Holiday Hijinks!

Holiday Hijinks!

Skipper sighed, glad to have gotten away for a while. He had been yearning for a quick catnap anyway, so why not now? No one was looking for him, as it was nearing the holidays, and Dusty was out trying to find a present for Spray, so he was safe to snooze for the moment. Good thing he was out at sea too…

As soon as he fell asleep though, Sparky smirked, holding up a small wooden block…

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A few hours later, Skipper opened his pale blue eyes, only to see Sparky looking right at him with a smug grin. The Corsair yawned, trying to move, but to his shock, he was unable to. Looking at his friend, Skipper was surprised. Why wasn’t Sparky trying to find out what was going on?

Moving one of his front landing gear, Skipper was even more surprised to feel chocks in front of, and behind, his landing gear tires. Now that he thought about it, his cockpit felt funny too, like there was something on it…

“I hope you are aware of the squadron picture tradition.” Sparky remarked as he looked at the warplane with that smug grin. At once, Skipper knew what was up.

“Oh no…”

Skipper could clearly remember the squadron picture tradition from the Second World War, and he didn’t like to recall that time.

Sparky’s grin just made him glare at the small forklift.

“I know you liked it…”

“Shut up…” Skipper grunted, hoping that his glare would prompt Sparky to release him, but it only seemed to have the opposite effect.

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Dusty and Spray came in for landing on the ship, Dusty using his newly installed retractable arrestor hook to land safely. Since he had pontoons, he couldn’t rely on his old method of landing anymore, so this was a new addition to his new equipment.

Spray landed next, and the rest of the Jolly Wrenches were all grinning as the two came up to them. “What’s going on?” Dusty asked as Echo grinned like a loon.

“Squadron picture. It’s a tradition.” The red-helmeted jet replied. “And we all get dressed out for the holiday!”

Spray looked confused. “What’s the squadron picture?”

“It’s when everyone on the Jolly Wrenches gets dressed up for Christmas and we take a photo of all of us for memory. It can get pretty wacky.” Bravo replied. He had on red and green lines on his silver helmet where the normal colored lines would be, and his twin rudders had the yellow checker pattern as red and green instead.

Echo’s helmet had the black lines on it painted as green, and he had the same pattern on his twin rudders as Bravo.

Horah had large candy-canes painted on his wings, and the same pattern on his twin rudders that Echo and Bravo had.

Shinn was painted with white snowflakes, and like Horah, Echo, and Bravo, he had the red and green checker pattern on his twin rudders.

The triplets went by, each wearing green elf ears and small elf hats. The ship himself had a large red Santa hat on his bridge, and several other crew members and jets had on reindeer antlers.

Bot came up, holding a Santa hat out to Spray. The FBI agent grinned as he felt the hat being placed on his cockpit. Dusty went with the elf hat and matching ears. Considering how he was red, white, and black, it fit perfectly.

“Okay everyone! It’s time for the squadron picture!” A familiar voice called. It was Sparky. Spray looked back, only to see the grumpy form of Skipper come around the corner. He had on reindeer antlers, but on his arrestor hook was a small bell, and his propeller nub was painted red like Rudolph’s nose.

Skipper didn’t look too happy. “I hate you…” He grumped to Sparky, who just looked smug.

Spray snickered. “Looks good on ya, Skip!” He quipped, only to get a glare back in his direction.

The camera was set up as everyone gathered around Skipper. Sparky appeared to be looking smug as the Corsair glared at him.

“Okay, everyone!” The commander said as the camera beeped. “Say ‘Cheers!’!”

“CHEERS!”

*SNAP*

It showed everyone in the photo. Spray had on a silly grin, while Dusty had one eye closed with his tongue out. Echo grinned like a loon while Bravo rolled one eye. Shinn’s red eyes gleamed with amusement, and Horah looked right up at the camera with a meek grin. Bot, Tugs, and Roller all sat stacked on one another, each with a funny face, and Sparky just wore a smug grin as he looked at Skipper, who had on his best glare. Too bad it was ruined by the silly appearance he had. And Flysenhower was just looking at them all with an amused look in his eyes. The rest of the crew and jets all had on varying expressions in the background. It was funny indeed…