Yep, my first Storm Hawks fic since I watched it one day randomly and fell in love with it. I love Stork the most, obviously.

Anywho, I try to refrain from writing deathfics since they seem to be my strong suit but they get hella depressing. XD But this once, I'll make an exception. After all, you always hurt -cough-kill-cough- the ones you love, right? And this was completely inspired by the lovely song 'Bitter for Sweet' by Blaqk Audio/AFI. It really reminded me of Stork. X3

Sooo, all in all, I don't own Storm Hawks. Nerd Corps and Asaph Fipke do. I just own this happy little thought.

Aerrow

I wouldn't have believed it at first, even though I was the first to know what happened. Stork was dead. And despite his constant statements of how everyone was going to die a slow and painful death via mindworms or something of the sort, he died quickly and painlessly. At least, I hope that's how it happened. I only saw him right before it.

We were battling Cyclonians again, except that they had two full-sized carriers filled with a menagerie of crystals that could destroy anything in their path. Unfortunately, they were aimed at us.

We weaved and dodged the shots as much as we could until a bomb filled with some crystals I hadn't even heard off was fired and who else would have been in the way than Piper, Junko, and Finn all at once. I was off to one side and everything just went in slow motion from the moment it was fired.

No one moved but the Condor. It rose up quickly and for a moment, I could see Stork through the window. He looked completely shocked at first but then he looked unusually determined. I heard the engine of the Condor roar like never before and suddenly, it was in front of the bomb and took the entire blast.

With things still in slow motion, I could still see Stork. His expression was one I had never seen on him before. His eyes weren't wide and twitchy and he didn't look terrified. In fact, he looked completely calm and satisfied with what he had done. He didn't even look scared when one half of the Condor seemed to fall right off. For a moment, I could see him looking back at me and then the ship fell through the clouds to the ground below.

Not even the Cyclonians moved at that point. Things seemed to hold still for a moment. I could hear Piper scream but I couldn't see her. I was looking below me and then we all heard an awful explosion that sent a pillar of smoke, flame, and debris straight up into the air to where we could see it.

I saw something fly into my peripheral vision and turned to see the Dark Ace right next to me. He was looking at the pillar too. Then he said something to me I thought I would never hear.

"Go now. You're useless without a carrier. It wouldn't be half as satisfying destroying you without a fight."

I gaped at him, then followed his orders before he changed his mind. Radarr squeaked and clung onto my arm, pointing down to where the ship was and jumping up and down. The other three seemed to take a hint and we flew straight down to the terra below.

What met our eyes wasn't pleasant at all. The Condor was barely recognizable. It was twisted, burning steel and glass. We landed and stared at it. I knew Stork would have never have been able to survive it, even if he had been protecting himself completely. No one would have survived it.

I saw Junko rush in, practically howling with anguish. He threw debris and twisted metal to the side as though it were just pillows or something else light. When he found an opening, he ran inside.

Piper pulled up next to me, tears in her eyes.

"He's going to be alright, right? I mean, he's a very good pilot."

I wish I could have told her he would be fine but we both knew he wasn't going to be alright.

It felt like hours had passed before we saw more metal getting pushed aside and Junko emerging, head down and a small figure in his arms. There was Stork, just a lifeless figure. He was covered in ash and scratches. Even his green skin had taken on a lighter shade. He looked almost pathetic, like he hadn't just saved our lives. But he did and it took his life too. Radarr let out one of his mournful howls, but it sounded so much sadder and gave me the chills. I'm sure if I was one of whatever he was, I would have done exactly the same thing.

Within a few days, I was standing by a long wooden crate that served as Stork's last resting place. It had the flag of Atmos draped over it majestically and a smaller flag with the Storm Hawks symbol on it. All of us surrounded it, all solemn. Surprisingly, there were a lot of people there. The leaders of Atmos, several Merbs I was sure were relatives of his, and many Sky Knights.

We had settled that he would have a Sky Knight funeral and a Merb burial. Merbs cremate their dead to prevent diseases. It seemed fitting for him anyways, so we agreed on it.

During the funeral, some people took turns to speak. His father spoke first. He was a blue-ish Merb who towered over me by a good foot and a half. Scars adorned his face and I was sure he had seen his fair share of battles, despite his species. Next to him was a female Merb I figured was Stork's mother. I could see where he got his looks from, and his color. She was a lot shorter than her husband and a lot gentler looking. She was clinging to her husband, trying to hold back her sobs.

His father spoke of how honorable Stork was. Then he said something that got my attention and surprised me.

"When Stork said he was going to leave our terra and join the Sky Knights, I was furious. It's already uncommon for a Merb to put himself in a situation where he could be killed, but I had put myself in that situation before and was sure he wouldn't have been able to handle it. But I was very wrong."

He sniffed a little but continued on.

"When I got the news of his death, I wondered if it was of disease or something. But when I learned he had died protecting his squadron, I couldn't have been more proud of him. Everyone was. He had done something no Merb in history has ever done. I only wish now that I had been as proud of him when he left."

At that point, he couldn't continue. He choked out a sob before turning away.

So then it was my turn to speak. I thought it over a little, then cleared my throat.

"My father told me when I was very young something that stuck with me. 'You can't have victory without sacrifice.' I know now what he meant. Stork sacrificed himself so that we could go on. But I think it's going to take a long time for us to go on. We didn't just lose one of the greatest carrier pilots of our times. We lost a great inventor, genius, and a good friend."

I felt a painful pressure in my throat like I was going to burst into sobs at any moment. I held it back as much as I could.

"I always thought of Stork as…very odd. He was paranoid, for sure, but that turned out to be his greatest weapon. He's saved us before with it. Now, he saved us again, but for the last time. And I'm happy to say that I saw him before the ship went down. He didn't look scared or paranoid. He looked…complete."

I couldn't help but smile at my memory of that. I was indeed happy he had been satisfied with himself before his death.

I finished it off there, knowing I couldn't go much longer without crying as well. I stepped aside and looked at the casket.

'I hope I'll go wherever you're going Stork. It's going to be difficult without you.'

Piper

I can't help but feel guilty. I feel like I was the reason Stork died. My strategy was that we were going to take a middle assault path to the first carrier of the Cyclonians. I told Finn and Junko to come with me while Aerrow fought off the Dark Ace to give us some time. I never realized that I was putting us in the path of an array of deadly blasts. I think Stork knew it before I did and I also think he planned his move before I could even realize what was going on.

Now he was dead because of some stupid mistake I made in my planning. I should have thought it over better. I shouldn't have taken Finn and Junko with me. I may have saved him. It could have been me.

I really shouldn't tell myself these things. I don't want to make this situation worse by putting myself on a guilt trip. Stork wouldn't have wanted that. It had already been done. Putting the blame on myself isn't going to help the squadron to recover any faster. I think my planning abilities are fading.

I remember one night when we had landed on a jungle terra to sleep. I couldn't sleep too well so I went on the roof of the Condor to get some fresh air, thinking it might help. But I was surprised to see Stork up there already, looking up at the star-filled sky.

I sat next to him without a word. He didn't jump or say anything. He just continued staring up at the sky. We sat in silence for awhile before he tilted his head a little.

"You know what I'm afraid of the most Piper?"

"What?"

He pointed straight up.

"I'm afraid of the night sky. It just looks endless, like you could get lost in it. I don't like the feeling that I could get pulled into oblivion like that."

I was perplexed. Maybe I was so tired that I was mishearing him. Or maybe he was tired and was just rambling. He took a deep breath and leaned back a little more.

"Besides that, you can get star fever."

There was the Stork I knew.

"What's that?"

He got a little jumpy then and I felt relieved I wasn't hallucinating.

"It's when you get too close to a group of stars and they let off little bacteria that raise your temperature ten degrees at a time until your veins explode."

He twitched a little before drawing his knees up to his chest. I moved a little closer to him and he didn't seem to mind. I smiled a little at him.

"Have you ever met anyone who had star fever?"

He looked at me as though I was out of my mind.

"Piper, they all died. Their veins exploded."

"Oh right, sorry."

I stretched out and took a deep breath, feeling like I could sleep now. I looked back at him for a moment to see him staring back up at the sky, just like how I found him. His hair was covering one eye like it always was, giving him his constant dark look. It was then that I realized I might just have some feelings for him. So I leaned over and quickly kissed him on the cheek before getting up and walking back into the ship. I'm sure he was as surprised as I was.

The next morning, whenever he saw me, he smiled just a little. I smiled back that whole day.

My guilt was coming back now. What if I had told him exactly what I felt? Might things have been different? Would I have been on the ship with him? I didn't know. All I knew is that I wasn't going to ever be the same without him. I looked at the casket which looked blurry in my tear-filled eyes.

'I'm sorry Stork. I wish I told you earlier.'

Junko

I remember when I was little, I had this pet called a Biz, like a lizard with big eyes and bat ears. He was a pretty cute little guy, always playing with me like the Gleep I had once. I named him Mook because that's the noise he made.

One day, while I was playing with some blocks, someone knocked them over on accident. But Mook was right next to them and they fell on him. I heard him squeak and saw him flail and I panicked. I took all the blocks off of him but it was too late. He was too small to hold them up and was crushed. He looked up at me with his big eyes one last time before letting out his little 'mook' noise. Then he died.

The way I found Stork was the same way I found Mook. I knew he was in there somewhere and I was determined to find him. But when I did, he was underneath part of a wall, the steering helm, and part of a cannon. He was barely alive, but he still was. I'm sure he was so close to dying that he didn't even recognize me. He just shut his eyes as tight as they could go and tried to breath more, but he couldn't. I pulled him out and just like Mook, it was too late. He was dead by the time I had him out.

I tried to wake him up but he just wouldn't open his eyes. I shook him and I said his name many times. No matter what I did, he just wouldn't wake up. There was nothing I could do. I picked up him and found he was actually very light. Then I took him back outside and put him on the ground and I cried.

When I went to the funeral, I was still crying. I felt like maybe I could have done something more to save him. I'm sure there had to have been something, some way to make sure he didn't die. I must just have bad luck with things like that. Anything small or frail ends up dying and no matter what I do, it won't come back. Stork isn't coming back, neither is Mook. They're both gone.

But when I looked at Stork's casket, I felt positive that maybe my bad luck was over. I knew Stork had saved my life. He wasn't a very big guy and he was always scared that something was out to get him but he still used all he could to save not only me, but Piper and Finn too. I know it sounds pretty cheesy, but for such a little guy, he had a big heart.

And maybe I didn't save the little guy this time. I'm a Wallop after all. I'm not even supposed to be around things much smaller than me. But a little guy saved me and I'm sure that now, I can try to save them.

Finn

It wouldn't be hard for me to say that Stork was actually my friend. Sure, he had to have been the weirdest dude I ever met, but that's what was so cool about him. At first, I didn't like him. I was friends with Junko but that was as far as I went with species other than humans and Wallops. Merbs were out of the question.

Stork was too jumpy for me, and way too paranoid. Everything I did, he'd make it clear that something bad could have happened. I was sick of him for the first few months. I even told him that. But later on, I figured he was just trying to help somehow. Merbs can only help so much.

It kinda reminded me of when I was really little. My mom was really into mythology from other terras. She was always mystical like that. She told me a story of this lady named Cassandra who was given the power to see into the future, but cursed so no one could believe what she said even though she was right. A lot of bad things happened to the people who didn't listen and so on. That's how Stork was. Sometimes he was right about things like diseases or freaky creatures but Merbs are so distrusted because of their paranoia that nobody listens to them.

It's weird comparing Stork to some lady, but it's all I can think of. I was always told that Merbs were never to be trusted since they're all crazy. But Stork got me out of a lot of rough places by being crazy. And because of that, he became my friend. I admired Aerrow for listening to Stork first. I know Aerrow was told not to listen to Merbs, but he was the first one to believe Stork and that helped us all.

When I stood by his casket, I was confused. Of all things in the world, why didn't he think, 'Oh, I shouldn't get in front of that bomb. Certain DOOM,' like he always did? That could have saved his life. He should have been a stereotypical Merb right then. What stopped him?

I almost blame myself for that. I told him time and time again to try to act normal and stop being so paranoid. Maybe at that moment he made his decision, he tried to be as normal as I told him to be. And even though he saved me, Junko, and Piper, he was killed. I should have just let him do his own thing. He might have lasted just a little longer.

But maybe he was just thinking about his friends. He never openly regarded us as his 'friends'. Only Aerrow made that clear that any of us were friends with each other. And when I stood by his casket, trying to get over my confusion, it really hit me that we actually were friends. Real friends are the ones who will take a bullet for you. And he took an entire bomb from a bigger carrier for us. That had to make him a really good friend.

Who will ever know what Stork was thinking? Only him I guess. The other Merbs can't figure it out and neither can we. Merbs shouldn't throw themselves in harm's way. Sky Knights should live for themselves.

But he was just being Stork.