Now for some action! This is pretty much a straight up action scene so bear with me. But the story is starting to get into swing, not full swing by any means but it is moving. Hope you enjoy!

Again, don't own the Storm Hawks

Chapter 4: Warm-Up

The crowd was extremely confused and nervous. They had all backed away when the energy blast hit the strange man's hat off and were silently waiting for the clash to unfold. But they were perplexed. The man who had fired the shot had recognized the other as Aerrow. But how could that possibly be? As far as they knew, Aerrow and the rest of the Storm Hawks were at their award ceremony on the other side of the terra; the man couldn't be Aerrow. Then, what made them even more confused was that the Aerrow man called the one who shot at him the Dark Ace. The name still had a deep sense of dread with it, and many of the bystanders became very scared. The Dark Ace wasn't supposed to be alive; he died at the end of the Cyclonian War: just what in the world was going on!

As the crowd whispered to one another about the situation, the two men were smirking at one another, oblivious to the questions around them. The Dark Ace was surveying his old foe. It was startling how much the boy had changed. Man, he corrected himself; there was no way that the young fighter could be called such anymore. He had seen Aerrow change in the Far Side, but this was completely different. He had grown taller; he probably was the same height as himself, taller maybe even. He had always been in shape, but the toned defined muscles that could only result from hard training were a major change. Even his face showed signs of maturing. Though he had recognized Aerrow, there were subtle changes that if he hadn't seen them a little bit before in the Far Side, he probably wouldn't have recognized him. No wonder no one had recognized him.

Aerrow simply stared back at his rival with his mischievous smirk. He could tell that the Dark Ace had changed as well; the dangerous air around him was proof of that. He watched as the red eyes of his foes surveyed him. The evil grin appeared on his face again as he said, "So, Aerrow. What have you been doing all this time? Surely, you must have reason for why you haven't shown up till now."

"I've been in the Far Side, training with a chicken farmer," Aerrow said this with a completely straight face that not even the Dark Ace could tell if he was joking or not.

The Dark Ace posed himself, ready to launch an attack, "Well, let's see if that training was any helpful," he said, rushing at his opponent.

Aerrow smirked as he heard the Dark Ace's words. With a quick movement, he drew his energy blades and jumped over his opponent as he rushed at him. The Dark Ace had anticipated this, pivoted, and swung his sword at Aerrow's head. Aerrow ducked without a second too late. He aimed a kick at the Dark Ace's stomach, but had it blocked. The Dark Ace again took a swing at Aerrow, having it stopped by one of Aerrow's blades.

"Not bad, Aerrow," the Dark Ace complimented, "Not bad at all, but let's see how's your swordplay".

The two began exchanging blows, each unable to land one. Each strike was blocked by the other's blade, no matter how perfectly executed. They jumped, flipped, and twirled around each other trying to gain the advantage, but to no avail. There was just no way to get around the other: They were evenly matched. Once or twice one of them managed to land a random punch or kick that they hadn't even intended to give, but the slight advantage was gone just as fast as the other recovered.

"Well, you're definitely the real one," the Dark Ace grunted between blows.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Aerrow grunted back, dodging a punch.

"Haven't you notice? You and your team have a group of imposters, strutting around the terra as if they own the world. It's really quite demeaning if you ask me."

Aerrow was totally thrown off by the statement. The look on his face easily showed the amount of confusion of the fact and how ridiculous he thought it was. Was there really someone pretending to be them and using it for fame and glory? he thought, but that was just plain ridiculous! His thoughts had earned him a sharp kick to the side. Without wincing, he focused back on the fight; now was not the time to wonder about if there were imposters. He then launched a furious counterattack that continued the fight.

The crowds were watching in complete amazement. Unknown to the two fighting, who were so absorbed in their battle to notice, the fight was being done at a ridiculous rate. The speed at which the two were exchanging blows and blocks was incredible. None of the bystanders had ever seen anyone move that fast before. What was even crazier was that the two weren't stopping, it was easy for them. Neither of them looked tried, in fact; they looked like they were having fun. It was just down-right weird.

The bystander that was having the most difficult time watching the fight was Gunner. He had been shocked to hear the two men's names. His stomach lurched when heard the cloaked man name Aerrow. The man he called that to was the very man he had beaten up at the bar. He remembered how the man hadn't even tried to defend himself during the beating, it was weird, but he hadn't thought much about it. Now he understood, especially now watching him fight; Aerrow was too strong; the little beating he gave was nothing to Aerrow.

Then there was the Dark Ace. Gunner had thought that the man looked familiar, but this was not what he had in mind. When Aerrow had identified him, a deep sense of dread crept in him. He remembered the dark legendary pilot very well. He was the demon of the Atmos, the one person who has defeated more Sky Knights than any other. And according to his rules, if you lived, you won; if you lose, you die. Not even his superior Elite squadron had that type of reputation. He remembered hearing that he had perished in the war; it was such a relief to him, even though he was a simple criminal. Seeing him now was horrifying.

Realizing that the two men fighting now were legends, Gunner was in complete awe of their fighting skill. He had been in many fights, but never one as intense as this. It was like they were starving wolves fighting over a half-eaten carcass. Yet, they were so light on their feet and moved so gracefully, he couldn't help being mesmerized by it. It was nothing like he ever seen before, even from fights between Elites and Sky Knights. These two were in a whole other league; one he wasn't sure if anyone else was in.

Finally, the two separated from their close-quarters battle. The Dark Ace had managed to shove Aerrow a good few feet away from him. In that same instant, he made a smooth swing and shot at Aerrow. Aerrow, still recovering from the unexpected shove, only realized the blast coming at him until it was too late. By some off chance, Aerrow made the slightest of movements, missing the shot by millimeters. It passed him and crashed into the building behind him, completely destroying it. Since when did his crystal become that strong, Aerrow wondered as he saw the destruction from the corner of his eye.

The Dark Ace shot again at Aerrow. For the sake of keeping the terra in one piece, Aerrow instead caught the shot with his blades and deflected straight into the sky. It was difficult as the blast was powerful, more powerful than he anticipated. He took a step back as he tried to recover from the blast. His brief moment of hesitation was rewarded with another swing at his head. Aerrow ducked and rolled behind the Dark Ace. He made to strike, but was stopped by the Dark Ace's blade.

The two engaged again in close combat, in what seemed like a fury of red and blue sparks. None of their blows broke through, but they weren't discouraged. Actually, every time they couldn't get land a blow, they got even more excited; the fight was getting more fun.

Again they separated, this time by several feet. They had each jumped back for more room; neither was out of breath, though. After of few seconds both jumped into the air, preparing to strike with their special move. Both forced a powerful strike at the other, completely focused on their opponent. This is why neither of them noticed their blasts going right pass one another and hitting each other squarely in the chest.

They were both flown back a good few feet. They landed hard on the ground, each letting a small groan escape them. It wasn't long until both jumped back onto their feet, panting hard now. They didn't move, just started at one another as they tried to get a few seconds of rest.

They were about to attack again when the lieutenant, have been completely forgotten until this point, waved and shouted to the Dark Ace, "Sir! The others have completed the mission."

The Dark Ace looked at the lieutenant, to Aerrow, and back to the lieutenant. He let out a disappointed sighed, "Looks like our errand is finished. I guess that means our little sparring match has to end here for now." He deactivated his sword and began to walk away. He stopped and turned, smirking at Aerrow, "Don't worry, Aerrow, you'll be seeing me again soon. And next time, I won't be holding back." He then continued to walk away.

"Hey, wait a minute. What were you doing here," asked Aerrow, starting to run at the Dark Ace.

Without warning, the Dark Ace swung out his sword and fired a blast right in front of Aerrow, causing a large amount of dust to obscure Aerrow's vision. He and the lieutenant then ran from the square, the Dark Ace again laughing.

Like I said before, it's impossible for the Dark Ace and Aerrow NOT to fight. Seriously, let's be honest, they hate each other. In my mind, I can see the rivalry being kicked up a notch in the Far Side. However, seeing that Aerrow has grown up to be a man now, I think a civil, but still very intense rivalry should now be in place. They talk to one another civilly, but given the chance they'd kill each other without a single thought.

Hope you enjoyed and please comment!