Near planet Fichina...
The Captain of the exiled pirate gang rushed to the bridge of his ship.
"What the hell were you thinking, you shit-for-brains retard?" the Captain yelled at the pilot.
"I-I don't know what happened! I was just flying to the colony when the warp gate opened up! I don't even know-"
"Shut up. You've already pissed me off. But we have to work with what we have for now. See that planet right there? Go to it." the Captain ordered.
The pilot seemed skeptical, considering the massive amounts of debris and the large number of destroyed ships, but followed his Captain's orders anyway. He had seen what that old set of power armor could do. And it wasn't pretty.
"Yes, Captain."
The Captain had seen the debris, and knew a battle had taken place recently. If a battle had taken place, then there was bound to be some good loot just waiting to be taken. If anyone was left behind, they would just have to deal with them. Not that it would be a problem. His whole crew had their own set of power armor, and most of them had decent blasters while the rest had kinetic weapons.
Looking out the window of his ship, he could see the frigid surface below, finding nothing but ice for miles. Eventually, however, he found an assortment of camps. Then, he saw something in one camp that made him quite interested.
"Land there. Right... there." he ordered, pointing to a particular location.
The ship landed in the camp, the Captain ordering his crew to get their gear together. He was the first to exit the ship, turning his blaster on as he stepped down the ramp. The first thing he noticed was the smell coming in through his helmet. It seemed to be the same for the rest of the crew, one of them even speaking out about it.
"What the hell is that horrible smell?" one crew member asked, the woman next to him lightly punching his armored arm.
"You've never smelled a shitty barbecue before?" she asked sarcastically, laughing.
"Yeah, actually, I have. But this is something else entirely."
The Captain looked toward the camp as they approached it. Suddenly, he realized where the smell was coming from.
"Crew, I think that this camp site is full o' ghosts." he announced.
The crew seemed to notice what the Captain saw, as they all went silent. In the camp, there were dozens of unidentifiable charred bodies and chunks, and sometimes even a crispy pulp was stuck to the ice. All in all, it was gross.
"Holy fuck. This is some Saw gang shit. Either that... or some kind of professionals." a crew mate pointed out, scooping up a particularly charred piece of tent in his hands.
"Look at the bodies. The Saws would have hung them up or put all of them into piles, and they certainly wouldn't put 'em out of their misery with a blaster shot." the Captain said, lifting up a head with a hole in it.
Suddenly, he noticed something about the bodies. They were very small, and had irregular shaped bones. Some even seemed reptilian, the others simian in appearance.
"And these bodies aren't even fucking human." the Captain said, stumbling back.
"Holy shit. Are they... aliens? They don't look like any Spliced I've ever seen." the woman said, clutching her rifle tighter.
The Captain just shrugged, not entirely certain.
"Not sure. Doesn't matter. We came here to do one thing, and that was to loot. So that's what we'll do."
The crew immediately got to work on searching through the wreckage that was the camp. They found an assortment of charred items, not many being useful at all, and also found what seemed to be some form of currency.
"Where do you think this money is from? Doesn't look like any kind of currency I've ever seen or used." a pirate asked.
"Money is money. Take all you can find. Never know when you'll need it." the Captain ordered, seeing a pile of bodies a bit farther away from the rest.
Approaching the corpses, the Captain saw they were equipped with both blasters as well as missile launchers, one launcher being lodged in the torso of one unfortunate alien. The Captain called over the woman to help him gather the explosive weapons, eventually gathering all of the dangerous machines of death.
"So, are we just going to ignore the fact that these are probably aliens? Or that it was probably a battle between the two types of aliens we can see?" the woman asked the Captain.
"It wasn't a battle. It was a slaughter. Notice the armor is the same on the reptilians and simians. This was the work of someone with immense skill as well as immense cruelty. And yes, we will ignore the fact that they are aliens. We're pirates. All we need to focus on is what we can scrounge up for ourselves." the Captain explained.
The crew that was listening just nodded their heads, understanding what their ever-wise Captain had meant. It was still strange to see aliens, but in their day, they had definitely seen stranger. Besides, it wasn't that strange since they did look a bit like the Spliced, just more humanoid, rather than the more feral appearance of the human-animal hybrids, such as the one locked up on the ship. They never bothered to learn her name. Why would they? After all, they had just snagged her to auction her off to slavers, who would in turn sell her to people who would make her do whatever they wanted. Chances were, she would end up as a sex slave rather than a laborer. Oddly, there was a very large audience of people with an attraction to the hybrids, who were originally made as laborers anyway.
Gross.
"That's about everything, Cap. What now? Can we leave this icy shitcicle?" the raspy-voiced pirate asked.
"Not quite yet. And don't start complaining." the Captain began. "I want to see what else we can find. Get back in the ship. We'll be exploring for a while."
The crew hurried into the ship, their repurposed construction chassis-turned-power-armor clanking loudly up the ramp. The Captain entered the bridge barking orders at the pilot.
"Alright, listen up. We're going to search the area for more camps such as these. If we're lucky, we'll get more of those missile launchers." the Captain said.
"Yes sir. Do we have anything in particular we are looking for?" the pilot asked.
"When have we ever?" the Captain replied, watching the icy wasteland as they raced above the planet's surface.
Just when the Captain was starting to think there was nothing else to be found, he spotted a camp between two icy hills. Seeing a fire, he knew someone was there, That meant they couldn't allow themselves to lose the element of surprise.
"Land now. From here, we'll approach the camp from behind the hill," the Captain ordered, the pilot complying.
If anybody was there, they would just have to make them learn who's in charge.
Ivan had woken early in the morning to the sound of Miyu, Krystal, and Ajax arguing quietly beside him. He could remember what they had said, even though he was still almost entirely asleep at the moment.
"I know it was just a dream, but Krystal saw that we had the same dream. Don't you think that means something?"
"We aren't monsters, Miyu. What you saw was true, but we don't kill just because we like to."
"But why so cruelly? It wasn't just you, it was all of the soldiers. The Lylat hasn't experienced war like that in its entire history!"
"We fight for a good cause! We protect the innocent and the defenseless. Cruelty isn't our goal."
"Miyu is right, though. It was all of the humans. And there was no sympathy to be found."
They had argued for almost and hour before Ajax decided to get some sleep, the two women reluctantly following behind. Ivan on the other hand had gotten up from his short slumber and decided that the best thing in the world would be to relieve himself. Reaching the edge of the camp, Ivan started on emptying his bladder when he heard a noise. Finishing up, he headed to where the sound came from. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it sounded almost like a ship. He stopped in his tracks when he heard a noise from behind. He materialized his sniper and thought to calibrate the scope as he searched for the source of the noise.
Fortunately, he didn't need to calibrate it much. Since it was a laser weapon and the scope was a Smart-Scope, there wasn't much calibrating he could do. He actually liked this, unlike Krieg, who preferred projectile weapons. Ivan didn't miss those clumsy guns, however. He hadn't been around when the Union replaced the old laser weapons with the projectile weapons, so he didn't know what the old blasters were like. When the Union had found a way to control the recoil for the new, powerful ammunition, it became standard to use kinetic weapons, until improved laser rifles were created.
Ivan finished calibrating the scope and figured he should use his telepathy to search the area. He was able to sense the Cornerians in the camp as well as the few trees around him, but he couldn't sense much else.
Suddenly, he sensed a faint trace. It seemed close, but he couldn't actually get a read on it. There were only five other people, not including himself, that were similar in that aspect, and they were human. That could only mean...
Ivan heard a series of metal stomps behind him and whipped around with his sniper, spotting someone in a set of power armor charging toward him. He fired off a shot from the rifle, watching the laser pierce the thick armor, the occupant stumbling before hitting the ground hard. He heard similar sounds all around him and turned to meet the next one, but was too slow as an armored frame threw him to the ground and held him there, tearing off his helmet.
"Well what do we have here?" a feminine voice asked, the woman restraining his arms with the powerful armored chassis. "Hey Cap! Can I keep 'em?"
"I don't see why not." a gruff voice sounded out from behind.
The woman gave a little giggle and pulled out a pair of restraints, holding both of Ivan's arms in one hand. After restraining Ivan, she began to drag him away from the camp as a group of the power-armored people approached the camp of prisoners.
Ivan wouldn't let himself be taken away so easily. Seeing his arms pointed to the woman's armored side, he activated his hard light sword. Unfortunately, the woman seemed to expect this and pushed his arms out of the way, the blades only tearing open a small section of the armor.
"I knew you'd try that, you Union slag ball." she said before looking at the hole in her armor.
"Now why'd you have to ruin my armor like that, huh? That's not what future boy-toys are supposed to do." the woman said, grabbing Ivan up by his throat.
He was not having it. He lifted his legs and struck hard, the woman apparently not expecting the blow. Even with the heavy armor, she stumbled back, falling into the snow. Ivan materialized a pistol and tried to maneuver it to blast the restraints off. Unfortunately for him, he only managed to partially break the restraints before the woman got back up and charged after him. Ivan leapt over her and fired at the pirate, only a few of the shots even piercing the armor. Even though most were ineffective, enough struck the woman to make her stumble as she charged again.
"AARGH. You think you can kill me with that? Not in a million years!" she said, leaping on the final word toward Ivan, who activated his hard light swords just a moment too late, only piercing the shoulder of the pirate.
The pirate sounded out in pain before striking Ivan in the face hard, blood flying from his mouth. Nothing was broken, but it felt like it was. After striking him once more, she grabbed him once more and continued to drag him, blood pouring from her shoulder wound.
"You alright, Shiv? I heard a blaster go off and- Oh shit!" the only other female pirate shouted to the woman as she saw her wound.
"I'm fine. The crew probably wants your help, though. I can hear more shots over there." she said as she continued toward the ship.
Once they boarded the ship, which was less than a third of the size of the Crimson Tide, it was easy to tell that these were pirates. Stolen goods from many different places were scattered about haphazardly, and the whole ship was both mismatched and highly decorated, whether by art, goods, or different animal hides. Ivan struggled the entire way, constantly being struck by the pirate's fist in rapid intervals. Eventually, he reached what seemed to be a cell. There were chains on the walls, as well as one other occupant.
The other prisoner was one of the Spliced he had heard about. He had only ever seen one in person, and he was a tank pilot for the Union, which was unusual, as most Spliced stayed out of the war.
Ivan was dragged into the cell and hung up by his arms with the chains, the Spliced female not even moving as the pirate moved past her. Something told Ivan that she had tried to escape before, and it had not ended well.
"Great! I finally have my own personal treasure. And good job for not running away this time, you freak. I hope you remember why you have that scar. Tang was shot for that because the Captain wanted you to look 'pretty'. I don't wanna have to find... other methods of punishing you." she said with a gruff laugh.
"Alright. Don't go anywhere! I'll be right back." she said as she left, laughing the whole way.
The Spliced female looked up to Ivan the moment the door was shut. Ivan could see she was a black-furred leopard hybrid, and indeed had a scar across her right eye. Her eyes were a brilliant gold color, but seemed devoid of emotion besides sadness. It seemed as though she was broken down emotionally and physically many times by the pirates. She was both similar and drastically different from the Cornerians, and not just because of her almost human size. Her face was more leopard than human, and her structure was a strange mix of human and leopard, such as digitigrade legs while the Cornerians had plantigrade instead, and she did not have a tail like many Cornerians did. Her eyes were also less expressive and large than Cornerian eyes.
Seeing Ivan staring, she started to look away, but instead stood up slowly and approached him, staying somewhat hunched over. Ivan leaned back from her, but she still leaned in, placing a clawed hand to his bloody cheek.
"I'm... sorry they did this to you. I know how cruel they can be. I am Eva. What's your name?" she asked in an unusual accent, wiping away the blood dripping into his eyes.
Ivan did not answer, but instead focused on the restraints, attempting to remove them. He had hidden away his blaster as he was chained up, but now he had rematerialized it and was once again attempting to escape. He could hear the sounds of combat outside, and attempted to escape even faster.
"Nevermind. I'm... I'm sorry to have bothered you." she said, flinching and removing her hand from his face.
Eva sat down where she was before and tried to stay silent, but the more she thought about her situation, the more sad she felt. Her tears had run dry long ago, but she still dry-wept into her bent knees silently. Ivan was oblivious to this, however, as he was busy aiming the blaster at the restraint's lock. He took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger, the Spliced female jumping in surprise, having not seen the blaster in his hand. The restraints fell to the ground with a loud thud, and Ivan immediately went to the door and activated his hard light swords.
Stabbing through the thick metal as best he could, he attempted to remove the door from its frame. He wasn't sure how Ajax and Krieg could do it, because he was having immense difficulty removing the door. Suddenly, he remember something. He looked to the area where he suspected the key pad was on the other side, and stabbed directly to the left of it. As soon as he did, the door slid open to reveal the pirate woman standing there. Taking the moment of surprise, he jabbed the sword into the woman's chestplate and used his hand with the blaster to fire into the helmet, while most, if not all, shots harmlessly struck the metal. However, it did not matter, as the pirate grabbed at where she was stabbed before falling to the ground, removing her helmet to gasp for air. Blood soaked into the woman's long, dark red hair as she took panicked breaths in vain, clutching the painful wound that spurted blood from her chest. Pained tears rolled from her eyes in a rapid stream.
Ivan ignored her as he continued out of the ship, Eva following close behind, continually glancing at the woman bleeding on the floor. Even though the pirate had helped capture her, Eva couldn't help but feel bad for her. She knew that somewhere in her heart she could have been a good woman given the chance. But that moment wouldn't come, as she had taken one final breath before releasing what Eva believed to be her death rattle, a glazed look in her eyes.
Ivan was about to exit the ship when he remembered the hybrid woman. Searching for a moment, he grabbed multiple pelts off of the wall and tossed them to her before opening up the ramp. Eva was struck by the freezing temperature and harsh, snowy winds and covered herself as best she could with the warm, furry pelts. Glancing one last time at the armored woman on the floor, Eva stepped out of the ship with Ivan to the sound of blaster shots.
An entire crew of pirates raced across the icy ground, attempting to dodge the barrage of fire from both Cornerians and Ajax. The Cornerians were using Venomian blasters, which were mostly ineffective, but some had picked up weapons from dead pirates. They couldn't control the human weapons well, but they were able to get enough shots off to where it was hazardous for the pirates.
Ajax had woken up to the sound of a blaster shot and found the group of pirates attacking the camp. They didn't notice him until he had shot one of them with an explosive, killing two in the process. The rest had taken cover near snowy stones or had charged head on, killing a Cornerian prisoner with a blaster shot to the chest that launched the canine backwards into the air.
Ivan found his sniper nearby and grabbed it. Taking aim, he started picking off pirates from behind and received returning fire. Eva had taken cover behind one of the few trees. She had never seen combat, and her heart was racing. The man who had saved her had also taken cover behind a tree, firing shots toward the remaining pirates. In the snow about ten feet away, she saw his helmet at the beginning of a trail of blood. Rushing out of cover, she sped toward the helmet on all fours. Barely dodging both plasma bolts and bullets, she managed to snag the helmet and rushed back to Ivan.
Ivan turned to see Eva rushing toward him, helmet in hand. As soon as she reached him, he snapped the helmet onto his head and took aim down below. Then, he spotted the Captain. It was easy to tell that he was in charge, as his armor had a large red plume on the helmet, and gold paint adorned the body of the silver armor. He went to take the shot when he spotted Miyu and Krystal as they leapt onto him. He shook his body, attempting to get the women off of him before he just dropped his blaster and grabbed the two by their throats.
"You have made a fatal mistake, welps! I am Captain Leo, Pirate King! You are a fool to challenge me-"
Miyu interrupted him with a stab to the weak spot around the neck. It didn't pierce the armor all the way, but it surprised him enough to make him drop the two. Enraged, he pulled out a large silver sword.
"This will be your end."
Captain Leo charged, his sword glinting in the sun. His crew looked on as their leader charged forth, ready to kill the two foolish enough to attack him. Their morale was boosted for but a moment, however, as Ajax tackled him, knocking the sword out of his hands. Taking the opportunity, Ivan fired at the last three pirates, piercing their armor as they screamed out in pain, falling into the snow.
As Ajax wrestled with the Captain, Ivan heard Eva shout a warning before he felt something grab him and slam him onto his back. Ivan couldn't believe his eyes. Pinning him to the ground was Shiv, the pirate woman.
"Th-thought you could... leave so... easily?" she said between coughs filled with blood.
It was a frightening sight. She had placed one of the many hides on the walls of the ship over her wound, the blood freezing it in place as she stepped outside. Her hair was matted with blood, and she had plenty of the red substance spilling out of her mouth. Her eyes were crazed, her face furrowed in rage.
"I... am going t-to take you... as mine... w-whether you want me to... or n-not." she declared, more blood pouring through her clenched teeth.
Ivan struggled in her chassis-assisted grip, the mechanical hold proving stronger than he. She moved her head closer and licked his visor, a trail of blood smearing Ivan's vision. As she smiled wickedly at him, he headbutted her in the teeth, making her lips bust and a few of her teeth crack.
"Y-you fucker! You're g-gonna regret that!" she said, squeezing Ivan hard, making his airway constricted. Suddenly, he heard a battle cry. Eva leapt at the pirate, claws extended as she sliced the woman across the eye.
Shiv used her other arm to throw Eva away, giving Ivan enough time to activate his hard light sword. Shiv saw him do this and dodged her head out of the way, but Ivan knew better and went to stab at the base of the neck. Shiv dropped Ivan and stepped backwards, avoiding the death blow, and charged forward only to stumble and fall. Coughing out more blood onto the snow, she looked up at Ivan, who towered above her as she laid in the snow, her face frozen by the harsh planet's conditions.
"G-go on... then. Do it." she said, closing her eyes as she awaited death.
Ivan cocked back his arm and prepared to kill the woman when Eva shouted out.
"Wait! Please, no more killing!" she begged.
Ivan ignored her and went back to trying to kill the pirate when Eva jumped in front of the woman.
"No more death! Please. It breaks my heart to see this. I beg you to stop." she pleaded, Ivan growling in frustration.
He hated when civilians got in his way. He hated it worse than getting shot, or burned, or stabbed. It was the most irritating, infuriating thing in the universe. But, when he looked into her eyes, he felt that perhaps... it really was him that was wrong. Reaper Squad, as well as the rest of humanity, as Miyu and Krystal pointed out, was brutal or even outright cruel with their methods. Maybe it was time to change this way of thinking-
Suddenly, Shiv grabbed Eva by the legs and pulled her down, covering herself with the hybrid as she held a knife to Eva's neck.
"I-If you're really a hero, you'll do what I say, or else ol' furbag here eats it. You're... coming with me, and you'll leave your w-weapons behind. I've been looking for something to... relieve my stress for a while now, and I won't be letting you get away." she ordered, pressing the blade closer to the Spliced woman's neck.
Ivan didn't know what to do. In the camp, Ajax still wrestled with Captain Leo, and Ivan couldn't materialize any of his weapons without Eva getting her throat slit. Slowly, he just nodded his head, removing his helmet from his head, his eyes looking to the ground in shame. At least, that's what he made it look like. He still had his hard light swords, so he could still do this. He just needed an opportunity.
"Good. Now t-take off that armor. I know you... got them swords, and we can't have that. Don't w-worry though. M-Momma will keep you warm." she said with a husky laugh.
Ivan was furious. Now he had nothing. Absolutely nothing. Without his equipment, he was just another man. A skilled man, but a regular man nonetheless. He couldn't compare to the armored form of the psychotic woman in the power armor. After removing his armor, he stepped forward, hands in the air as he shivered. The woman laughed in joy and pushed Eva away, the hybrid cowering as the woman gave her a threatening look. Ivan turned to the Spliced woman, who gave him a look of both sorrow and shame.
Shiv grabbed Ivan by the arms and pulled him back to the ship, struggling as blood loss started to affect her. She knew she would be fine once they got back to the ship, though. There was a medical kit on board that could fix her injuries quickly enough. Once she reached the ship with her new prize, she tossed him inside and shut the ship's entrance before bringing Ivan back to one of the cells. After literally throwing him into the cell, she rushed to get the medical kit for herself.
Ivan hated himself at the moment. He had failed. It had only taken a single pirate to restrain him. Granted, she had a hostage, but he still felt as though he was a failure. And now, he would be forced to do unspeakable acts with the pirate at her command. Looking through the small window of the cell, he saw Shiv approach the door and turn on the comm with the keypad.
"Well, my prize, we'll be taking off soon. I know the Captain and everyone else is down there, but we don't need them. I only need you, and from this point forward, you will only need me." the psychotic pirate promised before heading to the bridge.
Ivan laid down on the bed in the cell, contemplating his future. He had a tracker in him, but he could only hope that it still worked, and if it did, the others would come for him. But would they be fast enough?
Meanwhile, Ajax had managed to restrain the Captain, having destroyed the power armor's power source, rendering it a heavy weight that trapped the Captain. Chaining the Captain up to a tree stump, Ajax had planned on executing him, but Miyu spoke out against it.
"He's already down for the count. There's no need to kill senselessly like we're some kinds of animals." Miyu said hotly.
Ajax stopped himself from killing the Captain, who seemed amused by the action as he laughed loudly.
"So, how's it feel to take orders from someone weaker than you?" Captain Leo asked, laughing even more heartily than before.
Ajax turned around immediately and smashed his fist into the helmet of the Captain hard. Miyu didn't bother to reprimand him this time.
"Big talk comin' from someone chained to a stump. So why don't you take orders from someone stronger than you and shut the hell up?"
Captain Leo may have been arrogant, but he also knew when to shut his mouth. And judging by the blood dripping into his eyes from the punch, now would have been a good time.
Ajax scanned the area, surveying the battle. What he saw did not sit well with him. While there were eight dead pirates, there were also four dead Cornerians, three male, one female. The three males consisted of two canines and the rabbit, while the female was a canine. There were also six Cornerians injured. Ajax couldn't help but feel as though he failed. While they had lost only four out of the twenty prisoners, Ajax had never lost a fifth of his people before, nor had he lost anywhere near half as many as an enemy team.
Suddenly, Ajax realized something.
"Ulvarrson? Ivan? Where are you, Sergeant?" Ajax called out, not seeing his mostly mute squad mate.
He searched for the young man for a while, not seeing where he had gone when an unfamiliar voice sounded out behind him.
"They took him! She took him onto their ship!"
Ajax turned around and was shocked for a moment. Running toward him in tears was a Spliced woman, appearing to be a black leopard hybrid. She ran straight to him and collapsed in his arms.
"Please save him! He saved me, and now he needs saving!" she pleaded.
"Where? Lead me to where they were-"
Suddenly, a ship raced over their heads and out of the planet's atmosphere. Knowing what this meant, Ajax fell to his knees. His ally and friend was gone. Taken away by pirates. Ajax couldn't just leave the Cornerians behind, and he didn't trust that either Miyu or Krystal could safely rescue Ivan. For now, Ivan would just have to figure out a way to escape on his own.
"That crazy bitch! She just left me here? When I get my hands on her..." the Captain began.
"You won't be getting your hands on anything. You're our prisoner, and will stay that way until we hand you over to the Cornerian justice system." Krystal explained.
"That's right, you murdering piece of shit. Come on you two. We have brave men and women that need body bags." Ajax said as he went to deal with the dead Cornerians, followed by Krystal, Miyu, and Eva.
"So, what's your name? How'd you end up here?" Ajax asked Eva.
Miyu and Krystal tuned in to the coming conversation, also interested. To them, she looked like both a human and Cornerian, but more Cornerian than anything. Listening in on the conversation, both of the women allowed their minds to wander to Ivan. Even though they were still angry over the cruel ways of humanity, he was still a friend, and they worried about him.
They just hoped he was okay.
(AN: Strong Sexual Content Ahead)
This was the opposite of okay. Ivan had been resting on the cell's small, uncomfortable bed when Shiv walked into his cell in power armor. Immediately, she grabbed him up and brought him to a large room filled with beds, which seemed to be a communal bedroom. But since there were only two people, it was all theirs. Well, more like Shiv's, but the idea is the same.
What really got Ivan to panic, however, was the bed with chains on it that they were headed to. He knew where this was going, and he hated it. While she wasn't ugly, Shiv also wasn't too attractive. Maybe a six out of ten. He was just glad that she had washed up first.
"Alright, trophy. Prepare to have your world rocked." the woman said, chaining Ivan to the bed.
Shiv began removing her armor, slowly exiting the damaged mechanical suit. Once she did, she was left in a black tank top and pants. Ivan had to admit. Even though her face was average, her body was amazing.
"Like what you see? Good. You'll be seeing a whole lot of it." she said, pulling off her shirt.
As soon as the shirt was off, her breasts flopped out to reveal just how large they were. Ivan wanted to struggle, but decided it would be in vain. The best he could do was give her nothing to work with. As Shiv stripped down, placing her breasts down on Ivan's chest, he did what any man resisting an erection would do.
He thought of dead puppies, old people, and the terrible taste of grape Fanta.
"How about you give Momma a kiss?" Shiv said, leaning down and placing her lips on Ivan's.
Ivan just laid still, letting her do the work as she sloppily kissed his unmoving face. She moved her lips from his and ran her tongue across his neck, lightly biting the skin on one side before pulling off Ivan's undersuit. Left in his boxers, Ivan felt vulnerable as he felt her long red locks dance across his body before she laid on top of him, gripping his gonads with her hand.
Moving up, she placed her breasts in Ivan's face, rubbing his crotch with her free hand.
"Give me a bit of love, why don't you." she ordered.
Ivan didn't move. He wasn't going to be pushed around by some-
"Fine. We'll do this the hard way." she said.
Suddenly, she gripped his family jewels hard. Ivan tensed up, resisting the urge to shout out in pain. She wanted to be like that? Fine.
Ivan looked her in the eyes and spit in her face, making her smile a creepy smile.
"Feisty. That's how I like it." she said through gritted teeth.
She released Ivan's goods, so Ivan sighed in relief before Shiv started to mount his waist. Ivan let out a growl of frustration as she pulled her pants off, wiggling her hips.
"Come on. I want us both to enjoy this. Let yourself have a bit of fun."
Ivan couldn't believe the audacity of the woman. He was doing this against his will, but he was expected to enjoy it? It boggled his mind that she seemed to think he would be her willing sex toy. He was a trained killer, and she was criminal scum to the core. How were either of those things sexy? Yes, it was the plot of countless movies, where a strong hero or dashing rogue wooed the ladies, but in reality it wasn't attractive at all.
"Look, either way, I'm gonna have my fun, but that doesn't require you to. I'm trying to be nice here." she explained, wrapping her muscular arms around his even more muscular body.
Ivan wanted to laugh. Because if he felt anything, it was definitely not lucky. If chaining him up to a bed and pretty much raping him was nice, then he would hate for her to be pissed off while he was vulnerable. At the moment, the only thing he could do was lay still as she sucked on his neck in a surprisingly tender way, having gone back to rubbing his member with her hand, having slipped her hand down his boxers.
"Not feeling it, are you? Come on, let yourself feel aroused. I want to see just how big this is." she said, her hot breath covering Ivan's face, smelling of blood and liquor.
Ivan didn't know what she would do if he refused to give in, but he persisted with his stubborn act. This seemed to aggravate Shiv, as she got in Ivan's face, her forehead against his, and almost shouted into his face.
"I said I want to see how big it is. Let yourself get erect. You don't have a choice here. It's either you do it yourself, or I inject you with somethin' to do it for ya."
This threat actually did bother Ivan. He could either do this himself, or face the shame of an artificial boner. He was going to be honest with himself. Shameful fake boners were not a great sounding concept. Deciding there was no real harm to anything but his pride, Ivan stopped thinking about the cough syrup taste of grape soda and the wrinkly skin of old people. As soon as he did, he took notice of the now smiling woman pressing her breasts into his chest. As a result, he felt a stirring at his lower half.
"That's more like it. And damn is it a good size." she stated, gripping the head of his cock with her callous hands, smiling widely.
"If there's one thing I like, it's a nice big one to fill me up." she said, lowering herself to his crotch, pulling his boxers down.
Gazing at the member in front of her, she smiled a wild smile and brought her tongue to it, running her tongue across the length of it until she reached the head, which she popped into her mouth before reversing the act, repeating this multiple times before she stopped at the head once more, swirling her tongue around it. Ivan gave no reaction to this, much to her disappointment, so she upped her game and placed her breasts around his cock, moving them up and down as she suckled the tip.
After what seemed to be ten minutes, she got tired of sucking and mounted Ivan once more, but this time placed her crotch by Ivan's face, her warmth covering Ivan's head as she placed her thighs next to each side of his face.
"Well it's clear you've got some stamina. How about you return the favor?" she asked, removing her own pair of plaid boxers, revealing her clean-shaven pussy to Ivan.
She wasted no time in sitting down directly onto Ivan's face, to which he immediately began to resist before she wrapped her hand around his cock again, jerking her hand up and down rapidly.
"You know what to do. Return the favor, or this thing's coming...off" she laughed.
Ivan scowled as he attempted to breathe under the tall woman's pussy, which continued to drip fluids onto his face. Not wanting to lose his prized organ, he reluctantly complied. It wouldn't be his best work, but it's what she'd get. Licking the outer lips, he traced around every part of her genitalia with his tongue, causing her to squirm in pleasure. Ivan decided to try and make her finish quickly, so he got to suckling on her clit as the woman bucked her hips.
"N-now that's nice. Th-that's really nice." she said, moving herself off of Ivan's face, giving him a breather before flipping herself around and sitting back on his face.
Ivan continued his strategy for a while as the woman sucked him down to the base of his cock. Shiv bounced her backside on Ivan's face, moaning loudly as he brought her closer to climax. Then, a wicked thought came to her mind. While Ivan licked her pussy, she scooted forward quickly, Ivan's tongue penetrating her ass as she continued bucking her hips on his face.
Ivan was disgusted. It was sudden, cheap, and grody. But once again, he had no choice as he licked at her ass, every once in a while sticking his tongue into the hole itself. She took great pleasure in this, as she let out a very loud moan and dipped two fingers into her pussy, fingering herself for another few minutes.
"E-enough of that. Let's get to the good stuff." she said, lifting her ass off of Ivan's face, the man taking in the breath he had been waiting on.
She positioned herself right above Ivan's member, the warmth and wetness radiating off of her crotch and onto Ivan's cock. Leaning forward and placing her breasts on Ivan's face, she lowered herself quickly, her pussy swallowing the member in one fell swoop.
"O-Oh fuck! C-come on. Start t-thrusting with me." she ordered, slamming down on his pelvis rapidly.
Ivan once again hesitated, but eventually started thrusting as well. Loud, wet smacks filled the air as the two met each others' waists mid-thrust, Shiv wrapping her legs around Ivan as best she could, increasing her speed. She placed her hand on Ivan's head, pressing his face into her chest as her hips did an impression of a jackhammer, her vaginal walls clenching tightly as she once again increased her speed. Ivan then had an idea. If he just played along with her, eventually she may unchain him for 'good behavior'. He would be one step closer to freedom, and it would start with one thing.
Ivan pulled his head back a bit from the woman's chest, leaning toward one of her breasts and latching on to it with his mouth, sucking on her large breast while grazing her nipple with his teeth. She let out a primal moan and pulled his head in closer as she let out whimpers of pleasure that gradually turned into loud, consecutive screams of pleasure. As much as he would hate to admit it, Ivan also felt himself reaching his finish, trying his best not to release.
Shiv lightly pulled on Ivan's head, signalling for him to let go of her nipple. As soon as he did, she pulled his head toward hers and gave him a sloppy open-mouthed kiss as she moaned into his mouth, her strong legs squeezing Ivan as she started to reach her climax. Ivan could see a tear roll out of her eye and she sucked on his mouth hard as if she was attempting to suck out his soul.
Releasing one last loud moan, Shiv clenched tightly on Ivan's cock, arcing her back as she screamed in pleasure, squirting on Ivan's crotch as her body shook. She collapsed onto Ivan, her vaginal walls spasming hard, her legs still clutching Ivan. Feeling the wild clenching, Ivan was pushed over the edge, releasing far into Shiv's pussy, making her moan loudly one final time. Ivan showed no outward reaction to his orgasm. Even to Shiv, it was a bit creepy.
But that didn't matter. She had gotten what she had wanted. Not only did she get a good fuck out of it, but she felt his warm seed in her cervix. She was overjoyed that this had finally happened. If he was fertile, she would finally get to be a mother. Shiv looked Ivan in the eye before giving a genuine smile of joy, another tear rolling down her cheek before she kissed him once more before going to kissing along his jawline.
It was the first time he had seen her smile with kindness. She seemed like the happiest woman in the world as she cuddled next to him, tracing his muscles with a finger, wrapping her other arm around him.
"I hope you enjoyed that. I really do. I have to hope for good things for the father of my child." she said, laying her head in the crook of his neck.
Ivan stared up at the ceiling of the ship, contemplating his future. Would he escape, or would he be stuck fathering a child? He just hoped the others were okay. Really, he could have been worse off. His thoughts wandered as he thought about his team.
He wondered how Corneria was doing.
Julian let out a frustrated growl as he made another pass on the massive Venomian ship in vain. This ship was at least as big as a mid-sized Confederate battleship, and was just as powerful as the larger Confederate ships. It was clear this was the jewel of the Venomian navy. Julian had taken down capital ships before, but the shields on this one were the equivalent to Confederate Capital Destroyers.
Other Venomian ships continued to appear, slowly pushing back Cornerian forces. Those that were too slow to retreat were obliterated, as two Cornerian ships learned the hard way. Ajax and Ivan were still MIA, and the Cornerian navy had yet to weaken the ship as it approached Corneria, threatening to breach the atmosphere.
"It's been almost three fucking days! How much more can this thing take?" Krieg shouted into his radio as he swept the surface of the ship, destroying a group of exposed turrets.
Most of the anti-fighter turrets weren't covered by the shield and were quickly destroyed. However, the vessel still had naval guns and a vast number of fighters coming from its hangars, though most were vaporized as soon as they left the hangar. Even though most were destroyed, swaths of fighters continued to torment battered ships.
Julian took out a squadron of fighters and returned to the hangar of the Crimson Tide. Exiting his fighter craft, he yelled out rage, punching a nearby metal box. He was angry at how hard it was to take out the shields. He was angry because so many Cornerian ships had been destroyed. He was angry because they were losing. Julian had never lost since he joined Reaper Squad, and he didn't want to lose to a significantly inferior foe. If only there was a weak spot...
Ivan suddenly had an idea. It was dangerous, and might not even work, but it was something. If he could get a ship landed inside the Venomian capital ship, they could disable the shield from the inside. It would be a high-risk high-reward plan, as it would have a chance of catastrophic failure, but they could also capture the ship as they had for other ships. It would also give Julian some action on the ground.
Julian saw Krieg land in the hangar as well, jumping out of the cockpit and punching the metal box as well, leaving a large dent.
"Son of a BITCH! How did these insignificant fucking worms manage to create something a strong as a Confederate ship?" Krieg shouted in anger as he walked over to Julian.
"I'm not sure, but I do have a plan. And I suspect you'll be all for it." Julian said, grinning behind his helmet.
Krieg stopped moving and listened closely. What had the pilot's mind come up with? What could they do to finally end this little engagement?
"Notice how the shields temporarily go down around the hangar as fighters exit. If we can get the Crimson Tide into the massive hangar, we can disable the ship from the inside, as we've done for other ships."
Krieg thought about it for a moment. They would have to time it perfectly if they wanted to make it through. In the end, Krieg nodded his head and pulled out his heavy blaster.
"Let's send 'em to Hell. I'll get that Confederate kid to get ready." he said before he rushed to do as he said.
Julian also rushed out of the hangar and toward the bridge, but not before taking one last glance toward the carnage in space, seeing a Cornerian ship go up in flames. Increasing his speed, he reached the bridge to see Janine controlling the forward guns.
"Oh, so you'll be the one piloting this thing for once?" Janine said with a laugh.
He hated to admit it, but Janine had been doing more piloting than him recently, and she was doing a damn good job at it.
"Yeah, I will. But get ready. We're boarding that beast, and it's bound to get rough." he stated, Janine not even being shocked.
"Alright then. Do I get to use my own blaster for once, or will I be manning the turrets again?" she asked, hopeful.
"Well, it's your lucky day, Janine. At first you'll be on the turrets, but when we land, it's showtime." Julian said, sitting in the pilot's seat. "Hold on, it's about to get wild." Julian said into the intercom.
Julian grabbed hold of the controls and made a swift turn toward the Venomian hangar and accelerated as the shields around the hangar swiftly dropped, fighters once again pouring out. Janine fired into the swarm of fighters and into the hangar itself as the ship flew toward the hangar when suddenly a group of fighters that looked similar to Arwings fired at the Crimson Tide, putting strain on the shields.
The radio buzzed to life as Fox spoke into it, exasperated.
"It's Star Wolf! Be careful!"
Julian was just enraged that someone dared shoot at his beautiful ship.
"I don't give a shit who they are! Nobody shoots at my baby and gets away with it!"
"Don't go after them! We can take them. Just do what you were doing before. I can see what you're trying to do, and it's pretty clever!" Fox said as he appeared, chasing down the fighters with the rest of Star Fox.
Julian reluctantly complied as he continued toward the still-open hangar, accelerating at unsafe speeds as the last fighters began to leave. Punching it one last time, the Crimson Tide crashed through a group of fighters and into the hangar, avoiding crashing as he whipped the ship around the massive hangar. The hangar was definitely as large as many Confederate carriers, as it had plenty of room for many other of the large Crimson Tide.
With the forward cannons facing a cluster of fighters, Janine and Julian both fired away, destroying everything in sight, turning the ship a full 360 degrees in order to completely ravage the ship's interior. A group of rocket marines fired at the human ship, forcing Julian to expertly avoid the oncoming fire as Krieg leapt out of the Crimson Tide, landing hard and opening fire on the rocket marines, blasting holes into all five of them. Soon after, Damien followed in the power armor, his landing denting the ground below him as he also opened fire on any Venomian troops he could see, his explosive shots turning them into pulp.
Julian scanned for any surviving troops or equipment in the hangar before setting the ship down and rushing to grab his own blaster, Janine doing the same. Once they reached the armory, Julian grabbed his standard issue rifle, as did Janine, who practically hugged the killing machine before grabbing her hefty medical bag. Julian eyed the light tank, considering how hilarious it would be to roll through the ship with the tank. Deciding against it, he rushed out of the Crimson Tide and into the larger ship.
"Damien, you'll stay here and keep these freaks from damaging our ship. The rest of you, let's take this thing!" Krieg ordered as he rushed toward an open blast door that had a sign pointing them toward the bridge. It didn't take long for them to be met with opposition, as the Venomians took notice of them and got to cover as quickly as they could, many being vaporized before they could reach safety.
Janine took aim toward one of the more nervous looking Venomians, waiting for him to pop out of cover. When he didn't, Janine picked another target that popped out of cover only for Krieg to eviscerate him with a quick shot to the gut.
"Hey! That one was mine!" she shouted, frustrated.
"Fine. The next one is yours."
The Venomians that heard this exchange were terrified. They had weapons that obliterated with a single shot, and they took joy in killing, going as far as to be upset when a kill was taken from them. No Venomian wanted to exit their protective spots, so one decided to lob a grenade toward the humans, hoping it would do something. Instead, they heard a loud CLANK and the grenade was sent sailing back. An ape's eyes went wide before the explosive incinerated him as well as a few others next to him.
Taking this opportunity, the humans rushed forward, shooting the distracted Venomians. Janine spotted a lizard covering his bloodied face and took aim, squeezing the trigger as she felt the satisfactory kick and bark of the rifle. The Venomians skull exploded into pieces, showering the wall behind him with blood and grey matter. Picking another target, she double-tapped an ape, who then clutched his chest breathlessly as he fell to the ground with two smoking craters in his chest.
Julian activated his bayonet and sliced through the remaining enemies, firing a single shot toward one that tried to run. The reptile fell to his knees, then onto his face and into a puddle of blood.
The humans wasted no time in continuing their well-practiced ship takeover. They had done it dozens of times flawlessly, and would do it many more times just the same.
Meanwhile, Fox was avoiding being shot down by Wolf, who had been tailing him the whole time.
"Just give up, Fox! You're no match for me!"
Fox was irritated and a little bit afraid. Wolf had never beaten Fox, but he was still on Fox's level. The vulpine suspected most of his wins against the wolf were purely luck at times as he avoided a trio of lasers and shot down an unfortunate Venomian. As he was tailed by Wolf, Falco was tailed by Leon, and Panther was busy taking out Cornerian fighters.
Fox growled in frustration as a laser struck his Arwing. He would have to lose Wolf somehow. Suddenly, Fox reduced his speed rapidly, making Wolf fly past him. Wolf quickly noticed this trick and flipped his fighter around to face Fox. Unfortunately for him, however, Fox had already fired at Wolf and had dropped his shields to zero before Wolf pulled out of the way.
To continue his attack on Wolf, Fox followed him closely, practically touching his fighter to Wolf's. He opened fire once more, striking the engines of Wolf's unshielded ship before Wolf rolled his ship out of the way and Panther came to his rescue.
"Panther will help you, Wolf." Panther said as he trailed behind Fox.
Fox was even more frustrated. He would have to stay incredibly vigilant if he was to make it out of this situation. At least, that's what he thought before Falco shot Panther's engines out in a surprise attack.
"That Leon guy never learns! Lombardi reigns supreme!" Falco said cheerfully as Panther's ship spiraled out of control toward the Planet, following Leon.
"Thanks, Falco! You're killin' it today!" Fox complimented as he continued to chase Wolf.
Just as he was about to finish off his rival, Fara and Fay shot him down, causing him to also crash toward the planet.
"Sorry, Fox, but I just had to!" Fara said, making Fox laugh.
"It's alright. I'm just glad he's been taken out."
"I just can't believe they tried again after last time!" Fay said, laughing loudly.
Fox let out his own chuckle at the expense of Star Wolf. Immediately after his chuckle, he noticed the lack of motion from the Venomian capital ship. It was eerily still, not a hint of life shown from the outside. It seemed as though the humans had done it. They had killed the metal beast from the inside. He almost felt bad for the Venomians on the inside. To face the wrath of the heavily armored alien giants was a fate that would leave those who watched with nightmares, as it had for him, and was something he couldn't comprehend. Even being on their side, Fox had been stricken with terror on the battlefield on Papetoon, as had the others.
Their way of waging war was beyond anything he had seen. Not even the most cruel of Lylatians would kill the way they did. Their victims were unrecognizable if not outright pulp. You could see their brutish yet oddly refined ways in even the smallest of movements. Their eyes were those of predators. Even Janine, who was the honest, sweet-natured doctor, had that same hungry, predatory look in her expressions, showing her inner thoughts.
The massive ship had ceased moving entirely. The hangar was ablaze, but everything else was quiet. Even the remaining Venomian ships had stopped fighting, and had been slowly moving back.
Suddenly, the shields for the ships went down as the back of the ship exploded violently, the explosion engulfing the retreating Venomian ships, vaporizing them in the blast.
"Holy fucking shit!" Falco yelped gracefully.
Fox was stunned. Just a few humans had managed to take out the most powerful ship he had ever faced. So many Cornerian ships had been lost while fighting it, yet the humans had managed to take out the ship alone. And all they had needed was an opening. He saw the human ship exit the flaming hangar, his radio buzzing to life.
"This is Julian. They're done for. Put that on the news, over." Julian said with a laugh.
"Excellent work! Fan-fucking-tastic work!" Fox said, ecstatic.
"So it's true! They are as badass as the internet says they are!" Fara said, overjoyed.
"Nope. We're more badass than the internet says we are." Julian said with no small amount of pride.
"Humble too." Fay said sarcastically.
The group's laugh was short lived as they viewed the destruction around them. It was mostly destroyed Venomian ships, but nearly a third of the carnage was Cornerian forces. In the end, it was most definitely a victory. Fox and his team landed inside the Great Fox and headed to the recreational rooms for R&R while Fox headed to the bridge. Stepping inside, he saw General Pepper's holographic form appear.
"Fox, I want to thank both Star Fox and the humans. You have helped save Corneria, and will be rewarded handsomely. Thank you, McCloud. Also, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that Star Wolf has been placed in custody of the Cornerian justice system." the General said with a smile.
Fox gave his own smile as well, glad at the news.
"Great! And no problem, General. Anytime!"
The General just nodded his head and signed off, leaving Fox in the quiet of the bridge. Sighing in relief, he turned the Great Fox planetside and headed home, followed by the humans while the Venomian capital ship was seized by the Cornerian navy. Landing at the homestead, both Star Fox and Reaper Squad exited their ships and entered the homestead.
Julian sat on the couch with Fay to play a video game while Krieg and Falco headed to brush up on their shooting skills. Slippy was keen on just watching Julian and Fay play video games, as was Damien. Janine had already gotten started on cooking dinner, leaving Fox and Fara.
"So, Fara... wanna follow me to my room?" Fox asked, tired.
Fara nodded her head, also tired. The two stopped to shower together first before they headed to Fox's room.
"I don't feel like doing anything other than sleeping." Fox stated, laying on his bed with Fara in his underwear.
"Same here. Though, I am interested in those humans. What're they like?" she asked, also in her underwear.
Fox thought hard. It was hard to describe. They were brutal killers, highly efficient in every way. Even Damien, who was just an infantry soldier, was likely able to destroy any Lylatian that challenged him with little effort. Yet, while they weren't gentle by any means, they were incredibly kind and overall good to Star Fox. He recalled Ajax being willing to meditate with Krystal many times, even though he clearly wasn't interested. He recalled Krieg teaching Falco all he could about weaponry just because Falco asked. He recalled Julian laughing and enjoying himself with Fay, who had been nervous about them at first. And Janine, who was a straightforward and kind individual through and through.
He recalled how easily Miyu fell for Ajax. That being said, he also remembered her tears upon seeing him in a violent rage on Papetoon.
Eventually, he had his answer.
"They're unique." he said plainly.
"That's it? Come on, Fox!" she said, disappointed.
Fox laughed at the woman next to him as she punched his arm lightly.
"Okay, okay. They're... like us. Except their extremes are even more exaggerated. They show kindness in heaps, and have shown loyalty since day one. But they are also incredibly dangerous." he said, trailing off.
Fara just scoffed at this statement.
"Well, obviously. They're, like, super soldiers or something." Fara said.
Fox just shook his head slowly.
"It's not like that. They're more brutal than anything I've ever seen. The battle with them on Papetoon I told you about had details taken out of it. It was the fastest, most one-sided fight I've ever seen on such a scale. And on Sauria, it was the same. They didn't just kill or injure the Venomians, they... they destroyed them. Turned them into pulp. Blood caked my boots after every conflict on the ground with them. I've seen more gallons of blood and organs in a single battle with them than most veterans will ever see in their lives." Fox said, recalling the humans' combat methods.
Fara clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. Fox started again, his voice low.
"I've never seen so much fear in my life. I could swear I saw a Venomian die of pure fear on the battlefield. I never thought I could feel bad for Venomians, but something about seeing them so afraid made them feel... like they were people. It made me realize that the Venomians were people too. But they were cut down without a second thought." Fox said, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
Fara also felt tears well up as she leaned in to give Fox a kiss on his cheek, hugging him tightly.
"But they're not to blame, I think. It's... probably just how they were trained or raised. They're too good of people to us for it to be anything else." Fox said, more trying to reassure himself than Fara.
"I understand. Still, I didn't think about it. I guess they washed the blood off of their armor or something." Fara said, nuzzling Fox's neck.
"I think their armor is actually hydrophobic. Blood doesn't stay on their armor. It just... slides off." he explained.
Fara looked Fox in the eye and spoke to him quietly.
"All this talk of death is depressing." she said, not sure what else to say. "I miss Miyu... Krystal... Ajax... even Ivan."
Fox nodded, his mind now on his friends. Wait a minute...
"Oh shit! They're still on Fichina!" he said, jumping out of bed and rushing out the door to the Great Fox, followed by Fara, passing by Julian and Fay.
"Whoa! You guys forgetting something?" Julian said, pointing at the almost-naked aliens.
"No time for pants! The others are still on Fichina!" Fox said as he headed out the door.
Julian was shocked that he had forgotten about his own team like that. Was the victory they had awaited for three days really that distracting?
"I'm sure they can rescue them on their own. Let's focus on beating these guys." Fay said, pointing to the television.
Julian just nodded his head, going back to obliterating the other players in the game. It was starting to become kind of fun to him. He was much better at it than Fay, who was supposedly a master at the game. He was still mad that she punched him during the first time they played, though.
"Man, these guys suck." Julian observed.
"Not everyone can be a super soldier alien, Julian." Fay explained dryly.
"Well they should be. You should try being one." he joked.
Fay just rolled her eyes at his antics. She looked over at the man to her right, noticing his reddish-brown facial hair had started to grow out. To her, it made him quite handsome. But she wouldn't tell him that. Unfortunately for her, he already knew. It was weird that she thought he was attractive, but a compliment was a compliment. Even if it wasn't a spoken one. Janine also picked up on Fay's small crush as she finished making beans and rice. She had taken the ingredients from the Crimson Tide's kitchen, as she didn't want to use up the Cornerians' ingredients.
She thought it was cute that Fay saw Julian as attractive, even if by only a little bit. She just wanted to see Ivan again. He never talked to her, but she thought he was handsome, and she thought a lot of his actions were funny.
Janine never claimed to be a complex woman.
Looking at Julian and Fay, she smiled to see the two give each other a victory hug before awkwardly avoiding eye contact for a moment. Janine held in a laugh as she took dinner off of the stove, calling everyone into the dining room.
Fox and Fara were enjoying themselves much less as the Great Fox sped toward Fichina, putting on spare clothes as they traveled. They couldn't believe they had forgotten about their friends on the icy planet. They didn't know what condition they were in, but they remembered where they were.
Ajax and the others had finished dealing with the four dead Cornerians and was cooking a large pot of food for the camp. With sixteen Cornerian former prisoners, as well as Krystal, Miyu, Ajax, and now Eva, he had to feed twenty people. Krystal was busy helping the six injured Cornerians with the limited medical supplies they had scavenged, as well as using Cerinian spiritual healing. He considered it to be a bunch of bullshit, but then he remembered he had telepathy. He also didn't used to think interdimensional travel was possible, so he supposed anything could happen.
Miyu stood watch over the camp, gripping a pirate blaster in her hands. It was a weapon even worse than Confederate blasters, and had a metal bayonet bolted to the bottom of the stocky weapon. It was almost primitive, but it still had more power than a Cornerian weapon, as evident by the crater in the rabbit's chest.
Ajax called the camp over for dinner and headed to take Miyu's place as the guard. As he passed the feline, she avoided looking him in the eye as she passed him.
"Miyu, why won't you just talk to me?" Ajax asked, taking point.
Miyu stopped in her tracks, still avoiding eye contact with the human as she held a forlorn look on her face.
"I... I just don't know how to feel anymore. I feel like I've lost so much since that horrible nightmare. Seeing such brutal death doesn't bother me anymore. It's like I'm no longer a feeling person, and seeing you humans is hard for me. Ajax..." Miyu started, tears welling up past her goggles. "I'm so sorry Ajax. You've been nothing but good to me, and... and I considered throwing our relationship away over... over a stupid dream! Even if Ivan confirmed its accuracy, It's wrong to just... forget everything you've done for me. How kind you can be."
Miyu had approached Ajax, tears now flowing freely from her eyes. She looked up at him, finally meeting his eyes with her own.
"Please forgive me. I... I still want to be your friend, maybe even something more. I'm so sorry."
Ajax wrapped Miyu in a hug, holding her tightly before he spoke.
"Miyu, there's nothing you have to apologize about. I know that you were distressed. I've seen it plenty of times, and you're no different from the others I have met. So yes, I forgive you completely." Ajax said, Miyu crying lightly into his chest.
Miyu laughed lightly, tears still flowing from her eyes.
"Thank you, you... for everything. I... I still don't know exactly how to feel... but I still care about... all of you." Miyu said between sniffles.
"Same here. I would have hated to lose one of my friends. Also, I promise not to tell anyone about this." he said, Miyu looking a bit embarrassed from crying so hard.
"T-thanks. Let's just... go eat really quick."
Miyu removed her goggles and quickly wiped her eyes and headed over to eat with the rest of the camp. Ajax helped Krystal with getting the injured over to the food before getting himself a bowlful of soup. It wasn't very good, but it was what they had. It was times like these that Ajax wished he had a pocket-Janine to do things for him, such as cooking.
Ajax read Krystal's thoughts to gauge how she felt about him at the moment. It appeared that it was about the same for her as it was for Miyu, as she was still upset, but wanted to make up.
"Krystal, I know what you saw in the nightmare was terrible. There's no changing that. But would you be willing to be friends again? I promise you I'll try to be a better person, and I promise-"
"There's nothing more you have to say. We've been friends even after that nightmare. Even after what you did. Do you really think me to just hate you over something like that? I'm a mercenary, so what I do is no better than what you did. So yes, we're still friends. And yes, I have faith you'll better yourself." Krystal said.
Ajax just smiled and gave Krystal a quick, one-sided hug that Krystal didn't get the chance to return before Ajax went to sit down on a frozen stump to eat. He had made sure to sit close to Captain Leo to torment him, as he had not gotten to eat yet. Ajax hated pirates more than anything. Even if it was cruel to treat him as he did, he didn't care, and neither did the Cornerians. Removing his helmet, Ajax got to eating as Miyu approached him, sitting down on the very small space left on the stump.
"You know, Janine is a much better cook than you." Miyu said, forcing herself to eat the hot soup.
"Yeah? Well I'm a better cook than you." Ajax retorted with a smile, taking a bite for emphasis.
The two laughed for a moment until they noticed a stirring near Leo. The pirate was still trapped in his broken power armor, and was chained to a thick tree stump.
"Just gonna let me starve, eh? I thought you Union weirdos were more... good natured than that." the Captain said with a laugh.
Ajax ignore him as he continued eating, Miyu doing the same.
"You know, I'm a person too. Yet you treat these aliens and that hybrid freak better than me. I'm a fucking King. Much more valuable than some Spliced bitch."
At this point, Ajax had gotten up and moved over to the pirate Captain, ready to beat the Captain's skull in.
"Go ahead. Beat me. Burn me. Fuckin' kill me. I don't care." he said, his voice burning with passion. "If my life has been leading to this, then so-fuckin'-be it."
Instead of beating the Captain, Ajax leaned down to the Captain and ripped off his helmet, the singed red plume flopping into the snow. The Captain himself had long, strawberry blonde hair that fell past his shoulders, and had a tribal facial tattoo around his right eye. Blood had dried around his brow as well as under his eyes, giving him a primal look.
"Yeah, you get to see my pretty face. What the hell is that supposed to-"
He didn't get to finish before Ajax decked him in the nose, breaking it. Ajax continued to hammer on his face until Miyu stopped him.
"Ajax, that's enough... Because now it's my turn." Miyu said, cracking her knuckles.
Miyu swung her fist into the Captain's already broken nose, making tears well up in the Captain's eyes, though he showed no other reaction to it. Miyu punched him repeatedly for a few moment, her attacks being much less painful than Ajax's, before she took her claws and dragged them across his cheek.
The Captain hissed in pain, spitting out blood before looking up and smiling.
"Is that... heh... all ya got?" he taunted.
Miyu was ready to strike again until Ajax just brought her back to sit down and eat their now-colder food. Finishing up, Ajax headed over to the sparsely populated woods to collect wood, followed once again by Miyu. Activating his hard light sword, he chopped down one of the few trees around, dragging it behind himself. It was a small tree, but it would easily suffice. Miyu just followed close behind, not really sure what to do. Ajax reached the large fire in the camp and began to chop the tree into small logs, tossing a few in the fire.
Krystal had finished helping the surviving injured with eating and was currently feeding herself as she watched Ajax work. He worked quickly, and was finished almost as quickly as he had started. Miyu was just trailing behind him pointlessly.
"Miyu, why don't you come sit with me for a moment." Krystal said to the lynx.
Miyu looked to Ajax, then to Krystal before coming over to Krystal to sit down next to her.
"I saw you and Ajax giving that human a piece of your mind. What was that about?" Krystal asked the lynx.
"He's just so... hateful. He acts as though we're less than dirt, and thinks that Eva woman is even less than that. Ajax gave him a good beating, but I just had to get my share of hits in." Miyu explained.
Krystal just nodded her head in understanding. It was clear to her that Ajax was influencing the way she was. While Miyu probably would have hit the man anyway, Ajax's influence made her so much more vicious. Krystal didn't want to admit it, but Ajax had changed her as well. She was more prone to violence than before, and had become more stoic in her demeanor.
"That's a perfectly understandable reason to be upset. But I also saw you and Ajax hugging. Did you two make up as well?"
Miyu just nodded her head and went back to watching Ajax stoke the fire. He had put his helmet back on, but it was easy to tell he was looking at Ivan's armor, which had been left behind before he was taken. Both Krystal and Miyu felt for Ajax, as they both knew what it was like to lose people you cared about. Janine had told them both about how he had lost his parents, just as both Krystal and Miyu had. Now, Ivan had been taken, and Ajax had blamed himself.
They were upset that he blamed himself for so much. He blamed himself for the deaths of the Cornerians. He blamed himself for not saving Ivan. He blamed himself for not being able to save the Cornerians from the frozen wasteland. He blamed himself for every failure.
They wouldn't stand for it. Ajax had done enough to help others, whether he believed it or not.
"Can... can I join you two?" an accented voice said from their right.
Looking over, they saw Eva holding a bowl of steaming food, clearly nervous about even talking to an alien. Miyu and Krystal just nodded their heads, Eva taking a seat next to the two. Miyu and Krystal had heard her story about how she was kidnapped by the exiled pirates and was to be sold as a slave.
"Thank you. So... are you, um, doing anything interesting?" Eva asked awkwardly.
"Nope. Just... sittin' here. Watching Ajax." Miyu said, pointing lazily toward the human.
Eva just nodded her head before speaking.
"He and the other man... the one who saved me before being taken... they are the only humans who have ever been kind to me." Eva said, looking at her steaming bowl.
"Every other one has either ignored me or..." she trailed off.
"Well, you are in good hands. Ajax is a good man, and we are more than willing to help you." Krystal said with a genuine smile.
Eva smiled back, tears threatening to spill. Her whole life had been full of misery, so any act of kindness was the most wonderful thing in the universe to her. Even when the pirates had kidnapped her, they had kept her somewhat warm and fed, making the situation with them a confusing one. They were both cruel and kind to her at the same time.
"Don't cry, Eva. We're happy to help you, and we won't let anyone wrong you like that ever again." Krystal promised, giving the hybrid woman a hug.
Eva let a few tears spill as she returned the kind gesture. The Cornerians were good to her when neither humans nor Spliced were. And Krystal was easily the nicest person she had met. Eva leaned down and cried into the smaller alien woman's shoulder. Tears wet the black fur around the hybrid's eyes, threatening to freeze the area around her face.
Krystal pat the strange woman's back, taking a moment to truly observe her features. Her face was much like a feline Cornerian's, just a bit flatter and with smaller eyes, and she had no tail at all. Her legs were also unusual, and had strange boots to match them. She was like a Cornerian, but off. Her height and unusual features made it quite clear she was something else. Other than that, however, she was quite attractive.
Krystal put that thought away as the woman stopped crying, Miyu having moved to place a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright, hon. But you should eat. Your food's gettin' cold." Miyu said to the hybrid.
Eva just nodded and wiped her face free of her waterworks, picking up her spoon and eating quickly. Ajax had finished stoking the fire and was busy holding Ivan's sniper in his hands. He was staring at it hard, occasionally gripping it hard, as if thinking angry thoughts at specific intervals.
"I hope he doesn't blame himself. The other man had no choice. I should be the one blamed. The sniper man had given himself in exchange for my life." Eva said, looking at the sitting man, empty bowl in hand.
"I'm going to talk to him." Miyu said quickly getting up to speak to Ajax.
Ajax looked up at the approaching lynx and set the sniper down, standing up before Miyu stopped him.
"No, let's just sit. I want to just... talk with you."
Ajax tilted his head, listening intently to Miyu.
"Ajax... you need to stop blaming yourself. It's not like Ivan's dead. He's one of you guys for crying out loud! Besides, it's not your fault anyway. It's only that stupid pirate's fault." Miyu said, angry.
"I understand. But I can't help it. When you're known for being the man who survived multiple squad wipes, you can't help but feel like it's your fault."
"Squad wipes?"
"When everyone in the squad is killed in combat." Ajax explained.
Miyu just nodded slowly, thinking on the grim statement. He must have felt like a failure for allowing his squads to die so often. Miyu wondered if he suspected Ivan to have been killed after being kidnapped.
"Well it's not your fault. Think about how many people you've saved instead. How many innocent lives have been allowed to see their families again because of you. You're a hero Ajax, whether you think so or not. People all across the Lylat have heard about you now, and you have so much praise from people you would consider alien. If they are willing to treat you like a hero, then god dammit you're my hero too." Miyu said with no small amount of passion.
Ajax was taken aback by the statement. Perhaps he was in the wrong to wallow in self-pity. She was right. Ivan was a Reaper, and so was he. They were the saviors of the Union, of innocents, and of justice. Hearing Miyu say he was her hero gave him a warm feeling inside, followed by an even warmer feeling when he thought about possibly billions of people who worshiped him as their hero as well.
Ajax looked at Miyu, who was catching her breath from her fiery speech, and smiled. She was good to him, as was the rest of Star Fox. With them, he truly felt like he had friends, perhaps family, in this lonely universe. He could see Miyu's thoughts about him, confirming what she said to be true. He also saw what the people of the Lylat had said exactly, seeing some had even written... erotic fiction about him?
Weird.
But that didn't matter to him. He was just glad that so many cared about him. Even the former prisoners they had rescued didn't consider him a failure. They had not been able to see the news, so their meeting with the humans had been a violent one, but they still appreciated him, even if they were nervous about speaking with him.
"Thank you, Miyu. Y'all have been nothing but good to me. Having you say that I'm your hero is probably the best thing I've ever heard." Ajax said with a chuckle. "I shouldn't be sitting here wallowing in self-pity. I should be doing something productive. Hmm... How would you like to know more about your knife?" Ajax asked Miyu, waving over Krystal and Eva.
"That would be great!" Miyu said, pulling the hefty blade from its sheath. To Miyu, it was almost like a short sword, showing just how much larger everything "human" was.
Krystal had pulled out her knife as well, sitting in the area next to the fire with Miyu and Ajax. Eva just stood next to them, observing the group with a smile. She suspected that she had found herself a new family, if they would let her stay.
Ajax started with the way to properly care for the knife, showing the women how to both sharpen and polish their blades. The knives were already very sharp, easily able to pierce thinner metals and not lose sharpness, and were made out of a titanium-based alloy that stayed both sharp and strong.
"Man, you guys sure have some crazy-fancy stuff." Miyu said, observing Ajax as he polished the blade with a special rag he materialized.
Miyu suddenly had a question for the man.
"So, like, where does that stuff come from? It just appears outta nowhere! Do you keep it stored in your vagina or something?" Miyu said, making Eva laugh, Krystal stifling her laugh with little success.
"Very funny. But no, it comes from a quantum storage unit in my armor. It can carry any item I need, and allows me to summon the items when I need them, but it can only store a limited number of items, and they have to be under a certain size to be summoned properly."
Krystal suspected Fay would love to hear about this, as would Slippy, though the toad was less technological and more mechanically inclined. Miyu nodded at the explanation, finally knowing what it was, though she was still quite confused.
Ajax finished explaining how to care for the blades, and handed them to the women to let them try it for themselves. They seemed to be fast learners, though Krystal wasn't as good at it as Miyu was. Still, they both worked at impressive speeds, finally showing Ajax their finished, gleaming products. The convex, single-edged blades were mirror polished, and had edges that threatened to cut just by being in proximity. All in all, Ajax was impressed.
"Excellent work, you two. A blade can be your best friend when you're S.O.L., so be sure to-" Ajax suddenly sensed something in the air not too far away. He wasn't quite sure what, but it didn't seem hostile.
"What's the matter? Your were saying something about- Wait, is that the GREAT FOX?" Miyu shouted out, seeing the vessel approaching rapidly.
Cornerians gathered around, cheering as the ship landed, Fox McCloud and Fara rushing out to meet the group.
"We came as fast as we could! The battle... uh... just ended, so we couldn't have come before. Oikonny had created some kind of super-ship that had to be taken from the inside by the other humans."
Ajax just shook his head, already knowing that Fox had forgotten about them at first.
"Not a good liar, Fox. But why didn't they just do that in the first place?" Ajax asked Fox.
"There were too many obstacles preventing them from getting into the hangar, such as turrets, fighters, and a nigh-impenetrable shield. But that's not the point! We're here to save you and... these other soldiers!" Fox said.
Then, Fox saw something that shocked him. Laying in a pile outside of the camp were massive armored bodies, as well as four smaller body bags lined up near the pile. Tied to a stump by the body was... another human. One with bloody features and a scowl, as well as a tattoo next to his eye. Next to Krystal was a strange looking woman, who looked like a mix between a Cornerian, a human, and... something else.
But he also noticed someone was missing. Spotting Ivan's armor by a fire, his sniper next to the armor, Fox felt his heart plummet into his guts.
"What... what happened here? Who's she? Where's... Where's Ivan?"
"I'm not sure how they got here, but human pirates attacked, killing a few Cornerians, one of the surviving pirates taking Ivan." Ajax explained. "But if we hurry, we can find him. He had a tracker under his skin, so we can hunt down the pirate that took him, then return these people home." Ajax said, rushing over to the body bags while the others packed up everything they needed and headed into the Great Fox.
"Thank you, sir. I am in your debt." the unusual alien woman said to Fox.
"Any time. I'm Fox McCloud, leader of Star Fox, and this is Fara Phoenix, the love of my life. Who might you be?" Fox asked, sticking his hand out for the woman to shake.
She meekly shook his hand, shaking Fara's as well before answering.
"I'm Eva. I was taken from my home by the pirates before I was rescued by 'Ivan'." she explained, a melancholy smile on her face.
Fox nodded before heading to help Ajax as he carried the dead soldiers aboard the ship, a sad look on his face. Fox and Fara hefted one body into the ship while another larger Cornerian carried the final body. They carried the bodies onto the beds in the medical ward and watched as all the others boarded the ship. Ajax retrieved Leo and brought him toward on of the few cells in the ship, locking him inside.
Ajax followed Fox and Fara to the bridge of the ship, ready to find Ivan. Ajax activated his tracker and plugged the coordinates into the ship's computer with a USB. Fox gunned it for Ivan, ready to rescue their friend and then return the soldiers home.
But Ajax's heart dropped when he saw the tracker go dark.
Ivan still laid in the bed he had been chained to, though he was no longer chained up. He had returned her affection enough to where she somewhat trusted him, so she let him out of the restraints, just not her line of sight. Or out of the way of her gun. Ivan had also learned that her arms were partially cybernetic, as she had told him before displaying her strength by bending a large piece of metal.
Ivan wasn't exactly the strongest, but he sure as hell wasn't weak. But this woman's cybernetic arms could rival Krieg's raw strength, which was mind boggling to him. He was also surprised how good of a job the surgeons had done, as he would never have known she had robotic limbs.
"Are you comfortable, baby?" Shiv said to Ivan, laying down next to him, blaster on her naked waist.
Ivan nodded his head and gave a fake but convincing smile before leaning down to kiss her forehead. The pirate smiled up at Ivan and put a hand to her belly. She knew that it was too early to know if she was pregnant, but she was confident that she would be.
"If I find out I'm pregnant, what should we name the baby? If it's a girl, we should name her... Scarlett. But if it's a boy, which I hope it is, let's name him... Ivan." she said, seeing Ivan's eyes go wide at this.
"What, do you know somebody with that name?" she asked.
Ivan just pointed to himself, Shiv's eyes going wide at the revelation.
"It's... your name? Hah! What a coincidence! I think it's a lovely name, though." she said, placing a hand on Ivan's chest. "But you want to hear something secret?"
Ivan nodded his head, wanting to hear what she had to say. Shiv lowered her voice and spoke to Ivan.
"My name isn't Shiv. My real name was actually my mother's. My real name is actually Monica." she said in almost a whisper, as if someone else would possibly hear her.
Ivan smiled again, this time being less fake. He had never thought that pirates could have normal names, or have dreams like starting a family. It made Ivan almost sympathize with her. She apparently only wanted a family, and the pirates were the closest thing she had, though all the men already had wives, minus the Captain, who wanted nothing short of a queen. But with the rest of the crew dead, and the Captain captured, she would be able to start her own family. A real one, with her own womb. To her, it sounded a bit gross when worded like that, but it was still a happy thought.
Ivan wrapped an arm around 'Monica' and held her tight, hoping she would ditch the blaster soon. Eventually, she got up as if she remembered something.
"Oh, right! We have to shower. This ship can hold plenty of warm water, but let's shower together anyway." Monica suggested as she headed to the showers, Ivan in tow.
The showers were all in stalls in one large room with a drain in the middle. Monica picked a stall nearby that seemed more 'fancy' than the others, so Ivan assumed that it was the Captain's shower. Monica still hadn't put her clothes back on, and neither had Ivan, so they just entered and turned on the hot water after Monica put her blaster on a counter nearby. Ivan thought about going for it, but noticed it had a fingerprint-based lock for the safety.
Monica stretched as the water poured over her body, her assets being emphasized by her arching back. Ivan couldn't help but look at the woman's body. He was a nearly emotionless killer, but he was still human. It seemed the same applied to Monica, as she took a long hard look at Ivan's goods, licking her lips.
"Yeah, that feels nice. Could you get my back while a wash my hair?" she asked, applying shampoo to her hand before scrubbing her hair with her fingers.
Ivan took a bottle a body wash and put it onto a wash rag before scrubbing the woman's scarred back. She took pleasure in this, as she let out a sigh of appreciation as Ivan worked every part of her back, going from her shoulders before finishing at her butt, giving it a small pinch that made her yelp in surprise. Ivan hoped she would take this as becoming more familiar so that she would give him more privileges, making him one more step closer to escaping.
Suddenly, a strange thought crossed his mind. Did he really want to leave? Yes, he was here against his will, and he had "friends" that likely missed him, but here... he had someone who loved him more than anything. He also didn't have any obligations to do what others wanted. He could be free from the burden of being the hero, as he had been since a teenager. He wasn't even very old, as he was only twenty-two, but he still felt like an old man that had wasted his life in an almost pointless conflict.
Ivan looked at his wrist, remembering exactly where he had his tracker. What if he just... removed it? If he broke it, his team would assume he was dead. They wouldn't keep searching for him, possibly wasting their time. He could live his life a free man with a human woman and child of his own, doing as he pleased.
Suddenly, he noticed something hidden away under a box of other wash rags. Sticking out from under the box was a razor. It was presumably a shaving razor, but it was both large enough and sharp enough to act as a knife. He could use it to remove the tracker or...
Ivan looked at the slightly taller woman in front of him as she obliviously rinsed her hair free of shampoo. He realized he was likely developing Stockholm syndrome, and was not thinking right. He could end her right there. Just slit her throat and leave. He could escape. But he still could stay...
He hadn't noticed, but he was already gripping the blade in his hand, the edge cutting into his skin, making blood spill out into the water below. He looked at his wrist, still considering his options.
Freedom and Family...
Or Friends and Purpose...
Ivan thought hard, until one option became more and more appealing than the other. He raised the razor blade up, ready to act when Monica looked down to see blood mixing with the water. Turning around, she was shocked to see Ivan bleeding from his hand, a razor blade in his grip. He stared at his wrist, slowing bringing the razor to his wrist.
Monica's eyes went wide. She couldn't let him end himself, not when he was to father her child. But before she could react, he dug the razor into his arm, cutting into it with a sense of purpose. Monica reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling it away from his bleeding wrist. Ivan shook his head at her and continued to try and cut himself open.
When Monica didn't let go, Ivan had no choice but to stop her by any means he could. Ivan dropped down and swept her legs out from under her and pinned her down by her legs, continuing to wrench out the tracker.
Monica struggled as Ivan held her down, crying loudly as blood poured rapidly from his wrist.
"Please! Please don't! I-I need you! Our child will need you! Please don't-" she bawled until Ivan let her go.
Immediately, she shot up and got a hold of him, ready to berate him.
"Are you crazy? What the hell were you thinking? Why would you act like you started to love me just to go and..." she started, tears spilling down her cheeks, noticing something in Ivan's hand.
She knew what it was. She had seen plenty around slavers. It was a tracker, and he had pulled it out of his skin.
"You... you were removing a tracker?" she asked, Ivan nodding in response.
Monica smiled wide, hugging Ivan tight. She knew for sure that he was hers now. He had given up his only chance of escape she hadn't known about, and didn't kill her when he had the chance. It had only been a day and a half, but she knew that they would only grow stronger together.
Kissing Ivan, she let tears stream down her face as Ivan finally returned the kiss. They laid on the floor of the shower, water still pouring down their bodies.
Standing up, Ivan wrapped a wash rag around his wrist and smiled at Monica, giving her another quick kiss. He didn't see her as too attractive before, but now, being the woman who loved him so much, she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. For once in his life, he would be truly happy.
And he knew why. Since childhood, he was away from war for once. He had someone to love for once.
He was free for once.
Pulling Monica close, Ivan looked her in the eye and smiled before giving her a quick peck on the lips. She laughed when he did and finished up washing, eventually turning off the water, drying off, and immediately heading to bed.
The two flopped down on the bed that was covered in exotic furs, feeling the soft fur on their nude bodies as they held each other, pressing themselves together as Monica started to fall asleep. Ivan looked to the tracker in his hand and crushed it, throwing its pieces on the floor before covering up himself and his 'wife'.
He felt that it was a fitting term for her. He felt along her warm, soft body, tracing the occasional scar and making her giggle in her sleep. Giving her one last kiss on her sleeping lips, Ivan allowed himself to drift to sleep, not worried at all about the future.
AN: Howdy. Lord Jehoshaphat here. Well, looks like things got a lot more complicated. I noticed that I accidentally added yet another rape-y scene so close to another one, so I promise that's the last one! As for the rest of our heroes, peace is on the horizon now that Venom has been once again squashed, but will it last? Anyway, I just want to thank everyone for reading. Any questions or concerns? Let me know! Reviews really let me know what you all are looking for. See you next time!
