VIII

Sinister Duet

8章:不吉なデュエット


The Geno Saurers advanced, closing the gap between themselves and the Blitz Team's base. The Psycho Geno Saurer lowered its back mounted cannon, aimed, and fired. Elongated ovals of burning energy exploded into the side of the base. Van weaved through the falling glass and sizzled metal. He slid into the hanger, glaring at the Geno Saurers. Van gulped. He knew who owned those Geno Saurers. He just couldn't believe Raven tracked him so quickly. It was no surprise, though. Raven was a better hunter than professionals.

However, the fact that Reese accompanied him worried Van. Van clinched his fist. He didn't know why Raven was here, but he surely didn't want to find out. Bit pulled himself up off the floor and sprinted to Van's side. He looked over his shoulders. Bit choked. He had never seen Zoids like these before. Though they were present in the Royal Cup, Bit was busy fighting Leon. The very appearances of the Zoids were fierce. They didn't seem like pushovers. Bit squinted his eyes, more so confused.

"Van, what are those Zoids?" Bit asked.

"Geno Saurers," Van answered. "And before you ask, they're not easy to fight."

"Is there any reason why they're attacking us?" Bit said.

"Yeah," Van nodded. "Me."

"You?" Bit inquired. "Does someone have a hit out on you?

"No, well, probably," Van rendered. "Remember that warrior named Raven?"

"Yeah, the bruiser," Bit nodded.

"He's in one of them," Van sighed.

Bit drifted off into a blank stare. It occurred to Bit that this Raven must have been here for Van. If that was the case, then they had a fight on their hands. Bit relaxed his body.

"Showtime," Bit smirked.

Bit stepped away from the doorway and faced Toros, "Doc, prepare for Schneider transformation." Toros smiled.

"I'm on it." Dr. Toros pulled himself onto his feet and rushed for the Hover Cargo.

Van slid over to Irvine, grabbing him by his collar. "Irvine, we gotta hold 'em off," Van shouted.

"Who's attacking us?" Irvine demanded.

"Raven and Reese," Van feared.

Irvine made an explosive sigh. As talented as Irvine was as a pilot, he wasn't in Raven's league. But if it meant keeping his friends from harm, then so be it. Van jumped into the cockpit of his newly revived Blade Liger. The orange visor closed over him. Van clicked the restraints over his chest.

"Zeke, you stay here. I can fight Raven alone," Van said.

Zeke grumbled, but nodded in agreement.

The Blade Liger roared and thundered from the hanger. Irvine reluctantly climbed into the Lightning Saix. Motion caught his eyes. He turned, seeing a long haired teen climbing into a very impressing Fox-type Zoid.

"What do you think you're doing?" Irvine shouted out to him.

Brad turned to face Irvine. "To make sure I don't have to come out of my pocket with base repairs. That's what I'm doin'," Brad replied, closing the Shadow Fox's cockpit over himself.

Irvine snorted and lunged the Saix after the Blade Liger. As the Shadow Fox joined the Saix, Leena skidded into the base. She sprinted toward her Gun Sniper. Toros came out into the hanger, shouting after her, saying,

"Leena, come back this instant. It's too dangerous!"

"Dangerous?" Leena laughed. "I'm dangerous."

Leena climbed into the Gun Sniper, strapped the restraints over her, and forced her Gun Sniper into a rapid sprint.


At a distance, the Geno Saurer's stopped, watching the group of Zoids charge at them. Reese keyed her COM,

"None of these Zoids look like the one we're after."

"I know," Raven said, "but I see a couple I recognize." Raven smirked as he gazed at the Blade Liger and Lightning Saix. "Should have known he'd team up with the local idiots," Raven added. Raven unfolded onto Reese's central screen. "Do whatever you want, Reese, but leave Van to me."

Reese nodded in agreement. Raven surged the Geno Saurer forward. Shadow amped the Geno, delivering more power from his fused state. Van locked his eyes onto Raven's Geno Saurer. He wasn't going to lose this time. He couldn't. Wouldn't. Van opened onto Raven's screen.

"You found me. Your tracking skills have improved, Raven," Van said.

Raven blew air through his nose. "I'm just as surprised to see you here, Van. However, I'm not here for you."

"Then whom?" Van asked.

"The Liger Zero," Raven said. "Some Zoid the Backdraft is after. Pretty boring assignment, but hey, there's nothing else to do around here."

"Backdraft? I guess a mentally sick fool like you needs to join an evil organization, right?" Van hissed.

Raven coughed, unnerved. "Well, Van, at least while I'm here, I might as well kill two warriors while I'm at it: you and this Bit Cloud. Say goodnight, Van. You're not waking up this time. I'm puttin' you down for good!"

Raven guided the Geno Saurer, powering it toward the blue Blade Liger. The Geno extended one of its cable-like claws. The Blade Liger evaded, swinging around to Raven's exposed right flank. Raven skills took over: he motioned the controls, bringing the Geno's powerful tail around. The Geno Saurer's tail collided with the Blade Liger's face. The Blade Liger flipped inverted, landing onto its metal abdomen. Van lunged the Blade Liger to its feet, sprinted toward the Geno Saurer, and extended its twin laser blades. Raven powered the Geno's thrusters in reverse. The Geno backed away and caught the incoming blade attack. Van smirked. The Blade Liger swung around, gripping its powerful paw onto the Geno's neck. Van pinned Raven to the ground, keeping high pressure.

"Is that all you can do?" Raven smirked.

The Geno's back mounted cannon turned, aimed at the Blade Liger's chest, and fired. Van cringed as the Blade Liger his blown back onto its back. Raven returned the Geno Saurer onto its two legs. He flexed his hands, pumping blood through his aching fingers. The Geno Saurer overshadowed the downed Blade Liger. Raven squinted his at the pathetic Zoid.

"Down already? Where's the legendary Van Flyheight now?"

"He's out at the moment, but why don't you take a message," Bit said as the Schneider collided with the Geno Saurer.

Raven shook his head. "Who the—" Raven squinted his eyes, scrutinizing the orange-armed Zoid before him. He knew this Zoid. Yes, it was one of the various armors of the Liger Zero. The Geno Saurer pulled itself up off the ground, locked eyes with the Schneider, and growled.

"I don't what you're here for, but I'm going to make sure you don't get it," Bit said. "I'm here for the Liger Zero. The Backdraft has expressed interest in your particular cereal box Zoid," Raven informed.

"Backdraft? They disbanded after the Royal Cup," Bit said.

"Not to my knowledge. Now, this would go a lot easier if you just hand over the Zoid," Raven purposed.

"Not interested," Bit declined.

"You sure about that?" Raven questioned.

"Positive," Bit replied.

Raven shrugged. It would be a waste of time to bargain with this head-strong kid. No matter, Raven thought. He'd just defeat this punk.

Irvine spun the Saix around, sprinting toward the Psycho Geno Saurer's exposed aft, while Brad and the Shadow Fox charged for a frontal assault. Reese remained calm. She waited. When the Saix came in range, Reese spun the Psycho Geno around, clutching onto the Saix's right paw. The Shadow Fox leaped for the Geno, claws glowing. Reese tossed the Saix into the air, colliding both the Saix and Shadow Fox together. The Zoids bounced off of one another with a deep metallic sound. The Shadow bounced off the ground, rolled twice, and settled onto its side.

The Lightning Saix, however, crashed a solid sand dune, damaging a leg. Irvine moaned as a stream of blood trickled down the side of his face. Reese smirked as he forced mental images into Irvine's mind. Irvine screamed as the blue-haired Zoidian forced him to visualize blood bubbling from his abdomen. Reese's mind manipulation, however, vanished as her concentration was broken. A full eight-count missile strike pounded into the Psycho Geno Saurer's exposed side. She turned away from Irvine to face a Gun Sniper.

"Pick on someone your own gender," Leena snarled.

Reese blinked twice. "We're a little old for cat fights, aren't we?"

"Cat fight? First of all, there's no man involved. And second, with that haircut and dress fashion, a man wouldn't be fighting over you anyway," Leena insulted.

Reese angered—Leena struck a nerve. "You wanna play, little girl? Then let's play," Reese said as she activated the Psycho Geno Saurer's charged particle cannon.

A fixed base slammed onto the ground, holding Reese's Geno Saurer into place. The Psycho Geno straightened its body, opened its mouth, and extended a barrel. Lastly, vents along the tail opened. Charged particles formed into orb of energy at the tip of the barrel. Leena gulped. She didn't think her insults would trigger this girl to launch a charged particle cannon.

Leena was impressed—she was getting better at insulting people. The particle beam fired. Leena bolted, guiding the Gun Sniper away. The charged beam boiled away Leena's weasel unit, leaving only the four eight-count missile pods. The Gun Sniper spun to the ground, down, but not out. The Psycho Geno Saurer powered down. The charged particle cannon began to thin until nothing remained. Reese guided her Geno Saurer within five meters of Leena. Leena brought her weakened Gun Sniper to its feet. She wiped the blood from her bleeding eyebrow and smiled.

"I'm not finished yet," Leena challenged.

Reese shook her head with a smirk, "I envy your enthusiasm, but it won't save you."

Reese unleashed the Psycho Geno Saurer's expendable cable-claws. The claws dug into the Gun Sniper's armor, sending powerful volts of electricity through both the Zoid and Leena. Leena screamed, but managed to arm her last remaining missile pods. She waited for them to fire. Nothing happened. Dr. Toros could only watch on horror as his daughter's life was slipping away. He prepared to run out into the battlefield, but Jamie held him back. Reese released the cables, retracting them back into the Psycho Geno Saurer's stubby arms.

Leena lay motionless in the cockpit; her body twitched from the jolts that surged through her body. From a distance, Jamie yanked his personal PDA from his pocket and accessed Leena's vitals: she was alive, but the amount of electricity might have caused some nerve damaged. Leena came to her senses. Her head pounded. She tried to move, but the electricity briefly paralyzed her. The throbbing pain in her head worsened as a red light pulsed in her face. Leena focused on the red light. She read the console next to it, which read:

CRITICAL CONDITION; MISSILE PODS ARMED; RELEASERS JAMMED.

Leena's eyes widened. She knew exactly what those words meant. Leena remembered she had tried to fire her missiles while she was being fried; however, the electricity fired the missile's releasers. If the releasers were jammed, the missiles couldn't launch. And if armed missiles couldn't launch, they'd detonate inside they're pods. Both the Gun Sniper and Leena would be engulfed by un-fired missiles. Unable to move, Leena couldn't get free of her restraints; however, her vocal cords were in perfect condition. Leena activated her voice command. "Gun Sniper, free restraints," Leena commanded. Nothing happened.

The systems were unresponsive. Leena tried her COMs they were damaged, but not completely burned out. However, the COMs had only enough power for maybe 20 seconds of activity. Leena had to contact someone, but whom?

The Schneider and Geno Saurer collided. Both Zoids stumbled back from one another. Raven exhaled. Dr. Laon was right. This Bit Cloud wasn't a pushover, and neither was his Zoid. The kid's skill even rivaled Vans', if not better. Raven, however, wasn't going to lose. Raven surged into the Schneider, swiping it's feet from under it. Bit burned the Schneider's thrusters, keeping it balanced. The Schneider circled around, extended its twin laser blades, and sliced the Geno Saurer's head mounted weapon. Bit leaped the Schneider behind Raven, aimed, and fired four rounds from his shock cannon.

The Geno Saurer wailed and fell forward. Raven punched his console. He couldn't believe he was beaten by this amateur. Maybe he wasn't an amateur. The Count had told Raven not to under-estimate Bit. Raven ignored what the Count had said. He wasn't important. A shadowed figure overshadowed Raven's cockpit. Raven looked up the blue Blade Liger stood over him.

"Save me your heroic speech, Van," Raven spat.

"No speeches, Raven," Van replied. "Just tell this Backdraft Organization that whatever they have planned, we'll be there to stop them."

"That's good, Van," Raven groaned as he forced the weakened Geno Saurer to stand. "I'll make sure to deliver that message. But first, a little goodbye present..."

The Geno Saurer swung its tail, bashing the Blade Liger across its legs joints, damaging them. Bit lunged the Schneider, but Raven expected this. Raven drew back his Geno Saurer, caught the Schneider in mid-air, tossed it into the air, and hammered the Schneider with the Geno Saurer's tail. Raven put his hand over his eyes, watching the Schneider fly 15 meters, and then drop to the ground.

"That's a homer," Raven smirked.

Bit groaned heavily. His vision blurred. Adjacent, Leena eyed the Schneider. She raised her voice over the COM.

"Bit, can you hear me?" Leena shouted.

"Unfortunately," Bit replied with a grunt.

"Look, I don't have much time. Just get me outta here!" Leena demanded.

Bit could hear the distress in Leena's voice. He checked the status of Leena's Gun Sniper. The Zoid was in critical shape, but that wasn't what caught Bit's attention. Leena's missiles were armed. She didn't have much time before they blew. Bit rose the Schneider to its feet, sprinted toward the Gun Sniper, and aimed the shock cannon toward Leena's cockpit.

"Leena, get down!" Bit cautioned. Leena ducked low.

Bit fired.

The shocked cannon shattered through the Gun Sniper's cockpit. Leena tried to stand, but she couldn't move. The cockpit of the Schneider opened. His chest restrain rose over his head, freeing him. Without thinking, he jumped from the Schneider onto the Gun Sniper's damaged head. Bit climbed into the cockpit, seeing a fearful Leena.

Bit extended his hand, "Take my hand."

Leena didn't move.

"Are you trying to get us both killed? This was your plan, wasn't it?" Bit argued.

"I can't move," Leena strained.

Bit reached out, grabbing hold of Leena's restraints. The pods began to hiss. The missiles were preparing to fire. Bit unlocked the restraints, grabbed Leena by her shoulders, and pulled her forward. Bit strained to lift Leena. To be only 95 pounds, Leena wasn't light. With limited strength, Bit threw Leena into the Schneider. Bit jumped in after her. He pulled Leena's weak body over his, situated her onto his lap, and shouted to the Schneider.

"Liger, you mind getting us outta here? I can't exactly pilot with a quadriplegic in my lap."

"Shove it," Leena barked.

The Schneider closed the cockpit with a humorous growl and sprinted away from the critical Gun Sniper. As the Schneider pulled away, the missile exploded, engulfing the Gun Sniper. Leena clutched her eyes shut. She couldn't believe her precious Gun Sniper had been destroyed. More surprisingly, she couldn't believe Bit saved her life without any reservations. Bit could have easily ignored Leena's cry for help. Leena understood that Bit and herself weren't exactly close friends; more so distant friends. Leena, however, felt extremely awkward. She had never been this close to Bit.

It was odd. Her awkwardness soon faded into relaxation. She was comfortable. Leena shifted her eyes at Bit's profile. She had never noticed how attra...Leena forced herself to concentrate on something else. The feeling, however, wasn't mutual for Bit. He only concentrated on Raven. Van was right. Raven wasn't to be toyed with. And had the Backdraft returned? Bit didn't know for sure, but he wanted find out. Bit looked out across the battlefield: both Geno Saurer's held they're own. Van, Irvine, or Brad could defeat them. Bit just hoped they'd survive.

Brad dove the Shadow Fox around beside the Psycho Geno Saurer. Reese pulled back, allowing the Shadow Fox to miss. The Psycho Geno Saurer wrapped its powerful jaws around the Shadow Fox's tail, jerked back, and slammed it into the ground. Reese drew back the Geno's leg, unleashing a mighty kick. The Shadow Fox tumbled end over end before stopping. Brad grunted. No matter what he tried, it always seemed this pilot had the upper hand, like she could read his mind or something.

"Fight, little Fox, fight. You won't win this battle," a voice whispered in Brad's mind.

Brad searched for the voice. No activity had rippled across his COMs. Brad ignored the voice. He powered the Shadow Fox back toward the Psycho Geno Saurer. Suddenly, a figure flew from the Geno Saurer. Brad stopped, watching the figure. At a quick glance, the figure resembled a blue organoid; however, it was in no resemblance to Zeke. The organoid fused with the Shadow Fox. The controls were yanked from Brad's hands.

"Da heck," Brad said.

The Shadow Fox charged for the Lightning Saix. Irvine faced the incoming Zoid. He didn't pay it any mind; that is, until it delivered a powerful shoulder shoved. Irvine kept his Saix on four legs. The Fox slid behind Irvine, firing its Laser Vulcan gun into the Saix. Heated energy burned into the Saix's armor, boiling it away. Irvine maneuvered the Saix from the Shadow Fox. He mashed his COMs, shouting at Brad,

"We're on the same side. What's your problem?"

"It's not me!" Brad shouted in reply. "An organoid fused with my Zoid. It looked like Zeke, but it was blue."

Irvine pondered. There was only one organoid he could think of...

"Specula," Irvine muttered.

"Specu...what?" Brad said.

"Specula," Irvine clarified. "It's a psychic-type organoid. She's taken control over your Zoid."

"What do I do?" Brad asked.

"Fight against her until she ejects," Irvine suggested.

Brad heeded Irvine's words. He grabbed onto the controls, trying to regain control over the Shadow Fox. Specula fought back; she jerked the Shadow Fox, stressing its joints. Brad continued to hold on, fighting for control. Brad didn't know how much power this organoid had, but he refused to lose against a machine.

Raven's Geno Saurer lowered its head, head butting the Blade Liger in it's chest. Van shook inside the cockpit, but held the Blade Liger upright. The Blade Liger roared. Sections of armor raised along the Blade Liger's head. An energy shield formed. Van charged for Raven. Raven activated the Geno Saurer's thrusters, strafing it to the right. Van jerked the controls. The Blade Liger leaped right. Van rammed the energy shield into the Geno Saurer. The Geno Saurer flew back ten meters, bounced off the sand stone, and crashed into the ground.

Shadow rose from the core of the Geno Saurer, hovered across the ground, and collapsed. Raven sat up, eyeing Shadow. Shadow had been fused with the Geno Saurer beyond his usual limit of 90 seconds. He was burnt out. Raven couldn't understand how Van had improved so greatly in skill without his organoid. Was it luck? No, Raven didn't believe in luck. Van had improved. He was now becoming a worthy adversary. Critical systems flickered across the Geno Saurer's console. His Zoid couldn't fight anymore. Van sat up straight as he heard clapping over his COMs. Raven's image flickered beside Van.

"I'm impressed, Van," Raven admitted. "You truly have become a warrior worth fighting."

"Does that mean you'll surrender?" Van supposed.

Raven smiled, but it quickly faded. "No," Raven bluntly stated. "I don't surrender. And certainly not to people like you."

"People like me? What's that supposed to mean?" Van demanded.

"You heroes," Raven stated. "The people who always seem to want justice. People like you, Van. You always think you can change others. What makes you think I changed, huh? Because I helped you defeated some Deathsaurer? No, you got it twisted, Van. Why do you want me to change so badly, huh?"

"I just..." Van paused with a sigh. "...I just thought things would be different, Raven, that's all."

Raven shrugged, "Sorry to disappoint."

The damaged Geno Saurer struggled to its feet, spitting sparks from its joints. Shadow stood up from the ground, mustered up the last of his strength, and flew onto the Geno Saurer's back. The Geno Saurer walked past the Blade Liger, posing no harm.

"Reese, playtime is over. We're leaving," Raven said.

"The Count isn't going to like this, Raven," Reese replied.

"Screw the Count," Raven said. "The Backdraft will do without."

Reese groaned as he forced herself from combat. Specular blasted the Shadow Fox, releasing her grip. Brad relaxed his burning arms, thankful the organoid released the Shadow Fox. Bit watched from a distance. He glared at the retreating Geno Saurers. Bit didn't question Raven's motives. Raven stopped his Geno Saurer, and faced it toward the Blade Liger.

"This isn't over, Van," Raven promised.

Van inhaled, straightening his posture. "I know. I'll be waiting, then, Raven."

Raven turned the Geno Saurer away, eventually fading away into the desert winds.