Omg, another story from me. But this one is gonna be good, promise! Or I hope so, at least. Whatever.
So, title thanks to the wonderful, amazing, super talented, super hot, better-then-you artist Adam Lambert. Time for Miracles is THE shit and I think all you pretty people should go watch it now. And lust over Sir Lambert and his extreme Hottie Hotshitness. Srsly he's like a drug. I luff him.
A warning to all you chillens. These are my OCs. If you don't like OCs, tough shit. I will apologize for the lack Zoidy awesomeness, and action in general in this chapter, but its the FIRST chapter. Things shall get better. And, I don't do flames. I like good critiques because I like getting better. Think I should improve on something? Hell, go for it. I don't bite. But flames make people feel bad, and making feel people is soooo high school. So put on your big girl panties before reading my story because I am not your babysitter. Bitch.
If your looking for some piece 'o crap love story/funny tale/blah, well, back button is right up there, buster. I write dramatically, I don't do cute stand-up humor. That's just dumb. Don't like this style of writing? Please direct yourself to the nearest toliet and stick your head in because I don't care.
Hope I didn't scare most of you off. So have fun!
Summary- Two kids and three Zoids are left alone after the untimely arrival of Zi's second mass extinction. Rogue, warped Zoids, crazed bandits, famine, disease, all sorts of nasties stress their friendship. In this new world, its eat or be eaten. Live or die.
Music- Time for Miracles ~ Adam Lambert - Fireflies ~ Owl City - Vanilla Twilight - Fireflies
---
When Dragon came home from a painfully exhausting day of cleaning two mile-high Gojulas, she didn't expect to see Adamaris sitting on the ratty couch, entirely too focused on whatever show happened to be playing on the T.V. Dragon frowned, her coat shedding from her body like a bulky extra skin. Coming home from a ten hour work day, and she didn't even get like, a high five or a thumbs up. Dragon seriously started to consider whom she decided to start her life over with. Adamaris was just a crappy roommate.
Dragon bustled into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator door and praying to all higher powers that some sort of edible food source lurked in the empty canyon. Her stomach yearned a pitiful moaning growl as the void space opened before her. Dragon sighed.
"Adamaris! There is no food." The teenager spat, slamming the door with more force then needed. She clambered about, ripping open cabinets until…..huzzah! Crackers! Dragon joyfully took then down, ripped the top off, and gleefully munched them as she walked back to the living room. Adamaris hadn't moved.
Dragon didn't enjoy being ignored. She frowned, picked out a cracker, and flung it at Adamaris' head. It bounced off his skull and he didn't even twitch. "Fuck is up with you?" Dragon growled, blue-green eyes alight with the start of rage. Finally, Adamaris looked over at her. His hazel eyes were wide, his body shaking, arms hugged tightly around a pillow. Dragon thought he was going through some sort of episode, which wouldn't have been the least bit strange. Adamaris reeked of abnormal.
"You have to see this." His voice, normally smooth and quiet, sounded cracked and raspy. Dragon's frown deepened as she sat beside him, leaning back against the couch as she watched.
Earth and Zi rotated around the same sun, were sisters in the same galaxy. Despite the millions and millions of miles that separated them, Earth and Zi shared a connection. The first true human beings, not Zoidians, to thrive on Zi came on ships from Earth. 90% of Zi's population could be traced back to Earth. The planets were one.
Dragon's mind ran blank, her heart stopped and her blank ceased to flow as the pandemonium erupted on screen like every destruction film ever created. One sentence quietly sulked in her brain, refusing to grow but refusing to leave; this can't be real.
The Empire State Building quaked. Glass shattered, all at once, as the building suddenly doubled over, as if some massive giant swung at it with a baseball bat. The mighty American symbol crumbled, groaned in frenzied agony as it tipped, slowly, dramatically, onto it's side. Dust exploded upward, cascading high into the heavens as the building settled down to rest.
There was so much screaming. It was loud, a cacophony of wails and tearing metal and the loss of all hope. It blurred into one noise, one exhale of breath, Dragon forgot how to breathe. The air left the room around her way too fast; everything was spinning, what was happening?
Bridges gave way under unknown weight. Cars, with families trapped inside, smashed like toys into rivers. The ground split open, a massive, hungry maw of a dragon gaping wide to swallow everything it could. Fire, dust, screaming, panic. Houses and apartments crumbled, bricks and mortar falling like stars upon hapless people. Water boiled, evaporated, entire lakes vanishing in minutes. Airplanes, great, soaring metal birds, dropped from the sky and exploded in towering gouts of rippling flame. Bridges wavered, supports breaking and ten-inch long coils sprung and flailed like headless snakes.
Continents ripped. Great, fissuring cracks like torn open wounds raced across roads and oceans. Everything fell apart. The Earth shrieked, broke at the seams, caught fire and smoked and bled. Dust flew everywhere, a dirty veil to the actions within.
Dragon found her voice, rough and scratchy, not hers. "Atlas. What is this?" She spoke softly, praying this was only some movie, a sci-fi T.V. show, a work of fiction designed to scare, not predict. Adamaris looked at her, his hazel eyes filled with too many emotions at once.
"The End of the World."
---
"Earth had multiple massive extinctions. The meteor that killed the dinosaurs, several Ice Ages……It was bound to happen again. The Mayans predicted that the world would end in the year 2012. And look at that, it did." Adamaris rambled as he paced, feet beating a steady tattoo on the worn carpet.
Dragon looked at her fingers. Earth and Zi had such different years. "We had a mass extinction." She muttered. The T.V. was paused, stopped on an image of The Eiffel Tower snapping in two. Dragon wished there was some way to turn back time. Having learned that Earth had been forever destroyed was not a good way to end your day. The feeling struck beyond surreal, and Dragon couldn't stop her body shaking.
The show had only been a recording. Earth was long gone. Dragon asked how they got the footage. Adamaris, always such a fucking genius, explained how the scientists of Earth knew it was going to happen. They carted off as many people as possible, brought them back to Zi, and left machines behind to document the chaos. Obviously, the camera machines were destroyed, but the data was good.
"Why didn't everybody leave?" Dragon questioned. She could still see the panicked faces, the tears streaming, the praying to the sky above. Adamaris shrugged, his shoulders shaking.
"I don't know."
Dragon hoped it was a dream, a mirage, a cruel prank, but it wasn't. She walked into Adamaris' art studio and leaned on the big window's balcony, tilting her head until the expanse of the city met her gaze. A trio of Redlers streaked across the sky, leaving engine fuel in their wake. Dark Horns and Iron Kongs, Konig Wolves and Blade Ligers, patrolled the city's gates. The sun dipped lower toward the horizon, already on it's way to let the moons have the night. Dragon pulled herself up on the window ledge and watched.
I will go to bed. I will wake up, and this will all be a nightmare.
---
Something was buzzing in Dragon's pocket and she didn't like it. Muffling a groan, Dragon rolled over to try and get the buzzing to stop.
She fell off the window ledge.
The wooden floor, dusty and covered with canvas, failed to soften the blow. Dragon did let out a groan this time, her limbs flailing miserably as she tried in vain to figure out who she was, where she had fallen asleep, and why someone thought it would be a great idea to call her. She patted her pockets, wincing at the movement, and successfully pulled out her cell phone.
"Dragon, what's up?" She muttered, stifling a yawn.
"You are late."
Cold dread, with a hard blow of realization, hit Dragon with all the force of a Genosaurer's Charged Particle Cannon. The pilot lifted her head, found herself greeted with the bright sunlight, the sound of bird chirping cheerfully, the bustling sounds of midday traffic…..
"Ra! I'm sorry, Myde. I slept late, 'cause I didn't fall asleep until early and…." Dragon rambled, struggling to her feet. "I'm sorry, my roommate was supposed to wake me up. Fuck, he is such a jerk. I'm sorry, Myde." Dragon continued, bumbling out of the studio and grabbing her shoes despite the fact she was still in clothes from yesterday.
I am a mess.
"I don't care. Get your butt here, we're busy!" Myde boomed on the other end. Dragon winced. Adamaris was nowhere in sight; he had already left to open his coffee shop. The pilot tried to repress the feeling of anger rising in her throat, but it came anyway. Adamaris was so gonna get his ass kicked.
"I'm on my way. I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Make it five."
Dragon ran out the door, hair sticking up in ten different directions, clothes rumpled and wrinkly. Age 18, already in a steady job, already having to provide even though she was a kid. Everything felt so serious, Earth may have been long gone but it was Zi who had first been broken.
We can't be that busy.
"Will do."
She didn't notice the note that gently fluttered to the floor in her wake.
---
Murasame Ligers had too many parts, too many pointy bits, were way too common, and sucked to fix. Dragon peered down at the tricky inner wiring and frowned, lost in all the bright colors and shiny wire coatings. She cracked her knuckles and bent lower, grabbing a handful of circuits and disconnecting them.
"So, you heard about Earth? Awful, horrible tragedy."
Dragon pulled her head out of the Liger's wires, her face and multi-colored hair already streaked with slick oil.
"Can't say they didn't deserve it. Look at the way they treated that planet. Not to mention all those damn wars."
Dragon glanced over the Liger's side. Two customers stood far below, immersed in chatter. Dragon instantly remembered, and the resulting feeling of nausea nearly caused her to topple over. The violent images played in her mind, a video with no stop button. Her hand clutched at a piece of armor, fingers trying to dig into the smooth metal.
Earth. 2012.
"I heard only about two billion people were saved."
"Darn shame. All those poor souls."
The men walked away, back to their Zoids. Dragon sat, alone and sick, on the Murasame Liger. Her throat ran dry, and her tongue filled up her mouth. The drips of water that fell on the Liger's body didn't quite connect with Dragon until oh.
---
"You didn't wake me up."
Adamaris smiled brightly at a customer, a pretty young woman with an expensive jacket, and handed her a tall cup of steaming coffee. "There you go, ma'am! Have a good one!" He chirped, all white teeth and dazzling eyes. The woman smiled and dumped her change in the tip jar before walking out. Adamaris turned to Dragon, raising a brow.
"I left you a note!" He protested. "Didn't you see it?" Adamaris grabbed a rag from behind him and started wiping crumbs from the counter. Aside from a giggling couple and a student with his laptop, the café was empty. Dragon loved this place, mainly because of the homeliness and the soft lighting, shelves housing goodies and coffees. The café smelled like home, like things safe and warm, and despite the vicious mood she was in, Dragon felt a tranquil blanket settle over her.
Dragon pulled a napkin from the dispenser and tried to wipe the oil from her hands. But like blood and regret, guilt and tears, it stained. "Obviously not." She retorted without much bite.
"I didn't want to wake you. You looked so tired and I thought Myde would have closed because of….." Adamaris ducked his head, bangs falling to cover his eyes. Dragon huffed, threw the napkin away.
"Never assume," Her gaze switched to the menu. So many coffees, such a short break. Despite her four months living with Adamaris, she had not yet tried every drink Konig Coffee offered. "Mmh. I have six minutes left before I have to run back to Myde's." She looked back at Adamaris, who had gone to poke at the tip jar. Adamaris was such a sweet, gentle soul, and it made Dragon angry to no end when customers didn't tip. "Surprise me?"
"Course." Adamaris muttered, and Dragon felt another stab of guilt. She had lost friends before. Lost them to monsters and men and her own wicked heart. Not this time, though, she couldn't lose Atlas. This was the boy who, four months ago, gave one look at Dragon's torn and ratty look, her Matrix Dragon and Blade Liger, and smiled.
I just need to clear my head. I can pay rent.
Those hazel eyes gleamed with merriment. You can stay here as long as you want.
"Here you go. Surprise," Adamaris placed a cup filled to the brim in front of Dragon, a chocolate muffin beside it. Dragon smiled, childish, and pulled on her wallet. Adamaris made a noise, a crossbreed between a huff and a scoff. "Every time! You go free, you hard worker you." He grinned.
He never took her money. Dragon rolled her eyes, pulled out a few coins and dumped them in the tip jar. "I think you work just as hard as I do."
She grabbed her coffee and muffin, and left.
---
Myde closed at seven o'clock sharp. Dragon stifled a yawn, stretched her tired bones, and plodded toward the Zoid Garage. Myde's beat-up, more-rusty-then-not Gunblaster turned a beady red eye toward Dragon. He rumbled out a guttural reptile moan in hello.
In comparison, Flare stood out like a lost gem, a prized piece of metal and circuitry. The symbolic icon of Zi, Flare lowered his regal white head toward his mistress, black fangs and black cockpit glass shined to perfection. The scarlet red inner structure, the golden paw cuffs and trim, the off white armor and piercing black blades brought a smile to Dragon's face. But then she would always remember, and the smile would vanish.
The cockpit opened, and Dragon hopped inside. Myde always closed last, preferring to do the routine check-up himself rather then trust the kids he hired. Flare lifted his powerful Blade Liger head, gave a quick, feline shake, and tromped out the door and into the crisp Zi evening.
Normally, Dragon would head home, shower, grab a bite to eat, and fall asleep. Konig Coffee didn't close until eight; Adamaris usually hit up a club, and wouldn't be home until the wee hours of the morning. Their schedules were off; confused, jumbling, -sometimes they would go twelve hours without seeing each other- but that was the way it worked. Unless Adamaris called, whining about getting kicked out of a club, Dragon didn't see him until she left for work.
Not tonight. Flare came to a halt outside Konig Coffee, and Dragon bumbled out of his cockpit in the way that only dwellers of this planet could. A scar on her leg, dulled by years of healing, sent only a weak pulse of pain through her nerves.
"Wait here."
The Blade Liger tilted his head, unresponsive.
The café was empty, silent, and Dragon relaxed as the scent of brewing coffee and tasty pastries floated to her in welcome. "Ra, I could just live here." She murmured, absent mindingly picking up a stray napkin and tossing it in the garbage can. From the back room, a tiny area of space housing a chair, table, T.V., and mini fridge, Adamaris poked his head out and smiled at Dragon with such joy, it was as if he hadn't seen her in years.
"I thought I heard you! I'll close early tonight, alright?" He started to bustle around, turning off coffee machines and switching off lights. Dragon rocked back on her heels.
"Want me to help?"
"Nah, I got it," Adamaris snatched the tip jar, turned it upside down, the contents slipping over the counter like a precious waterfall. "Not bad, tonight. How was the garage?"
Dragon shrugged as she fell into a chair. "Slow. I guess everyone is all paranoid and freaked out about the Earth."
"Well, it's kinda a big deal. A whole planet blew up. How can that even happen?" Adamaris huffed, his bangs flying upward before settling back over his eyes.
"At least it wasn't Zi."
The last coin slid over the counter, Adamaris' long fingers guiding it. "40 Gallos," He whispered. His head tilted upward, and even in near-darkness, Dragon saw the fierce drive of those clean hazel eyes. "I bet those 2 billion people who were saved wish it happened here, rather then there."
Dragon pursed her lips and thought of Flare, waiting patiently outside for them to come out. "Um, Flare's outside but if you wanted to go out…." Dragon trailed off, an open invitation, no period needed. Adamaris swooped the money into his pocket and locked the register before giving the store a once-over.
"Most places are closed because of the whole Earth thing, so we can head back home." He answered. Dragon didn't why, didn't know how it happened, but there was suddenly that rift between them. She hated it. Sullen, Dragon walked out of the store, waited for Adamaris to lock it, and Flare took them home.
---
It happened at around 2:30 in the morning. Dragon stirred, fumbled in her sheets, pressed her cheek tighter against her pillow and willed the noise to go away. But it didn't, no matter how hard Dragon pushed it away, no matter how high she hiked the covers over her head. Something was dying.
A sort of moan, a stifling cry, a suppressed sob and the whimper of agonizing pain. The true force of the noise jolted Dragon out of her drowsy stupor, that sort of in-between land of sleep and wakefulness. She sat upright, clutching her blanket to her in a toddler way, pointed ears turned toward the noise. It came again, softer, but so full of burden and misery that it made her heart ache.
It took her a total of five seconds to realize the noise was in the apartment.
"Atlas?" She called, voice cracked with sleep. She tumbled out of bed, legs shaky and body craned to the side. She bumped into a wall –it was so dark-, her fingers stretched to their limits as she felt along the walls. The sound came again, this time softer but still miserable. Dragon's heart thudded in her chest, ten times too loud as she pushed the door open to Adamaris' room.
He was on his side, stretched out, blankets a tangled mess among long, pale legs. Even from here, Dragon could see the dark puddles of sweat that covered his features, his back and his chest and his throat and the linens themselves. Adamaris twisted around again, this time onto his back, arched so high upward Dragon worried he might break himself in half…then he fell, a soft thump! Onto the mattress. Dragon watched his eyelids flutter, his tongue flicker out over his lips, his teeth gnashing together to bite and slice into said muscle. He groaned again; it sounded like someone had sliced him open and started beating his organs with a billy club.
"Atlas!" Dragon yelled, -it sounded loud, sharp, out of place so early in the morning- and fumbled her way onto the bed. The hazel eyes flicked to her, dull and glazed over. Adamaris shook and twitched when she gently laid a hand on his forehead. "Adamaris, what's wrong?"
He groaned again, squeezed his eyes shut. "Its-its gonna happen here. S-soon," The words hissed out from between his chattering teeth, and Dragon felt herself go cold, her brain struggling to piece together what was happening. Adamaris whined, a single high note that bled from deepest regions of his throat. He lifted his head, a struggle, and let it flop back down on the pillow. "I can feel it, feel it c-coming. Whatever ended Earth is going to e-end us."
Dragon willed herself to calm down. "Relax Atlas, you only had a nightmare." She said softly. Nothing prepared her for what happened next. Adamaris' hand flung forward, grabbed Dragon by the neck and pulled her forward. She struggled to free himself, choking and yelping as her fingers scratched marks down his sides. The lackluster glaze of his eyes was gone, replaced by a glowing hazel fire.
"This nightmare is going to be real." He snarled.
Then it was over. Adamaris' hand fell away, and he let out a choked, churning, bellyache of noise as he curled up onto his side, arms hugging his stomach. Dragon winced, sat back on her knees and rubbed her throat. She could feel the imprints of Adamaris' fingers around her jugular, tender even after mere seconds.
Coming from the harsh, degenerate lands of cold and icy Nyx, Dragon didn't do emotional comforting and the like. Her Base members were tough enough to fix problems themselves, and nobody acted touchy-feely. Dragon knew it was depressing and pathetic; age 18 and she hated hugs and talking about feelings. Mushy stuff, useless junk that separated the pilots from the regulars.
And yet. This was Adamaris, exactly the sort of touchy-feely that Dragon wasn't use to. She still jumped whenever he glided around her, a hand on her lower back, his chin propped up on her shoulder, his legs kicked up over her's. Slowly, she regained what the word touch meant.
"Hey, buddy," She whispered, quietly, afraid that too loud a noise would break him. Her hand reached out and landed down on his shoulder, slick with sweat and shivering with cold. Adamaris made a noise she couldn't describe, but his fingers flexed in the blankets as his eyes creaked open. Dragon shook his shoulder a little. "You awake?"
Adamaris groaned and buried his face in his arms. "Go 'way." He mumbled. Dragon frowned, prodded his shoulder with a bit more vigor.
"No. Wake up," Her hand moved over to grasp a tiny bit of black hair, and she tugged. "Tell me more about what you were talking about." She pulled a little harder. Adamaris huffed in response, dragging his head below the blankets and refusing to answer. Defeated, Dragon rocked back on her knees and stared at the lump that was her friend.
Something freaked him out. Something was going to happen. Dragon looked out the window, at the luminescent orbs that were Zi's twin moons. Suspended in animation, they hung like guardians over the planet.
"Fine. I'll bug you in the morning." Dragon promised. She slipped off the bed, and using the walls as her guides, she made it back to her room. But she didn't fall asleep, instead staring at her ceiling and wondering about those lost souls who died when Earth did.
Where did they go?
---
Dragon threw herself on Adamaris as if she were ten years younger and two feet shorter. "We need to talk." Her voice was deadly serious, monotone. She ran her thumb across his neck, where she knew he was ticklish. Adamaris swallowed a chuckle, which resulted in a funny choked/laughing noise bubbling up from his throat.
"Knock it off!" He swatted her hand away, eyelids cracking open. Dragon leaned back against the wall as Adamaris sat up and stretched, his bones cracking from the movement. Just waking up, he looked ridiculously adorable. Hair tousled and messy from his fits, eyes still a little closed, but a smile so bright and cheerful, as if it had never gone away. "What's up?"
Dragon edged a little closer. "You….don't remember last night?" She started cautiously. Adamaris tilted his head, slight wave of confusion masking his features. "You were like, spazzing out. Talking about Zi going through what Earth did." Dragon rubbed her throat, the faint outlines of fingers still etched into the skin.
Adamaris frowned, such a rare, strange sight on him, like a Blade Liger without blades or a Matrix Dragon without wings. "I think I would have remembered that if it happened." He argued. Dragon felt herself slump, exhausted.
"It did happen."
"Mm, maybe you had the nightmare, babe," He flashed a quick smile, then pushed playfully at Dragon's side. "Now get out so I can get dressed."
Dragon made a dramatic show of rolling her eyes, but did as she was told. The apartment felt chilly this morning, and the teen dug her hands deeper into the vast pockets of her sweatpants as she dragged herself to the kitchen. Maybe some food had magically appeared. An apple, an egg, hopefully a spare piece of bread. Dragon opened the fridge and her heart sank at the horribly empty sight before her. Adamaris' words, screaming, then quiet, frightened, replayed like a broken record in her head.
This nightmare is going to be real.
Dragon pulled out a water bottle and unscrewed the cap. She glanced over to the side, out the wide expanse of window that blessed their kitchen. She could see the city, the Zoids, the sky and clouds forever.
She could also see something else.
Dragon frowned, walked closer and leaned against the sink. Up in the sky, a tiny dot, growing closer. "What the…." Dragon strained to make out what the object was. Then it hit her. Hit her like a brick, a Genosaurer's clawed foot, the news of her best friend's death, the news of her best friend moving on.
Only this hit was going to be real.
"Adamaris!" Dragon cried, scrambling away from the window mere seconds before the meteor, a God in itself, an unholy mass of rock, fire and limitless chaos, impacted with the city and set everything aglow in the brightest, purest white they had ever, ever seen.
---
Okay its short and I am sorry. Hopefully I kept your attention? But hey, mindless fire and doom and gloom in the next chapter! Hope yer excited.
And yeah, I know I make grammar mistakes, mainly misplacing words like "it", "is", things spellcheck doesn't catch. But I'm trying, hopefully improving. I'm not so interested in grammar as I am writing in general. Yah.
Next chappie up whenever. I gots school, peeps!
