Fly Me to Church

Chapter 1 - Too Many Lies

Propwash Junction, where our story begins with two hearts from two completely different sides of the track.

Dusty Crophopper was an infamous inhabitant of the small town, for his father was the best crop duster they had had in years. And since the feats of a father were usually passed down to son, most had high expectations that Dusty wouldn't hesitate to follow in his father's flight path.

Rick Slinger was a single child and a lone orphan in the foster system, with nothing but his ego and arrogance. Sadly, he never knew his father or mother, and so little respect was given to him due to the lack of reliability and history with the town.

Yet to tame Rick's vulgar nature, all he needed was a true friend. And Dusty happily took that position. Yes, as unlikely as it seemed, Dusty and Rick secretly became fast friends, but their friendship did not start out smooth.

Dusty had many good friends, and even though he had never met Rick in person, he heard many rumors of his untrustworthy nature and it's wise to avoid him like the plague. The young crop duster didn't know what to think about that; he didn't want to break the trust of the friends he already has, but he also couldn't stand a poor, unfortunate orphan like Rick to be without friendship.

Most young inhabitants of Propwash knew that Rick's favorite spot to hang out was a remote cliff edge with a small grotto and waterfall that ran off the edge, creating a beautiful rainbow down below. And when Dusty had the willpower to come to this place on his own, he realized why Rick loved this place so.

But the main reason the crop duster came here was nowhere to be seen.

"Heya, Crophopper!" Dusty jumped at his name being called in mockery, but he quickly looked up to find a dark greed plane, not much older than him, flying through the air like a professional racer. Dusty had almost completely forgotten that it was Rick Slinger, and instead was captivated by his brilliant flying.

"You're amazing!" Dusty called in awe, just as Rick performed an awesome barrel roll and soon landed afterwards.

"Well, yeah! I'm just surprised it took ya this long ta recognize my awesomeness," Rick boasted with a smirk, "So, what're ya doing here, Dusty?"

"A-Actually…wait, how do you know my name?"

"Your dad's, like, the only crop duster in town, aside from the crazy old Leadbottom, and this town knows nothing but fertilizer and corn. Who doesn't know you?"

"Point taken. Anyway, I just wanted to actually meet you. My friends talk about you sometimes, and I just don't get it…"

"Don't get what?"

"I-I don't think I should say…" Dusty shrunk back at the thought of telling Rick that everyone thought of him as a rapscallion, and that no family would ever want him.

"Eh, alright. I've gotta practice my incredible moves, anyway." There was nothing but carelessness in Rick's voice, as his propeller revved once more and he turned to take off.

"Wait! You're not gonna beat me up, or push me off a cliff, or-?" It was far too late before Dusty realized he had done the one thing he told just himself not to. But unlike he had predicted, Rick responded with a hearty laugh instead of acting brash.

"Oh, come on! You really think I don't hear the stupid things everyone says about me?" Rick chuckled and turned back around, his propeller slowing to a stop, "Lemme tell ya somethin', Kid: I tend to look out for me, myself, and I, yes—but I ain't a monster."

Dusty was stunned, "Really? So…would you like to be…I dunno…?"

"Yeah, I guess we could hang out," Rick quickly replied, and playfully punched Dusty's side with a wing, "But first, you gotta pass initiation."

"Initiation? I need to pass an initiation to be your friend?" Dusty questioned in disbelief.

"Yup. C'mere." Dusty followed Rick in confusion, but was intrigued, nonetheless; they stopped at the edge of the cliff right next to the waterfall, and Rick quickly jumped to the other side of the creek.

"All you gotta do is pull up when I do," Rick instructed while staring over the cliff with an excited grin.

"Wait, what? We're diving?! You can't be serious!" Dusty protested in fear.

"You wanna prove yer friends wrong, about me being a lying, cheating jerk, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Well then, you're gonna have ta trust me."

"I-I trust you, it's just that…" Dusty was unable to finish his sentence when he finally looked down, and the whole world started spinning.

"Ain't no time like the present, Buddy!" Rick called and before Dusty knew it, he was shoved off the cliff, and plummeted into a nosedive alongside the waterfall.

Before long, Rick was on the other side of the falling water and whooped in pure joy, "Not this is livin', Dusty!"

But when he never heard a reply from the crop duster, Rick was suddenly worried and looked to his left, only to find Dusty's eyes wider than dinner plates and his propeller was completely stiff. He was frozen.

"Hey, Dusty, wake up!" Still no answer. "You're gonna crash, WAKE UP!"

As Rick shouted over the wind, the ground grew closer and closer, and so would Dusty's demise if Rick didn't act fast. But he acted without thinking, and suddenly yanked his nose up and made a hard turn to hit Dusty hard enough to break him out of the dive.

Luckily, he was successful and Dusty was pulled into a glide just in time, and he finally snapped out of it before landing somewhat roughly. Soon after, Rick in front of him and his eyes rapidly scanned over him for any injuries.

"Crap! I didn't think you'd stall! You're not hurt, are you?!" Rick asked frantically.

"No, no…I think I'm ok…and you saved my life," Dusty breathed in awe.

"But I also endangered it. I…I'm sorry. You, uh…won't tell anyone about this, will you? The last thing I need is ta get inta trouble with the foster system…again."

"Don't worry, I won't say anything. Besides, it wasn't all your fault. Granted, you shouldn't have pushed me in the first place, but it's only because you didn't know—I'm afraid of heights."

Rick's eyes widened in surprise, "But you're a plane."

"I'm also a crop duster. I barely fly higher than the cornstalks," Dusty admitted in embarrassment, a red tint covering his face, "I'll never be as good a flier as you. You're just so much braver—I don't think you deserve a fraidy cat like me as a friend."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rick snapped and pulled in front of him, "I never said I still didn't wanna be your friend."

"But I didn't pass initiation."

"Exactly. I can teach you to be a better flier."

"Wha…you'd do that?"

"Sure. And honestly, I've kinda always wanted an apprentice ta pass on all my wisdom and skills." Dusty couldn't help but chuckle when Rick smiled and rose up in such pride.

Their friendship remained rather sturdy over the years, and each of them gave the other something they always wanted; Rick needed a true friend, and Dusty needed someone to trust and to learn from. Sure, his other friend Chug tried to help, but how could a truck help a plane with flying?

Anyway, the only real downside of their friendship was that they kept it secret, as Rick didn't want to risk Dusty's other friendship's just for his. As if they couldn't be more wrong about him, Dusty constantly thought.

After a while, Dusty was torn by what he was believe to be right and expected of in reality…and his growing affection towards Rick. He couldn't find the strength to tell anyone about this; not his friends, not his family, and especially not Rick himself. He would just die if he found out.

He continued to hide it quite well, but never hesitated to try and improve his relationship with Rick; he even tried to give him subtle signs of his love, such as gently touching wingtips while flying, snuggling up underneath him, and even humming cheesy love songs under his breath.

Sadly, it seemed Rick could never take a hint, so Dusty remained hopelessly smitten; though, with Valentine's Day coming up, those late-teen hormones left him as nervous as a dog going to the vet. He wondered if it would be weird to ask Rick to be his Valentine…

"You're awfully quiet. What's wrong, Duster?" The familiar voice of Chug pulled Dusty from his thoughts, as the two left the school building to go home for the day.

"N-Nothing…" Dusty lied sheepishly.

Chug squinted in suspicion, "Uh-huh—you're worried about the Valentine's Day Dance comin' up, aren't you?"

"What? No, no! Of course not!"

"You can't get inta the dance without a date, and anyone who doesn't show up is, supposedly, a loser. So, you've got two choices. You either awkwardly ask someone out, or you just don't show up and your reputation amongst our sophomore peers is destroyed. If that won't make your oil run cold, I don't know what will."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that you're trying to make me go to the dance with someone," Dusty pointed out with a sneer.

"Dottie and I are goin', but just as friends. We don't want you ta miss out, and it sure as hell wouldn't be fun without you," Chug explained with a smirk, "So, if you had ta ask anyone, who would it be?"

"I…"

Just then, the loud sound of a plane flying by overhead could be heard, and the crop duster and the fuel truck looked up to find none other than Rick racing by. This had to have been the fastest Dusty had ever seen him fly, and he wondered if he was just showing off, as usual, or if he was in a hurry to get somewhere. If the latter was true, then what could be so important?

"That Rick guy is such a recluse," Chug stated out of the blue, a sneer on his face.

"I know, right?" Dusty agreed, as he knew that Rick really did like to be alone a lot. But to Chug, he thought his friend was only agreed in the gossip.

"Ya know, I heard his dad raped his mom, and then he killed his own father when he found out."

Dusty's eyes went wide in disbelief, "W-What?"

"Yeah, but that's not the worst part. Just before he was put in the system, his mom committed suicide."

"Why?!"

"I dunno. I guess she was just too afraid, not that I blame her."

"You don't actually believe all that stuff about him, do you?" Dusty's mind quickly filled with rage from all the lies about his own friend and mentor.

"You don't? I'm serious, you shouldn't trust him. Why do you think he's never had a friend before? I bet he murdered them all, too."

Dusty couldn't stand to hear all of these rumors anymore, let alone let them keep festering over Propwash Junction. So, to make things right between the whole town and Rick, Dusty decided he would show everyone the true Rick, the Rick he came to befriend and love.

He headed to the foster home in which Rick lived and gained permission to visit his room; all of Rick's belongings were still there, but there was still no Rick. But if he wasn't here, then there was only one other place he could be.

Meanwhile, night hung over the skies while the full moon shown brightly, and the moonlight glistened off of Rick's green paint as he sat alone in his grotto. He had had enough. Enough of these lies about him, about the uncalled for disrespect towards him…and enough of the corruption Dusty was most likely succumbing to.

"If you've come to stop me, it's not gonna work," Rick firmly protested as soon as Dusty silently approached from behind.

"Stop you? I came to help you," Dusty informed.

"With what?"

"With this rocky relationship with everyone in town. They keep saying such horrible things about you."

"Exactly!" Rick suddenly whipped around and scowled at the crop duster. "When it comes ta me, they see nothing but a liar and a criminal! I'm sick of it! It won't matter what you do, nothing's gonna change!"

"But I can at least try. Please, just give me a chance."

"Sorry. Not interested. Never will be." With that, Rick drove around Dusty, as his propellers revved violently.

"Wait, where are you going?!" Dusty shouted.

"As far away from this hellhole as possible," Rick growled evilly, and it was so low that Dusty almost couldn't make it out. And before he had time to ask again, Rick hastily took off and flew into the night, his silhouette traveling over the moon in a brilliant banking turn.

But as admiral as his flying skills had always been, Dusty just couldn't himself to smile; not when he had just lost the only one who ever managed to earn his heart.

Yes, the title is a pun of the song "Take Me to Church" by Hozier. Be sure to check out the song, as well as the Planes movies. Basically, I own nothing.

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!