I do not own Storm Hawks!
I have another idea of what the third season of Storm Hawks should be, and maybe one day I will write it but today is not that day!
On the positive note, I didn't kill Finn this time! (…..yet)
On with the story!
The remaining Storm Hawks gaped at the Far Side Crystal. Master Cyclonis had finally done it. She had finally discovered a relatively safe way back and was headed back to finish conquering Atmos.
Finn, Aerrow, and Junko looked at each other. Then they looked across to the opposite side of the chasm, where on a raised dais, stood Master Cyclonis, with her arms raised to the Crystal. The past five years of fighting had been kind to her. She was a beautiful woman, even screaming about how she finally had what she always wanted within her grasp.
Dark Ace stood behind her, a serene expression on his face. The Storm Hawks were waiting for a chance to get across the chasm and stop them. Any attempts to cross so far had resulted with a warning shot from the crazed Master. Finn was out of bolts, and Aerrow had lost his weapons which were now in Dark Ace's possession, strapped to his back. They watched what happened next.
Dark Ace stepped up to his Master.
"Master Cyclonis, do you remember what you told me so long before?"
She gave him a wry smile, a gleam of insanity in her eyes. "Times are changing Dark Ace."
"No."
His blade sank into her stomach. "It was that Crystals had life force in them. That one could be driven mad by them. If you do this, then you destroy the very objective that you wish to win. You asked me to kill you before you destroyed your own dreams."
Master Cyclonis studied his face. She raised her right hand, his sword having sunk into her middle, and stroked the side of his face.
"That I did, Dark Ace. That I did."
Dark Ace smiled into her touch, nuzzling her hand.
"I don't want you to go alone, Master."
"Then come with me."
Dark Ace removed his blade as he gently sank down to give Master Cyclonis comfort in her last moments. Then he raised the blade between them and slit his own throat. The warm and steady gush of blood from the slight cut showed that a major artery was nicked, and he had seconds to live.
Cyclonis helped him put the blade aside.
The Crystal destroyed the passage above them, rubble falling around them.
Once the aftershocks faded away, Junko built a shaky bridge out of the rubble for Aerrow and Finn to cross over to see if Master Cyclonis and Dark Ace were dead.
They lay together in a pool of blood; she sprayed with some, and smears showing where Dark Ace had attempted to wipe them from her face.
Finn would have vomited once upon a time at seeing such. Now, five years, and losing Piper, Radarr, and Stork, he turned his eyes to the sky and composed himself.
"Think they'll be happy once they get to wherever they're going?"
Aerrow looked at him. "I don't know. What I do know is that Atmos is safe, and we have no way to return to Atmos."
"I vote for moving forward. After we bury them."
Aerrow nodded. "I wouldn't follow any other course."
The grave is shallow; after all, even Junko can't dig through solid rock for a proper six feet, so they dig down two feet and then build up, around the bodies.
Dark Ace and Master Cyclonis are laid side by side in the same grave. There's no custom to dictate otherwise, and they left this world together.
Dark Ace has his blade laid over him, his hands wrapped around the hilt, his serene smile to Master Cyclonis turned heavenward. Master Cyclonis also has a smile, as though a heavy burden is no longer required. Her insanity seemed to have abandoned her, and Finn thanks the powers that be that his insanity was caused by the Black Gorge.
They seal the tomb, and Aerrow uses the dying Crystal energy from his daggers to inscribe a few simple words.
Dark Ace and Master Cyclonis
Loyal Traitor and the Cyclonian Queen
The remaining Storm Hawks stand back. There are no words to say. Junko crosses over, and then holds the rubble steady while Finn and then Aerrow cross over.
They head back to the Condor. There's still eighty percent of the Far Side that needs to be mapped, any other route to Atmos discovered, and there are enough wild Crystals to support the ability to do so.
There's also the chance that the other Storm Hawks are only missing, but the chances that they are dead rises with each passing day. The sky is no longer the only element with the dangerous creatures inhabiting it, and Stork concluded early on that the Black Gorge must somehow be connected to the Far Side, at least once upon a time.
Back when Stork could mount a defense against whatever ailed them.
The remaining Storm Hawks climb aboard the Condor, parked by Finn on a stabilized piece of outcropping. There's nothing waiting for them inside, but they still run the customary electric shock to make sure that nothing really is waiting for them.
Finn carefully drives the Condor out to a safe zone, inhabitable by them, but nothing that's hungry comes looking in this area.
How do they move forward? Piper was the one that made maps. Finn's driving is atrocious, but it keeps them afloat. He spends days figuring out why Stork connected wires in a jumbled mess, and then hours reconstructing the only working way to open the hangar.
Radarr is missed the most. Before Stork had clued in, the furry friend was able to scent danger miles away. His instant dislike or trust of flora and creatures told them what was safe to eat. Or what would eat them.
And Aerrow is still half-convinced that if he turns around, and offers his shoulder to perch on, Radarr will be there to jump on it.
The Condor scratches against a point that Finn swore he had gone above, and he gently reverses the direction, gets more lift, and tries again. Finn keeps the swearing to himself. He shouldn't cuss out the Condor; the poor ship misses her old Pilot. He pats the steering wheel to show that he misses Stork too.
It's so different and so similar to flying and shooting at the same time, using his sharp eyes to gauge the distance and appreciate the gap between his skills and Storks'. There was a reason the Merb was the Carrier Pilot.
Junko rarely cooks, and most of the edible food found here is to be eaten as is. He wishes Piper was around. She may not know how to cook, but her sand cakes were always a yummy treat. She always had a plan. But right now, the only plan is to go forward.
So which direction is forward?
Piper, Stork, and Radarr read the inscription on the tomb. Crossing over had been no problem; the Crystals here had much power, and were farther advanced, having had longer to grow. Piper even suspects some of having secondary powers that don't need activation and are always on. Such as how some Crystals don't have one primary function, and rather have multiple uses.
Piper nods to Stork, and they begin to remove the rubble.
Once the engraving is laid to the side, they clear away the top and open up the sealed dome around the Cyclonians.
Master Cyclonis opens her eyes first.
"I trust the performance went well enough?"
Piper nods her head, fighting the urge to bend onto her knee and incline her head.
Dark Ace groans and sits up, using his arms to prop himself up. "I can take off the Cloaking Crystal now?"
Cyclonis nods to him. Dark Ace reaches under his shirt, and yanks the Crystal off. His thirty year old appearance is replaced by a fifteen year old Dark Ace.
"I was right! The Binding with the Far Side Crystal back at the battle made you immortal!" Piper grins at them. "Or, as near immortal, so long as the Crystal energy remains with you."
Master Cyclonis nods at Piper's enthusiasm, as she rubs off her own make-up. Her appearance as a young woman fades away, and she looks the same as the day she faked Dark Ace's death.
He wasn't the only one infected with Far Side Crystal energy.
Stork rolls his eyes, and holds out his hand. Dark Ace takes it and helps himself up. Master Cyclonis floats out of the grave.
"But Piper, we know that our life forces are the spark that ignites the Crystals by invoking it. For so long as we live, the energy will never run out. We'd have to be killed in a very horrible fashion to even consider death." Master Cyclonis says this in an offhand way as she mends the hole in her shirt. She just waved her hand, and the delicate procedure of knitting the cloth together goes underway.
The sewing kit is left with their Skimmers, and she is not walking around in holy garments.
Piper shrugs. "I'm just glad that your crazy gamble didn't get you killed."
Dark Ace walked around, getting use to being fifteen again. Actually, he was getting used to being trapped as fifteen for the rest of his immortal life. The Far Side Crystal had destroyed his old body, and thanks to Piper stumbling on them, his body had stopped aging as he was distracted to help Master Cyclonis fight off Piper without hurting her.
The stupid specialist had walked around the corner and irritated an entire nest of Poisoned Tooth Sloths, much like their cousins in the Black Gorge. But that was another story.
And it was a one-time deal to regulate the energy to regain his old form. Now he was somewhere between betraying the Storm Hawks and deciding to grow out his side burns when he got older.
Radarr churred at them. He climbed up Master Cyclonis' back and pointed to the sky, indicating the leaving Condor.
"Oh, don't worry Radarr, we'll save them." Master Cyclonis scratched under his chin. "We'll save them."
Stork rolled his eyes. "We're doomed."
A/N: I have a test Wednesday, homework due tomorrow that I haven't started, and a test Friday, and I'm sitting here writing this when I have no internet connection.
But now that I am de-stressed and only have to worry about the paper and test on Friday, I decided to polish this up and post it.
This may or may not be a continuation of Dark Ace is dead (not!) and it may or may not continue itself.
I have another idea for Season Three, where Dark Ace did not betray the Storm Hawks, but they were recruited by the Cyclonians to go save the Far Side, and now Dark Ace is following them with the new Storm Hawks, who don't have a clue what's going on, until they meet Aerrow's dad, who's sorry for leaving Dark Ace behind.
Is that what my mind comes up with when I'm tired?
Anyway, thanks for reading! And yeah, don't hold breaths on updates, but thanks to all of you who have reviewed Lights, Camera, Hiccup! I keep checking my email and thinking 'I should write, but I have a test'.
Glances at above work. Um…..I was stressed and couldn't study when I wrote this, and figured I should post something so you'd know I'm still alive.