Alright, so far, I've only had a few 'votes', and they've all been for Kevin to stay human, so I'll keep him like that unless an overwhelming opposition breaks out.

We had walked out of the Great Fox and streight into the thick woods, avoiding the reporters camping out in front of the ship. We were now walking through the shadows of the forest, back to the city. I groaned inwardly at the prospect of walking all the way back to the city. Although the redness and the hard, bubble-like formations on my skin had gone down, they were still there, and my soreness was starting to come back.

Despite my bodily protests, I walked all the way without complaining once. When we made it, we kind of snuck around, mostly staying in shadows, and darting around, trying to make sure we weren't seen. Fox seemed to know exactly where he was going, so I didn't feel the need to ask.

A good fifteen minutes later, we arrived deep in the city, still slinking around in the shadows, but it was getting dark, so it wasn't too hard. We broke off the main road pretty quickly, taking side paths and going through alleys smelling of piss, but eventually we ended up at a wooden building, with a sign with (obviously) alien writing on it. Fox walked streight in, Falco and I following.

I walked into the dimly lit room full of tables with some kind of impression that it was some kind of boxing or fight club, possibly to help Fox and Falco train, but I was utterly mistaken.

Fox walked through the room with confidence, silencing conversations and drawing the stares of more than just a few of the people sitting around the room. He walked right up to the long wooden counter at the front and motioned to the man behind it. The man took one look at Fox and said,

"I presume you'll be takin' the usual, aye?"

Fox just nodded.

The tension was building in my muscles. The man behind the counter was busying himself with some kind of task, and the whole room seemed to be made of shadows, leaning in, getting ready to stab us in the back and gruesomely...

"Alright, 'ere y'ar, jus' like ye norm'ly get. A'rite everyone," he said, raising his voice to address everyone, "This is Fox McCloud. He's a regular 'ere, an' a good friend o' mine, so I don' want no trouble for 'im, or it'll jus' be trouble back t' you."

The dull roar of the room came back slowly. But the man had slid something across the table, which Fox had picked up. He brought the strange object up in front of his face... and took a drink.

Then it clicked. How had I not seen it before? We were in a bar. The tables, the customers drinking, the tavern-like building. It all made sense, but I hadn't made sense of it.

Fox brought the cup down from his muzzle, and wiped his mouth with his wrist, then grinned at me.

"So what do you want? They've got..." and he went off to name a series of complex and alien names, which I couldn't remember, let alone repeat if I wanted to. This left me still mildly confused from the whole transitioning-from-threatening-to-mildly-friendly environment, so - my mind working at top speed - I came up with a brilliant solution.

"Uhh... Um, I'll take the first one..." I mumbled stupidly.

"Alright then," Fox said enthusiastically, "And you Falco?"

And Falco, looking completely uninterested, said, "I'll go with the (spouts off random completely unpronounceable alien name like its nothing)"

Fox, who was now leaning back on the counter, holding himself up by his elbows, cup still in hand, turned his head to face the bartender and said, "You got that?"

The bartender didn't even bother to reply. He was already busy making the drinks.

I can honestly say I was feeling slightly guilty. My mom had made it clear that she didn't want me drinking alcohol until I was at least able to support myself financially, and I already felt like I was going behind her back to have some thrilling adventure, but I derailed my train of thought right there. I had already ordered, and they were almost done, so just this once couldn't hurt, right?

Right.

I leaned against the counter with a firm resolve. I heard a sharp click on the bar beside me, and heard the bartender say, "Yer up,"

I turned and looked at the green liquid before me. I suddenly got really nervose. What if this stuff was poisonous to me? What if it was like, pure arsenic, or cyanide, or something? What if it would make me throw up? What if...

Nope!

I stopped thinking and put the drink to my lips and took a quick gulp. The liquid burned down my throat, leaving a sour taste in my mouth and my eyes watering.

"You all LIKE this stuff?" I choked out.

"You drank it too fast. Just take a sip," Falco said, rolling his eyes. Fox burst out laughing, and my face turned red as I realized that this is exactly what Fox had done with soda back on Earth.

I brought the drink to my lips again and took a small sip, still thinking the sour taste would ruin the drink for me, but I was in for a surprise.

The liquid entered my mouth sour and bubbly, almost seeming carbonated, but as I held it in my mouth the taste changed. It went from a bitter and sour taste to a salty and nutty taste, like peanuts, only with a slight fruity tang. I was amazed at the taste changed, and it must have shown (all my emotions do don't they? I'll have to work on that), because Falco was smirking at me and Fox was almost to the breaking point again with laughter.

I looked at the table and mumbled, "It's pretty good..." while trying not to smile. It wasn't super amazing, but it was good. Fox grinned at me, then looked back at the bar tender.

"Alright, then we'll take a few more!"

I never thought I would get drunk. Ever. But that's what I was. I think.

The lights around me seemed to smear when I moved my eyes, like a slow camera trying to catch up, and my head was buzzing slightly with an uncomfortable pinch in the back of my skull. I had almost missed part of the door when Fox, Falco, and I were leaving, but they were worse. I had only taken a few drinks, but Fox and Falco had each gotten twice as much as me.

Fox and Falco left stumbling around side by side, singing a bar song we'd just heard throwing their arms around wildly, each carrying another bottle of the drink we'd been drinking.

They were obviously accustomed to it, but I was feeling sick. They stumbled down the road, but I had stopped. My head was throbbing at the motion of walking, and the world seemed to be spinning around me. I still had some coherent thought and sense, which was telling me to get out of the middle of the road.

I leaned my forehead against my arm on the wall of the alley and closed my eyes. The world wouldn't stop spinning! My face felt hot, and my stomach was squirming and burning. I told myself I needed to catch back up with Fox and Falco, but my stomach...

Then I threw up.

And felt much better.

My puddle of puke was soaking into the dirt in the side of the alley, and I just watched it, letting my head clear. There was still a buzz and a fuzziness to my thought, but I was much more capable of thinking than I was before. I pulled my head off the wall and spat, trying to get the taste of my tongue and the acid off my teeth. I turned to follow Fox...

And ran face to face with a panther and some kind of lizard.

"Hey..." I said, not fully comprehending the situation.

"So you seem to be hanging out with Star Fox..." the lizard said tilting his head slightly sideways and narrowing his eyes while giving me a maniacal grin.

"Mmm... Yup, jus' gotta go follow them an' get back t' th' ship," I slurred, trying to stumble past the panther and lizard.

"Well now, Panther can't just let you do that, now can he?" The panther said pushing me back up against the wall. That's when It started to dawn on me that I was in danger.

The lizard laughed erratically, and the panther punched me in the face.

I slumped down the wall, all the sluggishness fading. I was being attacked, and I didn't have my crystal. Great. Of course I get attacked my first day without my crystal. Thank you, Murphy.

I pushed myself up and away from my attackers and watched them warily. I need to try to mimic what I would do with the crystal. Normally I would dodge a punch and then bob in and throw one of my own, but what if— WHAM! I got another punch to the face.

I stumbled backwards, blood dripping from my split lip. I wouldn't let myself give up though. I stood up streight again and put my hands up in front of my face like a boxer. The lizard cackled again, and the panther chuckled.

"Oh, a persistent one, are we? Well then, Panther will just have to take care of that!" he side-kicked me with the last word, catching me in the stomach, then pivoted, and kicked me in the face when I doubled over. I could feel a bruise forming as I fell to the ground.

The panther saw the bruise and laughed, saying, "Your species is so weak! A bruise already? Panther is doing good today!"

I saw him move again, but I didn't care much this time. I just curled up into a ball, physically and mentally, trying to shield myself from any pain coming my way.

"Hey!" I heard a voice call. "What are you doing?"

It sounded familiar, but I was in a mental shell, shutting myself from the outside world. There was a shuffle, and the sound of running feet, then the sound of someone walking closer. My body tightened up as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I heard the voice, Fox, saying, "Hey, they're gone, you can get up."

I let my body and conciseness uncurl, and got up.

"So much for a great fighter," Falco muttered, swaying on his feet a few feet away.

"Oh come on, he's drunk you prick!" Fox shot back.

As if to emphasize his point, I doubled over and started throwing up again. When I finished, I spit, wiped my mouth on my sleeve, and motioned for them to lead the way. We walked back to the ship in silence, allowing me to reflect on my fighting and how badly I sucked.

I got to the ship in a state of utter determination, rage, and euphoric exhaustion. I was feeling like I was going to pass out if I didn't sleep, and was loopy from the effects of the pain and lack of sleep (and probably some booze). I hobbled into my room and went streight to flipping my bed back down off the wall I'd flipped it onto. I flopped down and immediately fell asleep.

I'm sorry for the short chapter, but I need to get the (hopefully) main part of the story started, so I need approval for my main enemy. I'm planning on making them Slender-man like creatures in shape, and Space Pirate like in behavior. I'll post another Poll on my page for votes. Also, I've still got a bit of time for Kevin to become anthro, so if you really want him to, tell me. Thank you.