Not Meant to Be
It was a party, a nice, cute little party to celebrate the birth of some new Sky-brat. What did it matter that he was the only legitimate kid born to a Sky Knight? He was still just a brat, just one more mouth to feed…one more back to watch. And they weren't doing such a great job; passing the gurgling newborn from person to person without checking to see who they were; they were about to get a reality check. I have the honour of bringing them back to terra; I'm going to send them down so hard!
I pulled at my shirt, adjusting the almost-skin-tight fabric so it didn't look as if I'd been rolling around in a bush for a week, which I almost had been. I scanned the faces of those at the party, making sure none of them had noticed my sudden appearance, and metaphorically dove into the crowd. I didn't know anyone, and those I recognized had always been on the other side of a battlefield; I went straight to the proud parents, avoiding anyone who looked ready to make conversation.
"Hey, how's it going?" I asked, looking up from the brat to watch their eyes.
He, Rowan, smiled at me, shook my hand and laughed, saying that everything was fine: he didn't' suspect anything.
"Can I hold him?" I held out my hands toward the kid, cradled in his mother's arms. She smiled at me and passed the infant, laying his tiny head in the crook of my arm and showing me how to hold him properly. The kid looked up at me, his big green eyes seeming to stare past my disguise; he just stopped giggling and stared, absolutely still, at my face. At least he wasn't crying.
I backed up slowly, away from the parents who still weren't suspecting anything, and back towards the small glen at the side of the house.
"Hey, where are you going?" Rowan asked me.
"Oh, nowhere far," I replied in my best off-hand voice, continuing to back away.
He started to follow me but at his first step I drew my sword, held it toward the baby in my other arm. The stupid thing grabbed the cool metal, trying in weak little pulls to take it from me and play with it, but at least it made my job easier.
"Oh look, no sense of self-preservation," I mocked his parents, "So, my long time adversary, this is why you haven't been to see me lately?"
There was a flash as I deactivated the Chroma crystal, and everything seemed darker as the lights faded from my eyes, especially their faces; shocked expressions now fixed into scowls.
"Benjamin," Rowan acknowledged flatly.
I smiled, shrugged, "Can't say I really like kids but once he grows up…he can start training and eventually take my place as Master Cyclonis' champion. And because he's so young he won't remember you. But you'll remember him won't you? Be kind of hard to fight your own son wouldn't it?"
He twitched! Rowan never twitched, he would never take his eyes off the enemy!
That was my warning, before sudden sharp pains stabbed through my wrist as someone yanked the blade out of my hand. I spun, forgetting the baby, letting it fall, attacking the person behind me.
I heard someone shout, then the dull thud of a body hitting the ground; one of the bystanders had dove down to save the brat. This was all peripheral; my focus was on my attacker. I punched at his face, he shoved me. Both blows hit their targets simultaneously, we both stumbled backwards. I tripped over something on the ground, went crashing down and suddenly had Rowan pinning me. He flipped me over onto my stomach, pressed my face into the dirt while he clapped crystal manacles onto my wrists. He pulled me upright by one arm,
"Never threaten my family again," he growled.
I look over my shoulder to see what I'd tripped on; it was the stupid baby, I'd tripped over the idiot who'd jumped in to catch it!
Rowan shoved me forward, pushed me down the road. At least we were already on Atmosia; I wouldn't have to fly with him to the Stockade. Two members of his squadron walked beside us, ready to attack should I try to escape. I didn't bother; I had no where to go and no way to get there now; I had failed my mission, and that was unforgiveable. I'd know the right moment to escape, I always did.
We walked in relative silence, the buzzing of insects in heat of day and the crunching of gravel under our feet were the only intrusions of sound.
As the pointed roof of the Stockade drew closer I looked up, past the trees lining the dirt path, toward the blue sky,
"You know, it's kind of weird having the sky open and blue like this after so long on Cyclonia." I squinted and dropped my gaze back to the road ahead as the sun rose above the leaves, "and it's so bright out. How do you stand it?"
"By going inside," Rowan answered, "which is were you'll be for a very long time, for the rest of your life in fact."
We reached the end of the dirt path, came to the cobbled streets of the Atmosia marketplace right beside the Council Hall. One of Rowan's squadron broke off and went into the building, no doubt to inform them of my capture. I hadn't realized I'd stopped until Rowan pushed me forward again. I went face first onto the rough stones, scraping my cheek raw. Wincing, I pulled my knees under myself and struggled to my feet, spitting gravel out of my mouth. I may have been taken prisoner, but I would not reduce myself to the indignity of needing help from my captors. We walked down a few more streets, avoiding the main throng of people, again in silence. And again I broke it.
"For the rest of my life, huh?" I said as if I'd been doing some serious contemplating on this fact. We neared the steps to the prison, "You know, Rowan, I find that hard to believe."
We stopped, Rowan opened the heavy Stockade door, and I walked in with my chin held high. Cocky.
"What's so hard to believe?" he asked, nodding to the guards. They acknowledged that he belonged and one of them came with us, pulling a ring of keys from his belt. "You'll stay in this one nice room under lock and key and about fifty guards until you rot away."
"Ooh, attacking your brat made you really sour didn't it?"
My laughter was cut short as he punched my face; my head slammed into the bars of one of the occupied cells. Rowan's teammate grabbed his arm as he made to hit me again, shaking his head; I smiled.
"You're scared, aren't you? Huh, you are honestly scared. I never would have guessed…well, until now of course." I brought my bound hands up, wiped the blood from under my nose with my sleeve.
Rowan tensed again, clenched his fist. The prison guard stepped up and put a hand on his shoulder,
"Sir, if you don't mind, I'll take it from here."
He growled, glaring at me as I smirked back, but backed down, nodding to the guard.
The man took my arm, forced me down the hall as my long-time adversary watched, his face angry, his stance resigned.
"Oh, Rowan," I called over my shoulder as if I'd just thought of something, "when I get out, I'll come visit you. I'm anxious already to see how your boy grows up. And it won't take that long to escape you know. I'll wait for the right moment." I laughed, long and hard and loud so he could hear me, so he'd get my message.
The guard unlocked an empty cell, turned to me and unlocked my handcuffs, and threw me in. I knew Rowan was still down the hall, he hadn't moved.
"What's his name anyway, I never did catch it?" I called.
I heard footsteps and then Rowan was outside the bars of my cell. His face was twisted with loathing; he looked ready to strangle me, but he just stood there, staring.
"Benjamin, whether I am alive or dead, you'll not harm s hair on my son's head!"
"It rhymes, Rowan, you practicing for your darling little boy? I heard babies love rhymes. Actually I lied. I avoid babies whenever I can, I haven't heard anything. But…he seems to have a 'magnetic' personality. He'd move up the Talon ranks quickly, wouldn't you say?"
"Stop it, Benjamin, he'll never be a Talon solider, he'll fight on the right side of this war and he'll win. And you'll stay locked in here, where you belong."
I shrugged. "Let's agree to disagree then, my arch-nemesis. And I guess it's a 'no' on the name thing then?"
He turned and stalked away. I guess he meant it to be impressive but he just looked like a pathetic child, all sour because he didn't like how things were. I decided to taunt him more, "Give me a clue!" I shouted down the hall, "What's it start with? How 'bout a small hint? …the last three letters at least?"
Fifteen years later
The door creaked slowly open, the metal hinges squealing as they performed the job they hadn't done in nearly fourteen years. The last time someone had come in here was to tell me the Storm Hawks were dead, Cyclonia had a new champion and there was no point in trying to escape.
I looked up now through my hair to see who'd bothered to visit me; I didn't recognize him, though I knew all of the five guards surrounding him.
"And whom do I have the honour of meeting today?" I asked sarcastically, leaning back against the wall and crossing my arms over my chest.
"I'm the Head of the Sky Knight Council, Benjamin. I'm here to discuss the terms of your release."
"Release? Since when?"
"You sound like you'd rather stay in here for the rest of your life sentence."
"I'm coming." I got to my feet, brushing the too-long hair out my face and let one of the guards handcuff me. They surrounded me as we walked, two behind me, one on either side and one beside the Council guy.
One of them heaved open the heavy main doors; sunlight seeped into the building, chasing away the permanent murkiness. I squinted, threw up my bound hands to shield my eyes: I'd been without light for fifteen straight years. At least this time the guards let me have time to adjust, last time had been all push-and-shove. I stumbled down the stairs with the rest of the group and headed toward the Council Hall. Again we seemed to take the back route with the least amount of people. At least the alleys provided some sort of cover from the light.
The guards were all tense, keeping a constant eye on both me and our surroundings. A shadow shifted farther along the way and suddenly we were blocked, both sides, by shadowed men with weapons drawn.
"Cyclonians!" one of the guards shouted, reaching for his energy sword; it was blasted out of his hand and then chaos followed.
"Down!" someone shouted at me, grabbing my arm and pulling me painfully to the ground as shots fired in every direction.
"Get off me!" I grunted, trying to wriggle out from under them.
"Stay down you fool!" I realized it was the old man from the Council. Why had he saved me?
The blasts ceased, the five guards immobilized. Obviously the Talon's objective was to capture me, or the Head of Council, otherwise we'd be dead. Both of us were unhurt.
"Get off me!" I yelled again, shoving upward, lifting the man and rolling out from under him. And I kept rolling until my back was against the alley wall, so I could watch everyone without giving them the opportunity to sneak up behind me.
The old man stood up and dusted himself off calm as anything, which was really unnerving considering we were still surrounded. He nodded to one of the men and they lowered their weapons, turning around to peek out of the alley. Then he reached into a pocket and took out a crystal, deactivating it; there was flash and his appearance changed. White hair became black, lengthened, he grew taller, dull green eyes became red.
"Long time no see Benjamin. Still as ungrateful as ever I see."
"Do I know you?"
"Of course you do. I'm the one who tackled you when you tried to kidnap Rowan's son. I work for Cyclonia now. I'm the one who killed him."
"You killed Rowan's son!"
"I killed Rowan!"
"Oh that's right. You're that 'Dark Ace' guy, the one who took my place as Master Cyclonis' champion. So you killed Rowan. Tell me, how did you do it?"
"The details are not important right now. Master Cyclonis wants to see you…the new Master Cyclonis."
I shrugged, and looked pointedly at the handcuffs.
"Not yet," he said, pulling me to my feet.
This is AU obviously, sometime before the episodes needed a chronological order to make sense. So before about...episode 39 or 40.
Benjamin belongs to me, but that's about it...