Chapter 7: Everything Has a Price

The Liger had placed its giant paw on the deputy's squad car crushing it down the middle. Rio got out the car and ran to her Zoid. Liger immediately bowed down and opened the cabin allowing Rio in.

Marston didn't react too surprised when he saw the Liger. He briefly turned to us and then back at the Liger.

"Go figure." He mumbled. I was confused at what he meant exactly. Leon was focused on the Liger and my vision had become blurry from the pain. We failed to notice Marston swiftly sneak behind us and before long; he was aiming his gun at Leon's head.

"Alright, nobody try anything funny or someone loses their head tonight." I looked up and my heart raced. Weren't cops supposed to be the good guys? I would assume his role in this would be to protect us from, at least to him, was an enormous, steel lion.

I managed to crawl away trying to ignore the pain that seemed to worsen by the minute. Naomi got out of the car to help me get up. I looked at the Liger then at Leon. Marston was either mad or knew more than we thought. Norris, who had run away screaming from Liger, came out from behind Marston's squad car and went to our side.

"Norris, call Enzo. Tell him it's here!" He ordered his deputy who followed his orders and immediately dialed a number on his phone.

"We found it, Enzo!" He yelled into the phone.

"You have no idea what is going on, boy" He was looking at me, his gun still poised. "Enzo, he paid me real well to turn you in when you came. I knew this was a Zoid since that night but after informing Enzo, he warned me to keep away until he made sure it was someone from his organization, the Backdraft Group. Now that I have you, all Enzo has to do is come and collect you and I won't have to worry about you any longer."

"So you never called Jimmy that night?" Leon asked. I knew he was confused about all this.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but it turned out great, I got a nice excuse to put you away a good while."

Rio opened her cabin and jumped down. How in the world could she jump those heights without a hint of effort? I was amazed by her.

"So," She started as Liger raised his paw off the crushed squad car. The sound of metal scraping metal irked our ears for a moment. "Enzo is part of the Backdraft Group and you called him to come get us?"

Marston grinned like a child with a new toy. "That's right, lady. I got my money, my town is clean and I can throw this loser in the pothole for a while as well. I know there is a war in this planet in our own backyards and perhaps I'm siding with the wrong side, but there are always wars here. One is no different than the other; the important part to me is getting a piece of the pie. Let me tell you, it's a nice piece, too."

A loud thump sounded not too far. I knew for sure it was another Zoid. A couple of seconds later it was closer. Then it finally revealed itself from behind the woods.

"Hello, Enzo!" Yelled Marston as the giant Zoid beamed its bright lights down at us.

Naomi and I tried to shield our eyes to better see but it was useless. All I could see was a giant dark figure. The lights were too bright.

"Leave us, sheriff. Your work is done. I'll take it from here. I'll make sure you're compensated." The Zoid boomed through its external speaker.

Marston bowed a couple of times wanting to seem a humble man, which he clearly wasn't. He threw Leon at Norris who cuffed him once more.

"Extra tight this time so you don't escape, Witch Doctor." Norris said as he placed Leon in cuffs.

I couldn't tell if Marston had gone mad or if he truly was glad this was happening. To me, he was a coward only in it for himself. He could give a damn about Moon Valley being destroyed by these giant monsters.

"You two stay out of trouble." He said sarcastically to Naomi and Me.

He and Norris got in the car after putting Leon in the backseat. They began shooting towards the sky as the Crown Victoria burned rubber. To me, they looked like a couple of outlaws more than lawmen at that moment. I knew I had to get Leon out of this mess. A minute or so later the lights from the new Zoid dimmed and someone jumped down.

Naomi held me close to her; I felt my pain ease a little by having her near. Rio was also next to us now.

"Is it really you, Enzo?" Rio asked squinting to see the persons face. I assumed by the name it was a man.

Sure enough, the guy seemed to be around our age as well as he came into view. He had wild looking, blond hair and big, blue eyes. His hands were buried in the pockets of an old, red blazer.

"Yeah, it's me, Rio."

The girl's eyes lit up and she rushed into his arms. Naomi and I looked at each other and then at the two pilots.

"I'm confused." I told Naomi who hushed me and motioned for me to listen instead.

"I thought you were declassified from the mission after the incident at Red Valley?" She playfully punched him before turning to us.

"I'm sorry, guys. This is my cousin, Enzo Cloud."

Enzo neared us and shook our hands. "A pleasure to meet you all; I'm glad you kept Rio safe." He patted her on the head as you would a young child.

"Enzo!" She shook him off and turned towards the new Zoid. "Is this Liger Zero?"

Enzo turned back to his machine.

"A very modern version of him; he has withheld numerous mechanical upgrades you might not recognize him anymore. He still has his Organoid System. We just have had to replace his original equipment with more modern parts to keep up with the war. He now has a more resistant chassis and his boosters have been upgraded as well. Not to forget the extra support for his legs. These are all permanent upgrades so his CAS system is not compatible, at least not yet."

Naomi and I just listened in amazement as they continued talking about all the equipment this machine had. If Rio's Liger was magnificent, this was the cream of the crop.

"There is something really amazing that I just had to have installed on him." He turned to us. "You guys should look as well." We turned to each other and scurried over to him like rats looking for shelter.

"You see those shoulder pads and the anchor claws behind his legs?" He asked us, even if it was only Rio who could relate.

"A CPC? No way!" Enzo smiled at her while nodding. I felt ignorant and just smiled along with Rio.

"The very first Liger with a Charged Particle Cannon; I'll admit it was no easy feat to accomplish but we made it possible. That is why I added more body support like the anchor claws and even replaced part of his back line with charging panels. The shoulder pads open and charge and since it is not as powerful as the original CPC, it charges quicker."

Rio's excitement had been transformed to amazement.

"Enzo, I'm sure you're dad would've been proud."

The new guy frowned and looked at the stars. "I know he's alive somewhere on Zi. I can feel it."

I turned to Naomi and raised my eyebrows. Well, this was it I supposed. Everything we had planned was now over with. Rio would go with Enzo and we would continue with our regular normal lives while a war was fought behind our backs.

I took the first step to begin our parting process.

"Well, um…it's been good meeting you guys. I guess you two will take it from here. We have to go; I need to treat my shoulder, so…you take care, okay."

Both pilots turned to us and then Enzo turned to Rio.

"I know you had a short encounter with BDG earlier, but did you tell them?"

Rio looked away. "I didn't know if it was up to me. I thought you were in charge of that."

Enzo placed his hand on her shoulder making her turn back around.

"Don't worry. We'll be there for them." He looked into her eyes and then walked away to face us.

"Naomi Obscura; Pilot ID 77584." He pulled from his pocket a small handheld device the size of a pack of playing cards that had a small glass screen over it. At first, I thought it was a smart phone but I noticed some things were different. He took Naomi's hand and the device wrapped itself around her wrist making Naomi shriek.

"Do not worry, it's harmless. It's your Pilot ID decoder. It also keeps up with your vital signs while in battle."

I was confused about the whole thing, from the words he said; apparently Naomi was a pilot, too. What's next, we get our own Zoids?

I had to think twice about my last thought.

"Now you," he turned to me and pulled another identical device. "Thomas Stoller; Pilot ID 77581."

"Before I ask what this is all about and hand over my hand, I think I'm the wrong guy. My name is Thomas Stone, not Stoeller."

I ran my hand through my dark hair. My eyes switching from Enzo to Rio back to Enzo. I had a gut feeling I was about to be told something unexpected.

"You're the son of Captain Stigma Stoller and Pierce Stoller."

I backed away, even from Naomi. What were these people talking about? I know who my parents were and they did not have those names.

"My father was Sean Stone and my mother was Penny Stone."

Both of the pilots looked at each other and smiled. Enzo reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a small envelope.

"If this doesn't make you believe, then there is nothing else I can do to convince you."

I hesitated to take the envelope but finally did. I slowly opened it as if expecting a spider to jump out. My hands were shaking. I didn't know if it was the pain in my shoulder or the nerves I had. What if it was true? What if my true parents were not who I knew?

I finally took out a photograph and immediately fell to my knees. In it, were my parents and behind them someone who looked like Enzo and another guy, he looked younger than the rest but somehow resembled Naomi.

My mother was pregnant in the picture. She looked identical to the image except she had long aqua colored hair, different from the black hair she had in my memory. My dad had the same serious expression he always had. I felt tears were already running down my cheeks but didn't care. I was both sad and happy; I now had a lead as to what exactly happened to them.

"Thomas Stoller; Pilot ID 77581." Enzo repeated. I looked up at Enzo who was waiting for my hand. I reached forward and the device clicked as it snapped on my wrist. In difference to Naomi, when the Pilot decoder attached I felt a tingle in my hair. After a couple of seconds, I picked up a piece of mirror from the crushed car and noticed my hair was now the same color as my mother's; aqua.

Naomi was awestruck. I could only imagine how my face looked.

"You two are now part of the Guardian Force."

A/N: I really don't like to write inside the story too much, but I just want to let readers know that chapters are taking longer because I have decided to go into 1800+ words chapters instead of the shorter ones around 800-1200 words.

PS- Any feedback is appreciated; I would love to hear what you guys think about the story so far! ^_^

Thanks for reading!

~ Writer EX