Well... here's the next chapter, as I promised I'd post up today. Hope you like it! The countdown continues... lol. By the way... the TWIST I was talking a bit about last chapter... well... it's not really a twist... not anymore... -sigh- ah well... hope it's good anyways!

Please R&R! Much appreciated!

Disclaimer: Storm Hawks (c) Ace Fipke and Nerd Corps


Chapter Eleven: The Spirit of the Future

Piper sighed sadly as she sat down onto her knees. "I never knew my death would affect Aerrow so strongly…" she trailed off, looking down.

"If only you knew…" a deep voice agreed.

She jumped up at the voice and spun around. There floated a young man with short, tussled black hair, and dark, nearly black eyes. He wore a long, black robe with a hood and had his hands folded neatly.

"Do all spirits just pop up like that?! Man, you scared me!" she scolded annoyingly.

"Sorry," he replied sincerely, "I didn't mean to startle you. I am Christopher, the-"

"Spirit of the Future? Yeah, Adrian told me," she finished, sighing.

"Anything else he told you?" Chris implored suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded simply. "Not much though, only that you're the Oracle's brother," she said.

"Yes. I am her older brother. Call me Chris," he said, grinning.

She looked at him with a startled look on her face. "Okay, you were totally not what I expected," she commented.

"W-What do you mean?" he asked worriedly, "Am I supposed to be all sparkly and glowing like my sister?"

She shook her head. "In 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens, the Ghost of Christmas Future is all silent and scary. Technically more looking like Death itself. But you… you're all cheerful and apologizing and completely not what I expected," she explained.

"What? Do you want me to be all creepy and scary?" he asked teasingly.

The Storm Hawk looked rather nervous all of a sudden. Chris grinned at her reaction.

I can see why Aerrow is so fond of her, he thought, her reactions are hilarious. And I have to admit... she's rather cute. Ah well...

"So… you're here to show me the future?" she asked, eager to change the subject.

He shook his head. "No, I'm only here to tell you about the future. If I were to show you the future, and you choose to return to Atmos, you may be influenced to change that future," he said. Then he sighed, "Piper, if you do decide to return to Atmos, things will be very different than what it's suppose to be without you."

"Um…" she began uncertainly, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Christopher shrugged. "It depends on how you look at it. Don't ask my opinion on it though," he replied, "By the way, I can show you clips and pieces of the future while I explain, but I cannot take you there. In the meantime…" He clapped his hands together and suddenly a comfy lounge chair appeared behind Piper, along with a small wooden table with a pot of tea along with a teacup and saucer. There was also a larger cup filled with sugar and a small jug of milk. "Sit down and have some tea," he invited.

"Thanks," Piper said, sitting down and pouring the tea into the teacup.

"Now… if it should be that you decide to return to Atmos, this is what will happen," he said, and suddenly a huge blank screen appeared out of thin air. "At one point, Adrian and Kara will join your team, and your journeys will take you to particular terra in which Kara has been there before, but has no memory of. Anyway, you will be kidnapped, along with another. And for now… that's all I can tell you."

"No offence, but why the tea then? If that was all you were going to tell me, you didn't need to offer me tea," she implored curiously.

"Oh… well… I like to be hospitable to my guests. After all, us spirits don't get many visitors," he said, creating a chair and cup w/ saucer himself and siting down.

"Thank you very much. I know you've already heard this before, but you really wasn't what I was expecting," she commented.

He chuckled, "It's fine, I understand." He took a sip of tea before continuing. "So… are there any questions you want to ask?"

"Well… I was wondering… Since you are a spirit of the future, do you know what I'm suppose to do with my life?" she asked.

Chris sighed deeply. "Piper, I am sorry, but that question, I cannot answer. For that question, you will find out for yourself, that is, if you choose to return to Atmos and the Storm Hawks," he explained.

"Also, another question," she began, "are you able to tell me what would happen if I didn't return to Atmos?"

"Eventually, with the help of all the other squadrons of Atmos, Cyclonia will be taken down, but the Storm Hawks will face great casualties, and the surviving Storm Hawks will disband and choose to keep their location a secret," he answered.

"But if I choose to return to Atmos, will we be able to take down the Cyclonian Empire?" the navigator inquired worriedly.

"Perhaps. It is still unknown," he admitted, closing his eyes and sipping his tea before looking back at her, "I highly doubt my younger sister would know either. If you choose to return to Atmos, it will be your future to discover." He sighed deeply, his expression rather depressed. "I am sorry that I cannot be of more use to you," he apologized sadly, "But there are some things that even I don't know."

She smiled, her tangerine eyes brightening. "No, it's fine. Thank you. You've told me everything you've known. And it helps my decision," she reassured. Then she looked around. "By the way, what day would it be now back in Atmos?"

"It's the 23rd. Tomorrow you'll meet the very last spirit. Well… she enjoys her duty on Atmos. I suppose Adrian has already told you a bit about her, after all, he is her boyfriend," Chris said, shrugging, "Anyway, I still have some time left, so is there anything you want to know about Kara before you see her?"

"Well… what is she going to talk to me about?" the navigator asked curiously.

The spirit ran a hand through his messy black hair. "Well… lots of things, I guess. You'll probably find her different than any of us. Probably because she's a guardian. She'll most likely talk to you about your relationships with the rest of the Storm Hawks and your crystal expertise. Truth be told, she actually takes crystal dust and mixes them together, and then creates a whole new crystal with it. It's quite astounding just to watch the process."

"Is she going to be harsh on me?" Piper suddenly asked.

"Why would she be harsh on you?" Chris retorted, surprised.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she might think that I should already know what I should do next," she suggested.

The spirit laughed. "I really don't think so," he replied, sipping his tea after he calmed himself from laughing, "Kara isn't like that. We're all only here to guide you to the right direction, but it's up to you to decide what to do."

"Can I see what's happening with the rest of the Storm Hawks right now?" she inquired, "I really miss my friends and I want to know that they're alright."

He nodded, turning towards the floating blank screen.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

On board the Condor, the Storm Hawks were all on the Bridge.

"I miss Piper," Finn sighed, sitting on the circular couch around the round table.

Wow... Stork thought, If Finn is missing Piper, then that tells you one thing... we're all going crazy and are doomed... great...

"I miss her too, buddy," Junko stated sadly, placing a huge hand on his best friend's shoulder.

Stork kept his attention on driving the Condor. "She'd probably be proud of us that we've returned the Royal Birthstone, and that we haven't doomed ourselves yet," he commented, trying to avoid talking about Piper, seeing how depressed everyone was getting. And that depressing mood could be highly contagious.

Radarr whimpered and looked down sadly.

Aerrow pat his co-pilot on the back and looked at them. "We all miss her. And if she does come back, no, when she comes back, we'll let her know just how much we've missed her," he announced, "Until then, we'll resume our duties and protect Atmos like we've constantly been doing."

"But Aerrow, what happens if she doesn't come back? What will we do then?" Junko inquired, tears forming in the corner of his grey eyes.

The Sky Knight sighed, "I don't know, Junko. We'll be forced to accept the fact that Piper's really gone, and I promise you, we'll get revenge for her."

Radarr nuzzled into Aerrow and whimpered again. The redhead scratched the furry blue creature behind the ears. "Don't worry, Radarr. Piper will come back," he reassured, closing his eyes, a single tear rolling down his cheek, "She has to."

Junko went over and hugged Aerrow in a tight bear hug, squeezing the air out of Aerrow's lungs. "Aww… don't worry, Aerrow. We know how much you love her. It'll be alright," he said positively.

"Ack! Junko!" the Sky Knight gasped, "C-Can't… breathe…"

"Oops, sorry," the Wallop apologized, gently setting the Sky Knight back down on the ground.

"So…" Stork began quietly, "Now what?"

"He's right," the blonde sharpshooter agreed, "We've got to keep ourselves distracted away from Piper or else we're doomed!" Then he muttered, "Great, now I'm starting to sound like Stork."

Aerrow forced a laugh. "Right, well… let's just stick to doing chores. If Piper is coming back, we just have to survive tomorrow without her," he announced, "So let's get started."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Wow…" Piper mouthed, "They really miss me."

Christopher nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you will have much to think about."

She dipped her head in agreement.

Suddenly, a gentle beeping sound was heard. Chris looked at his watch and stopped the alarm. Then he got out of his chair.

"Well… it was very nice meeting you, Piper. But I've got to go now. My time's just about run out. Kara will be here soon," he said.

The navigator stood up and shook hands with him. The chairs and the table disappeared, as well as the items on it. "Thanks for all your help, Chris. And thanks for the tea!" she thanked gratefully.

He dipped his head in reply, then he disappeared in a flurry of lights.

Piper sighed, "Alone again…"


Wow... Chris wasn't what you were expecting, eh? Not the Spirit of the Future you were thinking of? lol. "Am I suppose to be all sparkly and glowing like my sister?" lol. I found that quite funny when I wrote it... I was thinking about Twilight and "Sparkly" Edward-ness. lol. And how a few of my friends enjoyed dissing his 'sparklyness'. lol.

Well... that's this chapter. Hope you liked it! And I hope you guys are keeping with me on this fanfic as it continues to it's final chapter.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! (it tells me that you like the story, well... as does the hits on it. lol.)