This story is fictional and for entertainment purposes only; no money hath changed hands in the production of these works.
The characters Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, Miyu Lynx, Fay Spaniel, Fara Phoenix, Bill Grey, Katt Monroe, Krystal, Amanda Toad, Lucy Hare, ROB64, Andross, Wolf O'Donnell, Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar, Andrew Oikanny and General Pepper are all copyright to Nintendo 1993-2023. Please support the ORIGINAL release of all games, comics, manga and related material to the Star Fox franchise.
Leonidas Cuttridge, Rob Cuttridge, Judy Cuttridge, Lawrence Lynx, Patricia Lynx and Sid Chalmer is copyright myself, Leo Cuttridge (Leo_cuttridge@proton.me).
The content written for this story arc will range from a PG rating all the way up to NC-17 and X-rating, therefore, this fanfic is recommended for adult reading only.
~Star Fox: Miyu's Love~
~Chapter 33: The Cornerian Grand Prix: A Tag-Team Effort – Panther vs Leo, Part 3~
Everyone stood by staring down the final straightaway silent and still to wait for Leo and Panther to finish the race. The silence was prevalent not only in the tents by the road, but also in the spectators stands nearby as well as in every household and business with a television throughout the Lylat system that was watching the event live. It was definitely causing an unsettling quietness throughout the universe as the seconds ticked by. As Leo entered the final tunnel, he was only a few car lengths ahead of Panther's Red Rose craft, the two vehicles about to begin a left turn to the final straight to the finish. Panther smiled toothily and panted with shaky breaths as his heart beat rapidly, his brow covered in sweat from the intense mental exhaustion this race put him through. But his mind was only on one thing in the end of it all... “Hehehehe I must admit, you are one fantastic driver and performer, bunny boy... but you are certainly no match for anyone from the mighty Star Wolf team... and I REFUSE to lose to someone in a loser grandma car in a race... so why don't we finish this race...” he thought to himself, his attention on the left side of Leo's rear bumper as he angled the nose of his craft down a little to come back up at just the right time, to put Leo into another tumble like before on the straightaway... but this time in the middle of the tunnel at high speed... “WITH YOUR OWN FIERY FUNERAL!!!” By the time he was in the right position to up-end Leo's car, Leo had already initiated a left turn drift into the side of the tunnel wall, effectively escaping Panther's attack in a split second. Panther's eyes then went wide as he suddenly saw himself going into the side of the tunnel wall at very high speed, screaming out in fright as he tried to counter his movement by banking sharp left and reducing his throttle by 30%... but his speed was too fast and his angle into the wall was too steep, feeling the right side of his craft colliding into the tunnel wall, damaging his wing, aileron and stabilizer severely, his eyes taking in the sight of the tunnel concrete scraping away the emblem of his Red Rose rapidly as he skidded in a counter-clockwise rotation inside the tunnel towards the exit. Leo had shot out of the tunnel exit at high speed in the middle of the road and continuing down towards the finish as Panther kept scraping along the inside of the tunnel. At the exit, Panther was upside down and rising a little in elevation, but by the time his craft continued to rotate counter-clockwise, he found himself losing altitude and going straight to the ground at a soft angle as red warnings and loud klaxon alarms sounded off in his cockpit. “Oh shit.... OH SHIT....” he muttered as he tried to maneuver his throttle and control stick to regain control to no avail.
“OOOOOHHHHHHHH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs as his reached down for the eject handle on the floor between his legs and yanked with all his strength, his cockpit then separating from his craft and shooting into the air with almost 10 Gs of force upwards as the craft righted itself upwards. Only a couple seconds later, Panther's beloved Wolfen X-Black Rose then crashed into the ground nose first, exploding into tens of thousands of pieces in a fiery explosion.
--The Star Fox tent--
Deep groans and gasps erupted from everyone at the sound and sight of the explosion that just took place, any thought of it possibly being Leo erased as they listened to the race coverage on the TV in the tent. “OMIGAWD PANTHER'S SHIP HAS CRASHED INTO THE GROUND! HE IS OUT!!!! LEO CUTTRIDGE IS THE WINNER!!!” Richard Drummond shouted into his mic on the broadcast. “Was Panther able to escape??? Did anyone notice? Let's look at the replay,” Jeremy Markinson questioned as the up-close video replayed in slow motion. “It appears so, he did eject just a second or two before his ship crashed and Leo is speeding out towards the finish right now!” James Clay responded, the footage unmistakably replaying the incident to dispel any doubt. Everyone in the Star Fox tent shouted and jumped about happily in groups of hugging participants, notably Krystal and Miyu as they laughed and cried happily at the news, the rest of the crew all joining them in equal excitement.
* ~ *
Leo looked into his rear view side mirror and saw the explosion of Panther's craft along with the jet trail of his escape pod shooting straight up into the sky, giving a sigh of relief that he escaped the disaster. He never approved of Panther personally, but he definitely never wished harm or even death upon him. He knew that racing had its risks and had taken lives in the past, and no one ever deserved that for any reason in his mind. He then suddenly tasted the sensation of a metallic taste in his mouth... his heart jumping a little at that, his right hand suddenly raising to flip the plexiglass visor on his helmet and slipped his fingertips into his maw... and when he brought them back out, he saw the fingertips of his driving gloves were covered in blood. The rubbed his tongue around in his maw quickly... not sensing anything wrong... then against his upper lip... then he winced at a sudden sharp pain in his inner lower lip, not aware he bit it at some time in the race... probably when Panther had flipped him the first time to keep himself from passing out from the surge of adrenaline and the shock of a near-death experience. His right hand then fumbled to reconnect the A/V link to his helmet...
--the Star Fox tent--
“Leo to pit, come back...” Everyone's celebration in the tent was suddenly interrupted by Leo's voice returning on the comlink, Peppy going to his handset quickly and replying. “Hey there Leo, congrats on your win!” he said. “....I need medical...” Leo responded with deep slow shaky breaths, everyone suddenly standing still in worry again. The radio showed his audio link was working okay but an error in hardware was showing a problem in the video feed, the monitor giving a “video link error” message. “...I must've... bit my lip to stay conscious after Panther flipped me...” “No problem, son... just pull straight into the pit and we'll have Amanda look at you,” Peppy said clearly. “Got it. Leo out,” Leo responded. Falco then went to the front of the tent area and grabbed a megaphone and pulled the button to play a loud shrieking siren to grab everyone's attention nearby. “Everyone who is NOT INVOLVED with the team, please MOVE AWAY from the entrance to the pit, our driver is in need of immediate medical attention. Thank you!” It was only a few seconds after that Leo slowly pulled into the pit into the tent, the entrance soon being covered by tarps by Fay and Katt to keep onlookers from seeing anything. Inside, Leo parked his Speedwell and opened the door, stepped out and shakily walked over to the med room in the tent to have Amanda look at him, his steps shaky and twitchy from all the excitement of that race. Once he got into a private room within the tent, he sat down in a chair, Miyu and Krystal at his sides with several others joining in behind Amanda, including Wolf, as she pulled his helmet off his head softly. A brief shriek came from Fay as he looked up, everyone suddenly looking at him with wide eyes and a bit of fright. “Wh-...what?” Leo asked in confusion as he noticed everyone was looking at him. “Leo, is your vision blurry or distorted at all and are your eyes in any pain...?” Amanda suddenly asked as she suddenly began looking into his eyes one by one, her hands at either side of his head, soon grabbing a flashlight to shine into his eyes to check that his pupils could still dilate to light reaction, and they were. “Uhh... no and no...?” he said in confusion. Everyone then gave a sigh of relief. “Okay... not to worry... you suffered some subconjunctival hemorrhages in both of your eyes,” Amanda said softly. “...subconvict jujubee wut?” Leo said. Some chuckles came from around him from that comment as Amanda opened his maw to take a look inside his mouth at his lower lip. “Hehehe... subconjunctival hemorrhages... in other words, your blood pressure got high enough you suffered some burst blood vessels in the sclera of your eyes, so the whites of your eyes are now a deep red. Thankfully 98% of the time if there is no pain or distortion or blurriness of your vision, they will heal by themselves in a day or two,” Amanda explained, grabbing a tube of sealing gel to apply to his inner lip. “Oof... some of your gums are bleeding as well... just hold still for a few minutes and we'll get this bleeding to stop and you're good as gold,” Amanda said. “Well... mostly...” Wolf said, leaning in to take his gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses off the bridge of his muzzle and placed them on Leo's face. “NOW he will be,” he said, smiling and giving Leo a wink with his only eye. Amanda opened Leo's mouth and applied some sealing gel to the inside of his lower lip to suture the wound closed in just a few minutes, Krystal getting up and putting a cold pack over the back of Leo's neck to cool his carotid arteries to help him lower his blood pressure and relax for a short time. Miyu hugged him from his right side and nuzzled his shoulder as he sat down and was tended to. Once Amanda finished sealing Leo's inner lip, she began to gently wash the blood off the end of his white-furred muzzle with alcohol. Outside, Peppy stepped out to the crowd, his attention grabbed by James Clay while he was standing outside the tent. “Admiral Hare, if you would please? Can we get an update on Leo?” Clay asked. “Certainly, sir! He's doing fine, he just bit the inside of his lip when Panther flipped him, nothing major. Our medic Amanda Toad is tending to his wounds right now and he should be out in a few minutes, I think,” Peppy replied. “Marvelous, Admiral. Many thanks for the update and we are glad to hear he is okay,” Clay replied. “Not a problem! Stay tuned, friends,” Peppy said to the camera with a smile before turning back into the tent. Inside, Slippy, Bill and Falco were placing very large fans over the front of Leo's Speedwell to help evacuate heat from the engines as quickly as possible. Only a few more minutes of cleaning off Leo's muzzle of his blood went by before he was ready and presentable to come out of the tent. “Okay, you look good, Leo,” Amanda said. “Just try not to smile with your teeth too much because your gums are still bleeding a little.” He nodded and then got up with Miyu and Krystal's help and proceeded to walk to the tent opening. Once he did, he was met with James Clay and several other news and sportscast reporters outside the tent waiting for him, Leo smiling and giving a wave to everybody. “Leo, congratulations on your win, my friend,” Clay began, reaching to shake Leo's hand happily. “That was quite a tense and exciting race you were in there.” “It definitely was that, Clay. Lots of speed, lots of scary parts... it was one of the scariest things I've ever done in my life which I will always remember.” “As will we, Captain Cuttridge, that was a truly incredible and impressive performance,” Clay responded with a smile. “It was. Thank you and Markinson and Drummond for being here to witness and broadcast it on your program as well as everybody on my team who helped get this car going a short time ago to make it happen, and my many thanks to all my fans home and abroad for watching this event. Everyone is all so marvelous,” Leo said with a gentle smile, being cautious not to show his teeth aside from his buckteeth. It was then a shadow went over them, everyone's attention being brought to the sky to see Panther's escape pod softly touch down on the ground about a hundred feet off to the side of the Star Fox tent. Wolf and Leon along with James Clay ran over as the canopy opened and Panther shakily got out, his body still pumping adrenaline from his own near-death experience. Leo's heart began to pump harder and faster at the sight, his fist clenching softly at his side as he began to walk over towards the Star Wolf team. Everyone in Star Fox gasped at the sight, thinking Leo was going to begin throwing punches at Panther, even Clay taking notice of it as he continued his broadcast, the camera suddenly panning on Leo as he approached in a huff, his hands working to hurriedly take off his gloves and throwing them to the ground. “Oh and here comes Leo Cuttridge to umm... chaps, I'm not sure what he's going to—” “I wouldn't get in his way, Clay,” Markinson said from the studio. “Yeah, he looks quite angry right now,” Drummond followed. A soft sensation of gasps from the crowds around them sounded as they too were suddenly watching, everyone in the Lylat watching the event on their TVs suddenly attracted to the event, Miyu and Krystal grimacing, their hearts suddenly racing, thinking Leo was going to start throwing and landing fists at Panther on live TV, resulting in assault charges and possible jail time. Panther looked up over at Leo as he approached him, gasping and starting to freak out in fright as he backed up. “EEP! P-please! Sir, I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me, aaaaHHHHH!” he begged as he suddenly felt himself backing up against the hull of his escape pod, suddenly finding no place to go to escape Leo as he raised his right arm, growled out and threw it right at Panther's face. Panther turned his head to one side and clenched his eyes shut and started to wail like a frightened baby for a few seconds... only to realize Leo did NOT hit him... his eyes then slowly opened and turned his face slowly and shakily back to face Leo... and found himself looking right into his fist an inch away from his face, the short distance apparent on the camera footage being broadcast all throughout the Lylat, proving without a doubt no physical contact was made. “P-please... d-dooon't...” Panther whimpered as Leo slowly lowered his fist, then got face-to-face with him... then quickly removed Wolf's sunglasses to reveal his blood-red eyes, letting out a soft feral lapine growl and gritting his blood-stained teeth, the sight making Panther howl and wail out in absolute fright and terror, thinking he brought out the devil in Leo from what he did, making his feline body shake and shiver all over, his knees bending making him lower down onto the ground, Leo keeping his close distance as tears flowed from Panther's eyes and down his face. What followed next that went out on camera was the unmistakable sound of defecation and urination, everyone witnessing the event standing and sitting still and beginning to giggle and snicker as Leo remained there for another few seconds. “...is... that... the sound of... what I think it is?” Drummond whispered into his mic from the studio, trying his best to stifle giggling. “I think it is!” Markinson said quietly through a chuckle. Leo then finally grinned and spoke just loud enough for Panther to hear. “Go clean yourself up... AFTER... you get out of that soiled racing suit... okay?” Panther continued to shiver and whimper in fright, tears flowing own his face as he nodded rapidly. “Y-y-yessir!” Leo then grinned and blew a quick wisp of air into Panther's face, making the frightened feline jump a bit, freeze in place... and then suddenly faint and fall onto his side, the camera suddenly panning onto the seat of Panther's white racing suit being yellow in the front and brown in the back. A huge eruption of laughter sounded all over the compound and indeed all over Lylat at this development, Panther instantly becoming a huge embarrassing shame to himself all over the world. Leo smiled and then put Wolf's sunglasses back on before he turned around and smiled all the way back to the Star Fox tent. Fox was the first to welcome back Leo to the tent, Wolf following close behind and quickly moving to stand by Fox's side. “Fox... this is one helluva fighter you have here,” Wolf said to Fox softly with a smile. “We're all quite proud of him and his performance,” Fox replied while looking at Wolf with a smile, the two of them not remembering the last time they stood together and didn't want to punch or kill one another. “McCloud... I need to you to do me another favor, please,” Wolf said to him. “What's that, Wolf?” Fox asked, curiously. “Get this man into Star Fox. It's where he belongs,” Wolf said. “If he were a polar opposite of what he is now and times and circumstances were different, I'd snatch him up for Star Wolf as soon as I could, but... YOU sir, have the advantage this time... and I want you to seize the opportunity.” “Talk has been going around recently about doing so for him,” Fox said. “Nono... no talk... just do it. I'm confident he will be your greatest asset for years to come. What say you, young man?” Wolf asked, both he and Fox suddenly looking at Leo. “I umm... well, like Fox said, we have briefly spoken about it... and despite my dislike of flying, I think... I could get into it...” Leo replied, blushing at the fact he was getting such positive and worldly praise from Wolf O'Donnell, one who was one of the Star Fox's biggest enemies for many years. “Well... I will give you the same advice I gave to someone who for many years I saw as my enemy...” he started, patting Fox's shoulder like a brother... “...but now see and hope he can see me as my friend and ally... Don't hesitate... when the time comes...” Fox smiled and nodded, joining in with Wolf as they looked at Leo confidently... “...just act.” Leo smiled, feeling he was before a pair of some of the brightest and toughest minds in the Lylat, his arms suddenly reaching out to hug them close to him. “Thank you both for being here for me today,” he said. “With pleasure, guy,” Wolf began. “I am happily your new biggest fan. Anyways, I gotta send a cat to his litter box.” “Oh wait, here...” Leo began, starting to remove Wolf's sunglasses, but Wolf softly stopped him and shook his head with a grin. “Keep em, Captain. You've earned 'em,” he said softly. With that, Wolf gave a brotherly hug to Leo for several seconds, smiled and then turned to go with Leon to collect Panther and reprimand him for his actions. Leo sighed with a smile, still finding a lot of what he was going thru unbelievable and incredible, still finding it a pleasant surprise at how much fortune and luck he must have with him. It was then as he looked around at all the spectators and reporters commentating on the results of the race as the sun set on the horizon, the sky filling with beautiful golds, purples and blues in his moment of victory. And out of nowhere, he noticed someone that looked very much like Fox standing by himself, but with a green vest in his uniform instead of red, wearing aviator sunglasses as well as he stood and looked right at Leo with a smile. He then raised his right hand slowly to give Leo a thumbs up, to which Leo grinned and nodded with a thumbs up in return. And then the man suddenly gave a proper salute to Leo, which Leo proudly returned to him. Leo turned around and was joined by Krystal and Miyu, the girls hugging him from the sides happily and resting their heads on his shoulder. It then suddenly occurred that Fox was just standing in front of him with Wolf, not off to a distance like the other man was... he then turned his head to look back where he saw the man... and he was gone. He waved his eyes back and forth over the grounds near the tent to see if he could see the mysterious man, but he was nowhere to be found. He softly shrugged it off and wrapped his arms around Krystal and Miyu happily, bunny purring softly. “Feel like... celebrating tonight, mister bunny?” Miyu said sweetly, her hand moving to rub over his bubbly butt. He giggled as he held onto Krystal and Miyu, his spade shaped tail wagging softly and happily. “I wanna... but honestly... I feel like gorging on food for dinner and then going straight to sleep... I feel soooo exhausted,” he said softly. “Aaaawwww that's understandable,” Krystal said, kissing his cheek sweetly. “You put up one helluva fight out there. I can sense you're physically and mentally exhausted right now.” He smiled and nodded slowly. “I am sooooo tired right now... gonna need you two to help drag me onto the ship and get me into bed after dinner, methinks.” Miyu and Krystal giggled and softly squeeze hugged their bunny softly, then Sid Chalmer came up to see them all. “Hey there young man, congrats on your win!” “Thanks Uncle Sid,” Leo said wearily, still holding onto his lovely ladies. “And you bring the rest of the team to my tent in the next 30 minutes, because you all won a free steak with all the trimmings!” Sid proudly announced, everyone on Star Fox giving applause and cheers at the wonderful news. He looked over to the side and noticed Bill and Slippy had turned off the huge fans in front of his Speedwell and shut the hood after the engine had cooled down a good amount. He then walked over to it and knelt down in front of it, taking in the damage that was taken when he was pushing Panther in rage. Overall, it looked like a majority of the damage was to the front plastic bumper cover and a few dings and scratches over the front center portion of the hood, and the plastic “chrome” grille escaped untouched, the Speedwell mayflower emblem within it undamaged and still beautiful. Krystal and Miyu sat down with him as he grabbed a rag and rubbed some of the marks off the paint, only a tiny bit of it being able to be removed, but Leo was still smiling. “It never gave up on you and it kept you safe,” Miyu suggested with a smile. “I could sense it's aura and yours fusing in powerful harmony at the end, Leo,” Krystal added. Leo smiled and nodded. “This is my... best creation ever.” He then leaned in to kiss the mayflower emblem before spreading his arms out to hug the front end of the car as much as he could, Krystal and Miyu smiling and hugging him from the sides sweetly. “Reminds me of the time I melded with my Interceptor the first time... I felt it was a part of me I could not give up for the rest of my life,” Miyu said softly. “It was the same for me the very first time I flew my Cloudrunner,” Krystal said. They remained there for a few minutes before Leo slowly got up, smiling with tears of joy streaking down his cheeks before slowly standing up. Slippy walked by as they prepared to leave, Krystal breaking for a moment as she took notice of a small drip of what appeared to be water falling from either side of the headlights onto the ground. Slippy took notice of Krystal's gaze and looked down at what she was looking at. “Oh, that's just condensation from the air conditioning condenser. With the heat and humidity in the air tonight, it's totally normal,” Slippy said. Krystal couldn't help but smile and nod at Slippy, but to her, it was like the car's spirit was crying tears of joy too. Slippy walked off with Miyu and Leo and the rest, Krystal getting down to kiss the emblem of the car softly, and whispered with a smile. “Thank you... for keeping him safe.” The evening went by having a delicious steak, baked potato, cornbread and salad dinner at Sid's tent. Falco saw to it to bring several bottles of chilled champagne to celebrate their win in the tag-team race. Even Wolf and Leon came by to share in their festivities, Star Fox celebrating Star Wolf's second place finish at the same time. Boozy drinks were had by many, but mainly all Leo was consuming was flavored water with electrolytes. He was able to completely consume his big steak dinner, albeit slowly, but he had a wonderful meal that was adding on to the tiredness quickly, making him softly begin to tilt his head to one side or another on Krystal's or Miyu's shoulder as they sat on either side of him. Miyu smiled and whimpered adorably as she noticed after a few attempts. “Aww... guys, I need to put our bunny here to bed,” she said softly. “Yeah, he is totally exhausted,” Krystal said, getting up from her seat with Miyu following closely, helping Leo to his feet slowly. “Mmmm... sleeeeeepyyyy...” Leo muttered, barely able to hold his eyes open. “Hehehe Yeah, we'll meet you guys tomorrow afternoon at the awards ceremony,” Fox said with a smile. Miyu then wrapped an arm around Leo's shoulders. “Hang onto me, sweetie,” she said softly and adorably. He then smiled and wrapped his arms around her shoulder and neck as she lowered her other arm under his knees and slowly lifted him up off his feet, she and Krystal walking off to the Great Fox with Leo in Miyu's arms. The sun was setting in a gorgeous display of dark and golden colors as they stepped onto the loading ramp and into the ship, the girls walking slowly towards Miyu's cabin and then setting Leo softly down onto the bed. By this time, he was almost asleep, helping him out of his racing suit while helping his continue to stand. Miyu then gently guided him back to sit on the edge of the bed, taking little time to fall back with his head on the pillow, smiling and wriggling about softly on the bed as soft and quiet bunny purrs emitted from his maw as he reached out to the edge of the bed, mumbling softly. “Mmm... need... my... giiiiirls...” Miyu and Krystal giggled quietly and quickly stripped down to underwear before joining Leo in bed for the night. Krystal climbed over to the side of the bed up against the wall, Leo's arm softly wrapping around her as she lay down while Miyu crawled into bed on Leo's other side, his other arm wrapping around his lovely lynxy, his paws going for their butts to give them a soft rub, Miyu and Krystal smiling and gently pressing their breasts into the sides of his face, their perfumes a pleasant scent in his sinuses as he smiled wide and let out an adorable and happy sigh of contentment. Miyu leaned down to kiss the top of Leo's head sweetly as she scritched under his muzzle a little. “We're right here, sweetie,” Miyu said softly and quietly. Krystal smiled and kissed the top of Leo's head soon after Miyu. “That's right, bunny has his lovely girls now,” she said as Leo soon went limp and began to softly snooze in sleep, holding his lovely two women in his arms. They then looked up into each other's eyes and softly kissed each other on the lips for several seconds. And yoooou did so wonderful out there today too,” Krystal said quietly. “That was sooooo much fun,” she whispered with a smile. “And I wouldn't have bothered to do it... without our cutie bun.” “Me neither! He is soooo inspirational,” Krystal said proudly and quietly. Miyu smiled and nodded softly, soon following up with a wide kitty yawn. “Erf... we should get some sleep too,” Miyu said softly, resting her head on a thick elevated pillow she loved to rest on while holding Leo close to her, the pillow being wide enough to accommodate Krystal as well in their position, holding their breasts at each side of his head as he slept. “We should...” she said, softly leaning in to kiss Miyu on the lips again. “Nini sweetie kitty.” “Nini, lovely vixy,” Miyu said, the girls closing their eyes to join Leo in his deep sleep of relaxation and recuperation, all of them feeling very confident and victorious.
The race is now finally at a close and thus ends the second story arc. Now the team can go back to their daily grind in postwar Corneria. New successes mean new opportunities, after all~
If you like my writing, please fave, watch and comment and watch out weekly for new chapters~!
These stories have been largely influenced by my lifelong love for the Star Fox video game released in March 1993 as well as the Nintendo Power comic released in the February to December 1993 issues of the magazine as well as the development of the fan comic Star Fox: Alternative Training Methods by ladydino on FurAffinity. You can read her fan comic here: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/ladydino/folder/116...
