Dark Side Of The Moon

Chapter 4: Dogs On The Run

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: The Guilty Gear series is the rightful property of Arc System Works. Some of the characters are being borrowed for non-profit purposes.

"..."-Indicate Speech

'...'-Indicate Thought

:xXx:

"Stop dragging your feet!"

Sol spoke fiercely.

"These are heels I'm wearing! I can't run in them for very long, you fucking jerk!"

Dizzy growled, anger and annoyance laced in her voice as she tried to rip herself free from Sol's awkward grasp on her arm. Sol muttered something too low for her to make out before he released her arm, swinging his arm down to wrap around her waist. He hauled her across his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, arm lowering to lock under her knees to keep her supported. Dizzy wanted to protest, but was able to see what it was that Sol had caught sight of: Holy Knights. They were mounted on horses, jousting lances at the ready. Not being at full strength, Sol could not outrun the galloping steeds or their riders.

"Badguy, you son of a bitch! I'll avenge my brother's death!"

One of the Knights spoke as he made his horse gallop ahead of the team, lance aimed at Sol's back.

"He's attacking..."

Dizzy warned from her vantage point, but Sol dove low to the ground already, letting the Knight's lance pass right over him. A pillar of fire jutted from the ground that Sol passed by, the explosive force piercing the Knight cleanly through the chest. The dead Knight fell from the horse, and Sol tossed Dizzy onto it.

"Get to that forest! Hurry!"

Sol spoke and pointed to the forest area just over the horizon as he skidded to a stop in his tracks, turning around to intercept the other Knights. The Knights attacked Sol simultaneously, but Sol hefted his large sword in front of him to defend himself as he dug his shoes into the dirt, forcing the Knights off of their horses to land to the earth with heavy thuds. Sol slammed his sword down in a massive arc, cleaving a Knight's head from his neck. The Gear turned to evade a recovered Knight's attack as he rushed forward with his lance. Sol thrust the hilt of his blade at the Knight's stomach, flames erupting from it and blowing the Knight and his lance in two.

'Better take care of this quickly. The reinforcements are on their way.'

Sol thought to himself, eyeing the small army heading towards him from the direction of the mountain pass. Another Knight that recovered swung his lance down in an attempt to bash Sol's head in, but Sol evaded the attack and rushed towards the Knight with his fist reared back. Sol struck the Knight with enough power in his fist to make the Knight's head twist back, his neck snapping in the process. The Gear looked towards Dizzy to make sure she was doing as instructed. The Half-Gear was a newcomer to horse back riding and it showed in the way she controlled the horse's movements, making a jagged path towards the forest. She was doing a progressively better job of aiming the horse with more straight forward precision in the right direction. Dizzy was at a good ten miles away from the forest when she caught sight of the black shadow that hovered over it. She gasped upon seeing a Zeppian airship descending from the clouds. She pulled the horse's reins, steering it away from the airship.

"Damn...an airship like that would be no problem for me in any other situation!"

Dizzy muttered to herself. The Airship fired a missile down at her, but she was able to move the horse quick enough to evade the missile itself but not the explosion that followed after and threw her far into the air before she skidded across the ground with her side. She rolled a few feet before finally coming to a stop. Dizzy was slightly dazed but managed to get up partially. The airship already had a lock on her and fired another missile, one she knew she would not be able to evade in time.

"...Fucking great..."

Sol said to himself as he ripped the best preserved clothes off some of the Knights, knowing they would be useful in patching up his own clothing later, before rushing straight for Dizzy's direction. His emblem began to glow faintly, the blood in his body filling with adrenaline as his legs took him even faster and faster. He was by Dizzy in a few short minutes, tossing the clothes over her before rushing past to intercept the rapidly descending missile. Flames gathered in his empty palm as he propelled himself towards the large projectile, his feet gliding off the ground ever so slightly. The explosion that ensued with the collision between the missile and Sol's flame covered hand was impressive, and Sol used the force to propel him back towards Dizzy. He jammed his large sword into the ground before crushing Dizzy's body between himself and the blunt side of the blade to protect her from the roaring flames. A large plume of black smoke filled the sky.

:xXx:

"Anything?"

A Knight asked one of the soldiers of the Zeppian army. The soldier saluted the Knight before speaking.

"Negative. Their bodies could very well likely have been obliterated into nothingness or..."

The soldier was interrupted by the Knight.

"...They may have found a way to escape during the cover of the explosion."

The Knight said.

"Being Gears, the possibility is likely that they did survive and escape. None of their charred remains have been found after all. Should we scout further from this location?"

The soldier asked. The Knight shook his head.

"We'll take care of this. Had it not been for Zepp's interference at this moment we may have had the two of them in our grasp already."

The Knight said, scowling at the soldier. The soldier's eyes narrowed slightly, but he smirked all the same.

"You really think so? I've not seen this Sol Badguy before today, but he is the very one who defeated Justice single handedly when entire platoons of Knights could not do such things, correct? You really think you could have apprehended him without any other help, eh?"

The soldier shot back. If his retort phased the Knight any further, it was not revealed. The Knight simply turned away.

"Whatever the case may be, everyone must still wonder as to why he never sided with Justice in the beginning...no Gear has been able to freely refuse the will of Justice save for him...is he really and truly a Gear? Or is he beyond one?"

The Knight spoke more to himself than the soldier. The soldier sighed.

"Those reasons are most likely why we are all ordered to bring him back to the United Nations, dead or alive. After the episode of Justice's rebellion a hundred years ago, I would think the world leaders would no longer want to dabble in the reproduction of the Gears again. It's ironic enough that the fate of the Human race was on the brink of extinction by a Gear and yet is saved by a Gear at the same time."

The soldier spoke, making the Knight chuckle.

"True. But as you said, we all have our orders. This is the only way for some of us to make our living, so we have no choice but to keep chase, or the responsibility will be put to others while we are left to starve."

He said.

:xXx:

At the bottom of the Zeppian airship's cargo bay, an injured Sol and Dizzy hid amongst the crates and oil drums. Dizzy had only suffered a few minor burns, but Sol had received vicious cuts from flying debris that his sword did not guard against as well as deep burns. Dizzy scowled in his direction.

"Was this your great plan to reach Zepp?"

She asked sarcastically. Sol shrugged.

"A bit of improvision...hadn't expected those Knights or the airship to be so close to our location. Wanted to stowaway on an airship without much of a fight but...oh well."

He muttered. Dizzy only got angered further by his disregarding attitude.

"If you want to die so badly, do it on your own terms, not both of ours. Besides, your life is going to be ended by my hands, not at your own whims. You better not be so reckless as you were today."

Dizzy ordered darkly. Sol did not respond verbally to this and instead ripped off the top part of his knight uniform to expose his torso. Dizzy was going to protest, but could only stare in awe at his body, marred with scars so large and deep no normal person or Gear would be able to handle them and stay alive for very long. The fresh cuts gained by the explosion were mostly on his arms and legs were already rapidly closing, some of the larger injuries leaving small scars on his skin. Any words that would leave Dizzy's mouth had died before hand. Sol kept his head low, arm supporting his sword against his shoulder. He removed that part of his clothes because they were starting to annoy him, but his body was also like his unspoken response that he already knew the limits of his body's pain tolerance and that she did not need to worry about him dying anytime soon. It also made Dizzy realize even further the difference in power between them.

'Was he only toying with me all along?'

She pondered to herself, wondering how much power he really did still possess in that battered body of his. When they had fought at the Gear Plant, he never even really tried to harm her physically, instead exhausting her tremendous magic power with his own magic power. She was becoming slightly more unsure in her abilities to take him down now. Sol finally spoke a few small words to break her free from her thoughts.

"Don't talk if you don't want to be discovered."

:ToBeContinued:

Note-A little bit of action in this chapter, but more of Dizzy's building curiosity towards the Gear that is Sol. This chapter could be better, but I'll have to edit later on in life sometime. I forgot to answer some reviewers questions in the last chapter so I'll do so now:

To zed21: As far as I know, Order-Sol's sword doesn't have a name. It just looks like a crudely made sword that is akin to a large cleaver in some aspects of it's appearance. Not nearly as big as Kliff's Dragon Slayer sword, of course. I think it does look cooler than that other single blade sword Order-Sol is drawn with in one of the Mission Mode pictures though, but that's just me.

To Raven6: Guilty Gear XX Slash: The Midnight Carnival is Japanese only so far and must be imported. To play it would require having a Japanese Playstation 2 console as well. I don't know if a U.S. release is being made or not.

To Raven6/kireta: You both have similar questions regarding Drama CDs Side Red and Side Black. I listened to them long ago, so my knowledge is a bit foggy, but bits and hints about them will be dropped during later chapters, so all I ask is that you bear with me until then. If by near the end of the story you both still have questions about them, I'll try and clarify with a brief recap of both Drama CDs.