Zoids: Evolution
Table of Contents; (titles subject to change) Prelude Part One: The Chaos Continues Part Two: Fiona's Peril Part Three: Fiona Missing?! Part Four: The Search Begins Part Five: The Gauntlet Part Six: The Power of Love Part Seven: The Past Part Eight: Ties Part Nine: The Ion-Liger Part Ten: Yesterday's Tomorrow
(Prelude)
Again, our story takes place on the planet Zi. The Deathsaurer, and the Death Stinger have been eliminated; and piece has been restored. Although all of the parties involved in the resurrection of the Deathsaurer escaped. We are now about 2 years into the future; where Van (and supposedly Fiona) is 20 Emperor Rudolph now has a wife; Rosso, and Viola still look after him. Van Flyhiet and Fiona are still members of the Guardian Force. Hiltz is still at large, as well as Raven and Reese. Van and Fiona have made it their soul purpose to capture and convict Hiltz of his evil doings. Fiona has again taken her interests back to researching ancient ruins. Only this time she is searching for clues as to what happened to the ancient Zoidians (in more detail. in other words: besides the fact that the Deathsaurer kicked their rear ends all over the planet), and as to why she was saved, and not many others. Fiona has grown a little more sensible, and doesn't leave Van's side (if she did, she wouldn't last 2 days. not to be insulting, but as a fact: Fiona is just too gullible to be left out on the streets alone), so, of course, Van accompanies her to all of the ruins she can get her self into (much to her dismay in this story).
(PART ONE: The Chaos Continues)
The sun shone as the Blade Liger and its crew of Fiona and Van, strode along the desert plains of planet Zi. It had been 6 years since the last big party with the Deathsaurer, and Van is now 20 (Fiona is assumed to be that same age), and is still a member of the Guardian Force. Fiona and Van are now almost inseparable, although they are not married. Zeke trotted along beside the Liger as he usually did, following just several meters behind. Van maneuvered the Blade Liger to the right a little, they were going to investigate what appeared to be more ancient ruins. "Van, we are 32 kilometers out, ETA- 15 minutes." "Ok, Fiona, let's be sure to stop outside of the valley that it is in so that you can get a feeling of it, we don't want to have another incident like at the science facility and the Deathsaurer." "Sure thing." The Blade Liger veers into a canyon on its left. "Ok, we are in the canyon, about how long Fiona?" "About 10 minutes, unless we get some interruptions." The Blade liger weaves in and out of the cannons twists and turns, until finally, it comes to an abrupt stop at the entrance to a "caldera" (a caldera is a large chunk of the earths crust that has sunk into the ground due to a major build up of volcanic gases under the earth, when this builds up it lifts the ground, forming a "hill", when the pressure is to great, the gases explode out of the top (much like an aerosol can does when shot with a b-b gun) the magma and gases escape, leaving a wide open chamber, that is bearing too much weight, so, it collapses, leaving a giant "reverse-plateau" (a step-down that is a level valley with a wall.))
It was very hazy and Van couldn't see much, except what seemed to be a dark tower in the shape of a rectangular prism, which had some smaller buildings around it. "Wow, so this is the place. How are you feeling Fiona?" "Fine for now, let's get a little closer." The Liger starts to move foreword, and Zeke follows in suit. Suddenly Fiona started freaking out in back of Van. "Van, Van, Please, lets go, I'm getting a very bad feeling; this isn't anything we are looking for. Please, Please, let's go!!" "Hang on Fiona, are you sure this place is that bad?!" "Yes, so please can we get away from here????!!!!!" "Ok Fiona, I'm trusting you on this one!." The Blade Liger turned around and headed at flank speed down the canyon, leaving Zeke struggling to keep up. "Oh, no, Fiona, we forgot about Zeke!" "I'm sure Zeke will be fine Van, just stop at the end of the canyon." "OK." The Liger came to the end of the canyon and stopped. "Fiona, it's been about 3 minutes that we have been waiting for Zeke, should we go back?" "NO, Van the closer we are to those ruins, the more danger planet Zi is in. Besides, Zeke is right over there!" "Hey Zeke, sorry we left ya' back there, but Fiona started to freak, so, we decided it was best to get out of there while we still could. Sorry we left you behind."
"Van, the radar shows 5 Zoids approaching from the south!" "Fiona, can you tell if they are hostile" "Negative, but if they were friendly, then they would have contacted us by now!" "Hmm...Zeke Mobilize! Fiona can you give me a clue of what were up against??" "Affirmative, looks like a localized gang, scope shows 2 hellcats, 2 Iron Kongs, and a Gogelus!" "A WHAT!!!? Did you just say a Gogelus, where on Zi did they get one of those, that is a Republican Zoid! Check the scope again, if it is, then we're dealing with more than a local gang." "Ok...Yep. It is a Gogelus, these guys must be ready to do some serious damage to something!" "Yeah, and I'm getting the feeling that that something is us! Let's get'm Zeke!" A transmission came up on the HUD of the Liger: "Van Fliheit, and Fiona, we have been sent by Lord Prozen to destroy you!" "Oh yeah, well, you can relay this message to him when I have you going back to him crying like a little baby: Whaaaa, Lord Prozen, mean old Van in the Blade Liger beat us to a pulp, Whaaaa! Tell him that he can eat my BLADE!!!" Van threw the controls foreword, activating the blades, which then folded down and started to glow. Meanwhile, Fiona was thinking to her self in the back of the Liger: "Van, your just as cocky and childlike as ever, but, that's what makes you the best, you take nothing too hard, you laugh it off and keep on fighting." Fiona was rudely interrupted in her daydream by the Blade Liger getting knocked around. "Huh???" "Fiona, what just happened!?" The Blade Liger lost its pace, stumbled, and tripped; then fell to the ground. "Van, the rear right leg balance is off 50%, what hit us to make that happen?!" "I guess that Gogelus got a good shot off, it must have hit close enough to damage the leg. But we can't stop now, if Prozen is still alive, then he is up to no good, and to stop him, we must survive here, so like I have said before EAT MY BLADE!!!!!!!" The Blade Liger popped up and charged the Gogelus; and sliced it in two. Van swerved again and destroyed the two hellcats. "Now, who else wants to try to kill us??!" Van Charges the Kongs, Destroying the one on his right, the other flees to the east (left of van) "Y'all come back now ya here. Are you ok Fiona?" "Yes, I'm fine, wish I could say the same for the Liger though."
"Aww, don't worry, with your knowledge, and my,,, uh,.. Anyway, we can get the Liger fixed up in no time at all, right." "I don't know Van, the damage to the leg is pretty bad; it has certainly seen better days." "Well, at least your ok, lets go find some shade to get the Liger back to something functional." Several minutes passed with nothing happening, as the Liger limped off to an unknown destination. "Van." "Yes, Fiona?" "Do you really think that Prozen is still alive, and plotting some other evil scheme to activate Zoid Eve, or the Deathsaurer again??!!" Fiona sounded a little shaken by the thought. "Well, I really do not think that he would try to bring the Deathsaurer back, he should have learned by now. But he might try to activate Zoid Eve again, but he still lacks an ancient Zoidian to activate Zoid Eve." "Doesn't it bug you Van?" "Does what bother me??" "The fact that I am an Ancient Zoidian, don't you wish I was normal so that you didn't have every power hungry maniac trying to kill you to get to me??" "No, why would that bother me, it makes no difference to me what time period you came from. What makes you ask that Fiona??" "It has just been something that has been nagging at me for a long time, what if you didn't like me because I was a Zoidian, and that everybody wants to harm you to get to me? What if I am destroying your life, but you just don't want to hurt my feelings into saving yourself? What if y." "Fiona, STOP, don't be so hard on yourself, the only thing that bugs me that has anything to do with that is that some people think you are nothing but a possession to study, just because you are a survivor of an ancient race. So, no; none of what you have asked bugs me, Fiona, you, Zeke, Moon Bay, and Irvine are the best thing that have ever happened to me, you are the greatest person that I have ever met though. It pains me to see you tear yourself up over questions you already know the answer to." "Van."
Fiona seems to be content in knowing that she causes no waves with Van, but she is seemingly having a battle over something else. The two of them ride off into the direction of the ruins in which the two met, although Fiona doesn't seem to notice. Fiona went off in a blank stare, and seemed to be in deep thought, and emotional pain. "Van, why do you think that there is always someone after me. I feel like my name is on a wanted poster, I guess it has something to do with the fact that I am an ancient zoidian, but why am I the one everyone is after what about Reese, no one is after her?" "I wish I knew, maybe it is because you and I are both famous, where as Reese is not as well known. But hey, don't worry, there is not a gang large or powerful enough to take you and me down, and no matter what, no one is going to take you away without getting into one hell of a fight." "Van." Fiona still seemed a bit disgruntled, but a little more troubled than usual. Fiona was thinking to herself: "Why do I always seem to get Van in trouble? Why is everyone after me? Does Van really mean what he says about not being upset. he sure doesn't look upset, but van isn't always the emotional one. And why am I asking myself these questions. I know very well that Van doesn't mind, because, beca."
"Beep, beep, beep, beep." "Huh? Van we've got missiles inbound bearing 175!" "Darn It! Why don't these guys leave us alone. they are starting to annoy me!!" Van was thinking: "darn, things were going so good, we were just about to where I wanted to be and then they show up again! Why, why, why???!!!!" Van swung the Blade Liger around to face the missiles; the missiles ended up impacting just behind the blade liger. A pair of Zaber Fangs were up on a ridge, just ahead of the Liger. Van charged the two Zaber Fangs and activated the blades, even with the damaged leg, the Liger moved at an astonishing pace. The Blade Liger, again, blazed right through the two zoids without having much trouble in getting there.
"Now, where was I, oh, yeah, well, off we go." Van turned the Liger back around and headed off towards the ruins. A few minutes passed with Fiona staring out the side of the cockpit, and Van with his mind on something seemingly important. Suddenly, Van reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, he then proceeded to open it, he faintly smiled, and then he closed the box and placed it back.
A few minutes later the liger approached the ruins. "Ok, lets get out and work on the Liger Fiona." "Van, this is where we first met." "Yeah, it was the only place I could think of that had some shade." "That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard Van, why are we really here!?" Van blushed a little, but was almost speechless. "Uh, why are you so up tight about it Fiona, its not like it is an offense to take you here." "Van, you coward, why don't you just ask me?" "HUH!!??" Van nearly fell over, and looked rather shocked. "Ask you what Fiona?" "Don't play dumb with me Van."
"Hey, who is that?" A Gustav is approaching the ruins. "Hey Fiona, is that Moonbay?" "Yes, it is, but why would she be here?" Moonbay pulled up and gets out. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" "What are you doing here, Fiona and I need to fix the Liger; so we came here because it is the only shade around for miles." "I'm sure that that isn't the only reason that you came here, is it van." Moonbay sounded as if she was insinuating something. "Cut it out, like I said, that is the only reason we came here, why does everyone think that there is another reason?" "Wow, what did that, that leg is in bad shape!?" "Would you believe if we told you a Gogelus did it? Fiona and I could hardly believe it ourselves, how does a gang get a hold of a Gogelus, those things don't just come from your local drug store you know. And Prozen is supposedly back." "Well, unfortunately, it seems things have gotten back to normal for you two, but how is Prozen back, and why is a gang after you?!" "Well, a group of zoids attacked us on our way back to the base, and then they said that Prozen sent them to retrieve Fiona, of course, we let them have it." "Hmm, sounds as if things are about to get really messy again." "Hey, Moonbay, do you think you can convince Van to ask me what he was going to ask me eventually, I almost had it out of him, but then he used your arrival to clam himself up?" "Hey, Fiona, why are you trying to get Moonbay to pound it out of me too?" "Because I demand to know now." "Fiona, just one question, what are you hoping to get out of me, and when did you get so pushy?" "That is two questions. Now show me what is in your pocket Van, I can see it bulging." "Huh, you mean this." Van pulled out the box and handed it to Fiona, who then opened it. Inside is a small silver sphere. Fiona looked a little confused. "It is a data core, a new development by the empire, they told me to give it to the Republic, so they could easily share top secret information." Fiona drops the box, and runs off almost in tears.
[THUMP] "Ow, Moonbay what was that for?" "For playing with Fiona's heart." "Huh?" "Augh, Van you just don't get it do you, our just as hard headed as ever, only this time, it could destroy your relationship with Fiona." Moonbay sounded serious, and disturbed, as if she sensed trouble within Fiona and Van. "But what did I do to make Fiona so upset?" "It is what you didn't do that make her upset, Van, you broke her heart, don't you understand at all?!" Zeke had run off after Fiona who was now inside of the ruins. "Zeke, why am I misunderstood? Why didn't van just ask me what he had in mind when he could?"
Mean while Reese lurked in the shadows. She approached Fiona and attempted to take control of her mind by doing that "everybody hates me" technique. Fiona is led into the shadows of the ancient corridors, where she is then hog-tied and strapped to a chair. Fiona was now just coming out of "hypnosis" and realized what has happened. Zeke had fled during the attack on Fiona, and now ran to get Van.
Back at the Liger Van got a bad feeling. "What is it, Van, you seem disturbed" "It's Fiona, something bad has happened to her!" "Yeah, you made her cry remember?" "No, this is something far worse than that." Just then Zeke came running up " Raarrgghh, Raugh" "Zeke, lead us to Fiona!" Zeke clattered off into the ruins with Van following close behind. Fiona had been set up in a small opening, in the center of a beam of light that was shining through the roof. Van and Zeke approached from behind Fiona. "Zeke, do you think it is a trap? Wait, what am I saying, it is always a trap; oh well!" Van charged into the room, just then ambient rushed out and struck Van with his tail, Zeke charged and fought Ambient, while Van ran after Hiltz, who was then running down the corridor off to Van's right. But Van stopped his pursuit, in the remembrance of Fiona being tied up. He turned around to see Ambient charging at him. Van dodged to the right as Ambient ran past. Not realizing the awkwardness of the situation, he decided to return to Fiona.
Van returned and untied Fiona, who was grateful, but also upset with why he didn't untie her sooner. "Van, why did you take so long?" "I'm sorry Fiona I just. Fiona, We need to get out of here now!!" A lot of squeaking noises were made as the caterpillar like zoids made their way towards the chamber through a number of corridors. Van and Fiona both ran down one, to find about 30 of the little pieces of garbage coming at them. "Fiona, Get down!!" Van threw a grenade into the midst of them and ducked down, protecting Fiona. The grenade exploded as another group of caterpillar things entered the corridor from behind them. Van and Fiona both ran as fast as they could through the remaining mini-zoids, with Zeke following behind them.
The 3 of them rounded the corner to find Hiltz staring them down with a tripod-mount fully automatic rifle. Hiltz fired, and hit Fiona in the arm. Fiona dropped to the ground and a small pool of blood formed from her arm. In an amazing rush of furry, Van charged Hiltz, leaving him no time to react, and kicked Hiltz in the head, knocking him out. Moonbay, noticing the explosions and gunfire, moved into the ruins, expecting an ambush. Van ran over to Fiona, who seemed to have been knocked out from her fall. "Fiona, Fiona, can you here me. come on, answer me, Fiona." Van picked Fiona up and headed the only way he cares to go: out of the ruins.
Suddenly, Van realized that he was unfamiliar with the surrounding tunnels, and decided that he had better not get him and Fiona lost, so he decided to go a little further down, where there was another small chamber, and wait for Moonbay there. He was just about to pass Hiltz when Ambient comes along and merged temporarily with Hiltz and left the ruins. Van continued walking for a little ways and then stopped, set Fiona down, and sat down beside her. Van then tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around Fiona's wound.
A few moments later Fiona started to come out of unconsciousness. "Fiona, are you okay, err. what am I saying, you just got shot? Is there anything you need right now?" "No, I'm fine, thank you for saving us all, and I'm sorry for the way I blew up, I should learn not to expect too much out of you." "Hey, I'm the one who saved us back there! I'm the one who should be sorry though; I shouldn't have toyed with you like that. I didn't know that your reaction would be so bad. So, in that case." Van reached into his pocket and started to pull something out. "Zeke, go up ahead of us and see if it leads out, then, come back and get us, and lead us out." Zeke clattered off into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. Van then pulled out that same box that held the 'data core'. "Fiona." Van hesitates, and then he opened the container. "Fiona. I wanted to wait until a little later, but before any thing else happens." Van choked. "What is it Van? Van, you were saying something." Fiona looks over at him. Van could only stare back at her in awe "Van. Hello. Are you OK?? Why are you holding the data core? VAN, answer me!" "Huh, oh! Fiona, this isn't a data core, here, open it." Fiona looked at him a little awkward, but then she took out the 'orb' and twisted it. The top came off and inside was an engagement ring. Fiona sits there and just stared at it for a few moments. "Uh, I guess this would be a nice time for this: .Fiona, will you marry me?" Van barely managed to choke out the phrase.
Fiona; a little dazed by the entire situation; jumped foreword and hugged Van around his neck. "Van, of course I will!" Van was a little stunned, but then he hugged Fiona back. "Uh, Fiona, I can't breathe, please don't squeeze my neck!" "Oh, sorry." Fiona blushed a little (more) and lowered her grasp. "Van?" "Hmm?" "When this is all over with, can we go on a vacation somewhere, where we won't have to worry about all of these conflicts? Just for a week or so?" "I'll see what I can arrange. But first, we have to get out of here, and find out what the heck is going on. What is the point of going on vacation if wherever we go gets blown away by another evil zoid?" Fiona looked a little disappointed, knowing that what she meant by 'this' was getting out of the ruins. "Van, he always thinks of others first, he just won't rest until he gets to the bottom of everything."
Fiona started to daydream, when; again, she was rudely interrupted by the echoing voice of Raven. "Well, well, well. The famous Van Flyhiet and Fiona are getting married. Not if I can help it." A gunshot echoes through the ruins. Fiona felt a sharp stabbing pain in her right abdominal area. "Fiona, No! Raven you will pay dearly for that. AGHH!!!!! NOBODY, BUT NOBODY HURTS FIONA!!!!" Van gently lays Fiona down as he charges off to fight Raven. Fiona found herself paralyzed by pain. Things started to dim and become muffled, she could hear the fight between Raven and Van escalate as a grenade went off. A few seconds latter everything dimmed and went dark, and Fiona found herself in a state of suspended animation. "Is this the end? But it had just begun." Fiona now could only hear extremely muffled voices. Unable to do anything but lie there and do nothing: Fiona felt herself being lifted up and carried off. Fiona wondered, "Who has got me? [Gasp] What if it's it Raven!? No, Raven doesn't have a use for me, or does he?"
Mean while, in the conscious world, Van was running as fast as he can with Fiona out of the ruins hoping to find Moon Bay, or somebody that would help. "Ha, there is the way we came in!" Van nearly ran down Moon Bay in his rush out of the ruins. "Hey, Van, what in the. Oh, my goodness, C'mon, let's get you and Fiona to the Gustav!" Van, Fiona (who is unconscious), and Moon Bay rushed into the 'cargo' that the Gustav is carrying. "Van, set her down here." Moon Bay pulled out a wall-mounted cot from the sidewalls of the cargo hold. Van set Fiona down on the bed. "We have to get the bullet out now, then we can try to stop the bleeding!" "Van, what the devil went on in there?" "No time, we must act fast!" Van used a pair of tweezers to reach down into the 'hole' in Fiona's side. "Augh, stupid thing." The tweezers slipped off of the slug each time Van tried to pull it out. "Hah, got it!" Van pulled the slug out of the wound. "Now, Moon Bay, we have to bandage this wound, or she will bleed to death. I have no idea how much blood she has lost, and she has already passed out, and that is not a good sign!" "Here, here's the First Aid kit." "I could have used that a little bit earlier. Good, Lord, that is not a kit, that is a whole hospital wing!"
Moon Bay was struggling with a large tackle box that held all of the first aid supplies. She brought it over to Van, who immediately opened it and started rummaging around. "Moon Bay, I need you to lift up Fiona just a little bit, so I can get this around her." "Sure." Moon Bay went over to Fiona and lifted up her back just enough for Van to pass a roll of fabric around her. "Moon Bay, there is a doctor in this town, get the Gustav on the move, now!" Moon Bay ran up to the cockpit of the Gustav, got in, and started off toward the town. Mean while in the back, Van was diligently monitoring Fiona's condition. Van was in such distress that he started thinking aloud: "Fiona, how could I let this happen to you? Why didn't I just carry on when we had the chance, we could have been out of there a long time ago, but instead, I just had to stay? It is my fault that this all happened, if I had just gotten us out of there." Van slipped off into a daze, starring at the floor, ashamed of what he thought was his fault.
He is shortly 'awakened' by the Gustav lurching to a halt. Van immediately picked up Fiona and opened the door to the rear of the cargo hold. He rushed inside of his house. "Van, what a pleasant surprise. OH NO, quick, set her here; I'll go get the doctor!" Van's sister, Maria, ran out the door towards the Doc's house. Van set Fiona on the couch. A few minutes later the doctor rushed into the house, with his sister following close behind. "How long has she been out for Van?!" "I'd say about 30 minutes Doc. But it might be a little longer." 'Doc' Came over to inspect Van's 'ER' work. "Van, you did an excellent job at treating this kind of injury, you should be proud, if you weren't there, Fiona would have most likely died." "By the way you are using past-tense here Doc. I'm assuming that you believe that Fiona is going to be ok." "Well, not exactly Van. What I am saying is that if you weren't there, then she wouldn't have made it here. . none of the vitals appear to have been hit. although, that is awfully close to the liver, and just below the lung, she is quite lucky." "Soooo. what is the plan here, I mean, we have to do something to treat this." "Van, the body is an amazing thing: as long as proper care is given to the wound to prevent further injuries, and none of the vital organs are badly damaged. The body can heal itself, and in this case, the best thing we can do now is to let Fiona heal herself. No medicine or operation can do much to help this, although, we could stand for a little blood transfusion. She hasn't lost a lethal amount of blood, and you did a fine job of stopping the bleeding, and she should wake up sometime tomorrow. Call me when she does." With that Doc left the house, leaving Van with a lot of unanswered questions. Moon Bay and Maria came over to him. "The doctor told us that Fiona should make a full recovery. As long as we take good care of her, and call him as soon as Fiona wakes up." "Guys, can you leave me to myself for a minute?" Moon Bay and Maria looked a little shocked, but then they realized what this meant for Van, so, they leave the room. Van, who was in a great deal of emotional pain, and stress; finally worried himself to sleep.
That was how it happened; how Fiona ended up in a life-threatening situation, and how Van was put through the only that almost compared with the death of his father. and this is how things will progress as Van and Fiona recover from their traumatic experience. (END: PART ONE)
Table of Contents; (titles subject to change) Prelude Part One: The Chaos Continues Part Two: Fiona's Peril Part Three: Fiona Missing?! Part Four: The Search Begins Part Five: The Gauntlet Part Six: The Power of Love Part Seven: The Past Part Eight: Ties Part Nine: The Ion-Liger Part Ten: Yesterday's Tomorrow
(Prelude)
Again, our story takes place on the planet Zi. The Deathsaurer, and the Death Stinger have been eliminated; and piece has been restored. Although all of the parties involved in the resurrection of the Deathsaurer escaped. We are now about 2 years into the future; where Van (and supposedly Fiona) is 20 Emperor Rudolph now has a wife; Rosso, and Viola still look after him. Van Flyhiet and Fiona are still members of the Guardian Force. Hiltz is still at large, as well as Raven and Reese. Van and Fiona have made it their soul purpose to capture and convict Hiltz of his evil doings. Fiona has again taken her interests back to researching ancient ruins. Only this time she is searching for clues as to what happened to the ancient Zoidians (in more detail. in other words: besides the fact that the Deathsaurer kicked their rear ends all over the planet), and as to why she was saved, and not many others. Fiona has grown a little more sensible, and doesn't leave Van's side (if she did, she wouldn't last 2 days. not to be insulting, but as a fact: Fiona is just too gullible to be left out on the streets alone), so, of course, Van accompanies her to all of the ruins she can get her self into (much to her dismay in this story).
(PART ONE: The Chaos Continues)
The sun shone as the Blade Liger and its crew of Fiona and Van, strode along the desert plains of planet Zi. It had been 6 years since the last big party with the Deathsaurer, and Van is now 20 (Fiona is assumed to be that same age), and is still a member of the Guardian Force. Fiona and Van are now almost inseparable, although they are not married. Zeke trotted along beside the Liger as he usually did, following just several meters behind. Van maneuvered the Blade Liger to the right a little, they were going to investigate what appeared to be more ancient ruins. "Van, we are 32 kilometers out, ETA- 15 minutes." "Ok, Fiona, let's be sure to stop outside of the valley that it is in so that you can get a feeling of it, we don't want to have another incident like at the science facility and the Deathsaurer." "Sure thing." The Blade Liger veers into a canyon on its left. "Ok, we are in the canyon, about how long Fiona?" "About 10 minutes, unless we get some interruptions." The Blade liger weaves in and out of the cannons twists and turns, until finally, it comes to an abrupt stop at the entrance to a "caldera" (a caldera is a large chunk of the earths crust that has sunk into the ground due to a major build up of volcanic gases under the earth, when this builds up it lifts the ground, forming a "hill", when the pressure is to great, the gases explode out of the top (much like an aerosol can does when shot with a b-b gun) the magma and gases escape, leaving a wide open chamber, that is bearing too much weight, so, it collapses, leaving a giant "reverse-plateau" (a step-down that is a level valley with a wall.))
It was very hazy and Van couldn't see much, except what seemed to be a dark tower in the shape of a rectangular prism, which had some smaller buildings around it. "Wow, so this is the place. How are you feeling Fiona?" "Fine for now, let's get a little closer." The Liger starts to move foreword, and Zeke follows in suit. Suddenly Fiona started freaking out in back of Van. "Van, Van, Please, lets go, I'm getting a very bad feeling; this isn't anything we are looking for. Please, Please, let's go!!" "Hang on Fiona, are you sure this place is that bad?!" "Yes, so please can we get away from here????!!!!!" "Ok Fiona, I'm trusting you on this one!." The Blade Liger turned around and headed at flank speed down the canyon, leaving Zeke struggling to keep up. "Oh, no, Fiona, we forgot about Zeke!" "I'm sure Zeke will be fine Van, just stop at the end of the canyon." "OK." The Liger came to the end of the canyon and stopped. "Fiona, it's been about 3 minutes that we have been waiting for Zeke, should we go back?" "NO, Van the closer we are to those ruins, the more danger planet Zi is in. Besides, Zeke is right over there!" "Hey Zeke, sorry we left ya' back there, but Fiona started to freak, so, we decided it was best to get out of there while we still could. Sorry we left you behind."
"Van, the radar shows 5 Zoids approaching from the south!" "Fiona, can you tell if they are hostile" "Negative, but if they were friendly, then they would have contacted us by now!" "Hmm...Zeke Mobilize! Fiona can you give me a clue of what were up against??" "Affirmative, looks like a localized gang, scope shows 2 hellcats, 2 Iron Kongs, and a Gogelus!" "A WHAT!!!? Did you just say a Gogelus, where on Zi did they get one of those, that is a Republican Zoid! Check the scope again, if it is, then we're dealing with more than a local gang." "Ok...Yep. It is a Gogelus, these guys must be ready to do some serious damage to something!" "Yeah, and I'm getting the feeling that that something is us! Let's get'm Zeke!" A transmission came up on the HUD of the Liger: "Van Fliheit, and Fiona, we have been sent by Lord Prozen to destroy you!" "Oh yeah, well, you can relay this message to him when I have you going back to him crying like a little baby: Whaaaa, Lord Prozen, mean old Van in the Blade Liger beat us to a pulp, Whaaaa! Tell him that he can eat my BLADE!!!" Van threw the controls foreword, activating the blades, which then folded down and started to glow. Meanwhile, Fiona was thinking to her self in the back of the Liger: "Van, your just as cocky and childlike as ever, but, that's what makes you the best, you take nothing too hard, you laugh it off and keep on fighting." Fiona was rudely interrupted in her daydream by the Blade Liger getting knocked around. "Huh???" "Fiona, what just happened!?" The Blade Liger lost its pace, stumbled, and tripped; then fell to the ground. "Van, the rear right leg balance is off 50%, what hit us to make that happen?!" "I guess that Gogelus got a good shot off, it must have hit close enough to damage the leg. But we can't stop now, if Prozen is still alive, then he is up to no good, and to stop him, we must survive here, so like I have said before EAT MY BLADE!!!!!!!" The Blade Liger popped up and charged the Gogelus; and sliced it in two. Van swerved again and destroyed the two hellcats. "Now, who else wants to try to kill us??!" Van Charges the Kongs, Destroying the one on his right, the other flees to the east (left of van) "Y'all come back now ya here. Are you ok Fiona?" "Yes, I'm fine, wish I could say the same for the Liger though."
"Aww, don't worry, with your knowledge, and my,,, uh,.. Anyway, we can get the Liger fixed up in no time at all, right." "I don't know Van, the damage to the leg is pretty bad; it has certainly seen better days." "Well, at least your ok, lets go find some shade to get the Liger back to something functional." Several minutes passed with nothing happening, as the Liger limped off to an unknown destination. "Van." "Yes, Fiona?" "Do you really think that Prozen is still alive, and plotting some other evil scheme to activate Zoid Eve, or the Deathsaurer again??!!" Fiona sounded a little shaken by the thought. "Well, I really do not think that he would try to bring the Deathsaurer back, he should have learned by now. But he might try to activate Zoid Eve again, but he still lacks an ancient Zoidian to activate Zoid Eve." "Doesn't it bug you Van?" "Does what bother me??" "The fact that I am an Ancient Zoidian, don't you wish I was normal so that you didn't have every power hungry maniac trying to kill you to get to me??" "No, why would that bother me, it makes no difference to me what time period you came from. What makes you ask that Fiona??" "It has just been something that has been nagging at me for a long time, what if you didn't like me because I was a Zoidian, and that everybody wants to harm you to get to me? What if I am destroying your life, but you just don't want to hurt my feelings into saving yourself? What if y." "Fiona, STOP, don't be so hard on yourself, the only thing that bugs me that has anything to do with that is that some people think you are nothing but a possession to study, just because you are a survivor of an ancient race. So, no; none of what you have asked bugs me, Fiona, you, Zeke, Moon Bay, and Irvine are the best thing that have ever happened to me, you are the greatest person that I have ever met though. It pains me to see you tear yourself up over questions you already know the answer to." "Van."
Fiona seems to be content in knowing that she causes no waves with Van, but she is seemingly having a battle over something else. The two of them ride off into the direction of the ruins in which the two met, although Fiona doesn't seem to notice. Fiona went off in a blank stare, and seemed to be in deep thought, and emotional pain. "Van, why do you think that there is always someone after me. I feel like my name is on a wanted poster, I guess it has something to do with the fact that I am an ancient zoidian, but why am I the one everyone is after what about Reese, no one is after her?" "I wish I knew, maybe it is because you and I are both famous, where as Reese is not as well known. But hey, don't worry, there is not a gang large or powerful enough to take you and me down, and no matter what, no one is going to take you away without getting into one hell of a fight." "Van." Fiona still seemed a bit disgruntled, but a little more troubled than usual. Fiona was thinking to herself: "Why do I always seem to get Van in trouble? Why is everyone after me? Does Van really mean what he says about not being upset. he sure doesn't look upset, but van isn't always the emotional one. And why am I asking myself these questions. I know very well that Van doesn't mind, because, beca."
"Beep, beep, beep, beep." "Huh? Van we've got missiles inbound bearing 175!" "Darn It! Why don't these guys leave us alone. they are starting to annoy me!!" Van was thinking: "darn, things were going so good, we were just about to where I wanted to be and then they show up again! Why, why, why???!!!!" Van swung the Blade Liger around to face the missiles; the missiles ended up impacting just behind the blade liger. A pair of Zaber Fangs were up on a ridge, just ahead of the Liger. Van charged the two Zaber Fangs and activated the blades, even with the damaged leg, the Liger moved at an astonishing pace. The Blade Liger, again, blazed right through the two zoids without having much trouble in getting there.
"Now, where was I, oh, yeah, well, off we go." Van turned the Liger back around and headed off towards the ruins. A few minutes passed with Fiona staring out the side of the cockpit, and Van with his mind on something seemingly important. Suddenly, Van reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, he then proceeded to open it, he faintly smiled, and then he closed the box and placed it back.
A few minutes later the liger approached the ruins. "Ok, lets get out and work on the Liger Fiona." "Van, this is where we first met." "Yeah, it was the only place I could think of that had some shade." "That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard Van, why are we really here!?" Van blushed a little, but was almost speechless. "Uh, why are you so up tight about it Fiona, its not like it is an offense to take you here." "Van, you coward, why don't you just ask me?" "HUH!!??" Van nearly fell over, and looked rather shocked. "Ask you what Fiona?" "Don't play dumb with me Van."
"Hey, who is that?" A Gustav is approaching the ruins. "Hey Fiona, is that Moonbay?" "Yes, it is, but why would she be here?" Moonbay pulled up and gets out. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" "What are you doing here, Fiona and I need to fix the Liger; so we came here because it is the only shade around for miles." "I'm sure that that isn't the only reason that you came here, is it van." Moonbay sounded as if she was insinuating something. "Cut it out, like I said, that is the only reason we came here, why does everyone think that there is another reason?" "Wow, what did that, that leg is in bad shape!?" "Would you believe if we told you a Gogelus did it? Fiona and I could hardly believe it ourselves, how does a gang get a hold of a Gogelus, those things don't just come from your local drug store you know. And Prozen is supposedly back." "Well, unfortunately, it seems things have gotten back to normal for you two, but how is Prozen back, and why is a gang after you?!" "Well, a group of zoids attacked us on our way back to the base, and then they said that Prozen sent them to retrieve Fiona, of course, we let them have it." "Hmm, sounds as if things are about to get really messy again." "Hey, Moonbay, do you think you can convince Van to ask me what he was going to ask me eventually, I almost had it out of him, but then he used your arrival to clam himself up?" "Hey, Fiona, why are you trying to get Moonbay to pound it out of me too?" "Because I demand to know now." "Fiona, just one question, what are you hoping to get out of me, and when did you get so pushy?" "That is two questions. Now show me what is in your pocket Van, I can see it bulging." "Huh, you mean this." Van pulled out the box and handed it to Fiona, who then opened it. Inside is a small silver sphere. Fiona looked a little confused. "It is a data core, a new development by the empire, they told me to give it to the Republic, so they could easily share top secret information." Fiona drops the box, and runs off almost in tears.
[THUMP] "Ow, Moonbay what was that for?" "For playing with Fiona's heart." "Huh?" "Augh, Van you just don't get it do you, our just as hard headed as ever, only this time, it could destroy your relationship with Fiona." Moonbay sounded serious, and disturbed, as if she sensed trouble within Fiona and Van. "But what did I do to make Fiona so upset?" "It is what you didn't do that make her upset, Van, you broke her heart, don't you understand at all?!" Zeke had run off after Fiona who was now inside of the ruins. "Zeke, why am I misunderstood? Why didn't van just ask me what he had in mind when he could?"
Mean while Reese lurked in the shadows. She approached Fiona and attempted to take control of her mind by doing that "everybody hates me" technique. Fiona is led into the shadows of the ancient corridors, where she is then hog-tied and strapped to a chair. Fiona was now just coming out of "hypnosis" and realized what has happened. Zeke had fled during the attack on Fiona, and now ran to get Van.
Back at the Liger Van got a bad feeling. "What is it, Van, you seem disturbed" "It's Fiona, something bad has happened to her!" "Yeah, you made her cry remember?" "No, this is something far worse than that." Just then Zeke came running up " Raarrgghh, Raugh" "Zeke, lead us to Fiona!" Zeke clattered off into the ruins with Van following close behind. Fiona had been set up in a small opening, in the center of a beam of light that was shining through the roof. Van and Zeke approached from behind Fiona. "Zeke, do you think it is a trap? Wait, what am I saying, it is always a trap; oh well!" Van charged into the room, just then ambient rushed out and struck Van with his tail, Zeke charged and fought Ambient, while Van ran after Hiltz, who was then running down the corridor off to Van's right. But Van stopped his pursuit, in the remembrance of Fiona being tied up. He turned around to see Ambient charging at him. Van dodged to the right as Ambient ran past. Not realizing the awkwardness of the situation, he decided to return to Fiona.
Van returned and untied Fiona, who was grateful, but also upset with why he didn't untie her sooner. "Van, why did you take so long?" "I'm sorry Fiona I just. Fiona, We need to get out of here now!!" A lot of squeaking noises were made as the caterpillar like zoids made their way towards the chamber through a number of corridors. Van and Fiona both ran down one, to find about 30 of the little pieces of garbage coming at them. "Fiona, Get down!!" Van threw a grenade into the midst of them and ducked down, protecting Fiona. The grenade exploded as another group of caterpillar things entered the corridor from behind them. Van and Fiona both ran as fast as they could through the remaining mini-zoids, with Zeke following behind them.
The 3 of them rounded the corner to find Hiltz staring them down with a tripod-mount fully automatic rifle. Hiltz fired, and hit Fiona in the arm. Fiona dropped to the ground and a small pool of blood formed from her arm. In an amazing rush of furry, Van charged Hiltz, leaving him no time to react, and kicked Hiltz in the head, knocking him out. Moonbay, noticing the explosions and gunfire, moved into the ruins, expecting an ambush. Van ran over to Fiona, who seemed to have been knocked out from her fall. "Fiona, Fiona, can you here me. come on, answer me, Fiona." Van picked Fiona up and headed the only way he cares to go: out of the ruins.
Suddenly, Van realized that he was unfamiliar with the surrounding tunnels, and decided that he had better not get him and Fiona lost, so he decided to go a little further down, where there was another small chamber, and wait for Moonbay there. He was just about to pass Hiltz when Ambient comes along and merged temporarily with Hiltz and left the ruins. Van continued walking for a little ways and then stopped, set Fiona down, and sat down beside her. Van then tore off a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around Fiona's wound.
A few moments later Fiona started to come out of unconsciousness. "Fiona, are you okay, err. what am I saying, you just got shot? Is there anything you need right now?" "No, I'm fine, thank you for saving us all, and I'm sorry for the way I blew up, I should learn not to expect too much out of you." "Hey, I'm the one who saved us back there! I'm the one who should be sorry though; I shouldn't have toyed with you like that. I didn't know that your reaction would be so bad. So, in that case." Van reached into his pocket and started to pull something out. "Zeke, go up ahead of us and see if it leads out, then, come back and get us, and lead us out." Zeke clattered off into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. Van then pulled out that same box that held the 'data core'. "Fiona." Van hesitates, and then he opened the container. "Fiona. I wanted to wait until a little later, but before any thing else happens." Van choked. "What is it Van? Van, you were saying something." Fiona looks over at him. Van could only stare back at her in awe "Van. Hello. Are you OK?? Why are you holding the data core? VAN, answer me!" "Huh, oh! Fiona, this isn't a data core, here, open it." Fiona looked at him a little awkward, but then she took out the 'orb' and twisted it. The top came off and inside was an engagement ring. Fiona sits there and just stared at it for a few moments. "Uh, I guess this would be a nice time for this: .Fiona, will you marry me?" Van barely managed to choke out the phrase.
Fiona; a little dazed by the entire situation; jumped foreword and hugged Van around his neck. "Van, of course I will!" Van was a little stunned, but then he hugged Fiona back. "Uh, Fiona, I can't breathe, please don't squeeze my neck!" "Oh, sorry." Fiona blushed a little (more) and lowered her grasp. "Van?" "Hmm?" "When this is all over with, can we go on a vacation somewhere, where we won't have to worry about all of these conflicts? Just for a week or so?" "I'll see what I can arrange. But first, we have to get out of here, and find out what the heck is going on. What is the point of going on vacation if wherever we go gets blown away by another evil zoid?" Fiona looked a little disappointed, knowing that what she meant by 'this' was getting out of the ruins. "Van, he always thinks of others first, he just won't rest until he gets to the bottom of everything."
Fiona started to daydream, when; again, she was rudely interrupted by the echoing voice of Raven. "Well, well, well. The famous Van Flyhiet and Fiona are getting married. Not if I can help it." A gunshot echoes through the ruins. Fiona felt a sharp stabbing pain in her right abdominal area. "Fiona, No! Raven you will pay dearly for that. AGHH!!!!! NOBODY, BUT NOBODY HURTS FIONA!!!!" Van gently lays Fiona down as he charges off to fight Raven. Fiona found herself paralyzed by pain. Things started to dim and become muffled, she could hear the fight between Raven and Van escalate as a grenade went off. A few seconds latter everything dimmed and went dark, and Fiona found herself in a state of suspended animation. "Is this the end? But it had just begun." Fiona now could only hear extremely muffled voices. Unable to do anything but lie there and do nothing: Fiona felt herself being lifted up and carried off. Fiona wondered, "Who has got me? [Gasp] What if it's it Raven!? No, Raven doesn't have a use for me, or does he?"
Mean while, in the conscious world, Van was running as fast as he can with Fiona out of the ruins hoping to find Moon Bay, or somebody that would help. "Ha, there is the way we came in!" Van nearly ran down Moon Bay in his rush out of the ruins. "Hey, Van, what in the. Oh, my goodness, C'mon, let's get you and Fiona to the Gustav!" Van, Fiona (who is unconscious), and Moon Bay rushed into the 'cargo' that the Gustav is carrying. "Van, set her down here." Moon Bay pulled out a wall-mounted cot from the sidewalls of the cargo hold. Van set Fiona down on the bed. "We have to get the bullet out now, then we can try to stop the bleeding!" "Van, what the devil went on in there?" "No time, we must act fast!" Van used a pair of tweezers to reach down into the 'hole' in Fiona's side. "Augh, stupid thing." The tweezers slipped off of the slug each time Van tried to pull it out. "Hah, got it!" Van pulled the slug out of the wound. "Now, Moon Bay, we have to bandage this wound, or she will bleed to death. I have no idea how much blood she has lost, and she has already passed out, and that is not a good sign!" "Here, here's the First Aid kit." "I could have used that a little bit earlier. Good, Lord, that is not a kit, that is a whole hospital wing!"
Moon Bay was struggling with a large tackle box that held all of the first aid supplies. She brought it over to Van, who immediately opened it and started rummaging around. "Moon Bay, I need you to lift up Fiona just a little bit, so I can get this around her." "Sure." Moon Bay went over to Fiona and lifted up her back just enough for Van to pass a roll of fabric around her. "Moon Bay, there is a doctor in this town, get the Gustav on the move, now!" Moon Bay ran up to the cockpit of the Gustav, got in, and started off toward the town. Mean while in the back, Van was diligently monitoring Fiona's condition. Van was in such distress that he started thinking aloud: "Fiona, how could I let this happen to you? Why didn't I just carry on when we had the chance, we could have been out of there a long time ago, but instead, I just had to stay? It is my fault that this all happened, if I had just gotten us out of there." Van slipped off into a daze, starring at the floor, ashamed of what he thought was his fault.
He is shortly 'awakened' by the Gustav lurching to a halt. Van immediately picked up Fiona and opened the door to the rear of the cargo hold. He rushed inside of his house. "Van, what a pleasant surprise. OH NO, quick, set her here; I'll go get the doctor!" Van's sister, Maria, ran out the door towards the Doc's house. Van set Fiona on the couch. A few minutes later the doctor rushed into the house, with his sister following close behind. "How long has she been out for Van?!" "I'd say about 30 minutes Doc. But it might be a little longer." 'Doc' Came over to inspect Van's 'ER' work. "Van, you did an excellent job at treating this kind of injury, you should be proud, if you weren't there, Fiona would have most likely died." "By the way you are using past-tense here Doc. I'm assuming that you believe that Fiona is going to be ok." "Well, not exactly Van. What I am saying is that if you weren't there, then she wouldn't have made it here. . none of the vitals appear to have been hit. although, that is awfully close to the liver, and just below the lung, she is quite lucky." "Soooo. what is the plan here, I mean, we have to do something to treat this." "Van, the body is an amazing thing: as long as proper care is given to the wound to prevent further injuries, and none of the vital organs are badly damaged. The body can heal itself, and in this case, the best thing we can do now is to let Fiona heal herself. No medicine or operation can do much to help this, although, we could stand for a little blood transfusion. She hasn't lost a lethal amount of blood, and you did a fine job of stopping the bleeding, and she should wake up sometime tomorrow. Call me when she does." With that Doc left the house, leaving Van with a lot of unanswered questions. Moon Bay and Maria came over to him. "The doctor told us that Fiona should make a full recovery. As long as we take good care of her, and call him as soon as Fiona wakes up." "Guys, can you leave me to myself for a minute?" Moon Bay and Maria looked a little shocked, but then they realized what this meant for Van, so, they leave the room. Van, who was in a great deal of emotional pain, and stress; finally worried himself to sleep.
That was how it happened; how Fiona ended up in a life-threatening situation, and how Van was put through the only that almost compared with the death of his father. and this is how things will progress as Van and Fiona recover from their traumatic experience. (END: PART ONE)