Part 3: Rediscovering A Sudden Wind
FINLAY FORKS, BRITISH COLUMBIA-
"Hahhh...hahh...hahh...hah...AREN'T Y'ALL GOING TO DO ANYTHING?!" Sokoto panted before collapsing behind the truck.
"Ohhohohoh, no," Autumn said while stretching her legs out on the dashboard, "You got us into this mess. You're gonna get us out."
"WHAT KIND OF CHEAP SHOT IS THAT, WOMAN?!" Sokoto snapped, "YOU GET OUT HERE AND LIFT US OUT OF HERE!"
"Mayhaps you prefer a dip in the Pacific?" Autumn grinned.
And then like a mummy, Madoka arose from the truck's bed, "I'm gonna go get that stick out of his ass."
"Can you plug his mouth too?"
"I'll try..." Madoka hopped out of the bed to ice Sokoto's pants and shock his system back to full throttle.
"WOOOOOOHOHOOHOHOOHHOHOHO, that's cold..." he shivered and turned back to Madoka, "Can you be any less subtle?..."
"Why, yes," Madoka help up a stick, "Yes I can."
"Uuuuu..."
"Come on," Madoka pushed against the truck, "The sooner we get to a pit stop, the better."
Sokoto lugged his shoulder and pushed along the road with her, "Rrgh...why couldn't you fly us over again?..."
"The UN? The truck pooping out engine parts? The fact that we're heroes in Canada, even though they should be hating us?" Autumn said, "Anything we do gets us attention."
"Trust me," Madoka said, "This is best way...Now, shut up and push..."
Sokoto had no choice but to comply. "Lamest...excuse...ever..." After all, he made the truck fly off the freeway and do a corkscrew 720 into a pile of snow back in Stone Mountain. Granted, it was the only way to avoid Autumn destroying the truck, but the IS skirmish saw a misfire of one of Madoka's lasers, blasting off a huge chunk of the provincial park. So, while Sokoto and Madoka pushed the damn truck along the highway, Autumn had to fix a beaten old truck. And not five minutes into the repair job did she find out that one of Madoka's bits shattered the crankshaft.
Meaning they hated Canada now.
-FORT NELSON-
When they finally made it to a major village, Madoka and Sokoto blew off all their strength. Autumn had to deploy her arms to dunk them in the bed and move the truck further in. She pushed it all the way to a car station along the main highway.
"Finally..." Autumn took a moment to catch her breath, "Oh, what a pain the the-" She stopped short of what she saw in the trunk. Somehow, Madoka and Sokoto were tenderly sleeping on top of each other, his head snuggled in her neck. "Well, I'll be," she said as she walked closer to peer into their serene expressions. And rearranged their limbs and chests into a far more tender pose.
One hour later, when the stars began to dance in the sky... and unfortunately, so did the internet...
Autumn managed to obtain a room at the Woodlands Inn. Why Woodlands? Because of the sheer sound of squealing bystanders who saw what a work of art she had concocted earlier. She pretended not to know and shushed everyone into hiding near the truck. Then, she looked over the bed. They were still sleeping despite the unusual aura density that should've woken him up, setting off the desired chain of events. So, she walked to the wheel and ignited the engine.
And then, everyone got their fill of fandom, no matter how short lived it was. Madoka and Sokoto were suddenly woken up by the truck shaking, and their hands dug deep into each other's clothes.
"Ugh-uhh..." they both grunted and made direct sleepy eye contact with each other.
"You two sleep ok?" Autumn asked. The instant they turned their eyes to Autumn, Sokoto's aura meter was blown out. Fort Nelson had gotten major word of Phantom Task visiting, and here they were giving the girls the ultimate in hero fan service.
Sokoto's sudden aura overload jolted him. He knocked his head into Madoka's.
"Ow! Dude!" And cue the copycat, "No! What're you doing? Stop copying me! Stop it! Shut up! MEGADETH COMING TO SCHOOL WITH HER GOTHIC WAS FORCED INTO A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO HAD SUBSIDED THE MOTHER OF MOTHERHOOD-"
"Uh, guys?" Autumn desperately wanted to burst into laughter, "Your hands?" The better question would be, why hasn't Madoka started killing them yet?
Well, at least they got two connected regular rooms for free.
"Why'd you rip off the door?" Madoka asked through the multiple cushions stuffing her face, "He could sleepwalk his way into your footprints..."
"Insurance..." Autumn simply said.
"For what?"
"For when you have special needs that must be fulfilled within one minute," Autumn grinned.
Madoka reverted back to an angry banshee and tried to chase Autumn down.
"Now, you start killing?!" Autumn burst out laughing.
"Hey, what's going on!" Sokoto stopped midway through his shower, "I got a rash thanks to you! The hell?!" The instant he saw the ensuing goose chase, he leapt into the fray and accidentally slammed his face into Autumn's-for sake's crap, man.
"Uh...kid?" Autumn blushed, "Where are you-"
"EUCH!" Sokoto retorted, "Lady, you reek! What have you been doing?!" Right before catching Autumn's sudden knife swing with one hand, thereby locking them in a power struggle.
"Fixing that damn truck, thank you," and Autumn somehow reverted back to her old, psychopathic self.
"You need better fixings, don'tcha know?" He smirked. That remark sparked Madoka's murderous side. He pulled Autumn aside and used a book to block her katana.
"You're the most broken person in the whole fucking world, dipshit," Madoka growled and threw the book away. And she and Autumn tried to kill him, but he was too agile for them to even touch him.
"Glad to see everyone's back to normal, eh!" he shouted mid-slaughter. He wasted their energy for ten minutes before running them exhausted. Then, he ripped their clothes off and stuffed them in the shower, "You two need to cool off! I'll be out and about, while you go off somewhere else, and don't follow me!" Then, he slammed the doors, got dressed, and made like the leaves in the wind and got out as fast as possible.
Around town, he found a multitude of things to do, given his celebrity status and why would the UN come here again? He explored the town, giving and receiving insight on how its people came to appreciate the renegade and how Canada came to be relegated as a secondary country in the face of the IS. He learned that they are a people of openness, humility, and respect. Something the Japanese simply cannot support. So, get this, they believe that, either whoever was designing the cores found a convoluted way to deliberately make it so Canada couldn't use the advanced ISs, or there are pilots, but someone has been kidnapping them. Or, the most popular belief, they simply aren't worthy of being a pilot. That got him even more interested in exploring the town to find out what their deal is. To that end, he tagged along with a group of community members who showed him around, even got to know him better with his jokes and quips. They wondered how someone so sociable became arguably the most infamous thing to ever hit the IS world. And now, here he was, walking down the streets with a gift bag in each hand.
"And that's how I wound up leading two unsuspecting souls down the path of redemption," Sokoto said like so painfully proud.
"No way!" A girl said, "They saved people? Get out!"
"No, it's true!" Sokoto boasted, "I just drilled into their minds the endless wisdom of my brains, And then, they became the perfect warriors. Trust me, they needed it, otherwise, they'd self destruct in an instant."
"Would they, though?" A man asked, "They don't seem to friendly, from what you're saying."
"They aren't," Sokoto responded, "but thankfully I was able to get to them before any else did."
"He did it with both of them," someone whispered to her friend with a snarky grin.
"The hell did that come from?!" Her friend shouted.
"Y'all say something?" He asked, sensing embarrassment and deviousness.
"Nothing," they both looked away.
"Okie, then," he walked high with his arms behind his head. The auras that led the tour of the town stopped for some reason. He turned behind him, "Something catch your tongue?"
"Someone..." the man pointed to a small cabin on the outskirts of the city.
"What about it?" Sokoto asked.
"There's this old man that's been real creepy and stalky around town lately," one of the girls said.
"Well, why don't you just make him leave?"
"We'd like to," the man said, "but he's a little cranky when it comes to other people besides him."
Sokoto looked at the cabin. It was old, wood and metal nearly collapsed. It hadn't seen repair for maybe a decade. He could feel a faint aura, a mixture of regret, sadness, and anxiety.
"Well, if you're not gonna chase him outta town, I will," he didn't buy their words for a millisecond.
"You're going to do what?!" The girls shouted in disbelief.
"You even know what you're up against?!" A woman demanded.
"Sure do," Sokoto turned back, "and he's way less intimidating than escaping twenty ISs via mountain waterways. M and Autumn are in room 317. Ciao!" And he ran towards the cabin. The others only stood there, mouths agape.
"He's done for..." a girl whispered.
"I'm going back to work," the man left them.
"Come on!" Another girl, "we gotta make sure he's safe!" And half the group split, to warn Madoka and Autumn, and to really make the man leave.
Sokoto stood at the door and surveyed the cabin's yard. It was all barren, with only the snow and a chopped tree stump to keep company. A deflated tire leaned against the outer wall, with a window and a rope attached. The aura got stronger. "Yeesh, this guy's been around alright..." he cringed. He took a deep breath before slowly pushing the door open.
The cabin looked nice. It was very well-maintained, floor cleaned, fireplace faintly glowing. "So...what exactly is the problem here?" he muttered, "You see anything, Silvia?" And then he sensed anger. He heard a shotgun click. He got into his fighting stance, which unconsciously activated the wrist shield he forgot he still had. He blocked two gunshots and heard the reload. And he saw the most intimidating figure he ever laid eyes upon. Well over twice his height, three times the muscle, very very angry.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" the cabin rattled.
"Uh..." Sokoto stammered, "Just wanted...to talk?..."
"I don't need your goddamn apathy or empathy, boy!" The man readied his shotgun with more explosive bullets, "Get out!"
The man fired a shot. Sokoto blocked, but the explosion made him recoil against the wall. He shattered a lamp upon grounding, but recovered in time to dodge a bullet. He ran to a wall and kicked it with both feet to propel him towards YOU IDIOT!
"Get the fuck out!" The man slammed the butt of his shotgun onto the shield, easily shattering it and throwing Sokoto off center and into his knee. He kicked the renegade back against the fireplace.
"UGH!" Sokoto's collision made the firewood ignite the blaze further. "Ugh...Y'know, I think we made him mad..."
"Yep," the man growled as he loaded his gun, "I guess breaking and entering someone's house without their knowledge would do that." He fired, but Sokoto ducked his head in time to dodge. The bullet struck the edge of the fireplace and the wall, flinging sparks into the fire and lightning it brighter, just long enough for the giant to catch a real glimpse of Sokoto.
But he didn't see Sokoto. He saw Squall. It was a similar situation, when he abused her but stopped short of killing her, due to the fact that she was perfectly fine with it. He didn't know how to react then, just like he didn't know how to react now.
"Squall..." he dropped the gun, "No...it can't be..."
"Ngh...who can't what?..." Sokoto grunted.
"You...you were..." the man took another look at him and made out his silhouette. The faint light let him get a good look at his face. "Oh...you're that renegade fella...the one with Squall back in the mountains..."
"Uh...yeah, yeah I was..." Sokoto steadied himself upright.
"Then..." the man got really frantic. He rushed to Sokoto and grabbed his shoulders, "You have to tell me! What happened to her?! Where is she?! I need to know!"
"Clam...yoru...sitt...aignt...bmhthoee..." Sokoto spewed the words from his mouth while being shaken the daylights out of him.
Fifteen minutes later, they both calmed their spirits and sat in front of the fireplace.
"I still don't get how you're father," Sokoto blurted out, "I mean, look at you! You look like you can create your own climate!"
"Thanks for that, you ungrateful prick," the man said, "It's not every day you lose a precious loved one."
"I know. That's why I try to hold on to every bond I can," Sokoto purposefully put the wrong idea in the father's head.
"You wanna feel the pain of getting your heart yanked out, boy?" And it worked. The father got mad, "I can deliver the goods ten times over."
"Try it, meat head," Sokoto countered, "I got two more bloodthirsty pilots standing outside, waiting to chow down on your insides."
"They wouldn't be here if you hadn't let her die like that!" The father shouted.
"Right back at ya!" Sokoto flipped, "Had you kept her in your arms instead of let dear old mammy take her away!"
"Take that back, you little shit," the father aimed his shotgun at Sokoto's head.
"Make me, deadbeat," Sokoto put the shield at the father's neck.
At the first sign of defiance, the father knew what this standoff meant. If he fired the shot, the recoil would force the shield into his throat, and he'd have hell on his ass if the renegade ever disappears. But more than that, he lost his confidence the instant he saw Sokoto rise up against him. The same fashion as Squall rose up when she yelled at her mother to not separate them.
He let his guard down and slumped into the couch, "What's it matter anyway? She's gone. My only problem is gone. So I suggest you get gone, too."
Sokoto thought about doing just that. He mounted his headphones and proceeded to leave the cabin. But then, he saw a picture by the window and door. It harkened back to happier days when Squall and her father were together. He pulled out a crumpled picture from his pocket. It was a perfect recreation of the original. Just switch roles. The real parent was Squall, and he was...
"How did you get that?..." the father stared at both pictures, bewildered at the fact that she even took a picture with anyone, let alone cuddle her arms around someone.
"Oh, this?" Sokoto said, "She told me about her mother and how she killed her. Said she had issues, so I offered her a role playing game. I would pretend to be her son, and she would be the mother she wanted her mother to actually be." He gave him the pictures to compare them. "It's funny, actually. She kept raving about how you always fondled her when it was you two alone, but every time mom came home, you stopped. And she didn't want you to stop, always asking why you couldn't keep going."
"She said that?" The father was shocked. Squall never said anything to him, except the occasional why, partly due to the fact that he was pressured by his wife to raise Squall the way she wanted, but absolutely lost it at the berating, "That was...I never..."
"What?" Sokoto contacted eyes, "What did you forget to do?"
"*SIGH*...kid, we gotta talk," he sat down on the couch. Sokoto sat beside him. And he unloaded a massive backstory dump.
Squall was born in Montreal, Québec. She was the youngest in the family of four. Her older sister was the ideal for the family, dutiful, intelligent, resourceful, and never backing down from anything. Her mother was American-born, meaning standards were high for females. Males, not so much, so Squall's father tended to housework and house care. She rather enjoyed her father's laid back attitude compared to her mother's strict interpretation of life, which her dear mommy hated about her. She was subjected to extreme abuse should she ever try to spend quality time with him, which she tried to do endlessly. The only time when she didn't have to endure training was during the weekdays, when her mother always came home late. She would ask her father why she was forced to learn everything, to which he could not provide an answer. He just told her to keep enduring, and one day she will live a luxury life on her terms. He always comforted her by hugging. Some days, she felt really down and didn't get off his lap. He found that the only way to get her off...was to get her off. Which led to a forbidden relationship between them. At least it made the pain easier to endure. She got into a better mood, able to take more of her mother's strict training. As long as she has her father, she could take it, but that was just it. Her mother knew what went down, so she arranged for Squall to study at America once the first generation of IS units was released. Squall objected to the move, but her mother slapped her hard. She was devastated. She instinctively went to her father for comfort when he was alone, unaware that her mother had taken the day off. She was caught and beaten. Her father was forced to sign the divorce papers to surrender all custody of children and property to her mother, lest he face charges for voyeurism, child abuse, and domestic violence. The day they parted was painful. She begged her father not to leave her. Guess what? Her mother punched her and called the cops on him, finally putting the nail in the coffin for their relationship.
And the father has hidden himself here ever since. That was all he knew. To the father's surprise, Sokoto finished the story using the tiny bits of background Squall gave him throughout their adventures.
Squall was forced to study in America, to isolate her from every possible distraction. She learned everything there was to know about the IS, the world, and the leadership role in the IS world. Until the fated Academy entrance exams. Before her trial, she had to time her movements to bait the instructor into firing a missile behind her, to the audience. She used the skills she learned to create a device that would bring the shield down long enough to let the missile phase through, but short enough for it to be considered a defect. The trial began. She maneuvered around her opponent so much that it got her angry. She fired on Squall, who deflected it to where her mother was. The force of the deflection made her trip and fall on her back, triggering the plug out device. The shield went down, then right back up. But the missile and the resulting explosion left 100 people trapped under the bloody debris. Among the casualties, her mother and sister. Finally, one horrible memory has been relieved. But so was the pain and agony, replaced with apathy and vengefulness. The perfect killer was within grasp, and it was a Phantom Task agent who grasped her first. The agent made a proposal. Squall would join the army as a cadet. If she left a corporal, she was guaranteed a spot on Phantom Task, where she could carry out her vengeance on everyone who played a part in tearing her life apart. Her physical and mental abilities, combined with her ruthless and manipulation tactics, propelled her to Captain in just four years. A feared warrior, indeed, but not without fault. When she learned that someone related to her mother was in development of the Egyptian IS Golden Dawn, she requested to be sent on the escort mission. There in Cairo, Phantom Task attacked. She wasted no time in taking the Dawn for herself and defecting from the Army to slaughter the research team herself. Unfortunately, one of her superiors found out and shot off her left arm and right eye, but the Phantom agents saved her before she died. At the headquarters, Squall gained not only a new arm and eye, but also a new purpose as a leader of the world's largest terrorist organization, installing fear into a naive people with the very tools that can create and destroy at the same time. She was the one who recruited Madoka and Autumn. She was the one who ordered the assault on the Second Mondo Grosso. And ultimately, she was the one who tried and failed to eliminate the IS Representative Contenders, returned to dust by those very pilots.
"She did all that..." the father was speechless, "Just from us being separated..."
"Yeah..." Sokoto kept his eyes on the floor, "And that's all she had to say about it..."
"Why'd she tell you?"
"Got me. All I did was try not to be a stick in the mud. She was always doing something, and I didn't wanna be a deadweight to her."
"Deadweight..." the father reacted, "And how does dragging ass all over the damn place translate to deadweight?..."
"I don't know..." Sokoto admitted, "she just...we crossed eyes. I could see a ton of regret in hers. She wanted to say something to someone, to undo some moments in her life. I just wanted to ease the pain, give her something to redeem. I mean, she really wanted to get with you again. I can't help but think she pulled all that shit out of spite."
Spite? Out of all the crimes she committed, they were spite? Then...
Two different revelations dawned on them. For the father, it meant that Squall still held on to those memories of him. Even as she discovered what her father truly did to her, it was out of love. She genuinely loved him, maybe even more than he loved her. And the renegade. Somehow, just like he saw Squall inside of him, Squall saw her father. He saw what he was trying to do, to help her regain her sanity with every word passing through.
For Sokoto, it meant he knew what he had to do now. The many over-the-line conversations with Squall, his constant nagging of Autumn and Madoka, this moment with Hulk Squall. He knew then how to redeem them. And it will be the same fashion with Phantom Task. And it won't be over until he goes to London; if that's the case, he has to delay his trip for as long as ever.
"Ohhhhhh..." Sokoto rubbed his eyes, "that was too much cheese and brainy hearts for one day..."
"Uh...kid?" The father asked after a long period of silence.
"Yep?" Sokoto sensed a major warming of the father's aura.
"You mind hearing out a decrepit old man's last wish?..."
Sokoto didn't need to. He instantly figured out what his wish was. "Let me get my hair down first..." He started to make his hair like Squall's but the father stopped him by patting his head. Then he got close enough to hug him. Sokoto embraced him back.
"No, Squall..." the father said, "You're beautiful just the way you are..."
-NEXT DAY-
Several women and girls were helping Madoka and Autumn pack. Rather slowly. They all found the location of the renegade. And since then, no one in town has been able to remove the pink from their cheeks. Already, speculation that the renegade is bisexual spread like a blizzard in British Columbia. What's worse...
"They looked so hot..."
"Was he always like this?..."
"They really got into it..."
"I wanted in on that..."
Why are fantasies?
"Ok, that's the last of it..." Madoka said, "Thanks for giving us a stay here."
"Yeah...we appreciate it...really..." Autumn said, "Alright, gang. Time to...time off..."
"Yahoo!" Sokoto ran out with the last of the luggage and hopped on the bed of the truck, "Where we going to next?!"
"Dunno," Autumn said, "We'll just follow the road until it takes us somewhere interesting."
"Um...renegade?" one of the girls mustered the courage to ask.
"Yo?"
"Um...if you're ever...in the area...maybe you could...show us...how you...y'know...with that man..."
Sokoto looked confused. Why's everyone's auras so pink? That's unusual, even for Madoka and Autumn. "Well, sure, I can give you a demonstration."
"Really?! You'll show us?!" Excitement, but not the kind you'd-
"OK, SHUT UP!" Madoka boomed, "Can we just go now?!"
And with that, the truck departed for parts unknown. The girls waved goodbye, some motioning the "CALL ME!" hand signs. Sokoto waved back. The girls squealed with glee. As the truck passed through town, he saw Squall's father saluting him. He returned with a patriot-like salute. And they shared a smile, something the father hasn't had in a long time. Sokoto stretched his arms and leaned back against the luggage, confident that he can now move forward with Phantom Task. Because he did the grown up thing with a grown up. Letting go is hard. But maybe they never had to let go. They just had to accept it. Squall's gone, but they aren't. They'll remember, and they'll use it to better themselves.
Sokoto: "Uh, you two have been pink since morning. You see anything?"
Madoka and Autumn: "Nothing! Nothing at all!"
Sokoto: "Eh, whatevs. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"
Autumn: "M..."
Madoka: "What?..."
Autumn: "I wet myself again..."
Madoka: "Me too..."
...mostly...better themselves...