I dedicate this fic to all you diehard fans of Zoids: Chaotic Century. There is a very slight possibility of future crossovers with other shows; however, I'm not making any promises. If any of yal have any suggestions, I'm open to them, cause I'm gonna make mistakes. And reviews would be appreciated, too. As for all you flamers out there,….. grab your torches.
Disclaimer: I own my OC and the clothes on my back, but not much else.
Prolog to a journey
Two swords are clashing.
Clashing, in a never-ending dance.
A teenage girl, covered in all manners of injuries, wearily parries another attack from her opponent, a tall, darkly dressed man, with a maniacal grin spread wide across his face. He has his fair share of bumps and bruises too, but does not seem all that affected by them as he leaps forward, swinging his enormous broad sword. The girl, too weak to completely stop the blow, is knocked backwards. She flips acrobatically, and lands in a fighting stance, twirling her crimson blade expertly. Seeing this, the opponent giggled insanely, before charging forward, his giggling slowly changing into mad laughter. Shuddering, the teen steadies herself, panting and waiting for his attack.
CLAANG!
The two weapons meet, locking between the combatants. Before her insane opponent can react, she kicks her foot out, catching him in the chest. He flies backward, hits the ground, rolls and jumps to his feet again, gnashing his teeth in frustration.
She takes a deep breath, and dives back into the fray, with renewed vigor.
The world is spinning, completely out of control, as the two combatant's battle on, never ceasing.
Blood is everywhere, running from the countless wounds on both individuals.
Dripping and draining.
Bleeding.
Ever bleeding.
The teen sweats and bleeds…draining…painfully, of her life's energy…and….is slowly being claimed by Death as well.
WHUMP!
His fist slams into her stomach, knocking the air from her lungs. Desperately, she gasps for breath that isn't found and barely blocks in time as his sword swings down toward her neck.
With inhuman speed, she sweeps her leg out, attempting to knock him off his feet. He jumps up just in time and back flips, landing several feet away from her. She pushes herself to unsteady feet, ready to continue the spar.
"RAAA-HAAAH!" he roars as he leaps forward, drooling in an animalistic manner.
The teenrolls past him, jumpsand karate kicks him in the middle of his back. He stumbled forward, before catching himself, and hand-flips. In midair he swings his sword like a baseball bat, catching her in the shoulder.
She gasps, wincing andgrabbing at her fresh wound.
The maniac begins to laugh once more at the sight of fresh blood, and attacks again.
CLASSHHH!
His mad cackling fades loss of sound.
Desperation rules.
Nothing else but survival matters as the haze of blood loss sets in, fogging her mind.
Slowing her body.
She holds on by a strong, but weakening, Passion.
Holding on to life, refusing to release her grip on it.
Defiant to the end.
Red, red, red,...everything red.
The world swims in it, gasps in it, and continues to slowly die in it as well.
Muscles tremble and burn in exhaustion, and that same Passion is beginning to burn out, like a
flickering flame.
Long black hair, coated in sweat and blood, hangs over violet eyes.
The two sword fighters continue, as her world narrows down between herself and the other.
Herself and the Destruction that would claim her should she falter…should she ever waver.
SLAAAASH!
His broad sword cuts through a computer console as his blow misses his target. The youth continues to evade his attacks, trying to conserve what was left of her energy.
"HRRAAA-AAAAUUUUUUGGHHHH!" he shrieks angrily, swinging wildly at the lithe teen.
She dives in as his assault leaves his abdomen wide open for attack, her sword's mildly serrated blade ripping away his flesh, leaving his red, trembling muscles open to the air.
He cries out, more in fury than in pain, and his attacks grow more wild and fierce. He swings at her skull, his mad eyes practically glowing with insanity. She ducks and swings her fist upwards, catching him in the jaw. A sickening crack fills the air. The teen dances away from her opponent. Prepared.
He just stands there for a second, furious eyes cooling from their rage. Finally, he reaches both hands up to his jaw, which was sticking out at an odd angle. Taking it in his hands, he jerks, pulls and pops it back into place, as the girl stood in shock. Gaping.
He looks up, his eyes renewing in their insanity.
She grips her blade and gets into the proper stance, as the berserker began to laugh hysterically. Lifting his head, he howled, like a lunatic would at the moon, and charged like a crazed bull, laughing all the while.
And, then…their weapons met once more.
CllaCLAAANG!
The Passion that her life clings to is growing weaker.
Fading.
Disappearing with the rest of the senses:
Sight.
Sound.
And everything else.
This,…was to be her final stand.
And it would seem that Death had finally caught up with her.
"Hehehehehehehe-heeeehaahahahahahahahahaa-haaaaah!" he laughed, as he continued to whip his sword through the air, making her twirl out of the way of his wild attack.
Suddenly, he jumped into the air, blade held high above his head, and stabbed down into the earth were she had been just seconds before, having dove out of the way at the last moment. The madman twirled and slashed out sideways at her half-standing figure, grazing her arm. Adding another cut to her vast collection.
She stumbled away, partially blinded by the blood and sweat that was oozing into her eyes from the nasty concussion on the top of her head havingreceived it at the beginning of their battle. It was beginning totake its toll on her. She was getting dizzy, nauseous with blood loss.
Her movements were getting slower and weaker with every parry. Her agility fading as she grew unsteady on her feet, barely able to stand much less fight.
And he just grinned all the more.
Like the Cheshire Cat.
He began to hum to himself as he continued his vicious attack; landing more and more blows on the dying teen. However, his delirious humming was enough to anger her, to bring her back from the edge of Oblivion that her body had been working its way towards. She would not, …no… refused to be mocked by this imbecile.
Summoning what was left of her strength, the girl pulled herself together, and rushed in for a final attack, snarling as she swung her sword to meet his.
"Haaah-HAAh!"
Whoosh!
Slash!
CL-CLANNG!
It seemed that Destruction had come for her.
Like it comes for us all.
And...the warring continued.
Their weapons continued to clash and clank, their blades biting into each other's flesh, compounding upon the red.
Until...the calvary arrived.
KKAABOOOOOOM!
A sudden explosion startles the two rivals, who had beenbattling up high, on a platform that they had slowly fought their way up on.
Looking down, one could see the smoke and debris of what was left of a wall, where nearly a dozen scientific containers had been lined up, side by side. Many of these containers had been broken during the skirmish, leaking their nasty liquids upon the red stained floor. Now, nothing was there but an enourmous, smoking hole.
But, from beyond the gaping hole, voices were heard, shouting and yelling words that the girl could not make out at such a distance.
The dark appareled man glared at the racket, hissing and baring his teeth, his eyes bugged out horrifically.
And then….the teen realizes this is her chance.
Her chance to end the battle.
……. And she was definately going to take advantage of it.
"Hraaaugh!"
Swiftly, she lunged forward, sword extended, driven by desperation, pain and...a still burning Passion.
A weakened Passion, but a still flaming one none the less.
The sword strikes true, and the other screams in anger and shock.
But also fear.
Fear of Death, which he believed himself to wield.
To control.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH-RAAAAAAHHAA-AAUUUUUUUGGGHHHH! " he screeched, the teen's red blade piercing through his chest and spine.
Blood began to spit up from his slavering lips, foaming and crimson as he screamed and convulsed.
The girl glared at the lunatic weakly, her sight fogging and her body trembling with exhaustion. Even as she watched him die, she felt no pity for this crazed man, who had hardly been responsible for his actions.
None whatsoever.
But then, he spoke to her, for the first time.
And, the final time as well.
"SnnkKKt….I-Hkkk…I may-nngrrghh(cough)……die….but-hicccckKt….I won't(hack)-(spurt)..(pant)..be the-snnKKKkkt….the last of-sppprrrk..the Roran'ty! I won't be-HkkktTTSss….THE LAST, ANGELA! HAHAHAha-hkkKKKTtsss-hahaheehheeeehahaaaaa-aaaaahsssskkkkkkttttsssssssssssssssss...," and with that said, the madman breathed his last.
The teen, Angela, looked tiredly at the now dead lunatic, whose body was slowly, oozingly, slipping off her sword.
"No," she admits, sighing, "You won't," and with those words, she wearily tugs her sword out of his body, adding even more blood to the crimson.
The dead stiff tumbles off the platform as Angela continues to shake, bracing herself on one of the platform pillars, panting...
Whoosh!
And the body falls...
...And falls...
Falls down...upon a device.
A mechanism of an unknown purpose.
WHUMP!
When the dead man lands, his corpse accidentally presses down a control on this strange machine.
And the newcomers, who had finally made their way into the room, cry out in alarm and panic, as a whirring noise fills the red stained hall.
Desperately, they call a name.
Her name.
But she could not understand any of their other words.
Only her name.
And as the youth stumbles to her knees, she realizes that she is kneeling in a glowing circle.
A circle...on top of the platform where they had been sparring.
Where she was now...
Red lights are flashing in warning.
And an electronic voice calls out, telling all personnel to come away from the dais.
Which happened to be the very platform that she was on.
But right as the dark claims her, the machine completes its task.
A blinding white light envelops her.
FLASH!
And...she is gone.
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In an alternate universe...
It is nighttime on the distant planet Zi. The twin moons illuminate the inky sky as they rise proudly over a mountainous region. Tall pines stand, brooding and dark, over deeply shadowed undergrowth. And all is silent.
FLASH!
A bright,white light flashes briefly into existence, casting frightening shadows on the already menacing conifers. And then, it is gone as quickly as it had come. But it left something behind. Or rather….someone.
Curled up in a bloody and tattered ball, the youth lies unconscious. Her violet eyes shut to the world around her; her long, black, blood soaked hair, draped about her in a sticky mess. The scarlet sword lays next to her, red and tacky with the crimson that seems to plague her. The air is crisp and cool, enough to make one shiver, but she lies still. Still and silent, like the darkness about her.
But she is not dead. Her lungs still draw air. Her heart still beats. Weakly, but it still beats beneath her chest. The fiery Passion that had kept her alive during combat has cooled, but is still there. Smoldering like the embers of a fire, that smokes and threatens to flame. This Passion,…this thirst to live, but willingness to die for a cause, this powerful emotion that resides in a gifted few, has kept her alive for quite some time. It was keeping her alive right then and there, as she bled from her copious wounds. And this Passion, like an instinct, will continue to keep her alive 'til Death did claim her, as it claims us all. But until then she lives………defying all logic and reason, she lives…………..
A short distance away, barely even a mile, a familiar, blue, blade-liger pads along, followed closely by a green and black Di-bison. The pilots of these Zoids are, of course, Van Flieheight and Thomas Shubaltz, who were accompanied by Elisa Linette (a.k.a. Fiona) and Zeke, Van's faithful Organoid. Yes, it has been barely six months since the attack of the Death Saurer and Hiltz, and the Guardian Force is still being kept busy.
At the moment, the four of them were answering a call for help, from an isolated little colony named Ice-gale, which was located high up in the pine covered Orosis Mts.
They had received reports of a group of 'terrorist mercenaries', who were trying to stir up trouble between the Republic and the Empire once more. This group had been badgering Ice-gale and several other colonies for some time.
Also, there were over two dozen missing persons cases situated in this area, going back about a year or so. There had been wild rumors about this situation in particular, such as bright flashes of light that the 'missing persons in question' would disappear in, which had been labeled as 'abductions'. Whether these rumors where true or not had yet to be seen. But the four actually had to 'get' to the colony first; which was proving to cause some difficulty…….
"Are you sure you know where we're going?" asked Thomas, for what seemed like the millionth time.
"For the millionth time, yes! Jeez, if you ask me that just once more, just one more time, I swear to every god out there I'll…nnngghh….. rassingoodfornothingrrrfrackinlouzygrrrrff….," Van muttered, trailing off into unintelligible curses.
"Okay, okay, I get it. I was just saying, that Beek could-"
"Get us there faster or somethin'? Look, Tom, Kreuger said that it would take a while to get to Ice-gale. And you never even had to come in the first place. This was basically a one man mission; you simply 'volunteered' the second you heard that Fiona wanted come with me."
"Huh? What do you-Hey! Hold on a second! Just what are you implying!" cried Thomas.
"You know darn well you-"
"Guys, please. Don't fight. Besides, we're almost there," pleaded Fiona as she pointed over Van's shoulder.
And she was right. The path that they were following steeped upwards so thatone could see the glittering lights of the village, through the trees. Finally, they had reached Ice-gale.
As the group makes their way up the trail, their Zoids still trekking along its dark path, they don't realize that a lone Command Wolf, hidden amongst the dark forest, is watching them. The Zoid growled and then stalked away, piloted by an unknown person. The Zoid was, in fact, a scout; a scout for whom, however, has yet to be known.
It begins to run, its orange cockpit glinting in the moonlight. As it bounds across the rocky terran it lets out a howl before disappearing completely into the night.
The four friends had not heard the wolf's cry, for their entire attention was focused on reaching their goal. But, a mile away, as the howl drifts through the mountains and reaches the unconscious girl, she awakes with a start.
"……………..,"
Only to curl up into a tighter ball, clenching her eyes shut and shivering in pain.
……………And she could not remember. Anything. Not even her name.
Shamanah presents…………
The Path to Remembrance