THIRTY THREE
BID YOUR LIFE OUT
Note: There is no account if Blue City is located in the Eastern Continent, but Zoids Wiki states that the entire events in Zoids: Fuzors take place in the Eastern Continent, so I assume it is accurate. Also, there is no time continuity between Fuzors and CC/GF, so I assume this story takes place 2 years before the events on Fuzors. However, I still follow Battle Story for the zoids, so some zoids that are brand new in Zoids: Fuzors will make appearance here because according to Battle Story they are created prior to ZAC 2121, the timeline of this story.
I hope everybody's happy with this assessment.
Blue City,
Easten Continent, Planet Zi,
December 4, ZAC 2121
Blue City was the major civilization in Eastern Continent. The city was a splitting image of New Helic City: skyscrapers, busy streets full of vehicles, people roaming the sidewalks and city parks, wild zoids zipping from one building to another, ships and barges floating on the river, screens, advertisements, live entertainment at every corner, everything. ZOITEC and ZiArms had office headquarters in this city. The two rivaling weapon manufacturers provided the heartbeat for the city as the majority of Eastern Continent citizens worked for them.
The center of the city – and the center of Blue City's lifestyle – lied within the massive, colosseum-like enclosure where zoids battled each other in a gladiator-esque atmosphere. Zoid teams entered the arena to fight against teams with larger odds for a share of the pay. Betting stands could be found practically at every corner of Blue City. Stats of the arena fighters, known as Zi-fighters, were attached on public places, and large screens broadcast the figthts from the arena so people could keep up with their favorites (and their biddings).
Circling the Blue City at the outskirt, Saskia wondered how much fame and fortune she could reap if she entered the Zi-fighter circle and fought in the arena with the Gilvader. She understood that the Eastern Continent was a whole different battlefield than Delpoi, and the zoids – though looked smaller and sleeker than Delpoi's counterparts – were not to be underestimated. There was a phenomenon called Fuzor, indigenous to Eastern Continent, which she had yet to understand. But still, she was confident the Gilvader would obliterate almost any arena competition.
However, her mind changed when she flew past the headquarters of ZOITEC. Given her skillset, working at ZOITEC or ZiArms would be more befitting to her than fighting in the arena. The paygrade might be well below that of a Zi-fighter, but Saskia didn't enjoy being in the center of attention. As long as she had enough money to support herself and her Gilvader, she was happy.
As she circled the city to find a place to land, Saskia spotted several zoids moving in high speed. The center of the formation looked to be a Liger Zero, a rare high-performanced zoid with the state-of-the-art Organoid system. The Liger Zero appeared to be leading a race with, or be chased by, a number of Guysaks. Soon enough, a Brachiozilla and a Missile Tortoise appeared and blocked the Liger Zero. The liger turned around but the Guysaks quickly boxed it, encircling the high-performanced zoid in a deathtrap. The liger tried to find an exit but the Guysaks formed a staggered-grid formation, closing all possible holes the liger could exploit. Even though the Liger Zero was superior to a horde of Guysaks, the pilot didn't seem to understand the true potential of the liger (or simply lacked experience).
"What do you think of that, Gilvy?" Saskia steered the Gilvader toward the trapped Liger Zero. "Doesn't it look like a classic desert-bandit scenario to you?"
The Gilvader answered with an enthusiastic growl, telling her it was ready for a fight.
"We need a guide to Blue City. Do you think the Liger Zero will help us find our way if we help him out?" Upon hearing the Gilvader's quick snarl, Saskia activated the Needle Guns. "Alright, tear up the Guysak's formation. Let's see if they take the hint."
The targeting reticules on Saskia's screen lined up with 4 Guysaks, then its neck lit up, spitting high-explosive shells at the scorpion zoids. Four Guysaks quickly exploded; their tails were sheared off right at the base. Broken limbs flew to every direction. The assault opened up a row of Guysak, and without hesitation the Liger Zero jumped through the fireballs and made a dash out of the trap.
The rest of the Guysaks turned around and made a chase, but the Gilvader landed right between the scorpion horde and the Liger Zero. It emitted a long, ominous roar, and charged its Maser horns and tailblades, which glowed in bright purple. It lowered its head and raised its tail in a fighting stance, mimicking a scorpion in an attack mode.
"Back off!" Saskia said through her external speaker. "Let the liger go, or suffer me!"
Wasting no time, the Guysaks dispersed and left the scene, some went burrowing into the sand, others just scurried away. The Brachiozilla and the Missile Tortoise took a moment to ponder whether they would continue the fight or leave the place. In the end, they wised up and turned around, thinking that a Gilvader and a Liger Zero would be too much to beat.
Saskia unstrapped herself from the command couch. "I need to talk to this guy face to face. Let me out, but keep your eyes on the Liger Zero. If it makes even a scantest move toward me, snap its head off."
The Gilvader growled, signaling its readiness, then popped open the canopy. Saskia climbed down and walked toward the Liger Zero. Unexpectedly the Liger Zero did the same, popping up its canopy and let the pilot out. The pilot was a boy barely in his teens, with spiky blue hair and a cobalt jacket that matched his hair color.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he met Saskia. "Is that the Alpha Zoid?"
"A what?" Saskia winced.
"Alpha Zoid, the legendary zoid who possesses great power and unmatched combat determination to become the unstoppable force of nature."
"Unstoppable?" Saskia flashed an awkward grin and looked at the Gilvader. "Nah, I don't think so. This is a great zoid but it's not unstoppable. It's been beaten before, although one can argue it was just sheer dumb luck. King Gojulas, now that may be unstoppable, but we may never know because…"
The kid looked at her with a blank stare. "You're not from here, are you?"
Saskia's face turned red. "You're right, I'm not. I came from the Central Continent. My name is Saskia."
"I'm RD," the boy shook Saskia's hand enthusiastically. "I've never met somebody from outside Eastern Continent, and that's cool."
"RD? Is it a contraction or something? Like… Ron Djeremy, maybe?"
"Nope, just RD. Anyway, thanks for the help. Those Dark Force fiends are always causing headache."
"Well you get a good zoid to defend you, RD," Saskia smiled. She looked at the Liger Zero, then realized that the pilot might be too young to legally pilot a zoid by Helic Republic standard. "How old are you?"
"I'm 14."
"Fourteen?!" Saskia couldn't believe her ears. "You're fourteen and you're piloting a Liger Zero?"
RD just shrugged. "So?"
"Well, I… from where I came from… You know what, never mind," she huffed. Shame crept through her veins when she was forced to acknowledge that a much younger boy could pilot a high-performanced zoid like the Liger Zero, while she had so much trouble piloting a basic zoid like Pteras. "Anyway, I need to meet somebody in the Blue City. Do you think you can give me direction?"
"Depends on who you're trying to meet," RD grinned.
"A very rich person named Pulsar. He runs zoid battles and owns a broadcasting network to televise the battles inside the arena."
"Babu Pulsar? Sure, I know where to find him! Come on, I'll take you to him!"
"I don't want to waste your time…."
"No wasting time at all. Consider this as a payback for getting the Dark Force bandits off my back."
"Alright, then," Saskia reluctantly agreed. She sent the Gilvader off then climbed into the cockpit of the Liger Zero. RD hammered the throttle and the Liger Zero leapt into action. The metal beast pounded the desert until it arrived at the city. Wihtout hesitation RD steered the Liger Zero through the busy streets of Blue City, drawing angry honks and pissed-off cuss from vehicles and pedestrians alike.
"Are you allowed to do this?" Saskia asked, a bit worried about RD's recklessness.
"Technically? No," RD chuckled. "But it'll take you hours to go by cars. This way is much faster. Besides, the Liger Zero is very fast. I've never been busted by the cops before."
Just then, the police sirens blared, and an Arosaurer and a Gorheck in traditional blue-white Peacekeeping Bureau camo lined up behind the Liger Zero in hot pursuit.
"OK, that doesn't work well," Saskia said nervously. "Just pull over!"
"No! If the cops get me, Mach Storm is going to fire me!" RD replied and pushed the throttle, making the Liger Zero run even faster. "I can shake the PKB off. Just hang on, this will get rough…"
Without warning RD slammed the joystick to the left. The Liger Zero made a tight left turn then bolted into an alley. The Gorheck overshot the alley, while the Arosaurer tried to make similar turn but lost its footing, then collapsed onto the hard pavement. The lanky zoid skidded on the street and mowed down parked cars and concession stands, creating a swath of debris on the street.
"Where there's a will, there's a way," RD chimed as the Liger Zero dashed through the busy street. He steered his zoid through a bridge crossing a river, then made a couple of turns before stopping in front of a tall building. The Liger Zero lowered its head and popped up the canopy.
"This is the TV HQ," RD said as Saskia jumped off the cockpit. "I gotta split. The cops are still on my tail. If you stick around long enough, we may meet again some time in the future."
Saskia snapped a salute as the Liger Zero dashed and disappeared behind another building. The Arosaurer and the Gorheck zipped past her in pursuit. As the sound of siren diminished in the distance, she entered the TV building. Numerous screens of various sizes greeted her, each broadcasting a battle between a Leoblaze and a Unenlagia from different perspectives. The zoids were evenly matched and each zoid refused to go out a loser, resulting in an intense, drawn-out duel that monopolized everybody's attention. Saskia slipped past the security guards and the broadcasting employees unnoticed, then proceeded to the deeper part of the building.
The inside room was much quieter than the room she just left. There were only 4 screens, one on each wall, and only one of them showed the ongoing battle between the Leoblaze and the Unenlagia. The second screen showed TV rating against shows from competing TV stations. The zoid battle was ahead of any other shows at that hour, but not by much. The third screen showed the betting odds, and the fourth screen showed the price of the TV Company in the stock exchange for the last month. The chart fluctuated here and there but nothing major happened over the last 30 days.
There was a group of people in front of the fourth screen, and just as Saskia approached them, they noticed her and quickly dispersed.
"Who are you?" one of them yelled. "How did you get in here? Get the security…"
"Wait wait wait, I don't mean any trouble," Saskia yelped and started backpedalling. "I have something to offer to Mr. Pulsar."
"Do you have an appointment?" another one tuned in. "Get out and wait at the security gate!"
"I just need 5 minutes with Mr. Pulsar. Hear me out, and I swear, you'll be interested…"
"You have 10 seconds," a man with thick mustache and a baggy satin pair of pants but no shirt barring gold ornaments on his neck stepped out. He was wearing a gold headwear that resembled the shell of a snail, and two long gold earings on each ear. "Nine… Eight… Seven seconds left…"
Saskia drew a holodisc player and hit the on button. A holographic image of the Gilvader materialized in the center of the room. "I know how to make those numbers climb to your favor," she said, pointing at the stock exchange screen on the wall.
"What the hell is that?!" some of the guys were stupefied by the hologram.
"I know what it is," the man with the mustache walked calmly over the hologram. "I have parts of it at home."
Saskia smiled as she turned off the hologram. "Mr. Pulsar?"
"And you piqued my interest," Pulsar extended his arm for a handshake. "Who are you?"
"Saskia van Leewenhoek. I own the Gilvader. Imagine how much fortune you can reap by putting my Gilvader on the arena. Your broadcast rating will go through the roof, as well as your stock. Put me in arena against your best Zi-fighters, and I will make it happen."
"And what do you want out of this?" Pulsar scoffed unenthusiastically.
"Your Beam Smashers," Saskia said firmly.
"That's it? That's what you want?" Pulsar sneered.
"That's all I want. Install the Beam Smashers on my Gilvader and I will fight your best Zi-fighters in the arena. If I win, I will just leave. If I lose, I will probably lose my zoid. But either way, you'll have your ratings and your stock increase."
The other guys came to Pulsar and whispered their opinions to him, but judging from his body language, Saskia could tell that she had confinced him. He would take her offer. The details might be different, but in the end, she would end up fighting in the arena. That much she knew.
"Ten Zi-fighters," Pulsar gave his counter offer. "You fight 10 Zi-fighters in 24 hours. If you win, the Beam Smashers are yours. If you lose, the Gilvader – or what is left of it – is mine."
"Ten fights?" Saskia felt mortified. "That's a bit overpriced for the Beam Smashers."
"That's my price, and I will only offer this once," Pulsar grinned. "If you're as good as you claim, then you'll have no trouble beating 10 opponents in 24 hours. What do you say, Miss Leewenhoek? Shall we materialize this into the biggest show in the history of Blue City, or do you want to find your exit?"
As much as Saskia believed in her Gilvader, ten fights might be too much. She didn't know the long-term effect of the Zoid Magnite on the Gilvader's core, and although it seemed to be working fine, the Gilvader had never been in a situation where it had to push the core to the limit. She didn't know the effect of firing the Gravity Cannon on the Gilvader's core, and she had a feeling that she would have to. These events could hurt the Gilvader, and she could lose it.
But looking at the zoid arena in the distance, Saskia always felt 'I can do it'.
"Deal, but I want unlimited breaks between fights, as long as I complete the challenge in 24 hours."
"Very good," Pulsar nodded, then called his henchmen. "Cancel all fights for the rest of the day. Get Dr. Pierce to help out installing the Beam Smashers to the Gilvader. Issue a challenge to all Zi-fighters in Blue City and take the top 9 to set up the gauntlet. And call Alpha Richter. He may be interested in this challenge too."