With a twitchy nose sniffing the air, a small mouse nibbled on a piece of a cracker, watching its surroundings carefully. It froze as a sudden light shone on it. It gave a frightened squeak and scuffled into a box with a hole chewed in the side. It peeked out to see the intruder. The sound of heels clicking against cement was heard as a pair of feet passed the mouse's sight. It stuck its nose out further, seeing a young woman, about fifteen years old.

She had short green hair and beautiful brown eyes. Her clothes were stitchy, and in the front it had a Chinese-style wrap to it. Hanging off her collar was a small stone shape of what looked to be half of a moon. It had sad blue eyes and its side seemed to be smashed, as if the other half of its face was taken away.

The girl walked up to a bike, unlike any other. There was a rather large space next to it, as if there was supposed to be another bike there. But there wasn't, and this caused grief in the girl's spirit. She sniffed slightly, and then dug at a pouch on the seat of the bike. She pulled out a piece of paper. She turned it in her hands and tilted her head with a sob. She rubbed her nose and coughed slightly. She folded the piece of paper and stuck it into her back pocket. Anger replaced the sorrow in her eyes. She walked to the front of the room and hit a button. The wall in front gave a groan and began to open.

Moonlight spilled into the room, making the little mouse retreat back into its box. The girl clenched her fists and walked back to her bike. She swung her leg over it, and gave it life in a simple motion. She revved it, her expression cold and determined. The bike jerked forwards and sped out of the room. Only a few meters out, the ground vanished to clouds below. The girl reached over and flicked a switch. Metal wings shot out and she was airborne. Off she soared, leaving her home behind…

"Oooh…careful…caarefuull…." "I am being careful…" "Well, be careful..er…." "Ah-ah! Careful!….Whew…"

A boy with blonde hair knelt with a large rhino-like humanoid, and they were balancing delicate plates like cards. A girl at the other side of the room watched, her jaw dropped. She had a map in front of her, but she really wasn't paying any mind to it.

A red-haired boy walked into the room. "Uh-guys? Maybe you should- -" He started but was interrupted by 'Shhh!!' A boy at the front glanced over his shoulder with an annoyed look. "Y'know…the Condor could hit some turbulence and knock your pretty little masterpiece to the floor and on top of you…." He hissed as he slunk over.

"Shredding us…sharp…pointy glass of despair…." He continued and shuddered at the thought. His black flipped to an uncomfortable area and he puffed air at it to move it back to its original spot.

The two had ignored him, however. "C'mon, Junko. Just one more plate on the entire Condor…" The blonde one said. The rhino-boy, Junko, smiled. "Here we go!" He said, as excited as a teenage girl on prom night. The darker-minded one scoffed slightly. "Augh, what happens is not my fault." He snorted and walked back to the controls.

The girl gave a half-laugh as the final plate was balanced. "Oh, my gosh, Junko, Finn, take those down!" She said, her face going serious.

Finn chuckled. "Relax, Piper, we've got it under control." He grinned. Junko had a toothy smile on his face as he looked up at the tower. The red-head laughed. "Well, it turned out good, but you really should take them down." He said.

"I agree with Aerrow and Piper." The boy with black hair said, once again looking over his shoulder.

"Stork, you are i way /i too stiff, dude." Finn stated with Junko nodding in agreement.

Stork scowled. " i Stork, you are way too stiff, dude. Blah blah-yuk… /i " He mocked under his breath and leaned on the steering controls behind him. "You're gonna die under those things." He promised, pointing to the plates.

A furry creature scooted through the door and climbed up Aerrow's leg to his shoulder. "Hey, Radarr." Aerrow greeted. He gave a strange sort of gurgling purr noise with a sort of smile on his face. He straightened his neck and squawked.

Stork turned. "Ah. It's just foggy outside. Kind of reminds me of the time we were suffering most terribly in the- -WHOA!!" He yelled.

Everyone jumped and turned. Stork had a hold of the controls and was swerving the Condor. Aerrow had noticed something. It looked like a Sky Knight was out there. She was just as surprised as Stork, and was swerving as to avoid the giant craft. But they always managed to get way too close to one another. And, of course, Stork was half-right. The plates were falling all around, and poor Finn and Junko were running around, screaming, and attempting to catch the plates. They failed horribly.

Piper groaned as she clung to the wall, trying to keep herself from going over. She clenched her teeth together tightly as her boots skidded on the floor.

Aerrow slammed up beside Stork. "Augh! Piper! Are we near any land?" He asked, having to yell over Junko and Finn's screaming. The girl took another look at her map. "Yeah! Stork! Take us at least 56 degrees northwards. There should be a safe landing point there!" She said, also having to yell.

Stork obeyed and they landed safely. There was complete silence all over the ship. Except for that of a single plate falling to the ground and breaking…

"Where did you learn to drive!?" The girl on the bike was screaming at Stork. "I didn't need to learn how to! That's obviously not the issue in your case." Stork snapped back. "Well, at least I tried to get away. What's the deal with you and your stupid swerves?" The girl spat. "I tried to avoid you so that you wouldn't be splattered on the front of my Condor!" Stork fumed. "If you weren't too busy at your bad driving, you would have noticed that I just washed it!" The girl rolled her eyes. "Ha, even if I had been splattered on your Condor, it wouldn't have made a difference to its appearance." She said, putting her hands on her hips.

Stork had a finger up and his jaw dropped. No noise came out, other that than a slight scoff.

The others were standing a little while away, shaking their heads, waiting for the stupid argument to end. Stork slowly turned, his face tight. "Piper, you speak 'girl.' You handle it." He said and stalked off towards the Condor.

Piper rolled her eyes and walked forwards. The other girl still had her hands on her hips and had a look on her face that told that she was in no mood for any more arguing.

Piper sighed and put her fingers on her brow. "Agh…listen. We're sorry about the mess-up, and, um, we'll keep a better eye out next time." She said in a kinder tone than Stork had used.

The other girl crossed her arms, but her face melted into something a little softer and calmer. She turned her face away, then said, "Ah, well. I'm sorry, too. It was foggy, and I really wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I had other things on the mind." She sighed and dropped her arms to her sides.

Piper tilted her head. "You don't look so good. What's wrong?" She asked.

"She sucks at driving is what." Stork whispered in her ear. How he got up to her so quickly surprised her and she pushed him away. "Come on, Stork. Let it go already." She hissed at him. She turned back to the girl.

"So, you have a name or what?" She asked.

The girl smiled. "Duh." She said and pushed her green hair out of her eyes. "My name's Melanie. And you guys are..?" She asked, holding out her hand.

Piper smiled and shook her hand. "I'm Piper." She turned and held a hand to the boys. "That's Junko, Aerrow, Finn, Radarr, and Stork."

At the mention of his name, Stork made a face over his shoulder and turned away once more.

Melanie nodded. "Nice to meet you."

Finn was drooling all over himself. "Ah, nice to meet you too." He swooned and held out his hand. Junko rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.

Melanie chuckled and shook Finn's hand.

Piper walked up to Aerrow, Radarr and Stork. Stork had his arms crossed still and he had his eyes on Melanie as if he were attempting to burn a hole through her.

Aerrow smiled. "Come on, Radarr." He said to the furry creature and they went up to Melanie.

Piper tilted her head to the side with a smile. "She seems real nice." She grinned and glanced over at Stork. Stork shook his head.

Piper scoffed. "Stork, could at least i try /i to behave around her?" She asked, scowling. Stork gave her a look, then sighed.

"I wasn't shaking my head about her being nice. Her smile isn't real, you know." He said, casting his eyes elsewhere.

Piper tilted an eyebrow. "What? What're you talking about?" She asked.

Stork turned and began to walk away. "Her smile isn't real. You can tell by her eyes." He looked at Piper, nodded, and walked into the Condor.

Piper looked back at the others. She looked at Melanie closely. She was joking and laughing with the boys, but like Stork had said, her eyes seemed in pain. She sighed and cast her attention to the grass.

"Oh, wow! What a mess!" Melanie yelped as she saw the shattered glass all over the Condor flight deck. Finn and Junko blushed. Piper smiled. "More or less." She giggled. Melanie pushed some hair behind her ear. "Want me to help clean up?" She asked.

For two hours, the entire group pitched in cleaning up, even Stork, who used his three toes to (carefully) pick up plate chunks and toss them in the garbage can.

Aerrow gave a long, impressed whistle after they were done. The Condor looked great! "Wow, nice job, guys!" He said, nodding. He looked around the room, and noticed something missing. "Melanie..?" He asked. Everyone looked around, but the girl wasn't in the room. Stork was looking out the window. "Her bike's still here." He announced.

"Then that means she couldn't have gone too far." Aerrow responded. "I'm gonna go look. You with me, Radarr?" He was answered with a squeak and a friendly brush of fur against his face.

Aerrow honestly didn't have to go far. As he was getting off the Condor, he noticed a figure a few meters away. He squinted, and then smiled. "Melanie, what're you doing out here?" He asked, walking over.

Melanie was looking at something, a piece of paper, hidden in front of her. When she heard Aerrow's voice, she jumped and span around, pressing the paper to her chest. "Oh! H-hi, Aerrow!" She yelped and took a step back.

Aerrow tilted his head. "What's that you've got there?" He asked, Radarr squawking as if he were asking her too.

"Oh, this thing?" Melanie asked, holding up the paper. "Ah, just a piece of junk. Old thing about my Crystal Whip." She concluded and folded up the paper and showed him the weapon she was talking about.

Aerrow tilted his head. "Really? Why'd you have to come way out here to read it?" He asked. He was starting to get curious. He had heard part of what Stork said about Melanie's smiles not being real. He really didn't want to jump to suspicion, but he would if he had to.

Melanie sighed. She shifted her weight to her other foot and looked at the grass guiltily. "You got me there, Aerrow…" She said, trying to chuckle, but it was too hard to. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. "It's too obvious…" She slipped her Crystal Whip into her belt loop and unfolded the paper. She then held it out to Aerrow.

Aerrow looked up at her, then took the paper. Radarr leaned forwards to take a look at it. On the paper was a boy that could have been at least as old as Aerrow.

"That's my boyfriend." Melanie told. "Well, that's him before at least. He'd be my age now." She explained, putting her hands behind her back.

Aerrow tilted his head and looked at Melanie's sad face. "What happened..?" He asked in a soft tone.

Melanie bit her lip, crossed her arms over her stomach, and closed her eyes. "A little more than a year ago…Cyclonians came and…took him away from me." She told, her voice cracking.

Aerrow gasped slightly. "They didn't…well…you know, um…" He muttered, trying not to upset her further.

Melanie rubbed the back of her neck and took a breath. "No…at least…" She swallowed, trying to keep her voice clear. She turned away from Aerrow and looked at the moon. "At least I hope not…"