How had it all gone wrong?
She'd spent a considerable amount of time asking herself that question over the last month. Admittedly, her memory of the final battle was a bit hazy in places, but she had had precious little to do except think about that day, piecing all the details back together.
Her anger had gotten the better of her after Piper and the Sky Knight achieved Perfect Attunement, saving themselves from what should have been certain death. Actually, that wasn't quite right. She had been angry at the Storm Hawks, yes, but her anger hadn't gotten the better of her until Dark Ace spoke.
"Do something, you arrogant witch!"
Yes, that's when her control had slipped, emotion overriding intellect. How dare he speak to her like that! She knew that he had been growing increasingly frustrated of late. How could she not? He didn't bother trying to hide it. Still, that didn't give him the right to spit commands and insults at her!
But he was right about one thing. She had to do something if they were to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But, unfortunately, her own innate power was no longer a match for her two opponents, which left her without many options. And so, she did the first thing that came to mind. She drew power from the giant Farside crystal that kept her terra afloat and protected and bound it to the Dark Ace.
It wasn't enough.
"More!" he demanded, and she obliged. Still, he wasn't satisfied. "More! More!" She sent a steady stream of crystal energy into him until he screamed with the power of it. Vaguely she heard Piper yelling at her to stop. The concern in her voice made her grin. She should be concerned! Just a bit more power, and Dark Ace would be unstoppable! A crackling nimbus of red energy began to surround him. Just a little more.
Piper was yelling something else, but she paid no attention. All her focus was on Dark Ace. They were so close! So very c-
A shockwave blasted her back, breaking her connection with the Farside crystal. Her back collided with the solid rock of Cyclonia a millisecond before her head did, and she crumpled to the ground, dazed and winded. It took her a moment to recover enough to stagger to her feet and retrieve her staff. She spotted Dark Ace nearby, lying unconscious, before glaring at Piper and Aerrow, who were blasting away at the Farside crystal, trying to destroy it. Her vision was blurry, making it look as if there were two of each of them. Fantastic. With the Dark Ace out cold, it was time to pull back and regroup. Pointing her staff at him, she levitated them both and flew, a bit wobbly, toward the fortress proper. They would retreat to the Farside, where they could take their time to recover, gather new forces, new technology, and plan a new attack on Atmos. This battle may be lost, but the war wasn't. The war wasn't over. The war would never be over until the people of Atmos finally accepted her sovereignty over them all. That was her birthright! Why did they have to make things so difficult?
Behind her, a large explosion sounded. They had succeeded in destroying the Farside crystal. No matter, there were more where that came from. She was halfway up the stairs to the doorway to the Farside when a streak of blue zipped past her, and suddenly Aerrow stood at the top of the stairs, daggers drawn and pointed at her.
"Going somewhere?" he asked lightly.
She dropped Dark Ace and pointed her staff at Aerrow, aiming at his heart. "Get out of my way."
"You know I can't do that."
The crystal on the end of her staff began to glow as she powered it up, preparing to fire.
Something tapped her on the shoulder, and she glanced over to see that it was Piper's staff. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Surrender, Cyclonis."
Her grip on her staff tightened, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Aerrow. "You can't win," he said reasonably. "We have you surrounded, and any minute now-"
The fortress shuddered, and Aerrow continued with a victorious little grin, "The guys are going to take out the pontoons. Cyclonia is going down."
A second, more violent shudder followed closely on the heels of the first, and she looked outside to see that Cyclonia was, indeed, beginning to slowly sink toward the Wastelands.
She, however, would not be going down without a fight. They were stupider than she thought if they expected her to surrender peacefully. She might as well tie her own noose while she was at it to save some Atmosian hangman the trouble.
The only path forward for her was through that doorway. So she fired the burst of crystal energy she had charged at the Sky Knight and bolted for the door before he had even begun to dodge out of the way. She wished she didn't have to abandon the Dark Ace, but she had no choice. He'd understand.
But she only made it a couple steps before she was hit from behind. She fell, muscles seizing up as electricity coursed painfully through every nerve in her body.
Vaguely, she heard Aerrow ask, "You got this?"
And Piper answered, "Yeah. Go deal with the Dark Ace."
"Oh, Piper, you stole my trick," she said through clenched teeth when Piper finally let up. Once able to move again, she flipped onto her back, bringing her staff up to block Piper's downward swing.
"I've been waiting for the chance to pay you back after that demonstration you gave me on Terra Tundras."
"You know, that offer I made you then still stands. It's not too late to join me. The Farside really is quite the sight to behold. Come with me and see for yourself."
"Tempting," Piper deadpanned. "But I think I'll stick with the side that isn't literally crumbling down around us."
With a twist of her staff, Piper disarmed her. She flung out a hand, willing her staff to return to her, but Piper dealt her a sharp clip to the temple, breaking her already wavering concentration.
"It's over. Now get up. Our ride's here."
"No. I'm going down with my terra."
"That would sound a lot nobler if I thought you meant it, but the door to the Farside is still active, and there's no way we're letting you run off and plan a second invasion."
Reaching down, Piper grabbed her by the forearm and hauled her to her feet before herding her to where the Condor hovered just outside. Aerrow was already there, forcing a barely conscious Dark Ace onto the ship.
"You let me go through that door, and I swear to you there will be no second invasion. You'll never see me again. C'mon, Piper, we can both get what we want."
"No," Piper answered with grim finality. "You have a lot to answer for. And you will."
Cyclonis rolled her eyes. Must the Storm Hawks be so insufferable all the time? Slowly, subtly, she tried again to summon her staff. A sharp jab from Piper's staff staggered her. "Don't," Piper warned.
Once onboard The Condor, Piper kept her staff leveled at her. "Crystals. On the ground. Now."
She slipped a few crystals out of concealed pockets and set them on the ground.
"Good start," Piper said with amused exasperation. "Now, the rest of them."
"It hurts that you don't trust me," she said, pressing a hand over her heart.
"Finn," Piper called to where he stood, aiming his crossbow at Dark Ace while Aerrow bound his hands behind his back. "In my room, on the shelf above my lab table, is a lead box. Can you go get it for me, please?"
"Uh, sure," Finn said and ran off to do as she asked.
"Keep your hands where I can see them," Piper told her. "And no sudden movements. I'd hate to have to zap you again."
"I'm sure."
Momentarily, Finn returned with the box. Piper flipped open the lid and withdrew a metal cuff studded with a small purple crystal. Grabbing her hand, Piper closed the cuff around her wrist, twisting the key that was already in the lock and pulling it out. The key itself was strange, with dual tines possessing different bittings, suggesting a locking mechanism that was decidedly more complex than what you'd typically find on a shackle.
As for the cuff itself, a cursory study of the crystal revealed it to be a leecher. Of all the diabolical...
Her carefully cultivated nonchalance evaporated as she yanked at the cuff, trying to pry it off, but it fit too snugly, and the lock was too sturdy.
"Relax," Piper said with a smug smile. "The leech crystal's so small it will only interact with crystals that are within arm's length of you. So, you have nothing to worry about. Right?"
Cursing under her breath, she rid herself of the rest of the crystals she had hidden on her, dropping them to the ground and taking a few hasty steps back to put a safe distance between herself and them. This day was disastrous enough. She didn't need to lose a hand on top of everything else.
"Your invention?" she asked wryly.
"Built specifically with you in mind."
"How shockingly sadistic of you."
"Glad you approve."
Honestly, she would appreciate how ruthless Piper was being if she weren't the one on the receiving end of it.
"Are you two done with," Finn slowly circled his hand, gesturing to the space between her and Piper, "whatever is happening here? Can we lock them up now? I think, uh, Stork will feel more comfortable once they're locked up. And Radarr. You know how much she freaks out Radarr."
"Almost," Piper told him before turning her attention back to her. "Hands behind your back."
"That won't be necessary," she replied.
"That's really not for you to decide. Don't think I've forgotten that you're still a threat, even without crystals."
"Am I? I seem to recall you saying that I fight like a girl."
Piper narrowed her eyes at her. "Hands behind your back. We don't need you trying to cause trouble. Or freeing Dark Ace so he can."
She raised her chin imperiously and uttered two words that were, in hindsight, foolhardy under the circumstances. "Make me."
In humiliatingly short order they did, indeed, make her.
Hands tied behind her back, she was slung over the shoulder of the team's Wallop, who carried her to the room they were to be held in until they could be handed over to the authorities on Atmosia. Dark Ace walked behind them, his face a carefully impassive mask. Aerrow brought up the rear to make sure Dark Ace didn't try anything.
Once in the room, they were sat on chairs, back-to-back, and another rope was secured around them both. Someone had been watching too many cheesy old action-adventure movies. The Storm Hawks left, and the door closed and locked behind them.
She turned her head to look at Dark Ace, but he was staring straight ahead, making his intention to ignore her clear. To be fair, she didn't blame him for having nothing to say to her. She couldn't come up with anything to say to him, either. Nothing productive, anyway. It had been a long while since either of them had had anything kind to say to the other. They sat in uncomfortable silence, the only sound the ticking of the clock on the wall.
She sighed after a while. The light was too bright, and her head was throbbing in time with the ticking of the clock. She leaned her head back against him and closed her eyes, only to have him flick a finger against the back of her hand, hard.
"What?" she asked, annoyed.
"Don't go to sleep."
"Now you're issuing me orders, too?"
He made a frustrated noise and fell silent.
She leaned back against him once more, only to have him lean forward as far as the rope would allow. Admittedly, that wasn't extremely far, but it made him a less comfortable headrest. "I mean it. Your eyes were glassy when they brought us in here. Did you hit your head?"
"Yes, but it's nothing. I'm fine," she said, shrugging off his concern.
"No, you're not; you're probably concussed. So, like it or not, you're not getting any sleep for the next few hours."
"What does it matter? They're just going to execute me, anyway."
That shut him up for several minutes.
"You don't know that," he finally said.
"It's what I would do."
"But you didn't."
"Only because I had the crystal prison. That was meant to be a fate worse than death."
"Still, don't borrow trouble."
She shrugged. "I'm being realistic."
"You're being morbid."
"Since when does that bother you?"
"It's bothering me now. Are you even trying to get free?"
She wasn't. Even if they managed to get untied, they were still locked in the room, on board the Condor, without their weapons. No Talons. No Nightcrawlers. And she couldn't access any crystal energy with Piper's infernal cuff on her wrist. Well, she could, but…there would be unpleasant consequences. It could be worth it if escape were assured, but the odds were currently stacked against them.
Still, no doubt managing to untie themselves would at least irk the Storm Hawks. After enduring their petty pranks for the last six weeks, it could prove at least somewhat gratifying. And it would pass the time. Silence fell between them once more as they worked to loosen the ropes that bound them. Eventually, Dark Ace broke the quiet by chuckling to himself.
"What's so funny?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder at him once more.
He shook his head.
"What?" she pressed.
He turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye and, smirking, said, "Make me."
She could feel heat creep into her face. He was making fun of her, was he?
"It's not funny," she said defensively.
"It was," he argued. "In fact, I can't decide what was better: The fact that you said it, the looks on the faces of the Storm Hawks when you did, or the look on yours a split second later when you realized that you had just made a grave miscalculation."
"I'm delighted to hear that my pain amuses you," she said with all the sarcasm she could muster, which was considerable.
"Oh please, the only thing that was really hurt back there was your pride. And you have more than enough of that to spare."
"Ah yes, because I'm an arrogant witch?" She scoffed. "You know, it's not like you have any room to lecture others about excessive pride."
He didn't immediately respond, and she caught herself grinding her teeth as she waited for him to say something. She forced herself to relax. It was a stupid nervous habit she'd tried many times to break, but she had never had much success.
"You should know better than to take anything said in the heat of battle to heart," he told her.
"That's not a thing. You just made that up."
"At least I didn't warn you not to face Piper in battle lest she slip through your fingers again. Right in front of her, no less."
She winced slightly. Her response to his request to fight Aerrow one last time had been needlessly cruel. There was really no excuse for it. She drew in a deep breath, steeling herself to apologize, but her jaw clenched again, and her throat felt too tight, and the words refused to materialize.
She released the breath slowly, took in another, and tried again. "Well, given our current predicament, maybe you should have," is what came out of her mouth instead.
They were both terrible at apologies.