Chapter 7: Taking care of business

Bobby and Squit were flying until they reached a train yard. "What train are we gonna take?" asked Squit. "Any train," replied Bobby, "Just as long as we can get away from this place." Two pigeons landed behind them, one of them carrying a radio with his claws. When Bobby and Squit looked behind themselves, Squit gasped and Bobby murmured, "You sons of-" The two were knocked out.

The two pigeons turned out to be Brock and Rocky. Brock turned on the radio and said, "We found em! Pesto isn't with em though, as we expected." "I figured," said a voice through the radio, which turned out to be the one and only Don Edison, "At least he didn't have to witness what you guys did. Tell me the address and I'll come to pick the remaining pigeons up. Find Pesto and bring him back to me, I'm sure we'll be doing him a favor anyway."

Meanwhile, Pesto was sitting on a dock where the ocean was. All he did was sit on it and think about how his contributions with the two traitors for Goodfeathers ultimately landed him and everyone else in the worst outcome possible. Everyone in the mob either left or died. The Godpigeon was on his deathbed and Marty was likely murdered by Don.

"Well Pesto, you sure made everyone hate you," he said to himself, "You ruined your only friendship with Bobby and Squit, you got used by two traitors, you angered a crazy shopkeeper, and you now are by yourself." Pesto wasn't crying anymore, but he felt the weight of guilt crushing down on him. He was sad, lost mentally, and alone.

Pesto began to look back on the good times he had with the mob before things took a turn. All the memories he made from when he first started as a Goodfeather, to when Squit joined he and Bobby. He then looked back on how harshly he treated Squit, now regretting all of those times he was to him. "I shouldn't have been so hard on you," he murmured guiltily.

"Psst!" said a voice from behind him. Pesto looked back to see two pigeons, though he couldn't identify them due to the dark. "Follow us Pesto," said one of them, sounding oddly familiar to him. "Do I know you?" Pesto asked, "How do you know my name?" "Just trust us," said the second one, "You'll know soon enough." They then took off and Pesto hesitantly followed them.

It was quieter than before, as it was night time and getting quite late. The sun had set around the time Pesto and everyone were kicked out of their new home. So by now it had been at least 1 or 2 hours since the whole drama happened. Pesto didn't have a good feeling in his gut. Two pigeons who knew his name, yet had familiar voices that weren't Bobby or Squit? Something was off, VERY off.

The three of them landed on the rooftop of some building. "What's going on?" asked Pesto in a more demanding tone, "You gonna explain?" He then could make out their faces, which were Brock and Rocky. "Didn't expect us, huh?" asked Rocky in a happy tone. He got no answer, Pesto just stared at him and his friend coldly. "Look, we understand you are upset at us for leaving you guys, but it was for the best," Brock tried to explain, "We made a deal with Don that as long as we don't rob him again, he'd spare you, me, Rocky, and the Godpigeon. He also asked if we'd like to help him, so we didn't have to return to the old mob, and we said yes to helping out our new boss! So look on the bright side Pesto, we're back baby!"

Pesto still didn't respond, he just continued to stare. "While it's on my mind, what the hell happened to you?" asked Rocky, "You look like you just got into a street fight." "You have NO idea what has been happening since what we did, do you?" asked Pesto through gridded teeth. Both Brock and Rocky nodded as they didn't know what had been going on. So Pesto told them everything he could. He didn't sugarcoat a single thing about what had happened from then till now.

"And because of you guys, the mob is dead!" Pesto continued, "DEAD I SAID! DEAD!!!" "Chill out Pesty!" Brock replied, "It was gonna go down at some point anyway. I don't why you blaming us for it, but maybe you should be joining us as it'd do you a damn favor kid!" "YOU ABANDON US!!!" Pesto screamed, "IF YOU REALLY WANTED ME TO JOIN, YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD ME RIGHT AWAY! NOT LIKE I WOULD HAVE JOINED YOU BASTARDS ANYWAY!" "Well, what's done is done!" yelled Brock, "You won't be seeing Bobby soon anyway." "What's that supposed to mean?!" "It means that prick won't be beating you up for shit anymore! Don will get rid of the problem!"

Suddenly, Pesto launched at Brock and started to beat him up. Brock fought right back, with Rocky helping him. Pesto didn't back down though, and the two pigeons could tell that this pigeon wasn't going to back down so easily. Rocky tackled Pesto to the ground and prevented him from getting back up. "Looking out for Bobby much?" he joked. "I should've known you'd get a lot from that pigeon!" said Brock, "I just didn't expect you to be like him! How pathetic! You really are no different than Bobby! Rocky, break every bone in this bird's body. I guess he ain't worth it."

Pesto somehow got up and started beating the hell out of Rocky. Brock attempted to intervene but was hit so hard by Pesto's wing that he got launched into one of the vents on the rooftip and got his wing broken. "My wing!" Brock groaned.

At this point, Rocky was held down by the very pigeon he fought. "Just face it Rocky, you won't get me down!" said Pesto. "Up yours asshole!" Rocky retorted as he somehow escaped Pesto holding him down and attempted to attack once more. Pesto got quite a few blows from Rocky this time, but he was still able to fend for himself. And in one last big moment, he delivered one last punch to Rocky that knocked him out, as he fell and didn't get back up.

Brock watched on in disbelief, holding his broken wing. Pesto then looked at him as he fastly approached. Brock backed up until he was dangeriously close to the edge of the roof. Pesto stopped, as Brock began to cower in fear. "Pesto, don't do this!" he begged, "If you keep me alive, I'll help you take down Don, I promise!" However, Pesto knew Brock was only saying this so he could be spared and nothing more. He approached him slowly. "I'm sorry! Please!" Brock begged again. "Come on!" said Pesto, "For once in your life, you've got to take responsibility for what you've done! It was good knowing you Brock!"

Before he knew it, with unexpected and incredible speed, Brock got pushed off the building by Pesto and fell into a dumpster. By coincidence, a garbage truck showed up, picked up the load with Brock inside, dumped everything in including Brock, then drove off. Pesto watched the garbage truck go until it was out of sight. He then looked at Rocky still knocked out. "You won't be a problem," he said, "The only real problem is Don now. WAIT. SHIT!"

Coming to the realization that Bobby and Squit were captured, he flew as quickly as he could to Don's Garden Center, believing that would be the first place they'd be.

Bobby and Squit were tied up to a big firework that looked like a rocket. Don was getting everything he needed ready for when he was gonna launch the rocket. "So, Brock and Rocky made a deal with ya, huh?" asked Squit. "Sparing them, Pesto, and the Godpigeon?" replied Don, "Obviously!" "There's definitely more that you're not telling us," said Bobby. "And it's none of your business," replied Don, "All you need to know is some things had to be taken care of."

Pesto had just arrived to Don's Garden Center which was obviously closed. He went to the roof and there was big triangle shaped glass. He looked through the windows to see Bobby and Squit tied up to the firework rocket, "So that's how your planning to take them out Don, huh?" Pesto said, "Not with me involved your not!"

Don grabbed the rocket with Bobby and Squit still on and began to walk out. He used his key to unlock the front door, before locking it on the way out. He then set the rocket down on the ground and took out a match.

"Before you light that match," said Squit, "I guess we weren't going to be spared, were we?" "The only ones to be spared were Pesto, Rocky, Brock, and The Godpigeon," Don said, now starting to smile, "I lied to Marty so he wouldn't be worried about what I'd do to every pigeon part of your mob! Unfortunately though, he found out somethings he wasn't supposed to." Bobby felt his blood boil upon hearing that, thinking he may have been responsible for the deaths of many Goodfeathers and Marty, "You son of a-" Don lit the match.

Pesto saw this from the roof and knew he didn't have time to think a plan through. It was now or never to save the only friends he had left. Tired of hearing and seeing those who he was close to suffer, he made the heroic decision of going straight over to rescue his friends.

"It's over," said Don, bringing the match over to where it was supposed to be lit, "Not only is your mob dead, but it will never be remembered for anything, other than being outdated and old. What a reputation to leave behind." Bobby and Squit closed their eyes, until they heard a voice, "HEY YOU!" Don looked up and became distracted. It was Pesto and swooped in to attack Don. "Is that...Pesto?" asked Bobby. "It sure sounds it Bobby," replied Squit.

Don became flabbergasted when he noticed it was Pesto. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed, "Where are Brock and Rocky?! And how come you're attacking me?!" Pesto stopped and stared Don right on the face, "First, Brock is taking a trip to the junkyard and Rocky is gonna be knocked out for some time. Second, because you are trying to kill my REAL friends!" Don attempted to attack Pesto and he surprisingly was successful. It looked like Pesto wouldn't be able to stand his ground against a human, especially now that Don had an advantage.

"You made a big mistake not joining my side," Don growled, "And I'm going to make you pay!" He flung Pesto into a street light pole and approached him rapidly. Pesto then got an idea and flew past Don. Don then saw that he had his keys when he flew past. Pesto unlocked the door as Don was approaching him rapidly. He then went into the store with Don on his back. When he had Don in a good spot of the store, he then went back outside and locked the front door.

"Pesto sure is a strong bird for that!" said Squit, "But low long is that gonna keep Don held?" "I hope he's held for a while," said Bobby. While Pesto went to go tend to his friends, Don was screaming in anger, trying to open the front door. Tried using his hands, which didn't work. Tried using his fists, which didn't work. Tried kicking the glass of the door, which didn't work.

Bobby and Squit were untied from the rocket. "Thank you so much Pesto," said Squit. "Yeah...thanks," said Bobby, sounding a little sarcastic. Pesto could tell he was still angry at him. "Look, as I said before, I'm sorry for everything, I really am," said Pesto, "What I did was wrong and I am not happy about it, but I'm gonna fix myself. I promise you Bobby." Bobby didn't reply, until Pesto said, "Remember that you told me how we don't have time to be angry over certain things? Well I believe that we don't have time to be angry about this right now. Don might find his way out if we don't take action and get out of here together."

Bobby was silent until he made a big sigh, "Your right. Let's get out of here together. But before we go, did you know that Brock and Rocky went to work with Don?" "I already know," said Pesto, "And I took care of em personally. Rocky is knocked out cold on a rooftop somewhere and Brock is visiting the landfill."

Suddenly, glass shattered as Don broke the glass door with a rake he had. "Get us out of here!" said Squit in a panic. The 3 of them took off right as Don ran to them. Don looked up in the sky to see the trio flying away from him.

"You three aren't getting away from me that quick," Don murmured, then looking at his store, "And it looks like I may need some accessories if I wanna finish you birdbrained bastards off!"

To be continued in the next chapter...

(Chapter 7 published 1/21/24)