Chop To The Hop

"Shine your saddle shoes, oil your hair and holster your straws, because SCUL is going Back to the Future."

14 pilots met under the lights of the launch pad. Doc eXceSs stood before us, regaling us with tales of a future in which SCUL never happened! In order to combat this, many showed up to greet the Doc in disguises of a bygone era to better blend in and avoid being questioned.
Away they flew, off towards Davis, when they discovered they had entered the slipstream. Where was the Disco? The chopper groove was swell, but… wait, is that Elvis?!
When are we? The lights swirling fluorescent indicate that we’d entered….. The fifties?! When Chubby Checker ordered us to twist, we halted at the Deathstar to practice our moves, and collect some cups, straws, and extra milkshake flavors. The next track came on, and we beat feet, headed towards an unknown wooden floor.
Suddenly, Wombat and Dreadflint heard a whispered “Mechanical! Help!” The bolts on Mousetrap hadn’t made the timejump with us, and the driveside crank had plain quit. Both pilots abandoned ship in truly impressive fashion to catch Mousetrap and rescue Shadowcat. The fleet paused, hoping time would keep hold, while PQ used Princess’ driveside crank bolt to force Mousetrap back on. Dreadflint offered to brave the night alone, without the disguise of life support, to recover bolts. He left, and Fuzz led us on through the night, as newly paved roads unspooled before us. The Everly Brothers led the way as we curved down lover’s lane, and along tree lined wormholes. Fuzz circled and Doc eXceSs knew he couldn’t locate the dance floor in time! He and Cloudbuster rallied up the hill and we exploded onto the stage.
Pilots shed their shoes and showed their moves til they dropped. Just as the fun was ramping up, a cry went out! Dreadflint had been felled in action! Brave Bane revved up Biebs and headed off to perform another rescue. With his slicked back hair and rolled up sleeves, no one would ever know he didn’t belong.
Meanwhile, Threespeed had sent us back in time with Blendy:Mark II, the portable edition. The hope was that drilling around corners would reset the balance that had shifted. With Blendy’s to full of (dairy free) milkshake bliss, the motor whirred slowly to life. It needed help! We spooned and stirred and shook, and slowly, chocolate strawberry emerged! Other pilots made blends of coffee, caramel, scotch, and chocolate bars. A communique from Bane- they would return together! And in time to enjoy milkshakes! In the meantime, there were hula hoops, and Excess showed off his skills on a pogo-stick, no hands! Delivered safely back to the hands of the gang, the lost pilots regaled us with descriptions of locals in loafers, polo shirts, sweater sets and poodle skirts. Caduceus had some other mishaps coming through time, and Sprocket needed to re-engineer it from available parts so the gang could return together. That achieved, we emerged from the woods to find we were back in modern times! Traveling home with The Penguins and Carl Perkins to remind us of our trip, we wiggled home to the fort. Disaster nearly struck a final time, as Suspension of Disbelief and Mousetrap briefly became magnetically attracted when coming back through time, and unseated their respective pilots. Crisis averted, we soared onto the launchpad and declared: Mission Success. Punchy, Bane and Couscous received commendations for reflecting local culture, Sewer a medal of Hair for his gravity defying 'do, and Wombat for his epic rescue of freeflying Shadowcat. Even PQ garnered notice for hauling snackwagon, full of bags and milkshake supplies through time. And with that, sleepy pilots congratulated themselves on saving SCUL and headed home to dream of Blue Moon….