Disclaimer: Indy best girl
I thought that I would be able to write two chapters per week in the summer since I have more free time now.
Key word is thought.
.
.
.
Laziness is a monster.
Reviews:
The One: No drink water. Drink specialized Indy Juice
Severak: Why thank you! The only thing that's missing is Indy, right? *Foreshadowing*
WarCorgi: Damn it. I should have definitely used that quote. ARGHHHHHHH
Intrepid's POV:
"You did this."
I heard Cleveland's voice resonate from the hospital room.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This couldn't be good.
"I kn-"
"Portland. Do you remember our agreement?" Cleveland's voice tremored. "Get out before I actually get your head."
"Bu-"
"Leave."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Portland slowly walked out of the room, lowering a vase of flowers at the entrance. As she passed me in the hall, I could feel her hot breath venting in and out. She didn't bother to acknowledge me.
.
.
.
Well… Frick.
I gulped before opening the door.
.
.
"Is this a good time?" I peeked inside. Cleveland was hurrying around the hospital room, heating up a microwave meal while boiling a cup of water.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Yeah, this is fine." Cleveland went to check Montpelier's gauze. "How are you Intrepid?"
"I'm okay." I took the meal out of the microwave and placed it on the counter. "Do you need any help?"
"It should be fine." Cleveland wiped her head before pouring a pack of instant hot chocolate into the mug. "I just gotta finish some things and then make my way to the Arena."
"I can do it." I offered. "You can leave."
"You have to warm up for your fight." Cleveland refused, taking the boiling water and dripping it into the hot chocolate mug. "I can finish this by myself."
"I don't really need to warm up." I brought the meal to Montpelier's bedside table. "You have to announce whatever that morning thing is, so you should go now."
"I really can't take your help." Cleveland shook her head, running to the sink.
"Do you want to waste more time arguing?" I tapped her.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Thank you." Cleveland briskly doused her hands in water before stuffing her feet into her shoes. "Just feed Montpelier and help her for a bit. I can't ask for much more."
"Got it." I watch her run out the door.
Now, the elephant in the room. (1)
Montpelier was completely covered by a hospital blanket. One of her legs was completely wrapped in plaster, with the cast hanging on a rope in the air. Thankfully, there were no tubes of IV fluids sticking out of the medical sheet. Apart from a few strands of ashy silver hair poked out off the bed, Montpelier remained largely hidden beneath the quilt.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Montpelier, I know you're under there." I pointed to the mass of blankets on the bed.
.
.
.
.
.
"I also know you're awake." I added, sitting down next to her.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"If you don't respond to me, I'll tell your sisters that I proposed to you."
.
"Jerk." Montpelier groaned, getting up.
"Yeah Yeah." I leaned on the bed. "What's up?"
"Please get off my stomach." Montpelier glared at me.
"Okay." I sat back up. "Do you want anything?"
"Can you leave?" Montpelier asked.
.
.
.
.
"Do you want anything else?" I offered.
"Get me my food." Montpelier pointed to the counter. "Then leave."
"Sure." I walked over to the counter and picked up the plate. "Anything else?"
"Silverware." Montpelier motioned.
"Allright, Princess." I took out a foldable tray and placed the packaged meal on top. "Anything else?"
Montpelier eyed the greasy provisions. "That should be all..."
.
.
.
"You're not going to eat that, are you?" I analyzed her.
"I will." Montpelier responded.
"Don't lie to me." I took the slop from the tray and dropped it into the tash. "I know how picky you were at Portland's when you broke your arm last time."
"I was not picky." Montpelier stated.
"Yeah you were. 'Portland, if you keep on feeding me that deep fried junk, I'm going to become as fat as an aircraft carrier!'" I imitated her everytime she threw a fit over dinner.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Montpelier snickered.
"That's not funny." (2)
Remember the plan, Portland.
Treat Independence like Louisville. Keep the distance and force her to use her aircraft pre-emptively.
Independence ran at me. I grinned and swung to the side.
.
Just tire her out. I slid through her punch and scraped the side of her hull.
She can't keep this up forever. Force her to use her planes, and then shoot them all down.
.
For some reason, Everybody here at base only seems to know how to aggressively attack. It's honestly quite odd. i mean, besides Baltimore, there aren't really any defensive fighters here.
Independence shifted her weight on her side, and lunged at me with her controlled momentum. I slowly strolled back out of her range.
.
.
.
.
Even Fletcher was harder to fight.
Was Independence always this easy to beat?
The carrier clicked her tongue and began to launch her planes.
There we go.
I turned my Anti Aircraft guns at the bombers as they roared off the runway. With several blasts of flak, soft clouds of black smoke concealed Independence from my sight. I lowered my guns with close range ammunition. I've seen this before at Guadalcanal. I am never making the same mistake twice.
In the dust, a large mass began to accelerate.
.
.
.
.
.
As expected, Independence raced from the smoke and leaped over me with a kiloton bomb in hand. Leaning backwards, I fired a full salvo at Intrepid's exposed belly, throwing her out of the ring.
Independence crashed into the water. I dusted off my clothes as the bomb detonated into the water, spraying me with water.
.
.
.
.
The carrier turned to me. "How…"
"You're facing a seasoned veteran of night battles." I snorted at the Fake Indy. "Using ash for a sneak attack is the oldest trick in the book. You have to try far harder to beat me."
.
.
Independence spat in the water, and the carrier's bow began to unfold as she re-entered the ring.
Montpelier and I silently waited.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
This was insanely awkward.
I ran out of things to talk about five minutes ago.
.
.
In my defense, It's certainly hard when all Montpelier would say was one word answers.
.
.
"Do you need anything?"
"My answer hasn't changed from a minute ago."
.
.
"Listen." Montpelier sighed. "I know that you are just here because you feel bad that I got hurt. You can leave now."
"That's not why I'm here." I denied.
"You can go." Montpelier pointed to the door. "I got your message. It's completely fine."
"I'll stay with you." I had decided. "I want to be here anyways."
"Don't lie to me." Montpelier rolled her eyes.
"I'm not." I patted her head.
"Then you should go to your match." Montpelier bargained. "It's coming up soon, and Cleveland said that you had to practice."
"I'll help you instead." I shook my head. "The match can wait."
"No it really can't." Montpelier looked at the clock. "It starts in several minutes. If you care, you need to go now."
"I don't care about the match." I squeezed Montpelier's hand. "That's why I already forfeited it beforehand."
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Why?!" Montpelier's shock spilled out of her mouth.
.
"Listen." I leaned closer. "I don't care about the match. I don't care about the standings. I don't even care about the tournament. What I care about you. You are infinitely more valuable than anything and everything I could possibly imagine; Staying with you is a far better reward than whatever I could earn there."
.
.
.
.
.
.
I briefly saw Montpelier's face flush red before she pulled the blankets over her.
Wait.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Oh my god that sounded like a confession.
.
.
"Uhhh..." I stammered. "I-I meant in a completely platonic way. We are friends, okay? Just Friends."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Oh." Montpelier gulped. "Yeah. okay."
.
.
.
"Let's just watch Portland's match." I covered up my mistake, reaching for the remote.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Idiot…" Montpelier muttered.
Allright Portland, You've got this.
Since this is a best out of five, I only need to win three to survive. I already beat her handedly two times. She hasn't won against me yet. All I need to do is to beat her right now.
.
Independence restocked her aircraft. I tentatively took a step back.
.
"So, I'm getting to see Indy after this, right?" I confirmed.
"Only if you beat me." Independence notched a kiloton bomb.
"Well, the score certainly points to it." I taunted. "Let's make the preparations for her return!"
"Why prepare for her return when she's right behind you?" Independence shrugged.
.
WHAT?!
.
I spun around and searched for Indy. Where could she be! I didn't smell her scent when sh-
.
.
.
.
.
Wait.
.
.
Oh no.
.
.
.
.
.
A metal bomb crashed into the back of my head. (3)
OooOoOoOooO
.
.
.
.
I rubbed my head. How did I fall for that twice?
.
Never mind that, I still have to fight. I stood back up and lifted my fists and returned to the ring.
I stumbled forwards into the match.
Just stand. Don't fall over.
How did Montpelier even manage to fight after being hit by a bomb of this caliber?
.
.
Well, if she can do it, so can I. I looked up at my opponent. At the sound of the whistle, I pointed my guns forwards to face my target. All I have to do is hit her.
Independence began to blur, with her body separating into red blue and green figures. The technicolor mirage swung forth at me, her arms bending in my view to land straight into my chest.
I wobbled backwards and tripped out of the ring.
"Round 4 to Independence!" The speakers announced.
.
Round 4? I only have one round left. Allright, FOCUS.
I took my hand and slapped myself.
.
.
.
.
.
I clutched my now red cheek. That was a dumb idea.
Independence once again began her stride towards me. I shook my head one last time before crouching down into my fighting stance.
The carrier raised her eyebrows at me. Her rigging clicked before she charged at me.
I pushed her first punch aside and knocked her right ear before stepping behind her.
Good. Just play it safe. No need to do something fancy to beat her.
Independence ran up and launched a kick towards my chin. I placed my hands near my neck and absorbed the shock.
The carrier spun around, and from her right hand, a trio of planes catapulted through the sky. My aft turret crushed the aircraft, its triple barrels rolling off instincts and WD-40.
Using her momentum and my temporary distraction with the attack run, Independence flew into a Montpelier-esque flying roundhouse. I took my arm and punched the corner of her knee, reversing the spin.
Carefully landing on one foot to preserve the continuous motion, Independence twirled her body so that the bottom of her landing deck circulated towards the side of my head. I lifted my starboard armour to block. The metal hulls scraped together violently as the shockwave of the blast echoed into ripples in the water.
I felt a barrel press against my stomach.
What? Independence doesn't have a turr-
.
.
.
.
I looked down to see an actual gun pointing to my stomach.
.
.
.
"Independence?" I whispered.
"It's really nothing personal." Independence informed me. "I just have a job to do."
I barely managed to sweep her feet out of the ring before she pulled the trigger.
.
.
.
A burning guttural pain swept from my ribs as I passed out from the heat.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Footnotes:
(1): Irony, at its finest.
(2): Au contraire, Intrepid
(3): Come on, Portland. This happened twice, You've got to learn better. Three times if you count Guadalcanal. Four times if you count Jaluit. Five- you know what? Let's just stop here.
Fluff is so fun to write.
Just going to causally add more fluff later on...
No one will mind, right?
Anyways, See you next week!
.
.
.
.
"Did you see that!" Montpelier pointed to the screen.
"Yeah!" I shouted back. "Portland just got shot!"
"I'm not talking about that." Montpelier shook her head. "Didn't you see that white bubble around her, Intrepid?"
.
.
"Uh... You might be seeing things." I responded. "Maybe that Kiloton bomb affected your vision."
.
.
.
"Maybe..." Montpelier muttered.