Authors Notes: Lol, Raven a pimp. Never thought about it that way, guess it works. Course all the girls are jumpin on him so he's just takin them as they come. What can I say, chix dig Raven. Could learn a thing or two from him.
"So what do you know about these guys anyways?" Jake asked looking over at the blue Blade Liger.
"They ran a huge crime syndicate a few years ago. Kruger had me go after them." Van looked down, thinking about his battles with them. "Neither of us had any idea what we were getting into."
Jake Valen nodded. "So what ended up happening?"
"I beat them, barley but I did. You have no idea how close I came to dying." Van stopped his Zoid as he looked at the ruins. "Is that it?"
"Yep." Valen said, zooming in on the target area. "What the Hell."
Van did the same, staring at a Silver Kong. "Damn, a Silver Kong."
"Never heard of that Zoid." Valen said setting his HUB screen back to its standard zoom.
"Evolution of a Iron Kong. I had to fight one a few months ago. The leader of the Slasher Bandits had one."
"Send me the Zoids info stored in the Liger's databanks." Valen set, setting his controls to receive the information.
"Ok." Van said, searching for it. "Got it, you ready?"
"Yea." Valen read the information as it slowly came up to him. "Gauss Rifle? What's that?" Jake asked.
"Powerful weapon on that Zoid, it can knock out my shield and take a toll on a Zoid." Van looked around. "What is it Zeke?" He heard the Organoid start to growl, Van looked up. "A Storm Sworder!" Van shouted looking up.
"Damn, that's not ares!" Jake shouted back. "They're setting us up." Valen turned his head back towards the Silver Kong. "Better do this quick."
Van nodded in agreement. "Yea, you ready."
Valen nodded, charging his Command Wolf towards the Silver Kong.
Van smiled, keeping up with the quick Command Wolf.
Tommy smiled as the two Zoids came rushing in. "Finally something to do." The young boy split the reticule in two, targeting both the Blade Liger and Command Wolf. "They don't seem to tough."
"Juke now!" Valen shouted, turning his Zoid sharply to the right, Van to the left. Both Zoids crossing paths.
"Hmm." Tommy said watching the two Zoids scramble out of his sights. "Oh well."
Valen watched as the Silver Kong made a charge towards him. He fired the cannon but it had no affect on its extreme armor. "Firepower isn't going to beat this thing Van." Valen said his voice had a sound of no confidence in it.
Van turned and made a charge for the Kong and drew out his blades. "Alright Zeke, lets do this." Van drove the throttles forward as hard as he could, the Blade Liger moving like it had only once before.
Tommy smiled and turned his Zoid around.
Van watched as the Kong turned around, aiming its Vulcan cannon at him. He drew up the shield and pushed the throttles as far forward as he could.
"And I thought he was good." Tommy shook his head and aimed the Gauss Rifle at the charging Zoid.
"Zeke now!" Van shouted at the top oh his lungs, the Blade Liger leaping into the air.
Tommy watched in fear. "Uh oh." He said watching the Blade Liger's right blade slice through the Silver Kong.
Valen looked at him. "How the Hell did he do that." He said to himself. "Damn that must have been 140 feet in the air." Valen knew Van was good, but that was just amazing, and even more amazing that he made the jump moving at full speed and was able to angle it straight down slicing the Silver Kong in two.
Jarno jumped out of his chair. "How did he pull that off!" He shouted furiously. "Cliff, kill him now!"
Cliff shook his head. He knew Tommy was no push over, and for Van to beat him that quick was amazing. "Got it." He said turning the Storm Sworder around. Cliff turned on the laser sighting and looked down, targeting the Blade Liger.
"Andy, Gab. Are you two set yet." Jarno said.
Andy smiled, his sights sent straight on Van's heart. "Yep, just give me the command."
Gabriel took the large suitcase and opened it, revealing four pieces of a massive rifle. He took out the barrel and connected it to the stock, adding the trigger and scope when he had completed that. "Ready."
Jarno smiled. "Wait for Toni."
"Something's wrong Van!" Valen shouted looking around, the Storm Sworder could have fired but was waiting.
Van looked around, the area empty except for the flying Sworder.
"There's a battle over at the ruins!" A man shouted around the small colony. "A Blade Liger, Command Wolf, and some other Zoids!"
Raven heard that, and knew Van was involved. "Where is it at?" Raven said at the man.
"The ruins about 25 kilometers north-west."
Raven smiled and looked at Alice and Shadow. "Come on." He took off, walking quickly.
"Why?" Alice asked finishing off the papaya she was eating.
"Van's involved." Raven said walking towards the edge of town.
Alice smiled. "And you want to fight him?"
Raven shook his head. "Like you said, Iv beaten him twice and already killed him once. I proved who the best of us is."
Alice laughed and walked besides him. "Still how do we get there, 25 kilometers is a long walk and it will be long over by the time we arrive."
Raven closed his eyes, wishing he still had the Fury. To him that Zoid was the perfect partner and if he had it years ago his ambitions and dreams would have been completed. But now, now he was done fighting Van. Still though he had enough hatred to kill one man, and who would do it long before he got a chance to hurt Alice. Raven looked at her, she was the reason he was done fighting Van, done destroying every Zoid he saw. Alice was actually in love with him, and he loved her back just a much. Ryss had loved him to, but he didn't care for her too much though he did have feelings for her, he wouldn't deny that. Then Fiona, he loved her just like he loved Alice, but in the end Jason wouldn't allow that by bringing his enemy back from the grave. Then Alice came in to his life, and he was ready to make sure she didn't leave. Jason would be after her, killing her and forcing Raven to watch it, and he knew Jason enjoyed that. Raven looked around ending the thoughts in his mind. "There." Raven pointed towards a Rev Raptor.
"We can't just take it." Alice said not real surprised Raven brought the idea up.
Raven smiled. "You asked me if I steal. Answers yes." Raven turned his attention to Shadow. "Come Shadow."
Alice smiled and followed them both.
"Look out!" Valen shouted as a War Shark rose up from the sand.
"War Sharks can't work underground!" Van shouted dodging the cannon fire from the Zoid. He gritted his teeth and tried to charge it, drawing out the Blade Liger's shield.
Toni shook his head. "Andy, take care of that for me, will ya."
Andy smiled as he aimed his Gun Sniper at the Liger's shield generator. "Sure thing Toni." He fired.
Van felt his Liger crash into the ground. "What happened!" He shouted watching as the shields energy read zero. "Zeke!" He yelled getting his Zoid back up. Van was able to steady the Blade Liger but the shield was out and he had no way of stopping the fire.
"They have a Gun Sniper around." Valen said under his breath, looking around for the Zoid he knew was out there.
Gabriel smiled as he aimed his rifle towards the back of the white Command Wolf. "Night, wolf." He said, firing the rifle at it. The massive recoil jammed the gun into his shoulder, leaving his bone bruised.
Jake drove his fist into the chair as his computer read Command System Freeze. "Ahh damn."
Van did his best to work around the fire. "I told you these guys are good and dirty!" Van shouted, he made a jump for the War Shark but watched as the Storm Sworder swooped down quickly and with out an effort it sliced the left hind leg off of the Blade Liger.
"Gonna find it a little tougher to fight now Van." Toni said aiming his cannon at the cockpit.
"Zeke!" Van yelled. The Organoid gave off a massive roar and got the Blade Liger up and despite its missing leg was able to run at half speed. Van gave a scream a scream of anger and rage, making another charge at the War Shark.
"Stubborn little punk." Cliff said turning his Storm Sworder back down towards the Blade Liger.
Van saw it and made a sudden stop, the flying Zoid passing in front of him.
"Damnit, not again!" Cliff shouted, he remembered what Van had done the last time.
"Should quit while your ahead Flyheight." Andy said taking aim at Van's neck. "Don't ever miss."
Irvine smiled as he crashed his Lighting Saiex into the Gun Snipers side, forcing it to fall down the cliff.
"Irvine!" Van shouted cheerfully as he did his best to dodge the War Sharks fire.
"Aren't you glad Hermann sent me to save your hide." Irvine said as he shot the Gun Sniper before he could get back up.
Toni dove his War Shark underground through the thin, coarse sand.
Van stopped and felt his Zoid collapse; Zeke didn't have enough energy to keep the Blade Liger performing in its current condition. "Alright Zeke, relax." Van took a deep breath and waited for the War Shark to appear again.
"That Saiex is out of range, the Blade Liger and Command Wolf are down." Toni smiled as he brought the War Shark up.
Raven charged at the War Shark, slicing it in half before it even knew the Rev Raptor was on the battlefield.
Van looked at it, his mouth slightly gapped open in awe, wondering who was in the Rev Raptor.
"Aren't you glad I'm on your side for once Van." Raven gave a smirk as he turned and sliced the War Shark one more time.
Van couldn't believe it, but had no reason to question it. "Watch out for the Storm Sworder!" Van yelled watching the Zoid quickly make a swoop down.
Cliff watched as two more Storm Sworder's appeared from the blue sky. "Damnit!"
Rosso smiled as he opened fire on Cliff's Zoid. "We'll take care of him."
Jarno sat down in his chair, shocked more then he could ever imagine. "This isn't supposed to happen." He said softly, now worried.
Gabriel walked in and saw the look on Jarno's face. "Were losing aren't we." He punched the side of the wall.
"Losing, but haven't lost." Jarno looked over at Fiona, she had been tied up to a support beam. "Long as we have her, Van will have to come in." He turned back to Gab and nodded.
Gab smiled and walked away, taking two handguns and a shotgun off the wall.
Van, Raven, Alice, and Valen met up at the entrance to the ruins.
Van looked at Raven. "So you're actually on are side?" He still wasn't too sure if Raven could be trusted.
"I saved you twice in one month, didn't I." Raven replied.
Van nodded and looked at the Lighting Saiex approaching, Moonbay followed close behind in her Gustav. "Cover us out here Irvine, we'll get Fiona out of here."
"Sure thing." Irvine replied, looking at the downed Zoids.
Van ran in, Valen walking besides him. "Raven, you and your friend take that way."
Alice looked at him. "My names Alice."
Van smiled. "Ok, Raven you and Alice go that way."
Raven smiled as Alice took out the same crossbow she had tried to kill him with a few days ago.
Valen laughed and dragged Van down the other path. "Well Raven seems to have a girl that suits him."
Van nodded as he pulled out a handgun, walking slowly down the path. "Hang on Fiona." He mumbled to himself, keeping his senses up.
Zack smiled as he finally broke one of the hinges to the door. He kicked the door and it flew open. Limping out he listened to see if anyone was coming, but all he heard was his heavy breathing. Zack walked, the gunshot wound in his lower back had gotten infected and it was sore. His right shoulder was bruised badly from his many attempts to ram the door open, and he had sprained his ankle after one of his attempts went terribly wrong. "Damn. Pain." He mumbled, keep his ears sharp to any sound that maybe coming towards him. A battle was going on outside, he had heard the gunfire and figured these guys had been found by the Republic or Empire.
Alice watched as a tall man walked around the corner slowly. She smiled and raised her crossbow, shooting the man in the arm. "I missed." She said disappointed.
Zack screamed and cussed as the arrow pierced his left bicep. "Ahhhhh, Damn!" He said.
Raven rushed over and pushed the bow down before Alice could get off a second shot. "He's on are side." Raven said.
Alice dropped her smile and looked at the man. "Um, sorry." She said.
Zack looked up at Raven. "Damnit Raven!" He shouted, as the pain in his body had become something greater then he had ever felt before in his life. Zack fell to the floor and put his back against the wall, sliding the arrow out of his arm. "Why the Hell is this all happening to me!" He shouted as he held his hand tightly over the fresh wound.
Raven looked at Alice. "Stay with him."
Alice nodded and looked back at Zack. "I'm really sorry, I didn't know you're a."
Zack shouted at her. "Sorry! You just shot an arrow through me damn arm! Going to take a lot more then a apology to help me right now!"
Alice bit her lip, feeling sorry for the man.
"Split up?" Valen asked as they looked down two hallways.
Van looked at each and nodded. "Yea, good luck." He said rushing down the path.
"You to." Valen said softly, taking his side much slower.
Jarno sat in his chair, a handgun aimed directly at the door, waiting for someone to come in. he looked over at Fiona and smiled. "Hate that kid, and well. Since you seem to love him so much." He pointed to gun and shot Fiona in the chest. "You need to die." He smiled and turned back to the door.
Zack heard the gunshot and looked around. "Hate that sound." He said looking up at Alice who was looking at the wound. "Go find it, make sure Van is alright."
Alice nodded and ran off.
Van fell to the floor after he ran into the solid fist of a huge man.
Gabriel smiled as he walked forward. "Now you are gonna die."
Van rubbed his face and got up quickly, swinging his fist at the man.
Gab pulled his head back and kicked Van in the stomach. "Jarno was right, you can't fight with your fists."
Van got up and tackled the man, but it only pushed him a few feet back.
Gabriel picked Van up by his shoulders and moved him against a wall. "Best there is with a Zoid, but it takes more then that to be a warrior."
Van drove his knee into Gabriel's jaw, forcing him to let go.
Gab shook his head a pulled out both of the handguns.
"Damn." Van said diving into a small room, a few shots going off.
"Might as well die Van, pointless to run away." Gab turned and looked in the room Van had dove into to, finding the boy not there. "Damn kid." He walked a sharp pain moving through his body. Looking back he saw Van behind him, a piece of bloody glass in his hands.
"Don't you ever try to hurt Fiona again." Van watched as the big man fell to the ground, blood dripping from the wound and shortly after his mouth. Van whipped the sweat off of his forehead and took off running again.
Jarno looked back at Fiona, the blood flowing down her shirt from the bullet wound in her chest. "Van will be joining you pretty soon, promise." He smiled. A few moments later he felt the impact of an object smash across his head, knocking him out of his chair.
Jason looked down at him, Phantom doing exactly what he was supposed to die. "Damn you murderous bastard." He said picking Jarno up. "You're the reason all of this is happening, you and every person just like you!" Jason threw the man against the wall, furious at him.
Jarno looked up at him, his mouth bloody and jaw broken. "How did you get in?"
Jason kicked him again before he could finish. "People like you. Murdering and destroying for personal gain, personal pride." He picked him up by the throat, slowly breaking his neck as he squeezed tighter and tighter. "I kill for a reason, you kill for yourself."
Jarno gasped for air, trying to breath but felt his windpipe collapse under the great strength of the man.
Jason dropped him and looked at Fiona. He took a blade and cut the ropes. "One of the few who actually deserve to live." Jason smiled as he put his hand over her head, her body glowing. "Shame Ill have to kill you eventually." Fiona's wound healed and her heart began to beat once again. Jason stood up and walked to his Organoid. "Now Phantom!" He yelled, the Organoid opening its chest up, bringing him within it then vanishing in the air.
Van found Fiona a few minutes later, her body slightly cold but she was all right. "Fiona." He said softly, bringing the girl's head to his. Van looked at the dead Jarno, how and why he died was a mystery to him, no one else was around and Fiona couldn't have killed him.
Gabriel crawled around the corner and looked at Van, raising his pistol he fired at Van, then fired again, and a third time before Gabriel's life went away.
Van fell to the floor, the bullets going through his arm, grazing his chest and neck.
Fiona woke up from the sounds and found blood over her clothes, then laying besides her a dying Van. "Van!" She screamed, looking at his wounds then she looking around. Blood was everywhere, dead bodies as well. The room looked like an image from Hell, the sight was gory and it alone made her cry, twisting her stomach all around. Then to see Van dying besides her once again crushed her heart.
Alice and Raven found Van and Fiona shortly after the shots went off, the dead bodies all around as well.
"Oh God." Alice said softly.
Raven stared, looking around at the image. Blood, bodies, death, all these were things he had grown up to.
Valen came only a few moments later rushing in to help Van. He looked for a pulse and felt a faint one. "He's alive, barley though." Valen ripped a sleeve off of his uniform and tied it around the wound on the arm. Taking the other sleeve he tied it loosely around Van's neck. "Don't have anything to cover the stomach wound."
"There's a colony 25 kilometers away, that's where we came from." Alice said. "Wait there's another man who's wounded bad to."
"Who!" Valen shouted picking Van up and putting him over his shoulders.
"It's Zack." Raven said watching Valen rush out.
"Zack?" Fiona said wondering why he was here. Her voice was choppy from the tears.
It took them a few minutes to get out, Zack limping out with Raven's help. Moonbay, Irvine, Rosso, and Viola helped get Van and Zack to the colony, the doctor was waiting for their arrival.
Jason watched as the people of the colony gathered, helping out in any way they could. A hero was near death once again, and they didn't want to lose him again. "For once they are showing a desire to live." He didn't smile, made no gesture, just stared with his cold dark eyes. "Can you believe it Phantom? Van and Raven working together, showing a type of friendship towards each other." He closed his eyes. "The Tiger grows impatient." Jason stood up and opened his eyes. "Time is catching up with them Phantom, soon they'll have none left." He turned and walked away. Leaving the group that he had saved behind.