Author's Note: Hey ya! It's like what? A millenium since I last updated?
That long, ne? haha. I had almost given up on this story because it got too
weird for my liking (how do you readers do it?) until Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-
Gnome asked that I update for her birthday. Well Sanity-Stealing-Lawn-Gnome
a.k.a Michiko this chapter is just for you!! ^^ I hope you like it! Happy
Birthday!!
Without further ado here's chapter twelve! Hope it's not too strange! Hehe
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Fiona gazed unseeingly out of the window as rows of endless trees and scrubs flew past, her hand rested underneath her chin while her pale fingertips clutched the side of her cheek. Wisps of blue hair brushed against her ear but she made no move to push them aside. Her mind was a blur. What were they fighting for? She wondered. Sure they were trying to get Reese and herself back into their rightful bodies, but then what? What would happen after they'd accomplish all that? Fiona, not even with her gift of foresight, could answer that question.
After they had escaped from their prison also known as the Renaissance Stadium, Toni had suggested that they leave in her car, a small yet handsome silver Hybrid XP with sun and moon roof. And so here they were driving across country with no star lighting up the path before them, no nothing. It was hopeless, Fiona had decided when she stepped into the back seat while Toni took the drivers seat and Reese the passenger. They would just have to live with the consequences of their actions.....but it wasn't their actions to be exact.
What were they fighting for? This question plagued the Ancient Zoidian as she continued to stare at her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed as the car passed a black blur. What a minute.....
"Stop the car!"
The car shrieked to a halt, then a second later Fiona threw her door open and raced over where she had seen the black blur. She could Reese curse behind her, however vaguely.
"What the hell is your problem?" Reese snapped as she stomped over to her side. Toni nodded in agreement.
But Fiona paid them no mind. She knew what she saw, no she felt what she saw. And it wasn't good. It was a black organiod, and that meant Raven was nearby. Her hand curled into a fist upon her heart.
"Fiona! I know you can hear me, answer me!"
"Can't you sense it, Reese? He's close by....I saw Shadow," Fiona answered softly, after a long pause.
Reese's breath caught in her throat, her eyes darting across the heavily wooded terrain. It appeared as though that little brat was right, they were close but why haven't they shown themselves yet? It was very unlike them.
A sudden movement caught her eye and she narrowed her eyes dangerously. But said nothing. There was a rustle in the bushes followed by the sound of sticks being stepped on as unseen feet approached.
"This is just like in one of those scary movies," Toni whispered, eyes wide. Her body trembled from either fear or adrenaline, she didn't know. "Where the serial killer steps out from the shadows, striking fear into the hearts of his unsuspecting unarmed female prey. He raises either a chainsaw or a knife or maybe even a gun over his head just as a streak of lightening cracks overhead followed by groans of thunder with thick blinding rain in the dead of night.....or maybe even his bloodied metal claw-"
"Will you shut up?!" Reese hissed in a high whisper, sparing but one glance to glare at the younger girl over her shoulder.
Toni frowned deeply and folded her arms over her chest in indignation. "Hmph, well excuse me for making a connection here."
Both Reese and Fiona made loud "Shhh!" sounds at her, their index fingers at their lips. She threw her nose in the air. All thoughts of fear had vanished just as quickly as they came.
A low growl was heard.
Then again, fear has a funny way of coming back when you least expect it.
Reese grew tired of this game, it was a little too much déjà vu for her liking. This was one game she had played with her own prey not too long again and now she refused to go from the hunter to the hunted.
"Show yourself!" she shouted, hands curled into fists at her hips.
Nothing happened. Silence clung thick in the air.
"I know you're there! Now show yourself or we will be forced to attack!"
"Attack?" Fiona said in a whisper. "Are you mad? We have no weapons."
Reese just glanced at her from the corner of her eye; for someone so smart, Fiona could really be a blonde at times. Reese knew that they were unarmed, but maybe their stalker didn't. If she could convince him that they would attack, then maybe he'd flee or reveal himself whichever came first. But it appeared as if the blonde had ruined it for them, oh happy day.
Just as she was about to hiss, "Now look what you've done!", a gun shot rang out and bullet whooshed past her ear and flew into one of Toni's car windows and out the other.
The three girls gasped. Reese narrowed her eyes and said with deadly calm, "So the big man has a gun, la-dy freaking da. If you really want to spook us, why don't you just step out from those weeds and show yourself to us. Then we'll be the judge of how scary you really are."
No reply was uttered. The sound that was heard was the wind pushing against the tall plants. Reese just smirked and continued, if it was one she could do with ease was push people's buttons. This guy, whoever he was, didn't stand a chance.
"No? Well that's too bad then, and I was hoping for some excitement too. But I guess that's to be expected, since murder by gunshot is as impersonal as murder gets. Well girls, let's get going nothing is going to happen here."
Toni and Fiona exchanged curious glances. Just as Toni reached for the door handle, Reese turned to her and mutely shook her head. The two suddenly understood what she was trying to do. Reese was trying to lure the person out by insulting his pride.
Reese grabbed the silver door handle, opened the door and then closed it. She did this three times, with her eyes still locked on the shrubbery beside them. Something caught her eye, but it was in the window. Instead of locks of blue hair dangling about her head there were locks of blonde. She remembered with a cringe that she wasn't herself anymore, she must have gotten so used to the change that she didn't even recognize her voice had a higher pitch to it. This could work to her disadvantage....
She silently leaped to the spot where she had heard the growls earlier with the grace of a cat, the wind whipping against her face. It was empty unsurprisingly. Reese may not have been in her own body, but her mind was still the same, and so therefore her powers of telepathy and etc must still be with her. She jumped in a rather tall tree and scanned the area for anything black. All was clear when she made her way back to the road.
The only thing that was there to greet her on her arrival was Toni's Hybrid XP, which was looking sullen and defeated and in desperate need of new windows. Ones without bullet holes. //But I left Fiona and that girl here, where could they have gone?// Reese thought, her heart going Ta thump ta thump ta thump in her chest.
"Fools....hey Fiona! Toni! Where are you guys?" she brought her hands to her lips and called.
Okay, there were two too many disappearing acts in one day. Now the Ancient Zoidian was getting pissed, she couldn't leave those two alone for five seconds without them getting into trouble. What did she look like? A babysitter or something?
"Come on, you guys! This isn't funny! We're on a mission here, remember?"
"A mission? Do elaborate," drawled a dark male voice from behind.
Ta thump. Ta thump. Her heart nearly skipped a beat. That voice sounded so familiar. Reese slowly turned around only to come face to face with....
"Raven?"
*&*&*&*&*&*
"Oh come on, Van! You're no fun! Just one more lap in the Helcat. PLEASE?!?! PLEASE?!"
"No Jade," came the ever so patient reply. "You know better than to steal a military zoid. We have to go back and return it now."
"Awww! Can't I just pilot it until we get to the base?" Jade pleaded with the famous puppy dog eyes. Lip trembling and all. The whole nine yards.
But Van had his eyes closed as to not see the dangerously adorable big watery eyes that could melt his soul and turn him into a mindless zombie, who would do anything his little niece asked for. And he could NOT have that happen.
He turned to the Blade Liger more importantly the organiod Zeke that had fused with the zoid core. With the tilt of his head, he motioned for Zeke to come out. A flash of lightening emerged from the blue zoid and landed at his feet.
Zeke roared to life.
"Okay here's the game plan, Zeke, I want you to pilot the Helcat until we reach the military base."
The organiod nodded and shot off into the zoid. Van turned to walk towards his zoid but stopped in midstride. He glanced over his shoulder at Jade.
"Are you coming?" he asked lazily. ".....Jade?"
Suddenly he realized that she was no longer there.
"Jade?!"
Van looked around madly. What the hell? He could have sworn that she was behind him! But how....? Okay, now he was beginning to doubt his sanity.
"Come on, Van, we gotta go," the missing girl called out from the Blade Liger's cockpit. She was sitting in the pilot seat with the seat belt firmly on, shooting him a strange look.
Van gasped. How did....? He stared at her as if she had grown an extra head or something, his mouth open. Was it possible for someone to move that fast without making a sound? One thing was for sure, Jade never ceased to amaze him.
"But how did......?" Van shook his head with a smile and jumped into the cockpit. He moved his niece into the passengers seat and they were off with Zeke behind in hot pursuit.
They crossed the desert terrain with great speed, but they weren't really in that much of a hurry so neither zoid went it's fastest. Jade placed her cheek on her head as she watched the scenery fly by. She was itching to talk to Van, but for some reason she couldn't find the words. She felt almost ashamed, but why? She had no reason to. Scratch that, she did. Ambient was attacked and she didn't even know about it until it was too late. Did that make her a terrible person?
Every so often, Van would glance at the little girl from the corner of his eye. She looked trouble, he decided, her eyes gazed unseeingly before her. Why hadn't she responded when he asked her about Ambient? Did something happen?
"Jade, why did you take a zoid?"
Jade's head snapped up. "Huh? Why did I what?"
"Why did you steal a zoid? I told you I was going to back soon."
"I know but I had to find you! You were the only person who could help me!"
Van raised an eyebrow. "I was? Am I not anymore?"
"Jigga what? No you don't understand, I need your help and I-I....." she trailed off, suddenly finding it amusing to stare at her lap.
Get a grip girl, she told herself, who cares if he'd get mad. He couldn't stay mad at her forever, could he?
*&*&*&*&*&*
"Raven......is that you?"
Reese put her hand over her mouth not to muffle a scream but to prevent herself from gasping at the sight before her. It couldn't be Raven, she mentally told herself, there was no way in hell. Raven would never attack her never. But this Raven held a gun barrier to her face and from the looks of things had no problem pulling the trigger. His gray hair was shinier than usual.
But that wasn't what scared her. It was Raven's eyes that sent chills traveling up and down her spine. They were dull and utterly lifeless, so valiantly obvious that no one was home. Those eyes chilled her to the bone and made her soul shiver.
"Raven?" she tried again.
No response, the gun was still aimed for her heart and with one shot it would all be over.
"Raven, please it's me Reese. What happened to you? What's wrong?" Reese asked.
She heard a polite cough from behind.
"In all actuality," Fiona said in a low voice. "You don't look nor sound like y-"
"Oh shut up," Reese hissed and returned her attention back to Raven, who hadn't budged an inch.
"He probably can't tell who's who!" Fiona protested.
Reese threw the other Ancient Zoidian a dirty look over her shoulder. But just as she opened her mouth to tell Fiona off....
"Silence."
She whirled around and found herself face to face with Raven. More specificly, the barrel of Raven's pistol. She looked back up to him but couldn't look him in the eyes. Those weren't Raven's eyes. His held a fire, well one that had dimmed considerably as of late but a burning fire nonetheless.
"Who are you?" Reese asked softly.
He didn't reply.
"Who the hell are you and what have you done with Raven?"
"The question is, who am I and what have I done with Raven," drawled a female voice from behind the car.
*&*&*&*
"I can't believe it! That little twerp actually managed steal a zoid from right underneath our noses!" Thomas exclaimed, waving his arms in the air like a madman.
They'd turn their back on the runt for just an instant and then BAM she pulled a little stunt like that on them. Is that what they got for their good deed of day? If that was the case, then Thomas decided he'd have to ease up on the good deeds.
Unlike Thomas, old man Doctor D wasn't in the least bit upset over the situation. Actually, he found it all rather amusing.
"Quit your complaining," Doctor D said as he typed in some commands on the computer. "She will come back soon enough."
"Soon enough! She jacked a zoid from us!" Thomas exclaimed.
Oh man, how was this going to look on his record? Or even worse, what if his brother found? Oh gods above, let it not come to that.
"Your forgetting something."
"Oh yeah? Checking the insurance on that zoid maybe."
That too. "No, your forgetting that Ambient is still in our possession. Now I may just be an old man, but if it's one thing I noticed about that little girl was that she has just as much courage and loyalty as Van. Who knows? Maybe she'll bring us back something that we want."
Thomas hung his head and sighed; maybe he was really was as uptight and easy to rattle as all his coworkers said he was. But still, that couldn't be all that bad right? Here he was a Major and Thomas was getting stressed about a stolen zoid. Not even a good zoid for that matter, just a tattered piece of junk that hadn't seen the light of day for decades.
"I guess your right," he said softly.
Thomas looked over at the computer that was filled with various figures and numbers along with the critical analayzation of the organiod.
"How do you think it's doing?"
"It's hard to say, but I think Ambient will pull through. It was very seriously injured, but by what I don't know."
"If memory serves correct, I'm pretty sure Ambient was a tough organiod that could hold his own."
"Yes, but that was back when Hiltz was his master. Your forgetting that Ambient is a different organiod now. His memories have been whipped clean after his death, so in essence he's like a completely different organiod that just so happens to look like one we once knew. It's as simple as that," Doctor D replied as if he was talking about the weather or something.
Yeah, that's such a simple concept to understand. Thomas did a mental eye roll and folded his arms across his eyes just as the doors opened. In walked the girl of the moment, Jade, and her uncle with a disbelieving smile on his face.
Jade raced over to the tube that held Ambient and pressed her nose against it, studying the organiod carefully for any changes. Not much appeared to have changed, although Ambient's coat wasn't as scratched up.
"Is he okay, Grandpa?" Jade asked, sideways glancing at Doctor D.
The old man smiled and nodded. "Ambient is going to make a full recovery," he sobered. "But your going to have to be more careful, your organiod, it seems, has made some enemies."
Meanwhile Thomas took this opportunity to let out some steam.
"Jade, just what did you think you were doing? Stealing a zoid? A military zoid no less!" Thomas snapped.
"Oh come off it, Thomas, it isn't that big of a deal," it wasn't Jade but Van who spoke. "It was just a zoid that hadn't been used in quite a while. It probably needed the exercise anyways."
All eyes fell on the young pilot, who had his arms folded over his chest and a confident smirk on his lips. Jade stared at him in both shock and awe. Wasn't he just scolding her about the zoid a minute ago?
Thomas frowned. "So now your taking her side now, Flyheight?"
Van rolled his eyes and sighed. Thomas could be so dramatic at times. "Give me a break, there are more pressing matters."
Van strolled next to his niece and they both gazed at the organiod.
"So this is what happened to Ambient. Looks like he took a heavy beating," he observed mildly.
Jade just nodded in reply and returned her attention to the organiod.
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"Oh no Irvine look what you did!! How could you let them out of your sight?!"
***SMACK***
"Ow! I had to get a drink!"
***SLAP***
"What were you thinking?! Some body guard you are!"
"You don't under-"***SMACK THUMP***
Moonbay glared at her fiancé's fallen form with her nostrils flaring. The baka had let Fiona and Reese get away after he was told not to leave under any circumstance. How simple could of instructions could that be?
"Now what are we supposed to do?" she sighed.
All of the noise attracted Fiona's personal assistant and several band members. Kay surveyed them with obvious distaste. Moonbay wondered why Fiona surrounded herself with someone with such bad vibes.
"What's going on?" Kay asked, humor in her eyes.
Irvine had several lumps on the top of his head but appeared to be coming to. //Note to self, be sure to get Irvine real good after all this is over// Moonbay thought.
"Raise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," she said dully.
Irvine slowly rose, rubbing his head. He shot her a questioning look and frowned when Moonbay just smiled innocently back.
"Gods, did you have to hit me that hard?"
Moonbay shrugged and raised her hands in the air in the universal 'beats me'. "I could have hit harder, but I decided to go easy on you."
"I appreciate the thoughtfulness," Irvine said dully.
Kay cleared her throat just to return everyone's attention back to her. Fiona's friends or not, those two dimwits had to go. Speaking of which.....
"Where is Fiona? Rehearsal starts in a half an hour."
The transporter and the bounty hunter exchanged sideways glancing, each beckoning the other to say something smart and distracting while they made a run for it. Moonbay put on her biggest, sweetest, phoniest and just plain sickeningly nice smile.
"Why how funny that you should ask that," Moonbay began.
All cringed in fear and horror, except for Irvine who knew what was going on but still shuddered from the freaky smile.
Kay backed up slightly, unsure of what to do. That smile was starting to creep her out....
"Funny...haha....sure......" she stammered.
Moonbay nodded, her locks bouncing with the movement. "Y'know it's an interesting story...." She glanced around the room for something to say. Her gaze fell upon Kay's purple Stiletto boots. "You simply must tell me where you got those shoes!"
*&*&*&*&*
Without further ado here's chapter twelve! Hope it's not too strange! Hehe
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Fiona gazed unseeingly out of the window as rows of endless trees and scrubs flew past, her hand rested underneath her chin while her pale fingertips clutched the side of her cheek. Wisps of blue hair brushed against her ear but she made no move to push them aside. Her mind was a blur. What were they fighting for? She wondered. Sure they were trying to get Reese and herself back into their rightful bodies, but then what? What would happen after they'd accomplish all that? Fiona, not even with her gift of foresight, could answer that question.
After they had escaped from their prison also known as the Renaissance Stadium, Toni had suggested that they leave in her car, a small yet handsome silver Hybrid XP with sun and moon roof. And so here they were driving across country with no star lighting up the path before them, no nothing. It was hopeless, Fiona had decided when she stepped into the back seat while Toni took the drivers seat and Reese the passenger. They would just have to live with the consequences of their actions.....but it wasn't their actions to be exact.
What were they fighting for? This question plagued the Ancient Zoidian as she continued to stare at her surroundings. Her eyes narrowed as the car passed a black blur. What a minute.....
"Stop the car!"
The car shrieked to a halt, then a second later Fiona threw her door open and raced over where she had seen the black blur. She could Reese curse behind her, however vaguely.
"What the hell is your problem?" Reese snapped as she stomped over to her side. Toni nodded in agreement.
But Fiona paid them no mind. She knew what she saw, no she felt what she saw. And it wasn't good. It was a black organiod, and that meant Raven was nearby. Her hand curled into a fist upon her heart.
"Fiona! I know you can hear me, answer me!"
"Can't you sense it, Reese? He's close by....I saw Shadow," Fiona answered softly, after a long pause.
Reese's breath caught in her throat, her eyes darting across the heavily wooded terrain. It appeared as though that little brat was right, they were close but why haven't they shown themselves yet? It was very unlike them.
A sudden movement caught her eye and she narrowed her eyes dangerously. But said nothing. There was a rustle in the bushes followed by the sound of sticks being stepped on as unseen feet approached.
"This is just like in one of those scary movies," Toni whispered, eyes wide. Her body trembled from either fear or adrenaline, she didn't know. "Where the serial killer steps out from the shadows, striking fear into the hearts of his unsuspecting unarmed female prey. He raises either a chainsaw or a knife or maybe even a gun over his head just as a streak of lightening cracks overhead followed by groans of thunder with thick blinding rain in the dead of night.....or maybe even his bloodied metal claw-"
"Will you shut up?!" Reese hissed in a high whisper, sparing but one glance to glare at the younger girl over her shoulder.
Toni frowned deeply and folded her arms over her chest in indignation. "Hmph, well excuse me for making a connection here."
Both Reese and Fiona made loud "Shhh!" sounds at her, their index fingers at their lips. She threw her nose in the air. All thoughts of fear had vanished just as quickly as they came.
A low growl was heard.
Then again, fear has a funny way of coming back when you least expect it.
Reese grew tired of this game, it was a little too much déjà vu for her liking. This was one game she had played with her own prey not too long again and now she refused to go from the hunter to the hunted.
"Show yourself!" she shouted, hands curled into fists at her hips.
Nothing happened. Silence clung thick in the air.
"I know you're there! Now show yourself or we will be forced to attack!"
"Attack?" Fiona said in a whisper. "Are you mad? We have no weapons."
Reese just glanced at her from the corner of her eye; for someone so smart, Fiona could really be a blonde at times. Reese knew that they were unarmed, but maybe their stalker didn't. If she could convince him that they would attack, then maybe he'd flee or reveal himself whichever came first. But it appeared as if the blonde had ruined it for them, oh happy day.
Just as she was about to hiss, "Now look what you've done!", a gun shot rang out and bullet whooshed past her ear and flew into one of Toni's car windows and out the other.
The three girls gasped. Reese narrowed her eyes and said with deadly calm, "So the big man has a gun, la-dy freaking da. If you really want to spook us, why don't you just step out from those weeds and show yourself to us. Then we'll be the judge of how scary you really are."
No reply was uttered. The sound that was heard was the wind pushing against the tall plants. Reese just smirked and continued, if it was one she could do with ease was push people's buttons. This guy, whoever he was, didn't stand a chance.
"No? Well that's too bad then, and I was hoping for some excitement too. But I guess that's to be expected, since murder by gunshot is as impersonal as murder gets. Well girls, let's get going nothing is going to happen here."
Toni and Fiona exchanged curious glances. Just as Toni reached for the door handle, Reese turned to her and mutely shook her head. The two suddenly understood what she was trying to do. Reese was trying to lure the person out by insulting his pride.
Reese grabbed the silver door handle, opened the door and then closed it. She did this three times, with her eyes still locked on the shrubbery beside them. Something caught her eye, but it was in the window. Instead of locks of blue hair dangling about her head there were locks of blonde. She remembered with a cringe that she wasn't herself anymore, she must have gotten so used to the change that she didn't even recognize her voice had a higher pitch to it. This could work to her disadvantage....
She silently leaped to the spot where she had heard the growls earlier with the grace of a cat, the wind whipping against her face. It was empty unsurprisingly. Reese may not have been in her own body, but her mind was still the same, and so therefore her powers of telepathy and etc must still be with her. She jumped in a rather tall tree and scanned the area for anything black. All was clear when she made her way back to the road.
The only thing that was there to greet her on her arrival was Toni's Hybrid XP, which was looking sullen and defeated and in desperate need of new windows. Ones without bullet holes. //But I left Fiona and that girl here, where could they have gone?// Reese thought, her heart going Ta thump ta thump ta thump in her chest.
"Fools....hey Fiona! Toni! Where are you guys?" she brought her hands to her lips and called.
Okay, there were two too many disappearing acts in one day. Now the Ancient Zoidian was getting pissed, she couldn't leave those two alone for five seconds without them getting into trouble. What did she look like? A babysitter or something?
"Come on, you guys! This isn't funny! We're on a mission here, remember?"
"A mission? Do elaborate," drawled a dark male voice from behind.
Ta thump. Ta thump. Her heart nearly skipped a beat. That voice sounded so familiar. Reese slowly turned around only to come face to face with....
"Raven?"
*&*&*&*&*&*
"Oh come on, Van! You're no fun! Just one more lap in the Helcat. PLEASE?!?! PLEASE?!"
"No Jade," came the ever so patient reply. "You know better than to steal a military zoid. We have to go back and return it now."
"Awww! Can't I just pilot it until we get to the base?" Jade pleaded with the famous puppy dog eyes. Lip trembling and all. The whole nine yards.
But Van had his eyes closed as to not see the dangerously adorable big watery eyes that could melt his soul and turn him into a mindless zombie, who would do anything his little niece asked for. And he could NOT have that happen.
He turned to the Blade Liger more importantly the organiod Zeke that had fused with the zoid core. With the tilt of his head, he motioned for Zeke to come out. A flash of lightening emerged from the blue zoid and landed at his feet.
Zeke roared to life.
"Okay here's the game plan, Zeke, I want you to pilot the Helcat until we reach the military base."
The organiod nodded and shot off into the zoid. Van turned to walk towards his zoid but stopped in midstride. He glanced over his shoulder at Jade.
"Are you coming?" he asked lazily. ".....Jade?"
Suddenly he realized that she was no longer there.
"Jade?!"
Van looked around madly. What the hell? He could have sworn that she was behind him! But how....? Okay, now he was beginning to doubt his sanity.
"Come on, Van, we gotta go," the missing girl called out from the Blade Liger's cockpit. She was sitting in the pilot seat with the seat belt firmly on, shooting him a strange look.
Van gasped. How did....? He stared at her as if she had grown an extra head or something, his mouth open. Was it possible for someone to move that fast without making a sound? One thing was for sure, Jade never ceased to amaze him.
"But how did......?" Van shook his head with a smile and jumped into the cockpit. He moved his niece into the passengers seat and they were off with Zeke behind in hot pursuit.
They crossed the desert terrain with great speed, but they weren't really in that much of a hurry so neither zoid went it's fastest. Jade placed her cheek on her head as she watched the scenery fly by. She was itching to talk to Van, but for some reason she couldn't find the words. She felt almost ashamed, but why? She had no reason to. Scratch that, she did. Ambient was attacked and she didn't even know about it until it was too late. Did that make her a terrible person?
Every so often, Van would glance at the little girl from the corner of his eye. She looked trouble, he decided, her eyes gazed unseeingly before her. Why hadn't she responded when he asked her about Ambient? Did something happen?
"Jade, why did you take a zoid?"
Jade's head snapped up. "Huh? Why did I what?"
"Why did you steal a zoid? I told you I was going to back soon."
"I know but I had to find you! You were the only person who could help me!"
Van raised an eyebrow. "I was? Am I not anymore?"
"Jigga what? No you don't understand, I need your help and I-I....." she trailed off, suddenly finding it amusing to stare at her lap.
Get a grip girl, she told herself, who cares if he'd get mad. He couldn't stay mad at her forever, could he?
*&*&*&*&*&*
"Raven......is that you?"
Reese put her hand over her mouth not to muffle a scream but to prevent herself from gasping at the sight before her. It couldn't be Raven, she mentally told herself, there was no way in hell. Raven would never attack her never. But this Raven held a gun barrier to her face and from the looks of things had no problem pulling the trigger. His gray hair was shinier than usual.
But that wasn't what scared her. It was Raven's eyes that sent chills traveling up and down her spine. They were dull and utterly lifeless, so valiantly obvious that no one was home. Those eyes chilled her to the bone and made her soul shiver.
"Raven?" she tried again.
No response, the gun was still aimed for her heart and with one shot it would all be over.
"Raven, please it's me Reese. What happened to you? What's wrong?" Reese asked.
She heard a polite cough from behind.
"In all actuality," Fiona said in a low voice. "You don't look nor sound like y-"
"Oh shut up," Reese hissed and returned her attention back to Raven, who hadn't budged an inch.
"He probably can't tell who's who!" Fiona protested.
Reese threw the other Ancient Zoidian a dirty look over her shoulder. But just as she opened her mouth to tell Fiona off....
"Silence."
She whirled around and found herself face to face with Raven. More specificly, the barrel of Raven's pistol. She looked back up to him but couldn't look him in the eyes. Those weren't Raven's eyes. His held a fire, well one that had dimmed considerably as of late but a burning fire nonetheless.
"Who are you?" Reese asked softly.
He didn't reply.
"Who the hell are you and what have you done with Raven?"
"The question is, who am I and what have I done with Raven," drawled a female voice from behind the car.
*&*&*&*
"I can't believe it! That little twerp actually managed steal a zoid from right underneath our noses!" Thomas exclaimed, waving his arms in the air like a madman.
They'd turn their back on the runt for just an instant and then BAM she pulled a little stunt like that on them. Is that what they got for their good deed of day? If that was the case, then Thomas decided he'd have to ease up on the good deeds.
Unlike Thomas, old man Doctor D wasn't in the least bit upset over the situation. Actually, he found it all rather amusing.
"Quit your complaining," Doctor D said as he typed in some commands on the computer. "She will come back soon enough."
"Soon enough! She jacked a zoid from us!" Thomas exclaimed.
Oh man, how was this going to look on his record? Or even worse, what if his brother found? Oh gods above, let it not come to that.
"Your forgetting something."
"Oh yeah? Checking the insurance on that zoid maybe."
That too. "No, your forgetting that Ambient is still in our possession. Now I may just be an old man, but if it's one thing I noticed about that little girl was that she has just as much courage and loyalty as Van. Who knows? Maybe she'll bring us back something that we want."
Thomas hung his head and sighed; maybe he was really was as uptight and easy to rattle as all his coworkers said he was. But still, that couldn't be all that bad right? Here he was a Major and Thomas was getting stressed about a stolen zoid. Not even a good zoid for that matter, just a tattered piece of junk that hadn't seen the light of day for decades.
"I guess your right," he said softly.
Thomas looked over at the computer that was filled with various figures and numbers along with the critical analayzation of the organiod.
"How do you think it's doing?"
"It's hard to say, but I think Ambient will pull through. It was very seriously injured, but by what I don't know."
"If memory serves correct, I'm pretty sure Ambient was a tough organiod that could hold his own."
"Yes, but that was back when Hiltz was his master. Your forgetting that Ambient is a different organiod now. His memories have been whipped clean after his death, so in essence he's like a completely different organiod that just so happens to look like one we once knew. It's as simple as that," Doctor D replied as if he was talking about the weather or something.
Yeah, that's such a simple concept to understand. Thomas did a mental eye roll and folded his arms across his eyes just as the doors opened. In walked the girl of the moment, Jade, and her uncle with a disbelieving smile on his face.
Jade raced over to the tube that held Ambient and pressed her nose against it, studying the organiod carefully for any changes. Not much appeared to have changed, although Ambient's coat wasn't as scratched up.
"Is he okay, Grandpa?" Jade asked, sideways glancing at Doctor D.
The old man smiled and nodded. "Ambient is going to make a full recovery," he sobered. "But your going to have to be more careful, your organiod, it seems, has made some enemies."
Meanwhile Thomas took this opportunity to let out some steam.
"Jade, just what did you think you were doing? Stealing a zoid? A military zoid no less!" Thomas snapped.
"Oh come off it, Thomas, it isn't that big of a deal," it wasn't Jade but Van who spoke. "It was just a zoid that hadn't been used in quite a while. It probably needed the exercise anyways."
All eyes fell on the young pilot, who had his arms folded over his chest and a confident smirk on his lips. Jade stared at him in both shock and awe. Wasn't he just scolding her about the zoid a minute ago?
Thomas frowned. "So now your taking her side now, Flyheight?"
Van rolled his eyes and sighed. Thomas could be so dramatic at times. "Give me a break, there are more pressing matters."
Van strolled next to his niece and they both gazed at the organiod.
"So this is what happened to Ambient. Looks like he took a heavy beating," he observed mildly.
Jade just nodded in reply and returned her attention to the organiod.
*&*&*&*&
"Oh no Irvine look what you did!! How could you let them out of your sight?!"
***SMACK***
"Ow! I had to get a drink!"
***SLAP***
"What were you thinking?! Some body guard you are!"
"You don't under-"***SMACK THUMP***
Moonbay glared at her fiancé's fallen form with her nostrils flaring. The baka had let Fiona and Reese get away after he was told not to leave under any circumstance. How simple could of instructions could that be?
"Now what are we supposed to do?" she sighed.
All of the noise attracted Fiona's personal assistant and several band members. Kay surveyed them with obvious distaste. Moonbay wondered why Fiona surrounded herself with someone with such bad vibes.
"What's going on?" Kay asked, humor in her eyes.
Irvine had several lumps on the top of his head but appeared to be coming to. //Note to self, be sure to get Irvine real good after all this is over// Moonbay thought.
"Raise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," she said dully.
Irvine slowly rose, rubbing his head. He shot her a questioning look and frowned when Moonbay just smiled innocently back.
"Gods, did you have to hit me that hard?"
Moonbay shrugged and raised her hands in the air in the universal 'beats me'. "I could have hit harder, but I decided to go easy on you."
"I appreciate the thoughtfulness," Irvine said dully.
Kay cleared her throat just to return everyone's attention back to her. Fiona's friends or not, those two dimwits had to go. Speaking of which.....
"Where is Fiona? Rehearsal starts in a half an hour."
The transporter and the bounty hunter exchanged sideways glancing, each beckoning the other to say something smart and distracting while they made a run for it. Moonbay put on her biggest, sweetest, phoniest and just plain sickeningly nice smile.
"Why how funny that you should ask that," Moonbay began.
All cringed in fear and horror, except for Irvine who knew what was going on but still shuddered from the freaky smile.
Kay backed up slightly, unsure of what to do. That smile was starting to creep her out....
"Funny...haha....sure......" she stammered.
Moonbay nodded, her locks bouncing with the movement. "Y'know it's an interesting story...." She glanced around the room for something to say. Her gaze fell upon Kay's purple Stiletto boots. "You simply must tell me where you got those shoes!"
*&*&*&*&*