Piper and the others were forced down the hall. Her brain was whirring like clockwork. They had to go back for Aerrow. There might still be hope for him. She looked at the guards; they were big and burly. She smiled.

"Hey, don't smile at us like that," one of them said.

"Oh, I'm not smiling at you," she said, before swinging her foot and knocking them out. The others looked at her like she was crazy.

"You're insane, right?" Finn said.

"Maybe, but we have to get Aerrow!" she said, running off. The others shrugged and raced after her. Stork called ahead.

"Piper, I want Aerrow back too, but we need to be careful! We need a plan!"

"Forget about the plan!" she barked.

"She must be really worried if she wants to forget about the plan," Junko remarked.

They sped down the hall and found the chamber. Looking in, the Dark Ace was sitting in a chair next to Aerrow. He was looking around, his eyes sharp. Piper ran back and grabbed one of the guard's staffs. She raced back to the chamber, panting.

"Ready?" she mouthed. The nodded. She charged in. The Dark Ace stood and got ready to blast her, when she bounded into the air and rushed him down. He collapsed. Junko took care of him with a few neat punches. His limp body slumped against the wall.

"Finn, grab the Night Crystal. Junko, take Aerrow." Piper kneeled next to her commander's form and nudged him. "Aerrow?" His eyelids flickered. "He's alive!" she declared. Junko tenderly lifted him, and the Storm Hawks ran for it.

Talons leapt from everywhere as the alarms blared. Piper fought with a vigor none of the others had ever seen. Her fists slashed through the air. The staff she held swiped five Talons at once into the wall. The hatch was right there. Junko, holding Aerrow, leapt down first, then Finn, then Stork. Piper and Radarr disappeared as Talons swarmed.

"Stork! Hit it!" Piper shrieked as they landed in the Condor. Stork required no further encouragement. The Condor streaked out of the chute and into the Wastelands below. Cyclonian skimmers streaked alongside them, and Junko and Finn jumped over to the cannons. The noise from the blasting jarred Aerrow awake. Piper was there, pressing a hand to his forehead. He burned hotter than the lava below.

Stork was laughing maniacally, dodging the giant rocks that threatned to crush the Condor into a metal pancake. The skimmers didn't stand a chance. After a few minutes of well-aimed blasts, they retreated. Junko returned, worried, and helped move Aerrow to his quarters. He moaned as they set him down into the familiar sheets of his own bed. Junko and Finn left after a few worried glances to radio for help. Stork was busy pulling out of their near-death flight.

Piper sat next to Aerrow with a wet cloth for a few minutes to see if he was going to wake up again. Finally his eyes opened.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Horrible," he admitted before closing his eyes again. His chest was still bleeding. Piper gave it a worried glance before leaving and grabbing Finn from the helm.

"Finn, where'd you put the Night Crystal?"

"Here," he said, handing it over to her. "Kept it safe. Why do you need it?"

"We need a way to counter its effects," she explained. "But we need help. Finn, radio Starling."

"Now why didn't I think of that?" he muttered to himself as he walked down the hall to the radio room. Piper took the crystal back to her room and pondered. It was a blue black color, unlike anything she'd ever seen in her entire crystal collection. Piper consulted every book she had. No sign. She returned to Aerrow's room and found him asleep, his eyes twitching. He was obviously in pain. She wondered what he could be dreaming.

Piper moved to the helm to watch Stork. He noticed her slightly crazed look.

"Piper? You all right?" he asked, his eyes on the sky. They were slowly pulling out of the Wasteland. Piper shook her head and held up the Night Crystal.

"I have no idea what this is! If I don't figure something out soon, Aerrow's a goner, and without him, how can we be the Storm Hawks anymore?"

Stork looked at her strangely. "Did Cyclonis call that a...um, a Night Crystal?"

"Yeah," Piper sighed. "Why?"

"She said it came from legend, right?"

"Stork, where are you going with this?"

"Well--"

Finn charged in, panting. "StarlingsaidshewouldgethereasfastaspossibleandtomeetheroverTerraAtmosia..."

"Finn, slow down, man, you're going to give me a mind eruption!" Stork said.

"Starling said she would get here as fast as possible, and to meet her over Terra Atomosia," Finn repeated.

"That's better. Alright, to Terra Atmosia!" Piper said urgently. Stork hit the accelerator and zipped up into the clouds.