Chapter Nineteen

Alice

"Again!" Aerrow told me as I held myself up on my knees. I then charged at my "brother" with my energy blade. Aerrow blocked the attack by crossing his twin blades. Quickly, I ducked and swept my foot across his ankles. He fell and I was about to attack him again when he kicked my stomach.

Grunting in pain as I staggered back, I forced my eyes open just in time to see Aerrow coming at me. I dodged and pushed him nonchalantly on the back. He flew forward and crashed into the boxes.

I burst into a fit of laughter as he landed awkwardly in a crate. Aerrow blinked and tried to push himself up, only to helpless fall back into the crate.

Radarr joined in on the giggles too as he watched the fire-haired boy. Aerrow tried desperately to stand again. He wound up looking like a turtle with a shell on his back as he rested on all fours. I began to laugh harder.

"Dammit!" Aerrow growled in frustration, trying to shake off the small crate. I laughed so hard that I fell on the ground, kicking my legs.

The doors of the hanger bay opened and Piper walked in with some charts. "Hey, Aerrow. Can you-" She stopped upon seeing Aerrow.

He just froze up, blushing. Everything was silent.

"Uh…" Aerrow began. "Hi?"

Piper snapped, dropped to the ground, and started laughing. I joined her, crying with tears of laughter.

"C'mon, guys!" Aerrow whined, trying to get free.

I got up to help him out. As I pulled, the sirens went off. The three of us went into high alert. I ripped off the crate without mercy.

"Ow!" Aerrow yelped.

"Quit whining!" I snapped.

We all rushed to the main deck. Stork turned the Condor sharply to avoid fire.

"What is it?" Aerrow barked in order.

"Cyclonians." Stork informed grimly. The ship took an attack. "Lots of Cyclonians."

No shit! There had to be at least a hundred of them. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but there was a lot of them!

The sound of a violin echoed out. I looked to see a woman with spiked pink hair playing a bow with a crystal arrow like a violin.

"Ravess." Aerrow growled, his fist clinching.

A familiar skimmer pulled up along side Ravess. It held a man with black hair and red eyes in the air.

"And The Dark Ace?" Junko asked in shock.

"Storm Hawks," Aerrow said, switching to leader mode. "Prepare for battle. Finn, Alice. You're coming with me into battle."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

Aerrow put a hand on my shoulder. "Just remember everything I taught you. You are more than ready." I nodded. "Piper, Junko. Provide us with cover fire from the ship. Stork, make sure the ship doesn't take damage."

"Roger." Everyone said in unison.

I sat on the skimmer that I'd taken from Repton. There were so many Cyclonians. I charged into battle the second Aerrow gave us the order to attack. I pulled out my energy blade and cut the blades from several Talon skimmers. I watched them all parachute into the Wastelands.

I chuckled to myself lightly. "Quite the fighter you've become, little Earth girl."

I looked up to see Dark Ace on his skimmer before me. I snarled in anger and smirked darkly.

"Why don't you come and see just how good I am, Ace-y Boy?" I taunted.

With that, the battle started. Our skimmers flew side by side as our blades locked. This was a real Sky Knight battle. Okay, unofficial given that I'm not a sky knight.

My thoughts strayed slightly as I swung at Dark Ace. Now that I think about it, I'm not even a Storm Hawk. So…why am I here?

What am I fighting for?

"Focus on me, Alice." Dark Ace growled, pushing me back.

I stumbled before recovering and swiping my foot across his ankles. The six foot three man fell and I was on top of him, locking my blade with his. I swiped my blade across quickly, knocking away his blade. We both watched it fall to the Wastelands before I put my blade to his throat.

He looked at me before smiling. "Very good." He said in a (Surprisingly) non-taunting way. He rested against the skimmer. "Finish it now."

I pressed the blade to him. He flinched from the heat of the crystal energy. I watched as he closed his eyes. His breathing was calm and even. He seemed so, serene.

I pulled my blade away and grabbed him by the collar. "What's wrong with you?" I snapped. His eyes widened in shock. "Why won't you fight back? You've killed so many before! Why not now?"

"I'm done." I blinked, confused. "I don't want this anymore. I can't just stop being a Cyclonian though. This is the only way."

I stared in shock before leaning back. "Then I will not kill you." I said simply. "Everyone needs something to fight for. Look for what you wish to fight for."

I saw his mind reel behind his eyes.

I heard something fall onto my skimmer. I looked over to see a Leech Crystal. It fell into my engine.

"Shit!" I shouted. Dark Ace quickly jumped to his skimmer and I rolled off mine. I was falling through the sky now. As the clouds dissipated, I saw a forested area. Land!

I pulled the cord to my parachute. It snapped though as I pulled it!

"Dammit!" I squeaked, realizing that I was free falling. The explosion above me pushed me closer. A piece on a skimmer hit my back, causing me to weaken.

"Hold on!" A voice behind me said. Arms wrapped around me and the sound of wings Aerrow's snapping open echoed out. We entered the trees but it didn't matter. The wings snapped as soon as it hit branches galore.

The person turned me, burning my face into his chest as he turned. We hit the ground hard. I rolled off of him as we landed. I don't know what happened next except that I had blacked out.

Stork

"Alice, can you hear me?" Aerrow questioned into the communicator. "Alice, respond."

Static was the response. The sound of rain is all we heard on the other end as well as on the glass windows. Piper took control of the Condor as I sat next to the radio. Aerrow sighed in defeat.

"I'm not getting anything." He finally said.

"But…" Junko whimpered. "We can't give up!"

"Why not?" Finn said. "What if she's dead?"

"Because she wouldn't give up on us." Junko protested. We all stared at him. He looked lost before he grabbed the communicator. "Alice, please respond!" He called into it.

"Junko is right." I said. "We can't give up. We've gotta keep trying. If we keep calling to her, we can probably get through to her and she can turn on the tracker."

Aerrow nodded. "Okay." He said.

Radarr churred in delight upon hearing the new plan.

I wasn't going to lose Alice anytime soon.

?

I watched from the trees. There she lain. Little Ali.

She'd cut her brown hair since I'd seen her last but it was growing long again. I smirked as dark thoughts crossed my mind.

She laid unconscious in the mud as rain poured down on her. Her once clean white tank was soaked and covered in dirt and her sweatpants had holes and tears in it. Her hair was caked with dirt and blood as it clung to her head.

Atmos had done her well. This look suited her. I couldn't wait until she found me.

I growled to myself when I saw the other man. This bastard will die. I'll make sure of it.

Intense, right? I. Am. So. Sorry, you guys! I didn't mean to take so long!

Finn: Then why did you, lazy bones?

Me: *Slaps Finn* Don't be mean!

Finn: Okay, sorry!

Me: I finally got a job. Not bad though, if ya ask me. Being a paper carrier does suck though.

Dark Ace: Newspaper Girl? Really?

Me: *Flips off D.A.* Back off. At least I finally got a job.

Piper: So who's the dude?

Me: Uh... *Begins singing "Thug Story" by Taylor Swift*

Finn: Figures.

Me: You're turn for disclaimer, Finn.

Finn: Chika-cha! All right, dudes and dudettes. We tried to throw a party to distract Nerd Corps while we confiscated rights to Storm Hawks but it didn't work out too well. So, they still own us. Lupin, here, only owns Alice and any OCs and also the plot for this story.

Me: I'm so gangsta! You can find me bakin' cookies at night. You out clubbing but I just made caramel delight!

Dark Ace: Please review. According to her, they make the world go 'round. Also, check out the one-shot series Lupin has going on. It already has 3 stories but no reviews. Go straight to Ch. 3 if you already know about the "Easter Special" and "Explaining of Hiatus" one-shots.

Me: By the time I woke I was singing "I'm on a boat!"