Ch 24) Doubt

Nicky looked up at Blackie, her eyes welling with tears. The light on the communicator had gone out. Blackie hung his head.

"So it was all for nothing," he said in a tone none of the others had ever heard before. "I was a fool to think that I could rescue Princess Monica. It was just beyond me."

"Now you just wait a Gaddamn minute," interrupted Whitey. He pushed past the others and stood before Blackie. "Why did you bother gathering us all here for this mission if you we're just going to quit when things got hard? Hell, we've all been through worse, just being here is against all the odds. You can't quit now, I won't let you."

Blackie looked up into Whitey's eyes and saw an honest conviction he had never seen before.

"Now I'm going to tell you something and it ain't easy to do, so you'd better listen up 'casue I'm not likely to repeat it," grumbled Whitey in a gruff voice. "Sure, we've had our differences but that all comes down to one thing, you we're always number one and it ate me up inside. I hated you for it because I couldn't deny it. I would always chase your shadow. If anyone can do it, it's you. You escaped from prison, you gathered us all together, you've got us through so much. I couldn't have done it. Hell, when I was on that moon, huddled up in a cave I was all done in. I had nothing left to give. Then you came and pulled me up and gave me a second shot at it. Well, I'm doing that now. You quit now and it might as well be you killing Monica. Don't forsake her. Don't run, because if you start running now you'll never stop. What's the point of doing anything, believing in anything if you can't hope? You give us all hope, that it's not all over, that there's still something good in this universe. Be the leader we need you to be. Get the job done, because if you can't do it I sure don't have a hope in hell. Now that's all I'm going to say on the matter, you make of it what you will."

The others stood stunned at what Whitey had said. Normally so arrogant and strong, he had let his guard down and shown his true self. Blackie was silent for a few moments, looking out towards the horizon. What was a world without hope? Sure the odds were long, but the will was stronger.

Blackie turned towards his companions. He stroked his hair and made a crooked grin. "Sorry to scare you all like that. Let's go."