AN: This is only a two and a half month delay, not three months! ...but yes, I realise that that's still pretty bad. But yeah. Um, lets see, how should I distract you all from my laziness and procrastination? I know, I had a holiday in China! And bought a model of the Genobreaker and built it! hugs it and ignores sharp edges Damn, that thing has a lot of guns! And saw the last episode of Zoids Fuzors. Sighs That was a series that had so much potential! Cool looking characters, interesting end music... I liked the ending though... shounen-ai gears whirling But yeah, otherwise, the whole thing was a let down.

I also started school. BUT, its as boring as ever. So yeah. But I'm getting a new computer in the next few days, and hoping things don't get lost in the transition.

I think this story's about halfway through. The whole 'getting-back-the-genobreaker' thing was the first part, now the second part is 'using-the-genobreaker'. To do what, I hear you ask (hallucinating) WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO WITH A GENOBREAKER?

coughs Now, being the observant person that I am, I only recently noted the disappearance of my scene seperating asterisks. I still haven't figured out the page divider thing yet, though thankfully this chapter's just one long scene. watches people run off in fear. Um, I think I'll just shut up now before I scare more people off.

Chapter 8: I didn't think I'd ever see you again

The room was one big source of visual pain, white and bright and shining and... was that a monitor? Wow... funny jumping green signals. Hmm, why'd they stop just then? Couldn't be helped, he shrugged, before closing his eyes again and sleeping. But there was someone shaking him, with a sense of urgency that the pilot just couldn't understand. He was tired but happily nestled under a stack of blankets in a relatively safe place, with no zoids around for him to worry about. There was really no reason to keep him up...

He jerked up when the someone slapped him.

Apparently this was not the greatest idea, since the room proceeded to run his head around in uneven squares for the next few minutes, but the action seemed to be of solace to the person who'd woken him; he was now being crunched in a hug. It was not so much the force of the embrace that hurt him as the sharp edges digging into his chest and back for the few seconds that the gesture lasted. He heard muttered words somewhere in the background before the weight lifted, then pushed him back onto the bed. What the hell?

"You can go back to sleep now."

Anything he wanted to protest died when he promptly and unconsciously obeyed.

Waking up the second time was less of a hassle. He looked up at the overhead lamps, cringed and mewled in pain, then turned to the side and rubbed his tearing eyes. Taking a brief scan around the room to add to his knowledge of the surroundings, he noted that the furnishings were boring, plain and monotonous, but far from minimal or cheap. Pleased -as long as he wouldn't have to pay for the accommodation later on- he nodded once in satisfaction, winced, and curled back in preparation for another nap.

Then flew up for the second time that he remembered, and stared at the grey-haired pilot sitting on the other end of the bed, absently fiddling with a delicate zoid part.

"H-how...?"

The memories of where he'd been before this place chose that moment to jump him, providing visual imagery along with the snippets of information. The canyon, the army, the red button... should have equated to him being dead, and resting in the court of the underworld. But unless the underworld looked like a hospital, he was not yet on the other side. Meaning that he was still alive.

'I've finally surpassed him at something,' he mused dryly. 'I survived a zoid totalisation without an organoid. For that, I deserve congratulations.'

The clunk of metal at his feet pulled him from his thoughts, and he stared down at the gleeful blue eyes of one black, homicidal organoid, bouncing up and down while wagging his tail, as though waiting to be petted. Van chuckled, then placed a hand gingerly on the zoid's head and scratched the metal. A low growling sounded, similar to that of any other domestic animal when being petted. For a moment, he was startled, then laughed out loud; the idea of Shadow being domestic was funny. It would only be surpassed by the idea of Raven being nice, and not the psychopathic bastard that he was...

The possibility was scary, and just... impossible. Especially judging by the 'what the hell did you do to corrupt my evil organoid' glare being directed his way. No, Raven was pure, 100 irredeemably mean. And cranky. And in need of a haircut (it was already way past its normal length), a tan, and sleep. Lots of the last. Those black rings were very gothic by now, indicating maybe a week's absence of vital shuteye necessary for a normal person to function. In fact...!

How long had he been out?

"Vaaaaaannnnnnnn!" A blue blur screeched into the room, the noise loud and obnoxious and very intimidating. The addressed pilot cringed as he was suddenly swept up into a hug by one really enthusiastic female Zoidian wearing a multi-buckled dress. Choking for air, he pushed her away rudely and sucked in too much, worsening his problem. A hand thwacked his back as though he was a drum; when he finally recovered, a glare was sent over. It was met by poorly feigned innocence broken by the mischief from pale green eyes.

"What the heck was that for, you crazy witch?"

"But Van-sama," she blinked at him, tears filling her eyes in an instant. "You've woken up for the first time in a month... I've been so worried about you..." Sniffle. "I was so scared that you'd died, and it was all my fault-"

"Wha... whaaaat?"

"My fault, because I didn't get there on time-"

"Shut up, Ryss."

The gritted out command was followed closely by the metal part, which was dutifully dodged. Recovering from the attack, the blue-haired Zoidian gave Van a wink, before going over to harass the other pilot. As a whispered argument punctuated with gestures thrown by both sides, the casualty turned to look down at the organoid still purring under his hand and asked, "Why's Ryss acting all weird?"

/She considers you part of the family now./ A long pause. /Welcome back, by the way./

"I guess you also consider me part of the family now, huh?" Van asked, when he finally recalled how to reply to strange comments from zoids who shouldn't be able to talk to him.

/You've been a part of it for a long time. Just couldn't figure out how to talk to you. Stupid human./

"Um... okay. Does Raven know about this?"

Growl hybrid with laughter. /It's a two against one situation, even if he doesn't agree./

"But the other organoid-"

/Is completely obedient to the wishes of her mistress. So I guess three against one for us then./

"...I see."

He returned to watching the fighting couple, observing their interactions with just a tiny bit of envy. Damn it, they looked so perfect! And there was a perfect background story to boot: the Zoidian and the pilot, both outcasts determined to serve their own interests, yet somehow finding an understanding between them.. It naturally reminded him of his own Zoidian and pilot story, and how things hadn't lasted. His fault, wasn't it? His fault that he couldn't be satisfied with his ideal lifestyle: money, fame, a nice girl, a job. So what had he missed? He sighed; a reunion with the Guardian Force anyday now seemed inevitable. He'd better have a plausible explanation to give to Fiona by then.

/Humans/ grumbled Shadow as he crawled up onto the bed, mindful of its current inhabitant. /Always so clingy, and making funny noises when they're at it too.../

Van coughed; he really hadn't needed to know that. "They seem happy though."

/Raven never happy./

"Sure he is. Look at him now, he looks like his having fun-"

/No. He's never... happy./ The organoid seemed frustrated. /Only when he's fighting does he happy. But looks wrong then./

"Looks wrong? What do you...?"

/This./ The zoid proceeded to give a very scary version of a grin, baring his teeth wide open as his jaws pulled as far up as they could.

"You're saying that he never smiles like he means it, even when with Ryss," the pilot whispered, finally understanding what Shadow meant. Of course the organoid would have problems differentiating emotions and the actions used to express them, thus getting the emotion of joy and the action of smiling mixed up. He thought about it for a moment, then protested "But that's not right-"

The sound of the door opening, while not loud, was enough to halt all movement and speech in the room. The four of them turned to the small contingent of soldiers who marched in and split to two sides, to make way for a single figure walking through, followed by a blue organoid that Van assumed had been on sentry duty. The dark purple colours bewildered him for a moment, before he excitedly yelled out "Rudolph! You came to visit! I mean..." He quailed slightly from the menacing guard who were now glaring at him and hastily amended, "Your majesty."

"It's okay, Van," replied the emperor, trying not to snicker in front of his own men. He turned around to them and quietly ordered, "Please remain outside unless I call you."

The eight or so soldiers bowed and exited, while the blue organoid took the oppurtunity to bound over to her mistress. Once the room had been cleared, Rudolph looked back to the bed and said, "I'm glad that you've recovered, my friend. And it seems that your search was not in vain." He acknowledged Raven and Ryss; the former bowed stiffly to his monarch while Ryss curtsied more gracefully. "I am pleased to see that you two are well, and not dead as was originally assumed, though I suppose I should have believed Van when he told me you weren't that easy to kill."

"My reputation is well known, your majesty," the maverick replied, wry.

The emperor nodded solemnly, and pulled over a stool to sit on. Plopping his face in both hands, he sighed aloud before declaring, "This is going to be a bureaucratic nightmare."

An eyebrow raised from Raven, while his former nemesis looked confused. The former answered, "Ryss and I can be gone from here by tomorrow morning, or sooner if necessary."

"What-"

"Not fast enough," Rudolph frustratedly replied. "I've delayed it for as long as possible, but leading personnel from Guardian Force Headquarters should be here by tonight. I'm not sure who leaked it, but news of your reappearance has already reached them, and they'll be suspicious if the Genobreaker is gone."

"Raven and I can use the Blade Liger and my Gunsniper to leave," suggested Ryss.

"Hey-"

"They somehow know that Van is also here, so if the Blade Liger's gone they'll also be suspicious," the emperor explained.

"I'll take a different zoid then," Raven rebutted.

"No, no! If they know that Van and the Genobreaker are both here, then chances are they already know -or have figured out- that you'll be here as well."

"What-"

"You're the emperor, can't you do something about it?"

"I can stand against the demands of the Guardian Force, which is why it'll be a bureaucratic nightmare. This is why I insisted on official records listing you as dead."

"Damn Guardian Force, always-"

"WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!"

They all stared at Van, who was shaking and pale from the effort needed to be noticed. Seeing that he had their attention, he added, "You guys could at least have the courtesy to tell me what day it is and where I am and explain what all this weird stuff about the Guardian Force is after I wake up alive after expecting to be dead-"

"You were dead," Raven cut in coldly.

"Yeah, well who's fault was that?" asked the irate invalid, ignoring the barely visible flinch from the other pilot. He looked at Rudolph imploringly. "Tell me what's going on."

The young ruler sighed again. "Shadow found you lodged under a slab of rock that had angled between you and the zoid you were piloting, protecting you from most of the damage. For some reason, your shoe was missing... care to explain that?"

"I... got my foot stuck in the door of the cockpit when I was trying to get out, and tripped," Van admitted with a blush. He tuned out the snort of derision.

"You tripped." A pause. "Anyway, probably because you are one lucky pilot, tripping saved your life. Judging by the wreckage, if you'd jumped straight down, you would have been skewered by falling zoids parts. As it was, you fell at an angle and a good side of the cliff fell above you."

"...I think I'm confused."

"Well, that's just what the experts say," Rudolph grumbled crossly. "So you can stop looking at me so strangely. Anyway, Shadow brought you back up to the surface, and we took you to the nearest base for treatment. That was about a month ago."

"A month!"

"Yes. Originally, we honestly thought that you were going to die. But then you stabilised, enough so that we could bring you to the capital. So here we are, in my private hospital in Guygalos."

"So I'm in Guygalos, a month from that battle," summarised Van.

"Yes. You had broken ribs, broken legs, broken arms... your head survived, which only goes to prove that you are hardheaded." Rudolph smiled at the indignant squawk. "Plus you had too many cuts and piercings for me to list. But now, most things are healed, though you shouldn't move around for a quite while, maybe another month or so. And definately no piloting!"

"I second that!" declared Ryss chirpily, walking over. "It was hard enough keeping you alive the first time around. I don't want to do that again."

The injured pilot stared at her in confusion. The emperor clarified, "Ryss appeared almost immediately after we took you to the military base. I'm not sure what she did, as it involved lots of bugs crawling around the room, but she did speed up the healing process enough for you to survive."

"Wow really?" exclaimed Van, receiving a nod. He rubbed his head sheepishly. "Well... thanks."

"Not a problem. A friend of Raven's-" she ducked the glare, "-is a friend of mine. I'm nowhere as good at healing as that blonde counterpart of mine -no instant healing here- but I know enough. And I probably couldn't do anything if you weren't such a Zoids' fanatic. I swear you pilots are born with electric circuits in you. Or it could just be all the merging with organoids thing. Either way, I'm glad that you're alive."

"Thanks," he replied, still overwhelmed slightly by this strange, new Ryss. "But what's going on with the Guardian Force?"

She frowned. "Like I told you, they want to capture Raven for the glory. Somehow, they found out that he was at that army base. Probably an insider or something... I didn't get a chance to check. That's another reason why your emperor here was so keen to bring you to this hospital."

"I don't follow."

"He was trying to delay Guardian Force people who wanted to visit you. Since you're now in the palace, it'll take more than a basic visa to get in here. Add a few issues with the system, and he managed to delay them for a month. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold them off any longer than that. So there're some coming tonight."

"What'll they do to you and Raven?"

"I should be fine, because they don't know that I'm here. I think. But they'll pressure the Empire to hand Raven over. The Guardian Force is very powerful now, and refusing could be enough to trigger a war. I know that some higher ups in the Republic wouldn't mind increasing their territory."

"But the President-" Van protested.

"Retired last year, and her son refused the post. There's a new president now."

A long silence followed as he allowed all the information to sink in. He then turned to Rudolph. "So the Guardian Force people are coming today."

"Yes."

"Can I be discharged before then? I really don't want to refuse to rejoin another hundred times."

The emperor looked troubled. "I don't think that's possible..."

"Huh? Why?"

Rudolph got up and paced for well over five minutes, while Van stared. Then he finally sat back down and sighed for the third time that afternoon, before finally saying, "Because... Fiona, Moonbei and Irvine are the ones coming to see you tonight."