What showed up on the visor was frightening.  A humongous clam, the length of twice the Blue Marine and three times it's height.  It opened up to reveal two thick veiny strands like tonsils, and one huge green eye gazing at the intruder with a dangerous intent.  It slammed back shut with a force that pushed the sub away, but Fox stood his ground as Slippy said:
	"Enemy shield analyzed!"
The clam revealed three strange holes on its top, which spurted out creepy long-bodied beasts with faces like gasmasks.  They hurtled towards the sub but were soon dodged or blasted entirely.
	"Aim for the two columns!"
Peppy shouted with anxiety, sweating at how they would defeat this monster.  Fox kept busy with shooting the holes on top of the clam, one of them crippled beyond repair as it slinked off the side of the clam before it opened its maw.  The columns were now fresh for shooting, receiving a full assault onto them.  Even Falco got excited.
	"That's it, Fox!"
James kept watching, afraid to say anything for not really being in the crew as its column turned weak with Slippy squealing:
	"Fire a homing torpedo!"
It did the trick perfectly as one column was broken entirely before the clam shut once again and shot more strange long-bodied attackers.  It soon added to its attack several exploding pearl-shaped depth charges.  It opened once more after Fox destroyed all of its top holes, the next column his target as it was blasted in the same way.  The clam's top part was now fully detached and Fox shot at the centre with Peppy turning hot-blooded.
	"Go for the eyes!"
The clam wasn't done yet, with a balloon-like fleshy shield swelling to protect its main eye, but it was soon cut through immediately.  Each time it showed its eye, it was given a serious case of laser eye surgery with a torpedo, crippling it with every hit.  Every shield it remade, it would only be taken apart to be shot in the cornea once again.  Eventually, the pain was too much, and the creature made a guttural bubbling gurgle before it promptly exploded.

	"Yippee!" cried Slippy in joy as James hugged him in excitement.  "You did it!"
Afterwards Fox slowly made his way back to the Great Fox, his voice steady like a finely-honed blade.
	"We're preparing to dock.  Thanks, Slip.  Blue Marine came through."
	"Slippy's not such a screw-up after all," joked Peppy who nudged the frog on the shoulder, who replied not-so-jokingly:
	"Thanks a lot, Peppy!"
	"I'll take the sky anyday." was Falco's only contribution.
Slippy made his way back to the hangar with James following up behind to offer support.
	"Hey, they know you did good, you made the bloody thing after all."
	"I know, but sometimes I feel like a screw-up, I admit I'm not the best pilot, hell I AM the worst of the team at flying but they always come to me when they want their G-diffusers tuned up!"
	"Well Fox appreciated it at least, and as captain, his opinion matters the most right?"
	"....I guess...thanks."
	"Listen uhh...now that this Aquas is done, you think you can get me home at all?"
	"Weeeeelllll...."
The two kept wondering along the halls before Slippy reached a certain small corridor and backed out behind James before locking the place tight.  Doors on each side of the corridor closed suddenly.  Slippy made a comm signal to the bridge as James banged on the door.
	"Hey, what's going on!?"
	"I-i-i dunno, the doors just...stupid thing I can NEVER get this working!"
	"Uhm...you CAN get me out right?"
	"Yeah yeah I can, just hang on."
	"Hey whassup?"
Falco came alongside Slippy into James' view through the door's window, as Slippy explained best as he could.
	"This stupid corridor again's malfunctioning, remember last time?"
	"Ohhhh...hehehe yeah yeah, don't worry dino boy, we'll getcha out of there."
	"God....well what can I do then?!  Why is this corridor even like this!?"
	"Just hang tight, I think I can get it fixed, we have these security systems all over, now I just hope it doesn't-"
	"WARNING.  DECOMPRESSION IN CORRIDOR B-5.  REPEAT, DECOMPRESSION IN CORRIDOR B-5."
The lights around James started to flicker around him to red alert, as he started to feel the air suck away from the room.  The oxygen was even slowly sucked out from his lungs, as he choked and crumpled to the floor.

	"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?!?" screamed the raptor hoarsely.
	"I DUNNO," cried out Slippy in a panic.  "THE STUPID CORRIDOR'S GONE INTO LOCKDOWN, DON'T WORRY JAMES I CAN FIX IT!"
	"OH GOD I...I-I-I CAN'T BREATHE!"
	"JUST REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU, IF ALL ELSE FAILS!"
Not a good thing to hear but he tried vigorously to remember.  And then it hit him.  What perfect timing to have a near-death situation to use his technique.  He did his best to pray to be home, begging with the same near-death desperation he had twice before, the same fear for his life.
	"Please...t-t-take me home...please...I wanna go home...I wanna be home in Chicago..."
He murmured this to himself as he turned weaker, trying his best to keep wishing the most, hoping the nano-thingies would listen.
He felt it come again.  A strange blue spark. shimmering around him.  Falco gazed with surprise at the strange coldness that began to suck at James' body...and yet it would not hold.  No matter how hard he prayed to be home, it would not remain stable.  It was literally a small black hole appearing in the corridor, the frog and falcon gasping at it.
	"No...fucking way," was Falco's only words.
The air was gone from the room and yet the black hole did not hold.  It kept trying to take him in but somehow wouldn't recognise him, and it began to fade away again.  The tear in space merely closed up once more, leaving a barely conscious raptor starving of oxygen on the floor.
	"Why...didn't...work....HhhhaaAGHK!"
	"HOLD ON I ALMOST GOT IT!"
Slippy reconfigured the corridor panel and the air returned to the place, the raptor heaving in air hungrily, choking as it came back to his lungs fully.
	"Oh I'm so sorry James!  Quick we gotta take you to sickbay, Falco help me!"
Falco wordlessly carried the raptor to the medical bay, a little too stunned to make any sarcastic comments.  James, weakened from oxygen deprivation, kept coughing as his body started to breathe again properly when he laid down.
	"I...it wouldn't work Slippy."
	"What?"
	"The warping...it failed.  I dunno why.  It was exactly like before, but it wouldn't take me home..."
	"I'm sorry...I really wanted to help you get home...I didn't even wanna do that to you."
	"Do...what?"
	"I...made the corridor decompress."
At this, James grabbed the scruff of the frog's jacket and brought him close to his teeth-baring snout.
	"You WHAT!?!?  You could have fucking KILLED me, you little pondsucking cunt!"
	"I-i-i-i'm sorry, I'm sorry I wanted to help you home!"
	"By choking me to death!?!"
	"I told you before, the warp only worked with you in fear of your life, or at least in a state of mind that REALLY made you wanna be elsewhere!  And it worked didn't it?!"
	"If it worked, WHY AM I STILL ON YOUR FUCKING SPACESHIP!?"
	"I DON'T KNOW!"
Slippy began to well up with tears in his bulbous eyes, with James greatly resisting the urge to punch him in the stomach hard.  Instead, he opted to shove him across the room, the frog landing with a thud and a small whimper as James said:
	"Get out."
	"But James-"
	"I SAID GET OUT YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT!"
With tearful angry eyes Slippy fled the room as James punched the wall in frustration.  He was angry at Slippy for endangering him certainly, but he was also angry at himself for the one time he wanted to go home, in his mind of wanting to go home, and yet he couldn't.  That his warping had failed, if it could even be called that, something he still could not believe.  He let himself stain his face with tears of rage, murmuring angrily to himself.
	"I just want to go home..."

Sometime later, the door opened and he looked to see Fox walk in, his face as cool as ever.  He tried to be polite to the captain, even in his mood.
	"What do you want, captain?"
	"I was checking up on you, heard Slippy had a little experiment that didn't go to plan."
	"Your little friend nearly killed me, so pardon me if I'm a little pissed off."
	"I understand, I reprimanded Slippy and had his pay docked with a little lesson for endangering a civilian."
	"...thanks.  By the way...you're a hero you know that?"
	"Haha, what makes you think that?"
	"You took down that huge-ass alien ship at Katina, you rescued me from choking in space and you took care of that...thing in Aquas.  Makes me wish I could be like you."
	"Hey, everyone's got the potential to be a hero.  All it takes is the will to be one."
	"What gives you the will then?"
	"Me?"
Fox pondered as he sat down besides James, offering a friendly voice to soothe his passenger's mood.
	"Probably my father.  Started the original Starfox team with Peppy.  He was a hero to everyone, did so much for the Lylat system...then Pigma betrayed him."
	"Sorry to hear.  So...what about your mum?"
	"She died when I was real young."
	"Damn...I know the feeling too, I never knew either of my parents, they got killed in a riot."
	"You don't even remember them, James?"
	"Don't even know what they look like, or even what they did or even what they thought of me."
	"That's a real shame.  Well, that answers your question at least."
	"What's that?"
	"What gives me the will to be a hero.  My dad does, I feel his spirit guides me to keep the spirit of Starfox alive."
	"So...you ever considered what you'd do after this?"
	"What after?  This team's all I have.  I got nowhere else to be, I feel it's my destiny to keep this team and keep the Lylat system free of tyranny.  Until then, I'm never gonna stop living.  No matter what."
The way he spoke made James gaze upon him with even more awe.  A true hero, to be so selfless, giving his life entirely to the freedom of this star system.  Which only saddened him all the more, and in all honesty, made him envious.
	"I wish I could be like you..."
	"All you need to find is the will, James.  It can be anything that wants you to stop evil, from saving a lover to protecting a whole town.  Heroes always start out small, sometimes they stay small.  Even if you're only a hero to just one person, that makes you one."
	"Well...hmmm...that sounds good to me...thanks captain."
	"Just call me Fox.  Now, when you're feeling better, you and Slippy make up before we gotta head out to Zoness."
	"Another planet under attack?"
	"Well the invasion already happened sadly, now we gotta clean up the aftermath, the place is just a toxic sea now."
	"God...this Andross is seriously psychotic isn't he?"
	"You have no idea."
After a few minutes, James got up, following Fox to the bridge.  He had calmed down enough by the talk with the captain to talk with Slippy in better tones.

Soon the Great Fox reached the atmosphere of Zoness, a sickly-looking green planet, the sight of which made James ill at its appearance upon the monitor.
	"THAT'S Zoness?"
Fox nodded solemnly at the tragic fate that had fallen upon it.
	"Yep...used to be a paradise resort.  Everyone loved Zoness, it was the most beautiful planet in the Lylat System."
	"This is...just fucking awful."
	"And that's why we gotta stop Andross, I bet if he can't rule the Lylat system, he'll easily wanna destroy it."
	"How can you destroy an entire solar system!?"
	"Oh he can.  And he will."
Wondering what Andross even was, the team made their preparations, analysing the proper trajectory and the layout of the place.  According to Peppy, it was heavily guarded with a security system.  The raptor caught up with Slippy and said:
	"Slippy!  Uhm...I wanna say...sorry for what I said."
	"Oh...it's okay...I'm sorry too."
With the apology over and done with, James nudged his shoulder playfully.
	"Hey, knock 'em dead out there alright?"
	"Hehehe, I'll try!"
As the team began to prepare, James was tempted to ask one question.  He knew that it worked before, that it managed to create the same effect but sdespite the danger he was in it did not.  He asked again:
	"Slippy...do you know what went wrong with the experiment we did?"
	"Well..."
	"I know I did it right, it felt EXACTLY like the rest before but somehow I couldn't like...SEE my home in my head right."
	"Well...I noticed something kinda odd.  This kinda happened a few years back but there are ships that have their warp system locked with the navigation system, so you picked a place to go and BAM it took you there without any need to charge up.  They were more advanced but if you put in coordinates that didn't match, then the warp engines would kinda...well stutter and stop, weirdly a lot like yours did."

	"So...what does that mean?"
	"Uhh...it means you need the coordinates of your home planet to get back?"
	"...I'm not a fucking ship, why do I need coordinates, I have a BRAIN!"
	"I dunno, it's you!  I mean you must know about the Lylat system and that Zebes place before!"
	"I NEVER heard of Lylat or Zebes ever until I landed on them.  I dunno how I could possibly get to those without knowing about them!"
	"Well your brain's got a CPU board in it, it must have it all stored separately like an external hard drive, but not with your home coordinates."
	"...I wanna do it again."
	"What!?"
	"Just let me do it again, I won't blame you this time, I KNOW how it'll happen, and I know you'll get me out of it but just do it again, it HAS to work."
	"But how is it gonna work now when-"
	"Please!  Lemme try one more time!"
	"...okay.  If you REALLY wanna do it."
	"Thanks.  Just...gimme a chance."
They returned to the same corridor, for convenience's sake, and James was locked inside once again, this time with his permission as the warning came.  The decompression set in and as soon as James felt himself run out of oxygen, he prayed as hard as he can to go home.  The rest of the crew watched in on the experiment, curious of what would happen, though Falco turned impatient.
	"Come on already, we gotta get to Zoness!"
	"Shut up I'm trying to concentrate fuckhead!"
	"Oh I'm sorry, it's just that while you wanna go back to your happy li'l lizard village, we gotta save a freakin' planet but noooo!  We gotta wait for you the special passenger who wants to waste everybody's time to go crossing into other dimensions and whatever!  Sure sure let's just stop everything and take five, go and tell Andross-"
	"SHUT UP FALCO!"
Slippy's outburst surprised everyone, as James got distracted by Falco's talk.  Now all he could hear was that incessant thick sarcasm in his head, repeating the insult about his "little village" and crossing into other dimensions.  And then his mind did that strange linking up of words that he never really remembered happening before.
Villages, the idea of a happy perfect little community.  The oxygen sucked from his body more and more as he collapsed onto the ground, into a blue light that tore through a hole in the space around him, but more stronger now.
It began to suck him in, slowly but surely.  To the Starfox team, it looked like what would happen to a ship being sucked into a black hole, the raptor being stretched through it as he choked into unconsciousness and was soon no more.  Within a rushing whirling sound that strangely did not dare to consume anything else around it but the raptor, it soon disappeared, without a trace.  No more velociraptor.  No more black hole.
	"Wha...HE DID IT!"
Slippy squealed with excitement at the fervent hope that his temporary friend had returned home at last.  Fox and Peppy gave him a pat on the back as Fox said:
	"Well done Slip.  You did a real good service to him to get him back home."
	"Awwww it was nothing Fox, least I could do for helping me with the Blue Marine, unlike any of YOU jerks!"
	"Whatever," shrugged Falco as he headed to the Hangar.  "Now come on already!  I wanna get Zoness over and done with and wipe those punks off of it!"
And so the team headed onwards with their mission minus one passenger, one worry left entirely out of equation.

But James was still going to be very far away from home, and yet he would find his own slice of paradise to be ruined, somewhere else.