"I feel REALLY stupid."

"Is that so?" Fauc smirked. "And why is that?"

"Because we're...sitting on a skimmer that's made of wax." She kicked the "craft". Her foot made a dent. He snickered, then placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, letting loose a small bark.

"HEY! Be quiet," Aerrow hissed. Spark stuck her tongue out. Fauc let go of her, and she raced towards her father, trying to hide the deep blush that had spread across her face. Fauc stroked his own cheek one more time, thinking of the peck, and then he ran after her.

"Any working skimmers?" Aerrow asked Piper.

She shook her head. "This is obviously some kind of wax museum...Hey, look, they've even got our skimmers! Only unofficial squadron in here! These are definitely going in the trash after our little fiasco..."

"Hey, Piper." Aerrow was standing next to another familiar looking ride, purple paint chipping sadly.

"Oh. Hers." Piper looked it over. "They missed a gauge..."

Spark and Fauc lingered towards the back as the old squad moved in, hands stroking the display.

"You know...she called it Red Streak?" Piper leaned in, trying to picture their lost friend in the seat.

"Really?" Aerrow hiccuped.

Spark hated to interrupt the moment...but...

"Dad?" She gripped his hand. "We gotta go, dad."

He cleared his throat and turned. The team departed silently.

"What's...in there?" Junko was pointing at a pair of imposing doors that greeted them, as soon as they left the "hanger bay".

Stork shrugged. "Probably another room. Filled with mindworms and Gloopy Drops."

"What are Gloopy...? Never mind." Aerrow checked the plate next to it. "It says EXIT. Well, that's the way to go." He started to push the doors open.

"I wouldn't go in there, if I were you..." Stork cautioned. Finn clapped the Merb on the back.

"Stork, pal, we'll be fine. After all, you've got the Finn man and his boy Fauc. What could possibly go wrong?"

Stork rolled his eyes. "A lot of things." He held up his green fingers and started ticking off possible events. "Bog Fever, Verogs, Skoak stampede, Azarian Laughing Fever, mindworms, someone gets lost, someone dies, someone falls into a bottomless pit of DOOM..."

"Stork?" Fauc said, with a groan.

"...someone crashes into a wall and breaks their-Yes?"

"Shut up."

Stork looked hurt; interrupting his rants of pessimism was one of the worst things one could do to a Merb. Spark gave Stork a reassuring pat.

"Don't worry. Fauc's just a jerk like that. You keep on checking off possible disasters like there's no tomorrow," she said with a grin.

"There WON'T be a tomorrow if we go in there!" Stork barked. Aerrow shrugged and opened the door. The room was dark, and Spark walked forward, Button clinging to her leg like a second boot.

"Piper? Light, please."

Piper shrugged. "I don't have my staff, you doofus."

"Apologies." Aerrow fumbled around, looking for a light switch. His fingers finally found one, and he flipped upwards. A single, feeble light bulb flickered on.

"This is an 'I told you so' moment," Stork mumbled.

"THAT...is not an exit," Fauc hissed with a shudder. "Unless by exit you mean exiting this world entirely."

"Well...At least we know where not to go, next time."

"Aerrow? Chances are...there won't BE a next time."

In front of them stood the largest, and probably the hungriest, group of Sky Sharks the Storm Hawks had ever seen.

"RUN FOR IT!!"

They barged out the door, sharks following in suit, fangs snapping at their heels.

"What is the Sky Council doing with Sky SHARKS?!" Stork howled, dodging a particularly fierce female.

"They...ow...probably...yeep!...confiscated them...Gerrof me!...from a...Hey!...trader!" Piper was frantically trying to get the Sky Sharks into another room.

"Piper! No time! Run! There's the door!"

"Remember what happened LAST time we tried a random door?"

"Yeah, but you can SEE the outside this time, Stork."

"It could be a hologram!" Stork bellowed.

"SHUT UP!" Fauc shouted back. And they charged out the door, sunlight streaming onto their shoulders. There was the sound of breaking glass as the Sky Sharks lunged after them, then, realizing they were free, dispersed. The gang stopped for a moment, Button's eyeballs rolling in her sockets.

"Next...time...listen...to...me..." Stork panted.

"THERE THEY ARE!" Guards charged from the broken doors and into the street, weapons drawn.

"Here we go again..."

And they raced down the road, to the still waiting Condor, legs moving fast as thought.

"Stork! Door!"

"I don't have the keys!"

"Junko?"

"YIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Junko jumped forward, fists clenched, and dived hands first onto the ramp. He banged into it with a sickening thud, then slid down, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor. There was a quiet chirping sound, before the ramp slid open of its own accord. Everyone turned to Stork, who held up the keys.

"Looks like I had them after all!" he announced cheerily.

"No time to complain. On board, everyone!" Aerrow hustled his team and daughter onto the ship, before jumping on himself, just as the door slid shut and the guards swarmed onto the hill.

"HIT IT!"

Stork pushed down on the accelerator, and the ship lurched into the air, leaving a group of befuddled and angry guards, sitting on their sore behinds on a hill in Atmosia.

The sky welcomed them, and they headed off on a quest.

Mission?

Damn near impossible.