Chapter One: Battle For Survival

I've wanted to write a Raven x Fiona for a real long time. A REAL long time. I'm such a sucker for this couple… and I'm so thrilled that I finally get the chance! I don't have much to say to you, except thank you for stopping by and to enjoy the first chapter of a two-part romance! LOVE YOU PEOPLE FOR THAT!

This story starts in the beginning of the episode, "Battle For Survival." It won't stay in canon for long. You know, because you read the summary. Ah, I'm so excited to finally be writing this! *Smile* J ! I swear, I feel like jumping up and doing a happy dance!

*Does a Happy Dance *

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own ZOIDS. But this story is mine, mine, and mine.

*Stops dancing and bows nobly *

Oh, and beware of a harsh, devilish Raven.

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"Van, I suggest that you leave the girl out of this. Lord Prozen has expressed an interest in her."

"No way, Raven. I'm not handing Fiona over to anyone."

"Well it's obvious how you feel for her. If she's going to fight with you then Prozen will have to do without his little chat."

Something in the back of Van's mind told him not to. Begged him not to, in fact. Don't fight that monster! He'll kill you! Then from the back, in an almost repetitive fashion, Fiona began to plead that he run away.

"Van, Rudolph needs us! We've got to get back there!"

"I…"

The sinister-looking dark ZOID in their path began to sway back and forth, as if waiting to pounce. Raven's cold-hearted voice was heard, taunting him, "What's the matter? Don't tell me that you're afraid."

"Van! He's going to attack! Run away!"

"I… I can't." This was destiny, and you can't run away from that.

The Genosaurer lunged forward like a hungry cat that had cornered a mouse. Van heard Raven cry out for Shadow. There was no way he could escape without defeating him. From that point on, the battle for survival had begun.

And it was epic. The Genosaurer, nearly twice the size of the Blade Liger, dominated the conflict immediately. Destiny played its part, and the Liger wound up severely damaged on the rocky ground at the feet of its enemy. Raven, cruel and unmerciful, forced his ZOID to kick at the smaller one.

"I see that you've improved significantly, Van. But you're not getting away this time. I'll finish you!"

Van winced. This… this boy was evil. And he really was just a boy. Raven wasn't much older than he was, and both too young to get caught up in a ruthless war. Then how could someone as young as he be so barbaric?

The Genosaurer gave the Liger a powerful kick that was perhaps a finishing blow. The canopy of the cockpit was knocked open, and Fiona was hurled out. She was thrown to the hard, stony ground below, and Zeek was soon in the same position.

"…You should've left that girl out of this…"That was the only sentence that reached Van's ears.

The air seemed to be forced from Van's lungs as he screamed. "Fiona! Zeek!" He didn't have the time to think, though, because Raven would not let him escape. He panicked, and didn't know what to do next.

And this was Destiny.

But even Destiny did not foresee what happened next. To her surprise, Raven did something she didn't think he'd do.

"Shadow!"

"What…?" Van was jolted back into his senses by Raven's shout. The black Organoid emerged from the giant ZOID and hovered over the battle scene. "What… is he doing?"

Raven answered for him. "Go ahead and guess, Flyheight. Did you think that if I destroyed you and failed to fetch that girl for Prozen would make him happy? That would be suicide. Of course, it would give me immediate pleasure to annihilate you both, but I'm not coming back to Lord Prozen empty-handed."

Van's eyes widened with realization.

Is he…? He wouldn't.

"Now would be a good time to say goodbye to the girl, Van, because you're not seeing her again. Shadow, get that girl!"

"NO!" Van struggled to bring the Liger back on its feet. He couldn't get the ZOID to budge. "Fiona! Look out!" Could she hear him? No, Fiona, not her. Please no!

The dark, jet black ZOID swooped down at an extraordinary speed. From the cockpit of the Blade Liger it looked like an immense black hawk about to scoop up a tiny and defenseless field mouse.

"Fiona, run! Zeek, save her!"

But the silver ZOID didn't stand a chance; the poor thing was overworked and entirely exhausted. Zeek only managed to roar weakly and swat at the oncoming hunter. Shadow knocked the other Organoid back onto the ground before chasing after a terrified Fiona. She didn't have the chance to run very far because the dark hawk scooped her up in seconds.

"VAN!"

"Fi—Fiona!" Van screamed. He could barely believe his eyes as the jet black creature spread its blood red wings and soared away into the sky. No! This isn't happening! Raven… "I'll get you!" Van struggled with the controls and the Blade Liger finally got onto its feet. "You'll regret that, Raven!"

The other pilot laughed cruelly. "Oh… I doubt that, Van. Really, I do!"

And the battle continued, but not the way Destiny had planned.

*****

A colossal blood red ZOID roared triumphantly across a wrecked and ablaze city. It was the victor. It had arisen again. Its point of existence was to destroy.

"Deathsaurer…" whispered an escaped survivor. "What an awesome power."

The escapee was jerked back into the cockpit of a slow-moving ZOID.

"Get back in here, you idiot! Do you want that thing to know that we got out of there alive?"

In truth, the Gustav was well over a mile away from the thing, but the enormous ZOID could be seen from a long way off. But the Gustav's pilot and passenger weren't the only people who had escaped the Deathsaurer's lethal Charged Particle Gun. Several dozen ZOIDS, among them a Command Wolf, had made it out as well.

Irvine jumped out of his ZOID. "That sure ended well. Where was Van in all of this?"

The cockpit of Hermann's ZOID opened. "We can't go looking for him now. I suggest that you get back in your Command Wolf. We need to get as far away from that monster as possible so we can regroup." Then, in a louder voice he said, "All of us. It doesn't matter if we're from the Republic… or the Empire."

A voice was heard from an Iron Kong some twenty feet away. It was Major Schubaltz. "True. This beast is an enemy to us both." He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Prince Rudolph. Is he alright?"

A dark colored Panzer approached, and Rudolph spoke. "Yes… I can't believe this happened. It—it's my fault. If only I had been stronger I could have-…"

"No," said Irvine, "we just weren't ready to face this." He looked back at the red ZOID in the distance and whistled in awe.

Another tremendous roar was heard from across the fires. It was unanimously decided that the survivors retreat. Overhead, Rosso and Viola flew their breath-taking Storm Sworders farther away from the wreckage. The other ZOIDS quickly followed suit.

"There's nothing we can do right now," said Rudolph gravely. "I only hope that Van made it out all right."

"Don't worry about that kid," said Moonbay. "He'll be fine. We've got to worry about ourselves right now."

"Your Highness," said Schubaltz. "We've got to get you in hiding…" He sighed in total exasperation, an uncommon thing to see the man doing. "And we've got to find a strategy before that monster destroys all of Zi."

*****

Fiona shuddered under the cold gaze of Shadow's ice blue eyes. She didn't dare move, though, lest the dark metallic creature prowling around her in circles decide to pounce. She didn't know where she was, and she didn't know what was happening to Van. All she could think of was fear. A million terrible things were imagined.

What if Van wins but can't find me? What if Shadow's been given orders to kill me? What if… Chills of agony ran down the girl's spine. Van loses? Oh… Eve, no… Van has to win. If Raven defeats him… I don't know what will happen to me. But I do know what will happen to Van. If Raven wins… he'll kill him. No, Van, Zeek! Please no. You have to win!

After several minutes of her silent suffering, Fiona heard a noise that made her heart stop beating. The sound was far away but so very loud. Fiona knew instantly that it was an explosion. Even though Shadow had her cornered against the back of a cliff that was surrounded by dense underbrush, the distant, tall column of smoke that rose high into the blue was plainly visible to Fiona.

She held her breath.

"Van…" she whispered as tears pricked her eyes. She knew that the far-off eruption was the result of a Charged Particle Gun. Though she tried to deny it, the thought that Raven had won against Van kept pushing its way to the surface. "Van," she said again, her voice breaking.

Fiona sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees before sobbing silently. Fear, anguish, and torment were all poured into her cries of sorrow. The sleek, metallic creature in front of her seemed to ignore her pain, and kept circling around the girl like a cat. In the same way, Fiona ignored Shadow, because right now she couldn't focus on anything else but Van.

But the teardrops didn't last long. When she sensed a powerful ZOID drawing near at an incredible, she immediately dried her tears and tried to look confident. Raven was coming; she knew it. She wouldn't let him see her in this sorry state.

The Genosaurer stopped close by. Fiona could see its sinister-looking head peeking above the foliage of the underbrush. Then, after a minute or so, she could see Raven approaching through the thicket with a haughty smirk across his face. She looked down, because her faint bravery vanished. She couldn't face him.

He stopped in front of her. Fiona winced and shut her eyes, trying to hide the teardrops that were beginning to flow again. She hadn't the courage to look up. Even worse, she knew that Raven sensed her fear.

I will not cry. I will not cry. That's what he wants from you, Fiona. He wants you to cry so he can laugh at you. I will not cry in front of Raven. I will not…

She sniffed and couldn't hold back the tears. As they flowed down her cheeks she thought she heard Raven give a sneer of arrogance. Fiona tried to quit crying but that only brought more misery. It wasn't until she felt Raven grab under her chin when she stopped weeping out of fear.

Raven lifted her chin with his left hand, forcing her to look at him. His eyes were both of contempt and hate, and Fiona was too scared to dare look away. He didn't speak for a long time; only stared cruelly. His smirk seemed to prove that he could bring fear and anguish onto anyone. Then, in an abrupt shift of emotions, he looked down at her in disgust.

"I really would have liked to kill you, but Prozen wouldn't like that one bit." He let go of her chin and slapped her. Shadow flinched but Raven took no notice.

Fiona fell to the ground and immediately started sobbing again. Right now she wished that Raven would kill her. The emotional pain of losing Van was too much for her to handle.

She struggled to sit up but Raven grabbed her wrists and she nearly collapsed. The only reason that Fiona didn't fall completely to the rocky ground was because Raven was tying her wrists together behind her back. The rope he used was callous and scratchy, and he bound it very tight around her wrists. Then he let go, and she fell back onto the ground.

"Enough of the pity party," he said coldly. "Get up and let's go."

Fiona finally managed to stand. When she did, Raven kicked at her ankles to make her move forward. He commanded her to walk forward. Stumbling and crying, Fiona did as she was told. Eventually they reached a battered but triumphant Genosaurer.

"Get in."

Fiona found that she couldn't enter the ZOID easily because her wrists were tied, making her balance terrible. Neither could she decide on a place to sit; the Genosaurer only had one seat. Raven made a decision for her. He shoved her into the small, cramped space behind the seat. Not used to being treated so harshly, Fiona began to whimper again.

"Hush. You're not staying with me for long."

Raven took his place in the cockpit. The ZOID lit up and began to move. Through her despair, Fiona actually took notice that there was human blood all over the controls. Then she remembered that Raven had only used one hand to tie her wrists. It was obvious that he had injured himself while fighting Van, meaning that her friend hadn't gone down without a good fight.

"We're going now, Zoidian. I'm taking you to see Emperor Prozen." Then Raven laughed.

Emperor Prozen? Fiona let the last two lines sink in. The bottom line for her was that Van was dead, Raven had captured her, Prozen hadn't been stopped, and Zi's destruction was inevitable.

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Ow, he's harsh, ne? Well, I've got to keep Raven in character. Nobody likes a wimpy "love-at-first-sight" thing, right?

*Does a Happy Dance. *

Okay, this chapter is a major exception to all of the future ones. They will be named after songs, and the lyrics will be placed in random places throughout. Is that okay?

*Continues Happy Dance. *

Okay, dokay, it's time to leave me a review by pushing the button…

…Right…

…Down…

… Here!

V