New Age Chapter 25, a Zoids fanfic by Sh33p

Hats off to this fic. It tops most fics I've read....including most of the ones I posted here. Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com

The furious rattling of alarms were what stirred her awake before anything else could even begin to happen. Claxons were buzzing and searchlights were being shined all over the perimeter of the enormous prison facility, even as the prison`s own formidable defensive force of Command Wolves, Dibisons, Pterases and Iron Kongs were mobilizing in a rush like no other. Sarah Obscura groaned to herself tiredly, thinking for a moment that it was just another ill timed security venture before the shock of her own memories came back to her with all the raging speed and fury of a smack in the face.

Solitary confinement hadn`t broken her spirit, it had softened her resolve a bit but it was unbroken. It had, however, dulled her mind`s former speed just a bit, enough that it took her several seconds to revealize what was about to happen outside. She`d been asked to tell Vega to leave herself, several times in fact. The reward would`ve been movement to a more sheltered cell, even the chance at parole. She knew both were false promises though.

Standing up on tired legs, the middle aged mother of two rushed in a frantic haze to the small, fourteen-by-fourteen inch barred window, the pane for which she had left up for the time being. At least this place offered open-and-shut glass for the windows, too bad the bars weren`t the same.

Either way, her view was a tragically good one. She was going to have a front row seat, almost, to the second battle between her sons.

"Took you long enough," Vega stated with bland impatience as the Fury lumbered forward. The Geno Saurer was still a small distance away, but that didn`t matter. It was close enough for Vega to easily pick out the Zoid`s color scheme of black and dull gray, close enough for him to pick out it`s individual teeth and close enough for him to make out the exact width of it`s legs against the background glow of it`s thrusters.

"I was enjoying the scenery... You know, take a little break here and there, slaughter a few helpless people on foot..."

"You`re right. I don`t. So why don`t we just shut up and finish off what we started last time," Kale shot back eagerly, the Geno Saurer`s thrusters cutting out and the Zoid effortlessly gliding along above ground for several seconds before planting it`s daggered feet into the ground and skidding to a slow stop, just outside of Vega`s melee range, about one football field away.

"I`m ready for you this time. I won`t lose," Vega stated with a determination matched only by his rising dislike - outright hatred, in fact - of his own older brother.

Kale only chuckled, low and threatening. Murderous. "All you did was change the armor on that tin can you call unstoppable. Hell, why not just brag like a dumb ass and give away all it`s capabilities?" Kale asked, utterly mocking the tendencies of people like Doctor Leyon, who often unintentionally revealed what their equipment was capable of before a battle ever started.

It was Vega`s turn to chuckle, just as low, almost as threatening and possibly even more murderous than Kale`s had been. "Do you think I`m that dumb?" He asked. "No, but I do think you`re stupid enough to stand around trying to act big and tough when you`re neither. In case it hasn`t dawned upon you, I`m fresh. You`ve been waiting for two days straight, I doubt you`ve used the bathroom and I know you lack the foresight to bring any food."

"And so you know, my target was the Count. If you hadn`t shown up here, none of this would have ever happened."

"... You bastard," Vega growled. "I`m not a bastard... Just a murderous psycho out to kill you," Kale retorted with an almost audible smile, just as the Geno Saurer roared it`s challenging cry and charged forward, pausing at midway only to jump straight up. Vega was expecting it this time, bursting the Fury up on an intercept course and trying vanely to snap the Geno up in his pincers, but Kale was too quick, countering the younger Obscura`s speed and power with raw agility and skill, using his legs` thrusters to barrel roll out of the way and land somewhere on the Fury`s right.

Vega touched down with a loud, thundering impact, and the Fury elicited a terribly threatening growl.

"Still relying on the Organoid system," Kale chided, just as the Storm Fury whipped around under the full power of every thruster system on it`s body, almost like a tornado. The Geno Saurer kept it`s back turned though, leering threateningly at it`s larger, more powerful counterpart. "I have friends. You have enemies."

The following exchange was lightning quick, brutal and fierce. It started with both Zoids charging one another, ending the rush in a pair of sideways headbutts, fast and violent, harsh enough to make sparks go flying, both Zoids` heads rebounding away from one another only to make the dual impact occur again a second later with the same results, flinging Vega around in the Fury`s cockpit, though it was restrained this time. He`d learned from the mistakes of their last battle, it wasn`t going to be a free flying repeat of the hell that had happened last time.

Less than a second after the two impacts took place, Fury roared and struck out with it`s pincers. The Geno roared equally and hurtled backwards, with both dual sets of blades clashing against each other with a flare of sparks, ending on either side of the Geno Saurer in a double X-type pattern, frozen for all of an instant as Kale let loose his own attack, lunging forward and snapping the Geno`s mouth shut fiercely on the head of the Storm Fury, only to have the larger, more powerful Zoid defiantly fling it straight into the air.

Clawshield arms swung straight up, pincers whipped wide open and triggers were pulled. Both pulse cannons shuddered and four bolts of plasma capable of gutting anything short of a Saber Tiger rippled through the air at sub sonic speeds, but Kale was still too fast. The Geno Saurer`s impossible flexibility came into play again, and the large Zoid`s legs spread wide, thrusters kicking in and tail snapping upward, causing Kale to flip forward at a key moment.

All four shots blazed by and slammed together at a convergence point in the air above and behind the now-falling Geno Saurer, exploding brightly. Kale again fired up the thrusters, jetting his Zoid backwards and down, landing on the ground in a hop and a skid, then bending forward and unleashing a hail of fire from his back`s cannons.

Vega charged forward heedlessly though, swinging one shield arm forward and blocking each pulse of firepower, then swiping in the equivelent of a backhand. The Geno Saurer roared in surprise, sparks flying from the shield`s impact, but Kale`s reflexes were a split second faster than Vega`s swinging blades, whipping the Geno to the side and right out of the way, just as the blades finished slamming shut. Kale landed with a loud pair of thuds, but the Geno was already being forced to react ahead of time, one clawed hand firing out on it`s steel line, lancing through the air.

Vega was the quicker this time, getting his right shield arm up and smacking the claw away, then lunging sideways at the Geno Saurer. Kale lunged as well, but his method was a dodge, whipping beneath the enormous bulk of the Storm, landing on both feet in a crouch and then jumping backwards. It`s hand already returned, Kale whipped the Geno Saurer into a hard, tornado-like spin, just as Vega landed broadside to his charging foe.

The Fury whipped to the left and tails slammed together like swords, causing another onslaught of sparks as the impact drove them apart, only to slam together twice again an instant later, the second time with the Fury`s tail grazing upward in a parry-like motion, then sweeping downward at the same time that the Geno Saurer`s tail zig zagged back up, avoiding the impact and causing it to smash into the ground. Dust flew up, the Fury literally blasted forward on all thrusters. Vega hoped that the Geno would be caught in the burn of his jump, but Kale had countered the move in kind, bringing his Zoid`s own thrusters to full power at the same time and rocketing away.

In unison, both brothers turned until they ran parallel to one another. That completed, both let out mirroring yells, both Zoids echoing the effect with roars of challenge and hatred, charging diagonally at one another and slamming together. The smaller Geno almost bounced off but the larger Storm was shaked, both Zoids spread apart and then repeated the impact before skidding to a halt while turning to face on another.

Point blank, the speed of the battle came to a vicious, hateful conclusion. Kale was finally caught unprepared and the Geno paid the price, caught exactly between the serated, saw-like blades of the Fury. The action halted instantly.

The Geno Saurer was pinned. Not pinned to the ground, but pinned to it`s location. The blades had come to their absolute minimum for space from each other, ending up only inches wider apart than the width of the Geno`s neck. Vega smiled ruthlessly, slowly guiding the Geno Saurer where he wanted it as if it was on a leash, keeping his right pincer arm held back and ready to strike the death blow if need be.

Sarah`s eyes widened in fear. Not for herself, but for her sons. Kale, as crazy and murderous as he was, was still her baby boy. Vega was, even more so since he was so young. It was a tense moment, silent and cruel for the mother of the two combatants. They were her children, they should`ve been growing up together, experiencing life as true siblings, with a mother and father watching over them from the start.

Instead, they were trying to murder one another. Their father was dead by their mother`s own order, and their mother was in a maximum security prison, forced to watch the battle with no real escape save her own tears, and the bottom of the window which she found herself staring at a few seconds later.

Vega only responded with cold, merciless silence, the double pulse cannon of his left arm slowly beginning to come aglow.

"... I have you where I want you Kale. I don`t have to kill you, I just have to force you out of the cockpit and let the Guardians take you in. I`ve won. Get over it."

"You idiot. In case you don`t remember-" Kale interrupted himself with a brief pause. At the same time, the Geno`s clawed hands extended out, up and locking firmly around the throat of the larger Storm Fury. "- the Geno Saurer`s arms may be short, but these electrified tow lines aren`t."

"Shock me and you fry yourself. The electricity will jump right into your Zoid`s head," Vega guessed, perfectly correct since his blades were so close. "Do you think I care?" Kale honestly asked.

"That`s what I thought," Kale exclaimed dryly as the pincers slid away from his Zoid`s neck, his own claws retracing a second later. It wasn`t because he was feeling honorable, Kale could care less about that pathetic attribute, but it was more because he was enjoying himself. He was having fun toying with Vega`s emotions, reading the younger fighter like a book and then yanking pages out on a whim.

"Surrender at once!" Echoed a dozen voices in a dozen different locations as the entire security force for the prison lined up like a shield wall, all guns lowered on Kale and Vega. "We won`t give you a second chance!" The leader exclaimed threateningly. "... Leave," Vega ordered. "You`ll only get in my way."

"It`s a bit late for that Vega. I`m going to have to kill them now. And then I`ll kill you. And then mommy dearest," Kale exclaimed. Before even Vega`s sharpened reflexes kicked in, the Geno was airborn, springing up over the Storm Fury and using the back of it`s head like a diving board, catapulting itself straight for the line of something along the lines of thirty high powered, military-grade assault Zoids.

"DON`T! GET OUT OF HERE, HE`LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" Vega screamed, the Fury stumbling forward and finally coming to stabilize itself as screams started to echo over the comm. By the time he had finished jumping around, eight Zoids had fallen, another two went down an instant later. The kills were precise, Kale wasn`t taking his time and annihilating the entire area as he undoubtedly could, he was aiming solely for the cockpits of the Guardian Zoids. Claws tore through cockpit armor, men were skewered alive on blades bigger than their own bodies and gunshots rippled through the air in futile desperation.

Hell`s bells rang in the background, Vega was mortified. Slowly, sheathed in fire like a demon from the Ninth Circle of Hell, the Geno Saurer rose. Surrounded by downed Zoids, it`s claws tinted a horrific shade of crimson, fresh and dripping as the tyrannid Zoid began to lumber away from the burning wreckage, and away from the prison as a result. Slowly, ever so slowly, the Geno Saurer stalked towards the Storm Fury, and with it, Kale stalked towards Vega.

"You can`t hurt me," Vega muttered to himself, genuinely afraid for one of the few times in his admittedly short life. "Is that so?" Kale asked, low and menacing. Fury stepped back, but only because Vega forced it to. The Geno stepped forward though, like a hungry wolf having cornered a lamb. "You can`t hurt me," Vega affirmed, more to himself than anyone else. Kale`s response was sheer silence, but the Geno Saurer opened it`s mouth and growled, raw and hateful.

The straw fell, the camel`s back broke and the Fury seemed to lit up, stomping forward and narrowing the distance with each passing moment. The ground rattled as the two Zoids approached each other, and where there had been fear, now there was only disgust, courage and anger. The Geno slowed, the Fury took another step forward, imprinting it`s enormous foot into the ground.

"I," a pause. Another step. "Won`t," another pause and another step with it. "Let you," the two Zoids were almost nose to nose now, both poised to make the death blow, both completely unguarded. Kale`s nose mounted guns were locked onto the top of the Fury`s cockpit, Vega`s dual pulse cannons and pincer claws were set to eviscerate the entire Geno Saurer on a whim.

Two minds met, two warriors played a game of chess mixed with Russian Roulette, but the six shooter was a fully loaded shotgun with a barrel on both ends, and both Kale and Vega had their fingers on the trigger.

"Where`s your skill and power now, brother?" Vega asked, a ruthless voice carrying the words.

"Getting ready to lodge themselves up your ass," Kale answered, unintimidated in the last.

Then all hell broke loose as Kale and the Geno jumped back, clearing Vega`s blades by inches. The Fury covered the next seconds almost on it`s lonesome, putting one foot forward and then almost performing a ballet-twirl on it, smacking the smaller Geno Saurer right across the side of the face with it`s tail before igniting it`s leg thrusters. In a blinding instant, both blades on either arm swung out of view and the Storm Fury lunged sideways, slamming it`s right shield arm straight into the right side of the Geno Saurer, almost knocking the smaller Zoid back.

But the Saurer held firm, defiantly smashing it`s own tail across the unshielded stomach of the Fury, sending it to skid back. Another blur of movement - the Geno Saurer flared forward, it`s thrusters at full power. The Storm Fury was almost ready, but almost wasn`t good enough. A loud clash of metal against metal and two enormous gashes were raked into the left shield of the Fury, the result of Kale`s first pass. Vega didn`t stick around for the second, blazing forward and into a wide angling turn, which evolved instantly into something like a skater`s twist as the Fury hopped up and swiped at the Geno with it`s tail.

Kale was too quick though, bringing his Zoid to duck under the Fury`s tail and then skidding to a jet-powered halt sideways, blasting straight off the ground and causing Vega to miss badly in an attempt to catch him with a leg-mounted machine gun burst. The Geno Saurer was airborn, Vega landed and swung his gattlings up, trying in vain to hit Kale with streams of armor piercing rounds. Everytime he got close, the Geno Saurer impossibly dodged, either by bursting up and forward, down and back, outright barrel rolling and even sideways looping out of the way with every close call.

And then the Geno touched down, dashing forward once agan and taking a vicious, random bite at the Storm Fury`s throat. Vega was too quick this time, rocket jumping over his attacking brother and touching down a good distance away, but he`d been caught completely off guard once more when the Geno Saurer twisted around and slid to a dead stop, bending forward.

Kale pulled the triggers and the Fury was nailed four times in a row with his brother`s heavy cannons, knocking the Fury out of the air and slamming it to the ground on it`s side. The enormous Zoid was downed, but not out.

Kale rocket jumped forward this time, but Vega was ready, hitting his thrusters and scraping along sideways on the ground at close to two hundred miles an hour before an errant burst from one of the leg thrusters flipped the Storm Fury up onto it`s feet the long way. By then, Kale had slammed to the ground, both of the Geno`s clawed feet would have disemboweled the Storm had Vega been any slower. As it stood, both Zoids came to a menacing pause then.

"How much of this is skill, and how much is the armor change?" Kale asked, arrogant with his tone as he was with his words.

"It`d be the same no matter what armor I used. Give it up Kale, you can`t win this time."

Two loud clacks and the Geno Saurer went rigid, mouth opening wide as a solid white sphere of energy built up at the tip of it`s Charged Particle Cannon.

"Really? I`d be willing to bet money that you haven`t got access to a shield right now, and if you dodge, the prison`ll get hit."

Vega facefaulted and looked behind himself. Kale was right. Without even realizing it, Vega had put his back to the prison with Kale right in front of him. He still had options, but they were thin, dangerous as well. The first was to try and hit Kale down the throat of his Geno Saurer, but that held the adverse risk of a chain reaction that`d probably end with a low level charged particle blast, still intense enough to kill everyone situated in the facing side of the prison due to the rather... Disheartening effects that raw charged particles could have on human beings.

Another option was to try and close the distance and pull a Liger Zero - shoving the Geno Saurer`s cannon straight up and changing it`s aim. That was a promising one, but Vega doubted he had the speed. Fury wasn`t willing to risk it either, but there was still one other option left...

Two more clacks, louder than those of the Geno Saurer. In the same way, the Storm Fury went completely rigid, mouth opening wide as the panels of it`s tail flipped open, a similar sphere of energy gathering up at the tip of it`s own Charged Particle Cannon.

The entire area went near solid silver-white, tinged just the slightest with a dull blue, green and purple. Both Zoids continued building power, and despite the lead that Kale had, Vega`s Zoid showed it`s reserves more effectively, powering up just fast enough to close the gap caused by his own hesitation. The spheres of charged particles continued growing until they were the same size and then -

- the Geno Saurer fired, it`s beam of death clearing to halfway a single blinding instant -

- only to halt dead in it`s tracks three quarters of the way to it`s intended target. Beams clashed, silver against silver, outlines against outlines. Sparks flared off like lightning, the sheer force of the duel caused the ground beneath to start glassing over from excess heat, slowly carving out a vicious black trench from the force at the heart of the collision.

From the start though, it was obvious that for raw power, Fury was king. With every ounce of effort he could spare, Vega forced the Geno Saurer`s charged particle beam back with his own, the central spot where the two attacks met warping to a fine, bright shade of solid white. The entire area seemed to follow suit, all color fading to nothing more than black and white from the sheer intensity of the duel. The sound overtook almost everything, deafening in it`s own intensity to the extent that almost nothing could be heard.

A fell cry filled the air as Vega began to fully overtake Kale, his beam pushing the Geno`s back a bit more each second.

Vega`s senses were flooded by a feeling of shocked panic from the Fury, even as a pale streak bolted into his view, a definate outline of purple aura around a white hot core, visible even in the deafening, blinding intensity of the duel he held between himself and his brother.

With agility that defied both comprehension and conventional laws of inertial physics, the ball of energy streaked around like a comet, stopping on dimes and performing straight edged, right angle turns until it seemed to land on the ground in front and to the right of the Geno Saurer, seeming to form a vague outline. Demonic, it was, solid black like a skull with white eye sockets, pausing with absolute impunity to the ferocity of the clashing energies mere yards above and beside it.

It leaned forward, and the fell cry returned, a warrior beast`s call as the thing shot ahead, like a straight bolt of lethal energy, streaking alongside Vega`s charged particle beam as if it wasn`t even there, corkscrewing around it and finally -

- tearing the Fury right off the ground. One impact, and the bolt had done it`s damage, forming up into a sphere after smashing into the Storm`s barreled chest, then erupting away once again, just as Vega`s beam sent off into space. Kale`s attack went through unabated, striking the Fury and all but consuming the larger Zoid in a blast of raw energy powerful enough to annihilate even it.

All it would have taken was a split second more. But Kale stopped. The charred black Berserk Fury toppled over backwards and rolled along hard, landing awkwardly on it`s stomach as the world returned to it`s original dark coloring of the night time. The bolt again appeared, this time landing like a little demon on the left shoulder of the Geno Saurer.

It was near solid black, for some reason Vega felt as if it`s color had darkened through the obvious years. An air of raw power and ferocity seemed to pour from it, an aura that could be denied even less than it could be understood. Cold, malevolent blue eyes, strikingly vicious and utterly hateful set in it`s dragon-like head, four matching crests rising from four points, two from each cheek, two like horns from the back of it`s head. Wings of a matching black and the dull greyish/purple tint that had once been the color of most of it`s body were visible on either side of the creature, folding into it`s back maliciously as a voice so very unlike anything Vega had ever heard filled his every sense.

Something stirred in the Fury, and for the first time, it spoke in a voice that Vega had never heard. It was old, distinctly female and layered with a combination of robotic, human and animal undertones to it, almost like fifty voices speaking as one.

"Shadow?" Vega asked dimly, feeling the rush of emotions as if they were his own, and even more than earlier, it was scaring the hell out of him.

Your time has ended, Shadow. Go! Back to the abyss that we left Him to lie. Go back and stay there! Until you finally learn the error of the rage you feel! GO!

Vega and Kale both let out mirroring screams, and everyone in the prison soon followed as the demonic Organoid showed what was only an inkling of the power he had accumilated since coming of age. It was a dangerous fact that Shadow had always been the youngest Organoid after Zeke, but unlike Zeke, Shadow hadn`t ever permanently bound himself to a Zoid - the kind of bond that lasted to the death of the Zoid in question. Like all Organoids, he was quasi-immortal, and with every year that passed, his heart grew darker. The rage of His passing had marred a scar so deeply that Shadow had spent the years in a great sleep, surrounded by Zoid Magnite.

The end result was that Shadow, the Organoid with the most true potential, had come to his full power. His body had darkened with his heart, his eyes held a cold, blue malevolence to them and his teeth even looked sharper. Like an onyx demon from Hell, he stood, glaring viciously down at the fallen Storm Fury, and with it, Specular and Vega.

Old fool!, he spat in that strange telepathic voice, layered even more thickly than Specular`s. It was like a chorus of unbridled hate for all that lived and breathed when He was already long dead.

Old fool! This is my time now! Long, I have waited for another like Him to return, I will wait no more!

His brain felt like it was on fire,but Vega found the resolve to squint his eyes open and raise his head, even as static clogged much of the image on screen. With a murderous howl, the Geno Saurer slowly tinged purple and then, just as Shadow had arrived, he left, taking the entire mass of the Geno Saurer with it, vanishing in a blaze of light like a bolt of lightning into the skies, heading for low orbit and a further destination that Vega and Specular both did not know.

"What in god`s name just happened?" Sarah asked in shock, watching in accute pain as the Geno Saurer practically vanished in a ball of light, leaving behind a brutalized Storm Fury and dozens of trashed Zoids on the side as well. "Why didn`t Kale finish him off?" Was her first thought, followed seconds later by: "Vega! Is Vega alright?!"

To her amazement and relief, seconds later, the cockpit of the battered Fury flipped open and out stumbled a juvenile form, exhausted to say the least. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief for her second son, but it was also a sigh of terror for the future of her first. She had heard the strange words from the Organoids, trembled like everyone else at the sheer tone of Shadow`s chorus-like voice, and watched in muted horror as it had all happened. The pain in her head was agonizing, it hurt just to think, but that didn`t matter.

All that mattered was that Vega was alright and Kale was hopefully going to be as well. For the mother of both warriors, it was a hopeful sign and a heartbreaking one as well.

With nothing left to say or do, Sarah Obscura fell to her knees, wracked with tears and regret.

Down on the ground though, Vega held his head in one hand and propped himself on the Fury`s charred snout with the other. The Zoid was still torturously hot at parts, but that was mostly it`s underbelly, not it`s head. If the head had taken any direct damage, he was more than certain that it would`ve killed him. A distant burn was visible in the night sky, between the two moons of Zi.

"I guess it could`ve gone worse," he thought to himself aloud, falling into a seating position with a loud wheeze.

No. It couldn`t have, Specular replied in Vega`s own voice once more, though it was still obviously different enough to tell apart from his own thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Vega asked hesitantly, his relief turning to a sense foreboding dread at an instant.

Shadow has returned, and Kale has gone with him. The darkness has only just begun...

Author`s Note: Before anything else, allow me to give some credit where it`s due: Thank you, Zinou. It had always been intended in NA for Specular to be Vega`s Organoid, if only because having Shadow in that role would`ve been a bit too expected(to me at least). However, without TEoO, I wouldn`t have thought to bring Shadow into the story at all, even though he actually is needed for something I had planned from the start. It also lead me to modify a scene I have planned to happen later on, but I won`t spoil it.

Now then: Who else thinks that the shit is about to hit the fan next time Kale and Vega meet up? And who`s the real threat here? Kale or Rommel? Perhaps Arihmanes or Rayth on their own? And how does all of this tie together? Everyone is connected somehow, but just how will it all reveal itself?

EndlessAdventure: Nyx is actually the name of a place I picked up off of a website(the guy on Artvilla, forgot his name), and later found a pic of it on a map of Planet Zi. I only kept a few of the locations in the map though, but with a little modification, Nyx fit the bill for what I have planned like a glove. And ya don`t need to write down an explanation, actually. I already have the connections for her to enter the story as it is, and I just need to wait for the right moment to bring her in.

Zinou: THANK YOU for the inspiration :D As for the Kale fangirlism... *Contemplative look.* ... Well, since I`m a TEoO fanboy, I guess we`re even :P

And speaking of Kale, what did everyone think of how he`s turned out thus far/will continue to develop?

That`s all for now folks, enjoy, leave a review and see ya next time! Sh33p out.

New Age by Sh33p

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New Age

Chapter 25

A House Divided, A History Repeated