The dark blue and golden Hunters touched down thousands of feet in the air in the midst of an air fleet.
"Did you guys get there okay?" Bailey radioed in right at that second.
"Yeah!" Cody had to shout his answer over the roaring winds surrounding him. London followed suit.
"Thank goodness! Anyway, Wind Crowrang should be somewhere at the front of this convoy. Both of you, be careful. Maybe get inside a plane when you need to talk to us, too. I can barely hear you over the elements out there."
"Um, roger!"
The two ended communications and dashed ahead, unaware that a certain bird Maverick was hovering over them watching their every move with curious amusement.
"Hmm…"
What followed started out pretty straightforward: it amounted to little more than disabling cannons and shooting eagle-like Mavericks and their progeny out of the sky. That, and fending off the humanoid ones that wielded maces and hid behind shields (London's own shield got a real work out here).
Focusing on the task at hand helped them distract themselves from the turmoil going on inside their heads. Cody hated himself for chasing his brother away and was terrified that he'd been abducted by two people he had grown to trust. As for London, she was dealing with that on top of worrying about the threats of a certain creep as well as a fear she had very recently contracted: one of hurting the people she cared about.
Things began to change, however, when the airships started to actively try and shake them off as they went.
Cody felt his metaphorical stomach drop the first time it happened. He managed to just be fast enough to sail right past the first attempt only to trip on the second.
Any pretense of stoicism vanished in an instant.
"LONDON! HELP!"
Realizing what happened and acting quickly, she perched herself at the edge of the nearest plane and using one of her blades to ground her, she extended her grappling hook the farthest it could go.
With a last-ditch air dash, he caught it. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't get a moment to rest until after the pattern repeated itself a few more times (these times, much more successfully) and a bigger ship with windows came into view.
Like a thirsty man finding an oasis, they both dove in without hesitation.
-000-
Collapsing on the floor of the plane, safely out of immediate sight, the two let relative silence consume them for a few minutes.
"C-Cody? L-London?"
It was Bailey.
"W-We're okay…"
The brunette sounded on the verge of tears, though judging by her message, they seemed to be happy ones.
"I heard screaming and…and…you're safe…"
"…London saved me…" Cody mouthed the words to himself as if trying and not grasping them. "London Tipton just saved my life…"
"Isn't it just 'London' now?"
"Yeah…" the taller twin glanced at her with a small but genuine smile, his first in quite a while. "It's just London."
"G-Good…" Bailey responded, voice still a little shaky.
They only had another minute or so to collect themselves, but not much more, and they knew it.
Cody first opened his mouth to speak, but the older teen beat him to it.
"We have to go."
The boy nodded and started to move.
"Cody!"
He stopped and looked at her, who had on a glare of determination she typically reserved for when she was going after her more "limited run" clothing finds.
"When we get back, can I talk to you?" Conflict and worry danced in her eyes now.
It was his turn to be confused. "Of course. Why wouldn't you be able to…?"
A loud crack and shredding of metal stopped their chatter and sent their gazes to the opposite side of the plane…
As they carefully made their way across the now-damaged plane, the loud, screechy voice that was goading the teens became more and more clear.
"…out wherever you are!"
More bashing of the plane eventually revealed the assailant through a nasty-looking hole in the wall.
He was a fierce jet-black crow robot, features as sharp as the daggers he wielded. He eyed his prey with disdain.
Hoping that he could pull off hiding his fear better than last time, Cody leveled a glare at him.
"So, you're Crowrang, I presume?"
"And you're the scared little boy the soft fool's been piddling around with." He looked at the taller of the two. "…and you must be the deserter's lackey."
Practically reflexively, she snarled. "Hey! London Tipton is nobody's lackey!"
"London!"
The girl stopped in her tracks, not so much because of the boy's scolding in itself, but because of his resemblance to his brother…
…the one she drove away.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, she settled for arming her bow and aiming at him threateningly.
"X isn't soft. I don't know what kind of history you two have…"
The bird's wings fluttered irritably. "There isn't much to tell about a simpering fool lazing around in his retirement chair constantly complaining about people 'getting hurt'."
Cody found himself getting angry now. "Just how callous are you?!
"Callous? Please. It's called being a warrior, boy. You should try it sometime. Speaking of which…"
Crowrang briefly looked away at somewhere far off before looking back at them. "Follow me, if you dare."
With that, the bird sent a razor-sharp slice of air towards the plane that did enough damage to seal its doom and force his opponents to evacuate.
They would head forward a few more planes over to the creature's flagship, with the darker blue reploid unable to shake off the rather disconcerting thought that he wouldn't feel particularly bad about defeating this Maverick…
-000-
With nothing more to say to each other, the fight began the moment the two hit the ground (such as it was). London took the lead, shooting both her normal and fiery array of bows at the bird. Dodging them with a spin, he tackled her. With her temporarily knocked out of the way, he changed targets and rushed towards Cody.
His speed allowed the smarter twin to evade and return fire, keeping on the move and discovering through trial and error that his Thunder Beam seemed to work best here.
The partially stunned bird wasn't done yet, however.
Taking out a pair of daggers, he flung them at him, causing Cody to dodge. It took a heads-up from the teen's partner to realize that the weapons were coming back the other way.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a lack of battle sense. All you can do is run away like a coward..."
Cody knew he wasn't a warrior at heart, but wasn't about to give the robotic crow the satisfaction of learning that. "Shut up!"
"Hmph." The bird suddenly jerked off to the side, avoiding the crossbow bolt heading for his head before looking the shooter's way. "Wait your turn, girl."
"Since you like scampering around so much, try outrunning these!"
Homing missiles shot out of the bird's mouth and began to follow both Hunters. Again, London led the way (albeit this time only slightly) with the ideal strategy: blowing up the projectiles with their attacks.
Wind Crowrang then instantly disappeared, as if he'd warped away, bewildering them both.
"Huh?"
"Where'd he go?!"
It took a few seconds of looking around gave them their answer
"London, up there!"
From his high vantage point, none of the duo's weapons could hit Crowrang. Worse yet, it was hard to tell from their position, but his lack of movement made it seem as if he was sizing them up for something...
They'd get their answer when their enemy came down like meteor, forcing the two to split up as he hit the ground head first, sending out energy blades on all sides. While London managed to stay safe with a quick deployment of her Gaea Shield, the blue reploid wasn't afforded the same protection.
He was sent flying off the airship, but this time, desperation for survival as well as the realization that his rich friend wouldn't be able to bail him out forced him to start cycling through weapons hoping that the recoil would save him.
All this happened in mere seconds.
It turned out that his Hydro Cannon was the miracle he needed...only for the backwards blast to land him just shy of being able to connect with the rim of the ship.
Instead, someone was there to catch him, and it wasn't his friend this time.
"Pathetic," the weakened crow snarled as he held the boy aloft by his face. "I should just drop you right here and let X discover whatever remains of you after that..."
The blonde prepared for the worst.
"However, I think I have a more fitting punishment for a joke of a Hunter like you..."
He dropped the boy on the ship, sending him rolling away, and the heiress running for him.
"You. Girl." He descended and pointed one of his daggers challengingly at her. "Face me."
London had seen every bit of the Maverick's tormenting of Cody and hated that she hadn't been in a position to do anything about it. She was looking at him with a level of coldness and hate that was practically palpable. She drew her own electrified blades. "You're on."
-000-
The final skirmish itself was short. A brief flurry of slashes followed by a final, fatal one.
The bird was never going to win, and he knew it.
"So, the deserter...is capable of…training others after all…"
He fell to one knee, clutching his chest wound as it sparked wildly. "Hmph, Red would be proud."
"Red…?"
"Oh, Axl didn't tell you? Figures. Well, at least you're no weakling."
She knew exactly who he was referring to. "Shut up."
"Feel free to do it for me…yourself. You've earned the right to that, at least."
Withdrawing her Noble Blades for her crossbow, she used it one last time, not willing to even dirty her hands touching him again.
After the deed was finally done, a black orb floated its way up from the wreckage.
London looked at Cody, who emotionlessly, wordlessly walked towards the orb and took it.
Before he could do anything more, she turned him towards her, forcing him to look her in the eyes.
"Listen to me. He was wrong. You're not weak..."
The look in his eyes made it clear he didn't believe her. After a moment, unsure of what to do, she reluctantly let go.
"I was only trying to help…" she mumbled despondently.
The boy's tone was practically monotone. "We'll talk when we get back to the Base."
It wasn't long after that before they were gone in beams of light.
-000-
WEAPONS ACQUIRED
Feather Dance (X): Spreads around black feathers that damage and slow enemies.
Dark Dive (Zero): A diving attack only done from the air that has a period of invincibility.
Air Slash (Axl): Shoots a cross of wind either once or twice in an "X" pattern piercing obstacles and in a straight line. Must be charged in order to work.
Sonic Boom (Cody): Shoots a crescent wave of wind energy in a straight line outwards. Multiple copies can be shot out in a technique called Sonic Break, but it must be used stationary.
Avian Spike (London): An aerial kick that can be aimed in many directions.
-TBC-
I do (and always will) love my Street Fighter references…
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