Chapter 2: Alone

The Storm Hawks and Cyclonians look around the battered room for their leaders, still shocked to move. But there are not many places to hide in the bare room and they can't find their leader and his pet or Cyclonis.

"Aerrow? Radarr?" Piper calls again despite the lack of friends.

Finn asks, "Where'd they go?" He looks back and screams, ducking just before a glowing mace smashes his head apart. He quickly backs up while the others turn back to their enemies, who ready their weapons. Ravess aims a multitude of arrows at the Storm Hawks and let's them loose. The friends quickly dodge them all and the sharpshooter says in a panicky tone, "Well, it's been nice but we gotta get going," before running toward the edge. The others hastily follow, confusing the three highest commands. The siblings walk over to the edge where their nemesis vanished and a familiar low horn greets them as the Condor flies up to view, the Storm Hawks on the runway. Stork turns the ship around and sends it zooming away from the tower. The two commanding officers watch it disappear and Snipe asks, "What do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The magenta-haired sister says. "Someone needs to take command, now that the little brat is gone."

"Alright, but who will be leader of Cyclonia?"

"Well, I think the master should be-"

"Me."

They turn around and see Dark Ace pushing the statue away and getting back on his feet. "As highest commander, I think it should only be right that I take command of the Terra. For the time being."

"But if I'm in command," Ravess starts, "I would have this squadron be nothing but perfect. With everything flawless, we would surely bring all of Atmos to their knees."

"Yeah right," the large brute chuckles, "I should be master. No squadron would be big enough to defeat me!"

Dark Ace says, "Oh please. You two can barely command your own squad. But, if you really want to be leader," He activates his weapon, "Try and defeat me."

The siblings turn to each other then grins. The older sibling lets loose a volley of arrows at the veteran and Snipe charges like a bull. The Dark Ace smashes all the arrows and knocks the mace out of the large brute's hands, much to the surprise of the two. The veteran lands some concentrated blows then jumps and kicks Snipe's face, sending him crashing onto a surprised Ravess. They groan and slowly look up to see a red glowing blade pointed at them. The conqueror smirks and the magenta-haired woman asks, "What do you want us to do, m-master?"

The new leader deactivates his sword and puts it on his back before answering, "First off, we need to tell the Cyclonians the change of leadership. Get all Talons to meet in the throne room."

The officers get up and salute before carrying out their orders. When they disappear from view, Dark Ace looks outside and grins evilly. "Everything is about to change."

Later the same day, Talons chatter everywhere in the throne room. The babble echoes around the spacious room to almost blaring volume, but it all ends when the Dark Ace walks in and halts on the podium that once held the late Master Cyclonis's throne. Everyone stands at attention to the highest commander. Once he's sure everyone is quiet, Dark Ace says, "Thank you all for coming on such short notice, Talons. I despise beating around the bush so I'll be straight." Everyone glances around, wondering what the right hand man of Cyclonis has to say, and wondering why Cyclonis isn't giving out the speech.

"I regret to inform you that our Master Cyclonis is gone."

Immediately, a large uproar begins, some actually depressed but most of the Talons is excited and demand new leadership. Each one demands that they should be leader, as Dark Ace predicted. Soon, some fists start flying around and a full-blown fight starts. The new leader rolls his eyes and groans, muttering, "Idiots," before raising his weapon. When he fires, it gets everyone's attention. "Now I know you all want to be leader, thinking you are worthy, but there can only be one. And I nominate myself as the new leader."

"Why should you be leader?" one Cyclonian asks rudely.

"Because, I was Master Cyclonis's right hand man, so that position gives me high authority and also I have great experience of battle techniques. But, if any of you want to be leader, then you can challenge me for the throne."

Everyone just stays standing, shuffling around and looking at others worriedly. The leader smirks and mutters, "Thought so."

"All hail Master Dark Ace!" one shouts.

Everyone follows and starts cheering with him. The skilled swordsman grins and dismisses them. As they leave, he grabs one Talon and says, "Wait right there. I have a special assignment for you."

"Uh, what is it, Master?" Commander Can't-figure-out-a-name-but-we'll-call-him-Scarface asks.

"I want you to take a small team and scour the entire Atmos for Cyclonis."

"But-but sir, you said she was dead."

"I said she was gone. I want to find out if she is still alive. When you do find her, wait for my next command."

"But, wouldn't it be easier to just bring her back if I do find her?"

Dark Ace starts to get irritated but then remembers something about this certain Talon. He smiles in a friendly manner and says, "You know, I've heard that you've been doing a lot around here lately."

"Actually, yeah. I have been."

"And all that work should deserves some recognition."

"Oh, finally! Someone speaks the truth!"

"Yes. So here's the deal. If you follow my orders, we can discuss your well-deserved promotion."

"Really?" he asks hopefully.

When the master nods his head, Commander Scarface salutes and states, "I won't let you down, master," then leaves to collect a few trustworthy men. When he's gone, Dark Ace smirks darkly and chuckles with pure evil.

In the skies of Atmos, Stork slows down the Condor and breathes a sigh of relief. "So tell me, how'd it go?" he asks, turning to his friends only to find grim faces. "So the mission was unsuccessful?"

Piper says gloomily, "No, it went all according to plan. Unfortunately, Aerrow and Radarr…" She still couldn't believe it. She closes her eyes and looks down.

"You mean, they're d-d-d-d-dead?" the merb squeaks.

"Actually, we're not quite sure," reassures Finn, "They just disappeared in flash of light. There could still be a chance they are alive."

"If they disappeared in a flash of light, there's no chance of their survival. Tazmanan Leeches use bright light to blind their prey before swallowing them whole. Aerrow could already have been digested by now."

Junko stutters at the thought of his friend being digested then faints, knocking over the table full of books and equipment. The stuff flies across the room and dog-piles on the sharpshooter. The tactician flinches when Finn grunts in pain then says, "I'm positive Aerrow and Radarr weren't eaten. The light came from the crystal that powered Cyclonis's machine. It exploded and Aerrow and Cyclonis disappeared."

Finn unburies his head and says after tossing a crystal back, "Speaking of Cyclonis, now that she's gone, what do you think will happen to Cyclonia?"

"I don't know, but I'd rather not find out."

The blonde boy gets back on his feet, pushing some scraps off his shoulder. "Alright. Then what should we do now?"

Piper says firmly, "We're going to find Aerrow, that's what. I was able to snag a piece of the crystal just before we left." She lifts up a small, dull purple shard. "If I can figure out what type of crystal this is, then maybe I can find the same energy waves all over Atmos. Then we can pinpoint where Aerrow and Radarr is!"

"Alright! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a plan," Finn cheers.

"Stork, take us to Atmosia," she orders. The Merb heads back to the controls and steers the Condor in the direction of the popular Terra. He powers the engines and soon sends the ship speeding across the clouds. Piper stands next to the window and watches the clouds rush by. She mutters worriedly, "Aerrow, I hope you're alright."

Above a large, untouched jungle, large blue and black birds fly around, shrieking as they search for some easy fruit to eat. After an unsuccessful search, the unknown birds start circling back when a flash of bright light interrupts their flight, shocking them out of formation. As they fly away, the ball of light grows while shooting out zigzags of energy. Soon, the light collapses and blinks out of sight to be replaced with a body falling.

Aerrow screams as the tall trees rapidly moves closer. He searches around his person for something to slow down his fall but comes out with only his twin blades. "I knew I should've packed my flight pack." Soon, he crashes into the huge leaves and starts bouncing on each one as he falls. When the leaves end, the redhead drops the rest of the way and crashes on the ground, sending a small plum of leaves up. Groaning, he slowly pushes himself up when high screeching sound catches his attention. Before Aerrow can find where it's coming from, something small and furry lands on his back. He groans in pain and looks up to find Radarr dazed. "Radarr, please get off of me," he grunts.

The animal looks down and chirps in surprise before doing what he asked. While getting up, the Storm Hawks leader rubs his spine, hoping the pain soothes out. When his back returns to normal, he asks, "What just happened?"

To answer, the blue creature shrugs his shoulder. That's when the redhead notices his new surroundings. Large foliage surrounds the duo with trunks shooting high in the sky. Chirps and screeches of wild animals echo around, most the leader is clueless on what animal it may be. Above his head, he spots what looks like a black monkey but with four arms and frills running down its two tails. The monkey spots them and roars before swinging away.

"Uh, better question: Where are we?"