them would devastate him completely. Wolf said to him, that they had grabbed the terraforming device and were on their way to Venom to win the war for Star Wolf and take all the glory. He continued saying that it wasn't his plan to begin with, however and that it was Krystal, the cerulean furred vixen that he had shunned away. This caused him to literally break down, not knowing that she was capable to go that far and abandon her long lost friends in such a way.

After the war was over and Venom's forces were finally destroyed, the band of mercenaries named Star Wolf was able to rival Star Wolf in their fame and glory. The people of Corneria loved Star Wolf, but seemed to dislike the blue furred Vixen. Where ever she went, she could hear the thoughts of what people were thinking all around her. Calling her a traitor and an outcast for what she did to Fox. The rumors and gossip soon began to explode throughout the entire Lylat System, and wherever she traveled, she was shunned and called a traitor to her face.

She then disappeared from the Lylat System, to never be seen from again. Krystal died her blue hair to purple, changed her name to Kursed, and started a new life out in the far reaches of the galaxy collecting bounties and even to the extent of assassination, depending on the circumstances of the target.

She only had one rule when it came to her job, and that was to not kill anyone who was innocent or pure. During her years of travel throughout the far reaches of the galaxy, she had much time to reflect on what she did, and hated herself even more and more when she thought about it. It came to a point where it was all bottled up, and thrown to the side to be suppressed for however long she could contain it. She would never forget his face, no matter how hard she would try. It would continue to plague her mind, and would eventually have dreams about the time they spent together, whether It be the first time they met on Sauria, or flying beside him in the invasion of the Aparoids.

She could only hope now, that if she were ever to run into Fox McCloud, the pure hearted, stoic leader that she fell in love with, that he could forgive her despite all she has done. Whenever Krystal's thoughts begin to go in that direction, her logic takes over and she replays the same thought over and over again,."It's not possible that he would ever take me back, as I the wound I inflicted on him is beyond healing…"

She snapped out the state of deep thought that she was in and continued to make a plan for how she would take her target in alive. Glancing through the profile that her contact, Will, sent her, she looked to find out what leads she had of his whereabouts. "This couldn't be any more convenient," she thought to herself "If the profile is true then he goes to same bar every day around 20:00 hours." The bar also was only a few blocks away, with a complete access to it through a narrow labyrinth of alleys to cover her way back to the hotel she was staying with her target.

It was at that time 23:00 hours so she would wait till the next day and go observe the actions of her target and to familiarize him with her at a distance. She got up and grabbed her briefcase and went into the bathroom to take a shower. It was the only place where she felt at home now, and allows her to block out the minds of everyone around her to and have complete silence to think to herself.

The Next Day…

The blue furred vixen woke up at 09:00 hours to prepare herself for the day, grabbing her suitcase which carried all of her tools necessary to take out any target. She opened it and sifted the contents. Her bag held her staff which was given to her before she was sent off a shuttle from Cerinia from her parents, her blaster that was given to her by Fox when she joined Star Fox, and several forms of surveillance equipment. Kursed got dressed in her normal attire, black leather pants and vest, with a black t-shirt underneath. She also had a thigh-strap which her holster was attached, and she held her staff always in her pocket of her leather pants.

She noticed that she still had about 10 hours to get herself prepared for surveillance, so she decided to take a walk out in the town to go find this bar. When she stepped out of her room on the 64th floor of her hotel, she accidently stumbled into someone. She turned around to the person who she ran into and apologized to him while turning to see him. Kursed was taken aback, as she stared at Falco Lombardi who continued to walk and yelled back "Hey watch where you're going!" at the blue furred vixen. She that there stunned, and thought to herself "Thank god he didn't turn around and look at me, otherwise my identity might be compromised… Everyone thinks I'm dead and I want it to stay that way. But why was he here?"

The blue furred vixen's heart started to race as she thought to herself, "Maybe he's…" then mentally cut herself off. But she had to know if Fox McCloud was with Falco on Kew, and attempted to reach out and read his mind for information. She hated doing it to good people, as it invaded their privacy, but she had to know. Soon enough, she found the thought she was looking for and gasped.

What Falco was thinking at the time was "I can't believe Fox told me to come all the way out here, just for a single day… I can't believe I did it too; it was a waste of time trying to bring that man in trying to get a little piece of Intel… Just bullshit is what it is…The only good part was blowing up that convoy… If only we still had Krystal to read minds, then this would all be way easier and we might even still have the team together… But nope, Fox has to run off doing solo missions as he tries to run away from his past. Well at least he paid me 10,000 credits."

Kursed turned around and went into the elevator to the lobby floor to go take a tour of this Bar that her target would arrive at.

Falco sat down on his couch in the Suite that he was staying at. Sighing to himself, he replayed the events that happened earlier that day. He recalled earlier that Fox asked for his help on a mission to bring someone in so he could interrogate them on the whereabouts of a crime boss that he had been recently tracking for a large bounty that has been commissioned. The man they were looking for was a black rat, who went by the name of Joel. He served as a courier for information and smuggled goods between the Crime Boss and his hired goons, so that they could further enhance the profits of their illegal business and drug trade on Kew. From what Fox had told Falco, it was one of the biggest Crime Mobs in the city that had smugglers from several galaxies. After finding out his next shipment was headed too, Fox and Falco had to clear the base of the drudges, and waited in ambush for Joel and his escorts.

When they finally arrived, Falco and Fox had setup a perimeter of Sensor Bombs that allowed them to block off the convoy on both sides as they drove up to the hideout in the slums of the city. Two dogs dressed in black tuxedo's got out, who were both massive. Falco shook his head as he realized that there were more people getting out of the three car convoy, roughly around the same size of the men who got out previously. He whispered to Fox, "You sure about this? Things could get really ugly, real fast," Falco replied, "And I don't know about you, but I actually want to live to see old age or die flying my Arwing. This shit sucks!"

Fox glared at him saying "Falco, there are roughly around 14 men, and we have sensor bombs surrounding them. Al l we have to do is just fire a warning shot, and then let the fireworks do the rest. "

"Well fine, but if goes awry then don't say I warned you."

They withdrew their blasters and aimed them at the entrance to the hideout. They waited for about thirty seconds, and then saw Joel, who was dressed in a Tuxedo as well, walked towards the main entrance. As soon as the Rat walked inside of the empty warehouse, he noticed something wasn't right. The door's instantly closed behind him, isolating him with his two personal guards. He turned around and yelled at his two guards in a screechy voice "Something isn't right here, get those damn doors open!"

Fox and Falco shot the two guards directly in the head and watched the Rat's face go from angry, to fear and confusion. Then outside, they heard the magic go off. One of the guards that were outside directed the rest of his team to surround the perimeter, which only set off the Sensor Bombs they had laid out previously. Fox wasted no time to hesitate as he jumped over from the metal cat walk that was around 10 feet off the floor, and did a summersault as he landed to absorb the fall. He instantly pistol whipped the confused Rat, and slung him over his shoulders. Falco followed suit, and they headed for the back door where they setup their hover car as an escape route. They threw the unconscious rat in the trunk, and Fox set his blaster to stun, to shoot him in the chest to make sure he didn't wake up while they were driving. They got in, and drove to a remote alleyway deeper within the slums.

Falco looked behind him and said to Fox "I gotta say, that was a damn good plan back there; I mean that convoy got the shit kicked out of 'em! If only we could see their faces when that first one set off. You can even see the smoke still billowing back there."

Fox didn't reply, he instead stopped the car in the alley and got out to open the trunk. He grabbed the unconscious rat and threw him to the ground with a loud thud.

Fox then looked at the rat on the ground and said "Hey Joel, wake your ass up. I'm in need of some 'directions' to the person who sent you."

The rat stirred, and tried sitting up, but only managed an awkward squirm as his legs and hands were bound behind his back. Fox picked up him and set his back against the wall.

"Now I'll ask again, where can I find Juan?"

The rat stared at him in disbelief and laughed "I'm not telling you shit! Even if I told you, you still wouldn't survive confrontation!"

"Falco, shoot his knee"

Falco looked at him and said, "OK now were getting to something!" Falco took out his blaster and put it on the highest non-lethal setting he could, so it would do massive amount of pain, but not entirely destroy the rat's knee. He walked up, and aimed low and shot.

Joel screamed in pain, and buckled over to his side, trying to cradle his scorched knee. The hair and skin was burnt so black, that you couldn't even tell if he was even shot, if you couldn't smell the stench of burning flesh and hair, that is.

"Where is Juan Partino, Joel?" Fox said grimly as he bared his teeth at the Rat, who was still rolling on the ground in pain.

Joel looked up at them and said "Go to hell, I ain't telling you nothing!" He spit in McCloud's face.

"Wrong answer" Fox drew his blaster and shot him the head, leaving a hole the size of a quarter straight through. The laser burn instantly cauterized the wound, leaving a clean entry and exit with only the blood behind the rat where the laser hit the wall. He then searched his body for any useful information. He only found a cell phone, 1,000 credits, and a fake ID with several credit cards.

Fox sighed to himself, grabbed the deceased body of Joel the Rat, and threw it into a nearby dumpster. No one would find it for weeks, due to the lack of law enforcement in these far reaches of the universe.

Falco returned to the car and sat down in the passenger seat. It was 07:00 hours, and light was beginning to shine into the streets now. Fox got in and sighed to himself, as he shook his head in disappointment. "If only he would cooperate… Well anyways I have his cell phone so I can wait for an incoming call and maybe track it to where Juan Partino is hiding. I'll drop you off at your hotel, Falco."

Falco thought to himself "That was disappointing… I never knew Fox to be the one to kill someone in cold blood like that, even If they are a lowlife scum like Joel was… The years must've changed him when he heard of Krystal's death I guess."

They arrived at the hotel two hours later, as traffic was heavy throughout the city. Falco got out and walked over to Fox's side of the window. Fox handed him a receipt that showed him he wired the money into his account. Falco didn't know that this was a one day mission and said, "Were already done here?"

Fox looked at him and said with no emotion, as if he was reading lines off a piece of paper "I only required your assistance for that one stake out Falco, if I need your help later, I'll send you a holographic message."

He could see the confusion in Falco's eyes turn to anger, as he walked off without saying a word.

Falco walked through the lobby and said to himself silently under his breath so no one could hear, "God damnit, McCloud…" He got into the lobby elevator and pressed the button for the 64th floor. As soon as it beeped to a stop, he walked over to his room looking down and bumped into someone, he didn't even bother to look up, and yelled back "Watch where you're goin'!" He heard the feminine voice reply in apology and thought to himself, "Hmm… That's odd, why does that voice sound vaguely familiar?" he decided to keep walking to his room and opened it with a slide of his keycard. The door lock beeped, as he walked in and sat down on the couch to recall what happened previously that day.

It didn't take him long however to remember where he heard that voice before. On his return to Star Fox eight years ago, he heard the same voice and accent from a holographic message that was sent from Sauria. But he noticed that something was missing in the voice, as if it had no passion it did that day, when Krystal first walked onto the bridge to meet Fox face to face and thank him personally for saving her and Sauria.

His eyes widened in disbelief, as he got up and ran out of his room, looking down the hall where he saw bumped into her. He looked at her from the back as she walked into the elevator and pressed the lobby floor. She turned around and looked at Falco in the eyes, and then she looked away instantly, trying to hide her gaze.

"Damn, that is definitely not Krystal that girl looks like a bitch and Krystal never gave someone an angry look like that… Man she must be crazy when she's on her time of the month" he thought to himself as he walked back into his room, laughing at his comment in his head. He got into his king sized bed and fell asleep instantly as his head hit the pillow.