Note: Jet - the one and only Dark Ace

The Real End of the Story... aka The Punishment

The leader of the storm hawks stood casually looking out onto the hanger and runway of the Condor. The open doors allowed a warm breeze to swirl around the cavernous bay carrying in the faint scent of soapy water. Both him and his engineer were looking on as Jet scrubbed the deck on his hands and knees with Aerrow sitting on his back. The youngsters two were having fun in spite of the daunting punishment.

"Are you sure you want to keep him on team after that stunt? It took both Nora and young Kite to keep Corsair from having him scrub ‘Saharr’ clean. I mean, he joined the race AND knocked another sky knight off his ride - just to beat you." the engineer argued in a quiet unsure voice. The stoic sky knight seemed too busy looking at the two with a amiable smile.

"He's just eager and talented. He'll make a great sky knight if the academy can weed out that ruthless competitive nature of his. We had a little talk about the incident and how it doesn't befit a member of a sky knight squadron, let alone the Storm Hawks." he said dismissively as he crossed his arms.

The teenager and toddler were completely unaware as they played “skyride”. Jet had a small scrub brush in each hand as he scooted along the floor making “vroom” noises.

"Faster!" Aerrow laughed. Jet then picked his knees up off the floor and started pushing the brushes around by walking with his feet. He was soon at a good fast pace going from edge to edge with little Aerrow clinging tightly to his neck and shoulders. The fun lasted until they ran into the scrub bucket, knocking it over. The two fell over laughing and soaked as the puddle from the bucket began spreading across the deck.

The engineer looked on in annoyance as the squad leader laughed.

"Aerrow!" he called to his son. "Why don't you help Jet out by getting some towels." he said. The little boy wrung out his shirt and gave a "Kay!" before darting off for a linen closet. The smile on Jet’s face lasted until he caught sight of his superior. A slight scowl soon emerged as he went back to scrubbing.

“Aren’t you worried he’s going to be a bad influence on Aerrow?” the nervous tone in the engineer’s voice persisted. Regardless, the sky knight easily responded.

“No, he’s different when he’s around Aerrow. Look.” He gestured as Aerrow returned with a towel and tossed it playfully over Jet’s head. The little redheaded boy then started helping the teenager dry his black locks as the two giggled. “Jet seems to only pull those stunts when he’s alone. For some reason, Aerrow makes him forget he has something to prove.” He finished as he turned and headed back towards the bridge. His engineer nodded, before changed the subject to the ship’s refueling needs.



After his dad left, Aerrow picked up a spare brush and silently began helping Jet scrub the massive deck with a gleeful smile. The two worked late into the evening with only a few sponge/brush fights.

It was past dinner when Jet looked up from their finished work to find a huddled Aerrow asleep on a crate. He smiled warmly as he walked over and scooped up the little boy’s weight into his arms. Despite the aching in his back and limbs, he carried his little companion to their shared room and woke him up briefly so to get ready for bed. Soon Aerrow was in his jammies nuzzled against a pillow as Jet dragged his lean frame to bed and crashed. He was dead to the world when Aerrow woke up, climbed into his bed, and kissed him on the temple before cuddling up next to his best friend and future enemy.

(PS. Jet did not win the race... thanks to fate, he lost and would have been left rolling in the sand if not for his squad leader... had fate been kind, he would have left them all in the dust)