Gomen ne, minna-san! I didn't mean for it to take so long. I've been…distracted, so to speak. I'm also just really tired and out of ideas. That, and my encouragement has disappeared, and without encouragement, I don't usually feel like writing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids. Live with it. You got nothing on me.
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"Who's attacking us?" asked Moonbay as the entire base shook from another explosion.
"We need to get to the hanger, now," said Van. However, getting there would prove to be difficult. The ceiling was starting to come down, making movement difficult. Not to mention the constant shaking of the base.
"Where's Irvine?" asked Moonbay.
"I think he was on the balcony the last time I saw him," answered Fiona. Dr. D and Colonel Schubaltz weren't there either. Another person was also missing. "Where's Scarlet?"
"I don't know. I think she might be in the lab," said Van, having to shout over the explosions. "Come on. We need to get to the hanger." And with that, the three of them began to walk cautiously towards the hanger, avoiding the rubble as it fell from the ceiling.
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"What's going on?" asked Scarlet, not expecting to get an answer. The ceiling was starting to crumble and the entire base was shaking. She didn't know what to do. Suddenly, somebody appeared in the doorway, stopping to look into the room.
"What do you think you're doing?" shouted Irvine. Scarlet turned to look at him, a little shocked. "Get out of there!" Scarlet tried to move, but a piece of the ceiling fell in front of her, causing her to take a few steps back. Unknown to her, a piece was also beginning to break above her. "Watch out!" shouted Irvine. Scarlet looked up in time to see the piece break, but there was no way she was going to be able to get out of the way. She closed her eyes, awaiting the pain she knew she'd fell.
"You idiot!" shouted Irvine as he ran into the room and towards Scarlet. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He ran right at her and then grabbed her arm, shoving her out of the way. They both landed on the floor.
"Hey, you okay?" asked Irvine. Scarlet simply nodded.
"Thank you, Irvine." He didn't say anything. Instead he began to walk towards the door. Scarlet followed him and then they both sprinted, running out of the room and down the halls, jumping over the debris when it was necessary. Eventually, they reached the hanger, where Van was already getting into the Blade Liger, along with Fiona. Dr. D and Karl were there as well, and so was Moonbay.
"Good to see you're both okay," said Moonbay.
"Yeah," said Irvine. He looked around and soon found his Lightning Siax. He ran over to the zoid and quickly began to climb in. Scarlet watched as the zoid warriors made their way out of the base and out into the desert.
"Scarlet," said Dr. D, catching the girl's attention. She looked at him.
"What?" she asked.
"I have a surprise for you." He pushed a button on a small remote and a side panel opened up, revealing a magnificent looking zoid.
"The…Dark Spiner…" said Scarlet in awe. 'My zoid.'
"We recently finished the repairs on it, so get out there and help them." Scarlet smiled and nodded.
"Okay." She ran to the zoid and quickly jumped in. She felt right at home in the cockpit and she quickly maneuvered the zoid out of the base and onto the battlefield. Van and Irvine were already taking out enemy units. There were hundreds of them. "Alright. Time to get to work," Scarlet said to herself. She quickly got into the battle, using her guns and claws to rip up the zoids. 'I don't see what's so amazing about this zoid, though. The way they spoke, I thought it was going to be more powerful than any zoid, but Van and his Liger seem to be just as powerful, if not more. Maybe I'm not a…killer. Maybe they were mistaken.'
Meanwhile, on the enemy's side, the soldiers were doing their best to stay in battle.
"General," said Lieutenant Reid. A com-link popped up on the General's screen, revealing the brown eyed boy. He had a very serious look on his face. "What are your orders, sir?" he asked.
"Take your unit and go in. They need help up there."
"Yes sir."
"Oh, and Reid?"
"Yes sir?"
"You don't need to call me sir so much. My name is Zen, remember? Zen Suetsu."
"Yes, General Zen." Zen just sighed. The boy would never learn.
"Don't get killed out there, you got that? You're going to come back alive." They young lieutenant seemed happy to hear that. He was cared about.
"Don't worry, General Zen. I won't die."
"Good." And with that, the com-link turned off and the group began to move into battle.
Meanwhile, Van, Irvine, and Scarlet were doing a decent job of keeping the enemy away. A lot of the enemy zoids, however, seemed to be heading towards Scarlet. A few bullets flew at her and she was too busy to dodge them. She winced as her zoids stumbled, but quickly regained balance. "What's going on? Why are they mostly aiming at me?" she asked herself.
'They want you, Scarlet.' Her eyes went wide. It was that voice again. Why wouldn't it leave her alone?
"Leave me alone," said Scarlet.
'I already told you, I'm you.'
"No, you're not! I'm me!"
'I am a part of you. I've been waiting for this moment. Everything is perfect.'
"Where are you? Really?"
'I'm right here…with you.'
"No jokes!"
'This isn't a joke. You're with me…right now…you're in me.'
"I'm…in you?" Realization then struck her. Her zoid. The Dark Spiner was talking to her.
'Now it's time.'
"Time for what?"
'To take you back.'
"Back to where?" There was a small moment of silence, until the voice finally answered.
'Back to who you were…the crimson dawn, the executioner…so many things you were called.'
"No! I don't want to go back!"
'It's too late. Now come…succumb to me.' Scarlet suddenly felt her head pounding. The pain was unbearable.
"No! I won't go back! I won't!"
'It's no use…you're too far gone…now come.'
"No," replied Scarlet. Her voice was weakening.
'Awaken!' And with that, her mind snapped. Everything was a blur. All she could see was the battle. The destruction of zoid after zoid. She didn't know why, but seeing this…excited her. There was a certain, familiar rush that she got from the action, and she wasn't going to let the newfound emotion disappear just yet. She was going to follow through with it. A twisted smirk appeared on her face as she gripped the controls and began to charge forwards with unbelievable speeds, tearing into zoid after zoid with her claws and teeth. The guns were no longer needed.
"Look at that," said Van. "What happened?"
"She seems to have gotten the hang of piloting that zoid," answered Fiona.
"No, it's something else," added Irvine. He tried to open a com-link with her, but it was impossible. The system was jammed. They could hear the screams from some of the pilots as their zoids were annihilated. Scarlet had no mercy.
"Scarlet, stop it!" shouted Van, hoping that she would hear him.
"We don't have to kill them!" added Fiona. After the zoids Scarlet was fighting were destroyed, her zoid stopped moving. Over their com-links, they could hear maniacal laughter and it was only getting louder.
"This is great!" shouted Scarlet. She looked down at herself, at her hands. "I feel like a new person! I love this rush!" The smirk appeared on her face again as she turned to face the rest of the enemy. "I need to kill some more," she said quietly and dangerously.
"Scarlet, please stop!" begged Fiona.
"No! This is what I'm here for! I need to fight! What's the point in fighting if you can't kill them?! I won't stop now! I've come too far. They will all die!"
"No! We don't need to kill them," said Van.
"Shut up! I don't need to listen to you!" And with that, the Dark Spiner was off again slashing through zoid after zoid. The enemy was now running in retreat, but that didn't stop her. "I won't let any of you get away!" The Dark Spiner stopped running and just stood there. The spikes on the back lifted and a huge gun unfolded from the back. It looked like a laser gun.
"No way!" shouted Dr. D from the base. He, Moonbay, and Karl were watching the battle.
"What is it?" asked Moonbay.
"That's a hybrid cannon! I don't remember seeing that."
"It must have been buried deep within the zoid," said Karl.
"That gun has a lot of power," added Dr. D.
"What is she going to do?" asked Moonbay.
"Something's wrong," said Dr. D.
"What?"
"She's acting differently."
"This is almost the same as all those years ago. She's completely lost her mercy," said Karl. Just then, the gun started charging, giving off a yellow glow.
"No!" shouted Zen. He quickly opened a com-link. "Reid, get you and your men out of there!"
"I don't know if I can," he said back with panic in his voice. Just then, the beam fired. In that instant, everything was silent, but only for a split second. The look on Zen's face was of pure terror as he watched his men fall victim to the beam. Their screams were heard as each zoid was devoured.
"I'm sorry, sir," said Reid. And with that, he was cut off. All that was left after the beam vanished was pieces of zoids and Scarlet's laughter.
"That was invigorating," said Scarlet. Everyone was in shock. All of them could still hear the terrified screams ringing in their heads.
"Scarlet…just…" started Fiona, the tears brimming in her eyes.
"I don't believe it," said Van.
"She killed all those people…just like that," said Moonbay, the shock evident in her voice.
"She's going to go on a rampage," said Karl. "She won't stop until she dies."
"But what could have done this to her?" asked Moonbay.
"It doesn't matter," said Irvine. He was in his Lightning Saix, which was standing pretty close to them. "We need to take her out now."
"Irvine!"
"Would you rather die? She'll kill all of us if we don't stop her. Do you see what she just did to those men? She killed them all! She's a cold blooded murderer!"
"No!" shouted Scarlet. Everyone was silent as they turned in shock to the Dark Spiner, which was now shacking and swaying back and forth. "I'm not! I'm not a murderer!" Inside the cockpit, Scarlet was holding her head in pain. She had a terrible headache. She quickly jammed her hand down on the cockpit release button and the cockpit opened. She stumbled out and fell to the desert sands, still holding her head. "I'm not…I'm not a murderer…I'm just…a…" And with that, she fell over, unconscious as the others made their way over to the crimson haired girl.
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Wow…I wrote another chapter, and it was fun! Yes, fun. That's what I said. I forgot how much I liked this fic. Well, hope you enjoyed. Sorry for the really long wait.
Audi^.^