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"Nothing." Star smirked and adjusted one of his pristine gloves, "I was just savoring the moment." He stepped back through the hatch, hitting a button beside it on his way. He fixed Nyx with a sinister grin as he exited the aircraft, "Have a nice trip." The moment Star was clear of the door it snapped shut and gave the distinct click of a large lock bolting into place. Nyx was trapped inside.

Deimos bounded over to Tethys, an expectant smile on his face. "I hope you brought the kiwi-banana. We should pack a lot of it."

Star strolled casually down the rolling stairs beside the jet and slipped a hand into his jacket pocket, where he depressed a button.

There was a loud hum as the Braviary powered up and the engines whirred to life.

"And the strawberry pomegranite, that's my fav-" Deimos blinked, looking up at the noise.

A Galactic yelped, narrowly diving out of the way as the giant bird started rolling forward.

Deimos' eye widened, "What's happening?"

Star stopped several feet from the pair, arching an eyebrow at the moving aircraft, "I'm not sure, sir. You did tell her to play with the buttons."

If Tethys had developed one thing over the years, it was an excellent poker face. Star got no more than the glance he usually merited when he sauntered out of the jet.

"This is the strawberry pomegranate, sir." A thermos was held out to him for inspection. "And I believe this-"

Her ponytail twisted in the breeze from the turbines and her words were lost in the noise.

The commander frowned as the aircraft rolled by. "Well, sir, you handed control of a jet to a captive member of the enemy team. I think she's escaping."

Dear Arceus she was going to die. She was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. She slammed her fists against the window, and rammed her shoulder into the door; both efforts were rewarded by sharp pains and no give from the door. For all of her brains, in her panic she had also failed to consider what she'd do if she got the door open.

The cabin jerked around, simple turbulence from take off, but it was enough to cause Nyx to scream and duck for cover, huddling in some nook near the door. She was so helpless without her pokemon.

Star yelped as Tethys hauled him closer. He'd never heard this kind of urgency coming from the Commander and wasn't about to argue with her. He enjoyed having all his limbs. He nodded quickly and stumbled free of her terrifying grasp, yanking Scream's ball off his belt. The pidgeot appeared a moment later. Before he could puff up at Tethys, Star was on his back. He tossed off his jacket, which landed in a heap at Tethys' feet and flattened himself against the large bird, "GO!"

Aware something serious was going on, Scream lowered his head and took off. Perfectly streamlined, the pair shot down the runway like a feathery rocket. "Pidgeoooot!!" Scream's shriek echoed down the halls of the hangar.

But Deimos and the Braviary had a big head start. The giant metal bird soared gracefully over the first hillside and came up on a pleasant valley, gaining altitude. Then a succession of pops rippled somewhere beneath the floor as Star's fuses all blew at the same time. The lights flickered, then went dark. Nyx would experience a moment of zero gravity before the aircraft's nose tipped downward and it started to fall.

Nyx yelped when something that sounded like firecrackers went off, and then everything went dark.

Heart racing and eye wide, Deimos clung to Phillip as they approached the metal bird. Seconds before they reached it the power failed and it started to drop. "No!!" Deimos cried, tightening his hold on the bat in panic.

"Gli!" Philip complained.

"The hatch, the hatch!!!! Land on the hatch she was by it!!" Deimos shrieked, pointing. Half of what he said was lost in the wind whipping past them, but Phillip got enough of it to understand. With a nod, he folded his wings and they dropped along with the plane. With a dull thud, they landed beside the hatch a moment later. "NYX!!" Deimos shouted, banging on the window. His voice was muffled through the thick glass.

A few seconds later, a hand slapped up against the glass, the owner thrown off balance by the plummeting aircraft. Nyx peered out of the window back at Deimos, eyes wide with fear--and maybe her cheeks were just a bit damp.

Thank Arceus. "GET TO THE BACK OF THE PLANE!!!" He shouted, pointing first in the direction he wanted her to go, then at the little shaymin clinging desperately to his shoulder. He couldn't open the locked hatch if the Braviary had no power. So he'd have to make a new door.

This seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan to a near hysterical Nyx. It wasn't hard to get to the back of the plane, either, with gravity and momentum working on her side; She stumbled and slammed hard against the back of the braviary.

Deimos nodded when Nyx disappeared from sight. He tried not to look at the ground, which was coming up fast, "Front of the plane! FRONT OF THE PLANE!!!" He wailed hysterically.

Gripping the decorative feathers lining the aircraft's exterior, Phillip used his large claws to scramble toward the front.

As the pair approached the large window stretched above the Braviary's beak, Star and Scream arrived. Scream angled himself sideways, wings vertical, back to the hull of the ship, placing Star within range of the Boss, "GET OFF THE PLANE!"

"She's still inside!!" Deimos called back as he reached the window. He yanked the fuzzy green ball off his shoulder and plonked him on the glass.

Star's eyes widened, "Holy sh-" He pulled back, angling Scream away from the falling Braviary.

Deimos shut his eye and buried his face against Phillip. A massive explosion rocked the front of the plane, shattering glass and warping metal. Andre could always be relied upon to direct his blasts to leave his master unharmed. Though he'd been a foot away, Deimos was untouched. "Shay!" The little hedgehog yelped as he fell through the gaping hole he'd created and landed on the Rocket cowering at the back of the cabin.

"Phillip!!"

"Scor!" The purple bat scrambled inside just long enough to latch onto Nyx's cape with one claw, then scrambled back out, grabbed Deimos' cape with the other and jumped from the falling wreck. An earth-shattering crash echoed behind them, sending shrapnel flying in all directions as Phillip desperately negotiated the air currents with his awkward load. They hit the ground hard, about 30 feet from the crumpled plane. It was a rough landing, but not nearly as rough as it could have been.

After dodging flying debris, Star and Scream landed nearby.

Nyx yelled as she was grabbed by the cape and dangled below the flying Gliscor. She was fine hanging there, relieved to be out of the plane, until she heard the crash. The tiny scientist reached out and grabbed for the most solid thing around and clung to it for dear life--it being Deimos.

The sight of Nyx in Deimos' arms had the same effect as a carelessly dropped lighter in a fireworks factory.

"You."

Pale hands grabbed at the scientist, pulling her away with no regard for her comfort or safety. There was grass in the commander's hair from her landing and her expression was furious as she held the small woman up by the shoulders and glared hatefully into her eyes.

"This is all your fault," the commander snarled and threw the Rocket to the ground.

Deimos gasped and scrambled to his feet, "Don't hurt her, she didn't do anything wrong!"

Star stopped about ten feet from the group, Scream just behind him. He arched an eyebrow at Nyx's accusation, saying nothing. To be honest it was nice to see Tethys' rage directed at someone else for a change.

Nyx coughed and rolled over from the sharp kick in the stomach. She groaned, holding her midsection with one scraped up arm, and started to roll back onto her side when there was suddenly a metal pole digging into her throat, starting to slightly cut off air. She wasn't listening to what Tethys was saying. Nyx gasped for breath as soon as the pole was removed, but it was a short lived reprieve, as she was struck with a very solid, very heavy metal pole.

A fleshy 'thwak' was audible from the contact. Something was definitely broken. The blunt force had broken skin, and blood dribbled down from her cheek bone. Nyx didn't answer- Nyx couldn't answer. She could only writhe in pain and disorientation.