*&*@*!*%*#*$*
"I hate him, I hate him. I swear to everything holy I hate him! God, I hate him so much."
Stream filled the small but luxurious bathroom blanketing every thing with warm soft fog. Wherever there were gaps, under the door, or that loose tile in the way by the mirror, the magnificent warm clouds pushed and shoved their warm into the cool world outside of the bathroom.
"I'm going to put him in the blender and bake him into a pie-"
She had been in there for the past two hours, her skin had turned as shades of red/pink but she didn't care. Doing nothing but massaging the steady flow of hot water and muttering obscenities. In fact, she wasn't at all aware of her environment. She was lost in her own world filled with vengeance and deep loathing. Revenge consumed her at a rapid rate; how dare he do that to her? Humiliate her in front of everyone who was anyone and that cute Draco, not to mention Major Hottie, even that little blonde bitch Alicia Lynette.
"-and feed him to Shadow and he'll go 'YMM! This is good what is it made of?'"
Raven. That name made her bones shudder with the deepest of loathing, she'd get him back no matter if it was the last thing she ever did. At first she thought he was there for nothing more than her morbid amusement, oh sure he saved her life but that meant nothing. And God forbid that he was good looking and one of sexist voices in the worl-what the hell? He was nothing more then a self-centered son of a bitch, asshole, sexist, jerk, moron, numbskull, idiot, stupid, and the list went on and on. Words could not describe the way she despised him, in this moment in time might I add.
"-and I'll go 'It's my special, RAVEN!!'"
Death to the son of a bitch otherwise known as Raven, may he die a slow and painful death, courtesy of Xena. She'd make sure he'd pay big time, pay with every last dime in his pocket. Not only would she humiliate him by all means necessary, beat him an inch to his life (she wished) but she'd do something so horrible, so nasty, so unspeakably devilish she couldn't even think of it! That's how nasty it was.
Repeated pounding on the bathroom door brought her out of her evil thoughts.
"WILL YOU HURRY UP IN THERE? YOU'VE BEEN HOGGING THE BATHROOM FOR THE PAST TWO HOURS! IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF THERE BY THE TIME I COUNT TO TEN I'M BREAKING DOWN THIS DOOR WHETHER YOUR NAKED OR NOT!!" barked the all too familiar voice of the son of a bitch himself.
"GO TO HELL!" Xena screamed at the top of her lungs, making the constant poundings on the door suddenly come to a halt.
Xena smirked into the water and said, "Damn right, now that's what I'm talking about."
If anything were happen next it would be the breaking of that door, she knew damn well Raven was true to his word. He'd see her in her birthday suite, not that she had a bad one, but ew, that was gross. She refused to let him humiliate her and demean her anymore. She swore into the stream of water and reluctantly twisted both of the crystal knobs off and the steady stream of water faded away. She pulled the sliding glass door open and not to her surprise steam covered everything like a blanket of snow.
She vaguely wondered why the pounding had stopped; she didn't say anything far from the usual only this time she screamed at the top of her lungs normally she kept her cool. But then again why did she care? She had decided earlier that she was going to jack up the controls of the Genobreaker and in a crafty disguise tell the Guardian Force where Raven was so they could kick his ass, but then again she wanted to kick his ass after what he did to Mini Me. And Mini Me was only a baby! Mini Me didn't know any better plus she was defenseless. But no, no mercy when Raven's your opponent, he'd rip your zoid into shreds without a second thought.
Now that she thought of it, she hadn't heard from Reese in what seemed like years and right now she needed some female companionship and she wasn't about to ask that blonde bitch Alicia Lynette a.k.a Fiona to talk. Oh hell no, she had been in the cockpit of Zaber that ruined Mini Me with that little piece of shit also known as Raven and she didn't even say anything to save poor Mini Me. Xena'd have her revenge on her too. But Raven was target number one and that wasn't about to change.
Xena heard loud voices coming from the other room one male and one female, obviously Reese had returned. How she had found their hotel hide out was a mystery to Xena. For after the battle, Raven kicked Fiona out of the cockpit and forced her to come in or else he'd finish off Mini Me until there wasn't a scrap left, so naturally Xena complied. Since the cabin had been engulfed in everlasting flames they were forced to retreat somewhere; but of course the hotel was Xena's idea. Raven had suggested that they go and jack another cabin and start over, but she had refused she was sick and tried of leaving like peasant so she suggested no demanded a fancy hotel suite. Raven had shrugged and agreed under the excuse he'd have a more comfortable place to sleep than he had in years, ah the loser. And the rest was ancient history.
*&#*#&*&*(#@&
Reese glanced around the remains of the late cabin, apparently someone had set it on fire with a bomb, and oh she was going to get Hiltz for this. She was willing to bet Raven that Hiltz had something to do with it, he always did manage to get involved in just about everything. Thankfully the heavens had spared Reese's closet from the flames, in fact it was the only thing NOT on fire. The Genobreaker was still hidden in the underbrush, so either one of two things had occurred: One) Raven had fallen asleep with his damned book in hand and he was dead before he even knew what hit him, dead by the smoke. Or Two) Raven had been reading his damned book and heard the explosion and fled. What about Xena? Was she okay? Hiltz had said he wanted her alive, but now all these different attempts of her life, Reese wasn't sure she could trust him anymore.
But wherever Raven was Xena was sure to be, those two were inseparable and they fought like cats and dogs. They were fine, she assured herself. Wherever they were.
"Specula get into the Genosaurer and get the closet. We're going man hunting."
Specula nodded her head and in a flash of blue lightening she went into the Genosaurer. It roared and grabbed the closet. Reese glanced around to see if she had forgotten something, the Genobreaker kept calling her. But Raven would kill if anyone but him touched his zoid, he was very touchy about that. But now if someone had seen the flames and called 511 the cops would do some snooping around to see if it was arson and then unwittedly stumble upon the feared Genobreaker. That would not be good.
Reese dissipated into the cockpit of the red Genobreaker; Specula cocked her head curiously at her. What's going on? Why aren't you coming?
"It's okay Specula, we can't afford to get caught. Everyone knows Raven's with us now and if they find his zoid people are going to get suspicious," Reese explained dully, staring at the controls.
Now, the only question is; if she was Raven and Xena were would she be hiding out at? Naturally Raven would want to lay low, thus take another cabin while Xena on the other hand was a fan of luxury. A hotel, but of course.
"Specula, there should be a hotel in that city with the dance club where Raven lost Xena, I do believe there are three hotels. We're looking for the nicest, most expensive one."
Within minutes, Reese had located them, they were staying in Sherateon. The Sherateon was a very expensive, very fancy, elegant, all the things that Raven despised. Ohh, Reese was going to finally be able to relax and have a good time. She couldn't wait.
Hiding the Genosaurer was a piece of cake, but hiding the Genobreaker was all whole neither story. In the abandoned weedy lot by the edge of forest where the zoids were hidden was what appeared to be a black liger looking zoid, it was a wreck. It must have been in a very difficult battle and obviously did not win. To her surprise, Reese noticed a glitter, a soft glitter coming from the edge of the thick mass of trees. Upon further investigation Reese discovered it was a blue Zaber Fang with one of its fangs missing.
"Wonder where that thing came from," Reese said dryly. "Come on Specula we're about a half a mile away from the hotel, it's massive. The second largest hotel in the Republic, and that has to count for something. If it makes you feel any better I'll help you carry that thing," she added.
Specula shook her head and continued to lug the heavy wooden closet, determined to make sure Reese didn't hurt herself before tonight when they were supposed to meet Hiltz for business.
Twenty Minutes Later..
Reese awkwardly knocked on the door of room 763; she had met with the manger and quickly discovered Raven and Xena were in fact using an alias. Their names were Brad and Nina Witherspoon; they were married for two months. So Reese decided that hers would be Reese Witherspoon, Brad's sister. Fortunately the manager wasn't that bright and fell for it.
"Who is it?" a husky voice called out from inside the room.
"Brad it's me, your sister Reese Witherspoon."
She heard something flop down and the sound of walking feet coming towards the door, she couldn't help but grin. The door opened revealing none other than Raven dressed in his usual attire, he frowned at her.
"Get in, I don't want anyone to see us," Raven growled.
As she walked in, Reese kissed Raven's scowling lips and motioned for Specula to come in. She smirked as she surveyed the living area, there was a large white plush couch with a glass table beside it with a bouquet full of arrangements with beautiful white flowers. Everything was in a shade of white and looked marvelous together.
"Not bad," Reese said walking to the bouquet and smelling all the different flowers. "Not bad at all."
"Whatever, how did you find us?" Raven had taken his spot back on the couch, the book laying open on his side.
"It was simple really."
Reese nodded to Specula, who was looking around for a spot to put the closet and soon the organiod was gone. Gone to put the heavy closet down in a corner, maybe by another closet so it wouldn't look out of place.
"Really, you had no way to know where the hell we were. The cabin was torched as you know, someone has it in for us," Raven added a hint of amusement in his voice.
"You're right I didn't, but I knew you two so it was rather simple for me to discover where you guys where hiding out at. Xena loves luxury, a hotel was only natural."
"Liar." "What? Are you saying that I found out another way? Why are you so upset about me coming?" Reese asked casually, a smirk tugging at her lips.
Raven let his head fall gently against the top of the couch and closed his eyes. His mind was slowly chugging along her question; in fact he didn't know why he was upset. That blonde annoying girl's, Fiona, words echoed in his head. Earlier he didn't believe a word of it, he had assumed she had lost her mind but now he wasn't so sure. In a way everything she had said made sense, the cabin set ablaze, Reese's disappearance, it was like some giant conspiracy. But he didn't buy the conspiracy, there was only one man that came to mind in all of this chaos: Hiltz. That red haired overly ambitious guy had connections everywhere, nearly everything bad that happened had something to do with him, worst of all he was in league with the supposed to be dead Prozen and that alone made him in charge of Raven. Much to Raven's disgust, he finally had his freedom and then as quickly as it came it was gone.
"I don't think you understand Reese, you can't just disappear for a day or two and waltz back and expect everything to back to normal? Hate to burst your bubble but things don't work that way, a lot has happened," Raven said calmly.
Reese narrowed her eyes; he was hiding something from her. She knew Raven could care less if anything happened to her, but something must have happened to get his brain into gear for him to start acting this way. No doubt he had taken apart of this out on Xena, who most likely was the cause of this problem. If she hadn't been awakened then none of this was ever have happened.
"Really, this is about Xena isn't it?"
Raven jerked up and stared at her as if she had grown another head. "How do you know?" his voice was unnaturally high which triggered Fiona's voice to sound again this time even louder. For when they were in the cockpit of Zaber she had confided in him her vision. All and all it wasn't pretty and they had every reason to be worried.
"Raven is there something you'd like to tell me? Because if you don't you know I have other ways of finding out."
"No! Don't read my mind, I thought we went through that already!!"
Reese cocked her head to one side, wondering what the hell was his problem. Of course she could read his mind without him even knowing, so either way she'd get the answer.
"The cabin set ablaze was more than just a conveniently placed explosive device, you know. Hiltz wants to send us a warning, and once he gets Xena it's over for us," Reese said bitterly, clenching and unclenching her fists.
"Your kidding me," he said in an unconvincing tone, and got up and sulked towards a closed door. Raven pounded on the door and shouted, "WILL YOU HURRY UP IN THERE? YOU'VE BEEN HOGGING THE BATHROOM FOR THE PAST TWO HOURS! IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF THERE BY THE TIME I COUNT TO TEN I'M BREAKING DOWN THIS DOOR WHETHER YOUR NAKED OR NOT!!"
Reese arched a blue eyebrow in surprise. From the looks of it Raven wasn't at all angry, probably just did that as an excuse to get Xena involved in the conversation. Even though she had the right to know. Reese knew that when Xena found out she'd refuse to see Hiltz and do everything in her power to keep them alive, she really was good at heart. Why she didn't just join sides with Fiona was a mystery.
"GO TO HELL!!" sounded a muffled voice from behind the door.
He shrugged and returned to his spot on the couch. "So that's why she came to me," he said dryly.
Neither of them were surprised, they had known that Hiltz was only with them until he didn't need them anymore. And when he got his paws on Xena he would personally send the two of them to meet their maker. If only Xena knew.
"Who?" Reese took a spot on the couch next to him, careful to leave a gap between them.
"The other ancient Zoidian, I think her name is Fiona, I'm not good with names though. She said she had a vision with her," he jerked his thumb towards the closed door. "And yours truly. She dies trying to save me. Fiona wanted to me to stay with her so I could be safe, really stupid if you ask me."
His tone was indifferent and from the outside it looked as though Raven didn't care at all, that this happened every day. But Reese saw right through him, this was his way of protecting himself from all the pain in the world he tried so hard to immune himself from.
"Fiona? Why would Fiona ever associate with you, her boyfriends arch enemy?"
"I don't know, but I've been thinking-,"
Reese couldn't help herself; she was helpless to stop what happened next. "Ooh! My God you've been thinking! I ready write this down on the calendar, 'Today Raven actually thought!'"
Raven shot her a death glare and continued. "Like I said earlier until SOMEONE interrupted me, I've been thinking--."
"Wow! What a memorable event! This is amazing!" Reese exclaimed.
"Grrr, shut up will you?! I'm trying to be serious here!! Let me get this off my chest and then we can bicker!" Raven snapped. "Okay," Reese placed a stray hair behind her ear lope and tried to act like nothing happened.
Just then Shadow walked into the room, his big blue eyes went from Raven to Reese then back Raven then again to Reese. He gulped, remembering what happened the last time those two were together talking like that, he was kicked out of the room for five hours. Shadow raced out of the room, eager to not get into trouble for once.
"Hn, I wonder what his problem is," Raven said dryly. "If in fact Hiltz is behind all this, which I have no doubt he is, why would he want us dead before we followed out with our orders? Why is Xena so valuable to him, she's nothing more than a big pain in the ass."
"True, but it's her powers. He wants her because of her power over zoids, think about it: every zoid that opposed him would destroy itself at her command there would be no one to stand in his way. Why he wants us dead, I don't know but I'm not about to die just yet. I am not at his disposal."
Raven nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've come too far to beat Van and I'm not going to die before I do so."
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"Y'know Zeke, you awful lucky."
Zeke tilted his head curiously towards his master, Van Flyheight, who was working on the repairs on the Blade Liger. Just like he had been for the past a hour, the first thing he did when he came back with Fiona after the really strange battle between Xena in her zoid she called Mini Me and Raven in the stolen Zaber Fang, and Van in his Blade Liger and Draco in the Bahamut. It was really weird. Almost all of the zoids were in pretty bad shape, Mini Me having the misfortune of being the worst. The Blade Liger limped on two legs to get back to the base.
"You don't have to deal with girls and love.mostly girls though," Van replied, sticking his head out from underneath the Liger.
For the past hour, Van kept chatting away to Zeke about all of his problems; Raven and Xena, his sister Maria was engaged to that ex-priest in his village but mostly Fiona and girls in general. And Zeke had endured everything, just like a best friend would. He knew his master would do the same for him.
"I mean, honestly their more trouble than they're worth. They love ya one minute and then when you want to say something they get all angry at you for 'ruining the moment'! It's crazy! They say one thing and then they go around and do the exact opposite! They don't listen to reason or anything! It's crazy."
Zeke nodded his head aimlessly and frankly even though he was an organiod his neck got tired from all the nodding. He wished Van would pay more attention to the repairs instead of his love life; the Liger was better off before than it was now. Had he known a year ago that when he talked Van into going back to the ruins for Fiona that this would happen, he doubted he would have done so..nah Fiona knew exactly where to pet him.
"Hey Van, Irvine, Fiona and me are going into town for dinner. You wanna come?" Moonbay asked, tilting her head curiously at Van who was standing under the Liger standing on his tiptoes.
The sound of her voice startled Van, and as he turned around to face his foot slipped on some oil on the floor and he fell on his butt. Zeke blinked and glanced at Van to see if he was okay.
"Van?" Moonbay also blinked.
"Ugh, what was did you say Moonbay?" Van asked, still on his butt.
"Er.I asked you if you wanted to come to dinner with us.but if you're gonna go you better take a shower now!"
Moonbay giggled softly, images of what happened just minutes earlier replayed over and over in her mind and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep her composure. She snorted and soon she was on the floor, rolling with laughter.
Van wrinkled his nose and stood up, trying hopelessly to get the oil off of the back of his pants. Damn, he knew he should have worn another pair of pants. Who did Moonbay think she was? That was NOT funny! It wasn't his fault he was klutz, so things just happen naturally, shesh she acted like this was one of the funniest things that happened in years. Make that in a day, he thought bitterly, remembering the last time Moonbay was laughing this hard was when Van was standing in the control center minding his own business and she yelled at the top of her lungs and he jumped twenty feet. Both times she had caught him off guard, hmm this should tell him something.
"Oh shut up Moonbay, it's not funny," Van sulked to a dirty rag that was laying next to Zeke and tried to wipe the oil off of the back of his pants with no avail.
"Your right." Moonbay managed to say. "It's not funny.its hilarious!"
And soon she was howling with even more laughter; she could still see the look on Van's face when he fell on his butt. Ah, it was priceless. Her cheeks hurt and her vision was blurred from laughing so hard. Van always knew how to make her crack up.
Moonbay wiped her eyes and stood onto her feet, still grinning even though her cheeks were sore.
"Well Van? It'll be dark by the time we get there, so are you in?"
Van shrugged; he wasn't very hungry even all he had all day was a blueberry muffin Zeke had brought for him. And the thought of eating suddenly made his stomach hurt, plus the Liger wasn't going to fix itself.
"You guys go on without me, I've got way too much work to do here," Van replied dryly.
Moonbay frowned. "But Van, you haven't eaten a thing today I think you could use the time off even if it's just for an hour. And if it makes you feel any better when we come back I'll help you with the repairs, okay?"
He shook his head. "Nah, it's okay Moonbay really. I'm fine if I get hungry I can always get something out of the cafeteria."
"I don't know about this, come on your not acting like your usual self what's wrong?"
"Nothing, honest. Now get out of here I bet Irvine's pissed because he has to wait for his food," Van said dismissively.
"Nope," Moonbay said sternly.
She folded her arms across her chest and shot him her most threatening look, in the hopes it would at least intimidate him just a bit to listen to her. She wasn't about to leave, Van could tell her all the excuses of the world and she'd still wouldn't move an inch. So it wasn't a particularly wise idea but hey, she hoped it would work.
"No?" Van blinked and cocked his head to one side. "What do ya mean?"
"I mean no as in no I'm not leaving until you with me."
Van laughed helplessly, he didn't know what else to do. "Moonbay please.I know you want me.not that I can't blame you.but I'm taken you know that."
Moonbay face faulted and stormed over to the young warrior and smacked him upside the head.
"How dare you say that!! I do not like you that way, you lunatic! I'm old enough to be your mother!!! Not really, but I do NOT like you that way Van! If you value your life you'd shut up!!" she barked angrily.
Zeke, who had been watching everything, sweat dropped and carefully edged away from the scene. Man, today obviously was not Van's day the silver organiod decided. He shook his large head and sighed. Perhaps that hit knocked some sense into him! Yay!
"Ow!! Kidding! Kidding! I was just kidding, Moonbay!" Van whined his hand over his head.
He sniffled, that really hurt why did she have to hit him so hard? She was the one who wanted him to be cheerful and when he just cracked one joke she went psycho on him. The spot where she hit him was numb and sent a tingling sensation that blinded a couple of his senses. Owie.
"You had better been! Now," she grabbed his arm and started to drag him towards the doorway. "it's time we get going. Don't want to keep everyone waiting, right?"
She glared venom at Van when he didn't reply. "Right?"
"Er.right.I guess.."
Van couldn't believe he was allowing Moonbay, who was a head shorter than he was, drag him away like some kind of life size doll. But then the side of his head burned, a sharp reminder of why he was doing this in the first place.
"What about Zeke?" he finally found his voice as they were approaching the hallway that lead into the 10th hangar where the Lightening Saix and the Gustav were.
Poor Zeke couldn't be left all by his lonesome, Van reasoned with himself, besides he owed Zeke big time for all the suffering he had been subjected to. It was the least he could do.
"What about him?" the tone of Moonbay's voice told him she was not in the chatty mood.
"Uh, can we take him with us?"
"Does it look like I care?!" she growled.
Van shook his head quickly and called over his shoulder, "Zeke!! C'mon boy we can't leave without you!!"
Within seconds the silver organiod raced gleefully to his masters side. It's about time you called! I was being to wonder if I had to invite myself!
Van laughed. "Had to invite yourself? That's a good one buddy. But," he whispered carefully, with Moonbay still attached to his arm with a iron grip that promised a world of pain if he moved one hair out of line. "We'd better be on our best behavior, Moonbay's not in a um, let's say a good ow! Mood."
The tan skinned woman had elbowed him in the ribs.
"See what I mean?"
Zeke nodded in agreement, Moonbay was a force to reckoned with. And no one in the right mind would want to cross her path. Oh hell no.
"It's about time!" hissed the all-familiar voice of the bounty hunter, Irvine. "I was beginning to wonder if Fiona and me had to go by ourselves."
Fiona nodded, her blonde locks bounced in air. She smiled for the first time in hours and it felt good, now she was finally able to spend some time with her boy friend. Once Moonbay let go of his arm of course. From the looks of things, the transporter was not in good graces and that Van had found out the hard way.
"Get in," Moonbay commanded and every one did so in the Gustav.
Van and Fiona were in the back while Moonbay and Irvine were in the front, and Zeke trotting along side of the Zoid. Van let out a big yawn and within minutes, the sound of the Gustav making it's way through the desert lulled him into peaceful sleep.
*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*
As she tried her hair with a towel she heard the door slam shut. Xena looked up at her reflection in the mirror in the hopes she could see who left the hotel suite but no, it was just a dark gray haired girl staring back at her. She grabbed a brush off of the counter and judging by the gray strands lodged in the bristles belonged to Raven and ran it her long not to mention tangled hair.
She glared at her reflection that started to look more and more like that piece of crap Raven, no. She vigorously shook her head and thankfully, a girl was staring back at her. Once the task of brushing her hair was done, Xena cautiously opened the door the cold air felt good against her body, clutching the towel around her chest and looked around. There was no one in sight.
"Huh, that's weird..ohz wellz."
She quickly dived in the bedroom with Raven around there was no telling when he'd show up, and looked around for something to wear. Ah, all she had left was a silver tank top and some black sweatpants. So she put those on folded the elastic part of her sweatpants so that it went around her waist like some low riders.
Perhaps they went out, but why didn't they knock on the door or something? These thoughts haunted Xena as she closed the hotel suite door behind her, she didn't know where she was going only just her feet were taking her somewhere.
"Ack!" Xena sprinted down the hall when she saw the floor butler approaching her, a gentle smile on his aged face.
Pretty soon the ancient Zoidian found herself exploring the abandoned lot where Mini Me was. Poor poor Mini Me. She had had the faintest hope that maybe her new Zoid was all better and rearing to go but once she walked up the hill she saw the heap of junk that once was Mini Me.
"Mini Me, my baby are you okay?" she leaped in the air and did a summersault and landed gracefully in front of the zoid.
Mini Me lifted it's head up weakly and made a low rumbling that made Xena's heart break. Poor Mini Me, it was only baby without any weapons to properly defend itself. But Xena was to blame; it was her who pushed it to its limit until the zoid could take no more. According to Raven Mini Me could be repaired in a couple months, he could have said years Xena wasn't sure what he said because she was too busy deciding how she was going to kill him.
Dead leaves rustled behind her even though there was no wind. Mini Me hissed and tried weakly to tilt it's head so she would look behind her. But it's warning was too late; by the time Xena turned around she was sent flying onto a patch of dirt and into a tree on the outskirts of the lot, knocking her out instantly.
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Author's Note: Chapter 11 is done! Yay! Well? What did you guys think? Tell me I want to know, k?! Good? Bad? Too much suspense? Read and Review!! Just one review will be fine because if that one person wants me to continue I will. I think the next chapter will get really complicated, so yeah.lol I lost my train of thought. Well, I'll leave ya'll with this. Read and Review! Just like the good citizens I know you are.
PEACE OUT
*Mi**ChElLe*
"I hate him, I hate him. I swear to everything holy I hate him! God, I hate him so much."
Stream filled the small but luxurious bathroom blanketing every thing with warm soft fog. Wherever there were gaps, under the door, or that loose tile in the way by the mirror, the magnificent warm clouds pushed and shoved their warm into the cool world outside of the bathroom.
"I'm going to put him in the blender and bake him into a pie-"
She had been in there for the past two hours, her skin had turned as shades of red/pink but she didn't care. Doing nothing but massaging the steady flow of hot water and muttering obscenities. In fact, she wasn't at all aware of her environment. She was lost in her own world filled with vengeance and deep loathing. Revenge consumed her at a rapid rate; how dare he do that to her? Humiliate her in front of everyone who was anyone and that cute Draco, not to mention Major Hottie, even that little blonde bitch Alicia Lynette.
"-and feed him to Shadow and he'll go 'YMM! This is good what is it made of?'"
Raven. That name made her bones shudder with the deepest of loathing, she'd get him back no matter if it was the last thing she ever did. At first she thought he was there for nothing more than her morbid amusement, oh sure he saved her life but that meant nothing. And God forbid that he was good looking and one of sexist voices in the worl-what the hell? He was nothing more then a self-centered son of a bitch, asshole, sexist, jerk, moron, numbskull, idiot, stupid, and the list went on and on. Words could not describe the way she despised him, in this moment in time might I add.
"-and I'll go 'It's my special, RAVEN!!'"
Death to the son of a bitch otherwise known as Raven, may he die a slow and painful death, courtesy of Xena. She'd make sure he'd pay big time, pay with every last dime in his pocket. Not only would she humiliate him by all means necessary, beat him an inch to his life (she wished) but she'd do something so horrible, so nasty, so unspeakably devilish she couldn't even think of it! That's how nasty it was.
Repeated pounding on the bathroom door brought her out of her evil thoughts.
"WILL YOU HURRY UP IN THERE? YOU'VE BEEN HOGGING THE BATHROOM FOR THE PAST TWO HOURS! IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF THERE BY THE TIME I COUNT TO TEN I'M BREAKING DOWN THIS DOOR WHETHER YOUR NAKED OR NOT!!" barked the all too familiar voice of the son of a bitch himself.
"GO TO HELL!" Xena screamed at the top of her lungs, making the constant poundings on the door suddenly come to a halt.
Xena smirked into the water and said, "Damn right, now that's what I'm talking about."
If anything were happen next it would be the breaking of that door, she knew damn well Raven was true to his word. He'd see her in her birthday suite, not that she had a bad one, but ew, that was gross. She refused to let him humiliate her and demean her anymore. She swore into the stream of water and reluctantly twisted both of the crystal knobs off and the steady stream of water faded away. She pulled the sliding glass door open and not to her surprise steam covered everything like a blanket of snow.
She vaguely wondered why the pounding had stopped; she didn't say anything far from the usual only this time she screamed at the top of her lungs normally she kept her cool. But then again why did she care? She had decided earlier that she was going to jack up the controls of the Genobreaker and in a crafty disguise tell the Guardian Force where Raven was so they could kick his ass, but then again she wanted to kick his ass after what he did to Mini Me. And Mini Me was only a baby! Mini Me didn't know any better plus she was defenseless. But no, no mercy when Raven's your opponent, he'd rip your zoid into shreds without a second thought.
Now that she thought of it, she hadn't heard from Reese in what seemed like years and right now she needed some female companionship and she wasn't about to ask that blonde bitch Alicia Lynette a.k.a Fiona to talk. Oh hell no, she had been in the cockpit of Zaber that ruined Mini Me with that little piece of shit also known as Raven and she didn't even say anything to save poor Mini Me. Xena'd have her revenge on her too. But Raven was target number one and that wasn't about to change.
Xena heard loud voices coming from the other room one male and one female, obviously Reese had returned. How she had found their hotel hide out was a mystery to Xena. For after the battle, Raven kicked Fiona out of the cockpit and forced her to come in or else he'd finish off Mini Me until there wasn't a scrap left, so naturally Xena complied. Since the cabin had been engulfed in everlasting flames they were forced to retreat somewhere; but of course the hotel was Xena's idea. Raven had suggested that they go and jack another cabin and start over, but she had refused she was sick and tried of leaving like peasant so she suggested no demanded a fancy hotel suite. Raven had shrugged and agreed under the excuse he'd have a more comfortable place to sleep than he had in years, ah the loser. And the rest was ancient history.
*&#*#&*&*(#@&
Reese glanced around the remains of the late cabin, apparently someone had set it on fire with a bomb, and oh she was going to get Hiltz for this. She was willing to bet Raven that Hiltz had something to do with it, he always did manage to get involved in just about everything. Thankfully the heavens had spared Reese's closet from the flames, in fact it was the only thing NOT on fire. The Genobreaker was still hidden in the underbrush, so either one of two things had occurred: One) Raven had fallen asleep with his damned book in hand and he was dead before he even knew what hit him, dead by the smoke. Or Two) Raven had been reading his damned book and heard the explosion and fled. What about Xena? Was she okay? Hiltz had said he wanted her alive, but now all these different attempts of her life, Reese wasn't sure she could trust him anymore.
But wherever Raven was Xena was sure to be, those two were inseparable and they fought like cats and dogs. They were fine, she assured herself. Wherever they were.
"Specula get into the Genosaurer and get the closet. We're going man hunting."
Specula nodded her head and in a flash of blue lightening she went into the Genosaurer. It roared and grabbed the closet. Reese glanced around to see if she had forgotten something, the Genobreaker kept calling her. But Raven would kill if anyone but him touched his zoid, he was very touchy about that. But now if someone had seen the flames and called 511 the cops would do some snooping around to see if it was arson and then unwittedly stumble upon the feared Genobreaker. That would not be good.
Reese dissipated into the cockpit of the red Genobreaker; Specula cocked her head curiously at her. What's going on? Why aren't you coming?
"It's okay Specula, we can't afford to get caught. Everyone knows Raven's with us now and if they find his zoid people are going to get suspicious," Reese explained dully, staring at the controls.
Now, the only question is; if she was Raven and Xena were would she be hiding out at? Naturally Raven would want to lay low, thus take another cabin while Xena on the other hand was a fan of luxury. A hotel, but of course.
"Specula, there should be a hotel in that city with the dance club where Raven lost Xena, I do believe there are three hotels. We're looking for the nicest, most expensive one."
Within minutes, Reese had located them, they were staying in Sherateon. The Sherateon was a very expensive, very fancy, elegant, all the things that Raven despised. Ohh, Reese was going to finally be able to relax and have a good time. She couldn't wait.
Hiding the Genosaurer was a piece of cake, but hiding the Genobreaker was all whole neither story. In the abandoned weedy lot by the edge of forest where the zoids were hidden was what appeared to be a black liger looking zoid, it was a wreck. It must have been in a very difficult battle and obviously did not win. To her surprise, Reese noticed a glitter, a soft glitter coming from the edge of the thick mass of trees. Upon further investigation Reese discovered it was a blue Zaber Fang with one of its fangs missing.
"Wonder where that thing came from," Reese said dryly. "Come on Specula we're about a half a mile away from the hotel, it's massive. The second largest hotel in the Republic, and that has to count for something. If it makes you feel any better I'll help you carry that thing," she added.
Specula shook her head and continued to lug the heavy wooden closet, determined to make sure Reese didn't hurt herself before tonight when they were supposed to meet Hiltz for business.
Twenty Minutes Later..
Reese awkwardly knocked on the door of room 763; she had met with the manger and quickly discovered Raven and Xena were in fact using an alias. Their names were Brad and Nina Witherspoon; they were married for two months. So Reese decided that hers would be Reese Witherspoon, Brad's sister. Fortunately the manager wasn't that bright and fell for it.
"Who is it?" a husky voice called out from inside the room.
"Brad it's me, your sister Reese Witherspoon."
She heard something flop down and the sound of walking feet coming towards the door, she couldn't help but grin. The door opened revealing none other than Raven dressed in his usual attire, he frowned at her.
"Get in, I don't want anyone to see us," Raven growled.
As she walked in, Reese kissed Raven's scowling lips and motioned for Specula to come in. She smirked as she surveyed the living area, there was a large white plush couch with a glass table beside it with a bouquet full of arrangements with beautiful white flowers. Everything was in a shade of white and looked marvelous together.
"Not bad," Reese said walking to the bouquet and smelling all the different flowers. "Not bad at all."
"Whatever, how did you find us?" Raven had taken his spot back on the couch, the book laying open on his side.
"It was simple really."
Reese nodded to Specula, who was looking around for a spot to put the closet and soon the organiod was gone. Gone to put the heavy closet down in a corner, maybe by another closet so it wouldn't look out of place.
"Really, you had no way to know where the hell we were. The cabin was torched as you know, someone has it in for us," Raven added a hint of amusement in his voice.
"You're right I didn't, but I knew you two so it was rather simple for me to discover where you guys where hiding out at. Xena loves luxury, a hotel was only natural."
"Liar." "What? Are you saying that I found out another way? Why are you so upset about me coming?" Reese asked casually, a smirk tugging at her lips.
Raven let his head fall gently against the top of the couch and closed his eyes. His mind was slowly chugging along her question; in fact he didn't know why he was upset. That blonde annoying girl's, Fiona, words echoed in his head. Earlier he didn't believe a word of it, he had assumed she had lost her mind but now he wasn't so sure. In a way everything she had said made sense, the cabin set ablaze, Reese's disappearance, it was like some giant conspiracy. But he didn't buy the conspiracy, there was only one man that came to mind in all of this chaos: Hiltz. That red haired overly ambitious guy had connections everywhere, nearly everything bad that happened had something to do with him, worst of all he was in league with the supposed to be dead Prozen and that alone made him in charge of Raven. Much to Raven's disgust, he finally had his freedom and then as quickly as it came it was gone.
"I don't think you understand Reese, you can't just disappear for a day or two and waltz back and expect everything to back to normal? Hate to burst your bubble but things don't work that way, a lot has happened," Raven said calmly.
Reese narrowed her eyes; he was hiding something from her. She knew Raven could care less if anything happened to her, but something must have happened to get his brain into gear for him to start acting this way. No doubt he had taken apart of this out on Xena, who most likely was the cause of this problem. If she hadn't been awakened then none of this was ever have happened.
"Really, this is about Xena isn't it?"
Raven jerked up and stared at her as if she had grown another head. "How do you know?" his voice was unnaturally high which triggered Fiona's voice to sound again this time even louder. For when they were in the cockpit of Zaber she had confided in him her vision. All and all it wasn't pretty and they had every reason to be worried.
"Raven is there something you'd like to tell me? Because if you don't you know I have other ways of finding out."
"No! Don't read my mind, I thought we went through that already!!"
Reese cocked her head to one side, wondering what the hell was his problem. Of course she could read his mind without him even knowing, so either way she'd get the answer.
"The cabin set ablaze was more than just a conveniently placed explosive device, you know. Hiltz wants to send us a warning, and once he gets Xena it's over for us," Reese said bitterly, clenching and unclenching her fists.
"Your kidding me," he said in an unconvincing tone, and got up and sulked towards a closed door. Raven pounded on the door and shouted, "WILL YOU HURRY UP IN THERE? YOU'VE BEEN HOGGING THE BATHROOM FOR THE PAST TWO HOURS! IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF THERE BY THE TIME I COUNT TO TEN I'M BREAKING DOWN THIS DOOR WHETHER YOUR NAKED OR NOT!!"
Reese arched a blue eyebrow in surprise. From the looks of it Raven wasn't at all angry, probably just did that as an excuse to get Xena involved in the conversation. Even though she had the right to know. Reese knew that when Xena found out she'd refuse to see Hiltz and do everything in her power to keep them alive, she really was good at heart. Why she didn't just join sides with Fiona was a mystery.
"GO TO HELL!!" sounded a muffled voice from behind the door.
He shrugged and returned to his spot on the couch. "So that's why she came to me," he said dryly.
Neither of them were surprised, they had known that Hiltz was only with them until he didn't need them anymore. And when he got his paws on Xena he would personally send the two of them to meet their maker. If only Xena knew.
"Who?" Reese took a spot on the couch next to him, careful to leave a gap between them.
"The other ancient Zoidian, I think her name is Fiona, I'm not good with names though. She said she had a vision with her," he jerked his thumb towards the closed door. "And yours truly. She dies trying to save me. Fiona wanted to me to stay with her so I could be safe, really stupid if you ask me."
His tone was indifferent and from the outside it looked as though Raven didn't care at all, that this happened every day. But Reese saw right through him, this was his way of protecting himself from all the pain in the world he tried so hard to immune himself from.
"Fiona? Why would Fiona ever associate with you, her boyfriends arch enemy?"
"I don't know, but I've been thinking-,"
Reese couldn't help herself; she was helpless to stop what happened next. "Ooh! My God you've been thinking! I ready write this down on the calendar, 'Today Raven actually thought!'"
Raven shot her a death glare and continued. "Like I said earlier until SOMEONE interrupted me, I've been thinking--."
"Wow! What a memorable event! This is amazing!" Reese exclaimed.
"Grrr, shut up will you?! I'm trying to be serious here!! Let me get this off my chest and then we can bicker!" Raven snapped. "Okay," Reese placed a stray hair behind her ear lope and tried to act like nothing happened.
Just then Shadow walked into the room, his big blue eyes went from Raven to Reese then back Raven then again to Reese. He gulped, remembering what happened the last time those two were together talking like that, he was kicked out of the room for five hours. Shadow raced out of the room, eager to not get into trouble for once.
"Hn, I wonder what his problem is," Raven said dryly. "If in fact Hiltz is behind all this, which I have no doubt he is, why would he want us dead before we followed out with our orders? Why is Xena so valuable to him, she's nothing more than a big pain in the ass."
"True, but it's her powers. He wants her because of her power over zoids, think about it: every zoid that opposed him would destroy itself at her command there would be no one to stand in his way. Why he wants us dead, I don't know but I'm not about to die just yet. I am not at his disposal."
Raven nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've come too far to beat Van and I'm not going to die before I do so."
*^*&$(*&#*#&*&*
"Y'know Zeke, you awful lucky."
Zeke tilted his head curiously towards his master, Van Flyheight, who was working on the repairs on the Blade Liger. Just like he had been for the past a hour, the first thing he did when he came back with Fiona after the really strange battle between Xena in her zoid she called Mini Me and Raven in the stolen Zaber Fang, and Van in his Blade Liger and Draco in the Bahamut. It was really weird. Almost all of the zoids were in pretty bad shape, Mini Me having the misfortune of being the worst. The Blade Liger limped on two legs to get back to the base.
"You don't have to deal with girls and love.mostly girls though," Van replied, sticking his head out from underneath the Liger.
For the past hour, Van kept chatting away to Zeke about all of his problems; Raven and Xena, his sister Maria was engaged to that ex-priest in his village but mostly Fiona and girls in general. And Zeke had endured everything, just like a best friend would. He knew his master would do the same for him.
"I mean, honestly their more trouble than they're worth. They love ya one minute and then when you want to say something they get all angry at you for 'ruining the moment'! It's crazy! They say one thing and then they go around and do the exact opposite! They don't listen to reason or anything! It's crazy."
Zeke nodded his head aimlessly and frankly even though he was an organiod his neck got tired from all the nodding. He wished Van would pay more attention to the repairs instead of his love life; the Liger was better off before than it was now. Had he known a year ago that when he talked Van into going back to the ruins for Fiona that this would happen, he doubted he would have done so..nah Fiona knew exactly where to pet him.
"Hey Van, Irvine, Fiona and me are going into town for dinner. You wanna come?" Moonbay asked, tilting her head curiously at Van who was standing under the Liger standing on his tiptoes.
The sound of her voice startled Van, and as he turned around to face his foot slipped on some oil on the floor and he fell on his butt. Zeke blinked and glanced at Van to see if he was okay.
"Van?" Moonbay also blinked.
"Ugh, what was did you say Moonbay?" Van asked, still on his butt.
"Er.I asked you if you wanted to come to dinner with us.but if you're gonna go you better take a shower now!"
Moonbay giggled softly, images of what happened just minutes earlier replayed over and over in her mind and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep her composure. She snorted and soon she was on the floor, rolling with laughter.
Van wrinkled his nose and stood up, trying hopelessly to get the oil off of the back of his pants. Damn, he knew he should have worn another pair of pants. Who did Moonbay think she was? That was NOT funny! It wasn't his fault he was klutz, so things just happen naturally, shesh she acted like this was one of the funniest things that happened in years. Make that in a day, he thought bitterly, remembering the last time Moonbay was laughing this hard was when Van was standing in the control center minding his own business and she yelled at the top of her lungs and he jumped twenty feet. Both times she had caught him off guard, hmm this should tell him something.
"Oh shut up Moonbay, it's not funny," Van sulked to a dirty rag that was laying next to Zeke and tried to wipe the oil off of the back of his pants with no avail.
"Your right." Moonbay managed to say. "It's not funny.its hilarious!"
And soon she was howling with even more laughter; she could still see the look on Van's face when he fell on his butt. Ah, it was priceless. Her cheeks hurt and her vision was blurred from laughing so hard. Van always knew how to make her crack up.
Moonbay wiped her eyes and stood onto her feet, still grinning even though her cheeks were sore.
"Well Van? It'll be dark by the time we get there, so are you in?"
Van shrugged; he wasn't very hungry even all he had all day was a blueberry muffin Zeke had brought for him. And the thought of eating suddenly made his stomach hurt, plus the Liger wasn't going to fix itself.
"You guys go on without me, I've got way too much work to do here," Van replied dryly.
Moonbay frowned. "But Van, you haven't eaten a thing today I think you could use the time off even if it's just for an hour. And if it makes you feel any better when we come back I'll help you with the repairs, okay?"
He shook his head. "Nah, it's okay Moonbay really. I'm fine if I get hungry I can always get something out of the cafeteria."
"I don't know about this, come on your not acting like your usual self what's wrong?"
"Nothing, honest. Now get out of here I bet Irvine's pissed because he has to wait for his food," Van said dismissively.
"Nope," Moonbay said sternly.
She folded her arms across her chest and shot him her most threatening look, in the hopes it would at least intimidate him just a bit to listen to her. She wasn't about to leave, Van could tell her all the excuses of the world and she'd still wouldn't move an inch. So it wasn't a particularly wise idea but hey, she hoped it would work.
"No?" Van blinked and cocked his head to one side. "What do ya mean?"
"I mean no as in no I'm not leaving until you with me."
Van laughed helplessly, he didn't know what else to do. "Moonbay please.I know you want me.not that I can't blame you.but I'm taken you know that."
Moonbay face faulted and stormed over to the young warrior and smacked him upside the head.
"How dare you say that!! I do not like you that way, you lunatic! I'm old enough to be your mother!!! Not really, but I do NOT like you that way Van! If you value your life you'd shut up!!" she barked angrily.
Zeke, who had been watching everything, sweat dropped and carefully edged away from the scene. Man, today obviously was not Van's day the silver organiod decided. He shook his large head and sighed. Perhaps that hit knocked some sense into him! Yay!
"Ow!! Kidding! Kidding! I was just kidding, Moonbay!" Van whined his hand over his head.
He sniffled, that really hurt why did she have to hit him so hard? She was the one who wanted him to be cheerful and when he just cracked one joke she went psycho on him. The spot where she hit him was numb and sent a tingling sensation that blinded a couple of his senses. Owie.
"You had better been! Now," she grabbed his arm and started to drag him towards the doorway. "it's time we get going. Don't want to keep everyone waiting, right?"
She glared venom at Van when he didn't reply. "Right?"
"Er.right.I guess.."
Van couldn't believe he was allowing Moonbay, who was a head shorter than he was, drag him away like some kind of life size doll. But then the side of his head burned, a sharp reminder of why he was doing this in the first place.
"What about Zeke?" he finally found his voice as they were approaching the hallway that lead into the 10th hangar where the Lightening Saix and the Gustav were.
Poor Zeke couldn't be left all by his lonesome, Van reasoned with himself, besides he owed Zeke big time for all the suffering he had been subjected to. It was the least he could do.
"What about him?" the tone of Moonbay's voice told him she was not in the chatty mood.
"Uh, can we take him with us?"
"Does it look like I care?!" she growled.
Van shook his head quickly and called over his shoulder, "Zeke!! C'mon boy we can't leave without you!!"
Within seconds the silver organiod raced gleefully to his masters side. It's about time you called! I was being to wonder if I had to invite myself!
Van laughed. "Had to invite yourself? That's a good one buddy. But," he whispered carefully, with Moonbay still attached to his arm with a iron grip that promised a world of pain if he moved one hair out of line. "We'd better be on our best behavior, Moonbay's not in a um, let's say a good ow! Mood."
The tan skinned woman had elbowed him in the ribs.
"See what I mean?"
Zeke nodded in agreement, Moonbay was a force to reckoned with. And no one in the right mind would want to cross her path. Oh hell no.
"It's about time!" hissed the all-familiar voice of the bounty hunter, Irvine. "I was beginning to wonder if Fiona and me had to go by ourselves."
Fiona nodded, her blonde locks bounced in air. She smiled for the first time in hours and it felt good, now she was finally able to spend some time with her boy friend. Once Moonbay let go of his arm of course. From the looks of things, the transporter was not in good graces and that Van had found out the hard way.
"Get in," Moonbay commanded and every one did so in the Gustav.
Van and Fiona were in the back while Moonbay and Irvine were in the front, and Zeke trotting along side of the Zoid. Van let out a big yawn and within minutes, the sound of the Gustav making it's way through the desert lulled him into peaceful sleep.
*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*
As she tried her hair with a towel she heard the door slam shut. Xena looked up at her reflection in the mirror in the hopes she could see who left the hotel suite but no, it was just a dark gray haired girl staring back at her. She grabbed a brush off of the counter and judging by the gray strands lodged in the bristles belonged to Raven and ran it her long not to mention tangled hair.
She glared at her reflection that started to look more and more like that piece of crap Raven, no. She vigorously shook her head and thankfully, a girl was staring back at her. Once the task of brushing her hair was done, Xena cautiously opened the door the cold air felt good against her body, clutching the towel around her chest and looked around. There was no one in sight.
"Huh, that's weird..ohz wellz."
She quickly dived in the bedroom with Raven around there was no telling when he'd show up, and looked around for something to wear. Ah, all she had left was a silver tank top and some black sweatpants. So she put those on folded the elastic part of her sweatpants so that it went around her waist like some low riders.
Perhaps they went out, but why didn't they knock on the door or something? These thoughts haunted Xena as she closed the hotel suite door behind her, she didn't know where she was going only just her feet were taking her somewhere.
"Ack!" Xena sprinted down the hall when she saw the floor butler approaching her, a gentle smile on his aged face.
Pretty soon the ancient Zoidian found herself exploring the abandoned lot where Mini Me was. Poor poor Mini Me. She had had the faintest hope that maybe her new Zoid was all better and rearing to go but once she walked up the hill she saw the heap of junk that once was Mini Me.
"Mini Me, my baby are you okay?" she leaped in the air and did a summersault and landed gracefully in front of the zoid.
Mini Me lifted it's head up weakly and made a low rumbling that made Xena's heart break. Poor Mini Me, it was only baby without any weapons to properly defend itself. But Xena was to blame; it was her who pushed it to its limit until the zoid could take no more. According to Raven Mini Me could be repaired in a couple months, he could have said years Xena wasn't sure what he said because she was too busy deciding how she was going to kill him.
Dead leaves rustled behind her even though there was no wind. Mini Me hissed and tried weakly to tilt it's head so she would look behind her. But it's warning was too late; by the time Xena turned around she was sent flying onto a patch of dirt and into a tree on the outskirts of the lot, knocking her out instantly.
**&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*
Author's Note: Chapter 11 is done! Yay! Well? What did you guys think? Tell me I want to know, k?! Good? Bad? Too much suspense? Read and Review!! Just one review will be fine because if that one person wants me to continue I will. I think the next chapter will get really complicated, so yeah.lol I lost my train of thought. Well, I'll leave ya'll with this. Read and Review! Just like the good citizens I know you are.
PEACE OUT
*Mi**ChElLe*
