Henry Stickmin OneShots

The Tale of Rick'n'Ron (a T3Nsion oneshot)

The long-awaited one-shot is finally complete. Enjoy.
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There I was at the helm. After a storm delayed our take-off in Caracas, Venezuela, I was getting impatient. Trying to fly faster than the plane could carry.
"Easy on the yolk, man." My co-pilot half-joked; concerned about the passengers on board.
"Christmas day is in a couple of hours and I promised Charles I'd make it home in time." I was becoming desperate to see my 14-year-old son again, so I decided to fly straight through the Bermuda Triangle.
All seemed ok until a storm formed around the plane in a matter of seconds. The powerful wind was causing turbulence and I acted fast, hitting the seatbelt light and making an announcement, "Folks! This is your captain speaking. Please fasten your seatbelts as we've flown into a surprise storm. Whoa!" I was tugging on the yolk to keep the plane from taking a nosedive and I could hear the concerned and terrifying sounds in the back.
CRACK!
A bolt of lightning hits the left wing and the sudden screams cause any infants on board to start crying.
"We're losing altitude!" I shout to my co-pilot.
"Oh god! Please let there be an island down there!"

Meanwhile in commercial, Rick Rose was attempting to calm down some children separated from their parents in first class."Are we gonna die, mister flower man?" Says a little girl, referring to the rose he had on his top hat.
"Everything's gonna be ok. Alright? Just stay in your seat." He says.
"I want my mommy!" Shouts a little boy.
Abruptly, the right wing of the plane flies off and I speak over the com, "Everyone, brace for impact. We're making an emergency landing on a nearby isl-AAAHHHH!" The front and back tear apart as the plane hits something enormous and Rick blacks out.

Who knows how long I was unconscious, but as I woke up, I found myself on a sandy beach; the storm was nowhere to be seen. "Urgh… Where am I?" I peer behind, towards a forest with massive damage caused by the plane. "Oh… Shit."
Slowly getting up to not arouse dizziness, I make my way through the wreckage of flora. "No, no, no. This is my fault. I should have just stuck to the flight plan. Now there may be people hurt because of me! … or worse." I can't help but stare at the few lifeless bodies entangled or impaled in the trees, vines, and bushes. Some even whose heads were cracked open on boulders. "No… Please let there be survivors."
I continue walking for what feels like an hour.
Approaching the pieces of the plane, "Hello!? Is anyone alive?! Please respond!"
I hear a groan coming from under a couple of seats.
"Oh thank god." I breathe and tend to the living man. "Sir, are you alright? Can you stand"
"Ugh, maybe? What happened?"
"Uh… we crashed. I'm sorry. Easy now. What's your name, sir?"
"Rose. Rick Rose."
"Well, Rick. I'm glad you're alive. I'm Ronald Calvin. Come on. I think I saw a freshwater stream while I was walking."
"Sounds good."
We leave the wreckage and pull over to the side of a Brooke. Rick tests the water to see if it's truly safe to drink.

The next few hours were dedicated to setting up camp and scavenging food from the plane as well as medical supplies. Luckily we didn't need to worry about rain just yet. I followed Rick's survival instructions as he started the fire.
"You definitely know what you're doing." I compliment his skill while sitting down on a log. "Where'd you learn this stuff?"
"I- uh… used to be a boy scout leader. Taught a bunch of kids this kind of thing. Useful skills to have when you're on your own. But you're better at first aid." Rick smirked.
"Heh. I try my best. I'm also a pretty good cook if I do say so myself."
"I'll be the judge of that."
We had a good laugh, then everything went silent. "I'm uh… I'm sorry about crashing the plane."
"Oh, you're the pilot?"
"Yeah. I got impatient and ended up flying into that freak storm- I didn't even see it 'till it was on top of us and now… we're the only two left alive." I buried my hands into my face. "I'm so sorry you're gonna miss Christmas with your family."
"How do you know I have a family?"
"Oh, sorry, I just… never mind."
"Heh, I'm pulling your leg. I do have a family. A wife, Larrah, and twin children. A boy and a girl. Honestly, I was dreading going back there."
"Why?"
Rick sighs, "When the twins Jacob and Ellie were born we thought it was just gonna be the one boy. But when we had our daughter, my wife wasn't too pleased with it for some reason. I named her after my late little sister who died of leukemia and Larrah would only give her the bare minimum to survive. I've tried confronting her about it but she'd say stuff like 'You're always working and leaving me to raise the children' and 'You don't know how to parent so let me do my job' Sometimes even 'she's just a nuisance, she needs this or she'll never learn.' I didn't want to, but I backed off and let her do her thing and I started traveling more often just to get away from it."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "dang. What does she do to discipline your daughter?"
"She locked her in the basement once while I was around. We had fought about it and Ellie nearly died of fever because of it."
"Holy shit, man! Why didn't you go to the cops?"
"I… uh… wasn't thinking?" Well, that was a lame excuse. "Besides, she had contingency plans in case social services or cops started snooping around and would've made things worse for Ellie." That was a better excuse. "What about you? Any kids?"
"I have a son, Charles. He's 14, and my best friend Hubert helps me raise him. We lost his mother to breast cancer when he was 3 and this is the 10th Christmas without her. I was in a rush to get home to him and now I may not see them anymore."
"Oh, man… I'm sorry."
I sniffed and brushed the tears from my eyes, "It's not your fault. It's mine. I should have just followed the flight plan around the Bermuda Triangle like ground control wanted."
"We're gonna get out of here. I don't know how, but we can build a raft and sail west until we reach land. I'll help you get back to your son. Ok?"
We locked eyes and I could feel his fiery spirit infect me as we clasp our hands together, "Alright. Let's get off this damn island."

Weeks pass as we scavenge the plane and trees to build a canoe like the ancient Polynesians. We hunted for food and we slept under the stars. I had set up an SOS in the sands of the beach in case of rescue coppers &/or planes.

The first attempt was finished within 2 months I believe. We collected fruits and coconuts for rations on the journey.
We set sail, making it past the reef and a little ways out when all of a sudden the echoes of a giant whale-like beast shook the sea. It rose from the deep with a blood-curdling scream!
"Sea monster!!!" I hollered and Rick turned the canoe around.
The sea serpent dove way too close to the canoe for comfort, forcing us back over the reef and breaking off the support to stabilize the canoe.

Back on the beach, we catch our breath. "What the hell was that?! That was a sea monster!?! A fricken… 60 meters tall beast! Dragon! Snake thing!!!"
Rick back-handed my face a few times to stop me from panicking, "Pull yourself together man! Sea monsters are wimps! We just need weapons to take it out."
"Like what?! We don't have harpoons! Or guns! We're defenseless! And now we need to fix the canoe! How are we gonna get out of here with that THING in the water!?" He slaps my face again."Thank you." I say, calmer than before.
Rick sighs and recollects himself. "I've faced off with a few sea monster Guardians back in my day. There may be some materials from the plane we could use to make a spear or something."
"What? Were you some kind of treasure hunter?"
"Uh… yes. Treasure hunter! More or less." He muttered that last part. "Now. Let's gather everything up and get back to base. I'll see what we can get from the plane."
I silently nodded.

Months turned into years as it began to blur. Every time we tried leaving, that monster was there and all we could do was scar up the exterior while avoiding his hungry fangs. The plane was nearly all gone by our last attempt. We built one hell of a weapon this time. Through trial and error we managed to build a harpoon gun and the most near-perfect harpoons and spears we've seen in a long while.

"Let's do this," Rick says determined
"Let's see our families." We push our new well-structured boat into the water and climb in. Over the reef, and the sea monster rises again. His roar echoes for miles and the battle begins.
Rick takes the first shot with the gun and gets him in the side of his neck.
The serpent bends down and I manage to stab him in the jaw with a spear. He flails in the air while I grip on for dear life. Another harpoon hits between me and the eye. I use it to climb up the monster's face bringing the spear with me.
The third harpoon makes it into his eye, the pain causing me to fly off and into his mouth; catching my spear on his tongue before I see the esophagus.
"RON!" Rick shouts. The 4th harpoon hits the 3rd harpoon, driving it deeper until the monster begins to fall. I flew out of the mouth in a free dive, watching the monster crash into the ocean as I prepared for impact, myself.
Splash!
Unable to breathe, I begin swimming backup without the spear. My whole arm hurts, it's getting harder to swim. Rick dives into the water and brings me up into the boat.
Coughing and catching my breath, I stare up into the partially clouded sky.

"Ron you hurt? You ok?" Rick asks, concerned.
"My right arm. It Feels like it's dislocated from swinging at like 40 meters in the air." I chuckled. I'm numb. 'It's just adrenaline acting as a painkiller,' I try to convince myself.
"Ok. Brace yourself." Rick takes the arm and with a pull, I'm immediately able to feel pain. "How's that?"
I sigh. "Much better." A few moments pass while Rick tends to the boat. "We did it." tears swell in my eyes. "We're going home! I can finally see my boy again." My cheeks began to hurt from the smile as I began to laugh, letting out a loud "WOOOOO!!!"
I hear Rick chuckle before a "Woo! Yeah!" of his own. "FREEDOM!"
"FREEDOM!!!" I joined in his celebratory battle cry as we sailed to any form of the mainland.

The journey was long, and we made it to Florida. All that was left was to walk and hitchhike it to Arizona.
Finally; After all these years, I'm standing in front of my old house. I can feel my whole body tremble.
"What if he's not here? It's been over 16 years. He could have moved." I start to question.
Rick pressed my shoulder in his hand. "Well then, we'll ask the new folks if they can point us in the right direction."
"You don't have to stay with me. I know you have a family to get back to as well."
"Oh, I'm staying. We have each other's back through thick and thin. We're in this together. And I'm not letting you chicken out now. Not after everything we've been through." Rick asserts confidence, relaxing my nerves.
"What would I have done without you, bud?"
"Die I guess?" we chuckle.
I take a deep breath and approach the kitchen window. "There he is." standing at the front door one more deep breath stops my shaky hand.

Knock, knock, knock.

The End.