Star Crossed [an old and terrible Star Fox fanfic]

C4 - Frightened Of This Thing That I've Become

The toad slipped through the hallways as he made his hasty way to the next engineering class. He swore that, by the time he graduated, he'd be as knowledgeable as his uncle when it came to the ins and outs of an Arwing. What cooling agent its fuel used... How many screws were on the fifth capacitor... That weird chicken function...

He was lost in thought of mentally reviewing for the test, when he suddenly found himself tripping and landing with a soft splat onto the ground, much like he did before he had gotten his flyer's license... and, wouldn't you know it, the same culprits were behind the poor amphibian lad's fall. Slippy Toad once again felt his slimed skin slide across the tiles of the Academy floor, as he tried to get up. His eyes darted up, and he quivered.

Wolf O'Donnell and Bill Grey stood right above Slippy. "Damn... your parents named you well, Slipper," Bill remarked first.

"It's Slippy," Slippy corrected.

"Typical, and ever so accurate," Bill remarked, rubbing his pointer and thumb's claws together.

"Shut up," the frog wavered as he stood.

"Well, Toady, I'll shut up as soon as you stop slippin'— oop!" Bill chortled, then yapped, as he kicked Slippy's shin. The frog coiled back, and, indeed, lost balance. He fell onto his back, much to the delight of the two canine bullies.

"Aww, jeez!" the frog croaked, overwhelmed with embarrassment.

"Hey... hey! The hell— Bill! Wolf! What're you doing?" Fox yelped suddenly, his boots clonking across the floor as he quickly stomped over.

"Ah, just teasin' this frog," Bill just-as-quickly explained.

"Yeah, just having a little fun," Wolf stayed back, sighing. He seemed to not really mean it.

"Fox, a little help—!" Slippy requested.

"Bah, as if Fox McCloud would help a frog," Bill laughed out, his ears twitching.

Fox suddenly walked over, and shoved Bill. "Dude. Step. Off."

"What? Oh, lucky day for you, Sloppy!" Bill kept laughing. "Seems the hero has a bit of mercy today."

"Shut up!" Fox suddenly barked back, kicking the bulldog in the shin. This made Bill hop back a little, now surprised at his vulpine friend's anger.

"Dude, what the—" Bill softly exclaimed, as he saw Fox reach a hand out, to help Slippy get back onto his feet. "What're you doing?"

"Not being a douche, like you! What're YOU doing!?" Fox said in a mockingly casual tone.

"Guys, just chill a bit," Wolf tried to cut in.

"This doesn't concern you, rookie. Let me handle Fox here," Bill stated. With that, Wolf O'Donnell stepped back a bit, and then turned around, trying to walk away. He stuck around behind the corner, though, to eavesdrop a little further.

"McCloud. I was just teasin' the frog. Wasn't gonna hurt him none," Bill explained.

"You tripped him, you sure did hurt him," Fox furrowed his brows.

"Not THAT bad! Jeez leweez!" Bill rubbed his head. "And now you made Wolf run right off—"

"The old rookie? Yeah, I don't blame him," Fox reasoned, stepping closer. "Did you get him in on this?"

"You're talking like we beat up the frog, man, we didn't—" Bill stammered.

"His name is SLIPPY, Bill! SLIPPY!" the angry fox yapped.

"Fox. Get over yourself and your little justice thing. Did your dad talk that into you?" Bill facepalmed.

"Leave my dad outta this. And Slippy's our classmate, you have to treat him with respect," Fox explained. "He's training to be one of Corneria's best."