And we keep rolling into the next one. Sorry it took a little longer than expected to get this one out, but, in my defense, this is a bit longer than I originally intended. Enjoy.
Heart of Darkness...Waking Nightmare
Stork didn't know where he was, and his memory of how he got there was clouded. He tried looking around, but he had a headache that made it hard for his eyes to focus. he could feel bindings around his arms, chest, wrists, and feet. His chest hurt, and at the the same time it felt like something was hugging it. He tried bringing up his last clear memory, to try and figure out where he was and what had happened.
...
He remembered moving to the rear of the ship to hide while Piper held off the Talons. He felt anger and regret at this memory. He wanted to be more useful to her, but he knew that he would just get in the way, so he had obeyed.
As he moved back, he heard noises of things being thrown around. He quickly ducked into an alcove just as a figure appeared from the darkness. Cyclonis, Stork felt fear rush through from the memory of her emerging from the rear of the ship, why was she there so quickly? Was she on the cargo ship? Stork felt anger at the thought of his precious Condor being sacrificed by some madman for nothing! She moved through the passage past where Stork had ducked out of sight.
Where are you going? Stork thought to himself as Cyclonis moved further towards the front of the ship. Don't even think of going in my room. Everything in there is already messed up enough, I'm sure, without you going in and messing with it.
She had moved past where he could see from his hiding spot, so he poked out his head. He saw her, hovering, moving towards the bridge. Nothing about that doesn't give me the creeps. Stork though as he watched her float menacingly towards the bridge. Looking past Cyclonis, through the broken open hatchway, he didn't see any signs of Piper. He felt a little relaxed by this, but still worried about where she was.
As Cyclonis moved further in, now crossing in to the bridge, Stork slowly followed. He hid himself behind the frame of the door leading into the bridge. Now that he was closer, he could hear sounds of fighting coming from just outside the broken windshield. Piper, Stork thought as various emotions rose in him while hearing the sounds of staff weapons being fired.
Cyclonis had reached the shattered windshield now. Stork could tell that she was looking down at where Piper was most likely fighting the Talons below. He saw her charging the crystal on the end of her , at that moment, all the different dangers of The Atmos flowed through his head. But, at the same time, none of them mattered to him. He quickly moved from where he hid, charging at Cyclonis with all the speed he could muster.
Unfortunately, Stork was not well trained in how to make a successful sneak attack. He made to much noise in his approach, alerting Cyclonis to his presence just in time for her to bring her staff around, connecting with the side of Stork's head.
"So another of you survived." Cyclonis said to Stork as he lay on the floor.
He could feel a warm sensation starting to run down the side of his head. He knew it was his blood, and his mind was already at work listing of the various conditions and infections that can arise from a serious head wound. Not to mention the constant threat of mind worms now having an easy access point. He quickly shook off these thoughts, the biggest danger being in front of him.
Cyclonis looked down on Stork with a dark smirk on her face. "You annoying Storm Hawks should just learn when to roll over and die."
Stork let a small smile cross his face. "And maybe you should learn to stay dead."
Anger shown brightly on Cyclonis's face. She raised her hand, a crystal in her grip. A hand of pure red energy shot out and grabbed Stork, it quickly raised up and slammed Stork against the ceiling. Stork was sure he felt a few ribs pop, possibly break, from the impact. His shoulder was cut open on a piece of loose metal the was sticking out of the ceiling, and Stork felt himself lose sensation in that arm.
Cyclonis brought him close to her, keeping a tight grip on him as she did. "Listen well little merb, these may be the last words you hear." Cyclonis's voice carried a strange tone as she spoke, one that sent shivers up Stork's spine. "These are the final days of the free Atmos. I just have to stamp out what little resistance there is left. Which is you, your squad, wherever they are, and her." She pointed down where Piper was still fighting the Talons below.
"Don't you touch her." Stork said in a weak voice. It was hard to breath in between the pain he felt from his damaged ribs being squeezed.
"Your in no position to order me around merb." With that she let a large amount of raw energy surge through the hand that held Stork.
Stork couldn't hold back anymore and screamed out in pain. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air. And then his memory went fuzzy.
...
Now Stork was sure, that where ever he was, he wasn't safe and sound. He tried to open his eyes again, pain shooting through his brain as light shot through his vision. As his eyes started to focus, he began looking around from where he was laying. There was a cast on his chest, and bandages on his arm. Various fluids were being fed into him through a needle in his arm. He recognized the the substances as simple antibiotics. He started looking around the room, taking in as much as was in his view. The more he looked around though, the more sure that he must have contracted some sort of malady. Because what he was seeing didn't make sense.
He saw tables with various documents and containers sitting on them. Crystals floating in liquids reacting off each other with monitoring equipment giving various readouts from the pulsing they made. All the normal things he would expect to see in a crystal lab. But, from his point of view, they were all on the ceiling.
Let's see. Stork began to think to himself. Severe injury to the head and body would leave a person open to receive any number of various viruses that will cause them to hallucinate. Also, I'm pretty sure a rib or two broke, so some marrow from my bones could have shook free into my blood stream. This would work up into my brain, causing a severe problem with reasoning skills before causing a horrible death from infection. Yep, pretty sure I'm doomed.
Stork would have continued list off various medical problems before moving on to possible parasites, if his train of thought hadn't been interrupted.
"Ah, good. Your awake." A voice outside of Stork's vision spoke up. A voice that Stork found all to familiar.
Oh god. Stork thoughts were racing now. Please don't be him. Please don't be him. Please let me be hallucinating.
Heron quickly stepped into Stork's field of vision. "So nice to see you again, my wayward assistant."
Stork saw Heron standing on the ceiling with the other tables. And that's when it hit Stork. He wasn't looking up at the ceiling, he was looking down from it.
Stork readied himself to start yelling every obscenity he could think of at Heron. Years of nightmares were about ready to be vented at their creator. Or, at least, he would have started yelling. But, Heron quickly took out a syringe in injected it into Stork's neck. Stork found himself unable to speak, only stare in bewilderment at Heron.
Heron simply smiled as he looked up at Stork. "I figured you were about to spend the next few minutes yelling all sorts of nasty things at me. So I took the liberty of preparing this little concoction." He held up the now empty syringe. "It paralyzes the vocal cords, but don't worry. It will only last a few minutes. Just long enough for me to have a little chat with my former pupil with no unnecessary yelling."
Heron pulled up a chair that had a head rest on the back of it. He sat down and rested his head back so he was looking right up at Stork's face.
"In case you were wondering about your current resting place. It a nice little system I set up using a combination of various crystals. Keeps my patients up out of the way so I have more room to work around in." Heron reached up and moved Stork's bed around as if was simply floating. Which, at this point, Stork was pretty sure it was. "Just had it re-installed after having to take it, and various other crystal powered devices, off the terra."
Stork's eyes flared wide and he moved his mouth to yell, but no words came out.
"Yes Stork, we knew of you little mission well before you were even assigned it." Heron said with a slight grin. "Cyclonis has eyes and ears everywhere. She's quite the the amazing person for one so young." He carried a hint of pride in his voice as he spoke. "Now on to the matter at hand." Herons became serious as he spoke now. "Master Cyclonis has asked me to prepare you as one the next batch of refined subjects. But, I have convinced her that you are far more valuable alive. That is, of course, if you agree to behave yourself."
Stork wasn't sure Heron meant by refined, but he was sure it couldn't be good. But, on the same note, he wasn't to wild about the idea of working with Heron again. If he could talk, he would have already have said no, but all he could muster were heavy breathing noises.
"Now, before you give into your wild emotions, hear me out." Heron continued, a genuine sound concern in his voice. "You were the best assistant I ever had. Your ability to retain the knowledge of all the various diseases and dangers of The Atmos is far better than any others I have encountered." Heron sighed, as he recounted some of the failures. "Sure, I tried to have assistants after you, but none held a candle to you. Some were good pilots, but were unable to even tell the difference between Sasox Disease and Jamion Flu. I mean can you believe that?" Heron held a expression of disbelief as he looked up at Stork.
Stork rolled his eyes. To him, the difference was as clear as night and day. The rashes alone were clear indicators of their difference.
"Others had a good amount of book smarts, but lacked the ability to put it to use. Not to mention the horrid piloting skills." Heron let a bright smile cross his face as he looked up at Stork. "There is where you shine brightest of all. No one compared to your expertise at the controls of a ship."
Stork grinned slightly at this. He felt a wave at nostalgia at being praised by his former mentor. It reminded him of times before his world had shattered.
"You see." Heron grinned as he looked excitedly up at Stork. "Your a perfect assistant for me. Besides, what is really holding your loyalty to the Storm Hawks anyway? Your just their pilot, and now your ship is nothing more than scrap on the side of this terra. You don't even wear their emblem."
Stork felt a sharp sting at those words. It's true. He was just picked up to pilot The Condor, but that was a heap of metal now. He himself had stated that he was only around till something better came along. But he hardly thought of his current situation as better.
"In a few moments you should regain your speech. Take this time to consider your answer. I sincerely would hate to lose such gifted talent as yourself." Heron stood up from his chair and walked away from Stork. He busied himself with looking over various documents that were piled up on his desk. Unable to speak, Stork was left to his thoughts. He began to think of those he had been calling his squad mates.
Aerrow was brave and a skilled fighter, as well as their leader. He had formed the team in the first place and hired on Stork to fly The Condor. He always led them through to victory in the toughest situations. He also was the one that led us into those situations. Stork thought with a slight bit of anger. Always agreeing to every to every tough assignment that came our way without even taking a second to consider if we could even make it through in one piece. He's the one that accepted this mission this mission in the first place. If he had just thought it over for a day at least, maybe things would have been different. Stork sighed as he let his thoughts move away from Aerrow.
He didn't have many thoughts on Radaar. But, there were times, he was sure that the little hairball knew more than he let on. It's hard to trust someone you can barely understand.
Junko was simple and kind. And has a stomach that, as far as I can tell, has no bottom. Stork was at a loss to think of anything the wallop wouldn't eat. Except merb cabbage anyway. All the disgusting things I have seen that boy eat, and he can't eat delicious merb cabbage?
And then there was Finn. Finn's music. His lack of any good jokes. In fact, Stork found it hard to think of any of Finn's good points. Except, of course, the fun he had when it came to breaking Finn's things. He felt himself smile at the memory of all the various things Finn had used to annoy him, and how eventually broke them or melted them down.
That only left...Piper. Stork thoughts became flooded with memories of her. Her smile. Her sandcakes. She was the only one of the crew that ever seemed to understand him, or even tried to. She's so strong and confident. She's the only one who ever even tries to take a second and think about the dangers we're about to face. And they way she smells... Stork lost his train of thought as he let himself get lost in the memories he had of Piper.
He quickly remembered his situation and snapped himself back to reality. Not like I have a chance anyway. Stork felt his heart s he began to think of his own flaws. I'm older than her. I'm afraid of just about everything, especially the unknown. I'm not human, Stork sighed heavily, and I'm not Aerrow. The way those two related to each other always left Stork with a sour taste in his mouth. He saw the way she laughed and smiled with him,and every memory of it left a twisting pain in his stomach.
His thoughts were once again interrupted by Heron stepping back into view. "Well Stork?" Heron asked as he looked up at Stork with an expecting look. "Your voice should about be fully recovered now. So, what will it be? Resume your place as my apprentice, or not?" He let the last word roll out with a sour tone.
Stork looked down at Heron with a sorrow filled look and he opened his mouth to answer. But, before he could, a loud BANG came from the door of the lab, followed quickly by another. Heron quickly moved to several monitor's he had located on the far wall of the room.
"Hmmmm." Displeasure was apparent in Heron's tone. "It would seem we have some uninvited guests trying to crash our little reunion."
Bang
Heron quickly picked up something that, to Stork, looked like some kind of dart gun.
Bang
The doorway was bulging in now from the severe impact of the blows it was receiving.
Bang
Stork craned his head over as much as he could to try and look over at the door from where he lay.
BANG
The door came flying off it's hinges. It shot across the room barely missin Stork and making Heron duck for cover behind one of his work tables. Stork could make out Junko standing in the doorway with others moving behind him. Piper quickly shot through the opening carrying a Cyclonian staff weapon.
"Piper." Stork said in a weak voice, he was still recovering from the effects of Heron's injection.
Piper quickly looked over at Stork, a look of relief washed over her face. "STORK!" She quickly ran over to where he was. She leaned her staff against a table as she reached up to undo the restraints holding Stork up on the floating gurney.
Heron quickly emerged from where he had ducked behind his desk. "Stop right there!" He held up the dart gun, pointing it at Piper. The others quickly rushed into room, but halted in their tracks as they saw the weapon Heron had pointed at Piper. "Do you have any idea how much of my work you just ruined with your little intrusion!?" Heron yelled at them as he waved his hand at where the door had crashed into several of the tables where experiments had been running.
Piper gave him a look of anger as she spoke. "I'm sorry, but we thought helping our friend was a bit more important than your sick experiments."
"Sick?" Heron voice carried an irritated tone. "Sick!? My dear you know nothing of my work." Heron side stepped over to the ruined experiments as he kept his gun pointed at Piper. "This was an ongoing, time sensitive, experiment to try and find a treatment for Sarma Pox. Your buffoonery has set me back six months." He gave Piper an annoyed look through his tinted goggles. "Not all my work has questionable morality."
"It's your other work that has me sick to my stomach Heron." Piper said in a tone that reflected her anger towards Heron. "Now we are taking Stork and we are getting off this terra."
"It doesn't matter." Heron said, his grip tightening on the dart gun. "Soon, Cyclonis will have all she needs to conquer The Atmos." A grin spread across his face. "But, you my dear, won't be around to enjoy the new world we will create." He readied himself to fire his gun.
A shot of purple energy shot out from across the room, hitting Heron's hand. Heron dropped his gun as he grabbed his hand in pain. Everyone turned their heads to the direction that the shot had come from. Finn stood there with a Cyclonian staff weapon.
"What?" Finn looked at all of them with a triumphant expression. "You can always expect The Finn-ster to save the day." He shot them all his biggest smile.
"Thanks Finn." Piper said quickly before turning back around to free Stork. She lowered him down carefully while making sure not to apply to much pressure to his chest cast or his shoulder bandages. "Lets get out of here."
Heron let out a small laugh. "Where will you go Stork? Your not one of them. You never have been. Will you leave me again like a scared child?" Heron said as he cradled his injured hand.
"I grew up a long time ago." Stork said looking at Heron, his voice still a little shaky. He leaned on Piper for support as he bent down and picked up the dart gun that Heron had dropped, and pointed it at Heron. "And you were right. They aren't my squad." He looked at Piper and the others before looking back at Heron. "They're my family." He quickly pired a dart from the gun into Heron's chest. "Consider that a 'no' on your offer."
Heron looked up at him with a surprised expression before collapsing onto the ground.
Stork let the gun drop on the floor and, still leaning on Piper, looked at his friends. "Don't worry. Those were only tranquilizers." His legs felt weak as he leaned a bit more heavily on Piper before regaining his balance. "Now let's get out of this nightmare."
They all started moving towards the door. Junko came up to Piper. "I can carry him a bit."
Piper gave Junko a shake of her head. "It's okay, I have him."
Stork preferred the idea of being close to Piper than being carried like a sack of potatoes on Junko's shoulder. He gave her a small grin as he looked her in the eye. "Thanks for saving me."
Piper grinned back at him as they continued their way down the hallway.
"Um, not to break the mood guys." Finn spoke up as they moved through the hallway. "But how do we get out of here anyway?"
They all shared a look. Each of them giving a slight shrug.
Stork sighed. "Looks like we're all still doomed."
They all shared a laugh as they continued down they hall to try and find their escape route.
Only Piper let her thoughts wander back to Dr. Heron's words about Cyclonis soon having all she needed to take over The Atmos. What did he mean by that?
What indeed. Guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out. But please feel free to express your thoughts and feelsings on this chapetr through your reviews. Reviews are my crack and I need a fix. Later.