Kinda sad that the only person who reviewed this was my friend and he was motivated to that because I told him it was based on a dream. But, what can you do? Anyway, I just hope that those of you who are reading this enjoy the end of this dream inspired two-parter!
"What do you mean, this is Lightning Strike?" Aerrow cried in disbelief. "Even if it is him, how does that explain him being here! Everyone saw him fall into the Wastelands ten years!"
"I know about as much as you do, Aerrow. But this plaque here confirms it," she said, bending down to the stone-carved plaque placed in front of the crystal statue.
"What does it say?" Aerrow asked.
"'Here lies the greatest Sky Knight of them all, Lightning Strike. Found on the verge of death in the Wastelands by our scouts. Attempts to save his life and heal him were futile and as a last resort, he was placed in eternal crystal sleep to rest until he could be saved,'" Ossy read. "So the people of Terra Crystallum found Lightning Strike after the failed attack on Cyclonia and tried to nurse him back to health. Either they lacked sufficient medical expertise or his injuries were far too extensive, which, given that he fell into the Wastelands without a parachute, seems the most likely reason. And as a last resort, they used the Eternity Crystal on him to preserve his life."
"So… so it really is him," Aerrow muttered, walking up to the statue and looking at Lightning Strike's crystal face.
Ossy quickly noticed Aerrow's expression,a mixture of shock and sadness, and asked, "Do you need a minute?"
"What? No, no, I'm fine. It's just been a long time since I last saw him," he replied. "I never thought I'd see him again… He's taller than I remember."
"This must have been why the Cyclonians attacked here years ago!"
"Huh?"
"When they couldn't find Lightning Strike's body in the Wastelands, they must have started searching nearby Terras in case he survived."
"Why would they do that?"
"Well think about it. If I were a ruthless dictator trying to take over the Atmos and the single most dangerous person who stood in my way fell to his death, I'd want to find the body and make sure he was really dead. The Crystal Mage of Crystallum must have hid his body here along with the Eternity Crystal to protect him."
"Then let's grab that crystal and change him back!" Aerrow cried.
"We can't! Remember what it said? When they used the crystal on him, he was on the verge of death. Even if we could find away to reverse the Eternity Crystal's effects, something the Crystal Mages of old never figured out, and unless we had the absolute highest quality of medical care, he could die the minute he turns back to flesh."
"So, then he has to stay like that," Aerrow lamented.
"For now, at least. But right now, we've gotta move him somewhere more secure."
"I lost him once to the Cyclonians; I'm not going to lose him again." Just as Aerrow reached out for the crystal statue, they heard footsteps coming from the main chamber behind them. "Someone's coming!" The Sky Knight duo ducked behind the wall as Aerrow carefully peeked out from behind the broken part of the wall that they came in through. "It's Ravess," he whispered, spotting the skinny archer and four Talons with her. "And she's got four Talons with her."
"Ah, here it is. Those Crystal Mages thought they could hide all their treasures from our clutches, hm?" Ravess spoke, admiring the beautiful and radiance of the Eternity Crystal. She waved her hand and one of the Talons approached the altar and placed a flat piece of metal beneath the floating crystal. He pressed a button on the side as a case formed around the crystal and the Talon took it in his arms. "Now then, let's be on our way."
"Ma'am?" one of the Talons asked.
"What?" she hissed in annoyance.
"The wall back there appears to be blown down. There may be something inside," he suggested. Aerrow quickly ducked back behind the wall and panted heavily.
"They didn't see you didn't they?" Ossy whispered.
"I don't think so," he answered.
"Well if you think there might be something there, then why don't you have a look?" Ravess ordered.
"Uh, yes ma'am," he saluted.
"Shoot, he's gonna find us!" Ossy cursed.
"Hang on, I have an idea," Aerrow grinned. The pair pressed themselves against the wall as much as they could as the Talon entered the small hidden room. He didn't see them right away and instead gasped at the sight of the large crystal statue. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Aerrow knocked him on the back of the head with a large rock.
"That was your idea?" Ossy whispered harshly.
"That was only half of it. Help me take his clothes off!"
"What?"
"Just do it!" Once the Talon's uniform and armor were removed, Aerrow quickly put them on and took a hold of the Talon's staff. "I'll go back out there and pretend to be this guy and grab the crystal when I can. You get my dad outta here."
"Got it. Be careful, Aerrow," she nodded.
"What's taking so long?" Ravess yelled from the main chamber.
"Uh, sorry about that ma'am. Nothing there, just an empty room," Aerrow replied, trying to imitate the Talon's voice as best he could. Thankfully, none of them seemed to notice the difference.
"Good, then let's get going. I must report our findings to Master Cyclonis immediately," Ravess said, walking off as Aerrow and the other Talons followed after her. Ossy waited until she couldn't hear their footsteps any longer before turning her attention back to the unconscious Talon they had knocked out and the 'statue' of Lightning Strike.
"Now how am I going to get you out of here?" she asked the crystal Lightning Strike out loud. "And I certainly can't leave you here," she added, looking at the Talon guard. She hoisted the guard over her shoulder, surprised that he didn't weigh as much as she thought before wrapping her other arm around the crystal. "Hm, you're not that heavy either…" she noticed. She made her way back down the shaft that she and Aerrow has ascended earlier, taking the guard and crystal statue down separately. When she got back to their skimmers, she took a cable from hers and tied the statue into the seat while mounting Aerrow's skimmer with the unconscious guard. She rode back out to the entrance on Aerrow's skimmer while controlling hers remotely. Once she made it outside, she pulled out her grappling gun and carefully ascended the rocky mountainside of the Terra with the unconscious Talon in hand. Once she reached the top, she placed him between some bushes. "Someone'll find you eventually, but we'll be done by the time that happens." She carefully crept through the excavation site, ducking behind boxes and machines to stay out of sight from passing Talons on patrol. From where she hid, she managed to get a clear view of Ravess getting on to one of the ships with a few Talons behind her carrying the cased Eternity Crystal. She spotted Aerrow among the Talons and sighed in relief. 'Good, he hasn't been discovered yet.' As Ravess disappeared into the ship with the Eternity Crystal, Ossy quickly scanned the ship for somewhere she could sneak aboard. She spotted two Talons on a small balcony on the side taking a smoke break and pulled out her grappling gun. Before taking aim and firing, she pulled out her Invisibility Crystal so no one could see her board the ship. Her grappling hook grasped onto the railing of the balcony and she was hoisted up onto the deck with ease.
"What was that?" one of the Talons asked. Ossy immediately remained still.
"Probably just something from engineering. The ship makes all kinds of noise when it's about to take off," the other replied.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. We should probably head back to our stations now."
"Chill, we've still got ten minutes of our break and you know Ravess isn't going to let us have that time back as soon as we get back to work," the other said.
"Good point," the first Talon agreed while Ossy slowly and carefully made her way inside.
After searching through the ships and moving past guards undetected thanks to her Invisibility Crystal, she finally reached the room where the Eternity Crystal was being stored. Closing the door behind her, she uncloaked and looked at the crystal as it sat, still encased, in the center of the room on a pedestal. "Hm… too easy," she muttered, suspicious. Before she made a move for the crystal, six Talons descended from secret compartments in the ceiling and surrounded her, pointing their crystal tipped spears at her. Ossy reached for her katanas, but stopped when she heard Ravess enter the room.
"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sky Knight," she warned, aiming her arrow right at Ossy. With no other option, Ossy held up her arms in surrender. Two Talons approached her and took her katanas before seizing each of her arms. She quickly recognized the one on her left as Aerrow and she could tell what he was thinking. She quickly and discreetly shook her head, telling him not to do anything and just let what was happening play out. Aerrow appeared to understand and continued pretending to restrain her. "I had a feeling this crystal would draw the attention of a Sky Knight or two. Though I never would have expected it to bring me the Blackburn Phoenix! Master Cyclonis will be so pleased when she finds out I've captured the leader of the Blackburn Jaegers."
"Enjoy it while it lasts. I'll be walking out of here before we even reach Cyclonian air space," Ossy remarked confidently.
"I was told you were rather fearless, but don't worry, when Master Cyclonis is done with you, fear is all you will know," Ravess moved in closely and taunted Ossy. However, Ossy quickly stood forward and headbutted Ravess. "Ah!" Ravess hissed, clutching her nose as it lightly bled while the Talons restrained her. "Argh, take her to the hangar and bring the Eternity Crystal. I'm going to make you pay for your little stunt."
Aerrow handed the other Talon who held Ossy her sword as he walked her to the hangar with the spear pointed at her back. They followed after Ravess while the rest of the Talons brought the Eternity Crystal.
"Ok, that's it, I'm busting you out of here," Aerrow whispered.
"No, don't!" she whispered back.
"What? Why?"
"Just let this play out. I have an idea, trust me."
When they arrived in the hangar, Ossy saw her and Aerrow's skimmers along with the crystal statue of Lightning Strike. "I see we weren't the only ones doing some digging on Terra Crystallum. Such fine craftsmanship," Ravess said, admiring the statue as it was placed in the center of the hangar. If she thought it was a piece of art, then Ravess must not have known what the Eternity Crystal really did. Perhaps she could use this to her advantage. "Now, what sort of punishment should I inflict? A storm of arrows? Dropping you into the wastelands?"
"I have a better idea," both women looked to the side entrance of the hangar and saw Dark Ace enter, marching towards them.
"Dark Ace? What are you doing here?" Ravess cried, sounding insulted.
"Master Cyclonis sent me to make sure this mission went about smoothly. She was not willing to risk the chance of failure," he answered.
"Well as you can see, I have everything under control!" Ravess shouted.
"Do you? I see two skimmers here: one of the Blackburn Jaegers, obviously belonging to your captured Sky Knight here, and one of the Storm Hawks. Which means Aerrow can't be too far behind, or even already on this ship. You have a second intruder, Ravess, one you simply aren't aware of."
"Wh-what? I… Talons! Search the ship, find the Sky Knight!" she ordered as all the Talons except for the disguised Aerrow exited the hangar on her orders. Ossy's weapons were placed on one of the boxes in the hangar.
"Now this is a rare find, a crystal monument to Atmos' fallen hero, Lightning Strike," Dark Ace reminisced as he examined the statue.
"There's no need to fake your sentimentality, Dark Ace. We all know what you did," Ossy said, drawing Dark Ace's attention back to her.
"And… what did I do?" he asked, leaning down to her.
"Everyone knows the story about the fall of the original Storm Hawks. Lightning Strike was the greatest Sky Knight of all and he united the Atmos against Cyclonia. But nobody would have predicted what would happen next. His own co-pilot was a mole, an agent of Cyclonia installed into the Storm Hawks long ago. During the height of the battle, you struck him down from behind with his own sword."
"Indeed, I did. And the best part was, Lightning Strike never saw it coming; none of them did!"
"Well, you're about to not see something coming too," Ossy smirked. She quickly ducked and rolled to the side as Aerrow blasted Dark Ace with his spear, knocking him into Ravess. Ossy retrieved her katanas while Aerrow tore off his disguise and pulled out his dual swords.
"Is it true?" he asked, glaring at Dark Ace as the two Cyclonian lieutenants recovered.
"Ah, Aerrow, I was so hoping you'd join the show," he grinned excitedly.
"Is it true?" Aerrow asked again.
Dark Ace laughed, "Yes, it's true. For years I played those fools and I finished off Lightning Strike with me own hands and with his own sword!" Dark Ace pulled out his large broadsword and held it up proudly. Aerrow yelled and charged towards Dark Ace as they clashed swords. "Don't tell me you never knew? Wasn't that why you were always so keen on fighting me? So you could avenge your dear father's death?" As the two fought, Ravess turned her attention to Ossy and fired her arrows. Ossy managed to dodge a few and block the rest with her sword. She got close enough to strike, by Ravess blocked it with her bow and kicked Ossy away. Just as she recovered, Ravess shot one of her katanas out of her hand, leaving Ossy with one katana only.
"You might as well surrender. You're clearly outmatched!" Ravess declared proudly.
"And you're out of your mind if you think you can beat me." Ossy stabbed her sword into the floor of the hangar and placed her hands over the Phoenix Crystal embedded in the pommel. "There's a reason people call me the Blackburn Phoenix, Ravess and you're about to find out why that is." The Phoenix Crystal began glowing brightly as Ossy was enveloped in a fiery aura. Flames emanated from her body as her hair flowed like fire. She rose into the air as bright, orange wings of fire emerged from her back and her eyes turned bright gold. She raised her hands in the air and formed a large fireball above her head. Ravess stared at her with wide eyes and jaw dropped in awe. She was so shocked and entranced that she narrowly avoided the fireball Ossy hurled towards her. The force of the impact knocked her right into the wall and the Cyclonian archer slumped to the floor, unconscious. With Ravess out of the way, Ossy briefly turned her attention to the dueling Aerrow and Dark Ace before turning her focus onto the unguarded Eternity Crystal.
As they fought, Dark Ace managed to knock Aerrow onto his back and pin him to the ground with a foot on his chest. "Don't fight it Aerrow. Besides, I'm doing you a favor. I'm sending you to be with your father!" Dark Ace declared, raising his sword.
"There's only one problem with that, Dark Ace!" Ossy shouted, gaining Dark Ace's attention. She stood next to the crystal statue and held the Eternity Crystal in hand. "Lightning Strike isn't dead!" With the Eternity Crystal in hand, she drove it into Lightning Strike's chest, causing the crystal and statue to light up brightly. A shockwave emerged from the crystal, knocking Dark Ace off Aerrow and onto his back while leaving Aerrow and Ossy unharmed.
Aerrow ran over to Ossy and cried, "What did you do?"
"I pulled something from your book; I took a leap of faith!" she replied. When the light from the crystal finally died down, the statue was no longer stiff and motionless. Lightning Strike stood before them in all his glory, but still in the form of a crystal. He was hunched over on the ground, panting heavily as Ossy and Aerrow rushed to his side. "Lightning Strike, it's ok. Just take a deep breath and calm down."
"Wha- Wh-where am I? Wh-who are you? What's going on?" he cried frantically.
"What's wrong with him?" Aerrow cried.
"It must be a side effect of coming out of stasis," she replied before turning her attention back to the crystal Sky Knight. "Lightning Strike, it's ok, we're friends. My name is Osprey Fenix. You may not remember me, but you saved my Terra a long time ago when I was a little girl. Terra Blackburn, do you remember?" she asked, tenderly trying to help the memories return to him.
"T-Terra Blackburn… Y-yes, I remember that!"
"Do you remember me?" Aerrow asked, hopefully.
"Aerrow, careful. We don't want to overwhelm him," Ossy warned.
"A-Aerrow?" Lightning Strike asked.
"...Do you recognize me?" Aerrow asked.
"M-my son…" he gasped.
"That's right!" Aerrow exclaimed.
"Wh-what happened? The last time I saw you, you were just a little boy!"
"You've been asleep for a long time, dad."
"So that's what the Eternity Crystal does," Dark Ace spoke up as Lightning Strike looked down at the crystal embedded in his crystal body's chest. "Master Cyclonis will be pleased when I obtain that crystal for her!"
"A-Ace? Wh-what's going on? Why do you have my sword? And why are you dressed like a Talon?" Lightning Strike asked, standing up and stepping forward a few paces.
"It doesn't look like he remembers the battle from ten years ago," Aerrow whispered.
"Something tells me, he's about to," Ossy replied.
"Hahaha, do I need to spell it out for you, Lightning?" Dark Ace cackled.
Lightning Strike cried out and grabbed his head as Ossy and Aerrow rushed to help him. "No, wait… it's all coming back to me. The battle. We were winning. But then… you," Lightning Strike fell silent as he stared wide-eyed at his former partner before the realization of what happened settled in. "You betrayed me; you betrayed us!"
"And I'd do it again!" Dark Ace declared.
"But why? You were my co-pilot, my best friend! We were like brothers!"
"All an act. And before you go and ask when the old Master Cyclonis tempted me with power, that never happened. I was always with Cyclonia from the start," he grinned maliciously.
Lightning Strike stood in place with a look of shock before suddenly charging towards Dark Ace and slamming him with his shield. "We were brothers! I trusted you!" he shouted as the two fought. Lightning Strike whipped his shield towards Dark Ace, who dodged by rolling to the side. Instead the crystal shield tore right through the metal wall of the hangar and cut through the rest of the ship before returning to Lightning Strike. An explosion rang out somewhere in the ship as the vessel suddenly lost altitude and began descending.
"That can't be good," Aerrow cried.
As Dark Ace and Lightning Strike continued fighting, Lightning managed to get ahold of Dark Ace's sword. "You wield my blade like a trophy?"
"A trophy for my greatest achievement, followed closely by taking down Lightning Strike a second time and destroying the new Storm Hawks!"
"I will not allow it!" Lightning shouted. Another explosion shook the ship as Lightning and Dark Ace lost their balance and fell to the ground.
"Well, I'd love to stay and finish this reunion, but I'm not as good at crashing into the Wastelands as you," Dark Ace taunted, as he fled the hangar while boxes tumbled over the exit.
Lightning Strike was about to chase after him, but Aerrow and Ossy stopped him. "We have to get off this ship. It's going down!" Ossy shouted. They brought their skimmers to the hangar door and Aerrow pressed the button to open it, but the door did not respond.
"The mechanism must be damaged! How are we going to get out?" Aerrow cried.
"There, we can open it manually!" Ossy pointed at the chain pulley system pulled the hangar doors up. All three grabbed ahold of the chains and pulled, slowly but surely opening the doors. With the doors open, they returned to the skimmers, only for the door to shut right away.
"Dammit!" Ossy cursed. "It won't stay open!"
"Unless someone holds it open while you two escape," Lightning said, moving to the pulley once more and pulling to open the doors. He kept a firm grip on the chains to keep the door open. "Go!"
"But, we can't leave you! How will you get out?" Aerrow cried, refusing to abandon his father.
"I won't."
"What? I'm not leaving you behind!" Aerrow insisted.
"Aerrow, I don't believe Atmos is ready for me to come back the way I am. And what sort of life could I lead like this and with my squadron gone?"
"A life with me! We can be a family again!"
"And there's nothing I want more. But I am a Sky Knight, Aerrow. If one must be sacrificed to save the rest, then I must make that sacrifice. As your superior… and as your father, I refuse to let this sacrifice be your burden."
"But dad…" Aerrow argued, on the verge of tears.
"Let me do this for you, my son. Please. The Storm Hawks don't need Lightning Strike anymore, not when they have you."
"Aerrow," Ossy said, putting her hand on Aerrow's shoulder.
"I'm proud of you, Aerrow," Lightning Strike smiled. "Now go!"
Though he was reluctant to leave, Aerrow let Ossy pull him to his skimmer. Ossy took off first, but Aerrow lingered for a moment and exchanged one last look with his father, who simply smiled and shouted at him to go once more. Blinking away the tears that formed at the corner of his eyes, Aerrow looked ahead and drove his skimmer out of the crashing Cyclonian battleship as other escape pods and skimmers jettisoned from the ship. When they reached a safe distance, they watched as the ship disappeared below the cloud line and into the Wastelands. Though they couldn't see it, they heard the explosion of the ship ring out across the sky. Their flight back to the rendezvous was quiet, before Ossy spoke up.
"Aerrow, I'm sorry," she said.
"For what?" he asked.
"For what happened. I know it couldn't have been easy to lose your father again after just getting him back."
"You know, I've always wondered how my dad would feel about me taking over the Storm Hawks. It's nice to know he's proud of me," Aerrow smiled.
"And for what it's worth, I think Lightning Strike made the right choice. I don't think Atmos is ready for something like an Eternity Crystal. If it fell into the wrong hands… Perhaps something like that is better lost in the Wastelands and history remains unchanged. Lightning Strike will forever be remembered as a brave hero who always fought for the safety of Atmos."
Deep in the Wastelands in the wreckage of crashed Cyclonian ship stood a tall, cloaked figure made completely out of crystal. He walked over to a large broadsword on the ground and picked it up. He looked at the now-empty pommel and then at the crystal on his chest. He held the pommel up to his chest and the crystal socketed right in and coming out of his chest in the process. The sword suddenly turned completely into crystal, matching the figure itself and his shield. He sheathed the sword and shield on his back before walking deeper into the Wastelands as his cloak whipped in the wind.
And there you have it! There was actually a part in the dream I had where Ossy got brainwashed by Cyclonis to work for her (but was actually faking being brainwashed the entire time) but I just couldn't find a way to work that into the story in a good way.
I'm still working on a Basil backstory focused story similar to the Fire and Ice episode in that it will feature Lily Ray and the Raptors reuniting with Basil. Still kinda on a roadblock with that, so suggestions and ideas are most welcome and encouraged!