By Sh33p, CultofSh33p@aol.com
Hats off to this fic. It tops most fics I've read....including most of the ones I posted here. Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com
Sh33p Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids.
Jamie yawned as he got out of bed. It hadn`t exactly been a very easy night on him given how much he had been thinking things through, the fact that his hair was knotted and tangled up in such a way that it made Bit and Brad`s look comparitively orderly pretty much tipped off how much trouble he`d had sleeping. The Wild Eagle likely wasn`t even awake yet, not much of a surprise since it tended to 'sleep' a few hours later than Jamie, a fact which meant that the teen actually had some mental privacy for a little while each morning.
Of course, privacy was overrated when one couldn`t see anything. Some genius had apparently had the wherewithal to turn out all the lights in a complex that spanned almost a three football fields in all directions, leaving the teen to fumble around in the dark for several minutes, stumbling through the hallway and trying to find a lightswitch in the process.
But all bad things must come to an end, and this one ended with a swish of a door as the youth toppled over forward and landed on his stomach in what felt like the living room area of the base. That was at least slightly tolerable because he could find a lightswitch now. Assuming he thought to pay attention to that anymore, a familiar-yet-accusational voice had pretty much nixed the likelihood of Jamie doing anything like that.
The voice and the fact that the wall-sized monitor placed directly across the span of the living room floor had just lit up with an image of the destroyed Riven Facility.
"Hard to believe you could cause so much destruction in only one day," the voice stated, alarming in it`s familiarity as the teen got up to his feet and angrily glared over his shoulder, now clearly able to see the outline and basic features of one Brad Hunter, who apparently hadn`t come in until late last night.
"I didn`t do that," Jamie seethed.
"Then who did?"
"The Wild Eagle," Jamie answered angrily. "... Eh?" Brad asked. "I thought you could control him?" He asked again. "No, I can`t. Those idiots made the mistake of making him promise to kill them, got it now?" Jamie answered with a glare. "I see. So I`m basically working with a homicidal maniac," Brad commented sarcastically. "... Oh, like it`s any different from having Leena around? At least I`m only a threat to people`s lives on the battlefield, you ever see her in the middle of a bargain sale?" Jamie asked annoyedly. "Yes actually. Attempted mass murder comes to mind," Brad answered dryly.
"Good then. Now will you please turn the damn lights back on and get that picture off the screen?! And while you`re at it, don`t tell anyone, will ya?" Jamie asked, trying to be calm. "I`ll tell them if it becomes a threat to our survival, otherwise I don`t really care," Brad stated honestly. "Gee, glad to know I can count on you," Jamie muttered. "Yeah, isn`t it? One last question though..."
"What?" Jamie asked.
"Where were you last night prior to 1:00 AM?" Brad asked curiously. "... I was asleep..."
"Another lie. I checked the surveilance cameras to the hangar, Jamie.
You went out at around 10:30 and didn`t come back until 1:45 last night,"
Brad replied sharply. "... That can`t be right, I could swear I was asleep..."
Mark and the Shadow Fox shared a growl as they entered into the battlefield. "Smart guy," he commented sourly, which the Fox seemed to nod in agreement of. The battlefield had been picked out pretty well by the other fighter, it was a virtual urban canyon, an ancient, abandoned city which had obviously been remodeled recently to some extent or another. Marcus could tell this because there were Lightning Saix-sized holes formed in such a way that it would be virtually impossible to find an extremely tight turning point, leaving the city with dozens upon dozens more straight paths, while offering too little room for the Fox to make use of it`s acrobatics.
Not exactly a good sign.
"Definately did his homework," he added, causing the Fox to growl lightly in agreement. "Judge should be arriving soon..."
Almost on the proverbial period dotting the end of Mark`s words, there were two loud crashes at the very edge of the city, each coming from differing directions and the second seeming to consume the sound of the first, not to mention causing a fairly visible fireball, which Marcus could spot from several hundred yards away as having happened at the very edge of the city-turned-battlefield.
"I see you made it after all," Arihmane`s smugly pointed out as the Lightning Saix phased into view directly in front of the Shadow Fox, though seperated from it by a good amount of distance, visible through the holes in buildings, spaces between them caused by streets and surrounded by a sudden whip-up of dust, standing darkly across from the other Zoid without a single movement. "I almost thought you`d have the common sense to run away."
"You promised to kill me if I did."
"I`m going to kill you either way so it`s really a moot point," Arihmanes stated. "... Gee... Bet your momma`s proud of you," Marcus grumbled. "Assuming I hadn`t killed her, wouldn`t surprise me," Arihmanes replied. "We gonna start or what?" Mark asked. "Therein lies the problem with fairness..."
"The area within a seven mile radius is a designated Zoid battlefield."
"A problem with fairness?" Mark asked.
"Yes. Just keep listening..."
"This zone is now restricted. Only combatants and Rommel Corporation employees are allowed."
"WHAT?!"
"Everyone else can GET THE HELL OUT!"
And with that, a large, black rod shot up into the air, going to the very middle of the city before tearing apart, shattering into hundreds of smaller rods, all of them a dark shade of green and all of them somehow landing at the very edge of the battlefield, and at about that time, the battlefield itself was suddenly ringed in darkened, greenish-tinted flame rising up by almost twice the height of even the tallest conventional Zoids.
"Area scanned. Battlefield enclosed, reinforcements waiting. Arihmanes versus Marcus Harlock, Battlemode 1943, deathmatch. Ready?"
"... Yanno..." Mark began, only to be cut off by the intensely annoyed growling of the Shadow Fox. "Yeah. That`s about right," he mumbled to himself in reply to the Zoid, glancing over at the Judge, now visible since the dust and smoke had cleared away, revealing it to look like a more menacing Dark Judge, save that it was colored an extremely dark green.
"Die!"
And at the very moment that the Judge finished, the Shadow Fox dodged to the side on reflexive instinct, a pair of energy bolts coursing through the air alongside it in the process, heading right into the fires and punching out into the distance, even as several smaller impacts landed on the side of the Shadow Fox, knocking it back towards the opening it had just moved away from as a Helcat uncloaked a small distance away, packing relatively light weaponry.
"Get in the city," the pilot ordered sternly, taking several shots at the Fox`s feet, all of which narrowly missed as the Zoid darted past the outermost buildings and into the city, promptly cutting a sharp turn and dodging out of the way of the Saix` guns once again, narrowly stopping short of slamming into a building.
"... This really sucks," Mark muttered.
There was a roar throughout the hangar, shocking several of the mechanics upright, even as a long shadow was cast, heralded further by the sounds of enormous feet slapping harshly against the smooth, metallic floor. Stigma Stoller walked ahead of the hulking form of the Berserk Fury, which itself was being followed by a custom made Gustav. Silence followed as the cockpit of the enormous Zoid slipped open and Vega Obscura calmly stood up from within, having undone the safety harness almost like it was second nature mere moments before.
"Listen up people, there`ll be a few changes in here for now," Stigma barked out, drawing the mechanics to attention even more than they already had been before. "I want the Elephander moved out to the Whale King, and convert the transformation armor maintenance and production facilities of this hangar over to the same size and shape parameters of the armor of the Berserk Fury! You have three hours, make them count!" Stoller ordered. "Now get to work!"
"Hear that, Fury?" Vega asked. The Zoid rumbled out something in affirmation. "Looks like my prediction took a while, but after this, you`ll be stronger than ever..."
What about you?
Vega fought off the urge to scream in surprise, plopping back down into the cockpit chair and cracking his neck. "I just need more battles to get stronger. For now though, I want you to let these people get to know you, we`ll be going back home once the armors are done but..."
Vega paused thoughtfully. "We may be going back home as part of a team. Mind that?"
... As long as they don`t get in the way.
"They won`t. It`ll just be you and me with a mechanic crew, most likely."
Most likely?
"... Right. Definately then," Vega agreed, somehow spotting a hint of
wisdom in the odd, multi-toned voice of the Fury, despite the disturbing
effects of having a second mind speaking inside of his own. "Won`t be long
now," he mumbled to himself, regarding the rapid stir of movement as the
mechanics in the hangar scurried about to begin their assigned duties,
with Stigma nonchalantly heading for the exit.
Explosions sounded off and the Shadow Fox dove through a sharp right angle turn, narrowly avoiding the side of the building on it`s left in the process. There was a loud rumble and the Lightning Saix flashed by, old glass shattering under the force of a sonic boom while the Fox came to a near complete stop, strutting backwards as fast as it could.
"Any ideas yet?" Mark asked his Zoid watching the scanners carefully as the dot that represented Arihmanes and the Lightning Saix went into a full turn along the edge of the battlefield, heading right of the opening directly in front of the Shadow Fox, a good distance away. The Fox was silent though, practically brooding about it`s current conditions for the most part, but not to the extent that it was helpless. In an instant, the Saix appeared, and the Fox dropped it`s Dual Impact Cannon down into firing mode from it`s hiding place, promptly opening fire in the split second it had available before jumping right out of the way of a number of energy bolts.
There was an explosion as the shots struck against something, but the Saix plowed through the flames and the cloud of smoke they caused like nothing, rushing along down the straight path and out of the city, leaving Marcus and the Fox to share another growl of frustrated contempt.
"I`m really starting to hold a special hatred of this asshole," Mark grumbled. The Shadow Fox only shrieked in agreement.
More energy bolts rained in, and the Shadow Fox darted back down the turn, only to be swept off it`s feet by the sonic boom of the Saix and slammed into the side of the building on it`s right with a loud scream of tortured concrete and steel, the enormous structure immediately beginning to tumble towards the ground around it.
The Fox wasn`t done yet though, if anything, it was just a little angered now, even though it`s pilot was effectively freaking out.
With another scream of concrete and steel, the Shadow Fox literally ripped clear of the debris, punching through the building even as it fell over, foreclaws glowing brightly in attack mode as the Zoid landed from it`s jump and then broke into a sprint, allowing itself to leave the confines of the city and head for the barrier.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Mark yelled, grabbing the controls and trying to turn the Fox around, but the Zoid didn`t respond. Instead, it continued into a wide turn, just as dozens of light impacts rang up off of the ground behind it, all of them coming from a single point, with the vague outline of a Helcat becoming visible each time.
"Oh," Marcus replied to himself dryly, swinging the Fox around freely now and bringing it`s main gun to bear in the process. A lengthy squeeze of the trigger and the Helcat`s cloak went down, a few more seconds and pulse lasers ripped through it`s body, literally sheering the Zoid in half in a matter of seconds. "So you bastards aren`t as unstoppable as you claim to be," Marcus commented with a smirk, just as the Fox shook and rumbled from a dozen impacts coming in from either side, hitting around it`s feet rather than it`s body.
The first reaction for the Fox was to head into the city, but Marcus somehow managed to coax it into doing something on his plan, running around but not into the city. "Just need to get them to follow," he thought, clumsily swinging the Fox into a number of random dodges in the process.
"Now?" He asked.
The Shadow Fox let out a shriek of agreement, and Mark quickly did as he`d planned, popping open the smoke dischargers and letting loose with a heavy black cloud, the kind that wouldn`t just blow away in a matter of seconds. With another shriek, the Fox whipped around on it`s front legs, waiting for an instant before opening up with it`s main gun, just as two outlines made themselves conveniently visible within the smoke cloud`s edge.
There was a roar of gattling fire and both Helcats went down, explosions immediately ripping their guns and legs off in a violent display before the Fox growled out in pride. "That`s three down Arihmanes, how many more Helcats did they waste trying to ensure your victory?!" Mark demanded over the comm.
"My victory was ensured from the start," Arihmanes replied, just as the Saix tore through the smoke cloud in the middle of a jump, corkscrewing through the air with it`s claws sweeping towards the Fox`s head. The other Zoid was more on the ball with it`s reflexes though, quickly dodging out of the way and - before even Marcus could try and react - springing open it`s tail, the EMP net missile firing in an instant.
The Saix let out a shriek as fifty meters of cabled netting weighted at the edges with steel balls massing in at almost a quarter of a ton each slammed into it, wrapping around in a matter of seconds before the nastiest surprise of all came into play: An electromagnetic shock powerful enough to disable the Lightning Saix` computer systems.
In the cockpit of the Shadow Fox, Marcus grinned to himself. "Not bad, partner," he stated to the Zoid, acknowledging that it had been the Fox which had won the battle. Turning the Shadow Fox around though, Marcus gingerly allowed it to pace towards the Lightning Saix, then swept back one of the claws, using a trigger to activate the Strike Laser attack.
"Now you know why you don`t piss me off," Mark stated calmly, basking in victory as the Fox slashed out with it`s foreclaw, severing through the cables like nothing before slicing the head right off of the Lightning Saix, something that triggered the pilot`s launch in an ejector`s seat instantly. The cockpit blew open and Arihmanes, strapped into the pilot`s chair, flew into view, chair being propelled by several miniature rockets before a parachute blew open and the man was left dangling there, drifting towards the ground while Mark simply snickered, flipping on the loudspeaker.
"Maybe you need a better lesson though..."
The Fox`s main gun tilted out of forward-only, locking onto Arihmanes` position and tracking him as he drifted towards the ground.
"In fact..."
The barrels began to spin, but they didn`t fire.
"I think you do."
And with that, a single shot lanced out of the Laser Vulcan Gun, blasting by Arihmanes with an intentional miss of less than a fraction of an inch, only to vaporize three of the ropes holding the parachute together, sending him drifting through the air and allowing the Fox to snap the main part of the parachute into it`s jaws.
"Have a nice flight!" Marcus cheerily ordered, just as the Shadow Fox leaned it`s head back to the lower left and then slung the parachute`s ropes flying towards the city.
But Arihmanes wasn`t in them.
Seconds passed, and then, in a flash of sparks and electricity, the cockpit glass found itself puncured almost perfectly by Arihmanes` Khukri blade, while the assassin himself seemed to outright vanish from sight. "Son of a bitch," Marcus growled, right as the Shadow Fox glanced around and jumped back to make sure that the enemy wasn`t hiding under it, until after several seconds, it stopped.
Arihmanes was no where to be found.
"Battle over, battle over! The winner is..."
Marcus grimaced to himself, turning the Fox towards the direction of the Rommel Judge and giving it several seconds.
"The Rom-" Several pulse lasers later, the Judge wasn`t ever going to be finishing it`s verdict. The first had torn the head off, the second had put a hole in the body and the third had gouged straight on into the main power plant of the capsule, causing it to erupt into a massive fireball several seconds later, just as the barrier dropped in every location.
"Come on Fox, let`s go," Mark ordered, guiding the Zoid out of the battlefield with an annoyed glint in his eyes.
As for Arihmanes?
He was sitting quietly at the edge of the still-present smoke cloud, the right side of his mask practically burnt into his skin, the part of his shirt on his right shoulder burned off to reveal semi-charred skin beneath it, the sheath for his Khukri now empty. It had been a humiliating loss, but that was okay.
She would still be his in the end.
It was only a matter of time.
Palta grimaced to himself at the sight of his destroyed home. He had been lucky that he wasn`t there when it had happened, but that was going to be a pretty penny to have to make up for. Reaching languidly up to scratch the back of his head and grit his teeth together, the former Backdraft member supressed the urge to scream.
Until he noticed the way that the ground was now rumbling every few seconds.
Hanging his head in immediate recognition, Palta slowly turned around and looked up to see the Genosaurer stopping directly in front of him.
"... And I almost thought I`d live to see thirty-five," he muttered
in sardonic despair as the Zoid lifted up one foot, the ankle lock preparing
to swoop down, directly lined up with Palta`s body.
Author`s Note: This is the last you`ll see of Kale for a little while but... Don`t worry, I`m not done with that little psycho just yet *Dr Evil look.*
Shiro: Hope that answered your question a bit :P And no, Arihmanes ain`t done yet... I still have some serious action left for that little bastard.
Zinou: Yay! *Throws confetti.* Yeah, the story`s beginning to pick up but it won`t be completely filled with nothing but intensity now... Heck, I have some low key scenes and a very special cameo in store still, one that will probably explain quite a bit too. Hopefully you`ll like `em :D
That`s all for now folks, Sh33p out, enjoy, leave a review and see ya
next time!
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