Chapter 18: The Beginning of the End
It was a bright day, the blue sky was cloudless and many people roamed the streets of the city. Inside a coffee shop, a man sat at a round table drinking his cup of coffee. His black hair ran down to his shoulders. Despite the hot weather, he was wearing a leather jacket. No sooner was he joined by three people. One of them was man had a cross shaped scar on his left cheek and his pitch black hair ran down to the top of his neck. The one walking closely beside him was woman, her raven-black hair flowed down to her shoulder blades and seemed to shine in the sunlight. In the lead was a man with brilliant hair, his face was flush with anger. The man in the lead rushed to the table and slammed his fist down on the table with rage. "Do you know what the hell happened last night, Vanguard!" The other two silently took their seats at the table, the man quickly held his newspaper in front of him covering his face up. His companion was talking to the waitress, probably ordering food. Vanguard's attention turned to the furious man in front of him known as Carom.
"No...I don't know..." Vanguard grew curious.
"I saw the most horrid thing in my life! Absolutely discussing!" He yelled, nobody else in the shop seemed to be affected by the Raven's yelling. Yelling was very common in these types of shops, "They were sleeping! In my bed! Together!" He pointed, accusingly at the two other companions. Vanguard glanced at the other two, the female was Sara and the male was Windbreaker. Windbreaker's face was hidden behind the newspaper he was reading and Sara seemed to be hiding her face by eating her sandwhich with her face looking downwards. Vanguard could've sworn he saw her blushing. He spoke calmly to the enraged Raven.
"Now Carom...I'm sure they were just...cold and fell asleep...its not that bad is-" he was immediately cut off by Carom.
"Not that bad! Not that bad!" His tone rose with each phrase, "She was nuzzling him in the neck! And they were naked!" As if reacting to the sudden outburst, Sara started choking on her food. Windbreaker on the other hand, seemed to still be keeping his poise behind the newspaper. Another voice interrupted the scene that transpired.
"Hey! Seen the news yet?" It was Principle, her dirty-blonde hair ran down to her waist. She pointed at the front of the newspaper she held in her tiny hands. "Horizon was reported seen! He's back! Oooooh! I can't wait to get my chance! He beat me so badly last time I faced him...he's probably boasting how he defeated m-!"
"Say, Sara! How about we go back to the garage...ya know, check our ACs?" Windbreaker snapped from his reading position and seemed a bit nervous.
"Oh! Uhhhh...yeah! That's a great idea!" The two Ravens rushed out of the shop. Their feets carrying them out the door.
Hmmmm...so...I guess last night's party wasn't such a tormenting thing for Wind considering what I heard he did...Vanguard sighed, Now Jack might be furious...oh well! Doesn't concern me!
"Listen, Sara, I have to go right now." Windbreaker stood on top of Omen's cockpit. The cockpit of his AC was located in the back and opened up at the top. He was facing Sara, who was a couple inches shorter than him. She could tell by the way he looked at her that this was a solo-mission.
"Oh...I see...this is one of those missions where you don't need me huh?" She bowed her head, long strands of her hair fell over her shoulder. Windbreaker proceeded towards the opening of his cockpit.
"Oh yeah! I stashed a special optional part in your garage, you can't miss it!" He yelled back from inside his cockpit. As the demonic form in white paint began to come to life. It filled the abandoned garage with sounds from its engine.
What? That's it? A special optional part? He really doesn't know anything about women! Sara pouted, as she looked up to the white mech that started walking out of the garage doors. He didn't even give me a small peck! The large form lifted off, spreading dust throughout the garage as its boosters ignited, lifting the mechanical figure into the skies. Well...might as well see what he got for me...The young Raven strolled to her room. As the shining white door slid open, she noticed something peculiar lay on her bed. Two boxes smaller than her palm lay on the purple bedsheets wrapped in glittering wrapping. One was significantly larger than the other but still, it could be considered small to the human eye. Sara slowly took the larger box in her hands and began unwrapping it. What was inside astounded the Raven, a small emerald stone lay imbedded within a cushion like fabric. The stone itself emitted a strange green glow, illuminating the whole room. Sara could only stare in awe. Only then did she notice a small slip of paper attached to the stone. The paper read:
This is the optional part I was talking about, imbed this into the core of your AC, it will safeguard you and protect you for eternity.
Signed, Windbreaker
Heh...idiot...he really doesn't know women...Sara glanced at the box that still sat on the bed. Wind never mentioned anything about this...The box wasn't covered in wrappings, it just sat there with its lid still revealed. With her delicate fingers, she slid the lid off, what was inside revealed was a necklace with a small dragon. Inscribed on the curled up dragon were several delicate details. On the back of the lid was a small letter:
This necklace was passed to me by a dear friend, now I want you to have it...as a symbol of my trust.
Sara stood there, clutching the newly found necklace in her hands, she stood beside her bed trying desperately to restrain the tears that were welling up inside her. The feeling of being overjoyed, took her. Wind...he told me everything...about his past...about how Vanguard was Evangel...how he didn't know his parents...how it felt to lose someone close to him...he told me he trusted me now...I didn't believe him at first...but now...She stood there, silently, praying, weeping and praising god for leading someone like this man into her life.
An ominous white demon stood in the middle of the concrete floor. Sand brushed past it, blowing through the air and creating a curtain of mist. Behind it lay a cube like structure that bore two large grey gates in the middle. With the barrel of its gun still stabbed into the cracked concrete. As if sensing another presence, the white mech pulled out its rifle, sending concrete dust flying. "Eager to die, I see..." The giant spun around, pulling the trigger on its customized linear rifle. A brilliant flash of light shot from the barrel. The presence that the pilot sensed was a large deformed grey mech with smooth shiny armor. Long iron blades protruded from what looked like its arms. It seemed to hover in the air effortlessly. However intimidating the mech itself looked, the shot seemed to pierce its armor without much resistance. A long switch blade extended from underneath the barrel of the linear rifle. The demon mech swung the rifle backwards in a horizontal motion. Its blade sliced through a core that stood behind it. In one smooth motion the fearsome god brought its rifle-arm backwards and pushed forward. The blade was caught in another of the grey mech's core. Alus Omen began turning the bladed rifle in a counterclock wise direction. The blade was immediately taken out in a vertical slash, large pieces of metal from the deformed mech started flying everywhere. Windbreaker glanced behind him, tilting his head slightly towards a familiar presence that he sensed behind him. "Decided to finally come eh?"