Chapter 1: Kidnap
“Mark, what are you DOING?!?”
Mark looked up at me with a crazy glint in his eye and I stood frozen, transfixed by the violent mix of sadness, longing, and fanatic need. An instant later, he was gone, taking with him the unconscious forms of peppy and Saturos.
An instant of silence.
“Well NOW we’re fucked.” awp commented.
I can’t tell how the others were responding – I was in a bit of a daze, only faintly aware of words spoken. Not only had my Saturos, oh my beloved Saturos, been kidnapped, peppy had also been taken…from the process of preventing worldwide destruction.
“We should make a search party to recover them.” The voice of reason, in the form of Sinistro, broke through my consciousness. “We have two days left before the fatal bug occurs-“
“Let me go!” I demanded, frantic hope beating in my chest. I hurriedly explained. “I’ll leave immediately; I have Mark’s IP so I can find him! And I need to rescue my Saturos-sama!” I sprang up and was about to leave when awp grabbed my collar.
“Whoa, hold on there, SFG! You are NOT going off alone.”
“Why is she going at all?” Iris snorted. “I don’t trust her.”
“Well, does anyone else know where Mark went?” Sinistro asked mildly.
Everyone looked around. I raised my hand hopefully and looked for the others I knew to be in contact with Mark – none were present.
“Apparently not. SFG is in.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “…and I’ll go too.” Sin added.
“I’m in, this concerns peppy.” awp nodded and joined the group. I looked at Iris fearfully, wondering if she would join as well, but she just shrugged and slunk off.
“Is that all?” I asked nervously.
“Nah, I’ll come too~” Matty appeared next to me and I jumped.
“When’d you get here??”
“Just now, but this looks like fun and I’m bored.”
“Um…all right, let’s go then.” The four of us linked and disconnected.
The next moment we were falling through the air over Lake Erie at an alarming rate. awp reacted instantly, spreading his wings and tailfeathers and pumping furiously to slow us down. Matty had lost his grip on my arm and was clinging terrified to my leg while Sinistro and I held on to awp for dear life. We were too heavy – we were still falling.
awp wrestled an arm loose from me, leaving me wrapped around his neck trying not to either disrupt his wingbeats or swing around on top of Sinistro. Sticking two fingers in his mouth, he blew a piercing whistle, summoning a giant pigeon that caught first Matty and the Sinistro, much to my relief. In a few moments we were stable again, holding level in the air a scant fifty meters above the waters and only slightly shell-shocked.
“Who,” awp grunted, “failed to mention that they were in an airplane before we left?”
Matty coughed abashedly. I tried to shift to a more secure position hanging off of awp while not looking down at all.
Sinistro recovered himself. “I think we should land and reorganize?” awp didn’t reply, but he and his pigeon flew to the shore, landing heavily. I simply let go and fell backwards onto the grass, letting my heart slow down a little bit. Sinistro and Matty dismounted more gracefully, and Sin pulled me to my feet while Awp caught his breath.
“So, SFG, where IS Mark?” Sinistro asked pointedly. I concentrated, tracking the IP, and…there we go!
“Oh, he’s on the east coast of Japan…right next to you, awp!” I winked teasingly at the 13/f/Tokyo man. “Fastest way there is to reconnect and follow awp, then we can fly west. Can I ride the pigeon this time?”
“Hey, hold up, you can’t all three ride my bird!” awp protested. “And Sin there is heavy, I can’t hold him.”
“Oh fine, since you seem to be able to carry me, I guess I’ll go with you and your bird can carry Sin and Matty. Just can I please be in a better position this time?”
"Nah, It'd be better if I just summoned another pidgin." He did so, and the four of us (six if you count the pigeons) reappeared in the room long enough to get a funny look from James before following awp into Canada.
I was instantly very cold. I turned to awp aghast.
“How can you stand wandering this place wearing nothing but a cloud, awp? This is FREEZING!”
“I’m just that hot, hun~” I groaned, realizing that I’d walked into that one.
“Right. Let’s get going.” I hesitatingly climbed onto the bird’s back and we took off.
“Mark, what are you DOING?!?”
Mark looked up at me with a crazy glint in his eye and I stood frozen, transfixed by the violent mix of sadness, longing, and fanatic need. An instant later, he was gone, taking with him the unconscious forms of peppy and Saturos.
An instant of silence.
“Well NOW we’re fucked.” awp commented.
I can’t tell how the others were responding – I was in a bit of a daze, only faintly aware of words spoken. Not only had my Saturos, oh my beloved Saturos, been kidnapped, peppy had also been taken…from the process of preventing worldwide destruction.
“We should make a search party to recover them.” The voice of reason, in the form of Sinistro, broke through my consciousness. “We have two days left before the fatal bug occurs-“
“Let me go!” I demanded, frantic hope beating in my chest. I hurriedly explained. “I’ll leave immediately; I have Mark’s IP so I can find him! And I need to rescue my Saturos-sama!” I sprang up and was about to leave when awp grabbed my collar.
“Whoa, hold on there, SFG! You are NOT going off alone.”
“Why is she going at all?” Iris snorted. “I don’t trust her.”
“Well, does anyone else know where Mark went?” Sinistro asked mildly.
Everyone looked around. I raised my hand hopefully and looked for the others I knew to be in contact with Mark – none were present.
“Apparently not. SFG is in.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “…and I’ll go too.” Sin added.
“I’m in, this concerns peppy.” awp nodded and joined the group. I looked at Iris fearfully, wondering if she would join as well, but she just shrugged and slunk off.
“Is that all?” I asked nervously.
“Nah, I’ll come too~” Matty appeared next to me and I jumped.
“When’d you get here??”
“Just now, but this looks like fun and I’m bored.”
“Um…all right, let’s go then.” The four of us linked and disconnected.
The next moment we were falling through the air over Lake Erie at an alarming rate. awp reacted instantly, spreading his wings and tailfeathers and pumping furiously to slow us down. Matty had lost his grip on my arm and was clinging terrified to my leg while Sinistro and I held on to awp for dear life. We were too heavy – we were still falling.
awp wrestled an arm loose from me, leaving me wrapped around his neck trying not to either disrupt his wingbeats or swing around on top of Sinistro. Sticking two fingers in his mouth, he blew a piercing whistle, summoning a giant pigeon that caught first Matty and the Sinistro, much to my relief. In a few moments we were stable again, holding level in the air a scant fifty meters above the waters and only slightly shell-shocked.
“Who,” awp grunted, “failed to mention that they were in an airplane before we left?”
Matty coughed abashedly. I tried to shift to a more secure position hanging off of awp while not looking down at all.
Sinistro recovered himself. “I think we should land and reorganize?” awp didn’t reply, but he and his pigeon flew to the shore, landing heavily. I simply let go and fell backwards onto the grass, letting my heart slow down a little bit. Sinistro and Matty dismounted more gracefully, and Sin pulled me to my feet while Awp caught his breath.
“So, SFG, where IS Mark?” Sinistro asked pointedly. I concentrated, tracking the IP, and…there we go!
“Oh, he’s on the east coast of Japan…right next to you, awp!” I winked teasingly at the 13/f/Tokyo man. “Fastest way there is to reconnect and follow awp, then we can fly west. Can I ride the pigeon this time?”
“Hey, hold up, you can’t all three ride my bird!” awp protested. “And Sin there is heavy, I can’t hold him.”
“Oh fine, since you seem to be able to carry me, I guess I’ll go with you and your bird can carry Sin and Matty. Just can I please be in a better position this time?”
"Nah, It'd be better if I just summoned another pidgin." He did so, and the four of us (six if you count the pigeons) reappeared in the room long enough to get a funny look from James before following awp into Canada.
I was instantly very cold. I turned to awp aghast.
“How can you stand wandering this place wearing nothing but a cloud, awp? This is FREEZING!”
“I’m just that hot, hun~” I groaned, realizing that I’d walked into that one.
“Right. Let’s get going.” I hesitatingly climbed onto the bird’s back and we took off.