Kai

"Do you remember when Lora left the Storm Hawks?"

"Do you remember me telling you she has always been a Talon?"

Another pitiful sigh from the man. Maybe he knew this was going in absolute circles? "Lora, in your mind has always been a Talon," he echoed. "But before that. There was a before. If you remember the Talon part… Maybe I could shed some light on the Sky Knight part?"

Lora

If I wasn't cleaning the ship or fending off Aerrow's arguments, we were out scouting. "Is this all you guys ever do?"

Junko shrugged. "It's all Finn and I get to do."

"Yeah. Aerrow doesn't seem to want anything else from us."

I laughed. "He'd rather spend more time planning out every option with Piper than go scouting himself."

Finn rolled his eyes. "To be honest, Aerrow is afraid he'd get thrown in jail again."

"Right…" I let my arms go, laying on the ground. Rolling over, I looked up at the sky, noting the Rides passing over this terra made a point to going around it, never directly overhead. "Why do you think they do that?"

Junko looked at the sky. "Aerial weaponry… Their detection system searches for crystal energy in the sky."

As if he were holding his crossbow, Finn rolled over as well, pretending to shoot the rides in the sky. I -laughed at his silly noises. "What about their defenses? Do reinforcements get shot down?" I asked quietly

"Jammers…"

"Their rides are generally safe from their own defenses," Finn laughed.

"Generally?" Sitting up, Finn pointed to a recent crash site just beyond our location. "Oh… Explains why you had us land so far away. Why are we here?"

"To make sure they haven't added anything new."

Finn smiled. "Aerrow wanted to do a recovery mission on this terra, but Stork refused to go anywhere near it without a full defense layout."

"Gotcha."

For the better part of two days, we were camped out aside their settlement. Of course, as I had expected, nothing new came from scouting out a useless storage building. Aerrow was highly disappointed.

"I told you to find something!"

"And I told you, nothing's changed. God, Aerrow, what's gotten into you?"

He gritted his teeth before slamming his fist onto the table. "If those defenses aren't taken out, Storm will refuse a takeover."

"Why are you so bent on taking over that place?"

With a sigh, he explained. Every word sounded like I should've known already. "You don't understand. That building is a likely hold for the Stone. If we can't overtake their forces alone, we can never retrieve the Stone."

"Call in reinforcements?"

"Who's going to help out the wannabe squadron?"

"I'm going to be frank," I stated calmly before quickly changing my attitude. "What the hell has gotten into you? You're… you're acting like a child. You refuse to ask for help, you're starting arguments left and right…"

"Hey guys."

With a wide grin, Aerrow became a totally different person. "Kai… Didn't think I'd ever see you back on the ship…"

"Right."

I sighed. It was bound to happen sooner than later, so I accepted her return with a tired grin on my face. "Hey."

Ignoring my greeting, Kai stepped up to Aerrow. "I'm going to be busy for a few days; Cyclonis has something planned for me… Kinda makes me worried, but it's my job."

He laughed. "Any idea where?"

"Nowhere I'm allowed to speak of…"

Aerrow raised a brow. "I know you're neutral and all, but you're my… You're not entirely Cyclonian. Can you help us out at all?"

"I would be breaking trust. I'm over the line enough helping you guys out with anything."

"Yeah, considering how close to a Talon you've become, I'm surprised you're even allowed to speak to anyone but your master."

"Oh, would you shut it? I'm here to help out a friend, not listen to you bitch." She faced Aerrow once more. "I'll be back in less than a week. After that we can get to the Aurora Stone."

"Hey guys," Finn yawned, waking up from his nap.

"Yo," I waved, though I was much more focused on Kai.

"Kai, what are you doing here?"

With a smile, she replied, "Thought I'd come by and say hi to the team."

"You're not exactly a welcome guest…"

She looked away. "I just needed to let Aerrow know the plans are on hold for a bit. They haven't put anything in motion for the Stone, so I'm not too worried as of yet. That's it, though. I should get going…"

"No! No, stay. Just for a little bit. Please?" Finn begged.

With a look of genuine happiness, Aerrow agreed. "I have a few things I'd like to show you, anyway."

Kai smiled, rubbing her arm. "I'm supposed to leave in a few hours…"

"It won't take that long, promise."

Finn sighed. "At least have lunch with us. You were the only one that could make Junko feel proud of his cooking!" I cleared my throat. "O-other than Lora… But she never finished her meals."

"Finn, I don't even know how much real food I can stomach anymore. I mean, I rely on crystals now. The most I've eaten in the past few months was when I stole Lora's fries at the Shanty, and maybe a glass of wine Ben brought home."

"So, Ben's taken over my bed, has he?"

"Not like I could stop him. Whenever you weren't there, he was. Now he just doesn't leave."

I sighed.

"Aerrow!" Piper called, rushing into the room. "Aerrow, Radarr found your shield."

"It's not on my bike?" he asked, concerned.

She shook her head, suddenly growing very angry at the sight of Kai. "What is she doing here?"

Kai's expression grew depressive.

"I… found Radarr outside of Finn's room with it. He said he'd found it inside…" In a moment, Piper held it up. Covered in paint and dents, the shield was hardly recognizable.

"Aerrow, I swear, I had nothing to do with this."

"Oh? Just like you had nothing to do with breaking my blades?"

Angered by both the argument and Kai's presence, she left the room without another word, leaving the shield on the table.

"Okay, so maybe that was my fault, but I didn't do this!" When Aerrow didn't buy it, Finn threw in a joke. "Maybe Radarr got bored and decided to start an art project?"

"Finn, don't start shit. It always ends badly," I warned.

"I don't know, maybe you let Kai in here in the middle of the night. Maybe she decided to sneak into my room and not yours, and now you're mad."

Kai's eyes widened. "Guys, stop. This isn't funny."

"Don't pin this on jealousy. Heh… I don't even know why I'm threatened by you. You have no chance with her… You're stuck with the bitch Piper and Kai's all mine."

Kai jumped into my boat. "Oh, God, they're going to ruin everything."

Finn bit back every word he could, but it still wasn't enough. "I swear she wasn't yours when I fucked her!"

Our jaws hit the floor. The second we saw Aerrow begin to react, so did we. Kai grabbed Finn's arms and I stood between the twerps. Whether or not my comrade in this fight was helping Aerrow hit Finn was pretty much a mystery. Holding Aerrow back was all I could do to not find that out the hard way.

Aerrow was acting so strongly because of his unresolved feelings for Kai… "He's doing this because of what happened between you five years ago?" I asked, struggling to keep the red-head back.

Kai laughed nervously.

Suddenly, Aerrow jolted forward. Kai's skin lit up like Christmas, and the shock from what Aerrow had done sent energy pulses through Finn's muscles, making him defenseless against Aerrow's attacks. I feared for the blond kid's life. Aerrow, with full force, came at Finn and punched him square-on. The boy fell head-first into the ground and was out cold in an instant

I had to react. If I didn't, Kai would be next. I scrambled to get between the two of them. "Aerrow, stop!" I demanded, gripping his shoulders. "Stop, you're going to regret whatever you're going to do. Please, think about what you're doing!"

With a malevolent smile, Aerrow growled, "Well, first I'm going to ask why the fuck my girlfriend slept with my best friend and didn't tell me! Then, I'm going to rip my strategist's tits off if you don't get the hell out of my way!"

Kai cleared her throat. "Whoa, just because we had sex does not mean I am your girlfriend…"

Had there been a wall beside me, my head would've been hitting it until my skull cracked open. "Is there anyone you haven't slept with on this ship?" Suddenly, the sound of tires hitting the landing strip grew louder as the roar of engines neared the helm door. In through the door stepped a knight in dark armor—not exactly someone welcome on the ship…

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Please tell me he's the answer to my last question…"

"You got lucky this time, Lora," Kai laughed nervously.

Aerrow had a lapse in judgment. Suddenly, he realized the last piece of the puzzle. "You've been sleeping with Ben, too?" Unable to keep him back, and a little less concerned about the damage he would actually do to her, I stepped aside, standing next to the common enemy.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the Cyclonian man, wondering why his visit hasn't caused a bigger stir on the lower levels of the ship.

"Brought Benny boy… he told me you two were here. I need to pick up my bitch."

Another sigh. "I'm not coming with you."

"Who said anything about you? Cyclonis is asking for Kai. Vanity is a good color on you, though; the mark of a true Cyclonian."

Unmoved by the fact that Ace was onboard his ship, Aerrow started directly for Kai. "You… don't care about any of us do you…?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"You… you entered our ship, you made us feel like you actually cared, like there was a slight chance you would actually stick around for something other than your own selfish wants… You tore this team apart! You slept with Finn, probably ruined his relationship with Piper, made me feel like you actually loved me again… I've been attacking my team! I've been so protective over you, anything that even sounded the least bit insulting… Kai, I protected you!

"My team is almost nonexistent because of what you've done in a matter of months! You've destroyed years of work, irreplaceable friendships, and tore apart the Storm Hawks!"

"I thought it wasn't possible to tear down the undefeatable Storm Hawks once let alone twice…," Ace cleared his throat.

"Lora, please keep a muzzle on your mutt, he was not invited to speak in this conversation."

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh.

Kai took a step back before Aerrow started to speak again. "If you think any of us will ever stand by you again… if any of us every work together again…This… This… All of this is your fault. Everything that's gone wrong with this team, everything that's gone wrong with your relationships, your missions, everything you blame on everyone else is your fault. You are stupid, you are naïve, and bloody retarded, if I don't say so myself.

"You are everything Lora has called you that I've denied. I was so blindly in love with you that I didn't give two shits about your faults and flaws. I assumed everyone else was just bias. I cared that much about you. I've dealt with your shit long enough without gratitude. And treating me like this is my reward? No." Aerrow closed his eyes. "You can burn in hell for all I care.

"And you?" Aerrow turned around.

Don't pin any of this on me, I threatened silently. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Ace could feel the smoldering flame, the war beginning deep down within me. He braced himself for a fight—if I was willing, so was he.

Kai, now out from under Aerrow's thumb, waved to her chauffer. He waved back.

"You think you're so innocent. A ball of fire—ooh, I'm so sorry, I can't control my anger… BULLSHIT. You may have cared more about Kai than the rest of my team, but if you cared enough about us, maybe none of this would've happened! This is as much of your fault as it is Kai's! I don't give a damn about your idiotic boyfriend, he can burn with Kai for all I care, but he has had no influence on the way you act.

You aided Kai's destruction of this team. You keep blaming the constant arguments on me and Finn, but what you don't realize is that you start them! Your anger issues have made this ship very uninhabitable. I don't care how much of a tortured soul you are, that is no excuse. Living on this ship means you live under my command. If you aren't willing to shut your trap and stop arguing to create a peaceful environment for the rest of us, fuck off.

"Get the hell off my ship. Both of you."

It felt like I had ground my teeth down to the gums. If I wasn't boiling mad enough for all of us, Ace was willing to back me up. I could feel his hand itching to grab his blade and start a war worth remembering. "You don't even know what I've been through to protect this team! I've fended off Cyclonia by—"

"By what? Having escapades with Mr. Traitor? Just because he still loves you, ooh, Cyclonia won't touch us! I don't give a fuck! I never wanted you to fight our battles! I wanted us to handle them as a team! We are not Kai. You don't have to clean up after this team; you are supposed to fight for us with us, not just for us."

"I was doing you a favor!"

"We are strong enough together to handle the problems our team encounters! I don't care what you think!"

"If you didn't want my help, why did you even offer to have me on the team?"

"Because I thought it would help you grow up—I figured being depended on, being on a real team would open your eyes to how blind and selfish you are. You are not alone and being on a team does not allow you to work that way."

"You knew who you were dealing with the moment you asked me to stay on the ship. You should've expected this."

"If you're so bent on working alone, why don't you just leave? Why don't you just run to Ace?" He folded his arms across his chest.

"I've already barked up that tree, Sky Knight," Ace sighed.

"You know what's so bright and beautiful about Cyclonia? Through a strict workforce, the rules are set by your superior. You are told what to do, and you are beaten when you screw up. There are no mixed signals and emotions aren't allowed to get in the way. The weak are killed without a thought. You want to know why Ace has been able to take you down by himself so many times? It's because your death would never affect how he lived out the rest of his life. You pause and think, what if I'm never the same? What if I can never recover from killing someone?

"I was born into a Cyclonian family. It is very surprising that I even thought to be a Sky Knight."

Ace cleared his throat.

"Right… But my decision this very moment doesn't mean what you did wasn't wrong."

Ace nodded.

"Ace taking down the original Storm Hawks was unforgivable… but Cyclonia's forces and the way they are disciplined is much more organized than this knitting circle you have, Aerrow." Kai stood by my side, leaning toward Ace. "Take me home, Ace," I demanded, walking toward the door. "I wish you luck with this fan club you're running, Aerrow. You'll need all the luck you can get."

"Luck will never be enough," Ace told Aerrow, pushing him another level closer to rock bottom.

As I neared the door, I could hear Kai get the last words into the argument. "How does it feel to push away everyone you've ever loved?"

"I could ask you the same thing…"

"You know the difference between me and you? I never loved any of the ones I lost."

And that's when Aerrow broke down, the tears finally coming to the surface. As he knelt to the ground in an attempt to wake his unconscious friend, Kai came to our side, leaving the ship with us. Out on the landing strip, I could see Ben keeping a duo of SwitchBlades company.

"Where are we going?" Kai asked, hopeful.

"Glockenchime, right after Cyclonia…"

Somehow, the thought of being on Cyclonia actually struck a chord with me. I smiled with my response, "Think she can find room for me in her army?"

"She's always looking for Sky Knights…," Ace chuckled.

Kai climbed behind Ben, her hands desperately digging through a compartment to her left for crystals. I was reluctant to take my place, but I knew I had to sit behind Ace. With only two SwitchBlades, and the fact that I refused to ever set foot on the Condor again, I took my place and headed off towards the wonders of Cyclonia.

"Home, sweet home…," I sighed.