#storm hawks Finn | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

malarkay · 1 year ago

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Too Real Is This Feeling of Make-Believe

When the Storm Hawks intercept a transmission claiming that Master Cyclonis is going to Terra Neon, they assume the worst. Determined to stop her before she can carry out any nefarious plans, they head straight for the terra. But things go differently than how anyone had planned.

“Remind me again why I agreed to this,” Master Cyclonis prompted, and Ace suppressed a sigh as he took her by the shoulders and turned her around to face the mirror again.

“Hold still,” he told her, just forceful enough to gain her compliance without sounding too commanding, which ran the risk of earning her ire. He was well-versed in the art of wrangling his mercurial empress. Combing her hair out of her eyes with his fingers, he deftly began to work it into a single Galean braid. “You agreed because you wisely recognize that you need a day off to decompress from all the stress you've been under lately.”

He’d been trying to get her to take a vacation for the past month and a half, ever since he’d endured a tirade from a fed-up Ravess who declared that working for Cyclonis was becoming, quote, a fucking nightmare. Something had to give if they didn't want a mutiny on their hands. He’d begun by suggesting two weeks on Tropica, which she rejected outright. He hadn't had any luck getting her to agree to take a week off, either. Finally, she had agreed to one day off. It was better than nothing. He’d been quick to suggest Terra Neon. She was the perfect age for it, and the terra provided the most bang for your buck.

A disgruntled hum was her only response. She was clearly second-guessing her decision. Finishing with her hair, he handed her her Chroma Crystal necklace. She slipped it on, tucking it under her shirt, and they both took a moment to gaze into the mirror, studying the effect. Her braided hair was now a sandy brown, her eyes a light blue that matched the shirt she wore under a royal blue zippered hoodie. She’d ditched the black nail polish and had opted for a thinner, subtler eyeliner.

“Your own grandmother wouldn't recognize you,” he assured her as she moved to gather the rest of her things into a black backpack: a telescopic staff in case she needed to defend herself, an Oblivion Crystal in case she really needed to defend herself, and a Warp Crystal in case she needed to make a quick getaway. More cash than she could possibly spend in a day was tucked into a zippered pocket hidden inside her hoodie. “You’ll be shadowed the whole time by undercover Talons, and I’ll be here making sure the place doesn't burn down in your absence. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I'm not worried,” she told him.

“Voice.”

She rolled her eyes with a sigh before clearing her throat. “I’m not worried,” she repeated in a lighter, much less intimidating tone.

Satisfied that she looked and sounded like any other fifteen-year-old kid and not like one of the most hated and feared people in all of Atmos, he told her he hoped she had fun today and sent her on her way.

~*~*~

The Storm Hawks were on their way to Terra Neon, and Finn couldn't be happier, even if they were technically on a mission. They'd intercepted an encrypted Cyclonian transmission earlier. Piper had managed to partially decrypt it, unscrambling it just enough to learn that Master Cyclonis herself was supposedly going to be on the terra today. They didn't know when or why, but as Aerrow had said, she couldn't be up to anything good. Their job was to find her, figure out what her intentions were, and ultimately stop her from carrying out her plans.

They would have to be sneaky about it. If Cyclonis caught on that they were after her, she could bail, coming back later to finish what she started when they weren't around to stop her. Or she might decide to stay and fight, which could lead to innocent people getting hurt. They couldn't risk that, so they'd have to catch her by surprise. That meant disguises, but Piper only had three Chroma Crystals. It was decided that he, Piper, and Aerrow would be the ones to search the terra while Stork, Junko and Radarr would remain aboard the Condor to monitor the radio for any more Cyclonian chatter. To cover more ground, they were going to split up. Finn rubbed his hands in anticipation. This was going to be great! Without Piper breathing down his neck, he didn't see why his search couldn't include going on a ride or two. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

They changed into civilian clothes as they approached the terra, him tossing on a black leather jacket over a dark green t-shirt before raiding his piggy bank for spending money. Meeting back up with the others, he accepted his Chroma Crystal, making sure it was securely tucked into one of his pockets.

Crossing his eyes, he looked up at his hair to see what colour it had turned, frowning when he saw that it was black. He looked over at the other two, Aerrow with his bright blue hair and Piper with her pink hair, and huffed. “Aww man, why’d I have to get the boring hair? Do my eyes look cool, at least?’

“These crystals aren't the best quality,” Piper admitted, sounding a little embarrassed. “Your eyes didn't change colour.”

He looked at the other two closer to see that their eyes hadn't changed, either. That made him feel a little better. Not enough to stop his disappointed whine, though.

“You look fine,” Junko reassured him, messing with his hair a little to style it differently. “There, no one’s gonna recognize you now.”

“Thanks, Junko,” he smiled, making a mental note to try to win his best friend the biggest teddy bear he could find.

Piper gave him one of her knowing looks like she could read his mind. “Just remember, you're here to find Cyclonis, not to goof off or chase girls.”

“Cyclonis is a girl,” he pointed out, and Piper rolled her eyes so hard he was surprised she didn't hurt herself.

“You know what I mean!”

“Yeah, yeah.” He crossed his arms. “I get it. We have a job to do,” he said, showing the others that he understood the assignment.

“Okay, so here's the plan,” Aerrow said. “We’ll keep in touch through our earpieces. If you see her, don't engage. Let the rest of us know, and follow her until we can get to you. Our weapons are too conspicuous, so we’ll leave them here. Junko and Radarr can bring them to us once we’ve found her, and we’ll go from there. Got it?”

They all agreed, and, at last, it was time to have some fun.

~*~*~

Have fun, Ace had told her, and she fully intended to meet that challenge. It would just take a little planning and strategy first. Armed with one of the cutesy little maps they handed out at the park gates, she claimed an empty bench and started plotting out which rides and attractions she wanted to check out, meticulously charting the most efficient route between them so that she didn't waste any time.

Once her day was planned, she got up and headed toward her first stop. She’d almost made it to her destination when she felt someone slip their arm around her shoulders and loudly say, “There you are! I've been looking all over for you!” She stiffened and stopped walking, only to have her overly friendly assailant prompt her to keep moving as he whispered, “Just play along. You've got someone following you.”

Ah. So a would-be rescuer, not an assailant. She glanced over her shoulder just long enough to catch sight of one of her plain-clothed Talons in the crowd before the boy with his arm still wrapped around her said, “Don't look! We don't want him to know we’re onto him.”

She decided to play along. The sooner this was over with, the sooner she could go about her day. So she let him lead her through a turn or two. He’d sneak a glance toward their shadow every time they changed directions. After a few minutes of that, she gestured behind her back, ordering the Talon to withdraw. It worked. Once he noticed they were no longer being followed, her rescuer relaxed, letting his arm drop.

“That was one scary-looking dude,” he said as he shuffled to a stop. “I’m glad we lost him.”

She couldn't disagree with his assessment. That particular Talon was a very large, intimidating man. She wasn't sure what Ace had been thinking with that pick. If she were ever forced to take another day off, she'd be sure to choose more inconspicuous-looking Talons as security.

“Thanks for looking out for me,” she said, finally able to get a good look at him. He was about her age, with bright blue eyes and tousled black hair. No taller than she was, and slightly built, he had to have been either very brave or very stupid to think that he could have done anything to stop the behemoth of a Talon from hurting them if that was his goal. Probably both. Surprisingly, it wasn't the suspicion that he was an idiot that bothered her. It was that there was something vaguely familiar about him, but she couldn't quite pinpoint what.

He gave her a grin that was clearly meant to be flirtatious, which made the feeling even more pronounced. Why was he so familiar? This was really going to bug her until she could figure out who he reminded her of. “Well,” he drawled, “if you really want to thank me, we could hang out for a little while. Go on a couple of rides, maybe have lunch together later?”

“No.”

He wilted at her flat rejection. She almost felt bad.

“How about one ride?” he suggested, looking so hopeful that the second no she had prepared died in her throat. She sighed.

“Fine. One ride.” She looked around to figure out where they were, then consulted her map. “The StarFlyer’s that way,” she said, pointing. “That's where I was going first.”

“The StarFlyer?” he said, making a face. “That's for babies!”

“No, it's not,” she said, defending the swing ride. It may not be the most thrilling ride in the park, but anything that dangled you a hundred and thirty-five meters into the air and then spun you around at seventy-five kilometres per hour was hardly what she'd call a ride for babies.

“Yeah, it is,” he said dismissively. “I wanna go on that!” he said, pointing to the giant roller coaster off in the distance.

She looked back down at her map. Not only was it out of their way, but it wasn't even on the list of rides she wanted to go on. She'd overheard that it was the most popular ride on the terra and that the lines were always long. She didn't want to wait in a long line.

“We’re going on the StarFlyer,” she told him. “Take it or leave it.”

“Ohhh, I get it. You’re scared,” he said obnoxiously.

“What? No.”

“Why else would you say no to the best ride on the whole terra?”

“Because, in the time it will take us to get through that line, we could have gone on three other rides.”

“We?” he grinned, stopping just short of waggling his eyebrows.

She narrowed her eyes at him but otherwise ignored his comment. “It’s an inefficient use of our time.”

“You sound just like one of my other friends,” he groaned.

“Well, your friend sounds like they have a good head on their shoulders. Look,” she said, holding out her map, ready to explain her carefully laid plans in detail. He took one look at the map and the little annotations she had made in the margins and shuddered. Snatching the map away from her, he crumpled it up and tossed it into the nearest garbage bin.

“That took me an hour!”

“And in that hour, you could have gone on the roller coaster instead! Listen, you can’t plan a day at Terra Neon. You have to feel a day at Terra Neon.”

“I feel,” she drawled out emphatically, “like that sounded better in your head.”

He scoffed. “I’m going on the roller coaster,” he said and started walking. When she didn’t follow immediately, he stopped and turned around. “You coming or not?”

With a sigh, she followed. “Don’t look so smug,” she told him when she caught his satisfied little smirk. “I agreed to go on one ride with you. I’m just keeping that promise.”

“Uh-huh,” he said as they walked, still grinning. “So, what’s your name, anyway? I’m Fi…” his words trailed off in a cough, and he thumped himself on the chest a couple of times before continuing. “Felix,” he finished.

Names. Right. She hadn’t thought she’d need a name when she came here, not expecting to pick up company. She considered using Lark but dismissed that idea. She didn’t like how things had ended the last time she gave someone that name. She’d have to come up with something else. It didn’t take long for one to bubble up from the darkest depths of her subconscious, and she blurted it out without thinking. “Andy,” she said, and nearly winced. When she was younger, and her grandmother was still alive, there was a boy whose father was governor of Gale for a few years until his assassination. She couldn’t remember his or his father’s name, now. It wasn’t important. What was important was that he insisted on butchering her name whenever she saw him. Ignoring her repeated requests that he refer to her by her preferred middle name, her surname, or her title, he had instead glommed onto her hated first name and then managed to make it even worse by shortening it. Thus, Calandra had become Andy. Ugh. Well, there was no taking it back now. For as long as she was stuck with Felix, she was stuck with this stupid name.

“Andy,” he said, smiling over at her. “I like it.”

~*~*~

It turned out Andy was even more impatient than he was when standing in lines. While he bounced on the balls of his feet as they slowly inched their way forward, hardly able to contain his excitement, she stood with her arms crossed, scowling, radiating major stormcloud energy.

Maybe he shouldn't have insisted on the roller coaster after all. She was definitely going to ditch him the moment the ride was over. He was going to blow his chances with a cute girl again!

‘You could try talking to her,’ an exasperated voice in his head told him. It sounded suspiciously like Piper. Duh! Of course, he should talk to her! It would distract her from the wait.

So he asked her where she was from. After a moment’s hesitation, she told him she was from Terra Greemus.

“Cool, what's it like there? I've never been.”

There was another pause before she answered breezily, “Oh, you know….”

He didn't know, but he laughed like he did. “Oh yeah. Totally.”

“What about you?”

It only took him a split second to come up with an answer. Piper would be proud of his quick thinking. “Terra Rex,” he told her. A part of him felt bad about lying to her, but he had to keep up the undercover act. If Cyclonis was around here somewhere, there could be other Cyclonians around, too, and he couldn't afford to have any of them overhear who he really was. It could ruin the whole operation.

“Huh. For some reason, I always thought everyone from Terra Rex was blond.”

Well yeah, he thought so, too. That's why he…crap! His hair wasn't blond! It was fine; he could salvage this. He could if his mind hadn't gone completely blank, anyway. Come on, man, say something! Anything! “That's racist!”

She stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. After a second, he started laughing, too, his face burning. “It's not racist,” she insisted between bouts of laughter. “A stereotype, maybe.” Getting her laughter under control, she said, “It was stupid of me to believe that everyone from an entire terra would have the same hair colour, now that I think about it. Sorry.”

“It's okay. I get that a lot.”

The conversation became easier after that. He learned that she was an only child and that it fell on her to take over the family business. When he had asked what kind of business it was, she had waved a dismissive hand. “Logistics. Boring stuff. I don't really want to talk about it.” Fair enough, he didn't really want to talk about boring stuff, either.

He told her he had three brothers, a sister, and a very smart dog. That made her smile, but it was kind of a sad smile. She'd always wondered what it was like to have siblings, she told him. And a pet. She claimed she didn't have time to take care of a pet, though. He suggested a cat. Cats were supposed to be pretty easy, weren't they? She shrugged. “Maybe someday.”

She asked him what his plans for the future were, and it was his turn to shrug. He couldn't tell her that he was already part of a Sky Knight squadron. “I dunno. I like helping people. Maybe something that lets me do that.”

She grinned and asked him if he had ever considered trying to join the Rex Guardians. He laughed outright at that. “Join those stuck up windbags? Dude, not on your life!”

That seemed to amuse her more than anything else he'd said.

At last, they got to the front of the line, and soon enough, they were in the front car. “Best seat on the ride!” he said excitedly. “When we get to the top of the first hill, you gotta raise your arms in the air when we drop,” he instructed, suspecting that this was her first time on a roller coaster. She had neither confirmed nor denied her roller coaster experience level when he’d asked her on the walk over.

“Why?”

“Because it’s fun?”

She looked skeptical but agreed. The ride operator came around to yank on their restraints to make sure they were secured, and then away they went!

She was surprisingly chill throughout the ride. Besides an initial yelp when the first drop came, there wasn't much screaming and yelling coming from her side of the car. He thought she maybe hadn't enjoyed herself as they got off the ride, but when he asked her how she liked it, her smile and the way her eyes sparkled put that fear to rest.

“Wanna go again?”

“Yes!” she said without hesitation.

As they made their way back to the end of the line, he spotted two teenage boys about a third of the way from the front. They looked pretty cool, which gave him an idea. Grabbing Andy’s hand, he led her over to them, ducking under the railing to get in line behind them.

“Hey guys, what's up? Thanks for saving our spot,” he told them. Sure enough, the boys played along, fist-bumping him and acting like they were friends. The person they had cut in front of grumbled a little but didn't make a big deal out of it. Success!

“That was sneaky,” Andy told him approvingly. He just grinned. He’d just shaved so much time off their wait. He didn't think he'd hear any more Piper-like complaints about 'inefficient use of time’ from her after this.

~*~*~

Cyclonis wasn't sure how it happened. She wasn't sure how she had gone from counting down the minutes until she could ditch Felix for good to standing in line with him to go on their fifth ride of the day. After their second time on the roller coaster, they had gone on the Gravitron, then something called the Pendulum, which she had not enjoyed. Not that she was going to admit that to Felix and have him make fun of her. Honestly, it had started out fine, simply rocking back and forth. No big deal. But then the ride had flipped them upside down and let them hang there for what felt like an eternity before it creakily continued on its arc. And the restraints? A joke. They had been hung upside down with nothing but a frayed lap belt to prevent them from falling out! The cursed thing was part torture device, part death trap. Someone had definitely died on that ride before, no one could convince her otherwise. Felix, obviously, loved it.

One thing was for certain, she was never going anywhere without a levitation crystal ever again. Just in case.

Now they were waiting to go on something called The Orbit. Round cars were attached to a central pole that swung them around the wavy track while the cars also rotated. Felix explained that there was a wheel they could turn to control how fast the car spun. The majority of the cars spun at a relaxed pace, while a few were barely moving at all, and one was spinning so fast it looked like it might fly off the ride entirely, its occupants screaming bloody murder the whole time. She already knew by the way Felix’s smile grew manic as he watched that that would be them soon enough.

They had stopped along the way to get some cotton candy; yet another thing that she'd never tried before that Felix seemed so casually familiar with. As they waited in line, he offered her some first. She pinched off a bit of the fluffy pink candy, popping it into her mouth. It dissolved instantly, and she couldn't help but make a face. “It tastes like pure sugar,” she said. She wasn't sure she liked it.

“Not true,” he said as he ate some. “There's also food colouring.” After a brief moment of deliberation, she took some more, giving it a second chance. Knowing what to expect this time helped. It actually wasn't that bad. Between the two of them, they finished it all by the time they got to the front of the line.

~*~*~

They were on their way to grab some lunch when Aerrow’s voice came through his earpiece.

“Everyone check in. Are we all doing okay?”

Oh no….

He quickly scanned the area on the off chance he might spot Cyclonis somewhere in the crowd. It was the first time he’d given the matter any thought in…a while. Nope. No Cyclonians here. But there was a bathroom. Perfect. Smiling apologetically to Andy, he excused himself as all the others sounded off that they hadn't seen anything suspicious all morning. “All good here,” he told everyone as he entered the bathroom, turning a blind corner and running right into Aerrow. Literally.

“Ahhhh!” he screamed, startled. Aerrow yelped, stumbling back a couple of steps before catching himself.

“Finn! What the heck?”

“Nothing!”

That earned him a suspicious look. Honestly, where was the trust? But whatever suspicions Aerrow had, he didn't voice them. Instead, he said, “I'm about to head over to the food court for lunch. Do you want-”

“No!”

He could have kicked himself. Now Aerrow really did look suspicious. It wasn't like him to turn down food.

“Is everything okay? You're doing what you're supposed to, right? Because Piper thinks-”

“Pfft, come on, Piper always thinks I'm slacking off, but I've got this! If….” He looked around, aware that they were still in a public area and easily overheard. “If she's here, I’ll be the first one to find her. Guaranteed.”

“Good,” Aerrow smiled. Giving him a quick hug, he told him to be careful and left. Finn waited a full sixty seconds for the coast to clear before walking back outside, wondering how they were going to avoid running into Aerrow again.

~*~*~

Less than a minute had gone by since Felix disappeared into the bathroom before one of her Talons casually sidled up to her. Luckily not the big, brutish-looking one who had caught Felix’s attention this morning.

He crossed his arms, carefully looking away from her before he spoke. “Everything alright?” he asked respectfully. The ‘Master’ part was left unspoken but implied.

“Yes,” she answered, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

“That boy isn't bothering you, is he? He can be made to disappear.”

So eager. He must be gunning for a promotion.

“That won't be necessary. I find him amusing for now.”

The man gave a nearly imperceptible nod. “We stand ready to assist you should you need us,” he reminded her.

“Of course. I expect nothing less.”

With that, the Talon disappeared back into the crowd. Soon after, Felix returned to her side. “So, change of plans,” he told her. “My stomach doesn't feel so good between all that cotton candy and crazy rides.”

Gross. She shifted a little bit away from him, and he rushed to reassure her. “No! I didn't…I wasn't sick in there. I’m fine! I just thought we could ride the StarFlyer first before lunch.”

“You want to ride the baby ride?” she teased him.

“Yes,” he smirked. “I wanna ride the baby ride.”

“Okay,” she agreed. She shifted her backpack so that she could get at the outside pocket, unzipping it and pulling out a pack of peppermint gum, offering him a piece. Hopefully, he was telling the truth about not getting sick in the bathroom, but just in case….

“To help settle your stomach,” she prompted.

Slipping the gum back into her bag once he had taken some, she shouldered her backpack, and they headed off to the StarFlyer.

~*~*~

So, Andy might be onto something with the StarFlyer, now that he’d given it a proper chance. Okay, three proper chances. It was actually really relaxing. It was like flying on a Skimmer, but not really. Flying took concentration, always running calculations and making little adjustments to make sure nothing bad happened. This felt more like falling, only no, because falling was scary, and this ride wasn’t scary. It was somewhere in between the two. He could just sit back and enjoy the view of the sky and the wind whipping through his hair without a care in the world.

“Wanna go a fourth time?” he asked once they were back on the ground. The other great thing about this ride was that there was almost no wait time. The walk to the ride and three trips through the short line had only burned half an hour.

“Nah, I nearly fell asleep this last time,” she confessed.

“You, too?” he laughed. “It’s so…” he trailed off, trying to think of a better description than ‘relaxing.’

“Meditative,” she finished for him.

“Really? My friend, the one I said you remind me of a little bit, meditates. I tried it once, but I couldn’t get into it.”

“It takes a lot of practice. No one gets it right the first time.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Are you feeling better?” “100%. Ready to eat whenever you are!”

She nodded, and they started off for the food court. “I just don’t get how you’re supposed to clear your mind of all thoughts,” he said as they walked.

“You don’t,” she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“No offence, but I think you’re meditating wrong.”

“No, you are. You can’t just stop thinking altogether. That’s stupid. You’re going to have thoughts. Meditating is about learning how to not dwell on those thoughts. It’s kind of like watching a leaf float past you. You have no control over the wind that blew that leaf towards you. You can’t stop the leaf from approaching you. But you can watch it pass you by without reaching out and grabbing it.”

“Whoa,” he said. That made way more sense than how Piper had explained it. “So you think the thought, but you don’t really think the thought?” he asked, putting more emphasis on the second ‘think.’

“Exactly. Like I said, it’s not easy at first, but you get better at it the more you try.”

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they walked. He was so confused by this girl. She’d obviously never been on a roller coaster before today, but she also hadn’t been scared riding it. She didn’t know what cotton candy was, but she could wax poetic about meditation. And who the heck came to an amusement park alone, anyway? Had he befriended an escapee from a monastery? Was that a thing?

They got to the food court, and he watched her study the menu boards, her brow furrowing more the longer she stared at them.

“Problem?” he asked.

“Do they not have anything healthy here?”

Oh yeah. She had definitely escaped from a monastery. He was sure of it.

“No, everything here is terrible for you. That’s what makes it fun.”

She hummed indecisively. After another full minute of silence, she asked, “Wanna split one of everything?”

“Umm, I don’t think I have enough money for that.”

“That’s okay. I do.”

Seriously, who was this girl?!

~*~*~

In the end, they didn't get one of everything, but they came close. They'd settled on a sampler platter that came with chicken strips, potato skins, fried zucchini, and mozzarella sticks. Then they'd added some nachos, a giant slice of pizza that they cut in half, a side of fries, and a couple of sodas.

Cyclonis didn't think they'd end up finishing it all once she saw it all laid out on the table between them, but she had been wrong. After one of everything from the sampler platter, her half slice of pizza, a quarter of the nachos and a handful of fries, she was uncomfortably full.

Felix, meanwhile, was still going strong. She watched in horror and fascination as he polished off the rest of the food. Hadn't he complained about feeling sick just an hour ago? Were all teenage boys like this, or was he some sort of freak of nature?

“Maybe we should hold off on going on any more rides for a while,” she suggested as they cleared their table. She would hate to have to murder him if he threw up all over her.

“Okay. They have a really cool arcade here. We can hang out there for a while,” he suggested, and she agreed.

Forty-five minutes later, she decided she wasn’t a fan of arcades. There were way too many flashing lights and blaring sounds, all jumbled together into one big discordant mess, and it didn't take long for it all to start getting on her nerves. On top of that, Felix had obliterated her in basically every game they'd played together.

Yeah, she wasn't having fun.

At least Felix took his wins gracefully. Now. The first time he beat her, he had started dancing around, exalting himself and mocking her in turns. Eventually, he noticed the look on her face, and it instantly shut him up. Gulping, he had called her scary before suggesting they try a different game. Since then, he'd wisely kept his opinions about how badly she sucks to himself.

“There's a laser tag arena next door,” Felix told her after another fifteen minutes. She wasn't sure if he had gotten bored or if he had finally noticed her discomfort. Either way, she was grateful to get out of there.

~*~*~

It didn’t take long for them to get suited up and join a bunch of other smaller groups who would all be playing together. They had the arena for an hour and would get to play as many rounds as they could fit into that time. Once the rules had been explained, they broke into two teams of ten. He and Andy were on the same team, their red armbands distinguishing them from their blue-banded enemies.

It was a simple game of Capture the Flag. Respawns were allowed, but if you were hit, you had to go back to your team’s base before rejoining the game. A whistle blew, and the game began. The arena was huge, dimly lit, but not too dark, with multiple levels and plenty of obstacles to hide behind between them and the opposite team’s base.

“Follow me,” Andy told him, sounding like she had a plan. It didn't take him long to regret his decision to do so as she led them up to one of the upper levels, found a person-sized foam pyramid to conceal them behind, and then…decided to camp there?

She flattened herself against the ground in a spot where she could watch the chaos going on below. He had to admit that it did give them a really good view of the entire arena, but if all she wanted to do was watch the game instead of play, she could have saved her money.

“Watch our backs,” she told him. After five minutes of dutifully doing as he was told, he got bored. Only one other player had come up to their level the entire time, and he easily took the kid out.

He had had enough of sitting on the sidelines. “Okay, well, you have fun up here. I'm gonna go actually play the game now.”

“Hold your position,” she ordered.

“Andy, seriously, this is so boring. I wanna play.”

“Hold. Your. Position,” she said, glaring back over her shoulder at him. Scary Andy was back.

“Okay, fine,” he told her, holding up his hands in surrender.

Two more minutes passed. He got to shoot one other enemy player who had tried and failed to sneak up on them, but that was as exciting as things had gotten for him. He was considering shooting himself so that he’d have to go back down to where all the action was when she spoke.

“What's the range on these laser guns?”

“Uhh, I dunno.”

She hummed in thought, pointing to a player who was pinned behind another foam pyramid on the lower level. “Shoot her.”

“She's on our team,” he protested.

“So?”

“Do you…do you get the objective of this game?”

With a sigh, she aimed her laser gun at her chosen target and fired, hitting her on her second try.

“Andy, what the heck?”

“That was fifty meters,” was all she had to say for herself. She pointed out another player, this one on the opposite team. “Would you say that's a hundred?”

“Give or take,” he agreed. He took aim, fired, and hit his target on the first try.

They tried a hundred and fifty meters, followed by two hundred, registering a hit at both distances. Anything beyond that appeared to be out of range.

“You're a good shot,” she complimented him.

“I know,” he grinned, which made her roll her eyes.

She watched the battle rage below them for another minute before announcing, “I've seen enough.”

Getting up, she led him back down to the main level. Their flag was gone by the time they got back to their base, and less than a minute later, the whistle blew again, signalling the end of the game. The blue team had won that round.

Once the red team was back together, Finn just about had a heart attack when Andy lit into their teammates. “That was pathetic. There was no cohesion, no strategy; it's like you all wanted us to lose. So let me tell you what's going to happen in the next game…”

“Who the fuck died and made you queen?” a disgruntled older teen who had nearly thirty centimetres and fifty kilos on Andy interrupted.

Showing an alarming lack of fear, Andy stepped closer to the almost full-grown man who had spoken out against her. She had to tilt her head back to look him in the eyes, but when she did, the guy took a nervous step back. “Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware you wanted to keep losing.”

Ohhh. Scary Andy had a scary voice to match now. That was new. And vaguely familiar for some reason?

The guy looked over to him. “Bro, control your girl,” he blustered.

“I dunno, man, I think we should hear her out,” he said.

Thankfully, no one else on the team seemed to have a problem with injecting a little strategy into their gameplay, so they all agreed with him. He gestured, prompting her to continue.

“Now we don't have much time, so I’ll keep things simple,” Andy said as if the interruption never happened. “Luckily, the blue team’s tactics are laughable, so we should be able to win pretty handily if everyone sticks to the plan-”

She quickly and succinctly laid out her plan, breaking the team into pairs and giving each pair a specific role to focus on. As for them, they’d be the ones responsible for capturing the blue team’s flag. “You wanted to play,” she told him with a smirk. “Let’s see what you got.”

The whistle blew, starting the game.

One pair stayed behind to guard the flag, while another split up and headed off to opposite sides of the upper levels. Andy said she had seen them both make some pretty impressive shots during the first game and decided they should be their snipers. The other two pairs stuck to the perimeters of the arena, moving to flank the enemy. The middle of the arena was all theirs. They moved from pyramid to pyramid, him covering her when she was on the move, with her doing the same for him. They each landed a few good ‘kills’ and made it to the last pyramid before the enemy base unscathed. A member of the blue team was guarding the flag, perfectly positioned so they couldn’t get a clear shot of her target sensor without leaving the safety of their cover and putting themselves at risk.

Andy waved up at the upper levels, trying to get the attention of one of their snipers. They didn’t have to wait long. No more than ten seconds later, the flag guardian’s vest lit up, indicating a hit. They both darted forward, him reaching the flag first.

“Go, go, go!” he said as he grabbed it, and they full-on sprinted back towards their side of the arena. Andy got hit along the way, but it didn’t matter. He got the flag back to their base before whoever had shot Andy could get him, too. The whistle blew, and the match was over. Their team had won, with enough time left for one more round. A tie-breaker.

Before the third round, Andy ran a whole new strategy by the team. They couldn’t use the same tactics as last time, she said, because the blue team was probably busy right now coming up with ways to counteract them after their success. Just as she was assigning roles, Aerrow’s voice came through his earpiece.

Seriously? Now was so not a good time.

“Hey guys, I don’t suppose any of you have had any luck locating the target?”

The poor guy sounded so hopeful and so bored at the same time. He glanced at Andy, thinking fast. “I call dibs on sniper!” he told her.

That seemed to throw her off for a second, but she recovered quickly, restructuring the team so that they were the snipers for this round. Once the whistle sounded, he ran up to the upper levels and wedged himself into a corner where he could see anyone trying to come at him. Alone, he could finally speak freely.

“Nope, still nothing. Also, I vote that the next time we come to Terra Neon, it’s to have fun. Today has been a real drag,” he said, shooting a blue team member who had immediately shown up looking to take out the snipers.

“Finn, where are you? Why’d it take so long for you to answer?”

“I think the better question, Piper, is where are you?”

So he could avoid it like the plague….

“Right now? Outside the theatre. Now answer the question.”

“I’m near the carousel.”

“Really? I’m near the carousel, and I don’t see you,” Aerrow said.

“Uhhh….”

“Finn!” Piper said disapprovingly.

“Okay! I stopped to play a game of laser tag. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lied. As soon as the game ends, I’m heading right back outside.”

He winced to himself. Technically, he wasn’t lying?

He heard Aerrow sigh through the earpiece. “Listen, at this point, I don’t think that the intel we got was right. So how about this? Stay undercover, keep a lookout for Cyclonians, but if there’s anything fun you wanna do, go ahead and do it.”

“Dude, do you mean that?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re the best!”

“Thanks, Aerrow!” Piper said, all traces of her earlier irritation gone.

The line went quiet again.

Finn grinned to himself. “Alright, time to bag me some-”

The whistle blew.

“Aww, man!”

~*~*~

She was in a pretty good mood as they left the arena, her team having absolutely slaughtered the blue team in back-to-back matches.

“So, what kind of logistics business does your family run that requires you to know battle tactics and strategy?” Felix asked her teasingly.

“Just one of the many perks of a classical education,” she joked. “Where'd you learn to shoot like that?”

“Well, since you asked,” he smirked, “follow me.”

He led her to the carnival game section of the park and right up to one of the booths. It was one where you shoot little duck targets as they move along a conveyor belt.

“Seriously?” she laughed.

“Hey, don't knock it until you try it,” he said, slapping down enough money to buy them into the game.

They spent the next hour playing every game there. Felix won a stuffed bunny that was nearly as big as he was. He asked the game operator if he could leave it there and return for it later, and the man gave him a ticket to bring back when he was ready to claim it.

“What're you going to do with that thing?”

“It's for my brother. He was disappointed he couldn't come today.”

She couldn't help but smile a little at that. Felix seemed like a genuinely good guy; she was glad they had met. He'd made the day a lot more fun than it would have been if she had spent it alone.

She won a goldfish from the last game they played. She emulated Felix, asking if she could claim it at the end of the day, and was given her own ticket.

“You did say you wished you had a pet,” Felix grinned.

“I said I don't have time to take care of a pet!”

“Well, you're in luck, ‘cause none of these fish look like they're gonna live past the end of next week, anyway,” he pointed out, and she scoffed.

The next couple of hours went by in a flurry of more rides. They’d ridden the bumper skimmers, the carousel (where she had managed to snag a brass ring, winning a free ride), a ride that took you to the top of a tall tower and let you free fall from there, braking just a meter or two before hitting the ground, and the roller coaster for a third time.

Around sunset, they decided to go on the Ferris wheel. The cars faced west, giving them a spectacular view. She found herself enraptured as the disappearing sun painted the sky and the surrounding clouds orange, pink, and purple. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

“Yeah,” he agreed. He didn’t sound like he found it nearly as impressive as she did. Then again, why would he? On Terra Rex, with its clear blue skies, he’d probably seen hundreds of sunsets like this before. Maybe even thousands. Still, he didn’t tease her over her enthusiasm, and his smile was soft when she glanced over at him. At some point, he’d managed to drape his arm around her shoulders without her noticing. She was surprised to find that she didn’t mind. She was even more surprised when, without even thinking about it, she leaned into him.

~*~*~

Finn tried to play it cool when Andy leaned into him, which wasn’t easy when his heart was pounding as hard as it was. He really hadn’t been sure if she’d welcome his arm around her or not. Sure, he thought they’d had a lot of fun together, but did she feel the same way? Then there was the fact that he was lying to her about everything: who he was, where he was from, what he did for a living. He felt really guilty about that, even more than he had when he had lied to Aerrow and Piper. It was almost bad enough to convince him to keep his hands to himself.

But then they had gotten to the top of the Ferris wheel, and she had gotten lost in the beauty of the sunset, and she just looked so….

Pretty, for sure, but it was more than that. It was like walls he hadn’t even noticed were there before had disappeared, and he was seeing a side of her that not many people got to see. Yes, she could be standoffish, sarcastic, hyper-competitive, and downright terrifying at times. He didn’t think any of that was a front. She was definitely all of those things. But right now, she just looked so vulnerable. And a little sad, like she was seeing something she really wanted but couldn’t have. And it made him want to put his arm around her even more than he already did, to be her shield while hers were down.

He had expected her to reject him; he really had. He’d expected her to pull away, push his arm off of her, and make some kind of comment that would pour ice water all over these new feelings. So when she leaned into him instead….

Oh boy.

This was bad.

It made his whole body feel like it was buzzing. And his heart was beating too hard. And he was very aware of all the places her body pressed against his. And she was warm? He wasn’t sure why he was surprised by that. Maybe because of the times she’d looked at him in a way that made a chill go down his spine? That was probably it. She gave off cold vibes. But not now. Definitely not now.

And it wasn’t fair, man, because this wasn’t real. It’d never be real because, at the end of the day, he would go back to the Condor and give the Chroma Crystal back to Piper. He’d go back to being Finn, not Felix, and never see Andy again. Or if he did, he wouldn’t be able to tell her who he was. She’d never want to talk to him again if she knew that he had spent all day lying to her.

The ride ended too soon. He asked her if she wanted to grab dinner, she said yes, and then she took his hand! His palm prickled as it pressed against hers, but he didn’t let go.

~*~*~

Something had happened up there on the Ferris wheel. Cyclonis wasn’t sure what. Felix’s whole demeanour had shifted. He seemed anxious, upset even. Had she done something to mess things up between them? She couldn’t think of anything. Then again, he wouldn’t be the first person she’d ever upset without intending to. It was frustrating when that happened. She much preferred upsetting people on purpose.

Comforting others wasn’t really her strong suit, but she decided to try, reaching out to take his hand. He clung to it like he never wanted to let go. Okay. Not something she’d done, then. Good to know. After a few minutes of walking in silence, she decided to come out and ask him about it. “Are you okay? You seem unhappy.”

He seemed to debate with himself whether or not to answer her question. “It’s just…do you think we’re ever going to see each other again?”

Oh.

“Probably not,” she admitted. Her chest felt too tight when she said that, and she realized that she wished it wasn’t true. She just wasn’t sure how to make that happen short of kidnapping him, which was an option she disregarded immediately. That wouldn’t go over well. Besides, she’d only known him for a day. She wasn’t even sure she liked him well enough to keep him forever.

But what other options were there, really? She couldn’t keep playing the part of ‘Andy’ indefinitely. And a Free Atmosian, especially one from Terra Rex, probably wouldn’t be thrilled to learn that the girl he’d spent the entire day with was the Master of Cyclonia. She couldn’t tell him that, he’d freak out, and that would ruin this perfectly good night.

No, they definitely weren’t going to see each other again. Which was why they might as well make the most of the time they had left. Which was what she told him next. He had thought about that for a minute or two as they walked before nodding his acceptance.

“I guess that’s the best way to look at it,” he agreed.

~*~*~

Strangely, Finn felt better after their talk. It made things easier, knowing that this was a casual, one-day-only thing and that they were both okay with that. Not that a part of him wasn’t still disappointed about that, and he could tell that a part of her was, too. But it was better this way. Way less complicated, too.

The easy companionship they had shared for most of the day returned. Neither of them was starving, so they each just got a corndog and another soda for dinner, not even bothering to sit down. They ate as they walked, just taking in the sights and sounds of Terra Neon at night when the place really got to show off the lights it was named for. When they were finished and had found a trash bin to toss their corndog sticks into, they went back to holding hands.

They stumbled upon Ghost Carrier, the haunted dark ride, and Andy insisted they go on it. He balked at first. She really wanted to go on a scary ride? After dark?

“It’s a dark ride. What difference does it make if we go on it during the day or at night?” she reasoned.

“Because at night, it’s still going to be dark after we get off the ride!”

“If you don’t want to go on it, that’s fine. I can go by myself,” she sighed.

He gave her an unimpressed stare. “That’s low, even for you,” he told her, and she laughed. “Fine, let’s go.”

The ride ended up being eventful. Tense music played throughout the entire thing, though it did nothing to drown out the various screams, growls, howls and maniacal laughter that punctuated every animatronic jump scares. So many jump scares! The music did nothing to drown out his screams, either.

They emerged at the end with him clinging to Andy. He’d practically crawled right into her lap by the end of the ride. She had her face pressed against his shoulder, her own shaking as she laughed herself silly, he guessed at his expense. So that’s where the maniacal laughter had been coming from.

“I hope you’re happy,” he told her once they had escaped from the ride’s demonic clutches.

“Oh, I am,” she said smugly.

They stopped by a food cart to get dessert, then walked some more until they found a quiet little spot by a water ride. Not many people ventured into this section of the park after dark. They leaned against the fence that separated the walkway from the manmade river, staring out over the dark water for a few minutes while they finished their churros. Once they were both done, he leaned over and nudged her with his shoulder. She turned to lean back against the fence, smiling at him. “What?” she asked, making it sound like she already knew the answer to that question.

He pushed away from the fence, moving to stand in front of her. Reaching out, he tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear, grinning. He hoped his grin didn’t look as awkward as it felt. “So, uh, when you said we could make the most of the time we had left….”

Her smile turned into something dangerously close to a smirk. Dangit! He knew his grin looked awkward! “Well, maybe not the most,” she said. Did she sound nervous? Why would-

What she meant caught up to him, and he blushed furiously. He hoped it was dark enough to hide it. “Dude, no! No, no, I know that!”

They both laughed.

“I didn’t expect that,” he assured her. “I am so not ready for that. But I would really like to kiss you.”

She nodded encouragingly, and he leaned forward, closing his eyes as he pressed his lips to hers. It was a gentle kiss, and after a moment, he pulled back, looking at her to make sure they were both still cool with this.

“I think we can do better than that,” she said, and he grinned. Emboldened by her egging him on, he leaned back in for a more adventurous kiss this time. That one kiss turned into many kisses before they decided that they should head back towards the main part of the park before it closed.

That had been a lot of fun. There had been a few less-than-great moments. Neither of them had much (okay, any) experience kissing someone like that, after all. Unsurprisingly, Andy was not shy about letting him know when he was ‘being gross.’ He retaliated by letting her know when she was ‘not being gross enough.’ That nearly ended things right then and there, but they were able to laugh it off. They were never going to do this again, after all. They didn’t have to take it too seriously. In the end, they had both learned a thing or two and enjoyed themselves, which was their goal all along.

He collected Junko’s stuffed bunny rabbit, then walked Andy over to the ring toss booth to pick out her goldfish. She chose one that was all black, with creepy googly eyes and a permanent frown. Y’know what? It suited her.

“What’re you going to name it?” he asked as they went into a nearby store that they were told sold goldfish stuff.

“It’s a fish, it doesn’t need a name.”

“Aww, come on, every pet needs a name! Wait, I’ve got it! Gillbert. With two L’s. Get it?”

She snorted, shaking her head. He watched her pick out a twenty-gallon tank, which he thought seemed a little excessive for one goldfish, but she insisted. The store clerk agreed with her, saying that the type of goldfish she had chosen was larger than your average goldfish and needed extra space. Andy had given him such a smug look at that. She picked out purple and black gravel to line the tank, several scraggly-looking fake plants, and a haunted castle ornament big enough for the fish to hide inside. A tank filter, aquarium maintenance kit, and fish food soon joined the pile.

“All this for a fish that’s gonna be dead in a week?”

She shrugged. “Might as well make it the best week of its life.”

“Are you going to be able to carry all that?” “I’ll manage.”

Loaded up with bags, she led him back outside.

“Do you want me to walk you back to your ship?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “I’ll be okay on my own.”

There was an awkward silence as they stared at each other. He put down the stuffed bunny and gestured for her to do the same with her bags. Once their hands were free, he stepped forward and gave her a hug.

“Today was fun. I’m not gonna forget it,” he told her.

“Me neither,” she said, hugging him back. They both took a step back when he let go. “Well, have a nice life,” she told him, which made him laugh.

“You, too,” he said. Picking up the stuffed animal, he made his way back to the Condor.

~*~*~

Cyclonis watched Felix walk away. When he was out of sight, two of her plain-clothes Talons materialized from wherever it was they had been lurking. She picked up Gillbert while the Talons gathered the rest of her bags and followed her back to their ship.

She was all too aware that they had seen everything that had transpired between her and Felix that day. That was confirmed when she noticed that one of them couldn’t quite hide the way the corners of his mouth twitched up every time he glanced at her. A pointed look from her sobered him right up.

“You will not breathe a word about today to anyone,” she commanded.

“Of course, Master,” they said in unison.

~*~*~

“Have a fun night?” Aerrow asked as Finn sauntered into the room with a grin he just couldn’t shake.

“You know it! Where’s Junko?”

“In the engine room with Radarr.”

Shooting him a thumbs up, he headed to the engine room. “Junko, buddy, got you something,” he said as he handed off the gigantic rabbit.

“Aww, thanks, Finn! You didn’t have to do that!”

“I know, but I felt bad you’ve been cooped up here all day. Anyway, I’m beat. Gonna head to bed. G’night.”

“Night!”

“G’night, Radarr.”

Instead of wishing him a good night, Radarr sniffed at the air, looking a little confused. Shrugging it off, he headed for his room. Surprisingly, Radarr followed.

“Uh, you okay?” he asked the little guy as Radarr barged into his room right on his heels. There was no answer as Radarr scaled him like he was a tree, sniffing at him carefully. Suddenly, Radarr squawked, his hackles rising as he leapt back down to the floor, chittering and pointing accusingly at him.

“Whoa, slow down. What’s the problem?”

Radarr pointed to him again.

“I….”

Radarr nodded, then dramatically mimed sniffing, looking disgruntled.

“I smell? Gee, thanks, Radarr. Listen, I’m too tired to shower right now. I’ll be sure to do that first thing in the morning.”

Self-consciously, he sniffed himself, just to make sure it wasn’t an emergency. He didn’t smell anything.

Radarr shook his head, stomping his foot.

“I don’t smell?”

Radarr made a so-so gesture. How was he supposed to interpret that?

“I kinda smell?”

Another head shake.

“I smell like something?”

Radarr nodded emphatically.

“Okay? Oh, wait! I smell like someone?” he guessed. Another nod. “Okay, listen, I kinda met someone today, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell any of the guys. It didn’t…well, it’s not going to work out.”

Radarr smacked his forehead, then really started carrying on. He had no idea what Radarr was saying, but he knew a lecture when he heard one.

“Seriously, what is your problem? I hung out with a girl. It’s not a big deal.”

Radarr was growing more frustrated by the second. Finally, he put his hands up to his shoulders, fingers pointing upward.

“Feathers?”

Radarr rolled his eyes and tried something else, rubbing his hands together menacingly while doing a pretty good job imitating sinister laughter.

“Evil villain?”

Radarr touched his nose.

“Radarr, I don’t….” he trailed off as what Radarr was trying to tell him hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Dude….”

Radarr chirped yes.

“Dude, no!”

Radarr chirped yes again.

Suddenly, so much about Andy made sense. And didn’t make sense! How could he have spent the entire day with Cyclonis and not know it? How could he have spent the entire day with Cyclonis and have fun?

His knees went weak, and he sat down hard on his bed. He had made out with her! It was too much. This was all too much.

“I need to lie down,” he told Radarr, who by now looked more concerned than angry. “Please, Radarr, just keep this to yourself. I didn’t know!”

Radarr sighed and waved a hand like, ‘Fine, they won’t hear about it from me.’ Then he awkwardly patted him on the knee before leaving the room.

Finn stared at the ceiling, way too many thoughts swirling through his head. Well, he had told Andy…Cyclonis…that this had been a day he’d never forget. And he sure as heck wasn’t going to forget it now!

He wondered if she had known who he really was and decided she hadn’t. She wasn’t that good an actor. And she hadn’t tried to recruit him to her cause or anything. And if there had been any Cyclonian attacks anywhere, Aerrow would have told him, so this hadn’t been some elaborate plot to keep them distracted. So, what? She had come here in disguise to have a fun day out? And had been as clueless about his identity as he had been about hers?

He grinned a little. Oh, he was so going to use this the next time they came up against her. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when he did. If he had to live with this knowledge, then he was damn sure going to make sure that she had to live with it, too.

#storm hawks #storm hawks fanfic #storm hawks finn #storm hawks master cyclonis #and now for something completely different #fluffy #a little shippy #storm hawks finn/cyclonis #with a twist

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