~*~*~*~*~*~
"And I'm telling you guys, he made a move on her!!" Thomas "calmly" explained to Irvine, Moonbay, and Dr. D at the Seeyalata military base. "He made a move on Miss Fiona!!! Right when I was in the room, just to spite me!"
Irvine and Moonbay exchanged glances, they knew it was bound to happen some day. Van and Fiona had the hots for each other before they themselves even knew it! Dr. D, however, was skeptical. He couldn't envision Van doing such a thing; the guy was completely dedicated to his work in the Guardian Force. Van's new motto was 'All work and no play if Raven's around'.
"Are you sure you weren't seeing things?" Dr. D asked logically. "Because we all know how Van gets whenever news spreads that Raven's in town."
Moonbay placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from giggling, she had to find Fiona and see if everything she heard was true. This was getting good! Ohh, how she wished she could have been there to witness true loves first kiss.
"Of course I'm sure!! I just walked in the room to show Miss Fiona a flower I had found and then to my horror, I saw Van place his hand behind Miss Fiona so he would be in a better position in the middle of this this this passionate kiss."
Moonbay sighed; it was sad really, Thomas was so in love with Fiona and she didn't have the faintest idea. But just in case, a girl knows when a kiss was truly passionate. The arms around the guy's neck routine; if Fiona wrapped her arms around Van's neck then it meant the kiss had passion.
"Did Fiona by any chance wrap her arms around lil' Van's neck?" she asked nonchalantly.
All eyes fell on the tan-skinned, dark-eyed woman, who was convinced to solve the mystery of Van and Fiona's relationship. Even soldiers were just walking by was interested by the rumors flying around lieutenant Flyheight. There wasn't a soul on the planet Zi who didn't know who Van Flyheight was.
Thomas nodded sadly and Moonbay felt even more sorry for the poor guy. "Yeah, a couple seconds after I walked in she wrapped her arms around him."
"Hm. I'm sorry, Thomas I know this must be a nightmare for you. Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm awfully curious to see what Van's gonna do about the whole Reese and Raven thing, because I know that's the only thing on his mind!"
With a wave goodbye, Moonbay walked to the Control Center, her head began to throb alone just as she opened the door she could feel extreme thoughtfulness going on. There was no doubt in her mind who it could be. Van was standing in the front of the large monitor, his hand on his hip, lost somewhere deep in his thoughts.
She had the sudden urge to something, but Van would kill her. No no, she couldn't..okay maybe she could.
"HIYA VAN!!!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
Van nearly hit his head on the ceiling, which twenty feet high; his heart almost broke out of his chest. He whirled around to find Moonbay grinning ear to ear like a Cheshire cat. Van patted his chest in an attempt to calm his raging heart.
"Moonbay!!! What the hell was that for?!?!?!? You scared the living daylights out of me!!" Van exclaimed breathlessly, still patting his chest.
But only silence met his ears followed by a big THUMP sound. Blinking, Van looked down at the source of the sound and saw Moonbay rolling on the floor laughing, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I couldn't resist, Van! It was too good of an opportunity!" she managed to say in between fits of laughter.
Van took in a deep breath. "Moonbay will you knock it off already? I have more important things to think about."
This irritated Moonbay, but she stood up and brushed the dust off of her clothes. If she were ever going to make Van chill out, she would have to try a different approach.
"What's your problem? Your not your usual cheerful-self."
Van walked back to his spot in the front of the monitor where a map of the area was showing, tilting back and forth. The map showed an abandoned cabin where two figures, one a man and the other some deformed looking thing, discreetly crept in, but Van didn't see a thing he busy was observing a little red button that was covered with a glass plate that read: DO NOT PRESS. His curiosity was beginning to get the best of him; it wouldn't hurt if he "accidentally" brushed against it. No. No, he couldn't. okay. maybe he could for just one second and then run like the wind out there.
"Van?" Moonbay asked, her eyes locked on the screen. "Van?" her voice filled with a little more urgency.
His finger some-how found its way to the glass covering, tried as he might Van couldn't stop his hands. It was like they were possessed, possessed by his overwhelming curiosity that is. Something kept saying, "You know you want to Van, don't deny it you want to press that button." Duh! Of course Van knew he wanted to press the cursed button but he didn't want to lose everything just because of a stupid button. He struggled to get his hands away from it with no avail.
"Gr.must.get.hands.free." Van struggled helplessly to free himself, and vaguely wondered why Moonbay wasn't helping him. Was she still laughing at him?
"Van." she was pulling at his sleeve.
"What is it, Moonbay?" He finally turned his attention to her, he blinked and followed Moonbay's gaze, nothing. He saw nothing; not a thing, nada, but that didn't explain the brunette's strange actions.
"He's gone," she muttered.
Van gave her the confused puppy look, what was she talking about? The only thing on the screen was the Blade Liger running past the front gates of the base.. Whoa! Rewind. The Blade Liger?? Running through the front gates?? Hello!
"Central Command! Central Command, do you copy? This is Tiger-Bear! I repeat Central Command do you copy?" a male voice demanded in code from the speakerphone.
Van forcibly grabbed the speakerphone. "This is Central Command. What the hell is going on out there, tiger-bear?"
"It appears as if Lt. Flyheight has taken off in his Blade Liger. He refuses to respond."
"Soldier, this IS Lt. Flyheight speaking," Van said through clenched teeth, his temper flaring. "Shoot the Liger, I repeat do whatever it takes to prevent it from getting to far."
"Uh are you sure? oops. alright I mean, yessir, this is Tiger-Bear over and out." The transmission was ended.
Van roughly put the speakerphone back where it came from; he was shocked and angry beyond belief all at the same time. Who would want to take his blade liger? All of his enemies would want to beat him the same way he beat them.
"Why the hell would someone want to take the liger?" Moonbay cried incredulously.
"I don't know, but this is defiantly the work of someone very cunning," Van replied with deadly calm that scared her.
Moonbay looked around the technically advanced room, searching for something that could help their situation. Now she was never going to find out what happened between him and Fiona, she silently cursed the person responsible for such a cunning act.
"Your right about that, it can't be Raven or else we'd be dead by now. The only person I can think of is that red-haired freak, Hiltz," she added thoughtfully.
But Van made no effort to reply, he was busy trying to his faithful organiod companion, Zeke. To make sure that Zeke wasn't inside the Liger doing the stuff that Van had asked him to do three hours ago. Thankfully, a soldier told him that the organiod had gone with Fiona.
"Damnit!" Van slammed him fist down the desk that the main computer was rested on.
How could he have been so naïve to think that the Liger didn't need protection like all the other zoids?? He had assumed that no one would be cunning enough to take his zoid, but he had no way of knowing this could happen. Today was not Van's day. How am I supposed to beat Raven without a freakin' zoid?!? Van thought in distress. He wasn't worried about the person taking his zoid, he was concerned if before they had located the liger that Raven would decide to attack. That was his only concern, everyone was counting on him to stop Raven dead in his tracks but did they want him to do it in a zoid that was not his?
"Calm down, Van. I'm sure the troops have shoot down the liger by now," Moonbay placed her hand on his muscular shoulder.
Van glanced wearily at her and then back at the large screen. "I hope your right."
A little light bulb lit in his head, Thomas wouldn't mind if Van "borrowed" Beak and the Dibison. That way he'd have the technology to lock on to the liger and enough firepower to stop it. It was one of the best ideas he ever had!
"Moonbay! Tell everyone to head back and leave the liger to me! If there's anyone who knows how to stop it, it's me," Van told her breathlessly as he raced through the electronic doors.
"Alright, if you say.so." Moonbay started to say, but he was gone.
Her attention fell to the instructions Van had given her so she grabbed the speakerphone and set it to long range so everyone could hear it.
"Attention all troops, this is central command. Retreat, I repeat retreat. Return to the base at once, this is an order. Return at once!"
Just as Moonbay was replacing the speakerphone were it belonged, something caught her eye. A glass case, that was probably covering something important, was lying helplessly. Revealing, a little red button that had been pushed very recently.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Yes Doctor D?" Fiona asked softly, as the old man paced the floor. "Why did you call me here?"
Fiona was seated in the now-dark storage room, she was still in her pajamas, a pink tank-top and a pair of loose black pajama bottoms she had 'borrowed' from Van, but he still didn't have the faintest idea where his favorite pair went. The old man had woke her up in the middle of night to tell her something that couldn't wait until morning.
"Fiona," he paused, his tired eyes lingering with hers. "What would you do if I told you something terrible has happened?"
Fiona's breath went short, she didn't like what she was hearing and she most defiantly did not like the thoughts running through her head. It was Van, she could feel it. Something simply awful had happened to him, just like Reese had predicted. She clutched her chest, nodding for him to continue.
"It's about Van, isn't it?" she demanded softly.
Doctor D nodded solemnly. "You never fail to amaze me with your skills, Fiona. Yes, something has happened to Van."
She wanted to smack him across the face so he would tell her already. The suspense was killing her. How could he act so calm and be so suspenseful when something very bad has happened to the first and probably only love of her life? Didn't he have any idea how much Van meant to her? Fiona fought the urge to break down crying.
"Please I'm going to ask you this only once and I want you to honest with me, what has happened to him?"
Doctor D began to pace the room again like a caged tiger, wondering how to find the words. She felt more irritated than sad, if she had the courage Fiona would tell him to stop but she couldn't.
He sighed. "You know that the Blade Liger had been stolen?"
Fiona blinked. The liger had been stolen?? She remembered she had left Van alone in the Central room after he had begged her to get some rest, so she had gone to bed with Zeke watching over her.
"The liger has been stolen??" she gasped. "No, I most certainly did not!"
"Yes, it has about four hours ago to be exact. Van had Moonbay tell everyone to come back, it was over the intercom several times in the base as well. He had pressed a button that allowed anyone to get into the hangers and he ran out with Zeke in the Dibison."
"The Dibison!" Fiona cried out incredulously.
"Yes, the Dibison with the Beak system in it. Precisely two hours ago there was an earth-shattering explosion. Moonbay and Irvine and some other personal were sent to the scene immediately afterwards. What they saw was not a pretty sight, I'm not sure I should ask you to see what I mean."
"Earth-shattering explosion?? Moonbay and Irvine? I'm not sure I follow you, Doctor D."
Fiona took deep steady breaths to calm herself, not a word the old man was saying made any sense. She was hearing words but couldn't understand them; it was like listening to a foreign language. Was he hinting that Van had been killed? The thought made Fiona want to cry even more, her beloved Van couldn't be dead! But she couldn't stop thinking about what Reese had said once, "Van will continue to battle, but one of these days he is going to lose." Something like that, Fiona didn't really care for that woman but her words had haunted her for some time.
"I might regret showing this to you but I have no choice. Look at the monitor, this was recorded a couple seconds after the explosion," he pressed a button and the dark room become illuminated with new light.
Fiona nodded dumbly, feeling strangely stupid, and looked at the screen. It showed the command center shaking, along with several other sections of the base trembling as if there had been a giant earthquake. It become deadly obvious to Fiona that this was not your normal zoid explosion, no other zoid could have enough ammo to explode like that, it had to be the Dibison. It now showed Moonbay in the command center, looking completely shell- shocked. **** In the Video.
"VAN!!!!" Moonbay shouts into the speakerphone, total shock written all over her features. "VAN!! DO YOU COPY!!!"
Silence, only static. Just then Colonel Shubaltz runs in and calmly takes the speakerphone out of her hands. Staring straight at large monitor that shows nothing but smoke, small pieces of matter can barely be seen through the thick smoke caused by the massive explosion.
"Lt. Flyheight do you copy! This is Colonel Shubaltz, respond at once! That is an order."
Same as before static meets their ears. Moonbay is unnaturally quiet. Shubaltz quietly curses as Thomas comes through the automatic doors, he is dressed in his pjs.
"My Dibison!" he shrieks, pulling at his blonde hair. "My Beautiful Dibison and oh yeah! BEAK!!"
Both Moonbay and Shubaltz exchange disgusted looks. Total Chaos ensues the small base, and meanwhile in the present Fiona wonders how she could have slept through all that.
"Thomas! Is that all you care about?? Van could be dead!" Moonbay barks and grabs Thomas by his collar and punches him in the jaw.
The Colonel breaks up the fight before any more violence can take place. Thomas rubs his jaw and glares at Moonbay, while her hands are still curled in fists ready to have another go at him.
"Stop it, both of you. Moonbay is right, Lt. Flyheight could be dead, we have to send a search party immediately if we want at least try to save him," Shubaltz says with authority, still standing in between the two.
"You can count me in, Shubaltz," Moonbay says. "I won't be able to sleep knowing I haven't done everything to save Van the same way he tried to save me all those years ago."
"Are you sure? I mean, your emotionally attached its probably not the best idea.."
"Oh don't worry about me, Colonel. I'm a big girl now!" she winks.
"And you can count me and the Lightening Saix in too, we can get there in no time," Irvine says, leaning against the doorway, his eyes are closed.
Colonel Shubaltz sighs and unwillingly lets them do as they wish. "Alright, I'll leave you two in charge of finding Van, it doesn't matter if you find an arm or leg, bring back whatever you find. While I'll organize a party to search for the liger, if in fact it didn't get destroyed."
They nod and race out of the room, their destination the hangers where their zoids are kept. Thomas watches them leave in disbelief.
"Are you insane? Are you just going to let them go on their wild goose chase?! No one I don't care how famous they might be could have survived that kind of explosion!! Just admit it! Van is dead! No one could have survived! The magnitude of that explosion was unreal, it was caused by a detonation of some kind on Van's part, and it could have been a bomb. It makes sense perfect! Van tried to fire at the liger which somehow set off the detonation device in the Dibison which resulted in the massive explosion we experienced over 200 meters away!" Thomas shouts.
But his brother ignores him, just then an image of Moonbay and her Gustav(sp?) appears on the large monitor. The two of two look at her scowling expression, it becomes obvious that she's not in good graces at the moment.
"Shubaltz! Yo listen; I can't anything worth a damn! The smoke is way too thick, but Irvine has already beat me to the chase, but damnit! I don't like the looks of things," Moonbay says unhappily.
Colonel Shubaltz nods. "It makes sense, Moonbay just calm down. That is to be expect with the sheer magnitude of the explosion."
"I guess I'll just have to continue on foot, because the road is murder. There are zoid parts everywhere! It keeps slowing me down," Moonbay says with a shrug, reaching into a compartment beneath the screen and pulls on a pair of big black sunglasses.
The brothers sweat-drop, she is one crazy chick. Thomas shakes his head. "Are you crazy, Miss Moonbay??"
"You beat your ass I am," she retorts smoothly. "I'm crazy for making sure that kid is alive! That's what I'm crazy for."
"As kid you mean Van?" Colonel Shubaltz runs his hand through his sandy hair.
"Yup! Well I'm gonna bounce, check in as soon as I can," with that Moonbay's image disappeared.
The Colonel grabs the speakerphone and murmurs something in code, seconds later a pair of soldiers race through the automatic doors instantly saluting. One with blonde hair and blue eyes, the other with black hair and dark hazel eyes.
"You called sir?" the blonde asked.
"At ease men. I want you two to set out for the Blade Liger, that is an order," Colonel Shubaltz commands coolly.
"Yes sir!"
They salute and quietly leave. An image of Irvine in his Lightening Saix appears on the screen now, he is shaking his hand and muttering something about Van and papayas. The blondes sweat-drop once again, wondering what the heck Irvine is talking about.
"Irvine? What is it? I doubt there'd be any papaya trees around these parts," Thomas says awkwardly.
"I can't see a thing! This explosion was far more destructive that I had imagined! I'm starting to think no one could have possibly survived, the Dibison is totaled. It doesn't even look like a Dibison, more like scraps of junk lying around everywhere," Irvine snaps unhappily.
"I told you." Thomas says in a low voice.
The Colonel glares at him, decides to ignore him and looks at the monitor. "What exactly do you see?"
Irvine's one visible eye widens and he doesn't respond right away. "Something no one should see. Alls that left whole of the Dibison itself is the cockpit but its totaled, and I think I can see Van." "Moonbay!" from inside his zoid. "Check in the cock-pit! I'm coming." The transmission ends, leaving the brothers in a stunned silence.
The image on the screen clears, revealing a waste-land; the Dibison's leg's are in unrecognizable pieces, the body it self is totaled, while the only thing that looks to be in good shape is the head containing the cockpit. Moonbay and Irvine struggle to open the cockpit's cracked canopy, the jagged edges stained with blood. Moonbay tries to kick it open but falls backwards onto a silver lump.
"Zeke!" she exclaims and scrambles off of him. He groggily rises to his feet, looking like he is about to fall apart.
"Zeke! Where's Van? You saved him right?" Irvine and Moonbay ask in unison.
Zeke shakes his head 'no' just before falling on his side. Moonbay gulps as they stare at the fallen Dibison's cockpit.
"Well, we might as well get this over with," Irvine says.
Moonbay nods grimly. They pull at the orange canopy until it finally gives way and crashes at their feet, inside they see Van, his head lies limply on his should a single red scratch on the side of his neck, pours blood like a steady river.
"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Fiona screamed as she shot straight up in her bed; cool sweat pouring down her cheeks.
She panted as she looked at her surroundings, thankfully she was in the same place she had fallen asleep in. Her room, everything appeared to be normal: the chair with the book she was reading was still at the corner, the nightlight in the bathroom across from her bed was still on. Her closet door was still shut, everything appeared to be the way she had left it.
"It was all a dream?" Fiona whispered in disbelief. "It was all a dream.it was all a dream!"
Fiona unconsciously touched her cheek, and then she realized she had been crying. She felt her pillow, it was damp, she was crying in her sleep. She was crying for Van. The one she cared deeply for. I have to know what happened to Van!
Fiona peered at the side of her queen bed but just as she feared, the silver organiod Zeke was not there. Maybe it wasn't a dream afterall. Soaking up all her courage, Fiona opened the door to her room and raced down the hall to the Control Central.
"And I'm telling you guys, he made a move on her!!" Thomas "calmly" explained to Irvine, Moonbay, and Dr. D at the Seeyalata military base. "He made a move on Miss Fiona!!! Right when I was in the room, just to spite me!"
Irvine and Moonbay exchanged glances, they knew it was bound to happen some day. Van and Fiona had the hots for each other before they themselves even knew it! Dr. D, however, was skeptical. He couldn't envision Van doing such a thing; the guy was completely dedicated to his work in the Guardian Force. Van's new motto was 'All work and no play if Raven's around'.
"Are you sure you weren't seeing things?" Dr. D asked logically. "Because we all know how Van gets whenever news spreads that Raven's in town."
Moonbay placed her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from giggling, she had to find Fiona and see if everything she heard was true. This was getting good! Ohh, how she wished she could have been there to witness true loves first kiss.
"Of course I'm sure!! I just walked in the room to show Miss Fiona a flower I had found and then to my horror, I saw Van place his hand behind Miss Fiona so he would be in a better position in the middle of this this this passionate kiss."
Moonbay sighed; it was sad really, Thomas was so in love with Fiona and she didn't have the faintest idea. But just in case, a girl knows when a kiss was truly passionate. The arms around the guy's neck routine; if Fiona wrapped her arms around Van's neck then it meant the kiss had passion.
"Did Fiona by any chance wrap her arms around lil' Van's neck?" she asked nonchalantly.
All eyes fell on the tan-skinned, dark-eyed woman, who was convinced to solve the mystery of Van and Fiona's relationship. Even soldiers were just walking by was interested by the rumors flying around lieutenant Flyheight. There wasn't a soul on the planet Zi who didn't know who Van Flyheight was.
Thomas nodded sadly and Moonbay felt even more sorry for the poor guy. "Yeah, a couple seconds after I walked in she wrapped her arms around him."
"Hm. I'm sorry, Thomas I know this must be a nightmare for you. Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm awfully curious to see what Van's gonna do about the whole Reese and Raven thing, because I know that's the only thing on his mind!"
With a wave goodbye, Moonbay walked to the Control Center, her head began to throb alone just as she opened the door she could feel extreme thoughtfulness going on. There was no doubt in her mind who it could be. Van was standing in the front of the large monitor, his hand on his hip, lost somewhere deep in his thoughts.
She had the sudden urge to something, but Van would kill her. No no, she couldn't..okay maybe she could.
"HIYA VAN!!!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
Van nearly hit his head on the ceiling, which twenty feet high; his heart almost broke out of his chest. He whirled around to find Moonbay grinning ear to ear like a Cheshire cat. Van patted his chest in an attempt to calm his raging heart.
"Moonbay!!! What the hell was that for?!?!?!? You scared the living daylights out of me!!" Van exclaimed breathlessly, still patting his chest.
But only silence met his ears followed by a big THUMP sound. Blinking, Van looked down at the source of the sound and saw Moonbay rolling on the floor laughing, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I couldn't resist, Van! It was too good of an opportunity!" she managed to say in between fits of laughter.
Van took in a deep breath. "Moonbay will you knock it off already? I have more important things to think about."
This irritated Moonbay, but she stood up and brushed the dust off of her clothes. If she were ever going to make Van chill out, she would have to try a different approach.
"What's your problem? Your not your usual cheerful-self."
Van walked back to his spot in the front of the monitor where a map of the area was showing, tilting back and forth. The map showed an abandoned cabin where two figures, one a man and the other some deformed looking thing, discreetly crept in, but Van didn't see a thing he busy was observing a little red button that was covered with a glass plate that read: DO NOT PRESS. His curiosity was beginning to get the best of him; it wouldn't hurt if he "accidentally" brushed against it. No. No, he couldn't. okay. maybe he could for just one second and then run like the wind out there.
"Van?" Moonbay asked, her eyes locked on the screen. "Van?" her voice filled with a little more urgency.
His finger some-how found its way to the glass covering, tried as he might Van couldn't stop his hands. It was like they were possessed, possessed by his overwhelming curiosity that is. Something kept saying, "You know you want to Van, don't deny it you want to press that button." Duh! Of course Van knew he wanted to press the cursed button but he didn't want to lose everything just because of a stupid button. He struggled to get his hands away from it with no avail.
"Gr.must.get.hands.free." Van struggled helplessly to free himself, and vaguely wondered why Moonbay wasn't helping him. Was she still laughing at him?
"Van." she was pulling at his sleeve.
"What is it, Moonbay?" He finally turned his attention to her, he blinked and followed Moonbay's gaze, nothing. He saw nothing; not a thing, nada, but that didn't explain the brunette's strange actions.
"He's gone," she muttered.
Van gave her the confused puppy look, what was she talking about? The only thing on the screen was the Blade Liger running past the front gates of the base.. Whoa! Rewind. The Blade Liger?? Running through the front gates?? Hello!
"Central Command! Central Command, do you copy? This is Tiger-Bear! I repeat Central Command do you copy?" a male voice demanded in code from the speakerphone.
Van forcibly grabbed the speakerphone. "This is Central Command. What the hell is going on out there, tiger-bear?"
"It appears as if Lt. Flyheight has taken off in his Blade Liger. He refuses to respond."
"Soldier, this IS Lt. Flyheight speaking," Van said through clenched teeth, his temper flaring. "Shoot the Liger, I repeat do whatever it takes to prevent it from getting to far."
"Uh are you sure? oops. alright I mean, yessir, this is Tiger-Bear over and out." The transmission was ended.
Van roughly put the speakerphone back where it came from; he was shocked and angry beyond belief all at the same time. Who would want to take his blade liger? All of his enemies would want to beat him the same way he beat them.
"Why the hell would someone want to take the liger?" Moonbay cried incredulously.
"I don't know, but this is defiantly the work of someone very cunning," Van replied with deadly calm that scared her.
Moonbay looked around the technically advanced room, searching for something that could help their situation. Now she was never going to find out what happened between him and Fiona, she silently cursed the person responsible for such a cunning act.
"Your right about that, it can't be Raven or else we'd be dead by now. The only person I can think of is that red-haired freak, Hiltz," she added thoughtfully.
But Van made no effort to reply, he was busy trying to his faithful organiod companion, Zeke. To make sure that Zeke wasn't inside the Liger doing the stuff that Van had asked him to do three hours ago. Thankfully, a soldier told him that the organiod had gone with Fiona.
"Damnit!" Van slammed him fist down the desk that the main computer was rested on.
How could he have been so naïve to think that the Liger didn't need protection like all the other zoids?? He had assumed that no one would be cunning enough to take his zoid, but he had no way of knowing this could happen. Today was not Van's day. How am I supposed to beat Raven without a freakin' zoid?!? Van thought in distress. He wasn't worried about the person taking his zoid, he was concerned if before they had located the liger that Raven would decide to attack. That was his only concern, everyone was counting on him to stop Raven dead in his tracks but did they want him to do it in a zoid that was not his?
"Calm down, Van. I'm sure the troops have shoot down the liger by now," Moonbay placed her hand on his muscular shoulder.
Van glanced wearily at her and then back at the large screen. "I hope your right."
A little light bulb lit in his head, Thomas wouldn't mind if Van "borrowed" Beak and the Dibison. That way he'd have the technology to lock on to the liger and enough firepower to stop it. It was one of the best ideas he ever had!
"Moonbay! Tell everyone to head back and leave the liger to me! If there's anyone who knows how to stop it, it's me," Van told her breathlessly as he raced through the electronic doors.
"Alright, if you say.so." Moonbay started to say, but he was gone.
Her attention fell to the instructions Van had given her so she grabbed the speakerphone and set it to long range so everyone could hear it.
"Attention all troops, this is central command. Retreat, I repeat retreat. Return to the base at once, this is an order. Return at once!"
Just as Moonbay was replacing the speakerphone were it belonged, something caught her eye. A glass case, that was probably covering something important, was lying helplessly. Revealing, a little red button that had been pushed very recently.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Yes Doctor D?" Fiona asked softly, as the old man paced the floor. "Why did you call me here?"
Fiona was seated in the now-dark storage room, she was still in her pajamas, a pink tank-top and a pair of loose black pajama bottoms she had 'borrowed' from Van, but he still didn't have the faintest idea where his favorite pair went. The old man had woke her up in the middle of night to tell her something that couldn't wait until morning.
"Fiona," he paused, his tired eyes lingering with hers. "What would you do if I told you something terrible has happened?"
Fiona's breath went short, she didn't like what she was hearing and she most defiantly did not like the thoughts running through her head. It was Van, she could feel it. Something simply awful had happened to him, just like Reese had predicted. She clutched her chest, nodding for him to continue.
"It's about Van, isn't it?" she demanded softly.
Doctor D nodded solemnly. "You never fail to amaze me with your skills, Fiona. Yes, something has happened to Van."
She wanted to smack him across the face so he would tell her already. The suspense was killing her. How could he act so calm and be so suspenseful when something very bad has happened to the first and probably only love of her life? Didn't he have any idea how much Van meant to her? Fiona fought the urge to break down crying.
"Please I'm going to ask you this only once and I want you to honest with me, what has happened to him?"
Doctor D began to pace the room again like a caged tiger, wondering how to find the words. She felt more irritated than sad, if she had the courage Fiona would tell him to stop but she couldn't.
He sighed. "You know that the Blade Liger had been stolen?"
Fiona blinked. The liger had been stolen?? She remembered she had left Van alone in the Central room after he had begged her to get some rest, so she had gone to bed with Zeke watching over her.
"The liger has been stolen??" she gasped. "No, I most certainly did not!"
"Yes, it has about four hours ago to be exact. Van had Moonbay tell everyone to come back, it was over the intercom several times in the base as well. He had pressed a button that allowed anyone to get into the hangers and he ran out with Zeke in the Dibison."
"The Dibison!" Fiona cried out incredulously.
"Yes, the Dibison with the Beak system in it. Precisely two hours ago there was an earth-shattering explosion. Moonbay and Irvine and some other personal were sent to the scene immediately afterwards. What they saw was not a pretty sight, I'm not sure I should ask you to see what I mean."
"Earth-shattering explosion?? Moonbay and Irvine? I'm not sure I follow you, Doctor D."
Fiona took deep steady breaths to calm herself, not a word the old man was saying made any sense. She was hearing words but couldn't understand them; it was like listening to a foreign language. Was he hinting that Van had been killed? The thought made Fiona want to cry even more, her beloved Van couldn't be dead! But she couldn't stop thinking about what Reese had said once, "Van will continue to battle, but one of these days he is going to lose." Something like that, Fiona didn't really care for that woman but her words had haunted her for some time.
"I might regret showing this to you but I have no choice. Look at the monitor, this was recorded a couple seconds after the explosion," he pressed a button and the dark room become illuminated with new light.
Fiona nodded dumbly, feeling strangely stupid, and looked at the screen. It showed the command center shaking, along with several other sections of the base trembling as if there had been a giant earthquake. It become deadly obvious to Fiona that this was not your normal zoid explosion, no other zoid could have enough ammo to explode like that, it had to be the Dibison. It now showed Moonbay in the command center, looking completely shell- shocked. **** In the Video.
"VAN!!!!" Moonbay shouts into the speakerphone, total shock written all over her features. "VAN!! DO YOU COPY!!!"
Silence, only static. Just then Colonel Shubaltz runs in and calmly takes the speakerphone out of her hands. Staring straight at large monitor that shows nothing but smoke, small pieces of matter can barely be seen through the thick smoke caused by the massive explosion.
"Lt. Flyheight do you copy! This is Colonel Shubaltz, respond at once! That is an order."
Same as before static meets their ears. Moonbay is unnaturally quiet. Shubaltz quietly curses as Thomas comes through the automatic doors, he is dressed in his pjs.
"My Dibison!" he shrieks, pulling at his blonde hair. "My Beautiful Dibison and oh yeah! BEAK!!"
Both Moonbay and Shubaltz exchange disgusted looks. Total Chaos ensues the small base, and meanwhile in the present Fiona wonders how she could have slept through all that.
"Thomas! Is that all you care about?? Van could be dead!" Moonbay barks and grabs Thomas by his collar and punches him in the jaw.
The Colonel breaks up the fight before any more violence can take place. Thomas rubs his jaw and glares at Moonbay, while her hands are still curled in fists ready to have another go at him.
"Stop it, both of you. Moonbay is right, Lt. Flyheight could be dead, we have to send a search party immediately if we want at least try to save him," Shubaltz says with authority, still standing in between the two.
"You can count me in, Shubaltz," Moonbay says. "I won't be able to sleep knowing I haven't done everything to save Van the same way he tried to save me all those years ago."
"Are you sure? I mean, your emotionally attached its probably not the best idea.."
"Oh don't worry about me, Colonel. I'm a big girl now!" she winks.
"And you can count me and the Lightening Saix in too, we can get there in no time," Irvine says, leaning against the doorway, his eyes are closed.
Colonel Shubaltz sighs and unwillingly lets them do as they wish. "Alright, I'll leave you two in charge of finding Van, it doesn't matter if you find an arm or leg, bring back whatever you find. While I'll organize a party to search for the liger, if in fact it didn't get destroyed."
They nod and race out of the room, their destination the hangers where their zoids are kept. Thomas watches them leave in disbelief.
"Are you insane? Are you just going to let them go on their wild goose chase?! No one I don't care how famous they might be could have survived that kind of explosion!! Just admit it! Van is dead! No one could have survived! The magnitude of that explosion was unreal, it was caused by a detonation of some kind on Van's part, and it could have been a bomb. It makes sense perfect! Van tried to fire at the liger which somehow set off the detonation device in the Dibison which resulted in the massive explosion we experienced over 200 meters away!" Thomas shouts.
But his brother ignores him, just then an image of Moonbay and her Gustav(sp?) appears on the large monitor. The two of two look at her scowling expression, it becomes obvious that she's not in good graces at the moment.
"Shubaltz! Yo listen; I can't anything worth a damn! The smoke is way too thick, but Irvine has already beat me to the chase, but damnit! I don't like the looks of things," Moonbay says unhappily.
Colonel Shubaltz nods. "It makes sense, Moonbay just calm down. That is to be expect with the sheer magnitude of the explosion."
"I guess I'll just have to continue on foot, because the road is murder. There are zoid parts everywhere! It keeps slowing me down," Moonbay says with a shrug, reaching into a compartment beneath the screen and pulls on a pair of big black sunglasses.
The brothers sweat-drop, she is one crazy chick. Thomas shakes his head. "Are you crazy, Miss Moonbay??"
"You beat your ass I am," she retorts smoothly. "I'm crazy for making sure that kid is alive! That's what I'm crazy for."
"As kid you mean Van?" Colonel Shubaltz runs his hand through his sandy hair.
"Yup! Well I'm gonna bounce, check in as soon as I can," with that Moonbay's image disappeared.
The Colonel grabs the speakerphone and murmurs something in code, seconds later a pair of soldiers race through the automatic doors instantly saluting. One with blonde hair and blue eyes, the other with black hair and dark hazel eyes.
"You called sir?" the blonde asked.
"At ease men. I want you two to set out for the Blade Liger, that is an order," Colonel Shubaltz commands coolly.
"Yes sir!"
They salute and quietly leave. An image of Irvine in his Lightening Saix appears on the screen now, he is shaking his hand and muttering something about Van and papayas. The blondes sweat-drop once again, wondering what the heck Irvine is talking about.
"Irvine? What is it? I doubt there'd be any papaya trees around these parts," Thomas says awkwardly.
"I can't see a thing! This explosion was far more destructive that I had imagined! I'm starting to think no one could have possibly survived, the Dibison is totaled. It doesn't even look like a Dibison, more like scraps of junk lying around everywhere," Irvine snaps unhappily.
"I told you." Thomas says in a low voice.
The Colonel glares at him, decides to ignore him and looks at the monitor. "What exactly do you see?"
Irvine's one visible eye widens and he doesn't respond right away. "Something no one should see. Alls that left whole of the Dibison itself is the cockpit but its totaled, and I think I can see Van." "Moonbay!" from inside his zoid. "Check in the cock-pit! I'm coming." The transmission ends, leaving the brothers in a stunned silence.
The image on the screen clears, revealing a waste-land; the Dibison's leg's are in unrecognizable pieces, the body it self is totaled, while the only thing that looks to be in good shape is the head containing the cockpit. Moonbay and Irvine struggle to open the cockpit's cracked canopy, the jagged edges stained with blood. Moonbay tries to kick it open but falls backwards onto a silver lump.
"Zeke!" she exclaims and scrambles off of him. He groggily rises to his feet, looking like he is about to fall apart.
"Zeke! Where's Van? You saved him right?" Irvine and Moonbay ask in unison.
Zeke shakes his head 'no' just before falling on his side. Moonbay gulps as they stare at the fallen Dibison's cockpit.
"Well, we might as well get this over with," Irvine says.
Moonbay nods grimly. They pull at the orange canopy until it finally gives way and crashes at their feet, inside they see Van, his head lies limply on his should a single red scratch on the side of his neck, pours blood like a steady river.
"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Fiona screamed as she shot straight up in her bed; cool sweat pouring down her cheeks.
She panted as she looked at her surroundings, thankfully she was in the same place she had fallen asleep in. Her room, everything appeared to be normal: the chair with the book she was reading was still at the corner, the nightlight in the bathroom across from her bed was still on. Her closet door was still shut, everything appeared to be the way she had left it.
"It was all a dream?" Fiona whispered in disbelief. "It was all a dream.it was all a dream!"
Fiona unconsciously touched her cheek, and then she realized she had been crying. She felt her pillow, it was damp, she was crying in her sleep. She was crying for Van. The one she cared deeply for. I have to know what happened to Van!
Fiona peered at the side of her queen bed but just as she feared, the silver organiod Zeke was not there. Maybe it wasn't a dream afterall. Soaking up all her courage, Fiona opened the door to her room and raced down the hall to the Control Central.
