Zoids: Origin
Chapter 1: Along Came a Spider
It was dark and foggy. The kind of night that you see in movies and automatically know something bad is about to happen. Of course, this wasn't Hollywood and hardly anything ever happened in this part of the world. Our town was so small that a lot of GPS units didn't even have it listed. That was fine with me. I liked this kind of environment. Nothing bad to worry about, friendly people and the greatest thing ever, we had our own secrets to keep.
It was almost ten o'clock and the air was chilly. I closed the kitchen window and came into the living room. I was the person furthest away from the ghostly town. At least at night it was, in the daytime there was always buzz. I jumped on the couch and placed my feet on the armrest and clicked on the TV remote. It hadn't even been five minutes when the phone rang.
I was so comfortable that for a minute I thought about ignoring it but as always, my conscious wouldn't allow me to do so.
"Hello?" I answered hoping it was a wrong number or telemarketing so I could hang up. Yet, as much as I hoped, it wasn't. It was Leon. I began to listen to his frantic story. As usual, he was the type of friend who called you more when he needed something than when he didn't. Again, my mind was culpable in this. I had to help.
"Okay, okay. Where are you?" I listened some more. "I'm on my way."
The drive to town seemed to be longer than usual. Probably because of the fog and the fact I had to moderate my speed. I passed the same marks, the same gas station and the same sign that read "Welcome to Moon Valley."
MV, that is what my friends and I nicknamed our town in high school. Being a small town, the MV thing quickly caught up and soon everyone called it that, even rival schools that we would occasionally play. I say occasionally because we were so far away from other towns that none of the schools really want to drive all the way here to play a mediocre game. I can't count the number of times our teams were stood up. Since there was no official sports commissioner, we couldn't complain to anyone and thus we played as tradition states, for the fun of the game.
I picked up my cell phone which showed two bars of signal. Only one company serviced our area and only one tower was built for the entire town and the outskirts. I dialed Leon's number and raised the phone to my ear.
"Leon? Leon I'm near the crossroads. I don't see your car." I stated. He began telling me things about a tree and some signs to look for. I drove a little past the crossroads and into the first curve when I saw it.
At first glance, I would have said something like "Who made this?" Or "How this end up here?" But logic told me to be wary instead of curious.
It was like a giant mechanical cat. In some aspects, it seemed real, in others it seemed to have been dreamed of. I saw Leon walking around it. His face showed his shock. The enormous cat-like machine was on the side of the road. As great of a monument as it seemed, it was also pretty damaged. I saw dents, scratches, burnt marks. The last discovery made me think twice. How could something this big have burnt marks of that degree? Almost like the ones you see on spacecraft.
My heart pounded in my throat. I had the feeling you get when something unexpected comes. Like when your parents tell you that they must go on a trip and you never see them again and your aunt who you have never met before tells you she will be your new mentor. I had experience this feeling before.
Leon turned to me and came to my side.
"I was driving when I saw this thing just standing here. I must admit, it is one weird piece, Tommy."
Thomas Stone. College dropout at twenty three years of age. I really didn't mind people telling me that, I had my reasons.
"Has anyone else seen this?" I asked. Leon shook his head.
"I can't wait to show them!" He was very excited. I twitched my lip at him. Leon Spellman, AKA the Witch Doctor. I believe one of the reasons I'm one of his best friends is because I call him by his name instead of the nick everyone else does. School is a bitch anywhere in this country. Nicknames, Bullies, clueless teachers, no security. You had to survive.
"I don't think we should be here. I'm sure Sheriff Marston will show up sooner or later, it is part of his route. Let's just leave." It wasn't that I was afraid to explore more of this, but I knew Sherriff Marston would start asking us questions almost to the point of blaming us in one way or another, that was his style of investigating and finding a culprit.
Leon chuckled. "You have no idea what we have just found and you just want to leave? Here, let me show you something. Maybe it will make you think twice."
I ran my hand through my ash-brown hair trying to understand why I was listening to Leon. I finally began walking in his direction. We stood at what seemed to be the front of the mechanical animal. On what seemed to be his head, a glass cover was slightly opened. Unfortunately for Leon, it was way too high to even get a glimpse of the inside. But he wasn't about to give up.
"C'mon! Maybe if we back up your truck we might be able to reach it." He was too excited. I gave him my raised eyebrow look.
"Look Leon. Even if I put my truck in front of this, which I won't, it would still be too low to reach. Let's just scram out of here." My longtime friend looked down with his lips tight. He really wanted to know what was inside but my willingness to leave was bigger. As we began walking a bright light blinded us. It was what I had feared the most and the reason I wanted to leave pronto.