Henry Stickmin OneShots

Curtisson & Toppat-Neo Part.2

I shuffled up the driveway slowly as voices played in my head like flashbacks "The chief and right hand… I… I failed them all." "Welcome Back, Svensson." "Let's run away. Forget the Toppat's. Forget the Topcaps and your revenge!"

Making my way through the silent café; already locked up for the night, "It's Sven! Sven Svensson! Leader of the Toppat clan! The Toppat's you sent to the wall!" "I may be Swedish, but I'll whoop your ass like a Russian spy!" "And two, with a push of this button, I can blow your head SKY HIGH!"

And finally, taking off my shoes in front of the kitchen archway by the apartment entrance, "The heart of a man is more fragile than it looks."

My clothes feel heavy and wet with dark red stains. I think my arm is bleeding but I don't feel any pain. I don't feel anything. I was asked to do something unspeakable. Something that Toppats are supposed to avoid at all costs; not make it a mission! I protested this mission shouldn't even exist but Carol-I mean-Sir threatened to power up 'Burts new accessory' as she put it.

I just finished assassinating 5 government officials within 24 hours. Do I dare tell Burt? This is too much.

"Sven?" Burt came out of the bedroom, peering into my hollow eyes as I steadily regained consciousness. "My god, what happened to you!? Your clothes…"

He didn't finish before I fell into his arms, breaking down.

Sometime later, I had changed into comfortable and not-so-bloody clothes as Burt wrapped my wounds in gauze. I lightly sip my tea, after calming down.

Burt finished first aid and sat back with a hard sigh. "How are you feeling now? Willing to talk about your mission?" I stayed silent, gripping my cup tighter. "Alright. I won't force you if you're not ready to talk about it. Must've been one heck of a heist. It's ok, sunflower. Take your time."

He leaned me onto his shoulder, with a clear view of the shock collar. "I'm sorry."

"Hmn?" His neck vibrated. "Sorry for what?"

"For… For all of this. We… I should've just moved on as soon as we broke out of the Wall. But now… Now I… you…" I couldn't stop the tears from falling again.

Burt cupped my cheek to lift my head; eye to eye, "Shhhh. Sh, sh, sh, sh. Sven. There's nothing we could've done to stop Carol. She would've found us and pulled the same trick. In that 'what if' we'd be rustier than we are now. I think this is the better timeline."

That's right. "Timelines…" I sit up and start thinking. "What if… What if I get sensitive information to…" all of a sudden I feel queasy from the next words to come out of my mouth. "...to… Stickmin and the Government?"

The shock on Burt's face was not surprising. "You would be a mole!? Betray our friends?!"

"Friends!? They strapped a dog collar to your neck! Burt, Carol has changed. They all changed. The Toppats used to be honorable thieves. But the Neo-Toppats… there's no honour, no dignity, just cold and blood-thirsty eyes. Especially with that Clementine girl. They're all psychopaths or sociopaths…maybe even both!" I noticed myself getting louder and stopped.

Gazing down to my knees, In a hushed tone, "They ordered me to go on a murder spree today. Members of the conservatives. I mean… they deserved it, yes, but… it was a lot of blood."

A few seconds of silence pass and Burt finishes processing my rant. "Didn't you shoot up a school before joining the Toppats?"

An improper chuckle escaped my throat. "It wasn't up close. Face to face. Hearing those scumbags plea for their lives."

Burt pulled me in close. "If you do this, they will kill you."

"I'm aware of how dangerous this is. But it's the only way. We… I have to do something to stop Carol and I think I know just the file to get the Gov't on their feet."

——————————————————————————

The next day, I began leaking files to the Gov't. I first had to steal a copy of some files from the Toppat-Neo's computers and that night printed them off, slipping them into a tan file folder I labelled "BreadCrumbs/TopSecret/Danger."

Now, I have to figure out where would be the best place to drop this?

The Pilot's weekly routine hasn't changed since the time I stalked Triple Threat back in the Topcap days. I easily found him distracted in the chip aisle; mumbling to himself which bag would Henry like. I wore Burt's black hoodie and covered my head, walking passed and slipped the file into his basket, now watching at the end of the aisle.

Charle's P.O.V:

"Hmm. Henry's favourite seems to be sold out. I think he might enjoy the off-brand stuff maybe. We should be saving after all. Yeah, I'll get him the off-brand creamy dill." I reach over to pick up a few bags and turn to place them in my cart, noticing an unusual item on top of the pancake mix. "Hu?" I pick up the folder and open it. Paperclipped items and a sticky note that says "help" sit inside. My eyes widen, "It can't be…" looking around, I confirm that I'm alone and close the file. "The General really needs to see this."

Back to Sven:

I see Calvin rush out the store after purchasing his groceries, with the file in his bag. "It's done." The Gov't now knows the existence of Toppat-Neo. I may go down with them… But please…

Please save him, Henry Stickmin.

To be continued…