Hi, everyone! I know I've got another story I should be working on, and I am, but I found this story in a notebook, and decided to type it. Enjoy.
The dirt crunched beneath their feet, thankfully keeping the silence between the two reviewers relatively unnoticed. Their colleagues were ahead of them, some planning their trip home, a few still berating the Critic, but most were too exhausted to do anything but walk. Spoony and Linkara were bringing up the rear, both wanting to talk, but unsure of how to begin.
After a while, thought, Linkara decided to break the ice first.
"So, thank god that's over."
Spoony laughed a little, shielding his eyes against the Nevada sun to look behind him. The land of Molossia was growing more distant, but if he squinted, Spoony could still see the leader of the one acre nation, Kevin Baugh, standing guard over it, machine gun in hand.
"I think he still expects us to attack," Spoony muttered.
Linkara chuckled. "Me too," he admitted. "Why do you think I'm back here?"
As if to answer his question, the Nostalgia Critic turned to look longingly back at the house. Linkara held up his magic gun in warning, and indicated ahead with it. The Critic winced and hung his head sadly before turning around. Film Brain patted his back, which the Critic quickly knocked away.
After that display, the two friends lapsed back into silence. Spoony had been meaning to ask about what had happened with Dr. Insano, but a little afraid to find out. When he had woken up, some of his hair had been burnt and had a pounding headache.
Also, 3-D Lee poking his face. That was the most annoying.
"You okay, Spoony?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…"
"What?"
Spoony sighed. "He didn't hurt anyone too bad, did he?"
Linkara tiredly rubbed his eyes. So much for wanting to avoid this conversation. But Spoony had a right to know. "No, he just gave the Critic a good beat-down. Only reason he lost was because the Critic cheated."
"Oh, big surprise."
The comic reviewer waited nervously for Spoony to ask how, but thankfully never did. If he did, Linkara would have to explain that he had tried to get the Critic into shooting Dr. Insano. Ever since Spoony woke up, Linkara was careful to watch for some hint that Dr. Insano had done as he threatened, and let him know about that. But no, for some reason or another, he hadn't gone through with his threat.
After a few minutes, they finally reached the hotel. Everyone packed their few belongings, and headed to the airport, Nostalgia Critic muttering how he still could've kept Kickassia, until Angry Joe told him to put a sock in it, or he would do it himself.
The two friends sat at the bar, lost in thought.
"I'm really sorry, man."
Linkara looked up in surprise. "What?"
Spoony shook his head, and took another swig of his beer. "I'm sorry I caved, and I let him loose."
Linkara rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Look, Spoony, it's not your fault-"
"But it is! I could've just ignored them, or something."
"And they would've just kept hassling and hassling until you did cave," Linkara responded shortly. "It wasn't your fault. You shouldn't think like that."
"Then why did you bother to try and stop them?"
Linkara thought back to what he told Insano. "Because I'm your friend," he answered simply. It turned his stomach the way Spoony had no idea he sold him out, but there was no way in hell that he was gonna find out. Linkara was going to take that to his grave.
One by one, the team left on different airplanes to different places. When Spoony's flight was called, he gave Linkara a quick hug,
"Thanks for having my back, man. I owe you one."
Linkara forced a grin. "Don't worry about it, dude. Have a good flight, okay?"
"Yeah, you too. E-mail me next week okay? We can do a crossover or something."
Linkara nodded and off Spoony went to his plane to Arizona. He could tell Linkara was hiding something, but for now, it didn't matter. His head was pounding, and he desperately needed another drink.