part 25:
The Conscience of the King
by Matthew Atanian
©2005 by Matthew Atanian
The Conscience of the King
by Matthew Atanian
©2005 by Matthew Atanian
Sarah had left, accompanied by Kirstin, to go to her Troop Leader’s house to get a copy of the church’s keys. This left Matt and Nicole behind to keep an eye on Proctor.
And Nicole was not about to waste the opportunity.
They were in one of the larger rooms in the church’s lower level. Proctor was just sitting in one corner of the room, contentedly awaiting the return of Sarah and Kirstin so that he could be reunited with his master.
Matt, meanwhile, was sitting at the table with a notebook and a pencil, and was taking advantage of the free time to try and get some work done on Neon Genesis Boy Scouts, a rather gratuitous self insertion fan-fic he had come up with in which a fictionalized version of himself worked for the Massachusetts branch of NERV, and certain members of Troop 192 were possible Eva pilots.
Nicole came to sit beside him. “How’s it going?” she asked him.
“Hmm?” He looked up. “Oh, fine,” he answered. “You?”
“I’m bored,” she told him. “Wanna talk?”
“Sure.” Matt put down his pencil. “About what?”
“I dunno,” Nicole said, shrugging. Then, nonchalantly she asked, “Say, what are those little patches above your left breast pocket? The ones with the little knots?”
“The knots?” Matt pointed to them one by one. “The purple one is for a religious award. Although to be honest, I only ever got the Cub Scout one. Speaking of which, this one,” his finger moved to the middle one, “is for the Arrow of Light, the highest award you can earn in Cub Scouts. Finally, this last one shows that I earned the rank of Eagle.”
“Was that pretty hard?” Nicole asked. “I’m working on my Gold Award now, and that one can be pretty tough sometimes.”
“It wasn’t easy,” Matt said. “Of course, the things that mean a lot rarely are.”
“Like winning my sister’s heart?” Nicole asked.
Matt had to smile at that. “Bingo,” he said. Then he continued. “Mind you, I procrastinated quite a bit on it, too. I had everything I needed for Eagle except the service project for about two years.”
“Two years?”
“Yup. In fact, by the time I finally got around to doing it, I had to earn another merit badge because they had gone and made Family Life required for Eagle.”
Nicole giggled. “Procrastination doesn’t pay off, does it?”
“No,” Matt admitted. “Heck, since I put it off so long, I only had time to earn two palms before I turned eighteen.”
“Palms?”
“Every five merit badges past the minimum required for Eagle earns you a palm. Bronze, then gold, then silver. I kind of regret that I was never able to get that last palm.
“Still,” Matt said, “I’d rather have done it my way – take my time and have fun as I go rather than plough my way through the requirements as quick as I can and then have nothing left to do. I’ve heard of one or two kids getting their Eagle when they were thirteen. Thirteen! What’s left for them after that other than loosing interest in the program and dropping out?”
Nicole listened to all of this sympathetically, and then as innocently as she could she slipped out the question, “What’s that on your chin? Where did you get that scar?”
“Knife fight when I was five,” Matt automatically responded.
“Yeah, right,” Nicole responded.
“Okay, I’ll admit it, I was six,” Matt joked. The knife-fight story was Matt’s standard answer when asked about his scar, always said in a non-serious manor. Of course, it was only half true. The age half, at least. Well, Matt couldn’t really remember to be sure, but he was pretty sure it had happened around that age.
As for what it was that had happened... Well, while it was something that could have happened to anyone, Matt had always been a bit embarrassed about it, hence the knife story.
“So how long is Sarah going to be?” Matt asked.
“I’m not sure,” Nicole told him. “Mrs. Waversack lives a good hour or so away.”
Matt looked at his watch. “Hmm… She left about a half hour ago… Well, that still gives us at least an hour and a half until she gets back. Are you two getting hungry?”
“Are you buying?” Nicole asked.
D’oh! Matt hadn’t been planning to, but he didn’t see a way out of it now. “Sure. Burger King okay? It’s not too far of a walk.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nicole responded.
Matt grabbed his red wool jacket and his campaign hat.
“For something called a ‘uniform,’” Nicole commented, “which, by its name, would imply some… well… uniformity, yours is pretty distinct.”
“Thanks,” Matt said. “Coming, Proctor?”
Proctor looked over at Matt and Nicole. “Oh, no thank you, sir. I am quite fine over here.”
Matt was sure Proctor had to be hungry. Besides which, he felt reluctant to leave the youth behind by himself. The thought did occur to him then, though, that Proctor very likely didn’t have any money of his own.
Well, what the hell. He was already paying for Nicole. “I insist you come, Proctor. In fact, it shall be my treat.”
“Oh, sir!” Proctor exclaimed. “I am not worthy! Thank you!”
Matt placed his hat upon his head. Combined with the jacket, it almost made him look like a Canadian Mountie.
“Well,” he said, “let’s go!”
Justy showed no inclination to do anything other then not let anyone leave, and so quite quickly most of the kids started having fun. The younger kids were running around as aimlessly as usual, while Luke Walker and the other patrol of older scouts (“The Cockroaches,” thanks to Justy’s eloquent naming) attempted to organize them into a game of Steal the Bacon.
The Garden Snake Patrol, however, had set up a table and except for Shmuler (who they had let go play) they were seated around it. Becker was contentedly listening to music as everyone else attempted to discuss the current situation.
“How long do you think he can keep this up?” Aaron asked.
“How long does he intend to,” Mike asked, “or how long can he realistically?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I think ideally, or at least according to Justy’s ideals, he intends to keep us here indefinably until we have all succumbed to his will.”
“I’m so scarred,” Swett commented with his patented sarcasm.
“You should be,” Hughes responded. “Consider this. Do we have any food? Toiletries? Changes of clothes?”
Swett’s face dropped. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
Hughes nodded. “Justy is counting on being able to outlast us all. And given his fanatical belief in his own righteousness, if he had infinite time he might just be able to.”
“But there is one thing Justy has forgotten to take into account,” Mike said.
“That there are more of us then there are of him?” Swett suggested.
Mike shook his head. “Unless absolutely necessary, I’d rather not use violence against a fellow Scout, not even Justy.”
“Then what?” Gelinas asked. “Just sit here?”
“Of course not,” Aaron chimed in. “The first duty of any prisoner is to escape, after all. We can try to find another way out.”
“And if worse comes to worse,” Mike said, “we can certainly last until Sunday.”
“What happens Sunday?” Swett asked.
“Putting aside the fact that if none of us go home Sunday, or families will get mighty suspicious,” Mike said, “you are forgetting something very basic about this building.”
“What’s that?”
“It is a church,” Kenny quietly offered.
“Exactly!” Mike said.
“So if she weighs the same as a church…” Swett said slowly, “she’s made of brick!”
“Quiet, you,” Gelinas said. He turned to Mike. “I see where you’re going. On Sunday, the church people will discover us and set us free.”
“Still,” Aaron pointed out, “unless we find another way out, that gives us two nights under Justy’s care. If nothing else, we’re going to be pretty ripe by Sunday.”
The rest of the patrol muttered in agreement.
“That Justy pisses me off,” Hughes said.
“Indeed. I can’t wait ‘till he has Proctor back to take his aggressions out on,” Aaron said.
“Then things like this wouldn’t happen,” Swett said.
“Yeah,” Billy added. “If nothing else, if Justy had gotten an idea like this into his head, we could have counted on Proctor to point out the fatal flaws in the plan. Then Justy could have just bopped him on the head and gotten on with something else.”
Hughes suddenly spoke out. “Um, guys… Just a thought. Do you worry at all that getting them back together might not be the best thing in the world for Proctor? Justy is kind of awful to him.”
“Yeah, but Proctor likes it,” Aaron assured his friend.
“That’s not healthy for him.”
Aaron shrugged. “Who ever said Proctor was healthy?”
Hughes sighed. “I can’t really argue with that one.”
“I never realized before,” Swett said, “how useful Proctor was in tempering Justy’s insanity.”
“Yes,” Mike agreed. “Justy is more dangerous then we thought. Fortunately, he is dangerous but stupid.”
The other all nodded in agreement.
“Just think how bad it would be,” Gelinas then chimed in, “if Justy ever teamed up with someone with some intelligence.” He pointed. “Like Perry, here.”
Perry blinked. “What you say?”
The others glared at Billy, trying to shut him up.
“And need I mention Kuntz?” Billy continued.
“No,” Mike insisted, “you needn’t.”
“What?” Gelinas asked innocently. “I’m just saying, hypothetically here. Could you imagine what you would get if one combined Justy’s fanatical insanity and Kuntz’s brute strength and channeled them through Perry’s intelligence?”
“That’s sick, Bill, just sick,” Hughes commented.
“Defies rational comprehension,” Kenny quietly added.
“I’m just saying, ‘What if?’ Guys?”
“SHUT UP, BILL!”
Ryoga was walking down the street, concerned. What concerned him was a growing suspicion that, once again, he wasn’t even in Japan. What, with all the drivers in the cars that were passing him by being on the wrong side of their cars, and driving down the wrong side of the road. Not to mention all of the businesses that he had walked past with the signs over them written in English.
He definitely wasn’t in Japan. So where was he?
He spotted a group of people walking down the opposite side of the road, headed towards a large building that looked like some sort of church. There were three of them. The two males were both wearing some kind of uniform. The female was drinking from a take-out beverage container. Ryoga decided to ask them where he was.
He hurried across the street to try and catch them before they got to the building. When he got to the other side of the road, however, something made him pause and look at the building. There was something familiar about it, nagging the back of his mind incessantly.
Then for a moment, in his mind’s eye, the building was covered in snow and many little lights. And he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had been here before.
He was in Massachusetts again.
He sighed, and sat down by the side of the road. The trio he had been following he allowed to continue on their way unmolested. What was the point?
He was thirsty. He slipped off his backpack and rummaged around inside of it, looking for something to drink. His hand came across a small, cylindrical object that felt like an aluminum can. He pulled it out and looked at it. Where had this come from? It, too, seemed familiar to him. He was too tired to dwell on it, however. Besides which, the can looked like it had been through a lot, and so he judged that whatever was in it was probably revolting. He rummaged through his backpack some more until he found his canteen, from which he took a sip.
Now, which direction was Japan in?
Sarah returned without having had any luck. “Mrs. Waversack wasn’t home,” she explained.
“You couldn’t have waited for her?” Nicole asked.
“It wouldn’t have done any good,” Kirstin said. “One of her neighbors said she had gone on vacation to Florida.”
“Will I ever see the Captain again?” Proctor asked.
“Of course you will,” Kirstin assured him.
Just then, Mike Quadrozzi walked in. “Hey, guys!” he said.
“Mike!” Matt said. “How did you escape?”
“I did that thing I can do, and climbed out of the window,” he responded.
“Ah,” Matt said, understanding.
Mike and Matt then exchanged information on what had happened up until this point.
“And so,” Mike finished, “we have a plan to get the keys back, but I don’t know how we’re going to get Justy to accept Proctor back.”
“Actually, we had an idea about that during dinner,” Nicole commented.
“Ms. Sarah?” Proctor asked. “Can you drive me to the grocery store?”
Sarah blinked. “Um, okay.”
“Excellent. I’ll go report back to the others, and then come back and let you know that things are all set,” Mike said.
Getting back in through the bathroom window wasn’t as easy as leaving had been for Mike, as he had forgotten to take one thing into account. It was easy to throw his clothes out of a second floor window so that he could put them back on after he changed into a person again. It was a bit harder to throw them back into a second floor window.
And so, he was stuck with the time consuming task of making multiple trips, each time carrying one article of clothing up with him. Some of his heavier clothes, such as his pants, had proven difficult. His shoes, meanwhile, had proven impossible. In the end, he abandoned them. Once finished, he changed back into a human, got dressed, and knocked on the door to let the guard on the other side know he was ready to rejoin the rest of the prisoner population.
Mike walked back into the hall, shoeless, through the door on the rear of the stage. From the door he was guarding, Homer called out, “Who takes three hours to go to the bathroom before bed, Quadrozzi?”
“Nonsense,” Mike shouted back. “I had much to do! So much…” He went over to the Garden Snakes table and spoke to them for a few moments.
“Everything’s ready on Matt’s end. If we’re all set, I just have to report back to Matt and then we’re good to go.”
“What took you so long?” Aaron asked. “We were getting worried.”
Mike told them how it had taken him some time to get his clothes back up.
“Um… Why didn’t you just tie your clothes up to a string and pull them up?” Hughes asked.
“And where am I going to find a piece of string just lying around Walker Hall?”
Hughes pulled a lengthy piece of string out of his pocket. “Be prepared, and all that,” he said.
Mike snatched the string from Hughes, an annoyed look on his face. Then he called out, “Lord God Yung, sir?” (Justy was always less suspicious when you called him this.) “I have a mighty need to use the bathroom once again.”
“Oh, very well. But be quick about it, this time!”
Mike reported back, and then returned to the hall to implement the plan. The boys were going to go to sleep, except one member of the patrol, in shifts, who was going to stay awake until Justy and his new minions were asleep, at which point they were going to try and steal the keys. After that, it would be up to the Porters, Matt, and Proctor.
This meant, alas, that for the time being the Porters, Matt, and Proctor had quite a bit of waiting.
Matt was sitting on one of the great logs that bordered the rear parking lot, looking out at the sky over the field behind the church.
Someone came to sit beside him. Matt was a bit startled when he saw it was Sarah. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Moon gazing,” Matt responded.
“Moon gazing?” Sarah asked, incredulous. “But it’s overcast!”
This was true. There were dark clouds in the sky. Rain had not been forecast, however, so Matt felt safe.
“True,” Matt said. “But have you ever watched the sky on a night like this? It is a full moon, you know. And when the moon… Wait!” He pointed up at the sky. “Look there! It’s happening now.”
Sarah looked up at the sky. The edge of one of the clouds was glowing slightly. The glow grew, until the sky at the edge of the cloud appeared to be aflame with a white light. Sarah gasped. “It’s beautiful!” she said.
“Yes, it is,” Matt responded.
Sarah looked at Matt. “This feels like the time Matty and I went stargazing,” she said.
“All we need is some Cherry Garcia,” Matt responded.
Sarah smiled. “She told you about that?”
Matt paused for a moment as a penguin whacked him. “Yeah,” he said, recovering quickly.
Sarah leaned back and looked up at the moon, large and full in the sky. Matt looked with her.
“I may have misjudged you,” Sarah said quietly.
“W… what?” Matt asked.
“Nothing,” Sarah said. “Anyways… um… thank you.”
“For what?”
“For saving my life last spring.”
“You’re welcome,” Matt said.
Sarah glanced at her watch. “Hey, it’s after midnight.”
“Well, it will probably be a while before the boys can proceed.”
“Yes,” Sarah said, “but that’s not what I meant.”
Matt looked at her.
“It’s still a day early, but I suppose it is close enough.” Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped package. “Happy Birthday.”
“How did you know it was my birthday?” Matt asked.
“Nicole told Kirstin. Kirstin told me.”
How did Nicole know?”
“That girl knows everything.”
Matt took the package cautiously. “Sarah, you didn’t need to get me anything.”
“Yes, I did. After all, I never returned the favor from when you got me that Christmas present."
“Is that the only reason you got me a present?”
“Maybe,” Sarah said. “Maybe not.”
“Well,” Matt said, “thanks.”
He pulled open the wrapping paper and looked at what was inside. Then he looked back at Sarah.
“Do you like it?” Sarah asked.
“Yes,” he told her, “I do.”
“Don’t get your hopes up or anything,” Sarah said. “This doesn’t make us engaged or anything. But… Maybe we can talk one of these days.”
Matt smiled. “Well, it is a start,” he said.
It was about three in the morning and Kenny was the one on watch when Justy finally couldn’t stay awake any longer. As for the guards by the doors, they had fallen asleep lying in front of their charges hours ago.
“Mr. Quadrozzi, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Abdowmassy,” he quietly said, shaking each of them in turn.
“Well, shall we do this?” Mike said.
The others nodded.
They quietly walked forward, stepping around the bodies of scouts who were sleeping wherever they fell. They reached an impasse shortly before the stage, though, when a large pile of Tenderfoot Scouts blocked their path.
“What do we do now?” Aaron answered.
Hughes was looking around. Finally something caught his eye. Luke was sleeping near where they stood, and he was wearing a canteen on his belt.
“Bingo!” Hughes whispered. He grabbed the canteen and poured half of the contents upon Aaron. Aaron quacked in surprise, and the others shushed him hurriedly. They looked over at Justy, who stirred slightly but didn’t awaken.
“What are you doing?” Mike asked.
“Just go open the window,” Hughes answered. He dumped the rest of the water on himself.
Mike shrugged and went to do as instructed.
Hughes took a few steps back to get a running start, and then he dashed forward and leapt into the air. He sailed over the pile of Tenderfoots and landed on all four feet on the opposite side of them. Aaron flew over the pile and joined him.
Hughes cautiously approached Justy. The keys were in his hand, which was hanging down the side of the chair he was sitting upon. Hughes reached forward, bit onto the keys, and tugged.
Justy’s grip was firm, but Hughes was determined. He tugged and tugged, and finally the keys came free in his mouth. He turned and tossed them into the air, where Aaron caught them in his bill. He then flew out of the narrow opening in the window Mike was standing beside.
Matt was awakened by the sound of a wing beating against the window. He got up and went outside, where he was met by Aaron. The duck dropped the keys at Matt’s feet.
“Great!” Matt said. “Hey, do you need hot water?”
“Quack.”
“For how many people?”
“Quack, quack.”
“Two?”
“Quack.”
“Right.”
After a trip to the kitchen, Matt followed Aaron around to the open window. (Fortunately, the upper floor was also on ground level on all sides but the rear of the building.) Aaron flew through it, and then Matt reached through and handed two cups of hot water to Mike on the other side.
Mission accomplished, Matt went back to sleep. The next step in the plan wasn’t necessary until morning.
Morning did come soon, and things in Walker Hall were not as jubilant as they had been the evening before.
The scouts were hungry. The younger ones, obnoxiously so.
And the first thing that Justy noticed upon awakening was that the keys were missing.
“GARDEN SNAKES!” he hollered.
The Garden Snakes looked up at Justy.
“Yes?” Mike asked.
“Where are they?” Justy spat.
“Where are what?”
“You know what!”
“I’m hungry,” one Tenderfoot whined.
“I’ve got to pee,” whined another.
Justy stepped forward with his baton raised. “YOU WILL RETURN WHAT WAS STOLEN FROM ME!”
Just then, there was a noise from the door. The sound of keys rattling.
The door opened.
All of the younger scouts stormed out.
And in walked…
“Proctor!” Justy exclaimed.
“Captain, sir! I have returned.”
“How did you get those keys?” Justy spat.
“I found them.”
“Found them?”
Proctor approached Justy. “I have a present for you, Captain.”
This gave Justy a pause. “Present? What present?”
From behind his back, Proctor produced a plate of broccoli.
“What,” Justy said, “is that for?”
“It is for you,” Proctor said.
Justy fumed. “And you expect me to eat that?!”
Proctor smiled. “Of course not, sir!” He took out a fork, and dug in. And Proctor consumed every revolting piece of vegetation upon the plate.
Justy snarled. “You think everything is forgiven?”
“Of course not, Captain. I just know that I live only to serve you.”
Justy shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. Give me a hand securing the hall. This troop will submit to my will!”
“What are you doing, sir?”
Justy told him.
“But sir, won’t the parents come looking for their kids tomorrow? And what about the church?”
Justy whacked Proctor upon the head. “Don’t contradict my plan!” He shouted. “Now let us go. We have to get home. I’m overdue for a manicure.”
“Oh, sir! I can use my new emery boards!”
“Just make sure you get it right, this time.”
“Yes, my Captain!”
Phone calls were made, parents came to get their children, and everyone got home safe where they bathed and were fed.
The Porters had also arrived home, and after they had gotten freshened up Kirstin cooked a lunch for everyone and they sat together to eat.
A few hours later, Nicole went to her bedroom and pulled out the file folder marked, “Matt / Matty.”
She tool out a piece of paper and jotted some notes upon it. Then she looked at the paper with a curious expression on her face.
The page was titled, “Commonalities.”
Below that was a list. Amongst the things on the list were, “Both have similar speech patterns. Both have same scar on chin. ‘Knife fight when I was five.’ Both wear the same uniform, with same idiosyncrasies. Same insignia on uniform, including awards Matty could not have earned. Both love anime. Both love Sarah.”
On another page were additional notes. “Matty’s home address is unknown. Very little known about Matty’s history before last year. Despite both of them claiming to be very close friends, both have never been seen in the same place at the same time.”
Kirstin came into the bedroom, a large open envelope in her hand. They had opened their mail after lunch.
“Isn’t this exciting?” Kirstin asked.
“What?” Nicole looked up from the file. “Oh, yes,” she said, not entirely convincingly.
Kirstin didn’t seem to notice however. “Don’t forget we have to respond by the end of the month.”
Nicole nodded.
“You should call Jason,” Kirstin recommended.
“Oh? You tell Aaron yet?”
Kirstin blushed. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said. She noticed the file and decided to change the subject. “What is that you’re looking at?”
“Just some research I’ve been working on the last few months. Been collecting some very good data this last week or so.”
“What is it about?”
“You’ll sleep better not knowing,” Nicole joked.
“Yes, fine, whatever,” Kirstin said, a laugh in her voice. “I’ll leave you to it then,” she said as she headed out into the living room.
Nicole flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling above her bed, trying to clear her mind of certain things. She turned to the file as a welcome distraction.
“’When you have eliminated the impossible,’” Nicole said to herself, “’whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ But what if the only
explanation is the impossible? Is that then the truth?”
She looked at the file a bit more.
“Matty is definitely a woman,” she said. “And Matt is definitely a man. Yet can they somehow be one and the same person?”
There was an alarmed sounding meow from the floor. She sat up and looked down to see Neko‑chan looking up at her.”
“You’re right, kitty,” she said, picking him up. She laughed. “I’m being silly. Of course that can’t be true!”
Proctor was blowing the nail-dust off of the emery boards before he put them away when the door bell rang.
“Just a moment!” Proctor called out, heading towards the door.
“PROCTOR!” Justy yelled from the bathroom where he was enjoying a relaxing foot soak. “Answer the door!”
“Yes, my captain!” Proctor responded, well on his way already to doing so. As a matter of fact, it was just as he finished saying that that he opened the door.
“Captain!” Proctor then called out. “Someone to see you, sir!”
Proctor heard the sound of annoyed grumbling, but within a few moments Justy joined him at the door.
Justy smiled. “Ah, Peon #18, do come in…”
The next Wednesday, Matt was getting ready for scouts when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Is Matthew there?”
“Sarah!?”
“Ah, hello,” she said. “I was wondering… I don’t want you to think of this as a date or anything, but the girls and I were going to get a bite to eat at that pizza place near the church before our meeting tonight…”
“Perfume’s?”
“That’s the one. And, well, I was sort of wondering if you wanted to join us.”
“I’d love to,” Matt said.
“Okay. See you there then. Good bye.”
“Bye, Sarah.”
Matt smiled broadly and grabbed his red wool jacket. Upon the lapel was a pin that had not been there before. It was heart shaped, and inside of it was a picture of a character from an anime series called Urusei Yatsura, Lum.
Matt looked at the pin a moment before pulling the coat on, and he smiled. He buttoned up the coat, straightened the pin, placed his had upon his head, and walked out of the door.
And Nicole was not about to waste the opportunity.
They were in one of the larger rooms in the church’s lower level. Proctor was just sitting in one corner of the room, contentedly awaiting the return of Sarah and Kirstin so that he could be reunited with his master.
Matt, meanwhile, was sitting at the table with a notebook and a pencil, and was taking advantage of the free time to try and get some work done on Neon Genesis Boy Scouts, a rather gratuitous self insertion fan-fic he had come up with in which a fictionalized version of himself worked for the Massachusetts branch of NERV, and certain members of Troop 192 were possible Eva pilots.
Nicole came to sit beside him. “How’s it going?” she asked him.
“Hmm?” He looked up. “Oh, fine,” he answered. “You?”
“I’m bored,” she told him. “Wanna talk?”
“Sure.” Matt put down his pencil. “About what?”
“I dunno,” Nicole said, shrugging. Then, nonchalantly she asked, “Say, what are those little patches above your left breast pocket? The ones with the little knots?”
“The knots?” Matt pointed to them one by one. “The purple one is for a religious award. Although to be honest, I only ever got the Cub Scout one. Speaking of which, this one,” his finger moved to the middle one, “is for the Arrow of Light, the highest award you can earn in Cub Scouts. Finally, this last one shows that I earned the rank of Eagle.”
“Was that pretty hard?” Nicole asked. “I’m working on my Gold Award now, and that one can be pretty tough sometimes.”
“It wasn’t easy,” Matt said. “Of course, the things that mean a lot rarely are.”
“Like winning my sister’s heart?” Nicole asked.
Matt had to smile at that. “Bingo,” he said. Then he continued. “Mind you, I procrastinated quite a bit on it, too. I had everything I needed for Eagle except the service project for about two years.”
“Two years?”
“Yup. In fact, by the time I finally got around to doing it, I had to earn another merit badge because they had gone and made Family Life required for Eagle.”
Nicole giggled. “Procrastination doesn’t pay off, does it?”
“No,” Matt admitted. “Heck, since I put it off so long, I only had time to earn two palms before I turned eighteen.”
“Palms?”
“Every five merit badges past the minimum required for Eagle earns you a palm. Bronze, then gold, then silver. I kind of regret that I was never able to get that last palm.
“Still,” Matt said, “I’d rather have done it my way – take my time and have fun as I go rather than plough my way through the requirements as quick as I can and then have nothing left to do. I’ve heard of one or two kids getting their Eagle when they were thirteen. Thirteen! What’s left for them after that other than loosing interest in the program and dropping out?”
Nicole listened to all of this sympathetically, and then as innocently as she could she slipped out the question, “What’s that on your chin? Where did you get that scar?”
“Knife fight when I was five,” Matt automatically responded.
“Yeah, right,” Nicole responded.
“Okay, I’ll admit it, I was six,” Matt joked. The knife-fight story was Matt’s standard answer when asked about his scar, always said in a non-serious manor. Of course, it was only half true. The age half, at least. Well, Matt couldn’t really remember to be sure, but he was pretty sure it had happened around that age.
As for what it was that had happened... Well, while it was something that could have happened to anyone, Matt had always been a bit embarrassed about it, hence the knife story.
“So how long is Sarah going to be?” Matt asked.
“I’m not sure,” Nicole told him. “Mrs. Waversack lives a good hour or so away.”
Matt looked at his watch. “Hmm… She left about a half hour ago… Well, that still gives us at least an hour and a half until she gets back. Are you two getting hungry?”
“Are you buying?” Nicole asked.
D’oh! Matt hadn’t been planning to, but he didn’t see a way out of it now. “Sure. Burger King okay? It’s not too far of a walk.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nicole responded.
Matt grabbed his red wool jacket and his campaign hat.
“For something called a ‘uniform,’” Nicole commented, “which, by its name, would imply some… well… uniformity, yours is pretty distinct.”
“Thanks,” Matt said. “Coming, Proctor?”
Proctor looked over at Matt and Nicole. “Oh, no thank you, sir. I am quite fine over here.”
Matt was sure Proctor had to be hungry. Besides which, he felt reluctant to leave the youth behind by himself. The thought did occur to him then, though, that Proctor very likely didn’t have any money of his own.
Well, what the hell. He was already paying for Nicole. “I insist you come, Proctor. In fact, it shall be my treat.”
“Oh, sir!” Proctor exclaimed. “I am not worthy! Thank you!”
Matt placed his hat upon his head. Combined with the jacket, it almost made him look like a Canadian Mountie.
“Well,” he said, “let’s go!”
Justy showed no inclination to do anything other then not let anyone leave, and so quite quickly most of the kids started having fun. The younger kids were running around as aimlessly as usual, while Luke Walker and the other patrol of older scouts (“The Cockroaches,” thanks to Justy’s eloquent naming) attempted to organize them into a game of Steal the Bacon.
The Garden Snake Patrol, however, had set up a table and except for Shmuler (who they had let go play) they were seated around it. Becker was contentedly listening to music as everyone else attempted to discuss the current situation.
“How long do you think he can keep this up?” Aaron asked.
“How long does he intend to,” Mike asked, “or how long can he realistically?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I think ideally, or at least according to Justy’s ideals, he intends to keep us here indefinably until we have all succumbed to his will.”
“I’m so scarred,” Swett commented with his patented sarcasm.
“You should be,” Hughes responded. “Consider this. Do we have any food? Toiletries? Changes of clothes?”
Swett’s face dropped. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
Hughes nodded. “Justy is counting on being able to outlast us all. And given his fanatical belief in his own righteousness, if he had infinite time he might just be able to.”
“But there is one thing Justy has forgotten to take into account,” Mike said.
“That there are more of us then there are of him?” Swett suggested.
Mike shook his head. “Unless absolutely necessary, I’d rather not use violence against a fellow Scout, not even Justy.”
“Then what?” Gelinas asked. “Just sit here?”
“Of course not,” Aaron chimed in. “The first duty of any prisoner is to escape, after all. We can try to find another way out.”
“And if worse comes to worse,” Mike said, “we can certainly last until Sunday.”
“What happens Sunday?” Swett asked.
“Putting aside the fact that if none of us go home Sunday, or families will get mighty suspicious,” Mike said, “you are forgetting something very basic about this building.”
“What’s that?”
“It is a church,” Kenny quietly offered.
“Exactly!” Mike said.
“So if she weighs the same as a church…” Swett said slowly, “she’s made of brick!”
“Quiet, you,” Gelinas said. He turned to Mike. “I see where you’re going. On Sunday, the church people will discover us and set us free.”
“Still,” Aaron pointed out, “unless we find another way out, that gives us two nights under Justy’s care. If nothing else, we’re going to be pretty ripe by Sunday.”
The rest of the patrol muttered in agreement.
“That Justy pisses me off,” Hughes said.
“Indeed. I can’t wait ‘till he has Proctor back to take his aggressions out on,” Aaron said.
“Then things like this wouldn’t happen,” Swett said.
“Yeah,” Billy added. “If nothing else, if Justy had gotten an idea like this into his head, we could have counted on Proctor to point out the fatal flaws in the plan. Then Justy could have just bopped him on the head and gotten on with something else.”
Hughes suddenly spoke out. “Um, guys… Just a thought. Do you worry at all that getting them back together might not be the best thing in the world for Proctor? Justy is kind of awful to him.”
“Yeah, but Proctor likes it,” Aaron assured his friend.
“That’s not healthy for him.”
Aaron shrugged. “Who ever said Proctor was healthy?”
Hughes sighed. “I can’t really argue with that one.”
“I never realized before,” Swett said, “how useful Proctor was in tempering Justy’s insanity.”
“Yes,” Mike agreed. “Justy is more dangerous then we thought. Fortunately, he is dangerous but stupid.”
The other all nodded in agreement.
“Just think how bad it would be,” Gelinas then chimed in, “if Justy ever teamed up with someone with some intelligence.” He pointed. “Like Perry, here.”
Perry blinked. “What you say?”
The others glared at Billy, trying to shut him up.
“And need I mention Kuntz?” Billy continued.
“No,” Mike insisted, “you needn’t.”
“What?” Gelinas asked innocently. “I’m just saying, hypothetically here. Could you imagine what you would get if one combined Justy’s fanatical insanity and Kuntz’s brute strength and channeled them through Perry’s intelligence?”
“That’s sick, Bill, just sick,” Hughes commented.
“Defies rational comprehension,” Kenny quietly added.
“I’m just saying, ‘What if?’ Guys?”
“SHUT UP, BILL!”
Ryoga was walking down the street, concerned. What concerned him was a growing suspicion that, once again, he wasn’t even in Japan. What, with all the drivers in the cars that were passing him by being on the wrong side of their cars, and driving down the wrong side of the road. Not to mention all of the businesses that he had walked past with the signs over them written in English.
He definitely wasn’t in Japan. So where was he?
He spotted a group of people walking down the opposite side of the road, headed towards a large building that looked like some sort of church. There were three of them. The two males were both wearing some kind of uniform. The female was drinking from a take-out beverage container. Ryoga decided to ask them where he was.
He hurried across the street to try and catch them before they got to the building. When he got to the other side of the road, however, something made him pause and look at the building. There was something familiar about it, nagging the back of his mind incessantly.
Then for a moment, in his mind’s eye, the building was covered in snow and many little lights. And he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had been here before.
He was in Massachusetts again.
He sighed, and sat down by the side of the road. The trio he had been following he allowed to continue on their way unmolested. What was the point?
He was thirsty. He slipped off his backpack and rummaged around inside of it, looking for something to drink. His hand came across a small, cylindrical object that felt like an aluminum can. He pulled it out and looked at it. Where had this come from? It, too, seemed familiar to him. He was too tired to dwell on it, however. Besides which, the can looked like it had been through a lot, and so he judged that whatever was in it was probably revolting. He rummaged through his backpack some more until he found his canteen, from which he took a sip.
Now, which direction was Japan in?
Sarah returned without having had any luck. “Mrs. Waversack wasn’t home,” she explained.
“You couldn’t have waited for her?” Nicole asked.
“It wouldn’t have done any good,” Kirstin said. “One of her neighbors said she had gone on vacation to Florida.”
“Will I ever see the Captain again?” Proctor asked.
“Of course you will,” Kirstin assured him.
Just then, Mike Quadrozzi walked in. “Hey, guys!” he said.
“Mike!” Matt said. “How did you escape?”
“I did that thing I can do, and climbed out of the window,” he responded.
“Ah,” Matt said, understanding.
Mike and Matt then exchanged information on what had happened up until this point.
“And so,” Mike finished, “we have a plan to get the keys back, but I don’t know how we’re going to get Justy to accept Proctor back.”
“Actually, we had an idea about that during dinner,” Nicole commented.
“Ms. Sarah?” Proctor asked. “Can you drive me to the grocery store?”
Sarah blinked. “Um, okay.”
“Excellent. I’ll go report back to the others, and then come back and let you know that things are all set,” Mike said.
Getting back in through the bathroom window wasn’t as easy as leaving had been for Mike, as he had forgotten to take one thing into account. It was easy to throw his clothes out of a second floor window so that he could put them back on after he changed into a person again. It was a bit harder to throw them back into a second floor window.
And so, he was stuck with the time consuming task of making multiple trips, each time carrying one article of clothing up with him. Some of his heavier clothes, such as his pants, had proven difficult. His shoes, meanwhile, had proven impossible. In the end, he abandoned them. Once finished, he changed back into a human, got dressed, and knocked on the door to let the guard on the other side know he was ready to rejoin the rest of the prisoner population.
Mike walked back into the hall, shoeless, through the door on the rear of the stage. From the door he was guarding, Homer called out, “Who takes three hours to go to the bathroom before bed, Quadrozzi?”
“Nonsense,” Mike shouted back. “I had much to do! So much…” He went over to the Garden Snakes table and spoke to them for a few moments.
“Everything’s ready on Matt’s end. If we’re all set, I just have to report back to Matt and then we’re good to go.”
“What took you so long?” Aaron asked. “We were getting worried.”
Mike told them how it had taken him some time to get his clothes back up.
“Um… Why didn’t you just tie your clothes up to a string and pull them up?” Hughes asked.
“And where am I going to find a piece of string just lying around Walker Hall?”
Hughes pulled a lengthy piece of string out of his pocket. “Be prepared, and all that,” he said.
Mike snatched the string from Hughes, an annoyed look on his face. Then he called out, “Lord God Yung, sir?” (Justy was always less suspicious when you called him this.) “I have a mighty need to use the bathroom once again.”
“Oh, very well. But be quick about it, this time!”
Mike reported back, and then returned to the hall to implement the plan. The boys were going to go to sleep, except one member of the patrol, in shifts, who was going to stay awake until Justy and his new minions were asleep, at which point they were going to try and steal the keys. After that, it would be up to the Porters, Matt, and Proctor.
This meant, alas, that for the time being the Porters, Matt, and Proctor had quite a bit of waiting.
Matt was sitting on one of the great logs that bordered the rear parking lot, looking out at the sky over the field behind the church.
Someone came to sit beside him. Matt was a bit startled when he saw it was Sarah. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Moon gazing,” Matt responded.
“Moon gazing?” Sarah asked, incredulous. “But it’s overcast!”
This was true. There were dark clouds in the sky. Rain had not been forecast, however, so Matt felt safe.
“True,” Matt said. “But have you ever watched the sky on a night like this? It is a full moon, you know. And when the moon… Wait!” He pointed up at the sky. “Look there! It’s happening now.”
Sarah looked up at the sky. The edge of one of the clouds was glowing slightly. The glow grew, until the sky at the edge of the cloud appeared to be aflame with a white light. Sarah gasped. “It’s beautiful!” she said.
“Yes, it is,” Matt responded.
Sarah looked at Matt. “This feels like the time Matty and I went stargazing,” she said.
“All we need is some Cherry Garcia,” Matt responded.
Sarah smiled. “She told you about that?”
Matt paused for a moment as a penguin whacked him. “Yeah,” he said, recovering quickly.
Sarah leaned back and looked up at the moon, large and full in the sky. Matt looked with her.
“I may have misjudged you,” Sarah said quietly.
“W… what?” Matt asked.
“Nothing,” Sarah said. “Anyways… um… thank you.”
“For what?”
“For saving my life last spring.”
“You’re welcome,” Matt said.
Sarah glanced at her watch. “Hey, it’s after midnight.”
“Well, it will probably be a while before the boys can proceed.”
“Yes,” Sarah said, “but that’s not what I meant.”
Matt looked at her.
“It’s still a day early, but I suppose it is close enough.” Sarah reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, wrapped package. “Happy Birthday.”
“How did you know it was my birthday?” Matt asked.
“Nicole told Kirstin. Kirstin told me.”
How did Nicole know?”
“That girl knows everything.”
Matt took the package cautiously. “Sarah, you didn’t need to get me anything.”
“Yes, I did. After all, I never returned the favor from when you got me that Christmas present."
“Is that the only reason you got me a present?”
“Maybe,” Sarah said. “Maybe not.”
“Well,” Matt said, “thanks.”
He pulled open the wrapping paper and looked at what was inside. Then he looked back at Sarah.
“Do you like it?” Sarah asked.
“Yes,” he told her, “I do.”
“Don’t get your hopes up or anything,” Sarah said. “This doesn’t make us engaged or anything. But… Maybe we can talk one of these days.”
Matt smiled. “Well, it is a start,” he said.
It was about three in the morning and Kenny was the one on watch when Justy finally couldn’t stay awake any longer. As for the guards by the doors, they had fallen asleep lying in front of their charges hours ago.
“Mr. Quadrozzi, Mr. Hughes, Mr. Abdowmassy,” he quietly said, shaking each of them in turn.
“Well, shall we do this?” Mike said.
The others nodded.
They quietly walked forward, stepping around the bodies of scouts who were sleeping wherever they fell. They reached an impasse shortly before the stage, though, when a large pile of Tenderfoot Scouts blocked their path.
“What do we do now?” Aaron answered.
Hughes was looking around. Finally something caught his eye. Luke was sleeping near where they stood, and he was wearing a canteen on his belt.
“Bingo!” Hughes whispered. He grabbed the canteen and poured half of the contents upon Aaron. Aaron quacked in surprise, and the others shushed him hurriedly. They looked over at Justy, who stirred slightly but didn’t awaken.
“What are you doing?” Mike asked.
“Just go open the window,” Hughes answered. He dumped the rest of the water on himself.
Mike shrugged and went to do as instructed.
Hughes took a few steps back to get a running start, and then he dashed forward and leapt into the air. He sailed over the pile of Tenderfoots and landed on all four feet on the opposite side of them. Aaron flew over the pile and joined him.
Hughes cautiously approached Justy. The keys were in his hand, which was hanging down the side of the chair he was sitting upon. Hughes reached forward, bit onto the keys, and tugged.
Justy’s grip was firm, but Hughes was determined. He tugged and tugged, and finally the keys came free in his mouth. He turned and tossed them into the air, where Aaron caught them in his bill. He then flew out of the narrow opening in the window Mike was standing beside.
Matt was awakened by the sound of a wing beating against the window. He got up and went outside, where he was met by Aaron. The duck dropped the keys at Matt’s feet.
“Great!” Matt said. “Hey, do you need hot water?”
“Quack.”
“For how many people?”
“Quack, quack.”
“Two?”
“Quack.”
“Right.”
After a trip to the kitchen, Matt followed Aaron around to the open window. (Fortunately, the upper floor was also on ground level on all sides but the rear of the building.) Aaron flew through it, and then Matt reached through and handed two cups of hot water to Mike on the other side.
Mission accomplished, Matt went back to sleep. The next step in the plan wasn’t necessary until morning.
Morning did come soon, and things in Walker Hall were not as jubilant as they had been the evening before.
The scouts were hungry. The younger ones, obnoxiously so.
And the first thing that Justy noticed upon awakening was that the keys were missing.
“GARDEN SNAKES!” he hollered.
The Garden Snakes looked up at Justy.
“Yes?” Mike asked.
“Where are they?” Justy spat.
“Where are what?”
“You know what!”
“I’m hungry,” one Tenderfoot whined.
“I’ve got to pee,” whined another.
Justy stepped forward with his baton raised. “YOU WILL RETURN WHAT WAS STOLEN FROM ME!”
Just then, there was a noise from the door. The sound of keys rattling.
The door opened.
All of the younger scouts stormed out.
And in walked…
“Proctor!” Justy exclaimed.
“Captain, sir! I have returned.”
“How did you get those keys?” Justy spat.
“I found them.”
“Found them?”
Proctor approached Justy. “I have a present for you, Captain.”
This gave Justy a pause. “Present? What present?”
From behind his back, Proctor produced a plate of broccoli.
“What,” Justy said, “is that for?”
“It is for you,” Proctor said.
Justy fumed. “And you expect me to eat that?!”
Proctor smiled. “Of course not, sir!” He took out a fork, and dug in. And Proctor consumed every revolting piece of vegetation upon the plate.
Justy snarled. “You think everything is forgiven?”
“Of course not, Captain. I just know that I live only to serve you.”
Justy shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. Give me a hand securing the hall. This troop will submit to my will!”
“What are you doing, sir?”
Justy told him.
“But sir, won’t the parents come looking for their kids tomorrow? And what about the church?”
Justy whacked Proctor upon the head. “Don’t contradict my plan!” He shouted. “Now let us go. We have to get home. I’m overdue for a manicure.”
“Oh, sir! I can use my new emery boards!”
“Just make sure you get it right, this time.”
“Yes, my Captain!”
Phone calls were made, parents came to get their children, and everyone got home safe where they bathed and were fed.
The Porters had also arrived home, and after they had gotten freshened up Kirstin cooked a lunch for everyone and they sat together to eat.
A few hours later, Nicole went to her bedroom and pulled out the file folder marked, “Matt / Matty.”
She tool out a piece of paper and jotted some notes upon it. Then she looked at the paper with a curious expression on her face.
The page was titled, “Commonalities.”
Below that was a list. Amongst the things on the list were, “Both have similar speech patterns. Both have same scar on chin. ‘Knife fight when I was five.’ Both wear the same uniform, with same idiosyncrasies. Same insignia on uniform, including awards Matty could not have earned. Both love anime. Both love Sarah.”
On another page were additional notes. “Matty’s home address is unknown. Very little known about Matty’s history before last year. Despite both of them claiming to be very close friends, both have never been seen in the same place at the same time.”
Kirstin came into the bedroom, a large open envelope in her hand. They had opened their mail after lunch.
“Isn’t this exciting?” Kirstin asked.
“What?” Nicole looked up from the file. “Oh, yes,” she said, not entirely convincingly.
Kirstin didn’t seem to notice however. “Don’t forget we have to respond by the end of the month.”
Nicole nodded.
“You should call Jason,” Kirstin recommended.
“Oh? You tell Aaron yet?”
Kirstin blushed. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said. She noticed the file and decided to change the subject. “What is that you’re looking at?”
“Just some research I’ve been working on the last few months. Been collecting some very good data this last week or so.”
“What is it about?”
“You’ll sleep better not knowing,” Nicole joked.
“Yes, fine, whatever,” Kirstin said, a laugh in her voice. “I’ll leave you to it then,” she said as she headed out into the living room.
Nicole flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling above her bed, trying to clear her mind of certain things. She turned to the file as a welcome distraction.
“’When you have eliminated the impossible,’” Nicole said to herself, “’whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ But what if the only
explanation is the impossible? Is that then the truth?”
She looked at the file a bit more.
“Matty is definitely a woman,” she said. “And Matt is definitely a man. Yet can they somehow be one and the same person?”
There was an alarmed sounding meow from the floor. She sat up and looked down to see Neko‑chan looking up at her.”
“You’re right, kitty,” she said, picking him up. She laughed. “I’m being silly. Of course that can’t be true!”
Proctor was blowing the nail-dust off of the emery boards before he put them away when the door bell rang.
“Just a moment!” Proctor called out, heading towards the door.
“PROCTOR!” Justy yelled from the bathroom where he was enjoying a relaxing foot soak. “Answer the door!”
“Yes, my captain!” Proctor responded, well on his way already to doing so. As a matter of fact, it was just as he finished saying that that he opened the door.
“Captain!” Proctor then called out. “Someone to see you, sir!”
Proctor heard the sound of annoyed grumbling, but within a few moments Justy joined him at the door.
Justy smiled. “Ah, Peon #18, do come in…”
The next Wednesday, Matt was getting ready for scouts when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Is Matthew there?”
“Sarah!?”
“Ah, hello,” she said. “I was wondering… I don’t want you to think of this as a date or anything, but the girls and I were going to get a bite to eat at that pizza place near the church before our meeting tonight…”
“Perfume’s?”
“That’s the one. And, well, I was sort of wondering if you wanted to join us.”
“I’d love to,” Matt said.
“Okay. See you there then. Good bye.”
“Bye, Sarah.”
Matt smiled broadly and grabbed his red wool jacket. Upon the lapel was a pin that had not been there before. It was heart shaped, and inside of it was a picture of a character from an anime series called Urusei Yatsura, Lum.
Matt looked at the pin a moment before pulling the coat on, and he smiled. He buttoned up the coat, straightened the pin, placed his had upon his head, and walked out of the door.
Author's Notes & Disclaimers
Finished this story a bit over a week ago, but didn’t get around to getting it online right away. But since I leave for vacation in a few days, I figured I better get it online now before I can’t do it for another week.
I also thought I’d take a few moments to re-write these notes before putting this story online, as the first version of them was written at four in the morning and I was bloody tired. Of course, except for Jessi, Mark Abert, and anyone to whom Mark has shown the copy of the story I gave him, no one will know the difference anyway.
First off, something very sad has happened. And thus, I give this story a dedication: To Jimmy Doohan (1920 – 2005), who beamed up to the final frontier yesterday. He shall be missed.
Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Part 25.
Finally, the story line that took almost two years to get told is complete! I don’t know if, over all, it is the best story line ever… Heck, part of me wishes that parts 19 – 21 weren’t so good, as I don’t know if I can ever top them. But I am happy for the chance to give some additional character development to the Porter sisters, which is long overdue.
Proctor got some nice additional development, as well. Except for the fact that he truly enjoys what he does, one could almost feel sorry for him now. Ah, well.
Yes, I am an anal retentive bastard. I double checked when a certain date was in 1998, and it fell on a Sunday. Story-wise, I suppose it would have been better if it had been on Saturday, but I think things worked just as well when on Saturday (just after midnight) Sarah said, “It’s still a day early, but I suppose it is close enough.”
And yes, I did double check (or pester roommates to double check for me) and that weekend was, indeed, a full moon. I wasn’t completely anal about things, though. I didn’t check to confirm if it was somewhat cloudy in Springfield on that night in 1998, or where exactly in the night sky the moon would be (i.e., if it would be over the field behind the church, instead of, for example, over the front of the church). I suppose I can allow myself some degree of artistic license.
As for the pin that Sarah gave to Matt: That is a pin that I actually own, and I do wear it on my red wool scout jacket. It wasn't a gift, however. I bought it for myself. (I think I came across it on eBay.) It is one of two anime related things I have incorporated into my Scout uniform. (The second may appear later in Boy Scouts ½, so I shan't spoil the surprise here.)
And now for the essentials: Jusenkyo curses and the character of Ryoga are from Takahashi Rumiko’s Ranma ½, used without permission. Also, this story is not endorsed by or meant to reflect the values of the Boy Scouts of America.
Well, that’s all for now! Hope to see you again soon, up at the lovely Horace A. Moses Scout Reservation, with part 26! (Perhaps I’ll bring some paper on vacation with me.)
I also thought I’d take a few moments to re-write these notes before putting this story online, as the first version of them was written at four in the morning and I was bloody tired. Of course, except for Jessi, Mark Abert, and anyone to whom Mark has shown the copy of the story I gave him, no one will know the difference anyway.
First off, something very sad has happened. And thus, I give this story a dedication: To Jimmy Doohan (1920 – 2005), who beamed up to the final frontier yesterday. He shall be missed.
Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Part 25.
Finally, the story line that took almost two years to get told is complete! I don’t know if, over all, it is the best story line ever… Heck, part of me wishes that parts 19 – 21 weren’t so good, as I don’t know if I can ever top them. But I am happy for the chance to give some additional character development to the Porter sisters, which is long overdue.
Proctor got some nice additional development, as well. Except for the fact that he truly enjoys what he does, one could almost feel sorry for him now. Ah, well.
Yes, I am an anal retentive bastard. I double checked when a certain date was in 1998, and it fell on a Sunday. Story-wise, I suppose it would have been better if it had been on Saturday, but I think things worked just as well when on Saturday (just after midnight) Sarah said, “It’s still a day early, but I suppose it is close enough.”
And yes, I did double check (or pester roommates to double check for me) and that weekend was, indeed, a full moon. I wasn’t completely anal about things, though. I didn’t check to confirm if it was somewhat cloudy in Springfield on that night in 1998, or where exactly in the night sky the moon would be (i.e., if it would be over the field behind the church, instead of, for example, over the front of the church). I suppose I can allow myself some degree of artistic license.
As for the pin that Sarah gave to Matt: That is a pin that I actually own, and I do wear it on my red wool scout jacket. It wasn't a gift, however. I bought it for myself. (I think I came across it on eBay.) It is one of two anime related things I have incorporated into my Scout uniform. (The second may appear later in Boy Scouts ½, so I shan't spoil the surprise here.)
And now for the essentials: Jusenkyo curses and the character of Ryoga are from Takahashi Rumiko’s Ranma ½, used without permission. Also, this story is not endorsed by or meant to reflect the values of the Boy Scouts of America.
Well, that’s all for now! Hope to see you again soon, up at the lovely Horace A. Moses Scout Reservation, with part 26! (Perhaps I’ll bring some paper on vacation with me.)