Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or any of its characters. I do, however, own my own character and plots.

Chapter 3

"So... the Condor was easier to locate than expected. And it's just sitting here, waiting for us."

From under the cloudline, a couple of Bonewings rose up under the carrier's belly. The leader motioned to the others to hover underneath it, out of the windows' view. The hum of their Skimmers were lowered, almost like they transferred them into stealth mode.

Repton didn't want their presence announced, not yet. He had a plan, and he had a weapon —courtesy of Cyclonis' experiments— that he had not tried yet. He was going to test it, and he was going to succeed. He would show Cyclonis who was the greater partner. To take the Storm Hawks out of the skies would have him swim in triumph, leaving the Dark Ace to rot in disgrace.

He had half-expected periscopes to pop out and circle at the bottom of the carrier, but none appeared. The Condor wasn't as sensitive to her surroundings as everyone said she was. Perhaps no one was paying attention to the tracking device either. Repton knew well how fast the Storm Hawks reacted when their hull was attacked. So he decided to wait, and he expected his brothers to obey, or else. He told them the plan beforehand, and told them that if any of them screwed up, the punishment laid out for them would be the most painful of them all. They got the picture, but he was sure one of them would stray from the plan in some way, out of stupidity. He learned to accept that possibility, despite how it enraged him.

"If the Condor decides to move on, we follow very closely," Repton told the others. "Their tracking device may pick us up if any of you stray. But what's most important..."

Here, his voice rumbled at the back of his throat, and he hissed intimidatingly, "...is that you stay out of sight."

"Sure thing, boss," Leugey saluted. The carefree lizard seemed excited by the whole idea; perhaps a little too excited. Repton gave him a stern look to remind him of the seriousness at hand, but he gave up when his brother showed no change in demeanour. He should have been used to this kind of approach from his brother.

Repton looked back at the belly of the Condor, and smiled nastily. As the cunning hunter he was, he was going to put his patience to good use.

Stork returned, with Finn and Junko trailing behind. I cursed myself for my acute sense of smell, and I tried my best not to make a face. Finn was explaining to a disgruntled Stork that he swore he didn't mean to open the bonus package, which happened to be a stink bomb meant to drive off a Bog Howler. It set off immediately when he and Junko opened it, and they were lucky to escape its full potential. The bad news was they wouldn't be able to enter the room it was set off in for days. "Enter at your own discretion," Stork muttered. I could smell a hint of that stink bomb on their clothes, as if they were scorched by flame, and I had to say it was powerful enough to drive away a whole herd of Bog Howlers.

Finn saw me in the midst of explaining himself, and soon abandoned his scramble. He walked over to me. "So how's your shoulder?" he asked.

"Good. Hardly worth looking at," I grinned. He seemed assured by my gesture and grinned himself.

"You'll be staying with us for a while, huh?"

"We'll be taking her to The Wayside," Aerrow informed him before I could. He looked to Stork next and relayed the same message to him with his eyes, and Stork simply nodded. He flicked the autopilot off and took control of the helm.

"Are you hungry?" Junko asked me. Truthfully, I was, but I was a little wary. Well, for one thing, I couldn't chew. My teeth were meant to tear meat to pieces. Well, maybe they wouldn't notice? I smiled slightly and nodded.

"A little."

"Then let me take you to the kitchen! We've got lots of stuff! I hope you can find something you like."

I doubted they had any raw meat, but whatever, I was taught never to be too picky. Perhaps I'd be able to stomach something good. I smiled again at the Wallop's kindness, and I followed him out of the bridge, with Finn following. It seemed like he took a liking to me.

"So, do you live on Atmosia?" Finn asked when we reached the kitchen. I thought it'd take much longer to get there, but it didn't feel like it at all. I looked up at the ceiling.

"Somewhat."

"Somewhat?"

I closed my eyes as I shook my head negative. "You can just call it a type of headquarters. I go there to collect mail. I really don't have a house to live in."

"So you're just wandering around, sleeping in hotels and stuff?"

"More or less. I get as far as I can in a day, then look for a place to sleep. In Atmosia, I have a specific place that they allow me to sleep, but it isn't really a home."

"That's kinda like us Storm Hawks," Junko said as he reached into the refrigerator. He pulled out a sandwich and offered it to me. I waved my hand with a nervous smile, and he took a bite out of the sandwich himself. With his mouth full, he spoke again. "We don't have a Home Terra. So the Condor is our home, really."

"Does it ever get boring, delivering things?" Finn asked me. He, too, went to the fridge.

I laughed, and pointed to my shoulder. "Things like this keep me on my toes. And besides, flying all over Atmos to deliver things is a calling of mine. I get to see the sights, and making sure things make it to another's hands is a responsibility I like to take on."

"Ugh... responsibility. Well, as long as you like it!" Finn came out with a piece of leftover pizza. He too offered this to me, and I hesitated. I didn't want them to think that I was actually picky, so I said 'thank-you' and took the piece. Finn fished himself a piece as well and started devouring it. I looked down at my slice and contemplated. Why was I hesitating? Pizza wasn't hard to eat... it was just that the crust would get stuck in my teeth. I turned around and took a small bite out of the pizza. Cold, but pretty good.

I was about to take another bite when Piper came in. She smiled at me and waved my sleeve in front of her, clean and dry. I smiled gratefully —and partly in relief; I was afraid my blood would act... differently and scare her—, then I approached her.

"Thank you so much. I was starting to miss it."

"No problem. I also got the coordinates for you, so don't worry. Here; I've wrote them down here."

She pulled out a piece of paper and handed to me, and I in turn tucked it into my pocket. At first, I thought she was just really content upon doing me a service. But no... one part of being a friend was helping one another out. One thing I didn't expect today was to make friends, but I wasn't complaining. It's just... I hated being dishonest with good people, and I was forced to be dishonest as long as my cloaking crystal was active.

I took the sleeve with my free hand and put it on immediately. Then I remembered that Piper wasn't aware of the situation. I told her that Aerrow was kind enough to agree and drop me off at The Wayside. She looked glad that I was oriented and ready to go, but I supposed she was a little sad. I smiled reassuringly at her.

"I really do appreciate everything you've done."

She nodded with a small smile of her own. "As long as it helps you. Where is your bag?"

"I've left it in your room. Now that you mention it, I need to go back and get it. Will you take me there? I think I've already forgotten where it is..." I laughed nervously, and she laughed with me.

"Sure thing! Come on!"

She turned around to leave, and I turned to the boys to bid farewell. Both had their faces completely full, with their cheeks puffed out. They were certainly pigging out and amusing me. With a grin, I saluted to them and thanked them. They waved, murmuring on their 'no problem's, and I left, following Piper. When I was sure no one was looking, I devoured the pizza in one bite.

When we reached the room, we were greeted by a loud beeping noise. I was a little alarmed, feeling like I screwed up. In some ways, I had.

After I had finished cleaning my wound, I disposed of the cotton balls that soaked up my blood in the waste bin, tied carefully in a bag. I thought I was cautious, but I should've known that I had to be even more careful in a crystal-specialist's room. One of her instruments was within range of my evidence, and it was reacting like crazy.

Piper approached the loud noise immediately in investigation. She picked the radar up in confusion.

"What's going on?"

I watched her in dread. She waved it above the waste bin, then away from it, to record the difference and identify the source of power. At last, she pinpointed it to be the bag that sat in the bin, the newest addition. She picked up the bag and raised it up by three fingers, wary. She looked at me for the answers.

"What's in here? A crystal?"

"No," I said softly. "It's..."

She opened it, still careful. Her eyes widened, seeing the cotton and paper rags stained scarlet. "...why is it reacting so violently to your... blood...?"

She turned to me. A look of mistrust touched her features. I still stood in the doorway, a little hesitant on what to do. Was I caught? Was I to run for it? Where? I saw no point to it. And besides... I heard so many good things about the Storm Hawks. They would accept me, wouldn't they?

I sighed deeply, and I raised my hands. I walked forward a little, to enable to door behind me to close.

"I mean you no harm," I said slowly. "Please, don't freak out..."

"Freak out?" As I expected, she stiffened up, and I bet her mind was racing. "Why would I—?"

I moved my hand and pulled out the cloaking crystal from under my shirt. Piper's eyes widened even more. I knew she would recognize it.

"Can you figure out why there isn't a single picture of the mail carrier Maia anywhere?" I asked her calmly. I wanted to wait for her to calm down before I revealed myself. "She never looks the same, to escape suspicion. Therefore, that means she has a cloaking crystal."

"Why are you speaking in third person? Are you... not Maia?"

"In ways, I am. In others, I'm not. Maia is a persona. In reality, I'm not... human."

It took Piper a moment to collect her thoughts. "But... even so, why would your blood react like this?"

"I'll tell you everything in good time," I told her. I tried to collect my thoughts as well, to explain it in a more simplistic way, instead of the scientific mumbo-jumbo the doctors of Atmosia liked to describe it.

I had to trust her to understand. I breathed in deeply, holding Piper's gaze. When I was sure she was ready, I pinched my cloaking crystal.

The Condor continued on its course out of the storm. Aerrow stuck around in the bridge, silently contemplating while Radarr wandered around. Stork focused on directing the carrier.

Aerrow continued to think about Maia, trying to figure her out. She was a mysterious individual, despite how easily she talked about herself. There was something she was hiding, but he couldn't think of what that could be. Master Cyclonis had once disguised herself as a girl named Lark, and they were totally unsuspecting. Was this perhaps a repeat of the scenario?

He had only remembered about the envelope he received from Maia when his eyes strayed to the table. It lay there, untouched. He approached it and picked it up, deciding to chase the thoughts in his mind and focus on something else. He turned it over and looked at the emblem of Atmosia on the seal. Slowly, he went to break it.

The Condor tilted drastically, hit by something. Aerrow doubled back to stay balanced while Stork tried to level the carrier out. They shared puzzled expressions. Were they being attacked? Another blast hit them from the other side. He wobbled on his way to the window to investigate this disturbance. Finn and Junko sprinted in with alarmed expressions on their faces.

"What's going on?"

Aerrow's eyes frantically searched the skies, but he didn't need to look further. Bonewings circled around tauntingly. He saw Spitz and Hoerk raise their armed fists in the air and display their tongues in mockery. Leugey, who weaved in the air after them, was having too much fun. Their leader was undoubtedly with them, but nowhere to be seen...It seemed like they had more fire power with them. It also seemed totally random that they were there.

"The Raptors are here," he sighed. He turned around immediately and shouted his orders. "Stork, continue piloting out of here. Junko, get to the blaster and try shooting them out of the sky. Finn, come with me; we're going out, and we'll personally greet Repton."

Everyone nodded, and Stork and Junko immediately took on their orders. Finn remained, and Aerrow asked him;

"Where's Piper?"

"She's with Maia. What should we do?"

"You go find her. Tell her that Maia should sit tight in her room until we take care of things."

Finn nodded and sped off down in the right direction. Aerrow looked to Radarr, who immediately scurried to him and jumped onto his shoulder. He exchanged a glance with the little one and nodded. He had his co-pilot to rely on, so he was ready.

"Repton better be a challenge this time."

Piper had fallen back, sitting on her bed in awe. She took in my true form.

"So you're a..." she muttered in disbelief. "You're..."

"A Raptor of sorts, yes," I finished for her. I hadn't turned off my collar, so a human's voice accompanying my visage must have made everything seem more strange, but I didn't want to frighten her even more. I shook my head, smiling helplessly. "Please don't confuse me with the others."

"Well... I can't. You look very different from the ones we know..."

I laughed a little. "I'm glad, but please believe me, I'm not your enemy. I owe you so much for your help."

I guessed she was still shocked. I had told her why my blood was so reactive to her instrument. I had told her of my body's deformity that also proved my story. I didn't go into details of my personal life, but I told her of my purpose.

Since I tend to tease people a lot, I won't tell you much just yet. Nothing personal. We all love short introductions, but all of that explanation takes way too long to explain in detail. You'll get the origins in bits and pieces, all in good time.

Piper, lost in thought, looked down into the bag once more. She then looked up at me once more. "Can I see... your hand again?"

I pulled the sleeve of my right hand back, and showed her my defect once more. My left hand was of normal size, but my right was larger and brandished claws at the end of each finger. I was often called Dragon Claw because of this. These, and my teeth —I don't tend to bite though—, coursed with a power that I had to control, and so they were weapons to be dealt with.

Piper stood up and approached cautiously. She looked up at my face for permission, and I nodded my head, allowing her the consent to touch my hand. I expected her to recoil in disgust at the sight of it, but just like the doctors of Atmosia, she was intrigued by it. She looked at the claw tips, analysing them.

"These are made of... crystal?" she asked in wonder.

"A variation of it, yes."

"And your blood has properties too?"

"The marrow of my bones provides the blood, and so takes a role in its... specialness."

"So you're..." Piper looked closely at my hand, as if she just trailed off, but she straightened up again. "I can't believe this. I never thought I'd see, let alone talk to a... a living crystal."

"There are others like myself born this way," I said. I grimaced a little, remembering the other one I knew. "We are... rare. Only one from each nest make it."

"Is it like a sickness? How does it feel? And how many of you are there? This is all happening on Atmosia?" Piper was bumbling with questions, and I didn't know whether to be entertained or worried. Perhaps telling her this much about it would risk exposure, but... I just trusted her.

The Condor lurched, and we stepped in the direction in question to keep balance. Piper could have tripped backwards, but I hooked a finger of my Dragon Claw around her wrist, keeping her steady. After a few moments we stared at the ceiling, wondering what had happened, then another detonation hit her side and the carrier lurched the opposite way.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"I... I think we're being attacked!" Piper jumped in the air, then made it past me, going to the door. I went to follow, but she turned around to face me.

"Stay here."

"But... what if you need help?"

Piper smiled at my offer. "You may be a Raptor, but you're in pretty rough shape."

I shot my left fist in the air. "What are you talking about? I can..."

A very painful moment ensued, and I cowered my left arm back against my body, rubbing my right hand on my wounded shoulder. Piper gave me a knowing look. "But... but... it's nothing..."

She laughed. "I bet this is nothing. Just sit tight until I get back, okay?"

I didn't want to agree, but I knew she wasn't going to take no for an answer. I was about to say something else when she was opening the door, and she told me over her shoulder;

"I won't tell the others about you, if you don't want me to."

Normally, you'd think this was out of context; the Condor was under attack, and the only thing everyone should have been thinking about was protecting it. But Piper was considerate enough to think about my secret, and she was even promising to take it to her grave. The wonders of this world of ours! I've only met so little kind people like this in my lifetime, and each time it I did, it astounded me.

I bowed my head to her, in her debt. "Thank you."

I could hear the grin in her voice when the door closed. "I'll be back soon!"

Finn crashed into Piper just a few meters from her room. Upon orienting himself, he told her the situation.

"Those lousy Raptors are at it again! And we didn't even do anything this time!"

"That seems so... strange," Piper mused. She looked down in deep thought. "Is this Cyclonis' order? I wonder..."

Maia couldn't be the reason why Repton was here... could she? Did she have any connection with him? If that was so, whatever Maia said back in her room was a lie. But Piper refused to believe that. This was just a coincidence.

"Where's Maia?"

"She's in my room. I told her to stay in there while we clear things up. I mean, why involve a guest with our job, right?"

Finn was a little concerned by the laugh Piper that followed her sentence up, as if she was hiding something. At that moment however, it was the least of his worries. Plus, she and Aerrow had the same idea to keep Maia safe and out of the way. He turned and ran down the hall, calling Piper to follow as he sped for the Skimmer bay.

There they met Aerrow, who already suited himself for the counterattack. Radarr was finishing the last of the preparations as Aerrow revved the engine. He turned to Finn, who jumped into his own Skimmer, activating his shooter. The both of them exchanged nods. Piper went to her own Heliscooter, but hers needed more preparation, so she went to the hatch release.

"I'll be right behind you!" she shouted as the air tumbled in strongly. Hoerk has sped past, looking into the hatch for a second, smirking. Repton was still no where in sight. Aerrow nodded, shouted "Good luck!" and both he and Finn sped out the bay, activating their wings and setting off, to face the opposition.

Piper ran to her Heliscooter and did her regular preparations as quickly as she possibly could. Unfortunately, something about the mast seemed off, and it interfered with the blades' pattern. She couldn't come out just yet, or something would go wrong and she'd crash.

She looked at it more closely. Sizing it up, she double-took the base of it, and noticed that it was wretched in one direction, toward the back. Then she looked at the cables that lined the inside; they were shifted, and catching on the sides of the tubing. She remembered her last flight. The intense weight that did this...

"Aw jeez..." Piper sighed, smiling. Maia, with what she was, damaged Piper's ride. Due to the circumstances, there was no avoiding it, and she couldn't possibly blame her.

A sudden roar grew in a rapid crescendo, and before she could completely confirm whose vehicle it was, a weapon fired and a sudden pain struck her spine. It didn't strike her like any other dangerous weapon, but rather like a paralyzer. Something small had latched onto her back... she felt it. She felt her strength waning and she fell to her knees. The roar of the vehicle reduced itself to low rumbles, and she knew the owner had set himself down within the bay. He left his vehicle, chuckling. Piper managed to turn her head with as much effort as she could. Only her Heliscooter, which began to die, supported her kneeling.

Repton, just as he did on Gundstaff's Terra, caught her helpless. He smiled unpleasantly down at her, a sort of crossbow in his hand. It was similar to Finn's, but small green crystals with metal pincers lined themselves up in the load. She had never seen such crystals before.

"One down," Repton purred, patting his weapon. "Two more to go."

"Rrrr..." Piper tried to speak, but even her vocal cords were immobilized. She couldn't even say his name. Didn't Stork see him? No alarms went off! How could he have slipped by? The Condor had no blind spot, did she? Repton went over to her and hooked an arm around her waist, picking her up and holding her like luggage under his arm. He waved the crossbow in front of her face.

"Things are looking grim for you. Let's see how these Parasites fare with your other friends."

With that, he strolled out of the bay, with Piper uselessly and voicelessly brought along.

Aerrow noted the new strategy the Raptors adopted. They pummelled the Condor with their firearms, but they kept their distance, orbiting like planets around a sun. Overall, they weren't doing too much damage. Also, their rides may have been equipped with faster crystals, because Junko couldn't land any of them with his blaster.

The Condor stopped suddenly. Aerrow told Stork to continue out of the storm, so what was holding him up? He pressed down on the transmitter.

"What are you doing, Stork? Keep going!"

No answer. He looked over to Finn, who seemed occupied with shooting Leugey with his crossbow. The giggling lizard evaded him and dove into the cloudline below, and Spitz and Hoerk closed in at Finn's other side in his place.

At that moment, Junko stopped firing his blaster. Aerrow was still hung up on Stork's failed response, and Junko's sudden absence was just adding to it. He wanted to believe that Junko was just out of ammo, and was reloading as he thought it, but suddenly the blaster flared up, now hitting a different target. The Raptors had pulled back to let Finn take it. His ride erupted from the blast, and he himself plunged down with a girlish scream.

Aerrow, though shocked at what had just happened, put his Energy Blades away and dived for his friend. He scooped him up before he hit the cloudline. Finn landed ungracefully, but at that moment, he had no time to complain. The leader exchanged a glance with Radarr, then they both looked to the Condor. The Raptors flew around one more time and then, while the boys watched in horror, all of them flew toward the bay, which remained open.

"What's going on?" Finn shouted. "The bay's been open for how long?"

"Piper was supposed to close it when she left. She was supposed to be out here with us. Something has to be wrong!"

Aerrow saw the Raptors disappear, one at a time. Spitz, Hoerk, Leugey. No Repton. They couldn't possibly have exercised all of this on their own. Then it hit him, squarely in the face. When they had left the bay, they didn't look for anything that was lurking beneath the carrier itself... He finally directed his eyes to the windows of the bridge, and squinted his eyes to get past the reflections of the sky.

The leader of the Raptors waved at them on the other side of the glass, with one hand on the wheel. He had personally infiltrated the Condor. His brothers were just decoys for Aerrow and Finn. Piper must have succumbed first. Then Stork, with his back to the bridge's door. Junko was so busy trying to blast the lizard brothers out of the sky that he didn't see Repton coming from behind. Repton had set Piper, Stork, and Junko beside each other, all of them frozen with terrified looks on their faces. It was as if they were hit with Paralyzer crystals, but they looked like they were getting weaker.

Repton's smile was infuriating Aerrow. That lowly, sneaky reptile. He brought out his Energy Blades again.

"Take over, Radarr!" he shouted as he aimed his Skimmer's nose heavenward, toward the roof of the Condor. The sky hatch was open; he was going to jump in. Radarr screeched in persistence, but Aerrow let go of the controls, and in order to keep the Skimmer level, Radarr had no choice but to take it. The creature watched back hopelessly as Aerrow disappeared through the hatch.

Aerrow landed in the bridge, and he straightened up slowly, watching Repton closely. The Raptor brandished his jagged teeth in pleasure and pulled out his traditional weapon; the boomerang that felled many Sky Knights in its history. A crossbow was also strapped to his back, one with crystals Aerrow had never seen before. He looked over to his friends, and their faces held warning. Why could they not move? Were the crystals Repton possessed the cause?

"This ends here, Repton," Aerrow said loudly. The two of them started to circle, staying on the outside of the Storm Hawks emblem on the floor. "Congrats on getting inside, but I'll stop you."

"You're right; it all ends here," the lizard agreed, and his serpentine tongue flickered for a moment, until another arrogant smile took his features. "But today, I'll collect the prize!"

With a intimidating shout, the Raptor lunged forward, his boomerang ablaze, slashing down. Aerrow rolled aside, and there they commenced the battle for full control.

End of Chapter

A/N: There.

I'm really excited to write the next chapter of this, but I think I should really focus on IWSTKY. A lot of people are waiting for that one, since it's the most popular one. I think I've made them wait long enough X'D I'll try and get that up this weekend. As for this story, I hope to write so much more, but I'll keep noting down ideas in the meantime.

I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you next time! Tell me if you catch any mistakes!

~Vixen