I don't own the Storm Hawks

Atmos was peaceful. The day was blue, and fluffy clouds were scattered haphazardly across the sky. It was calm. Serene.

Faint shouts could be heard in the distance. The voices were discernable, although, due to the small explosions which sounded similar to fireworks, it was known that a battle was taking place.

f"You won't get away with this, Ravess!" Aerrow shouted as he sped by on his skimmer.

"Oh I beg to differ, young sky night"

Aerrow was furious. He had spent the last week with Radarr, looking all over Atmos for his squadron who had mysteriously gone missing on a routine patrol. Aerrow remembered the sick feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach as he returned to an empty Condor. Even Stork was gone.

Now, as he glanced back at his squadron chained to the wall, he knew Ravess and all the Cyclonians in general, had gone too far. And if it was the last thing he did; he would make sure they all payed.

Aerrow was brought out of his inner turmoil by an arrow speeding towards his chest. He thought quickly, performing a barrel roll in order to avoid being impaled on the sharp hazard.

Pay attention Aerrow! He thought to himself. Just finish off Ravess and then you can get the guys!

Suddenly, Ravess looked at him, then speaking into her intercom, she turned away from Aerrow.
"Our little game will have to wait for another time, dear Aerrow!" she called mockingly "but for now, I must be doing more important things than playing with children!" and she sped off.

"Wait! I'm not finished with you!" Aerrow yelled, starting to go after her, but then thinking better of it, he turned and landed in front of his squadron.

"Guys!" he said, running over to them. "Are you ok? I've been searching everywhere for you all! What happened?" Aerrow asked in a rush.

"Just get us out of these chains!" Snapped Finn

Aerrow was slightly shocked at his tone, but complied, thinking he was just grumpy because of hunger or something.

He brought out his twin blades, and sliced through the chain as if it were butter.

"Those are pretty impressive weapons Aerrow" Said Piper, not fazed at all that she was just released from the prison that had held her for the past week.

"Yeah... you've seen them before Piper... Are you guys feeling ok?" Aerrow asked, feeling as though something was wrong. Aerrow couldn't explain why, maybe it was their lack of reaction after being released. I mean, he did just rescue them, and all Piper did was comment on his weapons.

"Yes, yes I know... thank you for releasing us" she stated and walked passed him.

"Took you long enough" muttered Finn, and he too walked passed Aerrow, but not without barging him rather hard in the shoulder.

Aerrow spun around, ready to react when Junko asked "Where's the Condor?" in a gruff voice, unlike his normal one.

"Radarr has it around the corner, he's gonna bring it here in a sec." Replied Aerrow distractedly. "You know how he's always wanted to fly it..." he trailed off as no one seemed to be listening to him.

What had gotten into these guys?

"You look like crap" a sly voice said from behind him.

Aerrow turned to see Stork a couple of inches away from him, staring him right in the face.

That was reasonable, thought Aerrow. He had been up for pretty much the entire week, scouring maps, thinking of possibilities and searching for his missing team. He had dark smudges under his eyes, he's face was pale and his normally shiny, bouncy hair was more dull and limp. He was in need of a well earned rest.

But before he could do such a thing, he needed to find out what had happened to his friends.

"Did Ravess do anything to you?" Aerrow asked his team at large, giving them a once over with his eyes. "Did she hurt you?"

They looked a bit ruffled and weather beaten, but apart from a few bruises, they looked fine.

"No" said Junko

"Are you sure?" he asked sceptically as he watched his team act stranger still as Radarr came around the corner, pulling the Condor up near the opening in which they were currently standing.

"Were fine" said Piper absently, her eyes on the Condor.

"Ok, if you're sure. Welcome back guys, I'm glad you're all ok" said Aerrow, trying to brush away the feeling of unease, putting it down to his team having been captured for a week, and he, not getting enough sleep.

He led them onto the ship, rolling his skimmer with him.

The group separated after that.

Radarr kept driving. They were going anywhere but here.

Aerrow left to put his skimmer in the hanger bay. The others went back to their rooms to rest.

After checking on Radarr and making sure he was ok to pilot for a while longer, Aerrow decided to go to bed.

He walked down the hall to his room and found Finn standing outside it.

"Are you ok Finn?" he asked worriedly as Finn just stared into Aerrow's open bedroom door, surveying it.

Finn spun around and upon finding Aerrow next to him, shoved him away.

Grunting slightly as he hit the wall behind him, Aerrow stood straight and looked at Finn closely

"What's gotten into you, man?" Aerrow asked.

"Nothing" snarled Finn.

"Then why the hell did you just shove me?" Aerrow hissed

"I'm just going to my room" Finn replied, all hostility in his voice gone.

"...Ookay..." said Aerrow unsure of what Finn and his many personalities would do next.

Finn just stood there.

"Well... aren't you gonna go?" Aerrow asked

Finn looked around and finally turned and went in the opposite direction in which his room was.

"Dude, your rooms thata way" called Aerrow, pointing down the hall from his room "doncha remember?" he asked, bemused.

Aerrow grasped Finn by the arm and dragged him to the door of his room.

Aerrow studied Finn closely for signs of recognition wondering if Finn's temper had anything to do with what Ravess may have done to him

"I'm fine Aerrow. She didn't do anything" Finn said, as if reading his thoughts "I'm going to bed." And he entered his room, slamming the door in Aerrow's face.

Feeling too tired to ponder on this strange behaviour any longer, Aerrow went to his own room. He sat on his bed. All his muscles ached. He was bone weary. He sighed. What was wrong with everyone? Were they mad at him for not finding them sooner? Aerrow decided he'd sleep on it, knowing his crew would feel better after a goodnights rest. Rolling over, he fell asleep instantly.

"...Aerrow...help us..."

Aerrow opened his eyes and was greeted with darkness

"Come on man...got to get us out of here..." another voice echoed behind him. Aerrow spun, looking for the source of the sound

"Help us...before it's too late..."

The voices faded.

Aerrow awoke with a start, sitting straight up in bed. What a strange dream he thought.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes and glanced at the clock. It was 9:00 am.

He rolled out of bed and all the aches and pains of the previous day made themselves known. Aerrow shuffled over to he's wardrobe where he got dressed and stumbled out of the room.

The cool air of the morning woke Aerrow up a bit more as he walked in the kitchen. Piper and Finn were looking in the cupboards, muttering to each other, but stopped the moment they realised Aerrow had entered.

"Hey guys, sleep well?" Aerrow asked as he walked to the fridge and took a swig of milk right from the carton.

"Where is the cereal?" Finn asked Aerrow

"Are we out? I thought we had a full supply?" Aerrow asked incredulously. He opened the cupboard above the fridge and saw the cereal, which there was plenty of. He pulled it down and handed it to Finn.

"Did you even look?" Aerrow asked him eyebrows raised, glancing at Piper who looked uneasy

Finn took the cereal and looked at Aerrow, at a loss of what to say. Aerrow was seriously beginning to think Ravess did something to alter Finn's memory.

Finn opened the fridge and got the milk. "I remember where the milk is, see?" he indicated and sat at the table with the cereal. "Piper, can u get me a bowl and spoon?" he looked at Piper who gave him a withering look

Aerrow looked at Piper to see what she would do. Piper looked around uncertainly and slowly walked over to a cupboard next to the sink. She opened it slowly and let out a cry of triumph as she retrieved a bowl and spoon. Walking over to Finn she slammed them in front of him and hissed "next time, get it yourself" and left the room without further a due.

Aerrow riffled around the kitchen for a while to look for food while Finn ate quietly at the table. Before long Finn had finished and left, leaving his plate on the table for someone else to clean up.

Well at least his bad habits haven't changed, thought Aerrow, although if that was a good thing, he couldn't tell.

Aerrow finally decided on cereal as well, and sat down to pour some. Upon leaving the kitchen, Aerrow was once again lost in his thoughts over the strange behaviour of his crew, and didn't notice Junko coming until he ran smack into him.

"Watch it kid!" Junko snarled and grabbed Aerrow by the throat and slammed him into the wall, lifting his feet a couple of inches off the floor.

"Junko! S-stop!" Aerrow gasped out.

Junko, at the sound of his name, blinked, and seemed to realise what he was doing. He hurriedly placed Aerrow back on the ground again.

Aerrow glanced at Piper and Finn who had run over and were glaring at Junko. Aerrow was catching his breath as he turned to Junko. Junko was looking nervously at the floor.

"Uh...sorry...Aerrow" he said eventually, "kinda lost it there for a moment"

"Uh...it's ok big fella" Aerrow said nervously, rubbing his neck which was already starting to bruise.

"Junko!" snapped Piper "May I have a word with you?"

Junko looked at her with dread, and reluctantly gave a short nod and followed her to the hangar bay.

As they left, the hall was silent.

"So Finn... did you wanna go practice sparring on our skimmers?" Aerrow asked.

Everyone had an awkward feel about them and Aerrow decided he was going to get to the bottom of it. He would be able to talk to Finn first as they sparred. Finn was acting the strangest.

"Sure" Finn's face lit up, a deadly smile graced his features.

Aerrow stepped back unwillingly, the feral smile freaking him out a bit.

Aerrow was saved from a response by Stork who just entered the hall.

"Stork, can you take over piloting from Radarr? He must be exhausted." Aerrow led the way to the main cockpit where Radarr was sitting, cruising the ship at an easy pace, no destination in particular at this point in time.

"Sure thing boss" Stork said, stalking past him.

Radarr jumped down from his seat and headed for Aerrow's room for some rest.

"Remember to keep an eye out for Talons ok?" Aerrow reminded him.

Both Stork and Finn stiffened at those words. Aerrow noticed and assumed they must still be feeling uneasy about being captured.

"Don't worry guys, I doubt there will be any." He said breezily. "Come on Finn" he said, leading the way to the hangar bay.

As they neared, Piper came out, followed by Junko who was nursing his hand.

"What's wrong Junko?"

Junko kept walking

"Junko?" Aerrow asked again

Junko started, then turned to face Aerrow

"Nothin' Aerrow, just hurt my wrist."

"If you're sure..."

"Where are you going?" Piper asked suddenly

"Me and Aerrow are going on our skimmers for some sparring" Said Finn, looking directly at Piper. They looked meaningfully at each other and Aerrow thought he definitely needed to talk to them later about what was going on. Piper smirked and simply said "have fun" and left.

Once Aerrow and Finn were in the air, they began to fight. Finn would shoot arrows at Aerrow who would deflect them with his swords. They looped around each other, spinning and diving to avoid hits. Seeing as Radarr was asleep, Aerrow was unable to jump off his skimmer like he usually did.

As time went on, the sparring turned more serious as they competed with each other. Finn seemed to be full of energy. Aerrow was still a bit tired from his week without sleep, but he tried not to let it show. As it got later in the day, he started to slip up, making mistakes as he grew wearier.

Finn only grew more aggressive, seeing his leader tire.

Aerrow rolled upside down in order to avoid an arrow. Once he was right-side-up again, he quickly scanned the area for Finn.

Suddenly, out of no- where, Finn dropped down from the coverage of clouds, precipitation clinging to him from the moist air. He rammed into Aerrow's left side as hard as he could. Finn heard a satisfying pop as the force of the blow disconnected Aerrow's shoulder from its socket. The force also sent Aerrow flying to the right. Nearly falling off his skimmer, Aerrow heard Finn laugh. He let out a pained scream. Fire had erupted in his shoulder, running up his arm making it nearly impossible to move. Darkness crept into the edge of his vision as he looked around for the Condor. He saw Finn, flying in to land, and realised he wasn't coming to help him. Aerrow concentrated with all his might and wobbly aimed for the Condor, right handed. As he neared the landing strip, he pulled up and touched down. All was going well until a particularly painful throb in his shoulder had him tipping off the side of his bike. He tumbled to the ground and his skimmer skidded to a stop.

Aerrow lay panting on the ground, not daring to move. He could hear Finn walking over to him slowly. Feet appeared in front of his face. Aerrow looked up into Finn's laughing eyes.

"Got ya pretty bad there huh?"

Aerrow stared at Finn with pain glazed eyes. "I think it's dislocated" he groaned, then started trying to breathe through the pain, but finding it impossible.

Finn crouched down beside Aerrow and grabbed his left arm.

Aerrow moaned. "What are you doing?" he slurred as a fresh wave of pain washed over him. "Go get Stork, he can pop it back in..." the thought of Stork popping his shoulder back in it's socket made Aerrow want to throw up right then and there.

Finn squeezed his arm and Aerrow screamed again "Stop it!"

A twisted grin appeared of Finn's face and a thought suddenly struck Aerrow.

"You're not Finn!" he gasped out

Before he could say any more, Piper, Junko and Radarr burst in. All the shouting had attracted their attention.

Radarr scurried over to Aerrow and sniffed his shoulder, his face a picture of distress.

"What happened?" Piper asked in a no nonsense tone.

Finn dropped Aerrow's arm and stood up, walking over to Piper

"The gig is up" he said

Piper looked at him menacingly "already?"

"Thank god" Muttered Junko

Aerrow sat on the ground next to Radarr, watching their conversation in confusion. There was no way those guys were his squadron.

"Who are you?" Aerrow said quite calmly, considering the circumstances. He reached up his right arm and withdrew one of his lightning blades. His left arm was cradled in his lap.

All three of them turned to look down on Aerrow. Finn stepped forward and drew out a crystal from his back pocket. He held it in front of him looking at it thoughtfully.

"Do you know what this is Aerrow?" he asked. It was a black crystal with cracks running through it. Through the cracks you could see a glowing red.

Aerrow recognised the crystal instantly and with a sudden pang of dread realised what it must mean.

"A Chroma Crystal... they have the ability to-"

"Change the appearance of the user" finished Finn off for him.

Aerrow remembered when he and Piper had used them to bring down the Talon Academy a while back.

"In this case, we made our appearance to look like your beloved squadron" mocked Finn, or, whoever he was.

"Who ARE you?" Aerrow ground out although he already had a growing suspicion of whom.

"See for yourself" said 'Junko' as they each pulled out their crystals and threw them on the ground at Aerrow's feet.

In a flash of light there, in Junko, Finn and Pipers place, stood Snipe, Dark Ace and none other than Master Cyclonis.

Radarr began to growl deep within his throat as the enemy's true faces were revealed.

"You've been planning this from the start!" Aerrow said, scrambling to his feet as fast as he could. His left arm flopped down uselessly beside him and he cringed as it swung a little from the movement. He didn't notice as Radarr started to creep away from him towards the skimmers. The three advanced on Aerrow slowly, enjoying how uncomfortable they were making him.

"Where is my squadron?" Aerrow asked his blade lighting up in a brilliant electric blue.

"Right where we left them" said Master Cyclonis.

Aerrow let out an aggravated huff. "Where are they? If you've done something to them I swear you'll live to regret it!"

"Was that a threat?" questioned Master Cyclonis in an amused voice. "I wouldn't threaten me, considering the company you are in, boy" They advanced ever closer to Aerrow, who retreated further down the ship so he was at the start of the landing strip.

He held his blade out in front of him and Dark Ace drew out his own weapon.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" Aerrow could only think to stall them until he came up with a plan.

"Let me answer your question with another question" Master Cyclonis said as Aerrow stumbled a bit from walking backwards."What is a Squadron without its leader?"

There was a thin layer of sweat streaked across Aerrow's brow, brought about by the pain in his shoulder, his exhaustion which seemed to be leaking him of energy by the second, and the current situation he had gotten himself into.

His mind was racing as he looked around. He was in over his head. Suddenly, he realised Radarr was missing. Hopefully he was doing something useful.

Master Cyclonis turned to Dark Ace "Finish him" then she turned to Aerrow "it's been a pain knowing you, sky night... oh and thanks for the Condor, I will have fun destroying it"

Dark Ace advanced on Aerrow who, without the use of both his arms was unable to use his lightning claw manoeuvre, which is the only move he could use to stand a chance against Dark Ace at the moment. He was in no shape for close combat. Even the slight movement of Aerrow walking backwards was causing so much pain; he wasn't sure how long he could stay conscious.

Once again looking around desperately now, and he was unprepared when the sound of his air skimmer roared to life. Everyone turned to the source of the noise and Aerrow breathed a sigh of relief when Radarr steered his skimmer around Dark Ace and skidded to a stop behind Aerrow.

Aerrow grinned at the outraged looks on the other's faces as he jumped on the bike behind Radarr, who obviously could see that Aerrow was in no shape to fly. The grin was quickly wiped from his face as a blast of red energy narrowly missed his head. "Later guys! It's been real. And just so you know, you make sucky Storm Hawks!"

As Radarr took off from the landing strip, Aerrow patted him on the back with his good arm.

"Nice work Radarr. You always have my back" His fatigue was starting to catch up with him and he slumped forward slightly. He felt a stab of regret at the thought of leaving the Condor in the hands of such evil. If Master Cyclonis made good on her word, he would probably never see it again.

"Set a course for back the way we came Radarr. If we're gonna start looking anywhere, we should start where we rescued the imposters in the first place." He said tiredly. He turned to look over his shoulder to make sure Dark Ace and the others weren't following. It didn't look like it, but he would keep checking to make sure.

It was going to take a while to get back to the Terra they were on. At least the Condor wasn't going particularly fast. He just hoped they had enough fuel.

"What should we do Master?" Dark Ace questioned

"There is no rush; we know where he is going. Tell the Talon piloting that he doesn't need his crystal anymore and to set a course back to the Terra. Aerrow will look for his Squadron there." She then turned to Snipe "And as for you... you have got to be the worst actor on the whole of Atmos! Why did you start strangling him? That is what would have given us away! Remind me to never take you on an important mission again!"

"I said I was sorry Master, it was an accident. He ran straight into me, I just forgot I was disguised as that Wallop" he whined

"Be glad I don't break your other hand!" she snapped back at him and stalked away.

They set out after the Air Skimmer at a steady pace.