Chapter Four: Reality Check

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Well its midnight, damn right
We're wound up too tight
I gotta fist full of whiskey, the bottle just bit me
That shit makes me bat shit crazy
We got not fear no doubt all in balls out

Nickelback - "Burn It To The Ground"

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The moment Fox and Wolf were downstairs, the place seemed to go into party mode. The lights began to flash all around them as other tourists were having a good time. For the first time in quite a while, Wolf had felt at ease. While he had taken work very seriously since his inception, he felt like he needed an outlet every now and then. Today, he found it.

"Wow, what a place…" He said to himself, mesmerized at the wide array of colored lights flashing all around him.

"You wanna get some pink!?" Fox screamed over the loud music that was playing. The lupine stepped back for a moment, looking at his teammate in disgust.

"What the hell Fox?!"

"What? I said do you want to get a drink?!" The muscles in his face relaxed as he realized his misinterpretation.

"Oh, sure I guess…"

As they worked their way through the crowd, he could see that many of the party-goers were well past the drinking limit, with most of them stumbling around and slurring their speech. He found the sight funny, but kept his laughter to himself. Besides, he probably was going to end up this way before the night was through.

The bar was located right by the pool, both could see bottles of liquor already strewn around the water. Behind the wet bar was a swine who looked to be in his mid thirties. Instead of the usual bartender attire, this guy was wearing a tropical shirt and some shorts, very beach casual. He eyed Fox for a moment before waving them over.

"What can I get ya guys." He asked nonchalantly. The lupine was about to answer, but was interrupted instead.

"Give us the strongest shit you got." Falco came up from behind them and slapped down a hundred credit bill onto the table with a huge grin. Fox didn't realize who it was at first, but he caught on.

"Very well sir." He walked over to a cabinet filled with what felt like an unlimited amount of drinks, and pulled out an unlabeled bottle, grabbed three shot glasses and poured it out. Afterward, he placed the bottle to the side for easy access.

"Take it easy on these." The bartender snorted. All three of them picked up their glasses and examined the clear liquid inside.

"What is it?" Wolf asked.

"Does it matter?" Falco responded back, downing it in one quick motion.

Fox quickly caught on and began to drink down the shots. He was taking them like they were water. Even after five, he didn't look phased, bringing shock to the lupine sitting next to him. Maybe it wasn't as strong as the pig said.

Well, there's only one way to find out…

The glass made contact with his muzzle as the liquid sloshed in his mouth, it was practically tasteless save for a minty aftertaste . It could have been vodka, but the mint seemed to throw him off. He swallowed hard and blinked violently. He decided that it wasn't as strong as he thought and poured two more shots.

"You two have fun," Falco exclaimed as he placed his feathery hands on their shoulders. "I'm gonna go scope out the area. Oh, and make sure that Foxie doesn't get too wasted…" With that, he walked into the crowd, becoming a phantom.

Wolf looked over to Fox, who had drunk his seventh shot. He looked fine on the outside. No stumbling, his pupils looked normal, but something really didn't look right. He couldn't put a finger on what it was.

"Uh, Fox…" There was no response, he just sat there with a blank look on his face. "Fo-"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The vulpine shouted as he stood up on the stool.

"Oh no…"

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The rest of the night was a blur as the liquor began to swiftly take effect. He could remember only a handful of things after the initial effects. The first being Fox, who had drunk four shots more than he had. The vulpine was in an absolutely horrid condition and wouldn't last long before passing out. The last time he recalled seeing him, he was still conscious, if you could call it that. He was yelling at the top of his lungs about how he was Fox McCloud and that he had become batshit crazy so apparently he was aware of that much. Wolf never did see Panther, Peppy, or Slippy. He assumed that the former was busy with the felines who eyed them earlier. He was also fairly certain that the other two were being party poopers and staying safe. One of the other memories that stood out was when found Falco with a red falcon. She had on a black tube top and some short shorts. Or was it green? He recalls the avian introducing her to him, but he couldn't remember her name. He also thought they may have exchanged numbers or something.

But in the end, it all came to a grinding halt when Wolf awoke in his bed, being reminded that he was prone to blackouts when he drank. The room was still spinning but not to the extent that he remembered the night before. Light flooded his room, indicating it was late in the morning. A loud ring pierced through his skull, he couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from until he saw his phone. He grabbed it as fast as he could, he just wanted to stop the noise.

"Hello?"

"Wolf, it's Falco." The voice on the other end said, coming out highly distorted and loud.

"Jeez man, please whisper!" He yelled while grabbing his head with his open paw. "I got a fuckin bad hangover…"

"I can tell, did you happen to see Panther at all last night?" He looked over to his side of the bed and saw the remaining mattress was untouched.

"He was probably fucking his brains out with some girls he found before I headed down to the party." Another thought came up. "Is Fox alright?"

"Yeah, but he's gonna be in a lot worse condition than you are." The sound of the crumpling of papers could be heard in the background. He was unsure what he was crumpling but it was definitely something paper related.

Suddenly, he could feel something behind him. It was as though something was scratching his back. But then he could hear faint breathing in his ear, and it was then he realized what was going on.

"Good morning" A voice whispered behind him.

The lupine was now wide awake, he screamed as he jumped out of bed to look behind him, throwing the cell phone completely across the room. He hoped that it was just a horrible prank, but it wasn't. On the opposite side of the bed laid another wolf, she was completely nude, and now with the sudden change of events had covered herself up. Wolf noticed he too was naked, and covered himself with his paws.

"NO! NO! NO!" He kept on screaming in complete panic, now he was really hoping this was all a joke or a vision. He slapped himself, trying to wake himself up. But it became too all to clear that this was reality.

"What's wrong!?" She yelled back, trying to calm him down. All it did was make the situation worse. Wolf could feel his heart tearing apart. He had done exactly what he feared, and it would be impossible to keep it a secret. He couldn't do that to Serena, it would be too much for him. His knees buckled under his weight as his head slammed onto the floor, where he silently wept. The tears seemed never ending.

"Wolf?" The other lupine whimpered. She went from freaked out, to worried.

He was able to regain his composure and let out a long sigh. "Look, I don't know who you are, but I suggest you leave…I'm…" He began to well up again. "I'm married…" Her face became flushed, and a cold sweat began to break out on Wolf's head.

"I-"

"Please…I just need time alone…" She got dressed and looked around the room for some things she apparently brought with her upstairs. Had she known about this, she never would have thought of having sex with Wolf. But the damage had been done, and she wasn't sure if she was to blame. Wolf put it all on himself though, and before she left he apologized for the inconvenience. When the door closed, and the room was silent, the lupine remembered that the phone was still on. He forced himself to walk over toward the corner of the room where the cell phone now rested and picked it up.

"Wolf? Are you there?"

"I'll talk to you later…" He closed the phone and sat down, thinking about how he would explain this to the one person he loved the most.