"YAAH! THAT'S COLD!"

Dusty shivered, rubbing his arms as a man by the name of Maru got the retardant washed off him with a hose… and with ice cold water.

"That oughta do it." Maru snickered, getting back into his workshop. "I got work to do, gotta make a fresh batch of retardant."

Dusty looked to Nick, who was still wearing his look of doom as he looked Dusty over.

"Wait to dry off then you can fly back the lodge and be with the other tourists. Watch where you're going next time." Nick started to walk away.

"Uh wait a second Chief Lopez! I'm not a tourist I'm-"

"He's the trainee, Nick." Windlifter finished.

Nick stopped in his tracks, looking to Dusty.

"You're Dusty? The one Mayday radioed about?"

Dusty nodded nervously. "Y-Yes sir."

Nick walked around him, looking him over.

"Hm… Some adjustments are gonna have to be made but I think we can make a firefighter out of ya…"

"Think? More like I know we can!"

Dipper came running over, grinning widely. "You know who this is right Nick?"

Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Dusty Crophopper from Propwash Junction. What else?"

Dipper gasped. "Nick! This is THEE Dusty Crophopper. He raced all around the world! He's a racing champion! Tell him Dusty!"

Dusty went a little red. "U-Um I uh… guess… I did… yeah I did do that…"

Nick's look didn't falter as he looked at both of them.

"The whole world wasn't on fire, was it?"

Dusty swallowed hard.

"The whole world…? … N-No…"

"Hmph, then I see no relevance… A good racer doesn't make a good firefighter."

Dipper lowered her head a little, feeling embarrassed for herself… and for Dusty.

"Y-Yes sir…" they said.

Nick nodded, looking over to Maru. "Maru!"

"What?" he asked, lifting up his welding his mask.

Nick motioned to Dusty with his head. "Rip of his racing gear and get him a proper suit!"

"Wait, what?!"

Maru grinned, snickering as he grabbed one of Dusty's arms, dragging him into the shop.

Nick smiled a little before walking away.

"Don't worry Maru doesn't bite… much."

"There ya go, complete with pontoons and all."

Dusty looked at himself in a mirror, little wobbly on the new gear that was under his feet. It was similar to his racing gear save the new boots and pants, along with the harness he had on to attach the pontoons to him… Which were proving hard to walk on.

Guess this is just a thing… Dusty sighed as he tried to walk… falling right over and hitting Maru in the head.

"OW! Ugh… forgot." Maru hit the pontoons with a wrench, causing wheels to pop out. "Stupid sensors… There, now try. They're like giant roller skates if you will. Roll around for a minute so you can get adjusted."

Dusty nodded, doing as told. He moved around the workshop, figuring out how to stop himself and keep his balance.

"There we go… Don't need to keep them on 24/7 but keep the harness on so you can attach them quickly." Maru said as he took the pontoons off, setting them aside. "Duty calls you need to suit up fast."

"Right…"

Maru gave a nod before tending to other things in his shop. Dusty decided to look around before noticing one of the walls had picture on it… in a very similar fashion he had seen before.

"Hey! You guys have a wall fame like the Jolly Wrenches!" Dusty looked it over, smiling a bit. "So what's the deal to get on here?"

Maru was going through tools as he looked over to Dusty, giving a serious look.

"Crash."

Dusty's smile completely faded hearing that, looking at the wall again.

"Oh…"

"Yep… Dangerous work… but that's the life of a firefighter… They fly in when others fly out… Risking their lives for people they don't even know… takes a special kind of person to do this kind of job."

Dusty bowed his head in respect… thinking about David and Mayday with all they ever did for Propwash.

I got a lot to live up to.

Dusty soon found himself knee deep in training with Nick. Right off the bat he was learning about different ways about putting out fires, practicing suiting up quickly, how to use his pontoons… and how to maneuver around obstacles. Which despite Dusty being familiar with the last part… it was proving to be difficult to finish the Augerin Canyon obstacle course when…

"Alright, redline it this time!" Nick shouted. "Make it under the bridge!"

Come on… Don't go off!

Dusty tried to go top speed but just before he could…

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

He cringed hearing the bracelet go off, the red light flashing like crazy. He pulled back on speed flying away from the bridge.

"Oh come on Champ, you won't be certified if you don't redline it. Being a firefighter means giving it everything you got!"

Yeah one small problem with that. Dusty snarked in his mind, biting his tongue so he didn't say it himself.

"I'll try harder next time, sorry Chief." Dusty responded.

Nick nodded. "Enough of that, I think that'll be enough for the day. Besides, it's getting dark."

"And firefighters aren't supposed to fly at night." Dusty said, remembering some of the stuff he had gone over with Nick and Maru.

"Correct, got something right, Champ." Nick flew off, leading the way back to base.

Dusty mentally sighed. Can insult you and compliment you at the same time… Then again… Probably driving him nuts with not being able to redline it… Stupid gear box…

Soon as they landed they parted ways, heading for their hangars… or least Dusty was.

Need a nap after all that mess…

He started to make his way back, but then stopped in his tracks when his eyes noticed something. On top of the main hangar was that man in the red fire suit he had seen earlier, only now he seemed to be in a more casual set of clothing.

What's he doing up there…?

Dusty walked over to the hangar, looking up at him.

"Um… hello?"

The man jumped, looking down at Dusty. He blinked back confusion as much as he could, but kept his eyes locked on Dusty. He didn't say anything… he just stared.

"Sorry if I spooked ya but… um… What are you doing up there? And… who are you? I saw you earlier when the others were putting out that fire. Are you part of the team?"

The man was still quiet for another moment before he spoke.

"... You can see me…?"

"Of course I can." Dusty raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

The man hopped down from the hangar, looking around, seeing that it was just him and Dusty at the moment. He approached him, looking him over before stepping back.

"Well… in general no one realizes I'm here… I kind of keep to myself. You're the first one to notice." The man folded his arms. "Dusty, right?"

"Yeah… that's me…" Dusty rubbed the back of his neck. "The trainee who keeps screwing up."

"You'll get there, just… try harder is all I have for you and be patient. Not every firefighter is good off the bat."

Dusty nodded. "Just like how I wasn't a great racer at first, but got better with training."

"That's right."

"Okay…" Dusty smiled a little. "That makes me feel a little better… Can I get your name?"

The man gave a bow. "Blade Ranger, but just call me Blade."

"Nice to meet you...So.. are you a firefighter? I remember seeing you in a suit similar to Nick's."

"Well… I'm something like that. I'm more or less a park ranger in a sense. I keep an eye on the fires and well… make sure the firefighters are safe."

"The last name fits you then."

"Heh… guess it does."

"Dusty?"

Dusty looked to the side to see Dipper approaching.

"Who you talking to?"

"Oh well I was talking to-" Dusty looked to where Blade was but then saw he was gone. Huh…? He looked around the whole area to see he was no where to be found.

"You okay?"

"Um… yeah… just tired… long day ya know with training and stuff…"

"I get ya… Why don't you get some sleep? You look like you could use it."

"Yeah…"

Dusy gave a nod before walking off… finding himself rather confused.

Where did he go…?