A/N- Omg Pt. 3! This includes the completely awful battle scene. Figure I would tell you beforehand. You can tell I'm all excited about this almost being down and then...the fight scene. Its hard trying to accurately and beautifully describe a Zoid fight. They aren't that long and so much is happening so fast. So it sucks. Blargh.
I've noticed how much shorter everything is. I'll work on length for my next story, which includes longer paragraphs and the like.
"You got Rigel back? How did you afford it?" Adamaris' is wary, his hazy eyes carefully tracking Dragon as she pokes about the room, cleaning it up a bit, moving paint supplies and brushes and various hair gels and sprays, gold eyeliner and matching nail polish. "Stop touching my stuff." He jokes.
"Alejandro bought him back for me. Didn't like it but I'm really up shit's creek right now." Dragon answers, completely disregarding Adamaris' request and picking up a bottle of shimmery green nail polish. She likes the color, but Dragon isn't much for make-up and tanning. More of a sweatpants and sweatshirt sort of girl. Adamaris creaks from the bed, his back considerably better but still swollen and aching. The need for painkillers has dwindled down to two a day but he still craves the medicine pills like life support.
"Tell me what it was like to be rich?" Adamaris asks, and Dragon fights to roll her eyes. She puts the nail polish back on the desktop. Fenrir is sleeping by her feet, optics dimmed and head resting on his wickedly clawed paws.
"How random was that? Why do you want to know?" Dragon asks, tiring of Adamaris' constant wheedling to get her to explain her life.
"I'm bored. I know Jenna has tons of money to blow but she's never known what it's like to be….like us."
Like us. Poor. Dragon picks at the wood. "Uhm. I was a lot more materialistic. I didn't care if I broke something because I could always replace it. I traveled around a lot," Dragon racks her memory. It wasn't even that long ago but the details are getting muddy. "Ra, I had so many Zoids. King Baron, Gull Tiger, two Bio Tyrannous, Shield Liger, Battle Cougar." Dragon smiles faintly.
"I know about the Zoids. You've told me. No Geno Maxis though." Adamaris smiles at that, knowing he has a Maxis while Dragon never did. In return she flinches a bit, shyly turns away at the memory of a big, white Maxis with starving orange optics. Adamaris notices this and tries to sit up.
"What?" He asks, quietly, like trying to coax an injured Organoid toward him, a beast who knows it's cornered but can still fight.
"Nothing. I need to go get ready." Dragon points out, shifting to her feet. She's out the door in nanoseconds but can still hear Adamaris' tired sigh behind her.
"That is a big cat." Alejandro stats, ending his sentence with a highly respected whistle. Dragon stands a little higher; her old ego is blooming as Allie and Leon make rounds around the Soul Tiger. Dragon's Soul Tiger.
Equipped with the Soul Booster, the Zoid stands a tad taller than the Blade Liger Mirage and clears the Godkaiser by a good amount of feet. The paws hold the nasty fighter weapons, the Platinum Metal Zip Claws while laser cannons dot the feline's shoulders. Dragon gleams at the squashed in face of her Zoid, the squished muzzle holding sharp teeth and the red tubes protruding from its body. Dragon hasn't piloted this Zoid much but it can't be too different from a Blade Liger. It is a cat.
"Alright kids, battle starts in eight hours. And we still have nary an idea how we all pilot." Alejandro speaks out, leaning back lavishly on his Liger's paw, and Dragon wonders how such a slutty looking guy can sometimes speak with such an air of intelligence. Leon notices the same thing.
"You look like a girl."
"Fuck you."
"If this is gonna work we have to work together," Dragon begs, playing peacekeeper here because she has the most to lose. So…..she rubs a clean spot on her Tiger, wondering how the Zoid knew it was needed and where it came from. "Learn our battle skills and strategies, right?" Yeah she's grabbing at thin air now, but Dragon is smart enough to know that unless everyone cooperates in this, that's their only change of winning.
"Long range assault. Once those guys drop, all in with the blades," Alejandro describes. "If they even survive that first line of fire. The Attack Boosters alone can melt damn near anything." The pride in his voice, although well earned, is bridging on annoyance for Dragon. Maybe because she could never pilot her Blade Liger the way Alejandro claims to pilot his.
"That's weird, not using the blades on your Blade Liger." Leon muses.
"Less damage I take, the better."
"I'm better at close combat," Dragon chirps. The boys look at her like, for a moment, they forgot she was there. "Explode Bite, remember? Allie, you could power up Rosencrantz if I need it."
Alejandro grins at the idea. "Devious. I like it." Dragon feels her confidence boost up a bit.
"I'll just fire from afar. Brutus is too slow for much else," Leon stats. "Hate to say it but you two might have to give me some cover now and then. Especially if we're up against some big-headed jerk and his Genopuppet."
Dragon, in all her years, has never heard the term 'Genopuppet' but chooses not to question it. Arrival to the arena doesn't happen for seven hours, leaving plenty of free time to combat growing nausea. Dragon leaves Allie and Leon to poke and prod over the Zoids as she escapes back up to Adamaris.
"It is way too crowded in here." Adamaris complains, poking Dragon in the side with his socked toe.
Dragon has to agree with him. Their apartment is a tiny thing, the rooms being a third of the size of those back in Dragon's Base. Fenrir and Griffon are both cramped in, their hides to the point of touching. Via unspoken agreement, Griffon is the choice to aid the warriors in battle. Dragon hopes he won't be selfish and will fuse with whichever teammate needs the most help.
Exhausted, Dragon flumps over, scooting up a bit so her head rests comfortably on Adamaris' chest. She can hear the steady beat of his heart, feel his lungs expand when he takes a breath. Griffon growls a low warning but Adamaris ignores him. "I'm sensing some tension here, pretty girl. It's just a battle." Adamaris chuckles. Dragon can't share his humor because this is much more than a battle. This is the win she powerfully needs.
"It's a lot more then that. We can pay off the rent for a few months, afford the doctor's bill, and maybe even clean this place up a bit." Dragon gestures to the broken apart room, the faded windowsills and the creaky bed, rusty door hinges and limping ceiling fan. Adamaris pouts.
"I've been pretty well off. I don't need a lot of money," He says. His finger comes down to tap against Dragon's nose. "You, however, are being as materialistic as you claimed to be before I met you." Adamaris might as have thrown two buckets of kerosene into a dying fire. Griffon and Fenrir, sensing sparks about to fly, sulk out of the room in silence. Normally Griffon would stay but this time, his opinion has no right interjecting.
Dragon pushes herself up, disbelief looming on her face, hand pressing deep into Adamaris' stomach and forgetting the hive of pain dwelling there. He makes an expression of pain but Dragon's view of red blinds her to it. "What? How am I being materialistic?" She spits, as if the word burns her mouth. Adamaris senses something bad blooming, but pushes the subject farther.
"Look, I know you want to pay those bills but it's not worth getting hurt over. What if something goes wrong in the arena? What if you get hurt? Or Leo?" Adamaris does bring up a good point, but Dragon can't hear beyond the first sentence. She's deaf to all but the whistling of her right hand through the air and the subtle, loud smack! It makes upon contact with Adamaris' cheek. The blows turns his face toward the window, and already the skin shows up red and burning.
"Want to the pay bills? Atlas, I have to pay the bills. My life isn't some big fucking party, and neither should yours. Ra, take responsibility because I'm not going to baby you for the rest of your life! I had more control over my life when I was rich and…." Dragon fizzles out. Adamaris is staring at her, hand to his cheek, mouth open and eyes watery. They are trained on her the same way a piece of prey watches a ravenous predator. "I gave that up. To come here."
Dragon glares back at Adamaris, who still hasn't spoken but is breathing heavier. He's been slapped before, countless times from date nights gone bad but never like this. True hatred lingered behind that slap. "You haven't been making me better. I've been getting worse." She realizes, a sudden epiphany. And just like, she's off. Past a startled Griffon and Fenrir and down the stairs, to the Hanger where Alejandro and Leo compare the strength of beam cannons. Dragon scales to the cockpit of her Matrix Dragon.
She slips out unnoticed.
Nyx is two hours away. The ride over is strangely silent. Seto doesn't talk and babble doesn't flow over her comm-link, no excited sounds and high-pitched, bubbly laughter. Only the roar of engine boosters, the wind whipping against the cockpit glass. Dragon privately hopes that the rain will hold off. It's always raining on Nyx and this is a rare event, perfectly clear sky and a sun merely tinted by the offsetting glow of Deochalcum.
Dragon reaches the hollow shell of her Base, months into decay after being cleaned-up all those years back. The Deochalcum field, untouched, continues to stand guard, reaching out miles in every direction. Spires that reach the sky protecting this once proud monolith of a building. The black body is dusty with loose dirt, a few windows cracked, and the rain has long washed away the footprints of dozens of Zoids. Seto comes to a rest upon a leveled Deochalcum pillar, his wings retracting to rest against his back. Dragon leaves the cockpit to sit on the spike, huddles together to keep away that Nyxian chill.
She stays there for a half an hour, thinking, lost in her own world. Her world. This building was her place, her throne as Queen. Now she's a lowly peasant competing for a crown that's much too big for her. Dragon sighs and wraps her arms around her knees.
Something on your mind?
Griffon possesses the uncanny ability and habit to sneak up on people. Only after Dragon's heart has slowed to a more suitable rate does she answer. "A lot of somethings. I miss this." She lifts a hand and gestures to her kingdom. Griffon settles down beside her, his armor doing nothing to reduce the chill in the air. Still, Dragon is thankful for his no nonsense company.
It had to go sometime. Living up in this hole wasn't good for you. Now you can explore and you've met so many people, Griffon points out. He pauses to give a smirk. None of who tried to kill you.
"I am so mad at Adamaris right now." Dragon brings up bluntly. Better not hide it anymore and if anyone can help her out, it's Griffon. The Organoid thinks for a moment, Deochalcum green basking his armor with a radiant shade of green.
I think he feels guilty. You come from a life of, let's face it, pampering. If you didn't want to do it you got one of the members to do it. You don't complain much but I'm pretty sure he can see it on your face. Griffon points out, striking Dragon with her own much-needed stake of guilt. He's right; Adamaris isn't stupid and the sad flickers that come over his eyes whenever he nor Dragon can afford something…Dragon looks down at the ground.
"I slapped him."
Mhmm. Wolfgang got a wake-up call out of that. But you need to come back and fight in this battle. You need to win.
"Do you think I care too much about money?"
Yes. But you came from a lot of it. You need more time to adjust and get use to living with less stuff but more love.
Dragon is a villain. She always has been and part of her always seems to want to continue that destiny. Griffon nudges her and Dragon climbs back in Seto's cockpit, kicking the Zoid into high gear as Griffon rockets behind her. The Base is left in the dust, alone with only the Deochalcum for company. Dragon sees it crumbling in the future, taking all those memories with it. It's sad to see such a regal edifice stripped of its glory but Dragon has a new life to take care of, one with people who need and love her instead of just tolerating her.
Dragon leaves her bad thoughts in the Deochalcum. The ride home is considerably lighter.
Alejandro and Leon barely open their mouths but Dragon is already up the stairs. Leo is shouting about leaving right the fuck now but Dragon tunes him out, flinging open Adamaris' door and charging inside like every solider in the Empire and Republic combined is right on her tail.
Adamaris looks up at her, and Dragon has to give him credit for how expressionless his face is, still a vicious red nonetheless. It pains Dragon just to look at it. Her mouth slips open like a fish and her mind is blank; "I'm sorry" seems so overdone at this point in their relationship.
"I'm sorry," She blurts out, exactly what she did not want to say but fuck it. "In three days I feel like I've apologized like, five times. Can you forgive me one more time?" She really is exasperated, stressing and feeling every single beat of her heart against her ribcage. Adamaris switches his gaze to the ceiling, biting his lip so adorablely it makes Dragon want to giggle.
"My face hurts." Adamaris finally complains, but he's smirking and his eyes are twinkling.
"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" Dragon fires back, just being silly, and Adamaris' smirk grows into the beginning threads of a laugh…
"Hey kids, don't want to interrupt your love fest but we sorta have a thing to do? Kick some ass, win some cash?"
Leo is standing in the doorway, eyebrow rising with an elegant curve. Alejandro is standing behind him, arms folded over his chest. "Oh, to be young and in love again," He signs dramatically. "Kiss and make-up later, Dragon, we gotta go." Alejandro makes an impatient gesture out the door.
Dragon squeezes Adamaris' hand, a silly lovestruck thing uncommon for her nature, but Adamaris squeezes back. "Good luck."
The crowd is thunderous. Even behind the solid gates, Dragon hears the hungry roars for battle as clearly as if they were right in front of her. Nerves send tiny jolts of electricity up and down her spine. Rosencrantz is impossibly quiet, not even his swaying tail rippling the still air. Griffon waits patiently atop the Soul Tiger's head. Dragon feels so much pressure her head is likely to rupture. The pounding of her heart thumps in time with the crowd.
"Eve, I am ready for this," Alejandro says in high anticipation. The Blade Liger stares dead ahead, as stoic as Allie is riled up. "There's probably gonna be a Geno of some sort, I swear. Better not be another Blade Liger."
Alejandro rambled praise to himself and the promise of drinks after the victory. Dragon can hardly listen, so focused on what she has to do. Brutus, the Godkaiser, comes tromping up beside the Soul Tiger. Leo sounds worried as he spoke.
"I'm not saying you need to relax, but you do need to breathe and not faint on us, alright? We are going to kick major ass, win this thing, and throw our hard-earned cash to the sky. Keep your head on straight." Leo says, and Dragon nods her head like a bobblehead, like something else was nodding for her.
"Alright kids, let's fuck shit up." Alejandro says in glee. Dragon stills her hands, allowing her mind to gradually shift into blank thoughts as the solid metal gate opens with promises of killing on the other end. The sunlight hurts at first glimpse, but Rosencrantz boldly strides out into the harsh brightness. Brutus and the Blade Liger follow, each adapting the strut of their species to appear more threatening, dangerous, wild killers with savage pilots at their hands. The Blade Liger's golden fangs are wickedly bared.
The announcer reads their names and their Zoids. Dragon barely hears him, her acute hearing fine-tuned to the cheers and jeers of the crowd. Leo whistles lightly. "Damn, what a crowd."
The door across the arena beings it's drawn-out ride to retraction. Dragon goes tense, feeling that wonderful prickle of excitement that always gets her before the start of a fight. Her lips quirk into a smile as Alejandro starts a mini-ranting of "There better not be a Geno, there better not be…."
The first Zoid trundles out painfully slow, one foot after the other. Dragon inhales the second she spots the massive, unlimited and unrivaled mass of guns built into the monster's back. At least a dozen firing weapons, protected by thick armor and golden spikes, stubby legs and an even stubbier tail make up the form of Gunblaster, in all of its far-range glory. The slanted optics zero in on Dragon and her crew, jaw working evilly.
After the Gunblaster comes an ugly orange cat with no visible face or mouth, just a smashed in pile of armor the color of oranges gone bad. Behind the feline's jackrabbit ears sits an unholy large sniper rifle, nearly as long as the cat is large. Dragon has seen Snipe Ligers before, but this one boasts a new addition; she can clearly make out the extra missile pods holstered to the cat's elbows. The Liger pauses next to the Gunblaster, looking as bored as a Zoid with no face can.
Dragon can see a pattern here. "They are going to blow us up. Those two alone have more firepower than the three of us put together." She points out, dread forming, as the Gunblaster spins its deadly barrels.
"Those Zoids are also slow as fuck. I can slice that 'Blaster in two before it even turns around." Alejandro scoffs, no fear in his voice, almost laziness even as the Blade Liger shuffles from paw to paw in earnest to slash some tail.
Dragon is ready to retort when a familiar stomping reaches her ears. Its biped, no doubt about that, something heavy and saurian in stature. Rosencrantz backs up with a hiss, his ruby red panels taking on a brighter glow. The last Zoid finally takes the stage, and Dragon feels her chest tighten a bit, hears Alejandro howl a string of courses as the Berserk Fury, equipped in Shadow Edge armor, stands beside the Snipe Liger with a twisted sneer upon the metal lips.
The battle starts with a bang. Literally. The Snipe Liger hunkers down into sniping stance, and one paw-sized bullet whizzes past Rosencrantz's ear to embed itself two feet into the wall behind him. The Soul Tiger leers, flexing out the Platinum Metal Zi claws. Dragon is instantly proud to see the way her foes react; even the Berserk Fury flinches slightly at the claws that can shred any armor.
Alejandro is gone. One minute, he was there beside Dragon and the next, all she saw was the dust cloud his Liger left in its wake. "Allie wait up!" Dragon calls to the Zoid's fleeing form, charging headlong into battle. "He is going to get killed." She spits. Rosencrantz coils himself up for a second, metal body hostile before he launches into a run. Brutus lags behind, painfully slow and clumsy compared to the agile cats.
The Snipe Liger leaps out of sniping stance, both missile pods on the elbows popping open. At that same second, the Gunblaster's entire armada lights up with a Hellish golden glow. Dragon squeaks in terror, mind going empty for a moment until she hits a bright red button on the Tiger's control panel. She is a little nervous, having never done this before.
Zing! Dragon stiffens, experiencing a wordless loss of self and weight. She hovers in complete nothingness for a fraction of a second, eyes trying to focus on what's around her…
The Soul Tiger lands behind the Gunblaster, boredly eyeing the exposed rear. Dragon doesn't need to think twice, an unleashes a healthy amount of red lasers into the Zoid's back. The hurting bellows of the Gunblaster raises alarm to the Berserk Fury Shadow Edge, who turns away from battling Brutus. The Godkaiser attempts to lumber after the larger saurian but Dragon can clearly see the heavy leg damage to the Godkaiser's leg.
"Dragon, watch out! He's fast!" Leo warns. And he is completely true; Dragon barely has time to wrench the controls left and avoid a devastating bite by the Fury. Boosters the size of a Helcat blow such concentrated heat off of the Tyrann's back that Dragon feels it deep in the cockpit. Rosencrantz dodges back, and Dragon retaliates with a set of steely claws aimed for the Fury's neck.
The blades stop them. Two of them, glowing ominous purple, throwing off sinister energy that match the optics of the Shadow Edge. The blades are criss-crossed, holding the platinum Metal Zi with a sense of daintiness, as if the Zoid were cradling something no more deadly than a daisy. Two more blades fling out from the beast's hips and Dragon is too slow, stupidly slow, to avoid the weapons jamming harsh and hard into Rosencrantz's shoulders. The Tiger roars right in the face of the Fury, who replies by merely opening his mouth. Dragon freezes. Shit. Shit! She thinks, pulling the controls back. Hard. The Shadow Edge flicks out two more blades from the back that dig into the Soul Booster, shredding armor and tubes with the power of a shark crushing a hapless fish.
"Griffon, get out of here!" Dragon orders, looking anywhere, everywhere but the glowing ball of energy forming in the Fury's mouth. Her hands are shaking, and she misses the part where Griffon stubbornly refuses to go. The ball is getting larger, the size of the sun, and the brightness is hurting Dragon's eyes. She could have Griffon fuse, but the power of the Charged Particle Cannon would incinerate them both….
Dragon hears a thump of paws. In an instant, the Berserk Fury snaps shut those powerful jaws, lurching forward with a groan. The blades dissipate in a swirl of energy. Rosencrantz leaps back, and Dragon is jerking her head around, trying to make sense of what is happening. The Snipe Liger, lying in a messy heap across the arena. Smoke is lifting lightly from the discarded body, like a soul leaving, and the Zoid itself looks thoroughly destroyed.
The Blade Liger Mirage is latched onto the Fury's back, claws ripping into the booster pack, the Assault Gatling Unit shooting close range at the Zoid's tail, destroying the vents and promising to cripple any use of the Particle Cannon. The Berserk Fury flings itself around, boosters lopsided and chugging with the extra weight. The Liger refuses to be flung off.
"Woo! Not so scary now are you, you stupid fucking lizard?" Alejandro taunts, his Zoid nearly peeling off the entire booster unit. The Fury makes an eerily human-esque squeal of pain, the tail vents looking exactly like rotten wood at this point. The Blade Liger Mirage flips forward the Attack Boosters, both barrels pointed at the larger Zoid's neck. Dragon watches in awe as Alejandro prepares to yet again blast apart another Zoid.
The arrival of the blades changes that. In a split second, the Fury grips its talons into the ground, bends its head forward, and extends four of those harsh blades from the backpack. In a span of slow motion, the powerful edges come down like a guillotine. Dragon shoves her Tiger forward in a rushed stroke but her effort is too late. The blades slash into the Blade Liger, severing deep into circuits and gushing out a waterfall of black liquid from deep inside. The feline cries out, claws losing their grip as the blades sink deeper, pushed down by the sheer metal muscle the Fury owns.
In one swift movement the Fury dumps itself toward Rosencrantz and Dragon barely has time to flee to the left as the Blade Liger's crippled body lands belly-up on the steel floor. Rosencrantz skids to a stop, short mouth open with a hiss as the feline crouches, preparing to launch itself as the Fury. But the larger Zoid pays them no mind, instead staring down with a terrible sneer at the flailing Liger.
"Dragon, behind you!" Alejandro yells, desperation in his voice. The Fury bears down on him, two blades extended. The Liger Mirage snatches them with torn-apart nails but the heat from the energy instantly starts to melt them. The white feline roars, but the cannons on its back are shredded and crushed, the signature blades dented and cracked.
Rosencrantz swings his head around. The Gunblaster is there, far from the Soul Tiger and closer to Brutus, who is lagging and doubled over. The Gunblaster takes aim at Dragon's Zoid and she can feel the big red target painted on her forehead. "Leo, you alright?" She calls over the comm-link as Rosencrantz walks backward, lost between whom to fire at.
"Been better, kid. Bunch of systems down, Brutus can barely walk and he trashed my back gun. What are you doing, help Alejandro!" Leo orders with such force that Dragon blindly turns from the Gunblaster and aims her laser weaponry on the Shadow Edge. But once again, like so many times in the past, some sort of reoccurring nightmare, Dragon is significantly behind schedule for heroic savings. Rosencrantz has barely lifted a claw when the Fury's claws completely melt the Blade Liger Mirage's claws and go effortlessly on their way to burrow deep into the cat's neck. The Fury's head darts out like a possessed serpent, electricity crackling from the serrated teeth to chomp heavily on the Liger's neck.
In a single unholy gesture, the Tyrann pops off the Liger's head with a sickening suction noise, and deposits the decapitation loudly on the floor. The job done, the Zoid growls and glares over at Rosencrantz with murder in its optics.
"Fuck! My Liger! My Liger!" Alejandro howls in proclaimed rage. Dragon hears him punching the control panel in a loser's fit. "I lost to a shit ugly dinosaur!"
"Allie, relax! Griffon, you ready?" Dragon speaks up. She can hear bullets and beams flying from behind her, the unmistakable bellows of the Godkaiser and Gunblaster warring for dominance. She has no idea on the whereabouts of her opponent's Organoid, but Griffon can save Alejandro, as hard as it may be with the Zoid lacking a head right now.
"Dragon, are you fucking stupid? That'll use too much of his energy, for Eve's sake act like a damn pilot!" Alejandro snarls. At the exact moment he finishes, the injured Berserk Fury boosters at the Soul Tiger, the base of the pack wobbling dangerously. This time Dragon is ready and with a desperate motion, with so much at stake, she sends Rosencrantz into a jump at the other Zoid with claws at the ready.
Rosencrantz slams into the Fury with dull force, so blunt that Dragon feels it echo in her bones. The Soul Tiger is on his hind legs, clinging to a jerking Berserk Fury. The blades, watch the blades. Griffon warns from his spot under the Soul Booster. As soon as the words leave Dragon's mind, all eight of the blades, eight blades, unfurl from the Fury's back and hips in dramatic fashion, the edges curled slightly like scythes. The Fury's face takes on a gleam of satisfaction. Dragon can almost see the cocky grin of the pilot safely hidden inside.
"Nope, you are shit outta luck." Dragon says matter-of-factly. Rosencrantz's claws envelope around the Fury's neck, dragging the meters-length of unbreakable metal into the badly destroyed armor as the short, blunt face opens wide to bite down on the exposed throat. Hard. The Fury starts to try and toss them. The boosters are breaking, cracking, and the blades are losing power. Still, blindly, they swing around on fading hinges until the Soul Tiger uses all of his weight to slam the Fury onto the ground. A true feline, a beast of prey finally succeeding in ending the life of its prey. The Fury struggles but Rosencrantz refuses to let go. Dragon is shaking. She needs to win this, needs it bad.
A bright light explodes to her left. At first Dragon fears for Brutus and she imagines the hulking figure of the Gunblaster arriving on scene. But it is much worse. A draconic figure, forest green in color with a long blade on the tail, hovers in the air for a second. Dragon stares up at it. With a shrieking roar the Organoid dissolves into a blast of green light. It shoots upward, making a long arch to fall back into the Berserk Fury.
"Sucks. Run, sweetheart, or you'll be smashed in a second." Alejandro huffs over the comm-link. Rosencrantz begrudgingly releases his grip and hobbles back, bristling and snarling as the Organoid slams into the downed saurian. Dragon takes her chance.
"Leo, you good?"
"I wish. Damn Gunblaster finally did me in but he's not gonna be much a threat. Most of those guns are either outta ammo or burned apart. Sorry to leave you like this, kid. Godspeed." Leo answered, sounding sheepish. Dragon's jaw dropped.
"Really, guys?" She yelped in frustration. Rosencrantz ducked away from the healing Berserk Fury and sprinted toward the grungy Gunblaster. Dragon was eternally grateful to see the beast on its last leg. Literally. The Zoid looked to be sinking into the arena floor, smushed by its own tremendous weight. Dragon pressed that red button.
Zing!
The Gunblaster wallows in pity, stubby and smashed legs floundering uselessly as the Soul Tiger materializes at its rear. Rosencrantz flexes a set of claws. Dragon, ready to pounce on her foe, doesn't waste a second. It was going to be glorious as the Tiger descended, killing off her enemy in one single swoop. But that didn't happen. The Gunblaster's shield blooms like a deadly flower, pink and silly looking but crackling with Zoid-repellent energy. The Soul Tiger bounces off, comically, like a fly hitting an electric fence full force. Dragon rocks in the cockpit, her Zoid suddenly upside down on his back, stunned motionless.
"Uh, get your ass up, Princess. Monsters coming for you." Alejandro alerts with an air of nonchalance, the bastard. Dragon peers out from the cockpit glass. The Gunblaster is fixing the working weapons on her Zoid. The Berserk Fury Shadow Edge is back, completely healed and sporting a curving blade on its tail and a knowing grin on its reptilian face. Dragon's mouth flops open.
"Now or never, Dragon!" Leo calls. Dragon closes her eyes, thinks of all these corrupt problems in her life. The stomping is getting closer as Rosencrantz rolls to his paws, injured and heaving, body dribbling silver fluid onto the ground. Dragon opens her eyes. In every sort of cliché method she can think of, of watching all those brave pilots risk their lives and Zoids for victory, she is about to do the same.
"Griffon!"
With a stupendous burst of light, Griffon roars a roar of madness and demons. He explodes into the sky, much to the glory of the crowd, and opens feathery wings wide. He hovers for a long second, body melting into a star of gold and black beauty. Slowly he drops, but gradually picks up speed, falling faster and faster until he hits the Soul Tiger right through the center. The feline jerks under sudden possession, optics blazing a new shade of luminescent yellow. That same color spreads over the Zoid's body like a healing wave, restoring cracks and bruises with practiced ease.
Rosencrantz stands with a regal pose, his teeth bared and newfound energy coursing through his body. The Gunblaster steps back, and the Fury cocks his head warily. In return the Soul Tiger lets out a tremendous bellow so loud Dragon swells up with pride. She presses the red button with restored confidence.
Zing!
The Gunblaster is in pieces. Stunned stupid, the lumbering titan crouches in the same spot, minus the legs on one side. The Zoid slams into the floor with a thud that shakes the continent. Dragon doubles back around, that sense of lost being taking over as, for a mere moment she ceases to exist from the Soul Warp. The Zoid materializes above the Gunblaster and Rosencrantz brings his claws down on the Gunblaster's thick neck, slicing through them with unimaginable ease. The Zoid's head drops with a clatter.
"Dragon, behind you!" Alejandro yells.
The Tiger whips around and Griffon, so much faster then human reflects, already has the Zoid warping away so fast, light cannot catch up. Dragon catches a glimpse of what Griffon was running from. A Charged Particle Cannon, twice the size of normal, incinerates the air where Rosencrantz stood a half second before. The concrete floor oozes melted metal that steams upward from a crater that easily tops two feet deep and four feet long. Rosencrantz arises to the side of the Fury, thirty feet away and still the sinister shade of purple and blue is burned in Dragon's eyesight.
"We need to finish it with far combat. If we try the same thing Allie did, we'll get cut." Dragon says when Griffon starts the Tiger forward. Rosencrantz pauses, snarls back when the Fury turns to look at them. A total standoff, with the crowd's anticipation for spilled blood growing in the stands.
The lasers, although significantly powered up via Griffon's energy and the Soul Booster, were still too weak for the undoubtedly souped-up armor of the Berserk Fury. Dragon cranes her neck to look back at Brutus. Both he and the Blade Liger are out of commission, deadweight, unable to fire laser weaponry into Rosencrantz's condenser panels.
It Rosencrantz himself who makes the first move after a few painful seconds of standing. The Tiger rockets forward, claws stabbing into the concrete every time he makes contact. The Berserk Fury digs his talons in, and all eight blades burst from his body, giving him the impression of being a very large, very spiny octopus. Dragon hits the red button and Rosencrantz dematerializes on the spot, much to the Fury's chagrin. Dragon swears she sees the beast move a second before they fade away and her brain catches up a second later.
"Crap!" Rosencrantz forms at the Fury's rear. Or what was his rear two seconds ago. Now they are met with a stabbing blade that lashes out the second Rosencrantz is completely whole. The Soul Tiger jerks backward, the blade coming an inch from slitting open his throat. In pure retaliation Rosencrantz strikes out, the Platinum Metal Zi claws hooking into the Fury's shoulder. The beast opens his jaws and crunches down on the Tiger's shoulder. The two are in a death grip. The purple energy from the blades hurts Dragon's eyes.
But she can't lose. Adamaris is hurting, waiting for the win that can maybe pull them a bit out of the poverty line. The Berserk Fury puts his weight forward, and Dragon can feel the weight crushing her Zoid. The thought of losing another battles causes sweat to pound down her spine, the image of going home a loser burning painfully into her skull. Dragon grits her teeth, senses the stabbing pain as two blades impale the Tiger's sides. Griffon hisses from deep in the Core.
"Grif, I want all your power in the teeth. Maybe we can use the Explode Bite." Dragon thinks up. The Fury's neck is right there, perfectly vital and exposed.
I can't do that. One, all my power means what I've put into the armor. I'm barely holding off the blades now. Two, look how close we are. I do not want to be blown apart. Griffon replies from the Tiger's Core. Dragon furrows her brow.
"I'm the pilot, not you. Trust, this'll work."
Griffon sighs. The blades sink in intensely, and Rosencrantz buckles, his claws losing their grip. Dragon stares at the Explode Bite Fang meter, watching it teasingly creep up into the red. The Fury bores down, and Dragon flinches at the sound of joints popping eerily to human bone. The meter rises still.
As Rosencrantz fights to stay upright and Griffon sends all power into the jaw, Dragon meets the Fury's optics. The pilot in there probably has a girlfriend or boyfriend, but the difference being he is far better off. Not like Dragon. The sting of living in poverty has brought about big change. Dragon looks into the Fury's slanted glass eyes, the ticket to her wealth.
The meter is full. Dragon grins a sinister grin. Rosencrantz opens his blunt snout, baring a handful of small yet sharp teeth that start to crackle with Organoid power. The Fury sees this. The pilot makes the right choice and rather than fight he is already attempting to free himself from the tangled mess they are in. Rosencrantz clings on with his deathly claws, mouth roaring with untamable power. The Fury unclenches his teeth, fighting to back up but he is far too late. Rosencrantz stabs his jaw onto the Fury's neck and all Dragon sees is a beautiful, taunting whiteness.
"And I thought repairing Rigel was ridiculous. I'm sorry Griffon, but would you mind?"
Right now? Yes. Later? No.
"Are you still mad at me?"
Very much so, yes.
Guilt turning her mouth sour, Dragon watches Griffon fly crookedly out of the arena. She sits back down on the arena floor, feeling rather nostalgic to her last battle. Only this one didn't end in failure. Rosencrantz was in ruins but the Fury was worse, the entire Zoid decimated, the pilot almost dead if the Organoid hadn't come to his rescue. Dragon hears footsteps approaching. She looks at her shoes.
"Eve, that was insane. I thought you were dead," Alejandro laughs. He's giddy, shaking slightly with a mix of anger and joy. Dragon peers up at him. Thirty seconds ago he was screaming mutilation and gore to his workers, screeching that his Liger needed to be picked up now. Not in ten minutes but now. With the Blade Liger Mirage safely on its way to recovery, Allie calmed down somewhat. Dragon still considered him a loose wire. "Talk about a desperate move. I would never sacrifice my Zoid that way. Never."
"We won, though. All that money, ours!" Leo beams. He eyes Dragon for a moment, face going soft. "Well, yours, actually. You won it, and poor darling needs to get better so he can go out and start it all over again."
Dragon chuckles. The win has put her in a good mood but really, all she wants is a good sleep. Preferably with a healthy Adamaris next to her. "We have no way to get back. All of our Zoids are trashed," Dragon motions to the pieces of Rosencrantz and the crippled Brutus. "Griffon and Fenrir can heal the Zoids." She points out because really, she doesn't want to dent the prize money yet.
"You don't think I haven't thought about that? Sweetheart you should know me by now," Alejandro smirks, his eyes momentarily drifting up to the crowd. A pair of lavishly jeweled girls blow kisses at him, which Allie eagerly sends back. Leo shakes his head. "Anyway, the boys sent a Gustav. Not the best way to travel but fuck it we have money!"
Alejandro struts away, beckoning Leo to follow him with one suggestive wiggle of his finger. Leo groans, but smiles down at Dragon. "You did good today, kid. Real good," He says fondly, causing Dragon to blush slightly and resume looking at her shoes. "Go get that prize money and we can head back home."
"Oh Ra, money has never smelled so good," Dragon gushes, bringing one of the wads up to her nose for another inhale of goodness. "This is better then that drug Americans talk about all the time."
"That would be called weed."
"Right."
Dragon caresses the bills the same way a mother would a child. Money makes her dizzy with joy, the touch and feel and the smell. Holding physical power, a lifesource, the very energy of Zoid Eve herself. Dragon giggles at that thought. Leo looks at her strangely. Dragon fixes him a lopsided smile.
"Sorry."
"You can be so embarrassing."
"This Zoid is embarrassing! Who the fuck chooses to buy these?" Alejandro rants, motioning the Gustav as a whole. Dragon kinda agrees; Gustav is not her transport of choice, much preferring her own Dragoon Nest, wherever he is. She reclines back in the seat, allowing the gentle bickering of Leo and Allie to soothe hysteric nerves. She won. Finally. The bills are clutched in a death grip. She earned them.
Dragon pokes her head in. Adamaris is lazily flipping through a magazine with a fierce and red-eyed Mad Thunder on the front. His legs are crossed at the ankle and his posture suggests relaxation. The smell of sickness is no longer as pungent, just an odor assaulted by the slightly open window. Dragon bites her lip, nearly shivering with joy. She clears her throat. Adamaris lifts his head over the magazine, exhaling slightly at Dragon's childish and open-mouthed grin.
"Let me guess. Good news?" Adamaris quirks, raising a brow and settling the magazine on his chest. Dragon stands there, completely awkward and to the point of bursting with excitement. The five bundles of cash are hidden behind her back. Adamaris cocks his head to the side.
"Best news ever. We won!" Dragon shouts, pulling out the clump of money. Adamaris' eyes widen in utter shock, but before he can get in a single word Dragon has cleared the space from the door to his bed. She probably shouldn't have jumped but whatever, celebration. The bed slams against the wall upon impact, but the sound is lost as Dragon buried her head in Adamaris' neck, her arms wrapping tight around his midsection. "I am so happy I could cry."
"That or suffocate me. Loosen up, pretty girl," Adamaris laughs, but Dragon is stubborn and refuses to let go. From his spot on the floor, Fenrir lifts his head and lets out a raspy chuckle. "No? Okay, fine, we have money now should I fall into a oxygen-depraved coma." Adamaris envelops Dragon, his chin on the top of her head.
"How'd you win? Details, love, details. I need to know for when Jenna kidnaps me. She called and threatened to do that, you know." Adamaris sighs. By now Dragon can tell he's losing air so she regretfully lets go, rolling off his chest to squish in between him and the wall. Adamaris scooches over, his gray eyes broken of sickness.
"Did the fever break?" Dragon questions. She places the money on her stomach, not breaking eye contact with Adamaris.
"Enough. Back still hurts a little but I have a few pills left. The Doctor called while you were gone. I think Fenrir shaved a few years off his life when he answered," Adamaris glances over at the wolf, who shrugs his shoulders with a gruff. "Said I should be on my feet by next week. Also brought up the bill….." Adamaris trails off as he reaches for one of the money wads.
"Bill looks covered to me."
Dragon nods, her whole body warm and content. Adamaris rolls to face her, planting a delicate kiss on her cheek. The noises of city life echo in the world outside, wafting faintly like music into the room. Leo and Alejandro joke in the kitchen, sharing the handle of vodka that Allie made a big deal of boasting about. The Zoids still need to be picked up, the bill to the Doctor paid, and the rent caught up. But for now, safe and cozy in Adamaris' loving embrace, Dragon wills her mind to stop its incessant worrying and let the warm blanket of sleep cover her up.
A/N- Damn, don't you feel all warm and squishy inside? Thanks for reading, commenting if you did, and putting up with my hilariously annoying A/N. I have 3-4 more stories in the works, most of them Zoids. No lie, I'm writing Hero in The Meltdown and Time for Miracles and How to Train Your Zoid, if I published that one. I don't remember. Ah well.
