Dynamic Duo
Chapter 14
Across town, at an undisclosed criminal hideaway, eggman surgeons were frantically working on the 'patient'. There was so little to work with, after the explosion and the beating from that SHUSH agent, they thought all would be lost. Throughout all the night he never said a word, this bothered the eggman. When night passed and dawn was approaching, the eggman breathed a sigh of relief, they had done the best they could with him and it probably wouldn't be good enough.
He sat, bandaged up, halfway in the shadows. He held out his hand and demanded to see a mirror. One eggman tried to give him one, only for it to be ripped out of his hand and then beaten with it. The bandage started to unravel as he held up the mirror. Few in the room could make out what was behind that bandages, but all could hear it. They heard the all too familiar laughter mixed in with metal clanking.
At another hideaway a small boy sat in the corner with a lonely look on his face. He had been going through a memory box his mom had started to put together. Pictures, trinkets, and small objects filled the box, all with a story behind each one. Yet most of those stories involved a certain Duck who was the cause of the boy's sadness.
Elmo had nearly lost one the most valuable things to him yesterday. Drake had nearly been killed, and Elmo couldn't help but think it was his fault. He thought he wasn't smart enough. If he had figured out that the formula snapped those goons back to reality a day early, instead of playing around at a super spy complex, then Drake wouldn't be in the mess he's in now. Elmo's intelligence was everything to him, if that wasn't good enough to save the day, then to him, he was worthless.
Elmo heard footsteps coming up the stairs. No one knew of this place, and all at once he began to panic. Did someone follow him here. If so, Drake would never forgive him. A bruised and bandaged head peaked up from the stairway.
"Drake?" Elmo asked.
"Hey Elmo, you mind giving me a hand, this arm is nothing but dead weight." Drake fully appeared, and Elmo was stunned. Drake even had his backpack over his good shoulder.
"What are you doing out of the hospital. You were shot!"
"I just wanted to make sure you were ok."
"Me, your the one with the internal bleeding, come on lets get you back. Principal Hooter will have a field day…."
"Hooter's gone." Drake stated.
"So soon?"
"Yeah, same with Gyro and Griz."
"I guess all adventures have to end."
"Hooter wanted you to have this." Drake reached into his backpack and pulled out the shinny blue ribbon.
"But I didn't…"
"Hooter was technically the Principle of the school and therefore has final say so as to who wins the Science Fair." Drake handed him the trophy. Elmo took it and just starred at it.
"It's strange. For weeks, all I could think about was holding this thing. But now it seems unrewarding."
"Don't say that Elmo, your formula saved the day."
"At what cost Drake? You could have been killed! What were you thinking?"
Drake looked at his friend. He had to be honest with him. "I guess…before today that is….I always thought I'd grow up to be an ordinary guy, nothing special. But you'd grow up to be something better, like a doctor or famous scientist. You'd change the world, while at the same time I'd be probably trying to program my VCR. I guess I just figured your life was worth more than mine."
Elmo was speechless for a moment. How could Drake even think that. "You honestly think that?"
"I did, until I talked with Hooter. I don't know what the world has in store for me Elmo, but I'm pretty sure that I'm supposed to help people, and that's gotta be worth something, right?"
Elmo laughed. "Drake you're the most reckless, egotistical, self arrogant, righteous do-gooder I know. And I don't think I'd ever have a better best friend than you."
Drake smiled, then thought of something. "Oh one more thing, Hooter also wanted you to have this." Drake handed him the city paper with the phone number on the top. "He said if ever we see any signs of FOWL again, to call that number. But we can only use it for that."
"That's understandable. He probably broke about a dozen regulations just by writing it down."
"Old Griz will have a field day." Drake laughed to himself at the comment.
"I also have a trinket for you." Elmo got up and headed for his box. He came back with an all too familiar object in his hand.
"Gyro's Gun?" Drake asked.
"After the ambulance packed you up and the agents started to administer the formula to all the students, there was a lot of commotion around the gym. I found this on the floor near the stage. I figured if anyone deserved to keep it, it was you."
Drake took the gun but asked, "Won't Gyro miss it though?"
"That's the thing, after I picked it up, he saw me holding it. I looked up at him; he nodded and went back administering the formula."
"That's weird."
"I guess cause it's not a real gun and all, that's probably why Gyro uses it in the first place. Him being all non violent, it can't really kill people."
"Well, it will make a great a trophy on the shelf; I just hope my mom doesn't find it."
"Speaking of which, I should probably really get you back to the hospital."
"Just a few more minutes Elmo, the sun's almost up. I wanna see it from the window."
Elmo helped Drake up. "Drake starred out at the bay as the warm sun came across the water."
There had been something bugging Elmo, and he decided to speak up. "About what you said before, about growing up to be something?"
"Yeah?"
"Promise me..."
Drake eyed him as he continued, "Promise me that whatever we do become, we'll always have this bridge." He paused a second. "We'll always be friends."
Drake smiled, "I promise." And with that the two boys stood at the window as a new day approached.
Author's notes: Ok it's done. I really hoped you all enjoyed it. Anyone catch the Joker reference with Steelbeak, hehe. Thanks once agian to all that subbmitted a review. I had a fun time writting this story and am looking forward to the sequal, "Rememborance" (After an accedint involving one of Quackerjack's toys, Megavolt begins to remember who he was, and soon goes on a quest to find a missing person, Drake Mallard) First chapeter should be up in a few days.
BQ