This is just a little oneshot off of my main story, "Lost Time". If you haven't read it already, then you'll probably be confused, so I recommend doing that first.
If you already have, though, then this is about that certain incident Julie and Mags argue about at the end of chapter 13. Hope you enjoy this little romp!
"Now, you promise you'll fly—"
"Within regulations, yeah, yeah, Mags, I got it!" Julie says as she starts walking towards Taurus, Mags' shiny green ship loaded with all sorts of awesome modifications. What they were, she didn't quite know, since weaponry was her thing, but all she cared is that whatever they were, they let him go fast, and that's all that really mattered.
"I was going to say 'fly like you're not the worst pilot I've ever seen." Mags corrects her, a little apprehensively. "But I would like that, too."
She stops walking and instead hangs her head up with a groan. "I'm gonna be fine! Stop being so worried about me!"
"I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about Taurus!" Mags replies, looking right past her to the ship in question. "I've put a lot of bolts into her!"
"Aw, thanks, Mags. I'm glad you care so much about me and my wellbeing, buddy ol' pal." Julie says sarcastically.
"Julie, your job is figuring out new ways to blow things up. If that hasn't killed you yet, then a crash sure as hell won't." He answers, finally looking back at her. "But I can't say the same thing about Taurus!"
She rolls her eyes. "Calm down, you big baby. I'm not going to crash your ship. I'll treat it even better than my own!"
"Saying you'll treat her with the bare minimum amount of respect isn't exactly reassuring to me."
"Ugh, are you going to let me fly her or not, then?" Julie asks, putting her hands on her hips. "Because if you keep whining like this, then it's just gonna make me feel guilty!"
"I…" He sighs. "Just… be careful, okay? I'm doing this because I'm trying to be a good friend to you, Julie, and I don't want to regret doing that."
Julie gives a small smile and walks over to him before putting her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Mags. I know how much your ship means to you, and I really appreciate you letting me fly her. I'll bring her back in one piece, I promise."
He looks at her for a moment, and up to Taurus, and back at her before he takes a breath. "Alright. I trust you. Just go ahead before I start to change my mind."
Julie and grins and gives him a quick hug before running over to the ship. "Thanks Mags! You won't regret this!" She says to him before hopping into the ship.
"I hope you're right." He mutters as he watches Taurus take off and fly into the sky, disappearing above the clouds.
"Finally, there you are." A voice calls out from behind.
He turns around and sees it's Kaden, standing in front of the doorway that led into the rest of the Center for Advanced Lombax Research from the parking area Mags currently stood in now.
"I've been looking all over for you, Mags." Kaden says as he walks over to him.
"Oh, hey, Kaden. What is it?" He asks.
"It seems that our knowledge and expertise in the interdimensional is needed once again." He says with a small smile.
Mags eyes widen. "Wait, did the Council finally grant your appeal? Do we need to build a Dimensionator to save Kieran?!" He asks excitedly.
Kaden's smile drops with a sigh. "No, unfortunately. The Council's just arguing about a stupid hypothetical about if you can use a Dimensionator to shoot open a portal through another portal."
"Oh." Mags says, feeling a little bad. "Sorry for getting your hopes up, then."
"No, you're fine." Kaden reassures him with a small smile. "It was them who got my hopes up. I mean, they called me out of my workshop to 'talk about an urgent matter concerning Dimensionators'." He says with air quotes and a grimace. "Imagine how I felt when I ran the entire way there and find out it's to settle some stupid argument. Bastards."
Mags shakes his head. "Seriously? Why didn't they ask me, and not the guy who begs them to build one every month?"
"Because I was closer." Kaden says exhaustively.
"Yeah, that sounds like them." Mags mutters. "But why do you need me, then? I mean, you know the answer to that just as well as I do."
"Because when I told them 'No, you can't shoot a portal through another portal', everyone who argued the opposite just called me a liar and accused me of spiting them as revenge for not passing my appeal. So, they want a second opinion."
Mags sighs. "You and I managed to find a way to save everyone from Tachyon's genocide by finding a new dimension, but now this is what we're reduced to? Settling petty arguments they wouldn't even have in the first place if they just listened to us about repealing the Dimensionator ban?"
"Like I said, Mags: Bastards. The whole lot of them."
He groans. "Well, let's get going, I guess."
"Yeah, I imagine they're pretty ornery right now." Kaden says with some amusement as they start walking back into the building. "I made sure to take my sweet time finding you. Even had a snack on my way here, too. If they're going to waste my time with stupid shit like this, then it's only fair I return the favor."
Mags chuckles. "So, how long have they been waiting for us?"
He shrugs. "About ten to thirty minutes, I'd say. I don't know, I lost track of time when I decided to eat that bag of chips and stare out the window. Never realized how pretty the view is from up there." He says with a smug smile.
"Is that also how you knew to find me down here, too, then?"
"Oh, no, not at all. When I decided to actually find you for real, I just asked around. Everyone said you came out here with Julie, which… where is she, by the way?" Kaden asks, stopping for a moment to glance behind them. "I thought it was a little quiet out here."
Mags sighs. "She's in Taurus."
"Wait, what?" Kaden asks as he looks at Mags in surprise. "Your ship?"
He nods.
"Did she steal it?"
"No, nothing like that, I just caved in after months of her begging me to let her fly." He says with an undertone of apprehension. "I'm just… trying to be a good friend, I guess."
"Wow, Mags." Kaden says with astonishment. "If you let Julie of all people have the privilege to fly Taurus, then yeah. I'd say you're a great friend for letting her do that."
"I just hope being a good friend doesn't bite me in the ass, though."
"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure Julie perfectly understands how much this means to you. If she has any sense, then she'll be sure to take good care of her."
He sighs. "I hope you're right about that."
"Hell yeah!" Julie exclaims in absolute glee as she performs barrel rolls and flips amid an asteroid field near Fastoon, making sure to skirt closer and closer to them with every pass she makes, all the while never letting off the accelerator.
"Caution: It is inadvisable to perform reckless maneuvers in close proximity of obstacles." The onboard AI warns her.
"Then I advise you to shut up, so you don't distract me, then!" Julie retorts. "I've gotta concentrate on this!"
She once again flies away from the asteroids before turning around once more, approaching them at max speed with a wide grin on her face. She decides that for this round, she'll skirt as close as she can to every asteroid in her path, and then roll a full 180 degrees afterward to really make it interesting.
And so, for the next minute or so, her view is just a spinning view of passing asteroids that get worryingly closer, but it only excites her even more. If Mags hadn't deactivated most of the AI's personality to focus more on flying, it surely would have been desperately yelling at her to stop. But instead, the only sound that filled the cockpit was of her adrenaline-fueled laughter as she somehow manages to clear through the field once more.
"Oh, man! That was awesome!" Julie exclaims, doing more barrel rolls and flips in celebration. As she does, though, she takes a moment to look at all the buttons and switches on the controls in front of her, with a new burning question on her mind.
"Hey, Taurus, do you have any guns on this thing?" She asks excitedly.
"Affirmative. There is a single set of plasma ion blasters, controlled with the triggers on the yoke." Taurus answers indifferently.
Julie wastes no time in reorienting herself so that an asteroid is dead in her sights, and proceeds to press both triggers to fire a small volley of plasma bolts straight at it, which proceeds to blast chunks out of the asteroid until there is a hole in the center of it in a matter of seconds.
But despite the not-insignificant destruction they inflicted, Julie can't help but wear a small frown. "Seriously, Mags? You splurge on all these cool upgrades and modifications, but you kept the stock blasters? I mean, these things must be at least two generations behind! Any off the shelf plasma ion blaster today would have taken out that asteroid in half the time." She sighs. "Remind me to hook you up with the good stuff when I get back."
As she stares at the hole in the asteroid in minor disappointment, an idea suddenly pops into her head. With a growing smile, she decides to scout the rest of the asteroid field for a line of rocks in a relatively straight line. After about a minute, she finds what she's looking for, and she cracks her knuckles before wearing a determined grin.
She proceeds to use her blasters to carve out large holes in the center of each of the five asteroids, her excitement growing with every successful excavation until she finally finishes the last one. She flies a little bit away from them, and turns around to see every hole she blasted lining up to mark a clear path before her, Fastoon coincidentally appearing through the other side.
"Perfect." She says in satisfaction.
She grabs onto the yoke with a sure grip, her feet firmly planted onto the pedals, and thoughts of how awesome this is going to be racing through her head. It's go time.
She slams her foot down onto the accelerator, and the ship blasts forward towards the first hole, and passes through it smoothly. She then proceeds to keep the ship in a constant barrel roll, trying to keep it straight enough to pass through the second asteroid. For a moment, she worries she's not going to make it, but thankfully, she passes through it as well with no problem.
Well, she did see sparks from the tip of the left wing as it grazed the inside wall, but it's nothing a little paint won't solve. And as she approaches the third asteroid, she noted how small the whole thing was, the hole she carved taking up most of its entire volume, and she decides to spice it up a little.
As she passes through it, instead of continuing through her impromptu obstacle course, she instead pulls up and starts to do a flip, the surface of the asteroid over her head as she flies around it, and through the hole once more, eliciting an excited holler from her as she manages to actually pull it off.
"Who's the bad flier, now, Mags?!" She yells out loud. "Wish you could've seen that!"
As she starts to enter the hole of the fourth asteroid, she manages to see how another, smaller asteroid bumps into it, and suddenly, she finds the small tunnel she's in start to move around her, and she desperately tries to maneuver to avoid getting slammed into the wall. She almost makes it, too, but as she exits the hole, the asteroid rotates ever so slightly, and practically shears off half of the left wing.
The ship starts to spin sideways for a few moments before Julie manages to stabilize herself and dodge the fifth asteroid, unfortunately in no condition to try and fly through the last hole. The fact that she didn't manage to hit her last goal would've ordinarily pissed her off, but she had a bigger problem to worry about.
Now outside of the asteroid field, Julie looks out the window with wide eyes, and to the half of a wing dangling by only several sparking cables, a cold feeling sinking in her gut.
"I. Am. Fucked."
"Warning: structural damaged detected." The AI announces indifferently.
"Oh, really?!" Julie yells at the dashboard computer. "Sorry, I couldn't tell that just by looking out the window and seeing we're missing half a wing!"
She buries her face in her hands as she utters a sound that could only be described as a lament of doom. "Mags is going to kill me."
She remains like that for a solid few minutes, stewing in her guilt and shame and dread about what she's done. Mags trusted her! And she borderline decapitated his ship! She really didn't to go back to Fastoon and face his wrath, but it's not like she knew how to start a new life on another planet. And the worst thing was that she's never actually seen Mags get angry before. More than a little disgruntled, sure. Sharing a few coarse words with someone he dislikes? It's practically what they do every month at Kaden's appeal. But pure, unbridled anger? Never. But she was about to, and it terrified her.
She sits back up and takes a deep breath. Well, at least she lived a good life. Got on the Council, invented all sorts of cool weapons, and helped save one of her best friends from Tachyon himself. It did put a little damper on it when she thinks about how she's going to be murdered by her other best friend, but hey. Life's crazy like that.
She grips the yoke once more, and begins to accelerate the ship again, but at a perfectly reasonable speed. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Taurus. I enjoyed our short time together, it was fun." She says in dismay.
"Warning: unstable flight detected. Resolving this issue is highly recommended." Taurus replies.
"Huh? Unstable? I don't think I'm flying that bad." Julie says in confusion.
But then, she notices what she's saying as she realizes she has to roll the ship to the right a bit to fly straight. She wonders just what's causing it, but then she looks to her left, and realizes the piece of the wing must be creating extra drag.
And as she looks at it, she realizes how with the way its dangling, it most likely wouldn't survive hanging on in re-entry, and it'll probably fall off and, worst-case scenario, it lands on someone. She really didn't want to deal with Mags, but she also didn't want to deal with the City Guard either. So, like Taurus recommended, she was going to have to resolve this issue.
With a groan, she turns around and flies back to the asteroid field, and gets as close to one as she can, making sure it's on the left side. She takes another deep breath.
"Sorry again, Mags."
She then rolls the ship to the right, and snaps onto the yoke to make it roll suddenly to the left, knocking off the dangling piece of the wing with the asteroid as it becomes severed from the cables loosely connecting it to the rest of ship. She watches as the half-wing proceeds to simply float away to disappear in the endless abyss of space, never to be seen again. She can't help but be jealous of it as she turns around and flies back to Fastoon, praying to anything that will listen that Mags won't be waiting for her.
Mags and Kaden walk out of the Council's meeting room, mentally exhausted from the past ten minutes they've had to endure.
"Well, that was a waste of time." Mags says tiredly as they walk down the hall.
"Why did they even ask us if they were going to 'agree to disagree'?" Kaden adds from beside him. "I almost want them to let me build a Dimensionator just so I can show them firsthand how you can't shoot portals through portals."
"If you do that, they'll just say you modified it so it can't do that. Just like how they said my own notes of testing that same exact thing was 'with a different prototype model' even though it works exactly like the finished thing!"
"And yet, they still think they're entitled enough to choose whether or not I'll ever get to see my son again." Kaden grumbles. "I think I need to head back to my workshop to blow off some steam."
"Yeah, you go ahead with that. I should probably see if Julie's back with Taurus, anyways." Mags says. "I just hope she's alright."
Kaden raises an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't Julie be alright? I feel like she'd be jumping for joy, if anything."
"Not Julie, Taurus!" Mags corrects him. "I mean, you've seen how Julie treats her own ships!"
"What a thoughtful friend you are, Mags." Kaden says with a chuckle. "But besides, I guarantee Julie made sure to treat your ship better than her own. I bet you're going to go down there, see Taurus is perfectly fine, and struggle to breathe as Julie hugs you while thanking you over and over again."
He sighs. "We'll see. I'll see you, later, Kaden." He bids farewell with a small wave as he starts walking off.
"You, too. And stop worrying so much!" Kaden returns.
After seeing Mags walk out of sight, Kaden resumes his way back to his workshop to continue on his project that he was working on before the Council decided to bother him about their stupid argument. On his way there, his mind slowly returns to 'inventor mode', already thinking up some improvements to his design that he could get started on once he gets back there.
But once he reaches his workshop, he opens the door to find Julie standing there, poring over his blueprint sitting on the table where he left it.
"Julie? What are you doing here?" Kaden asks.
She jumps and turns around with a fright, but seeing it's only Kaden, she breathes a sigh of relief. "Hey, Kaden! Just thought I'd… see what you're doing!" She explains with a smile plastered on her face.
It uneases Kaden, however, as he sees the way her ears are pinned to her head, and how her tail is trying to retreat into between her legs. "I'm… fine." He answers with a suspicious look. "But are you?"
"What? Me? Pssh, I'm totally fine!" Julie says with a wave of her hand.
Kaden continues to look at her suspiciously. "…Alright, I guess. How was Taurus, then?" He asks.
She freezes up for a moment, but then forces a nervous laugh. "What do you mean?" She asks, trying to mask the fear in her voice.
"Mags told me how he let you take her for a ride. In fact, he's going to look for you out at the parking area right now." He says, thumbing behind him. "Should I let him know you're here—"
"No!" She suddenly yells, startling Kaden as he shrinks back a little. Julie sees this, and quickly regains her composure as best she can by clearing her throat. "I mean, uh, no. I… took Taurus out to go and get him a gift as a token of my appreciation!" She explains, internally patting herself on the back for the save.
"So why don't you want to see him?" Kaden asks, slowly getting an idea of what is happening. "Wouldn't you want to give him his gift?"
"I-I mean, yeah! But… I… just wanted to show you first and see how you would like it!"
He raises an eyebrow. "What is it, then?"
"It's… um…" She looks around herself, and down to Kaden's desk. "Ah, this!" She says as she quickly grabs a pencil from a small cup of writing utensils. "Do you think he'd like it?" She asks nervously.
Kaden looks to the pencil in her hand, and back up to her smiling face that did nothing to hide the fear in her eyes. He only crosses his arms.
"So, as thanks for letting you fly his ship, you got him… A pencil? One that also looks remarkably identical to the one that I got at the Winter Festival last year?"
"Wait, what?" She asks, looking back at the pencil to see that it's decorated with pictures of snowflakes. "Erm, I mean, yeah! I know it's his favorite holiday, after all!"
Kaden doesn't respond, only looking at her with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow, making her stare back, still holding the pencil with a forced smile that was starting to make her cheeks hurt.
"You crashed his ship, didn't you?" He asks plainly.
"What?! No, I didn't!" Julie argues. "Like I said, I just got him this gift, and I want to surprise him, and it's a pencil because… because… ugh."
She collapses onto the chair in front of the desk in defeat, holding her face in her hands. "Mags is going to kill me."
"Dammit, Julie." Kaden sighs, and also takes his hand into his palm. "Just how bad is it?"
"It's… missing half a wing." Julie replies miserably, not looking up.
"What? Just what did you do?!"
"I thought it'd be fun to fly through some asteroids, but I didn't expect them to move in front of me!" Julie tries defending herself. "I mean, it still flies!"
"But, that's not the point! Mags trusted you when he let you take the controls, and you did that?"
"You don't think I don't know that?!" Julie replies, fear slipping back into her voice. "Why am I such a dumbass? That was his pride and joy, and I destroyed it! I told him that everything was going to fine, and that he has nothing to worry about, and now it's missing an entire wing! What is wrong with me?"
She turns around and folds her arms on the desk and buries her head in them. "I'm a horrible friend."
Kaden sighs. He felt angry for Mags, of course, but mostly, he just felt terrible for Julie, seeing her look like a child about to go into timeout. And as much as he could scold her about being reckless, it's not what she needed right now. If he was the first person she came to, then it means that she needs some help with this and yelling at her won't solve anything.
So instead, he walks over and places his hand on her shoulder. "Julie, you and I both know you can't hide in here forever." He says calmly.
"But what am I supposed to do?" She replies from inside her arms.
"Go up to him and tell him you're sorry."
"But he's gonna kill me."
"Well, yeah, obviously." Kaden answers back plainly. "But if you make it so that he has to hunt you down, then it's only going to end up worse for you. If you just suck it up and go to him first, then he'll see that you care about your friendship more than getting in trouble."
"I… I mean, I guess, but sorry isn't just going to let him forgive me." She replies, sitting back up.
"That's why you have to do something else." Kaden tells her, looking into her eyes.
"What is it?"
"Tell him you'll pay for the full repairs. It's only fair, right?"
Julie seems to visibly relax at the suggestion, but a look of unease is still present on her face. "That… sounds good. But… just how much are we talking about? I know that nearly everything on his ship is custom—Well, except for the weapons, but how much will it cost?"
"Julie, is any price too high for your friendship with Mags?" Kaden asks.
"No, but I need to know how much ammunition I need to leave out of my budget this month." She answers with a nervous smile.
He rolls his eyes. "Honestly, I'm not sure. But judging by some of the upgrades he's told me about, I'd say it's in the neighborhood of around 10000 bolts."
She slumps visibly at this, but she doesn't dispute it. "Well… it's either that, or meet an untimely demise, I guess." She says as she stands up. "I should probably go and see if I can catch him before he has a chance to see Taurus."
"I think you'll make it. We had to come back from the meeting room, after all." Kaden assures her.
"Alright. And… thanks, Kaden." She says, giving a smile that wasn't forced this time. "I'm glad I can count on you."
He nods. "No problem. I'll see you later, Julie, and good luck."
"Thanks, see you, too." She says before she turns around with a deep breath. "You can do this, Julie." Is the last thing that Kaden hears before she exits the room, closing the door behind her.
"Man, I'd hate to be her right now." Kaden mutters to himself as he sits down at his desk, ready to start working on his blueprint again. As he does, he reaches over for a pencil in his cup of utensils, but as he grabs one, he realizes something.
"Aw, man. She took my pencil."
Julie races down the hallway leading to the parking area, and as she turns the corner, she thankfully sees Mags strolling along, about to reach the door outside.
"Mags!" She calls out to him as she runs.
He stops and turns around with a confused look as Julie finally reaches him, doubling over for a moment to catch her breath. "Oh, I didn't know you were back yet, Julie." He says. "Why were you behind me?"
"I… was trying… to find you." Julie says, trying to breathe regularly again.
"Uh… why?"
Julie raises a finger, still catching her breath, and after a few moments, she takes one more deep breath before unleashing her argument.
"I was flying Taurus in an asteroid field and I thought 'hey, why don't I blast some holes in some asteroids and fly through them' and everything was going fine until the last asteroid moved and I tried to dodge it but I was too slow and it bumped into Taurus and it damaged the wing and I spent five minutes freaking out before I decided to come back and then I managed to catch Kaden and ask him what to do and he told me to apologize to you and pay for the repairs which is what I am fully willing to do even though it's going to be expensive because I don't want you to be super angry with me because I know how much you love your ship and I'm so, so, so sorry, Mags!" She says, clasping her hands together as she stares at him desperately.
"Wait, you… you damaged the wing?" Mags asks, blindsided.
She nods her head. "I know I said I'd be careful, but I was a dumbass."
"Wha—How badly?" Mags asks worriedly.
"It's bad. Really bad." Julie says, opting to look at the floor instead of him.
He stares at her with wide eyes, but then turns around and marches for the door, Julie trailing behind with dread in her gut. She hears the door open, then a wordless sound of dismay as Mags looks at Taurus, paining her even more than the sound of the wing coming off in the first place.
"I… You… She…" Mags stammers as Julie joins him, frantically gesturing to it.
"I know, I broke my promise, Mags." She says gloomily. "You trusted me with your ship, and I broke it. And I'm a horrible person for that. Just go ahead and yell at me. I deserve it."
Mags turns to her, ready to unleash his verbal assault on her, but as he does, he stops as he sees just how miserable she looked. Just staring at the ground, nervously rubbing her arm, and head tilted in brace of whatever punishment she was expecting to receive. He didn't think he's ever seen her so… depressed.
He was beyond pissed at her for wrecking Taurus like that, there was no question, but it was also clear that she seemed twice as upset with herself for it. Yelling at her would only make her feel even worse, and Mags realized that's not what he wanted to do. It wouldn't fix Taurus, and it wouldn't teach her anything, since it's apparent that she already learned her lesson. And besides, he did also somehow manage to catch the fact that she's paying for the repairs in her long-winded apology earlier, and he thought the cost was enough punishment for her.
"It's… alright, Julie." He says calmly, shoving down the anger inside. "I forgive you."
She looks up from the ground with a look of disbelief on her face. "Really?"
He sighs. "Yes, really. You don't need me to tell you that you messed up. And you already said you'd foot the repair bill, so I think we're even."
"But, aren't you mad at me?" She asks uneasily.
"Oh, I am pissed, Julie." He says sternly. "But… I can't say I didn't expect this when I decided to let you fly."
He turns around and looks at Taurus once again, her missing wing shooting another pang into his heart.
"Just promise me that you will never fly any of my ships again."
She quickly nods with a small smile, thankful for his forgiveness. "Cross my heart!"
"Good. Now… let's see if we can get her to a repair shop." Mags mutters as he walks towards the ship.
"She can still fly, so we don't have to tow her or anything." Julie says as she follows him.
"Well, that's good news for you, then, because it takes that expense off of the repair bill that you're going to pay."
"Of course! And go ahead and upgrade it, too, as an extra apology from me." She says with a smile. "Especially your weaponry."
"Why would I want a bigger gun?" Mags asks as he gets into the pilot's seat, Julie joining him in the passenger's seat.
"Why wouldn't you?" She asks.
"Because I'm not trying to blast holes in asteroids like you did, apparently."
"Fine. But… how much is this repair going to cost anyway? Kaden said it was going to be 10000 bolts, but it's not going to be that expensive, right?" She asks with a nervous smile.
"Nope, he's right. That won't be a problem, though, will it?" He asks.
She sighs, but shakes her head. "No. I guess it means that I'm going to have to spend less time at the shooting range this month, though."
"Then let's consider that to be your punishment." Mags says as he takes off, entering the coordinates for his usual mechanic.
He could have corrected her in saying that the repair would actually be closer to around 8000 bolts, but hey, like she said, he could go for a little upgrade.
Hey, did you know there's a Discord server for fans of Ratchet and Clank? Filled with all sorts of fanfiction, fanart, discussion, and memes. Join here at: /YjJ6xpzJ8A