The Shadow of Liger Zero
The sun was setting over the vast valley, casting its red and orange glow over the landscape. The Zoid battle had been lasting for hours on end, and the Liger Zero and the Shadow Fox were all that was left of the Blitz team. The Nezumi team had been much stronger than anticipated by everyone.
"Bit, how much ammo do you have left?" Ballad's vid screen showed the blond haired boy strapped into his Panzer Liger. He looked exhausted.
"Hardly any. And Liger is running low on energy. This armor is way to heavy for him right now." Came Bit's tired response. Usually the optimistic one of the team, Bit was even ready to except defeat.
Ballad gritted his teeth. Fox had only three shots, at most, left. "Don't take that armor off, Bit! That's your only protection against the Nezumi's Zoids."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on Liger! Let's get this battle over with." The massive green armored Liger stepped out of the protective shadow of the valley's wall.
That was a futile mistake. The cloaked Hell Cats pounced immediately, ripping the Panzer armor clean off.
Ballad lunged his Fox forward to aim at the closest Zoid. "Bit! Get out of here. You're unprotected."
The vid screen only displayed static.
"Bit? Bit!"
Back at the base . . .
"Doc! The Liger Panzer's system froze, and I can't get any response out of Bit!" Jiemi was typing furiously trying to make some connection to the fallen Zoid.
Doc Toros slumped over his command panel. "We're doomed. Ballad and the Shadow Fox are our only hope left."
Jiemi sweat-dropped, "Well . . . Doc?"
Toros looked up to the large screen displaying the fight to see the Shadow Fox being pummeled in its left side by artillery. "Owww . . . ." He slumped back down.
A very disgruntled Rinon entered the Command Room "Grrr! Those Nezumi! How dare they play dirty tricks like that!"
Jiemi turned to look at her confused. "'Dirty tricks'? All I saw them do is attack while cloaked. You only stood there, and . . . "
Rinon growled loudly. "I'm not talking about that!" She crossed her arms. "I'm saying they used their name to trick us into fighting them!"
Dr Toros blinked."Name?"
"Yeah, 'nezumi' means 'mouse'?" She looked around at the sweat- dropping faces. "Ow! Never mind!" Fuming she walked up behind Jiemi to watch the battle. "Hey where is Bit? He is awfully quiet that we lost."
"Yeah, you're right! I lost contact with him a little while ago. Maybe his audio system got damaged." Jiemi went back to typing.
Rinon watched the screen worriedly until something caught her eye that made her take a sharp breath. "Oh no."
Back on the field . . .
"The battle is over, I repeat the battle is over. The winner is . . . the Nezumi Team!" The Judge raised the respective arm signaling the end.
Ballad swore, he had underestimated the enemy and that had caused the defeat. He looked around remembering Bit had been knocked out. That, and he realized it was too quiet over the com. Usually Bit would be demanding the judge to reconsider, or claiming he would win the next time. But . . . Ballad became worried and searched for the Liger. What he saw made something inside of him freeze. "Oh, god . . . Bit!" He opened the Fox's cockpit as quickly as he could manage and ran towards the remains of the once mighty Zoid.
The Hell Cats not only attacked, they slaughtered mercilessly. The Liger Zero had been reduced to scrap in a matter of minutes. Parts lay littered on the ground as a steady fire burned around the Zero. Broken wires sparked in the enormous mangled side.
Ballad reached the mess out of breath. He looked at the scene in horror, trying to discern where the cockpit should be. The heat of the flames was almost unbearable, but Ballad tried to ignore this, it was more important to find Bit, hopefully alive.
The brunet boy started to climb the gnarled steal searching frantically for any signs of a body.
Rinon screamed, "What the hell does Ballad think he is doing? Doesn't he know there is still ammunition on Liger?"
"If that fire reaches it . . . then." Jiemi's eyes grew wide. If the fire did reach the ammo Ballad could be . . . "Ballad." He whispered to himself.
Dr Toros finally snapped out of his coma from the loss and realized the severity of the situation. "Why are we just standing here? We have got to go help them. Jiemi get this thing moving!"
"Right!" Jiemi needed the order. He was too shocked at what was happening to think for himself. Ballad and Bit . . . when did Zoid battles become seemingly evil? Jiemi had always loved Zoids and entertained the idea of fun, and happiness of being a warrior. Now a dark shadow had been cast on the concept. Zoids were now threatening to take away two people he cared about.
Dr Toros broke into his thoughts just then. "Rinon, get the emergency equipment ready. Jiemi? Watch the fire. If it gets too close to the weapons tell us."
"Yes, sir."
Ballad had discovered something resembling the orange shield where the cockpit was.
"Bit! Bit can you hear me? Bit!?" he hit the orange material several times, no response. He looked around frantically. The fire was building and starting to close in around him. He knew if he couldn't get Bit out of there soon, he would be trapped as well.
Jiemi's eyes widened. "Doc! The fire is heating up! A wind from the north is fanning the flames, and they are headed straight for the ammunition!"
Too many things were going wrong. The emergency equipment was stored away and Rinon was having a time getting to it. The hover cargo only moved so fast, and now the flames were building right around Ballad and Bit!
"Don't worry Jiemi, will get there in time." Toros had a small smile on his face. Somehow Jiemi didn't think Toros was really trying to reassure him. Just by looking at the good doctor one could see that worry was getting to him and he was trying to reassure himself more than anybody.
After much hunting Ballad finally found a place where the shield was cracked and he could pry it open. Ballad stuck his head inside. Bit lay unconscious and bleeding from his forehead. A little trickle of blood also ran from his mouth.
Ballad took a deep breath. He couldn't tell if the boy was still alive or not. Pulling away enough of the remnants of cockpit, Ballad had made a decent hole large enough for him to get through.
"Bit? Can you hear me?" Ballad placed a gentle hand on the boy's neck to check for a heartbeat. The boy made a small whimper at the touch. "Bit! You're alive!" Ballad slowly worked the safety bars, probably the thing that saved Bit's life, off and slowly pulled the blonde haired boy out. Thankful to be holding him, Ballad gently wiped some of the blood away.
"Hang on, Bit." He added 'please' silently to himself.
The wind picked up a little causing the crackle of the flames to increase till it roared ferociously. Ballad surveyed the area around them, trapped. Everywhere there were flames. The heat was unbearable. Ballad had noticed that some of the plastic parts starting to melt. Then he saw an opening where the wind was keeping the fire back. He started to head towards it as quickly as possible without hurting Bit even more.
"Temperature is increasing in the ammunition cargo hold! It's going to blow any second. Doc what are we going to do?" Jiemi turned to Toros pleadingly.
"Rinon! Where are you?" Toros shouted into the com connected to the Gun Sniper.
"I'm almost there, dad! I can see the wreckage in my monitor." Came the girl's voice.
"Well hurry up that place is a ticking time bomb, and Bit and Ballad are still . . ."
Ballad had almost made it out of the flames when the explosion ripped through the air sending both boys a good distance away from the wreckage. When they hit the ground they rolled a couple feet before coming to a complete stop.
Ballad picked his head up slowly and pain shot through his body culminating back up in his head. His vision was unfocused for a minute then slowly he came out of the initial shock of the concussion. Bit lay still in front of him. Ballad mentally kicked himself. How stupid could he have been? A fire around a Zoid that had live artillery . . .he got to his hands and knees. The world wanted to turn upside down on him. He reached Bit and checked for a pulse again . . .the heartbeat was slow but it was there at least.
The ground shook violently and Ballad wondered if it was the pain in his head causing it to do that or the Zoid that was approaching . . .wait. Zoid? He looked up thankful to see the Gun Sniper charging its way towards them.
Another explosion and the world went dark for Ballad.
The fluorescent lights assaulted Ballad's eyes as he slowly awoke in the clinic back at the Blitz team's base.
"Ballad!?"
Someone was talking . . . "Ugh , Jiemi? What happened . . ."
The brown haired boy blinked. "You don't remember?"
The sound of panic caught Ballad's attention. What had happened . . .the memory hit him hard as everything came back to him at once. "Bit." Ballad tried to sit up but the agonizing pressure and pain pushed him back down.
"Easy, Ballad! Doc says you need to stay down for a while."
"But, Bit is he . . . is he ok?"
Jiemi was silent for a moment.
"Jiemi?"
"He has to rest too. He was hurt pretty badly, but he'll be all right."
Ballad took a deep breath in relief. "Thank god. I thought I was too late, then the explosion came."
Jiemi felt tears forming in his eyes and quickly forced them down. Ballad almost died himself in that explosion. Jiemi suddenly felt like he couldn't stay there anymore. He didn't want to start crying in front of Ballad. "Well, I'm glad you're awake, and I know the other's want to know how you're doing so I'll go now."
"Jiemi?" Ballad caught something in the boy's voice.
"Get some rest and you'll be back in Fox in no time." Jiemi quickly got up and hurriedly went to the door.
"Jiemi!" Ballad called only to get the door closing as he exited.
The brown haired boy stopped before the door was fully closed and looked at the face of the injured Ballad. "I'm glad you're alive, Ballad." He whispered, making sure the boy named wouldn't hear him. I love you, played in his head but he couldn't find himself to say out loud. He pulled the door closed and went to tell the others of Ballads recovery.
The sun was setting over the vast valley, casting its red and orange glow over the landscape. The Zoid battle had been lasting for hours on end, and the Liger Zero and the Shadow Fox were all that was left of the Blitz team. The Nezumi team had been much stronger than anticipated by everyone.
"Bit, how much ammo do you have left?" Ballad's vid screen showed the blond haired boy strapped into his Panzer Liger. He looked exhausted.
"Hardly any. And Liger is running low on energy. This armor is way to heavy for him right now." Came Bit's tired response. Usually the optimistic one of the team, Bit was even ready to except defeat.
Ballad gritted his teeth. Fox had only three shots, at most, left. "Don't take that armor off, Bit! That's your only protection against the Nezumi's Zoids."
"Yeah, yeah. Come on Liger! Let's get this battle over with." The massive green armored Liger stepped out of the protective shadow of the valley's wall.
That was a futile mistake. The cloaked Hell Cats pounced immediately, ripping the Panzer armor clean off.
Ballad lunged his Fox forward to aim at the closest Zoid. "Bit! Get out of here. You're unprotected."
The vid screen only displayed static.
"Bit? Bit!"
Back at the base . . .
"Doc! The Liger Panzer's system froze, and I can't get any response out of Bit!" Jiemi was typing furiously trying to make some connection to the fallen Zoid.
Doc Toros slumped over his command panel. "We're doomed. Ballad and the Shadow Fox are our only hope left."
Jiemi sweat-dropped, "Well . . . Doc?"
Toros looked up to the large screen displaying the fight to see the Shadow Fox being pummeled in its left side by artillery. "Owww . . . ." He slumped back down.
A very disgruntled Rinon entered the Command Room "Grrr! Those Nezumi! How dare they play dirty tricks like that!"
Jiemi turned to look at her confused. "'Dirty tricks'? All I saw them do is attack while cloaked. You only stood there, and . . . "
Rinon growled loudly. "I'm not talking about that!" She crossed her arms. "I'm saying they used their name to trick us into fighting them!"
Dr Toros blinked."Name?"
"Yeah, 'nezumi' means 'mouse'?" She looked around at the sweat- dropping faces. "Ow! Never mind!" Fuming she walked up behind Jiemi to watch the battle. "Hey where is Bit? He is awfully quiet that we lost."
"Yeah, you're right! I lost contact with him a little while ago. Maybe his audio system got damaged." Jiemi went back to typing.
Rinon watched the screen worriedly until something caught her eye that made her take a sharp breath. "Oh no."
Back on the field . . .
"The battle is over, I repeat the battle is over. The winner is . . . the Nezumi Team!" The Judge raised the respective arm signaling the end.
Ballad swore, he had underestimated the enemy and that had caused the defeat. He looked around remembering Bit had been knocked out. That, and he realized it was too quiet over the com. Usually Bit would be demanding the judge to reconsider, or claiming he would win the next time. But . . . Ballad became worried and searched for the Liger. What he saw made something inside of him freeze. "Oh, god . . . Bit!" He opened the Fox's cockpit as quickly as he could manage and ran towards the remains of the once mighty Zoid.
The Hell Cats not only attacked, they slaughtered mercilessly. The Liger Zero had been reduced to scrap in a matter of minutes. Parts lay littered on the ground as a steady fire burned around the Zero. Broken wires sparked in the enormous mangled side.
Ballad reached the mess out of breath. He looked at the scene in horror, trying to discern where the cockpit should be. The heat of the flames was almost unbearable, but Ballad tried to ignore this, it was more important to find Bit, hopefully alive.
The brunet boy started to climb the gnarled steal searching frantically for any signs of a body.
Rinon screamed, "What the hell does Ballad think he is doing? Doesn't he know there is still ammunition on Liger?"
"If that fire reaches it . . . then." Jiemi's eyes grew wide. If the fire did reach the ammo Ballad could be . . . "Ballad." He whispered to himself.
Dr Toros finally snapped out of his coma from the loss and realized the severity of the situation. "Why are we just standing here? We have got to go help them. Jiemi get this thing moving!"
"Right!" Jiemi needed the order. He was too shocked at what was happening to think for himself. Ballad and Bit . . . when did Zoid battles become seemingly evil? Jiemi had always loved Zoids and entertained the idea of fun, and happiness of being a warrior. Now a dark shadow had been cast on the concept. Zoids were now threatening to take away two people he cared about.
Dr Toros broke into his thoughts just then. "Rinon, get the emergency equipment ready. Jiemi? Watch the fire. If it gets too close to the weapons tell us."
"Yes, sir."
Ballad had discovered something resembling the orange shield where the cockpit was.
"Bit! Bit can you hear me? Bit!?" he hit the orange material several times, no response. He looked around frantically. The fire was building and starting to close in around him. He knew if he couldn't get Bit out of there soon, he would be trapped as well.
Jiemi's eyes widened. "Doc! The fire is heating up! A wind from the north is fanning the flames, and they are headed straight for the ammunition!"
Too many things were going wrong. The emergency equipment was stored away and Rinon was having a time getting to it. The hover cargo only moved so fast, and now the flames were building right around Ballad and Bit!
"Don't worry Jiemi, will get there in time." Toros had a small smile on his face. Somehow Jiemi didn't think Toros was really trying to reassure him. Just by looking at the good doctor one could see that worry was getting to him and he was trying to reassure himself more than anybody.
After much hunting Ballad finally found a place where the shield was cracked and he could pry it open. Ballad stuck his head inside. Bit lay unconscious and bleeding from his forehead. A little trickle of blood also ran from his mouth.
Ballad took a deep breath. He couldn't tell if the boy was still alive or not. Pulling away enough of the remnants of cockpit, Ballad had made a decent hole large enough for him to get through.
"Bit? Can you hear me?" Ballad placed a gentle hand on the boy's neck to check for a heartbeat. The boy made a small whimper at the touch. "Bit! You're alive!" Ballad slowly worked the safety bars, probably the thing that saved Bit's life, off and slowly pulled the blonde haired boy out. Thankful to be holding him, Ballad gently wiped some of the blood away.
"Hang on, Bit." He added 'please' silently to himself.
The wind picked up a little causing the crackle of the flames to increase till it roared ferociously. Ballad surveyed the area around them, trapped. Everywhere there were flames. The heat was unbearable. Ballad had noticed that some of the plastic parts starting to melt. Then he saw an opening where the wind was keeping the fire back. He started to head towards it as quickly as possible without hurting Bit even more.
"Temperature is increasing in the ammunition cargo hold! It's going to blow any second. Doc what are we going to do?" Jiemi turned to Toros pleadingly.
"Rinon! Where are you?" Toros shouted into the com connected to the Gun Sniper.
"I'm almost there, dad! I can see the wreckage in my monitor." Came the girl's voice.
"Well hurry up that place is a ticking time bomb, and Bit and Ballad are still . . ."
Ballad had almost made it out of the flames when the explosion ripped through the air sending both boys a good distance away from the wreckage. When they hit the ground they rolled a couple feet before coming to a complete stop.
Ballad picked his head up slowly and pain shot through his body culminating back up in his head. His vision was unfocused for a minute then slowly he came out of the initial shock of the concussion. Bit lay still in front of him. Ballad mentally kicked himself. How stupid could he have been? A fire around a Zoid that had live artillery . . .he got to his hands and knees. The world wanted to turn upside down on him. He reached Bit and checked for a pulse again . . .the heartbeat was slow but it was there at least.
The ground shook violently and Ballad wondered if it was the pain in his head causing it to do that or the Zoid that was approaching . . .wait. Zoid? He looked up thankful to see the Gun Sniper charging its way towards them.
Another explosion and the world went dark for Ballad.
The fluorescent lights assaulted Ballad's eyes as he slowly awoke in the clinic back at the Blitz team's base.
"Ballad!?"
Someone was talking . . . "Ugh , Jiemi? What happened . . ."
The brown haired boy blinked. "You don't remember?"
The sound of panic caught Ballad's attention. What had happened . . .the memory hit him hard as everything came back to him at once. "Bit." Ballad tried to sit up but the agonizing pressure and pain pushed him back down.
"Easy, Ballad! Doc says you need to stay down for a while."
"But, Bit is he . . . is he ok?"
Jiemi was silent for a moment.
"Jiemi?"
"He has to rest too. He was hurt pretty badly, but he'll be all right."
Ballad took a deep breath in relief. "Thank god. I thought I was too late, then the explosion came."
Jiemi felt tears forming in his eyes and quickly forced them down. Ballad almost died himself in that explosion. Jiemi suddenly felt like he couldn't stay there anymore. He didn't want to start crying in front of Ballad. "Well, I'm glad you're awake, and I know the other's want to know how you're doing so I'll go now."
"Jiemi?" Ballad caught something in the boy's voice.
"Get some rest and you'll be back in Fox in no time." Jiemi quickly got up and hurriedly went to the door.
"Jiemi!" Ballad called only to get the door closing as he exited.
The brown haired boy stopped before the door was fully closed and looked at the face of the injured Ballad. "I'm glad you're alive, Ballad." He whispered, making sure the boy named wouldn't hear him. I love you, played in his head but he couldn't find himself to say out loud. He pulled the door closed and went to tell the others of Ballads recovery.