Lights, Camera, Hiccup! Chapter 2
Thanks to Minn-Maigi, Whisperthewolf, and aerrowluver1127 for reviewing! You guys have awesome hiccups!
And yes, I totally agree that the hiccups only add to the awesomeness of the Storm Hawks. It's just, there are hiccups, and then there are those really painful heaves that hurt. These hiccups are the former, the kind that everyone laughs at, even if the one hiccupping doesn't find it that funny.
I do not own Storm Hawks!
On with the Story!
Back at the stage, Finn is lounging on one of the couches. There's food on the table, with Dark Ace sighing as he slurps down a hot chocolate.
"What? I hate coffee."
Aerrow groans. "Coffee doesn't exist on Atmos, Dark Ace. Neither does hot chocolate."
Dark Ace ulps and looks to Master Cyclonis, who's giggling with Piper on the floor. They're looking over a television guide with the Storm Hawk episodes.
Noticing the Dark Ace looking at her, Cyclonis rolls her eyes. "I'll see about importing a few acres of cocoa beans to Cyclonia."
Dark Ace grins smugly at Aerrow and turns back to his hot chocolate.
Aerrow groans and stands up. "Isn't anyone else bothered by the fact that we are stuck in some place that isn't Atmos or the Far side that knows so much about us?"
Stork queries from across the room, opening and closing the only door from the stage that leads to a black expanse. "You mean, aren't we upset that they got so much wrong?"
Aerrow starts circling around the couch.
"Well, yes! I mean Junko, when we raced to get the frozen yogurt, he was with us when we were landing back at the Colonel's House! Then he came outside of the house, without ever going in! How did he do that?"
The Dark Ace pauses before taking another sip. His eyes narrow. "You wouldn't have happened to have cleaned them out of the creamy, low-fat, pink kind, did you?"
"Uhm, yeah." Aerrow responds.
The Dark Ace sets the hot chocolate aside. "I had to wait hours for them to make a new batch for Master Cyclonis because you couldn't take any other kind." He begins to advance on Aerrow.
Master Cyclonis throws up her hand. The Dark Ace halts. "It all worked out in the end, Dark Ace. Besides, my frozen yogurt was fresher than what they transported."
Dark Ace snarls at Aerrow and storms back to his hot chocolate.
Aerrow exhales. There is a limited amount of space in here. If he was going to fight the Dark Ace, he would need his armor and his twin daggers- wait, where were they?
Aerrow patted himself down. He had his armors and his daggers when he found himself in here. Aerrow begins to turn around, searching for the missing weapons.
He remembers having his weapons and armor when he walked in, now where were they?
Finn calls from across the room, "Dude, are you doing the Macarena? Cause you totally missed the hip move."
Piper and Cyclonis look at each other, and promptly slap their hands over their mouths in an attempt to not laugh.
"My weapons are missing. And so's my armor. I know I had them on when we came in…."
"Well, my armor's still on me." Finn called back, lying back down on the couch.
Aerrow turns around and looks at him. "No it's not."
Finn jerks up, grabbing his shoulder. His hand smacks into the armor plating. "Dude, not funny!"
Master Cyclonis and Piper begin to laugh.
Stork sighs. "Azarian laughing fever. It certainly portends ill when there's a relapse this bad."
Junko comes out of the gloom and passes Stork. He drags his feet over to Finn. The others wait with baited breath, their attention focused on him.
"I found a hallway and even with the busters I wound up back here."
The others sag against themselves.
"Well, we should be able to escape eventually. I mean, when I was having trouble training, that roller coaster came along and helped me out. But I still wonder where that second track came from." Aerrow rubs the back of his head.
"Maybe Ayrgyrn put it there. He was training us." Piper calls up. "Oooh, here's an episode I liked, 'The Code'."
Master Cyclonis leans over and reads the summary. "Isn't that the one from when I sent you to capture Terra Rex? Much more of a debilitating moral victory, crushing the Sky Knights and their morals. It was supposed t sway the public opinion to the Cyclonians' point of view and get them to rejoin us. What happened?"
Dark Ace pretends that the last question is aimed at Piper and holds his tongue.
"Well," Piper began, "it started with a Phoenix Crystal."
Cyclonis stares at her. Then she sits up and pulls Piper up with her.
"Tell me."
"Okay, Aerrow, Radarr and I are in a Phoenix nest, right? And we just get the crystal, and are turning to leave when Dark Ace uses a whip to collect the crystal from Aerrow. Well, the Phoenix shows up after that. Then it was a race out of the nest and into a lake to escape the Phoenix."
"That's all?" Master Cyclonis eyes Piper.
"No, but the race out of the cave was freaking weird. Dark Ace leaves before us without the Crystal. Dark Ace is level with Aerrow, then he's level with me, then he's taking off and I've tossed the crystal to Aerrow. Of course, when we get to our rides, Aerrow and I were falling, and Dark Ace was flying. He struck a deal with Harrier for the crystal. We all know how that ended." Piper rolls her eyes at the last statement.
"Yes, but how did the race against the Phoenix end?"
"My idea- we dove into the lake, and despite our rides not being fitted for underwater moves, made it out."
Master Cyclonis shakes her head. "That was…AWESOME! I'm never allowed to get a Phoenix crystal! They always send someone else to get it for me." She rocks on her legs and rolls back to a laying position. The men, Aerrow, Finn, and Dark Ace, all share a look of confusion. Dark Ace shrugs off the weird antics of his master and figures that it would do her some good to be a child with a friend.
Piper giggles. "Well, now you know why."
The girls fall into another giggle fit. Finn sighs and rolls over- and promptly rolls right off the couch. His hand flies out and smacks the ground in an attempt to break his fall.
"You okay?" Aerrow asks, coming around to check on him.
"Dude, my armor's gone." Finn stares up at Aerrow. As one, they turn to look at the Dark Ace, enjoying his hot chocolate. The Dark Ace looks at the Storm Hawks looking at him, and cocks his head to the side and raises an eyebrow.
"See something you like?"
Aerrow smacks his forehead.
"No, but I'm noticing that you still have your armor and your weapons, even though ours keep disappearing."
"And reappearing would seem to be the case." The Dark Ace comments. Aerrow puts his hand up, and sure enough, his daggers are on his back again. He never noticed them appear. He had just checked two minutes ago and they were gone! "I wouldn't be surprised if all Aerrow had to do was to put on a janitor's suit to find his weapons again. In fact, your weapons just got back, Aerrow."
"You sure that I pulled off the janitor's suit that fast, or maybe you just laughed longer than you thought."
Piper pipes up from the floor. "No, you really took off your clothes that fast. I was behind you. I saw."
The Dark Ace chokes on his drink, and Stork slams his head against the door that he is still trying to figure out.
Master Cyclonis looks at Piper. "Um, Piper…"
"What?"
"Do you know what you just said?"
"That Aerrow is fast. What about it?"
"Not in quite that context, but okay."
In the silence pervading the words, a chicken strolls across the floor. It's a white hen, and she fluffs herself, while looking around. She spots a blue fluff of tail in the rafters, and with a triumphant squawk, takes flight.
"Poor Radarr." Finn comments. "His girlfriend found him, and this place doesn't even have'romantic evening for two' privacy. She's going to be so mad."
Junko tilts his head up. "Where did the chicken come from?"
"Junko, the joke is, 'why did the chicken cross the road?'"
"No, Finn, that chicken wasn't here earlier. It must have come from outside!" Junko leapt up. "Ask Radarr to ask his girlfriend how she got here and then let's play charades to figure the way out!"
"Charades?" The Dark Ace glances bemusedly at them. "Haven't you taught the animal how to write?"
Aerrow whirled on him. "Radarr is not an animal, or a pet. He's our mission specialist and the best co-pilot ever."
"Actually, best co-pilot is me. Even with the whole murder and betrayal."
Aerrow glares. The Dark Ace slurps his hot chocolate.
"Ack! Hot!" The Dark Ace raises the glass and glances critically at the shadow of the liquid in the Styrofoam cup.
"I could have sworn I only had a swallow left in that cup. It couldn't have…." Rather than pour the glass out, Dark Ace pours some hot chocolate into another cup. Then he turns the second cup upside down.
The hot chocolate steams and falls to the floor. Aerrow watches with a confused expression. The hot chocolate continues to pour. And pour. And pour.
"Didn't you only put a small amount in there?" Aerrow asks, coming over to see the never ending hot chocolate making a puddle into a lake on the floor.
Master Cyclonis storms over and snatched the cup out of the Dark Ace's hand, crushing it.
"You almost ruined my suit." She hisses at him.
"Forgive me, master. I was wondering if-"
"Most likely we're in the place where oblivion crystals send things. Or one of the oblivion dimensions. That's the theory Piper and I are looking over right now. It would explain this total lack of disregard for physics."
Finn walks over, stepping around the brown lake that's steaming. "You don't have to be in Oblivion to disobey the laws of Physics. Okay, we were on Vapos, and I was shooting this ring that was in the tree."
"What happen? Did you miss?" Cyclonis jibes at Finn.
"No." Piper says, sitting on the back of the couch, her feet safely out of the way of the mess. "Finn got the ring. But he literally got the ring. It was falling straight down and he had to use two of his lenses to see the perfect shot, and then he spins and holds out his hand and the ring falls right into it!"
Stork sighs and leaves the door.
"In order for that ring to have fallen into his hand, the branch would have to have been above Finn, but he wouldn't need two lenses, or be holding the cross-bow at that angle in regard to his stance."
"And it falls right into my hands, instead of something uncool, like right next to me." Finn ends.
Stork sank into the chair. "It's hopeless. We're doomed. There's no way out of here and there are problems in our own world regarding basic rules that should apply to all living things."
Aerrow shook his head. "We'll make it out. So far, whoever did this has provided us with food, company, and sleeping arrangements."
Junko raised his hand.
"Yes, Junko."
"What about the bathrooms?"
Aerrow and everyone else paused.
"Um, I haven't needed them." Finn puts forth.
Dark Ace eyes his hot chocolate. "Ah, I-we might be needing them soon, though."
Over head, Radarr squawked. He jumped off the cross- beams and tugged on Aerrow's pants. He then leads the Storm Hawks over to the side, where a way up to the roof was revealed. Two doors at the top had the sign 'Ladies' on one and 'Men' on the other.
"Okay, that was creepy."
Stork wandered into the men's room, and then screamed.
Everyone present rushed into the restroom to assist. Well, Piper would have run in if Cyclonis hadn't pulled her to be at the back of the group. "These places can be disgusting." She hissed at Piper. She then activated the Levitation crystal to hover over the Dark Ace.
The restroom was actually spacious. There were full stalls for the toilets set along the left wall, which was the side the Ladies shared with them, and then there were shower stalls with glass doors or curtains that had a secure ante chamber before it. The aisle between the necessities was five feet, and at the end of the aisle was another door.
The Dark Ace pulled his sword from his back and held it ready.
Stork came out of the shower stall. "It's…it's…it's my glove! The one I lost!"
Finn made a 'huh' noise. "You mean the one you wore into the shower but after you reached for the towel it was gone?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, now I'm scared." Finn shook his head and turned around to leave.
"All of you get behind me." Aerrow looked at the Dark Ace.
"Well, what do you think is behind that door at the end?" The Dark Ace shot back at the non-verbal query.
Aerrow braced himself for the impact, and followed the Dark Ace as they crept along the aisle, past Stork who had frozen, and to the door. Aerrow nodded at the Dark Ace, who nodded back.
Piper and Cyclonis stifled their grins. They could see over the door, where there was a gap between the metal and the ceiling.
Aerrow pushed the door, before flinging it open, and the Dark Ace somersaulted and came up on one knee, ready to fight or defend.
He stared at the ornate bath tub. He looked around. There were shelves with bath oils and razors, and a few towel racks as well.
"All clear." He called back. Master Cyclonis and Piper began to snicker. Soon, the girls were having a full-blown guffawing session.
"Master Cyclonis, whatever you are laughing at, can you please do it elsewhere?"
"Sorry, hahaha, just, heehee, the thought of you actually fighting the bath tub came into my mind, because I remember the time you got soap suds in your eye and cursed the shower. You had cold water for –ahah- a week."
Cyclonis and Piper started giggling again.
"Okay, why don't you girls go check out your own bathroom and see if it's as neat as ours." Finn shot at them. Piper and Cyclonis gasped, looked at each other, and then levitated out of the bathroom and into the other one so fast that the doors slamming sounded simultaneously.
Their giggles could be heard through the wall.
"That could be awkward." Junko stated to the noises and shrieks coming through the wall.
"Not really." Dark Ace commented, slinging his sword back onto his back. "I learned to just shower whenever Ravess wasn't at the same time. The violin music was a giveaway."
Aerrow shook his head. "Look, let's just draw up a chart for turns-"
Stork cut him off. "I wouldn't suggest that to two females when we seem to be in a virtual prison- paradise."
Aerrow looked at him. "Why not?"
Stork elaborated. "They can sit in there for hours, bathing, chattering, shaving their legs, lathering, lotioning, the list goes on. Instead, I suggest that we all clean up together, and then abandon this level to the enjoyment of the girls for however long they'll be in here."
Finn shook his head. "If it's that bad, why'd Piper put up with the schedule?"
"Because Piper is efficient, and puts that above her own needs for the good of the team. Trust me on this, let Piper have some space and 'girl time'." Stork elaborated.
"I agree." Dark Ace stated. "It's heartwarming to see Master Cyclonis in high spirits, even if I am not the one to give her such joy."
"Dude, that's profound."
"Besides, while they are busy, I want to spar." The Dark Ace smirked at Aerrow. Aerrow grinned.
"You are so going to regret saying that."
The boys trooped out the restroom, leaving Piper and Cyclonis to gush over the Ladies room.
To be continued….
Wow. Again, thanks to my reviewers, aerrowluver1127 (), Whisper the wolf, and Minn-Maigi. I'm sorry that I didn't get to the blinking goggles or the Oracle Crystal, but perhaps chapter three will have that.
And I kinda like how this is playing out. There's almost a mix of Q&A with a story line, and I think that the flow will work. Again, I do not know all the hiccups, so if you spot one, please tell me, I'll credit you and put the hiccup in for the Storm Hawks to wonder about (or allude to- sorry about the vanishing glove, I just couldn't find a way for that hiccup to work itself into eight pages of Word document).
Okay, something that I wrote that might be OFFENSIVE- the line I replaced with when Stork finds his glove-
The Dark Ace pulled his sword free and held it ready. The actual weapon, you gutter-minded readers.