Title: The Prophecy
Written by: Angel
" Raven, come in Raven, do you copy?"
" What now" he answered sarcastically, they needed him to do everything how pathetic.
"My orders from Prozen are to tell you to head to the Red River base to pick up your next assignment."
" Do you currently know the assignment?" he was starting to get somewhat annoyed.
" Why uh yes I do." He said unsure of what else to say
" Well why donft you tell me then so I can get on with my life."
" Those werenft the orders Raven."
" I donft have orders to kill you, that doesnft mean I wont" Raven answered back, he didnft have time for poor fools like this one.
" Of course Ifm sure theyfd understand if I bend the rules just this once." The man on the other side of the receiver said nervously. Raven was just one of those guys you shouldnft mess with. " Your next assignment will be to rendezvous with Colonel Shubaltz of the first panzer division unit at the Gygolos prison."
" Why?" He asked; all of a sudden it began to get interesting.
" For a girl." He said flatly, no point in beating around the bush. Raven didnft say anything; he just sat back in his genosaurer and realized just how pathetic the Imperial army really was. They couldnft even handle a girl without his help. Now, he was annoyed. When Raven didnft answer, the guy went on.
"The reason we need you for this is because well, she is a problem here and Minister Prozen feels the interrogation process would go smoother under his watch. You are to take her directly to him."
"Why is it so hard for you fools to contain a girl?"
" Well, she was taken to our prison in a molga but she was able to render the pilot unconscious. Then she destroyed the molga along with three iron kongs, all of these men died along with the plans for a zoid the minister was building." But it didnft stop there, the man continued.
" Then before we could contain her she had broken out of her restraints and took out ten of our men unarmed."
Raven had to admit that she certainly had an impressive reputation. " Where is Minister Prozen now." He asked his excitement returning; maybe this would be fun after all.
" The minister is stationed at the Red River base, he wanted to give you the orders in person."
This should be interesting He thought turning off the receiver and turning towards the prison.
It took a day and a half to reach Gygolos; Raven opened the cockpit of the genosaurer and jumped out.
" Shadow, stay here." He told his black organoid " Ifll be back."
Upon reaching Colonel Shubaltz there was an air of seriousness around the base. " Ieve come for what you canft handle." He said with a smirk. Shubaltz just frowned, he knew Raven was taunting him but he couldnft afford to fight right now.
" Bring her out." He said into a radio, then turned to face Raven. "This girl is wanted for questioning by the Minister himself Raven, do not take this mission lightly and go directly to the Red River base."
" Ifve heard this before and I donft want to hear it again, Ifll take care of it." He said it plain and simple, something he was sure even the colonel could understand. Just then the doors flew open and ten soldiers, all well armed, walked out forming a barrier around the prisoner. They walked slow and were so close together Raven couldnft even see her. When they got closer Raven walked towards the genosaurer and waited for them to put her in. When he got in, there were still two men by the cockpit and they didnft leave until he started to close it. They saluted and he was finally off, heading towards the Red River base. He took his time though, the trip there going at full speed had worn shadow out. He didnft get far into the desert before it started to get dark so he stopped and got out to make camp. He left her in the cockpit and called shadow out. He hadnft even thought of turning around to get a good look at her or anything before jumping down. He started building a fire and then made some soup; while he was watching the pot and talking to shadow he felt it. The feeling that something was wrong stabbed him in the back like a knife. He climbed back into the genosaurer and she wasnft there. The hand cuffs lay open on her seat. Raven turned towards the horizon and watched the figure in the distance fade with the last of the setting sun. Shadow growled angrily to Raven but he just starred.
" I know very well we could catch her if we gave chase shadow, but itfs more fun this way." Run little mouse while you still can, because the cat is on the way?/P>
She had been running all night but how long that had been she didnft know. Despite her dry throat and aching ribs, she never slowed her pace. About two hours later her body refused to go on and she fell to her knees, panting. She could barely breath, but she knew she had to get away, far away. Once he stepped into the zoid she could sense his loneliness, but the darkness that surrounded it scared her; it was the first time in her life that shefd ever run from a challenge. But the feeling was too strong, she had to get away and fast. He was a smart warrior that much she could tell, she had felt his eyes burning into her back when shefd escaped. She knew that he knew she was gone and that he could have easily caught up with her, but he didnft. He was toying with her, letting her wear herself out and it seemed he had won.
"No," she whispered to herself, " It canft end like this." She forced herself to stand but her legs felt like jelly and her body couldnft handle it. She fell to the ground letting darkness cloud her vision.
She found herself in a world of light floating, letting it caress her skin healing her bruised and beaten body.
Memories flooded her mind making her remember the things she had kept hidden from even her closest friends
Her parents had worked in the imperial army; both piloting redlers with modified stealth capabilities. They had died in a freak accident that was just considered as such, but she knew the truth: it was murder. She knew very well that Prozen had staged the whole thing so he could use her. She was very powerful at a young age being highly skilled in the martial arts. She could take down Prozenfs best men including Karl Shubaltz, when she was just ten. The abilities she had, taught to her by her father, were her gift and her curse. But she let Prozen take her in, despite the truth and let him train her. While she was there she learned her way around the base and got to know every room and secret passage. All the while she was getting stronger, and when the time was right she would take her revenge. Then one night she got into her zoid and escaped leaving Prozen and her past behind her. All she could think about was what he did and realized that by staying there she was giving him what he wanted.
So instead she lived on her own for five years in a small village called the Sand Colony. But she never stopped training her mind and her body as her father and mother taught her: If your mind doesnft have just as much control over the battle as your body, if they do not work together in perfect harmony, victory is impossible. And she believed it with every fiber of her being. Soon she would be strong enough, and the time would come for Prozen to meet a very sudden death. The day they had captured her she had been completely careless, she had gone out to finish something that should have been finished a long time ago. She piloted her lightning saix out of the village and towards a cave in the side of the mountains, just big enough for a zoid. The lightning saix was a technology that went far beyond any zoid that has been created before. Her parents made it and kept it secret, teaching her all about how to pilot it. But since they had met such a sudden death, they hadnft had time to hide their research so the army had found it. Just another thing that Prozen wanted from her It reached speeds up to 325 miles per hour and went so fast that it was almost invisible to the naked eye. If Prozen got a hold of it, everything her parents had worked for would all be gone, and she would not see that happen. Saying one last good bye to her best friend, she sealed the saix away forever. She covered the cave entrance with rocks and mud to make it look like the side of the mountain. The job took hours, and just as the last light of day disappeared behind the trees she finished and climbed down.
Trying to hide the pain she felt she went down to the pond and sat in deep thought, she hadnft wanted to seal the saix away but it was for the best, right? Even with the original plans they wouldnft be able to build the actual zoid if they didnft have a model. Sighing, she leaned her head back on a tree trunk and closed her eyes. Normally she was alert, ready and listening for anything, but she was so deep in thought that she hadnft heard the footsteps of the 50 men that slowly surrounded her. Then she heard it, one of the men had been careless and stepped on a twig giving away his position all most immediately, but by the time she had gotten to her feet they were already at point blank range and all well armed. She had no other choice, so she spread her hands out to show them that she had no weapons and sat back down. The men relaxed a bit but they always kept their guns pointed at her. She smiled at this, her reputation proceeded her. They took her away in a molga and the rest went in redlers, but about half way there they were joined by three iron kongs. One night when they stopped to make camp, she over heard voices in the tent stationed behind her. The conversation came back to her as if it were yesterday when it played over again inside her head.
" So where did you guys come from?"
" Wefre delivering plans for a new type of zoid to Prozen," a man said cautiously, " wefre kind of lucky we ran into you because wefd run out of water." He said, suddenly trying with no avail to change the subject.
" So what kind of zoid is he building?" The other man pressed.
" A cheetah type, I believe itfs called a lightning saix?
She didnft hear anything after that; the words hit her in the face like a bucket of ice cold water. Shefd have to get rid of those plans before they reached the base, but how?/FONT>
The opportunity to put her plan into action had come at the worst possible time, three minutes from their final destination; a base located a little ways outside the valley of the rare hertz. She scoped the area out and saw that only one division unit was based there at the time. This meant that she was lucky that there werenft more of them, yet even if she succeeded in destroying the iron kongs she wouldnft be able to escape. She shut the thought out, as long as the plans were destroyed for good it wouldnft make a difference, she could escape later. Now was the time, her chance had come. She brought her arms above her head and swung them down hard. The pilot was unconscious and she took over the controls. Typing a destination into the computer she hit autopilot and self-destruct at the same time. It took longer than anticipated to open the hatch because of her hand -cuffs but she finally got it open with only a few seconds to spare. The molga turned towards the kongs and she jumped out, rolling on the ground for a few seconds she had just enough time to put her head down as all four zoids exploded. In the time it took for them to get organized she had pulled a needle like tool from her belt, jammed it into the keyhole of her hand?cuffs and knocked a spring loose causing them to snap open. As soon as she stood up again at least twenty men came at her, all of them were cocky but they had fear in their eyes, she took advantage of that and ten of them fell before reinforcements came and overwhelmed her. Then about two days later the order came from Prozen to take her to him. She almost had a heart attack at the sound of his name but the fear quickly turned into anger, now she understood. When they brought her out she was surprised to see only one pilot and one zoid, a t-rex type that shefd never seen before, but it surprised her even more to see the pilot was a boy about her age.
Walking with the soldiers surrounding her she thought about how stupid they really were. At least she thought they were stupid, until hefd stepped into the cockpit. It was then that the pure evil inside that boy presented itself to her. She felt like crawling into a dark corner and hiding. Something she hadnft felt since the day she met Prozen
Her eyes fluttered and she sat bolt upright finally escaping the memories that she had kept hidden in her mind. She sat there inhaling and exhaling deeply for a few minutes, watching the first rays of the sun creep over the hills of sand. Then, still exhausted, she lied back down and drifted into a dreamless sleep. Just then, a glint of black metal appeared over the horizon.
"Look at that Shadow," Raven said, " Shefs finally worn out." Shadow growled in response.
It took her a while before she finally ran herself out, he thought to himself, no wonder no one could contain her she must have an amazing amount of energy, she ran about twenty-six miles without slowing her pace what have I gotten myself into.
Raven only brought the genosaurer half way towards her and walked the rest; he didnft want the boosters to wake her up. When Raven got closer he could finally make out what she looked like. She had silky brown hair that fell just past her shoulders, her face was sun kissed and almost seemed to glitter, but she didnft have a mark on her face, which surprised him. She was wearing a black shirt that cut off at her elbows and a green skirt with a large tan belt running through it. He and Shadow walked cautiously towards her. They were a few feet away when her eyes snapped open. Raven stopped not knowing what to do; her head slowly turned and her eyes locked with his. Her eyes were big and brown, a deep, beautiful chestnut color, but the hatred he saw in her eyes made him want to look away. He would have, but she broke the gaze and bolted in the other direction. How much energy does this girl have? Shadow opened his wings but Raven stopped him, and started running instead.
"Shadow, stay here Ifll get her, you can have fun later."
Reluctantly Shadow withdrew, standing ready like a faithful servant to his master. Raven ran she was fast, well fast enough for someone who had almost gone into a coma from the heat and exertion. He was surprised by her stamina; she hadnft had water since shefd been at the prison, maybe even longer than that. He caught up with her and knocked her over trying to pin her down but she reached up and put her hands around his neck bringing her knee right into his face. He cried out and rolled over swearing that she would pay for that with her life. She scrambled to her feet again and kept running but Raven wasnft stalled much by the blow to the face and was right behind her again. His rage boosted the flow of adrenaline in his blood and he easily caught up with her. Reaching out with both hands he grabbed her around the waist and threw her on the ground. She started to get up again but he kneed her in the stomach before that could happen. She crumpled; hefd knocked the wind out of her pretty darn good. He stood behind her breathing hard. Why do I get the feeling she hasnft given up yet? A split second later, she swung her arm around hard but he caught it and twisted it up behind her back bringing her to her feet. She flinched, but only that, and bent over and brought her leg up behind him, hitting him hard in the back of the head. He fell to the ground nearly unconscious, but he would not give up yet. Raven pushed himself up onto one knee and looked around for her. He saw her to the right of him; she was on her knees, bent over with one hand on the ground in front of her with the other on her chest. Her breathing was short and labored and she was coughing as well. It was too much for her, he thought as he stood up; she shouldnft have pushed herself like that.
She fell onto her back still breathing hard, shefd closed her eyes but he could tell that she was still conscious. Itfd gotten to the point where she couldnft even sit up. Raven walked up to her and bent down to pick her up. She threw her arm up weakly to try and stop him but it wasnft enough by a long shot. He stopped her arm gently and set it down next to her, then picked her up. She didnft have the strength to struggle anymore; it would have been suicide to try.
I canft keep pushing myself like this, I still have to keep a promise to my parents Prozen WILL be destroyed. But if I keep on pulling stunts like that, I wonft have enough energy to breathe. She started to slow her breathing to a normal pattern so she would inhale long and deep, getting large amounts of air into her lungs with every breath.
Raven looked down at her, her eyes were still closed but her body had relaxed since she regulated her breathing. Shefs recovering, but she wonft be strong enough to stand until tonight and I refuse carry her everywhere. He was close to the genosaurer now and Shadow was waiting patiently beside it. As Raven approached them Shadow growled at his return.
" What do you mean by what did I do to her?" Raven answered back angrily. "She just wore herself out running and trying to fight back!"
Shadow growled again.
"I donft care if it would have been easier for you to get her!" He yelled back, still walking towards the genosaurer. " Shefs my responsibility, I donft need you holding my hand all the time!"
Shadow growled softer this time. Raven was silent for a few minutes then answered back.
" Shadow you know very well that I donft want to get rid of you." He said setting her down gently at the base of the genosaurer. Her breathing was still hard, but she was definitely making progress.
Raven bent over again and built another fire. Hopefully Ifll be here long enough to use it this time. He turned around and looked at her, her breathing was slow and normal now; shefd fallen asleep. Raven watched her for a minute. What could Prozen possibly want her for? And if she can destroy things that easily without a zoid of her own then why is she so afraid? Questions like these swam around in his head for a while before he could fall asleep.
He was in world of endless light letting it wash the sadness from his soul.
" Whatfs going on?" He questioned the air. Suddenly, in a whirl of colors he was on his stomach on the edge of a cliff. His hands were out in front of him over the rocky edge; they felt abnormally heavy. He risked a look over; it was that girl! Her hands clamped firmly in his she was crying out his name.
" Raven help me please!"
He looked straight into her eyes, she was afraid. His palms were starting to sweat; he wouldnft be able to hold on much longer. She was slipping and he was straining to hold on to her with all the strength he had left. But, it wasnft enough and she fell, he tried to yell but no sound came from his mouth and she just kept falling and falling?/FONT>
Raven sat bolt upright breathing hard. " What was that?" Catching himself, he sighed and brushed it away like it hadnft happened. Getting up he drank some water and figured it was about eight ofclock in the morning. He saw Shadow; he looked like a big metal ball. The girl was sleeping right where hefd left her but she looked troubled and she was sprawled out on the ground as if someone threw her there and she hadnft moved since. It couldnft be, he thought. He went over and kneeled down next to her, we should probably get going anyway. He was just about to nudge her and wake her up when she suddenly threw herself forward yelling for help. He caught her, and she tried to get away but he held her shoulders tight, he couldnft understand what she was doing, then realized she was still asleep.
" HELP!" she screamed, shefd started to cry, not a lot, just a few tears at a time all the while screaming for help.
" WAKE UP!" Raven yelled at her. He started to shake her, maybe a bit to hard, but he finally managed to get her to open her eyes. His hands were still on her shoulders, she was holding on tightly to his arms and he could feel her trembling, she looked around slowly as if questioning her surroundings until her eyes met with Ravenfs. He looked back at her with an almost concerned look wondering what was going on. She kept starring back it him, he noticed something then, her eyes seemed almost innocent, but afraid and unsure at the same time. He let go of her slowly, not knowing what else to do and gave her some water. She took it but somewhat reluctantly; never the less started drinking it for her own sake. Raven stood watching her until she gave the bottle back then turned to put it away. He stopped awkwardly and said to her, " Whatfs your name?"
"Why?" she asked, " They didnft tell you?"
" Would I be asking you?" His tone was a little harsher than hefd meant it to be. He turned to face her and saw her looking at the ground, hair blowing in the morning wind. She remained utterly silent.
" Well, if you like being called: hey you! Then have it your way." He replied coldly. He turned to walk a way but she said something after all.
"Angel." She answered weakly; defiance would get her no where. Raven could have guessed shefd have a name like that, thatfs just so typical.
" Well?" She called after him, her voice still shaking.
" Well what?" He said.
" Whatfs your name?" He didnft answer right away; he just stood there like a statue searching her eyes with his own.
" Raven." He said bitterly turning to look at the ground. He put the bottle away and came back; Angel was lying on her back looking at the sky. He followed her gaze but only saw clouds.
" Can you stand?" She looked up with a sorry expression written on her face. Then started to push herself onto her feet. She stood up, but only for a few seconds and then she fell. Raven caught her and held her up looking at her. She had both hands on her head and her eyes were closed tight in pain.
"Are you alright?" He said, not knowing what was going on.
"My head? but before Angel could finish she was cut off by the sound of an approaching zoid. Raven turned towards the sound and watched as a blue shield liger approached.
"Van." Raven said, his voice full of anger. With no other choice Raven picked Angel up and ran towards the genosaurer. He almost dropped her; she was so cold.
"Shadow!" He yelled, not having time to worry about her right now, and watched as his organoid fused with his zoid. Putting Angel in, he strapped himself down, and closed the cockpit.
" Look Van," Fiona said, " Therefs a girl with him."
" Your right." Van answered suspiciously, it wasnft like Raven to have partners and he doesnft take prisoners either.
I donft have time for this, the easy way out would be to run, but I donft run, and I want a better fight under circumstances in my favor, so I canft kill him. Raven fired his charged particle beam at a low power and hit the shield liger in the leg; the zoid dropped instantly and zeek rocketed out.
"Canft fight with a lame zoid Van, guess will have to finish this later."
" Raven you freak! You did that on purpose!"
" I have better things to do." With that Raven turned around and piloted the genosaurer out of Vans range and stopped again. It was still a good two days travel going at his current speed so he decided to keep going. After awhile Raven was too curious to keep it in any longer.
" What does Prozen want you for?" he asked slowly. Raven heard her give a short laugh in response.
" Ifm surprised that they didnft tell you but either way I canft trust you, youfre still the enemy."
" Then youfre a Republican."
" No."
" Then why am I your enemy?"
"Me being your prisoner and all should explain enough?
" I mean the real reason Angel, you suck at lying."
" You work for Prozen." She said it plain and simple with enough hatred in her voice for the entire Republican army. Raven was surprised, sure Prozen wasnft the greatest person in the world but how could she possibly know him well enough to hate him so much? Neither of them spoke another word until they stopped to make camp.
Raven closed the hand cuffs around her wrists and noticed something in her pocket, he pulled it out. It was a needle like tool; this must have been how she escaped before. He showed it to her saying,
" Donft think youfll be needing this anymore." She smiled shaking her head and followed him to a not-so-rocky area. He built a fire and they both sat down across from each other. She looked at the ground for a long time before she looked at him. Her eyes met his for third time but this time she was searching for something inside.
" If I tell you why, will you take these cuffs off?" she spoke almost as if she was shy, like she was going to take back what shefd said any second now.
" You want them off that bad?" He did want to know still, Raven hesitated; he didnft feel like playing tag anymore.
" I wonft run," She said sensing his doubt. Without saying a word Raven walked towards her and unlocked them for her. He paused a minute, half expecting her to throw a punch, but she just put her hands in her lap. He sat down and listened as she told him her story, and to say the least he was shocked; hefd never known Prozen like that.
" Angel, where are you from?" He asked maybe too anxiously, but he had to know.
" From here, why?"
" Because you donft have a mark on your face, everyone born here does."
" A mark?" she said skeptically. So he turned his head away from her and pointed to his cheek.
" Like this." He answered back to her skepticism. At the sight of the mark on his cheek Angelfs eyes widened and started to glow until a bluish light consumed her body.
" What is this?" Raven said in response to his surprise. She looked down at him with an expressionless face.
" The task at hand must be fulfilled." Her voice was echoing endlessly in his ears when she spoke and she continued.
" The angel must seek the raven, the one who has tamed the dark shadow! For only the angel knows how to find and release the ravenfs full potential!" Her voice grew steadily louder until she was yelling above the wind that was swirling around her. Raven was on his back staring at her too afraid to move. He watched the winds die down and the glow fade, and still sitting where she was she fainted. He got up and crawled over to her, he noticed a glow coming from her arm under her sleeve. Raven pushed her sleeve up and saw that her shoulder was glowing. He reached over and touched it; it was hot and he pulled his hand away burning. Raven looked at his fingertips, they didnft hurt anymore but they were glowing. He watched as the light was absorbed by his skin and then looked at her shoulder, it had stopped glowing and was replaced with the very same mark that was on his face.
" Angel?" Raven asked nudging her, he was almost afraid of her now.
" W-hat?" She answered slowly, unsure of where she was.
" What was that?" He asked.
" Ifm not sure," she said as he helped her up, " but I think I know what it means."
Raven and Angel talked for a little bit after building a new fire and making some coffee, and decided that " the raven that had tamed the dark shadow" was him and that the angel was her. But neither of them were completely certain about the "releasing the ravens full potential" part of it.
" What could it mean?" Raven asked looking at her, her eyes were blank and he almost thought that she was going to go into another weird trance. She snapped out of it as soon as waved his hand in front of her face though, and assured him that she was just thinking.
" Ifm not sure what it means," she answered after he repeated his question, " but -- "
Before she could finish her sentence, a godos and an iron kong came up behind them.
" Hey there, we were just in the neighborhood and we thought the lady would like to come with us for a cool drink." Said the guy in the godos. She was disgusted and a bit flattered at the same time; no one had ever called her "lady" before. She turned her head and watched Raven run towards the genosauerer but he didnft get to it in time and the iron kong's fist knocked him into the mountainside fifty feet behind them. Angel got up and tried to run over to him but the godos picked her up.
"Youfll be coming with us."
" RAVEN!" she yelled. She didnft need him to rescue her; she would have been surprised if he would be able to stand upright again. She was more concerned about him than herself at this point, he wasnft moving anymore. Actually it surprised her that she cared about him at all. Angel get a hold of yourself, once these guys put you down and get out of their zoids theyfll be pushovers. This could be your only chance of escape and with Raven out of the picture taking out Prozen would be no problem but?/I> Angel watched Shadow run to the limp form of Ravens former body. I have to help him, it would be wrong to sit and watch him die while I can do something about it; besides I owe him for helping me in the desert even if it was his job to.
Hours later, Raven woke up to the pain that throbbed in his head and something cold on his chest. He groaned and looked up; Angel was kneeling over him with a wet cloth staring at him with sad eyes. She sighed and placed the cloth back on his chest, only then did he realize that he wasnft wearing a shirt. He moved to get up but he cried out, it hurt so much just to move. Shefd supported his back with her hand and put the cloth down, with fear in her eyes she slowly brought him down onto his back again. She spent a few minutes moving the cloth to different spots on his sides and his chest, when she brought it up to place it on his forehead though he grabbed her wrist.
" What is going on." He said through gritted teeth. He watched her bite her lip.
" Youfve broken at least three ribs and bruised your head pretty badly." She said moving her hand to place the cloth back on his head but he stopped her again.
" I donft need your help." He said coldly, letting go of her. She glared at him and brought her hand down to rest on his rib cage and pressed down hard. He yelled closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, the pain was unreal. After hefd let his body relax a little he opened his eyes. She was still looking at him, this time a little more gently.
" Everyone needs help from somebody else, or would you rather I drop you off at the nearest hospital? Unfortunate thing though, wefre still in republican territory."
Raven didnft reply and turned his head away, he hated relying on any one, it was weak. After a little while she put her hand on his back again and pushed him into a sitting position, it hurt but he felt okay with her supporting him. She put her hand on his spine and pushed down asking, " Does that hurt?" He only shook his head no. She began putting bandages all the way around his rib cage, when she was finished she helped him lie back down. Angel took the cloth in her hands again and dipped it into a bowl of cold water washing it off and gently placing it on his forehead. This time he didnft stop her. He let the water drip down his face and cool him off. He closed his eyes and she let him fall asleep. When Raven woke Angel was asleep next to him. He starred at her for a long time. Why did she come back? Those guys didnft stand a chance against her on the ground, she could have gotten away possibly for good but she came back. Why? He was thirsty and didnft want to bother her so he tried to get up, it hurt but he finally got into a standing position. He took a few steps and then the pain hit him again and he cried out. Angel woke up at the sound and got up and ran towards him, his legs gave out and he fell. Angel caught him and brought him gently down to the ground. He wanted to curl up in a ball and get rid of the pain but she wouldnft let him. She hugged him close to her and talked to him gently but firmly.
" Raven, listen to me you need to relax." He groaned in response and she kept talking. " If you tense your muscles like this youfll put more strain on your ribs, thatfs whatfs causing the pain." Raven found himself squeezing her arm hard, his breathing was short much like Angels had been three days ago. Angel had put her hand on his back in response and was gently rubbing it in an attempt to make him relax.
" Raven, calm down, relax, just let it go." Finally he started to relax and the pain started to go away just like Angel had said. Shefd stopped rubbing his back but she wouldnft let go of him, not yet. She was too afraid to lose him. The thought hit her in the back of the head, why in the world was she afraid to lose him? Now it was her turn to let it go, and she focused on him instead of herself. He finally relaxed and his breathing was normal, hefd let go of her arm but there was still a mark where hefd held on to it. Her arms however, never dropped and he could feel them still surrounding his body. He looked up at her and when she noticed this she started to let go of him.
" What were you doing?" She said trying to sound unconcerned but she knew hefd heard the anger in her voice already. Raven just smiled and watched her closely, trying to understand why she, or anyone for that matter, would care about him.
" Do you realize what you almost did to yourself?" This time she let him hear the anger in her voice. Raven swore that if she hadnft been holding him up he would have fallen over hearing her voice like that.
" If you had kept up the way you were your ribs could have punctured your lungs, or your heart, and I canft fix that!" Her eyes showed her fear and she didnft try to hide it.
" After everything thatfs happened, you care?" He asked slowly. Angel was taken aback by the question, she did but could she tell him?
" I wasnft going to let you die when I could help you." She said at last, letting go of him finally.
" Now, what did you want?" She said more softly.
" Water." He answered, and she went over to the genosauerer and pulled out the bottle. When she jumped down he was on his back again. Giving him the bottle she started to build a fire. When the wood was finally ablaze she ran her hand through it multiple times letting the smoke turn her hand black.
" Do you trust me?" She asked him, turning around. He gave her a weird look and then answered.
" Yes." She smiled and walked over to him, he didnft move but watched her. Kneeling down beside him she placed her blackened hand on top of his chest. Closing her eyes she began chanting strange words in a language he didnft understand. Her hand began to glow and he felt warmth spread through his body almost immediately. He didnft feel the pain anymore and the bandages fell away. Angel lifted her hand and stopped chanting. Raven sat up but Angel didnft move still in the same position. He tried to shake her but when he got close he was shocked by some weird electricity. Just then Shadow walked over to her and moved passed the field surrounding her and fused with her, turning into a glowing ball he shot up into the sky. Instead of fusing with the genosaurer he just hovered leaving Raven astonished on the ground.
It had been two days since Shadow had fused with Angel but he still couldnft leave. Recollecting all that had happened, Raven decided that Angel must be an ancient zoidian. There was no other explanation for her abilities. The question was why was she supposed to be with him? That night he fell into an uneasy sleep, he felt as if someone was watching him.
His eyes were filled with a blue light and suddenly he heard Angels voice inside his head.
" Raven?
" Angel?"
" Thatfs right, Ifm here to help you."
" But, why?"
" My time here is short, and if I do not succeed it will result in the ruin of all."
" Succeed in what, your talking in riddles."
" Never argue with the wise Raven, unless you know that you are wiser."
" Youfre doing it again! How can you help me if I canft understand you?"
" What you understand now is not important, it is the future that you should be worried about."
" What will happen in the future?"
" Even the wisest do not know For the course of destiny may be changed again and again."
" Then how do you know?"
" I donft."
Raven couldnft believe this it was like talking to a wall. He couldnft get a straight answer no matter what he tried. So instead he let her do the talking, it was too confusing the other way around.
" Then what do you need to tell me."
" It was foreseen in the times of old that Zi would be destroyed if the Raven continued down the chosen path." She paused a moment, then continued. " So in order to prevent such a future for our people I was chosen to show you the truth."
" What do you mean by our people?"
" The Zoidians."
" Why is my future so important to them?" Raven pressed on, he just couldnft understand.
" Because Raven, you? her voice trailed off.
" What!" Raven yelled, " What is it?"
" It isnft my place to say, you will have to learn that on your own." Her voice kept echoing around him the words she spoke were clear and he understood that it was vital not to argue.
" You said before that the planet would be destroyed if I continued down the chosen path, what am I doing wrong?"
" Your fighting with Van Flyhieght, it is pointless ultimately there will be no victor you should be working together not against each other."
Now Raven was ticked off, he thought an ancient Zoidian was sent to give him an important message, but instead she was asking him to accept the fact that neither of them would win.
" I canft do that, I will never submit to Van for you or anyone else!" He yelled at her as loud as he could, he wanted to make it crystal clear that Van would never win against him.
" Then you have condemned the world to mass destruction and a void of emptiness were this planet stands." She remained calm but Raven knew she was disappointed.
" Are you saying that the world will suffer for my decision?" He asked, but no voice returned his call. Instead the light desolved leaving Raven standing alone in the desert.
Startled, Raven looked around. The genosaurer was there and Shadow and Angel were still above it but he felt strange, different somehow. Suddenly he heard a pulsing noise coming from the genosaurer Raven ran for it and turned on the scanner. About 30 zaber fang units and 20 redler units were heading strait for him. Prozen appeared on his screens.
" Prozen whatfs the meaning of this?" Raven yelled, he couldnft quite place what Prozen was up to.
" Raven from the reports I got about your capabilities as a zoid pilot years ago showed that you were in outstanding form."
" What of it?"
" It seems that you werenft as reliable as I thought, I expected her to be here days ago."
Raven was utterly silent; he didnft know what to say to this nut job now he understood Angelfs story.
" What do you need her for anyway, whatfs so important?"
" Something you couldnft possibly understand you fool, but Ifll give you a hint." He paused to smile for second. " She knows things that know one else could possibly know and I need her eliminated after I receive the information needed from her."
" Ifm no fool, youfll have to get past me first jerk!"
" But thatfs exactly what I intend to do." Laughing like a madman Prozens face disappeared from the screen.
This was crazy; everything was falling apart at the seams. Raven could see the units now.
" Shadow I need you!"
The ball of light melded back into Shadow and it slowly came to rest on the back of the genosaurer. As he landed Angel stepped out from within. She ran to the cockpit and Raven opened it for her; she jumped in and strapped herself down quickly watching the zoid units' approach. Shadow fused with the genosaurer and Raven started to power up the charged particle gun.
" Theyfre coming for me?"
" Not if I can help it."
" Wait." Angel said placing her hand on Ravenfs shoulder, "Power down the beam I need you to take me somewhere else instead."
" What are you talking about?"
" Take me to the sand colony."
" Where is that, and what could we possibly do there because I am certainly not hiding."
" Not hiding," she answered shaking her head, " The battle would be an easier victory if we had more than one zoid."
" You have a zoid?"
" Yes but we need to hurry will you go or not?"
" Alright," Raven answered powering down the gun, " Which way?"
Angel gave him the coordinates and they blasted out of the battle towards the sand colony. Prozenfs units followed but they were slower that the genosaurer was going at full speed. About twenty minutes later they reached the colony and they had about five minutes before their pursuers caught up and were in firing range. Raven could see the colony down the hill and realized that Angel had given him the coordinates to a small mountainside.
" I this some kind of a joke?"
" No joke, now shoot the bottom left hand corner of that cliff there." She said pointing up the slope a bit.
Raven did as she said and backed up quick, as the whole mountainside seemed to fall before him. But before he could stop her Angel jumped down from the genosauerer and ran into the smoke.
" Angel what are you doing?" Raven received only the low hum of an awakening zoid and two slender green eyes pierced through the smoke. Suddenly a zoid that Raven had never seen before leapt off the ledge landing neatly next to him. He looked it up and down, the zoid was green and black it almost looked like an evolution of the zaber fang.
" Is that the lightning siax you told me about earlier?"
" Yes, this is the cheetah model zoid that my parents build before they died."
" But you told me that you destroyed it!"
" I couldnft risk anyone knowing that it was still at large."
Raven understood as they both turned to face the overwhelming odds that were against them.
As Raven charged up the particle gun he aimed it upward towards the redler unit. The less airborne zoids, the better their chances of winning. He fired the beam across the sky and all of the redlers fell to the ground. They took out a few unsuspecting zaber fangs as well on their way down. Angel and Raven fought side by side until only two zabers were left standing. They were both worn out and tired and their zoids were damaged but they never gave up. It was time for close combat.
" Letfs finish this Raven."
" What ever you say." Raven said smiling, and then they charged both having the upper
hand but the zabers wouldnft give up. Raven glanced over at Angel; she was running
circles around her opponent. He laughed about to finish the zaber off when it jumped
up surprising Raven, he had thought it was down for the count. It rammed its head into
the stomach of his zoid pushing it back into the mountain. The zaber was ruthless and
gave no time for Raven to counter attack.
" RAVEN!" Angel yelled turning away from her opponent. But the zaber shot at her mercilessly so that she could barley move. Then suddenly it stopped, Angel looked up but when the smoke cleared she saw nothing. She turned towards Raven to go help but the zaber came up from under her and ran its head hard into the lightning saixfs head. Angel screamed as she was knocked from the cockpit and the lightning saix fell before her.
"ANGEL!" Raven yelled and with that turned on the boosters and rocketed him and the zaber forward. Letting the boosterfs die Raven charged up the particle beam.
" PUNCH IT SHADOW!" he yelled letting loose the beam and obliterating the two zabers from the face of the Earth forever. Shadow reappeared and Raven had jumped out of the cockpit and was running towards Angel. She was lying in a heap when he found her. Kneeling down he gently turned her over and held her up in a sitting position resting her head against his shoulder.
" Raven? She whispered
" Donft try to talk Ifll get you to a hospital."
" No, I finally understand Raven you have to listen."
" What is it?"
" Your full potential Raven, Ifve found it."
" Huh?"
" Reese is the key, you must find her."
" Who is Reese?"
" A zoidian like myself, you need to find her before itfs to late."
" To late for what?" Raven asked but Angel gasped in pain.
" Raven do something for me."
" What?"
" Destroy it, destroy the lightning saix, make sure Prozen never gets his hands on it."
" No Angel, you canft?
" It wonft be the last you see of it."
" NO! Angel you canft go like this you canft!"
" I told you that my time here was short Raven Ifm sorry?
Her breathing became short and hard and she had to pause in order to keep going.
" Thank you for everything Raven I always believed in you and I don' t doubt
that you come through in the end? She took a few more deep breaths and then her
body became limp in his arms. Raven looked at Angel and let the tears in his eyes
flow freely now, she was gone.
He set her body down gently and stood up, turned towards Shadow and spoke.
" You heard her Shadow, we have work to do."