Dusty and Zed made it LAX without much trouble and as soon as they landed, Zed bolted to the exit. He was eager to say the least, he knew that this time, he just might be able to get through to his friend and right now, nothing else in the world mattered.
It didn't take them long to arrive at Ripslinger's house, which was set in the Hollywood Hills and to Dusty's surprise, it was quite old and victorian looking. In fact, he seemed to live on a block where the houses were all very old, which made sense considering it was toward the base of the Hollywood hills instead of up towards the top where all the new super expensive houses were.
Rolling up to the door, Zed turned to Dusty. "When he answers the door, let me talk, no matter what he says, stay quiet."
Dusty gave him a nod to show he understood and with that, he rang the doorbell and waited for Ripslinger to answer. This did not take long either, soon the door opened and there was Ripslinger standing there with a glare on his face.
"So you actually showed this time, I'm impressed." Ripslinger said with a smirk.
He then shifted his eyes to Dusty who was very nervously standing behind a very confident looking Zed. "And you brought the farmer too, come to take care of my lawn?"
Dusty didn't respond, he just sat there and waited for Zed to make a move.
"So what now Rip? I did exactly what you wanted, what you always wanted me to do, I came here. You're so used to us having these arguments that you knew I wouldn't come this time, right? Well now I'm here." Zed said confidently.
Ripslinger's gaze softened a bit and he stepped aside to allow them to come into his house. Both planes made their way inside and as Dusty passed Ripslinger, he jumped at him and screamed boo in hopes of scaring him. It worked of course and Dusty jumped a little causing Ripslinger to chuckle.
Once inside, Ripslinger shut the door and looked at the two planes in front of him. His face showed nothing but confidence but inside, he was scared of what they might say, he really just wanted this whole situation to just go away.
Zed broke the ice and slid Ripslinger his Sky Pad to which he stopped with his landing gear. "Ok so you came all the way here to deliver this? Thanks guys, you make good messengers."
Neither plane spoke, they just stood there, letting Ripslinger guide the conversation. "C'mon you two, you're the ones who wanted to talk so talk!"
Dusty and Zed liked where this was going, they wanted to see what Ripslinger would do under nothing but pressure, and it was clear that Ripslinger was getting uncomfortable.
The mustang snorted and then moved right in front of Dusty who he felt would be a lot more intimidated by him. "C'mon Dusty, talk to me. Aren't we friends?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm and venom.
"Getting uncomfortable Rippy?" Dusty finally spoke.
"Excuse me?" Ripslinger stated.
"You're tapping your landing gear, you don't seem to be enjoying this very much." Dusty said with a smirk.
Ripslinger then noted that he was indeed tapping his tires on the tile floor and quickly stopped. "I don't get it, you guys wanted to talk so much and now you're acting like this wasn't your idea."
Once again sillence. The two planes just wanted to hear what Ripslinger was gonna do, they felt that they could break him down if they simply made him uncomfortable. It was working, finally Ripslinger got frustrated enough and decided to spark a pleasant conversation with Zed.
"Well to continue our chat from earlier, I'm still doing just fine as you can see, and really there's nothing left to talk about, I'm quite a boring Mustang at home." Ripslinger said with a grin.
"Rip I have a question: why did you come to my hangar after you were told not to? Gary told me he didn't want you going around talking with the other racers." Dusty said.
"Why do you think? You were so desperate to see how I was to begin with that I figured a little intimidation couldn't hurt right?" Ripslinger said with a smile and a quick revolution of his propellers.
Now it was Dusty's turn to do what Ripslinger had done to him back in New York. he rolled right into Ripslinger's face and made their nose cone's touch. "Now let's hear the real reason Rip. Why did you come to me after being told not to?" Dusty said with as much venom in his voice as he could.
Ripslinger was taken aback by this and was actually very nervous right now. He was starting to worry that he wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.
"I told you already." Ripslinger said, this time, much more quietly and nervously.
"C'mon Ripslinger you and I both know the real reason why you came to me, this is your last chance to just say it." Dusty said, pushing against his nose cone.
"To teach you a lesson." Ripslinger said. He was hardly able to get the words out and he was seconds away from tears falling.
Zed could only watch in amazement as his boss was broken down and he was getting very nervous but he knew it needed to come to this, this was important.
"Was it that Rip? Or was it because you were scared." Dusty said sternly, narrowing his eyes.
Ripslinger was now very slowly backing up but Dusty made sure their noses kept contact
"Just stop it." Ripslinger squeaked.
"You were scared Rip, you were scared that the world would hate you, scared that you'd lose everything you worked so hard for." Dusty kept it going, he knew he was getting to the Mustang, he wasn't about to lose it.
Ripslinger was now noticeably shaking and then finally his tail touched the wall, he was trapped.
"Please stop…" Ripslinger could hardly hold back the tears.
"You were scared that your parents, who never once showed you the love a son needs, would finally get rid of you completely, and destroy every hope you ever had of making them genuinely proud of you." Dusty said sternly.
That did it. Ripslinger finally gave in to his emotions and tears started pouring out of his eyes. For the first time since he was young, he let himself feel every emotion he bottled up, he let all his frustration, pain, and hope just pour out of him as tears.
Zed was speechless, here he was, Ripslinger, the baddest plane you could ever meet was crying uncontrollably. He could only watch as finally, Ripslinger had let someone get to him, and he was so happy it finally happened.
Dusty sat there and watched this poor plane shake while he cried uncontrollably, just begging for the one thing he had been deprived of since birth: love. At this point, Dusty couldn't just stand there and watch this, especially when Ripslinger literally collapsed under his landing gear as the emotions were all just too much to take.
As he cried on his floor, unable to get back onto his landing gear, he felt the gentle touch of Dusty's nose cone touch his fuselage. He didn't know what to think of this, it felt like he was gonna explode from all these emotions, but soon, he heard Dusty whisper to him.
"But you know what Rip? The worst of all of this is that you kept trying to make them like you, you kept trying to impress them, and that's their fault. They had no right to have a son, they didn't deserve you. What you need Ripslinger, is love, and there's nothing wrong with that. You are not just a racing plane, you're Ripslinger, you are your own plane, and the moment you let yourself understand that, the happier you'll be." Dusty spoke in the most sincere and loving voice he could.
"I… don't… I don't … wanna keep doing this…. I just want someone to…. Someone to like me…" Ripslinger choked out through tears.
Dusty lightly rubbed the top of Ripslinger's fuselage with his nose cone and spoke in a loving voice, "I like you Ripslinger, I like you for you. You're more than just a racing plane to me, you were my inspiration to pursue racing, you're…. My hero."
Ripslinger stood up quickly with tears running down his face. "I'm your… hero? After…. Everything I did… you still… like me?"
Dusty nodded to the Mustang and smiled. The next thing he knew, he was being trampled as this plane embraced him and wept onto his wing.
"I'm so sorry Dusty… for everything…." Ripslinger said in his most sincere voice.
"Ripslinger, it's time for you to take a break from all this, you're too good to be surrounded by people who don't know how to appreciate you for who you are." Dusty said as he let the huge plane cry on him.
Ripslinger nodded and kept holding onto the small racer, he didn't want this feeling to end. He finally knew what it felt like to be loved, and he just wanted it to stay this way forever.
Dusty sat there and held the Mustang close to him, he knew this was the first time he had ever let himself be loved, and he wanted him to keep that feeling for as long as he wanted.
The two planes kept their hold on each other for quite a while before Ripslinger pulled away and went through the whole hugging process again with Zed who appreciated the feeling more than he could ever imagine. After Ripslinger was content, he looked at both planes and smiled, his eyes still puffy and tear stains still on his face.
"I guess it's time I tell you my story, for real this time."
