Chapter 2
As the night waged on, Bit found that he couldn't help from remembering the night he and Leena had left each other on the hills, or the ensuing hours ongoing after that. He even remembered the fight with the Backdraft Remnant that'd almost cost him the Liger Zero. Slamming his fist down on his bed, he got up, got dressed, and left for the training room that was two floors up from the living quarters.
Jox was walking out of his room when he saw Bit walk out of his bedroom and head for the elevator. Suddenly awake, Jox followed the man until he entered the training room that Jox himself built. But when he tried to walk in, he saw that Bit wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. 'Becca and the new girl that'd just joined the group were in the room, sparing. But as soon as Bit walked into the room, they stopped and looked at him like he was a ghost. Jox dimly heard something like Bit angrily greeting the two women and then started working out in the weight machine that was in the corner.
"Hey, Boss." 'Becca replied, sending a sidekick right into the other girls ribs, but was stopped by an elbow knocking it away.
"Hey 'Becca, hey Shar." Bit grunted angrily. "How's the training?" he asked, stopping for a second while he waited for the answer.
"It's goin' okay, I guess. It's to be expected from someone who pilots a modified HellCat!" 'Becca grunted, noticeably fighting at blocking the attacks that must have been tiring her out. "All stealth and no punch." She continued, trying to aim a punch at the girls face, but was stopped by Shar committing a hook-kick to tuck the arm to the floor and overbalancing her. What she didn't see coming was the front kick to her stomach from the right foot sending 'Becca sprawling to the ground.
"Next time, 'Becca." Shar replied, flipping her platinum-colored hair over her face. "Don't insult the benefits of stealth attacks." She continued, dusting her hands off on her overalls.
Bit just couldn't help laughing at the idea of two people fighting over which zoid is better. A fight between a model 3 HellCat and a model 2 Shield Liger was in the works in the weight room. Whispering about how futile it all was, Bit wished the girls a good training and disappeared into the corner, where his favorite weight machine stood.
"Are you sure we should be doing this with the Boss here?" Shar asked, blocking a high punch from 'Becca while throwing a kick to the other girl's left leg, staggering her to the floor once again.
"I don't know." 'Becca sighed, looking at the corner that Bit'd hidden himself into. "I've seen him like this before, but not really this bad." She replied, standing up from the floor. Gesturing at the door to the room, she asked impatiently "Wanna go hit the simulators?"
"Sure, why not!?" Shar replied happily, running over to get the hanging towels on the nearest wall. "It's about time you asked me that." She grinned, running back to the mat.
"Yeah, well..." 'Becca replied, looking strangely at the door. "Let's just get going." She muttered, walking swiftly to the door. Under her breathe, she muttered the door's hidden occupant, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid..." before Shar caught up to her.
Jox waited patiently for the girls to leave, waiting for the time he was allowed to enter the weight room and talk with their disgruntled and sleepless boss. When the girls left the room, he entered fully into the room and locked it, making sure that he had complete silence with Bit. Just so I can get something straight. He thought as he walked soundlessly towards the weight machines.
"I know you're there, Jox. What do you need?" Bit muttered angrily, sitting up from the bench press.
"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to know what REALLY happened three years ago!?" Jox asked, standing cross-legged against the wall. "You've never tried telling us anything." He replied, thrumming his fingers against his arm. "I mean, hell! Even Arckon and 'Becca don't know what the deal is, and they were the first ones ON this group of yours."
"I know that I haven't told you about that night, or the dates before that." Bit replied, moving his hands through his blonde hair. "But I guess I should, huh?" he threw his friend a cocky smile. "Fine... I'll tell you how it went."
"Sure, go ahead." Jox replied, looking at Bit with earnest eyes.
"Well, lets see." Bit thought, looking back over three years ago. "After the Royal Cup, and the Zoids had been repaired, Leena and I had finally told each other how we feel for each other, and started dating. A couple of months past, we had a visitor at the Tauros Base here. It was Vega Obscura. He'd shown up in a Hover Cargo and asked to see only me..." Bit paused, remembering the conversation they'd had in the hanger with the Liger Zero. "He'd told me that the Backdraft was trying to get back together with the help of a traitor in the ZBC. At that time I decided I had to leave. I tried to tell Leena, but she told me that I was just being selfish. What she wouldn't listen too was that Vega had also told me that Altiel and some of the higher brass were on the move and coming after me and the Liger. When I told Doc about me leaving, he wasn't all too thrilled, but decided it was for the best. I also gave him a guarantee that I would come back in a few months. Nothing too promising, just something to calm him down. But I did indeed have a plan to come back, not just to go with the Blitz Team, but to get Leena to marry me."
"Okay, but what the hell happened to coming back after a couple of months?" Jox asked, looking at Bit, trying to discern if he was lying about the story.
"I'm getting to that, Jox. Just give me a minute!" Bit yelled, slamming his fist on the weight machine's seat. "Anyways," Bit continued, "After I loaded up the Liger and his modulations units up in a Gustav, I left the Blitz Team and Leena behind in a puff of smoke. After a couple of hours, I came across a man in the desert, unconscious, or so I thought. After I'd stopped the Gustav and opened the cockpit, I was surprised by a squadron of Rev Raptors. I'd tried to get to the Liger, but I was shot in the arm by the guy that was supposed to be unconscious. And he challenged to an unofficial Zoid battle. I'd gotten to Liger and started him up, and was doing all right against the Rev Raptors, but the wound to my arms was affecting my aim and there was a zoid that I hadn't seen on the battlefield. It was that accursed Iron King Custom or whatever, and nearly killed the Liger, and me but he left me for dead. I looked back at the Whale King descending on the Iron Kong, and I heard the guy over the Comm as he walked to the W.King, telling me that he was Major Altiel and that he was going to kill Leena and that their wasn't anything I could do about it." Bit croaked, looking at his hands. "I couldn't kill him, and now he's making due on his promise."
"Boss, what happened after that?" Jox asked.
"That god I was close to New Helic City..." Bit explained. "I found a junk shop in the outskirts of the city, and they helped me out, telling me that the team of Rev Raptors that I'd defeated were constantly harassing him for parts and Zoids. After I'd gotten the Liger up and running again, I found that the guy at the Junk Shop had all kinds of parts around the place, pieces of Blade Liger, Gun Snipers, and I can't remember what else." Bit explained. "Then one day, after I'd decided to buy the shop from him and giving him all the money I had left from the Tournament, I found a young boy in the desert in his wrecked up zoid." Bit continued. "And you know what happened next. The creation of the Blade Sniper, and this Cargo." Bit finished.
As the night waged on, Bit found that he couldn't help from remembering the night he and Leena had left each other on the hills, or the ensuing hours ongoing after that. He even remembered the fight with the Backdraft Remnant that'd almost cost him the Liger Zero. Slamming his fist down on his bed, he got up, got dressed, and left for the training room that was two floors up from the living quarters.
Jox was walking out of his room when he saw Bit walk out of his bedroom and head for the elevator. Suddenly awake, Jox followed the man until he entered the training room that Jox himself built. But when he tried to walk in, he saw that Bit wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. 'Becca and the new girl that'd just joined the group were in the room, sparing. But as soon as Bit walked into the room, they stopped and looked at him like he was a ghost. Jox dimly heard something like Bit angrily greeting the two women and then started working out in the weight machine that was in the corner.
"Hey, Boss." 'Becca replied, sending a sidekick right into the other girls ribs, but was stopped by an elbow knocking it away.
"Hey 'Becca, hey Shar." Bit grunted angrily. "How's the training?" he asked, stopping for a second while he waited for the answer.
"It's goin' okay, I guess. It's to be expected from someone who pilots a modified HellCat!" 'Becca grunted, noticeably fighting at blocking the attacks that must have been tiring her out. "All stealth and no punch." She continued, trying to aim a punch at the girls face, but was stopped by Shar committing a hook-kick to tuck the arm to the floor and overbalancing her. What she didn't see coming was the front kick to her stomach from the right foot sending 'Becca sprawling to the ground.
"Next time, 'Becca." Shar replied, flipping her platinum-colored hair over her face. "Don't insult the benefits of stealth attacks." She continued, dusting her hands off on her overalls.
Bit just couldn't help laughing at the idea of two people fighting over which zoid is better. A fight between a model 3 HellCat and a model 2 Shield Liger was in the works in the weight room. Whispering about how futile it all was, Bit wished the girls a good training and disappeared into the corner, where his favorite weight machine stood.
"Are you sure we should be doing this with the Boss here?" Shar asked, blocking a high punch from 'Becca while throwing a kick to the other girl's left leg, staggering her to the floor once again.
"I don't know." 'Becca sighed, looking at the corner that Bit'd hidden himself into. "I've seen him like this before, but not really this bad." She replied, standing up from the floor. Gesturing at the door to the room, she asked impatiently "Wanna go hit the simulators?"
"Sure, why not!?" Shar replied happily, running over to get the hanging towels on the nearest wall. "It's about time you asked me that." She grinned, running back to the mat.
"Yeah, well..." 'Becca replied, looking strangely at the door. "Let's just get going." She muttered, walking swiftly to the door. Under her breathe, she muttered the door's hidden occupant, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid..." before Shar caught up to her.
Jox waited patiently for the girls to leave, waiting for the time he was allowed to enter the weight room and talk with their disgruntled and sleepless boss. When the girls left the room, he entered fully into the room and locked it, making sure that he had complete silence with Bit. Just so I can get something straight. He thought as he walked soundlessly towards the weight machines.
"I know you're there, Jox. What do you need?" Bit muttered angrily, sitting up from the bench press.
"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to know what REALLY happened three years ago!?" Jox asked, standing cross-legged against the wall. "You've never tried telling us anything." He replied, thrumming his fingers against his arm. "I mean, hell! Even Arckon and 'Becca don't know what the deal is, and they were the first ones ON this group of yours."
"I know that I haven't told you about that night, or the dates before that." Bit replied, moving his hands through his blonde hair. "But I guess I should, huh?" he threw his friend a cocky smile. "Fine... I'll tell you how it went."
"Sure, go ahead." Jox replied, looking at Bit with earnest eyes.
"Well, lets see." Bit thought, looking back over three years ago. "After the Royal Cup, and the Zoids had been repaired, Leena and I had finally told each other how we feel for each other, and started dating. A couple of months past, we had a visitor at the Tauros Base here. It was Vega Obscura. He'd shown up in a Hover Cargo and asked to see only me..." Bit paused, remembering the conversation they'd had in the hanger with the Liger Zero. "He'd told me that the Backdraft was trying to get back together with the help of a traitor in the ZBC. At that time I decided I had to leave. I tried to tell Leena, but she told me that I was just being selfish. What she wouldn't listen too was that Vega had also told me that Altiel and some of the higher brass were on the move and coming after me and the Liger. When I told Doc about me leaving, he wasn't all too thrilled, but decided it was for the best. I also gave him a guarantee that I would come back in a few months. Nothing too promising, just something to calm him down. But I did indeed have a plan to come back, not just to go with the Blitz Team, but to get Leena to marry me."
"Okay, but what the hell happened to coming back after a couple of months?" Jox asked, looking at Bit, trying to discern if he was lying about the story.
"I'm getting to that, Jox. Just give me a minute!" Bit yelled, slamming his fist on the weight machine's seat. "Anyways," Bit continued, "After I loaded up the Liger and his modulations units up in a Gustav, I left the Blitz Team and Leena behind in a puff of smoke. After a couple of hours, I came across a man in the desert, unconscious, or so I thought. After I'd stopped the Gustav and opened the cockpit, I was surprised by a squadron of Rev Raptors. I'd tried to get to the Liger, but I was shot in the arm by the guy that was supposed to be unconscious. And he challenged to an unofficial Zoid battle. I'd gotten to Liger and started him up, and was doing all right against the Rev Raptors, but the wound to my arms was affecting my aim and there was a zoid that I hadn't seen on the battlefield. It was that accursed Iron King Custom or whatever, and nearly killed the Liger, and me but he left me for dead. I looked back at the Whale King descending on the Iron Kong, and I heard the guy over the Comm as he walked to the W.King, telling me that he was Major Altiel and that he was going to kill Leena and that their wasn't anything I could do about it." Bit croaked, looking at his hands. "I couldn't kill him, and now he's making due on his promise."
"Boss, what happened after that?" Jox asked.
"That god I was close to New Helic City..." Bit explained. "I found a junk shop in the outskirts of the city, and they helped me out, telling me that the team of Rev Raptors that I'd defeated were constantly harassing him for parts and Zoids. After I'd gotten the Liger up and running again, I found that the guy at the Junk Shop had all kinds of parts around the place, pieces of Blade Liger, Gun Snipers, and I can't remember what else." Bit explained. "Then one day, after I'd decided to buy the shop from him and giving him all the money I had left from the Tournament, I found a young boy in the desert in his wrecked up zoid." Bit continued. "And you know what happened next. The creation of the Blade Sniper, and this Cargo." Bit finished.