A/N: I don't own Storm Hawks

At The Devil's Side

In the following weeks after the events with the Storm Hawks and the Nightcrawlers, Terra Klockstoppia had been experiencing some rather fast changes. Once princess Peregrine took rightful place on the throne, her first that crystals were no longer forbidden, allowing her people to start coming out of the dark ages that they been trapped in for so long. Her follow act was that that Klockstoppia would be no longer kept in seclusion, thus opening themselves up to trade with outside Terra's for technology in exchange for crystals.

However in that time, the Regent informed Perry that due to the terra's ancient laws, she could not keep her newfound power unless she took a husband to rule alongside her. If she denied finding a suitor then all power would revert back to the Regent until she was of proper age to rule. The young princess felt caged once more, just when she finally found the freedom that had eluded her for so long, she was now being forced into a situation that to her felt like a another trap to her.

So, despite her hatred over the whole situation, she sent a message across the Atmos that she was looking for a spouse to rule Klockstoppia alongside with her. The suitors came far and wide from all sorts of terras, all with the intention of making the girl their wife and ruling over her home. Princes, Sky Knights, and even a few Wallop gangsters where turned down by the princess, knowing that they cared for owning her home then loving her.

On the fifth day of the search of a spouse the unthinkable happen. Out of the blue, a Cyclonian warship arrived on Klockstoppia's doorstep. Even more surprising was that Master Cyclonis herself alongside her top three officers came down from the ship in order to speak with the princess. The very sight of the lord of Cyclonia made the suitors jump onto their skimmers and scramble back to their home terra's.

The Regent strongly advised Perry not to even approach the girl who had ordered the attack on their home, but the young girl had some choice words to say to the young tyrant. Now she was here, standing defiantly before Cyclonis and her warriors with only the Regent and four very frightened guards at her side.

"You must be Princess Peregrine" Cyclonis said with a bow of her head "It's a pleasure to meet you in person"

"The name's Perry and the feeling isn't mutual!" the princess shot back "I want you and your soldiers off of my Terra this instant!"

Before her warriors could draw their weapons, Cyclonis raised her hand to silently command them to stand down.

"You misunderstand me your highness" she explained as she approached her "I didn't come here to conquer you…"

She then did something that not even her own soldiers expected: she kneeled before Perry. Dark Ace, Ravess and Snipe went wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the sight of their master perform an act of submission that they had all thought was impossible for her to do. She then furthered everyone's state of shock by gently reaching out and taking Perry's hand in her own and kissing it affectionately, making the ruler of Klokstoppia blush uncontrollably in the process. Upon seeing the kiss, Snipe fainted out of shock, forcing Ravess to try to bring her brother back to consciousness.

"I came here to court you…" she finished softly as she let go of her hand

Perry—along with everyone else who had just seen that—was stunned beyond belief. She knew that she was the biggest threat to her home, but something in the back of her mind was telling to at listen to the young empress.

"This is preposterous!" The Regent scoffed "No where in the royal carter does it say you can marry a woman!"

"Well it doesn't say I can't marry a woman, either" Perry rebottled "the carter says I can chose to marry one who is worthy of my love, it never said that it had to be a man"

Her advisor let out an annoyed groan in annoyance before shutting up. She then turned her attention back to Cyclonis, who was still kneeling before the girl.

"So tell me Master Cylonis…" she began with venom laced in her voice "Why do you think your worthy my love when you've already attacked my terra once before?"

"Tell me your highness, have you heard the expression: better to be at the devil's side then in his path?" she asked in a darker tone before she rose back to her feet "With just one warship and these three with me, we could've taken over your entire terra in less then a day, but I came here in peace instead"

Perry didn't think of that. Her terra lacked the protection of Sky Knights and her military didn't exactly have the proper training or the equipment to fend off an attack from such a powerful foe.

"Think of it princess" Cyclonis furthered "With our marriage your terra will be stronger then ever before"

"While you mine it dry of crystals" Perry said sharply "I'm sorry, but I'm not going let you enslave my people!"

"I never said enslave, did I?" Cyclonis retorted with a smirk "If you were to be my wife then your people would be under my terra's protection. They would be my people as well, so why would I want to harm them?"

"I can think of three good reasons' Ravess mumbled, to which she quickly shut after getting a death-glare from her master

"I'll tell you what your highness" Master Cyclonis proposed "To show I'm on the level with you, I'm willing to stay here on Klockstoppia with you for a whole month as a guest and if you are still unsatisfied with me, then I'll leave. Simple as that"

Perry didn't know how to response to that. Was really going allow the girl who sent assassins to her terra to stay here for a whole month? On the hand, she did fear what would happen if she said no to the empress of Cyclonia right then and there. As Cyclonis had said herself 'better to be at the devil's side, then in his path' or in this case her path.

"One month" the princess finally said "That's it"

"This is madness princess!" her adviser exclaimed in anger

"I have spoken, Regent!" she snapped back with a fierce glare

"I like this girl already" Cylonis thought to herself before speaking aloud "Excellent choice my dear. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to my ship to work out some minor details over who will watch my terra while I'm gone"

With that, the young tyrant gave another bow and departed back to her ship with her warriors (while Ravess dragged Snipe her still unconscious brother) leaving Perry feeling like she had just sold out both her freedom and her kingdom.

Cyclonis had already planned to make Dark Ace rule in her place for the short time, but she needed to return to the ship in order to collect her crystals and a radio in order to stay in contact with her second in command during her stay on the backwater terra. Normally, she would just send her men to this tiny little slab of rock and take it by force, but the princess's marriage proposal presented her with a unique opportunity. If she just attacked Klockstoppia, then her forces would have to deal with more then likely the Storm Hawks to keep control over the terra, but if she could marry the princess, then no sky knight in the entire Atmos could touch her due it being a legal marriage. All she had to do was tolerate one agonizing month with this brat then she would have access to the terra's crystal mines.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you, master?' Dark Ace inquired

"I'll be fine, you just need to concern yourself with running things in Cyclonia while I'm gone" Cyclonis replied

"I'm surprised you actuality agreed to stay a whole month in order just to try and win this girl's trust" her servant added on "Do you really think she'll fall in love with you? I mean you're already on her shit-list after what happen with the Nightcrawlers"

"Despite popular belief, I can be quite the charmer" the young empress coolly answered "besides, if this doesn't go as planed, we can always take over Klockstoppia the old fashioned way"

"I like the sound of that" Dark Ace said with a wicked smirk on his lips