Oh Hell, chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Storm Hawks and if I did I wouldn't kill off *sniff* Dark Ace.

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Screams was all that anyone heard. The whole world was black and no one could see. Aerrow knew that Piper's hand was locked into his and he could hear Junko's whimpering just above the screaming. He could imagine him and Finn scared stiff, hugging each other tightly. A voice came in between Piper's and Finn's screaming, both screams exactly the same (which was high-pitched and girly), that reminded Aerrow that not only Storm Hawks were on board the falling Cyclonian ship.

"Far out! Shut up! Dying is going to be hard enough without you two screaming as my last memory," Dark Ace and Ravess said in unison, which, when you thought about it was quite freaky.

Piper and Finn didn't stop and when they were out of breath, Piper turned to Aerrow, or it least he thought she did, and whispered, "Are we really going to die?"

It was obvious Dark Ace and Ravess' comment was weighing on her and she really believed what they had said. And when Aerrow looked at it he could see why. The most feared man in the Atmos, the one who was nearly indestructible, thought he was going to die. It put a whole new view on the situation.

"We're not going to—" But before he could finish his sentence they collided with the world.

Aerrow came to first. The first thing he noticed was that he was alive. The second was that he was still holding Piper's hand. And finally, that he was the only one awake. When he tried to sit up, he discovered the searing pain in his arm. But he could wait because he had to find out whether or not anyone else was alive.

He checked Piper's pulse first, looking at her as he did so. When he picked up a heartbeat, he felt like laughing and crying at the same time. He restrained that though and checked the other Storm Hawks.

Finn was alright except for a big gash on his leg. Junko looked fine. All he had was a few bruises. Stork was not there and either was Radarr; they were on the Condor, probably wondering where they were. Aerrow looked at Piper again and realised that she too was injured. She seemed to have a nasty gash on the side of her head. A grunt alerted him and he nearly died of foolishness. He had forgotten the Cyclonians!

He checked Snipe first and he was exactly like Junko. It was because of their structures; they were so big like cement that they couldn't break. Piper, who was the lightest, had been pinned under Aerrow and Finn was under Junko so they were all good. Aerrow was fine because he had had held on to a railing. Ravess seemed to be fine also, except the sickening sight of her right arm, which was broken in what looked like two. Her poor violin was crushed; it's strings snapped and the neck of it nowhere to be found.

Last of all was Dark Ace. Aerrow spewed at what he saw. His chest had been crushed and he was spewing up blood. Blood was also spread across his shirt, blossoming more and more like a flower. Aerrow cautiously went over to him and he saw that Dark Ace was awake too. Dark Ace tried to say something, but more blood spluttered out of his mouth. Aerrow could just imagine Dark Ace apologizing and saying he regretted all the things he did in his final moments.

"Don't talk. I know you're sorry for the things you did to us."

Dark Ace seemed to be shaking but when he opened his mouth Aerrow realised it wasn't from him having a seizure.

"That's the funniest thing I've heard in years!—."

He started coughing up blood again but managed to say one more thing, "I was trying to say get the medical kit!"

He laughed some more before he couldn't do anything but splutter up blood.

Aerrow quickly grabbed the medical kit, which conveniently was where it was before the crash. He rushed back to Dark Ace. He was getting worse and how he remained conscious Aerrow had no idea.

"Now, what do I do?" Aerrow asked, hoping that it didn't involve looking at the wound. Dark Ace responded by gurgling blood, which wasn't the best answer. However, he did motion to his chest, and made cutting movements. Aerrow was confused. Was he supposed to cut him?

Dark Ace was now 'telling' him to open the kit. Aerrow did and found himself staring at some very handy medical supplies that were not for if you cut your knee. One of them was a pair of surgical scissors. And suddenly Aerrow understood. Dark Ace wanted him to cut open his shirt and look at the wound.

Aerrow managed to without spewing up again but it took a lot of effort. It was disgusting. Blood everywhere. When he touched the spot carefully, Dark Ace screamed.

"It's Pneumothorax," Dark Ace gasped, and now he couldn't stop. He looked like a fish out of the water, which seriously scared Aerrow.

"What's … that?"

Dark Ace struggled for breath. He was hyperventilating so hard you couldn't hear where one breath stopped and the other started.

"Collapsed lung. My ribs have punctured it. Fix it." His voice was now all high. He also spoke incredibly fast, as if he didn't have enough air to use it for talking. Which was probably true.

"What do I do?" Aerrow asked, prickling all over. He wasn't a lung surgeon! Dark Ace however, seemed to be.

"Stop. Bleeding, fast. Get my rib, out, of, lung. Stitch up. You're lucky it isn't a very serious one."

He stopped talking then as his coughing had became more and more laboured. "Aerrow. Tie. Me. Down. Tightly." He seemed to have too much trouble breathing to talk anymore. Aerrow ripped up his shirt and used it to tie Dark Ace down. He put one in his mouth so if he bit his tongue, he wouldn't chop it off. And then he began.

Aerrow gripped the surgical knife in his hand and cut into the wound. Dark Ace screamed and pulled against his bindings but they held fast. When Aerrow found the rib, sticking into the lung, he did spew, for the second time that morning, but avoided Dark Ace.

The man seemed to be in incredible pain. He was shouting for it to stop, even with hardly any oxygen and with a shirt stuffed in his mouth his words were very clear. He told Aerrow to kill him. He strained against the bindings. It was like he was mad, just like with the Medula crystal.

Aerrow ripped the rib out of his lung and then put a cotton bud on it to stop the bleeding. It was oozing very slowly, just as Dark Ace said, because it wasn't a very serious one. He stitched it up, very thankful to Piper for giving him knitting lessons.

Once he had finished, he looked at his handy work, then at Dark Ace (who was no longer coughing up blood in buckets), and finally at himself. He was covered in Dark Ace's blood. He didn't mind right now.

He was more interested in Dark Ace, who was still barely conscious, which was a miracle. He was looking at Aerrow. His eyelids were fluttering up and down really fast, like a butterfly's wings. They were the only things moving, except for the heavy rising of his chest. Then his eyelids were back to normal and Aerrow couldn't help but think, 'Far out! Does this guy never sleep?'

Dark Ace was still not at his best (well the best you can be after lung surgery where the survival rate is nonexistent because you are being operated on by a 16 year- old boy with hardly any medical supplies) because his eyes were now out of focus, but his tired body, or maybe his willpower kept him awake.

He took another rasping breath, then seemed to frown and finally spoke, though his voice was barely audible and unlike his normal one; in fact it sounded like he was exhausted and too tired to be mean anymore.

"Your girlfriend's awake."

His eyes were focused on something but it was obviously forced. It was a stirring Piper.

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How was it? Please Review!

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