Note: I don't own Sky High because if I did you'd be watching this instead of reading it. The original idea was courtesy of Warrenfire, as is the character of Lori (who would be played by mega-cutie Vanessa Hudgens). This episode would feature the songs "A Pirate's Life for Me" (from Pirates of the Caribbean, duh), and "The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley (actually the new version by the Ataris). It would also guest star Randy Quaid as Zach's dad Mr. Braun, Jeffrey Tambor as Mayor Lambert, and Richard Moll as Captain Montenegro.
Sky High: The Series
Episode 10
Pirates of the Metropolitan: the Curse of the Lady Kestrel
"Let's roll," bellowed Zach, "Maxville Beach waits for no man!"
"Or woman," corrected Layla.
It was the first day of Spring Break, and Zach's dad had agreed to drive the gang to the beach for a day of surf and sun. The weather was predicted to be sunny and above average temperature wise, so there was a chance the beach might be crowded unless they got there early. So far Will, Layla and Zach were ready to go when Lori, who Will had invited, showed up as well.
"Hi everyone," she said, still somewhat shy even though she had become friends with Layla as well as Will, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"Not at all," said Mr. Braun, "it's been great to have a chance to visit with Steve and Josie after all this time."
"Oh," said Lori, "I didn't know you knew Will's parents."
"Sure," said Mr. Braun, "we used to run into each other all the time when we were…uh, when we were in the same line of work."
"You used to be a realtor?"
"Uh…yeah, that's it," said Mr. Braun. "Actually I still am, it's just I'm in a different part of town…work for a different firm is all."
Everyone in the know knew what Zach's dad meant. He was the super hero known as the Midknight, who had the power to generate solid darkness in any form he wished, usually as a suit of medieval looking armor. He had been reassigned to a different part of Maxville a few years ago and fallen out of contact with the Commander and Jetstream, though Zach and Will had still gone to grade school and now Sky High together.
"We gotta hurry Dad," said Zach, "we still gotta pick up Magenta and Ethan."
"Don't forget Warren," piped in Layla, "it would have been easier to pull teeth than to get him to agree to come with us, and I don't want him to get left behind."
"Oh, I didn't know Warren was coming," said Lori, "I hope he likes what I brought."
The statement surprised Will; Lori had only been around Warren twice, and neither time did he seem really interested in her. Or did he? Warren always seemed to be on his best behavior around Lori, and she did seem to look at him a lot…
"Just a second," said Will, "I nearly forgot something."
"Come ON," whined Zach, "it'll be DARK before we leave the driveway!"
Will ran into his house, desperate for something to give to Lori. There was just the way she said Warren's name that made something snap in him. It wasn't like he was jealous or anything, after all he and Lori were just friends, but still he wanted to give her something.
It was then he saw it.
Lying on the floor, near the entrance to his dad's den, was a small gold locket on a chain. Will had never seen it before, and he knew every piece of jewelry his mom owned. This must be something from his parents' latest adventure as they had just arrived home and were down in the Secret Sanctum when Mr. Braun had arrived, and he had been down there talking with them while the kids had loaded the van.
Will picked up the locket and looked at it. Though it was obviously very old, it was absolutely perfect and shined in the sunlight. Something almost seemed to whisper in Will's mind that he should take this and give it to Lori, without stopping for anything.
Will knew he should ask his parents about the locket, but the compulsion to give it to Lori only increased in strength. Finally he gave into it and went back outside.
"It was great seeing Mac again," said Josie as she finished changing out of her costume and into her everyday clothes, "we should have him and Anna over for dinner sometime."
"Mmm-hmm," said Steve absent mindedly as he was looking for something that seemed very important.
"Alright," said Josie, "what did you lose THIS time?"
"I was just looking for that locket we found in that treasure trove that the Scavengers had in their underwater lair. I was getting a weird vibe off it and wanted to hand it over to Dr. Cigam so he could see if it was magic or cursed or something."
"I'm sure it will turn up," said Josie, "it's not like it got up and walked away by itself."
The trip to the beach went uneventful…mostly. First they stopped to pick up Ethan, who was dressed like it was the dead of winter in a heavy orange sweater and jeans. He claimed he wasn't about to overexpose himself to any uv rays, but Zach joked that Ethan should have been pumping more iron instead of cracking the books. To emphasis he flexed one of his own biceps, which barely registered. Magenta was next, complete in a black and purple swimsuit and even made Will notice for the first time how attractive Magenta could really be if she wanted to.
Finally they came to Warren's apartment building, where he was standing out front with a beat up backpack slung over one arm. He crammed into the car without a word, but when he noticed Lori he shot her one of his seldom seen smiles and semi-whispered "hey" to her. When she returned his greeting he nodded to her then clammed up for the rest of the trip.
Once at the beach everyone piled out and started carrying their stuff down to the sand. Before Will could do or say anything Warren grabbed Lori's carry bag for her and escorted her down to the dressing rooms. Will didn't know what to say or think, but the urge to give Lori the locket became strong once more, and he knew it was almost time to do so.
It took a few minutes for everyone to change. Since Magenta was already in a bathing suit she set up a spot for everyone with beach towels while Mr. Braun unloaded the cooler full of sandwiches and pop.
"Thanks for the help," Mr. Braun said to Magenta, "it's great to see Zach has so many friends now. I'm afraid he's not what you'd call a very outgoing person…the only reason he knew Will was because I worked with Steve and Josie a lot. I want to especially thank you for…well, you know."
"No," said Magenta, "know what?"
"Well, being his girlfriend and all. He doesn't stop talking about you at home. As far as he's concerned your every princess, pop star and super heroine all rolled into one."
Magenta blushed deeply at that, but before she could respond they stopped their conversation as Zach emerged in a pair of neon yellow surfer trunks at least three sizes too big for him, and his naked upper body was so white it looked like he would glow in the dark even without his power. He struck a few bodybuilder poses, showing no muscles whatsoever, but of course Magenta pretended to be impressed.
Will came out next in a pair of blue trunks with red stripes and a white waistband. While a little more developed than Zach, Will's strength made it very hard for him to develop any serious muscles.
Layla emerged in a green two-piece bathing suit and with her hair loose. Will only shook his head at how he had been so stupid not to notice how beautiful Layla was.
When Warren stepped out of the dressing room, every girl within one hundred feet came to a dead stop. He was wearing a pair of black trunks and nothing else. He stretched long and easy like a big cat waking up from a nap, every muscle rippling and flexing. Both Layla and Magenta took several moments before they remembered to blink or even breathe, and Zach and Will both felt VERY self-conscious about their complete lack of a tan or muscle mass. Ethan just wanted to burrow further into his big orange sweater.
It was when Lori stepped out of her dressing room that the universe was balanced as every guy with working eyes saw the pretty girl with her black hair flowing free down to her shoulders, and a black bathing suit filled out very well in all the right places. Will hadn't been this dumbstruck since he had first laid eyes on Gwen all those months ago, and it was compounded with his knowing how nice Lori really was. Will snapped out of it when Lori saw Warren and let out a gasp.
"Are those flames on your wrists?" she asked as she scampered up to him and started looking at his tattoos he usually kept covered up. "They're beautiful."
"Thanks," smiled Warren, catching Will's reaction out of the corner of his eye and deciding to go with the flow. "You look beautiful in your outfit. You should let your hair down more often…if you know what I mean."
Lori giggled as her cheeks blushed, and Will felt like he was going to swallow his head from the lump in his throat. Why was Warren dong this?
"Come on," said Warren, offering his arm to Lori, "let's take a walk down the beach and I'll tell you how I got these," he indicated the tattoos on his wrist as Lori took his arm and her free hand seemed to be magnetically attracted to his bulging bicep as quickly as it latched onto it.
Will could only watch as the two walked off, but was brought out of his trance by Layla calling to him. He turned and rejoined the others as they started getting ready to enjoy their afternoon at the beach.
After a while Warren and Lori rejoined the gang as they opened the cooler and started having lunch. Warren and Lori continued to sit and chat with each other, much to the interest of the rest of the gang and Will's dismay. Finally he couldn't stand it any longer, and decided that it was time to act.
"Lori," said Will, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about what he was doing, "I…I have something I want to give you."
With that he held out the locket and chain and everyone's eyes, not just Lori's, went wide with wonder at what they saw.
"Will," Lori whispered as she reached for the locket with trembling hands, "it's…it's beautiful. I can't take that…it's too expensive."
"Don't worry," said Will, the compulsion to let Lori have it growing into a strange sense of desperation, "you're worth it. Please…take it."
With that Lori accepted the locket, which seemed to pulse in her hands like a heartbeat. A strange compulsion also took hold of her, one that instantly overrode her initial reluctance to accept the gift.
"Could you…could you put it on me?" she asked Will.
With a smile Will took back the locket as Lori held her hair up so he could put the delicate chain around her neck. Once in place it felt like it had been there her entire life, like it was meant to be hers.
"Thank you," she whispered again, and gave Will a gentle kiss on the cheek.
Suddenly, a strange feeling seemed to come over the entire beach. It was like the electrical disturbance before a summer storm, and indeed the wind suddenly began to pick up from the ocean, but it was a cold, bone-chilling wind more fitted for winter than a warm spring day.
"This is weird," said Will as he put a beach towel around Lori to keep her warm from the sudden chill. He thought for a second that he saw the amulet around her neck glowing. "There were no storms predicted for today."
"Who cares," said Warren, "let's get somewhere warm. I don't like the looks of those clouds coming in either.
Everyone saw that black clouds were boiling up out of nowhere just beyond the horizon, building ominously as the wind kept building in strength as the temperature dropped.
With that the gang, along with everyone else there, began packing up and deserting the beach in droves. No one seemed to notice that all the sea birds had suddenly vanished, and that even the crabs had scuttled off to hide in their holes.
Far out to sea, just beyond the horizon where the highest skyscraper in Maxville could not be seen, a whirlpool started forming in the sea. Faster and faster it began to spin, going deeper and deeper into the depths until it made contact with the very bottom.
Up from the depths rose the great black hulk of an old ship that was actually regenerating itself from a rotten and useless mass of timbers to a somewhat better, though still battered shape. Sails that had long since vanished reappeared as tattered but still workable, while large rusted cannons poked from the sides, eager to once again deal destruction. The great figurehead on the prow was of a vicious, evil looking bird of prey with its claws extended forward and its beak wide open to snatch up its prey.
On the deck appeared a large group of humanoid forms, each one was clad in tattered rags and bits of leather belts and boots and armed with rusted swords and old flintlock pistols. Before the main mast stood the tallest of the bunch, a towering figure wearing a wide brimmed hat and a long coat that covered his ragged shirt and pants. Only one foot wore a boot, for the other leg was gone from the knee down and was replaced with a wooden leg that ended in a sharp steel-tipped peg. On one shoulder perched a tangle of bones and black feathers that reassembled into a large, vicious looking raven.
The captain looked about, his eyes adjusting to the sight of having been above water for the first time in nearly two hundred years. He knew the sorry state of his beloved ship and crew, but he was not going to waste time mourning about it when there was a chance to end their miserable state. A sneering grin appeared beneath his matted black beard, revealing the teeth that had been sharpened into points and tipped with gold.
"Well now, ye miserable dogs," he bellowed to his crew, "it appears we've been given a chance to turn things around fer ourselves! Set sail fer Port Maxville, and look lively…at least as much as ye can."
The crewmen did as they were ordered, and the tattered black sails unfurled to catch the biting wind of the storm. Not only did the ship begin to speed through the water, it actually lifted into the air and began sailing through the black storm clouds, riding them like the waves of the sea.
"Soon Jackdaw," the captain whispered to his pet raven, "we'll find the one what summoned us from the depths…and when we do we'll be free to plunder to our black hearts' content once again."
To be continued