~*~*~*~~*~
"Must you sit there and act nothing has happened?" Raven hissed at his dark organiod, Shadow who just sighed in reply.
"What do you mean, I'm getting impatient? Well DUR! I know when I'm impatient, dummy! Whose side are you on anyways?" he growled.
Shadow sighed again; Raven was being so difficult, which in itself was nothing new. Just because Van Flyheight's Blade Liger appeared out of nowhere beside their cabin didn't mean a thing, Reese wasn't worried she had already checked it out and found it was un-manned. But then again, Zeke wasn't in it either, so something really weird was going on didn't mean a thing!
"Oh shut up already," a female voice snapped from behind Raven and Shadow. Only it wasn't Reese.
"Why the hell should I woman?!" Raven barked while his organiod hid his eyes beneath his paws.
"Because you giving me a migraine, that's why," she retorted.
Wait a minute.Raven froze and slowly turned around to find the girl, he had picked up from the forest, sitting on the bed. She rubbed her temples, her silver strands moving gently. The raven-haired warrior was flabbergasted, he look at her in disbelief. That stupid Reese had told him that she would be unconscious for some time, hn yeah sometime his foot.
Her pale blue eyes met with his dark purple ones. Shadow titled his head and looked at the girl and then back at Raven, something strange was going on.
"What's your name," Raven demanded quietly, his eyes still locked with hers.
"Xena, since you now know mine it's only fair that I know yours."
"I don't play fair, sugar," he replied with a smirk.
Just then a certain blue-haired, blue-eyed woman walked into the small bedroom. Her blue organiod faithfully by her side.
"Don't be rude, Raven. Tell the pretty lady your name," Reese said, placing special emphasis on Raven's name.
Raven fought the urge to glare at Reese, but he was determined to put this Xena in her place. Even if it meant an ole' fashion stare-down. But Xena was every bit as stubborn as he was if not more, she knew what he was trying to do.
"It's a pleasure," Xena said coolly, holding a pale hand out.
"The pleasure's all mine," Raven replied with the same aurora of coolness, and grabbed her hand in a very firm handshake.
Talk about your handshakes. Their knuckles turned white but neither of them was willing to let go until the other whimped out. Raven wasn't about to be out-done by some girl who was freakin' younger than he was! Oh hell no. It was bad enough he was defeated by Van that one time but he wasn't about to suffer the humiliation again. He had questions, who was she? Why was she in the forest? And most importantly what did Hiltz want from her? And that Draco person too, what was so special about her?
Reese giggled, it was cute watching them trying to out-do each other now Raven wouldn't have an excuse to be bored. He would be far to busy doing one of two things: finding a way to hide Van's Blade Liger or getting into a fight with Xena. Either way he'd be out of Reese's hair for a while, at least until Hiltz took Xena. Specula nodded, arching a fine eyebrow. Humans.
"Yes, I know my Specula. Some people these days," Reese agreed with a shake of her head.
"BLADE LIGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!!!" the all-too familiar voice of a certain midnight haired zoid warrior shouted.
Raven's eyes widened as he and Reese immediately looked out the window by the bed, sure enough there was the Guardian Force Dibison, which belonged to one of Van's stupid friends, running right past the cabin looking desperately for the Blade Liger that was beside the cabin. Zeke running by it's side, indicating that Van Flyheight himself was piloting it.
"Shitfuckdamnit!" Raven cursed under his breath as he stood beside the window in case his arch nemesis saw him.
"BLADE LIGER!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME BACK!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Van called out again.
Reese, Raven, Specula, Shadow, and Xena sweat dropped. The Blade Liger's jaw fell as a large sweat-drop formed on the side of its head.
"Who is that guy?" Xena asked.
"Van Flyheight," Raven said with total disgust. He turned to his organiod. "Come on Shadow, he's all fire-power and no speed so we can easily catch up with him!" Shadow nodded.
Just as they turned to leave, Reese grabbed his arm. "No, you said you wanted to get your revenge on the battlefield right?"
"Let go of me Reese," he said with deadly calm. "So what if I want to get him back for what he did to me," Raven's purple eyes burned with pure hatred that made Xena shudder.
But Reese played it cool; she couldn't and wouldn't let him know that he scared her. He may intimidate her but she wasn't about to let him win this round.
"What fun would it be if you beat him in a zoid that was not his? You wouldn't." she started to say.
"Yeah, yeah. I know, I wouldn't have 'beaten Van while he was at his best'," Raven recited the lecture he had heard several times before, rolling his eyes. He folded his arms across his chest, sighed and pouted.
Xena got up and looked out another window by the wooden dresser on her left, sure enough there was a blue Blade Liger with a very large sweat-drop on the side of its head. She just arched a silver eyebrow.
"That guy isn't too bright, is he," she said casually.
"You're telling me," Raven agreed, shaking his head.
"Come on Specula, let's make sure Van doesn't find the Liger," Reese turned to her blue metallic organiod, who nodded in agreement.
Raven placed his hand his hip, unsure of what to do next. His book was calling him and Shadow had made clear that no reading could be accomplished with Xena in their presence. Speaking of the devil, Xena was gone! He gasped out of pure shock and looked around madly for her, but she was nowhere in sight. How could that be? Just as Raven was about to give up and retreat into the safety of his book, Shadow cleared his throat and shook his head 'no'.
"C'mon Shadow! You can't be serious, you can't expect me to go looking for her!" Raven whined in a small voice. "This is not cool."
Pouting, Raven walked out of the room and searched the rest of the cabin for the girl. Then he heard her voice coming from outside, if he didn't know any better Raven would think she was singing or something. Her voice was low and mournful.
"Then you came around me the walls just disappeared. Nothing to surround me, and keep me from my fears I'm unprotected. See how I've opened up, you've made trust."
Raven and Shadow exchanged curious looks. What the heck could she be doing? He opened the sliding glass door in the back of the cabin, and then he saw her. Xena was standing next to the Blade Liger, her pale hand caressing the side of its leg. The liger purred and tilted its head like a cat would.
"I've never felt like this before, I'm naked around you..does it show? You see right through me and I can't hide, I'm naked around you and it feels so right." she whispered.
"There you are!! What the hell do you think you're doing?!?!" Raven barked angrily.
Xena nearly jumped out of her skin. She stared at Raven with total shock written all over her features, a small blush forming on her cheeks, and it made him feel pretty good. Not so cool now are we?
"For your information, I'm checking out this zoid. Looks like it's been through a lot, and it says it wants you to return it back to the base," Xena hissed, recovering from her shock.
"Are you kidding me? There's no way in hell I'm returning that filthy piece of junk back, if Van wants it back so badly he should have looked around more carefully," Raven retorted.
"But the Liger also says that you had nothing to do with it's being here. It was brought here against it's will, like it was possessed with another organiod."
Raven turned to his organiod who growled fiercely at the Blade Liger. "Hn, just as I thought. Stupid Reese doesn't know a damn thing, unmanned yes. But un-organiod I don't think so. She forgot to have her stupid organiod do stuff real ones should do, right Shadow?"
Shadow nodded, his dark eyes locked on the Blade Liger. His enemy from the other night was in there, staring right back at him. Kind of like a rematch, now Raven didn't have an excuse to leave and go read his dumb book. He had been spending too much time with it anyways.
"C'mon Xena, we're going back inside," Raven commanded but she made refused. Shadow scowled, so much for his bright idea.
"No Raven, I am not going with you. I want to stay outside, do something instead of being cooped up in some cabin that doesn't even have proper furnishing."
Raven narrowed his cold purple eyes. "Did I ask if you wanted to? No, I did not. Now come!"
He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her back inside the cabin and she put up a fierce fight he had to give her that much. Raven was far too strong and Xena knew it, he easily over-powered her. Once they got inside Raven forcibly tossed her on the bed while he sat down on the wooden chair in the corner. Sighing, Shadow followed them before Raven had the chance to yell at him.
"Shadow!" Too late, Shadow thought.
Meanwhile on the roof.
"Like I said before, do I detect a hint of romance?" Reese smirked to herself as she watched the dark organiod drag his feet to get inside the cabin.
Specula titled his blue head thoughtfully and nodded. There was defiantly a hint of romance going on. Reese just chuckled.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Fiona burst into the Control Center, wearing nothing but her flattering pajamas. Inside she saw Thomas standing solemnly by the speakerphone. He was the only person there; unlike her dream she thanked the gods of Zi for that. The massive monitor that was seated against the wall showed nothing but smoke.
"Thomas!! Where's Van?!?!" Fiona demanded breathlessly. "I have to find him!"
Thomas stared at her in disbelief, it was eight o'clock in the morning and Fiona was still in her pajamas? She usually got up at six before everyone else. He figured that since the sun had gone into an eclipse her internal clock was off, everyone else's were. But why did she have to wear that?? He couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"Miss Fiona?"
"Thomas, I need to know where Van is. It is an emergency!" Fiona pleaded desperately.
Thomas ran his hand through his sandy hair thoughtfully. Come to think of it, he didn't have a clue where that miserable Van Flyheight was. Then he remembered, his brother telling him that two only zoids had been stolen in the chaos; the Blade Liger, the cause of all the chaos. And the Dibison, that Van had said he was going to take for a "little spin".
"He stole my Dibison, I believe."
Fiona gasped in horror, her sunset eyes bright with tears as she slowly slunk to the floor. "Oh my god, I'm too late. Van's gonna.die."
"What do you mean Miss Fiona he's fine, I just checked in with him a second ago."
"He's going to lose his life because of a detonation device on your zoid! We have to save him, Thomas! I can't bear to look at Moonbay's and Irvine's faces one more time!!" she put her face in her hands and sobbed. "And I can't bear to watch him bleed anymore."
It occurred to Thomas that Fiona cared for Van in a way that no words could begin to describe; she would never love him the way she loves Van. All he could do was comfort her when all she wanted was Van, if something would happen to Van he would have a chance with her.
"Here Miss Fiona," he said gently, he held out his hand. "I'll prove to you Van Flyheight is still alive and as arrogant as ever."
She sniffled and looked up at him with sad eyes, completely unaware of his silent invitation. "You'll do that for me?"
Thomas nodded and smiled. "Of course I would." I'd do anything for you.
He typed something on a keyboard but apparently it didn't go as planned, there was too much dust due to the dust storms gathering because of the eclipse. Thomas typed a few more commands until the monitor showed the cabin that Moonbay reported seeing Raven and Shadow go into, there was no movement going on inside. But the heat sensors reported a lot of heat, as if there were living-organisms in the cabin; Thomas ignored it and typed another command.
"Van! You there?" Thomas asked. Fiona held her breath.
Just like Fiona's dream, the was beginning to seem more of an premonition, nothing but static met their ears. The blonde ancient Zoidian felt as if she was going to faint, this was not happening! No, Van was not chasing the Blade Liger in the Dibison that has a bomb on it! That in fact could kill him! No of course not.
"Oh dear God," Fiona clutched her chest, her lower lip trembling.
An awkward silence fell upon them; Thomas wanted ever so desperately to hold Fiona in his arms, tell her everything was going to be okay. But he knew better, for starters Fiona was madly in love with Van and there was a big possibility that if Van found out he'd come out of his grave and kill Thomas. That is, if he was in fact dead.
The automatic doors leading into the room opened, but neither Fiona nor Thomas paid any attention to it. Something growled slightly.
"You're telling me, pal," a male voice, said shaking his head.
Thomas turned around to see none other than Van, himself, standing in the command central. But the warrior was far to pre-occupied with his own thoughts to even notice Thomas gawking at him.
"What is it, Thomas?" Van tilted his head curiously.
Fiona hung her head, tears falling down her cheeks; she had to admit to herself that Van was gone; their relationship was great while it lasted. But he's gone now, or so she thought. Tears choked her, she tried not to start sobbing but couldn't help it.
"Fiona? Why are you crying?" Van knelt down beside her, and gently placed her bangs behind her ear-lope.
It was like Fiona didn't hear him, she thought she was going crazy hearing Van's voice. Maybe she was being touched by his spirit, or something like that.
"Thomas, what is the matter with her?" he asked worriedly.
Thomas pouted. "It's your fault she's crying."
"My fault?" Van blinked. "Fiona is that true?"
Fiona felt something gently wipe away one of her tears, she looked beside her and saw Van staring her with worried eyes. All she could think was, was she dreaming? She could have sworn Van was as dead as a doornail!
"V-V-van?" she stuttered.
Van smiled softly. "Yes, Fiona. I'm here now, everything's gonna be alright."
She stared at him, wide-eyed, her mind awhirl. Was Van really alive?
"Van it's really you!"
Fiona wrapped her arms around his neck squeezing him with all her might. Van laughed and hugged her back, it felt so right with Fiona in his arms.
"I sure would hope it's me, 'cause I'd beat the guy's ass who tricked you!" Van grinned.
Fiona dug her long fingernails on both sides of his neck just enough to shut up him.
"Ow! What'd ya do that for?" Van half pouted half giggled.
She pulled her head off his shoulder and pressed her lips against his. She could feel Van's body shake with laughter, the guy was still laughing! But he made no effort to break the kiss, just deepen it. Fiona pulled Van in such a way he was almost on top of her, the passionate kiss still intact. This was one area where she was in change.
"So I say to Irvine, 'Pick it up out there! You're looking sloppy!' and he says 'What would you do with a Royal Saber-Fang behind you?" And Rudolph was right behind him!" Moonbay was saying, tilting her wrist. With Colonel Shubaltz and Irvine by her side.
"Now I don't mean to interrupt this fascinating story Moonbay, but I think you watch where your stepping," the Colonel warned.
"Hmm? Whatdaya mean?" she looked down at her feet and saw Van twisted in such a way while kissing Fiona, she wondered how he could stay that way for much longer.
Fiona was lying underneath him, his hips almost next to her. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and Moonbay and Irvine wondered how much longer they could last without gasping for air.
"I give 'em one more minute tops," Irvine said casually.
"Nah, I'm thinking more along the lines of two minutes," Moonbay said with a dreamy sigh. "Aw, it's so beautiful. I always knew this was how they were going to end up sooner or later."
Irvine nodded. "Yeah, but let's shake on it."
"Alright, loser buys lunch," Moonbay replied holding her hand out.
"Okay then, it's a deal." They shook heads, sealing the bet/deal.
Colonel Shubaltz shook his head, they were making a bet on how much longer the two could stay locked in that kiss. He saw Thomas leaning against the main-computer's keyboard; he looked like he was going to ill. Ah, well Thomas never stood a chance against Van in Fiona's eyes.
Van and Fiona were completely oblivious to their surroundings, they had each other and that was good enough. Van broke the kiss a couple minutes later, and stared in her sunset eyes. He had never noticed how beautiful they were until now. Come to think of it, he had never really appreciated Fiona's angelic beauty until now.
"Fiona, you're so beautiful," Van murmured against Fiona's lips.
She smiled warmly. "I'm just glad the premonition didn't come all the way true, I would be miserable without you."
Van tilted his head. "Premonition? You had another one? And it was about me again?"
Fiona nodded, just becoming aware of her surroundings. "Yes, it was horrid. Worse than the last one."
"Moonbay you should be thankful you know how to cook," Irvine said happily. He had won the bet.
Moonbay scowled. "Oh shut up, Irvine. You and your male ego. Ah! Would ya look at that? The lovebirds are back in reality. So how was Cloud 9?"
Van suddenly realized where he was on the floor and got off of Fiona, blushing the whole time. While Fiona sat up, fixed her hair and stood up also, blushing.
"I'm guessing you didn't find the Blade Liger, right?" Colonel Shubaltz asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Van's eyes widened as he remembered. "Oh yeah! It wasn't anywhere in sight! And so much for BEAK, all I got was helmet hair. The Liger was in my sight for only a second, I'm telling ya the Dibison may have firepower but that's just about all it has. Pretty useless in a chase."
"Duh! When did you figure that out that?" Irvine hissed.
Van frowned. "Well excuse me! Did you want me to take your Lightening Saix instead?"
"Of course not! You little punk!"
"My point exactly."
Fiona grew weary of the nonsense; she had to know if the Dibison had a dentition device on it. But the question was, how was she going to convince them to look? They'd probably think she was crazy; the only person who wouldn't was Van.
"Van?" she tugged at his sleeve, feeling a little childish.
"What is it, Fiona?" Van asked gently.
"I have to go see the Dibison."
"Why? There's nothing special about it."
"I want to see something, Van don't ask so many questions!" she hissed.
Van sighed and turned to everyone. "You heard her, I gotta go and see what the little lady wants."
Irvine looked at his wrist where a watch would be and then back at Van. "Would you look at the time? If we're ever gonna make it to the nearest town in time for lunch, Moonbay and me better going. Isn't that right, Moonbay?" he snickered.
Moonbay scowled. "Oh shut up, Irvine! It's just a silly little bet!"
"A silly little bet that I just so happened to have won. You'd be doing the same thing if you were me."
She let out an aggravated sigh. "Grow up! I'm going but I'm not gonna like it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So why do you want to see the Dibison so badly?" Van asked Fiona as they walked into the now abandoned hangar.
"I told you already, Van! What is with you today?" Fiona hissed.
Van grinned mischievously. "You."
"Agh! You're hopeless!" Fiona stuck her nose up in the air and picked up her pace.
Van laughed and followed her. The mighty Dibison was a sight of relief to Fiona; it was hard to believe that she had seen it in a recognizable pile of scrap zoid parts. The question haunted her the most was, why did she see those images? There had to be a reasonable explanation.
"Van, do you know where dentition devices would be placed so the only the legs and a part of the main body would shatter? But the head would be spared?" Fiona asked quietly.
Van nodded and walked under the belly of the Dibison. He didn't know why he was doing this, but felt he had to for Fiona's sake. She was obviously freak out over something.
"Well, for what the description you gave me. My guess would be somewhere along the lines of being on the stomach," he said finally.
Sure enough there was a little bomb with red blinking lights on it, Van gasped. There was only one second left until it exploded! Fiona felt a surge of urgency crash into her like a tidal wave, she couldn't put her finger on it but she could sense that something was not right. Van quickly disabled the dentition device not a moment too soon.
Fiona saw something move from the corner of her eye, but she looked around she saw nothing. "Uh Van?" she said in a small whimper.
There it was again, this time the shadowy figure was moving closer to Van, who was wiping sweat off of his forehead. It crept soundlessly and Fiona wondered if she was just seeing things. No. She was almost positive she wasn't seeing things.
Fiona quickly thought up a plan to save Van from whatever the creature was.
"Oh Van, I.feel.so.faint." she placed her arm over her eyes and leaned backwards to give herself a dramatic effect.
Van finally removed the bomb and figured that had he fired at the Blade Liger that would have set off the dentition device thus therefore he would have blown himself up. The explosion would be massive due to the loads of ammo the Dibison was carrying; all and all Fiona saved his and Thomas' lives. It was amazing that Fiona knew that there was a bomb on it, but then again she was an amazing woman.
He felt something cool barely slide against his neck and landed a punch. The figure doubled over and Van brought the guys face to his knee.
Fiona gasped; not at the fight but at the red liquid dripping from Van's throat. Maybe my premonition is coming true. That single scratch on Van's neck was the same way it was in her dream.
Fiona collapsed on the floor.
"What the heck do you think your-" Van started to say when he saw her fall to the ground. "Fiona!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Yay! I'm done with chapter five! Wohoo! Anyways, um the song that Xena was singing earlier is called "Naked" by Avril Lavigne. You'll hear it one or two more times, hear it? What am I thinking? See it! My bad! Thank you guys soo much for reviewing, it makes me happy knowing that ya'll are enjoying my story. Read and Review ya'll. (ya'll?? Where did that come from??"
Peace out!
~*Mi ChElLe*~
"Must you sit there and act nothing has happened?" Raven hissed at his dark organiod, Shadow who just sighed in reply.
"What do you mean, I'm getting impatient? Well DUR! I know when I'm impatient, dummy! Whose side are you on anyways?" he growled.
Shadow sighed again; Raven was being so difficult, which in itself was nothing new. Just because Van Flyheight's Blade Liger appeared out of nowhere beside their cabin didn't mean a thing, Reese wasn't worried she had already checked it out and found it was un-manned. But then again, Zeke wasn't in it either, so something really weird was going on didn't mean a thing!
"Oh shut up already," a female voice snapped from behind Raven and Shadow. Only it wasn't Reese.
"Why the hell should I woman?!" Raven barked while his organiod hid his eyes beneath his paws.
"Because you giving me a migraine, that's why," she retorted.
Wait a minute.Raven froze and slowly turned around to find the girl, he had picked up from the forest, sitting on the bed. She rubbed her temples, her silver strands moving gently. The raven-haired warrior was flabbergasted, he look at her in disbelief. That stupid Reese had told him that she would be unconscious for some time, hn yeah sometime his foot.
Her pale blue eyes met with his dark purple ones. Shadow titled his head and looked at the girl and then back at Raven, something strange was going on.
"What's your name," Raven demanded quietly, his eyes still locked with hers.
"Xena, since you now know mine it's only fair that I know yours."
"I don't play fair, sugar," he replied with a smirk.
Just then a certain blue-haired, blue-eyed woman walked into the small bedroom. Her blue organiod faithfully by her side.
"Don't be rude, Raven. Tell the pretty lady your name," Reese said, placing special emphasis on Raven's name.
Raven fought the urge to glare at Reese, but he was determined to put this Xena in her place. Even if it meant an ole' fashion stare-down. But Xena was every bit as stubborn as he was if not more, she knew what he was trying to do.
"It's a pleasure," Xena said coolly, holding a pale hand out.
"The pleasure's all mine," Raven replied with the same aurora of coolness, and grabbed her hand in a very firm handshake.
Talk about your handshakes. Their knuckles turned white but neither of them was willing to let go until the other whimped out. Raven wasn't about to be out-done by some girl who was freakin' younger than he was! Oh hell no. It was bad enough he was defeated by Van that one time but he wasn't about to suffer the humiliation again. He had questions, who was she? Why was she in the forest? And most importantly what did Hiltz want from her? And that Draco person too, what was so special about her?
Reese giggled, it was cute watching them trying to out-do each other now Raven wouldn't have an excuse to be bored. He would be far to busy doing one of two things: finding a way to hide Van's Blade Liger or getting into a fight with Xena. Either way he'd be out of Reese's hair for a while, at least until Hiltz took Xena. Specula nodded, arching a fine eyebrow. Humans.
"Yes, I know my Specula. Some people these days," Reese agreed with a shake of her head.
"BLADE LIGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!!!" the all-too familiar voice of a certain midnight haired zoid warrior shouted.
Raven's eyes widened as he and Reese immediately looked out the window by the bed, sure enough there was the Guardian Force Dibison, which belonged to one of Van's stupid friends, running right past the cabin looking desperately for the Blade Liger that was beside the cabin. Zeke running by it's side, indicating that Van Flyheight himself was piloting it.
"Shitfuckdamnit!" Raven cursed under his breath as he stood beside the window in case his arch nemesis saw him.
"BLADE LIGER!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME BACK!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Van called out again.
Reese, Raven, Specula, Shadow, and Xena sweat dropped. The Blade Liger's jaw fell as a large sweat-drop formed on the side of its head.
"Who is that guy?" Xena asked.
"Van Flyheight," Raven said with total disgust. He turned to his organiod. "Come on Shadow, he's all fire-power and no speed so we can easily catch up with him!" Shadow nodded.
Just as they turned to leave, Reese grabbed his arm. "No, you said you wanted to get your revenge on the battlefield right?"
"Let go of me Reese," he said with deadly calm. "So what if I want to get him back for what he did to me," Raven's purple eyes burned with pure hatred that made Xena shudder.
But Reese played it cool; she couldn't and wouldn't let him know that he scared her. He may intimidate her but she wasn't about to let him win this round.
"What fun would it be if you beat him in a zoid that was not his? You wouldn't." she started to say.
"Yeah, yeah. I know, I wouldn't have 'beaten Van while he was at his best'," Raven recited the lecture he had heard several times before, rolling his eyes. He folded his arms across his chest, sighed and pouted.
Xena got up and looked out another window by the wooden dresser on her left, sure enough there was a blue Blade Liger with a very large sweat-drop on the side of its head. She just arched a silver eyebrow.
"That guy isn't too bright, is he," she said casually.
"You're telling me," Raven agreed, shaking his head.
"Come on Specula, let's make sure Van doesn't find the Liger," Reese turned to her blue metallic organiod, who nodded in agreement.
Raven placed his hand his hip, unsure of what to do next. His book was calling him and Shadow had made clear that no reading could be accomplished with Xena in their presence. Speaking of the devil, Xena was gone! He gasped out of pure shock and looked around madly for her, but she was nowhere in sight. How could that be? Just as Raven was about to give up and retreat into the safety of his book, Shadow cleared his throat and shook his head 'no'.
"C'mon Shadow! You can't be serious, you can't expect me to go looking for her!" Raven whined in a small voice. "This is not cool."
Pouting, Raven walked out of the room and searched the rest of the cabin for the girl. Then he heard her voice coming from outside, if he didn't know any better Raven would think she was singing or something. Her voice was low and mournful.
"Then you came around me the walls just disappeared. Nothing to surround me, and keep me from my fears I'm unprotected. See how I've opened up, you've made trust."
Raven and Shadow exchanged curious looks. What the heck could she be doing? He opened the sliding glass door in the back of the cabin, and then he saw her. Xena was standing next to the Blade Liger, her pale hand caressing the side of its leg. The liger purred and tilted its head like a cat would.
"I've never felt like this before, I'm naked around you..does it show? You see right through me and I can't hide, I'm naked around you and it feels so right." she whispered.
"There you are!! What the hell do you think you're doing?!?!" Raven barked angrily.
Xena nearly jumped out of her skin. She stared at Raven with total shock written all over her features, a small blush forming on her cheeks, and it made him feel pretty good. Not so cool now are we?
"For your information, I'm checking out this zoid. Looks like it's been through a lot, and it says it wants you to return it back to the base," Xena hissed, recovering from her shock.
"Are you kidding me? There's no way in hell I'm returning that filthy piece of junk back, if Van wants it back so badly he should have looked around more carefully," Raven retorted.
"But the Liger also says that you had nothing to do with it's being here. It was brought here against it's will, like it was possessed with another organiod."
Raven turned to his organiod who growled fiercely at the Blade Liger. "Hn, just as I thought. Stupid Reese doesn't know a damn thing, unmanned yes. But un-organiod I don't think so. She forgot to have her stupid organiod do stuff real ones should do, right Shadow?"
Shadow nodded, his dark eyes locked on the Blade Liger. His enemy from the other night was in there, staring right back at him. Kind of like a rematch, now Raven didn't have an excuse to leave and go read his dumb book. He had been spending too much time with it anyways.
"C'mon Xena, we're going back inside," Raven commanded but she made refused. Shadow scowled, so much for his bright idea.
"No Raven, I am not going with you. I want to stay outside, do something instead of being cooped up in some cabin that doesn't even have proper furnishing."
Raven narrowed his cold purple eyes. "Did I ask if you wanted to? No, I did not. Now come!"
He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her back inside the cabin and she put up a fierce fight he had to give her that much. Raven was far too strong and Xena knew it, he easily over-powered her. Once they got inside Raven forcibly tossed her on the bed while he sat down on the wooden chair in the corner. Sighing, Shadow followed them before Raven had the chance to yell at him.
"Shadow!" Too late, Shadow thought.
Meanwhile on the roof.
"Like I said before, do I detect a hint of romance?" Reese smirked to herself as she watched the dark organiod drag his feet to get inside the cabin.
Specula titled his blue head thoughtfully and nodded. There was defiantly a hint of romance going on. Reese just chuckled.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Fiona burst into the Control Center, wearing nothing but her flattering pajamas. Inside she saw Thomas standing solemnly by the speakerphone. He was the only person there; unlike her dream she thanked the gods of Zi for that. The massive monitor that was seated against the wall showed nothing but smoke.
"Thomas!! Where's Van?!?!" Fiona demanded breathlessly. "I have to find him!"
Thomas stared at her in disbelief, it was eight o'clock in the morning and Fiona was still in her pajamas? She usually got up at six before everyone else. He figured that since the sun had gone into an eclipse her internal clock was off, everyone else's were. But why did she have to wear that?? He couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"Miss Fiona?"
"Thomas, I need to know where Van is. It is an emergency!" Fiona pleaded desperately.
Thomas ran his hand through his sandy hair thoughtfully. Come to think of it, he didn't have a clue where that miserable Van Flyheight was. Then he remembered, his brother telling him that two only zoids had been stolen in the chaos; the Blade Liger, the cause of all the chaos. And the Dibison, that Van had said he was going to take for a "little spin".
"He stole my Dibison, I believe."
Fiona gasped in horror, her sunset eyes bright with tears as she slowly slunk to the floor. "Oh my god, I'm too late. Van's gonna.die."
"What do you mean Miss Fiona he's fine, I just checked in with him a second ago."
"He's going to lose his life because of a detonation device on your zoid! We have to save him, Thomas! I can't bear to look at Moonbay's and Irvine's faces one more time!!" she put her face in her hands and sobbed. "And I can't bear to watch him bleed anymore."
It occurred to Thomas that Fiona cared for Van in a way that no words could begin to describe; she would never love him the way she loves Van. All he could do was comfort her when all she wanted was Van, if something would happen to Van he would have a chance with her.
"Here Miss Fiona," he said gently, he held out his hand. "I'll prove to you Van Flyheight is still alive and as arrogant as ever."
She sniffled and looked up at him with sad eyes, completely unaware of his silent invitation. "You'll do that for me?"
Thomas nodded and smiled. "Of course I would." I'd do anything for you.
He typed something on a keyboard but apparently it didn't go as planned, there was too much dust due to the dust storms gathering because of the eclipse. Thomas typed a few more commands until the monitor showed the cabin that Moonbay reported seeing Raven and Shadow go into, there was no movement going on inside. But the heat sensors reported a lot of heat, as if there were living-organisms in the cabin; Thomas ignored it and typed another command.
"Van! You there?" Thomas asked. Fiona held her breath.
Just like Fiona's dream, the was beginning to seem more of an premonition, nothing but static met their ears. The blonde ancient Zoidian felt as if she was going to faint, this was not happening! No, Van was not chasing the Blade Liger in the Dibison that has a bomb on it! That in fact could kill him! No of course not.
"Oh dear God," Fiona clutched her chest, her lower lip trembling.
An awkward silence fell upon them; Thomas wanted ever so desperately to hold Fiona in his arms, tell her everything was going to be okay. But he knew better, for starters Fiona was madly in love with Van and there was a big possibility that if Van found out he'd come out of his grave and kill Thomas. That is, if he was in fact dead.
The automatic doors leading into the room opened, but neither Fiona nor Thomas paid any attention to it. Something growled slightly.
"You're telling me, pal," a male voice, said shaking his head.
Thomas turned around to see none other than Van, himself, standing in the command central. But the warrior was far to pre-occupied with his own thoughts to even notice Thomas gawking at him.
"What is it, Thomas?" Van tilted his head curiously.
Fiona hung her head, tears falling down her cheeks; she had to admit to herself that Van was gone; their relationship was great while it lasted. But he's gone now, or so she thought. Tears choked her, she tried not to start sobbing but couldn't help it.
"Fiona? Why are you crying?" Van knelt down beside her, and gently placed her bangs behind her ear-lope.
It was like Fiona didn't hear him, she thought she was going crazy hearing Van's voice. Maybe she was being touched by his spirit, or something like that.
"Thomas, what is the matter with her?" he asked worriedly.
Thomas pouted. "It's your fault she's crying."
"My fault?" Van blinked. "Fiona is that true?"
Fiona felt something gently wipe away one of her tears, she looked beside her and saw Van staring her with worried eyes. All she could think was, was she dreaming? She could have sworn Van was as dead as a doornail!
"V-V-van?" she stuttered.
Van smiled softly. "Yes, Fiona. I'm here now, everything's gonna be alright."
She stared at him, wide-eyed, her mind awhirl. Was Van really alive?
"Van it's really you!"
Fiona wrapped her arms around his neck squeezing him with all her might. Van laughed and hugged her back, it felt so right with Fiona in his arms.
"I sure would hope it's me, 'cause I'd beat the guy's ass who tricked you!" Van grinned.
Fiona dug her long fingernails on both sides of his neck just enough to shut up him.
"Ow! What'd ya do that for?" Van half pouted half giggled.
She pulled her head off his shoulder and pressed her lips against his. She could feel Van's body shake with laughter, the guy was still laughing! But he made no effort to break the kiss, just deepen it. Fiona pulled Van in such a way he was almost on top of her, the passionate kiss still intact. This was one area where she was in change.
"So I say to Irvine, 'Pick it up out there! You're looking sloppy!' and he says 'What would you do with a Royal Saber-Fang behind you?" And Rudolph was right behind him!" Moonbay was saying, tilting her wrist. With Colonel Shubaltz and Irvine by her side.
"Now I don't mean to interrupt this fascinating story Moonbay, but I think you watch where your stepping," the Colonel warned.
"Hmm? Whatdaya mean?" she looked down at her feet and saw Van twisted in such a way while kissing Fiona, she wondered how he could stay that way for much longer.
Fiona was lying underneath him, his hips almost next to her. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and Moonbay and Irvine wondered how much longer they could last without gasping for air.
"I give 'em one more minute tops," Irvine said casually.
"Nah, I'm thinking more along the lines of two minutes," Moonbay said with a dreamy sigh. "Aw, it's so beautiful. I always knew this was how they were going to end up sooner or later."
Irvine nodded. "Yeah, but let's shake on it."
"Alright, loser buys lunch," Moonbay replied holding her hand out.
"Okay then, it's a deal." They shook heads, sealing the bet/deal.
Colonel Shubaltz shook his head, they were making a bet on how much longer the two could stay locked in that kiss. He saw Thomas leaning against the main-computer's keyboard; he looked like he was going to ill. Ah, well Thomas never stood a chance against Van in Fiona's eyes.
Van and Fiona were completely oblivious to their surroundings, they had each other and that was good enough. Van broke the kiss a couple minutes later, and stared in her sunset eyes. He had never noticed how beautiful they were until now. Come to think of it, he had never really appreciated Fiona's angelic beauty until now.
"Fiona, you're so beautiful," Van murmured against Fiona's lips.
She smiled warmly. "I'm just glad the premonition didn't come all the way true, I would be miserable without you."
Van tilted his head. "Premonition? You had another one? And it was about me again?"
Fiona nodded, just becoming aware of her surroundings. "Yes, it was horrid. Worse than the last one."
"Moonbay you should be thankful you know how to cook," Irvine said happily. He had won the bet.
Moonbay scowled. "Oh shut up, Irvine. You and your male ego. Ah! Would ya look at that? The lovebirds are back in reality. So how was Cloud 9?"
Van suddenly realized where he was on the floor and got off of Fiona, blushing the whole time. While Fiona sat up, fixed her hair and stood up also, blushing.
"I'm guessing you didn't find the Blade Liger, right?" Colonel Shubaltz asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Van's eyes widened as he remembered. "Oh yeah! It wasn't anywhere in sight! And so much for BEAK, all I got was helmet hair. The Liger was in my sight for only a second, I'm telling ya the Dibison may have firepower but that's just about all it has. Pretty useless in a chase."
"Duh! When did you figure that out that?" Irvine hissed.
Van frowned. "Well excuse me! Did you want me to take your Lightening Saix instead?"
"Of course not! You little punk!"
"My point exactly."
Fiona grew weary of the nonsense; she had to know if the Dibison had a dentition device on it. But the question was, how was she going to convince them to look? They'd probably think she was crazy; the only person who wouldn't was Van.
"Van?" she tugged at his sleeve, feeling a little childish.
"What is it, Fiona?" Van asked gently.
"I have to go see the Dibison."
"Why? There's nothing special about it."
"I want to see something, Van don't ask so many questions!" she hissed.
Van sighed and turned to everyone. "You heard her, I gotta go and see what the little lady wants."
Irvine looked at his wrist where a watch would be and then back at Van. "Would you look at the time? If we're ever gonna make it to the nearest town in time for lunch, Moonbay and me better going. Isn't that right, Moonbay?" he snickered.
Moonbay scowled. "Oh shut up, Irvine! It's just a silly little bet!"
"A silly little bet that I just so happened to have won. You'd be doing the same thing if you were me."
She let out an aggravated sigh. "Grow up! I'm going but I'm not gonna like it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So why do you want to see the Dibison so badly?" Van asked Fiona as they walked into the now abandoned hangar.
"I told you already, Van! What is with you today?" Fiona hissed.
Van grinned mischievously. "You."
"Agh! You're hopeless!" Fiona stuck her nose up in the air and picked up her pace.
Van laughed and followed her. The mighty Dibison was a sight of relief to Fiona; it was hard to believe that she had seen it in a recognizable pile of scrap zoid parts. The question haunted her the most was, why did she see those images? There had to be a reasonable explanation.
"Van, do you know where dentition devices would be placed so the only the legs and a part of the main body would shatter? But the head would be spared?" Fiona asked quietly.
Van nodded and walked under the belly of the Dibison. He didn't know why he was doing this, but felt he had to for Fiona's sake. She was obviously freak out over something.
"Well, for what the description you gave me. My guess would be somewhere along the lines of being on the stomach," he said finally.
Sure enough there was a little bomb with red blinking lights on it, Van gasped. There was only one second left until it exploded! Fiona felt a surge of urgency crash into her like a tidal wave, she couldn't put her finger on it but she could sense that something was not right. Van quickly disabled the dentition device not a moment too soon.
Fiona saw something move from the corner of her eye, but she looked around she saw nothing. "Uh Van?" she said in a small whimper.
There it was again, this time the shadowy figure was moving closer to Van, who was wiping sweat off of his forehead. It crept soundlessly and Fiona wondered if she was just seeing things. No. She was almost positive she wasn't seeing things.
Fiona quickly thought up a plan to save Van from whatever the creature was.
"Oh Van, I.feel.so.faint." she placed her arm over her eyes and leaned backwards to give herself a dramatic effect.
Van finally removed the bomb and figured that had he fired at the Blade Liger that would have set off the dentition device thus therefore he would have blown himself up. The explosion would be massive due to the loads of ammo the Dibison was carrying; all and all Fiona saved his and Thomas' lives. It was amazing that Fiona knew that there was a bomb on it, but then again she was an amazing woman.
He felt something cool barely slide against his neck and landed a punch. The figure doubled over and Van brought the guys face to his knee.
Fiona gasped; not at the fight but at the red liquid dripping from Van's throat. Maybe my premonition is coming true. That single scratch on Van's neck was the same way it was in her dream.
Fiona collapsed on the floor.
"What the heck do you think your-" Van started to say when he saw her fall to the ground. "Fiona!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Yay! I'm done with chapter five! Wohoo! Anyways, um the song that Xena was singing earlier is called "Naked" by Avril Lavigne. You'll hear it one or two more times, hear it? What am I thinking? See it! My bad! Thank you guys soo much for reviewing, it makes me happy knowing that ya'll are enjoying my story. Read and Review ya'll. (ya'll?? Where did that come from??"
Peace out!
~*Mi ChElLe*~
