ANCIENT CRYSTAL prt 1
Wave the Swallow was working in her shop smoothening out the rough edges of her new high speed zero gravity board when she heart a "ding" coming from the treasure seeker that she and Pip the Shrew had rigged up. She went over and opened up the document and the computer began to real out loud about an ancient treasure.
"Finally, a new one!" Wave gasped to herself. She printed the document and ran out to the bridge to find Jet.
She burst through the door to Jet's office. "Jet! I think we've detected a new treasure to find!" she said with much excitement. "It's an ancient crystal. I've got the legend of the crystal right here!" she exclaimed waving the paper in the air.
Jet rolled his eyes. "Alright let's hear it Wave."
"Okay it says; underneath the city through a hallow cloud, guarded by the great Gigan god. Choose the right one and in a circle, obtain the secrets of the crystal."
Jet placed his fingers on his chin. "Hmm, Wave, I really don't think we want to be messing with the great Gigan gods again. That never really seems to work out so well." Jet pondered.
"It must be metaphorical in some way Jet." Wave suggested.
"Have you studied up on any of this legend, because it sounds a little too vague to make much sense out of."
"It must be talking about Cloud City. I'll go and start digging a little bit." Wave said as she started to walk away.
"Don't bother, this sounds like more work than it's worth anyway. Besides, Cloud City, it's huge. Your riddle doesn't mention anything about what the "secrets of the crystal" are anyway. No to this one Wave." Jet snarled.
"Well, I'm going to get Storm's input on it anyway!" Wave said with frustration.
"It's still a no Wave. This isn't a democracy!" Jet yelled after her.
Pip soon walked into Jet's quarters. "Sir I don't mean to eavesdrop, but it could be good for all of you to go on another adventure. After all this would be the first one you've been on since you've hired me." Pip reassured.
"It doesn't sound like a sure thing deal Pip."
"Well, it's just that, that money from the Alpha cup won't last forever and so at some point you all won't even be able to afford to pay me. And I was thinking about asking for a raise next month anyways." Pip subtly mentioned.
"Urg! No raises for you yet Pip!" Jet yelled.
"Well certainly not if you don't have any money to pay me with, that's for sure."
"You're not helping here Pip. Go clean something. I'm sure Storm made a mess somewhere." Jet snarled.
"Very well Sir." Pip said as he walked out of the room.
Not but a few moments later, Storm crept in the door. "J…Jet. I'd really like to find this crystal in Cloud City. It might be kinda fun." Storm mentioned.
"Wave put you up to this didn't she? DIDN'T SHE!" Jet yelled.
"And Pip." Storm said. "Ooops."
"Alright everybody in here now!" Jet exclaimed. "We have no business going to Cloud City or looking for this crystal guarded by Gigan gods. It's not worth the time and effort that it will take to get past them." Jet stated.
"Jet, just think of how valuable a treasure would be that's guarded by Gigans would be. And who knows just what other types of useful artifacts might lie within the secrets of the crystal." Wave reasoned.
"Gigan gods aren't that unreasonable. I used to talk to them." Stated Storm.
"Well, that's a decent point guys!" Jet mentioned finally starting to come around to the idea.
"Plus, I hear Cloud City is very nice this time of year. I wanted to get some possible shopping done." Pip interjected.
After several minutes of sitting in silence, Jet finally agreed. "Fine, we can go on this adventure. But Pip, you must pack us your sandwiches and also be prepared to bring the ship around to pick us up wherever we need you."
"Very good Sir." Pip stated.
The rest of the group cheered and started preparing for the hunt.
"Storm! Take us up to Cloud City!" Hollered Jet.
"You got it boss!" Storm said giving Jet a thumbs up. And he ran out of the room and back to the bridge.
"I'll go see if I can unravel any of this legend." Wave stated.
The Babylon Rogues were approaching Cloud City which was literally just a city build on clouds. It's mostly accessible by flight. Jet was looking out his window watching the clouds getting closer and closer as Storm flew the ship in closer. Wave was polishing up her new board and attempting to get an understanding of the mysteriously worded legend. Pip was preparing his shopping bag for the high end shops of Cloud City. If the Babylon Rogues liked his normal sandwiches, they would certainly like them made from the meats and veggies found in the shops of Cloud City.
"Boss! The landing strip is coming up soon!" Storm called over the intercom.
Jet came running onto the bridge to help Storm guide the ship onto the landing pad. "To your left a few feet, a little more, a little more, back towards the right just a little bit, a little more, forward a little bit, back up just a little. Storm, back up! Back up! BACK…"
With a light thud, the ship landed but managed to hit one of the docking posts.
"Oops, sorry boss." Storm said.
Jet just looked at Storm with a slight scowl. "I said back, B-A-C-K." Jet repeated. "Let's go!"
The group all got off of the ship and turned to look at any damage that was done. Luckily there wasn't too much.
"Pip, when you get back from your shopping, inspect the ship and make sure there isn't any damage anywhere else." Jet demanded while scowling at Storm.
"Very good Sir."
Sitting just off of the landing pad was a Pelican. "Nice landing there folks." He Joked.
"Yeah yeah, whadda we owe you?" Jet asked.
"Parking's free friend. I'm here to tell ya things about the great Cloud City. First off, I'm Scooper the Pelican. The most important thing to remember is for the heavier one there who smacked my docking post, not to step on a soft cloud or you'll fall through. The rest a ya should be good. Also we are not liable for anything that falls off a cloud, so you there mr. shrew, you drop anything you buy off a cloud, it's on you bud. Umm, yeah I think that's about it. Enjoy your time in Cloud City."
"Well then, I shall see you back at the ship or wait for your call. Good luck masters." Pip stated as he walked off for the shops.
"So Wave, what's the first stop?" Jet asked.
"The legend says underneath the city." She replied with sight confusion.
"Yeah, you wanna know whats underneath the city? Look over the edge of the nearest cloud that's what!" Jet exclaimed.
"No no Jet, there must be clouds that go underneath the buildings somewhere. I think we need to head downtown." Wave suggested. "But first, I grabbed our boards, we may need them later." Wave said as she gave everyone their boards and they all placed them on their backs and headed for downtown.
Downtown was all hustle and bustle with people walking and hover cars hovering and people on hover boards.
"There must be a way to get underneath these buildings." Wave stated.
"Maybe a sewer cover will lead to the under city." Storm interjected.
"Urg, Storm, the rain is already on the other side of the clouds. They don't need sewer drains." Jet declared harshly.
"Hold up Jet, he might be slightly on to something."
Storm looked down at the ground and lifted his feet as if he were making sure he wasn't standing on something.
"No Storm, not physically standing on something. I mean you might have the right idea. It's the only thing that makes any sense." Wave stated.
Jet through his hands up in frustration. "Arg! What's the next part of the legend say, maybe it tells how to get underneath the city." Jet suggested.
"Well, it says through a hallow cloud."
"Yeah yeah, and what does that mean Wave?" Jet asked.
"The soft clouds that I can't walk on." Storm interjected.
"No, those lead you down to the ground, you wanna fall to the ground Storm?" Wave asked.
Storm hung his head. "Umm… I guess not."
Wave started looking around at the city to see if she could come up with anything. "Hallow cloud, hallow cloud. What could that mean?" She asked herself.
"Well I certainly don't know. How about when you figure it out, you come and get me! I'm going for a drink and some food!" Jet said as he walked off in the direction of the nearest pub.
Wave kept looking at the legend re-reading it over and over again trying to come up with something.
"Uhh, Wave!" Storm posed.
Wave didn't look up.
Storm started poking Wave's shoulder. "Wave, Wave."
"What is it Storm!" Wave yelled.
"Look at where Jet is going." Storm suggested.
"Yeah I know, he's just ditching us. Oh well, we don't need him anyway." She replied.
"N…no. Look at the name of the place he just walked in to." Storm demanded. "What's it called?"
Wave's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. And together her and Storm ran up to the pub.
"How could I be so stupid?" Wave asked herself outloud. "The Hallow Cloud is the name of a place. The name of a pub." She said as they both walked in to find Jet.
They found Jet sitting at a high top table eating French fries.
"Boss, boss, we figured it out!" Storm stated as he ran toward Jet. He bumped into a waitress who was carrying drinks.
Wave placed her hands over her face. "You big bafoon. Your body moves faster than your legs."
"I'm…I'm so sorry waitress lady." Storm declared. Storm helped the waitress up and met up with Wave at Jet's table.
"So, what have we figured out then?" Jet asked.
Wave, with a scowl in her eyes placed her hand on her chest. "Well WE found out that this place is called the Hallow Cloud."
"Well then, it's a good thing I came in here then." Jet explained.
Wave just rolled her eyes. "The next part of the legend talks about being guarded by the great Gigan god." She added.
Jet looked around. "Hate to break it to ya but there aren't any Gigan gods in here that I can see." He stated jokingly.
"Let's spread out, there must be a clue in here somewhere like a symbol of the Gigan mountains or something. Spread out!" Wave demanded.
The three began searching the place for anything that resembled the Gigans. Storm began looking under tables and chairs interrupting patrons eating and drinking.
Wave began looking for any doors that might lead to back rooms and she was also looking for symbols of the Gigans.
Jet began just looking around for trap doors on the floor.
None of them had any luck.
"What are we missing, Wave?" Jet asked.
"I have no idea!" She replied as she began scanning over the legend again. "we're in the right place though. We just have to be. Look at this symbol at the top of the page. I saw this symbol on the sign outside the pub. I thought maybe this symbol would show up somewhere inside." Wave insisted.
"Well it's still possible isn't it? I didn't check behind the bar or in the kitchen, did either of you?" Jet asked.
Storm just shook his head.
"I sure didn't either!" Wave said.
"I'll check it out boss!" Storm declared with enthusiasm.
"Woa, I'm not sure that's a good idea. You're the biggest one of us all and can you even remember what the symbol looks like?" Jet asked. You stay back here and help Wave figure more of the legend out. I'll go into the kitchen. It takes someone with great stealth to sneak in there." Jet stated as he crept toward the kitchen doors.
Wave began scanning the dining room again when she noticed something sitting in the corner or the room. "Hmmm." She pondered as she walked towards it.
"Uhh, Wave, we need to wait for the boss to get back, don't we?" Storm asked.
"Ugh, Storm! Don't you get it? Guarded by the Gigan god. There's a statues of the great Gigan god Yoplan sitting in the corner of the room!" Wave mentioned as she pointed to the statue. "Storm, go get Jet." Wave demanded.
Storm burst through the kitchen doors, frightening all of the cooks and waiters. Storm glanced around until he saw Jet. He ran and started dragging Jet out of the kitchen. "Come on boss. Wave found it!"
"Storm! Let go!" Jet yelled.
They met up with Wave by the statue.
"Well, what are ya waiting for? Move the statue, Storm." Jet demanded.
"You got it boss." Storm said as he pushed the Gigan god statue across the floor which revealed a trap door.
Wave tried to lift the door but it wouldn't budge. "Alright Storm, left the door." Wave demanded.
Storm gave her a thumbs up and raised the door and all three hopped in. They landed on a lift platform that took them down a long narrow hollow tube into the depths of the city.
When they finally got to the bottom and the lift stopped, they saw a huge round room with 5 different giant Gigan god statues around the edge of the room.
"Well, whats the next part of the legend?" Jet asked.
Wave scanned over her paper again. "It says here, choose the right one."
They looked around the room getting a good look at each of the Gigan statues.
"Hey, this one looks like the one upstairs only much much bigger." Storm interjected.
"I wonder if we have to pronounce its name or something." Jet pegged.
"Okay!" Storm stated. "YOPLAN!" Storm yelled in the direction of the giant statue.
"Storm! Look out!" Wave called as the statue started falling apart and huge pieces of the rock statue started falling around Storm.
Storm kept dodging the debris in order to make his way back to the center of the room. "That was close!" Storm said panting and hunched over.
"Well if that wasn't the right one, I don't know which one it could be." Wave mentioned.
"Do you know the names of any of the others?" Jet asked.
"I know the names of all of them, I just don't know which one is the RIGHT one." Wave stated. Then she got the idea. She turned around to face one statue in particular. "This one!" Wave shouted pointing at the statue.
"What's so special about that one, Wave?" Jet asked.
"In the Gigan legend, Yoplan is known to have a son who rules over the servants once Yoplan is bested by the Gigan's prime enemy." Wave said.
"And what's the son's name?" Jet asked eagerly.
Wave walked up to the statue and pronounced the name. "VERGILANT!" She declared.
The statue began to awaken and it rose up and revealed a large stone door. The three looked at each other with excitement.
"I think we've got it! Storm, open the door!" Jet demanded.
They walked into another large dome room. They could see the crystal shining several feet above them.
"How do we get it down?" Jet asked.
"That won't fit in my knapsack." Storm muttered.
"Wait a minute. Secrets of the crystal. Don't you guys see, we don't take the crystal, the crystal reveals its secrets to us. But we must stand in the circle first." Wave stated.
"Okay, we're in a circle, now what?" Storm asked.
"I think we need to move in a circle!" Jet suggested
"Yes, I think you're right Jet!" Wave agreed.
"Everyone get on your boards, we're gonna go high speed around this crystal." Jet stated.
They got on their boards and used zero gravity to hover up toward the crystal and began circling it. They started going faster and faster until a bright light broke forth from the crystal. The Babylon Rogues felt a strong pull and before they knew it they were traveling through what seemed to be a time warp. Soon, they stopped and they noticed they were lying on the ground in an unfamiliar place.
They stood up and brushed themselves off.
"What…Where are we?" Jet asked.