[PG 13] Zoids: Cataclysm (Part II)

[Ushima]

"Cadmus?" Michael gently shook the young genezoid. "Cadmus!?" Silence. All he was met with was silence. "No. Nonononononono." More silence. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" He broke down. Once again he lost another friend. A good friend. A brother.

"It's over then?" Curtis appeared behind him, watching his friend cry over their fallen friend.

Michael was quiet. Really quiet. That made Curtis nervous. "It-it's over." Michael stood, leaving Cadmus' body behind. He might not like it but as a man, a king, of honor he would honor his friend's dying wish. "Let's go home."

[TheDoctor]

Five Years Later...

"Daddy?"

"Yes Sage?" An older Michael, now twenty seven, held his first born son's hand. They were walking through the halls of the palace.

"Where are we going?" The young boy was the spitting image of his father at the age of four and a half.

"We're going to meet mommy in the throne room. She just got back from visiting your Aunt Agera with your brother and sister." Sage had wanted to stay with his father while Nell, now Queen of the Neo Zoidian Empire, took a trip to see their friend.

Neo Zoidian. After everything that happened the hidden cryogenically frozen Zoidians was revealed to him. They were resting underneath the destroyed city of Metropolis. Michael of course was a little annoyed, 'I was there for three months during the war. I was so close!' Michael chuckled at the memory.

Entering the throne room Michael spotted Nell in her seat, bouncing a baby girl in her arms. Nell fit into her role easily and adjusted well. At first the people were hesitant to accept a human queen but she was already two months pregnant with the heir, and Michael was adamant in his decision. Every advisor he had who suggest a Zoidian bride was fired. After the fifth time they just gave up. And Nell handled the courts well, she was a strong queen. "Uncle Curtis!" Sage detached himself from his father and ran towards the older Curtis. Curtis Miller, now twenty, was Michael's bodyguard and protected the Royal Family. He was essentially a Michael Knight 2.0 now. Big, strong, a highly skilled warrior.

"Hello Curtis. Uneventful trip I take it?" Michael approached the two.

"As always." Curtis was holding the infant prince, who was passed off to his father as the King approached. "They see my Zoid and any potential threats turn tailed."

Michael smirked. 'Yep just like me.' Michael sat down on his throne. "Excellent."

~~~~~

A small, skinny child nearly five years old sat upon a porch. A mop of long blonde hair lay upon his head, falling over his curious and wide sapphire eyes gazing from beneath. His chin was perched upon his hand, which, in turn, was anchored to his knee. The porch he sat upon was made of metal and raised from the ground with a small but comfortable steel home behind him. It was only one level high, but it still had considerable floor area, and many assorted antennas and rods emerged from one corner of the home.

The boy was watching the endless landscape before him, a canyon of some sorts that evolved into an endless grassy field. Many other metal houses dotted the horizon and to the left and right of him, a neighborhood of some sort. He gazed at the sun as it began to set, his deep eyes devouring the elaborate colors and emerging stars of the imminent night. It was the stare of a boy who wanted to see everything Zi had to offer and whatever lay beyond, and his glazed yet fixated expression defined that he would stop at nothing to achieve that goal. They were the eyes of a pilot.

"What are you doing out here? Dinner is ready."

As the sound of footsteps upon steel reached his ears, the boy whipped his head around and saw a woman in her late 20s walking towards him. The resemblance between his hair and hers was uncannily similar, but his eyes held a separate quality to them. Although they were identical in color tone, they harbored a different feeling to them. Something deeper than mere color.

"I just came out here to watch the stars come out." The boy looked up at his mother with a somewhat guilty expression, eyes wide and cheeks blushing.

The woman let out a delicate laugh and sat down next to him. Both of their legs were hanging off of the edge of the patio. "You should be careful here. I don't want you to fall off of the porch."

The tension in the boy's shoulders relaxed and he turned to look at the sunset again with a smile. "I do this all the time, Mommy. I'm ok."

With a raise of her eyebrow, his mother looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Do you really? I didn't know about this..."

"I..." The boy perked up, sapphire eyes blinking. Then he hunched his shoulders, looking down. "Sorry, Mommy."

The woman smiled and put her hand on his head, brushing golden locks away. "It's ok sweetie. Did you have fun with Auntie Nell and Vega and Ornella today?"

The boy perked up again, this time in excitement with a smile on his face as well. He looked over at his mother. "Yeah! Me and Vega went to the river, and we found some sticks and tried to fish with them, but then we got bored so we started to do a sword fight with them, and then we jumped in the river and played Hammerhead! But I can't believe Auntie Nell had more babies! Twins!"

When the boy mentioned the sword fight, the woman's eyes flashed almost irrationally with fear. But they returned to normal, and she gently pulled the boy's head onto her shoulder as she continued to weave her fingers through his curls. "That's wonderful, Ryder. I'm glad you had fun."

~~~~~

"Sir the other council representatives are ready for the video conference." Curtis was hitting buttons on a data pad.

"Who's daddy's little boy? That's right Leon you are."

"Uh sir." Curtis tapped Michael on the shoulder and pointed ahead.

"Huh?" Michael then saw General Ceaser and Emperor Malik on a video screen. "Oh it seems to be that time." Nell chuckled at her husband while bouncing their baby girl Samara.

"Seems you're fitting into the family role quite nicely." Ceaser smiled at his once-subordinate. "The Zoid Battle Committee is ready to begin preparing for this years battles. Have you designated battle sites they can use?"

"I have a list prepared and will send it to the chairman once this meeting is over." Michael shifted Leon in his arms. "How are the Battalions looking?"

"Some pretty strong teams. The Republic has a lot of young wild cards. Our division matches should be interesting to watch." Ceaser informed the young king.

"The Empire has a lot of returning veterans from last season. The matches will be quite a show." Emperor Malik added.

"Hm that's good. Our division should be entertaining as well. All those unique Zoids to watch." With the return of the Zoidians there came new types of Zoids. Uniquely designed. Michael's Kinami Liger was one such Zoid. No other Zoid and a sword and sheath on it's back. Highly rare. "So all in all this season should be even more spectacular then the next." Michael smiled. Once all the Kingdoms had rebuilt they started a tri-kingdom tournament. Each country had it's own division. The top teams in the divisions would go on to the inter-country tournament. It was a highly popular sport.

~~~~~~

The boy and his mother were sitting at the table within the house eating a warm bowl of soup. A classical orchestral piece played in the background, filling the silence that hovered between the scraping of spoons on the bottom of the bowls and the clinks of cups being placed back upon the table. It was not an uncomfortable moment, yet tension did spread a very thin veil to each and every corner of the room.

Eventually, the boy set his spoon down and looked up at the woman sitting next to him. "Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be in a Battalion."

The woman closed her eyes as she sipped from her glass of wine, setting it down afterwards and clearing her throat. "Really? What makes you want to be in a Battalion, Ryder?"

The boy shrugged and looked down at this bowl of soup. "I dunno, I just really like zoids. Uncle Curtis's zoid is super cool, and I wanna grow up and pilot a zoid like he does! Then I can join a Battalion, and that can be my job: piloting zoids!" A grin spread upon his face. "Maybe Uncle Curtis could teach me how to really pilot a zoid! Could you ask him, Mommy?"

With a humored smile, the woman reached over and tapped him on the nose. "Of course I can, sweetie."

"Yay!" The boy giggled, and then fell silent. "Mommy?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Why couldn't Daddy teach me?"

Silence pierced the room again, the music continuing to play in the distant tides of their noise threshold. Then, with a sigh, the woman took the boy's hand. "He...lost himself."

"Ok..." The boy looked down at his hand. "Mommy...was Daddy a good guy?"

The woman released a tender gasp, her breath held in as her shoulders tensed. The pause resumed for many seconds until it was broken by the woman's answer. "Yes. Daddy was a good guy." She then tapped his hand. "Now go put your dishes in the sink."

The boy nodded, and he climbed off of his stool with some difficulty. "Yes, Mommy." As he took his bowl and cup to the sink, he grunted, standing on his toes to put the dishes in the basin. "Mommy, can I go play with Terry and Noah now?"

With a sigh, the woman nodded, gently smacking his behind as he jogged off. "Only a few hours, though. I'll be calling you in then!"

"Yes, Mommy! Thank you, Mommy!" The boy laughed as he closed the door.

With a sigh, the woman turned her back to the door and began to put the dishes into the dishwasher. "But he isn't a good guy anymore."

~~~~~

"You think, maybe, I should've told her?" Michael and Nell retired for the evening. Both laying in their bed.

"I see you're still debating this with yourself after all these years." Nell closed her book, setting it on the bedside table. Rolling over she started running her fingers through Michael's hair. A comforting gesture. "You know I'll support whatever decision you make."

"I should've told her. She deserved to know, at least for herself, that the man she loved was the most selfless of all of us. That he truly was a hero." Michael let out a deep regretful sigh, his mind made up. "But I can't. I have to do what he asked me to. I need to respect his dying wish."

"Then I'll stand by that wish." Nell kissed her husband's forehead. "Goodnight my love."

"Goodnight dear." Michael switched off the light and the couple quickly fell asleep. Resting up for the next day's duties of running a country.

~~~~~

"Good night, sweetheart." The woman kissed the boy on his forehead, tucking him in and switching off the light. The boy preferred the darkness when he slept, finding a nightlight too distracting. "You've got school to go to tomorrow, so sleep tight."

The boy smiled. "Good night, Mommy."

Brushing the boy's hair one last time, the woman exited his room, closing the door behind her.

With a sigh, the boy stared straight up through the skylight on his ceiling and into the celestial plain above. The stars formed an elaborate canvas in the sky, bathing his face in starlight. It was a beautiful sight, a sight that the boy fell asleep to every night.

That very same starlight illuminated tiny, crystalline tears that emerged from his eyes and tumbled down his cheeks.

"Daddy."

With a sniffle, he used the back of his hand to wipe away the two tears that fell. "Mommy said you're a good guy. I know she's right. You're probably the best Daddy ever." He sniffed again, more tears falling down his face.

"But I miss you. I know you're up there, but I want you down here. You're my Daddy."

The water from his eyes became absorbed into his pillow sheet, and with a turn of his shoulder, the boy closed his eyes tight, away from the skylight to the heavens. "Where are you, Daddy..."

I'm right here, Ryder. My son.

The End