A/N: I just couldn't do it. I couldn't keep down the urge to write a Riddick fiction. It will be Jack (Kyra)/Riddick fic because that is my favorite paring in Pitch Black. I just couldn't keep my mind from spinning and creating a fiction idea. The news of 'The Chronicles of Riddick' pushed me over the edge and I had to write something. I'm sorry if this eventually does totally contradict the things that will happen in TCOR that is coming out in June, but this is how my mind put things together. So some people may be evil in my fic that aren't going to be in the movie, but it's all good.
And I would like to thank Shazzablue for helping write and edit this fic. And by the way, go read her fic "What Are The Odds?" it is one of the bests.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Pitch Black or The Chronicles of Riddick… although I would gladly take Riddick off Universal Studio's hands if they let me… ^-~ I did use some scenes used off the trailer to the TCOR, so if you recognize those scenes, I'm not taking credit for them. Other than that, the plot is mine. ALL MINE!
Last Hope
Chapter One: On the Run
After five freaking years he was finally being tracked down…they were right on his tail. Thinking for a few hours, waiting to be rescued on the skiff five years ago, he knew somewhere in his being that the story of his supposed death on that rock wouldn't fly. But for mercs to catch on to his lies so quickly, that was amazing. At least he got his own ship and got away from the Holy Man and the kid before they could catch on to him. He didn't want them to deal with this type of shit. Not when they finally got off that rock and away from their certain deaths.
Hopefully the Holy man got the kid to a safe spot; where they are both living comfortably. He didn't risk his ass for that kid so many times just have her dropped off at a middle of nowhere orphanage and grow up not knowing what a real family felt like. He knew where that life led, and there was no way in hell that he would let that kid go through that shit. Sure she would have been out of the orphanage- what, two years ago? Huh, she would be probably around nineteen or twenty years old by now. But he left her in the charge of Imam, because he knew the Holy man would take good care of her. The man also needed something and someone to hold on to after losing his three boys on that God forsaken rock. In a way they needed each other. Even if Jack had said that she needed him… she had no idea what she was talking about. She was better off having a normal life. Without mercs crawling up your ass every which way you turned.
The merc ship was right on his tail and they knew who it was in the ship. They knew that it was him as soon as he entered one of the old Sigma sectors. They just wanted to toy with him a little, although they should know better to miss with the Richard B. Riddick. He took out at least two of their guys before they could trap him on one of the base planets in the sector where he was staying. He managed to get on his ship and boot it out of the sector, not even realizing that the bastards tagged his ship. After finding the tag it was a little late and the merc ship was already on his tail, chopping up two more on his serial murder list. The two new names were the merc's buddies he got rid of, no doubt.
The merc ship behind him shot a few warning shots at the tail end of his ship, blasting off a part of the outer layers of metal. Riddick tightened his grip on the steering of his ship, making sure that she was still steering properly. The merc ship suddenly flew right next to his viewing range and the pilot turned his head toward Riddick. Riddick cocked an eyebrow and shook his head lightly from side to side while smiling to himself. He saw the young merc's confusion and pointed over his shoulder toward the side of his ship where one of the on-board weapons emerged from below the metal frame. The merc swerved away from Riddick's ship just in time to miss the powerful blast. Riddick lightly chuckled to himself as he saw the fear that crossed the 'courageous' merc's face. These guys were amateurs probably just trying to get the healthy, growing bounty on his head, and he knew it. They were going about it all wrong.
He was shocked out of his thoughts by another shot that sped through the space around him, but it wasn't from the merc's ship. He knew all too well that the weapon blasts weren't coming from his ship. The blasts lit up the black space around him and he watched as the merc ship was hit right in the center of where their power core should be. The ship didn't stand a chance. After a few seconds of anticipation Riddick saw the ship explode from the inside out. The few chucks that were floating around the main blast sight couldn't be differentiated as flesh of the crew or metal.
"That right there, was a stroke of luck," he looked back out the front of his ship to see a blast of energy come straight for his own ship, "I take that back. Never trust a mysterious blast of energy that takes out a merc ship."
Riddick did dodge the blast fast enough to spare his power core and energy cells, but wasn't fast enough to save the left wing of his ship, causing him to lose control over part of his steering. He tried desperately to regain the control lost; yet the steering wouldn't compromise.
"Come on, baby," Riddick pleaded with his ship, "Just get back on track."
The ship shook with the attempts to gain stability, but Riddick knew she couldn't make it. He buckled himself in and settled in for the rest of the ride. It seemed as if the ship was heading straight for the hostile planet and he didn't really want to know who or what inhabited it. A group of beings that would just as soon shoot down a merc ship and then the ship that they were chasing were not a race that Riddick wanted to meet face to face. Although, he really had no choice in the matter. He was going down toward the planet nonetheless.
He watched as the outside of his front window grew red in heat as the gravity of the planet pulled him through the atmosphere and toward the dark blue surface. He glanced over at the readings on his small screen just below the window and read that the conditions of the planet were in fact habitable. There was more than enough oxygen and the gravity was not that far off from the old Earth. He couldn't see any bodies of water, but if there was life on this planet, more than likely there would be food and water not too far away. He wasn't lucky enough to see the planet's name before the screen went blank. Soon after, the front window busted inward as the nose of the ship hit the dark planet's surface; leaving Riddick with a view blocked by mounds of dirt.
***
Riddick woke up a little more than an hour later, rubbing his head and pushing his trademark dark goggles off his eyes. As far as he saw before he hit the rock, it didn't have a bright enough sun to hurt his vision. He dug himself out of the foot of dirt that surrounded his midsection. His feet slipped out easily as soon as the top layer of dirt was pushed away from his thighs.
He pushed himself off the ground and brushed his hands together, letting the dark dirt float to the ground. He looked at the ship that he only had for the last three years. The front end of the ship was the only real part that survived, and Riddick wasn't complaining. He looked at the backend of the ship where, pretty much nothing had survived, save the outer walls of the front end of the cargo room. He rubbed his callous hand over the top of his head and took a deep breath.
"Damn mercs," he cursed the late mercenaries. He put his goggles back on his head as he felt the heat on the planet. Apparently he managed to land right before sunrise. The red and orange colors that he was expecting were replaced by a cool blue color that reminded him of one of the suns from the planet of death he fled five years prior.
Riddick lifted his eyes from his dead ship and covered them with the protective dark lenses of his goggles. He grabbed what remained of his bag of supplies he usually stored under his seat and turned toward the rising blue sun. Before he could take a good look at the horizon line a tall structure that looked like a statue blocked his full view. The thing was huge, at least a few hundred feet tall, and just as dark as the planet around him. The heat began to rise at an alarming rate, and Riddick knew that he had to get out of the sun's way before it rose completely. Past the tall statue Riddick could have sworn that there were buildings or ruins, so he might as well start there for some answers. As he made his way past the statue, he noticed the huge cracks in the structure's base, nearly disconnecting it with the planet's surface. Riddick shook his head, how he would hate to be there when that baby fell.
He walked into the beginning of the buildings and noticed that the light from the sun barely touched the streets or the inner walkways of the city. No one seemed to be around, and for a planet that just shot at you for no reason, that was very strange. He looked around his area, even though it was dark enough to see without his goggles, he kept them on. He didn't want to keep playing with their position on his head.
After a couple of hours of walking away from the statue, he heard some shifting of some rocks and originally thought that someone was following him, but instead he found that the statue that he was admiring before, starting to sway toward and away from him. The statue leaned forward, finally releasing itself from the bindings of the planet. Before Riddick found the need to run like hell, he saw a few ground ships behind the statue. It looked like they had purposely hit the statue so that it would fall. Riddick couldn't help but wonder if they really knew who he was, or if they even saw him at all.
The statue began to loom over his position and Riddick finally found it in his legs to start moving. And move fast. The statue fell right toward him, not giving him that much time to move. He was grateful that the guys in the ship at least gave him the two hours to walk away from the statue and give him some ground between him and the statue. He stumbled a little as he saw the huge piece of art come crushing toward him, burying all the buildings he passed by earlier. Fear and excitement rolled into his stomach as he looked around frantically in slow motion for an escape. He eventually found a small alley and ran straight toward it.
He dove head first into the alley, barely dodging the heavy statue that followed not far after. He looked back the mess or rubble and debris left just a few feet from his heels. Thank goodness he didn't stop walking earlier that morning, otherwise, he probably would be under the heavy cement-like structure.
"What a welcome," he said to himself and heaved against the ground to stand erect and turned toward the other open side of the alley, "Now to find some life on this rock that is not willing to kill me."
"How about you settle for us?" a harsh voice rang out before hitting Riddick in the gut painfully and sending him to his knees.
'Either this guy is built like an ox, or he has something helping him that I can use against him,' Riddick looked up and found a pretty big guy with two others surrounding him, 'I was hoping for the latter of my options.'
The man kicked him in the gut once again and let him slide all the way back into one of the buildings nearby. Riddick hid his pain and looked at the three men coming toward him. They were all wearing the same type of outfit, which looked like something dug out of the Middle Ages. They had dark armor totally concealing their bodies and metallic gloves covering their hands. This is exactly who Riddick didn't want to run into on this kind of planet.
"Well, gentlemen," Riddick said quite calmly for a man that was just slid into a solid wall and patted his hands together to get the excess dirt off, "It seems that I caught you at a bad time. Excuse my interruption."
The bigger one looked at the other two with a grin, "I think that we have a smart alec on our hands. Let's teach him some manners, for Lord Marshal's sake," he watched as Riddick crossed his arms over his chest and eyed them closely.
Meanwhile, around the next building a woman peeked from her hiding place and saw two men from the Necromonger army start to circle a man. She was sure that she saw three of them leave the base earlier this morning, but the other one must have gone back to report the stray man. She had never seen him before, and yet, there was something about his stance and attitude that refreshed a buried memory from the back of her mind. The bigger of the two men hit the 'stray' back to the ground and all she could do was watch the bastards beat the man, until she could think of an idea. She ran her fingers through her short brown ponytail to think of a plan while her eyes darted back and forth on the ground in front of her.
She gripped the side of the building as she saw the man's body heave upward as the big bastard kneed him hard in the gut. As soon as he was back on the ground he looked up, past the two other men and straight at her. She felt something ignite in her being as a sly smirk grew on his face. He jumped up from his position on the ground and began to take down the bigger man that had him on the ground just a few seconds earlier. She was entranced by his fighting skills and by his face, even though his eyes were hidden beneath the dark lenses of some goggles he was wearing.
'Goggles…' another thing jumped back into her brain, even though she couldn't seem to grab a hold of it.
Before she even understood that there was someone else there a strong hand of the third man she saw earlier lunged out of the darkness and grabbed her by the hair, "Decide to go on a little adventure today, did we?"
She clawed at his hand, trying to get the pain from her scalp to recede. If she wasn't careful, the man would open up and old wound that was right above her eyebrow. He dragged her over to the other two and threw her down right next to where they finally had Riddick pinned. She moaned as she lifted her head and rubbed her sore scalp.
Riddick had watched as the bastard snuck up on her and dragged her over to the others. She was pretty attractive and yet still young. No more than twenty years old, by his measure. She was beat up pretty bad even before that bastard got a hold of her by the looks of it. A cut that was made earlier showed over her left eyebrow, even through some of her loose brown hair was falling from the ponytail on her head covering the wound slightly. Her clothes were pretty dirty, but nonetheless together and showing her figure quite nicely. She looked Riddick into his goggles and he watched her eyes grow. She recognized him. Slowly her small, yet strangely enticing lips, silently mouthed two single syllables.
'Riddick.'
He raised one of his eyebrows to show his interest in this new woman and how she knew him. Besides his obvious infamous charges.
"Look at what I found… it's the leader of the untamed," the one that dragged her over said, "What's your name again, rat?"
She winced as he kicked her in the side, making her lean toward the biggest of the three, "My name's Kyra… and you're the rats!"
She sprang up from her fallen position and grabbed the pistol of the biggest man. Without another thought she pressed the trigger and watched with satisfaction as the man's head exploded on contact with the energy beam. The other two men stood shocked and before either one could grab their weapons, Riddick tripped them both and actually knocked one of them out as their head hit the ground. The other one laid shocked at the two humans.
The woman named Kyra walked over and tied the man to one of the jagged rocks that was formed by the collapse of the statue, "Now, rat, you get to stay here until someone finds you or until your buddy wakes up. Have fun."
Kyra went back over to the body of the man she killed and looked for anything that may be of some use. Riddick watched her with a sense of awe as he started to release his wrists from the ties. She just killed a man unfazed and just tied a man to a jagged rock, unsure if he was going to ever be found. He liked her already, and her figure did help.
"So, I guess you know of me," Riddick said in a kind of gloating tone, "But I don't believe I know of you, Kyra."
"Forget all ready, Riddick?" Kyra said not lifting her head up from the headless corpse while looking for some items that may prove useful, "I wouldn't even think that you would forget the darkness."
"Refresh my memory," Riddick smirked, crossing his arms.
Kyra finally stood up, forcing the laser gun she used to kill the man in the side of her shorts and walked over to him. She looked at his face for a few seconds and then slowly began to take off the goggles from his eyes, making sure that the light wasn't too bright around them. She stared into the quicksilver pools and smiled as the memory played in her mind, "Where the hell could I get eyes like that?"
Her voice was covered with enjoyment and a hint of sarcasm, "I probably would have to kill a few people, get sent to a slam where they tell me I would never see the light of day again and then dig up a doctor to do the surgical shine job on my eyes. So I could see who was sneaking up on me in the dark."
"Cute kid," Riddick commented, tilting his head to the other side, "Well, you've grown… Jack."