Disclaimer: I do not own zoids, or any charactres in zoids except my own original characters. This is a pure work of fiction, any similarity to events real or ficticious is purely coincidental.
Thanks for the reviews, all! I apologize for at least what I think was the poor quality of the previous chapter, I plan on prehaps revising it later on. Also, sorry for the huge, huge wait for this chapter. Forgive me. :)
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Meanwhile.....
Irvine watched the rain fall, listened to the fussilade of small drops hitting the soaked ground. He sighed softly to himself. He was sitting on an old wicker chair outside on the porch of a rustic wooden Bed and Breakfast building, overlooking the vast plains ahead of him. The sun was just setting behind the rolling hills in the distant. He tilted his head to the side slightly, noting how the rain seemed to mezmorize him. Perhaps it was his own confusion about past events. He had the strange feeling like he was forgetting something, something big that happened. The more Irvine thought about it, however, the more he shrugged it off as a figment of his imagination. He had checked his head for bumps countless times already, there was no evidence of him hitting hard enough to give him amnesia, not one mark. Irvines eyes darted over to check his Command Wolf, resting just outside the building. He mentally slapped himself for being so worrysome. There was no danger, at least for now. The Deathsaurer was destroyed. Perhaps he really did deserve a break. Irvine reclined a bit farther into the chair. He enjoyed the light mist that fell on him as the rain was deflected by the hooded porch. It calmed him, wanting to make him forget everything he had just gone through and just relax. Before Irvine knew it he was begining to close his eyes. Irvine figured he probably should go to bed, it was night already, and he was starting to get the slightest bit cold. He began to stand up, and a cold gust of wind blew on him, making him shiver involentarily. As he walked inside, he uncounsciously wondered how the others were doing. Irvine quickly navigated the small hallway to his room and fell asleep the moment his head reached the pillow.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Moonbay slowly breached the barrier of consciousness. The morning sun on her eyes had woken her up. She struggled to stay asleep, but at this point it was for no avail, she was to far awake to sleep again. She opened her eyes drearily, having to close them tight again as the full force of the sunlight flooded them, blinding her for a second. The next time she tried she turned over first, and opened her eyes slowly. It worked better that time. She reached out trying to stretch, but forgot she was in the Gustav's cockpit. Her streching was met by the clanging of metal against her hands and legs.
"oww..." Moonbay moaned.
She had been so tired she had even forgotten where she was sleeping. As quick as her exausted body could move she withdrew her limbs and cradled her left hand, the on that had hit the hardest. She looked at it as she rubbed it. A little broken skin, but nothing to serious. She let go of her left hand and shook it, trying to make the pain leave quicker. She exhaled and booted up all the systems of her zoid. Where was she heading again....oh yeah. Moonbay quickly located the city she needed to go on the map. Apparently someone in the Fire Colony needed someone to transport something. It looked like she was back in work again. Still...she missed her friends. Van, Irvine, Fiona, how were they all doing? Compared to what they had gone through, it almost made transporting seem, well, a tad mediocre. Moonbay shook he head at the thought. Naw. Maybe I just need to get a little hobby on the side...something to spruce up my boring days....she thought to herself. Maybe it would do her good, something to give her some more energy, seeing as it couldn't just be exaution that made her sleep so long...she had been doing nothing most days except travelling around and waiting for work. Excited by these new thoughts, she roared up the Gustav and continued making her way to Fire Colony.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Van looked back at the two in the back of the cockpit. Fiona and Malchus were sleeping. Van turned his attention to moving forward once again. He tried to concentrate on piloting, but again found his head full of conflicting thoughts. Was it now safe, or wasn't it? Erik didn't exactly leave them a clear sign. Sure he retreated and left them alone, and Fiona was de-possessed, but there was something about that look on Erik's face after he tried to stop the exorcism. Something that Van couldn't quite read, an expression that shouldn't have been on his face when his plans just were disrupted. No, Van thought. They weren't safe, at least as long as Erik still had that sphere. Malchus told him everything, and at least now he understood why he had tried to gain posession of Fiona. But what exactly would he do now? He could still cause trouble, but must he look for another terror host now to help realize the further destructive power of the sphere? So many questions floated in Van's mind. It seemed to happen a lot lately, perhaps that was the cause of all the headaches he and Fiona have been getting. Van sat back in his seat, arms behind his head. He just needed to relax, he thought to himself. Tommorrows another day, lets just get away from here and get on with life. From what it sounds like, we can't track Erik down, but we'll be ready when he strikes. At the end of this thought, Van smiled confidently and stared straight up at the stars throught the cockpit. Slowly, but peacfully, he fell asleep.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
On the outside, Foina slept peacfully. But in the quietness and suclusion of her dreams, she was scared. Throughout her entire dream, she just heard a maniacal laugh coming somewhere in the deep blackness of her mind..........
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Irvine awoke with a start, a lone bead of sweat dripping down his face. He panted slightly as he hopped out of his bed. In what seemed like one fluid motion he was at his window balcony. He wasn't sure what made him get up, but it was something important. His instincts havn't failed him yet. With only a quick glance he knew he was right.
"Fire..." Irvine said.
A fire was burning a mile away or so on the plains. The smoke of it was visible, but Irvine had keen instncts. He didn't know wwhat was going on, but he felt he had to find out. Irvine dashed out the door of his room and down a flight of stais, waking up the sleeping desk clerk as he ran towards his command wolf. Slamming open the front door of the Bed and Breakfast he quickly hopped into the cockpit and initaited the command system. The familiar lights and sounds of his zoid greeted his senses.
"Ready to go again, old pal?" Irvine asked his zoid.
Irvine was pumped, so was his zoid. He could feel it. That's what happened when you pilot a zoid for a long time, Irvine thought. you become one with it.
Irvine pushed the control lever and manipulated some other pedals and started the wolf at a gallop. It wouldn't be long to investigate this. His command wolf was fast, he'd cover that mile in a minute. Irvine strained his eyes to see what was on fire as he raced ever closer to it. It was a transport vehicle, being attacked by what apeared to be a group of mercinary zoids and pilots.
Alright then. Irvine thought to himself. With that thought Irvine punched the throttle on his zoid. The command wolf roared, and the other zoids, consisting of a few Command Wolves also, turned surprised.
"What do we have hear?" Irvine said over his comm unit. Irvine jumped in the air, knocking the first one over, and then swivled his cannons and took it out of commission. The other remaining two began to fire on him. Irvine ran in a tight circle around them, allowing him to dodge all their fire. Irvine again trained his cannons on one of the zoids and fired. That one went down without any trouble. Irvine was suddenly rocked in the cockpit as his zoid was hit with fire.
"Hey!" Irvine yelled, and fired shots of his own. The last zoid went down. Before Irvine could do anything, he noticed the pilots were gone.
"What the? Where did they go?" Irvine said. He quickly ignored that though, and went down to the transport.
Inside, the pilot was already dead, he was too late. Irvine sighed and was about to leave. Then something caught his eye. A peice of folded paper underneath the body of the pilot. Irvine lifted it up and unfolded it.
"It's a secret letter:"
Robbie! You must get to Fire colony now! Hurry! The passcode is 01546!
"Fire colony, eh? I guess I'll have to pay it a visit."
Irvine jumped outside and crumbled the paper into his pocket. With the swift agility he had developed over the years he hopped into his zoid and took off.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Van finally arrived in town. It felt good to be back, calming. To know that just for now, everyone is safe. They can all sit back and rest. Malchus had abandoned them for now to do his own business, and Fiona and Van again checked into a hotel. They walked up to their room, Van lightly holding Fiona, grateful that it was once again safe to do so without worry of being killed in the next second. Fiona also gave in to the feeling of saftey and as they entered the door to their room put her head on his shoulder. They both sat down on the bed.
"So it's finally over, huh?" Fiona said.
"I guess so." Van replied, pushing his nagging feeling aside.
"Good." Foina said, and held Van tightly.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Moonbay yawned. Was she there yet? Geez how far away was Fire colony again? Just as she was about to get really frustrated she noticed a small town in the distance.
"Heeeyy! That must be the place!" Moonbay said, and pushed her Gustav as fast as it could go.
She arrived on Fire colony a few minutes later.
What a place. She thought to herself.
All the stone buildings were a blazing color red.
"I guess they named it fire colony for a reason." Moonbay said to herself, as she walked along, looking for her next job.
"Lemme see, it's a red house....yeah that helps.......on the northeast corner of the city....with the number 17 on it..."
Moonbay lifted her head again. By sheer coincidence, she was standing diretly in front of that house. She scratched the back of her head and walked in. It was dark and dingy inside.
"Heelllooo? Is anybody there?" Moonbay said, her voice seeming to barely peirce the darkness.
Suddenly she heard a click and someone pointing a weapon at her back.