Winds of Change Book II Distant Thunder

by RGZ Archer

Kai has assembled his team, and the group of seven must now race against both Cyclonia and time itself to prevent a weapon of unimaginable power from falling into the wrong hands. But just whose hands are the wrong hands? Who is their true enemy?

16. Battle of the Ancients!

Winds of Change Book II: Distant Thunder

Chapter 16: Battle of the Ancients! A Friends Decision!

AN: Whew, this is my longest chapter to date, and that's saying something. Sorry it's a little late. Had to go to a funeral, then I had to babysit the Oni-Gaki (Japanese for Demon Brats) and now I'm sick. At the moment, I can't even actually talk and I'm too weak to fight my mom for the remote control. So I figured instead of watching 'The Wlatons' or 'Little House on the Perry' I'd finish this monster up. In the future, my chapters won't be this big, this one is just very important for the future character development of the cast and has some really good fight scenes (which are always a pain in the butt to write out). Now, I will tell you now that this chapter, like I said before, will have some very dark parts to it. I have, however tried to balance it out as best I can with the other colors of the writing spectrum, though some parts will be a little rough. I hope you enjoy this, because it was the hardest thing I have had to write (other than my Digimon story) to date.

Enjoy!

Also don't forget check out Arashi21's new story: Fighting Wings! Which ties in with the Winds of Change serie, but is told through the eyes of Kestrel!

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will, also I do not own anything related to Legend of the Dragoon or Legend of Zelda, or Code Lyoko. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, Sony Entertainment, Nintendo and Moonscape, however I DO own Kai, Rose, the Shadow crystal, the Wasps, and this story.

Shadow,Griffy and Nagera are the property of ShadowQueen25

Tigger belongs to Mrs J Black

Marina is Star Wars Nut's

Rondana was made, and is owned by MissDedodakes

Scarlett is the creation of Love Flame

For the first time since the Nightmare of Mesa, Kai cried.

Not whimpered, not sniffled.

Cried

He remained silent, true, but tears were streaming down his face like a river.

"AHHHH! It feels like my bloods turning into lead! It hurts!"

Letting lose a feral roar, Kai channeled every ounce of pain that coursed through his being into energy. A trick that he had picked up from Rose years ago. Dragons were always strong, even when extremely old, but when they were injured, angry, or in any form of pain this was especially true.

And right now, Kai felt like he was being boiled alive from the inside out.

Looking down at her cargo, Schaeffer blinked away a single tear form her eye. She knew the pain the boy was experiencing first hand, as she recalled some of the more desperate plans she had partaken in during past missions, including one occasion where her friends had transferred their power back to her.

To put it simply, it felt like having air forced into every pore of your skin through hypodermic needles.

But thankfully, the boy had been right. He had survived the transfer, and now had a chance to fight on equal ground.

"Kai, you alright?"

The teen craned his neck up to look her in the face, and she cringed. His eyes were red rimmed, but his slit pupils had narrowed to the point of looking like razor blades.

"Fully Charged. Just get me to Shadow, and I'll do my best, but I can't promise you that I'll last too long in this state."

Schaeffer nodded, catching his point that even though he was in an 'empowered state' the process had drained him of any real endurance. This meant that Shadow only had to hit him a few good times to put him down, powered or not, a person could only take so much pain.

As the two made their way to the tower, they saw the top 'bloom' open like a flower, and two figures 'dancing' across the now exposed top floor.

"It's Rose, she's in trouble."

Schaeffer focused her vision on the now open roof of the tower, and saw that Rose was indeed in a spot of trouble.

Armed with a gold staff, she was doing a good job at holding off the broadsword armed Shadow.

However, there was one problem.

Rose no longer had a physical body, just an electromagnetic crystal energy field. So while she could interact with things physically, it was only to a limited degree and for a very limited period of time.

"Come now child. You think you can fight me?" Rose taunted.

Shadow snarled as she brought her sword around to try and decapitate Rose.

Keyword: Try

"I have had ten thousand years to practice ever form of combat known to my past hosts. You have limited yourself to a single style of combat, and have been around for far less time that I. Why don't you retreat back into that sword you've called a prison for the last few thousand years and save yourself the humiliation you would receive should I take this fight serious?"

"Big talk Dragon. I have killed many of your kind in my time, I shall add your skin to my collection. I am no fool. Your time on this plain is limited. Mine is not."

Bringing her sword down with all her strength, Shadow slammed into Rose's staff. The resulting shockwave shook the tower itself and created a blast of air strong enough to knock a person down.

But Rose merely grinned as she held her staff firmly.

With one hand.

"My time might be limited, but so is yours. Tell me oh fallen one, how did you go about slaying my brethren? Poison them? Slay them in their sleep? Or did you bring their den down around them as they healed from fighting armies? I know your kind, cowards to the core. Your time is nigh, fool." Rose said delivering a powerful kick to knock Shadow off balance.

Looking up in surprise, Shadow spun around one full time before letting her blade fly like a disc of death.

To her shock, Rose swatted the nearly six foot blade with the back of one hand as though it were an annoying fly.

"Being trapped inside that crystal has given me precious few chances to experience actual battle, and even then it is always disappointing. Trying to reach out, but being forced to hold back, fearing that too much power and I will kill someone, or will cause harm to innocents. I grow weary of living in this glass world. It is true that you are using my vassal's friend as a host, but I also know that she cannot be harmed so long as you are in control. You, and only you shall feel my wrath!" Rose shouted as she brought her staff around to slam into Shadow's side, knocking her to the ground and almost off the circular platform into the towers interior.

"Rose! Heads up!"

Not even turning to look, Rose ducked to the side as Kai flew past her like a heat seeking missile into Shadow, knocking her off the platform, and into the towers interior, with him clinging to her torso like a vice.

Seconds later Schaeffer landed beside her, folding her wings before rushing to her side.

"Rose! Are you ok?"

For a moment Rose didn't respond, but her shoulders quickly slumped and her breathing became labored as she dropped to her knees.

"I…I am fine. But my time is short. She managed to reprogram something before I drove her off, but I'm not sure what. You have to hurry and fix it. If we miss this window we'll have to start over again."

Schaeffer sighed.

"I know Rose, I know. But I can only do my best. How much time do you have left?"

Rose took several deep breaths.

"Five, minutes, maybe more if I don't do anything more than breathe. She's gotten stronger since last time, almost forced me to use everything I had just to hold her off."

"I told you that she'll gets stronger every time. If this doesn't work, we might not get another chance, you know that right?"

Rose nodded sadly. "I know, but what's left to lose?"

Schaeffer sighed again as she went to work on fixing whatever she had done to the towers systems.

"Get off of me you fool!"

"Make me!"

Shadow snarled before punching Kai in the gut full force, knocking the wind out of him, and forcing him to let go.

The two were currently falling towards the rapidly approaching ground, and fighting to insure the other would land on the bottom.

"I have waited long for this day, and no child is going to deny me my victory!" Shadow shouted harshly.

"I don't care how long you've waited! You're not using my little sister you freak! Whoever you are come out and fight me yourself!" Kai shouted as he blocked her punches as best he could, trying not to hurt Shadow in the process.

"Kai, you idiot, it's her body but it's not her! You don't have to hold back, she can't feel a thing, and whatever damage is done to he can be healed. Just don't kill her!" Rose shouted in his mind.

"I can't just hit her! She's my friend!" Kai shouted back mentally.

"Do you think she wants to hurt you? Kai, listen to yourself! She's being controlled like a puppet, but she can see and hear everything happening around her. Do you want her to see you get beaten to death by her own hands! FIGHT BACK!" Rose ordered, making sure to use Starling's voice rather than her own.

"But, if I hurt her, she'll…"

"Kai, if you fight her with everything you've got, she will respect you far more than if you let that thing force her into killing you. You have to prove how far you are willing to go to protect your friends, even from themselves. Show her that you ARE her brother. Fight HER TO FREE HER!"

Gritting his teeth, Kai growled. He knew that what Rose was saying was true, but at the same time, it meant he would have to actually fight one of his closest friends as though they were the enemy.

Blinking, he looked up and caught Shadow's fist in his open hand, before catching her next strike with his other.

"It's nothing personal Shadow, but I can let you win!" Kai shouted as he switched holds and pulled her arms around so that he was behind her.

"I will not allow you to defeat me again Kai!"

For a brief moment, Kai's eyes jumped, but he did not release his hold. Feeling Shadow pull her arms open, he knew that she would quickly break his hold at this rate.

"Man, I hope she's in a forgiving mood after this."

Taking a deep breath, Kai released his hold before clamping his arms around her in a reverse, then spinning her so she was facing the ground, before tightening his hold and wrapping his legs around hers to hold them in place.

"Falcon drop!" Kai shouted as the two slammed into the ground with enough force to shake the tower.

"Rrrraaaaarrrr!" With a feral cry, Marina ran at full speed at Piper before jumping.

Piper, who figured out her plan, caught her by the heel before throwing the older woman skyward.

"Lets see dodge this!" Reeling her arms back, Marina let lose a blast of gold and red crystal energy that snaked across the sky, knocking out dozens of switchblades before slamming into the ground.

Rondana and Tigger, along with Radarr and Griffy,( who had emerged from the wreckage just before the battle had begun) watched as their only two remaining fighters fought what everyone knew was a losing battle.

"Come on Starling, we need your help! Please wake up!" Tigger shouted as she shook the unconscious woman's shoulders.

"Tigger! Leave her be! We need her to wake up, not go into a coma!"

"Rondana! Look around! If she doesn't wake up we're toast!"

"I know that Tigger, but she's injured! You don't send an injured person into the front lines, no matter how desperate the situation is!" Rondana barked back.

Clinching her fists, Tigger found herself wishing that the Healing crystal was still in one piece for the millionth time since the mission began.

"I know it was to break the curse, but we really need it now. For once I actually CAN blame everything on Aladd, and it doesn't make me feel better!"

"Ugh, and to think you're the one who took my place? Unacceptable!"

Jumping in surprise, Tigger turned her head to look behind her, her neck sounding like an old creaky door as she did.

Standing behind her was a tall, thin young woman in her late twenty's, wearing what looked like some form of street clothing.

But what caught her attention was the almost proud widow's peak that the woman's hair formed above her brow.

"That…that…that's not possible! She died four thousand years ago!"

The woman rolled her eyes before groaning.

"I swear, and people called me an airhead? Look, I don't really have time to explain, and I don't really care to either. So let's get straight to the point. Oh, and don't talk out loud. Your little friends have enough to deal with right now without having to worry about you going crazy and talking to thin air."

"But….you…your,"

"Yes, my name is Elizabeth Delmas Dumbar, and yes, I know that I'm…dead. Before you go screaming about ghosts, I want to clarify, I am not a ghost, I am shadow, an imprint left behind on this terra. Sort of like this terra's memory of me, got it?"

Tigger nodded, but kept her mouth shut.

"Now, I can understand why you're having trouble, but you need to pull yourself together girl and get your butt in the game!"

Blinking, and trying to think of a way to respond without actually talking, Tigger decided to try 'thinking' at the irate woman.

"Unless you're blind, we're surrounded by like, a hundred guys on skimmers. We're all still banged up pretty bad from earlier. Heck, my hands are burned and I'm surprised Rondana was able to even carry Starling out here, even with Marina's help!"

The older woman rolled her eyes again.

"You complain more than me, Sam and Odd combined. Geeze you're a brat." Not seeing, (or rather, not caring) the look Tigger shot her, the woman continued.

"Look, you might not be aware of this, but your little friends a host for the Catseye curse right now and is currently pounding the tar out of Sleeping Beauty's boy toy."

Tigger's eyes widened

"Fortunately for you, this is a good thing."

"HOW IS MY FRIEND BECOMING A TRAITOR A GOOD THING!" Tigger 'thought' as loudly as she could.

"I swear if Odd cracks one joke about us being related…look, it's a good thing because it means that you can use my powers again, if only temporarily," she explained.

Tigger furrowed her brow in concentration.

"What powers? I've never had any powers. Just a stolen Cyclonian staff and a bunch of crystals."

The older woman looked about ready to pull her hair out.

"THE HEALING CRYSTAL YOU FLEE BRAINED TWIT! My powers were not from Mrs. Einstein, they were mine! I awoke them because I wanted a way to help my friends, but they were linked to William's curse because I wished to help…Ulric."

"Uh…who?"

"Look, I told you I don't have time to explain, so I'm going to make this so simple that even a blond could understand it ok?"

It took a second for the insult to register, but before Tigger could quip back she continued.

"My powers were awakened through my desire to help a friend 'fight' the Dumbar…Catseye curse. Through that desire, I gained the ability to heal others, but only as long as the curse was active. As time passed, my continual use of this healing power caused my mothers necklace to become a Healing Crystal through exposure to my powers. That's why it was still able to heal others. The powers of the Healer however, are linked to the curse. The stronger it becomes, the stronger the Healer's. You are the current Healer, even without the crystal. With your friend's blood having awakened, so has yours."

It took only a brief moment for Tigger to piece the pieces together.

"Now hurry up! Your friends won't last long without help." With that, the woman faded from view, leaving Tigger alone with her thoughts.

"Great, I can heal, but how do I make it work? Not like SHE TOLD ME HOW TO USE HER FREAKING POWERS!" Tigger' thought' shouted again.

Between Marina's special attack, and Piper's ice crystal sniping, quite a few of the enemy's had been grounded.

The problem now however, was that instead of just aerial opponents, they had air and land based ones to deal with.

At the same time.

"Remind me again, what we're doing?" Piper shouted she fired another stream of crystal ice at the approaching Talon's.

"Fighting to the last man!" Marina shouted back as she kicked one Talon in the chest before spinning around to punch another one out cold.

"Uh huh, I don't think this plan is working!" Piper shouted back.

Marina sighed, knowing that the younger girl was right. "It's not like we could have done anything else. Surrender is not an option, and neither is calling for help. All we can do is put up as much of a fight as possible and prey for a miracle."

Hitting a Talon in the head with the hilt of her scimitars, Marina's eyes narrowed. "But that doesn't mean we don't give up until it comes."

Jumping into the air and twisting her blades in a figure eight motion, ending with the two blades slamming into each other, Marina let lose another Serpents Strike on the Talons.

Opening his eyes, Kai was surprised to find that he was not on the ground, but actually 'hovering' about two feet above it.

"What the?"

"I do hope that is not your best. Last time that might of worked, but not anymore."

Looking down, Kai felt his jaw drop.

His attack was meant to bring a quick end to the fight by driving Shadow's head into the ground, and hopefully putting her out 'quickly'. However, she had apparently managed to break one arm free from his hold and used it to break their fall.

The floor was cracked and splintered from the force of the impact, but Shadow's left arm was planted firmly in the ground with an open palm, and holding up both of them even now.

"Ok, that is a very, very bad thing."

"Get off!" Throwing her legs open and right arm out, Shadow dislodged Kai before pushing off with her left hand and delivered a punishing kick to his torso as she back flipped to the ground.

"ARGH! You'll pay for that!" Clutching his chest, Kai pushed himself off the ground and charged the girl before dropping into a double leg sweep, which she dodged by jumping over and countered with a one handed power drive.

Moving out of the way just in time, Kai watched in mix fascination and fear as the small teen girls fist struck the ground with enough force to leave a hand sized hole where it hit up to her wrist.

"If I hadn't moved, she would have punched right through me like a wet paper bag!"

Using his arms to launch himself at Shadow, Kai curled into a summersault, then a forward handspring, so that he was flying feet first at her.

"Why won't you just go down?!"

Stepping to the side, Shadow growled as she slammed her elbow into Kai's stomach, again knocking the wind out of him and crumpling him to the floor.

"Be gone pest!"

Rolling, Kai evaded her stomp and used the opportunity to grab her by the leg and pull her off balance, but was surprised to find that her legs were planed firmly to the ground, and that he had only succeeded in leaving himself open.

"You are no match for me child!" Throwing the leg Kai had grasped onto out, Shadow knocked Kai off and several feet back before charging.

"I'm faster than you!"

Eyes wide, Kai dropped to his knees from the force of Shadow slamming her elbow into his back.

"How'd she do that? It's like she vanished!"

"I'm stronger than you!"

Reeling her arm back, Shadow delivered a powered uppercut, sending Kai flying several feet back and into the air.

"And I'm ten times the fighter you'll ever be!"

Looking up, all that Kai saw was the back of her leg as it came down and slammed him down from the air into the ground like a human torpedo.

All she could do was watch.

She felt every blow, saw every sight, could smell every sent, and hear every sound.

But the entire time, Shadow was powerless to do anything.

Every time Kai tried to do anything, she would see a time where he had used that particular move before in her mind, and then saw how to counter it, which she would.

No matter how much she screamed, no matter how hard she tried, her body wouldn't respond. The curse had her in its eager hands, and it was not going to let go. Even now it had ceased taunting and tormenting her in favor of simply ignoring her.

"Kai! Run away! Please! Just get away from here!"

Through she cried out, noting came. Her voice was no longer hers to call out, just as her body was no longer hers to control.

All she could do was watch as she brutally attacked a person who had been her friend for several years, a friend that had saved her from herself at one point.

And cry tears that only she could see or hear.

"I know your every move, I have seen all of your techniques, and I know how to render each and every one of them useless. You have no chance of defeating me!"

Pushing himself up slowly, Kai spat to the side and wiped his mouth.

"Correction, you know every move you have seen through her eyes. You have access only to the memories Shadow has!" Taking a deep breath, Kai stomped his left foot onto the ground before sliding it out several inches, then repeated the process with his right leg, but slid it several inches forward instead of out.

"Black operations rule number one. Never let anyone see, or know the full extent of your capabilities. Friend, foe, or no con."

Face twisting into a snarling grin, Shadow laughed.

"So, you still have some fight left in you? Good, I have a few grudges that I can work out on you from the last time!"

Charging, Shadow threw a strong haymaker, which Kai dodged by twisting to one side.

Following the haymaker, Shadow threw out a jab, followed by a hook, and a high sweep kick.

Kai deflected each and every punch with the back of his wrist and ducked the kick attack, leaving Shadow off balance and open.

"Ten times the fighter? In your dreams!"

Striking Shadow with an open palm in the chest, Kai swept his left leg around without lifting it from the ground and caught the back of her heel, knocking her back slightly and keeping her off balance. Following the sweep, Kai let lose a series of lightning fast jabs and palm thrusts, only stopping the pattern to deflect her counters.

Spinning the other way, Kai finished the kata with reverse elbow thrust to her stomach before continuing the turn to face her and planting one last open palm, knocking her to the ground.

Not waiting to give her time to get up, Kai sprinted the short distance to where she had fallen and threw a one handed overhead smash, which she evaded by rolling. This did not buy her much time however as Kai followed this up with several stomps, ending only when she managed to get to her feet.

"You never used any of those before, but Starling has! I can still take you down!"

Jump stepping, Kai pulled back his arm, but at the last second stopped and instead brought his right leg straight up with a Crane kick.

"You know nothing of me! I know more styles of combat than Staring, Aerrow and you combined!"

Pulling back on one leg, Kai brought his other still raised one around in a series of quick striking kicks. None of them had much power to them, but they were fast enough that Shadow didn't have time to block, let alone counter.

Stomping his raised leg down, Kai brought his other one around to do a reverse snap kick, knocking her flat on her back.

"Kai! Please stop! It's me Shadow!" She cried out weakly between coughs and gasps.

Pausing for only a second, Kai blinked.

Just long enough to see her grin.

"Never let your guard down!" Shadow shouted before vanishing in a cloud of smoke, only to reappear behind him and strike him in the back.

"I bet you're still hurting from those burns you got, aren't you?" Shadow mocked with a falsely concerned tone.

"Lets make them worse!" Bringing her foot down, Shadow tried to stomp him in the back, but he managed to dodge the blow just in time.

"Good going bone head. Of course she's going to fight dirty. I just wish I knew what the heck I was dealing with! Is this really Shadow? Or is it something else? If its her dark side taking over, then all I have to do is make her run out of steam, but if she's being controlled like a puppet, then she'll fight to the point of killing herself from exhaustion. What am I supposed to do?!"

"Get back!" Piper shouted as she slammed her staff into the ground to launch herself at the Talons charging them.

"I have to keep them as far away from the others as possible. But if I go too far, I'll be cut off. Man this stinks. I wish the others were here right now." Piper thought when she landed and swept her staff around to knock the Talons down.

"Aerrow would know what to do, Junko's strength would REALLY be some help right now, heck, even Finn with his crossbow would be nice. I'd even take Stork! Something, anything! But what do I get? Two hurt girls, an unconscious Sky Knight, a Sky Monkey, a Griffin, me and Marina! This sucks!"

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" 'New' Piper chipped.

"Oh yeah, and a voice in my head. So not only is the situation hopeless, but I'm also schizoid, B-E-A-UTIFUL!"

Hitting a nearby Talon, Piper didn't even notice that the man landed four feet back and didn't get back up.

"I'm always stuck cleaning up everyone else's mess!"

Growling, Piper backhanded another Talon, who also landed a few feet back, and like the first, remained out cold.

"WHY CAN'T I EVER GET A FREAKING BREAK IN MY LIFE!? JUST ONCE!" Piper roared before letting lose a chain of strikes that left five more Talons out like a light, and moving on to the next group.

"Aw, what about me? I've helped you plenty of times in the past!" 'New' Piper goaded.

"DON'T START WITH ME! I DON'T NEED ADVICE FROM STUPID VOICE IN MY HEAD TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"

Several Talon's who had witnessed her knocking out the others became slightly uncomfortable at this point.

A teenage girl, with legs about as thick as most of their arms had just knocked out seven men with seven blows, and now she was talking to herself.

"Great, boss gets to have fun while we fight the escapees from Atmos's loony bin," one of them muttered.

"I'M NOT CRAZY!" Piper shouted before hitting the man with several successive blows, the last of which was an uppercut, witch also knocked him five feet into the air before laying him out cold, though his eyes were open, instead of pupils the word 'Tilt' was seen in both of them.

"WHOSE NEXT! HUH!? WHO WANT'S A PIECE OF THIS!" Piper screamed as she charged the swarm of Talons.

Rondana gapped, while Tigger shook her head.

"She's lost it," Tigger said.

"She's snapped," Rondana added.

"Augh huhhh grrr," Radarr finished. (Translation: They're screwed)

Kai and Shadow charged each other again, launching blow after blow which the other would duck, block or deflect. This continued for several minutes until the situation became very clear to both combatants.

Kai was sore, having difficulty moving, and painting for breath.

Shadow was scowling.

In other words, things were not in Kai's favor at the moment.

"I can't keep this up, she's just too much. It's like she never gets tired. Does she even breathe?!"

"Please! Kai, just run away! Forget about me!"

"Why are you sitting there crying? Your friend needs help."

Shadow looked around in the dark void she had been sent to after the curse grew tired of hearing her pleads.

"Whose there?! Show yourself!"

Patt patt patt

"Why do you need to see me? Shouldn't it be enough that you can hear me?" The voice asked calmly.

"Last time someone said that, I wound up here! Show yourself!"

The voice chuckled before stepping a few feet closer.

"I'm right here Arabella. Where I've always been."

Looking up in shock, Shadow felt her eyes tear up and her heart clinch.

"No, you can't be here, not now. I can't take this!"

The man frowned before offering his hand to help her up.

"I want to help you, surely you don't think I would," before he could finish, Shadow smacked his hand away and schooched back several times to distance them.

"Get away from me! Your not here! It's just the curse trying to break me even more! I know its you! What's the matter?! Not enough for you to make me feel every time my fist hits him! Not enough that I feel every time I kick him! Or is my hearing his gasps and cry's of pain just not good enough for you!"

The man's eyes softened before he crouched down to her level.

"Look, I know you…hate me…but I want to help you. You're my daughter, its all I've ever wanted to do."

"Liar! I know the curse only lasts for eleven years, eleven years! You've been fighting for Cyclonian way past that length of time. You're not under the curses influence anymore. What you're doing is by your will!"

The man shook his head before sighing.

"That's not true. I am still under the curse, its just…different for me."

Shadow snorted

"Arab"

"Shadow! My name is Shadow! And don't you dare call me anything else!" Shadow seethed.

The man held up his hands to show he understood before continuing.

"Shadow, the curse tried to take me over after…after the fire. I couldn't just leave you then, I had to give you time to grieve, time to have someone there to look after you."

"One year! You call one year time to get over having your mother die in front of your eyes! You left me on her anniversary!"

Not pausing, the man continued.

"I made a deal with the curse. One year's time, in exchange for my willing service. It was all I could do!"

Shadow blinked, and then blinked again before clinching her teeth.

"I don't believe you, I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! GET OUT! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"

The man's eyes narrowed as he rose from his position and walked towards the prone girl.

"Look, I'm running out of patience. There is a lot more at stake here than you could possibly imagine. Time has run out, you can't afford to dilly dally while everything goes to Oblivion in a hand grenade!"

Pushing back to get away from the man, Shadow pushed herself up and started to run as fast as she could.

Cursing under his breath, the red eyed man gave chase.

Catching his arm by the wrist, Marina tossed the Talon over her shoulder before kneeling down and hitting him square in the chest, insuring he would stay down for the rest of the fight.

"They just keep coming and coming! How many are left?" Marina asked herself before deflecting a series of crystal shots back to the crowd of Talons.

As far as she could tell, she was the only one left. The Talons had surrounded her and completely cut her off from the others. All she could see was an endless army of Talons on all sides. She couldn't even hear the others any more. Just the taunts, jeers and insults of the men who surrounded her on all sides.

They charged her, two, three, sometimes four at a time, before being thrown back, knocked out, or otherwise 'neutralized' from the battle, but it didn't seem to matter. They just kept coming, and she was starting to have trouble moving without tripping over unconscious Talon's.

"Out of my way!"

Looking to one side, Marina saw several Talon's get thrown to the side or in the air before the last few crumpled over in pain.

"Marina! Are you ok?!"

Sighing in relief, Marina smiled as Piper rushed towards her.

The two, now standing back to back with their weapons drawn, turned to look the other one last time in the eye before nodding, and charging with a war cry.

"Get off!" Rondana shouted as she tried to free herself from the Talons that were pulling her away.

Griffy and Raddar were doing their best, but with Rondana and Tigger's hands burnt there wasn't much that they could do to fight.

"Let go of me you big ape!" Tigger shouted as she twisted and thrashed to free herself.

"Boss wants you gone, dats what boss gets. Bye bye girly!" One of the Talon's teased.

Narrowing her eyes, Tigger's face changed into a smirk.

"You have any kids?" She asked innocently.

The man stopped for a second.

"Huh? Yeah, a son, why?"

"Good," Tigger replied before throwing her left leg forward, then back in a swift backwards arc.

The result was a loud girlish screech of pain, Tigger being freed, and the Talon dropping like a sack of potatoes.

"I don't have much time, I hope this works!" Tigger thought as she threw herself down beside Starling's still unconscious form.

Rondana, having seen what Tigger did, decided that what was good for the goose was good for the gander.

"Heeeyaaa!"

Another Talon dropped in pain, allowing Rondana to turn and face her other attacker.

"If your kids turn out retarded, just remember it's your fault not mine!" She shouted before driving her knee up and forward into the second Talon.

Several other Talon's who had seen this happen paused before shifting their stances uncomfortably, only to watch in mute horror as the woman continued her assault, delivering three additional 'strikes' to said man before punching him in the gut then running to her friend.

Two of the Talon's turned to each other before holding out and shaking their hands three times.

The first ended with an open palm, the second a fist.

"Dang"

"Guys! Please help me! Anyone!"

"Ara…Shadow! Your friends need you! Why won't you listen to me!"

"Because you're a liar! Everything you've ever said was a lie! I'm not letting you trick me again! You're not my father!" Shadow shouted as she continued running.

The man groaned as he gave chase.

"What do you have to lose in trusting me?"

The girl didn't respond, she just continued running.

"Your friends are in trouble, they need your help!" He tried to reason.

"I'm the one in trouble! I'm the one that needs them! They don't need me!"

"What are you talking about?! Of course they need you!" The man roared.

"Me?! WHAT COULD THEY POSSABLY NEED ME FOR! A DISTRACTION! All I do is sit on the ship and eat their food! I don't fight! That's Kai, Marina, Starling and even Pipers job! I can't fix stuff, that's Tigger! And I know I'm nowhere near Rondana's level in medicine! I'm useless! Kai didn't want me on this mission in the first place! All he sees's me as is a weak little girl that needs to be protected!"

"Did you ever think that maybe THAT'S what you are to him?! Did you ever think that MAYBE that is how you HELP HIM!"

"What are you talking about? How does my being weak help anybody!?"

"You give him a reason to fight! Same with the others! You're their friends; they'd do anything to protect you!"

"Oh so I'm supposed to be the damsel in distress!? That's reassuring!"

The man groaned at her runabout logic. He was trying to show her that she did help them, but all she did was turn it around and throw it back at him.

"She's been around Kai for far too long," he thought with a sigh.

"Kai! Anyone! Please, help me! Shadow cried out when she tripped and fell onto the hands and knees.

The man, seeing that she wasn't even trying to get up, approached her slowly, feeling more and more guilty by the second.

Especially when he heard her muffled crying.

"Kai, please, help me!" Shadow cried out into the darkness.

"Arabella! Come on, your friend needs you!"

Shaking her head, Shadow choked back her tears to speak. "I need him, I need all of them. I'm too weak; I can't do this by myself!"

"They need you! Come on, no daughter of mine would give up like this! Fight!" The red eyed man shouted before pulling his twin crystal blade free from his back mounted sheath.

"If you won't fight, then I'll make you!" He roared as he lunged at the crying girl.

Not planning on moving, Shadow lowered her head, ready to accept that if the curse was going to finish her off, then it had chosen the perfect form to do it with.

Sneering at Kai, Shadow raised her hand to the air as a wisp of smoke came from her finger tips, before taking the form of her giant broad sword.

"You should feel honored, you will be the first to fall by this blade in over four thousand years. Fitting, that one who helped seal me away ultimately ended up being the same one to free me, don't you think?" Shadow asked as she hefted the sword to her shoulder.

Breathing deeply, Kai didn't respond. He was on his knees, and hadn't said a word since he started being 'serious'. He only looked up at Shadow with the barest hint of a smile.

"I'm still breathing, you haven't won yet."

Shadow snorted

"A small problem I am about to rectify," Shadow said with a twisted gleeful smile, one that Kai knew didn't belong to the girl he was fighting.

"You talk too much. No wonder you lost." Kai taunted.

Her smile switching to a scowl, Shadow slammed her sword on the ground, making the tower again tremble from her sheer strength alone.

"Farewell pest."

Lifting the blade so it was pointing straight ahead, Shadow pulled back before charging with the intent of pinning Kai to the wall.

"SHADOW! WAKE UP!"

"SHADOW WAKE UP!"

Blinking, Shadow felt something cold and hard appear in her hand. Not taking time to see what it was, she lifted it to block her attacker/would be executer.

Green and red sparks lit up the darkness for but a brief moment, illuminating the room, and revealing it to be the tower, but without any lights on.

"What on Atmos?" Looking at the source of the sparks, Shadow couldn't believe her eyes. In her hand, blocking her fathers sword, was her crystal ax.

Flashback

"It's why mechanics try so hard to keep a machine running. We believe it's got a mind of its own. If you treat it good, and you try to save it, one day, it might do the same for you," Tigger said with a smile to her friend.

"Really? I guess that means this thing will let me die the first chance it gets," Shadow teased.

Flashback end

"Tigger was right."

Pushing the man back, Shadow dropped into her stance, ready for the next blow.

Instead, she saw the man smirk and sheath his sword.

"Good, you're fighting again. We don't have much time," he said walking away.

"Huh?"

Looking over his shoulder, the man smiled. "I needed to get you back to being yourself. We've only got one chance at this, come on."

"It's like he said I guess, what do I have to lose?" Shrugging her shoulders, but keeping the crystal ax active, Shadow followed the man.

The fight was now going down hill. One of the Talon's had gotten lucky and managed to land a nasty blow to Marina's right arm, making it very difficult for her to keep fighting.

Difficult, not impossible

Since then she had taken another five men down, but she was growing tired, and her injuries were starting to make it very difficult for her to keep going.

Piper was a bit better off, but not by much. With her Amazon strength, and her crystal staff, the young teen had managed to take about twelve more Talon's down, but Marina could see the exhaustion radiating from her in droves. The girl had a lot of potential, but she had never built herself up to this level. She was running on new found strength and adrenalin. Which, while useful in a pinch, had no chance of stemming an entire army on its own.

They needed help, and they needed it soon.

Looking over Marina saw that Piper was being restrained by two Talons' while a third one, armed with a crystal staff charge Piper from behind.

About to call out, Marina was tackled by another two from behind.

Knocking the wind out of the first with an elbow jab, Marina turned to Piper.

"Piper! Behind you!" Marina shouted as she threw the second talon over her shoulder and tried to reach her friend, only to be tackled by several more.

Piper tried to break her captures gripe, but before she could move a searing pain filled her senses, and everything faded to black.

"PIPER!" Marina screamed as she watched her friend fall.

"There's got to be something I can do! Come on Marina!"

Feeling several more Talons' land on top of her, Marina groaned in pain, having landed with her arm tucked under her.

Trying to move her hand free, something rough and warm fell out of her top into her hand.

"What? Oh…my crystal pouch, not like,"

Marina's eyes flashed as the memory played across her eyes.

Flashback

"Your highness, I…I don't doubt in your judgment, but…please be careful." Naboroou walked towards the younger woman and grabbed her hands in her own.

"Naboroou, you worry too much." Marina tried to pull back her hands, but was surprised when Naboroou held them tightly.

"Please, be carful." She said slowly before releasing the ruler's hands. She then pulled up a necklace with a small pouch at the end. Opening it, she stuck in two fingers and pulled out a round orange crystal that was about the size of a quarter.

"Naboroou, what are?"

The older woman cut her off. "This is for you to use. It's not much, but it will let you draw some power from me should you need it." She said holding it out.

Marina took the small crystal and nearly jumped when she felt something like a static shock hit her.

Naboroou chuckled. "That was just a bit of overflow, don't worry about it." Naboroou then hugged her friend silently before leaving.

Marina looked down at the orange crystal and smiled. "Thank you Naboroou."

Flashback end

Tightening her grip around the small leather bag, Marina forced it open with two fingers before fishing the small coin sized crystal out.

"Naboroou, if you can hear me, please, please give me the strength to help my friends. I don't need much, but I need your strength, mines not enough," Marina pleaded.

"Your highness. I'll always lend you my strength. You need but ask, and it is your."

Marina's eyes widened at hearing her friends voice.

"Naboroou?"

The soreness in her muscles swept away like she had just woken up from a deep sleep, while at the same time, she felt her injured arm heal back to normal, along with all the little nicks, scratches and other wounds she had accumulated during the battle.

"My strength, my will, my power, all of it, I freely give to you."

Not realizing what was happening, Marina could feel her muscles stretching, growing larger, and her clothes tighten around her just barely, like they had become a size smaller.

"Show them what Gerudo are really capable of your Highness."

Not knowing exactly why, Marina felt a few tears fall from her face as her lips spread into a smile.

"Thank you Naboroou, thank you my friend."

Sliding her arm from under her to her side, and her other arm free from one of the Talon's, Marina slammed both fists into the ground and pushed herself up with an explosion of energy.

Tossing the half dozen Talon's on her back ten feet into the air.

"Now it's my turn!" Marina shouted as she slammed the fist containing the Sage Crystal of Spirit into her chest.

White and gold light flashed, before fading.

When it finally disappeared, and Marina could be seen again, several of the Talon's gulps could be heard a fair distance away.

While she hadn't changed much, she had changed.

Her hair was no longer bound together, but was freely flapping and whipping around her face like a nest of angry serpents, as was a gold and orange aura that surrounded her.

The only other thing that had changed was that she no longer wielded her twin scimitars, but instead was holding a very large and very nasty looking double headed pike.

Naboroou's personal weapon.

"Ready for some pay back boys?" Marina shouted before charging the group at full speed.

"Woah! Did you see that?!" Rondana asked in amazement.

Tigger looked over her shoulder, then back down at Starling. "Yeah, nice, cool, whatever."

Rondana looked at her friend in disbelief.

"How can you say that? That was amazing!"

Tigger shot the older teen an annoyed look.

"Have you been paying attention to anything? Kai's done that several times, Piper's tossing guys around like empty soda cans and Shadow shot smoke from her fingers. Then little miss Pinkette shoots a ball of energy through a Cyclonian destroyer AFTER she made a forty foot wing of light and deflected a bunch of cannon fire to protect us. It's kind of hard to find anything amazing or 'super special awesome' with all that going on."

Rondana's shoulders sagged a bit as she realized what Tigger said was true.

"That, and what I'm about to do now makes all that moot."

Rondana raised an eyebrow before gasping as Tigger's hands glowed green.

"What is…but, I thought the Healing Crystal was destroyed?"

Tigger nodded. "Yeah, about that, it's complicated. I'll explain later, look, for now just glare at any Talon's that try to move toward us ok?"

Rondana's expression became deadpan.

"What Talon's?"

Waving her hand out, Tigger followed it and saw her point.

Griffy was chasing several by flight and pecking at them, Radarr was clinging to another's back while whacking him with a wrench, and Marina…

Marina was going though the others like a bull in a china shop.

"Good point," she said before going back to healing Starling.

Just before the sword pierced him, Kai shifted his stance so the sword went under his arm.

"You are not Shadow!" Kai shouted as he collected what energy he had left into his left hand and slammed it into her stomach, throwing her into the wall on the opposite side, where she crumpled into a motionless heap.

Dropping to his knees, Kai let out a breath of relief.

"Thank heavens….huff….it's….huff….over."

"I wouldn't say that quite yet," Shadow said with a grunt as she forced herself up.

"Oh come on! Why won't you just stay down!" Kai whined.

"If we're finished warming up, I'm ready to fight now," Shadow said rolling her neck and rotating her shoulders to crack them.

Kai didn't know if he wanted to scream, to cry, or to do both at the same time.

Holding out her hand, Shadow's sword pulled itself free from the wall behind Kai and returned to her hand.

"Is this the extent of your power? Pathetic, and to think I looked up to you. You're even weaker than Finn!"

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Kai pushed himself up to his feet.

"You're one to talk. So weak that you have to use a little girl to fight. At least I fight my own battles!"

Eyes narrowed, Shadow swung her sword over her head in a wide arc before hurling it a Kai with all her strength.

"Here it comes, come on Kai, you're not finished yet!" Forcing what he had left into his legs, Kai jumped over the blade just as it was about to hit/slice his shins.

"I'm not finished yet, not by a long shot!"

Shadow tisked wagging her finger.

"You never learn your lesson do you?

Kai chuckled. "Not true, not true at all. See, I have learned one thing about you, one little thing that I know will help me take you down and get my friend back."

"Oh? And just what might that be?"

"You talk way too much."

Shadow's eyes widened as a blast of pink energy struck her from behind and slammed her into the opposite wall, right behind Kai.

"You really know how to make an entrance Schaeffer, you know that?" Kai said watching the girl land and close her wings before falling on his backside.

"Oh no, not now. You've still got a job to do, come one Dragon boy," Schaeffer teased as she 'poked' him with her foot.

"Where are we?" Shadow asked, getting tired of being left in the dark. Physically and metaphorically.

"This is your mind Shadow. Right now the curse is clouding it, making it impossible for you to think straight. You are doing everything under your own free will, but your judgment is so fogged up you can't tell left from right. That's why you're attacking your friend," the man explained.

"Ooook, so how does that help me out here? I'm still stuck, and according to Schaeffer my will's just going to get thrown back at me with twice as much strength. How am I supposed to fight that?"

"By making your will three times stronger," a third voice explained.

Turning on her heels, Shadow came fact to face with someone she had never expected to see in life.

Literally

"William?"

The young man smilled. "The one and only."

"But, how, you…your…I mean…you dead!" Shadow shouted poking the man in the torso, half expecting it to go through him.

"Note exactly, but close enough. A part of me is trapped inside the sword, the part of my will that fought it for eleven years."

Shadow threw up her hands.

"Fine whatever. I don't care anymore. This whole thing is so messed up it belongs in a soap opera…or on Dr Phil I swear," Shadow said pinching her nose.

Seeing the puzzled looks on the two men's faces, Shadow groaned.

"Just tell me what to do."

Nodded the two each put a hand on one of her shoulders.

"I'll fight the sword," William explained.

"While I will try to absorb the curse back into me. You just get back into your body and drop the sword as soon as you do ok?"

Nodding, Shadow bit her lip, not knowing what to expect.

"Piper….Piper wake up! WAKE UP NOW YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Piper's eyes flicked open as she growled. "Ok, who woke me up? I was having a really nice dream.

"Yeah! Aerrow gives good massages!" 'New' Piper complained.

"Wait a minute, it wasn't you?" Piper thought in amazement.

"What! Why in the unholy name of Oblivion would I want you to wake up FROM THAT KIND OF DREAM! It's why I'm alive girlfriend!"

Piper groaned. "Great, now I've got two voices in my head."

"Voices? What are you talking about? This is Rose you nitwit! I'm contacting you via telepathy."

Eyes wide, Piper shook her head.

"Tela what?!"

Rose sighed mentally.

"Look, I'll have Kai explain it later. You, Scarlett, and Lark are the only ones he can do this with that I know of, and no, he doesn't know about it. So can we please get to the important part? My time is almost up and if we don't hurry things are going to get very, vary bad."

"Worse than our ship being a flaming wreck, having no supplies and being stuck on a desert terra with an army after us?" Piper asked sarcastically.

"Well, to be fair, the ships not exactly 'flaming' just a wreck."

The wreckage went up in flames at that very second.

"Ok, so it is now, but the point is that things are going to get a whole lot worse. You have the detonation crystals still, correct?"

Feeling the pockets of her pants, Piper gave them a slight squeeze.

"Yeah, I got them, why? Is everything finished? Marina's holding off the Talon's now, but if those destroyers come after us we're in trouble."

"I'm afraid not. Things have taken a turn for the worse. My time is almost up, and I fear the mission will fail again."

"Again? What do you mean again?" Piper asked.

"Look, you have to activate the charges. Cyclonia cannot be allowed to get their hands on this tower, at any cost. Do you understand me?"

Now very confused, Piper tried to figure what was going on.

"Rose, your not making any sense, what's going on? Where are Shadow Kai and Schaeffer? Did you send her through the portal already?"

When Piper was met with silence, her thoughts turned morbid.

"Rose, whats going on? Where are the others?" TELL ME NOW OR I'LL SMASH THE CRYSTALS!"

"Look, Piper, you have to understand, the mission comes first. Kai knows this, as does Shadow. If Cyclonia gets a hold of this tower, Free Atmos will lose the war in a matter of days. They will use the transmat system to send their armies behind your lines and into the central terra's."

"Where are Kai and Shadow?" Piper repeated.

"And taking control of Atmosia in one fell swoop. Your people will lose, and it will be entirely your fault! Do you understand what I'm saying Piper?"

Piper shook her head.

"They're inside the tower aren't they? Aren't they!" Piper demanded.

"You're asking me to kill two of my closest friends? Do you have any idea what Aerrow would do if I told him Shadow died because of me? Or what about Starling? Kai's her apprentice and her oldest friend! She'd skin me alive!"

"No they wouldn't Piper. They both understand that in a war, there are costs. Sometimes the cost is life itself. You have to do this Piper. The Cyclonian destroyers are closing in on the tower as we speak. They can not be allowed to take control of it."

Piper curled herself up as she looked to the sky.

It was true, she could see the destroyers closing in on the tower, and from what little she understood about its function, she knew what would happen.

"I cant, I can't do it!"

"You have to! You're the one with the fuses!"

"Not….finished….yet!"

Kai and Schaeffer turned to see Shadow charging them with her sword raised high and too close to dodge or block.

"Now Shadow! Now!"

Looking up, Shadow saw a white path of light leading off into what looked like empty space appear under her feet.

"If you fall off the side, your friends are goners, just keep going!"

Nodding, Shadow listened to William's orders and charged down the path of light.

"Where do you think your going!"

Looking up, Shadow saw the sword appear above her transform into a copy of herself.

"I'm getting out of here! That's where!" Shadow shouted as she continued to run.

"No you don't! You're going back into your hole!"

The 'sword' Shadow jumped to tackle her, but was caught in mid air by William.

"No you don't! I've kept you here for the last four thousand years, and I'll make sure you stay for the next four thousand too!"

"Thanks William!" Shadow shouted over her shoulder as she continued running.

"Going somewhere?"

A black cloud appeared behind her, seemingly erasing the path of light as it moved.

"I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it!" Shadow shouted as her speed increased.

"This is not real, this is my mind. My mind, my world. In my world I don't have to breath, in my world I don't get tired, in my world I'm the fastest thing alive!" Shadow mentally screamed as she turned into a green and black blur, keeping just ahead of the cloud, but not opening any distance between them.

"Very good child, you are the first to ever make it this far since my first host. But even if you regain control, I will be lurking in your mind, in your heart. In those little dark areas, just waiting for your will to falter, for your mind to become the tiniest bit worn, and then, I will have you right back here again!" The dark and ominous voice called out from inside the cloud asit continued to keep pace with her.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Jumping from in front of her, a figure clad in a red flight suit leapt over top of her and landed inside the cloud.

"You will never again lay a hand on my daughter, not as long as I breathe!"

Looking over her shoulder, Shadow saw the black cloud shrinking, almost like it was being absorbed into the man behind her before disappearing completely.

"Go," he commanded coldly.

Nodding a thank you, Shadow again made a mad dash for the end of the path, a solid white opening in an otherwise pitch black world.

Opening her eyes, Shadow opened her hands immediately as she dropped to her knees.

The only things she heard were a gasp and a loud clang before she passed out.

"I..she freed herself?" Schaeffer said in amazement.

Kai grinned. "Of course she did. She's my little sis. Amazing feats of impossibility are a requirement," Kai joked.

"Sorry to interrupt this little moment, but the Cyclonian destroyers are almost here. Neither of you are in any shape to fight, let alone hold off an armada." Rose said crossly.

"Well, we could use the transmat to," before Schaeffer could finish, Rose cut her off.

"No, not again, it can't take it. Besides that would just put us a square one again. We tried that already remember?" Rose pointed out.

Kai, feeling like he was left out of the loop spoke up.

"Destroy the tower."

"What?" Both Rose and Schaeffer asked in shock.

"You said something about square one, which tells me you have some sort of reset button or something. Why don't we use that and destroy the tower at the same time, while sending Schaeffer through the portal?" Kai asked in annoyance.

"Because that would require timing everything down to the millisecond, which would be like finding a needle in a haystack," Rose answered.

"Look, Schaeffer seems to be…indestructible, immortal, I don't know. But something tells me she could survive the blast, the Cyclonian destroyers would not. The mission will have been successful; the Cyclonian's will be denied another piece of Ancient tech no matter what. At best Schaeffer gets to go home and we all get out of here, at worst the mission continues with two less people."

"That's not your decision to call. Your life might belong to you, but Shadow's does not," Rose reminded him.

"Do it."

Blinking, the three looked down.

"What?"

"I said, do it! Blow this place into the stratosphere if you have to. Kai's right…this time," Shadow said tiredly.

"Ok, but assuming that we can even make this work, how do we set off the charges? Piper has the detonation crystals, and I don't think any of us can warp to her or something."

"Rose, stop being so negative. That's my job. Is there any way we can contact them? Any way at all?"

Schaeffer shook her head, but Rose, after sighing muttered 'yes'

"How?"

"I don't have time to explain it now. But I can contact Piper. What do you want me to tell her?"

Kai thought for a moment before replying.

"Tell her to blow this place to kingdom come."

Rose nodded before going to sit by the wall and lowered her head.

"Ok, Schaeffer, I need you to set up whatever it is you were talking about while I get the crystal ready. We don't have much time, and we only get one shot."

Schaeffer nodded before deploying her wings and rising back to the top again.

"And what are you going to do?" Shadow asked, still on the ground across from Kai.

"I'm going to rest," Kai explained like it was the simplest thing in the world, earning a groan from Shadow.

"Starling? Come on wake up," Rondana pleaded as she shook the older woman. "Tigger, can't you do that…thing again?"

"What thing?"

"The green glowy thingy, do it again," Rondana asked/demanded.

"I cant, it's gone. Whatever was giving me juice to do it is gone now," Tigger replied before adding mentally. "Hopefully for good this time."

Marina and Piper made their way back to the others and collapsed tiredly. Marina's glow vanishing into thin air while the Naboroou's lance disintegrated into gold dust, scattering in the wind.

"She up yet?" Marina asked trying to catch her breath.

"No, and I'm worried. It's like she doesn't want to wake up or something. I've never seen this before." Rondana replied in frustration.

"Hey Piper, you alright?"

Said girl jumped at hearing her name called. "Huh? Wha, uh, yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired you know?" She replied quickly.

"What are you doing with the boom stones Piper?" Tigger asked as she pointed at Piper's hands.

"I…nothing. Just holding on to them so I don't lose them," she said swallowing.

"If you don't do it on my command, you will be the one to blame for thousands of deaths Piper, keep that in mind."

"I know, but…how can you make a person do that? It's not right to force that kind of pressure on anyone!" Piper fired back.

"Now you know how Kai feels on every mission. This is the kind of decision a Sky Knight must make on a daily basis, even your Aerrow."

Piper's face fell at this.

"I don't think I could ever make that kind of decision. Not in this life time."

Kai and Shadow both jumped at the sudden explosion outside.

"I think the neighbors are a little upset with us dear," Shadow joked nervously.

Kai raised an eyebrow while at the same time grinning. "Well then what should we do? The hounds or the bees?"

Shadow tapped her chin. "How about the hounds with the bee's in their mouths so you get stung when they bark?"

Kai chuckled, but that stopped when Schaeffer landed before him with a serious expression on her face.

"It's time."

Sighing, Kai tried to get up but found himself unable to on his own.

"You don't have enough energy to restructure the crystal do you?" She asked.

Kai sighed. "No, I'm sorry…I used up almost everything I had left fighting."

"Use mine."

Kai looked back at Shadow.

"What?"

"Jeeze, are you thick headed or just deaf. I said, use mine! I've got lots of energy to spar….even if I can't even move my pinky."

"That wouldn't work, it still wouldn't be enough," Kai said, his expression dropping more and more with each passing burst of cannon fire.

"What about combining all three of ours? I still have half of my reserves left, and at best they are equal to yours," Schaeffer offered.

"Yeah, but half of your power, with hers and the fumes I've got left wouldn't last for longer than ten, fifteen seconds tops. Not much of a window," Kai said with a groan.

"So what? You said it yourself your used to sucky odds. It'd call this a cross between a lemon and Finn's gym socks. Give it a shot. We're dead anyways, might as well give living a go don't you think?" Shadow offered with a small smile.

Kai snorted before grinning. "Thanks Shadow, I needed that."

"No problem, though I'm still going to get you for earlier." Shadow warned with her usual mischievous grin.

"Alright then, let's do this." Kai said throwing his hands out to his sides.

Schaeffer nodded and did likewise while Shadow watched from the ground.

"Shadow, I need you to visualize your energy field ok?" Kai asked as he closed his eyes.

"Huh?"

"Try imagining your energy as a colored cloud that surrounds you. Don't try to force it, just 'see' it ok?" Schaeffer clarified as she too closed her eyes.

Shadow gulped as she saw the black cloud emerge from Kai and once again form into a Dragon. It didn't do anything at first, but then the head turned to look at her and she swore that it snapped its jaws. Schaeffer's once again was a pink and red cloud that only seemed to act like a second skin to her, with its only defining feature being the two white crystal wings.

"Ok Shadow, you can do this. Remember, don't force it, just let it be."

Closing her eyes, Shadow tried to feel anything, or see anything, but remembering that she was supposed to 'not force it' she relaxed.

At first nothing happened, but then she felt something warm spread across her skin, like a static discharge. Once, twice, three times it flickered before remaining solid.

Opening her eyes, Shadow saw a dark green mass of energy surrounding her. Because she was lying on the floor, and since she had no mirror on hand, Shadow had no clue what it looked like, other than it had a tail and wings, but the wings were feathered, not scaled.

"Not bad Shadow, it took me a month to do that. You're a natural," Kai complimented.

"You can see it? How? Your eyes are closed?"

Kai chuckled. "My eyes are closed, but my other senses are just fine. Now this is the hard part, I need you to 'force' your energy at me on the count of thee ok?"

"Will it hurt?" Shadow asked nervously.

"You? No. Me? Yes, a lot…..a whole lot," Kai answered.

"But not me?" Shadow asked again, just to make sure.

Kai's eyebrow ticked. "No, you will be fine Shadow, I promise."

"Ok then. Whenever's good," she replied with her normal chipper voice.

"One, two three!"

"Sic him boy!" Shadow mentally shouted.

The green mass 'leapt' from her at Kai like a cat and tackled him to the ground before diving into his chest.

To his credit, Kai only cursed a few times, and those were all directed at the 'unusually hard floor' and not at Shadow.

"Is everything set Rose?" Schaeffer asked, ignoring the mutterings from the boy as he rolled onto his stomach and punched the ground a few times.

"Yes, we need to hurry. I haven't much time left. One minute!"

"Ok, the tower is ready. As soon as I'm about to pass through the portal I'll launch the Return program. At that exact same moment you must detonate the explosives. If the tower is still standing when the Return program is complete we'll have to start over again. Do you understand me?" Schaeffer asked with a deadly serious tone of voice.

"Oww I understand I feel like a lion jumped me," Kai wined.

"Oh get over it. Come on, your time to shine, we've all done our part, now you do yours."

Kai nodded before getting up onto his knees and pulling out a Lunar crystal from his vest.

"Here goes everything," Kai muttered.

"Rose, activate the portal now!" Schaeffer called out.

Not even a second passed before several blue sparks shot across the walls, causing Shadow to yelp, but otherwise doing no damage. After the sparks died down a blue 'hole' opened in the middle of the tower, hovering about twenty feet off the ground.

Schaeffer looked down at Kai and saw that the clear whitish crystal was starting to glow a blood red color.

"It's not enough, dang it. I knew this would happen. I can't open a portal on both sides!" Kai shouted.

"It's too late to stop the process, you have to do something!" Schaeffer shouted as the destroyer's fire struck the tower again and again. Sections of wall fell lose, nearly crushing those inside, while raw energy jumped around the inside like a live wire.

"Schaeffer, I've got an idea, you're not going to like it, and it's a bit crazy, but it's your only shot at getting home!" Kai shouted over the explosions and sparks.

"If it has a chance of working, do it!" Shadow shouted from her place on the ground, counting her lucky stars that she hadn't been hit yet.

"Ok, Schaeffer, I need you to get me up to that portal, I can't move when I'm doing this, and for this to work I need to be a lot closer!"

Schaeffer ran to his side, but stopped as a large beam fell between them, landing on Kai and knocking him back.

"Kai!"

"DAAGH! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS ARYGYN! I KNOW IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Kai screamed in pain.

Forming two blades of energy from her hands, Schaeffer sliced the beam into three before kneeling down to the shaking teen.

"Your wound, it's," Kai cut her off.

"No time, we've got to get you out of here!" Kai shouted.

"Kai, I…I'll try to help you as best I can, but I don't think I have enough energy left to…heal that much," Schaeffer said sadly, paying no mind to the tower collapsing around them.

"Let's see what you got princess," Kai said with a grin holding out his hand.

Schaeffer shook her head softly as she pulled him up by the hand before entwining their arms together.

"Try to keep up dragon boy," Schaeffer said grinning as her wings spread out once again, and she reactivated her energy field.

Shadow watched as the two rose into the air, both engulfed in Schaeffer's pink energy field until they were hovering directly in front of the energy field.

"Schaeffer, Rose! Do it NOW!" Kai shouted, opening his eyes, revealing them to be a maelstrom of gold, blue and green.

"Return to the past now!" Schaeffer screamed.

"Piper! Do it now!" Rose shouted.

From afar, Piper rose from her seat facing the tower, as she brought the two crystals out, one in each hand.

"Piper, what's wrong? What are you doing?" Tigger asked, startled by the grief filled expression on her friends face.

Hot tears streaming down her cheeks, Piper slammed the two glowing red crystals together with only a single thought in mind.

"Aerrow, Starling, please forgive me."

Light red and black merged into a single reddish purple hued sphere that engulfed the tower, blinding everyone on the terra as the sphere transformed into a column that rose into the heavens.

"Piper, what did you?"

Piper turned back to look at Starling, who had just regained consciousness, and allowed her to see the tears flowing from her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry Starling…please.."

"Piper! Look out!"

Looking over her shoulder, Piper saw the column transform into a wave as it came crashing back down to the terra.

"It's going to hit us!" Marina shouted as she raised a gold energy shield around the others.

The group watched as the wave continued towards them. They knew there was no chance of avoiding it, so what was the point in running?

"Hm? What's that? It looks almost like a crack?"

Piper's thoughts ceased, as did everyone else's at the moment. The world went white.

"You call yourself a linguist! You said waterfalls! All I see is rock and sand!" Shadow shouted.

"Hey! I said it mentioned fish! And it does! Not my fault the place dried out and turned into a desert! This book is older than the entire Council put together!" Piper shouted before stopping and looking around her.

"I don't believe it, it..what?"

The hatch opened to reveal Starling, who was clutching her head with both hands.

"What in the name of the Oracle Stone happened?"

"Reset button Star, you know, the little thing I used every time you beat in Ace Combat 35?"

"Wait a minute, I know that voice, but…that's not possible, he's…he's"

"So you're the one that taught Finn that trick huh? Good, now I know who to blame for my high scores getting erased!"

"But, she's they're supposed to be…and we're all."

"Hey Piper, did you miss us!?" Kai and Shadow asked, both of their heads peaking inside the cockpit at the same time, and both sharing the same wide grin.

End chapter 16

AN: Like I said, don't expect every chapter to be this long, dear lord no (contrary to popular belief, I have more of a life than that lol). But this was special, and I wanted to give myself the chance to 'flesh out' a few of the other characters I haven't written as much for. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that it wasn't too wordy, long or detailed as so have said in the past. Oh, and congratulations, we are now 1/3 of the way through my story map! I promise that the next couple of chapters will be lighter toned, especially the next one since its primarily torturing Kai…make that exclusively torturing Kai.

*Ducks thrown house plant*

Keep it Kai! I'll lock you in a room with Finn and Aladd if you do!"

*…..*

That's what I thought. Anyways, I don't have a title for the next one yet, but I'll have it ready by the end of the week. Sorry it has taken so long to respond/post, but like I said, things have been complicated lately.

Please review, and thank you for reading!

Till next time, Ja Ne!