Authors: Jack Parker
"Leon!" she shouted in warning, using a speaker to project her voice outside of her Geno. Leon just gave a confused glance in her direction. "Behind you!" He straightened in slight worry and then slowly turned around. He was about to make a break for it when he was met with a silver pistol. It was aimed directly between his eyes.
Inside the cockpit, Ray cursed under her breath. This wasn't supposed to happen. She had to think of something and fast. Her enemies were still lurking underneath the desert floor.
"Warrior!" shouted the man holding the pistol, a portable communications device in his hand. His voice managed to project its way towards Ray, piercing through her cockpit. "Stay right where you are. If you even put up a fight, I can't be accountable for what happens to your friend here."
"Damn it," whispered Ray as she tried to come up with a plan. She had been told over and over again to never surrender. She was never supposed to allow the enemy to get the upper hand on her. She remembered the way she had been trained, and she hated the option she was told to take. The safety of the GRC was supposed to come first, meaning that she was supposed to ignore their demand. However, she wasn't about to just let them kill Leon. After all, it wasn't his fault. She was the one who had asked to follow him. She wasn't about to abandon him. However, she had no intension of surrendering either.
Ray released the controls and leaned back in her seat. She was racking her brain for a solution to the problem, but she was met with nothing. If only she could distract them long enough. If only the police would come. They had probably noticed the disturbance by now, but it would still take them a while to get there.
A tremor ran through the ground under her Geno, but she didn't care. If she moved, they'd kill Leon. Despite the fact that he was somewhat of a know-it-all pain in the neck, she wasn't about to sacrifice him for her own safety. The tremor became more intense, but she still didn't move. Before she knew it, her Geno was launched into the air, spinning backwards. The only thing keeping Ray from being thrown around inside the cockpit was the harness that came around her waist and across her uninjured arm. However, when she hit the ground, her left shoulder came in contact with the side panel of the control console. A small cry of pain escaped her throat as she instinctively placed her right hand over her throbbing shoulder. Before she could even think, she was thrown into the air again.
On the sidelines, Leon had been forced to turn around, the gun now pointing at the back of his head. He wore a glare on his face, doing his best to hide the fact that he was scared. He kept his attention on Ray, watching as her Geno was tossed into the air. Her speaker was still on since he was able to hear her cry out as her Geno smashed into the ground. He cursed under his breath, knowing that this was his fault in someway.
Ray got her Geno to its feet, but she made no attempt to retaliate. She couldn't do anything just yet. She turned her eyes to the men at the entrance of Torran. The one man still held Leon at gun point, but his eyes were on her battle. If Leon were to move fast enough, he could take the man by surprise. However, he wasn't about to move. Ray needed to create a distraction for him. She smiled when a plan formulated on her mind. She only prayed that Leon would be smart enough to play along.
"Hey Leon," said Ray softly, the ground beginning to shake under her. "I just wanted to say that…I'm sorry, and…" She was tossed into the air. She grabbed the controls, a gun coming out from the side. "Get down!" she yelled as she fired a single shot, praying her aim was accurate. Before any of them could react, the bullet hit the sands near the entrance. Leon had dodged to the side at the last second.
The man with the pistol hadn't been able to respond fast enough, his gun getting knocked from his hand, now lying on the desert sands. They were all coughing as the dust choked them, their eyes stinging from the barrage of sand particles.
Leon made a swipe for the gun, snatching it up quickly. Right as the dust cleared, he stood up, holding the men at gun point. He could hear sirens in the background, and a smirk crossed his face. The police would arrive shortly. It was almost over.
Ray smiled as she began her assault once again. A tremor ran through her Geno, and she jumped to the side. About three Genos came up at once, and she quickly shot all three of them down. By her calculations, there were only about four more left, maybe less. She waited for the next tremor, jumping upwards this time. When two of the whale shaped machines surfaced, she came down on them. Her Geno's claws sunk into their armor, shredding it to the point where they were internally damaged. Only two remained.
One last tremor ran through the ground. She repeated her previous move, resulting in the same outcome. However, only one had resurfaced. She simply decided that her count had just been off. With everything that had been happening, it was an easy mistake to be off by one.
Ray stayed there for a while longer, but she didn't feel anymore tremors. The battle was finally over, so she victoriously walked back to the entrance of Torran. The police were already there, taking care of the five men who had probably been the mastermind behind this whole thing.
Leon was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed. He watched as Ray's Geno stopped nearby, the cockpit opening. Ray jumped down from her now crouching Geno, landing effortlessly. She was once again holding her shoulder. The pain hadn't quite subsided yet.
"Hey," greeted Leon, watching as she walked towards him. "How's your arm?"
"A little sore, but I'll live," she answered with a small, arrogant smile. It fell, however, when her thoughts rewound through her day. "Leon?"
"Yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"I'm sorry," she told him sincerely. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble. You could have died…thank you."
"Thank you?" he questioned. "For what?"
"For letting me follow you, for buying me lunch, for…just for being there." She smiled before turning around. She lifted her right arm, giving him a small wave as she walked back towards her Geno. "It's been fun, but let's not do it again."
"Sounds good," he told her.
"I'll see ya around sometime, ok?" she said as she jumped back into the cockpit.
"Alright," he called back as he began to walk back into Torran. He still had a few matters to attend to. He stopped, however, and watched as Ray's Geno disappeared into the desert. It wasn't until she was completely gone that he realized it. He hadn't gotten an answer to his original question.
* * * *
Ray threw open the doors to the GRC base, walking in with a strong sense of pride. Her current victory was still fresh on her mind. However, she wasn't about to tell anyone about the events of the day. Brian would worry about her, Abby would lecture her, and Gordan would throw a fit, not to mention ban her from going into battle in about two days.
"R.C!" shouted Abby as she came down the hall, a smile on her face. "How was your day in Torran?" Ray stopped walking, shrugging her shoulders.
"Same old, same old," she told Abby, which wasn't far from the truth. She had been chased down in Torran more than once. No one needed to know something like that though. She was going to do her best to not answer this question
"Come on R.C," her friend coaxed. "Tell me what really happened." This just earned her a sigh from the ace knight.
So much for avoiding the question…
"I ran into Leon," she said, deciding that the more exciting details would be left out. She would keep it as simple as she could.
"Leon Solaris?" questioned Abby in slight awe and admiration.
"Yeah, what other Leon do I know?" questioned Ray as she shoved her hand into her pocket. "He bought me lunch, but he wouldn't buy me anything else. Even when I begged, he wouldn't give in!" Abby just laughed at her friend as Ray fumed over the fact that Leon had been just as stubborn as she was.
"Anyway," began Abby, "I'll see you later. Gordan wanted me to do something for him."
"Yeah, okay," said Ray, sounding slightly disappointed. "See you later." Abby turned around and walked off, heading towards her office.
Ray continued down the hall for a while longer before deciding to retreat to her room. As she turned the corner that would lead towards the dormitories, she saw Brian standing near his office, talking to one of the officials. Ray smiled and walked over to him, going slowly. As soon as Brian was done talking to the man, Ray ran up behind him.
"Hey Brian!" she shouted, startling him. He spun around, his heart racing. He sighed when he saw Ray, placing a hand against his forehead.
"I hate it when you do that," he told her, his pulse slowing to its normal pace.
"Sorry, but I couldn't resist," she said with a smile. Brian only sighed again before looking to a clipboard he held in his hand.
"I set up your battle for noon on Friday," he told her.
"Great," she said as she walked past him, continuing on her way to her room. She stopped, however, when a question formed on her mind.
"Hey, Brian?" she called out, catching his attention. "Who am I up against?"
"Oh," said Brian as he began flipping through the papers on his clipboard. He found the page and returned his eyes to her. "Leon Solaris."
Leon opened the door to the kitchen of his base, heaving a relieved yet exhausted sigh. He tossed his keys on the kitchen table and walked into the living room. He proceeded to flop down onto the couch as Chris and Dr. Solaris walked into the room. They turned their eyes to him as he just laid there facedown, not moving at all.
"Welcome back Leon," greeted Dr. Solaris. "How was your trip to Torran?"
"Exhausting," he replied as he rolled onto his back. "I spent the day with Ray." Dr. Solaris quirked an eyebrow at that.
"Really?" asked Chris, sounding interested. "How is she? Is her arm alright?"
"She's doing fine," he responded. "She's still as cocky and energetic as ever."
"That's good to hear."
Dr. Solaris said nothing as he looked over his eldest son. There was something Leon was keeping from them. David knew that spending any time with Ray was risky. She was a wanted person, and her enemies were everywhere.
"Leon," called Dr. Solaris, catching his son's attention. "Just what did the two of you do?"
"We had lunch, shopped around, talked about the tournament…rollerbladed through the city," he said, deciding to stop there.
"Sounds like fun," said Chris with a smile.
"Yeah, fun," agreed Leon as he closed his eyes, letting the events of the day repeat themselves in his head. He had probably never had a more eventful day. How many times had he nearly died within the last few hours? He had lost count around ten. He was beginning to wish he had never let her follow him. However, he had to admit that she wasn't that bad of company. If only trouble didn't follow her, he'd probably say that her presence was quite enjoyable.
"Leon," said Dr. Solaris. Leon opened one eye, looking to his father. "Will you come to my office? There's something I'd like to talk to you about." Leon sat up on the couch, swinging his legs over the side. He stood up and followed his dad down the hall. They walked into the unorganized work room, and Dr. Solaris shut the door behind him.
"What is it?" asked Leon.
"What really happened?" he asked, sitting down at his desk.
"I told you, we…"
"I know there's more," he cut in, locking eyes with his son. "I want to know what really happened in Torran." Leon sighed, realizing that his father wasn't about to let this slide.
"Okay," said Leon, preparing himself to explain this. "I spent half the day with Ray, that's not a lie. However, there were these men, and throughout the day, we were chased both on foot and by a car, shot at, we skated through traffic, and then Ray got into a battle outside of the city, during which I was shot at again and had a gun pointed at my head." Dr. Solaris looked horrified as Leon told his story, recalling every event he could remember. "I think that's about it."
"My God…" whispered Dr. Solaris in disbelief, his heart racing from the shock of hearing all of that. A lot had happened to his son in just a few hours, and it was all because of Ray. A sigh escaped his lips as he began rubbing his temples.
"It's alright," Leon told his father. "We're both fine."
"I can see that. It's just that…that was so much," he said as he laid his head down on the desk. "I knew that Ray was dangerous to be around, but I didn't think it'd be that bad."
"Relax," coaxed Leon as he walked towards the door. "It all turned out okay. She didn't abandon me or anything even though I did get in her way." Dr. Solaris smiled secretively after hearing that. Ray had always been good at not following the rules. She never sacrificed anyone for her own safety. It just wasn't something she was able to do.
"I'm going," announced Leon as he opened the door, looking back at his father.
"Alright," sighed Dr. Solaris as he sunk down in his chair. Without another word, Leon left the room, closing the door behind him.
Dr. Solaris reclined in his desk chair, tilting his head towards the ceiling. There were hundreds of questions on his mind, not to mention that the worry hadn't quite subsided yet. He repeated the information that Leon had given him, realizing that his son had been only inches from death. He was both blaming and thanking Ray. It had been her fault that Leon had ended up in danger, but she had done a decent job of keeping him safe.