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The Lylat Wars: XXX

Chapter 2

Sponsored by GlynWolf

By Draconicon

Falco's gang, as well as all the other bystanders in and around the Rodder, had gathered on either side of the street. The two Arwing husks, dragged out of the landing pad around back, hummed behind the starting line. Outside of the idle rolls to one side or the other, they were neck and neck with each other, and the two pilots grinned at one another.

Fox rolled his neck around his shoulders, one hand on the stick and the other hovering over the thruster. His fingers drummed away on both, his breath coming in short, sweet puffs as the brave female with the flag stood just ahead of the line. The white banner went up, and he forced himself to keep breathing.

You got this. You got this. One lap around downtown, avoid the sweepers and the cops, and come right back here. That's all you gotta do...

And if he won, then he'd have that call off-planet to see what the hell was going on with his dad. That was worth everything.

Another glance out the corner of his eye. Falco didn't return it. The falcon had his eyes glued to the flag, leaning forward ever so slightly in his seat. Mistake, Fox knew; that sort of lean was a guaranteed back-blaster when the engine went off, and he chuckled as he looked back at the wolf with the flag.

It dropped.

He punched the thruster, and off they went. He was a nose ahead of Falco, and he could just imagine the grunt of pain in the other cockpit as they soared upward. They went from zero to a hundred miles per hour in a second, and then faster, faster, faster still, as fast as the engines could push them. The g-diffusers were barely working, just enough to keep them from passing out, and even in the right position, Fox could feel his blood draining out of his head and into his legs.

Not enough to knock him out, though. He was going to be okay.

The first turn was on them in less than ten seconds. He whipped the stick to the left and down, cutting under Falco and taking a slightly longer lead. The bird was right on his tail, and the radio crackled.

"Heh, not a bad start, Fox."

"I know what I'm doing."

"You say that. Wait til we get to Industrial."

He smiled despite himself. That was what he was looking forward to.

The traffic in downtown got a show that night. The two ships were barely more than frames, the cockpits contained by solder and fused metal that was already doing its best to rattle apart. As powerful as the engines were, it was a miracle that the frames were holding together without reinforcement.

Fox put that out of his head. This was what he was meant for: flying at top speed, roaring through the air. He felt...right.

Another turn, then a rapid flick up and over a skybridge. Falco ducked under it, pulling even again, and then they were out of the streets and over Industrial, where the factories of Corneria City burned day and night. The no-fly zone was only a few hundred meters over the factories, which forced him and Falco to fly low. Lower than was entirely safe, considering that the fumes of smoke made it almost impossible to see as they flitted around.

SCREECH!

Fox bit off a grunt as he felt the bottom of his ship hit one of the chimneys. A flick of the stick and some diversion of engine power ensured that he didn't spin out, but he lost twenty feet of height and almost ploughed through one of the storage towers. Falco laughed on the other end.

"Told ya."

"Hey, didn't crash yet."

"Nope, but I'm in the lead now. Better have something good for me on the other end."

"Course ain't over yet."

Gunning the engine once more, Fox put the Arwing through its paces. He knew this ship, knew it better than anything that the Academy used. His father had taught him everything about it, and he knew exactly how to push it, no matter how rotten it had become. A little nudge, a little twist -

"Ha ha!"

Fox laughed as he spun through a narrow gap that Falco had no choice but to avoid, the bird sweeping around the side of the burning towers while he shot right through. He had the lead again, but only barely; they were coming to the end of Industrial, and what came next would be even harder.

Particularly with the cops right behind them.

"It's a maze for the next stretch, then a turn to the right and a straightaway," Falco said over the radio. "Lose the cops. First one back to the Rodder wins. You got that, Fox?"

"Better than you do."

"See you on the other side!"

They split at the end of Industrial, Falco taking the left and Fox the right. They were flying between the skyscrapers now, and no matter how good they were, that meant pulling back on the throttle. There were too many, too tight for either of them to keep it to full speed.

It was like the simulator again. Fox could feel the engine rumbling under him, the Arwing struggling to keep up with the sheer rumble of the boosters at the back. The cops were in slower but more stable aircraft, and he could see two of them coming up behind him. There was something coming over the radio, asking for him to stop and prepare his identification.

He just laughed and pushed it harder.

Pepper would kill me for this. Bill, too.

But that didn't matter. In that moment, he felt nothing but the sheer exhilaration of being in the air. The officers would never understand, and neither would the 'real' military. It wasn't about protecting others, or about pushing himself to his limits to be better. It wasn't about grades, or getting money. It wasn't even about the status that would come from making it through the Academy.

It was about being in the air. It was about leaving the world behind, and flying.

Left, left, right, left, right - he had to react faster than he could think. No chance to plan a route, no opportunity to find shortcuts. He had to just take it as fast as he could, and the more obstacles that he could throw in the way of the cops chasing him, the better. The fastest route would be to clear the skyscrapers completely and fly in the open air, but that would give them a clear shot after him.

No. Faster. Deeper.

Fox threw the Arwing into a dive, falling almost down to street level. More turns down there, more options to fuck up, but far harder for the cops to follow. They had to descend as well, and every time that he hit a longer, straight street, he used it to his fullest advantage, gunning the engine.

He managed to lose one of them, but the other was more dogged in its pursuit. He could see the blue-white speeder barely keeping pace, pushing itself to its limits.

Heh...I told Bill that these things could handle it... He rested his hand on the thruster controls. Let's see if I'm right...

With a grunt, Fox engaged the counter-thrusters, braking completely. The sudden reversal of all his momentum made the police speeder shoot right past him. Fox coasted to one side, rolling on his own forward movement, and -

Work, work, work...

The engine screamed as he jammed the thruster forward again. His rear was inches from the street when the blast of purple fire launched in forward again, and the scream of pure satisfaction that echoed through the cockpit nearly deafened him.

"HAHAHAHA! You were right, Slippy! Suck it, Bill!"

He burst out of the streets onto the straightaway, and almost a full second later, Falco did the same thing. Fox almost lost it imagining the bird's face as he roared ahead of the other pilot, shooting down the street back to the Rodder. He was almost there when -

Beep-beep-beep.

"Oh, come on..."

He looked down at the controls. The fuel line had burst in that last maneuver. All the pressure that he'd put the engines under had finally broken the frame at certain key points. Worse than that, the emergency restart had consumed most of the fuel he had. There was almost nothing left.

"No, no, no..."

Falco was catching up as the engines started dying. He desperately jammed the thruster forward, but there was not enough fuel for another fast burn.

...This is a bad idea...

But it was the only chance to win. Fox thrust the stick forward, going into a controlled dive. It gave him some of his speed back, but that was only part of the solution. He kept pushing it forward, judging the distance between him and the Rodder. Some class on the whole power of acceleration and how long it took for a ship to stop once it hit the ground came back to him, and he only hoped that he was remembering the numbers right.

A little here...down...up...down, down...a little up...

Three hundred meters from the Rodder, he finally let the ship hit the ground. The belly tapped, bounced, and then slid.

The screech of metal on concrete was so loud that he could hear nothing else. No alarm in the ship could match that scream for volume, and despite knowing what he was doing, he screamed with it. He fought the ship the whole way, making it stay flat on its belly as the last of the fuel burned out, and rode it right over the finish line.

He didn't even know if he'd won; all his attention had been on the ship itself and keeping it from flipping over and killing him. There'd been just barely enough fuel to fire the other thrusters to keep him pinned to the ground instead of bouncing head over heels. When the ship finally came to a full stop, he let go of the stick and took a breath.

His arms were shaking. His eyes were watery. Everything hurt.

But he was still alive.

Someone slammed a fist on the cockpit. Fox whipped his head back and saw Katt ready to thump on the glass again, and popped it open. She leaned back, shaking her head as she crossed her arms.

"Falco's going to be pissed," she said.

"Why? Because I wrecked his ship?"

"Nope. Because you won."

"...Course I did."

"Heh, I'll keep him distracted while you get the shakes under control."

She kissed his cheek before hopping down from the wreckage, and Fox just slumped back into his seat. Everything really hurt from all the g-forces finally catching up with him, but he still smiled. Hell, he grinned like a goddamn idiot. It worked. That maneuver had fucking worked.

And if he'd had a real Arwing instead of the husk of one, something that could keep the fuel line intact rather than just -

What if you'd crashed with full fuel?

The idea of going down in a fireball like that was...rather intimidating, he had to admit, but that wasn't what would have happened. He knew the Arwings, and even Slippy would have backed him on this.

Where is that frog?

Didn't matter. He was the winner. He'd get that call.

Letting the last of his slightly manic chuckles out, he slowly got his shakes under control and hopped out of the cockpit. Popping the collar of his jacket, he walked around the ship to find Falco with one hand in his pocket and the other rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't know if I can call it a win when you wrecked my fucking shit," Falco muttered.

"We didn't have that kind of agreement, man. First one over the finish line, remember?"

"Should have flown over it, but...damn."

"I get that call. When?"

"Tomorrow. No way that I'm arranging that before then. But...tomorrow for sure. Around noon?"

"Later; classes."

"Schoolboy."

"Schoolboy that just beat your ass," Fox said, chuckling. "But tomorrow night. I'll be there. You just have that line ready."

"Hey, I said I would, Fox. You just make sure that you're there. These sorts of things don't come cheap, you know, and I can't keep that open forever."

"I'll be there. Trust me. I'll be there."

"Now, boys..."

Katt stepped between them, and the leather-clad woman was just as appealing up-close as she had been further off. She had an arm around each of their necks, pulling them in close and almost smothering them against her breasts in the process.

"Let's not talk about that anymore. What do you say that we go upstairs and we have some fun? I might even let Fox have my ass, now that he's shown who the better pilot is."

"The hell you -"

"Fun as that would be, heh."

Fox ducked under Katt's arm, shaking his head as he pulled back a few paces. Even that was enough to make him feel the adrenaline crash. A little bit of sex might be possible, if he was one of the more passive people in the room, but if there was anyone that would let that happen, it wouldn't be those two. He chuckled, hiding the sudden chills and shivers running up and down his spine as he locked his knees to stay upright.

"I'm going to head back to the Academy. Can't get caught out for too long these days, and you never know. Those cops might come 'round."

"...That's a fair point," Falco said. "You did leave a hell of a trail, Fox."

"Your fault for choosing wrecked hulks."

"Yeah, well...okay, fine, that's fair."

"See you tomorrow, man."

He turned around. The crowd had mostly dispersed, but he could still make out Slippy among them. The frog had gotten the attention of a bigger feline, a panther, and was about to head back into the club. They shared a quick look, Slippy looking completely embarrassed until Fox gave him a thumbs-up.

Have fun, man.

He wished he could.

#

He reached the Academy half an hour later, taking a taxi to get there and burning a decent chunk of change to do it. Late-night rides around Corneria City were not cheap, and the cabbies always seemed to know when someone was desperate and needed one more than usual. The bastard bird in the front seat had sure looked like he'd 'fixed' the meter during the ride, but without proof, Fox just had to pay the fare.

Once he was back on Academy grounds, he made his way to the dorms. He walked past his own door and made his way to Bill's, down near the far end. It was late, and he was just about sure that Bill had started drinking without him, but at the very least, he could start catching up.

Rapping out a familiar code, he waited for the soft beep of the bulldog unlocking the door. Soon as he heard it, he pulled the door open -

"Whoa."

Bill had started drinking, alright. The bulldog was down to his boxers, his cock half-exposed through one leg that had pulled up a little, and three bottles were already on the ground. He didn't look like he was in a particularly happy state, either, considering the way that he was slumped against his couch, nothing quite moving right.

"Bill?" Fox said. "You okay?"

"Heh. No."

"Yeah, didn't think so."

Well, that wasn't really fair. Getting that kind of cock-shot from someone that was pretty damn straight was...definitely at odds with the depression in the air. Fox leaned down, picking up the discarded bottles and putting them on the small table in front of the couch. The bed wasn't far off, so that meant that Bill had been hoping he'd still come around rather than giving up and calling it a night. That was something.

He grabbed one of the still-full bottles, cracking it open and taking a sniff. Not great, but it wasn't as bad as some of the brews that they'd shared. He took a sip.

"Been flying?" Bill asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"That was you they were talking about on the police scanners, wasn't it?"

"Heh...probably."

"Goddammit..."

"What, envious?"

"You know what? Yeah, kinda."

First time that he'd heard that, but he wasn't entirely surprised. The McCloud name had been the bone of contention with most of the other students, but with Bill, it was always going to be something different. The man was the only other great pilot in the Academy, and he was having to sink most of his attention and effort into the book-work.

Grades.

Politics.

History.

Management.

"Wish I'd gone with you," Bill muttered, leaning forward. "Ain't flown a real ship in months."

"It's something else."

"I shoulda gone with you."

"Nah. Not if you want to be an officer," Fox admitted, shaking his head. "I just...don't care."

"Then why are you here?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you here if you don't want to be an officer? Because you sure as hell don't want to be a soldier," Bill said, his head leaning over the back of the couch. "All that shit won't fly when you have someone up top telling you what to do. Doesn't matter if you're a wizard at the stick. You pull too much shit, they'll send you back, ground you for life. So, why the hell you here?"

"...Never had someone ask me that way."

"Well, maybe it's time you start thinking, because all this bullshit won't fly forever. Hell...mighta gone with you if it wasn't for..."

They'd had enough nights drinking that Fox knew what the unsaid bit was. The family Bill had on Katina, the people that he cared about, the general sense of comradery that was there that he didn't have at the Academy: other than the flight sims and the few friends he'd made, that was all he cared about. And officers could pick their postings. Soldiers couldn't.

Fox looked down at the bottle of beer in his hand, debating taking a drink before shaking his head and putting it back down. What with him barely holding back the adrenaline crash, the last thing that he needed was booze in his system.

Instead, he reached over and gave Bill a one-armed hug. The bulldog used his greater size to pull Fox closer still, and soon, the vulpine pilot was on his lap. And that dick wasn't just laying against the dog's thigh anymore.

"Hey, Bill, heh. Gotta be careful there."

"I know. Ain't nothing."

"Pretty sure that dick's big enough to be more than 'nothing.'"

"Mmmph...how'd you know about that?"

"It's hanging out in the open...and not so much hanging anymore."

"..."

"Unless you got something to tell me?"

"...Just...you're a good man, Fox...It's a...a dog thing."

They stayed there for a moment, Fox's cock starting to twitch idly in his jeans as Bill's dick throbbed just under his tail. A little logistical planning had already started, figuring out if that was something that he could actually take without being in trouble the next day, when Bill grunted and shook his head.

"Mmph...sorry, man. Not...what I meant to do."

Drunk boner, then. A damn pity, but probably for the best. They hugged, and Fox shimmied off the canine's crotch. That hard-on remained, the briefs pulled up by it rather than pinning it down, and he'd guess at least ten inches stood out from the big dog's crotch. A pretty hefty shaft, all things considered.

He almost reached out for it before stopping himself. Instead, he got to his feet and grabbed his bottle and the three empties.

"Probably better idea to head off for the night."

"Yeah...yeah, probably."

"Gonna sleep?"

"Yeah. In a few minutes. Still think I shoulda gone with you. I'm forgetting what it's like to be in the air."

"Yeah, well...You got time."

"Goodnight, Fox."

"Night, Bill."

#

The next day came and went. Bill didn't say a thing about their late-night rendezvous, and Fox didn't go out of his way to tell the big dog that there'd been some sexual tension. Last thing that he needed was for his 'rival' to have to deal with something else besides a low-lying depression there.

When classes were over, Fox met a conspicuously-waddling Slippy at the edge of the Academy walls. The frog wasn't quite limping, but the way that he moved made it clear that something fun had happened. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

"Well, you had a damn good time."

"Look, it was...I just...he just..."

"Hey, no judgment, Slippy. Just to make sure, though. You, uh...you got yours, too, right?"

"...Yes..."

"Good. That's the important part." Fox smiled. "Do what you want, but always make sure that you get something out of it, too."

They left the Academy in another cab. It was going to be a bit of a pain to deal with how much that cost, but at least it was cheaper before sundown than after. As long as he could keep the call at the Rodder short, he should be fine. Should be.

The taxi dropped them off a block from the entrance. They walked down the street, and Fox chuckled as he saw the skid marks from his landing still there. He rubbed the back of his head as he imagined how long it would take the city to deal with that. Probably a very long time; they weren't particularly good at getting to the poorer parts of the downtown area. It'd probably stay there as evidence or a memento for a long time.

Falco waited for them outside the club. The blue-feathered falcon chuckled as they walked up.

"Making me wait here, McCloud."

"I'm on time."

"Uh-huh. The line's open in room six, upstairs. You'll have ten minutes once you open the line before it'll have to close again. Any longer and people start noticing. And Slippy?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Got a phone number for you."

"Oh god..."

As Slippy turned Christmas colors out of embarrassment, Fox walked into the club. It was quiet, not nearly as loud and rambunctious as it would be later in the evening, but there were some clients already there. No dancers, no strippers, no sexy people, though. The only customers were at the bar, making sure that they got their food for the night before people started getting too annoying to be around.

He walked up the stairs and made his way to room six. The door was already ajar, and the only thing inside was a small console with a wire running into the wall. A dish on top spun around, likely looking for signals to hijack. It was a rough-looking thing, probably cobbled together by some street-tech that was looking for a quick buck. When he was done with it, it'd probably be broken down to make something else just as fast.

Fox sat down in front of the cracked monitor and the cheap casing. The keyboard was familiar - probably ripped from some other scrap-heap - and he tapped in the familiar code for the StarFox team. His dad trusted him not to use it willy-nilly, and he'd held off using it on any official comm channel for over a month. Without any updates, however...

He just needed to know what was going on.

He needed to know that his dad was okay.

Once the code was complete, he initiated the call. It pinged softly as he sat back, one knee against his chest and the other splayed off to the side. Fox told himself that he needed to wait, to be patient. The signal had to reach all the way across the system, after all, and that meant that it would take a little while for his dad or the other team members to actually get it. Then they had to pick up, the connection had to stabilize, and -

The point was, it took a while for real-time communications to stabilize. No immediate answer didn't mean anything.

He stared at the screen, waiting and pushing down his own fears. His dad had been away for a full month, and it was classified. That meant that it was more than putting down Andross-sympathizers across the system. Something else was going on, probably something big. And something big and secret could mean something dangerous. And that, in turn, meant -

The screen shimmered, the crack remaining but no longer over a green background. Peppy Hare appeared, the older pilot looking back at him with the same genial smile on his face as ever.

"Hey, Fox. Didn't think that you'd be calling us anytime soon."

"Hey, Peppy," he said, a smile creeping almost unwillingly across his cheeks. "Didn't think you'd be the one answering. Where's dad?"

"Oh, getting ready. There's a mission tomorrow, and we need to make sure that everything's prepped for it."

"Ah."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just...was a little worried. Dad usually reaches out once you get where you're going, and...well, this time, he didn't."

"That Fox on the call?"

Fox's ears perked up. That was his dad, sounding like he was just off-screen. His smile grew as the familiar sunglasses of James McCloud looked around the edge of it, and he had to suppress a nervous, relieved giggle as his dad smiled back at him. He was fine, he was perfectly fine.

"Hey, kid."

"Dad. Okay. You're fine. I...you're fine."

"Yeah. Sorry about not saying anything. Pepper's been riding my ass about mission security this time around, and I couldn't get anyone to let me call out. I had to wait for someone to call in. Glad that you had the thought to arrange something. How've you been?"

"I'm okay. Doing alright. Studying and flying. The usual - dad." He forced himself to be serious. Focused. "This...this is something important, isn't it?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Venom?"

"Yep."

"...Hoo boy..."

"Should be relatively routine. We're going on a fly-by tomorrow, make sure that the various systems planet-side are still shut down, and if they're not, blow them to kingdom come. Me, Pigma, and Peppy are going to hit it tomorrow, and if all goes well, we'll be back in another month."

"Another month. And if not?"

"Well, you'll see the news soon enough. And it won't be classified anymore, that's for sure."

Fox nodded. That was something that he could understand. If the war was heating up again, if Andross was starting to put his forces together, then the fight would be on once more. And considering that the StarFox team had been part and parcel to the defeat of the monkey once before, Pepper and the Cornerian Defense Force weren't going to risk taking on Andross without the same crew that beat him before.

And then they'd come home. Another month, maybe six where he could spend time with his dad. Probably graduate by that point, and he could figure out what he wanted to do. Maybe join up with the team and start making his way across the galaxy with them.

That'd be nice.

"Hey, McCloud, don't hog the comm channels. I gotta check my stocks, too!"

"Heh, you'll get it in a minute, Pigma," his dad said off-screen. "Just checking in with my kid."

"Heh, tell him that he better fucking pass his classes."

"Calm down, Pigma," Peppy said. "Come on. Let's give them a few minutes."

"That's alright." Fox shook his head. "I don't have long anyway. I'm just glad that you're fine."

"Heh, no worries, Fox. I'll see you in a month or so, or...well, maybe you'll see me in the papers. Either way, see you soon."

"See ya, dad."

The screen went black, and Fox sighed before getting to his feet and pulling the wires from the walls. He didn't know what was going to happen going forward, but at least he knew that things were alright right at that moment. That was a hell of a lot more than he'd known just a few minutes ago.

As he unplugged the machine, he looked toward the sky. The window in the room wasn't that big, but it was enough for him to see a sliver of the failing sunlight on the horizon, and the beginning of the stars that soared past the planet's edge. Somewhere out there, his dad was doing the best work one could imagine. In a few years, he'd be doing the same, whether as part of the military, or on his own.

He couldn't wait.

The End

Summary: Fox and Falco have their race, and then we have a little bit of downtime with Fox, Bill, and others.

Tags: M/M, Kinda M/M, Bulge, Cock, Drunk, Bill, Fox McCloud, Fox, Falco, Falcon, Slippy, Various Relationships, Series, Slow Burn, Peppy, James McCloud, Academy,