So it wasn't the End
Slouched on the couch, Strider flipped through the channels on the big screen. His face had a bored expression and his finger just kept pushing the channel button. Angel walked in and flopped onto the couch next to Strider.
"Anything good on?" she asked, her voice matching the boredom on Strider's face.
Without changing his expression or even looking at Angel, Strider shook his head. Angel let out a sigh and leaned back into the couch. Just as Strider was about to hit the channel button again, the screen suddenly changed. Both Strider and Angel sat up at the same time. A judge appeared on the screen.
"Greetings Last Guard Team. Your next battle is against the Class B Team Breakers. The battle is set at the coordinates B-75 and will officially begin at 1500 hours tomorrow. This battle is in battle mode 0982 with three Zoids on each side. If you do not show up you will forfeit the match and Team Breakers will be proclaimed the winners. This will be your last battle before the Cloud Cup* begins. Good day."
The screen blanked out and went back to the normal TV channels. Strider and Angel no longer felt bored. They looked at each other and grinned. At the same time, Strider and Angel bolted from the couch, each trying to reach K.O. first to tell him the news. When they found him, they nearly pummeled him.
"Whoa! Guys! Cool it! What's up?" K.O. said, laughing as he jumped out of the way of the two pilots.
"Looks like we have one more battle before the Cloud Cup starts, oh fearless leader!" Strider said.
"Three on three at coordinates B-75! 3 o'clock tomorrow against the Breakers," Angel added.
K.O. cocked an eyebrow. "Breakers huh? They use Genos I've heard. But even with those Zoids they're still Class B. Shouldn't be a problem."
"Yeah, and since the ZBC has disallowed usage of Charged Particle Cannons in official battles, we won't have to worry about getting too banged up," Ariel said, walking in on the conversation.
"Well who invited you?" Strider asked, feigning annoyance.
Ariel laughed and playfully punched Strider's arm.
"So I hear we're up against the Breakers. They only have three Zoids... And we have four..."
Everyone eyed everyone else suspiciously. K.O. shrugged and walked off.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Angel asked.
"I'm the captain, therefore I'm automatically in the battle. Simple."
"No fair!" Strider complained.
"Well you didn't work you ass off to create this team now did you?" K.O. said, a grin on his face.
Strider folded his arms and scoffed.
"Oh you guys are such babies! I'll stay in the cargo hold. None of you guys even have the slightest clue how to use the controls or the computers anyway," Ariel said.
"It's settled then. Strider, Angel, get your Zoids prepared for the battle. Ariel, I want you to try and find some more information on the Breakers. We already know some stuff about them, but I want to be able to be able to know exactly what these guys are going to do," K.O. said.
"And...Break!" Strider said, clapping his hands together.
Ariel slapped Strider upside the head as she walked away.
"Hey! That hurt!"
-------------------------------------------------------------
Kazeyama Repair Shop
"Alright. All done, buddy."
Jake patted the Shadow Fox's leg. The Fox let out an excited yip. Jake laughed as he wiped his hands off with a rag.
"You done, Jakey?"
"Yeah. Can I take a break?" Jake called back.
"10 minutes."
"Cheapskate..." Jake mumbled as he wiped his forehead with the same rag.
But a break was a break. Jake walked outside of the garage and let the cool breeze caress his face. He sat down on the ground and leaned against the wall of the garage. Closing his eyes, Jake tried to rest his mind.
"Not exactly the greatest time for a nap, eh Jake?"
Startled, Jake stumbled to his feet. The familiar Blade Sniper stood before Jake. The cockpit opened up and Kat grinned down at Jake.
"Kat!"
Kat jumped down from her Zoid and walked up to him.
"Long time no see."
"Yeah. Business has been really good lately. I've got my work cut out for me," Jake said, with a tired grin.
"I've got another job for you. My Sniper needs some repairs and a few upgrades if you will."
"You just have to come on my break don't you?" Jake said shaking his head.
Kat laughed and followed Jake into the garage in her Zoid. Jumping out of the cockpit once more, Kat looked around the building.
"Roomy in here isn't it?" she said.
"It can fit up to 50 Zoids in here with two yard spacing between each one on all sides," Jake answered as he looked over the Blade Sniper.
The Zoid grumbled, not wanting to have anything to do with Jake, but stood still. Jake looked back at Kat.
"I'll have your Zoid done in a few hours." He then smiled warmly. "It's great to see you again."
"It's great to see you too. I'll be back in 3 hours then."
Jake nodded and watched Kat leave.
-----------------------------------------------
Kreuz Team Base
"Snxx-xx-xxxx..."
Cloud was sprawled on the armchair, mouth open, snoring. He still had his pajamas on, so it looked as if he had gotten out of bed, walked downstairs, and fell asleep again once he sat down in the armchair. Death trudged down the stairs, scratching the back of his head. Though it was noon, it looked like he had just woken up. He walked passed Cloud and into the kitchen. Upon entering, Death saw Jamie making a sandwich for himself. Jamie, unlike Cloud and Death, was fully dressed and awake. Death scowled at his perkiness and opened the fridge.
"Well good morning to you too," Jamie said sarcastically.
He walked out of the door and almost ran into Rit.
"Oh. Sorry," Rit mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
She then proceeded to go inside in the kitchen. Jamie shrugged and went to the computer room, sandwich in hand. He sat down in the chair, and started the system.
"Let's look at the schedules for today."
He clicked a few times, and the Zoid battling schedules popped up on the screen. Jamie scrolled down, looking for any familiar teams or teams he particularly liked. He stopped and peered at the screen.
[Last Guard Team vs. Team Breakers at 15:00]
"They have one more battle? Wow. I thought all the Class A teams would be done with all their battles by now. But I guess they got a last minute request," Jamie thought aloud, in between bites of his sandwich.
He scrolled some more, but found only Class B and C battles that weren't worth watching. Leaning back in his chair, Jamie took another bite out of his sandwich. He decided to look up some information on the Breakers just for the fun of it. Opening the ZBC global database, Jamie typed in Breakers then clicked the Team Search button.
[8 matches for Team Search "Breakers"]
The first one was the Class B Team Breakers, so Jamie clicked on it. Scrolling down, something caught his eye and he stopped. There was a blinking symbol that flashed *New!* under Team Zoids. Clicking the link, the list of the Zoids and their stats showed up. Jamie didn't see anything new until he reached the last Zoid. Instead of a Geno Breaker, in its place was a Geno Maxi. Jamie scrolled through the stats, and found the stats almost twice as good as the Geno Breaker's. This was one incredible Zoid.
"No wonder the Breakers have been on a winning streak. They've got this new Zoid. If the Last Guard Team loses, the Breakers will move up to Class A and participate in the Cloud Cup. But I have no worries that the Last Guard Team'll deal with them."
Jamie closed the windows and bit into his sandwich again. He leaned back in his chair once more and chewed on the piece of sandwich in his mouth.
"I wonder where Vega is..."
----------------------------------------------
Somewhere...
The stars were brilliant that night. Shane sat on the log, watching the sparks from the fire fly into the sky, mingling amongst the bright dots in the black void. Arrow sat on her shoulder, staying close enough to the fire to feel some heat, but far enough to not get too much of it. Birds were often weary about flames. The Gryphantom was parked behind Shane, enjoying the flame from afar.
"Smores?"
A bag was tossed in Shane's direction. Shane caught it with one hand and looked down at it. It was a bag of marshmallows. Jason emerged from the shadows with two sharpened sticks, graham crackers, and some bars of chocolate. He threw a stick toward Shane.
"Thanks."
Shane opened the bag and took out a marshmallow, swiftly spearing it with her stick and placing it over the fire. Sitting down next to Shane, Jason took two and did the same. The two sat next to each other in silence, enjoying the others company, but not wanting to ruin it by talking. Shane leaned against Jason's strong body and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Whoa," Jason said, pulling his marshmallows out of the fire.
He blew out his flaming marshmallows and put them between some crackers and chocolate. The flames crackled as the two sat in silence, Jason eating his smore, and Shane picking at her marshmallow. But just as they were feeling settled, there was a roar. Both Jason and Shane jumped up onto their feet, looking around for the source of the noise.
"Well this doesn't seem familiar..." Shane mumbled, recalling the first time she had met Jason.
Jason turned toward Shane and grinned. "But you don't regret it right?"
The Gryphantom and Jason's Zabat turned toward the direction of the noises as their pilots entered the cockpits. They rose off the ground into the blackened sky as the roaring continued.
"Let's split up a little. That way if it's something hostile it won't catch us both off guard and if one of us gets into trouble the other can help," Jason said.
Shane nodded. "Looks like the roaring is coming from only one Zoid, so if we circle around it in opposite directions, we'll be able to get a good view of it."
The two Zoids split up and flew in opposite directions. Shane started to get a funny feeling as the roaring grew louder. The Gryphantom let out a screech.
"Alright. Increase altitude."
The Zoid flew up higher into the sky while still moving on the same path. Shane looked down and gaped. A huge glowing swirl had engulfed a large portion of the trees. Grabbing the communicator, Shane babbled out a description of what she saw to Jason. Jason barely heard what Shane was saying.
"That thing... It's that same thing that swallowed up Jake before we destroyed the demon..."
*The ZBC changed the name of the Royal Cup in memory of Bit Cloud after he aided in the fall of the Backdraft.
{A/N: Dun dun DUN!! So I hope you liked the first chapter. There's plenty more where that came from! Please review!}
Slouched on the couch, Strider flipped through the channels on the big screen. His face had a bored expression and his finger just kept pushing the channel button. Angel walked in and flopped onto the couch next to Strider.
"Anything good on?" she asked, her voice matching the boredom on Strider's face.
Without changing his expression or even looking at Angel, Strider shook his head. Angel let out a sigh and leaned back into the couch. Just as Strider was about to hit the channel button again, the screen suddenly changed. Both Strider and Angel sat up at the same time. A judge appeared on the screen.
"Greetings Last Guard Team. Your next battle is against the Class B Team Breakers. The battle is set at the coordinates B-75 and will officially begin at 1500 hours tomorrow. This battle is in battle mode 0982 with three Zoids on each side. If you do not show up you will forfeit the match and Team Breakers will be proclaimed the winners. This will be your last battle before the Cloud Cup* begins. Good day."
The screen blanked out and went back to the normal TV channels. Strider and Angel no longer felt bored. They looked at each other and grinned. At the same time, Strider and Angel bolted from the couch, each trying to reach K.O. first to tell him the news. When they found him, they nearly pummeled him.
"Whoa! Guys! Cool it! What's up?" K.O. said, laughing as he jumped out of the way of the two pilots.
"Looks like we have one more battle before the Cloud Cup starts, oh fearless leader!" Strider said.
"Three on three at coordinates B-75! 3 o'clock tomorrow against the Breakers," Angel added.
K.O. cocked an eyebrow. "Breakers huh? They use Genos I've heard. But even with those Zoids they're still Class B. Shouldn't be a problem."
"Yeah, and since the ZBC has disallowed usage of Charged Particle Cannons in official battles, we won't have to worry about getting too banged up," Ariel said, walking in on the conversation.
"Well who invited you?" Strider asked, feigning annoyance.
Ariel laughed and playfully punched Strider's arm.
"So I hear we're up against the Breakers. They only have three Zoids... And we have four..."
Everyone eyed everyone else suspiciously. K.O. shrugged and walked off.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Angel asked.
"I'm the captain, therefore I'm automatically in the battle. Simple."
"No fair!" Strider complained.
"Well you didn't work you ass off to create this team now did you?" K.O. said, a grin on his face.
Strider folded his arms and scoffed.
"Oh you guys are such babies! I'll stay in the cargo hold. None of you guys even have the slightest clue how to use the controls or the computers anyway," Ariel said.
"It's settled then. Strider, Angel, get your Zoids prepared for the battle. Ariel, I want you to try and find some more information on the Breakers. We already know some stuff about them, but I want to be able to be able to know exactly what these guys are going to do," K.O. said.
"And...Break!" Strider said, clapping his hands together.
Ariel slapped Strider upside the head as she walked away.
"Hey! That hurt!"
-------------------------------------------------------------
Kazeyama Repair Shop
"Alright. All done, buddy."
Jake patted the Shadow Fox's leg. The Fox let out an excited yip. Jake laughed as he wiped his hands off with a rag.
"You done, Jakey?"
"Yeah. Can I take a break?" Jake called back.
"10 minutes."
"Cheapskate..." Jake mumbled as he wiped his forehead with the same rag.
But a break was a break. Jake walked outside of the garage and let the cool breeze caress his face. He sat down on the ground and leaned against the wall of the garage. Closing his eyes, Jake tried to rest his mind.
"Not exactly the greatest time for a nap, eh Jake?"
Startled, Jake stumbled to his feet. The familiar Blade Sniper stood before Jake. The cockpit opened up and Kat grinned down at Jake.
"Kat!"
Kat jumped down from her Zoid and walked up to him.
"Long time no see."
"Yeah. Business has been really good lately. I've got my work cut out for me," Jake said, with a tired grin.
"I've got another job for you. My Sniper needs some repairs and a few upgrades if you will."
"You just have to come on my break don't you?" Jake said shaking his head.
Kat laughed and followed Jake into the garage in her Zoid. Jumping out of the cockpit once more, Kat looked around the building.
"Roomy in here isn't it?" she said.
"It can fit up to 50 Zoids in here with two yard spacing between each one on all sides," Jake answered as he looked over the Blade Sniper.
The Zoid grumbled, not wanting to have anything to do with Jake, but stood still. Jake looked back at Kat.
"I'll have your Zoid done in a few hours." He then smiled warmly. "It's great to see you again."
"It's great to see you too. I'll be back in 3 hours then."
Jake nodded and watched Kat leave.
-----------------------------------------------
Kreuz Team Base
"Snxx-xx-xxxx..."
Cloud was sprawled on the armchair, mouth open, snoring. He still had his pajamas on, so it looked as if he had gotten out of bed, walked downstairs, and fell asleep again once he sat down in the armchair. Death trudged down the stairs, scratching the back of his head. Though it was noon, it looked like he had just woken up. He walked passed Cloud and into the kitchen. Upon entering, Death saw Jamie making a sandwich for himself. Jamie, unlike Cloud and Death, was fully dressed and awake. Death scowled at his perkiness and opened the fridge.
"Well good morning to you too," Jamie said sarcastically.
He walked out of the door and almost ran into Rit.
"Oh. Sorry," Rit mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
She then proceeded to go inside in the kitchen. Jamie shrugged and went to the computer room, sandwich in hand. He sat down in the chair, and started the system.
"Let's look at the schedules for today."
He clicked a few times, and the Zoid battling schedules popped up on the screen. Jamie scrolled down, looking for any familiar teams or teams he particularly liked. He stopped and peered at the screen.
[Last Guard Team vs. Team Breakers at 15:00]
"They have one more battle? Wow. I thought all the Class A teams would be done with all their battles by now. But I guess they got a last minute request," Jamie thought aloud, in between bites of his sandwich.
He scrolled some more, but found only Class B and C battles that weren't worth watching. Leaning back in his chair, Jamie took another bite out of his sandwich. He decided to look up some information on the Breakers just for the fun of it. Opening the ZBC global database, Jamie typed in Breakers then clicked the Team Search button.
[8 matches for Team Search "Breakers"]
The first one was the Class B Team Breakers, so Jamie clicked on it. Scrolling down, something caught his eye and he stopped. There was a blinking symbol that flashed *New!* under Team Zoids. Clicking the link, the list of the Zoids and their stats showed up. Jamie didn't see anything new until he reached the last Zoid. Instead of a Geno Breaker, in its place was a Geno Maxi. Jamie scrolled through the stats, and found the stats almost twice as good as the Geno Breaker's. This was one incredible Zoid.
"No wonder the Breakers have been on a winning streak. They've got this new Zoid. If the Last Guard Team loses, the Breakers will move up to Class A and participate in the Cloud Cup. But I have no worries that the Last Guard Team'll deal with them."
Jamie closed the windows and bit into his sandwich again. He leaned back in his chair once more and chewed on the piece of sandwich in his mouth.
"I wonder where Vega is..."
----------------------------------------------
Somewhere...
The stars were brilliant that night. Shane sat on the log, watching the sparks from the fire fly into the sky, mingling amongst the bright dots in the black void. Arrow sat on her shoulder, staying close enough to the fire to feel some heat, but far enough to not get too much of it. Birds were often weary about flames. The Gryphantom was parked behind Shane, enjoying the flame from afar.
"Smores?"
A bag was tossed in Shane's direction. Shane caught it with one hand and looked down at it. It was a bag of marshmallows. Jason emerged from the shadows with two sharpened sticks, graham crackers, and some bars of chocolate. He threw a stick toward Shane.
"Thanks."
Shane opened the bag and took out a marshmallow, swiftly spearing it with her stick and placing it over the fire. Sitting down next to Shane, Jason took two and did the same. The two sat next to each other in silence, enjoying the others company, but not wanting to ruin it by talking. Shane leaned against Jason's strong body and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Whoa," Jason said, pulling his marshmallows out of the fire.
He blew out his flaming marshmallows and put them between some crackers and chocolate. The flames crackled as the two sat in silence, Jason eating his smore, and Shane picking at her marshmallow. But just as they were feeling settled, there was a roar. Both Jason and Shane jumped up onto their feet, looking around for the source of the noise.
"Well this doesn't seem familiar..." Shane mumbled, recalling the first time she had met Jason.
Jason turned toward Shane and grinned. "But you don't regret it right?"
The Gryphantom and Jason's Zabat turned toward the direction of the noises as their pilots entered the cockpits. They rose off the ground into the blackened sky as the roaring continued.
"Let's split up a little. That way if it's something hostile it won't catch us both off guard and if one of us gets into trouble the other can help," Jason said.
Shane nodded. "Looks like the roaring is coming from only one Zoid, so if we circle around it in opposite directions, we'll be able to get a good view of it."
The two Zoids split up and flew in opposite directions. Shane started to get a funny feeling as the roaring grew louder. The Gryphantom let out a screech.
"Alright. Increase altitude."
The Zoid flew up higher into the sky while still moving on the same path. Shane looked down and gaped. A huge glowing swirl had engulfed a large portion of the trees. Grabbing the communicator, Shane babbled out a description of what she saw to Jason. Jason barely heard what Shane was saying.
"That thing... It's that same thing that swallowed up Jake before we destroyed the demon..."
*The ZBC changed the name of the Royal Cup in memory of Bit Cloud after he aided in the fall of the Backdraft.
{A/N: Dun dun DUN!! So I hope you liked the first chapter. There's plenty more where that came from! Please review!}
