Author's note: Wow! You guys must really like Raven. Well, then you'll love this chapter. ^.^ I hope all of you like the battle as I suck at writing them. :p Enjoy!
Dragonflame by Shelly
CHAPTER FIVE
Raven sat inside the familiar cockpit of his Genosaur, pleased that Hiltz had kept it all this time in readiness for the day when he would need it again. "Yes, it's me. It's been a long time, Tania, hasn't it?"
Tania discovered that she had unconsciously braced herself for a battle if it had turned out to be him. "I can't say that I'm glad to hear your voice, Raven," she replied. "Because I'm not."
"Now that's no way to greet an old friend. Or should I say teammate as we once trained together?" He moved his zoid so that it was in full view, smiling when he heard her sharp intake of breath. "What say you to resuming our little training exercise we never got to finish?"
The Lightning Saix positioned itself so that it faced the Genosaur. "We did finish it, Raven," she replied. "And I won."
"No! I refuse to admit that I could've been beaten by a mere girl when so many have fallen before me!" he cried, opening up a large barrage of fire with the pulse laser rifle which she easily outran as she raced towards him. She fired her double-barreled vulcan gun at him, but he deployed his shield to block the attack. Bracing herself, she increased her speed and activated the strike laser claw attack, leaping into the air and preparing to slice through the zoid. Only thing was she didn't anticipate Raven's fast reflexes, and cried out when his rifle caught her zoid square in the chest.
Her zoid crumpled to the ground as she was knocked around in the cockpit enough to dizzy her. She heard various voices over the comlink calling her name, but she was too shaken to respond, becoming aware when she saw the Genosaur looming over her, and she regained enough sense to swing the cannon around to deliver a blast full into the zoid. The zoid remained standing though, and brought its foot down on the Lightning Saix to slowly grind it into the dirt, Tania crying out as circuits popped and sparked all around her before she blacked out.
Raven laughed. "Not so tough now, are you, Tania? Wha-?"
Another blast caught the Genosaur unawares, and Raven turned to see Van closing in on him, smiling as fortune must be looking favorably upon him. "Goodbye, Van," he sneered as he activated the charged particle beam, the locking clamps engaging to anchor him into the ground. A bright sphere of energy formed in the zoid's mouth, aiming right for Van who activated his energy shield. But before Raven could fire it, the Lightning Saix struck from behind with its laser claws, severing the tail from the Genosaur as well as pushing it to the ground from the force of its attack. The Saix quickly pounced on the zoid, preparing to use its fangs to tear out the throat but stopping when it saw the bright flash of light that meant Shadow had fled and had taken his master with him.
Van looked on in shock as he saw the Lightning Saix defeat the Genosaur and tried to call Tania to see if she was all right but received no answer. Suddenly the Saix collapsed to the ground from the damage inflicted upon it, and Van rushed over to check on her, noticing that Tragar had been curiously quiet all this time. He leaped from the cockpit of the Liger, stopping in front of the Saix and seeing Tania moving around on the ground. "Tania?" he asked as he came to her side, thankful she was alive and unharmed except for a scratch on her forehead where she had hit her head.
She stirred slowly, sitting up with Van's assistance and wondering what had happened. "What happened?" she asked, seeing the remains of the Genosaur lying nearby.
"You don't remember?" he asked, confused.
She shook her head. "No. All I remember is the circuits shorting out before I blacked out."
"You defeated the Genosaur just as it was about to fire a charged particle beam at me. I guess that the Saix' instincts took over in order to protect you."
The others arrived, jumping out of their zoids and rushing over to see what had happened. Karl came to her side and helped her to her feet as Van explained everything to them. "Are you all right?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'm fine, Karl. I know what you're going to say. It was a bad idea for me to go off like that."
"You got that right," he replied. "And I don't want you doing it again," he said as he touched his hand to her cheek.
She looked into his eyes and smiled before they embraced, Karl glad that she wasn't harmed worse.
Irvine stood by looking at the wreckage from the battle. "Only thing is, what are we going to do with two damaged zoids? We don't have any tools to repair them, much less the parts. We need to find someone who will transport the zoids for us to a place where they can get the proper repairs done."
No sooner did he say it than a voice could be heard on the air singing a song that Van, Fiona, and Irvine recognized at once. "That sounds like Moonbay!" Fiona cried.
Soon the Gustav appeared and stopped near them, the young woman jumping out and walking towards them. "Looks like you could use a little help," she observed. "It's a good thing I've been following you for some time."
"You've been following us?" Irvine echoed.
"Of course," she replied. "As soon as I saw your zoids then I knew that trouble couldn't be far behind."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked teasingly.
"Oh, nothing," she replied, smiling as Van and Fiona greeted her warmly. "Who's that with Colonel Shubaltz?"
"Her name's Tania. It's a long story how we met her, but she's engaged to the Colonel," Van replied. "The other one is Thomas, Colonel Shubaltz' brother."
"Brother, huh? I never knew he had a brother," she mused. "Oh well! How about I offer you my services to transport your zoids since it's obvious they're badly damaged? The nearest village is still a good ways away."
"That would be great, Moonbay!" Van exclaimed. "It'll be just like old times!"
Moonbay smiled as she glanced at Irvine, thinking that she couldn't agree with him more.
Hiltz stood before Raven, trying to keep his temper in check and doing a bad job of it. If they didn't need him so bad he would've just killed him himself for failing him so miserably. "You disappointed me, Raven," he growled. "You allowed yourself to be defeated by a girl, a girl who is nothing but a weakling!"
Raven had had enough by now. "If you want her dead so bad, then do it yourself!" he shot back. "You came to me, remember? If you want to blame somebody then blame yourself!"
Hiltz snapped. "You insolent little brat!" he sneered, reaching behind him and drawing his pistol to aim it at Raven, nearly squeezing the trigger until he felt a strong hand on his wrist pull his arm to the side.
"Hiltz, don't do this," Riese advised. "Instead of fighting amongst ourselves, we need to focus on finding the Death Dragon. Even if you send Raven back after Tania, the end result will be the same. Tania commands great loyalty from the zoid she pilots that will fight even if badly injured to the point of death."
He jerked his arm out of her grasp and stalked away to cool his temper. Riese turned to find herself looking into Raven's gray eyes, a color that she oddly thought was most beautiful. Ever since she had first seen him, she had found herself drawn to him, to his strength and determination. But underneath it all she knew that there was a weakness inside him that he kept well hidden, a weakness born from his past when he was a child.
Raven stood there uneasily, not liking the way she was looking at him as it seemed she could see right through him. But at the same time, he couldn't help but think how uniquely beautiful and rare she was. "Thank you for what you did, although you didn't need to. I could've handled him myself."
She smiled. "I'm well aware of your capabilities, Raven," she said. "It just would've been a waste of time to watch you two fight like two little boys over something that can't be changed."
Normally he would've taken offense at that remark, but instead he returned her smile as he walked closer to her. "I guess we're all children in the end, playing at war games as everyone struggles for power. Me, I've never been interested in it."
She eyed him curiously. "What will you do after you have gotten your revenge on him?"
He gazed into her eyes for a moment before looking away. "I don't know," he admitted, feeling he should tell her the truth and bewildered as to why he felt that way. "I've never thought that far ahead." He felt a soft touch on his hand and he looked down into her eyes, feeling himself being pulled down into their green depths even though he fought against it with all his strength. Then he was awakened to a new sensation as he felt soft lips brushing against his own, surprised to realize that she had kissed him and even more shocked to learn that he wanted more.
His hand snaked around her waist and drew her close, his other hand burying itself in her hair along the nape of her neck, his mouth ravaging hers with a need that he had never felt until now. Her soft body against his awakened a yearning deep inside him that was new to him as well. All he had ever known was fighting and destruction. Never had he had the time to even think of what it would be like to have something like this happen to him, to feel the sweet tightening of his groin or smell the scent of a woman's skin as he did now.
But when he pulled away and looked into her eyes which were shadowed from desire, he realized then what he was about to get himself into, and he couldn't allow himself to become distracted from his goal. No matter how sweet her lips were.
He released her and walked away, leaving her standing there with a small smile on her face as she had definitely given him something else to think about.
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Did anybody guess it was Moonbay??? Did anybody guess that Raven could be so hot??? I had to cool myself down just writing it! O_O Anyway, let me know if you all want Moonbay to stay in the rest of this fic or not. C-ya!
Dragonflame by Shelly
CHAPTER FIVE
Raven sat inside the familiar cockpit of his Genosaur, pleased that Hiltz had kept it all this time in readiness for the day when he would need it again. "Yes, it's me. It's been a long time, Tania, hasn't it?"
Tania discovered that she had unconsciously braced herself for a battle if it had turned out to be him. "I can't say that I'm glad to hear your voice, Raven," she replied. "Because I'm not."
"Now that's no way to greet an old friend. Or should I say teammate as we once trained together?" He moved his zoid so that it was in full view, smiling when he heard her sharp intake of breath. "What say you to resuming our little training exercise we never got to finish?"
The Lightning Saix positioned itself so that it faced the Genosaur. "We did finish it, Raven," she replied. "And I won."
"No! I refuse to admit that I could've been beaten by a mere girl when so many have fallen before me!" he cried, opening up a large barrage of fire with the pulse laser rifle which she easily outran as she raced towards him. She fired her double-barreled vulcan gun at him, but he deployed his shield to block the attack. Bracing herself, she increased her speed and activated the strike laser claw attack, leaping into the air and preparing to slice through the zoid. Only thing was she didn't anticipate Raven's fast reflexes, and cried out when his rifle caught her zoid square in the chest.
Her zoid crumpled to the ground as she was knocked around in the cockpit enough to dizzy her. She heard various voices over the comlink calling her name, but she was too shaken to respond, becoming aware when she saw the Genosaur looming over her, and she regained enough sense to swing the cannon around to deliver a blast full into the zoid. The zoid remained standing though, and brought its foot down on the Lightning Saix to slowly grind it into the dirt, Tania crying out as circuits popped and sparked all around her before she blacked out.
Raven laughed. "Not so tough now, are you, Tania? Wha-?"
Another blast caught the Genosaur unawares, and Raven turned to see Van closing in on him, smiling as fortune must be looking favorably upon him. "Goodbye, Van," he sneered as he activated the charged particle beam, the locking clamps engaging to anchor him into the ground. A bright sphere of energy formed in the zoid's mouth, aiming right for Van who activated his energy shield. But before Raven could fire it, the Lightning Saix struck from behind with its laser claws, severing the tail from the Genosaur as well as pushing it to the ground from the force of its attack. The Saix quickly pounced on the zoid, preparing to use its fangs to tear out the throat but stopping when it saw the bright flash of light that meant Shadow had fled and had taken his master with him.
Van looked on in shock as he saw the Lightning Saix defeat the Genosaur and tried to call Tania to see if she was all right but received no answer. Suddenly the Saix collapsed to the ground from the damage inflicted upon it, and Van rushed over to check on her, noticing that Tragar had been curiously quiet all this time. He leaped from the cockpit of the Liger, stopping in front of the Saix and seeing Tania moving around on the ground. "Tania?" he asked as he came to her side, thankful she was alive and unharmed except for a scratch on her forehead where she had hit her head.
She stirred slowly, sitting up with Van's assistance and wondering what had happened. "What happened?" she asked, seeing the remains of the Genosaur lying nearby.
"You don't remember?" he asked, confused.
She shook her head. "No. All I remember is the circuits shorting out before I blacked out."
"You defeated the Genosaur just as it was about to fire a charged particle beam at me. I guess that the Saix' instincts took over in order to protect you."
The others arrived, jumping out of their zoids and rushing over to see what had happened. Karl came to her side and helped her to her feet as Van explained everything to them. "Are you all right?" he asked.
She nodded. "I'm fine, Karl. I know what you're going to say. It was a bad idea for me to go off like that."
"You got that right," he replied. "And I don't want you doing it again," he said as he touched his hand to her cheek.
She looked into his eyes and smiled before they embraced, Karl glad that she wasn't harmed worse.
Irvine stood by looking at the wreckage from the battle. "Only thing is, what are we going to do with two damaged zoids? We don't have any tools to repair them, much less the parts. We need to find someone who will transport the zoids for us to a place where they can get the proper repairs done."
No sooner did he say it than a voice could be heard on the air singing a song that Van, Fiona, and Irvine recognized at once. "That sounds like Moonbay!" Fiona cried.
Soon the Gustav appeared and stopped near them, the young woman jumping out and walking towards them. "Looks like you could use a little help," she observed. "It's a good thing I've been following you for some time."
"You've been following us?" Irvine echoed.
"Of course," she replied. "As soon as I saw your zoids then I knew that trouble couldn't be far behind."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked teasingly.
"Oh, nothing," she replied, smiling as Van and Fiona greeted her warmly. "Who's that with Colonel Shubaltz?"
"Her name's Tania. It's a long story how we met her, but she's engaged to the Colonel," Van replied. "The other one is Thomas, Colonel Shubaltz' brother."
"Brother, huh? I never knew he had a brother," she mused. "Oh well! How about I offer you my services to transport your zoids since it's obvious they're badly damaged? The nearest village is still a good ways away."
"That would be great, Moonbay!" Van exclaimed. "It'll be just like old times!"
Moonbay smiled as she glanced at Irvine, thinking that she couldn't agree with him more.
Hiltz stood before Raven, trying to keep his temper in check and doing a bad job of it. If they didn't need him so bad he would've just killed him himself for failing him so miserably. "You disappointed me, Raven," he growled. "You allowed yourself to be defeated by a girl, a girl who is nothing but a weakling!"
Raven had had enough by now. "If you want her dead so bad, then do it yourself!" he shot back. "You came to me, remember? If you want to blame somebody then blame yourself!"
Hiltz snapped. "You insolent little brat!" he sneered, reaching behind him and drawing his pistol to aim it at Raven, nearly squeezing the trigger until he felt a strong hand on his wrist pull his arm to the side.
"Hiltz, don't do this," Riese advised. "Instead of fighting amongst ourselves, we need to focus on finding the Death Dragon. Even if you send Raven back after Tania, the end result will be the same. Tania commands great loyalty from the zoid she pilots that will fight even if badly injured to the point of death."
He jerked his arm out of her grasp and stalked away to cool his temper. Riese turned to find herself looking into Raven's gray eyes, a color that she oddly thought was most beautiful. Ever since she had first seen him, she had found herself drawn to him, to his strength and determination. But underneath it all she knew that there was a weakness inside him that he kept well hidden, a weakness born from his past when he was a child.
Raven stood there uneasily, not liking the way she was looking at him as it seemed she could see right through him. But at the same time, he couldn't help but think how uniquely beautiful and rare she was. "Thank you for what you did, although you didn't need to. I could've handled him myself."
She smiled. "I'm well aware of your capabilities, Raven," she said. "It just would've been a waste of time to watch you two fight like two little boys over something that can't be changed."
Normally he would've taken offense at that remark, but instead he returned her smile as he walked closer to her. "I guess we're all children in the end, playing at war games as everyone struggles for power. Me, I've never been interested in it."
She eyed him curiously. "What will you do after you have gotten your revenge on him?"
He gazed into her eyes for a moment before looking away. "I don't know," he admitted, feeling he should tell her the truth and bewildered as to why he felt that way. "I've never thought that far ahead." He felt a soft touch on his hand and he looked down into her eyes, feeling himself being pulled down into their green depths even though he fought against it with all his strength. Then he was awakened to a new sensation as he felt soft lips brushing against his own, surprised to realize that she had kissed him and even more shocked to learn that he wanted more.
His hand snaked around her waist and drew her close, his other hand burying itself in her hair along the nape of her neck, his mouth ravaging hers with a need that he had never felt until now. Her soft body against his awakened a yearning deep inside him that was new to him as well. All he had ever known was fighting and destruction. Never had he had the time to even think of what it would be like to have something like this happen to him, to feel the sweet tightening of his groin or smell the scent of a woman's skin as he did now.
But when he pulled away and looked into her eyes which were shadowed from desire, he realized then what he was about to get himself into, and he couldn't allow himself to become distracted from his goal. No matter how sweet her lips were.
He released her and walked away, leaving her standing there with a small smile on her face as she had definitely given him something else to think about.
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Did anybody guess it was Moonbay??? Did anybody guess that Raven could be so hot??? I had to cool myself down just writing it! O_O Anyway, let me know if you all want Moonbay to stay in the rest of this fic or not. C-ya!