Obviously Cyclonia hasn't been struck by the credit crunch….
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Straw was the first thing she could see. Not the beautiful golden kind, more the dull greying kind that hadn't seen daylight for months. It left to the imagination where Piper was.
Rolling over onto her front, she tried to stand up. Dark blood trickled out of her mouth and dripped onto the cold concrete floor. Her sides hurt as well, had someone kicked her while she'd been unconscious?
A low rumble of conversation went on outside and she tried to look up. Her vision remained blurry though and she had to look back down because her head hurt.
Piper tried to think over what had happened. Lypix had set the alarm off again, Aerrow had come in and told her it wasn't a false alarm, then she'd gone out into the hallway. Something had grabbed her and pushed her back, then it had hit her. So what did it mean? Wait! Her mind said, Aerrow had said something about Talons, so it was Cyclonia. Great. Looks like she needed that bracelet more than Lypix did.
"Get up." A cold male voice ordered. Piper felt like hitting him, but knew she didn't even have the strength to stand up.
"Get up" The voice repeated. Piper stayed motionless and silent.
"I said get…" "I know what you said!!!" Piper answered to the increasing angry voice, "I can't get up, my sides hurt too much!"
The Dark Ace sighed, "That god damn Midnight." He muttered darkly, he was no fan of the opposer of Lypix, for obvious reasons.
He picked Piper up, she debated struggling, but that would have caused unnecessary arguments, and she was so sick of them just on the Condor.
The Dark Ace brought her into Cyclonis' Hall, and placed her down on a small chair.
"You've had work done." She smiled calmly, even though she was scared out of her wits. The walls had indeed been shinned up since she'd last seen them and Cyclonis' throne had been replaced by a grander one made of gold. The floor was now a pristine marble and the ceiling was made of glass. But they all still looked the same.
"You're too dangerous as a Storm Hawk." Cyclonis announced.
"Well it's where I'm staying sister, so don't expect me too move any time soon." She growled back, but Piper couldn't move that much so the response was a bit stunted.
Crispin scowled, "You should speak with a bit more respect."
Cyclonis chuckled darkly, "She doesn't have too. I wish her to become a friend…"
"Oh not this bullshit again." Piper scoffed, "I thought I made myself clear last time."
Cyclonis stood up, angry now, "And I thought I made myself clear. Join us or face the consequences."
Piper spat on the floor, it only had a small trace of blood in it now.
"Fine. Take her away. I never want to see this girl as one of the Storm Hawks. You hear me? Never!"
Piper listened to her small rant, and as she struggled to stand up she laughed, "They'll find me Cyclonis, they always do."
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"You staying the night Starling?" Junko asked quietly.
"I suppose so, but where can I stay?"
"Your room's still ready." Aerrow said.
"What about Lypix?" Starling asked, slightly surprised the angry teen didn't have the room.
"She shares with Piper, when we said we'd leave your room for you, we meant it." Finn smiled.
Aerrow hugged Piper a little tighter, Lypix winced as she tried not to notice. She was terrified any minute Ka would stab him, she knew she was capable of it, but just hoped she could be quiet and insignificant enough for him to be okay. She'd get Ka tonight while they slept.
Starling smiled and remembered Lypix had calmed down a little since Finn had talked to her. "Maybe she's controllable after all" Starling thought, maybe she'd get a closer look at the female bonding of the team.
"I have an idea." She grinned, "Us girls can sleep on the bridge tonight."
Aerrow gave a crooked smile, "Okay, but only if you're up to it."
Piper gave an even bigger one towards Lypix. There was no escape now.
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Piper's room. There had to be something in here, Lypix technically couldn't leave because of the bracelet, but she needed to save Piper. She might not be the biggest fan of her, but right now, Lypix was all that Piper had got.
A large map covered one wall, Lypix untacked it and rolled it up. Next was a few experiments of Pipers, including a radio, they weren't the best, but they'd help in someway. And finally, the mysterious blue crystal they hadn't gotten round to experimenting on yet.
Breathing cautiously she edged into the bathroom, no one would notice a small black rucksack in there. She smiled, Ka wasn't as clever as she thought.
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"So how are you settling in Lypix?" Starling asked.
The smile was irresistible to not respond in a positive way. Lypix glanced at Piper, who still held the knife from earlier and obviously meant Starling as her unsuspecting victim.
"Okay. Still a little bad surprises now and again." She frowned.
"What would you guys say if I joined the Storm Hawks?" She smiled sweetly. And again Piper remained silent and let Lypix respond.
"That would be great." She smiled tensely, "Only if you'd be prepared for a few scraps now and again."
It was Starling's turn to look at Piper. "You not going to say anything about me wanting to stay, are you?"
Piper shrugged her shoulders, "It doesn't really concern me that much."
Starling looked at Lypix and nodded. "Then which one of the Cyclonions are you?"
Piper stood up and snarled, "Does it really matter that much now?" And before Starling could move, Ka had hit her over the head. She proceeded to throw a few things on the floor.
"What are you doing?!" Lypix shrieked standing up.
"Making a temporary solution." She grinned mischievously.
The boys came running to see Starling unconscious, and the debris.
"What's going on?" Aerrow asked, worried.
Ka feigned innocence, "Its Lypix! She's getting angry again, but this time she hit Starling!"
Lypix opened her mouth but saw none of them believed her over Ka, it was important she rescued Piper and now if possible.
"Lypix, you'd better come with us." Finn said calmly, but slightly disgusted.
She sighed and glanced at Ka who was still concealed beneath her Piper disguise.
"I need the loo first, is that too much to ask?"