A/N: Fair warning: major drama in this coming chapter, as it's the chapter that includes the Flysenhower (no spoiler alert there, most of you ought to know the movie). I must give credit to Seven Star for giving me the idea of Sky wearing a special splash-down vest while flying over the ocean. Didn't even think about that. So thanks Seven Star! And thank you to all my readers!
Enjoy!
Chapter Seven: A Storm on the Flysenhower
Dusty rolled up to the leaderboard, Sky in her usual place standing on his wing, and the two smirked at the sight of Ripslinger, Ned, and Zed glaring at Dusty's and Sky's names at the top of the list.
"Yep. First place." Dusty said proudly. "Not too bad for a couple farmers." He rolled off, holding his propeller high with pride, and Sky blew a raspberry at Ripslinger.
"We're really showin' him, huh Dusty?" Sky laughed.
"You bet." Dusty nodded. "I think we really got this in the bag."
"Of course we do!" Sky agreed as they journeyed to the starting line. "It's another dead sprint to Mexico, but even if we end up falling a bit behind we'll be able to stay in the top three, top five spots."
"No doubt about it." Dusty said confidently. "And Sky?"
"Yeah?" Sky asked.
Dusty smiled warmly. "I'm proud that you're my co-pilot. Thanks for everything."
Sky smiled back, patting Dusty's canopy as she mounted him. "You're a great friend, Dust Storm. I'll always be thankful for that." She prepared herself for takeoff, but looked over and did a perfect double-take. "Ay caramba."
Dusty followed her gaze to see El Chu, out of breath and covered in lipstick. "What happened to you?"
"That song." El Chu panted. "It flipped the switch!" Sky and Dusty jumped a bit when Rochelle suddenly cooed in French and dragged El Chu over to her, kissing him again. Sky stuck out her tongue, covering her eyes. El Chu managed to pull himself back to his friends, covered in even more lipstick. "She is like a jaguar now!" He whimpered a bit when Rochelle dragged him back.
"Um…gross." Sky grimaced, pulling her goggles over her eyes.
The race got underway, Dusty flying down low towards the ocean again. Luckily, they were in the mid-Pacific, so it wasn't nearly cold enough for the moisture in the air to form ice on the racers. Sky tried to keep an eye on the racers above them, but the cloud cover once again got in the way. She shrugged it off, knowing it didn't really matter. But she couldn't shake that feeling that something was about to go wrong. She checked the splash-down life vest she wore, currently deflated, and nodded in satisfaction when she felt it secure. The other psyche human racers had the option to wear vests, but most decided it pointless; they would be flying so high that if they fell off for any reason, the impact of hitting the ocean alone would kill them. Dusty had insisted Sky wear the vest, just for safety's sake since they were flying lower. Or maybe he thought Skipper would still tear his wings off if Sky got hurt. The life vest wouldn't inflate unless she fell into the ocean, but she reminded herself there was no way they'd end up in the water.
Maybe halfway across the ocean, Sky suddenly became aware of the sound of a second engine growing closer and closer by the second. She looked up, only to shout in pain as a wing clipped her shoulder and knocked her off Dusty's canopy. The safety harness did its job keeping her on the crop duster, but she could do nothing as Zed suddenly swooped down and slammed his landing gear against Dusty's radio antenna, snapping it clean off and sending it into the ocean.
"My antenna! No!" Dusty gasped, him and Sky making wild grabs only to miss. Ned and Zed disappeared, back up into the clouds.
"Why those little punks!" Sky snarled, hauling herself back to her normal position. Her shoulder throbbed intensely, and she could only pray Ned didn't break it. "When we get to Mexico, I'm gonna turn those two into a pile of scrap metal!"
"If we can find our way there!" Dusty said nervously. In his panic, he had swooped around trying to catch his antenna, and there was no way of telling which way was the right way.
"Just…keep going straight!" Sky urged. "We have to reach land sooner or later!"
"But we only have so much fuel to get us there!" Dusty reminded her.
Sky scrambled for an idea, making sure her connection with Dusty was still strong. If all else failed, she could be used as a backup fuel source to keep Dusty in the air long enough to get to land. She looked up, but knew at once with the clouds and lack of stars that they'd never be able to find their way without their GPS. Oh we're in trouble now. Sky gulped a bit.
Dusty and Sky continued their flying, praying they were going in the right direction. But after several hours with no land in sight, Dusty began to realize he was running low on fuel. His first thought was to refuel in Hawaii, but because of his broken antenna not even Sky could contact the islands. That didn't stop them from trying, repeating their last known coordinates into their radios and listening to the returning static for any kind of response. None came. Panic levels rose within both of them. Sky's life vest would keep her afloat and Dusty knew some basic swimming techniques for planes to save him from drowning, but he couldn't exactly doggy paddle the rest of the way to Mexico should he fall into the ocean.
"Hawaii, do you read?" Dusty called into his radio. "I am low on fuel!" An alarm beeping caught his and Sky's attention.
"Make that out of fuel!" Sky gulped. She and Dusty looked around, but there was nothing except ocean, clouds, and skies for miles around. Not even the others racers could be seen, either on the other side of the clouds or miles ahead of them. They needed a miracle to get out of this one.
Suddenly, the sound of loud engines roared from right behind them, making Dusty and Sky jump.
"Unknown riders!" A voice called. "You have entered restricted airspace. Why haven't you responded to radio contact?" Sky turned to see a pair of twin Boeing F/A-18 E Super Hornets, one with a grey helmet and the other with a red one. A certain insignia was painted on their noses, under their eyes, and on their tail fins.
The Jolly Wrenches! Sky realized.
"Somebody cut off my antenna!" Dusty explained quickly.
"Identify yourself." The Hornet behind them said.
"I'm Dusty Crophopper." Dusty said.
"And I'm Skylar Riley!" Sky called over the wind.
"Roger that." The grey helmet Hornet nodded.
"I'm running on vapors and Sky's strength." Dusty cried desperately. "We need to land!"
"What are you doin' out here with an empty tank?" The red helmet Hornet snapped.
"Not our fault!" Sky snapped back.
"Listen, Crophopper and Riley." The red helmet Hornet said. "You better follow us to the boat."
"The boat?" Dusty asked.
"The USS Dwight D. Flysenhower." The grey helmet Hornet said.
Sky felt Dusty dip a little bit, but she kept their connection strong. Just hang on, Dusty. We're gonna be just fine.
Eventually, Sky managed to pick out names for the Hornets flanking them: the one in the red helmet was Echo and the one in the grey helmet was Bravo. Once they got over their surprise, Dusty and Sky found the two Hornets to be rather kind. They made sure to keep alongside the racers as they led them to a large ship out in the ocean.
"Let's line you up for the barricade." Bravo said as they looped around the ship. Sky and Dusty looked down to see the soldiers on the ship setting up some sort of netting.
"All you gotta do is throttle on back and call the ball and hopefully end up in the spaghetti." Echo said.
"Say what?" Sky called incredulously.
"What?" Dusty yelped. "Guys, I'm not sure I can do this!"
"I don't see how you have a choice." Echo noted.
"Okay, but that runway is moving!" Dusty protested.
"We'll set you up on the glide path!" Echo assured.
"Runways are not supposed to move!" Dusty yelped.
Sky readjusted her grip on the handlebar. "Hang on, Dusty! We can do it!"
Dusty tried his best to calm down, to no avail. "Okay! Moving runway, moving runway."
"Easy." Sky urged, keeping ready and eyeing the runway that was the Flysenhower.
"Maybe if I just came around again?" Dusty gulped.
"Throttle back!" Sky called as Echo and Bravo tried to calmly guide them onto the ship. "Come on, we got this!"
Dusty and Sky screamed as Dusty's wheels slammed onto the desk of the ship, and his brakes screeched as he desperately tried to stop. They squeezed their eyes shut, but suddenly felt themselves no longer moving. Opening their eyes, the two found a line around Dusty's back wheel stopped them from hitting the netted barricade. The soldiers around them clapped and cheered, and Dusty and Sky relaxed in relief as rain began to come down. Sky sighed heavily, leaning against Dusty.
"We did it." She breathed.
Echo and Bravo soon landed after them, joining the racers as they rode an elevator to a lower level of the ship. "Come on, let's get you two fixed up, refueled, and back in the race." Bravo encouraged. "You are way behind."
"Thanks, guys." Dusty said gratefully. "You really saved our tails out there."
"Victory!" Echo said.
"Victory!" Dusty and Sky echoed. They reached the lower level and found a wall covered in pictures before them.
"Hey, what is that?" Dusty asked as he rolled forward to investigate.
"That's the Jolly Wrenches Wall of Fame." Bravo explained.
"Every flyer, every mission." Echo added.
Sky felt her heart nearly stop. Oh no.
Dusty scanned the pictures, searching for a familiar Corsair. "Skipper…Skipper…..Skipper….."
Sky rubbed her goggles nervously. Don't be up there don't be up there don't be up there don't be up there don't be—
"Oh! Ha-ha, there he is!" Dusty announced.
Dang it.
Dusty's eyes traveled to the list of missions, and he blinked in surprise to see a single name: Glendal Canal. Also under Skipper's picture was an image of a Purple Heart medal, indicating a battle where Skipper was wounded. Dusty stared in confusion. "Why is there only one mission?" He stared at Skipper's picture for a moment. "Sky? What's going on?"
Sky sighed, dismounting from the crop duster. "Look, Dusty—" Suddenly, Sky felt her muscles go limp, and she saw a blur of colors as she tumbled over and hit the ground.
Dusty jumped back, rolling forward again and staring worriedly. "Sky? What's wrong?" Sky could only groan and clutched her shoulder, pain radiated from her bones.
"Miss Riley?" Echo asked worriedly.
"My shoulder hurts." Sky said through gritted teeth. "I feel really dizzy."
"It's no wonder." Bravo said. "With how much power you were putting in Crophopper."
"What?" Dusty asked, confused. "She wasn't—" Then, it clicked in his head and he stared at his human rider. "Sky, how much of my power came from running on vapors?"
Sky sighed. "Not very much. In fact, none at all. I gave you everything I had."
Dusty stared. "Why would you do that? You could've seriously hurt yourself!"
"We would've been even more hurt if you had crashed into the ocean." Sky said, her limbs shaking as she tried to push herself upright. Echo came up and dipped a wing, allowing Sky to lean heavily on him. Her muscles refused to fully work for her. Her shoulder felt like fire. "You were so scared and I knew we'd never make it to the boat on vapors alone. So I pushed all of my strength into you."
"But…but…." Dusty stared at Sky in shock. "That's not how this works…we're a team….we're supposed to work together…"
Sky smiled weakly. "I couldn't let you get hurt. You're my friend." Dusty only stared in horror. Sky groaned a bit as she felt her legs give out, and Echo gently scooped her up onto his wing.
"Easy there, Miss Riley." Echo said. "Luckily for you, we have the one of the best psyche human doctors right here on the Flysenhower. He'll get you fixed up and we'll get some food into you."
"Meanwhile, you come with me, Crophopper." Bravo encouraged. "Our mechanics can fix up your antenna and we'll refuel you."
Dusty only half-listened as he watched Echo roll away with his psyche human friend. Sky was limp, coughing a few times. It finally made sense, why he felt sudden surges of power as they flew towards the Flysenhower. All this time, it had been Sky pushing every ounce of strength she had into him, just so he wouldn't worry about crashing into the ocean. But what about her? She was completely drained. Dusty never saw Sky look so weak before. She always seemed like such a strong girl, body, mind, and soul.
What have I done? Dusty groaned a bit as Bravo led him to the mechanics. I dragged her into this race and look what it did to her. Skipper's gonna kill me. Dusty blinked. Skipper….you didn't lie to me, right? All those stories were true. They have to be. Skipper wouldn't lie to me. Volo Pro Veritas, right? Right?
Sky wasn't exactly a picky eater, yet she tended to be selective on her food. But she didn't dare refuse the bowl of vegetables and soybeans placed in front of her. It's not much, the medic said as he handed her the bowl, just some frozen vegetables boiled really fast. But it was all Sky needed as she wolfed it down, washing the food down with the water they gave her. Once she finished, she immediately began feeling better. But the forklift and human medics insisted she stay on the cot she sat on while waiting for the psyche human doctor to come by. The doctor, a man with gray hair and a warm smile going by the name of Dr. Ben, was able to not only heal Sky's bruised shoulder, but also transfer some of his energy into her so she would be ready to take off with Dusty.
"I thought psych-mans could only share energy with vehicles." Sky said, watching in awe as a soft blue glow flowed from the aura around Dr. Ben and into her.
Dr. Ben chuckled, stopping the healing and the glow disappearing. "The more you learn about your powers, the more you learn of their capabilities. Not all psyche humans have my talent for healing, but several do. Your powers, for example, could be used in a similar way."
"Really?" Sky asked excitedly.
"In all my years, I've never met someone with such strong powers." Dr. Ben said. "I could feel it while I was transferring my strength. You're gonna do great things."
Sky ducked her head shyly. "Thanks. I'm still trying to experiment with my powers."
"All psyche humans do throughout their early years. Developing your powers takes time and practice." Dr. Ben assured. "But be careful. I can't tell you how much my partner has yelled at me for doing something crazy with my abilities."
"Partner?" Sky asked, tilting her head to one side in confusion.
"Are you talking bad about me again?" a female voice called as a light gray, AH-6 Little Bird helicopter bounced into the room.
Dr. Ben gasped exasperatedly. "Me? Talk bad about you? I'm insulted you would think I'd do that!"
The helicopter rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Benjamin."
Dr. Ben laughed. "Miss Skylar Amelia Riley, meet Lieutenant Jessica Albarn. She's my Soul Connect partner."
"You two can Soul Connect?" Sky gasped, amazed.
"You bet." Jessica nodded. "We met during training back in the fifties. Been working together ever since. I take it you haven't found your Soul Connection yet?"
"Not yet." Sky shrugged. "But I know I will someday."
"Don't ever give up that hope." Dr. Ben said. "We're not exactly religious or philosophical around here, but most of us believe in fate. I wasn't even looking for my Soul Connect partner when I found out it was Jess here."
"Don't go looking for your Soul Connection." Jessica advised. "When the time comes, fate will lead you to him or her."
Sky smiled warmly. She fully believed in fate. That's how she explained where she was now. "I'll remember that."
Sky hated what Dusty was doing, but after finding the Wall of Fame she knew she couldn't stop him from calling Skipper. She hoped everyone already left for Mexico, but fate decided to be finicky with her.
Skipper greeted them warmly. "We're heading off to Mexico right now. Glad you and Sky got there safe. Weather report says a major storm is brewing out there."
Dusty was so concerned about what he wanted to ask Skipper he couldn't worry about the storm. "I'm not in Mexico. I'm with the Jolly Wrenches."
Skipper paused. "You're on the Flysenhower?"
"Yeah." Sky piped up, munching on an apple as a last-minute snack before takeoff. "We got a little detoured and they picked us up."
"Hey, I saw the Wall of Fame." Dusty said. "They only list one mission for you."
"Dusty." Sky intoned warningly, praying he would listen to her.
"Look, you gotta get out of there!" Skipper urged.
"Is it true?"
"Listen to me. Get above the storm!"
"Skipper, is it true?!"
"It's true!"
Dusty gasped softly, his eyes wide. Sky hung her head in defeat. Skipper didn't speak again for a moment. "It's true. I only flew one mission."
Dusty's brain worked into overdrive as he tried to register what he just heard. "But…but all those stories….."
"Crophopper! Riley!" the captain of the Flysenhower snapped as he came up and disconnected the line. "We got weather movin' in fast. You've gotta take off before it's too late. You don't go now, you don't go at all."
Sky finished her apple and tossed it into a nearby trashcan before hopping onto Dusty, strapping her harness in. But when they, Echo, and Bravo got to the deck, they realized what Skipper meant; buckets of rain fell down, soaking them both almost instantly as one of the forklifts on the deck directed them to one of the catapults. Sky heard something over the PA about a tropical cyclone formation, and Chug's words about crashing in the storm rang in her head. She shook it off as she wiped water from her goggles, preparing for takeoff. A barrier rose behind Dusty and Sky, and one of the humans on the deck hooked Dusty's landing gear to a V-shaped, metal harness. The soldiers around them started calling instructions, the most important and repeated one being "Get above the storm."
He'll never be able to climb that high. Sky realized. Or maybe fear of death by storm will get his tail into gear.
"Okay, engine full throttle." Echo instructed. "Nod to the shooter when you're set." Dusty nodded, revving up his engine and spinning his propeller. Sky activated the connection between them.
"Go win it for the Wrenches, guys." Bravo encouraged. "Volo Pro Veritas."
Dusty tensed a bit, but kept his gaze ahead to the rest of the deck that served as his runway. He felt Sky pat him encouragingly, and he looked to the shooter and gave a nod. Suddenly, the harness holding Dusty jerked forward and pulled him and Sky across the deck at high speeds. Sky's and Dusty's cheeks puffed out a bit from the wind, but soon they were launched into the sky and up in the air, flying through the storm towards Mexico.
Dusty's thoughts wandered as he flew through the storm. How can it only be one mission?
The Battle of Airway.
The Raid in Tujunga Harbor.
The Aleutians.
The Battle of Wake Island.
The Assault on Kunming.
"Dusty? Dusty!"
The crop duster gasped, Sky's voice and a bolt of lightning striking nearby pulling him from his thoughts. "Dusty, we have to get above the storm. There really is no way to avoid it this time."
"Right." Dusty nodded, continuing on and searching for a possible clear spot to go up through the clouds. But he realized something. "Wait a minute. Sky, did you know Skipper only flew one mission?"
"He's my father, of course I knew." Sky confirmed.
"What?" Dusty gasped. "You knew and you never thought to tell me?"
"You didn't need to know and it wasn't my place to say!" Sky snapped. "Now get above the storm!"
"You can't use that excuse! Not this time!" Dusty growled.
"Watch out!" Sky shouted, Dusty looking ahead to see a large wave coming up. He jerked upwards, only to lurch down again when several lightning strikes flared up before him. He and Sky grunted as his wing clipped the waves.
"You all right?" Dusty called.
"Fine!" Sky assured. "I'm going to push more of my power into you; use it to get above the storm!"
Dusty's mind flashed back to the sight of Sky lying limp on Echo's wing, unable to move on her own because of the last time she pushed so much power into him. Fear struck him. "No! Don't give me any more of your power!"
"Dusty, if we don't work together, we'll never make it!" Sky argued as Dusty's landing gear hit one of the waves. "We just gotta tilt the scale to give you the boost you need!"
Dusty grew angry; not just because Sky lied to him, but because she was trying to force her strength into him again. More than that, he grew concerned for her life. "Sky, if you do that, you'll get hurt! You almost died last time!"
"I did not!" Sky shouted over the wind and thunder. "Dusty, focus on the connection. It's breaking!"
"I don't want your help!" Dusty shouted. "You'll die! Just let me do the flying alone!"
"That's not how this works, Dusty!" Sky yelled. "I'm your friend and I'm not letting you go through this by yourself!" She could feel the connection wavering between them, Dusty's reluctance to accept it making it weak. She fought to keep it up. "Dusty, take my strength and we'll get out of this!"
"I can't lose you!" Dusty shouted. He and Sky looked ahead and gasped at the sight of a ginormous wave looming over them. Dusty would never be able to pull up in time to save himself. Sky closed her eyes and gave a shout of effort, forcing a huge surge of her strength and energy into Dusty's engine. Dusty felt a burst of power and he suddenly rocketed up and barely missed the wave. He shouted in surprise as he jerked around the air before the speed wore off and he was back at his normal pace, flying steadily through the storm. He panted heavily, amazed by the surge of power. "Sky? Sky, you all right?" Sky didn't respond to the crop duster, and Dusty hurriedly checked his side view mirror. But his eyes widened in horror to see Sky lying limply over his canopy, fully unconscious. "Oh no. Sky! Sky, wake up!" But the raven-haired girl stayed face down on the crop duster. Dusty looked ahead again and suddenly a wave came up and knocked against him. He put on an extra burst of speed to gain altitude, but a sneaky wave shot up and he ended up going right through the water.
Dusty's engine stalled, his propellers slowing to a stop. Gravity took over, dragging Dusty towards the ocean.
"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" Dusty shouted into his radio. "I'm going down!" He couldn't finish stating his coordinates as he hit the ocean water, excruciating pain flaring up in his nose and wings. He moved his tail and ailerons back and forth, desperately paddling up to the surface and breaking through with a gasp. But not two seconds later, another waved crashed onto him and forced him to more pain and more water. He floated back to the top again, gasping and struggling to stay afloat. He couldn't even feel Sky anymore, and he could only pray her harness kept her attached to him and the life vest inflated. "Help…" He gasped before his strength gave out and he sunk beneath the water.
Darkness consumed him.