Broken Wing
Chapter 1 True Power
Ok, this is my first chapter of what will be a series of one shots and multi chapter stories revolving around my OC Kai. If you don't like OC centric stories leave now. This chapter is a prequel of sorts to MissDeodakes story Crystal Lights. It focus's on how Kai found out about what was going on. I have her permission so don't bother with the Admins. I also wanted to give a big thank you to Lane19, my friend, I cant thank you enough for not only posting my work but putting up with me for all these years.
Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, I have his profile one a piece of notebook paper that I signed.
"Speech"
"Thought"
Sounds
Dull golden eyes blinked several times trying to remain open for more than a second.
Scratch
Eyes snapped open Kai jumped from the couch that he had fallen asleep on. All it took was a sound, a single sound for him to become completely alert. "Someone's here." Reaching for his tri-staff Kai dropped into a defensive stance. "I can't see anything moving, but something had to make that sound. The Raiders don't hang around this part of the Terra, and no animal lives here, not even sky sharks."
Scratch scratch
Turning with lightning fast reflexes Kai brought his staff around to rest on the head of a rather large bird. It was mostly blue, with a little bit of red on the underside of its wings. "An actual Storm Hawk? I thought they were extinct?" Kai brought his staff around to strike the invading creature only to hit thin air.
"Now is that any way to treat an endangered species? Are you sure that you're flying the right colors?"
Kai turned around coming fact to face with someone that could only be described as a circus performer. His outfit had a small fringed cape, and a cloth helmet that looked like a birds head. But what caught Kai's attention was the mans bright green hair. "Who are you?" Kai said thrusting the end of his staff towards the unidentified intruder.
"Oh just your everyday traveler. Say do you treat all of your guest like this? Cause if you do then your flying the wrong flag out there." The man said pointing at the Interceptors flag laying still from the absence of any moving air.
"I don't have guest. Now answer my question, who are you, and why are you here?" Kai narrowed his eyes and pointed his staff at the mans torso.
"You should be careful who you point your weapon at; they might expect you to be able to use it." The man said with a grin spreading across his face.
"You have tried my patient's long enough, leave now or I will make you. I don't know who you are, and frankly I don't care." "Who ever he is, this guys a threat. He was able to find me, and that's no easy task. I didn't hear the proximity alarm go off either, so how did he even get here?"
As Kai processed what was going on, the man started looking around. "Nice place you got here. Roomy as long as you keep the curtains closed." The man pointed at the open window. Anyone that had been to Terra Deep would tell you, the place was no tourist attraction.
"I didn't come here for the view. Now get out!" Kai was getting ready to launch an attack when the man turned to face him.
"Of course not, you just came here to hide." His grin vanished as soon as the words left his mouth. He looked almost sad.
Kai on the other hand was livid.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!!"
In a flash Kai found himself suspended several feet off the ground, unable to move a muscle. The man was holding a short staff that had a rather large crystal on the top. Looking closely Kai could see that is was changing colors rapidly, sometimes it even appeared to be several colors at once.
"Really now, I though she taught you better then that. I would have expected so much more from you. Not to mention you actually kept that rock!" Upon saying this he struck Kai's tri staff with his own. For a brief second the crystal chamber in the center flashed with a black light.
"I found it, I kept it, I use it. You have a problem with that? And again I ask WHO ARE YOU!" Kai was beyond livid; his eyes were almost glowing with rage.
"Ppptthh Kids these days. They find some cursed rock and think their unbeatable." The man then moved his staff downwards. Immediately Kai followed the downward path and hit the floor, he was then slammed into the roof of his base, and then back into the floor again. "I can keep this up all day. Can you?" The mans voice was chipper, almost like he was enjoying this.
"If you release me now, I MIGHT let you leave in one piece." Kai hissed between clinched teeth.
"You are in no position to threaten a mouse, much less me. You're a good kid, but you have to work on those people skills. Now ask nicely and I MIGHT let you down." The man poked Kai to prove his point.
"If he wanted to kill me he would have by now, what game is he playing?" "Answer my questions, who are you, and why are you here. If you know about my crystal, then you know it's useless to you or anyone that would buy it."
The man shook his head for a moment. "What you choose to do with yourself, include kill." He tapped his staff against Kai's again. "Is up to you, I'm here to give you a warning boy, and if you're half as smart as you think you are, you will listen up and listen closely." The man walked up until he was only a few inches from Kai's face.
Master Cyclonis has found something, something that no human should have found. It was buried and forgotten long ago, and it should have stayed that way. But she has somehow found it." The man began.
"Well with Domiwick on her payroll I can imagine how." Kai said rolling his eyes.
"Please, that mommy's boy couldn't find a book in a library. Back to what I was saying, Master Cyclonis has somehow found the Cabion crystal." At this the man crossed his arms.
Kai was having a hard time listening to anything that the man was saying though, he kept switching from being serious to joking, and the way he was standing…if Kai were honest, he would say that it made the man look more like a woman. "Look, that's all nice and stuff, Master Cyclonis finds a new toy, she plays with it for a little while before the Storm Hawks come in and break it. Big whoop. You still haven't answered my questions. Who are you and why are you in my base!"
The man just shook his head before sighing. "Look kid."
Kai interrupted. "And stop calling me boy or kid!" I'm eighteen!"
"So what? You want me to stop calling you boy? How does girl sound? Does that sit with you better? Now you listen, because I still have a single ounce of respect for you, due to your little humanitarian act six months ago I'll just call you kid."
Kai was about to interrupt again but the strange man stopped him.
"It's my right to call you kid, because you, like every other person on Atmos including those stiffs that call themselves a council are kids when compared to me. Now you listen, the Cabion is not a little toy. I was there, believe me, I know exactly what that thing can do."
"What does it do exactly?" Kai figured that if he couldn't move, he would at least get some information out of this encounter.
"You've been to Terra Saharr before right? Of course you have, you used to watch The Great Atmos Race when you were little, what would you do if I told you that Terra Saharr at one time was actually the sister Terra of Amazonia?" The man was now leaning against the wall.
At first Kai was surprised that this man knew he used to watch the Great Atmos Race, but as soon as what the man had said sunk in, he couldn't help but gape. "If what he's saying is true, all of Atmos is in danger!"
"Close your mouth there boy, you'll attract fly's." The man waved his hand a few times in front of his face. "And would it kill you to brush your teeth once in a while? And that hair, ugh do you even have a mirror on this tub?"
Brought out of his train of though, Kai sent the man a seething glare. "Well if you had bothered to swing by a few hours later, AFTER I woke up, I would have had a chance to clean up!"
The man was smirking again. "So you still have some emotions left eh, looks like I underestimated you. She hasn't completely drained you yet has she?" The man once again tapped Kai's tri staff.
"How do you even know about her?" Normally Kai didn't trust someone he had never at least had one spar against, but this guy was sending out so many mixed signals it was driving him crazy. "Ok so he CLAIMS to be old, but he looks like he's forty, he's fit enough to be twenty, and he acts like he's ten. He knows everything there is to know about everything and could have killed me in my sleep if he wanted to. Looks like I have no choice." Kai looked the man in the eye, all trace of resistance gone. "What do you want? You could have killed me, but instead you just lecture me, why?"
The mans smirk changed to an honest smile. "Now you're catching on. Ask nicely."
It took a second before Kai realized what he was talking about. "Please…let me down."
The man nodded and with a wave of his staff Kai fell.
Hard.
THUMP
"I asked you nicely." Kai hissed through his teeth. "I don't want to tick this one off."
"You did, you asked me to let you down, so I did. If you wanted me to put you down softly or slowly, you should have asked." The man reached out his hand to help Kai get up.
"I don't need help getting up." Pushing himself up Kai noticed the man was frowning.
"I thought you learned." He said shaking his head.
"What?! What did I do this time?" Kai was trying to keep his anger in check, but this man was trying his last nerve.
"Let's do a little test. I promise that none of this is real." The man waved his staff and Kai felt his world fade black.
Waking up, some time later Kai found himself in a large room. It was dome shaped, and about the size of a carrier ship.
"So…Nice…to Seeee..you…snarl have decided to wake up!"
Looking up behind him, Kai saw one of the few things in the world he truly hated. "Repton."
The Raptor had a large, and in Kai's opinion, extremely creepy grin spreading across his face. "All this time, I thought I had exterminated every last one of the Mesa, Starling aside of course. And here I find that another one got away."
"That creep sold me out!" "It doesn't matter." Kai pulled his tri staff out.
That's when he heard it.
Laughter
Lots of laughter.
Looking around Kai saw that the room he was in, was an arena. Packed full with Cyclonian's, and the Master herself was watching from above.
"Do not worry, weakling, you are not the only one that will parish on this day." Repton pointed behind Kai, and as he turned to look he saw four figures being pushed out into the arena.
"The Storm Hawks?" Kai looked at Repton for answers.
"We found them on the way back from picking you up; I guess you could call it a two for one sale." The Raptor said with a slight chuckle. "But they are the least of your concern. Look up."
As Kai turned, his face went white as a sheet. There, beneath Master Cyclonis, held down in chain, was Starling. Though she was a fair distance away, it was easy to see she was in rough shape. "Let. Her. Go." Kai could feel his control slipping. "I can't give in. I will control my rage; my rage does not control me." After taking a deep breath Kai looked up to see a smirking Repton.
"Of course we will let her go. Just as soon as you get past me, her free, and away from here." His grin turned into a twisted smile. "Oh and did I mention that there is a time limit? Your little friend is wired with an Oblivion crystal, you have five minutes to get her off this Terra, or else, there won't be enough left to burry in a match box."
"Prisoners! This is your one chance to escape. Should you survive, you will be given a, slight head start." Master Cyclonis was now standing with her arms above her head. "Let the games begin!"
Kai expected for Repton to charge, but instead he leapt backwards, landing a few feet in front of Starling. Looking around, Kai knew he was in trouble. "Looks like they pulled out all the stops."
Aerrow and his "just a friend" Piper were fighting the Dark Ace, Kai knew they probably couldn't beat him on their own, but it was unlikely that Dark Ace would be able to hurt either as long as the other was there. Kai had to admit that the two made a good team. Continuing his scan he could see Junko in a bare fist fight with Snipe. "Big surprise, they'll be at it for hours." He next saw Finn running and ducking around some columns firing at Ravess. "And those two will be at it until they run out of ammo. Great everyone is busy, looks like lizard butts mine!"
Running as fast as he could Kai charged Repton holding his tri staff behind him in his left arm. The Raptor just looked at him as though board. Kai leapt into the air raising his staff high, fully intending on turning the Raptors brains into mush.
Before he could connect the Raptor blocked the strike with his energy boomerang. Grinning a toothy smile the big lizard threw Kai like a rag doll. "Is that all you have boy!"
Before he hit the ground, Kai touched off with his free right hand and upright himself, charging in again. "Why didn't he counter attack? Is this his way of taunting me?"
Kai charged in again leaping up as high as he could, clearing almost twenty feet of the ground. "You will pay for not finishing me when you had the chance!" Kai spun his tri staff around above his head.
"And You will pay for making the same mistake twice!" Reptons energy boomerang changed form into a rather nasty looking scimitar.
"Like I'm really that dumb!" SHADOW SLAM! The air around Kai was filled with copies of himself. "I'll nail him this time!"
Kai was surprised to see the raptor smile and actually CLOSE his eyes. At the last second he turned around and smacked Kai with his long tail.
"AGH! How?!" Kai was speechless. "How!? There's no way to predict that move! The images might not be solid, but you can't see through them, I even practiced shifting my position so a copy would be where I was when I ise it!"
Repton opened his eyes and smiled. "Foolish Boy! I am a hunter! You little trick is impressive, I will give you that; it would fool the best of soldiers and warriors alike. Too bad for you I am neither, I Am a hunter! The copies your little trick makes are not real, thus they have no sent, also by them not being solid, they have no wind resistance and thus make no sound when falling. I don't need my eyes to fight; I can use my other sense's just fine."
"SNAP! Looks like I'll just have to fool all his senses." "Shadow's Embrace." Kai's tri staff pulsed once, twice, three times before a black mist surround Kai's form. Looking back up Kai opened his eyes. No longer were they a dull gold, they were a near lifeless grey color. "Heads up meat. Your not the only hunter!" Kai's voice was hollow, devoid of any emotion. Looking up he then charged again moving at a blinding pace towards the Raptor.
Meanwhile up in a private skybox watching the battle below was the green haired man. "So he has learned how to use it…hmm, but he still needs to learn."
Again, again, and again Kai swung his tri staff, only to meet air each and every time. "For someone so big this guy moves fast."
"Is That the best you have boy!" The lizard taunted. "My dimwitted brothers provide more of a work out than this!"
"That's it." Kai brought his staff around for another strike, twisting the center as he did so.
"Fool a simple strike will never hit me!" The raptor blocked the attack, only to be caught off guard by a second staff strike. "UGH!" The large reptile flew back a few feet. When he stood up he saw what had struck him.
There stood Kai, but his staff was no longer an eight foot pole, but it was now three shorter pieces held together by a foot of chain between each piece. One was in each hand, and the middle part across his back. "That Was a mistake BOY!" Repton charged at full speed and shoulder rammed Kai.
"God that felt like getting hit by a bus. I cant take many of those." Kai looked up at the clock. Only two more minutes, I've got to get to Starling." Kai focused the energy from his Shadow crystal into his body. He knew that he would pay for it later, but right now he didn't care. Kai ran towards Repton at full speed again.
Repton was having a hard time focusing on Kai's exact location. There were several partial images surrounding him. They were not complete, but they seemed to move in and out, like after images, only some were in front of him as well. "You Won't get past me with plain speed, you should know that boy!"
Kai gritted his teeth and kept charging. At the last second he bent his knees to jump. Repton, thinking this meant another aerial attack raised his guard to block a high strike. But instead of jumping Kai did a back flip and charged into a forward handspring. Using the momentum from the handspring he shifted his weight so that he flew forward. At the last second he twisted the center of his tri staff, causing it to pull back together into its single piece form. "This is for Terra Mesa!" Kai slammed his staff into Reptons collar bone, shattering it. Without even stopping for a second he hurried to Starling as fast as he could. He could feel his muscles begging for rest, his lungs were about to burst. He was able to see the other fights continuing. Just as he predicted, none of the others were close to finishing yet. "I might not be a Sky Knight, but I can still hold my own." Kai jumped up to the platform that held Starling. She looked like she had been beaten up pretty bad. Quickly looking for a way to remove the heavy chains, Kai couldn't help but notice the Oblivion crystal attached to an iron collar around her neck.
"Go…help..the..others." Starling looked up to see Kai's face. He noticed that she didn't look the least bit afraid. "Go…its…to..late." She tried to push him away with her head.
"I'm not going to leave you." Kai lifted his tri staff and struck the heavy chains as hard as he could, but the metal was just too thick. "BREAK!" Kai slammed his staff again and again, but it was no use. He knew it too, but he refused to accept it. "BREAK BREAK BREAK! COME ON BREAK!" Kai knew he was out of time. He didn't have to see the clock, he just knew it. He didn't know what hurt more, seeing the flash that had transported his only remaining friend to another dimension, or the fact that she didn't say anything to him. "Why, why didn't she say anything?! Not even a goodbye!"
After a few seconds passed Kai noticed that everything was silent. There was no sound, none at all. Looking up he noticed that everything was frozen, it was like time had stopped.
"Now do you see?" Came a very familiar voice.
"Grrrr! YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Kai brought his tri staff around only to be stopped, and once again suspended in the air a few inches off the ground.
"Now now, think boy, notice anything?" The man asked.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER! WHEN I GET DOWN YOU WILL HAVE NO PLACE TO HIDE! DO YOU HEAR ME!" Kai had tears falling freely in his eyes. At one time, he would have been ashamed to see what he had become, but right now he didn't care.
"Who? Who did I kill?" The man's voice was calm. He sounded almost like a father trying to comfort there kid.
"Starling…you killed her." Kai was breathing steady now. Only one thought was on his mind.
"Is that so? Don't you notice anything strange? The man asked.
"Strange? Why would I care about strange? As soon as I get down, you're dead!" Kai's eye's were still a lifeless grey, but there was a flash of dull gold every few seconds.
"Are you calming down enough to think yet boy?" The man asked.
"What are you talking about?!" Kai was seething; this man was responsible for killing his only living friend. "Wait, I remember her? That's not possible. If she died, then I would have forgotten that she had ever lived, that means, that." Kai looked up at the man with a look of astonishment. "She's alive?"
The man smiled. "You figured it out. Good, and yes she is alive." But then his face turned grim. "For now she is, but for how much longer I don't know."
"What do you mean!? Enough of these riddles! What are you trying to tell me, what are you trying to say, why are you even here?" Kai had so many thoughts running through his head that he didn't know if he should hug the man, or deck him where he stood.
"Ok, straight to the point. I can respect that. But before I explain, do you know why you couldn't save her?" He asked.
Kai's head dropped. "Because I was too weak. It took me to long to beat Repton, and even after that, it wouldn't have mattered. There was no way to save her." Kai replied.
"Ah but that's where your wrong. There was a way that you could have saved her. Come here." The man held out his hand to help Kai down. "Let's watch and see how you could have saved your friend.
The next thing Kai saw was a white flash. Then he was sitting in a very nice chair in a private Skybox overlooking the arena. "Where are we?"
"My private skybox of course! Say do you want anything? Skydogs? Skycandy? There all free." The man gestured to what looked like an all you can eat buffet.
"I'll pass, now can we get to the point please." Kai was once again trying to keep his cool, but this man was trying nerves that Kai had only just discovered existed.
"Ok first watch." The man pointed out the window. The first thing Kai saw was a red flash, followed by Starling appearing in front of….himself? "How can I be in two places at once?" Kai turned to the man looking for answers.
"Your not, think of this as a replay, well what you should have done." The man replied.
Kai looked back and noticed that everything was moving backwards, like a movie being rewound. It stopped right when the countdown timer started.
"Ok this was your first mistake." The man said as he pointed to Kai charging at Repton.
"Uh what was I supposed to do?" Kai was confused; was the man saying that he shouldn't have fought? That made no sense.
"Look around you, notice the others?" The man pointed to Aerrow, Piper, Junko and Finn.
"Yeah, I saw they were busy with there own fights, they were fine up until the end." Kai replyed not seeing anything wrong with his actions.
The man just shook his head. "By helping others, you help yourself. Look." The man pointed back out to the field, but before it could continue he waved his staff.
Instead of charging Repton, Kai ran towards the two on one fight of Aerrow and Piper verses the Dark Ace. Kai watched as he, along with the other two were able to take down the Dark ace in under thirty seconds. The man was good, but three against one would have thrown off anyone.
Time left 4:30
The trio exchanged a few words before nodding and heading towards Finns fight with Ravess. Piper and Kai were able to help Finn distract the woman for a few seconds, allowing Aerrow the time he needed to launch a Lightning Claw attack, rendering her unconscious.
Time left 3:00
The four then made their way to Junko's fight with Snipe. Distracting the giant of a man, they were able to give Finn a clear shot with a few ice rounds turning the man into a living ice sculpture. The team, now numbering five made there way towards Repton, and Starling.
Time left 2:00
Aerrow gave an order, which they all carried out. Kai, Piper, Junko, and Finn ran past Repton while he was busy fighting Aerrow. When they reached her, it only took a second for Junko to pull the heavy chains out of the ground. He tried to pull off the iron collar, but it was too small for his hands to grip.
Time left 1:30
Finn then stood back and fired a single shot from his crossbow and shot the collar off of Starling neck. Piper then deactivated the Oblivion crystal with a Blocker crystal she carried. The five of them in turn were able to help Aerrow finish off Repton with ease.
Time left 1:00
The group of six then made its way to the exit. It was at this point that the movie stopped.
"You see? The man said turning to Kai. "If you had bothered to help the others, instead of rushing in, you not only would have saved your little friend, but you potentially could have saved four other people as well. Think before you act. You want to become a Sky Knight right? The first thing you need to learn is that the first choice is often the wrong choice."
Kai was still trying to take everything in. "So you're saying that I'm weak, and can't do anything on my own, is that it?"
The man slapped his face into the palm of his hand. "For someone that is supposedly a fast learner, you sure are slow." The man looked back at Kai. "Look, I know you still blame yourself for Mesa, if you want to make up for it, the first thing you need to do is move on. There are many, many crystals in Atmos, that have many, many different abilities. But there is no crystal that has the power to change the past. You can only use them to change the future. You are not weak, you are still learning, you have room to improve, but so does everyone else. What I'm trying to show you, is that there are some things that a person just can't do on there own, no matter how strong they are."
"What about the Dark Ace? He's defeated more Sky Knights then anyone who has ever lived." Kai spat back.
"Yes you are right, the Dark Ace has defeated more Sky Knights then anyone else alive, and it has taken him ten years to do it! But since you seem to be so fond of the man, let's have a recap. He defeated the original Storm Hawks, by betraying them in the heat of battle. They were so busy fighting twelve squadrons of Talons, that they never noticed one of there own was helping the enemy. That's how he fights. Yes he fly's solo for the most part, but he uses ambush tactics, brains! That's what I'm trying to teach you. Assess the problem, before you try to solve it." The man was close to being exasperated with Kai's stubbornness.
Kai sat, deep in thought, trying to figure out why this man was trying to teach him anything, much less teamwork. "Ok, I understand. You're trying to teach me not to rely on my skills and abilities alone, and to think before reacting. I understand that. Now, my question, is why?"
The man was smiling again. "Now you're catching on. I can see that you did listen to some of her lessons after all. Let's have a change of scenery shall we?" The man struck the ground with his staff, and in seconds the arena vanished. Kai and the still unnamed stranger were now in the clouds above Terra Cyclonia. "This is why."
Looking over the desolate landscape, Kai noticed several large transports filling up with ground troops. Along side them were hundreds of skimmers. "It's an invasion force." The color drained from Kai's face. "We have to warn the Council! The squadrons! How long before this happens?!"
"It already has. This is not the future boy, this is the present." It was at this time that a crackle of lightning went off behind them. "There is no way to stop this from starting. It already has. The best that you can hope for, it to prevent it from finishing." The man said in a grave tone.
"Why are you showing me this? Why not the actual squadrons? They would be able to make better use of this information then I would." Kai said more then just a little confused.
"Because, they already know." The man waved his staff and Kai found himself looking at row upon row of prison cells. Although he didn't recognize the people in them, he could tell by the insignia's they wore that they were all members of Sky Knight Squadrons.
"Ok, so what do you expect me to do? I'm only one person. There's no way I could pull this off alone" Kai said looking back at the man.
"Ahh so you've figured it out. Hurray he has a brain! You just one the grand prize!" The mans smile became absurdly large as he waved his hands. "You might be just one person, but you are far from alone." The man waved his staff again and Kai was assaulted with many, many images all at once. For a second he was watching a group of young teenagers, younger them himself walking down the streets reading a newspaper. Next he saw a group of people huddled together. They looked like they were planning something. The background changed again and showed two large dragons flying through the sky speaking to each other. Next was a young boy riding on the back of a dragon armed with what looked like a flame thrower. Kai's vision was beginning to blur with all the different images. He was vaguely able to see two people standing on a plateau above a dessert like Terra, looking into a large crystal. "You see boy, you're not alone. You might not be able to do anything by yourself, but if you all work together, you might just have a chance." With that the man struck the ground with his staff and Kai once again found his world turning to darkness.
"AH!" Kai jumped up from where he was lying on the couch. Looking around, he expected to be attacked again. He couldn't see where anything looked out of place, the record player was still on, playing a soothingly quite song, the T.V was still on, but the screen was static. Looking over at his night stand he was able to see his tri staff was still where he had left it the night before. He didn't see anything that was wrong.
"Squak!"
Turning around to look behind him, Kai saw the same bird from his dream. It looked at him for a second before turning towards the open window, and gestured with its head out side.
"You want me to go eh?"
"Squak!"
"Alright, it's been awhile since I had a good fight." Kai got up and stretched, trying to get the cricks out of his neck. "Time to go and say hello to our old friend Master Cyclonis." With that he strode over to the restroom to get ready. He never noticed the Storm Hawk as it flew out the open window flying up into the sky.
End chapter 1
AN: Ok I know that this chapter might confuse some people, but future chapters will explain more. Anyone want to take a guess at who the green haired man was?
