Grounded- Part 2 (Patreon)

Fox McCloud grows too large for the machinations of the mad scientist who made him and his comrades hulking super soldiers, and is ready to throw down- enjoy!

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"...And that's what the Doc's offer is," Fox had just finished relaying the message Dr. Valette had given him, an offer to the rest of Team Star Fox to become part of his project; an experiment to create super soldiers to defend Corneria against Andross' Empire in a way that a bunch of ace pilots couldn't. They had already seen what Wolf O'Donnell looked like nowadays, but now here stood Fox McCloud, made into an equally impressive specimen. 

He loomed large over his team mates, Falco only coming up to his thick wall of a chest. The hulk of a fox had burst out of nearly all his clothes, only a few scraps clinging to his augmented form here and there keeping him different. His limbs were as thick and sturdy as steel pylons, and his back seemed almost as wide as the wingspan of his arwing.

The other three members of Star Fox were silent. staring wide-eyed and mouths agape. 

Peppy was the first one to recover himself, and he furrowed his brow. "Fox… this is insane! Look at you— you're a pilot, and you're more likely to use an arwing as a bench press than an actual vehicle. Can you even fit in your cockpit?"

Fox frowned, curling his arm so his massive bicep pumped up larger than Peppy's head. "I got more firepower here than I ever did in an arwing. Besides— the collar will turn me back to normal if I take it off."

The old rabbit folded his arms. "Then take it off, McCloud."

Fox felt his eye twitch, a sudden surge of anger swelling up inside him. "Well I don't want to, do I? I'm team leader here, old man, not you. You don't give orders to me!" he snapped.

There was a tense pause as the other three stared back at Fox. The vulpine pilot eased back, realizing he was still snarling and growling, tensing his already massive body. Taking a deep sigh that made his pecs inflate, Fox held up his hand. "Sorry, Pep. Look— we're almost broke, here. We need a job, or we're going to lose the arwings and the Great Fox. Andross' dreadnoughts have everyone in such a state of despair, they won't even bother hiring pilots. So we need to become something else. We need to do something else. Dr. Valette wants to protect Corneria, and we protect Corneria. He's also paying a fortune."

Slippy shook his head. "I don't know, Fox… He hired Wolf first. How can we trust that?"

Fox huffed, looking to Falco. The avian had been uncharacteristically silent. "Lombardi? Think about it— fame, power, fortune, money— all the things you love." He held out his hand.

Falco sighed, stepping forward to take Fox's hand, even if he was completely engulfed by the massive vulpine. "Alright, McCloud. Let's do this."

Fox grinned, turning to Slippy and Peppy, a questioning look on his face. Peppy shook his head. "I'm too old for this sort of thing, and I was middling at best in a melee. It'd be wasted on me, but you're still going to need someone in mission control. Your dad would kill me for letting you continue with this stunt… but I'm with you."

"Slippy?"

The frog shook his head. "I'm more comfortable fixing things. And besides, you could still probably use some air cover, whatever happens. One of us should stay small enough to fit in an arwing."

Fox grinned. It was a compromise, but one he could live with. "Alright. Let's get busy, team."

Wolf and Fox were both crouched behind a rock formation large enough to hide their enormous bulk. At their size, stealth wasn't exactly their strong suit, but Wolf had not lost his crafty and clever edge. He glanced around the rock, spotting their target— a sprawling complex over the dusty mesa below, with stout fortifications and Andross' sigil prominently displayed over the main gate. Vast workshops and factories powered by a nuclear fusion reactor, making more dreadnoughts. Their plan was simple; install explosives in the reactor and then blow the entire thing sky high. 

"Alright…" O'Donnell rumbled. "There's two gates I can see… the smaller one, where the dump the garbage, is our best bet. Those pylons and walls are built to withstand a laser barrage, but the gate looks like it's only made of durasteel… we could probably force it open, use it as cover as we charge the reactor."

Fox scoffed. "So you literally just want to rush in and punch our way through?"

"Yes." Wolf growled softly as he turned, the wolf and fox's chests colliding like mountains grinding against one another. "The first rule of tactics, pup, is use what you've got. What we've got is enough power to punch out a tank. Let's use it."

"Well, I'm used to fighting a little smarter—"

Wolf clamped his heavy hand over Fox's mouth. "Listen, Pup. We agreed we'd do this job my way, so pay attention and maybe you'll learn something. First of all, this plan is smart. We've identified the weak spot in their defenses, and we're going to exploit. Second of all, you can't just dodge and weave yourself out of this like you always do, McCloud. At our size, that's only going to make you a big target and slow down the job." He grabbed the vulpine's thick wrists, gesturing to the sheer swell of muscle along his ham-sized forearms. "Now are you ready to use some real firepower, or what?"

The two beasts timed their charge just as the gates began to open for a crawler to trundle out, laden with refuse. Wolf let out a roar as he charged for the gate, pulling out a laser rifle and opening fire on the crawler. 

"What the Hell are you doing?!" Fox snarled as he charged after Wolf.

"Shoot the supports and treads!" Wolf shot back. "Keep the crawler stuck in the gate!"

"Oh." Fox's eyes brightened. "Oh!"

Wolf laughed loudly as sentry guns began tracking the two brutes. "I thought you were supposed to be clever, pup!"

The laser blasts singed Fox's fur and burned his skin where it struck, but his new-found muscle was so dense, he felt it would take a dozen more hits to do any serious damage. Growling softly as he tensed his arms, thick burls of muscle bristling as he grit his teeth, powering the stinging and burning pain as he and Wolf pushed forward, crashing the crawler and getting it stuck between the gates— leaving it stuck open.

"Come on, McCloud!" Wolf snarled. "There's two halves of the gate, one for each of us. That durasteel will keep the laser blasts off of us— they'll still snuff us out eventually." 

Fox followed Wolf's lead, clambering over the now inert crawler as he grabbed the heavy steel sheet and grunted under the heavy effort. His chest puffed up, his mountainous shoulders trembled— his trunk-thick legs tightened as he dug in, and his broadside back flared out as he roared, tearing the gate off its reinforced hinges, holding the immense slab over head, his chest and shoulders rising to swallow his bull-neck and bump against his chin as laser blasts rained down on them.

Wolf, hefting up his own makeshift shield, connected with Fox, the two hulking mercenaries forming a wedge they used to push through the compound's defenses. O'Donnell smirked toothily at Fox. "If you think this is badass now, just wait until we see the explosion!"

The explosion was indeed badass; it rocked the earth, even from the mile-long distance that the two hulks had retreated to, creating a towering mushroom cloud as big as a mountain— all down to two men. Even if they were built like tanks, it was an impressive win— and just the thing Dr. Valette needed to sell his supersoldier program to Cornerian Military Command. 

O'Donnell and McCloud went off to Dargo's again to celebrate, the two of them reveling in their own sizes— these two new titans of brawn dwarfed every single other bar patron by several degrees, more beef and muscle packed into one arm than could be found in most others' bodies.

Wolf chuckled deeply, taking a large mug and drinking deeply, grinning toothily as he caught the eye of another mercenary, nudging Fox in his bulging side. "Look at 'em. They can't take our eyes off of us." O'Donnell chuckled, tensing his arm a bit, just to make the thick burl of his bicep surge. "Wanna put on a show for all these little onlookers?"

Fox returned the grin, pumping his own arm to match Wolf's casual pose, though he must have missed the slight falter in O'Donnell's smirk, his eye widening slightly— McCloud's bicep, surging so high the peak split, was slightly larger than his. 

"You haven't seen Dr. Valette, not since the assignment, right?" Wolf asked.

Fox cocked his head slightly. "No?"

Wolf nodded slightly. "Right…" Fox was telling the truth; he could read McCloud like a book. Well, that was an interesting development…

Fox and Wolf gathered at Dr. Valette's compound, the leonine scientist positively beaming. Alongside Fox and Wolf, Flaco Lombardi and Panther Caruso had also undergone the transformation; now, all four stood as huge, musclebound hulks, built as sturdy and powerful as tanks, the bio-enhancing collars that fueled their growth snugly fit around their pillar-like necks. All four stood in a line as Dr. Valette thoroughly examined them, testing the solidness of their rock-hard brawn and performing a quick scan of their vitals. Fox arched his brow slightly at Panther and Falco; both of them stood ramrod stiff, their chiseled, bulging chests thrust out past their respective muzzle and beak, thickly corded arms stiff and tensed, eyes locked dead ahead. He had never seen them so intense and serious.

Dr. Valette chuckled softly to himself, patting Falco's chest approvingly. "Excellent, excellent. Gentlemen, you have all proven tremendous successes. These vitals are mere academia, but with the results O'Donnell and McCloud have given us, this will really make Corneria's top brass sit up and take notice." He turned with a spark in his eye to Lombardi and Caruso. "I'm expecting you two will deliver similarly superb results."

"Sir! Yes, sir!" Lombardi and Caruso barked in unison. That earned a strange look from O'Donnell, as well.

Dr. Valette nodded, grinning softly. "You four are all going to be the cornerstone of a new military initiative that will sweep away Andross and anyone that threatens Corneria for good. You will all be richly rewarded, so long as you follow the most essential maxim of this program— destroy any enemy of Corneria." The lion turned to leave. "You may all be at ease— rest, enjoy spending your paychecks. I'll have need of you all again soon."

As the doctor left, Falco and Panther finally relaxed. It was as if a spell had been broken, the two much more themselves.

"When's the last time you called me sir?" Fox asked Falco, folding his thickly corded arms over his wall of pectoral muscle. "I am your team leader."

The brutish avian shrugged his broad shoulders. "Waddya want, McCloud? A kiss on the cheek? The Doc pays our bills."

"We could always rain check that kiss, though," Panther smirked, brandishing a red rose as was his custom. Wolf rolled his eyes at him. "What? We're all on the same team now, right?"

"Hmph." Wolf pushed Panther aside. "Just try not to let your head get as big as your biceps, Caruso. The Doc needs soldiers, not meatheads falling in love with their own reflection."

Some weeks later, and Fox was in the training room of Dr. Valette's compound, the vast room filled with the sort of heavy equipment to train and challenge the huge bodies they now possessed; weights as heavy as military ordinance, chains hard enough to lock down star fighters, and machines of Dr. Valette's own design that would crush anyone less than the super beasts that he had grown. 

Fox was feeling antsy, his hands fidgeting and bulging limbs tensing. He was feeling impatient; outside of the action he saw working with the Doc, working out and lifting heavy weights gave him such a thrill of pulsating power— he had never liked it before, but now, the chance to test his iron-like muscle was something he relished— but he did need a workout partner who could actually keep up with him.

He heard heavy footfalls carry into the gym, and spotted Wolf.

"Hey! There you are! What were you doing, you old—" Fox stopped as he got a look at Wolf. O'Donnell's jaw was set, grimacing in pain. His fur was matted and singed from laser burns, and a dozen bruises and cuts besides. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Gah…" Wolf grunted. "I took the solo job on Eladard."

"You what?" Fox gaped. "We both agreed that was a suicide job."

"Well!" Wolf scoffed, holding out his thickly roped arms. "I'm not dead, am I?"

"Nearly," Fox scoffed. "What possessed you? The Doc wouldn't even give us a bonus for it."

O'Donnell frowned, growling softly. "Where the hell do you get off scolding me, pup? This was for the good of Corneria!"

McCloud stared at him. "Wolf, you don't care at all about Corneria! Where is this coming from?"

Wolf snarled, shoving Fox back. "I'm doing my job, McCloud! Maybe you should think about doing the same." Fox stared at Wolf, and O'Donnell grunted, turning away. "I'm going to rest. Don't bother me." 

McCloud stared after the hulking wolf, frowning deeply. This was not the first time one of the new super soldiers had not acted like themselves, and it was growing increasingly common. He began to wonder if he had ever acted out of his character.

He lost his appetite for pumping metal; he needed to ask Peppy and Slippy for help.

The Great Fox seemed much smaller these days; Fox was starting to wonder if he outweighed his Arwing. He was pacing around the command deck, going over his concerns with Peppy and Slippy.

"I don't like this," the old hare grumbled, shaking his head. 

"So you don't think this is all just in my head?" Fox asked.

"That's the problem, I do think it's all in your head. All of your heads. That collar has something in it that's messed with all of you."

Again, Fox felt another twinge of irritation rise up.

Slippy cleared his throat. "Falco's been acting weird, too. He won't hear anything bad said about this Doctor. I-it's not like with any other client, he just… tenses up whenever his name is mentioned."

Peppy reached out a hand towards Fox's collar, and the hulking vulpine instantly growled, grabbing the hare's arm in a vice grip. "Ah! Easy, Fox, easy— look, I just want to study the collar."

"It's mine." Fox growled, almost ready to squeeze Peppy's arm.

Slippy tugged on Fox, even though the thick burls of muscle would not budge. "Fox! Look at what you're doing— this isn't you!"

Fox shook his head, letting Peppy go. "I— I'm sorry."

The hare stared at him warily. "Fox, this Dr. Valette has you and the others locked up tight. Now… can you let me take a look at that collar?"

Fox fought another impulse, but then, reluctantly, loosened the collar. His head swam almost instantly. He felt a strange, uncomfortable lightness and looseness in his body— Slippy nearly yelped when Fox nearly fell on top of him. Thankfully, Peppy worked fast. Fox swore he could feel the strength bleeding out of him and begin to shrink as the old hare studied it. 

"This here, this is the stimulant?" He tapped a small vial glowing on the collar.

"Y-yeah, uh-huh," Fox slurred, nodding his head, his vision going blurry.

"Alright." Peppy did something Fox didn't quite catch, and then quickly latched the collar back around the fox. He breathed in deeply, life and power suddenly flowing back through his veins.

Fox sighed in relief, patting his slowly reinflating chest. "Ah… that's better."

Peppy looked over a scanner, nodding grimly. "Well… your good Doctor is holding you back, Fox."

"Wait, what?" Fox snapped his head back up. 

"Mhm. There's a growth inhibitor— right here." He pointed to a name of a chemical compound Fox couldn't begin to decipher. "It's preventing you from growing too strong. Keep you compliant."

Fox frowned deeply. "Can you… can you change it?"

Peppy scoffed. "I'm no chemist, Fox… but me and Slippy can probably remove this compound. But you need to take this to Falco. He needs to be warned."

Fox thought for a moment, his brow furrowed. "No. No… I have an idea. I'll deal with Valette, first. Otherwise, he can use the others against me. Once you isolate the compound… I'll take the fight directly to him. Slippy? If I give you some of Valette's orders, could you come up with a new order? A job to get them out of the way?"

Slippy nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

Fox grinned tightly. "Good. Then let's get to work."

Fox McCloud, with Slippy's help, sent off the other three super soldiers on a routine patrol— enough time to deal with Valette alone, once the compound restraining him had been removed from his collar. Peppy and Slippy would stay in hiding, watching from the command deck of the Great Fox as McCloud asked for Valette to meet him in the hangar. The lion came as bidded, a strange look in the scientist's eye as he disembarked his small shuttle.

"McCloud. This is unusual," the lion said. "I hope you have a good reason for this, I still have a lot of work to prepare for my presentation to Corneria High Command."

"You may want to think of a few amendments to your presentation, Doc," Fox said, folding his thickly roped arms. "I know about your secret ingredient."

Valette's response was hard to read. "Do you?"

"You're trying to keep us down— just strong enough to do your bidding, but not strong enough, in body or mind, to rebel against your orders."

The lion smiled softly. "Well, when Corneria relies so heavily on freelancers and mercenaries, is it not prudent to seek a little more… compliance? A little bit of patriotism for the only free system to have a chance against Andross?" He had pulled out his tablet.

"We signed up to become strong, not your drones."

"You signed up to destroy the enemies of Corneria, and get paid for it." Valette replied. "I am doing both. But if you need a little more incentive, I can arrange just that." The scientist pressed something on his tablet, and Fox grunted; he could feel more of the chemical being injected into his body.

He grit his teeth, tensing his powerful arms. "I was hoping you'd do something like that."

The serum was activated, but without the restraints, a new, overwhelming surge of power washed over the vulpine. His body pulsed, energy like a supernova radiating

from his core and spreading to every part of his body. It was intoxicating, the feeling of immeasurable strength and augmented power. His body began to shift; he could feel his bones snapping and reshifting, his muscles burning, but the pain was part of the ecstasy, the adrenaline. He curled his toes, and his legs suddenly billowed in size. He huffed, and his chest surged like an advancing army. He tensed, and his arms inflated. All of him continued to grow— veins snaked their way across densely roped arms, biceps rising up like hills. The muscles

in his chest striated, filling out like a solar sail catching a sunspot. His core tightened and bulged, abs like stone stacking upon one another. His back spread out like wings, a rolling valley of

copper-furred, hard muscle, supporting a sprawling mountain range of his shoulders. His neck was like that of an ox, and his legs were thick as tree trunks. He was monumental; and Valette looked like the insignificant egghead he was.

Fox's grin widened as he loomed over Valette. The lion gasped, his jaw falling open. "W-what… how is this possible?!"

"Looks like I outgrew you, Doc," Fox rumbled. He huffed, his chest inflating mightily and tendons like steel cables in his bull neck surging until the collar snapped apart. His fingers dug into a steel blast door, plying it as if it were made out of clay, and tore it off its hinges. He threw it right at the lion, and he fell flat on his belly, covering his face.

"The other three are going to be coming back any moment, now— and we're going to have a bit of a talk." Fox grabbed the lion off the ground in one hand, letting him dangle as he held him aloft. "Don't worry, Doc— you're too useful to rough up." He flexed his arm, his enormous boulder of a bicep surging, the peak splitting as it crested. "We've got a lot of work to do."