Disclaimer: I don't own Storm Hawks (dur).
Thanks for the reviews so far, guys! Any form of review, aside from spamming and hate-mail, is welcome. Think my story sucks? Leave a review. Don't like the plot so far? Leave a review. Like vanilla ice cream? Leave a review. Oh, and tell me if you see any spelling errors, too. I'm OCD about that…
Just a few things that I didn't note in the last chapter… The story is rated Teen (and/or Mature, I suppose…) for offensive language, strong/disturbing imagery, references to alcohol, violence, and hawt older men (well… maybe the Dark Ace is just sexy to me… :D).
Also, how are the chapter lengths so far? Too long? Too short? Please let me know!
Chapter Two: Double Incursion"Let's go get 'em, pal," Aerrow muttered to his co-pilot. The blue creature growled in return.
"Hey, Dark Ace! Don't you ever get tired of losing?" he called over the noises of battle. Aerrow was disappointed to see the Dark Ace's scowl turn into a mocking smile.
"You know, Aerrow, I've been keeping a position in the Talons open just for you." The Dark Ace swung his glowing energy blade so that it pointed to Aerrow's chest. "Your talents as a Sky Knight," he spit the title like it pained him to hold it in, "could be put to better use."
Aerrow returned to mocking gaze and gripped his twin energy blades tighter. "I'm fine here, thanks. But I appreciate the offer!" At that moment, both the Dark Ace and Aerrow met in the air. The skimmers caught together, and both riders stood on their rides to exchange blows and fists.
To the Sky Knight's surprise, the Dark Ace fell back a step. "You've gotten better!" There was a pause in their fight. "But you seem to have forgotten who you're dealing with!" The Ace kicked Aerrow in the stomach, knocking him down and to the wing of his own skimmer. Radarr squeaked, a sound barely audible against Aerrow's gasp of shock. The Dark Ace lifted his sword and took aim at the fallen Knight. "You don't seem to realize just how many Knights have been in your position." Aerrow almost unheard that unspoken meaning behind the sentence: not many had lived after meeting the Dark Ace's blade.
Aerrow could hear a hum as the energy blade gathered power from the Firebolt Crystal located at the base of its hilt. Only just in time, he raised his blades and was able to turn the Dark Ace's blade slightly. The energy blast meant for Aerrow clipped the Skimmer III Ultra's top right wing.
The Dark Ace snarled in annoyance as the connected skimmers dipped to the side slightly; Aerrow's skyride began to emit black smoke.
That was close. But if he hits that right wing again… Aerrow decided not to finish that thought. At his feet, Radarr was attempting to untangle the two skimmers, but to no avail; his furry hands were too small.
The Dark Ace seemed to want to solve the same problem. With a fierce look on his face, he grasped his energy weapon in both hands and swung the blade low and fast, piercing and severing the top left wing of Aerrow's skimmer from its main body. Whoa!! With a jolt, the two fliers were separate again, their riders shifting positions to maintain balance.
Aerrow seated himself in his near-useless skyride and desperately tried to keep it flying. He judged from the horrified look he spotted on Piper's face as they passed each other that he wasn't doing too well. Radarr abandoned his cockpit for a seat on Aerrow's shoulder; the skimmer was dipping violently to the left and started to drop like a rock. Come on, baby, come on!
He thought back to before Stork had worked his magic on the skimmer for the Atmos Great Race. "It's the rider, not the ride!" he'd said optimistically. Aerrow was starting to believe that was bullshit.
Above him, the Dark Ace chuckled to himself. His skyride, Aerrow noticed, wasn't the least bit damaged. "Don't you ever get tired of losing, Aerrow?" The expression on his face was terrible. "That position with the Talons' starting to sound pretty good?"
"Go to hell, Dark Ace!" Aerrow retorted as his nemesis laughed harder. Assuming I don't get there first…! The permanent fog of the Wastelands was quickly drawing closer. He looked right, looked left, for any of his friends. Finn was squashed behind Junko on the latter's skimmer, and the both of them were trying to take down as many Talons as possible; Piper was busy tackling two attacking Cyclonians, one to the front and one to the rear; Stork was in the distance on the Condor, making a bold attempt to fend off any energy bolts and keep the ship in the air. Aerrow would have to handle the problem by himself.
The III Ultra's engines, and Radarr, whined loudly as Aerrow finally managed with some difficulty to pull the skimmer into a horizontal position, though turning right was proving to be tricky. "We're fine, by the way! Thanks for worrying!" he shouted to no one in particular. Radarr gave a disgruntled moan--
--which quickly turned into a shriek as the blue co-pilot narrowly avoided a red bolt of energy. The Dark Ace was once again on Aerrow's tail, a scowl on his face and charged energy blade in hand. The Sky Knight swung his skimmer around to try and change his unfavorable position.
It was then that he saw them: two- or three-dozen skimmers in no particular formation coming in from his left, all of them close enough to be easily seen but far enough that Aerrow couldn't yet tell which squadron they hailed from. "Piper! Junko, Finn!" he yelled in warning. In response, the noise of combat seemed to yield slightly, as Talons and Storm Hawks alike waited to see whose side the newcomers would take.
Even the Dark Ace seemed slightly put-off by the incoming fliers. Instead of continuing to attack the loathed Storm Hawk, he flew circles above his few remaining Talons. His expression shocked Aerrow: a mix of confusion (So even he doesn't know if they're Cyclonians or not?!), and anger that his near victory might soon come to an end.
Aerrow's eyes widened as the first wave of unidentifiable riders shot several accurate, if not slightly random, energy blasts from their staffs and blades. He noted that they had chosen only to attack Talons. Atmosians! But what are they here--...!! Oh, shit!
Several Talons had fallen in the sudden attack, but Aerrow had only just realized that his fellow Storm Hawks had not been spared as he first thought, though they were more fortunate: Piper was still in the air thanks only to the awesome maneuverability of her Heliscooter, and Finn was clinging to Junko more than ever as the Skimmer III EL shuddered beneath them. Aerrow himself was fine, so far. Okay, so they're not Atmosians… so whose side are they on?