S1-116
World of mountains

6:43 PM
03/19/3272

Yionus's moon, Zuter - IMC testing site Echo-918
Chamber 137

Music
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Briefing Room & Ambience Theme

"This looks like a very bizarre Dimension Key, but we should at least give it a try." With that said, Michael brought the Key to the machine's arch. The portal opened, revealing a strange new world. "Let's see what's on the other side. Spyglass, stay here and monitor the machine. Everyone else, on me."

Spyglass went over to the console, but a Marvin stepped in front of him. "Accompany them. I will monitor the World Gate." The Marvin said.

"The World Gate... That sounds like a good name for my machine. I like it." Michael was in agreement. "Alright, Spyglass. C'mon."

Dimension 4
UNKNOWN

Music
Super Mario Galaxy - Space Junk Road

"OK, this place looks a bit odd."

Jenny's Ghost was holding her weapons while she looked over the area. "{There's no Light here either. Another world in which the Traveler never existed.}"

"The Traveler never existed here?" Jenny didn't seem surprised. "Well, it can't be everywhere."

"You're right about that." Hayden-10 replied.

"What's that?" Tanner-21 saw something in the distance.

Hayden-10 looked through the Marksman Sights of his Queenbreakers' Bow, seeing a few motorcycle-like vehicles. "Don't know, but they're coming right at us!"

Music
none

The motorcycle-like vehicles quickly reached their location as Michael closed the portal, an arch having been placed beforehand to find their way back. It looked like there were a few regular human beings, as well as two unusual humanoid creatures.

"Identify yourselves!" Michael ordered, pulling out his Spitfire.

The redhead at the front spoke up. "The name's Aerrow. That's Finn, Junko, Piper, and Radarr, my co-pilot."

"What was that weird energy vortex before?" Finn asked.

"That must be the portal opened by this Dimension Key." Michael stated.

"Dimension Key? What sort of crystal is it made of?" Piper questioned.

"Crystal? What? No, it's made of a metallic alloy infused with special properties."

"What sort of vehicles are those?" Samus asked.

"These are our Skimmers, designed for travel on land and in the sky." Aerrow replied.

"I get that they can travel on land, since they resemble motorcycles, although those are thinner than these 'Skimmers'."Michael stated. "But I don't get how they can travel through the air."

"How 'bout I show you?" Finn drove his Skimmer over the edge, fell into the abyss below, and came back up, his vehicle having seemingly transformed.

"I gotta get me one of those..." Mark-18 looked on in awe.

"Huh. You like our rides? Why not join the Storm Hawks?" Aerrow offered.

"The what?" Michael had never heard of them.

Piper spoke up. "Storm Hawks. We protect Atmos from the evil Cyclonians."

"Planetary designation: Atmos. That would explain the dissimilarities with Earth."

"Uh... We... aren't really official." Junko replied.

Aerrow took on a serious look. "The Sky Knight Counsel doesn't recognize us as an official squadron, but we still keep to our mission."

"Uh... Aerrow?" Finn spoke up. "That living skeleton in the cloak is kinda scarin' me."

"Don't worry about the Shadow. He's cool." Michael reassured him.

The Shadow was intrigued already. "Storm Hawks, huh? Nice."

"How about you come with us back to the Condor so you can fill us all in?" The Storm Hawks leader offered.

"The what?"

A massive flying carrier came in, but it wasn't the largest flying vehicle Michael has ever seen. "This is the Condor, the Storm Hawks carrier, built by the original Storm Hawks years ago." Aerrow explained. On the walkway in front of the bridge was a green-skinned humanoid creature with... a less than pleasant facial appearance. "Stork, glad you could join the party!" Aerrow called out.

"With an anomaly like that, I just didn't know what to do!"

7:21 PM
03/19/3272

Dimension 4
Planet Atmos - Far Side
Storm Hawks Condor

Music
Metroid: Other M - Sector 1 Main Theme

After getting onboard the Condor, The Storm Hawks and City Hawk 723 exchanged information, and there was a lot of it. "Well, that's not what I expected to hear."

"Yeah, your data isn't what you'd hear every day either, Aerrow." Michael replied. Everyone was still processing everything that's been shared.

"You grew up into a soldier and changed a corrupt corporation from the inside? Dude, that is wicked cool!" Finn exclaimed.

"I'm still not sure about the Shadow. I know he betrayed this dark alien god that created him, but was that just some sort of trick?"

"If it was, I would know, Piper. The Shadow and I are eternally linked." Michael and the Shadow showed them their halves of the Yin Yang Switch as evidence.

"Yin and yang. You two are opposites, but with the same view on things." Aerrow understood the symbol.

"That's right." The Shadow nodded.

"We have a plan to bring down Cyclonis."

"Whoa! Really?! What is it?" Finn was excited to hear what Spyglass had in mind.

"A Titan's services will be most beneficial to our success."

7:37 PM
03/19/3272

Dimension 4
Planet Atmos - Far Side
Unnamed Terra

Music
none

City Hawk 723 returned to the new dimension. Thankfully, the testing site was large enough to allow a Titan to walk around in it, and the frame around the portal was expandable, enlarging the rift to allow a Titan to cross over with them. A Cloak Drone was also brought along.

"OK, I wasn't expecting them to be this big!" Aerrow exclaimed.

"This is Jeeves, my Atlas-class Titan. Jeeves, these are the Storm Hawks, the heroes of this dimension."

"[It's an honor to meet others who fight for good. I am Charlie-Zulu Nine-Two-Four-Seven, an Atlas-class Titan of the IMC, but you can call me Jeeves.]"

"Oh, this is bad! Massive energy surge approaching our location!" Stork was freaking out. Hayden-10 used his Queenbreakers' Bow's Marksman Sights to look around, seeing nothing at first. "Um... Hayden, it's..." Stork grabbed the Exo's Wire Rifle and repositioned it the other way. "...that way."

Hayden-10 then spotted something. "Yeah, that looks like trouble."

Michael activated the Cloak Drone, then released it as the flying device hovered above Jeeves, rendering the Titan invisible.

A strange ball of violet energy crashed into the ground ahead of them, with a glowing individual standing in the center of the crater. "It's Master Cyclonis!" Aerrow exclaimed.

"Well now. I didn't think anyone actually lived out here." Before anything could be said or done, Jeeves grabbed Cyclonis unseen. "What in Atmos-?! What's going on?!"

"[Protocol 2: Uphold the Mission. We must bring you down, Master Cyclonis.]" Cyclonis tried using crystal energy to blast her way out of the Titan's grip, but the futuristic armor and shielding tech were too strong. There was nothing she could do.

"What do we do now?" Samus wondered.

"She will be brought back to Terra Atmosia, and she will stand trial for her crimes against all of Atmos." Aerrow stated.

"Actually..." Everyone looked at the Shadow, who was now standing on Jeeves's arm; the one that was holding Cyclonis.

Music
Super Paper Mario - River Twygz Bed

He was looking directly into her eyes, and she was shuddering in what seemed like pure fear. "I have an idea of what we can do with her." The Shadow chuckled, watching as Taken residue slowly became visible on the other side of the metaphoric windows to the soul.

"For some reason, I'm actually worried about Cyclonis now." Aerrow shuddered.

"Well, the Shadow now commands the Dreadnaught Oryx left within the rings of Saturn, and the place seems to have some strange dimensional properties." Michael briefly explained.

"Make her pay, dudes." Finn stated, giving the Fireteam a thumbs-up.

7:52 PM
03/19/3272

The Dreadnaught
The Hanging Crypts

With Cyclonis dragged through the portal, and her only way back to Atmos forever out of her reach, the Shadow brought her to a sector deep within the Asylum. City Hawk 723 and the Storm Hawks were there to watch the Shadow's plan.

The two were standing over a massive pit that led beyond the Dreadnaught's depths and into an Ascendant Plane pocket, filled with the wails and screeches of waiting Taken. It sounded like Hell... or something worse. "Any parting words?" The Shadow asked, holding Cyclonis over the edge of the pit.

"Please, don't... don't do this! I'll make it up to Atmos! I will, I swear! Just please, DON'T SEND ME DOWN THERE! I BEG OF YOU!"

"You should have thought of that when leadership of Cyclonia was passed on to you." With that, the Shadow dropped Cyclonis, her screams echoed as she fell into the pit, fading into silence.

Music
Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded - Castle Oblivion

"To be honest, I wouldn't have wished that on her, even if there was the possibility of her being sentenced to death."

The Shadow had overheard Aerrow's statement. "Death? Heh heh... Death is literally my name!"

The Storm Hawks said their farewells and headed back to their dimension, now that Cyclonis was gone for good.

OK, I don't know what sort of demonic thoughts were going through my head. I wrote the Shadow. He's just a fanfiction character... or maybe... maybe he's more than that.

Maybe he's...

...real.

...

...

...

Nah.

See you next time, but this watch doesn't tell time.