Very clever fanfic. It makes it so that characters from two eras which are hundreds of years apart end up meeting. The main Zoid in here, called The War Wolf, is very believable. Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com
Sakura's Disclaimer: This goes for all chapters,so I don't have to write this dislaimer again...I don't own Zoids and don't get paid for writing this.Thank you.
Or a vision?
The night before,I had a terrible dream of blood rain and Sakura's death...along with a sight into her past,when her parents were murdered right in front of her...
Then my dream took shape in the real world,as a true battle between the War Wolf and the White Liger was brought to life.But we were attacked in the middle of the battle,and Sakura was badly wounded...
In order to save her,I was forced to give myself up to a new enemy who wants my powers.Her name is Darth Malice,the leader of the Neo Empire...
Goodbye,Sakura...
Soon enough though,as I sat there with my back to the barred door,I heard the click of the lock,followed by the creak of the door being opened.I turned around and looked at Blade,who grabbed me by my handcuffs and literally dragged me out of the room.
I did'nt bother to struggle,not really caring what happened to me now.There was'nt much way I was getting out of this...I know it's not like me to give up,but...even if I did escape,it would only be putting Sakura in more danger.Boy,was this a twist.Sakura was the one who thought she had a curse that hurt her friends and family...now I felt as though the same curse had been laid on me...
Blade dragged me into a dimly lit hangar full of Zoids,including the wrecked Vesuvius Wolf from the day before.Blade threw me to the concrete floor and crossed his arms with a smirk as Darth Malice stepped out of the shadows.
I did'nt bother to get up.I did'nt see any reason to.Getting up would probably just make it easier for Malice to make me do whatever she wanted me to do.I did wonder though...exactly what did she want me to do?
She looked at me down on the floor and used some sort of power of her own,lifting me up off the concrete and setting me on my feet with her mere thoughts.Geez,if she could do that sort of thing,why'd she need me so bad?!I had the distinct feeling I did'nt wanna find out,but I was going to anyway...
She pointed to the nearly totalled Vesuvius Wolf,then looking back to me.
"Go."
She said.
But I stood my ground.
This seemed to anger her though and she pushed me forward,using her thoughts as power again.As soon as I stood in front of the Vesuvius Wolf,I again wondered what she wanted me to do.
Malice glared and said,
"Do it."
"Do what?!I have no idea what you want me to do!!"
"Merge yourself with this Zoid and heal it..."
"Wha?!What do I look like,an Organoid?!I can't..."
But I suddenly felt her thought energy push hard on my body,pressing me against the flame-design armor so hard I could'nt breathe.
"Now merge..."
I growled slightly,not about to try,knowing I probably could'nt anyway.But mostly,I did'nt try because I was willing to die before helping Malice.
"Merge!"
She yelled,pressing harder on my body.
I yelled out in pain,figuring this was finally it.I thought for sure I was gonna die.But then,something strange happened...
It seemed like something automatic happened inside of me,causing me to suddenly start sinking into the Vesuvius Wolf's armor like it was water!I was amazed and scared half to death at the same time.
Of course,upon realizing through my fright and awe that this was exactly what Malice wanted to happen,I tried to resist it.But she pushed even harder on my body,making me go in further,but not all the way.I struggled to resist,almost fully in,when...
"Pick on somebody your own size!"
An all too familiar voice rang out,echoing through the hangar.Malice looked around,losing her concentration on me and allowing me to pull myself out of the Vesuvius Wolf's armor.I sighed with relief,watching Malice and Blade look all around for the person whom had spoken.
I knew exactly who the person was,but had'nt expected her to come rescuing me!Especially after what had happened to her yesterday!
Malice did'nt seem too thrilled about this and seemed to concentrate again.Not on me,but on something else.She continued this until finally,she whirled around and skillfully caught a bullet that was fired at her.My jaw dropped as I could almost see her narrowing her eyes behind the breath mask and using her mind powers to drag Sakura out from behind some nearby crates,then slamming her hard into the concrete wall.
"Foolish girl...you could have gone on with your life yesterday,but you chose to come here and have it taken..."
Sakura grunted and started to get up,Blade cracking his knuckles and coming over toward her with a smirk.I did'nt like what was going on one bit and ran forward,putting myself between Sakura and Blade.
"Stop it!Please,don't hurt her!I'm begging you!You have me,what reason do you have for killing Sakura?!"
Blade simply shoved me aside and to the floor,reaching down to grab Sakura.But she seemed ready for him,suddenly jumping up into a flip and landing on his shoulders,stomping down.Blade growled and tried to shake her off,but she only fell down to a sitting position on his shoulder.
"What's the matter,big boy?Can't whip a little blonde headed girl?"
She smirked as he leaned forward in another attempt to throw her off.I could tell she had done this maneuver before though,as she leaned forward with him,planting her hands on the ground and keeping Blade's forward momentum going.She then seemed to use all of her strength to execute the final part of the move,pulling her legs,which were now wrapped around Blade's arms,up over her along with Blade and throwing him hard to the concrete floor,knocking him unconcious.She stood up and dusted herself off as an enraged Darth Malice growled angrily at her.
"Stupid girl...you're going to regret this..."
"I doubt it..."
She said as heavy fire suddenly poured over the place from the outside.We were all thrown off our feet as the Whale King we were on started to lose altitude fast.Malice hissed at us and yelled,
"You won't get out of here alive!"
With that,she raised her hand and we heard a loud,groaning creak from above.We looked up to see one of the huge,steel ceiling panels coming down at us!Sakura grabbed my wrist and started to run,but was cut off by smaller falling debris.We'd never have time to get out of the way.
"No...this can't happen..."
I thought,everything seemingly starting to go in slow motion again.
"No...it can't...it can't happen!!"
I was'nt really sure what happened next as some sort of shield suddenly appeared around us,protecting us as the steel panel came crashing down.Sakura looked around,amazed.
"Van..."
I opened one eye,then the other,bringing my hands from my head where I'd had them and looked around at the shiny blue shield surrounding us.
"Wha-what the..."
Everything shook violently again,so Sakura and I figured we did'nt have time to argue as we ran for the nearest exit,a side door.I flung it open and looked out,seeing that we had to be about 700 feet in the air!
"Oh,great..."
I muttered,looking down.
"Now what?"
"We jump."
"Wha?!Sakura,you must be crazy!!!We can't jump that!!!"
Sakura smirked and said,
"Yet we're gonna anyway."
With that,she shoved me hard from behind,sending me out the door and out into the air.She soon followed suit,leaping out like she was doing a dive into water.I figured she really had lost it,until I suddenly heard something heading in at us fast.I thought for sure Malice had sent missile fire at us or something until I saw the cause of the sound.It was the Blitz Team's Raynos!
I saw Sakura's plan now and felt a little silly for thinking she had lost it as Jamie's Zoid flew past.Sakura and I gripped onto the wings and held on tight as the Raynos descended toward the ground,a black-and-gold fox type running below us.I reognized it as Sombra's Shadow Fox.
Sakura smirked and yelled to me over the roar of the Raynos' boosters,
"Okay Van,ready to make another jump!Jamie's gonna drop us with Sombra and go get the other the others to help get the War Wolf pulled in.Sombra's gonna take us straight on to where the War Wolf is!"
I nodded and get ready to let go.Yeah,sure,it was a dangerous stunt.But hey,that's pretty much what me and Sakura do anyway.Heh.
"Ready...set...let go!"
Sakura yelled.We both let go at the same time and dropped down onto the Shadow Fox's back below,gripping on tight as Sombra went a little faster now that we were on.Sakura and I sighed with relief and looked back,seeing the Whale King finally crash in flames.
"Phew...glad that's over..."
I said,finally relaxing some.
Sakura grinned and said,
"Yeah,we smoked 'em,eh?"
"Yeah,I guess..."
I sweatdropped.Yeah,we did a lot of dangerous stuff,but it seemed like Sakura always thought it was a game or something...well,if it were a game,I'd bet one thing.Sakura and I would have the high score.Maybe in a way,it was good she thought of it that way...maybe...because I guess maybe if she did'nt,she would'nt be as fun to be around as she is.Heh.It's wierd how certain things work out.
Before long though,we came up on the battle site,where the War Wolf laid on the ground helplessly.Sakura slid down from the Shadow Fox's back and ran over to her Zoid as it whimpered pitfiully.I could have sworn I saw tears starting to form in her aqua eyes as she went to inspect the damage.
Sakura walked around to the War Wolf's side,seeing a huge gash in it.She gasped and actually got inside the gash.I ran up to her,having a bad feeling she had found something worse than the gash.
"What's wrong?"
I asked,looking in around her.My eyes widened with fear when I realized what was so wrong...
The Zoid Core had taken a deadly hit...
Tears ran freely down Sakura's cheeks as she sniffled.
"No...th-this means that...the War Wolf...it's...it's dieing!"
I watched as she literally broke down into tears.I swallowed hard,placing my hands on her shoulders as Sombra came to us,seeing what was wrong and gasping.She looked back to us with wide eyes and said,
"Oh,Sakura...I...I'm so sorry...I..."
Sakura did'nt seem to hear anything she said,just continuing to cry.The War Wolf had been her Zoid ever since she was a little girl,and they had been through a lot together...I understood why Sakura had broken down into tears.I sighed sadly and looked over the War Wolf's Zoid Core damage again
Then,a thought suddenly struck me.I remembered how Malice had been trying to get me to somehow merge with the Vesuvius Wolf and heal it's damage before.
Maybe...if I tried...I could do that for the War Wolf!
With that,I stood up,releasing my grip.
End of Chapter Ten
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