Episode Ten
Battle of the Bandits—A Taste of War
"A-giving orders to his men, I guess there was a million."
"I think we've found it, boss!"
Lady Fuma swiveled her head and her brunette hair fluttered around her shoulders. Her eyes were wide with a trace of excitement, but she walked slowly to lean over a man sitting at a computer. "Have you, Jubon?"
He pointed at a blip on the screen then enlarged it after a few seconds typing. "The radio waves you were having us send all over the Royal Cup battlefields have finally turned up these pieces." The screen shifted to show a Zoidian leg. "Koga's matched them up with a few pieces of that Zoid you said you were creating."
Her painted lips curved into a smile. "Could you show me the graphic of those radio images again?" She stood straight and a rotating image of a partial breastplate and claws appeared in front of her. "Perfect."
A little while later she entered a lounge with Ehga where her two other team members sat waiting for her. "You do know you're supposed to stand when your leader walks into the room?"
"My greatest apologies, oh mighty leader, but my third leg is a little sore." Negola smirked from his reclining position on a couch. She gave him a soft slap and ruffled his blue hair.
Ehga let out a disdainful huff while pulling off his green jacket and running a hand threw his messy mohawk.
Negola laughed at him and shrugged. "Hey, I can't help it that chicks dig my battle scars." He may joke about it, but they were far from sexy in Fuma's opinion. Any critical eye could see that the scars crisscrossing his body were just one horrible reminder after another of when Vega had hit them with the Charged Particle Cannon and the glass of his cockpit had exploded inwards.
Ehga hadn't fared much better. The right side of his body had caught fire in the explosion, and burn marks discolored his skin grotesquely. "I thought you brought us here for a mission." He said, rubbing his hands together. "Not for small talk."
"Well, would you rather go back to sneaking around gathering criminals for my army?" She stared him down. "So don't get snappy." Fluidly she slid into a seat near the once-tallest member of their group. The stump of a leg he was left with rested unmoving in the wheelchair he sat in. "Koga here has found me more missing pieces to my Zoid, haven't you Koga?" She smiled at him and he nodded.
"Unfortunately, re-con missions have found a few Zoid teams lingering around the area. One of them is the Blitz team."
She pursed her lips. "Of course things would run awry already." She crossed her legs in thought. "Whatever the case, the most important thing is that I get those parts. So you're going to avoid a battle." She pointed her gaze at Ehga and he grumbled. "I don't want to wait long though."
"Couldn't we just scare 'em off while you grab the parts or somethin'?"
"That, idiot, denotes a battle."
Ehga sneered. "What, scared?" In a flash she was up and had fisted a handful of his collar.
"Are we not the Fuma Team anymore? Don't I have a priority to keep you three safe?" Ehga kept the slight scowl on his face, but did turn his eyes down and away from her. She grabbed his face and yanked it so he had to look at her, then lifted up the hem of her shirt so they could all plainly see the state her abdomen would permanently be in. "Ultimate X's and their pilots think they're so damn great and powerful, don't they? Don't you want to knock them down a fucking peg? If you had any sense you would know that this is the only way we can. With this Zoid."
She stepped back and looked at them all. Pitiful. They were pathetic compared to their former cohesiveness; their former pride lay rotting wherever Koga's leg had shriveled and died. "The last Ultimate X and Bit Cloud are going to suffer. Don't you want to make him weep for mercy? Power and glory will be ours again!" She waited for the affirmation in their eyes - that flicker feeding off of their need for revenge. "So, take the Neo Warsharks and get. me. those. PARTS!"
. . .
Kirkland turned right, and then swiveled left, hitting the boosters and panting heavily. I think I'm going to make it this time! His brown hair usually got spikier when sweaty, and now the two large points seemed to stand higher. Grinning, he had just enough time to widen his eyes while a shadow passed in front of his Zabrefang before he was slammed onto the ground.
"Too bad, so sad, Fluffy!" Cheered Bit from his position above him. The Jager stepped back and roared.
"Awesome job you three. You've made it farther than ever before." Leon smiled warmly from his position in the untouched Red Liger. He had been leading them through the maze of rocks, attempting to teach them how to better control their Zoids.
Omari's pale face popped up on their vidscreen, groaning. "I crashed again didn't I?"
Before anyone had a chance to respond, Jamie hailed them from the base. "Bit, Leon? I've found something weird and I just want to give you a heads up. Remember how we were experiencing those random blips on the radio and I thought it was malfunctioning? Well it turns out it's not. There's definitely three fairly stationary Zoids just north of here."
The Ultimate X pilot leaped up onto a tall rock with the Liger Zero and glanced around. "There's nothing around here, Jamie. It's clear for miles."
"That's exactly my point." There was a pause, as if the younger boy was hesitating. "I think they're Warsharks." A stillness settled over them all. One of those moments where you held onto those last vestiges of calm, knowing that the second you let go the storm would hit. Three Warsharks wouldn't be sneaking around unless they were Fuma's. And the Fuma team wouldn't be around unless the Undrafted was around. And from recent experience, the Undrafted were never around for tea and crumpets.
"We have to see what they're doing." Bit decided, leaping down to the ground. "Send me the map, Jamie."
"That sounds dangerous." Lineback said, pulling at his short black hair nervously. "If they're leaving us alone, shouldn't we leave them alone?"
His fellow Liger pilot frowned. "We shouldn't go picking fights, Bit. It isn't honorable."
Bit shot him an icy glare and the tension crackled. "They're up to something, and it isn't good. I'm not going to let them get away with it." He swerved the rest of the way out of the boulders. "You don't have to come if you don't want to." The Jager's claws dug into the sand, and his booster fired, sending him down into the desert.
"Hothead." Leon muttered before taking off after him, adjusting his shoulder armor. "Don't be ridiculous, of course I'm going with you."
The three tiger type Zoids crawled together and had a pow-wow amidst the maze. "Okay, men," Kirkland started off, "we could run scared and save our skins like we usually do. But this is a time for heroes! Are we going to let Leon and Bit suffer at the hands of the enemy?" His teammates stared blankly at him, so he answered himself. "No! We are the mighty Zabre Fangs! Protectors of the weak and feared by the strong! Here us roar!" His Zabrefang let out a mostly menacing growl, slightly failing in frightening levels because of the sparks that flew out of his Zoid afterwards. "Charge!"
He ran into the desert, following the dust clouds left by the red and blue Ligers. Omari and Lineback shared a glance, shrugged, and hurried after him, yelling.
"Where do you think you three are going!" Squealed Jamie, mashing on the comm-link. "You're going to get yourselves killed!" He hung his head, sighing mournfully. "Why can't anyone just listen to me?"
. . .
The two Ligers crouched on the edge of a former battlefield. In a large area, the ground looked dead, and a huge crater opened up beneath them. The remnants of something powerful.
Bit Cloud's heart thumped faster with the thrill of a battle, or fear, (hopefully it was just adrenaline), because, even though it was impossible, half of him expected (perhaps wanted?) the Berserk Fury to crest the hill and challenge him.
The Tigers team leapt over their heads, landing on the soft dirt. "So the enemy's somewhere around here, eh?" Kirkland said, cracking his knuckles.
"No!" Bit cried, eyes widening.
"Get off the ground!" Leon shouted. It was then Kirkland noticed that the Ligers stood on a thin sheet of rock, however, when he made to get himself to safety, spikes rose out of the ground and ripped through the front feet of his Zoid. He fell to the ground sparking.
"Move!" He yelled to his remaining teammates, but to no avail. They were quickly dispatched as well, with a shot in the neck and a torpedo to the stomach.
"Nyx." Bit cursed, unable to do anything fast enough.
"At least we know there's at least three Neo Warsharks." Leon added, trying to remain optimistic.
"Ehga, Koga, and Negola. Am I right?" He asked into the void, hoping to get a response. Ehga was quick to answer.
"So honored you remember us, Ultimate X." He sneered.
"We aren't looking for a fight." Leon ventured, "We're just wondering why you're here."
"Why don't you get your nose out of our business?" Negola replied, inching his Zoids head above the surface so they could get a good look at the sonic cannon mounted in its mouth. Sand spilled from the Warshark's teeth and he gnashed them menacingly.
"You made it our business the first time you ever attacked us. And you just froze three innocent Zoids." Bit grimaced. "Explain yourselves."
"The sharks are hungry," the scarred man growled, "and it's feeding time." He sunk back into the dirt, purposefully leaving the fin-like spikes above ground level for a few extra seconds so the two pilots could watch the beginning of the slither towards them.
"I think it's time for Plan Ehga!" Cackled the aforementioned Fuma team pilot. "Koga, you know what to do."
The stoic man neglected to return a comment, but he did turn his back on the battle and begin to swim off.
Above ground it was quiet, and Bit and Leon kept their guard up while scanning the field in front of them. Wait..."They're beside us!" Yelled Bit, and sure enough Negola and Ehga had leapt up on either side of them, their Warsharks letting out a fishlike shriek. Simultaneously triggering their beam cannons, they forced the Ligers to dodge off of the safe rock and onto the ground surrounding them.
Negola quickly dived back into the ground, but Ehga's shot had actually propelled him higher into the air, giving him enough time to charge another shot from his sonic cannon. "He's going to push us to right where he wants us." Spoke Leon, trying to get his bearings before he dodged straight into the sure-to-be waiting mouth of Negola.
Instead, the blue-haired man's shark's jaws closed around the Liger Zero's leg and pulled it halfway into the ground. The Ultimate X howled and Ehga let off the shot straight for the cockpit.
Then, the shooting started. At first it was hard to tell where it was coming from, the radio crackled with it and sand flew up into the air. However, it settled quickly and Ehga's nose could be seen sparking before he spiraled back underground, and when Bit looked down he could just see the top of Negola's Warshark gripping onto him. Letting out a battle cry, he plunged the Liger's mouth after it, and was able to rip off the torpedo mount before it had swum away. Only belatedly he noticed that the sonic cannon had grazed the Liger's shoulder.
"That's what you get for leaving without us." Ground out Brad who had skidded onto the battlefield with Leena in tow.
The blonde warrior pushed his hair from his eyes, grinning, "I've never appreciated long range weapons more in my life."
Their radios blew up with chatter again; helping them to realize all the gunshots hadn't come from the Blitz team. Naomi's voice broke through the static. "We're being attacked! Leon, where are you?" There was a hiss and she yelled. "Something just hit the base!"
For a second they heard Sebastian's frantic voice screaming 'Shoot, shoot shoot!' before the crackling static overtook the signal again.
Brad set his jaw. "Go. Now."
Leon furrowed his brows, the stress evident in his voice. "Maybe you should go, your Zoid is faster."
The long-haired man grimaced. As much as I want to..."No. This is my team and we fight better as a unit. Same with you. So go help her or I'll have to kill you later."
His former team member nodded and hit the ion boosters. "Be careful." He said just before his radio cut out as well.
"The Blitz team has done this before haven't we?" Leena popped her neck. "We'll do it again and be home for Christmas."
"Do what? Fire at Harry? Well excuse me while I go get him then. Should I tie him up like last time or not?"
. . .
...And when he arrived there was smoke rising into the sky, and everyone was just running, and there were just so many enemies, and somebody was crying, and every time one went down another came up, and for every time he saved someone they received two more bruises, and everyone was screaming each others names, and soon everyone was just screaming.
"Leon, left!"
He pulled the wild Liger in a sweeping curve, and just avoided the cobra that leapt from the ground beneath him. Naomi's in-built land mine sensors in the Gustav were currently being extremely helpful for these underground type Zoids. In the chaos of battle, there was no way he could pay attention to the shifting sands.
"Can you cover me while I get up this hill? I need to get into the 'sniper."
"There's no way." Leon shook his head while ripping through as many of the Sinkers as possible with his Metal-Zi blades. "The Gustav can take more hits anyways. Now would be a good time to test out those cannons mounted above the cockpilot."
"Oh yeah, your cannons that tampered with the structural integrity of my Gustav!" She shouted, but released the hatch and rolled out the small weapons. The aiming range was small, but she could now shoot those that were currently attacking her nose. Turns out it wasn't fun to have a Zoid with such a head so close to the ground.
A multitude of shots hit her in the side and she swung to attempt to barrel over them. They were too agile for her, but she heard a thunk as Leon bounded from the roof of the Gustav to squash those below him.
Then, a screech as a Sinker sacrificed itself on the tread and forced her forward momentum into a continuous counterclockwise loop. "Zoid Eve—" she swore as she completed her accidental turn so to get back to helping Leon protect her right flank. The bullets were becoming a constant pounding in her ears, and it felt like the Desert Gang was trying to rip everything she owned to pieces.
In a strange counter-move, mid-turn she released her grappling hooks. The Gustav was surrounded by enemies, so it was with no fear that she loosed her makeshift weapons into the crowd. The hooks snared two Sinkers and sucked them against her layered shell; the rest of the Sinkers reacted belatedly, and the two stingrays were soon riddled with holes.
"Nice move!" Shouted Leon from where he batted away the Sinkers. The red of his Liger and the glare of the sun almost made it seem like he was covered in blood. She shivered.
"Unfortunately I can't do it again; the hooks are jammed from bullets!"
He studied the sparking stingrays for half a moment. "Your Gustav is wearing earrings."
She laughed loud, even as the whole Gustav shook with the Undrafted's blasts. "How fitting for a Martian woman."
. . .
Brad started the fight, accelerating around the lip of the crater, trying to draw out the Warsharks. "Go fish!" He shouted out when a fin popped momentarily out of the sand and he swiveled his gun around to hit it. His shots missed, and he was soon thrown meters into the air and landed with a thud, having been head-butted in the belly. A distance off, it stuck its head out of the dirt and fired off an angled torpedo shot.
He threw his arms over his head, bracing for impact, but he heard Leena shout through the radio, and the rockets went down early in a barrage of ammo. "I am a GUNsniper!" She laughed uproariously.
Abruptly, in the midst of her celebration, the ground started swirling beneath her feet, and she felt her Zoid sinking. "What's happening?" She cried, trying to twist her way out of it. The whirlpool only widened however, and she was soon slipping further down the side of the crater, shrieking every inch.
Despite the shouts of her teammates, she continued in her downwards slide, finally stopping with a bang in the center of the crater, at least waist deep in the sand. Luckily, her top two Gatling guns were above ground level, and when she caught sight of a Zoid swimming (at EYELEVEL) she fired as much as she could at it, hoping to break through its shield. She wasn't lucky enough however, and, fearfully, only gained the faint sound of a sinister laugh.
On the other side of the crater, the mohawked man was swimming circles around Bit. The Jager most likely could have easily leapt over it, but the blonde pilot seemed to be waiting for something. Ehga closed in tighter, dipping the fin below the surface, momentarily disappearing from sight. A beat. Then, in unison, the two Zoids moved. The Liger leapt and propelled itself outside of the former radius, and the Warshark clawed at the air he had just been in—so close that the air was doubtless still stale with his exhale.
"Hey, draw them over here so I can get some shots off!" Shouted Leena to her closest partner. It happened to be Brad.
"Don't tell me what to do!" He retorted, aiming behind him at another attack by Negola. He was trying to draw him out of the ground so...perfect! That blue-haired freak was going down—he launched his high voltage net directly behind him, and it landed on top of the Warshark's head. Acting quickly, the shark sunk out of sight before the net could fully close, and the electricity dispersed through the dirt.
He growled, annoyed, but decided to try out her plan, since he had no time to think of another just yet. The fox let out an eerie howl that made the sand grains tremble, and shot forward. Just as he was passing the prime position for her aiming abilities she starting shooting at his legs. "I didn't take any of your food!" He hollered, his Zoid stumbling.
"I was trying to hold it off, you inconsiderate mercenary!"
He looked down too late, and the beast rose from beneath him, toppling him onto his side and dragging him down into the depression.
"Get up!" Leena called, as if her commands had suddenly gained magical properties. "You're going to hit me!"
"Move then!" he hollered, unable to do anything as he was pulled faster and completely lost his orientation in the waves of sand.
She roared. "I CAN'T!"
A huge Slam! followed, coupled with an echo that reverberated through the ground. The sand sprayed upwards like a cloud of smoke.
When Leena came back into reality, she immediately patted herself down, relieved not to find an injury. "Lucky, lucky, lucky. Brad?" she ventured. She tapped the comm-link another time, thinking it had broken. It hadn't. She listened harder and heard a low moan from the other end. "I think I'm out." The Shadowfox pilot responded through gritted teeth.
Bit looked into the Hellhole, distracted by the seemingly violent explosion. He let out an angry yell. "Be more careful with my friends!"
Ehga rolled his eyes, "Yes, master."
Ignoring him, Bit vaulted towards the smug pilot below, who was congratulating himself on his victory. Ehga might have warned him, because the Neo Warshark turned and hissed, slithering back underground. Unable to stop his own impetus by then, he instead accelerated, heading towards the lip of the cavity. He made it to the edge, able to pull himself onto slightly more solid ground - a better surface to run on. It didn't halt the Warsharks for long though, and the three of them soon were circling the physical limbo like a chaotic DNA strand, all simultaneously snapping at eachother's heels.
Growing tired of it, the green eyed young man slammed on the brakes, most likely gaining bruises from his own seat restraints. "He'll attack at two-o'-clock." He murmured, and leapt. "Strike...Laser...CLAW!"
The Neo Warshark emerged as well, and he let out another raw yell, so ready to bring down the Liger's claw and take Negola out of commission. But the angle was all wrong, he was too far away to get in a shot—and this had to be done in one hit. To make the confrontation worse, instead of trying to fire on him, as Bit had been expecting for a mid-air battle, Negola turned his shield on.
There were times to go overboard and be unnecessarily dramatic; times to just feel his way through a battle, despite what was accepted as possible or not...and, unfortunately, this was going to be one of those times. Thinking just wasn't cutting it. He blinked, as if resetting, and pulled the ion boosters exactly the right amount to roll the Jager barely over the crackling pink shield, his claws scraping against it, altering his momentum just enough. He had absolutely no plan, just poured everything, adrenaline sweat blood anger, into those few seconds. His mind body and soul cared only about the immediate moment, the images passing slowly through his vision.
There was nothing else.
Expertly, he ducked just enough under the powerful shield, able to sink his teeth into the tail of the large fish. It thrashed. The edge of the shield sliced through the cockpit's bulletproof glass. The line splintered, smashing razor tipped shards harshly into him. He yelled, twisting the Liger upside down. Neo Warshark belly up, good. Wrench it downwards. Landing. Crash. Sand.
Leena's voice wavered through the radio, "Bit?"
He couldn't do much more than cough in response, getting the wind back into his lungs, and roll the Liger over. The Neo Warshark's shield fizzled and died, leaving Negola groaning and frozen.
From underground, Ehga cursed. He might be able to get a shot at the Liger if he hurried..."Retreat, idiot." he heard Koga say through the radio. Shocked, he narrowed his eyes at the presumptuous man.
"I've got what we came for. Grab Negola and get out of here. I've already ordered the retreat at the second front."
The battle-hungry pilot grimaced, but nodded. Zooming upwards, he broke through the barrier between sand and air, screeching into the sky. After reaching a destined point, he flipped and plunged back downwards, grasping the tail of Negola's Zoid before disappearing underground.
The crater was silent for a full ten minutes after, and the three warriors soon hesitantly agreed that the battle was over.
"I...don't like them." Leena said, sticking her bottom lip out.
Bit raised a sleeve to wipe a trickle of sweat from his forehead. "I wish I knew what they were up too." He frowned.
Brad snorted. "C'mon kids, we've got to help everyone else."
. . .
The biting smell of alcohol swept up his nose and he coughed uncomfortably.
"Oh stop squirming, you big baby." Leena said, throwing away the package for an alcohol swab.
"You'd be doing a lot worse if a crazed girl had just ripped your scab off." The mercenary winced a little while Leena cleaned the gash along his temple and she quickly murmured an apology. She blew a light breath onto it to hopefully stop the stinging, and taped on a gauze pad. She gave him one last once-over and he shooed her away with his hand.
"Brad, you went inside the Feugal base right?" She moved onto Bit who up until that point had peeled off his shirt and was picking out shards of glass from his chest and arm with a pair of tweezers. Getting another damp cloth, she wiped away the small spots of blood then snatched the tweezers out of his hand.
"Don't worry about the Gustav, Leena. The inside is not damaged nearly as much as the outside."
She probably didn't notice, but with the way she was gripping his elbow and had her face so close to his bicep, he was having a hard time avoiding brushing his fingers against her stomach. Her lower stomach. He wondered if really she would kill him if he just...stopped...bending his hand.
Jamie walked in with a tired sigh, immediately gaining an apologetic look when he noticed his teammates getting bandaged up. "I've set a course for Flyheight. We should be there in a day or so."
"Hopefully we can stay out of trouble until then."
She ran a hand down his chest, searching for any pieces she'd missed. He bit his lip. "That's the best I can do. We don't exactly have a million bandages."
"It's okay. Thanks." He replied a little breathlessly. They made the mistake of catching eyes, and, suddenly embarrassed, simultaneously blushed and looked in opposite directions as she snatched her hand away from where it rested on his abdomen.
Brad had a demure smile on his face. "Were you able to talk with Harry?"
"No, he was hysterical." Leena answered quickly, shaking the redness from her cheeks. "Mary and I barely got him to his base."
They had arrived at the former battle area and found Harry's Iron Kong standing empty while he screamed and tore through a pile of burnt metal littering the ground. 'Benjamin!' he cried, over and over. The entire scene had been strangely numbing—you couldn't help him, only stand and watch.
"I shouldn't have taken everyone into battle." Bit murmured, remorse evident in his eyes. "Something worse could have happened."
"Don't be ridiculous, Bit." Leena said crossly.
"Look, somebody's got to fight back. If the Blitz has to pick up the ZBC's slack, then we pick up the slack. I'm sure I speak for everyone who fought today when I say I wouldn't be able to call myself a Zoid pilot if I ran and hid." Brad continued.
Jamie finally settled into a seat, taking in the momentary thoughtful tranquility with his friends. In time, not wanting the silence to stretch into uneasiness, he asked "Is the Feugal or Champ team taking care of the Tigers team right now?"
Bit's eyes bugged out. "Ack!"
. . .
When Bit went to visit Harry, he did what he usually did: showed up uninvited, got lost, and then ended up somewhere that seemed right. When he walked into the living room he noticed a marble pillar with a plush cushion on top, holding a tiny piece of technology. This place seemed right.
Nobody was in sight, so he just hung around, absentmindedly taking in the decorations and whatnot. Eventually Harry and Sebastian walked in pushing a wheelbarrow filled with metal. Well actually, Harry walked in, and Sebastian pushed the wheelbarrow.
"Hey, Dr. Frankenstein, I was wondering when you'd show up."
The one-day king of a corporation had spent hours picking through the wreckage, and had found the friendly robot's memory chip. They had all held a wild celebration afterwards too.
"Uh, good afternoon, Bit." Harry smiled while Sebastian wheeled around the newcomer, accidentally tipping all of the metal on the floor behind him with a resounding crash.
They just stared at each other for a few seconds.
"I came to see Benjamin." He eventually ventured, throwing a thumb in the direction of the pedestal. Taking notice of the chunks of metal he added, "I figured you would have ordered a new body for him."
"Yes, but," Harry looked forlornly into the distance, "all of the manufacturing companies I deal with don't make his model, much less a robot shell! I would have to kill another robot and replace it's memory with Benjamin's. I just couldn't do it!" He finished, shedding tears and clutching at his heart.
"And it's not like I would trust anyone else to rebuild my greatest friend!" Beeped Sebastian.
"Exactly." Harry smiled, fondly looking at the future robot on the floor.
Bit couldn't keep the smile off of his face either. The whole situation was a little warm and fuzzy. "If you need any help," he scratched the back of his head, "well, I really want to help."
Sebastian heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you! We don't even know where to start!"
A chuckle bubbled up in his throat, but their attention was instead drawn to a quiet knock from the entryway.
"Hey, boys." Leena said shyly from the doorway. "I just wanted to talk to Harry for a second."
"Me?" The corporation prince asked, obvious pleasure written across his features.
"Yeah, so?" She blushed, glancing away. Bit whistled and guffawed. "Oh—" She grumbled, most likely muttering some obscenities as she grabbed Harry and yanked him to a corner of the room. He didn't react, a dreamy look still on his face.
"I...just wanted to ask you a question." Leena asked, stepping back and turning slightly pink. "You don't think I hate you right?"
He snapped back into the real world, clasping her hand between his. "Leena, I've always known you love me with your entire heart, just as I do you."
"I wouldn't say that much." She replied dryly. "But," she continued, tugging at her hand a little, but not enough to actually pull it from his grasp, "I don't want you, or anyone, thinking I wouldn't care if they were hurt or died, okay?"
She looked down. "Just thinking it could have been a person instead of a robot scares me, Harry."
"Me too." He uttered softly. "I would have thrown myself off a cliff if I had lost you."
"You better not. That's crazy and excessive."
"I would do anything for you."
"Urg." She harrumphed, and pulled her hand from his, crossing her arms. "You're completely misunderstanding what I'm trying to say."
"What are you trying to say, dear?" He said, reaching his hands up to hold her face and staring into her eyes sincerely.
She blushed a little. "I'm...sorry for treating you so bad all the time!"
Her glance flickered, and Harry immediately looked over his shoulder to see Bit awkwardly trying to not pay attention to what they were talking about. He frowned. It really wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that the idiot was just so damn...ugh...cute. Whatever. Bit had tanner skin than he did, from running around outside doing Helic knows what, and unkempt, windblown, sunlit hair. Of course, that wasn't his love's type (right?), but the junk dealer seemed to always provide enough of a distraction. Who did he think he was anyway? Flashing his pearly whites and trying to get into he and Leena's alone time. Hmph!
It was hard not to hear them since the room was basically silent. Not to mention huge enough to leave a slight echo. Regardless, he tried not to deliberately observe them too much, and instead attempted to occupy himself by holding up bits of metal to Sebastian's body for comparison. Why would she come over here to talk to Harry alone anyway? And she kept blushing...and he kept touching her...and they were communicating in such low voices. He damn well didn't like it. Of course that was because he was forced to witness it. Yeah... He ignored the strange tense feeling in his gut and the grayish anger that reminded him of how he felt during battle.
Ignore them. Ignoreignore. He blinked and got that weird feeling that he had been zoned out and staring for awhile. Yup, Harry and Leena were both turned around peering at him. He had definitely been staring. Whoops.
"Oi, Bit," she suddenly hollered to him, and he raised an eyebrow in response, hoping nothing too bad would become of it. "Didn't I tell you if you don't keep those cuts covered they'd scar?" She walked closer and inspected the few she could see near his collar, shaking her head.
"I'm wearing my jacket aren't I?"
She pursed her lips and prodded him in the chest with a finger. "You could at least wear antiseptic. Do you want to keel over or something?" She jabbed at him again, "This one here looks like it's about to become infected!"
"How can something look like it's going to be infected? That doesn't make any sense!"
They quickly fell into an amiable (for them) argument, unfortunately eventually forgetting about Harry, Sebastian, and the scattered Benjamin who all looked on uncomfortably. When the altercation escalated, and she, incensed, tore off his jacket to make a point, and he grabbed her by the ribcage and held her further away, needling her about something else, he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of thrill.
He couldn't really say if jealousy had been the right word, but he could admit to himself that, compared to talking quietly to Harry, he felt a lot better when she was fussing over him.
. . .
Next time on Zoids:
"This...just call me Cisco actually. I'm not one to feel fear, but I've got the ladies to think about. And when our base begins to truly feel the things that go bump in the night...I have to suck it up and make some quick decisions, regardless of what it does to my pride. At least it gives the twins a semblance of safety. Next time on Zoids, the sensation of fear—the last group arrives. C'mon Jack, gotta be...nimble. Ready! Fight!"
So, a few things. Firstly, I like the line 'how fitting for a Martian woman.' I think it fits with Naomi well. Secondly, Brad didn't do that great in today's fight :/ Well, he saved Bit's life, so I suppose it's relative. Tiger's team...they're funny and I need to stop writing them because I forget about them two seconds later. And final comment, I tried giving Harry some depth and serious stuff and I screwed it up! Well not totally, these things have to be done in baby steps. Next time we see Harry hopefully he'll have the opportunity to be less one-dimensional.
Are the flirting scenes awkward? Heh heh -_-U
And this episode was almost completely battle scene! Very different than what I expected from myself when I started, so that's actually exciting for me. I hope you enjoyed the fight, and have some particularly strong images in your head. At least please leave with the images of the Gustav wearing Striker earrings, and Bit and Negola in the shield vs. Jager mid-air battle. And maybe even the Neo Warshark swimming at eye-level for Leena on account of the large crater.
What else? You get even more introduced to the Fuma team. They're all injured. I took liberties there—assuming four Genobreakers instead of three (the canon amount). I don't think the show ever tells if they lived or not, so I think I'm allowed to push the envelope there. Do you like Fuma's reasons for being evil yet? Do you understand her?
Reviews: I'm so sorry for the late update. I kept saying how I was holding myself to a schedule and that completely failed...if it makes you feel better this chapter was actually done on time...I just really wanted to edit it before posting. And I'm actually at my busiest weeks of school and here I am taking breaks that I really should not be taking! I can't wait for summer so I can write up a storm. I love writing this so much. But to my reviewers, I appreciate you so much. I want to be a better writer and make the story super interesting just for you. DarkElement? You make this all worth it for me. Your reviews make me feel like I've done something right. Even if you never reviewed again, I could read your comments and write the last chapters with gusto. And randomcat, I've said it before and I'll say it again: thank you so much for reviewing every chapter. It means a lot to me that you take the time to do that. Since you agreed that too many characters in a conversation confuses things, I'm going to keep trying to limit 'talkers' to four for as many, if not all, future scenes. This episode is dedicated wholeheartedly to you two. And a new reviewer, Gojiralee, thanks for saying I capture the spirit, I will try to keep it and keep watching episodes randomly to refreshen myself. And please post up this story you mentioned, I would love to read it!
:D Three weeks till summer!