I do not own Storm Hawks! In fact, most of the hiccups presented I did not find on my own, they are pointed out to be by these reviewers- The Alien of Pluto, YamiPluto, and KennyDal, you inspired what is to transpire next because it would have happened in chapter five if the 'Truth or Dare' game hadn't eaten it.

WARNING- this chapter contains shounen-ai, meaning two guys showing romantic interest in each other. So if you've picked up on the mixed signals the characters are dealing with, look out for the extra-serving (I promise this is the only blatant display in the work, please don't be offended- It's also my way of torturing characters)

More explanation on the warning at the end of the fanfic.

SHOUT OUT TO MINN-MAIGI! There will be doodles inspired by this fanfic in her Deviantart account, so if you want to see drawings, swing by her account in the near future! Thank you again!

On with the story!

The next morning was much more existent, with Aerrow and Finn building a stack of cards up into a miniature Condor.

Stork got a glazed look in his eye and forbade them from knocking it down. Radarr sniffed at the construction over lunch and the entire structure went down.

Radarr cried. Stork curled up in a ball and sobbed.

Finn scratched the back of his head. "You could probably make a newer, better one." Stork perked up. He then gathered all of the cards that had been used for the original and scurried off, away from the others.

Finn turned to the Dark Ace. "You know what really bothers me? The fact that we have been stuck in the same room for weeks and there has never been a change. I mean, we can get stuff like different couches and food, but why does the layout of the place stay the same?"

Dark Ace looked at Finn with a 'why-in-the-world-do-you-expect-me–to-know-the-answer-to-that' face.

Aerrow looked hurt that Finn wasn't asking him.

Piper brushed the emotion off as a squadron leader, while Cyclonis narrowed her eyes. So Dark Ace might have a little competition for Finn's full and complete attention, eh?

She would just make sure that Aerrow couldn't look at Finn as more than a brother.

A positively delicious idea began to brew inside of her head.

"I have an idea. Piper, you know how our bathtub is big enough to swim in?"

Piper nodded. Then she sat up. "Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Oh, I know you know what you think you know I'm suggesting."

"That's terrific! I'll go get Junko to help." Piper leapt off the couch and dashed upstairs where Junko was practicing his folk singing to stay in tune.

Dark Ace, Aerrow, and Finn looked at each other.

Women.

Piper came back downstairs. "So, Cyclonis and I need your help. Think we can do it by tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah, it's a great idea Piper. We were going a little stir crazy because we can't get out."

"Actually, being cooped up too long in one place is called 'cabin fever'."

"Oh."

Junko came down after Piper, and they both came over to Master Cyclonis and started whispering. Dark Ace hauled himself to his feet and wandered over to ask what all the commotion was about.

Master Cyclonis waved her hand at him and indicated that he was to amuse himself with the other Storm Hawks.

Dark Ace tried not to take offence, but he couldn't help but notice how much more time Piper was starting to eat into Master Cyclonis' attention.

Time that he used to have.

He walked back over to the red head and the blonde.

"So, you have any idea what they're up to?" Finn asked.

"No." snarled Dark Ace.

"Whoa, chill. Aerrow's touchy as it is with Piper giving Cyclonis so much attention. I just write it off as them being girls and us being guys." Finn held up his hands to show that he meant to calm Dark Ace down.

"So, did you and Aerrow ever agree on what your catch phrase was? Because he can't keep track of how many times you've said 'Goodbye Aerrow' and I only count a handful of the times you've said 'this time, no mercy'."

Dark Ace stared at Finn.

Now he remembers what the fancy two words were for specific, character imaging lines.

He felt like slamming his head against a wall.

Finns started to back away from Dark Ace. He didn't know what that look was and he really didn't want to find out.

Dark Ace didn't notice Finn sneaking off. He did notice Aerrow asking Finn if he was in trouble.

"I'm not scared." Finn retorted.

"You should be. To be scared and yet facing one's danger is what courage is-the strength to face your fears. What isn't okay is running away from your fears."

"Dude, highlight."

Aerrow sighed and put his hand on Finn's shoulder, steering him back to the Dark Ace. "What he means is, it's okay to be scared."

"Ooooh." Finn's response trailed up the octaves, the way a child's does when something finally clicks for them. "Why didn't he just say that?"

Dark Ace would have made a comment about how the 'he' was standing right here, but the 'oooh' sound Finn had made was still ringing in his ears. Aerrow was blushing slightly, averting his eyes from Finn.

Finn looked between them. "Never mind. If the explanation's that hard to summarize so I'll understand it, you're just wasting time. Hey, who wants to play B.S.?"

Aerrow and Dark Ace made a silent promise not to tell Finn that their thoughts weren't focusing on an explanation just then.

Finn pulled out the spare deck of cards and started shuffling.

"How about 'Knock' instead? Or Norwegian Rummy?" Dark Ace suggested, sitting down on a chair opposite Finn.

Aerrow glared at him, before sitting to Finn's left, so he would be dealt first.

Finn gave Dark Ace a curious look.

"What's Knock?"

"It's a card game. You are dealt four cards face down, and the goal of the game is to get the lowest score. You can only look at the two middle cards once before the game begins. Then you begin drawing cards. You can only take from the top of either the discard pile or the drawing pile. The no point cards are Jacks. The single points are Aces. Everything else is worth its face value. When you think you have the lowest hand, you don't draw a card, but you knock. Then everyone gets one more chance to switch cards and then you flip them over. The one with the lowest score wins."

Finn stared at him.

"Dude! We have a game just like that, only we call it 'Polish poker.'"

"Is that so." The Dark Ace didn't blink.

"I love that game. It's the only one I know that actually forces you to remember what you have and estimate what other's have."

"Okay, four face down…"

Finn dealt the cards.

Cyclonis and Piper finished marking out the dimensions of their soon-to-be pool. Three feet at one end, six feet in the middle, with nine feet at the end. The nine foot strip was to be only five and a half feet wide, and the rest of the pool being roughly thirty feet.

It was perfect. They could play so many water games with eight people, even if Radarr sat out, there were still plenty of people.

"Sharks and minnows, Category, Marco Polo, Finn's Crazy Idea, diving, laps…."

Cyclonis cut her eyes to Piper.

"What's Finn's Crazy Idea?"

"Well, underwater is a bit mysterious for Finn. So he swims between your legs and you don't feel it. He's really good. Aerrow was the one who caught him, because he noticed Finn wasn't cooking and looked down in the water since he saw a shadow. Then it became a kind of game."

Piper rolled her eyes. "I got tired of them sneaking around us, and had Junko, Stork and I stand in a line, then in a circle, then spaced apart a bit. They still swam underneath us, never touched us, and could do it in one breath."

Cyclonis eyes' began to gleam.

"Just what does that look mean?"

"Dark Ace doesn't know."

Piper quirked an eyebrow, then she grinned. Soon, they were full out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Junko asked.

"Oh, if we pull this off, it'll be hilarious."

Junko shrugged. He apparently hadn't heard them. Otherwise, he would be warning Finn.

"Okay, the Dark Ace five, Aerrow three, me zippo." Finn tallied up the past eight games. "How in the world are you two so good at this game?"

"Maybe because we aren't dealt Jacks under both of our outer cards?" Aerrow suggested.

"Or forget about the ace we were dealt in the middle." The Dark Ace pointed out. For a marksman, Finn had a horrible memory.

Finn sighed. HE then dealt the cards again. His turn to go first. Finn looked at his cards, and without even flipping them, he knocked.

Aerrow and Dark Ace stared at him.

"You sure you want to do that, Finn?"

"Yeah." Aerrow and Dark Ace looked at their cards, and Aerrow drew. He pulled the card, looked at it, and switched it out for a king. Dark Ace pulled, and discarded straight away a seven.

They flipped over.

Aerrow had a two, five, ace, and nine.

Dark Ace had a jack, six, four, and five.

Finn had an ace, jack, jack, four.

Finn stared at his cards. "Yay, one round for me."

Dark Ace cleared his throat. "Perhaps another game? Stork, would you be so kind as to teach them Euchre?"

Stork, who had finished his scaled and detailed Condor replica, walked over to the group. "Okay. Give me the deck. Aerrow, you're my partner. Finn, you and Dark Ace are partners."

"Aw, man."

"Here are the rules…"

Cyclonis looked at the hole in the ground and back at the map. "Piper, are you certain that we can get this done?"

"Oh, yeah. Junko is really strong. When I first met him, he carried all of us to safety on a hand-made Skimmer! He can output more energy to keep himself afloat than any other person I've seen. He just needs a working engine- well, not even that. Remember when Snipe built that huge battleship?"

Cyclonis nodded. What a waste of supplies. She had the Nightcrawlers pick it clean and recycled as much as she could from that fiasco.

How Ravess convinced her to do it was beyond her- oh wait, she wanted something for the Talons to do to occupy themselves.

"Well, Junko, Tynki, Aerrow, Finn, and I were on the ship when it was going down. Junko held the wreckage that was his Skimmer together with his thighs and hands and got us all to safety. He is that strong."

Cyclonis whistled. She had heard of Wallops, and even seen some, but Junko certainly impressed her.

"He is intelligent to have figured that out."

"He is. In fact, some days I'm certain he's smarter than Finn."

"Hey, now, that's not exactly nice…to Junko."

Piper and Cyclonis giggled. Across the room, Finn's shoulders slumped. Sure, he couldn't win at cards, he wasn't smart, and he was a coward, but his eyes and ears worked just fine!

Finn felt a sniffle start to build up. He pushed the negative thoughts away. Too late. The cards were blurring in front of him.

"I, um, bid three tricks with diamonds." After all, he was holding the Jack of diamonds and hearts, along with the Ace and Queen of diamonds.

Aerrow and Finn passed, with Dark Ace raising the tricks to four.

Finn led out.

Piper and Cyclonis continued to giggle across the room. Picking on Finn was so much fun! He was goofy, cute, sweet, and so self-centered that he wouldn't know that they were insulting him!

In other words, he was perfect.

"And then after I refused to be your friend, he offered to let me braid his hair."

There was a scrape from across the room. Finn had stood up, without pushing his chair back first.

"I need to go. I'll be back in a while. Deal me in when I'm back." Finn escaped to the stairs and the door to the men's room slammed.

Piper and Cyclonis stopped giggling. "Think he heard us?" Piper whispered to Cyclonis.

"The whole Atmos could hear you." Stork stated in a normal voice. It carried across the room and slapped Piper in the face.

Ooops.

She'd been having such a great time; she forgot that her fun had come at Finn's expense.

"Piper." Aerrow stood up from the table as well. "We need to talk." Piper already knew that she was in for a scolding.

Cyclonis twisted. She could feel the disappointment radiating off of Dark Ace, even though he had yet to say anything. Instead, he was counting four piles of cards and tallying up a score.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

"We aren't Storm Hawks, Master Cyclonis. If you want to mock others at their expense, go right ahead. It's not like you're looking for any friends to hang out with."

Cyclonis started violently, and then fled to other side of the room.

"Harsh." Stork murmured to him.

"She's a child. She hardly understands that what she was doing is considered mean and cruel. I've whipped men in the Talon squadrons for ostracizing a fellow Talon."

Stork hmm'd and dealt a new hand.

"This game is called 'go fish'."

Junko walked into the Men's room. Finn would say that he wanted to be alone, and Junko would give him half-an-hour before he went looking for him.

The water was running. Junko would be worried if it was the bath tub, as Finn had scars on his wrist from 'accidents' that Junko didn't know whether to believe or not.

The shower was running. Even for a Wallop, Junko could smell the salt that meant Finn was crying.

Except that Finn didn't cry. He had horrible, breathless heaves that disabled his breathing and caused him to pass out.

For Finn to be crying meant that he was hurt, and that the hurt had been building inside of him while he didn't say anything. This wasn't a 'fit' as Stork liked to call them

Junko cautiously proceeded to the small shower stall. He winced as Finn's thin back came into view. He'd been clawing at himself again.

"Hey buddy." Junko called softly. Finn had taken off his shirt, but his pants were on and soaked. He turned his face to Junko as the Wallop squeezed in. Finn looked at him, and then away.

"Why am I not good enough? My parents didn't want me, Piper's always mad at me, Aerrow wishes I was braver, Stork hates me, Radarr won't have anything to do with me, and you hang out with me cause the others are too busy to."

Junko mentally attacked the biased critique. He brought in a deep breath, and felt mist and steam come into his lungs.

Cough Cough "Finn, how hot is that water?"

"Not hot enough."

Junko stuck his hand in, yelled, and twisted the cold water knob so fast it broke.

But now Finn wouldn't get third degree burns.

As it was, his skin was read and blotchy from what Junko realized wasn't clawing, because Finn couldn't reach that much of his back.

He must have had the hot water hitting his back in a twisted version of penance for 'being a failure'.

"Finn, buddy, it's not that bad."

Finn must have turned himself around when Junko came in. He had the sharpest hearing of any human Junko knew.

"You know Piper only gets annoyed at you. Aerrow loves you for who you are, Stork tolerates your jokes pretty well, and I would hang out with you even if the others weren't busy. Because you're my buddy."

It wasn't so much the words as the soothing tone, Junko had realized over time that helped pull Finn back. Wherever he went in his head was a 'bad place' that wouldn't let Finn go and told him all sorts of horrible things.

Stork had called it 'depression'.

"I found my parents." Junko started. As happy as he was that Finn still had relatives, talking about good things when Finn was in this state was about as possible as Dark Ace singing 'I'm a little tea pot' sober.

"They abandoned me. Willfully. I have a brother. He's considered gifted and stronger than me. They picked him over me. I wasn't worth the effort because I was second born."

Finn sank into himself, his body curling around. "Where I'm from there is no second place to show that you competed. You're either first, or not worth dirt."

Junko felt the air whoosh out of him. No wonder Finn hadn't just gone along with the teasing like he usually did. He hadn't told the others before that he had found his parents- just a couple that looked like him.

In fact, Junko always secretly wished that Finn wouldn't have parents. The Storm Hawks was Finn's family. He didn't need anyone else. Another family meant they'd have to share Finn with them.

"But dirt is really helpful, Finn. It builds up our Terras, gives us food, and even helps cure most ails!"

"The Terras are mountains, so that's rock. Food doesn't come from dirt, it comes from plants that use water and sunlight. Dirt just anchors it. And that's mud you're talking about for beauty tips."

Finn sank into himself. "Just go away Junko."

"Finn…"

"I said GO AWAY!" The breathless shriek had Junko back pedaling out of the stall. He left the Men's room.

He came downstairs, where all the others were looking at the general direction of the scream. Piper was white. Cyclonis looked ill.

"I, uhm, suggest no one goes up there for a moment. This is a pretty bad episode. Turns out, it wasn't just you two laughing at him," Junko mustered the strongest disapproving glare he could give the two girls, who looked upset as it was, "but he found his parents."

Aerrow gave a low breath of air. "Oh no. He…?"

Junko nodded.

Cyclonis edged her way around the Storm Hawks. She needed to apologize and fast. "If you go now, he'll hurt you and feel even worse." Dark Ace called up.

"Why don't you and Piper finish the pool and present it to Finn as an apology? I'll go talk to him."

"Uh, Dark Ace, Finn is rather past the point of talking." Aerrow attempted to stop him.

"You have your way, I have mine." Dark Ace cryptically answered, and then he headed off to the Men's Room.

Piper and Cyclonis threw themselves into their work with a fervor that made the others stand back. Soon, the foundation was laid to dry, and then a water fall, like gold miners use, was set to fill the pool up once the layer and walls were dried and sealed.

Cyclonis and Piper dropped from exhaustion. Aerrow came over and handed them some water.

"I wonder how Dark Ace is faring."

"I think he's okay. He used to get me through some of my darker moments." Cyclonis graciously accepted the water.

Piper nodded. "Yeah, Finn is Finn. When the tough gets going, he keeps up. I just…forget that, because he's so carefree."

Cyclonis and Piper were so taking Finn up on the hair braiding offer later. After all, he did have the longest hair, including Stork.

Dark Ace strode into the Men's room. He placed a chair in front of the door, under the knob, blocking others from following him in.

This was going to be delicate. But Dark Ace didn't do delicate.

He then turned on the fan. It was loud, all the more perfect for not repeating the mistake that Junko had done- allowing outsiders to overhear. Next was to glide over to the end of the hall and fill up the tub.

Right now, all that existed was Finn and Dark Ace.

He walked over to the stall. Reaching in, he hauled Finn to his feet. Then he carried him to the awaiting bath of ice water.

Finn coughed and spluttered, resorting to cursing the Dark Ace as he dunked Finn again. The water was filthy with blood and soap.

The Dark Ace was bathing him like he was some kid! He was not going to stand for it!

"Do you have some philosophy that keeps you from hitting girls? Because I know you fought against Ravess in the past."

"Damn" splutter "you."

"No, damn you, Finn. You won't even stand up for yourself. No wonder you think you're weak. You have to know somewhere in the Storm Brat head of yours that if you want to be yourself, you have to do that to even your friends, or they're not worth you."

"Don't say that about Aerrow!"

"Oh? Just Aerrow?"

Finn stopped thrashing. He sank into the tub. The water was freezing, but his bloody skin wasn't coming off and shrinking like it normally did. It probably had something to do with the vial Dark Ace had thrown in before he stripped Finn and dumped him in too.

"Aerrow didn't have to take me. All I'm good at is being a sharp shooter."

Dark Ace put his hand on Finn's head and dunked him under again. This time he held him down for a few extra seconds before lifting him up.

"Wrong answer."

Finn spat at him. His eyes flashed. "You can't change me! You don't even care! I bet you're getting a kick out of this, too."

"Yes, because I certainly loved it when Lightning Strike dunked me as well when I got depressed."

"You…whaaaaaat?"

"I was depressed before I served Master Cyclonis. I couldn't see all the good I was doing. I wasn't even considered a full squadron member despite my skills because of my age. Master Cyclonis is the only one who ever made me feel like I had self worth. So no, I can't change you. You change yourself. And of course I don't care, I get urges to go around and dunk idiots into ice cold baths instead of leaving them to sulk like children, because I don't see them making anything of themselves."

"Well, guess what, Finn. The past few weeks we've been trapped here, circling each other like dogs before we called a truce to work together to escape you've been doing a very key job- keeping the team spirit up. You've been putting their happiness before yours because you love them."

"I know what Piper and Cyclonis did is wrong, but they're girls. Sometimes they don't realize that they can be a real bitch. I bet they weren't even thinking when they were talking about you. And you know what? They feel horrible. While you've been beating yourself up, they've been making a pool for you. It's their apology," the Dark Ace let go of Finn's head. "and their thanks. They do know better Finn. But haven't you ever done something and forgot that it could inconvenience others? They were being self-centered, and you were just a target. They didn't mean too."

Dark Ace watched as Finn held his gaze. With a sigh, Finn came closer to the edge and hugged Dark Ace.

So what if he was getting wet? He could dry off later.

Dark Ace hugged Finn back and held him as the last vestiges of Darkness drained from him. Finn was a relatively quiet person who didn't express his emotions often.

Dark Ace nearly snorted as he remembered the psychologist on Cyclonia who had told him that laughing more would be good for his health.

He held Finn tighter.

Geez, were his clothes soaked.

Clothes.

Finn.

Tub.

Naked.

Oh, Master Cyclonis, was he glad he locked that door so no one could see the predicament he was in now.

Dark Ace fixed his eyes on a spot past Finn on the wall. This was going to be awkward when Finn decided to face the music any second now.

Finn started to un-wrap his arms. He pulled back, looking into the Dark Ace's red eyes.

"Thank you."

Dark Ace fought to keep the blood from going south. Taking advantage of emotionally drained boys was not something he did. Even if they did look like god wrapped in wet skin over a thin frame that would look good thrown back in an arch as he-

Down boy.

Dark Ace nodded, and stood up. He passed Finn a towel, who laughed and accepted it.

"Damn, my clothes are ruined."

Clothes thrown hap-hazardly on the floor, silken boxers teasing his hands as he traced those slim hips to his prize-

The HELL had that come from?

Dark Ace refrained from shaking his head, as Finn might misunderstand and keep silent about it.

"Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, it's just, if I go down there and tell Aerrow I ruined your clothes, he's going to rip my head off and shove it down my throat so far I'll have to bend over to see the light."

Finn giggled.

"It's not funny." Dark Ace dead panned.

"I- hahahahahahahahahahahahah-wheeze- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Finn collapsed against the tub. He kept laughing. Dark Ace grinned.

"Or he'll twist me so badly I'll have to wriggle my ears to walk."

Finn snorted.

Dark Ace kept up the amusing commentary until Finn collapsed against the floor, begging him to stop, his stomach couldn't take anymore.

Dark Ace grinned.

"Feel better?"

"I-loads. I feel so much better."

Dark Ace smiled. He then helped Finn find an extra pair of clothing, without armor, and headed downstairs with him.

Finn had walked over to Piper and Cyclonis. They had apologized, and hugged him. Cyclonis had sniffed Finn, but refrained from asking about the healing salve.

Dark Ace breathed out a sigh of relief. As sad as he was that Cyclonis was growing up and growing distant, he wouldn't entrust her to anyone beside the Storm Hawks.

Aerrow walked over to Dark Ace.

"How?"

"I negotiated with him. Very persuasively." Aerrow decided that he didn't need to know the story behind that grin just yet.

"Okay, while dinner has been served, apparently we get to cook it ourselves. Then we wait an hour before swimming. It's time for a-"

"BAR-BE-QUE! Sweet!"

Thankfully, Finn hadn't yelled in their ears, as Piper and Cyclonis wince, before they started grinning.

Dinner was a happy affair. The moments that really stood out where when, instead of handing her a napkin, Aerrow leaned over and wiped the sauce off of Piper's face with his hand.

Cyclonis started looking around for her napkin because of the sauce on her fingers, and Finn mimed licking them off to her.

She held her hand out to him.

Everyone burst out laughing, and the Dark Ace made a choking sound, before indicating that Cyclonis was to lick her own hand. She had gone scarlet and began to lick her fingers.

Piper and Aerrow found their full attention diverted from laughing to following those lips and that pink tongue when it darted out to get sauce from a wrinkle on her finger.

Piper swallowed hard, and Aerrow got up to get more lemonade. He nearly walked into the bar-be-que pit while watching Master Cyclonis.

Finn chuckled warmly and dug into his own sandwich. The sauce got all over his face.

Bending down, licking off the sauce and finally swirling his tongue into that mouth seemed so appealing to Dark Ace.

He discreetly pinched himself. Hard. Where in the Wasteland were these thoughts coming from?

They certainly weren't his! And he was into women! Just like Finn was!

Shame Finn was into women, he had a bisexual figure….an androgynous one.

Dark Ace proceeded to dig his nails in.

Stork sighed. They were all infected by mind-worms. It wasn't long before he was infected and killed to.

The swimming pool was finished. There were games to play, like Piper had been looking forward too. Unfortunately, there was only time for a few games because they had to wait after dinner to go swimming again.

All too soon it was time for bed. The Storm Hawks didn't complain, and washed their hair free of the chlorine.

Cyclonis grumbled about the chemical feeling and Piper helped her scour her hair until it actually squeaked.

Cyclonis could still feel the chlorine, but it was better. She thanked Piper and headed to bed.

That night, she had a dream.

Cyclonis walked the stage, looking for a way out. There had to be a way. A deep voice chuckled behind her.

You don't know where you are, do you?

Cyclonis spun around.

Well, allow me to enlighten you. You are in what's known as…a mind.

Cyclonis frowned. That didn't make any sense.

You are a memory, drifting around and warped by the desires of the host. There is no new knowledge of you. You do not fully exist beyond this space.

Cyclonis started to shake. Okay, this was disturbing.

No knowledge of how you arrived, no knowledge of how to leave…are you certain you are even the real Cyclonis? How can you prove it?

The dream faded away. Cyclonis sat up with a gasp, but whatever had her awake in such a panic was already melting into the shadows.

She groaned and set her head into her knees.

"Master?" Dark Ace called softly from where he slept a respectable distance away, with his sword within reach to protect her.

"Are you okay? Do you want some water?"

"I'm fine, Dark Ace. Thank you, but no." Cyclonis flopped down and turned over, her head reeling.

What had woken her up?

But as she fell asleep, there were no answers; the incident was gone from Dark Ace and Cyclonis' minds when they awoke.

The new day dawned earlier than usual. The pool was still there. But now there were lawn chairs, tables, sun tan lotion, and toys.

The toys in particular, the water guns, woke up Dark Ace to Finn and Aerrow laughing uproariously. He glared at them, and then fetched the water gun that Cyclonis presented him with.

The war was on.

"No running!" Piper yelled. The boys slowed down their speed, but they didn't stop either.

Piper sighed. "They're going to get hurt."

"Not when they're running on sand."

"Huh?" Piper turned to Stork. "Sand?"

Stork nodded, and pointed to the ground. Sure enough, there was sand there, coating the men as they chased each other and managed to get soaking wet.

"But how…?"

"Probably our mysterious benefactor encouraging us to have fun." Stork grinned at her. "We're doomed anyways. Tag team against them?"

Piper and Cyclonis nodded.

Dark Ace, Aerrow, and Finn all yelped and ran when the new arrivals joined in. Soon, it was three on three.

Then Junko found the water balloons and Radarr found the faucet to them too.

Soon it was six against two. Junko actually had very good aim, and so did Radarr. After a truce was called, they all settled down to breakfast, emptying their weapons and leaving them on the ground.

Dark Ace sat down with his plate, partially dry after the battle. He shot up again, yelping and grabbing the seat of his pants.

He turned and looked into his seat. Sitting there innocently was a yellow sponge, oozing water. His butt was wet. Wet butts are not fun. But they certainly are funny to show the breakfast group that Finn had got you with a classic stunt. Everyone was snickering into their breakfast.

Dark Ace removed the sponge and sat down primly in his seat to continue eating.

At least, he suspected Finn was the one to pull that practical joke.

After breakfast they rested. No one was allowed in the water for the next hour, Dark Ace made that very clear.

Finn amused himself by seeing what all the toys were. Soon, his exclamations of delight, wonder, and 'you gotta see this!' pulled the others to his side.

They watched at toys that floated and sank were tossed about. There were balls, much like the sponge, but they sprayed water as they were thrown and could soak others at the pass completed.

Dark Ace conceded that maybe it was excess water slung off by the speed the ball was thrown at.

Finn rolled his eyes and set the toy aside.

Finn moaned as he pushed another one into him. "Ah, please…" Dark Ace flushed. He really needed to find where the thoughts were coming from and destroy it. He shook his head hard. So hard he actually made himself dizzy and had to sit down.

Finn gave him a questioning look, but Dark Ace waved it off. He was going to be fine. Finn held up a torpedo.

He was so screwed.

Cyclonis laughed internally. They weren't even in the water yet and her plan was working. Finn was paying attention to Dark Ace!

Now, to convince Dark Ace that he still had it in him….

"Oh, there is something that Dark Ace used to do when we were kids that was so much fun. He would stand in the pool and throw me into a deeper section. It was amazing. Think we can try that?"

"Why not have the Wallop throw you?"

"He's too strong." Piper and Cyclonis chorused. "Ah, sorry, you go first."

"The last time Junko threw Finn, he nearly served him to a man-eating plant in the Black Gorge." Piper explained.

"It would be safer if you threw us."

No one noticed the diving board morph out of the ground over the pool.

Dark Ace sighed, and conceded. He had the sneaky suspicion that Master Cyclonis was planning something, but he wasn't certain what.

A timer went off. "Yes! The swimsuits are dry! We can get dressed and put on the sun tan lotion and be ready to swim by the time we can swim!"

Finn tore off for the dryer.

Cyclonis grinned. Piper felt the 'eerie' vibe from her friend and turned to ask Cyclonis what she has done this time.

Cyclonis widened her eyes and batted them. "I was afraid that the colors from Finn's Hawaiian trunks would bleed into my purple one piece, so I didn't dry his. I dried the g-string bikini for him."

Piper gapped at her.

"I hope he doesn't mind. Crusty dried shorts are so not comfortable to wear instead." Piper grabbed Cyclonis' arm and dragged her to get their suits and duck when Finn realized that his eye-searing colored shorts were gone.

"Are you trying to get Finn jumped?" She hissed.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Not to the guys, no." Piper worried her lip.

"Is there something wrong, Piper? Don't you think that they deserve a chance? There's no telling how long we'll be here." Cyclonis changed her statement part-way through form 'think they would be cute together' to what she had said.

If it sounded like she was rigging them together to amuse herself, Piper would put her foot down and that would be the end of that plan.

Just like all of her other plans were ruined by the Storm Hawks.

Her first plan was coincidence that Carver would be captured by the Storm Hawks. And then without even trying, they were wrecking the rest of her plans! The only time they pre-meditated an attack was when Starling was with them!

Like luck had nothing to do with it.

Cyclonis nearly started sulking from her thoughts but caught herself in time- wouldn't want Piper thinking that she had jumped the gun and assumed what Piper would choose and was getting upset before Piper had told her- yes or no.

Piper continued to mull over the predicament. Finn was obviously helping Cyclonis seduce someone of her choosing, after all, the napkins were hidden by him when the Bar-B-Q started.

He could have handed her one instead of the licking motion.

While Piper mulled, Cyclonis reflected. Wasn't there something about Carver Dark Ace hadn't liked, beyond the fact that one pupil was bigger than the other?

Oh, yeah. When Carver had hollered, Dark Ace had stiffened, ever so slightly. He hadn't flinched.

Cyclonis had questioned him later about it, and Dark Ace had responded that it sounded like his. The first Sky Knight he murdered. Killed. Slew.

Cyclonis had refrained from hugging him. He was loyal to her. How dare he have even a moment of weakness where he contemplated what it would have been like to have not betrayed the Storm Hawks-

"I had chills reliving the moment." Dark Ace had grinned at her, a feral one.

Oh. Ooooh. He wasn't regretting. He was relishing. Master Cyclonis chided herself for having so little faith in the face of Dark Ace remembering.

He would never betray her.

Just as she would never abandon him.

"Okay, you have yourself a deal. I'll help get them together." Piper stuck her hand out. Cyclonis shook her hand.

She grinned.

The pool was going to see more than one kind of game, soon.

To be continued….

Next chapter- the pool games!

A/N: I hinted pretty heavily that the characters are in my head. That's why they sometimes get OOC, like when Dark Ace started ogling Finn. They don't realize that they are there most likely because I am or am not watching the SH episodes.

It explains the stage setting, too. Until there's a season three and their characters progress, they're kind of stuck in this dimension.

Of course, should season three ever start, you know what that means- more hiccups!

Originally I was going to end the entire Story with them realizing that they are in a place between worlds until their own story is continued, but then I realized if I did that, the story would be over in the next three chapters, because I'm running out of hiccups!

Hiccup!

Or not.

The Alien of Pluto- Well, I dunno if it's really that important, but its a mess up...In the second part of the first episode/ second episode, when the Dark Ace knocks Aerrow out and he skids across the floor, his shoulder armour-guard-thing is actually through his shoulder. -

That is the only hiccup I have besides a few floating in my head. So please review and keep this fanfic from grinding to a slow and painful halt!

Random Voice in my head- No it wouldn't. You have way too many ideas, such as laser tag, angst, developing romance, all floating in your head.

Me- That's filler stuff! I want to use hiccups!

RVIMH- The 'filler stuff' is an awesome way to introduce hiccups as a side note or directly talked about.

Me-…fine….

Geez, nineteen and a half pages long…