Chapter 14
Felix rushed down the road as fast as his legs could carry him. He had heard the crashing coming from the direction of the apartment building and knew immediately what it was. He reached the property line just as the sounds of demolition had eerily fallen silent. That's when he saw Ralph with Gene in his grip. Forgetting his fatigue he could only think about how he didn't want Gene or anyone else getting hurt.
"Ralph!" He shouted, hoping to gain the giant's attention.
Ralph barely turned to acknowledge the pest trying to interrupt him.
"Oh, look Gene, your favorite tool is here."
"Felix!" The mayor called out desperately.
"Ralph, you put him down." There was no quavering in his voice, no gentility, not even a "please", Felix's tone was dead serious.
This time Ralph gave Felix his full attention, turning to stare down at the handyman.
"I tried things your way Felix," he shrugged, flailing his free arm around as he spoke, ignoring the obvious distress it was giving Gene. "I gave Gene here one last chance to take his building and get off my land. But he's refusing to cooperate."
Gene recovered his composure and scowled.
"Like I'd ever negotiate with a ruffian like you." He huffed, momentarily forgetting his perilous position.
Ralph gave him a little squeeze to remind him which of them had the upper hand.
"So, as always, he's forced me to take matters into my own hands."
Gene grunted, uselessly wiggling to get out of Ralph's fist.
Despite the declining situation, Felix did not let panic slip into his voice.
"Now listen to me Ralph, I know you're sore with Gene, but he hired me to deal with you. So I'm the one you have to Hokey-pokey with now. Let. Him. Go."
Ralph thought about this a moment, then shrugged. It really didn't matter to him at this point. He'd only be trading one annoying pip-squeak for another. Callously, he tossed Gene aside. Felix tensed, reaching for his hammer. Thankfully Gene landed on top a row of bushes, and while covered with leaves and twigs, he was safe and unharmed.
Ralph continued his climb, getting to the fifth floor and punching a massive hole into the building. Here he stood, still glaring at Felix.
"I'm taking this building down." He announced, "Tonight."
His hand still on the hammer, Felix nodded. He knew it was coming to this. This was the only thing that got through to Ralph, and through some divine providence he still had the tool that could make his plan possible. Destiny, it seemed, had led him to this moment.
"Wreck if you must, Ralph." He stated calmly, making his way to the building "But, I'll have you know that no matter what you wreck, no matter how much you wreck it…"
He held his hammer aloft, letting it gleam in the moonlight, a proud smile forming on his face.
"I can fix it!"
Ralph snarled inwardly. He had known that he would regret letting Felix keep that infuriating hammer. But it would be a moot point once he reduced the building to a pile of dust. He would then deal with Felix and his hammer for good. He continued to pound the building, busting windows with the vibrations of his blows, breaking loose bricks from mortar, knocking huge chunks of building to the ground.
Felix rushed into action. Hammer in hand he swung at the cracked walls and fractured windows, repairing the damage as fast as he could. This time he was intensely mindful of where debris was falling and jumped from the path of the bricks and glass Ralph was breaking free.
Ralph looked down once he started hearing the unmistakable sound of the magic hammer. He glowered as he spotted Felix hopping around, repairing his damage with blows of golden light.
"So, you're up to this again, are you?" He frowned. Fine, if Felix was going to insist on getting in his way, it would be his mistake to make. Ralph no longer worried or cared if he hurt the handyman. With that hammer in play he could give Felix his worst, and he was ready to do just that.
He grunted loudly and punched the concrete he was standing on. More bricks rattled from the walls. Felix jumped out of the way just as he was finished with the last window in the row. Hopping up to the next level, he ignored Ralph's irritated noises and continued working.
Window after window glass came back together like puzzle pieces magnetically drawn to one another. Cracks vanished and bricks spontaneously appeared where ones had gone missing. Seeing Felix ascend to the next floor and speedily closing the gap between them, Ralph doubled his efforts and smashed the building with such ferocity that it kicked up a huge cloud of brick dust around him.
The hailstorm of bricks rained down at Felix. He managed to dodge backwards to the very edge of the last window ledge and kept his balance there until the deluge past. Nimbly he leapt around the next wave of debris Ralph sent his way, timing the plummeting rubble to get to the next set of broken windows.
Ralph saw Felix was ready to advance to the next floor and made his way higher to put more distance between them. Felix took this moment to catch his breath. Glancing down he noticed that he had surpassed the height he had been at last night when Ralph had knocked him off the building. Now tonight, it appeared he had Ralph on the run. A smile turned his mouth, he gripped his hammer and jumped to the next level.
Ralph continued to thrust his fist through the walls of the building. He punched windows, stomped shutters, sent more bricks falling over Felix. When he reached the next overhang, he looked below to see how the handyman was fairing. To his amazement and frustration, the little fixer was still keeping up and actually smiling through the whole ordeal. Letting out a roar, he punched the overhang with both fists with a force that sent the lower half of his body into the air. He gave his punches all the strength he could concentrate into them. He smirked as some of his loosened bricks smashed some windows that Felix had already repaired. The repairman only turned around and mended them again right away, still smiling.
Felix had found his stride. Even with broken shutters and falling bricks in his path, he jumped about with all the confidence of an acrobat on the high-wire. It was as if some invisible force was guiding him safely up the building. Adrenaline pumping through him, he made his way higher and higher. With each floor Ralph stepped up his game, but Felix did not back down.
At several points during his climb he'd spot a window open and a Nicelander would call out to him:
"Great job Felix!" or
"Keep it up Felix!" were shouted over the smashes and crashes. The encouragement made him even more determined to get the job done.
Fists pounding, hammer striking, the odd looking battle of wills escalated until ultimately it led to the roof of the building. Nicelanders leaned out their windows, straining to hear what was going on.
Ralph stared Felix down, furious the building had been fixed right out from under him. Felix stared back, not willing to be intimidated. That look reminded Ralph of what Felix had said the previous night:
As long as you keep wrecking, I'll keep fixing.
So there they were; a showdown between an unstoppable force and an unmovable object. A David versus Goliath moment reaching its peak.
"You've got some nerve trying to stop me." Ralph grunted, breaking the tense silence.
"Well, you've got some nerve trying to destroy other people's homes." Felix replied. There was a hint of pity in his eyes as he glanced up at Ralph. "You know, it doesn't have to be this way." He wanted to give Ralph one last chance. The Nicelanders were good people, why wouldn't Ralph even try to be nice? As long as he had his hang-ups, nothing could get better.
"You don't know anything." Ralph retorted curtly. For all his optimism and positive world outlook, Felix was clueless. The Nicelanders didn't want him, so he didn't want them, plain as day. They weren't worth the effort. The handyman would never understand. Ralph snarled as he raised his fists, "Maybe if I beat some sense into you…" He stomped closer to Felix.
Felix stood his ground, clenching the hammer tight, preparing himself for the worst.
Suddenly the door to the roof access flung open and Felix found himself flanked on both sides by several Nicelanders.
"Don't you even dare touch him!" Deanna commanded.
"Yeah, leave him alone!" Added Marty.
The other Nicelanders swarmed angrily around Ralph, shouting at him. Last night's little mob hadn't been some fluke, they had genuinely found the courage to stand up to Ralph in order to defend Felix from harm. Ralph drew back as the smaller citizens advanced on him. He was more surprised than afraid. He had been so used to them cowering in fear of him. Now they chased him like a pack of Chihuahuas. They pounded their fists against his legs, some tried stomping on his toes, while others continued yelling at him. He stumbled and tried swiping at them.
"Hey, get off!" He demanded, realizing they had forced him to the edge of the rooftop. Felix could only stare at the spectacle in disbelief and also a little pride. They had really worked up the gumption to band together and take on a common enemy.
Ralph snarled, having had enough of this pestering. He raised his fists over his head, ready to slam the roof and any Nicelander foolish enough to not get out of the way. But in that same moment, the Nicelanders all pushed Ralph at once. The simultaneous movements caused the top-heavy wrecker to wobble backwards, horribly off balance. His enormous weight crashed through the brick barrier that blocked the edge of the roof and he fell straight down with a holler.
Felix's pride turned to fear as he heard a heavy thud and a wet splat.
"Oh my land!" He rushed to the edge and looked down, dreading what he'd see.
On the ground, Ralph lay face down in the large mud puddle Felix had discovered earlier that day. The superintendant let out a sigh of relief as the wrecker lifted his mud-caked face and attempted to haul himself out of the muck, unharmed but slipping in the slick sludge and falling face first a second time.
Next to him, Felix heard one of the Nicelanders chuckle. Then another tried to hold back a titter. But as they all watched Ralph struggle to get up, only to further slip and slide and cover himself more with mud in such a humiliating fashion, the entire crowd was quickly roaring with laughter.
Ralph looked up, scowling at the hecklers as wet mud dripped off his face.
"Ha! That's what you get for messing with Niceland!" Gene shouted down at him. "Next time we find you up here, we'll throw you off!"
"We did it!" Roy exclaimed.
"That was exciting." Rhonda smiled.
"We couldn't have done it without you Felix." Don cheered.
Felix blushed, "Well, uh, it was really a group effort in the end…" he stammered.
"Nonsense." Gene corrected him. "If it weren't for you, we'd never think of standing up to him. You're a hero!"
Felix smiled bashfully, then blushed even deeper when Mary suddenly hopped up and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you so much Felix." She gushed. "I'm going to bake you a pie!"
"Pie? This guy deserves a metal!" Gene retorted. He put a hand on Felix's shoulder. "We're proud of you, m'boy."
Proud of you. Those words repeated in Felix's mind, but this time in his father's voice. It was one of the last things he had said to his son; "you make me proud."
He looked down at the hammer still in his hand. His hammer. He had done what his father had asked of him. He had used it for people who truly needed it. He had exceeded his own expectations and risen to a challenge that three days ago he didn't know he'd be capable of handling. He looked around at the Nicelanders celebrating their victory on the rooftop and was humbled by the knowledge that he had given them the hope they needed to stand up to Ralph. With this hammer he could keep giving them that hope.
Out of the corner of his eye, Felix noticed the still broken brick barrier at the edge of the roof. Giving the bricks a quick fix-up tap he happened to peer over the side and caught eyes with Ralph.
The wrecker stood there, next to the mud puddle, still dripping with filth, staring grimly upwards at the building.
The two held their gaze on each other for a long, tense moment. In that instant, Felix realized that this was not the end of anything, this was only the beginning. Ralph's angry glare told him he'd be back tomorrow and every day after that until one of them gave up.
Felix stared back as stoic as during their faceoff on the roof. He had accepted the challenge. Content that his message was received, Ralph turned and lumbered back into the woods.
Felix turned his attention back to the Nicelanders and let his mood brighten. Seeing their overjoyed faces, hearing how grateful they were to have him and his help, tonight he felt like a winner. Slipping his hammer into his tool belt, he rejoined their group as they invited him to the penthouse for a celebration.
Sure, he'd play Ralph's game, for as long as necessary. Maybe one day the large man would see how silly it was to carry on like a child having a tantrum every night, but until then he'd hold Ralph in check for the sake of the Nicelanders, his new friends.
He'd keep them safe.
He'd fix their homes.
He'd be their hero.
[The End]
OMG you guys, it's done! I'm really happy and proud I got this done. This is the longest fanfiction I think I've ever written (seriously I used up an ENTIRE notebook on this thing.) I am going to post my answers to the Q&A later this weekend, so you still have time to ask something if you haven't already. Bye for now.