Raven stood at in the midst of a vast grassland, holding a holographic transmitter in his palms. Again, the group was camping, this time just having entered the vast plains of the Empire. Ryss and Hiltz crowded behind Raven, awaiting for him to contact Prozen, and Rae was sitting quietly on a large log quite a ways away.
Specular, as always, was faithfully by her mistress?s side, watching curiously as Raven turned the transmitter on. Immediately an image of their leader, Prozen, appeared in front of them. Ambient was off brooding somewhere, and Shadow and Mystic were also by their master and mistress?s sides.
"What are we to do now Master Prozen?" asked Raven, his brows arched in anticipation.
"I want you to destroy the Sand Colony. It?s a rather large colony, I hope you can handle it," replied Prozen, smirking maliciously. Raven?s brows somehow lowered even more, the smirk irritating him.
"It?s about twenty miles from the city of Tacknot," he finished, his image standing proudly, almost challengingly.
"I know where it is," Raven grumbled with agitation, almost ready to flip the switch and turn the device off.
"Then I assume you can do it right this time?" Prozen raised an eyebrow, mockingly.
"I know I can do it right," Raven almost howled at the white-haired man.
"Raven, let me talk to Prozen," Hiltz told Raven, reaching his hand out to grab the transmitter, but Raven threw it at him, stomping away, Ryss slowly following after him Hiltz looked around, a shady look washing over his features. Raven and Ryss had just left, and Rae was too far out of ear-shot. . . Perfect.
"Lord Prozen, so nice to see you again," Hiltz?s sickening sweet voice carrying over the transmitter.
"Stop kissing-up Hiltz. What is it? I don?t have that much time," Prozen replied, annoyed. His brow raised as he folded his arms across his chest and expressed a yawn, showing his boredom.
"I have a small matter to discuss with you Sire," answered Hiltz, the usual smirk fading from his lips.
"Well, what is it?" the low voice of Prozen hastily replied, waiting for Hiltz?s comments.
"It?s about Raven, Ryss, and a prisoner of ours--"
"Go on," now Prozen was becoming interested, his eyes looking towards Hiltz.
"The hostage of ours came from the prisoner camp where we met. She escaped and I need to know what to do with her," Hiltz reported.
"Raena? Get rid of her," was Prozen?s evil reply as he reached to turn his device off.
"I tried, but Raven won?t have it," Hiltz complained, scowling.
"What? Raven?" surprised, Prozen withdrew his hand, his eyes sparkling with even more curiosity than before.
"Yes. He?s getting very soft on us. I?m pretty sure it?s all because of her," Hiltz?s eyes narrowed, a disgusted scowl embedded in his red brows.
"What?" Prozen almost yelled, a look of anger etching his features.
"He?s always protecting her. Sometimes he does what she tells him to," declared Hiltz, sickened at the thoughts and memories of the past week.
"I don?t get it . . . " Prozen started, his eyes fading as his mind went into deep thought. "With all the current events, as well as those in the past, why is he acting like this? I was sure by now his heart would be so hardened, that he would never love again. . ."
"Well I think someone?s fallen head over heals if you ask me," Hiltz glared toward Rae, and Prozen sighed."I?ve had it with that little brat tagging along, and Ryss is a little love-sick herself," he finished.
"Well Hiltz, you will be separating soon, so don?t worry about it," Prozen said, now tiring of the conversation.
"I will kill her. And if I don?t then Ryss will. I?m sure of it," Hiltz grumbled.
"Well if Rae is any threat to her love then I agree with you," Prozen laughed emptily, his hand reaching for the off-switch again as Hiltz shook his head."I want you to meet me at the old Guylos castle in a month," Prozen said, getting serious again.
"Sure thing," Hiltz responded as the image of Prozen disappeared. He shook his head and looked towards Rae, who was gazing at the night-sky with admiration.
"Come on Rae. We?re leaving and you?re coming with me,," Hiltz declared gruffly as he walked over toward her and grabbed her hand and tugged her with him.
"I know where we?re headed," Rae glared at him as she let him lead her into the tall grass towards the zoids. "You?re going to destroy another place aren?t you?"
Hiltz laughed.
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Meanwhile, Raven had been trudging through the long blades of light yellow grass towards his Genobreaker, and of course Ryss had followed closely behind.
"Is Prozen really alive still? After all of that happened?" Ryss continued to ask Raven, still surprised over meeting Prozen again.
"Well what do you think?" Raven turned around and glared at Ryss.
"I don?t know. I thought maybe it could be an imposter. . ." Ryss returned, her voice trailing off as her mind went into thought..
"If it isn?t Prozen then he?s an amazing actor," Raven continued towards his zoid, his scowl deepening.Ryss sighed, shaking her head softly.
::Roar:: (I agree. That?s most definitely Prozen.) Shadow told Raven, catching up to his master?s side.
::Grrr:: (Well what if it isn?t?) Specular argued with Shadow, shooting a glare after him.
Shadow sighed, shaking his head.
The foursome soon came upon their zoids, and Raven climbed into his. Ryss followed suit and climbed into her own.
"I am invading this base Raven sweetie. I?ll screw with their heads a little," Ryss winked at Raven as they closed the cockpits. Raven cringed and quickly looked away as the cockpit shield lowered and he mobilized his zoid.
::Roar:: (She?s persistent isn?t she?) Shadow teased Raven.
"A little too persistent for my likes," Raven said as the Genobreaker started toward the northeast.
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"Hey Van," a sweet young woman asked a young man next to her.
The cheerful blonde young woman wore a white blouse, neatly tucked into a light, short pink skirt. The man she was referring to, Van, wore light gray jeans, a dark blue long sleeved shirt, and black boots. Over his long sleeved shirt, he wore a military jacket, un-buttoned at the moment, that had patches and badges, showing his rank as a Lieutenant.
The two were sitting at a table in a coffee shop. The young woman was pouring salt into her coffee as Van was just staring (sweatdropping ^_^) at her. A silverish organoid, whom Van had named Zeke many years before, was standing by their side, also staring curiosly at Fiona.
"Err. . . what is it Fiona?" he asked, still wondering how in the world she drank coffee with loads of salt in it.
"Where did Irvine and Moonbay say they were going?" Fiona giggled.
"Hmm. . . I think they?re going to see where the old Guylos Castle is located," Van said sipping his coffee.
"Oh. Where is Thomas?" Fiona asked, as she had just arrived at the small café and was wondering where everyone was. Van and Zeke were the only to there.
"He went to go work on BIC. . . what else?" Van sighed.
"What about Dr. D?" Fiona?s last inquiry was about the old crazy Republic Doctor that was always working on "amazing" contraptions.
"Uh. . . I don?t know. . . That?s not good," replied Van, a nervous hint to his deep voice.
Fiona chuckled lightly and sipped her coffee. She looked around for a moment, just taking in the peaceful surroundings. It had been a little over two years since the Deathsaur had been defeated. Everything had been peaceful since then, save a few thefts here and there. The Guardian Force hadn?t had much trouble at all in the past year.
"I wonder what Raven and Ryss are doing. . ." Fiona?s soft melodious voice murmured as she took another sip. Raven and Ryss had disappeared shortly after their great victory, leaving everyone scratching their heads to as where they might have gone.
"I dunno Fi. Maybe Ryss asked Raven to marry him and they got hitched!" laughed Van, flailing his arm back and accidentally knocking into someone.
"Van! Watch where you?re throwing your arms. You?re so juvenile," a firm yet somewhat boyish voice came from behind Van.
"Thomas!? Fiona smiled as she looked up to see the young blonde rubbing his face, a red spot where Van had just smacked him. He wore a pair of loose, almost puffy gray pants, and a red tunic over it.
"Hello miss Fiona. How are you today?" Thomas smiled back, his light green eyes sparkling from seeing his love.
"I?m great," her joyful smile made Thomas? heart pound a little harder, and he blushed.
Such beauty and grace, he thought. Still, he hadn?t told her how he felt, even over a year after he had met her. Most already knew of his undying love for the sweet girl, but he was so afraid to admit it to her.
"Well, do you know where Dr. D is? I?m worried," Van furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he ran his hand through his hair.
"No, I sure don?t," Thomas took a seat next to Fiona. "I saw him last on the outskirts of town. He had that look on his face again."
"That look? You mean the look he gets when something bad is going to happen?" Van got up. "Maybe I should go find him," and Van disappeared out the door, Zeke following.Fiona and Thomas looked at eachother for a moment, then Fiona picked up the coffee-pot and held it to a cup.
"Want some coffee Thomas? There?s plenty here," she poured the coffee, her pink-red eyes on the task at hand.
"Sure! No salt please," Thomas gave a cute grin and Fiona giggled.
"Alrighty then. What did you find out today about those cities and bases that were being destroyed?" she handed Thomas his cup. Thomas took the coffee and sipped it for a moment, thinking.
"Well, there were traces of charged particle beams," he said, looking down.
"What? I though all the zoids with charged particle weapons were destroyed?" Fiona dropped her spoon she was holding.
"Well, Raven and Ryss still had theirs. . . the cities and bases were completely gone, except for a couple things that didn?t get directly hit. Strong traces of charged particles were found. Unfortunately, all security cameras in that area were destroyed," Thomas put his coffee down, his green eyes dulling in thought.
Fiona just stared out the window for a moment, taking that information in. That meant that a Geno zoid was out there, somewhere. Either that or a new zoid that someone had developed. The former was easier to believe, however, since Raven and Ryss still were out there, somewhere. Fiona didn?t want to believe they were back to their evil ways again. They had just started realizing that those ways didn?t help anything. The young ancient zoidian sighed and got up.
"We must find Irvine and Moonbay," she stated and started walking off.
"Wait, we need to leave a tip. . . I guess I got stuck with the tip," Thomas shook his head as he placed some money on the table and followed Fiona out the door.
The two started down the busy streets. People were rushing here and there, and they day was quite sunny and hot. The town they were staying at was on the eastern shores of the continent. A refreshing sea-breeze blew through the city and tourists hurried to their events. Colorful flowers bloomed in planters and seagulls cawed as they perched everywhere.
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Just right outside the old Guylos castle, a young woman was working on a black Lightning Saix. Her black hair was tied up in a bun and she wore a pair of fitted jeans and a red tank. She looked quite occupied until she turned around to a brown haired man with spikey hair and a patch on his left eye. He was sitting quite comfortably against the wall of the castle, wearing a pair of loose gray pants and a dirty shirt he?d thrown on that morning.
"Hey Irvine! Would?ya stop fooling around and help me here?" the young woman complained, quite annoyed.
"Yeah yeah. Whatever Moonbay," Irvine, the young man, shrugged and stood up.
"AH! I swear you do nothing to help," Moonbay?s eyebrow slightly twitched. "You?re such a lazy bum."
"Yeah, but what?re you going to do about it," Irvine laughed as he walked over the Moonbay and stood next to her.
"Nothing, I guess," Moonbay groaned and began to work again, tweaking the parts a little. "You?re impossible."
"Heh heh. . . I know," Irvine grinned as Moonbay stood up, looked at him, and rolled her eyes. "Ya know, I like it when a woman gets annoyed. . ."
"Oh zip it Irvine," The young woman glared, then went back to work as Irvine laughed, folding his arms across his chest.
"Moonbay! Irvine!" a voice called from somewhere around the corner. Moonbay and Irvine looked around to see Fiona and Thomas running into their view. "Something. . . is going to happen!" Fiona was quite out of breath, and had an extremely worried look on her face.
"What is it Fi?" Moonbay asked, stopping the girl before she got any more out of breath.
As Fiona caught her breath, she pointed towards Thomas, who?d just caught up with her. Thomas looked at Moonbay, then Irvine, who had just come up behind Moonbay to see what Fiona?s problem was.
"What is it Thomas?" Moonbay asked again, this time a lot more worriedly than before. Her brows were furrowed in an anxious position.
"Well, there were traces of charged particl-" the blonde warrior began, only to be interrupted by a loud, happy, and distant laugh. Irvine?s eyebrow was currently twitching, which only meant one thing. . .
"Dr. D," they all said in unison, closing their eyes and awaiting the Dr.?s newest "grand" entrance.
"Hahaha!" came a maniacal laugh, and in soared the Dr. on rocket-packs. He flew around for a moment, making twists, loops, and other daring tricks in the air. "Look! BWAHAHA! I?m a GENIUS I tell ya!" he called, looking back at the group who was just shaking their heads.
Whack!
Dr. D. Had crashed into a wall while looking backwards to the others. He gently slid down the wall, whimpering in pain.
"I told you, you shouldn?t do that kind of stunt!" Irivine grumbled, eyes still closed and his left eyebrow still twitching out of agitation.
"Oh be quiet," Dr. D. had already gotten to his feet, and was dusting himself off.
"That?s just not natural. . ." Moonbay and Fiona both murmured together, blinking in amazement.
Thomas was staring wide-eyed. "Are, you alright Dr. D?" he asked sympathetically.
"Fine! Just fine! Stop worrying about me and tell them what you found out!" the Dr. fussed, beginning to repair his now-broken jet pack. The group looked back towards Thomas with wondering eyes.
"Well, there was traces of charged parti-" this time, Thomas?s interruption was a young man?s voice calling out Fiona?s name. It was Van?s voice. The cocky, black-haired pilot of the blue Blade Liger. . . The one who?d defeated the fake DeathSaur, as well as the Deathsting and with help, the real DeathSaur.
"Fiiioooooonaaaaa!" was called again, and a roar from his companion Zeke followed. It continued again directly after, and Fiona laughed.
"It?s Van!" she smiled. "I guess he?s looking for me now."
By this point, Thomas was getting quite angry with all the interruptions going on. He was tapping his foot impatiently with his head tilted in an arrogant manner.
"Oh Thomas, settle down," the pretty blonde ancient zoidian rested her small, pale hand on the irate pilot?s shoulder. Thomas immediately blushed and quit what he had formerly been doing.
"Yes, my love," he sighed as she walked off towards Van to greet him. His pale, lime green eyes were filled with sorrow and despair now. Irvine put a hand on Thomas? shoulder.
"Hey man, don?t worry about it," he gave the pilot?s shoulder a pat. Thomas gave a louder, and an even more sad sigh than before, which contained a small whimper this time around.
"Ahh, now Thomas," now Moonbay was feeling sad for the love-stricken young man. They all believed Fiona had given her heart to Van. . .
"Van! Thomas has something to tell all of us," Fiona took the raven-haired warrior?s hand, and tugged him next to the others, Zeke at his heals. Van was scratching his head in thought.
"Like what?" he asked, obviously oblivious to what Thomas had to say.
Van had been vacationing lately, and had missed the recent happenings. Fiona and Thomas had stayed on duty, and learned of the crisis of the whole base being annihilated. The blonde pilot and his DiBison, BIC, had gone out to investigate, and come back only to find Fiona had gone out to lunch with Van, only two days before this one. The two blondes had gotten quite close as friends while Van had been gone, and Thomas was beginning to think their closeness was going to change, now that Van was back in the picture.
"Well, if I could finally speak without being interrupted. . . I COULD TELL YOU," Thomas glared at Van. The young man blinked, wondering what Thomas? problem was today. He always seemed to have one, at least with him. Van just shrugged it off.
"Fine then, speak boy," Van snapped back with a grin, only to receive an even more furious glare from Thomas.
Thomas shook his head and folded his arms across his chest, muttering something about cocky punks. Finally he looked back at everyone, including Zeke, who were looking at him with very interested stares. Fiona was looking down, waiting for Thomas to brief them on what they?d discovered.
"Alright, well. . .over the past month, while Van was slacking off. . ." Thomas began only to be stopped by Van yet again.
"Hey a minute! Wait! I was given vacation time! I havn?t had one in a year!!!" Van growled, defending himself.
"And Moonbay and Irvine were out working, me and Fiona were still on duty at the base. Well, there suddenly were several reports of entire cities, towns, and bases being destroyed. But no one had survived to tell about it. Passerby?s had seen it and reported in. Fiona and I worked for a while on information, and I finally went out to go check to see what had happened. I took a scanner with me and found traces of charged particle beams," he finished, all around him now silent. Even Zeke had discontinued his wagging of his large, silver tail.
"But, there weren?t any other zoids that had that capability. We made sure of it," Moonbay whispered with horror.
"That can mean only one thing," Van looked around this group.
The names hadn?t needed to be mentioned. They all knew the only two that had access to any zoid with particle weapons, were Ryss and Raven: the only two with particle-weaponed zoids that had survived after the whole Genosaur incident.
"Looks like you two?ve been busy," Irvine added, looking at Fiona and Thomas. Both nodded in return.
"We?ve got to find out where those two are. . ."
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Rae stood, staring in horror at the city that now lie in ruins. They?d done it again and again. Destroying and killing. The more she witnessed this, the more she wanted to just. . . die. She hated watching them; standing by and staring while they killing thousands. And this time it was a city. Women and children were there also. It was like some game to them. After a few moments, Rae caught a glimpse of Raven out of the corner of her eyes. She marched right up to him and glared.
"You idiot! Why are you doing this?!" her words were fierce and harsh, her emotions raging within her.
Raven raised a dark brow, and a smirk crept upon his lips. "Why should I tell you?" he asked, his voice seemingly taunting her.
"I have a right to know," Rae continued to glare, folding her arms across her chest. "You?re emotionlessly killing thousands of innocent people. Have you ever really thought about what you?re doing? Tell me Raven -- What if someone you cared about was in there? Huh? Oh wait, nevermind. I forgot. You don?t love anyone, save yourself," She practically growled.
"But I will give you this to think about. What if you had someone you cared about. . . The person you cared about the most. And they were living in a small town, until someone just came along and killed everyone in it?! How would you feel?!" with that, she stormed off, trying to hide the tears that were coming so freely now.
Raven stared after her, turning her words over in his mind. How would you feel?! she?d asked him.
How would I feel. What if Rae were in that town, and someone came and killed everyone off. The boy?s heart stopped at the thought. If Rae was killed, he wouldn?t know what to do. . . Wait, why am I thinking like this?
It didn?t matter anymore. He knew he cared for her now. It was unavoidable, especially with Shadow staring at him with a look that said, "You are so head-over-heals."
Raven breathed out deeply, and sat down on a nearby rock. Just perfect. He was "in love" with his prisoner. And most likely Prozen would want her back at the camp, or dead. Shadow gave a sighed and nuzzled Raven?s arm gently, giving a muffled purring noise.
"Why do you continue to stay in self-denial?" the organoid asked.
"I don?t know Shadow, I just don?t know," was the raven-haired boy?s reply.