IT CAME FROM THE RABID FANGIRL
SUMMARY: The Condor is traveling through uncharted territory (curse you, Piper, and your desire to update your maps!) and discovers a previously unknown Terra shrouded in fog and darkness. Aerrow and Radarr take their skimmer out to look for a clear landing area when OH NOES! DARK ACE HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THE CONDOR AND NOW HE'S AFTER US happens. Battle ensues, but is interrupted by a... tall, giant knife wielding pyramid-man? Both vehicles crash land, injuring the riders. Things look pretty doomy...
PAIRINGS: DA/Aerrow, Stork+The Concept Of Impending Doom, implied Starling/Piper
Stork clutched the Condor's steering apparatus and tapped one foot nervously. "Ohhh, Piper?"
The navigator looked up from where she was busy scribbling notes and plotting coordinates. "Yeah?"
"Remind me again why we're traveling through-" And here Stork paused to suck in a deep breath and allow his eye to twitch dramatically, "Uncharted territory?"
Piper rolled her eyes at the Merb's theatrics. "Stork, we've been over this. I'd like to update my maps of the area. It's relatively unknown, and we may be able to use it as a strategic advantage against the Cyclonians."
"But there's nothing out here!" Whined Finn. "Why don't we just update your maps of Tropica, instead?"
Piper suppressed a growl. There were days when these people made her borderline homicidal. "We've been to Tropica, Finn, and its terrain is already very well documented."
"Yeah, well, it could have changed, right? I mean, you don't know... it could have formed...new...sand. Don't you want to see if they have new sand? Besides, there's nothing here but mist! I haven't even seen any Terras, yet!"
"It's really pretty mist, though..." Said Junko, who was happily tracing designs in the fogged up windows of the aircraft.
Finn scowled at him. "Tropica's prettier," He said, flatly. "This is just boring. It's no fair! Piper always gets to do what she wants, and she always wants to do something lame."
Piper looked downright murderous and advanced ever so slightly towards the blond. Seeing this, Aerrow decided that as team leader, it was his job to keep Piper from eviscerating Finn with a compass, and stepped between the two.
"Alright guys, everybody just calm down. All Piper wants to do is take a quick survey of the area, check out any Terras there may be, and make a quick note of whatever locals we find. We'll be in and out, right, Piper?"
Piper nodded, relieved at Aerrow's understanding and exasperated with Finn and Stork. "Yes, exactly! That's what I've been trying to tell them!"
Finn scowled and piped down, but Stork remained unconvinced.
Moodily, he flipped his hair and turned back to the steering column. "Say what you want," he muttered, "But my 'Imminent Doom' senses are tingling like crazy. And I'm developing another rash. I always get rashes when something doomy is about to happen. Heed my hives, people! Heed their warning!"
Aerrow blinked, his expression that of a man who has just been mildly traumatized. "Er...okay...thank you, Stork. I'll...be sure to take that under consideration."
Stork was about to add something further when Junko exclaimed, "Hey, look! A Terra! It's a big one!"
"It's an ugly one," commented Finn. "It's all bare rock and rusty metal and broken down buildings. And is that smoke I see? You know what smoke means, don't you? It means something's on fire. I don't know about you guys, but fire is something I generally prefer to avoid, what with the burning and the pain and all. And there's still all this stupid mist! You can barely even see it! I say we skip this one."
Piper frowned at him. "This could be an ideal place to set up an ambush, Finn. Think--- we could lure the Cyclonians in, disappear into the mist, drop behind them, and pick them off one by one! All with virtually no risk!"
The wingman crossed his arms and gave her a look of utter disinterest. "Great. Fantastic. Since you've already got it all figured out, does that mean we can go now?"
"NO. I still need to investigate the terrain and geographical features. Besides, aren't you at all curious about the buildings? Or the fire?"
Finn thought about it for a minute. "Uhhhhhh...no. Not at all."
Piper scowled and turned to Stork. "We need to land. Now."
Stork glared at her over his shoulder. "Oh, sure. I'll just ease 'er down on the lovely landing strip that's been prepared for us. You know, the one made of broken concrete and jagged, rusted metal. After all, what are a few gaping rifts in the hull of the Condor?"
Aerrow sighed and held up his hand. "Okay, look, Radarr and I will take a Skimmer and scout out a clear landing area. We'll come back and lead you to it, Piper can get her information, and then we can go."
-------------------------DOOM--------------------------
Aerrow eased the Skimmer between the debris and rubble, squinting to see through what they had originally assumed was mist, but was actually ash. Weird.
"Geez, this place sure could use a maid. Or a HAZMAT team..."
Radarr nodded his assent, looking nervously over his shoulder at the Condor, which was rapidly being consumed by a shroud of the floating gray particles.
Aerrow looked back too, cutting the engine and hovering above the ground. "You worried we're gonna get lost?"
Radarr nodded again, giving a small, anxious whine.
"It's okay, buddy. We're gonna be---what is that?"
It looked as though a piece of the Condor's shadow had disengaged itself and was making it's way rapidly towards Aerrow and Radarr.
Aerrow turned the Skimmer around and inched closer to get a better look.
He got one.
"Dark Ace. Of course. Because that's just exactly what I need today. Lovely."
He sighed and turned to Radarr. "You know what this means? This means we have to try to lose him in unfamiliar terrain with almost zero visibility, get back to the Condor without him noticing, and then get the Condor out of here without him noticing." Aerrow sighed again and ran one hand through his unruly red hair. Then he grinned.
"This is gonna be awesome." Aerrow gunned the engine and behind him, the Dark Ace did the same, catching up rapidly.
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Sky Knight?" The older man shouted over the roar of the engines.
"Not long, enough, Dark Ace!" And just like that, the time for talk was over.
Dark Ace smirked and drew his weapon, firing an energy blast at Aerrow, who dodged and banked sharply behind a building. The boy could hear the engine of Ace's Switchblade Elite snarl as he flawlessly made the sudden turn, still in hot pursuit and---
There was a screech of metal and a shout of pain, and suddenly, the only engine Aerrow heard was his own.
There was still a lot of screaming, though.
Aerrow actually stopped in mid-maneuver and slowly, cautiously, turned around.
A huge shaft of metal pierced the wing of Dark Ace's vehicle. It had also rammed itself through his shoulder, sticking out of his back and nearly severing his left arm, effectively turning the man into a shish kabob.
Non-lethal, but undoubtedly very painful, and possibly crippling. After a second or two, he realized that it wasn't just a shaft of metal.
It was a knife.
A really big freaking knife that was being wielded by what appeared to be a walking pyramid.
Oooooooookay...
He turned to Radarr, who frantically made gestures that said they needed to leave right now, but Aerrow shook his head.
"No can do, buddy. We're the Storm Hawks, and the Storm Hawks don't let people get eaten by scary, walking architectural structures. Not even the bad guys."
Radarr whimpered, but prepared for battle.
It wasn't much of a fight.
Aerrow zoomed in, meaning to ram the Pyramid-thing with his Skimmer, but the creature seemed to sense him. It gave its great knife a quick jerk, dislodging its captive and sending the Switchblade crashing to the ground, trapping its rider beneath it.
Aerrow winced as he saw Dark Ace's bloody hand twitch beneath the wing. The hand then formed a fist and flipped off the attacker. Aerrow smirked. Yeah, good old Dark Ace.
What a card.
Unfortunately, the pyramid's attention was on Aerrow, and so it missed the little display of defiance. Swinging it's knife in an arc with one hand, it sliced off the front half of the skimmer.
The other hand smashed into the side of Aerrow's face, knocking him off the wreck and into a wall.
Aerrow actually heard his skull fracture when it connected with the brick. He had just enough time to think, I hope it doesn't get Radarr, and then his world went black.