This is it: the final chapter! It's long, emotional, action-packed, and has a lot of content in it. At the end, I think you will be satisfied with how it ends. It's 9,916 words long, making it by a slim margin the longest chapter in this story. It's second only to the final chapter of Labyrinth, which is a little over ten thousand words. Also, we have reached 40 reviews at last!
Cosmicsafe asks: What is your favorite movie?
SnowLucario answers: I'm not really a movie person. I recently saw Nerve, which was hilarious. And Lucario and The Mystery Of Mew is another great one. But my two favorite movies, which I have loved since childhood, are I Love Toy Trains: Oh No! and Balto. The former is a compilation of toy train derailments and things like that. I remember visiting my grandparents and there being a model train museum that was only open on Saturdays. That always inspired awe in me, just like that audiokinetic sculpture. The movie is hilarious and even features a few Pokemon plushies in it, along with the creepy voice of some guy saying "Oh no!" whenever Eevee falls from a crane or the milk bottles don't make it into the back of the truck.
As for Balto, it's a classic retelling of a true story. It has a bit of romance, a bit of humor, and my sister is obsessed with wolves. She's always loved it, and even the other two that were made. Only the first is based on something that actually happened, though.
I really hope that you enjoy it and review it. There is a long note at the bottom, but I don't want to delay your enjoyment with more talking about our new president, or anything else about my personal life. So, here goes.
Enjoy the final chapter of Wing And A Scare!
WILLOW'S POV
It was getting to crunch time.
We had less than thirty-six hours to get our plan fully together, because the morning after the one that was about to come up, Konstantin Brockenbough would be executed. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, unless we were successful.
The consequences of failure would be immense. We would likely be imprisoned or put on death row if we were caught. The consequences of not trying would be far worse.
We had to believe there was a possibility. If not, we'd already lost.
Right now, I was at a meeting with Lucas, Seventy-Four, Cole, Mike, Will, Mrs. Hooter, Dr. Howler, and Falco, trying to figure out the best way to free him. Ideas had been tossed around for what felt like years, even though it had only been a couple of days. The whole time, I could feel that the atmosphere was becoming more and more desperate. They needed to think of something, quick.
"I know what the plan is" Mrs. Hooter said, surprising all of the students present.
It was a pleasant surprise, though. It was good just to have a plan after all of the confusion and chaos. Whatever it would end up being, at least it was a plan.
"What is the plan, Mrs. Hooter?" my boyfriend asked. Lucas was looking good today in his purple shirt and turquoise pants, which he had grown into quite well. In the past month and a half, he had put on muscle, particularly during his training for the mission to defuse the bomb under the glacier. He seemed to be ready for another one.
Dr. Howler, rather than the archery instructor, was the one to answer him.
"We're going to get a stretcher from the hospital wing, because it's likely that he will not be able to walk under his own power. It's also likely that he will need some medical treatment in the Great Fox, so it's really just a precaution. Plus, it'll just make it easier to carry him in between us, I should think".
Falco nodded. "I'm coming with you guys. It's understood that I have to leave to help with the war effort, since there are no more flight simulators up in the mountains. As long as we do everything we can around the galaxy in order to help with the war effort, that increases the chances that Konstantin may be pardoned if they figure out that he's innocent, should they decide that his good deeds outweigh his purported bad ones".
"And how will we get past the guards?" Will asked. I sure as hell hoped that someone would have an answer for that, because that someone was not going to be me.
"The reason Dr. Howler went to me to work with you guys was because she knew that I was good with shooting. I'm going to shoot tranquilizer darts into the soldiers and make them pass out, so we can get past them. And we might have to use the stretcher as a weapon, too. All that matters, though, is that we get Konstantin and ourselves back up ten stories, preferably alive".
It was an interesting plan, I had to agree with that. Would it work?
There was only one way to find out.
"What will we do after we have gotten away?" Cole asked.
"We'll take Konstantin into the med bay and do whatever we need to do to get him healthy again. Then, we'll take to the skies, and go somewhere else in the galaxy...where we might be needed".
"Where might that be?" I asked.
Falco pressed a button on a remote, and a holographic screen descended from the ceiling. From there, we could see a map of the Lylat System.
It looked just as it did in the video game. We were on Corneria, the planet furthest to the left. In the lower parts of the galaxy were the astroid belt of Meteo, the ice planet of Fichina, Sector X (which was filled with junk), the desert planet Titania, and the destroyed satellite Bolse. The middle parts of the galaxy included the planet Katina, the sun of Solar, and the manufacturing planet of Macbeth. As for the upper reaches, Sectors Y and Z, the planets Aquas and Zoness, and Area 6 were included.
And, at the far right of it all, there was the planet Venom. Which looked very intimidating at the moment, being far larger than Corneria and having the atmosphere be covered with noxious gases. Would we ever have to go there? There was no telling what might happen.
"You see that icy planet in the southern part of the galaxy?" Falco asked us.
We all nodded.
"That's Fichina, and we have a base there. If you can only reach that base, you will be in a place where Konstantin will not be prosecuted. It's only the Cornerian authorities who see him as a threat. There's only one problem, though".
"What is that?" I asked, worried that I already know what the answer to my question was.
"The asteroid belt. Meteo. It's very dangerous for the Great Fox, and even our Arwings from eleven years ago had a difficult time making their way through. You'lll need to constantly be on your toes, and make sure that you don't hit too many meteors".
"Which means that Konstantin won't be our navigator" Dr. Howler said. "I've seen footage of him. He looks like he's probably in a lot of pain and dehydrated. He'll need to be able to recover in the med bay for a long enough time that I am satisfied he is well enough to help me with navigation. Or, rather, Falco".
"Do you think this is going to work? Be honest with me" I said.
Dr. Howler looked at me with a serious expression.
"We don't know, Willow, but I think that we really do have a moral obligation to do as much as possible to help. Don't you agree?"
Lying in my sleeping bag that night, which was likely to be Konstantin's second to last, I mulled over this a little more.
It sure seemed that this plan was a long shot. Sure, Dr. Howler was right about our moral obligation to help the innocent young man escape from his death, but I didn't know if it would result in the rest of us dying as well. Was it really worth the risk?
On the other hand, the plan sure did sound good. Mrs. Hooter was a real crack-shot, and she was going to be able to work those tranquilizer arrows well. They wouldn't even kill the guards, so I figured that was the perfect plan. Even if we did knock them out, we'd be showing that we were the better people.
We're going to do it. And I'll be a part of it.
That thought helped me to get into a position comfortable enough to get to sleep.
KONSTANTIN'S POV
Some time ago, I had been knocked unconscious by the beating, my body deciding that it couldn't take that much punishment. I wished that I would have died right then and there. It would have been far better than what most likely awaited me.
The time that I had been unconscious didn't affect me at all when I was awake, though. It didn't make me feel any more rested in the morning, so I was still chained to the ground and hurting like a bitch. It hurt a lot, being splayed out like that, like some ancient torture method where they ripped a person's body limb from limb.
Granted, I was going to die in a far less painful manner. That was, if the aches, pains, hunger, and dehydration didn't kill me first. At this point, anything was possible with those Cornerian jerks. No matter what Bruce Springsteen might have been singing about, I was proud to have been born in the U.S.A.. Now, I would never see it again.
I didn't cry, though. I didn't want to look like a wuss in front of the people locking me up, because, as I said earlier, I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they had gotten to me. They didn't deserve that.
I was getting close to sleep again, but I knew that someone would probably be coming in to beat me up again soon. Ever since I had been sentenced to execution by firing squad, they had been treating me less and less humanely. How much longer could I last? Would I even stand to face the firing squad?
Sometimes I got this fantasy that there might be a chance, however slim, that I might be rescued. It was just that, though; a fantasy. I had been dreaming every night that I was carried out of here on a stretcher by Lucas, Dr. Howler, and the others.
Yes, it was ridiculous. I wasn't going to even hope that I would be rescued. There was such a slim possibility of it happening that it was barely even worth entertaining it.
I was dreaming of food. Corn on the cob, biscuits, rolls, carrots, soup...everything you could think of that might be enjoyed at a Southern picnic...and the sun as well. You couldn't forget the sun, which I was highly unlikely to ever see again. Again, though, the whole idea that I would even eat any of those Southern delights again was just ludicrous.
Besides, I didn't even want to live that badly any more. I was too tired, in too much pain. Hopefully, the next time I woke up, it would be in a place with far less pain. Then, I could just get rid of all this baggage. I could ignore the Cornerians and do whatever I wanted in heaven, or whatever might come after I died.
With that, I fell into an uneasy sleep, knowing that there was a very good chance that the next time I woke up again, there would be a lot more pain to come.
LUCAS'S POV
The next day, I knew, was going to be Konstantin's last day alive unless we managed to pull this miracle off. I didn't know if it would even be possible, but if we never tried, we would never know.
My first class on what was going to be my last day here was Aquatics. I wanted to appear as normal as possible, because if I behaved too differently from normal, someone might begin to suspect that something was up and, really, who could blame them?
No. The fewer teachers and students who weren't part of the plan who knew, the better. That was just the way this was going to have to go.
After I had practiced my breaststroke and front crawl, we were allowed to move onto the butterfly. And then, we left the class.
Battle Tactics with Slippy Toad was my last class today, right before lunch. Whether or not we succeeded in our mission to rescue Konstantin from his cell, this would be my last class at the Grey Clouds Flight Academy.
As Cole and I analyzed a position involving the knight and bishop checkmate, I came to a realization that the chessboard was much a metaphor for our current situation.
My team was the king, and Katt and the other staff at this school were the king, knight and bishop of the other side. Us, the helpless black king, were forced to defend ourselves in carrying out this plan.
Despite the fact that it might have seemed hopeless, it helped to think about it this way. At least, one way or another, it would all end tonight. The last month and a half had been very surreal indeed, but the fact remained that I was ready to move on. I'd still never gotten to wear any color uniform other than purple and turquoise, but maybe we would end up someplace else where things were organized differently.
And yet, there were some things I would miss from here. The great food, for instance, although that had ended as soon as we had been forced to leave the original school location. The flight simulators were fun to use when you weren't spun around to the point of unconsciousness. And I would never forget the camaraderie that I had felt with Fox as we sat in that icy sphere in that mountain.
But then I remembered Konstantin, and all the trouble that had caused. Certainly, that much might not have been worth it.
Well, tonight was our chance to make that right.
Later, at lunch, I found myself sitting with the group of Willow, Seventy-Four, Will, Mike, Cole, and myself. The same group that would be making the dangerous escape attempt tonight.
It was reassuring, seeing all of us together, partly because it meant that we had all survived our lessons without anyone calling us out for acting suspiciously. At the same time, I knew that we had had so many casual lunches at this school, and it was now going to come to an end.
From December 13 to February 2, 201X to 201Y, I had lived and trained with these people. However, I had a strong feeling that this was the end of an era for me. I needed to move on to bigger and greater things in order to help the war effort.
I still hadn't figured out how to get back to my own dimension, either. However, I increasingly found that I didn't really want to. In this futuristic version of existence, life had probably been extended a lot. Of course, that might not matter if I got killed in battle, but I was stuck here. I might as well work to help with winning the war against the Anglars.
I felt the scar on my leg from where I had been bitten by the Anglar. It didn't hurt me anymore, but it was still visible even if it was pink and slightly scabbing over. Dr. Howler told me that it would likely remain there for weeks if not months, and I'd just need to be patient and keep waiting. If it didn't heal, it might get covered up by some new battle scar.
I also felt a very significant brotherhood with all of these people. We had all come from very different walks of life back at home, but we did have one thing in common: We had all been captured and sent here against our will.
And, tonight, we would all be doing something that could end our journey.
DR. HOWLER'S POV
I spent the afternoon of January 27 stocking the med bay of the Great Fox. You never could be too prepared for anything, only not prepared enough.
After seeing the footage of Konstantin, I concluded that he had most likely not had much water to drink over those four days in the cell, if at all. I'd try to get him to drink some once he was back in our grasp, but I didn't know what condition he would be in.
I had plenty of bandages ready in order to treat any wounds that he might have gotten during his time in the cell, whether it be from the tightness of the chains on his wrists and ankles or from being beaten by the guards. No doubt, he would probably be beaten again before he was carted off to his execution...if we didn't get to him first.
There was one good thing about this job, though. It was something that I was perfectly entitled to be doing, since it was my job to stock the Great Fox with medical supplies. They just didn't know that I, as well as several students, including Konstantin Brockenbough, would be escaping in it. They would just think that my motivations for doing this were entirely altruistic. They'd never know that I had an agenda, which was to stop an innocent young man from being executed by firing squad.
Luckily, the Great Fox med bay had an operating room, with holograms that I was able to practice on. Even though I had gone through years of medical school (I had to, in order to be the matron of the school), it never hurt to be able to hone my skills on patients whose lives I wouldn't be risking.
I practiced IV starts, stopping bleeding, and even surgeries. There was no way to know that he wouldn't have any internal bleeding, so we would have to figure that out first. There was a very advanced X-ray machine that could be used to tell if this was the case.
I could only hope that this would all be put to use. And it was ironic, really.
That first time I saw Lucas, after he had lost consciousness in the flight simulator, I had told him that I hoped not to see him again. It wasn't that I didn't like the guy, it was just that I didn't want him to have another medical scare.
As to whether we were going to be able to save Konstantin...it was a wing and a prayer. We needed more time, really. And this was a big deal, so it wasn't wing and a prayer. It was a wing and a scare. Yes, that was what it was.
Later that afternoon, I met with Mrs. Hooter once again. We were both in the hangar, and that owl was using places on the wall as archery targets. Maybe she was practicing too. Or maybe, she just needed to be shooting in order to think straight.
For the sake of my own sanity, I chose to believe the latter. If I couldn't trust the archery instructor, that would throw yet another wrench in our plans.
"So...you're still game tonight?" she asked me.
In response, I held up the package of the sedative liquid. It could be taken by mouth, injected, or literally shot into a person with an arrow. Luckily, the arrows didn't cause much pain or damage after a person regained consciousness.
"Just dip the arrows in those, and they'll become effective. Like you did with Konstantin in Texas. They'll be out long enough for us to run away with the boy".
"How long do the sedatives last?" Mrs. Hooter asked me. I was glad that I knew the answer to that question.
"That depends on the size of the target. For something like a husky, something muscular, one to three hours. For something smaller, it might be anywhere from four to seven hours".
"This should be more than enough. We've got a stretcher, right?" she asked me.
"Yes, we've got a stretcher. Konstantin might have lost a lot of weight in that cell, but he's not going to be an easy burden to bear without one. This is our best chance to get him out of there within that one-hour time frame. Because you know those guards are going to be top-of-the-line in terms of strength".
"I'll make fifty of those" Mrs. Hooter said. "My quiver is going to be overflowing, but it's all worth it".
LUCAS'S POV
I thought back to the last time I had been trusted to go on such a dangerous mission.
We hadn't defused the bomb in time, and I'd ended up trapped under hundreds of feet of snow and ice. After I'd stupidly allowed myself to fall asleep, it had taken specialized digging equipment and heated IV fluids to get me awake again. And I'd been barred from many of my classes for a week.
This mission might not have been to save as many people as the last one. This time, though, I knew the person we were trying to save. Granted, I was still not too familiar with Konstantin Brockenbough, but I knew that I didn't want him to die for a crime he had not committed. That just wouldn't be fair.
After dinner, I made sure that the six of us were together and whispering about our plans. We were out of earshot of everyone else, so they wouldn't catch onto us and put a last-minute stop to our plans.
We pretended to go to sleep, but as soon as we felt confident that the vast majority, if not all, of the other students were asleep, I knew it was time to get my troops in order.
None of the other five students had succumbed to sleep yet, so that was something I was very grateful for. We could just get up and run.
At least, that was what I hoped would happen.
Seventy-Four appeared to have some misgivings about the plan. As soon as we had gotten out of the huge common room that everyone slept in, he tugged on my arm. I couldn't see his eyes behind his gas mask, but I knew that I had rarely, if ever, heard him speak.
"What is it, Seventy-Four?" I hissed at him as quietly as I could while trying to make it clear how pissed off I was.
"Don't call me that anymore" he said gruffly.
"Why not?" I asked. "I thought you liked being called that".
"Well, I don't" he said. And, before I could say anything else, he took off his gas mask.
It was equivalent to the scene in the South Park movie when Kenny reveals his real face. I had become so accustomed to seeing Seventy-Four with just a gas mask on that I could never have imagined what his real face looked like.
He had curly blonde hair, a lot lighter than mine, which was more brown than anything. He had turquoise eyes, fairly similar to mine.
And yet...there was a certain look to him that told me that he was on the autism spectrum, like myself. Maybe he hadn't gotten the therapy I had, not had the same chances.
Ever since I was little, I remembered going to all sorts of therapists. Occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy were sometimes my after-school activities when I was younger. For the longest time, I had a difficult time saying my R sounds. This didn't necessarily isolate me from my classmates too much, though, although I remembered one occasion on which I had been made to stand on one foot for thirty seconds. It took me a good ten or twenty tries.
Looking at Seventy-Four now, he was a few inches shorter than I was. I'm not the most muscular guy, but I could tell that he was in lesser shape than me. His arms looked like they had never lifted anything heavier than a pillow.
"What do you think of how I look?" he asked. There was definitely a certain tone to his voice that I just knew he was autistic. His voice sounded almost childish in a way.
I didn't know how to respond. He sure sounded so much younger than he really was. He was probably fifteen or sixteen, like the rest of us, but he sure didn't seem to be acting like it.
"My real name is Ian, by the way. Maybe later, I'll tell you why I went by Seventy-Four. But this is a crucial mission! Let's go!"
At the top of the underground hallway, we met up with the teachers. Falco, Mrs. Hooter, and Dr. Howler were all waiting at the top, presumably for us.
Falco was holding his blaster. He wasn't intending to use it, not wanting to kill any guards unnecessarily, but if need be he could use it as a club.
Mrs. Hooter had a quiver full of what must have been fifty arrows attached to a belt around her waist. She had one nocked, but thankfully it wasn't pointed at us. Had it been, I don't know if I could have trusted her anymore. I could only hope that she had already dipped them into the sedative that had been used on us when we were taken here.
As for Dr. Howler, she was dressed in her usual labcoat, so clean and tidy that it could have been ironed while she was wearing it. She was carrying a long red stretcher, which she was carrying like a shield right now. If necessary, she might be able to use it as a weapon, but she had to avoid getting blood on it as much as possible, since that was how we were going to carry Konstantin.
"Are you guys ready?" she asked us. The six of us students nodded, and so, Mrs. Hooter in the lead, we proceeded down the underground hallway.
The reason Mrs. Hooter was in the front was because she was the one with the arrows, which we would be using to knock out all of the guards. She was therefore the first line of defense against them. Falco was right behind her, because he did have his blaster if the need to use it did arise. Then came four of the students, with Willow, Dr. Howler, and myself bringing up the rear. I had to be careful not to get bonked by the stretcher.
The tunnel sloped gently downward, and it was just as creepy as it had been the first time. It didn't matter that it was night, there was the perpetual illumination brought by the light fixture attached to the wall. I didn't know if it was enough to read in, but that wasn't what mattered right now.
I couldn't speak for everyone else in the group, but I definitely did get the sense that I was getting swallowed by the mountain. Much like Konstantin, I might very well never see the sun again if I was captured.
Ian, without his gas mask, looked just as scared as I felt. I was glad that Falco, Mrs. Hooter, and Dr. Howler had recognized him, since he looked so different without his usual attire on. He looked paranoid about a lot of things, but he kept on with the rest of us, which was another thing I was very grateful for. We needed as many people as possible.
We went down what I estimated as one story, then two, then three...just when I felt like we had gone halfway down the ten levels to Konstantin's cell, I saw someone in front of me. The others might have already noticed him, but I jogged to the front of the group, my very long legs helping me to catch up.
I got in front, and I saw that it was a guard. A very burly Great Dane was standing in the middle, holding up a blaster just in case. I knew that we had gotten his attention based on the angry expression that he wore on his face, as if to say How dare you! You don't need to save Konstantin!
"Lucas, out of the way!" I heard Mrs. Hooter shout.
I was too shocked. I mean, I had expected there to be guards. But actually seeing one in front of us was something else entirely. My brain did not process the archery instructor's shout.
She shoved me to the side before shooting an arrow that she had nocked. In front of me, I saw the Great Dane collapse to the ground.
I rose to my feet, shaking the dust off my pajama pants. "What was that for?"
Mrs. Hooter looked at me sternly. "I didn't want to shoot you on accident, so you gave me no choice but to push you out of the way. Don't need to use the sedative on the wrong person!"
Then, addressing the rest of the group, she said "Be careful. You want to keep your guard up, because there could be any number of guards here before we reach the prisoner's cell. Let's get a move on now, guys!"
COLE'S POV
After the encounter with the first guard, we were all becoming paranoid that there might be others who tried to fight us. Granted, the first one had been absolutely pathetic, but there would no doubt be more reinforcements towards the cell on the tenth sublevel.
I'd broken into enough buildings to know that you didn't want to get the attention of the people there, and it was best to only use violence if necessary to get out of a tough situation.
Still, though, I had Lucas beside me. I had Falco, Dr. Howler, Mrs. Hooter, Willow, Mike, Will, and Ian beside me as well. The closer we got to where I assumed the cell would be, the more confident I got that we had a shot.
I heard a blaster fire, and I only just got out of the way of the green line. Instead, it caused a small part of the wall to begin smoking.
It turned out that a guard in front of us had fired the shot. This guy looked very buff, more like a wolf than anything. It wasn't O'Donnell, though. It must have been some other wolf.
I looked at Falco, standing right in front of me. He was about a foot taller than me, but our eyes locked with each other's, and we both said, in unison, "Let's take him on!"
We charged at him together, but he was fast. He managed to duck out of the way, preventing Falco from hitting him. I was providing backup for Falco, though.
Almost immediately, it became clear that the two of us made a good team when working on getting this guy. From trying to avoid all of our punches, he was fast becoming confused. It was all he could do to dodge.
Finally, Falco managed to land a hit to his stomach, bowling him off his feet and onto the ground. The wolf tried to get up, but I leapt over to him and held him down.
At the same time, I saw Mrs. Hooter shoot her arrow into the chest of the wolf. It took only a few seconds before his eyes fluttered shut, and his grip relaxed in Falco's, whom he'd been trying to grab in a chokehold.
I had always known how perilous this was going to be. However, it had never really hit home quite like this. That guard had tried to kill us.
"Let's try not to get hung up too much, guys" Dr. Howler said. "The sedatives will only last for an hour or two. Ideally, we'd be out of here before any of them have regained consciousness".
"Good idea" Will said, echoing the doctor, as well as my thoughts.
With that, Willow, Lucas, and the rest of us continued down the tunnel, until we were assaulted by the sight of ten more guards.
We didn't have a game plan. Falco and I did work well together, but it was unlikely that we could take all ten of them. They were all spreading apart, trying to make it difficult.
Just when I thought we might not be able to pull this one out, Dr. Howler, with all the agility of a Bengal tiger (which she was), swept forward.
Her claws might have been enough, but she wasn't pulling any punches. She swung the stretcher like a baseball bat, and it resonated with a crack like a whip as it hit one of the guards in the head.
Now, though, they were going away from Dr. Howler. The guards could be too fast for us to catch, so it was up to our ranged weapons. While Falco and I had already shown our prowess in melee combat, I didn't know if anyone else would be able to do it.
"Will! Can you fight?" I called to the black boy.
"Yeah. For the streets in Louisiana, my parents taught me all sorts of techniques. Let's do this!"
He went out swinging with something resembling a karate move, and managed to get the guard in the groin. It was a small victory, as there were still eight others. I had heard Mrs. Hooter shoot the first guard that Dr. Howler had hit in the head with the stretcher, as well as the guard that Will had just knocked down. That second arrow had barely avoiding hitting Will himself.
Mike and Ian didn't seem to be doing much to help, preferring to cower in the back. But that might have been okay, because we were managing to kick these guys' asses just the same. We were going to get this done, I was sure of it.
Another one got shot by Mrs. Hooter, making it seven left. A second later, I heard the sound of another arrow piercing the flesh.
Six left.
Willow was doing the best she could, which wasn't much. It was obvious that she was untrained in fighting techniques, even though she had gone to numerous fighting lessons with Wolf O'Donnell. Even so, she managed to kick one guard in the leg. This wasn't nothing.
"I've still got...forty-one arrows left!" Mrs. Hooter yelled. "We're gonna do this!"
I knew that the archery instructor was a very good shot, but we were depending on her now. If we could get past this swarm of guards, we might be right next to Konstantin.
We took a fifth one down, but that was when it happened.
I felt something pierce my shoulder, and then the pain. Was there blood?
And then, I saw the source. One of the five remaining guards, a dog, had sunk his teeth in there. It hurt like a bitch, let me tell you that.
Dr. Howler, luckily, didn't make a fuss about it. She was too focused on the task at hand, using the stretcher as a shield against the lasers. It would still be strong enough to carry Konstantin if it took a shot or two, but probably not much more than that. Dr. Howler seemed to be aware of this, because she focused more on dodging than blocking.
Lucas, with an uppercut to the jaw of a guard, left Mrs. Hooter open to shoot the arrow into him. Barely allowing himself a moment of congratulation, he got another one, and Mrs. Hooter backed him up on that.
Three left.
Falco, with a roundhouse kick, got another guard. He pulled his leg away before the guard, also a tiger, could sink his teeth into it, and the owl archer shot the guard, who then sank into unconsciousness.
Two left.
Dr. Howler went out swinging once again with the stretcher, getting the guard to duck to avoid getting his skull bashed in. With another blow, the panther was knocked off his feet. Mrs. Hooter took the opportunity to sink the arrow into his boot. Luckily, the arrows did pierce through clothing.
One left.
And Lucas and Willow, teaming up, approached him on both sides, each putting as much pressure on the guard as possible. As it turned out, the Battle Tactics with the chessboard seemed to have been handy for them, because this was clearly where they were drawing some of their skills from.
Lucas pulled so hard on the left arm that I could hear the bone crack. This shocked me. I'd never known Lucas to have such brute strength. He was tall, yes, but he was also rather skinny, and didn't have too much muscle on his arms. Also, he'd just done it like it was nothing.
Of course, that was also a good thing, because without Lucas and Willow, the arrow could not have hit the last guard so cleanly.
"We did it, guys!" Ian said excitedly in his childish, slightly recalcitrant-sounding tone.
Looking around the room, I saw that Ian was right. All ten guards were unconscious from the sedative, and probably would be for forty-five minutes at the very least. That should give us more than enough time to get Konstantin back up...assuming we were at the right place.
"Let's go in, guys" Dr. Howler said.
And with that, we opened a small door that we had found. It was only locked from the inside, as it turned out. Anyone on the outside could open it, which was maybe a design flaw.
Luckily, it worked out in our favor.
KONSTANTIN'S POV
I was trying to fall asleep again when the area outside my cell began to get rather loud. I didn't know what was going on, I just wanted them to stop making such a racket. All I wanted was to sleep until my execution. Was that too much to ask?
Apparently so, because the guards might be doing this just to punish me for something I didn't do. If so, I was going to be flipping them off, and maybe doing something else inappropriate, as well as yelling a few choice words at them before they shot me to death.
Not like I could do anything about it, though. The sound was deafening, and it sounded like a fight was going on. Was someone trying to rescue me? That didn't make sense; any rescue mission would likely be suicide. They wouldn't be able to bust me out without being busted out of this life, either.
I didn't really care too much at this point, though. My chains had continued to dig into my ankles and wrists, causing more pain and irritation. The fatigue and dehydration were killing me, quite literally. If they didn't shoot me to death, I would be dehydrated enough to die within a day or two, tops.
I was already mentally checked out of this life. I was getting ready to beg to any God that might exist, saying that I was agnostic because I had never gotten the evidence that I had needed in order to believe. Maybe He or She would be just enough to forgive me. If not, then there was nothing that I could do.
I closed my eyes once again, trying to finally slide back into the black oblivion, when the noise stopped.
This was unusual. I had grown so accustomed to the noise that the lack of it suddenly caused me to feel a little more alert. I was still pretty groggy from the dehydration, but I was able to tell that, if there had been fighting, it had stopped. It was quiet...almost too quiet, if there was such a thing.
No matter. I heard my door open, and my heart rate spiked.
Standing before me were the nine people I had least expected to see: Dr. Howler, Mrs. Hooter, Falco Lombardi, Michael Kirk, William Wexford, Seventy-Four (or at least, what he might look like without the mask), Cole McCallen, Willow Foster, and Lucas Enfield. They had come for me.
"Konstantin! You're alive!" Willow said enthusiastically, running over to me.
I nodded, showing them that I was still alive. I couldn't do much more than that.
Dr. Howler ran up to me in her labcoat, feeling my forehead.
"He seems a little warm to me, but maybe he's just dehydrated. Let's get him up there".
Falco shot at the chains with his blaster, causing them to fall away into the ground. I managed to see that they had carried a stretcher with them, so I managed to get onto it and, as I was strapped in, I was finally able to drift off, exhausted from so long in that dark, dank cell.
LUCAS'S POV
As Konstantin fell asleep on the stretcher, Dr. Howler told Cole and me to grab either end of it. We would carry him back up to the Great Fox, where we would allow Dr. Howler to take care of him in the med bay.
"The way up may or may not be easier than the way down" the doctor said. "No more guards, they should still be out cold, but Konstantin is kind of heavy".
She wasn't kidding. It was plain that the youth had lost a decent amount of weight, but he wasn't an easy burden. It was clear that the chains had caused lacerations on his wrists and ankles, which would have made it painful for him to walk. Hence the stretcher.
We passed more unconscious guards, none of whom stirred as we passed them. Which was good, because we needed to be able to sneak back up. Without the stretcher as a weapon, we would be far more vulnerable.
Thankfully, that never happened. We reached the top and walked through the still-sleeping school to the hangar.
There it was. The Great Fox was still there and still intact. And soon, we would be flying away in it.
DR. HOWLER'S POV
Konstantin was still asleep, so there was little fuss as I carried him into the med bay.
The first thing I did was to check his wrists and ankles. I rubbed some ointment onto them, and hopefully that would help. I also hoped that he would be able to get up soon, so that he could help improve circulation in those parts of his body. It would really help him recover faster.
There were no other cuts or bruises that I could see, so I decided to move on to the next stage of my examination.
As I was feeling his skin, to see if he was likely to be dehydrated, I felt a jolt from beneath my feet. It was the Great Fox taking to the skies. We flew out of the hangar, and soon we were high above the green fields of Corneria. They had never looked so beautiful, even as someone who had lived on Corneria for my entire life.
Anyway...back to the task. Pinching his skin, I noticed that it took quite some time for it to bounce back to normal after that. This confirmed my suspicions: The youth had been withheld water for the last four days, meaning that he had a textbook case of severe dehydration.
Only one thing to do now. I grabbed a needle and started an IV in Konstantin's left arm. Hanging the bag above him, I watched it begin to drip into his bloodstream.
Konstantin was going to be just fine.
After I was done, I briefly walked away from the med bay to give an announcement to the others.
Lucas, Cole, Willow, Will, Mike, and Ian were all in the rec room of the ship. I was sure that Falco and Mrs. Hooter were both aware of what was going on.
"I have an announcement to make regarding Konstantin" I said. That sure got their attention.
"Konstantin is currently resting in the med bay. He is asleep, and I would like to keep it that way until he wakes up on his own. I've treated his wounds and we're rehydrating him right now. I must implore you not to disturb him, because he needs rest. You can talk to him later".
All six students nodded, and I was glad that I had just gotten them all to obey.
I went back to med bay, where I continued to watch over Konstantin.
KONSTANTIN'S POV
My eyes opened slowly. I was so tired, and yet...I felt quite a bit better than I had back there.
Then, I was finally able to take in my surroundings. I was lying in what appeared to be a hospital bed, somewhere. It definitely looked like a medical room to be sure, except that there was nothing but space behind me.
What was going on?
And then I remembered: Was this the afterlife? I'd been sentenced to execution...and then the others had come and saved me. That was great to know.
Someone, probably Dr. Howler, had stuck a drip in my left arm. That could have been why I felt a little more clearheaded now. This begged the question...where was Dr. Howler now?
She was in a chair next to my bed, watching over me. She seemed to have fallen asleep.
I tried to wake her up, saying "Dr. Howler?". But my throat felt like it was lined with sand, so it came out as more of a rasp.
She woke up, my voice clearly having gotten her attention.
"Hey, Konstantin. I see you're awake. How are you doing?"
"I feel a lot better now. Thanks. Could I please have something to drink? I'm so thirsty, like you wouldn't believe".
"Sure. Sorry that I fell asleep on you. I'll go get you some water".
She went over to the bubbler and got a glass of water together. She helped me sit up in order to drink it, and I gulped it down. This made my throat feel a lot better.
"So...where are we now? What happened?" I asked. I knew some of the answers, but not all of them.
"After you were strapped into the stretcher, Cole and Lucas carried you back up the path to the Great Fox, where we got you in the med bay. That's what's going on right now. We're about eight hours out to space from Corneria. By Falco's estimates, it should be about five days until we get to Fichina, which is where we are going next?"
"Why are we going to Fichina?" I asked, feeling the water make my vocal cords moist again.
"There's another military base there, that can house us for a while. You see, we're on the run right now. After all, you are a death row prisoner. Or at least, were".
This made me feel a little guilty. The way Dr. Howler said it, it sounded like it was my fault that we were forced to go away from Corneria.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. Really, it was well worth it. We all know that you're innocent, and, besides, I never knew anything other than Corneria. It really is nice to get to see more of the Lylat System. Speaking of which, your friends are just outside, and they'll be glad to hear that you woke up. Do you want to see them?"
I nodded. "Sure. Except I want to walk over there myself, if that's fine".
Dr. Howler looked at me with a shocked expression. "Okay. Just see if your legs will hold you first, and do not pull a Katniss Everdeen".
I must have looked at her with a confused expression, because she said, "That means don't pull your IV out. She does that a lot in the Hunger Games books".
She helped me get out of bed, and my legs, while they felt fairly shaky, managed to support me. I was able to, leaning on the pole for support, make my way out of med bay into the next room.
LUCAS'S POV
As the door to the med bay opened, I looked at Cole's shoulder, which had been dressed very thoroughly. I hadn't asked him yet how he was feeling, but I could assume that it might still be sore or itchy. I wasn't going to press him about that, though.
And out walked Konstantin. He was wearing a new pair of glasses (his old ones had been confiscated before his execution, Dr. Howler had told me) that the doctor had made for him. He was also in far cleaner clothes, but it was plain to see that he had definitely suffered from his ordeal. He was a good deal thinner, and he was leaning heavily on his IV stand for support.
Still, though, seeing the young man alive and conscious was a very good feeling. He looked kind of like a king, with an IV pole for a staff. In that moment, I had seen that we had succeeded in our mission.
"Hey, guys" Konstantin said, his voice sounding loud and clear.
"Konstantin! I'm so happy to see you!" Willow said, jumping out of her chair and giving the now-rescued prisoner a hug.
I didn't want to see them get too close, since Willow was my girlfriend. I tried not to get too jealous, but still.
In any case, she eventually pulled out of the hug, with Konstantin patting her on the back with his free hand.
"So...what's the game plan?" Cole asked. "We just left Corneria, and so where are we going next? Fichina?"
"Yeah" Falco said. Evidently, he had left the Great Fox on autopilot while he came over here to talk with us. Right now, that wouldn't cause problems, but once we reached the asteroid belt...let's just say that we'll need to be on constant guard.
"It'll take five days to get there" Konstantin said. "That's what Dr. Howler told me. And then we'll stay at their military base, where I'm sure they'll be fine with putting us up".
Mrs. Hooter looked at Konstantin as if he was being foolishly hopeful, which I wasn't sure whether or not that was the case. But one thing was for certain; we were going to the ice planet.
"And then what?" Ian asked. "It's not like we have too much of a plan".
"That's true" Dr. Howler said. "But we're going to help with the war effort as much as possible, so that Konstantin may be pardoned eventually. And so that...well, we can help".
Konstantin's eyes went wide. "You never told me that...".
He got himself together to say what came next. "With this in my arm", he said, gesturing to the IV, "I can't do jack. Are you sure that you want me to...".
"You'll be staying in the med bay tonight, Konstantin. In the morning, though, you can go. You should be fine, just take it a little easy until we reach Fichina. After that, you should be fully back to normal. Are you okay with that?"
"I am" Konstantin said.
We all turned to look outside the window. The green and blue planet of Corneria was receding behind us, and we could just make out Fichina, a pretty little white planet. The only question was whether or not it would still be pretty once we were there.
What came ahead was going to be hard. It was going to be dangerous. It was going to test all of us, whether we liked it or not.
And yet...it would also be a very great adventure. We'd get to see more of this alternate dimension. And, with so many wrong things that had been going on lately, we would have the chance to get something right.
But none of that mattered at the moment. The reason?
It was time for lunch.
After lunch, we found a video recorder on the Great Fox. With Dr. Howler's permission, we all took turns telling the story. We're going to post it on YouTube so that all of you can know what happened on that fateful day. I'm sure that you wanted to see our side of the story, so you got it.
This has been Lucas Zantry Enfield, and I will tell you more later.
THE END
And that is a wrap! Wing And A Scare is officially over, and this story is, in terms of word count, longer than either of the first two Harry Potter books. For a sixteen-year-old, that's not too bad, right?
So this story is done, but don't worry, this isn't the end. I am writing a sequel called Attack Of The Anglars. It was originally going to be called American Mercenaries, and I wrote the first four chapters under that impression. Ultimately, however, I decided that it was just too cheesy of a title, so I changed it. I'm hoping that it gains more reviews than this one.
I would like to thank the following people for the characters.
Konstantin: Given to me by Zaravan. At first, I was a bit weirded out by the fact that he has such a long first name. It might get tiring to type a ten-letter first name that many times. However, I soon fell in love with his character. I loved the way he just flipped off the Cornerian flag while singing a Bruce Springsteen song, and how he was so patriotic to his own nation in a time of war. However, he will have to be more careful in the future, because it nearly cost him his life. Rest assured that when he gets well, however, Konstantin is going to have a score to settle!
Cole: Given to me by Singlewave. As you know, he gave me the winning tribute in Lorax, Paolina. I think that Cole has a very good backstory, much like Piper McLean from the Heroes Of Olympus series, in that he used to do bad things, but is now looking for a shot at redemption. Needless to say, Cole is going to play a big role in the sequel as well!
Ian: He has a lot of potential. He was given to me by Cosmicsafe74, whom I am fast becoming friends with. I can see him bonding with Lucas, both having Asperger's. He's not going to be wearing his gas mask, either. In this story, he was kind of just there, but he will be in the next one a lot more.
Willow: Given to me by Peytonhungergameshaymitch. I hope she does come back, but if she doesn't, I still enjoyed writing for Willow. The character of Willow is not going away anytime soon. You can expect more romance in the next story.
All other characters belong to me. I would next like to thank all of those submitters individually.
Firstly, Zaravan. He does not really use his favorites list, but he says that if he did, he would have me on it. I would again love to thank him for Konstantin Brockenbough, and he has become a friend of mine. Zaravan, I hope that you continue to follow my stories after this, because the next one will have a LOT of Konstantin.
Next, Singlewave. I've been on his favorites list ever since I told him that his tribute was going to win. I'm thankful that he submitted Cole, and thankful that he has been reviewing. He might be busy with school right now, but I would still like to thank him for everything.
Cosmicsafe74: You are the BEST! We have become very good friends, corresponding regularly. He's even subscribed to my Youtube channel, and has told me that I have a very deep voice. Personally, I don't think my voice is that deep, but he seems to digress. He's another person who doesn't really write stories and only reads them. To be honest, I've been trying to read more fanfiction lately as opposed to just writing, but to paraphrase a song by Billy Talent, it's a flower in a field of weeds. I wonder if you can tell me what that song is called, because it WILL be in the next story.
Peytonhungergameshaymitch: I will never forget how I inspired her to write. She was writing it all from her phone, but I still see potential in everyone I might inspire. After all, it's crazy that it has only been eight months since I was influenced by Talkingbirdguy.
Talkingbirdguy (even though he hasn't submitted a character to this story): I can thank you the whole world over. You're the one who inspired me all those months ago. Seeing that there was an online novel called Curse Of The Lucario was crazy, and I enjoyed every minute of it and the sequel, The Return Of The Cursed Gift. People, YOU'VE GOT TO READ THOSE STORIES! THEY ARE TERRIFIC!
In any case, I will come out with the first chapter of American Mercenaries one week from today, January 31. At the moment, I am FAR ahead, on Chapter 6. I'm planning a trilogy, so we're in it for the long haul. But you guys have been with me every step of the way so far.
Updates for that story will be every five days, just because chapters for that will attempt to be longer, mostly within the 4,000-7,000-word range. I highly look forward to it.
And, with that, this story has come to an end. This is SnowLucario, looking forward to a new beginning of the next story.