Skipper and Dusty's Father-Son Relationship Stories (All Humanized)

Chapter 13: Dusty's Crash

    His heart sank as he watched the events unfold above him. Ripslinger had pushed Dusty hard enough to send him tumbling across the sky in a hope to send him crashing to the ground so that he could win. But Dusty managed to gain control long enough to cut the ribbon across the finish line, winning his 2nd WATG (Wings Around The Globe Rally) race, but before he could land in time, once his foot touched the runway, he instantly fell face first on the aspault and began tumbling head over heels to the ground. Skipper was forced to watch helplessly as his charge suffered a terrible crash-and a sudden snap was heard. One Dusty settled down after his tumble, a hiss of smoke came from his engine as a large crowd gathered around him as he now lay unconscious. Desprately, Skipper pushed his way through the huge crowd, wanting to see him. "Let me through! Let me through!" he exclaimed.

    Knowing how much he cared for Dusty, the crowd moved out of the way-but Skipper instantly wished they didn't once he saw him, who was by now a beat-up figure lying motionless on the ground. And his arm was twisted in the wrong direction, which was painful. Broken arms always were. Scratches, from where his face smacked on the asphalt, covered his face as smoke continued to pour out of his engine as he laid on the runway of JFK (John F. Kennedy) International Airport. It made Skipper wince just by looking at him. "Dusty, son! Can you hear me!?" Skipper asked frantically, shaking him. "Wake up, please," he whispered, tears in his eyes.

    The crowd watched as Dusty, who had inspired others around the world by his kindness and his willingness to help others, lay in a still figure. Some couldn't help but cry just by looking at him. Even Skipper himself was close to letting it all out. "Dusty, wake up, please," he sniffled.

    If Dusty didn't make it, Skipper would never forgive himself. In December, Skipper had found out that Dusty was his long-lost son after a terrible shooting at Christmastime left his family dead-all except for Dusty, who had managed to escape the shooting by running away. "D-D-Dad?"

    Skipper looked down-and had never been more relieved to see Dusty wake up. "Y-Yeah, I-I'm right here, kiddo," he said as he took Dusty's hand into his own so that he could agknowledge him. "H-How're you feeling?"

    "L-Like I fell out of the sky and crashed," Dusty replied.

    Skipper chuckled. "Funny that, eh?" he asked. Even though he was badly beaten up, Dusty somehow managed to keep a sense of humor.

    An ambulance soon arrived, and Skipper stepped out of the way to make room for it. "Dad?" Dusty asked. "Was it my fault?"

    Skipper felt anger boil inside him as he answered with a growl, "No. It was Ripslinger's fault. He pushed you as soon as you approached the finish line."

    Dusty looked down at the ground, pushing against the black spots that lingered in the side of his vision. He couldn't remember anything that happened, but he could recall a similar crash. Back in 2006, the King had been terribly wrecked by Chick Hicks during a tiebreaker race. A few paramedics carefully lifted Dusty onto a stretcher, the young man wincing because of the pain he was in. "S-Sorry, Dad," he whimpered.

    "Not as sorry as that racer's gonna be," Skipper said with a snarl. "I'm gonna have a talk with him and get some sense into his head."

    Fuming, Skipper headed over to Ripslinger, who was by now angry that his plan had failed. He had a few choice words for him until- "Dusty! Are you alright?" said a voice with an Asain accent.

    "¡Mi amigo!" said another voice, this time with a Mexican accent.

    Skipper turned to see that it was 2 of Dusty's closest racing friends, Ishani and El Chupacabra, who were now shocked at their friend's condition. As Ishani went over to him, El Chu's shock turned to anger as he turned towards Ripslinger. "E-El Chu, please don't," Dusty said weakly, not wanting to have another injured person accompany him to the hospital.

    Obeying his friend, El Chu turned back to his friend as Dusty asked Skipper, "Dad? Who won the race? Is it over?"

    Skipper confirmed that he had won, but that he didn't gain enough control to prevent himself from crashing. Dusty's gaze slowly sank back down to the ground. El Chu gave him a sympathetic look, slipping an arm around him while Ishani just held his hand, trying to comfort him. The young man winced, before relaxing. Skipper bit his bottom lip as a single tear rolled down his cheek, followed by another, then another, until they were followed by more tears as Dusty tried to hold back the ones that hasn't fell. The pain in his arm was getting more intense, making Ishani and El Chu feel worried. The last time they remember him being in that much pain was when he crashed in the Pacific Ocean and nearly drowned. Of course, he had been rendered unconscious at the time, so at least he didn't feel any pain until now. But this-it was just to much for him to bear. "Aw," the 4 friends then heard someone say in a mocking tone. "The wittle baby cwop duster is sad because meany Rip just pushed him a little."

    Turning their heads, Ishani, El Chu, Skipper, and Dusty saw that it was none other than Ripslinger, who was now approaching them with his buddies, Ned and Zed, behind him. At that, anger heated inside of El Chu like a ticking time bomb. "How. Dare. You. HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO SEÑOR DUSTY! SO HELP ME, I WILL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!" he bellowed.

    Dusty winced. He couldn't cover his ears in his condition. Skipper slowly advanced towards Ripslinger, pulling out his gun. "You're gonna wish you've never been born," he said calmly.

    That made Dusty nervous. Seeing Skipper like this was way worse than when he was yelling and shouting. It made Ishani, who was still at Dusty's side, shudder as well; she'd never seen Skipper this mad before. The war veteran was about to pull the trigger when... "S-Skipper," said a much weaker but similar voice. "S-Stop."

    Worriedly, Skipper turned to Dusty, who could tell that he was itching to use his gun on the selfish Ripslinger, but his charge just looked like he was scared. The young man mouthed out, "No."

    Ishani agreed. "Is it really worth it, Mr.Riely?" she asked.

    "Well...I don't think so," Skipper said, putting his gun away.

    "You'd better listen to the farm boy, Grandpa," Rip sneered, causing Zed to laugh like a maniac.

    That was it for El Chu. It was bad enough to what they did to his friends in the 1st WATG, but this was way to far. Before anyone could stop him, the Mexican racer ran forward and slammed into Rip, causing him to stumble backward and bump into Zed while protests were being heard. Before security arrived, El Chu and Rip got into an all-out fight while Ned and Zed fought Skipper. It took about 10 minutes before the security guards finally showed up and held the 5 angry fighters back from each other-along with a frightened Ishani, who had tried to stop it, but to no avail.

    When everything was ready, the paramedics gently but urgently placed Dusty on a portable hospital bed on wheels and began pushing him quickly towards the ambulance. As for the young man himself, he took one last look at his girlfriend, his closest racing friend, and his father before black spots covered his vision again, and unconsciousness cosumed him.