Edit: Fixed up a few things. Will edit further.
First Storm Hawks fic ever. The romance genre it garners isn't straight up love confessions, but more of the hint/curiosity type of romance. At least that is what I'm going for.
To Piper, routine made the world go round and luckily there was some sense of routine to hers. A few factors varied each day, granted. Waking up to the smell of Junko's latest concoction? Typical. Working in the lab only to be interrupted by the boys and their idea of "training"? As usual. Getting a mission to same some helpless terra and fight the Cyclonians? Bring it on. Now, normally Piper would battle a horde of nameless Talons, smirking in triumph with each skimmer she sent plummeting to the fiery Wastelands and then join the boys in scaring off the Dark Ace should he show up. That was how things worked and should always be in her humble opinion, but there was something different about today, completely and utterly new. The thick cloud of smoke billowing from her rapidly descending skimmer, followed by her screams as she ducked to avoid the red blasts that crackled around her clued her in. His maniacal laughter as he tailed her to said helpless terra confirmed it.
"Oh gunk…" she moaned as land was rapidly moving towards her. The crackle of air beside her and the fierce glow of red singeing the even closer grassy area caused her to swerve to the side. The sudden movement sent the heliscooter spinning, making the situation all the worse as she crashed. She was thrown aside and rolled away, coming to a painful halt several feet from the now pile of scrap metal. The sky swirled around as she remained on the ground, moving onto her back and attempting to catch her breath. She was almost positive that she had broken a rib or two in the impact, her torso throbbing in protest as she began to sit up. Once stable enough, she started standing, pinching her eyes shut and clenching her teeth at the ever growing pain as bones, joints and muscles creaked in outrage. Now on her feet, her head felt akin to two Wallops using their knuckle busters on either temple at the same time, repeatedly. Gripping her head tightly, she began pulling her hair in hopes to pull the attention to the screaming roots, but that didn't work too well. To make matters worse, the squeal of tires and cutting of an engine reminded her that she wasn't alone.
"Look what I found," he sounded so overjoyed, it gave her the feeling of a cold stone settling deep in her stomach. Opening her eyes (she immediately wished she hadn't) and seeing his smirk, the glint in his red eyes and the quick dismount of his skimmer only added to the distressed feeling. "A lost little hawk. Oh what shall I do?" He let out a sharp bark of laughter as he sauntered closer, lazily swinging his energy blade back and forth. Piper crouched low to the ground, eyes following the blades movement, her legs tensing in preparation to flee when the chance provided itself, and pulled her crystal staff out. Even with the adrenaline running through her, it was rather difficult to hold the pose, having crash landed and being tossed harshly from her heliscooter. Taking deep breaths hurt, forcing her to take smaller and more frequent ones. Adding the possible concussion to the mix gave way to being light headed and dizzy. Not the ideal condition to be in when fighting the Dark Ace.
"What to do, what to do…I could kill you, but it wouldn't be a very satisfying victory," he continued, stopping a couple feet away and eyeing her figure. She knew he was only assessing her injured form, but couldn't suppress the shudder that ran along her spine. "Taking you back to Master Cyclonis would have its rewards. However, being so far from Cyclonia and given your status as a Storm Hawk, I know you'd fight the whole way and it'd just be bothersome…though I could always knock you out and we'll be on our merry way."
"Good luck with that, I won't let you take me!" she yelled, trying to sound confident, cursing when her voice squeaked. She was pretty sure that the fear she was feeling was practically oozing out of her and he could sense it. The Dark Ace snickered and began circling Piper, her slowly following his movements. There was no way she would have her back to him.
"Oh, but it wouldn't require much effort given your current condition, girl," his smirk grew as she stumbled, "however, if you'd like to test your skills against me, by all means give it your best shot." By now he had stopped swinging his blade, activating it once more and matching her stance. Piper once more contemplated the situation and her odds. True she could hold her own in battle, the pile of skimmer parts in the Wasteland can attest for that and she wasn't unfamiliar with fighting while injured, but it was somehow entirely different. This time, she wasn't up against some no-name Talon. This was the Dark Ace. Aerrow's nemesis, the man who brought down the old Storm Hawks and having only one (they all seemed to count as a whole in the grand scheme of things) loss – to Aerrow. Piper, however, wasn't Aerrow and wasn't too sure if she was close to being able to do the same.
'Get a hold of yourself Piper! If I can match Cyclonis in combat, surely I'll do fine against him, at least until the boys arrive!'
Neither side made a move, remaining in their defensive positions and staring each other down. The Dark Ace's blade cracked menacingly, his face a mask of pure mirth. Both further hindered Pipers confidence, but she leapt nonetheless. With her low stance, she was able to spring forward quite a distance, albeit clumsily, raising her staff high above her head. Bringing it down swiftly, she aimed to hit the Dark Ace square on the head, but he blocked it with his blade, the metal warming and gradually turning orange as it melted away. He threw out a low kick, catching her calf and sending her down hard, her shoulder jolting in pain and her staff flying a short distance away. She barely managed to roll away as the Dark Ace brought his heel down where her head had been and scrambled to her feet, resuming a defensive stance. This further amused the Dark Ace even more as he began chuckling to himself.
"Not back for an injured little hawk, but you're going to have to do better than that," he teased. Piper swore she heard a sing-song tone in his voice, but chalked it up to her concussion. Her mind reeled, furiously cataloguing what she knew defensively and offensively. Sky Fu was useful and she had mastered it, yes, but this man was also a master of hand-to-hand combat and the fact that he was a grown man, easily towering over and outweighing her; her chances were very slim. No doubt she wouldn't last going with the basics, so they were a last resort. Weapons obviously weren't good enough unless they were like Aerrow's or Finn's. A quick glance at her staff, which was halfway melted through the top, preventing crystal use, was proof enough.
'Wait…that's it!'
There was one last resource - crystals. Blindly, she reached into her side pouch and pulled out the first crystal she touched, aiming it directly at the Dark Ace and watched as a blast of green shot at him. He sidestepped, grimacing at the near hit, and rushed her. Ducking to avoid his blade, her face heating up with the energy it left in its wake, Piper shot again. The blast made its mark, slamming into his torso and knocking him backwards and onto the ground with a loud 'thud'. Piper relaxed slightly, a small smile making its way on her face.
'Guess my crystals will be my best bet…'
The one she held faded to a dull green, but she didn't worry too much. She had enough of them in her pouch to survive long enough until Aerrow and the others showed up. A sudden burst of energy broke her from her reverie, but not soon enough. The blast cut by her hip, where the pouch was, and blew it over the side of the terra and into the Wastelands. Piper let out a small cry as she rushed to the edge, hoping to catch one of the falling crystals, but they had already sunk deep into the clouds. She didn't move, not even as he made his approach and stood right behind her.
"That was much better, girl, but what will you do without your crystals? After all, it's not like there will always be one handy," he growled, his breath hot on her neck. She was unable to suppress the shudder crawling down her spine.
'Oh gunk.'
Review and let me know what you think or what could be fixed up please :)