((sometime between writing this and saving it and opening it again, it got muddled. Little bits of text got moved around somehow, and it made no sense. I think I found all of the moved text and fixed it, but I could be wrong. Further editing may yet occur.))

The Crimson Flash was flying.
That's not entirely accurate. Flying implies some sort of control. Instead, he had been thrown into the sky. The airship, familiar wooden hull dangling below a massive silk balloon, hadn't been near enough to anything high, to allow him to jump to it, and he had to get aboard. Luckily, he was friends with Talk, who was strong enough to launch him into the air. The ogre had knit his fingers together to form a platform, and with a single heave had sent Crim to flying. Or close enough to flying.
He needed to speak with the captain of that ship, and it turns out that the captain never came down to the land.

It had started the night before. He had stopped by Ibis' office for a beer, and a little chat. Nothing had happened, he just felt the need for discussion. When he left, he found Talk, the ogre, standing outside. The big fellow was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and back again, gaze downcast. He was obviously uncomfortable about something, so Crim walked over and asked him, "How's it going, Talk?"
Talk looked up, as though startled. "Oh. Hello, Red Guy. Talk need to talk."
He nodded up to the ogre. "Sure, big guy. What's on your mind?"
The ogre looked around, before looking back to the scarlet speedster. "Walk with Talk?"
Crim looked around for a moment, then patted a huge shoulder, and they began to walk.
Talk sighed, as he walked along. "Talk lost something. Think it something important." The ogre lifted a massive hand to rub at the back of his head, his prominent brow furrowing. "Pretty stone necklace. Glows sometimes."
Crim nodded, frowning faintly under his mask. "Sounds like magic. Where did you get this necklace?"
Talk looked absolutely miserable as he looked over one shoulder, then the other, before answering, "Talk found it. Talk swear, found, not stole. On floor in nice tavern Red Guy showed Talk." When Crim nodded, remembering that night, the ogre continued. "Talk was drinking, like Talk does in taverns. Saw pretty stone glow. Got stone necklace, left tavern. Later, Talk back in tavern again. Little man come over, frowning mad. Yell at Talk. Call Talk thief. Talk just find pretty stone necklace, not know whose it was. Little man said, ‘You bring that back!' Talk not know where necklace is." The ogre seemed near to tears. "How can Talk bring back necklace, Red Guy?"
Crim patted Talk's massive forearm, wondering what he could do about this. "Talk, what exactly did the necklace look like? What color was the stone, what was the necklace made of?"
Talk's prominent brow knit together. "Stone is…blue. Dark blue, except when it glow. Then lighter. Necklace look like little chain. Shiny. No color." The ogre frowned. "Silver, Talk think."
A nod of a masked head. "Does the stone hang under it? Is there anything else on the stone?"
"Chain in middle of stone. Metal around stone, like melted sun. Gold? Yeah. Little lines, curl in. Withershins." It was easy to forget that Talk was much more intelligent than he sounded, usually, until he demonstrated his vocabulary like that. "Four. Not come together in middle. Almost, but they miss."
"Yep. Definitely sounds like some sort of magic necklace." He frowned under his mask, having no idea where to start looking. "And you don't have any idea where it went?"
"Talk had it when talk went home. Talk got bored, went back to tavern. Still had pretty stone. Then, angry little man talk to Talk, and Talk not have necklace any more."
A realization dawns. The little man. "Talk, I think the little man might have stolen the necklace from you. He only yelled at you to distract you so you wouldn't notice. Where did the little man go, after he talked to you?"
Talk blinked, twice. "Little man thief?" He paused. "Little man thief?!" Hands the size of hams balled into tight fists for a moment, before the ogre calmed himself. "Little man climb to ship. Up there." A single finger raised, to point to the sky.
Crim raised a brow, tilting his head back. Faintly visible, lit with its own torches, there was a massive airship. From what he could see, it was a galleon dangling from a huge dirigible. "He's…up there?" The scarlet speedster sighed. "Let me see what I can find out about it, then I'll see about getting up there. Alright, Talk?"
The ogre nodded, before lifting his head to look up to the airship once more.

As the Crimson Flash hurtled toward the airship, he found himself marveling at the ogre's strength.
He also found himself wondering just how good Talk's aim was; because if he missed, it would be a long, long way down.

Luck was on his side, it seemed. The Crimson Flash caught hold of one of the ropes reaching up from the galleon-shaped gondola, and managed to do so without wrenching his arms from their sockets. He saw a few members of the crew notice him, pausing in their work or leisure to look up at him as he lowered himself down the rope. A few were shouting to each other, as he dropped the last few yards, landing in a crouch on the deck.
As he rose, standing straight, a man was walking his way, crew moving aside as he neared. He wasn’t imposing, not really, and didn’t look at all like a man in authority. His face was worn with age and life, appearing to be in his late forties. Hair was still black, though it had started its retreat toward the back of his head. He was smiling, lines deepening at the corners of eyes hidden under sunglasses. One earring glinted in his right ear, two in the left. He wore casual clothing: black boots, blue jeans, a black tee-shirt and a worn brown leather jacket. He extended a rough hand, grinning. “Heck of an entrance, man. I’m Captain O’Shea. Welcome aboard the Angelia.”
Crim nodded, shaking the captain’s hand firmly. “I’m Crimson. You know, that’s the forth name I’ve heard for you.” He looked around, as his hand dropped to his side. “She’s a beautiful craft.”
The captain laughed, “So, you’ve found out my secret!” He leaned in close, grinning, and spoke conspiratorially. “I don’t like my real name. I make up a new one every time I meet someone.” He laughed again as he straightened, turning to look over the airship. “She’s a beauty. Now, we’re going to be heading off to mess in a few minutes. Care to join us?”
“I’d be honored.” Dark eyes moved under yellowed lenses. “I’m here because I think one of your crew might have taken something from a friend of mine. I don’t know for sure, it could be something else entirely. I was wondering if I could take a look around, though?”
A sigh issued from the lips of the captain. He glanced one way, then the other, before leaning close to Crim and speaking softly. “Look, some of my men, they aren’t really law-abiding. Not always. They’re good men, they do their job well, and that’s all I care about up here. Don’t go thinking you’ll offend me by accusing one of them of nicking a bauble or two, got me?” At that, he straightened, speaking in his normal tones. “That said, I will not let you roam my ship. I’ll give you a tour after lunch, then you can be on your way. Good enough for you?”
Crim nodded, faintly, clasping his hands behind his back. “Sounds good. I appreciate it.”

The meal was simple, but filling, roast meat cut thin, between slices of bread, with plain water to drink. The Crimson Flash brushed off his lips, before pulling his mask back down over his lower face. As he left the mess, following the captain, he garnered a few curious looks.
“I am sure I am not the only one, Crimson, to wonder this. Why the mask?” The captain was looking over his shoulder as they headed for the crews quarters, to begin the tour. “Surely, your speed is not that unusual, in a city such as this, that you feel the need to hide your face?"
Crim repressed a laugh, at the question. “It’s a tradition, where I’m from. People who do the sort of thing I do, they would just always wear masks. It’s not as important here, but there, the idea is that people would go after a vigilante’s loved ones, to get to the vigilante himself. Here, I guess that wouldn’t happen as much. Seemed like the right thing to do, though. Plus, I get to live my life a little easier, by doing this. People mostly leave me alone when I don’t have it on, since they don’t know what I can do.”
The captain nodded, watching as Crim peeked into room after room. “I guess that does make sense.”
Crim stopped at one room, peering in through the open doorway. There was a necklace hanging there, very similar to the one Talk had spoken of, but the color was wrong. The stone was not blue but shimmered, like moonstone.. He reached out a hand to stop the captain, and pointed to it. “That…isn’t it. But it’s close.”
After a look to the stone, light shifting as it reflected, the captain nodded to Crim. “This is Galik’s room. He’s a new crew member. A gnome, knows more about airships than most men. That’s why I had my men bring him on.” He rubbed his chin, head bowed. “He’s been squirrelly. I figured he just needed time to adjust to being around new people. You think he’s a thief?” He cast a look to the speedster at this question.
Crim shook his head. “Something doesn’t add up. He said the stone was blue. Is Galik on board?”
“I didn’t see him at mess.” The captain walked into Galik’s room, hand coming out to lift the necklace. At his touch, color crept into the stone. Like liquid filling a vessel, a deep dark green took over the shimmering colorlessness. “Thought I’d seen this before.” He held it up, showing it to the Crimson Flash. “When he wears it, it’s purple. Could have been blue down on the surface. Except…Galik’s had this since he came on with us, about a month ago. When did you say your friend lost it?”
“Day or two ago. But he’d just found it in a bar the night before.” Crim rubbed the back of his neck. “He said he still had it when he went back to the bar. Then a ‘little man’ yelled at him about taking his necklace, demanded he bring it back, and came up here. My friend is about two feet taller than me, so I didn’t really think ‘little man’ would mean a gnome, but it certainly makes sense. I figured the guy lifted it from him, and flipped out at him as a distraction. But if he had it before…” Crim reached out, tapped the stone. A spot of brilliant red formed under the tip of his finger, then melted back to green. “Maybe he found it after he talked to my friend.” He shook his head. “It feels like there’s something else going on, though…”
“There are more things on heaven and earth than dreamed of, man. Of course there’s something else going on.” The captain grinned as he replaced the necklace on its hook. “Question is, does this something else have anything to do with Galik’s stone here?” The color drained from the stone after he released his grip on it. “Probably does. Come on, let’s see if Galik’s back from wherever he went.”