Authors note: Hmmm rant rant rant... Ok.. What should I say? My school
is gay...
heh, I rhymed.
Hey, Everyone remember Pyremon Infernos? You know, the guy that submitted Ryuji/Copper and Ayane(Shiva) way back when? Well he's just opened an account on Fanfiction.net and posted his fic about Shiva (Whom was pretty much only called Ayane in my fics) Its very very very very good and I would recommend reading it. His pen name is Pyremon Infernos, and his fic is called Shiva. Give it a read, it is worth the time.
Anyways, next chapter... Warning: this is a very long chapter....
CHAPTER FIVE
"Everything I had hope in... everything..."
"...my life..."
"...it was no more."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A zoid.
A zoid...
Kyuusai knew that's what it had to be... It just had to be. This thing that he saw on the television.
And it shocked him.
He had never seen anything like it... even on earth. An amazing metallic creature, huge... the size of a small building; glowing eyes and yellowish razor sharp teeth the height of a young person.
It was feline shaped, covered in pure white armor. Gears underneath turned and moved, unstopping, almost like it was breathing.
Intimidating.
Its claws were almost as big as the man called Bit. Unblinking, moving so undeniably gracefully.
He couldn't believe the sheer size of the creature. It just kept striking him as unbelievable.
The Ligar, (as bit had called it) bent low, as if ready to pounce, then lifted its head as it roared once again, its deep bellow striking fear into Kyuusai... It was similar to the creature he had seen in the jungle.
Only much more incredible.
The creature continued to roar, as Bit continued to gloat. It obviously had some sort of intelligence, a type of self consciousness...
So was it a living creature? Or just a machine?
It seemed Kyuusai's answer came the moment he thought of it.
The Ligar bent down and nudged Bit, almost lovingly, and the tactician got a clear view of it's glowing orange eyes.
His breath was stopped.
Its eyes, glowing and eerie as they were, were so full of something, some type of strong emotion... They weren't like a biological creatures eyes, they seemed to be glass... Yet...
Yet they seemed alive, completely and utterly alive...
There was a slam of a door that snapped Kyuusai out of his thoughtful trance, and Jeremy entered the room.
"Hey guy's..." Jeremy said, looking over at Kyuusai, "Wow, I didn't realize your hair was that long... anyways, I just got off the phone with the repair company.... They said I could pick up my Saber at any time..."
Ryan nodded and Kyuusai took one last quick glance to the television, but the Ligar and Bit were gone, replaced by a woman talking about how warm it was on that day outside.
"So... Uh, Kyuusai." Ryan said, "What do you plan on doing now?"
"What?" Kyuusai looked at him, realization hitting him. He had nowhere to go. These people had been very hospitable, but what would he do now? He thought about it seriously for a second, and didn't have to come up with a story to answer him, "Honestly... I... I don't know."
There was an uneasy silence as they stood there, unsure or what to say. Kyuusai had no clue what to do, he had no idea what this world was like... And to be in it completely alone horrified him.
"HEY! I KNOW!" Jeremy snapped his fingers, "You could join our team! Or at least come live at the base with us!"
"What?" Ryan snapped, turning his gaze to his teammate, "He's never piloted before Jeremy... Plus I don't know if..."
"Oh come on. You can't really be saying no..." Jeremy almost seemed angry, "He has NO where to go. You heard him... his home was burnt down. We can't just leave him..."
Ryan sighed... Shook his head a bit, then nodded. "Your right...Fine..." He paused, "Im gonna go call the base. Be right back..." He looked once more to Kyuusai, "Jeremy pack up your things, and remember to grab some stuff for him... We'll get going as soon as I come back."
"Right!" Jeremy nodded, "Does that sound ok to you?"
Kyuusai thought about it for a second. He really did enjoy the company of these two, and he had no where to go. He was also very interested in learning more about zoids, so what better way then to live with pilots?
"I don't want to intrude... or be a burden." Kyuusai said, out of politeness. He knew that this man would insist, it was his nature... he was after all, a very kind man from what Kyuusai had seen.
"You won't be, trust me. We aint exactly the best zoids team, but we get by with decent money." Jeremy smiled, then left Kyuusai to go pack his things.
When he was done they left the house, and Kyuusai found himself shielding his eyes from the blazing sun. He was really not used to that. On earth, the sun had been blocked out.
He followed his two new friends two a large garage, and waited as Ryan fiddled with some keys. The dark haired pilot found the one he was looking for, then opened the large steel door. It was pitch black inside... that is, until he flipped the lights on.
Kyuusai found himself in shock. A large creature, a zoid he guessed, was standing not ten feet away from him. This one was far different from the one he had seen on the television, but just as magnificent to the earthling tactician. It was definitely not feline shaped, and lacked the liveliness of the Ligar 0.
It was lightblue with some light bluish green, and had two, frail looking wings. Supported by two sturdy looking legs, the thing towered over the three humans, two of which seemed almost oblivious to the fact that it was there.
Ryan sighed, "We can't all fit in my pteras so... Jeremy, your gonna have to take Kyuusai with you in the jeep... Im sure you don't need me to follow you to the city... do you?"
"Nah, we'll be ok." Jeremy replied, he then took his duffle bag (In which he had packed all his things) and tossed it to Ryan, "Here, take this with you, just leave it in my room."
"Right. See ya at the base." Ryan half waved as he turned and headed towards the zoid, now identified as a Pteras. Kyuusai watched as the zoid knelt its head down, allowing it's pilot to climb fairly easily into it's cockpit (though he assumed it was much more difficult then it looked, and that Ryan had done this so many times before he was used to it.).
With a screech the Pteras came to life, a whirling sound of it's gears and other various mechanical parts came to ear. It moved one strong leg forward slowly, then the other, all the while its "chest" was leveling out closer to the ground.
Kyuusai watched all of this as Ryan gave one last wave, glass cockpit closing over him. There was a huge gust of wind, and a loud roar that drowned out everything else as the Pteras took off, out of the garage, and into the clear blue sky.
And then he realized something... something that both filled him with a very odd emotion, one he didn't recognize... and something that tore at his heart.
He liked this world... perhaps even more than he had liked his own.... This world, where he could shield his eyes from the sun... A world where he could witness an animal in it's natural state, and admire it... where he could see the living plants, the tree's, and the magnificent flowers and vines.
This world... where he could see the smallest most incredible creature, frail and weak yet more beautiful than any gem, fly freely... fluttering gently, and elegantly through the clean, crisp air...
This would, where he could see the sky.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
It had taken quite a bit of time for Kyuusai and Jeremy to get to the city, and all the while the young tactician was taking in everything he could.
'Amazing...' he thought silently to himself, 'Simply amazing.' He glanced around, and even though almost everything that they had passed had been desert, he was still in complete awe of it. 'Waki and Bryce would love to see this...'
That struck a harsh pain in his heart. 'Waki... Bryce... They won't ever see it.' He frowned, but turned so that his new friend couldn't see his face, and stroked a few loose strands of hair back behind his ears. He probably should have just left it back... now it was just getting in the way.
He continued to think silently to himself the rest of the way to the city, his thoughts suddenly stopping when it came into view. Huge skyscrapers, Glass paned buildings, cars and zoids, fountains, homes, and other various buildings greeted him.
He had been wrong to think that this would was not advanced... it definitely had some technology, though it was nowhere near Earths, it was still obviously decent technology. Some of which he hadn't even thought people would have imagined in this world.
Jeremy drove to the repair shop, and Kyuusai couldn't help but stare at some of the odd fashions that people had on this planet. The sounds that came to his ears were entirely different from what he was used to on Earth... rarely on Earth did you hear children laughing and playing outdoors, running along the sidewalks while their parents followed at a short distance.
He looked up, and on one of the glass paned buildings was a large screen, from their distance he couldn't tell if it was like a giant television screen, or holographic or what. But he could hear over the speakers that he noticed strung throughout the city what the woman on the screen was saying. Once again it was about the pilot called Bit and his surprise win.
"all right, we're here." Jeremy informed, turning the jeep off and jumping out.
They were parked in front of a large warehouse type building, lined with tinted windows, and a slightly rusted metal door, large enough for most any zoid to fit through.
Kyuusai followed Jeremy through the door, and upon entering felt almost claustrophobic. The dimly lit room itself was huge, bigger than most he had seen.
It was what was inside it that made him feel claustrophobic.
He stared at zoids in every direction that he turned to, so many of them, and so many different kinds... all appearing to be "turned off" if that's what they called it. He was amazed at their diversity and appearances. They looked a lot like earth animals, most of them, though he had rarely seen any of the earth animals that they represented.
"Stay here, I'll be right back." Jeremy said. He walked up to a man a distance away, and began to talk to him. About what Kyuusai couldn't hear.
The tactician began to realize that he favored some of the zoids more than others when he looked to them over an over in sheer amazement... He began to picture what type of zoid he would like to pilot, if ever given the chance... there were so many. He then began to imagine what kind of zoids Bryce and Waki might have liked...
'Bryce and Waki...' he stopped looking at the zoids, his thoughts now focused on his two, once life long friends. He wished that they were here... He suddenly felt all alone, not knowing anything about anything. Sure, Jeremy and Ryan had shown their kindness, and he would go as far as saying they had become his friends... Yet he was still alone.
How long had it been since he had been sent from Earth? How long had these people had a civilization on this planet... He was an alien to this world... completely out of place. He felt as though he didn't belong. He was alone.
That one thought, the thought of being alone, scared Kyuusai more than anything...
Then there was another thought... another feeling.
Anger.
Anger at how this started.... hatred towards the war on Earth... He despised how foolish people were. How completely stupid they were. It was human beings that had caused the destruction of the Earth... Human beings that had killed and taken so many lives. Humans were the only ones that did these things. They were the ones that didn't belong... 'Did the animals ever destroy the planet? Did they ever feel the urge to break from the food chain, deciding they were too good for it...?' Kyuusai thought silently fuming behind the mask of calm he wore, 'Granted they were not as intelligent... but human intelligence was our downfall...'
Humans that had caused the entire thing... it was their fault that Bryce and Waki had died...
There was a sudden outburst of sound, and turning Kyuusai saw a large feline shaped zoid come to life... He heard it growl and watched as it took a step forward, the head was open to reveal the cockpit, where a man in a gray jumpsuit was sitting, yelling down to Jeremy. Jeremy nodded, giving him the thumbs up, and turned to head back to Kyuusai.
Kyuusai watched the moving zoid a bit longer as it turned away from Jeremy, and headed out a large, slowly opening door in the back of the building. The zoid seemed to have thick armor protecting it, it's head graced with two, long, lethal looking fangs. It was blue in color, it's eyes glowing a bright green. It's claws made a slight scraping sound against the metal floor, followed by a loud clang as the zoid supported it's full weight on them.
"You like it?" Jeremy asked with a quick laugh, "That's my Saber. We'll go around outside and pick it up in the back."
Kyuusai nodded, then looked around. His eyes fell on two separate zoids, standing next to each other in the dim light.
One was a large aerial zoid, kinda like the pteras, only more fierce appearing. It was heavily armed, and looked as though it weighed a lot more than the pteras.... the most similar thing between the pteras and it, was it's wings. It definitely had more firepower then the other zoids surrounding it.
"Hey Jeremy..." Kyuusai asked, getting the young pilots attention, he pointed to the unnamed flyer, "What's that one called?"
"Hmm?" Jeremy turned his eyes up, and Kyuusai suddenly noted that they got wide in shock, "Oh wow... I never thought Id see one of those up close..." Jeremy seemed completely absorbed by the zoid, his voice barely above a whisper, "It's called a Salamander... and its super rare, and super powerful for a flyer... You have to have a lot of money to get one of these baby's... Not as fast as your standard flyer, but it doesn't need to be."
Kyuusai grinned to himself, thinking, 'That'd probably be one Bryce would like...' He then looked at the smaller aerial zoid next to it. It was sliver in color, sleek, obviously more for speed than the Salamander, its wings looking still weak, yet more solid than the previously mentioned zoid, "And what's that one?"
Jeremy looked at the tactician oddly, "Wow, you really don't know much about zoids do you? That ones a Stormsworder... definitely one of the best dog fighters out there... next to the Raynos maybe. Its got those blades, see..." Jeremy pointed at one of the blades that graced the Stormsworder, "They can cut through just about anything..." He paused, "Oh, and it's fast... Very very fast... though the Raynos is only a little bit faster. Those'll also cost ya quite a pretty penny."
Kyuusai nodded, 'definitely one for Waki...'
Jeremy turned to leave, and Kyuusai followed, taking one last look at the zoids in the building before stepping into the daylight. He continued to follow Jeremy around to the back of the building where they met two men in jumpsuits.
"Here's your zoid," One of them said, walking up to Jeremy, "Got your zoid gear?"
Jeremy nodded, pulling out a small, rectangular device that, "Here ya go."
The man nodded, scanned the gear and said, "It all checks out, your bill will be forwarded to your base."
"Come on." Jeremy motioned for Kyuusai to follow, and they walked up to the huge machine that was in front of them.
Jeremy easily climbed up and into the cockpit, and while keeping it open made the zoid bend down low enough for Kyuusai to climb in... though it was still no easy task. After a few failed attempts, and a few glares to the two men in jump suits (Who were laughing), he finally got in, and sat in a seat that was behind Jeremy's.
"What about the jeep?" Kyuusai asked.
"Rented it from the repair company. They'll take care of it." Jeremy explained, "Have you ever even been in a zoid before?"
"Uhh..." Kyuusai scratched the back of his head, "No..."
"Hmm... well, see those straps on the sides of the seats? Put them on." The pilot chuckled, "My saber isn't the fastest there is... but it can still move."
Kyuusai did as he was told and realized he was a lot more nervous about being inside a zoid than he first thought. He was clenching his hands, knuckles white. He looked around the cockpit, amazed by the complexity. There was a main screen in front of Jeremy.
"Alright, you ready?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes."
"Then here we go." Jeremy closed the cockpit, and pushed forward on the controls. The sudden move forward caught Kyuusai off guard and he let out a slight gasp. The cockpit moved with the zoid, which was odd for Kyuusai, because the zoid moved like a giant feline. The slow up and down motion was something new when it came to transportation.
That was when small, holographic screens began to pop up around the two inside the cockpit, and various sounds came to the tacticians ears. He also noticed he could see outside of the cockpit, which somewhat surprised him.
Jeremy suddenly stopped the zoid, as it neared the end of the building, and the gate into the road. Kyuusai looked up and knew why.
There stood the ligar 0, in all it's glory... Kyuusai was even more amazed by it when he could see it up close, and in real life rather than on the television. The zoid just seemed so much more alive than all the others to him.
Bit Clouds face appeared on a small screen, "'Scuse me pall,"
Jeremy nodded, pushed his zoid to the side and let the Ligar pass.
"Thanks." The zoid gave a small growl as Bit's face disappeared as the com- link was closed, and Jeremy continued on his way. Kyuusai turned back once more to catch a glimpse of the sleek white zoid from behind before Jeremy turned the corner.
They reached the edge of the city and Jeremy called back to Kyuusai, "We aren't in the city anymore, so I can go any speed out here, im gonna push the Saber so we can make it to the base before nightfall alright?"
Kyuusai nodded, "Yeah, ok."
"Well, just thought I'd warn you, since you've never been inside a zoid before... its a lot different than a car." Jeremy chuckled and pushed the zoid forward, pushing the controls as far as they would go.
The zoid immediately began to pick up speed, roaring fiercely as it did so, turning it's head towards the sky. Kyuusai was amazed by the sheer power and speed of the machine, his thoughts focusing on watching as the landscape seemed to fly by outside....
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
The sun was just setting on the horizon as the Saber began to slow down, it's pilot lessening the force on the controls slowly, "Kyuusai, welcome to the BattleHawks base."
Kyuusai looked around, not really noticing much around them. To the left was a tall mountain range that was defined with dark, reddish brown, almost vertical cliffaces, "Where is it?"
Jeremy laughed, "Ok, see those cliffs?"
"Yeah," Kyuusai nodded.
"They are the base."
"What?" Kyuusai glanced at the cliffs once more, "How? There's nothing there."
"Heh... See that overhang a little ways down?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes..."
"That's the entrance. Up there is a cave, and the base is built on the inside of the cliffs." Jeremy explained, "It used the belong to the Zoids battle commission, but it was shut down because they didn't need it anymore, after the wars with the guylos empire had ended... plus it had become somewhat obsolete... so after one of our team leader's friends did some string pulling, we were given permission to use it as our base."
Jeremy pushed the Saber fang closer to the cliff, and Kyuusai noticed that there was a steep path, just wide enough for one zoid to climb, that led up to the cave at the overhang.
Once inside Jeremy led the zoid across a large cavern, and came upon a closed, metal door. Pushing a small button on his control panel, the door slowly shifted open, and he proceeded inside.
Once again for the day Kyuusai was suprised. The inside of the base was completely different from what he expected.
"This is the hanger... we keep the zoids in here obviously." Jeremy explained, "It was originally used to store approximately 35 large zoids, so it's huge... and only holds our 4..."
Kyuusai noticed Ryan's pteras off in a corner, and all around the room there were long metal ladders that ran along the wall and up to a "bridge," that crisscrossed it's way along the roof of the hanger. There were no doors on the floor that they were on now, so Kyuusai assumed that there were doors up near the bridges.
Jeremy stopped the Saber fang near one of the ladders, opened the cockpit, and made the zoid bend down so that Kyuusai could climb out. The tactician did so, all the while taking in more of his surroundings.
There were various machines and tools around the hanger, used to repair the zoids he assumed.
In one corner was a small, blue, almost slug like zoid. Jeremy told him it was a Gustav, and it was used to transport the other zoids over long distances, usually to battlefields.
A ways away from it was Ryan's pteras. Even farther along was a sleek, light blue and green wolf zoid. Next to it was a large, cannon looking weapon, and some of the armor had been stripped from the zoid, for, what Kyuusai assumed was for repairs. He asked Jeremy what it was.
"That's a konig wolf." Jeremy replied, as he started walking towards the closest ladder.
"Umm... Jeremy?" Kyuusai paused, "I thought you said you only had four zoids..."
"We do." Jeremy was part way up the ladder when he turned to look to where Kyuusai was looking, "Oh! That's Benji's trihorn! He must be here then." Jeremy continued to climb, and Kyuusai followed, listening as Jeremy began to ramble on, "Benji's the guy I was talking about earlier... the string puller. He's basically the one that got us this base!"
Kyuusai continued to follow Jeremy throughout the base, and upon entering a long hallway was startled by the sudden outburst from a room at the end.
"WHAT?! YOU HAVE NO MINUTE MAID!?" An unfamiliar male voice echoed throughout the hall.
"Sorry Benji..." Another voice, this time female, answered... she was much quieter than the previously mentioned male voice, that had been identified as Benji.
"My entire reason for existence has been destroyed..." Benji's overdramatic tone continued to flow throughout the base. There was a loud thud, and Kyuusai looked over to Jeremy, who was chuckling slightly.
"Benji's... a funny guy... " Jeremy said, as he continued to lead the way. They came to an opening in the hallway, which lead to a larger room. Inside were three different people.
Ryan sat, typing something into a computer that was located in the back, the movement of his shoulders indicating that he was laughing.
Across the room, sitting on a couch was a young woman, with shoulder length, reddish blond hair and blue eyes. She only seemed to be about 5'3", and was thin. She was rolling her eyes at the third person in the room.
Who, at the time, was slumped backwards over a chair that was lying on it's side in the center of the room. He was wearing the oddest clothing that Kyuusai had ever seen, along with an orange tie dyed bandana. The man's amber eyes turned to look up at Jeremy and Kyuusai, "Uh... Hi?" He jumped up, strode over to where they stood and held out his hand, "Benji Parks."
"Kyuusai." Kyuusai replied, shaking the mans hand.
"That's a funny name." Benji replied... He shrugged, and turned back to the woman sitting on the couch, "Ah, Well, I must be going April... Things to do, people to see, minute maid to drink... you understand."
April chuckled, "I'll see ya later Benji."
Benji waved good-bye and left, whistling to himself as he strode down the hallway and out of the base.
April rolled her eyes once more, got up and walked over to Kyuusai, "So your Kyuusai? Welcome to the BattleHawk base. As long as you don't mind living with these two idiots," She jabbed a thumb to Jeremy and Ryan (Who had come to stand next to her), "Then your welcome to live here with us for as long as you want..."
"Hey!" Jeremy and Ryan said in unison.
April grinned, "Oh, and... you may want to learn to pilot a zoid. We are a zoids team after all... unless you'd rather be out tactics guy. Ryan told me you didn't know how to pilot..."
"I can do tactics." Kyuusai quickly replied, thinking 'I can easily do tactics... after all, I was a tactician...' Of course he didn't add this comment to the conversation.
"Well, It still may be a good idea if you were to learn to pilot... Just in case." Ryan added, "Having three people on a team who can fight is good... having four is better in case one of the three get disabled."
"That's true." April agreed, "That ok with you?"
Kyuusai nodded, keeping a calm face. Of course he was ecstatic about the current situation. Piloting a zoid would be something so new and incredible for him. He felt as though he'd burst with excitement if he didn't keep his calm act up, "Sure."
"Sounds like it's set then. Are there any zoids in particular you have a liking for?" She paused, "No wait, let me rephrase that... Are there any zoids we might be able to afford that you have a liking for...?"
The conversation was suddenly haulted when a loud beeping noise erupted, coming from a small, holo screen that was in the front of the room. A somewhat worried face suddenly appeared on the screen, "Hey, anyone there?"
It was an older man, late forty's perhaps, with graying, short brown hair and faded green eyes.
"Come on, please say your there..." He continued.
"Yeah.." April quickly made her way to the front of the room, so that she was facing the screen. The man's expression seemed to calm considerably.
"Thank goodness." He sighed, just as Ryan and Jeremy dashed up behind their team leader.
"What's up, Lam?" April asked, "What's wrong?"
"Hey Lamium." Jeremy added, and Ryan nodded.
Kyuusai approached and stood next to the other two men in the room, keeping his ears open to his new comrades conversation, but still glancing around to take in more of his new home.
"I was worried they'd already gotten there..." Lamium replied, "But they haven't."
"Who, Lam?" April suddenly became much more serious. Kyuusai couldn't help but glance over at her. Her tone had changed quite considerably, and he had a strong suspicion that she may have already known who the man, Lamium, was talking about. And another thought kept hitting him... Lamium looked familiar... he didn't know how... he just did.
"Drais and his gang. They came by here looking for you..." Lamium continued, "I think they may be going there now... I wanted to warn you..."
"Right. Thanks Lam." April smiled, "You don't have to worry about me, I'll be all right... Drais doesn't scare me any."
"April, don't get careless... Drais works for Gabrielle... remember that."
"And Im not afraid of her either." April became serious again, "Lam, im a big girl now. Please don't worry yourself over me so much."
"But..."
"I'll come visit you later, ok?" April flashed another smile as she turned and walked away, heading back towards the hallway that Kyuusai had come in from.
Once she was gone Ryan sighed, "Don't worry about her Lamium... We'll watch her and make sure nothing happens."
"I can't help it..." Lamium replied with a sigh, "She's going to get herself hurt."
"No she won't. April's a smart girl." Jeremy added, "You know that better than anyone."
"Your right..." The older man shook his head, "But... well.. Yeah... your right."
"Like I said, we'll make sure nothing happens," Ryan grinned.
Lamium nodded, suddenly noticing Kyuusai, "So... who's he?"
"Our new team member," Jeremy replied, "His names Kyuusai,"
Lamium gave a slight nod towards Kyuusai, "So your on the BattleHawks now..."
Kyuusai nodded, and Lamium continued, "You better help the boys take care of April."
"Lamium, stop worrying about April!" Ryan insisted, "We're gonna go now... we need to get Kyuusai a zoid."
Lamium nodded, and his face disappeared from the screen, leaving behind a short after image that quickly faded as well.
Ryan sighed, and shook his head, then turned and walked over to one of the couches. He fell back into it, "Great. Now we're gonna have to deal with Drias..."
"Im gonna go check on April." Jeremy said, heading towards the exit.
"Who's Drais?" Kyuusai asked Ryan as he watched Jeremy leave.
"The leader of some team that doesn't like us." Ryan answered, "They work for this organization... can't remember the name... but some lady named Gabrielle runs it. April's dad used to be in a lab that was destroyed by them. Apparently Gabrielle was only after one of the scientists, and low and behold he wasn't even there the day she attacked the lab."
"So April's father died?"
"Yeah. His body was found... it wasn't a pretty sight. Gabrielle I guess used to work with them, so she easily got in and placed a bomb in the center of the complex. I don't know all the details, and neither does April really. Drias was there as well, I guess he also attacked the lab." Ryan paused, "April's dad would have survived if it wasn't for Drias."
"Oh..."
"Drias recognized April's last name as one of the scientists that died in the explosion. Then she comes along and kicks his ass in a battle, and now he really doesn't like her. Not to mention Gabrielle has a thing for wanting to start some kind of war I guess, which'll never happen. She's too weak and the ZBC is too powerful... who knows. Don't worry about it too much. Drias always wants to cause trouble, but he won't do anything. He makes threats, but never follows through with them. He's afraid to, in case his boss'll get mad at him."
"Are you sure about that?" Kyuusai asked.
"No." Ryan sighed, "Im more worried about April doing something than Drias. Drias may not have the guts to live up to his threats... but she does."
"Uh.. guys..." Jeremy burst into the room, "She's gone."
Ryan quickly jumped up, "Sorry about this Kyuusai, I bet you weren't expecting this much trouble in joining our team."
"No I wasn't, but I'll do what I can to help." Kyuusai replied. His thoughts racing now... not so much on the Drias and April deal... more so to what Ryan said about this woman, Gabrielle. 'A war'... he thought.
"Stay here. Drias doesn't know the exact location of the base... I don't get why Lam was so worried." Ryan said, "We'll be right back."
"Alright..."
Kyuusai sat down on one of the couches, his thoughts flooding his mind now. Thoughts he couldn't control...
Anger, hatred, sadness, regret...
It was like a jumbled mess inside his head.
"It was because of a damn war..." He whispered to himself, "That Waki and Bryce died. A war is created by humans... humans are so foolish." He sighed, "What other creature hurts others of it's own species... just for the sake of hurting them. After all, is that not what a war is? If it wasn't for people, foolish humans and their superior minds Earth would still exist." He then stayed silent for a long time.
He wasn't sure how long... he just sat there. Thinking.
Thinking was beginning to become his greatest enemy. It was his thoughts that haunted him about Bryce and Waki, his thoughts that drove him to hate how foolish humans were. Why did he keep thinking about it? Of course, for him, it was mere days ago that fate had taken a wrong turn for him.
But in reality...
How long had it been? How many hundreds of years...? How many thousands?
Great... now he was thinking about being frozen. Frozen in that damned refrigerator...
"Dammit April!" A sudden shout echoed throughout the base. It sounded like Ryan.
"I didn't do anything." April replied, a lot less anger in her voice.
"You left without telling anybody, while Drias is running around..." Jeremy replied.
"I didn't go looking for him!" April was yelling this time, "Who do you think I am...? Do you think im stupid!?"
"No..." Ryan and Jeremy said in unison.
"Then why the hell are you scolding me for something im too damn smart to even think about doing!" April yelled back, this time she seemed very angry, "Im not scared of Drias. Im not scared of anybody.... but that doesn't make me dumb enough to go chasing after them! Lamium put you up to this didn't he!?"
"No." Jeremy replied, "We went after you after we saw that you were gone!"
"Figures... Your just like Lamium! Im able to take care of myself. Im not stupid. Im not gonna do something stupid. And Im fine! Happy!?" There was a short pause, "Good. Im leaving."
"What?" This time it was Ryan.
"I told Lamium I was gonna visit him." April replied, a lot less furiously than she had been earlier, "Listen, like I told him earlier, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be back in a little bit."
There was a moment of silence, and then Ryan and Jeremy both entered the room. Jeremy sighed and plopped down on the second couch, while Ryan shook his head and said, "Im gonna take a shower and go to bed, goodnight."
"Night." Jeremy replied, and he quickly brushed a hand through his hair. He turned to look at Kyuusai, "Sorry about that."
"About what?" It really hadn't bothered Kyuusai that much... it had been his own thoughts, if anything, that had bothered him. For some odd reason... his thoughts were starting to worry him.
"The yelling." Jeremy replied, "I promise it doesn't happen often. That's the first time we've heard about Drias for a while... It just kinda had us all uptight."
"The yelling didn't bother me." Kyuusai replied... a thought suddenly struck him, "You guy's are all real good friends, huh?"
"Yeah..." Jeremy grinned, "We have been for a long time. We've known each other since April's dad died and she went to live with Lamium."
"Ryan told me about her father being dead, but not about her living with Lamium."
"We all did at one point." Jeremy told the tactician, "That's how we met each other... the three of us have been almost insuperable ever sense."
"Wow..." Kyuusai sighed... it reminded him of Bryce and Waki.... and once again his thoughts drifted to Earth, and his old friends.
His friends that were dead now.
"You guy's care about each other a lot... huh..." Kyuusai asked.
"Yeah."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Kyuusai woke up in a cold sweat... again... like he had the previous night, and the night before that, and every night before that for the past year... Only it was getting worse and worse with each passing night.
He had been living with the BattleHawks for near a year and a half now. He had eventually gotten a shield ligar, and had become an average pilot... though he was still the teams main tactician. They had become amazed with the plans he could come up with... his intelligence.
Human intelligence.
He cursed. Every night he dreamed of it.. and every night it became more intense... it was horrible.
He kept dreaming about the destruction of Earth, and being frozen... and every night his mind and body were flooded with emotions he didn't want... anger, hatred, sadness and regret.
Why did they keep haunting him!? Did Waki and Bryce hate him now? Did their ghosts come to taunt him night after night because they had died and he hadn't? Did they hate him because he had become friends with his new team?
He shoved himself violently out of bed. Why was it every night this kept happening? He slowly trudged the the bathroom... he knew what to expect...
Next would come the migraine... Then he would get sick...
Why?
He cursed under his breath as he gripped the side of his head. It was a migraine to kill all migraines. And it pounded at his skull as if it were a door that it was trying to break down.
"Damn..." He whispered, finally making it into the bathroom and closing the door. He knelt over the sink and closed his eyes as his head continued to pound.
Why was this happening? The only thing he could think of was that it was a side effect...
A side effect to the hibernation he had endured.
He had finally discovered that it had been at least 5000 years since he had left Earth. Zi didn't have any records that he could find before that... so he had no clue to the exact number. He would place any bet that it was probably much longer than that...
He coughed as he began to feel a strong nausea wash over him...
Looking up he noticed something that he had noticed a year and a half previous, when he had first joined up with the BattleHawks.
His eyes had continued to get lighter... they were loosing the orange color that they once had... and he had noticed he had become considerably more thin than he used to be...
His comrades hadn't noticed it seemed...
Another wave of pain flushed through his head and he let out another curse... It would be over soon... he knew it would... it always ended soon...
With the pain came the emotions again. He didn't want them. He wanted them to just go away...
And slowly it subdued...
When he knew that it had completely gone away he left the bathroom and made his way slowly to the kitchen. It was something he had gotten used to doing every night. Every once and a while one of the others would be up, but not very often.
There had been a few other Drias threats, but Kyuusai had yet to actually see the man. It seemed that whenever he was out, April disappeared. She always came back, and never went after him.
Lamium was always worried about it. Kyuusai had come to believe that he thought of the other BattleHawks as his own kids, even though they weren't.
After Kyuusai had gotten a glass of water, he returned to bed, knowing he was ok for the rest of the night...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*End of chapter 5.
Ok, that's not where I was planning on ending it... but now it ends there. It was getting too long... I believe there will be one more chapter, and an epilogue. (But not positive yet. More than likely it'll be a long chapter as well)
Oh, and did anyone recognize the cameo? Well if you ever read Wolfkcing's anizoids fic, then you should! It's Benji! My fav. Character from his fic! If you haven't read it, and are interested, go here
heh, I rhymed.
Hey, Everyone remember Pyremon Infernos? You know, the guy that submitted Ryuji/Copper and Ayane(Shiva) way back when? Well he's just opened an account on Fanfiction.net and posted his fic about Shiva (Whom was pretty much only called Ayane in my fics) Its very very very very good and I would recommend reading it. His pen name is Pyremon Infernos, and his fic is called Shiva. Give it a read, it is worth the time.
Anyways, next chapter... Warning: this is a very long chapter....
CHAPTER FIVE
"Everything I had hope in... everything..."
"...my life..."
"...it was no more."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A zoid.
A zoid...
Kyuusai knew that's what it had to be... It just had to be. This thing that he saw on the television.
And it shocked him.
He had never seen anything like it... even on earth. An amazing metallic creature, huge... the size of a small building; glowing eyes and yellowish razor sharp teeth the height of a young person.
It was feline shaped, covered in pure white armor. Gears underneath turned and moved, unstopping, almost like it was breathing.
Intimidating.
Its claws were almost as big as the man called Bit. Unblinking, moving so undeniably gracefully.
He couldn't believe the sheer size of the creature. It just kept striking him as unbelievable.
The Ligar, (as bit had called it) bent low, as if ready to pounce, then lifted its head as it roared once again, its deep bellow striking fear into Kyuusai... It was similar to the creature he had seen in the jungle.
Only much more incredible.
The creature continued to roar, as Bit continued to gloat. It obviously had some sort of intelligence, a type of self consciousness...
So was it a living creature? Or just a machine?
It seemed Kyuusai's answer came the moment he thought of it.
The Ligar bent down and nudged Bit, almost lovingly, and the tactician got a clear view of it's glowing orange eyes.
His breath was stopped.
Its eyes, glowing and eerie as they were, were so full of something, some type of strong emotion... They weren't like a biological creatures eyes, they seemed to be glass... Yet...
Yet they seemed alive, completely and utterly alive...
There was a slam of a door that snapped Kyuusai out of his thoughtful trance, and Jeremy entered the room.
"Hey guy's..." Jeremy said, looking over at Kyuusai, "Wow, I didn't realize your hair was that long... anyways, I just got off the phone with the repair company.... They said I could pick up my Saber at any time..."
Ryan nodded and Kyuusai took one last quick glance to the television, but the Ligar and Bit were gone, replaced by a woman talking about how warm it was on that day outside.
"So... Uh, Kyuusai." Ryan said, "What do you plan on doing now?"
"What?" Kyuusai looked at him, realization hitting him. He had nowhere to go. These people had been very hospitable, but what would he do now? He thought about it seriously for a second, and didn't have to come up with a story to answer him, "Honestly... I... I don't know."
There was an uneasy silence as they stood there, unsure or what to say. Kyuusai had no clue what to do, he had no idea what this world was like... And to be in it completely alone horrified him.
"HEY! I KNOW!" Jeremy snapped his fingers, "You could join our team! Or at least come live at the base with us!"
"What?" Ryan snapped, turning his gaze to his teammate, "He's never piloted before Jeremy... Plus I don't know if..."
"Oh come on. You can't really be saying no..." Jeremy almost seemed angry, "He has NO where to go. You heard him... his home was burnt down. We can't just leave him..."
Ryan sighed... Shook his head a bit, then nodded. "Your right...Fine..." He paused, "Im gonna go call the base. Be right back..." He looked once more to Kyuusai, "Jeremy pack up your things, and remember to grab some stuff for him... We'll get going as soon as I come back."
"Right!" Jeremy nodded, "Does that sound ok to you?"
Kyuusai thought about it for a second. He really did enjoy the company of these two, and he had no where to go. He was also very interested in learning more about zoids, so what better way then to live with pilots?
"I don't want to intrude... or be a burden." Kyuusai said, out of politeness. He knew that this man would insist, it was his nature... he was after all, a very kind man from what Kyuusai had seen.
"You won't be, trust me. We aint exactly the best zoids team, but we get by with decent money." Jeremy smiled, then left Kyuusai to go pack his things.
When he was done they left the house, and Kyuusai found himself shielding his eyes from the blazing sun. He was really not used to that. On earth, the sun had been blocked out.
He followed his two new friends two a large garage, and waited as Ryan fiddled with some keys. The dark haired pilot found the one he was looking for, then opened the large steel door. It was pitch black inside... that is, until he flipped the lights on.
Kyuusai found himself in shock. A large creature, a zoid he guessed, was standing not ten feet away from him. This one was far different from the one he had seen on the television, but just as magnificent to the earthling tactician. It was definitely not feline shaped, and lacked the liveliness of the Ligar 0.
It was lightblue with some light bluish green, and had two, frail looking wings. Supported by two sturdy looking legs, the thing towered over the three humans, two of which seemed almost oblivious to the fact that it was there.
Ryan sighed, "We can't all fit in my pteras so... Jeremy, your gonna have to take Kyuusai with you in the jeep... Im sure you don't need me to follow you to the city... do you?"
"Nah, we'll be ok." Jeremy replied, he then took his duffle bag (In which he had packed all his things) and tossed it to Ryan, "Here, take this with you, just leave it in my room."
"Right. See ya at the base." Ryan half waved as he turned and headed towards the zoid, now identified as a Pteras. Kyuusai watched as the zoid knelt its head down, allowing it's pilot to climb fairly easily into it's cockpit (though he assumed it was much more difficult then it looked, and that Ryan had done this so many times before he was used to it.).
With a screech the Pteras came to life, a whirling sound of it's gears and other various mechanical parts came to ear. It moved one strong leg forward slowly, then the other, all the while its "chest" was leveling out closer to the ground.
Kyuusai watched all of this as Ryan gave one last wave, glass cockpit closing over him. There was a huge gust of wind, and a loud roar that drowned out everything else as the Pteras took off, out of the garage, and into the clear blue sky.
And then he realized something... something that both filled him with a very odd emotion, one he didn't recognize... and something that tore at his heart.
He liked this world... perhaps even more than he had liked his own.... This world, where he could shield his eyes from the sun... A world where he could witness an animal in it's natural state, and admire it... where he could see the living plants, the tree's, and the magnificent flowers and vines.
This world... where he could see the smallest most incredible creature, frail and weak yet more beautiful than any gem, fly freely... fluttering gently, and elegantly through the clean, crisp air...
This would, where he could see the sky.
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
It had taken quite a bit of time for Kyuusai and Jeremy to get to the city, and all the while the young tactician was taking in everything he could.
'Amazing...' he thought silently to himself, 'Simply amazing.' He glanced around, and even though almost everything that they had passed had been desert, he was still in complete awe of it. 'Waki and Bryce would love to see this...'
That struck a harsh pain in his heart. 'Waki... Bryce... They won't ever see it.' He frowned, but turned so that his new friend couldn't see his face, and stroked a few loose strands of hair back behind his ears. He probably should have just left it back... now it was just getting in the way.
He continued to think silently to himself the rest of the way to the city, his thoughts suddenly stopping when it came into view. Huge skyscrapers, Glass paned buildings, cars and zoids, fountains, homes, and other various buildings greeted him.
He had been wrong to think that this would was not advanced... it definitely had some technology, though it was nowhere near Earths, it was still obviously decent technology. Some of which he hadn't even thought people would have imagined in this world.
Jeremy drove to the repair shop, and Kyuusai couldn't help but stare at some of the odd fashions that people had on this planet. The sounds that came to his ears were entirely different from what he was used to on Earth... rarely on Earth did you hear children laughing and playing outdoors, running along the sidewalks while their parents followed at a short distance.
He looked up, and on one of the glass paned buildings was a large screen, from their distance he couldn't tell if it was like a giant television screen, or holographic or what. But he could hear over the speakers that he noticed strung throughout the city what the woman on the screen was saying. Once again it was about the pilot called Bit and his surprise win.
"all right, we're here." Jeremy informed, turning the jeep off and jumping out.
They were parked in front of a large warehouse type building, lined with tinted windows, and a slightly rusted metal door, large enough for most any zoid to fit through.
Kyuusai followed Jeremy through the door, and upon entering felt almost claustrophobic. The dimly lit room itself was huge, bigger than most he had seen.
It was what was inside it that made him feel claustrophobic.
He stared at zoids in every direction that he turned to, so many of them, and so many different kinds... all appearing to be "turned off" if that's what they called it. He was amazed at their diversity and appearances. They looked a lot like earth animals, most of them, though he had rarely seen any of the earth animals that they represented.
"Stay here, I'll be right back." Jeremy said. He walked up to a man a distance away, and began to talk to him. About what Kyuusai couldn't hear.
The tactician began to realize that he favored some of the zoids more than others when he looked to them over an over in sheer amazement... He began to picture what type of zoid he would like to pilot, if ever given the chance... there were so many. He then began to imagine what kind of zoids Bryce and Waki might have liked...
'Bryce and Waki...' he stopped looking at the zoids, his thoughts now focused on his two, once life long friends. He wished that they were here... He suddenly felt all alone, not knowing anything about anything. Sure, Jeremy and Ryan had shown their kindness, and he would go as far as saying they had become his friends... Yet he was still alone.
How long had it been since he had been sent from Earth? How long had these people had a civilization on this planet... He was an alien to this world... completely out of place. He felt as though he didn't belong. He was alone.
That one thought, the thought of being alone, scared Kyuusai more than anything...
Then there was another thought... another feeling.
Anger.
Anger at how this started.... hatred towards the war on Earth... He despised how foolish people were. How completely stupid they were. It was human beings that had caused the destruction of the Earth... Human beings that had killed and taken so many lives. Humans were the only ones that did these things. They were the ones that didn't belong... 'Did the animals ever destroy the planet? Did they ever feel the urge to break from the food chain, deciding they were too good for it...?' Kyuusai thought silently fuming behind the mask of calm he wore, 'Granted they were not as intelligent... but human intelligence was our downfall...'
Humans that had caused the entire thing... it was their fault that Bryce and Waki had died...
There was a sudden outburst of sound, and turning Kyuusai saw a large feline shaped zoid come to life... He heard it growl and watched as it took a step forward, the head was open to reveal the cockpit, where a man in a gray jumpsuit was sitting, yelling down to Jeremy. Jeremy nodded, giving him the thumbs up, and turned to head back to Kyuusai.
Kyuusai watched the moving zoid a bit longer as it turned away from Jeremy, and headed out a large, slowly opening door in the back of the building. The zoid seemed to have thick armor protecting it, it's head graced with two, long, lethal looking fangs. It was blue in color, it's eyes glowing a bright green. It's claws made a slight scraping sound against the metal floor, followed by a loud clang as the zoid supported it's full weight on them.
"You like it?" Jeremy asked with a quick laugh, "That's my Saber. We'll go around outside and pick it up in the back."
Kyuusai nodded, then looked around. His eyes fell on two separate zoids, standing next to each other in the dim light.
One was a large aerial zoid, kinda like the pteras, only more fierce appearing. It was heavily armed, and looked as though it weighed a lot more than the pteras.... the most similar thing between the pteras and it, was it's wings. It definitely had more firepower then the other zoids surrounding it.
"Hey Jeremy..." Kyuusai asked, getting the young pilots attention, he pointed to the unnamed flyer, "What's that one called?"
"Hmm?" Jeremy turned his eyes up, and Kyuusai suddenly noted that they got wide in shock, "Oh wow... I never thought Id see one of those up close..." Jeremy seemed completely absorbed by the zoid, his voice barely above a whisper, "It's called a Salamander... and its super rare, and super powerful for a flyer... You have to have a lot of money to get one of these baby's... Not as fast as your standard flyer, but it doesn't need to be."
Kyuusai grinned to himself, thinking, 'That'd probably be one Bryce would like...' He then looked at the smaller aerial zoid next to it. It was sliver in color, sleek, obviously more for speed than the Salamander, its wings looking still weak, yet more solid than the previously mentioned zoid, "And what's that one?"
Jeremy looked at the tactician oddly, "Wow, you really don't know much about zoids do you? That ones a Stormsworder... definitely one of the best dog fighters out there... next to the Raynos maybe. Its got those blades, see..." Jeremy pointed at one of the blades that graced the Stormsworder, "They can cut through just about anything..." He paused, "Oh, and it's fast... Very very fast... though the Raynos is only a little bit faster. Those'll also cost ya quite a pretty penny."
Kyuusai nodded, 'definitely one for Waki...'
Jeremy turned to leave, and Kyuusai followed, taking one last look at the zoids in the building before stepping into the daylight. He continued to follow Jeremy around to the back of the building where they met two men in jumpsuits.
"Here's your zoid," One of them said, walking up to Jeremy, "Got your zoid gear?"
Jeremy nodded, pulling out a small, rectangular device that, "Here ya go."
The man nodded, scanned the gear and said, "It all checks out, your bill will be forwarded to your base."
"Come on." Jeremy motioned for Kyuusai to follow, and they walked up to the huge machine that was in front of them.
Jeremy easily climbed up and into the cockpit, and while keeping it open made the zoid bend down low enough for Kyuusai to climb in... though it was still no easy task. After a few failed attempts, and a few glares to the two men in jump suits (Who were laughing), he finally got in, and sat in a seat that was behind Jeremy's.
"What about the jeep?" Kyuusai asked.
"Rented it from the repair company. They'll take care of it." Jeremy explained, "Have you ever even been in a zoid before?"
"Uhh..." Kyuusai scratched the back of his head, "No..."
"Hmm... well, see those straps on the sides of the seats? Put them on." The pilot chuckled, "My saber isn't the fastest there is... but it can still move."
Kyuusai did as he was told and realized he was a lot more nervous about being inside a zoid than he first thought. He was clenching his hands, knuckles white. He looked around the cockpit, amazed by the complexity. There was a main screen in front of Jeremy.
"Alright, you ready?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes."
"Then here we go." Jeremy closed the cockpit, and pushed forward on the controls. The sudden move forward caught Kyuusai off guard and he let out a slight gasp. The cockpit moved with the zoid, which was odd for Kyuusai, because the zoid moved like a giant feline. The slow up and down motion was something new when it came to transportation.
That was when small, holographic screens began to pop up around the two inside the cockpit, and various sounds came to the tacticians ears. He also noticed he could see outside of the cockpit, which somewhat surprised him.
Jeremy suddenly stopped the zoid, as it neared the end of the building, and the gate into the road. Kyuusai looked up and knew why.
There stood the ligar 0, in all it's glory... Kyuusai was even more amazed by it when he could see it up close, and in real life rather than on the television. The zoid just seemed so much more alive than all the others to him.
Bit Clouds face appeared on a small screen, "'Scuse me pall,"
Jeremy nodded, pushed his zoid to the side and let the Ligar pass.
"Thanks." The zoid gave a small growl as Bit's face disappeared as the com- link was closed, and Jeremy continued on his way. Kyuusai turned back once more to catch a glimpse of the sleek white zoid from behind before Jeremy turned the corner.
They reached the edge of the city and Jeremy called back to Kyuusai, "We aren't in the city anymore, so I can go any speed out here, im gonna push the Saber so we can make it to the base before nightfall alright?"
Kyuusai nodded, "Yeah, ok."
"Well, just thought I'd warn you, since you've never been inside a zoid before... its a lot different than a car." Jeremy chuckled and pushed the zoid forward, pushing the controls as far as they would go.
The zoid immediately began to pick up speed, roaring fiercely as it did so, turning it's head towards the sky. Kyuusai was amazed by the sheer power and speed of the machine, his thoughts focusing on watching as the landscape seemed to fly by outside....
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
The sun was just setting on the horizon as the Saber began to slow down, it's pilot lessening the force on the controls slowly, "Kyuusai, welcome to the BattleHawks base."
Kyuusai looked around, not really noticing much around them. To the left was a tall mountain range that was defined with dark, reddish brown, almost vertical cliffaces, "Where is it?"
Jeremy laughed, "Ok, see those cliffs?"
"Yeah," Kyuusai nodded.
"They are the base."
"What?" Kyuusai glanced at the cliffs once more, "How? There's nothing there."
"Heh... See that overhang a little ways down?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes..."
"That's the entrance. Up there is a cave, and the base is built on the inside of the cliffs." Jeremy explained, "It used the belong to the Zoids battle commission, but it was shut down because they didn't need it anymore, after the wars with the guylos empire had ended... plus it had become somewhat obsolete... so after one of our team leader's friends did some string pulling, we were given permission to use it as our base."
Jeremy pushed the Saber fang closer to the cliff, and Kyuusai noticed that there was a steep path, just wide enough for one zoid to climb, that led up to the cave at the overhang.
Once inside Jeremy led the zoid across a large cavern, and came upon a closed, metal door. Pushing a small button on his control panel, the door slowly shifted open, and he proceeded inside.
Once again for the day Kyuusai was suprised. The inside of the base was completely different from what he expected.
"This is the hanger... we keep the zoids in here obviously." Jeremy explained, "It was originally used to store approximately 35 large zoids, so it's huge... and only holds our 4..."
Kyuusai noticed Ryan's pteras off in a corner, and all around the room there were long metal ladders that ran along the wall and up to a "bridge," that crisscrossed it's way along the roof of the hanger. There were no doors on the floor that they were on now, so Kyuusai assumed that there were doors up near the bridges.
Jeremy stopped the Saber fang near one of the ladders, opened the cockpit, and made the zoid bend down so that Kyuusai could climb out. The tactician did so, all the while taking in more of his surroundings.
There were various machines and tools around the hanger, used to repair the zoids he assumed.
In one corner was a small, blue, almost slug like zoid. Jeremy told him it was a Gustav, and it was used to transport the other zoids over long distances, usually to battlefields.
A ways away from it was Ryan's pteras. Even farther along was a sleek, light blue and green wolf zoid. Next to it was a large, cannon looking weapon, and some of the armor had been stripped from the zoid, for, what Kyuusai assumed was for repairs. He asked Jeremy what it was.
"That's a konig wolf." Jeremy replied, as he started walking towards the closest ladder.
"Umm... Jeremy?" Kyuusai paused, "I thought you said you only had four zoids..."
"We do." Jeremy was part way up the ladder when he turned to look to where Kyuusai was looking, "Oh! That's Benji's trihorn! He must be here then." Jeremy continued to climb, and Kyuusai followed, listening as Jeremy began to ramble on, "Benji's the guy I was talking about earlier... the string puller. He's basically the one that got us this base!"
Kyuusai continued to follow Jeremy throughout the base, and upon entering a long hallway was startled by the sudden outburst from a room at the end.
"WHAT?! YOU HAVE NO MINUTE MAID!?" An unfamiliar male voice echoed throughout the hall.
"Sorry Benji..." Another voice, this time female, answered... she was much quieter than the previously mentioned male voice, that had been identified as Benji.
"My entire reason for existence has been destroyed..." Benji's overdramatic tone continued to flow throughout the base. There was a loud thud, and Kyuusai looked over to Jeremy, who was chuckling slightly.
"Benji's... a funny guy... " Jeremy said, as he continued to lead the way. They came to an opening in the hallway, which lead to a larger room. Inside were three different people.
Ryan sat, typing something into a computer that was located in the back, the movement of his shoulders indicating that he was laughing.
Across the room, sitting on a couch was a young woman, with shoulder length, reddish blond hair and blue eyes. She only seemed to be about 5'3", and was thin. She was rolling her eyes at the third person in the room.
Who, at the time, was slumped backwards over a chair that was lying on it's side in the center of the room. He was wearing the oddest clothing that Kyuusai had ever seen, along with an orange tie dyed bandana. The man's amber eyes turned to look up at Jeremy and Kyuusai, "Uh... Hi?" He jumped up, strode over to where they stood and held out his hand, "Benji Parks."
"Kyuusai." Kyuusai replied, shaking the mans hand.
"That's a funny name." Benji replied... He shrugged, and turned back to the woman sitting on the couch, "Ah, Well, I must be going April... Things to do, people to see, minute maid to drink... you understand."
April chuckled, "I'll see ya later Benji."
Benji waved good-bye and left, whistling to himself as he strode down the hallway and out of the base.
April rolled her eyes once more, got up and walked over to Kyuusai, "So your Kyuusai? Welcome to the BattleHawk base. As long as you don't mind living with these two idiots," She jabbed a thumb to Jeremy and Ryan (Who had come to stand next to her), "Then your welcome to live here with us for as long as you want..."
"Hey!" Jeremy and Ryan said in unison.
April grinned, "Oh, and... you may want to learn to pilot a zoid. We are a zoids team after all... unless you'd rather be out tactics guy. Ryan told me you didn't know how to pilot..."
"I can do tactics." Kyuusai quickly replied, thinking 'I can easily do tactics... after all, I was a tactician...' Of course he didn't add this comment to the conversation.
"Well, It still may be a good idea if you were to learn to pilot... Just in case." Ryan added, "Having three people on a team who can fight is good... having four is better in case one of the three get disabled."
"That's true." April agreed, "That ok with you?"
Kyuusai nodded, keeping a calm face. Of course he was ecstatic about the current situation. Piloting a zoid would be something so new and incredible for him. He felt as though he'd burst with excitement if he didn't keep his calm act up, "Sure."
"Sounds like it's set then. Are there any zoids in particular you have a liking for?" She paused, "No wait, let me rephrase that... Are there any zoids we might be able to afford that you have a liking for...?"
The conversation was suddenly haulted when a loud beeping noise erupted, coming from a small, holo screen that was in the front of the room. A somewhat worried face suddenly appeared on the screen, "Hey, anyone there?"
It was an older man, late forty's perhaps, with graying, short brown hair and faded green eyes.
"Come on, please say your there..." He continued.
"Yeah.." April quickly made her way to the front of the room, so that she was facing the screen. The man's expression seemed to calm considerably.
"Thank goodness." He sighed, just as Ryan and Jeremy dashed up behind their team leader.
"What's up, Lam?" April asked, "What's wrong?"
"Hey Lamium." Jeremy added, and Ryan nodded.
Kyuusai approached and stood next to the other two men in the room, keeping his ears open to his new comrades conversation, but still glancing around to take in more of his new home.
"I was worried they'd already gotten there..." Lamium replied, "But they haven't."
"Who, Lam?" April suddenly became much more serious. Kyuusai couldn't help but glance over at her. Her tone had changed quite considerably, and he had a strong suspicion that she may have already known who the man, Lamium, was talking about. And another thought kept hitting him... Lamium looked familiar... he didn't know how... he just did.
"Drais and his gang. They came by here looking for you..." Lamium continued, "I think they may be going there now... I wanted to warn you..."
"Right. Thanks Lam." April smiled, "You don't have to worry about me, I'll be all right... Drais doesn't scare me any."
"April, don't get careless... Drais works for Gabrielle... remember that."
"And Im not afraid of her either." April became serious again, "Lam, im a big girl now. Please don't worry yourself over me so much."
"But..."
"I'll come visit you later, ok?" April flashed another smile as she turned and walked away, heading back towards the hallway that Kyuusai had come in from.
Once she was gone Ryan sighed, "Don't worry about her Lamium... We'll watch her and make sure nothing happens."
"I can't help it..." Lamium replied with a sigh, "She's going to get herself hurt."
"No she won't. April's a smart girl." Jeremy added, "You know that better than anyone."
"Your right..." The older man shook his head, "But... well.. Yeah... your right."
"Like I said, we'll make sure nothing happens," Ryan grinned.
Lamium nodded, suddenly noticing Kyuusai, "So... who's he?"
"Our new team member," Jeremy replied, "His names Kyuusai,"
Lamium gave a slight nod towards Kyuusai, "So your on the BattleHawks now..."
Kyuusai nodded, and Lamium continued, "You better help the boys take care of April."
"Lamium, stop worrying about April!" Ryan insisted, "We're gonna go now... we need to get Kyuusai a zoid."
Lamium nodded, and his face disappeared from the screen, leaving behind a short after image that quickly faded as well.
Ryan sighed, and shook his head, then turned and walked over to one of the couches. He fell back into it, "Great. Now we're gonna have to deal with Drias..."
"Im gonna go check on April." Jeremy said, heading towards the exit.
"Who's Drais?" Kyuusai asked Ryan as he watched Jeremy leave.
"The leader of some team that doesn't like us." Ryan answered, "They work for this organization... can't remember the name... but some lady named Gabrielle runs it. April's dad used to be in a lab that was destroyed by them. Apparently Gabrielle was only after one of the scientists, and low and behold he wasn't even there the day she attacked the lab."
"So April's father died?"
"Yeah. His body was found... it wasn't a pretty sight. Gabrielle I guess used to work with them, so she easily got in and placed a bomb in the center of the complex. I don't know all the details, and neither does April really. Drias was there as well, I guess he also attacked the lab." Ryan paused, "April's dad would have survived if it wasn't for Drias."
"Oh..."
"Drias recognized April's last name as one of the scientists that died in the explosion. Then she comes along and kicks his ass in a battle, and now he really doesn't like her. Not to mention Gabrielle has a thing for wanting to start some kind of war I guess, which'll never happen. She's too weak and the ZBC is too powerful... who knows. Don't worry about it too much. Drias always wants to cause trouble, but he won't do anything. He makes threats, but never follows through with them. He's afraid to, in case his boss'll get mad at him."
"Are you sure about that?" Kyuusai asked.
"No." Ryan sighed, "Im more worried about April doing something than Drias. Drias may not have the guts to live up to his threats... but she does."
"Uh.. guys..." Jeremy burst into the room, "She's gone."
Ryan quickly jumped up, "Sorry about this Kyuusai, I bet you weren't expecting this much trouble in joining our team."
"No I wasn't, but I'll do what I can to help." Kyuusai replied. His thoughts racing now... not so much on the Drias and April deal... more so to what Ryan said about this woman, Gabrielle. 'A war'... he thought.
"Stay here. Drias doesn't know the exact location of the base... I don't get why Lam was so worried." Ryan said, "We'll be right back."
"Alright..."
Kyuusai sat down on one of the couches, his thoughts flooding his mind now. Thoughts he couldn't control...
Anger, hatred, sadness, regret...
It was like a jumbled mess inside his head.
"It was because of a damn war..." He whispered to himself, "That Waki and Bryce died. A war is created by humans... humans are so foolish." He sighed, "What other creature hurts others of it's own species... just for the sake of hurting them. After all, is that not what a war is? If it wasn't for people, foolish humans and their superior minds Earth would still exist." He then stayed silent for a long time.
He wasn't sure how long... he just sat there. Thinking.
Thinking was beginning to become his greatest enemy. It was his thoughts that haunted him about Bryce and Waki, his thoughts that drove him to hate how foolish humans were. Why did he keep thinking about it? Of course, for him, it was mere days ago that fate had taken a wrong turn for him.
But in reality...
How long had it been? How many hundreds of years...? How many thousands?
Great... now he was thinking about being frozen. Frozen in that damned refrigerator...
"Dammit April!" A sudden shout echoed throughout the base. It sounded like Ryan.
"I didn't do anything." April replied, a lot less anger in her voice.
"You left without telling anybody, while Drias is running around..." Jeremy replied.
"I didn't go looking for him!" April was yelling this time, "Who do you think I am...? Do you think im stupid!?"
"No..." Ryan and Jeremy said in unison.
"Then why the hell are you scolding me for something im too damn smart to even think about doing!" April yelled back, this time she seemed very angry, "Im not scared of Drias. Im not scared of anybody.... but that doesn't make me dumb enough to go chasing after them! Lamium put you up to this didn't he!?"
"No." Jeremy replied, "We went after you after we saw that you were gone!"
"Figures... Your just like Lamium! Im able to take care of myself. Im not stupid. Im not gonna do something stupid. And Im fine! Happy!?" There was a short pause, "Good. Im leaving."
"What?" This time it was Ryan.
"I told Lamium I was gonna visit him." April replied, a lot less furiously than she had been earlier, "Listen, like I told him earlier, you don't have to worry about me. I'll be back in a little bit."
There was a moment of silence, and then Ryan and Jeremy both entered the room. Jeremy sighed and plopped down on the second couch, while Ryan shook his head and said, "Im gonna take a shower and go to bed, goodnight."
"Night." Jeremy replied, and he quickly brushed a hand through his hair. He turned to look at Kyuusai, "Sorry about that."
"About what?" It really hadn't bothered Kyuusai that much... it had been his own thoughts, if anything, that had bothered him. For some odd reason... his thoughts were starting to worry him.
"The yelling." Jeremy replied, "I promise it doesn't happen often. That's the first time we've heard about Drias for a while... It just kinda had us all uptight."
"The yelling didn't bother me." Kyuusai replied... a thought suddenly struck him, "You guy's are all real good friends, huh?"
"Yeah..." Jeremy grinned, "We have been for a long time. We've known each other since April's dad died and she went to live with Lamium."
"Ryan told me about her father being dead, but not about her living with Lamium."
"We all did at one point." Jeremy told the tactician, "That's how we met each other... the three of us have been almost insuperable ever sense."
"Wow..." Kyuusai sighed... it reminded him of Bryce and Waki.... and once again his thoughts drifted to Earth, and his old friends.
His friends that were dead now.
"You guy's care about each other a lot... huh..." Kyuusai asked.
"Yeah."
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~
Kyuusai woke up in a cold sweat... again... like he had the previous night, and the night before that, and every night before that for the past year... Only it was getting worse and worse with each passing night.
He had been living with the BattleHawks for near a year and a half now. He had eventually gotten a shield ligar, and had become an average pilot... though he was still the teams main tactician. They had become amazed with the plans he could come up with... his intelligence.
Human intelligence.
He cursed. Every night he dreamed of it.. and every night it became more intense... it was horrible.
He kept dreaming about the destruction of Earth, and being frozen... and every night his mind and body were flooded with emotions he didn't want... anger, hatred, sadness and regret.
Why did they keep haunting him!? Did Waki and Bryce hate him now? Did their ghosts come to taunt him night after night because they had died and he hadn't? Did they hate him because he had become friends with his new team?
He shoved himself violently out of bed. Why was it every night this kept happening? He slowly trudged the the bathroom... he knew what to expect...
Next would come the migraine... Then he would get sick...
Why?
He cursed under his breath as he gripped the side of his head. It was a migraine to kill all migraines. And it pounded at his skull as if it were a door that it was trying to break down.
"Damn..." He whispered, finally making it into the bathroom and closing the door. He knelt over the sink and closed his eyes as his head continued to pound.
Why was this happening? The only thing he could think of was that it was a side effect...
A side effect to the hibernation he had endured.
He had finally discovered that it had been at least 5000 years since he had left Earth. Zi didn't have any records that he could find before that... so he had no clue to the exact number. He would place any bet that it was probably much longer than that...
He coughed as he began to feel a strong nausea wash over him...
Looking up he noticed something that he had noticed a year and a half previous, when he had first joined up with the BattleHawks.
His eyes had continued to get lighter... they were loosing the orange color that they once had... and he had noticed he had become considerably more thin than he used to be...
His comrades hadn't noticed it seemed...
Another wave of pain flushed through his head and he let out another curse... It would be over soon... he knew it would... it always ended soon...
With the pain came the emotions again. He didn't want them. He wanted them to just go away...
And slowly it subdued...
When he knew that it had completely gone away he left the bathroom and made his way slowly to the kitchen. It was something he had gotten used to doing every night. Every once and a while one of the others would be up, but not very often.
There had been a few other Drias threats, but Kyuusai had yet to actually see the man. It seemed that whenever he was out, April disappeared. She always came back, and never went after him.
Lamium was always worried about it. Kyuusai had come to believe that he thought of the other BattleHawks as his own kids, even though they weren't.
After Kyuusai had gotten a glass of water, he returned to bed, knowing he was ok for the rest of the night...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*End of chapter 5.
Ok, that's not where I was planning on ending it... but now it ends there. It was getting too long... I believe there will be one more chapter, and an epilogue. (But not positive yet. More than likely it'll be a long chapter as well)
Oh, and did anyone recognize the cameo? Well if you ever read Wolfkcing's anizoids fic, then you should! It's Benji! My fav. Character from his fic! If you haven't read it, and are interested, go here