Special Disclaimer: Max Steel belongs to Sony/Tristar, Netter Design, Foundation Imaging. Mighty Ducks belong to...Disney, and whatever company did the animation, story writing, all that stuff. Escaflowne belongs to a few companies in Japan and America, and Fox Kids. I won none of these shows, wouldn't mind owning them so I could butcher the bad guys psycologically, even more than they are in the show, but nope, I do not own them. Just this story, and the coutless others I've written, which was at least count, fifty plus. That count was taken a few months ago, however, and should not be considered correct. I suppose you'd like me to shut up and let you read this now, huh? Okay, I will, but not because you asked me to. Because I wanted to. So there, pbbbttt!
BY:
Maxy Steel
Timeline: It has no timeline. This was a dream I had, but has nothing to do with the storyline for TSM, and any Mighty Ducks or Escaflowne pieces I might do. It's the result of falling asleep after watching a five hour tape with all of these shows on it, and watching it a few more times after that, and drinking a two-liter of Mountain Dew while you're doing so. You have been amply warned. No flaming about the plot holes, that was my dream mind's fault!
I couldn't believe it, even as the priest said, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Even as he lifted the veil and our lips touched, it still seemed like a dream. He mouthed the words, "I love you," and I pinched myself. I felt pain, and knew it was true.
"I love you to, Berto," I murmured, leaning in for another kiss. The rest of the celebration after was lost to my memory, just bits remained. Tossing the garter and laughing as Josh caught it, throwing the boquet and lauching into hysterics when it landed in Rachel's hands. It seemed weird, being 23 and laughing like a three-year-old. Cutting the cake, dancing. Then suddenly, I was saying good-bye to my two brothers, and heading out to catch a plane. My new husband and I had decided to take a commercial liner rather than Crane.
"This unbelieveable," I commented as we walked through the airport. Berto threw me a sideways grin.
"Is it really? Three hours ago, you were saying 'I do,' and now we're on our way to Hawaii," he chided playfully. I returned the smile, and we picked up the pace.
An hour later, we had boarded, and taken our seats. Berto by the window, me in the middle, and some guy next to me, who looked nervous.
"Hey, all you people who enjoy flying! This flight 13242, so you all lean back and enjoy flight!" one of the pilots, who sounded very much like a Chinese talk show host with extremely bad pronounciation, blared loudly over the intercom. Beneath us, the plane rumbled softly, and started moving forward. The guy next to me started whimpering, and was clutching the flip-up table almost hard enough to crack it. Serenaded by the whistle of the wind, we were in the air.
"Hey, people who enjoy flying! We are now in air! In few minutes, you start turning on those electronic doo-hickeys I sure each you brought!" everyone groaned at the man's voice. Berto nudged me, and pointed out some things about the clouds and the jet wings.
"I'm scared of flying!" the guy next to me wailed, and suddenly, I realized he had hugged me around the waist. I snapped around and tried to push him away.
"I'm scared!" he cried again. I sighed loudly, tried to pry his hands apart.
"Sir, would you mind releasing me?" I asked in a loud voice. Berto leaned over, and tapped the guy's shoulder, an irritated look on his face.
"Hands off my wife," he warned. The guy huddled in his seat.
"I'm scared," he whimpered.
"Me too," I agreed, settling back down. He grabbed my hands.
"You're scared of flying too?" he asked hopefully. I whipped my hands away.
"No, I'm scared of you. I love flying," I replied angrily. Berto tapped my shoulder, and I turned.
"You want to switch?" he asked quietly, nodding slightly to Mr. Scared Of Flying. I nodded, and we awkwardly exchanged postions. My new husband leaned over and continued pointing out various locations. Presently, Berto yelped, and we both turned to see the guy latched onto his mid-section. He buried his head in my husband's shoulder.
"We're too high!" he said in a sniveling voice. I yanked on the guy's hands, and Berto elbowed him again. We got him back into his place, and I rang the stewardess call. In minutes, a pretty female with long dark red hair bustled up.
"Is there a problem?" she asked brightly. Berto pointed at our "friend."
"Could you move him?" I asked. The guy looked up, and latched onto the woman's middle.
"Sir! I must ask you to release me this instant!" she cried. He wouldn't let go, and she left, him still holding her waist. A few minutes later, he went flying by, outside, with a parachute and a sign reading, "I hate flying!"
A few minutes later, the intercom came on again.
"Hey, now we got rid of guy who hate flying, so let cheer!" the loud guy screamed over the intercom. Out of boredom, everyone started cheering. He was back on in less than a minute.
"Hey, all you people who enjoy flying! We got slight problem! Seems plane been hijacked, and we gonna die horrible, painful death few minutes! But don't worry, folks, it all parta show!" the guy blared cheerily.
"You know, dear, I really don't like the sound of that," I muttered. Berto shrugged nonchalantly.
"Could be part of some entertainment," he suggested casually. The other passengers seemed to be divied two ways. Some thought, like Berto, it was just a prank, while others thought it was real, and the announcer just didn't want to scare people. Presently, the answer came.
"Oh, y'know, I'm sorry, all you people who enjoy flying! But, it true, we been hijacked, and if Steel and Martinez don't come up to pilot cabin, then we gonna die!"
"Think he means us?" Berto questioned innocently. I nodded, just as the intercom line opened again, this time with someone different.
"I know you're on this plane, kiddies. Your choice. Stay hidden, and die with the rest of the passengers, or come out and try to save them," Psycho growled, the speakers filling the room with sound. That did it. Both of us were up and heading for the cabin before he finished speaking. An older man stopped me.
"Are you kids nuts?!" he demanded.
"Well, we're the 'kids' he wants," I explained, and we kept going. Sure enough, Psycho, and at least a dozen of his lackeys, and three tied pilots were in the small cabin.
"Berto! Get the controls!" I called, rushing to meet the enemy. Berto grabbed the plane's controls, and for me, a fight ensued, as expected. For a while, I was doing pretty well on my own, but the odds were against us. There was a clank, and the cabin rattled wildly, knocking everyone to the ground. Two guards pinned me to the floor in the struggle.
"Don't you ever quit?" I looked up, hearing Max's voice.
"Yeah, Our sister was supposed to be on her honeymoon," Xam added. The two of them were in the doorway, looking angry.
"Oh, I'm sorry, N-tek twits," Psycho replied with false courtesy. My brothers came forward. Within seconds, I was free, and the three of us were kicking a little guard butt. We managed to toss all of them out the plane. Not surprisingly, each had a parachute.
"Hey, you okay, Kel?" Max asked while the three of us untied the pilots. Berto willingly gave up the controls to the senior pilot, and stepped over to us.
"Interesting way to start a honeymoon," he joked. The loud announcer came up and smacked all four of us on the back, hard.
"Hey, kids who stop scary man, thanks! Really appreciate help!" he shouted at us. Xam and Max shot him brief, murderous looks, then Max turned to me.
"Would you be mad if we threw him out the cargo hold?" he asked with a mischiveous grin.
"You'd get in trouble, so I would mind," I replied smartly. The two guys I called relatives shrugged in unison.
"Well, then you want a ride, either to Hawaii or back home?" Xam offered.
"Nah, I think we'll live through another couple hours of this guy's voice," I replied.
Half an hour later, I began to doubt my words. We had re-entered the passenger's cabin amidst cheers and showers of gratitude, that was okay. But having that announcer come onto the intercom every five minutes...
"Hey, all you people who enjoy flying! Let's have another round of sound for our two N-tek saviors, Kel and Berto!" the space was filled with clapping, again. Both my husband and I blushed deep red.
It seemed like forever, but we finally made it to the Honolulu International Airport. Berto and I wandered away from the gateway, smiling away cheers and calls of gratitude. We looked around, almost boredly, for the baggage claim. I glanced back, looking for a sign, and noticed about ten guys, all wearing bulky brown trenchcoats, and I realized they'd been on the plane. I turned back to scan for another sign, and heard the click of many machine guns cocking. Berto and I froze as bullets began erupting in clouds from the weapons. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the buildings and shops were another story. The men were so close to us, the barrels of the guns were visible on either side of us, but neither Berto or myself were willing to risk moving. After two straight minutes of shooting, the attackers stopped to reload. In those precious seconds, a red blur rushed by us, and a series of gunshots were heard. The ten behind my husband and I fell.
"That was odd," Berto said after a moment. I shrugged as if what had happened was more normal than breathing.
"Not really. Wonder who these guys are," I added, nodding to the ten. Out of habit, we glanced around for more attackers. Berto noticed the moving ceiling tile before I did. I did notice, however, when I was nearly hit by the falling tile, and the black-clad male who followed it. He dusted himself off, and offered us a smile.
"Well, hello! I'm Nicholas D. Wolfwood. Hope there wasn't too much damage..." he trailed off, looking at the destroyed shop fronts, and muttered something. A young man, dressed in a long red trench coat, appeared beside Wolfwood, laughing insanely.
"Glad to see you like destruction," I snapped at him. He sobered instantly.
"Please excuse my associate. Well, we must go," Nick said quickly, and the two of them ran off, taking the ten shooters. People emerged from the battered rubble, and continued as if nothing had happened.
After collecting our luggage, we left the airport in search of a bus to take us to the hotel. We'd barely taken four steps away from the doors when a puck slammed Berto in the head. I whipped around to face the direction it had come from. Three...humaniod-ducks (?!) stood nearby, all wearing armour. The lead one had a gold mask and a smoking weapon of some sort attached to his left arm.
"Just what do you think you're doing, shooting my husband with pucks?!" I shouted at them. The lead one lowered his arm.
"I'm sorry, Ma'm, but that's not your husband," he said calmly. "Give it up, Chameleon," he added, speaking to Berto. The three of them advanced forward.
"I don't know who you're talking about, but I do know you've got the wrong person," I scolded. All three fired at Berto, again. "I thought I told you to stop that!" I yelled icily. The other male duck stepped forward.
"Whoa, girly-girl! I don't know who Ber-to is, but he's not that guy!" he retorted, nodding past me. I looked back, Berto was glowing! I screamed, backed up, and ducked behind the duck with the gold mask. In seconds, he had turned into a lizard-like thing.
"You could have told me before the wedding!" I snapped at him.
"Dive, Mallory, take him!" the duck I stood behind ordered. The nodded, and caught whoever that thing was that had been Berto. In the blink of an eye, they were gone. The last duck turned to me.
"I apologize for scaring you like that," he said simply. I blinked, and he was...just gone. I stared blankly at the spot where they'd been.
"Oh, great. My husband turns out to be a giant lizard, and I'm stuck in Hawaii for my honeymoon! That's it, I'm gone!" I said to no one, then stalked towards the jet hangars.
"Josh, you there big bro?" I said into the bio-link as I walked.
"I'm here, Kel. What's up? I'd think you and Berto would be out seeing the sights by now," Josh replied. I snorted in disgust.
"What Berto? Whatever he was, he just got taken by a bunch of ducks! Anyway, you think you could give me a ride home?" I snapped.
"Whoa, back up! Berto was kidnapped by a bunch of ducks?" Josh questioned, doubt lacing his voice. Even though he couldn't see me, I nodded.
"Right after he turned into this lizard thing the ducks were calling 'Chameleon,'" I explained. Josh agreed to come get me, and I wandered over to the plane we'd been on to wait.
As I passed the plane, I heard muffled shouting, coming from the cargo bay. Confused, I moved closer. There was definitely someone trapped inside! I rushed around to the front, and found the three pilots hanging around.
"Um, excuse me. But I think someone's in the cargo bay. I just heard shouting," I explained hastily. Mr. Loud Annoying nodded, and went to to go check. He was back in a second.
"Hey, girl who save plane! Since you're anti-terrorist, you not mind coming with?" he shouted. With a sigh, I agreed, and followed him. As we got closer, the muffled shouting became clearer. We rounded a corner of stacked luggage and...
"Berto?!" I gasped, and rushed over. In seconds, we had the gag and ropes off, and out of ecstacy that he was okay, I kissed him.
"Hey, guy who save plane! What you doing here?!" Mr. Loud demanded cheerfully. Berto got up, rubbing the rope burns on his wrists.
"I went to the bathroom, and this thing, it looked like a lizard, jumped me. The next thing I knew, I was down here," he explained. The loud pilot rushed up and hugged Berto, knocking me to the side.
"Hey, guy who save plane! You okay?!" he yelled. Over the guy's shoulder, Berto shot me a desperate look.
"Uh...you mind letting go of my guy?" I asked tightly, separating them.
"Hey, I'm sorry! You no be mad, right?" he said defensively. Berto and I assured him we weren't mad as we left the plane in a hurry. I called Josh back to tell him I'd found the real Berto, and we were gonna finish up our honeymoon. We flagged down a bus, and gave the driver our hotel's address.
"Funny, we're the only ones on the bus," Berto observed, looking around. I shrugged in response. Of all the weird things that had happened so far, this was the least strange.
"Well, things can't get any worse. We've reached the end of the oddball rope," I sighed. Within short period of time, I learned the hard way that there's always another ten feet of strange rope when you think you've hit bottom.
The ride was long, and, with no air conditioning, it was hot. We had the windows open, partially for ventailation, and in part to drown out the radio. The fuel tank blew suddenly. I watched the driver go flying from the bus just before it screeched to a stop, and knocked us into the middle of the bus.
"There's something to be said for seat belts," Berto mumbled as we got up. The entire bus was in flames, and we were in the middle.
"I guess I was wrong," I quipped, looking for an escape. Flames stretched from floor to ceiling on all sides, and it was only a matter of time before we succumbed to either the flames or the smoke. It looked like the end. Then, the roof of the bus was ripped away, and we were looking up at a giant, robot...I think. It's huge hand reached in and plucked both of us out. It turned and walked away, still holding us. Another machine, similar to the first, rushed out before us. The only difference I could see was the color. Ours was white, this one was dark red. It charged at our machine. Loud, manical laughter filled the air.
"You'd think it could have put us down first!" Berto shouted as we were flung all over the place, still enclosed in the creature's iron grip. Unexpectedly, a series of spears shot from the red machine, and plunged into our machine's...I guess you could call it the stomach. There was a scream of agony from inside, and the thing toppled over, sending us flying as it lost it's grip.
"You know, maybe we should go check on that thing...it did save us, after all," Berto suggested. We got up, and staggered over to the machine. Scarmbling onto the thing's chest, we made our way to the little grate on it's head, and peered in. A young man was inside, barely concious.
"Hey, you in there! Need a hand?" I called into the grate. Berto shot me a strange look, and we pried the grate open. The guy looked confused as we hauled him through the opening. We dragged him away from the machine, and then went into a conveinently placed shelter made by the fallen scrap metal pile landing on a car or two. Inside, we laid our new friend on the ground, and waited for something to happen.
"So, what's your name?" I asked. The guy gasped and blinked.
"I am Van Fanel, ruler of Fanelia," he choked after a moment. To pass the time, and keep him awake, we continued to ask him random questions. About his family, what the machine was, and didn't get much in response.
"So, were you here with anyone else?" Berto asked finally. Van thought for a moment.
"Allen...Hitomi..." he murmured. Berto raised an eyebrow.
"Who?" he asked. Van sat up suddenly, like he was perfectly fine, grabbed my husband by the shirt front, and yanked him forward.
"HI-TO-MI!!" he screamed in Berto's face, then let go and laid back down. Shaken, Berto backed up a little, and I glanced around at everything.
"Wasn't how you expected to spend your honeymoon, huh, dear?" I asked cheerfully.
"Not really. What about you?" he replied softly. I scooted closer to him.
"Actually, I was expecting something worse," I confessed. Hey, giant lizards, human-ducks, and a plane hijacking in the first four hours of our honeymoon wasn't too bad. Van, still laying down, opened his eyes again.
"You...must find...ugh...Hitomi..." he choked, then fell unconcious. I looked at Berto and shrugged. He returned my gaze.
"I'll go look for her...you don't mind staying with him, do you?" I asked quietly.
"Just get back soon," Berto replied. I nodded, and dipped through the gap, and was out on the street again.
"Allen! Van! Allen!" a female voice shouted frantically. I looked around, and saw a girl rushing around. I don't know how I knew, but I knew she was Hitomi. I ran up to her.
"Hi, you must be Hitomi. I don't know who Allen is, but Van's with my husband," I said quickly, grabbed her hand, and dragged her towards the massive machine. She pulled up short when she spotted it.
"Escaflowne!" she gasped. I shot her a blank look, and pushed her through the opening we had found. Berto looked up, hearing us.
"That didn't take long," he observed. Hitomi looked horrifed.
"VAN!" she screamed, throwing herself beside him and trembling. Berto backed off, and the two of us watched in silence as she sobbed and shook Van's shoulder.
"Must be her boyfriend," I muttered to Berto. He nodded slightly, saying nothing. Presently, Hitomi looked up at us pleadingly.
"Please...you must find Allen," she said beseechingly. I frowned at her.
"What do we look like? A lost person's booth?" I snapped. Berto put a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry, but I have to know if Allen's all right," she sighed. I rolled my eyes at her.
"Okay. But, who's Allen?' I asked. Hitomi walked to the entrance, and pointed. We looked out. Another machine had arrived, and was fighting the red one.
"That's Allen," Hitomi explained. I grinned, and waved at the machine.
"Hi Allen!" I called, then pitched forward as a hand caught me across the back of the head. Rubbing the sore place, I glared at Hitomi.
"That's Schezarade, you idiot. Allen's inside," she snapped, then turned and walked back over to Van. Berto and I, for reasons I'll never know, wandered out to try and get Allen's attention. We ran up to the giant's foot, and waved our arms, shouting loudly. Schezarade turned to look at us, and was struck in the same spot as...Escaflowne, I think it was called. Like it's predessor, this machine pitched backward. Berto and I scrambled up and hurried to the grate. Allen, I assume the guy was him, looked no better than Van. We ripped open the grate and hauled him out. Berto put one of Allen's arms over his shoulders, and we somehow made it off the machine. We'd put barely ten feet between us and Schezarade, when it burst into flame. Over the crackle of fire, we could hear a voice.
"HAHAHA!! MUERO! MUERO!" it seemed to be coming from the red machine, which now stood over the flaming wreck that had been Allen's machine. Like scared mice, we skittered over to Escaflowne. Berto remained outside while I slipped in to check on Hitomi and Van. They were engaged in a deep kiss, though Van was still unconcious. Hitomi seemed to hear me, and her head snapped up, bright red.
"I-I was giving him CPR," she stuttered. I grinned sarcastically.
"Sure you were. Well, anyway, we found Allen," I added, as Berto dragged Allen, who by this time was out, and put him near Van. For a few minutes, we caught our breath and watched Hitomi go crazy trying to wake both of them at once. Suddenly, our shelter was lifted and tossed aside, by the red machine. Hitomi seemed to be paralyzed with fear.
"A-akai," she whispered. It laughed manically.
"Now, Van and All-en, you shall DIE!" it screamed. I took charge instantly.
"I'll distract it! Berto, you wanna help Hitomi with them, or come with me?" I said quickly.
"Help with them," Berto replied just as fast. I snorted and ran off, going turbo as I did. In a big jump, I caught the top of the armour on the thing's knee cap.
"I'll remember this when we've got kids, Berto!" I shouted at him as I scrambled up. He didn't hear me. It took a while, but I managed to get to the thing's helmet. I stepped over to the grating, and looked in. A young man with shocking gray hair stared back.
"Hi! What's your name?" I asked brightly. Whoever he was, his responded with a raspberry.
"Oh, your name's pbbbttt!? Well, I'm Maxy Steel," I replied. Reaching through the bars, I grabbed his nose, gave it a quick yank and twist, then jumped back to the top of the head as "pbbbttt!" jammed his hands over his face. The machine's arms swung up and smashed into it's face. After a moment, one of the arms went back down, while the other remained at the face. I slid back down, and looked through the bars.
"Sorry about that," I shrugged, and punched him the forehead. I barely missed being hit by the other hand as it shot up to the face again. Akai started trying to knock me off, swinging wildly at his head. I dodged and pulled off some fancy moves, until a hand caught me. I was tossed off the head, and landed in a dumpster.
"Ugh..." I groaned, wiping away some of the garbage. Berto came running up.
"Hitomi told me to tell you that the only way to stop Akai is for someone to distract it while another shatters the casing, takes the drag-energist, and destroys it," he said between breaths. I nodded and hopped out of the garbage.
"You're coming with me. You be the diversion," I said with a smile, grabbing a large piece of pipe. We ran up to the thing, and started climbing up it's leg. Berto went past me as I searched for the case. He reached the top in record time.
"Hey, Maxy! How do I distract it?!" he yelled down at me.
"Reach through the grate and pinch the guy's nose!" I yelled back, inching along the armoured chest. The arms crashed against the face again.
"What now?!" my husband shouted next. I moved another few feet, then replied.
"Punch 'im in the forehead!" I yelled, and there was another howl of pain. At last, I found what I was looking for: a pinkish glowing on the thing's right side. In a quick movement, I cracked open the case with the pipe, reached in, and pulled out a glowing orb. Suddenly, I was glowing in a pinkish hue as well. Surprised, I flung the energist away and jumped off the machine, and Akai thudded to the ground. Berto slid off the head, and we raced over to Hitomi. Allen and Van were still out. Hitomi looked at me, and gasped. Berto did too after a moment.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"W-when did you start glowing?" Hitomi gasped.
"After I picked up the energist thing. Why? What's wrong?" I replied. Hitomi looked like she was about to faint.
"The half-dragon..." she murmured. I started to ask what she was talking about, when "pbbttt!" from Akai found us. He charged into the alley, sword out. Hitomi gasped and jumped back.
"Dilandau!" she cried in panic. Dilandau smiled insanely and advanced slowly, savouring the moment. I stepped between Hitomi and Dilandau. He stopped instantly.
"You-you're glowing! When did you start glowing? You weren't glowing before!" he demanded, shakily keeping his sword pointed at me.
"When I picked up the energist in your machine thingy," I replied with a shrug. He screamed, threw down his sword, and ran away, screaming about a half-dragon. I turned to Hitomi for an explanation.
"Half-dragons are very rare, but the way to tell if you're one is if you hold a drag-energist. If you glow, you're probably one," she explained. It din't make any sense, but then, the rest of this trip hadn't, so I didn't bother to ask.
Okay, this was rather...odd. It has no ties whatsoever into the Team Steel Maximum series, even as a "[blank] years in the future" type. It merely uses some of the characters. Well, gotta go work on more canon and TSM stories! Luv ya all!
-Maxy Steel