Kicking the Can

## Premise

When Tailwind gets stuck in their own mech suit, Nikola arrives to help them out!

## Cast

* Nikola N. Change (Authorticity)
* Tailwind (Tallestnull)

## Plot Summary

This FPS is a slight flashback, taking place a couple days before Fixing News (on Friday, November 13). Nikola sees Tailwind sneak out of school early during last period, and then doesn't hear from them for a couple hours. Nikola has a nice, quiet afternoon before getting worried about what Tailwind is doing and giving them a call. He gets Tailwind's voicemail and leaves a message saying he might drop by to check on them later. Tailwind doesn't return Nikola's call for a while, so Nikola heads over to the junkyard to make sure they're okay.

At the junkyard, Goat (who despite the name is a jackal) is asleep in the gatehouse. The gate is closed, so Nikola wakes Goat up and says they're here to visit Tailwind. Goat opens the gate and lets Nikola in, pointing them towards the section of the junkyard where Tailwind usually hangs out. Goat goes back to looking through a magazine as Nikola walks off to find Tailwind.

Nikola looks around the junkyard and doesn't see Tailwind in their shed or anywhere else, but hears some metallic clanking. They investigate and find a garage with a scooter, some machine parts, and a large robot under a tarp that seems to be the source of the noise. Tailwind is inside the robot under the tarp and initially thinks that Nikola is Goat and yells at him for coming over where Tailwind's told him not to come, but Nikola announces themself, much to Tailwind's relief. Tailwind explains that they're stuck and need some help, and Nikola pulls the tarp off to reveal Tailwind's work-in-progress mech.

Nikola looks over the robot, trying to figure out how Tailwind got stuck and how to get them out. Nikola gets Tailwind to agree that a secondary exit hatch should be their next priority, and Tailwind asks Nikola to try rolling the mech over so they can get out. Nikola checks that they're in a secluded area of the junkyard, then transforms to their mutant form and tries to roll the mech. Nikola slips on some motor oil on the ground, failing to push the mech. Tailwind asks if anything broke, explaining they have a lot of superhero-related projects around, but Nikola says he's the only thing that broke and Tailwind is not worried.

Nikola says they wish they had a tractor right now, and then starts up Tailwind's motorized scooter and tows the mech with it. This manages to flip the mech over, revealing the large mouth that also serves as the door to the inside of the mech. Tailwind tries to open the door but cannot, and they tell Nikola to grab a crowbar. Nikola picks up a crowbar and uses it to try to pry one of the mech's arms off, tearing through the metal and creating a small hole in the mech. Nikola digs their fingers into the hole and casts Primal Savagery, which covers their hands with bubbling acid, and tries to tear the hole open further. They only manage to make the hole a little bigger, and Tailwind sticks their muzzle out to get fresh air. Nikola warns Tailwind to back away and attempts to cast Toll the Dead to weaken the mech, and the mech reverberates with the noise, but Toll the Dead has no other effect because it can only target creatures. Nikola casts Primal Savagery again and melts through the hinges of the mech's mouth to open it. Nikola tears the top off the mech, and a very sweaty and banged up Tailwind is finally freed.

Tailwind sees Nikola in their full mutant form with no cloak for the first time since their initial transformation. Nikola shakes the acid off their hand and offers it to help Tailwind up and out of the mech. Tailwind takes his hand and climbs out of the remains of the mech, grateful for the fresh air. Nikola apologizes for causing so much damage to the mech, which Tailwind brushes off. Tailwind muses about wanting to be able to fly, and Nikola asks if the mech flies. Tailwind says it doesn't fly and is built for protection, which they'll have to improve since Nikola was able to tear through it. This prompts Nikola to notice he's in his mutant form and he quickly changes back, then says Tailwind should first make sure they can always get out of the robot so he doesn't have to try to break them out again.

Tailwind asks what day it is, and Nikola answers that it's November 13. Tailwind bemoans that yesterday was their friend's birthday and they forgot to contact him. They say they haven't seen him since moving to the city 10 years ago, and meant to call him but got swept up in superhero stuff and lost track of time. Nikola agrees that it's hard to remember that there's things outside of Wellspring and says they can't imagine living here as long as Tailwind has. Tailwind brushes this off, saying they've gotten into the flow of life in the city, which Nikola questions as Tailwind is an especially eccentric inventor and might be in more danger than most people living in a dystopia. Tailwind says they've spent most of their life being led by others, like their parents and their childhood friend. Nikola says that's a shame, because Tailwind does incredible things working towards their own ends, and tells them not to underestimate themself and that he likes when they take initiative. Tailwind says the last time they took much initiative, they wound up getting into their current arrangement doing work for the school.

Tailwind and Nikola start talking about Tailwind's mech, which Tailwind says they've been working on since the fight against Factoid in First Day on the Job. Nikola asks how much Tailwind thinks of their machines as *theirs* while building them, since their powers are very different than the powers of the other group members and their inventions are the most tangible result of their powers. Tailwind says they sort of view their inventions like an extension of themself, comparing it to quotes from action movies, but says they're not very good at knowing themself, and their childhood friend Optic was much better with matters of identity. Tailwind says Optic was the first person they talked to about being called Tailwind instead of Michelle, and Nikola encourages them to call Optic and says he should phone home himself. Tailwind commiserates about parents, saying they don't talk to theirs either, and Nikola specifies they're still on good terms with their ma and mother, just not their mom. Tailwind asks about Nikola's parents, and he explains that his gaggle of grandparents raised his mom (Quartz), who married his mother (Dima), and then the two of them married his ma (Penny). Tailwind questions the theme of Nikola's family's names, and Nikola says the only grandparent that follows the trend is his bio grandfather Buck Change. Tailwind finally realizes the money puns in the names and Nikola plays dumb to it to further torment them.

Tailwind tries to move on, starting to talk through what they have to do now, and also says the mech is named Wrecking Maw. Nikola says they met Tailwind's uncle Goat on the way in, and Tailwind seems to have a pretty good relationship with him. Nikola prompts Tailwind to acknowledge their relationships and connections with other people, but Tailwind seems uncomfortable with the idea of expressing genuine affection. Nikola says the group is glad to have them as a friend, and Tailwind says they were avoiding getting too close to people for a while before the mutation incident. Nikola wants to tell Tailwind that the group likes them for who they are, not what they do, but decides that's overstepping, and just says he's glad to be friends with them, which Tailwind reciprocates. Nikola says that Tailwind is good at them getting out of the messes they cause, and Nikola has to worry about them the least of anyone in the group. Tailwind says the group will probably be publicly known soon, and Nikola says that might not be a bad thing, and they might inspire people. Tailwind says that at least things can't get weirder, and Nikola gets playfully mad at them for jinxing them.

Tailwind says they haven't eaten since lunch and are going to go get food, and Nikola tells them to wash up and he'll make them an omelet sandwich. Tailwind half-heartedly protests while Nikola tries to convince them the sandwich will be good and the two walk back towards Tailwind's apartment. The camera zooms out, and then cuts to the night of Stress Testing. Tailwind sits in the junkyard with their mech, thinking, before starting up the mech and heading for Endsville.

## Notes

Nikola spent the afternoon canning jam with one of their grandmothers

The junkyard's formal name is Wellspring City Waste Collection (WCWC)

Tailwind's shack at the junkyard has a "Keep Out" sign that their uncle Goat respects, so Goat has not seen Factoid or any of the other weird things Tailwind keeps in there

* Factoid is being contained in a series of clear plumbing tubes set up like a system of hamster tubes that lets them move around the shack

Tailwind's scooter is called "the Dust Storm"

Nikola says Tailwind's mech looks like his grandpa Dolores

Nikola says that if the group doesn't have at least one policebot mad at them by Animas, they're failing at their job