"Are you sure you're feeling okay? You're still bleeding! Let me call-" John Felix reached for his phone even while he dabbed at the oozing wound on his father's arm.
"No!" Dr. Felix waved his arms in refusal. "Please, I can't handle any more stress. Then they'll know where I am anyway."
John sighed. "Okay. But please tell me what happened." Satisfied that the bleeding had slowed, he pulled out an antibiotic ointment and began rubbing it on the wound.
Dr. Felix coughed. "Well, they basically kidnapped me this morning and took me to the General's Tower. I tried to help at first but...I guess that's not what they wanted."
"Was it about that Fox guy?" Dr. Felix's son started to wrap gauze around his father's arm.
"Yes."
John shook his head. "I had a bad feeling about that. I know he saved us from Venom and all, but..."
Dr. Felix burst out laughing, frustrating John's efforts to wrap the gauze. "Do you think I don't know? Do you think I didn't have my reservations? Helping Fox was something I had to do, you know, as a professional."
John paused for a moment, sifting through words in his mind. "I wish you had been as professional to your former wife as your clients." There. That should be just enough.
Dr. Felix stopped laughing. "...You're right. Maybe this is all punishment for my poor judgment back then."
"I don't know," John bent down to see if any other parts of his father's body were hurt. Fortunately, everything else looked okay. "You know, Mom's in town for a business trip. I had planned on having her come over tomorrow. Would you at least talk to her then?"
Dr. Felix chuckled. "I suppose I have no choice, right? Unless you planned on kicking me out tonight."
"No!" John exclaimed. "But I don't want to have another Lylat War in my house."
"That's fair," Dr. Felix held up his arms. "I'll be good. I have nothing to prove, after all."
John snorted. "Some people would find that to be a relief, you know."
Dr. Felix picked up the bottle of ointment and turned it around idly. "How has your mother been, anyway?"
"The bank has opened branches in three new cities, so she's been very busy. It's a good kind of busy, though." John went to his kitchen and started preparing a pot of tea and a plate of snacks.
"Hasn't she met anyone else?" His father asked.
"Oh yeah, she's seeing this one guy, Hiroto. A terrier, I think. They're taking it very slow."
"Better than nothing, I guess." Dr. Felix nodded.
"Yeah," John came back with the tea and snacks.
"How about you? Sorry, I can't help but ask," Dr. Felix said. He reached for the teacup with his good arm, but it was still too much.
"Here, let me help," John took the teacup and brought it up to his father's mouth. "And to answer, no, I'm not seeing anyone. Just working on my art."
"Thanks you. Well, that's good. Can I see it?"
"Sure! I'm making a landscape with whiptrees now."
"Whiptrees? Aren't they extinct?"
"Yeah, but there's enough pictures and videos to use for reference."
"I see." Dr. Felix yawned. "Okay, I think that's enough excitement for today. Do you have a futon or something?"
"Oh, you can have the bed," John assured him. "I'll take the couch. It's pretty comfy anyway."
"Alright," Dr. Felix nodded. "I'm sorry about all this."
"Don't worry," John stacked up the empty plates teacups. "I'll keep you safe. Tomorrow will be a better day."
Fox and Wolf both looked around uneasily. The two of them were seated with Leon and Falco at a picnic table, finishing up smoothies. They were in a park at the edge of the main city on Astropolis. The air felt fresh, and was filled with the sound of ducks in the pond nearby.
"You know," Wolf whispered, "I've only ever been to Astropolis in the war, when it was a hollow, torn-up shell."
"Me too," Fox answered. "It feels weird seeing like, trees, and people walking around."
"Yeah," Wolf nodded. "I don't understand why people want to live here, so far from a planet."
"It's probably peaceful," Fox bent down and picked a weed out of a crack in the concrete and looked at it closely, as if to make sure it was really alive in the first place.
"Yeah, but it something goes wrong, I want solid ground under my feet," Wolf squinted and looked up again at the soft yellow light at the center of the station, and the "sky" above it, which was just the other side of the station. No blue here, no horizon or clouds, just more green and brown with flecks of gray.
"I agree," Fox followed Wolf's gaze, and the two recalled their memories of flying through the station during the War, when it had been nothing but dead soil and emergency evacuation lights. Wolf imagined that they must be sharing almost nearly the same images, and wondered how it would look if he could jump into Fox's view.
"Do you remember our last dogfight here?" Wolf asked. "I think you came in from that panel there, where the lake is now."
"Oh, you're right!" Fox looked up to where Wolf pointed, a panel in the "sky" dominated by a lake and surrounded by gardens. He could see dots in the lake which must be small boats. "Yeah, and then I circled around the artificial sun."
"You're lucky you didn't hit the reactor," Wolf teased. "Then we'd both be dead."
"I'm lucky!? You're the one who crashed into the water tank!" Fox shot back. He looked for a moment to find the station's water storage tank, which occupied several panels at the end of the station. "See, there it is. It looks better now."
"Well, it was a good distraction," Wolf shrugged. "And don't you forget that it's the first time I hit your reverse thrusters."
"Fair enough," Fox laughed. "Leon did a good job of cornering me there."
"Haha, he sure did," Wolf smiled with a sort of paternal pride. "Though Falco didn't make that easy."
"I sure didn't!" Falco jokingly puffed out his chest. "I'm just glad we don't have to do it again."
"Absolutely," Fox and Wolf agreed.
"Guys, come on!" Slippy came running up with Panther in tow. "They're about to start, and they want everyone looking good!"
"Roger that!" Fox nodded. They all put their uniforms on.
The "guard" uniforms that President Okifu supplied them with felt iredeemably silly to Fox. They were flashy and impractical, designed entirely to impress at a glance and nothing else. He hoped that they would serve that purpose, at least, and make the other representatives more likely to form an agreement.
"Uh, I hate politics..." Wolf sighed. "It's all pointless drama."
"Hopefully we can just stay quiet and look pretty," Fox grabbed Wolf's hands. "It will be a big step forward for everyone if they can actually pull this off."
"That's true," Wolf admitted. "Has Venom made any comment on this so far?"
"Not really," Panther shrugged. "Most of the major news networks aren't even covering this live."
"Is that bad?" Fox asked. "Venom used to broadcast so much propaganda. It's strange that they're pretending everything is normal now."
"Don't be so quick to assume," Leon added. "Venom was not traditionally so jingoistic. The fact is, we don't know what to expect."
Fox and Wolf nodded reluctantly. This was new territory for everyone.
The group made their way through the small city, much more congested than the ones on Papetoon, until they reached the great hall where Okifu would give her address.
"Ah, you're here, good!" Okifu exclaimed. "Ready? Hah, well you have to be. Let's go!"
The group entered the hall and found that the seats were, in fact, overflowing with people, both local citizens and various officials and dignitaries from other worlds. Fox spotted one person who looked like a Cornerian newscaster, and three Katinian reporters, but few other people from the media.
The crowd remained silent as Okifu walked over to the podium in the middle of the hall. As she set up her papers, holographic projectors cast her likeness at various strategic points around the hall. It was a convenient way to make yourself seen without having to see everybody.
Fox, Wolf, Leon, Falco, Slippy, and Panther all arranged themselves in an open corner. She cleared her voice weakly, but then straightened her back and spoke with resolve.
"Good morning, my fellow inhabitants of the Lylat Cluster! We are here to do something that should have been done long ago. We are here, in fact, doing something that should be done much more frequently. Regardless, it has fallen upon us, here and now. This is the creation of an interplanetary government that will mediate conflicts between worlds."
Okay, look impressive but not intimidating, Fox told himself as he continued gazing around. Everyone else looked as awkard as he did. Wolf, though, seemed oddly focused.
Fox raised an eyebrow in Wolf's direction. Wolf didn't move. He didn't have to do anything to tell Fox that something was wrong.
"Just wait a few minutes," Wolf whispered.
Fox shrugged. That didn't sound good. But what in Stars was he thinking about?
Okifu's speech was beginning to drag. Surely she knew they were here to negotiate, not to listen to her pontificate...
Suddenly, Wolf pulled out his blaster and rushed towards the podium. "Get down!" he yelled, though only Okifu and a few other people in the front obeyed. Seemingly out of nowhere, a simian figure clad in black rushed towards a far exit.
Fox was stunned. "Go! Corner him!" he ordered Leon and Panther, while he, Slippy, and Falco went a different route.
The figure in black, however, made it out of the building already. Strange, he could have caused more trouble if he wanted to.
Wolf still pursued the black-clad figure with an incredible pace. Leon and Panther reunited with Fox, and the two attempted to talk while keeping up.
"Do you know who that is?" Fox asked, panting.
"I have a guess. It's not good," Leon replied. The group was already back at the park where they had just been sitting.
Finally the mysterious figure slowed down. He paused briefly by the pond, though he seemed more indecisive than tired.
"Yeah, you'd better stop if you know what's good for you!" Wolf fired recklessly at the ground near the figure's feet.
"Same to you!" the figure yelled back, in a sharp, piercing voice, and dove into the water. He emerged on the other side.
"You guys go that way!" Wolf yelled to Fox, Slippy, and Falco. "We'll take the other side."
Fox nodded. He saw that the other figure had already run past the park, past a golf course, and into a small orchard. He tried to run as fast as he could, through sidewalks, past golf carts and sand pits, and over fences and fallen trees.
After a few minutes, the six of them had convereged on the figure, who was now seated under an orange tree. He seemed to have taken off a layer of clothing, revealing a sort of boxing outfit.
"Andrew, we don't have to do this," Wolf pleaded.
"Andrew Oikonny?" Fox pulled out his blaster just to be safe.
"Yes, we do," Andrew sneered. "After what you've put me through, we sure do."
"Wolf, what is going on?" Fox pleaded. I had heard Andrew was an incompetent. This doesn't make sense.
"You know I was only in it for the money," Wolf retorted. "Whatever you think I did, it's nothing personal."
"No, it isn't." Andrew agreed. "When Fox killed my uncle, it wasn't personal. And it won't be personal when I kill you all either. It will just be for Venom."
"Andrew, you were my friend!" Wolf cried out. "We trusted you. Don't you remember when you introduced me to Leon?"
"Of course," Andrew sighed, twirling his tail. "I don't see how that matters anymore since you've joined the other side."
"The Cornerian Space Force nearly killed us both!" Fox protested.
"Don't make me lose any last shred of respect I have for you, Fox," Andrew shot him a look. "You are still an enemy."
"Look, we just want peace," Wolf asked, hating himself for sounding just like the Cornerian guard that had imprisoned him not too long ago. "Surely you must understand."
Andrew laughed. "You can't have become that naive, Wolf. Venom has been humiliated by the War! But now, so has Corneria. So now is our best chance to strike."
Wolf sighed. "No. It won't work. You are at least as naive as you think I am."
"What's wrong with you!?" Andrew shook his fists. "You're not the Wolf I knew."
"So what?" Wolf spat.
"Well," Andrew shrugged. "There's one of me, and there's only six of you."
He stood up and launched himself at Wolf.
Fox found himself overcome by rage. He felt like a puppet, a passive observer of his own actions, while he was commanded for a moment by a god. He clawed and scraped at the dense brown fur and hard muscle like a wild animal. By sheer anger, he was able to peel Andrew off of Wolf, and pin him to the ground.
"Help me!" he called to Falco and Slippy, but they could only stare in shock. He kept pounding at Andrew.
"Fox!" Wolf was finally able to get through. His voice was haggard."He's already dead."
Fox stopped. The man named Andrew Oikonny was not breathing. Wolf had a series of purple bruises around his face, and long scratches on his chest. Fox noticed that his own hands were bleeding nearly everywhere.
Wolf shooed Fox away and cradled Andrew's head.
"I'm sorry..." Fox whispered. "I, uh..."
"It's okay," Wolf sniffed. "You...it was the right thing...I'm gonna need a moment."
"Right..." Fox still felt like a puppet.
"Oh, thank the Stars you're okay!" The voice of a local guard caught their attention.
"I'll um, I'll get help. Okifu is in negotiations, but I'll tell her what happened."
A few minutes later, an ambulance arrived.
"I'm sorry..." the paramedic wrung her hands. "I only kind of know the situation. Can you please identify the body?"
Wolf barked a single laugh. It was surreal to have to explain this situation to anybody.
"The body is Andrew Oikonny. He's Venomian."
"Very well. Do you have any of his legal documents? Do you know how he would want his body to be treated?"
"All that is probably classified by Venom," Wolf noted. "But I know he wanted to be cremated."
"That's fine," the paramedic replied. She directed her cohorts to tend to Wolf's scratches, and Fox's hands.
"Something tells me you guys are used to getting scratched up," she noted. Nobody really replied.
"Anyway, step in. We need to make sure you don't have internal wounds."
They arrived at a hospital a few minutes later. Andrew was taken to a lower level, while Fox and Wolf were scanned and given thorough examinations.
Surprisingly, Okifu was there to greet them. "Wolf, I cannot thank you enough!" she burst into the examination room, causing a nurse to yelp and nearly slap her with a clipboard. Okifu attempted to bow in apology.
"I will be always in your debt. Who was that man?" she asked.
"I'll explain later," Wolf replied. "I need some time to think. How are the negotiations?"
"I think I've gotten Katina to listen to reason," she replied.
"Good," Wolf sighed. "I'll explain tomorrow, I promise."
"Of course," Okifu replied, while being shooed out of the room by the nurse. "I hope you recover quickly."
"Well, Wolf," the doctor began. "You're lucky you didn't hurt your leg more than it already is. Please honor whoever worked on your leg before, and give it some rest."
"Uh, I'll try," Wolf replied weakly.
The doctor nodded severly. "You, Fox, are going to need a new left hand."
"What!?" Fox kicked his legs back and forth. "But it doesn't hurt."
"Exactly, because you broke the nerves," the doctor replied.
Fox looked at his hand, and realized that in fact, he couldn't move it. "So we need to do that, like, right now?"
"Yes," the doctor replied, though he was clearly biting back something more rude. "Don't worry, Wolf, you'll see him in a few hours at the most. We see this stuff all the time. There's a waiting room in the east wing if you want to stay there."
"Good, thank you," Wolf nodded. He stood up and planted a kiss on Fox's forehead. "See you soon."
"See you," Fox waved.
Wolf walked into the hallway to see Slippy, Falco, Leon and Panther all looking like they had seen a ghost.
"Where's Fox?" Falco asked.
"How's your leg?" Leon nearly interrupted.
"Don't worry, he just needs a new hand," Wolf said. "And my leg is fine."
"How long will it be?" Slippy spoke up.
"The doctor said a few hours. We can stay in the waiting room."
"You guys really need to be careful," Panther noted after they had been waiting for about two hours. "If we keep going at this rate, there's not going to be much of either of you left. You'll both be robots."
"I guess you're right," Wolf smiled.
Falco patted Slippy on the shoulder, remembering their conversation on Papetoon about brains and Arwings.
They spent an hour or so longer watching the other people coming in and out of the hospital. It wasn't very busy that day, and most people seemed to be coming in for routine procedures.
Finally Fox walked out with the doctor, brandishing a bronze hand.
Everyone stood up and clapped.
"Make sure Fox takes it easy the first couple of weeks," the doctor told them. "I know who are you are, but that's no excuse for neglecting your own bodies."
"Thank you so much, doctor," Wolf bowed in gratitude.
"Of course," the doctor nodded. "Now, make my job easier and make sure there's not another war!"
"Okay, show me how it works!" Slippy pleaded, already running a finger around Fox's hand.
Fox tried to make a fist. It was strange in that it required no physical strength on his part, but it required him to concentrate carefully on each finger. He clenched and unclenched a few times, which took several minutes.
"I'm sure it'll get easier with time," Slippy placated him.
"Yeah," Fox agreed.
"It's quite beautifully crafted," Panther noted.
"Think of all the sharp things you could put on it," Leon added.
"And how hard you could punch now!" Falco concluded.
Fox laughed. "Thanks guys, I really appreciate it."
With that, they all returned to the hotel that Okifu had arranged for them. It was quite luxurious, being situated at the center of the station, and stabilized against rotation so that it faced Solar at all times.
Fox and Wolf found themselves in the hotel's observation room, which was empty except for the lone barkeeper. The barkeeper, a bright green parrot, was amusing himself by juggling shot glasses, and paid no mind to the couple on the big leather chair looking out into space.
"So, what happened with Andrew?" Fox swished his orange juice around. Wolf had insisted that he get it, instead of anything alcoholic. "I only remember him being a scrawny incompetent."
"Heh," Wolf poured himself another cup of green tea. "It's true, I kicked him off Star Wolf after only a few months. But after that, he got really determined. He got really scary."
"Are you serious?" Fox's eyes widened.
"Yep. After I kicked him out, he decided to become a spy," Wolf smiled.
"How did we not know?" Fox wondered to himself.
"He was the best spy Venom ever had," Wolf's smile widened, but grew sad at the same time.
"So what kind of things did he do?"
"Well, he gathered intelligence for pretty much every mission we ran. He had an uncanny ability to predict where you'd be at a certain time."
"So that's how you always managed to show up at the worst times."
"Yep."
"Wow," Fox curled himself up around Wolf. "This is rather disturbing for me to learn, here and now."
Wolf shrugged. "You still won anyway, right?"
"I guess so," Fox twiddled his thumbs. "Wolf, are you...sure you're still feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"I mean, I'm sorry about what happened. I can't imagine how you're feeling."
"It's okay. You had to kill your fellow Cornerian soldiers but you stayed strong, so..."
Wolf seemed frozen, like the words had stopped in his mouth.
"Wolf," Fox shook his head. "I know how strong you are. Whatever you feel about this, it's not weakness."
Wolf buried his face in Fox's chest and sobbed. "Forgive me, I'm so weak..."
"Sh," Fox squeezed Wolf's shoulders. "Never say that. You're the strongest person I know. I swear."
Fox wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. He just continued to stroke Wolf's fur, and hope that it made him feel better. His new left hand sat limp and useless to the side; he didn't feel comfortable using it quite yet.
At one point, the barkeeper dropped a glass, and decided to finally stop juggling. After that, he came over and spoke to Fox.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but the bar is closing in a few minutes. I just need to take your glasses. You guys can stay as long as you need. The drinks are on me tonight."
"Thank you," Fox nodded.
"Of course," the parrot replied. "Uh, let me know if you two need anything while you're here. Have a good night."
"You too."
Now they were in silence. Fox looked out at Solar, which took up about a third of the wide viewport. Its frothing, roiling surface presented to him an endless variety of browns, reds, oranges and yellows, all pressed and smoothed into thin bands that made their way across the strange world. At the pole, the interstellar wind made auroras of stunning purple, blue, and green. It looked so peaceful from here. How had such a world nearly melted his Arwing?
Eventually he realized that Wolf had fallen asleep, and was snoring now instead of sobbing. He hoped that Wolf's dreams were more pleasant than the events of the day.
Slippy came in a few minutes later, finally rousing Wolf.
"Sorry, I just wanted to check in," Slippy whispered.
"No worries," Wolf stood up and rubbed Slippy's forehead. Slippy couldn't help but make a goofy smile.
They made their way back to their rooms.
"You know," Wolf noted as they changed into pajamas for the night, "There's something we forgot to do during our wedding."
"What's that?" Fox was brushing his fur, and noticed a new cluster of light gray under his neck.
"We didn't kiss properly."
"Oh, I suppose we didn't," Fox admitted. "Well, care to show me how it's done?"
"Sure," Wolf gently pushed Fox down onto the bed, and he fell with no resistance.
Wolf clambered on top, and pressed his muzzle against Fox's.
Fox imagined at that moment that he could perceive every different texture of Wolf, from the sharpest teeth to the softest fur around his ears.
He smells like cinnamon, Wolf concluded. Cinnamon and warm bread.
"Forever and always," Fox whispered.
"That's right," Wolf affirmed. "Forever and always."