by T5 and NotWedge
Scotland:
Crasher lived up to her name, crashing through the windows of an ancient keep, standing on a rough mountainside in northern Scotland.
The window shattered, and Crasher protected her face with her arms. She landed with a thud on the wooden floor in what appeared to be an infirmary. Tons of medical equipment and beds were standing in a row against one side of the room. And as she got her bearings, she saw a bed with lots of technical equipment attached to it, sensors of every kind, and tubes that fed the patient nourishment and water.
My God! It's Ameristar!
Crasher managed to pick herself up from the floor. The armor seemed to function normally again. With tears in her eyes, she sat beside her love and caressed her forehead.
"Oh, my little star... snfff..." And then she cried for her friend.
How long she sat there, she couldn't say, but it was getting darker when suddenly a voice behind her spoke: "Hello, Crasher. So you managed to find us? How?"
Startled, she looked up, only to see the friendly, gray-haired Marc, who had rescued Ameristar a short while ago. She rewarded him with a smile and asked, "Oh, Marc, how is she? Is there any hope?"
"Yes, apparently there is. Just this morning, her brain activity showed increased values all over. And now you appear. How did you find us, mon cheri?"
"Well... it wasn't actually me... it was the armor."
"The armor?"
"Yes. It suddenly ignored all my commands and launched itself across the Atlantic, leaving my friends on the way to find the book we were looking for."
"Ah yes, that. That matter is in control now. Your father is happy with the results, and he will contact you soon. He is a bit busy right now. The death of the leaders of the covert organizations you battle has put his plans on hold."
Suddenly, Ameristar gasped and wailed like a banshee, and the armor began to walk toward her.
Crasher could feel the armor heating up inside. "Marc, help out of this thing! It's getting hot in here... something's happening..."
They struggled and managed to open the armor enough for Crasher to slip out of it and stand away from it as it approached the bed where Ameristar now convulsed.
Marc stared in disbelief at the scene, his psychic ability coming into play. "I feel a presence in the armor... a powerful presence... nothing I have ever felt before... It's... trying to communicate with Ameristar..."
In the bed, Ameristar seemed to relax a bit more, but her body was covered in sweat and spittle. Crasher took her hand but got an electric jolt that threw her to the other side of the room.
Marc ran to her. "Are you all right?" He helped her to her feet.
"Ouchie... that hurt... but I'm all right, thanks."
"It seems you are not to interfere with the process," said Marc with a pondering tone.
"What effin' process? The armor is trying to kill her or something!" Crasher yelled in desperation.
Marc took her shoulders. "No... this is something else... a powerful mind... yet full of wisdom and age beyond anyone I have ever met... older than your father, even."
"What?! But he's..."
"Yes... ancient is a good word. But this being is beyond age... beyond man... we should let it do what it wants."
They witnessed the armor suddenly glowing, a glow that engulfed the bed with an emerald light, almost like St. Elmo's fire. Then Ameristar faded out of their sight, and so did the armor.
Only the emerald light shone in a central part of the room, but as suddenly as it had appeared, it too vanished, only to be replaced with Ameristar standing there, with her armor on. And her eyes were emerald.
"Hello, Crasher, my love, my life. I am back."
La Perdita:
Drake Marshall stepped out of the Fish Factory, not sure where he was going.
Where are we going, Drake?
"Haven't decided yet, big guy. So, why didn't you want to stay?"
I wanted to Drake, but I couldn't.
"Why not?"
Well, we're stuck together. You would have had to stay, too.
"You didn't ask me if I would have been willing to."
I knew what you'd say: We're here for a reason. This is where we can do the most good, so this is where we belong.
"So, are you okay with it, or are you just trying to keep me happy?"
This really is where we belong now. Dragons live a long time, Drake. I'll have plenty of time to get me some dragon tail later.
Drake laughed. "That's one way to look at it." Just then, Drake arrived at a small gas station.
Is this where you were going?
"Yeah, I guess it is. I need to make a phone call. Could you please, uh, not listen?"
Sure. I can use some rest, anyway.
"Thanks."
Drake took a card out of his pocket and looked at it as he dialed the phone. He waited a moment for the person on the other end of the line to pick up. "Blackburn? This is Marshall." Drake listened for a moment. "Yeah. I'm sorry. Look, I really am sorry about how we... I mean how I left things." Drake listened again. "I'm glad to hear that. So, what's new?" Another pause to listen. "They got into the Final Four? No way! Too bad Kansas clobbered them. Guess I was out of the loop, eh?" Drake paused again. "Glad to hear Kerr is working out. I was sure he had it in him.
"I, uh, really want you to know... I've been thinking. About what's important. What I want to say is, I'm not here because I want to be. I'm here because it's where Drax can do the most good. And I know you stayed there for similar reasons. I know, I can be a jerk. I know that I may just upset you when I screw things up again. Hell knows, I've screwed up since I left." Drake listened.
"Thanks. I... what I want to say is that I don't know how many chances I'll have to say what I need to. And I need to tell you... I still care about you, Jessica. I can't lie to myself about it anymore. Sometimes I wish there wasn't fifty feet of dragon in between us, but that's what we're stuck with." Drake listened yet again. "Yeah, I know. Look, If you need me or Drax, we'll be there." Another pause. "Okay. Tell Tommy to kick a bad guy for me. Bye, Jess."
Drake hung up the phone and turned to leave. As he did, his left leg buckled, and he fell flat on his face. "Damn." Drake struggled back to his feet and started walking back to the Fish Factory.
Scotland:
Ameristar and Crasher walked outside the keep, enjoying the highland mountain view.
"So... what exactly happened?" asked Crasher to the now-enigmatic Ameristar.
She replied, "I was born again... This time... I will do things differently."
"Differently? This time? ... What do you mean?"
"I am now... mobile again... It's... wonderful..." Her voice trailed off. Her eyes, still emerald in hue, with just a slight glow, told Crasher that things were not as they should have been.
Ameristar looked at her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, sister, love... but we must return to La Perdita... I/we are needed there... I will see you soon again... your time for rest is now..."
"But I thought we..."
Ameristar was gone, leaving a disturbed Crasher on the mountainside, looking up at the towering keep, wondering why she felt such an ominous feeling inside her.
Marc and the old neanderthal stood and watched the whole scene from a window.
"What's wrong?" asked the ancient man, who sat down on a creaking chair with a sigh.
Marc looked at him worriedly. "It's... something..." Marc sat down with him. "She seems to be the same Ameristar, but something else is inside her as well... something old... something powerful... and angry. I don't like it."
They sat there for a few moments, and then the old man said, "She is still on her path toward her destiny. She will find the other knights -- trust me, Marc. The order of the White Raven will live again. And this time, you will be more formidable than ever. She is part of Gaia now. And God help those who get in her way."
Ameristar appeared just outside the apartment complex in Puerta Mibela, La Perdita, startling a few construction workers who were sitting having a coffee break.
"Hello, boys! Have you seen my friends?"