Rise of the Joker, fall of the future
Ace woke up from the pool of sleep sharply, breathing sharply. A sudden movement from beside him made his head shoot back to the bed. Cyclonis, he should've guessed. A noise from downstairs caused his hand to grab the sword he kept under the bed. He checked it for the firebolt crystal- still there. He jumped out on to the cold flooring, sneaking his way downstairs. A shadow moved from inside the kitchen, moving to the living room. The corridor next to him led to the same room, he made his way cautiously towards it. Light was flickering from under the door. A fire? He thought randomly. He kicked over the door. No one. Ace raised an eyebrow, sword still in hand.
He peered over the sofa- no one. He was just about to creep back into the kitchen to see if anything was there when someone pounced on him, knocking him over the sofa. He fell face- first on the floor, trying desperately to see who was behind him.
No need. Angel's voice sounded playful when she spoke:
"Why are you sneaking about so late?"
She got off his back, allowing him to sit up. He looked round at her- she was now sitting cross legged on the sofa, her hands holding his sword. He shook his head, sitting next to her.
"Why are you up so late?" she said curiously
Ace shook his head "Never you mind. Why are you up?"
"Cant sleep- your turn!!" she said, playfully poking him in the ribs
"Woke up, heard you. Happy?" he said. Angel looked at him with eyes lined with purple. Ace looked at her "you need sleep. Aren't you tired?"
Angel thought mockingly "um, no. You look tired, and you sound it too. Bed!!"
Ace shook his head "You're not mum!!"
"And you're not dad." She said darkly. She grabbed his collar, pulling him up two flights of stairs, ignoring him struggling. This had been harder 4 years previously. She dragged him back into his bed. He moved to get out. She pinned him down
"Night!!" she said, smiling, and jumping to a safer distance, before tip toeing out the door. She had grabbed a glass of water before dragging him upstairs, and walked off to her own room, and flinging herself onto her bed. She curled herself into a ball before finally falling asleep.
When she awoke the next morning, it was to sunshine pouring through the window. She walked through the doorway leading out to the balcony, and seized the rope she always used to get through to the kitchen quickly. She grabbed last night's glass of water and drained it, before jumping off the balcony with the rope in hand. She smiled as she saw the open window, and swept towards it, only to realise that she was off target. She jumped off the rope just in time. It hit the wall as Angel landed, catlike on the floor. She straightened up, walking through the door, snarling about being off target. Ace and Cyclonis were already seated around the table, along with Ravess, Snipe, Aerrow, Finn, Starling, Amber and Radarr, who was holding Aerrow's neck. Angel grabbed some toast
"Still off target Angel?" asked Amber
Angel tilted her head back "Yeah, as usual. It was fine first time I tried it"
"You're not fat Angel" said Finn, not looking up from the table, apparently reading her mind. Aerrow nodded in agreement
Angel noticed something about how the boys looked "How come you're already dressed?"
"Er, we're going out to find Piper, Junko, Repton, and the rest of Amber's lot, aren't we?"
Angel raised her eyebrow
"Wedding? Remember?" said Amber
"Oh!! Right…" Angel smiled "I knew that…"
Ace smiled, hugging her, before jumping back sharply "Don't do that!!"
Angel had poked him painfully in the ribs with a sai, although why she had them was beyond the others
Aerrow drained the cup of tea "Come on, best go" Starling got up and headed for her vehicle. Aerrow followed, along with Radarr. The two jumped on the skimmer, and sped off. Finn ran off, realising they were going
Angel took Aerrow's vacated seat, and sat down to breakfast.
Finn was trying to find Fern and Piper. He went to Celestial, remembering that Piper had told him that she and Pixie would be studying. He walked through the doors, telling the receptionist that he was looking for Piper. She pointed him in the direction that he knew too well to have missed. The door was open when he walked in, and he saw a person his age bent over a book, clearly too busy to even acknowledge his presence. He sneaked up on her. The person jumped round, seizing his wrists and forcing him on the bed
"Finn, I should have guessed. Wrong person!!"
"Oh, sorry Pixie!!" Finn blushed
Pixie let him go. Finn stood up, brushing his clothes off. Pixie looked different. Instead of the normal school uniform, she was wearing an orange and blue dress, along with platform shoes.
"If you're looking for Piper, she's gone to history class. She'll be back soon" said Pixie, after a glance at the clock. She sat back down; Finn took a seat on the bed, only to shoot up again at the sound of the door. Stork as standing there
"Wow!!" exclaimed Finn. The 20 year old Stork looked different from the younger one he'd known. The new Stork had longer hair, his face was fuller and he wore a brown jacket that matched his trousers, under the jacket was a white shirt, with the top button undone.
"Hey, how you doing?" smiled Stork. Finn's mouth dropped open: this new Stork seemed so different from the one he'd known previously
"Er, fine. You?" said Finn. Stork shrugged
"Same old stuff" he said smiling. He looked over at Pixie "er, have you seen Sunni anywhere?"
Pixie swung her chair around to face him, thinking "Terra Merb? Might be good to check out Bogaton though- she said she might be there, enjoying the woodland"
"Ok, I'll check. Where's Piper?" he asked
"History" said Pixie as she swung back to her book
There was a knock at the door: Piper
"There she is!!" said Stork, moving to let her in. Piper smiled
"Hey, how you doing?" she smiled. Finn smiled, and blushed, wondering how he could have mistaken Pixie for Piper: Piper had flattened her hair down, and wore a cropped, blue shirt with blue trousers, and flat boots. Finn thought she hadn't changed much in appearance, but she seemed more stressed, she put her bag down on the bed and held her head in her hands. Finn and Stork went over to her
"What's up" asked Finn. Piper shook her head
Pixie hugged her "Me and her went in for the sky knight tests. Lot of studying, but we're nearly there anyway- thank Atmos"
"So, you're going in to become sky knights?" asked Stork
Pixie nodded "that's why this school is here, to educate us to become that, or a good part of a perfect squadron"
"Oh, OK" said Finn amazed that Piper wanted to be a sky knight "How far away are the exams?"
"Next week" squeaked Piper. Pixie seemed pretty calm about the whole thing, and rubbed Piper's shoulder
"Don't worry; you're from a good squadron. You'll pass no problem" Piper smiled, and got a book out and automatically started reading
"Stressful, but it's worth it" said Pixie, going back to the desk, and reading.
"Um, it's Cyclonis' and Ace's wedding in a few weeks, and you're invited" said Finn, holding out the invitation
"About time…what took them so long?" asked Pixie, taking it
"Ask the couple, not me!" said Finn
"Um, Cyclonis was too young- remember?" said Pixie
"Oh" said the other three simultaneously
Finn and Stork left them to revise
"Wow, I had no idea that Piper wanted to be a sky knight" said Finn
"Well, a lot can change in 4 years" said Stork
"What are you doing here anyway?" asked Finn
"Looking for Sunni, and Piper, turns out Sunni is already a sky knight"
"Wow!!"
"I have no idea how she did it either. She left school quite some time ago"
"Beats me. I still have no idea where I'm going to find Fern" said Finn
"Amazonia" said Stork
"How'd you know that?" asked an amazed Finn
Stork shook his head "she's an Amazon, didn't you know that?"
"What's an-?" asked Finn
"Er, well, let's put it this way. She's from Terra Amazonia, and warrior women are normally called Amazons, so it's kind of playing on words really"
"She's a warrior?" said a confused Finn. Stork nodded
"Enjoy trying to find her, and she's also trained with Ravess, so watch out…"
"Ok, thanks Stork!! Good to see you again!!" shouted Finn, running off. Stork carried on walking, thinking about where Sunni would be first
Starling had been told to find Repton, and let him, and his brother's know that they were invited to the wedding. She arrived at the house, her knees shaking. She knocked on the door, Leugey answered
"Ah, yes, hello. Um, I wanted you to know that you are invited to a wedding in a few weeks, can I speak to Repton, please?" she said
Leugey stood aside to let her in
"Thank you" she said politely
Repton was fixing his Bone-wing when Starling came in
"Visitor for you boss!!" said Leugey loudly. Starling smiled
"What are you doing here young lady?" he asked her
"You and your brothers are invited to a wedding" she answered
Repton looked confused
"Does Cyclonis' and Ace's ring any bells?" asked Starling
"Oh!! Right…" said a confused Repton
"Just came to give you this…" said Starling, giving Repton the invitation.
Repton took it, reading it "I'm going to need a new suit" he muttered
"We'll sort that out nearer the time, don't worry" said Starling "You can either come with me to the palace, or you can stay here. Your choice"
"I'll come with you" nodded Repton. Hoerk, Spitz and Leugey ran to their room, clearly going to pack their bags. Starling smiled and sat down, waiting for them to follow her back to Cyclonia
When they were finally ready, they set off, only to be confronted by a falling tree, Starling swerved to avoid it, but it carried on falling in her direction. A fan came out of nowhere, tying a rope around the tree. The tree stopped falling. Starling looked up. A young, slim feminine merb wearing a beige kimono and her long black hair tied back stepped out from behind the tree, holding the fan.
"Sunni. What are you doing here?" asked Starling
"Having fun" smiled Sunni. A beeping sound on her skimmer caused her to cease communication with the others for a moment, as she talked to someone else
"Sure, will be right there"- Sunni sounded bored. She tapped it, and jumped on her skimmer
"Got to go" she shuddered, before speeding off
Repton looked at her silhouette in the distance
"Who was that?"
"Sunni, one of the Guardian Angels" said Starling
Repton raised an eyebrow "I've heard of the "Angels", but who's?"
"They're the newbie's, well; they've been doing this for four years now"
Repton was still confused even when he got back to Cyclonia
Finn was looking about on Terra Amazonia for Fern. He didn't even know what she looked like after four years, so he'd bought Dove along with him, as she had an understanding of where Fern would be on Amazonia.
"But I thought that Amazonia was a remote terra" said Finn
Dove shook her head, her longer, black hair shining in the sun "No, it isn't. There is a village here, they're excellent at handling weapons, and an Angel originated on this terra", she added as she stepped over a log with difficulty
"Fern?" said Finn stupidly, having no idea who she was talking about
"No!! Raven the sharpshooter"
Finn looked at her blankly, Fern put her hands on her hips
Dove sighed "she was taken down by cyclonians 14 years ago- she was one of the squadron that are now called the "guardian angels", the new shooter being Fern"
"Oh" said Finn, wondering how Dove knew so much about the original Angels "why does the name "Raven" sound so familiar to me? I know I've heard that name used now…I know it!!" Finn tapped his head with his hands, trying to remember where he'd heard that name
"Does "Ravess" mean anything?" asked a feminine voice. Finn and Dove stopped in their tracks. A slim, long blonde haired woman with sapphire blue eyes stood on a tree branch, holding a bow. Finn noticed the crossbow on her back
"Hello Fern" Dove said cheerily. Fern smiled, tossing her pink streaked blonde hair back, and putting her bow on her back. She jumped off the branch she'd been standing on, landing neatly on the floor next to them. Looking at her closer, Finn noticed the purple eye shadow.
"What was that about Ravess? It sounds right, but what's the connection?" asked Finn
"Raven was Ravess' and Snipe's older sister. She was an Angel, and the sharpshooter. If she was alive now she'd be about 34 years old, and maybe Ravess would have been the Angel's sharpshooter instead of me, Snipe would have been sweeter as well" answered Fern
"Wow, you know a lot about the family!!" exclaimed Finn
"The statue in the village says everything. Raven was the best. I've got a lot to live up to" Fern moaned slightly in the last sentence "Why are you here anyway?" she added
"Er, invitation" said Finn, holding it out. Fern read it
"I'm going to need a dress" said Fern
"Why, don't you have one?" asked Dove
"I do have dresses- thanks to mum- but they're not appropriate for a wedding" said Fern, blushing
Dove sympathised "we're going out a week before the wedding to get clothes, even the bride"
"Why?" questioned Finn
"Because it's better to get the stuff later and have it fit, then get it earlier and have it be too small, or vice-versa" explained Fern
"Oh" said Finn "You can come with us now, or wait until a week before the wedding"
Fern thought "well, I am the sky knight of Amazonia, and I can't leave the people undefended, but I really want to come"
"Can you find a replacement? And how many problems have you had in the past month?" asked Finn
"None, really, but mum wont be happy"
"Your mum and dad were fine when you went away for a year to be evacuated, they were fine when you went to celestial academy for four years to become a sky knight, and they were fine when you were a pert of a real squadron for a few months, so why worry?" said Finn
Fern sighed
"Your mum and dad hardly know you. The only times they ever saw you was when you were born up to the age of 4, and then age 5 to about 10, and now you're a sky knight, and an apprentice, and you're an adult. They've got to adjust to the idea that you're not a kid" said Finn
Fern smiled, running off to the village. Finn and Dove followed her. Fern had run into her house. They heard shouting from inside, Fern came out with a bag round her shoulder, and her parents at her heels, and she put her bag on her skimmer, turning round to face her parents, in a bad mood
"Look you two!! I'm 19 years old, I have a job as an apprentice, and I'm invited to a wedding. I'm going, and I don't care what you two say" she said firmly
Her parents stopped in their tracks
"We're worried. Look what happened to Raven!!" pleaded her mother
Fern rolled her eyes "I won't make the same mistakes. Besides, you hardly know me as a teenager" she said, looking at Finn with a smile on her face. Finn blushed, Dove hugged him. Her father noticed
"And you are?" he said menacingly
"Finn, Domo of terra Vapos, sky knight of terra Lyn and sharpshooter of the Storm Hawks, and this is Dove, sky knight of terra Gale, and princess of Gale as well I believe" he said looking at Dove as he said what she was. Dove smiled
"Well, Fern has always spoken of your achievements Finn" said Fern's father
"Really?" Dove nudged him in the ribs, pointing at her watch "Er, we've got to go, Fern has to come with us, and Ravess said it would be good if Fern was to come now" he lied
Fern grinned. Her mother let go of her arm just a little, Fern pulled away.
"Ravess ordered her?" asked her mother
"Yes. Why? Do you have a problem?" asked Dove
"No, it's just that, Ravess was Raven's sister, and we always thought that Ravess would be the next sharpshooter of the Angels, not our Fern. Where is Ravess anyway?" asked Fern's mother
"Um, in Cyclonia. She did turn out to be a sharpshooter and a leader of one big squadron" said Finn
Fern had slipped to her skimmer by this time, and was attempting to start the engine quietly. A message came through for Finn on his skimmer. Fern had gone by now.
"Nice one Fern" whispered Finn. Dove jumped on the back of Finn's skimmer. Finn rode off
"Clearly they don't want-" began Fern's father, however, when he turned to face her, she wasn't there
"I can't stand her sometimes" he growled, going back into the house
Aerrow had gone to find Junko, Jay and Izzie. He knew where Junko and Jay would be- terra Wallop. He parked up outside Junko's Aunt's house. He heard Junko inside. Radarr pulled on his trousers; Aerrow bent down to pick him up and put him on his shoulder. He knocked on the door, to be confronted by Junko holding a four year old Tynki. Jay was behind him. Tynki waved at the two
"He's grown up fast" said Aerrow
"Want to hold him?" asked Junko
"Err, sure" said Aerrow. It took a moment for Aerrow's arms to change from Radaar's weight to Tynki's weight. Radarr kept his distance from Tynki by pouncing on Junko's shoulders. Aerrow might have been 18, but that didn't help him carry Tynki's weight, so he gave him back to Junko to hold
"He's really filled out hasn't he?" said Aerrow, stretching his back "Uh, I came to give you this" he added, giving Junko the invitation for Cyclonis' and Ace's wedding. Jay looked over his shoulder, and Aerrow gave her an invitation
"When should I arrive?" asked Junko
"Er, now, if you want" said Aerrow, pointing to Junko's skimmer
"Ok, er, I'll be at Cyclonis' palace in a few hours. I've got to finish babysitting Tynki"
"Ok, see you in a few hours then" said Aerrow, turning to his skimmer and taking off
On terra Merb, Stork had arrived looking for Sunni. He parked his vehicle outside his old house, debating whether to go inside. A familiar voice shouted out his name, and a girl merb, his age came running towards him.
"Sunni?" he said, trying to breathe through the hug the girl gave him
"No, that's Luna that's hugging you, I'm Sunni" said another voice. Stork looked behind Luna to see Sunni walking towards him. Luna let go of him, and put her hands on her hips as she faced Sunni
"Where were you all those years? I looked for ages!!" she said
Sunni rolled her eyes "Didn't mum or dad tell you? I was at the academy for four years, and then became terra Merb's sky knight after that. Well, one of them." She said as she looked over at Stork. Her sister clearly wasn't happy "Mum wants to see you" she said suddenly
"No kidding" Sunni said darkly, walking towards her house
Luna turned to Stork "So, how about going out to see Atmos?" she said with a smile on her face
"Are you asking me out?" he asked
"Duh!"
"Er, sorry, I've already got a girlfriend" he said, trying to make it sound as truthful as he could. Luna held her head.
Sunni had barely got through the front door of her house when her mother came out, fussing over her:
"Sunita!! Where have you been? Did the school feed you- you look skinny, what are you wearing Sunita, you need a haircut- hair's too long, and straggly, is that make up?" Sunni stood with her eyes wide for a moment, and then began laughing
"Oh, your head's going to explode, please stop laughing!!" pleaded her mum. Sunni straightened up, wiping her eyes
"Sunita?" questioned Stork. Sunni bit her lip
"Yeah, my old name. The teachers couldn't pronounce it properly, so I shortened it to Sunni, and it's been Sunni ever since. I forgot I was called Sunita"
Sunni's mother came out with a white and gold dress, Sunni stopped her
"What are you doing with that?" she said, taking it off her
"You must wear it!! You must get betrothed as you are that age, and you need protecting anyway!!" Sunni stuffed the dress in her bag "Mum, I'm over that age- I'm 20, not 18. I'm also a sky knight, and I hardly need protecting as a result. And finally, I want to remain single, because all the boys are losers- no sense of fun- no offence Stork"
"None taken" Stork said
"Besides, I'm going to a wedding, and I won't be back for quite some time. Bye!" she said finally, going for her skimmer, and speeding off. Stork followed, wanting to know how she knew about the wedding
Aerrow had gone to terra Blizzaris to find Izzie. This task was easy. Izzie was with Billy Rex and Suzy Lu for some snow tricks, as Aerrow approached, he heard more than just Izzie's snowboard and the Ice grinders
"Oh, come on, Billy, you can do way better than that!!" yelled Izzie's voice
"I would, but I'm not used to snowboarding!!" he screamed. Aerrow ducked in time to see Billy fly across the sky, and land in a heap in front of him
"Er, where's Izzie?" Aerrow asked politely. Radarr pointed her out.
"Hey, how's it going?" she said as she slid down the slope on her snowboard
"Er, great, you're invited to Cyclonis' wedding" he said as he handed out the invitation
"Can I come now?" she asked
Aerrow nodded
Billy Rex stood up, holding his head. Izzie faced him
"And you said us lot from terra Nord were hosers" she said softly. Billy Rex smiled at her
"Well, I was wrong" he said
Izzie got on her skimmer and followed Aerrow and Radarr to Cyclonia
When the Storm Hawks and the Guardian Angels had all arrived (besides Piper and Pixie), it was to see that Dreamy had made her appearance
"How'd you know about the wedding?" asked Sunni
"Easy. I picked the message up from Aerrow's skimmer" she said. Dreamy looked the same, and didn't look much like a siren, besides her pale blue skin, dark hair and facial markings. The only things that had noticeably changed about her appearance were that her eyes were now a dark purple, her braces were removed, her hair was longer, her clothes had changed and she had got taller.
A week passed quickly, and soon, Piper and Pixie came running through the doors, laughing like mad. Stork ran down the stairs along with everyone else
"What's the news?" he said with a smile on his face
"We passed!!" said Piper and Pixie in unison, jumping up and down
"Oh no! More sky knights!!" said Ace sarcastically, leaning against the door, only to be pounced on by his sister "cut that out!!" he said looking round, only to be looking at a door frame "Where?" he looked on the floor "Oh, that's where you went- shoo!!"
Angel was clutching his leg lightly, she looked up "I'm staying right here!!"
Ace tapped her head, before mouthing to Aerrow and Radarr "Help!!", and pointing to his sister
Aerrow and Radarr poked Angel in the ribs, she let go, giggling madly. Aerrow grabbed her wrists, sliding her across the floor, away from Ace
"So, what's your first job as a sky knight?" asked Finn
"No idea" answered Pixie, looking at Piper, who shrugged
"We thought we might look on the radio, see if there's anything to do" said Piper. Stork switched it on, only to be confronted by Domiwick's voice:
"…And I will be going down there to find the most valuable crystal, and possibly see if the legendary lady is true"
Fern folded her arms "what legendary lady? What valuable crystal? Last time I checked the only legendary lady was the Archangel, and she has valuable crystals in her sai. How can he go down somewhere to find her if she's already standing up here?" she asked, confused
Dreamy smiled, running to her room. She came down again, flicking through the pages of a very old book. She paused on one page in particular, and read it. Upon looking up, she seemed paler than normal
"I think I know what legend he's talking about" she squeaked, holding out the book.
Angel took it "No way!!" Aerrow peeked over the pages, reading upside down, which proved difficult. Angel read it out loud
"According to this book, the other legendary lady is called the Joker, although why, is beyond me. She has a powerful crystal in her staff, and looks distinguishable by her clothing. But there's a down side- she can change her appearance at will, but only to one person, and there isn't a picture- wonderful"
"Who's going to stop Domiwick?" asked Aerrow. Pixie and Piper looked at each other, and stuck up their hands
"Of course. We'll let you get this one" smiled Amber "Take Dreamy with you while you're at it, she's a specialist at history" Dreamy looked at her "And crystals. In fact, she's our specialist" added Amber. Dreamy went over to her skimmer and started it
"Here's a history lesson he'll never forget" she said softly, as she flew off
The trio arrived at terra Exerxes in a few minutes, where they found an expedition down near the wastelands. They investigated, and saw the cold tomb where they knew the joker would be. Domiwick was bending over it, examining the writing, and constantly looking at a crystal forced in the top of the stone coffin
"Don't even think about opening that" said Dreamy, who knew a lot more about the past than any of them, stepping forward.
"Why not? I'm only re- awakening the kindest person in Atmos" asked Domiwick; in such a way that it sounded as if he was implying that she was stupid. Dreamy stepped over to the crystal in the top of the coffin.
"That crystal is an extremely powerful guardian crystal. Everyone knows that. If the joker was such a lovely person, why force a guardian crystal in the top of her coffin? Answer that!!" she continued
Domiwick ignored her explanation, and opened the top of the tomb. Inside were the iced remains of a woman, her eyes closed, and her hands clutching a staff. No sooner than Domiwick had touched the ice, her eyes had opened, and her hand shot through the ice, clutching his arm, and forcing herself out of her cold tomb. She looked everything like they had seen in the books. Her eyes were a golden brown, like Pixie's, but looked nothing like Pixie's eyes at the same time, because they were cold and heartless, and Pixie's were warm and sweet. Her hair was a long and sleek brown cape that covered her shoulders, and her figure (in Dreamy's opinion) was to die for. The joker tossed her legs over the side of the coffin and stood up, Piper and Pixie raised their crystal staffs, ready to attack if they needed. The joker stopped at the sight of them
"What is this? Am I offensive in some way?" she asked in a sweet and innocent voice, holding out her hands. Her wrists, Pixie noticed, had burn marks on them, along with scratches
"Never, my lady. They were just leaving" said Domiwick, rushing forward
The joker smiled at him, Piper and Pixie put their weapons back. Maybe they had got this all wrong, and maybe (for once) Domiwick was right. The trio walked off
The joker turned to Domiwick, and said, in a rather distorted voice "And I'm leaving too". She grabbed her staff and walked out on him, walking through the walls. She looked up to the skies "Atmos is mine, and it will pay for what it did to me". She flew off
Amber had just arrived with a bag slung over her shoulder and a blanket cradled in her arms. Pixie, Dreamy and Piper were in the hall, moaning about the books not being correct
"How could the books not have been accurate?" moaned Pixie
Piper shrugged "I don't know. How long ago was that book written? 10 years ago?"
"Actually, more like 400 years ago, when the joker's reign was at its peak" said Dreamy, looking in the covers
"Do you mind keeping it down?" asked Amber. Ravess, Cyclonis, Angel, Dove, Jay, Starling, Fern, Izzie and Sunni had come downstairs by this time.
"So, what's all the shouting about?" asked Ravess "Don't you know there's a baby in this house now?". She took the blanket off Amber, who relaxed her shoulders a little. The girl's all looked up at the sound of "baby", and crowded round
The baby had opened its eyes to reveal beautiful blue ones, and a small pink covering of hair was on its head
"What's her name again?" asked Amber looking at Ravess.
"Raven, after my sister" smiled Ravess. She gave the baby to Starling, who looked up blankly.
"Why do we have a baby in the house again?" asked Dove
"Cyclonis and I are going to sort the wedding. I mean, sort flowers, your dresses…"
Angel looked mortified at the sound of "dresses",- everyone knew she preferred shorts to dresses because she believed dresses didn't allow girls to move as freely as they could in trousers
Ravess continued "and we need you to look after my Raven for me. I'm sure that won't be a problem with all of you"
The two left to let the girls get along with Raven. The next few days passed by quickly, as baby Raven demanded the entire girls' attention, and with the boys out, they had no extra help.
One night the girl's were all downstairs, sleeping with their backs to the sofa, and Raven sleeping in her cradle. Ace came in, unaware of why it was so quiet. He came in with a slim 16 year old blonde/ brown-haired, hazel eyed girl dressed in a short dress which had been flared due to the amount of petticoats under it.
"I don't get it. The girls are normally running riot about now. Where are they?" whispered Ace to his companion
His companion looked in the front room, and beckoned him over. All of the girls were sleeping in the front room
"Oh" muttered Ace. A baby crying upstairs caused the two to turn their attention to Ravess' room.
"I should've guessed" muttered Ace. He cradled the baby and gave it some milk that was lurking nearby in a bottle. The baby fell asleep instantly
Dove came upstairs, sleepy-eyed. Ace's companion ushered her out. When Dove was out, the girl shrugged
"I know Rekojeht; I'll have to baby sit"
Rekojeht smiled
When the girls woke the next morning, they all dragged themselves up to the baby's room, only to be greeted with an empty cradle. All of them ran about panicking, and looking for Raven. A sound from downstairs caused all of them to half run, half stumble down some stairs to the kitchen. Ace was holding Raven when Angel slid and hit the floor
"Morning" said Ace cheerily, trying not to laugh.
Angel stood up, rubbing her head "How'd you?"
"Easy. Looking after you as a baby was hardly what I call a challenge. Looking after you now is a challenge"
Angel's face didn't go red, but her cheeks and her nose went pink. Amber grinned, upon seeing Rekojeht she stopped
"And, who's this?" she asked politely
"Rekojeht" said Ace. Rekojeht smiled and waved slightly
"Um, she doesn't speak much does she?" said Dreamy
"Ah, I forgot to mention that she can't actually speak" said Ace
"How'd you know her name?" asked Fern
"I can lip read, and she normally writes it down, so I can understand her". Rekojeht gave him the thumbs up. Amber looked at her suspiciously as she walked off
"What's up?" asked Dreamy. Amber shook her head
"Guess I've just got a bad feeling about that girl. I don't know- her name sounds…strange? I have no idea what the heck I'm talking about. Must be tired- I normally know what I'm saying" she said, trooping off to bed, holding her head.
The days with Rekojeht seemed almost perfect. Despite not being able to speak, she seemed to know a lot about Atmos' history, and tried to help the girls find the joker. Every moment they spent with her seemed to bring them closer to finding the joker
Ravess and Cyclonis came home, along with the Storm Hawks, Snipe, the Raptors and Lynn and Gareth, two of Snipe's former talon academy students
All of them stopped short at the sight of Rekojeht. Ace explained
"Aw, you have such a big heart" said Cyclonis dropping the shopping and hugging him. "And she's so cute…" she added. Rekojeht blushed, and curtsied, knowing this was the queen of Cyclonia. "No need sweetie" said Cyclonis
Amber smiled.
"Cut that out Amber" said Pixie
"What?" exclaimed Amber
"I know that look. It's that "I'm going to look that person up" look"
Amber walked to the library
"Knew it" smirked Pixie
Amber spent the next few days looking in the library for some record of Rekojeht. Books were piled up on both sides of her. Angel came running in, wearing a dress. She slammed the door behind her, and looked at Amber
"I am not going out there!!" she said dramatically pointing at the door
Amber stood up "Um, you look, er, nice"
"It's the dress I have to wear. You better get out there, they have yours"
"Oh" Amber walked out. Angel looked out the door
"Come on!!" said Amber, grabbing the back of Angel's dress and pulling her out
Amber's dress was purple and white, unlike Angel's one of white and silver. She came down a minute later wearing it. Rekojeht stuck her thumbs up again, grinning, Amber smiled at her, but inside, she really didn't trust her, as she had found no record of her so far
Rekojeht was wearing a different dress today, the one she had previously been wearing had been ripped, and this one was in the same style as her old one, but was pink, slightly longer and had puffy sleeves. She turned round on realising her bow had been undone, and couldn't reach it. Fern did it up. Rekojeht smiled slightly. Amber couldn't help admitting privately to herself that, yes; Rekojeht was pretty in that dress. It suited her, and the pink looked darker against her pale skin.
Rekojeht turned away and walked over to the wall. Her long eyelashes just touched her cheek.
Amber went and changed. Domiwick came bursting in.
"Have any of you seen the Joker?" he said breathlessly
Pixie, Piper and Dreamy started to laugh, and hit the air with their fists
"Yes!! We were right!!" they half-shouted
"No kidding…" snarled Domiwick. Rekojeht smiled to herself. She went into the library and bought out a book on the joker, she flicked through it until she had found a picture; she held it out and tapped it questioningly
"Yes…her" said Domiwick. Rekojeht flicked through it again, and held it out for Dreamy to read. It was a page of where she could be, and how to stop her
"Um, thanks…because she comes from Exerxes she's most likely to want to get the people who imprisoned her, um, apparently, you also need to lock her inside her coffin and replace that crystal to stop her"
"Sounds fun" said Starling. Rekojeht took the book away and read more. It took the others to realise that she was floating off the ground as she read
"Uh, Rekojeht…" began Piper. Rekojeht looked up "You can come down now…" she said. It took Rekojeht a moment to notice she was floating, and she hastily tried to come down. She blushed scarlet as she came into contact with the floor, before running off out the doors
"Should we?" began Aerrow
"No, she needs some time to herself" said Ace
Ace went out to look for her, whilst Domiwick, Piper, Pixie, Stork and Dreamy came out to look for the Joker.
Dreamy turned to Stork "why are you coming again?"
"I have no idea" he said
Dreamy lit her hand up, trying to see through the darkness of terra Exerxes. Piper stayed close to Stork, and Pixie kept her crystal staff in her hands, ready to hit at any threat. Piper shook next to Stork
"Cold?" he asked
"Yeah, and frightened" she said shaking. Stork raised his voice slightly
"Um, I was wondering if maybe we should split up…"he said
"Why's that?" asked Pixie
"Well, the Joker could try and take the Condor, so I'm kind of worried about that, and Piper's cold" he said
"Ok, Stork, Piper, go to the Condor, Domiwick, Pixie and I will stay out here" said Dreamy
The team split up.
Stork gave Piper his jacket, who was beginning to shake.
"Can I hold your hand?" asked Piper
"Huh? Sure" said Stork "You know if you're going to be really scared, I'll probably have to carry you"
"Ok" said Piper, still shaking
"Oh, that's it" said Stork playfully, picking her up. Piper laughed
"Do you really think that the Joker is on this terra? Cos I seriously doubt it. I don't think she's stupid enough" said Piper
"You're not the only one that doubts that. Personally, I just want to go back to bed…"
"Fair enough"
The two sat down in the Condor control room. Piper looked miserable
"What's up?" asked Stork
"Just worried. Amber said she couldn't find anything on this Rekojeht person. And two people showing up at once just creeps me out a little"
"Wait? Are you saying what I think you're saying? Rekojeht's way too young"
"I know" Piper held her head in her hands "Joker's most likely to be going after either the most powerful person or Exerxes"
"Well, we know she isn't here"
"Then where?" said Piper, starting to cry
"It was Domiwick's fault she came out. There was nothing you could have done"
"I could have stopped him. Atmos is going to go because of me"
"No" said Stork firmly. "If Atmos is going to go, then I might as well tell you this when I've got the chance"
Piper looked up. Stork bit his lip, embarrassed. "Ok, its official, I can't say it". Piper smiled. "Forget the words!!" said Stork before kissing Piper warmly on the mouth
"I love you. Always have, always will" he said
"Oh, right. Well, I hope for your sake I catch that bouquet" smiled Piper
Someone cleared their throat from behind them. Pixie was standing there
"So I see…that's why you wanted to come back."
"You won't tell?" said Stork
Pixie walked over "hey, I'm hardly going to, am I?"
Piper and Stork sighed with relief
Domiwick and Dreamy came running on board
"We've just had a message from Finn, there's a fire back at the house" said Dreamy quickly. Stork quickly spun the Condor back to Cyclonia
Everyone was outside in their night clothes. There was smoke coming from the windows, but there was no heat. Ace came running up, looking for Cyclonis. A scream came from an upstairs window, and Ace ran back in. He got to the top floor, to see Cyclonis tied to a chair. She gestured with her head to some crystals surrounding her. Heat sensing crystals, and if they detected him crossing the line, beams from the roof would fall, as Cyclonis pointed out.
He looked up. The beams would take some time to fall, and he could untie her in that time, so confidently, but nervously, he crossed the line, and sprinted up to her
"Who did this?" he said removing the cloth gagging her
Cyclonis said in a frightened voice "her!"
Ace struggled to untie her hands. A beam moved from above them, ready to fall. As Ace moved to untie her feet, the beam fell. Ace and Cyclonis moved together, too afraid to run. Something shoved them out the way. It took them a moment to notice the thing that had moved them
Angel was lying under the beam. Amber had come running up by now
"No" she whispered with tears in her eyes. Amber fell to the floor. Rekojeht was up the stairs. Her eyes acknowledged the scene in front of them. Her eyes looked miserable, but not at Angel's fate. Rekojeht turned away. Amber pounced on her. The two scuffled downstairs, and out the front doors, much to everyone's amazement.
"It's her!! She's the cause of all this!!" said Amber when Fern and Jay had grabbed both her arms. Rekojeht stood up, and brushed some dust off her shoulder
"You're nuts" said Fern
"Please!! You've got to believe me" pleaded Amber
"I believe you" said Piper
"What?!" said Snipe
"The joker goes after the most powerful person in Atmos. And by most powerful, I mean the person who has the biggest army. Cyclonis and Ace had the biggest army- the Cyclonian Talons"
"Yeah, doesn't explain why I would do that though, especially when they were so nice" said a familiarly sweet voice.
Everyone had their mouths open
"You're talking" said Amber to Rekojeht
Rekojeht smiled. "Guess you're smarter than I thought" she said. Her clothes changed, and soon everyone was staring at the most feared person in Atmos- the Joker
"You know, I am so sick of you" said Amber, hitting her round the face with her sword. The Joker fell to the floor, holding her face. Amber grabbed her by the neck, and dragged her back to her tomb. She forced the Joker back into her coffin
"But, I can change!! I can be Rekojeht again!!" pleaded the Joker
Amber raised an eyebrow "Yeah, and did you know what tipped me off?"
The Joker remained silent as Amber held the stone lid of the coffin
""Rekojeht" backwards spells "the Joker"" she said, before slamming the lid shut
Amber looked at the staff that the joker had treasured for so long, before snapping it on her knee. Soon, she felt the ground spinning beneath her; she took a glance at the joker, who was smiling as she held a necklace in her hand before she fell back into an unwakeable sleep. Amber automatically ran out the tomb, just to see the clouds moving at an impossible pace, she felt her clothes getting looser, and soon she was starting to struggle to hold her sword as it got heavier. She looked at her hands, they were shrinking, and her gloves started to fall. Her clothes were changing, back into the old school uniform she wore four years ago. Amber closed her eyes, trying to figure out if she was insane. She suddenly felt the ground stop spinning. She opened her eyes cautiously to be greeted with the sight of Angel's younger face smiling with laughter. Amber stood up
"What happened?"
"You fell asleep in class, dummy"
"Where the heck am I?"
Angel thought mockingly "Um, terra celestial, Celestial academy, history class, at your desk…" she said, still smiling
"It's just that, I had the weirdest dream…you were dead, or on your way to dying, um, and the storm hawks were there, and cyclonians. We were all friends"
Angel raised an eyebrow "Er, the storm hawks have been dead for 10 years, the cyclonians are hardly going to get friendly, unless that witch Cyclonis does something, and I'm really charmed that you said I was dead…"
"But, you're archangel, and you have a brother…"
"Had a brother, he died 10 years ago, along with mum and dad, in that war. My family were skyknights, and not arch-angels. It's a girl's team…"
Amber shook her head, "But, the Joker…?"
"Is a myth" said Angel firmly "I think you need to go back to bed. Monday mornings aren't easy. I know"
Angel grabbed Amber's arm and pulled her away from her desk. Amber was grateful she had a friend like Angel, but Amber still had that horrible feeling, that maybe that dream was not a dream at all, but a glimpse to the future. She looked at herself in the mirror
"You're no oracle. You're a soon-to-be sky knight" she said, smiling