Author's note: This is the one we've all been waiting for (well, besides a confrontation with Piper, but you can see why I'm saving that for the finale). Our favorite Sky Knight (unless you happen to like Starling…ok, I'm going to stop the parentheses ramblings…) is about to face down Master Cyclonis! Will he be taken as easily as the rest of his squadron? Or will he hold his own against the most feared Cyclonian of them all? Read on!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Storm Hawks.
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There was something wrong; Aerrow could feel it in his gut. Radarr had seemed to agree with him, because he left to run around the ship, do a quick check on the squadron. He raced out the door five minutes ago, and hadn't returned yet.
Thump. Aerrow heard something from the bridge. It was probably Stork overreacting about a shadow that looked like a Vulcabat, he thought, but he decided to check it out anyway. Something did feel wrong on the Condor, and it was his job to make sure it was just his normal case of leader's worry.
His worry intensified, and sense of normality disappeared, when he found Radarr's unconscious body in one of the corridors. He walked faster, staying in the shadows of the doorway.
It was her. Master Cyclonis stood over the collapsed heap of his pilot, shiny hair and purple cape facing him.
"Aerrow, the annoying brat who calls himself a Sky Knight," she said in her soft, dangerous voice. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come investigate. You can never keep your nose out of business which isn't your own."
There goes my plan for a surprise attack. He pulled out his twin blue blades, activating them as he leapt forward. She parried his attack with ease.
"Why do you do it?" she asked. "Why do you keep fighting, when you know that the outcome will only be that you—" she brought her staff down, hitting him roughly in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him backwards "—will lose."
He grunted, circling warily. Without being distracted, he responded to her question. "There's something called honor. There's something called friendship. There's something called love. I wouldn't expect you to know about any of those, Cyclonis." He spat her name as if it were a curse. He was generally good natured, but seeing the bodies of his beloved pet and good friend Stork on the ground helpless had enraged him. "When you have a reason to fight, a reason to live, you fight even when all hope is lost."
He raised his daggers, barely blocking an sizzling bolt of energy aimed for his head. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right—there was no way he could win this battle. Soon, he would join his squadron in the land of counting sheep.
A blast of power hit his hands, causing him to drop his daggers. He leaped sideways, knowing there was only so long that he could keep this up. Another dodge to the right, then to the left, then his reflexes were half a second to slow as the floor beneath him exploded, sending him flying across the room.
Aerrow managed to retain consciousness as her purple-grey boots stepped closer, closer. "Why?" he rasped as she raised her staff for the final blow that would send him into unconsciousness.
"Because I can."
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Evil, aren't I? Anyway, Piper's chapter and the epilogue will be up in a few more minutes!