-Catgirl-of-Bavaria-: Told you guys I'd be back soon! And thank you to Star Fata for the info on the new series, I hope more turns up about it! And thank you also to DBZ angel for the review as well, I'm glad you like it so far!

Dislcaimer- I still own nothing of Oban but this fan-made plot.

--Chapter 2--

Saviors in the Sky

--

Eva Wei gave a hefty sigh; things just weren't going her way today.

"What the heck is wrong with you!?" She threw her rocket seat a dirty look. How dare it defy her, and on the way home! It had broken down, and its annoyed master had it propped up on a couple of rocks, and had just pulled herself out from under it, cursing at the fact that she probably didn't have the correct tools, possibly even parts with her in her school bag.

She always carried tools with her, sometimes even random parts, just in case a breakdown should occur. Though, of course, now that she did have a breakdown, in the middle of a vast field, no less, she coincidentally didn't have the proper tools to fix her moped.

To make matters worse, she was currently wearing a skirt, the uniform of her school that they'd finally talked her into trying out. They, that is to say, her teachers, and her father, even some classmates were in on it. She had always been comfortable in the boy's version of the uniform, but she had caved today, even if only to, in her own words, shut them up about it. Maybe, if she wore it one day, just one measly day, they'd leave her alone. But of course, on that one measly day, she had to fix her rocket seat after school, in a skirt. Not exactly the best wear for such purposes.

"Ah, I guess this thing is getting a bit old…but it hasn't even been a year! It should have a lot more in it!!" Eva tried to reason for her vehicle's defense, but found that side a bit slippery to stand on.

After a bit of a staring contest with that vehicle, Eva sighed and decided to fiddle with the wires again. She figured that maybe something was disconnected inside, since everything outside seemed to be fine.

Self-consciously smoothing her skirt to hopefully cover her enough, Eva leaned over the thing, fiddling with a screwdriver until she could pry the silver and painted cover off and find all of the wires and gadgets inside. Sifting through said wires, she eventually found the problem.

"Heh, no wonder it won't work. Stupid right handle got disconnected, somehow…" She said, twirling a wire between her fingers, the wire having looked like it got ripped in two. "Must have been a short or something…"

She reached over to her bag, rummaging until she found some electrical tape. Tearing a bit off with aid from her teeth, the sixteen year old deftly wound the tape around the two parts, ensuring that the copper bits within were touching as she did so. She pulled herself back up, and set the metal cover back into its place to protect the wiring inside and worked the screws carefully back into their places. She patted the vehicle she'd created from scrap; it was almost as much her baby as the Whizzing Arrow III had been to Stan and Koji. It may not be the one that accompanied her on her journey to Alwas and Oban, but she had begun creating this new one almost immediately after her return to Earth, and she created it in the image of her first. She had even thrown in a bit of a paint job, painting it with the colors of the Arrow III, even giving it her signature 'evil bunny' on the front of the chassis. It gave her a smile whenever she looked at it, thinking about all that she'd done in the ship that the new vehicle memorialized.

Eva looked to the sky, as if she could see Alwas, as if she could see Oban, straight from her standpoint on that little grassy hill. As if she could see the friends she'd made, and had to leave. She really wished she could see all that. She missed it so much. And this was probably the millionth time she'd thought of those places and people during that day alone. How could anyone at all go through all of that, and come home to a fairly mundane life and expect to carry on as if it was nothing? As if they could easily forget about the adventure like it was any ordinary happening?

She let out a sigh, finding that the heavens weren't about to serve as her television of memories, and gripped her newly fixed bike by the handle bars.

"Let's see how she is now," Eva smiled, and started the device with a twist of the rubber handle bar. It revved up perfectly to her expectations, though it had nowhere to go, being trapped on top of the rocks. Eva smiled all the broader at her creation.

"Back in business," She grinned, releasing her rocket seat and brushing her hands off of one another, smacking the dirt out of those gloves that could always be found on her hands. She was on her way to brush any opposing dirt off her knees, when some movement caught her eye and brought it to the edge of this meadow.

Eva straightened up, her crimson eyes wide and scanning to identify the visitor. As the wind picked up and blew her red and black hair around her face, she groaned with realization of who it really was.

"I'm not here. I'm too busy rummaging in my bag to notice you!" She sang lowly, stooping and turning away to do just as she said; rummage in her bag. She hummed a little tune to herself as she rustled and rustled in her bag for an object she didn't need, watching the seconds pass twice as long as they should.

'They should be gone, now, right?' Eva thought hopefully as her hand ceased to rummage, her crimson eyes daring to look over her shoulder.

"Hey, Eva," A voice sounded from almost directly behind her, causing the dyed-hair girl to inwardly groan.

"Ah, hey, Ren! How are ya?" Eva shot back up from her crouch, turning around and fingering the goggles on her head nervously. 'I should have just zoomed out of here before they noticed me! I didn't win Oban for nothing!' Eva scolded herself, inwardly hitting herself with one of her favorite and most hefty wrenches.

The girl before her, Ren, smirked, looking Eva up and down. Behind her were about four others, half girls and half boys. Eva hated to admit she knew these people, she hated to admit that they had once been close to being her friends. Yeah, they blew that the instant they doubted her about what she so readily told them about Oban.

"See you're finally wearing the skirt, you giving up being a boy?" Ren asked the girl nastily, tossing a bit of her blonde hair out from beside her face. Eva simply rolled her eyes.

"If insulting me until I run home to my daddy crying is what you're trying to do, you're going to have to do better than that." Eva crossed her arms defiantly, as if to dare them to try.

"Your daddy? As in the one who didn't know you existed for ten years of your life?" Ren tossed back casually, but with a slight glint in her eyes.

Eva glared, but made no move to indicate the words' effect on her.

"Yep. That one, who, for the record, is now just as much a father to me as any of yours is to you!" Eva's voice elevated slightly, but still kept her cool. Her father did his best, now that they'd been properly related for almost a year.

"Also the one who supposedly won the race of Obar, too, right along with his pilot daughter?" The raven-haired girl behind Ren added in, eager to do her own damage. Her voice was a mocking coo, and it was angering Eva, though she was stubborn enough to never show it; all her little battles with her father had trained her well for this.

"I told you, it's Oban, and it really did happen! I really did race!" Eva retorted, shoving everything that hadn't made it into her bag again, back in with her foot. "It's kind of sad that I live on a planet with some of the most untrustworthy people in the galaxy, I've met slugs that I can trust more than you lot! At least they would listen to my stories and not throw them back at my face like they were garbage!"

Everyone before her looked dumbstruck. Serves them right, she knew, they never believed a word of her story. They were probably still figuring that Eva valued alien slugs more than them. Suddenly one of the boys chimed in his own insult, just as Eva turned, picking her bag up and making to hop on her rocket seat.

"Come on, Eva, it's so far fetched, how would you expect anyone to believe that you actually raced? I mean, the whole load about the 'creators' or whatever, that ultimate prize, and what was it, your gunner becoming some all powerful Avatar? How would you expect us to believe any of that?" He asked sardonically. Eva, who'd managed to get her hands around the handle bars before she froze, stared menacingly at her seat. She only vaguely noticed her hands starting to shake.

"For your information," Eva suddenly turned, glaring the guy in the eye. "The Creators are not a load, it's the truth, but that may be beyond your comprehension, so I'll let it slide. But our gunner practically gave his life for me! And if you insult him, that will not fly." She told them all firmly, trying to resist the trip down a very depressing memory lane this insult was bringing up.

"Ooh, looks like we've struck a nerve!" Ren snickered, taking a step towards her once-friend. "So, tell me, Eva, this gunner of yours, were you two involved?" Eva turned her glare back to Ren, knowing she never said anything to this group about what Jordan had told her…She'd never gotten that far before they labeled her story as unbelievable.

"Even if we were, it's not like I'd tell you! Like I said, slugs on Alwas are more trustworthy than you!" Eva said, trying to ignore the blush that was popping up on her face at the thought of Jordan's last moments with her.

"Aw, look, she's blushing, how cute that she has a crush on an imaginary friend!" the second boy cooed. The group gave a slight laugh, while Eva fumed.

"Fine, believe whatever you want, I'm so out of here!" Eva hissed, grabbing her bag and preparing to swing a leg over her rocket seat. Before she could manage anything, though, a hand grabbed her by the wrist.

"Oh, come on, Eva, you used to be lots of fun!" Ren laughed scathingly, giving her once-friend a tug in attempts to pull her off the bike.

"That was before I made the mistake of telling you one of the greatest things to ever happen to me, you jerks!" Eva yelled at all of them, twisting her hand out of Ren's grip and using it to push Ren into a backward stumble. Eva gasped at her own out-lash, and how Ren's demeanor seemed to have changed, and for the worst. The blonde haired girl, with some encouragement from her friends, marched up to Eva, grabbing a collection of the girl's white button up uniform top.

"You wanna try pushing me again?" Ren hissed dangerously. Eva inwardly sighed; this was partially her fault for trying to befriend such a quick-tempered group. Before she could respond, she was shoved, and almost over the back of her bike. Quickly regaining herself while leaning on the thing, Eva threw out a kick to keep an advancing Ren at bay.

"So, you guys want a fight, do ya?" Eva hopped up into a fighter's stance, ready for the group, who did indeed confirm her question with the solid and glaring looks on their faces.

Ren was the first to charge, but Eva dodged her fist with ease, managing a fist into her former friend's stomach. Eva grinned, but found a hand flying through her cheek at that moment, this one from one of the other girls; which one, however, she didn't care to tell. She grabbed the hand that had just assaulted her, and maneuvered the person who owned it away from her in a sweep, earning a slight cry from the girl as she collided with one of the boys.

Eva suddenly noticed that the group had practically surrounded her, she prepared herself for the next advance, and managed to keep them off of her, utilizing various tricks, sometimes those that she learned from her stay on Alwas and Oban. She was not only good at avoiding opponents in a star racer, but in hand to hand as well. However, it remained that the fight was five to one, and it eventually caught up with her; she blocked a blow to her face, only to be hit square in the gut by one of the boys.

Gasping for her lost breath, Eva stumbled back, finally showing a weakness. Two of her opponents grabbed her by the wrists and forced her back up, to face Ren. Eva grinned to find that she'd left her own marks on her former friend, specifically a few scrapes on her cheeks, and one on her chin. Though the throbbing that was in her face right now indicated that she had at least a few scratches of her own to match.

"You really think you could have taken all of us? How pathetic." Ren laughed, folding her arms across her chest, coming forward to Eva. Eva simply laughed, her red eyes narrowed and glued to the blonde before her.

"Yeah, actually I did. Humans are nothing. Humans are easy compared to what I've been up against before." Eva put simply as that.

"Well, then, care to explain to me why you're now cornered and pinned by two of us?" Ren laughed back. "One of your alien friends gonna come and save the day or somethin'?"

Eva was about to throw something back, when she caught the sound of something, something familiar; a sort of buzzing. It sounded from above, and probably behind her, but it tugged hard at her memory. She knew that sound…

--

Aikka held tight to his riding seat, coming to the end of this wormhole of a portal, as the wind continued whipping around himself and G'dar. He gripped his side a little harder, as if willing the wound there to stop bleeding, to stop causing him such excruciating pain. If he at least held pressure on it, it would help, all the more painful though it was.

"This is it, G'dar, prepare yourself," he said softly to his beetle mount, who cried its apprehension again.

The blue ring appeared again, and Aikka knew, this was certainly it. On the other side, assuming and hoping that everything had gone to his plan, was Earth. On the other side of that ring was the girl called Molly. He hoped he wouldn't have to look far.

With the passing of that ring, the prince and G'dar found themselves in midair, suddenly floating after the high speed journey through the portal. They began to fall.

"G'dar, spread your wings!" the prince commanded hastily, not having time to notice the landscape, that happened to be hurtling at them. G'dar was in no hurry to disobey.

Now taking the time to observe where he was, Aikka scanned the area below. There were several buildings around, mostly in scattered groups. They were tall, and often blocky, quite contrasting to his own planet's structures, which were flowing and smooth, harmonious with the nature. These seemed as if they'd just been stuck there, with no real desire to fit in to the world around them, which, sufficed to say, was beautiful in nature.

Easily luring his mind to more important matters than sight seeing, Aikka began to scan directly below him, and found a small green field. His breath nearly caught as he noticed what was in the center of this clearing; there were six figures, figures of humans, he could tell from even above. Next to them was a mechanical device, one he recognized as being Molly's transportation; he'd seen her on Alwas on that thing, or at least something similar. The smile that was budding on his face, however, faded as soon as he saw the hostility surging through the group of humans below.

With another look, he identified one head, that unmistakable red on top of black that flared around her shoulders, the pair of racing goggles set just above her bangs. It was his human princess, but it wasn't right; not only was she being held back, but one of the other humans had just sent a backhand across her cheek!

"Molly," Aikka muttered angrily; how dare they touch her, let alone harm her! "G'dar, take me lower!" the young prince commanded his mount, who readily obeyed, gliding down from the sky. Aikka still wasn't sure about how this would go, with him seeming only moments off from complete exhaustion, but he had to get those dishonorable humans away from his friend. He wrapped a hand around the handle of his dagger, ready to unsheathe it.

The humans attacking Eva seemed to notice their new accompaniment, for they looked frantically around for the same buzzing sound that Eva was hearing. What they found, was the sight of a giant beetle blocking out the sun. The two behind Ren noticed first, and let out gasps, contemplating between running away and sticking around to see what the new herald meant. Ren then noticed, and let out a gasp of her own. Eva, seeing the other's reactions, could only believe that she indeed wasn't going crazy or hearing things in the face of her defeat. She apparently wasn't the only one hearing this sound that prodded so desperately at her memory. But before she had time to look up for herself, though, something dropped from the sky, landing roughly before her. She found her crimson eyes fixated on the new visitor, and didn't even notice her captors release her in fear.

"It would be wise of you humans to not harm this girl any more," Aikka growled through the jolts of pain that had come from his leap off of G'dar. "Unless you desire to make very powerful enemies across the galaxy."

Ren and the others stood, paralyzed, staring at the alien being before them, or, rather, the threatening dagger that he brandished before him. He had stunning blue eyes, but at the moment, they were full of malice. He didn't look too well, either, for all the scratches, bruises, and the side of his shirt being drenched in scarlet. She suddenly, along with her friends, re-noticed the enormous beetle, glaring at them through beady blue eyes of its own, hovering over both Eva and the injured alien boy. The bug gave a shrill shriek, directly at them, causing them all to jump considerably off the ground.

"C'mon, let's get outta here!" Ren commanded her group, their feud with Eva forgotten.

Aikka watched with accomplishment as the group ran away yelling, looking over their shoulders as if G'dar was chasing them, intent on making them his next meal. He felt his heart trying desperately to keep up with him, he felt it throbbing in his side as he pushed his dagger back into its sheath with more effort than should have been normal. He was in terrible condition, and he was struggling to keep on his feet any more. But, he had made it. He had found Molly, and he had stopped any more harm from coming to her. He had lived to see her again.

-Catgirl-of-Bavaria-: So, just a note, I know how in the last episode the team was told to keep the whole race top secret, but I decided to keep this chapter, with Eva's 'friends' having been told…I actually wrote this chapter before I even saw the last episode. But, though I usually stick to the plot of the things I write on, I don't think this will be that big of a deal. It's not a big detail, and these guys won't be showing up again. So, not a problem, just a little disclaimer.