A/N: Okie, Liger007, just to let you know, Maru has reasons for loving Raven. That was a good statement to put up. Hey...I'm sounding like a teacher, oh screw the first day of middle school! It'll be explained here in this chapter, okay? Well, that's all I need to say for this chapter, enjoy! Oh, and this is in no one's point of view. Oh, and Crystal did something kinda nice, by the way. If you guys want me to notify you of any updates for the fanfiction (actually, for anyone that I have) then please give me your email address, and I'll tell you.
Maru woke up, looking around, and mumbling, "Raven? Is that you?" She then lowered her head, and said, "I guess he's not here." Maru really missed Raven, even if she's just been gone for only a night. She fell head over heels, and yet, she wonders why no one will even be friendly to him. "I know there's more to you than meets everyone's eye. I know it. And I'm going to find out the real you. No matter what it takes."
Meanwhile, with Van, Fiona, Thomas, Moonbay, and Irvine, walking in the desert, traveling…
"I'm Moonbay! Transporter, of the wasteland! I'm just making this up as I go!" Moonbay sang when she was in her Gustav.
Unfortunately, it drove the rest- excluding Fiona- insane.
Van held his head with his hands. "When will the torture stop?"
Irvine agreed, he yelled through the communicator, "Hey, Moonbay, if you wanna sing, then at least make it decent sounding!"
Moonbay stopped. "What do you mean? I sing just fine, thank you very much!"
"Yeah right! You couldn't carry a note even if it had a handle on it!"
Thomas just sat there on his Dibison. "Fiona, is it always like this?"
Fiona nodded.
Moonbay was flushed with anger. "That's it!" she yelled as she shot some bullets and hit the Lightning Saix's weak spot when Irvine wasn't paying attention and was off guard.
Irvine cursed out loud. "Great, look at what you did now! The command system froze! Jackass!"
Moonbay stopped driving and hopped out of her pinkish Zoid. "Who you calling jackass? You were the one who insulted me first!"
"Well, look who's talking! I didn't insult! I only stated facts!"
The two kept arguing, while the other three were sweatdropping.
Van and Fiona looked at each other, then at Thomas, then at each other again. "You think we should just head on to the next town that Raven's up to destroy?" Van asked.
Thomas and Fiona looked at Van then nodded as they looked back at the fighting couple. You can now see a chibi Moonbay with a hammer twice as big as her, and she's smashing it like no tomorrow, aiming for Irvine. Irvine was too a chibi and was running for his life!
Zeeke was in the Blade Liger, so he wasn't able to do anything at the moment.
Once they reached the town, they saw quite a scene. A tall man was fighting with a younger girl, around 19, who had soft and shiny wavy black hair, and she was wearing a plain pink shirt and a matching skirt. You can see her color mix of grey and blue eyes flash with anger as she glared to the person, who was much more muscular than her.
"Just come with me, honey, and I'll give you the time of your life!"
"Never! I'm not gonna hang with some slut hungry for girls to use for only one night! It's not used for that, stupid! It's supposed to be loving and passionate! One trait you'd never have!"
He smirked. If he weren't going to get it his way by talking to her, then he'd have to force her. Everyone else was scared of the man. He grabbed her tight and pulled her into a kiss only he wanted. The only thing racing through this girl's mind was that she wanted a certain someone back. She wanted him back so badly. It's been weeks, and still, she keeps dreaming about him. Raven, I'm sorry, but I hope you feel the same way about me as I feel about you…if only I could really tell you…
She tried pushing him back, but he yanked her to him, and was about to rip her clothes off, when…
"Hey!" Van yelled.
The guy turned his head around, looking at Van.
"Leave her alone!"
"Leave yourself out of this; she's my girlfriend!"
Maru's eyes went wide as she kicked and flailed. "I'm not your girlfriend, you dirty bastard! Let…me…go!"
"You shut up and get out of this." He turned to look at Van. "Look, she's my girlfriend, but she's just a bit cranky now."
Van smirked. "I don't think she's your girlfriend!"
"You saying you don't believe me?" he yelled before he charged up to punch Van in the face.
Van, thinking this was all to easy, dodged one punch after another.
Maru's eyes went really wide. This fight isn't supposed to happen. "Stop, both of you! Now!"
The man looked at Maru. "So you'll come with me, right?"
"Yeah, right, whoever said that?" If there were one thing she hated more than that jerk, it'd be fighting, or even the sight of it.
The man just growled. "Look, lady, I'm gonna take you away, and if I can't get you by talking you into it, then I'll force you to!" He charged for her, grabbing her, and was practically being stripped naked, but…
POW! A punch landed on the back of his neck, knocking him out unconscious.
Van dusted his hands off, and said, "Sorry about that, ma'am. I know you're not the kind who can tolerate violence. Are you okay?"
The girl could only nod slightly before fainting.
Meanwhile, wherever Raven is…
The whole thing seemed to be quiet. Only the sounds of the GenoBreaker were heard. Raven's emotionless face turned into a frown quickly. "I know. It's quiet." In fact it's been too quiet ever since Maru left. Raven then stopped nearby the next town he was about to destroy, and then he jumped off his red Zoid. Out of nowhere, Reese just came up from behind him, and said, "You miss the girl. I know you do."
Raven said absolutely nothing.
"You know you like her."
"Look Reese, don't ever dare talk about Maru. I don't like her."
Reese's index finger was held up, and she shook it back and forth. "Of course you like her, otherwise you'd have forgotten her name by now. It was like the other girls when you were just a little boy. And you remembered my name because of the good times we had before. The very good times when we were together, even at night, the darkness cloaking our bodies, and then we-"
Her sentence was cut off by the punch in the stomach Raven gave her. "Look, I don't love you anymore, and I will never love anyone else for as long as I live! Not even her!"
"Humph, we'll see about that. I can sense your future, the times when you will be with Maru will be happy until one day, a Guardian Force fighter makes your times turn dark. You will be left with one memory of Maru that you cannot destroy, and that memory will make you suffer. See to it that my vision will happen soon!" And then with an evil smirk, she faded away in the darkness.
He clenched his fist tightly letting his emotions control him. "I'll be the one to make you suffer. Shadow! It's time to go!" and with that, he came speeding towards the new town.
"Hey, you, wake up!" she heard a voice call. Was he talking to her?
The girl's eyes fluttered open, and there was the smiling face of none other than Van Flyheight. She sat up and then she realized she was in a hotel room, probably of his. Fiona and Thomas then came in the room with and ice bag and a cup of hot tea.
"So, how'd you get here? And what's your name?" Van asked.
The girl took a sip of the tea, but quickly made the weirdest face anyone has ever saw. "Thanks for the tea, but I'll just have water…without salt, please," she said in a raspy voice. When her throat cleared up, she began talking again. "My name's Maru. How I got here, well, it's a pretty hard story to explain. So what is the Guardian Force doing here?" She knows a lot of things, from Hilts to Reese to Raven, to the republic and imperial forces joining up as one and made the Guardian Force, and last but not least, the little boy who saved the whole of planet Zi, even before she was born. Her mother was still pregnant with her, and she was expectant, and was born the next day after the Deathsaurer was destroyed, and her mother could finally sleep in peace.
"An attack is expected here in this town, and we're in charge of investigating," Thomas told Maru. "Miss Maru, do you have any idea on when the attacker might strike?"
She drank some more water. "Nope, not at all." She new he was talking about Raven. So he's coming here… She's surprised that after all this time she's still attached to the 20-year-old Zoid pilot. Maybe she likes him much more than she thought she would.
"Not even some kind of clue or anything, any rumor you've heard, anything?"
She stopped, and her eyes went wide, but not enough for anyone to suspect her with anything. She knew Raven was going to strike. He was going to strike in the middle of the night, what other time would he do so? She wasn't quite sure when, but she was now getting worried. Maru finally calmed down, and shook her head. "I know nothing about it."
"Thank you for being so honest, Miss Maru."
She blushed slightly. "You know, you don't have to call me 'Miss Maru,' Maru is just fine, thank you very much. Besides, I'm younger than all of you." She stared in her cup. "So you guys, I'm guessing, are trying to keep Raven from destroying this town?"
"Yes, in fact we are," Thomas said, surprised.
"Oh, okay. Good luck. I need to go now. I have some errands to run. Thank you for your hospitality, Van, Fiona, Thomas. Good day to you!" She saluted like a soldier, then smiled and left.
Van looked at Fiona. "Keep an eye on her while Thomas and I wait for Raven to come."
Thomas was confused. "Why are you telling Fiona to spy on her? She says she know nothing about it, so she's innocent!"
"I know, but I have a feeling that she knows about Raven's whereabouts."
Fiona smiled. "I'll make sure she won't make any trouble before Raven comes, Thomas, I can assure you and Van that."
Thomas blushed. "Uh…yeah…sure thing…Miss Fiona…" And with that she left. Thomas mumbled under his breath, "She's mine!"
But this didn't get past Van Flyheight! "I heard that. Fiona's mine! I already admitted my feelings to her a little after the Deathsaurer was destroyed, so ha! You're a few years too late, Thomas!"
Fiona watched Maru for a while. Everywhere Maru went, Fiona went. She watched her closely, never keeping her eyes off her. Later that night, Fiona came back to the hotel, giving up. She looked at Van. "She's innocent. I can't find any flaw. She's too…well…innocent. But I have this weird feeling about her."
Van and Thomas looked at Fiona confused. "What's wrong with her?"
"She seems much more than a human."
Where Raven is…
Raven hopped out of his Zoid on the end of this forest.
"She's not even going to dare get to her. I know it." He clenched his fists, but then loosened them up. "What am I saying?" He then hopped back in the Zoid and hovered towards the village nearby to destroy it.
In the village…
Maru was walking around in the night, just enjoying the beauty of the stars dancing in the sky. She sighed and wished she were like that, able to dance around go gracefully…
Then all of a sudden, a shot was heard from a few miles away. She instantly grinned and ran towards the shot. Raven's here! Yay!
People in the effected area were screaming and panicking, trying to evacuate. Then the Blade Liger and the Dibison, along with the AI, Bic, (A/N: Haha! No credit goes to Thomas!) Came into the scene.
Maru was running as fast as she could, trying to block Raven from causing anything bad and so the Guardian Force could even scratch him. I'm coming Raven…
Van growled. "We knew you were coming here, Raven!"
Thomas agreed. "Surrender now or suffer the consequences. We have a new attack formation!"
Raven just shrugged. "A new plan? No problem. I can handle a challenge. Besides, the Guardian Force is too weak for my GenoBreaker!" He shot gun on the Dibison's weak spot, causing him to fall on one side, while at the same time, freezing the command system. Thomas growled.
Van started to attack. He was going to use the blade and was charging this way, but all of a sudden…
Maru went in front of the GenoBreaker. "Don't hurt Raven!"
Van wasn't paying attention. He kept on running.
Raven gasped and shot a gun on the Blade Liger. It didn't work. The Blade Liger drew closer and closer to Maru, about to crush it, when…
Fiona unbuckled her seat belt and hit the brakes. The Liger came to a screeching halt, right in front of Maru.
Van looked at Fiona. "I had a chance! Why did you hit the brakes?!?!"
Fiona pointed to Maru, who was shivering from fear. "Maru was in front of you. Did you really want to kill her?"
Van slammed his fist, and said on the loudspeaker of his Zoid, "Why are you doing this, Maru? I had a chance!"
Maru then yelled loud enough for Van and the others to hear, "If he protected me, then I should do the same to him! I'm only retuning the debt!"
Then all of a sudden, Reese appeared out of nowhere, and walked towards Maru. Raven and Van and Fiona jumped out of their Zoids. "So, Maru, you've come to pay a debt? Well, I think you owe me one as well!" She snickered, and had Specula grab Maru and took her away. Much to Maru's efforts, she couldn't get out of his grip.
Raven screamed, "Maru!" but then had a face of confusion. Why did I yell her name out?
Raven hopped in his Zoid, saying to Van and the others, "I'll let you go just this once, but next time, you won't be so lucky, and with that, he started towards the direction of Reese's.
Van and Fiona looked at each other. "Why did he do that?" Van asked.
Fiona looked up in the dark sky. "I think I might know why…"