{"sf1_id":642689,"sf2_id":"0mvV6A0m","title":"Role Reversal","author":"RingtailedFox","words":21514,"posted_at":"2014-01-04T03:48:00.000Z","tags":["Adult","Adult Content","Collaboration","Cyborg","Dog","Fox","Gay","Gay Relationships","Hare","Lizard","Robot","Starfox","Violence","Violence (Not In Yiff)","War","Wolf","Zoophilia"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/642689-role-reversal","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/0mvV6A0m","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/a7/4a/a74abc23-b754-41ec-863b-262dd224c8fa","description":"Things aren't always as they seem, especially in wars. Who said that Andross was necissarily the bad guy? or that Pepper was the good guy?? Bill, Fox, Wolf, Leon, and Peppy stumble upon a horriffic conspiracy, and risk life and limb to save the Lylat System... even though it might not be worth saving!","content":"Role Reversal (working title) (Perspective?)\n\nStory is (c) 2011 Ringtailed Fox and Ringshadow Cat\n\nStar Fox characters are (c) 1993-2011 Nintendo\n\nWriter: Ringtailed Fox\n\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nThis is based off of a role-playing session on throughout much of September,\n\nOctober, and November of 2010 on AIM, between RingtailedFox and RingshadowCat.\n\nThe basis for this was Ringshadow mentioning her ideas of writing a reverse-\n\nuniverse StarFox fanfic, but not having the time or inspiration.\n\nThis was also inspired her \"Cards\" series of fanfics, on AdultFanfiction.net\n\n(if you have not read her works before, go there NOW, and read them here:\n\nhttp://games.adultfanfiction.net/authors.php?no=1296826511, then come back and\n\nread this one. I'll gladly wait! :D ).\n\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nThe windshield wipers rubbed smoothly against the plexiglass of the\n\nolder-model sedan as it waited in traffic at the stoplight. The middle-aged\n\ndriver looks down at his wristwatch. 4:18 PM. He's going to be late for\n\ndinner. He reaches into his pocket to grasp his cell-phone, but notices the\n\nlight turns green, through the misty greyness of the day. No time to phone\n\nhome right now.\n\nHe gently taps his foot on the accelleration pedal as traffic begins to pull\n\nthrough the intersection. So far, his day has been filled with one errand\n\nafter the other. Travelling from the military academy, to the spaceport, and\n\nthen to his apartment, and back. This just is one of those days for James\n\nMcCloud.\n\n\"One final trip, and then I can relax and have dinner with my son.\" He sighs\n\nto himself as he drives along the wide avenue, towards the military academy.\n\nThe sedan comes to a stop in the parking lot. The driver shuts off the\n\nengine, and steps out of his car, closing the door. He walks through the\n\nhalls, showing his mercenary military security pass to the security guards\n\nalong the way.\n\nHe approaches the inner sanctum of the military academy. He approaches the\n\ndoor to the office of his superior officer, and knocks softly.\n\n\"Come in.\" The military officer within replies.\n\nJames pushes the door slowly open, stepping into the office. He sees the\n\nwell-decorated General sitting at his desk, signing some documents.\n\n\"Ahh, James. I'm glad you were able to make it on such short notice!\"\n\n\"I'm just glad to be of service, sir. What is it you needed to see me\n\nabout?\" James asks the older male.\n\nThe hound looks up, adjusting the collar on his elaborate overcoat, then his\n\nhat. \"I've asked you to come here because I fear that Andross is up to\n\nsomething on Venom. We've detected strange, suspicious activity there.\"\n\nJames nods his head upon hearing this. \"And I suppose you want me to get\n\nStarFox Team together to check things out?\"\n\n\"That's what I've contracted you to do. This will be standard pay for a\n\nbasic reconnaissance mission. Is this acceptable for you, or should I hire\n\nthe Cornerian Defense Forces to take care of this?\"\n\n\"We can handle it. We can depart in the morning. We just need time to\n\nprepare.\"\n\nA smile crawls across Pepper's muzzle. \"I'm glad I can depend on you,\n\nJames.\"\n\n\"Thank you, sir.\" James replies.\n\nThe older hound reaches into his desk, and pulls out a thin manilla\n\nfolder, containing some papers. \"This is the mission information for yourself\n\nand your crew.\"\n\nJames grasps the manila folder and walks towarsd the door. As he places his\n\nhand on the doorknob, he turns to face Pepper once more. \"Ahh, sir, is there a\n\nreason you had me come here, instead of calling me on my cell phone and sending\n\nthe data to me by comlink?\"\n\n\"Those documents couldn't be sent over the air to you, becuase of their top-\n\nsecret nature. Only StarFox Team and the military are to see them. We can't\n\nhave people in a panic if things go wrong. I hope you understand.\"\n\n\"I do, sir. I won't let you down.\" James replies.\n\n\"I know you won't, James.\" General pepper speaks, watching as the male fox\n\nexits his office.\n\nAs James steps back into his car, his cell phone goes off. He rubs his\n\nforehead in an annoyed manner.\n\n\"Oh, for the love of all that's good... what now?\" He grumbles, not bothering\n\nto look at the caller ID as he answers.\n\n\"McCloud here.\"\n\n\"Mr. McCloud? Listen, it's Bill, your son's friend.\" The voice on the other\n\nend of the line replies.\n\nJames places the car into gear, resting the cell phone between his ear and\n\nshoulder.\n\n\"Hey, Bill, what's up?\" James asks.\n\n\"I need you to stop by my apartment later on, it's very important.\"\n\nJames sighs. \"I'll never get home at this rate...\"\n\n\"I'm sorry, Mr. McCloud... I would not bother you if it wasn't important.\"\n\nJames turns the car onto the main road, towards Bill's apartment building.\n\n\"I know. I've just been on the go, non-stop, all day.\" He speaks as he\n\ndrives.\n\nA few minutes pass, and James is sitting down in the relative comfort of Bill\n\nGrey's living room. Bill sits down next to James, and passes him a palm-held\n\ncomputer device. James looks curiously at the screen as Bill presses a small\n\nbutton, causing a video to play.\n\nJames is a bit confused as he sees somewhat shaky footage being displayed,\n\nfrom what looks like the interior of a military complex. As the film footage\n\nmoves into another room, he has a hard time making out the shapes, due to the\n\ndim light. He looks closer, beginning to make out what horrors he is viewing.\n\nHe sees a kangaroo male being sedated and operated on, removing portions of\n\nhis skull and brain, before lowering an overhead machine, \"filling in\" the\n\nspace formerly occupied by his brain matter.\n\n\"Bill, what is this?\" James asks, nervously.\n\n\"Advanced robotics footage I stumbled upon.\"\n\n\"Is this Andross' work?\"\n\n\"No. Cornerian Government. Experiemntal laboratory. It's labelled as being\n\nAndross' work, in case someone managed to leak it.\"\n\n\"What are they doing to that poor man? Why would he volunteer for this type of\n\nthing?\"\n\n\"They're 'roboticizing' him, partially, anyway. Full ones step into a closet-\n\nlike machine, and are transformed from flesh and bone, into metal and circuits.\n\nWhat you see here is a guy getting \"upgraded\" as they call it, to become an\n\nobedient super-soldier. Oh, and it's not volunteer work.\" Bill explains.\n\n\"Does Pepper know about this?\"\n\n\"Of course. He authorized this project.\"\n\n\"Bill, I'm officially getting freaked-out now. If this is top-secret data, you\n\nand I could end up in the same fate as that kangaroo man. HOW did you get\n\nthis?\" James asks, very firmly.\n\n\"I, uh... I managed to sneak it out after Miyu took the footage in the lab and\n\ngave it to me.\" Bill replies.\n\n\"Miyu? Miyu Lynx???\" James asks.\n\n\"Yeah, that's her. Why?\"\n\n\"We were told she was killed testing a new experimental rocket engine on an\n\nexperimental plane.\"\n\n\"I know. It was a cover-up. She was taken here and forced to work on these\n\npeople.\"\n\nJames doesn't know what to think at this point. Could his long-time trusted\n\nand respected boss, not to mention friend, General Pepper, be sick enough to\n\nallow live experimentation on sentient beings? Is this even true, or is this a\n\ntrap? Who is behind it?\n\n\"I have to go, Bill, but I'll be back. Try not to get yourself killed, okay?\"\n\nJames speaks to the younger hound as he stands up, returning the portable\n\ndevice to its owner.\n\n\"Yeah. You too, Mr. McCloud.\" Bill replies.\n\nJames eventually makes it back to his apartment, and is greeted by his son,\n\nFox.\n\n\"Welcome back! I was starting to worry about ya.\" Fox speaks as he sets the\n\nkitchen table.\n\nJames sniffs the air as he steps in, taking off his flight jacket and boots.\n\n\"Well, I'm back.\" He chuckles, then sniffs the air. \"Smells good. What's for\n\ndinner?\"\n\n\"Just leftovers from last night.\" Fox speaks as he opens the oven door, slowly\n\nremoving the steel tray containing their meal.\n\n\"I see. Well, We have to get up early for a mission briefing.\" James speaks.\n\n\"Want me to call everyone?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"After dinner, if you want. We'll need Peppy and Pigma to meet us at the\n\nSpacePort. Apparently Andross is up to his old tricks again.\"\n\n\"What do you think it is?\" Fox wonders.\n\n\"I have no idea. Just... try to get some sleep after you finish eating. We\n\nhave a long day ahead of us, tomorrow.\" James speaks in between bites of food.\n\n\"Yes, dad.\" Fox replies.\n\nMorning comes soon enough. As usual, James is up at the crack of dawn,\n\npreparing for the mission ahead. However, this time is different. The look on\n\nhis face is one of concern and uncertainty.\n\nJames sighs as he looks at himself in the mirror, fully-dressed in his flight\n\nsuit. \"Oh, Vixy... Things I've stumbled upon are disturbing me. I don't even\n\nknow who I can trust anymore...\" He speaks to himself.\n\nHe shakes his head and opens his bedroom door. As he walks down the hallway\n\nfrom his bedroom, he can hear Fox yawn and stretch as he wakes up.\n\n\"Sleep well, Fox?\" James asks.\n\n\"Yeah... did you?\" Fox replies.\n\n\"Of course. Why would you ask?\" James raises an eyebrow.\n\n\"Well, you just look like you didn't sleep well... or that something's on your\n\nmind.\" Fox speaks.\n\nJames nods his head. \"Just something i heard the other day... I'll explain\n\nit to the team on board the Great Fox. It's the thing from yesterday.\" James\n\nspeaks.\n\nFox nods his head as he grasps his boots, having slept in his uniform.\n\nThe drive over to the spaceport is quiet and uneventful, but James has a\n\nnagging feeling in the back of his mind, that he just can't quite put his\n\nfinger on. Pigma and Peppy arrive shortly after the McClouds at the Great Fox.\n\nJames steps out of their car, followed by Fox, walking over to his teammates.\n\n\"Guys, I wanna get into orbit immediately. Can we skip any non-necessary pre-\n\nlaunch checks?\" James asks.\n\n\"Sure, I suppose we could skip the secondary inspections... but why?\" Peppy\n\nasks his friend.\n\n\"I can't explain... not here, anyway.\" James replies.\n\nPeppy is a bit suspicious, but shrugs, and walks with James into their craft.\n\nThe large dreadnought-class battlecruiser lifts off with a power and speed\n\nthat betray is mass. James steers the ship towards the Orbital Gate, slowing\n\ndown for clearance to depart from Corneria. The inspection is uneventful and\n\nmundane, and the battlecruiser quickly resumes its trip deep into the Lylat\n\nStar system.\n\n\"Alright, dad. You've been acting strange ever since you got home from Bill's\n\napartment last night. What's been bugging you?\" Fox asks.\n\nJames turns around to face his crew. \"Alright. I'll explain. Is everyone\n\nhere? Good, they are.\" James speaks, as Pigma and Peppy sit down at the table\n\non the bridge.\n\n\"Bill showed me some footage of a secret classified government project that\n\nwas... well... it was horiffying and disturbing. In the film, I saw furs being\n\ntransformed into robots, and cyborgs, and scientists being forced to work on\n\nthem against their will... worst of all, this was implemented by our beloved,\n\nbenevolent leader, General Pepper.\" James explains.\n\nPigma becomes a bit concerned as he listens to Jame spill the beans on a\n\nsupposedly-secret project. He tries to hide his concern, looking cautiously\n\nat Fox and Peppy, then at James. The older fox has to be disposed of, before\n\nanyone else catches wind.\n\n\"Now, we can't tell anyone. I think we should be extra-cautious around General\n\nPepper and his forces from now on. We don't know who we can trust.\" James\n\ninstructs his team-mates.\n\nPigma turns, watching as James walks from the bridge, towards the docking bay\n\nof the Great Fox.\n\n\"Alright, team. Time to suit-up and head out for patrol. Fox, you know what\n\nto do here. ROB will assist you.\" James speaks.\n\n\"I can't let him survive now. This is a security breach that must be sealed.\"\n\nPigma thinks to himself as his Arwing launches from within the Great Fox, right\n\nbehind James'.\n\nPeppy follows his two teammates, leaving Fox, Falco, and Rob on the bridge of\n\nthe Great Fox.\n\n\"I got a bad feeling about this, Falco...\" Fox speaks, watching as the three\n\ncraft silently fly off into the distance.\n\n\"Whatcha mean?\" Falco asks.\n\n\"I mean... Pigma looked a little... 'off'...\" He explains.\n\n\"He and you dad are old buds... you really thing he'd do somethin' to 'im?\n\nBesides, Peppy's out there, protectin' his ass. He'll step in if anything does\n\nhappen.\" Falco explains.\n\n\"I hope you're right...\" Fox speaks, still feeling uneasy.\n\nPigma turns on his communicator, and speaks to James on the private\n\ncommunications channel.\n\nJames accepts hte incoming transmission.\n\n\"Yeah, Pigma?\" James asks.\n\n\"I hate to do this, ol' friend, but you know too much.\" Pigma speaks, firing\n\nseveral laser blasts at James' Arwing.\n\n\"What the fuck??? Pigma! Have you gone insane???\" James yells as lasers\n\nstrafe his craft.\n\n\"No... just fixing a security breach.\" He replies, firing several more laser\n\npulses.\n\nPeppy immediately flies in, firing a blaster at Pigma's engine, hoping to\n\ndisable it.\n\n\"Pigma, what the hell are you doing?\" Peppy asks.\n\n\"Ahh, Peppy. I forgot about you.\" He grins, firing his retro-rockets, turning\n\nto face the rabbit pilot.\n\nPigma fires a blast right at Peppy's plexiglass cockpit, cracking it.\n\n\"HAH! You two need to learn a lesson about surprise attacks!\" Pigma speaks as\n\nhe rolls his craft to deflect Peppy's laser fire.\n\nHe fires several more blasts into James' Arwing, before ramming it directly,\n\nsetting it on a path into the micro black hole within the Lylat System.\n\n\"JAMES! NO!!!! GOD DAMN YOU, PIGMA! YOU'VE KILLED HIM!\" Peppy shouts,\n\nfiring several more blasts, trading fire with Pigma, before being forced to\n\nturn back as his craft begins to decompress.\n\nHis craft limps back to the Great Fox, with smoke and oxygen pouring from it.\n\nPeppy just barely manages to make it inside in time.\n\nFox and Falco run into the docking bay as it re-seals, helping Peppy out of his\n\ndestoryed craft.\n\n\"Pep! What happened out there?\" Falco asks.\n\n\"Where are Pigma and dad?\" Fox asks.\n\nPeppy shakes his head.\n\n\"Pigma ran off after attacking us, but killed your father. Fox, I'm sorry.\" He\n\nspeaks.\n\n\"Dad...\" Fox whispers softly as he looks out the window, falling apart inside.\n\nHe then turns around, pissed. \"I'll avenge him. I'll hunt pigma down.\" He\n\ngrowls.\n\nAt the military base on Corneria, Wolf looks at his reflection in his room's\n\nmirror. He feels the patch over his eye, a gift from a training mission gone\n\nawry. Ever since the Andross resistance had been crushed, he was forcibly\n\ndrafted into the Cornerian Forces as punishment for his treasonous activities.\n\nFor once, Wolf had TRIED to do the right thing, and what happened? He was\n\nshot down in flames, both figuratively and literally. Now, he's serving a life\n\nsentence with no real hope of getting out.\n\nHe hears a knock on the door.\n\n\"Pepper wants to see you in his office.\" The voice speaks, before walking down\n\nthe hall.\n\nWolf shudders. He absolutely hated this part of the situation most of all.\n\nHe grasps the doorknob and opens the door, walking slowly towards General\n\nPepper's office.\n\nThe general is reclining in his office chair at his desk, pleased to see Wolf.\n\n\"I'm glad you came, Wolf.\" He speaks.\n\nWolf shrugs. \"It's not like I had a choice.\"\n\nPepper stands up, approaching wolf, patting his shoulder. \"Well, you're right\n\non that. You don't.\"\n\nThe hound smirks, nibbling Wolf's eartips. Wolf simply closes his eyes and\n\nsighs, trying to leave his body by letting his mind wander to a different place\n\nand time, ignoring Pepper's advances on him.\n\nThe older canine caresses along Wolf's jawline. \"lose the jacket, son. You\n\nwon't be needing it.\" He whispers.\n\nWolf growls softly as he takes off his jacket, letting it drop to the floor.\n\n\"Y-you won't break me, General.\" Wolf growls.\n\nPepper grins, caressing Wolf's chest through his shirt. \"I don't want to break\n\nyou. I have you just as I want you.\"\n\nWolf remains silent as Pepper begins to undo his shirt, undressing him. The\n\nolder male growls lowly as he begins to undo Wolf's belt. He simply tries to\n\nignore what is happening and allow Pepper to have his way with him.\n\n\"The sooner he finishes, the sooner I can get out of here...\" He reminds\n\nhimself as the older male caresses and gropes him.\n\nHe shudders as he feels those familiar paws along his chest and groin. The\n\nwolf remains still as the older dog explores his body, pressing up against him.\n\n\"Just get it over with, General.\" Wolf growls.\n\n\"You should learn your place, pup.\" Pepper replies.\n\nWolf shudders as he feels the other male's shaft against him, poking under his\n\ntail. \"I know my place. You can rape me, but you can never conquer me.\"\n\nPepper growls, pinning Wolf to his desk as he pushes into him.\n\nWolf growls, trying to push the older male off of him, but Pepper leans all\n\nof his weight into Wolf. When he tries to struggle, Pepper nips his neckscruff\n\nand ears.\n\n\"Just be a good boy and let it happen. The sooner you do, the sooner you can\n\ngo back to your room.\" He speaks, like a sadistic, condescending parent to a\n\nmisbehaving child.\n\nWolf snarls, but remains still. He growls loudly as he feels that familiar,\n\nknotted cock pressing into him again. Pepper grasps Wolf's hips, his claws\n\nlightly digging into his furred skin as he begins to thrust into him. Wolf\n\ncloses his eyes tight, trying to think of other, better places to be.\n\nThe lupine soldier tries to ignore Pepper raping him, and his own throbbing\n\ncock, imagining that he's back on Corneria, with Fox, Falco, and James. Good\n\ntimes that he longs for again. He's quickly dragged back into his horrid\n\nreality when he feels that familiar knot swelling against him.\n\n\"N-no... please don't knot me this time...\" Wolf whispers, nudging a bit.\n\nPepper snarls, pushing him hard against the desk. \"You'll take it, and you'll\n\nlike it, my little wolf bitch.\"\n\nWolf shudders as Pepper ties firmly with him. Thanks to the combination of\n\nAndross' cybernetic implants and this miserable old fuck raping him every so\n\noften, his sex drive's gone to shit. Whenever he even tries to think about\n\nsex, he can only picture Pepper fucking him, biting him, or pinning him to the\n\ndesk in his office. It wouldn't even be that bad if he at least thought of his\n\nlovers... reached around to stroke them off, or let them mount afterwards...\n\nbut then again, this is Pepper we're talking about. He's simply pure,\n\nunadultered evil. Even the constant, warm pressure on his prostate from the\n\ndog's knot isn't enough to bring wolf to orgasm. Wolf shudders as Pepper\n\nfloods his insides with his sticky seminal fluids. He sighs, knowing that\n\nthe end is at least near.\n\nThe older dog grins, patting his head gently, like an obedient pet. \"That was\n\nnice, Wolf. Once my knot goes down, you're free to return to your room.\"\n\nWolf murrs softly at the thought of returning to his room, and away from this\n\nmadman.\n\nHe watches the clock as he waits for Pepper's knot to go down. Minutes\n\npass, but they seem like hours to Wolf. Soon, a firm tug, and then another\n\ncome from Pepper as he tries to pull free. Pressure inside him eases, and the\n\nolder male slides free with a wet \"pop\".\n\nPepper begins to clean off his slickened shaft.\n\n\"You are excused, Wolf.\" He speaks non-chalantly to him.\n\nWolf shudders as he rinses himself off in his shower. He feels so dirty from\n\nletting General Pepper have his way with him. Again. He tilts his face into\n\nthe shower as he thinks to himself. He needs to escape this hell.\n\nHe hears another knock on the door. He turns off the shower, wraps a towel\n\naround himself, and approaches the door.\n\nHe opens the door, only to find Bill Grey, his superior officer. Relief\n\nflows over his body, and he tries to resist wagging his tail as he invites Bill\n\ninside. This is the first time in ages that something good has happened to\n\nhim.\n\n\"Bill, I've missed ya, man. Where have you been?\" Wolf asks, clutching his\n\nrobe.\n\n\"Ehh... places I'd rather wish I wasn't.\" He replies, sitting down on Wolf's\n\ncouch.\n\n\"Still working on that top-secret robotics project Pepper assigned you to?\"\n\n\"Yeah. It's getting worse, too. It's getting to the point where I'm actually\n\nscared. And you know me. It takes a \\*lot\\* to scare me.\"\n\nWolf nods, sitting down next to him.\n\n\"I... I've managed to smuggle video of it out this time.\" Bill says, grasping\n\nthe video player in his pocket, showing it to Wolf.\n\n\"Aren't you worried about being caught?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"I'll explain why that won't happen... just watch it first.\" Bill speaks as he\n\nturns the device on.\n\nWolf leans over to see on the device's small screen, but cannot make out many\n\ndetails.\n\n\"I'm sorry the video's grainy... I had to shoot it from one of those secret\n\nundercover cameras hidden under my vest.\" Bill explains.\n\n\"I know. I don't really know what to make of what I'm seeing...\" Wolf\n\napologizes.\n\nBill thinks for a second as he feels along his pockets, pulling out a cable.\n\n\"Do you still have those implants Andross and Pepper forced you to get?\" Bill\n\nasks.\n\nWolf winces upon hearing that. He had forgotten about those for weeks. For\n\nthe first time in years, they weren't acting up or causing him problems. They\n\nwere, however, a reminder of how he was used and dumped by successive bosses in\n\nhis life.\n\nHe begins to let his mind wander, finding himself thinking about the past, as\n\nhe typically does. It's bad enough that he had little choice in getting\n\ncybernetic implants in his skull, though Andross said it was 'for the best'.\n\n\"Hah. I've heard that before. Sure, Andross treated me far better than any of\n\nmy other bosses before or since, but still maltreated me on occasion. They all\n\ndid; it made no difference. Andross forcing cybernetics on him, Pepper forcing\n\nhim into sexual liasons against his will, under penalty of... oh god, I don't\n\neven want to think of THAT.\"\n\nHe shakes his head of those thoughts, however. Bill's here, and that's all\n\nthat matters. If Bill's able to help him, that will mean the world to him.\n\n\"Y-yeah.\" Wolf speaks, feeling over the small ports in the back of his head.\n\n\"I can show it to you directly.\" Bill offers, plugging one end of the cable\n\ninto the device.\n\nWolf grasps the cable and plugs it into the port in his head.\n\n\"Ready to play when you are, Bill.\" He speaks.\n\nBill re-starts the video, and watches as Wolf closes his eyes.\n\n\"W-what the fuck??? What is this?\" He asks, seeing the little shop of horrors\n\nthat Pepper is running.\n\n\"It's his advanced robotics laboratory. I've already smuggled it to James and\n\nStarFox Team. It's called 'Project-X'.\" Bill explains.\n\n\"I think I'm going to throw up, Bill.\" Wolf speaks.\n\nThe wolf manages to keep it together until the video clip ends. He pants,\n\nclutching his head from vertigo.\n\n\"I'm sorry, Wolf..\" Bill speaks.\n\n\"Not your fault...\" Wolf replies.\n\n\"I feel it is... I've been trying to smuggle you out, or at least help you get\n\nthose implants that Andross and Pepper shoved into you removed...\"\n\n\"You're doin' the best you can to keep from gettin' caught. I don't want you\n\nbein' murdered to keep the situation under wraps.\" Wolf speaks.\n\nBill places a paw on his friend's shoulder. Wolf looks up at him.\n\n\"I know what happened today, Wolf. I can smell it on you. Pepper called you\n\ninto his office again, right?\" Bill asks.\n\nWolf nods, staring blankly at his friend.\n\nBill hugs him, comforting him. \"It's alright. I'm going to get you out of\n\nhere, Wolf.\"\n\nWolf nods, hugging back. He would've broken down and cried in Bill's arms if\n\nthis were the first few months of his arrival to the Cornerian Flight Academy,\n\nbut he quickly grew numb to the torment he receives here.\n\n\"I've been thinking on eventually just opening my Wolfen cockpit in space as a\n\nway to end it and escape it all.\n\nBill gasps. \"No, you must not do that, Wolf! I can get you out, I just need\n\ntime so I'm not suspected or caught!\"\n\n\"I know.\"\n\n\"Why would you even think of such a thing?\"\n\n\"It's getting harder to stay alive without going insane. I thought that way,\n\nI can't be revived or have my mind saved and uploaded... Would be the only way\n\nfor me to be truly free from Pepper.\"\n\n\"I gotta get you out of here. I will, Wolf. I promise.\"\n\n\"I know you will, Bill. I trust you on that.\" Wolf gives his friend a kiss on\n\nthe forehead.\n\nBill kisses him back.\n\n\"Now, what was it you wanted to say to me?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"Well, at least you're able to escape from Pepper. I can't.\" Bill replies.\n\n\"I don't understand.\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"My cross to bear is that... Pepper's my father. Knocked up some female so he\n\ncould have a 'perfect, obedient son' to follow in his footsteps, inherit his\n\nlegacy, and continue his work. I'd rather sabotage it than keep it going.\"\n\n\"Oh god... Bill... I didn't know... I had no idea...\" Wolf speaks, hugging his\n\nfriend.\n\n\"It's alright. I don't think of him as my father... just someone I happen to\n\nshare half of my genes with. A sperm donor, basically.\"\n\nWolf chuckles.\n\n\"And before you ask, no, I'm not going to end up insane with power, like dad.\"\n\nBill replies. \"I'm a stoner, not a dictator. You know that.\" Bill playfully\n\nnudges Wolf.\n\nWolf grins, pulling Bill onto himself, hugging him tightly.\n\nBill swishes his tail as he smiles at Wolf. \"I see you're smilin'. Haven't\n\nseen you do that in months.\"\n\n\"Haven't had a reason to do that for months.\" Wolf kisses Bill's lips softly.\n\n\"I'm glad I could help cheer you up... any piece of solace in this hell is\n\nbetter than nothing at all...\" Bill replies, kissing him back.\n\nWolf stays still, hugging Bill tightly, almost not wanting to let his only\n\nfriend go. \"You've become the only thing keeping me going all this time,\n\nBill.\"\n\n\"It's why I try to sneak out and visit you while no one notices my absense. I\n\nwould like to think of my visits as a morale boost... or at least, cathartic.\"\n\n\"Oh, they are. And you don't know how much I appreciate it.\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"Wolf, I know you and StarFox are the only guys that can stop Pepper. I'll do\n\nwhat I can to help you make that happen.\" Bill speaks as he tries to move\n\nslightly against Wolf.\n\nWolf growls playfully, hugging Bill tightly, not letting him move. \"You're not\n\ngoin' anywhere, prettyboi.\" He wags his tail.\n\nBill chuckles and nuzzles Wolf, hugging him back.\n\n\"You gonna keep Fox informed?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"Of course.\" Bill says.\n\n\"Good. He's alright... just a shame he's on the wrong side.\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"I think StarFox Team now knows that, now.\" Bill speaks. \"It's just a matter\n\nof time before Pepper's exposed.\"\n\n\"Fox, I have a letter from Bill.\" Falco speaks as he grasps the letter from\n\nthe floor, near the front door of their apartment.\n\n\"Oh? Probably a little update.\" Fox speaks as he walks over.\n\nFalco opens the envelope. he sees several pictures of the secret facility,\n\ntaken from both inside, and from the air. Alongside the pictures are two\n\nletters. The first is a status update of his and Wolf's conditions at the\n\nAcademy. The second is a report that Pigma was a double-agent, and warns to be\n\nextremely cautious around anyone that may appear to be friendly.\n\n\"So, if dad was executed... we could be next.\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"That's why we gotta be careful, hun.\"\n\n\"Falco, you know I'll protect you.\"\n\n\"Likewise, Foxy.\" Falco speaks.\n\nFox smiles at his boyfriend. \"Listen, how about I grab us some food so we\n\ndon't keel over from hunger?\"\n\nFalco nods. \"Sounds good. I'm not goin' anywhere.\"\n\nFox nods as he grabs his coat, and walks out of the hallway.\n\nThe golden-furred fox walks down the hallway, towards the elevator of his\n\napartment building. As he enters the elevator, he stops, thinking he saw\n\nsomeone, or something, walking the other way. When he turns around to look,\n\nhe sees only a deserted hallway. He shrugs and walks into the elevator,\n\npushing a button as the doors close.\n\n\"Fuck, that was too close.\" Fara thinks to herself, hiding around the corner\n\nfrom Fox as he enters the elevator.\n\nThe fennec vixen walks down the hallway, looking for Fox's apartment. She\n\nwasn't counting on an encounter with Fox McCloud. He's become too suspicous in\n\nrecent weeks, and it's doubtful he'd trust a military officer such as herself.\n\nShe approaches the door, reading the number.\n\n529.\n\nIt's his apartment. The one she's looking for should be inside. She looks\n\nthrough the eyehole. A blue falcon is doing work on a portable computer.\n\n\"Bingo. Just the man I was looking for.\" She whispers to herself, knocking on\n\nthe door.\n\nFalco gets up, and walks to the door. He looks through the eyepiece, seeing\n\nFara standing on the opposite side of the door, waiting patiently.\n\n\"Shit. Well... just play it cool, Falco... don't let on anything and she won't\n\nsuspect anything.\" Falco thinks to himself as he unlocks the door, letting\n\nFox's old flame in.\n\n\"Come on in, Fara. What brings you to our place?\" Falco asks.\n\n\"Oh... you know, just in the neighbourhood, and I thought I'd see how Fox was\n\ndoing.\" She replies.\n\n\"Well, he stepped out to get dinner and groceries. He'll be back soon.\" Falco\n\nresponds.\n\nFara looks at a picture on their coffee table. Fox and Falco look so happy in\n\nit. She sighs to herself, thinking about what could have been.\n\n\"Something wrong, Fara?\" Falco asks.\n\n\"No... just thinking about days past.\" Fara replies.\n\n\"Like what?\" Falco inquires, sitting next to the vixen.\n\n\"Well, about how Fox and I used to date before you two became an item...\"\n\n\"Hm.\" Falco thinks to himself.\n\n\"And if you wanted... we could get a bit closer, too...\" Fara smirks, scooting\n\na bit closer to her avian friend.\n\nFalco begins to feel uncomfortable, and scoots away. \"Uhh... Fara... I'm\n\nsorry, but I'm gay, and Fox is, too. I'm faithful to him.\" He speaks.\n\nFara frowns. \"Aww... so, you don't want to make me one of your conquests, like\n\nFox did?\" She caresses Falco's chest with a finger.\n\nFalco shakes his head. \"Sorry, babe. I'm not even hard...\"\n\nFara nods. \"I see.\"\n\nAn awkward silence falls upon the two, before she notices Falco's handheld\n\ncomputer.\n\n\"So... what's that?\" She asks.\n\n\"It's uh... it's nothing.\" Falco replies.\n\nHis heartbeat begins to race, and his face begins to feel hot. Fara may have\n\nmade him feel nervous, but now, he's legitimately afraid that she'll find out\n\nwhat they've been working on.\n\nFara looks at him, noticing he's more nervous than before. \"Is it top-secret?\"\n\nShe coyly asks him.\n\n\"Uhhhh... maybe.\"\n\nShe grins. \"Is it your gay porn collection?\"\n\n\"Yeah. Tons and tons of guy-on-guy action in that thing, Fara.\" He replies,\n\nhoping she'd be turned-off.\n\n\"Mmm. I have a thing for gay men.\" She smirks, grasping the little device,\n\nopening it and turning it on.\n\nFalco reaches for it, but Fara grasps it before he can.\n\nFara's eyes widen as she views all of the top-secret files from Project-X.\"\n\n\"What the fuck is this??? Where did you get this???\" She asks, in a very\n\nserious tone.\n\nFalco's face goes white... or would have, if he had no feathers.\n\n\"It's something I've found.\" He replies.\n\nFara stands up. \"I asked WHERE.\"\n\n\"I don't reveal my sources... and why do you care, anyway?\" Falco asks.\n\n\"I care becasue I'm the security officer for the military, and this is a huge\n\nsecurity breach.\" She speaks, lifting her t-shirt, showing the gun in her\n\nholster. \"And you're going to tell me, right now.\"\n\n\"Fuck it. Just take it, Fara. Take it and get out.\" Falco speaks, holding\n\nhis head in his hands.\n\n\"Good boy.\" She speaks, grasping his little device, placing it in her pocket.\n\n\"You just wanted to sleep with me to get that?\" Falco asks her.\n\nFara swishes her tail, as if she captured a great prize. \"If I had to, I\n\nwould.\"\n\nHer tail then stands still. \"Why aren't you trying to get it back?\"\n\n\"I've failed Fox. We were investigating his father's death, and that device\n\nhad files on it about James.\"\n\n\"Well, you stole Fox from me, so I guess this makes us even. I had always\n\nloved him, and YOU had to turn him gay and...\" She sighs. \"We both talked\n\nabout getting married and having kids one day...\"\n\n\"Fara, I never turned Fox... you have to be born gay... and he told me he was\n\nbisexual. If he wanted to sleep with you or have a kid, I'd let him. He's\n\nnever told me he wanted either.\"\n\n\"You're a filthy liar, Falco.\" Fara frowns, beginning to growl. \"And now,\n\nyour lies have caught up with you.\"\n\n\"Huh?\" Falco asks, confused.\n\n\"I can't let you live, lest others find out about Project-X.\" She grasps her\n\ngun, aiming it at Falco.\n\nThe avian turns and tries to get up to run, but Fara pulls the trigger,\n\nfiring the gun,. The last thing Falco feels before he dies is the left side of\n\nhis head going completely numb. The gun is very quiet, thanks to the built-in\n\nsilencer Fara had installed. The falcon falls to the floor, next to the couch\n\nand coffee table, his blood staining the carpet, with blood splattered on the\n\nwalls and television set.\n\nShe approaches Falco's now-lifeless body, kneeling down next to him, and\n\nplacing her gun in his hand, to make his death look like a suicide. She starts\n\nto walk out of the apartment, closing the door and walking towards the\n\nelevator.\n\nWhen she reaches the ground floor, the doors open, and she sees Fox\n\napproaching.\n\n\"Hey, Fara.\" Fox speaks as he approaches the elevator, passing her on her way\n\nout.\n\n\"Hey, Fox. I was just knocking on your door, but you weren't home. I just\n\nwanted to ask how you were doing, since your dad died...\" She speaks.\n\nFox shrugs. \"I'm managing... Falco's helping me get through each day.\"\n\n\"He's a good guy.\"\n\n\"Yeah, he is...\"\n\nFara looks down briefly. \"Well, I have to get going... I'll see you later?\"\n\nShe asks.\n\nFox nods. \"Sure. Don't be a stranger.\"\n\nThe two vulpines part ways, with Fara exiting the building, and Fox entering\n\nthe elevator. He approaches his door, but remembers what Fara said.\n\n\"No answer? Falco's home... maybe he was just brushing his beak, or had to run\n\nto the store...\" Fox tries to rationalise with himself, to push back the\n\nuneasy feeling of dread.\n\nHe opens the door to their apartment, swiveling his ears to hear if Falco, or\n\nanyone else, is in their apartment.\n\n\"Falco? Are ya home, pal?\" Fox asks.\n\nWhen he recieves no answer, he begins to grow frightened. He stops dead when he sees Falco's bloody body on the living room floor.\n\n\"Oh my god... Oh my god...Falco... no.. what happened... oh, god no...\" He\n\nwhimpers to himself, stumbling back towards the doorway.\n\nFox runs out of the lobby of the apartment building, down to the underground\n\nparking garage, towards his motorcycle. He hops on, not even bothering with\n\nhis helmet. The vulpine turns on the two-wheeled machine, and bolts into the\n\nstreets above. Fox tries not to break down as he drives, making his way to\n\nPeppy's home, in the hilly suburbs of Corneria City.\n\nPeppy hears a knock on the door, and the urgent ringing of his doorbell. He\n\nplaces his book aside and gets up. He walks up to the door, seeing Fox\n\nstanding there, and welcomes him inside.\n\n\"Fox, what happened? You look terrible.\" The older male questions his friend.\n\n\"Falco's dead.\" Fox speaks, burying his face in his hands.\n\n\"Wh-what? What are you talking about?\" He asks.\n\n\"I came home and found Falco shot in the head in the living room. I called\n\n9-1-1, and the paramedics tried to revive him, but it was too late... so I ran\n\nand came here on my motorbike.\" Fox explains.\n\nPeppy nods his head as he listens.\n\n\"Did you see anyone shortly before or after?\" He asks.\n\n\"No... Fara said she stopped by to see me but had no response, and we met in\n\nthe elevator...\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"Shit.\" Peppy speaks, getting up, looking out of his living room window.\n\nHe only sees the lights of Corneria City, and Fox's parked motorbike behind his older sedan in his drive way.\n\n\"Fara might've been sent to kill you and Falco becuase of what you two have\n\nlearned. Pigma already did your father in. I'd be extremely cautious around\n\nher, son. She is a member of the military police force.\" Peppy explains.\n\nFox nods slowly. \"F-Fara? I thought we were good friends, though... we used\n\nto hang out at the Flight Academy...\"\n\n\"Those days are long gone. She might've been your friend at one time, but not\n\nany more. She's supposed to do her job, which is crush any dissent. Of\n\ncourse, it's possible she was merely being friendly to get close to you, like a\n\nspy... either way, it's not safe here anymore. The two of us should get going\n\nand hang out in the fringe until things die down...\"\n\n\"I don't want to run and hide... dad never taught me to be a coward...\"\n\n\"I know, but look at what bravery did to him. it KILLED him. It will surely\n\nkill you, too.\"\n\n\"Alright, but how long do we hide?\"\n\n\"A year, a decade... forever... I don't know how long it takes...\" Peppy speaks.\n\nFox stands there, silent, not knowing what to say.\n\n\"We'll pack our bags, and try to get the Great Fox out of the Corneria Space\n\nPort.\" He speaks, walking over to his bedroom, getting a couple spare sets of\n\nclothes to change in to.\n\n\"I can't go back there, Pep.\" Fox speaks. \"Fara might be waiting there... and\n\neven if that's not true... Falco...\" He lets his voice trail off.\n\n\"I understand, son. I always kept a couple sets of clothes here in case your\n\ndad stopped by for the weekend...\" He speaks, showing Fox a couple t-shirts and\n\npants.\n\n\"Dad used to stay here?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"When we were younger, yes. He'd spend the weekend... sometimes your mother\n\nwould stop by as well.\" Peppy explains.\n\n\"So... you and dad were lovers?\" Fox raises an eyebrow.\n\n\"Well, when you put it that way... I guess you could say that. Why do you\n\nask?\"\n\n\"Becase Falco and I--\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"Were lovers. I know. You two were always close. Whether it's genetics or\n\nnot, it doesn't matter if you're into males or females, because there's nothing\n\nwrong with it. I could tell without either of you ever having to say a word to\n\nme. I have ESP, remember?\"\n\nFox lowers his ears and nods. \"Y-yeah... I forgot...\"\n\nPeppy closes the lid of his suitcase containing their clothes. \"Alright, let's\n\ngo, Fox. Say goodbye to Corneria... it's the last time we'll be seeing it for\n\na long time.\"\n\nFox nods, following Peppy towards the front door.\n\n\"Alright, Wolf. We'll have only one, maybe TWO shots at this.\" Bill speaks.\n\nWolf nods his head as he lays down on his stomach, on the cool flat surface of\n\nhis kitchen table.\n\n\"Is there any reason I have to be nude, Bill?\"\n\n\"It's to prevent your clothes from being soiled with blood.\" The dog speaks.\n\n\"Fair enough. Is there any reason \\*you\\* have to be nude, though?\" Wolf\n\nsmirks.\n\n\"I thought you'd be more comfortable this way.\" Bill replies, petting Wolf's\n\nears.\n\n\"Mmn. I suppose.\" He speaks, closing his eyes as he leans into the pets.\n\n\"Alright. now, sweetie, I want you to drink as much of this as you can...\n\npreferrably all of it.\" Bill speaks as he begins to pour a brown-yet-clear\n\nliquid into a glass.\n\n\"What is it?\"\n\n\"Whiskey. One-hundred-fourty-proof.\" Bill replies.\n\n\"Shit. Are you tryin' to get me drunk and have sex with me? 'cause... you\n\nknow, all you have to do is ask.\" Wolf boasts.\n\n\"Don't tempt me, Wolf.\" Bill chuckles. \"I mean, this is to numb the pain by\n\ngetting you as hammered as possible as fast as possible. I'll use the\n\nremainder as a disinfectant at the wound site.\"\n\n\"And what about blood loss?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"I won't let you bleed out. I have clotting agents and can clamp you down if\n\nyou start to hemmorage.\" Bill explains.\n\n\"That's... comforting. Alright, I'm ready.\" Wolf speaks, grasping the large\n\nglass of whiskey, drinking it.\n\nWithin moments of finishing the liquid, Wolf begins to feel its effects,\n\nblurring his vision, relaxing his body, making him drowsy.\n\nBill watches him. \"You feelin' tipsy?\"\n\nWolf nods his head. \"Yeah... been a while...\"\n\nBill pets his head gently. \"Alright. Let's begin. You'll feel a small pinch,\n\nlike a bee sting...\"\n\nThe dog makes a small incision at the base of Wolf's skull, just below Wolf's\n\ncybernetic implants. Wolf winces a bit at the pain. Bill notices, as Wolf's\n\nfingers and toes curl in stress.\n\n\"It's alright.. you're doing well.\" He speaks.\n\n\"Have you ever done this before?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"Cybernetics removal? Four or five times.\" Bill replies.\n\nWolf smiles a bit, feeling somewhat relieved.\n\n\"All in conditions about on par with this.... removals are unauthorized by\n\nGeneral Pepper, unless they're causing severe issues with life.\" Bill replies.\n\nWolf sighs, then twitches as Bill touches something within him.\n\n\"What the hell? What are you doing in there?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"Shit, sorry... this equipment's very sensitive.\" Bill speaks.\n\n\"Yeah, well, if you make me forget math, your ass is mine.\" Wolf growls.\n\nBill nods, carefully severing the implants' connections, one by one with the\n\nscalpel. He dabs wolf's neck with the towel as blood pools in his wound. He\n\nbegins to then slowly, and carefully, remove the port and tracking device that\n\nwere embedded into his brain for the past couple of years.\"\n\nWolf growls, wincing from the pain. He claws the table lightly.\n\nBill pets him gently as he dabs the towel along his neck again. \"Shh, shh...\n\nit's almost done... it's already out. I just have to sew you back up.\" He\n\nspeaks.\n\n\"What about the others?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"I can't remove them... they're too deep, and too damaged to remove.\" He speaks\n\nas he guides a thread through a needle.\n\n\"Andross really fucked me.\" Wolf speaks. \"In the figurative sense, of\n\ncourse.\"\n\nBill nods. \"I'm sorry. If I remove them, they could fall apart, or shock you,\n\nor do something else entirely... they're all over your back, arms, and skull,\n\ntoo. I can't remove them without making dozens of incisions, so I've removed\n\nonly the worst one, the tracking device.\"\n\n\"I understand. Thanks for doing this, Bill. I know you're putting yourself in\n\ngrave danger...\"\n\n\"It's not a problem. I'm doing this becuase you're my friend... and someone\n\nhas to bring down Pepper.\"\n\n\"I don't even know where to begin with that insane fuck. No offense.\"\n\n\"None taken, and I meant myself in taking him down... though if you're willing\n\nto help, I'd greatly appreciate it.\" Bill smiles.\n\nWolf smirks back at him. \"Oh, I'd love to get back at that fucker for all the\n\ntimes he's raped me. I can't even get it up anymore... and the only time I\n\nfeel even \\*remotely\\* aroused, is when I'm around you.\"\n\n\"Flatterer.\" Bill speaks as he gently pierces wolf's skin with the needle,\n\nbeginning to sew him up.\n\n\"I'm serious. At least you bother to make sure your partner is cared-for.\" He\n\nspeaks, growling as Bill stitches him back together.\n\n\"It's just common-courtesy, dear.\" Bill replies.\n\n\"I find it hard to believe that you're Pepper's son.\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"You and me both.\" Bill speaks, finishing sewing Wolf's neck, kissing his\n\nfriend's nose.\n\nWolf blushes and smiles at this small pleasure in his fucked-up life,\n\nsavouring it while it lasts. He pulls Bill into a hug, comforted by the\n\nfeeling of another person, one that genuinely likes him, against his body, not\n\ncaring if ithey are male or female. He sighs and murs loudly.\n\nBill grins. \"Enjoying yourself?\"\n\n\"More than you know, prettyboi.\" Wolf replies.\n\n\"Good. Once that alcohol wears off, you're gonna have a massive migrane. I\n\ngot a couple blunts for us to do to kill your pain.\" He replies.\n\nWolf hugs Bill tighter. \"Well, then... break 'em out.\"\n\n\"Will do. And after that, we're breakin' you out. Think you can handle it?\"\n\nBill asks.\n\nWolf raises an eyebrow. \"You seem to forget who you're talking to.\"\n\nBill nuzzles Wolf. \"It's just that I performed brain surgery on you minutes\n\nago.\"\n\n\"I'm pretty fucked-up, Bill... this is as good as I'll get.\" Wolf replies.\n\nAfter a couple joints, and after the sun goes down, Bill and Wolf get\n\ndressed into their uniforms. Bill leads Wolf down the hallways, towards one\n\nof the staff entrances.\n\n\"I don't have that level of clearance, Bill.\" He whispers.\n\n\"I do, and you're with me.\" Bill replies.\n\n\"Sorry. I guess I forgot I don't have their tracking device in me anymore.\"\n\n\"It happens. Just come on.\" Bill leads him through the empty staff corridor.\n\nWolf nervously follows Bill through successive corridors below the military\n\nbase, soon coming to the staff parking garage.\n\n\"We're almost there.\" Bill speaks.\n\nHe leads Wolf to his car, and opens the door, and then pops the trunk.\n\n\"Uhm...?\" Wolf wonders what Bill is planning.\n\n\"You gotta hide in the trunk, just until I get you a safe distance from the\n\nbase.\"\n\n\"Can't you just let me ride in the passenger seat and say you're taking me off\n\nbase?\"\n\n\"I can't... they'd ask too many questions... the only perk about being Pepper's\n\nson is that they won't scan my car... I still have to go through security\n\nchecks and answer their questions, though.\"\n\nWolf nods as he walks towards the rear of the car.\n\n\"At least you have lots of trunk space.\" He says as he climbs in.\n\nBill shuts the trunk, steps back into his car, and pulls out of the parking\n\nlot. He pulls up to the security gate and calmly states he's going out for the\n\nevening in Corneria City. After being waved through by security, he drives\n\ndown the road, stopping after the first curve to open the trunk and let Wolf\n\nout. The lupine dusts himself off and steps back into Bill's car, sitting in\n\nthe passenger seat.\n\n\"Where are you gonna go, Wolf?\" Bill asks as he drives.\n\nWolf looks out the window, towards the city in the distance. \"I'm not sure,\n\nreally... might just hook up with my pal Leon and hang out in the fringe...\"\n\n\"Powalski?\" Bill asks.\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"I'm glad he's not been caught.\"\n\nWolf chuckles. \"I think it's more like Pepper and his goons not \\*wanting\\* to\n\ncatch him... he's not right in the head... hell, even ANDROSS was scared of him\n\nat times.\"\n\nBill nodded in agreement. He heard stories of Leon when he lost his temper,\n\nand never wanted to encounter that side of the chameleon. He casts those\n\nthoughts aside, keeping his mind on driving to the Corneria Space Port, just up\n\nahead. The husky slowly pulls his car into his registered garage spot, near\n\nhis spacecraft. He turns off the ignition and steps out, followed by Wolf.\n\nThe two males walk towards the green-and-orange craft. Bill notices Wolf is\n\nsomewhat skittish, looking around nervously, as if he's being followed.\n\n\"Relax, Wolf. I was able to get it out, and I made sure no one was following\n\nus here.\" Bill speaks, placing a reassuring paw on Wolf's shoulder.\n\n\"I know... just a habit, I guess.\" He replies in his usual gruff voice.\n\nBill pops the canopy, and begins to climb in. \"Don't worry, it's a two-\n\nseater.\"\n\n\"I'm more worried about security cameras... or getting caught at the Orbital\n\n\"Gate...\" Wolf speaks as he climbs in.\n\n\"This is a military-registered ship... we're exempt from having to go through\n\nthe Orbital Gate.\" Bill replies.\n\nWolf's ears pick up at this good news. He can't believe his ears at this\n\nrelative good fortune. \"Really?\"\n\nBill nods. \"Really really. You're safe.\"\n\nWolf swishes his tail behind him in his seat. He leans forward and hugs Bill.\n\n\"If my sex drive weren't shot to shit, babe... I'd introduce you to zero-g\n\nsex.\"\n\nBill blushes slightly from that comment. \"I'd take you up on that offer.\"\n\nThe craft slowly lifts off of the surface, before blasting up into low orbit,\n\nbreaking free from Corneria's gravitational pull. It flies undetected through\n\nLylat, before approaching the Fringe, seeing its main planet of Eledar in the\n\ndistance.\n\n\"Where should I drop you off? I'm not sure if bringing this military ship in\n\nwould be a good idea... they might think it's an invasion or something...\" Bill\n\nasks as he brings the ship in through Eledar's atmosphere.\n\nWolf waves off Bill's concerns. \"We're more of a live-and-let-live group. As\n\nlong as you're not causing trouble, you're fine. Just... try to stay away from\n\nSargasso. That place is all manners of fucked-up...\"\n\n\"I thought you frequent that place.\" Bill inquires as he lands.\n\n\"I do. It's... the only supply depot this far out from Lylat... which means it\n\nattracts all sorts of trouble.\" Wolf explains.\n\nThe ship lands without incident, several miles from a nearby settlement. The\n\ncanopy pops open, and the two males step out.\n\n\"You need to go anywhere in particular?\" Bill asks.\n\nWolf shakes his head. \"Nah, this is fine. Leon's gonna pick me up in that\n\nnearby town. Thanks for the ride, though. I owe you for this.\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"No problem, Wolf.\" Bill speaks as he closes the canopy on his craft again,\n\nslowly taking off, watching as Wolf begins walking towards the settlement.\n\nThe Great Fox's engines roar to life as the large craft begins to blast off\n\nfrom the surface of Corneria. The large ship reorients itself, aiming for the\n\nOrbital Gate as it takes off.\n\n\"Wave goodbye to Corneria, Fox... we're never seein' her again.\" Peppy speaks.\n\nFox watches as he assists Peppy in taking off, monitoring the ship's computer\n\nsystems. \"I just hope Bill and Wolf got out...\" He speaks to himself.\n\n\"I'm sure they did. We might even see Wolf in the Fringe, on our way out.\"\n\nPeppy speaks.\n\nThe Great Fox approaches Orbital Gate. Peppy dials in to the Orbital Gate's\n\npost, for departure information.\n\nFox turns to him. \"Will they really let us leave? What do we tell them? 'Oh,\n\nhey, boys... we're goin' into self-exile as outcasts... you'll never see us\n\nagain.. can ya point us towards Crossing and help us get to Warp speed'?\"\n\nPeppy sighs. \"Just let me handle it, Fox.\"\n\nThe ship stops at the Orbital Gate. Peppy shows them their credentials as\n\nStar Fox Team. When asked for their destination, he simply replies with\n\n\"Crossing.\" A couple raised eyebrows later, the Great Fox is off for the\n\nFringe, for the final time. The trip takes nearly a day, but the familiar\n\nred lights of the Sargasso Space Port come into view. Peppy and R.O.B. bring\n\nthe craft in to dock safely. The crew soon disembarks, to purchase some much-\n\nneeded supplies for their interstellar journey.\n\nFox orders a drink for himself, grasping the cool glass as he walks back\n\ntowards his table. He sets the two liquid-filled glasses down and looks closer\n\nat two figures he thinks he recognizes in the distance. Wolf and Leon. He has\n\nnot Wolf in over 3 years, Leon since the Lylat Wars, when they fought in\n\ncombat.\n\nFox and Wolf went back to their teen years, before the Lylat Wars. When Wolf\n\nwas kicked out of his own house by his alcoholic father and biker mother, James\n\ntook him in, and tried to help Wolf and Falco get their lives back on track. A\n\nsingle parent raising his own kid, plus his two runaway teen friends off the\n\nstreet. No wonder Falco and Wolf held James in high respect. He trusted and\n\nunderstood them and cared for them when no one else would.\n\nIt's a shame that Wolf was kicked out of the Flight Academy. Falco was able\n\nto get out of the street gang that would've lead to his death, though Wolf\n\nwasn't as lucky. When the administration found out he refused to leave the\n\ngang or get help, they gave him the boot. He ran right into the comforting\n\narms of Andross, taking his gangmember friend Leon with him.\n\nAfter the war, Wolf's disloyalty to the Cornerians netted him a life sentance\n\nat the Cornerian Flight Academy's maximum-security detention wing. Some sort\n\nof perverse joke on Pepper's behalf, maybe... he checked in, but would not be\n\nchecking out... not if Pepper had his way about it.\n\nIt's a shame... Wolf and Leon deserved better than that. They all did. Fox\n\nshakes his head from daydreaming of past years and events. He notices that\n\nLeon sees him. No look of anger, murder, or hatred on his face. A good sign,\n\nthough he could just be great at hiding his emotions. He pauses, mulling over\n\nwhether or not to walk over to them. His mind's made up for him when Wolf sees\n\nhim, and waves him over. He shrugs, picking up his glasses and walking over to\n\ntheir table.\n\n\"Didn't think I'd ever see you two again.\" Fox speaks as he sits down.\n\n\"Likewise, pup. What brings you out here?\" Wolf inquires.\n\n\"Pep and I are goin' nomadic. We're leavin' Lylat to cruise the stars from now\n\non.\" Fox speaks. \"We have nothin' left to keep us here...\"\n\nWolf nods slowly. \"So, you're just givin' up? I didn't think McClouds were\n\nquitters.\"\n\n\"Hey, fuck you, Wolf. My mother's dead. My dad is dead. My boyfriend is\n\ndead. I'm probably on a government hit-list to be taken out by my old high\n\nschool flame, and Peppy doesn't see a way out for us aside from self-exile.\"\n\nPeppy sits down beside Fox. \"Now, don't be hard on Wolf. He's just tryin' to\n\nbe friendly.\"\n\n\"Thanks, Peppy.\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"I know. I'm just upset... I feel like I have nothing worth living for now.\"\n\n\"You still have us.\" Peppy speaks.\n\n\"For how long, huh? Fara's gonna come after us. We could fly all the way to\n\nSol or Epsilon Canis Majoris, or even planet Kew... we're wanted and dead on\n\nour feet.\" Fox holds his head in his hands, trying to keep his emotions and\n\ncreeping paranoia in check.\n\n\"Fox... don't be paranoid. Fara won't find us. We'll be maintaining radio\n\nsilence.. how can she track us?\"\n\nLeon observes quietly. Normally, others' affairs don't concern him, but\n\nFox's out-of-character behaviour is concerning him.\n\nThis unnerves Peppy. Fox was never one to stoop to paranoid fears or\n\ndelusions. He closes his eyes, noticing Fox's brainwaves. He taps into Fox's\n\nmind, and is initially surprised by what he finds. Fox's mind is in complete\n\nturmoil. Thoughts of endless sorrow, fear, suicide, and loneliness flood\n\nthrough like an out-of-control tsunami, repeatedly washing over the more-\n\npleasant memories of Falco and his parents.\n\nFox and Wolf's arguing voices fade into the din of the restaurant as Leon\n\nfocuses in on Peppy's face. He raises an eyebrow, wondering what the hare is\n\ndoing. He then remembers that Peppy is a clairvoyant. \"Extra-Sensory\n\nPerception, or whatever it's called. Yeah. ESP.\" A voice in Leon's head\n\ntells him.\n\n\"He's probably picking up Fox's brainwaves...\" he thinks to himself.\n\nAs he says this, Peppy opens his eyes again, watching Fox and Wolf closely,\n\nbefore turning to Leon. Peppy notices a previously-unseen expression on Leon's\n\nface: one of concern.\n\nHe does not want to betray Fox's trust, but knows he might need help. Wolf\n\nmay be unreceptive, or too blunt, and he'd rather not dive into Fox's mind\n\nagain, since Fox would probably become enraged at being violated in the most\n\nintimate of ways. The only other option is Leon. He taps his index and middle\n\nfinger twice to his own forehead as he looks at Leon. The chameleon tilts his\n\nhead in confusion, before understanding what Peppy's asking. He shrugs, then\n\nnods slowly.\n\nThe hare breathes calmly as he tries to tune in to Leon's brainwaves. It's\n\nnot easy, as the chameleon doesn't have a \"signal\" of any sort, unlike Fox's\n\nsteady white noise, or Wolf's pulses and bursts of brain activity. However, he\n\nsoon hears a calm voice. Leon's voice.\n\n\"You wanted telepathy?\" Leon asks.\n\n\"Yes. It's about Fox.\" Peppy replies.\n\n\"Not surprised about this? No questions about how I have your skill?\"\n\n\"Not at all. I know you have your own mental issues... we all do. With all\n\nthe people in Lylat, I was bound to come across another clairvoyant. Besides,\n\nit's your business and yours alone.\"\n\n\"Very true...\" Leon looks at Fox, who is speaking with Wolf. \"What about\n\nhim?\"\n\n\"Something's not right. I don't know what, but I fear for him. He's in a\n\ngreat deal of pain right now.\"\n\n\"Such as...?\"\n\n\"It's easier if I show you...\" Peppy speaks, sharing what he saw with the\n\nchameleon.\n\n\"It's not that bad... for me. For him? Don't go. He's a loose cannon.\"\n\n\"I see. What do you suggest?\"\n\n\"Well... he's part of the reason my boyfriend was imprisoned for the past few\n\nyears in that hellish military academy. I'm still trying to help him get over\n\nit... I don't really see why I should help you or Fox.\"\n\nPeppy mulls this over for a second.\n\n\"It's not for him, or me, it's for Lylat.\"\n\nLeon raises an eyebrow. \"For Lylat. The star-system that gave us independent\n\nthinkers and social outcasts a giant middle-finger, forcing us into self-exile\n\nor torture on Corneria and Venom? Why should we help those that harmed us. I\n\nwould torment and destroy them, first.\"\n\n\"Not everyone's bad, Leon. Fox and James weren't, and I'm not...\"\n\n\"I know, but the numbers are too few to be important. Besides, you don't even\n\nhave a plan on how to help save Lylat from Pepper. The only one of you I have\n\nany level of respect for was James, and he's dead... It's a pity that he's\n\ngone, too... if only he played on the right team, we would've been able to help\n\nAndross fuck over Pepper and save the system. \"\n\nLeon and Peppy go silent, listening in to what Fox and Wolf are speaking about.\n\n\"Wolf... you were right. This whole FUCKING time... you were right.\"\n\nWolf raises his eyebrow. \"Right on what?\"\n\n\"Everything. Andross not being the enemy, right about questioning others'\n\nintentions and not just blindly following orders... my father did it, and it\n\ngot him killed... Falco did it, and he was killed... that is my fate, and I\n\nhave to accept that...\"\n\n\"Well, you got yourself into that mess... you didn't have to go to the Flight\n\nAcademy...\"\n\n\"I just wanted to impress my father and keep honour for my family...\"\n\n\"And you thought honour was being a mindless tool?\"\n\n\"At first, yeah... but then I started questioning odd orders like bombing\n\ndepots instead of munitions caches... I'll come clean... I've learned to hate\n\nthe military. They had me shoot up schools and cars filled with people as they\n\ntried to flee from me in my fighter! I killed innocent, unarmed people...\n\nchildren!\"\n\n\"So... what do you want from me?\"\n\n\"Forgiveness. There's blood on my hands and it's starting to eat away at me.\"\n\nWolf shakes his head.\n\n\"Sorry. I'm a renegade... that's not my game. Besides, there's nothing to\n\nforgive. You did what you thought was right, so did I. I don't hold a grudge\n\nagainst ya, though.\"\n\n\"Please... what should I do then?\" Fox asks, almost begging.\n\nWolf sighs.\n\n\"Fox, your dad was a good man, but he did what a bunch of bad tricksters told\n\nhim, and it got him killed. Probably from uncovering something he wasn't\n\nsupposed to. It's why most of us are out here in the fringe. We can't go back\n\nto Lylat... or just don't want to...\"\n\n\"Self-Exile... that's what Peppy and I are doing...\" Fox thinks out loud to\n\nhimself.\n\nWolf nods. \"You could hang out with us here, or go on your starcruising.\"\n\nPeppy turns back to Leon. \"If Wolf can forgive Fox... why not give him a chance\n\nat redemption?\"\n\n\"Wolf never forgave him.\" Leon snorts.\n\nPeppy nods in reply.\n\n\"How about I just get you two oriented in life on the Fringe... if you decide\n\nto stay, that's fine... and if you decide to send the Great Fox into the\n\nsurface of a star, well.. more room for me.\" Leon offers.\n\n\"That... that would be much-appreciated, Leon. I suppose living out here is\n\npreferrable to the vast expanses of deep space.\"\n\nLeon pulls out his knife, running his finger along the edge, feeling its sharp,\n\ncold steel along his flesh. He breathes deeply, immersing himself in the\n\nfamiliar sensation, before replying.\n\n\"Anything's preferrable to deep space... aside from Lylat. I'm only doin' this\n\nbecause I'm just such a charming fella. Now, you'd be wise to stay on my nice\n\nside and do what I say if I give orders, otherwise... mister nice guy goes\n\naway, understand?\"\n\n\"Yeah... but we can't just kill anyone...\"\n\n\"Who said anything about killing? That's \\*my\\* hobby, and I don't like to do it\n\nwith others, aside from Wolf, very often. Lucky for you and Fox.\" Leon grins,\n\ntouching his fingertip to his knife, before returning it to its leather holster\n\non his belt. \"It's just common-sense shit, like don't piss off that guy, or\n\nshield the Great Fox from the meteor storm coming up... you listen to me,\n\nyou'll do just fine out here.\"\n\n\"That sounds fair.\" Pepper replies.\n\nLeon decides to speak up, interrupting Fox and Wolf. \"Ah, guys... I think I\n\nknow what Fox is going through. I think it would be a very bad idea for you\n\ntwo to disembark with him in this state of mind. You can hang out with Wolf\n\nand I until you get yourselves together again. I know of a cheap docking zone\n\nfor the Great Fox if you don't have a place to stay.\"\n\nFox shakes his head. \"I appreciate the offer, but I can't impose myself on you\n\nboth like that... It's best if I get myself as far from Lylat as I can...\"\n\n\"It wasn't an offer.\" Leon replies bluntly.\n\n\"Huh?\" Fox wonders.\n\n\"Think of it as protective custody, or suicide watch.\" He speaks.\n\n\"Uh... Leon?\" Wolf raises an eyebrow. \"Can I speak with you alone for a\n\nsecond?\"\n\nLeon stands up with Wolf, walking with him away from the table.\n\n\"What's gotten into you? I know you never got along with Star Fox Team...\"\n\n\"He's obviously going through some emotional issues, and it's better if he's on\n\nterra firma in case something goes wrong, as opposed to intentionally opening\n\nan airlock without a spacesuit.\"\n\n\"You think Fox might kill himself?\"\n\n\"I think he \\*will\\* kill himself.\"\n\n\"I've never known you to be the overly-carying type. This is new to me.\"\n\n\"Think of it this way, Wolf. Fox hangs himself by his belt in the Great Fox's\n\nbathroom, and there go our star system's chances at being saved from General\n\nPepper's tyranny. He's our last shot, now that James and Falco are worm-chow.\n\nDo I trust Fox? Not a chance in hell. Do I trust Peppy? Only marginally more\n\nthan Fox, which isn't saying much... though it would be in our best interests\n\nto at least keep them around, should some major shit go down.\"\n\n\"Ahh. THAT'S the Leon I remember. Cold, calculating, logical.\"\n\n\"Thank you. I'm glad you're beginning to see things the way I do.\"\n\n\"And to think I expected you to say 'no, fuck off, losers. I just got Wolf\n\nback and we're trying to pick up the pieces of our relationship'.\" Wolf\n\nchuckles.\n\nLeon simply pets Wolf's ears in response, before walking back with him to the\n\ntable.\n\n\"The offer still stands for you to hang out with Wolf and I. I'm only offering\n\nbecause I'm just that much of a nice guy... and I don't want to see you put\n\nyour blaster to your chin and paint the inside of your ship with your\n\nbrainmatter.\" Leon grins, feeling a bit of relief at returning to his more-\n\nusual wry, sarcastic, insane self.\n\n\"I'm not suicidal...\" Fox speaks up, being a terrible liar.\n\n\"Just... accept our offer. For a couple days.\" Leon asks. \"Then, you can go\n\nfuck off to whatever place you and Peppy wanted.\"\n\nFox sighs. \"Alright.\"\n\n\"Do you know where our place is? Or where the docking zone is?\" Wolf asks his\n\ntwo friends.\n\n\"Not really, no...\" Fox replies.\n\n\"We'll take ya there. Let's go.\" Wolf speaks, standing up.\n\nThe flight from Sargasso to the other side of Eledar took only an hour. Wolf\n\nand leon guided the Great Fox in for a landing in the grass-covered docking\n\nzone, just outside of town.\n\nThe four males walk from the docking zone towards a run-down home in dire\n\nneed of repair. Leon proudly opens the door, letting Wolf, Fox, and Peppy\n\ninside.\n\n\"Sorry that this place still looks trashed... Twenty years of war and neglect\n\ndoes that to a place. Still workin' on fixin' it up, though.\" Wolf explains\n\nas he walks with them through the small, gutted living room.\n\n\"That's alright... guys, I really appreciate your hospitality--\" Fox speaks,\n\nbefore Leon interrupts him.\n\n\"Hah! You're a former enemy. You are surviving only by my good graces... if\n\nshit goes down, I'm expecting you to help us.\" He smirks as he opens the small\n\nrefridgerator, grasping an apple, taking a fairly-violent bite out of it.\n\n\"I... understand.\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"Good.\" Leon says after gulping down the apple's juicy pulp.\n\n\"I think we'll be staying in the Great Fox tonight, Leon.\" Peppy speaks.\n\n\"Nonsense. I have a spare bedroom. Wolf and I will share a bed... you.. don't\n\nhave a PROBLEM with my work-in-progress, do you?\" Leon asks, slowly waving an\n\narm, emphasizing their small house.\n\n\"No, not at all... I just thought it was a one-bedroom place.\" Peppy speaks, a\n\nbit uneasy.\n\n\"That's fine.\" Leon hugs Wolf with one arm.\n\nThe dim daylight fades into night very quickly on Eledar. Fox and Peppy are\n\nin the spare bedroom, getting ready for what they hope is not their final\n\nnight's rest. Fox sits down on the bed as Peppy crawls in.\n\n\"Sleep well, Fox. I'll see you in the mornin'.\" Peppy speaks, yawning.\n\n\"Yeah... you too, Pep.\" Fox speaks, somewhat nervously.\n\nHe listens as Peppy falls fast asleep next to him. He can hear Wolf and\n\nLeon's voices through the thin walls.\n\n\"I don't see why you have to treat Fox like shit, man.\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"Treat him like shit? I offered him shelter. I don't have to do anything,\n\nincluding let him live... but I have.\"\n\n\"You don't like him very much, do you...\"\n\n\"I don't trust 'im. Wolf, we just got back together after HOW many months of\n\nyou being trapped in that hellhole?\"\n\n\"I'm not leaving you for Fox. I'm surprised you'd be jealous.\"\n\n\"I'm not jealous, believe me. I just have enough on my plate with helping you\n\ngetting your life back together... now I have him begging for help.\"\n\n\"Cut the pup some slack. Falco died. Very gruesomely, too. It would be like\n\nyou losing me.\"\n\nLeon stares blankly at Wolf.\n\nThe lupine male knows he's hit a nerve. Without him, there'd be absolutely\n\nnothing holding Leon back from his sociopathic rampages.\n\n\"I know Fox better than you because we go back farther... but that doesn't mean\n\nI'm attracted to him. Fuck... Leon, he's almost like a brother.. his dad took\n\nme in when I needed someone. Just give him a break. He needs it.\"\n\n\"Wolf, I could do damage to his mind but he's doing it well enough. I'm\n\ntempted to just kick back and watch his descent into madness as I munch on some\n\npopcorn. I'd be disappointed in you if you pulled him back from the abyss.\"\n\n\"Leon...\"\n\n\"You owe him NOTHING. No, you owe him less than nothing. You owe him all the\n\npain in the world. He's the reason why you spent so long suffering at the\n\nhands of Pepper, and now you want us help him.\"\n\n\"Because he helped me. Just repaying a debt. I've put the Lylat Wars behind\n\nme, even though they've fucked me up.\"\n\n\"Why? Let him fall. If he's strong, he'll land at the bottom and get back up.\n\nIf he's not, well... guess it didn't matter then, did it.\"\n\n\"So, you want him to just get out of our hair and go somewhere else in the\n\nFringe?\"\n\n\"He don't have to go home, but he can't stay here.\"\n\n\"Why even offer to help Peppy and Fox in the first place, then?\"\n\n\"You really want to know why?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"I... rather dislike being alone. I was assuming if I told them to go fuck\n\nthemselves, you'd leave me. I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew...\n\nsomething I rarely do...\"\n\n\"Leon...\" Wolf sighs. \"I'd be annoyed at you, but I wouldn't leave you.\"\n\n\"I just wouldn't be able to stand it if you left me for.. for HIM. Daddy's-boy\n\nFox McCloud, 'saviour' of Lylat... the one that ensured its downfall. Bill?\n\nFine. I know you two have a long history... I'd even rather see you leave me\n\nfor Bill, instead of Fox... I just feel Fox and James were the ones that just\n\nfucked us badly.\"\n\n\"I... I didn't know you were that passionate about us.\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"Come on, Wolf. I'm sociopathic, not unfeeling.\" Leon turns away from Wolf\n\nWolf ignores this and wraps his arms around him.\n\n\"You're the only man I'm able to open myself up to... Fox is just a friend, and\n\nit's going to remain that way.\"\n\n\"And Bill?\"\n\n\"He's just one I felt I owed for helping keep me alive in the Military Academy.\n\nI wouldn't have lived if he didn't help me. You know that.\"\n\n\"I'll accept that.\" Leon gives a light nuzzle.\n\n\"So, what do you want me to do with Pepper and Fox?\"\n\n\"Hmm... maybe take them into town and show 'em where the market and shit are...\n\njust get 'em acquainted with the place, and then tell them there's no room at\n\nthe inn anymore...\"\n\n\"You do it however you want. I never intended on being the 'caring' type...\n\nand I'm not starting now.\"\n\n\"I'm not going to argue... we'll just tell him in the morning that we gotta gut\n\nthe other rooms and he and Peppy will have to stay in the Great Fox from here\n\non out. Are you happy now?\"\n\n\"Like a cat eating a canary.\"\n\n\"You're unbelivable.\"\n\n\"I wouldn't be Leon Powalski any other way, now would I?\"\n\n\"Goodnight, dear.\"\n\nFox's ears droop at that conversation. He looks to Peppy. The only one he\n\nhas left that genuinely cares about him. It pains him even more, realizing\n\nthat Peppy will almost certainly die before him. After that, what? Complete,\n\nunending loneliness? His nightmares have come true. He falls back into his\n\npillow, drifting off to a restless sleep as he tries to recall where his life\n\ncame crashing down around him.\n\nSleep came with a struggle, and was gone prematurely. Not that his dreams\n\nwere pleasant anyway. His dreams were filled with Falco and his father telling\n\nhim how he had failed them, and how Lylat was doomed, thanks to his blind\n\nobediance to Pepper, and assassination of Andross, the only rebel that could\n\nend Pepper's vice-like grip on the star system. The night dragged on for what\n\nseemed like weeks. Fox's dreams were filled with his friends taunting him for\n\nfleeing, calling him a coward and a failure. The worst stings were from Falco\n\nand James. As he dreamt, he saw visions of people being tortured and turned\n\ninto machine-like cyborgs, blaming him for their horrid fate. Fox woke up,\n\nopening his groggy eyes.\n\nHe looks at his watch.\n\n6:13.\n\nHe sighs. He stands, getting his uniform back on. He rummages through his\n\nduffelbag. His handgun, blaster, and submachine gun are all present, in their\n\ncompartments.\n\n\"Good. I just might be needing one of you boys one last time.\" Fox speaks,\n\ntucking the loaded gun into his vest pocket.\n\nFox walks out of his bedroom, towards the kitchen.\n\nAs he grasps a pear, he hears footsteps. He turns his head to the doorway,\n\nfinding Wolf standing there.\n\n\"You know, Leon gets angry when his fruits are eaten without his knowledge.\"\n\nWolf speaks.\n\n\"Well, your boyfriend can eat shit and die.\" Fox speaks, a noticible quiver\n\nin his voice as he places the uneaten pear back in the fridge.\n\nWolf listens closely, looking at his vest, unable to tell what is in the\n\nfront-pocket.\n\n\"I know he's an ass... but...\"\n\n\"I heard what you and Leon discussed last night. Don't worry, Wolf. You'll\n\nnever have to deal with me again. Nobody will.\" Fox breaks down as he pulls\n\nthe slug-firing gun from his vest.\n\nWolf's eyes go wide.\n\n\"Fox... what are you doing?\" Wolf asks quietly, taking a step forward, keeping\n\nhis hands in front of him, in a feeble attempt to shield himself from a\n\nprojectile from the gun.\n\nThe wolf's heart begins to race.\n\n\"I'm ending it. Right here, right now. I'm done with this insane, backwards\n\nstar system! There's no way out for me, or you, or ANYONE else! We're all\n\ndoomed to a life of slavery, torture as Pepper's cyborg slaves, or constant\n\nsurveillance, and YOU KNOW IT! There's nothing to be done to stop it!\" Fox\n\ncries out, pulling the trigger on the older gun.\n\nThe bullet in the chamber doesn't fire.\n\nWolf takes this chance to immediately tackle Fox to the ground, grasping at\n\nhis hands to wrestle the gun out of Fox's hands, before he can get another\n\nchance at suicide.\n\n\"FUCK OFF, WOLF! LET ME DIE WITH DIGNITY!\" Fox shouts, trying to push Wolf\n\noff of him.\n\n\"This isn't dignified, pup!\" Wolf growls, trying to keep Fox pinned.\n\nBy this time, Leon and Peppy have been awakened from the commotion in the\n\nkitchen.\n\n\"Aw, shit. What's going on, Wolf?\" A concerned Peppy asks as he walks through\n\nthe doorway, seeing Wolf pinning Fox.\n\n\"Fox just tried to off himself in the kitchen. He's lucky the gun jammed.\" He\n\nturns to face Peppy, replying tersely.\n\nFox siezes the opportunity and sucker-punches Wolf in the jaw, splitting his\n\nlip and pushing the larger male off of him.\n\n\"Little fucker!\" Wolf growls, jumping after Fox.\n\n\"Serves you right, Wolf!\" Fox growls, finding himself nose-to-nose with Leon.\n\n\"And you... I don't even get you. Offering to help Peppy and I, then saying\n\nyou want us to fuck right off and never come back. You want us gone, we're\n\ngone!\"\n\nLeon simply remains emotionless. \"You've assaulted my boyfriend and tried to\n\nkill yourself. Part of me wants to gut you like a fish, another part of me\n\nwants to just say 'get out and don't come back', and the other, smallest, part\n\nis saying to not leave you alone in a room anymore.\"\n\n\"Such a smartass, Powalski.\"\n\n\"Fox, shut it. You're a guest in his house. I know you're upset, but you owe\n\nthem both a huge apology.\"\n\n\"I owe THEM?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"So it's my fault that Lylat's completely fucked. Real nice. I have enough\n\nshit to worry about without you trying to lay guilt on me.\"\n\n\"I don't mean that. I mean you owe them apologies for your outburst.. and for\n\nnearly breaking Wolf's jaw.\" Peppy replies calmly.\n\nFox turns to Wolf, who is feeling his teeth, a bit surprised that none of them\n\nwere knocked loose.\n\n\"Wolf... I'm sorry for hurting you and Leon. I'm just at the end of my rope,\n\nand I don't know what to do... my life's come crashing down... short of\n\nbecoming a one-man kamikaze army... I'm at a loss for ideas...\"\n\n\"Just come with me, pup. Let's go for a walk.\n\n\"Pep... tell everyone you meet that I tried my best...\" Fox speaks as Wolf\n\npushes him out the door.\n\n\"I'm not gonna kill ya, Fox. You know me better than that. I'm pissed at you\n\nfor punching me, but you need to know that punching me is the least of our\n\nworries. It's water under the bridge, got it?\"\n\nFox nods shyly.\n\nWolf walks with Fox through the bushes behind his house with Fox behind him.\n\n\"The fresh air will do us both some good.\" He speaks.\n\n\"Is Leon going to kill Peppy and I?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"No. He's just annoyed at you, and holds a grudge from the war... but it's not\n\nas bad as before...\" Wolf speaks, coming to a meadow.\n\nThe two keep walking, gradually coming to a small stream. Wolf and fox walk\n\nalong the riverbank, before coming to a stop, sitting on a log.\n\n\"Fox, you're self-destructing. You need to get your pain out of you before it\n\nkills you. I know this becuase I've pulled Leon back from the brink a couple\n\ntimes.\"\n\n\"I... I don't know... I don't know if I can survive the pain...\"\n\n\"Oh, there'll be pain, but it needs to come out.\" Wolf speaks softly, dragging\n\nFox into a tight hug.\n\n\"Your friend Bill is responsible for me still being alive. He didn't give up,\n\nand neither will you, do you understand me? Lylat's down but not out.\" Wolf\n\nspeaks, keeping Fox's eyes on his.\n\n\"Bill?\"\n\n\"Yeah. Bill Grey, your old friend.\"\n\n\"I miss Bill... hell, I miss Falco and dad... and I've missed you, too...\" Fox\n\nwhimpers, trying to hold back his tears.\n\nHis emotions have been bottled up over months, and are now like a weak dam,\n\nready to burst at any second.\n\n\"Shh. Just let out your pain, Fox. Give Wolf your tears.\" He speaks.\n\n\"Ever since the Lylat Wars, I've had this feeling like I was wrong.. I was a\n\npawn... now people hate me... Pepper's declared me a traitor... I've lost all\n\nthat I've worked for and earned.\" Fox begins to cry as Wolf pets his ears.\n\n\"I know... but if you killed yourself... no one would be able to stop Pepper.\n\nYou're the Lylat System's last hope... even if you don't defeat him, you'd act\n\nlike an inspiration... Bill can't do everything himself... he's been trying to\n\nconvince Pepper to let him lead so he can start reforms... but it's probably\n\nnot gonna happen...\"\n\n\"I want to stop him, and save Lylat, but I don't even think the people would\n\nwant it...\"\n\n\"They're just too stupid and uneducated to know the truth like we have.\"\n\n\"Which is why life isn't worth living... this system's become like a death\n\ncamp. Anyone that gets close to me dies... Wolf, Leon's right... I gotta get\n\naway before you two end up killed.\n\nWolf laughs. \"Killed? ME and Leon? Hah! Not likely.\"\n\nFox wipes his eyes and looks up at Wolf again.\n\n\"And my dad... I've failed him... and Falco...\"\n\n\"You didn't fail them. You just followed orders. Not your fault you were lied\n\nto... if there's an afterlife, they'll be waiting, and they love you. They\n\nwere both good men.\"\n\nFox tries to smile. \"Thanks...\"\n\nFox sighs softly. \"I hope you had a better time than I did these past few\n\nyears... I mean.. aside from the military academy... I'm still sorry for\n\nturning you in to there...\"\n\n\"Don't worry about it. It's in the past, and I'd just rather move on. But,\n\nI'll tell you this... I've had it worse-off for a \\*long\\* time.\"\n\n\"With your abusive parents?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"Yeah. It got worse from there... got caught up in street gangs, fought in\n\ncage fights, street fights... lost my eye in one... even spent a few months in\n\njail after I was caught with a hooker in a back alley. Then the war broke out,\n\nand I was free... I hooked up with old pal Leon, and we went to Andross, to try\n\nbringin' change and democracy back to Lylat...\"\n\nFox nods as he listens.\n\n\"... never worked out the way we planned. I was spared execution in exchange\n\nfor doing time at the Military Academy as Pepper's personal fucktoy.\" Wolf\n\ngrowls softly when he recalls this.\n\n\"I'd say the thing that fucked me up the most, though... when I was nineteen.\n\nAfter I ran away from your place. After I got kicked out of the Academy... I\n\ndecided to just live on my own in the woods for a while, try to quarantine\n\nmyself away from society. They didn't want me, and I didn't want them.\"\n\n\"What happened to ya?\"\n\n\"I was hanging out near one of the caves outside of Corneria City, walking in\n\nthe Forest. I ended up getting captured by Pepper and 'drafted' into his\n\nlittle military. Lots of nasty shit happened to me there, yet there was no\n\nreal way for me to escape, since everyone either supported him or was too\n\nafraid to stand up to him...\"\n\nFox watches him closely.\n\n\"I've only told this to Leon... so, if you tell anyone else, you \\*will\\* be\n\nkilled, do you understand?\"\n\nFox nods.\n\n\"The worst part was when I was forced to perform sexual acts with feral wolves\n\nfrom the forest. Genetically-altered, or engineered, or whatever, by both\n\nPepper and Andross... from before their ideologica split on that subject...\"\n\n\"Wait, wait wait..\" Fox rubs his forehead. \"You mated with feral wolves?\"\n\nWolf sighs. \"It was that or be ripped apart and dismembered alive. It fucked\n\nme up... I still don't even know if I can have regular, healthy sexual\n\nrelationships from it... Leon understands... he's been helping me cope.\"\n\nWolf resumes his story. \"I was caught trying to escape the military academy\n\none night, but was caught by guards... and caught by the barbed-wire fence. I\n\nwas dragged back to the prison. Pepper had his guards throw me into this pit\n\nwith a pack of feral wolves... about six or seven of them. He wanted to watch\n\nme fight for my life, or be ripped apart... but he's such a sick fuck that he\n\nsimply laughed when they started shredding my clothes and then began to force\n\nme into sexual congress with them.\"\n\nFox nods his head, listening intently to Wolf's disturbing story.\n\nWolf continues. \"So, the alpha male and female approached me, and I had mated\n\nwith them. Sure, you might think it's hot to have sex with wild, feral\n\nanimals... but they are fucking fierce. I still have a couple scars from their\n\nclaws and teeth on my body from it. I couldn't walk straight for a couple days\n\nafterwards, thanks to that alpha...\" Wolf lets his voice trail off, not\n\nneeding to speak for Fox to understand he was both the giver and the recipient.\n\n\"So... what happened afterwards?\"\n\n\"Heh... Well, I had a small place with Leon in Corneria city. About six months\n\nlater, Leon and I are in our rental home. I was given a brief visitation for\n\n'good behaviour', if you can believe that... Anyway... We hear a scratch on\n\nthe door...\" He recalls.\n\n\"Since I'm cooking Leon and I lunch, I ask him to get it. He opens the door\n\nfor me, and who walks in, looking annoyed?\"\n\n\"Who?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"It's a rhetorical question, Fox.\"\n\n\"Anyway, The alpha female of the pack walks right into the apartment, as if she\n\nowns the place... which is quite hilarious since we weren't allowed pets. Leon\n\nhad a what-the-fuck expression on his face.\"\n\n\"Why'd she risk walking through a major city like that?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"Well, the whole time, she was carrying her wolf cub by the scruff of its\n\nneck. I guess she could tell where I lived, by my scent. Leon freaked out and\n\nnearly left me over it... but I convinced him to let them both stay, since we\n\ncould afford the extra 20 dollars for bags of food... but 'no more kids', he\n\ntells me.\"\n\n\"How'd you know the cub was yours?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"It had my scent, and looked a lot like me.. same fur, same claws... I had a\n\nhard time believing it myself... a dad at nineteen, and it wasn't even\n\nconsentual.\"\n\n\"Wow... so... we've both been through fucked-up relationships... Fara dumps me,\n\nthen gets pissed when I come out and tell her I'm dating Falco... and you were\n\nbasically raped by a wolf-pack and had a cub...\"\n\n\"That's the core of it, yeah...\"\n\n\"What happened to your wolves?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"They're still around.\"\n\n\"Ohh, on Corneria?\"\n\n\"Nah, Xena and Lupo are with me everywhere Leon and I go. I just tell people\n\nthey... 'adopted' me and we're each other's mascots... I'd have my ass executed\n\nor thrown in jail if the truth was told.\"\n\nWolf looks down at his watch, and then up at the sun through the trees. \"We\n\nshould be heading back, pup. Ya feel better?\"\n\n\"I... do, actually. Why, though?\"\n\n\"Misery loves company.\"\n\nAn unimpressed Leon stands at the doorway, watching as Fox and Wolf walk back\n\nup the dusty road to their home.\n\n\"Have fun?\" Leon asks, sarcastically.\n\n\"No, but Fox feels better. I don't think we'll have to put him on suicide\n\nwatch.\" Wolf replies.\n\n\"Good, I suppose. Peppy and I started making dinner... should be done in a few\n\nminutes.\" Leon speaks.\n\n\"Leon and I thought we'd dine in the back yard, since it's a nice day...\"\n\nPeppy speaks from the kitchen as he finishes preparing the food.\n\nWolf shrugs. \"Sounds fine to me.\"\n\nFox sniffs the air as he steps in behind Wolf. \"What's that nice smell?\"\n\n\"Potatoes. Haven't cooked 'em in a while.\" Peppy speaks.\n\nFox and Wolf step out into the back yard and sit down at the picnic table.\n\n\"You wanna meet my family, Fox?\" Wolf asks.\n\nFox nods. \"Sure.\"\n\nWolf howls. A few seconds later, a large, feral female wolf steps out of\n\nthe house, sitting down next to Wolf. Behind her is a slightly-smaller male,\n\nwho sits down on the other side of Wolf. Both have silver-black fur, though\n\nthe male has silver-white headfur, looking similar to Wolf's.\n\n\"Fox, this is my family... Xena, and Lupo.\" Wolf speaks, petting their ears.\n\n\"It's nice to meet ya...\" Fox speaks, unsure of what to say.\n\nLeon steps out with a tray of food, placing it on the picnic table.\n\n\"Dinner's almost ready.\" Leon speaks, before looking down at Athena and Lupo.\n\n\"Hello, guys.\" He speaks.\n\nLupo lets out a soft woof.\n\nWithin a few minutes, the four males are sitting at the old picnic table in\n\nthe back yard of Wolf's house. Wolf turns on a small portable television set\n\nas he begins to eat his hamburger and potato. The television offers some well-\n\nneeded background noise. A situation comedy plays, but is interrupted several\n\nminutes later by breaking news from Corneria. Wolf turns to the television\n\nset, and increases its volume. Fox nearly chokes on his burger. Peppy jumps\n\nup behind Fox, ready to give him the heimlich.\n\nFox shakes his head as he swallows, letting Peppy know he's alright.\n\n\"B-Bill!\" Fox speaks, watching the news report on protests in Corneria City.\n\nThe camera zooms in on Bill, waving the Cornerian flag as he stands on the\n\nhood of an automobile, with hundreds of people chanting \"We want freedom!\"\n\nalongside him.\n\n\"Bill, what the fuck have you done...\" Wolf wonders to himself.\n\nBy now, Leon and Peppy have stopped eating, watching the screen closely.\n\nBill grabs the camera in response to the reporter's questions. \"You know\n\nwhat I want? What we, the people, want? We want an end to the tyranny and\n\ndictatorship. An end to all the lies, the secret police, the 'disappearances'\n\nand the murders. I want justice for Vixy and James McCloud, and for Falco\n\nLombardi... all of whom were killed by military hired-guns. Ya hear me, Fox?\n\nIt's time for change.\"\n\nWolf rubs his forehead. \"Bill's gonna get himself killed...\"\n\n\"Should we go back to get him?\" Peppy asks.\n\n\"\\*WAY\\* too risky. It'll be like flying into a trap.\" Wolf replies.\n\n\"What should we do? We can't let him get captured and killed...\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"I wouldn't count Bill out just yet... I'm sure he'll be able to get out on his\n\nown.\" Peppy states.\n\n\"I hope you're right, old man.\" Wolf speaks as he turns off the television\n\nset.\n\n\"Thank gods. I couldn't watch any more of that...\" Leon speaks in between\n\nbites.\n\nFox ponders responding, but then reminds himself it's Leon Powalski, and he'd\n\nmost-likely state something like \"Enough emo protesting... just burn the places\n\ndown.\" He shrugs and continues eating.\n\nPeppy's communicator starts beeping. The older hare reaches down and pushes\n\na button on it. \"This is Peppy.\" He speaks.\n\n\"Peppy, it's Bill. Listen... ahh... right after the newscrew left, things\n\nstarted turning violent... dad declared me a traitor and began firing upon the\n\nprotestors. Many of 'em are dead... hell, I was winged in the arm. I'll be\n\nfine, but we scattered. I gotta get outta here... where's a safe haven?\" Bill\n\nspeaks.\n\n\"Bill... are you on a secure frequency?\" Peppy asks.\n\n\"Yeah... for now, anyway. Might have to ditch this phone, though.\" The dog\n\nstates.\n\n\"Alright. Meet us at... no, Sargasso would be too-likely, since Fox and I just\n\ncame through there... fuck... can you get to Crossing?\"\n\n\"Crossing??? Are you out of your mind? That's half-way to the nearest star\n\nsystem!\"\n\n\"It's the only place they won't suspect you, Bill... if you can even get past\n\nthe Orbital Gate, that is.\" Peppy speaks.\n\nBill sighs. He knows Peppy is right on everything. If he can get past the\n\nOrbital Gate, and get enough fuel to make it to Crossing, he'll be home free.\n\n\"I can get to Crossing. Might take a couple days.\" He replies.\n\n\"Good. Now, I'm gonna put you on speaker, since Fox and Wolf are scared for\n\nya.\" Peppy speaks, pushing another button and placing his communicator on the\n\ntable.\n\n\"Fox, Wolf, can ya hear me?\" Bill asks.\n\n\"We can hear ya fine, Billy-boi. What's going on?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"I leaked everything to the press... Your dad, Falco, Project-X... it set off\n\na firestorm, man...\" Bill speaks.\n\n\"Can you get out safely?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"Yeah, I think so.\"\n\n\"Good. We'll meet you at Crossing.\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"See you then. Headed to the spaceport now.\" Bill says as he hangs up.\n\nAn uneasy silence descends on the four as they finish their meals. Wolf and\n\nLeon take care of the dishes. Fox turns to Peppy, petting Lupo's ears softly.\n\n\"Do you think Bill can get out on his own?\" Fox asks.\n\nPeppy shrugs. \"I... don't know. Bill's a good pilot, but he's gotten\n\nhimself into a whole mess of trouble...\"\n\n\"We could take out the Great Fox and meet him half-way... they won't find him\n\nat Sargasso, and it would save him from having to go all the way to Crossing on\n\nhis own...\" Fox asks.\n\n\"We'd be a much bigger target... the radar return on the Great Fox alone is 320\n\ntimes that of your Arwing-II... we'd need to get closer for radio contact, but\n\nwe'd have to be very careful.\"\n\nFox nods. \"That settles it, then.\" Fox speaks, as Wolf and Leon return. \"You\n\nguys need to know this... Peppy and I are gonna take the Great Fox out to meet\n\nup with Bill. You're welcome to come with us...\"\n\nLeon can't believe what he's hearing. \"No. We're not gettin' dragged into\n\nanother inner-system conflict. Lylat gave us the finger, so we left and made\n\nlives for ourselves out here. Why on earth should we help them?\"\n\n\"It's not so much helping the whole Lylat System, as it is helping a friend. A\n\ngood friend, at that. If Pepper's overthrown, you'd be welcome to come back.\"\n\nFox explains.\n\nLeon shrugs.\n\n\"Well, let's give it a shot. If we can get things back to the way they were,\n\nI'm game. It'll at least give James some justice.\" Wolf speaks.\n\nLeon sighs. He knows he'll be dragged into this, kicking and screaming anyway.\n\n\"Count me in.\" He speaks.\n\n\"It's settled. We'll leave at dusk.\" Fox speaks.\n\nSunset comes soon enough, and the Great Fox lifts off from the Fringe, towards\n\nthe distant outpost known as Crossing.\n\nBill manages to sneak to the Corneria Space Port unseen. He activates his\n\nCornerian Fighter, and hops in quickly as alarms and searchlights activate\n\nand home in on his craft. He steers it into a vertical lift-off, as bullets\n\nricochet off the craft's steel hull, giving unnerving \"ping\" sounds.\n\n\"Great... if security's this tight, I might not even make it to the Orbital\n\nGate...\" He thinks to himself as he steers the accelerating craft into low-\n\nlevel orbit.\n\nHe presses a couple buttons, checking radar for any following craft. None so\n\nfar, but he expects that to change very quickly once he reaches the Orbital\n\nGate.\n\nNaturally, there is a lineup of craft at the Orbital Gate, waiting for their\n\ncoordinates and acceleration parameters to finish loading.\n\n\"Dammit... come on... come on...\" Bill mutters to himself.\n\nHe checks around as the craft slowly approach the Orbital Gate. Security\n\nseems to be fairly lax. The craft slowly move towards the Orbital Gate. Soon,\n\nBill's craft is next. It pulls up to the docking bay, and an Orbital Gate\n\nSecurity Guard's voice comes to life on the radio system.\n\n\"Alright, name, please.\"\n\n\"Bill Grey.\"\n\nThe doberman guard checks the blacklists for any names relating to it. He\n\nfinds one matching entry, added that morning.\n\n\"Uh, Bill... switch to a private frequency. 242 Gigahertz.\" He speaks.\n\nBill types in the frequency. \"Talk to me.\"\n\n\"You're on a blacklist that General Pepper authorized. We can't let you leave\n\nCorneria.\"\n\n\"I know. It's for leading that protest and leaking all the data. Dad's pissed\n\nthat I've had it with his regime.\"\n\n\"I know. Which is why I'm going to press the 'wrong' button, and drop my pen,\n\nwhich will accellerate you towards Crossing.\"\n\n\"How'd you know I'm going to Crossing?\" Bill asks, suspicious.\n\n\"It's where I'd go if I was in your shoes. I'd leave the system, and that's\n\nthe last port-of-call before interstellar space.\"\n\n\"I see.\"\n\n\"I wish I could do more to help ya. Anything else, and I'd be aiding-and-\n\nabetting a known wanted criminal. I can't guarantee this will even work. You\n\nmight end up with Cornerian Defense Forces telling you to turn you back or take\n\nyou down. Be careful, please. Lylat's depending on you.\"\n\n\"Understood. I'm comin' back... just gettin' some help from the Fringe.\"\n\nThe security guard switches to the standard frequency, and then pushes the\n\nactivation button, just as he said he would. This gives Bill the opportunity\n\nhe was needing. He accellerates through the Orbital Gate, and is pushed up to\n\na high-enough speed to reach Crossing and escape Lylat's gravitational pull.\n\nBill's craft does not go undetected to Cornerian Defense Forces radar from\n\nFortuna, and a pair of craft are sent to encounter him.\n\n\"Shit shit shit... this is bad... they won't hesitate to shoot down one of\n\ntheir own if they think I've gone rogue... which I have... or stolen their\n\ncraft... which I have...\" Bill speaks to himself as he sees the twin craft\n\nrapidly approaching him on radar.\n\nSoon, the speakers in his craft come to life with the voice of one of the CDF\n\npilots.\n\n\"This is the Cornerian Defense Forces. Turn your ship around for immediate\n\nescort to Defense Base Fortuna.\"\n\n\"I can't do that, guys. I have to get out of Lylat.\"\n\n\"Commander Bill, you are a wanted criminal. You are to proceed with us to\n\nFortuna or you will be shot down.\"\n\n\"I know what Pepper does to criminals. I'd rather die than be tortued.\" Bill\n\nreplies.\n\n\"They never pick the easy way...\" the other pilot speaks as he fires several\n\nwarning shots at Bill's craft.\n\n\"Fuck! Gotta think fast... gotta think...\" Bill mutters to himself as the\n\nlaser shots narrowly miss his ship.\n\nThe dog ruffles through one of the storage compartments, and finds a small\n\nbox. He grins and wags his tail. \"AHA! FOUND YOU!\" He shouts to himself,\n\nkissing the box before he takes out its contents, a pair of marijuana joints,\n\nand lights them.\n\nThe other craft continue their barrage of laser shots, and one strikes the side\n\nof the craft. They close in on the craft, finding its cockpit and cabin areas\n\nfilled with smoke.\n\n\"You must've hit the engine or climate-control systems. He'll overheat and fry\n\nlike an egg, or suffocate from the smoke. He's as good as dead. Come on,\n\nwe'll return to base.\" One pilot says to the other.\n\nBill remains silent, and keeps his communicator shut off, letting his craft\n\ndrift silently and quickly towards Portal. He watches the radar screen closely\n\nas the two craft return to Fortuna. When he feels the coast is clear, he\n\nreactivates his craft's engines, coughing profusely from the marijuana fumes.\n\n\"Hooo boy... this is nice, but I'm gonna be regrettin' it later on...\" he\n\nmutters to himself.\n\nThe hours seem to drag on for days, but Bill manages to make it to Crossing\n\nwithout killing himself. It is every bit as he had imagined it: small, yet\n\nimportant, with several craft, including the familiar Great Fox docked. Bill's\n\neyes are red, and his sight is blurry from the marijuana fumes within his\n\ncraft. He slowly drifts towards the airlock, struggling to dock his craft with\n\nthe space station. Upon hearing that familiar \"hiss\", he opens his craft's\n\ndoors, and steps through the airlock.\n\nBill looks around, hoping to see Fox or Wolf or Peppy. The outpost has some\n\nvisitors within, but it isn't packed by any means, thanks to its extremely-\n\nremote location. He eventually stumbles towards figures he thinks are Fox and\n\nWolf.\n\n\"F-fu... Fox? Wolf?\" He mumbles.\n\nThe snowleopard and coyote step back, waving the air in front of their\n\nmuzzles.\n\n\"Uh, no, man... I think you got us confused with someone else...\" The coyote\n\nspeaks.\n\n\"I think you should lay off the grass...\" The snowleopard adds.\n\n\"Dammit... sorry...\" Bill speaks, stumbling away, rubbing his head.\n\nThe drug-addled canine stumbles towards another pair of figures in the distance.\n\nFox sniffs the air, immediately noticing a strong scent of marijuana. He turns\n\nhis head, watching as Bill stumbles his way in.\n\n\"Bill! You made it! What happened to you?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"It was hard, James.. er.. Fox... Nearly got caught... had to light my joints\n\nas a smokescreen...\" Bill stutters and mumbles through his marijuana-induced\n\nhaze.\n\nWolf nods. \"Uh-huh. And exactly how much of this occurred in reality?\"\n\n\"All of it, Floating Wolf-head dude...\"\n\n\"I think it's safe to say that he's in no condition to fly for the next few\n\nhours, at least.\" Peppy speaks.\n\n\"But... my ship...\" Bill asks.\n\n\"It'll stay aboard the Great Fox. For now, we need to plan things out.\" Peppy\n\nreplies.\n\nThe group of adults pay for supplies they will need on their mission, such as\n\nfuel, food, water, and ammunition. Before the hour is out, Wolf carefully\n\nmoves Bill's Cornerian Fighter into the Great Fox, alongside his Wolfen, and\n\nFox's Arwing II, and the group boards the Great Fox as it departs once again,\n\nfor the Lylat System's inner reaches.\n\nFox walks towards the bridge of the ship, where Peppy, Wolf, Leon, and Bill\n\nare waiting for him.\n\n\"Alright. So, we have four craft, and a limited amount of ammo. Bill, what\n\nare we facing right now?\"\n\nThe dog sips his coffee, feeling a bit more clear-headed. \"Security's gonna be\n\nridiculously high. You thought Venom during the Lylat Wars was tight? This'll\n\nbe about a hundred times worse. The top-secret base is fanatical...\"\n\n\"Well, let's just focus on one thing: getting through Corneria's defenses, and\n\nto the ground safely.\" Leon interrupts.\n\n\"You showed us all some images of that base, but we don't really know what\n\nwe're up against, or what to even expect...\" Wolf adds.\n\n\"Yeah.. advanced robotics, experimental biological shit, biological, chemical,\n\nnuclear warfare, highly-infectious viruses and diseases... it's like Area-51.\"\n\n\"Logic dictates it will have fanatical security. Even if we \\*do\\* somehow sneak\n\nin, what would our goal be?\"\n\n\"End the cybernetics projects. They're enslaving and torturing innocent people\n\nin there.\" Bill adds. \"Blowing the place sky-high is probably the only way to\n\nget rid of it.\"\n\n\"I have a few pounds of C-4, but if it's a sprawling underground base, even\n\nthat might not cut it...\" Leon thinks out loud.\n\n\"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, guys... our goals... we have to take\n\ndown the base to end their robotics, biological warfare, and oppressive\n\ncapabilities. I'm tempted to even add 'vengeance for Falco and dad'... but I\n\ncan't let my emotions get the best of me...\" Fox explains.\n\n\"We could add those to our reasons, Fox. It's perfectly rational.\" Wolf\n\nreplies.\n\n\"Will this topple the regime?\" Peppy asks. \"Is that our goal?\"\n\n\"Well, no. We're not planning regime change... just revenge for them attacking\n\nthe civilians, and our friends and family. We'd be pulling their teeth or\n\ndisarming them... and if that happens to allow the citizens to overthrow Pepper\n\nand his goons on their own, that would merely be icing on this cake.\" Bill\n\nreplies, feeling more and more coherent as he comes down from his high.\n\n\"You know, that might very well be General Pepper's secret hideout, or base of\n\noperations... he'd probably want to be close by... and if there was ever a need\n\nfor a nuclear-proof bunker, that place would most-likely have it.\" Peppy says.\n\n\"So... what do we do if we encounter Pepper? Kill him?\" Fox asks. \"I feel a\n\nbit uneasy about that...\"\n\n\"Fox, he's the enemy now. He used you to enforce his tyranny.\" Leon reminds\n\nhim.\n\n\"I know. I just don't want to kill anyone unless I absolutely have to and have\n\nno other options or choice.\"\n\n\"Fair enough. Capture alive, if possible, but kill him if he can't be taken\n\nalive.\" Wolf offers.\n\n\"If we catch him alive?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"Citizens' arrest for crimes against humanity and crimes against nature, for\n\ncourt-martialling in a court of law that the citizens would set up after\n\ndismantling the old regime.\" Peppy speaks.\n\n\"Alright. We now have a plan. Let's just hope we get there safely.\" Fox\n\nspeaks to his teammates.\n\nThe trip back to Corneria is fairly quiet and uneventful, aside from the\n\noccasional pitter-pattering of feral paws on the steel grating of the Great\n\nFox's stairs. Leon watches as Wolf jogs with Athena and Lupo along the hallway\n\nand stairwell of the Great Fox. Time has little meaning in deep space, as the\n\ndays and nights tend to bleed together, without a valid day-night cycle. The\n\ncrew's time is spent mostly reading, exercising, or in the case of Fox and\n\nROB, playing video games.\n\n\"Alright, boys, listen up! We're half an Astronomical Unit from the Orbital\n\nGate, and they're probably waiting for us. So, here's the plan: We maintain\n\nour heading, get into our craft if we need a quick escape, and keep the Great\n\nFox's cannons armed and ready. Upon landing at the base, we blast our way in\n\nand destroy place with our C4 packs.\" Peppy explains from the bridge.\n\n\"And if we're captured?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"We go down in a blaze of glory.\" Fox suggests.\n\n\"Hah.\" Wolf closes his eyes and folds his arms. \"Sounds like fun, to me.\"\n\n\"Let's just do this.\" Leon speaks, breaking the rising tension in the room.\n\nWithin moments, the pilots are in their respective craft, with Peppy and ROB\n\nremaining on the bridge to pilot the Great Fox as it approaches the Orbital\n\nGate.\n\n\"This is the Orbital Gate. You are required to stop for clearance.\" The voice\n\non the communicator speaks.\n\nPeppy doesn't bother responding, keeping the ship on a steady path towards\n\nCorneria.\n\n\"Craft at heading 3-114-22, you need to stop and identify yourself before\n\nproceeding to Corneria.\" The voice speaks, more firmly.\n\nPeppy motions for ROB to maintain radio silence. ROB nods.\n\n\"Craft, if you do not stop and identify, we will open fire. This is your final\n\nwarning.\"\n\nPeppy grabs the microphone for the ship's intercom. \"Pilots in your ships,\n\ndeploy now. This could get hairy.\"\n\nThe bay doors of the docking zone open, and the ships empty one-by-one in\n\nquick succession.\n\n\"Arm the cannons, ROB. We'll need 'em.\" Peppy speaks, watching as ROB obeys\n\nhis orders and types on the control panel.\n\nThe Orbital Gate's security cruisers pull out, preparing their own cannons,\n\naiming them at the Great Fox. The Arwings and Wolfen immediately swing into\n\nevasive action as pursuit by the Cornerian Military and Orbital Gate security\n\nbegins. A couple warning shots are fired at the Great Fox, but the laserfire\n\nsimply bounces off its hull. Fox and Wolf go into a loop over and around the\n\nGreat Fox, luring some of the pursuing craft away from the Great Fox, and into\n\nrange of its cannons.\n\nUpon reciving minor damage to the wing engines from the Orbital Gate, Peppy\n\ndecides it's time to return fire. He aims the cannons and strafes the Orbital\n\nGate's defenses.\n\n\"Guys, we're half-way to Lylat... just keep it together a bit further... just a\n\nfew more minutes...\"\n\n\"Got it. Keep the beggars on the run until re-entry... should we fire at 'em?\"\n\nWolf asks.\n\n\"Only fire if shot upon. They'll probably break away from reentry and leave\n\nyou to ground defenses, which will most-likely fire at us.\" Peppy replies.\n\n\"I can keep 'em distracted.\" Wolf chuckles, sending his craft into a loop to\n\nevade his potential captors.\n\nJust as Peppy estimated, the craft pull away as they approach the uppermost\n\nsections of the Cornerian atmosphere. The craft begin to glow red- and\n\nwhite-hot with plasma from the friction of re-entry.\n\n\"Alright boys, arm your cannons. Radar's showing a welcome party on the\n\nsurface about 30 kilometers in at a base. They're well-armed and well-\n\ndefended.\"\n\n\"That might be the base. What are the coordinates?\" Fox asks.\n\n\"83 degrees, 42 minutes, 12 seconds north by 22 degrees, 48 minutes, 34 seconds\n\nwest.\" Peppy reads.\n\n\"That's the base. All weapons armed.\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"I'm ready for play-time.\" Leon grins to himself.\n\n\"Once we break cloud-cover, fan-out. It'll make it harder for them to track\n\nmultiple bogies.\" Peppy speaks.\n\n\"Won't that make the Great Fox vulnerable?\" Leon asks.\n\n\"Nah. I may be a bigger target, but I have far-superior weaponry. I can stand\n\nmy own.\" Peppy replies.\n\nAs planned, upon breaking the cloud deck, the craft fan out over the desert.\n\nAlmost immediately, anti-aircraft guns begin firing at them. Peppy fires back\n\nfrom the Great Fox, disabling several with laserfire and precision artillery\n\nshots. They regroup as the top-secret base becomes visible on the horizon.\n\n\"That's the base.\" Bill speaks, having broken his trip-long silence.\n\n\"What type of defenses do they have?\" Leon asks.\n\n\"Not many. Some anti-aircraft guns, some EMP devices... radio jammers... they\n\nrely mostly on the offense capabilities of those surrounding batteries. We get\n\npast them, we should be able to easily overhwelm them and land on the roof.\"\n\n\"I bet the real fun's inside...\" Leon grins.\n\n\"Oh, security within the base is insane.\" Bill replies.\n\nThe base's roof-mounted anti-aircraft guns fire at the approaching fleet, but\n\nare fairly-easily overwhelmed by the Great Fox's lasers. The craft are able to\n\nland without incident on the roof.\n\n\"Alright, guys. Get all the laser guns, projectile guns, and ammo you can\n\ncarry. Now we enter the funhouse.\" Peppy speaks, carrying a pair of rifles in\n\nhis hands as he walks from the Great Fox's docking bay.\n\nThe pilots quickly grab their supplies. Bill kicks in a utility door leading\n\ninto the building from the roof. They move single-file, quietly down the\n\nmetallic stairway.\n\nBill looks around a corner at the bottom of the stairwell. He sees a well-\n\narmed guard. He knows they've already been detected by radar and security\n\ncameras, and it would be pointless to shoot them out.\n\n\"We have a guard. He's got a powerful gun. Wait until he gets closer, ambush,\n\nshoot, and move to the next hallway.\" Bill whispers to his teammates.\n\nThey wait for the guard to walk closer, before opening fire, killing him\n\ninstantly.\n\n\"Let's move, guys. We won't have long before this sector's swarming with\n\nmilitary guards.\" Bill speaks, leading them down one of the corridors.\n\nSoon, the alarms sound, and they can hear the running footsteps of guards\n\nechoing down the corridors. A firefight ensues with Star Fox team staying just\n\naround a corner. The fight intensifies, with Fox getting grazed on the arm\n\nfrom a shot, right before killing two guards. The other guards go down after\n\nraining down bullets on the heroes. Bill leads the way again, guiding them\n\ndeeper into the base, down another level.\n\nPepper has been watching the firefight on closed-circuit cameras. The look\n\non his face is one of interest. He wonders just how far Star Fox team will go.\n\n\"I can't let them leave here alive... but they're too good to waste. Beltino,\n\nsend in the 'extractors'.\" He speaks as he gets out of his chair, walking\n\ntowards the windows of his office that overlook the large room below.\n\n\"Y-yes, sir...\" The nervous toad replies.\n\nBeltino walks out of Pepper's office, and onto the assembly line-like room\n\nbelow. As he walks between the rows of tables, he watches his colleagues,\n\ndoctors and scientists of various types, working on either cadavers or robots,\n\ncreating unnatural cyborgs, or performing brain surgery on the still-living,\n\ngradually turning them into unwilling cyborg super-soldiers.\n\nHe closes his eyes as he approaches a certain table.\n\n\"You're needed.\" He speaks to the robot and cyborg.\n\nThey don't respond, but step forward. \"Corridor 4, Level B. Go quickly.\" He\n\nexplains.\n\nHe watches as the two powerful machines walk down the corridor and out the\n\nguarded doorway, unfazed by the abject horror of the room, daring to hope that\n\nhe might be rescued from this hell.\n\nStar Fox Team scurries down a stairwell, only to find the next hallway filled\n\nto the hilt with electronic traps. Lasers, smokescreen to disguise them, and\n\nceiling-mounted motion-sensing projectile-blasters, all waiting for them, with\n\nthe added bonus of an autonomous twin-blaster robot standing at the end of the\n\nhallway.\n\n\"Now it gets interesting. The only way to get through here is to hack through\n\nthe security software to disable the motion-sensors and lasers.\" Bill speaks.\n\n\"Great, and I left my hand-held computer on the Great Fox...\" Fox replies.\n\n\"We could try to grab that thing's attention and hack the software through it,\n\nbut... That is a huge risk.\" Peppy speaks.\n\n\"Excuse me, gentlemen... but are those motion-sensors infrared?\" Leon asks.\n\n\"Yes, they are.. why?\" Bill replies.\n\nLeon grins. \"I'll have us through in a minute or two.\" he leaps into action,\n\nholding his katana at his side as he slithers and crawls over, under and around\n\nthe lasers. He winks at Wolf, narrowly avoiding rubbing against a laser on\n\npurpose, as if he was on a stripper pole. He manages to slide through to the\n\nend of the hallway. He then unsheathes his katana and slices off the robot's\n\nblasters, before stabbing it, disabling it.\n\n\"And I thought this would be hard...\" He chuckles. \"Alright, Wolf. Your\n\nturn.\"\n\nWolf blinks. \"Are you kidding? Leon, baby, I'm twice as bulky as you... I\n\ncan't fit through some of those gaps...\"\n\n\"Well, I can't drag this thing back with me... Even I have a limit to my\n\nstrength...\"\n\nWolf nods. \"Alright... here goes nothing...\"\n\nWolf closes his eyes, before slowly making his way past the lasers. His\n\nshoulder is singed by one, and he gasps in pain and fear, but freezes in\n\nsurprise when the alarms fail to activate. He shrugs and keeps going, having\n\nto contort his body into angles and positions he didn't think were physically\n\npossible to his large physical form, swiftly diving to the ground to duck under\n\none laser, crawling on his stomach, pressed to the floor the remainder of the\n\nway.\n\nLeon claps softly as Wolf stands up. \"Bravo, lover. That was sexy.\"\n\n\"Yeah, well, I hope I didn't fuck up my shoulder...\" Wolf groans softly.\n\nLeon grins, kissing Wolf's shoulder, before licking his wound, slowly dragging\n\nhis tongue along the burn mark, listening to Wolf yelp in pain at first, then\n\ngroaning softly.\n\nLeon then pulls himself off of his lover's shoulder. \"What now, Bill?\"\n\n\"Wolf needs to plug himself into that machine and turn off the security\n\nsystems.\" The dog replies.\n\n\"How do you know that will work?\"\n\n\"All the machines here are networked, either wired or wireless.\"\n\nWolf shrugs, carefully opening his robotic eye, grasping one of the severed\n\ncables, and plugging it into himself.\n\nHe thinks to himself as he searches through the robot's core memory, trying to\n\nfigure out how to disable the security within the hallway. Within seconds, the\n\nlasers shut off and the motion-sensors fall silent.\n\nFox, Bill, and Peppy run through.\n\n\"Wolf, you did it! You kick ass!\" Bill pats Wolf's shoulders.\n\n\"Yer damned right, I do!\" Wolf chuckles, taking the cable out of his eye.\n\nStar Fox team makes it down to the final level of the building. Bill looks\n\naround the corner of the corridor, and finds it clear.\n\n\"Why have we been experiencing a lack of resistance so far?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"They might be consolidating their defenses around Pepper's office, as a last\n\nstand...\" Bill replies. \"It's my only theory.\"\n\nBill looks around the corner, seeing two robots. \"Fuck. Company.\"\n\n\"What makes it different this time?\" Peppy asks.\n\n\"Robots, this time.\" Bill speaks. \"Quick, hand me something explosive, or\n\ncapable of generating an EMP...\"\n\nFox rummages quickly through his backpack. \"We have C4, but I think we should\n\nsave that for when we blow this place to hell.\"\n\n\"Uh, Bill... you might wanna can the EMP idea...\" Wolf speaks as he looks\n\naround the corner, getting a closer look at the robot slowly walking its way\n\ntowards them.\n\nHe narrows his eyes to see better in the dim light. The figure lookes very\n\nfamiliar, but heavily altered, and with wires coming out the back, connecting\n\nits neck to its mid-section.\n\nThe robotic being sees Wolf, and slowly raises its left arm, aims, and fires\n\nseveral bullets from the blaster on the end, where its left hand would be.\n\nWolf rapidly hides behind the corner, narrowly avoiding the bloodiest haircut\n\nof his life, as chunks of concrete raindown onto the floor.\n\n\"FUCK!\" He yelps, covering his ears.\n\n\"R-run!\" A faint, semi-electronic voice speaks, echoing through the hallway.\n\n\"What was that?\" Leon asks.\n\n\"Shh! I dunno! Let me hear!\"\n\n\"Run away now!\" The voice speaks again.\n\nWolf peeks around the corner a second time. He tilts his head slightly in\n\nconfusion as the robot appears to be struggling as it lifts its gun-arm again,\n\nas if it was trying to resist, still walking towards them, much closer than\n\nlast time. Wolf immediately ducks back behind the corner.\n\n\"Okay. That robot seems to be malfunctioning or something. It's resisting,\n\nand I think it's the source of that voice we're hearing.\" He speaks.\n\n\"I hope it's a robot and not one of those poor people turned into cyborgs...\"\n\nBill speaks.\n\n\"I think it was... hell, it looked vaguely familiar...\" Wolf speaks, unaware\n\nthat the robotic being has approached from behind the corner.\n\n\"FALCO!!!!!!\" Fox screams, his face going white in fear.\n\n\"Huh?\" Wolf asks, turning around, before ducking swiftly, just barely missing\n\na steel arm to the face.\n\n\"R-RUN NOW!\" Falco yells, struggling to resist firing on Wolf and Fox.\n\n\"AHHHHHHH! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!\" Fox breaks down, sobbing, covering his\n\nface as he leans against the wall in a fetal position.\n\nBill and Wolf immediately leap into action. Wolf grabs Falco's left arm, while\n\nBill grabs Falco from behind, bringing him into a strangle-hold. Falco\n\nimmediately tries to slam his back into the wall to knock the wind out of the\n\ndefecting dog. Wolf keeps a firm grip on Falco's arm.\n\n\"Guys, we need some help here!\" Wolf shouts.\n\nBill yelps and coughs as he's pinned between Falco and the wall.\n\nLeon grabs Fox by the collar of his flight jacket, dragging him about thirty\n\nfeet down the hallway.\n\nHe looks down at Fox, concerned. \"If we lose control, get up and RUN.\"\n\nFox whimpers, nodding slowly.\n\nLeon pulls out his katana, thrusting it into Falco's chest. Falco's scream of\n\npain is an unholy cacaphony of organic and mechanical tones. He does not\n\nstumble or fall, but uses his normal, right, hand to attempt to pull the blade\n\nout of himself, drawing blood on his hand from the firm grip.\n\n\"Again, Leon, do it again! His arm, this time!\" Wolf yells. \"And don't we\n\nhave a toolbox???\"\n\nLeon pulls the sword out, helping Falco, before thrusting it into Falco's\n\nrobotic arm, twisting it to sever some wires and hydraulic lines. Sparks erupt\n\nbriefly from Falco's arm, and he yells in pain a second time. Leon uses his\n\nsword as leverage, however, and manages to break Falco's lower arm from its\n\nsocket. The blaster falls dead to the floor with a loud, metallic bang that\n\nechoes through the hallway.\n\n\"Is... is it over?\" Bill asks, panting.\n\nWolf pants and nods. \"I hope to fucking GOD it is...\" He shakes his head.\n\nLeon pulls his sword out of Falco a second time, holding it in one hand, looing\n\nhim closely in his eyes.\n\n\"Which do you see out of?\" He asks calmly.\n\n\"Both...\" Falco responds.\n\n\"Are you in control of yourself?\"\n\n\"Not fully... i'm still recieving orders to rip you to shreds.\" He speaks,\n\nstill trying to shrug Bill off of him and push Wolf aside, the only things\n\nkeeping Falco from a likely-suicidal charge at Leon.\n\n\"Are you connected to another system?\" Leon asks.\n\n\"Wirelessly. I have an internal Lithium-ION battery where my left kidney was.\n\nIt will last me about one hundred twenty years at this rate.\"\n\n\"Why are you the only guard out here?\"\n\n\"There are others... I was the only one assigned to this sector.\"\n\n\"I mean, you made a lot of noise... why haven't the security alarms gone off?\"\n\n\"General Pepper knows you're here. He's planning a last stand in the\n\nlaboratory.\"\n\nFalco yells in pain a third time, from an electrical shock caused by one of his\n\nnow-malfunctioning electrical systems. He lunges at Leon, pushing him against\n\nthe wall, cutting his shoulder with his own katana, throwing Bill and Wolf off\n\nof himself in the process.\n\n\"F-Fuck! Sorry!\" He yelps. \"You cut my stabilizer cable!\"\n\nLeon drags his finger along the bleeding cut. He scoops up some of the blood\n\nand drags it across his tongue, almost savouring the metallic, iron taste. He\n\ngrins.\n\n\"It's just a flesh wound, and a lucky shot.\" He grins, evilly.\n\n\"Leon, don't...\" Wolf speaks.\n\n\"Oh, I won't. The only reason I'm not going to turn you into a robot chicken\n\nsandwich is that someone is here that you care about.\" He smirks, stepping\n\naway, resheathing his katana as he approaches a sobbing Fox.\n\nFox looks up at Leon.\n\n\"It's alright, McCloud. Get up. There's someone you should meet.\"\n\n\"F-Falco?\"\n\n\"That's right.\"\n\n\"NO NO NO! He's gonna kill me! He's not himself anymore! He's like a... a\n\nrobotic zombie!\"\n\n\"He's trying to control himself. Wolf and Bill are helping me keep him under\n\ncontrol. Now, be a good boy and come.\" Leon explains, stretching out his hand\n\nto help the crouching vulpine up.\n\nFox nods slowly, grasping Leon's hand in his own. Cool to the touch, even for\n\na reptile.\n\nFox slowly steps towards Falco, tears streaming from his eyes.\n\n\"Oh god... Oh, Falco!\" He whimpers, lunging forward, hugging him tightly,\n\nnuzzling softly.\n\nFalco returns the hug, nuzzling lovingly. \"Hey, Fox...\"\n\n\"Falco.. what happened to you? Oh my god, are you in pain?\" Fox whispers.\n\nFalco shakes his head. \"Not anymore... I'll tell you what happened.\"\n\n\"That traitor, Fara Phoenix, was pissed that you had left her for me, and\n\nsought to have me killed. She tried seducing me... but being gay, it didn't\n\nwork. So... she put a bullet in my head and carried me back to the laboratory\n\nfrom hell, to perform experiments on... 'why let a good test subject go to\n\nwaste?' she said...\"\n\n\"I'll kill her. That cunt's as good as dead!\" Fox growls.\n\n\"Now, hold on, Fox. She's just the huntress. Small bait compared to the fish\n\nwe're after.\"\n\n\"Bill's right... anyway, after they electrocuted my body several times, they\n\nbegan work on my brain, replacing it with machinery and electronics. At that\n\npoint, I was brought back, but I became comatose, though I could feel\n\neverything those bastards touched. They replaced my arms, some of my organs,\n\nmy left eye, and my leg... they did this to me to make me into a 'super\n\nsoldier'... and tried programming me to be a fully-obedient slave... it didn't\n\nwork, though... the programming's still a bit buggy, and... and I'm able to\n\nfight it off, though it comes through in brief bursts... as Leon saw.\"\n\nFox nods slowly, gently caressing Falco's face. \"I'll kill whoever did this to\n\nyou, Falco. Just show me who did this. I'll drink their blood and bathe in\n\ntheir entrails. I require vengance for you now.\"\n\n\"Careful, McCloud... you're making me horny.\" Leon smirks, unashamed.\n\nEveryone turns when Wolf growls lowly, doubling over in pain.\n\n\"Wolf, what's wrong?\" Fox asks.\n\nFalco grips his head at the same time.\n\n\"What's going on?\" Bill asks.\n\n\"The implants... General Pepper forced into me... dead for months... now\n\nactive.\" Wolf growls.\n\n\"Don't tell me you're at risk like Falco...\" Fox speaks.\n\n\"I'm not.... just hear a lot of random commands going through, like someone or\n\nsomething's pokin' around inside me, trying to find something'...\"\n\nHis robotic eye switches from blue to red, with lines of text scrolling across,\n\noverlaid with his field of vision. He slowly reaches back, feeling the\n\ncylindrical plastic modules within his neck and spine vibrating and clicking\n\nsoftly.\n\n\"I'm gonna kill that perverted fuck.\" Wolf growls.\n\n\"Where's the lab?\" Leon asks Falco.\n\nThe robotic avian lifts his good arm and points down the hallway. \"The room\n\nwith the double-doors.\"\n\nThe soldiers walk down the hallway, stopping before the doors. \"Get all your\n\nammo ready, guys. This is it. We might not make it out of here alive... or...\n\nliving in the sense we prefer.\" Bill speaks as he loads up his blaster.\n\nFox and Wolf do the same, while Leon simply unsheaths his katana, before\n\napproaching Falco.\n\n\"You should sit this one out, Falco. I fucked you up enough. No sense in you\n\ngoing in there without an arm...\"\n\n\"Gee, thanks, Leon. And I thought you were concerned for my help...\" He\n\nchuckles.\n\n\"Ugh, I am, you annoying bird. Just... sit here, our boyfriends and I will be\n\nback after having some fun.\" He speaks, before turning around to join Bill,\n\nWolf, and Fox.\n\nWolf kicks the doors in. \"Shift's over, freaks! Anyone NOT here under their\n\nown free will, leave now.\"\n\nSome scientists run towards the door, others remain seated. Most of the tables\n\nhave dead bodies on them, in various stages of the cyborg-enhancement process.\n\n\"Anyone else?\" Wolf asks.\n\n\"Some of us are chained to the tables...\" One speaks.\n\n\"Then just keep your head down and cover your heads... this is about to get\n\nnasty. PEPPER! We're callin' you out!\" Wolf howls.\n\nPepper steps out of his office, to the enclosed balcony overlooking the\n\nlaboratory.\n\n\"What took you so long, ladies?\" Pepper asks, hands folded behind his back,\n\nunnervingly calm, despite the nightmarish conditions of the laboratory.\n\n\"You're a sick fuck, Pepper! It's time to drag you back to hell!\" Fox growls.\n\n\"My my, such large talk from such a small fox.\" Pepper wags his finger at Fox.\n\n\"You may have brought me into the world, but I'm here to take you out of it.\"\n\nBill grins.\n\n\"Go ahead, boy. Try to drag me back to hell.\" Pepper dares.\n\nBill pulls the trigger on his gun, blasting a large hole in Pepper's chest and\n\nabdomen. The dog slowly lowers his gun in horror as Pepper merely stumbles\n\nback a few paces, then begins to laugh insanely.\n\n\"What the hell...?\" Wolf asks himself.\n\n\"You thought I wouldn't want to Live forever? I was the FIRST to try the\n\nroboticizing process... after it was perfected and proven safe, that is!\"\n\nPepper laughs.\n\n\"Don't worry, Wolf... I'll be sure to roboticize your wife and kid with you...\n\nafter all, I am a family man, myself... and the family that slaves together,\n\nstays together.\" He grins evilly at Wolf.\n\nAt this point, Wolf doubles over in pain again. Wolf falls to the ground. Fox\n\nsteps back, watching his friend closely. He howls in pain and anger. His\n\nimplants go into overdrive, popping out, pressing his skin outwards like\n\ncylindrical internal spikes. His claws sharpen and he growls loudly.\n\n\"Pepper, you \\*really\\* shouldn't have said that.\" Leon speaks calmly, katana\n\nstill drawn.\n\nWolf howls and leaps at Pepper, slashing at his head and torso, dislocating one\n\nof Pepper's arms. The robotic hound tries to push the enraged Wolf off of him,\n\nbut to no avail. Wolf snarls, biting down on his throat before slashing it.\n\nWolf howls loudly as he thrusts his fist into Pepper's bullet hole and pulls\n\nout a fist full of circuitry.\n\n\"What the-- NO! YOU STUPID FUCKER!\" Pepper yells, seeing Wolf ripping out his\n\nvoltage-control circuitry.\n\nFox grabs Wolf as the rest of the team stands back. Pepper's body begins to\n\nspark and sieze, before exploding in a yellowish-green fireball.\n\nWhen the smoke clears, Fox and Bill approach the charred remains of the\n\ndictator.\n\nHis eyes are still glowing with power from the remains of his lithium-ion\n\nbattery that did not explode. \"I-I'll rebuild... cannot-you cannot stop me you\n\ndisgusting scum-organic scum...\" Pepper growls.\n\n\"Oh, give it a rest.\" Fox growls, picking up Pepper's skull, watching as Leon\n\nthrusts his katana through it.\n\n\"You always have to kill the brains of the deceased-impaired.\" Leon smirks, as\n\nhe pulls his sword back out. \"It's why I'm the most-likely to survive a\n\nzombocalypse... or as I like to think of it... heaven.\"\n\nWolf pants raggedly, his implants still active. Fox and Leon rush to Wolf's\n\nside as he stands up slowly.\n\n\"Are you alright, big guy?\" Fox asks.\n\nWolf nods. \"Y-yeah... I think so... just gotta get these pieces of shit outta\n\nme now.\"\n\n\"Good. Now, we just have to free the scientists, call the medics, and alert\n\nthe star system that the deed is done... Pepper's gone, and so is his tyranny.\"\n\nBill speaks.\n\nLeon re-sheaths his katana. \"sounds like a plan, to me.\"\n\nFalco slowly walks in. \"Y-you guys killed Pepper?\"\n\n\"Yeah... wanted you to sit this one out in case there was an explosion. Aren't\n\nya glad I made ya?\" Leon grins.\n\n\"A bit, I guess...\" Falco shrugs.\n\nBill walks over, uncuffing several of the scientists from their workstation\n\ntables. Miyu Lynx, Fay Dog, Slippy and Beltino Toad... many of the missing\n\nscientists.\n\n\"I.. I still can't believe this nightmare's over... it's coming to an end...\"\n\nMiyu hugs Fay and Bill tightly.\n\nLeon pets Wolf's ears. \"You think we should still detonate this place?\"\n\nWolf shakes his head. \"Nah.. it's a crime scene... evidence should be kept so\n\npeople know what happened.\"\n\n\"Alright. Now let's get those things out of you, babe.\" Leon hugs Wolf with\n\none arm, walking with him towards the exit.\n\n\"What now, Foxy?\" Falco asks.\n\nFox frowns. \"Well, I don't know how we'd be able to restore you... but I'm\n\nstill going to marry you. I'm going to put Fara away for the rest of her life,\n\nand I'm going to protect the Lylat System the way I always have.\" He winks at\n\nhis boyfriend.\n\n\"That's my Fox.\" Falco smiles, hugging Fox tightly.\n\n  \n  \n\n"}