Authors Note: Last chapter, but also the biggest. So make sure you have some time on your hands when you read it.
Chapter 15: Last Chance
He looked around, watching Van and Moonbay sit their, Raven was doing the same against his Blade Liger. "You all should have gotten some sleep, this is going to be a long day."
"Why didn't you get any sleep?" Van asked.
"I hardly ever sleep." He looked over, the sun was coming up, and he could feel the morning dew on his face. "Well, this is it my friends. The ultimate challenge." He got up and walked over to his White Liger. "Well buddy, you ready for your biggest test yet." He said, patting the Ligers side. It growled an approval. He smiled. "Good, so am I." He jumped in the cockpit and watched everyone else do the same. The Zoids ran off towards what was left of the capital. Going to meet there greatest foe, and there biggest test.
Jason sat there, doing what he could to help the Tiger. "A lot better, now you can go at nearly full power against Van and his friends." He smiled. He had to admit, there was another motive for wanting to kill Van then to complete his dream, he wanted Fiona for himself, just like she was before they were put to sleep. He saw the Falcon, sitting there waiting for it's victims to arrive. He jumped in the cockpit and waited for his enemies to arrive. This would be a great battle, one for the history books if there was a future.
"Well that answers the question of who won." The man said, staring at the battlefield. Pieces of Zoids were everywhere, same thing with bodies, some whole, some cut in two, others crushed. He looked back at the once mighty city, now nothing but a smoldering pile of ash. "This is un real."
"How can a Zoid have this much power."? Moonbay said, looking around. "There must have been 500 Zoids fighting, how can one beat all of that." She was trembling.
"I told you it was unbeatable, it's power has never been matched, and hopefully it never will." He looked around for the Tiger, but it wasn't in sight."
Van looked and saw Irvine. "Look, its Irvine." He screamed.
"Where?" Moonbay asked, looking around finally finding him. "He's alive."
"Don't go after him." The man said, looking into the city. "There they are."
They all looked, and they saw the Tiger, standing there in the city, staring at them.
"This is it." Raven said, staring right back at the Zoid.
"So what's the plan."? Van asked.
"Not sure, I guess we attack it. Just make sure you never stand still for a second." He stopped in the middle as he saw the Falcon burst into the air. "Oh that's just great." He said.
"What is that?" Van said, looking at the massive flying Zoid.
"It's the Falcon, another one of the Black Zoids. Ok change in plan. Raven, Van, try to bring that Falcon down, ill do what I can against are friend in the Tiger. Lets go Liger." The White Zoid began to move towards the city and the Tiger. "Payback kid." He said.
"Ready Raven." Van asked, looking at the Falcon.
"Lets go." Raven replied, opening fire on the Falcon.
The White Liger charged the Tiger, but he watched as it jumped to the side. His Liger raised it's paw and began to swing at the Tiger, but it easily dodged it.
"Is that the best you can do, I hate to say it but you're in trouble if it is." The Tiger moved in to the Ligers side and slammed its head into it, knocking the Liger down. It quickly got up, and jumped into some rubble, the Tiger followed. The man turned the Zoid sharply watching as the Tiger zoomed right past it. Now the Liger was behind it and it jumped on the Tigers back, trying to rip its claws into it. The Tiger activated its shield, forcing the Liger to get off.
"Damn you kid, why cant you just die." He charged the Zoid, knowing it would turn he did the same and he hit the side of the Tiger, knocking it to the ground. The Liger made a jump for the Tiger but it got up and moved out of the way. Both Zoids began to charge each other, both colliding going at massive speed, bringing both Zoids to the ground. The Tiger got up first, and jumped on the Liger, lifting it's massive paws into the air and dropping them onto the side of the Liger. The Liger countered, slashing the bottom of the Tiger, forcing it to back off it's attack. Both Zoids began to growl at each other, ready to fight to the end. "Lets go Liger, we have no choice but to win." He saw the Tiger make a jump toward the Liger but it backed off. Both Zoids stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the fatal mistake.
"I have never seen a Zoid dodge fire like that." Van said, still trying to hit it.
"Its way to fast, we can't hit it from down here." Raven yelled back.
They kept trying to hit the Zoid, watching it fly circles around them.
"Maybe we can try and jump at it." Van said, seeing it wasn't too high.
"Ok, ill keep shooting it, you make the jump." Raven said.
Van turned the Blade Liger around until he was far enough away. "Ok Zeke, I didn't lose you for nothing, lets see what you did." The Zoid began to move, much faster then it had ever before. The Zoid jumped in the air, drawing out it's blades, and slicing through it's wings. "ha ha." He screamed. "Got it." The Blade Liger cam crashing down, but landed on its feet. The Falcon crashed onto the surface, bursting into flames.
"Ok Van, lets go destroy that Tiger now." Raven looked over at the fight in the remains of the city, it was the most incredible fight he had ever seen or been in.
The Tiger and White Liger kept ramming each other, the first one up would always strike at the other downed Zoid. "There goes the Falcon kid, now it's 3v1."
Jason laughed. "I won a 600v1, what makes you think this will be any harder."
"Two reasons. Number 1, they aren't as good as me. And number 2, they aren't me period."
The kid laughed. "So what, Fiona is going after the Dragon, soon that Zoid will be here to."
The man sat there in shock. "Why the Hell would Fiona work with you?"
"Same reason Drake worked for me." Is all he said.
He just sat there, looking at the sky. He saw the book from Paul's shop and opened it to the sketch. He finally understood that picture. The kid who was in the Tiger stood on top of it. Fiona was the girl with the sword pointing at the boys neck, and Van was the boy who had the sword pointed at him. He threw the book on the floor.
"What happened, finally learned you can't win." Jason said, laughing at him.
"No, you just gave me a reason to fight until one of us dies." He charged the Tiger as fast as the Liger would go, the Tiger couldn't move in time. The Liger lowered it's head and drove its shoulder into the neck of the Tiger, throwing it back against a semi-standing building. He jumped and drove it's claws into the Tigers belly and neck. The Tiger used it's own claws and dug them into the Ligers chest. Both Zoids, trying to over power the other, stayed there like that.
"You think you can win, well try this." The Tiger opened it's mouth, revealing two guns that began to glow.
"That's how you want to play, fine." He waited, and ducked the Liger to the floor, forcing the Tiger to lie on the Ligers back from the sudden release of energy. The cannons flew down a straight line, hitting nothing. The Liger jumped to its feet, throwing the Tiger onto it's back. It quickly got up. The man sat there, breathing hard and sweating, staring at the Zoid that wouldn't stop. Both Zoids were damaged, but neither would give up. He looked and saw Van and Raven coming. "Listen you two, he has Fiona working with him, she went to get the Dragon from the Imperial base a few miles away, go over there and stop her, Ill finish this fight right here."
Van stopped when he heard him say Fiona. He couldn't believe it, first he had seen Jason kiss her, and now she was working on his side.
"Lets go Van, you're going to have to forget who she is for now." Raven screamed, interrupting his thoughts.
"Ok, lets go." Van said, he didn't know what he would do.
Both the man and Jason were exhausted. This was the biggest fight of there lives, and the deadliest. Both Zoids never gave up, always fighting and always ready to kill or be killed. The Zoids charged again, raising there claws and driving them into the other Zoid. He saw the Tiger was hurt, but it was the same with his Liger, maybe even worse. He saw some blood coming down from his forehead, but he just wiped it away. He looked around, trying to find something he could use, but there was nothing but broken up concrete. He stared at the Tigers red eyes, waiting for it to make a move. Neither Zoid moved for a few minutes, but then they just charged each other again, both ramming into the other. He finally saw a weakness in the Tiger, he saw the side of it with a small hole. He knew what he had to do. He turned his Zoid and began to run. He watched as the Tiger soon followed. He turned down a few corners, waiting for a perfect time to turn on the Tiger. He finally found his chance. He turned to the side and rammed the Ligers head straight into the hole. Both Zoids fell to the ground, not even able to move.
Van and Raven had reached the Imperial base, but there was no sign of Fiona or the Dragon. "Now what?" Van asked, looking around.
"I guess we go back." Raven said.
"Something isn't right, there are no troops around." Van said, noticing the lack of guards around the towers and posts.
"Maybe she got it." Raven watched as a massive Zoid rose out of the base. "Yea, she got in."
Van still couldn't believe he had to fight Fiona, but he knew it was her or everyone else on the planet. For the first time he was going to put his feelings aside and do what he had to do, even though he knew he would hate it. "Let's get back to the capital Raven, it will be easier over there."
"Ok." Both Blade Ligers rushed back towards the capital, watching the Dragon slowly follow. "Not to fast is it."
"No." Van replied. "Should make it easier for us then."
Jason sat in his Zoid, he was feeling dizzy and tired. The battle had taken a lot out of him, more then he expected. But he looked and saw that White Liger in the same shape. "Lets go Tiger, time to finish this." But the Zoid couldn't move, it had taken extreme damage from that last blow, along with both pilots. Neither Zoid could move and neither pilot could think. "How can this be happening."
Moonbay ran up to Irvine. "You ok Irvine?"
"That guy did something to Fiona, I don't know but now she's working with him." He said, breathing hard.
"Ok, what do you want me to do?" She asked, looking towards the city, she saw the two Zoids on the ground, not even moving.
"Lets see if there are any survivors around." He said, slowly getting up.
"Ok." Moonbay helped him up then they began searching the rubble for any survivors.
The man watched as the Tiger finally got up. "Damn, how did he get up." He was trying to get the Liger up but it wouldn't respond. "Great, command system freeze. Nice timing Liger."
"Your going to pay for that." Jason said, voice filled with anger.
"Well looks like I got your Zoid pretty good, so at least I did something before you kill me." He said, watching the Tiger open its mouth.
"Doesn't matter, the Dragon is revived, and the Tiger will eventually come back to 100%." Jason smiled. "So long." But he didn't fire, nothing happened. "Damn it Tiger, now what." He saw the Zoid was to damaged to fire its charged particle cannon. "Oh well, I guess Ill have to do it the old fashion way." He lifted the Tigers claw and slashed down on the Ligers head. "So ends it." He turned the Zoid around and walked towards the Gustav.
"Ok Van, lets get rid of this Zoid and go after the Tiger." Raven said, turning his Zoid around. He stared at the Dragon, it was huge, but still slow.
"Right, this shouldn't be to hard." Van was trying to figure out a way to destroy this Zoid without killing Fiona. He watched as Raven made a run towards the Zoid, it jumped towards the neck of the Dragon, pulling out its blades. But the Dragon raised it massive arm and smacked it to the ground. "How did that thing move so fast?" He said to himself, watching Raven slowly get up. Then he saw the Dragon open its mouth and fire some sort of massive beam at him. "Move Liger." The Zoid ran, but the beam just followed him. "Raven try it now."
Raven got up, and saw the beam following Van, but before he could move towards the Zoid, its massive tail hit him square in the side and he flew back a few yards. "This isn't easy." He said to himself.
Van turned towards the Dragon, that beam finally letting up. He saw it raise its arm and swing towards him, he was able to juke towards the side but just ran into it's tail, knocking him flat on the ground. "Great, now what."
"Uh, Irvine." Moonbay said with fear, watching as the Tiger slowly moved towards them.
Irvine saw the Tiger coming over. He looked around for any Zoid that worked and finally found one. It was the Zoid Fiona came in. He ran towards it. "Moonbay, get out of here." He yelled.
"Right." She ran towards her Gustav, getting in it, she watched as the Zoid that destroyed Irvine's Lighting Saiex began to run towards the Tiger. "Good luck Irvine." She turned the Gustav around and began to move out of there.
Irvine sat the Fury, staring towards the Tiger. He was setting the Zoid up to fire its charged particle cannon. He watched as the Tiger drew out a shield. The cannon fired. Irvine watched as the beam tried to pass the shield, but it couldn't even push the damaged Zoid back. He watched as the Tiger opened its mouth.
"Try blocking this with the Fury's shield, watch how fast you die." Jason couldn't smile or laugh any more. The game had ended and the fight for survival had begun. "You better fire it this time Tiger, or Ill burn you right here." The Zoid obeyed, it was also starting to get serious, it had finally realized that it wasn't invincible. Its power was unmatched but it could still be destroyed.
Irvine watched the beams charge, and he knew that kid was serious. He withdrew the shield and ran. But the Tiger had fired. Irvine slammed the Zoid into the ground, hoping the beam would miss and it did. But its power and done the damage. "Command System Freeze." He saw the Zoid say, not moving any where. He slammed his fist into the command console.
The Tiger walked over to him and raised its massive claws. "Now you die." But the Tiger was getting shot at, it looked up and saw the Gustav firing at it. The Zoid was to damaged to take the shots so it drew up its shield. "Your going to pay for that little girl, get ready burn in Hell." The Tiger began to run, withdrawing it's shield and moving as if nothing happened to it.
"What happened Van, afraid to hurt me." Van heard that voice, it had been talking to him for a while. It was Fiona. Both Raven and Van had gotten up, staring at the Tiger.
"This thing is incredible, how do we destroy that thing." Raven said, searching for a weakness, wishing Shadow was around to help. He closed his eyes, then knew what to do. "Ill charge for it's head, you go for the neck."
Van looked at him. "You crazy Raven, that beam will destroy you before you knew what happened." Raven cut him off.
"Who cares." Raven said, looking at the massive Dragon. "Go now."
Raven's Blade Liger made the jump for the head, and like Van said he saw the mouth open and the beam hit him dead on.
Van had made the jump, watching Ravens Blade Liger tear into pieces, the Dragon was ignoring Vans Blade Liger and he easily cut right through the Zoids neck. He landed hard on the ground. He tilted his head down, thinking about what just happened. But then he saw what remained of the Dragon burst into a massive explosion, he got his Liger moving away and going towards the city. "Fiona." He said, hoping she might have survived. He saw the Tiger running towards the Gustav, he would have to come back later.
The Tiger withdrew its shield and made a jump for the Gustav, getting ready to slash it to pieces. But before it could reach the transport, a Blade Liger drove its shield into the Tigers healthy side, knocking it flying.
"You bastard." Jason yelled, tired of all of this. The Tiger got up, it was damaged beyond belief. Both the Falcon and the Dragon were destroyed, and the Tiger was close to its end. The Tiger opened its mouth and fired the charged particle cannons at the Blade Liger. He laughed as it hit the Zoid dead on. "He didn't even try to dodge it, what a idiot." But his laughter stopped, and his anger rose. He saw the Blade Liger standing there, it's shield drawn and didn't even budge. "Wow, how did that happen." Jason said, trying to understand how it had survived.
"Its over Jason, your dead." Van said, his voice with anger and rage filling it up.
The Tiger charged the Zoid, both hitting each other harder then any could take. Van grabbed his shoulder, feeling the pain from when it was broken by Drake. The Blade Liger laid on its back, unable to move. Van was screaming in pain, he was able to ignore the injury but now it was back. He watched as the Tiger slowly came up on him.
"No Van, now you die." The Tiger was again hit in the side, this time the White Liger had done it. The Liger drove its teeth into the neck of the Tiger, but the Tiger was able to counter and brought its claws into the Ligers chest. "Why don't you people just die." Jason screamed.
"Not before you kid." The man said, using all of the Ligers power to hold the Zoid. "Damnit Van, get up and kill this thing."
Van did what he was told, ignoring the pain, he got his Liger up and drew out its blade. He saw the Tiger entangled with the White Liger, not able to move. The Zoid charged the Tiger, its blade slicing the unbeatable Tiger in two, the White Liger came down hard, its Zoid laying there not moving, and the Blade Liger collapsed to the ground. Van sat there, trying to bring himself together, trying to understand all that happened in this week. He laughed and cried at the same time. It was over, finally. He jumped out of the cockpit, he saw Irvine run up to him.
"You did it again Van." He said, putting his arm around Van.
Moonbay screamed for joy, jumping out of the Gustav and running towards Van and Irvine. But Van ignore her, he ran over to the few pieces of the Dragon, looking for Fiona. Irvine and Moonbay helped, looking for either Raven or Fiona. They found Raven, bleeding badly, the same thing with Fiona. Both couldn't move and were barley alive.
"Fiona." Van yelled, lifting her up gently. He began to cry, holding on to her tightly, hoping he wouldn't lose her like he had lost so many.
Jason stood there next to the Tiger. "Well that wasn't expected, now Ill have to come up with a new way to destroy everyone." He smiled and turned around. But he didn't move, he just looked down the barrel of a handgun, pointing right at his forehead. "Still alive, I have to admire that about you." He smiled.
"I admire nothing about you." He said, still pointing the gun.
"Shame, oh well, I guess you will have to kill me." He began to laugh.
"You like what you do, huh. Still think your immortal." He turned the gun around and smashed it against Jason's head. He fell to the ground. "You cause more death and destruction in a day then a war could do in a year. You enjoy watching people suffer, well lets turn it around and watch you suffer."
"You wont kill me, you don't have the nerves to do it." He said, still laughing.
"You can tell me that in Hell." He said, taking the safety off the gun.
"Ill rule Hell." He said, his smile gone and laughter over.
"Then you can have me there." He fired the gun at Jason's forehead, killing him instantly. Some of his blood splattered in him, but he didn't care. He threw the gun at Jason's head and looked up. He saw Van holding Fiona, Moonbay and Irvine were trying to help Raven. "Nice work kid." He said to himself, he turned and walked to his White Liger. "Well old friend, we did it, what do you say we get out of here." The Liger gave a soft growl. The man rubbed his head, wiping off the blood still there. He got in the cockpit and got his Liger to slowly limp away. The Black Era had come, but it was stopped. He took out the book and looked back at the sketch. He smiled. "Not to good of a prophet was he Liger." He ripped out the sketch and tore it up. "Finally over." He said, looking back at the kids who helped defeat that mad man.
Aftermath: 4 Months Later
They all stood there in the cemetery. Walking through the graves of those who died against Jason and the Black Zoids. There was more destruction in that one day then the war between the Empire and Republic could have done even if it was still going on. Both factions were basically dead, but they would rebuild, they didn't have much of a choice. Nearly a million and a half people died from the Black Era. But it was over, and it could never happen again. The unbeatable Zoids were destroyed, and the mad man who commanded them was dead.
"Kind of a good thing when you think about it." Moonbay said. "At least the Empire and Republic will have to work with each other for once." She looked over at Van and Fiona. "What do you two think."
"Don't really know. I guess your right." Van said, reading Thomas's tombstone.
"I have to admit." Irvine said. "Ill miss all of these people." He smiled.
"So Raven and Drake weren't really that bad after all, they were basically forced to do what the did." Fiona said, walking around. "Like he did with me."
"Hey Fiona, one thing I still don't get, why did he kiss you." Moonbay asked, never thinking about bringing it up until now.
She didn't say anything, no one really cared. They were all glad it was over. There was actually peace on the planet, even though it cost a million lives and the lose of a lot of friends. They all walked out of the cemetery and over towards there Zoids. Peace for the first time, hopefully it would actually last.
Raven stood there, watching them from afar with the man next to him. "Think they'll ever forgive me?" Raven asked.
"Doubt it, but then again." He walked back to his Liger, Raven following him.
"I still hate Zoids you know." He said, smiling.
"So do I." He said jumping in the cockpit. "But who cares."
Raven jumped into the back of the Liger. "So now what?"
"Well, are lives have been screwed up, guess we have to make up for lost time." The man said, getting the White Liger moving.
"Sounds good." Raven said, watching Vans Blade Liger begin to move as well.
Authors Notes: R/R Your finale thoughts, hope you all enjoyed and check out some of my next stories.