J.F.K. International airport was quite the place to be at the moment; the airport was filled with thousands of cars and planes all cheering for the new winner of the Wings Around the Globe rally. This was in fact quite a big deal because the winner of this year's race was not expected at all and quite frankly, it was a close race to say the least. But no matter, the spectators were perfectly content with this new champion and the fact that he won really by pure luck. The reason for this? Well because no one expected the three time winner, racing Mustang Ripslinger, to lose to a simple crop duster.
Dusty Crophopper is his name; your basic run of the mill crop duster from the middle of nowhere. He's a small plane, with just one single prop, a rather cute orange and white paint job and less than a thousand horsepower, he's as simple as he can get, but none the less, he managed to outfly a purpose built P-51 racing Mustang in a race around the globe.
Upon crossing the finish line, Dusty was was the happiest he had ever been. When he landed and heard the the famous announcer Brent Mustangburger announce him the first ever crop duster to win the Wings Around the Globe rally, he nearly cried tears of joy.
As the crowd cheered and the other racers congratulated Dusty, another plane was currently being taken out of a pile of sludge that he had mistakenly landed in. This plane was none other than the captain of team RPX, Ripslinger, the three time WATG rally champion. After being overtaken by Dusty, Ripslinger was filled with rage, he had taken his mind off the race for a split second so that the crowd could get photos of him, and that decision allowed Dusty to take the lead in the race's final moments, letting the crop duster win. Ripslinger had never felt more embarrassed in his entire life. Not only had he lost, he lost to a crop duster, a plane who was never made to race; and now, Ripslinger had to be pulled from the sludge in which he landed himself after angrily chasing Dusty when he realized he'd lost his precious title of champion.
He didn't show it, in fact you would never even suspect it, but as Ripslinger was being put on a flatbed truck he was in pain, he was sad, and he felt lost. Ripslinger had an undefeated title in professional racing and before that, parents who unless he won something, wouldn't give him the time of day.
As he was being towed off after gaining the new nickname of "Ripstinker" he looked into the crowd of vehicles and spotted his parents who reluctantly showed up to see their son defend his title. When he spotted their faces, it took every fiber of his being to not burst into tears, because all he saw from these two planes was a look of hate, embarrassment, and disappointment; and he hated it.
Since Ripslinger was young, his family was rich; his father was the C.E.O. of the racing team he currently raced for, RPX. His mother on the other hand was the designer of his propeller, the Skyslicer MK 5, the most aerodynamic, lightweight, and advanced propeller ever made, and on top of his parents' being so successful, he was born into the astounded Baron family. Now while this seemed like the perfect family to be born into, nothing could be farther from the truth. Ripslinger's father, Thomas Baron, was nothing but a cheater and a liar who only wanted children for the status symbol. He hated having to actually care for his child, who to him was nothing but a brat. Then there was Ripslinger's mother, Reed Baron, she was an all business, no bullshit type of woman who never had time to do anything. After having her child, Reed simply did not have the time to cater to this young boy, so she would leave all responsibility on her husband. This lifestyle lead Ripslinger down a path that turned him into a vicious power hungry plane just so he could impress his parents, even just a little bit.
Ripslinger didn't have much time to look at his parents because as soon as there was an opening in the crowd, they quickly turned away and left the airport while the truck towed Ripslinger back to one of the hangars near the runway to be checked for any injuries. As he was unloaded and placed into a hangar, he was left alone while the madness of the airport was taken care of.
As the Mustang sat on his landing gear, favoring his right side, he saw a familiar face roll into the hangar, his manager Gary; a Cadillac CTSV with black and green paint similar to the plane's. Gary drove up to the Mustang's right side and looked Ripslinger in the eye.
"Rip, what happened out there? You were doing so well!" The Cadillac asked. His tone seemed to lack emotion of any kind.
"Gary, I… I don't know. This is a little too much to take in right now. Can I please have a little time alone?" Ripslinger asked in a low, defeated voice.
The Cadillac looked at the plane and sighed, he loved Ripslinger, he was a great racer and he did everything he was supposed to to win. "Kid, I'm not gonna lie to you, your folks… they're pretty ticked off right now. I'm gonna do what I can, but your dad might take you off your sponsorship."
Ripslinger gasped, he couldn't lose his sponsor! He needed them to make any sort of money out of this career and losing it could mean the end to his loved career.
"Gary… I… " Ripslinger tried to get the words out, but the threat of tears falling became way too strong, so he bit his bottom lip and shut his eyes.
Gary felt horrible, yes he knew Ripslinger could be a jerk, but he knew there was good in the kid somewhere and he would find a way to bring it out of him. The Cadillac put a tire to Ripslinger's right landing gear and patted gently.
"It's ok buddy, calm down. I'm gonna do what I can to fix this, for now, you sit here and rest, let me worry about this, I got your back." The Cadillac spoke with a faint smile.
Ripslinger nodded lightly and opened his eyes. Upon seeing this, Gary drove out of the hangar and left the Mustang to his thoughts.
On the other end of the field, Dusty was just now getting away from the massive crowd of cars and planes who wanted to talk to him. Currently, Dusty wanted to go talk privately with two close friends he had made along this journey, Ishani and El Chupacabra. While he was looking for them, he overheard Bulldog, a british racer, talking with another plane he didn't recognize, but he certainly recognized the plane they were discussing.
"Did you see him? He was almost in tears when they were hauling him off! I have never once seen that Mustang show any emotion other than anger." Bulldog stated with a hint of shock to his voice.
Hearing this, Dusty started to feel a hint of pity for the plane, he knew that he was a jerk and possibly wanted him dead, but he knew there had to be a reason he acted the way he did. With this in mind Dusty made his way over to the hangar where the Mustang was currently resting his sore body. Dusty very gently opened the door and rolled inside where he saw Ripslinger staring off into space with his usual stoic look.
"Hey." Dusty said with a smile on his face.
Ripslinger heard the voice and quickly looked at the small orange plane in front of him.
"What do you want Crophopper? I'm not in the mood for you right now!" Ripslinger said in his usual angry tone.
Dusty, expecting this answer, moved further into the hangar and allowed himself to sit in front of the large racing Mustang, slightly off to his left side, so that Ripslinger could more easily see him due to his long, upward pointing nose that could block his vision of what was directly in front of him.
"I figured as much, but look, I didn't come in here to rub anything in your face or start anything, I just wanted to say you put up a good fight, I hope to see you again soon, and I wish you luck for the future." Dusty stated in his usual happy tone.
Ripslinger glared at the smaller plane in front of him. He didn't want to seem soft and welcoming in front of his now biggest rival, he just wanted him to go away and let him think things over in his head.
"Okay thanks Crophopper, but I don't need luck, I'm Ripslinger! I'll be just fine." Ripslinger stated in an arrogant voice.
Dusty knew this was probably all he would get out of the large plane, so he turned around, and started to make his way out of the hangar, and said only one final thing before exiting completely.
"I know you don't like me, but the least you could do is show someone a little respect, especially someone who cares enough to make sure you're alright."
Ripslinger's eyes went wide. Dusty had given him attitude in the past, but it felt a lot different this time, almost like it wasn't said just to make the large plane angry but instead to give him something to think about. With this in mind, the Mustang didn't have enough time to say anything to Dusty, he could only watch him leave without another word spoken. Once again, Ripslinger was alone with his thoughts.
