Chapter Nine: Victories
The next day, everyone prepared for the last leg to New York, finishing the Wings Around the Globe Rally. But what made everyone pause and stare in shock was the sight of Dusty and Sky heading towards the track. Dusty was newly fixed, most of his hide made from new or spare part materials including, most noticeably, his wings and propeller. Sky stood on his wing, per the usual, not seeming to notice her leg below the knee was still in a cast and a strong brace. Her Jolly Wrench jacket was dried out and the minor tears fixed, her bandana tied around her wrist and her jet-black hair pulled into a ponytail. Sparky even repainted the Jolly Wrench insignia on Dusty's nose again.
"We'll see you in New York." Dottie said as Dusty and Sky passed their hanger.
"Thanks, guys." Dusty said.
"Catch ya at the finish line." Sky nodded with a smile.
"I'll keep your shoe safe until then!" Sparky said, holding up Sky's Converse. She couldn't exactly wear it while her leg and foot were in a cast. Sparky, Dottie, and Chug waved as their racer friends continued on.
Sky looked ahead to see Dusty traveling straight towards Ripslinger, his propeller spinning. "You don't have to do this, Dusty. He's not worth our time."
"I want him to see us." Dusty said. "I want to show him he hasn't broken us and he never will."
Sky smirked, but glared when Ripslinger caught sight of them. He began spinning his double propellers, rolling up to the Propwash racers. "Bolting on a few new parts and slapping a Band-Aid on your wounds doesn't change who you are." Ripslinger sneered. "I can still smell the farm on the both of you."
"The farm?" Sky laughed confidently. "You hear that, Dusty? He can still smell Propwash Junction on us. Like that's supposed to be a bad thing."
Dusty laughed too. "You know what? I finally get it. You're afraid of getting beat by a crop duster and a human!" With every section of that sentence, Dusty scooted forward and forced Ripslinger to jump back. "Well check six, 'cause we're comin'." Dusty turned and rolled off, Sky making a "humph" sound and standing up straighter.
Ripslinger caught sight of several spectators nearby. "And what are you punks lookin' at?" He barked, making them scatter. He turned and glared at Ned and Zed. "We are going to end this, once and for all." Ned and Zed laughed in agreement, following their boss towards the racetrack.
Skipper, hiding behind the corner of the hangers, peered out and stared after Ripslinger and his buddies. He heard almost the entire confrontation, right through Ripslinger's threat. He knew the racer was getting desperate for a win. Skipper had seen more desperate people do crazy things, so he could only imagine what Ripslinger had in store. He clearly didn't care what he had to do, especially after risking Dusty's and Sky's lives by tampering with their radios. He was going to seriously hurt Dusty. He could re-injure Sky.
Ripslinger was threatening Skipper's baby girl.
Skipper glared hard. Oh I don't think so.
Race officials ruled Dusty's and Sky's radios had been tampered with; so, despite not finishing the last leg, they would be allowed to compete. But there was one problem: a severe time penalty. It would take a serious amount of horsepower and willpower to go from last to first. But Sky and Dusty didn't worry about it as they prepared for takeoff. The two of them tensed up, ready to go, and the second the green flag went down they shot off like a bullet. Their opponents still flew far ahead of them, but Dusty kept his eyes on the landscape ahead. Flying low, per the usual, he sped across the land at breakneck speeds. Sky continued to speak to him, at his request, giving encouragement and letting him know when he passed the racers.
"I need you talking to me the entire time." Dusty had told her. "Especially when we get close to Ripslinger. I wouldn't put it past him to pull something funny in a desperate attempt to win."
"Roger that." Sky had said.
Now, she looked back and forth between the racers above them and the road ahead of them. They glided through canyons and ripped through flatlands, oftentimes leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
Sky looked up as they neared the desert area. "Okay. We just passed Rochelle and El Chu. Now it's just us, Ripslinger, Ned, and Zed. Keep it up, Dusty, we're doing great."
"Keep an eye out for Ripslinger." Dusty said. "If we're lucky, we can sneak right under him."
I don't think we're going to be that lucky. Sky thought. But she obeyed and kept her eyes ahead for any sight of black and green. They were deep into the desert now, far away from the other racers and out of camera range. Sky looked up and spotted a familiar trio of planes. She leaned down closer to Dusty. "They're right ahead of us. What's the plan?"
"Just watch them." Dusty said. "I'll see if I can get past without them noticing. Where are they now?"
Sky looked up, but gasped. "They're gone!"
"What?" Dusty asked. "Where'd they go?"
"I don't know!" Sky said, looking around wildly for their opponents. Suddenly, she heard the sound of another engine on top of her right before Ripslinger's landing gear knocked her from her perch. Oh not again!
"Running out of airspace, Crophopper?" Ripslinger sneered, pushing Dusty down and forcing him to hit a bunch of cacti. Sky covered her head with one arm as cacti flew everywhere, allowing the harness to keep her attached to Dusty as she tried to shove Ripslinger off him.
"Stop it!" Sky shouted. "Get off him!" The green and black racer only laughed.
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
Ripslinger shouted in surprise and pain as a streak of blue shot past and knocked him aside, allowing Dusty to pull up.
"Skipper?!" Dusty gasped.
"Dad!" Sky cheered.
"Dusty, pull up!" Skipper ordered.
Dusty obeyed just before he could hit a large rock tower in his path. Sky laughed as she swung herself back up onto Dusty's back, and Dusty smiled broadly at the sight of his mentor actually soaring through the air above him. "Skipper, you're flying!"
"Oh, you noticed?" Skipper's voice over the radio indicated a smirk. "I got Rip! You take care of the other two!"
"Got it!" Dusty said.
"Let's go, Dusty!" Sky urged, readying herself. She and Dusty shot off through the desert canyon, Ned and Zed close behind them. It seemed no matter how many rock towers they shot through, the Twin Turbos managed to stay on their tails. Sky looked up to see Ripslinger going after Skipper, the old Corsair managing to keep several feet ahead of the racer.
"They're on your six! You gotta lose 'em!" Skipper urged.
"I'm trying!" Dusty called.
What I'd give for a good-size wrench. Sky ducked as Ned swooped over, trying to knock her off. The next time he did, she gave a firm punch to his landing gear and sent him spiraling off to one side. Sky yelped in pain, shaking her now-throbbing hand. "Ouch! That wasn't smart!"
Dusty desperately tried to put on more speed, pulling up beside Skipper for a moment. "Skip, we can't shake 'em!"
"Pull hard right!" Skipper barked. "I'll break left and take out Rip. Use the rocks!"
"Aye-aye, coach!" Sky nodded, her and Dusty breaking off from Skipper. She looked ahead. "Over there, Dusty! Let's go!"
"Keep your head down!" Dusty warned, shooting towards a couple rock towers much closer together than the others. Dusty and Sky passed a tower, performing a perfect radial-G. Zed's wings clipped the rocks and he began spiraling out of control. Sky pressed herself close to Dusty as the plane made a knife-edge turn, passing through a small space between two rock towers. Ned and Zed, however, ended up getting stuck when they tried passing through at the same time.
"Yeah!" Dusty cheered.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Sky punched the air. "Now let's go find Skipper!"
Ripslinger didn't think it would be so hard to catch a grizzled old Corsair, but Skipper proved him otherwise. The Corsair didn't show, but the elated feeling of being back up in the air and darting around in this wild dogfight brought him back to his glory days in the war. It was, dare he say it, fun. He managed to make a hard turn Ripslinger avoided, making an inverted loop so that he chased the green and black racer rather than the other way around.
"Say hello to the Warsaw Windmill!" Skipper smirked, pulling alongside Rip and jerking a wing up. The resulting tilt caused Ripslinger to spin crazily as he fell off to one side.
"Whoa! You're crazy!" Ripslinger shouted.
"That's right!" Skipper laughed. He pulled ahead, spying his trainees just below him. "Dusty! Sky! You okay?"
"Yeah!" Dusty called. "Yeah, we're fine."
"You are the coolest dad ever!" Sky laughed.
"To quote you, my dear, 'Duh!'" Skipper smirked. "Not bad for a crop duster."
Dusty laughed. "And not bad for an old-timer who doesn't fly."
"Oh yeah?" Skipper asked. "Well, I may be old, but at least I ain't afraid of heights." Dusty laughed. Sky giggled furiously and Skipper chuckled.
SHING!
Skipper shouted in pain as a streak of green and black shot past, pieces of the Corsair's tail bouncing off Sky's arms and chest.
"Skipper!" Sky screamed.
Dusty shot down after his fallen mentor. Luckily, Skipper managed to level out and stay airborne, but Sky and Dusty stared in shock at the Corsair's torn tail. "Oh no." Dusty groaned. "Skipper, are you okay?"
"You kiddin'?" Skipper chuckled. "I'm great!"
"But what about your tail?" Dusty asked worriedly.
"I'll live." Skipper assured. "Go!"
Sky and Dusty glared in the direction Ripslinger left, putting on more speed as they chased after him. "Oh it is so on!" Sky growled, the sight of Skipper being attacked replaying over and over again in her head. "Nobody messes with my family!"
"You got that right." Dusty agreed. "Let's show him how it's done!"
The two managed to catch sight of Ripslinger, but as they headed into the final stretch through the clouded over forests near New York, the green and black racer still maintained his lead. They caught up fast, pushing their limits and determined to not let Skipper's work helping them go in vain. Passing a couple radio towers, they performed another radial-G to help boost them forward to fly right alongside Ripslinger.
"What?" Ripslinger gasped, surprised and irritated.
"Hi." Dusty greeted. Sky stuck her tongue out at their opponent.
Then, Ripslinger put on an extra burst of speed and pulled ahead of them. Dusty and Sky strained a bit, fighting to pick up the pace and work their way back up. But no matter how much they tried, the torque had reached its maximum, and even Sky's power boost wouldn't be able to help them if they used it.
"No!" Dusty groaned, Ripslinger disappearing into the distance.
"Damn it!" Sky slapped her hand against the handlebar. "Now what do we do?" We're so close! We can't lose now or this will all have been for nothing!
Light began shining down on the two as they reached the edge of the cloud cover, and they looked up to see familiar cloud formations high above them.
Tailwinds like nothing you've ever flown.
"Dusty?" Sky asked, glaring in determination.
"Roger that, Skip." Dusty breathed. He steeled his nerves and began climbing, straight up towards the clouds. As they got higher and higher, Dusty's fear instincts began kicking in. "Don't look down. Ugh, don't look down!"
"No, Dusty, look down." Sky said.
"What?" Dusty gasped.
"Look down, and then keep climbing." Sky ordered. "We can do this, for our sakes if not for Skipper's." She put a hand to the side of his cockpit. "Dusty, look down."
Dusty gulped, then looked back behind him. He gasped deeply, feeling like something was trying to drag him down to the ground again. Oh Chrysler! Oh Chrysler!
"Dusty!" Sky called, keeping her voice calm. "Easy, now. Easy. Keep going. I'm right here. I'm with you, Dusty. Every leg, every mile of the way, I'm always with you."
Dusty panted a bit, but swallowed back the bile in his throat and pushed his engine to carry him higher. I'm with you, Sky. Just like you're always with me.
The two of them broke through the clouds to the jet stream, and suddenly the winds propelled them along faster than they ever went before. Dusty and Sky shouted in surprise as Dusty tried to realign himself, the wind cold against Sky's face. But once Dusty managed to get on a smooth glide path and their speed picked up, wide smiles appeared on the racers' lips.
"Oh yeah!" They exclaimed, cheering and whooping and laughing. Dusty did a few loops and Sky punched the air, not minding the slight lack of oxygen from being up so high.
After some time, they noticed the air below them getting clearer and New York City came into sight. Also in sight was Ripslinger, on his way to supposedly another victory.
"Ready, Dusty?" Sky called.
"Right!" Dusty nodded. He turned upside down and dived, similarly to how they did during training, and sped down towards the finish line. Once they reached the track, they flipped back up again and began closing in fast on Ripslinger. The finish line was just ahead of them, the crowds staring in anticipation.
Ripslinger tilted down towards the cameras, and Dusty and Sky snuck up behind him.
They shot up….
….yet another radial-G pass executed perfectly….
…..and passed Ripslinger to slice the finish line with Dusty's propellers!
"YES!" Dusty exclaimed. Sky cheered loudly, punching the air and hugging Dusty. They barely noticed the roar of the crowds or Ripslinger crashing into some portable toilets off to one side. Dusty landed, skidding to a halt as the rest of the racers came in cheering for them. Dusty looked to Sky. "Nice job, co-pilot."
"We did it!" Sky laughed, dismounting from Dusty and hugging him tightly. "Oh my gosh, we did it!" She couldn't stop smiling as she and Dusty locked eyes. "That was some pretty good flyin', Dust Storm."
"Wouldn't have been the same without you there with me, Soarin' Sky." Dusty said. Sky laughed a bit, kissing the crop duster and making him blush a bit. Soon, they found themselves surrounded by reporters and audience members, all cheering for them.
"Well done, you two." Ishani said. "The world has a new set of champions." She smiled, her gaze mostly on Dusty. "And so do I."
Dusty felt the heat rising in his face, but still smiled. "Thanks, Ishani. For everything."
Sky nudged Dusty playfully. "Casanova."
Dusty rolled his eyes, hoping his hide wouldn't melt from how hot he grew. "Oh shut up." Sky laughed, but she and Dusty looked up in surprise to see a familiar German car/plane. "Franz? What are you doing here?"
"We came to watch you win the race." Franz said. "You are an inspiration to all of us."
"'All of us'?" Dusty repeated.
"Yeah. All of us who want to do more than just what we were built for." Franz said, and Dusty and Sky turned to see a wide range of different kinds of vehicles, all cheering for the former crop duster.
"Wow." Sky breathed. "Way to go, Dusty."
"What, you think I did all that by myself?" Dusty asked. "It's a two-way street."
"Yeah, but you're the former crop duster who became a racer." Sky shrugged. "I'm just the co-pilot."
"No you're not." Dusty said firmly. "You're the one who was willing to give her power and strength to someone like me for the sake of my safety and peace of mind. You're the one who was always encouraging me even when I had moments where I thought about giving up. You're the one who helped me conquer my fears. Sky, you're so selfless and brave and I will always be thankful that I know you."
"I'm not that special." Sky tucked a stray strand of hair behind one ear, fiddling with her goggles as they hung around her neck.
"You are that special." Dusty assured. "You're my friend, and the coolest psyche human I've ever known. This dream we had of racing…it's not just my dream that I shared with you. It's always belonged to both of us. And we accomplished it together." Dusty lifted a wing up to raise Sky a little higher. "Let's hear it for Skylar Amelia Riley! The best human racer the world has ever known!"
Sky stared as the crowd's cheers became louder, and she allowed herself to smile warmly as she soaked up the attention and praises. There were times when she would fear using her psyche human abilities in front of people besides the Propwash Junction residents, worried someone would scorn her like her parents did. But this moment alone was enough to stomp out those fears forever.
Then Sky's face fell to one of shock. "Oh my gosh! Dusty, we forgot about Skipper!"
Dusty gasped. "Oh man, he's still out there! Hop on; we'll go find him!"
Sky nodded as she began mounting Dusty. I can't believe we left him out there! What if he crashed into the desert? What if Ned and Zed got him? What if a wild animal got to him? What if—
"Who's that guy?" someone in the crowd called, drawing everyone's attention to another plane flying in. Dusty and Sky smiled broadly at the sight of Skipper, the Corsair also wearing a warm grin as he flew overhead and pulled around for a landing. Sparky's jaw dropped, and he smiled broadly at the sight. Dusty hurriedly rolled towards his mentor, Sky jumping off him and half-limping, half-running to her father.
"Dad!" Sky laughed, running around his propellers and hugging the Corsair. Skipper chuckled as he nuzzled his daughter lovingly. Sky sighed, then laughed and lightly punched Skipper. "You rascal! You had me worried sick!"
"Just keeping you on your toes." Skipper chuckled. He looked to Dusty, smiling warmly.
Dusty smiled back, all his previous anger with the Corsair seeming nonexistent. "Thanks, Skip."
"Don't thank me." Skipper said. "I learned a lot more from you than you ever learned from me."
Sky smiled proudly at the two planes. "Boys….." she sighed. I'm so proud of both of you.
A loud whistle rang out across the Flysenhower as Skipper, Dusty, and Sky arrived on the deck to prepare for takeoff.
Needless to say, the entire crew and even Flysenhower himself were overjoyed at Dusty and Sky's victory. So much, they invited the racers and Skipper back to the Flysenhower to celebrate and give Sky and Dusty very special gifts. As Dusty and Skipper were hooked up to the catapults, Skipper glanced over to check out Dusty's and Sky's new looks. Dusty had a new three-blade propeller, similar to his old one, but his entire paintjob had been changed to match the Jolly Wrench Hornets on the Flysenhower. He was mostly black and gray in color now, with the piston and cross-wrenches painted down his flanks and across his tail. A Navy ribbon was painted on one side of him. Sky received a new additions to her look as well, though she kept her jeans, sneakers, and Navy commander jacket (newly cleaned). Instead of her bandana and goggles, she now wore a helmet and visor identical to Echo's and Bravo's, black and dotted with white Jolly Wrench insignias. She also received a pair of gloves and a gray scarf with a black piston and cross-wrenches stitched into it. A Purple Heart ribbon and medal pinned securely into her jacket, awarded to the girl for almost dying for the sake of her teammate.
Sky pulled her visor down while Dusty and Skipper started up their propellers. "You ready, wingman?" Dusty called.
"Roger that." Skipper nodded.
"Honorary Jolly Wrench." Echo smiled proudly. "How's that feel, guys?"
"Feels great." Dusty said happily.
"Ditto." Sky nodded.
"Back in the saddle again, eh, Skipper?" Echo laughed.
"Well they didn't have these fancy toys the last time I did this." Skipper admitted.
"Nothing to it!" Dusty assured. "They hook you up, you nod to the shooter over there, and hang on!"
"Here we go!" Sky whooped.
The catapults launched, throwing the two planes and psyche human into the skies. Skipper whooped and laughed, discovering he rather liked that method of takeoff. Sky laughed, smiling warmly between Dusty and Skipper. Skipper smiled to his trainees, the younger flyers returning the gesture.
I knew you could do it, Dusty. Sky thought. You did the one thing I couldn't do: you healed him.
"Last one back to Propwash buys!" Dusty challenged.
"Ha-ha! You're on!" Skipper smirked determinedly.