Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction / Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Outlaw Star Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ The Reaper ❯ Search for The Reaper ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: You know what I'm gonna say already. Things I do own are listed on previous chapters.

Last chapter the teams who had gathered at the Toros base had come up with a plan. Nate had gone off to help his cousin, and ended up destroying the first Deathsaurer. That left six left to go. He reached the Zarochi Flats before everyone else and waited, while waiting the Champ team showed up. You all should know the rest. I'm not giving you the full summary so you will have to read chapter 6. Ha ha ha.

** ** Zoid speech

( ) Author's Notes

` ' thought

Chapter 7: Search for The Reaper

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It had been three days since the battle at Zarochi. The entire area, within a radius of 12 miles, had been turned to a sea of glass. The heat had been so intense that it turned all the sand, rocks, and even the mountains that were in the way, into a fine pane of glass. Of course the glass was jagged and in a waveform. You didn't expect it to be flat, did you?

Toros base: 1 PM, three days after Zarochi

Everyone in the Toros base was outside the living room door, looking in through the small crack. Inside, in the back corner, was Mayuka. She hadn't moved for the past three day. She just sat on the floor, with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her head was buried between her knees. The onlookers couldn't see it, but they knew she was crying.

Leena had tried to go in and comfort her, but was just pushed away. Bit tried and was even more unsuccessful than Leena. He tried the line, "I'm sure he didn't suffer too much." Mayuka had punched him square in the face when he said it.

`No one understands,' she thought to herself. Nate had been her lifeline here on Zi. Without him she would be forced to go home to Jurai, and marry someone else. She had been away so long she had no idea how to act as a princess. Even if she disowned herself it still wouldn't save her from them.

Brad had worked up the courage to go in there. He just hoped what happened to Bit wouldn't happen to him. He opened the door and slid inside, pretending to want to watch TV. He glanced at her and saw that she was looking up.

"Hey Maya," he said cheerfully enough. He knew good and well that she was just as strong as Leena, maybe stronger.

"Hey," she answered in a whisper. She had cried so much that her throat was sore and gritty.

"I'm not here to bother you, I'm just gonna watch TV, okay?"

She nodded.

"Not the ZBC news though."

"Sure," he said sitting down and grabbing the remote. `Great, that is what I was going to watch.'

Mayuka stayed in her corner, waiting for Brad to make his move at comforting her. But it never came. She just watched him sit there, watching TV. He finally turned it off, got up, and left; leaving her alone with her thoughts again.

`No one thinks he's alive, except for me and the Fury,' she thought as more tears streamed down her cheeks, `It isn't fair, I should have been with him.'

She turned to look at the door to see if anyone was still watching her. They were all still there, but they weren't looking at her; they were looking past her, out the window. She turned her head to look and right outside the window was the long, blue head of the Blue Fury. Its red eyes staring at her through the glass. She let out a squeal of surprise and alarm, because she wasn't expecting to see it.

`How did it get out of the hangar?' she thought. `What does it want me to do?'

**Growls**

`I understand,' she told it, `I will come with you.'

She stood up and opened the window. The cockpit of the Fury opened and she climbed in. The Zoid turned away from the opened window and walked off.

"Everyone, get to hover cargo," Toros said in an urgent voice. "We have to follow her."

"What are you people waiting for?" Leena yelled from the end of the hallway, "We have to move out, now!"

Within minutes they were in the hover cargo, following the Fury at a respectable distance. It knew they were there, but wasn't trying to get them to go away. The Organoid bonded with the Fury was calculating that they might be able to help. So it kept walking, leaving them alone…for now. Bringing them, it decided, was an acceptable risk.

"Where is it leading us, Dad?" Leena asked while watching the tail of the Fury sway side to side.

"I'm not sure," Toros said as he pulled a map up onto the screen. "We are definitely headed in the direction of the Zarochi Flats, but I'm not sure that's its final destination."

"You mean, it could be going anywhere?" Bit asked in a very bored sounding voice.

"You know, Bit, this is partly your fault," Leena said glaring at him.

"What?! How is this partly my fault," he asked.

"You left the hangar door open after going for a run with the Liger," she said. "It's possible he noticed something you didn't, and he told the Blue Fury."

"How do you know I left the hangar door open?"

"Because you were the last one in the hangar," Brad said while plotting courses the Fury could possibly follow.

The Fury had reached the cliff overlooking the Flats. It stood there looking down for a small amount of time before allowing the hover cargo to approach. Then it opened the cockpit and Mayuka climbed on top. She looked down and saw the glass. Stepping back slightly she looked directly below her, it was also glass. Looking behind her, as far as the eye could see, was glass.

"Where to now?" she asked her Zoid.

The Fury just growled and turned its head to the right.

"Back to the base?" she meant the Zeros base.

It shook its head slowly, as not to throw her off, and growled again.

"I'm not sure I understand. Where do you want to go?" she asked getting frustrated; she didn't exactly have infinite patience.

The cockpit opened and she got back in. It turned to the right and started running again. Mayuka wasn't controlling it, the Zoid was doing this all on its own.

"Where is she going?" Bit asked no one in particular.

"Bit, for the last time, we don't know!" Leena said biting him on the shoulder.

"Leena, stop that and go back to monitoring the Fury's power levels," Toros said from his place in the center.

"I was just starting to have fun," she said laughing as she smacked Bit upside the head and went back to her chair.

"This is not the time to be fooling around," Jamie said in that voice he uses when he complains. "This is serious."

"Jeez, Jamie, lighten up a bit," Leena said then looked back at the screen. "Dad, something's wrong here."

"What is it?" Toros asked sounding distracted, he had pulled out his models, and was playing with them.

"Dad, put those away and look at this," she yelled at him. "The Fury's power levels have gone up by 20 percent."

"That's normal for a Zoid like that," he said looking over her shoulder.

"But, Dad, we don't know anything about a Zoid like that."

While they were talking the Fury increased speed.

"Jamie, take the Raynos and follow them," Toros said. "The hover cargo is too slow."

"Gotcha, Doc," Jamie said getting up and heading for the door.

"Should I take the Jager out too?" Bit asked also getting up.

"Go ahead, but be sure to keep your distance."

"Right," Bit said as he and Jamie headed for their Zoids.

"Just wanted to get away from Leena, right?" Jamie asked as they ran down the hall.

"You got that right," Bit answered, "I think she's slowly going insane, on and off the battlefield."

Bit and Jamie launched their Zoids and continued to pursue Mayuka. The Blue Fury was now moving at a constant speed of 500 kilometers per hour. The Raynos and the Jager matched its speed, but kept back about a quarter mile.

Mayuka had no control in the cockpit whatsoever. She tried turning, didn't work. She tried stopping, didn't work. She tried talking to her Zoid, but it wouldn't listen. Something was on its Organoid mind, and nothing was going to stop it. Somehow it knew exactly where the Raptor was.

Without noticing it they ran straight through a Zoid battle between two other teams. Jamie and Bit were fast enough to get through, but the hover cargo had to go around. The judge called them for it, but it didn't matter, they were through before he could pass sentence.

"Blue, listen to me, where are we going?" Mayuka pleaded but with no answer. "Please."

When she said this, a small map appeared on the screen. There was a green dot about 120 miles north/northeast of where they were at the moment. A blue dot was rapidly approaching the green. The map was a topographical map, meaning it had lines where hills and valleys were. The spot where the green dot was set was next to a blue line, river, and in the middle a large mass of olive green, forest.

"That's where we're going?" she asked.

The Fury nodded and pushed to go faster. It opened all the boosters on its legs, back, and sides. In doing this it broke the sound barrier, and pulled away from the two members of the Blitz team. Jamie punched the throttle and broke the sound barrier right after the Fury. Bit and the Jager hung back to wait for the hover cargo. It would be a long wait.

The Blue Fury pushed faster and faster; breaking the sound barrier again and again. The Raynos had no problem keeping up, but it was falling back. Jamie tried to contact Mayuka through the com-system, but the Fury was blocking all communications.

They were right on the edge of the forest when the Fury decided to stop. Mayuka was thrown against her restraints, but was otherwise okay. The Zoid roared at the forest, hoping to have the roar answered. No answer.

It roared again, louder this time.

No answer.

Getting no answer on the second try it went into the forest; ripping up trees in its wake.

Bit sat on the Liger's right, front foot, bored out of his mind. He looked to the right, nothing. He looked to the left, nothing. He looked forward and saw a cloud of dust headed for him. At the front of the dust cloud was a red Zoid, about the size of the Shadow Fox. It looked oddly familiar.

The Zoid slid to a stop right in front of him. The cockpit opened and Mary Champ stepped out. A small platform slid out of the side of the head and she stepped out onto it. The platform lowered to the ground and she stepped off. After stepping off she stood there looking at him.

"Yes?" he asked slightly annoyed by her. He was too concerned for the hover cargo at the moment.

"I know what you're looking for," she said in a teasing voice, "and I know where it is."

"So, I know where it is too," he said holding up the print out of the map sent to him by Mayuka. he folded it back up and put it in his pocket.

"Then I guess I'm not needed," she said turning around and getting back on the platform.

(Don't ask me why I did this, something had to happen to Bit while he was waiting.)

When she was back in her Zoid it started forward again, bumping the Liger on its way. The Liger Zero simply growled and shoved back.

"This is going to be a long day," Bit said sighing to himself.

The Raynos flew overhead as the Fury uprooted tree after tree in its attempt to reach the Raptor. `Why doesn't it just follow the river?' Jamie asked himself. The tree cover was getting so thick that all he could see were the trees swaying with every step the blue Zoid took.

Then, there it was, directly below him, the Death Raptor. The green coloring was perfect camouflage; if you weren't looking for it you would never have seen it. A smaller figure was crouched next to it, and next to that was something else.

"What is that?" he asked out loud.

Down the river, about 300 feet, the Blue Fury emerged from the forest. It turned and ran towards the Raptor. While it ran the cockpit opened and Mayuka jumped out. She hit the ground, rolled, got up and ran.

(This was from Jamie's POV, just so you know)

Mayuka sat in the cockpit, her arms crossed, having nothing to do. She finally cleared the edge of the forest and was right on the edge of the river. `Why didn't we just follow the river?' she thought looking at it.

The Fury growled a low growl.

`Yes, I suppose it wasn't a direct route.'

They turned and saw the Raptor and Nate crouched next to it. The Fury ran faster than ever that it broke the sound barrier almost at once. Mayuka punched the cockpit controls, and this time, they worked. The cockpit opened and she stood on the edge for a second, feeling the wind in her face. She jumped, not caring what happened, hit the ground, rolled, got up and ran as fast as she could.

"NATE!" she screamed tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. She can really keep her cool in these situations, can't she?

She reached him, sitting with his back against the Raptor's leg. The Raptor was on its side with half its tail submerged in the river. Nate was unconscious, his right arm broken and bloody, and a gash down his face, through his right eye. His left arm wasn't damaged, though the plating was warped slightly from the heat. His face was white, except for the red scab over the gash.

The Fury was standing over the Raptor, as if to ward off predators.

(I don't know; it's an Organoid thing.)

There was a crashing in the bushes behind her. Turning around Mayuka saw what looked like a small dragon. It had plated skin, green in color, with piercing, red eyes. When it saw her crouching next to Nate, its eyes narrowed.

"Did you help him?" she asked uneasily looking at its eyes. The creature was a good 3 or 4 feet taller than she was, and it looked like it could easily rip her apart.

It just stared at her with a blank expression on its face. The Fury turned and growled at it. The thing looked up and nodded to it.

"Thank you," Mayuka said bowing slightly to the creature.

It just gave her the blank expression again. She laughed a little, very little. She then actually looked at the creature for the first time. It was pear-shaped, like the Japanese version of Godzilla, it had green, plated skin, its eyes were red with black slits for pupils, and it stood about 8 feet tall. Its tail was about the same length as the main body, and at the end, along the spine, were three black spikes.

That's when it hit her…this was an Organoid. A living, breathing, unbonded Organoid.

Mayuka stooped down to pull Nate to his feet when the Organoid rushed forward and pushed her off. The Fury growled and brought its head down to ground level to stare the creature in the face.

"It's okay," Mayuka heard a voice whisper. She looked down and Nate had his one good eye open. She realized he must know the creature. "It's okay, Sen."

The Organoid back off from Mayuka, and let her take him to the river to wash his arm. Nate looked up her and smiled, she smiled back.

"How," he started, "how did you find me?"

"I didn't, the Fury did," she cocked her head in the direction of her Zoid. "How did you meet, um…Sen?" She looked over her shoulder at the green Organoid while it seemed to be talking with the Blue Fury.

"Long story, I blacked out after the blast so I have no idea how I got here. I guess the QPC takes too much energy from the pilot," he sat down in the frigid water while Mayuka washed the large hole in his arm. "When I woke up, I was lying on the ground outside the cockpit. I tried opening my right eye, but all I got was red, and a lot of pain." His voice was so low, so gritty; he must have been parched.

Mayuka looked at his face and saw his eye was looking down. Wondering why, she looked down at herself and saw that by leaning over she had exposed quite a lot of cleavage.

"It's not like you haven't seen that before," she said standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

They laughed together. She missed his laugh, even though it was rare to see him laugh, it never failed to make her feel warm and safe.

"I feel like I'm being baptized," he said looking into her face.

"Nate," she said pulling his face close to hers, "don't ever do anything like that again."

"I'll try," he said coolly.

"No, you won't try," she pulled him closer, "You will."

"Alright," he tried to pull away a little, "I will do it again."

She laughed at the turn around of the words.

"We should get you to the hospital," she said putting his good around her shoulders and walked him over to their Zoids.

Sen looked at them, but didn't narrow his eyes. They "talk" with the Fury had set him straight.

"Yeah, but the Raptor can't move," he said looking at his fallen Zoid, "I'll need to fix it. A full maintenance overhaul and he'll be ready to fight in no time."

"How do you think he'll feel about?" she asked leaning him against the Raptor's foot. "I mean, he has the choice to fight or not, right?"

"Of course," he patted Sen on his head, "but you don't know him after a full overhaul. He'll be ready for anything in about a week."

"That is, if we can get him back to the base," she put her hands behind her head and slumped down next to him. "We don't have a ride."

"That's where you're wrong," Nate looked up at the Raynos, which was about to land.

It landed and Jamie jumped out, he ran over and stood in front of them. His hair was different than Nate remembered, it spiked back. And his eyes, his eyes were full of a self-confidence Nate hadn't seen there a few days ago. There was also some sense of contained anger, almost.

"You two alright?" he asked, even his voice was different. It had the same confidence as his eyes and posture.

"Just fine," Nate said attempting to stand up, but Mayuka pulled him back down. He groaned as his sore back hit the metal.

"Right, you and your Zoids really shouldn't be in a place like this," he said. Then he turned and noticed the green Organoid. When he saw Sen he stopped and stared. His mouth was hanging open in shock at seeing something so rare and unimaginable.

"I see you've noticed Sen," Nate said with a laugh, he then stopped and held his sides.

"S-S-S-Sen?" he asked almost falling over in shock. His mouth wasn't working right, he could barely form the word.

"Yes, now Hemeros can you contact your hover cargo and tell them where we are?" Nate asked him still enjoying the look on his face.

"That's not my name," he said turning away from Sen, "You can call me the Wild Eagle."

"That's great, now can you contact them or not," Mayuka said getting up and walking towards the Raynos. "If you won't, I will."

"No one touches my Zoid but me," he yelled running in front of her, he grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her.

"I can relate," Nate mumbled from where he sat.

"I mean, we don't have to contact them," Wild Eagle said quickly regaining his composure, "The Blue Fury sent us a map that showed our position, your position, and his position. They're on the way now."

"You did that Fury?" she asked over her shoulder. The Fury turned and nodded.

There was a sound of moving water, not the normal sound of the river. Around the bend in the river came the blue and white hover cargo. When it stopped the front and sides opened. Grappler arms came out to lift the Raptor inside. When they were inches away, it moved.

It slid itself out of the river and onto the bank; Nate had lost his backrest. Then it stood, awkwardly at first, but it steadied itself. The Raptor turned its head to look down at Nate; then it looked at Jamie, with his hands on Mayuka's shoulders. It growled and took a very threatening step forward.

`It's okay, Raptor, he just didn't want her touching the Raynos,' Nate knew his thought would be heard. It was, the Raptor stopped. "Are you sure you can get back to the base?"

The Raptor stooped down carefully, very carefully, with its head next to Nate. The cockpit opened and Nate was bathed in the light from the controls.

"Sen, would you like to come with us?" he asked the Organoid, then shot a look at the hover cargo. "No telling who might blab that you're here," he said loudly.

At that moment Leena came out through the front panel.

"You're going to pay for that!" she yelled. "Like I would blab that there's an extremely rare Organoid here in the Trilad Forest!"

"I didn't mean you," he yelled back laughing, "I meant your father."

"Oh."

Sen seemed to find it funny because he was making a sound that could pass for laughter.

"Hey Nate, how bout I go back to the base and come back with our hover cargo?" Mayuka asked shoving Jamie away and running back the Fury. "You, Sen, and Raptor could wait here till I get back."

"Well?" he looked at the Death Raptor, its console glowing, so welcoming.

The Raptor closed the cockpit and stood up to its full height, about 9.5 meters, and roared. Nate, Mayuka, Leena, and Jamie covered their ears. Sen stood there looking up at the powerful Zoid. I'm not sure what was actually running through his head, but I think he was wishing that he could bond with a Zoid someday.

"He agrees with your idea," Nate said laughing. Everyone gave him a strange look, they didn't see what was so funny.

(Frankly, I don't see what's so funny either, oh well.)

Same place, a couple hours later, 4 PM

Nate sat there, he could really use some pain killers right about. The pain in his arm was almost too much to bear. It was getting dark, considering the time of day. He heard a rustling in the bushes. Switching his left eye to night-vision, he looked in the direction of the sound. He saw the outline of a person, running very fast. This person was familiar somehow, but he couldn't figure out how.

The hover cargo arrived, the front panel opened and the Raptor walked inside. As he did Mayuka walked out. She helped Nate to his feet and led him inside. Sen was close behind. He, Sen, was watching Mayuka with a bit of curiosity in his red eyes. She got Nate to bed and in no time was back in the control room. In a few hours they would be back at the base, preparing for her parents arrival.

TBC

This is not an epilogue, I'm sorry if that was misleading. I couldn't fit everything I wanted in this chapter. So next chapter will be the epilogue, it might be short, I'm running low on ideas. Why aren't you people reviewing. If you don't like this fic then say so, if you do like it tell me. I need to know these things. Thanks again for reading and I hope you like the epilogue. HEY LOOK OVER THERE! **Points one way and runs the other while everybody is looking in the direction he pointed.**