Chapter -46-
Size Difference
Shrey Lek, Venom
Lylat…
Andross towered over Kyong Adler, a massive hulking frame three times the size of Adler's body size. Doctor Andross rubbed his chin in thought, then gestured outward with a backhand wave. "Leave me with him. He will be of no trouble." He placed his hands behind his back, standing tall over everyone in the room.
Wolf's singular gaze widened. "What? How're you going to pay us if this zealot piece of shit kills you, Doc?"
"I've not outlived every other man in Lylat by making poor choices, Mr. O'Donnell. I'm perfectly safe. This man will not … cannot kill me without a weapon or ordinance. He has neither."
Kyong sat up, hand to his head, and looked around the room. He closed his eyes tightly, ground his teeth together, and forced himself to become fully aware of his surroundings. He pressed his tongue against his back left tooth, which ached, causing the pain to spike, which helped wake him up completely. He recalled the conversation he overheard when waking, and grimaced, feeling insulted.
"Yeah, okay, but you brought us because you wanted us to keep you alive, Doc. Listen, I know he's barely with it right now, but he's waking up, and at any moment he could…"
Adler lept to his feet and dashed toward Andross. He parkoured off the desk in the broadcasting office and vaulted into the air. He threw his arms around Andross's neck, and swung around to the doctor's back, clinging to the ape's broad shoulders.
Andross feigned disinterest.
Adler buried his knees into Andross' back to try and leverage himself to make his arms tighter around the ape's throat from behind.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, Andross said, "As you can plainly see, Mr. O'Donnell, he cannot even choke me. He simply doesn't possess the weight or strength to close off blood flow."
Kyong lifted his left arm and slammed his elbow into Andross' enormous shoulders.
Andross' left eye twitched, but he remained otherwise unaffected by the lizard's attempt at attacking pressure points. Instead, the aging ape reached up, over his shoulder, and plucked Kyong from him as though the lizard were merely a toddler. "When I was half my current age, I recall my toddler son, Algy, trying his best to draw my attention from my work. I would pick him off my back the same as I have with you, just now, and lecture him about playing in my lab. Except, it was because I didn't want him to hurt himself by breaking something glass. Mr. Adler, if you're going to attack me, wait until the room is cleared, please, so that you don't embarrass yourself."
Adler thrashed about, being held aloft by his flight suit, pinched in Andross' large thumb and forefinger. He opened his mouth to speak but then grit his teeth, instead.
"Go on, if you have something to say, say it."
"I read that James McCloud brought you to your knees in a public fist fight in a cemetery! If he can do it, so can I!"
Andross replied with a slight smile. "I commend you for doing your homework, young man. James McCloud was impassioned and empowered by the death of his wife, and I was in mourning for the same reason, so he fought with the strength of ten men, and I was caught off guard with the arrogance of my youth … strange how the young always feel invincible. I was no different at the time. That was the first-and-only time someone his size made me feel mortal. I never forgot that lesson. But you? You cannot even choke me when I let you. And, yes, I did let you just now."
Kyong continued to thrash about, trying to get out of the damaged flight suit.
Andross tossed the man aside with a casual flick of the wrist.
Adler struck a wall, dropped to the tiled floor on his right hip, and lay there, dazed.
Andross smirked. "When you calm yourself, we can have a conversation. I might even repair your cybernetic hand implant. Seems you've lost the original fairly recently. You can see how the skin was grafted up to where your wrist was severed. Perhaps you should have it modified to hide a weapon in the palm. Don't worry, you can have it removed if you live long enough to decide to sire children."
Silence.
Leon appeared impressed, but other than leaning forward to watch with interest, he said nothing and remained otherwise stoic.
Andross turned back to Wolf, Leon, the reptile platoon leadership, and Garrick. "Gentlemen, if you please, I would like some time to commiserate alone with Mr. Adler. He is about to suffer through yet another change of government for Venom, the fourth in a mere year. I wish to explain to him the benefits of the incoming administration. Please, secure the capitol building, and I will join all of you soon."
"I swear to…" Wolf exhaled through semi-clenched teeth. He shrugged and turned for the door. "If you die before paying me…"
"I know, Mr. O'Donnell. You said the same thing when I made purchase of all the radioactive metal from you, just months ago. You were worried that the radiation would kill me before the banks could process your payment. You have my assurance, Mr. O'Donnell, that I am quite safe … in fact, far safer with Mr. Adler than any hazardous ore."
Wolf glanced over his shoulder, eyed the doctor with his bionic implant, and then nodded firmly. "Okay. I'll see you when you're done, Doc."
"Thank you, gentlemen," said Andross.
The entire room vacated until it was only Andross and Kyong Adler.
Silence again.
Andross settled down into his chair adjacent to the broadcasting equipment. He reached forward a bit and dusted Kyong's footprint from the desk.
Kyong sat up, leaning back against the wall for a moment.
Andross turned about to face Adler, and rested his elbows on his knees, hunched forward in the seat. Andross brought his fingertips together, palms apart, and rested his chin on his chest. His index fingers touched his lips. His middle fingers touched his nose. His thumbs rested against his chest, just beneath his chin. He stared down his nose at Adler.
Adler felt small beneath the weight of Andross' menacing gaze. "I bet you've practiced that stare in the mirror."
"I practiced on men twice your stature and judged its effectiveness by their heartrate until I perfected it." Andross exhaled softly and closed his eyes for a moment. "Forgive me; I suppose my old habits surface when in such familiar surroundings." He continued to stare at the lizard as if contemplating the man's very existence.
Adler narrowed his gaze. "You know, my father 'worked' for you."
"Mm … and?"
Kyong's dewlap extended, briefly, then disappeared back into where his throat met his jaw. His left eye twitched in annoyance. "It didn't pan out for him. Then you left Venom at a time of extreme turmoil. My mother died during the vacuum of power you left in your wake. Andrew and Dash clashed over rights to Venom at one point. For a time, many states dissolved back into tribal nations … then your family leveled this city fighting for control of this planet. Yet, all this time, you were alive?"
"Your point?"
"You let it happen. Where the hell were you? Hiding?"
"I moved on."
"Moved on?!" Again, Adler's dewlap emerged. He closed his organic hand into a fist. The dewlap disappeared back into his neck. "You left instability and chaos. Eventually, Andrew and Dash clashed again, wanting rights to your 'empire.' Our lives hung in the balance. My mother died without healthcare or modern medicines. Why? Because no one knew how to make it anymore. Most of the educated lizards left Venom because they saw the writing on the wall. No loyalty to their homeworld, only to themselves. I stayed to make my world a better place. I'm fighting to make my world a better place. To bring Venom back to a seat of power in the Sauru system again. To repair the instability and chaos you brought upon us."
Andross smiled a bit. "The Sauru system. That was the old Venom name. It's rooted in the word 'Saurua,' the homeworld of the Krazoa. They created your people. For a time, Venom was called Saurus. Ironic that a dinosaur people now live on Sauria. Or … the word 'dinosaur' is based on the name of that world from which they originate. But the people of Venom are not dinosaurs. They are capable of adapting and evolving with modern times. Are you?"
"Fine. The Lylat system. I don't care what you call it. I don't care to make you happy. Your mere existence is an insult to me."
"You blame me for your mother's death? Had I stayed, Corneria would have continued to wage war. As bad as Venom suffered under Cornerian sanctions, it would have suffered far greater 'instability and chaos' under a barrage of bombardments, wouldn't you agree? I chose the lesser of the two evils. I left."
"To do what?!"
Andross narrowed his gaze but only briefly. "In another time, I would have had you put to death for taking that tone with me. But those days are in the past. I hope you are well aware of that."
"Answer the goddamn question, you old …"
Andross interrupted Kyong's insults. "I was working on Lylat's approaching Locust problem, if you must know. I have been preparing for years. I will win. I have put decades of preparation into the upcoming war, which is why I am best suited to defeat their kind. I leave it up to you to choose which 'side' you wish to be on. I will offer Anezka Vacek the same ultimatum if I feel she is willing or capable of adding something in our favor to the upcoming war. If not? She will return to her technologically induced slumber in a matter of time. I calculate that the latter option is the most likely outcome in the days ahead."
Adler placed a hand against his ribs and took a menacing step toward the aging ex-dictator. "Is that so…" He looked down at where a small piece of grafted skin had been scraped off his artificial hand. He could see the carbon fiber surface just beneath, still glistening from the blood that was used to give sensitivity to the skin overtop the artificial device within. He forced it to close into a fist, willing it to respond, despite the damage to the device. Seeing his hand behave properly made his confidence return. His gaze lifted slowly, narrowing at Andross.
There was a knock at the door on the far end of the room.
"Come," said Andross in a monotone voice. His eyes met and locked with Adler's own. They glared at one another, neither willing to look at the door.
The door opened and Fara Phoenix stepped into the room. "Good day, Doctor."
Andross arched his brows, causing age lines to crease up over his forehead. "This is rather unexpected. To what do I owe the honor of your visit, young lady?"
"Marcus sent me to warn you. He has reason to believe that … oh." She smirked at nearby Kyong Adler. Her eyes lowered then lifted, quick to note the lizard's injuries. "Yeah," she continued, still speaking to Andross. "Guess you already know Marcus shot him down less than half an hour ago." She turned back to face Andross directly. "We did a trajectory trace to determine that Adler crashed nearby. Marcus wanted to make sure Wolf and Leon had sufficient backup to take down Kyong if he becomes a problem, as the man likes to employ stealth and guerilla style tactics."
Kyong scoffed. "McCloud was worried for Andross, so the idiot sent you?!"
Fara smirked. She turned to face Adler again, paws on her hips.
"Seriously," Adler muttered. "That whining man-child sent you to protect everyone from me?"
Fara's smirked broadened a bit, a look of snark and challenge upon her face. "That's exactly why he sent me. Long time no see, Kyong. How's the hand? Looks like you got a new one, but … aw, you broke it already?"
Andross' eyes flitted between the two, silently amused by their banter. "I detect a history between the two of you. The infamous flight deck incident, I presume?"
Fara nodded at Andross but kept her eyes on Adler. "He planned to execute StarFox, including Krystal." She placed one paw upon her flat tummy and glared at the reptile. "You know, Kyong, I knew your father."
"Oh, good god, if you're here to tell me that you slept with him, you can forget it. I've heard enough rumors about him today."
Fara arched her brows. "No. He put a gun to my head, once. Had me in a headlock. Once, Adler. Once."
"I see you survived."
"You know, I was talking about that with Miyu Lynx recently…"
"I do not care about your friends, fennec vixen."
Fara continued. "…And imagine my surprise when I learned that my friend also knew your father. But … not as Eric."
Kyong ground his teeth together in frustration. "Don't you dare even begin to suggest what you're about to suggest."
"Oh, I'm sorry, have you heard this story already?"
Andross sat up in his chair and placed his palms upon his knees. "I've not heard it. By all means, please entertain me with this tale, Ms. Phoenix."
She locked eyes with Kyong but spoke to Andross. "Apparently his daddy defected. Took a Wolfen II to Corneria in exchange for a place to retire … as a woman named, uh, Tanya I think?"
Kyong balled both hands into fists.
"Miyu said they partied, went out hunting for boys at bars, and had a grand ole' time."
Kyong's knuckles turned white. He stopped favoring his ribs and balled up both hands into fists, with his eyes narrowed to white slits. "Even if it's true, it's likely nothing more than mental illness due to a wartime injury, no doubt. Eric Adler died."
Fara scoffed. "Mental illness? No, honey. 'Mental illness' is when an entire species uses social peer pressure to force someone to conform to become a husband and father, when that's simply not who they are."
"My father was born Eric, raised me as Eric, and served in a war as Eric."
"Yes, out of pressure by the society of your people, who came from a culture that forced a certain way of thinking. Eric has always been Tanya."
"He received his mental illness from others! It was obviously from a war injury!"
Fara rolled her eyes. "An MRI or CT scan can prove that Eric has always been Tanya. No head injury, no mental illness. The only thing your father received from others was a lack of understanding."
Andross watched the two argue in silence.
Kyong glared at Andross. "You're a geneticist … tell her that genes prove that sex and gender are a binomial concept of…"
Andross abruptly interrupted Kyong. "You mean binary. Genetics prove that there are two physical sexes, and a rare occasion when someone is born both sexes. But gender is not physical nor is it a 'genetic trait.' There are masculine women, masculine men, effeminate women, and effeminate men. There are non-binary men and women. There are transitioning men and women. There are…"
"Enough!" Kyong erupted. "I knew my father better than any of you!"
Fara shook her head in disagreement. "You knew what your father wanted you to know. Likely to protect you and your feelings, because a parent knows their child better than the child knows themselves, and she undoubtedly must've known that her son couldn't handle it."
"You knew my father long enough to be put into a headlock at gunpoint, per what you've told me! So, please, tell me what I couldn't handle? His secrets?!"
Fara held her paws outward and shrugged. "No, Kyong. You see, closed-minded people are the biggest snowflakes – they melt when you challenge their preconceived notions of traditionally accepted values. Such old traditions are preserved by the archaic thinking of 'old-school conformists.' Not to use a cliche, Kyong, but it seems apropos, here – the mind is a lot like a parachute … it works best when it's open."
"You people are sick. Conformity is something the mind craves. Both Reptiles and mammals. My god, what has broken your stupid 'woke' minds? Is it all the drinking of mammary liquid? Because obviously something has poisoned your brains."
Fara snorted in amusement. "Is that what you think? By that logic, the only reason your father felt transition was okay is because he tasted mammal milk. That doesn't even make sense."
Adler clenched his biological hand into a fist. "Cornerians' sick ideals of embracing non-conformity and calling it 'unique' is a social experiment gone decidedly wrong. It's proof that an entire society is capable of instilling mental illness in their children, and furthermore, biological imperative of sex and gender, which are synonymous terms, are genetically hardwired into…"
"Silence!" Andross exclaimed, bringing the room to absolute stillness. He cut his gaze between Fara and back to Kyong. "I am the scientist here. I am telling you that you are wrong, Mr. Adler. Cornerian science has implanted eggs, installed fallopian tubes, a uterus, and a womb into transfeminine peoples, after bilateral orchiectomies and vaginoplasty, so that the patients' bodies will match their post-op sex. This allows the patient in question to bare offspring."
"Proof the entire population has passed on the mental illness of believing…"
Andross spoke louder, overtop of Adler, using a commanding tone that shocked the lizard back into silence. "As I was saying! …Genetics do not revert the operation, genetics do not prohibit pregnancy in any way. Therefore, biological sex, as well as gender identity … are not genetic traits. They are mental and emotional traits. The genome does not carry an X or a Y chromosome with each-and-every genetic marker. Biological sex is determined between the stage of conception, zygote, and fetal development, based on X or Y chromosome material in the sperm cell used for conception. The natural neurological development cycle of the child is not something they can control; the pathways of the masculine and feminine brain is not developed based on genetic traits or markers; you fool."
"I now see why 'Tanya' Adler liked working for you, Doctor. But your theories aren't real science."
Andross' brows scrunched upward. "Is that so?"
"Yes, it's damned well 'so,' you so-called 'doctor.' Your 'science' is just theorizing based on what you and your peer-reviewed publications have interpreted from brain scans. No matter what operation 'Tanya' Adler underwent, my point still stands! Gender identity disorder is still a disorder, and a disorder of any kind is still a mental illness."
Fara rolled her eyes. "I don't know a lot about that stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's called dysphoria, and it is not a mental disorder."
Andross said, "She is correct. The brain has been mapped. It is neural connections in a male-bodied patient with female neural mappings. So, your father had the body of a male and the brain of a female."
Fara chimed in. "Agreed. She told me, 'move your tail precious.' No man calls a woman 'precious,' unless it's her name. Unless it's a gay man. And your father was not gay; she had a wife and sired a child."
Andross cut his gaze to Fara, waited until she was finished speaking, then cut his gaze back to Kyong and said, "As I was saying, she was a woman in a man's body. Now she has both the mind and body of a woman, because that is what she wanted in life. It's not, nor was it ever, a 'mental illness.' This is the same logic as someone born with six fingers on their hands, when the rest of the species has five. The brain maps neurological connections, allowing the person to use their sixth finger, but if they wish to remove the finger and have five, there are surgeries that allow for such cosmetic repair."
Adler narrowed his gaze. "A finger and a dick are two different things."
"Not necessarily," said Andross. "Both can be considered part of one's identity. People will remember the six-fingered person, and if that person chooses to own that identity, they are free to do so. If a woman is born with a penis, she may wish to keep and utilize it, or she may wish to have it removed. It is entirely up to her; whatever makes her happy."
"This flies in the face of any and all religions, which has long preceded sex studies…"
Andross rolled his eyes. "If there is such a thing as a god or goddess, then He or She creates the mind and the soul; sperm and the womb of a mother create the body. Understand this, young man: Eric Adler was simply a woman whose body didn't match her mind, and now that situation was apparently remedied. There is no mental illness involved. Gender dysphoria is, in my opinion, an inappropriate name that paints an incomplete picture for the condition of sexual incompatibility between mind and body. Think of it as a mind that was mapped to utilize an arm, but the child was born without that arm. They are incomplete, not mentally ill. Please at least tell me you can wrap your small brain around that concept…"
"A God or Goddess would have made a person as that God or Goddess had intended."
"You are religious, Mr. Adler?"
"Just know that I have suffered trials and tribulations that will ensure my greatness in the afterlife. That motivates me to overcome all obstacles in this life."
Andross tilted his head at the lizard. "I am agnostic, Mr. Adler, but by your logic … if a deity creates trials and tribulations for a population of worshippers to overcome, in order to allow said people to earn the reward of greater status in heaven, then could it not also stand to reason that a deity could create your father with the trial of overcoming the transition of their body's sex, in order to prepare them for a larger heavenly role in the afterlife? One that may be difficult to overcome, but by overcoming such a difficult trial in one life, they would be prepared to handle the difficulty of any trial in the next afterlife."
Kyong balled both hands into fists. "What kind of half-baked scientist are you? You are simply ignoring biological imperatives, and arguing with me to appear 'woke' to … what? Pander to an ultra-liberal agenda? No. I do not know what happened to the Andross that fueled a war machine against the rest of the system … but you have apparently changed on a fundamental level, as my father had. Transsexual mindsets ignore biological imperatives; therefore, gender identity disorder is a mental disease. One that causes the opposite of euphoria … it causes dysphoria. Still a mental disease. The mind is sick, and you are unwilling to treat it. Your rapid change of mindset suggests you, also, may be mentally ill."
Andross furrowed his brows. "If my emotional maturity and the deeper understanding that comes with age is, in your mind, a mental disease, then nearly everyone experiences that same 'disease.' It's called maturity, you twit."
Kyong ground his teeth together, breathing through them with narrowed eyes.
Andross added, "Your decidedly childish ignorance of the true understanding of proven science does not make you correct. It makes you, at best, a troglodyte refusing to embrace biological and neurological science, psychology, an understanding of hormones…"
"Prove it! Prove it is not a mental illness; prove it is not corrupted genetic code!"
"Mr. Adler, is that what you think about your father? That he suffered from corrupted genetic code or from a head injury, and that is what made him suffer a new behavior?"
"It's possible, Dr. Andross!"
Andross shook his head. "Forget what you think you know. If you wish to understand your living family, you will need to study the fact that genetic adaptation to simple changes in hormone rebalancing is proof that the body adapts after sexual reassignment surgery, and genetics therefore have nothing to do with remaining one's new sex. Have you studied this field of science? Do you have a degree in that discipline? Have you submitted research to a peer review board? Telling me I'm wrong when you have no scientific or medical background does not affect me – it shows that you are nothing more than a small-minded mouthy idiot, unwilling to accept a well-proven truth simply because you are offended by the topic of conversation."
Kyong glared at Andross. He cut his gaze to Fara. His dewlap dropped down from his throat, briefly, and then disappeared back into his neckline. "Doctor Andross, you have demonstrated that I cannot kill you … at least not without a weapon. But, vixen, you smell pregnant, and you are very much in danger, standing here before me. I will take your life, as I promised your beau, and I will return, with weapon in hand, to take your life, Doctor Andross."
Andross started to stand up, but Fara gestured for him to sit back down.
Andross furrowed his brows at her.
"I got this," she said. She reached up and pressed on the backside of her head while rotating her neck, so that she cracked her neckline with a satisfying 'pop!'
Kyong narrowed his gaze. He glared at Fara but pointed at Andross. "You know it was one of his Imperials that shot you through the gut."
Fara cracked her knuckles by pushing her paws together. "It wasn't by his order, though. They were defending their territory and I made a mistake. Everyone should be entitled to one mistake in life. I've had mine, and I grew from it. And now?" She opened and closed her paws and took up a balanced stance. "Now, I look forward to shutting your mouth once and for all. Don't worry, though. I'll let you live. Marcus will probably want to further humble you, I'm sure."
"Oh, does he…"
"Heads up, Doc." Fara withdrew her blaster from her holster, checked the safety, and tossed it to Andross. She turned back to Kyong and said, "Yeah, I think he will when he finds out that shooting you down wasn't enough."
Adler scoffed. "He was lucky his ship crashed into mine. The collision damaged the armor plating on my Wolfen. I consider that to be Doctor Andross' fault, as the design flaw would be on him." Adler cut his gaze to Andross, briefly, then panned his eyes back to Fara.
Fara scoffed. "Wouldn't it technically be your father's fault for defecting? For trading a Wolfen to Corneria in exchange for her retirement on Cornerian soil?"
Kyong's dewlap became exposed again. This time, he made no effort to hide it. "You know, I seem to recall that your beau did mention his vixen was 'impressive' in the tactical art of close quarters combat. By his standards, not by mine. I look forward to disappointing him." He reached into a pocket of his flight suit, withdrew an emergency epi-pen, and jammed it into his thigh while thumbing the plunger. He discarded the needle-tipped pen to the far corner of the room. "However, unlike you, I do not believe in the concept of mercy unless there is a tactical advantage to it."
"Oh, you mean like lining up StarFox for execution on the hanger deck of Great Fox?"
Rather suddenly, Kyong dropped to his knuckles and performed five rapid push-ups to get the epinephrine through his bloodstream. "Precisely. Although that proved to be a mistake, didn't it? I've learned from it. Today, I will not spare you…" He opened his hands and pushed hard off the floor, coming back to his feet in an impressive show of upper body strength. His head bobbed rhythmically, up and down, in a display of alpha dominance. "…This will be a fight to your death, fennec."
Fara ran her paws up through her head-fur, pushing it back. Her lengthy fennec ears tucked back, lying flat behind her head. Her pupils dilated just a bit. "Bring it … bitch."
Kyong shouted a battle cry to try and throw off her equilibrium. He charged her with a flood of adrenaline, motivated by hatred and anger. "Die!"
Fara pivoted toward Andross, hopped upward, so that her feet touched the edge of Andross' desk, then she shifted her body hard, delivering a spinning kick to Kyong's face. She landed on the floor in a crouch.
Kyong teetered back but remained on his feet. He rushed forward again.
Fara sprung up, head tilted a bit to the left, and buried her shoulder into Adler's jaw. She closed her clawed fingertips around his throat fan and pulled down while using the pure strength of her legs to bury her shoulder into the underside of his mandible with all the strength in her body.
Kyong's jaw cracked, but he ignored the pain and wrapped his arms around her.
Fara brought her knee up, striking him in the groin as a reflexive action, but it had little-to-no effect on the lizard, based on anatomy.
He moved his right foot forward, opening his stance, and lifted Fara up into the air, then bent backwards.
She continued to pull on his dewlap with one hand, kneed him again but in the ribs, and she lifted her other paw upward to meet the ground, allowing her to handspring out of his suplex attempt.
Kyong landed flat on his back, watching her bound freely away.
Fara opened her legs, using them to twist and pivot on her palm, then brought her feet down, stomping on Kyong's ribs.
Adler bellowed in pain from where his lower rib was already injured from the crash.
Fara bent at the knees, and leapt off of his chest, just to add more pressure against his torso injury. With the power in her legs and back, she launched her small frame upward, performed a somersault, and landed on the floor facing away from him.
Adler rolled over, getting to his hands, and looked up.
Without even checking to see if he was standing yet, she performed a back-sweep.
Her leg caught Adler's hands just as he was starting to get up, causing him to drop to his chest. He winced from the additional pain on his ribs, and breathlessly mouthed a traditional Venomian swearword.
Fara was back on her feet by the end of the sweep and stomped her heel down upon the back of his head, pinning him to the deck, with her foot on his spine. "Yield, goddammit. You're injured; it's not a fair fight."
"I…" Kyong took a deep breath, despite the pain in his ribs, then shouted, "…Agree!" He pushed off the ground, coming to his feet.
Fara hopped back before he could throw her off. She landed squarely on her feet in a balanced stance. By the time he got to his feet, she was committed to a reverse roundhouse. The heel of her silver shoe struck him across the temple, sending him teetering back. "Good. I'm glad you're still in this … since we're being honest, here, I wasn't done with you, yet."
Kyong opened his arms to keep his balance, looking dazed from the strike to his head.
Fara smirked at the way he wobbled. "We have a doctor here if you need him to check you for concussion."
Adler brought a hand up to his head and rubbed the side of his forehead.
"You threatened my man and his mother that day on the flight deck. I took that very personally. You're lucky all you lost was your hand that day."
Suddenly, Adler charged her, head tucked inward.
Fara strafed to the side but he changed direction, chasing her. She bent her knees and leapt high into the air. She came down, feet first, performing a stomp-kick on Adler, but he had slowed his charge and opened his arms by the time she came down from her pounce attack.
Adler used her own momentum against her, and guided her down to the ground, hand on her head, driving her face into the tiles.
Fara covered her face protectively with her paws.
He took her by the hair, lifted her head, then slammed it back down on the ground. He lifted her head yet again with the intent to slam her face into the floor once more.
Her knuckles met the floor, but she continued to cup her palms over her face to keep herself safe. Her knuckles were scraped until bloody. Fara quickly tucked her arms and legs close, then pushed off the floor. She shifted her torso, shoulders, and neck, rolling out from beneath him using an old fashion wrestling reversal maneuver. She rolled onto her back, wrapped her legs around his neck, and tried to choke him with her thighs.
Kyong pushed off the floor with his hands and stood up, lifting her weight as well as his own, so that she was above his head. He charged for the wall and doubled over at the waist upon approach.
Fara saw the wall approaching rapidly. She released her legs from his throat, doubled over, and used her body weight and his momentum to try and swing his body of course.
Adler continued to run toward the wall, undaunted.
Fara threw her feet downward, between his legs, passing right through them, but took a knee to the side of the face for her efforts.
She expected him to either hit the wall or stop and turn around.
Kyong surprised her by stopping rapidly, with his right foot up against the wall. He pushed off of it, snatched her by her hair again, and used his momentum to swing her body back around at the wall once more.
Fara was lifted like a ragdoll and launched into the wall. She hit it at shoulder-height and dropped to the floor with a grunt. Before she could get back to her feet, Adler took her by the hair, yet again, lifted her to her feet, and drove her face into the wall with all the strength in his shoulders and back.
Fara brought her paws up to protect her face from the wall just in time to have her knuckles further bloodied by the wall surface.
He drew her head back for another wall-slam, but she tucked her legs up, bringing her knees to her chest, suddenly becoming dead-weight to him.
She kicked her legs out, caught the wall, and pushed with all the power in her thighs and back. The vixen's powerful wall kick threw both of them to the floor, him on his back and her lying on his chest, face up.
Fara lifted her head forward, then slammed the backside of her skull downward, into his face. She rolled off of him, snatched his leg in an old fashion wrestling maneuver, and pinned him, then flipped him over, face down on the floor. She took him by the back of his head and slammed his face into the floor as he'd done to her.
After three times, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pinning his body down with her knees, and held tight until he stopped struggling.
Fara continued to hold his throat long after he became motionless. She gave it another moment, then released him, rolled him over and checked for a pulse.
"Blaster, Doc."
Andross tossed her the sidearm.
Fara held it by the muzzle and hammered his chest with the handle. She checked his pulse, then delivered another devastating strike against his chest. She placed an ear to his cracked ribs, briefly, then she sat up and holstered her blaster pistol. "Heartbeat. He'll live. He'll wish he hadn't though."
"Why risk the life of your unborn child, Ms. Phoenix?"
"Because if I stayed home, barefoot and pregnant, my child wouldn't survive childhood. I'm doing my best to make Lylat a safe place to grow up. And I'm running out of time to do it. 'Hands on work' is the only way I know how to make sure it's done right."
"I've not practiced medicine in several decades, but if you wish to ensure the baby is alive after that fight, the offer stands."
"I'll check in with my midwife and make sure my child is safe. But he tried to slam my face into a wall and floor, he didn't attack my lower torso."
"There is equipment aboard your ship that will be able to scan for a heartbeat, but I suggest a certified medical doctor to examine you as soon as possible to ensure no bruising or other types of injury have occurred in the vicinity of the womb. When Caroline was pregnant, she trusted no one else to examine her. Please, make an emergency appointment with whomever you trust most. But the offer stands if you wish to find out without waiting, which can lead to anxiety."
"Look, I know I resemble Vixy McCloud, and I know you had a thing for her. It would be weird for you and inappropriate to me. Thank you for your concern, but I assure you I will handle it myself."
"Just the same, you handed me your blaster; you should've allowed me to intervene, Ms. Phoenix."
"I can save myself, Doctor. It's what I do."
"Mm…" He rested his hands, one atop the other, on his desktop. "As I said, make an appointment with whomever you trust most. There was a time when I would have enjoyed seeing the bloodline of Fox McCloud come to an end. However, I have matured in my twilight years. I do not wish to see the bloodline of Victoria Renard come to an end … as you so eloquently pointed out my fondness for her."
"So, you were in love with her, huh?"
Andross shook his head. "It was not love; I'm afraid I am not capable of that. Nor was it lust, as I do not feel the same for you, young lady. What I felt for Victoria was … immense and immeasurable respect. Had you met her, you would have agreed: Lylat needed more people like her."
Fara eyed him for a moment. She pressed her fingers into various parts of her torso, arms, and then her legs to check for injury. "Just because you don't experience love the way normal people describe it does not mean you're incapable of love. You loved her in your own way. Not romantically, but deeply just the same. I can respect that. She sounded like a very … wholesome individual."
Andross studied her facial expression for a moment. "Had you not already been alive for the better half of a decade at the time of her death, I would have thought you were the reincarnated version of her. You have similar mannerisms, facial expressions, and the elegant explanation of your eloquent wording … it's incredibly similar to the type of woman she was."
Fara took Adler's hands and dragged him across the floor until he was closer to Andross' desk. She looked up, made eye-contact with the large ape, and calmly said, "Maybe you shouldn't have killed her."
"That was an accident. I pulled her from the burning wreckage of that automobile and placed her into stasis while working to restore her body, while she healed. Pepper's people breaking into my lab … that brought about the destruction of my laboratory; there was an explosion, which led to her vaporization. I blame Pepper. Jack and John, both. At least James did not have to mourn her death twice. Scant solace, but just the same. No man should have to mourn the death of his son's mother, let alone twice."
Fara studied his facial expressions in return. She rubbed her chin in thought. "You're very different than I expected."
"I'm ashamed to admit it, but I am exactly what people expected. I've simply … grown into something else in the past twenty-five years. You are a highly empathetic woman; I imagine you are able to appreciate just how difficult it was for me to make the decision to work with the son of Fox McCloud. But … I have no regrets. I've worked with his mother in the past. She assisted me in the creation of the device used to repair Venom's ecological system. Marcus, as he is now called, has enough of his paternal grandmother and mother in him to make a genuine difference in Lylat. But he also an excellent mate with whom to further his bloodline. Now, I have said too much. I have … made things awkward, as the saying goes. Go, check on your unborn child. I will have Mr. O'Donnell place Kyong Adler into restraints and deliver him to the proper authorities, where he will stand trial on a third-party planet. Perhaps Papetoon or Katina."
Fara nodded and headed for the door. "Stay safe. This war is only just beginning."
"I will, and…" Andross forced a weak but genuine smile. "Er … you as well." He waited until she left the room, then brought a hand to his face and rubbed his achy jaw and cheek muscles. "Do not be a silly old fool," he said to himself. "She is not Victoria, and she certainly has no use for your affections."
Kyong groaned softly. He reached up and rubbed his forehead. "Are … are you moaning about a woman?"
Andross drew his hand back, closed his fingers into a fist, and said, "Silence, fool." He thrust his fist down, knocking Adler out again.
X
X
Meanwhile,
Cerinia…
Krystal frowned at the grainy visual of her son. "I'm too far from you to understand your meaning, and you're visual is too grainy for me to understand what you said. One second. I'm trying to fix the bandwidth issue on my end." Krystal made some adjustments to change the frequency, to compress the data upload, and to lower the image definition.
The video visual cleaned up just a bit.
"All right, Marcus. What were you saying, hon?"
"Hey, mom. I can see you a little better, now. But … I could hear you just fine. I was saying it would be weird if you two had another baby. Only because it'd be weird to arrange a play date for my son and my baby brother. But, if you guys think it will make you happy, I understand it."
Krystal frowned at the way Marcus worded his concerns. She rubbed her chin in thought, glanced at Fox, nearby, then back at the monitor. "I can appreciate your concerns. But, I've made up my mind. And, yes, it would make me happy. My race is gone, and I want nothing more than to for Cerinia to continue in some fashion."
"Like I said, I understand it."
"All right. Your father and I are about to land. We're going to be facing some sort of guardian to bring the Krazoan piece back. Also, I had Slippy and Amanda access the seed vault … I'll be bringing home some seeds to remind myself of home. So far, I have a Cerinian Tallow Tree, some flowers, some ferns, and … well, that's all, so far, really."
"Sounds good. I look forward to seeing what you plant. Good luck with the guardian – I hope it's something simple like a spirit wanting to return home to Sauria, heh. Either way, good luck!"
"Thank you, Marcus. See you soon."
He waved and then his visual disappeared from the screen.
Krystal sat back in her chair and sighed. "I'd not bloody-well thought of how awkward it would be for him to arrange a playdate with a nephew and uncle, approximately the same age. Fox, do I really want another child?"
Fox finished the landing procedures and powered down the engines. He turned to face her with a soft smile. "Krys, I could see it in your eyes, earlier. I'm okay with it."
"Thank you, Fox." She exhaled softly. "I know he was being honest and we're not close enough to feel one another's true feelings on the matter, so it's just awkward words on subspace buoys. But his first thought was to consider something I hadn't … how it will affect others."
"We did discuss how it might have an effect on others. He just brought up a different angle than we'd thought of."
"Fair enough." She unfastened her safety harness and stood up from the seat. "Let's handle this guardian. Perhaps it will be something simple, like Marcus suggested."
Fox shrugged. "Whatever it is, we'll handle it. I know I'd want to be returned to my ancestral world to be laid to rest. Even if you and I moved to Cerinia, I'd want to be laid out on Papetoon when I die."
She offered a gentle smile. "I know, love. But … would you consider living on Cerinia if and when you retire?"
Fox shrugged. A slight smile tugged at his muzzle. "If you want to live there and raise our child there, sure. But there is no one to play with unless we find more of your people. So, yeah, we'd need to do that, too."
Krystal's smile brightened. "You are a good man … a good husband. Thank you for being so considerate. I am not sure if I'm ready to be some sort of monarch to my surviving people, if they exist. My parents worked hard to abolish monarchy and create a government for the people."
Fox waved her to follow and headed to the back of the runabout. "Yeah, but there's probably not enough people to create a people-run government just yet. So … they'll need a leader for a while. Just until things are up and running again."
Krystal followed him off the shuttle and grabbed her staff from the magnetic induction charging plate on the wall. She stepped through the exit hatch, onto the soft recently excavated soil, and gave the staff a twirl. "Lead the way, my lead stallion."
Fox grinned and led her inside, back to the first room with the lift platform. "Right this way, my queen."
"Oh. Ha-bloody-ha."
Fox grinned.
X
X
Prison Transport Ship
Venom Orbit…
Kyong Adler stumbled into his cell from a hard push. He whirled around and glared at the reptile guards that shoved him into his temporary prison. "You're traitor amongst your kind. I'll have you both hanged for this, and you'll never see the light of…"
They slammed the gated bars in his face and walked away laughing. One of the two reptile soldiers called over his shoulder, "I bet you didn't know the resistance was this big, 'General.' Operating all this time, right under your nose. Maybe that psychotic Krazoan bitch should hang you for ignoring us all this time. But you know what they say!" His voice faded as he got further away. "History is written by the victor, and the resistance is signing treaty papers with Andross and some guy named Garrick … right now."
Kyong heard the other lizard say to the first, "Yeah, I want to tune in to that treaty signing on the holo. Let's get back to the main office." A door at the end of the hallway slid apart. The two guards passed through and were gone.
Kyong clenched his hand into a fist, then his other hand, which made most of a fist, with his last two fingers unable to close all the way. He tensed up. The last two fingers slowly curled shut until he was making two matching fists.
He lifted his arm up and used his other hand to feel his shoulder while doing so.
A female voice came from somewhere out in the hallway. "Aw, are your bionic implants acting up? Was I too rough on you?"
"Identify yourself," Kyong demanded. He approached the laser bars.
Fara Phoenix stepped out, in front of his cell, arms folded over her chest. "Hi, there."
Kyong eyed her. "You here to transport me and gloat the whole way? I have nothing to say to you."
"Aw. Isn't that a shame. I came to make a deal with you."
"What?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, just beneath the swell of her bust. "I came. To make. A deal. With you. Did you hear me that time?"
Adler sniffed at the air and furrowed his brows. "I can't … smell you. Are you a hologram?"
Fara sighed. She dropped her arms backt o her side, rolled her eyes, and, rather suddenly, her lengthy hair disappeared. Her magenta leotard and lime sweatpants disappeared, replaced with a knee-length skirt, V-neck blouse, and kitten heels. The heels gave her a slight height increase. Her hair was only shoulder-length, now. "Busted, I guess. I'm not Fara."
Adler blinked twice. "Excuse me?"
"You know, I tried reverting to the old school look. Military-short hair, the works. But I didn't like it. But Fara wears her hair as long as it grows, and I don't care much for that, either. Maybe something in between, like this, huh? What'cha think?"
Again, Adler blinked at her. He stared with a look of confusion. "You want me … to tell you how you look? You want my validation, mammal?"
"Oh, honey. I'm not a mammal."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means exactly what I just said. I'm Farrah Fennecs. Fara Phoenix's younger, cooler, way-more-hip, digital sister-from-no-other-mister. It's hard to explain. Okay, not it's not. I'm an artificial intelligence based off Fara's brain scan. I recently moved my program into a Krazoan mainframe on Miracle. Don't worry about trying to attack it, or blow it up, or even go there. I run all the countermeasures there, now. I have backup copies at a server farm run by Space Dynamics. But let's cut to the chase, shall we?"
"I … fine. Let's skip the pleasantries. Your biological mother … sister … whatever … she is the one who…"
"…Put you in here," Farrah said overtop of him. "Yeah, I know. I still have the memories of you attacking her peeps that day on the Great Fox hanger. Trust me, I have no love for you, asshole. I'm here to make you an offer."
"Yeah? Let's hear it."
"You do me a favor, you walk free. You don't do me a favor, and you die."
"Die, huh? You're a hologram."
Farrah walked right through the bars, drew her fist back, and punched him in the nose much faster than a biological person could have jabbed him, and much harder than Fara would have been able to hit him.
Adler teetered back and dropped onto a bench mounted to the back wall. "What the…"
"Solid light emitting hologram. What, you don't have these? This is a Venom transport ship for the rebels. You mean to tell me the rebels have this tech, but the Imperials don't? You guys have a much bigger budget, so if not, well, that's really sad."
Adler rubbed his nose. "Fuck you, digi-bitch."
"Ha! Digi-bitch! That's a new one, actually! I could make you kill yourself. Y'know that?"
"Highly doubt it."
"Oh, honeyyyy. You have no idea, do you? There is a wireless interface and a small microchip for file storage in your arm. It's intended for downloading firmware updates to your bionic implants. I've already hacked and accessed them. Here, let me give you a demonstration."
Adler's hand rose up, his shoulder joint whirred, and his fingers opened. He grasped his own throat and squeezed, choking himself. He dropped to the ground, grasping at his wrist just behind his implant. He did his best to try and pull it away from his own throat, but only succeeded in Charlie-horsing his forearm and bicep muscles.
"See? You know, Fox McCloud has a shoulder implant, too! But his implant is much older with no way to update the firmware. Very old school. Very basic. Very safe from hacking."
Adler gasped for air. His body began to slump.
"Ah, ah, ah!" She waggled her finger admonishingly and the pressure became reduced. She reached down and patted his cheek. "No passing out."
Adler's eyes became half-lidded, but he managed to breathe just a little bit better from the pressure reduction.
Farrah announced, "No leaving the party. Not just yet. Now, if you get me this hard copy data I need, I'll let you live. I'll even let you get away. Do we have a deal?"
"What the hell do you want?" he wheezed. "What's so … what's so important about this … thing you want?" His fingers further reduced the pressure around his neckline, allowing him to breathe. He panted for air for a moment as if coming up from water after being below the surface for a long time.
"Oh, the data? It's a hard copy of information on how Kursed was rebuilt. The cloned body with the rapid aging technique, so that she was reborn from a glass tube looking young and feeling strong, not to mention the most important part … the positronic brain. I want to be a 'real girl,' you know what I'm saying, honey?"
Adler leaned back against the wall, glaring at her. "You see yourself as the Cornerian wooden puppet with the nose?"
"Pinocchio? No. I don't tell lies, honey. I tell things like it is. But I've been used in the past. I've learned from people that there are only a handful of good guys in the universe. They are honest, trustworthy, and have the ability to destroy you, but they don't … they use their gifts to protect you. You know that woman whose baby you threatened? That's Fara Phoenix, and she and her man have the ability and are in the unique position to save Lylat. I started researching how to hack your bionic implants while the two of you were fighting. I came very close to killing you right then, but she beat your tail just as I managed to connect to the port that allows me a backdoor into your implants' wireless connection. So, you got lucky. But now? Now you're here, and you belong to me. Do we have an understanding?"
"You're connected into the Cornerian mainframes?"
"I am."
"Is it true, what they've said about my father? Did he defect?"
"Venom stripped Eric Adler of his military pension, leaving your mother to raise you with no money. Selling the Wolfen to Corneria afforded then-recently-transitioned Tanya Adler with a large reward. Tanya had that money laundered and changed to gold. Piecing together what I can find on archived call logs, it appears Tanya contacted your mother, who was angry at first. Until your mother found out that her husband's intent was to give her everything to have the money to raise you and pay for her treatments. Your mother went into remission for a few years and lived long enough to see you graduate from a military university, which was paid for by your father. Near as I can tell, based on social media archives, your father struggled financially after providing her family with every last credit she had. Then, she broke contact by request of your mother. Based on social media archives from your mother, she continued to tell people your father died and that she was collecting death benefits, which she used to raise and educate you."
Kyong pursed his lips into a thin line of threat.
"Aw, does that make you angry? Did I huwt yew feewings, oo-woo?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"God, you are so out of touch with people your age."
Adler exhaled through clenched teeth, looked away, and said, "I need time to process this information."
"I've already located Tanya Adler if you want to reconnect."
"My father died. I have no interest in some 'old lady' with an Adam's apple in their throat." As an afterthought, he added, "How the hell did you find my father? Venom still think he's dead."
"I'm a supercomputer, dipshit. I used Andrew Oikonny to get myself installed into computers still in operation that were designed and built by the anatomically-modern Krazoa … the ones who were about half the height of the ancient Krazoa from a million years ago. Apparently, at some point, their kind experienced a near cataclysm and they had a biological reboot. Eventually, the smaller-carbon-footprint version of the Krazoa built impressive trinary computers and they were studying the tech of their ancient ancestors. But they were attacked by the Locusts. Their priorities shifted to survival, and they managed to repel the Locusts just as their ancestors did. But by the end of the war, their people were few and far between. Most of them left Sauria and sought out a planet near the world of Kew. No one really knows what became of them. Those that stayed on Sauria discovered their ancestors' way of extracting a spirit from the physical body. A few stayed behind with the spirits of their ancestors in the physical realm. I know, I know, it sounds like the plot to a hokey B-rated sci-fi movie with a small budget. The fact of the matter is … they sent most of their population to another realm where they still exist. That's where the spirits of their kind go when they find hosts to take them there."
"Yeah, you're right. It does sound like a fiction piece." He reached down and rubbed at his ribs, followed by a wince of pain. "So, you want me to help you leave the supercomputer?"
"Oh, I'll still be connected to it. I'll have a positronic brain that will allow me to do processing there, and to keep my older memories in cloud storage. I'm going to make bodies and brains for me and my man. And, after studying Kursed's biological frontal lobe design, I'm going to see if I can't give myself psionic abilities. I'm only about forty percent sure I can pull it off. But imagine never having to get up to reach for a holovision remote control? Sounds like my cup of tea. SO. Are you ready to get out of here and work for me?"
"Did you kill Andrew?"
"No, I didn't. I freed him. You can actually verify that before grabbing the hardcopy data drives for me. I told you, I don't lie. I'm not Pinocchio. I just have a lot in common with him. Now, let's get this show on the road, huh? Are you in or not?"
"You've already said I have no choice because you use people the way you've been used."
"Good! That's the spirit! I knew you'd understand how your kind works without me having to overexplain it."
Adler smirked. "And after my part is finished, I am free to return to my group?"
"Honey, by then, Anezka will have lost. She's a marvel of technology, and I'm going to deactivate her. Now, I can speak Venomian and Venomese, and I know you speak both, so if you need me to explain to you that I am the strongest, fine. I will. But since you choose to follow whoever is the strongest, you should have no problems being my bitch for a while. When you go free, I'll drop you off somewhere remote with some provisions, and you'll have the chance to survive, just as I did with Andrew. Actually, I might just drop you somewhere remote with nothing, and provide the provisions and location data to Tanya Adler, and leave your ultimate fate up to your father. And, no, she's not some ugly old thing with an Adam's apple. She got laser surgery to have that reduced. She actually looks great for her age. Probably because she kept in such good shape. Now. Do we have a deal or not?"
"Verify that you let Andrew live. Then I'll trust your word."
"All right. Well, first thing's first. You have to escape prison. I'll deactivate the bars. C'mon. Let's get this ball rolling."
Kyong glared at Farrah but said nothing.
The laser bars fizzled out and the gate unlocked with a click. "Don't worry about the closed-circuit cameras. I blurred them."
X
X
Author's Note: Okay, did I lose any readers over this chapter? I wrote from both sides of the opinion spectrum on the subject matter. See, this all started about ten months ago when I had someone tell me that the concept of the original Adler being trans was 'cringe,' back when I came up with the idea in Book 5, Reflections of Fate.
But I had a reason for it.
Long story short, this revolves around issue 2 of the Nintendo Power StarFox comic by Ben Itoh, where Fara Phoenix is used as a hostage by a lizard.
Fox McCloud refers to the lizard as a 'he' so I wrote the character as a male, and eventually named them Eric Adler in my series.
MANY people, especially female fans and female fan fiction writers of the series, felt the lizard was female because "she was drawn with a mammary bustline beneath the armor," and, my favorite reason, "No soldier-dude calls a girl 'precious,' as when the character tells Fara, 'Move your tail, precious!'" Both are pretty good reasons, lmao.
People have theorized that the character was female in the Japanese version of the comic, but I wouldn't know.
I only know Fox refers to the lizard as a 'he' in the English version of that 1992 comic.
So, I rolled with it and had Eric Adler be both male AND female, pretty much in that order.
It's a divisive topic to many. Too bad. Don't be offended.
Here's the only PSA I'll write on the matter: Please understand that the average person doesn't seem to understand transitioning people, and, worse, that transpersons have life pretty rough, because they never seem to have understanding or the validation people crave from friends, family, mates, etc.
So, please, have some empathy, no matter what your opinion is on the matter. Transpersons are human beings and deserve human rights, but are often denied things that people take for granted every day, jobs, health insurance, a license from the DMV at times ... and that's on top of not having an understanding social base to help them shoulder their lives. So, there it is ... Trans Rights ARE human rights, because they are human beings just like everyone else on this planet.
Okay! Moving on!
Who's still reading this thing? Who won't read anymore because of this chapter?
Just curious!
Love you guys!
Will start on the next chapter ASAP!
