Hey all! I'm back after the long wait! But this is a long chapter so I hope it satisfies you for now! Finally schools out 4 summer so if I'm quick I might get this first fic finished before I go back to school! Yay holidays! Anyways, on with the story! Enjoy!

Storm Hawks- Where Your Allegiances Lie

Chapter 10- Best Friends

"For God's sake Finn!" Piper had to fight to scream at him through the radio.

Piper was standing on the bridge of the Condor with the radio in front of her. Stork was at the helm, even though there really was no need since they were parked.

There was nothing but silence all around them, except for the occasional drip, drip of water from one of Cyclonia's leaky water pipes.

Like the first time they had crept into Cyclonia, the Condor had been flown through the wastelands into one of the largest pipes at the very base of Cyclonia. There wasn't a sign of a single Cyclonian, so it seemed they still didn't know about this particular weak spot.

Also as before, Finn and Junko had been smuggled in by a truck delivering food to the hungry Talons. This time though, they had to be a distraction too, since Aerrow couldn't distract anyone while he was inside Cyclonia. Radarr had gone with the two boys to give them some help.

They had successfully created a huge diversion by using several leecher crystals to blow up some skimmers and were supposed to be meeting Piper, Stork and the Condor at a hatch. They weren't there.

"Hey, it's not my fault we got lost! How were we supposed to know that guards would come running up to us the second we set off those leechers and chase us through who knows how many corridors!" Finn's whiny voice came through the radio. Piper slapped her head in frustration.

"Look, we need to find you all so we can get out of here! Have a nose around and tell me what you see."

"Rodger that."

There was static for a short while before someone else spoke.

"Who's Rodger?" Junko's confused voice was easily recognized even though it was clear he was trying to whisper to Finn.

"Well? Anything?" Piper asked.

"No. I don't recognize anyth- wait a second…" Finn swore under his breath and there was the sound of three pairs of hurried footsteps.

"What is it?" Piper whispered into the radio.

"Radarr picked up a smell, and I know where we are." Finn whispered back. "We're outside Master Cyclonis' throne room and I heard her talking inside it."

"Guys, hurry up!"

"It's okay, I think Radarr knows the way back. Stay where you are, we'll see you in a bit."

Finn and Junko hurried as quietly as they could after Radarr. He was crawling on all fours and was definitely following a scent. His ears and tail kept twitching in anticipation.

"Radarr, what is it?" Junko asked. Radarr turned round and mimicked something to them. He was waving both arms around and seemed to be holding something. Eventually he gave up on them after miming blasting something, and carried on following the scent.

They were walking so fast to keep up with Radarr that they only heard the voices just before it was too late. Holding out his arms to stop Junko, Finn leapt behind a tall pillar in shadows. Junko copied him, but Radarr didn't notice. Finn grabbed Radarr by his tail and pulled him behind the pillar not a second too soon.

A Talon came into view from their hiding place behind the pillars. They could see him clearly, but the Talon wouldn't be able to see them. He was talking urgently to someone who soon came into view. The Dark Ace. Of all our luck, we run into the Dark Ace! Finn thought, nervously watching the Dark Ace.

"I have already told her, I will deal with it! It does not matter." The Dark Ace was saying irritably to the anxious Talon.

The pillar was very dusty and Finn felt a tickling in his nose. Fighting back the sneeze, Finn clamped his hands over his mouth and nose just as it hit.

The noise was considerably muffled, but when he opened his eyes, Finn could see the Dark Ace had tensed slightly and his eyes were scanning the area. The Talon looked bewildered when the Dark Ace held up a hand to silence him, but dared not disobey.

Junko and Radarr looked at Finn with scared eyes. Before they could understand what had happened, there was a flash of red light and the pillar crumbled in front of them. The Dark Ace let out a scornful laugh as he held his sword at them. Finn had already pulled out his crossbow and Junko had activated his knuckle busters, but poor Radarr had nothing to defend himself with.

"I should have known. If it isn't the notorious Storm Hawks. Well, actually, without your precious Sky Knight I guess you're not all that now are you?"

"Where is he?" Finn demanded boldly, though he couldn't stop his knees from shaking.

"Around." The Dark Ace said airily, sneering at them. "So how do you feel now your Sky Knight betrayed you?"

"He didn't." Junko shot back. "We know the truth. And by now Starling will be back at the Condor with a new friend. I think you know an old woman by the name of Rosella." The Dark Ace's face faulted before returning to his sickening grin once more.

"It doesn't matter. Why don't I give you some time to play?" The Dark Ace casually lowered his sword and shouted down a hall, "Why don't you come and deal with the intruders?" The shout echoed down the twisting corridors and footsteps followed soon after it had faded.

Junko bit his lip nervously, could it be him? When a young man came round the corner and into view, Finn's gasp of shock was audible over Junko and Radarr's.

It was Aerrow. But not as they knew him.

His clothes were black and red, dark and evil, and similar to the Dark Ace's. His armour had the Cyclonian emblem on it. The handles of his blades with red firebolt crystals were visible on his back.

He was standing with his shoulders slightly hunched, looking angry and upset, but the moment he saw them his eyes widened in shock, and fear. Now they knew who Radarr had been trying to act.

"Dispose of them." The Dark Ace said coolly.

Finn stared at Aerrow with un-believing eyes. It took a while for him to remember everything that Starling had explained to them. It's obvious he doesn't want to be here, but damn! Those clothes look seriously cool! No Finn! Stay focused! Even if the evil look does kinda suit him- No!

Finn's head was filled with shock at Aerrow's appearance and random thoughts even Finn thought were stupid. Now's not the time to be thinking about fashion!

Radarr couldn't see why his best friend was standing next to his enemy and not attacking. He looked surprised to see them, and Finn and Junko were staring at him as if they were shocked at his appearance. Radarr knew his clothes weren't his normal ones, but surely it was just another costume. With a growl, Radarr leapt at the Dark Ace.

"Argh!" The Dark Ace yelled as the furry blue thing came crashing into his head. "Get off me!" Managing to grab it in one hand, the Dark Ace swung his de-activated sword into Radarr, who was sent crashing into the wall where he slid down to the floor, knocked out cold.

"No!" Aerrow suddenly lunged at him before he could fire a blast of energy to finish off the furball. He heard several shots being fired and felt the un-conscious Talon fall on top of them. It seemed Finn had started blasting.

Aerrow rolled off him and staggered upright. With a great heave, the Dark Ace pushed the Talon off him and stood up, snapping open a radio at the same time.

"Don't move! You wouldn't want me to radio Master Cyclonis and tell her to kill your friend, now would you Aerrow?" Finn and Junko were aiming at him, ready to fight, but Aerrow stood between them. At the Dark Ace's words he took a step back from all of them.

"He's bluffing Aerrow!" Finn said with a grin, "We've got-"

"NO!" The Dark Ace roared, lunging at Finn to stop the words leaving his mouth.

Junko took a swipe at the Dark Ace but missed. Finn was thrown backwards as the Dark Ace tackled him. His crossbow went flying off down the hallway, Finn skidding after it. Junko tried to take on the Dark Ace himself, but the Dark Ace was too superior, even for a strong wallop. After many missed punches and several kick from the Dark Ace, Junko ended up running after Finn.

Finn had caught up with his crossbow but the trigger had jammed so it was less than useless. Now he was standing just behind Junko, whose knucklebusters were still glowing faintly. They watched the Dark Ace and Aerrow warily.

Aerrow hadn't moved since they had been fighting. He had been standing in a sort of horrified trance as a mental struggle in his mind took place. Who do I help?! He inwardly screamed. Everything depended on his decision.

Now that everyone was frozen in their places Aerrow walked over to Radarr. He could feel their eyes on his back but his confused brain could only concentrate on one thing now: Radarr. He breathed a controlled sigh of relief as he felt a pulse in his friend's neck.

Aerrow stood up slowly, still with his back to the Dark Ace, Finn and Junko. Now came the next decision.

"Come on, dude." Finn spoke quietly. "They haven't got-"

"You don't need friends anymore Aerrow." The Dark Ace interrupted. He spoke in stark contrast to Finn, in a loud confident voice that drowned out the rest of Finn's sentence. "Would you really have her killed for them? You owe her your life."

Aerrow slowly turned around with his head looking at the floor and a frown on his face.

"Aerrow?" Junko asked timidly. The Dark Ace pressed the button on the radio and spoke into it.

"Get the prisoner ready." His words seemed to send an electrical shock through Aerrow. "Take them, Aerrow, they're only holding you back. Make them run back to their precious Condor, and then we'll destroy it together." Aerrow cautiously reached back with one hand and gripped the handle of his dagger, but he didn't draw it yet, and his eyes stayed unfocused on the floor. "Who knows, maybe if you capture them all, Master Cyclonis will give them the chance to join Cyclonia as well, and that way everybody's safe." Aerrow arm gave an involuntary twitch and he smoothly drew one dagger and held it before him.

"Safe isn't the word I'd use to anything related to Cyclonia." He said in a low voice, turning. Aerrow raised his eyes to Finn and Junko. Junko gulped.

"Run!" Finn yelled as the first blast from Aerrow's daggers skimmed over his head.

They ran through the winding corridors of Cyclonia, their pounding feet making a din so loud that it almost overtook the noise of their fast beating hearts. Finn and Junko were dodging from side to side to avoid the continuous blasts. Aerrow and the Dark Ace were following close behind with Talons who heard the raucous joining in the chase after them. But the only shots were coming from Aerrow's daggers; the Dark Ace wasn't even holding his sword and it easy to hear him yelling at the Talons not to shoot.

Why though? Junko thought as his huge wallop feet hit the hard floor. Are they gonna wait till we lead them to the Condor before they try to take us?

Finn was having similar thoughts. Junko and I are puffing like a dying skimmer, but I swear Aerrow hasn't even broken a sweat! The Dark Ace looks cool too. He dared a quick glance behind him to see how close they were. Much too close for comfort. But the guards looked to be in the same state as Junko and himself. I guess it's 'cause their Sky Knights- well, the Dark Ace is as good as. They both seem to be running easily as well, they don't look strained or anything! And I swear I've seen Aerrow run much faster than that even when he isn't trying! That must be it; we're leading them straight to the Condor!

It was true. Finn remembered where they were going now. But if they ran to the Condor they would be leading the Dark Ace straight to the other Storm Hawks, Starling, and-

Somehow they needed to lose their followers and make their own way back to the Condor. Seeing a switch up ahead, an idea hit Finn.

"Junko, take out that switch!"

Without questioning his thoughts, Junko slammed his knucklebusters together to activate them and took a flying punch to the switch. There was a crunch and all the lights suddenly flickered off.

The sound of hob-nailed boots on the floor came to a stop and there was a lot of yelling as the Talons fell over each other in the dark. Finn grabbed Junko's arm in one hand to make sure that they stayed together and felt the wall on the other hand. He whispered in Junko's ear, even though there was no need since the Talons were making much more noise, and they carefully started to creep down the darkened corridor.

"Light!" The Dark Ace's angry voice cut through the darkness like a knife and there was a crackling of energy as he and Aerrow activated their swords. It wasn't much, but it was just enough to illuminate everyone's outlines- including Finn and Junko's.

"Shoot now!" The Dark Ace yelled at Aerrow. Junko saw the dagger rise slightly, to point at his bulky figure. Aerrow hesitated again, but the Dark Ace would have no more of that.

"Fire!" With a claw like hand the Dark Ace grabbed Aerrow's hand holding the raised dagger and pulled the trigger for him. A blast of energy flew straight at Junko, and there was no time to avoid it.

"Move!" And suddenly Finn was there, pushing Junko out of the way. But he didn't move fast enough.

Finn gave out a hiss of pain as the blast made a sizzling sound as it burnt the flesh on his arm. He fell heavily against Junko, clutching his arm, and barely staying conscious from the pain.

Without a second thought, Junko hoisted Finn onto his shoulder and ran down the hall in what he hoped was the direction of the Condor.

"Where have you two b- what happened?" Piper's voice changed as she saw the long, bleeding burn down Finn's forearm.

"Ran into…Dark Ace…Aerrow was with…him…fought…in the dark…Aerrow he…he fired…" Junko's speech was slowed by the heaving breaths he was taking. Wallops are very strong, but they don't much like running long distances.

Junko carried Finn to his bedroom and put him on his bed so Piper could see his wound better. The blast had torn clean through his uniform, and the first few layers of skin for that matter. It was an ugly red black colour and blood was oozing out freely.

Although it was a nasty burn it didn't take long to clean and close up with crystals before being carefully wrapped up in bandages with soothing balms in. By this time Finn was awake and crooning for attention. But it seemed that the thing that hurt him most was the fact that it had been Aerrow's dagger that had fired the blast.

"But you said the Dark Ace pressed the trigger." Piper said calmly, putting away her crystals.

"Yeah, but it was from one of the daggers we bought him on his birthday." Finn looked so depressed that Piper eventually took pity on him.

"Well, it wasn't really the dagger firing anyway, was it? It was the firebolt crystal that burnt you. The dagger was just harnessing the energy."

Finn took a moment to think about it, but brightened up once he realized what she had said. At that moment the door to his room opened and the hulking figure of Junko edged into the room. He was playing with his hands and not making eye contact with Finn or Piper.

"I'll just get you a drink Finn." Piper said, standing up and walking out of the room. Junko came up to Finn's bed and bit his lip.

"You okay dude?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, thanks to you." Junko said quietly.

"Come on, it was nothing." Junko finally looked at Finn and smiled.

"You saved my life."

"It wouldn't have killed you, you're a wallop!" Finn laughed. "You're tough, Junko! And besides, you would have done the same for me."

"Yeah." Junko smiled and went quiet.

"Dude, you know you're my best friend." Finn held out his uninjured hand and Junko grasped it firmly.

"And you're my best friend Finn."

They grinned at each other, still grasping hands, until Finn said, "Junko, I can't feel my fingers."

A while later Piper came into Finn's room again (without a drink, how interesting!) to find Finn and Junko laughing loudly. She smiled gently to herself. It was good to hear her friends laughing again.

"I can see you're feeling better already Finn."

"Oh yeah, my arm, ow!" Piper rolled her eyes at Finn. She automatically looked to her side and then had to mentally slap herself. She had expected to see Aerrow standing next to her, that cheeky grin on his face, laughing. This was one of the moments they always shared; the chance to roll their eyes at Finn's stupidity. We'll get him back. She thought determinedly. He'll be here, laughing with us, with Radarr on his shoul-

"Wait a second. Where's Radarr?"

Finn and Junko's faces turned from happy and laughing to panicked.

"Oh no!" Junko moaned.

"We forgot Radarr!"

Oh no they forgot Radarr! This chapter kind of ran away from me, I think the plot bunny stole it before he left XD