FireFox- Wow, it's been awhile. I hope my reviewers have not forgotten me.
Raven- If they had any sense!
FireFox- Well, grayer to you Mr. Grouchie. But wow. It has been a long time!
Disclaimer- Okay...I've decoded Tomy's response. Apparently they are playing hardball, silly gooses! They want at least...that's right at least $39.68 for Shadow and for Raven $5.50, the gum, AND a pepperoni pizza.
NOW
THE FIRE FOX FEARFULLY PRESENTS:
All Things Yesterday Left Behind
Chapter Six: Dark Phenix Rising
"I am what was, what is, what will be--the Black Angel, Chaos-Bringer! I--AM--POWER!"
The desert wind blew at her hair. It found joy in waltzing in the bloody haze of her hair. The melodies in the air danced around her. They danced an endless waltz of death, life, and destruction with each strand of her hair. Each dance leaving her hair more of a mess than the last.
Her eyes saw nothing. All she knew is that she needed water if she was to continue fighting and killing. While the Cruncher had the ability to synthesize anything it could possibly need, she did not.
She found what she had been searching for. Hecuba stared impassively at the desert town below. The people were out and about. The town was sung of life, happiness, and joy. A wedding ceremony was taking place in the church. The bride shone out like a beautiful white butterfly. It's delicate light managed to shine through the black and red haze surrounding Hecuba, and for a second, she thought of turning around and leaving.
"This is enough. I won't do your bidding anymore. I am free of you. You don't rule me anymore! Your war ended centuries ago!" her mind screamed to the hollowness.
"Look at those fools enjoying themselves. Forget life, happiness, and joy. They have no place in this world."
"No!"
Hecuba fell on all fours as she waged war with a voice that even death hadn't been able to stop. She had been able to silence the voice once before, and perhaps she still had the strength in her to do it again even without her organoid.
"No!" her mind repeated to the empty air.
Raven walked through a wasteland. Chance was the only reason he was here. He had troubled sleep last night, so had let Shadow guide the GenoBreaker without any particular instruction. He left Shadow guarding the GenoBreaker as he explored this barren corpse of a town.
"What happened here?" Raven asked no one.
He kicked a charred remain of what could have been anything, but now it was nothing. Gravel littered the town like death. The town had been built on a huge rock to ensure stability in the shifting sands of the desert. It appeared the town would never know such stability again. Raven wondered at the power that could shatter such slate of rock into pebbles. It pulled at his being and called to his soul. He wondered if it knew the answers he looked for. He had destroyed many bases in his time with Prozen, but this was something beyond him.
"A bear attack, Raven."
Raven quickly turned around to identify the voice and unsheathed his knife.
"Van, what the hell are you doing here?" snarled Raven not putting his knife back.
"I should ask you the same question, considering Thomas and I are here on business. You were the last person I would expect here," Van retorted with smirk forming on his face, "Though this sort of thing, you would know more about."
"What do you want?" Raven huffed putting his knife up.
"Come with me and I'll tell you."
"You were suppose to warn me if any posing any danger showed up," Raven said looking up at Shadow on the GenoBreaker's head.
Shadow flew down next to Raven and looked him in the eye as if measuring his soul. Raven just stared back demanding an answer to his question.
Shadow airily growled, "Rrrrrroooorrr." (The Blade Liger wasn't with them. The Dibison was the only zoid of any attack power with them, and it was mainly equipped with tracking devices. Therefore, they held no threat to you.)
"Now I'm on some errand for the great hero Van, himself," snarled Raven.
Shadow did not even bother touching that one. He knew Raven wanted see this zoid warrior and test his abilities against hers. Shadow felt the same feeling rise within the GenoBreaker. It wanted to test it's strength against the Cruncher's strength. The GenoBreaker and Raven were both so confident in their power. Her power was calling to their power, and it would be her force answering their force.
'What about you, small friend? What will you do if we find her? Do not forget who your master is now,' the GenoBreaker told Shadow.
'I KNOW,' snapped Shadow back at the GenoBreaker, 'Trust me I know, but I don't know what I will do. I can feel her and the Cruncher. But at the same time, it's not her entirely. I worry.'
'Worry? Raven is strong and so am I.'
Shadow just flew above them in the night sky asking for a miracle. The GenoBreaker was right: two people cannot share one shadow.
"I got a report back from Dr. D. The repairs to the Blade Liger are coming along on schedule, so in a few months you will have your partner back," Thomas told Van. "Where is Fiona?"
"Fiona is with Zeke helping the survivors of this town, which is change. Usually her work is complete," Van replied tiredly wishing he could wake from this nightmare. "She shouldn't be too much longer, there weren't many survivors."
"I would have never guessed..." Thomas trailed off not knowing what to say. He felt so responsible for all the suffering.
"No one would have Thomas, and no one blames you. You shouldn't blame yourself. The Hecuba we knew wouldn't want you to either. The person we are chasing after isn't her, but a distorted vision of the girl," sympathized Fiona.
She had just walked in from the hospital tents hastily set up for the injured. Fiona was sick to her stomach with all she had seen today; however, deep inside, she still believed that all she had seen wasn't Hecuba at all. She sighed knowing no one believed her theory about Hecuba. She truly believed it wasn't in Hecuba's nature to be cruel, but with so much evidence amounting against her there was nothing Fiona could do.
"Rrrggh," growled Zeke communicating the information he had learned from the black organoid earlier . (Her style is changing. Shadow believes she left the people alive for a reason. She wants them to suffer. He also believes she is lost, he agrees with you.)
Fiona looked up at Van on hearing Zeke's growl, "Raven was here?"
"Yes, and we need to get moving. There will be more damaged control either way. It was the only thing Thomas and I could think of. Raven has the only zoid left that might stand a chance," Van said, ashamed. "Of course, Raven wasn't too keen on being an errand boy."
"I think he used the term 'janitor', Van. He mentioned cleaning up your messes," Thomas said with a lopsided grin as Fiona half-heartedly smiled.
Who said the war between Van and Raven ever ended?
Fiona's eyes blazed with a inner spark, "Was Ryss with him?"
Raven was tired, grumpy, and most of all hungry. He hadn't thought cleaning up Van's mess would be so hard. He said to Shadow he never would have taken Van's offer if he had known. Raven realized he was lying to himself more than Shadow. After seeing the video of her fights with a few armies, Van, and Irvine, he wanted to see how he stacked up against her. However seeing what she did to their zoids made him more cautious than usual.
He cursed himself for letting some dwarf of a girl steal his money a few towns ago. It had been lean pickings since. He wanted his senses to be sharp, not dulled by hunger.
He piloted the GenoBreaker aimlessly through the mountain region where rumors of a monster had been popping up lately. This region of Zi was famous for it's iron-ore mines not demons. He saw a village girl sitting on a pile of rocks brushing her long wet hair in the sun. She was holding her head at an odd angle so Raven could not see her face. Raven decided there was something odd, almost alien about the girl in this scene. He shrugged the feeling off as a result of being hungry. Raven got out of the GenoBreaker and walked up to her.
"What are you doing out? Haven't you heard the rumors?" Raven said hoping for some new information from this strange girl. She looked out of place in the scenery for some reason. Raven decided she would look out of place anywhere on Zi.
The strange girl shook her head and continued to brush her hair. A pool of translucent water was forming around the strange child. As Raven turned his back to leave the estranged girl, she stopped brushing her hair.
"What do the villagers say haunt this forest primaeval? Surely one, as strong as you, doesn't cower at old wives' tales?"
Raven considered her voice. It sounded like she had never spoken before in her life. He could trace a bit of amused curiosity in her voice, though. It reminded him of someone, but who he couldn't say.
"They say a demon recently resides here. They say it is all powerful. It would no sooner think of yawning than destroying the world. I do not fear it or old wives; I have come to kill it," Raven said no longer believing her to be a village child.
Even the sun did not trust this strange girl-demon as the noon sun hid behind storm clouds. The sudden storms that only appeared on the shadow side of a mountain. The type of storm clouds that breaks with such force and unpredictability seemed only a minor shower compared to the girl. The wind did not fear her though; in fact it took delight in her.
She only laughed as she stared at Raven with one eye, "You would do well to fear it. Have you ever danced with the devil? Perhaps not. Perhaps you have yet to dance with something far worse."
She laughed more and stood up on the pile of rocks. She shook her hair free from her face and solemnly said, "You said you've come to slay me, and you do not fear. It's to bad that I can see past your simple facade into the fleeting terror that strikes at your soul. It's as fleeting as your life."
"RRRROOOOAAAAARRRR!" (For pity's sake, stop while you can. If you do not stop now your life will remain like this forever! Is that what you want?) Shadow growled fiercely at the girl.
The wind howled back far more fiercely. It threatened to smash Shadow against the rocks. Raven turned and stared at his organoid. A thousands questions were silenced by the earthquake originating around the girl. The world around her was crumbling.
She turned to Shadow and said, "Pity? Do not ask pity from me, my midnight love, for I have none."
Raven jumped back as earthquake intensified. The girl was sent flying into the air as a mammoth bear erupted from the mountain of rocks. It rose to stand on it's rear legs and thundered it's call at Raven and Shadow.
The girl neatly landed on the nose of the Cruncher. The wind roared back in unison with the Cruncher. It tugged and lunged at her hair. Raven could feel the power pulsating from the Cruncher. He thought back to the videos Van had shown him of her mercilessly destroying town after town, army after army, and Van's Blade Liger. He knew not to ask any mercy from her, because she had none.
He felt Shadow lift him up just as the Cruncher came crashing down to all fours. Shadow deposited him soundly in the GenoBreaker which had been hovering at the time. Shadow fused with the GenoBreaker waiting for the right moment.
The impact from the Cruncher could be felt in the nearby town. The townspeople looked to their ancient forest. The forest was surely older than time itself, it seemed. The forest had been around when the Deathsuarer was just a crazed idea by a deranged scientist. The forest was a symbol of perseverance to the townspeople.
The storm clouds spread to engulf the town as well as the forest. Darkness saturated land. No telling what fiery battles would take place in their forest on this day, the villagers thought to themselves. An old woman prayed as the rain came crashing down.
Raven stared in dismay as he fired his charged particle cannon at the Cruncher. The Cruncher had a weak force field around it which the CPC should have easily broken through it, but the shield remained intact. Instead of harming the zoid, the opposite seemed true. The Cruncher had fed off the energy. The phenix emblems on the bear zoid blazed from the heat of the CPC and the energy being created by the electro-magnets inside.
Raven called up his own shield just in time. The girl was manipulating the iron-ore in the rocks and sending them flying at Raven.
Raven fired the CPC again, but this time at the mountain above the Cruncher. He hoped that her magnetic disturbances would draw the avalanche to her and buy him some time to come up with a counter attack.
The Cruncher roared in distress as it was buried alive in the flood of rocks. Raven quickly called Shadow to power up the CPC again. Perhaps if Raven caught the Cruncher before it had it's energy sheild up to convert the power, the CPC would actually damage the zoid. He aimed at the grave of rocks just as the Cruncher raised out to the tombstones. Raven looked as the Cruncher came to its full height. It was almost as tall as the GenoBreaker when standing on two legs.
"You!" the piloted screamed from inside the Cruncher. "It was you that caused the blue flurry to penetrate my armor! If you hadn't, then it would have crashed against my armor. IT'S YOUR FAULT IT COULD HURT ME!"
Raven was confused by what she said; however, he did not let it distract him from the battle. It was the first lesson Prozen had taught him. In battle there was only winning or losing, and the battle must be won at all costs for losing brought worst things than war could. Raven never thought he would thank Prozen for anything.
However, the Cruncher did not stay on two legs for long. It repeated it's first appearance by dropping down to all fours. The impact from the force of the zoid sent shockwaves throughout the entire region even the mountains seemed to groan from the force of impact. The shockwaves hit the GenoBreaker with full force causing it to lose it's footing right when Raven was firing the CPC.
Raven cursed as the CPC only hit the right leg of the Cruncher. However it did do some damage to the leg as the Cruncher fell to the ground unexpectedly. Raven took this chance to charge at the Cruncher.
Raven's charge was stopped short as the Cruncher was again using it's electro-magnets. The GenoBreaker had hit a magnetic wall of energy. Raven could feel the magnetic force pulling at his zoid as the Cruncher raised to it's hind legs again. This time, however, it's left paw began to glow. Slowly, the Cruncher was drawing the GenoBreaker towards it as it's paw began to glow brighter.
The winds howled wilder than before. The storm raged uncontrollably now. The winds yelled for the girl to stop. They realized that whoever had held control over the girl for so long was about to lose it. Enough, the winds seemed to cry. Enough! They realized their waltz was soon to come to an end.
'You can tell the thunder, lightening, and floods enough, but you can't tell me enough!' the girl silently yelled back at the winds.
The GenoBreaker and Shadow heard this declaration from the girl.
Shadow growled slowly to his friend, 'It's only a matter of time now, old friend. Just hold on for a few more minutes and it will all be over.'
'Either way, yes, it will all be over in a few minutes,' the GenoBreaker answered Shadow as it felt the magnetic power flowing through it's circuits. It was literally trying to tear the GenoBreaker into two.
Raven got a sudden flash of inspiration. He lowered the GenoBreaker's head, so the horn would be pointing at the chest of the Cruncher. Suddenly, he powered up the jets to the GenoBreaker and managed to shoot towards the Cruncher at an amazing speed. Of course, the aid from the magnetic field pulling the GenoBreaker towards the Cruncher helped to slingshot the GenoBreaker.
Raven scored a direct hit, but the zoid core was buried farther back then Raven had thought. So while the attack had done considerable damage, it was not enough to stop the Cruncher. Raven braced himself as now it was the Cruncher's turn to attack and Raven was stuck in place.
The whole GenoBreaker shook as the strike laser claw came crashing into the back of it's neck. Raven could smell the metal being seared. Raven just dug deeper into the Cruncher's chest. The Cruncher in return dug it's teeth solidly into the back of the GenoBreaker's neck. Apparently the girl had rerouted the electricity from the electro-magnets into an electric bite attack. All weapons and censors were knocked offline by this attack save the CPC.
Shadow growled to Raven, reassuring Raven that his Shadow was still with him and would always serve him.
Suddenly a small explosion came from the base of the zoid core inside the Cruncher. Raven's attack wasn't deep enough to have been the cause, though. But the damage was still there. The Cruncher loosened it's grip on the GenoBreaker enough for Raven to dig deeper into its chest. He knew this was it as he charged up the CPC one last time. The Cruncher would not be able to protect itself at this close of range.
Suddenly, Shadow shot from the GenoBreaker and fused with the Cruncher. Shadow worked quickly as he located the small machine that had caused the explosion and had been controlling Hecuba. While, Hecuba was still fighting in a battle long ago past, the Cruncher had came to it's senses. It welcomed an old friend and told it to take good care of it's pilot. Shadow growled a sad apology to his dying friend, fused with Hecuba, and shot out right as the CPC ripped through the Cruncher's zoid core.
Shadow was thrown hard against the mountain from the force of the CPC hitting the Cruncher. He fell to the ground with a thud. 'This girl is more trouble than I remember,' Shadow growled to himself. She was finally his again. He had waited while Zeke had been able to spend time with her, but now she was HIS!
Raven came running, well more of limping and running combined, to see what had happened to Shadow.
"Shadow, what did you do? Are you...alright? Shadow?" Raven bent down to touch Shadow's muzzle.
Shadow slowly stood up to Raven's relief. Shadow was relieved also that Raven had finally gotten around to asking Shadow. Shadow gladly showed Raven what he had done as he unfused with Hecuba.
FireFox- AND SAVE! Yay! I finally updated Sorry guys, but I was hitting a roadblock with this chapter all along. I had no idea what to do with it.
I hope my scene with Raven and Van was believable. While they may not be enemies anymore, I doubt they are all buddy-buddy. It just seemed right that they should still 'fight'. Also, how was my battle scene? I've never really written one before, so I hope it's okay. I kinda just made things up;; I don't knoe much about zoid weapons and what-not.
Sorry again for the long wait! But hey, it was my second longest chapter.
Crimson Dragon- Yay! I understand about the cookie thing, ARE good! Please don't have a seizure! Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed it!
Red Baronness- I hope you liked this one too.
Ely- Thanks for the wonderful review! I promise the next chapter will be out sooner...well sooner than seven months I always look forward to your reviews.
Starheart- What exactly is your definition of soon?;;
Caliet- I'm glad you like my fic! I like it too
Palin1- I love your reviews also! And yes, I did think the phenix thing up myself...I's clever that way...just joking. It was a rare moment. Well, I hope this chapter is good also, and you's still around to review it.
I love Raven. See ya.