Chapter XIV: The Truth of the Tragedies

"This is exactly what he said would happen. Why didn't I listen...?"

***

Dive into the mind...

"Please!" shouted Leon Toros urgently, shaking the man as he laid in bed. "Please, can't you remember?!! Jack?"

"Leon, stop!!" Bit Cloud ran into the room, followed by his little sister. He put a hand on Leon's shoulder. "Come on."

"I'm sorry..." mumbled Leon pointlessly, pulling back. "But who could do this to my father...?"

"Miss Kroger."

They turned around to see the Tasker sisters standing in the doorway. "And we would appreciate it if you'd let Jack rest. He was hurt a lot more than we were, so... you get the picture."

"Leon, you should go home," added Kylie. "You're a wreck."

"Yeah, I guess so," agreed Leon. "I'll let you guys and Leena take care of it. I really shouldn't have left Naomi alone at the base, since Brad left with you guys..."

"He's still in the Hover Cargo, if you want him," said Bit.

Leon shook his head and turned back to Kylie. "So you're Bit's sister?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah..." murmured Kylie. I think so, she thought. I really hope so.

"Pleased to meet you," sighed Leon. "I should go now..." He slowly stood up and walked over to the Tasker sisters. They parted and he walked through the doorway.

Chris and Kelly walked over to Jack. "You okay?" asked Chris.

Jack nodded as best he could. They smiled.

"Wow!" cried Kylie, looking at his various injuries. "That girl sure didn't show you any mercy!"

Jack laughed. "I'm guessing you're related to Bit."

"Uh huh..."said Kylie.

"What as her name again?" asked Bit.

"Ayumi Kroger," answered Kelly.

"I've never heard of her before..." muttered Bit.

"I have," said Kylie bitterly. "I can't stand her..."

Kelly laughed. "She's very bent on destroying all of her enemies. If you get on her bad side you're not likely to live peacefully for a while."

Chris nodded. "Jack asked her to spare us, but she was beyond 'too mad.' That Liger... I'll never forget it."

Kylie cringed. "It's a green Liger Zero X. Ayumi used to be part of the Backdraft, but she betrayed us on several occasions... she's the Count's niece, or something like that. I have a feeling that both Count and Commander Altiel have had the displeasure of fighting her before. Probably, they won't be around long enough to tell of it... Like Cid Marron, she's a mercenary slash assassin, but most people are practically too scared to hire her, so she turned to someone else..."

"We now know that person's name is Yoko Minobe," put in Chris. "But that doesn't help us. See, ever since this incident Kelly and I have been bent on getting rid of HER just like she tried to kill Jack!!!"

"Chris!!!" cried Kelly. "Calm down!!!"

"And I'm sure you'll do a good job of it," said Bit. "We'd like to stay and talk some more, but we have to check Doc out of here before Nurse Jenny kills him."

"Nurse Jenny?" asked Chris and Kelly.

"You mean Nurse Sayo," said Jack weakly. "Don't you?"

"The nurse with the green eyes, short blue hair, and that hat?" asked Kylie.

"Yeah, Sayo," said Jack again. "Didn't you look at her name tag?"

"No," said Bit, confused. "She said her name was..."

***

"Yawn..." muttered Ayumi, putting her feet up on the control panel. All this boringness had actually made her tired.

Neos laughed from his Zoid.

"WHAT?!!!"

"I just noticed something," he laughed, watching Eira's limp form. "Her hair isn't in pigtails today. It's actually kind of pretty that way. Down, I mean."

"So?" muttered Ayumi. "Dang, this boredom is getting to all of us. Hitoshi, isn't there anything we can do? Hitoshi?!! Come on, answer me!!!"

"Faye..." mumbled Hitoshi.

"Ayumi, he's asleep," laughed Neos.

"Sheesh," muttered Ayumi. "This is so boring... I can't even call New Helic City's hospital and see if I-"

"Stop trying to get revenge on petty humans like yourself and go for someone useful, like the Kaiser."

"He IS human."

"Not completely."

"Where's Trinity with Akira's Zoid?!!" cried Ayumi, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know... I think she told Trinity to do something else, too."

Dive into the heart...

*"Faye, we have to get out of here," said Hitoshi, trying to persuade his friend to allow him to activate his Zoid. "For all we know-"

"Listen, Hito..."

"Hito?!!"

"Hitoshi." Faye smiled at him as they sat in his Zoid. "We'll be fine. I'm sure I'll be fine. I've taken care of myself for as long as I can remember!"

"Well..." mumbled Hitoshi. Always so cheerful! So confident! "I haven't, okay? I don't think we should sit here to be killed."

"Then, fight in self defense," answered Faye, shrugging. "Then the Liger won't be able to destroy my village or kill either of us." She grinned. "If you can't destroy it, no one can!!!"

"I'm not so sure..."

They braced themselves as they watched those red eyes, which obviously belonged to a Zoid, grow closer as the trees rustled. "Please, Faye," cried Hitoshi. "This is our last chance to get out!"

"Fine, activate your Zoid- but we're not running."

Hitoshi sighed. "Kurai," he mumbled. The red organoid fused with his Zoid.

"Does your Zoid have a name?" asked Faye happily.

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO DANG CHEERFUL?!!!!!" yelled Hitoshi. He closed his eyes to calm down. "No, it doesn't. Zoids don't need names anyways because they're not living things..."

"But your organoid has one!" protested Faye. "What kind of sick ideas has this guy been drilling into your head?!! How could Zoids NOT be living things?!!! If they weren't living you could repair them after their Zoid cores are destroyed!!!"

No response.

"Hito?" asked Faye. "You might want to get ready to dodge to the left."

"Huh?" asked Hitoshi. He looked up and stared at where the Zoid's red eyes had been. They were gone.

"Now!" shouted Faye urgently.

Hitoshi shoved the controls to the left. He caught a faint glimpse of something bound past. "How did you-" he started.

"Fire straight ahead! Right now!!!"

He obeyed and, lo and behold, a completely black Blade Liger appeared before them. Its red eyes seemed to be glaring at them. "Faye..." mumbled Hitoshi.

"Ha ha!!!" shouted Faye, excited. "No more stealth for you, mister!"

Hitoshi frowned. Okay, so this was a better situation, but he had just fired at the guy he'd been working under for almost three years. He wasn't in a position to do any more damage to that Blade Liger.

"You ingrate FOOLS!" came a shout from the Blade Liger.

"Oh, no..." mumbled Hitoshi. He heard a voice in his head: *Prove your loyalty once and for all.*

"Hito, what is it?!!" cried Faye. "Look, he's going to charge at us! Aren't you going to-"

"Get out of here while you still can," muttered Hitoshi, flipping a switch to his left. The cockpit opened.

"What are you doing?!!" cried Faye.

"...proving my loyalty." Hitoshi watched as the Blade Liger backed up a considerable distance. It extended its blades, roared, and started charging forward, slowly at first, and gaining speed. He could tell that even if he tried to move his Zoid, it wouldn't be able to.

"No..." said Faye. For once, she wasn't smiling. "I can't leave you here to sacrifice yourself-"

Hitoshi laughed. "You're better off without me, Faye," he said. "And I'm not sacrificing myself. He told us not to get too attached to anyone and I disobeyed. So, I'm being disciplined."

"But he's gonna kill you!!!"

"...I know."

"Dang, you're crazy!" shouted Faye.

"Get out of here!" shouted Hitoshi. "Please!"

"No," said Faye firmly. "I won't leave you!"

"This is exactly what he said would happen," mumbled Hitoshi. "Why didn't I listen...?"

"I'm glad you didn't."

"Get OUT!!!" shouted Hitoshi, turning around. He was about to shove her out of the cockpit, but knew it was too late.

The Blade Liger jumped, practically flying through his Zoid. Hitoshi realized that there was no way either could survive this.

He was wrong. As the Zoid Core began to implode, Kurai appeared in the cockpit, merged with him and, before he could react, flew straight back out of the Zoid. But Faye...*

***

Dive into the Core of Zi itself: Zoids Eve.

"Come on, Jamie! Can't the Hover Cargo go any faster?!!"

"For the Hover Cargo, this IS fast, Spring." Jamie Hemeros sighed as he piloted the huge transport towards New Helic City. "Why can't we just call them on a com?" he suggested.

"I didn't think of that..." Spring activated a comlink to the Liger Zero X. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Bit or Leena's face who popped up.

"What the heck do you want?!!" yelled the girl on the screen.

"Oh... I was trying to get the Liger Zero X," mumbled Spring.

"This IS the LZX. I'm borrowing it."

"Then tell Bit Cloud that we need him, alright?"

"What the heck," muttered the girl, "I guess so, if Mr. Toros hasn't broken any more models." She closed the comlink.

"That was strange," said Jamie.

"Lots of things are strange," agreed Spring. "Okay, the LZX should get there faster, so we can turn around, I guess."

"Why didn't I just go out in my Raynos?" asked Jamie.

"I dunno, I guess we completely forgot. Oh well... ahh!"

Jamie turned around to see that a silver organoid had appeared out of nowhere. "Hey! Get away!" he shouted, jumping up. "Spring-"

"W- wait," stammered the Zoidian. "I think she has something."

The organoid dropped a floppy disk and turned around. It glowed and flew out of the Hover Cargo as a white light.

"Jamie, look at this," said Spring, picking up the disk. "I wonder what's on it..."

"Give it here," said Jamie. Spring handed him the floppy disk and he put in into a slot by the control panel. He pushed a few buttons and a detailed list popped up. "Spring?" he asked. "Do you know what this is?"

"Wa!!!" cried Spring happily. She clapped her hands and smiled. "It's the list of the Chosen!!" She stopped and looked at it for a moment. "But... why did that organoid have it?" she asked.

"I don't know, but we should probably read it." Jamie skimmed over the list. "Wow..." he muttered. "Ten names and I know exactly half of them."

Ten Chosen... Ten Zoids... Ten different lives and ten different dreams.

Just you wait, Kage. You'll regret the day you stepped off of Earth and came here with your human friends... you'll regret the day you convinced Neos Vert to kill Van Flyheight... you'll regret it all.

In the end, you'll regret the day you met me: Zoids Eve...

If you still love me you won't be able to destroy me...

***

I'm gonna have to apologize, 'cause eight out of the ten Chosen are... he he... girls. Oops. Ah well... Girls are easier characters to come up with, especially their names... in my opinion, at least.

Hehe... Hahahahaha.... MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I luv this, even though it's my story anyways. Oh, sheesh. This is getting unpredictable.

Oh, and don't let my rants scare you away. I'm not really as weird as I seem- okay, that's up to you to decide... I kinda hope you don't think I'm TOO weird... I just luv Zoids!!!

Next time, Chapter XV, Gravity! I've already started this chapter... I need to see if I finished it, because I can't remember. Oh well. Remember, I'm bad at writing Zoids battles, which is why I've been avoiding them...

BTW, Sayo is the name of a Japanese girl at my school (she can't speak much English, unfortunately, but she laughs a lot; we Americans must be funny, either that or strange... probably the latter). Taro Murata is the name of the Japanese immigrant I did a project on earlier in the school year. I'm hurting for names for characters in any stories, now; I've used 'em all!

Oh yeah, and the last four episodes of Zoids weren't available on KaZaA.