Chapter 2: Fight to the Finish

Sorry to those who hate long chapters. It just worked out this way :) and thanks to all those who favourited, reviewed, subscribed, story alerted etc.

Hope you enjoy:) Two more chapters to go! And I did say they were pre-written but I guess I got caught up in other things and forgot about them...Hehe. Oops.

Disclaimer: Nerd Corps owns Storm Hawks if I owned them, I'd keep the show going *cough* *cough* Nerd Corps.

Aerrow walked into the kitchen and sat on the stool beside Piper.

Piper looked at him and rolled her eyes. "What?"

"What did Finn do?"

"He purposely comes into the kitchen to bother me again when I told him not to!"

"Piper, I've never seen you act so childish before. I mean… you've always been so patient with him."

"So what. I can't blow up? If I keep the steam going for so long, I'll eventually have to you know."

"Piper, what I'm trying to say is just apologize to him."

Piper almost tipped her stool over in the process of standing up defiantly. "NO WAY! ABSOLUTELY NO WAY DOES FINN GET AN APOLOGY FROM ME!"

"Piper-"

"Aerrow, if you're going to make me apologize to that thing, then no way. Stay away from me!"

Aerrow wiped a hand over his face in frustration.

Next stop, Finn.

Aerrow took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Uh…Finn?"

There was no reply from within the room.

"Finn, are you in there? If you're trying to scare me I just want to talk."

There was still no reply. Was Finn really in there?

"Finn, I'm coming in."

Aerrow prayed, 'Please say he's decent.'

The door released and Aerrow walked in. Finn was sitting on his bed, his back towards Aerrow.

Aerrow scoffed, "Finn, if you're going to exist, you might want to answer when I call."

"Who says I have to?"

Aerrow saw Finn shake a bit. "Buddy, you okay?"

"I'm fine Aerrow. Just leave me alone." Aerrow could hear the fear in his voice. Since when did Finn back down from a fight with Piper? Since when did Finn ever show fear?

Aerrow walked around to face Finn but what he saw almost knocked the wind out of him. For Atmos' sake, Finn LAUGHED in the face of danger.

Aerrow smacked the item out of Finn's hand. "What in Atmos' name are you doing Finn?" The scissors landed by the wall. Red crust embedded on the blades.

Finn started to shed a few tears but tried to hold them back. Aerrow gently removed the hands off of Finn's legs. Blood was smeared across his boxers.

'Bastard, no life, not wanted.' All these words and a couple more were scratched onto his leg by the scissors.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Finn?"

"If nobody's going to listen how I feel…then what's the point? Why not just scratch it on myself?"

"Finn, you're better than this. I've never seen you like this before. If you need counselling, we'll get it for you. Just…just don't do this to yourself. This isn't you."

Finn started shaking uncontrollably. Tears streamed down his cheeks. "Do you think I like it Aerrow? Do…do you think I do? Everyday I have to get up and think about more insults from Piper. Everyday I face those 'you're so stupid Finn, you're so useless, and now…nobody wants you here.' I have had to face that for eight years of my life. I've had it."

"Then why didn't you just tell her?"

"Do you think Piper would actually listen to ME of all people?"

"Now that I think about it…no. Oh wait yes, yes she would." Aerrow probably thought he just made the situation even worse. No, was not the answer he should have said.

"Don't try lying to me Aerrow. You're so friggin transparent."

Aerrow scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Eh-heh."

He looked away for just one second, and Finn was already crawling towards the scissors. Aerrow took a quick move and stepped on the scissors just as Finn's fingers were going to clutch it. He quickly kicked the scissors away.

Aerrow had no choice. He had to resort to a threat. He took Finn by the collar. "Finn I swear on your grave, my grave, on the whole Atmos. If you don't stop engraving yourself with negativity, so help me now…I WILL throw you into the wastelands. Am I clear?"

"You can't do that to your own team mate."

"Just watch me Finn. Just watch me."

Aerrow quickly did a sweep of Finn's room and made sure Finn did not have any weapons he could possibly hurt himself with. He was also going to have a talk with Piper.

When Aerrow walked into the kitchen, Piper was still on the same stool stabbing a fork into the table.

"Piper, calm down."

"Why don't you?"

"What? Me? I am calm. What I want to say is to apologize to Finn. PLEASE." 'So I can get out of this hellish dream'

"No."

"Aww brother. C'mon Piper."

"Give me one reason why I should."

"Because of your…your insults, you've kind of let Finn down to his last nerve. He-"

"He what. Touched the crystals in my lab again? Ripped the pages out of my books?"

"No. He started to cut words into his legs with scissors."

"Wait…what?"

"I said he started cutting words in his legs with scissors."

"No. I..I didn't mean for this to happen. I should-"

Then, the alarms started ringing.

"Stork what have we got?"

"The Dark Ace."

"Piper, stay on the Condor with Stork. The rest of you, with me."

Junko asked, "Where's Finn?"

"I'm right here." Aerrow slapped a hand on Finn's shoulder. "Let's go Finn."

Finn gave a lopsided smile. He tried to look like he was okay. Aerrow thought, 'Talk about transparent. Finn's as transparent as air. Wait…does that even make sense? O.o'

Everyone took to their skimmers.

They drove head on to the Dark Ace and his talons. Aerrow drove up alongside him. "Time to meet your doom Aerrow."

"Your getting a bit repetitious Ace. Might want to try saying it when you actually mean it."

The Dark Ace brought his sword down on Aerrow's daggers.

"Back…off…Ace."

"Not a chance Storm Boy. If you want to get free, you'll have to send me down first."

Ace kicked Aerrow in the gut sending him to the edge of his skimmer.

Aerrow grimaced at the pain but was going to continue fighting. He wasn't going to give up that easily.

Aerrow swiped Ace's feet from under him which made him fall on the wing of Aerrow's skimmer.

Ace quickly took his blade and stabbed it into the wing. The engine started to sputter and smoke started forming in the air.

"Looks like I actually meant it this time. Aerrow. Oh yes, and thank you for making this such an easy defeat."

The Dark Ace hopped on his skimmer. Aerrow wasn't going down. He whipped out his daggers and blasted a Cyclonian off his skimmer and got on it.

Ace could hear an engine roaring and coming closer at him. "What the- damn. That little brat just won't give up."

He swivelled his skimmer around to face Aerrow.

He quickly took a shot towards Aerrow, which gave the boy no time to think or turn back.

The blade jabbed him in the arm. Blood started seeping out. Aerrow quickly deactivated the sword to lessen the pain. He pulled the sword out but it was covered in his blood.

Aerrow was going to bring the Dark Ace down if it meant sending both of them down.

The Dark Ace snatched the sword out of Aerrow's hand and was about to give a shot to the heart.

Finn saw what happened to Aerrow and felt a lump in his throat. He wasn't about to just watch his best friend/big brother die.

He drove his skimmer at top speed and lunged at the Dark Ace. A talon caught the Dark Ace on his skimmer.

"Good luck finding your way out of the wastelands."

Aerrow saw the two fall, the Dark Ace being caught, but Finn kept falling. He of all people, the clown of the Condor, the complainer, whatever you wanted to call him, it didn't matter now. He was Aerrow's lifesaver. He could have been falling into the wastelands but Finn took the plunge and took his place.

He was going down to go and rescue Finn but suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides by talons. There was no way this was going to be a one man job. It was every man for himself now.

'Come on Finn. Make it out alive.'

Wastelands

Finn was falling uncontrollably. He couldn't stop himself.

Just as he fell onto the rocky ground below, he felt a crunch.

He grasped his right arm in pain. He tried to move it but it felt like a thousand skimmers being rammed into him.

Something fell from the sky and landed three feet away from him.

He mumbled to himself, "Like my life's worse enough. You want to kill me?"

He took a closer look at the pile of junk. "Yeah. The Dark Ace HAD to send my only way of escape to oblivion."

"Aerrow to Finn, Aerrow to Finn….come….in."

"What the- my transmitter? OH COME ON. Everything had to be crushed except the thing that probably WON'T help me."

He pressed the transmission button. "What Aerrow?"

"Are you-OH BACK OFF ACE."

Finn cut the transmission from Aerrow. "I can get out on my own. Thanks sooo much Aerrow."

Suddenly, the ground underneath him started rumbling. "What now?"

The lava geysers started rumbling and bubbles started popping.

Finn thought, 'Maybe cutting transmission wasn't such a good idea.'

He pressed the button hoping Stork would answer his distress call.

"Finn to Condor, can anyone here me?"

"Piper to-oh it's you. What's up? Your parachute can't deploy?"

"Shut up woman. I'm down in the wastelands and the geysers look like they're about to erupt."

"Well, just as long as you're back against one of the far walls-"

"Piper, hell my arm is probably broken and it hurts to even get up."

"Fine, we'll come and get you. Stork-"

"You guys are too far away. You won't be able to reach my coordinates in two minutes."

"Then what do you want me to do? Hold you by the hand like a baby and try to calm you down with a pacifier?"

Finn tried to hold back the tears. There was no way he was going to cry and give Piper the satisfaction she wanted.

"No Piper. I want you to say goodbye to the team for me."

"Wait, what?"

"Piper, face it. I'm not going to make it out of here, I can barely get myself off the ground without feeling that skimmers just ran into me."

"Come on Finn… you have to make it out of there alive."

"Oh so now the she-witch cares?"

"Finn you could have just told me to stop insulting you. I…I'm sorry for what I did. Just please, please come out alive. I don't freaking care if your arm is broken use every muscle you have to scale those walls and we'll come and get you."

One geyser erupted.

"Finn, what was that?"

"A geyser erupted." He gulped down a lump in his throat knowing that every second that passed by, was one second closer to his death which he knew was coming.

"Please Piper. Just tell everyone that they were the best crew a sharpshooter could ever have, you guys were the best family I could ever have, and I love you all- AHHHHHH!"

"Finn?" "Sorry. The lava burnt a bit of my hand."

"Finn you idiot. I swear if you don't get out of there I'm giving extra chores to you regardless of what Aerrow says."

Silence.

"Finn. Finn…."

The two geysers flanked on either side of Finn started to rumble and the lava started to overflow. "This is it Piper. This is goodbye. For now anyways."

"Finn, Finn you…I-"

He cut the transmission once again. The lava overflowed, the geysers rumbled. He shuffled his feet so they would carry him back to the wall but it wasn't enough.

He struggled to get up and run. All his legs would do was take him into a staggering toddler walk.

'Please legs, pick up the pace, carry me out of here.'

He ran and ran away from the incoming lava but managed to trip over the hole of a geyser and hit his head.

He groaned and rubbed his head.

Then the Earth started shaking.

Finn's eyes grew wide. 'No please!'

The geyser shot him into the air. It singed most of his back, his legs and his hands. Most of his body. Third degree burns.

The pillar of lava dropped back down and Finn was thrown a few feet away from it. He managed to knock his head and it started bleeding.

He slowly started fading in and out of consciousness. He heard a buzzing sort of noise in his ear. It sounded, not like an animal, but more of…a vehicle probably.

Then he heard a voice and soft hands started shaking him.

"Finn, I told you I'd make it. Finn? Finn! Please stay with me. I'm going to bring you back to the Condor and we're going to patch you up okay?"

"Pi…Piper?"

Piper started tearing up but quickly wiped the tears away. Finn looked….terrible. Well, he always looked terrible considering the fact that he sometimes didn't know which foot was which and he could sometimes put his shirt on backwards, and on top of all that, put so much gel in his hair mind worms couldn't get into his brain because they'd be stuck in all the gel. (As Stork put it). But, this time, he looked more of a scared eight year old. His face was pale, most of his body was burned, scratches and bruises lay on his face. There was also blood trickling from the back of his head.

"Yes Finn. It's me."

"Well…I guess…who else could it be? I've heard your voice, mad or happy, for the past ten years."

"Finn, don't talk about dying I'll-"

"Piper….it's too….late. I….can already feel my heart giving out."

"Finn, you have to fight! Think about what Aerrow teaches us everyday. To never give up." The dam in her eyes broke and tears started trickling.

Finn felt them and asked, "Are you crying?" He gave a weak laugh.

"Finn, if you knew how I feel inside right now, you'd be crying to."

"Yeah right. The Finnster never cries."

"Aerrow told me what you did to yourself Finn. If you would've just…talked to me and gave in a few sobs here and there, I would've stopped."

"Yeah. Because acting…like an apologizing six year old will help."

"I guess I should have listened. You don't deserve this Finn. I…I wish-"

"We all wish Piper. But…what's done is done. You can't undo the past anymore than it has been damaged."

His eyes started to close, his breaths coming to a quick close.

Piper scooped Finn up in her arms and cried out, "Finn! Finn! Finn, please stay with me. Concentrate on the sound of my voice. Just please, don't leave Finn. Just keep squeezing my hand if you can hear me. I'm sor-"

Then his hand let go, his eyes closed. His body lay limp.

"FINN! FINN!" She shook him. "Please Finn wake up! Wake up!"

Tears blurred her vision. This was it. His life had come to a short close. She told him to go away but he died there. In her arms.

There you have it! Another chapter! Hope you enjoyed and sorry for the delay!

~angel