A/N:I actually had a bit of a scare with this chapter. See, I'm actually typing each chapter as its own page in OneNote, then copy/pasting it into Word for the word count (it's just easier to organise.) Anyway, I was just checking through the sections, and for some reason, this chappie was missing. But because I had been doing the copy/paste thing, I just pressed ctrl + z a LOT of times and rescued it, so crisis averted, I didn't have to write it out again. *coughs* So, um, yeah. You can read the chapter now.
.:':. .:':. .:':.
Aerrow quickly assessed the situation. Piper was still breathing, if the faint rise and fall of her chest was anything to go by, but didn't look like she'd wake up anytime soon. The crossbow in the corner was a mangled heap and so was Finn. No help there, either. Last time he'd checked, Stork was still out, Junko was coming but at the other end of the ship, and he hadn't seen Radarr all day. For now, he was on his own.
Activating his daggers, he charged the Dark Ace. Blue and red collided; the resulting sparks scattered purple on the floor. "What, no stories?" the dark haired man joked. "It is technically your turn."
"Story time's over, Dark Ace." Aerrow gritted his teeth as he pushed back against the older man's sword. Despite the obvious age difference, they were evenly matched. Neither could land a hit on his opponent, but it didn't stop them from trying. Aerrow had been training that whole morning, as his aching arms were now reminding him. He listened to Junko's pounding footsteps - they were so close now, the Condor's walls were starting to shake. He just had to hold out for a little while longer, then Junko and his Knucklebusters could take over. Just a little longer...
"I can see you're weakening Aerrow. You were training just before I came, correct?"
"Yeah, but you look a little worse for wear yourself." Aerrow had noticed the scratches adorning his opponent. It was hard not to.
The Dark Ace backed up as purple sparks showered around them again. Aerrow pressed his advantage, striking out savagely. When he swung down on the broadsword, he didn't expect it to be suddenly withdrawn; only his lightning-fast reflexes stopped him from falling to the ground, which would leave him open for attack. In those few precious moments, the Dark Ace had already slashed the wires of the nearby skimmers and mounted his switchblade. Split second reactions had always come naturally to Aerrow. Despite his protesting muscles, he scrambled to his skimmer - luckily, the Dark Ace had only attacked Finn's and Junko's rides - and took off after the Talon commander. Radarr, who had all along been snoozing in a sheltered alcove above the hangar doors, woke and leapt onto the skimmer's side-cart.
The extra weight of the Switchblade Elite's armour made it slightly slower than Aerrow's lll Ultra, giving him the chance to catch up. "Come on," he urged his skimmer, sitting as low in the seat as he possibly could. Suddenly spinning his switchblade, the Dark Ace was now flying directly at Aerrow. There was no question of the Cyclonian blinking, and its reinforced nose would shred through Aerrow's skimmer like paper. Aerrow dove and performed a flip of his own, so he was flying upside-down above the Cyclonian. "Radarr, take over!" The co-pilot crawled into the front seat as Aerrow lithely dropped onto the switchblade's wing. Eyes both red and green narrowed. The battle was on.