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

Chapter 5

"Now, before you deliver this letter for me," I told Leugey sweetly, "I need to get to the Skimmer bay."

I walked with the good-hearted Raptor down the hall, toward the bay. I carried my mail bag, taking everything that was mine for my departure. My plan was both beneficial to me and the Storm Hawks.

I had instructed Finn with my plan back in Piper's room, unbeknownst to Leugey, who sat outside humming to himself at the time (he seemed to have forgotten that I knocked his brother unconscious, even though Hoerk lay meters away). Finn and Radarr had looked at one another after I finished my instructions, and they must have wondered how I came up with it. I finished writing two letters, then folded them elaborately, since I had no envelopes with me. I marked each with a stamp of the Atmosian Mail insignia, then left one on Piper's desk while I held onto the other one. I made sure the new crystals were in my mail bag, then I left the room with it on my right shoulder. I had a small Time Pulse compass in my pocket, and I left an apology to Piper for taking it without her consent. It was going to help me find my bearings. Finn and Radarr had retreated up into the ventilation, to wait for the moment I promised them.

Leugey and I made it to the Skimmer bay. The bay doors were open, and the whole area was deathly cold. They had to have been open for an hour or so by now. Leugey turned to me and lifted his arms with a goofy smile on his face.

"Tada!"

I looked at the destruction of the Storm Hawks rides, then at the Bonewings that sat in a clutter. Well, three were actually in the clutter. There was a lone Bonewing near Piper's Heliscooter, and call it a hunch, but I believed that it belonged to Repton. I had to fight against a devious smile.

"Thanks so much, Leugey," I chirped, patting his shoulder. "Now, are you ready to be my little messenger?"

I handed the letter to him with both hands, and when he grasped it, he lifted it up above his head, looking at it like some shiny object. His eyes were wide with wonder. It sort of made me feel bad for taking advantage of him, but I couldn't allow what they were doing to continue. I smiled at him and pointed a finger upward in a reproachful way.

"You make sure that letter gets to your leader, alright?"

"What's taking them so long?" Repton snarled to himself. Spitz stood by his side at the radio table, watching his leader with a wary expression. He told his leader that Finn was undoubtedly on board, but the length of time it took the other two Raptors in catching him was wearing Repton's patience thin. The Storm Hawks who were already done-in by the Parasites still slumped in the corner. They were looking worse than before, which pleased him but didn't relieve his impatience.

He decided to contact Master Cyclonis in the meantime.

"What is it, Repton?" she droned. A moment passed, then: "...I see you are contacting me from a different location."

"The Condor, to be precise," Repton replied. His voice was proud and dignified as he spoke over the radio. "The Storm Hawks have been oppressed. Everything's under control."

"Ah, so I see my Parasites were a success."

The Raptor's smile faltered as a wave of annoyance rippled inside him. If anyone else had been chosen to use the Parasites, they wouldn't have been able to take all of the Storm Hawks down. His intellect and stealth got him onto the ship carrier. If it hadn't been for him, the Parasites would never have carried out their purpose. To give all the credit to tools was ridiculous. He refrained from saying any snide remark, and instead took a deep breath.

"They are phenomenally useful, for sure. But getting inside a carrier undetected is simply not one of their talents."

"You will be awarded for your endeavors, definitely. Once you come plowing in with the Condor, I'll be very pleased with you. We'll then discuss our means of payment."

Repton chuckled at the proposition. He was sure that he and his Raptors would live very comfortably with their payment. The money would feed them handsomely and give them plenty of luxuries before it ran out. And on top of all that, Repton would add another trophy to his wall of Sky Squadron shields, one that he'd been dying to have since he first met them. The Storm Hawks' symbol would compliment it all.

"I can hardly wait—"

"Repton!"

Still holding the receiver in hand, the leader looked over his shoulder to find Hoerk, gulping down air, gripping the doorframe. He staggered over, and when he was close enough, Repton noticed that his brother's nose had been bleeding. The larger one seemed to have just noticed this himself, because he dabbed at it, but he got back on topic.

"There's someone else on this ship!"

"What do you mean, "someone else"?" Repton hissed. "It's the freeshooter, isn't it? He's the only other one that we haven't taken yet. What's taking you so long?"

"No, there is someone else! A woman, but she had one nasty punch!"

"Where's Leugey?"

"He... I don't know where he is. When I came to, he was gone. I think the woman's holding him hostage."

Another woman on board? And a strong one at that? Repton knew that many females were something to be dealt with —his match with Starling opened scars just by the memory of it— but it couldn't be another Sky Knight. He had counted all the vehicle... There was no other! The guest had to be a bystander of sorts, a normal person... His mind returned back to the topic at hand.

"So you abandoned your brother and came running to me," he said acidly. Hoerk looked down at the ground pitifully. "I'll show you that this woman is nothing but a nuisance!"

"Is something the matter, Repton?" inquired Cyclonis over the radio. She sounded like she had expected this kind of screw up. Repton laughed nervously.

"No, no, Master Cyclonis. Everything's fine and under control. I'll report to you when we're approaching Cyclonian territory."

Repton signed off and turned back to Hoerk, who was still looking sorry for himself. After glaring at him for a moment, he looked to Spitz, who flinched under the same glare. "Spitz, take the helm and fly for Cyclonia. I'll take Hoerk and see who this mysterious wench is, and I'll make sure she pays for her meddling."

Spitz went to the helm, took control, and moved the Condor forth. Repton took a step past Hoerk, but was stopped by the named one's voice. "But Repton, she's not just any woman. She's—"

The bridge door opened once more, and Leugey came waltzing in, looking proud of himself. All three of his brothers look at him in confusion. The happy Raptor practically skipped over to Repton, with a piece of folded paper in his large hands. He held it out to Repton, who looked at it strangely.

"What is this, Leugey?"

"A letter. She told me to give it straight to you. She was really nice!" Leugey laughed his traditional laugh, waving the paper up and down with both hands.

"Who?" No one answered, but he had a feeling he would find out.

The leader tracked the movement of the letter with his eyes and then snatched it from his brother. He growled under his breath for the other to quit his hyper-activeness. Leugey still looked proud of himself.

Repton turned the folded paper over, noticed the marking of Atmosia on it, and opened it up. He felt Hoerk come closer to look over his shoulder, and he would've told him to back off, but he was immediately sucked into the half-cursive, half-chicken-scratch handwriting .

" "Dear Repton, ruler of Bogaton"," he began with a mutter.

How's it going? It's been a while since we last met,
which I believe was around Terra Amazonia. You and
your boys couldn't quite catch me. I found it
disappointing, but hey, you tried your best. I hope
Cyclonis wasn't too harsh with you about losing me in
the jungles.

I really appreciate you coming for a visit today, but
I'm not pleased about what you have done to my
friends. As compensation, I will be taking your vehicle
for a little bit. And, for the record, I can't promise you
that you'll find it in one piece when I'm done.
You could always try and take it back from me before
that happens. I'm going down into the Wastelands, at
46° North, 73° West. I doubt you'll be able to find me,
though. I always seem to slip through your grasp.

"... "With that said"," Repton was snarling by now, tempted to tear the letter to pieces, " "I wish you a nice day. Sincerely, Maia"!"

"Maia? Maia? That insufferable mail carrier? Here?"

In an instant, Repton turned his rage upon Leugey.

"Leugey! What the hell is this?" Leugey seemed to shrink, his head cowering between his shoulders a little. Repton was furious about the letter, but he was taking it out on the brother who brought it to him. "You didn't do anything when she gave this to you? You let her get away? What in the world were you thinking? She's still on the ship! If I knew any better, I'd—"

The roar of a Bonewing pierced their ears and the Raptors looked out the front window, to the bay roadway. It was too late to catch her on the ship... The vehicle spiralled up into the air, allowing them to glimpse the back of the rider for only a second. She disappeared up, over the view of the windows, and Repton ran to the glass to try and peer up. He didn't have to though, because the rumbling descended upon them. The Bonewing ended up hovered alongside the side window, moving along with the Condor, which was still beingpiloted by Spitz. The woman in the seat gazed at them through the glass, assessing the situation.

"I really hope you're not shooting the messenger!" she shouted, looking at Repton. She gestured to Leugey when she said that. "I know you can be a real jerk but that's just silly!"

Repton was already acquainted with the shape-shifting Maia. She looked different every time. He didn't have to think twice when he saw the bag that hung on her shoulder, or when he noticed the bulb at her throat shine. It was Maia alright, and she was on his ride! That dirty human was on his ride!

"Maia!" he shouted angrily. "You unwanted, vile, dirty little—"

"What? I can't hear you! The glass is too thick, and your ride is so loud~!" she ended that sentence with a sing-song note, circulating her head around on her neck playfully. She flashed an innocent smile. "Come out here, and then I'll be able to hear you! But decide now! I'm actually on my way somewhere and can't afford to wait!"

"The Wastelands? You can't be serious!"

Despite her excuse for not hearing, she looked like she heard that, because her smile spread wider. Her hand slipped down into a compartment on the other side of his Bonewing, and she fished out a crystal. Not just any crystal, but a Velocity. Repton's jaw dropped in fury. He was the only one that held the Velocity crystals when he and his squadron flew the skies, and now Maia had them all.

"By the time you get to the coordinates in that letter, I may be gone, but then again, I could still be there. Who knows! If you get your butt out here, we'll see!"

Repton's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're bluffing..."

"Am I?"

Maia went ahead and pressed a button. The small crystal hatch below the windscreen opened in a receding, circular motion, and she waved the Velocity crystal above the hatch, taunting. She held Repton's murderous leer for a few more moments, then dropped the crystal in. The hatch closed, and in a matter of seconds, the Bonewing's roar grew in crescendo. Maia stiffly posed a hand in front of her mouth, and —it looked like there was a mirage or something— she made the sign of the horns. She let her tongue roll out, grinning with mockery. Repton's pupils contracted murderously, looking demented with fury. Maia, looking pleased with the response, took hold of the handles and activated the capacity of the Velocity crystal. She burst forward with something like a sonic boom, flying at top speed around the front of the Condor and back in the direction they came from, going back into the storm. Repton roared with such ferocity his brothers feared he might target them to release his temper.

"How dare she!" he seethed. "Does she have a death wish? Taking my ride? Using my crystal?"

"Come on, Boss, you have another one on Bogaton," Spitz tried to calm him down, but that only made him more angry.

"This has nothing to do with the bike, Spitz! This is about my pride, my honour! That she-devil dared to tarnish it!"

Repton had crushed the letter in his hand when Maia flew off, but once grasping the fact that he did, he quickly unwrinkled it. The coordinates were still readable. He clenched his teeth while he read the numbers over and over again, memorizing them. He smacked the letter into Hoerk's chest and trudged toward the bridge door.

"She was a fool to give me the coordinates," he growled. "I'm going to go out there and make her wish she'd never been born! I can't let this opportunity pass me up!"

He turned toward his brothers. "Keep flying for Cyclonia!" he shouted. "If you screw this up now, I don't know what I'll do, and you don't even want to know! Do you think you could actually get this done right?"

They nodded their head in perfect synchronization, scared for their skins. Repton glanced to the Parasite-infected Storm Hawks, but all he could see was Maia in his mind's eye, sticking out her tongue as if she was some Raptor, for Pete's sake. It was insulting!

He stormed out of the bridge, and he was so lost in his wrath that he couldn't hear the shuffling in the vents above. If he had, he thought it was the wind. He only had one thing in mind, and it was linked deeply with blood-thirst. When he arrived in the bay, he found that his siblings did a fine job of devastating the Storm Hawks' rides, but he started regretting it. He could have used one of their vehicles to get to his, then ditch it and fly on his own, but he had to deal with what he had. Repton hopped onto Leugey's Bonewing, revved it up, then burst out of the bay. The wings spread wide as he rolled off of the roadway, and he directed himself in the opposite direction.

Maia was nowhere in sight, as he expected. The coordinates Maia had provided him with was about an hour or so away, but she would be there in a matter of minutes. No doubt entered his mind, though, when he thought of her capture. Even if she gave him fake coordinates...

He would hunt her down. There was no cure to his madness other than her neck being wrung in his hands.

The storm was just as bad as when the Talons were chasing me, but thunder and lightening happened more frequently this time. By the time the Velocity crystal had ended its juice, I still had a couple of miles to go. I remained above the cloud line to keep my bearings, even though the wind pelted me and the thunder unnerved me.

I knew I should've been used to flying, but I suddenly felt very air-sick. That was the first time I used a Velocity, and I was not in the slightest inclined to try it again. Not to mention I've already demonstrated how flying was just not one of my talents. I was more of a rider of the earth, and I bet it would've been a rush if I used it on a Terra, but I digress. I vowed I'd keep away from them.

Surprisingly, Repton's ride reminded me a lot of Cloud Nine, and I felt really comfortable using it. It was probably because it was meant to be heavy-duty, to take on the weight of a Raptor and to ride on the most rough of terrain. Cloud Nine was the same, but she was a lot more smoother in the air. I found myself missing her a little more.

I hoped Repton took the bait. My intention was to lure him away from the others, to isolate him. I knew his brothers couldn't function correctly with him gone. I wondered if Finn and Radarr were already carrying out the plan. Finn would prove like a decoy, to lead a Raptor or two away. In the meantime, Radarr would drop in without being noticed and pull the new crystals from the Storm Hawks who were captured. They would be very weak, but at least they'd outnumber the Raptors five—or six, if we're counting Radarr— to three. And besides, the Storm Hawks would never give up, and they wouldn't get themselves hit by the crystals again. If things went well, the Raptors would retreat. I did all I could for them; it was up to them now, whether or not they succeeded in taking back the Condor.

I got to the place Piper had recorded for me. I referred to the Time Pulse, to make sure I was in the correct range. When I was, I looked down, analyzed the cloud line, and I took a breath before I plunged down.

The heat of the lava pits rose up and overwhelmed my skin. It was so warm, I let out a sigh of pleasure. No beasts lingered where I was, and I counted my blessings. I just hoped that I could find what I was looking for, and that I could get the both of us out quickly before anything happened.

I encircled the area over and over, but I couldn't see Cloud Nine. I was starting to lose hope, and anxiety started acting up. Repton was on his way, and if I hadn't found my ride in that time, well... I doubted I'd be able to outfly him. He'd get me before I even reached for another Velocity crystal. I passed by a little mountain and saw a plume of smoke, but I mistook it for a volcanic pocket each time. It was only on my fourth time around that I saw a small sliver of light reflect off of a metallic surface, luckily unstained by soot. A grin overtook my features and I could've whooped, but I decided against it, to refrain from waking anything up. It was unbelievably lucky that my ride crashed into a little cave. I was starting to think that it had taken a dive into the molten rock or something.

I found Cloud Nine, but I had to ditch the Bonewing in a place some way down the fiery valley. The repairs to my ride would take some time, and Repton would arrive in an hour or so. Placing his ride far from where I would be would give me even more time.

I landed on the summit of a smaller mountain, then began my descent. When I reached the ground, I crept cautiously in the shadows of the large rocks. A Magma Beast somehow always knew when something lingered on the edge of their lava pools. I made sure to avoid those specific areas, and I made my way to the foot of the mountain that Cloud Nine occupied.

In a matter of minutes, I heaved myself into the cave. I coughed at the thick smog that emitted from Cloud Nine, and I waved my hand in an attempt to banish it. I inspected her, and my lips pursed in a diagonal line. It hurt me to see her so wrecked and pathetic. Her wings were demented and broken, the windscreen was shattered, and one of the exhaust boosters was straight-out missing. I was also going to have to check the engine crystals and fluids, to make sure nothing was punctured.

Now, the one thing that I had to confess... I had no idea what I was doing.

I told the Chancellor I would be able to fix Cloud Nine, but I was a lot more confident in the thought of it than the actual task. Seeing her this destroyed planted a seed of uncertainty in my mind, and it started to fester. I was definitely not going to repair her in less than an hour, and I didn't have the slightest idea on what to do about that missing exhaust booster.

I decided to push the task away for a few more moments by getting rid of my disguise.

In the first time in a while, I completely removed my collar. Just as any other time when I did so, a series of sparks lit up between the choker and my throat, giving me a funny sensation. With it gone, I took in a deep breath, and I let my vocal chords tremble. My true voice passed my lips, with a hint of Maia's, but one so small, anyone could miss it. Purring, I also took off my cloaking crystal next. It shouldn't have made a difference to me, but I felt very liberated in my true form. I then proceeded in removing my sleeves and tube-top, and once that was done, I packed everything back into the trunk on the rear-end of Cloud Nine. I also stuffed my mailbag in there. No one would connect me with Maia as long as I didn't open the trunk. I wondered if Repton had noticed my wounded shoulder as Maia. Because if he did, I'd be in trouble if he found me...

Taking a deep breath, I started working on Cloud Nine's repairs. Luckily, I was able to detect what was causing the smog; the engine was still burning, threatening meltdown. I turned the engine off, and the smoke stopped. After that was done, I was able to focus on other things, like the wings. Another miracle; the space where she fell was large enough for her complete wingspan, so I worked without too many problems. Another good thing about my Dragon Claw was, although it was clumsy to work with for tricky problems, it had the strength to bend things back into place.

It was unfortunate that I had nothing to replace the missing exhaust booster, but there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to believe it would be able to get me out of the Wastelands though. There was no use in repairing the windscreen either, because I could always have it replaced on Atmosia. I knocked the rest of the glass out, so all that was left was the frame.

When I thought an hour passed by, I wiped my brow and stepped back, looking at Cloud Nine as a whole. She had better-looking days. I placed the tools back into the inventory and sat myself down in the seat. I checked the wings first. I pushed the handlebar forward, and I was pleased that the wings folded and tucked themselves into their compartments. I then pulled the handlebars, and the compartments opened again. The wings had a harder time coming out, screeching against the metal, but they came out without getting caught on anything. I would have a specialist look at her when I got back to Atmosia. I leaned forward and tested the strength of the wings, and found them satisfactory. Sitting back down, I tried to kick-start it.

All I got as a response were sputtering coughs.

"Come on," I begged. Again and again, I failed in coaxing out her voice. With each failed attempt I lost my patience, my cool. I wished I had been lucky in fixing the engine, but there was something still wrong. And I didn't know what that was, either. In the end, I was screwed. "Come on, come on!"

I jumped off of her when she continued her strangled coughing. I just had to look in the engine again...

"Where the hell is she?"

Repton searched the fiery terrain frantically. He reached the general area, but the Wastelands were vast, and it'd take him a great deal of time in finding her. Would she be hiding in a cave, or under a canyon? What did she exactly want to accomplish down here?

Before long, he found something glinting at the top of a small rock mound, and he was surprised to see his own ride, just sitting there. When he was well above it, he jumped off of Leugey's bike and sailed down, landing right next to his Bonewing. His brother's vehicle went crashing down, but he could care less. Their rides were made very durable, so there was hardly a chance of it being too badly damaged from a glide like that. He approached his vehicle and inspected it nervously, checking for any scratches or dents. It was left the same, only missing one Velocity stone from its collection. He had half-expected to see a little note on the seat, a few mocking words from Maia, but he found none. If anything, Maia left nothing in her midst, and it was as if she disappeared into thin air. Repton had no further leads.

"She's got to be down here somewhere," he told himself. "How else would she get out?"

It seemed like only a few seconds after he said that, that a small explosion sounded out of nowhere. It wasn't the type that engulfed everything in flames, but a huge blast of smoke and exhaust, accompanied by a short but loud Bang! It was something only a mechanical object could produce. He looked up immediately in the given direction, and he saw the plume rising up from a cave in a mound nearby. Something metallic had escaped from the blast, spiralling down and clanging noisily against the rocks, making sparks dance. It finally stopped bouncing a few meters away from the base of the little mountain, continuously spinning. He heard the faintest sound of someone cursing, but he couldn't quite determine who it belonged to. It was only when he saw the figure appear at the edge of the cave did he find out.

It was a Raptoress, Repton deduced with puzzlement. She started descending down the mount's face, still cursing, frowning. It was strange, because he didn't recall any time when he met a Raptor outside his home of Bogaton. All of the ones he knew reported to him on his Home Terra. The Raptoress that maneuvered around the rocks was one he had never seen, with an appearance that he found exotic, foreign. He could tell that it was female from where he was, far away, overlooking from a small mountain top.

Her skin was a reddish-brown hue, and she looked like she had the ability to inhabit a desolate place like the Wastelands if she wanted to. A deep desert reptile, if he had to describe her. Her build was average, nothing special, but she had good posture, even as she climbed down with an ill-temper. She had a unique crown for a lizard; twin spine-paths flared, webbed with sandy membrane, starting above her brows and joining at the base of her neck in a decline. He noticed that her left shoulder was bandaged, and he had a small, quick sensation, but he didn't identify it as déjà vu. Other details were missed due the distance between them.

He watched as she landed at the base of the mount and trudged toward what she had lost. It was still spinning pathetically when she arrived at it. She picked it up. Now that it was still, and not a simple shining blur, he realized it was the hood of a Skimmer. She lingered there for a moment, holding it in her right hand until she brought it above and hit it against her forehead in frustration. She stood there for an even lengthier amount of time, just hiding her face under the piece of metal. She was most likely trying to collect her thoughts. Repton watched very closely, wondering what she would do next.

Very slowly, she turned to his direction and returned his gaze from under the metal hood.

End of Chaper

A/N: Yay~ Finally they... meet?

The REAL confrontation's next chapter!

I loved writing Repton in such an angry mood~ I just find it so fun, the change in his mood, especially in the show. I'm more of an artist or cartoonist, so facial expressions are pretty important to me. I find myself pausing or replaying parts of an episode so I can get that face and admire it or laugh at it. BUT I digress. What I'm trying to say is that I love and am going to love writing Repton's character, because he's so temperamental I'll have a kick of imagining his face and trying to describe it to you!

But yeah, I hope you enjoyed this :) Reviews are appreciated!

~Vixen