The Mysterious Zoid Eve: Chapter Eight: Zoid's Eve
"Are we almost there?" Mark inquired.
"Shut up, Mark! All day, ever since we left the hotel, you've been asking that same damned question."
"Van, there's no need to get angry." Fiona responded.
"Yeah, you should listen to your girlfriend. She's right you know."
Van or Fiona didn't respond to that. "Whoa! What's that?"
"What now Mark?" Van, obviously annoyed, asked.
"Look over there, is that the temple?"
"Yes, it is Mark." Fiona answered.
"Fiona, how'd you know what it looks like?"
"Van, I had a vision at Rudolf's in the courtyard. Where we are looks exactly the same, the aurora, the landscape, and all else. Except. well. never mind." Fiona half-honestly explained. She didn't want to worry Van about Ryss and Raven. With Luke and all else, Van would get concerned even more for their safety, and as a result, he would get even snappier than he was now.
"Oh okay. In that case, let's get there as quick as possible!"
The party arrived in a matter of minutes, and parked their zoids in a matter of one. The temple itself appeared to be pure ice so clear that at whatever angle they looked at it, they could see their reflections.
"It's beautiful Van, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's pretty nice-looking, Fiona. Here, both of you take one." Van replied as he handed them each a pistol.
"Whoa, cool!"
"But Van,"
"Just take it Fiona in case something goes wrong. As for you Mark, don't screw around with that, it's loaded."
It was then Fiona noticed a tablet fragment written in ancient zoidian on the ground. She translated it aloud: "Only those pure of heart will find zoid's eve."
"What's that supposed to mean, Fiona?"
"I don't know, Van."
"That's weird. Should we head in now?" Mark asked.
Van, Zeke, and Fiona nodded, the group then headed inside the temple. They entered a large chamber with a tiled floor. Van quickly became aware of a bulky, hooded figure charging at them with a knife.
"I'm going to take care of that. Mark, Zeke, and Fiona, you all stay here.
"Alright."
"Grrr."
"But Van, are you sure you'll be okay?"
Van didn't respond as he took out his own knife and knocked it into the figure's with enough force that he sent it flying. It was then he noticed the guy's knife was the exact same as his. Van gave the guy a hard right hook to the cheek, and pulled off the figure's hood to find.himself, only with white hair.
"What kind of game are you playing?" Van demanded.
"This is no game, Van. I'm part of you. You can never get rid of me. I'm your dark side." The figure replied as he spat out a tooth.
Mark was about to go help Van, but then he noticed his own counterpart walking toward him. However, he didn't attack Mark.
"Hello Mark. Why are you traveling with the enemy? You're going against everything our brother believes. Why don't you just shoot them with that gun Flyheight gave you, and join our brother when he arrives as the rulers of planet Zi? Can you imagine how happy he'd be to find the corpses of his two enemies, Van Flyheight and Alisi Lynette?"
Mark looked at his white-haired counterpart and slowly raised his pistol.
"That's it! You can do it!"
"You're wrong. I have no interest in ruling Zi, and my brother is totally corrupt. I'll never fight with him again. Van and Fiona have treated me very kindly during our trip here- more so than Luke ever did. Sayonara." Mark declared as he shot his counterpart in the chest. He immediately died, and his body mysteriously disappeared. Mark looked to see how Van was doing. Apparently, fighting hand-to-hand against one's own self wasn't easy. Dark Van had kneed Van in the stomach, and yanked Van's knife out of his hands. Mark already decided not to join the fight, for he wasn't nearly as strong as Van or as Van's counterpart, and if he did, he would probably make Van more vulnerable. Mark wasn't too sure of his accuracy with a gun either. But if it got too out of hand, he decided that he'd jump into the fray. For now, he watched.
Fiona couldn't have helped Van, because she had been having a mental battle the whole time. 'Just who are you anyway? Ryss?' 'No Fiona, I'm the smarter side of you. You've been a burden to Van and have wasted his time for this whole journey. He only came here just for the thrill, not for you.' 'That's not true! Even when we were first traveling four and a half years back, we were hunting for zoid eve. Even though we got sidetracked a lot, the whole purpose of the journey was to find zoid's eve.' 'You of course know that Van doesn't really love you.' 'That can't be farther from the truth! Even when I had my doubts, Van always crushed them and assured me that we belonged together. I don't care who you say you are, so get out of my head!' Fiona mentally screamed and was brought back to reality.
Van appeared to be losing. Fiona knew that if she jumped in, the dark Van might use her as a shield. She also wasn't too confident with her aim with a gun. The two vans were also too close for Zeke to ram with his boosters, so Zeke also watched in fear with Fiona and Mark. Dark Van had slashed Van's face pretty badly and was about ready to finish the job. Van however, caught his arm mid-swing, twisted it, took the knife, and cut Dark Van's throat in one fluid motion. Van's counterpart's body disappeared right after this.
"Van, your face is cut badly. Lemme get a look at it."
"But Fiona, why? I'll be fine."
"You're not getting out of this one, Van. You always look at all my minor cuts, and here you've got one big enough o leave a scar, and you just want to leave it alone. I don't think so!"
"Hey Zeke, did he always get bossed around by her?" Mark whispered. Zeke shook his head no. "Oh so it happened after they got together?" Zeke shook his head yes.
"This is odd," Fiona stated.
"What?"
"Van, your cut totally disappeared without a trace, see?" Fiona explained as she took her hand off Van's face where the cut was. There wasn't any blood.
"Really? I thought it went numb or something. Anyway, I think we might be getting set up."
"By who?"
"I don't know Fiona, but let's hope we find out." Van concluded as they started to walk into the next room. Stealthily, two other figures silently treaded behind them.
The next chamber was pretty dark, and an altar with unlit torches could barely be made out. Van heard a very small sound, as if someone was shifting his weight or something.
"Who's there?" Van inquired. No one responded. Van quickly turned around, grabbed the intruder by his neck, and lifted him a few inches above the ground with one arm. Van moved at an angle in which his face could be seen. Needless to say, Van was in for quite a surprise.
"Raven? What the hell are you doing here? Give me one good reason why I should let you live." Van harshly interrogated.
"I came here with Ryss to find zoid's eve to resurrect Shadow. As for killing me, you have every right to. I've got the blood of hundreds on my hands. I doubt you could do it anyway, seeing as that you've only accidentally killed pilots in their zoids with yours. You've never done it with your bare hands except for that clone of you that you just fought."
"Don't push him Raven, he just might do it!" Ryss screamed, stepping out of the shadows.
"You're here as well? Say goodbye to Raven."
"No, don't! You haven't heard from us for the past six months. All we've been doing is searching for zoid's eve. We haven't hurt anyone. Please forgive us. Remember when I let you go that time we fought?" Ryss begged of Van, who showed no sign of backing down. "Please don't do it. I love him, so please don't!" Ryss begged again as she started to cry. Raven barely muttered a "Me too." before closing his eyes, and preparing for death.
All the while, Zeke and Specula were looking ready to lunge at each other while Mark and Fiona said nothing. Fiona teleported from several yards away right next to Van, and wrapped herself around Van's other arm.
"No, Van. Put him down. They showed you mercy, so return it. If they wanted us dead, they would've already have killed us, and we wouldn't have known what happened. They're telling the truth; I can sense no evil ambitions inside of them," instructed Fiona. Van reluctantly lowered Raven down to the ground and let him go. However, he kept a close eye on him. When he saw Ryss dry her eyes, run up to Raven and hug him, he thought to himself, "Maybe they've turned good after all." Mark didn't make a smart- assed comment for once, seeing the solemnity of the situation.
Fiona walked up to the altar, and mumbled something in ancient zoidian that only Ryss understood. The torches lit up in a bright flash of light, giving the room a magenta glow, and a young woman about Mark's height and build with white hair appeared.
"Hello, I'm zoid's eve, as in the guardian of Zi and the creator of all zoids. Despite my young appearance, my spirit is millennia old. You may call me Eve. You two ancient zoidians, have come seeking knowledge of your past and your memories, correct?"
Ryss and Fiona bowed, and nodded. "2000 years ago, the Death Soarer wiped out the ancient zoidians of Zi. However, its creation was a controversial issue, and your sets of parents feared for your safety. So, they placed you in pods with your respective organoids (which, by the way, all families had one as a bodyguard) alongside you for safety precautions. These pods prevented you from aging, and put you in a suspended state. The only downside was that they had amnesiac properties, and that's why you lost your memories. You would've eventually got them back, but that could've taken years. Shortly after that, the Death Soarer, as you know, wiped out the rest of the ancient zoidians. 1000 years later, planet Earth faced overpopulation, and many traveled to here, on Zi. Also, you probably both are wondering your physical age, am I right?"
Ryss and Fiona nodded. "Alisi, you're almost nineteen and Ryss, you're twenty-one. Flyheight, those counterparts you fought were representing your doubts, worries of failure, and traces of evil, and yes I can read your mind. Raven and Ryss didn't have to fight them because they crushed those doubts, worries, and evils six months ago. For you, Raven, I will resurrect Shadow. However, if you return to your murderous ways, Shadow will die again- permanently." There was a bright flash of light, and Shadow appeared along with a purple organoid with white eyes. The organoid had arms almost as big as Van's, with a thinner tail. It looked to be more feminine than the other organoids, somehow.
"Mark the other organoid is for you. Her name's Violet and she is my personal servant. She also is the last undiscovered living organoid left with the potential to become the most powerful one ever. However, her potential increases as yours does, and this will lead to your zoid becoming stronger. You'll need her for your upcoming battle. Luke is waiting for you outside. I have confidence that if you all fight united, you'll be victorious. I've answered all of your questions that you were wondering about. Now go!" Eve instructed as she disappeared and the room went dark again.
-blkstrmswrdr17
"Are we almost there?" Mark inquired.
"Shut up, Mark! All day, ever since we left the hotel, you've been asking that same damned question."
"Van, there's no need to get angry." Fiona responded.
"Yeah, you should listen to your girlfriend. She's right you know."
Van or Fiona didn't respond to that. "Whoa! What's that?"
"What now Mark?" Van, obviously annoyed, asked.
"Look over there, is that the temple?"
"Yes, it is Mark." Fiona answered.
"Fiona, how'd you know what it looks like?"
"Van, I had a vision at Rudolf's in the courtyard. Where we are looks exactly the same, the aurora, the landscape, and all else. Except. well. never mind." Fiona half-honestly explained. She didn't want to worry Van about Ryss and Raven. With Luke and all else, Van would get concerned even more for their safety, and as a result, he would get even snappier than he was now.
"Oh okay. In that case, let's get there as quick as possible!"
The party arrived in a matter of minutes, and parked their zoids in a matter of one. The temple itself appeared to be pure ice so clear that at whatever angle they looked at it, they could see their reflections.
"It's beautiful Van, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's pretty nice-looking, Fiona. Here, both of you take one." Van replied as he handed them each a pistol.
"Whoa, cool!"
"But Van,"
"Just take it Fiona in case something goes wrong. As for you Mark, don't screw around with that, it's loaded."
It was then Fiona noticed a tablet fragment written in ancient zoidian on the ground. She translated it aloud: "Only those pure of heart will find zoid's eve."
"What's that supposed to mean, Fiona?"
"I don't know, Van."
"That's weird. Should we head in now?" Mark asked.
Van, Zeke, and Fiona nodded, the group then headed inside the temple. They entered a large chamber with a tiled floor. Van quickly became aware of a bulky, hooded figure charging at them with a knife.
"I'm going to take care of that. Mark, Zeke, and Fiona, you all stay here.
"Alright."
"Grrr."
"But Van, are you sure you'll be okay?"
Van didn't respond as he took out his own knife and knocked it into the figure's with enough force that he sent it flying. It was then he noticed the guy's knife was the exact same as his. Van gave the guy a hard right hook to the cheek, and pulled off the figure's hood to find.himself, only with white hair.
"What kind of game are you playing?" Van demanded.
"This is no game, Van. I'm part of you. You can never get rid of me. I'm your dark side." The figure replied as he spat out a tooth.
Mark was about to go help Van, but then he noticed his own counterpart walking toward him. However, he didn't attack Mark.
"Hello Mark. Why are you traveling with the enemy? You're going against everything our brother believes. Why don't you just shoot them with that gun Flyheight gave you, and join our brother when he arrives as the rulers of planet Zi? Can you imagine how happy he'd be to find the corpses of his two enemies, Van Flyheight and Alisi Lynette?"
Mark looked at his white-haired counterpart and slowly raised his pistol.
"That's it! You can do it!"
"You're wrong. I have no interest in ruling Zi, and my brother is totally corrupt. I'll never fight with him again. Van and Fiona have treated me very kindly during our trip here- more so than Luke ever did. Sayonara." Mark declared as he shot his counterpart in the chest. He immediately died, and his body mysteriously disappeared. Mark looked to see how Van was doing. Apparently, fighting hand-to-hand against one's own self wasn't easy. Dark Van had kneed Van in the stomach, and yanked Van's knife out of his hands. Mark already decided not to join the fight, for he wasn't nearly as strong as Van or as Van's counterpart, and if he did, he would probably make Van more vulnerable. Mark wasn't too sure of his accuracy with a gun either. But if it got too out of hand, he decided that he'd jump into the fray. For now, he watched.
Fiona couldn't have helped Van, because she had been having a mental battle the whole time. 'Just who are you anyway? Ryss?' 'No Fiona, I'm the smarter side of you. You've been a burden to Van and have wasted his time for this whole journey. He only came here just for the thrill, not for you.' 'That's not true! Even when we were first traveling four and a half years back, we were hunting for zoid eve. Even though we got sidetracked a lot, the whole purpose of the journey was to find zoid's eve.' 'You of course know that Van doesn't really love you.' 'That can't be farther from the truth! Even when I had my doubts, Van always crushed them and assured me that we belonged together. I don't care who you say you are, so get out of my head!' Fiona mentally screamed and was brought back to reality.
Van appeared to be losing. Fiona knew that if she jumped in, the dark Van might use her as a shield. She also wasn't too confident with her aim with a gun. The two vans were also too close for Zeke to ram with his boosters, so Zeke also watched in fear with Fiona and Mark. Dark Van had slashed Van's face pretty badly and was about ready to finish the job. Van however, caught his arm mid-swing, twisted it, took the knife, and cut Dark Van's throat in one fluid motion. Van's counterpart's body disappeared right after this.
"Van, your face is cut badly. Lemme get a look at it."
"But Fiona, why? I'll be fine."
"You're not getting out of this one, Van. You always look at all my minor cuts, and here you've got one big enough o leave a scar, and you just want to leave it alone. I don't think so!"
"Hey Zeke, did he always get bossed around by her?" Mark whispered. Zeke shook his head no. "Oh so it happened after they got together?" Zeke shook his head yes.
"This is odd," Fiona stated.
"What?"
"Van, your cut totally disappeared without a trace, see?" Fiona explained as she took her hand off Van's face where the cut was. There wasn't any blood.
"Really? I thought it went numb or something. Anyway, I think we might be getting set up."
"By who?"
"I don't know Fiona, but let's hope we find out." Van concluded as they started to walk into the next room. Stealthily, two other figures silently treaded behind them.
The next chamber was pretty dark, and an altar with unlit torches could barely be made out. Van heard a very small sound, as if someone was shifting his weight or something.
"Who's there?" Van inquired. No one responded. Van quickly turned around, grabbed the intruder by his neck, and lifted him a few inches above the ground with one arm. Van moved at an angle in which his face could be seen. Needless to say, Van was in for quite a surprise.
"Raven? What the hell are you doing here? Give me one good reason why I should let you live." Van harshly interrogated.
"I came here with Ryss to find zoid's eve to resurrect Shadow. As for killing me, you have every right to. I've got the blood of hundreds on my hands. I doubt you could do it anyway, seeing as that you've only accidentally killed pilots in their zoids with yours. You've never done it with your bare hands except for that clone of you that you just fought."
"Don't push him Raven, he just might do it!" Ryss screamed, stepping out of the shadows.
"You're here as well? Say goodbye to Raven."
"No, don't! You haven't heard from us for the past six months. All we've been doing is searching for zoid's eve. We haven't hurt anyone. Please forgive us. Remember when I let you go that time we fought?" Ryss begged of Van, who showed no sign of backing down. "Please don't do it. I love him, so please don't!" Ryss begged again as she started to cry. Raven barely muttered a "Me too." before closing his eyes, and preparing for death.
All the while, Zeke and Specula were looking ready to lunge at each other while Mark and Fiona said nothing. Fiona teleported from several yards away right next to Van, and wrapped herself around Van's other arm.
"No, Van. Put him down. They showed you mercy, so return it. If they wanted us dead, they would've already have killed us, and we wouldn't have known what happened. They're telling the truth; I can sense no evil ambitions inside of them," instructed Fiona. Van reluctantly lowered Raven down to the ground and let him go. However, he kept a close eye on him. When he saw Ryss dry her eyes, run up to Raven and hug him, he thought to himself, "Maybe they've turned good after all." Mark didn't make a smart- assed comment for once, seeing the solemnity of the situation.
Fiona walked up to the altar, and mumbled something in ancient zoidian that only Ryss understood. The torches lit up in a bright flash of light, giving the room a magenta glow, and a young woman about Mark's height and build with white hair appeared.
"Hello, I'm zoid's eve, as in the guardian of Zi and the creator of all zoids. Despite my young appearance, my spirit is millennia old. You may call me Eve. You two ancient zoidians, have come seeking knowledge of your past and your memories, correct?"
Ryss and Fiona bowed, and nodded. "2000 years ago, the Death Soarer wiped out the ancient zoidians of Zi. However, its creation was a controversial issue, and your sets of parents feared for your safety. So, they placed you in pods with your respective organoids (which, by the way, all families had one as a bodyguard) alongside you for safety precautions. These pods prevented you from aging, and put you in a suspended state. The only downside was that they had amnesiac properties, and that's why you lost your memories. You would've eventually got them back, but that could've taken years. Shortly after that, the Death Soarer, as you know, wiped out the rest of the ancient zoidians. 1000 years later, planet Earth faced overpopulation, and many traveled to here, on Zi. Also, you probably both are wondering your physical age, am I right?"
Ryss and Fiona nodded. "Alisi, you're almost nineteen and Ryss, you're twenty-one. Flyheight, those counterparts you fought were representing your doubts, worries of failure, and traces of evil, and yes I can read your mind. Raven and Ryss didn't have to fight them because they crushed those doubts, worries, and evils six months ago. For you, Raven, I will resurrect Shadow. However, if you return to your murderous ways, Shadow will die again- permanently." There was a bright flash of light, and Shadow appeared along with a purple organoid with white eyes. The organoid had arms almost as big as Van's, with a thinner tail. It looked to be more feminine than the other organoids, somehow.
"Mark the other organoid is for you. Her name's Violet and she is my personal servant. She also is the last undiscovered living organoid left with the potential to become the most powerful one ever. However, her potential increases as yours does, and this will lead to your zoid becoming stronger. You'll need her for your upcoming battle. Luke is waiting for you outside. I have confidence that if you all fight united, you'll be victorious. I've answered all of your questions that you were wondering about. Now go!" Eve instructed as she disappeared and the room went dark again.
-blkstrmswrdr17