After seeing Stork fighting so hard to stay in shape, Piper decided she'd convince Aerrow to keep his training going, as well as to help her teach him a few other things.

"Okay, Stork... this'll be a breeze..." Aerrow said encouragingly. The Merb looked at him strangely.

"Aerrow, what does marksmanship have to do with melee combat?" Piper asks curiously. She hadn't counted on Aerrow taking her so... literally.

"Well, being flexible in combat is always a good thing... trust me, Stork, you'll be fine..." He turned back to the pilot, who nervously held a blaster in his shaking hands.

"I-I don't think I can do this, Aerrow..." His eyes were wide as saucers as Piper came over and helped steady his hands.

"It's okay, Stork... just point and shoot... we'll get to more advanced stuff after you learn the basics..." She held onto the stock of the long weapon, and the Merb's hands shook a little less. He nervously pulled the trigger, and blasted a hole right through Finn's sandwich. The blonde's mouth agape, he stared in disbelief at the pilot.

"Dude, you just shot my lunch!" He whined angrily.

"Sorry, Finn!" Aerrow yelled to the sharpshooter. It didn't seem to help.

"Look, if you're gonna teach him how to shoot, maybe you should ask an expert..." Finn said, in a strangely helpful tone. He walked over and moved the nervous Merb's hands along the blaster, positioned for a better grip.

"Here... this'll help you get better aim on this thing... now, let's try blasting something that isn't food..." He smiled slyly. Stork gulped, but nodded. He raised the gun up a bit, and fired at an improvised target Aerrow had set up to practice with. His aim was off a bit, but it was getting better already. This time, he hit the edge of the target, grazing it slightly.

"Better, dude... now, move it a bit to the left..." The blonde pointed to the target in emphasis. Stork complied, and moved the blaster's aim to the left. This time, it hit the outer section dead on.

"Great, dude! See, you're getting it!" He softly struck his shoulder in congratulations. The Merb cringed a little, but smiled slightly. "So far, so good..." Piper thought to herself, as she watched the 2.

"Hey, about we take a break? All this teaching is making me hungry..." The sharpshooter shot his patented "chica-cha" finger pistols, and Stork looked down at the deck.

"You'd still have lunch if I hadn't shot it..." Piper walked up and rubbed his back softly.

"Hey, you're still learning, Stork... don't be so hard on yourself... after lunch, we'll get a few crystal-working tips down, okay?" The pilot nodded softly, not sure he really wanted to. Of course, knowing his friends, he didn't have much choice.

Roughly an hour later...

"What was that!?" Aerrow said, as he got up from his chair at the meeting table.

"Dunno... sounded like it came from Piper's lab..." Junko said, scratching his head softly. The redhead cringed a bit, not sure he wanted to find out what happened. But, as the 3 boys and Radarr ran to check on the 2 in the lab, they came upon a scene that didn't look too promising; Piper's door was smashed outward, halfway off its hinges. Stork sat against the wall in the hallway, covered in black soot.

"Stork, what happened?" Aerrow helped the blackened Merb to his feet. He coughed a bit, a puff of smoke escaping from his mouth.

"We... I had a little accident..." Piper softly walked out of her room, also covered in soot from head to toe. She shook her head after coughing to clear her throat.

"Stork..." She began, and the pilot started walking away slowly, as they both began picking up the pace, Stork soon running away screaming as Piper chased him down the hallway.

"That was my last eruption crystal! How could you let those 2 touch!? I specifically told you they should never touch!" She ranted as they disappeared down the hallway, turning the corner and leaving their sight. The boys ran after them, hoping they didn't find a dead Merb. Around the corner, they found Stork huddled in fear, boxed in as Piper gave him an earful. Aerrow ran over and got between them.

"Piper, he's still learning, remember!? Besides, it's nothing we can't fix..." He looked over the 2 of them with a slight smile.

"Aerrow, I can't make a crystal out of nothing-"

"I think you're missing the point, Piper... you could've been killed!" Finn stepped in. Junko stood, waiting to see what would happen; he didn't know enough about crystals to be of any real help, so he stayed out of it. Radarr chirped excitedly while jumping up and down, trying to help Aerrow get his point across. Finally, a loud scream brought their arguments to a halt.

"I can't take it anymore! The yelling, the being covered in soot! I need a bath! I need my Happy Place!" The Merb cried loudly, finally breaking down. Piper rushed over, realizing she had missed the point.

"Stork, it's okay... I'm sorry..." She hugged him softly, trying not to make it any worse.

"C'mon, let's go get your Trance Helmet." She helped him to his feet, and he sniffled a little, tears still streaming down his face.

"I just want to pilot my precious Condor..." He said sadly, and walked back toward the bridge, still sniffling as he wiped tears out of his eyes.

"Stork, wait-" Piper began.

"Hold it, Piper... maybe you should let him cool off first..." Junko said helpfully. Radarr nodded.

"I don't care when you do it, Piper, but I think you need to talk to him about it... tell him you still want to help him learn..." Aerrow slowly walked toward the hangar bay, not really sure what else he could do. So, as the guys left Piper alone with her thoughts, she thought about why she was so upset.

"Nice one, Piper... you've really done it this time..." She scolded herself out loud.

"Don't beat yourself up too badly, Piper..." A voice said from nearby.

"Stork? You... you're not mad at me for overreacting?" She frowned a bit and looked down at the floor sadly. The Merb walked over slowly, and tilted her head up.

"Look, I... I didn't mean to blow up your lab... maybe... maybe we can fix it... together..." He said nervously. She blinked a bit.

"You mean, you still want to learn?" She was surprised.

"Yeah, well... it's not like you sabotaged the crystals to blow up on purpose... right?" His eye twitched. Piper giggled.

"Nope... I would never do that to you..." She took his hand into her, and they walked together back into the destroyed lab.

Several hours, buckets of paint, and lots of noise later...

"She still needs a bit of work, but it's a lot closer to being back to normal..." Stork said proudly. Piper couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks for helping me, Stork..." She hugged him softly. He struggled at first, like he always did, but eventually he slumped into her hug, finally giving in.

"Guys, how's it coming? Aerrow said as he walked into the still badly mangled lab.

"It's... coming..." Piper said hesitantly. The place still looked terrible, but with Stork's help, she now had... a cabinet. She giggled a bit as she looked at it; several times, Stork had decided he needed to add safety features to it. Of course, they made it almost useless to store things in, since the block of wringle roach repellent took up a large portion of the inside. It had about a hundred locks on it ("You always need a backup lock... besides, you can never have too many..."), but, she had to admit; at least it matched the wall paint. The mindworm-repelling wall paint...