Author's Note: Hey ya'll! Sorry it's taken SO friggin long to get chapter
six up! I'm just gonna give you guys a little warning: on the section with
Raven it has the lyrics of Eminem's new song "Lose Yourself" from his
upcoming movie 8 Mile, and if y'know Eminem you know there's gonna be
curses so if you don't like curses (frankly, I'm surprised you've even read
this story lol) don't read the part with Raven so yeah. Without Further a
do here's Chapter Six!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco peered into the Control Center at the Seeyalata military base; good. It was empty. He crept inside, activating the lock on the automatic doors. He could not afford to get caught. It was 3 in the morning, and thankfully no one was awake. Phase I of his plan was a complete success, he had had his tan organiod, Tiamat go into the Blade Liger and bring it at Raven's hideout while he stayed behind and posed as an Imperial Solider. Phase II was to somehow talk Van Flyheight into going to the cabin, alone. So far no one suspected a thing, the soldier that Draco had killed body had not been found.yet. Draco didn't plan on staying that long, he stayed to make sure Flyheight found the Blade Liger and discovered Xena.
He smirked; sneaking in was easier than he thought. "Now, if I were the surveillance system main computer where would I be?"
Draco looked around the technically advanced room, with it's large monitor hanging on the wall, several computers scattered here and there. Nothing struck him as the surveillance main computer. Then he saw it; the white flat-screened computer monitor stared innocently at Draco from the safety of a dark corner across the room.
"Bingo."
Hacking into the computer was as easy as pie; the password was simple to figure, 'chania' sure it was a different language that was hardly spoken the people who came up with it deserved some credit from such a password. Too bad they forgot to factor in a person who knew the language. All he had to do was delete the images of him breaking into the Blade Liger and the hangar for that matter, in a matter of minutes the footage was as good as gone.
"That was easier than I thought, now I gotta do is get in touch with Tiamat."
Draco picked up the speakerphone sitting on it's little stand beside the keyboard for the monitor. He twisted it ever-so-slightly in his hand so whoever picked up this transmission wouldn't have a clue who it was speaking.
"Tiamat, Phase I complete. Phase II is in the works, leave all the magic to me buddy. Over and Out."
"Don't you know that the Control Center is closed when normal people decide to sleep," a female voice said calmly.
Draco calmly turned around to see Moonbay standing in the doorway, her black eyes fixed on him with a scowl on her lips. Moonbay was dressed in the same clothes she had wore earlier, almost as if she wasn't going to bed.
"I didn't have the slightest idea," Draco replied smoothly, hoping his skills as an actor would come in handy.
Moonbay put her hands on her hips, she didn't buy his story for one second. That guy wouldn't be in here without a reason, no soldier is that dumb.
"Oh I'm sure you were quite aware that you just decided to take this opportunity in the mist of the recent chaos and start some more trouble."
"Don't be ridiculous, uh.."
"Bay. Moonbay," Moonbay replied with an aura of mystery. "Just what exactly were you trying to do, kid?"
"Nothing." Draco decided not to draw any more attention to himself and the computer systems that were still on in brightly lit room. She tossed him a strange look.
"Don't pull any thing funny on me," Moonbay walked across the floor and sat in chair facing the surveillance monitor.
"I was just leaving," Draco headed for the door.
"Not so fast, I may not have an exact idea what's going but I do have my mouth if you know what I mean," she pointed to her lips.
The black-haired dark hazel-eyed "Imperial Soldier" stopped dead in his tracks; he knew exactly what Moonbay meant. She was going to tell on him then the officers would soon find out that he wasn't one of their men, and the killer of one unlucky 'Evan Matters'. He stayed perfectly calm and acted as though he didn't care, all he knew was that he had to find a way to shut up Moonbay and shut her up fast.
"What so ever do you mean? Not that it's any hair off my back, I just wanted to check and make sure none of the other zoids have been stolen. One zoid is more than enough since it's best thing we've got to defeat Raven once and for all," with that Draco a.k.a the new and improved Evan Matters walked through the automatic steel doors, leaving the tan woman to ponder about what he meant.
"Fascinating, I was here doing the same exact thing," Moonbay muttered.
Maybe not the same thing you were pal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Raven scowled as he walked through the main street of the city of Mastique; this was his tenth lap around this miserable little city. He had had come here with Xena and Shadow to get the basic essentials, and Xena wanted some more clothes and so did Reese. Now he was by himself, he had decided to let Xena and Shadow go shopping for clothes since she would make him look at every shirt, every pair of pants, everything in the godforsaken store before she'd find anything she liked and Raven did NOT want to endure that kind of suffering again. The first time he had gone shopping with her was yesterday, they went to the biggest mall in the area which had over 200 clothing stores alone, they got there at 10:00 a.m. exactly when it opened and had to be kicked out by closing which was about midnight, she did not find a single thing she liked. Raven defiantly did not want to go through THAT again.
It had been four hours since he had seen them last, it would be his luck if Xena suddenly decided to go back to the cabin which would explain why he hadn't seen them anywhere. The time was 10:20 p.m, Raven decided it was getting late but where would he find them? Shadow refused to come when he called him. What the heck was he supposed to do? He couldn't get spend the night searching for them like some pathetic loser with no life. He was a wanted criminal for crying out loud! If anyone saw his face they could turn him in and meet their maker in the process, which was why Raven wore fishermen hat(y'know the kind that go over your head and partly cover your eyes).
"Where the hell could they be? This is ridiculous, I am a warrior not some lost puppy trying to find it's way home!"
"Go into the place when the night is alive until the hours of day," a woman's voice whispered from nowhere.
Raven whirled around to find no one; he looked around but couldn't see anything or anything for that matter.
"What? Show yourself!" Raven barked, still unable to find the woman.
She laughed a gentle loving laugh that sent chills up and down Raven's spine. "I don't have to. Like I said my darling Raven, to find what you seek go to the place where the young and beautiful come to dance the night away."
In his mind's eye Raven could see a building with bright red neon colored words beside the entrance but he couldn't read them; was this person showing him where he wanted to go? Nonsense. But in a way, it did make a little bit of sense in a strange unnerving way. He told himself that it was NOT Reese that he was letting his imagination run away with him, but why did her voice sound so familiar?
No! This is simply a piece of my overactive imagination.
With speed that even amazed himself, Raven trotted through the dark alley to come across the building he had seen in his mind; the bright red neon letters read: Le Neuf Moulin Rouge. Directly translated 'The New Red Windmill', interesting name. He noticed the building was in the shape of a windmill with red lights shining brightly around giving it a blissful look. The windmill looked old and a little out of place in the modernized city, it seemed to in a world all its own. Not to mention, there was a small line of young people dressed in their sexiest clothes waiting patiently to get in and wow some people.
Raven got into the Moulin Rouge with no problem it's amazing what the turn of the fist can do; now he had to do the impossible find Xena in the seemingly endless sea of people, moving to the beat of the rhythm of the night. The smell of sweat filled the air, he wrinkled his nose as he pushed his way through searching the faces for someone he knew. He felt so out of place, why was he here in the first place? Oh yeah,to find Xena.
"Ohh, look at him," a girl about Raven's age with long blonde hair and green eyes said to her friend at the bar, pointing at Raven. "Doesn't he remind you of someone?"
Her red-haired friend nodded and smiled at the pale boy. "I guesso, but he's much hotter than your stupid ass boyfriend any day, Kim."
Kim tugged at her blonde hair and continued to watch that mysterious raven- haired boy make his way through the crowd, obviously looking for someone. "I suppose your right, I guess the old man was right. You never know who'd you run into in the Moulin Rouge."
//The clocks run out, times up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
Hes so mad, but he wont give up that
Is he? No
He wont have it , he knows his whole back citys ropes
It dont matter, hes dope
He knows that, but hes broke
Hes so stacked that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, thats when its
Back to the lab again yo
This whole rap shit
He better go capture this moment and hope it dont pass him//
Music blared from speakers embedded deep within the red walls making them vibrate so much Raven wondered how he could stay here for much longer without going deaf let alone how these people stay here for hours on end. The sooner he found Xena the sooner he could get out of this crazy place, and with the drugs and alcohol Raven figured he'd better find her quick before something really bad happened to her. The Moulin Rouge was a disaster waiting to happen with those hungry drunken men looking for a young, innocent, not to mention virgin girl to prey upon. Just the thought of those men touching Xena made Raven very angry, he thought of different ways to kill them even the people who saw them but did nothing he'd kill them too.
The raw but oddly danceable beat of the song that was playing nearly shook Raven off of his feet, the rappers voice was full of conviction as though he believed every word he was saying and wanted everyone who heard this song to know. To Raven's surprise; he found his head bobbing to the beat. He had a faint idea of why people would want to dance but the music was far too overbearing for his liking, not to mention the many hundreds of people crammed under roof. How could this be appealing to people??
//You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo//
Raven froze dead in his tracks. Xena. There she was dancing in the middle of this group of girls and guys, a spotlight shone on her as if she was the star. She was dressed in the same outfit she had on this morning, a black tank top and black baggy dickies pants. But that dumb dinosaur was nowhere to be seen, oh great. Raven frowned as he realized the same girls that had been watching him earlier were walking up to him, they must know who he was.
//The souls escaping, through this hole that its gaping
This world is mine for the taking
Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order
A normal life is borin, but superstardoms close to post mortar
It only grows harder, only grows hotter//
He pushed through the crowd till he reached Xena, who was lost in her own little world filled with music. Raven paused in front of her, but she didn't even see him, he wondered why everyone was acting very sexual. What was this? Some kind of sexual revolution?
"Xena?" he had to yell over the roar of the music.
//You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo//
Xena was still losing herself in the music, doing exactly what the song commanded. Raven frowned, it would be just his luck if she was intoxicated.
An attractive midnight haired girl tapped Xena on the shoulder, murmured something in her ear and point at Raven. Xena laughed and stumbled her way to the warrior.
"Raven!!" she grinned at him. Actually it sounded more like "Waven" then "Raven".
She tripped and fell into Raven's arms, something he had not been expecting. Her breath was warm and smelled of wine, she was drunk. Go figure, this was exactly Raven's luck. He let her do as she wished and this was the thanks he got. Simply peachy.
"Xena, your drunk," he said quietly, his eyes locked on the girl leaning against his chest.
"Raven! Don't be ridicu-lous," Xena said trying to get away from him and return to the dance floor.
"Raven, pleez one more song! Then I'll goo all the way back wit you to wherever you want to goo, I'll let you do whatever you w-want!"
//They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
He nose dove and sold nada
So the soap opera is told and unfolds
I suppose its old potna, but the beat goes on
Da da dum da dum da da//
"Your drunk," he repeated. Apart of him still stunned, how could she get drunk? He had never gotten drunk and he was older than she was! Another part of him was angry with the three guys who kept cracking their knuckles at him, threatening him which of course didn't scare him only pissed him off even more than he already was.
"I wouldn't think of it as drunk, more like unnaturally happy!" Xena slurred her words and pulled away in the hopes to retreat from him, but Raven held on to her wrist with an iron grip she wasn't going to get away.
"Your drunk and you lost my organiod." Raven lead her through the sea of the sweaty bodies played as pawns for some sick old fat man's satisfaction without knowing and into the back exit. He knew he had been inside the Moulin Rouge for more than long enough, something told him to get out and for once he obeyed.
"I dindn't lose Shaadow, Raven I made him go home wit all the stuff."
Raven leaned against the dirty, grainy wall next to the exit outside and sighed. He wondered if her drink had been spiked or if something had gotten out of hand, but why was he worrying about her. Did he get attached? Impossible.
"Raven!" Xena pouted with a little giggle. "You're not being fair! I liked that song!"
Raven sighed again; this was going to be a long night. "I heard you." He heard drunken footsteps come from beside him, and the grainy black door that lead to the back alley.
"Hey you! You little punk, who do you think you are? Waltzing in here like you own the place and then taking the pretty lady out before she wanted to. She told you she didn't want to go," a male voice growled.
Xena stared at three men; the guy in the middle obviously the leader was built and enraged by alcohol like the rest. The two on either side of him were moderately built, but neither of them could ever beat Raven no matter how hard they tried. She wondered why they were defending her, oh well one shouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth.
"Raven!" she squealed happily, pulling at his sleeve. "Look at these guys who wanna protect me!"
"Big whoop," Raven replied dully, his eyes still closed. He hadn't moved an inch since the three goons appeared. "You're cool now."
"I don't like your attitude boy!" the leader, his name Jayne barked, his two pals backing him up with nods.
"Yeah! We don't like your attitude boy!" they chimed in.
Raven opened his right eye and watched them harass him with mild interest. "That's nice, now go and tell it to someone who cares."
The two gasped, looking at the raven-haired stranger and then back at their boss. "Whatca gonna do about this little rodent boss??"
"Yeah boss, whatca you gonna do with it??"
"I think I'll beat the living day lights out of this rodent," Jayne replied with a smirk.
"I'm shaking with fear."
Xena grinned stupidly and stood awkwardly. Her head began to hurt and her vision blurred so she stumbled to the wall in the hopes of leaning against it. As she was about to fall a pair of strong arms caught her, whoever he was he smelled good. She threw up on whoever it was just before losing conscious and leaning against his strong warm arms. Raven groaned.
"Hey! You darky-dark! Let go of her!" Jayne commanded.
Raven blinked when he realized that he had gone out of his way just to catch Xena who was going to be very hung over tomorrow; he gulped suddenly concerned about his emotions. He could NOT afford to get attached! This was not happening, he reasoned at he was just being nice in light of his current situation. Not to mention she tossed her lunch on him, at least he could rest assured there was no more alcohol in her system. He narrowed his eyes.
"Shadow!!" Raven shouted at the top of his lungs.
In a burst of blue lightening the dark organiod appeared by his side, his arms full of bags. Raven fought the urge to sweat drop, this explains why Shadow hadn't come sooner. He was busy shopping! His organiod was shopping; his feared dark organiod was going on a shopping spree. Now he sweat- dropped.
"It's about time you stupid good for nothing dinosaur," he hissed.
Shadow cocked his head and stared at the three men who were gawking at them. He looked at Raven, growled, and back at the three stooges. Every time he left Raven by himself that kid always managed to make a new enemy. How does he do it?
"Yeah, yeah. Don't act so surprised. These fools want me to let Xena do as she pleases but what they don't know is that I let her and she goes and gets freakin' drunk on me!"
The organiod shook his head and walked up to them.
"Shut the hell up, Shadow!" Raven snarled. "I am NOT overreacting! Since when do I overreact?? Just kill them already!"
Naw, one of Jayne's henchmen, stared at the approaching organiod. It was going to kill them. What a way to go. Aw, the other henchmen turned to Jayne for an idea since he was the boss and all. Their fates now lied in the mercy of that raven-haired man.
"What's the matter? Can't do the job yourself so you let your organiod do it for you, pussy?" Jayne taunted.
Shadow stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Raven only to find him shaking with uncontrollable rage flames in his eyes. Uh oh, wrong choice of words buddy. He tried to calm his master down with no avail, Raven was pissed and beyond. The only other time Shadow had seen Raven THIS angry before was when Van had destroyed the Genosaurer all those years ago.
"What did you say?" he said through clenched teeth.
"I said you're a pussy, one mean pussy for that matter. Come on over pussy, looks like you could use company," Jayne smirked.
Aw, Naw, and Shadow stared at him as if he was insane. He was calling the most feared zoid pilot a pussy, not to mention a whore. The scene was not going to be pretty. Aw and Naw had seen a picture of Raven before on the news and it came back to haunt them.
"Aw." Naw started to say, shaking so badly his black dread locks twitched.
"Naw."
"This can't be happening!" they cried in unison.
"Is you-your n-ame Raven?" Aw asked timidly.
But Raven did not hear him, he was busy thinking of how he was going to kill that arrogant son of a bitch. It had to be a slow and painful death that was a must, with his faithful ivory knife. The one he had stolen from Prozin as soon as he realized how much it meant to Prozin. It had been with him for years and it wasn't about to let him down now.
Shadow nodded his head to Aw and Naw trying to tell them that guy was Raven. They paled, it was Raven!
"B-boss do you mind if I borrow your cell?" Aw spoke up.
Jayne handed him the small black object, his eyes still locked on the young man in front of him. It was easy to piss this guy off. A little too easy.
"A pussy? You think I am a pussy?!" Raven snapped, his voice rising with anger.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Aw crept behind a nearby dumpster, and dialed 5-1-1. The same as our 9-1-1 on Earth, the emergency help hotline. He had to find a way to stop this Raven dude before he exploded in a fury of rage and destroyed everyone and everything in sight with or without a zoid.
"Hello? Is this 511?" Aw whispered into the receiver.
"Yes this is 511, what's the emergency sir?" a cheery woman replied.
"I need to get in touch with anyone who can stop him!"
"Who? Sir? I don't understand, you need to speak up."
"Lady! Do you anyone in the Republic who can stop Raven??" Aw yelled into the phone, instantly regretting the volume of his voice.
"Raven? I've never met him but I don't think I want to, I'll call the Guardian Force right away!" the woman panicked and placed him on hold.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile..
"Shadow!" Raven yelled.
Shadow ran to his side and looked up at him obediently, this time he did not want to get in Raven's way. Raven put Xena on the organiod's back and shoved them out of the way. His purple pools were frighteningly full of rage and a fire burned steadily in them. Anyone with enough common sense would have run for the hills within one look at those horribly angry eyes.
"I want you to take Xena and go back to the cabin, I'll be there soon enough if Reese asks where I am tell her I'm going insane and I'll be back whenever I get my sanity back," he ordered calmly.
Are you sure? Shadow didn't feel right about leaving Raven all by his lonesome, and with the authorities on to his location he couldn't leave him here. The authorities would send Van, no doubt, and there would be another battle between the two only this time it would be fist to fist, a bloody brawl. It would not be very a pretty sight.
"I'm positive Shadow! And let Van come! He shall die at my hands the same way this pathetic fool will!"
The organiod nodded, his dark wings flapped and he flew into the night. While Raven discreetly drew his ivory blade knife. The fool, Jayne, stood completely unaware of the approaching attack. He smirked, beating that punk was going to be a piece of cake.or so he thought.
Raven noticed some shopping bags that Shadow had left behind. "Damn dinosaur.can't do anything right."
"Why don't you quit bitchin' 'bout your dinosaur and fight me like a man! But then again you're a pussy so I guess it would be difficult for you," Jayne curled his fist and got into a fighting position.
The flames in Raven's eyes grew. "I'm not a pussy.I'm your worst nightmare."
Jayne threw his head back and laughed, and before he knew it there was a knife in his gut with that raven-haired kid leaning before him. Raven forcibly pulled at the ivory blade that was now a sickly blood red and punched Jayne in the jaw. There was a loud CRACK sound, and Jayne went flying backwards his hands on his stomach trying to stop the fountain of blood from growing anymore.
"Not so tough now are we?"
Raven smirked and turned to Naw, who was scared spitless. Good, it always made him feel good knowing that people feared him. The look of fear in their eyes brought a smile to his pale lips. This is what he lived off of, fear.
"One down two to go," he murmured quietly as he drew his blade for another attack.
"Please! Don't hurt me! If you want just slit my throat, okay? I don't wanna die like that!" Naw pleaded and pointed to his dieing boss, his blue eyes shining with both fear and sincerity.
"If you insist," Raven nodded and the blade found its way to Naw's throat. A steady river of blood flowed out of the long cut. Naw fell slowly onto the dirty concrete as his blue eyes glazed over and he took his last breath, drowning in a sea of his own blood.
Ah, it felt so good to be back in his element again. Raven felt his ego grow considerably before he left he'd have to find the other one, what was his name again? Aw wasn't it? Who cares, whatever his name was he was going to die at Raven's hands at any rate.
Then he heard Aw's frightened voice coming from behind a nearby dumpster, he must have been talking to someone. Probably trying to call 5-1-1 on him, and the operator must have freaked and called the Guardian Force.so Van would be his way to stop him. Raven was tempted to kill Aw in front of Van, but decided it was best to lay low for a while so he'd kill Naw and go on his merry way.
"Please hurry lady! I'm next! He's gonna kill me! He ain't gonna leave until he friggin' kills me!" Aw whispered into a small black cell phone.
"I got in touch with the GF their sending their closet team to get Raven!" the operator said but Naw did not hear her for the phone had been snatched from his hands.
"Hello?? Hello! Are you there??"
Raven placed the phone on his ear. "Hello, do you have any prayers to say for the unlucky man?"
He heard her gasp and smirked. "Oh my god! Your Raven! Wow. I would have never expected you'd sound so sexy."
Raven's jaw fell, she thought he sounded sexy?? What the hell?? A sweat drop formed on the side of his head. He quickly regained his senses and crushed the phone in the palm of his hand.
Aw stood up on weak knees, his heart rammed against his ribcage and he knew that he was gonna die at that man's hands. He was going to be crushed like that phone, and no one could save him.
"Ttuls," Raven smirked and grabbed Aw by his collar and placed the bloody blade on the side of Naw's throat.
Aw gulped and the blade slowly pressed in his skin, at an inch at a time. His blood mixing with his fallen comrades. The world grew darker and darker, he could hear that raven-haired kid say something but he couldn't understand it. The pain grew to the extent that it became so much, his body grew cold and he could feel his blood washing his clothes and skin. There was no way in hell that Raven kid could get away without having at least a drop of blood on him, that guy had to be soaked in blood that was not his. Aw fell on his side.
In a matter of seconds the big thug was down and out for the count, his job was now officially done. The three thugs were just a fading memory of the past, Xena was safe and that was basically all that mattered. Raven knelt beside his latest victim and wiped the blade on his shirt until it was clean with the exception of a few bloody streaks.
He stood up and walked past him, suddenly absorbed in his thoughts. Why did he feel the desire to protect Xena from those thugs? The New Moulin Rouge bid him farewell, promising never to reveal the identity of the stoic boy who had graced her by ridding her of three drunken fools. Raven realized it was going to a long trip back to the little cabin; he would be there by mid afternoon at the earliest. Oh well, at least he'd have time to sort his thoughts and at least try to getting an understanding of what was happening to him. Twenty minutes later he was finally away from that miserable little city and not any closer to the cabin. He vaguely heard the sound of a zoid walking from behind him, he decided to ignore it. Probably just some kid trying to sneak away from home in the dead of night to go and live his dream to become to some great zoid warrior.
The naïve little fool.
The zoid roared and Raven stopped in his tracks, okay.maybe he was wrong about the whole kid thing. It was his stupid, good for nothing, organiod. He whirled around to see a black and red Shield Liger, it's tail wagging happily. So Shadow found a Shield Liger and took over it, big whoop. Shadow inside of the Shield Liger bent over the cockpit opened. Sighing, Raven hopped in.
"Well Shadow I have to admit you've done good this time, saving me from walking all the back. But where is Xena? If you lose her one more time I'm going to rip you head off," Raven said calmly as the black and red Shield Liger trotted through the desert.
The Shield Liger growled in reply and Raven laughed.
"You gave her to Reese and Hiltz on their little date?" he laughed again. "Ah, I wish I could have seen their faces!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Say what?! Raven was in town partying?!?!?!" Van shrieked.
Moonbay nodded quietly, starting to regret waking up Van who was only wearing a baggy black pair of sweats, his muscular upper body completely exposed. She had to admit he had a nice body, not to mention nice abs she tried to stop staring. She also knew that his nemesis had an even better body, she saw it with her own eyes. Just thinking about that bod made her swoon on the inside.
"Yeah, that's what I heard. Look Van, don't get all pissed at me just because Raven wanted to have a good time," she glared at him.
Van sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry Moonbay; it's just that I don't understand why Raven would be going to a club. His definition of fun is blowing up everything in sight not having a grand ole time with some hot chicks."
"You never know, but there is an issue for the arrest of a guy who murdered the Moulin Rouge's owner Brad McClain's son Jayne McClain and two of his pals. Knife wounds," Moonbay added.
Dr. D was right, Van would never be truly happy knowing that Raven was around and close by. He was way too concerned with Raven, it killed him knowing that he couldn't stop Raven and he still wanted his revenge on him.
"Do you think this is Raven's way of getting back at me? Kind of like a "I'm back! Catch me if you can"?" Van's gray eyes didn't have their usual playful glow they were hard and tried at the same time.
Moonbay felt her heart break for him, he probably haven't had a decent night's sleep for weeks. As much as she hated to admit it, Raven had to be stopped. The only way he could be stopped for sure would be killing him, it was the only option for them he was far too dangerous alive.
"Van, c'mon I'll make us some breakfast and we'll decide what to do from there okay?" she said gently.
"I guesso, but what are we gonna do if Raven finally decides this is the day he wants to fight me to get his revenge? I don't have the Blade Liger," he pointed out sadly.
Moonbay placed her arm around his shoulder. "Raven wouldn't want to fight when your not at your very best." With that she lead him out of the Control Center. "Besides, it's not like we're a bunch cops dealing with psychopathic killers here."
~*~*~*~
"Raven," Reese growled as he and Shadow walked through the front door of the cabin. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."
Reese put her hands on her hips, it was easy to see she was pissed off and beyond. Raven couldn't help but grin at the thought of what Shadow had told him on the way back, man he really wished he could have been there to see hers and Hitlz's faces when Shadow arrived with out cold Xena and a collection of shopping bags.
"Didn't Shadow tell you? I went insane and I wouldn't return until I had gotten my sanity back," Raven stated, his dark purple eyes glittering with humor.
For some reason, Raven was in a playful mood; he had the sudden urge to play jokes on people and grin and laugh like a madman. Just three hours ago, he was pissed off beyond reason but now he was in a happy go lucky mood. He figured at the Moulin Rouge he inhaled some smoke or something from people who were busy getting high. So he had a second hand high (AN: lol, I know its crazy but he didn't do any drugs! He's just in a really good mood!)
Shadow sighed and shook his head, his master was acting really weird oh well. He shouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth. Specula growled at him, saying, "What the hell happened to Raven? I don't think he got his sanity back!" Shadow nodded in agreement.
"Shut up Raven, what were you doing? And what did you do to Xena? Hitlz freaked out when he saw your ugly organiod carrying her unconscious form! Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince him she was sleeping??" Reese snapped.
"Don't look at me, it's not my fault she got drunk," Raven replied with a shrug.
Reese gasped. "Drunk? You let her get drunk? You stupid idiot! Don't you know how to do anything right???"
Raven placed his hand on his hip, scowling. So much for that good mood. "As a matter a fact, I let Xena do what she wanted. She wanted to go shop, fine she did. But I did not want to sit in one store for three hours while she tried on everything in the flippin' store! So I let her go with Shadow in the hopes he'd do something right for once, while I did nothing.
"Apparently, she told Shadow to do something to get him out of the way. And he did so, just long enough for her to get intoxicated. I'll have you know I saved her little ass, I dunno why but goddamnit I did! I stopped a trio who wanted her to go back in the Moulin Rouge and get even more intoxicated and possibly raped."
There was nothing but silence. Raven blinked, wondering what he had said that caused the sudden eerie silence. Reese sat on the couch in a daze, she felt faint and light headed. Was Raven saying that he did something noble?
"Reese?" Raven said her name gently, unsure of what to do.
She broke the awkward silence and said, "Raven, do you know what you just said?"
Raven blinked and nodded still unsure of what was going to happen next.
"You protected Xena from drunken men? Raven, I had no idea you had it in you. I don't know what to say except I'm stunned to hear you did such a thing."
"Did I do something bad?" he felt like a stupid little kid who didn't know anything and that made him angry. What did Reese mean by 'I had no idea you had it in you'? Was she saying that she was surprised to hear he did something nice?
Reese shook her head. "No. On the contrary you did something quite noble."
Shadow cocked his head to one side while Specula stared at Reese with a blank expression; both organiods were not expecting something like that. Raven frowned, noble? He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Raven walked past her and into the bedroom and saw Xena snoring softly on the bed. Her arm laid protectively over her waist, her long silver hair sprawled out around her. He smiled softly and grabbed his book off the nightstand, sat down on the floor and read. Finally, he could read in peace.
Meanwhile in the living room:
"Man, I wonder who shoved that stick up his ass. Raven's quite a character isn't he Specula?" Reese lay on the couch, her head aching but she was not tired.
Specula growled and nodded.
"Yes, the funny thing is this was exactly how Hiltz predicted he would act. Very curious, apparently the big guy has it in for him and now that Xena has been reawakened he'd want her to join in too. Her powers will come in handy when the time comes to beat Van Flyheight, and the fact that she knows Fiona makes everything even more interesting. It'll quite a show to watch indeed, I simply can't wait for the curtains to raise."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well? What do you guys think?? I made this chapter extra long for all you fans. Hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry about it taking ssoooo long! School was simply murder this week, I'll try extra hard to get chapter seven up as soon as possible! Now review! Lol. Peace out!
~*Mi ChElLe*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco peered into the Control Center at the Seeyalata military base; good. It was empty. He crept inside, activating the lock on the automatic doors. He could not afford to get caught. It was 3 in the morning, and thankfully no one was awake. Phase I of his plan was a complete success, he had had his tan organiod, Tiamat go into the Blade Liger and bring it at Raven's hideout while he stayed behind and posed as an Imperial Solider. Phase II was to somehow talk Van Flyheight into going to the cabin, alone. So far no one suspected a thing, the soldier that Draco had killed body had not been found.yet. Draco didn't plan on staying that long, he stayed to make sure Flyheight found the Blade Liger and discovered Xena.
He smirked; sneaking in was easier than he thought. "Now, if I were the surveillance system main computer where would I be?"
Draco looked around the technically advanced room, with it's large monitor hanging on the wall, several computers scattered here and there. Nothing struck him as the surveillance main computer. Then he saw it; the white flat-screened computer monitor stared innocently at Draco from the safety of a dark corner across the room.
"Bingo."
Hacking into the computer was as easy as pie; the password was simple to figure, 'chania' sure it was a different language that was hardly spoken the people who came up with it deserved some credit from such a password. Too bad they forgot to factor in a person who knew the language. All he had to do was delete the images of him breaking into the Blade Liger and the hangar for that matter, in a matter of minutes the footage was as good as gone.
"That was easier than I thought, now I gotta do is get in touch with Tiamat."
Draco picked up the speakerphone sitting on it's little stand beside the keyboard for the monitor. He twisted it ever-so-slightly in his hand so whoever picked up this transmission wouldn't have a clue who it was speaking.
"Tiamat, Phase I complete. Phase II is in the works, leave all the magic to me buddy. Over and Out."
"Don't you know that the Control Center is closed when normal people decide to sleep," a female voice said calmly.
Draco calmly turned around to see Moonbay standing in the doorway, her black eyes fixed on him with a scowl on her lips. Moonbay was dressed in the same clothes she had wore earlier, almost as if she wasn't going to bed.
"I didn't have the slightest idea," Draco replied smoothly, hoping his skills as an actor would come in handy.
Moonbay put her hands on her hips, she didn't buy his story for one second. That guy wouldn't be in here without a reason, no soldier is that dumb.
"Oh I'm sure you were quite aware that you just decided to take this opportunity in the mist of the recent chaos and start some more trouble."
"Don't be ridiculous, uh.."
"Bay. Moonbay," Moonbay replied with an aura of mystery. "Just what exactly were you trying to do, kid?"
"Nothing." Draco decided not to draw any more attention to himself and the computer systems that were still on in brightly lit room. She tossed him a strange look.
"Don't pull any thing funny on me," Moonbay walked across the floor and sat in chair facing the surveillance monitor.
"I was just leaving," Draco headed for the door.
"Not so fast, I may not have an exact idea what's going but I do have my mouth if you know what I mean," she pointed to her lips.
The black-haired dark hazel-eyed "Imperial Soldier" stopped dead in his tracks; he knew exactly what Moonbay meant. She was going to tell on him then the officers would soon find out that he wasn't one of their men, and the killer of one unlucky 'Evan Matters'. He stayed perfectly calm and acted as though he didn't care, all he knew was that he had to find a way to shut up Moonbay and shut her up fast.
"What so ever do you mean? Not that it's any hair off my back, I just wanted to check and make sure none of the other zoids have been stolen. One zoid is more than enough since it's best thing we've got to defeat Raven once and for all," with that Draco a.k.a the new and improved Evan Matters walked through the automatic steel doors, leaving the tan woman to ponder about what he meant.
"Fascinating, I was here doing the same exact thing," Moonbay muttered.
Maybe not the same thing you were pal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Raven scowled as he walked through the main street of the city of Mastique; this was his tenth lap around this miserable little city. He had had come here with Xena and Shadow to get the basic essentials, and Xena wanted some more clothes and so did Reese. Now he was by himself, he had decided to let Xena and Shadow go shopping for clothes since she would make him look at every shirt, every pair of pants, everything in the godforsaken store before she'd find anything she liked and Raven did NOT want to endure that kind of suffering again. The first time he had gone shopping with her was yesterday, they went to the biggest mall in the area which had over 200 clothing stores alone, they got there at 10:00 a.m. exactly when it opened and had to be kicked out by closing which was about midnight, she did not find a single thing she liked. Raven defiantly did not want to go through THAT again.
It had been four hours since he had seen them last, it would be his luck if Xena suddenly decided to go back to the cabin which would explain why he hadn't seen them anywhere. The time was 10:20 p.m, Raven decided it was getting late but where would he find them? Shadow refused to come when he called him. What the heck was he supposed to do? He couldn't get spend the night searching for them like some pathetic loser with no life. He was a wanted criminal for crying out loud! If anyone saw his face they could turn him in and meet their maker in the process, which was why Raven wore fishermen hat(y'know the kind that go over your head and partly cover your eyes).
"Where the hell could they be? This is ridiculous, I am a warrior not some lost puppy trying to find it's way home!"
"Go into the place when the night is alive until the hours of day," a woman's voice whispered from nowhere.
Raven whirled around to find no one; he looked around but couldn't see anything or anything for that matter.
"What? Show yourself!" Raven barked, still unable to find the woman.
She laughed a gentle loving laugh that sent chills up and down Raven's spine. "I don't have to. Like I said my darling Raven, to find what you seek go to the place where the young and beautiful come to dance the night away."
In his mind's eye Raven could see a building with bright red neon colored words beside the entrance but he couldn't read them; was this person showing him where he wanted to go? Nonsense. But in a way, it did make a little bit of sense in a strange unnerving way. He told himself that it was NOT Reese that he was letting his imagination run away with him, but why did her voice sound so familiar?
No! This is simply a piece of my overactive imagination.
With speed that even amazed himself, Raven trotted through the dark alley to come across the building he had seen in his mind; the bright red neon letters read: Le Neuf Moulin Rouge. Directly translated 'The New Red Windmill', interesting name. He noticed the building was in the shape of a windmill with red lights shining brightly around giving it a blissful look. The windmill looked old and a little out of place in the modernized city, it seemed to in a world all its own. Not to mention, there was a small line of young people dressed in their sexiest clothes waiting patiently to get in and wow some people.
Raven got into the Moulin Rouge with no problem it's amazing what the turn of the fist can do; now he had to do the impossible find Xena in the seemingly endless sea of people, moving to the beat of the rhythm of the night. The smell of sweat filled the air, he wrinkled his nose as he pushed his way through searching the faces for someone he knew. He felt so out of place, why was he here in the first place? Oh yeah,to find Xena.
"Ohh, look at him," a girl about Raven's age with long blonde hair and green eyes said to her friend at the bar, pointing at Raven. "Doesn't he remind you of someone?"
Her red-haired friend nodded and smiled at the pale boy. "I guesso, but he's much hotter than your stupid ass boyfriend any day, Kim."
Kim tugged at her blonde hair and continued to watch that mysterious raven- haired boy make his way through the crowd, obviously looking for someone. "I suppose your right, I guess the old man was right. You never know who'd you run into in the Moulin Rouge."
//The clocks run out, times up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
Hes so mad, but he wont give up that
Is he? No
He wont have it , he knows his whole back citys ropes
It dont matter, hes dope
He knows that, but hes broke
Hes so stacked that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, thats when its
Back to the lab again yo
This whole rap shit
He better go capture this moment and hope it dont pass him//
Music blared from speakers embedded deep within the red walls making them vibrate so much Raven wondered how he could stay here for much longer without going deaf let alone how these people stay here for hours on end. The sooner he found Xena the sooner he could get out of this crazy place, and with the drugs and alcohol Raven figured he'd better find her quick before something really bad happened to her. The Moulin Rouge was a disaster waiting to happen with those hungry drunken men looking for a young, innocent, not to mention virgin girl to prey upon. Just the thought of those men touching Xena made Raven very angry, he thought of different ways to kill them even the people who saw them but did nothing he'd kill them too.
The raw but oddly danceable beat of the song that was playing nearly shook Raven off of his feet, the rappers voice was full of conviction as though he believed every word he was saying and wanted everyone who heard this song to know. To Raven's surprise; he found his head bobbing to the beat. He had a faint idea of why people would want to dance but the music was far too overbearing for his liking, not to mention the many hundreds of people crammed under roof. How could this be appealing to people??
//You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo//
Raven froze dead in his tracks. Xena. There she was dancing in the middle of this group of girls and guys, a spotlight shone on her as if she was the star. She was dressed in the same outfit she had on this morning, a black tank top and black baggy dickies pants. But that dumb dinosaur was nowhere to be seen, oh great. Raven frowned as he realized the same girls that had been watching him earlier were walking up to him, they must know who he was.
//The souls escaping, through this hole that its gaping
This world is mine for the taking
Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order
A normal life is borin, but superstardoms close to post mortar
It only grows harder, only grows hotter//
He pushed through the crowd till he reached Xena, who was lost in her own little world filled with music. Raven paused in front of her, but she didn't even see him, he wondered why everyone was acting very sexual. What was this? Some kind of sexual revolution?
"Xena?" he had to yell over the roar of the music.
//You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo//
Xena was still losing herself in the music, doing exactly what the song commanded. Raven frowned, it would be just his luck if she was intoxicated.
An attractive midnight haired girl tapped Xena on the shoulder, murmured something in her ear and point at Raven. Xena laughed and stumbled her way to the warrior.
"Raven!!" she grinned at him. Actually it sounded more like "Waven" then "Raven".
She tripped and fell into Raven's arms, something he had not been expecting. Her breath was warm and smelled of wine, she was drunk. Go figure, this was exactly Raven's luck. He let her do as she wished and this was the thanks he got. Simply peachy.
"Xena, your drunk," he said quietly, his eyes locked on the girl leaning against his chest.
"Raven! Don't be ridicu-lous," Xena said trying to get away from him and return to the dance floor.
"Raven, pleez one more song! Then I'll goo all the way back wit you to wherever you want to goo, I'll let you do whatever you w-want!"
//They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
He nose dove and sold nada
So the soap opera is told and unfolds
I suppose its old potna, but the beat goes on
Da da dum da dum da da//
"Your drunk," he repeated. Apart of him still stunned, how could she get drunk? He had never gotten drunk and he was older than she was! Another part of him was angry with the three guys who kept cracking their knuckles at him, threatening him which of course didn't scare him only pissed him off even more than he already was.
"I wouldn't think of it as drunk, more like unnaturally happy!" Xena slurred her words and pulled away in the hopes to retreat from him, but Raven held on to her wrist with an iron grip she wasn't going to get away.
"Your drunk and you lost my organiod." Raven lead her through the sea of the sweaty bodies played as pawns for some sick old fat man's satisfaction without knowing and into the back exit. He knew he had been inside the Moulin Rouge for more than long enough, something told him to get out and for once he obeyed.
"I dindn't lose Shaadow, Raven I made him go home wit all the stuff."
Raven leaned against the dirty, grainy wall next to the exit outside and sighed. He wondered if her drink had been spiked or if something had gotten out of hand, but why was he worrying about her. Did he get attached? Impossible.
"Raven!" Xena pouted with a little giggle. "You're not being fair! I liked that song!"
Raven sighed again; this was going to be a long night. "I heard you." He heard drunken footsteps come from beside him, and the grainy black door that lead to the back alley.
"Hey you! You little punk, who do you think you are? Waltzing in here like you own the place and then taking the pretty lady out before she wanted to. She told you she didn't want to go," a male voice growled.
Xena stared at three men; the guy in the middle obviously the leader was built and enraged by alcohol like the rest. The two on either side of him were moderately built, but neither of them could ever beat Raven no matter how hard they tried. She wondered why they were defending her, oh well one shouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth.
"Raven!" she squealed happily, pulling at his sleeve. "Look at these guys who wanna protect me!"
"Big whoop," Raven replied dully, his eyes still closed. He hadn't moved an inch since the three goons appeared. "You're cool now."
"I don't like your attitude boy!" the leader, his name Jayne barked, his two pals backing him up with nods.
"Yeah! We don't like your attitude boy!" they chimed in.
Raven opened his right eye and watched them harass him with mild interest. "That's nice, now go and tell it to someone who cares."
The two gasped, looking at the raven-haired stranger and then back at their boss. "Whatca gonna do about this little rodent boss??"
"Yeah boss, whatca you gonna do with it??"
"I think I'll beat the living day lights out of this rodent," Jayne replied with a smirk.
"I'm shaking with fear."
Xena grinned stupidly and stood awkwardly. Her head began to hurt and her vision blurred so she stumbled to the wall in the hopes of leaning against it. As she was about to fall a pair of strong arms caught her, whoever he was he smelled good. She threw up on whoever it was just before losing conscious and leaning against his strong warm arms. Raven groaned.
"Hey! You darky-dark! Let go of her!" Jayne commanded.
Raven blinked when he realized that he had gone out of his way just to catch Xena who was going to be very hung over tomorrow; he gulped suddenly concerned about his emotions. He could NOT afford to get attached! This was not happening, he reasoned at he was just being nice in light of his current situation. Not to mention she tossed her lunch on him, at least he could rest assured there was no more alcohol in her system. He narrowed his eyes.
"Shadow!!" Raven shouted at the top of his lungs.
In a burst of blue lightening the dark organiod appeared by his side, his arms full of bags. Raven fought the urge to sweat drop, this explains why Shadow hadn't come sooner. He was busy shopping! His organiod was shopping; his feared dark organiod was going on a shopping spree. Now he sweat- dropped.
"It's about time you stupid good for nothing dinosaur," he hissed.
Shadow cocked his head and stared at the three men who were gawking at them. He looked at Raven, growled, and back at the three stooges. Every time he left Raven by himself that kid always managed to make a new enemy. How does he do it?
"Yeah, yeah. Don't act so surprised. These fools want me to let Xena do as she pleases but what they don't know is that I let her and she goes and gets freakin' drunk on me!"
The organiod shook his head and walked up to them.
"Shut the hell up, Shadow!" Raven snarled. "I am NOT overreacting! Since when do I overreact?? Just kill them already!"
Naw, one of Jayne's henchmen, stared at the approaching organiod. It was going to kill them. What a way to go. Aw, the other henchmen turned to Jayne for an idea since he was the boss and all. Their fates now lied in the mercy of that raven-haired man.
"What's the matter? Can't do the job yourself so you let your organiod do it for you, pussy?" Jayne taunted.
Shadow stopped dead in his tracks and turned to Raven only to find him shaking with uncontrollable rage flames in his eyes. Uh oh, wrong choice of words buddy. He tried to calm his master down with no avail, Raven was pissed and beyond. The only other time Shadow had seen Raven THIS angry before was when Van had destroyed the Genosaurer all those years ago.
"What did you say?" he said through clenched teeth.
"I said you're a pussy, one mean pussy for that matter. Come on over pussy, looks like you could use company," Jayne smirked.
Aw, Naw, and Shadow stared at him as if he was insane. He was calling the most feared zoid pilot a pussy, not to mention a whore. The scene was not going to be pretty. Aw and Naw had seen a picture of Raven before on the news and it came back to haunt them.
"Aw." Naw started to say, shaking so badly his black dread locks twitched.
"Naw."
"This can't be happening!" they cried in unison.
"Is you-your n-ame Raven?" Aw asked timidly.
But Raven did not hear him, he was busy thinking of how he was going to kill that arrogant son of a bitch. It had to be a slow and painful death that was a must, with his faithful ivory knife. The one he had stolen from Prozin as soon as he realized how much it meant to Prozin. It had been with him for years and it wasn't about to let him down now.
Shadow nodded his head to Aw and Naw trying to tell them that guy was Raven. They paled, it was Raven!
"B-boss do you mind if I borrow your cell?" Aw spoke up.
Jayne handed him the small black object, his eyes still locked on the young man in front of him. It was easy to piss this guy off. A little too easy.
"A pussy? You think I am a pussy?!" Raven snapped, his voice rising with anger.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Aw crept behind a nearby dumpster, and dialed 5-1-1. The same as our 9-1-1 on Earth, the emergency help hotline. He had to find a way to stop this Raven dude before he exploded in a fury of rage and destroyed everyone and everything in sight with or without a zoid.
"Hello? Is this 511?" Aw whispered into the receiver.
"Yes this is 511, what's the emergency sir?" a cheery woman replied.
"I need to get in touch with anyone who can stop him!"
"Who? Sir? I don't understand, you need to speak up."
"Lady! Do you anyone in the Republic who can stop Raven??" Aw yelled into the phone, instantly regretting the volume of his voice.
"Raven? I've never met him but I don't think I want to, I'll call the Guardian Force right away!" the woman panicked and placed him on hold.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile..
"Shadow!" Raven yelled.
Shadow ran to his side and looked up at him obediently, this time he did not want to get in Raven's way. Raven put Xena on the organiod's back and shoved them out of the way. His purple pools were frighteningly full of rage and a fire burned steadily in them. Anyone with enough common sense would have run for the hills within one look at those horribly angry eyes.
"I want you to take Xena and go back to the cabin, I'll be there soon enough if Reese asks where I am tell her I'm going insane and I'll be back whenever I get my sanity back," he ordered calmly.
Are you sure? Shadow didn't feel right about leaving Raven all by his lonesome, and with the authorities on to his location he couldn't leave him here. The authorities would send Van, no doubt, and there would be another battle between the two only this time it would be fist to fist, a bloody brawl. It would not be very a pretty sight.
"I'm positive Shadow! And let Van come! He shall die at my hands the same way this pathetic fool will!"
The organiod nodded, his dark wings flapped and he flew into the night. While Raven discreetly drew his ivory blade knife. The fool, Jayne, stood completely unaware of the approaching attack. He smirked, beating that punk was going to be a piece of cake.or so he thought.
Raven noticed some shopping bags that Shadow had left behind. "Damn dinosaur.can't do anything right."
"Why don't you quit bitchin' 'bout your dinosaur and fight me like a man! But then again you're a pussy so I guess it would be difficult for you," Jayne curled his fist and got into a fighting position.
The flames in Raven's eyes grew. "I'm not a pussy.I'm your worst nightmare."
Jayne threw his head back and laughed, and before he knew it there was a knife in his gut with that raven-haired kid leaning before him. Raven forcibly pulled at the ivory blade that was now a sickly blood red and punched Jayne in the jaw. There was a loud CRACK sound, and Jayne went flying backwards his hands on his stomach trying to stop the fountain of blood from growing anymore.
"Not so tough now are we?"
Raven smirked and turned to Naw, who was scared spitless. Good, it always made him feel good knowing that people feared him. The look of fear in their eyes brought a smile to his pale lips. This is what he lived off of, fear.
"One down two to go," he murmured quietly as he drew his blade for another attack.
"Please! Don't hurt me! If you want just slit my throat, okay? I don't wanna die like that!" Naw pleaded and pointed to his dieing boss, his blue eyes shining with both fear and sincerity.
"If you insist," Raven nodded and the blade found its way to Naw's throat. A steady river of blood flowed out of the long cut. Naw fell slowly onto the dirty concrete as his blue eyes glazed over and he took his last breath, drowning in a sea of his own blood.
Ah, it felt so good to be back in his element again. Raven felt his ego grow considerably before he left he'd have to find the other one, what was his name again? Aw wasn't it? Who cares, whatever his name was he was going to die at Raven's hands at any rate.
Then he heard Aw's frightened voice coming from behind a nearby dumpster, he must have been talking to someone. Probably trying to call 5-1-1 on him, and the operator must have freaked and called the Guardian Force.so Van would be his way to stop him. Raven was tempted to kill Aw in front of Van, but decided it was best to lay low for a while so he'd kill Naw and go on his merry way.
"Please hurry lady! I'm next! He's gonna kill me! He ain't gonna leave until he friggin' kills me!" Aw whispered into a small black cell phone.
"I got in touch with the GF their sending their closet team to get Raven!" the operator said but Naw did not hear her for the phone had been snatched from his hands.
"Hello?? Hello! Are you there??"
Raven placed the phone on his ear. "Hello, do you have any prayers to say for the unlucky man?"
He heard her gasp and smirked. "Oh my god! Your Raven! Wow. I would have never expected you'd sound so sexy."
Raven's jaw fell, she thought he sounded sexy?? What the hell?? A sweat drop formed on the side of his head. He quickly regained his senses and crushed the phone in the palm of his hand.
Aw stood up on weak knees, his heart rammed against his ribcage and he knew that he was gonna die at that man's hands. He was going to be crushed like that phone, and no one could save him.
"Ttuls," Raven smirked and grabbed Aw by his collar and placed the bloody blade on the side of Naw's throat.
Aw gulped and the blade slowly pressed in his skin, at an inch at a time. His blood mixing with his fallen comrades. The world grew darker and darker, he could hear that raven-haired kid say something but he couldn't understand it. The pain grew to the extent that it became so much, his body grew cold and he could feel his blood washing his clothes and skin. There was no way in hell that Raven kid could get away without having at least a drop of blood on him, that guy had to be soaked in blood that was not his. Aw fell on his side.
In a matter of seconds the big thug was down and out for the count, his job was now officially done. The three thugs were just a fading memory of the past, Xena was safe and that was basically all that mattered. Raven knelt beside his latest victim and wiped the blade on his shirt until it was clean with the exception of a few bloody streaks.
He stood up and walked past him, suddenly absorbed in his thoughts. Why did he feel the desire to protect Xena from those thugs? The New Moulin Rouge bid him farewell, promising never to reveal the identity of the stoic boy who had graced her by ridding her of three drunken fools. Raven realized it was going to a long trip back to the little cabin; he would be there by mid afternoon at the earliest. Oh well, at least he'd have time to sort his thoughts and at least try to getting an understanding of what was happening to him. Twenty minutes later he was finally away from that miserable little city and not any closer to the cabin. He vaguely heard the sound of a zoid walking from behind him, he decided to ignore it. Probably just some kid trying to sneak away from home in the dead of night to go and live his dream to become to some great zoid warrior.
The naïve little fool.
The zoid roared and Raven stopped in his tracks, okay.maybe he was wrong about the whole kid thing. It was his stupid, good for nothing, organiod. He whirled around to see a black and red Shield Liger, it's tail wagging happily. So Shadow found a Shield Liger and took over it, big whoop. Shadow inside of the Shield Liger bent over the cockpit opened. Sighing, Raven hopped in.
"Well Shadow I have to admit you've done good this time, saving me from walking all the back. But where is Xena? If you lose her one more time I'm going to rip you head off," Raven said calmly as the black and red Shield Liger trotted through the desert.
The Shield Liger growled in reply and Raven laughed.
"You gave her to Reese and Hiltz on their little date?" he laughed again. "Ah, I wish I could have seen their faces!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Say what?! Raven was in town partying?!?!?!" Van shrieked.
Moonbay nodded quietly, starting to regret waking up Van who was only wearing a baggy black pair of sweats, his muscular upper body completely exposed. She had to admit he had a nice body, not to mention nice abs she tried to stop staring. She also knew that his nemesis had an even better body, she saw it with her own eyes. Just thinking about that bod made her swoon on the inside.
"Yeah, that's what I heard. Look Van, don't get all pissed at me just because Raven wanted to have a good time," she glared at him.
Van sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry Moonbay; it's just that I don't understand why Raven would be going to a club. His definition of fun is blowing up everything in sight not having a grand ole time with some hot chicks."
"You never know, but there is an issue for the arrest of a guy who murdered the Moulin Rouge's owner Brad McClain's son Jayne McClain and two of his pals. Knife wounds," Moonbay added.
Dr. D was right, Van would never be truly happy knowing that Raven was around and close by. He was way too concerned with Raven, it killed him knowing that he couldn't stop Raven and he still wanted his revenge on him.
"Do you think this is Raven's way of getting back at me? Kind of like a "I'm back! Catch me if you can"?" Van's gray eyes didn't have their usual playful glow they were hard and tried at the same time.
Moonbay felt her heart break for him, he probably haven't had a decent night's sleep for weeks. As much as she hated to admit it, Raven had to be stopped. The only way he could be stopped for sure would be killing him, it was the only option for them he was far too dangerous alive.
"Van, c'mon I'll make us some breakfast and we'll decide what to do from there okay?" she said gently.
"I guesso, but what are we gonna do if Raven finally decides this is the day he wants to fight me to get his revenge? I don't have the Blade Liger," he pointed out sadly.
Moonbay placed her arm around his shoulder. "Raven wouldn't want to fight when your not at your very best." With that she lead him out of the Control Center. "Besides, it's not like we're a bunch cops dealing with psychopathic killers here."
~*~*~*~
"Raven," Reese growled as he and Shadow walked through the front door of the cabin. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."
Reese put her hands on her hips, it was easy to see she was pissed off and beyond. Raven couldn't help but grin at the thought of what Shadow had told him on the way back, man he really wished he could have been there to see hers and Hitlz's faces when Shadow arrived with out cold Xena and a collection of shopping bags.
"Didn't Shadow tell you? I went insane and I wouldn't return until I had gotten my sanity back," Raven stated, his dark purple eyes glittering with humor.
For some reason, Raven was in a playful mood; he had the sudden urge to play jokes on people and grin and laugh like a madman. Just three hours ago, he was pissed off beyond reason but now he was in a happy go lucky mood. He figured at the Moulin Rouge he inhaled some smoke or something from people who were busy getting high. So he had a second hand high (AN: lol, I know its crazy but he didn't do any drugs! He's just in a really good mood!)
Shadow sighed and shook his head, his master was acting really weird oh well. He shouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth. Specula growled at him, saying, "What the hell happened to Raven? I don't think he got his sanity back!" Shadow nodded in agreement.
"Shut up Raven, what were you doing? And what did you do to Xena? Hitlz freaked out when he saw your ugly organiod carrying her unconscious form! Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince him she was sleeping??" Reese snapped.
"Don't look at me, it's not my fault she got drunk," Raven replied with a shrug.
Reese gasped. "Drunk? You let her get drunk? You stupid idiot! Don't you know how to do anything right???"
Raven placed his hand on his hip, scowling. So much for that good mood. "As a matter a fact, I let Xena do what she wanted. She wanted to go shop, fine she did. But I did not want to sit in one store for three hours while she tried on everything in the flippin' store! So I let her go with Shadow in the hopes he'd do something right for once, while I did nothing.
"Apparently, she told Shadow to do something to get him out of the way. And he did so, just long enough for her to get intoxicated. I'll have you know I saved her little ass, I dunno why but goddamnit I did! I stopped a trio who wanted her to go back in the Moulin Rouge and get even more intoxicated and possibly raped."
There was nothing but silence. Raven blinked, wondering what he had said that caused the sudden eerie silence. Reese sat on the couch in a daze, she felt faint and light headed. Was Raven saying that he did something noble?
"Reese?" Raven said her name gently, unsure of what to do.
She broke the awkward silence and said, "Raven, do you know what you just said?"
Raven blinked and nodded still unsure of what was going to happen next.
"You protected Xena from drunken men? Raven, I had no idea you had it in you. I don't know what to say except I'm stunned to hear you did such a thing."
"Did I do something bad?" he felt like a stupid little kid who didn't know anything and that made him angry. What did Reese mean by 'I had no idea you had it in you'? Was she saying that she was surprised to hear he did something nice?
Reese shook her head. "No. On the contrary you did something quite noble."
Shadow cocked his head to one side while Specula stared at Reese with a blank expression; both organiods were not expecting something like that. Raven frowned, noble? He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Raven walked past her and into the bedroom and saw Xena snoring softly on the bed. Her arm laid protectively over her waist, her long silver hair sprawled out around her. He smiled softly and grabbed his book off the nightstand, sat down on the floor and read. Finally, he could read in peace.
Meanwhile in the living room:
"Man, I wonder who shoved that stick up his ass. Raven's quite a character isn't he Specula?" Reese lay on the couch, her head aching but she was not tired.
Specula growled and nodded.
"Yes, the funny thing is this was exactly how Hiltz predicted he would act. Very curious, apparently the big guy has it in for him and now that Xena has been reawakened he'd want her to join in too. Her powers will come in handy when the time comes to beat Van Flyheight, and the fact that she knows Fiona makes everything even more interesting. It'll quite a show to watch indeed, I simply can't wait for the curtains to raise."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well? What do you guys think?? I made this chapter extra long for all you fans. Hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry about it taking ssoooo long! School was simply murder this week, I'll try extra hard to get chapter seven up as soon as possible! Now review! Lol. Peace out!
~*Mi ChElLe*~
