Power of the Pack - Ch. 7
Title: Power of the Pack
Chapter: 7
Fandom: Road Rovers
Character(s): Hunter, General Parvo, Exile
Genre: Family, friendship, drama, some action
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Road Rovers © Warner Bros
Notes: After somehow getting back into this nostalgic show from my childhood, I got this idea for a story based on something I noticed in the first episode. That, and I really wanted to write a story about my favorite character, Exile, anyway. And not really needing an excuse to write fanfics anyway, I went ahead and gave it a try. Enjoy.
Summary: He joined the Road Rovers without any hesitation. But even after all this time, he never forgot everything he had to give up.
[Chapter 6]
~*~*~*~
"Are we there yet?" Blitz whined as he tried to pull his jacket closer around him.
Hunter glanced at the collie beside him and noticed the annoyed expression on her face. Knowing she didn't want to answer that question again, he looked at the monitor resting in her hands. "We still got a way to go, Blitz," he finally said.
Blitz released an exaggerated sigh, but surprisingly fell back into silence.
"Maybe we should o' left 'im behind," Colleen muttered under her breath.
Hunter pretended to consider this for a moment, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. "Even if Exile had come along, we probably couldn't do that anyway."
She sighed, resting the monitor on her lap as she crossed her arms. "Fine, but I swear, if 'e asks that question one more time...!"
The leader frowned, turning his attention back to the snowy terrain before them. Tensions was at an unusual high as they continued towards Parvo's location, and it was hard to explain exactly why.
He felt that part of the reason was simply the time it was taking to get there. They had landed a good distance away from where Parvo was, but now he was wondering if they perhaps landed a bit too far. The motor attached to the Tank Rover's sled mode was small to keep the sled light and streamline, but unfortunately that also meant that the sled wasn't very fast, and it was taking them longer to get there than anticipated. It didn't help that the icy ground was rough and uneven, making it a bumpier ride than they thought it would be. The constant bouncing was starting to put even him in a bad mood.
It also didn't help that it was cold. Even though it was summer, and even though they were bundled up, the frozen wind around them still managed to slip past the layers they had on and seep into their bodies. They were ignoring it to the best of their abilities (some more successfully than others), but it was difficult not to think about the cold closing in on them, to feel it licking at their faces.
He also suspected that they were a little uneasy because they all were at least a little worried about Exile. He wondered what the husky was doing at the moment, and if he was all right by himself. Although the funny thing was, if Exile had been there with them, he probably would've handled the cold a lot better than they were.
His frown deepened as a realization threaded itself into his thoughts. "You think this is why Parvo was after all those sled dogs?" he wondered.
Though she didn't look at him, Colleen nodded. "Most likely. It'd be easier for sled dogs to work in cold environments like this."
It did make some sense then. If the villain was going to create a base in one of the coldest places in the world, he would need to have dogs who could work well despite the freezing conditions. "But why does he need them in the first place? What's Parvo doing down here?" Hunter asked, though he didn't seem to be asking anyone in particular. It was just something he still didn't understand.
Frowning, Colleen opened her mouth to reply. But she was cut off as the device on her lap suddenly started beeping.
"'ello..." she said curiously, picking up the monitor. "What 'ave we here?"
Though he kept watching the white nothingness passing around them, Hunter glanced at the collie once in a while, seeing the way her eyes quickly read through the information presented to her on the monitor. When she was finished, she lowered the monitor again.
Noticing the puzzled expression on her face, Hunter asked, "Whatcha find?"
Her frown seemed to deepen as she turned to him. "Y'know that mountain Parvo's hidin' behind?"
"Yeah?"
"Well apparently, that mountain is actually the world's southern-most active volcano."
Hunter blinked. "Volcano?"
She nodded. "Yup. Mt. Erebus...one of four on the whole island."
"Oh great," Blitz said. "That's just what I needed..."
Hunter glanced back at him. "What's the matter, Blitz? Shouldn't you be happier? Since you don't like the cold and all..."
"Yeah well, I'm not too fond of melting in a fiery death, either."
Hunter grinned a little, turning to face front again. "Yeah, I'm pretty sick of lava myself," he admitted. "What's the deal with villains and volcanoes anyway? That's way too overdone."
"Well, it shouldn't be too much of a problem," Colleen said. "Mt. Erebus is the only active one. The other three are all dormant."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And for an 'active' volcano, Mt. Erebus doesn't do much. It's pretty low-level, and most of the lava activity stays in its inner crater. It's not really much of a threat."
Hunter frowned. "So that still doesn't tell us what Parvo's up to...Just what is he doing down here?"
The question settled in the silence as they drove onward. Suddenly the sled hit a particularly rough patch of ice and ricocheted slightly into the air, landing heavily back onto the uneven ice and jerking the Rovers inside harshly. Shag yelped as he was thrown off balance and fell onto Blitz.
"Hey!" Blitz protested, giving the sheepdog a hard shove. "Stay on your side, Mop boy!"
Shag gave a grumbling protest, nudging Blitz in retaliation. The Doberman growled.
"Hey!" Colleen snapped, though she didn't bother to turn around. "Don't make me go back there!"
Blitz and Shag pointed to each other. "He started it!" Blitz said, and Shag whined something of the same effect.
Slowing down a little, Hunter looked back at them with a stern expression. "If you two can't get along, I'm gonna pull over right now, and we can sit in the cold until you can. I don't want that, do you?"
The two seemed to pout. "No..." they both murmured, letting their heads hang a bit.
Watching them for a moment, Hunter then turned around again to look ahead, letting the sled get back up to speed. However, as things fell quiet between them once more, they soon heard the sound of a mechanized roar echoing around them, something they hadn't noticed before. Realizing that it was coming from an engine that wasn't theirs, Hunter looked around but saw nothing except snow and ice.
"Uh...Huntie?" Colleen said, tapping his arm.
Noticing she was pointing above them, Hunter looked up to see a plane just as its large shadow passed over them. It was heading in the same direction they were going, and it was flying at an alarmingly low altitude - low enough to see them against the blanket of white.
"Um...are they going where I think they're going?" he asked.
"Most likely," Colleen replied grimly.
"Right." He quickly shifted the sled's speed until it was going as fast as it could - still not fast enough - as he added, "What're the chances they haven't spotted us?"
"Not in our favor."
"...Darn..."
"General!" the Groomer called as she briskly entered the room.
Parvo remained where he stood at the large window, overlooking the work of his operations outside the building. "What is it, Groomer?" he asked, his tone deceptively calm.
She saluted as she came to a stop behind him, though he was not facing her. "We have a situation, Sir."
Only then did he turn to look at her, a dark scowl set on his hard features. "You know I don't like delays, Groomer...What is it now?"
"We've just received word from some of the troops returning from an aerial shipment," she reported in her rough accent, pulling up the clipboard she held and flipping through some documents.
"And?" Parvo asked impatiently. "What's the status?"
"Well, they've returned with the shipment successfully. However, as they were landing, they believe to have seen the Rovers on their way here."
Parvo barely managed to suppress the growl in his throat. "I thought you had taken care of them, Groomer..."
"I did! Or...I tried to..."
"You know that's not good enough...!"
"It's not all bad!" she insisted. "I managed to get rid of two of them, anyway."
He frowned, facing her fully. "Really?" he asked, his tone giving away his doubt.
She nodded. "There were only four Rovers spotted."
Parvo paused as he considered this. He suspected that those two missing Rovers weren't really gone, but their absence was something at any rate. Less Rovers meant less of a threat to him. Turning back to the window, his eyes locked on the grand mountain in the distance, gleaming white under the constant sunlight. "Still..." he seethed, his muscles tense as he clenched his fists, "I've come too far to let the Rovers ruin my plans now."
"What are your orders, General?"
Studying the mountain once more, Parvo then smirked. "Perhaps it's time the Rovers learn what happens when they challenge someone...who can control the forces of Mother Nature herself." Glancing at the Groomer, he ordered, "Bring them here."
"Hunter, look out!"
Hunter slammed on the breaks and turned hard, barely avoiding the laser fire that were shot and hit right in front of them. Then he hit the gas, speeding forward in whatever direction they were facing, followed close behind by the group of cano-mutants.
"Well, so much for the element of surprise," Colleen muttered as she fired another shot from her own gun.
Hunter chuckled. "No kidding. We really gotta work on that." It was a flippant response, doing well to mask the annoyance he truly felt about the situation.
Of course the plane they saw was one of Parvo's. And of course the plane's pilots had spotted them on the ground. So of course Parvo had sent some of his cano-soldiers out to try and stop them. It hadn't been long since seeing the plane that they caught sight of the first wave of cano-mutants, firing at them and chasing them in vehicles faster than their small sled. And no matter how many they managed to lose, more just seemed to keep coming.
What really annoyed him, though, was that the longer this chase went on, the longer it took them to get to Parvo. Even now, he wasn't sure if they were still going the right way. Ever since the chase started, the location device lay forgotten on the floor since Colleen had abandoned it in favor of the gun she was using to get the cano-mutants off their tail. It wouldn't have been so bad, because they were bound to confront Parvo eventually...
But he promised Exile that they would take care of things. And the longer this took, the longer it took to keep that promise. And he didn't want to make Exile worry any longer.
"Hunter, they're gaining on us!" Blitz cried, drawing the leader out of his thoughts. "Quick, go faster!"
"I would, but the Tank Rover's sled wasn't exactly made for this kinda thing, and the motor doesn't really help much."
"What?!" The Doberman glanced fearfully behind them. "Then what do we do?!"
Hunter shrugged. "Hope for the best, I guess."
Shag gave a frightened whimper as he held his head.
Though the beastly canines continued firing, their faster vehicles allowed them to catch up easily. Blitz screamed as the monster dogs pulled up alongside the Rovers, and one of them swung out and knocked the gun from Colleen's hand. She managed to block another attack and kicked the cano-mutant hard, sending it flying off its vehicle, but more began pulling up around them, and Hunter slightly wished they had taken the risk with a bigger-but-faster mode of transportation.
Just as the cano-mutants were taking aim, Hunter once again hit the brakes, skidding to a stop and forcing the other vehicles to shoot past them. Then he threw the gear into reverse and drove backwards to put more distance between them and Parvo's men. When the cano-mutants finally realized what happened and managed to change direction, he set the sled back into drive and turned once again in a new direction.
Unfortunately, more cano-mutants were showing up on the horizon, firing more shots as they drove after the Rovers.
"Huh..." Hunter said suddenly.
Colleen glanced over at him. "What?"
"You ever wonder why bad guys usually seem to miss us during a chase scene like this? I mean, it's not like we're a small target or anything."
The collie frowned. "You wanna get hit?"
"Well, no. I'm just wondering why bad guys have such lousy aim."
Just then, one of the cano-mutants pulled out a missile launcher and aimed it at the Rovers. It fired, but the missile sailed far above the Rovers' heads.
"See?" Hunter said, waving to the rocket as it passed them. "Like that."
The rocket didn't stay in the air long though, quickly descending before it hit the ground with a booming explosion. A column of snow shot high into the air from a wide, deep hole in the jagged ice left by the missile, right in the path of the sled.
"Looks like they weren't aimin' for us, after all," Colleen quipped, her tone a bit pitched with panic.
Hunter blinked. "Oh...well, that's better, I guess." He hit the brakes again, but the momentum of the sled on the ice caused it to skid forward, and they were too close to the chasm to stop in time.
"Everybody out!" Hunter said, although Blitz and Shag were already scrambling to get out. Colleen jumped out next, and Hunter waited until she was cleared before following after her, jumping out of the sled just as it fell into the hole and disappeared in the dark ice below. But he gasped, barely managing to grab hold of the ledge before falling in himself.
"A little help here, guys!" he called, unable to find a supportive foothold and feeling the frozen slush slipping under his fingers.
A hand grabbed Hunter's wrist, but before he had a chance to thank whoever had saved him, he was pulled up hard and found himself dangling a few inches from the ground, face-to-face with a fierce cano-mutant. Nearby, he saw the others were surrounded by cano-mutants themselves, unable to do anything as lasers were pointed in their faces.
"...Not exactly the kinda help I was looking for..." Hunter quipped, wincing as the beastly canine roughly started dragging him away.
Parvo's lips twisted into a sinister smile as he watched some of his cano-mutants setting up the crate-sized machine, right at the base where the ice lifted up to form the side of the volcano. Then when they finished, they quickly backed off as Parvo stepped forward, letting his hand run along the consol's controls.
"First, Mt. Erebus," he breathed, his plan quickly flying through his mind once more. "Then, the entire Ring of Fire. And soon, the whole world will be mine."
Only a a mind of true genius like his could ever conceive such a brilliant plan. Because who else could ever think of using a low-level activity volcano like Mt. Erebus for world domination? And the true beauty of it was that the plan itself was actually very simple. But it took someone with real vision and insight to fit the pieces together.
Because, however low-level Mt. Erebus was, it was still one of the volcanoes that made up the Pacific Ring of Fire. All volcanoes along that Ring were connected along those plates. If he could control one of the volcanoes in the Ring, then it wouldn't take long before finding a way to control all of the Ring of Fire itself. Granted, it took time and energy to generate strong enough pulses to spread throughout the plates. But he was nothing if not persistent.
And he was certain that this device - his Seismic Generator - would be enough to grant him control over all the volcanoes. The testing he had performed already showed that the device, when attached to the base of the volcano, would send out a series of seismic vibrations deep below the Earth's crust. With the turn of the dial and the flip of a switch, the volcanoes along the Ring would be completely under his control. He could control where the vibrations went and which volcano (or volcanoes, or just the entire Ring of Fire) was affected. His device could also alter the strength of a volcano's activity; if he so wished, his device would violently churn the magma of even the most dormant of volcanoes, until it had no other choice but to burst in a fiery detonation. At his hands, he could unleash a series of violent volcanic eruptions that would certainly throw the world into complete chaos.
Unless of course the world's governments were willing to...convince him otherwise.
Obviously, though, it required a lot of research to make his plans possible. And he had chosen Mt. Erebus for that reason. It was the southern-most active volcano in the world, but because the lava never left the inner crater, it was a safe place to work. Plus, there were few people who worked in this area of Antarctica (and those who did were easily dealt with), making it easier to avoid detection from those meddlesome Rovers for as long as he had. It gave him enough time to see his plans reach fruition.
It had been difficult in the beginning, however. Because even he, who was barely fazed by anything, felt how cold the sub-arctic region was. Being able to have hard-working cano-mutants who could withstand the freezing conditions posed a bit of a challenge. But as expected, he found the perfect solution. After all, sled dogs thrived from this sort of thing. They were born and bred to work, and the cold weather was ideal for them. They were the perfect types of dogs for his plans here.
They were strong, which enabled them to transport things with little effort. They were fast, which meant the work would get done quickly. And they were persevering, determined to get their work done. Indeed, they would work for as long as they needed to, pushing themselves to the limit and beyond. Sled dogs were breeds that could easily work themselves to death...Which was fine by him. That's why he had so many of them.
Sometimes his own evilness made him tingle all over.
Just as he began inputting commands into the Seismic Generator, he heard the Groomer call behind him, "General! We have the Rovers!"
He turned to see his right-hand lady approaching, followed by a group of cano-mutants that surrounded the chained-up Rovers, holding them at laser point and dragging them along like prisoners of war.
Parvo smirked as a cano-mutant tugged hard on the chain that tied the Rovers together, forcing them to stop before him. It did his black heart good to see his enemies humilated so.
"Glad you could join us, Rovers," he sneered, turning his back on them to face his machine.
"All right, Parvo," he heard one of them say, trying to put up a brave front. From what little he knew of the Rovers, Parvo recognized the voice of what he thought was a retriever. "What are you up to?"
Smirking, he finished calculating the data on the Seismic Generator before turning back to the Rovers. "You're about to find out." It was all the warning he gave them before pushing the giant red button on the Generator's consol.
Suddenly the ground began to rumble - slow at first, but soon grew difficult for them to keep their balance. Then everyone looked up as a thick cloud of black smoke began to rise from the volcano, spreading heat and ashes into the air. Columns of lava spurted out of the crater, and when the ground began to shake harder, more of the glowing red-hot lava brimmed at the volcano's edge, threatening to overflow.
Quickly turning a dial on the Seismic Generator, Parvo then pushed another button. The ground gave a violent jerk that nearly threw them all off their feet, and seemed to knock against the mountain. Indeed, it almost appeared that Mt. Erebus wobbled back, and the lava ebbed away from the side they were on to pour over the opposite side instead.
"He's controlling the volcano...?" the female Rover exclaimed, and Parvo smirked at the sound of her horrified awe.
The retriever blinked as he watched the volcano, his seriousness gone for a moment. "Yet another unexpected twist...Bummer!"
"And this is just the beginning," Parvo said, motioning to the volcano as lava continued to flow over the other side. "Soon, I will have more volcanoes under my control. It's a shame you Rovers won't be around to see how this all ends, but I assure you it will be good...for me."
"You'll never get away with this, Parvo," the retriever suddenly growled, solemn once again as his features set in a hard glare.
Parvo couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement. Unfortunately, the statement was so funny that the humor quickly faded into a hacking cough. "Lozenge!" he wheezed.
Dutifully, the woman retrieved her dispenser and shot the medicated candy into his mouth. His coughs died down as he felt its soothing effects, then he smacked his lips together and cleared his throat before meeting the retriever's unwavering gaze.
"How quaint," he mocked. "You honestly think you can still stop me? In case you haven't noticed, Rover, I've already won...It's over."
"It's never over 'til the fat cat sings," the retriever shot back.
Beginning to feel irritated by the dog's behavior, Parvo turned to a group of nearby cano-mutants. "Take them to the other side of the volcano," he ordered. "There should be a nice lava pool to throw the Rovers in by now."
The big white Rover yelped fearfully as it and the Doberman-like one trembled. But the female Rover remained impassive, as though unconcerned with their current fate. And the retriever continued glaring with the same hard expression, a clear confidence in his eyes even as they were all dragged away.
His fists clenched tightly as he watched them taken away from his sight. He had won, he knew that. There was nothing they could do now to stop him.
So why? Why did that one Rover's arrogance make him actually doubt his victory?
His ears twitched at the sound of the metal crackling under the continuous heat, and his eyes were beginning to sting. After another long moment, the red-hot energy of his laser vision faded.
Only then did Exile let himself blink, rapidly at first to help his dry eyes. Then he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his thumb and finger, trying to relieve the tension of using his heat vision for so long. It wouldn't normally be a problem for him to use his heat vision for long periods of time. But being as exhausted as he was put some strain on his body and made it harder for him to focus. He probably should rest, but he was too worried to stay still for too long.
Opening his eyes again, he then glanced down at the discarded wrench by his foot. He hesitated for just a moment, staring hard at the tool as though debating what to do with it. Then he carefully picked it up and resumed working on the bike in front of him.
Shortly after the others had left, Exile had gone back to the cockpit to try and catch up on the sleep he had missed on the way down there. But it hadn't taken long before the silence started to get to him, and it weighed much heavier on him since he was alone. He soon grew anxious, and began wandering around the jet in hopes of finding something to do. He somehow found himself in one of the cargo rooms where he stumbled across a lone motorbike.
Curiosity got the better of him and led him to examine the bike, wondering what it was doing there. He discovered that the bike was still unfinished, a possible prototype for a new machine they could use someday. And eager to be busy, he took the bike to the launch bay in order to fix it up.
At first, he found the silver-blue bike to be a bit awkward. The handlebars were thicker than most motorbikes, it was larger and longer than the Sled Rovers (and yet still only suitable for one rider), and the four wheels made it a bit difficult to move around the jet. But he grew fonder of the machine as he worked on it, finding the motorbike's frame was still as streamlined as the sleekest motorcycle, made for easier manuvering out on the open road...or ice, given the thick treads of the tires. He soon realized that the bike was built for harsh conditions, and the thick handlebars would provide a good grip for driving on rough ground.
He wasn't quite sure how long he had spent down there, kneeling by the bike and just working on it. But he suspected he'd been there for at least an hour, given just how much fixing the bike needed. However, as he finished tightening one last bolt on the motor, he examined the bike to make sure he hadn't missed anything and was pleasatnly surprised to see he was done. He grinned.
"There," he said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "All finished." He felt a little silly announcing that he was done aloud, especially with no one around to hear him. But the enduring quiet really bothered him, and he needed to hear something...even if it was only the sound of his own voice.
Tossing the wrench into a nearby toolbox, he picked up a rag off the floor to wipe the grease from his hands. Then he rose to his feet, taking a few steps back to once again study the bike. The only way to really be sure it operated properly was to test it, but he was satisfied with his work and was confident that it would run.
Of course, now that he was finished with the bike, he had nothing left to distract him from the situation.
Leaning against a wall behind him, Exile sighed and threw the rag aside. He let himself sink down until he was sitting on the ground, drawing his legs up so he could rest his elbows on his knees and bury his face in his arms.
He started to wonder how the others were doing, but he wouldn't let himself finish the thought. He didn't want to think about 'them'...because he didn't know which 'them' to think about. He wanted the other Rovers to complete their mission, of course, because they had to stop Parvo. If they didn't, who knows what the evil man would do?
But...he still didn't want his family to get hurt. It wasn't their fault that they were working for Parvo. They didn't deserve what was happening to them, and they didn't deserve to be punished for it. He worried what his family might do when the Rovers arrived, and what lengths the Rovers would have to go in order to win.
And he was afraid that, if he allowed himself to think too much, he would actually wish for the Rovers to lose...just for the idea to keep his family unharmed.
Closing his eyes, he let his hands drop to his sides and his head fall back to rest against the wall. This was exactly why he needed to remain here, to stay behind and let the other Rovers handle this. He couldn't get in the way again, and he didn't want to be the reason for their failure. But he still felt bad about asking the other Rovers to fix his problems while he stayed behind. Even now, he was wondering if this was the right decision. It just seemed as though he was making so many of the wrong ones, and he was afraid of making another mistake.
Because he was, after all, a coward.
There was just no other way to describe it. While he wasn't afraid of the danger, or facing the Groomer or Parvo, he was terrified of the thought of facing his family again. And thinking about it now, he realized that was all it came down to. He was scared to face his family, he was scared of letting the Rovers down...he was scared of messing things up any longer. And his fear kept him firmly rooted there, unable to help anyone.
He wanted nothing more than the chance to fix this mess. But he worried that he would only make things worse.
His eyes opened as a low rumbling caught his attention. Frowning curiously as he stared at the ceiling, his ears twitched trying to locate the source of the noise. Then he gasped when the walls and the floor shook around him. The toolbox rattled and clattered, and the bike rolled back a bit under the movement.
There was a sudden violent lurch that tore Exile away from the wall, and he barely managed to catch himself from sprawling across the floor. Then the jolt was gone as quickly as it came, and the tremors died down slightly, at least enough so that he could steady himself.
But he could still feel the vibrations against the steel of the jet, buzzing underneath his palms. Pushing himself up a little, he frowned in confusion as he watched the toolbox continue to rattle.
"What...?" he murmured, but the rest of the question was caught in his throat when the dog tag of his collar began blinking, and his eyes widened. That alert could only mean one thing.
The others...were in trouble.
He quickly jumped to his feet, his first instinct demanding he go help them. But it was the only thing he managed to do before he froze, suddenly uncertain. He wanted to help them, but his stomach twisted painfully as he thought of his family out there, reminding him of why he had stayed behind in the first place.
But he had to do something. The Rovers were in danger...and he couldn't help but wonder if he was to blame for that too. If he had gone with them as he was supposed to, would it have made any difference? Could he have done something to change the situation? Could he have been able to help?
Would he have been able to do it?
Reaching up with a shaking hand, he tightly grasped the flashing tag. But the light continued to pulse, visible even between his fingers and filling the room with its pulsing glow. He swallowed thickly, and he felt as though his heart was torn, pulled in two different directions between the Rovers and his family. Both groups needed him...but he could only choose one.
Now you must make the choice!
When the time comes...you'll make the right choice.
He shut his eyes and covered his ears, desperately and vainly trying to drown out the conflicting voices echoing in his memories. How in the world was he supposed to choose? No matter what he did, he was going to hurt someone important to him. No matter what he chose, something was going to go wrong!
Even now, as he stood trying to figure out what to do, he was risking the others' safety. The longer he took to decide, the more trouble the others could be in.
His eyes opened suddenly when he felt the room darken, and he looked down to see that his dog tag had stoopped flashing. If possible, his eyes grew wider then.
Just because the alert stopped didn't mean the others were out of danger yet. They could still need his help, unable to get out of whatever trouble they were in. Or worse...the abrupt stop of the alert could mean...that...
He shook his head. "Nyet!" he barked loudly, forcefully. He closed his eyes as he gripped the tag again. "That cannot be!" he said, trying to convince himself more than anything. "They can't be...they aren't...!" Opening his eyes once more, he looked down as the tag rested flat against his palm. And he knew what he was really trying to say.
"I can't let them."
Determination pounded in his chest, spreading through his veins and forcing him to move. Grabbing the last remaining coat - the coat left for him - he hastily pulled it on as he crossed the room, pushing the button that opened the hatch doors. Then, as they slowly creaked open, he went to the four-wheeled bike and pulled it to the center of the room, facing it towards the opening.
Jumping on the bike, he hesitated for just a second before turning the ignition. It stalled at first, its gears grinding in protest for being unused for so long. Then it roared to life, and he sighed in relief, glad that he succeeded in getting it working after all. Revving the motor, Exile barely waited for the doors to fully open before he shot out of the jet.
The bike hit the ice hard, but the thick tires held fast and allowed him to race off as soon as it touched ground. Reaching into his suit and pulling out the tracking device for the others' collars, he turned hard to head in the direction where the signal was strongest. Then he twisted the throttle, urging the bike to go as fast as it possibly could.
Honestly, he still wasn't sure what he would do if confronted by his family again, and especially if faced with Shurik. But with all the wrong choices he's made so far, he knew it was about time he set them all right.
And somehow, he would make things right.
TBC
[Chapter 8]
Chapter: 7
Fandom: Road Rovers
Character(s): Hunter, General Parvo, Exile
Genre: Family, friendship, drama, some action
Rating: K+/PG
Disclaimers: Road Rovers © Warner Bros
Notes: After somehow getting back into this nostalgic show from my childhood, I got this idea for a story based on something I noticed in the first episode. That, and I really wanted to write a story about my favorite character, Exile, anyway. And not really needing an excuse to write fanfics anyway, I went ahead and gave it a try. Enjoy.
Summary: He joined the Road Rovers without any hesitation. But even after all this time, he never forgot everything he had to give up.
[Chapter 6]
~*~*~*~
"Are we there yet?" Blitz whined as he tried to pull his jacket closer around him.
Hunter glanced at the collie beside him and noticed the annoyed expression on her face. Knowing she didn't want to answer that question again, he looked at the monitor resting in her hands. "We still got a way to go, Blitz," he finally said.
Blitz released an exaggerated sigh, but surprisingly fell back into silence.
"Maybe we should o' left 'im behind," Colleen muttered under her breath.
Hunter pretended to consider this for a moment, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. "Even if Exile had come along, we probably couldn't do that anyway."
She sighed, resting the monitor on her lap as she crossed her arms. "Fine, but I swear, if 'e asks that question one more time...!"
The leader frowned, turning his attention back to the snowy terrain before them. Tensions was at an unusual high as they continued towards Parvo's location, and it was hard to explain exactly why.
He felt that part of the reason was simply the time it was taking to get there. They had landed a good distance away from where Parvo was, but now he was wondering if they perhaps landed a bit too far. The motor attached to the Tank Rover's sled mode was small to keep the sled light and streamline, but unfortunately that also meant that the sled wasn't very fast, and it was taking them longer to get there than anticipated. It didn't help that the icy ground was rough and uneven, making it a bumpier ride than they thought it would be. The constant bouncing was starting to put even him in a bad mood.
It also didn't help that it was cold. Even though it was summer, and even though they were bundled up, the frozen wind around them still managed to slip past the layers they had on and seep into their bodies. They were ignoring it to the best of their abilities (some more successfully than others), but it was difficult not to think about the cold closing in on them, to feel it licking at their faces.
He also suspected that they were a little uneasy because they all were at least a little worried about Exile. He wondered what the husky was doing at the moment, and if he was all right by himself. Although the funny thing was, if Exile had been there with them, he probably would've handled the cold a lot better than they were.
His frown deepened as a realization threaded itself into his thoughts. "You think this is why Parvo was after all those sled dogs?" he wondered.
Though she didn't look at him, Colleen nodded. "Most likely. It'd be easier for sled dogs to work in cold environments like this."
It did make some sense then. If the villain was going to create a base in one of the coldest places in the world, he would need to have dogs who could work well despite the freezing conditions. "But why does he need them in the first place? What's Parvo doing down here?" Hunter asked, though he didn't seem to be asking anyone in particular. It was just something he still didn't understand.
Frowning, Colleen opened her mouth to reply. But she was cut off as the device on her lap suddenly started beeping.
"'ello..." she said curiously, picking up the monitor. "What 'ave we here?"
Though he kept watching the white nothingness passing around them, Hunter glanced at the collie once in a while, seeing the way her eyes quickly read through the information presented to her on the monitor. When she was finished, she lowered the monitor again.
Noticing the puzzled expression on her face, Hunter asked, "Whatcha find?"
Her frown seemed to deepen as she turned to him. "Y'know that mountain Parvo's hidin' behind?"
"Yeah?"
"Well apparently, that mountain is actually the world's southern-most active volcano."
Hunter blinked. "Volcano?"
She nodded. "Yup. Mt. Erebus...one of four on the whole island."
"Oh great," Blitz said. "That's just what I needed..."
Hunter glanced back at him. "What's the matter, Blitz? Shouldn't you be happier? Since you don't like the cold and all..."
"Yeah well, I'm not too fond of melting in a fiery death, either."
Hunter grinned a little, turning to face front again. "Yeah, I'm pretty sick of lava myself," he admitted. "What's the deal with villains and volcanoes anyway? That's way too overdone."
"Well, it shouldn't be too much of a problem," Colleen said. "Mt. Erebus is the only active one. The other three are all dormant."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And for an 'active' volcano, Mt. Erebus doesn't do much. It's pretty low-level, and most of the lava activity stays in its inner crater. It's not really much of a threat."
Hunter frowned. "So that still doesn't tell us what Parvo's up to...Just what is he doing down here?"
The question settled in the silence as they drove onward. Suddenly the sled hit a particularly rough patch of ice and ricocheted slightly into the air, landing heavily back onto the uneven ice and jerking the Rovers inside harshly. Shag yelped as he was thrown off balance and fell onto Blitz.
"Hey!" Blitz protested, giving the sheepdog a hard shove. "Stay on your side, Mop boy!"
Shag gave a grumbling protest, nudging Blitz in retaliation. The Doberman growled.
"Hey!" Colleen snapped, though she didn't bother to turn around. "Don't make me go back there!"
Blitz and Shag pointed to each other. "He started it!" Blitz said, and Shag whined something of the same effect.
Slowing down a little, Hunter looked back at them with a stern expression. "If you two can't get along, I'm gonna pull over right now, and we can sit in the cold until you can. I don't want that, do you?"
The two seemed to pout. "No..." they both murmured, letting their heads hang a bit.
Watching them for a moment, Hunter then turned around again to look ahead, letting the sled get back up to speed. However, as things fell quiet between them once more, they soon heard the sound of a mechanized roar echoing around them, something they hadn't noticed before. Realizing that it was coming from an engine that wasn't theirs, Hunter looked around but saw nothing except snow and ice.
"Uh...Huntie?" Colleen said, tapping his arm.
Noticing she was pointing above them, Hunter looked up to see a plane just as its large shadow passed over them. It was heading in the same direction they were going, and it was flying at an alarmingly low altitude - low enough to see them against the blanket of white.
"Um...are they going where I think they're going?" he asked.
"Most likely," Colleen replied grimly.
"Right." He quickly shifted the sled's speed until it was going as fast as it could - still not fast enough - as he added, "What're the chances they haven't spotted us?"
"Not in our favor."
"...Darn..."
"General!" the Groomer called as she briskly entered the room.
Parvo remained where he stood at the large window, overlooking the work of his operations outside the building. "What is it, Groomer?" he asked, his tone deceptively calm.
She saluted as she came to a stop behind him, though he was not facing her. "We have a situation, Sir."
Only then did he turn to look at her, a dark scowl set on his hard features. "You know I don't like delays, Groomer...What is it now?"
"We've just received word from some of the troops returning from an aerial shipment," she reported in her rough accent, pulling up the clipboard she held and flipping through some documents.
"And?" Parvo asked impatiently. "What's the status?"
"Well, they've returned with the shipment successfully. However, as they were landing, they believe to have seen the Rovers on their way here."
Parvo barely managed to suppress the growl in his throat. "I thought you had taken care of them, Groomer..."
"I did! Or...I tried to..."
"You know that's not good enough...!"
"It's not all bad!" she insisted. "I managed to get rid of two of them, anyway."
He frowned, facing her fully. "Really?" he asked, his tone giving away his doubt.
She nodded. "There were only four Rovers spotted."
Parvo paused as he considered this. He suspected that those two missing Rovers weren't really gone, but their absence was something at any rate. Less Rovers meant less of a threat to him. Turning back to the window, his eyes locked on the grand mountain in the distance, gleaming white under the constant sunlight. "Still..." he seethed, his muscles tense as he clenched his fists, "I've come too far to let the Rovers ruin my plans now."
"What are your orders, General?"
Studying the mountain once more, Parvo then smirked. "Perhaps it's time the Rovers learn what happens when they challenge someone...who can control the forces of Mother Nature herself." Glancing at the Groomer, he ordered, "Bring them here."
"Hunter, look out!"
Hunter slammed on the breaks and turned hard, barely avoiding the laser fire that were shot and hit right in front of them. Then he hit the gas, speeding forward in whatever direction they were facing, followed close behind by the group of cano-mutants.
"Well, so much for the element of surprise," Colleen muttered as she fired another shot from her own gun.
Hunter chuckled. "No kidding. We really gotta work on that." It was a flippant response, doing well to mask the annoyance he truly felt about the situation.
Of course the plane they saw was one of Parvo's. And of course the plane's pilots had spotted them on the ground. So of course Parvo had sent some of his cano-soldiers out to try and stop them. It hadn't been long since seeing the plane that they caught sight of the first wave of cano-mutants, firing at them and chasing them in vehicles faster than their small sled. And no matter how many they managed to lose, more just seemed to keep coming.
What really annoyed him, though, was that the longer this chase went on, the longer it took them to get to Parvo. Even now, he wasn't sure if they were still going the right way. Ever since the chase started, the location device lay forgotten on the floor since Colleen had abandoned it in favor of the gun she was using to get the cano-mutants off their tail. It wouldn't have been so bad, because they were bound to confront Parvo eventually...
But he promised Exile that they would take care of things. And the longer this took, the longer it took to keep that promise. And he didn't want to make Exile worry any longer.
"Hunter, they're gaining on us!" Blitz cried, drawing the leader out of his thoughts. "Quick, go faster!"
"I would, but the Tank Rover's sled wasn't exactly made for this kinda thing, and the motor doesn't really help much."
"What?!" The Doberman glanced fearfully behind them. "Then what do we do?!"
Hunter shrugged. "Hope for the best, I guess."
Shag gave a frightened whimper as he held his head.
Though the beastly canines continued firing, their faster vehicles allowed them to catch up easily. Blitz screamed as the monster dogs pulled up alongside the Rovers, and one of them swung out and knocked the gun from Colleen's hand. She managed to block another attack and kicked the cano-mutant hard, sending it flying off its vehicle, but more began pulling up around them, and Hunter slightly wished they had taken the risk with a bigger-but-faster mode of transportation.
Just as the cano-mutants were taking aim, Hunter once again hit the brakes, skidding to a stop and forcing the other vehicles to shoot past them. Then he threw the gear into reverse and drove backwards to put more distance between them and Parvo's men. When the cano-mutants finally realized what happened and managed to change direction, he set the sled back into drive and turned once again in a new direction.
Unfortunately, more cano-mutants were showing up on the horizon, firing more shots as they drove after the Rovers.
"Huh..." Hunter said suddenly.
Colleen glanced over at him. "What?"
"You ever wonder why bad guys usually seem to miss us during a chase scene like this? I mean, it's not like we're a small target or anything."
The collie frowned. "You wanna get hit?"
"Well, no. I'm just wondering why bad guys have such lousy aim."
Just then, one of the cano-mutants pulled out a missile launcher and aimed it at the Rovers. It fired, but the missile sailed far above the Rovers' heads.
"See?" Hunter said, waving to the rocket as it passed them. "Like that."
The rocket didn't stay in the air long though, quickly descending before it hit the ground with a booming explosion. A column of snow shot high into the air from a wide, deep hole in the jagged ice left by the missile, right in the path of the sled.
"Looks like they weren't aimin' for us, after all," Colleen quipped, her tone a bit pitched with panic.
Hunter blinked. "Oh...well, that's better, I guess." He hit the brakes again, but the momentum of the sled on the ice caused it to skid forward, and they were too close to the chasm to stop in time.
"Everybody out!" Hunter said, although Blitz and Shag were already scrambling to get out. Colleen jumped out next, and Hunter waited until she was cleared before following after her, jumping out of the sled just as it fell into the hole and disappeared in the dark ice below. But he gasped, barely managing to grab hold of the ledge before falling in himself.
"A little help here, guys!" he called, unable to find a supportive foothold and feeling the frozen slush slipping under his fingers.
A hand grabbed Hunter's wrist, but before he had a chance to thank whoever had saved him, he was pulled up hard and found himself dangling a few inches from the ground, face-to-face with a fierce cano-mutant. Nearby, he saw the others were surrounded by cano-mutants themselves, unable to do anything as lasers were pointed in their faces.
"...Not exactly the kinda help I was looking for..." Hunter quipped, wincing as the beastly canine roughly started dragging him away.
Parvo's lips twisted into a sinister smile as he watched some of his cano-mutants setting up the crate-sized machine, right at the base where the ice lifted up to form the side of the volcano. Then when they finished, they quickly backed off as Parvo stepped forward, letting his hand run along the consol's controls.
"First, Mt. Erebus," he breathed, his plan quickly flying through his mind once more. "Then, the entire Ring of Fire. And soon, the whole world will be mine."
Only a a mind of true genius like his could ever conceive such a brilliant plan. Because who else could ever think of using a low-level activity volcano like Mt. Erebus for world domination? And the true beauty of it was that the plan itself was actually very simple. But it took someone with real vision and insight to fit the pieces together.
Because, however low-level Mt. Erebus was, it was still one of the volcanoes that made up the Pacific Ring of Fire. All volcanoes along that Ring were connected along those plates. If he could control one of the volcanoes in the Ring, then it wouldn't take long before finding a way to control all of the Ring of Fire itself. Granted, it took time and energy to generate strong enough pulses to spread throughout the plates. But he was nothing if not persistent.
And he was certain that this device - his Seismic Generator - would be enough to grant him control over all the volcanoes. The testing he had performed already showed that the device, when attached to the base of the volcano, would send out a series of seismic vibrations deep below the Earth's crust. With the turn of the dial and the flip of a switch, the volcanoes along the Ring would be completely under his control. He could control where the vibrations went and which volcano (or volcanoes, or just the entire Ring of Fire) was affected. His device could also alter the strength of a volcano's activity; if he so wished, his device would violently churn the magma of even the most dormant of volcanoes, until it had no other choice but to burst in a fiery detonation. At his hands, he could unleash a series of violent volcanic eruptions that would certainly throw the world into complete chaos.
Unless of course the world's governments were willing to...convince him otherwise.
Obviously, though, it required a lot of research to make his plans possible. And he had chosen Mt. Erebus for that reason. It was the southern-most active volcano in the world, but because the lava never left the inner crater, it was a safe place to work. Plus, there were few people who worked in this area of Antarctica (and those who did were easily dealt with), making it easier to avoid detection from those meddlesome Rovers for as long as he had. It gave him enough time to see his plans reach fruition.
It had been difficult in the beginning, however. Because even he, who was barely fazed by anything, felt how cold the sub-arctic region was. Being able to have hard-working cano-mutants who could withstand the freezing conditions posed a bit of a challenge. But as expected, he found the perfect solution. After all, sled dogs thrived from this sort of thing. They were born and bred to work, and the cold weather was ideal for them. They were the perfect types of dogs for his plans here.
They were strong, which enabled them to transport things with little effort. They were fast, which meant the work would get done quickly. And they were persevering, determined to get their work done. Indeed, they would work for as long as they needed to, pushing themselves to the limit and beyond. Sled dogs were breeds that could easily work themselves to death...Which was fine by him. That's why he had so many of them.
Sometimes his own evilness made him tingle all over.
Just as he began inputting commands into the Seismic Generator, he heard the Groomer call behind him, "General! We have the Rovers!"
He turned to see his right-hand lady approaching, followed by a group of cano-mutants that surrounded the chained-up Rovers, holding them at laser point and dragging them along like prisoners of war.
Parvo smirked as a cano-mutant tugged hard on the chain that tied the Rovers together, forcing them to stop before him. It did his black heart good to see his enemies humilated so.
"Glad you could join us, Rovers," he sneered, turning his back on them to face his machine.
"All right, Parvo," he heard one of them say, trying to put up a brave front. From what little he knew of the Rovers, Parvo recognized the voice of what he thought was a retriever. "What are you up to?"
Smirking, he finished calculating the data on the Seismic Generator before turning back to the Rovers. "You're about to find out." It was all the warning he gave them before pushing the giant red button on the Generator's consol.
Suddenly the ground began to rumble - slow at first, but soon grew difficult for them to keep their balance. Then everyone looked up as a thick cloud of black smoke began to rise from the volcano, spreading heat and ashes into the air. Columns of lava spurted out of the crater, and when the ground began to shake harder, more of the glowing red-hot lava brimmed at the volcano's edge, threatening to overflow.
Quickly turning a dial on the Seismic Generator, Parvo then pushed another button. The ground gave a violent jerk that nearly threw them all off their feet, and seemed to knock against the mountain. Indeed, it almost appeared that Mt. Erebus wobbled back, and the lava ebbed away from the side they were on to pour over the opposite side instead.
"He's controlling the volcano...?" the female Rover exclaimed, and Parvo smirked at the sound of her horrified awe.
The retriever blinked as he watched the volcano, his seriousness gone for a moment. "Yet another unexpected twist...Bummer!"
"And this is just the beginning," Parvo said, motioning to the volcano as lava continued to flow over the other side. "Soon, I will have more volcanoes under my control. It's a shame you Rovers won't be around to see how this all ends, but I assure you it will be good...for me."
"You'll never get away with this, Parvo," the retriever suddenly growled, solemn once again as his features set in a hard glare.
Parvo couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement. Unfortunately, the statement was so funny that the humor quickly faded into a hacking cough. "Lozenge!" he wheezed.
Dutifully, the woman retrieved her dispenser and shot the medicated candy into his mouth. His coughs died down as he felt its soothing effects, then he smacked his lips together and cleared his throat before meeting the retriever's unwavering gaze.
"How quaint," he mocked. "You honestly think you can still stop me? In case you haven't noticed, Rover, I've already won...It's over."
"It's never over 'til the fat cat sings," the retriever shot back.
Beginning to feel irritated by the dog's behavior, Parvo turned to a group of nearby cano-mutants. "Take them to the other side of the volcano," he ordered. "There should be a nice lava pool to throw the Rovers in by now."
The big white Rover yelped fearfully as it and the Doberman-like one trembled. But the female Rover remained impassive, as though unconcerned with their current fate. And the retriever continued glaring with the same hard expression, a clear confidence in his eyes even as they were all dragged away.
His fists clenched tightly as he watched them taken away from his sight. He had won, he knew that. There was nothing they could do now to stop him.
So why? Why did that one Rover's arrogance make him actually doubt his victory?
His ears twitched at the sound of the metal crackling under the continuous heat, and his eyes were beginning to sting. After another long moment, the red-hot energy of his laser vision faded.
Only then did Exile let himself blink, rapidly at first to help his dry eyes. Then he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his thumb and finger, trying to relieve the tension of using his heat vision for so long. It wouldn't normally be a problem for him to use his heat vision for long periods of time. But being as exhausted as he was put some strain on his body and made it harder for him to focus. He probably should rest, but he was too worried to stay still for too long.
Opening his eyes again, he then glanced down at the discarded wrench by his foot. He hesitated for just a moment, staring hard at the tool as though debating what to do with it. Then he carefully picked it up and resumed working on the bike in front of him.
Shortly after the others had left, Exile had gone back to the cockpit to try and catch up on the sleep he had missed on the way down there. But it hadn't taken long before the silence started to get to him, and it weighed much heavier on him since he was alone. He soon grew anxious, and began wandering around the jet in hopes of finding something to do. He somehow found himself in one of the cargo rooms where he stumbled across a lone motorbike.
Curiosity got the better of him and led him to examine the bike, wondering what it was doing there. He discovered that the bike was still unfinished, a possible prototype for a new machine they could use someday. And eager to be busy, he took the bike to the launch bay in order to fix it up.
At first, he found the silver-blue bike to be a bit awkward. The handlebars were thicker than most motorbikes, it was larger and longer than the Sled Rovers (and yet still only suitable for one rider), and the four wheels made it a bit difficult to move around the jet. But he grew fonder of the machine as he worked on it, finding the motorbike's frame was still as streamlined as the sleekest motorcycle, made for easier manuvering out on the open road...or ice, given the thick treads of the tires. He soon realized that the bike was built for harsh conditions, and the thick handlebars would provide a good grip for driving on rough ground.
He wasn't quite sure how long he had spent down there, kneeling by the bike and just working on it. But he suspected he'd been there for at least an hour, given just how much fixing the bike needed. However, as he finished tightening one last bolt on the motor, he examined the bike to make sure he hadn't missed anything and was pleasatnly surprised to see he was done. He grinned.
"There," he said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "All finished." He felt a little silly announcing that he was done aloud, especially with no one around to hear him. But the enduring quiet really bothered him, and he needed to hear something...even if it was only the sound of his own voice.
Tossing the wrench into a nearby toolbox, he picked up a rag off the floor to wipe the grease from his hands. Then he rose to his feet, taking a few steps back to once again study the bike. The only way to really be sure it operated properly was to test it, but he was satisfied with his work and was confident that it would run.
Of course, now that he was finished with the bike, he had nothing left to distract him from the situation.
Leaning against a wall behind him, Exile sighed and threw the rag aside. He let himself sink down until he was sitting on the ground, drawing his legs up so he could rest his elbows on his knees and bury his face in his arms.
He started to wonder how the others were doing, but he wouldn't let himself finish the thought. He didn't want to think about 'them'...because he didn't know which 'them' to think about. He wanted the other Rovers to complete their mission, of course, because they had to stop Parvo. If they didn't, who knows what the evil man would do?
But...he still didn't want his family to get hurt. It wasn't their fault that they were working for Parvo. They didn't deserve what was happening to them, and they didn't deserve to be punished for it. He worried what his family might do when the Rovers arrived, and what lengths the Rovers would have to go in order to win.
And he was afraid that, if he allowed himself to think too much, he would actually wish for the Rovers to lose...just for the idea to keep his family unharmed.
Closing his eyes, he let his hands drop to his sides and his head fall back to rest against the wall. This was exactly why he needed to remain here, to stay behind and let the other Rovers handle this. He couldn't get in the way again, and he didn't want to be the reason for their failure. But he still felt bad about asking the other Rovers to fix his problems while he stayed behind. Even now, he was wondering if this was the right decision. It just seemed as though he was making so many of the wrong ones, and he was afraid of making another mistake.
Because he was, after all, a coward.
There was just no other way to describe it. While he wasn't afraid of the danger, or facing the Groomer or Parvo, he was terrified of the thought of facing his family again. And thinking about it now, he realized that was all it came down to. He was scared to face his family, he was scared of letting the Rovers down...he was scared of messing things up any longer. And his fear kept him firmly rooted there, unable to help anyone.
He wanted nothing more than the chance to fix this mess. But he worried that he would only make things worse.
His eyes opened as a low rumbling caught his attention. Frowning curiously as he stared at the ceiling, his ears twitched trying to locate the source of the noise. Then he gasped when the walls and the floor shook around him. The toolbox rattled and clattered, and the bike rolled back a bit under the movement.
There was a sudden violent lurch that tore Exile away from the wall, and he barely managed to catch himself from sprawling across the floor. Then the jolt was gone as quickly as it came, and the tremors died down slightly, at least enough so that he could steady himself.
But he could still feel the vibrations against the steel of the jet, buzzing underneath his palms. Pushing himself up a little, he frowned in confusion as he watched the toolbox continue to rattle.
"What...?" he murmured, but the rest of the question was caught in his throat when the dog tag of his collar began blinking, and his eyes widened. That alert could only mean one thing.
The others...were in trouble.
He quickly jumped to his feet, his first instinct demanding he go help them. But it was the only thing he managed to do before he froze, suddenly uncertain. He wanted to help them, but his stomach twisted painfully as he thought of his family out there, reminding him of why he had stayed behind in the first place.
But he had to do something. The Rovers were in danger...and he couldn't help but wonder if he was to blame for that too. If he had gone with them as he was supposed to, would it have made any difference? Could he have done something to change the situation? Could he have been able to help?
Would he have been able to do it?
Reaching up with a shaking hand, he tightly grasped the flashing tag. But the light continued to pulse, visible even between his fingers and filling the room with its pulsing glow. He swallowed thickly, and he felt as though his heart was torn, pulled in two different directions between the Rovers and his family. Both groups needed him...but he could only choose one.
Now you must make the choice!
When the time comes...you'll make the right choice.
He shut his eyes and covered his ears, desperately and vainly trying to drown out the conflicting voices echoing in his memories. How in the world was he supposed to choose? No matter what he did, he was going to hurt someone important to him. No matter what he chose, something was going to go wrong!
Even now, as he stood trying to figure out what to do, he was risking the others' safety. The longer he took to decide, the more trouble the others could be in.
His eyes opened suddenly when he felt the room darken, and he looked down to see that his dog tag had stoopped flashing. If possible, his eyes grew wider then.
Just because the alert stopped didn't mean the others were out of danger yet. They could still need his help, unable to get out of whatever trouble they were in. Or worse...the abrupt stop of the alert could mean...that...
He shook his head. "Nyet!" he barked loudly, forcefully. He closed his eyes as he gripped the tag again. "That cannot be!" he said, trying to convince himself more than anything. "They can't be...they aren't...!" Opening his eyes once more, he looked down as the tag rested flat against his palm. And he knew what he was really trying to say.
"I can't let them."
Determination pounded in his chest, spreading through his veins and forcing him to move. Grabbing the last remaining coat - the coat left for him - he hastily pulled it on as he crossed the room, pushing the button that opened the hatch doors. Then, as they slowly creaked open, he went to the four-wheeled bike and pulled it to the center of the room, facing it towards the opening.
Jumping on the bike, he hesitated for just a second before turning the ignition. It stalled at first, its gears grinding in protest for being unused for so long. Then it roared to life, and he sighed in relief, glad that he succeeded in getting it working after all. Revving the motor, Exile barely waited for the doors to fully open before he shot out of the jet.
The bike hit the ice hard, but the thick tires held fast and allowed him to race off as soon as it touched ground. Reaching into his suit and pulling out the tracking device for the others' collars, he turned hard to head in the direction where the signal was strongest. Then he twisted the throttle, urging the bike to go as fast as it possibly could.
Honestly, he still wasn't sure what he would do if confronted by his family again, and especially if faced with Shurik. But with all the wrong choices he's made so far, he knew it was about time he set them all right.
And somehow, he would make things right.
TBC
[Chapter 8]