***NA***
Foxfire let out a yawn as she walked through the halls, trying to get her thoughts together. It had been a week since Master X had put her with Harpuia...almost two weeks since she had seen Raven…
She looked upwards, a thoughtful look on her face.
...She...wondered how Raven was doing...Would the rebels allow a human to fight with them? Hopefully not….She'd LIKE to think that Master X would just capture Raven and put her in prison…
...but with the ability Raven had...and the fact that Master X seemed to slowly stray farther and farther away from what he had originally stood for…
Foxfire's steps slowed to a stop, and she had to rethink herself carefully. Surely...there was a reason for Master X looking for the lights...Did Lumine even KNOW about them?
...Was he on Raven's scent?
Was Master X?
Dragging herself out of her thoughts, Foxfire got to the door and knocked on it gently. Glancing at her datapad, she made a mental note that she would have to find Shadow later on today to go over anything he may want to tell her. Since Lumine was...questionable...he had a sharp ninja's eye on him. After a moment, the door opened, and she entered, still looking at her datapad.
"Good Morning, Commander Phantom, I have those intel reports you-" Foxfire looked up and suddenly blushed...when she realized she was looking at Harpuia.
The air commander had his back to her, but he glanced in her direction. However, nothing could hide the small smirk on his face.
Wincing sharply, Foxfire put a hand up quickly. "I-I-I mean- Good morning Commander Harpuia! I- Hope you- I mean, gah-" She quickly shook her head and held out her reports. "I- Have those intel reports you requested, sir."
Harpuia turned and approached Foxfire, taking the datapad from her grip, a grin on his face. "So Lieutenant Foxfire...are you sure these are the reports I asked for, or the reports Phantom asked for?"
Foxfire turned a dark shade of red and she quickly flailed her arms. "N-No! Th- I- Wha-...S-Sir!" She only got even more embarrassed when Harpuia's grin only widened. The HECK was he picking on her for!? She got enough of this from Sobek and Sandstorm all the time!
"S-Sir! Those are the reports you requested me to finish for you last night, as well as the intel that you requested for the rebel sightings."
Harpuia looked over the reports, his smug grin slowly fading, as he gave off an impressed look on his face. After a moment, he looked up at her. "...Foxfire…You didn't need to do Shadow's reports as well…"
Foxfire's eyes widened at the statement, and she quickly snatched the datapad from Harpuia, looking over it quickly…
...sure enough, she had done her reports...AND Shadow's!
A sarcastic look came on her face. She had stayed up till 2:30 in the MORNING! Now Shadow was going to get onto her...letting off a sigh, Foxfire looked back up towards Harpuia. "I apologize, sir...Using Shadow's office has been…" She glanced to the side for a moment, before continuing.
"Ridiculous."
Harpuia chuckled lightly, before looking over the datapad once more. "...So...Zero was last seen near the south power grid...alone." He narrowed his eyes seriously. "Strange...he usually brings the sky fire along with him."
"If I may…" Foxfire looked upwards. "When I encountered Raven, she had been badly injured...it's most likely she may still be recovering from the battle."
"Weird...most Maverick reploids get their repairs done by now." Harpuia mumbled to himself, making Foxfire inwardly bash herself for nearly revealing Raven's...uniqueness to her Commanding officer…
Harpuia connected Foxfire's datapad to his computer and allowed the data to be transferred to his own personal files.
As they waited, Harpuia glanced up and noticed Foxfire looking down and fidgeting.
"...I take it you miss Phantom, huh?"
"Yeah…" Foxfire mumbled lightly...before she quickly winced and stood up straight. "I mean- No! Well I- He's my Commander! Not that You aren't a good Commander yourself, and it's not like I'm attached to him or anythin- wait- Not that he's NOT important to me- crap that sounded worse…"
Harpuia grinned and faced her. "Foxfire...seriously." His statement made her pause and nervously tense up. "Why don't you just...TELL him you like him already?"
Foxfire's mouth went agape and a deep blush came to her face. "Wh- NO!...NO I CAN'T!"
"Foxfire." Harpuia put his hands on his hips and gave her a sarcastic look. "Phantom ALREADY knows about your crush on him...HECK, the entire ARMY knows about your crush on Phantom."
The words coming out of Harpuia's mouth made Foxfire stiff as a board. WHY...Would Commander Harpuia even SUGGEST such a thing?!
"I-...That-..." She paused and held her arms, quickly looking away. "I have my reasons…I...don't….I can't….He wouldn't-"
DING!
The sound of the download completing made Foxfire jump, and it pulled Harpuia's attention from Foxfire to the reports. Turning, Harpuia looked over the screen and checked the files, before he moved to another computer and typed into the keyboard to ensure the files were put in the correct space.
After he finished typing, he turned-
...only to find that Foxfire had already taken her datapad and was LONG gone out of the room.
For a moment, all Harpuia could do was blink and stare at the door...before he smiled and went back to his work.
***RB***
Ciel walked down the halls of the rebel base, holding a small tray in her hands. This was the 5th time this week Raven had snuck out of the medical ward…
It was so like her to try to be out and about, even when she needed to be resting. It had BEEN at least three weeks since the incident, and Raven had managed to convince her to allow her to go on intelligence-gathering missions.
However, Ciel noticed that Raven wanted nothing to do with Zero...and it was beginning to get ridiculous.
She opened the door to the training room and took two steps in, listening to the sounds. There were a couple of rebels in there, training already. Upon seeing Ciel enter, practically all of them pointed towards a particular simulator room in unison.
Letting off a very small smile, Ciel took the tray and slowly walked towards the room everyone was motioning towards...before she glanced back at them and made a 'shoo'ing motion.
One by one, the rebels stopped staring and returned to their own activities.
Looking back towards the door, Ciel opened it and glanced inside. Sure enough, Raven was going to town on a simulation, trying to beat up a fake Phantom and pratcically trying to murder the guy.
Raven was dodging from side to side. The computer was already well aware of Phantom's cloning abilities, as well as his darkness technique. However, it didn't stop her from aggressively stabbing at the multiple Phantoms.
She gritted her teeth and stabbed her naginata at one Phantom, making him disappear, before quickly turning her attention on the other Phantom, who threw a shuriken at her.
Jumping into the air, Raven twirled her naginata and let out a yell, ready to slice the ninja in half. He glared at her and positioned himself-...only for him to suddenly just...stand still...and disappear.
"What the-" Raven BLEW straight through where the fake Phantom had been and had to flail her arms in order to stop herself from running.
"Simulation terminated." came an automated voice, the entire room fading from a battlefeild to a giant grey room with projectors absolutely everywhere.
Raven scowled and turned, seeing Ciel standing by the control computer.
"Oh come ON, Ciel!" Raven motioned towards the area where the hologram Phantom had once been standing. "I had him RIGHT where I wanted him!"
"...You need to eat, Raven." was the simple reply.
Raven sighed, slapping a hand to her face, before she separated the two halves of her naginata and rested them at her back. "Oh for crying….you sound like fussy Foxfire." she grumbled, making her way towards Ciel.
"I'll take that as a compliment this time." Ciel replied, handing Raven the tray, which had a neatly folded paper bag on top.
Grabbing the paper bag, Raven dug into it and grabbed an apple.
"...you need to eat everything in the bag." Ciel said lightly. Rolling her eyes, Raven placed her back against the wall and chewed on her apple.
"Fiiiine…"
After a short moment of silence, Ciel held the tray closer to herself, watching her friend eat. "...I heard that Foxfire was the one who patched you up."
"Yeah, and she wasn't too gentle about it either." Raven scoffed. "I swear she ENJOYED hearing me yell and scream."
Ciel was silent for a moment, before she pursed her lips. "...sounds like she still cares about you...albeit, still angry."
"I don't care if the little brat is angry." Raven grumbled in between bites. "She's got her blind little optics planted on Phantom, instead of the fact that her master is killing innocent reploids."
"...So she still doesn't know."
"I've TOLD her. She just doesn't listen."
"...Raven, you yourself know that Copy X hid that information away from even the Guardians…" Ciel muttered softly. "Foxfire is very...logical."
"Yeah she's logical alright." Raven scoffed. "She's so logical, she'd take her left arm and GIVE it to that lousey Phantom for spare parts and just BUILD herself a new one." She flailed her arms around. "HECK! She'd take her RIGHT arm and present it to him! She's a delusional reploid-lover."
Ciel was silent for a moment, just allowing Raven to vent and eat. For a while, she gazed around the room, looking at the various places of the training grounds where she could see where Raven had struck, dodged and blown.
"...You know, Raven...you need to stop avoiding Zero."
Raven stopped chewing and looked up at Ciel, a strange look on her face from the sudden subject change...before she continued chewing.
After a long moment of silence, Ciel glanced towards Raven as she ate. "I'm serious, Raven. Zero may be cold at times, and not as understanding as the original X used to be...but he doesn't deserve this cold shoulder you've been giving him for the past month."
"I thought we were talking about the Ghost fangirl, not Firetruck butt." Raven muttered, now suddenly a whole lot more interested in her lunch.
"Raven please." Ciel made a motion with her hand. "We're all on the same side...You need to be able to work with him again."
"I don't have to work with him." Raven replied simply, taking another bite of her apple, before taking out a wrapped sandwich. "Is this peanut butter?...that better be strawberry jelly…"
"Raven…" Ciel sighed lightly. "I know it's been slightly more awkward since everyone now knows that you're a human...but you have to be able to learn to trust your team. They care about you-"
"Ciel." Raven stood up, still chewing her meal and frowned towards Ciel. "I'm a human...that's all they see. All I am to them is a fragile piece of glass that needs protecting, and not really ONE of them. And I get it to a point!" She waved a hand around for emphasis. "I mean, Copy-crap is treating the humans of Neo Arcadia like PETS! It's a ZOO! He keeps them in their little areas, away from his army, away from his walls...and HE calls it paradice!"
She pointed towards Ciel and scowled. "But I'm NOT a little china-doll that needs protecting!"
"Raven, I'm not saying that you can't be on missions...You just need to-"
"Listen, I know it's their JOB to protect the innocent." Raven finished her sandwich and crumpled up the paper bag, tossing it towards Ciel, who managed to catch it. "It was probably a shock for your team to find me in that cave bleeding and all." She scowled. "But I don't trust easily. You know this."
"...I know." Ciel fiddled with the paper bag for a moment, before looking up slightly. "...do you still trust me?"
Raven was silent for a moment, before looking towards Ciel, her voice getting slightly softer. "Of course I do, Ciel...you've been a friend of o-...mine for years. You've been there since...well...the incident with my parents...and…" she trailed off, crossing her arms lightly.
Ciel was silent for a moment. "...well...Raven...I trust everyone in this organization...they're reploids who simply want to be allowed to live alongside humans...they don't want to be above or below you...now...do they want to protect and help you? Yes...it's what they were programmed for, after all…"
Raven made no answer...but slowly started walking for the training computer, to which Ciel took a few steps away, allowing Raven to type into the keyboard. "Well...I'll let you get back to training...try not to get a cramp, ok?" The girl started heading for the door...but once she got to the door, she glanced behind her.
"Oh...and one more thing...My team never made it to you. Zero was the one who found you."
Raven stopped typing and looked towards Ciel, a shocked look on her face.
Ciel gave Raven a steady gaze. "Once he dropped off Colbor, he wouldn't stay still...heck...he barely allowed me to run quick diagnostics on him. He wasn't going to rest until you were back home."
Raven continued to stare at Ciel, her mouth slightly agape.
"...Zero...came to get me?" she asked slowly, trying to let this process in her head. "...I...thought he hated me."
"You're surrounded by allies who care about you, Raven…" Ciel opened the door and stepped through. "...And they trust you."
Ciel closed the door, leaving Raven to ponder.
***NA***
"SHE'S COMING!"
Sobek and Sandstorm quickly scrambled around the halls and found a special area for them to squeeze into, both of them peeking outwards. A few soldiers were going down the hall, but after a while, Foxfire appeared, looking at a specific datapad…
...which was the same datapad that had been stolen from the rebels. Was she not finished studying that thing?
Sobek quickly looked towards Sandstorm. "Quick!" he said in a hushed tone. "Is he coming or what?"
Sandstorm looked at his own datapad and checked the security images on the screen. After a brief moment of looking, a large grin came onto his derp face. "Yup! He's coming around the corner as we speak!"
Sobek rubbed his hands together and took out his weapon. "Ok, Fox. Today is the day!" He grinned...before firing a thin ice blast at the floor, covering the entire hallway in ice.
Foxfire saw something suddenly shining on the ground and she glanced down...however, she also continued to walk- causing her to slip on the freshly iced-ground. Feet now flailing below her, Foxfire let off a shriek as she was now practically skating down the hall.
Not two seconds later, Hidden Phantom was coming down the corner of the hall, and suddenly looked down when the floor changed colors under him. He stood still, quickly looking around him.
"What the-"
He heard a shriek and he looked up- only for Foxfire to SLAM into him, causing both of them to go tumbling onto the iced floor with a loud THUD.
"OH!"
"Ooooh" Sobek and Sandstorm winced at the impact but kept their nosey little heads peeping out of the area they were still taking shelter in. From what they could see, neither Phantom nor Foxfire took any damage…
Foxfire groaned and tried to sit up, but found it difficult doing so, since everything she put her hands or knees on was solid ice. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she started to say, trying to get herself up, rubbing her head as she did so. "I have no idea what happened! Are you alright soldi-"
Foxfire managed to push herself far enough to see exactly WHO she had slammed into…
...finding herself nose-to-nose with Hidden Phantom.
For a moment, all time stopped...Reality didn't exist anymore. She was staring into the deep navy optic sensors of her commanding officer.
...gosh his eyes were gorgeous…
For a moment, Phantom and Foxfire only stared at each other...before Foxfire plain freaked out.
"C-Commander Phantom!" She attempted to get off of the ninja guardian, but the more she tried, the more she failed, constantly slipping and falling right back on top of him. "Gah! I'm- I'm so sorry Commander! I'm moving! I swear- Gah!"
Phantom had a small pink tinge to his cheeks as Foxfire scrambled in an attempt to get off of him...failing miserably.
...she looked so cute panicking like this...He reached up and took her wrist, causing her to sit still, a dark blush on her face.
For a moment, they only sat there…
...however, Phantom heard snickering and his attention was drawn past his lieutenant. Down the hall, he spotted the troublemaking duo Sobek and Sandstorm. The two were snickering and watching the affair with vulture-like optics.
Phantom's expression suddenly fell sarcastic.
...these two were going to pay dearly for this…
"C-C-Commander...I'm so-Sorry! I'm- I'm-"
"Stop."
Foxfire quickly shut her mouth, but gasped when Phantom placed his hands on her waist. He placed pressure on his back and managed to sit himself up, placing Foxfire on her feet to the right of him. She stood very still for a moment, blushing darkly, before she slowly offered him her hand.
However, before she could react, Phantom swung his legs up and pulled off a perfect backflip, flipping perfectly in the air, and landing dramatically at the edge of the ice. He steadied himself and glanced behind him very slightly…
...seeing Foxfire watching him, mouth slightly agape and in awe.
Placing his hands behind his back, he straightened his back and walked proudly down the hall.
Nice Phantom...very nice. He inwardly praised himself as he made his way for the Cutting Shadow Squadron.
Before he heard Foxfire let out a yelp, followed by a loud THUD. Wincing sharply, Phantom put a hand to his head.
"...nice Phantom… " he muttered to himself sarcastically
Foxfire groaned and sat up, rubbing her arm lightly...before she spotted her audience a few feet away. The three Lieutenants stared at each other for a moment...before Foxfire scrambled up and activated her jetpack.
"SOBEK!"
"RUN!" Sobek and Sandstorm quickly scrambled out of their hiding place and practically RACING down the hall.
Sage Harpuia came out of a lab, looking at his own datapad. He was going to have to ask Foxfire to allow him to look at the rebel's datapad once more. Even though she was the top intelligence agent, he wanted to see some of the schematics for hims-
WOOSH!
"HI COMMANDER HARPUIA!"
Harpuia blinked and looked up quickly as Sobek went RUSHING past him. Not three seconds later, Sandstorm was on Sobek's heels.
"AFTERNOON, COMMANDER!" Sandstorm quickly said, also rushing past the lead Guardian.
Harpuia blinked, a strange look on his face- before Foxfire SAILED past him, jets on and teeth grinding.
"SOBEK GET BACK HERE!" She snarled, the chase continuing down the hall, many soldier reploids quickly ducking out of the way of the Lieutenants.
Harpuia blinked...before he shook his head and continued down the hall, looking back towards his datapad.
"Yup." he muttered to himself. "Just another Da-AAAAAY!"
The air commander found himself sliding on a sheet of ice and landing FLAT on his back. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, a stunned look on his face...before a sarcastic look came.
"...Sobek…." he grumbled.
***RB***
Zero made his way down the halls, a frown on his face.
It had been over a month...enough was enough. If she wasn't in her room, then there was only ONE other place she could be.
Glancing towards the clock, he frowned deeper at the fact that it was reading 11:44 pm.
This girl drove him nuts...and a lot of personal pitted HIM as the Maverick hunter that barely showed emotion.
So why did this girl get under his armor?
He could hear Ciel's voice in his head from the conversation that they had during Raven's initial recovery.
Zero, please give her time...and please don't mention her scars. I know most reploids aren't affected by looks...but for humans...there's a certain...standard of beauty...that needs to be kept.
Zero's optics narrowed at the memory.
...I'm not going to tell you what happened to her...that needs to be on her...but I will tell you that it happened when she was very young…
...and when humans see other humans that don't meet…'their' standards of beauty...some can be….very cruel...
Making his way to the simulators, he looked around the main room. Most of the reploid soldiers were already down for the night. Even THEY had better sense than to be up near midnight when they were fighting a war for their LIVES.
Heading for a specific simulator room, he opened and closed the door, looking up to see who or what Raven was fighting today.
...This time it was all FOUR of the Guardians; though the blunt of her attacks were aimed at a certain ninja guardian.
Zero glanced behind him and took out a key, locking the door behind him and slowly walking in deeper into the room.
Raven wasn't paying attention. All of her energy was going into SLASHING at Phantom, Punching at Fefnir, tripping Leviathan...and getting pretty boy Harpuia's wings clipped. She backflipped and twirled her naginata, SLASHING Leviathan clean in half-
...before the computer let off a buzzing sound, and the program shut itself down.
"OH COME ON, SHE'S NOT EVEN REAL!" Raven flailed her arms in the air, gritting her teeth.
"Protocol broken...protocol broken...Protocol-"
"There IS no protocol for a FREAKIN' HOLOGRAM!" Raven snarled, pointing towards the empty space in the room. "Besides! This is WAR!"
"...yup...and the rebels are supposed to be the bigger people, right?"
Raven froze at the voice, her eye twitching slightly, before she glanced behind her, seeing Zero leaning against one of the walls, arms crossed and watching her.
She groaned lowly and put her naginata to her back, dusting off her hands and turning.
"Oh...Zero...I was just leaving." She pointed towards the door. "'Bout time I got some shut eye."
She made her way to the door...and jiggled the handle...but it wouldn't budge.
Raven's eye twitched again and swore under her breath, before glancing back towards Zero...who was fiddling with a key in his fingers.
Turning to face him, she stood there and held out her hand. "Not funny, Zero. Give me the key."
"You know, You're an expert at running away from things, aren't you?" Zero asked lightly, twirling the key lightly in his fingers. "Avoiding subjects, avoiding your team...avoiding team ups...it's amazing how you treat this war personally."
Raven glared at him and made a motion with her hand. "Zero, you don't know what's happened to me...and you'll never understand it."
"You're right. I never will understand it." Zero glanced towards Raven. "...because you're never going to allow me to understand...much less even share it with me."
Raven was taken aback slightly by that comment, before she gritted her teeth. "Zero. The key."
Zero was silent for a moment, before he pushed himself off the wall and faced her. "Tell you what...you seem like the opposite of your little reploid Neo-arcadian soldier friend."
"Foxfire is NOT my friend."
"Well 'Foxfire' doesn't like deals apparently...which probably means you're more susceptible to them."
Raven rose an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms.
Zero rose the key in his hand. "Fight me Raven...if you win, You get the key and you're free to go...I win...and you have to talk to me." He even motioned towards his arm. "I'll even promise not to use my blaster...held weapons only."
Raven gritted her teeth lightly...and she SWORE she could hear Foxfire's voice in her head, addressing a certain someone she HATED.
Don't do it Raven! She could hear the high pitched voice of panic. Raven, don't instigate him! Don't try him! Raven….RAVEN!
Raven took out her Naginata and twirled it. "Fine. Bring it on, Firetruck butt."
Without warning, Raven went rushing at Zero, who took out his Z saber and waited for her to get closer. Once she swung at him, Zero quickly moved to the side and grabbed her by the arm and forced it against her back.
Gritting her teeth, Raven tried to KICK at Zero, but he had already jumped over her and landed on the other side. Raven stumbled and gritted her teeth, glaring behind herself. Zero only stood there at the ready, but not making any other moves.
"Fight BACK Zero." Raven snarled.
"I am fighting back."
"No." Raven stood up and rushed at him again, throwing a punch at him. "You're taking it EASY on me since I'm a HUMAN!"
Zero quickly dodged her punch, and then another one, before blocking a kick and grabbing her fist from another punch. Zero then proceeded to slide his foot under her legs, causing her to fall flat on her back.
Raven growled and sat up, glaring up at Zero, who only stood over her, frowning sternly at her.
"...why do you hate me?"
The question threw Raven off for a moment, but that didn't stop her from getting up and pointing at him accusingly. "I don't hate YOU, YOU hate ME!"
"I don't hate you." Zero replied calmly, raising an eyeridge. "I mean I certainly don't always like you, since you push practically every rebel soldier away, but I don't hate you."
"Wha- I don't-"
"First time recovering here, you watched practically everyone like a hawk, while giving everyone a wide berth." Zero replied, waving a hand in the air. "Understandable at first, but for two years, you've blown off help from other soldiers here, refused to accept help; you barely talk to anyone, and you treat everyone like they're after you."
Raven was silent for a moment, before she crossed her arms. "Trust is earned, Zero. You know that."
"Yes...I know trust is earned…" Zero crossed his own arms. "...but your trust is damn near impossible to earn."
There was silence between the two of them, before Zero continued. "Listen...no one CARES that you're a human...yes we want you safe...but no one is going to force you to stay at base. Should you wait until you're completely healed? Yes. But Raven, you need to understand...we're not your enemies."
"I don't think you're my enemies!"
"Then why are you treating us like it, then?"
Raven had no answer for Zero. She only stared at him, her mouth slightly open. She closed her mouth for a moment, before trying to open it again...but nothing came out.
After a moment of waiting for an answer Zero pursed his lips and turned, heading for the door. "You're surrounded by allies who care for you, Raven." he said, taking the key, unlocking the door and opening it, glancing back towards her.
"We're your friends...it's up to you if you want to be our friend as well."
With that much said, he went out the door and closed it.