New Age Chapter 21, a Zoids fanfic by Sh33p

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

"Boom! Here comes the Boom!
Ready or not, here comes
The boys from the South
Boom! Here comes the Boom!
How you like me now?"

Sleep was a wonderful thing for the tired, both mentally and physically. It allowed the body to rest and the mind to wander, it also allowed one to ignore the events of the day for however short a time it would be that they slept. When Marcus Harlock had climbed into his sleeping back at close to 12:00 last night, he hadn`t expect just how short that amount of time would be.

Followed by the sound of an irate *THWACK* and a dull thud as one hapless looking Kyle Mazemia toppled over backwards, now bearing a fist-sized bruise on his normally perfect chin, landing with a thud on the ground and a swirly eyed expression as Marcus sat up in his sleeping bag, arm still reflexively outstretched for several seconds before what could best be described as delayed pain kicked in.

"Ow," Mark yelped, drawing his hand back and shaking it around rather violently in a futile effort to shake away the pain. "What the hell is your chin made of man?! It feels like I just got stabbed in the hand!" He complained annoyedly. Kyle spent several seconds more laying on the ground before slowly propping up on his elbows and throwing his head forward with a wounded looking smirk.

"Never hit a bishounen in the chin!" He exclaimed proudly before falling back in a fit of demented laughter.

"HEY BIRD-ASS, WAKE UP!!!" Jamie demanded, a bit irately too no less. The Wild Eagle only let out a sound akin to someone having an especially good dream. If not for the situation at hand, Jamie would have probably broken into a fit of twitches and screaming at his alter ego, but some things just... Mattered a bit more right now. Like not blowing one`s own top off trying to get someone only you could speak to to wake up. "Yanno... How did we wind up here?" Jamie asked dryly.

"Others?" Jamie asked. "Nothing," Leyla shrugged, glancing off to the side. "Any idea where our clothes are?" She asked. "Probably the bathroom," Jamie replied dimly, still blushing from ear to ear. It was just one of those quirky situations that caused one to be both insanely embarrassed and perfectly calm at the same time.

It also called for an extremely frigid shower by the end of it, but that`s not the point.

"After you, I guess..." Jamie said, calmly waiting for Leyla to check the bathroom. This was going to be one of those days...

"Who`re the first victims?" Mark asked lazily, sipping away on some hastily brewed coffee while Kyle and the Blade Liger jogged alongside the Gustav, the other pilot grumbling out his answer a few seconds later. "The Serpentine Team," Kyle stated dryly, leaning his head back with an amused expression. "The lowest ranked team in Class B? Eesh..."

"They apparently walk around wielding hand-and-a-half swords, AKA Bastard Swords. Must`ve sounded cool at the time," Kyle said with an audible shrug. "Sounds like we`ve got our work pretty much cut out for us, huh?" Mark asked, tongue in cheek. "Yep. And did I mention we won`t be able to get full repairs at all today, tomorrow or the day after that? Or after that even?"

"In other words: Don`t live up to the team name," Marcus replied. "Sadly," Kyle grumbled back. "How`s the chin?"

One of the Blade Liger`s blades lowered down, extending outward sideways and tipping itself in just the right way to level it`s blaster on the cockpit of the Gustav.

"... Feh," Marcus growled, shutting up a few seconds later as Kyle snickered like a lunatic.

"All fifteen Command Wolves, along with the badly burned remains of their pilots, were recovered as little more than torched scrap metal. The Guardian Force remains reluctant to comment on this but initial reports seem to indicate that a black Genosaurer was spotted leaving the site of the massacre. This might indicate that the renegade fugitive, Kale Obscura, the mass murderer responsible for the slaughter at Raven Heights is also responsible for this atrocity. In other news though, upstart sensation Marcus Harlock and the rising style that is Kyle Mazemia have recently formed a team and declared that they`ll fight no less than twenty battles in four days to get to a match against the Fluegel Te-"

"Should be interesting to watch," Brad commented. "Assuming they actually make it," Leon shot back as Naomi entered the room, soundlessly plopping down next to Brad on the couch. Given that the couch had no real room left with the way that Leon and Naomi were seated, Leon was sitting on the chair next to them, and all three were blandly watching the television.

It was just another mundane day with no battles. They always did this when they got the chance of course, but still.

"I think they will," Naomi finally stated with a small shrug, settling in leaned against Brad. "So do I, but those are two people who don`t exactly see eye to eye, and they`re not really that experienced with their Zoids."

"Mark managed to draw against Bit," Brad pointed out dryly. "That was obviously a lucky fluke, more due to the Zoid than the pilot," Leon replied. "Eh..."

"Don`t argue with Leon on this Brad, he spent five hours re-watching the battle just to pick apart Bit`s moves."

"Exactly why I think he`s wrong," Brad shot back with a smirk. The oldest of the Tauros siblings only quirked up an eyebrow in response. "Though if they do make it, pop off one of the Fox`s legs for me, will ya?" He asked. Naomi only rolled her eyes. "Would have anyway," she stated, allowing a fairly rare bit of some emotion or other - spite perhaps? - to shine through her generally cool outer shell.

An explosion sounded in the distance as the Shadow Fox and the Ivory Blade Liger lumbered onto the outer boundary of the battlefield, immediately finding themselves confronted by four Stealth Vipers, all of them lined up in a blatant show of their numbers and armament, obviously trying for intimidation against enemies that could probably tear them limb from limb in a matter of seconds.

"Two on four," Mark commented dryly, pulling his gloves taut for several seconds until they fit perfectly, then grabbing the controls and cracking his neck from side to side. "Poor bastards won`t ever know what hit them," Kyle replied with a smug tone. "And you say I`m unprofessional," Marcus quipped sarcastically. "You are. There`s a slight difference between being moderately confident and being a total newbie."

"What kind of uncoordinated idiots are we up against here?" The voice of one of the Serpentine Team members asked dimly, just as the Judge began laying down the law, a robotic voice filling the entire battlefield a few seconds later. Judges didn`t rely on radio communications most of the time, that was why the capsules were half as large as they were: To contain loudspeakers. It sounded more imposing, after all, and people with attention spans as short as most current-generation warriors tended to listen more if the Judges could vocally intimidate the hell out of them.

"The area within a two mile radius is a designated Zoid Battlefield. This zone is now restricted to competitors and authorized personnel. All others must leave the area at once. Area scanned. Battlefield set up. The Serpentine Team versus the Suicide Team. Battle Mode 0138. Ready..."

"I got one better," Mark replied. "Eh?" Kyle asked. "Make a bet with you, loser pays for dinner at the place of the winner`s choosing," Marcus stated challengingly. "Meaning?" Kyle asked again. "Whoever nails the most leaders of the opposing teams wins," Mark answered. "You`re on, Newbie," Kyle quipped. "I`ll make you eat those words, Chinny."

The bell rang and Kyle and Marcus immediately learned just why the Serpentine Team was apparently being so straight forward with no real formation, no actual tactics or anything else: It let them throw out a literal wall of firepower with minimal effort. The Stealth Vipers lowered their heads and both the Fox and the Liger found themselves shocked into dodging out of the way as artillery-sized pulse cannons let out an actual wall of lethal plasma, only missing by inches as the two other Zoids dodged away.

"No god damn wonder why they made it into Class B," Marcus groaned as the Shadow Fox went onto the attack, springing towards the Vipers with an errant, random pattern to it`s movements, explosions going off two at a time to either side.

Then a certain ivory streak sliced through two of the Vipers and slammed hard into the third with it`s shield, leaving the fourth unscathed more by accident than design. It didn`t last long though, succumbing to a withering hail of fire from the Shadow Fox when it`s pilot became distracted by the fact that three of his team mates just went down in a blaze of non-glory. Pulse lasers carved out nicely sized gaps into the Zoid`s body, stabbing into the Stealth Viper until a visible hole ran through it`s neck, just beneath the head.

The remaining Viper crashed to the ground with a thud and Mark snickered. "Not to mention the lowest rated team there."

"Which of you poor saps is the leader?" Kyle asked dryly, the Ivory Blade Liger`s blades folding back out of use and it`s shield fading away like it had never been there at all. "Me," the third Stealth Viper pilot stated with a dazed voice. "Damn," Mark grumbled with a snort. "One for me," Kyle stated cheerfully. "Along with all the bonus points for smashing over half their team. HA-HA!" He screamed over the broadband at Marcus, who only twitched slightly.

The Shadow Fox gave a somber nod, growling something that sounded to Mark like an insult to white Ligers and their pilots. "Yep," Mark agreed, leaning back a few seconds later.

"The next battle will begin as soon as the Serpentine Team is removed from the battlefield."

"Well, that was disappointing," Harabec commented dryly, sliding a platter down the counter towards a customer and then nodding absently to himself. He`d half expected a quick battle, but that was just a bit anti-climactic.

Abbie on the other hand - who was standing not too far away, exiting the kitchen with someone`s order - gave off a literal twitch at the sight of her boyfriend on the battlefield. Given her own family`s history with Zoid battling, she didn`t much like to see him out there, especially if he was using the need to help pay for her college bills as an excuse for it.

Thing were suitably less awkward now. For one, both teens were now dressed, and both were sitting a good distance across from one another, with Jamie fretting about whether or not the Wild Eagle used a condom and Leyla pretty much staring off into space, zoned out for some reason or another. To put things into perspective: It was about as comfortable a setting as having a knife at one`s throat, a gun to your crotch and a hammer wound up to smash in your kneecaps all at the same time. Just less painful.

"How the hell did this... Did we... You and... Just... How did this all happen?" Jamie asked, stumbling over his words at several points in the process. Obviously, it wasn`t one of the young Hameros` shining moments as far as his social skills went. Leyla didn`t seem all that phased though. In fact, she seemed to instantly look a few years older, her eyes even almost looked darker, as did her hair. Not noticably, but it was there enough that the change in her voice could cause one to see it.

"My guess is that Connie and Will unwittingly used our bodies for..." She cleared her throat. "Connie and Will?" Jamie asked dryly. "I know I have the Wild Eagle... I guess you know too by now, but who`s Will?" He questioned. Leyla shrugged. "Will E."

"Wild Eagle," Jamie recognized instantly. It was simple a matter of replacing the D with another L and then using E as an initial. Simple, and very, very against anything Jamie himself would ever pick as an alias, simply because it sounded too much like the kind of name you could expect for a pimp. Or a plain womanizer, which brought another question to Jamie`s mind: Just how many times had this happened and he didn`t know about it? And with how many women?

"Christ... Now I`m gonna have to go get tested just in case he didn`t use condoms," he thought mournfully, shutting out the world for a short while and hoping he didn`t have any diseases. "I`d love to stay and chit-chat, but Leyla`s father is probably worried sick by now," Leyla stated, rising up off of the couch and adjusting the plaid skirt that 'Connie' had picked out. Apparently, she had one twisted sense of fashion, picking a warped schoolgirl outfit to go dancing in...

Then again, given the way that the rest of the people in that club had been dressed, it really wasn`t that outrageous. Either way though, the way she sauntered around caused Jamie to glance away by default. "Do you want her phone number?" She asked, seeming to not actually be Leyla at all anymore. She even had a slightly more mature walk that both Leyla and 'Connie' lacked. "Why would I need that? Don`t I have it already?"

"She has two of them. A number she shares with her father, which allows him to listen in on her calls, and one that she pays for through battles, which he doesn`t listen to."

"Oh. Sure," Jamie replied dryly, holding his head in one hand. "1-155-1450," she stated rather autonomously, already heading for the door. "Though for your sake, pray that her father never finds out about this."

"I just hope nothing... Yanno... Happens," Jamie replied, still obviously more than a bit out of it in his own right. "Agreed."

And with that, the door swung open and slammed shut, and Jamie Hameros was left alone. Completely and utterly alone.

Three Dark Horns and an Iron Kong against a white Blade Liger and a large Fox-type. The Dark Horns alone were packing dual Hiblit Guns on their backs, one was also toting around a rocket launcher and the Iron Kong was coming to the fight with a surplus of beam cannons and a temporary flight pack. The Blade Liger had an interchangeable blaster system, two rotating blades, a shield generator and a Double Impact Cannon, the Shadow Fox had two Strike Laser Claws, a back mounted AZ 30mm Laser Vulcan Gun and a hidden EMP missile launcher.

Logically speaking, the Dark Horns and the Iron Kong were packing the kind of power that could level a small army and hard enough armor to soak up a kiloton or two of damage with ease. It really shouldn`t have been much of a question as to who was going to win but...

In a world where the impossible happened daily, logic didn`t really have much of a foothold on reality.

"Blade Liger first," the pilot of the Iron Kong ordered, even as the Suicide Team charged in at full speed, with the Shadow Fox almost instantly overcoming the Blade Liger as far as speed went, and that meant that Mark got the chance to attack first, darting past all three of the Dark Horns and bringing the Fox into a blatant lunge on the Iron Kong, which spitefully backhanded it right into the air with ease, sending off a hail of sparks and bits of metal on both sides of the collision.

The Blade Liger on the other hand, with Kyle at the controls, swiftly dodging through the fire of the Dark Horns, narrowing in on the one that had a missile launcher and swinging it`s blades into the forward firing setting. "How`d`ye do?" Kyle quipped, bringing his Zoid to a complete stop at point blank with the Dark Horn, then blowing it`s upper back right off, along with the top portion of the head behind the cockpit, in one double salvo from the blasters, swinging the blades back into neutral a second later.

It was about that time that Marcus and the Shadow Fox touched down with a loud set of thuds and the sounds of gears spinning like mad as the stabilizers went to work, though the Zoid had somehow managed to land on it`s feet. "So the direct approach won`t work," Mark thought dizzily, bringing the Fox into another sprint for the Kong with a none-too-cautious sort of approach to it`s movements, just as the smoke dischargers flipped open with a series of hard clacks, instantly beginning to spray off a black trail.

"Let`s see how well you fight blinded," Marcus challenged, just as the Fox reflexively jumped over the Kong`s right fist, which promptly cratered into the ground while the Zoid itself vanished from sight, enveloped by a black cloud.

It was also about this time that the second Dark Horn crashed to the ground, neatly sliced in half at the jawline with such precision that the floor of the cockpit became paper thin in a matter of seconds, leaving the Ivory Blade to continued on with just one opponent.

An explosion shattered the black smoke cloud and turned it into a rising fireball as the Shadow Fox flew back out, catching the remaining Dark Horn unprepared and neatly slicing open the back of the Zoid, right down where any sort of spine would be. The golden energy of the Strike Laser Claw was lethally efficient, plowing through close to eight inches of thick, black armor in under a second, even as the Fox itself corkscrewed overhead and finished it`s twist in perfect timing to avoid smacking into either of the Dark Horn`s guns, completing a second twist before touching down on it`s forelegs and skidding to a complete halt, turning around at the Blade Liger with a smug growl.

"Better. I got style," Marcus stated proudly, just so that one could almost hear him cracking a smile. "Eh... That just means the money for dinner is comin` outta your share of the wins," Kyle shot back. "Which reminds me..."

"Hey Judge!" Marcus called out, reasonably guessing that the remains of the Faren Team weren`t going to be able to answer the question either way. "Who was the leader of the Faren Team and what Zoid was he in?"

"... Oh look, guess I won`t be paying for you to stuff your face after all, huh?" Mark asked with a smirk. "... Oh shut up, Newbie. We`re only tied now."

"He`s improving a bit," Harabec observed calmly, polishing off a glass as he did so. Abbie merely grit her teeth and faked a smile before walking back into the kitchen. The old veteran just shrugged to himself afterward and went back to polishing the glass off until -

- there was a crash in the kitchen, followed by a slightly irate growl as one of the waiters darted out and all but hid behind Harabec with the look of someone who had just seen death in the eyes and somehow lived to tell the tale. "I`m guessing she gave you, 'The Look?'" The former champion asked, nonchalantly ignoring the sound of Abbie grumbling out various curses to herself with just enough of a hostile tone that it basically screamed 'run away!' on sight, just loud enough that only he and the waiter could hear it, given their positioning relative to the kitchen. The waiter numbly shook his head yes in answer.

"Just keep out of `er way `til after the end of the workday, trust me," Harabec stated dimly, returning to his glass without another word.

"You? Beat me? Yeesh Mark, li`l man syndrome from the fact the Liger`s bigger than the Fox?"

"... Kyle... Quite frankly, at least I can actually use it because someone didn`t botch my circumcision. Let`s leave it at that," Mark shot back with a slack tone of voice. "... No comment."

"Incoming!" Kyle shouted, breaking the festively sardonic nature of the conversation and causing the Zoids to jump out of the way of a hail of incoming missiles. The Orwell Team weren`t pushovers compared to most Class B teams, but they definately weren`t the best. Two Rev Raptors, a modified Dibison, tailor made for firing off salvos of missiles and rockets, and a Heldigunner, standard equipment. Powerful enough to smash most opponents, agile and speedy enough to outmanuever most others and well rounded enough that they could deal with virtually any combination of ordinary Zoids.

As Doctors Leyon Martin and Steven Tauros could easily verify, neither the Shadow Fox, nor the Ivory Blade Liger were ordinary Zoids.

In a matter of seconds, what had started as a battle to see who could overwhelm the other first had turned into an outright slugging match as the Shadow Fox jumped over the Heldigunner, while the Blade Liger dealt with both of the Rev Raptors, narrowly avoiding their blades with each pass while at the same time trying to slice the two Zoids into mincemeat with it`s own, only barely missing each time.

As for the Dibison? Well, the pilot of that was having more than his fair share of sadistic amusement watching the Shadow Fox try and literally dance away from incoming rockets and missiles, edging back and then having to dodge passes from the Heldigunner with every few seconds.

"Looks like the opponents just got tougher," Kyle commented. "Either that or you just suck," Mark shot back. "... I was asking for that, wasn`t I?" Kyle asked, dryly watching the ease with which the Shadow Fox was dodging around before it finally made an attack, twisting in mid-jump to swipe the Heldigunner in the chin during a pass. "Pretty much," Mark replied, the Fox touching down and springing back as the Heldigunner started dropping from the air.

The Heldigunner pilot screamed over the broadband and his Zoid ceased movement as it`s right side literally blew open in a fireball, leaving only the Dibison for Mark to deal with.

"Say`s the one who got the easy opponents," Kyle complained. "... Yanno, in addition to being a prettyboy, you`re also a fething dolt," Mark stated dryly. "Eh?" The other asked. "You`re in a Blade Liger, moron. You have a shield," Mark pointed out dimly, squeezing the trigger and sending a half a dozen well placed shots into the Dibison`s back mounted missile launcher, hitting pay dirt with two of the shots and detonating half of the Zoid`s arsenal in a chain reaction that knocked the Zoid right down onto it`s stomach and also killed it`s Command and Combat systems.

"... I really think I`m going to start hating it when you`re right," Kyle mumbled, pulling the controls into the configuration to activate the energy shield. "Too bad for you, I`m always right."

A few seconds passed and the sound of two screaming Rev Raptors lit into Mark`s ears, followed by a pair of flaming crashes in the distance while the Blade Liger slid to a stop on all fours, it`s shield promptly vanishing and it`s blades tucking back into the main body.

Harabec smirked, leaning against the counter a bit heavier now as the fourth sub-match ended. It was almost like looking into a timewarped mirror given how popular battle mode 0138 was back during the initial weeks of his career. People seemed to enjoy battles against massive odds far more back then. Now? They still did, they just prefered far more stipulations than a basic chainmatch could ever provide.

"Still watching the battle, eh?" One of the waiters asked, pausing his work long enough to get an itch at his shin. "Yeah. This next one`ll tell how the rest of the fights`ll probably go," Harabec answered knowingly, the sound of experience echoing through as he shifted onto his other foot, leering over at the green haired blur of movement currently pulling double the usual load with minimal effort and a slightly annoyed twitch whenever anyone wasn`t looking.

"Can tell Abbie`s not too amused," he muttered before turning back to the television.

"That brings it to four `n O for the Suicide Team. After several initial squash victories against opponents pegged to defeat both of the reckless warriors, they`re up against some of the rising stars of Zoid battles in the Bastard Team. Named for the old Hand and a Half Swords of the Imperial Army - also known as Bastard Swords - the Bastard Team have already amassed a nice win streak of ten in a row, and, with all three members piloting highly customized Saber Tigers, well known for their own crazed tactics. It really does look like we`re in for a spectacular conclusion to the Suicide Team`s first quarter of their four day promise to make it to Class A and battle the Fluegel Team by the end of the week!"

"Insanity?" Naomi asked. "No, that`s not the right word," Leon replied. "Stupidity?" Brad asked. "Close but still doesn`t fit right..."

"Intense hatred of any form of rational thought?" Naomi asked dryly. "Yeah. Definately takes something like that to be willing to fight through twenty battles in four days... They won`t even be able to properly maintain their Zoids in time for the battle," Leon stated. "Or get much sleep for that matter, especially if they have to make repairs after the battles," Brad pointed out. "In other words, they`re both screwed even if they do win," Naomi bluntly concluded.

"Pretty much," Leon replied. "Anyone want any popcorn?" He asked. "Just don`t blow up the microwave," Brad ordered, trying to be a bit of a gentleman for Naomi. For what it was worth, he only left her an opening to get a jab in on her own team mate. "Again."

"... Oh come on... Brad, you`ve tasted my cooking before, is it really that bad?" Leon asked.

"A wise man once said to never disagree with a redhead," Brad replied. "... Traitor," Leon grumbled.

"Battle mode 0138, the Bastard Team versus the Suicide Team, sub-match five of five! Ready?"

The constant bickering between Kyle and Marcus instantly came to a complete end as the three Saber Tigers dropped into view, literally diving out of a Whale King to land no less than a hundred yards from them, with two automatically focusing on either member of the Suicide Team and the third merely shifting around.

The three Zoids lived up to their name, two had mounted gigantic, fixed blades onto the sides of their Saber Tigers, along with missile boxes on their backs, while the third mounted what looked like a gigantic ring around it`s main body, just beneath the jawline, with a singular, buzzsaw-type blade extending on the outer surface of the ring. It added to this arsenal with a fixed bolt gun on it`s back, making it especially lethal compared to even a Blade Liger Simulacrum. It also had a weird looking pod behind the bolt gun, though the pilot wasn`t making any moves to reveal just that that pod might have been.

"... Guess our opponents just stopped being pushovers," Kyle stated. "Hit `em at range," Mark replied. "Eh?"

"... For a newbie, you`re more observant than you act," Kyle replied, instantly wheeling the Blade Liger around and trying to get a suitable distance away to snipe at the other team, only to come to a screeching halt as several explosions sounded in front of him. "So much for that," he muttered, the Zoid turning around and practically glaring at one of the two first Saber Tigers, which still had smoke trailing out of a missile port. "Scatter Bombs," he stated darkly. "They came ready for a fight," he added.

"Then let`s give them one," Mark replied, the Fox`s dual impact cannon dropping out of it`s hiding compartment as the Judge finally spoke up again.

Just as the bell rang, the Fox let loose, spraying off pulse lasers at one of the Saber Tigers, which dodged in an artful fashion, corkscrewing through the air before unleashing three of it`s six missiles in a blistering hail toward the ground based Zoid. Mark grit his teeth and the Shadow Fox shrieked that synthetic war cry it had before dashing forward, narrowly escaping the Tiger`s attack only to flip open it`s tail-mounted missile launcher, sending off the shot with perfect timing.

One electromagnetic net and a loud crack of electronics exploding later, the first member of the Bastard Team was out, his Zoid entangled in a net on the ground, his systems completely fried out of commission for the remainder of the battle.

"Just shut up, Chinny," Marcus grumbled. "You`re both idiots," one of the remaining Saber Tiger pilots growled - Mark would have guessed it was the one who promptly attacked him, but he was a bit too busy to be distracted in such a way.

That left the Buzzsaw Tiger to Kyle, who grit his teeth accordingly and then launched forward with a loud yell. The Ivory Blade Liger had to barrel roll in mid-air though, barely avoiding the aptly named Ring of Death around the Tiger by scraping along on it`s back, only to literally flip over thanks to it`s blades, which then opened fire in an instant.

The other pilot wasn`t a pushover though, skidding around and then letting out a laugh over the comm, just as Kyle`s shots slammed into a pinkish burst of shield energy, which continued to expand outward like a wall, smacking into the Blade Liger head-on and throwing it back onto it`s hind legs until the Zoid activated it`s own shield, brutishly plowing into the wave of the other, which faded after a short while. "Crash Shield Pod, custom edition," the other pilot informed proudly. "... You`re team name isn`t that wrong after all, you Bastard..."

"Who`s the one cracking lame puns now, huh?!" Marcus interrupted, utterly shattering the mood that Kyle was going for. "... Oh, will you just shut up already?!"

The Fox shrieked again as the Saber Tiger dashed by, missing by inches with it`s right blade. In seconds though, the fighting would end for the attacker, and both Zoid and pilot were going to make very sure of it. The Saber Tiger whipped around at full speed and the Fox was ready and waiting for it, darting forward at the same speed, though it`s right forepaw was just a bit slower to move than it`s left.

"Strike Laser Claw!" Mark yelled, keying into the audio controls that had replaced the complex patterns of movement in place for most older Zoids, causing the right forepaw to begin glowing, followed by the left a few seconds later as the two combatants closed in on one another. The Saber Tiger pilot smirked though, spotting what Mark intended to do with the skill of a veteran, or someone who thought he was a veteran at the least.

Closer still and then, finally, the Fox made it`s attack, but it proved that while the Saber Tiger pilot might have been a studious veteran in his own right, Marcus was a crazed, unpredictable rookie, stabbing the right foreclaw of the Fox right into the ground with enough force to set the entire weight of the Zoid onto the right forearm, which then sprang back at full force, just as the thrusters in the back of the left hind leg kicked in, vectored upward at just the right angle while the opposite thrusters on it`s right hind leg vectored downward just enough to send the Zoid into a hard corkscrew, just as it`s left claw lit up even brighter than the right, slamming into the Saber Tiger`s chin and slagging it`s jaw shut before tearing through it`s right shoulder, decapitating the arm and crashing down onto the right blade as the Fox got to it`s feet, torking the Saber Tiger onto it`s back in a near-Judo-like slam.

To put it bluntly, the Shadow Fox had just pimp smacked the Saber Tiger like it was nothing, all but humiliating it, and it`s pilot, in the same move. It also wasn`t exactly shy about screeching out it`s cry of victory, deafening and more than little grating on even Mark`s ears.

The Liger on the other hand, was busy dodging around at a furious pace, trailed by explosions as metallic bolts slammed into the ground in a stream behind it, continuously coming closer and close to actually hitting it until finally it stopped, with the Zoid finding itself knocked off of it`s feet from a shield ram, literally telegraphed close to three hundred and fifty yards, throwing the Ivory Blade Liger for a loop with a dozen or more burn marks scarring it`s normally perfect finish to a near charred black tone at each point as a result.

"Damn it," Kyle growled, bringing his Zoid back up with an annoyed expression. "If not for that pod, I`d be able to trash him in a few seconds..."

"Looks like we`re splittin` this one," Mark cut in, just as two explosions tore the aforementioned pod - along with the bolt gun - right off of the Saber Tiger`s back, sending the Zoid staggering to the side briefly.

"Fair trade," Kyle stated dryly, swinging his blades forward over the head, then pulling the triggers on each joystick. In machine gun fashion, the Saber Tiger stumbled back with each impact, explosions ripping out chunks of armor and severing vital connections in limbs, even blowing off parts of external stabilizer units and shattering the plexiglass covering of the right eyepiece of the Zoid, but most importantly shattering the connections of the forward part of the Buzzsaw.

Defiantly though, the Saber Tiger continued standing, it`s pilot screaming angrily.

Then it was virtually impaled down the throat by the Liger`s right blade, which glowed a fiery shade of gold as it stabbed through, cutting into the other Zoid until it was mere inches from piercing the outer shell of the Zoid Core, missing the cockpit by an equal distance. The battle was clearly, emphatically and certifiably over as a result.

"Nice move, Chinny" Mark stated smugly. "Not bad yourself, Newbie," Kyle replied, allowing the Liger to step back and un-impale the Saber Tiger a bit more with each step, finally drawing it`s blade entirely out and swinging it back into neutral, just as the Saber Tiger collapsed in a jumbled heap.

"Guess they`ve got a blazing chance in Hell after all," Naomi admitted with a vague hint of amusement. "Agreed. Now all we have to do is wait and see if they can hold it together long enough to make it through the rest of their matches," Leon said with just a hint of something undefined in his voice. "Is that want I`m hearing in there?" Brad asked amusedly. "Maybe, but not from me," Leon cryptically replied as the Red Blade Liger roared outside, for whatever reason it had to do so.

One could almost taste the competition in Leon`s gaze as he watched the Ivory Blade Liger like a hawk.

"One down, three to go," Harabec said to himself, turning away from the television and relieving the cashier for the time being. He never really bothered taking note of the doors swinging open once more though, as a man of average height stepped inside the resturaunt. He didn`t look terribly out of place of course, those plain brown eyes set towards a clear objective, the heat-caused scar covering a large portion of the right side of his face standing out like a black dot amid a white background.

His objective was almost painfully abvious though, at least to someone who could see the scene from a reasonable distance to analyze things.

Stepping around several people and positioning himself just right, he allowed a green haired waitress to smack into him, knowingly finding spilled food and drink as one part of the act, but ending up with a far greater reward as he put his hands to the shoulders of the annoyed, angry looking woman with a too nice smile.

"I`m sorry ma`am... My name is Aram," he stated pleasantly. Abbie growled ferally. "Lovely. Move," she ordered, harshly shoving the man out of the way and almost sending him off of his feet as a result, storming towards the kitchen with an irate look about her.

Author`s Note: Sorry posting this up took so long :P Massive bouts with laziness, other projects and writer`s block.

And for anyone who noticed: Any minor inconsistencies with the Packard Team will be ironed out. I only caught it after it was too late to fix without re-writing a sizable chunk of the chapter, so... I improvised >_>;

Zinou: Yes. Jamie has a lot of trouble :P Unfortunately, he won`t be able to sort it out `til I get the focus back on the Blitz Team. As for Kyle and Mark... Think they were bad this chapter? Just wait. It gets worse. *Cackles insanely.*

EndlessAdventure: Not often, trust me. Things are going to be picking up before the end... Rather violently no doubt. As for Leyon, he showed up not too long ago and he`ll show up again pretty soon, in a most unexpected way. *Cackles insanely, once again.*

Milana Pashmina: Sorry `bout Harabec, but take heart that he doesn`t really show up all that much for the most part :P

Shiro: Depends on your point of view. Jamie could technically be considered a virgin, if you ignore the fact that someone else happened to be using his body at the time. The Wild Eagle is the one who did the deed, he and one of Leyla`s other two apparent personalities(wonder who actually noticed the whole 'three reflections' thing?).

true platinum man: Depends on if they even find out. And I happen to have a twisted little... twist involving the whole family lines thing, but I`ll let you fester in curiosity rather than telling you >_> Zinou probably knows whats coming, but oh well...

And also for anyone else who noticed: William Edgars is the name of a character on Babylon 5. Surprised no one`s pointed out any of the random things like that :P

Expect the next chapter in two days, see ya then! Enjoy and see ya next time! Sh33p out.

New Age by Sh33p

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