General Pepper turned the corner with his hovercart, it was already filled the brim with delicious food to eat for the weekend, bacon, ham, t-bones, turkey. Of course they were only processed imitations for the real foods were illegal. The imitations still gathered complaints from swine though. Pepper had people that could do his shopping at the grocery center for him, but he often took pride in purchasing his own food. He came to a stop by aisle eight as tinny music played overhead. It was his favorite isle. Floating the cart down the tile floor he made sure to grab two boxes of chicken flavored doggy treats.
After making his final selections he made his way to the front of the massive store, passing by a canary lady who eyed his deep blue military uniform and meekly smiled at the familiar face. He still wore it when off duty, but it was always blue, never the red he once wore before.
There was no line at one of the checkout lanes so he started placing his items on the cashier's conveyer, the brown horse smiling at him and quickly running the items across the scanner. Pepper looked over the magazine rack beside him, mostly just magazines about cars and traveling; nothing too interesting. In the middle were the tabloids. 'Junk' he thought.
It took him exactly three and a half seconds to recognize the two figures on the front of the Planetary Enquirer, the largest of the tabloids. It was Fox and Wolf.
He slowly picked up the tabloid. His eyes scanned over the bolded white text on the picture.
'MORE THAN JUST FRIENDS: TWO HEROES IN LOVE'
"What?!" Pepper stuttered as he read the line over again. He studied the picture with one eye twitching. Wolf and Fox both looked unprepared in the snapshot which appeared to have been taken from some hidden camera. They were both standing in a doorway, Wolf in just a towel and Fox standing behind him with his arm around him, a fiery orange paw clenching Wolf's snowy chest fur. What the hell were they doing in that picture?!
"Mr. Pepper will you be paying with cash or credit?"
"Ca?...cre?...queer?!" he stuttered, completely distracted.
"I'm sorry sir?"
"Put it on my credit!" Pepper huffed as he flipped through the tabloid frantically looking for the cover story.
"Excuse me, are you finished?" asked a lady in line behind him, it was the same canary he passed by earlier. She glanced at the tabloid he had open, clenched by tense gripping paws, the people on the cover clearly visible to her eyes. She then saw it on the rack, suddenly reaching for one. Pepper snatched the whole stack of tabloids.
"DON'T read these. They're GARBAGE!" He shook the stack at her like a pointed finger before turning to the clerk. "I'll take all of these!"
The horse blinked at him. "Sir...um..." But Pepper was already whisking his grocery cart out the front sliding doors like a maniac, nearly hitting several rodent children making their way in.
"What do you think of him?" asked Wolf. He and Fox were lying on the couch together, legs intertwined, Wolf's back pressed snuggly against Fox's chest, his shoulder making a comfortable chin rest for Fox. They had been watching the movie channel like this for a while now, not paying much attention to the screen though, just listening to each other as they talked about the past, the present, and a little bit of the future.
"Think of who?" Fox returned the question tracing his claw in semicircles across Wolf's stomach fuzz, just above the belt.
"You know...Lance." Wolf's voice became light as though he weren't sure how to approach the topic. He shifted his back against Fox's chest, snuggling in more.
Fox seemed uninterested, breathing into Wolf's shoulder and bringing a claw up to the tuft of white fur on Wolf's chest. "The deer guy?"
"Yeah..."
"Well," Fox tried to think of something interesting to say. "He's most definitely one of us, I can tell you that."
"Hah...yeah..." Wolf said, his voice trailing off as Fox's claw now made wide traces down his chest to his stomach and then up again, tickling him. "Heh...he's a nice guy...no?"
Fox's claw stopped. "I know he interests you."
"Huh?" Wolf reacted.
Fox moved his muzzle up to his ear sniffing his scent, "But it's ok," he whispered. "I can trust you right?"
Wolf tried to think of an answer as Fox wrapped his arms around him in an embrace. "Yes of course. I trust you as well."
"There aren't too many people I trust," Fox said almost in a rebellious tone, as he hugged Wolf, "But I know you're one I can share trust with. We satisfy each other don't we?" Wolf breathed a sigh and nodded. "Good to know," he scritched at Wolf's chest. "I'm going to make some coffee." Fox unwrapped his arms and shifted off the couch leaving Wolf to himself in front of the TV. Wolf stretched out and sighed again, taking notice of the TV. On the screen was a young wolf pup running through a forest at night, clearly being chased. It was one of those slasher horror flicks that teenagers went to see all the time. Wolf's ears perked up as he watched the small child run into a shed illuminated by a pale curtain of moonlight.
"Oh...no don't do that. The killer's gonna get you." Wolf folded his arms.
The wolf child sat in a curled position on the floor of the dirty dark shed as discordant violin music rose up from the surround sound system. Wolf smirked. "Here it comes." An axe broke through the wall just above the child's head, a sudden commotion breaking out. A big brown horse covered in blood blew through the wall, splinters of wood accompanying his entrance. The pup made a shrill scream and started to run, the horse chasing him with an axe. They ran around the shed in circles until the horse lunged forward and grabbed the pup by the tail. He dragged him back and with one swipe of his axe, he cleanly lobbed the kid's head off.
"Whoops, see what I told you."
"What the hell are you watching?" Fox called from the kitchen. "I can hear screaming all the way from over here."
"Whatever it is, I'm not watching it now." Wolf changed the channel.
Max opened his eyes to find Olivia wasn't by him making it the second time he's awaken to that empty space next to him. He stared at where the covers had been pulled back, little pieces of red feathers that had come off her during the night. She had been most peculiar the night before, especially at Katt and Falco's apartment. He figured she just got sick from eating dinner since she had complained about stomach pains, headache, all sort of things like that. He recommended that she see a doctor the first thing in the morning, and now, well, it was morning and she was not here. He sat up and was instantly startled by Olivia. She was sitting cross- legged in front of him in her nightgown, staring down, her eyes hidden from him.
"Hell, Liv, I didn't even hear you." She ignored him and continued to stare down at something in her lap with such dread. Her behavior made a cold shiver run down his spine to the tip of his tail. He looked where she was and saw what appeared to be a lopsided bowling ball.
"Olivia what in Lylat is that?"
"It's an egg," came the exhausted throaty voice.
Max blinked a few times and looked around. "Breakfast?...I thought eating real eggs was illegal and plus...uh...you're an avian..."
Olivia's right eye twitched not taking both off the egg. "I know..." she said in a low voice.
"Ok so why is there an..." Olivia looked up at Max's eyes and suddenly the figurative light bulb inside his head brightened. "Oh..."
She nodded. Max was now staring at the egg too, unsure of how to react. He made a big painfully forced smile. "I thought the doctor's said that wasn't possible?" His voice was tightly tense.
"That's what they said...," came the answer in a distant defeated voice.
"Wait a minute wait a minute," Max ditched the fake smile showing his tension now instead. "You laid this last night?!" She nodded again. "And you didn't go to a hospital, or a doctor, or even call anyone?"
She continued to nod. "I went to the restroom last night, and...pop," she smirked while still staring at the egg. "Out it came."
Max's face grew angry. "Are you telling me, you had an egg and I was sleeping just six feet away?" She nodded yet again, a response she seemed to be perfecting. "What if something happened Olivia? What if something bad happened to you? Or that?" he pointed at the egg. "Huh? What do you think would have happened?"
"I was scared!" she suddenly shouted. There was silence for a moment. Max tried to look at her eyes but she kept hiding them, instead keeping them fixated on the egg. It filled Olivia's whole lap, and was probably more than a foot long in length. It was pearly white and had baby blue spots all over its shell. That thing had been growing inside her and she never even knew it. She couldn't have known, they had told her from when she was young that it just wasn't possible. Max and her never bothered with any type of protection because of this very fact. Why had this happened though? In a day and age with so much technology, knowledge, and awareness, why?
"What was I supposed to do?" Olivia broke the silence. "Tell a servant? Call my advisor? Wake you up? Scare you? Cause a commotion in this place? With so many others so close by? I don't know if you've forgotten this over the course of the past few weeks Maximus but I am the leader of this entire planet. And this...," she gestured both hands at the white package in her lap, "...is an illegitimate egg that I have birthed."
"I don't want to fight!" Max said in exhaustion. "It's happened. It's spilled milk."
"Oh don't use those feline figures of speech with me."
"What??"
"It just sounds like you're blaming me! I spilled the milk! Well let me tell you something. I'm not taking blame for this one! It was you! You spilled the sperm!"
"You're not making any damned sense!"
There was a knock at the door stopping Olivia before she could respond. "Chancellor? Is everything alright in there?"
The third voice made them completely end the argument they were having right then and there. Max leaped off the bed, he was just in his white shorts. Before he could search for his pants Olivia was trying to hand him the egg. "HIDE IT," she growled. He picked it up with both arms suddenly finding it to be grossly heavy. He almost toppled over, catching his balance at the last second.
"Chancellor?" came the voice again.
"JUST A MINUTE!" she called. Olivia was up too, frantically looking around the massive bedroom for somewhere to hide the personal contraband. In the far corner behind some couches was a mantel piece where a porcelain statue of the planet Corneria sat. It was about the same size as the egg. She wildly pointed at it like a crazed psychopath. Max nodded and hobbled his way over to the statue. There were three more knocks at the door, perfectly timed. She knew now, combined with the voice, that it was that damn robot servant again.
"I'M COMING! JUST WAIT!" Olivia skipped across the room and scooped up the statue as Max struggled with holding the egg in his arms. The calico replaced the now empty space with the egg. It fit perfectly in the rounded groove of the holding mantel. He was about to wipe the sweat from his brow until he saw Olivia struggling with the huge statue of Corneria.
"Chancellor?" Three more knocks.
Before he could grab it from her, the globe slipped from her arms and hit the floor with a loud crash. The porcelain shattered into hundreds of pieces like confetti stretching across the ocean of navy blue carpet.
"Chancellor!" came the alarmed voice from behind the door. Olivia cringed as the doors swung open. Nevel, the uniformed robot rodent pranced in with his tray holding breakfast. "What has happened?" he inquired noticing the shards of porcelain with Max and Olivia on all fours trying to pick up the pieces. "Please Chancellor, allow me to clean that."
"Of course..." Olivia said calmly as her and Max both stood up. They stood in front of what looked like a statue of an egg.
"Ew what is that?" the robot asked pointing at the egg statue.
They both swung around and looked at it, glancing at each other once and turning around at the same time. "That?" Olivia asked. The robot nodded. "It was a gift from the Viceroy of Macbeth."
"Oh, it's absolutely hideous," the robot continued. Olivia folded her arms, her eyes narrowing feeling as though a part of herself had just been insulted. "Well I happen to LIKE it."
"Of course," the servant submitted and lowered his head. "I sometimes let my opinions trample over my duties. I'll get help to clean this mess for you."
After the doors shut behind him they both fell on the bed to breathe a much needed sigh of exhaustion. Max tried to hold back a chuckle that was trying to fight its way out.
"Oh what could possibly be funny now?" Olivia asked while catching her breath.
He finally started laughing. "We're so screwed," he chuckled. The way he said it almost scared Olivia. He was right. The moment this got out all hell would break loose. She had to keep it under wraps for at least four weeks, until after the big meeting of Lylatian delegates.
"We have just as much important things to worry about," Olivia chided. She got up and began to pace around the room thinking aloud. "I need to outline my agenda. We have the delegation meeting in four weeks, hotel's been reserved, most leaders have RSVPed, The Great Fox will be launching in three weeks. Ok what am I missing?"
"What about that?" Max pointed at the egg. "How much time do we have on that?"
Olivia stared at it and scratched her beak, "About 3 to 4..."
"Months?" Max finished.
"Weeks."
"WHAT?!"
"We can't worry about that now. We need to find a place where someone can take care of that egg until it hatches."
Max still had a shocked face. "But who?!"
Falco was on his fiftieth curl up when the doorbell rang. He continued on his set, ignoring the chime. Katt looked up from her computer console where she was working giving the avian a harsh look. She went back to typing. The doorbell rang again, clueing her in that he hadn't answered it.
"You're closer!" she shouted from her desk as she continued to type. Falco ignored her and kept on with the curl ups. She waited about ten seconds and another doorbell ring before getting up. She stomped across the living room, stepping on Falco's stomach in the process. He squawked as all the breath was knocked out of him. Katt opened the door to see the same woman she saw last night, a red cardinal with a scarf around her head and sunglasses on her beak. "Back again?"
"We need your help," the Chancellor asked. Max stepped from behind her, he was holding a large garbage bag.
"Oh no, you killed someone?" Katt asked.
"Quite the opposite," Olivia answered. "Can we come in?"
"Of course."
They all entered, Falco leaning on the kitchen counter still catching his breath. Katt passed him by on the way to the refrigerator. "Can I get you two some drinks?"
"No that won't be necessary," Olivia called.
"So what's in the mystery bag?" Katt inquired while pouring a bottle of clear liquid into a coffee mug. Max glanced at his watch. It was ten thirty in the morning.
Olivia made a cross face and there was silence for a moment, neither her nor Max wanting to volunteer the information.
"Come on Liv," whispered Max. "We made the decision to come to them for help now we at least gotta help them know what's going on."
"It's not pretty..." Olivia finally said out loud. Katt quickly grew worried. "Well I mean it's pretty," the cardinal continued. "But the situation isn't pretty, in a figurative sort of way." Her last words stumbled. Katt had never seen the planetary leader quite like this.
"Okay now I'm interested." She put the bottle aside and dashed to the couch in the living room with her mug. She flopped down and gave the two her full attention. Falco stayed where he was at the kitchen counter but he was just as interested, even if he didn't show it.
Without further hesitation Max walked over to the couch. He glanced one more time at Olivia who nodded. He held the bag over Katt's lap and turned it upside down. What felt like a giant rock smacked into her lap. She made a shrill feline cry, dropping her coffee mug to the floor and seeing that there was a giant egg in her lap.
"Gah! This is yours?!" she gasped.
Falco's hand had already found Max's shoulder. "Hey congratulations man."
There was silence as Katt studied the egg, then the empty garbage bag in Max's hand and finally the straight faces he and Olivia were holding. "I'm going to take a wild guess that this wasn't a planned thing?"
"Sure," Olivia started. "I figured I didn't have enough stress in my life, so I thought I'd add another car to this train ride that's going straight to hell."
Katt moved the egg aside on the couch and picked up her coffee mug from the floor. "You guys didn't use...?"
Olivia tilted her head and beamed wildly. "Nope! I'm supposed to have a screwed up uterus!" Her smile began to twitch.
"Shit, Olivia I'm sorry." Katt got up and quickly hugged her as Max fumbled with the garbage bag.
Olivia's eyes began to pour. "Why can't I be screwed up!" she shrilly croaked.
"It's ok hun, we can't be screwed up all the time. These things happen."
The cardinal sniffled. "And now I have two billion people on this planet wondering how much integrity I have. And I don't know how much I have! I fired the only guy on my staff that had any experience. I've been sleeping with the commander of our space fleet's capital ship and I don't know how to deal with this terrorism situation!" She continued to weep.
Max blinked. He wasn't used to being referred to as a commander. It had a nice ring to it. Damn, focus Max. Olivia's crying, say something helpful. "Look Olivia, you're doing a great job okay?" She sobbed and shook her head as Katt continued to hug her. "And I don't regret being with you. I want to help you as much as I can and we can get through this."
"You hear that?" Katt asked the cardinal she was embracing. "You got yourself a good man Liv." Katt glanced at Falco who was just standing off to the side with his arms folded. In situations where someone was hurt or in need of help, he never seemed to know how to react. But he didn't really have to; Katt was always there to figure things out for him.
"What can we do to help?" Katt asked.
Olivia pulled from the hug and straightened her uniform out. She started wiping her eyes. "Well, maybe I thought...you know..."
"Oh no," Falco grumbled.
"Hey!" Katt shouted. "Shut your beak!" She made a closing gesture with her hand as Falco rolled his eyes.
"No it's ok," Olivia continued. "I understand."
"No Liv, I'd be glad to help you out with the egg. I know how busy your schedule is."
"Thanks, you're a good friend Katt. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"More vacation time?" Falco asked.
"It's not a problem at all Olivia. I'm always more than willing to help friends in need."
After all was said and done, Olivia and Max left the apartment, leaving behind one object of obligations to Katt, the egg. All they told her was to keep it warm, keep it hidden from the media and that it had less than a month before hatching. Katt took on the obligations as surrogate mother almost out of pity for Olivia. Her breakdown was understandable, but her misfortune was not. It was the most Katt could do for the Chancellor of the planet she cared for and for the friend she cared for as well. Falco was simply not pleased with the idea one bit. Since Katt was occasionally just as busy as Olivia, he knew the duties of egg watcher would fall more onto him. However, as an avian he knew a lot more about taking care of eggs than one would think. He gave Katt the idea to wrap it with blankets instead of just letting it sit on pillows. He gave her the idea to clean the surface with a warm sponge instead of just paper towels. Katt was surprised at how well Falco was managing the responsibilities. It was also in a way, very cute. The only time she had to protest his actions was when he put headphones on the egg and played loud rock music.
"So what's this about General?" Fox asked as he stood before the canine's desk. He had just entered Pepper's office after being called on 'urgent notice' by the General himself. Wolf had left the house as well after being called by Chancellor Cardus for his first assignment as Chairman of Extraplanetary Affairs. Before going separate ways, they both wondered what was in store for them.
"This is about personal conduct," the bloodhound started as he sat up in his chair. The eyes on his droopy face narrowed. "You see Fox, the way a hired mercenary, or in your case, a planetary hero, conducts himself, is how he represents the people that hire and support him. Your conduct reflects the image of people around you, your friends, your comrades, the government, the planet, even me."
"I'm not sure what you're talking about," Fox carefully suggested.
Pepper sat back and straightened his uniform. "Do you read the tabloids?"
Fox felt his paws and stomach tingle. "No sir...I don't. I think they're garbage."
"That's right," Pepper nodded and studied his desk. "Then I guess you wouldn't have any trouble in confirming for me whether a specific story is garbage or not."
"Look sir," Fox took up a defensive stance. "If this is about the freeway chase, I already spoke with the Highway Department and my license isn't going to be penalized."
"Sit down Fox; this has nothing to do with that."
"Then what is this about?"
"This." Pepper held up the copy of the Planetary Enquirer. The cover picture and headline were clear as crystal to Fox. The room went cold silent. He couldn't even fathom a response, instead his muzzle staying locked closed. Fox swallowed and realized he should have anticipated this moment. "Now you're going to tell me that this disgusting crafted story of perversion and filth is exactly what it is, filth. Yes?"
It felt as though someone had just stabbed him in the stomach. Fox continued to read the headline over and over. His head was swimming. It was all true but for the moment it had to be a lie. No why should it be a lie? Why should it be hidden? Why should it be considered less than anything else?
"Fox!" he growled. "Tell me!"
"No." There was silence after the word. He took his eyes off the tabloid and met Pepper's eyes. "It's not filth."
"Excuse me?" The bloodhound questioned hotly.
"You don't control my life," Fox continued in a low voice. The words were pouring from his muzzle, he couldn't stop them. It was all on impulse, he had no idea where this was going. It was thrilling and frightening at the same time. "I'm not going to lie."
Pepper slammed the tabloid into the desk, his paw clenching it. "Dammit Fox, what the hell is the matter with you?? What are you telling me? That you and Wolf are tailraisers?!"
Fox stayed quiet as Pepper continued to fill the silence. "He's done something to you," he said accusingly. "Wolf! It's him isn't it? He's perverted you into this. He was always a bad egg."
Fox turned his head and huffed a single laugh, suddenly enjoying the bitter old man's wild accusations. The General went silent and studied Fox's twisted smirk with narrow eyes. Thoughts of the perverse things he's done crossed his mind but before he could feel ill from the thoughts, he suddenly he felt very sad.
He took off his blue, gold trimmed, military hat and rubbed his brow. "If your father was alive..." He muttered coldly.
Fox snapped and threw both his paws on the desk, his claws digging into the wood. "Don't you DARE mention him!" His eyes went wild with anger. "You're a bastard! A self-righteous bastard! You don't care about me, or dad, you just care about image! It's all image!"
Pepper flew up from his seat, yanking Fox's paw off his desk, enraged at the track marks his claws had made. "I can't have my pundits questioning the personal lives of my hired mercenaries! This addiction has to stop!"
"Addiction??" Fox questioned harshly.
"Yes! Your addiction, your compulsion to do these wrongly improper things." Pepper fumbled frantically for words. "It's like being addicted to drugs. It's an addiction that will destroy you!"
"That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard! What do you even know Pepper?! You're not me! You're not Wolf! You don't know what we have!"
"And I don't want to know! It sickens me! Do you have no thought for the well-being of others Fox? How do you think this will affect your friends? Or Olivia?"
"Olivia Cardus has more integrity and passion and understanding in one red feather than you have in your entire body!"
Pepper suddenly felt stabbed unable to draw a quick response. Instead he slumped back in his chair huffing as Fox panted just as hard. They were both breathless from shouting at each other. "I'm hurt," Pepper barely mustered the strength to speak. "Please get out of my office."
Fox swerved around and quickly found the door, slamming it on his way out. He stopped right in front of the door and clenched his eyes shut, his back pressing against the door leaning into it. He felt his legs go weak, his body slowly sliding down as he choked a few sobs. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried but he couldn't help it. He was hurt too. It hurt so much. He worked so hard to save Pepper in the past, to help him, to appease him. He grew up with him, looking at him almost like an uncle. And suddenly Fox felt like he wanted to kill him. He wanted to take back all the good things he did for him. For so many years he thought Pepper would always understand him, and now he didn't. The realization was bitterly painful. And what would dad think if he was alive? Would he think like Pepper? Would he say the same things?
"Are you alright?" came a female voice. It was Pepper's secretary. She was sitting at her desk right next to the door. She had heard it all. Fox looked up and suddenly saw there were at least six other people in the room, all watching him. He quickly got up and straightened his jacket out.
"No I'm fine." He wiped his muzzle. "Everything's fine." He slowly made his way out the office, trying to ignore the eyes that followed him. The truth was spreading now. His team, his friends, everyone would know soon. Fox wasn't sure if he was fine. He wasn't sure if everything was fine. He simply didn't have the slightest idea where this was going anymore. He had lost control over it. How did that story get on that tabloid? Where did that picture come from? He thought long and hard as he walked down the hallways past other offices. An image of a squirrel with green hair crossed his mind and suddenly it hit him. He couldn't even remember his name, but he did remember he was a news reporter. He did remember him coming to their house that one morning. He did remember himself screwing up royally by showing affection toward Wolf in front of him. That was the only place he could have gotten the picture. That was where he got the story. He sold the story. He sold their truth.