Gear Crash

Chapter 22

Kyle woke up. His eyes fluttered for a moment, then he opened them. He found himself staring at the ceiling of a hospital. He sat up and looked around. To his left, there was a heart monitor, steadily beeping. There was an IV drip set up on his right arm.

"What happened?" He said to himself, groggily. A nurse hurried over to his side. Her name tag read 'Elizabeth'. 

"Lay back down dear, you're still recovering. You lost a lot of blood from that hunting accident." 

"Hunting accident?" Kyle's brain felt all fogged up, and he was having trouble thinking. He heard footsteps, and saw Sophia walk into the room.

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty is up," She teased him. Although she had a joking tone, Kyle could see the dark circles under her eyes, and the joy in her face knowing that he was alright. "Thanks for everything, Elizabeth. Could you give us a moment alone?" The nurse nodded, then left the room.

Sophia took a seat on the bed next to Kyle, with a grim expression on her face.

"Simon didn't make it." 

Kyle said nothing. He stared at his hands. 

"I can't believe it." He looked up at Sophia, tears welling in his eyes. "I know it's childish, but I always thought that Simon would, you know, somehow..."

"Make it out alive." Sophia finished for him. The two sat in silence for a while. 

After a couple minutes, Elizabeth walked back into the room.

"Well Kyle, it seems like all your vitals are fine. We'll probably keep you in here for a few days just to make sure nothing goes haywire, but you should be ready to go soon." She turned to Sophia. "For you, Miss Sophia, there is a package waiting for you in the lobby. I was instructed to tell you to open it in front of you and Kyle here alone. It's from a Mr. Simon." Kyle and Sophia looked at each other with hope in there eyes.

"I'll go get it." Sophia answered. She hurried out of the room, towards the hospital lobby. Kyle laid back down on his bed, and ran his fingers through his hair. Could it possibly be that Simon was somehow still alive? Sophia came back, carrying a black suitcase. She plopped it down onto the bed and opened it up. Inside was a tablet. Sophia turned it on, and there was a video waiting for them labeled 'In Case of Death'. Kyle hit play.

"Hey guys, it's me, Simon. If you're watching this, that means that either A.) I'm dead, or B.) I'm showing this to you before hand because death videos are actually like SUPER cool. Except you're dead. Eh, it's still pretty cool." Kyle smiled outwardly, but inside, his heart sank. Simon was dead. No if, ands, or buts.

"So basically, I just wanted you guys to know that I love you. Kyle, you were my best friend for my entire life. I never really let you know how much I appreciate that. You're honestly the best friend in the entire world. I couldn't ask for more. I'm leaving you my entire stash of weapons, armor, and boom boom thingys. If you ever come across some bad guy you can't get rid of, remember : you've never tried enough explosives." Kyle chuckled. It was just like Simon to turn his last words to them into a lecture about bombs. Simon continued.

"Sophia, I know I probably was pretty harsh to you after I found out you were working for the Scourge. You really didn't deserve that. I don't think I ever gave you a formal apology, so here it is : I'm sorry for being an ass. I was kinda jealous that you and Kyle were becoming so close, I officially give you two permission to like, spoon, or whatever couples do. Just don't bone on my grave and we'll all be happy." Sophia grinned.

"Apology accepted" She said, smiling ear to ear.

"Anyway, you guys are the best team any superhero person thingy could ever hope for. And I'm gonna miss you guys in heaven." He stopped to wipe away a tear. "So... yeah. That's about it." Through the tape, Kyle and Sophia could hear Kyle's voice, calling Simon to help him with something. "See you guys on the other side."

The tablet clicked off. Kyle placed it on the beside table, and looked at Sophia.

"What do we do now?" He asked. 

"What Simon would want us to do." she responded. "We go back to the lab, we fix up your suit, then we go out and kick some criminal ass."

"Good idea," Kyle said, "But first there's something I need to do."

"What is it?" Sophia asked.

"This" Kyle pulled Sophia closer to him, then kissed her. They embraced for a long time. When Kyle finally let go, he looked straight into Sophia's eyes.

"I love you" He said.

"I do too." She whispered back.

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Well, it's certainly been a long journey guys, but thank you all so much for taking it with me. That was the final chapter of Gearcrash! It's really exciting to see how far my writing has progressed since that one chapter i'm-too-lazy-to-check-how-long-ago-i-posted-it weeks ago! Thanks for sticking with me, and expect some more writing/stories coming from this account sometime, now or later.

We made it - PhantomWatcher