The Birds and The Bees Part 8 (Henry, Rupert, and co.)
The Toppat clan wants Ricky to be their successor, but Rupert and Henry don't want that future for their son.
Henry stayed quiet during the helicopter ride. Rupert stood next to him, holding his rifle. They both had blank expressions on their faces, but on the inside, they were scared.
Henry, in particluar was scared out of his mind. He didn't want his son to take over the criminal lifestyle as he had in the past, and his grandparents had in the past. Henry then groaned as he slapped his hand against his forehead. He hadn't even thought about how his dads were reacting to having a grandson.
"Oi, Stickmin, what's the matter now?" Rupert asked.
"N-Nothing," Henry answered sheepishly.
"Are ya sure?" Rupert raised an eyebrow.
Henry nodded as he smiled weakly. Rupert crossed his arms while shaking his head.
Henry hung his head down, "I was thinking... that Ricky may become me in the future. But, I don't want that life for him."
Rupert blinked. He never thought about that. He thought about the possibilities that Ricky might become a criminal like Henry. His mind came to a halt when another possibility came into play.
"I want him to have a better future than me..." Rupert snapped out of his thoughts while Henry kept talking.
"Wow, Stickmin, that's one of the most rational things you have ever said," Rupert deadpanned.
They fell into silence after their awkward exchange. The only sounds they could hear were from the helicopter.
"Hey, general, is that the base right there?" Charles pointed out. The General looked over Charles's shoulder. He spotted a large building that was partially hidden by trees, concealing it from intruders.
"Yes, it is, Charlie," Galeforce turned to everyone on board the helicopter. "Everyone, gear up, we have found the base."
Charles landed a few miles away from the building and shut down the helicopter. Charles stood next to the General.
"Alright, does everyone know their assignments?" Galeforce asked. Everyone nodded. "Good, now find Ricky and get out."
Everyone exited the helicopter and hid in the bushes. They saw that two Toppats guarded the entrance of the base. Rupert led the mission along with Henry and several others.
"June and Sarah, you guys take out the guards," Rupert ordered.
June and Sarah nodded. They quietly emerged from the bushes and quickly dispatched the guards. They dragged the unconscious bodies into the bushes. June signaled Rupert and Henry to enter the base. Henry followed Rupert through the base, searching for their son. One by one, they scouted the rooms but hadn't located him yet.
"Where the hell is our son?" Rupert hissed. Henry checked the scanner that Victoria gave them. Henry saw a blue dot on the scanner, and the dot represented them.
"According to the scanner, he should be right down this hall," Henry whispered, pointing in the direction of the hallway.
"Good. Let's go get him and get out of here," Rupert stated.
They headed to Ricky's location and found a door covered with stickers. Rupert peeked inside the room to see a bunch of young children sleeping. He took a closer look at the room where the children were sleeping. The room had yellow walls and brown flooring. The room was decorated with children's toys and stuffed animals. Pictures and crayons were surrounding the children as they slept.
Rupert then saw a crib holding a baby.
He turned to Henry, "Ricky is in here."
Henry nodded but frowned.
"How do we get him without waking the kids?"
"I don't think you can go in there, you're not exactly the quietest, Stickmin."
"Looks who's talking," Henry retorted.
Rupert flipped the bird, and Henry stuck out his tongue in response.
"It concerns me that your son is the mature one here," Galeforce piped up, annoyed.
They both jumped at the sound of the General's voice. Henry's face went red while Rupert hid his face in shame.
"Quit fooling around. Get Ricky and get out of there," the General ordered.
The General left the call, and Rupert spotted a pad next to the door. Rupert talked into his walkie-talkie, "Hey, Charles, we need you to hack into this pad. Ricky is inside this room."
Rupert and Henry waited for a few minutes until the door opened. They expected the door to wake up the kids; however, they were still asleep.
"Thanks, Charles," Rupert whispered.
Henry saw Ricky inside the crib.
"Hey, Ricky is inside the crib."
Rupert looked at the crib and saw their son. They both quietly sneaked past the kids, which surprised them. Their eyes softened when they saw Ricky in his crib surrounded by toys and stuffed animals. They saw that their son was playing with his feet.
"I like he has all these toys, and he decided to play with his feet," Rupert whispered with a chuckle.
Henry put his hand on his mouth to muffle his laugh. Ricky didn't realize that his dads were watching him. He was too busy playing with his feet to notice his dads fawning over him. He ceased his playing when he sensed his dads. He glanced up, and he smiled. He put his hands in the air, wanting his dads to pick him up.
Henry grabbed him and hugged him.
"Now let's get out of here," Rupert quickly walked past the kids. Henry followed him, and they were out of the room.
Rupert and Henry only made a few steps when they heard an alarm. They both looked at each other for a moment. "What?! How do they know that we're here?!" Rupert hissed.
"They probably suspected something when the room we were in had activity," Henry pointed out.
"Guys! Get out of there! They know we're here!" Charles piped up through their earbuds.
"Thanks... Charles, we know already," Rupert replied lowly.
"I've sent you guys coordinates to avoid getting caught, now go!"
They followed Charles's coordinates while hiding from the Toppats. They were almost to the entrance when they spotted several of the higher-ups heading their way. They quickly hid in a room to catch their breath.
"Geez, why are there so many? I thought half of them were in their airship?" Rupert wondered.
Henry shrugged, "I don't know."
Henry looked down to check on Ricky. Ricky somehow fell asleep during the alarm. Henry smiled. Rupert shook his head.
"How can that kid sleep through all this?" Rupert questioned, crossing his arms.
"The same way I can sleep through getting kidnapped," Henry deadpanned.
Rupert didn't show it, but he cringed at the memory of the government kidnapping him to help him take down the Toppat clan.
Rupert and Henry blinked when they heard a voice. Rupert held out his gun while Henry held their son close. They didn't know what room they were in or who the voice belonged to. Rupert looked at Henry, and Henry nodded for him to investigate.
"Ello?" Rupert said quietly. No answer.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" replied a small, timid voice.
Rupert frowned. That voice sounded familiar. He held up his gun and cleared his throat. "Hello! Anybody there?"
Henry noticed they were in a room with doors. Henry's eyes went wide as he realized where they were. They were inside a cell room!
"Oi, Dave, where are you?"
"R-Rupert? Rupert! I'm in here!" Dave exclaimed. Rupert headed toward Dave's cell and saw him through the small window.
"Rupert!" Dave said happily.
"We need to get him out of here," Henry said.
Rupert nodded. He saw a control pad next to Dave's cell door. Rupert brought his rifle and destroyed the control pad. The door opened, and Dave nervously looked around before leaving the cell.
Rupert and Dave hugged each other while Henry watched them. He felt Ricky shifting, and he looked down to find Ricky staring up at him.
Dave ceased his hugging when he spotted Henry and Ricky. "H-Henry?"
Henry sheepishly waved; he had inadvertently caused Dave to be fired from his last job. He didn't mean to get Dave fired, but in his defense, he didn't check the package that was delivered to him.
"Oi, Dave, what are ya doing in here?" Rupert questioned.
Dave rubbed the back of his head, "I kind of got kidnapped by the Toppat clan."
"I don't know. The last thing I remember was working the night shift with a coworker of mine and waking up in that cold cell."
Rupert nodded as Henry looked out for any Toppat members. Ricky started babbling, getting everyone's attention.
"Um... Rupert? Who's the baby?" Dave asked, staring at Ricky.
Rupert let out a breath of air as he stood next to Henry. "Dave, this is hard to explain, but..." he paused.
Henry and Rupert held up Ricky, "Do you notice any similarity between us?"
Dave looked back and forth between Henry, Rupert, and Ricky. Dave notices that the baby looks like Rupert and has the same sapphire-blue eyes as Henry. Dave's brain started to connect the dots.
"Wait.. is the baby... did you two?" Dave spluttered.
"No, Dave. Yes, Ricky is our son," Rupert stated, annoyed.
Henry approached Dave with a smile. Dave saw that Ricky was smiling, and Ricky held out his hand. Dave lifted his finger for Ricky to grab hold.
"Okay, this is getting too wholesome for my liking," Rupert said under his breath.
"Let's get out of here and go back to Charles," Henry stated.
Rupert checked to see if there were any Toppats. He gave the signal for when the coast is clear. Everyone followed Rupert out of the cell room. They didn't make it far when they heard guns clicking. They turned their backs to find several Toppats surrounding them.
A/N: Hi! I'm still alive... just stuff and other things are keeping me from writing THSC