I'm back! I got enough reviews to write the next chapter, and since I know what happens, I decided to write it! Just remember to review after reading^.^ I'm glad you guys like this.
And thank you to japanfan for pointing out that I spelt Kernel wrong. I don't know much about the military. Thank you^.^
Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, only the characters I create, although I wish I didn't own Colonel Garner, who makes another appearance.
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It was 6:00 am now and everyone was crawling out of bed. There were more classes today, so everyone put on their training uniforms. Leena walked out of her room and stretched her arms over her head.
"I feel great," she said to herself. She walked over to Bit's room and pounded on the door. "Hey Bit, you ready yet?"
"Just a minute," he answered. Leena just stood in the hallway by Bit's door. She was then accompanied by footsteps and a very unwanted guest.
"Well hello there," he said. Leena turned to see none other than Colonel Garner. He had on a very kind smile, but Leena saw right through his nice exterior. There was a fake and cheesy tone to his voice. "I don't think we've met before. Heaven must be missing an angel."
"Flattery will get you nowhere."
"Come now. I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Colonel Garner, and you are?"
"Someone who doesn't want to talk to you."
"Oh come on. I'm sure you don't mean that."
"Wanna bet?"
"Come on. Let's be friends, alright?" Just then, the door opened and Bit walked out. Leena was happy to see him. Garner turned to him, a look of disgust on his face. Bit didn't pay any attention to Garner.
"Come on Leena, let's go get some breakfast," said Bit.
"Alright." Her and Bit walked away from Garner, who then walked away from there and towards Naomi, who had just come out of her room.
"Hello," he said. Naomi looked to him. She didn't seem happy to see him, but he just kept smiling. "May I say you look beautiful today?"
"No, you may not," answered Naomi. She looked towards Brad's bedroom door, wishing he'd hurry up and come out. She wanted to get away from this guy as soon as possible.
"You women around here sure don't like to take complements."
"Really? Was that a complement? Sorry."
"All of you have such ill tempers. Come now. I just want to be friends." Just then, Brad's door opened. 'Thank God,' thought Naomi. She quickly grabbed him the minute he got out the door and dragged him away from Garner.
"What are you doing?" asked Brad.
"Hurry up. I'll tell you later." Garner just watched after them as they went over to where Bit and Leena stood. They were in the same hallway, waiting for everyone else to come.
"Just who is that? Isn't he the one who interrupted our class the other day…Colonel…what was his name?"
"Colonel Garner," said Naomi.
"What's with that guy?" asked Brad.
"Hi you guys," said Meiyuu. They looked down the hallway that was connected to the end that they were on. She was smiling to them as she approached. "What are you guys doing?"
"Standing around waiting," said Bit.
"That and staying away from Garner," added Leena.
"Garner? You mean Colonel Garner?"
"Yep. Is Rick with you?"
"No. He and Mattei went ahead to the breakfast area."
"Then I suggest you don't go down there," said Naomi.
"Could you fill us in here?" asked Bit. "What is it with this Garner guy that has you all so freaked out?"
"He's a really sick person. He hits on nearly every girl he sees," said Leena.
"That's why Miharu told us we were lucky because as long as we're with you two, he'll leave us alone," added Naomi.
"I get it," said Brad.
"Same here," agreed Bit. "We should probably head off to breakfast now."
"Yeah. Jamie and Leon are already down there too," said Meiyuu.
"Let's go," said Leena. They walked down the hall towards the breakfast room and away from Garner, who was still standing in the hall. Just then, Risai turned the corner. She seemed a little tired. Garner smiled and walked up to her. Risai just stopped in her tracks. 'Oh no, not again,' she thought.
"Hello again Risai. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"You don't owe anything, so leave me alone." She tried to walk past him, but he stood in her way.
"Come on now. I just want to talk." He smiled kindly to her, but she could see right through him.
"Colonel Garner. I have to prepare for a class today and if you don't let me through, then I will have no choice but to report you to the authorities. Now let me through."
"Gee, that hurts." He didn't move, but Risai saw an opening and quickly took it, taking off at a run. He turned around, but didn't chase her. "Come back," he pleaded. 'Yeah right,' thought Risai. She wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Garner sighed, but then found Miharu.
"Hello Miharu, you're looking…"
"Save it. I don't have time today," she said and she just walked right past him and down the hall towards the breakfast room.
******
In the breakfast room, everyone was eating happily. The breakfast special was pancakes. The only people who hadn't shown up yet were Risai and Miharu.
"I wonder where Risai and Miharu are," said Rick.
"Yeah, they're missing a great meal," said Jamie. Leena and Naomi looked to each other.
"You know, in order to get here, they would have had to go by Garner," reminded Naomi.
"I hope Risai is okay. Miharu should be fine, but from what she said about before…" Leena trailed off.
"Care to fill us in?" asked Bit. Naomi and Leena looked up back at everyone else, realizing they had just said that louder than they had meant to.
"It's nothing, really," covered Leena.
"Didn't sound like nothing," said Brad.
"So you guys know too," said Meiyuu.
"Yeah," responded Naomi. Now the only confused people were Brad, Bit, Leon, and Jamie.
"He used to do that even when Taban was here, but now it'll just get worse, especially for Risai," said Meiyuu.
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Bit. He was loosing patience.
"You know how Colonel Garner was hitting on us?" started Leena. Bit and Brad nodded their heads.
"Well, we're not the only ones. With Miharu, he never gets much of anything in, but he seems to, for lack of a better term, hit on Risai."
"And without Taban around, he's going to be persistent," added Rick. "I've seen him do this already. He's a really sick guy."
"So what do we do?" asked Jamie.
"Avoid him is what Miharu told us to do," said Naomi.
"That's probably really good advice," said Meiyuu. Just then, they heard footsteps coming down the hall. It sounded like someone was running. They looked towards the door and Risai ran in. She stopped and looked out of breath, but only slightly.
"What's with you?" asked Bit.
"It's…it's nothing. Don't worry," she said, lying. It was easy to tell too. She walked over to the huge table and took an apple from the fruit bowl in the middle.
"Don't you want to sit down?" asked Leena.
"No, I'd prefer to stand," she said calmly. She walked out of the room and down the hall. Just then, Miharu came in.
"What's with her?" asked Bit.
"She ran into Colonel Garner this morning," she answered.
"Oh…" they all said, understanding now.
"He's such a jerk," stated Leena. "It's a good thing I have you Bit."
"Yeah. I'll keep you safe, you can count on it."
"Can we not talk about him anymore?" asked Miharu.
"Okay," they said. She sat down to eat breakfast with them. Risai stood outside of the breakfast room. She threw the apple core into a nearby garbage can and then went back to her room. She sat down at her desk and began to write in her small journal. She wrote:
'Hi again. It's still me. I can't remember when I started to do this, but I have a lot to say. All of them know now about Colonel Garner. That jerk, he doesn't leave me alone. Why can't I be stronger? If only he weren't a superior, I'd punch him right in the face. Why did all of them have to find out about him? Leena and Naomi are lucky, since they have Bit and Brad to help them out. Miharu scares him, but don't think he hasn't tried this with her too. Why me? Why does he have to like me? I can see right through his nice exterior, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. He may act all nice, but he's a very sick person. I can see it in his eyes. He really scares me and I'm afraid of what he might do.
But no more about that. I had another dream, and this one was worse than the last. I'm worried. What if it actually happens? I don't see how it can, since there aren't any barren places like that. I don't know why I'm so upset about all of this. I don't know why I care either. Actually, I do, but it's hard to explain. I don't know what it is about Leon, but, well, he's always so nice to me. I feel safe when he's around, but I don't now quite why. I don't want him to die and I don't hate him, even though he does tend to get on my nerves.
Well, I got a class to teach now.
Bye.'
******
"Okay, now that you know the form properly, maybe you guys will be able to hit the targets," said Risai. They all stood outside on the same tarp covered training ground. "Now start shooting."
"Yes ma'am." They all turned around and began shooting.
"I'm glad we don't have to do it this time," said Rick. He watched as they attempted to hit the targets. "They're doing alright."
"I'll say. They're doing much better than you did bro," said Mattei.
"And what's that suppose to mean?"
"That you couldn't hit the side of a barn when you first started," translated Meiyuu.
"Just lay off." They watched as the Blitz and Fluegel teams aimed and shot at the targets. Miharu stood against a pole and Risai stood near the stage. The Fire Star team members were leaning against the stage, watching.
"You guys are doing great," encouraged Risai.
******
At the Backdraft base in the middle of the desert, there seemed to be a big commotion. Taban sat in his cell, on his bed. He watched as frantic soldiers rushed about the halls. Where they were going, he didn't know. Just then, two men stopped at his cell and opened the door.
"Finally letting me go?" he asked, knowing what the answer was.
"You wish. You're coming with us. The General would like to see you."
"General?" They went in a grabbed him by the arms. They walked down the halls and towards a separate room. They opened the door and walked in, still holding him, making sure he wouldn't be able to escape. The room was very dark, but there was enough light to see that there were guards by the doors. There was also a desk in the middle of the room where a figure sat.
"Thank you soldiers," she said. She stood up and walked over towards them.
"Well Taban, we meet again." She walked out into the area of the room that had some light. Taban just stared at her, dumbfounded. She had long black hair, just past her waist. She wore the normal outfit that an agent would wear. She had on black pants, a purple shirt and a black over jacket. Her eyes were the same deep blue as his.
"It's you…Rose," he said.
"Precisely," she said, a smirk on her face.
"But how? They said you were dead. Why did you join the Backdraft? You always said you loved fighting for the ZBC!"
"People change. The Backdraft had more to offer than your Zoid Battle Commission."
"Why did you capture me?"
"For revenge."
"What did I ever do to you?"
"It's not you I'm after. You just happened to be the one we caught. You'll be happy to know that Miharu and Risai made it back to the base, and they brought the Blitz and Fluegel teams back with them." Taban smiled at this.
"I knew they would."
"It makes no difference. We'll win this war no matter what."
"You don't know that, but this explains a lot, you know, about how you knew all that stuff about agents."
"Yes, I suppose it does. I also know something else about them. By using that bracelet on your wrist, you can summon your zoid when you choose. We have your zoid down in our hanger, under careful supervision. You could have summoned it any time and destroyed this base. We had to take precautions, but it's still a possibility, so I decided it'd be best to avoid that."
"By doing what?" Rose walked over to Taban and motioned for one of the soldiers to let go. He did and she quickly took the bracelet from him. "Hey! Give that back!"
"By destroying this, you won't be able to call your zoid."
"Big deal. The ZBC had us make duplicates of them, so I have another one back at the base."
"But you can't get it now, can you?" She threw the bracelet on the ground and brought her foot down on it.
******
Risai was smiling as she watched the two teams shooting at the targets. They had definitely gotten better. Suddenly, she snapped up, a look of pure horror on her face. She stood still, not moving at all.
"Risai?" asked Meiyuu. Her, Rick, and Mattei walked up to Risai and noticed the look on her face. They then saw that Miharu had the same one on her face. Leena was the first of them to notice.
"Miharu? What's…wrong?" she asked. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to her. Neither her nor Risai said anything, but it was easy to tell that both were holding back tears.
"What is it?" asked Bit.
"I can't…I can't feel him anymore," said Miharu.
"Who?" asked Leon.
"Taban."
"No…" said Risai. She fell to her knees. "No!" She looked to her bracelet. Only one of the gems was lit up. The golden one was gray like the others now.
"How do you know this?" asked Jamie.
"I can't feel him anymore and his light is out," answered Miharu. She motioned to her bracelet. "It means that the bracelet he wears, like this, has been destroyed. He's gone." None of them knew quite what to say.
"He can't be…he can't," said Risai. She suddenly seemed angry. She quickly stood up and ran out of the training grounds.
"Where is she going?" asked Naomi.
"I don't know, but it's probably not good. Let's go," said Miharu. They all ran off after Risai. Risai ran to the garage where the zoids were being stored. She was heading for her Genosaurer. 'I'll make them pay for what they did,' she thought to herself. The others were coming up fast. Bit and Rick were the first to reach her and they quickly grabbed her by the arms.
"Let go of me!" she yelled.
"No way," said Bit. It was hard to hold onto her. Miharu ran up in front of her.
"What are you thinking? Just what were you planning to do?" asked Miharu, her tone sort of angry.
"I'm going to get revenge," answered Risai, the tears burning her eyes.
"Oh yeah? How?"
"Easy. I'll attack their base. I'll kill every last one of them!"
"Listen to yourself! This won't help at all. You'll get yourself killed!"
"I don't care!"
"Look you guys. Just because you can't sense him anymore doesn't mean he's dead," stated Jamie.
"Risai…are you sure you can't sense him anymore, I mean, you two are siblings," said Leena.
"It doesn't matter! Don't you get it? Just because we're siblings doesn't mean we have some kind of connection! I can't feel him anymore and do you see this?" She motioned to the bracelet. "Just like with Miharu's, there's only one other gem that's still shining, other than mine. This signifies that there are only two of us left! That light was the only way I could sense him, and now I feel nothing!"
"But it's like Jamie said. There's still hope. He could still be very much alive," said Bit.
"You can't lose faith," added Rick. By this time Risai had stopped struggling. Bit and Rick let go of her and she fell to her knees. She was still crying.
"Now come on," said Miharu in a kind tone. "You have a class to teach."
"I know." She got up and they all slowly walked back towards the training grounds.
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I hope you guys liked this chapter. I'm having so much fun writing this. I'll probably put more up soon. Remember to review!
Audi^.^