Chapter Eight
Perilous Plunge
The dry air of the desert had slowly morphed into a humid breeze that blew comfortably across them all as they slowly peddled across the desert. The thick sand was slowly receding into increasingly larger crops of flora. Mina would know—she could see it all in excruciating detail at the speed they were going. It was fairly obvious to her that the Marvelous Queen was dreadfully low on gas and Nack just wouldn't admit it. It wasn't like he had anywhere to fill it up anyways. Empire City was still a good few hours away. But the weasel seemed absolutely determined to not have to push the vehicle, even if it conserved the little resources he had left.
She sighed. If she didn't die from some stupid stunt that the Hooligans pulled, she'd die of thirst first. Though her parched fault was kind of her own fault…she had been practicing the song lyrics of that stupid song on the bike's player since the morning had come. Mina was nothing if not a woman of her word but right now she was kind of regretting it. They were out of water and her throat was aching for solace.
…She had memorized most of the lyrics though.
Hanging her body out the side of the sidecar, Mina peered across the horizon. The haze of light green seemed to be getting thicker as they drove forward, but with the sun reflecting right into her eyes it was impossible to tell how close or far it was. Even Nack, wearing a pair of sunglasses, seemed to be squinted incomprehensively ahead of them. Which didn't really give the mongoose any confidence to have him behind the wheel, no matter how slowly they were sputtering across the sands.
"Maybe we should get out and push the bike, Nack." Stella voiced Mina's internal concerns, leaning from her position seated behind the weasel to check the gas gauge. Her eyes immediately squinted at the cruel force of the sun. "I mean, we're really low on gas…and it's kinda hard to see."
"I have sunglasses." Nack grunted in response, tapping one finger against the side of the dark lenses.
Stella just rolled her eye and flipped back around to rest on the weasel's back again. Her icy eyes briefly flickered between the two sidecars, one with a passed out Bean hugging some unlit bomb and the other with the disgruntled mongoose and her 'bodyguard'. Bark wasn't looking too good in this heat. In fact, he was positively sweating up a storm in the deluge that was his arctic blubber and thick yellow fur. Mina looked up to him in pity; normally she wouldn't feel so bad for her captors but the poor bear looked like he was dying in the heat. His kind simply weren't made for this kind of sweltering weather.
Then again, if he passed out, she wouldn't have a hulking slab of muscle hovering over her at all times…
Mina sighed. It didn't really matter to think about that. There were still in nowhere land as far as civilization was concerned. If she hopped off the bike now then she knew that she would just be screwing herself. Either she'd starve to death, or she'd die or dehydration. Whichever came first. All she could do now was let the air blow through her hair as they whisked across the sandy plains and watch the various growing plantlife gathering the closer they got to that green haze in the distance. She hummed softly; the mongoose could almost feel the air getting cooler the closer they got to that enchanting haze.
"Gotta switch gears or something." Nack muttered; she sent Stella an annoyed look. The fox just shrugged; they both knew there was nothing to be done about the Marvelous Queen at this point. Switching gears would just make the gas deplete quicker…but it was clear that the sun wasn't making the weasel think straight. It wasn't really making any of them thinking straight.
With a jerk, the bike sped forward with a resistant sputter from the engine. Mina gasped slightly and fell back. Quickly she shot a glare at the weasel as they picked up speed into the distance. Then, with a sniff, she closed her eyes delicately and leaned forward. That breeze coming from the haze sure was nice…cool, inviting, much different from the sun in the previous few miles that had tormented them so. It almost reminded her of…
Her eyes snapped open.
"Hey, w-wait! Hold on!" Mina protested, leaning over the sidecar to Nack and Stella. The fox girl gazed at her inquisitively but Nack just placed a finger on the mongoose's forehead and pushed her back. "Hey, what the hell! Listen to me!"
"I'm driving. I'm busy, Pop Star." He groused. "You think it's easy to drive in this weather? Geez, I can't see anything…"
"Of course you can't! The sun is blazing! But, Nack, listen to me!" Mina yelled urgently. Both the fox and the weasel were looking at her in confusion now. "The feel of the air, the cooling…"
"'S nice. Dunno what you're problem is."
"No, you IDIOT! There's a fall up ahead! Cliffs, you idiot, CLIFFS!" Mina screamed. Nack immediately snapped to attention, pulling the side of the bike to a screeching halt—the bike slid across the sand to bump across patches of flora. Stella gripped tightly on Nack's waist while the mongoose let out a shrill shriek, covering her head and ducking into the sidecar. Within seconds Bark's massive arm was above her.
It was too late. Much, much too late.
With a deafening screech of metal against solid rock, the entire body of the Marvelous Queen slid through the green haze and over the side of a massive cliff. Only the furthest sidecar, carrying the still sleeping Bean, kept them from falling off entirely. Blearily Mina realized that the green haze was the reflection of trees and flowers below and around them. Looking down, her eyes widened when she realized what they were reflecting off of—the misty, heavy haze of a waterfall cascading out from inside the stone walls. It rained down into one of many water pools spotted on the ground below them.
Her first instinct was to panic.
It also happened to be her second instinct as well.
As she tried desperately to remain calm while she was in the sidecar of a motorcycle hanging desperately over a cliff, she tried to run through some ideas wildly. What was one even supposed to do in this type of crisis? The bike was already scrapping downwards and Stella had fallen down from her perch on the back of the bike and onto Bark's stomach. Nack was desperately revving the engine, only to get no response—it was out of gas. So much for taking advantage of the flight capabilities. Stiffly the weasel looked down at the three below him—Stella on top of Bark, Mina buried under the bear's arm. He couldn't pull them all up. He had NEVER been the muscle of the team.
"Stay…still." He whispered urgently. Fear was present in his eyes. Mina, Stella, and Bark just nodded silently. Their eyes reflected the same fear—the cascading water below them.
Slowly, Nack fixed his gaze on the other side of the bike—Bean, fast asleep and unaware of it all. Noting his own position half on and half off the cliff, a sudden flash sparked in his mind. Reaching out to the sidecar still on the shelf of rock, he shook Bean awake urgently. The bird groaned in annoyance and blinked at the weasel, eyes full of sleep and annoyance. "What do you want? Are we there…"
"Bean. Summon some bombs. DON'T light them." Nack instructed. The duck cocked his head to the side in confusion, climbing up to hang off the sidecar. The weasel's eyes widened as the entire vehicle creaked dangerously away from rock. "Fer God's sake, Bean! What are you doing?! Just do what I say and summon the damn bombs! Weigh out the other side!"
"Weigh out what now?" Bean yawned, crawling across the metal strut connecting the sidecar to the bike. Nack's eyes widened dramatically, mouth falling open in disbelief as the bike screeched further forward. Bean just made a small humming sound as he looked down at the situation. From the further sidecar, Bark held out his hand urgently to stop the duck. Stella and Mina joined him, waving their hands wildly as they teetered close to the edge. "You know…"
"You don't know jackshit! Get back there and do what I said!"
"An explosion might fix this."
"WHAT?!" Nack screeched as the duck giggled; the weasel's eyes immediately focused in on the sidecar that the dynamo had left, the bomb he had been cuddling in his sleep now fizzling down to the bottom of the fuse. "SWEET JESUS, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YO—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the fuse met the base and an explosion rattled throughout the plains. The sidecar keeping them tied to the cliff side was blown violently across the sands and dried grasses, detaching from the main vehicle. Screams rang out as they cascaded down alongside the waterfall, along with a contented whistle from the duck. Mina could barely hear a string of obscenities being screeched loudly through the wind and sound of the waterfall. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and struggled to push her feet in front of her. The Hooligans flailed wildly to try to move in the wind.
And with a smack and a splash, they all hit the water. Immediately Mina felt enveloped in pain, prickles covering her body like a harsh burn. A gasp pushed out of her inadvertently. Water rushed into her mouth and she flailed her arms and legs to get to surface—it seemed like a fruitless effort. Her entire body felt like it had just done two full days of work with no rest. Even though she could see the sun reflecting in the clear water just above her…it was like fighting to get past a brick wall. Everything hurt so bad.
Everything was becoming darker…her eyelids dropped listlessly as her body sank downwards. She could feel the pressure of the waterfall behind her. It was trying to suck her in. Once she was in there…there was no out. The mongoose knew that, she kept repeating it over and over in her mind, but her body wouldn't comply. Even her own mind wasn't complying anymore—it was all becoming foggy and confusing as she drifted further downwards.
I can't believe this is how it all ends. She thought listlessly through the fog of her mind as she was slowly pulled further backwards. Years of being part of a rebellion, fighting, and this…this is it…?
She was snapped out of her reverie when she felt an arm curve around her waist to pull her up against a back. Her legs loosely latched around the waist, the back of her feet resting comfortably against the top of a belt buckle. The sun came closer and closer as Mina felt herself being pulled upwards against the current. Her mind was too confused to figure out what was going on anymore—all she could register was pain and her lungs longing desperately for air.
With a loud gasp, they broke the surface of the pool.
Mina blinked blearily as she was paddled across the lake. Bark was already on the beach of the pool shaking off the water in annoyance. In the back of her mind she registered that her legs were wrapped around Nack's middle, that her head was buried in the crook of his shoulder as he swam closer to shore. At the moment she couldn't find the will to care. Everything hurt far, far too much to be bothered with thinking about whatever was going on.
As she was laid down on the shore, she could see Bean to her left climbing out of the water with water dripping off his oiled feathers. He had a huge grin on his face; craning her head, Mina could see that his partner did not share that enthusiasm. Bark was glaring openly at the duck. If she had bothered to focus on them any more, the mongoose would've noticed the grin slowly dying off from Bean's face under the harsh and inspecting eyes of the bear. He shuffled up to sit next to them with his legs against his chest, seemingly contemplating.
With a groan, Mina tried to sit up; it was no good. She barely rose without pain running across her skin. If she didn't know better she would've sworn her actual fur was burning with the pain. Her clogged eyes focused in on the weasel who had brought her ashore—or rather, where he had been. Nack had turned back to the water to dive right back in. The mongoose managed to prop herself up on her elbows high enough to watch curiously.
Behind her, Bark popped open the back of the very trashed Marvelous Queen that he had dragged out of the water—he fished out a waterproof case and popped it open to grab several towels. One went atop the young pop stars head and she yelped in protest as the thick fabric blocked her eyes. When the towel was pulled away from her now messy hair, she saw the weasel paddling back to shore again—this time, with a small fox atop his back.
Stella Frost…
The girl was placed down gently, far more gently than Mina was, on the sand next to the pop star. Feeling the pain slowly ebbing, the singer climbed closer to the unconscious girl. Nack slapped her away and snapped his fingers at the team muscle. Bark nodded and went back to the waterproof case, this time bringing out a small travel-sized First Aid Kid. In the meantime, the weasel pressed the side of his head against the small child's chest.
At that point, Nack made the most genuine sound that Mina had ever heard out of the thieving liar. A long, wistful, relieved sigh.
"Jesus, kid, you worried me." He shook his head as Bark began to wrap the unconscious girl's wounds. "Bark, is she going to be okay? She's still breathing but…"
Bark just put a hand over the weasel's mouth, not even bothering to look at him, and nodded sagely as he lifted the small leg to wrap bandages around. In the bear's massive hand her leg looks like a toothpick, yet he treated it with the grace and sophistication of a pianist. Bean and Nack hovered over this delicate process while Mina watched in fascination, watched as three of the most infamous bounty hunting criminals acted like a child they were paid to have…
…was each of their own.
Almost transfixed by the surreal scene, Mina made to go to the little girl's side—only to hiss in pain and fall forward. Her leg was burning with pain. Nack looked up suddenly, almost as if he was confused, looking at the mongoose as if he was surprised to see her despite the fact that he had pulled her out of the waterfall. Bark didn't say a word, he just tossed a spare roll of bandages to his leader as Stella coughed up water and glanced around blearily. A large hand patted her head reassuringly.
Nack, in the meantime, plopped down next to the popstar and gestured her to hold out her arm. He blocked off Mina's view of Stella and the Hooligans duo so, with a sigh, she held out her leg instead. He raised a brow but shrugged, lifting up the leg to press his thumb lightly around the ankle. Around the base, Mina let out an audible hiss and the weasel hummed in interest.
"Right here, right?"
"…Yes. I think it's broken."
"Don't be a goddamn drama queen." Nack reprimanded, pressing on the spot harder this time. "It's probably a sprain. You probably got it when you hit the water feet first. How did that feel? One to ten pain gauge?"
"I-I mean…it's not that bad…maybe a one or two…?" Mina stuttered out. Nack paused to shoot her a flat stare. "…Well, I mean, it's probably more of a three or four. A three. D-definitely a three."
"Ain't got nothin' to gain from lyin' to me right now, princess." Nack muttered, pulling the bandages off the roll and around her aching ankle. She winced slightly at the sensation against her fur. "It's gonna hurt. I ain't got no ice to put it on so you're just gonna have to take it easy. It's either a sprain or bruising. Probably the latter, we didn't fall THAT far. Yer probably gonna feel some burning in your skin for a while now, that'll be normal. 'S gonna feel better way sooner than this does, I'll tell you that for damn sure."
"You do this often or something?" Mina quipped. Nack let out a huff of a laugh.
"We try not to. I know ya think we're a group of idiots, MINA, but we're not so stupid that we regularly try jumping off of cliffs." Nack paused for a moment to look back at Bean with a grimace on his face. "…Well, I mean, most of us. Bean's always been a headcase causing problems. But he'll pay for it."
"He will?" Mina asked quizzically. Nack nodded as he snipped off the end of the bandage on her ankle. "Uh, how? How will he pay?"
"I think you'll figure it out if you meditate on it a bit. That's what you socialite types like to do, right? Meditate?" Nack was grinning now—he was screwing with her. The purple haired girl didn't smile back. She just stared right back at him with a serious look on her face. "The hell is your problem? What, did you figure out how he's gonna pay? I mean, I don't like to think about it either, but that's their busi—"
"Thank you."
"…ness. What?"
"You saved my life back there. I know you just did it because you want your payout and all that but…you still did. Thanks." Mina said. The weasel looked back in forth, as if he wasn't quite sure how to take this sudden change of heart. "What, do you think that means I trust you guys or forgive you for kidnapping me? Gimme a break, I'm no dolt. But I was raised to thank someone when they do something good for me. Especially when it's saving me from death."
"Eh, well, I…you're welcome…?" Mina could tell the weasel was not used to being thanked—from the way he acted, she wasn't sure if he had ever heard the words 'thank you' in the same sentence before, at least not directed at himself. Somehow she felt a chuckle rising is her chest because of his expression. "Hey, THAT ain't too thankful."
"Consider it a counterbalance for putting me in this stupid situation."
"…Alright, if you wanna play hardball." He muttered, lowering his water soaked hat over his eyes. They sat there for a bit, the sounds of the waterfall and Stella being cleaned off and bandaged up being their only companion. Mina glanced past the weasel to the small fox girl as she was toweled off—Bark's sturdy body seemed to have endured little damage, and Bean had curiously suffered no damage at all despite his small and unintimidating frame. The little bird was a curiosity for sure. He was currently hanging off Stella with a forced forlorn frown on his face.
"…I know you told me that…I mean, to not ask questions about Stella, but…" Mina began. Nack looked at her from the corner of his eyes, still staring out into the gushing waterfall. "…you guys really consider her part of the team, don't you? You treat her like she's your very own daughter. What HAPPENED there? I would've never imagined any of the Hooligans picking up a little girl like her."
"…Well, her face is on the news, so I guess it'll come out sooner or later." Nack sighed; his fingers inched desperately for a cigarette to pop in his mouth but there wasn't a chance in hell that any of them had survived that waterlogged fall. It seemed that worldly addictions would have to wait. "She hired us to find her parents. We're still lookin', technically, but its mostly a formality at this point. A side project ta our regular work, I guess."
"You've been hired by Eggman and I don't see him tagging along with you." Mina noted. Nack snorted.
"Who would want that helium balloon along on my work? It's bad enough that I have to keep in touch with his ugly mug when I'm on assignment for him." Nack snorted. "I can't explain. And I ain't gonna bother to. Jus'…that kid is special to me. I ain't ever wanted kids but if I did then that kid would be the kid I wanted."
"I can see that. You went straight after her with no second thoughts."
"Hey, gotta protect your village. Even if your village is comprised of village idiots and nothing else." Nack chuckled. "How's the ankle?"
"Huh? Oh!" Mina looked down at her bandaged ankle. The throbbing feeling had disappeared into a dull, minimal pain. "It's good, actually. I guess it's not broken. Probably not even a sprain either."
"Told ya." He snickered. Then he stared back at the waterfall. Mina could barely see that he seemed to be focusing to the side, on the fox child and the duo that he supposedly directed. Stella was walking around—Mina wasn't sure if Nack was aware of the clear relief on his face. "…Ya should get some rest, popstar. We're gonna be going into Central City tomorrow. But its gonna be on foot so that ankle is gonna get tested out."
"Oh…yeah. I guess you're right." Mina replied. She stretched her leg out to wiggle it slightly—it felt better, but she wouldn't be running on it anytime soon. Any plans she could've had for bailing to reach Central City before the Hooligans was officially shot. She figured that she would just have to wait at this point and see what happened. Maybe, just maybe, she'd have a chance in the city itself…
"Hey brother, what you thinking…" She sang to herself under her breath. "They call it lonely digging…"
