Chapter 3: The Cavalry has Arrived

Aerrow had been in plenty of tough circumstances during his career as a Sky Knight. But didn't need that kind of experience to know that this was bad. Outnumbered without any back-up, against a small army including the Dark Ace and Master Cyclonis. Despite the odds, the Sky Knight knew that he had to protect this girl and her friends. Whoever she and friends were, one of them had the source of the energy spikes that they had been picking up. Besides, he'd have to be completely heartless to leave them here.

Even though she pointed a katana at him.

So, always the hero, he unsheathed his blades out and stepped in front of Camellia, Ignis, and Veemon.

"If you want them, then you'll have to go through me." Aerrow said.

"How noble of you, sacrificing yourself to protect the innocent. Don't worry. I'll make their death painless. You, on the other hand, won't be lucky." Dark Ace chuckled coldly.

The Sky Knight had the guts to smirk.

"Give it your best shot." Aerrow teased.

Dark Ace drew his own blade, that was powered by a red crystal, giving off a crimson red glow and fell into a combat stance. Aerrow also fell into a combat stance, his own weapons glowing in an electric blue color. The two warriors stared at one another, waiting for the other to strike first.

That was always the first rule of battle: Never take your eyes off your enemy. Let your guard down even for a second, and the fight's as good as lost.

As if by an undeclared signal, both warriors shot forward at the same time, locking weapons with bursts of blue and red sparks. The two pulled away immediately.

Then the real battle began…

The clash of steel echoed in the room, every assault blocked, and every block countered. Any attempt to take the other by surprise was shot down by one another.

Second rule: Always expect the unexpected.

Both the Sky Knight and Talon commander were known for fighting by instinct, resulting in attacks that were everything but expectable. It was all creativeness and following your gut. No one interfered in the battle, leaving the two fighters to their battle. Whether in keenness, fear, or cold enjoyment, everyone was fixed on the fight.

Aerrow left himself open only for a second, but that was all Dark Ace needed to take him down. The missed stab from Aerrow gave the crimson-eyed Talon the chance to grab his arm in an iron-like grip. The tug took him off guard and sent him off balance. A knee to his stomach knocked the air out of Aerrow's lungs.

A blast of crystal energy then sent Aerrow sprawling to the hard marble floor.

It was when he hit the ground that Aerrow recalled the third rule: Use your opponent's strength against him.

The Sky Knight groaned, seeing one of his blades inches from his outspread arm. He was too slow to grab it, biting down a yelp as a steel-toed boot stepped on his wrist and a sharpened metal was in front of his throat, successfully pinning him down. The teen glared at Dark Ace, wanting to wipe that smug, triumphant grin off of his face.

"I must say, that I'm disappointed. I thought that you were more of a challenge, Aerrow. Well, the results are the same, I supposed." The raven-haired swordsman said, raising his weapon, ready to deliver the final blow.

Until…

Camellia: Feather Storm!

But then found himself face down on the ground before wondering what happened.

The red-haired Sky Knight watched in surprise as the Talon commander struggled to get up, rubbing his wrist. His emerald eyes shot to the mystery girl and the dragons, who both just stood there, the glowing of the katana dying away.

"Let me give a little warning, I ain't no damsel in distress!" Camellia growled as her eyes turn emerald.

Aerrow let out a sigh of relief, almost laughing at Camellia's comment. But, the moment was short lived, as his gazed wandered toward Master Cyclonis. The dark violet crystal on her staff was slightly glow, and her stoic expression turned to one of wary curiosity. It didn't take a genius to tell that she'd figured it out: The strange girl and the two dragons had something powerful inside them.

If there was one thing that Cyclonis was known to have a hunger for, it was always power no matter what.

The boy snapped out of his daydreaming as Camellia grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to his feet.

"Hope that you ain't looking for a rematch. Let's go!" Camellia shouted as her eyes returned to their normal amethyst color.

Not needing to be told twice, Aerrow took her hand again as they began to run with Veemon following and Ignis on her shoulder, leading through the dark labyrinth of Terra Cyclonia. Behind them, he could hear Cyclonis yelling orders towards her Talons.

"Kill the Sky Knight if you must, but I want the girl and dragon alive!" Cyclonis yelled.

Things just got more interesting.

This was becoming the most messed-up day that Camellia ever experience in her life. Besides not knowing where the bloody hell she, Ignis and Veemon were at, so far, they found themselves in another world, almost stabbed a guy with Arashi, and blasted a dude with one of her attacks. Now she, Ignis and Veemon were running for their lives from someone who didn't want them for anything good.

"This is mad!" Camellia roared.

The two teens, Servamp, and Digimon stopped for a moment, outran the Talons chasing after them, and the fox-girl was having a slight panic attack while trying to catch her breath.

"Who was chick, what the bloody hell does she want with us?" Camellia asked.

"Yeah, bud, answers!" Veemon growled as Ignis growls.

"Master Cyclonis, the one person you never want to mess with." Aerrow explained, surprisingly calm about this situation, "Apparently you three have something that she wants."

"What the bloody hell could we have that she wants?" Camellia snapped, semi-hysterical.

Was it really that hard for her to get a straight answer out of this Human?

"We don't even know what we're doing here in the first-!" Camellia began.

Her hysterical rant was interrupted when more guards appeared from one direction and Aerrow yanked her in another with Veemon grabbing hold of her shoulder, dragging her until she was moving under her own force.

"Can you at least tell me that you have an escape plan?" Camellia asked.

"Well…" Aerrow trailed off.

"You don't even have a plan!" Camellia barked.

"No, but I'm good at improvising. Just bear with me and keep running." Aerrow said.

"Fine!" Camellia answered.

After all the chaos during the past few hours, Camellia figured that she, Ignis and Veemon deserved to know what was going on. She held her tongue, deciding that all their questions were better left when people weren't trying to kill them. Once they were out of this place, she'd be able to chew out at the so-called Sky Knight for information.

Unfortunately, it seems that achieving that was easier said than done. Cyclonia, as this place was called, was built like a labyrinth, a network of confusing hallways with chambers scattered throughout the place. Plus, it didn't help that guards were waiting for them at every turn, forcing the three to back track and try losing the guards in the maze. Aerrow seemed to have an idea of where they were going. But, he probably didn't know where they were going, but acted like he did.

The only thing Camellia had to judge was how long they'd been running through this building.

Honesty, Camellia wasn't paying attention to where they'd been going, as long as they were moving fast enough to keep up with the other teen. She was surprised when they finally stopped and found themselves outside. Swallowing in terror, Camellia quickly backed away from the edge, unable to stop staring below.

When she turned back to find at least twenty soldiers, plus the seriously ticked off guy she used Feather Storm on, blocking off any escape route. So, her choices were get captured by a purely evil teenage girl (not the kind she usually dealt with on a day-to-day basis) or fall who knows how many miles before splattering to the ground.

She shot Aerrow a hopeful look, hoping the Sky Knight had "improvised" a decent plan. To her shock, she and Veemon saw him stare at the army… smirking. He had the guts to smirk in this kind of situation. Camellia resisted the urge to slap a palm to her forehead for the Human male's foolishness.

Of course, they end up rescued by the guy who had a death wish.

A classic evil laugh then drew her attention back to the red-eyed leader.

"Looks like the end of the line, Storm Hawk. Nowhere to run now." The Talon commander said.

Aerrow's smirk widen, a gesture that made Camellia, Ignis and Veemon think that they weren't going to like what he was planning.

"That's where you'd be wrong." Aerrow said, hooking his arms around Camellia, Ignis and Veemon, stepped back…

And sent them plummeting off the cliff.

Any thoughts of this crazy Human and her luck horrible disappeared immediately, replaced by pure, terror. Of course, this was ten times worse when she fought Master Xehanort. All she, Ignis, and Veemon could do was hold onto the Human teen for dear life, squeeze her eyes close, and pray that it'd be over quickly.

The last thing that they were expecting was for them to stop falling. All they felt was a sharp jerk, and they weren't falling to their deaths anymore. Curiosity dominated anxiety as she risked opening her amethyst eyes and look up. Camellia was certain the hang glider-like contraption wasn't there before but was far too relieved to care. Her gaze moved from the artificial wings to Aerrow, who was looking at her, Ignis and Veemon with an eyebrow cocked and a lopsided grin.

"You'd think that you've never done this before." Aerrow commented.

"Shut up!" the Chosen Child of Miracles growled, adrenaline still coursing through her after the fall, "You could've warned us!"

"It was kinda spur-of-the-moment." Aerrow chuckled nervously.

Camellia, Ignis, and Veemon glared at him, but both kept holding on, not caring if her sharp nails were digging into his skin. Yes, he was holding onto her, and trusts the Sky Knight not to drop them, but that didn't make Camellia hate this situation any less.

"And besides, we're safe now." Aerrow said.

"You call this safe!" Veemon scoffed.

"Will you two relax? I've got everything under-" Aerrow started.

His guarantee was suddenly cut off and disproven when an energy blast that shot past them, nearly grazing one of the glider wings. Both teens looked up, seeing the already overcast sky ruined by the flying machines. There had to be like fifty of them flying towards them!

"You were saying?" Veemon droned.

Aerrow ignore the comment, quickly maneuvering them out of the way of another blast. The fox-girl in his arms couldn't help but, holding onto him even tighter. Thankfully Veemon and Ignis was in between them.

"What's next? We're sitting ducks out here!" Camellia exclaimed.

"Give me a second!" Aerrow exclaimed.

Thanks to Camellia's profiling skills, she was able to point out the tinge of worry in his voice. The fact that their "hero" was panicking also and that didn't assure them. However, once the Sky Knight's gaze shifted downward, she visible see his eyes light up.

"Looks like the cavalry finally arrived." Aerrow grinned.

"Wait, what?" the Duo of Miracles asked, confused.

"Hold on!" Aerrow warned.

"Don't you dare-!" Camellia began.

Unfortunately, her warning wasn't noticed, as the redhead's glider wings retracted to their hidden compartment, leaving the three to the mercy of gravity again. This time, the fall was shorter than the last time. Plus, they hit something. Camellia's knees buckled with Veemon and Ignis on her back as her feet came into contact with something metal and not very stable judging by how it shifted, forcing her to lean against the Aerrow for support.

Opening her amethyst eyes again, the last place that she expected to find her, Ignis and Veemon was on a wing of one of the flying motorbikes. But, this one wasn't the same the ones chasing them; different structure, different paintjob, different insignia.

Plus, she was positive that the bad guys' rides didn't have any blue monkey-rabbits driving them.

The fox-girl didn't take the time to consider this peculiarity, instead to scramble into the seat behind Aerrow before she, Ignis or Veemon lost their balance and plummeted to their deaths. The blue creature hopped into the sidecar, leaving the Sky Knight to take the handlebars.

"Nice catch, Radarr!" Aerrow called over his shoulder to the animal that apparently wasn't an illusion.

Understanding what the Human teen was saying, the monkey-rabbit gave him a thumbs-up, chirping excitement. Camellia stared at it for a moment before turning forward, wondering why this didn't surprise her more than it did, considering that she seen stranger creatures.

"A little warning would've been terrific." Camellia glared.

Honestly, it was reassuring now that they were on a more even playing field with the guys chasing them. Though the bad guys had an advantage at this point, since the odds were against them with the number of soldiers. It took all of her self-control to keep her Demon half from escaping as the vehicle jerked, rolling out of the line of fire.

"Where's this cavalry that you mentioned earlier?" Veemon asked.

No sooner three more machines appeared from the very direction they were headed in. the first two were like Aerrow's and the third looked like the cross between a helicopter and a moped.

While the fox-girl, Ignis and Veemon stared at the three machines, while Aerrow smiled, knowing something that they didn't.

"That would be them." Aerrow answered.