Chapter Two: Fill N' Fly Fire
Dusty spent the rest of the day moping in his hanger. Sky went out to the cliff near her home to play her guitar, trying to get her mind off things. Karma seemed to hate her today; when she said she wanted a longer vacation, this is not what she meant. Later that night, Skipper insisted Dusty and Sky join him at Honkers to cope with the bad news. It seemed to help a little bit as the planes sipped cans of oil, but Sky couldn't stop frowning as she lounged on Skipper's wing.
Dusty sighed. "I guess you were right, Sky. Maybe we should've eased off the number of races we went to."
"Nah." Sky sighed. "Something tells me this was inevitable. It just happened sooner rather than later." It was hard to think about. Dusty wanted to be a racer to show he was more than just a crop duster. But even though his engine had the strength of a racer, his gearbox was still meant for a crop duster. It couldn't handle all the stress Dusty and Sky put on it during their races. That thought alone was enough to make Dusty and Sky even more depressed. Sky considered trying to use her psych-man abilities to "heal" the gearbox, but there wasn't exactly a human part equivalent to the piece of machinery.
The three of them looked up as Chug and Sparky called for them, hurrying into the bar and almost plowing down a waitress on the way. "We just got off the radio with Ethan up in Grand Flaps." Chug said excitedly.
"He's got the gearbox?" Dusty asked hopefully.
Chug and Sparky chuckled. "No."
"But his buddy owns twenty-one service hangers!" Chug said. "And he's gonna check his inventory, and he's gonna put the word out for you, Duster!"
"It's a great start!" Sparky said.
"There's hope for us yet, Dust Storm." Sky agreed.
"Because if that gearbox is out there, we're gonna find it for you, buddy!" Chug said determinedly.
"You guys rock." Sky said gratefully. "You hear that, Dusty? We'll be out on the race course again in no time!"
"And hey!" The five of them glanced over to see Leadbottom making his way towards them. "If you don't, it's all right! Because the answer is yes!"
"'Yes'?" Dusty repeated.
"What?" Chug blinked.
"Come again?" Sky asked.
"Yes?" Skipper raised an eye frame.
"Huh?" Sparky asked.
"Of course you can have your old job back!" Leadbottom said cheerily.
Sky sighed. Propwash Junction was on the map thanks to her and Dusty, but it was still a teeny tiny town. Word spread so fast no doubt news of Dusty's gearbox managed to reach at least half of the residents by now. I like the people of Propwash, but it's people like Leadbottom who seem to always tick me off.
"Leadbottom, that's mighty kind of you. But I don't think it's necessary." Skipper said, trying to sound civil despite how much the biplane annoyed him.
"Of course, you've got to start back at minimum wage, and you lost all your vacation time, gotta go through orientation again." Leadbottom noted.
"It's just that now is not the best time." Skipper said, casting a look to Sky that told her to keep out of the conversation. Sky reluctantly obeyed, despite wanting only to put her foot into Leadbottom's nose.
"Come on, Skipper!" Leadbottom urged, causing the Corsair and his daughter to roll their eyes. "We'll get him his old sprayer back and he'll be back to work in no time."
"No, thank you." Sky said through somewhat gritted teeth.
"What're you worried about?" Leadbottom asked curiously. "You can be free, go do whatever it is you used to do before you raced and whatnot."
Okay, now I really want to put my foot in his propeller. Sky thought.
"Dusty don't crop dust no more!" Chug countered, he and Sparky coming up to defend their friend.
"That's right!" Sparky said. "No more!"
"He's a racer! And he's gonna be back to racing in no time." Chug affirmed. "Right, Dusty?"
"Right, Dust?" Sparky echoed.
Silence.
Everyone turned to the table, only to see a lack of Dusty Crophopper. Sky cast a look towards Chug, Sparky, and especially Leadbottom. "Nice going, you dolts."
"What'd we do?" Sparky shrugged.
"You all got him freaked out." Sky said. "Mostly Leadbottom. But seriously, do you guys think Dusty wants to consider going back to his old job? He's come too far to turn back now. No offense, Leadbottom. I'm sure crop dusting is a wonderful profession…for those who choose to do it."
"Look, kid, I admire your support for Dusty." Leadbottom said. "But we all knew this was coming."
"And what makes you say that?" Skipper demanded, glaring at Leadbottom.
"The guy wasn't built to race!" Leadbottom said.
"He proved everyone wrong when he won the Wings Around the Globe Rally." Skipper firmly.
"And his gearbox being busted only further proves he wasn't supposed to race." Leadbottom said.
"Why should some people be forced into a job while others get a choice?" Sky demanded.
"Some vehicles are built for certain jobs." Leadbottom explained. "It's just how things work. It happens to humans too; some are born and built for certain reasons."
"Based on that logic, I should've expected my parents to love me. But that didn't work out, now did it?" Sky snapped.
Leadbottom opened his mouth to protest, but he immediately shut his trap. Chug and Spark looked down, but Skipper had a proud smirk tugging at his lips. Everyone knew that once Sky brought up her birth parents like that, the conversation was over. The young woman long since stopped believing her powers were a bad thing, but she couldn't get rid of her feelings towards her birth parents. The pain she felt when they tossed her aside like a piece of trash hurt more than anything else in the world, even more than when she and Dusty crashed during the WAG.
Nodding in satisfaction, Sky jumped down from Skipper's wing. "I'm going to the Fill N' Fly to look through Dottie's books. There's got to be a way to fix Dusty's gearbox or build a new one."
"If Dottie couldn't do it, what makes you think you can?" Leadbottom asked, more curious than anything else.
"Because I don't believe in a no-win situation!" Sky called over her shoulder as she marched off. Propwash Junction was quiet, with only the sound of the crickets echoing through the air. Sky stuffed her hands in her pockets, casually walking to the Fill N' Fly and meandering into the garage next to the runway. Humming to herself, she began perusing the shelves of books and manuals. Finding one about engines and gearboxes, she began reading. But as she skimmed through the books, she discovered gearboxes were much more complex than she expected. She didn't want to give up just yet; Dusty helped her achieve her dream by giving her the chance to fly, so she couldn't just let his dream fall short because of a fixable part.
And yet, as she studied a picture of a gearbox like Dusty's, Sky found her mind wandering. Did she even want to go back to racing? It's not like she felt singled out or anything; there were plenty of racers out there who had psyche human riders. But there were some people who questioned having psych-man riders on the racers. There was once a time when it was considered a whole different league, since people believed having a psych-man rider was like cheating in a normal race. Eventually, the rules fell apart for being rather illogical, and racers both with and without psych-man riders competed in the same leagues. Still, there were some people—not a lot, but still some—who questioned the purpose of a human rider on a racecar or plane.
'Humans should be riding animals, like jockeys do for horses.' Some would say. 'What's the point of a psyche human rider on a car or plane except to be a backup engine?'
Now, most of these claims immediately became stamped out by the general public who saw psych-man racers working with their vehicles as a team. It was comradery thing. Yet Sky couldn't stop thinking about what people sometimes said about her powers being nothing more than 'a backup engine' or 'like a fuel additive.' She knew she had the potential to do so much more with her abilities. Sky thought back to her talk with Dr. Ben on the Flysenhower. The psych-man doctor said so himself that Sky's powers were stronger than any he had ever felt. Psyche humans require a good amount of focus when activating their connections to vehicles; Sky could do it almost instantly. She could heal injuries in mere minutes; she could find memories in seconds; she could easily control her energy output when she raced with Dusty. All these things she could do, yet some said she was 'just a backup engine.'
Sky rubbed her arm, near her shoulder, where a familiar birthmark rested like a tattoo under her shirt sleeve. She pulled the sleeve down farther over her arm, to ensure the birthmark was covered. I know I have these powers for a reason. There's got to be more to me than this.
The sound of a roaring engine caught Sky's attention, and she looked out the window to see a familiar orange and white plane coming in for a landing. "Dusty?" She set the book she held down and moved to the doorway of the Fill N' Fly, realizing with a start that Dusty's glide was unsteady and jerking. "Dusty!" Sky called, wincing a bit when Dusty hit a couple of the lights on the runway. His landing gear hit the tarmac and he bounced a bit before swerving off and towards the Fill N' Fly. Dusty hurriedly applied his brakes. When that didn't work, he tried turning at an angle to use the friction to stop him. Sky stared in shock and then flinched in surprise and sympathy when Dusty rammed into the support column for the Fill N' Fly. The orange and white plane panted a bit, looking a bit overwhelmed.
"Dusty?" Sky called, beginning to move forward. "You okay?"
She and Dusty paused when tiny pieces of the propeller-shaped beam bounced off Dusty's nose. They looked up and stared in shock as the column creaked before falling away. Without the support, the prop-shaped roof began collapsing. Sky hurriedly jumped back, only to slip on the dusty cement floor and fall to the ground. She shouted in pain as a large portion of the roof landed on her ankle.
KA-BOOM!
Dusty and Sky gasped as an explosion erupted, flames bursting to life. "Fire! Fire!" Dusty shouted.
Sky tried to move, but grunted as pain flared up in her leg. "Dusty!" She coughed a bit from the smoke, the heat of the flames caressing her face. "Dusty, help! I'm trapped!"
Dusty wracked his brain, trying to think of a way to help but coming up with nothing. The shock and fear from the fire prevented him from rushing to Sky's side. He sighed in relief at the sound of a wailing siren and Mayday suddenly screeched to a halt in front of the fire. Somewhat dilapidated fire engine he may be, Mayday still impressed everyone with how quickly he snapped into action.
"Now listen up!" Mayday barked. "We gotta cool this down before it spreads!" Dottie and Sparky immediately got to work helping, hooking up Mayday's hose to the fire hydrant nearby. Mayday began spraying the water onto the flames.
"Mayday!" Sky called. "Mayday, help!"
Skipper narrowed his eyes. "Skylar?" His eyes widened at the sight of his daughter. "Skylar! Get out of there!"
"I can't!" Sky shouted. "The roof fell on my leg. I'm stuck!"
"Skipper, stay back!" Mayday ordered. Dusty and Chug quickly stood in Skipper's path to keep the Corsair from rushing to his daughter. Mayday redirected the water closer to Sky's area, keeping the flames back and away from the girl. But then, his hose began leaking terribly. Then again, the duct tape that patched up the holes in the old hose was old itself, and when Sparky tried to press his wheels and forks onto the holes he ended up getting tossed aside by the water pressure. The water stopped streaming from Mayday's hose.
Sky coughed from the smoke, staring in fear at the flames growing closer to her. "Somebody help! Please!" She coughed again, harsher this time.
"Skylar!" Skipper moved forward again.
"Don't!" Mayday barked, moving in Skipper's path and stopping the Corsair. "You go in there and I'll have two people to worry about! Skylar! Put your bandana over your mouth and nose!" Sky nodded, quickly obeying him.
"That's not going to save her, Mayday!" Skipper growled.
"I know!" Mayday said.
"Then what do we do?" Skipper demanded.
Mayday didn't answer for a second; if he tried to go in and help Sky now, the flames could overtake them both. He had to get the fire down to a controllable level. Then his eyes caught sight of the water tower next to them. "I need some help!"
Sparky and Dottie quickly got to work pulling up the large screws that kept the water tower anchored to the ground. Then they helped loop the hose and a couple strong cables around the supports of the tower, hooking the other ends of the lines to Mayday, Chug, Skipper, and Dusty. At Mayday's command, the four of them revved their engines, pulling with all their strength. The flames were getting closer to Sky; she could feel the heat in her trapped leg growing much like the fear she felt. Finally, there was a creaking sound as the water tower's supports broke and the entire thing began to topple over.
"Hold your breath, Sky! You're about to get wet!" Mayday called.
Sky looked up to see a wall of water coming right at her. Oh boy. She shut her eyes, holding her breath and plugging her nose as the water crashed into her and the Fill N' Fly. The water snuffed out the flames in seconds, but also made quite a mess of the garage. The water washed away and left only a few large patches of smoldering embers and a sopping wet Skylar Riley, who sputtered a bit but otherwise looked fine.
Mayday sped over towards the raven-haired girl, gently yet quickly pushing the destroyed section of roof up to allow Sky to pull her ankle out. "You all right, Sky?"
"I'm fine." Sky nodded, standing. "Thanks, Mayday."
"Skylar!" Skipper called, rolling a little closer.
"I'm fine, Dad!" Sky called, beginning to walk towards him. But excruciating pain suddenly sprang up her leg and throughout her entire body, and she gave a pained shout as her left leg crumpled underneath her. Mayday was quick to catch her, letting the girl lean on his hood. Sky grimaced in pain, her fingers clawing at the metal on Mayday's hood. "Ah Chrysler, not again."
"Easy there, Sky." Mayday gingerly scooped her up with his tire and helped her sit on his hood, carrying the girl a safe distance from the still-dying fire.
"What's wrong?" Sparky asked worriedly, everyone gathering around Sky and Mayday.
Sky grimaced again. "I….I can't move my ankle….." She glanced down to her wound and winced a bit. So did everyone else when they saw a large hole burnt into her jeans and raw, red skin on her leg.
"Don't worry, Skylar." Mayday assured. "I'm sure it's only minor. Let's get you home and patch you up."
"Sparky, go on ahead and find the first aid kit." Skipper ordered. "See if we still have a pair of crutches lying around."
"Sure thing, Skip!" Sparky hurried off to the hanger.
"Dottie, Chug, and Dusty, I need you to watch the fire to make sure it doesn't start up again." Mayday ordered. "Pour some water on it if you feel it necessary, but do it carefully."
"Yes, Mayday." Dottie, Chug, and Dusty said at once.
"You just stay right up there, Skylar." Mayday encouraged as he and Skipper made their way after Sparky. "I'll carry you home."
"You sure?" Sky asked worriedly, still sitting up on Mayday's hood. "Aren't I in your way?"
"Not at all." Mayday assured. "It's my job to make sure you're okay. You were just caught in a fire, after all."
Sky nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Mayday."
Dusty, Dottie, and Chug watched them go, relieved Sky wasn't hurt worse. But Dusty felt guilt weighing heavily on his engine. If he hadn't clipped that tower and made such a hard landing, he wouldn't have caused that fire and gotten Sky hurt. It was the WAG crash in the Pacific all over again, only this time it couldn't be denied: it really was Dusty's fault.
Sky…..I'm so sorry…..
A/N: I know some of you might be expecting Sky's biological parents to show up, but I have something different in mind.
