Disclaimer: Storm Hawks and all characters associated with the cartoon show are the property of Nerd Corp. However, Hikaru and Mikomi are my property. You are free to use them, just use a disclaimer. Happy reading.
By the way, thanks to all the wonderful people who have reviewed me so far. Your criticism and praise are incredibly encouraging. I really appreciate it. It all helps.
E.V. North
Aerrow could see the boy turning blue from his place in the bushes. There was no more time to try to think of a plan. He had to act now.
"Piper, radio the Condor for backup." He whipped his twin blades from their places on his back. "We're stopping this NOW." Piper nodded as Aerrow's swords blazed into life and he rushed from their leafy hiding place.
Dark Ace turned at the noise of running footsteps and humming lightning crystals, instinctively bringing his blade up to block. Aerrow took advantage of Dark Ace's occupied sword and brought the other down on the length of chain binding the boy to his captor's fist.
The chain shattered and Hikaru fell on to the pebbly shore gasping. He struggled to his feet, breathing hard. He had broken into a sweat and the pained look in his eyes told of a fight in his mind. His eyebrows creased with inner conflict. If he didn't still look so deadpan he might have been panicking.
The Talon who had been holding Hikaru's chain before finally seemed to come to himself. He raised is staff above his head and fired three shots into the air, signaling the other skimmers. He then leveled his staff at Hikaru, not sure if the loss of the leash would mean loss of control of the boy. But Hikaru didn't move. He continued to stare at Dark Ace, panting like a winded animal. The Talon looked up from the boy as Piper rushed past him with a scream and dealt him a blow from the side. He stumbled, but regained his footing, and turned his attention to the more hostile target.
As Piper and the Talon squared off with their staffs, the battle between Aerrow and Dark Ace continued back and forth. The loose rocks and slippery moss that covered the lake shore made footwork difficult and dangerous for both.
"I never thought Cyclonia would stoop as low as using kids as slaves!" Aerrow yelled swinging high with one blade. Dark Ace brought his sword down to smash through Aerrow's defenses.
"He is no longer a kid. He is property, a weapon of the Cyclonian Empire." Dark Ace growled back. Their blades ground against one another, locked together. Sparks flew from the clashing energies and fizzled in the damp moss below. Aerrow was about to respond when crystal fire from above forced him to jump back. The Cyclonian skimmers had joined the fray. They flew overhead, firing at Aerrow and Piper. This looked bad. Where was the Condor?
The skimmers wheeled around for another pass. Aerrow could see the charges building in their crystals. He dived out of the way just in time. He felt the heat of a crystal bolt whiz past his side as he dodged, and rolled further as Dark Ace brought his sword down where his head had been moments before. He was working just to defend himself, let alone win, and it looked like Piper was fairing no better under the suppressive fire.
A blaring horn and the sound of more skimmers made the combatants on the ground look up. The Condor, flanked by Finn and Junko on their skimmers soared into sight above the canopy. The airborne Storm Hawks made quick work of the Cyclonian skimmers. Finn bulls eyed the engine of one, sending it careening into the lake with a huge splash. Junko was slightly more creative, flying alongside the other skimmer. The Cyclonian troop looked over in confusion. Junko gave a friendly wave and tore one of the wings off the side of the Cyclonian skimmer with his bare hands. The unbalanced skimmer spiraled out of control into the forest. A crash was heard quite a ways off.
"I think it's time to test Master Cyclonis' new toy." Dark Ace said, drawing Aerrow's attention back to him. He raised the red control gem to his mouth like a radio and hissed. "Hikaru, take the Storm Hawks out." The flat crystals on the deadpan boy's temples flashed and Hikaru, who had been staring intently at Dark Ace through the entire battle, immediately sprang into action.
He turned his attention first to Finn and Junko. He planted his feet and faced the circling skimmers. Finn was in the process of giving Junko a sky-five when Hikaru reached his hand out to him, as though he
meant to grab him; and his hand did grab something. His fingers closed around something invisible and Finn froze in the middle of the sky-five. His eyes widened as he realized that he couldn't move. Something was holding him.
"Finn?" Junko looked concerned "Are you OK?"
"I-I don't know." Finn stammered "I can't-" But before he could say another word Hikaru made a pulling motion with his outstretched fist and Finn was thrown from the seat of his skimmer, straight into the lake 40 feet below. Without a rider, Finn's skimmer nose-dived into the lake farther away.
"Finn!" Junko yelled. He had fallen too fast to catch. Finn bobbed to the surface, sputtering and flailing. He started swimming to shore. Junko sighed, what a relief.
Piper stared from Finn, to Hikaru. That was just like what she had seen him do with the pebble tower, but much bigger. The Talon she had been fighting had dropped his guard, completely distracted by the amazing show of power. She took the opportunity and stunned him with a large paralyzer stone set into the end of her staff. She got him right in the head and he froze in place. He wasn't going to be walking around for hours. When she turned back to Hikaru he had reached toward Junko with an identical grabbing motion. Now that she was paying attention she could hear the low thrum she had heard him make earlier.
"Junko!" She shouted "Don't let him get you too!"
"Who?" Junko yelled back confused. As he looked around for who she was talking about, he felt a tug at his mind. It became more insistent and he felt his muscles start to freeze. He overpowered it at flew higher, away from the shore. The tugging ceased, but as it did he could feel his engine stall as it was pulled, nose first, into the lake shallows below. Junko leapt clear and rolled safely onto the shore, just as Finn was climbing out of the water.
The Dark Ace felt cornered. All of the Talons he had brought along were out of commission and his ride was destroyed. The only ally he had was this boy. However, Master Cyclonis had indeed chosen her weapon well. He had singlehandedly grounded two Storm Hawks.
Hikaru stared around at the Storm Hawks on the beach with him. The red-headed one was battling farther away with the gem-holder and the Storm Hawk's carrier ship was landing on a bare stretch of shore some distance away. Before he could choose his next target the dark girl was walking toward him, one hand outstretched comfortingly.
"It's alright," Piper said soothingly "We want to help you. We won't hurt you." She put a hand on his shoulder and she felt the taunt muscles under his silk tunic relax slightly. A flicker of sadness crept into the exotic eyes behind the glasses. The boy looked like he was struggling with something.
"Careful." Junko cautioned as Finn nodded vigorously.
Dark Ace glared as he saw this act of disobedience. He knocked Aerrow back a few paces and raised the gem to his mouth once more, squeezing it tightly.
"I gave you an order, fool!" He shouted into the gem "Take them out now, while their guard is down!"
Hikaru stumbled back from Piper, clutching his head and squeezing his eyes shut in pain. Tears rolled down his cheeks as little lightning bolts issued from the flat crystals on his temples and danced across his head. The loud thrum was heard again as Hikaru locked eyes with Piper. She screamed and clutched her head too. The pain was intense but brief. She backed off and the pain instantly stopped. Only a dull, throbbing headache remained.
"Junko," she whispered to the wallop "Go get Stork and tell him to bring his trance helmet. Tell him to put it on its highest setting. Quick." Junko nodded and ran off.
Dark Ace continued to struggle with Aerrow. They were wearing each other out. This wasn't working. He was losing control of the situation. If the experiment was a failure, as it was quickly proving to be, then he had better abandon it before he was humiliated even further.
"Hikaru!" He yelled into the red gem "Attack Aerrow directly." Hikaru snapped back to attention and rushed away from Piper and Finn on the beach toward Aerrow who had his back turned.
"Aerrow! Look out!" both Piper and Finn shouted in unison. As Aerrow looked away from Dark Ace toward the shouts, Dark Ace made a break for it, running toward the edge of the Terra, He tapped his rescue beacon and jumped into the wastelands. The poof of a parachute was heard over the edge of the cliff.
Hikaru bowled Aerrow over, pinning him to the ground. The low thrum was heard again and Aerrows swords went flying, sticking blade-first into a tree. Using one hand to hold Aerrow down, Hikaru brought the other down in a vicious punch to the jaw. The slapping sound of meat packing was heard and he continued to wail on the surprised Skyknight. Something wet hit Aerrow's face. Hikaru still had tears streaking down his face.
"Aerrow!" Piper yelled, running forward with Finn to pull Hikaru off of their leader. Aerrow grabbed Hikaru's hands and held him at bay. Hikaru didn't seem to be very strong, physically. Finn grabbed Hikaru's shoulders and pulled him backward off of Aerrow as Stork and Junko ran up.
"Hold him still!" Stork said, clutching the trance helmet. Junko and Finn held his arms and legs down while Piper helped Aerrow off the ground. His nose was bleeding. The thrumming reached the pitch of a cruiser engine and hundreds of pebbles from the shore levitated and began to pummel the Storm Hawks.
Stork shoved the helmet onto Hikaru's head as he shielded his own from the whirlwind of rocks. He pushed the button and, at first, the helmet seemed to have no effect. However, after a few more seconds of struggling and rock flinging, Hikaru relaxed. His eye's drooped and then closed. The pebbles fell to the ground, forming a ring of gravel around the Storm Hawks.
"What on Atmos is he?!" Finn yelled as the scene finally quieted.
"I don't know yet. I'll need to run some tests, but first things first: we need to get him onto the ship and get those mind-control crystals off his head." Piper sighed as she looked down at their captive. "We might get some answers when he wakes up."