He needed air… and time alone. He needed time to think. He didn't want to hear what anyone else had to say about the matter. He wanted that to wait till he figured out his end.
If I had to guess I'd bet all my trophies that Lead Bottom would come up and say I should go back to crop dusting. Forget. IT. I don't want to go back to that life… Sure, I help from time to time but… It's not all I want to do…
Dusty found himself in one of the open fields where there was less corn and more trees. He looked to the side seeing the training course he had gone through when he was first training for the Wings Around the Globe Rally. He smiled a little bit in nostalgia… chuckling at some of the memories that came to mind.
Skipper was so harsh… but it was all for good reasons… Made a racer out of me.
Dusty shook his head before sitting down under one of the trees for shade. It was one of the hotter days in Propwash Junction.
It's a wonder I wasn't suffering from overheating too on my engine. Then again Skipper and I are pretty lenient about not overheating… Be it being sure we got enough water…. or one of us dunking the other in the river.
Dusty fanned himself a little before looking at the new bracelet that was on his left wrist.
"This is a Medical Warning Bracelet, it will tell you if you're going over. If the red light goes off, you need to pull back… And Dusty… please don't do anything stupid. I know you will if I don't say anything… Just please… trust me when I say something's wrong."
Dusty sighed.
Hate it when she's right… and I bet a wrench would be thrown at my head if I tried anything… and there would be no body to be found afterward.
He shuddered.
Gosh she can be scary when she's good and mad… But least she didn't say no to flying.
Dusty got up slipping on his flight goggles. He got into a ready position before breaking into a sprint and leaping into the air. He closed his eyes as the wind whipped against his face, feeling that sense of freedom flight had always given him. He was glad he still had this at least.
I should be thankful I can still fly… If I lost that… I don't know what I'd do…
He flew up higher, getting a better view of his home. He smiled looking down at it. He always looked forward to seeing the place after a race. It would be a great to just come back and be able to wind down without having news reporters hackle him or fans crowding him.
Just peace… quiet… and fresh air…
He took a deep breath, feeling clean air go through his system… but then stopped short when a different smell caught his attention. A thick… choking kind of smell. Something Propwash Junction was not strangers to.
Dusty looked around, his eyes widening as he saw the source of the smell. Not too far off in the distance, a smoke stack was starting to form near the end of the fields… and it was only getting bigger by the second.
Oh no…
Dusty didn't waste time. He bolted back to Propwash, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE ON THE SOUTH END OF THE FIELDS! SOMEONE GET MAYDAY AND DAVID!"
Everyone looked to him before taking note of the smoke stack in the distance. People hurried around as the alarm was sounded off. Soon enough two men were seen rushing out towards the fire, fully equipped with fire fighting gear. One was a bit on the older side while the other was still in his prime. But age didn't matter, they were Propwash's finest in their eyes.
"Alright Mayday, work time." said the younger one as he took to the skies.
Mayday nodded. "Be careful up there David, this looks like a big one."
"Roger."
Dusty watched them go before glancing back at the town, seeing people scurrying around as they were following emergency procedures.
"I got all the gas locked up in case it gets close." Chug called out.
"Good, I got all the oil covered." Sparky answered.
Ready for anything.
Dusty looked towards the fire, seeing Mayday and David get straight to work. Mayday using his fire hose while David was using fire retardant to douse the flames. It always amazed him at how fast they worked. Alarm goes off and bam they were there.
"Dusty! Get down here! Don't want you inhaling the smoke!" Dottie called to him from the Fill N Fly.
Dusty nodded starting to descend… till another noise caught his attention. Something that made everyone's blood freeze.
"AAAAAAAGH!"
Dusty looked towards the fire, eyes widening as he saw David was going down. Everything seemed to slow for him… until he found himself charging towards the fire as fast as he could go.
"DUSTY!" Dottie shouted.
Dusty ignored her and everyone else. He kept his eyes focused on David. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through him as he dived. He felt a bit of pain and could hear his bracelet going off but he ignored it. Soon as he was close enough, he grabbed on to David, veering him away from the fire but not without a rough landing.
They hit the ground hard, both crying out a bit.
Gonna be feeling that one tomorrow… Dusty winced as he got up before looking to David. A horrified look coming to his eyes as he saw the condition the mechanid was in. His visor had been cracked open and the area around his eyes was bright red… burns… He was coughing up a storm too.
"W-What happened?" Dusty stuttered, unsure how to react.
David looked to him, his eyes barely open.
"Wind made the fire flare up, caught me off guard… I need to get back up there-" David stopped, looking around madly.
Concern came into Dusty's eyes. "What's wrong?"
Horror seemed to come into David's barely open eyes.
"I… I can't see… No no no… I need to get back up there! Mayday can't handle this on his own!"
"Easy now." Dusty helped him sit up, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Panicking won't' help."
David nodded, shaking a little. "He needs help…"
CRACK!
Both heads snapped towards the sound, seeing the fire was getting close them. Dusty helped David up, getting him away from it.
"... Dusty…. Right?"
"That's me." Dusty kept his eyes focused on the path, picking up his pace.
"... Plane mechanid… right?"
"Right again."
"Good…"
Huh…?
Soon as they were a good distance away from the fire Dusty stopped to rest, setting David down. David, instead of lying down, stayed sitting up, shedding off what Dusty could assume was his retardant tank, holding it out.
"Um…" Dusty looked at it confused.
"Get the rest of the load on to the fire. Just dump all of it."
Dusty's eyes widened. "Whoa whoa whoa hold up a moment I don't know this kind of stuff! You really wanna trust me with THAT?"
"The first may have flared but it was going down pretty quickly, all you need to do is get at the right angle and drop it, it's like shooting a fish in a barrel. Mayday needs any support he can get."
"But… what about…?"
"I'll be fine, just get up in the air and get the rest of the retardant dumped. That's an order."
Dusty gulped as he took the tank into his hands, almost falling over a bit at how heavy it was.
And to think he carries this on a regular basis.
"Strap it on." David ordered as Dusty did as told before handing him two control gloves. "Then put these on. Get at an angle before dropping the retardant, us the wind as a way for it to fall right on the fire. Once you're in the right position, squeeze the control on your right hand, that'll release the retardant."
"O-Okay…"
"Just focus… and this fire is nothing compared to what Mayday and I have seen before."
Dusty nodded, bringing his scarf over his mouth to act as a filter for the smoke.
"I'll be back."
Dusty took the skies, heading back towards the fire. He could see Mayday was still working hard and was putting out a good part of the fire, there was just the other side that needed to be taken care of. Dusty felt himself trembling as he flew around, trying to get in the right position. Part of it was because of the weight of the tank… the other was just how nerve wracking htis was.
I can't screw this up… Why did this guy trust me?
Dusty looked down at the flames. He wasn't sure if he was anywhere close to being in the right position…
Focus… come on… How can…
Then he thought of something.
Can't believe I'm gonna make this comparison… let's just imagine we're dusting crops again… That required moving at the right angles… just think of it like that.
Dusty flew around the fire again, focusing on his position.
Alright… 3… 2… 1!
He squeezed the control in his right hand, dropping the retardant on the fire… dousing the flames.
"BULL'S EYE!" he shouted, veering away from it as soon as all the retardant was emptied out.
Mayday looked up to him, a grateful look in his eyes as he finished up his end.
Wasn't long before the fire was in a controlled state, left to burn out on its own. Soon as it was, Dusty landed not too far from Mayday.
"Dusty?" Mayday blinked. "That was you up there?"
"Y-Yeah… David sent me over in his stead because he couldn't do it… Craziest thing I've ever had to do." Dusty panted. Yet at the same time… that felt incredible…
Concern crossed Mayday's eyes.
"Where is he?"
"Follow me."
Dusty lead Mayday to where David was. He was lying on the ground, his breathing shallow. He looked around as heard the two approach.
"Dusty? Who's there?" he asked.
"It's me partner." Mayday answered, kneeling beside him, worry in his eyes at the condition of his friend. "That fire blast really did get you bad…"
"Yeah… Can't see a darn thing…" David reached his hand out as Mayday grasped it.
"We need to get you to Dottie right away." Mayday helped him up. "She'll know what to do."
David nodded. "Is Dusty here?"
"Right here." Dusty said, squeezing his shoulder.
"Did you do it?"
"He sure did." Mayday smiled. "Helped a lot… good choice on who you gave your tank too."
"Figured being a crop duster mechanid he would know some aerial application." David grinned.
Dusty smiled sheepishly. "Yeah but there's a huge difference between crop dusting and putting out fires."
"Either way you got the job done… Nice work."
"Thank you… now let's focus on getting you fixed up."
As they headed back, Dusty couldn't help but look back to the little embers that remained of the fire.
I… helped put out a fire…
Dusty smiled a bit… feeling some sense of pride at the thought but shook it off, turning his attention back on Propwash.
I have to admit though… that did feel good helping…