Chapter IX: Silver Horizon
"Liar."
"If you were in my position, you'd have lied, too."
***
Dive into the mind...
The horizon was, strangely, silver. The silver color spread and came closer, so much closer...
"No..." whispered Neos. It was coming, just as they knew it would. And first, it would go after him.
...why? Because. That reason was as good as any for the moment. It was all going to end soon. At least he'd never have to tell anyone his real feelings.
But emotions were nonexistent... so... Akira...
From across the gorge Twilight turned to look at the two huge Zoids no one had seemed to notice. Forget Sylvia, her original master needed her more. Now.
"No," murmured Sylvia. "N- not now, not here... it can't... it... it's after one of the Zoidians. Neos."
Twilight fused with the Orudios as Neos climbed in. Here was as good a place as ever to have a battle- miles away from civilization. No one would be hurt, except for the Chosen, or maybe Hitoshi and Ayumi. Not that it mattered.
Not that he ever cared.
More of these emotions were infiltrating his mind... surely Kaiser was right? Emotions were nonexistent? Then why was Fiona Alissi Lynett so upset when he unintentionally killed her love instead of just capturing him as planned?!! It wasn't fair! Why couldn't something bad happen to Hitoshi for once...
Oh, wait. He forgot. None of it mattered anymore, anyways. In a moment he wouldn't exist to think about it.
Oh, wait. He forgot again. He'd just go back to Zoids Eve. If it was still there, that is.
***
Dive into the heart...
"Just because he's gone doesn't mean I can't remember him," Kokoro reassured herself, still trying to find a way to escape.
***
"Just because she's gone doesn't mean I have to forget her," muttered Robert as he sat still in the cockpit of his Spino Snapper. He sighed. He had tried one last time to do his job so he could get her back peacefully... Firing at the LZX while they thought his Zoid was still disabled... Of course, it hadn't worked.
***
"Who's gone?" came a voice from behind her.
***
"Who's gone?"
***
Kokoro turned around abruptly, prepared to defend herself. But it was only a girl a ear or so younger than her with short, straight blond hair in a red bandana and big green eyes. "Robert," she said, confused. Who was this?
"But Robert's not gone," answered the girl. She grinned. "He's perfectly fine physically, but... inside, he's hurt."
"What do you mean?"
"Can't you see? He needs you, Kokoro."
***
"Kokoro," answered Robert, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. This girl, standing just in front of his Zoid, looked a few years younger than himself with short blond hair in a red hair and bright green eyes.
She grinned, clasping her hands together. "But she's not gone! She's perfectly fine.. but... her heart is broken... you need her and she needs you."
Robert opened the cockpit and jumped out, approaching the girl. "How do you know..." he asked.
"I just do."
***
"Who are you..." asked Kokoro, moving toward her.
"I'm just me..."
***
"Have a name?" asked Robert nervously.
"Lori called me Evelyn..."
***
"What are you, exactly?" asked Kokoro.
"I'm... me... not a Shadow, not an organoid, not a Zoidian, not a Zoid, not a human... jus' me. Something..."
***
"What do you want, anyways?" asked Robert.
"I want to... stop the Deathstinger. And bring Kokoro to you. Because you won't be able to do either."
***
"How can you say that?"
"Because I know..."
***
"Hey, is that the pilot of the Spino Snapper?" asked Leena, staring out of the cockpit of the Liger Zero X. She opened it and stood up. "Who's he talking to, the sand?"
Bit laughed. "I don' t know... But remember that he was fighting us earlier. No matter how strange, he's still our enemy!"
"Maybe we could get 'im some psychiatric help?"
"Then get me some, too, 'cause I think I can see someone else down there. C'mon!" Bit jumped down from Liger's cockpit and jogged over to Robert and the girl. Leena reluctantly followed, lagging behind.
***
"So... this is it?"
Sephiroth, Sylvia, and Spring all turned around to face Vivian. "It's finally coming, and Kage isn't even its pilot. Not that it needs one."
"How do you know that?" asked Sephiroth suspiciously.
"I've never even had a real name... and yet I understand so much more about this stupid planet than you do."
***
"Hahaha... gotta destroy Neos... He'll be sorry.... hehe.... this is so great.... WA?!!! Oh... I was jus' asleep."
The Deathstinger burrowed underground, tunneling towards the group of Zoids in the distance. It glinted in the sun as it disappeared. The silver color shrouding the horizon immediately disappeared.
"Just noticed- a charged particle beam is pink. What a coincidence! Oh yeah, gottakillNeosgottakillNeos..."
***
"Ungh..." murmured Kokoro. Something was happening. Something that had to do with this strange girl! Who was she?!! Could she possibly be...
Her thoughts were interrupted as the objects surrounding her disappeared.
***
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...
"No."
Akira stopped in her tracks once again while approaching her Zoid, wishing she would miraculously end up back above ground out of the remains of the Zoidian Guild headquarters. If they hadn't disbanded they'd all have died.
"Don't leave."
Nervously she turned around, sighing in relief. It was only a small boy, of course. But those eyes! So penetrating, so vividly black, so... so... controlling...
"You got the list from her? You know how important it is that they're found and killed! Now, tell me, why do you need to know who they are?"
Akira didn't know why she was answering this kid. Who was he, anyways? "Because all ten Chosen, dead or alive, must be present to activate Zoids Eve again. Because one of the Chosen is the overall focus of the Eve, it's very power source..."
"Exactly. Now hand it over before I make you regret it."
Akira shook her head and stepped backwards. "Who are you to tell me what to do? Get your own! This is for Kaiser, not that I'll give it to him anyways if I want Zi to still exist!"
"Fool. You can't even recognize your own Kaiser?"
"WHA?!!!!"
"Not that I normally look like this, but..."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Hello?"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Akira? Cut it out right now, girl. You have no idea how old I am, how long I've been waiting for this moment."
"NO WAY!!!! You mean all this time I've been doing such stupid things for a BRATTY little KID??!!!!!!!!!! SHOOT!!!!!!!!!!! I COULD'VE BEEN DOING SO MANY BETTER THINGS!!!!! JUST WAIT TILL I TELL NEOS!!!! I COULD GO ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON!!!!!!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE-!!!!"
"ENOUGH!!!" shouted the boy with a surprisingly persuasive tone. "You obviously haven't been listening to me. I can be any shape or size I wish! I'm wasting my time with you. I should just kill you and get it over with. Evelyn, here I come, after all this time..."
Akira continued to curse and yell, occasionally stamping the ground. The boy shook his head and laughed. "What's it been... a couple hundred years? I wonder if she remembers...? Akira, you Chosen, you're dead now."
Akira stopped, foot raised in mid-air. Her purple eye twitched. "D- did you say Akira? Chosen? DIE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Ha ha, yes. Goodbye."
"Forgivemeforgivemeforgiveme!!!! I'll do anything!"
"No you won't." He laughed again as the room became black. "Say hello to Van and Raven for me. Don't worry, dying can't be too bad. It won't be half as bad as becoming a Shadow."
"At least let me say goodbye to him..."
"Hmm. I was hoping this attachment wouldn't happen. Fine."
***
"Where is it..." Neos asked himself, scanning the ground and waiting to be scared half to death.
"What goes down must come UP!!!!" came a stupidly and cockily familiar voice as the Deathstinger came crashing up from underneath Neos' Zoid. The Orudios shot backwards but stopped itself. Suddenly, the green Liger Zero X and Hitoshi's Zoid appeared next to it. "Stay out of this..." murmured Neos. "This is my fight."
Ayumi shrugged from her LZX and both backed off.
***
"Liar!" shouted Sephiroth angrily. How could Vivian do this to him?!!! It'd been two whole years and he still had no idea who she was! And now, he had no idea what she was! Life just wasn't fair. Sylvia cringed. So she was right, Vivian was different. Very different indeed.
"If you were in my position, you'd have lied too," answered Vivian calmly. Why, oh why had she told him the truth? Couldn't she just have kept quiet?!!! "Listen, it's not like you would've believed me back then anyways!"
"And now that you think it's all over you come out and say it," muttered Sephiroth. "Well, you're wrong! I won't let the Deathstinger destroy this world, you, Sylv, or anyone else in it!" He climbed into the Gul Tiger, which roared and took off in a fury to calm himself down.
"Sephiroth, wait!" shouted Sylvia. "Is it really such a big deal...? What is he doing..."
"If he loved you he wouldn't care..." Vivian remarked. "So maybe I was wrong... maybe just because you're reunited..."
"What do you mean?"
"He really, really missed you... more than I could understand... Kaiser's right. Emotions may not be nonexistent, but they sure are useless!" Vivian disappeared and reappeared in her Zoid. It took off in the opposite direction of Sephiroth's.
"I don't understand!" shouted Sylvia in protest. What the heck was going on?!!!!!!!!!!! Where were they were going?!!!!!!! Nothing made sense. She wasn't implying, of course, that it ever had. It must have just been the way Zi worked. The Zoidians still hadn't figured it out! Where had humans come from in the first place if they weren't native to Zi?!! And why did they have to come here and wreak havoc?!!!!!!
***
"Kokoro...." muttered Robert as she appeared before him slowly. He smiled and reached out.
"What the...?" asked Kokoro weakly.
Evelyn smiled dreamily. "It's too bad that-" she began.
"Hmm... perfect timing." He turned around quickly to see a young boy, Akira standing motionless behind him. Her eye twitched in confusion and shock. "He he... can't have this," continued the strange boy.
"Zoids Eve..." mumbled Evelyn. "No! You should have died years ago!:
Robert turned back around to see that Kokoro and Evelyn were both gone. "No!" he shouted. "I was so close, too! That's not fair!"
"Life's not fair, kid," said the boy.
"Who are you to call me a kid..."
"You weren't supposed to get attached to anyone, let alone a Chosen who isn't even human!" said the boy.
"What..."
"Ha. I guess you didn't know." The boy laughed and disappeared again with shocked Akira.
***
"NO! ROBERT!" shouted Kokoro. Evelyn was gone, too. She clenched a hand into a fist and walked over to the metal door and kicked it (like I kick my locker). It fell over. She muttered something vulgar under her breath and walked down the hallway into what seemed to be a control room.
"Welcome to the Ultrasaurus. Or, more like what's left of it."
"Liar."
"If you were in my position, you'd have lied, too."
***
Dive into the mind...
The horizon was, strangely, silver. The silver color spread and came closer, so much closer...
"No..." whispered Neos. It was coming, just as they knew it would. And first, it would go after him.
...why? Because. That reason was as good as any for the moment. It was all going to end soon. At least he'd never have to tell anyone his real feelings.
But emotions were nonexistent... so... Akira...
From across the gorge Twilight turned to look at the two huge Zoids no one had seemed to notice. Forget Sylvia, her original master needed her more. Now.
"No," murmured Sylvia. "N- not now, not here... it can't... it... it's after one of the Zoidians. Neos."
Twilight fused with the Orudios as Neos climbed in. Here was as good a place as ever to have a battle- miles away from civilization. No one would be hurt, except for the Chosen, or maybe Hitoshi and Ayumi. Not that it mattered.
Not that he ever cared.
More of these emotions were infiltrating his mind... surely Kaiser was right? Emotions were nonexistent? Then why was Fiona Alissi Lynett so upset when he unintentionally killed her love instead of just capturing him as planned?!! It wasn't fair! Why couldn't something bad happen to Hitoshi for once...
Oh, wait. He forgot. None of it mattered anymore, anyways. In a moment he wouldn't exist to think about it.
Oh, wait. He forgot again. He'd just go back to Zoids Eve. If it was still there, that is.
***
Dive into the heart...
"Just because he's gone doesn't mean I can't remember him," Kokoro reassured herself, still trying to find a way to escape.
***
"Just because she's gone doesn't mean I have to forget her," muttered Robert as he sat still in the cockpit of his Spino Snapper. He sighed. He had tried one last time to do his job so he could get her back peacefully... Firing at the LZX while they thought his Zoid was still disabled... Of course, it hadn't worked.
***
"Who's gone?" came a voice from behind her.
***
"Who's gone?"
***
Kokoro turned around abruptly, prepared to defend herself. But it was only a girl a ear or so younger than her with short, straight blond hair in a red bandana and big green eyes. "Robert," she said, confused. Who was this?
"But Robert's not gone," answered the girl. She grinned. "He's perfectly fine physically, but... inside, he's hurt."
"What do you mean?"
"Can't you see? He needs you, Kokoro."
***
"Kokoro," answered Robert, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. This girl, standing just in front of his Zoid, looked a few years younger than himself with short blond hair in a red hair and bright green eyes.
She grinned, clasping her hands together. "But she's not gone! She's perfectly fine.. but... her heart is broken... you need her and she needs you."
Robert opened the cockpit and jumped out, approaching the girl. "How do you know..." he asked.
"I just do."
***
"Who are you..." asked Kokoro, moving toward her.
"I'm just me..."
***
"Have a name?" asked Robert nervously.
"Lori called me Evelyn..."
***
"What are you, exactly?" asked Kokoro.
"I'm... me... not a Shadow, not an organoid, not a Zoidian, not a Zoid, not a human... jus' me. Something..."
***
"What do you want, anyways?" asked Robert.
"I want to... stop the Deathstinger. And bring Kokoro to you. Because you won't be able to do either."
***
"How can you say that?"
"Because I know..."
***
"Hey, is that the pilot of the Spino Snapper?" asked Leena, staring out of the cockpit of the Liger Zero X. She opened it and stood up. "Who's he talking to, the sand?"
Bit laughed. "I don' t know... But remember that he was fighting us earlier. No matter how strange, he's still our enemy!"
"Maybe we could get 'im some psychiatric help?"
"Then get me some, too, 'cause I think I can see someone else down there. C'mon!" Bit jumped down from Liger's cockpit and jogged over to Robert and the girl. Leena reluctantly followed, lagging behind.
***
"So... this is it?"
Sephiroth, Sylvia, and Spring all turned around to face Vivian. "It's finally coming, and Kage isn't even its pilot. Not that it needs one."
"How do you know that?" asked Sephiroth suspiciously.
"I've never even had a real name... and yet I understand so much more about this stupid planet than you do."
***
"Hahaha... gotta destroy Neos... He'll be sorry.... hehe.... this is so great.... WA?!!! Oh... I was jus' asleep."
The Deathstinger burrowed underground, tunneling towards the group of Zoids in the distance. It glinted in the sun as it disappeared. The silver color shrouding the horizon immediately disappeared.
"Just noticed- a charged particle beam is pink. What a coincidence! Oh yeah, gottakillNeosgottakillNeos..."
***
"Ungh..." murmured Kokoro. Something was happening. Something that had to do with this strange girl! Who was she?!! Could she possibly be...
Her thoughts were interrupted as the objects surrounding her disappeared.
***
Dive into the core of Zi itself... Zoids... Eve...
"No."
Akira stopped in her tracks once again while approaching her Zoid, wishing she would miraculously end up back above ground out of the remains of the Zoidian Guild headquarters. If they hadn't disbanded they'd all have died.
"Don't leave."
Nervously she turned around, sighing in relief. It was only a small boy, of course. But those eyes! So penetrating, so vividly black, so... so... controlling...
"You got the list from her? You know how important it is that they're found and killed! Now, tell me, why do you need to know who they are?"
Akira didn't know why she was answering this kid. Who was he, anyways? "Because all ten Chosen, dead or alive, must be present to activate Zoids Eve again. Because one of the Chosen is the overall focus of the Eve, it's very power source..."
"Exactly. Now hand it over before I make you regret it."
Akira shook her head and stepped backwards. "Who are you to tell me what to do? Get your own! This is for Kaiser, not that I'll give it to him anyways if I want Zi to still exist!"
"Fool. You can't even recognize your own Kaiser?"
"WHA?!!!!"
"Not that I normally look like this, but..."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Hello?"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Akira? Cut it out right now, girl. You have no idea how old I am, how long I've been waiting for this moment."
"NO WAY!!!! You mean all this time I've been doing such stupid things for a BRATTY little KID??!!!!!!!!!! SHOOT!!!!!!!!!!! I COULD'VE BEEN DOING SO MANY BETTER THINGS!!!!! JUST WAIT TILL I TELL NEOS!!!! I COULD GO ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON!!!!!!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE-!!!!"
"ENOUGH!!!" shouted the boy with a surprisingly persuasive tone. "You obviously haven't been listening to me. I can be any shape or size I wish! I'm wasting my time with you. I should just kill you and get it over with. Evelyn, here I come, after all this time..."
Akira continued to curse and yell, occasionally stamping the ground. The boy shook his head and laughed. "What's it been... a couple hundred years? I wonder if she remembers...? Akira, you Chosen, you're dead now."
Akira stopped, foot raised in mid-air. Her purple eye twitched. "D- did you say Akira? Chosen? DIE?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Ha ha, yes. Goodbye."
"Forgivemeforgivemeforgiveme!!!! I'll do anything!"
"No you won't." He laughed again as the room became black. "Say hello to Van and Raven for me. Don't worry, dying can't be too bad. It won't be half as bad as becoming a Shadow."
"At least let me say goodbye to him..."
"Hmm. I was hoping this attachment wouldn't happen. Fine."
***
"Where is it..." Neos asked himself, scanning the ground and waiting to be scared half to death.
"What goes down must come UP!!!!" came a stupidly and cockily familiar voice as the Deathstinger came crashing up from underneath Neos' Zoid. The Orudios shot backwards but stopped itself. Suddenly, the green Liger Zero X and Hitoshi's Zoid appeared next to it. "Stay out of this..." murmured Neos. "This is my fight."
Ayumi shrugged from her LZX and both backed off.
***
"Liar!" shouted Sephiroth angrily. How could Vivian do this to him?!!! It'd been two whole years and he still had no idea who she was! And now, he had no idea what she was! Life just wasn't fair. Sylvia cringed. So she was right, Vivian was different. Very different indeed.
"If you were in my position, you'd have lied too," answered Vivian calmly. Why, oh why had she told him the truth? Couldn't she just have kept quiet?!!! "Listen, it's not like you would've believed me back then anyways!"
"And now that you think it's all over you come out and say it," muttered Sephiroth. "Well, you're wrong! I won't let the Deathstinger destroy this world, you, Sylv, or anyone else in it!" He climbed into the Gul Tiger, which roared and took off in a fury to calm himself down.
"Sephiroth, wait!" shouted Sylvia. "Is it really such a big deal...? What is he doing..."
"If he loved you he wouldn't care..." Vivian remarked. "So maybe I was wrong... maybe just because you're reunited..."
"What do you mean?"
"He really, really missed you... more than I could understand... Kaiser's right. Emotions may not be nonexistent, but they sure are useless!" Vivian disappeared and reappeared in her Zoid. It took off in the opposite direction of Sephiroth's.
"I don't understand!" shouted Sylvia in protest. What the heck was going on?!!!!!!!!!!! Where were they were going?!!!!!!! Nothing made sense. She wasn't implying, of course, that it ever had. It must have just been the way Zi worked. The Zoidians still hadn't figured it out! Where had humans come from in the first place if they weren't native to Zi?!! And why did they have to come here and wreak havoc?!!!!!!
***
"Kokoro...." muttered Robert as she appeared before him slowly. He smiled and reached out.
"What the...?" asked Kokoro weakly.
Evelyn smiled dreamily. "It's too bad that-" she began.
"Hmm... perfect timing." He turned around quickly to see a young boy, Akira standing motionless behind him. Her eye twitched in confusion and shock. "He he... can't have this," continued the strange boy.
"Zoids Eve..." mumbled Evelyn. "No! You should have died years ago!:
Robert turned back around to see that Kokoro and Evelyn were both gone. "No!" he shouted. "I was so close, too! That's not fair!"
"Life's not fair, kid," said the boy.
"Who are you to call me a kid..."
"You weren't supposed to get attached to anyone, let alone a Chosen who isn't even human!" said the boy.
"What..."
"Ha. I guess you didn't know." The boy laughed and disappeared again with shocked Akira.
***
"NO! ROBERT!" shouted Kokoro. Evelyn was gone, too. She clenched a hand into a fist and walked over to the metal door and kicked it (like I kick my locker). It fell over. She muttered something vulgar under her breath and walked down the hallway into what seemed to be a control room.
"Welcome to the Ultrasaurus. Or, more like what's left of it."
