The Sky Knight Suite
Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, the Nutcracker, or any other Christmas references in this story. I do own Emma. Please enjoy.
"We're snowed in."
"We're not snowed in!" yelled Piper, as she tried to open the doors, "It just has rusted hinges! Or it has something blocking the door." Stork just looked over at her with a cocked eyebrow.
"We're inside a mansion that appeared in the middle of nowhere on Terra Nord where the weather man said it was going to have a mega-blizzard. So, yea, we're snowed in." the merb said, as he twitched. "Basically, this is in the top of worst Christmases ever."
"I didn't even know you guys had Christmas here," said Emma, as she was trying to light the fireplace with no such luck. "How did you guys get Christmas here on Atmos anyway?"
Aerrow looked at her and answered, "We're basically not sure about that one. Maybe it was just a fluke that we got it here just when Gaians did." He looked pretty calm about being snowed in, but he was still worried about his team copping with the cold.
"At least we're not getting ambushed," said Finn, as he came out of the kitchen with pudding. "Even if Cyclonis decided to let all her minions work on Christmas, there is no way they'll be finding us through this storm." That was a good thing; they didn't want to be ambushed while they were cold and defenseless. Of course, while the gang was complementing how lucky they were, they suddenly heard a scream.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The group quickly got and ran to where they heard the scream. There, they saw their pal Junko, looking white as a sheet and staring at a small figure. The figure was made of wood and was decorated to look like a soldier. It was also stationary, except for the lever in its back to operate the teeth. As the wallop looked scared and everyone else looked confused, Emma just sighed, walked over, and picked up the figure.
Then, she turned to everyone and said, "Guys… It's just a nutcracker." The Storm Hawks looked a bit confused at that statement. "… Ya know, a decorative tool in order to crack nuts?" They still looked confused. "… Maybe it is best to show you how it works. Stork, come over here so I could show how this works."
"How 'bout we just say we know what it is and you just leave my head out of this." The merb compromised, definitely not wanting to have his head cracked. The Gaian puffed out her cheeks before handing the Nutcracker over to Aerrow. The others gathered around the doll and stared at its figure. It was cute, in its own creepy way.
"Hey, it kinda looks like Aerrow." stated Finn, as he pointed to the nutcracker's face. This caused everyone to laugh, while their leader looked ticked. He didn't like being compared to an inanimate object, especially a creepy one.
"Okay, very funny guys." he said, before looking around the room. It seemed to be a storage room for all the decorations for Christmas. It was kind of sad, really; all the dust and cobwebs they were gathering after all the years gone by. It was a depressing sight.
After a few minutes pausing, Aerrow snapped back to reality and commanded, "Alright guys, let's get to bed. The snowstorm will be gone in the morning." All the guys nodded, and started to walk back towards their temporary rooms for the night. But before going to bed, the sky knight turned to the room and sighed again. Once he closed the door and left, the objects started to radiate with the special kind of magic that comes once a year.
'Twas Christmas Eve and all through the mansion, not a creature was stirring…
… Except maybe a wingman.
Finn was stalking the halls, eagerly wanting to see if the noise he was hearing was Santa bringing his gifts. Of course, since he and the others were stuck in a blizzard in the middle of nowhere, how could Santa really know if they were here or not? Anyway, the blonde was about to peek into where the noise was coming from but not before seeing the others awake as well.
"… Are you here to make sure Santa Claus gets here too?" asked Junko, which caused the specialist to groan. Why did he still have to believe in Santa? Most people around his age didn't.
Finn looked at the wallop and answered, "Yea, I just wanted to see if he got me that Super-Deluxe-Action-Packed Racer that I wanted." All the others sweatdropped at that response; it seemed a little bit much for Santa to bring, especially in these time.
Piper rolled her eyes before saying, "While you two spy on some make-believe figure, we'll go check on what's really making that noise." As the Storm Hawks plus Gaian peeked into the room and saw nothing; well, nothing that couldn't be seen from their current view. They decided to see what the scurrying-noise was by sneaking to where it was occurring. It seemed to be pretty normal as they went in just until Stork screamed.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Rat!" he yelled, as the others turned to him. Indeed, there was a rat near his feet, but it didn't seem to be an ordinary rat; the rodent was standing on its hind legs and wearing cute little soldier uniform. This seemed to be very strange certainly.
"I'm not a rat!" corrected rat-solder, "I am a mouse of the meeces army!" And with that said, it caused everyone to hold back their amused laughter. It also didn't help that the rat's voice was squeaky and high-pitched.
Junko, who was being nice all the time, only asked, "Don't you mean "mice"?" The rat soldiers growled in anger at that question.
"Whatever," he yelled before calming down, "Anyway, you guys are trespassing in territory of the Mouse King! If you don't leave now, we'll be force to use… Force!" Okay, everyone knew that was a bad comeback. And even if he meant it, how can a mouse try to hurt them?
"… What do you mean by "territory of the Mouse King"?" asked Aerrow, while raising an eyebrow. It was probably nothing to be worried about, especially with a name like "Mouse King". But one never really knows.
The rat-soldier growled before explaining, "Actually, it is still being capture, but we have a top-secret plan to get it and rule like the emperors we always were!" As he proclaimed an "evil" laugh, the Storm Hawks sweatdropped; Emma, on the other hand, decided to say what was on her mind.
"Let me guess," she said, before continuing, "You're going to get Maria to marry the Mouse King so that he'll get the Nutcracker's kingdom and rule over Toyland." That definitely stopped the small rodent's laughter. He paled, showing a bad sign for things to come.
"Our top secret plans have been leaked!" he yelled, "Get them!" Suddenly, a bunch of rats appeared, causing the group to panic. As they ran, they felt that everything around started to change. For example, everything seemed bigger and the floor was now snow. And it wasn't before long that they were running in a huge forest with human-sized mice behind them.
"Dude! How did everything get so big?!" asked Finn as everyone still continued to run from the rodent soldiers.
"Maybe we gotten small," mourned Stork, who definitely didn't want to be the size of something that gets squished all the time. And with that said, the rat army caught up and started to begin their capture of the people who knew their top-secret plan; the others fought back, but the rodents were winning. It wasn't before long that the squadron was captured and being taken to the Mouse King's castle. Fortunately, the mouse army forgot two prisoners in the fight; Aerrow and Radarr, who were stuck in the snow.
The two got up and stared at the marching army, carrying their captured friends towards a really big castle made out of ice. The leader was angry that the rodents confined his friends, and he was about to rescue them. That was, until someone yelled, "Don't do it!"
The red head and his co-pilot turned to see human-sized toys, which in a way, look beaten and depressed. This was a sad sight because toys were supposed to be playful and happy. In other words, something was seriously wrong here. So, Aerrow asked, "What are you guys?"
"We were once the proud citizens of Toyland," said a teddy bear, "But ever since the Mouse King captured our leader, the Nutcracker, we have been oppressed by his awful rule and his rat soldiers."
"MEECE SOLDIERS!!!!" yelled a far-away voice of one of the grunts. Everyone rolled their eyes at this; it was mice.
"Anyway," a doll started, and then continued, "The Mouse King has captured not only the Nutcracker, but Maria as well. He wants the Snow Crystal that the Nutcracker gave to her so that he can rule over Toyland with an iron fist." Now, for any normal person, they would have just pass this out as some fantasy and not help defenseless toys. But Aerrow knew better; he was going to save the toys and his friends as well.
The sky knight looked at the toys and said, "Okay, since this Mouse King has my friends also, I guess I'll help you guys out with your… Mouse problem." The toys cheered, but it quickly ended. They all knew that they themselves were still weak against the military of rats. So, unless the Mouse King wanted to be nice for a day, they needed a miracle.
"So, what's your plan, sir?" asked the teddy bear. The sky knight started to think; it needed to be a Grade-A, non-setback plan that would get the Mouse King off his rear forever. Luckily, he remembered something that Emma had told him about in Gaian myth. Hopefully, it would work here in real life as well.
"Yea… And it involves a lot of boxes."
"HEY! Let us out! We don't want to be in stinky prison with no room service!" yelled Finn, as he started to bang the bars of the cell. Everyone looked at him with sweatdrops. Wasn't the point of prison is to be good and miserable? At least he had a good strategy though; annoy the guards until they decided to let them out.
Anyway, they weren't alone in the dungeon. There was also a boy, who was dressed in a red soldier's uniform. He said he was the ruler of this land, but the Mouse King imprisoned him and captured a girl named Maria. The evil rat wanted the Snow Crystal, so he could rule over Toyland with an iron fist. And since the capture were that nice, they wanted to help the boy and kicked the evil emperor's butt.
Unfortunately, it was easily said than done. The group was still in jail and it was pretty inescapable without the right tools. So, they needed to rely on Finn's bug mouth to help them get out; and it was pretty easy since the blonde had a tendency to annoy Piper to the fullest extreme. How hard could it be to irritate a couple of mice?
"That's it!" yelled a tired rat guard as he unlocked the door and stomped in. "If you don't stop complaining, I'll-!" He was whacked on the head by Junko, who looked extremely sorry for his actions. The mouse looked pretty happy with a goofy looking smile on his face. Once it was lights-out for him, the gang along with the prince headed down the hallway towards the throne room.
"We have to save Maria," the Nutcracker prince said, "Who knows, what the Mouse King is doing to her."
"I could think of some," Emma responded, thinking about the Tom and Jerry cartoons where there was a lady standing on a chair, shrieking whenever she saw Jerry. Anyway, the group made it to the throne room and spied in. They saw the rat king and Maria, who was just waiting for her rescuer to come. Now, most people would just charge in, but there were rats; who knows how many diseases these vermin have on them.
"Stork, stop being overly paranoid," said Piper, who glared at the merb. Then, she turned to everyone and stated, "Now, I know it would be a little bit simple, but when the Rat King is distracted, we go straight in there and kick his butt." Everyone else stared at her with shocked face, which then turned into pure joy.
"Actually, Piper, that's the best plan you came up with," said Finn, who was pretty excited about rushing in and being the big hero. The specialist sighed; she imagined what the blonde was thinking. Next, she looked back at the Mouse King, hoping that this not-well-thought-out plan work.
"Pleeeeease," whined the Mouse King, "Pleeeeease marry me so I can rule over Toyland." He was on his sixteenth try of getting Maria to marry him. Well, he was determined to get a queen, that's for sure. But maybe it was best just to quit.
Maria just turned her head and yelled, "For the last time, no! I'm not going to marry you!" This made the rodent emperor angry. He wanted the Snow Crystal that she possessed, but instead of killing her like any normal villain would do, he was trying to get her to marry him… Yea, he was that stupid.
Of course, while holding back the urge to killing off his soon-to-be bride, a rat soldier came in and reported, "Sir! We have a ton of boxes that are marked "Cheese for Mouse King". What should we do?" This made the Mouse King happy; what rat wouldn't turn down free cheese.
"Bring it in! It might be a wedding gift!" the emperor ordered, who turned to Maria with a goofy look on his face. The girl just turned away from him with a puffed-up face. And so, the mouse soldiers started to bring in the mysterious cheese that showed up in the middle of nowhere. Except they weren't wondering where it came from, just whether if their leader will share or not. Unfortunately, it wasn't so as Aerrow, Radarr, and a bunch of toys popped out from the crates.
"Hey! You guys ain't cheese! You're not even limburger!" the Mouse King yelled, as he and the other rodents. "No matter, get them!" he ordered, as his minions started to attack the toys. Soon, there was a great, big battle between toys and mice. After a few minutes, it seemed that the toys were going to win; that was until the Mouse King joined in. Then, after several minutes it appeared that all hope was lost for the sky knight and the toys.
"Ha ha! I win and you lose!" the rat monarch said as he and his remaining soldiers approached the likely-defeated group. The said-group just stood their ground and glared at the advancers. Now, it may seem the end for our heroes. But just as things look worse, the Nutcracker appeared and whacked the emperor on the head, causing the rat to change back into… Well, a normal rat, without the clothing. The other Storm Hawks stood behind him with smiles on their faces; it looked like Piper's plan worked.
"Prince! I knew you would come," said Maria as she hugged the boy soldier in her arms. The boy blushed with surprised, and then hugged her back. The toys cheered as they were finally free and the heroic team stared with smiles. It was definitely a happy ending for this land. That was until Emma spoke up.
"Hey, guys, I feel like this is a dream," she said, causing the others to stare with confusion. This place did seem a little surreal.
"What makes you say that?" asked Junko. The teen girl looked at him before pointing over to something in the distance. Everyone else looked to see the strangest sight ever seen. It was Spitz, who was in a pink tutu. The lizard seemed to be doing ballet; well, that was until he noticed everyone staring at him.
"Wake up already!" yelled the skinny Raptor, while shaking his fist, "God! Even in dreamth, you people think of me ath a girl!" Then, there was a bring flash in the room.
Everyone instantly woke up after that scenario and shuttered at the thought of Spitz in a tutu, even if he had the body type to go with it. Once they were filly awake, the group saw that the room had changed. Instead of the scary, dark room that they saw at night, it was an elegant, festive one with the Christmas tree and presents. Especially the presents-part for the guys as they rushed in to opened them.
"Look, Piper!" said Junko, as he unwrapped his stuffed ducky, "Santa really did came!" The tanned girl just rolled her eyes and went with the current stream of things happening. It wasn't before long all the presents were unwrapped, and everyone was taking pleasure in what they got and were sharing their gifts. It seemed to be a peaceful mourning after all their dreaming chaos.
"So," said Aerrow, as he looked over at his friends, "Is this been a very good Christmas?" The others turned to them and nodded. Stork was even glad that he got his Anti-Vorcate charm.
The teen leader smiled before turning to his gift, which was a small wooden toy soldier. Even though it was out-dated, he still felt some semimetal form its crafted form. Maybe there are just some things that never go out of style.
Especially during this time of charity.
Author's Notes:
Okay! This is my late Christmas present to all my readers, reviewers, and everyone else who has supported me on . Hope you like it and sorry if it wasn't good, I sort of rushed through it.
Anyway, I did the Nutcracker because of I grew up listening to the music every year. And there are so many versions of it, one more can hurt it, right?
So, happy holidays and thank you for reading. I'll get started on my next chapter of Own Code, Own Honor soon.
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