Chapter Four
References:
* Bambi's father is referenced when Dave's inner courage yells at him to get up. In the animated film, the Great Prince yells urgently at Bambi - after the poor deer's been shot and can't get up immediately despite the forest fire coming in fast - to get onto his feet...hooves, to flee from the fire. Dave does have an inner strength to him and I think in times of distress, it will be called upon to get Dave to act. Dave is not a coward.
General:
*More of the mystery continues with the bounty hunters. I needed them to leave the scene to continue this plot point until they could be back for later in the chapter.
*I didn't want Dave to just be a victim here. Even if he's not at peak condition now, that doesn't mean he's utterly helpless. I think he would want to do something to help those around him. That might mean putting out the fire on some very small areas. And as long as he had that fire extinguisher, it should be used for what it was built for.
*The fire is part one of the climax - it's reaching higher and higher until either everything is destroyed or saved by a miracle.
*Charles to the rescue! The flock of airplanes trailing behind him are indeed jets courtesy of the Center for Chaos Containment. There had to be a way for the fire to be put out without relying on a storm randomly passing by or Henry using his powers to bring forth rain. I didn't want to rely on an unknown deus ex machina. When I was thinking about this scenario, I remembered the CCC in the 'Toppat 4 Life' ending. They did establish that a manned mobile unit was floating around the area, which means that the CCC has a base somewhere nearby the military base in the jungle.
Which also means that if the mobile unit picked up on a giant jungle fire that was quickly spreading, they would need to kill two birds with one stone: stop the fire and keep their organization under wraps. Yes, it is ironic that they made themselves known with a public organization like the military, but knowing the CCC, they're likely to come up with a good cover story to protect themselves. Or perhaps erase memories. Either solution is possible. And in a high stakes scenario like this, Charles and Galeforce aren't going to take the time to question it, only be grateful for it. There is a chance their actions could be classified as a deus ex machina, but under the circumstances that is the Henry Stickmin world, mixed in with an acknowledgment of world building via the 'Toppat 4 Life' ending and the CCC's tendency to dish out unpredictable and radical solutions, this isn't as far-fetched as other options could be.
*Dave and Rupert reunited at last! I haven't really focused on Rupert's development in this story - besides a few moments in the second chapter - because there is a larger emphasis on suspense and action vs. characterization in this chapter. But here is the starting point for that to change and we start to see the bond that the friends share. I headcanon that after Dave lost his job and became a museum guard, they kept in touch. At least until Rupert joined the military and Dave was kidnapped by the Toppats.
*The reason I had Dave be the one to take the bullet to protect himself and Rupert was due to the point I brought up earlier about Dave's courage. Dave is undoubtably soft-spoken and I think he lost some confidence after what happened at the prison, but he hasn't forgotten his police training. That takes a lot of skill to do all that's required to be a police officer, even at the cost of one's own life. This event was also meant to give Rupert his own flashback to another horrible event in which he bore witness to and gave rise to his decision to leave the police force. Almost like a darker side to Dave's own flashback when he first joined the police force in the second chapter.
Rupert's motivation was to prevent any more mistakes, and after what happened with Johnny, Dave's act of selflessness is enough to push him over the edge and save his life.
I was originally going to focus more on this flashback in the chapter by drawing comparisons between Johnny and Dave as Rupert's partners, but it would have taken the story onto a whole other tangent. Instead I decided to use it to build up the moment in Rupert's mind - he's shocked by Dave's sudden act and even though he's the one injured and the missing person Rupert was assigned to find, Dave still chooses to act bravely and save Rupert's life. I do love me some irony.
*The random Toppat woman is now arrested, and meant to finally help bring the climax to its fullest height. I understand I said that she wasn't meant to be any female Toppat in general, and she still isn't. But if I had to choose whom she was supposed to be if I felt like choosing a Toppat, I would go with the Gremlin. For no reason other than she seems like one of the most ruthless Toppats.
*Frog and the Bukowski twins return! Frog was brought in to pose more of a threat (and come back for the post-climax) to the Toppats - the Toppats are immensely outnumbered now, and the twins get to do some saving of their own. I think it's only fair these twins get a small bit of action, and taking down the woman was the perfect fit for them. Goofy as the boys may be, they're still soldiers with a lot of heart for action.
Random Facts:
*This chapter was so blocky with how much went on here. I do like how it turned out, but hot dog it was quite a lot to unpack.
Wanderer out!
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