Thanks to: Meg (cold enough for ya?) and Julia (AKA Princess of Angels, a fellow muslima AND a Taurus!)
Random Quote: Oh little brother please refrain from doing that, I'm trying to help you out, so can you stop being a twat. ('Alife' by Lily Allen)
WARNING:
THIS EPISODE CONTAINS ONE OF THE WORST JOKES
EVER TO FIND ITS WAY ONTO THIS SITE, IF NOT THE WORST.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS IN A PUBLIC PLACE,
PLEASE RESIST THE URGE TO GROAN OUT LOUD OR BANG YOUR HEAD ON THE TABLE
AS THIS WILL ONLY CAUSE YOU EMBARASSMENT.
THANK YOU :)
"And... there! A perfect landing!"
Tecna looked on with satisfaction as she remote-guided the ship into a feather-light landing, whilst the others looked on with some degree of fascination. This ship was noticably different from the usual Red Fountain craft - it was sleeker than the standard design, with two large wing-mounted engines which swivelled to give a major manoeuvrability boost. But it wasn't these technical details that caught everyone's eye...
"Wow! Sweet!" Hay Lin blurted out wide-eyed in excitement. "Are we really gonna fly in that thing?"
"Uh-huh. Beautiful, isn't it?" Tecna replied.
"Yes, and it's a nice colour too... nice and lavender," Stella added. "It makes a change from the boring Red Fountain red."
"Heh. I wonder who Timmy was thinking of when he did that!" Tegryn said, nudging Tecna playfully as he did so. Tecna giggled coyly, fully aware of the fact that her cheeks were rapidly turning the same colour as her magenta hair.
Musa scolded her sweetheart with a chuckle. "Oh Teggy, stop it! You're making her blush!"
Laughing, the group clambered on board as the twin engines whinnied back into life under Tecna's command, but just as Tegryn set foot onto the gangway, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see Polli staring up at him with big, baleful, tear-filled eyes - a truly heart-melting sight at any time.
"Aww Polli, what's the matter? I won't be gone long."
Polli fluttered up and whispered in his ear.
"You're not the only one who's worried. But don't you worry, okay? We'll all be back, safe and sound, by the end of the day - I just know it."
Polli shook her head and let out a slow, sad "Eeep". Tegryn closed his eyes and smiled as he gently held her to his chest and stroked her head slowly.
"There's just no lying to you, is there babe?" he whispered. "I might not be able to promise that we'll all come home safe, but I can promise we'll all look out for each other and get Will out of there, and we'll do our best to come back in one piece. Is that alright?"
Polli smiled as hard as she could, as if to say "Well, I suppose that'll do", before giving Tegryn one of her little pixie kisses on the end of his nose, a kiss that he was only to happy to return before climbing on board to join the others. He turned around and gave her a little wave goodbye as the door closed shut behind him.
"Man, that was like the sweetest thing ever." said Musa as she snuggled up to her main man to try and comfort him.
"I can't believe how close you and Polli are," Irma added as she gently hooked a hand around his arm. "The guys were telling us about the bonds fairies have with pixies at the sleepover, but your bond must be the strongest of the lot... and you ain't even a fairy!"
"Yeah," Tegryn laughed. "She's my little hero alright! If it weren't for her, me and Musa might not still be together. Ah well - we're about to take off, so I s'pose we'd better find our seats... ah!" He stopped abruptly as they entered the main cabin. "So... standing room only?"
"Yes, I'm sorry about this," Tecna apologised. "This ship's just a two-seater. I guess Timmy intended this for just him and... ahem... anyway, um.. shall we get going?" she stammered, her face quickly turning bright pink again.
"We need to sort out who gets the second seat first!" Stella protested. "Obviously Tecna gets the pilot's chair, and, seeing as I'm a princess..."
"No way! Our bud Ranee gets the seat!" Mimi said cheekily as she and her sister quickly ushered a slightly bemused Taranee into the empty chair at the front of the small cabin.
"Yep! Ranee calls shotgun!" Nini added. "You comfy there gal?"
Taranee shifted uneasily. "I guess, but, well, you see... I mean, this is my first time in a spaceship. Are you sure...?"
"Hey, it's cool. Tecna can fly this thing with her eyes closed!" Mimi answered.
"Yeah, she's a Zenith fairy, and Zenith fairies and techno-stuff are tight like this," said Nini, crossing two fingers together in front of her to show just how close Tecna and the ship were connected.
"Yes, but... I'm kinda... afraid."
"Don't worry Taranee, you won't feel a thing." Tecna said reassuringly. "In fact, we took off half a minute ago!"
"What!?" Taranee gasped in disbelief as she peered out of the window. Sure enough, the forest surrounding Alfea was whizzing quickly underneath them as they sped towards their destination. "Wow! That was smooth."
"Told ya she was good!" Nini grinned.
"Yeah, now let's just kick back and enjoy the ride." said Mimi.
However, Mimi's plans for a little chill-out session were rudely interrupted by a intermittent buzzer which had suddenly blared out from the ship's control panel.
"What is it Tec?" Bloom asked.
"I don't know... something's coming in fast at twelve o'clock."
Tegryn chuckled childishly as he looked at his wristwatch. "Oh that's okay - that gives us half an hour!"
A huge groan rang through the cabin.
"Oh man! Teggy, that was awful!" Musa complained as she held her head in her hand.
"Yeah, not to mention old - I heard that one in kindergarten!" Cornelia added. "In fact, it's so old Tutenkhamun has a copyright on it!"
"Ahem! I hate to break up this 'comedy' hour, but we have a visual." Tecna said as she punched some commands into the control panel, bringing up a picture of a large dark figure speeded towards them.
"Ack! It's that thing!" cried Irma. "The one that took Will!"
"And it's coming straight for us! Hold tight!"
A dark flash suddenly appeared, hurtling past the side of the ship and shaking it violently as it struck. A urgent klaxon immediately sounded, accompanied by a loud creaking sound followed by a large bang that rattled everyone on board.
"We've lost our starboard engine!" Tecna yelled as she fought to regain control of the ship.
"Is there any way you can get it back on-line?" asked Bloom.
Tecna shook her head. "No. We've LOST our starboard engine... literally. It's about a mile behind us now."
Just as she thought things couldn't get any worse, they got worse as the control panel's buzzer sounded again in time with a small flashing dot that reappeared on the scanner.
"It's coming in from behind us. I get the nasty feeling it's targetting our other engine. Brace yourselves, this is gonna get bumpy!"
Tecna's prediction came sadly true as the ship was rocked by another huge blow, their worst fears confirmed by the sight of their port engine plummeting in flames into the dense forest below. Slowly, the ship's nose began to dip as it started on its own death-dive.
"We've got to level out!" Tecna said as she jabbed frantically at the buttons. Eventually, the ship's front manoeuvring thruster burst into life. "This isn't enough!" she moaned as the ship's angle continued to steepen.
"Maybe I can help!" Cornelia said, closing her eyes and focusing her mind. Her face started to strain as she concentrated her efforts.
"Of course! Telekinesis!" Tegryn exclaimed as he took Cornelia's hand. "If we can just combine our powers..."
Tegryn gritted his teeth as he and Cornelia poured every ounce of power into their task. Almost instantly, the stricken ship started to level out, much to relief of everyone on board.
"Okay Corny, can you hold this thing level on your own?" he asked her.
"Yes, just about. Why?"
"We still to land in one piece."
"But how? It's all forest out there! We'll get smashed to pieces!" Bloom cried.
"Not if you're helping me. You know the Griselda Bubble, don't you?"
"Yes, but you don't know it... do you?"
"Yep. I get the feeling those extra classes I took with Grizzly last year are gonna prove really useful right now... but it's gonna have to be a double effort. You ready?"
"Ready!" Bloom held out her hands, closely followed by Tegryn. With a similtaneous cry of "Griselda Bubble!", the inside of the ship was filled with a shimmering orange field... and not a moment too soon, for at that very moment the ship started ploughing its way through the trees, the loud scrapes and scratches almost sounding like cries of pain as it ripped its way through the foliage at lightning speed. For what seemed like an eternity, the ship smashed through the thick trunks of the forest residents as though they were nothing more than matchsticks.
"Argh! I can't... hold this much longer!" Bloom grunted under the immense strain as the ship was buffeted on all sides, crashing and screeching as it torn apart.
Eventually they touched down, plunging hard and ploughing a gigantic furrow into the soft ground as it went while the passengers huddled together, some of them screaming, all them them scared out of their skins as their ride got ripped to shreds around them.
And then... silence.
Thank goodness. They had stopped.
What was left of the ship's skeleton lay twisted and smouldering, with the terrified girls huddled inside around Bloom and Tegryn, who released their grip on the bubble that had kept them alive. The pair slumped to their knees, exhausted for their efforts but glad that their plan had worked insofar that they were all more or less in one piece. Tegryn hugged Musa tightly as they helped each other up, while Bloom looked around - they had landed in a clearing, circled on three sides by a line of high cliffs. She noticed Hay Lin laid flat out on the floor, blinking her eyes blearily.
"Hay Lin? Are you okay?" she said softly as she rushed over.
"Oh man," Hay Lin gasped breathlessly as she looked up at Bloom. "Remind me not to fly with that airline again. The food was lousy and the ride was terrible!"
But then she gasped once more, and her eyes opened wide in fright. As she was talking to Bloom, she had noticed something in the sky behind her - it was bright, and distant... and getting closer a little too quickly for her liking.
"INCOMING!" she yelled, pointing upwards.
Everyone looked up, and saw instantly what had got her in such a flap - an immense ball of fire with what seemed to be a small dark spot in the centre was hurtling down towards them at breakneck speed. Panic-stricken, they fled as quickly as they could as the fireball hammered into the ground with earth-shattering force, the resultant blast scattering the group over a wide area and throwing up a choking cloud of dust up into the air.
Tegryn groaned and cursed under his breath, coughing slightly as he drew in a lungful of the thick haze. He didn't know what annoyed him more - the fact that this 'thing' had put all of his friends in very real danger, or the fact that it had caused him to bang his already tender head hard on the ground for the second time in fifteen minutes. At least Musa was safe - he was still clutching her tight to his chest, and he could see she was fully awake. Next to them, Irma was sprawled out across his legs. She groaned as she slowly picked herself up, shaking her head.
All around him, he could make out the shapes of his friends, some standing, some sitting, some walking around asking after each other... however, it was something else that caught his eye, and it was none too pleasant. As he strained his eyes, he could just make out the faint form of a large figure emerging in the centre of the dirty mist, accompanied by a low, sinister laughter that chilled all to the bone.
"Heh heh heh heh... so many targets to choose from..."