So this is chapter two. Sorry for the slow start, but it takes a while to get to the heart of the story. But it will begin to pick up quickly. Also, I should warn you, it is going to be a rather long story, because it will follow the lines of like an actual season but in story format. Enjoy and comment.
Again, I don't own the Storm Hawks
Chapter 2: Homecoming
Terra Atomsia was bustling with life. People had come all over to witness the great award ceremony for their guardian squadron, the Storm Hawks. After two years of chasing Master Cyclonis through the Far Side, the young squadron had finally managed to put a stop to her forever. Then after their return, their mere presence stopped half of the rogue squadrons in their tracks, and dealt with the others in battle. They did this even after the terrible loss of their carrier and pilot, and had managed to patrol the Atmos in a small carrier by themselves. Not to mention the fact that they had also orchestrated the fall of the Cyclonian Empire little over three years ago. To everyone, it was high time that the squadron be recognized as the heroes they were. Well, almost everyone.
While the main square in front of the Sky Knight Council was being set up, people were walking by the stage, chattering excitedly about the upcoming ceremony; all but one. A girl in her late teens walked stiffly by the ceremony set-up, eyeing it with complete disgust. It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. The Storm Hawks couldn't care less about being recognized as heroes, maybe at first because they were denied official status, but they had quickly gotten over it. All of their friends knew it wasn't them, but there wasn't anything they really could do about it. There was one more thing why the young woman didn't like the "Storm Hawks", she was a Storm Hawks.
Piper walked right by the very people her and the rest of the Storm Hawks had saved countless times, yet they did not recognize the young heroine, though she definitely had changed over the three years. Piper had grown taller by a few inches and filled out a bit. It actuality, she had become quite beautiful; and even Finn stated that she now looked like a girl (earning him a punch to the arm: a very hard one). Her midnight blue hair, once spiked up, now was straight down with her standard orange headband and little makeup lined her eyes. She now sported and washed out grey/blue jacket with orange lining and orange shirt, with black pants and boots. She wore black combat gloves and a black belt that held her crystals and new retractable crystal staff.
Piper was almost passed the square when she saw them: the "Storm Hawks". They waved and greeted the masses as they strutted by, the smuggest smiles on their faces. In all fairness, the group did look remarkably like the Storm Hawks from three years ago. In was funny how most people didn't take into account that they most likely were to change after all that time, especially since they were so young. If Piper had to honest, it was little more than creepy to see the group: it was like looking into some kind of reverse-age mirror. The only one missing from the group was Stork, but that wasn't very surprising: how many Merbs were there that were as crazy and paranoid as Stork? However, they managed to find a creature that looked relatively close to Radaar.
As they came closer to her, "Aerrow" and "Finn" stopped and blocked off her path. Both of them were eyeing Piper and smiled, "Hey, how's it going?" "Aerrow" asked.
"I'm fine, thanks. But I need to get going." The she tried to walk forward, but had her path blocked again.
"Oh, come on now. I'm sure you're not in that big of a hurry," said "Finn", with a very creepy face that made Piper's skin crawl.
Piper gave them a look that said quite plainly, "go away", and said, "Actually, yes, I am in a hurry. So if you don't mind, I'm going."
She began again to start walking, but "Aerrow" grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She ripped from his grip, but only to be grabbed by "Finn". She was losing her temper and was about to give them a shift kick when someone shoved "Finn" back a couple feet and pushed Piper away from the duo. Before she could register what happened, she heard a voice say, "Is there a problem, miss?" She looked up and was surprised. Smiling down at her in his cocky smile was none other than the real Finn.
The two "Storm Hawks" recovered after the initial shock of someone actually shoving them and realized the two knew each other. "Finn" scowled, "So, you her boyfriend?"
Finn walked up to his imposter and looked at him straight in the eye, "Nah, just a friend." The two were sizing each other up. "Finn" thought he could take this loser, especially with "Aerrow" to back him up, but he thought better of it. They were already making a small scene and they couldn't afford to let it get out of hand. So instead, he'd let the punk off the hook for now. When no one was around he'd deal with them later. He smirked, and left with "Aerrow" to rejoin the group.
As soon as the group was out of sight, Finn turned to Piper and said, grinning, "Good thing I showed up, huh? If I hadn't been here, our whole 'laying low' plan would be out the window. You should really be more careful, Piper." Piper gave him a look, and he laughed.
"Very funny, Finn, and you shouldn't be talking. You and your twin were about to have a go at it."
"Nah, that wasn't going to happened. He didn't want to screw up their 'look'. Besides, I would have kicked his ass anyway."
Piper sighed; though they hadn't given away their identity, they already were a source of interest. That wasn't what they wanted. Even since they had gotten to Atmosia, they were struggling to keep quiet. They didn't want to attract unwanted trouble as they were waiting for Aerrow; something that was near impossible for them.
They were waiting for Aerrow for a reason. After they managed to put a stop to Cyclonis and the revived Dark Ace, they chased the duo back towards the Atmos. However, as they gave chase, their ship had gotten attacked by a swarm of viperbats, very large, poisonous bat-snake-like monsters of the Far Side. Aerrow had gone out to deal with them by himself, having the rest of the team, including Radaar, chasing the duo. Not long after he left the hangar bay, a storm literally came out of nowhere and nearly ripped the ship apart. After who knows how long of being flung through the sky like a leaf, the team found themselves on an unknown terra in the middle of nowhere, with the ship completely totaled, all of their resources stripped by the storm, and no Aerrow. After months of slow repairs and no communication with anyone, they started to fear the worst. It wasn't until a few weeks ago they had gotten a new hope.
It was only a month after they finally got their radio working again, and were trying to get in touch with anyone that could help them, and on the off chance of hope, Aerrow. It was a day they could never forget. Stork was busy fixing and tuning the ship as usual, Piper and Finn trying to map out where in the Atmos they were and Junko was playing with the radio for a signal, but was only getting static. It was a normal day and they were all quiet when they heard a voice come from the static.
"H-HH-Hel-Hello-o? An-any o-ne there?"
Everyone's heart stopped. They all looked at the radio in astonishment, especially Junko who was sitting in front of it. Even Radaar stood still as a statue.
Junko scrambled with the radio while everyone else rushed over to it. Piper grabbed the microphone and nearly shouted, "Hello?"
"I-is th-th-this - Sto-rm H-Hawks?"
"Yes, this is us. Who is this?"
"I-I have a me-ss-age for you f-from A-Aer-ow."
The teams' hearts nearly stopped, hopes raised.
"Is he okay?"
"Y-es, he is-is do-ing ju-just fi-ne."
The team nearly shouted for joy hearing that their Sky Knight was alive and well.
"Where is he?"
"He is-is he-re wi-with me. Stt-ill wh-e-re you call- the -Far Side. He-will-back soon. S-says - meet – him- T-terra At-at-atmosia - few-weeks."And then the messaged cut out.
However, the team had all jumped in excitement at the fact that their Sky Knight was coming back. With the enthusiasm of seeing him, the team managed to finalize the repairs and managed to navigate their way back to Terra Atmosia. After learning about all that has happened during their absence, they decided to lay low until Aerrow came, as to not cause chaos: something novel for them.
They have been on the terra for about a week now and there was still no sign of Aerrow. Then again, Aerrow could have easily changed like the rest of them. Finn had gotten much taller, taller than Piper and Stork, and now lightly slicked his hair down with the tips sticking out and even had some light stubble. Still cocky, the sharpshooter had improved dramatically in his fighting and flying ability, and was confident enough to walk into dangerous situations without his crossbow. Junko had gotten larger and hair thicker, but he face still was a little child-like. His improvement was also incredible, to the point that he'd be considered one of the strongest Wallops as well one of the smartest. Radaar even seemed to have grown a few inches and was even craftier with the mechanics Stork was the only one that hadn't seemed to change. Moody and pessimistic as ever, the green Merb always made it a point to tell them that it was highly likely that Aerrow may perish upon his return to Atmos. With this in mind, it was understandable that they might not even recognize one another if they saw each other.
Finn and Piper continued down the street, still arguing about the scene back in front of the Sky Knight Council. They were so busy arguing that they didn't notice five strangers walk pass them in full armor. The leader of the group had led them to a small bar off the main road and walked in with an air of misplaced importance. As they entered, the room fell silent upon seeing the insignia of their armor. It was a black phoenix: the symbol of the Firebirds. This was one of the rogue squadrons mentioned before and though not one of the Elites, they were still a very dangerous team.
They had walked up to a table that was full and with a quick gesture, took the now empty seats. As they settled into the bar and had the server bring them some drinks, the leader burst out laughing as he split all over himself.
"Did you see their faces? It was priceless! They looked like scared little children!"
"Yeah, way to go, Boss! Those idiots won't be so cocky now, huh?" roared his teammate on his right.
"They ran away like little girls, how pathetic!" cried another one. All of them again burst into drunken laughter, causing the nerves of the other customers to be on edge. They all wanted to leave, but they knew the moment they got up to leave, the Firebirds would use them for target practice due to disrespect. There was another round of laughter and the loud voice of the leader shouting, "And those pathetic Storm Hawks! They think just because they came back from the stupid Far Side that they're all the shit. Like we are all supposed to bow down to their great glory. Bah! I think we should give them a little gift for them tomorrow during the awards ceremony. To show our deep appreciation for them!"
There was a great roar of laughter and the door had open again. A strange man walked in and sat at bar, conversing with the bartender. He was shirtless, every muscle defined by obvious hard work and training. He had a black hat (like an akubra) and black shorts and boots. Around his waist was a black belt with a hoister on each side, both carrying what looked like a short energy blade. On his lower back were light scars that look eerily like claw marks.
The leader of the Firebirds took notice of the man, and his energy blades. The guy had to have guts walking in here like that without acknowledging them, or he was just stupid. The leader got up and walked over to the bar, leaning against it as he studied the man. He was young, probably in his late teens or early twenties. He was casually swinging his bottle as he talked with the bartender, either unable to notice the leader or was ignoring him.
"Excuse me, sir" the leader said roughly, "I don't believe I've seen you around here before."
The man turned to look at the leader, his face slightly obscured from the shadow under his hat. "Well, it's been some time since I've been here. I don't believe I've seen you before either." The man had said this in a casual, friendly way, but to the leader, it sounded like an insult.
"Well, for your information, I'm Gunner of the Firebirds. One of the most feared pilots in the Atmos," Gunner said, with an air of smug pride.
The man simply nodded, made a thoughtful face, and said, "Never heard of you, then again, I've been out of the loop of the affairs in Atmos for some time, so don't take offense at it. It is nice to meet you, Gunner." He then turned and began talking to the bartender again.
However, Gunner had taken offense at the stranger's comment. He pushed the man to face him and spat in his face, "Who the hell do you think you are?! 'I've been out of the loop of affairs'! How dare you not know of us, the mighty Firebirds! We are the second undersquadron of the Predators; you better watch yourself."
"I'll take that into consideration." Immediately, everyone wished he hadn't said that. The veins in Gunner's head seemed to pop out in fury. The other customers were scared; you didn't want to tick off a rouge leader. They tended to destroy everything in their paths when you did.
Gunners punched the man on the side of the face, and then proceed to continue pounding him until he was satisfied. Once he was finished, he took the man and threw him out of the bar, spitting at him. "That's what happens when you mess with a rogue, fool! Consider this as a free lesson, because I'll spare your life." Gunner and his crew turned back into the bar, laughing hysterically.
The man lied on his back for some time, not moving at all. Some thought he might be too hurt to stand up, but refrained from helping him in fear of receiving the same punishment. After a few minutes, the man said, thoughtfully, "Well, that was rude. If he didn't like me, he could have just asked me to leave." With that he stood up and brushed off the dirt on his body, much to the astonishment to the people around them. He bowed his head toward them as he fixed his hat, "Sorry for the trouble I caused." He then strode down the street as if this thing happened every day, with confused and awed glances following him.
On the other side of the terra, a group of sky rides landed under the trees. The riders all had a package and a letter each. They turned to look at their leader, the Dark Ace. He was already walking towards the city, keeping his hood up as he went. As they got to the edge of the city, he issued the orders of their mission, and one by one, the disguised soldiers disappeared into the crowds.
The lieutenant began to walk towards the crowd when the Dark Ace held him back. "You're staying with me. We're going to make sure the Storm Hawks don't mess with anything." The lieutenant nodded his head, but asked why he was the one held back. An evil grin appeared on the Dark Ace's face, "Because you're going to point out to me the little troublemaker, if he's here." Again, the lieutenant nodded, but felt a deep fear. Again, he didn't know who to fear more, the Dark Ace or the mysterious man. The Dark Ace looked out into the crowds as the final soldiers disappeared. Somewhere, in the mess of people, was Aerrow; he couldn't wait to see him again.
Just as the Dark Ace looked into the crowd, there was another looking back at him without his knowledge. He was surveying the dark warrior with great interest. Once the Dark Ace and the lieutenant disappeared into the crowd as well, he looked in the mass of people trying to find one other person. Funny enough, he too was looking for Aerrow.
Hope you enjoyed it. In reality, it is rather interesting that no one realizes people's appearances can change drastically over time, especially when they're young to begin with. Again sorry for the slow start, but I promise it will get interesting really soon!