Perfect Sacrifice (12 page)

"Damn it, Ray," said Leon in a voice that clearly displayed his pure agitation. "This is
not
how I wanted to spend my day."

"Hey, just shut up!" she retorted, glancing back. "It's not like I planned this. Do you think I like being shot at?" A few more gunshots shut them up as they focused on getting away more so than arguing.

"What now?" asked Leon.

"Turn here!" Ray commanded as she whipped down another alleyway that would soon lead onto the main street.

In no time at all, they were on an open road again, but it was also unpopulated. They were still on the back roads, which was probably for the best right now. They didn't need to endanger any innocents. No one else needed to get pulled in Ray's problem. It was bad enough that Leon was in trouble because of her.

The car soon came around the corner, the tires squealing and the engine roaring. It took off after them instantly. They were already a good distance ahead though. They were currently heading down a hill in the road, which had taken effort to scale, but there wasn't any involved in going down.

They eventually reached the area where it leveled out and began pushing with their legs to make it to the end of the street. However, the car was quickly gaining on them. Ray needed to come up with something fast. She glanced around frantically, looking for a way out of the cat and mouse game she had gotten herself into. Up ahead of them was a small area that connected to the park via roadway. Unfortunately, the car would catch up with them if they took it. There had once been a stairway as well, leading down through the flower park and towards the entrance of the city. Now all that was left was the metal handrail, still visible over the full bed of flowers.

Ray's eyes widened as she was suddenly sparked with an idea. It was a long shot, but it was the only option left. At this rate, the car would catch them. Besides, the roadway didn't lead you to the entrance. Now the only question was whether or not her companion could pull it off.

"Hey Leon," she questioned, turning her attention to him. "How good are you at skating?" He seemed to think it over, or perhaps he was wondering why she had even asked.

"I don't know," he responded. "Fair?"

"Does fair mean you can clear that rail?" she asked, a flick of her head showing him what she meant. His eyes landed on the handrail above the long, extensive bed of flowers. They instantly widened, fear filling them

"I…" he began, thinking it over. His voice was shaking a bit now. "I don't know if I can."

"You better make a decision!" she told him as they got closer to the intersection of their options. The car was getting ever closer to them. Leon was trying to remain calm, but his mind was panicking. What exactly was he supposed to do in a situation like this? Such an action had never been demanded of him before.

"Leon, just decide!" she shouted. "If you can't do it, then we'll just try something else! I got you into this mess, so I'm not about to ditch you or anything if you can't make that rail!" Leon thought it over for a moment longer but finally made his decision.

"I'll do it," he told her as they continued to get closer. Ray just smiled as she looked back to the rail.

"Just follow my lead," she told him as she pressed her legs to their limits. Leon followed after her, still seeming nervous. No one could blame him though. It was now or never.

Ray jumped up, her wheels landing against the railing, her body now twisted sideways and crouching down. Leon followed her actions, landing it perfectly, making sure to keep his body low to stay balanced.

Ray glanced back and watched as the black car had no choice but to go down the roadway, leaving her and Leon on an opposite course towards the entrance of the city. They had really done it. This time they had for sure gotten away.

Ray wore a smile on her face as she glided down the railing, shifting her weight every time there was a curve. The city hall had left the railing there for the soul purpose of rollerblading. This wasn't the first time she had done this, although she had never been forced to use the rail in such a manner.

It didn't seem that long before they reached the end of the railing. They both jumped off and continued on their way towards the entrance of the city. Ray was laughing now, taking delight in the fact that they had managed to escape unscathed.

"That was great!" she exclaimed happily as she pirouetted on her skates. "We actually pulled it off!" Leon came up next to her, a question on his mind and a scowl on his face.

"I want an explanation,
Ray
," he told her seriously, causing her to stop her joyful dancing. Her smile fell as she realized that he wasn't going to settle for anything less than the truth. She couldn't blame him. In less than an hour, he had been chased by mad men, shot at, and forced to do rollerblading moves he probably hadn't tried in years. He could have died simply because she had decided to follow him.

"I'm sorry," she apologized quietly, catching him slightly off guard. They had stopped now, standing at the edge of the city that led out into the vast sea of sand and rock.

"What?" he questioned, sounding highly confused. He honestly hadn't been expecting that to come from Ray. If saying "thank you" was such a big deal to her, one would think that apologizing would be even harder.

"I said I'm sorry," she repeated, still with the same sincerity. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

Leon didn't say anything. He simply watched her as she lowered her head. She bent down and pressed the black button on her skates. She then removed the set of wheels and put them back into her blue bag. Leon could see that she was exhausted. Her injuries were still healing, and with an incapacitated arm, it probably hadn't been quite as easy as she had made it look. She was indeed someone who was worthy of praise right now. Not many could have pulled a stunt like this off.

Leon bent down and began to remove the pair of stakes he had on, disconnecting the metal plate and wheels from his boots. He handed them to Ray, who quickly put them back in her bag.

"Thanks," he told her, drawing her attention.

"For what?" she questioned, not seeing as to why he would thank her after an ordeal like that. She had just put him through hell, after all.

"For not ditching me," he told her with a small smile. "You coulda left me at any time, but you didn't even though I was probably slowing you down." Ray smiled, swinging her bag back over her shoulder. It appeared that he had forgotten his original question to her, and she was sighing mentally in relief. That was the last question she wanted to answer. He would actually be safer if he didn't know. The less he found out about her and her enemies, the longer he was going to live.

Ray was about to depart and leave Leon alone for the day when a whistling caught her attention. She jerked her eyes to the sky, noticing an incoming bullet that was probably about as big as she was.

"Get down!" she shouted as she shoved Leon to the ground. The bullet hit nearby, kicking up sand and dust that swirled in a thick cloud around them. Ray was using her good arm to shield her face from the stinging sand particles.

As soon as it all cleared, she began to make a dash towards the nearby sands of the desert. She had to act fast. She couldn't let something like that happen again. Whoever was shooting bullets was obviously aiming for her and only her. It was just one more reason as to why she had to get as far away from Leon as possible. Dr. Solaris would never forgive her if something happened to his son.

After being brutally and hastily shoved to the ground, Leon was finally getting to his feet, his eyes on Ray. He coughed a bit of sand that he had so painfully inhaled with his collision. However, despite how harsh her actions had been, he was thankful. She had really saved him just then, and even now she seemed to be doing her best to keep them both alive.

"Stay there!" she commanded as she reached the sandy desert layout, and he obeyed, not wanting to get into any more trouble.

Once Ray was sure that she had found the right location, she pressed in a small button on her communicator, but nothing seemed to happen. However, the ground soon began to shake, and the sands shifted. From beneath the desert emerged a black Geno in its ground based, feline form. Ray had a small scowl on her face as she looked over the massive beast.

"Stupid Gordan," she whispered. "He could've changed the armor back while he was fixing my controls, but no…"

With a small sigh, she jumped up onto the crouching machine, slipping easily into the cockpit. She was greeted with the gentle hums and beeps of the living machine. A single control stick stood before her, modified for her damaged arm. The long black bar that connected to it had been hooked up to both the right and left sides of her Geno, allowing her to still be able to steer it properly.

She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for the battle she knew was about to come. After all, there were probably about twenty enemy Genos in the sky, and she didn't even want to think about what might be waiting under the desert sands.

CHAPTER 5
Desert Battle

Ray looked to the sky through the cockpit screen, monitoring her enemies overhead. They were her biggest problem right now. She hit a button to her right, a smirk developing on her face.

"Might as well start off big," she said to herself. Tons of different panels flipped open on her Geno, revealing many different guns of all different sizes. They all fired at once, sending a barrage of bullets towards the air born machines. Quite a few were hit, but just as many were spared. A few bullets weren't about to stop them though.

Ray pressed another button, closing the panels, and then flipped a small switch to her right. If she wanted to fight them effectively, she would have to do it in the air. Her Geno began to shift as gears turned, metal reshaped, and limbs transformed. However, before the transformation was done, she hit another button. The boosters on her Geno lit up, releasing a great amount of pressure and power. The unfinished Geno blasted off into the sky, finishing its transformation while spiraling through the air. The large black bird shrieked loudly as it approached the enemy Genos in the sky.

Ray was pulling on her single control stick, trying her best to steer effectively. However, the controls were much harder to move now that she only had the use of her right arm. She was pulling hard, using all the strength she had each time she needed to shift. It really became hard when her enemies began shooting at her. With a little luck and a lot of pulling, she managed to dodge a great amount of the bullets.

Ray's Geno flapped its wings harshly, its smaller guns letting loose tons of rounds. She hit quite a few of the enemy units, sending the large birds spiraling towards the ground. However, when they reached the desert floor, they quickly transformed into either the ground form or the water form. The water ones burrowed themselves under the sands, now invisible to Ray's sharp eyes. She cursed under her breath, realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as some of her other battles.

The remaining sky born Genos began firing on her, but she pulled away just in time. She turned the boosters up, performing another breaking of the sound barrier. The sonic boom completely destroyed the wings of the enemy Genos, sending them crashing to the desert floor below. Some of them managed to switch to their water forms while others weren't so lucky. They hit the ground, the metal bending and a system failure signal flashing through the cockpit.

Seeing as there was no point in staying air born, Ray began to descend, switching to the ground form when she reached the sandy floor. She instantly opened fire on the few ground Genos around her, trying to eliminate the threat above the desert. She was met with a quick victory.

Unfortunately, there were still a lot left, and they were all underground, out of her reach. She stood perfectly still, just waiting for a sign as to where one might be. The ground under her trembled ever so slightly. She sprang into the air just as one of the water bases came up where she had been. She instantly fired at it, taking it out quickly. Simultaneously, the other remaining twelve shot up, changing to either a ground base or a humanoid type. They all charged her at once. Ray really had a battle on her hands.

Leon stood by the entrance of Torran, simply watching as Ray fought off the unknown enemies. She seemed unbeatable with her well rounded Geno. The fact that she was operating it with the use of only one arm simply added to the astonishment. She was indeed a great pilot with a very perceptive mind. She seemed to be able to sense things before they happened, escaping hit after hit by only mere centimeters.

"Amazing," Leon whispered to himself as his eyes followed Ray and her Geno. He wasn't aware that a car was approaching him from behind. It was the same black car from before, the one that had followed them through the city. It stopped a good distance away, and the doors opened. About five men got out, their attention instantly going to Leon.

Ray was still out on the battlefield, dodging everything that was thrown at her. Her Geno was staying on its feet, keeping its movements quick and light. She had already managed to take out a few more, but there was still a decent amount left. Suddenly almost all of them changed back to their water forms, burrowing under the ground.

Ray scowled in annoyance and turned her attention elsewhere. Her eyes went to the city, landing on Leon. She also saw who was behind him. Five men were coming, the one in front reaching to his side. Ray narrowed her eyes, focusing on the object he now held in his hand. It was silver, shining in the light of the sun. Her eyes widened. She had seen enough of those in her life to know what it was.