Disclaimer: I do not own Zoids, whether it is Chaotic Century, Guardian Force, or New Century. I just write fan fictions for it, which is only for entertainment and entertainment only...yadda...yadda...reviews are very much welcome...criticisms sorely accepted (so long, as they're constructive) And flamers, beware! I am armed with a fire extinguisher!!!
A few more days and the lemons are ready for picking! Hope I got everything I need for a juicer, so that we can have a ready glass of lemon-ade!
Van: This is boring!
Raven: Yeah, we aren't even allowed to $%% ourselves to sleep.
Watch your mouth Raven; I'm sure you didn't like the taste of the soap I used on both of you...
Van: At least he got his mouth clean, now he can give me a good $ %)($ $!!
Raven: Oh, do we! Is that how you look at me? Like some toy?
Gods, when will this torture end?!?! Peh, and now our Feature-Feature Presentation!
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡
Chapter 5: Promise
Raven woke up early on to find Van was still sleeping on his hammock. Deciding not to wake the tired young man, he took his shower and changed into another set of clothes: a t-shirt and a pair of baggy pants. Eyeing a piece of paper on the drawer, Raven took it and read its contents:
What to do in the morning:
1.Give Raven this elastic band (wonder how HE would look like in it...)
2.Invite him to go with me to the nearest city for a night out.
3.Dispose of the "video"
Raven grinned at Van when he read the first two reminders, however there was something to the third line.
What video?
Putting the paper back like nothing happened, Raven decided to try out Van's idea; he carefully slicked his hair back to a ponytail and tied it up with the band.
Not bad at all. Not bad. Raven mused, as he looked himself in the mirror. He looked very much different than what he normally looked like. Heck, he looked like a boy band member already.
Van was still asleep when he decided to walk around the base for a while. He was at least right about him looking all different. Several female staff members came to him and asked his name, all of them looking like giggly high school girls; but when he said that he was Raven; a lot of them seemingly backed off like he was carrying a deadly strain of virus, along with a sign on his head that read: "I'm sick and I've got the deadly virus".
"Wonder what got into them?"
Raven wondered, as he continued walking. Unknowingly, he already reached the hangar of the base, where all the Zoids were kept.
There he saw Van's Blade Liger, Irvine's Lightning Saix, Thomas' Dibison, and a few more that he knew quite so well. Too bad he hasn't got one.
His...own...
'Awww, who am I kidding?' Raven thought. 'I'm probably just some nobody who doesn't even know how to pilot a Zoid!' Raven mused as he laughed. Yeah right, him? Having a Zoid? Even though, he would have been the lousiest pilot Zi would have known.
Stupid thought that came to me.
Me...a Zoid pilot...
Haha...laugh me a riot...
All of a sudden, the alarms went off in the whole base. Raven ran back to Van's room, wondering if he would still be there or not. The only one he found left was that ebony dinosaur.
What was his name again? Ahh, Shadow, that's right.
Just as he was about to leave to find Van, he distinctly heard something...
//Zeke! Where are you, Zeke? //
Looking back, he saw where the sound came from. It was Shadow, who began looking for his silver partner. Amazement fell through Raven as he began to know that he could understand this strange type of Zoid.
"Uhm, you can talk?" Raven spoke to him.
Shadow looked at him and opened his jaw in amazement too.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Shadow grunted, sounding a low growl.
"Wow, cool! The name's Raven!" He stretched to give Shadow a handshake.
"Yes, I know." Shadow mused himself, and brushed Raven's hand with his back in assent to his introduction.
"Say, have you seen Van?"
"Must have left when the emergency alarm got set off" Shadow gave a "roompah" sound.
"Think he's with Zeke, huh?"
"I think so, duty comes first anyway." Shadow growled in disappointment.
Raven looked away from Shadow, disappointed too. But he knew Van needed to answer to his call of duty to insure that everyone is safe from troublemakers.
"So, Shadow, how did you manage to get here?" Raven broke the ice.
"Zeke said I had some memory loss due to an abuse in my circuitry." Shadow answered.
"Ehm, amnesia?"
"If that is what you humans would say." Shadow began to lie on his side again, to fall to sleep.
"Say, want to accompany me to the COM room to cheer on both of them?" Raven asked.
Shadow perked his head high as a sort of an answer.
And that was a sight, as Raven and Shadow walked side by side; it presumptuously looked like the deadly duo was resurrected, but only for a little while. Most of those who met them instantly backed up to the wall to give them space as they walked by.
"See, no traffic!" Raven faced Shadow, forcing an evil grin.
Shadow just shook his head and went on walking. After five minutes of searching every room, Raven finally found the place he was looking for.
Shock was written in the faces of the people in the room when they saw Raven and Shadow, but only for a little while when they remembered that he had amnesia.
Karl stood in front of Raven.
"Raven, you should understand that only authorized people are allowed entry in here." Karl explained to him.
"But...I just wanna see Van! Please let me see!" Raven in his pathetic mode. Shadows just sweat dropped.
"Oh, for the love of Zi...just...just don't touch anything." Karl allowed entry to him.
"Gee, thanks" Raven gave a wink at Shadow who seemed amused at the boy.
Raven was amazed at all the action that went through on the battlefield. Van's squad of the Blade Liger, Dibison, Lightning Saix and twenty Shield Ligers were outnumbered by almost sixty Command Wolves.
Through the intercom, Raven heard Van giving out tactics and orders while he himself was shuffling across the enemies, cutting them down to size with his blades. So cool...
Then, a stray shot from a Command Wolf knocked Van's Zoid to the ground. Van yelped in the shock he received from the fall. Raven took a receiver nearest him...
"Van, are you okay? Van talk to me!" Raven yelled to him.
"Raven, is that you? I'm fine, but somehow we're getting outnumbered. Just stay..." Van wasn't able to finish what he wanted to say when he noticed the blank monitor.
"RAVEN? RAVEN? Where the heck are YOU?" Van yelled from the COM.
Raven ran to the hangar and knocked out a few personnel who tried to stop him. He noticed a Dark Horn was the only one left in the hangar and decided to use it.
"Raven, let me join you." Shadow called out to him as he formed into a red light and fused himself into the Dark Horn, improving the Zoids natural capabilities.
Raven had no time to be astonished at what Shadow did, realizing that Van was in trouble. The fortress gates automatically allowed him exit as he decided to join the fray, pure instinct telling him what to do next.
The Command Wolves looked back at the intruder and fired their shots at him. With Shadow's help, and his instinct, he somehow dodged all the shots even though he was piloting a Dark Horn. The Dark Horn struck down each and every Command Wolf, ramming through them like a dark bullet.
Van looked in awe as Raven swept through the squads of Command Wolves until he reached him. Then, Raven opened a communication line to Van's Blade Liger.
"You okay now?" Raven smiled weakly at Van in the monitor.
"I told you to stay in the base, you've just begun to recover!" Van said with a hint of anger.
(Not realizing that he pressed a button that opened all lines to each and every GF zoid and to the Command base as well)
"I can't! I just can't stand in there waiting while somebody I love is getting hurt out there! You know I love you Van..." Raven said with a sorry tone.
The Guardian Force base would have lost its oxygen supply as a huge intake of air swept through each and every room, when they heard what Raven had said, and if that wasn't enough...
"I can't stand seeing the ones I love getting hurt too, y' know. That's why I take on the duty of fighting for them...I love you too Raven..." Van finished what he wanted to say.
Jaws dropped at what everyone heard at their conversation. Others didn't cope with the shock and stood still like being stuck in suspended animation.
Finally Karl spoke to the GF base intercom.
"Attention personnel! You will not mention anything that you have heard when this battle is over. I suggest you keep all your mouth shut until this situation is settled...Thank you"
Good thing there is no video COM in the intercom, Karl was furiously blushing at what he just had heard.
Van was still smiling at Raven when another heavy shot landed on him and that finally froze the Blade Liger's command system. Raven tried calling to him desperately, tears began falling down, but Van gave no reply. Van had fallen into unconsciousness.
"You hurt my Van...you...hurt him..." Raven was teetering on the edge of sanity.
"You hurt him...then that means...I get...to...KILL...YOU!!!" Raven yelled, exploding fury driving him in his primal instinct of protection. He rammed each Command Wolf he saw, and what a sight he was. Each pile of wreckage proved to be useless at what Raven did to them. Raven was panting on to his COM, as he was maniacally laughing while ramming each enemy Zoid and stomping them until they disintegrated.
Until there was one left...
"You..." Raven was humping over the controls, his eyes hidden under the dark shade of his hair.
"You're the ONE!!!" The Dark Horn slammed at full speed knocking the head of the Command Wolf's body. The pilot was safe when the cockpit landed, and got out, running as he tried to avoid the mad pilot.
Too late...
Raven got out of the Dark Horn and bent over to grasp a wooden pole that lay right beside him. He slowly began his sluggish sauntering, his hand dragging the piece of wood; slowly reaching the terrified pilot.
And then he lost it...
His eyes were now indifferent, like that of a zombie. Beating the pilot with his only weapon, his mouth formed a small sneer as he realized he was enjoying it.
Pain, suffering, agony...death...
"HAHAHAHAHA!!! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Raven mercilessly swung the pole to and fro the pilot's body, until no response of life came from it. When the wooden pole frayed itself into a tattered state, he threw it aside and straddled the pilot; punching him to and fro in the face. He rose and kicked the body until he got tired and knelt on his knees, clasping his face with his bloodied hands; still laughing like a maniac.
And the world went black...
Raven retreated to a state of unconsciousness. Hoping that everything would be all right.
Van...please take care...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -
Van woke to the sound of his monitor screaming at him.
"Van! Thank god, you're awake!" Col. Schubaltz breathed a sigh of relief.
"What...happened here?" Van was still rubbing his head in pain.
"The attacking force has dissipated. Raven finished them all..." Karl said, with a hint of suspense.
"Gods, where is Raven? Tell me, where is he?!?!" Van finally remembered.
"His intercom is dead, but I assure you he is alive. According to our visuals, the Dark Horn is in one piece. Van, I need you to make sure that our soldiers out there are fine. Check on them first, and then retrieve Raven and Shadow. We would help but the fortress gates have been shut because of a power anomaly, I have Thomas and Irvine up now." Karl finished.
"Good, I'll see to it." Van opened the Liger's cockpit and jumped out of it.
After checking that Irvine and Thomas had every soldier safe, Van left for the Dark Horn's direction. Looking through the cockpit, he found that Raven wasn't there.
"Raven, where have you gone off to?" Van sounded very distressed.
A set of foot trails formed in the sand, originating from the cockpit. Van decided to follow it. And found something terribly wrong.
"Raven..." Van called out to the figure facing the sunset.
The boy didn't respond.
Nearing him, Van almost cried as the once-cheerful boy exhibited no signs of a spirit within. His bloody hands lay by his side, his crimson marked face bent low on exhaustion, and his fragile breathing unnoticeable.
"Oh, Raven..."Van hugged the unresponsive body and cried like there was no meaning to living. He promised to be the one to take good care of him, to protect him and keep him happy.
He failed him...
And his failure cost the boy himself...
//
I promise to be by your side..."
"Forever?"
"Until forever ceases to exist..."
//
"Van..."
The brunette looked down at his charge.
"You okay...did I get them all..."
Van felt tears fall again, yet these were now different.
"Promise me not to do such a stupid stunt again..." Van tightly hugged the boy.
Raven just smirked and held on to Van, falling back into his sleep.
Now that he knew Van was safe...
That he was there to carry him...
I can finally close my eyes and rest...
Knowing tomorrow, I can wake up and see his smile again...
The smile that kept telling me to live this life I don't even know...
Who am I?
I am Raven...I don't what my past was or what it is...
But I know I have a future I can look forward to...
Forever eternal...
And with this, Raven laid his head back at Van, the same stance that they did on the night they made their promise to each other at the rooftop. "You kept your promise..." Raven mumbled as he finally surrendered to sleep.
Van walked back to the encampment made by his squad, nearing the large bonfire. There he gingerly laid Raven's sleeping form and kept a watch at him; while the GF Base was still repairing it's gates. Zeke intently watched Shadow's resting form too, retrieving him earlier from the Dark Horn's core. Both must have been tired, single-handedly defeating an entire squad of forty Command Wolves. Most of the soldiers gave mutual reverence to the boy and his organoid.
Van just smiled, and laid at Raven's side.
Just as he promised on that night...
‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡
Van: Hey, nice choice of words they're doc!
Raven: Hey, let me read that! (attempts to grab the monitor)
Van: Awww, you wouldn't want to see this Raven...
Believe me...Van's right. It's all mush-mush anyways. From here on, I have to admit I must cancel the lemon party coz; a stroke of idea hit my head like a truck driven by intoxicated organoids...
Van: I hope that is just as good...
Raven: (intently reads this chapter)
Oh, you bet Van...you bet it will be good...(laughs like a maniac)
Van: Do you have to do that, B?
Shut up...