Molly's - Chapter 20 [Tankiverse Fanfic]

[Hippin_in_Hawaii 639]

Molly’s - Chapter 20

Fanfic in the Tankiverse

 
“Pick one,” she said.
 
It was my first day back at Molly’s. Olaf and crew had moved on. Their farewell party was the most bittersweet thing I’ve ever experienced. I was settling back into my old life, starting classes with people who I had been a year ahead of, and generally trying to get my feet under me again. A year on the road had changed so much of my routine and my perspective that my head was swimming as I struggled to fit back into “civilian” life. I had taken a couple of weeks off from Molly’s so that I could focus on re-integration, but I couldn’t stay away for long. Tanks were in my blood now.
 
“Any one.”
 
They had kept my locker, as promised. I’d picked up a few special tools while on the road, and had been given parting gifts by several of Olaf’s crew, and welcome home gifts by everyone at Molly’s. My first task was going to be reorganizing my locker to fit all the new tools, but Molly had interrupted me, taking me by the arm and marching me outside.
 
“You’ve completed your apprenticeship. In order to get Guild-certified as a Journeyman, you need to build your own tank. Now pick.”
 
I stood there, looking at the derelicts before me. Large or small, clean or rusty, intact or shattered, there was a field of potential.
 
“Let me know when you’ve made your choice,” she said.
 
“Is Twee around?” I asked quietly, the magnitude of this unexpected choice slowly sinking in.
 
“He’ll be here tomorrow morning.”
 
I skipped school to ride out and meet Twee. Together, we roamed Molly’s yard, looking at hull after hull. Twee never once offered an opinion, but would help me think through each tank I stopped to look at.
 
“This one could be quick,” I’d say, looking at a small body.
 
“Yep,” he’d answer. “Look at how much the side armor is pounded, though. Look at her lines. The frame is twisted. She’ll never steer true.”
 
And so it went. If Twee was in town, I would skip school to spend time with him at my side, wandering the graveyard. I spent nine days, spread out over a month, making my choice. I finally went with a medium hull, the one they call Hunter. Molly used the crane to move it adjacent to the work bays.
 
For the last three years, I’ve worked on that tank with every spare minute. Molly was as generous as she could be, letting me park it in the bays if business was slow, sometimes even letting Maurine, Gran, or Conrad help me out. She cut me as much slack as possible on pricing. I could take my pick of components from incoming salvage, and she’d let me have them for her cost. Even with her generosity, though, there’s no way I or my parents could afford to build a tank. I needed a sponsor.
 
I needed Ted.
 
Suddenly, I understood why Olaf had sent me on that side job. He’d hoped that Ted and I would bond, and that I could parlay our shared experience into a sponsorship. Ted was thrilled when I reached out to him, and actually offered his support before I got the chance to ask. His only requirement was that I help him develop refinements to his momentum bank design, which had (as predicted) cost him his last battle.
 
Molly supplied the hardware and the garage. Ted financed whatever needed to be financed. I supplied most of the blood, sweat, and tears. We all contributed to the design, although Nancy, Molly’s mother, really mentored me on that part. She still never really liked me, but she couldn’t stand the idea of not being involved. And now, just a few weeks short of my 19th birthday, I’ll be taking the Tadpole-I into battle for the first time. Then, win or lose, I’ll officially become a Guild-certified Journeyman. Afterwards, this Fall, I’ll be heading off to the university, where I’ve got a scholarship to study engineering.
 
I’m not going to lie to you; I am scared silly. I’ve spend three years working on this tank, and I love her. The idea of driving out there and letting someone actually shoot at me is appalling. My plan, such as it is, involves hiding, sneaking up, and jumping on them from behind. We’ll see how that goes.
 
I guess I’m a tadpole no longer. Time to set that name aside until a new tadpole comes along; time to choose my own. My name is Calico Grimalkin. You can call me Cal. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some ass to kick.


 

Mahalo (thank you) for reading; I hope you enjoyed! This story is part of a series. Information on the series, and links to the other stories, can be found here.

 

[Flexoo 6,980]

Approved. Excellent as always.

[Person_Random 4,991]

Nice!  You got a signature!  Very cool article by the way.

[Lose 881]

great job m8

[Hippin_in_Hawaii 639]

In case it's not obvious, this chapter marks the end of the Molly's saga. I'd love to have some discussion about not just this chapter, but the series as a whole. 

 

This is the first time I targeted a young audience, hoping to appeal to tweens and teens. How'd I do?

 

Is Tad male, female, or other?

 

What particularly appealed to you?

 

What particularly did I mess up?

[Person_Random 4,991]

In case it's not obvious, this chapter marks the end of the Molly's saga. I'd love to have some discussion about not just this chapter, but the series as a whole. 

 

This is the first time I targeted a young audience, hoping to appeal to tweens and teens. How'd I do?

 

Is Tad male, female, or other?

 

What particularly appealed to you?

 

What particularly did I mess up?

Excellent.  I did like the ending except for the fact that it wasn't extremely obvious.  That's okay, because the phrasing is quite cool.

 

1. I don't know.  I'd say pretty well done and very appealing, at least to me.

2. I'd like to just keep this as me saying Decline to Respond.

3. I also really liked the character development in this series, also since I really like studying characters.

4. I am not sure.  Let me look carefully and I will respond to you later about that one lol.

[Incorp 2,084]

On 1/13/2019 at 3:56 AM, Hippin_in_Hawaii said:

This is the first time I targeted a young audience, hoping to appeal to tweens and teens. How'd I do?

 

You dun great this is like one of Enid Blyton's stories, which seemed a bit far fetched to happen, but is always great to read and wish about.

 

On 1/13/2019 at 3:56 AM, Hippin_in_Hawaii said:

Is Tad male, female, or other?

Pretty sure Tad is female, a sus thing in chapter 7 and Tad's name are a few pointers...

On 1/13/2019 at 3:56 AM, Hippin_in_Hawaii said:

What particularly appealed to you?

Mostly Tad running awY and finally finding Molly's

 

On 1/13/2019 at 3:56 AM, Hippin_in_Hawaii said:

What particularly did I mess up?

U kidding me bro, I can't find a flaw