Welcome one and all and a Happy Halloween! The following story is a one-shot challenge given to me by my beta reader, Cloud Link Zero, that took about a year to complete thanks to my crazy schedule. But after a lot of work and revision, I proudly present to you my first Zoids one-shot. This idea could become a full-fledged story in time (hence the different team layouts and the Bit/Naomi pairing), but we figured we'll see how this does first and go from there. So without further ado, I present to you our own take on the "Frightday the 13th" episode of Zoids: New Century Zero...with a twist!

DISCLAIMER - I don't own Zoids. Zoids New Century Zero is a product of Takara Tomy

ZOIDS NEW CENTURY ZERO: ATLAS RISING

Chapter 13 – Frightday the 13th

Zoid Trasporter, "The Globe"

Friday, 6 October

12:00 AM

Devastating typhoons that appeared at the drop of a hat were not uncommon events when one travelled around Planet Zi. With their gale force winds and torrential downpours of rain, one would be a suicidal idiot to take such storms lightly. As he watched the pounding storm assault the outer walls of their humble transporter, Bit Cloud observed Mother Nature's fury with awe, as well as a touch of anxiety. It was only a few hours ago that Jack had surrendered to the conditions of the sudden typhoon, deciding that even with their advanced radar and navigation systems, The Globe would not be going anywhere until the conditions outside calmed down. The sudden lightning strike that boomed across the darkened sky at the same time drove the point right home, especially for the twin Tasker sisters. The blonde haired zoid pilot chuckled in his seat at the desk in his and Naomi's room as he recalled how they jumped at the sight of the electric arc whipping in the air.

'KYAAAAAAA!' Bit barely had enough time to react to the shrieks of his still relatively new team members before he felt both of his arms get grabbed up and enveloped by two nubile female bodies. Chris Tasker held his left arm in a vice grip, while Kelly Tasker grabbed his right, "Uhh…are you two ok?"

"W-W-We're not fans of lightning storms…at all," Chris whined cutely as she hid her face in the crook of Bit's neck, pulling his arm into her sizable chest even more, "They're so scary~"

"Both of us have hated storms like this since we were little," Kelly chimed in from Bit's other side, purposely moving her head to his neck and letting her breath gently blow over his skin, "Neither of us are ever able to sleep when one hits…"

From his place at the navigation chair, Jack could only chuckle at the antics of his two friends as they ganged up on their favorite target, 'Looks like the kid's got his hands full again. Those two really never quit.'

The sudden feeling of heat washing over him alerted the Lightning Saix pilot to the other audience member observing the Tasker's playful attack on the Liger Zero pilot, 'Well…this is about to get interesting…'

Bit blushed to the roots of his hair when the sisters pulled their faces towards his, both blushing and smiling with mischievous intent, "You know Bit…nothing helps us sleep better during a storm than having a strong, brave, handsome guy like you in bed with us…"

"Uhhh…y-you don't say…"

Kelly smirked and invaded his personal space even further, "You would really be doing us a favor. We would definitely make it worth your while-"

"Not on my watch, you harpies!"

The Tasker sisters suddenly found themselves grabbed by the back of their outfits and literally tossed to the other side of the room by an irate Naomi Flugel, her purple eyes burning with righteous female fury, "Go find yourselves someone else to be your teddy bear for the night! This one's mine!"

Before the sisters could say anything back, Naomi grabbed her new boyfriend around the neck and dragged him back to their shared bedroom, the two oblivious to Jack's quiet laughter at the scene in the background.

'Man…I forgot Naomi had a killer grip,' the blonde thought to himself as he snuck a glance back over to the bed, where the lovely redhead was still snoozing, ' I'm startin to think every redhead I meet is gonna be a firebrand…'

Turning back around, Bit turned on the laptop in front of him and dimmed the light of the screen in order to avoid waking his lover. Starting up the web browser, he began checking his e-mails in the hope that doing something mundane might help him to shake the antsy feeling he was getting from the raging storm outside. Most of the messages were typical challenges from other teams, the majority being B and C-rank teams. Shaking his head, he quickly deleted those, 'The others would never agree to fight those chumps. Not for the lame prize money they were offering…'

Atlas Team was on the cusp of breaking into the vaunted A-rank, where the stronger opponents like the Blitz Team resided. The last thing they wanted to do was risk their progress battling lower-ranked upstarts who couldn't even afford to put up a decent purse for the match. Unfortunately, while Bit and his team were definitely making a name for themselves, they had yet to make a big enough splash to catch the attention of the majority of the higher ranking teams. Bit went through at least 50 challenges, none of them particularly enticing, before sighing and separating the most tolerable requests from the rest of the garbage.

'Well…guess we can't be choosers yet. I'll forward this to the others and…wait..what's this?'

The Liger Zero pilot's green eyes were caught by a newer message, one with no subject line or sender. Intrigued, he clicked on it immediately, completely forgetting the meager challenges he had planned on forwarding, 'I wonder what this could be…'

Upon opening, the message had only one line of text, which struck Bit as a little odd. Especially since it asked such a strange question:

What is it that is most precious to you?

"What is it that's the most precious to me?" he said quietly to himself as he pondered the question. The blonde knew he liked a lot of things: sweets, his friends, his team, and especially his budding relationship with Naomi. But most of those were only possible because of one thing. Bit grinned, "Well, that's a no-brainer. Seems like this might be a prank or something, but there's no harm in humoring whoever this is."

He typed in his answer without a second thought, 'Zoid battling, duh! You're talking to the greatest Zoid pilot who ever lived, Bit Cloud!'

Hitting the send button, the blonde was ready to call it a night when a response from the strange messenger came back within seconds:

Even if it means losing those closest to you?

Now Bit started to feel annoyed. Who the hell was this guy to be playing psychoanalysis with him so early in the morning during a ridiculous storm? He shook his head and grumbled while he replied back: 'I don't lose, pal. Especially when the people I care about are on the line!'

Thinking that was the end of it, Bit was shocked when the reply came instantly, and this time it was far more disturbing:

Then in one week, you will lose one or the other to me. You're not strong enough to protect them both. .C*(*#H (*#O *(#O#*)*S! &*E!

"What the hell!?" Bit nearly screamed as he suddenly heard a raspy, creepy laugh emanate from the message before his laptop crashed, the blue screen casting a haunting glow over the room. As he calmed down from the initial fright, the blonde zoid pilot started to growl as he felt rage bubbling from within him at the blatant personal challenge.

"You bastard…I don't care who the hell you think you are, I'll show you I don't need to sacrifice zoid battling to keep my friends safe! I dare you to try and take them from me!"

It was then that the blond noticed how tired he felt after the antagonizing back and forth he'd just had, sweat was pouring from his forehead and his heart was beating so fast it felt like someone was playing the drums in his chest. Taking a moment to breath, Bit used his t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow before snapping his laptop shut and going back to bed. Getting comfortable under the covers, the cocky pilot felt Naomi instinctively pull herself against his chest, her legs intertwining with his. Pulling her closer to him, he smiled and gently kissed her forehead, earning a sleepy smile from the gorgeous Gun Sniper pilot.

'I swear Naomi, nothing's ever gonna take you away while I'm around…'

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Friday, 6 October

10:00 AM

Later that morning saw a vast improvement in the weather, with not a cloud in sight and the sun beaming down on the planet in a perfect blue sky. After a hearty breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and juice, Team Atlas convened in their spacious lounge to talk business. It was then that Bit regaled them of the challenge requests he'd gone through during the night.

"So you actually managed to pick a couple offers that aren't total crap…sounds like Naomi's rubbing off on you in more ways than one, Kid."

The snarky comment earned Jack a slap to the head by all three women in the room, not that he let such a thing faze him. Bit flippantly gave him the finger, "Up yours, Sisco. I'll have ya know I'm no newbie to making deals. Junk dealing ain't that different from picking zoid battle challenges. You gotta know how to haggle, when to pass, and when to go for broke. Otherwise, you end up with crap either way. The net gain from the ones I chose won't be a lot, but at least we'll still have some cash left over after paying for ammo and fuel."

"Don't mind old grumpy here, the ones you picked are fine Bit," Kelly chimed in as she took a seat on one of the reclining chairs, "I say we choose the best one and head to town to get supplies."

Naomi nodded, "I agree. It's been awhile since we battled, so what better way to get the rust off?"

"Oh! Oh! Speaking of town, I heard the coolest story in the last place we stopped at before that awful storm!" Chris cheered as she jumped in place, "It's an old folktale people tell during the month of the Hallows! Out of all the legends and other freaky stuff I've heard, this one takes the cake!"

The redhaired Gun Sniper pilot smirked, "A bedtime story to scare little kids, told by an equally little girl…didn't see that comin on our way to the next town."

Chris shot a glare at the insult, while Kelly stuck her tongue out at Naomi in defense of her sister. Bit quickly interjected, wrapping his arm around girlfriend's shoulders and pulling her into him, "Ah, lighten up a bit. It'll kill some time while Jack drives us to town. Plus, it could be fun to hear!"

Jack shook his head and walked back to the navigation room to head out while Chris beamed at the blonde pilot, "Thanks Bit, you're a real gentleman!"

"Gag me already."

Ignoring Naomi's rude comment, the younger Tasker twin sat down across from the couple and began the tale, "So the story is called 'The Chainsaw Man'. There's a lot of different variations of it depending on where you go. Some people say he's a ghost messenger who sends e-mails to zoid pilots, asking them who's the strongest of all. If you say it's you, then he'll reply by saying he'll come for you in a week to chop your zoid and take all the parts for himself!"

"Oooh, sounds so scary. A mysterious zoid pilot is gonna come chop up my zoid. Oh the agony," Naomi chuckled, but paused when she felt Bit stiffen a little.

Chris however wasn't finished, "Well, that's one variation of it, but the one that the townsfolk told me was different…and a lot scarier."

Waiting for everyone's attention, the blue-clad Tasker sister continued, "It's an older version that starts off with a man that used a white Spinosapper to do lumberjack work in the forests outside of Boom Town. The wood he sold was used to make old school arenas for zoid battles long before the judge satellites became a thing. Anyway, because of the work he did the man was respected and loved a lot by the people in his town, especially his young daughter. But thanks to the nature of his work and the frequency of clients' requests, the woodsman didn't get to spend much time with his child."

Everyone's eyes were honed in on Chris as she became more somber while she went on, "One day, the daughter got really sick while her father was in the woods chopping away. The townsfolk tried their hardest to reach him, but because of the bad reception he didn't get the message in time. When he came to the hospital a few days later after finishing a really huge job…he saw his little girl lying on the bed in her favorite white dress and hat. Clutched in her hands was a giant ball that he got her for her last birthday. Seeing his daughter dead drove the man wild with grief, and he only got worse when he found out from the doctors that she had died from a rare strain of a local disease, and that the herbs that would've saved her were in the same woods he had gone to that morning."

"That's terrible," Kelly remarked, while Naomi had one hand over her heart, the other clutching Bit's own hand.

"Knowing that he could've saved her, but didn't because he chose his work over spending time with her was the last straw for the man. The next day he took his daughter's body, got into his zoid and went into the woods…never to be seen again. However, to this day it's said that his grief still haunts that forest. It manifests in the form of his ghost asking anyone in the region a simple question."

Chris paused to build up dramatic effect before finishing, "He asks them: what is it that is most precious to you?'"

Something pulsed in Bit's body when he heard those words, '….no way…it can't be…'

"If you don't answer by saying it's the people you love, he'll give you only one chance to change your mind. If you still refuse to give up your ambition or worldly desires for your personal bonds, he sends a challenge. For one week, he tortures you with all sorts of crazy tests, until the last day of the week…when he finally comes and makes you choose. Who you love, or what you love…which one will you save? And which one will you lose…to the laser-blades of the Chainsaw Man?"

The lounge was silent as Chris finished her tale, before erupting in applause from Kelly, Naomi, and surprisingly Jack, who had returned after plotting the course to the next town and putting the Globe on auto-drive, "Well…that was a surprise. Didn't think you picked up anything good from that last place, Chris."

The younger Tasker smiled at Jack from the praise, "Aw, it was just a little something I overheard at a bar one night," she then turned to the person she really wanted to hear from, "So what did you think, Bit?"

Chris' eyes suddenly went wide as she looked at her favorite boy-toy. Bit had gone pale white, and his face was frozen in a thousand yard stare. Worried for him, the brunette in blue gently touched him on the shoulder, "Bit? Are you ok? Was the story a bit much for you-KYA!"

Chris fell back on her butt as Bit suddenly jumped up from his seat, his body shaking as his eyes sprung back to life, but filled with fear. Naomi rose quickly and gently grabbed his arm in concern, "Bit, hon? What's got you so rattled-"

"I got that message last night…"

Once more the lounge went silent as a heavy air filled the room. Kelly was the first to break the silence, "Aw, stop tryin to scare us stud. You seriously think we're gonna believe you actually got the message from that wives' tale?"

Reaching into the pocket of his red chinos, Bit shakily brought out his data pad. Pulling up his email, he opened the message and held it out for the others to see, "…I'm not lying…that…that…whatever it is, sent me this last night!"

The rest of Team Atlas crowded around the mini tablet, and as they read the correspondence, they could slowly feel the temperature of the room grow colder with every word.

"I said…I said that my favorite thing was zoid battling…it's the only reason I even met all of you," Bit said in a cracking voice as he weakly sat back down, "It's what got me this far in life…brought me and Liger together," he looked at Naomi with fearful eyes, "…it's what brought me to you…"

Naomi hugged the frightened man to her chest, "It's alright hon…no one here's gonna blame you for respondin like that. Besides…this could all just be some stupid prank by a loser with nothin better to do than go around scarin folk to get his jollies."

"Naomi's got a point, Bit. I don't think this message is real at all," Jack put in his two cents, the older man crossing his arms in annoyance, "There's people out there that are just plain messed up. I say don't pay it any mind, kid."

"…But what about that challenge?" Bit asked, still feeling disturbed at the matter, "you all saw it just now…after I told him that I would never lose if my friends were on the line…he challenged me and said he would come in a week…and make me choose."

Kelly's hands balled up into tight fists, "If that asshole does come around looking for a fight in a week, then we'll just have to give him one, Team Atlas style!"

"Kelly's right. No sick bastard is gonna get the best of us!" Chris said proudly as she too rose to her feet with her fists up, "He'll learn the hard way that no one messes with our team and gets away with it!"

Seeing his friends stand strong despite the seemingly dark challenge helped soothe the fear racing through the veins of the blonde pilot, "…Yea…yea, you guys are right. This may all just be some stupid prank, and if it's not, we'll just kick ass like we always do."

"That's right hon," Naomi replied as she pulled away a little from her boyfriend, though kept her arms wrapped around him, "That prankster won't know what hit him if he comes to us lookin for trouble."

Bit sighed in relief, having broken himself from the grip of fright that had nearly consumed him, "Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better! Hey Jack, what's the next town we're hitting up?"

Everyone turned to the Lightning Saix pilot, who narrowed his eyes a bit before answering, "Well…I didn't want to say anything while you had your panic attack…but the nearest town to this valley is Boom Town. That's where I plotted the course."

"It's no problem," Bit replied, everyone letting out a sigh of relief when he didn't freak out, "we should get there by nightfall tomorrow. Perfect time to find a bar with some good food and forget this whole mess!"

Seeing their resident troublemaker back in high spirits, the team split off to do their duties: Jack to check on the auto-navigation, Chris to the garage to check on the status of all their zoids, and Kelly to the communications room to let the Zoids Battle Commission know about the challenges they were about to accept. Alone in the lounge, Bit and Naomi got more comfortable on the sofa. Noticing the red head still seemed a little tense, the blond pilot placed his arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her to his side, "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm ok hon, just really PISSED someone would play such a bad joke on you like that," Naomi replied, the fire in her eyes growing by the second, "I mean c'mon, who does that?! That bastard better not show up in a week if he knows what's good for him! No one messes with my man!"

She punctuated her statement by moving her arms to wrap around Bit's neck and locking her lips with his, the blonde returning her affections in full as he grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap. After a few moments of tender kissing, the two slowly separated, each with a grin on their face.

"You really know how to make a guy feel better, babe," Bit complimented, earning him a giggle and a shorter but still tender kiss from Naomi, "I can't wait to get to town tomorrow night and check out the bar scene."

"Just make sure you don't black out and forget to check up on my order for parts after," Naomi reminded, poking her boyfriend in the chest to emphasize, "I need some new stabilizers for the Gunsniper so I can do what I do best on the field."

Bit noted that she asked him in a much kinder tone than her normal, cocky, self-assured voice, and deep down he appreciated how thoughtful Naomi was being towards him, "I'll stop before I get that plastered. I promise."

"Good boy," Naomi smiled before giving Bit a sultry look and adjusted herself so she was straddling his lap, "So…we got quite a while before we get to Boom Town…and the others are off doing their own thing for now…" she slowly ground her crotch against his, smirking at the small moan he let off, "…any ideas how to pass the time, cowboy?"

The blonde pilot grinned wolfishly, "Oh you are bad…"

"Then punish me if you can, Bit Cloud."

That was all the invitation Bit needed as he leaned up and kissed her with far more passion than before, his hands running up and down her sides and caressing the silky-smooth skin of her legs, while Naomi ran her hands along his shoulders and pulled him even closer, squishing her busty chest to his. Bit could only thank his lucky stars as he gently moved Naomi down onto the sofa without leaving her soft, luscious lips, 'With you watching my back, nothing's gonna beat us. I dare that bastard to come at the end of the week and try to take you from me!'

Unbeknownst to the two lovebirds, outside of the lounge window where the valley walls were passing by in a blur, a small opening in the canyon wall briefly came into view. However, the random space wasn't what stuck out the most.

It was the little girl standing at the edge of the opening, seemingly out of place. Adorned in a white dress and hat, she watched the Globe go by with an eerie smile on her face as she bounced her favorite ball on the rocky ground. The Globe suddenly let off a large puff of exhaust that blew dust all over where the girl was standing, but when the dust cleared seconds later there was nothing indicating she had been there at all.

…nothing but the haunting sound of her laughter…

THE FIRST

Boom Town, City Streets

Saturday, 7 October

10:45 PM

Just as Bit had predicted, Team Atlas arrived at Boom Town just as the sun was setting the following evening, casting the bustling outpost town in a warm orange glow. Having arrived just as the town's annual Hallows Festival was kicking off, the up and coming team were quick to dust themselves off from the long journey and hit the nearest bar. From the moment they stepped inside the lively establishment, they were immediately caught up in the celebrative atmosphere, losing themselves to an endless stream of drinks, food, and cheer all around.

And yet, even with all the good vibes, one of Atlas' members still couldn't shake off his anxiety.

'Damn…and here I thought a good party would be enough to calm me down,' Bit thought to himself as he somberly nursed a mug of beer, chuckling mirthlessly at the sight of the Tasker sisters forcing Jack to chug from a keg on the bar, 'I just can't shake this creepy feeling…'

Naomi noticed her lover's lack of enthusiasm, and slightly elbowed him in the arm, "Hey lover, you ok?"

"Yea, I'm good babe," Bit lied through his teeth, not wanting to worry her any more than he already had, "I think I'm just a bit more tired than I thought."

"Hmm…that doesn't sound like you at all. You sure you're not still bugged out about that message?"

The Liger Zero pilot shook his head adamantly, "Nah, no way! That stuff's already cleared out of my head."

Finishing the rest of his beer in one go, the blonde hotshot placed his empty mug on the bar and began to take his leave, "I think I'll head over to that parts shop now and check on your order. Tell the others not to wait up on me, 'kay?"

"…right," Naomi replied halfheartedly as she watched her boyfriend leave, concern etched on her beautiful face, 'He's definitely still rattled…but maybe a walk down the road will do him some good…'

About fifteen minutes later, Bit found himself staring at the front door of Gabe's Zoid Parts, one of the premier places to get premium zoid components in all of Boom Town. The lobby and front desk area were still well lit, despite the late hour. As expected the only occupant was the store's owner, Gabe, who was sitting at the front desk with his feet propped up on the table while reading an old magazine.

Walking up to the older man, Bit lightly tapped on the countertop to get his attention, "Hey, how's it goin? I'm here to check up on an order, if it's not too late that is."

Raising his head from the magazine, Gabe shot the young man a lazy smile, "You have good timing, kid. I was just about to lock up for the night. What's the name on the order?"

"Naomi Flugel."

"Hmm….Naomi Flugel…" Gabe mused as he typed in the name into the computer in front of him. After several seconds, he frowned, "Darn. Sorry kid, but that order was backlogged, and won't be in for another few days."

"What?! Seriously?!" Bit's mouth hung open in shock. Gabe's Zoid Parts was one of the fastest delivering stores out there when it came to ordering parts, so this delay was a pretty big deal.

"It was supposed to come in yesterday, but thanks to that rogue storm a couple days ago all of our shipments have been delayed by almost a week."

The mention of the crazy storm sent a wave of frustration through the Atlas pilot, "Dammit! Mother nature strikes again I guess…"

"If you want, I can just take your contact info now, and if somehow the order comes in sooner I'll let you know asap."

Bit nodded, and after giving the old man his cell number, he waved and headed out of the store. Once back on the streets, the blonde sighed and started to make his way back to the bar.

"Figures it was the storm. Man, times like this I wish we had more stable weather around here," he grumbled as he passed by a bunch of closed up shops. The street lights above illuminated the streets in an eerie yellow. Suddenly, a cold shiver went up Bit's arms and he pulled his jacket around him tighter.

'Is it just me, or did someone turn down the heat?

When tugging his jacket didn't help warm him up, the blonde pilot quickened his pace as he hit the corner of the block, 'Man, this place is really giving me the creeps…maybe once I get back to the bar, I'll grab Naomi and we can head back to the Globe for some fun!'

Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.

A strange noise caused Bit to look to his side, where his eyes caught a peculiar sight: a young girl in an all-white sundress and a big hat, bouncing a ball in the middle of the road.

'What the hell? What's a kid doing out this late at night by herself?' he thought as he watched the young girl for a moment. It looked like she could be waiting for someone, and was playing with her ball to pass the time.

'Her parents must be nuts making her wait in the dark on her own. Maybe I should head over and check if she's ok?'

Making up his mind, Bit walked over to the young girl slowly in order not to scare her, "Hey kid, you ok? Kind of dangerous to be out this late…"

The little girl didn't reply directly, but still glanced up at him from under her hat, revealing haunting light blue eyes. Her stare made Bit pause, his senses alerting him that something was very off about this situation.

"Uh…hey, did you hear me?" he asked. Suddenly, the girl picked up her ball and passed it to the older man. It was a light throw, and Bit easily caught the white rubber ball. Confused, he looked at the ball, then back at the girl who was waiting expectantly, "Do you…wanna play catch or something?"

The girl nodded, and Bit let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, 'What the heck was I so worried about? It's a little girl that's probably bored waiting for her folks and wants to play catch! Man, I'm really losing it.'

Giving the girl his trademark grin Bit gently tossed the ball back, beginning an easygoing volley between the two. The girl's giggles sounded like unearthly chimes in the wind, though the zoid pilot thought they were kind of cute. So lost in his little game, Bit never noticed the large shadow that slowly loomed over him and his new "friend".

'As fun as this is, I should probably get back to Naomi and the others soon. Maybe I'll just call and tell em to meet me here-'

BRUM-BRUM-BRUM-BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The sound of chainsaws starting up made Bit's blood run cold, the pilot finally noticing that he and the girl were no longer alone. Looking up quickly, he spotted the silhouette of a giant zoid towering over them both, it's silhouette alight in the crimson glow of laser chainsaw blades.

"OH FUCK!" he screamed as the weapons rose into the sky. Seeing that the little girl was in the path of the blades, Bit dove for her as fast as he could, "GET DOWN!"

He felt the searing heat of the laser chainsaw blades as they crashed down behind him, taking off the bottom-most layer of his sneakers and melting the gravel and cement of the sidewalk into paste. Looking down where he expected to see the little girl on the floor, Bit was shocked to see nothing but pavement, a cloud of dust preventing him from seeing anything else.

"HEY! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! LITTLE GIRL!"

BRRRRRRRRRRR!

"SHIT!" he cursed again as he dodged another blow from the ghost zoid, the blades kicking up more dust, "Dammit, I don't see her anywhere! Maybe she ran away?"

Fear pulsing through his veins like an overflowing river, Bit barely made out something on the ground: the little girl's white ball. Feeling compelled by something beyond reason, he ran for the ball and grabbed it before running for his life down the road.

As he cleared the block and left his mysterious attacker in the wind, Bit could almost swear he heard the sound of giggling in the air…

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Sunday, 8 October

1:45 AM

"Are you serious right now?!" Jack's shout rang throughout the lounge, the normally calm and collected zoid pilot almost shaking with rage.

Barely half an hour ago, he and the rest of Team Atlas had returned from a night of debauchery and laughter, only to see Bit sitting on one of the couches in the lounge, his clothing a mess, his shoes all but ruined, and his hands shaking with a steaming cup of coffee clasped in his grip. At first, they thought he had gotten himself into something stupid again, Naomi even going so far as to needle him about it a bit.

Then he told them of the little girl, and the attack.

No one laughed after that.

"Hon," Naomi whispered fearfully before sitting down next to her boyfriend and hugging him with everything she had, "Are you sure you're ok? You don't need us to take you to the medics or anything?"

"Y-Yea…I'm good now. Thanks Naomi," Bit replied with a small smile, though even the warmth of his beautiful lover couldn't rid him of the fright that continued to run through his veins, "still…it's just crazy. That strange zoid…it was just like in the story…"

"To think someone would go that far," the normally demure Chris clenched her fists angrily, "they could've killed you!"

"Like hell are we gonna stand for this," Kelly said as she knelt in front of her shaken team mate, "Just say the word Bit, and we'll hunt that bastard down and gut him ourselves!"

Jack shook his head, "It's not that easy. Bit never got a good look at that zoid, so even if we did go huntin for payback, we'd have no idea where to start. Can't just go roughing up every zoid with laser chainsaw blades that we see, now can we?"

On this everyone agreed, though with a lot of reluctance. Jack stood from his spot on the wall and headed to the bridge, "I'll dial the cops and let them know about the attack. They might want a statement from you Bit, so keep your phone on you. We'll get to the bottom of this…count on it."

"Thanks Jack," Bit replied, before finishing the coffee and heading to the hangar section of the Globe, "I think I'll do some work on Liger for a bit to keep my nerves down."

"Uh-uh, you are going to bed mister," Naomi countered, pulling the blond's arm to her chest and dragging him off to their room, "You've been up since yesterday plus you were attacked and probably didn't even get checked out. I'm not lettin you outta that room for the rest of the day."

The Tasker sisters' eyes lit up, "Oh! Oh! Can we join you?! Bit might need some…'extra' attention after all…"

"YOU TWO STAY THE HELL OUT!"

THE SECOND

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Sunday, 8 October

8:50 AM

"Move….dammit move Gunsniper!"

Naomi hit the afterburners on her zoid as she urged it to go faster, panic in her eyes at the sight of the looming shadow gaining on her and her partner. Already her red Gunsniper was riddled with slash marks and deep cuts, some of which oozed black oil like blood. She had tried every attack she could, pulled every trick in her book, but the shadow zoid refused to go down.

"Damn!" she yelled as she juked right, avoiding another blood red energy chainsaw blade that tore apart the ground her zoid had just occupied. Hands shaking on the controls, she dodged each incoming swipe by a hair's breadth. Each slash seemed to come closer to carving her cockpit open, raising Naomi's heartbeat with each barely managed dodge.

"Why won't this guy take a damn hint!" she ranted, but venting did nothing to assuage her fear. Turning right, she guided her zoid down a narrow corridor in the valley, the normally breathtaking rock walls indistinguishable in the black of night. Taking a glance behind her, she felt a small bit of relief to see her stalker had disappeared.

"….sheesh…talk about a wild ride….looks like we lost him, partner."

BRUM-BRUM-BRUM-BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Naomi could only watch in horror as a dark red energy blade came in from an opening in the wall, slicing off her Gunsniper's legs at the knee joints. The pained cry of her beloved partner rang through the air as it tumbled to the ground. The redhaired pilot within was jostled around against the cold, unforgiving cockpit walls. A particularly vicious impact shattered her right forearm.

"AAAAAHHHHH! SONUVABITCH!"

Her Gunsniper moaned on the ground, sparks flying from where the blade ripped its legs off. Above it, the dark shadow loomed for a moment in its triumph. One loud, earthshaking stomp after another, it stalked over to its downed prey. Naomi looked on petrified as she tried, but failed to initiate the emergency cockpit release.

"C'mon partner…let me outta here so I can call for help! Don't you see that thing coming?!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as the haunting churn of the laser blades began again. For several agonizing minutes, Naomi's world became one of flashing lights and jarring rumbles as the blades came down on her Gunsniper again and again, ripping open the armor, gouging out huge chunks of circuitry, all while her zoid screamed in pain. Several consoles in the cockpit blew out, pelting the lovely zoid pilot with shards of metal and glass. Naomi could only cover her face with her arms as the torturous beat down continued.

And then…it stopped.

"…What the…is he gone?" she asked out loud, only hearing the moans of her partner in reply.

A red blade quickly tore through the cockpit, and the last thing Naomi saw was the spray of her blood as it coated the walls of her zoid red…

"…omi! Naomi! Wake up!"

Naomi lashed out with her fist, coming into contact with something soft. A cry of pain made her jump from her spot on the bed, her eyes frantically searching her surroundings, "What the hell?! Where am I?!"

"It's alright babe….man, I forgot you have a killer right hook," Bit flinched as he touched the now growing red bruise on his cheek, "You were having a bad dream. I tried to wake you up earlier, but you just kept screaming."

"…Bit?" the redhaired pilot questioned, as if seeing him for the first time, before finally getting a grip on her breathing. Moving back to the bed, she sat next to Bit and gently rubbed the spot she had hit, "Sorry about that lover…I was a little…caught off guard."

"No kiddin. What happened? You were screaming something about blades and red lights," the Liger Zero pilot asked, though once he recalled some of his girlfriend's delirious ramblings he felt a discomforting chill pass through him. Naomi shivered, "It…it felt so real Bit…I was in my Gunsniper and I was running from a zoid that I couldn't take down, no matter how many times I shot it."

Bit held his girlfriend by the waist and pulled her closer to provide more comfort, while doing his best to hide how anxious her description of the phantom zoid was making him, "So it was like…a zombie zoid or something?"

"Something like that. I didn't get a good look at it until the very end…but…" she hesitated, torn between lying to save Bit some grief, or being honest, "…don't get too freaked by this next part Bit, but the blade that took me out at the end…it was a red laser chainsaw blade."

The Liger Zero pilot felt as though ice water had been injected into his veins, "….are you serious….Naomi, if this is a joke-"

"It's NOT a joke! You really think I'd pull a prank on you like this?!" she screamed, breaking his hold and gripping his shoulders tightly in her hands. From that angle, Bit could see the fear in her eyes, mixed with a small bit of righteous anger. From her hard stare alone, he knew she was telling the truth.

"…I'm sorry babe…I'm just….dammit, I can't even get a hold of myself anymore!"

It was Naomi's turn now to bring her troubled boyfriend in for a hug, holding his head to her chest and running a hand through his blond locks, "It's alright…I'll admit this is gettin pretty freaky, even for me…but we'll find a way through this…"

After calming him down for a few more moments, the red-haired zoid pilot lay Bit down on the bed, "Let's try to get back to sleep. You still look like hell."

"Right…sleep…" Bit hesitated, but eventually succumbed to the fatigue he still felt, with Naomi falling back asleep soon after. Or rather, that was what they had planned.

Sadly, the plans of mice and men often go awry.

"So you found a way to upgrade the slipstream formation? Kinda hard to believe Jack," Kelly smirked at her team mate sitting across from her in the lounge, "You sure you managed to work out the bugs?"

"Heh...you don't have to believe me now. Just wait until our next battle in a couple days. We'll see who's laughing then," Jack replied as he took a sip of water from his glass. After seeing Naomi take Bit to bed hours before, the three had gone to sleep themselves before getting up again to figure out their plans for the next couple of days. It was then that Jack had brought up new formations, to which Kelly had some…minor disagreements.

"Well, so long as we don't get tagged before we can get to the right speed, this looks just fine," Chris complimented, "all we have to do now is run this by Bit and Naomi to get them onboard."

Kelly flinched, "You sure now's a good time to talk strategy with those two? Especially Bit…he was really unhinged before."

Jack and Chris' eyes fell to the table, though the blue-clad Tasker sister was not one to be kept down for long, "I'm sure they'll be fine. All Bit needs is some good sleep and tender lovin and he'll-"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The three pilots jumped to their feet and ran in the direction of the screams. Jack quickly outpaced the two in his frantic hurry, "C'mon, that sounded like it came from Bit and Naomi's room!"

Upon reaching the room, the male Lightning Saix pilot quickly opened the door, "What happened?! Are you two alright?!"

Chris and Kelly caught up soon after, and both were floored by what they saw, "Holy crap, what happened to you two?!"

Bit and Naomi were clutching each other like lifelines, both shivering as if they had been stuck in a snowstorm with no protective covering. The most unnerving thing about them was their eyes, wide and unfocused, but franticly looking around the room. The other three members of Team Atlas quickly made their way over to question and calm the two.

Despite their best efforts, Naomi and Bit kept mumbling nonsensically about red laser blades and the haunting sound of a little girl's laughter.

THE THIRD

Boom Town, Vendor's Square

Monday, 9 October

11:45 AM

"Are you absolutely sure it's ok to just leave those two at the Globe like this?" Chris questioned her sister and other team mate as the three made their way through the famous Vendor's Square in Boom Town. Yesterday, they had spent most of the afternoon and evening trying to calm their beleaguered team mates, with Bit going as far as to swear off sleep for the remainder of the waiting period. Chris and Kelly tried to get Naomi to talk sense into him, but her attempts seemed half-hearted due to her own escalating fears. Having had enough, Jack took the Tasker sisters with him to run errands, believing that it would be for the best at the moment.

"I've already told you, they're too spooked right now to listen to reason," Jack responded with a slight bit of annoyance in his voice, "We have to let them figure things out for now on their own. Once they do, everything should go back to normal…hopefully."

Chris looked a bit downtrodden at the somewhat cold reply, but perked up when Kelly patted her on the shoulder, "Don't worry sis. Those two are pretty tough. We just have to wait for this whole thing to blow over, and then they'll be good as new."

"Yea…guess you're right. I shouldn't be such a downer. I mean, we're in Vendor's Square in Boom Town! Let's go crazy!"

"I hear that!"

"H-Hey! Wait a minute!" Jack held a hand out in vain as the sisters ran off towards the multiple booths. The vendors in the square sold just about everything from clothes to personal weapons (if you had a license to own them of course). For the next couple hours, Jack was stuck playing a game of cat and mouse, where the mouse in this case was the green/blue blur that was the Tasker sisters as they zipped from place to place. Around half-past one he unfortunately lost sight of them, ending up leaning against a light post to catch his breath.

"….*pant*…..*pant*….damn those girls…figures I get stuck with the shopaholics," he wheezed before regaining his composure and forcing his breathing to slow down, "Now…where the hell did they get to?"

A buzz in his pocket caught his attention before he could start searching for his team mates. Pulling out his phone, the Lightning Saix pilot saw he had a new text message.

"Huh…guess they realized I wasn't following anymore," he mused before activating the screen and going to the message. However, it wasn't from Kelly or Chris.

Or anyone he knew for that matter.

"What the hell is this? Some kind of lame joke?" Jack asked no one as he read the message, "Why couldn't he choose?"

The message was just that plain bit of text, along with a photo of the Liger Zero standing proudly in the desert. It was a basic profile photo that circulated all over, so Jack thought nothing of it. As he was about to close his phone, another message came in from the same number. Opening it, it was the same line of text. However, the picture was different this time.

"Hold on…that's my Lightning Saix…?" Jack realized as he saw the image of his partner. Only thing was, it was a picture of it in the hangar of the Globe. He never took such a photo, nor did anyone on the team or any members of the press.

"Ok…this is getting weird…." the normally cool and composed pilot felt a bit of sweat go down his forehead as he contemplated calling the strange number.

Another message buzzed in.

"Why couldn't he choose…what the hell?!" This time the image was darker, but he could make out his Lightning Saix just fine. Only it was on the ground.

With two of its legs hacked off.

"What kind of bullshit is this?!" Jack growled, also noticing the shadow of a dinosaur-like zoid standing above his fallen partner. A dinosaur-like zoid with red chainsaw laser blades.

Another message buzzed in.

"FUCK OFF YOU BASTARD!" Jack screamed at the phone, almost too afraid to open the next message, but refusing to back down to what he still believed was a malicious prankster, "I swear to Zoid Eve I'm gonna-"

His heart stopped when he finally saw the contents of the last message, his phone slipping out of his hand and clattering on the ground. On the screen, the text was the same, but twisted and corrupted.

'W h #y c(#o$#u#$l)_(d# nW#'# t h#$3 Ch#$o #$os#3e?"

It wasn't the text that had petrified him though. The credit for that belonged to the image.

The image of Jack himself in the cockpit of the Lightning Saix, hacked in two along with the head of his partner. His blood coating the walls and panels like a fresh coat of paint.

His face stuck in an eternal expression of pain and fear, eyes lifelessly looking out at the screen.

Right at Jack himself.

"You gotta be kidding me….this can't be…."

"JACK!"

Jack's head darted back up and he could make out the panicked faces of Chris and Kelly, both of them clutching their phones, "Jack! Did you get those messages too?!"

Without a word, he held up his phone to them, and both girls nearly retched at the sight of the photo, "Let me guess…you got them as well?"

"We did…but it's probably for the best that you don't see em," Kelly said hauntingly, her eyes wide with fright, "Chris got a pretty bad one…like really bad…"

The younger Tasker sister was shaking like a leaf, tears streaming down her face. To see the normally more upbeat and cheery of the two twins breaking down sparked a cold rage in Jack Cisco like never before, "We are gonna find the asshole responsible for this….and we're gonna skin him alive."

"Wait a minute," Kelly interjected, "If we got these messages…then….oh Eve, you don't think…!"

"W-We have to get back to Bit and Naomi! Now!" Chris screamed before running off to their jeep, Jack and Kelly hot on her heels.

They only hoped they weren't too late.

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Monday, 9 October

3:30 PM

"Bit! Naomi!" Jack called out as he burst through the door to the transport. Seeing no sign of them in the lounge, he and the Tasker sisters rushed to the couple's bedroom. As they got to the door, the three realized they could hear nothing coming from the inside of the room.

Knocking on the door, Kelly called out to them, "Bit! Naomi! Are you two in there?!"

Again, they met only silence. Just as they were about to search the rest of the transporter for their missing friends, the door suddenly opened to reveal a tired and slightly irritated-looking Naomi.

"What the hell is with all this racket? Bit and I were actually getting some sleep…"

"Sorry about that Naomi, but I have to ask you something," Jack cut in, getting the redhead's attention, "Did you or Bit receive any…strange messages on your phones today?"

Naomi scrunched her face as she fought through the haze of sleep to access her memory, "Not that I can think of. We both turned our phones off so we could get some shuteye. Why, did someone try playing a prank on y'all or something?"

"I wish. Listen, what I'm about to show you…you absolutely cannot tell Bit. He's strung up about this enough as it is."

Hearing the edge in Jack's voice immediately woke Naomi up fully, and after nodding her agreement to him, she found his phone pushed into her hands, "Scroll down from there."

As she read on and saw the images, the Gunsniper pilot's eyes grew wider and her breathing began to pick up. At the last gruesome photo, she almost threw the phone back at its owner, "W-What the hell was that!?"

"I'm starting to think there's more to this curse story than we first thought," Jack admitted with a growl, "I still would've written it off as a stupid prank…but I wasn't the only one that got those messages."

Naomi turned to the unusually silent Taskers, "No way…you both did too?!"

Kelly looked at the ground, "Yea…four messages…one with a picture of the Liger Zero…and the rest…."

"…Let me see…"

Kelly held her phone out as well, and Naomi quickly browsed through them, turning her head away in disgust before looking at Chris, who seemed to have shrunken in on herself, "…Chris?"

"….I….I don't…."

Naomi gently grabbed the other girl's hand, "If it's really that bad, you don't have to show me."

Fighting off tears, Chris mustered up what courage she could and showed Naomi the messages on her phone. The red-haired pilot had to fight the urge to vomit at the images. While Jack and Kelly had been pretty bad, it seemed the demented prankster had gone a few steps further with Chris, "Oh my Eve…."

Naomi pulled Chris into a tight hug, the girl reciprocating almost immediately, "Whoever the fuck is doing this…we're gonna make em pay, you understand me?! What happened in that picture ain't happening to you so long as I'm breathing!"

"T-Thanks Naomi."

A chime from the bridge interrupted the tender moment, making everyone jump in place. Jack recomposed himself and walked down the hall, "Sounds like an incoming transmission. I'll take care of it, you three head to the lounge."

The three women nodded as Jack went to answer the call. Having calmed down a bit, Chris wiped her tears and shut off her phone, "Do you…do you think you and Bit got messages like that while you were asleep?"

"Only one way to find out," Naomi snuck back in the room, making sure to stay silent so as to not wake up her lover, and grabbed both of their phones. Once outside, she took the twins to the lounge and turned the phones on.

Sure enough, once they finished booting up, four messages notifications appeared on both. The Gunsniper pilot slowly opened each one, morbid curiosity pushing her to see just what the devious prankster had sent them.

It took her three seconds to see each message, and two more to delete them from hers and Bit's phones.

"You two…no matter what, Bit can't know of any of this," Naomi said in a low, almost threatening voice, "It was hard enough to get him to fall asleep earlier. If he knew all of you just got drawn into this, I don't know what he'd do. Personally, I'd rather not find out."

"Y-You're right," Kelly agreed, picking up her phone and deleting the threatening messages. Chris followed suit, seeming all too happy to delete the appalling photos, "But what happens if he messages us again?"

"Block the number. Make a filter. Just DON'T let Bit know you got these, you hear me?"

The sisters nodded, quickly blocking the number and creating filters just in case. Naomi did the same for both her and Bit, before sneaking back into the room and putting the phones on their dresser. As she came back, she saw Jack walking towards them in the lounge, "Naomi, I need you to wake Bit up. That call was from the Zoids Battle Commission. We have our next fight."

"Alright. We'll meet you in the lounge," she replied before going about to get her lover. Jack walked into the lounge and took a seat near the twins. The three waited for a few minutes before Naomi and a very haggard-looking Bit walked into the room and sat down. The blond let off a big yawn, "So…what's this about a…*yaaaaawwwwwwn*, a battle?"

"When I contacted the ZBC the other day after you got jumped by that zoid, they told me we had a challenge request on the table. A rare 5-on-5 match with one of the local teams here," Jack began, turning on the projector in the middle of the lounge to display a 3-D map of the area, "If we agree to the match, it'll be tomorrow afternoon."

The Lightning Saix pilot looked each of his team members in the eyes, "Now I know we've been going through some stuff lately, and not all of us might be up for this. So I'm leaving it to a vote. Personally, I think a good fight might be just what we need to shake some of this bad mojo off of us."

"…I'm in."

Everyone stared at Bit, who had some of his old fire back in his eyes. Naomi placed her hand on his arm, "You sure about this Bit? You haven't been gettin a lot of rest…the fatigue might mess up your pilotin abilities…"

"I'll be fine Naomi," the blond pilot reassured, "If there's anything that can help me get back to normal, it's zoid battles. Everything just falls into focus, and all my worries disappear when I'm piloting Liger. I'd say I need that now more than ever."

Naomi stared into the emerald irises of her boyfriend, seeing the smoldering flame within. Satisfied by what she saw, she nodded, "Alright then hun, if you say you can handle this then let's do it."

"I'll call up the ZBC, tellem we accept the challenge," Jack said as he made his way back to the bridge.

Chris made her way to the door leading to where the zoids were kept, "I'll run a full check on our units and make sure they're in tip-top shape for tomorrow!"

Seeing everyone so pumped for the upcoming battle put Naomi further at ease, though from the corner of her eye, she was able to see Bit clench his fist. Whether it was out of anticipation or something else was unknown.

'Really hope this is a good idea…and that we don't get any unexpected surprises…

THE FOURTH

Tourim Plains

Tuesday, 10 October

10:45 AM

"Wow, this place is more barren than I thought," Chris marveled as the team finally arrived at their designated battlefield. The area was a mix of tall rock formations and flat plains comprised of hardened clay dirt and stray tumbleweed caught in the rare desert breeze. The sun was still climbing to its apex position above, lighting up a brilliant blue sky.

"This just makes our jobs a heck of a lot easier," Kelly replied with a confident smirk on her face. The rest of the team seemed to share the upbeat mood despite the events of the past couple of days. Already dressed for battle, Bit turned to leave the bridge, "Hey, I'm gonna check up on the Liger one last time before we head out. See ya on the field!"

"One second sugah," Naomi stopped him for a moment, a look of curiosity coming onto the blond pilot's face at the interruption before he felt the silky smooth sensation of Naomi's lips on his cheek. She lingered for a few seconds before giving him her patented smirk, "Just wanted to give you a lil extra luck."

"Heh, now I'm DEFINITELY ready. See you outside babe."

The Liger Zero pilot then departed, and Naomi could literally feel the jealous stares of the Tasker sisters laser focused on her as she sat back down and checked up on her Gunsniper through her data pad.

'Grrrr….she thinks she's so cool….'

'Next time, WE'LL be the ones that give Bit a goodbye kiss!'

"Look alive people," Jack interrupted the girls' mental tirade as he slowed the transporter to a crawl, "the judge is about to come down any second. Get to your zoids and make your final checks for battle. This team is upper B-class like us, so they won't be pushovers."

Kelly waved her hand dismissively at the mercenary, "You worry too much, Jack. I don't see this fight going longer than twenty minutes tops. We have plenty of flat terrain around here and from the video files we saw on these guys their zoids won't be able to keep up with the Lightning Saix or Liger Zero Jaeger. "

"Kelly's right, I doubt these guys are gonna be all that challenging!" the blue-clad twin supported as she prepared to head to her beloved partner, "And twenty minutes sis? I give em ten!"

"Pride goeth before the fall," Naomi teased, earning her back the glares and growls from before. Smiling indifferently at the twins, she rose from her seat and brushed past them to the hangar, "Hope all that bravado doesn't get you taken out in the first few seconds. Bit would laugh his ass off at the both of you…as would I."

Jack rubbed his temples as he heard the Taskers curse out the ace sniper before heading to their own zoids, "I don't know how Bit deals with those three…he's got the patience of Zoid Eve for sure…"

Tourim Plains

Tuesday, 10 October

12:00 PM

"THE AREA WITHIN A 30-MILE RADIUS IS A DESIGNATED ZOID BATTLEFIELD. THIS ZONE IS NOW RESTRICTED. ONLY COMPETITORS AND PERSONEL HAVE AUTHORIZED ENTRY. DANGER! ALL OTHERS MUST LEAVE THE AREA AT ONCE! AREA SCANNED. BATTLEFIELD SET UP. THE ATLAS TEAM VS. THE FENRIR TEAM."

Looking across the field at his opponents for the day, Bit had to admit he was impressed, 'Wow! These guys have five Konig Wolves! Those are some of the rarest zoids around! This is definitely gonna be a great battle!'

"Stay sharp everyone," Jack warned over the anticipative growl of his beloved Lightning Saix, "Konig Wolves may not be able to outpace us, but they're still pretty agile and their close range weapons are nothin to sneeze at."

"Seems these guys knew of their inherent limitations," Kelly observed with a narrow gaze at their opponents, the five white and grey wolf zoids gleaming in the midday sun, "Two of them have mounted dual beam cannons on their backs. They won't be as mobile, but this'll give the enemy the ability to attack us from range."

Chris scoffed, "So what if they can attack from a distance? The Lightning Saix and Liger Zero Jaeger move way too fast for them to track us, and Naomi's a pro at stealth so they won't even be able to find her in those rock formations. These guys'll be just another notch on our belt by the day's end, trust me!"

"You said it Chris!" Bit cheered before switching to a private channel with his red-haired lover, "You all set up there Naomi?"

"Ready to go, hon," the sensuously smooth voice of Naomi replied as she observed the standoff from her perch above, the iconic red Gunsniper hidden in a small niche in the tall rocks, "Just waitin for the judge to give us the word."

"Awesome. Stay safe babe!"

"That goes double for you, Bit."

"BATTLE MODE 0982. READYYYYYYYY..."

The Atlas team tensed in anticipation as the judge raised its arms to commence the fight. A small bead of sweat ran down Bit's face as his hands tightened on the controls of his partner, "Let's do it Liger.'

"….FIGHT!"

With a mighty roar, the Liger Zero Jaeger dashed forward, followed closely by three black blurs. The Koenig Wolves with mounted laser cannons began firing a relentless stream of laser blasts, the rain of deadly superheated plasma just barely missing the four high-speed zoids as they dodged with the least amount of movement possible. Meanwhile, the remaining three wolfish zoids ran forward, strike laser claws gleaming in the mid-day sun as they prepared to attack their targets.

"Chris, Kelly, whadaya say we hit these guys with the slipstream maneuver?" Jack smirked as he moved his Lightning Saix into position. Getting a quick affirmation from the twins, he tensed in preparation as he watched the other two Lightning Saix move to their designated spot, one in front of him and one in the rear.

"Give em hell, Jack!" Bit cheered as he piloted the Jaeger straight towards the two Koenig Wolves with the cannons. Gunning the boosters to full power, the blond zoid pilot zoomed forward at blinding speed, leaving a faint trail of afterimages to distract the enemy artillery, "Hey babe, I think I have these guys' attention. Take em out while they're distracted would ya?"

Naomi chuckled as she prepared the long-range rifle in the tail of her Gunsniper, "Well aren't you sweet, settin em like that for me. I'll have to think of a good way to thank ya when this is all over, luvah."

"…lookin forward to it."

The red-haired sniper smirked to herself as she lined up her sights on the stationary Koenig Wolves, neither zoid aware of the impending threat, 'Well…time to say adios boys…'

*CLICK*

"…what the hell?" Naomi shot a confused look at her screens before pulling the trigger again.

*CLICK*

"Hey Naomi, you ready to fire yet or what?" Bit questioned as the two wolf zoids increased their rate of fire in their desperate attempt to stop the Jaeger from approaching, "These wolves are gettin awful close to hittin me over here!"

"I'm tryin babe, but the old girl is havin some unexpected problems," she replied as she ran a quick diagnostic on her zoid, "Somethin's not right here…"

As the results popped up on her main screen, the sniper's eyes were drawn to a red box highlighting a small section of the circuitry in the tail, "Wait a damn minute, there's a breach in the firing PIN?!"

"What was that, Naomi?" the Jaeger pilot asked just before being jarred by a glancing blow from one of the Koenig Wolf's cannons. Naomi panicked when she noticed the smoke coming from the blue zoid from her scope lens and kept pressing the trigger to no avail.

"Damn it! Bit get outta there! My rifle's malfunctioning, it won't fire!"

Jack smirked viciously as he and the Tasker twins completed their slipstream maneuver for the second time in the battle, the gale force winds blowing another of the attacking Koenig Wolves off its feet. The powerful looking wolf zoid roared helplessly as it tumbled in the air before crashing into a heap on the unforgiving ground, its pilot slamming his fists down in frustration as the alert screens read 'Command System Freeze'.

"And that makes two," the mercenary tallied up before turning his sights on the last remaining opponent, "Looks like you're out of partners now bud. Chris! Kelly! Let's mop this one up quick."

"Roger Jack!"

"You got it!"

The sisters re-entered their formation, lining up behind Jack's Lightning Saix as he lead the charge against the final of the three wolves that had run up to engage them. The last pilot seemed to panic, as he was now desperately pushing his zoid to flee as fast as possible from the incoming attack.

It wouldn't be fast enough.

"So much for the Fenrir team," Chris teased as she prepared to move her zoid to the side along with her sister to create the slingshot of air that would send Jack hurtling past the fleeing enemy and end their part in the match, "I wonder how I'll get Bit to reward me for thi-"

A sudden jolt to her side interrupted the blue-clad Tasker sister as her partner suddenly crashed into the ground, a large plume of sand spreading from the impact site.

"Chris! Are you ok? What just happened?" the alarmed voice of Kelly rang out over her radio system. The younger Tasker twin rubbed her head where she had banged it against the seat before looking up at her screens. There was an alert flashing about an issue with her zoid's front right leg, "I-I'm fine Kelly, but it looks like there's something wrong with one Saix' legs."

"An issue with your zoid's leg? It's been doing fine so far," Jack mused, concern written on his face at his partner's explanation, "Didn't you run a full diagnostic on the zoids last night? You should've noticed this back then."

The slightly injured sister pouted, "I DID run the scans Jack, and they all came up negative! I don't know what the heck happened!"

Kelly shook her head in disbelief, "Well whatever the case may be, it looks like you're out now sis. C'mon Jack, we can finish this guy ourse-"

A second crash echoed throughout the field as Kelly's Lightning Saix also took a nosedive into the ground, the previous momentum of the zoid dragging it along the dusty battlefield for several feet before coming to a stop. Silence reigned for a while over the radio before it was broken by the last standing mercenary, "Kelly! What just happened?!"

"I have no idea! I was fine a second ago and then next thing I know my Lightning just hit the floor!" Kelly screamed as she jolted her controls to get her zoid back on its feet. When another alert screen popped up, the shocked zoid pilot lost it, "WHAT THE HELL?! MY LEG'S DAMAGED TOO?"

"What the hell is going on here?" Jack asked himself as he listened to the sisters argue over the comms. Up ahead, the last Koenig Wolf had stopped, noticing the sudden loss of two of its pursuers. Seemingly getting a second wind, the grey wolf zoid roared before charging at Jack, determined to make a comeback. Seeing this final charge, the mercenary put the issue of his partners to the back of his mind and sprinted ahead, "Looks like someone's had a change of heart now that there's just one of us left. Well too bad, you're still going down!"

Within seconds, the two zoids were almost at each other's throats. Just before he could move to attack, however, Jack's Lightning Saix faltered before one of its front legs gave out. Realizing he had just moments to act, the mercenary moved his laser canons to point at the chest of the Koenig Wolf and fired, sending two rounds of emerald green plasma to melt through the armor and innards of the silver wolf zoid before coming back out of its back. With a final pained whimper, the last Koenig Wolf and Lightning Saix collapsed into the ground, both displaying the accursed phrase 'Command System Freeze' on the screens of their pilots.

"Jack! Jack, are you ok?! Respond Jack!" Kelly called out desperately to her friend, seeing the horrible angle the Lightning Saix had fallen in. The cockpit definitely had to have been jarred something fierce in that tumble, "Chris, I can't get a hold of Jack!"

"…Quit your yappin, I'm ok," the mercenary grumbled, wiping away at the small trickle of blood running down his forehead, courtesy of a wound obtained when his head smacked onto the screen during the tumble, "I'm out of the battle, but I managed to take out the last of our opponents. The rest is up to Bit and Naomi now."

Taking a look at the situation coming through on the camera link between their zoids, however, Jack frowned, "…and it doesn't look like things are going too well over there either…"

Bit glared at the two Koenig Wolves who had their cannons sighted on him, sweat running down his brow as he tightened his fists around the control sticks of the Jaeger in barely constrained frustration. The main reason for his anger being the smoke coming from the base of the cliff where Naomi had been camped out.

Smoke that billowed from the damaged and unresponsive body of a red Gunsniper zoid.

"That was a lucky shot you're gonna regret pal," the blond pilot growled as he prepared himself to go on the assault. A slight change in the angle of the sun had given away the fiery sharpshooter's position to one of the cannon-mounted Koenig Wolves. Using its binocular scope, the wolf zoid nailed the Gunsniper with two salvos of its laser cannons, weakening the rocks underneath its feet and sending Naomi tumbling helplessly to the ground.

The screech of the 'Command System Freeze' message still rang in Bit's ears…as well as the moans of pain from his lover.

Roaring in fury, Bit gunned the Jaeger's boosters to maximum, the blue zoid zooming towards the last two standing opponents in a blur. The Koenig Wolves fired salvo after salvo of green death, but each shot missed the agile zoid by a hair as it jinked from side to side. Golden light began to emanate from its feet as Bit prepared his tried and true attack, "Let's finish em Liger! STRIKE LASER CLAW!"

Liger Zero Jaeger roared mightily as it jumped into the air and came down on the closest Koenig Wolf, its golden claw slicing off a portion of the cannon as well as one of its legs, sending the silver zoid crashing to the ground with a pained cry. Turning to the final zoid, Bit was just in time to see it jettison the dual laser cannon on its back before its own claws turned gold, "So you want a showdown huh? Fine, I'll send ya out in style!"

Both zoids ran towards each other in a last, desperate gamble, the Jaeger pushing its boosters beyond the breaking point while the Koenig Wolf put every last bit of its energy that wasn't being fed to its claws into its own propulsion system. Seconds slowed down to a crawl as the zoids closed in on one another and jumped.

One hundred feet.

Fifty feet.

Ten feet.

A flash of light shone momentarily as the zoids slashed at each other. The tip of one of the Jaeger's blue wings flew off, whereas the front left leg of the Koenig Wolf was torn from its body, with three nasty gashes appearing on its stomach. The Liger Zero Jaeger landed with a slight hobble and heard but couldn't see its opponent smash into the ground in a boneless heap, the sheer strength of the impact knocking the pilot out cold as the command system inevitably froze up.

"THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE BATTLE IS OVER! THE WINNER IS…THE ATLAS TEAM!"

Bit paid no mind to the declaration of the judge as he ran back over to Naomi's smoking zoid, "Naomi! Hold on, I'll get you outta there!"

Jumping from the cockpit of the Liger, the frantic blond pilot ran over to the canopy of the Gunsniper and pressed the emergency release switch. The hatch creaked open enough for Bit to shove his hands into the gap and lift, revealing an unconscious but mostly unharmed Naomi.

Carefully unbuckling her from the seat, Bit cradled his lover in his arms and gently rocked her, "C'mon, wake up Naomi. Please…please be ok…"

"….mmm….is…that you…Bit…." the gorgeous pilot groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, wincing slightly at the light before her boyfriend's face moved into its path, shielding her vision from the painful glare of the sun, "…w-what happened…"

"You took a nasty fall when one of those wolves shot you off the cliff," Bit explained as he helped Naomi into a more upright position, "Don't worry, I was able to take care of em and win the battle, but it looks like Jack and the Taskers went down as well. It was a close thing."

Nodding at the news, Naomi reached up and gently caressed Bit's cheek, "Guess this means you're the hero of the day luvah…now c'mere..."

The blond had no objections as the red-haired beauty pulled his head down into a passionate lip lock. They would remain that way long after the judge satellite returned to space.

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Tuesday, 10 October

8:30 PM

"Alright, what the hell happened out there," Jack demanded as the victorious team stood in the cavernous zoid hangar of their transport. Everyone had taken a moment to breathe and recuperate after their near disaster of a battle, however this had just given the mercenary of the team more time to simmer over what should have been an easy win.

"I'm telling you Jack, I ran the diagnostics on every zoid three times just to be sure nothing was wrong," Chris defended, feeling anxious under the sharp stares of her team mates, "Nothing came up at all! I even did a spot check! And I NEVER do spot checks, but with everything that's been going on I didn't leave anything to chance!"

Naomi placed a reassuring hand on the upset girl's shoulder, "Hey, take it easy. No one's blamin you for what happened out there. How about we just scan the zoids now and figure out what went wrong, huh?"

Seeing everyone nod, the buxom sniper activated the scanner terminal and within moments several results began to pop up on the main display. Stepping forward to get a better look, Bit narrowed his eyes at the data, "Hmm…from the looks of it here, there's a sever in the firing pin of the Gunsniper, and all three Lightning Saix have fissures in one of their front legs…I donno how the machine could miss all this the first time around."

Walking up to her precious partner, Kelly scoped out the left front leg, taking only a few moments before locating the problem, "Hey, I think I found the problem. We might need a new machine if it missed something this big…"

The rest of the team walked over to where the green-clad zoid pilot stood and were shocked when they saw the large lacerations on the lower section of the leg. Jack whistled, "That's a pretty big wound…several of the main circuits have been cut clean through. I'm surprised you were even able to deploy, let alone last as long as you did."

"Uh…guys…you might wanna see this," the tremor in Chris' voice put the others on alert as they walked to her Lightning Saix. There, in the exact same spot as Kelly's zoid, was a series of lacerations. Naomi cursed while Bit and Jack narrowed their eyes as a feeling of dread began to creep up within. The blond pilot turned to his team mate, face laden with concern, "Jack…you might wanna check your zoid."

"Way ahead of you," the mercenary jogged over to his trusted partner, and cursed loudly when he found exactly what he was afraid to discover, "Shit! My leg too! What the hell is going on?!"

Naomi examined the slices in Chris' zoid and frowned, "From the look of it, these cuts were made with a laser tool…see how the steel around them is melted?" she pointed at the edges of the smooth looking slashes, "Someone did this with a laser cutter…a fine one too."

"But we never got any alerts that anyone was here last night," Chris pointed out, going over to the security terminal and bringing up the camera footage of the previous night, "No one's showing up on the cameras either, even on infrared."

Jack took a closer look at the series of cuts on his zoid when he noticed something odd, "Hold on…these cuts are…I think they're spelling something out," that admission stopped everyone cold, "it says…'WHY'…"

Taking a closer look at her wounded partner, Kelly felt the beginnings of alarm seeping through her body, "…mine spell something out too…'DIDN'T'."

Bit ran over to Chris, who by this time was practically shivering as she too read what the slashes on her zoid spelled out, "…Y-Y-YOU…"

"…No way…there's no frickin way…"

The blond pilot was thrown for another loop when Naomi shouted, her eyes wide with fear as she examined the slices that had been made to the tail of her Gunsniper, one of the cuts having seared right through the firing pin of the integrated sniper rifle. She slowly turned to bit, and the Liger pilot's heart sank to his stomach as she whispered the last word, "….'CHOOSE'…"

The lights suddenly went out in the hangar, casting the team in pitch black darkness. The light of the diagnostic machine's screen then came on brighter than normal displaying the very phrase they had all spoken, the letters appearing in red, smeared and blotchy, as if they had been written in blood.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU CHOOSE, BIT?"

Chris screamed as she dropped to her knees, her mind immediately going to the violent images she had received the previous day, her sister running to her to try and console her even when she too was panicking. Jack shouted out denials left and right, his beleaguered mind doing its best to rationalize what he knew deep down could not be made sense of. Tears began to run down Naomi's eyes as she turned to her blond lover, "…Bit? Are you-BIT?! BIT!"

Bit was unable to answer, having already crashed onto the ground in a dead faint.

"ALRIGHT, FUCK THIS! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Jack shouted, getting Kelly and Naomi's attention while Chris continued to lose herself to her fright, "This has gone on too damn long! I hate to say this, but I think it's time we call in for backup."

Stomping out of the hangar and fueled by rage, the mercenary barely heard Kelly ask, "Who could you possibly call to help us with this?!"

Jack paused at the door long enough to reply quickly before disappearing to the cockpit, "Who do you think? I'm calling the Blitz Team."

THE FIFTH

Boom Town Outskirts, Zoid Transporter "The Globe"

Wednesday, 11 October

2:30 PM

"Whoa, what the hell happened to you guys?" the concerned voice of Jamie Hemeros echoed in the main lounge as he and Leon walked in through the entrance, the youngest of the zoid pilots grimacing at how exhausted Team Atlas appeared. Bit was shakily holding a cup of coffee in his hands, bloodshot eyes staring almost fearfully into the black beverage. Next to him on one side of the couch, Naomi held onto his arm gingerly as she tried to keep her boyfriend calm. Meanwhile, Chris had laid her head on Bit's shoulder on his other side, pressing her body to him as though he were her lifeline while Kelly held her hand.

It was a testament to how frazzled Naomi was that she hadn't bothered screaming at the twins to get off her boyfriend even once.

"We came as soon as we got your message Jack," Leon said as he shook the mercenary's hand, taking note of the slight apprehension in Jack's eyes, "So it's true then? Some kind of apparition has really been harassing you guys for the past few days?"

"I don't know WHAT the damn thing is, either a ghost or someone who's real good at pranking people for kicks," Jack grumbled before turning to his team, "but whatever's doing this nearly cost us an easy match yesterday, and those scratches and that blackout in the hangar were enough to spook those three somethin fierce. Bit hasn't even slept since he woke up from that faint…come to think of it he's barely slept at all since two days ago."

The elder Toros frowned upon hearing that, "That can't be good. If Bit's gone almost 72 hours without consistent sleep, it could start to affect him adversely soon."

"He's tried to," the two pilots turned to Naomi, her eyes still gazing sorrowfully at her petrified boyfriend, "He'll pass out for a few minutes, only to wake up screaming from the nightmares. It's like whatever this is just refuses to let him find peace."

"Maybe we should go look into it then?" Jamie offered, and all capable eyes turned to the Pteras pilot, "How about a few of us go into town and see what we can dig up on this legend? I figure once we get a better idea of what we're dealing with, it should make it easier to find a way to stop all this."

Jack nodded, "Sounds like the best plan we've got. That myth is supposed to be based on a true story, so a couple of us can go check out the archives in the city and try to scrounge up any news articles or reports dating back to that incident."

"But who's gonna watch Bit and Chris?" the buxom sniper pilot asked, "We can't just leave those two like this."

"I'll watch them," Naomi turned to Kelly, the older twin fixing her with a determined gaze, "You're one of the best when it comes to getting info out of people. You go with Jack, Leon, and Jamie, and I'll keep an eye on these two. I won't let anything happen to them."

Naomi hesitated, feeling very apprehensive about leaving her boyfriend behind, though not for the usual reasons. It was clear that whatever was going on supplanted even the romantic rivalry between the alluring sniper and the gorgeous twins. Finally, the red-head relented, "Alright…in that case, I'll go with Jamie to the town hall archives and see what we can dig up."

"Then I'll go with Leon and ask around town about any punks that could be harassing people using that story," Jack replied, glancing over at the Blitz team pilot, "That sound ok to you?"

"It's fine with me Jack," Leon answered, his eyes sharp as he mentally prepared himself for their new mission, "We'll get to the bottom of this quickly."

Squeezing one of Bit's hands, Naomi said softly, "Bit…hon…we're gonna head into town and try to get to the bottom of this mess. Kelly's stayin here to keep an eye on you and Chris ok? I promise I'll be back before you know it."

The nearly catatonic blond gave a barely noticeable nod and whispered, "….just be careful Naomi."

"You got it," with a final kiss to her lover's cheek, Naomi rose from her seat and joined the three standing pilots, "Let's hurry. I don't want to see those two like this any longer than I have to."

The quartet left with haste, leaving Kelly to sit at Bit's vacated side and try to calm him. Rubbing his back gently, the older Tasker twin gazed at her crush, "Don't you worry Bit…they're gonna solve this whole thing and we'll be kicking the ass of whoever's been scaring us before you know it."

Bit's only reply was silence as he continued to gaze into the fast cooling coffee in his hands.

Boom Town, Vendor's Square

Wednesday, 11 October

4:20 PM

"Sorry I can't help you boys bettah, but ain't no gangs round here been botherin people usin that old legend as far as I know."

Jack bit down a frustrated sigh and nodded, "Thanks old man, appreciate your time."

The old vendor looked apologetically at the mercenary and his partner for the day, "If anythin, ye might want to try askin that lovely young gal down at the zoid garage. She see's way more people comin in and out than I do. Might've heard somethin that can point ye in the right direction."

Getting the directions from the wizened shop owner, Jack and Leon got back in their jeep and drove towards the mechanic's garage. Though his eyes were on the road, the mercenary's mind was adrift as he contemplated his team's situation.

"Looks like that mechanic is our last hope," Leon spoke up after a few moments of silence, "We've asked just about every vendor here for information. I find it hard to believe no one knows a thing."

"People 'round here are just plain civilians, and superstitious ones at that," Jack replied as he turned down another road, "my guess is it could be the gangs in the area are keepin their mouths shut by intimidating them…or maybe they just really don't want to call the wrath of this so-called 'ghost' down on them."

Leon frowned at the theory, but had to admit that it had credibility, "Let's hope it's just the superstition then."

The two pilots pulled up to the garage soon a few minutes later. It was a large, dull gray building in the shape of a rectangle, with several large doors in front that led to repair bays for zoids ranging from cannon tortoises to gojulas. However, as they disembarked from their jeep, Leon and Jack took notice of a rather strange peculiarity.

"…Leon…this place seems pretty dead for a garage in the middle of the afternoon, don't you think?"

The Blitz team pilot tensed at the realization before walking to the main entrance. Inside the repair complex was a similar story: the aisles were stocked and the lights were on, but there seemed to be no one around at all. Making their way to the front, the two men reached the register and rang on the bell.

"Hello? Is anyone there? We'd just like to ask a couple of questions."

After a lengthy pause in which they began to think their efforts were for naught, a young woman's voice rang out, "One second!"

Leon and Jack waited patiently as a lady with caramel colored skin and long-raven hair walked out of the back area. She appeared to be close to their age, with friendly but sharp brown eyes, and a lithe figure covered by a burnt orange colored bodysuit that was unzipped to her navel, revealing a generous amount of cleavage. Seeing the two zoid pilots standing there, the woman gave them a welcoming smile, "Sorry for the wait, I was in back tinkerin with a few parts and wasn't expectin customers today. Name's Kara, how can I help ya?"

Leon stepped forward and introduced himself, "Good afternoon. My name's Leon Toros, and this here's Jack Sisco. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions regarding a legend that seems to be rather infamous around this area."

Kara's eyes opened in slight surprise, "Oh, ya mean the one bout that ghost and the Spinosapper that pops up with it?"

"That's the one," Jack confirmed as he turned to face the mechanic, "We were wonderin if any gangs around here might be using that tale to harass people in the area…like visiting zoid pilots for example?"

The beautiful mechanic's face scrunched in thought for a few moments, crossing her arms under her chest, "Hmmm…well, there was a gang that tried that a couple years back…but…"

Leon noticed that Kara began to look very uncomfortable, "Kara, is this gang still making trouble around here?"

"…We don't really like to talk about it…matter of fact it's the reason this place is so empty right now," she continued haltingly. At this point her discomfort seemed to rise, the only sign being her hand clenching her other arm, "it always gets like this around this time o' year…"

Jack's eyes narrowed at the young woman's admission, "Kara…what happened to the gang?"

"…the woodsman…the woodsman killed them all."

Boom Town, Town Hall Archives

Wednesday, 11 October

4:30 PM

"Hey Naomi, have you had any luck yet?" Jamie called out from the second floor of the archives hall, the table in front of him cluttered with old files and newspaper clippings, "It's starting to look like I hit another dead end over here."

From her place at one of the computer terminals, fingers dancing over the keyboard as she looked feverishly for any relevant information, the fiery Gunsniper pilot sighed, "Not yet, Jamie. All I found so far was a bunch of garbage articles from tabloids and the like. I should've figured a place like this wouldn't have much on a myth."

The two had been searching for anything related to the legend for several hours now, taking breaks only to use the bathroom and grab a quick bite from the nearby deli. Naomi backed away from the computer, taking a second to rub the fatigue out of her eyes. She glanced back up at the younger zoid pilot, who was already back at work reading several old magazine issues regarding the paranormal in the area, "Hey kiddo, I'm gonna take a quick walk and give my eyes a break. I'll be back in ten."

Getting a nod from the dark-haired Pteras pilot, the red-headed bombshell rose from her seat and stretched a bit before going for a stroll through the rows and rows of records that filled the entire first floor. The receptionist in the lobby had been more than happy to give her and Jamie free reign, as no one seemed to have any business at the Town Hall that day.

'Now that I think about it, this whole place has been deserted all day…I wonder what's goin on…'

As she turned another corner, Naomi's eyes were suddenly drawn to a small section of records that seemed to be separated from the rest of the shelves she had walked past. The area by the book case was dark, the lights over it having blown out some time ago, and the boxes and files stored on it looked to be rather old. Curious, the lovely zoid pilot walked over and pulled a folder at random down to take a better look.

"Hmm…what do we have here…" she questioned as she perused the old documents within. Most of them were census records of Boom Town, along with some declassified incident reports from the police. As she read through one of the reports, however, Naomi felt a sense of deja vu wash over her as she spotted something familiar.

"Hold on…a zoid battle that ended in a draw several years ago because of…undetected damage inflicted prior to the fight? Someone else ran into the same issue that we did yesterday?"

Continue to flip through the files, the red-headed pilot's eyes widened as report after report detailed the same incident happening in the exact same fashion as it had for Atlas. The next report really shook the lovely pilot to the core: a gang that had tried to take advantage of the 'Chainsaw Man' myth was literally hacked to pieces on the alleged anniversary of the daughter's death. She nearly lost her lunch when she looked at the crime scene photos, "Damn…talk about a mess…"

It was as she was drawing closer to the end of the file that an old, worn envelop suddenly fell to the ground from the back of the folder. Eyebrow raised in surprise, Naomi bent down and picked up the aged envelop and read the front, "Hmm…this looks like an old address…I wonder…"

"Naomi! Where are you?! I think I found something!"

Placing the antiquated parchment carefully on top of the other documents she had found, she closed the file and tucked it underneath her arm before walking quickly back to where she had left the younger zoid pilot. Upon reaching him, she found Jamie isolating a particular news article that seemed to date back much further than the others around it, "Whatcha find, kid?"

"I was going through some of these older news reports on strange attacks on people in the area, and then out of nowhere I found this!" Jamie took the article on the table and handed it to Naomi, "It talks about how most of these attacks happened within a close radius of this forest to the north of Boom Town!"

Examining the article further, Naomi noticed that indeed most of those attacks happened within close proximity of the heavily wooded area known as Spectral Forest. Putting the article back down, she brought out the folder she had found with the incident reports, "Looks like we both hit the jackpot then Jamie. I found some incident reports regardin' zoid battles where teams went into battle with damage they were in the dark about until it was too late just like we did…."

The younger pilot took a glimpse of the reports, before turning green after an accidental glimpse of the crime scene images, "I…don't think I should've looked at that…I think I'm gonna be sick…"

"It also says for each incident that prior to those battles, one of the pilots on those teams received a funny message, followed by several unexplainable incidents," Naomi had to fight down the horror that was beginning to build at the presented proof, "….this…this curse is real…and it's been goin on for a really long time…"

Both pilots took a minute to recompose themselves before packing up what they'd found and heading out. As they passed through the lobby, they waved at the old attendant who was busy organizing some of his files. Just before heading out the door, Naomi walked up to the attendant's desk, the man then looking up and greeting her with another smile, "Yes Miss? Is there anything else you needed help with?"

"No, you've been a sweetheart already. I was just curious as to why no one's been around?" she asked, noticing the man's countenance shift from friendly to somewhat apprehensive, "Is there a holiday at this time of year that keeps people in?"

The old man shook his head and sighed, "No I'm afraid not. You are of course familiar with the curse of the Chainsaw Man, correct?"

The zoid pilots froze momentarily, which answered the attendant's question well enough, "I figured as much, considering your research. It's to our misfortune that incidents such as those terrible tragedies in the past tend to occur more frequently at this time of year. It is believed this was around the exact time that the woodsman's daughter passed away."

"That explains a lot," Jamie chimed in, getting the older red-head's attention, "if the anniversary of the daughter's death is around the corner, then people must be way too scared to come out and risk getting hurt by the ghost. No wonder it's been so empty around town…"

"Thanks for the help sir, you take care," Naomi gave the old man one last wave before walking through the door with Jamie right behind her, "Let's head back to the Globe. I think we just might be able to solve all this."

"I hope so…" Jamie glanced around apprehensively at the quiet, deserted streets around them, "This place is starting to give me the creeps."

Boom Town Outskirts, Zoid Transporter "The Globe"

Wednesday, 11 October

9:00 PM

"So you were able to find some more info on that curse over at the archives…guess this just confirms this is all real huh?"

Naomi nodded from her seat on the couch. She and Jamie had returned moments ago, surprisingly at the same time Jack and Leon came back from their visit at the mechanic's. Convening in the lounge room, the four pilots quickly began to update each other on their discoveries. Hearing that there were actual records detailing previous attacks and harassment of zoid pilots caused the mercenary of Atlas to swear under his breath, "Great, just what we needed."

"It's not the best news we could get, but at least we have a start as to how to end this," the red-haired sniper continued as she opened the folder and removed the old envelop. Carefully removing its contents, she placed them on the table for the others to see, "I found this old envelop in a deserted part of the archives. Looks like it's a letter of some kind, but the address is strange."

"Let me take a look," Leon requested, gently taking the letter into his hands and reading what little he could, the text being long past illegible, "…from what I can tell, this is an order of a sort…for lumber. Lots of lumber."

Jack huffed at the other pilot's deduction, "Well we know the guy was a woodsman, so this just means we're goin in the right direction, doesn't it?"

"According to the news articles and the police reports Naomi found, most of the attacks happened right at the border of Spectral Forest," Jamie said as he brought up the virtual map of Boom Town and its surroundings, "If we follow that address on the envelop, I'm willing to bet it'll take us right into the heart of the problem."

"Then that's where we'll head tomorrow," Naomi decided, seeing Jack nod his assent before she turned to the Blitz team pilots, "I can't thank you two enough for all your help, but it looks like this whole thing is gonna get dangerous. If y'all wanna head back…"

Leon shook his head, "While you may be our rivals, you're our friends first. If you think this could get dangerous, then we'll give you whatever help we can."

"I'll contact Doc and tell him we won't be back for another couple of days," Jamie offered before getting on the comms system and preparing a message, "We don't have any upcoming battles, and in the event we do, Brad and Leena can handle it."

"I really gotta find a way to pay y'all back for this…for sure," Naomi thanked with a nigh-unnoticeable tremble in her voice, "I'll go check on the others, gimme a couple minutes."

Getting a grunt of acknowledgement from Jack and a nod from the other two zoid pilots, Naomi walked into the back where the bedrooms were located. Seeing the door to the Tasker Twins' room slightly ajar, the Gunsniper pilot looked inside and saw the two fast asleep, Chris holding her sister tightly in her slumber. Taking care to close the door gently she then went to hers and Bit's bedroom. Inside was a sight she was growing used to, but hoped would no longer be the case for long.

"You're still up, hon?" she whispered as she sat next to the barely functional, yet awake blond pilot. Bit's bloodshot eyes glanced over at her and he smiled, "Naomi…didn't hear you get back…how'd it go at the archives?"

"We found a lead that we're gonna look into tomorrow," she answered, taking one of his hands into hers and laying her head on his shoulder, "We're gonna beat this soon…I promise."

The exhausted blond placed a slow, gentle kiss on the top of his girlfriend's head, "I hope so babe…I really hope so…"

THE SIXTH

Spectral Forest Outskirts

Thursday, 12 October

8:00 AM

Spectral Forest was a bit of an anomaly when considering its surrounding environment. Large, leafy desert willows and sumac trees covered a several hundred square mile expanse, the branches so high and clustered that the canopy actually managed to blot out most of the sun. This made for very low light on the ground and exceedingly poor visibility. Keeping this in mind, the four zoid pilots elected to use only two zoids, with Jack transporting Naomi in his Lightning Saix while Leon and Jamie rode in the former's Shield Liger.

"Damn, even with the spotlights at max I can barely see a thing out there," Jack cursed as he checked his zoid's camera system and tried to increase his line of sight, "cameras aren't picking much up either."

"I'm kinda surprised we haven't run into any lil critters runnin around," Naomi observed with a narrowed stare outside at the branches, "Nothin's been picked up with the radar…it's just us four here in this forest."

The others shared in her discomfort, with Jamie casting a wary look around at their surroundings. It had been almost an hour since they entered under the thick canopy, and in all that time not a single animal, large or small, had been seen.

It was enough to unnerve even the bravest of people.

"Hey, I'm picking something up on the scanner," Leon called out over the radio, "some kind of structure about five clicks northeast. Think it might be worth checking out Naomi?"

"We've come this far," she replied as she turned to Jack. Seeing him nod, the Gunsniper pilot made her decision, "let's see what this forest tried tah hide from us."

It was another hour of slogging through the dense foliage before the two zoids came upon the strange structure: a decrepit looking log cabin, with snaking vines overtaking most of the house. The windows had long been broken, small jagged shards of glass being all that remained. The door was rotted, but somehow still standing in place, and half of the chimney had collapsed. The sinister aura around the cabin was palpable, as if the very site itself was alive and brimming with malice.

"A-A-Are we sure we wanna do this?" Jamie asked with no small amount of trepidation in his voice while he observed the haunted-looking former home, "maybe we should bring the others? Like the rest of the Blitz!"

"Can't blame ya for bein scared kid," Jack chuckled mirthlessly before maneuvering his Lightning Saix to let him and Naomi out, "but your team's a long way from here, and I'm not lettin Bit or the twins anywhere near this place in the state they're in. We're on our own."

"He's got a point," Leon agreed, also lowering the cockpit to the ground to disembark. Opening a panel in the side of the cockpit, the elder Toros pulled out a small survival kit, which included much to Jamie's shock a pistol with several magazines of ammo, "Don't worry. We'll be ready for whatever's out there."

As they touched the ground and approached the cabin, the Blitz team pilots noticed that Jack and Naomi had the same idea as Leon, the mercenary sporting a pistol of his own while Naomi had a bowie knife in a reverse grip in her hand. Moving together as one, the group slowly approached the doorway and pressed against the walls on either side of the dilapidated entrance. Naomi lifted three fingers on her free hand and counted down before Jack and Leon kicked the door open and scanned the rooms with their guns primed to fire.

"Follow my lead," Jack whispered, and with a quick nod from Leon the two armed pilots entered and scoped out the room. The interior of the cabin was simple, and just as decayed as the outside. There was an old bed with a waterlogged and moldy mattress in one corner of the house, a water-damaged round wood table with a couple chairs took up the center of the room, and a large metal icebox rested in the far left corner. A dresser that appeared to have once been made from quality lumber stood precariously with a broken leg, the wood darkened by age and exposure. Atop it were an assortment of fungi and leaves that seemed to be native to the surrounding forest.

Calling out that the room was clear, Jack and Leon placed their weapons back in their holsters as Jamie and Naomi entered, taking care to watch their steps on the jagged floorboards.

"Man this place is wrecked," the youngest of the pilots said as he took an appraising glance around the cabin, "How are we even supposed to know where to start looking?"

"Just pick a spot and go from there," Naomi answered as she walked over to the dresser. Carefully opening the drawers, she only found wet parchment that couldn't possibly be legible after being exposed to the elements for so long. On the other side of the room, Leon had begun rummaging through the icebox, while Jack took to looking for any loose floorboards that could be a sign of secret compartments built into the ground.

Not noticing Jamie walk out to the back of the cabin, Naomi searched the last drawer at the bottom and found no signs of correspondence linked to the order form she had found in the archives, "Damn it, there's nothing in the dresser."

"Nothing in the ice box either."

"No sign of any compartments under the floor…seems this place might be a bust."

"Damn it!" the red-haired pilot slammed her fist on top of the dresser, then suddenly recoiled and held her hand, "Oww! What the hell? That didn't feel like wood…"

Checking out where her hand had hit on the top of the dresser, Naomi spotted a raised section that seemed abnormal, as if it hadn't originally been part of the dresser but melded over time. Taking her bowie knife, she carefully cut around the edges of the strange protrusion until she was able to lift it from the molded wooden surface. As she flipped the strange object over, her eyes nearly popped from their sockets, "Oh my Eve…Jack! Leon! Jamie! Take a look at this!"

Leon and Jack ran over immediately and glanced at her discovery. The mercenary took a long look, and then rubbed his eyes for good measure, "Is that…is that what I think it is?"

"If you mean an old photograph of a little girl in white and what looks to be her father on top of a Spinosapper, then yea that's exactly what it is," Leon almost whispered as the shock began to set in. Indeed, in the photo was the same little girl Bit had described, with a long, flowy white dress and large white sunhat that covered part of her eyes. She was holding onto an older man by the waist with the largest smile they had ever seen on a child. The second person, who they figured was her father, was also smiling with one hand on his daughter's shoulder to hold her balance as they stood on the snout of his Spinosapper, just outside the cockpit.

"They were real…they actually lived here ages ago…" Naomi whispered almost reverently, "…then the legend really is a true story…"

"According to the tale, he brought the kid back here after she passed away at the hospital," Jack recalled as he thought back to Chris' retelling of the haunting tale, "so now my question is…what did he do with the body?"

"I-I-I think I know…"

The three turned to the entrance, where and ashen-faced Jamie stood looking at them with an aghast expression, "Jack…y-y-you might wanna look at the foot of your zoid…"

Running to the door, the older zoid pilots glanced over at the feet of the Lightning Saix. Under its front left paw seemed to be a large rectangular stone with the top rounded off and badly carved writing on its face.

Jack had accidentally stepped on a gravestone.

The woodsman's daughter's gravestone

"…Well…that's not good…"

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Thursday, 12 October

12:00 PM

The smell of coffee wafting into her and her sister's bedroom slowly began to rouse Chris from her slumber, the busty pilot taking her time to open her eyes to the real world again. As she sat up, yawning while she stretched her arms into the air in a way that made her large chest bounce, the younger Tasker twin noticed her sister was still out like a light. She contemplated waking her for a second, but then remembered the lack of sleep they had suffered lately due to the curse.

'She doesn't look like she's having a nightmare this time…I'll leave her be. Come to think of it, I don't think I had a nightmare either. Could the curse be getting weaker since it's so close to the deadline?'

Curious to find out if her theory was correct, Chris began going through her usual morning routine of freshening up and slipping into her normal blue outfit. Stepping into the kitchen area, she ran into her blond team mate and crush. Hoping against all hope, the beautiful Lightning Saix pilot walked up and gently touched Bit's shoulder, "Hey Bit, were you able to slee-"

She froze once she took a better look at the Liger Zero pilot's face, and whatever faith she had been building about the curse being lifted was dashed against the rocks by the crushing waves of reality.

Bit's physical condition had worsened even more: his once vibrant emerald colored eyes were now a lifeless dull green surrounded by bloodshot red. His normally spiky hair was now flattened on his head, the drips of water coming from the ends the only sign that he'd tried showering or at least dunking his head in the sink to stay awake. His reaction time had also slowed to a crawl, as it took several moments for him to even turn to acknowledge his lovely team mate right next to him, "…Oh…hey Chris…were you and Kelly able to sleep ok?"

Chris teared up at his question, unable to bear seeing the man she had grown so close to so quickly suffer, "W-We slept ok Bit. Don't worry about us. Hey, how about we take a seat in the lounge? I-I don't really get to hang out with you alone…wanna talk for a little?"

"…sure…sounds good," the blond replied just above a whisper, his movements sluggish as he turned to walk toward the lounge area. He stumbled for a moment, but Chris was right at his side to help walk him to one of the circular sofas. As she sat them down, the blue-clad Tasker sister suddenly felt Bit's strength leave him, the blond pilot drooping until his face hit her chest. Had this happened at any other time, Chris would've been over the moon and quickly dragged him off somewhere for some fun.

At that time, however, it was cause for panic. Especially since it didn't look like he was even breathing.

"Bit?! Bit?! Are you ok?! Bit! KELLY HELP! BIT'S NOT RESPONDING!"

Spectral Forest

Thursday, 12 October

12:10 PM

They were screwed. They could feel it in the air as an oppressive aura of doom seemed to bear down on them from the minute they discovered their horrible mistake. The Blitz and Atlas pilots barely had a moment to acknowledge their grievous error when suddenly all four were overcome by a sudden sense of wrongness that permeated through the clearing.

No one could blame them for hustling into their zoids and running in the direction they had come from as fast as they could manage.

"Damn, is it just me or did this fog come out of nowhere?" Jack grumbled as he tried to use his radar in conjunction with his sight to navigate through the obstructive forest. Behind him, Naomi narrowed her eyes as she too noticed the precipitous haze that now shrouded their surroundings. Occurrences like this were normal in a forest, but the speed of the buildup was very off-putting.

"Just focus on gettin us outta here Jack. We can worry about a little water vapor after we're in the clear," she chided, anxiety starting to build as the fog didn't stop thickening. Soon they were barely able to see a few feet in front of the zoid. Turning on the communicator, the buxom Gunsniper pilot radioed the Blitz team members, "Leon, Jamie, how's your visibility?"

"If it's anything like I'm assuming yours is, then non-existent," Leon's response was exactly as she had feared it would be, "Our radar's starting to act funny too."

Jack check his monitors and noticed that the display had become fuzzy, almost as if there was electromagnetic interference, "Hold on…our screens are bugging out too. There shouldn't be any interference in these woods though, we're miles away from any source of electromagnetic waves…"

"M-M-Maybe we should hightail it out of here a bit faster?" the scared voice of Jamie could be heard over the radio, the young pilot not at all hiding his fright.

"If you think you can manage that without bumpin in to us, then go right ahead. I'll try to speed up the Saix as well," the mercenary then glanced back at his passenger, "You should slip into the safety harness Naomi, no telling what could happen once I punch it-"

He was interrupted when a large something slammed into the Lightning Saix, sending the zoid tumbling head over heels into one of the large trees that lined their path. The Shield Liger quickly stopped and looked over, no longer able to see the black zoid, "Jack! Naomi! Are you two ok?! What just happened?!"

Groaning as he held his head, Jack quickly righted his zoid, "I'm a little banged up but I'll live."

"Ugh…good thing I had the safety harness on," Naomi grumbled as she shook the cobwebs from her head, "I'm ok too, but keep your guard up Leon. I don't think we're alone in this forest anymore…"

Both zoids crouched low and growled, the mechanical creatures sensing there was something afoot in the forest. Several moments passed in uncomfortable silence, the tension mounting with each second as whatever was there with them made no other moves.

"…Uh…g-guys? Maybe y-you just hit a tree or something?"

"That was no tree kid, now nut up or shut up!"

Naomi gasped as she thought she saw a shadow flit through the trees off to the side in the fog, "Jack to your right!"

The mercenary quickly turned to the side, his radar picking up nothing though the fuzziness of the screen seemed to get worse, "Damn…we're completely blind out here!"

"Leon! Duck!"

Jack and Naomi heard a grunt on the radio and saw the Shield Liger hit the ground just as a crimson laser chainsaw blade slashed where the cockpit had been, almost succeeding in slicing the blue zoid in two. Jumping back over to the Lightning Saix, the elder Toros could just barely make out the silhouette of a Spinosapper before it bled back into the fog.

"Everyone…keep your guard up," he warned as he prepared to activate his zoid's shield at a moment's notice, "it looks like the woodsman decided to pay us a visit…"

The pilots waited with baited breath as Jack and Leon moved their zoids so they were back to back, both watching the fog for the slightest sign of movement. An uneasy silence reigned, raising everyone's alertness to its peak. Naomi gazed off to the side, back in the direction she believed the cabin to be in, though they had made so many turns in their escape it was almost impossible to figure out where they were now, let alone where they had come from.

"This ghost seems to like toying with us," Jack observed as he scanned the area in front of him with his eyes, as radar was absolutely useless against a specter like this, "We'll need a plan-LEON! ON YOUR RIGHT!"

The elder Blitz pilot immediately activated his shield, just barely deflecting the laser chainsaw that would have bisected his partner. The force of the blow nearly brought the Shield Liger to the ground, but it held fast as the Lightning Saix turned and fired the laser cannon on its back. The superheated plasma shots were right on course for the Spinosapper's chest…

…before passing right through the ghost zoid.

"What the hell?!" Jack yelled as he pumped another two salvos at the woodsman's zoid, only for the shots to again pass through it as if it were a hologram. The enemy zoid growled and sent a second chainsaw blade screeching at the black zoid. Jumping back, the mercenary could almost feel the wind of the strike and the heat of the laser chainsaw as it barely missed the nose of the Lightning Saix, "Our shots don't work at all!"

"How the hell can a ghost hit us and not be able to get hit back?!" Naomi shouted, though her question would go unanswered as she watched Leon move to tackle the Spinosapper. The blue zoid's attack also failed as it went through the zoid like mist, only to take a strike from the ghost zoid's tail to the side. The shield managed to minimize the damage, but the sheer force of the blow knocked Leon's zoid into the trees, temporarily dazing the pilots inside.

"Leon?! Jamie?! Are you two ok?" Leon could hear the red-haired pilot calling out to him. Rubbing his head to alleviate the pain he responded, "I'm alright, but that zoid packs a powerful punch."

"I'm ok too," Jamie chimed in, though he sounded somewhat winded from the impact, "but I think retreating would be a good idea. None of our attacks have been effective so far. At this rate he'll take out both zoids in no time!"

Jack growled, hating the thought of retreating from an enemy, but even he could see the futility of their efforts, "Damn it…fine then. Let's head back through the trees and cut around this guy. Maybe we can make a break for it once we're clear."

The two zoids immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction, and thus missed the Spinosapper's eyes flash an ominous red.

The chase was on.

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Thursday, 12 October

12:20 PM

"Chris, go grab another wet towel!"

The blue-clad Tasker sister ran into the bathroom next to the lounge and soaked another white towel in warm water, ringing it mostly dry before running back to her sister and the still screaming Bit. Ever since the blond pilot had finally collapsed from severe exhaustion, he had been thrashing in his tormented sleep, screaming nonsense that chilled the twins to the bone. Nothing they had tried was able to wake him up.

Placing the new warm towel on his forehead seemed to calm him down slightly, much to Chris' relief, but the anguished look on his face persisted, and his screaming had only gone down to pained moans, "Dammit! Why is nothing working?!"

"He hasn't slept peacefully in over three days sis," Kelly tried to explain, though even to her the words seemed hollow, "it's like his body just shut down to get some rest…and now his mind is stuck having to go through this nightmare until he rests enough physically to wake up."

Tears began to stream down the younger twin's eyes as she watched Bit begin to convulse again. Unable to bear it, she threw herself on top of the young man and hugged him as comfortingly as she could, "Bit…Bit if you can hear me…I'm right here. Whatever that thing's doing to you in there…you can fight this…you're the strongest guy I've ever met…so beat this thing…beat it and come back to us…come back to me…"

Kelly watched the scene as she fought her own tears, refusing to appear weak at a time like this, 'I know you can do this Bit…beat that bastard's ass and come back to us! Please!'

"Dammit!" Bit yelled as he felt another strike hit the Liger Zero's side. The powerful zoid tried to stand its ground but was knocked back again by another laser chainsaw blade strike. Across from them, the mighty Spinosapper roared in challenge. The Liger Zero roared back defiantly as he and Bit charged up another attack.

The blond pilot didn't know how long he and his partner had been battling the woodsman. He knew he had passed out, because nothing felt right about the situation he was in now. The desert he and his partner found themselves in looked like the outskirts of Boom Town, but there were no visible lights anywhere. No other signs of life save for the red eyes of the woodsman's zoid…

…and the wrecks of the Atlas and Blitz team's zoids all around them.

"Now do you see the result of your indecision, Bit Cloud?" the malicious voice of the woodsman rang out over the comm link of Bit's zoid, "Your friends have fallen all because you were too greedy to choose! And now, you will join them in oblivion!"

The Spinosapper charged in faster than its size belied, nearly catching Bit off guard, but the blond zoid pilot managed to dodge its strike and primed his signature attack to retaliate, "We got him now Liger! STRIKE! LASER! CLAW!"

The golden claws of the Liger Zero shone brightly in the night as the white zoid leapt at the ghostly Spinosapper, only to pass right through the enemy zoid, the attack doing zero damage once again.

"What the hell?! Why can't we hit this damn thing?!" Bit cursed as he was forced to jump back again to avoid the blood red laser chainsaws once more. Not a single attack he had launched had been effective, always going through the zoid as if it was never there. On the contrary, the Liger Zero sported several nicks and slash wounds from close calls with the Spinosapper's laser blades.

"So, you still have the strength to fight back…yet you lack the will to choose?" the ghost of the woodsman questioned menacingly, "Very well…then fall and know that once I'm done with you, your friends will follow you in death for your weakness!"

Bit watched the Spinosapper prepare to attack again and gripped the control sticks of the Liger Zero tightly, "Get ready partner…here he comes again…"

The Liger Zero growled before charging in for another strike…

Spectral Forest

Thursday, 12 October

4:00 PM

They had been running in the forest for hours, but to the four zoid pilots, those hours felt like an eternity. Each time they thought they had outrun the ghostly zoid, a laser chainsaw blade would scream towards them from the fog, forcing them to dodge by the skin of their teeth and head in another direction.

"Jack, watch your left!" Leon warned as he watched another laser chainsaw seemingly materialize out of thin air and attempt to slice the Lightning Saix' leg off. The mercenary dodged, but not fast enough to avoid the attack fully, the blood red laser blade taking a small slice of the black zoid's upper leg.

"Dammit! How much further to the edge of the forest?!" Jack yelled out as he ran damage control while simultaneously keeping his partner on its feet and running at as close to full speed as possible, "I don't know how much more of this the Lightning Saix can take!"

Jamie used his portable computer tablet to triangulate the pilot's current position, "The reception is still really messed up, but according to the readings here we should be exiting the forest in about three more clicks up ahead!"

"That means we'll be out of here in a few minutes at the most," Naomi calculated before turning to Jack, "let me handle the damage control, you just focus on gettin us the hell outta here!"

The mercenary of team Atlas nodded and moved over to allow the red-head to access the necessary circuit boards in the cramped space while he maneuvered the Lightning Saix past another swipe of the ghostly enemy's chainsaw and dashed forward. The Shield Liger followed behind as fast as it could, it's pink shield managing to stave off more of the Spinosapper's stealthy attacks.

"There! Up ahead! I see light past those trees!" Jamie shouted in relief, as he pointed at a growing light at the end of the canopy surrounding them. Suddenly, the frequency and level of ferocity in the Spinosapper's attacks spiked, with seemingly countless blades crashing against the shield of Leon's zoid. Meanwhile, the Lightning Saix jinked and dove left and right as Jack tried desperately to prevent the lethal attacks from scoring a fatal blow.

"These things are everywhere! It's like suddenly there's more than one of these damn bastards!" the mercenary shouted as he dodged for his and Naomi's lives, forcing the red-head to strap back into the safety harness lest she be thrown about the cockpit.

"Keep it up Jack, just a few more feet!" Leon encouraged before his shield finally gave out under the onslaught of attacks. Gritting his teeth, the elder Blitz pilot punched his thrusters to maximum, propelling the Shield Liger forward as he tried to tank whatever attacks he couldn't outright dodge, "Damn it, we're right there!"

Naomi then noticed a slight lull in the Spinosapper's attacks. It was only a few seconds, but for her it was all they needed, "Now! It's slowing down! Punch it Jack!"

"You got it!" Jack activated the over-boosters of the Lightning Saix, the zoid breaking the sound barrier as it surged forward towards the end of the forest. Moments later, Jack and Naomi were nearly blinded by bright light.

"Hah! Made it!" the mercenary cheered as he saw the beginnings of the desert, "So much for your curse, you old-"

His gloating was abruptly cut short as his vision was suddenly blocked by a sea of crimson...

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Thursday, 12 October

4:00 PM

Sweat poured down Bit's face as he tried to catch his breath, frustration and hopelessness mounting with each passing moment. As he stared down the indomitable Spinosapper, a voice in his head began repeating the same taunt he had heard from the moment he realized his attacks weren't having any effect. Except now, part of him was beginning to believe those daunting words:

'I can't win…'

Nothing had worked. All of his attacks passed right through the woodsman's zoid without leaving any damage whatsoever. Shock cannon rounds, strike laser claws, tackles, biting with Liger's fangs…nothing. In the meantime, the Liger Zero had taken its fair share of damage, with several nicks and gouges in its armor from near misses and deflected strikes from those chilling blood-red laser chainsaw blades. Physically it was cosmetic damage at the worst, but in comparison to the pristine visage of the Spinosapper the Liger Zero was absolutely wrecked.

"I…I don't know how we're gonna get outta this one partner…" Bit gripped the control sticks again as he spoke to his beloved zoid, the Liger growling defiantly in response, "I know…you still have plenty of fight in ya…but nothing we do seems to work. At this rate…"

"So have you finally realized the truth of your weakness?" the woodsman taunted over the external speakers of his zoid, "You lack the strength to have both your dreams and the people you love. Which means you must choose one…or the other. You can never have both…"

"And who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can't do?!" Bit yelled back, his fear now replaced with fury at the condescension of the ghostly pilot, "I may still be a newbie to this piloting gig, but I've managed to come this far reaching for my dreams because my friends have been behind me the whole way! We've looked out for each other and protected each other just fine while shooting for the stars!"

"And yet here you are…unable to defeat me and unable to protect your friends," the ghost countered, bringing Bit's tirade to a halt, "One day…one day you will be faced with an inevitable crossroads as you pursue greater strength…and at that cross roads, you will have to choose either your dreams or your friends…and should you try to have both, you will lose both…just as I did…"

Bit froze, the woodsman's words striking a chord within him, "W-What do you mean just like you did?"

"Success…family…I thought both could go hand in hand…but I was wrong," the blond pilot could almost swear he could hear the remorse in the menacing specter's voice, "I was wrong…and I lost the only thing that truly mattered in my greed and arrogance. Now…you have repeated history and made the same mistake…like so many others. And like those others who proved unworthy…"

The laser chainsaw blades glowed an ominous bright red as they started spinning faster than before, the Spinosapper roaring as it prepared for one last charge, "YOU WILL DIE!"

Fear coursed through Bit's veins as he watched as the ghostly zoid raced towards him, its blades moving faster than he'd seen before…too fast to keep up. In desperation he gunned the Liger's boosters to the maximum, unwilling to go down without a fight, "Liger…we're ending this now!"

Lightning streaked across the sky as the two combatants edged closer, the Liger's claws shining bright gold to counter the Spinosapper's lethal crimson. As the distance between the zoids grew shorter, Bit almost thought he could see his life begin to flash before his eyes.

'Damn…is this really how this all ends? I didn't even make it to the Royal Cup…and what about my friends…Jack…Kelly…Chris….Naomi….'

The zoids' attacks met, and just as before the Liger's claws went straight through the body of the Spinosapper. As the laser chainsaw broke through the cockpit, sending shattered glass all over him, Bit found himself engulfed in a bright white light.

'Everyone….I'm sorry…'

"Hee-hee! Hey mister! Need some help?"

"What the…who are you?"

Spectral Forest Outskirts

Thursday, 12 October

6:00 PM

"Ugh…what the hell…"

Naomi rubbed the back of her head where she felt a dull ache, only to bring her hand to her face when it felt slightly wet. A small patch of blood was on her palm, confirming that she'd suffered some kind of wound after being knocked out.

"Naomi? You awake back there?" the gravelly voice of Jack echoed into her ears, and the red-head slowly opened her eyes. It took a few moments for her vision to focus, but she was eventually able to make out her team mate.

"Jack? What…what's going on? I don't…" she tried to recall the last thing that came to mind, and nearly jumped when she remembered their plight, "Shit! The Spinosapper! Did it-"

"Calm down…we're out of the woods now," the mercenary consoled, however his efforts failed when Naomi noticed that he was wounded as well, crimson life fluid trickling over his eye from a wound on his head, "We managed to get free despite his last attack…didn't come without a price though."

Seeing him gesture to their right, the red-haired Gunsniper pilot gasped as she beheld Leon's Shield Liger. The zoid had clearly seen better days, with most of its armor sliced away, and its left hind leg severed from mid-thigh. The glass of the cockpit was fractured, but thankfully hadn't broken completely. However it was obvious to everyone that the zoid was more or less out of commission.

"Leon?! Jamie?!" Naomi cried out over the radio, desperate for some kind of response, "can you two hear me?! Are you ok?!"

"….this is Leon…I'm a bit of a mess, but I'll live," the static over the radio made the elder Toros sound worse, but hearing him brought some relief to the Atlas pilots, "Jamie smashed his head on the side paneling when that last attack hit us. He's knocked out, but he'll be fine with a trip to the hospital."

Naomi sighed and sank back into her seat, "So we made it…that's a relief…"

"No…it's not over just yet."

Jack glanced back at the forest, spurring Naomi to take a look as well. They were a fair distance away from the tree line that represented the border between the forest and the desert. Standing at that edge was the Spinosapper, its red eyed gaze set firmly on the two damaged zoids. Both Atlas pilots tensed as they prepared for another attack, but the ghost zoid merely stood in place watching them.

"…It's not attacking…what the hell is that guy thinkin?" the red-haired beauty mused out loud. A beeping noise from Jack's console brought her out of her introspection, "Jack…I think you got a message."

Looking down at the console, Jack opened the strange e-mail he'd just received. It was a short message, written in the same chaotic lettering as the message they'd seen in the hangar days ago:

"TOMORROW. SUNDOWN. EDGE OF THE FOREST. BRING HIM…OR DIE."

Its message delivered, the Spinosapper turned and went back into the forest, disappearing behind the trees. As Jack got on the radio to call for help in transporting the downed Shield Liger, Naomi placed a hand over her heart, mind racing over the challenge they'd been given.

'Dammit…Bit's still not in any shape to face that thing…and we can't damage it…how the hell are we gonna beat him?'

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Thursday, 12 October

6:10 PM

"Chris! Chris! I think he's waking up!"

Bit slowly opened his eyes, vision still swimming as he adjusted to the low light of the lounge. He felt something heavy lying on top of him, as if someone was hugging him. He also felt something very soft on his chest. Once his eyes were back into focus, vibrant emerald met teary light brown.

"…Chris? Is that you?" the blond asked as he realized the busty Lightning Saix pilot was the one laying on top of him and hugging him, "Why are you crying? What happened?"

"Bit! You're awake!" the younger Tasker twin cheered as she tightened her hold on the Liger Zero pilot. Bit laughed and returned the embrace before slowly sitting up on the sofa, "So what's the deal? The last thing I remember is trying to make some coffee, and the next…"

Kelly sat next to him and explained, "You collapsed this morning. Chris was trying to help you get to the sofa to sit down when all of a sudden you just passed out. You kept thrashing around and screaming in your sleep," she paused to regain control as she felt tears come to her eyes recalling the horrible condition her crush had been in, "you must've been in a terrible nightmare. Nothing we did could wake you up and we…we…"

Bit brought his other arm around Kelly's shoulders and pulled her in when she began to sob, "I'm sorry…I never meant to worry you two. You're right, I was in a crazy nightmare. I was fighting that ghost and he just about had me beat…but something strange happened."

"What is it? What happened?" the twins asked at the same time, getting a slight chuckle from the blond Atlas pilot. Still rubbing their backs to sooth them, he responded, "I donno…one second his blades are cutting into the cockpit…and the next I'm surrounded by white light and there's a little girl's voice asking me if I needed help…it was weird."

Both twins looked confused at the conclusion of Bit's nightmare, also unable to determine what it all meant, "That does sound weird…but does this mean that the curse is over?"

"No…it's not over just yet," a haggard sounding voice from the entrance intruded, causing the three inside to look over. Naomi leaned against the doorway, still bruised a bit from the ordeal at Spectral Forest. Bit ran over to her and helped the lovely young woman over to one of the lounge chairs, "Naomi?! What the hell happened, are you alright?!"

"I'm good…Jack is too, but Leon and Jamie are pretty banged up," she explained as Bit grabbed a first aid kit and went about treating his girlfriend's wounds, "we went to the forest to check out those coordinates I dug up…we found the woodsman's cabin and he chased us out. Leon sacrificed his Shield Liger for us and took most of the blow…he and Jamie are at the hospital in town."

Bit grit his teeth at the thought of his friends hurt because of him, 'Just like in the dream…he said I wasn't strong enough to protect them…but I'm not lettin that bastard hurt anyone else!'

Gently putting the last bandage in place, the blond pilot took Naomi's hands into his own and gave her the most determined look she had ever seen on his face, "Naomi…I'm sorry for letting some ghost with a grudge get the better of me…I should've been there to help you guys. But I'm not running from this thing anymore."

Naomi smiled, though she still felt a bit fearful. However, seeing the fire back in her boyfriend's gaze the red-headed beauty couldn't help but feel herself starting to have hope again, 'Now there's the Bit Cloud I fell in love with…I know he'll find a way to take out that clown and end all this!'

"That's good kid…cuz that thing called you out," Jack's voice cut in as the mercenary walked into the lounge with a slight limp. Taking out his phone, he brought up the eerie message and showed it to the blond, "Tomorrow at sundown. Old-fashioned standoff style. It'll be us versus him, and you probably know about Leon and Jamie's condition. We'll be on our own."

"Fine by me," Bit glared at the message, all pretenses of fear replaced with the sole desire to win, "If he wants a showdown, we'll give him a showdown."

The blond walked to the hangar, followed close behind by his team mates. Seeing the condition of Jack's zoid didn't bring his mood down in the slightest, "Can you get the Lightning Saix fixed up by tomorrow night?"

"That won't be a problem," Jack replied with his signature cocky smirk, "I know a mechanic in town that's pretty good. She'll have the Saix up and running in no time."

"Good," Bit stared up at his prized partner, the proud Liger Zero, "Well partner…tomorrow night, we end this once and for all!"

The Liger roared, eager for the coming challenge. Looking back at his team and seeing their determined smiles, Bit glared out the window of the hangar at the setting sun.

'Tomorrow this all ends…I'm putting that ghost, this curse, and this nightmare to rest for good!'

THE SEVENTH

Spectral Forest Outskirts

Friday, 13 October

6:45 PM

The wind that normally blasted through the desert was noticeably absent as the sun began its usual trek downward for the night. A pregnant silence permeated the area lining the edge of Spectral Forest, as if nature itself knew that something otherworldly was about to occur.

The silence only made Bit's focus that much sharper.

"Fifteen minutes before sundown," Jack called out over the radio channel, putting everyone on alert, "if anyone's got any last-minute prep to do…now's the time."

The blonde zoid pilot breathed out slowly, doing his best to calm his nerves as the hallowed hour drew closer. All five of Team Atlas' zoids were out in force, Naomi electing to face the terrible ghost zoid alongside her lover since there were no high cliffs to take advantage of. Jack had managed to get the Lightning Saix repaired rather quickly by the same lovely mechanic he had visited with Leon two days ago. The mercenary was still livid at the sound defeat handed to him and the terrible injuries Leon and Jamie had suffered from protecting him and Naomi.

As far as he was concerned, he had unfinished business with that ghost.

"I checked all my systems before I left…I'm all ready to go," Chris affirmed, her zoid partner growling in agreement. Kelly also reported in from her zoid, "Same for me. Time to show that ghost it can't curse Atlas without paying for it!"

Hearing the confidence and focus in his team mates went a long way to soothing Bit's conscious. At first he had thought of just sidelining them and meeting the woodsman alone, but he quickly stomped that idea into the ground. This curse had affected everyone, not just him. They had just as much of a right to this fight as he did.

"Liger and I are ready to kick some ass! I almost wish we could make an official match out of this to get some prize money…" he joked, getting a laugh from the girls and an amused huff from Jack, "Seriously though…we've endured a whole lot together before this ghost showed up. I'm not lettin him pull the breaks on us yet!"

"Glad to hear that kid," the blond glared slightly at his team mate's zoid, wondering when the hell he would lose that nickname for good, "cuz it's show time. Eyes up ahead."

The rest of the team turned their gazes to the tree line several feet away. A quick gust of wind formed a small cloud of dust that obscured their sight for a few moments before suddenly dissipating to reveal the pristine white Spinosapper. Its laser chainsaws were folded on its back with a deadly crimson glow, the lethal armaments waiting patiently to be used. Sharp, black claws glinted in the dying light of the sun, along with rows of pointed teeth in its jaw.

Everyone's blood froze in place as they beheld their supernatural opponent, memories of the past week flashing through their minds. From the attack on Bit when they arrived in Boom Town, to the ghastly messages, the disastrous zoid battle, the chase in the woods, the nightmares, the fear.

…and yet through it all they stood. United. Strong. Unyielding.

The horrible events of the past seven days had brought them all to this point. Now all that was left was to bring about the end of the curse.

One way…or another.

"…Bit Cloud…have you made your choice?"

'That voice…it's definitely him' Bit glared at the specter before him, hand shaking momentarily before he calmed himself and hardened his resolve, "I did. I'm not changing my mind. I can go after my dreams and keep my friends safe at the same time!"

"Not that he needs to, cuz we're plenty capable of takin care of ourselves," Naomi chimed in with a nasty smirk, "somethin you're about to learn first-hand asshole!"

"…Very well…then prepare to die and become yet another lesson for those who allow their avarice to consume them…" the Spinosapper deployed its chainsaws and let off a ferocious roar. It was answered by the defiant roar of the Liger Zero and his companion units. All five zoid pilots braced themselves to move at a moment's notice. The air in the desert stilled, the very planet itself seemingly holding its breath as it waited for the inevitable clash.

A single leaf from a tree near the Spinnosapper fell and drifted to the ground.

The woodsman's zoid charged faster than any of the Atlas pilots thought possible, but they were not caught unprepared. Jack and the Tasker sisters zoomed forward, taking up their favored position, "Let's see you handle this! Slipstream Formation!"

The Spinosapper didn't even pause in its steps as it ran headlong into the three Lightning Saix, the gale-force winds generated by their signature attack blowing up only dust as the ghost zoid stood unaffected.

"What?! Not even the slipstream works?!" Chris shouted alarmed, before being forced to dodge a swing from one of the laser chainsaws. Jack cursed under his breath, "Chris! Kelly! We'll distract it to give Bit and Naomi and opening! Something's gotta work against this thing eventually!"

The twins gave a quick affirmative before forming back up on Jack's zoid, preparing to start another strafing run. Meanwhile, Bit and Naomi hung back, waiting for an opportune moment to strike. As he watched his three team mates restart their attack maneuver, Bit suddenly felt an impending sense of dread as they approached, "Wait a minute…last time it just charged right through the slipstream…but now it's standing still…"

Naomi realized a moment sooner and called out in fright, "Aww hell! Jack, he's got your timing down! Pull back! Pull back now!"

"What do you mean? There's no way he could catch us at the speed we're moving," Kelly objected as they drew closer, "Just hang tight and we'll make you an op-"

The elder twin was cut short as a crimson blade flashed in front of her suddenly, the Lightning Saix moving far too fast to dodge. The chainsaw chewed right through the legs at mid-thigh and gouged a huge chunk of the armor of Kelly's zoid, the abused mechanical creature screaming in pain as it tumbled across the sand before slamming into the trees at the edge of the forest. The only sound that could be heard was the eerie chime from the ravaged cockpit of the Lightning Saix that indicated a full command system freeze.

"KELLY! KELLY RESPOND!" Chris cried out desperately, unable to get a visual on her sister's condition. Jack looked on paralyzed with shock, the mercenary failing to comprehend how the woodsman could have predicted their pattern so easily.

Bit quickly regained his senses and called out on the radio, "Chris, go check on Kelly and make sure she's alright. Jack, we'll run the weave tactic to distract it! Naomi you look for a shot and the minute you see one, take it!"

The younger Tasker twin ran her zoid over to the wreck of her sister, while Jack and Naomi began following the blond pilot's commands, the mercenary maneuvering his zoid so that the Lightning Saix and the Liger Zero were running across each other's paths like a DNA helix in an effort to confuse the Spinosapper. The resident sniper of the team took aim with her arm cannons and prepared to fire, "I got him in my sights fellas, just be careful he doesn't get you too."

The ghost zoid seemed content to watch the incoming zoids, its chainsaw blades waving menacingly as they approached. Gunning their thrusters, the two Atlas team zoids went in for a pincer attack, with the Liger Zero attacking high and the Lightning Saix going low. Both had gone in at angles which would avoid their team mate in the event they passed through the specter again.

Unfortunately, the woodsman had other plans.

Moving its chainsaw blades independently, one went high and clipped the Liger Zero, scoring a large but mostly insignificant slash on its stomach. The impact still sent the white zoid tumbling to the ground. The Lightning Saix, however, lost one of its front legs and most of its mounted cannon. Its original high speed caused it to drag several feet in the sand before coming to a stop.

"DAMMIT! That bastard actually took me out!?" Jack howled as he angrily read the command system freeze message on his screen as well as took in the damage his beloved partner had suffered, "Bit, you alright over there?"

"…I'm fine, just a little rattled…" the normally cocky zoid pilot replied, rubbing his head to sooth a slight bump he took. As he helped the Liger regain its footing, he glared at the Spinosapper across from him, "Dammit…it's just like the dream…nothing's working."

Charging his signature attack, Bit practically flew at the ghost zoid, the Liger's claws turning a golden yellow as he drew closer to his enemy. Jumping right at the throat of the zoid, the blond pilot yelled before once again passing through the ghost's body, this time taking a vicious strike from the Spinosapper's tail that practically launched the Liger into the air. Naomi cried out as she watched her lover crash back onto the ground, "Bit!"

Forgetting all about the woodsman's ghost, she ran over to the now heavily damaged Liger Zero. Before she could reach him, the red-haired sniper found herself suddenly staring up at the sinister visage of their seemingly unbeatable enemy as it teleported between her and the Liger. Clamping down on the controls of her partner zoid, Naomi fixed the ghost with a defiant glare, "You think you can just walk all over us, you bastard?! Huh?!"

The red Gunsniper whipped at the offending Spinosapper with its tail to no effect, followed by pelting it with several rounds from its forearm cannons, each shot going straight through the zoid as if it was made of air. Exhausting most of her options, the red-haired sniper's assault grew more desperate as she began swiping at the formidable phantom with her claws, while trying and failing to block out her growing sense of hopelessness at the situation.

'Kelly and Jack are down…Chris is too hysterical to fight….and Bit's not responding….dammit all it can't end like this, can it?!'

Seemingly growing tired of the futile attack, the Spinosapper whipped one of its deadly chainsaws into the smaller red zoid. From his place on the ground, Bit could only watch in horror as his girlfriend's zoid lost one of its arms and a good chunk of its armor in the merciless counterattack. Naomi's zoid flew several feet until landing right in front of the still struggling to stand Liger Zero.

"…no…Naomi? Naomi?!" the blond called out to her, however no response was forthcoming. Linking his screen to her cockpit, Bit's heart nearly stopped as he saw the damage. The impact from the strike and the crash had been enough to shatter several screens in the Gunsniper, pelting Naomi with bits of glass. Thankfully, they left only superficial wounds on her arms and chest, but her safety harness had also broken and there was a large gash on her head, most likely from banging it against the cockpit wall. Her breathing was labored and she was clearly unconscious.

Hearing footsteps approaching, Bit moved the Liger in front of the downed Gunsniper in a final bid to protect her. As he watched the Spinosapper come closer, the crimson laser chainsaws whirring forebodingly, the blond pilot felt his will to fight dwindle, '…just like the dream…I couldn't protect any of them…Kelly…Jack…Naomi….'

Over the radio he could still hear Chris crying Kelly's name as she clutched the badly wounded and unconscious body of her sister, the younger Tasker far beyond the point of being able to provide him any help.

The shadow of the Spinosapper loomed over the still defiant Liger Zero, the white zoid growling and preparing to go down fighting with its pilot. As Bit fought down the fear of his impending end, he cast one last glance back at his downed lover, 'Sorry babe…guess I just wasn't strong enough to keep us safe…hope you can forgive me someday…'

"Are you still in trouble mister?"

Bit paused and turned back from the defeated Gunsniper to a rather odd site: floating over his lap and facing him with a bright smile was the same little girl he had played with when he and Atlas had first arrived to Boom Town. She wasn't wearing her large white hat this time, so he was able to make out her innocent looking blue eyes and honey-brown long hair.

"Hey…I remember you…you're the little girl I ran into that night almost a week ago," the blond pilot recalled, still dumbfounded at what was happening, "how are you even in here?"

"Oh that's easy mister, I'm a ghost too!" she confessed, floating a little higher in the cockpit to prove her point. Somehow, Bit found he wasn't that surprised or afraid, though the lack of panic may have been due to his impending doom, "Wow…well I guess we'll have that in common soon. I…I can't beat this guy…I failed to keep my friends safe…and now…"

The young ghost tilted her head in confusion before turning to look outside, "Oh…is Papa being mean to you?"

"Papa?" Bit looked at the girl for a moment and recalled the photo Naomi had brought back after her disastrous excursion into the woods with Jack and the Blitz team, "Hold on…you mean you're that guy's daughter?!"

"Yup!" the little girl replied before her eyes suddenly became sad, "Papa was really sad when I went away…he never forgave himself for what happened. Here, I'll show you."

The ghost moved closer until her forehead was barely touching Bit's. The moment they made contact, the Liger Zero pilot was bombarded with visions of the last days of the young girl's life. He couldn't make out much, but Bit was able to catch several voices here and there that began to paint the full picture for him.

"I'm sorry…the disease has become terminal. She has another few weeks to three months at the most…"

"Papa it's ok...I can say hi to Mama for you…so please don't cry..."

"If you can get me this Eve Spruce lumber order in less than three weeks, I'll double your usual rate-no! Triple it!"

"You're leaving your own daughter just on a chance you can get a huge payday to get her surgery?! She needs you here!"

"I can do this! I'll save her and secure our futures at the same time!"

"…the disease mutated sir…we tried to contact you to let you know, but you were out of range…"

"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?! WHERE IS SHE?!"

"…I…love you Papa…"

"the herbs she needed were in the forest all along…that's why we were so desperate to contact you…"

"….please forgive me…I…I was so stupid…I never should have left you…I'm so sorry…"

In that moment, everything became clear to the blond pilot: the curse, the ghost's relentless question on choice, the attacks on those who chose wrong. All of these things finally came together in Bit's mind.

"…it all makes sense now…" he whispered before feeling a strange sensation on his hand. Glancing down he saw the girl's nearly transparent hand over his own before looking back into her sad but hopeful eyes. Realizing what could very well be his only chance to save everyone, Bit smiled at the young girl, "I think I know what I have to do. Can ya help me out?"

The girl's brilliant smile was all the answer he needed.

"….unh…wha…what the hell happened…" Naomi rasped out as she slowly regained consciousness from her vicious defeat. Feeling blood pouring down her face, she wiped the red life fluid out of her eye and winced as she noticed the sorry state of her cockpit.

'Damn…this is gonna take a while to fix…' she thought before abruptly remembering just what beat her in the first place, "Oh no! Bit!"

Pulling on the emergency release lever, the red-haired sniper slowly, but determinedly lifted herself from the cockpit of her zoid, nearly tumbling onto the ground as a wave of dizziness assaulted her senses. Looking up in front of her, she felt her heart drop to her stomach as she watched the ghostly Spinosapper rear its blood-red chainsaw blades in preparation to hack the Liger Zero apart. For some reason, the proud white zoid wasn't moving at all, it just stood there protectively in front of the ruined Gunsniper.

"Bit! Get outta there now! He's gonna kill you!" Naomi screamed, her throat raspy from the shouting she had done during the battle, fear lacing her voice as she walked closer to her boyfriend's zoid, "You gotta run!"

But the proud white zoid never moved. Desperate to make him leave, Naomi ran to the side of the zoid, intent to climb into the cockpit and drag Bit out herself if that's what it took to keep him safe. It was as she neared the front legs of the Liger that she noticed something was off.

There was a bright white glow coming from the cockpit of the feline zoid.

"What the…what the hell is that?" she asked out loud, the strange phenomenon pulling her attention. The red-haired beauty noticed offhand that the Spinosapper seemed to be distracted by the light show as well, as it had halted its approach. The lethal chainsaws were still deployed, but it was as if the ghost zoid was frozen in place. Naomi continued to watch, thinking that the situation couldn't possibly get any stranger.

And then the Liger's cockpit opened.

"Bit?! What are you doing?!" she yelled as she watched her lover stand out of his seat, completely exposed to the elements and as vulnerable as he could be against the woodsman's ghost. Bit looked down at his panicking girlfriend, surprised yet relieved to see that she was up on her feet. Smiling in her direction one last time, he turned and faced the specter, "Hey, before you go and hack me apart I got somethin to show ya."

Both Naomi and the hostile ghost paused as the blond pilot reached down to pick up something at his feet, neither of them able to figure out what his deal was. Their puzzlement lasted only a few moments longer until Bit brought the item up and held it in front of him.

It was a white, rubber ball.

"What…in the…" the red-haired sniper had never felt so lost or out of her element. Here she was, her zoid damaged and out for the count, friends injured, an undefeatable ghost zoid poised to slash and hack her lover and his zoid into pieces…and Bit brings out a child's plaything and offers it up to the specter as if such an insignificant item could stop its rampage.

She could feel the smoke billowing from her ears already.

"I understand now," Bit continued as he held up the girl's ball to the apparition of her father, "I know why you go around asking people about choosing their greed over their loved ones. You still haven't let go of your own guilt at how you let your daughter down."

The Spinosapper growled again, chainsaws whirring to life as if they too were angered by the Liger Zero pilot's words, but Bit continued, "Well I got news for ya pal…she never blamed you for not being there. Not even once. But don't take my word for it, she can tell you herself."

A bright white light shone from the ball momentarily before it formed into the little girl, her dress billowing in a non-existent wind. On the ground, Naomi was awestruck by the spectacle. This was her first time seeing the young child that Bit told her about, and she had to admit the sight was spectacular.

In a creepy, supernatural way.

"Papa…I thought I told you not to cry anymore," the young girl chided lightly as she floated over to the cockpit of the Spinosapper. Placing her hand on it, she channeled her essence through the faithful zoid, outlining it in a halo of light, "I know why you left Papa…there was never anything to forgive. You wanted to help me…to help us both. You've felt hurt for so long…but it's ok now. You can let go."

Bit watched with bated breath as the Spinosapper's cockpit slowly opened up, and a black miasma billowed out. The dark mist floated in front of the daughter before solidifying into a middle-aged man with shoulder-length hair the same color as the young girl's own, dark blue eyes, and wearing worn trousers, a faded dark green shirt with a brown utility vest, and black boots. Even from his position, the blond pilot could see the sorrow and self-hatred in the man's eyes…a hatred that had transcended death.

"I'm so sorry…I never should've taken that contract and left you alone," the woodsman sobbed, silver tears running down his face. The young girl smiled and floated closer to the ghost of her father.

"I told you Papa…there was nothing to forgive," she said before wrapping her arms around her beloved father for the first time in a very long time, "but if you really need me to say it, then I forgive you!"

The woodsman looked down in shock before immediately returning the embrace, crying into his daughter's hair as he kept repeating his apology. The anger and self-reproach he had held onto for so long was finally leaving him, allowing the poor man to find peace.

After a few moments, the woodsman looked back up at Bit. Their gazes locked onto each other before the blond pilot broke the silence, "I get it now…I get that my choice to shoot for my dreams to be the best will bring a lotta rough times…it could put my friends in danger, or take me away from them in their time of need. But I have faith in them, just as they have faith in me. It's cuz of that faith that I can follow my dreams and make that choice in the first place."

He looked back down and spotted Naomi looking up at them in awe before she noticed his gaze and broke into a determined smile. Nodding at her, Bit turned back to the pair of apparitions and continued, "But if I ever run into a jam so bad that I really have no other choice…then of course I'll choose my friends first. I won't make the same mistake you did…that's a promise!"

Hearing the determination in the young man's voice, the woodsman smiled, "…You made the right choice Bit Cloud. I never should have doubted your conviction. Thank you for reuniting me with my daughter…and giving me a chance to rest in peace. We'll be watching over you from the other side…never forget the reason for your determination…you'll need it in the conflicts to come."

With his supportive, yet ominous last words spoken, the two began to disappear. Bit and Naomi then noticed that the Spinosapper had undergone a drastic change. What was once a pristine zoid had transformed into a derelict ruin, with brown spots of rust covering its armor and cracks running through the once lethal chainsaw blades. The two Atlas pilots continued to observe as the Spinosapper, now truly dead, turned to stone before crumbling to dust and slowly blowing away on the breeze.

The zoid had finally been released of its morbid duty, and now joined its partner in eternal rest.

From the tree line at the beginning of the forest, Jack had observed the whole spectacle after leaving his zoid to help Chris and Kelly. He whistled as he saw the fearsome ghost zoid disintegrate before his eyes, "Damn…I'm definitely gonna need a drink after this…"

The Liger Zero growled before lowering its head to the ground to allow Bit to jump off. The blond gently patted his zoid's nose, "Thanks for all your help partner. Couldn't have done it without ya."

Naomi walked over to Bit, engulfing him in her arms and kissing him for all he was worth. The blond eagerly returned her affections, being careful as he held her waist so that he wouldn't aggravate her injuries. After pulling apart but remaining in each other's arms, Naomi sighed in relief, "It's over sugah…it's finally over…"

Bit looked up at the spot where the woodsman and his daughter had disappeared and smiled, "Yea babe…it's over."

EPILOGUE

Zoid Transporter, "The Globe"

Saturday, 21 October

4:00 PM

Bit sighed in relief as he sat back down on the comfortable sofa in the lounge area, his mind going over everything that had happened in the past two weeks. After settling things with the woodsman and his daughter, they had rushed Kelly back to Boom Town for medical treatment. The elder Tasker twin had suffered several contusions, a broken arm, and a bad concussion from her thrashing at the hands of the Spinosapper, but thanks to Boom Town's advanced medical technology, she was released after a few days and told to take it easy for a while. Although miffed that Atlas was down one pilot until she was healed up, Kelly accepted her circumstances and took advantage of the recovery time to kick back and chill.

She also used her injuries to her advantage and got Bit to assist her as a private attendant…much to Naomi's irritation and Jack's amusement.

After that, it was a simple matter to get their zoids repaired at Kara's shop. The lovely mechanic had been all too happy to lend a hand after hearing of their ordeal and of how Bit put an end to the curse once and for all. With the legs of Kelly's and Jack's Lightning Saix replaced and the rest of the zoid repairs completed, it was time for Team Atlas to move on.

"Man…after all this curse stuff and dealing with ghosts, I'm beat," Bit said to himself as he leaned his head back on the headrest, closing his eyes and relishing the fact he could just relax, "I feel like I could sleep like the dead now."

*Giggle*

'Huh…that didn't sound like the girls…' he thought as he lifted his head back up…and nearly jumped from his seat in surprise.

Floating in front of him again was the ghost of the little girl, her hat back on her head but no longer obscuring the top half of her face in shadow. Bit calmed down after noticing she was smiling at him, "Hey, what are you still doin here? Didn't you go to the other side with your dad?"

"I was about to, but there was something I had to do first!" she said before floating closer to the blond pilot. Bit was shocked into paralysis when the young girl then kissed him on the cheek, unable to explain the strange, yet not unpleasant sensation, "…Uh…what the…?"

"Thank you for everything Mr. Cloud! I'll be cheering for you!" the girl gave him a mischievous grin before fading away to join her father. Regaining his faculties, Bit laughed as he rubbed the spot the girl's lips had touched, "Wow…she really got me."

"You got that right kid."

Looking at the doorway to the lounge, Bit spotted his team mates, all with varying expressions on their faces. Jack looked amused, arms crossed as he chuckled while Chris and Kelly were looking at him with a familiar glint in their eyes. Naomi was just smirking at him with her hip cocked to the side, one hand placed just above her hip bone, "So…getting kissed by ghost girls now, huh? Am I gonna have to keep a closer eye on you hon?"

Waving his hands defensively, Bit shook his head, "Nope! No way! She just wanted to thank me for helping her with her dad before she went back to the other side!"

The mercenary shook his head before walking over to the fridge, "Man you just have the craziest luck…curses, ghost zoids…I think I'll have to renegotiate our contract at this rate…make an addendum for supernatural events…"

Chris grinned mischievously and slowly approached the blond pilot, "So Bit…tell us, what did getting kissed by a ghost feel like?"

"Was it the same as getting one from a real person?" Kelly chimed in, her limp now barely noticeable as she too made her way to the couch. Sitting on either side of the Liger Zero pilot, the twins leaned in closer as they spoke in their most sensual voice, "Want us to help you get a better idea?"

Cue Mount Flugel.

"AW NO YA DON'T YOU HARPIES! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY MAN!"

Bit could only chuckle as his fuming girlfriend chased the cackling twins around the lounge while Jack quickly grabbed a seat next to him and handed him a soda, "Feels good to have life back to normal, eh Bit?"

"Oh yea. I think I'll be just fine with normal for a while."

…fin…