.

CHAPTER 31

The First World

Fox stood in front of the door to the Great Fox II's brig, steeling himself. He wasn't looking forward to what he was about to do.

The door whooshed aside, revealing a dark space on the other side. Tadao had requested the lights be turned down, saying that staying in bright light too long frightened him. He didn't say why, but Fox understood. Darkness had been his friend while hiding from the Cornerian military on Fortuna. However, he couldn't hide in the dark any more.

Speaking of, only Tadao's cell had a dim lamp lit in it, making it easy to spot. Fox walked over, finding the iguana sitting up on his cot, back against the wall, arms clenched around his knees. His eyes darted towards Fox as the vulpine rounded the corner, twitching all the while. The dim lighting gave Tadao an unsettling appearance, with how the lamp silhouetted the spikes on the back of his head, and the dew lap under his mouth.

Nonetheless though, Fox collected himself. "You know what time it is?"

Tadao didn't respond, yellow eyes peering over his clutched-together knees and arms.

"Sorry Tadao, I know you don't want to leave, but it's time to go." Fox held up a set of clothes...an old orange jumpsuit for doing maintenance work. It was covered with patches and black streaks of various dried chemicals. He slid it between the bars to Tadao. "You'll have to change into that. I don't think it'd go over well if you wore that Venomian uniform in the Orbital Gate station." A pair of handcuffs clinked in his other hand. "Also, I need to put these on you."

"I thought you said I could trust you." Tadao glared at the cuffs, then at Fox. "Remember that? After you interrogated me before? I'd appreciate some trust in return."

Fox winced. He had said that, hadn't he? Then again, Tadao had proven to be more trustworthy than Nail and Canma, considering he'd spilled his life story during his interrogation while the latter two kept many secrets.

"You say you're putting me in this rehabilitation program to help me," Tadao continued, "but you're treating me like I'm a criminal."

He wasn't wrong. Fox had bowed to Canma's pressure to have Tadao handcuffed when they'd rode in the shuttle back to the Great Fox II. And now Tadao was getting handcuffs again, even though he hadn't made a peep of trouble the whole time he'd been in the brig. They'd given Nail and Canma relatively good treatment by comparison. I don't like to think I'm biased by species, but he does make a point.

"Come on, Fox!" Falco shouted from the brig's entrance. "Just cuff him and let's go! I wanna get off this ship, already!"

Fox cast an annoyed glance back at Falco, but he returned to Tadao. "I might trust you, but that doesn't mean everyone else on the station will. It'll put everyone at ease."

"At ease..." Tadao chuckled at the words. "My mere presence offends everyone here, doesn't it?"

"Fox, hurry up!" Falco called out again.

Fox grumbled under his breath, not liking being caught between these two. "Tell you what, how about I cuff you in front? It'll be a little more comfortable, won't it?" Of course, cuffing someone in the front was more dangerous than cuffing in the back, since Tadao would have better use of his hands, but Fox thought it might be the best of both worlds for everyone.

Tadao considered this for a moment. Though he wasn't happy with the cuffs, he nodded in concession, standing up and holding his hands up. Fox placed the cuffs on him, and pushed a button nearby to open up the cell.

"Stay near me, okay?" Fox said. "I'll keep an eye out for you too."

Tadao didn't seem to care about what Fox just said.

The two of them walked out of the brig and into the hallway, where Falco leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, while Slippy and Fara stood close by.

"Bout time!" Falco moved away from the wall.

Fox looked around. "Canma didn't wanna come?"

"No." Fara shook her head. "She wanted to stay with Nail."

"Good," Fox spat out, earning a disgusted look from Fara.

He didn't care though. Last thing he wanted was to be near Canma, after learning about how she and Nail were a part of the Corneria City base attack. Also, he didn't want to deal with having Canma and Tadao together again, not after that outburst she had on Fortuna.

"Let's head out, team." Fox waved for the group to follow him.

Before long, they arrived at a massive docking port connected to the Great Fox II's cargo bays. Huge container vehicles drove into the ship through it. As they stopped, crews of workers and drones offloaded supplies Star Fox would need for their mission to Thaljista. Fuel, spare parts for the Arwings and the Great Fox II itself, extra food stuffs, medical equipment and supplies, construction equipment to build temporary shelters, the list went on. The sheer amount of trucks and workers spoke to how long this journey was going to be. Star Fox had never gone on a long, extended trip out of Lylat. It would be months before they returned home, at the minimum.

Despite fear about what lay ahead, Fox still had excitement about what was to come. I finally get to do something about finding Krystal now. Of course, that wasn't the mission he was being paid for, but he could figure out something once they made it to Thaljista...

The group walked through the docking port, going the opposite direction as most of the trucks and workers. On the other side, they arrived in a huge warehouse unit inside the Orbital Gate station, more of the same trucks and workers roaming about, along with elaborate fleets of cranes and forklifts, shifting boxes and containers around in a dazzling, organized ballet, all movements timed down to the second. Even if it was only shifting containers around, Fox marvelled at the organization. Thank goodness I've got Peppy pulling favors to get some Cornerian military logistics behind our mission. Probably would've been out of business by now without connections...

Speaking of... Fox spotted the hare in his bright red general's uniform, approaching with a small group of Cornerian soldiers.

"Hey Fox!" Peppy waved his hands, calling out.

"Peppy!" Fox grinned back, the two of them sharing a brief handshake.

"Shame this couldn't have been under better circumstances, but I'm glad to see you again anyway."

"Yeah..." Fox kept the smile on his face, but his ears lowered.

The hare glanced behind Fox. "So, we meet face to face at last, Tadao."

Fox turned around, having forgotten the lizard was there.

Tadao looked like he wanted to shrink into the floor and disappear, wrapping his tail around himself and clenching his arms around his body, his legs drawn in tight. It didn't help that all eyes were on him, now that Peppy had made him the center of attention. The loud noises of this warehouse didn't help, Tadao's yellow eyes darting every which way towards every sound. No doubt Tadao wasn't used to all this stimulation after his solitude in the jungle.

"Fox?" Peppy said. "Why'd you cuff him?"

Both Fox and Tadao stared at Peppy, surprised by the question.

"Uh...I just thought it'd be safer—" Fox started.

"He might have worked for Andross, but he's not an enemy combatant anymore, okay? We're not taking him to trial." Peppy said. "Get those off him!"

"Are you sure it's—?"

"Fox, we brought him here to help him start a new life. What message does it send if he starts this program in handcuffs?"

Now embarrassed, Fox pulled out the cuffs key and removed Tadao's restraints. The lizard was confused as he stared into Fox's eyes.

With the cuffs off, Peppy approached Tadao. "I know you're afraid. It's okay. I understand. You've been fearing Cornerian capture for the past ten years. Andross told you a lot of awful things about us, right?"

Tadao's eyes widened, as Peppy got straight to the heart of what he was thinking. He didn't know how to respond.

"I know you'll need time to trust us," Peppy continued, "but we just want to help you move on from the past. We have your best interests at heart here."

"Do you?" Tadao's eyes narrowed.

Peppy's ears perked up in surprise, not expecting a reply like that. Fox, however, understood. He recalled how Tadao reacted poorly when Peppy said earlier this program would make him a 'proper citizen'. Peppy, stop making this sound like it's some kind of political reeducation program!

"Have you even thought about what I want?" Tadao asked. "Do I have a choice on this?"

"Why would you say no to this though?" Peppy raised his voice, sounding like a father berating his son for not cooperating. "You'll have a place to live. You'll be fed. You can start a new career...a new life! You're very lucky to be handed all of this on a silver platter. A lot of people would be jealous of you right now, Tadao."

Tadao clenched his fist. This was about to come to blows.

Fox jumped between the two. "Hey, Peppy!"

"Fox?!" Peppy stumbled back a bit, not expecting the vulpine to get in his way.

"Would it be okay if I spent a little more time with Tadao first?" Fox said. "Maybe I can talk with him some more about this."

Peppy noticed he'd been a little too aggressive with his speech there, calming down. "You know, that does sound like a good idea, come to think of it. It's going to be a while before Tadao's shuttle is ready to leave anyway."

"Okay, good." Fox mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced at Tadao. The lizard was at a loss for words, though he appeared grateful Fox had jumped in to stop the situation from getting uglier.

And then Falco ruined it.

"We really gonna take him with us into the civilian part of the station?" Falco glared at Tadao. "I don't like it."

Ugh! Fox grit his teeth. This is worse than after the Lylat Wars, when Pepper's reward money started running out and everyone started bickering over money again!

"If Peppy says it's okay, it's okay, Falco." Fox tried to keep his voice as calm as he could, in spite of the seething anger within. He sure didn't expect having to defend Tadao from his teammates like this. "I'll keep an eye on him, okay?"

Thankfully, Falco backed down, crossing his arms. "Okay, suit yourself, fearless leader."

Meanwhile, Peppy checked his watch. "The rest of the crew coming with you to Thaljista were supposed to be here by now."

Fox was confused, but then he remembered. While en route to the station, Fox and Peppy discussed that it might be good if some additional crew came along with them for support during this long mission.

"You didn't say who'd be joining us, Fox." Falco stepped up. "So who are these people?"

"You already know one of them." Fox gave a little, evil smile. "You know her very well, in fact."

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow. Then his eyes widened. "Oh, no, you're not saying—"

"Heeeeeeey Falco!" A mass of pink suddenly flew around the corner, almost knocking him over. A cat with shocking pink fur dye wrapped his arms around him, tail excitedly swishing back and forth behind her. "Looks like we're gonna be sharing a ship for a while, huh? Like old times, back when we were in the Hot Rodders!"

Though Falco had a look of disgust on his face at the idea, he soon cracked a smile too.

Tadao watched the scene off to the side, bewildered. However, it broke all of the tension and Fox couldn't help but crack a smile. Even Tadao loosened up, the iguana grinning now that he'd recovered from the initial surprise.

"So...Peppy told me we were going to Thaljista, huh? A planet of cats, like moi?" She giggled.

"That's right," Peppy said. "And there's a special reason I wanted you to join the team, but we'll get more into that during the briefing." A mischievous twinkle sparkled in his eye. "Anyway, there's also supposed to be some medical staff coming with you. You know, to look after Nail in your medical bay."

"Oh, yeah..." Fox did his best to hide his disgust, but he supposed it wouldn't be right to deny him medical treatment.

"Ah, here's one of them now." Peppy grinned off to the side, seeing someone else approaching.

A house cat wearing a Cornerian military nurse uniform approached. She had a curious fur pattern, with a standard brown tabby mask, but long cream fur puffed out from the sides of her face, along with a long, fluffy tail trailing behind her, almost fox-like with how fuzzy it was. However, her most distinctive feature was a set of goggles over her eyes, the lenses glowing bright blue. "Hi there!" She smiled. "I'm Rachel Mimosa. I've been assigned to come with you and...look after...Augustine Strafer, was it?"

"Yeah..." Fox said. "Sorry if you get asked this a lot, but what's with the goggles?"

"It's my eyes. I've been blind since I was born. I need these to see."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. I've learned to live with them. Anyway, don't worry. It won't affect my ability to do my job. I served during the Aparoid invasion." Though she had a smile, it disappeared on the last sentence.

"What kind of cat breed are you? Don't think I've seen one with a fur color like yours."

"Ragdoll, with lynx coloration. It's a little atypical, I know."

"Hmm..." Something about the goggles struck Fox as familiar. What was it? Wait, they remind me a bit of Wolf's eyepatch. His new computerized one. This looks like a two eye version of it, almost. Can't picture anyone more different from Wolf than her though. Also, this cat feels familiar. Like I've met her in another life.

"Well, good to have you aboard, Rachel. It's okay if we go by first name, isn't it?"

"Sure!" she perked up.

"Rachel," Peppy looked around. "Do you know where Dr. Deberti is? Wasn't she supposed to be with you to meet Star Fox?"

"She didn't want to come." Rachel shook her head. "Said she'd rather meet up when we have our briefing later."

"Hmm..." Peppy stroked the fur on his chin. "Doesn't surprise me. Oh well. Anyway, the briefing won't be for a while, so you're all free to head over to the civilian side of the station for now. May want to use this time to get some rest and relaxation, since you're about to be stuck in that ship for a good while. We'll talk later." Peppy waved as he left with the other soldiers. "Don't be late!"

As he departed, Fox looked to the others. "Guess we better hop the tram to the civilian sector, huh? What are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

The group soon boarded the tram, accompanied by a few other Cornerian soldiers who were on break. They stood up and cheered when they saw Star Fox enter, some of them pulling out their phones to take pictures. Fox put on a smile. Sure, the reason they were here was because they'd failed, although this helped soften the blow a bit. Was nice to see some friendly faces. Tadao kept getting some odd stares though.

At the other end of the tram line, everyone disembarked. After heading through a short tunnel and through the security checkpoint, they entered the concourse level of the station.

Fox sure got a surprise as he was looking around. Were they seriously inside a military installation right now? Aside from the high number of Cornerian soldiers keeping an eye on things, this mall looked like it could've been in the swankiest portion of downtown Corneria City, complete with high ceilings, gleaming surfaces everywhere, and explosions of color from various displays of artwork and plants. Hordes of civilian travelers scurried around, looking through the various shops, some dressed for pleasure with casual clothing while others wore business attire.

Meanwhile, Tadao couldn't help but gaze around at all of the colors, sights, and sounds in wonder, as if he were looking at an entirely new universe. Well, come to think of it, a shopping mall would be alien to him, wouldn't it? There were so many stores to choose from Fox himself didn't know where to start. He couldn't imagine what Tadao was thinking right now.

"I can't believe this station was only set up about a year ago." Fox said. "This place really took off, didn't it?"

"Yeah it did!" Slippy seemed proud of the place. Then again, his father Beltino had a huge hand in building it. "The Orbital Gate became a huge travel hub after the Aparoid invasion, since it's made getting around Lylat a lot faster. That is how it goes with military technology, you know? It eventually makes its way to the civilian markets, and we all benefit from it."

Fox smiled. "We got a little time to shop and eat. How about we all meet up at the food court in about an hour?"

"Sounds good to me!" Katt said, pulling Rachel next to her, which got a surprised yelp out of the other cat. "Hey Rachel, how about we get to know each other? There aren't a lot of other cats in Lylat, you know."

"Uh...sure...?" Rachel mumbled.

The two of them were soon walking away.

"I'll go with them." Falco followed them. "Gotta make sure Katt doesn't do anything too crazy. You have fun with Tadao, Fox!" And just like that, he was gone.

"Uh, I think I'll go to the bookstore," Slippy said. "Wanna see if they've got a repair manual for this old gaming system I found in the trash."

Now it was just Fox, Fara, and Tadao.

"They don't want to be near me, do they?" Tadao's shoulders slumped as he watched them go. He looked at Fara and Fox. "At least you two are nice."

Fox didn't like him pointing that out, but he was right. And Fox did say he'd keep an eye on Tadao, so... "Tadao, anything you want to look at? We can go anywhere you like."

Tadao turned his gaze back to the hustle and bustle, but again all of it hypnotized and overwhelmed him.

"Maybe as a parting gift, we could buy him some new clothes?" Fara came to the rescue, saving Tadao from drowning in the sheer amount of stimulation. "Those Venomian fatigues were the only set of clothes you'd worn for the past decade, right Tadao?"

"Wow, I didn't even consider that, Fara." Fox smiled. "How about it Tadao? Might be kind of hard to find clothing here to accommodate your spines and the shape of your tail, but I'm sure we could come up with something."

Tadao latched onto the idea, appreciating Fara making the choice for him. "Uh...sure. Good as anything else, right?" He put on a nervous smile.

~X~

"Katt, you seriously wear pink fur dye all the time?" Rachel asked, as the two cats looked around a beauty and cosmetics store. Falco wasn't interested, so he was waiting outside.

"Why not?" Katt giggled, looking through a shelf stocked to the brim with various shades of pink, rose, fuchsia, and magenta, trying to find her preferred hue. "Pink has been my life for as long as I remember. It's my calling card. Even painted my ship pink."

"I couldn't do that." Rachel rolled up her sleeve, running a hand through her natural creamy striped fur. "Everyone says they like my fur the way it is. Why would I want to change it?"

"Is that what you truly think though?" Katt asked. "Or are you just going to let others tell you what to do?"

"Well, fur dye is banned in the military, and my mom told me to never use it, and—"

"See what I mean?" Katt smirked, as she stood up after finding the right colored vial. "Come on girl! Forget what your CO or your mom says! They're not gonna be around! Why not try something new while we're out of system? How about find the right fur dye for you?"

"No, that's okay..." Rachel's big fluffy tail circled around her legs. "You don't have— Aaaaah!"

Katt yanked her by the arm again, dragging her to another wall stocked with browns, yellows, and golds. She withdrew one vial from the shelf. "How about this honey color here?" She shoved it into the other cat's hand. "If you don't want to try something too neon like me, I think it'd work really well with that cream color of yours. You could leave the bottom of your muzzle its natural shade and it'd look great!"

"Uhhh..." Rachel stared at the vial, holding it up to her visor.

"Come on! You could sell it off as being your natural fur color! Honey or gold isn't too wild for domestic cats like us, right? How about I just get it for you?"

"No, that's fine, don't—"

But Katt was already headed for the register with the yellow vial, along with the pink vial she'd selected for herself. She placed the containers on the counter. "I'd like to buy one of this honey color, and several cases of this pink color here."

"My my, stocking up, aren't you?" The deer cashier joked, already keying the order into the system. "You heading off to the ends of the universe or something?"

"You could say something like that." Katt grinned, pulling out a card and swiping it.

"Well, have a good trip." The doe handed Katt a receipt. "I'll have the pink bottled up and dropped off at your ship in no time, but you can have this honey vial right now if you want."

"Great!" She accepted the vial. "Bye!" Within seconds she was already back with Rachel, passing the honey-colored vial to her. "Come on! Let's look around some more! We'll need to go eat dinner before long!" Katt didn't wait for her to say yes, taking off out of the store.

Rachel was left standing there holding the vial, a bewildered look on her face.

"You get used to it." Falco leaned over her shoulder, smirking. "I know she's a handful, but she's got a good heart. Trust me. She just wants you to unwind a bit, that's all. Katt's always been a party girl."

Rachel felt a little better hearing that, and smiled back at him. "Well, okay, I'll take your word for it. Guess we better hurry and catch up before she buys up all the pink clothing in the whole station, huh? I think she's already on the prowl for it..."

They spotted her looking at a flashy leather jacket with a dark pink hide in a nearby window.

"Oh crap, you're right!" Falco took off running. "Let's hurry!"

~X~

"That looks good on you, Tadao," Fara said, as he looked in a mirror in a clothing store.

No longer in the old, dirty maintenance jumpsuit, Tadao now wore a midnight blue button down shirt, along with dark brown khakis and brown shoes. The muted colors contrasted well with the bright green of his scales, along with the orange of his spines and the yellow of his eyes.

"Do you like it?" She asked.

Like with many other things he'd seen over the past couple hours, Tadao was dumbstruck. He couldn't stop running his fingers over the fine fabric covering his arms, comparing it in his mind to the old, dirty, stressed, torn-up fabric of his decade-old Venomian uniform.

"It's...it's wonderful." Tadao turned around to Fox and Fara. Even though they said this outfit would cost around a hundred credits total, to Tadao it might as well have been the finest robes for the wealthiest king in the universe. "Aside from my army uniform, I've never had new clothes before. Even before the war, almost all of my outfits were handed down to me from my older brother."

Fox was touched by the remark, a big smile on his face. All of the earlier awkwardness from before was gone.

"Is it really okay for me to keep this?" He couldn't stop running his hands up and down the sleeve of the shirt.

"Sure, it's fine." Fox said. "Think of it as a parting gift."

Tadao's smile lowered, reminded he'd soon be leaving Star Fox's company.

Fox himself regretted what he'd just said, changing the subject. "Anyway, let's go get dinner. It's almost time."

Dinner? What's going to be for dinner? So far, Tadao had only had whatever food was whipped up in the Great Fox II's galley, but he suspected he was about to go on a much grander culinary adventure soon.

After they paid for the clothes, the three of them exited the store, rejoining the throngs of people moving throughout this gigantic monument to consumerism. Everyone—even the poorest people—looked wealthier than even the wealthiest people in his old filthy mining city back on Macbeth, before the Lylat Wars kicked off. How could there be so much money circulating through this place and so many people carrying it? The crowds never stopped, Tadao almost having a small freak out every time they needed to push their way through a group of shoppers. Good thing Fox was there to help guide Tadao through and keep him calm.

They arrived at the 'food court' as the others had called it before. He thought it might be something like an industrialized canteen or cafeteria, like he was used to eating at while he was training in the Venomian military. Andross only saw food as fuel, so the only care given to Venomian military food was to ensure it fulfilled your caloric and nutritional needs enough to let you do your job.

This food court though... Now that Tadao had clothes that felt like they belonged to the wealthiest king, he soon realized a food court was like an equally extravagant banquet for that king as well. Except the food was for everyone, not just the king! What seemed like endless amounts of food stalls served just about any food he could even imagine, and even some things he didn't think people would want to eat. Seafood from Zoness and Aquas, spiced curry from Papetoon, exotic fruits from Fortuna. Throngs of people feasted on all of the food at hundreds, maybe even thousands of tables. How could you even decide which of these places to eat? There was no way to try all of it!

"Hey, there's the others!" Fox interrupted his thoughts. "Falco! Katt! Over here! Slippy, come here!"

Soon the group was back together again.

"You guys got any ideas?" Fox asked, looking around at the things they could pick between.

"Oh, wow! They have a Ted's here?" Rachel pointed at one particular stall.

Tadao spotted what she was looking at. Looked like a burger place. The 'TED'S' sign was written out in mismatching letters that looked like they'd been salvaged from different electrical signs. The iguana's eyes widened. Could that be—?

"Uh, Ted's?" Fox raised an eyebrow.

Rachel laughed. "Did you know that the first Ted's was set up in this little shanty town on Fortuna called the Boneyard? The owner Ted had to wire together letters from a bunch of different signs to make his own sign for his burger stand. That's why his logo looks that way! Anyway, I heard they became a franchise, but I haven't gotten to eat at one in ages. I actually got to eat at the original, ten years ago. It was really good!"

"That so?" Fox asked. "How'd you end up in a shanty town in the middle of nowhere on Fortuna, though?"

Rachel gave a smile, rubbing a hand through her fluffy cheek. "Well, that's a really long story."

Wolf...ten years ago, at the Boneyard on Fortuna. I was there, spying on the place when I saw him. He had a kitten with him. They ate at Ted's. This cat Rachel...I think her fur is a little darker, but could this be the same person? George never told me anything about the kitten. I didn't get the chance to ask. Rachel looks young enough to have been a kitten around that time...

"Anyway, I'm hungry!" Rachel said. "You mind if I just go ahead and get something there?"

"Go ahead." Fox grinned. "Think I'll try it too, if it's as good as you say. How about—"

The rest of Fox's words faded into the background, as Tadao couldn't stop staring at Rachel. What the hell was this right now?

"Tadao?" Fox snapped his fingers. "You wanna get food at Ted's too?"

"Uh..." He took one more look at Rachel. "Um, okay. Sure."

Before long they were sitting down at a table with brown bags, all of them pulling out things that the others had referred to as burgers and fries. Tadao had never seen them in person, but he'd heard about them. The burger looked like some kind of sandwich with cooked meat and vegetables, along with a strange sauce he hadn't seen before. Tadao didn't know this meat, but it was the most prominent scent coming from this food. He had a strange realization seeing this thing in his hand.

"Are you okay?" Fox asked.

Tadao took one look at Fox, and then back at the burger. "This is the first time in ten years I've had meat I didn't have to kill first."

That got a collective stare from everyone sitting at the table, and even a few people at the tables around them who'd overheard. Fox stared around sheepishly, although nobody else appeared to think much of it after that. In any case, Tadao took a bite out of the burger. Then he took another. And another. And another. He'd already eaten half of the thing.

"On Venom," Tadao swallowed another bite. "We were always told hamburgers were a decadent Cornerian food that caused heart attacks and all sorts of health problems."

"Not exactly wrong..." Fox smiled in embarrassment at the frank description. "You should only eat them every once in a while."

"Hmm...yes." Tadao took some more bites. "I see the appeal of these, with moderation." And then he finished it. "Give me another, please?"

Fox chuckled at that. "Okay, sure."

Tadao had a couple more after that, the rest of them having long since finished. Fox was amused at how many burgers he was putting down, but then he looked at something behind Tadao. The lizard turned around, eyes widening.

A sharply dressed goat in a suit with sunglasses stood there, flanked by two other dogs with suits as well. The goat beamed a wide smile at Fox, the lights reflecting off of the lenses.

"Hey there, Fox! We meet in person at last, huh? Heard you'd made it to the station, so I thought I'd come meet you!"

"Oh, it's you...St—"

"Yeah, it's me." The goat cut him off, sparing a glance at Tadao before returning his attention to Fox. "Eatin' from Ted's, huh? I think I might get some too. Came here to get you guys for the briefing. We're ready to start. Oh, but it's also time to send Tadao on his way too. These gentlemen are here to pick him up." He indicated to the other two suits.

Tadao shrunk back in his seat, inching away from the three G-men as his hands clenched around the table's edge.

"Tadao, are you all right?" Fox asked.

"Buddy, relax," one of the dogs in the suits smiled. "You'll be in good hands. And you won't be alone either. You'll be with some other Venomians too while you're working your way through the program. We're not your enemies anymore, all right?"

Tadao was silent, pondering his choices. He didn't want to go with these men, but he couldn't just run away either... His heart rate spiked, as he gazed around, trying to think of how to get out of this, until his eyes settled on the concerned Fox McCloud. "Um...Fox, could I talk to you first? You did say we could talk about this before I left?"

"Um..." Fox glanced at the G-men. "I guess I did, yeah."

"You gonna be all right by yourselves?" Falco asked.

"Yeah, I think we'll be fine." Fox said. "Tadao, how about we go to that little side corridor over there?"

The two of them stood up from the table, moving to the small corridor that led to the restrooms. Fox was cautious to make sure they were still in sight of everybody at the table, though. Tadao suspected it was because Fox didn't trust him right now. He didn't like that.

"I appreciate Peppy's offer, but I don't know if I can deal with this program," Tadao whispered. "Just giving myself up to Corneria like this. Andross told us it would be a fate worse than death to be captured by Corneria."

"Corneria's nothing like what Andross told you about it. You'll be treated well. I know, I spent most of my childhood growing up there."

"Yes, but you look like a Cornerian dog. Me, I have...scales. And spikes." He ran his hand across them. "Lizards were not treated well by Corneria before the Lylat Wars, Fox. That's why a lot of us joined Andross. How are they treated now?"

"Well, I'm sure it's better than before but—"

"Do you know that for a fact? Are you friends with anyone else like me?"

"Uh, Slippy's kinda like—"

"He may be green, but he's an amphibian. Not the same thing as me, Fox."

Fox sighed. "Guess you're right. But look. Peppy's a great guy. He'll watch out for you."

"I have a better idea."

"What?"

"You saved my life. I had reached rock bottom and was about to end it all when you just came out of nowhere, took my blade away from me, and asked me if I was okay. I felt like I was your closest friend, even though we would have been enemies ten years ago. Why did you save me?"

"Well, wouldn't anybody?"

"You're not just anyone Fox. You do what is right without hesitation, without concerning yourself with things like fear or rewards. I've seen it myself now. I trust you. I trust you far more than anyone else here."

"Thanks, but where are you going with this?"

Tadao gathered himself up. He didn't know how Fox was going to react, but this was his last hope. "Would it..." Tadao hesitated. "Would it be all right if I stayed on the Great Fox II?"

Fox's face went blank for a moment. "Wait, what?"

"Could I come with you to Thaljista?"

That sure caught Fox off guard. Not a good sign. "Umm, it's a bit short notice for me to take on an extra passenger Tadao," the vulpine mumbled. "This case business just got a whole lot more complicated and there's a lot of other things I'm dealing with right now."

"I won't do this for nothing. You know I've got skills as a tracker, right?"

Fox didn't reply, a thoughtful look on his face. That was a better reaction than Tadao had hoped. Tadao had only brought up his tracking skills because it was the only thing he had to offer, but was the vulpine considering this as a potential asset?

Tadao kept talking, now that he had Fox's interest "I'll happily stay in the brig the entire trip too, if you like! You'll never hear a peep from me the whole way there!"

Now Fox appeared torn, like he was about halfway between turning Tadao over or keeping him around.

You've got your foot in the door! Keep pressing! "What do you think?" Tadao smiled to cover up his frantic fear, now talking fast. " You need something tracked, do you? Are you looking for someone on Thaljista? Are you? Are you?!"

"Uh..." Fox blinked, glancing away from Tadao, as if trying to think through something. "Umm... Look, Tadao. I know you don't trust Peppy, but you said you could trust me, right? Then trust me when I say this program is probably going to be the best thing that ever happened to you, okay? There's nothing sinister about any of this. It's only for a few years at most, and then you can do whatever you want."

Tadao's excitement deflated like the air let out of a balloon. Still, he kept trying. "I'll offer you my skills for free, if you want! Just keep me fed and that's all I need!"

Fox frowned at the words, crossing his arms. He appeared to be running variables in his head, weighing up whether or not to take Tadao's offer. The silence stretched on for a few minutes, the two of them staring at each other.

But in the end, Fox shook his head, giving a sad look. "I'm sorry Tadao. I don't think this will work out. Go with the suits."

Tadao's face fell, his entire world shattered. He ran his hands through his spikes, feeling them pop back into place. And as the shock faded, it turned to anger. Anger at McCloud. Tadao had already been through this rejection once, and with someone else he'd looked up to as well.

"You..." Tadao hissed. "You're just like Wolf."

While surprised, Fox cast a dark glare. "What did you say?"

"Wolf. He wouldn't let me join Star Wolf either. I understand why now. He was afraid of me...afraid of what I'd do once I found out he'd been lying to me about the Lylat Wars. In the end, it turns out you're afraid of me too, aren't you? You don't want a Venomian like me around, do you?"

Fox clenched his teeth, showing his fangs between his lips as he clenched his fist, ears curling back behind his head. "No, it's not that. I just don't think it'd go over well with Peppy, plus everyone else in my crew and—"

"So you are afraid!" Tadao interrupted. "I'm just something to be discarded and forgotten about once I'm no longer needed, aren't I? Just like it was with Wolf."

"I'm sorry." Fox shook his head, checking his watch. "Those guys are waiting for you. I'll tell Peppy to keep an eye on you, make sure you're doing okay. All right? It's the best I can do for you right now."

"Go to hell." Tadao turned around, walking towards the two Cornerian suits.

"Tadao, wait!" Fox chased after him, but he was already talking to the two men.

"We can go now," Tadao said, glaring at Fox. "I'm ready."

One of the suits said, "Do you want to say goodb—"

"No, let's go."

Though the suits were confused, they complied, walking ahead of Tadao to lead him away. He didn't look back.