Chapter 14: The Big Three
Somewhere in the northeastern quadrant of the Atmos, there was a stretch of sky that was so clear and pristine that if one were to look out at it, they would feel an enormous sense of peace. The sun shone brightly and the breeze was tender to the touch. However tranquil the sky was, it was deceptive to the events underneath it. Regardless of the peaceful atmosphere that the sky desperately tried to instill, the warriors of the raging battle continued on.
The battle being waged was not a simple fight by any means. In fact, many passerbyers took one look at the battle and hightailed it out of the area, counting rogues and other shady characters. The reason for the high intense battle was simple: it was yet again, a battle between the Cyclonian army and the Storm Hawks. Only difference in this fight was that the Cyclonians true aim was to wipe out the troublesome squadron. This meant that almost the entire Talon army had come to take down the five warriors and their pet. Nevertheless, the Storm Hawks fought back with full force.
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As the fight continued to be a stalemate, a large carrier lazily made its way towards the fierce battle. Painted on its sides was a large, menacing blood red bird: the symbol of the Predators. In the bridge, Drake watched the approaching battle with an excitement that he couldn't contain. Though seemingly impossible, Drake's gaze was lock on a pair of blue lights engaging with a red one: the Dark Ace and Aerrow. True to his epithet, Drake could easily make out his prey despite the fact that they were still a good distance away from the battle and that the battle itself was a chaotic mess that even those inside the battle probably could see what was going on.
One of Drake's men came up to his leader, kneeled, and handed the young leader a large blade with two and a half handed hilt. Drake took it, stood up, and casually made his way to the hangar bay. He mounted his ride and was about to take off when a older man with green hair asked, "Is it really okay for you to be going out their by yourself?"
Drake smirked, "The only two I need to worry about are the Dark Ace and Aerrow. The others are just small fry. Besides," A dark smile grew on his face, "What good would it do me if I were to bring back up?" Before the man could respond, Drake took off, headed towards the battle.
"Be careful, Drake," the man murmured.
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The battle was chaotic horde of Cyclonian troops trying to take down a few blue skimmers that took down almost any solider that came their way. Finn was picking off troops like a carnival game, Junko smashed his way through the enemy force with ease, and Piper was easily defeating her opponents with her crystals. The only one having any sort of difficulty was Aerrow.
The start of the battle was weird to say the least, but not all that unexpected. The Storm Hawks knew it was only a matter of time before Cyclonis would take action against them and send her army to destroy them. What was so weird was the fact the Dark Ace jump aboard Aerrow's skimmer instead of the other way around. Taken aback slightly by the change-up, Aerrow engaged the Dark Ace immediately, telling Radaar to hitch a ride on Piper's skimmer and help her out.
The two warriors exchanged blows so fierce and so quick; it was hard to say that it was even humanly possible to do so. The two stopped for a moment when the Dark Ace noticed the raw scar on Aerrow's shoulder.
"I see that I left my mark on you," he commented.
Aerrow shrugged it off, "Whatever."
However, before the two could reengage in battle, a bright green blade pierced the side of Aerrow's skimmer. As a chain pulled out the blade, the skimmer fell apart with Aerrow and the Dark Ace falling down as well. The Dark Ace grabbed hold of one of his soldiers' rides and promptly kicked the man off the skimmer. Aerrow pressed a button on his wristband and in seconds his air board rushed out of the Condor and caught him. I'm going to have to thank Stork for syncing up my board with a remote control. Balancing himself, Aerrow stood up on his board and turned to face the direction where the green blade had come from.
As he scanned the area, the blade was flying towards him with incredible speed. He blocked it and saw that the chain that controlled it swung up and made for the Dark Ace. Like Aerrow, he blocked it and the blade was pulled back once again.
"What in the world?" Aerrow asked, flying after the blade with the Dark Ace in tow.
The two came out of the combative mess to find themselves face with a single skimmer carrying a young man with sapphire hair and a careless expression; the green blade resting on his shoulder.
"About time you two got over here. I thought I was going to have go in there myself to fight you," he said casually.
"Who the hell are you?" The Dark Ace asked completely thrown off by the newcomer.
"Me?" the man cocked his head innocently, "I'm just a guy who's trying find someone to have a decent fight with."
"And I assume you are wanting to fight with us," the Dark Ace stated.
The amber eyes of the strange man glanced over the two of them before smiling, "Precisely."
Aerrow only shrugged, "Eh, might as well." The Dark Ace nodded in agreement.
The two veteran warriors came down on the newcomer with incredible speed. However, despite their efforts, the man was able to keep up with the two. Even though he wielded a large sword (bigger than the Dark Ace's), he was able to maneuver with great speed and agility. He forced Aerrow back and with a press of a button, the blade detached itself from half of the hilt. The man then swung out towards Aerrow, sending the blade flying towards him.
"What the hell?" Aerrow shouted as he deflected the blade away from him.
The man grabbed the chain that connected the blade and the hilt and pulled back the blade and caught in his hand.
"What kind of crazy weapon is that?" Aerrow and the Dark Ace asked in unison.
A proud smirk spread across the man's face, "You like it? It's my own design. It allows me to attack from a further range." He begun to spin the chain around until the blade was spinning so fast until it was nothing but a spinning blur of green. He then threw it again at Aerrow who just barely managed to dodge it.
"Interesting," said the Dark Ace, coming in on the fighter, "But what happens when that blade isn't with you?" The Dark Ace swung at the man, but had his blow bloke by a green knife that was part of the second half of the hilt. The shock on the Dark Ace's face amused the man as he smiled, "I use this, then."
"What the-?" the two asked.
"As you can see, this weapon is perfect to use offense and defense at the same time."
The Dark Ace gave the man a queer look, "Who are you?"
The man looked at them in an almost apologetic way, "Sorry, I guess I really should introduce myself since I know all about you, but you don't know anything about me."
"The name's Drake. They called me 'Hawkeye' Drake. I'm the leader of the Predators."
The Dark Ace regarded Drake for a moment, "I've heard rumors about you. They say you're the next demon of the sky after me. That you've never spare the life of an opponent you've face."
Drake merely shrugged, "I'm a rogue. I can't start making exceptions. Once word leaks out that a rogue has gone soft, people begin to disobey you and then it's nothing but work, work, work all the time.[1]" The Dark Ace shrugged, he couldn't fight that logic.
Aerrow was pondering something else, "Predators? Where have I heard that name before?"
"I believe you were the one who kicked my commander, Gunner's, ass back on Atmosia," Drake informed him, amused.
"Oh, yeah! That's the guy who wouldn't leave me alone," Aerrow said, remembering.
Drake rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, he has severe personal issues when it coming to being ignored. That and his drinking habits."
"I could tell," Aerrow commented, laughing.
"So, why are you here again?" The Dark Ace asked.
Drake looked at him, "I told you, to fight you."
"Both of us?"
"Yeah."
"Why?" the two asked again in unison.
"Isn't it obvious? I wish to be the best and you two are the best."
Aerrow and the Dark Ace looked at one another, shrugging; they couldn't deny it.
"So, now what?" Aerrow asked, "We have a three-way fight?" He was answered by a red bolt of energy charging at him. Aerrow spun his board all the way around, holding his hat down, in order to dodge the attack.
"Watch it!"
"What?" The Dark Ace laughed, "It was your idea." Before he could laugh any longer, Drake's blade almost took his head off.
"Fine by me," Drake said, positively grinning in anticipation.
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Finn watched the three way fight with a bewildered expression. They had already managed to defeat the Cyclonian troops and were waiting for Aerrow to finish up. After they had beaten all the troops, they had looked around for their leader only to find him and the Dark Ace fighting some other guy. After a while, the three stopped and appeared to have a normal conversation. Then moments later, they started fighting again with more intensity than before.
Finn rubbed his temples. He was aware of Aerrow's rivalry with the Dark Ace and the strange shift that had happened. Surprisingly enough, he was the first one to see it. He couldn't exactly say what had change, maybe their respect for one another or something, but something had change to point where despite being bitter rivals, they could randomly have a civil conversation with each other like old friends. And now it seems another one was thrown into the mix.
Finn and the others watched the fight and were surprised by the incredible speed and strength of the newcomer. Firstly, the fact that he was taking on both Aerrow and the Dark Ace made them question the guy's sanity. Secondly, the fact that he was able to keep up with the two of them was a shock. Those two were in a whole different league than the rest of the Atmos, but it now looked like one more was added to that league.
Abruptly, the fight stopped. There was another small conversation and the three parted ways like friends saying goodbye. The Dark Ace flew off towards Cyclonia and the new guy took off towards a carrier that had a familiar insignia on it. Aerrow came to the Condor and met them with a cheerful face, "Good work, you guys. You defeated them."
"Uh, Aerrow," Piper warily started, "Who was that guy you and the Dark Ace were fighting?"
"Oh, him? That's Drake, leader of the Predators," Aerrow answered casually.
"As in Hawkeye Drake?" Stork spouted suddenly.
Aerrow cocked his head, "You know him?"
The darkened expression that came over Stork's was similar to the one he wore when he was giving very bad news.
"I've heard rumors back at the hangar port. They say he's a demon, just as brutal if not more so than the Dark Ace."
Junko looked over at Aerrow, "And you fought both of them?"
"What?" Aerrow asked, "It's not like they were working together or anything."
"It was a three way fight, wasn't it?" Finn said, answering the confused faces on the others.
"Yeah. Apparently, he wanted to fight both of us. I got to give credit to his nickname. He was able to shoot down the two of us outside the battle. How he was even able to see through that chaos, let alone track us down, is beyond me."
"So why stop the fight?" Finn asked.
Aerrow shrugged, "We didn't feel like fighting anymore. The Dark Ace's troops were defeated, and Drake's retainer wanted him back on the ship."
Aerrow then stretched and yawned, "Well, I'm beat. I think I'm going to turn in early for today." And with that he left the room.
The rest just stared after their leader until Piper spoke, "I don't think Aerrow realizes the fact that he just made another powerful enemy."
"Rival," Finn corrected.
"Come again?"
"He's just another rival for Aerrow," Finn said, starting to work on his crossbow, "Aerrow can handle it."
"Since when are you the level headed one?" Piper asked.
"Since Aerrow apparently lost his sanity," Finn commented, making everyone laugh, all knowing the truth behind his words.
[1] This phrase was taken from Wesley of the Princess Bride.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Storm Hawks.