Zoids-S
Episode 10: The Odd Couple: Leena and Liger
Brad: Last time on Zoids, Leena was extremely pissed at Bit for forfeiting our match with the
Nuke Team. She told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of him, including that the team
would be better off without him. Later, Leena tried to settle the differences between Bit and
Amber. She discovered that the reason Amber was always acting so hostile towards Bit was
because she wanted to show him that he didn't have to do something special to earn her respect.
I guess over the years, that meaning kind of got lost in the shuffle. Amber and Leena left on
good terms but Bit left sourly because he thought that Leena was right. While in the desert,
he met up with his old rival, Vega Obscura and his new Zoid, the Dark Spiner. The two agreed
to a rematch of the Royal Cup... didn't they?
Leena yawned as she returned from Vanguard City. It was a long drive back and the Gun Sniper
wasn't really meant for travel. Once, she got inside, she went looking for Bit. Her first
check was in his room, but he wasn't there.
She passed by Brad Hunter who was on his way to his room. "Hey Brad, where's Bit? He's not in
his room."
"Knowing him, he's probably sulking somewhere."
"I don't know, Bit isn't the type to sulk for so long."
"Look, this thing with his sister really got to him. I would too if I was in Bit's situation.
Just wait until tomorrow morning."
Leena wasn't sure whether or not Brad was right. True Bit was upset, but why would he just
disappear to sulk when he could do that just as easily in his own room?
Leena finally decided that Brad was probably right. She would go search for him in the
morning.
The next morning, Leena went to check Bit's room but it was still empty. In fact, the bed
hadn't even been slept in. Leena began to sense something was up. She went into the hangar
bay where the Zoids and the other vehicles were.
{The jeep's here... and so is his truck,} Leena thought when she saw they were in their
respective places. She immediately went into the Zoid loading bay and saw the large white Zoid
standing tall and proud in its spot. {The Liger... Bit tells Liger Zero everything, surely he
would know... what am I thinking? I don't speak Liger... well, no hurt in asking.}
Leena meekly went up to the Liger Zero. "Uh... Liger." The large Zoid lowered its head to
look at her. Leena almost forgot how intimidating the Liger Zero could be. "Liger... have you
seen Bit?"
The Liger began to let out a series of roars. "Wait, wait, I don't understand," Leena said
interrupting him. "Just nod or shake your head." The Liger shook its head. "You haven't?
But Bit tells you everything, why wouldn't he tell you where he was going unless... unless he
wasn't planning on going anywhere! What if he was taken!"
The Liger began roaring almost like it was launching into a tirade. "Hold on, Liger, hold on,
the only thing that's going to solve this is if we go find Bit."
The Liger let out a huff and turned itself towards the door.
"Wait," Leena pleaded. "I'm coming with you." Even without the Liger's grunts, Leena could
tell that it didn't want her to. "I know you won't let anyone except Bit pilot you, but I'm...
I'm worried about him too. You have to let me come with you. Think about it this way, I won't
be piloting, I would just be a passenger."
The Liger moaned and lowered his head. The hatch opened. Leena let out a sigh of relief.
Carefully, she climbed in. The Harness lowered, although it wasn't meant for Leena's thin
body, but rather Bit's broad shouldered frame.
"This shouldn't be too hard," Leena told herself. "I mean Bit does this all the time, so if he
can do it, then anybody can. Here we go. GO, LIGER!" The Liger plowed through the bay door.
Leena was forced back in her seat. She grunted in pain. "You meant to do that, didn't you?"
She accused the Liger. The Liger nodded its head, its roars sounding like laughter. "Great,
if there's anything I hate more, it's a smart-alec Zoid."
The two searched for hours and hours, and it seemed like it was a useless task. Several times
Leena kicked herself mentally for not thinking this through. Then again, the Liger wasn't
exactly a planner itself.
Suddenly the Liger's proximity alarm. It detected something north-east of their current
location.
"It looks like a Zoid," Leena observed. "You know what it is, Liger?" A profile came on the
Liger's screen and Leena read it. "Dark Spiner huh? Sounds like one tough Zoid. Hey, maybe
it knows where Bit is." The Liger decided it was a good plan because it turned and headed out
in the location.
When they arrived, the sight before them startled both human and Zoid. Smoked craters laid
strewn along a mile radius. The Dark Spiner was lying on its side, smoke erupting from its
side. "Wow, was there a Zoid battle here?" Leena asked. "Liger, let me out, I want to look
around." The Liger was only too happy to let the human out. Leena walked over to the Dark
Spiner wreckage and placed a hand on it.
"I'm no expert, but this Zoid looks like it's been mangled. There are cannon shots right near
the cockpit. Whoever the Dark Spiner was fighting was fighting for keeps."
Leena backed up from the wreckage and fell over something. She looked down and discovered a
human hand.
Leena screamed for all she's worth. Then looked carefully. The hand was sticking out of a
sand pile. Leena carefully cleared the sand around the hand. The good news was that the hand
was attached to a body. As Leena cleared the last of the sand, she discovered that the body
was that of a dark-haired boy.
"Vega Obscura!" Leena recognized. She lowered her ear to his stomach listening for a
heartbeat or any signs of breathing. She was rewarded with a heartbeat and a moan.
"Water," Vega croaked. His voice sounded like it was on its last legs. Leena looked around
and spotted a water spout, they were left in the desert for travelers to resupply should they
need to. She dragged Vega over to it and turned it on, allowing water to flow into his mouth.
After a moment, the boy coughed and wretched. Again, Leena let out a sigh of relief.
Finally, Vega opened his eyes. He groaned. "Ow, what happened to me."
"That's what I was hoping you could tell me," Leena said. Vega looked at her with a look that
seemed to ask 'who are you?' He then looked behind her.
"The Liger Zero? So you must be one of Bit's teammates."
"That's right," Leena said. "I'm Leena Toros, I was the Gun Sniper pilot during the Royal
Cup."
"Yes, I remember your voice."
"Have you seen Bit?" Leena asked.
Vega's eyes widened. "What?! You mean he's not here?"
Leena's eyes widened. "You've seen him?! Do you know what happened to him?"
Vega nodded. "They must've got him."
"Who? Tell me EVERYTHING!"
"Right, well..."
FLASHBACK
"I should warn you, Bit, I've improved a lot since we last met."
"Me too, I know that this battle will be one both of us will remember," Bit said. He nodded at
Vega, then his eyes widened as he spotted something behind him. "Vega, get to your Dark
Spiner!"
"Huh?" Vega turned and saw what Bit saw. A large dinosaur-like Zoid loomed overhead. "A
Gordos!"
The Stegosaurus fired from the missile pods on its side. Bit and Vega scattered. Vega jumped
into the cockpit of the Dark Spiner. "You'll regret that!" The Dark Spiner fired its AZ144mm
cannons. The Gordos countered with its supercannons. The Dark Spiner dodged to the side. The
two Zoids moved in to close-range battle.
The struggle was observed by Bit. He couldn't believe how powerful the Dark Spiner was. Then
again, when Vega Obscura was at the controls, even a Molga can seem like an all-powerful
weapon.
The Gordos fired its supercannons again. Vega barely pulled back in time.
{He's aiming for the cockpit,} Vega thought. {He's actually trying to kill me! Maybe Bit
too.} "Bit, run for it! They're trying to kill us! I'll try to hold out while you run for
it."
Bit wanted to help, but without Liger Zero there really wasn't anything he could do. The only
thing he could do is do what Vega told him. He turned to run.
"I think it's time you need to taste some charged particle power," Vega said. His leg spikes
came down and the vents on his tail opened up. Finally, the quills on its back began rising.
Energy sparkled down the quills.
"Go for it, Vega!" Bit encouraged.
"Charged Particle Cannon, fire!" Vega commanded. An intense energy beam shot out of the Dark
Spiner's mouth. The Gordos fell.
Bit was about to congratulate Vega on a good job when he spotted something out of the corner of
his eye. A dinosaur-like Zoid was approaching from the north. The color was different, but
there was no mistaking it. It was a Genosaurer.
"Vega, look out, a Genosaurer is heading this way!" Bit called.
"So you want some too?" Vega asked defiantly as he maneuvered the Dark Spiner to fire the
Charged Particle Cannon.
Suddenly the Genosaurer got into a very familiar stanse. It too was about to fire its Charged
Particle Cannon.
Bit covered his eyes as the two powerful energy beams collided, each threatening to push the
other back.
Bit saw it a fraction of a second before it happened. The Gordos swung one of its cannons to
the side and fired. The blast struck the Dark Spiner's side and it fell over. Vega was ejected
from the cockpit. He rolled forward and laid there in the sand.
END FLASHBACK
"The wind must've blew sand over me in the night," Vega concluded. "Because the next thing I
knew, I heard footsteps, yours most likely. I'm sure you know what happens from there."
"Vega... what color was the Gordos? And the Genosaurer?"
"That was the odd thing. They were both painted black with strange markings."
Leena slammed her palm with her fist. "The WARLords! They must've kidnapped Bit to get
revenge on him from what happened at the Ultrasaurus! Vega, which direction did the Genosaurer
come from?"
Still confused as to what was going on. Vega pointed behind Leena. "That way, from the
north."
"Then north is where we're going." Leena ran over to the Liger. "Let me up, Liger, we have a
clue." More acceptive than last time, Liger again allowed Leena to enter his cockpit. "Hey
Vega, are you going to be all right?"
The kid nodded. "I'm sure the Dark Spiner can last until I get into town." The Dark Spiner
let out a roar as if it was agreeing with him.
"Just the same, if you need help, our base is not far from here. If you just so happen to come
across any of the other Blitz Team members, tell them what you told me."
"Right."
"Let's go, Liger." The hatch closed and the Liger shot off, firing its ion boosters.
The Liger shot along a direct route. Leena saw that they were coming to a weird mountain. The
peak was shaped like Saber Tiger's head.
"I think I know this place," Leena said. "My Dad used to tell me about this, I think it was
called... Red River? Well, if there was a WARLord base anywhere, this would probably be it.
How do you think we should go through it, Liger?"
Before the Liger could answer her (not that it would matter considering Leena can't understand
what it was saying), metallic tentacles shot out and wrapped themselves around the Liger's back
feet.
"Liger, shake them off!" Leena instructed. She could tell that the Liger was doing its best
but it was pointless. Well not if she had anything to say about it. "Sorry, Liger, but if I
don't do this, we're both gonners." Leena grabbed the controls and sharply twisted them to the
left. On the outside, the Liger turned the front part of its body so that it was facing the
cliffside. It fired continus blasts from the shot cannon. The blasts hit the cliffside and
caused rubble to fall on the tentacles.
Liger shook off the tentacles.
"Phew, that was a close one," Leena commented. "Sorry about that, Liger, I'll understand if
you want to eject me and rescue Bit on your lonesome." Leena braced for the sound of the hatch
opening and the seat ejecting but nothing happened. "I guess I've earned my keep."
Suddenly the Liger was thrown forward into the cliffside. The last thing Leena saw before the
cockpit screen went dark and she herself was knocked out was a large black raptor-like Zoid.
"The Genosaurer," Leena muttered then lost consciousness.
Vega Obscura discovered that for all his boasting, the Dark Spiner was having trouble moving.
Most likely something inside of it was wrong. He was afraid he was going to have to abandon
it. But then a signal of hope arrived in the form of a structure. It looked like a large
hangar or some sort of warehouse. Vega stopped the Dark Spiner and climbed out.
"I'll be right back," he told it. He ran up to it and discovered there was a hole in one of
the doors. He peeked through and saw two people standing around an empty space.
"Do you think it could've kidnapped her?"
"I doubt it, what reason would it have to do that? Besides, it's pilot is Bit, not Leena."
"Excuse me," he called.
Brad and Doc. Toros turned around and immediately recognized him.
"Vega Obscura." Brad got ready to attack but Doc. Toros stopped him.
"Vega, what are you doing here?" Toros asked.
"Believe it or not, Leena invited me." Brad and Doc. Toros looked at each other in shock.
Leena felt something dripping on her. She woke up and found that she was blindfolded... no
wait, she wasn't blind folded, it'll just take her a while for her eyes to adjust to the
darkness.
She tried to remember what happened to her. She was in the Liger Zero. Something attacked her
and then... she still had a headache.
"I guess I should try to find Liger and get out of here," she told herself.
A moan startled her. She backed herself up against the wall, which she discovered to be either
linoleum or cement. Apparently, she was in a basement or a warehouse or something like that.
"Wh... Who's there?" Leena asked.
"Lee... na?" A hoarse voice called out.
"I... I should warn you, I know how to defend myself..." Leena thought she recognized the voice.
Carefully, she took a step closer. The outline of a limp body came into view. She gasped.
It was BIT!
"BIT!" She ran to him and knelt by him. He looked like hell. He had cuts and scratches all
over his body. His right arm hung at its side and his clothes were ripped in multiple places.
"Bit, are you all right?"
"I've felt better. What are you doing here?"
Leena crossed her arms. "Well I can see you're glad to see me," she said sarcastically.
"Sorry, but I thought nobody knew where I was, not even Vega."
"I'll tell you later, but what happened to you?"
"Well, it all started when I left the Toros base. I thought you were right and the Blitz Team
didn't really need me. I met up with Vega Obscura."
"Yeah, Vega told me everything up to the time he was knocked out."
"Well I tried to run but a Black Raynos came out of nowhere and picked me up. Next thing I
knew, I was here."
"But how did...?"
Leena helped Bit up to sitting position and leaned him against the wall. She made a gesture
with her head at his wounds.
"Interrogation. The WARLords think I'm an agent for the Zoid Battle Commission trying to find
their weaknesses, just like Ashley was sent to do. One of them got a little carried away and
pushed me off a cliff. Luckily it was a short drop."
"So it wasn't because of you're actions at the Ultrasaurus?"
"I don't think so, I think it was just a coincidence."
"Bit... I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's not like you pushed me off the cliff."
"Not about that, about yelling at you. You are an important part to the Blitz Team. We would
probably be living out of a cardboard box if you hadn't come along and piloted the Liger Zero.
I'm not just saying that, it's true. So, what do you say, are we friends again?"
Bit smiled. "What do you mean again? I don't even remember fighting with you."
Despite herself, Leena smiled. "That's the Bit Cloud I know. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I had
a little talk with your sister."
Bit frowned. "What crack she had about me this time?"
"She said that she was very proud of you, even a little jealous."
"Come on, Leena, be serious, please."
"Believe it or not, I am." Leena explained what Amber told her.
"Wow, all this time I've been trying to make my sister proud, I guess it never hit me that I
actually might succeed. I can't leave the Blitz Team now, not before I reconcile with Amber."
"Good idea."
"Um... you didn't by any chance... hit her to make her tell you all that, did you?"
Leena had a hurt expression. "Moi? Do I look like a violent person?"
"To tell you the truth, I hope you are, the WARLords play rough and we need to play just as
rough if we're going to get out of here."
"Speaking of which, what do you say we get out of here?"
"I'm all for that." Bit held out his good hand and Leena shook it.
"The first thing we should do after we get out of here is head for the loading bay. They'll
probably be keeping the Liger in there."
Bit blinked at her. "The Liger? Liger Zero? You came here in Liger Zero?"
Leena smiled embarrassingly. "Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that? Well let me explain..."
Vega sat in the common room explaining to Doc. Toros and Brad what was going on. Jamie Hemeros
was seeing about the repairs of the Dark Spiner.
"So let me get this straight," Doc. Toros said. "My daughter appeared in the Liger Zero and
asked about Bit. You told her he was captured and she went off to fight them all by herself?"
Vega nodded. "I know it might seem umbelievable but..."
"On the contrary," Brad interrupted. "That exactly sounds like Leena."
Jamie came in. "The Dark Spiner is good as new, Vega. A little tightening, some oiling, and
there you go."
"Thank you."
"Jamie, after the Backdraft Group captured Bit and the Liger, we installed a homing chip in the
Liger. Can we track its signal?"
"Sure, as long as it's not destroyed, we can track it from the Hovercargo."
"Good, because we're going after them. Vega, would you like to come along?"
Vega nodded. "I'd like to get them back for what they did to my Dark Spiner."
"Then let's load 'em up and move out! I always wanted to say that." Brad, Jamie, and Vega all
sighed.
"Guard, guard," Leena called. "Come quick!"
The guard of their cell came in. "What is it?"
Leena gestured at Bit, who was lying on the floor. "There's something wrong with this kid. He
suddenly cried out then collapsed."
The guard mumbled a curse. As he bent down to check Bit's pulse, Leena silently moved behind
him.
"He'll live," the guard informed. "He probably just lost consciousness from the..." As the
guard turned to look at Leena, he received a knee right in the face. The guard fell against
the wall then down to the floor.
Bit got up. "Nice hit. Remind me never to make you angry."
"Right, let's go." Bit and Leena ran out of their cell and down the hall. They kept following
the hallways, checking doors to see if any lead to a stair case or the outside. Finally, one
of the end doors turned out to be a stair case with stairs leading both up and down.
"So do we go up or down?" Bit asked.
"Up," Leena decided. They ran up the stairs. Soon, they came to a dead end. "Oops, maybe we
should've gone down."
Bit moaned.
Two things happened at once: an alarm went off and the entire stair case started to shake.
Leena immediately covered Bit with her body as rubble rained down around them. When they
looked up, they discovered the Liger Zero staring back at them.
"Good boy, Liger," Bit congratulated. "I knew nothing could keep you in confinement." The
Liger lowered his head to them and the hatch opened. Bit limped into the cockpit and Leena got
behind the seat. The hatch lowered.
"Can we get out of here?" Leena asked.
"Fine by me." The Liger turned and plowed down the mountain. Tentacles shot out to grab the
Liger Zero but the white Zoid just jumped over them. When they got to the valley near the
river, they encountered the Red River base's Zoid force, complete with a Genosaurer.
"Looks like we have no choice but to fight," Bit said. He went to grab the controls but forgot
about his arm and yelped in pain. "I can't pilot the Liger with just one arm."
"Then move over and let someone with two arms do it," Leena said forcing her way into the
cockpit chair. Bit climbed over the chair and into the back compartment. "All right, Liger,
here's what we're going to do," Leena explained. "We're going to shoot up the cliff by
bouncing from one side to the other. Once we get up there, we take pot shots with that cannon
of yours. If any Zoid, especially that Genosaurer somehow gets up here, we fire the boosters
and high-tail it out of here. You don't like it, well tough nuggets."
The Liger let out a roar. "I don't believe it," Bit said astonished. "He agrees with you."
"Like I told the Liger, I can hold my own in battle. So let's rock!" The Liger leaped up and
pushed off from one side of the cliff to the side of the other cliff in a zig-zag formation.
As Leena explained, it arrived at the top and started firing its shot cannon. The Zoid force,
which consisted of a Guysack, Saber Tigers, Lightning Saixs, and even a Command Wolf, all
black, began scattering.
"Good job, Leena," Bit said excitedly. "You handle the Liger like a pro."
"Well, it doesn't have as many guns as my Gun Sniper, but it will have to do."
Bit smiled, greatful for Leena's trigger-happy attitude.
That pleasant moment was interrupted, however, as Storm Sworders and Salamanders, equipped with
carrier harnesses, began lifting the Zoids up the cliffside.
"No way," Leena gasped.
"Who would've thought," Bit added. "Um... Leena, let's get out of here."
"Uh... yeah." Liger turned and fired its boosters. The aerial Zoids dropped their payload and
the ground troops began taking off after the Liger Zero.
More Zoids began popping up. Bit recognized the Gordos that attacked him and Vega, obviously
repaired from the battle. The Liger fired its boosters but the Storm Sworders were much
faster, their buzzing caused the Liger Zero to be herded back towards the Zoids.
"We need help badly," Leena commented. Bit agreed with her and the Liger's grumbled showed
that it agreed with her too.
A proximity alarm went off. "Now what?" Leena asked. A side monitor came on to show the
Hovercargo heading towards them. "It's the Hovercargo!"
"Yes! The others found us!" Bit was also enthusiastic.
The Hovercargo stopped and the catapult, side panel, and lower hatch all opened. The Raynos
was shot from the catapult. The side panel revealed the Shadow Fox with the Buster Cannon on
its back. The Fox was dropped to the ground. The Dark Spiner came out of the lower hatch.
The Raynos began taking out the aerial Zoids while the Shadow Fox and Dark Spiner handled the
ground Zoids.
A communication screen opened up and Doc. Toros' face appeared. "Bit, Leena, are you two all
right?"
"We're fine now that you're here, Dad," Leena responded.
Doc. Toros nodded. "Both of you, return to the Hovercargo. Leena, get into your Gun Sniper
and Bit, get ready to transform into the Liger Zero-Panzer."
"Doc, my arm's in pretty rough shape, I don't know if..." Bit's complaining was interrupted by
the roars of the Liger Zero. "Thanks, Liger, I owe you big time. Let's go, Leena."
"Right." The Liger Zero retreated into the Hovercargo. Once there, Leena exited the Liger and
got into her own Zoid. It was launched while Liger Zero donned its Panzer armor.
The Blitz Team and Vega stood in front of the Hovercargo. The WARLords stood in front of
their base. It was a classic Zoids stand off.
"Let's rumble," Bit said. The Zoids moved in but the Blitz Team and Vega fired their weapons.
Those Zoids that weren't caught in the initial blast tried to return fire, but the sheer power
was overwhelming. This carnage continued for five minutes.
Suddenly Bit got an idea. "Aim for the mountain itself! Hybrid Cannons fire!"
"Weasel Unit Super Assault!" Leena shouted.
"Charged Particle Cannon fire!" Vega threw in. The Shadow Fox and Raynos fired their own
weapons. The energy blasts caused the mountain to cave in on the base. Luckily, all the
soldiers were in Zoids and were not in the base.
"Scratch one WARLord base," Leena said.
"Hey, look," Jamie called. "The WARLords are retreating."
"Should we go after them?" Brad asked.
"Nah," Bit decided. "We've had enough excitement for one day." He gave Leena a smile. "Let's
go home."
Leena returned the smile and nodded. The Blitz Team bid their good-bye to Vega and headed home.
Leena: I feel sorry for Jamie. The poor kid thinks the only reason we keep him around is because
his Wild Eagle persona is good in a fight. Meanwhile, that Pierce character returns and wants to
challenge the pilot of the Raynos to a rematch. I hope Jamie can pull himself together. Next
time on Zoids: "Jamie's Fusion: Assault of the Redler." Ready... FLY!
Episode 10: The Odd Couple: Leena and Liger
Brad: Last time on Zoids, Leena was extremely pissed at Bit for forfeiting our match with the
Nuke Team. She told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of him, including that the team
would be better off without him. Later, Leena tried to settle the differences between Bit and
Amber. She discovered that the reason Amber was always acting so hostile towards Bit was
because she wanted to show him that he didn't have to do something special to earn her respect.
I guess over the years, that meaning kind of got lost in the shuffle. Amber and Leena left on
good terms but Bit left sourly because he thought that Leena was right. While in the desert,
he met up with his old rival, Vega Obscura and his new Zoid, the Dark Spiner. The two agreed
to a rematch of the Royal Cup... didn't they?
Leena yawned as she returned from Vanguard City. It was a long drive back and the Gun Sniper
wasn't really meant for travel. Once, she got inside, she went looking for Bit. Her first
check was in his room, but he wasn't there.
She passed by Brad Hunter who was on his way to his room. "Hey Brad, where's Bit? He's not in
his room."
"Knowing him, he's probably sulking somewhere."
"I don't know, Bit isn't the type to sulk for so long."
"Look, this thing with his sister really got to him. I would too if I was in Bit's situation.
Just wait until tomorrow morning."
Leena wasn't sure whether or not Brad was right. True Bit was upset, but why would he just
disappear to sulk when he could do that just as easily in his own room?
Leena finally decided that Brad was probably right. She would go search for him in the
morning.
The next morning, Leena went to check Bit's room but it was still empty. In fact, the bed
hadn't even been slept in. Leena began to sense something was up. She went into the hangar
bay where the Zoids and the other vehicles were.
{The jeep's here... and so is his truck,} Leena thought when she saw they were in their
respective places. She immediately went into the Zoid loading bay and saw the large white Zoid
standing tall and proud in its spot. {The Liger... Bit tells Liger Zero everything, surely he
would know... what am I thinking? I don't speak Liger... well, no hurt in asking.}
Leena meekly went up to the Liger Zero. "Uh... Liger." The large Zoid lowered its head to
look at her. Leena almost forgot how intimidating the Liger Zero could be. "Liger... have you
seen Bit?"
The Liger began to let out a series of roars. "Wait, wait, I don't understand," Leena said
interrupting him. "Just nod or shake your head." The Liger shook its head. "You haven't?
But Bit tells you everything, why wouldn't he tell you where he was going unless... unless he
wasn't planning on going anywhere! What if he was taken!"
The Liger began roaring almost like it was launching into a tirade. "Hold on, Liger, hold on,
the only thing that's going to solve this is if we go find Bit."
The Liger let out a huff and turned itself towards the door.
"Wait," Leena pleaded. "I'm coming with you." Even without the Liger's grunts, Leena could
tell that it didn't want her to. "I know you won't let anyone except Bit pilot you, but I'm...
I'm worried about him too. You have to let me come with you. Think about it this way, I won't
be piloting, I would just be a passenger."
The Liger moaned and lowered his head. The hatch opened. Leena let out a sigh of relief.
Carefully, she climbed in. The Harness lowered, although it wasn't meant for Leena's thin
body, but rather Bit's broad shouldered frame.
"This shouldn't be too hard," Leena told herself. "I mean Bit does this all the time, so if he
can do it, then anybody can. Here we go. GO, LIGER!" The Liger plowed through the bay door.
Leena was forced back in her seat. She grunted in pain. "You meant to do that, didn't you?"
She accused the Liger. The Liger nodded its head, its roars sounding like laughter. "Great,
if there's anything I hate more, it's a smart-alec Zoid."
The two searched for hours and hours, and it seemed like it was a useless task. Several times
Leena kicked herself mentally for not thinking this through. Then again, the Liger wasn't
exactly a planner itself.
Suddenly the Liger's proximity alarm. It detected something north-east of their current
location.
"It looks like a Zoid," Leena observed. "You know what it is, Liger?" A profile came on the
Liger's screen and Leena read it. "Dark Spiner huh? Sounds like one tough Zoid. Hey, maybe
it knows where Bit is." The Liger decided it was a good plan because it turned and headed out
in the location.
When they arrived, the sight before them startled both human and Zoid. Smoked craters laid
strewn along a mile radius. The Dark Spiner was lying on its side, smoke erupting from its
side. "Wow, was there a Zoid battle here?" Leena asked. "Liger, let me out, I want to look
around." The Liger was only too happy to let the human out. Leena walked over to the Dark
Spiner wreckage and placed a hand on it.
"I'm no expert, but this Zoid looks like it's been mangled. There are cannon shots right near
the cockpit. Whoever the Dark Spiner was fighting was fighting for keeps."
Leena backed up from the wreckage and fell over something. She looked down and discovered a
human hand.
Leena screamed for all she's worth. Then looked carefully. The hand was sticking out of a
sand pile. Leena carefully cleared the sand around the hand. The good news was that the hand
was attached to a body. As Leena cleared the last of the sand, she discovered that the body
was that of a dark-haired boy.
"Vega Obscura!" Leena recognized. She lowered her ear to his stomach listening for a
heartbeat or any signs of breathing. She was rewarded with a heartbeat and a moan.
"Water," Vega croaked. His voice sounded like it was on its last legs. Leena looked around
and spotted a water spout, they were left in the desert for travelers to resupply should they
need to. She dragged Vega over to it and turned it on, allowing water to flow into his mouth.
After a moment, the boy coughed and wretched. Again, Leena let out a sigh of relief.
Finally, Vega opened his eyes. He groaned. "Ow, what happened to me."
"That's what I was hoping you could tell me," Leena said. Vega looked at her with a look that
seemed to ask 'who are you?' He then looked behind her.
"The Liger Zero? So you must be one of Bit's teammates."
"That's right," Leena said. "I'm Leena Toros, I was the Gun Sniper pilot during the Royal
Cup."
"Yes, I remember your voice."
"Have you seen Bit?" Leena asked.
Vega's eyes widened. "What?! You mean he's not here?"
Leena's eyes widened. "You've seen him?! Do you know what happened to him?"
Vega nodded. "They must've got him."
"Who? Tell me EVERYTHING!"
"Right, well..."
FLASHBACK
"I should warn you, Bit, I've improved a lot since we last met."
"Me too, I know that this battle will be one both of us will remember," Bit said. He nodded at
Vega, then his eyes widened as he spotted something behind him. "Vega, get to your Dark
Spiner!"
"Huh?" Vega turned and saw what Bit saw. A large dinosaur-like Zoid loomed overhead. "A
Gordos!"
The Stegosaurus fired from the missile pods on its side. Bit and Vega scattered. Vega jumped
into the cockpit of the Dark Spiner. "You'll regret that!" The Dark Spiner fired its AZ144mm
cannons. The Gordos countered with its supercannons. The Dark Spiner dodged to the side. The
two Zoids moved in to close-range battle.
The struggle was observed by Bit. He couldn't believe how powerful the Dark Spiner was. Then
again, when Vega Obscura was at the controls, even a Molga can seem like an all-powerful
weapon.
The Gordos fired its supercannons again. Vega barely pulled back in time.
{He's aiming for the cockpit,} Vega thought. {He's actually trying to kill me! Maybe Bit
too.} "Bit, run for it! They're trying to kill us! I'll try to hold out while you run for
it."
Bit wanted to help, but without Liger Zero there really wasn't anything he could do. The only
thing he could do is do what Vega told him. He turned to run.
"I think it's time you need to taste some charged particle power," Vega said. His leg spikes
came down and the vents on his tail opened up. Finally, the quills on its back began rising.
Energy sparkled down the quills.
"Go for it, Vega!" Bit encouraged.
"Charged Particle Cannon, fire!" Vega commanded. An intense energy beam shot out of the Dark
Spiner's mouth. The Gordos fell.
Bit was about to congratulate Vega on a good job when he spotted something out of the corner of
his eye. A dinosaur-like Zoid was approaching from the north. The color was different, but
there was no mistaking it. It was a Genosaurer.
"Vega, look out, a Genosaurer is heading this way!" Bit called.
"So you want some too?" Vega asked defiantly as he maneuvered the Dark Spiner to fire the
Charged Particle Cannon.
Suddenly the Genosaurer got into a very familiar stanse. It too was about to fire its Charged
Particle Cannon.
Bit covered his eyes as the two powerful energy beams collided, each threatening to push the
other back.
Bit saw it a fraction of a second before it happened. The Gordos swung one of its cannons to
the side and fired. The blast struck the Dark Spiner's side and it fell over. Vega was ejected
from the cockpit. He rolled forward and laid there in the sand.
END FLASHBACK
"The wind must've blew sand over me in the night," Vega concluded. "Because the next thing I
knew, I heard footsteps, yours most likely. I'm sure you know what happens from there."
"Vega... what color was the Gordos? And the Genosaurer?"
"That was the odd thing. They were both painted black with strange markings."
Leena slammed her palm with her fist. "The WARLords! They must've kidnapped Bit to get
revenge on him from what happened at the Ultrasaurus! Vega, which direction did the Genosaurer
come from?"
Still confused as to what was going on. Vega pointed behind Leena. "That way, from the
north."
"Then north is where we're going." Leena ran over to the Liger. "Let me up, Liger, we have a
clue." More acceptive than last time, Liger again allowed Leena to enter his cockpit. "Hey
Vega, are you going to be all right?"
The kid nodded. "I'm sure the Dark Spiner can last until I get into town." The Dark Spiner
let out a roar as if it was agreeing with him.
"Just the same, if you need help, our base is not far from here. If you just so happen to come
across any of the other Blitz Team members, tell them what you told me."
"Right."
"Let's go, Liger." The hatch closed and the Liger shot off, firing its ion boosters.
The Liger shot along a direct route. Leena saw that they were coming to a weird mountain. The
peak was shaped like Saber Tiger's head.
"I think I know this place," Leena said. "My Dad used to tell me about this, I think it was
called... Red River? Well, if there was a WARLord base anywhere, this would probably be it.
How do you think we should go through it, Liger?"
Before the Liger could answer her (not that it would matter considering Leena can't understand
what it was saying), metallic tentacles shot out and wrapped themselves around the Liger's back
feet.
"Liger, shake them off!" Leena instructed. She could tell that the Liger was doing its best
but it was pointless. Well not if she had anything to say about it. "Sorry, Liger, but if I
don't do this, we're both gonners." Leena grabbed the controls and sharply twisted them to the
left. On the outside, the Liger turned the front part of its body so that it was facing the
cliffside. It fired continus blasts from the shot cannon. The blasts hit the cliffside and
caused rubble to fall on the tentacles.
Liger shook off the tentacles.
"Phew, that was a close one," Leena commented. "Sorry about that, Liger, I'll understand if
you want to eject me and rescue Bit on your lonesome." Leena braced for the sound of the hatch
opening and the seat ejecting but nothing happened. "I guess I've earned my keep."
Suddenly the Liger was thrown forward into the cliffside. The last thing Leena saw before the
cockpit screen went dark and she herself was knocked out was a large black raptor-like Zoid.
"The Genosaurer," Leena muttered then lost consciousness.
Vega Obscura discovered that for all his boasting, the Dark Spiner was having trouble moving.
Most likely something inside of it was wrong. He was afraid he was going to have to abandon
it. But then a signal of hope arrived in the form of a structure. It looked like a large
hangar or some sort of warehouse. Vega stopped the Dark Spiner and climbed out.
"I'll be right back," he told it. He ran up to it and discovered there was a hole in one of
the doors. He peeked through and saw two people standing around an empty space.
"Do you think it could've kidnapped her?"
"I doubt it, what reason would it have to do that? Besides, it's pilot is Bit, not Leena."
"Excuse me," he called.
Brad and Doc. Toros turned around and immediately recognized him.
"Vega Obscura." Brad got ready to attack but Doc. Toros stopped him.
"Vega, what are you doing here?" Toros asked.
"Believe it or not, Leena invited me." Brad and Doc. Toros looked at each other in shock.
Leena felt something dripping on her. She woke up and found that she was blindfolded... no
wait, she wasn't blind folded, it'll just take her a while for her eyes to adjust to the
darkness.
She tried to remember what happened to her. She was in the Liger Zero. Something attacked her
and then... she still had a headache.
"I guess I should try to find Liger and get out of here," she told herself.
A moan startled her. She backed herself up against the wall, which she discovered to be either
linoleum or cement. Apparently, she was in a basement or a warehouse or something like that.
"Wh... Who's there?" Leena asked.
"Lee... na?" A hoarse voice called out.
"I... I should warn you, I know how to defend myself..." Leena thought she recognized the voice.
Carefully, she took a step closer. The outline of a limp body came into view. She gasped.
It was BIT!
"BIT!" She ran to him and knelt by him. He looked like hell. He had cuts and scratches all
over his body. His right arm hung at its side and his clothes were ripped in multiple places.
"Bit, are you all right?"
"I've felt better. What are you doing here?"
Leena crossed her arms. "Well I can see you're glad to see me," she said sarcastically.
"Sorry, but I thought nobody knew where I was, not even Vega."
"I'll tell you later, but what happened to you?"
"Well, it all started when I left the Toros base. I thought you were right and the Blitz Team
didn't really need me. I met up with Vega Obscura."
"Yeah, Vega told me everything up to the time he was knocked out."
"Well I tried to run but a Black Raynos came out of nowhere and picked me up. Next thing I
knew, I was here."
"But how did...?"
Leena helped Bit up to sitting position and leaned him against the wall. She made a gesture
with her head at his wounds.
"Interrogation. The WARLords think I'm an agent for the Zoid Battle Commission trying to find
their weaknesses, just like Ashley was sent to do. One of them got a little carried away and
pushed me off a cliff. Luckily it was a short drop."
"So it wasn't because of you're actions at the Ultrasaurus?"
"I don't think so, I think it was just a coincidence."
"Bit... I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's not like you pushed me off the cliff."
"Not about that, about yelling at you. You are an important part to the Blitz Team. We would
probably be living out of a cardboard box if you hadn't come along and piloted the Liger Zero.
I'm not just saying that, it's true. So, what do you say, are we friends again?"
Bit smiled. "What do you mean again? I don't even remember fighting with you."
Despite herself, Leena smiled. "That's the Bit Cloud I know. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I had
a little talk with your sister."
Bit frowned. "What crack she had about me this time?"
"She said that she was very proud of you, even a little jealous."
"Come on, Leena, be serious, please."
"Believe it or not, I am." Leena explained what Amber told her.
"Wow, all this time I've been trying to make my sister proud, I guess it never hit me that I
actually might succeed. I can't leave the Blitz Team now, not before I reconcile with Amber."
"Good idea."
"Um... you didn't by any chance... hit her to make her tell you all that, did you?"
Leena had a hurt expression. "Moi? Do I look like a violent person?"
"To tell you the truth, I hope you are, the WARLords play rough and we need to play just as
rough if we're going to get out of here."
"Speaking of which, what do you say we get out of here?"
"I'm all for that." Bit held out his good hand and Leena shook it.
"The first thing we should do after we get out of here is head for the loading bay. They'll
probably be keeping the Liger in there."
Bit blinked at her. "The Liger? Liger Zero? You came here in Liger Zero?"
Leena smiled embarrassingly. "Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that? Well let me explain..."
Vega sat in the common room explaining to Doc. Toros and Brad what was going on. Jamie Hemeros
was seeing about the repairs of the Dark Spiner.
"So let me get this straight," Doc. Toros said. "My daughter appeared in the Liger Zero and
asked about Bit. You told her he was captured and she went off to fight them all by herself?"
Vega nodded. "I know it might seem umbelievable but..."
"On the contrary," Brad interrupted. "That exactly sounds like Leena."
Jamie came in. "The Dark Spiner is good as new, Vega. A little tightening, some oiling, and
there you go."
"Thank you."
"Jamie, after the Backdraft Group captured Bit and the Liger, we installed a homing chip in the
Liger. Can we track its signal?"
"Sure, as long as it's not destroyed, we can track it from the Hovercargo."
"Good, because we're going after them. Vega, would you like to come along?"
Vega nodded. "I'd like to get them back for what they did to my Dark Spiner."
"Then let's load 'em up and move out! I always wanted to say that." Brad, Jamie, and Vega all
sighed.
"Guard, guard," Leena called. "Come quick!"
The guard of their cell came in. "What is it?"
Leena gestured at Bit, who was lying on the floor. "There's something wrong with this kid. He
suddenly cried out then collapsed."
The guard mumbled a curse. As he bent down to check Bit's pulse, Leena silently moved behind
him.
"He'll live," the guard informed. "He probably just lost consciousness from the..." As the
guard turned to look at Leena, he received a knee right in the face. The guard fell against
the wall then down to the floor.
Bit got up. "Nice hit. Remind me never to make you angry."
"Right, let's go." Bit and Leena ran out of their cell and down the hall. They kept following
the hallways, checking doors to see if any lead to a stair case or the outside. Finally, one
of the end doors turned out to be a stair case with stairs leading both up and down.
"So do we go up or down?" Bit asked.
"Up," Leena decided. They ran up the stairs. Soon, they came to a dead end. "Oops, maybe we
should've gone down."
Bit moaned.
Two things happened at once: an alarm went off and the entire stair case started to shake.
Leena immediately covered Bit with her body as rubble rained down around them. When they
looked up, they discovered the Liger Zero staring back at them.
"Good boy, Liger," Bit congratulated. "I knew nothing could keep you in confinement." The
Liger lowered his head to them and the hatch opened. Bit limped into the cockpit and Leena got
behind the seat. The hatch lowered.
"Can we get out of here?" Leena asked.
"Fine by me." The Liger turned and plowed down the mountain. Tentacles shot out to grab the
Liger Zero but the white Zoid just jumped over them. When they got to the valley near the
river, they encountered the Red River base's Zoid force, complete with a Genosaurer.
"Looks like we have no choice but to fight," Bit said. He went to grab the controls but forgot
about his arm and yelped in pain. "I can't pilot the Liger with just one arm."
"Then move over and let someone with two arms do it," Leena said forcing her way into the
cockpit chair. Bit climbed over the chair and into the back compartment. "All right, Liger,
here's what we're going to do," Leena explained. "We're going to shoot up the cliff by
bouncing from one side to the other. Once we get up there, we take pot shots with that cannon
of yours. If any Zoid, especially that Genosaurer somehow gets up here, we fire the boosters
and high-tail it out of here. You don't like it, well tough nuggets."
The Liger let out a roar. "I don't believe it," Bit said astonished. "He agrees with you."
"Like I told the Liger, I can hold my own in battle. So let's rock!" The Liger leaped up and
pushed off from one side of the cliff to the side of the other cliff in a zig-zag formation.
As Leena explained, it arrived at the top and started firing its shot cannon. The Zoid force,
which consisted of a Guysack, Saber Tigers, Lightning Saixs, and even a Command Wolf, all
black, began scattering.
"Good job, Leena," Bit said excitedly. "You handle the Liger like a pro."
"Well, it doesn't have as many guns as my Gun Sniper, but it will have to do."
Bit smiled, greatful for Leena's trigger-happy attitude.
That pleasant moment was interrupted, however, as Storm Sworders and Salamanders, equipped with
carrier harnesses, began lifting the Zoids up the cliffside.
"No way," Leena gasped.
"Who would've thought," Bit added. "Um... Leena, let's get out of here."
"Uh... yeah." Liger turned and fired its boosters. The aerial Zoids dropped their payload and
the ground troops began taking off after the Liger Zero.
More Zoids began popping up. Bit recognized the Gordos that attacked him and Vega, obviously
repaired from the battle. The Liger fired its boosters but the Storm Sworders were much
faster, their buzzing caused the Liger Zero to be herded back towards the Zoids.
"We need help badly," Leena commented. Bit agreed with her and the Liger's grumbled showed
that it agreed with her too.
A proximity alarm went off. "Now what?" Leena asked. A side monitor came on to show the
Hovercargo heading towards them. "It's the Hovercargo!"
"Yes! The others found us!" Bit was also enthusiastic.
The Hovercargo stopped and the catapult, side panel, and lower hatch all opened. The Raynos
was shot from the catapult. The side panel revealed the Shadow Fox with the Buster Cannon on
its back. The Fox was dropped to the ground. The Dark Spiner came out of the lower hatch.
The Raynos began taking out the aerial Zoids while the Shadow Fox and Dark Spiner handled the
ground Zoids.
A communication screen opened up and Doc. Toros' face appeared. "Bit, Leena, are you two all
right?"
"We're fine now that you're here, Dad," Leena responded.
Doc. Toros nodded. "Both of you, return to the Hovercargo. Leena, get into your Gun Sniper
and Bit, get ready to transform into the Liger Zero-Panzer."
"Doc, my arm's in pretty rough shape, I don't know if..." Bit's complaining was interrupted by
the roars of the Liger Zero. "Thanks, Liger, I owe you big time. Let's go, Leena."
"Right." The Liger Zero retreated into the Hovercargo. Once there, Leena exited the Liger and
got into her own Zoid. It was launched while Liger Zero donned its Panzer armor.
The Blitz Team and Vega stood in front of the Hovercargo. The WARLords stood in front of
their base. It was a classic Zoids stand off.
"Let's rumble," Bit said. The Zoids moved in but the Blitz Team and Vega fired their weapons.
Those Zoids that weren't caught in the initial blast tried to return fire, but the sheer power
was overwhelming. This carnage continued for five minutes.
Suddenly Bit got an idea. "Aim for the mountain itself! Hybrid Cannons fire!"
"Weasel Unit Super Assault!" Leena shouted.
"Charged Particle Cannon fire!" Vega threw in. The Shadow Fox and Raynos fired their own
weapons. The energy blasts caused the mountain to cave in on the base. Luckily, all the
soldiers were in Zoids and were not in the base.
"Scratch one WARLord base," Leena said.
"Hey, look," Jamie called. "The WARLords are retreating."
"Should we go after them?" Brad asked.
"Nah," Bit decided. "We've had enough excitement for one day." He gave Leena a smile. "Let's
go home."
Leena returned the smile and nodded. The Blitz Team bid their good-bye to Vega and headed home.
Leena: I feel sorry for Jamie. The poor kid thinks the only reason we keep him around is because
his Wild Eagle persona is good in a fight. Meanwhile, that Pierce character returns and wants to
challenge the pilot of the Raynos to a rematch. I hope Jamie can pull himself together. Next
time on Zoids: "Jamie's Fusion: Assault of the Redler." Ready... FLY!