“Where are we going exactly?” Twilight asked.

Allen had said that he needed to run an errand and asked Twilight if she wanted to come with him. While she was used to spending many hours secluded in her study or the royal library, she was quickly running out of reading material. He had promised to take her back to the library soon so that she could find something else to read, but until then she was stuck with what she had. So, she’d decided to take a break and go for a ride.

She also preferred to be with him at all times ever since she’d learned about the federal agents in Vegas. Allen hadn’t gone into detail about what would happen to her if she was captured, and she’d prefer to never experience those details firsthand.

“We’re going to visit an old friend of mine.” Allen replied. “He’s the one who put the Mach 1 back together after I found it in the scrapyard. He’s been wanting me to bring it into his shop for a tune-up for a while, and since I have nothing else to do today, I figured today would be perfect. We also have some…personal things to discuss.”

“I see.”

They were cruising through the southern part of Vegas where none of the cameras were active. Luckily, their destination was also in this area so they wouldn’t have to risk detection on the more urban roads.

After about fifteen minutes, a mid-sized concrete garage came into view. A neon sign on the front of the building read “Henry and Son’s Auto Repair & Custom”. Allen drove over the cracked parking lot and onto one of two parking bays. All was quiet on the inside except for a small radio playing on the worktable and the snoring of a man in the chair beside it. They got out and, while Allen went to switch the sign to “closed”, Twilight looked around the room with interest.

The whole place was filled with strange machines and thick cables which ran every which way. There were two sets of metal rails on the floor, one of which was occupied by the Mach 1. There was also a small lot outside in the back filled with cars of varying types and sizes.

This looks interesting. she thought to herself.

“Skeeter! SKEEEETEEER!” she heard Allen calling across the shop. She walked over and found him shaking the sleeping man, trying to wake him up.

The man wore a wool hat which was currently folded down over his eyes, a denim vest over a green T-shirt, and jeans. He was also covered head to toe in grease. He slept with his feet propped up on the table and the chair leaned back, a large wrench held tightly to his chest.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked, concerned.

“Nothing. He’s just hungover.” Allen replied casually.

“You say that like it’s completely normal.” she said, shaking her head at the man.

“Sadly, it is completely normal.” he replied with his own head shake. He then noticed empty bottles under the chair his friend was sleeping in, and leaned down to take a closer look. “Whoa…”

“What?”

“He must have gotten some good news recently, because that’s way fewer bottles than I was expecting. Here, help me wake him up.”

“Is that even possible?” she asked uncertainly, staring at the drooling mechanic.

“Of course. Go get some ice out of that fridge over there. I’ll be right back.”

While she went to get the ice, Allen went around the garage in search of a good-sized bucket. He found one sitting on a shelf on the other side of the shop, and took it over to the sink to rinse it out and fill it with the coldest water he could get out of the tap. He then walked back over to the worktable, where Twilight joined him a second later, holding several ice cube trays.

“Is this really necessary?” asked Twilight as Allen cracked the trays off into the bucket.

“Well, the alternative is slapping him until he wakes up, which I don’t want to do. One, it’ll give him a headache; and two, that wrench might end up hitting me in the face.”

“Never mind, then.” she said as he grabbed a wrench off the table to stir the bucket with. After a few seconds of this, he lifted the wrench out of the bucket and tested the water with his fingers, quickly pulling them out again. “Perfect.”

Twilight sighed as she watched Allen approach the sleeping man with the bucket of water. He stepped close to Skeeter, then turned back to her. “You might want to step back.”

She nodded and took three large paces backwards. He turned back to the unfortunate mechanic, took a deep breath, and prepared himself for whatever drunken nonsense was about to fly out of his best friend’s mouth.

“RISE AND SHINE, SKEETER!!” he yelled.

The mechanic suddenly fell backwards out of his chair, flailing his wrench around wildly as the bucket of ice-cold water was dumped on him. He quickly scrambled to his feet, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“YOU AINT NEVER GONNA TAKE ME ALIVE YOU STARCHY SUM’ BITCH!!”

He stood, wrench above his head and teeth bared, ready to combat his attackers; only to find Allen standing a few feet away, bucket behind his back and innocent smile upon his face.

“Good morning, buddy!” Allen said cheerfully.

Skeeter just stood there with a blank look on his face and wrench still poised for attack.

“Hey Al?” he said.

“Sup?”

“Ya’ll suck.” he said with a smile.

“You too, buddy. You too.” Allen replied.

((((((*******))))))

“Bullshit.” Skeeter said, disbelief evident in his voice.

He and Allen had retreated to his office, presumably to discuss what needed done to the car and whatever personal things Allen had been referring to; leaving Twilight to observe the many machines in the garage. As soon as Allen had told him about the Administrator’s offer, he’d started shaking his head.

“I shit you not, sir.” Allen replied seriously.

“Forgive me, but Ah’m having a little trouble wrappin’ mah head around this. It doesn’t seem just a lil’ too sweet a deal to ya?”

“That’s what I thought at first. But the more I talk to Admin, the more I’m convinced that this isn’t some scam. I’m a hundred percent certain they’re letting me go.”

Skeeter dragged a hand down his face and sighed resignedly. “Look man,” he said. “if y’all want to go through with this, I won’t try ‘n stop ya. But let me just say that I think this is a really bad idea.”

“Your concern has been noted, but let me just say you probably couldn’t stop me even if you tried."

Skeeter raised a brow. “That a challenge?”

“Maybe.” Allen replied, smirking.

They stared each other down for a few seconds, then Skeeter bent down and opened a fridge he had hidden under the desk. He returned with two beers which they promptly opened on the desk. Skeeter raised his.

“Well then, here’s to hopin’ everythin’ goes to plan.” he said.

“Amen.” agreed Allen. They both took long swigs before setting their respective bottles back down.

“Actually, speaking of plans-” Allen began.

“Oh, please tell me ya got one.” Skeeter said with a look.

“That was one time! Give me a break! I was still a novice!”

“Calm down, ah’m kiddin’. So what about yer plan then?”

Allen took a deep breath. “Skeeter, I won’t lie to you. There’s feds in Vegas.”

Skeeter stared at Allen blankly for a moment. “What?”

“Calm down Skeeter.” Allen said, seeing the signs of a coming panic attack. Skeeter had an unexplainable fear of the federal government. He believed that the government was secretly rounding up certain citizens for research purposes and that he, for some reason, was next. He’d already been to three different therapists, all of which had recommended that Allen have him institutionalized. Allen had no clue what had brought his friend to this wacky conclusion, but he refused to believe that it was something worth sending him to the madhouse over.

“Why would ah do that!?”

“They’re not after you. They’re after me.” Allen immediately regretted that statement.

Skeeter’s eyes widened. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better!?”

“Skeeter-”

“Ya’ll gotta be crazier than me to go on this job wit’ them fuckers in town!” he said as he stood up.

“Skeeter!” he said loudly. “They won’t catch me if you help me!”

Skeeter stood still for a moment, then slowly sat back down and took another swig. “Whaddya need?”

“I think they’re looking for the Mach 1, so I need an invisible car.” Allen replied simply.

Skeeter laughed loudly for a few seconds, until he realized his friend wasn’t joking. “Wait…ya’ll serious?”

“I don’t mean Harry Potter invisible. I mean Ghost invisible.”

“Ahhhh.” Skeeter said as he finally understood his friend’s meaning and got up. “Unfortunately, ah got just the thing.” Skeeter said, opening the door to the lot out back and walking out.

“Unfortunately?” asked Allen, confused as he followed the mechanic.

“This piece o’ shit’s been an eyesore in my lot, but I keep it in case y’all need it.”

“What piece of shit are you talking about?” Allen asked as they walked past dozens of Skeeter’s masterpieces. His work mostly consisted of vintage cars from Thunderbirds to Corvaires; some in the middle of being worked on and covered up to prevent damage to the internal components, others finished and proudly displaying their near-immaculate finishes to the rest of the lot. In the far corner of the lot sat a doomsday bug-out bus, a father-son project Skeeter had been trying to finish in his spare time.

All in all, Allen thought it was a pretty impressive collection. “Seriously, I can’t see…oh.” He stopped as he finally saw what Skeeter was talking about.

“Yeah. Oh…mah gawd.”

For a moment, both just stared in disgust at the brown Prius hiding behind the bus at the end of the lot.

“Painted accordingly, ain’t it?”

“I appreciate you keeping this for me, but there was no need to poison the rest of your lot with this…abomination.”

“Agreed. Will y’all do me a favor after yer done with it?”

“Free up that parking spot?”

“Please ‘n thank ya.”

Allen grinned. “With pleasure.”

“Good.” Skeeter replied as he began walking back. “Ya know…although ah’m sure ya got this all figgered out, ah’m still hesitant about lettin’ ya do this.”

“Again, your concern is noted, but let me remind you that you can’t stop me.”

“Oh?” he challenged.

“Oh.” Allen answered.

“Ya know, ah could toss ya’ll in one o’ these here trunks ‘til after Goodman’s speech.”

“Just as I could toss you into one of these here trunks and run off with the turdmobile.” Allen replied in a dangerously calm voice.

“Tousche.” Skeeter replied.

“Hey Skeeter?” He looked over at Allen. “I know you’re worried. Don’t be. This won’t be the most dangerous job I’ve ever been on, especially with you loaning me that car. I’ll be finished before you know it, the feds will eventually give up looking for whatever they’re looking for and leave, and we can celebrate my retirement properly.”

Skeeter smiled at his shady friend. “Yer right, Al.”

“Of course I am.” Allen replied, making the mechanic roll his eyes. “By the way, not a word of my ‘employment’ to my cousin, alright?”

“Sure thing. Now c’mon, Black Beauty needs her checkup.”

((((((*******))))))

While Skeeter took a look under the Mach 1’s hood, Allen sat playing a game on his phone and Twilight (having already pestered Skeeter for information on every piece of machinery in the store) read an automotive enthusiast magazine. Skeeter preferred to be the only one who worked on the Mach 1, because he believed anyone trying to help him just got in the way. And truth be told, no one knew the ins and outs of a car better than he did, especially when it came to the Mach 1. So Allen was used to just kicking back while Skeeter went to town on his car.

Twilight closed the magazine and watched Skeeter for a few minutes. Noticing how focused the mechanic was on his work, she spoke quietly to Allen. “He’s concentrating like a surgeon.”

“He is a surgeon.” he replied. “But instead of people, he performs surgery on cars.”

“I’ve never imagined anyone who drinks as much as him could manage that kind of focus.”

“Yeah, Skeeter’s a real piece of work.” he said distantly.

Twilight looked at him, his tone sparking her curiosity. “Are you two close?”

“Brothers in all but blood.” he responded with a smile. “I’ve gotten in and out of almost as much trouble with him as I have with my actual brother.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You’ve never talked about your immediate family before. What are they like?”

Allen sat silent for a moment, debating on whether or not he actually wanted to discuss this with her. Eh…why not?

“My stepdad was a detective, one of the best. He was a real pleasant guy to be around, but you couldn’t look him dead in the eye for too long, or you’d start to feel like you were being X-rayed. My mother was a stay-at-home. She and I used to be homeless, hiding on top of buildings and fighting to find what we needed to survive, until we got busted by my stepdad for shoplifting. I’m still not sure how it happened, but shortly after that we ended up moving in with him. Within a year they were married, and within another I got a little brother.”

“What kind of ‘trouble’ did you two get into?” Twilight asked with a smile.

Allen grinned. “It was him and I versus the world. He was always getting picked on at school by these upper-class kids, so we’d made a tradition out of egging their houses on weekends until they stopped. We got in fights, we shoplifted, dodged the local street gangs…all without our parents finding out. Him and I were inseparable.” He suddenly stopped grinning and looked down at his boots. “Well, almost anyway.”

“What happened to them?” Twilight asked, concerned.

Allen suddenly heard the hood slam shut and looked up to see Skeeter wiping his hands on a towel. He suddenly straightened up. “Hey Skeeter!”

Skeeter looked up from the front of the car. “Huh?”

“How’s your brother?” Skeeter had a twin brother in the army, a fact which went a long way to explaining his alcoholism.

The other man suddenly grinned. “He’s on his way home.”

“No shit! Really!?”

“Really. Should be back by Sunday. Just in time, huh?”

“Oh yeah, just in time to help us get rid of that monstrosity in your backyard.”

“Yeah, we could take it out to the desert ‘n toss Molotov cocktails at it ‘til it explodes!” he said, cackling like a maniac. “Hey Tanya, you comin’?”

“Huh?” Twilight stopped staring at Allen when she heard her fake name called. “Oh, sure! Sounds like fun!”

“Sweeeet. We’ll have the whole gang here.” he said, grin fading as he turned back to the Mach 1. “Well, everything under the hood looks a’right, now let’s see ‘bout the underbelly.” he said as he moved over to the remote controlling the hydraulic lift. He pressed a button and the tracks that the car was sitting on began to slowly raise up. Twilight noticed an odd creaking as it went up.

“Um, is it supposed to make that noise?”

“No.” said Skeeter. “There’s somethin’ wrong with the pressurizer under the floor. I’m still waitin’ on the replacement.”

“Shouldn’t you wait to get under cars until after you fix it?” asked Allen worriedly.

“Probably, but the damage ain’t too bad. It’ll still do its job.” said Skeeter, crouching under the car.

“Hey, you’re the mechanic, not me.” Allen said with a shrug as he turned back to his game.

“Don't worry. Everything’ll be-”

CLINK

Three pairs of eyes shot up and stared at the car.

“-fine?”

CLUNK

Suddenly the entire assembly came rushing down toward the mechanic’s head.

“OH SHIT!!” he screamed. He hit the floor and covered his head with his hands, eyes shut tight and prepared for death.

Death that never came.

Skeeter slowly opened one eye and turned to look up at the car that should have killed him. The whole assembly was surrounded by a faint pink aura. He turned to look at his friends, and saw a very pale-faced Allen staring at his cousin’s hands, which were engulfed in the same pink aura. Skeeter looked back up at the car, then back at her hands.

“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do:” he said. “I’m gonna scoot out from under this car; you, miss, are gonna put her down real gentle; and you, Allen, are gonna start explainin’ what in the name of pale blue uncle Ferdinand is going on right now. Ready? Go.”

((((((*******))))))

Allen and Twilight were in the car heading home about an hour later.

“I think he took it surprisingly well.” said Allen.

“Really?” said Twilight.

“Yeah. Nice catch by the way.”

“Thanks.”

Just then, Allen’s phone rang. He picked it up and frowned at the screen. “One second, please.” He answered and put it to his ear. “Hey Skeeter, what’s up?”

Twilight sat there wondering what was being said until Allen spoke again.

“Skeeter, listen to me. You don’t need institutionalized, alright? I saw it, too. You’re not crazy.” he paused while Skeeter spoke. “Yes, I’m sure.” Another pause. “Trust me, if that’s going to happen to anyone, it’ll at least happen to me first.”

Twilight sighed. “So much for taking it well.” she said to herself.

((((((*******))))))

Allen’s phone rang again as they pulled into his driveway.

“Come on, Skeeter. The shock’s gotta wear off eventually.” he said as he dug his phone out from between the seats. He finally succeeded, and took a look at the caller I.D. “Scratch that, it’s my boss. Here.” He handed Twilight the house key. “Top lock. I’ll be there in a moment.”

“Alright.” Twilight said. She found it a little curious that he wanted to take a call from a band manager in private, but she didn’t press the issue as she left for the house.

Once she was out of sight, he answered the phone. “What do you got?”

“Well, I’ve discovered just how big of a problem the feds are.”

“Oh God.” Allen groaned. He could tell by their tone that this wasn’t good news.

“They’re everywhere in the city. Patrolling. Searching for you. However, according to my sources, there’s a larger concentration around the Palazzo.”

“Dammit, they know exactly where I’m going to be.” Allen said. “That really complicates things.”

“Think you can find a new vantage point before tomorrow?”

“Hell no. I know a few spots that might do, but I don’t have the time to figure out how I’m going to get to them.”

“So, we’re screwed then? Goodman wins?” Admin asked sadly.

“Absolutely not!” Allen replied angrily. “There’s no way I’m letting that snake go free. We just have to improvise.”

The car was silent for a long time while both thought about possible solutions to the problem now facing them. Then the Administrator spoke up.

“I think I have an idea. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I think it’ll work.”

“I’m all ears.” Allen said.

“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do…”

Author's Note

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...Skeeter!
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