Episode Four
The Uncouth—Of Underhanded Comments and the Undrafted
"And called it macaroni."
"Ow."
The Liger had hit a particularly painful bump and had jolted his sore tailbone. A week in a Zoid flying around at top speed definitely wasn't helping his hindquarters. Why was Romeo City so far away?
I guess traveling just comes hand in hand with adventure.
He winced as the large cat jumped, rubbing his back gingerly. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry for letting Pops poke and prod you. He just wanted to look at your claws and whatnot. He really admired you y'know."
The cockpit jounced again.
"Ack! Alright! I won't let weird old mechanics who want to take you apart near you again. Happy?"
The Ultimate X skidded to a halt and nodded its head vigorously. Poor Bit groaned weakly and leaned his head on the controls. "I PROMISE!"
The animated machine growled softly before beginning to plod forward, softly this time.
The pilot sighed. "Man, if there's one thing I learned from this journey, it's that you and Leena can sure hold a grudge." It had been, what, three days after he'd left when he'd called them? And she still tried to bite his head off? She always got over things at the Hover Cargo. But maybe that was because she always had the chance to torture him. Sleep deprivation should have counted though. Maybe it wasn't painful enough. It seemed to him that, at least when it came to revenge methods, the Liger and Leena were a match made in heaven.
"Hmm. I'm all about winning, but so is Leena. And you're a complete fireball like her, as I've just found out, so why wait around for me to show up when you had a pilot just like you hanging around cleaning your toes?"
His Zoid growled in response.
"Ah, yes, I understand. Except I don't understand Liger-talk." He pondered the question he'd posed, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "She's a good pilot, but too ammo happy. She would have gotten over that though, since you had none. Her father is the one that designed all your armors; I could never have done that if we weren't living with them. Hmmm."
He smirked as an epiphany struck, and half-stood in case the Liger decided to hurt him again. "Or did you not want a pretty girl as a pilot? Were you self-conscious? Frightened for your masculinity?"
The Liger roared. Thinking he'd gotten himself in trouble, the blonde yelped automatically, but after looking up, Bit noticed a city in the distance. A highway intersected it and branched off to the left and right—heading out beyond his sight. At first it seemed like a gigantic waste way out here in no-man's-land, but then things began to click into place. It was for transporting Zoids—a lot of them. And the giant dome in the middle wasn't out of randomness, it was the roof of the large planet-side Zoids headquarters. All the other buildings—or facilities or office buildings as he should call them now—radiated out of it in a 'all roads lead to Rome' type of way.
"Let's check it out, buddy."
Silently the team moved forward, white armor gleaming in the sunlight and most likely alerting the hidden cameras of their presence. No one attacked which Bit attributed to the recognizable Ultimate X. My sore thumbness is good in that respect, I guess.
"HALT" A booming voice echoed. He and the Liger Zero complied, looking side to side. Then the invisible loudspeaker continued, "OPEN YOUR COCKPIT"
Shrugging, he unfastened his seat straps and the Liger released the hatch for him. He stood up and shielded his eyes from the sun…and a giant Three-legged Metallic SPORE-LOOKING THING JUMPED ON HIM! "AUGH!"
After a few moments of the freaky machine whirring around him, it retreated to the dome, and a few seconds later what he had deemed 'The Wizard of Oz' spoke again.
"BIT CLOUD AND THE LIGER ZERO, WELCOME TO THE ZBC"
. . .
They arrived with the aura the Blitz team always exuded. One of chaos.
They had all piled into the jeep and probably looked much like clowns when extricating themselves. They earned a lot of stares that way.
But that was a curious trait of the Blitz—they were completely oblivious to the constant attention piled on them (they were pretty famous after all).
The marched up to the hospital's front desk, unified in their uniqueness, and demanded to see Laon. Apparently they either didn't know he was under lock and key or didn't care. The nurse practitioner gave them a strange glance.
"Well, um, only family—"
"The Backdraft might as well be our family," Jamie piped up, "we never seem to go very long without hearing from them."
She cleared her throat and gave a pointed look at a lounging cop who then followed them to the third floor. They greeted two security personnel standing like British sentries in front of a door at the end of the hall (where else would Laon be staying?) and walked in.
Immediately noticing a large window with a roof patio outside, Leena raised a slender eyebrow. "Don't they realize how easy it would be to slip away?"
A cough rumbled from the cot, "Don't give them any hints to my escape plan."
Laon lay on the bed swathed in bandages, a cast on his ankle and arm. Steve Toros approached the bedside cautiously. "Ol' buddy of mine, you're a lot worse than I expected."
He leaned over the head of his friend and listened to his ragged breathing. A moment of silence passed. Then the self-proclaimed rival grabbed his pillow and smacked Toros upside the head.
"Revenge is sweet my friend!" He then cackled maniacally. "Leena, dear, you're looking lovely today. What brings you to my humble abode?"
Jamie rolled his eyes. He turned to Brad who was probably just as annoyed, but found that he and Naomi were conspicuously missing. Probably off necking somewhere.
Leena pulled up a chair and sat next to the man. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life at the cost of your ship."
They looked at each other for a moment. (Awkwardly…)
"Uhm…thank you?"
He picked up her hand and lay his broken one atop. "Of course, sweet child." He continued to smile endearingly at her as he offered up his next scathing insult towards her father. "You're daughter is so righteous. Unlike you Toros. But I guess that's understandable. She looks so much like her mother that she must take after her."
The Doc crossed his arms indignantly. "Can't argue with that. Yet she's an S ranked pilot. And, since her mother wasn't really involved with Zoids, that must be my influence."
It was the shot heard 'round the world. There was no other choice but to engage in an all-out war.
Leena spied Jamie inching towards the doorway. Stuck on her chair by the bedside, she felt trapped between the two warring factions. "Jamie, don't you leave me here," she mouthed.
The young boy edged further, grey eyes gleaming. He grinned apologetically before disappearing altogether.
"Damn you to hell, Jamie. Damn. You. To. Hell."
. . .
He was forced to leave the Liger in the ZBC headquarters, and even if these were supposed to be the good guys, he still felt at odds about leaving the Liger to possibly be poked and prodded. That hadn't turned out well for himself last time.
An old guy, one of the chairmen he was told, led him briskly down a bone white hallway, silent and unchanging except for his funky mustache. He looked more like a wrestler than a chairmen, like a man in charge, like a man you definitely didn't want to get punched by.
Apparently he was being led to a boardroom or something…to meet all the head honchos…because they had something to tell him or ask him or whatever they'd said. As if he wanted to do that. But he was living spontaneously, so what the hell, right?
The hallway was smooth and white, like the Backdraft's had been smooth and gray. It was creepy. But at least there were pictures and plaques placed every couple of paces. Usually they were of old men or about old men. There were a few paintings that looked like they were chronicling a history. Altogether, though, Bit was bored out of his mind…and tired of jogging to keep up.
Five minutes later the blonde decided it was officially the longest hallway in existence. Or it was round and mustache man over here was pulling his leg. He took in the man's super fast pace and rigid pose. Hmmm, for some reason I don't peg him as the joking type.
Tiring of his own thoughts, Bit decided to try and strike up a conversation. "Sooo, who's this dude on the wall over here?"
His leader didn't even turn his head to look, as if he had the hallway memorized. "That was our first head chairman. He was given his spot after the war."
"War?"
"The war. Between the Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire. About 4000 years ago, I'd say."
"The ZBC has been around that long?"
"It wasn't quite the ZBC back then. We were more of a police force. We had to regulate remnant factions and wild Zoids."
He clammed up again. Stopped as if thinking about which direction to go. Then continued.
Wild Zoids. Tracing back to the memory of Leon's Red Liger he remembered the power of the wild Zoid. I wonder if they were all like that. "What happened to them? Why did the wild Zoids disappear?"
The chairmen titled his head over his shoulder and regarded him out of the corner of his eye. His lips pursed while he judged Bit.
"You look like a blabbermouth to me. But you've already been deemed fit by an Ultimate X, and who am I to question that?"
The old guy stopped walking again and deftly opened a heavy oak door in the wall to his right.
"For one, the ZBC had something to do with it. It was a long time ago, though. Nobody quite knows what we did or what happened, but I can tell you why."
He stepped into the boardroom and Bit followed after. Inside sat a large group of people arranged neatly around a long wooden table. Large screens adorned the walls and a 3-D map of the compound lay permanently in the center of the group.
The man at the end placed both hands firmly on the oak and stood calmly. With an obvious authority over the others he addressed Bit. "Hello pilot of the Ultimate X, and welcome to the ZBC. We would like to—"
A ringing klaxon overtook the room. Lights flashed red and the wall-screens came to life. The chair-people jumped to their feet in alarm and a loud murmuring filled the small space. The man that had led him down the hallway moved to tap away at the computers while Bit remained awkward and confused in the doorway.
"I'm guessing this isn't a disco party?"
Boss-man turned a level gaze to him and the room quieted. "Pilot, the ZBC implores your service."
"If you're talking about a battle, I'm always game."
"I'm talking about a battle."
. . .
"Wait, wait! Kirkland change that back!"
"Hey! Don't tackle me…cussin' Lineback…I'll switch it!"
Leena raised an eyebrow; those names sounded incredibly familiar. Their bickering mixed in with those of her elders, though, and she soon lost the point of both conversations.
Chatter chatter. Blah blah yaddha yaddha.
"Whoa! Look at the Liger Zero go!"
"WHAT!"
She jumped up, halting the conversation immediately. She grabbed the blue labcoat in her fist and hauled ass out of the room. After a seconds hesitation, she jumped back and wheeled out Layon's bed behind them. One of the guards spluttered angrily and she kicked him between the legs.
She just wasn't in the mood.
Kirkland, Lineback, and Omari lay sprawed in various states of broken-limbs and cheering at the TV as if they were at the Superbowl.
"What's going on?" Laon asked quizzically to his fellow patients.
"Not really sure. Cloud's fighting some Zoid at the ZBC. And it sounds like it's being stolen."
She and her father shared a glance before staring enthralled at the screen. The Liger Zero stared menacingly at a huge rollie pollie in the middle of a huge desert. The background held the ZBC headquarters, who was waving around large guns, but altogether being extremely useless. She had no idea how the news team was getting this footage.
"Who's bright idea was it to steal from the ZBC?" Leena queried. The big guns had impressed her. Of course.
"Why, a member of the new Backdraft, who else? I should call them the Undrafted actually." Laon said this all very matter-of-factly while fist pumping at the rolling pillbug on the screen.
"Undrafted?"
"The members that weren't on the list that the ZBC stole. Duh."
"You mean the list that me and Brad got. Mostly me." So this meant that the Backdraft hadn't been defeated? Even though the main leaders were imprisoned? Who was in charge? Altail? Vega?
Her father perked up as one of his few lightbulbs lit up. "How do you know so much of this stuff?"
Laon shifted uneasily. "Uh, because I'm better than you?" Dr. Toros raised his eyebrows. "Hmmm. I definitely shouldn't have said anything."
"You're still with them! I can't believe you! Just too—" He spluttered in shock.
"I guess this is my opportune moment." Laon threw off his bedsheet and leaped out of bed while discarding the sling holding his arm and his excess bandages. He threw the rest of his bed at the window. Leaping outside he shouted a renewal for his vengeance towards Toros.
They all blinked after him.
"Should we, er…"
"Holy ramen!"
Her head snapped back to the screen. What kind of lame addition was Laon to the baddies anyway?
. . .
Bit and the Liger stared down Polta in the Pillbug. It was a prototype created by the ZBC. And it was amazing. And incredibly creepy. It was a huge rollie pollie with creepy round eyes and tons of legs, and though unpainted, masterfully blended into itself so that it was hard to tell one segment from the other.
He took a deep breath and let it out in unison with the Liger's rumbling growl, running his fingers over the controls and letting their minds mold together. The rollie pollie like Zoid seemed to size him up, then, in a sudden maneuver, swiveled around and tried to scuttle away.
Well, after being specifically asked by the ZBC to save the prototype of their new and most advanced Zoid, he wasn't about to let it go, but damn was that thing fast.
Pushing the accelerator to the max, he curved in a tight arc and brought the strike lazer claw down on one of the many legs. The giant insect fell on its side as a shower of sparks burst from the lost socket.
"We are just too good, ain't we buddy?" The Zoid roared in agreement. As Bit laughed, however, the tiny vid-screen came to life and the blue-haired Polta scowled at him through the dissipating static.
"Bit Cloud and the Liger, always lovely to see you."
"Do I detect a note of sarcasm?"
"I should've known you and your cockiness would be here to ruin everything per usual."
"You should know a lot more than that, like the finer points of surrendering."
"You're right, I should learn something as useful as that, why don't you give me an example?"
"Over my dead body."
The former Backdraft pilot grinned—a smug smile mixed with a masked face that altogether could even be described as frightening.
"We would be alright with that."
His Zoid tucked into itself and spun against the feet of the Liger, causing the two of them to lose precious seconds towards keeping their balance while the insect rolled out of their reach.
"Did he say 'we'?"
There was no more time for talking. Even for thinking. Polta had somehow collapsed the Zoid into a sphere probably a third of its original size, and it was spinning towards him like the bowling ball of a pro. The Liger was forced to take its own initiative and dive out of the way seconds before the hunk of metal squashed them into scraps.
They spent the next few minutes running like cats in the rain; it was completely degrading. Luckily nobody could hear him yelping in fright every time the Ball of Doom barely missed their noses by a hair. He really needed a plan.
He needed the Jager.
He couldn't dodge the damn thing, so at the moment he was living on borrowed time. He wished he at least had the Schneider so he could tear it to pieces, but he couldn't do that either. The only thing left to do was face it head on and hope he didn't get squashed like a fly.
"Let's do this."
The next time the insect started curving around to come back at them, he and the Liger set up a stance directly in its path. With every heartbeat the pair crouched lower and the pillbug rolled through the rapidly decreasing distance between. Adrenaline pounded in his veins, and as if time had slowed, he was acutely aware of the setting sun on the shiny exterior of the enemy Zoid and the sand spraying out from underneath it.
"The white's of their eyes, Liger."
Like ice they stood until the grey of the bug filled out their field of vision, frozen until the thing grazed the Liger's snout. Then, swift, he ducked the lion's head down and they flung it, still spinning, high into the air. A bright light flashed and left them momentarily blinded, then a red laser collided with the Zoid midair. The ZBC must have finally been able to get a good angle for a shot.
A half second later Polta's insect crashed on top of them and neither the Liger nor its pilot knew any more.
. . .
"Did you see that laser beam? Damn was that sweet or what?" The fiery redhead swiveled around to give Omari a high-five out of excitement and mostly was able to ignore his wince of pain.
"It's getting up!"
For a moment it was as if they were watching a painting, then, slowly, but definitely surely, the Pillbug flopped onto its side, then stood on shaky legs. The Liger lay sprawled on the ground in front of it. The ZBC probably didn't want to risk a shot with the Liger so close, and so the Undrafted member piloting the stolen Zoid had all the time in the world to shake his head and get his bearings.
"C'mon, Bit, get up."
The rollie pollie curled in on itself once again, sat in the sphere a moment, then raced off at a speed matched only by lightning.
The hospital room they were in could just as well have depicted a painting. Absolutely nothing moved. Only the slight part of Leena's lips gave away that she had said anything at all.
After an eternity, the glass chamber opened and they could see Bit's figure emerge. He stood with his arms crossed and staring off in the direction the Pillbug had gone. Leena would have bet he had that particular thinking-frown on his face.
Then the TV blinked off.
"Wha—?" She turned to see her father holding the remote and looking grim.
"He's fine. That's what matters." He gave her that solemn look he sometimes got. "Let's find Jamie and the others and head back to the base."
She gave the blank screen one last fleeting look, then stood up. He was right, there were things that they needed to talk about, and probably prepare for. The Undrafted probably wouldn't treat them much better than the Backdraft had.
Hopefully Bit would call.
"Yeah, let's skedaddle. Nice to meet you guys again."
"Nice to meet you too, sweetcheeks."
. . .
Next time on Zoids:
"This is Leon. So… the Undrafted haven't been mentioned in the news and I'm starting to doubt Laon's sanity. But extra time doesn't mean a relaxing day with the Blitz, of course not. It turns out Naomi is just as fiery as my sister if she wants to be. Must be something to do with redheads. Next time on Zoids, the doubles battle—transforming into a team. This is the biggest catfight you'll ever see! Ready! Fight!"
So we're starting to see the baddies aren't we? Is Undrafted too annoying a name? It is three syllables, which is annoying to read, I've gotten sick of it, but then again that might just be because I created it. I wanted a word different from Backdraft. So. Anyways. My favorite part is when the spore thing jumps on Bit. Oh Man, it gets me every time. Also, Laon hitting Doc in the face with a pillow, it seems like something he would do to me.
Also, did you like the battle? Too long? It did take up most of the chapter, but that's because I need the plot to start rolling (was that a pun?). We're still in the introductory phase of the season, but be prepared for a lot of Undrafted stuff in the future.
Disclaimer: I do not own NC0. I mostly own the idea of the Pillbug.
Reviews: They had a second season planned? Arg, I wish they'd made it. And thanks for the information on possible Zoids to use in battles. I was able to use another reviewer's request while sketching out Ch. 14 earlier this month. You guys have made the battles more variable, I love it!
Inquires? Want to see more of Brad? Want to see less of someone else? What do you think of the Pillbug?