Last day of Stickvin Week 2023! We did it, gamers!
So, obviously, the prompt for day 7, as always, is "Free Day", so I decided to have a little fun with some Toppat!Charles Calvin, staring Charles as new leader of Toppat Clan and Henry as the very disgruntled thief who just wants to not die. We love to see it! See you at the bottom of the page.
"Commander," a Toppat doffed their hat to their leader once they were acknowledged. "We've been getting some word from the government's communication system we hacked; it sounds like they're going to try to infiltrate the airship soon. Probably looking for decisive evidence to bring us down."
The Toppat Commander's expression did not change as he absorbed the information. In fact, if it weren't for the subtle rise and fall of his shoulders, one could mistake him for a stone-faced statue.
The Toppat who had come to deliver news took this silence as a sign to continue. "Apparently, they're not even going to send an actual agent. I guess they don't want to lose any more heads. They're getting desperate, sir."
The Commander tilted his head to the side, questioning.
"Word is they pulled a thief off the streets- some nobody named Stickmin- and are blackmailing him into working for them."
The Commander huffed, the first real indication of life in his otherwise dead-silent gazing. The government had recently been getting more and more obvious about their underhanded ways, but this really took the cake.
The Toppat continued, "we've narrowed down the most likely days they'll try to infiltrate. Do you want us to…" they cracked their knuckles, "...take care of it?"
"No," the Commander said quietly. "Keep the patrol routes the same. Pretend that you aren't aware of his impending visit, and don't inform anyone of what you know."
"Sir?"
"The government is stupid, but they're not that stupid. There's a reason they picked this… Stickmin, for the job. I want to see what he's capable of. And…" Commander Charles Calvin smiled. "I want to hunt him down myself."
*Some Days Later, Henry Stickmin's Perspective*
Stupid government, Henry thought as he walked carefully through the halls of the Toppat Airship. Stupid blackmail. Stupid "deal". And stupid Toppats, too, I guess, for letting me get inside this easily. Though… I guess that's a good thing for me? Eh, nevermind, I need to focus.
It was true, though; the infiltration of the Toppat Airship had been… surprisingly easy so far. It wasn't that they were incompetent, necessarily, but perhaps "overconfident" would be a better word for it. Every path and room was guarded, but the Toppats clearly weren't expecting anyone to sneak through like he was. Maybe they were more used to huge, loud attacks instead of a single person, like the General had said. Not that it made Henry feel any better, since it was his head on the line if he got caught.
The information he'd been asked to retrieve was supposed to be in the archive room, though that room seemed to be in the exact center of the ship, and it was taking a lot of careful backtracking and looparounds to get there undetected. Henry was patient, though. Had to be, for this job. So he kept going, and going, and going…
Finally, he reached the archives. A Toppat was reading through a file at one of the tables, facing away from him and murmuring to himself about just how much trouble the clan would be in if anyone found out about it. Perfect. Now to get him out of the room…
Henry reached into his pocket and pulled out a cat toy with a fake spider on it. Hopefully, this guy hates spiders. Henry lowered the spider into the Toppat's line of vision.
"Oh, hello Mr. Spider," the Toppat said cheerfully.
Henry beaned the man over the head with the stick, knocking him out cold. That works, too, he thought as he scooped up the file. Now he just needed to get out of here- wait, the Toppat's pager-thing was buzzing. It beeped quietly, and an automated voice started speaking. "The Big C is on the move; repeat, the Big C is on the move. You know the drill."
Henry furrowed his brow as the pager beeped off. The Big C? He thought. Who is that- oh, crap!
The Big C could only be the Commander; the leader of the Toppat Clan, Charles Calvin. The former government pilot who'd gone rogue and taken over the clan with an iron fist. The man who had made a habit of beheading anyone who got in his way. The man the General had sworn up and down wouldn't be on the airship today, hence why Henry had been sent to infiltrate this morning. The man who was probably going to kill him violently if he didn't leave right now.
Henry hurried out of the archives and was startled to see that the guards that had been nearby just a moment ago were just… gone. No one was patrolling the hallways, no one was guarding each and every room… Apparently, when the Commander went out for a walk, everyone got out of the way ASAP. As far as Henry could tell, he was alone with the man, somewhere on this ship.
Oh, he was screwed.
Henry moved as quickly and quietly as he could through the hallways, pausing every so often to listen for the sound of footsteps. Aside from the faint roar of the engine, it was completely silent in the airship. Henry tried to keep his cool, but the longer he went on without seeing anyone, the more jumpy he became. He nearly gasped audibly when the engine made an odd noise, but he reigned it in at the last second, making the smallest, almost silent croaking sound instead.
Nanoseconds later, Henry saw a shadow approaching from around the end of the hall. A large shadow, moving silently and constantly like death itself. Henry backed up fast, running through the nearest doorway in the hope of looping around to where he was supposed to get back on the government chopper after he was done. He could not get caught now. He just had to make it to the drop off point… almost… there…
The helicopter was gone. The sky behind the airship's storage room where he'd entered was completely empty, with absolutely no sign of anything having been there before.
They'd abandoned him.
Something grabbed his arm and wrapped over his mouth, and he screamed.
*Charles Calvin's Perspective*
"You did it, Commander!" A young Toppat recruit cheered excitedly.
"Of course he did," another said, "was there ever any doubt?"
Similar murmurs and praises echoed around the small group of Toppats that had come out of hiding to see their leader's prize, who seemed to be completely petrified in the iron grip of the Commander. Said Commander's face was as stoic as ever, not even showing a bit of effort in restraining the intruder.
"What are we gonna do with him, sir?" Someone asked eagerly.
"Let's throw him overboard!"
"Let's hit him violently and get what we can out of him!"
"Ooh, I like that idea-"
"I will deal with this myself," the Commander's monotone voice powered over them all. "Return to work, and do not disturb us. That is all."
This quieted the murmuring, everyone doffing their hat to the leader before scattering off to return to their jobs. "That guy's so dead," someone muttered as they left. The little thief seemed to have heard them, and jerked in Charles' grip. Charles held the man's wrists tightly before pulling him towards his office.
The door snapped closed behind them, and the Commander finally let go. The thief scrambled back, pressing himself against Charles' desk with a wild look in his eyes, like a caged animal. The Commander watched him silently, his face carefully neutral, as always. He walked around his prey slowly, eyes never leaving the man's face. Henry turned with him, leaning back as Charles grew closer. Charles reached a hand out to Henry's head slowly, and Henry shut his eyes tightly, breathing quickly through his teeth…
Charles removed the earpiece that had been sitting in Henry's ear and held it between them. Judging by the look on the thief's face, he'd probably forgotten it was there. Charles crushed the earpiece between his fingers like a grape, and Henry squeaked in fright.
"That's better," Charles murmured as he rubbed his fingers together, grinding the last bits of the machine into dust. "I never liked those earpieces. So uncomfortable. And so impolite of them to make you wear them in case you get captured, so they can squeeze your lifeless body for any bit of intel they can get."
Henry whimpered.
"Still," Charles continued, "to think they'd go as far as to abandon you as soon as they knew I was here… just when I think they've hit rock bottom, they grab a shovel. Now all that's left is to take care of you, Henry Stickmin." The thief's eyes widened. "Yes, I'm well aware of who you are, and your 'deal' with the good General… if you can even call it that." He raised an eyebrow at Henry. "You know he wouldn't have actually pardoned you if you'd succeeded, right?"
Henry looked away curtly, his pale face flushed with adrenaline and a hint of indignation. Of course he probably knew, but given what the government did to people who didn't say yes to everything, Charles knew that Henry had probably felt there was no choice in the matter.
"You'll pardon me if I do something similar now, won't you?" Charles asked. Henry's eyes flicked back to him, confusion on his face. "For you see, if you say no to my offer, then I'll have to kill you. Need to set an example, and all." Henry shook fearfully. "So here's my 'deal', Stickmin: you're good at what you do, so why don't you work for me? All the treasures you've ever wanted, if you stay by my side…" Charles brought a finger under Henry's chin and tilted his head up, a broad and sinister smile spreading across his face. "...And allow me the pleasure of your company from time to time. So what do you say… Henry?"
Henry gulped.
I got the "let's hit him violently" line from an episode of Hetalia; I think it's a very British way of getting ready to beat someone up. And we know the Toppat Clan loves their British people.
I got a lot of my ideas for this fic from googling pictures of Toppat Charles, and it's sort of an amalgamation of all the bits and bobs I've seen for people's head canons. Fun stuff! I didn't mention any specific appearances for Charles or Henry, so use your lovely little imaginations!
I don't actually have much more to say for this one, so I guess that's it! Stick Ship Month is officially over for me! ...I am so tired. I'm probably gonna take a break from writing new stuff for a while, but I've noticed some people wanting more from certain days of certain weeks... maybe I should elaborate on those pieces some day? Not now, though, I need a nap. Thank you all so much for reading! These are the only Henry Stickmin fics I've written so far, but if you like my style of writing, I've got a whole bunch of other fics posted that you might like! Right now I'm uploading my Cult Series on AO3, so if you like Hetalia, monsters, and weird OCs, please give it a try! The first one is a little slow, but it picks up, I promise! Really exciting things happen! Trust me!
In the meantime, leave a review and tell me what you thought of the final day of Stickvin Week 2023! I'd love to hear your thoughts! I'll see you all some other day. Until then!
