Disclaimer: I do NOT own Storm Hawks or any other thing I use that someone else has already made up! I also don't own the Legend of Zelda. There's a slight mention of it in this chapter. I only own my OC's! New character! Yay! Number2stormhawks fan has requested a character in this story so Artemis belongs to her! You want your own character, tell me and I'll let you have it and give you credit!!!

"I'm keeping this promise, Dark Ace." Aerrow exclaimed. I stood up and glared at the Dark Ace. He smirked at me. "Isn't this what you wanted, Brooke?" He asked tauntingly. "Absolutely not! You were messing with my head!" I yelled. "Wouldn't you like to know the things said about you and your team, Aerrow?" The Dark Ace asked Aerrow. "Even if you tell me, I won't get mad at Brooke." Aerrow told him. "Let's see about that." The Dark Ace said. The conversation rang through the air, but it sounded a bit different.

The Storm Hawks don't care about me. "Well, I wouldn't say that, Brooke. Everyone makes mistakes. Even I make mistakes." Yeah, but at least you don't make fatal mistakes. If I stay with the Storm Hawks, I'm going to get hurt! "Have they been threatening you?" In their own way! They keep trying to kill me! Please, I want to go with you. "Very well then. I'll send the Dark Ace."

"No! You bastards! That wasn't the conversation!" I yelled. "See, Aerrow. The poor girl doesn't want you to know the horrible things that were said about you and your squadron. Would you like me to continue?" The Dark Ace asked. "No! Aerrow! That wasn't what I said, I swear! He took words and mixed them up! Master Cyclonis was the one who said that you guys don't care about me! I was the one who told her that everyone makes mistakes! I defended you guys!" I exclaimed. "She's lying, Aerrow. Remember how much she yelled at you. How much hatred she had for you then?" The Dark Ace asked.

"And there's where you make your slip. You said then. She isn't mad at us anymore. I know it." Aerrow said. I smiled at him. The Dark Ace pulled out his energy blades. "Too bad, Brooke. I was hoping that you'd go along with the lie and that I wouldn't have to force you to come with us. What happened to the thankfulness? We saved your life, and we can take it back." He told me. "You wouldn't!" Aerrow yelled at him.

The Dark Ace lunged at me. I screamed and jumped out of the way. Where are the other Storm Hawks when you need them? I ran and stood beside Aerrow. He handed me one of his energy swords. "Do you know how to use a sword?" He asked. "Yeah. I've never actually fought someone before, though. All I did was a little bit of fencing against girls my age. Quite a difference, I hope." I said. That made the Dark Ace mad. "Ha-ha. I mean, oops! You weren't supposed to hear that!" I yelled. The Dark Ace lunged toward me again, but Aerrow blocked the attack.

"How do you light it up?" I asked. He did it for me. I yelped. "Dude! This thing is FREAKY! F-R-E-A-K-Y!" I yelled. The Dark Ace came at me again. "Brooke! At least TRY to fight him!" Aerrow yelled. I swung the sword, and I actually connected with his. Just pretend this is The Legend of Zelda, Phantom Hourglass. Pretend you're Link fighting Jolene. Link, I'm not a boy! Um… Lily! Pretend you're Lily fighting Jolene! Catch his sword and disarm him! I hit his sword a couple of times when he swung to keep his sword away from me. Then, it was the big moment. I moved one foot back to keep my balance and to keep me in place. The Dark Ace swung his sword and I caught it. I rubbed my sword against his a couple of times to make sure that he was really caught, then, I lurched forward. He was surprised and dropped his sword. He looked at it, and Aerrow yelled, "Wow! Good job, Brooke!" Then, the Dark Ace did something unexpected. "Yes. Excellent job, Brooke. You've fallen right into my trap." He told me.

Before I could move, he kicked me legs. I fell and dropped Aerrow's sword. The Dark Ace caught me and dragged me out the door. "No!" I screamed. The Dark Ace picked up speed. "Aerrow!" I cried out as we reached his skimmer. "Shut up." The Dark Ace told me. He put me on his skimmer, and got on behind me. Then, he took off. I felt tears falling down my face as I saw the Condor disappear out of sight. Why isn't Aerrow giving chase?

"Looks like he doesn't care about you as much as you thought." The Dark Ace told me. I jumped at the sound of his voice right by my ear. I could feel myself giving in. I couldn't take anymore emotional stress. I just wanted to stay with one group of people, and looks like that would be the Cyclonians, since Aerrow wasn't saving me. I leaned against the Dark Ace. "Fine." I told him quietly. "What?" He asked. "I said fine. I give up. You win." I told him. "That's a much better attitude. You'll like it in Cyclonia." He told me. "I've been there before shirlock." I told him. "You're more of a guest this time." He told me. "Don't remind me." I muttered.

We landed in Cyclonia. He pulled me off the skimmer. I walked beside him down the hallways. "Where did you learn to fight? You disarmed me." The Dark Ace asked. "I disarmed you? I thought you were just doing that." I told him. "Where'd you learn to fight?" He repeated. "Why do you need to know? You already know how to fight!" I exclaimed. "Did Aerrow teach you?" The Dark Ace asked, grabbing my arm and spinning me to face him. "No. Didn't you hear him ask me if I knew how to fight?" I asked. The Dark Ace seemed to be thinking back to the fight, as if he'd forgotten. "Right. Who did you learn to fight from?" The Dark Ace demanded again. "Why do you want to know?" I demanded. "Stop answering my questions with another question! I'm just wondering, why won't you tell me? Is it someone in the Atmos?" He asked. "No. Someone back home." I told him. "With the school?" He asked. "No." I told him. "I heard you say something about fencing. Was it a private fencing tutor?" He asked. "Bingo. Exactumundo." I told him.

We began to walk down the hallways again. "I'm telling Master Cyclonis that you can fight." He told me. I widened my eyes and dug my heels into the ground. "No you won't!" I exclaimed. "Why don't you want her to know?" The Dark Ace asked, turning to face me. "I don't want her to put me on the battlefield yet. I mean, if she knows that I have these powers and I can fight, she'll have me out there before you can say 'attack.'" "No she won't. I promise. She's still going to train you to use your powers, then you could also train on fighting with me. How does that sound?" He asked. "I shrugged and said, "I guess it's fine."

The Dark Ace yanked my arm and I stumbled beside him. He began walking again, and I followed him. "You know, I'm really not the biggest fan of fighting." I told him. "You'll get used to it." He told me. "I don't know. That's more of my friend's talent, back at home." I told him. "What was your town's name?" He asked. "Springsteen." I told him. "Who was your friend?" He asked. "Her name was Artemis." I told him. We continued walking.

We entered Master Cyclonis' throne room. The Dark Ace bowed. I didn't. I just… Kinda stood there. "Hello, Brooke. A pleasure to talk to you in person again." She told me. "Not much of a pleasure to me." I muttered bitterly. "Girl…" The Dark Ace began angrily. "Wait, Dark Ace. Let the girl talk. I see that you're still bitter on us forcing you away, but you asked for it. You told us you were going to come and let me train you, and we don't let people take back their commitments to us easily." She told me. Once you're in Cyclonis' hands, she never lets you go. "I can see that." I told her. I smiled and laughed her cold, amused laugh. "I'm sure you can." She told me.

Master Cyclonis turned her back to us and told the Dark Ace, "Take her to her room and see if you can't get her to have a little more trust in us." The Dark Ace bowed briefly and walked out of the room. I hesitated, and then hurried after him, choosing to be with him alone, rather than Cyclonis. She seems to be mad that I went back on my promise. In my room, apparently, the Dark Ace glared at me. "What? What'd I do this time?" I asked. "I'm getting tired of lecturing you about your attitude toward Master Cyclonis." He told me. "You sound like a principle." I told him. "That's exactly what I'm talking about, and it needs to stop." He told me. "Whatever, mom." I said, sitting down on the bed. "Brooke, if you make Master Cyclonis mad enough, then even I won't be able to protect you." He told me.

"You're… Trying to protect me?" I asked, rolling my eyes. I could feel annoyance radiating off of him. He turned and took a deep breath. Shit! I didn't get to grab my stuff! Oh well. I still had my laptop and iPod. I pulled out my iPod. "What's that?" The Dark Ace asked, grabbing my arm. I looked up at him in shock. He thinks my iPod is a weapon! "It's an iPhone. It plays music." I told him. "Phone?" He asked. You have to have another phone with a number for it to work. It won't work here." I explained. He looked at me suspiciously, then dropped it. Oh my Gawd! I thought he was gonna fucking break my phone. Ah, breathe, Brooke, breathe.

A talon entered the room and told the Dark Ace something, whispering, stuttering, and saying sir often. I couldn't understand anything else. The Dark Ace turned to me and the talon left. "I need to go get something from the basement. Do you want to come, or do you want me to lock you in here?" He asked. "Hmm, I don't know. OF COURSE I WANT TO COME WITH YOU!" I exclaimed. The Dark Ace chuckled and led me out.

At the basement, the Dark Ace began walking down into the pitch black room. "Isn't there a light?" I asked. "No. We don't come down here that often, so we don't see what the use of using more crystal energy would be." He told me. I took a step, and nearly missed the first step. I yelped. "What?" The Dark Ace asked. "I'm gonna fall down the stairs!" I yelled after him. He took my arm and guided me down the stairs, chuckling the whole time. "Stop making fun of, it's not funny." I told him. "If you fell down the stairs, that would have been funny." He told me. "Yes, hilarious. Oh ha-ha, Brooke broke her face and just about every other bone in her body. Ha-ha-ha!" I mocked.

The Dark Ace walked to the back of the basement. I looked around the area closer to the door. At least there was a little bit of very dim light. I saw a black shape beside a box. It looked like it was breathing. It was a raven! I reached out to make sure it wasn't hurt, and it spread its wings, crowed, and flew off. I screamed and fell backwards. The Dark Ace was beside me in an instant. "What was that?" He asked. "A raven! What the hell was a raven doing down here?" I asked him. "I don't know. I got what I needed. We can leave." He told me.

Out in the hallway, on the way back to my room, the Dark Ace told me, "You're shaking." "Well it's not every day that I get attacked by a raven." I told him. "True." He said. He left me in my room. "I'm right next door if you need me." He told me, closing and locking the door. I heard a click on my windowsill. I turned to look. It was the raven. "Ummm… Hi… Birdie." I said slowly. I reached out to touch the raven and it landed on my arm.

I gasped. Its talons kind of hurt. I stroked its pretty, blackish purplish hair. It hopped off my arm and landed on the ground. Then, it changed into a person. I jumped onto my bed, and curled against the headboard. A girl with raven black hair and light purple streaks. "Hello, Brooke." She had a British accent… Could it be? It was…

"ARTEMIS!" I exclaimed. I jumped up and hugged her. "Brooke." She muttered. "Sorry." I told her. She wasn't much of a hug person. The door that separated mine and the Dark Ace's room opened. "Brooke, who are you talking t…" He glared at Artemis. "Come here, Brooke." He told me. "No, wait! Don't hurt her! She's my friend…!" The Dark Ace cut me off by pulling me back. Artemis glared at me. "I can take care of myself." She said, pulling out Dao* swords.

The Dark Ace talked quietly into a radio. I heard him, barely. "Master Cyclonis, someone is here to visit Brooke. Would you like to come get her while I take care of her friend?" "Of course. Keep her away from the intruder." Master Cyclonis said. "Yes, Master." The ark Ace said. He pushed me behind him. "Dark Ace! That's Artemis! The girl that I was telling you about! One of my friends! You can't hurt her!" I exclaimed. "I don't think you're in the right position to tell me what I can and can't do, Brooke." The Dark Ace told me. Master Cyclonis appeared behind me and took my arm. "Now, be good, and go with Master Cyclonis." He told me.

"Stay away from her. I'm taking her back to the Storm Hawks. She's not safe here. "I'm also planning to take care of some pains in the neck while I'm at it." Artemis said, calm, as always. "Artemis, is that the only reason you came here? Was to kill them and take me back to the Storm Hawks? I'm sorry to say that I would much rather stay here than with the Storm Hawks. They wouldn't want me there anyway. They didn't make any effort to save me. I don't want you hurting Master Cyclonis or the dark Ace either. They're the only ones who haven't betrayed me yet." I told her.

"What do you call what they've been doing the entire time you've been in the Atmos? I'd call that betrayal in the least." Artemis told me. "They've given me a room and they're training me. You always said that I needed to be stronger, and now that I can't the chance, you're trying to drag me away from it." I told her. She put her swords away. "Fine. Stay with them, then. Don't come crying to me when they do something bad to you." She told me. She turned into a wolf with fur the same colour as her hair. She jumped out the window.

"A shape shifter? Interesting. We should have to…" Master Cyclonis began before I interrupted. "No. Leave her alone. She left you alone, repay the favour. She wouldn't have done that usually. She probably didn't do it because she knew that I'd get mad at her. Not that she's scared of me, I'm a wimp, but still…" Master Cyclonis interrupted me. "Okay, okay. Have it your way. We'll leave the shape shifter alone." She said, leaving. I stared out the window. Artemis, you have a lot of explaining to do.

Stars

*I don't know if spelled Dao right.

Hope you liked that chapter! Who is this Artemis character? Those of you who liked her, she will be back. Thanks Number2stormhawksfan for having me use this character. I have some interesting ideas of where the story could go with her. Don't ask me, I'm not telling. BTW, Number2stormhawksfan has written the story Ally's Atmos and Meltdown. She's currently working on another one too. You should check them out! Thanks for reading! Please review! J