Chapter 32: Be Courageous, Be Rewarded

"Hoover Dam?" Sparky's eyes went wide. "You mean he might..."

"Shoot the dam into smithereens, yes," Todd confirmed. "Or at least cut a hole into it, one that's large enough to cause a catastrophe."

"Okay, let's quit playing with him and stop this mayhem right here and now!"

"And how shall we achieve this? There are three control units for the flight mode! We can't take them all out quickly enough, not even disturb them!"

Sparky knelt down, put his hands under two of the boards, and held on to them firmly. "Then we'll yank them out! Take the one over there, I'll take these here!"

Together, the two rodents removed all three flight control boards from their slots. The immediate result was that all four propellers stopped spinning. The Nimnul Laser Cannon 14 was remaining airborne thanks to its still high speed. but both speed and altitude decreased, also due to the aerodynamics of the contraption not being optimized for high-speed flight.

Todd took another look out through the hatch, but what he saw he didn't like. "Sparky, I'm not really feeling comfortable with how fast the ground is coming closer. Was that part of your plan, too?"

"Why, of course, I wanted to take this thing down to the ground!"

Todd was about to ask if crashing it was really necessary, but he realized that there wasn't any other option, they couldn't steer it down and land it safely, also because Nimnul still had his share of control over it. Besides, if they wrecked it, it wouldn't be able to do any harm to anything or anyone anymore. No matter how much brains Sparky had put into this plan, in case it was a plan at all, Todd couldn't come up with any better solution. Yet, one thing had to be done before the crash. "But we need to get outta here!"

"Oh, we will be tossed outta here when the laser needle hits the ground. We won't have to take care of this ourselves."

"What about a less painful way, Sparky?!"

Sparky gave an impression as if he just remembered something unexpectedly. "Right, this is indeed gonna hurt, right... Wait," he quickly changed his mind, "I'd like to try something."

Todd was about to panic. He could almost feel every single cactus underneath the craft. "Try what? And in which time? We haven't got much time left!"

"Maybe I can control the descent and make the landing a bit smoother," Sparky answered and stuck two fingers into one of the flight control slots. Sparks were flying about, circuit boards began to glow as if they were overloaded, but the front propellers came back to life and moved into an upward position.

"Hey, that's good, Sparky!" Todd cheered as the nose went upward again. But it didn't stop, it even went on rising as the propellers ran at full speed and pushed the desert air downwards. "Sparky? You can stop now! Sparky!"

"Todd!" Sparky shouted back. "My fingers seem to be stuck in here!"

"Then get them unstuck, and hurry up before we turn upside-down!"

"I wish I could, Todd, but I can't!"

Todd suddenly changed his mind. "Plan revision, Sparky, leave them in, we are going upside-down! Leave them in until we're right side up again!

"I haven't got much of a choice, Todd!" Sparky answered.

"Anyway, go on and try to free yourself! I'm not in the right mood for playing looping coaster!" Immediately after saying this, Todd realized that the Nimnul Laser Cannon 14 will most probably not be able to hold its altitude and crash sooner or later. And telling from the way it raced downwards after the first half of the roll, he got more and more certain that the crash was going to occur earlier than he wished for.

The flying ray gun had no chance to pull itself up far enough anymore. It slammed into the ground before its front propellers could lift it up high enough to save it. The spire on the bow that was one of the more important parts of the laser cannon itself deformed when it cut through the desert sand which then flew up high into the air. The cloud of sand and dust grew even larger when the fuselage hit the ground.

Upon the impact, Todd felt how he was tossed out of the machine, but the sand all around him, combined with the darkness, rendered him unable to see where exactly he was and where he as flying. All he knew was that he was flying, that he wasn't made for flying, and that nothing would keep the laws of nature from being enforced. He couldn't even see Sparky anywhere, so to be sure, he called him. "Sparky?" He had to cough out some desert sand that had gotten into his throat. "Sparky?"

"Here!" Sparky's voice was faintly audible in between the noises produced by the still crashing Nimnul Laser Cannon 14. "I'm unstuck!"

"Lucky you! Now prepare for a hard—" Todd didn't get to speak any further. He was caught off guard by the ground. "Uh." His surroundings suddenly went even foggier and darker than they had already been.

After some time, he couldn't estimate how much, Todd slowly regained his senses. His head was hurting somehow. He must have been not entirely able to keep it from hitting the ground, he figured. Said ground felt like the desert sand he landed on. He was lying on his back.

Faint noises he could hear from not so far away. Some occasional murmuring he heard around him. And someone was sobbing very near to his left. He opened his eyes to see what was going on, and who was in such grief.

It was still night. A bit of light shone from somewhere in his feet's direction, but much farther away. Yet, it was enough for him to see those who were sitting and standing around him, and especially who was crying so bitterly.

It was Melissa. The half-Japanese mouse knelt next to him with her face buried in her hands and shivering under her tears. Behind her stood Clarice, her hands on Melissa's shoulders, and tried her best to comfort her. She was also the first to notice that he had opened his eyes.

"Melissa," she said softly, "Melissa, look, he's awake."

Melissa lifted her head out of her hands. Todd could see the moisture of her tears sparkle on her face. "Todd?" she said with a fragile voice and looked into his eyes. "Todd?"

"Hi Melissa," Todd replied, "nice to see you."

Tammy who was sitting to his right was the next one he noticed. "Todd," she asked him, "how do you feel?"

"Fine, except a bit of a headache and having been out cold for a while. Say, how come Melissa is—" He sat up quickly when a horrible thought came to his mind. "Ohmigosh! Sparky!! Where's Sparky?!"

"Sparky's okay," Tammy explained. "He's with the others somewhere around Nimnul's machine." She pointed ahead of Todd where police searchlights illuminated the desert around the crashed Nimnul Laser Cannon 14. Nimnul himself was arrested, Todd couldn't hear what he said, but he was most probably cursing and protesting loudly. The police examined the remains of the unusual contraption, and unnoticed by them, so did a number of small animals.

Melissa interrupted his studying the scene as she wrapped her arms around him and held him close, firmly but gently and lovingly. "Oh Todd," she started sobbing again, "Todd, please don't scare me like this again! Never!"

Todd felt awkward. He had known Melissa since he joined the Destiny Unlimited Orchestra, but in all those years, he had never seen her cry. He knew her as someone cheerful, someone who usually had a smile on her face, at least whenever he was around. The most he ever saw was her feeling down for some reason, but generally, she was easy to cheer up. And now they were holding each other, and she was soaking his jacket with tears as she cried her heart out. On top of that, she seemed to be crying for him, something he found hard to comprehend as he didn't feel anything wrong with him, so there was no need to worry in his opinion. He softly stroked her back which caused her to pull him even closer. He wondered why neither Clarice nor Tammy tried to comfort her, why they just stood and watched, and what that smile on Clarice's face meant.

After a while, Melissa lifted her head and looked right into his eyes. He returned that look, something made his view automatically lock onto her beautiful eyes. But none of them said a word. They just sat on the desert sand, still in each other's arms, and stared at one another. Although Todd felt like saying something, asking Melissa how she was now, or talking about Nimnul's contraption and how he had successfully sabotaged it, a part of his mind kept him from chatting into the silence. He noticed that Melissa had to swallow. He almost felt the tension that built up, a tension which unloaded itself all of a sudden when she moved forward again and pressed her lips onto his. It wasn't the occasional peck on the cheek he received every once in a while, for his birthday, for his remembering her birthday, or for whatever else. No, it was a real kiss, the sort of kiss he used to wish he had a chance to give Clarice, but was almost certain he'd never experience, being the introverted loner that he was. It felt wonderful, there was no doubt for him, but at the same time he could not comprehend why Melissa kissed him, why she kissed him so passionately no less. He had always lived by the trope that nerds never get kissed, let alone by someone as beautiful as Melissa. She obviously felt his doubts about what was happening, he wondered if she could taste them, because she let go for a second and said, "Todd, don't think too much about it. Enjoy it." Then she continued the kiss.

He didn't know how much time had passed until they were only holding each other's hands anymore. Melissa was still breathing more heavily than usual, and he realized so was he. His heart rate was above normal, too, but despite his crash landing a while ago, he didn't have any problems with it. The half-Japanese mouse finally stood up, still with his hands in hers. "Get up, Todd," she said. "Let's have a walk. Just you and me." He actually wasn't sure if he was able to stand on his two feet, but he managed. And then, for the first time since the crash, he saw where he was. In some distance, he saw a body of water glisten and reflect the moonlight. It was Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam. If he and Sparky had hesitated for only a wee bit longer or taken a little more time to remove the circuit boards, the Nimnul Laser Cannon 14 would most likely have experienced a far worse crash either on the mountains around the lake or on the lake itself. And it was right there that Melissa headed with him.

The two mice walked together to a place from which they had a wonderful view across the northern parts of the lake. However, instead of the lake, it was each other again that they looked at. Melissa struggled for words to say, this was obvious even to Todd. Yet, he remained patient and waited for her to speak. "Todd," she began, "you mean a lot to me. A whole lot." She let a sigh hear. "I wonder if you've got even a remote idea how much you mean to me."

"Well, we're pretty good friends, I guess..."

"It goes far beyond our friendship, Todd."

"You don't mean the orchestra, do you?" Todd asked, and he was serious.

"No, I don't mean the orchestra. Sure, it is nice to play in the same orchestra as you, but there's so much more to it... Do you still not know?"

"Sorry, Melissa," Todd apologized, "but... I can't think of anything that might make sense to me..."

"Why do you think I've cried for you?" Melissa inquired, close to tears again. "Why do you think I've kissed you? Why the presents and the other nice things I've done for you? Why so many lunches and dinners together, just you and me? Still not a clue?"

"Uh... the last two parts... I mean, we're friends, so..."

Melissa clutched Todd's hands in hers another bit firmer as if to relieve herself of some of the stress she was experiencing. She looked right into his eyes as though she tried to see what was inside them and said what she had wanted to say for so many years. "Todd, I love you."

Trying to match what she had said to his believes, he replied, "Of course you do, otherwise we wouldn't be the friends we are."

"No, Todd," she clarified, "I love you, love as in this," and kissed him once more.

Todd felt the perfectly arranged world around him shatter. As wonderful as the kiss felt for his heart, his mind still couldn't sort it out. Could it really be that she was feeling for him like he had always believed he was feeling for Clarice? After finishing the kiss, Melissa asked, "Todd, what's your problem? Please tell me!"

Todd explained as if this was the most normal thing in the world since it was indeed pretty normal for his own standards, "My problem is that this is not supposed to happen. You're a wonderful person, Melissa, and you're sure attractive, I guess. It's nice to have you around. But it's just as impossible for you or anyone else to fall in love with me."

"Why should it be impossible?"

"Look at me, Melissa. Oh right, you're already looking at me. But what do you see before you? What am I? I'm a regular computer nerd. A nerd, Melissa! I'm not even supposed to have friends outside the Internet, let alone a girl who loves me. Nerds are doomed to remain singles and loners for life, and expected to lock themselves away in—"

"Todd," Melissa interrupted him, "that's a cliché. A cliché that doesn't apply to you. You're not a loner, let alone doomed to be one. See, you've got the orchestra, and you've done a lot for the orchestra and for the show. You've got Clarice. See how grateful she is to have you and your talent around? I don't think that a real nerd would be half as musically talented as you. A nerd would sit and pre-program his entire music whereas you can actually play and perform live. And most of all, Todd, you've got me." She laid her arms around his back and her head onto his chest and added, "Me, the girl who loves you as dearly as someone can love someone else."

There was nothing for him to say against these words of hers anymore. He just remained quiet and returned her embrace. For a while, they just stood and shared some tenderness. Then she turned her head upward so that her chin rested on his chest, right beneath his neck. "Todd," she demanded, "kiss me. Kiss me to prove you don't reject me."

Todd looked into her face. Even though it was dark, the moon provided the two mice with some light, enough light for him to realize how beautiful she really was. Her soft-furred face framed by long black hair, her almond eyes revealing the Japanese heritage from her mother's side, her delicately-shaped muzzle with a cute little pink nose and a slightly open mouth that waited to be kissed, he realized that he had somehow never taken any notice of all this, as obsessed with Clarice as he used to be. He had seen many mice in Las Vegas, in the orchestra, at the show, on the streets, in the parks, but she was easily one of the most beautiful mice he had ever met. Not only that, she was also one of the nicest mice he had ever met, intelligent, good-hearted, and at least as talented as she described him. This very mouse had befriended him for years, and now she stood there in his arms and longed for more than just friendship like she had actually longed for he didn't know how long.

Todd understood that she could make him the happiest rodent in Nevada or at least something that came very close. No, he didn't want to reject her, she was too wonderful for him to simply shove her away and turn back into the loner he had almost convinced himself he was.

"Melissa," he asked, "will you still be my friend?"

"I'll be your everything, Todd."

He felt something which he believed resembled stage fright, at least, he felt excited. Under different circumstances, he knew, this feeling would have been justified, for this would have been his first kiss. But Melissa had already kissed him twice, so he knew what to do. And he simply did it. He closed his eyes, directed his face downwards, and kissed her back.

Chapter 33: One More Mission Left

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