I'm sorry I haven't been around for a while, but there is a reason. I've been working on my original fiction lately. I'm really sorry, but…I'm here now, and I have a way to tie in everything. It took me a while, but I think I figured out what to do now. The plot line is more or less sufficient now, so I can write the rest of the story.
Note: From now on, I will translate all the Japanese words at the bottom of the chapter in a small index instead of putting it in the text itself. Okay? If you'd rather I didn't, then please tell me and I put them back in the carrots after they're written.
Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, but I do own the other characters in this story.
Chapter 10: Sometimes It's Hard
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"All done," announced Leena happily. Together, she and Bit had successfully restored the Dark Spiner to its original, functioning state.
"I hope Tai appreciates this," said Bit as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"He better," said Leena with a threatening air about her.
"What are you guys doing?" asked Tai as he walked in with Kyouri. Bit and Leena turned to him, smiles on their faces.
"We fixed your zoid for you," announced Bit. It had been a day since the two Hero team members had arrived.
"Wow…" said Kyouri. "You did this…overnight?"
"Yeah," responded Leena, turning to Tai. "So you better be thankful."
"Don't worry, I am," he said with a smile, admiring the handy work done on his zoid.
"Are we ready?" asked Tori from behind them. They all turned to see him standing with the rest of the Blitz team, including Hikari.
"Yeah," said Bit. "Let's get going. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we'll understand what's going on." The others nodded in agreement and began to head to their zoids.
"Tori?" questioned Jamie, catching the commissioner's attention. "Are you sure you should be piloting a zoid?"
"Don't worry," he said with a smile. "I'll be fine. Besides, Hikari will be there." Hikari just smiled and followed him over to his Lightning Saix.
"Try to make it back before dinner!" called Doc as the hanger door opened.
"We will!" shouted Leena as she got her Gun Sniper over to the door. As soon as it was open, the zoids all left, heading through the desert towards the ruined headquarters of the ZBC.
******
"Look at all these guards," said Bit. The city was crawling with ZBC officials.
"Can't you get us in?" asked Tai, looking to Tori.
"I would if I could," he told them. "However, I'm dead, remember? I know of another way to the building, but we'll have to be careful."
"It's a good thing we left our zoids at your base," said Bit.
"Let's just hope we don't get attacked," said Brad.
"Are you guys really sure you want to come with?" asked Tori. "I mean, if Korran sees me, there's no telling what may happen. You may get dragged into a battle, or worse…all of you might…"
"We won't get caught," insisted Leena. Tori just nodded in response, not wanting to argue the subject.
"Alright then, follow me," he said as he snuck away from the pile of debris. They all followed him, having to duck behind buildings and ruble piles to avoid the eyes of the guards. After a few moments, they managed to reach the broken headquarters. Just seeing it brought both lament and anger to Tori. He fought back the approaching headache, knowing that it wouldn't help their cause any. Instead, he began to brush away the debris.
"The opening should be…right about…here," he said. He opened a small hidden panel in the metal and pushed in a button. A door slid open, revealing a staircase leading down into an underground chamber.
"What is this?" asked Jamie.
"This is the underground lab," explained Tori. He turned to Hikari. "Lead them down. I'll follow. I have to close this off after we're all through." She nodded in response and began to lead them down into the chamber. Tori went last, closing the door behind him, making sure to seal both the entrance and the panel.
They walked silently down the dark stairway until they reached a lit room. They stood in awe at what they saw there. Machines upon machines were in the room, each having hundreds of wires connected to many different monitors and computer systems. Strange mechanisms were scattered around the room, some new and some worn with time. Despite the disaster that had taken the headquarters, the lab looked perfectly fine.
"This way," said Tori as he began to lead them towards the back of the room. There was a huge machine there, consisting of a huge platform and a monitor that spanned across the entire wall.
"What is this?" asked Kyouri, taking interest in the large machine.
"This is the device we used to seal Hikari's memories," explained Tori. Hikari looked to the huge machine and then to Tori, who turned and met her eyes. She was afraid.
"Are you alright, Hikari?" he asked her.
"H-hai," she responded with a nod of her head.
"Are you ready then?" She nodded once again and walked up to the platform, going towards the center. Tori turned to Jamie.
"Come with me," he said as he walked towards the monitor. "The rest of you, stay back." He pressed a button and the monitor turned on, a soft buzzing sound echoing through the room. "Okay Jamie. When I tell you to, hit that button." He pointed to a large black button, similar to the one he was standing next to. Jamie complied, now standing near the black button, his hand over it.
"What now?" he asked Tori.
"You hit that button when I hit this one," he told him. "Then, I'm going to need you to operate those two computers while I handle these." Jamie looked to the two computers, a ton of different buttons on the consoles of each. He seemed a little nervous.
"Um…" he began, about to protest.
"Don't worry," said Tori. "You're a computer genius. You can figure it out." Jamie just nodded, still unsure about his task.
"Okay, are you ready Hikari?" She hesitated before nodding. Tori turned back to the button under his hand. 'Let's hope this works,' he thought to himself.
"Ready?" he asked Jamie, who only nodded in reply. "One…two…three!" They hit the buttons at the same time and the monitor flashed brightly. A single point of light shot out from a small laser near the top of the monitor. The laser of light ended right at the center of Hikari's forehead. Her eyes widened in shock as she felt her mind being opened.
Jamie and Tori began operating the machines near the monitor. They were simple mechanisms, but highly important.
"What's happening?" asked Bit, curious as to what was actually going on.
"It's a sealing device," explained Tori. "It was used to seal her memories, but it can also reopen them. It's an amazing machine, designed to suppress bad memories or open up lost ones. Hopefully this will work. To be honest, we've never tested it before. We've only sealed memories, never opened them."
Hikari could see random images flashing before her eyes. She saw the face of Jason Ragnarok and a young Tori. She could remember all the beautiful places in the lab, like the small garden they had. However, not all of her memories were pleasant. She remembered being created, being tested on and used. She could remember Kageru and the Kaijin. She saw a few other things that she didn't understand, mainly about Tori. There were scientists there, the man, Korran Genshu, and a fourteen year old Tori. They dragged him away, pulling him into a room. He was calling out for his father, who wasn't present at the time. Hikari closed her eyes, trying to block the images, but they kept playing in her mind. She had been present at that time, having tests done on her. She could see Tori struggling as they placed him in a chair, binding his hands and legs. She couldn't see what happened after that. The scene went blank in her mind, but she heard him scream in pain, a cry that pierced her very soul.
"Iya!" she shouted, slamming her hands down over her ears, falling to her knees.
"Hikari!" shouted Tori as he quickly shut off the machine. They all ran to her, worried as to why she had screamed out. She still sat with her hands over her ears, her eyes tightly shut.
"Hikari, are you alright?" asked Leena.
"No more," she whispered softly. They would have been relieved to hear their language flow so smoothly from her tongue if she wasn't in so much pain. "No more, I can't take it. Make it stop, onegai!" Apparently the language problem hadn't completely been resolved. Tori placed his hands gently on her shoulders to keep from startling her, but he failed. She tensed, her eyes snapping open.
"Tori," she whispered, fear evident in her soft voice.
"What happened, Hikari? What did you see?" he asked.
"I…I saw so much…yet so little," she explained. "Most of it…was horrible. I was put through so much pain by those men." Tai looked to Tori.
"The ZBC isn't quite as noble as they make themselves out to be, huh?" he asked, his voice having an accusing tone to it.
"Damn them," whispered Tori. "I'll make Korran pay for what he did." The mention of Korran reminded Hikari of her last memory, the one of Tori. What had they done to him? She couldn't remember. He had been in pain.
"Come on," said Bit. "We should probably get out of here." Tori nodded and stood up, followed by Hikari.
"What now?" asked Kyouri.
"It's simple," answered Tori. "We search for your missing teammates. If we find Kaijin, we'll find Ayame and Toru. Then I'll take care of my problem with the ZBC." They all nodded in agreement and began to head towards the stairs.
******
The door to the underground lab opened slowly as Tori peeked out through the opening.
"Okay, the coast is clear," he whispered. They opened the door and stepped out into the cool dusk air. The sun was just setting behind the horizon, painting the sky in beautiful reds and purples. Tori quickly sealed the door, covering it in debris to keep anyone else from finding it.
"Alright," said Bit, stretching his arms over his head. "Let's head back. It's getting late." They began to walk to where Tori had parked the car. The eight of them had managed to cram into the car before, and they were going to do it again. His car was a decent sized jeep, which managed to seat all of them. As he approached the car, his eyes clouded over. It wasn't his. It was his father's. It was the car he had taken without any intensions of giving it back. Now his dad couldn't even nag him about it.
"Is something wrong?" asked Jamie from the opposite side of the car. Tori raised his head to meet the eyes of his friends, who were all staring at him in concern. He put on a believable smile and shook his head.
"It's nothing," he assured them as he opened the door and got in on the driver's side.
"Maybe we should just stay at your base for now," suggested Brad. "It'll be late by the time we get there."
"I agree," said Tai. "Traveling at night isn't safe." Tori nodded signaling that it was alright with him. They all got in, Hikari and Leena sitting up front with Tori. Brad, Tai, and Kyouri sat in the back seat. Bit and Jamie sat in the far back where there weren't any seats. Bit was reclining while Jamie sat straight.
Tori started the car and took off, keeping his eyes on the horizon. He was watching the sun set. After a while, it fully disappeared, leaving behind the stars and the double moons of Zi. The desert was cool now, the scorching sands now white like snow. It was beautiful to drive in the desert by moonlight.
In only an hour and a half, they reached Tori's base. However, the ride home would take a while. They all got out of the car and were about to walk in when a dark shadow caught Tai's eye.
"What's that?" he asked, confused.
"What's what?" questioned Bit. He looked around, trying to see what Tai had seen. However, whatever it had been wasn't there anymore. Kyouri came towards them, looking around. She turned her attention to the sky, her eyes going wide.
"Above!" she shouted, drawing everyone's attention. Their eyes widened as they laid eyes on the dark body of the Kaijin. The dragon zoid landed, stirring up some of the sand. The cockpit opened, revealing the dark figure of Kageru. His silver and blue hair danced against the wind, a toothy smirk on his face. His eyes were concealed by a pair of dark sunglasses, matching his black wardrobe, his trench coat blowing in the wind. His eyes scanned over all of them. They stopped at Hikari. His smirk widened.
"I've finally found you…experiment Akari."
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Well, that's it for now. The next chapter will come soon, like probably in the next two weeks. If it doesn't…forgive me!
Index:
Hai -yes
Iya -no
Onegai –please
Wow…not much for now, but there will be more next chapter. Trust me.
Bye until then^.^