Author's Note: This chapter's an introspective... Aerrow's looking inside himself as his life hangs in the balance... so, be ready for anything... also, I have no idea what Aerrow's mom looks like... the description's just a guess, so deal with it...
As Aerrow opened his eyes, he found himself floating in a void: nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see. His uniform had been repaired, his wounds healed. Incredulous, he stared aimlessly as he drifted; he had absolutely no idea what was going on. Then, he heard a voice.
"Aerrow?" Suddenly, a door appeared in front of him: a nondescript, white door. He reached out and turned the knob. After he opened the door, he saw Piper standing in front of him, waving nonchalantly.
"Piper? What are you...?" He stopped in midsentence, then looked around; the room was painted a sky blue, little orange crystals dotting the walls and ceiling. He stammered a bit, unsure what to say.
"Aerrow, it's okay. Everything's gonna be fine."
"Piper, where are we?"
"I'm not really here; then again, neither are you." She answered enigmatically.
"Huh?"
"We're inside your mind, Aerrow. Try to stay with me."
"Oh! And who - or what - are you supposed to be, Piper?" She giggled.
"I'm your feminine side, of course-"
"Of course." He interrupted dryly.
"And your intellect. You're having what could be called a 'hallucination'..." She sat down on one of two chairs that appeared out of nowhere. He sat down as well.
"And why would I be hallucinating?" He asked, frustration setting in.
"Because of the massive hemorrhaging from the multiple lacerations. Of course, the blunt force trauma didn't help anything either, but-"
"Piper!"
"Sorry. It's 'cause you got beat up."
"Why didn't you just say that?" He was nearly depleted of patience, and, he assumed - correctly - that this was only the first stop on his inner journey.
"I'm your intellect, remember? I'm supposed to use big words..." She answered matter-of-factly.
"You said you're also my feminine side, but you're in a t-shirt and sweatpants. Shouldn't you be wearing a dress or something?" He remarked absently. Suddenly, she got up and crossed her arms, glaring at him angrily.
"You don't get it, do you!? You're dying, Aerrow - really dying - and the only thing that's gonna keep you alive is how much you want to live!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know that!?" He yelled back, more than a little off-put by her statement about his precarious physical condition.
"Aerrow! You're hopeless! Maybe your sense of humor can get through to you!" She shoved him out the door, slamming it in his face. He scratched his head confusedly.
"I guess she's my anger, too." He nervously joked.
"No, that would be me. But it's not time for us to meet yet." A dark, strangely familiar voice called out into the darkness.
"Hey, Aerrow!" Someone called to him. He turned around (somehow; he was again floating in the void) and was suddenly in another room. This one was very different; painted a bold yellow, accented with little gag items: whoopee cushions, joy buzzers, and so on.
"Hey, buddy! How's it goin'?" Finn came up behind him.
"Finn? Let me guess; you're my sense of humor." He said dejectedly.
"Aww, c'mon! What's wrong with that? But that's not all I am." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Okay. What else are you, Finn?"
"I'm your romantic side... sort of." He answered nervously, shuffling one foot shyly.
"What? No way! I'm not-"
"C'mon, Aerrow. You can lie to other people, but you can't lie to yourself!" Finn stated with a somewhat sing-songy voice. The redhead sighed wearily.
"Guess I can't argue with that." He said after a few awkward moments.
"And you need to tell Piper how you feel about her..." He said, suddenly very serious.
"What? Are you nuts!? What if she doesn't feel the same way!? I'd be putting the whole team in danger if we started fighting all the time!" He shot back defensively.
"Dude, what did I just say about lying to yourself!? And don't be stupid; Piper's loved you practically since you became a Sky Knight." He reminded him.
"Yeah, but... Finn, how do I-"
"When the time comes, good buddy, you'll know what you have to do..."
"Gee, thanks, Finn." The Sky Knight responded sarcastically. The blond shot his finger pistols.
"No problem, dude. Just doin' my job. And now, off ya go!" Again, he was suddenly back in the void. Aerrow yelled in frustration, trying to sort everything out.
Meanwhile...
"No pulse! BP's 120 over 65 and dropping fast!" Two EMTs stood over Aerrow's lifeless body, one furiously pumping his chest as the Storm Hawks helplessly looked on.
"Aerrow... hang on..." Piper whispered softly.
Back in Aerrow's mind...
"Hello? Hello!?" Aerrow had found himself in a dismal wasteland; the overcast skies clashed nicely with the seemingly lifeless grass. As he walked along a forest path, through a maze of depressingly grey trees, he came upon a clearing. In it, sitting on a fallen tree trunk, was Stork.
"Stork? Hey, buddy... what's going on?"
"Oh, who cares? You're doomed, I'm doomed, everybody is DOOMED!" A dramatic gasp as he turned to look at the redhead. "Did I mention that we're doomed?" His right eye twitched nervously.
"Uh, only a few times... in a last sentence..." Aerrow responded uncertainly.
"Well, if we're all still here when you come back from being unconscious, I've got a life lesson for you to use; sometimes, you have to accept life the way it is... there are some things you just can't fix, Aerrow..."
"And who are you supposed to be: my logic and sadness?" The redhead asked curtly.
"No! Well, sort of, but... it's complicated!" The Merb turned to look away.
"I'm sorry, Stork. I didn't mean it like that." Aerrow's voice softened. He came over and sat next the pilot on the log, watching with a smile as he turned to look at him again.
"Yes, you did."
"No, I-"
"Hello? Didn't your intellect tell you anything!?" He hissed angrily.
"Yes, she did! It just... didn't make a whole lotta sense." He admitted nervously.
"Piper?"
"Piper."
"Yeah, I had a feeling... but, since you're doomed to a lonely life, I suggest you get used to it..." Suddenly, Stork pulled a lever that wasn't there a second ago, causing Aerrow to fall down some unknowable distance (somehow; even in his own head, things still didn't make sense sometimes...) and into a river. Landing headfirst, the Sky Knight coughed and gagged as he struggled to breathe. After finally getting himself out of the gentle current, he staggered onto shore. Suddenly, the shore turned from a riverbank into a scenic beach. As he rubbed his head, he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a pair of tiny yellow eyes staring at him. A friendly chirp reached his ears.
"Radarr?" A nod.
"Who are you supposed to be?" The fuzzball made a few hand gestures, but their meaning flew over the Sky Knight's head. He stared quizzically at him, unable to understand. Then, after growling in frustration, Radarr pulled out pen and paper, writing the words "curiosity" and "suspicion".
"Oh." The redhead stated. The sky monkey facepalmed then pointed to another door. This one had no doorknob on it.
"You want me to follow you in there?" Aerrow asked. Radarr shook his head, then wrote his response on the paper.
"No. You need to go in by yourself."
"Why?"
"Because I said so..." Radarr then shoved the pen and paper back in his pocket (which appeared to be a part of his thigh, since there were no pockets on his uniform) and scurried off to push the door open. It creaked loudly, and as Aerrow walked through, he felt a stinging in the back on his head.
"Ah!" He clutched his temples in agony, his knees buckling. His friend ran over, whining worriedly.
"My head hurts, Radarr." The creature nodded as the Sky Knight winced in pain, and when Aerrow had turned back toward the door, he felt the fuzzball push him through it. His new location was the dentist's office on Wallop where they'd taken Junko.
"Hey, Aerrow." Junko walked over from behind the dentist's chair.
"Hey, Junko... who're you supposed to be?" He asked patiently, not really wanting an answer.
"I'm your conscience." The Wallop stated proudly. He motioned for Aerrow to sit in the chair. The redhead did so, looking around at the all too familiar room.
"So, Aerrow... you tell Finn you're sorry yet?" Junko continued, flipping a few switches lightly. Aerrow's eyes widened a bit when he heard equipment powering up.
"Sorry about what?"
"About the way you spoke to 'im the other day... you really hurt his feelings by not being thankful..."
"For what!? He just came to visit!" Aerrow watched with impossibly wide eyes as the drill from the room's ceiling dropped down and approached his mouth. The glass guard around it held his mouth open as the drill bit inched its way further and further toward his teeth.
"Junko, stop this! Please! I'm beggin' ya!!"
"Then tell me the truth. Did you feel bad after what you said to Finn?"
"Yes! I did! I-I don't know what came over me! I'm just so angry all the time!!" He broke down, sobbing loudly as the drill stopped spinning.
"It's okay, Aerrow. We're here to help you." Piper and the rest of them suddenly appeared around him as Junko helped him up and out of the chair. The Sky Knight dropped to his knees, his eyes still streaming tears, and began to pound his fists into the floor, bawling loudly. He curled up into a ball and sobbed for almost 15 minutes, his friends rubbing his back and saying the most comforting words they could find. Finally, mercifully, he calmed down: eyes reddened and puffy, collar stained with tears.
"What's wrong, Aerrow? Why does it bother you so much that you didn't get the Dark Ace?" Piper finally asked.
"Because he... he took my father away!" He began crying again, only to have someone put their finger over his lips and shush him softly. A fair-skinned blond woman kneeled down in front of him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
"There, there, Aerrow... hush, now..."
"Mommy?" His voice sounded like a little kid: an eight-year-old, maybe.
"It's okay, baby. Mommy's gotcha, Mommy's gotcha." She pulled him into her lap, laying his head on her shoulder. He sniffled a bit, trying to calm down.
"Mommy... why? Why did Daddy go away?" He looked at her sadly, tears welling up in his eyes again.
"I don't know, honey... I don't know... I really wish I had an answer for you, Aerrow." She rubbed his back comfortingly. He softly sobbed into her shoulder.
"Shh... it's okay, Aerrow... my sweet baby boy..." Her voice started to break a little and she held him tighter, hearing him cry louder. Suddenly, the room was filled with darkness, and it all melted away: his mom, his friends, everything. Only darkness, broken slightly by the blade of an unseen foe. His enemy's eyes glowed a dark red, matching perfectly the color of his blade.
"You know me already, Aerrow. Anger!" He lunged forward, thrusting the glowing blade into the redhead's face. Before the Sky Knight could even react further, his opponent had kicked his feet out from under him. The glow of the double blade revealed the aggressor: a strange man indeed. He looked almost exactly like Aerrow, except his hair was black, his eyes were red, and he wore a helmet just like the Dark Ace.
"What the hell!? Who... what are you?"
"I'm the part of you that wants revenge on the Dark Ace!" He shoved the blade into Aerrow's shoulder, making him cry out in pain. His headache returned, stronger this time, and he felt something was wrong. As he layed there helplessly, ready to receive the final blow, something dawned on him. It was something Piper - or his intellect, rather - had said.
"You're dying, Aerrow - really dying - and the only thing that's gonna keep you alive is how much you want to live!" As this throught ran through him, he felt a pulsation run through his chest. At once, he heard voices from somewhere, calling his name. The Angry Aerrow lunged again, trying to finish off the real deal.
"I guess you just aren't strong enough." But the Sky Knight suddenly produced his blades from behind his back, dodged out of the way, and jumped to his feet. As his opponent yelled in anger, Aerrow lunged forward himself, digging his blades into his foe's midsection.
"I'm already stronger than you'll ever be, and I DON'T WANNA BE YOU!!!" He sliced off the Angry Aerrow's head, dropping to his knees in exhaustion. As he fell forward, landing on his chest, he felt the urge to sleep begin to overcome him. As he slowly closed his eyes...
...
"Aerrow! Aerrow!!" Piper screamed as the EMTs finally gave up trying to revive him. After nearly an hour, they felt it was too late. Piper fell to her knees beside him, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Aerrow..." She whispered sadly. As she held him against her, she began to sob. As the other Storm Hawks began to tear up with her, they heard a distinct sound: the distinct sound of labored breathing.
"Aerrow!?" Piper queried disbelievingly. As she pulled away, she saw him slowly open his eyes.
"P-Piper..." He said weakly.
"AERROW!!!" She hugged him tightly, nearly crushing the battered and bloody Sky Knight.
"Piper, you're gonna kill 'im! He needs to breathe!" Finn shouted as he struggled to pull Aerrow free. Finally, he succeeded in freeing him from the navigator's killer hug. She laughed a bit and smiled sheepishly.
"Finn..." The blond looked down at the redhead.
"I'm... sorry... about what... I said... that other day... I... didn't mean... to be mean... to you..." He said between ragged breaths. Finn's face lit up with happiness.
"Well, if it's that important that I forgive you..." He joked, chuckling a bit when he felt Aerrow weakly punch him in the arm.
"C'mon, Aerrow. Let's get you to bed. You've had way too much excitement over the past few days." Piper stated, somewhat jokingly. Aerrow simply smiled.
"Yeah... sounds like a good idea to me..."
Author's Note: This isn't the last chapter, so... stay tuned for the epilogue...