HOME | DD

Description
Canvas Angels
-Original Idea by Sidnay
-The guy who ran with the idea: Yan (ChaosTigerX)

Yamms sighed. The engine had started acting up again. He'd have to find a replacement valve to the cooling tank. In the meantime, his pride and joy would have to remain "grounded" in his garage. Then again, the whole city was floating. Nothing was properly "grounded." He slid out from underneath the machine and sat up, closing the metal siding. Taking the already dirty rag, he wiped his fingers of excess oil and stood up. He tossed the cloth to the side of the garage and made his way to the washroom. He really needed a shower.

Having stepped out of the shower, Yamms looked at the clock. 5:00AM.
“Still a few hours before school started.” He towelled off and got dressed. It was useless. To make enough money for the replacement part would take him months. What would he do until then? Grabbing his laptop off his desk, he flopped on his couch and began to fly his fingers over the keys. Web page after web page flashed by as he surfed.

"No. No. No!" He said to himself. "There's nothing I can do without money..."

The phone rang.

"Hello?" Yamms frowned slightly at the distraction.
"Hammy?" There came a sweet voice from the other end. Yamms flinched at the sound of the nickname.
"What is it, Mayla?"
"You sound upset. Anything wrong?"
"No. My plane engine is just dying on me again. I won't be able to pilot you to school today." He didn't really like the thought of the girl squishing into the one-seat plane regardless.
"You're so silly. We only have a half-hour walk to school anyway! I'll be by in a few minutes, m'kay?"
"Alright..." Yamms put down the phone. 7:01AM. He yawned and shut his laptop down, setting it back in its place on his desk.

Mayla was... his closest friend… his only friend. The only one who ever had the patience to be around him. He didn't know why she bothered. She hated planes. She always had a silly grin on her face. "She's too cheerful." He thought. Stuffing some random stuff from the fridge into his lunchbox, he stuffed his things into the schoolbag and flipped it over his shoulder... just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

Another boring day at school...

---

"Yamms!" There was a whine in that sweet melodic voice.
"What?"
"Ice-cream!"
Yamms' eyebrows furrowed, slightly, in irritation. "I need to get to work." He said flatly.
"It'll just take a few minutes! Please?" Mayla stepped in front of him and looked up with great big puppy-dog eyes. The green in them shone brilliantly like emeralds.
"FINE!" Yamms exasperated.
She was only 5'6", but she had her ways of making Yamms dance to her tune.

Immediately Mayla yanked him into the ice cream parlour they were about to pass. The rest of the city bustled and busied about, the sky dotted and filled with planes of every imaginable style and size. Motorbikes seemed to fly down streets ridiculously fast. This was Ivalin, City of the Sky. Three towers rose higher from the rest of the city. They were the towers of Memory, Unity, and Prosper. All tributes to the past, present, and future, the towers were sacred and protected by everyone living in the city. There were disputes and duels waged often near the military base on the East side of the city at the bars. The police never bothered to quench any conflicts in that area, which was another reason the highschool students stayed away from that part of town. Ivalin's Equilibrium system always kept the city facing the same orientation relative to the sun and landed every five years to re-supply lots of minerals and supplies from the ocean cities.

Ivalin was actually made up of four floating islands. The largest contained most of the commercial and military buildings. There were a few scattered residential areas and schools, one of which Yamms and Mayla were living in. The second largest was the main airport/military air base. Travelling between the islands was mostly with the taxi service run by only one corporation, which dominated the entire third island. The fourth was all residence buildings. Apartments, condos, houses, and whatever came to mind.

"Hello Mayla and Yamms!" The parlour manager waved to the two walking in. Her name was Nina and she was tall. Not your regular tall, she was at least a couple heads higher than Yamms. "Shall I get you two the usual?"
"Yes please!" Mayla rushed over, still dragging Yamms behind and put a few coins on the counter.
Nina spun around and expertly dove the scoop into the bin, pulling out a perfect sphere of chocolate ice cream, followed by strawberry. They flew a distance in the air and dropped onto the cone she held in her left hand. This she handed over to Mayla. She twirled again and handed over a regular one-scoop vanilla cone to Yamms.
"Thanks." Yamms replied, still not entirely happy about being only twenty minutes early instead of the usual thirty. He searched his pocket for the change and left it on the counter as he followed Mayla to the booth in the corner by the windows.

Plopping down, he ate slowly. If he was going to be not-so-early, why not just get there on time? Mayla happily licked and gobbled her cone with almost frightening speed.
"OW!" was the cry.
"What's wrong!?" Yamms sat bolt upright and stared at her. Upon seeing her holding her head, he sighed and slouched back down. "Brain freeze..."
"Yeah..."
At least she was quiet. Yamms finished his cone and sighed again. He realized that he sighed a lot. He wondered why.
"Did you get a load of Mr. Bellsmith today?" She had recovered from her pain and had the goofy grin on again. "He was about to tear his head out at Josh!"
"Yeah..." Yamms wasn't particularly interested in school events, after all.
"Oh cheer up, you goofball." Mayla playfully poked him from across the table. "You're always so glum."
"And you're always so cheerful. Where do you get that energy anyway."
"I guess I'm just high on life. Let's go!" Mayla jumped up and danced to the door.
"Off to work I go... wait... why are you coming?"
"Just hanging around."
Not questioning further, Yamms got up and stepped into the sunlight.

---

A few days later, there was a knock at Yamms' door.
"Hi?" He said as he opened the door.
"Hiyo!" Mayla smiled her broad smile. She handed him a cardboard box, brushed past him and disappeared into the kitchen.
Yamms shut the door and opened the box.
"A replacement valve? How did you...? What...?" Yamms was at a loss for words. "But you don't know anything about engines!"
"Tsk tsk." Mayla laughed. She ignored the rest of his rambles as she started the stove. She put oil in the pan and left it to heat.
"Mayla, this had to cost... so much..."
"No worries, but you owe me a few more rides."
Yamms nodded furiously, blushing slightly, and ran through a door to the garage.

Satisfied at hearing the clinks and clanks from the garage, Mayla turned her attention back to the stove and threw in chopped veggies and shredded meat. Popping the top of the soy sauce bottle, she eyed an amount to pour in and deftly replaced it with one hand. Spatula in one hand and the panhandle in the other, her stir-fry began to come to life. It danced around as she expertly shifted and turned the iron pan. Soon, her masterpiece was done and she filled a big plateful. Sliding it onto the kitchen table, she unplugged the rice-cooker that Yamms had had going. It was dinner time and her tummy grumbled.

"Yamms! Dinner-"

There was the sound of a huge explosion and the entire house shook.

Yamms burst into the kitchen from the hallway.
"What was that?!?" Mayla cried, completely shaken by the shockwave.
"The Steed-Masters are on a rampage again. This whole residential block isn't safe anymore. Come with me!" Yamms shouted back amidst another deafening explosion.

"You'd think they'd have learned a lesson the last time they tried a complete riot." Mayla had recovered somewhat from the initial shock. She sat behind the pilot's seat in Yamms' custom jump-jet.
"They have explosives this time. Besides, you know the police won't have anything else to do with this district. The only ones that can stop them is the rival gang, RedSky."
"You've got to be kidding me..." Mayla sighed to herself.
"Hang tight."

The engine hummed to life as the roof of the garage slid open. They lifted off straight up and into the open air.

"Where are we going to go? Papa is still at home!" Mayla looked wildly around. She buckled the strap added on behind the seat.
"I can't pick him up. This is supposed to seat one anyway!" Yamms had installed the other strap just for her.

Without weapons, the small craft was a perfect target for stray missiles and crafts. Yamms held the jet at a low altitude on the streets. It was sheer pandemonium on the ground. People ran every which way, screaming as the many dark green air ships flew overhead, launching explosives at anything higher than a house.

This event had happened only once before when the Steed-Masters tried taking over the district. The regular police force was out-gunned and the RedSky gang helped put the SMs back in their place. An agreement was made between the gangs and the police. The police withdrew from the area and the gangs took control of crime management and law enforcement. It had been peaceful for at least five years...

Yamms was now sure that the SMs were going for the intimidation tactic. Causing mass fear and confusion was simply a way to gain more ground and political control.

The very air seemed to crackle around them.

Description
Canvas Angels
-Original Idea by Sidnay
-The guy who ran with the idea: Yan (ChaosTigerX)

Yamms sighed. The engine had started acting up again. He'd have to find a replacement valve to the cooling tank. In the meantime, his pride and joy would have to remain "grounded" in his garage. Then again, the whole city was floating. Nothing was properly "grounded." He slid out from underneath the machine and sat up, closing the metal siding. Taking the already dirty rag, he wiped his fingers of excess oil and stood up. He tossed the cloth to the side of the garage and made his way to the washroom. He really needed a shower.

Having stepped out of the shower, Yamms looked at the clock. 5:00AM.
“Still a few hours before school started.” He towelled off and got dressed. It was useless. To make enough money for the replacement part would take him months. What would he do until then? Grabbing his laptop off his desk, he flopped on his couch and began to fly his fingers over the keys. Web page after web page flashed by as he surfed.

"No. No. No!" He said to himself. "There's nothing I can do without money..."

The phone rang.

"Hello?" Yamms frowned slightly at the distraction.
"Hammy?" There came a sweet voice from the other end. Yamms flinched at the sound of the nickname.
"What is it, Mayla?"
"You sound upset. Anything wrong?"
"No. My plane engine is just dying on me again. I won't be able to pilot you to school today." He didn't really like the thought of the girl squishing into the one-seat plane regardless.
"You're so silly. We only have a half-hour walk to school anyway! I'll be by in a few minutes, m'kay?"
"Alright..." Yamms put down the phone. 7:01AM. He yawned and shut his laptop down, setting it back in its place on his desk.

Mayla was... his closest friend… his only friend. The only one who ever had the patience to be around him. He didn't know why she bothered. She hated planes. She always had a silly grin on her face. "She's too cheerful." He thought. Stuffing some random stuff from the fridge into his lunchbox, he stuffed his things into the schoolbag and flipped it over his shoulder... just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

Another boring day at school...

---

"Yamms!" There was a whine in that sweet melodic voice.
"What?"
"Ice-cream!"
Yamms' eyebrows furrowed, slightly, in irritation. "I need to get to work." He said flatly.
"It'll just take a few minutes! Please?" Mayla stepped in front of him and looked up with great big puppy-dog eyes. The green in them shone brilliantly like emeralds.
"FINE!" Yamms exasperated.
She was only 5'6", but she had her ways of making Yamms dance to her tune.

Immediately Mayla yanked him into the ice cream parlour they were about to pass. The rest of the city bustled and busied about, the sky dotted and filled with planes of every imaginable style and size. Motorbikes seemed to fly down streets ridiculously fast. This was Ivalin, City of the Sky. Three towers rose higher from the rest of the city. They were the towers of Memory, Unity, and Prosper. All tributes to the past, present, and future, the towers were sacred and protected by everyone living in the city. There were disputes and duels waged often near the military base on the East side of the city at the bars. The police never bothered to quench any conflicts in that area, which was another reason the highschool students stayed away from that part of town. Ivalin's Equilibrium system always kept the city facing the same orientation relative to the sun and landed every five years to re-supply lots of minerals and supplies from the ocean cities.

Ivalin was actually made up of four floating islands. The largest contained most of the commercial and military buildings. There were a few scattered residential areas and schools, one of which Yamms and Mayla were living in. The second largest was the main airport/military air base. Travelling between the islands was mostly with the taxi service run by only one corporation, which dominated the entire third island. The fourth was all residence buildings. Apartments, condos, houses, and whatever came to mind.

"Hello Mayla and Yamms!" The parlour manager waved to the two walking in. Her name was Nina and she was tall. Not your regular tall, she was at least a couple heads higher than Yamms. "Shall I get you two the usual?"
"Yes please!" Mayla rushed over, still dragging Yamms behind and put a few coins on the counter.
Nina spun around and expertly dove the scoop into the bin, pulling out a perfect sphere of chocolate ice cream, followed by strawberry. They flew a distance in the air and dropped onto the cone she held in her left hand. This she handed over to Mayla. She twirled again and handed over a regular one-scoop vanilla cone to Yamms.
"Thanks." Yamms replied, still not entirely happy about being only twenty minutes early instead of the usual thirty. He searched his pocket for the change and left it on the counter as he followed Mayla to the booth in the corner by the windows.

Plopping down, he ate slowly. If he was going to be not-so-early, why not just get there on time? Mayla happily licked and gobbled her cone with almost frightening speed.
"OW!" was the cry.
"What's wrong!?" Yamms sat bolt upright and stared at her. Upon seeing her holding her head, he sighed and slouched back down. "Brain freeze..."
"Yeah..."
At least she was quiet. Yamms finished his cone and sighed again. He realized that he sighed a lot. He wondered why.
"Did you get a load of Mr. Bellsmith today?" She had recovered from her pain and had the goofy grin on again. "He was about to tear his head out at Josh!"
"Yeah..." Yamms wasn't particularly interested in school events, after all.
"Oh cheer up, you goofball." Mayla playfully poked him from across the table. "You're always so glum."
"And you're always so cheerful. Where do you get that energy anyway."
"I guess I'm just high on life. Let's go!" Mayla jumped up and danced to the door.
"Off to work I go... wait... why are you coming?"
"Just hanging around."
Not questioning further, Yamms got up and stepped into the sunlight.

---

A few days later, there was a knock at Yamms' door.
"Hi?" He said as he opened the door.
"Hiyo!" Mayla smiled her broad smile. She handed him a cardboard box, brushed past him and disappeared into the kitchen.
Yamms shut the door and opened the box.
"A replacement valve? How did you...? What...?" Yamms was at a loss for words. "But you don't know anything about engines!"
"Tsk tsk." Mayla laughed. She ignored the rest of his rambles as she started the stove. She put oil in the pan and left it to heat.
"Mayla, this had to cost... so much..."
"No worries, but you owe me a few more rides."
Yamms nodded furiously, blushing slightly, and ran through a door to the garage.

Satisfied at hearing the clinks and clanks from the garage, Mayla turned her attention back to the stove and threw in chopped veggies and shredded meat. Popping the top of the soy sauce bottle, she eyed an amount to pour in and deftly replaced it with one hand. Spatula in one hand and the panhandle in the other, her stir-fry began to come to life. It danced around as she expertly shifted and turned the iron pan. Soon, her masterpiece was done and she filled a big plateful. Sliding it onto the kitchen table, she unplugged the rice-cooker that Yamms had had going. It was dinner time and her tummy grumbled.

"Yamms! Dinner-"

There was the sound of a huge explosion and the entire house shook.

Yamms burst into the kitchen from the hallway.
"What was that?!?" Mayla cried, completely shaken by the shockwave.
"The Steed-Masters are on a rampage again. This whole residential block isn't safe anymore. Come with me!" Yamms shouted back amidst another deafening explosion.

"You'd think they'd have learned a lesson the last time they tried a complete riot." Mayla had recovered somewhat from the initial shock. She sat behind the pilot's seat in Yamms' custom jump-jet.
"They have explosives this time. Besides, you know the police won't have anything else to do with this district. The only ones that can stop them is the rival gang, RedSky."
"You've got to be kidding me..." Mayla sighed to herself.
"Hang tight."

The engine hummed to life as the roof of the garage slid open. They lifted off straight up and into the open air.

"Where are we going to go? Papa is still at home!" Mayla looked wildly around. She buckled the strap added on behind the seat.
"I can't pick him up. This is supposed to seat one anyway!" Yamms had installed the other strap just for her.

Without weapons, the small craft was a perfect target for stray missiles and crafts. Yamms held the jet at a low altitude on the streets. It was sheer pandemonium on the ground. People ran every which way, screaming as the many dark green air ships flew overhead, launching explosives at anything higher than a house.

This event had happened only once before when the Steed-Masters tried taking over the district. The regular police force was out-gunned and the RedSky gang helped put the SMs back in their place. An agreement was made between the gangs and the police. The police withdrew from the area and the gangs took control of crime management and law enforcement. It had been peaceful for at least five years...

Yamms was now sure that the SMs were going for the intimidation tactic. Causing mass fear and confusion was simply a way to gain more ground and political control.

The very air seemed to crackle around them.