Hey guys... Vegeta here! You all seem to want Thomas alive, and frankly I can't blame you. Well, here's Chapter 4, as promised!
-----------------------------------
Last time on "ZOIDs: Futile Ambition":
Finally, Rhodry could feel the white ZOID slowing down. The roar of the flames receded and the cockpit opened with a hiss of pressurized air. The other ZOIDs did likewise.
"We escaped." Irvine sounded incredulous, fondly patting his Lightning Saix.
"We did..." Van replied mournfully, "Thomas didn't..."
------------------------------------
Chapter IV - Enter the Dragon
Thomas opened his eyes slowly. He had blacked out after Shifter's infamous Wall O' Flame had consumed his Dibison.
Speaking of which... Thomas stood up quickly and instantly regretted it. Clutching his head, he reeled backward. His back hit cold metal, and the Lieutenant whirled around, almost falling over from the dizziness that accompanied his sudden motion.
"I wouldn't advise making any more sudden movements like that... your likely to hurt yourself further." Vista spoke. Thomas had never been so happy to see an Organoid. The white-winged Organoid looked relieved to see Thomas awake, if a big metal dragon could be said to look relieved.
"You... speak?" Thomas responded. He had never heard an Organoid speak... but then, he'd also heard the Diloforce speak before he'd been caught by the fire.
Vista nodded once, quickly. His voice was cultured, deep, reassuring. Both voices were hollow and echoing in the vastness of this 'space'.
"Any idea where we are?" Thomas asked in a quiet voice, taking in his surroundings. They appeared to be in outer space, the area around them black and filled with stars. Here and there was some red and purple from various cosmic phenomena. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls.
"It would appear that the wall of flame was some kind of portal. I would assume this is a prison of some kind." Vista mused, looking around, "I guess Shifter just wanted us out of the way."
Thomas looked at a spiral galaxy near them, bathing the two in a silver light, "I wonder where my Dibison got off to... and Beek, I don't know where he is either."
Vista shook his head, "Beek is infused with the Dibison... where the Dibison is, Beek must be also. As to the whereabouts of your ZOID, I haven't the foggiest idea. I had a system freeze... the ZOID equivalent of being unconscious. When I 'awoke', I was here, outside of the Dibison and in your company."
Thomas sighed heavily, "We need to find the Dibison, but it might not even be in this dimension... if we leave this dimension and it IS in this dimension, then we'll never find it. On the other hand, we don't know how big this dimension is and looking for the Dibison could take a very long time... and if it's NOT in this dimension, we could be looking forever."
"That's not a problem." Vista said coolly, "This place is not like space... think of the appearance as a sort of decoration. Merely here to intimidate us. In fact, if you haven't already noticed... we are standing on solid ground. All you see below us is simply 'carpeting'. There is a ceiling, and there is a floor. As for walls... this whole place is built like a mirror maze. Therefore I can conclude that there is only one way out of this place, and all we have to do is follow the maze."
"AH VISTA, EVER THE SMART ONE. IT IS SAD WHEN THE MACHINE SURPASSES THE MAN." Shifter's voice called out to them. It was not mental, this time, but rather echoed through the 'room'.
Another voice began to speak. This one was quiet, childlike. It spoke slowly and in a sinister, singsong tone.
"Its eyes were like fire, its skin was like coal. Its wings like a bat's ones, as black as its soul." The voice sang. After finishing this verse, it repeated it again and again, never ending.
Thomas looked over at Vista, "Well, we'd better get started."
-----------------------
3 HOURS LATER...
Thomas tilted his head back and screamed at the disembodied voice, "WILL YOU SHUT UP WITH THAT DAMN VERSE?!!"
The voice continued. Vista didn't comment, but merely continued onward, humming to himself. Upon reaching a wall, Vista felt to the left and right, looking for an opening. Finding one to the right, the Organoid continued walking.
-----------------------
2 MORE HOURS LATER...
Vista looked at the door in front of him. It was large and made of wood. Appearing to be floating in midair, the door had strange carvings in the dark wood.
"It's in Zoidian..." Vista ran a claw over the strange runes carved into the door, "It says: 'Through this door rests the spirit of your surroundings.'"
Thomas looked around at the cosmos surrounding them, "Shifter, maybe?"
"Only one way to find out..." Vista said, grasping the brass doorknob in his claws. With a dramatically slow turn of the knob, he began to open the door.
"Will you cut the theatrics and open the damn door!" Thomas pushed past Vista and opened the door wide.
With a small 'eep', Thomas moved back behind Vista. Looking through the door, the Organoid began to understand the verse that had been mentioned while they were running through the maze.
As the two stepped through the door, they took in the giant beast before them. Its blazing red eyes bore into their very souls, filling them with a burning feeling. Its scaly body was as black as the space around them. Giant black leathery wings were half-folded against its back. Everything about the beast, which could only be called a black dragon, radiated pure evil.
"Its eyes were like fire, its skin was like coal. Its wings like a bat's ones, as black as its soul." Thomas murmured, fear filling his eyes, "So this is what that verse was about."
The small white dragon looked up at the larger black one. Organoid and beast considered each other for a while, and finally the black dragon spoke.
"My name is Thuban, I am the spirit of Cosmos and Chaos." The black dragon spoke. His voice held unspeakable evil, "You are charged with trespassing upon my land. My master, Shifter, has given the verdict. You... are guilty."
The dragon rose to its feet and spread its wings, "You believe what you see around you to be decoration. This is not true. What you see is the universe, spread out before you."
Thuban reached through the floor, creating ripples as though the floor were only water. His claw reached down and tapped a single star. With a blaze of light, the star exploded under his touch. Thomas gasped.
"Orbiting around that star was a solar system of six. The second planet in said solar system was inhabited by a race of insectoid creatures." Thuban chuckled, "A flick of my claw and their happy little life is extinguished."
Thomas recoiled in horror, "You have no right! You're not God, you can't decide the fate of these people!"
Thuban smirked, showing rows of sparkling white fangs, "I am the spirit of Chaos... therefore I see no wrong in causing Chaos."
Vista snarled and opened his boosters, rocketing towards Thuban. Caught by surprise, the dragon had no time to react as the smaller metal dragon rammed into Thuban's chest. Thuban roared in fury, whipping his tail around to knock the little Organoid aside. Taking the opportunity, Thomas lunged at Thuban, grabbing onto the black beast's leg.
As Vista hit the 'wall' on one side of the 'room', Thuban turned his attention to Thomas, who was pulling at Thuban's scales, trying to get at the vulnerable flesh underneath. Shaking his leg, he managed to detach Thomas and fling him against the wall.
"I am... First Lieutenant... Thomas Richard Schwarz... I am... of the... Guardian... Force." Thomas declared weakly, struggling to his feet, "I will not... can not... surrender."
Thuban laughed, "You've got brass, I've give you that. Not many would be getting up now. But brass won't win against me."
Vista rose to his feet as well, roaring defiantly at the form before him. Thuban looked from Thomas to Vista, then back again.
"You foolish little creatures think you can defeat me?" Thuban hissed venomously.
Thomas dashed at Thuban again. Deftly, Thuban wrapped his whiplike tail around Thomas' body, raising the ZOID pilot to eye level.
"You are getting quite annoying, human." Thuban snarled, tightening his grip.
Thomas cried out in agony as he felt his ribcage start to snap under the pressure. He struggled to lift his head to glare defiantly into Thuban's eyes. Through his failing vision, he could see the dragon smile in wicked glee.
"Defiant to the last." Thuban chuckled, tightening his grip further.
With a roar of fury, light poured from Vista's body. Opening his boosters, he rocketed upward. At the peak of his ascent, Vista turned around in midair, diving toward Thuban with a draconic battle-cry. Surprised by Vista's sudden attack, Thuban dropped Thomas, whipping his tail upward to catch the diving Organoid.
Extending his feathered wings, Vista preformed a barrel roll to the left, evading Thuban's tail. As Thuban attacked again, Vista rolled to the right.
"Insolent little worm!" Thuban opened his mouth. A column of flame shot from his gaping jaws, engulfing the Organoid.
Thomas crawled forward weakly, his voice barely above a whisper, "Vista... no..."
Thuban cut the stream of fire, laughing maniacally. His laughter was cut short by Vista emerging from the smoke, still on a collison course with Thuban.
"I'm not a worm..." Vista screamed in triumph, "I'M AN ORGANOID!!!"
With that, he slammed into Thuban's back. Thomas would've cheered if he had the strength as he heard the sickening snap of the mighty dragon's spinal cord snapping under the force of Vista's dive. Thuban screamed, a sound akin to nails on a blackboard. Finally, the black dragon collapsed, twitching. Blood poured from the dragon's mouth and his eyes focused on Thomas.
"I am... Chaos... I... cannot... be... de... feated..." Thuban's eyes rolled back in his head.
Suddenly, the dragon exploded into a shower of sparkles. The sparkles condensed into a single star that drifted through the ceiling to a constellation glittering in space.
/A PITY HE COULDN'T STAY FOR THE FESTIVITIES./ Shifter spoke in their minds once more, /OH WELL... HE MORE THAN LIKELY WOULD HAVE CHALLENGED SHIFTER'S DOMINATION ANYWAY. IT IS BETTER TO DESTROY LIVING BEINGS THAN TO KEEP THEM AS PETS. KEEP THAT IN MIND, ORGANOID. BUT FOR NOW... YOU HAVE PASSED THE FIRST TEST. YOUR LIVES WILL BE SPARED... FOR THE MOMENT. YOU MAY REST AND CONTEMPLATE YOUR FATE. YOUR NEXT TEST WILL NOT BE SO EASILY PASSED./
"NEXT test?" Vista groaned, picking up Thomas' battered body.
The world around them dissolved, and Vista found himself standing on sand, the twin moons of planet Zi shedding their light on his metallic form.
Vista gazed up at the moons, "Well, after going through a five-hour mirror maze through the cosmos and slaying the Dragon of Chaos... I think searching for information on Shifter will be a pleasant little interlude."
---------------------------------
Well, that chapter was a little longer. Review review review! I'll have Chapter 5 up ASAP!
-----------------------------------
Last time on "ZOIDs: Futile Ambition":
Finally, Rhodry could feel the white ZOID slowing down. The roar of the flames receded and the cockpit opened with a hiss of pressurized air. The other ZOIDs did likewise.
"We escaped." Irvine sounded incredulous, fondly patting his Lightning Saix.
"We did..." Van replied mournfully, "Thomas didn't..."
------------------------------------
Chapter IV - Enter the Dragon
Thomas opened his eyes slowly. He had blacked out after Shifter's infamous Wall O' Flame had consumed his Dibison.
Speaking of which... Thomas stood up quickly and instantly regretted it. Clutching his head, he reeled backward. His back hit cold metal, and the Lieutenant whirled around, almost falling over from the dizziness that accompanied his sudden motion.
"I wouldn't advise making any more sudden movements like that... your likely to hurt yourself further." Vista spoke. Thomas had never been so happy to see an Organoid. The white-winged Organoid looked relieved to see Thomas awake, if a big metal dragon could be said to look relieved.
"You... speak?" Thomas responded. He had never heard an Organoid speak... but then, he'd also heard the Diloforce speak before he'd been caught by the fire.
Vista nodded once, quickly. His voice was cultured, deep, reassuring. Both voices were hollow and echoing in the vastness of this 'space'.
"Any idea where we are?" Thomas asked in a quiet voice, taking in his surroundings. They appeared to be in outer space, the area around them black and filled with stars. Here and there was some red and purple from various cosmic phenomena. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls.
"It would appear that the wall of flame was some kind of portal. I would assume this is a prison of some kind." Vista mused, looking around, "I guess Shifter just wanted us out of the way."
Thomas looked at a spiral galaxy near them, bathing the two in a silver light, "I wonder where my Dibison got off to... and Beek, I don't know where he is either."
Vista shook his head, "Beek is infused with the Dibison... where the Dibison is, Beek must be also. As to the whereabouts of your ZOID, I haven't the foggiest idea. I had a system freeze... the ZOID equivalent of being unconscious. When I 'awoke', I was here, outside of the Dibison and in your company."
Thomas sighed heavily, "We need to find the Dibison, but it might not even be in this dimension... if we leave this dimension and it IS in this dimension, then we'll never find it. On the other hand, we don't know how big this dimension is and looking for the Dibison could take a very long time... and if it's NOT in this dimension, we could be looking forever."
"That's not a problem." Vista said coolly, "This place is not like space... think of the appearance as a sort of decoration. Merely here to intimidate us. In fact, if you haven't already noticed... we are standing on solid ground. All you see below us is simply 'carpeting'. There is a ceiling, and there is a floor. As for walls... this whole place is built like a mirror maze. Therefore I can conclude that there is only one way out of this place, and all we have to do is follow the maze."
"AH VISTA, EVER THE SMART ONE. IT IS SAD WHEN THE MACHINE SURPASSES THE MAN." Shifter's voice called out to them. It was not mental, this time, but rather echoed through the 'room'.
Another voice began to speak. This one was quiet, childlike. It spoke slowly and in a sinister, singsong tone.
"Its eyes were like fire, its skin was like coal. Its wings like a bat's ones, as black as its soul." The voice sang. After finishing this verse, it repeated it again and again, never ending.
Thomas looked over at Vista, "Well, we'd better get started."
-----------------------
3 HOURS LATER...
Thomas tilted his head back and screamed at the disembodied voice, "WILL YOU SHUT UP WITH THAT DAMN VERSE?!!"
The voice continued. Vista didn't comment, but merely continued onward, humming to himself. Upon reaching a wall, Vista felt to the left and right, looking for an opening. Finding one to the right, the Organoid continued walking.
-----------------------
2 MORE HOURS LATER...
Vista looked at the door in front of him. It was large and made of wood. Appearing to be floating in midair, the door had strange carvings in the dark wood.
"It's in Zoidian..." Vista ran a claw over the strange runes carved into the door, "It says: 'Through this door rests the spirit of your surroundings.'"
Thomas looked around at the cosmos surrounding them, "Shifter, maybe?"
"Only one way to find out..." Vista said, grasping the brass doorknob in his claws. With a dramatically slow turn of the knob, he began to open the door.
"Will you cut the theatrics and open the damn door!" Thomas pushed past Vista and opened the door wide.
With a small 'eep', Thomas moved back behind Vista. Looking through the door, the Organoid began to understand the verse that had been mentioned while they were running through the maze.
As the two stepped through the door, they took in the giant beast before them. Its blazing red eyes bore into their very souls, filling them with a burning feeling. Its scaly body was as black as the space around them. Giant black leathery wings were half-folded against its back. Everything about the beast, which could only be called a black dragon, radiated pure evil.
"Its eyes were like fire, its skin was like coal. Its wings like a bat's ones, as black as its soul." Thomas murmured, fear filling his eyes, "So this is what that verse was about."
The small white dragon looked up at the larger black one. Organoid and beast considered each other for a while, and finally the black dragon spoke.
"My name is Thuban, I am the spirit of Cosmos and Chaos." The black dragon spoke. His voice held unspeakable evil, "You are charged with trespassing upon my land. My master, Shifter, has given the verdict. You... are guilty."
The dragon rose to its feet and spread its wings, "You believe what you see around you to be decoration. This is not true. What you see is the universe, spread out before you."
Thuban reached through the floor, creating ripples as though the floor were only water. His claw reached down and tapped a single star. With a blaze of light, the star exploded under his touch. Thomas gasped.
"Orbiting around that star was a solar system of six. The second planet in said solar system was inhabited by a race of insectoid creatures." Thuban chuckled, "A flick of my claw and their happy little life is extinguished."
Thomas recoiled in horror, "You have no right! You're not God, you can't decide the fate of these people!"
Thuban smirked, showing rows of sparkling white fangs, "I am the spirit of Chaos... therefore I see no wrong in causing Chaos."
Vista snarled and opened his boosters, rocketing towards Thuban. Caught by surprise, the dragon had no time to react as the smaller metal dragon rammed into Thuban's chest. Thuban roared in fury, whipping his tail around to knock the little Organoid aside. Taking the opportunity, Thomas lunged at Thuban, grabbing onto the black beast's leg.
As Vista hit the 'wall' on one side of the 'room', Thuban turned his attention to Thomas, who was pulling at Thuban's scales, trying to get at the vulnerable flesh underneath. Shaking his leg, he managed to detach Thomas and fling him against the wall.
"I am... First Lieutenant... Thomas Richard Schwarz... I am... of the... Guardian... Force." Thomas declared weakly, struggling to his feet, "I will not... can not... surrender."
Thuban laughed, "You've got brass, I've give you that. Not many would be getting up now. But brass won't win against me."
Vista rose to his feet as well, roaring defiantly at the form before him. Thuban looked from Thomas to Vista, then back again.
"You foolish little creatures think you can defeat me?" Thuban hissed venomously.
Thomas dashed at Thuban again. Deftly, Thuban wrapped his whiplike tail around Thomas' body, raising the ZOID pilot to eye level.
"You are getting quite annoying, human." Thuban snarled, tightening his grip.
Thomas cried out in agony as he felt his ribcage start to snap under the pressure. He struggled to lift his head to glare defiantly into Thuban's eyes. Through his failing vision, he could see the dragon smile in wicked glee.
"Defiant to the last." Thuban chuckled, tightening his grip further.
With a roar of fury, light poured from Vista's body. Opening his boosters, he rocketed upward. At the peak of his ascent, Vista turned around in midair, diving toward Thuban with a draconic battle-cry. Surprised by Vista's sudden attack, Thuban dropped Thomas, whipping his tail upward to catch the diving Organoid.
Extending his feathered wings, Vista preformed a barrel roll to the left, evading Thuban's tail. As Thuban attacked again, Vista rolled to the right.
"Insolent little worm!" Thuban opened his mouth. A column of flame shot from his gaping jaws, engulfing the Organoid.
Thomas crawled forward weakly, his voice barely above a whisper, "Vista... no..."
Thuban cut the stream of fire, laughing maniacally. His laughter was cut short by Vista emerging from the smoke, still on a collison course with Thuban.
"I'm not a worm..." Vista screamed in triumph, "I'M AN ORGANOID!!!"
With that, he slammed into Thuban's back. Thomas would've cheered if he had the strength as he heard the sickening snap of the mighty dragon's spinal cord snapping under the force of Vista's dive. Thuban screamed, a sound akin to nails on a blackboard. Finally, the black dragon collapsed, twitching. Blood poured from the dragon's mouth and his eyes focused on Thomas.
"I am... Chaos... I... cannot... be... de... feated..." Thuban's eyes rolled back in his head.
Suddenly, the dragon exploded into a shower of sparkles. The sparkles condensed into a single star that drifted through the ceiling to a constellation glittering in space.
/A PITY HE COULDN'T STAY FOR THE FESTIVITIES./ Shifter spoke in their minds once more, /OH WELL... HE MORE THAN LIKELY WOULD HAVE CHALLENGED SHIFTER'S DOMINATION ANYWAY. IT IS BETTER TO DESTROY LIVING BEINGS THAN TO KEEP THEM AS PETS. KEEP THAT IN MIND, ORGANOID. BUT FOR NOW... YOU HAVE PASSED THE FIRST TEST. YOUR LIVES WILL BE SPARED... FOR THE MOMENT. YOU MAY REST AND CONTEMPLATE YOUR FATE. YOUR NEXT TEST WILL NOT BE SO EASILY PASSED./
"NEXT test?" Vista groaned, picking up Thomas' battered body.
The world around them dissolved, and Vista found himself standing on sand, the twin moons of planet Zi shedding their light on his metallic form.
Vista gazed up at the moons, "Well, after going through a five-hour mirror maze through the cosmos and slaying the Dragon of Chaos... I think searching for information on Shifter will be a pleasant little interlude."
---------------------------------
Well, that chapter was a little longer. Review review review! I'll have Chapter 5 up ASAP!
