(PART THREE: Fiona Missing?!)
"F-F-Fiona", Van snivels, "W-Why?" Moon Bay, who had heard Van fall to the floor; comes in to see what is going on. "Van, where is Fiona?" "If I knew I wouldn't be here either." "What? Do you mean to say that she is missing?!" "Yeah, something like that. Here, maybe you can make more sense out of it than I can." "Hmm.. What is this?" "It is the note that Fiona left; maybe it can give us a clue as to where she went, or what she is planning to do." Moon Bay took a look at the note; "Hmmm. Well, all I can say is that she doesn't want you to get hurt because she is an Ancient Zoidian, and that she doesn't hate you, or despise you, she loves you very much, that is why she left." "Doesn't she know that if whoever is after her gets a hold of her, that they will eventually come after me, and then I will end up getting hurt or put in danger no matter which way she goes, and the chances of me getting killed now are greater than they ever have been... But they are even worse for Fiona." Van says this in a grave manner; he knows that the longer Fiona is missing, the less chance they have of getting her back alive.let alone without a fight.
"Well, what are we standing her for Van? Get a move on and find her. God knows; you will never find a girl like that for a million years, and you can't afford to lose her. She is your future wife; SO GET OUT THERE AND BRING HER BACK!!!!!"
Thomas, who had heard all of the screaming and weeping by now comes in and says: "Bring who back?.. By the way, where is Fiona" "Duh you dork, she has gone off, and now I have to go find her and bring her back before she gets herself KILLED; so please, move out of my way Thomas!" "WHAT?!?! Fiona is missing.. Moon Bay let me see that note that is obviously from Fiona!" Thomas yanks the note from Moon Bay's hand and starts to read it. Van leans over and mutters to Moon Bay; "Sure. NOW his brain kicks in." Thomas finishes reading the note. "Van, how could you do this? I knew that Fiona didn't really like you! And I know that you should have kept her off of the battlefield.. Like I told you years ago, but you didn't listen! So look at what you have done! Fiona is gone, and now my love is gone too! And it is all because of YOU!" Van just stares back at him. "Are you finished yet? Because if you don't mind. I am going to go save Fiona, because I already know that she has gotten herself in trouble. Then I am going to bring her back so we can work a few bumps out in out relationship." Moon Bay laughs at the way that Van responds because she is always annoyed by Thomas's juvenile behavior. Thomas looks at Van in disbelief. "What? You actually think that Fiona will come back with you. after she just left you? And you call ME an Idiot!?"
"Look Thomas; I don't have time to explain this all to you. But I must say this; you are way too selfish and self-centered to have Fiona.. Fiona doesn't want all of the material things that she could ever want. She wants what makes her happy, and until you can do that; you stand little chance with her." Van starts to leave and passes Thomas who is just staring at him like he always does when he knows he has been beaten. "Oh, and by the way Thomas. Fiona is happy on the battlefield with me; so don't tell me, or her, what she can and can't do!"
Meanwhile; Moon Bay is having the laugh of a lifetime at the way that Van insulted Thomas without even breaking a sweat or getting hostile. "Thomas. * snickers * HAHAHAHAHAHA-HA-HA-HOUGH. He sure told you! But he is right you know. Fiona and Van have been together since they were about 14, when Van found Zeke, who was frozen in a capsule, just like Fiona was. She had no memory of who she was, or where she came from. The only thing she could remember was something about Zoid Eve. She knew that this, so-called Zoid Eve, was important, and that she must find it. Van took it upon himself to protect Fiona in her quest for Zoid Eve. During that quest; Fiona regained her memory, which was stored within Zeke when she and Zeke evolved the Shield Liger. So you see.. They have much more together than you could even hope to achieve. Fiona depends upon Van to protect, care for, and even love her. But when she saw that Van was being put in danger because of her heritage; she left here, so that if someone wanted to capture her, they could do it without having to get through Van."
"If she depends on him so much, then why did she leave?" "I already explained that Thomas. She didn't want him to get hurt by trying to protect her. So far, Van has protected her, and the world from many things. but Fiona must have sensed that something more powerful was coming.. Something more powerful than Van could handle, and that it would be best if she didn't allow him to get hurt so easy in the beginning of what she senses as the end." "Huh? Could you run that by me again?"
Moon Bay sighs; "Thomas, Fiona thinks that an evil force will soon come to threaten the planet again, but she doesn't think that Van can stand up to it and succeed. She also knows that it is coming after her for whatever reason, and she knows that the planet can only be saved if Van doesn't perish trying to protect her." "How do you know all of this?" "Thomas. there is a thing called girl-talk.. That is something that you guys don't do. Fiona told me much about her dilemmas yesterday." " And you didn't try to stop her?" "I supported her decision because I knew it would strengthen their relationship. I could also tell that there were other reasons that I couldn't get out of her.. But I think they have to do with Van reaching a new power level or something."
Thomas doesn't say much to this and he leaves to follow Van and give him back up where he needs it. He emerges from the house to find Van vigorously searching the ground. "What pray tell are you doing? You are supposed to be looking for Fiona!" "Thomas, spare me the lecture on how to find her.. But in case you were wondering; I am looking for any tracks she may have left." "Are you nuts? This is normal ground you're talking about! You don't leave tracks in the dirt. or none that you can follow the next day. This isn't sand, snow, mud, or anything else. You can't find tracks in this! Not even B.E.A.K. can!" "Thomas. Shut up and come here for a moment." Thomas puts on his 'this isn't going to work' face, and goes over to where Van is kneeling. "What do you want now?" "Look at this.. And tell me if that doesn't look like the indent of a walking stick." Thomas looks at the small indent in the ground, which is about a millimeter deep, and 3 centimeters apart. "Wow, how did you do that? I doubt B.E.A.K. could have done that!" "That is because I know what I am looking for when I look for Fiona. I knew that she would have used a walking stick because she got hit in the arm, and then she got hit in the side; so she couldn't walk very far without someone or something to help her. and since the someone would have been me, and I wasn't there to help her; then she must have used the old walking stick that was missing from the house. Come on, I have got a second over here!"
Van and Thomas trace the trail of Fiona, all of the time they are seeing deeper and deeper impressions. "Hey, Van; why do you think that the impressions from the walking stick are getting deeper?" "Probably because as Fiona went, she got tired, and she had to put more and more weight on the walking stick. That increased the p.s.i. On the ground that supported it." "Since when did you become so technical? And when did you get the time to learn all of this. I haven't seen you hitting the books lately!" "I get it from watching Doctor D. and Fiona work on the Zoids and repair them. I picked up a lot of my vocabulary from them." Van's eyes are glued to the ground, while Thomas tends to look up and out to try to see if he can see where Fiona is going. "[Gasp] Van! Look up there!" Van has been so intent on following Fiona's tracks that he didn't bother to look up for additional clues. Van looks up, "What is it Thomas?" Van strains his eyes a bit to see the walking stick on the ground; at first, he thought it was a normal stick that had fallen out of a tree. "Oh No! Fiona!" Van jumps up from the ground and, like a bolt of lightning, takes off towards the end of where the trail must be; all the way hoping that Fiona was nearby.
Van reaches the spot where the stick lays and takes a look around for any sign of Fiona. Thomas comes up a few seconds later, panting. "So, where is she Van? Is there any sign of her?" "None but this walking stick. wait. what is that that is scratched into the dirt there?" Van approaches the stick and crouches down to take a better look. "Oh.. DANG!!" "What is it now?" "Take a look for yourself." "That looks like someone else was here too. and what is that that Fiona scratched into the ground?" "Yes someone else has been here and they have obviously taken Fiona. But who? Maybe she scratched into the ground a clue as to who it was." Van takes a good look at what Fiona had etched into the ground with probably her fingernail, which appeared to be the letter 'P'. "Thomas? Do you think that she is trying to say that Prozen took her?!"
(END PART THREE)
(Writer's Comments) Ok, I know that ya'll (like my southern accent? I get it from some of my relatives) are wondering what the heck the title has to do with my story by now. Relax, I will get to that towards the end. then start on the sequel. and then a sequel to "New Century Zero". and by then, most or all questions will be answered (. I hope you all like it so far. have put many hours I shouldn't have into this; and I have lost sleep over what I am going to turn this into, and this is the result; so show some respect to me because I respect your all's stories and stuff you send in.
"F-F-Fiona", Van snivels, "W-Why?" Moon Bay, who had heard Van fall to the floor; comes in to see what is going on. "Van, where is Fiona?" "If I knew I wouldn't be here either." "What? Do you mean to say that she is missing?!" "Yeah, something like that. Here, maybe you can make more sense out of it than I can." "Hmm.. What is this?" "It is the note that Fiona left; maybe it can give us a clue as to where she went, or what she is planning to do." Moon Bay took a look at the note; "Hmmm. Well, all I can say is that she doesn't want you to get hurt because she is an Ancient Zoidian, and that she doesn't hate you, or despise you, she loves you very much, that is why she left." "Doesn't she know that if whoever is after her gets a hold of her, that they will eventually come after me, and then I will end up getting hurt or put in danger no matter which way she goes, and the chances of me getting killed now are greater than they ever have been... But they are even worse for Fiona." Van says this in a grave manner; he knows that the longer Fiona is missing, the less chance they have of getting her back alive.let alone without a fight.
"Well, what are we standing her for Van? Get a move on and find her. God knows; you will never find a girl like that for a million years, and you can't afford to lose her. She is your future wife; SO GET OUT THERE AND BRING HER BACK!!!!!"
Thomas, who had heard all of the screaming and weeping by now comes in and says: "Bring who back?.. By the way, where is Fiona" "Duh you dork, she has gone off, and now I have to go find her and bring her back before she gets herself KILLED; so please, move out of my way Thomas!" "WHAT?!?! Fiona is missing.. Moon Bay let me see that note that is obviously from Fiona!" Thomas yanks the note from Moon Bay's hand and starts to read it. Van leans over and mutters to Moon Bay; "Sure. NOW his brain kicks in." Thomas finishes reading the note. "Van, how could you do this? I knew that Fiona didn't really like you! And I know that you should have kept her off of the battlefield.. Like I told you years ago, but you didn't listen! So look at what you have done! Fiona is gone, and now my love is gone too! And it is all because of YOU!" Van just stares back at him. "Are you finished yet? Because if you don't mind. I am going to go save Fiona, because I already know that she has gotten herself in trouble. Then I am going to bring her back so we can work a few bumps out in out relationship." Moon Bay laughs at the way that Van responds because she is always annoyed by Thomas's juvenile behavior. Thomas looks at Van in disbelief. "What? You actually think that Fiona will come back with you. after she just left you? And you call ME an Idiot!?"
"Look Thomas; I don't have time to explain this all to you. But I must say this; you are way too selfish and self-centered to have Fiona.. Fiona doesn't want all of the material things that she could ever want. She wants what makes her happy, and until you can do that; you stand little chance with her." Van starts to leave and passes Thomas who is just staring at him like he always does when he knows he has been beaten. "Oh, and by the way Thomas. Fiona is happy on the battlefield with me; so don't tell me, or her, what she can and can't do!"
Meanwhile; Moon Bay is having the laugh of a lifetime at the way that Van insulted Thomas without even breaking a sweat or getting hostile. "Thomas. * snickers * HAHAHAHAHAHA-HA-HA-HOUGH. He sure told you! But he is right you know. Fiona and Van have been together since they were about 14, when Van found Zeke, who was frozen in a capsule, just like Fiona was. She had no memory of who she was, or where she came from. The only thing she could remember was something about Zoid Eve. She knew that this, so-called Zoid Eve, was important, and that she must find it. Van took it upon himself to protect Fiona in her quest for Zoid Eve. During that quest; Fiona regained her memory, which was stored within Zeke when she and Zeke evolved the Shield Liger. So you see.. They have much more together than you could even hope to achieve. Fiona depends upon Van to protect, care for, and even love her. But when she saw that Van was being put in danger because of her heritage; she left here, so that if someone wanted to capture her, they could do it without having to get through Van."
"If she depends on him so much, then why did she leave?" "I already explained that Thomas. She didn't want him to get hurt by trying to protect her. So far, Van has protected her, and the world from many things. but Fiona must have sensed that something more powerful was coming.. Something more powerful than Van could handle, and that it would be best if she didn't allow him to get hurt so easy in the beginning of what she senses as the end." "Huh? Could you run that by me again?"
Moon Bay sighs; "Thomas, Fiona thinks that an evil force will soon come to threaten the planet again, but she doesn't think that Van can stand up to it and succeed. She also knows that it is coming after her for whatever reason, and she knows that the planet can only be saved if Van doesn't perish trying to protect her." "How do you know all of this?" "Thomas. there is a thing called girl-talk.. That is something that you guys don't do. Fiona told me much about her dilemmas yesterday." " And you didn't try to stop her?" "I supported her decision because I knew it would strengthen their relationship. I could also tell that there were other reasons that I couldn't get out of her.. But I think they have to do with Van reaching a new power level or something."
Thomas doesn't say much to this and he leaves to follow Van and give him back up where he needs it. He emerges from the house to find Van vigorously searching the ground. "What pray tell are you doing? You are supposed to be looking for Fiona!" "Thomas, spare me the lecture on how to find her.. But in case you were wondering; I am looking for any tracks she may have left." "Are you nuts? This is normal ground you're talking about! You don't leave tracks in the dirt. or none that you can follow the next day. This isn't sand, snow, mud, or anything else. You can't find tracks in this! Not even B.E.A.K. can!" "Thomas. Shut up and come here for a moment." Thomas puts on his 'this isn't going to work' face, and goes over to where Van is kneeling. "What do you want now?" "Look at this.. And tell me if that doesn't look like the indent of a walking stick." Thomas looks at the small indent in the ground, which is about a millimeter deep, and 3 centimeters apart. "Wow, how did you do that? I doubt B.E.A.K. could have done that!" "That is because I know what I am looking for when I look for Fiona. I knew that she would have used a walking stick because she got hit in the arm, and then she got hit in the side; so she couldn't walk very far without someone or something to help her. and since the someone would have been me, and I wasn't there to help her; then she must have used the old walking stick that was missing from the house. Come on, I have got a second over here!"
Van and Thomas trace the trail of Fiona, all of the time they are seeing deeper and deeper impressions. "Hey, Van; why do you think that the impressions from the walking stick are getting deeper?" "Probably because as Fiona went, she got tired, and she had to put more and more weight on the walking stick. That increased the p.s.i. On the ground that supported it." "Since when did you become so technical? And when did you get the time to learn all of this. I haven't seen you hitting the books lately!" "I get it from watching Doctor D. and Fiona work on the Zoids and repair them. I picked up a lot of my vocabulary from them." Van's eyes are glued to the ground, while Thomas tends to look up and out to try to see if he can see where Fiona is going. "[Gasp] Van! Look up there!" Van has been so intent on following Fiona's tracks that he didn't bother to look up for additional clues. Van looks up, "What is it Thomas?" Van strains his eyes a bit to see the walking stick on the ground; at first, he thought it was a normal stick that had fallen out of a tree. "Oh No! Fiona!" Van jumps up from the ground and, like a bolt of lightning, takes off towards the end of where the trail must be; all the way hoping that Fiona was nearby.
Van reaches the spot where the stick lays and takes a look around for any sign of Fiona. Thomas comes up a few seconds later, panting. "So, where is she Van? Is there any sign of her?" "None but this walking stick. wait. what is that that is scratched into the dirt there?" Van approaches the stick and crouches down to take a better look. "Oh.. DANG!!" "What is it now?" "Take a look for yourself." "That looks like someone else was here too. and what is that that Fiona scratched into the ground?" "Yes someone else has been here and they have obviously taken Fiona. But who? Maybe she scratched into the ground a clue as to who it was." Van takes a good look at what Fiona had etched into the ground with probably her fingernail, which appeared to be the letter 'P'. "Thomas? Do you think that she is trying to say that Prozen took her?!"
(END PART THREE)
(Writer's Comments) Ok, I know that ya'll (like my southern accent? I get it from some of my relatives) are wondering what the heck the title has to do with my story by now. Relax, I will get to that towards the end. then start on the sequel. and then a sequel to "New Century Zero". and by then, most or all questions will be answered (. I hope you all like it so far. have put many hours I shouldn't have into this; and I have lost sleep over what I am going to turn this into, and this is the result; so show some respect to me because I respect your all's stories and stuff you send in.