Chapter 37 – A Situation That's Hilarious for Me… Not So Much for You
The helicopter sliced through the warm Pacific air, rotors thumping steadily. Gabato, ever the showman, snatched the microphone and launched into his routine with the enthusiasm of someone who had done this a thousand times and still loved every second.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if you look to your right, you will see the magnificent Pacific Ocean! And if you look to your left…" he paused dramatically, "you will see the other side of the Pacific Ocean!"
Hank, strapped in beside the cockpit, rubbed his temples.
"You're gonna talk the whole flight, aren't you?"
Gabato's grin widened until it threatened to split his face.
"You paid for the LUXURY experience, my friend!"
Razan, lounging in the back row with Loona on one side and Charlie practically glued to his arm, burst out laughing.
"Go ahead, man, talk all you want. I don't mind being around energetic people. If I did, I'd have lost my mind a long, long time ago."
Charlie narrowed her eyes, instantly suspicious.
"What exactly are you trying to say with that?"
Razan lifted his hands in mock surrender, the picture of innocence.
"Nothing. Just that if super-happy, hyperactive people bothered me, I wouldn't be best friends with a certain little gremlin who runs on pure sugar and chaos."
Charlie gasped in outrage, lunged across the seat, and seized both of his ears.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HYPERACTIVE GREMLIN, YOU NERD DRAGON?!"
Loona watched the two of them start wrestling like five-year-olds and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"The only person who should be annoyed by you two constantly running on maximum voltage is ME. I'm the one stuck with you 24/7."
Razan's eyes softened. Without warning he hooked an arm around Loona's waist, tugged her into his lap, and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"That's exactly why I thank the universe every single day for having you by my side, you know that?"
Loona's face exploded crimson. She buried it against his chest so no one would see and whispered, barely audible over the rotors:
"…Yeah, I know."
Charlie, never missing an opportunity, reached over and started absent-mindedly braiding tiny sections of Loona's hair, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
Sean, stuck in the row in front of them, watched the whole scene with pure, unfiltered envy. How is that guy juggling two girls at once and I can't even get Kailani to look at me for more than three seconds? The world is unfair.
Kailani, oblivious to Sean's internal crisis, finally leaned forward.
"So… what's the real reason you three are here?"
Razan, still hugging Loona while Charlie used his shoulder as a pillow like it was the most normal thing in existence, answered casually:
"We found some clues in Jules Verne's books about a mysterious island. This was the closest set of coordinates we could calculate."
Sean whipped around, eyes wide.
"You're looking for the island too?!"
Kailani stared at Razan like he'd grown a second head.
"So you three are seriously chasing a fictional island that only exists in a novel?"
Razan's grin turned almost feral.
"Pretty much."
Kailani threw her hands up.
"You're completely crazy! Why would you do something like that?"
Razan's eyes sparkled with genuine excitement.
"Because it's fun. Just imagining living a real, honest-to-goodness adventure, seeing places and creatures no human has ever laid eyes on, exploring something everyone insists doesn't exist… that's the best feeling in the universe."
Charlie pumped her fist so hard she almost hit the ceiling.
"Yeah! Super-awesome adventure time!"
Kailani opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. Words failed her. She had never met dreamers this powerfully, stubbornly idiotic.
Hank, who had been quietly listening the whole time, gave a low chuckle.
"You know the island might not even be real, right? Don't get your hopes up too high."
Razan just shrugged, completely unfazed.
"Even if it's not real, we tried. Worst case, we head back to the hotel, sip cocktails on the beach, and enjoy a tropical vacation. We lose literally nothing. And if we're lucky and it actually exists…" he spread his hands, "jackpot."
Hank shook his head, smiling despite himself.
"Kid, you've got a solid argument. I can't even be
Gabato's voice suddenly cut through the speakers, all the cheer gone.
"Uh… folks, I think we've got a big problem."
Everyone's heads snapped forward.
A monstrous storm front loomed ahead, black as ink, lightning forking across the sky like angry veins.
Razan let out a low whistle.
"Nice knowing you all."
He turned to Charlie and Loona with the most theatrical sad-puppy face he could muster.
"Since we're about to die… how about a goodbye kiss?"
Charlie was already nodding enthusiastically when Loona's fist connected with his arm.
"Shut up, you absolute idiot! You can't be serious even when we're about to crash?!"
She rounded on Charlie.
"And you! Stop falling for his nonsense so easily!"
Hank's mouth twitched as he watched the three of them bicker while death literally loomed outside the window. Poor Hank had no idea the only ones actually in danger of dying were the four normal humans.
Sean stared at the storm, voice shaking but determined.
"According to the coordinates… that's exactly where the island should be!"
Kailani shouted over the growing wind.
"There's no island in the middle of a hurricane!"
Hank gripped his seat.
"That's what we came to find out!"
The helicopter plunged straight into the heart of the storm.
Razan, wearing the most ironic smile known to man:
"I always complained about horror-movie protagonists who saw the road sign that basically said 'DEATH AHEAD' and kept driving anyway. Guess who's the protagonist now."
Kailani:
"So you're scared and want to turn back, right?"
Razan actually laughed.
"Scared? I can't die anymore. I lost that privilege a long time ago. So the fear is all yours."
Sean, utterly lost:
"Since when is dying a privilege?!"
Loona answered flatly:
"If you go to paradise when you die, then yes, it's a privilege."
Charlie muttered under her breath:
"Because the other option isn't exactly newbie-friendly…"
Hank tried to calm everyone down.
"Relax, guys, nobody's dying today."
Razan looked at him with genuine pity.
"My friend… you just raised the biggest death flag in cinematic history."
Hank opened his mouth to ask what that meant when Sean screamed:
"TORNADO!"
A colossal funnel cloud formed right in front of them, sucking the helicopter like a toy.
Sean:
"We have to fly into the eye! That's the only way to the island!"
Hank:
"Absolutely not! Gabato, get us out of here NOW!"
Gabato, sweating bullets:
"I'm trying! The controls aren't responding!"
Something massive slammed into the side of the helicopter.
Gabato's voice cracked:
"WE'RE GOING DOWN! HOLD ON TIGHT!"
Gabato, Kailani, Sean, and Hank screamed in pure terror.
While the humans lost their minds, Razan calmly reached over, stole Charlie's bag of cookies since she was distracted screaming, and munched happily.
Well, we're definitely crashing on the island. I'll only use powers if someone's actually about to die. Until then… entertainment.
He shot Loona and Charlie a quick hand signal: no powers yet.
The helicopter spun, plunged, and finally slammed into soft golden sand with a bone-rattling crunch.
Silence.
Razan blinked, looked at Hank, Sean, Kailani, and Gabato all passed out cold, and burst out laughing.
"That was genuinely hilarious."
He stepped out onto the beach, took a deep breath of the impossibly fresh air, looked at the towering
We made it. Welcome to the Mysterious Island.
Charlie, still a little dizzy, stared worriedly at the unconscious humans.
"So… what do we do with them?"
Razan shrugged, still grinning.
"We wait for them to wake up, then we all explore together. They earned it. I haven't laughed that hard at terrified faces since… ever."
Loona sighed, shaking her head.
"You really didn't save the helicopter on purpose because you thought crashing was fun."
Razan winked.
"Guilty. Also, rules are rules—no powers. And nobody was actually going to get hurt. If things got dicey, I would've stepped in. I just wanted to mess with them a little. I'm not a monster."
Loona pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You really are… I don't even know what to say."
Charlie was already dragging tents out of the bags.
"Well, let's set up camp while we wait for them to wake up!"
Razan stretched, looked at the impossible island stretching out before them, and grinned from ear to ear.
"Sounds good. Let's do it. The real adventure starts now."