IMPORTANT: I will be gone for 2-3 whole weeks on a trip with my family so since I haven't updated in a while and won't be able to, I have decided to put up 3 new chapters :D Also there will be an important message at the end of the 3rd chapter I put up, so please read it... thanks in advance...

2nd IMPORTANT: I deleted the last chapter and remade it... so the last chapter is mixed into this one, but longer and different ;P

Chapter 10: Choose your side

LPOV (Liz)

I turned around and gasped. Although I had recognized his voice, the last thing I would expect is to see the Dark Ace here, on his skimmer, with the usual evil grin his face wore. What was a Cyclonian doing on Tropica anyways?

"So you want to join Cyclonia", he taunted. "Well maybe you could have some use to us", he mused. "With a little more training of course", he added with a confident smirk.

"No!" I yelled out automatically. Even if I was saying that I was better off with Cyclonis, I knew better than that. I wasn't that stupid, just really confused and mad right now. My outburst made the Dark Ace's smirk disappear quickly. In its place, was now a menacing frown.

This can't be good...

"You either come willingly or I take you to Cyclonia by force", he stated with a growl. He flashed a crystal at me to make himself clear on the whole "by force" part.

The crystal was somewhat familiar... Like I've seen it somewhere before... But where? Then my eyes widened with realization. In that book of rare crystals I was reading with Piper.

Things just keep getting better and better...

"I see by the look on your face that you've heard of the Knock Out Crystal", he said smirking again, "So I'll say this one last time, because my patience is thin. You either come willingly or everything goes black for a while and you wake up in a cell in Cyclonia"

"No!" I screamed out again, turning around to run, but before I could even take one step, everything went black and I felt myself fall to the ground. The last thing I heard was the Dark Ace's laugh that sent shivers down my spine.

PPOV (Piper)

I watched as Liz ran away crying.

"Liz", I called out to her but she kept running. I was about to go after her when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I turned to face Aerrow.

"Let her cool down a bit. I need you to figure out how to defrost Finn", he said.

"But-

"No, Piper", he said cutting me off as he let go of my shoulder, "You know Finn will be the only one to get through to her"

"Fine", I gave in unwillingly and turned my attention towards the beach.

"Junko!" I screamed at the wallop when I spotted him from afar. He came running into the water a few seconds later, confusion written all over him.

"W-what happened", he asked worriedly as he looked at his frozen best friend.

"Not now, Junko", I told him, "Just help us by lifting him up and bringing him to the lab"

He nodded and turned his attention back on Finn, lifting him up carefully. Once we got to the lab in the Condor I dismissed the guys.

"This might take a while", I told them, "I'll call you when I'm done"

I closed the door behind them. I turned around to look at the frozen Finn that stood in the middle of my lab and sighed loudly.

Why is nothing ever simple??

LPOV (Liz)

When my eyes opened, I winced at the headache I got probably from that stupid Knock Out Crystal. I grunted and brought my hand to my forehead out of reflex.

I looked at my surroundings with difficulty since it was pretty dark. Then I remembered the Dark Ace's words: "You either come willingly or everything goes black for a while and you wake up in a cell in Cyclonia"

"Great", I stated sarcastically to no one in particular.

"Get up", someone yelled at me. But I ignored it. "I said get up, now", he yelled again. I got up with difficulty as the Dark Ace appeared in front of my cell.

Can't he just leave me alone?

"What do you want", I said to him with more courage than I expected my voice to have. It didn't even shake.

"Master Cyclonis requests a meeting with you", he told me. "Grab her", he ordered the guards. Two men grabbed my arms and started to drag me through the hallways.

"Hey! Watch it", I yelled at them as I struggled a little. A shiver ran through me and they both stopped moving. When I looked to my right and then my left, I gasped. They were both frozen in there spot, unmoving and not breathing, just like Finn... I frowned and shook the thought away.

I heard a growl behind me and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor on my hands and knees. When I looked at the guards, their arms had been cut off. I thought I was going to be sick as I forced myself to look elsewhere. I saw the Dark Ace standing there with his blade out.

"Stand up, NOW", he said. He was really mad now. I gulped and got to my feet. "Where's the crystal", he asked me.

"What crystal", I asked confused.

"Your Frost Crystal", he stated impatiently. I realize that he thought I had used a crystal on those two Talons.

"I don't have a Frost Crystal", I told him.

"Don't. Lie. To. Me", he said through clenched teeth, pointing his lit blade to my face.

"I'm not! I swear. I don't have a crystal with me", I told him, "Watch" I touched the wall behind me with one of my hands. I concentrated on a cold feeling like the one I had before and another shiver ran pass me. The wall was covered by a thin layer of ice.

"Make sure the Master knows of this. Now walk", he said. Since he was smarter than your average Talon, he decided to walk behind me and point the blade to my back instead of having any contact with me. He didn't want to end up like those two Talons back there, but who would...

We arrived at two big purple doors. Two guards opened them when they saw the evil man that stood behind me. The poor guards shook with fear...

The Dark Ace pushed me forward and into the throne room. The teen that stood at this machine gave a whole new meaning to creepy if you ask me. She didn't turn around but greeted us anyways.

"You are excused, Dark Ace", She said.

"Yes Master", he replied bowing once before leaving the small room and closing the doors behind him.

"You must be Elizabeth", she said. She finally turned around and took a good look at me.

"How did you know about me Cyclonis", I asked a little confused.

"You're the new Storm Hawk", she stated with a growl at the last words. She must really hate the Storm Hawks. I suppressed a shiver from passing through me.

"Yeah, and", I asked her with a raised eyebrow. I was surprised by my confidence.

"Know your enemies", she said, "And you will always be the victor"

"Then you must not know much", I stated trying to hold back a laugh. Surprisingly she started laughing, but her laugh was off. It made me want to shiver excessively.

"You're just like the rest of them; childish and foolish. You should learn to hold your tongue", she said once she stopped laughing. I refrained from rolling my eyes at this.

"If the Storm Hawks are as childish and as foolish as you say, then Cyclonia isn't as strong as they try to make us believe", I told her with a smirk. This made her furious.

"You need to be taught some manners", she growled as her hands started to glow.

Cyclonis shot a red beam at me and my hands flew up automatically to protect myself as I closed my eyes and waited for the impact, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at what could have happened.

My hands were also glowing, but white. I took a good look at them and saw that they had a thin layer of ice on them. I looked up at a shocked and furious Cyclonis just in time to see her shoot another red beam at me. I placed my hand up again and kept myself focused. What happened next surprised me.

A barrier of thick ice appeared in front of me, like a shield. It protected me from the shot and then disappeared. Cyclonis looked even more furious, if that was even possible. She shot at me a couple of more times, but I blocked the beams every single time. We were both panting a little when she finally stopped.

"What are you", she asked me.

"Human", I told her in an obvious tone.

"Then how can you harvest and control such power without it corrupting you", she asked.

"It's just part of the reason I was brought to Atmos", I told her and mentally slapped myself for telling the enemy too much.

"Brought… Meaning you aren't Atmosian", she guessed.

"Maybe", I said. If Cyclonis knew of a new dimension then she would seek a way to get there and that won't end too well. So I decided to change the subject. "Why did you bring me here anyways", I asked.

"I want you to join me and after what I just saw I know you'll make a great Talon", she said.

"If I ever joined Cyclonia I would never be one of those pathetic Talons", I told her.

"Then I'll make you a Commander", she said, "With a little training."

"I'll never join you", I stated firmly. She started laughing.

"I don't know what's so funny about that", I told her, my voice dripping with annoyance.

"You see… you don't really have a choice", she said, "If you choose not to join me then I will be forced to use this special Controlling Crystal" She waved the Crystal in front of my face with a wicked smile.

"What exactly does it do", I asked.

"It controls the person of my choice, like any other Controlling Crystal. But this one is special. I changed its configuration so that the person I control believes all that I tell him and forgets its past", she explained. "Do you really want to forget all of your little friends", she asked taunting me. I decided to keep my mouth shut for once, not trusting the strength of my voice.

"Dark Ace", she called. He walked in immediately and bowed. "Bring Elizabeth back to her cell. I think she needs time to think about what I've told her"

"Yes, Master", he said. He got up and took my arm, pushing me in front of him. Then he let go quickly and pointed his blade to my back.

Once we got to the prison cells, he threw me into mine. I fell hard to the floor, scratching my knees and hands in the process. He chuckled.

"Hope you enjoy your stay", he said sarcastically. I looked up and glared at him, anger pulsing through me. The energy I felt was accidentally released, hitting everything in it's path. It sent the Dark Ace and a couple Talons crashing towards the walls, while my cell and the one's near me were destroyed. I was panting from all the lost energy. I tried to get up, but fell hard to the ground. I grunted in pain. I heard more Talons arriving to see what happened.

"Alert Master Cyclonis", was the last thing I heard one of the Talons say before everything went black.