I'm back suckers! I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update. In fact I think I dropped of the face of the planet for a little while. I hope you are all doing great. Warning for this chapter. I wanted to let people know that there is some abusive situation at the end of the chapter. If you want, you may skip the last line break to the very end and read Lilith's and Dark Ace's last comments.
"A crystal?" Snipe asked unimpressed as Dark Ace help up the glowing, purple stone.
"An enhancer stone, Mr. Snipe," Dark Ace said as he looked at the other general. "Crafted by Master Cyclonis herself to amplify our skills by one hundred fold."
Lilith smirked as she watched Dark Ace click the crystal into his sword. The two of them had been training with the new crystals for the last two weeks. At one point, they had almost destroyed the training area because they had gotten carried away with using the crystals.
As the crystal clicked into place, Dark Ace thrusted his sword into the ground. The force from the sword cracked the ground, and kept cracking it until it shattered one of the nearby rock formations.
"I'll take four," Repton said with glee as he watched the rocks come tumbling down.
"If you're done here, I'm heading back to Cyclonia," Lilith stated, her voice dripping with boredom.
"Don't you want in on the fun?" Ravess asked, momentarily forgetting how much she hated the other girl. She was so caught up in her own thoughts of destruction she actually was curious about the young woman.
"No, this is your time to have all the fun," she said as she handed Dark Ace the list of Sky Knights and the Terra that each one resided on. "I get to have my fun when they are brought to Cyclonia."
"I'll see you back on Cyclonia," Dark Ace whispered as he took the paper into his hands.
Lilith just winked at him as she walked back to her skimmer. "I look forward to it."
"Very well," Dark Ace said as he watched Lilith climb onto her skimmer.
"Happy hunting," she smirked as flew off back to Cyclonia.
"Yes, now we go hunting for Sky Knights," Dark Ace agreed as he looked over the list of Sky Knights and their home Terra that they were protecting.
"I've had my eyes out there, and trouble is coming for you kids," Ayrgyn said as he recalled what he had been witnessing. "Each one of Cyclonis's generals are even more powerful than ever. Snipe, he's stronger than ever. He's able to destroy anything and everything in his path. Ravess no longer misses a single shot, and Dark Ace is so fast that no one can see him. That's what you'll be up against, which is why I brought you to the best place in the entire Atmos for training. Okay, you can take off the blind folds now."
"Terra Neon?" Junko asked in disbelief. He was excited to be able to be back at the Terra.
"Wait, if the Raptors and Talons are causing that much trouble, we need to be out there putting a stop to them," Aerrow tried to argue.
"Do you like losing?" Ayrgyn asked as he got up in Aerrow's face. "Cause that is exactly what is going to happen if you go after them." Satisfied that he made his point, Ayrgyn led the way through the amusement park terra.
"What about Lilith?" Aerrow asked Ayrgyn as he followed the Warrior trainer through the Terra.
"I don't know, she never joined in on capturing the Sky Knights," Ayrgyn admitted. "She left before everything started."
"So no one knows what she can do?" Piper asked concerned.
"I never said that," Ayrgyn said with a sing song tone.
"Oh! I love this game!" Finn said happily as he ran up to the duck hunt game. Finn had stopped listening to the conversation a while ago. He started firing off shots, hitting every duck that he fired at.
"Win me a really big prize," Ayrgyn called as he momentarily stopped his conversation. "Like I said, I've had my eyes and ears open. I also have many friends who are in many different organizations."
"You know people that are Talons?" Junko asked they walked closer to the test your strength game.
"Yes, they are one who want to help bring down Master Cyclonis," Ayrgyn said as he handed a giant mallet to Piper.
"No, that's okay," Piper said as she tried to lift the heavy mallet.
"Bells won't ring until you swing," Ayrgyn said over his shoulder as he started to walk away.
Aerrow gave his female teammate a sympathetic look as he followed Ayrgyn and the others.
"Where was I? Oh yes, they want to bring down Master Cyclonis, so they constantly keep me informed," Ayrgyn explained.
"What do they know about her?" Aerrow asked cautiously.
"All they said was that, she trains all day long to be the perfect weapon for Master Cyclonis," Ayrgyn said darkly. "She can only leave Cyclonia if Master Cyclonis gives her a mission, and right now, Master Cyclonis wants to keep her abilities a secret for as long as possible."
Junko had lost interest in the conversation the moment he saw the bumper pods. "Haven't road a bumper pod since I was a little Wallop," he said happily another pod slammed into the side of his own.
"So she uses her powers on Cyclonia?" Aerrow asked as they continued walking.
"Yes, and evidently, the only ones who stand even a slim chance against her are the other generals," Ayrgyn explained. "Snipe and Ravess have to work as a team against her if they want to stand any chance against her. Okay, your turn, you get to ride this," Aerrow said in mid explanation as he gestured to a mechanical bull.
"What about Dark Ace?" Aerrow asked as he watched Stork climb up onto the mechanical bull.
"Come on," Ayrgyn said as he ushered Aerrow out of the tent. "The Dark Ace barely holds his own against her. None of the Talons want to go near her when she's training."
"Then why are we here?" Aerrow demanded, as he was led up to a platform for a roller-coaster. "We need to be training!"
"I'll tell you what, if you can get on to that roller-coaster, I will teach you something that is guaranteed to stop Dark Ace in his tracks and make sure that you can hold your own against Lilith," Ayrgyn promised.
"You're on," Aerrow said confidently.
"Please, I just want to speak with Master Cyclonis," a short, round man screeched at the top of his lungs, hoping to grab someone else's attention.
Lilith rolled her eyes as she drove her skimmer up to the front gates where the man was shouting with two Talons.
"No one gets in to just see Master Cyclonis," the Talon barked out in frustration.
"But it's important that I see her," the man continued to please.
"What's going on here?" Lilith demanded as she parked her skimmer and dismounted it.
"Nothing, ma'am," the Talon said rather quickly. He was hoping to impress the general and take care of the annoying man.
"My name is Farth, and I am the owner, producer, and manager of the Ultimate, Extreme, Mighty, Mega Warrior Championship!" Farth, the short man, said as he tried to kiss Lilith's hand in an introduction. He was hoping to impress the general as well.
"That's nice," Lilith growled as she pulled both hands away from the creepy, little man. "Why do you want to see Master Cyclonis?"
"Well, I am hoping that she will allow me to host my upcoming Championship here on Cyclonia," Farth said hopefully. "This is the tenth anniversary of me opening my Championship. I thought what better place to host the championship than on Cyclonia!"
Lilith stood there unimpressed as the man gave his reasoning.
"We'll get rid of him now," one of the Talons said as he stepped forward to escort the man away. He could tell that the general was not impressed.
"Wait! No, please! You have to let me speak to Master Cyclonis," the man begged as the Talon grabbed his shoulders.
"We don't have to do anything," the Talon hissed as he started dragging the man away.
"Let him go," Lilith sighed.
"Ma'am?" the Talon asked hesitantly.
"I'll take him to see Master Cyclonis," Lilith said as she pushed open the main gate to let herself and Farth into the Palace.
"Of course," the Talon said as he released the man.
"Have someone take my skimmer back to the main hanger for me," Lilith ordered as she walked away with Farth, gratefully following behind her.
"Thank you so much," Farth said as he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him to catch up to Lilith.
"What happened to you?" Lilith asked as she leaned against the wall outside of Master Cyclonis's office. She had been waiting there for about an hour. Farth was again in the office talking with Master Cyclonis about all the details for her to host the Championship.
Ravess made a snarky comment under her breath as she walked past the general that she hated.
"What was that?" Lilith challenged as she drew Nyx off her back. She was ready to battle the other general and put her in her place.
"I said how about you go fight the Storm Hawks!" Ravess screamed in frustration at the over-confident general. "You get to act all high and mighty, but you're nothing!"
"Say that again," Lilith challenged as she got ready to throw down right in front of Master Cyclonis' office.
"Enough," Dark Ace ordered as he walked between the two females. "I have to report to Cyclonis, Ravess head to your quarters, and Lilith head to yours as well."
"What?" Ravess challenged.
Dark Ace glared at Ravess as she challenged him. "You heard me," he said darkly.
Nodding her head, Ravess took off back to her room. Her pride was the only thing keeping her from sprinting back to her room to avoid Dark Ace's wrath.
"Fine," Lilith huffed as she started walking away. She could tell that her boyfriend was not in the mood for her teasing.
"Tell the Master that I wish to speak to her," Dark Ace said forcibly to the Talon standing guard.
Nodding his head, he quickly ducked into the office to alert Master Cyclonis of Dark Ace. Not even thirty seconds later, the Talon was back letting Dark Ace into the office.
"I am sorry to cut our meeting short, but I have other matters to attend to," Master Cyclonis apologized.
"Not at all Master Cyclonis," Farth said humbly with a bow of his head.
"I will put you in contact with my trusted general, Lilith, and she will help you plan your Warrior Championship here on Cyclonia," Master Cyclonis told the man.
"I look forward to working with her over the next month to get everything setup and ready for the Championship," Farth said happily as he bowed his head again. He was excited to be able to work with the beautiful general. He was thinking of all the ways that he could woo the young woman. "I will look forward to the day that we host the Championship."
Master Cyclonis said nothing, but inclined her head in acknowledgement.
"Aerrow, why aren't you happy?" Piper asked as she realized that the only one not celebrating their victory was their leader.
"Yeah man, we beat them!" Finn said excitedly as he and Junko high fived.
"Lilith wasn't there," Aerrow said as he looked at everyone in the room.
"So what," Finn said harshly.
"We still don't know anything about her," Aerrow said frustratingly.
"Aerrow, we will deal with her when we meet her," Piper said softly. "I know that you want to rescue Adrianna, but we have do this carefully. We have to celebrate each victory, because each victory brings us a step closer in finding her."
"But-" Aerrow said as he temper bottomed out.
"Aerrow, I know how much Adrianna means to you, and she means a lot to Finn and me as well, but we can't run ourselves ragged," Piper said comfortingly. "When was the last time you actually smiled and had fun?"
"Before I found out that Cyclonis had Adrianna had been taken," Aerrow admitted.
"We will find her, we will make sure that Cyclonis pays for hurting our sister. But we can't do that if our leader isn't well," Finn said reassuringly.
"You're right," Aerrow said as he smiled, his first genuine smile in over a month.
"See, I can be smart and sensitive," Finn said triumphantly to Piper.
"And you ruined the moment," she pointed out.
At this, Aerrow starting laughing. As he laughed he realized that he would eventually meet Lilith, and we would rescue his sister. But for the moment he would smile and live life with his friends.
"How did your meeting go?" Lilith inquired as she softly shut the door to Dark Ace's room. It was almost two in the morning and they didn't want anyone catching them.
"She took it the usual way," Dark Ace sighed as he watched Lilith lock the door so that way no one would be able to come in.
"That badly?" Lilith asked as she closed the distance between the two of them.
Dark Ace nodded his head. He was used to the punishments that Master Cyclonis inflicted on him for his failure.
"Let me see," Lilith said softly, her mood switching from sultry to motherly.
"I'm fine," Dark Ace said as he tilted Lilith's face towards his to give him a good angle to kiss her.
Lilith let him kiss her as the two of them walked towards the bed. As they were awkwardly walking towards the bed, Lilith stumbled and fell, bringing Dark Ace down with her.
Dark Ace let out a growl of pain as they hit the ground.
"Sorry," Lilith smiled at the same time Dark Ace growled. Her smile quickly disappeared as she sat up. "Bed," she ordered.
"I didn't know you were so forceful," Dark Ace winced jokingly as he picked himself up off the floor.
"Shut up," Lilith said as she went to his closet to get the first aid kit that she made him keep. The two could get pretty carried away when they were sparring. So Lilith had made each one of them first aid kits to keep in their rooms. They would go to one of their rooms and patch each other up and then start making out. "Shirt off," she ordered as she sat down on the bed beside him.
Wordlessly, he complied. He took off his shirt to reveal his well-toned chest and back that held scars from battles long ago and fresh ones. Silently he closed his eyes. As punishment for allowing the Storm Hawks to beat them, Dark Ace had paid the price. Master Cyclonis would use a combination of different crystals that she was making to inflict damage onto him for his failure.
This time she had used crystals to burn his skin repeatedly. Her crystal had made it seem like lightning had been crawling through his system. So not only had the energy burned him, but he also had been electrocuted. The pain had been excruciating during the time that Master Cyclonis had been torturing him.
But, like a good soldier, he had taken the torture. He had endured the pain, because he was loyal to Master Cyclonis.
"This is cruel," she said as she dabbed the cuts and the burns that crawled up and down his back from the resent crystal energy used on him.
"I paid the price for my failures," Dark Ace said as he stared straight ahead, refusing to meet her gaze.
"This isn't paying for your failures," Lilith said as her emotions started taking over. "This is torture."
Dark Ace turned around and captured Lilith's lips with his own. "This is my punishment for losing to the Storm Hawks once again," he said once the kiss was broken.
"She shouldn't have punished you like this," Lilith said.
"I will heal," Dark Ace said as he adjusted himself on his bed. "Do you trust Master Cyclonis's judgement?"
"Yes, I trust Master Cyclonis," Lilith said quietly. After seeing what she had done to the man she loved, her trust began to flicker.
"Do you trust me?" Dark Ace asked as he slid himself off his bed and pulled Adrianna up with him.
"Yes, I trust you," Lilith said as she allowed herself to be pulled off the bed.
"Do you trust my judgement?" Dark Ace asked seriously.
"Yes, I trust you. I trust you with my life," Lilith said honestly.
"Will you marry me?" Dark Ace asked as he knelt down to the ground and pulled out a normal diamond ring. A normal diamond was very hard to come by in Atmos.
"Yes."
Sorry, there will be none of that! It's a children's show and plus, I still think that people should wait until after marriage. Call me old fashion, but it is something that I have believed in since I was little. I don't mind a little language and some make out, but nothing more. Sorry, if you don't like it. I'm keeping this vague for those that are younger and don't understand. XP
