Run for cover mother fuckers it's the actual finale of the New War! Oh holy shit I never thought this day would come, but here we are! After all the late uploads and all the epic reviews, we are here with the very last chapter of the biggest fanfic I have ever written.

I would just like to give a little thanks. First of all if you do read the author's note, then thanks very much for making typing this seem worth it...oh and thanks for not committing me to any asylums ^^"

A big thank you to all the readers and reviewers, because seriously I know it sounds cliché, but if you guys hadn't decided to click on this fic, give it a read, and actually let me know that you're thirsty for more I probably wouldn't have bothered.

I'm so glad I decided to write this story, and I'm so glad it's now complete.

Anyway enough of my chatter! I don't own Storm Hawks and it's probably a good thing because no kids could watch it lol

Enjoy!

OoO.

The moon was elevating into the sky, the darkness ghosting over the thick clouds. The air was chilled, and it tickled Aerrow and Dark Ace's skin as they soared onward to Terra Xoam.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Aerrow admitted to himself. The nerves were getting to him, because every time Rasvec flew past a Terra, he became anxious like a dog with a sixth sense.

Tonight they were only carrying one pistol each, fully loaded, plus Dark Ace had his sword. Neither said it out loud, but both Storm Hawk and the elite Talon were wishing they had packed more weapons, worn some armour, and thought to steal some night vision goggles from somewhere.

When they finally reached the jungle covered Terra, they're fingers were stiff from the evening chill. Rasvec hovered high in the sky, snorting with a weary look as Aerrow tried to lower him.

"Come on boy, there won't be any on this Terra I'm sure." But the dragon remained where he was, rocking his head from side to side rapidly, a rumbling in his throat. "It's OK, I promise, and you can go home after this." The redhead never saw, but Dark Ace was lightly stroking the overgrown lizard's side to help comfort him.

The teen managed to take Rasvec down a little further, but their ride refused to land on the ground properly. Still on the saddle, their weapons were already out, pointing in every direction, trying to pick out the sound of footsteps.

Hearts beating loudly as they set foot on Xoam, the entrance to the underground ancient city before their eyes. Now they were trudging down into the vast cave, side by side. Holding their breaths without even knowing it. Sweating despite the cold atmosphere. Eyes wide as they tried to spot a zombie.

Even as they reached the steps leading into the city, there was nothing in sight, no blood thirsty cadaver, and no terrified survivor.

They were past the entrance now, standing in the very first section with a disarray of rock piles. Dust scattered beneath their feet with every step, and they were having to squint to surpass the darkness.

Aerrow whispered, barely being heard, "Dark Ace?"

The Cyclonian didn't want to speak, so he stepped towards the timid voice, and held the boy's arm to ensure him that he was still there. With his friend right beside him, the redhead pushed up on his tip toes and edged close to the older man's ear, whispering again, "Maybe we should test it?"

So Dark Ace yelled at the top of his voice, a couple of times, to make sure the echo really lasted. There was a lump in their throats as they prepared themselves, frantically stepping backwards to the entrance with their weapons pointing toward the first pitch black passage.

One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Still nothing, and the anticipation of seeing one made it seem like mere seconds. They couldn't even hear one of the cannibal beasts in the distance.

"Think it's clear?" Dark Ace asked.

"I don't know," Aerrow said, still too weary to move on.

"Get a solar crystal out, if they see the light they'll run towards it."

"But we need it for the time machine."

There was a short pause and then, "first of all, the crystals don't need to be fully charged, they just need to be functional. It will take us less than an hour to get through here so the charge won't run out.

"Secondly, I'd rather have a light anyway, because I'd prefer not complete the final part of this mission whilst tripping over bloody rocks every second.

"And thirdly; don't call it a time machine you sound like a five year old."

While he searched one of the duffel bags for the sunny yellow crystal he said, "What am I supposed to call it then?"

"I don't know," the older man huffed, "just not that."

The teenager chuckled, and pulled out the crystal in question. It immediately illuminated the derelict room, and stretched out into the first tunnel.

The Dark Ace called out again, as loudly as he could. Still no sight, and no sound of the menacing creatures.

One last glance at each other, a shrug, then they continued on to finish the journey.

They carried themselves further into the depths of the abandoned city, and as their loneliness seemed confirmed, they concluded that all that fuss was over nothing.

Another side glance with a smile at each other, and Aerrow was ready to bring up a certain topic of conversation again.

"You know, I've been thinking, it wouldn't be too hard to stay friends."

"Not this again," Dark Ace sighed, even though he wanted to believe and share the boy's naive confidence.

"No come on. I mean let's face it, if we both remember all of this, we'll only be able to pretend to be enemies. So, we act normally on the battle field, throw insults at each other and what not. Then when we've both got free time we could sneak out to an uncharted Terra, I mean there's plenty of them about, and you know, hang out."

"I can't sneak out every weekend or what ever Aerrow. If I don't come back with supplies, or crystals, or a woman it just wouldn't look right. The only time no one would really notice is in the dead of night-"

"Dead of night it is then!" Aerrow declared, smiling up at the raven haired man. Dark Ace dared to lure his gaze down and meet the emerald stare, the boy was so tenacious. But the Cyclonian actually found it flattering that it was all just so he could keep a friendship with him. Did he really mean that much to him? The very thought curled his frown upwards.

Another sigh escaped the Talon's lips, but it was with defeat, because he couldn't resist wanting to give this a try. Sheepishly he asked, keeping his eyes forward, "What would we do though?"

"Terra Neon is open all hours," the boy answered, the idea of going on a roller coaster with his older friend exciting him.

"But people would see us, you're not very good at this secretive traitor shit are you?"

"Hm, the movies then?" He suggested, still holding a giddy grin.

"Sure. Maybe if we meet on one of those Terras you talked about, we could...um, play baseball or something too?"

"Baseball?"

Timidly he continued, "well yeah, I quite like it."

Aerrow stopped abruptly, they'd barely made any progress, but it was irrelevant. He was facing Dark Ace, who had also stopped and was looking at him questionably. Then the boy held his hand out.

"Shake on it."

"Excuse me?"

"Shake on it. To prove that we will keep our words, and make an effort to hang out."

The Cyclonian was hesitant at first, like taking this boy's hand was an actual binding seal on the commitment. But then he realised he didn't care, because he actually wanted this in his life, just as much as the redhead seemed to want it. For the first time in years there was someone who he could actually call a friend, how could he not want to pursue it?

So Dark Ace stretched his hand out, and grabbed a hold of the boys, their grips tightening.

Suddenly, it all happened so fast, a zombie loomed from the shadows. Charging full speed towards the two, and while their hands were still intertwined, it pounced at Dark Ace.

It grabbed him tightly and sunk it's teeth into his left shoulder.

The Cyclonian squeezed the Storm Hawk's hand as the piecing pain rippled through him. His first reaction was to scream, because jesus fucking christ, it hurt like hell! You wouldn't think, with them having human teeth an all, but for some reason the strength and puncture was that of a Sky Sharks.

Aerrow had fallen under complete shock. Dazed like it was an unwelcome dream. He stood and watched as Dark Ace turned his head to look at the carnivorous creature, biting into his flesh, his own blood squirting out of the open wound.

After the initial shock, the Talon's right hand was up, pressing against the zombie's face. It was so strong, it barely budged at first.

With a rough struggle, he finally shoved the cadaver off his shoulder, but with the price of some of his flesh.

Just as quickly, like he'd forgotten about the wound already, his beautiful sword was whipped out and with it, slashed the zombie's head off as it was getting up.

Adrenaline fading now. Pain rising. Lengths of breath shortening. Crimson eyes trailed down to his now devoured shoulder. His clothes were torn, revealing some of his flesh ripped apart, his blood leaking out all over him, already dripping down to the dusty floor.

Dark Ace wasn't scared. He was petrified. Being bitten and now infected kind of did that to a person. It was like game over, even though there was still a chance. And he was pretty sure the infection was already taking effect.

He steered his eyes back over to Aerrow, who was staring with a horrified expression, "...no..." passing his lips over and over like he couldn't control it.

Dark Ace stood up straight, and straightened his face back into that usual determined look.

"It's alright, I'm fine," he assured the teen as he ripped a part of his top and wrapped it securely around his shoulder, forcing himself not to wince.

Emerald was still painted with worry, naturally, but it calmed him down.

Then, numerous groans, from the direction of the main entrance. Despite the blood and loss of limb, it was easy to see they were dressed in some kind of expedition clothing. Had they been trying to accomplish the same thing?

There was only about five in sight, but the sound of more echoed through the halls. Guns were fired, head shots each time, and then they did what could only be done. Run.

The zombies now chasing them, roaring with their razor cut throats, waving their decaying arms.

Despite being the faster of the two, Dark Ace was a few paces behind. Aerrow was sprinting ahead with his gun still in hand, although he only had about four rounds left.

A fork in the road was ahead. Where the hell were Stork and Piper when you needed them? Even Cyclonis would be grand at a time like this.

Need to make a choice and need to make it now, can't afford stopping to think it over. It was a vague memory, but from what the Sky Knight could remember, maybe they had gone right when they were racing Domiwick? He called back to check with Dark Ace, who agreed without hesitation.

Just before they reached the fork, Aerrow slipped his boots off, hopping along as he did so. The Cyclonian kept running, passing him by, and headed for the path on the right.

The redhead had his boots in hand, and threw them into the left trail. His thoughts being that if the zombies could see, there was a chance this could trick them. It was a long shot but he had to do something, surely some would split off the other way.

Rushing ahead and a couple of minutes later, the sound of their chasers actually did get fainter. But they were still there in the distance. Not sure how far away.

Dark Ace felt so ill, his head throbbed with every step, and it eventually took it's toll. He dropped to his knees, a gasp of air ruthlessly escaping his lungs. Aerrow skidded to a halt behind him, sweat dripping from his face.

His breathing was heavy, and it was hard to inhale, but he managed to speak with a hoarse. "Aerrow keep running, I'll catch up," which was followed by a fierce coughing, a few droplets of blood spluttered into his palm, but he did not allow the boy to see.

Aerrow stood there, watching his partner suffer. Yeah, there was no way he was going to just leave him here to deal with it alone. So he bent down, grabbing his hand, and holding his side.

"I need you Dark Ace. Come on, on your feet soldier!" The Talon stumbled back to his feet, already weakening.

Still holding his hand to make sure he could pull him along, Aerrow lead the way once more. Dark Ace held on, coughing every so often. His own unstable legs tripping him up as his racing heartbeat collided with the infection.

Dashing through the empty passages, as fast as they could, the zombie problem seemingly decreasing. But no doubt they were still behind them, homing in on the echoes of their steps and breaths.

Shooting pains coursing through his limbs, especially the legs. An excruciating burning sensation in his wound. Heart beating and hurting. Stomach churning inside out. Head a little fuzzy. Eye sight failing.

Dark Ace fell to the floor once more, dragging Aerrow with him.

"Dark Ace!" He was by his side, checking his pulse then trying to lift him up. The Talon was lying on the floor, clenching his fists and bringing his knees up to his chest. He coughed again, this time failing to conceal the blood with his hand.

"Come on, it can't be very far now, just a little further!"

The infected did not respond, his teeth were grinding as he endured the pain.

"Aerrow...I really...don't think - argh - I can." His eyes were closed, the light stinging them and making his head worse. The feeling in his stomach did not come in waves, it was constant.

"What are you talking about? You're the Dark Ace! Of course you can make it!"

"I'm only holding you back, you stupid boy," that fatherly tone again.

There was no way Aerrow was going to walk away and leave him to cope with this alone. Every one of his friends had made a sacrifice so that he could live, and he agreed hastily because he was scared. Not this time, he would not abandon his team mate just because it was easy.

"Listen to me! You've pushed me this far, taught me how to survive, and got me through this! There is no way on Atmos I am going to let you quit. Not now. Not when we're this close. NOW GET UP!"

Dark Ace wanted to look into his emerald eyes, but all he could manage was to lift his hand, and grab a hold of his arm. His face still pressed against the cold stone floor.

"Do you think this is easy for me? To admit I can't do it? That I'm not strong enough to follow you to the end? I can't fucking do it Aerrow! I've reached my limits. So now it's up to you, you've got to finish it for both of us."

A deep exhale from the teen, "but I can't...what if...you need to be in the room to remember? You promised me Dark Ace...you promised."

"I know Aerrow...I know. I'm sorry that I've failed you. Look, before you go, I just want to say I'm sorry, for all the shit I've put you through."

"It doesn't matter. I just want you to look me in the eye when all this is over, and still recall everything we've been through."

"Believe me...I'm wishing...that I will be able to."

"Please know that, if you can't remember, I won't go back to hating you. I never will. I promise you that."

Dark Ace was still facing down, and he was relieved. Because blood wasn't the only thing that had dripped onto the floor now.

"Go on Aerrow. Go be the hero."

"Goodbye, Dark Ace. My friend."

"It isn't really goodbye you fucking pansy." They shared one last laugh together in the new war.

Aerrow got up, looked down at him, lying there, too weak to get up, then ran ahead. Already blaming himself for this current incident.

Minutes later and the zombies caught up. And in that time, Dark Ace had realised and accepted that he would be buying Aerrow time with the undead. If it was going to hurt as much as that single bite, he was terrified of the experience. But he was ready for it, and wanted it to happen, if it meant he could help the Storm Hawk save the Atmos.

They staggered eagerly through the passage, their ugly heads darting around. The Cyclonian braced himself, but unable to even hold his breath.

However, as they reached his body, they carried onward, wandering past him, still listening for the survivor racing ahead.

Is it because I'm already changing? Do they only go for humans that aren't bitten? Either way, this was bad, they were just going to leave him to change. God knows how long the set up and summoning would take to complete. He had to do something.

It hurt. Oh fucking hell it hurt. But he reached for his gun anyway, gasping hard as he tried to yank it from it's hold. He was grinding his teeth, gasps and groans passing his lips regardless. He pointed the weapon towards the first zombie to pass him, then furrowed his brow.

The Talon fired, actually managing the head shot. It went down, but he could hear the rest of the zombies behind him. Dark Ace turned his glare to the rest of them, then rolled on his back for a better view.

Too in pain to even sit up, he raised his gun at them, steadied his tremor and swallowed, then shot again. Once, twice, three times in their heads, the mangled cadavers falling to the floor by his feet.

Another one appeared, it's mouth wide open, the loud noises riling it. It looked down at the infected man, like the others ignored him, and proceeded to hurry past and catch up with Aerrow.

Dark Ace watched it with a disgruntled expression, then pulled the trigger again. Just a click. And that was it, that was all he could do.

He went to scream, desperate to release some of his rage and his pain, but his lungs hurt too much. Seriously? He couldn't even scream now?

His breaths were weak and short, his eyes tired and his vision impairing. His hands were by his side, and they were twitching like his limbs as the fatal infection pulsed through his veins and consumed his body. His head felt like it was stuck in a vice, and someone had tightened it one notch too far.

He coughed, and couldn't stop, despite his body protesting. His voice shook when he spoke, "Fuck this! Fuck these fucking zombies! Fuck it all...fuck it...fuck...oh fuck...I don't...want to die alone."

He detested that this was all he could do. Lie there, and wait for the infection to rid him of his breath, and turn him into one of those things.

Meanwhile, Aerrow was running so fast he couldn't even feel his feet touching the ground. Which was impressive given that he was lugging two heavy bags full of crystals. The sweat from his face was flying all over, some dripping into his eyes, it never even occurred to him to wipe them clean, he could only think to blink.

He was too busy remembering the way to the heart of the city; the temple. And too busy picturing Dark Ace being bitten. But he could save him, like his squadron, like the Sky Knights, like the whole Atmos.

When there were no corners to turn, and the tunnels were clearly free of zombies, he could only replay what he had just seen in his head over and over. The bite. The look on his face. The blood. He would continue to blame himself, if the next time he saw the Cyclonian that's all he was; a Cyclonian.

Soon the opening to the temple was before him. A crooked smile twisted up, his breath hitched as he broke the final distance.

Finally inside, but there was no door to close behind him, which meant he had to move quickly.

And that's just what he did. Never slowed down.

The instructions were out now, although 'instructions' was a bit of a strong word. Piper had scribbled some notes down on a piece of paper, outlining which crystals should go where, stating that the most powerful to a user had to be close to where the oracle once stood.

Every step was accompanied by the placement of a shining stone, which were all beaming brightly and proudly. Around the pedestal where the oracle had spoken to him about a year ago, when she had told him of his future, he aligned the crystals and prepared to create Tempus Crystallus.

After placing the final crystal in the last spot, he took a step back, finally reminding himself to breathe. Every inch of his body tense, droplets of sweat rolling from his face and down his neck. Wiping his damp hands on his blood stained shirt.

Then, one by one, each crystal lit up, as if being activated by a crystal Mage. And he knew exactly what that looked like.

The crystals shone brighter and brighter, until he could no longer look at them directly. They began to levitate off the ground, and still in a line, they began to rotate around and around the stand. Faster and faster, as if the Nitro crystal was fuelling them.

Soon they got so fast that all he could see was a ring of light, which he had to shield his eyes from. Seconds later there was a loud clang, almost like a chime. He looked again and the crystals had disappeared, in their place was a ball of beautiful light in front of him. He stared in awe as that ball slowly evolved into a figure.

A female figure; the oracle! At least it looked like her. She floated in the air, gazing down at the saviour of the Atmos.

Her voice was harmonic, "to summon me here requires great power, and great need. What is it that you wish?"

Aerrow was dumbfounded for a moment, and had to shake his head to regain a little sense. He had to choose his words wisely, that was always the number one rule with these things.

He gathered up the right words in his mind, and then spoke them as clearly as he could despite the panting, the fear and the bewilderment.

"I...I wish for this zombie apocalypse to never have happened. Please turn back time and stop this event from ever happening."

The mystical being did not respond, didn't even nod. She raised her arms, then brought her hands together with a clap.

There was a familiar sound behind him, he turned to see the zombies had finally caught up. The magical moment had been shattered. He stood firmly before them and reached for his weapon.

But when the oracle began humming, Aerrow could not resist turning back to her, just to take a peek at the process. Twinkling lights like stars were beginning to cover her whole body, until she was a silhouette of white. She seemed to be evolving again.

That ball of light replaced her, and then it erupted into a wave of beautiful lights and colours, which mirrored each crystal involved. It expanded and hit the boy, causing him to fall backwards. His eyes were forced shut, and he couldn't hear anything, it felt as though his ears were blocked. He couldn't even hear his own breath. Come to think of it, he couldn't feel his chest heaving, and he couldn't move his hand to check that his heart was still beating.

This tranquil feeling lasted a lifetime, and as he lay there, no emotions, or feelings, or even memories came to mind. He was just there surrounded by a wave of colours, completely still, like suspended animation.

Suddenly the oracle had returned, levitating over him. She blinked once, then she and the sea of colours withdrew together. The light was gone and so were the crystals.

Aerrow was still on Xoam, and still lying on his back in the temple.

Zombies! I have to get up! But as he got to his knees there was nothing there, only the echo of his "Huh?" To accompany him.

He rose to his feet, gazing around the room. No sign of the crystals at all, and come to think of it his weapons were gone too. His mind suddenly traced back to the phoenix cave, he reached behind him, put his hand under his top and searched. No scar, his back was untouched!

"Oh my god... It worked! It actually worked!" Aerrow was laughing uncontrollably, cheering and smiling brightly as he bounced around the room pumping his fists in the air. "WOO HOO! I did it! I actually did it!"

The Storm Hawk had succeeded. And that meant Piper, Finn, Junko, Stork and Radarr were somewhere on the Atmos alive and well, most likely wondering where he was. He caught his breath, his eyes were sparkling, and his legs felt like jelly.

Out of the temple, and speeding through the streets of the ancient city, as fast as he could, eager to get home, back to his family. He couldn't contain himself from shouting over and over "We did it! We won! We Beat them!"

Another corner turned, and he spotted a familiar face, "Dark Ace!"

But the older man did not respond, and the joy in Aerrow's face was wiped clean. Dark Ace did not reply to him, did not look at him, and did not walk away.

Because he was lying on the floor, with his eyes closed, his body rather still.

"Dark Ace?" Aerrow walked over to the Talon carefully, his eyes locked on his frame. When he was by his side, he was crouching, looking down at his friend with furrowed brows.

After further inspection, his bitten shoulder was clean. There was not even a speck of blood, infact the material did not fashion a single rip or tear. There was no blood on his body, not his own, or anyone else's.

Aerrow was tense and his eyes had narrowed. As he reached down to check a pulse, his hand was trembling, like his breath.

The Sky Knight froze. There was no pulse. No matter how hard he checked, there was no hint of a heart beat at all. He brought his ear to his chest; nothing...

"What? No, no, no, Dark Ace wake up!" Aerrow grabbed his friend's shoulders and shook vigorously, "Come on, what are you doing? Get up!" The teen's voice had broken. His eyes never left the Talon's face, which held no expression, no character, and no sign of life at all.

"Dark Ace! Get up soldier! This is an order!"

Then his hands were on his chest, pumping hard, "One...two...three...four..." Aerrow's lips met Dark Ace's as he tried to breathe life back into him.

This went on for the next fifteen minutes. The Storm Hawk's current state was that of tears, trembling hands, and wavering breaths. He wanted to keep trying, refusing to admit defeat, but for the past couple of minutes Stork's heeding preached in his mind.

"It might not even be possible to bring everyone back anyway."

"If anyone is in the middle of the change and hasn't actually died before they transform. Well, the won't come back."

"Because they've yet to die and you can't overload the crystal with conditions."

Aerrow finally stopped. Whimpering, tears streaming, his face creased with emotion. He tucked his arms under Dark Ace and raised his top half off the ground, holding him gently.

When Aerrow spoke he was a mess, he was choking on his words and his breaths were uneasy. "This isn't right, you didn't deserve this," he brushed away the tears with his clean sleeve and sniffled.

The Sky Knight did not even realise, but he was grasping the Storm Hawk pendant through his top. "You can't be dead, we have to hang out...you promised me...Dark Ace you promised."

The last of his spirit and faith had abandoned him. He rested his forehead gently upon Dark Ace's still chest, his tone of voice desperate as he pleaded for death to be merciful. His words became impossible to understand as his crying overpowered.

No matter how hard he wished, Aerrow's big brother never woke up.

OoO.

I would just like to thank everyone for taking this two year journey with me, and reading each chapter until the bitter end. Thanks to all the reviewers, and thank you in advance if you review this last one and share your thoughts on the finale.

I would really like to hear people's thoughts on how this ended.

Thanks again.

Until next time!