"Sky justice! Sky justice!" Crouton chants.
A window on the observation deck has been carefully opened, a long plank of wood extended outside. (No one particularly wanted to ask where the plank came from. Hopefully nowhere vital). Wind whistled past.
Boydster, Duck and Stash all help lead the victim-to-be to the plank. CFC struggles, but to no avail. He's pushed out, the four that voted for him blocking his way back onto the ship.
CFC just about manages to keep his balance. The wind rushes past as the vessel ascends, the plank perilously thin.
"Sky justice!" Crouton shouts again.
"This is a mistake," CFC says. "I'm telling you, this-"
The plank jerks suddenly; CFC loses his balance and falls over the side, a cry escaping his lips as he starts falling to the distant world below.
There is a slightly long pause.
"So. Uh, how do we tell if we got the right guy?" one person says.
"Sky justice!" Crouton says.
CFC's distant scream can still be heard.
"Dammit, JANE!" Junker says. "Can you fly lower so we can actually see his body?"
There's a brief thrum, and the Flatty McFlatface begins to descend. It moves faster and faster, soon catching up to the falling CFC, and then passing him, before moving closer. He conks his head on the plank, and then falls past.
The engines cut out; the ship keeps descending, and on a second attempt ducks close enough to scoop up his decapitated body. Then, very quickly, the engines return to life, everyone being knocked to the floor by the pressure. The ascent may have been delayed, but now it's back on.
The ship climbs on upwards. CFC however will not be part of the crew. Most of his body lays on the observation deck, devoid of feathers and devoid of any NASA memorabilia. His head, meanwhile, lands a few minutes later on a stag's antlers and spends a few days being run around and displayed, scaring children and inspiring a new urban legend and a minor cult.
CFC, a villager, is dead.
The lights dim. Night has come again. While we regain our previous height, Vega and Kowalski are up, as is anyone else who feels like using their powers.