Tales of the Alternate Universe
Chapter Six: Junktown's Dream team
Mr. Blake helped Flanna to carry Finn into the warehouse. Stormy clouds were gathering in the skies, so it was better for them to take shelter there and wait until the rain ceased. The depot wasn't a comfortable place to stay at all; except for some wooden crates filled with unknown contents, there wasn't anything for them to use as a seat.
The red-haired girl was still being protective over the wounded boy in her arms; she sat on the floor, resting her back against a wall and laid Finn's head on her lap. When Jake finished sniffing each spot in the warehouse out of instinct, he hurried his small paws towards his human buddy and hopped over the boy to curl up on his stomach.
Trupp remained on his feet for a while; perhaps he was still trying to digest everything he had been through that morning, or maybe he was thinking what to do about Finn and Flanna. The cook sighed and decided to check on Finn's injuries "I'm not a doctor…" he whispered, giving a sad glance to the girl "I should go look for your parents, they'll know what to do."
"P-parents?!" Flanna gasped. With the Destiny Gang wandering around, and because of her previous reckless actions, she was sure that her father was going to lock her up for a lifetime.
"Yes, parents." Mr. Blake replied sternly "Those guys from later… they are the kind of people who never forgive or forget." He fixed his eyes on her "And you made 'em mad, you can't expect me to let you go as if nothing had happened. It's way too dangerous!"
Flanna lowered her gaze in disappointment.
"Well, now I need you to tell me your names so I can find your parents, okay?" Trupp Blake said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You should look for Miss Bonnibel at School…" she whispered softly "I bet she's got every adult in town gathered there…"
Mr. Blake nodded "Got it. I'm gonna leave now, you should be safe here as long as you keep the doors and the windows locked. Do not go out until I return, is that clear?"
"Umm…" Flanna glanced back at him anxiously, "Could you let the windows open, please? I'm afraid of closed spaces, you know, claustrophobic..."
The cook raised an eyebrow skeptically "You should be more afraid of losing your life!"
"Please…!" Hacksworth insisted, "You don't know how it feels!"
"All right, all right!" Mr. Blake pushed a high window open "But only one. Now be good and stay here in silence until I come back with your parents, okay?"
With that said, Trupp closed the doors behind him and left towards the school. As soon as he disappeared in the distance, a few raindrops began to tap the rooftop. Two minutes later, the clouds were pouring down everything they had over the old warehouse. Some leaked drops fell onto Finn's face, causing him to wince briefly and open his eyes. Waking back to reality brought the pain of his injuries with it as well as the fear of dying at the hands of the Destiny Gang.
"Ah!" the boy gasped in fear all of a sudden, he hadn't realized where he was.
"Calm down Finn, it's okay…" Flanna's voice was quiet, but he could still hear it clearly "We are safe now."
It was then when he realized that he was lying on her lap and that Jake was snoring softly over him. His blue eyes drifted aimlessly, trying to figure where they were "W-what…? Happened to Mr. Blake? Where's Big Destiny and… where's Cecile?"
Flanna stared down at him with grief "That jerk took her away, remember?"
Finn closed his eyes and gritted his teeth "Yeah, I remember now…" he replied bitterly.
"I'm just-…" the girl sighed, "You're in your right to punch me all that you want… It's because of me that your mule is gone and your body's all jacked up. Mr. Blake is on his way to the school… Everything will be over soon…"
"What do you mean…over?" Finn questioned worriedly.
"Mr. Blake is going to warn the other adults, they are going to take you home and see that you're okay…"
His eyes widened "W-what about you?! Y-your father… He's the Destiny Gang's next target…! W-we gotta do something to stop them, maybe we could even rescue Cecile!" Finn exclaimed, pushing himself forward.
Flanna forced him down impatiently "Are you even paying attention?! I said it's over!" she turned her face away "Now try to rest or something, you're hurt Finn!"
The blonde boy obeyed in a reluctant way and tried to relax a little. It was hard for him to believe that someone as stubborn as Flanna was giving up so easily. Even after telling her that her father was in danger, she didn't seem to react. Perhaps she was right, everything was over now. His parents would break through the warehouse's doors in any moment and they'd take him away, allowing Big Destiny to wreak havoc throughout the land. Flanna's silent sobs confirmed that something similar was going to happen to her as well, maybe even worse. Who knows what could happen if Big Destiny figured that she's Mr. Hacksworth's daughter…
"Flanna…" Finn whispered as he grew tired of the silence "I think we can do this…"
"Do what?" the girl replied dryly.
"Mess Big Destiny's plan…! Just listen to me, okay? We both know those guys are bigger and stronger, but they are just a bunch of idiots…!"
"So, what?"
His brow furrowed "Flanna, we're both smarter than them! All we need is a good plan, please, I know we can stop them if we try…!"
"I really doubt about it…"
Finn felt discouraged once again, for some reason he was hoping that Flanna would change her mind, but no. Everything was useless. He was about to raise his sight towards her face with the intention of reproaching her what a scaredy-cat she was, when something on her features caused him to keep his mouth shut. Flanna was staring at him with a mischievous grin.
"I really doubt you are smarter than anyone." She stated confidently "But since you're so eager to get your butt kicked again, then… Let's roll!"
"All right!" Finn exclaimed enthusiastically, not paying attention the offensive comment that she just made.
A thunder roared practically over them, startling both kids to death. They screamed, embracing each other and of course, pushed themselves away almost immediately, making silly gestures of disgust.
"We…we'd better wait until the storm diminishes a little…" the boy stammered nervously, receiving a nod from the girl in response "Then we'll escape through the open window and look for the Destiny Gang!"
"Yeah, about that…" Flanna murmured in concern "How are we supposed to come up with 'the super awesome plan' that you mentioned earlier?"
"Uh… well, first we have to figure what's their plan, then we'll come up with ours!" Finn answered, sitting next to her while he held the golden puppy in his arms.
The red-haired girl rolled her eyes "I don't even know why I'm relying that much on you."
"'Cause maybe deep inside, you believe in me; and you think I'm cool, and strong, and awesome, and that's why you were so worried about me a while ago." Finn replied in an overconfident tone as he grinned goofily at her.
"In case you were wondering, I haven't improved your ugly face just because you're so beaten up, that I feel pity for you!" Flanna crossed her arms and looked away angrily "And I wasn't worried about you."
"Yes, you were." Finn chuckled.
"No, I wasn't." she retorted.
"I'm telling you yes, I saw your face!"
"No way, you're lying!"
"You did!"
"I didn't!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
Finn shook his head in resignation and grabbed her shoulders "Listen, if we're going to make this work, we'll need to start being more honest and try to get along with each other no matter how disgusting or annoying you are–"
"Excuse me?!" Flanna glared at him.
"Ugh… We! We think we are!" the boy quickly corrected "Now let's try something while we wait for the storm to cease, okay?"
Flanna turned away.
"Hey! C'mon, don't do it for me. Do it for the town and for your father!" Finn insisted. Flanna faced him again and nodded reluctantly "Okay, now I'm gonna admit something nice about you and you gotta do the same for me!"
"Mmmm…" Hacksworth muttered with an uncertain look "Fine, let's do it your way…"
Finn smiled, letting go of her shoulders and began to rub his chin thoughtfully. As the seconds passed, he started to regret suggesting that "friendship exercise". His cheeks blushed, the boy knew what he wanted to say, but the idea of doing so turned out to be quite awkward.
"Woof!" Jake barked, pushing Finn's arm with his small head as if he was encouraging him to speak.
"Okay…" Finn sighed "Flanna I… I-I think your hair is really nice and I like it a lot…!" he spoke with a tremendous amount of speed and then hid face on Jake's fur.
"M-my… my hair?" Flanna mumbled, feeling stunned "But you're always pulling it in class, and it hurts a lot, you know?!" she protested, pulling his hair to force him to stop hiding behind Jake and look at her.
"Auw! Auw! I know! I'm sorry!" the farm boy apologized as he tried to smack her hand away "You'd have never let me touch it if I ever dared to ask, would you?!"
"Why would I–?! You're really creeping me out right now!" Flanna backed away a little "You always said that bulls were going chase me because of my hair! And what about that one day when you threw a bucket of cold water over me, saying that my head was on fire and I had to stay in bed for a week, 'cause I caught a terrible fever?!"
"I know I was a jerk!" Finn yelled back "Why do you think I let you almost-drown-me in the pond! And –don't you remember when I didn't defend myself so that you could punch me in the gut? You struck me so hard, that Miss Bonnibel thought I was dead!" he got up "I knew I deserved it!"
"Well you–…!" Flanna blushed slightly "You were never nice to me, I thought you hated me!"
"I thought you hated me as well!" the boy replied sharply.
"Then that means we can be friends now?!" Flanna demanded in irritation.
"Yes, dang it! That's all I've ever wanted!" Finn admitted vehemently.
"Bark! Bark!" the puppy yapped, running in circles around their feet. Jake couldn't understand what was going on, he was just showing how confusing the situation was.
The red-haired girl glanced at the floor, trying to hide her embarrassment "You…you mean it?" she was having a hard time repressing her excitement "You want to be my friend?"
"Yeah…" Finn flushed slightly, making eye contact with her "Why not...?"
Flanna stared at him in silence; she didn't know how to react or what to do to break the awkwardness of the moment. Her green eyes spotted the only open window in the warehouse, helping her to remember that they needed to escape before Mr. Blake and their parents arrived.
"We gotta make a pact." She announced suddenly.
"A pact? What kind of pact?" Finn asked in confusion as he sat down with her.
"Finn Mertens, if you want to be my friend and aid me on my quest to stop the Destiny Gang, you gotta swear that you'll never, ever insult me and/or hurt me physically again!"
"I agree." He nodded "And you gotta stop being so aggressive and inexpressive around me all the time!"
"I agree with that." Flanna scratched her head "I think we should allow the use of mocking names… it's fun." She shrugged.
"Whatever you say Dirtynose." Finn chuckled "And I also think that we gotta be honest with each other at all times, no more secrets."
"That's fine with me Buttface. Umm… Don't ever call me Hacksworth again, it makes me feel like my father…"
"Then you'll stop calling me Mertens as well." Finn spat on his hand and stretched it towards Flanna "The pact will also force us to help each other with whatever we might need, even if that means getting hurt for the other's sake!"
"Awesome, but I'm not going to shake hands with you." Flanna said as she retrieved her hand "I don't wanna spit on my hand and then mix my saliva with yours," she stuck out her tongue in disgust "That would be like an indirect mouth-to-mouth-kiss, eww…"
Finn shuddered in disgust and quickly cleaned his hand on his pants "You're right, but we gotta seal the pact to make it official…" he explained anxiously "The rule is either saliva or blood."
"Do you have a knife with you?" the red-haired girl inquired with malice.
"No! I don't wanna hurt myself again!"
"Bouw…!" Jake moaned, staring at them. He sat between them and then licked his face before he started to pant happily.
"Umm… Let's use Jake's saliva then!" Flanna suggested enthusiastically "It'd be like if he just kissed himself!"
Finn smiled in delight "That's what I call quick thinking!"
Thus, Mertens and Hacksworth let Jake lick their hands so that they could shake them and seal their pact, both hoping to be able to establish a friendly relationship between each other and that it would let them wreck Big Destiny's plans somehow. Now, as their first teamwork move, they had to find a way of reaching the open window without killing each other in the process. The two kids stacked all the large crates that they could find in there, and then Finn volunteered to hold Flanna's feet as she tried to reach said window.
"Push me a little higher, will ya?!" the girl demanded, stretching herself up.
"I'm…trying to…!" Finn replied, gritting his teeth "It would be easier if you weren't so heavy…!"
"Are you implying that I'm fat or something?!"
"Uh…no, not fat… A little chubby, yes…"
Flanna stomped his head angrily.
"Hey! What about the pact?!" the farm boy complained "Unlike you, I am respecting it! We were going to be completely honest to each other, remember?!"
"Yeah, but I'm not fat!"
"I said chubby! Not fat!"
"Woof!"
2/07/13 Update: Grammar mistakes corrected.