Perfect Sacrifice

by Parker, Jack

  "It's not funny," he stated angrily, his voice sounding lower than it usually was. Ray stopped laughing, but her smile remained. It finally disappeared altogether when he hissed in pain, placing a hand to the side of his head. Some of the egg had seeped through his bandages.

  Ray walked over to him and began picking up the groceries that had fallen from the bag. She set them on the counter as she gathered as many as she could with one hand. As soon as she was done, she grabbed Leon's arm. As soon as he was on his feet, he pulled away from her.

  "Come on," she said, giving him an all knowing look. "You need to change the bandages."

  "I don't need help," he stated stubbornly. "It's only a cut." Ray frowned deeply as he crossed his arms and turned away from her.

  "Don't be like that," she demanded. "It'll get infected if you don't treat it." He swatted at her approaching hand, and she pulled away, a deep scowl on her face. There was hurt flashing in her eyes, but he didn't notice, nor did he care at the moment.

  "I'm fine without your help," he told her, meaning it in more ways than one.

  "Jerk," she whispered as she turned away and ran back towards her room. When she got there, she slammed the door shut and threw herself onto her bed. She closed her eyes, still mumbling insults about Leon. In a matter of seconds, the incoherent insults stopped, and she was fast asleep.

  * * * *

  "Hey Lee?" questioned a soft voice containing the innocence of a child. The little girl looked up at her older brother. His soft black eyes were currently focused on a window, allowing him to view the vast ocean of sparkling sand. The sun above was as golden as the locks of hair that fell to his ears.

  "What is it Ray?" he asked her softly. She was dressed in a nightgown, her blue hair snarled and tangled.

  "When are they coming back?" she asked, her soft seven year old voice sounding tired. She had recently woken up from a night of uneasy sleep.

  "I don't know," he answered as she took his hand, holding it tightly in her own.

  "How long have they been gone?" she questioned as she turned her cherry eyes to the seemingly swaying desert.

  "All night," he told her, keeping his eyes focused. "They've been gone longer before, so there's no need to worry." Ray nodded as she continued to watch the now boring desert. Staring at sand wasn't interesting anymore.

  "Lee, will you show me your Geno?" she asked with excitement. He looked down at her, a smile playing across his eyes.

  "You just saw it yesterday," he told her, seemingly amused by his younger sister.

  "Please? It's so pretty," she begged, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. Seven year olds were obviously very persuasive, because he gave in and led her towards the large window in the next room. It looked into the hanger where many different Genos were stored. They were all different colors and in different forms. The one Ray wanted to see was sitting near the back.

  "That one," he told her, pointing towards the back of the extremely large room. Ray's eyes wandered over to the massive cat in the back of the room. Its sleek body was very graceful looking, its tail long and slender. The legs were powerful, but they weren't bulky. The Geno was actually smaller in size than most, but that didn't mean a thing. It was beautiful. Its armor was different from every other one in the room. Instead of having one, solid color, it had three.

  "It's so pretty," she said, her eyes dancing with excitement and admiration for the cat like machine. "I hope I can have one just like it someday," she told Lee as her eyes wandered over the silver creature with black and red splashes of paint along its main body and legs, along with its piercing, white glass eyes.

  CHAPTER 8

  A Game of Chess

  Ray awoke to the bright sunlight shining through the cracks of her window shades. She groaned and covered her eyes, wishing that the sun would just leave her alone. It's not like she had ever done it any wrong. Everything seemed to be against her lately.

  She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. A somewhat dreamless night had been what she had needed. There were no nightmares to wake her up. That was always her one worry when sleeping somewhere else.

  "Ray?" questioned a soft voice at her door, accompanied by two steady knocks. "Are you awake?" She instantly recognized the gentle voice of the younger Solaris brother.

  "Yeah," she responded with a yawn. She stood up and stretched her arms.

  "Breakfast is ready," he told her.

  "Okay," she called back as she went to her window to fully open it, letting in the sunlight that lit the entire desert. She smiled brightly as she turned back to the door. She left the room, only to find that Chris had already gone back to the kitchen. When she arrived there, they were already eating. There was a plate set out for her, decorated with eggs, bacon, and some bread. She smiled as she sat down in front of it.

  "Good morning," greeted Dr. Solaris. "Did you sleep well?"

  "Yeah," she answered before shoving a fork full of the scrambled eggs into her mouth. The taste danced along her tongue, spreading a certain sensation through her body. Dr. Solaris was an extremely great cook. He had to be, since he was an only parent. It made her wonder if either of his sons could cook.

  "Gordan called about an hour ago," he told her as she finished swallowing.

  "What did he say?" she asked, taking a bit of her bacon strip.

  "He said that your stuff will be delivered later on this afternoon," he responded.

  "Great."

  "However," he began, catching her attention. "You'll have to go to Torran and pick up your Geno yourself." Ray sighed as she reached for her glass of orange juice.

  "It figures," she said. "I think I'll leave after breakfast."

  "Alright," he said as he went back to eating. They all ate in silence, none of them really having anything to say. Ray glanced at Leon and noticed that he had changed the bandages after all. However, his red headband was covering them.

  As soon as she was done eating, she pushed her plate away and stood up. Everyone's eyes followed her.

  "Thanks for breakfast," she said as she stood up and began to walk back to her room. They didn't say anything, only followed her with their eyes. Something seemed like it was missing. It wasn't until she stretched her arms over her head that they noticed it. Her sling was gone.

  Before any of them could say anything to her, she had disappeared around the corner and into her room. She closed the door and walked over to her bed. Just as she was about to sit down, her communicator began beeping. She put on a smile as she flipped up the small screen. Brian appeared there, an almost invisible smile on his face.

  "Good morning Ray," he greeted.

  "Hey Brian, what's up?" she asked cheerfully as she plopped down on her bed.

  "In case you didn't know, we had your Geno reconfigured," he told her.

  "How so?" she asked skeptically, raising a brow. She hated it when people modified her Geno without her consent.

  "Gordan decided to change the controls back, so until your arm heals, you can't…" He trailed off as he looked her over. Her sling was absent. "You're not wearing your sling."

  "Nope," she said happily as she rotated her shoulder, showing him that it was just fine.

  "Ray, you should…" he began.

  "I'm fine," she cut in. "My wrist is still a little sore, but it'll heal. No worries." She put on a bright smile, and Brian only sighed in response.

  "Whatever you say," he told her. "Anyway, you can pick it up any time. The armor is black now, and the eyes were replaced with a stronger glass."

  "Same color?" she asked.

  "Same color," he responded.

  "Thanks. You guys always know what I want." She just smiled to her long time friend.

  "I have to get going," he told her. "Gordan wants Abby and I to check something out for him."

  "Okay," she said as she lied down on her bed. "I'll talk to you later then."

  "Bye," he said as he ended the communication. Ray shut the little screen on her communicator and just sighed,
closing her eyes. She hated the fact that the armor had to be changed. She liked the silver, red, and black armor it was supposed to have. However, that Geno was known as the ace knight's, so she couldn't have it. She would just have to settle for the standard black. At least the eyes are still white. She couldn't help but smile at that.

  Ray got up off of her bed and walked back to the door. She left the room and headed to the kitchen. Everyone was done eating by now. Dr. Solaris was currently cleaning the kitchen while Chris helped with the dishes. Leon, however, was nowhere in sight.

  "Ray," called Dr. Solaris, drawing her attention. "If you want to go to Torran now, you should catch a ride with Leon. He's picking up his Geno as well. I told him to wait for you, but he may decide to leave if you take too long."

  "Alright," she said as she threw open the kitchen door and ran down the stairs that led into the hanger. Sure enough, Leon was standing by his car, waiting. Ray quickly ran over to him, a smile still on her face.

  "Ready?" he asked her.

  "Of course," she responded as she jogged cheerfully to the passenger side of the car. Leon's car was more like a topless jeep, only able to seat about five people, four comfortably. He got in and started the car. Without a word, they sped off, heading back towards Torran.

  * * * *

  "Hey Leon?" questioned Ray as they walked down the streets of Torran. "How are we going to get the car back?" He turned to her with a somewhat confused look on his face.

  "What do you mean?" he asked her.

  "We're both picking up our Genos, right? So who's going to drive your car back?" Leon looked a little startled if not slightly worried.

  "I…hadn't thought of that," he admitted somewhat sheepishly. Ray just sighed.

  "We'll figure something out," she stated as they continued to walk, heading towards the repair shops. There were quite a few near the outskirts of the city. Ray's Geno was at a different shop from Leon's, since she had a specific shop she always sent her Geno to. She was a regular customer there. Her Geno went in for repairs about once every two weeks, if not more.

  "We'll meet up near my shop, okay?" she told him.

  "Why there?" he asked.

  "Because it may take me a while. I like looking around." Actually, she wanted to do a thorough check up on the repairs. There had been a lot of damage done. However, the same could be said about Leon's. In fact, his had probably taken in more damage, thanks to her.

  "Fine," he told her as he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned the corner. He left her to go to her shop while he went to his.

  Ray reached the familiar sight of the repair shop within a matter of minutes. She went around back where they had a huge open area set up to house the repaired Genos. A man stood there, admiring the work he had done on one in particular. He was a shorter man with gray hair. He was dressed in working clothes, now stained with oils and grease.

  "Hey!" shouted Ray in greeting, drawing the man's attention. He smiled when he saw Ray walk up to him.

  "Hello again Ms. Cayden," he said to her kindly. "You must be here for your Geno."

  "Of course," she said happily, turning her eyes to the massive creature. "How is it?"

  "Everything should be working just fine," he said as he scanned over the machine with his eyes. "I redid the controls, splitting it back into two. I also reformatted the armor, since your general asked for the standard black. The eyes were replaced, and I got all the internal repairs taken care of."

  "Great," she said as she walked towards her partner.

  "If I may ask, just what happened? I think this was the worst I had ever seen your Geno." Ray turned to him and smiled, seeming somewhat embarrassed.

  "I was in a battle with Leon Solaris," she said. "And then I had to fight my enemies."

  "You fought the Solaris boy?" he questioned.

  "Yeah. His Geno was in worse shape than mine," she said as she began climbing up the large machine. She wanted to reach the cockpit. When she was almost there, the ground began to shake. Ray desperately grabbed at the metal cockpit cover, clinging for dear life as the sound of something exploding caught her ears. She looked out into the vast desert and saw two red armored Genos. One was in its humanoid form while the other was most likely a ground base. They seemed to be having a battle. Only one problem. There wasn't any type of GRC vehicle monitoring it.

  "Strange," said the old man as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't remember that area being commissioned as a battlefield."

  "That's because it wasn't," said Ray as she pushed a small button on her communicator. The cockpit to her Geno opened, allowing her to climb in.

  "Ms. Cayden, what are you doing?" he asked her.

  "Don't worry gramps," she said as her Geno came to life. "I'm only going to break it up."

  "Just be careful," he warned.

  "Don't worry," she said with a smile. "Oh, and if Leon Solaris comes by, tell him I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" The old man just nodded as Ray bounded off into the nearby desert, heading towards the two Genos that were stationing their own mini battle.

  The two Genos didn't seem to care that she was approaching them. They just kept battling. It was only until she was right up next to them that they stopped and turned to her black Geno.

  "What do you want?" asked one of them, a male. He sounded a little annoyed to say the least.

  "This battle isn't legal," she told them. "The GRC has to regulate all battles."

  "Big deal," stated the other, also male. His ground base turned and growled at her slightly smaller Geno.

  "It is a big deal," she stated angrily. "You're fighting too close to the city."

  "Notice how we don't care," said the other man lazily as his humanoid sat down on the ground.

  "Just who do you think you are, woman?" asked the one in the ground base as it got ready to pounce at her.

  "I'm a GRC official," she stated proudly, trying to appear intimidating. It didn't work. The ground base lunged for her, but she used her boosters to speed out of harms way. She flipped a switch and broke the sound barrier, running right past the humanoid, who was knocked over by the sonic boom that followed.

  "What the hell?" he questioned as his Geno slowly got back to its feet.

  "It'd be wise to leave," she told them. "I'm not here to cause trouble."

  "We aren't leaving," stated the ground base pilot. "At least not until we've taken care of you." The humanoid got up, but Ray quickly shot him back down. She then charged at the other feline, leaping high into the air. She came down hard on its back, slicing into the metal. She pounced off of it and jumped to the humanoid, doing the same thing.

  When she was done, she got off of him, leaving them where they were. Neither one moved. Ray just smiled as the cockpit opened and she jumped out.

  "Well that was easy," she stated as she waited for the men to leave their Genos.

  * * * *

  Leon sighed as he finally reached the repair shop that Ray had told him to go to. He was currently walking around in his Geno, now fully repaired. It was hard to believe that it had once looked like nothing but a pile of scrap metal. Leon saw an old man standing in the back, staring out at the desert.

  "Hey," called out Leon through a speaker, drawing the man's attention. "Is Ray here?"

  "Are you Leon?" he asked.

  "Yeah, so is she here?" he pressed again, waiting for a response.

  "She's out there," he said, pointing to the desert. Leon turned his Geno and looked out across the desert. There stood Ray's Geno, facing off with two others. Leon growled out of annoyance as he ran out across the sands.

  "Damn it Ray," he cursed. "You're always getting yourself into trouble."

  Out in the desert, Ray was marveling at her finished work. She was getting sick of waiting, however. She was about to get back in her Geno when the ground base Geno got back to its feet, shaking the sand from its body.

  "What…?" questioned Ray, surprised at the new turn of events. "How…how can you still…?
" It then hit her, and her eyes narrowed. "Sacris cards."

  "That's right," stated the man as he quickly turned a gun towards her, taking pleasure in her horrified expression. "It's time to end this."

  "Ray!" shouted Leon as he came running through the desert. "Get down!" His warning came too late. The shot was fired. Ray stood stock still, but before the bullet could hit her, her Geno stepped in front of her. The bullet hit its leg, damaging it only slightly.

  "How?" questioned the man in the humanoid, his eyes now wide. He had seen the whole thing. Ray's Geno then proceeded to turn towards him, its eyes blaring in the sunlight.

  "Impossible," whispered the one in his ground base as he began backing up. "How can that thing move…without someone in the cockpit?"

  Ray's Geno bent down, allowing her to climb back in. She didn't seem disturbed at all that it had just moved all on its own. She took the controls and fired off some of her ammo, taking both enemy Genos out for a second time. This time they wouldn't rise again. She'd make sure of it.

  "We give up!" shouted the one in the humanoid. "Just don't hurt us!" He came out of the cockpit, his hands up in the air. His friend followed him. "Please!"

  "Relax, I'm not going to kill you or anything," she told them. By now, Leon had reached her, stopping next to her Geno. He said nothing to her, still slightly startled. This was the second time he had seen her Geno move on its own. That was illogical when you looked at how a Geno was structured. They needed pilots. They couldn't function without one.

  "Are you letting us go?" ventured the ground base pilot.

  "Only if you promise to quit fighting in illegal battles," she stated warningly. Both men nodded to her and dropped their hands. Whether they were telling the truth or not was unknown, but Ray just didn't feel like dealing with them anymore. She didn't need to get into trouble so early on in her probation period.

  "Come on Leon," she said as she turned back to the city. "Let's go home. This is boring." She bounded back towards the town, and Leon followed. However, there was still the matter of his car…

  * * * *

  It was approaching lunch time before everything had finally been resolved. When they had gotten back to the base, Chris had to drive Leon back into Torran to pick up his car. Now, everyone was just waiting for Dr. Solaris to fix them some lunch. Ray was waiting in the kitchen, watching him cook.