Archive of Our Own

The Storm Hawks had received yet another distress call, this time from a large Terra that even Piper had never heard of before.

They had been just finishing up helping the third degree burners with a Talon problem when the distress call came in.

Stork did not want to take a job from a terra that neither he or Piper had heard of, that spelled certain doom for sure.

But being the hero he is, Aerrow immediately ordered them to set course for this mysterious terra and Stork complied but not without grumbling.

Terra Saltu, as they had come to know, seemed to consist of nothing but vast jungle from a first glance. But as they drew nearer they saw a small village near the out skirt of the trees, not very modern but still safe to live in.

Spotting a patch of land big enough to park the Condor, Stork set her down and followed his team mates outside, due to their insistence that he still spent too much time inside, to meet with the Chief of the village to discuss the problem.

However as they walked through the crowded village they noticed how everyone gave them a wide berth as they talked to each other in hushed whispers pointing at the group as they passed.

"Well that's weird and more than a little creepy." Commented Aerrow as he led his team towards the Chiefs house, Radarr growled softly in agreement from his perch on Aerrow's shoulder.

"What are the odds they're just admiring seeing the Storm Hawks up close?" Questioned Finn as he nervously glanced at the citizens, their non stop staring was creepy even for him.

"They don't seem to have hostile intentions so that's a plus at least." Pointed out Piper positively but the under tone of worry in her voice betrayed her nervousness.

"They're probably infected by Merbian earth ants, highly infectious, causes hightened paranoia, can survive in most climates...yeah we're doomed." Imputed Stork as he listed off another possible deadly creature, his left eye twitching nervously at the staring.

"Let's get inside quickly, this staring is really starting to get to me." Junko stage whispered as he began to walk faster to the largest house in the village, belonging to the chief, the others following his lead.

Glad to get away from the gawking villagers they hurried through the large wooden door and shut it behind them before giving a collective sigh of relief.

They then proceeded to walk further into the large reception hall, walking up to the front desk at the other end of the room. A young boy, no older than Stork was busy writing out some reports and didn't look up at the new visitors.

"Excuse me we're the Storm Hawks and your Chief sent a distress call for us." Explained Aerrow, trying to catch the boys attention.

The young boy never paused his writing instead using his unoccupied hand to press the buzzer to let them through.

Only then did he glance up at them to tell them to go through when the words seemed to get caught in his throat as he took a look at them, he even stopped his writing.

Having enough staring for one day the Storm Hawks, or rather Piper, politely excused them selves as they made their way through the double wooden doors behind him. They ignored the staring that followed them until the door shut.

Taking a look around briefly at the new room, they saw it was a well decorated office with a large window letting in plenty of natural sunlight and a few large book cases filled neatly with different books. Sitting behind a large desk near the window, sat an elderly human woman reading a report from a large stack of papers, the name plate on the front of the desk read 'Chief Krystal McFizzle'. Coughing slightly to get her attention, Aerrow waited for the Chief to notice the new occupants in the room.

And notice she did, jumping slightly at the sudden noise she fixed the Aerrow with a mean glare before she got a good look at the rest of them and her eyes widened in astonishment.

"That's it!" Piper cried out in annoyance "Chief Krystal can you tell us why everyone has been staring at us like we're made out of gems since we got here? It's really starting to freak us out."

Seemingly snapping out of her daze at the out burst, she looked a bit sheepish at having been caught before she stilled her features and answered the question.

"They are not looking at you, my dear, they're looking at your friend there." She said gesturing at Stork, who tensed up when all the attention was on him.

"W-w-what?! Why me?!" Stuttered Stork as he glanced anxiously at the Chief, hoping this was a dream, a really bad, bad dream.

"Because you're a Merb?" Krystal said as though that explained everything but soon seeing the puzzled faces she elaborated.

"The Merb species is actually very rare now, though there were never many to begin with living on a dangerous Terra and all, but after the Cyclonian take over killed a lot of them off and now there's only a few hand fulls left. You must excuse our staring but we haven't seen a Merb for a long time."

"But surely there must be some around, they would have tried to seek refuge to hide." Reasoned Piper as she saw Storks ears drop in sadness at the news of his people.

Krystal shook her head sadly "No, Merbs went into hiding because people began to hunt them down and capture them for their physical strength, intelligence and beauty. Ones unlucky enough to be captured were sold as slaves."

The atmosphere turned cold as the Storm Hawks went deathly silent at the terrible news and looked over at their pilot who's trembling had increased a lot and was even a little pale in the face. Gently resting a hand on Storks shoulder, which made him flinch before relaxing, Aerrow addressed the Chief.

"Thanks for the information, we'll take it into account. Now let's discuss the distress call you sent to us."

Krystal nodded and opened her desk draw and took out a small stack of papers and gave them to Aerrow. The rest of the Storm Hawks crowded around to take a look.

To their horror the papers turned out to be missing people records about 20 in total, all made up of various species, ages, gender etc there seemed to be no correlation between them, at all.

"Many of our people and even some travellers have been going missing when they venture into the jungle that surrounds us, making the villagers too scared to go any where near it so we cannot gather any food until we can either find those who are missing or get rid of whats causing the disappearances." She explained, her face serious but her tone was sad.

"And that's what you want us to do?" Summed up Junko, double checking.

"Yes please and we need it to be soon we are running out of supplies fast." Clarified Krystal as she took the papers back.

"Don't worry, we'll do all we can to help" Aerrow said as he took a map of the jungle to navigate through with and started to leave with his squadron following.

"Word of warning" Krystal called after them "Keep an eye on your friend, I worry for his safety."

"Don't worry nothing's gonna hurt old Storky when the Finnsters around!" Exclaimed Finn as he wrapped an arm around his tall friend, bringing him down to his level earning him a glare from said friend.

Giving a slight chuckle at the display, Krystal waved them goodbye. They quickly made their way out of the building and navigated the busy streets to the surrounding jungle. As soon as they were near the outskirts they were overcome by just how large it really was.

Aerrow immediately took charge. "Ok guys, we're going to split up to cover more ground before sunset." He explained before turning to his second in command. "Piper. What paths are the best to take?"

Going over the map they were given, she studied it for a little while before concluding "There are five main paths we should take: the food route which is straight ahead if you follow the path and the other four just split off a little ways up."

Nodding in conformation, Aerrow led them into the jungle following the worn pathway until the four other, less worn tracks made themselves known.

"Okay, Junko you take the right path that follows the outskirts, Finn take the left. Piper you follow the deeper right and Stork you take the Northern path. I'll take the deeper right." Aerrow ordered and everyone moved to their selected paths.

Turning to his trusty Co pilot, Aerrow told him "Radarr, you go with Stork." The fizzy creature gave a chirp and jumped off his shoulder and stood next to the Merb.

Giving their leader a raised eyebrow in a silent question, Aerrow answered the pilot.

"Sorry Stork, but after what the Cheif told us, I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Looking at him before casting an eye over the other team members and seeing their equally worried faces he eventually gave in.

"Fine." He grumbled

Giving a little smile Aerrow then ordered them to move out and to meet back at the outskirts at sunset.

Stork looked at the worm path and decided that it wouldn't be that bad and began his trek into the jungle. Taking the North route was supposed to be the easiest one anyway, he reasoned. It is where most of the fruit trees grew and therefore it was the most travelled path. But unfortunately the path was now littered with vines as no one came this far into the jungle anymore.

Cursing slightly as he stumbled on a root, Stork used his hand like foot to throw the vine off the path. He then yelped loudly when yet another bug flew too close to him for comfort. He couldn't swat at it, it could be deadly for all he knew and instead began to side step away from it, yelping all the way. Radarr watched him for a minute before rolling his eyes at the dramatic display.

So focused on keeping as far away from the disease ridden insects as possible, he failed to notice the net that had been camouflaged by the leaves on the ground. As such he unknowingly stood on it which prompted it to sprang up off the ground to which Stork found himself confined to the highest branch of the tree by a net.

Stork felt like slapping himself this was one of the simplest traps known and he had fell for it.

Snapping out of his thoughts by the sound of concerned chirping and growls he looked at the left of the net to found Radarr there trying to bite through the tough material of the net.After a few moments of this however, Stork noticed that there was no difference in the net so he had Radarr stop before he hurt himself. Looking for a weakness for a while, Stork eventually gave up and decided they needed the others to get him down.

"Radarr, you need to gather the others we can't get this open by ourselves."

Radarr growled worryingly at Stork, determined not to leave him alone.

"If you don't leave then i'll be up here for who knows how long and that won't help anyone." Stork reasoned with the worried co pilot.

Radarr was about to argue some more but froze when his large ears picked up the sound of multiple foot steps that were not familiar coming towards him.

Looking at Stork he saw his ears twitch, reacting to the sound. Now Radarr was conflicted, he knew he couldn't take on this many but at the same time these people may be the ones Krystal warned them about and that would mean Stork would be in trouble.

Noticing his internal conflict Stork said "You can track me through my radio now hurry or we'll both be doomed!"

Radarr reluctantly complied and scampered down the tree and out of sight just as three figures entered the clearing.

"Well well, what do we have here?" A deep gruff voice mocked from below him.

Curling into himself to look smaller, he refused to answer in the hopes that they would just leave.

Unfortunately Lady Luck was not on his side today as the net suddenly plummeted to the ground making him yelp and then groan as he landed harshly on the ground. As he tried to gather his bearings he was suddenly pulled up by two large men who held onto his arms, preventing movement. His chin was grabbed roughly by the third man who seemed to get very excited when he saw his captives face.

"Looky here boys, we caught ourselves a Merb, the Boss is gonna flip when he see's this." He gushed excitedly.

The other two also seemed excited as they began to tie up Stork's hands and legs tightly and proceded to pick him up and carry him through the jungle onto a secret path that was hidden by the thick bushes and trees. They walked for a few minutes in which Stork tried to calm down and control his breathing, it would be dangerous if he had an attack surrounded by the enemy. Soon they appeared in a large camp site that was in the middle of a large clearing. There were two big tents one white and the other beige and about forty small ones littered around. There was also a large Sky truck. A few men were scattered around the site doing odd jobs but two were stationed as guards outside the white tent.

Almost too soon they were outside of the beige tent where Stork felt a sense of dread come over him.

"Hey boss, you there?" One of his captors shouted as he walked through the entrance, the other two dragging Stork behind him.

"Idiots!" Hissed a deep voice that was clearly irritated "What have I told you about just barging in here? You better have caught something useful this time."

Stork was glad that he was behind the back of one of the captors, this guy sounded like bad news and he wasn't sure if his frazzled nerves could take another scare.

Of course not two seconds later he was pushed forward into the line of view of someone who stood seven feet tall with short, dirty blonde hair, a sharp jawline, blue eyes and looked like he could punch the Condor into oblivion with a single punch. In short he looked incredibly intimidating. Stalking towards him the man pulled him up by the back of his shirt until they were eye to eye. The steel cold blue eyes seemed to stare straight into his soul as the observed him.

A slow smirk made its way onto his face, showing off his perfect white teeth.

"Well you idiots actually caught something worth while this time." He congratulated the trio as he continued to study his captive, who flinched away from his touch. "He already seems quite docile, good, don't have to break him in."

Stork cringed at the words as he tried to stop his shaking, this guy was acting as though he was a new pet.

"Very well put him in a cage and collar him, I have to call up the auction house so they can bump up the price." He gloated as he began to walk out the tent but paused "Don't handle him roughly we need him in peak condition for the best price." And with that he left.

Stork felt a sense of dread wash over him as he felt muscled hands grab his arms once again and drag him out of the tent and towards the white tent.

Approaching the guards they thrust Stork forward in a silent message.

Nodding one of the guards entered the tent and reappeared holding a metal collar. Judging by the design Stork concluded that it was a shock collar.

Before he could try to move away he was pulled forward where the collar clicked in place.

When his captors heard the click they cut his ropes and gestured him to go forward.

Knowing he couldn't fight back without being shocked unconscious he reluctantly complied.

When he entered the tent he realised that it was enclosed in total darkness and the only light source came from the open tent flap.

When he strained his eyes he could make out cages. Multiple cages that probably had people in it, if the slight whimpers in the air were any indication.

Gulping slightly, he let himself be pushed towards an empty cage, as they opened it they gave him a mocking whistle as though he was a pet to call him over.

Pushing down his anger he walked into the cage and curled in on himself as he sat down.

He didn't move until the guards had gone and he was left in the dark abyss with the sound of sadness surrounding him.

Stork shook slightly as he was left alone with his thoughts.

'I'm doomed. That's it, I'll never see the others again- No I can't think like that. Radarr would have told everyone what happened and they'll be here any minute following my radio signal, thank the upper atmos that they didn't think to take it off me. I'll be fine, soon I'll be back in the safety of the Condor with my squadron and it'll be fine.'

With these happier thoughts he began to calm down and think about his situation rationally.

'Okay so the Boss said they were going to boost up the price because I was there. This could mean that they are planning on selling me and taking into account that there are multiple cages in here, all filled, it would suggest that these people are responsible for the missing people in the village as well, but I can't be sure.'

As he was thinking through all the facts he had learned, the tent flap opened again and the Boss strolled in.

Stork felt a sense of dread wash over him as the Boss walked into the centre in of the room and looked over at the entrance.

"All right you slackers get the merchandise into to air truck."

The tent was suddenly a flurry of activity with the guards dragging away the cages while some stood on stand by in case anyone tried to make an escape attempt.

Stork jumped when he felt his cage being lifted up by four guards and began to go towards the exit.

But as they passed by the Boss however they were stopped.

"Hold it right there."

Stork felt himself flinch at the man's voice.

The Boss slowly reached his hand through the bars of the cage, Stork followed the trail with his eyes as the man reached into his pocket and picked up his radio.

As he brought his hand back he remarked "Can't have you calling for help now, can we?" As he crushed it to pieces he gave Stork a cruel smirk.

As he gestured for the guards to continue moving Stork felt his fragile hope shatter into pieces like his radio. The one way for his friends to track him.

The bright sunlight caused him to squint as he was carried towards the Air truck.

Now that there was light he could see the faces of the other captives and his suspicions were confirmed, most of them were the missing people. The only exception was the few monsters littered about such as Bog Howlers and Sky Sharks etc.

He snapped out of his thoughts as his cage was shoved into the van with the others. Two guards jumped into the back with them and then the doors were closed leaving Stork trapped in the dimly lit vehicle.

Adjusting his vision to see his surroundings, he looked at the people around him.

Everyone had a deep look of terror on their face like they were being marched to the executioner for a death sentence.

Their expressions made Stork anxious as he began to wonder what would happen as soon as they were at the auction house.

'Is someone really going to buy me?'

'Will I loose my status as a person?'

'How many will go on the stage before me?'

Stork felt himself further drown in his fearful, depressing thoughts. He was not aware of a pair of eyes that held sympathy in them as they took in his shivering form.

Slowly, as to not catch the attention of the guards, the figure reached out a hand and gently rested it on the Merb.

Jumping out of skin from the unexpected contact, Stork twisted his body around to see who his 'attacker' was.

His attacker turned out to be an elderly Wallop, who removed her hand in apology for scaring him before she started to whisper to him.

"Sorry about scaring you but you looked like you were about to faint." She explained gently but kept an eye on the guard.

"I just need to know where we're going." Stork whispered, his eye twitching nervously.

At that the Wallop's smile dampened "I see. Unfortunately we're heading to the Terra Luna near the Cyclonisn empire. I hear there is going to be some Talons there as some have the day off." The old lady cautioned.

Storks ears dropped in fear. Of course it had to be Terra Luna, it was rumoured to have once been a beautiful star gazing sight before Cyclonia took it over. Now only hardened criminals and those loyal to Master Cylconis went anywhere near them.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that. Um, I know this is probably a dumb question, but are you part of the Storm Hawks?" The lady questioned.

Surprised at being recognised, Stork took a few minutes to reply.

"Wha- um, yes. I'm their Carrier pilot, Stork. We were sent here by your Chief to find you and the other missing people actually. Well we split up and that ended up being s huge disaster, Finns probably been eaten by a man eating yeti by now and Junks probably eaten some sosa berries and contracted the incurable fog fever and-"

The Wallop studied him for a few moments while he ramble and let a small smile take over her face.

"I'm sure that they're fine. In fact if how you worry for them is any indication then they're probably on their way right now." She soothed him, chuckling a bit.

Stork blushed a dark green at the fact he had been rambling again but gave a small smile at the reassurance that his friends would find them, he needed that.

He was about to open his mouth to thank her when electric volts pierced his body in an agonising way that had him let out a raspy scream that was followed by the pained grunts of the unnamed Wallop.

Finally it stopped and he was allowed to catch his breath and as he did he heard one of the guards sneer "No talking."

Making eye contact with the Wallop they agreed to not speak again in fear of punishment.

Rubbing the parts of his neck that got zapped, he could he winced at the burning pain that shot down his body when he made contact with it.

Dropping his hand, he curled into a small ball and tried to sleep to escape this nightmare.

'Please find me soon.'

And with that thought he fell into a fitful sleep, knowing when he woke up he would be in hell.

----------Time Skip-------------

He was pulled out of the realms of sleep when the air truck came to a bumpy stop.

A part of him hoped that the bumpy landing was because his team had managed to find him but a bigger part of him knew that probably wasn't the case.

He was unfortunately proven right when the doors opened and the guards began to pull out caged and wheel them off to somewhere unknown.

Looking at the sky he saw the sun was beginning to set which meant that he had been gone for approximately 5 hours, more than enough time for Radarr to find everyone and for Piper to make a plan to find him. He just hoped they were quick.

Soon enough his own cage was being carted off around the van towards a large building made out of old bricks that gave it an historic feel or at least it would have had it not had cages of people rolling towards it which made it feel like more of a prison.

So caught up in analysing the building it took him a moment to realise he was being carted in a different direction towards an unknown old man and the Boss hunter from the camp.

Fear raised up inside him as both men held no compassion in their eyes once he reached them in fact they looked over the cage as one might do for an interesting toy.

Once the old man reached his back he made an excited noise which prompted the boss hunter to make his way over.

Keeping rigidly still as they seemed to get more excited, he wondered what they were looking at until the old man spoke out loud.

"Not only have you captured a Merb my friend but you've captured the Storm Hawks' Carrier pilot. I knew you were good old friend, but I never knew you were this good." He praised him and Stork felt his blood run cold.

The logo of the Storm Hawks was stitched into his back as part of his uniform, how could he have forgotten. Now what was going to happen to him?

"I think that deserves a bonus don't you think, Arnold?" The hunter probed his companion.

"Oh defiantly, Terry. In fact the amount of money we'll get for him alone would not only allow us to own our own Terra but also allow us to live in comfort for the rest of our lives." The man revealed as Arnold gushed excitedly.

Stork tried not to think of how sick that sentence made him as he continued to shake slightly.

"You go put the others back stage, we'll sell him first. He should be an excellent surprise for those budding tonight." Arnold instructed and Stork didn't need to turn around to be able to imagine his creepy grin.

He felt his cage being moved again, this time he joined the other captives in being transported around the large building to a heavily steeled back door.

Once inside he was moved through elaborate corridors that seemed to resemble a maze with how much they turned corners.

Stork gave up trying to remember the layout after the 7th sharp turn. It's not like he could see much with his limited view point anyway.

All to soon they arrived at a darkened room where Stork was once again cut off from the rest of the prisoners.

He continued into the room where curtains lay before him and from what he saw through the small gap, it was the stage which meant, he was going first.

He gulped loudly and his left eye began to twitch again. No, no, no. He wasn't ready and where were his team? No, this was too soon! He-

He broke his train of thought as he suddenly became short of breath. Forcing himself through sheer will power he began to regulate his breathing using a method Piper taught him.

Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, release for eight seconds.

After a long while he finally calmed down but by that point it was too late to think of a plan as two burley guards grabbed his cage and began to roll him up the ramp and past the curtains.

The sudden bright light behind the curtains blinded him for a second but the chatter of the room confirmed where he was.

He shivered in fright when his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. He was, unfortunately, on the stage only there were people crowded around it. They kind of blurred together in a sea of malicious eyes and jeers.

So terrified, he barley registered the fact that the guards that had pulled him on stage were now unlocking his prison.

Their huge hands clasped down on his bony shoulders and dragged him out of the relative safety of his cage and brought him to stand up straight while they held him in place.

Good thing they were holding him up because his knees felt like jelly and would most certainly collapse without their vice like grip.

"Now ladies and gentlemen, a special surprise before we start the show." Arnold announced from his podium, far left of Stork.

He stretched his right hand so it was pointed at Stork and continued.

"What you see here is not only a young Merb, that has many abilities like added strength and great intellect. No, this one is the Helmsmen of the Storm Hawks!"

At his words the guards turned Stork around so his emblem was shown to the crowd who erupted in cheers, however malicious sounding.

When the crowd had calmed down he was turned back around to face their stares. Now that he had gotten some bearing back he could make out a few Talon uniforms. He gulped this day just kept getting worse.

"Now let's start the bidding at £850,000." Arnold announced when the audience returned their attention to him.

If he were somewhere else, Stork may have felt proud he was worth so much. But as it stood, he felt dehumanised. These people didn't see him as a living person, they saw him as little more than a plaything, a prized possession.

"£900,000!"

"£950,000!"

"£1,000,000!"

Stork wanted nothing more than to curl up and hide away from the loud, cruel voices.

The loud noise was doing nothing for his rising panic at his own helplessness but adding on the fact of what those numbers meant just made it all worse.

"£1,200,000!"

"£1,500,000!"

Stork wanted them all to shut up.

"£50,000,000"

The crowd fell silent at last and as much as Stork had wanted quite, this was in no way the way he wanted to achieve it.

Everyone stared at the bidder who was a human male in his early 30's. He wore an arrogant grin and was dressed in a nice suit.

Arnold broke out of his stutter first and his eyes took on a gleam of happiness for the amount of money he would get.

"That's £50,000,000 on the table, anyone going higher?"

Everyone glared at the man, knowing fully that they didn't have that much money.

"Going once."

Stork trembled a little in the Guards tight grip as the rich man turned his haughty eyes on him.

"Going twice."

He scrunched his eyes closed and turned his head as if to block out the blow the next dreaded words would bring.

"SOL-!"

Before he could get the words out the door at the back of the room was thrown of its hinges.

Screams of surprise followed the bang and Stork could hear Arnold whimper from his stand.

He peeked an eye open, daring to hope that it was who he thought it was.

He was not disappointed.

Standing in the ruins of the door were his friends and team mates and they looked mad.

The all had their weapons active and were glaring at anyone that even dared to move.

Aerrow stood at the centre and roamed his emerald eyes around the room, looking for something.

When the eyes landed on Stork on the stage he gave a small sigh of relief and gave their friend a small smile of reassurance which Stork shakily returned.

Once he knew Stork was ok, Aerrow turned his gaze on the auctioneer and his eyes turned cold.

Pointing one of his energy blades at the quivering Arnold, Aerrow commanded "Release Stork."

Arnold whilst still hiding behind the podium motioned for the guards dotted around the room to take care of the intruders.

The Storm Hawks wasted no time as they charged towards the armed men.

Finn aimed at their weapons causing them to implode and knock down the user in the resulting explosion. He did this with an almost cold exterior, his eye never wavering from his target.

Junko let out a Wallopian battle cry as he charged for the men, knocking them down like bowling pins. He skidded to a stop and looked behind him to see the trail of unconscious bodies.

Piper used a paralyser stone on her enemies causing them to freeze where she would then use sky fu to knock them down.

Radarr was strangely absent from the fray.

Aerrow was knocking down enemies left, right and centre with a look of pure anger and determination on his face as he made his way to Stork.

Stork gave a sigh of relief as it hit him that his friends were here and he was going to be rescued.

The good feeling soon disappeared.

"Get the merchandise out of here!" Commanded Arnold to the men guarding Stork as he ducked again when an energy blast sounded behind him.

The guards that had been standing there like idiots spring into action, attempting to lead him back into his cage.

However Stork was not about to let them cage him again when his friends had finally come for him.

Using the strength he usually reserved for handling the Condor he grabbed the guard on his left and pushed him of the stage. Turning to the shell shocked one in the right he kneed him in the stomach and when he doubled over kneed him in the face causing him to black out.

He was about to jump of the stage and join his friends when a searing agony made its way through his entire body.

The collar!

He had forgotten about that as he tried to tug on it to give him a bit of relief.

He sank to his knees and couldn't stop the shouts of agony that clawed its way from his throat.

The Storm Hawks froze as they heard the pained screams and turned to see Stork curled up in agony, sparks flying from his collar.

They would have run up to him but the culprit walked up next to Arnold in his hand a remote which was currently activated.

Terry looked down at the Storm Hawks and grinned at them "If you want the merch then you boys are gonna have to bid. If you can beat the gentlemen's offer of £50,000,000 then you'll have a chance."

He finally took his finger off the button and Stork sagged as the currents stopped.

He stayed on all fours trying to catch his breath but he didn't need to look up at his team to know what they thought of this.

Piper glared at the two slime balls with all the hatred of a thousand Phoenixes.

"We can't do that!" She yelled, her anger almost getting the best of her.

"Storks his own person and no amount of money would even come close to his worth!"

"Yeah, hands off my buddy!" Finn agreed as he glared at Terry.

"He's worth more than anything!" Junko added, his knuckle busters glowing ready to hurt the people who dared put Stork through this.

"Let him go!" Aerrow yelled before a plan formed in his head.

"Finn, the control!" He ordered and the Sharpshooter didn't need clarification and simply took aim and fired.

Terry didn't have time to react as the control exploded in his hand, the shockwave knocking him over.

Arnold seeing that his muscle was gone fled the scene.

Stork rubbed his neck as the collar opened and fell of his neck, massaging his burned skin.

He got back up and without another moment of hesitation leaped of the stage and staggered over to his friends.

Everyone let out a breath they didn't realise they were holding as Stork joined their semi circle.

Meanwhile the 'guests' were in a frenzy as they scrambled around each other trying to make sense of what happened and what to do. Several of them had began brawling on the floor over past grudges.

Aerrow glanced at the carnage and decided get need to get out of here.

"Stork as happy as I am to see you, let's save our reunion until we get to the Condor." Aerrow said before leading the way out.

The idea of being back behind the helm of his beloved had Stork running as fast as he could through the resulting carnage.

The sound of sky ride engines soon made itself known as some sky knights landed to take the guests into custody.

The Storm Hawks pushed through the chaos, which seemed to last forever, until they came across the ruins of where the for once stood.

They pushed their bodies to run just a little faster, none of them wanting to spend another moment in this hell hole.

Stork was almost through the door until someone grabbed his wrist in a vice like grip.

Wiping his head around to see his attacker he saw the disgruntled face of the man who had almost stripped him of his rights, the rich looking man.

He didn't look so put together now with a rumpled suit and his immaculate hair tussled up and Storks keen eye could see that he had lost his gold necklace.

"You're not going anywhere" he growled, tightening his grip "I bought you. YOU belong to me!"

His eyes had lost their cockiness and were instead showing an almost maniac gleam.

The man's words struck deeply within Stork and running on pure adrenaline, he swung one of his long legs around and kicked the man square in the jaw, sending him crashing hard to the ground.

The man sat in shocked silence as he rubbed the swelling the kick had given him. Stork however couldn't care less and looked down at him.

"Um, I don't belong to anyone." He spoke lowly at him, knowing that that tone of voice tended to freak people out.

With nothing else to say he turned tail and ran to catch up with the others who were waiting a few yards away.

Radarr came scampering from the crowd having fulfilled his solo mission of freeing the other prisoners and guiding them to the Sky Knights who would take them back home.

He jumped on the rich man's head and leaped of in an act of petty revenge for what he almost turned Stork into.

He ran up to Stork making saw he saw him as to not mistake him for an enemy, jumped up onto his shoulder. Stork stiffened only for a moment before ignoring the unfamiliar weight on his shoulder and kept running.

Radarr looked over his shoulder at the man who was glaring after them and stick out his tongue to mock him. He couldn't get Stork now that all the Storm Hawks were here to protect their own.

The Storm Hawks soon reached the Condor and took off, circling the Terra once until the Sky Knights below convinced them they had it under control. Once they had that fact they flew away from the disastrous place, eager to put as many clicks between them and the building.

They flew south until they were out of Cyvlonian territory and Aerrow had ordered them go into auto pilot.

Stork did so and Piper gestured him to sit on the sofa while she checked his injuries. She was the second best healer after Stork himself after all.

After 10 minutes of her checking him over and cleaning and bandaging his burnt neck which everyone had cursed at with how painful it looked.

The other members were hovering by the sofa but kept a distance soPiper could examine him properly.

Once she gave the verdict that he was going to be fine did they come closer.

Junko gave him a huge hug that left him gasping for breath but seeing the day they went through he allowed it just this once.

Finn, not one for mushy stuff like hugs, gave him his signature finger pistols and a 'Nice to have you back, dude'.

Piper said she had some sandcakes he could have later with some hot chocolate. He was really looking forward to that.

Radarr chirped and gestured at him he could translate exactly but he assumed it meant 'Welcome back.'

Aerrow patted him on the back, knowing he probably couldn't get away with a hug like Junko.

As nice as this atmosphere was, Stork wanted to know how they found him without his radio signal.

Apparently, once Radarr found Aerrow, who in turn called the rest of the squadron together, they went back to where he had been captured only to find him gone.

Luckily, Piper was able to pick up their footprints, however well hidden, and they followed the trail to the campsite where they snuck into the tents and found evidence of a trafficking ring.

With that they were able to take down everyone there as a participant and call Krystal to have the local authorities handle them.

Meanwhile, they had cross examined the three people who took him who eventually told them where he was.

With Piper knowledge of the layout they were able to guide the Condor under Cyclonis' detection.

From there they sent Radarr round the back to free everyone and call up Sky Knights who were close to help. And they went through the front and the rest he knew.

After retelling their day, everyone fell silent. Not sure what to say or do, the whole day felt surreal.

Aerrow, ever the leader, addressed the metaphorical elephant in the room.

"Stork, we've talked about it and we understand if you would feel more comfortable staying in the Condor on missions from now on." He spoke these words carefully, he wasn't sure how Stork would react.

Everyone gave a sad nod of agreement, now knowing what people would do to unguarded Merbs, they wouldn't be surprised if Stork didn't want to leave the ship even when visiting allies.

Stork contemplated it.

True, on one hand he would be safer in here. Here on the Condor he had his traps where no one could get him. Here was where he spent the majority of his life. He should be fine if he never left, he didn't use to anyway.

He gazed at his friends.

But, he wouldn't be able to help them very well from here.

It was true that he spent most his life inside these metal walls but these kids have turned his life upside down and made him feel lighter than he had felt since childhood. They gave him a spot on the legendary team that he had long admired. And if they wore their uniforms proudly, so could he. He would protect his team. No. He would protect his family.

"No, I'll go outside." Stork spoke quietly but Aerrow still heard him.

"Are you sure?" He questioned, he didn't want Stork to think he had an obligation to come out with them on missions.

Stork steeled his nerve and nodded.

"I would rather show my face as a Merbian Storm Hawk than be afraid to show it at all." He said, in a rare act of bravery.

He then gave a sly smile. "Besides how can I see the dangerous creatures of the Atmos if I don't?"

The five members, while initially lost for words, eventually broke out into grins and eyed each other.

Yeah, things were going to alright.

"Let's go to the beach!" Finn supplied, Junko nodding his head vigorously in agreement.

Arrow and Piper shook their heads at the suggestion, Finn always chose the beach.

Oh well.

"Stork, set a course for Tropica." Aerrow ordered.

Stork went up to his usual place behind the helm and gladly pulled the levers which rocketed them towards fun in the sun.