The thunderous clap rung in Arte's ears. The flash lingered in his vision. Like a moment frozen in time. He couldn't tell what happened all he knew was that there was a gunshot and a body on the floor.
Arte clambered over rocks wishing he had brought his lighter before heading up into the mines for shelter. Actually, he was wishing he never had to flee to begin with.
12 hours ago Arte was happily running his Curio Shop. It was a small shop nestled at the base of the mountain, a little ways from town. He prided himself on selling the finest antiques that you couldn't get anywhere else. He also built up a good reputation among the community and for people who gave him regular tips he would gladly give them a decent discount in return.
"Hey Arte, look at this" Arte looked behind him and saw a small figure dressed in a miniature suit of armor. The armor was old and ill-fitting and whoever was marching around in it looked more like a hippo learning to walk than a knight in shining armor.
"Whoa there Sparky" Arte reached out just in time to catch the boy before he fell down.
"What did I say about touching the merchandise." Arte carefully removed the helmet to reveal the scruffy-looking face of his nephew. He then playfully gave Sparky a rub on the head.
"How about we go find something that's less expensive that you can play around with."
Arte never was never interested in settling down and having kids, he enjoyed flying airplanes and playing Indiana Jones too much. But fate had other ideas. When his nephew Sparky was left alone and had nowhere left to go, Arte rose to the challenge.
"Hey Uncle Arte, why are the tornado sirens going off, it's clear out today"
Arte's old ears didn't hear it at first but now that he was paying attention, sure enough, he heard them as well.
"Hmm maybe they're testing them, they do that every so often." Arte said as he removed the last pieces of old armor. "In a little bit we can go to Chef Gazpachos for lunch."
"Yaaaay." Sparky ran off with a cheerful bounce in his step.
"Sparky Speak to me!"
Arte couldn't tell where the bullet wound was, it was simply to dark in the mine. He was crying at this point, desperate to stop the bleeding by any needs necessary. He was trying to listen for any signs of life but he couldn't find one.
While driving into town Arte let Sparky plug in his phone and play some music. Arte wasn't a fan of the music kids listened to but he made the effort for his Nephew. This time it was Tiger Tiger's "I want to dance". What nonsensical lyrics.
When the town finally came into view Arte brought the car to a screeching halt. A bomb had just detonated mere feet from Arte's old station wagon. Getting out to inspect the damage he heard the sirens again but this time he heard something else as well. The sounds of planes and lots of them flying through the air. Looking towards town he could see the town had been attacked without any warning.
Against better judgment, Arte continued to stand and stare as the planes traded fire with the few anti-air cannons the mayor had hastily procured for defense. His mind was full of questions and emotions trying to figure out who this enemy was or why they attacked. His trance was finally broken when Sparky called out.
"Uncle Arte I want to go home."
"DOUG!" Arte cried out in rage. "I'll drag you to hell myself for what you've done."
Arte got up and raced through the tunnels, he could hear footsteps echoing ahead of him. Darkness still swallowed everything in the mines but Arte dug them with his bare hands and knew them better than anyone. Well almost everyone.
Driving like a mad man up winding mountain roads would not have been what Arte was expecting to be doing today. He was imagining a good meal and maybe some ice cream.
"Sparky quick google your phone and tell me what in frogs name is going on."
"All it's telling me is that there is an Air Raid, I can't get to google because there is no more service."
Arte would have retorted but his focus was on his perilous drive, weaving in and out of other confused drivers and abandoned cars. He continued on and drove right by his shop.
"Arte where are we going"
"Up the mountain. We're going to the mines and we'll stay there until it's safe to come out."
Sparky use to love going gem mining when he was younger. But 3 years ago Arte and his partner got into a fight. Sparky didn't know the whole story all he knew was that Arte got mad at his partner for lying. He even swore to never set foot in the mines again, but these are desperate times.
When they arrived at the miner's cabin they saw a scruffy-looking individual sleeping in a rocking chair out front. When Arte exited the car the thump startled the old dog and after a moment of gathering his bearings, he saw Arte.
"Arte, what a pleasant surprise" Doug greeted then
"Don't give me those fake pleasantries, I still own half this mine and I plan on exercising my rights starting right now" Arte continued to march up the hill
"I'm glad you've come along but the mine is closed toda…"
"The world outside is on fire, so quite frankly I don't give a damn Doug."
Arte had finally caught up with the footsteps and when he rounded the corner he was nearly blinded by the torch. There Doug stood along with several soldiers clad head to toe in Gas Masks Hazmats suites.
"You can't be serious an air raid, here. But why?" Doug inquired as he followed closely behind Sparky and Arte.
"I don't know, and quite frankly I don't care. What we need is shelter and this is it." Arte dragged Sparky along not slowing down for Doug's retorts
"I understand but the mines are closed because they're unstable at the moment. We're having cave ins due to regular activity who knows what an air raid will do?" Doug continued to plead his case but Arte didn't bite.
Arte finally stopped and turned to Doug "Would you give it a rest, you've been lying to me since day one about what you been finding in these mines. I dug most of these tunnels myself and I can sure as hell tell you that it'll take more than even an air raid for these caves to collapse."
Doug remained silent trying to think of a reply.
"And if you decide to come up here with us you better stay on the far end of the tunnel. Cmon Sparky"
Arte and Sparky continued into the opening and shortly they had set up residence inside one of the mines. After a while of settling in and the fact that lunch was unceremoniously skipped Arte decided to go out and try to find something for them to eat.
"You stay right here Sparky I'll be back"
Arte lashed out in rage, with no concern for his life. The soldiers had guns but they didn't matter. Arte's years of Air force training kicked in. He attacked the one with the torch quickly plunging the group into the dark. Gunshots rang out but the soldiers were the only casualties. But then light returned and he saw Doug pointing both a pistol and a flashlight at him.
"Arte you never understood how profitable this mine could be."
Arte had made it down the mountain to the Cabin and entered in through the back door. He planned to raid the fridge for food but then he overheard Doug talking from the other room.
"Yes the planes are still pressuring the city but what you need to worry about is that there's two people hiding, in the mines for shelter. Try to avoid them if you can but if you do see them you can kill them"
"Yes I'm sure the Uranium is weapons-grade, just a few pounds of the stuff and you can level a city."
"My payment will be split between gold bars and coin."
Arte couldn't believe what he was hearing. He would have busted through the door and strangled him right there but who knows who's in there with Doug and what they might have. Arte needed to get back to Sparky and move as fast as he could.
"I was down in the cabin when you were talking, I should have killed you right there." Arte had killed all the masked soldiers but now he lacked the element of surprise and he was on the receiving end of a gun he has to admit he's a bit outmatched.
"I know, but you wouldn't have succeed. I had a gun then, just as I do now." Doug's hand tightened around the pistol.
"They killed Sparky, this is blood money" It took everything Arte had to not lash out at Doug.
"I'm sorry Arte, but since we're being honest now I'm the one that killed Sparky, I thought that since you were…"
Arte snapped, no longer caring about his own safety he dove for Doug. Taken by surprise Doug was still able to get a shot off that landed in Arte's side. Unfazed by the pain Arte grappled Doug to the ground. The gun went off two more times in various directions before eventually finding itself in Arte's hands.
"Arte I'm…"
The thunderous clap rung in Arte's ears. The flash lingered in his vision. Like a moment frozen in time. He couldn't tell what happened all he knew was that there was a gunshot and a body on the floor.
Author's Notes
You're probably wondering, what has purrich been up to. Why has he returned after years and why did he come back just to write a Webkinz fan fiction.
Well since the last time you heard from me, I graduated high school, got a loving girlfriend, graduated college, and got a job as a video editor. It's been busy but I always enjoy creating stories that I would like to read. So for book club this month (yes I joined a book club as well) instead of reading a book we all knew was going to be bad, we wrote fanfictions instead and this was mine.
Webkinz was a big part of my childhood I had 20 of them and I had fond memories of going to the Curio Shop to get the discontinued items you couldn't get anywhere else. I also liked the idea of Kinzville being an independent city-state, and my imagination ran wild with the ideas of other countries in the Webkinz universe, both friend and foe.
That is where this story came from after 15 years since I last played, I dug up my old account and browsed the wiki to catch up on things I missed out on like Sparky and Doug. Both are canon (and besides the obvious violence) I kept very true to what the official Webkinz lore is. I wrote it in two afternoons and I'm quite proud of myself.
Now I'm not promising anything but my other stories being left unfinished has always bothered me, so I would love it if that I ever get a week or two off to go back and give them proper endings. However, with life as an Adult being my main priority it might take me a while but who knows.
In the meantime, it is great to be back again.