Thanks for the reviews! Sorry the updates take so long. Blame homework and writers block.

Disclaimer; yep, I own nothing again

Warnings; swear words

Even before the door was fully opened The Dark Ace had already ducked out of the way of the oncoming blast from the fire crystal. Jumping to his feet he had to duck again to avoid being hit by another blast that narrowly missed his head, blowing out a chunk of the wall a couple of inches to his right.

Kate wanted to know what had made him return so quickly – this just wasn't fair. At the moment the only thing stopping him from being able to grab her was the quickly depleting fire crystal she held in her hand.

Kate didn't realise she had a plan until she noticed the open door. Her freedom lay between them both and to her right. She was now stood in between the kitchen and bathroom doors whereas he was closer to the dingy cell Kate had been locked up in.

Even without any weapon Kate still knew Dark Ace could easily take her if they were fighting in close quarters, so she aimed to push him further back with another blast from her crystal.

This time The Dark Ace saw the hit coming and dived under it while running at Kate.

As he knocked her down Kate felt all her breath rush out of her for a second, startling her momentarily but not for long. She tried to scrabble out from underneath him but he was too strong – easily knocking the crystal out of her hand causing it to roll off somewhere.

Kate's fighting instinct kicked in. 'Get the hell off me!' she yelled at him kneeing him in the groin. He let out a pained groan and she managed to flip them over. Straddling him she leaned down and socked him across the jaw, knocking his head to the side.

Recovering The Dark Ace caught her hand that was aimed for his face again and rolled them over, pinning her down.

'Escaping are we?' He smirked down at her, sitting on her legs and restraining her wrists.

'Fuck you!' Kate shouted, trying to wriggle free. She would have succeeded as well if Dark Ace hadn't put his full weight on her.

'Now, now,' He began, holding her still. He could tell he was going to bruise from where she had punched him. She was strong – for a girl anyway. 'Don't say words you're not old enough to use.' He said patronisingly.

'Old enough?' Kate knew he was just trying to taunt her but she was just so angry at him. Kidnapping her and keeping her locked up in a cell that wasn't even the size of her bed back on the Condor; only feeding her a bowl of cold soup; stupidly kissing her and making her think about Aerrow's stricken face when he'd told her about what had happened to that girl; and then laughing at her, as if it were funny. No wonder she was pissed at him. 'How old were you when you decided it was time to kill all of your friends and join the Cyclonian Empire?'

The Dark Ace's face became expressionless but his left hand gripped her shoulder painfully. 'Don't talk about things you don't understand.' He growled at her, leaning closer to her face.

'Understand? No I understand perfectly. Killing Lightening Strike and orphaning Aerrow at three was completely the right decision.' Kate was goading him now and he was getting angrier and angrier.

'Shut the fuck up!' He shouted down at her, moving the hand he had on her wrists to her throat. He did not have to hear this, especially from a girl nearly half his age.

This was all the distraction Kate needed. In a flash she had yanked the knife out of her belt and plunged it into The Dark Ace, in the muscle between his neck and shoulder. He let out a yelp of pain but Kate didn't wait to see whether he was going to recover or not. Pushing him off of her and towards the bed she hastily scrambled to her feet and ran for the door.

Kate was already running down the corridor when she realised that she didn't actually know how to get out of Cyclonia. Hearing some Talons walking around the corner further down the corridor, she opened the closest door and hid inside, hoping not to be discovered. She listened silently with her ear pressed to the door and eventually she heard their retreating footsteps.

Sighing Kate spun around and had a look around the room. It seemed like some kind of study with papers strewn all over the place. The room had no windows but had two doors – the one she had come through and another off to her left. In the middle of the room there was a table with more papers and a radio. Grabbing hold of it she began to tune it in to one of the frequencies they used back on the Condor.

'Hello? Can anyone hear me?' Kate spoke into the machine but the reply she got was only static. 'Hell-' She quickly stopped talking when she heard someone talking from just outside the door. Noticing the turning handle she only had the chance to put the speaker part back on the radio.

'Oi! Who're you?' the young Talon that entered quickly pulled out his weapon and began advancing on Kate. She didn't wait to chat, swiftly ducking under his clumsy hit she grabbed his staff and used it on him, effectively knocking him out.

Hearing more Talons approaching she ran to the other door. Opening it, Kate found it was a staircase. This was good, she thought while running down the steps two at a time. The hangar bay should be near the ground floor.

Kate felt like she had been running for hours because by the time she got to the bottom of the stairs her legs were almost numb. Sucking it up she opened the door and peered out. She had to close it again almost immediately because a pair of Talons walked past. Reopening the door slowly she saw that there were no Cyclonians in sight so she snuck towards a pile of crates that were a few feet in front of her.

Taking a look around Kate saw that in fact she was in the hangar bay. There were plenty of Cyclonians busying around, a lot of them either bringing Skimmers in or taking them out. In the far corner she could see a garage like area where there were a couple of Talons working on a bike.

Further down the row of brown crates she was hiding behind Kate spied the exit. Not allowing herself to be spotted, Kate snuck out through the Hangar door.

Once outside she took a second to look around. In the area where she was standing, there were thankfully no Cyclonians around – but also no Skimmers either. Damn it, she though angrily. Knowing that as long as she stood out on the open she was a potential target and likely to be spotted, Kate spun around to find some shelter but stopped dead in her tracks. At the Hangar door stood The Dark Ace, his red panning gaze searching for her.

Kate didn't wait to see if he had spotted her, instead she turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. She could hear her own heart pumping frantically as she raced around a corner and flew into a lone Talon who was wandering past. They both stumbled to the ground in a tangle. Ow, Kate thought, desperately trying to get up. Finally on her own two feet she looked back at the Talon that was now standing too. One look was all it took for her cover to be broken. 'Intruder!' he shouted, drawing the attention of all the Cyclonians nearby – including The Dark Ace.

Looking up, she noticed him just as he rounded the corner. He stood now, not ten feet away from her. His left shoulder was smeared with blood but he showed no pain in his expression, only determination. Kate knew this was most likely her last chance to escape. She had to run. Now.

So that's exactly what she did.

Kate didn't think of where to run, she just ran. Ducking under a pair of grasping Cyclonian hands she put on another burst of speed realising that the Dark Ace was hot on her trail. Kate could feel her heart pounding from the exertion but she ran on, she would not let herself be captured again.

After a few minutes she began to hear his quick paced footsteps slowing and Kate soon found out why. Without even realising it she had ran to the very edge of the Terra.

Kate skidded to a halt. Peering over the side she saw a few loose stones roll over the edge and disappear into the mist. It was almost a sheer drop straight down, except for a few outcroppings of rock. Looking back she saw the now smug looking Dark Ace approaching her slowly. 'Nowhere to run to now Little Storm Hawk,' he growled out. By the sound of his voice Kate could tell that not only was he in pain but he was also very pissed off. She was 100% sure that his anger was not going to help in her favour.

Kate took a step back. Her heels were now resting just over the edge of the drop. She didn't dare look down for her fear of heights. Dark Ace took another step closer. Behind him there were at least ten other advancing Talons, proving that there was indeed no escape.

Except there was.

Kate knew it was her only chance, yes it was stupid, risky and reckless but then again she was a Storm Hawk – it was her job to pull the stunts that others were too scared to do.

With that in mind she quelled her fear and looked the Dark Ace straight in the eye as she stepped backwards and off the Terra.

A/N; I know it's not as long as usual but I figure some kind of update was better than none right?