Chapter Six

Triton led us out the back of the shanty to see the Skyquod. The others set Stork, still in his strange, stiff position, down on some crates set against the saloon wall. Poor guy just lay there with his mouth hanging open and green drool making a puddle on the crate.

I shook my head in pity.

Triton pulled one of the of controls and a crane above us began to pull on something hanging below. We all waited with eagerness as the ship was pulled up above the dock.

Piper was clenching her fists in enthusiasm while Finn crossed his arms. I had my hands on my hips, watching excitedly. The way Triton described it, the thing was supposed to be a real beauty, shaped like a ship.

But, when I saw the ship, my expression fell. Finn covered his eyes with his hand whilst groaning.

It was… a piece of junk. Rustic and wrecked with huge gashes piercing her, the Skyquod didn't look like it could fly, let alone run. Even as we stared at her, one of the railings fell off.

Finn was the first to say something. "Is that a ship or a shipwreck?" He asked. I saw Piper jab Finn in the ribs for the comment.

Junko was excited though, being the mechanic that he was. "That's a crystal induction turbine." He put his hands on it, studying the hunk of metal closely. "This must've been a real beauty."

I knew that Junko knew what he was talking about.

"Crystal induction turbine?" Stork asked. I saw him shove past Finn and Piper and run up to the ship. He had this crazed smile on his face. The Merb jumped onto the ship "Duel-Action Tiller!" He exclaimed. Stork jumped down to get a good look at the turbine and its mechanical jib. "Omni-Directional jib!" He gasped in admiration. He then stepped back, throwing up his arms in admiration. "It be perfect!" He said, looking at us. His eye twitched, making him look crazy.

Okay. This was definitely not normal, even for Stork, it's not normal. However, this is the closest we've gotten to Stork being as normal as he gets since the Leviathan stole our Condor. I was glad for that.

"Stork?" I asked. "You okay? We were pretty worried about-"

"I be more than okay!" He shouted in a pirate accent while jabbing a finger to me. I was shocked to say the least. He put his arm around my shoulders. "I be on a quest for the beastie that took me ship and me home!"

After that, he was off towards the Skyquod.

I bit back a laugh but the smile couldn't be fought. "So," I said, turning to Piper. "Stage three is delusions, then?"

Piper smiled. "Of grandeur," She said, holding out her hands.

Finn pointed to himself with his thumbs. "I call dibs on the grapple blaster!" He shouted, forming his signature "hand guns," as Alice liked to call them as a joke.

Piper

I gave Finn an annoyed glare as he ran toward the ship. Aerrow just gave me an amused glance, to which I shook my head.

"Yaw!" I heard Stork shout as I wandered around the ship. "I'll chase him around the Terra of Thorns." I found him standing on a white seat in a room and bit my lip. "Round the Black Gorge," At this, he put his foot on the lever beside it. "Round Perdition's flame ere I give him up!"

"Ah, Stork," I finally whispered, shielding my mouth with one of my hands. "I think that's the bathroom."

At that point, the lever Stork had his foot on fell down and the toilet flushed. "Oh." He sighed before deflating.

I saw Junko picking up on of the crystal-tipped harpoons lying beside the blaster. I walked up to him, holding my bad of Paralyzer stones.

"I bet I can give these things a little extra kick!" I then took out one of my stones and stuck it in the harpoon. It glowed as it clicked into place.

Junko smiled broadly at the even better weapon then stuck the harpoon into the revolver on the blaster. Finn spun the revolver around and set the harpoon in place, ready to be shot.

Triton

I watched as the children got excited over the heap of metal. The Sky Knight was watching with pride, his arms crossed, as his squadron went to work without his direction.

"That's, uh, quite the crew you've got," I said, smiling

"They're the best." The red haired lad said. He turned to me with a smile. "What about you? The invitation's still open."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Nay, lad. This…this be your quest now. Go hook that big fish!" I said, swinging my fist for encouragement. "Find your friends!" I then placed my hand on my chest and patted the lad on the back. "For me brother."

The lad nodded, disappointed but understood. He made his way to the ship, looking like a true commander.

"Good huntin' to yet," I said, though I knew he couldn't hear me.

Alice

Radarr and I were running as fast as we could while the Zora (Yes! I've dubbed the race I cannot identify as a Zora! Suck it!) kept chasing us. He had his arms outstretched as he ran.

"Ah! Come 'ere, you weasel!"

This dude wanted to eat Radarr! I doubt Aerrow would be happy about that.

I looked over at Radarr when he churred. He had an idea. I widened my eyes when I realized his plan.

"Ya sure?" He nodded. "Okay."

We stopped behind one of the tongue's hairs. Yeah. Believe it or not, I get swallowed by a monster and I worry about the survivor in here trying to…well, survive. Not bad for a girl, if I say so. Course, I could live without the smell.

With a cry, the hermit leaped at us but we jumped out of the way and the hermit landed on his belly. With a squawk, Radarr jumped on top of the man, knocking the breath out of him and we darted the opposite direction. We didn't get very far before we slipped on saliva.

I landed on my back. "Bleh!" I said, raising my hand to see that the was weird goo all over it. Radarr made an equally disgusted squawk.

Behind me, I heard huffing and puffing. I looked over to see the Zora walking this time with his arms reaching out. "We ain't had nothing but cloud krill for years!" he shouted.

We? Who's we?

I sat up, trying to gather myself, when the sound of groans came low and simultaneously.

"Huh?" I looked around me as Radarr squawked in horror. There were human men surrounding us. Five. Three to our right and two to our right. They were all acting zombie like as they approached slowly with groans of "Meat!" escaping their lips.

I held Radarr close to me, which he didn't object to. "I'm a Resident Evil fan as much as the next girl but this is ridiculous!" I said, mostly to myself.

Radarr whimpered in my ear. This day just keeps getting better and better.

Aerrow

"Cinch up the windless!" Stork shouted, taking the bubble pipe he randomly had out of his mouth. "Swivel yon turnbuckles!" He then laughing dopily and fell against the helm like a drunk.

Then again, nothing's exactly making sense with Stork anymore considering this is an airship, not a sailing ship, and he was commanding it like it was.

"Uh, guys?" Finn said. "Something comin' up from below."

Stork looked at the sonar next to him as I held onto the railing. I did not like this ship!

"It's big!" Finn said nervously.

Leviathan.

"Prepare for battle!" I shouted, realizing what it was. Any minute now, we'd save Radarr, Alice, and the Condor!

Stork glared ahead as did I. C'mon, bastard. Come out and play.

A dark form rose from the cloud sea and dove back down. It was jumping in and out of the clouds as it came closer. I heard the bubbles coming out of Stork's pipe. That (Sort of) eased my anxiousness.

Suddenly, the dark form went straight through us. Finn groaned.

"Eh!" I groaned, equally disgusted. Just…

"Cloud krill!" Piper exclaimed in disgust.

Junko was the only one enjoying them. Figures.

The wallop dumped his potent vinegar in the hand with cloud krill and ate the live! Junko, mouth still full, spotted something and tried to say something.

Stork, however, leaned down and smacked Junko in the back of the head. Poor guy started to choke. I felt sorry for him. Stork, on the other hand, did not.

"A sailor never speaks with his mouth full," He scolded Junko as he took the Wallop's vinegar.

Junko finally swallowed and could breathe but was nervous as he spoke. "Uh…Thar she blows?" He pointed behind us as he spoke.

I looked to see what it was. There was more cloud krill jumping in and out of the clouds. On the third leap up, a huge mouth appeared out of the clouds and swallowed the little creatures.

The Leviathan then looked over at the Skyquod as if it were facing an old rival. It let out a loud, deafening bawl.

I actually got goose bumps from this thing. In the mouth, I saw the Condor on the back of its tongue, unscathed. Almost there, guys.

The beast came right for us before Stork sped the ship away. He glanced over his shoulder at the beast.

"Yield ye no quarter!" He shouted, holding up a hand.

"What he said!" I ordered the rest of the team. With that, Piper, Junko, and all were off the runway and heading straight for the beast.

AAAAAHHH! Cliff-hanger! I've finally found a great cliff hanger (Other than Ch. 2 when Alice thought she was gonna die when she and Aerrow went over the cliff) BUT THIS IS A GREAT ONE! I know that the Zora thing was random but that's exactly how I thought of those Aquinos people. I think that's what they're called.

Aerrow: So is it my turn?

Me: Maaaayyybeee...

Aerrow: *Victory smile* Alanis Cross does not own Storm Hawks. Remember, if she did, she wouldn't leave you in a cliff hanger like Nerd Corps (The actual owners) did in season 2. She does, however, own Alice and the idea of AIA.

Me: *Waves to you* Thanks for reading! Please review!

4/27/2011: Today is my ACT! Wish me luck!