Mission 28 - Growth

Fox stared into the stars through the indestructible cockpit windshield of the Great Fox as the colossal ship drudged through its course. It had been five years since their encounter with Leon. Much had changed, yet for the most part, StarFox was still the same. Time had corroded the fear that once dwelt within the Lylatians, planted so deeply by the ruthless lizard's malice. People of the Lylat System simply returned to their everyday lives, doing whatever they were supposed to do. Their job was not to worry about Leon and other psychopaths. That was Admiral Pepper's job. That was Star Fox's job. That was, ultimately, Fox's job.

"Daddy, can you read me a story?" a small orange kit nudged her father cutely on the side, holding a storybook in one hand. "Mom is reading Cory his stories, but I don't like his stories. They are boring."

"Boring?" Fox asked with a gentle grin as he picked up the little girl and placed her on his lap. The girl had all of his features, with a head of pretty yellow braids. Her radiant emerald eyes were rimmed with a soft indigo, her soft fur shone with a soft golden tint under the faint light within the cockpit. Fox could almost imagine how pretty his daughter would be in a decade or so. "Why don't you ask ROB? He knows every story in the whole wide world."

"He sounds funny." Clare said bluntly as she handed Fox her storybook. It was a simple story concerning a young bunny called Marvin in search of friends. She had no idea why she liked the story so much, even after she had completely memorized every world within that small book. The kit snuggled between her father and one of the cushions of the massive chair, and laid her head on Fox's chest.

"Clare, this is like the thirtieth time I've told you this story. Why don't you find another story book?" Fox said as he flipped through the first few pages, paying little attention to the illustrations and words. He too had almost completely memorized the story. The same went with Cory, Clare's twin brother and his favorite story. In fact, the only stories that his children liked were those that involved friendship. He knew why. Everyone on the ship knew why.

"No! I want to hear about Marvin!" Clare protested, in the verge of tears.

"Princess, let's be reasonable." Fox said gently, "How about if I tell you a sequel of this story?"

"What's a sequel?" Clare asked in a somewhat anxious tone. She liked it when her father called her princess, like the princess in the storybooks.

"It's the story of the things that happen after this book." Fox explained with a smile, "Like, what happened after Marvin and Gary became friends?"

"Oh . . ." Clare's eyes widened as an idea surfaced in her mind, "I know Daddy! Why don't I tell you the sequel of Marvin's story?"

"Sure, let's hear it." Fox smiled as his eyes wandered back to the windshield.

"Well, after Marvin and Gary became friends, they went on a hike in the woods, where they found the magic flying castle and the Princess." Clare tried to mimic the way Fox spoke when he told stories as best as she could. "The Princess was sad because she didn't have friends, and she couldn't come down from her castle because it was flying."

"And then?" Fox asked with a smile. That smile was a mask which hid his remorse, his anguish.

"Well, the Princess told Marvin and Gary that she can't play with them, but she still wants to be friends with Marvin and Gary." Clare continued, "And then, Marvin put on his thinking cap, and thought of an idea. . ."

"Cool." Fox said, wondering what she was about to say.

"And then . . . and then . . ." Clare was having trouble with her story, and there was no way out. How could Marvin possibly be friends with a princess who lives in the sky? "I don't know Daddy."

"Well, does the Princess have a flying pet?" Fox asked with a smile.

"No." Clare answered, "Pet's can't fly."

"Oh dear, maybe the Princess's Daddy can help?" Fox suggested.

"Daddy, you are not supposed to be in my story!" Clare playfully hit Fox on his shoulder with her tiny palm.

"Ouch." Fox pretended to be hurt. In fact, he was.

"Sorry Daddy." Clare stood up on Fox's legs and kissed him on the cheek. Kisses were the panacea for all problems. "I love you."

"It's okay, don't do it again. It's not nice to hit someone." Fox explained. He almost instantly realized how ironic that statement was, especially when it came out of his mouth. He had been hurting people all his life.

"Tomorrow I will finish my story." Clare let out a little yawn. "I am sleepy."

"Alright Princess, let's get you to bed." Fox let out a soft grunt as he stood up from the pilot seat with his daughter in his arms. The kit threw her arms around her father and laid her head innocently on Fox's shoulder as they walked through the metallic corridors of the Great Fox. They entered a small room with two child-sized beds, illuminated softy by a pink magic crystal plant of the Dinosaur Planet. In one of the beds lay a little blue-furred boy, sleeping soundly. He was Cory, Clare's twin brother. Besides the silver strip of hair on his crown, he looked exactly like Krystal.

"Good night Daddy." Clare piped softly as she crawled under the clean white sheets of her bed. "I love you."

"Good night Clare. I love you too." Fox bent down and kissed his daughter on the forehead, and fixed the quit that covered her. With that, he turned and left the room. A few minutes later, he was in his own bed, next to Krystal.

"Honey, we need to talk." Surprisingly, Krystal was first to speak.

"Yeah, we do." Fox answered, "You go first."

"We can't fly around in space like this. The kids are too young." The vixen spoke, "They deserve to have friends and go to school like normal kids."

"And I am sure you know exactly why I am doing this." Fox said prior to a heavy sigh. "I can't risk losing them to Leon."

"I know, but can't we find some kind of protection for them?" Krystal asked, "If we ask Admiral Pepper, I am sure he'll give us a few body guards."

"You don't know Leon well enough to make that statement." Fox replied, "We are talking about a psychopathic genius who kills his own friends for pleasure here. Nowhere is safer than the Great Fox in the entire Lylat System and you know that. In fact, Sirus and Damon are putting themselves in danger right now by living on Corneria."

"Fox, you are just paranoid." Krystal said, "I know the Great Fox is safe, but it's not a good place for the kids to grow up, and you know that. If Admiral Pepper could arrange some kind of protection for them, why don't we do it?"

"Do you remember what happened to Bill?" Fox questioned, now slightly annoyed, "Do you want that to happen to us?"

Krystal fell silent. She saw it coming, but she had to try. "Fox, I see your reason in this, but we can't . . ."

"Yes we can, and we will!" Fox spoke fiercely. "I am not risking the lives of my entire team and family just because of a few good childhood memories for my kids! I never had good childhood memories, and neither have you. And guess what? We are living fine!"

"Fox, this is not living fine!" Krystal shouted back in equal ferocity. She was not going to back down. Things were not working out, and the new must come for the old to go. "What kind of family floats around in space like us? The Great Fox is a battleship Fox, not a home where people live in!"

"My father and mother lived here fine, so don't give me that." Fox was ready to explode. Why can't Krystal just understand his reasons?

"They lived here fine until they had you!" Krystal rebutted, "Then your whole family moved to Corneria!"

"Then my mother got killed, and then my father, is that the kind of family you want?" Fox questioned, "I've had enough of this Krystal. We are NOT moving to Corneria!"

With that, Fox turned off all the lights and climbed into his bed. The chamber was dark and silent. Except for one thing . . . Krystal was sobbing softly. Fox suddenly regretted for shouting at her. He wanted to comfort her, but he also wanted to make his point clear.

"Aw come on Krys . . . don't cry." Fox reached over to his wife. To his surprise, she merely turned away from him. "Krystal . . ." Fox muttered helplessly, "Come on, I am sorry."

"No you are not sorry . . ." Krystal said quietly in between her sobs, "You don't even care how the kids feel. You don't care about how I feel either. All you care about is yourself."

"Krys, how is trying to protect my family not caring about them?" Fox asked.

"It's just a selfish excuse to say you are trying to protect while in reality you are trying to hoard." With that, the couple fell silent, each deep within their own thoughts.


Damon walked alongside his uncle in the gentle suburbs of Corneria city. The sun was setting, the sky illuminated with a sea of burning oranges and reds. The both wore general black suits with a white shirt and blue tie. They walked up the driveway into a quaint two storied house. Obsidian pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the front door. Damon flopped down on the couch with a heavy sigh, and then watched his uncle perform the same maneuver right next to him.

"Let's hurry and take a shower before Sirus gets home." Obsidian said.

Damon nodded; they went down the hall together. Obsidian turned into his quarters, where there was a private bathroom. The house was simple, big, yet not uncommonly large. It composed of three bedrooms, three bathrooms, one guest room, two living rooms, a simple basement, a kitchen, a dining room and a large garage. An elegant cast-iron fence and a wall of hedges outlined its bounds. Hidden behind from the pedestrian's eyes was a swimming pool, three quarters of the size of a standard pool. The grass, flowers and shrubs were neatly kept.

The pleasant aroma of sweet soap greeted Damon as he entered one of the unoccupied bathrooms. He hung his suit jacket, along with his blue tie on a triplet of hooks behind the bathroom door. He walked over and began to fill the giant spa tub that filled their main bathroom. Making sure to lock both doors, one that led to his room, and the other that came from Sirus'. Slowly he began unbuttoning his shirt, while his feet maneuvered to slide his shoes off. He slowly unbuckled his pants next, blushing as he caught a glance of himself in the mirror. Now wearing nothing but his undergarments he took a moment to observe his physique. He had grown from the scrawny hybrid Star Fox once knew; since they'd left five years ago he'd grown quite a bit. He was now twenty-one and his body had changed quite a bit. He traced his chest through the tank undershirt he was wearing, exploring the well toned chest and tight stomach he was now graced with. His arms were fairly well built as well. His legs were no longer the bony twigs he used to have; now they sported finely accentuated muscles. He had grown several inches, and now was as tall as his father. Other than that he still looked the same, he was unmistakably Damon.

As he slipped off his shirt he thought about where his wonderful endowments had come from. He had his uncle and Doctor Zenotabi to thank. Together they had developed a type of steroid, based partially of Obsidian's own DNA and another part from Damon himself. It acted like the pubescent stage Damon never received because of his mutation. Without his testicles he never received the extra testosterone to help him grow into full manhood. But thanks to Zenotabi's secret project, as well as training he received over that time from Obsidian, he became well toned and matured. Another bonus was that through therapy he no longer had to worry about seizures.

His socks were pulled off hastily, which left one article of clothing left, his briefs. He blushed harder as he slowly slid them down his thighs. This was something he had never gotten over, he hated undressing, even alone in the safety of his own home. For one thing, Damon still thought he had a freakish and unappealing body, even if he was slightly toned that didn't make up for the features he'd been given. Next he had a fear of undressing; mostly because of the ridicule he'd received for his body most of his life. Lastly was his worst embarrassment, the reason he had never grown in the first place, the fact that he was a eunuch. That alone had been the worst subject of ridicule from his peers at the military academy. Damon looked at himself then in the mirror, hands and tail between his legs, his knees turned in, all to hide himself. As if he feared the mirror would also come to life and start to laugh at him. Even with all his accumulated strength he was still very insecure about himself.

Damon tried to push the horrid thoughts of his past from his head, climbing into the warm waters of the bath. He stopped the water and then immersed himself, sinking all the way down until the tip of his muzzle was barely poking out of the water so he could breathe out his nose. He relaxed, and his grieves and horrors were quickly dissolved within the tingling warmth of the water. He rubbed his hands up his short fur, simply enjoying the pleasurable tickling sensation it produced. Then he sat up out of the water, picking up one of the shampoos on the shelf by the tub. He picked out a sweet smelling one and began to lather his fur. Then again sliding into the water, fully immersing himself and rubbing his body, ridding himself of both the soaps and the filth he had accumulated during the day.

When he came again out of the water he heard a faint knocking on the door. He smiled to himself, "Daddy?"

"Hey Damon, how was your day?" Sirus asked through the door.

Damon pulled himself out of the tub, "Okay, I'll tell you more about it after I dry off." He walked over to a cabinet beneath the sink and pulled out a large fluffy towel and promptly began drying out his fur. Then he wrapped the towel around himself and exited the bathroom. "Dad!" he said, seeing his father waiting for him outside the door. He walked over and gave the lupine a hug.

"Hey, it's good to see you too. I feel like we hardly get to spend time together anymore." Sirus said.

"Yeah," Damon giggled, "Would you like to go out to a movie or something tonight?"

"No, let's just spend a quiet evening at home. We can watch a movie at home if you'd like."

Damon nodded, and then he went into his room to get dressed. He quickly pulled on some underwear and a pair of sweats, leaving his chest bare. He walked out and went into his father's room, watching him change out of his military uniform and into a similar ensemble as Damon himself.

"So dad, how were lessons today?" he said as Sirus hung up his flight jacket.

"Oh you know, some of these military punks just won't listen to us experienced old war pilots." He said with a smirk. He currently worked as a flight instructor at the Cornerian military base. Close enough to where General Pepper could contact him easily, but safe from the action for the time being.

"Oh come on dad, you're not old, I mean, you're still in your prime." Damon said.

Sirus nodded, "I suppose you're right." He chuckled, "So, how was work for you?"

Damon sighed, "It was okay, somewhat boring..." He worked as Obsidian's junior partner in the Cornerian Intelligence Agency, taking Jade's place as his partner. "Not much happened, Uncle Rocky and I spent most of the day sparing and working in the weight rooms."

"Well, at least you were productive with your time." Sirus said, "What should we watch tonight?"

Obsidian walked in at that time, casually wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. "I hear they're doing a special documentary on Star Wolf. I hear that Wolf O'Donnell was some character." He said with a wink.

"Oh be quiet you." Sirus said, knowing that Obsidian was poking at his secret identity. In actuality Sirus was Wolf O'Donnell, but it was a well guarded secret. Not even Fox McCloud knew, although he knew they needed to tell him sooner or later.

"Oh come on Dad, let's just go pick something." Damon said, pulling his father's hand.

They all gathered in the living room in front of the large panel screen. Damon walked over to the video selection taking one of the discs he put it in. It was one of his favorite action films. Buddy came hopping around the corner, leaping into Damon's arms and snuggling in with the rest of the family. Damon sat down by Sirus and rested his head in his lap, his feet rested in his uncle's lap. It was their usual and favorite position when poised in front of the television as a family.

Wolf looked down and smirked, "Aren't you getting a little old to snuggle up to your father and uncle like this?"

"Nope," Damon said contently, 'I'll never be sick of this position, no matter how old I am. It's just what I'm used to, and it just makes me feel safe and close to you."

Wolf chuckled and scratched his surrogate son's head, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I would," Obsidian said sarcastically, "Next time Sirus gets your stinky feet and you can snuggle in my lap."

"Hey, they aren't that bad." Damon said mock-sticking his tongue out.

"Alright, alright, let's quiet down and watch the movie." Sirus chuckled.


"So Damon, how do you enjoy your new life?" a snide voice in a dark room asked itself. "Do you like your place in Star Fox?" Leon sat in a darkened little room. Alone he sat on a bed, a small screen flashing in front of his face. The screen played a video of Damon's day. Leon cackled maniacally, thinking about the torturous things he could do. He had hid underground for five years, waiting and preparing to strike against Star Fox. He had yet to taste the sweet revenge for his shameful defeat atop of Krazoa Palace. He began to speak to himself again, "My my, little specimen thirteen has grown up hasn't he?" The video was not complete, and most of the footages came from Damon's work schedule. Much of the hybrid's private life was still unknown. But with his mind bent on revenge, such unknown details were merely insignificant inconveniences. He let his mind lose, and it raced through scores of murderous and ingenious thoughts, until it was suddenly interrupted.

"Master..." a childish voice in the shadows said. "Can I have some food?"

"Of course fourteen, why didn't you tell me you were hungry." Leon said in an almost fatherly tone.

The voice spoke in a cowardly tone, showing his fear for the genius, "I know you don't like to be bothered while you're working...I'm sorry, I just am really hungry..."

"Good boy," Leon smirked, "You're quite wise not to bother me, but it is no matter, go and eat something down in the kitchen. Pigma's still at work, so that swine shouldn't bother you."

"Thank you Master Leon..." Fourteen said. Leon could hear the body slink through the shadows of the room, and with a quick opening and shutting of the door he was gone.

Leon cackled again, "I have some surprises for you Star Fox...and especially for you...my little thirteen."