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, but I do own roughly 80%
of the OCs in this story(the others were either thought up or inspired
by friends)
Mark grit his teeth. Five seconds ago, he had just succeeded in making the win in a Class C battle royal that awarded the winner passage into Class B, a promising addition to his burgeoning 5/0/1 record of wins, losses and draws. It hadn`t been that hard really, mainly since Marcus, despite being a green-behind-the-ears rookie to the core, had a Zoid that was more or less a seasoned veteran, not to mention independent enough from him that it tended to correct most of his mistakes before someone could take advantage of them.
Unfortunately, five seconds ago that hadn`t mattered much.
Five seconds ago he had won a Class C battle royal, but three seconds ago, the Shadow Fox had let out a shriek of surprise and cocked it`s head far back, finding a high intensity field blade held a mere foot from where the mechanical joints connected the neck and the shoulders. Three seconds ago, Marcus had felt the joy of victory sap right out of him, replaced by a good bit of inexperienced fear.
"Paying attention now?" A voice asked over broadband. "... Well gee smart guy, there`s a Blade Liger threatening to take my partner`s head off for no apparent reason, what the hell do you think?" Marcus asked sarcastically, using humor to hide intimidation. "Figured as much. I`m guessing you don`t know who I am, correct?" The voice asked. "And I could care less either way," Marcus answered dryly. "Well... Too bad for you. My name is Kyle Mazemia, you`re going to agree to battle me - tomorrow - around the Torador Heights. If you don`t, your Zoid becomes headless."
"... Well, when you put it like that..."
"That`s what I thought."
"Question for ya though," Marcus spoke up, casually allowing the Fox`s Laser Vulcan Gun to slide up and out of forward-only firing mode, swinging around to place the barrels at an angle that would ensure numerous hits on the other Zoid`s cockpit.
"Do you like Swiss Cheese?" Marcus asked. "... Swiss Cheese?" Kyle replied. "Yes, cheese with lots and lots of holes in it," Marcus explained lazily. "Wouldn`t know, why?" Kyle asked. "Because if you`d pry your eyes off of the monitor long enough to look up, you`d see that if you don`t remove that blade from my pal`s throat, I`ll put enough holes in you to qualify as Swiss Cheese," Marcus answered dryly.
"... Fine, be that way," Kyle grumbled, backing down as the blade of his Zoid withdrew back into place, swinging up onto the Blade Liger`s back. "Much better," Mark stated, drawing the Laser Vulcan Gun back into forward-only firing mode. "See you tomorrow," Kyle stated, his Blade Liger jumping straight up and corkscrewing sideways over a canyon wall, running off into the early morning light a second later.
Fox growled.
"... Hell if I know, but is it just me, or do we attract weirdoes by the truckload?"
Fox shook it`s head gently before sidestepping a downed Sabre Tiger
and walking gingerly towards the opposite end of the moonlit battlefield,
intent on getting back to it`s trailer attached to the Gustav and taking
a nice, long break. It wasn`t that the Shadow Fox was 'tired,' as Zoids
go, but it had just taken a liking to being lazy when the chance arose.
Brad growled beneath his breath, trying to ignore the bandage that was presently wrapped around his head. The former owner of the Shadow Fox and the present owner of the exceedingly banged up Scout Fox was seethingly angry, to the extent that it was actually showing for once. Not discomfort either, not even that broodingly annoyed or overly determined kind of expression he could have at times, but full-on flushed anger, to the extent that his face was turning red.
Beside him stood Bit, who was probably the only the only member of the Blitz Team at present who wasn`t sporting a bandage of some sort. He was obviously stiff in the back though, even at a distance he could still feel echoes of the kind of pain the Liger was going through. He bore a more resolute expression than Brad, his eyes were also moving from left to right quite frequently.
Beside them both stood a few others, chief among them being an uncharacteristically sick looking Steven Tauros, who also bore a bandage around his head, though not half as overdone as the one that Brad was sporting. After that there were Oscar and Jamie Hameros, Leon Tauros - who bore a similar expression as his father, a very determined, temporarily wheelchair bound Leyon Martin, and rounding out the group was Stigma Stoller, who bore a slightly less sedate version of his usually reserved demeanor for once.
In front of this motley group were two glass observation windows. In one room was the boy by the name of Vega Obscura, who was presently going through a number of procedures to make sure his hearing and sight hadn`t been damaged beyond recovery, among other things. He was looking worse for wear despite his usually cheerful demeanor, still bruised to Hell around one eye and still having a bit of trouble thinking straight.
In the other room was a girl by the name of Leena Tauros, who was presently being treated for the kind of electricity-based injuries people would expect from a victim of a lightning strike rather than any Zoid battle. To add to the troubles, she was also currently in a near-coma-like state from the painkillers and such that had been pumped into her system to try and ease her into a state where she wasn`t constantly twitching around and breaking the needles embedded into her arms. There was serious doubt as to whether or not the girl would ever fully recover.
The group of seven were the only visitors currently allowed. Harry Champ had done everything from place heavy demands to trying to bribe his way through to be allowed to even look at Leena, and to his credit, he was still trying even now. The only reason he wasn`t being allowed in was that Stigma had won the rat race and gotten through first.
Stigma was also soon the focus of Bit Cloud`s concentration.
Not to mention his voice.
"What do you know about Kale Obscura?" Bit finally asked, stiffly turning to face Stigma. "... He`s Vega`s older brother. Anything else, I can`t say," Stigma exclaimed bluntly. "You owe me an explanation Stigma," Bit growled. "I don`t owe you anything. Technically, none of this would`ve happened if I hadn`t left the Backdraft Group to fight you one time in an official battle," Stigma replied. "Stigma, a guy claiming to be Vega`s older brother has my daughter in the hospital in a near coma, two of the members of my team are injured and it`s going to take the rest of the Royal Cup prize money to pay for repairs and medical bills, not to mention the damage to my base. If you don`t tell us, Bit can always pry the information out of Vega," Steven growled angrily, looking half-ready to take the other man`s head off.
His words got through anyway, even if they obviously infuriated Bit that anyone would insinuate he would try to do such a thing.
"Kale Obscura was the first of the Royal Five, the subjects of the King Project. He was followed by his younger brother Vega, then by Rayth Takahori, Randal Clark and Alfred Torson. Vega was the youngest, he was inducted at the age of two, while Kale was the second oldest, he was about seven years old when their mother, Sarah Obscura, had their father killed to stifle his objections and his attempts at gaining legal custody of the boys," Stigma began to explain, watching Vega`s expression the entire time. "All of the Royal Five endured harsh conditions, only Vega seems to have emerged without it having destroyed his personality. He still has infrequent flashbacks and nightmares as a result though, Kale went insane and Rayth vanished just as his sole friend outside the program, a young man named Kyle Mazemia, broke away with Rayth`s sister a full month prior to the Royal Cup tournament."
"What about Torson and Clark?" Oscar asked.
"Torson commited suicide. Vega killed Clark during a battle. It was the Backdraft`s attempt to make pure warriors, fighters who could carry the torch of the organization into battle from day one to their retirement, when they would begin training their own successors. The Royal Five, children intended to be the Kings of Battle. All of the survivors had emotional scars from it though, Kale went insane around the time that the map to an old 'tomb' of sorts was found, showing the location of four Genosaurers and the Berserk Fury. My guess is that he hijacked one of them since only three attacked the Royal Cup. Rayth became a total introvert, and an angry one at that. Vega... Well, Vega somehow stayed about as normal as anyone can. He still loves Sarah, he calls me 'Dad' at times and somehow doesn`t seem to realize that he was used as a puppet in a gigantic game by his own mother."
"Bar the flashbacks and nightmares," Jamie reminded. "Yes. As well as the fact that he refuses to let anyone live with him. I think he either saw it all coming or somehow developed a subconcious fear of being around groups of people, let alone anyone qualified as a Zoid warrior."
"Then how do you explain the fact that he seems to think of me like a brother?" Bit asked. "Kale was like you before he snapped. Do the math," Stigma replied dryly. "... I see," Bit finally nodded. "That explains who the guy is, but why did he attack us in specific?" Brad asked. "My guess is that he figured you would know where I have Vega hiding, and he probably doesn`t know that the Helic and Guylos legal systems both have me listed as Vega`s adoptive parent," Stigma mused. "Kale isn`t the most thorough person about searches or planning. In battle it`s another story but outside of that, he doesn`t tend to focus too much on details like who know`s what," he added.
"In other words he thinks like I do," Bit commented darkly. "Warp your thoughts into plans for a killing spree and yeah, you about have things right," Stigma replied.
"At least now we know what we`re up against," Brad finally spoke up again. "Yeah," Bit agreed, shifting his gaze back to the still-unconcious Leena as the nurses made way to let in a doctor. "The lot of you aren`t up against anything. This is Vega`s fight, try interfering and you`ll just be killed," Stigma explained grimly. "I beat Vega before, Stigma, and why aren`t you helping?" Bit asked angrily.
"Because I`d just get in the way. If I was younger and in my former prime I wouldn`t have any issues trying to join Vega, but as it stands, I`d just be a liability to him now," the old veteran said with a shrug. "What happened to the fire you had when you challenged me to an official battle?" Bit asked challengingly. "It got snuffed out when I realized just how outdated I am," Stoller answered. "So you`re just going to let someone you consider your legal son die because you`re afraid you`d get in the way?" Brad snorted.
"This isn`t my fight, it never was and it never will be. I`d just cost Vega concentration he`d need to survive," Stigma answered gravely. "I know what he means," Oscar cut in, turning around to make his leave and getting Leyon`s wheelchair by the handles. "Take care Steven, if she wakes up before I`m out, tell her I said to get well soon," Leyon ordered as he and Oscar left. "You comin` Jamie?" Oscar asked, pausing at the door. "Nah, I`m kinda busy here," the younger Hameros answered plainly. "Got it. I`ll be with Leyon if ya need me," the older stated before letting the door slide shut behind him.
It hadn`t even finished closing by the time it had been yanked open again and a seemingly totally healed Harry Champ burst into the observation room, going all but airborn and plastering himself to the window of Leena`s room, followed a few seconds later by a familiar woman in her mid-thirties, escorted by a man in the uniform of a member of the Gaurdian Force.
"I`ll be leaving now. Bit, you know my number, right?" Stigma asked. "Yeah, I`ll call you when Vega get`s transfered to a room you can visit him in," Bit answered, stiffly turning back to glance at the silver haired owner of the Elephander as he left. The woman who had entered came to stand directly in front of Vega`s window, watching the boy with the eyes of a mother who had obviously been more than a little heartbroken over a good many things in too short a while to deal with it all.
"I`m guessing you`re Sarah?" Steven asked. "Yes," she replied. "I was
always afraid this would happen," she said with a sigh. "Welcome to the
club," Steven replied cryptically, still staring at his daughter.
He had been early to the battlefield, again. It wasn`t a matter of just being earlier than the opponent to finish waking up or anything like that either, Marcus had learned after his second battle that it paid to know the battlefield at least as well as the opponent he was going to face off with. Given his green status as a rookie, it was a stroke of luck combined with a decent amount of intelligence that had lead to the conclusion, though the Shadow Fox had originally gotten the idea to case out the battlefield for their third battle.
"How long do you think it`ll be, Fox?" Mark asked quietly, sipping down what was left of his morning coffee and letting the Zoid control it`s own movement for the duration. It only growled something along the lines of not knowing in response though, tilting it`s head to either side once it arrived at a clearing. "... Remind me to teach you how to tell time as more than a few minutes at once someday," Mark murmured, chucking the empty cup into the floor and placing his hands on the controls.
There was a rustle in the distance, a good ways behind and to the left of the Shadow Fox, causing the Zoid to instinctively lunge forward into the opening and skid around to face the incoming sounds. "Yeah, I heard it too. Any idea why this guy singled us out to fight?" Mark asked. The Fox growled something along the lines of an insult at it`s pilot. "... Oh, so I`m a friggin` newbie to Zoid battling, so sue me..."
Fox growled again.
"To do that you`d need a lawyer."
The Fox snorted.
"There`s a visual I didn`t need," Marcus cringed, glancing down at the scanner before being jarred straight once again as an explosion howled in the distance. "I hate when they do that," he muttered, leering off to the right at the rising cloud of smoke that was coming from where the Judge Capsule had landed. "Find `im yet?" Mark asked, glancing down to the scanner. The Shadow Fox growled a negative.
"Then we`ll just have to level the mountain side if he doesn`t show in the open," Mark surmised, earning another growl from the Fox. "Ah come on, like you haven`t ever wanted to fry Smokey`s ass back to the stone age either," the former 'trucker' chided as the Judge began laying down the rules.
"The area within an eight mile radius is a designated Zoid Battlefield. This zone is now restricted. Only competitors and personnel have authorized entry. All others must leave the area at once... Area scanned, battlefield set up. Marcus Harlock versus Kyle Mazemia. Battle Mode 0992. Ready... FIGHT!"
Marcus heard a loud ring and felt the Fox dive back on it`s own, watching the ground the Zoid had formerly been standing on become a mess of tortured craters under a hail of plasma, bolting from somewhere down the mountainside. "So, he`s able to fight at both range and melee," Mark observed, allowing the Fox to do it`s thing and dodge again, just trying to take things in for now. He had learned at the fourth battle that it paid to let the Fox do most of the work at the start of a match, deciding that he was a better strategist than a pilot for the time being.
Another pair of bolts honed in, this time significantly longer and more powerful than the first salvos, also coming from a slightly different angle and shooting through the trees. The Fox nimbly sidestepped though, growling something to Marcus. "Agreed. He`s either got multiple guns or that Blade Liger`s been a bit souped up," Mark said aloud, just as the Shadow Fox began to charge down the mountainside, still dodging bolts of plasma in the process, and narrowly dodging more than a few falling trees as well.
"Mind if I take over now?" Marcus asked, putting his hands back onto the controls and waiting for an answer, just as the Fox jumped through the air, erupting out of the forested canopy of the mountainside and clearing a great deal of distance in an unexpected move, growling midway. Marcus felt a small tingle in the back of his head and promptly squeezed the controls for a moment as a result of the Zoid`s signal, kicking in the boosters in the back legs and sending the Zoid farther down the side of the mountain, finally landing with a number of crushed trees, followed by bolts of plasma the entire way down.
"Kinda hard to believe this guy`s just a B`er," he said to himself, wheeling the Shadow Fox around with a skid as it landed, opening up with the Laser Vulcan Gun in a wide spread that turned a good portion of the forest into a nicely cleared trail, finally revealing a distant speck of pinkish-orange light in the distance. "Zoom in," Mark ordered, disengaging the Laser Vulcan Gun from forward-only and elevating the weapon into turret mode, promptly using the audio commands to zoom in on the speck until it took shape as the shield dropped.
"... Damn," Marcus finally muttered before pulling the trigger. It wasn`t that he hadn`t seen the Zoid before, but he had never seen it in great detail. The night time wasn`t exactly the best time to view more than silhouettes or things of that nature, even though the glow of the field blade had told him that the Zoid was at least white. Seeing it in daylight though through the zoom ability of his partner meant that he could take it all in with far more clarity though.
And Marcus was quite impressed. Not just over the fact that the other Zoid had dodged his shots, but more so due to it`s appearance. Blade Ligers, be they the real deal or enhanced Shield Ligers with fancy nicknames, were rare. In all of his life, Marcus could recall seeing only one real Blade Liger, and even that had just been on television. Leon Tauros and the Red Blade Liger had been a unique happening in the world of Zoid battling, but now they were just part of an exceedingly small club. This was a different Liger though, it was white, more ivory really, with the same orange cockpit glass as the Red Blade, as well as the same general shape. This one was just a small bit bigger though, and the blades looked straighter and sharper than on the other Blade Liger.
"... Crap, where`d he go?" Marcus muttered, smacking himself on the forehead for having gotten caught up too much in admiration of the other Zoid to keep on it with the guns. Thankfully, the Shadow Fox had gussed that much and started dodging around ahead of time, growling out something that equated to 'fanboy' at it`s pilot. "Shut up," Mark ordered annoyedly while his partner dove them both into another cluster of trees, which promptly started shredding.
"... Oh," Marcus replied, watching the trees tumbling down in an ecliptical pattern that was closing towards a circle, taking control once again and lunging the Zoid forward. There was a curse over the broadband and two Zoids went tumbling down the side of the mountain, seperating with a number of loud cracks and explosions before skidding sideways to a stop, both somehow winding up on their feet with only a few scorch marks to either.
"Sneaky bastard," Marcus commented. "It pays to fight dirty," Kyle audibly shrugged. "Question though, O white challenger," Mark taunted. "And that would be?" Kyle asked while the two Zoids started circling each other. "Two actually," Mark corrected himself before continuing. "For one, how in the hell is a guy like you in possession of a Blade Liger? For another, why in the hell did you pick me?"
"I crashed into a mountain after a match with a former friend, he found me a few hours later. As for your other question..."
"Wait, let me guess... You figured I was all Zoid and wouldn`t put up a good fight if my life depended on it."
"Pretty much."
"Cheap."
"Not to mention that I didn`t count on your Zoid being able to correct all of your screw-ups... Rookie," Kyle snidely stated. "Besides, how did you get a Zoid like that? Doesn`t Brad Hunter own that thing?" Kyle asked with an audible smirk. "I won it in a card game," Mark mumbled out a few seconds later, causing the other fighter to burst into laughter.
Coincidentally, it was at the same time that the Zoids themselves burst at each other, tearing wildly from their circling pattern and swiping at one another with their foreclaws before the Liger dodged to the side and swiped one of it`s blades forward, an attack with the Shadow Fox narrowly dodged, socking the other Zoid squarely in the chin with it`s hind legs while jumping the Liger`s attack, landing on it`s forelegs onto to be kicked hard in it`s own chin by the Blade Liger, slinging it right off of it`s own feet and landing hard on it`s side in a manner similar to what happened to the Blade Liger a fraction of a second earlier.
Both Zoids were back up in a blur of movement that seemed more akin to an explosion than actual, physical movement.
"Not bad," Kyle commended as the Ivory Blade Liger shook it`s head several times as if to clear itself of a daze. "I could say the same for you," Mark replied. "Could if it wasn`t for your Zoid having made the dodge, that is," Kyle corrected with a bit of smugness to his voice. "Better to admit that I suck than to enslave my partner to being a braggart," Mark shot back with annoyance.
"... Enslave? He picked me! How the hell am I enslaving him?!" Kyle demanded. "... Okay, so I didn`t pick the right words, whatever," Marcus grumbled, pulling the trigger and sending off a pair of shots at the Liger, which ducked down out of the way, both blades extending back out to it`s sides.
"Let`s try that again, shall we?" Kyle asked as the Blade Liger charged forward, darting out of the way of another pair of shots and passing the Shadow Fox in it`s run, the other Zoid just barely avoiding getting cleaved in half. "Don`t you ever stand still?" Kyle growled angrily, wheeling the Blade Liger around only to find the Shadow Fox`s right forepaws slamming down into the head of his Zoid, just next to the cockpit as Marcus answered in the most plain, mundane voice possible.
"No."
With that, the Fox forced it`s claws to sink in a bit further, then worked with Mark`s own attack to throw it`s weight back and then boost with it`s legs up into the air, essentially flinging the Blade Liger along on the ground and burying it nose-first into the dirt. It was apparent to Kyle that most of the manuever had been the Zoid`s doing, Marcus was still too green to have ever hoped to do such a move.
The Ivory Blade Liger recovered quickly though, rebounding off of it`s forepaws and springing back, managing to kick the Fox squarely across the left shoulder and sending the smaller Zoid skidding back on all fours to the incline of the base of the mountain as a result.
There was a brief pause in fighting as the two Zoids broke into a run alongside each other around the base of the mountain, ending sharply as the Blade Liger switched barrels to a gattling configuration while the Shadow Fox switched over to turret mode with it`s main gun.
Gunfire broke out sharply a mere second later.
"God damned crusty old son of a bitch," Kale growled in thought, throwing aside another car battery after unplugging the jumper cables from it, then grabbing yet another random battery of some sort, this one an battery for the energy guns on a Zabat, and hooking it up to the cables, then using a combination of a tazer and a rubber glove to get the power to start transferring, causing the Genosaurer to growl slightly in discomfort as it`s pilot effectively shocked it`s systems into repairing themselves. It was a crude and old, but still effective way of forcing a Zoid to repair itself, going so far as forcing it to regrow it`s own armament after a while.
"If it hadn`t been for him, I`d`ve killed every last one of them and gotten away with it," he growled again, grabbing another battery and - after a quick climb and a fairly crazy balancing act - hooking it up to a second set of jumper cables, attaching these to the badly shredded barrel of the Charged Particle Cannon, causing the Zoid to again grunt and growl in discomfort.
"Shut up," Kale ordered sternly, balancing on one of the Zoid`s teeth before swinging around and out of it`s jaw entirely, landing on his feet on the Geno`s right forearm, then jumping the rest of the way down to land on his feet again, forcing the shock to subside through sheer force of will. The Zoid almost whimpered in submission at how Kale had ordered it around, but it didn`t quite give in as expected.
"I`ll get Vega anyway, it`s just a matter of time," he thought to himself in disdain, stepping over to the small campfire he had going and grabbing his jacket up out of the small rucksack that carried all of his clothing. It was getting cold out now, Kale might have been durable but he didn`t like being uncomfortable. There were fine lines between insanity, dedication and stupidity, and Kale wasn`t exactly intent on crossing the line to stupidity a second time in two days.
"You know, if it weren`t so pathetic, it`d almost be funny," a new voice stated, just as Kale turned around and stared up the side of the steep wall of the crater he had decided to camp out in for the duration. "If you were sitting there for an hour waiting on me to get my jacket just so you could tell me I`m pathetic, get a life," Kale ordered insultingly, turning around again and pausing in his walk at the green, six and a half foot tall Organoid that had appeared in his path when he was talking to the as-yet-unseen voice hovering just out of sight at crater`s edge.
"... If this is all you can use to intimidate me, don`t get a life, just kill yourself," Kale ordered again, nonchalantly stepping around the Organoid and continuing back to the Genosaurer. "Now why do that? I haven`t finished my mission in life yet, just like you haven`t finished your`s," the voice stated, just as a man with short, dark and slick black hair stepped out from the shadow of the Genosaurer`s right leg, regarding the disinterested youth before him with malignantly green eyes, visibly bagged due to the deathly pale coloring of his skin.
"So you have the balls to actually show yourself. I still don`t care, leave," Kale ordered dryly, reaching into the pile of batteries he had accumilated over the past week and making ready to climb up the Zoid`s leg again. "Oh, but you should. I can help you, you know..."
"In other words you`re here to offer me the usage of your pathetic little Organoid in order to repair my Zoid, then you`ll charge me to work for you to accomplish numerous tasks which you yourself either don`t care enough about, can`t do yourself or just don`t want to dirty your hands with," Kale surmised rapidly, promptly twisting around and smacking the Organoid across the side of the head with the battery, sending it down on it`s side for several seconds before it tried to get back up.
It was met again by the same battery that had just knocked it down. This time, it didn`t get back up.
"Spectacle didn`t like that," the man stated calmly. "And I don`t like either of you. Go away or join him on the ground," Kale threatened. "All I ask is that you perform a single job for me and I can make your mission infinitely easier... You se-" "I don`t care. Get the hell out," Kale replied, starting to climb up the side of the Geno`s leg a second later. "... Have it your way. When the world starts burning, don`t think you`ll be spared," the man stated gingerly, casually moving over to the downed Organoid. "Get up Spectacle," he ordered.
The Organoid groggily replied by hoisting itself back up with a disoriented growl, shaking it`s head off a few times before splitting open in the gut. The man vanished inside a second later, and the Organoid also vanished immediately after, blasting up into the sky in a green bolt of energy and vanishing over the horizon, leaving Kale to go back to what he was doing without a shred of care about what had just happened.
All he cared about was getting back to work and permanently burying
what was left of the Backdraft Group, regardless of the cost.
Kyle groaned, heaving the Blade Liger back up once again and glancing over the schematics display to check for damages. That last tumble the two had taken had been quite a doozy, sending the Shadow Fox careening down on a straight line through what was left of the forest on the Eastern side of the mountain and the Blade Liger tumbling down right after it, getting smacked by every tree that didn`t snap on impact with the Fox, which was actually quite a lot.
"Was that you or your Zoid?" Kyle asked.
"Given the way Fox is bitching at me about taking stupid risks, I`d say it was me," Mark replied dryly, smacking himself on the side of the head to try and get his sight unblurred. It wasn`t exactly the soundest method but really, the guy had just knowingly sent two Zoids that massed in at around a hundred and seventy-five tons down the side of a mountain at close to a hundred miles an hour, could someone really expect the guy to have much common sense at the moment?
"I`ll take your word for it," Kyle stated, just as the blades of the Liger switched back up onto it`s back and then tilted forward while the Zoid`s forelegs bent at the elbows, causing the weapons to aim straight for the Fox, which narrowly avoided a dual stream of fire while jumping into the air. "Me and my pal have a nice trick for ya!" Marcus exclaimed, just as Kyle started to adjust his aim.
"STRIKE!"
"Thinks he can take me like that?" Kyle thought sourly, switching the blades back into inactive and then pulling back the two joysticks in a fairly basic pattern of movements as the Fox started coming down.
"LASER!"
"No thanks!"
"CLAW!"
There was a blinding flash and the fighting came to an abrupt, bright pause once more, with the Shadow Fox held aloft, claws glowing bright and golden and embedded deeply into the layers of shielding around the Ivory Blade Liger, which held it back despite the smaller Zoid`s sudden jet boosting downward, leaving Marcus and the Fox unbelievably annoyed and Kyle and the Liger counting their blessings.
"You bastard," Mark growled as the Fox raked it`s way down the shield. "I aim to please!" Kyle exclaimed as the primary booster of the Liger flipped up into view and activated, driving it forward and into an inevitable battering ram, the kind that would end a fight if the Fox yielded just enough to go off balance and topple onto it`s back. "Too bad for you that you`re point blank then," Mark stated after a loud shriek from the Shadow Fox.
"Because unlike you, I don`t have to aim!"
That second, the barrels of the Laser Vulcan spun out rapidly and went to work, firing off a steady stream of energy into the shield of the Blade Liger, while the Double Impact Cannon slipped back down out of it`s hiding place and started firing off in unison with it, slowly wearing away at the Blade Liger`s shield reserves and generally beginning to cause Kyle to break into a cold sweat.
"Shit," Kyle growled, intentionally dropping the shield and bursting forward, ramming the Fox at near point blank and slinging the Blade Liger`s head straight down, embedding it`s saber-like fangs right into the crook of the Fox`s neck while the Fox blew a number of holes into the Liger`s gut, both Zoids being pressured together by their own thrusters before finally, the Liger`s booster stopped and Kyle swung the Zoid to balance on it`s hind legs, suplexing the Shadow Fox over and onto it`s back, ripping off both of the Liger`s longest teeth and leaving them stabbed into the neck joints of the Fox while the Fox`s shots took their toll before stopping.
Both Zoids were left flat on their backs as a result, with Fox growling something that translated as a few dozen expletives followed by 'cursed, bastard-children of a can of white paint and Mister Bigglesworth.' Mark honestly didn`t even want to know, so he simply didn`t ask.
Both Zoids again rolled back to their feet, though the rise favored the Shadow Fox for several seconds until the damage caused by the teeth caused a fairly inconvenient blast to tear through the Fox`s shoulder on the side of the neck that the teeth had stabbed into.
"So much for that win streak," both pilots grumbled in unison as their Zoids growled out insults at one another. "Draw before we kill each other?" Mark asked calmly, trying to ignore the cries of protest from both Zoids. "Liger`ll probably kill me anyway, but heck..." Kyle shrugged. "We`ll have to rematch sometime," he added as the Liger turned to leave. "Assuming my girlfriend doesn`t slaughter me the next time I see her, sure," Mark replied while the Fox stubbornly held it`s ground, shrieking out insultingly at the Liger.
"See ya next time, newbie," Kyle stated, leaving Marcus to fester in
his own annoyance while the Fox continued screeching out challenges, insults
and accusations at the Liger. It was obviously becoming clear that while
Mark might have taken a dislike of being a rookie, the Shadow Fox was starting
to get a phobia for white Ligers.
"Waking up?" A distant-seeming voice asked, both familiar and a bit unfamiliar at the time. "Man, look at the crust in her eyes," another voice cut in amusedly. "That`s my daughter you`re talking about!" A third voice interrupted. "And even with sleepy eyes she`s still beautiful as ever," a fourth made itself known. "Nice to see some things have yet to change," a fifth, distinctly feminine voice added with thinly veiled amusement as Leena finally managed to pry her eyes open.
"Anyone got the name of the Gustav that hit me?" She gurgled out with something of a lisp, clearing her throat and wondering exactly why her vision was so blurred. Her skin felt as though it were covered in tape, being jabbed with god knows how many sewing needles and rounded off with friction burns and she could vaguely register feeling a blanket covering her body below the area of her armpits. "About time you woke up," a familiar voice said as an even more familiar hand ruffled some of that orange-pink-reddish hair on her head. "We were worried that you had gone into a coma," another equally familiar voice, the third from earlier, explained with concern.
"My eyes`re kinda blurry," Leena complained. "You got shocked with the equivelent of a lightning bolt going off on you at point blank," yet another voice explained. "That you Jamie?" Leena finally asked, narrowing her eyes a bit to try and make out the hazy form at the foot of the bed. "Yeah, it`s me. Leon and the Doc are at the head of the bed next to you, Naomi and Harry are standing next to them and Vega and Bit-" "Are being pains in my roasted ass," Leena complained. "Nice to know even lightning can`t get through a skull as thick as your`s," Naomi commented with a good natured jab at her younger rival.
"Nnngh... It`s nice you`re all concerned and everything, but... Whoever`s holding my hand right now..."
"Yes, my sweet?" Harry asked, giving a squeeze that made Leena wince. "Let go before I rip your arm off and beat you with it," Leena ordered annoyedly.
Things were finally beginning to go back to normal again...
Author`s Note: Yeah, bit o` OC action, a few curtains lifted and two characters who had only appeared before this back in chapter two or three(whichever) being introduced once again. Doubt anyones even gonna remember how they were first shown :p
Shiro Amayagi: 'Omae o korosu?' Erm... I`m guessing that means something bad o_O; Don`t worry too much, I may be needin` a break for a while before I resume actual work on the story since I recently blew out my writer`s stamina finishing up Generations x_x;; Don`t worry though, I started this one and I`ll finish it even if it means taking it down, gutting the story and re-posting it to it`s completion, no matter the cost!
Zinou: Yeah, just don`t skim it or ya might miss a foreshadowing of something enormous... *Snort.* I seem to have developed a knack for doing that lately >_>
Aardwulf: Hope you enjoyed the OC action in this one, don`t wanna let ya down or anything... Harabec and Abbie will show up again soon enough no doubt, but not the next chapter. Hope ya liked some of the twists in this one!
Sh33p out, leave a review and see ya next time!
EDIT: And yes, please DO kill me if I miss spell your name again...
Eesh. Sh33p back out, later.
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