html{A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys are great. ^^ Now,
for the next chapter. Oh yeah, and I attempted to use html, so if it
doesn't work right my apologies.}
buChapter 2: Of Foxes and Zoids/u/b
Jason sat back in the seat with his hands behind his head. His Zoid was on autopilot, and was flying high in the air, above the low, dark, storm clouds. With his eyes lightly shut, Jason was partially asleep when the screen beeped. Lazily, Jason opened one eye and looked down at the orange screen.
"Unidentified object flying at speed of Mach 2.0 from northwest," the screen beeped.
Jason groaned, and sat up. He turned on the radar, and saw that indeed, an object was flying toward him.
"Target unidentified object with spectrum scope. Zoom-in 70%," Jason ordered the computer.
"Complying..."
A screen popped up in front of Jason, and it showed a strange dragon-like Zoid. The Zoid was mostly black with red eyes and gold tributes here and there. Jason squinted at the screen. He had never seen a Zoid like that before.
"Pilot of the Dragon-Zoid. Who are you?" Jason open-communicated with the Zoid.
The pilot obviously hadn't seen the Zabat. The Dragon-Zoid slowed down and seemed to look around. It then spotted Jason's Zabat and com-linked back.
"I am Drake Lithran, pilot of the Shinryu unit. And you?"
Jason noted that the pilot's voice sounded young. 'Only a teenager,' he thought to himself. Jason pulled on his controls and faced the Dragon-Zoid.
"The name's Jason Pegasus," Jason said indifferently. "I'm a bounty- hunter."
"Where are you headed, hunter?" Drake asked.
"To the nearest city. Which would be Dranuer," Jason answered gruffly.
"If you don't mind, I think I'll join you," Drake said.
"Whatever..." Jason mumbled.
The two aerial pilots pushed their Zoids forward, and headed toward the city Dranuer. What they didn't notice was the small dark red snake, slithering below them, moving and an amazing pace. It was intercepting the two pilots' conversations, and listening intently.
"Dranuer..."
--------------------------------------
bDranuer City/b
The two pilots walked into the booming city, looking around in amazement. Jason had heard wonderful things about Dranuer during his childhood, but never had he thought he would end up there. The city was said to be the most wonderful city created. And it was, in both pilots' eyes. The buildings were tall and sleek; the roads were beautifully paved and clean; everything was organized and you could get anything you could ever want.
Jason hid his amazement, and turned to the younger pilot. "Well, this is where I go. Need to get my Zoid repaired and reloaded."
"Yeah, sure," Drake answered, and waved as Jason turned his back and left.
---------------------------------
bThe Last Guard Team Base/b
K.O. walked slowly into the main room, and saw Strider and Angel sprawled on the floor. His raised his eyebrow but walked right passed them. He went to the kitchen and found that someone had made coffee. K.O. poured it into a mug and took a long sip. The coffee was lukewarm, but K.O. didn't mind too much.
"Ariel!" he called.
The girl came into the room, with a disturbed look on her face. K.O. looked at her strangely, but continued.
"Any word from the ZBC yet? About our next battle?"
Ariel slowly shook her head. "No...But we have an offer for an unofficial battle."
K.O. looked sternly at Ariel. "I told you before, we will only fight in official, judged, ZBC battles."
"We have to fight, though, Kaneda," Ariel said.
K.O. knew there was something wrong. For one thing, Ariel wasn't usually this dark and occupied. Her expression was blank and her face was pale. For another thing, no one on the team called K.O. 'Kaneda' unless something was really wrong. K.O. walked closer to Ariel and looked at her firmly.
"What do you mean?"
"Y-you know those attacks that have been happening lately?" Ariel asked quietly.
"Yeah," K.O. answered.
"I know who's responsible for them."
K.O. grabbed Ariel's chin and forced her head up. He glared at her with his steel blue eyes. They were blazing.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded.
"S-she said that if we don't want her to destroy Dranuer City, we'll battle her," Ariel's voice was hesitant.
"Who's 'she'?" K.O. said harshly.
"I-I don't know... I couldn't see her face. There was too much static. And I couldn't figure out where she was calling from. There was some weird scrambling system that wouldn't let me trace the call."
K.O. angrily released Ariel. He let out an irritated sigh.
"Why us?" he mumbled, and rubbed his temples. "Get the other's up. What's the mode?"
"0982. 5 against 5," Ariel answered.
"We only have 4 members. We'll have to hire a mercenary," K.O. looked seriously annoyed. "I need to go back into Dranuer to get my Liger from the shop anyway. I'll see if I can find anyone."
K.O. walked out of the kitchen, with a 'what the hell am I gonna do?' look on his face. Ariel shivered involuntarily. She had left something out when telling K.O. about the battle. She didn't tell him that the woman who they were battling was actually a demon.
FLASHBACK
IAriel was sitting in front of the computer with seven screens open. She had zoomed in so she could see the raven clearly. They all seemed identical. But the screen suddenly went black.
"Stupid old computer," Ariel said, and banged on the computer.
There was a chuckled, and the screen turned back on. But there was too much static to see what was on the screen. Only a humanoid figure could be discerned through the gray lines.
"Hello, human," a cold voice said.
"Who are you!?" Ariel demanded.
"I am Lady Inari, the greatest of all the demons. But of course, you wouldn't know that. I have not come to tell about our existence, though. I'm sure you have noticed all the attacks lately. Well, I am the one who shall take credit for it," the voice paused here and laughed. "Wonderful little planet, this Zi. So many things to destroy. So many tools to destroy with. I have already destroyed many of these 'Zoids'. But you know what my next target is? It is your beloved city Dranuer."
Ariel leapt out of her chair, and looked furiously at the screen.
"You can't destroy Dranuer! You just can't!" she screamed.
"Now, now. That is why I am here. Before I demolish the city, I am here to offer you a chance to save it. A Zoid battle will determine the fate of Dranuer. If you win, I will not destroy it. But if you lose, I will make sure there is nothing left to even grieve over. That battle will be five Zoids against five Zoids at the coordinates H, 36. Be there at 5:00pm tomorrow, or never expect to see Dranuer in tact again."
The screen shut off. All the video cards that Ariel had inserted sparked and shot out of the slots. They were useless now./I
END FLASHBACK
------------------------------------------
bDranuer City, near Kazeyama Repair Shop/b
Jake walked briskly down the street, unaware of the creature that stalked him. He looked back down at his wristwatch.
"Shit! I'm gonna be late. Better take the short-cut," he murmured.
Jake started to jog. He ran into a dark alleyway, and jumped over a small, unfinished brick wall. He was still in an alleyway, and there was no one else there. The sun did not reflect on the fox-creature's silver form as it shot toward Jake. He turned around, only to see the fox leap on him. Jake fell hard on his back, with the fox on his chest, pinning him to the ground.
"I have you, firstborn," the fox sneered. "There is no point hiding within your hologram. Show your true self!"
Jake indeed was not a true human. He was actually an organoid with a special gift that allowed him to take the form of a human using a hologram. Enko pressed her metal paw down on Jake's throat. He gasped for air and clawed at Enko. Enko transformed to her humanoid form and looked fiercely down at Jake.
"Do not play with me, firstborn!" Enko snarled.
Jake glared at the demon; his dark gray eyes were cold and hard. Enko seemed to be entertained by this and seemed to smile wickedly. She grabbed Jake's neck and squeezed. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity shot through her claw-like hands into Jake who howled in pain.
"I said change, firstborn!"
Jake clenched his teeth and tried to break away from Enko's death grip, but that made the demon only close her hand tighter around his neck.
"If won't come quietly, I have ways to forcibly make you change," Enko said, with a triumphant tone.
"Demon, I will never let you win easily. If I am to lose, I will make you work for it," Jake growled.
"Fool," Enko spat.
She stood up and kicked Jake. Her demon powers gave Enko super-human strength, and her kick sent Jake flying. He slammed hard into the side of the alley and fell to the ground with a grunt.
"Give up yet?"
Jake said nothing. Enko kicked him again, and picked him up by the neck.
"Change!" she yelled.
"N-n-never..." Jake managed to gasp.
Though Jake was an organoid, he felt physical pain. But a blow that would kill a human wouldn't kill an organoid.
"Fine. I will take you to my lady, and she will deal with you personally."
Enko was about to pick Jake up, when a voice was heard.
"What it is, Arrow?" the voice had a dark tone to it.
A screech of some sort of raptor (bird of prey) was heard, then footsteps. Enko looked down at Jake. Her eyes were blazing with hatred.
"Looks like you lucked out this time firstborn. But let it be known that I Iwill/I return..." with that, Enko morphed back into her fox form and ran off.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
A woman, around the age of 20, came striding into the alleyway. She had a slender build and shoulder-length hair the color of tree bark. Her piercing emerald eyes were looking this way and that, for the source of the voice she heard. She had on black jeans and a midnight blue T-shirt with suede vest. A steel heart locket was around her neck. The woman's eyes then fell on the unconscious Jake. Just then, Jake's hologram began to fail. Parts of his raven-black organoid form could be seen. The woman stared hardly down at Jake, with a look of both pity and indifference. Arrow, a peregrine falcon, swooped down from above and rested on the woman's shoulder. It twittered quietly.
"Looks like we've found ourselves something here, Arrow."
{A/N: There's chapter 2. If your character's not in the story yet, don't give up hope. I may still add them in. But like I said, no guarantee on them being in my story. I said I'd be picky, so I'm being picky! Hope you liked the chapter~! Please review. If you want your character to be paired up with someone specific, now that the story is finally starting to get interesting, put it in your review or email me at blue_tenshi@smapxsmap.net. If you want your character to do something specific, also email or review. That's all for now. See you.}/html
buChapter 2: Of Foxes and Zoids/u/b
Jason sat back in the seat with his hands behind his head. His Zoid was on autopilot, and was flying high in the air, above the low, dark, storm clouds. With his eyes lightly shut, Jason was partially asleep when the screen beeped. Lazily, Jason opened one eye and looked down at the orange screen.
"Unidentified object flying at speed of Mach 2.0 from northwest," the screen beeped.
Jason groaned, and sat up. He turned on the radar, and saw that indeed, an object was flying toward him.
"Target unidentified object with spectrum scope. Zoom-in 70%," Jason ordered the computer.
"Complying..."
A screen popped up in front of Jason, and it showed a strange dragon-like Zoid. The Zoid was mostly black with red eyes and gold tributes here and there. Jason squinted at the screen. He had never seen a Zoid like that before.
"Pilot of the Dragon-Zoid. Who are you?" Jason open-communicated with the Zoid.
The pilot obviously hadn't seen the Zabat. The Dragon-Zoid slowed down and seemed to look around. It then spotted Jason's Zabat and com-linked back.
"I am Drake Lithran, pilot of the Shinryu unit. And you?"
Jason noted that the pilot's voice sounded young. 'Only a teenager,' he thought to himself. Jason pulled on his controls and faced the Dragon-Zoid.
"The name's Jason Pegasus," Jason said indifferently. "I'm a bounty- hunter."
"Where are you headed, hunter?" Drake asked.
"To the nearest city. Which would be Dranuer," Jason answered gruffly.
"If you don't mind, I think I'll join you," Drake said.
"Whatever..." Jason mumbled.
The two aerial pilots pushed their Zoids forward, and headed toward the city Dranuer. What they didn't notice was the small dark red snake, slithering below them, moving and an amazing pace. It was intercepting the two pilots' conversations, and listening intently.
"Dranuer..."
--------------------------------------
bDranuer City/b
The two pilots walked into the booming city, looking around in amazement. Jason had heard wonderful things about Dranuer during his childhood, but never had he thought he would end up there. The city was said to be the most wonderful city created. And it was, in both pilots' eyes. The buildings were tall and sleek; the roads were beautifully paved and clean; everything was organized and you could get anything you could ever want.
Jason hid his amazement, and turned to the younger pilot. "Well, this is where I go. Need to get my Zoid repaired and reloaded."
"Yeah, sure," Drake answered, and waved as Jason turned his back and left.
---------------------------------
bThe Last Guard Team Base/b
K.O. walked slowly into the main room, and saw Strider and Angel sprawled on the floor. His raised his eyebrow but walked right passed them. He went to the kitchen and found that someone had made coffee. K.O. poured it into a mug and took a long sip. The coffee was lukewarm, but K.O. didn't mind too much.
"Ariel!" he called.
The girl came into the room, with a disturbed look on her face. K.O. looked at her strangely, but continued.
"Any word from the ZBC yet? About our next battle?"
Ariel slowly shook her head. "No...But we have an offer for an unofficial battle."
K.O. looked sternly at Ariel. "I told you before, we will only fight in official, judged, ZBC battles."
"We have to fight, though, Kaneda," Ariel said.
K.O. knew there was something wrong. For one thing, Ariel wasn't usually this dark and occupied. Her expression was blank and her face was pale. For another thing, no one on the team called K.O. 'Kaneda' unless something was really wrong. K.O. walked closer to Ariel and looked at her firmly.
"What do you mean?"
"Y-you know those attacks that have been happening lately?" Ariel asked quietly.
"Yeah," K.O. answered.
"I know who's responsible for them."
K.O. grabbed Ariel's chin and forced her head up. He glared at her with his steel blue eyes. They were blazing.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded.
"S-she said that if we don't want her to destroy Dranuer City, we'll battle her," Ariel's voice was hesitant.
"Who's 'she'?" K.O. said harshly.
"I-I don't know... I couldn't see her face. There was too much static. And I couldn't figure out where she was calling from. There was some weird scrambling system that wouldn't let me trace the call."
K.O. angrily released Ariel. He let out an irritated sigh.
"Why us?" he mumbled, and rubbed his temples. "Get the other's up. What's the mode?"
"0982. 5 against 5," Ariel answered.
"We only have 4 members. We'll have to hire a mercenary," K.O. looked seriously annoyed. "I need to go back into Dranuer to get my Liger from the shop anyway. I'll see if I can find anyone."
K.O. walked out of the kitchen, with a 'what the hell am I gonna do?' look on his face. Ariel shivered involuntarily. She had left something out when telling K.O. about the battle. She didn't tell him that the woman who they were battling was actually a demon.
FLASHBACK
IAriel was sitting in front of the computer with seven screens open. She had zoomed in so she could see the raven clearly. They all seemed identical. But the screen suddenly went black.
"Stupid old computer," Ariel said, and banged on the computer.
There was a chuckled, and the screen turned back on. But there was too much static to see what was on the screen. Only a humanoid figure could be discerned through the gray lines.
"Hello, human," a cold voice said.
"Who are you!?" Ariel demanded.
"I am Lady Inari, the greatest of all the demons. But of course, you wouldn't know that. I have not come to tell about our existence, though. I'm sure you have noticed all the attacks lately. Well, I am the one who shall take credit for it," the voice paused here and laughed. "Wonderful little planet, this Zi. So many things to destroy. So many tools to destroy with. I have already destroyed many of these 'Zoids'. But you know what my next target is? It is your beloved city Dranuer."
Ariel leapt out of her chair, and looked furiously at the screen.
"You can't destroy Dranuer! You just can't!" she screamed.
"Now, now. That is why I am here. Before I demolish the city, I am here to offer you a chance to save it. A Zoid battle will determine the fate of Dranuer. If you win, I will not destroy it. But if you lose, I will make sure there is nothing left to even grieve over. That battle will be five Zoids against five Zoids at the coordinates H, 36. Be there at 5:00pm tomorrow, or never expect to see Dranuer in tact again."
The screen shut off. All the video cards that Ariel had inserted sparked and shot out of the slots. They were useless now./I
END FLASHBACK
------------------------------------------
bDranuer City, near Kazeyama Repair Shop/b
Jake walked briskly down the street, unaware of the creature that stalked him. He looked back down at his wristwatch.
"Shit! I'm gonna be late. Better take the short-cut," he murmured.
Jake started to jog. He ran into a dark alleyway, and jumped over a small, unfinished brick wall. He was still in an alleyway, and there was no one else there. The sun did not reflect on the fox-creature's silver form as it shot toward Jake. He turned around, only to see the fox leap on him. Jake fell hard on his back, with the fox on his chest, pinning him to the ground.
"I have you, firstborn," the fox sneered. "There is no point hiding within your hologram. Show your true self!"
Jake indeed was not a true human. He was actually an organoid with a special gift that allowed him to take the form of a human using a hologram. Enko pressed her metal paw down on Jake's throat. He gasped for air and clawed at Enko. Enko transformed to her humanoid form and looked fiercely down at Jake.
"Do not play with me, firstborn!" Enko snarled.
Jake glared at the demon; his dark gray eyes were cold and hard. Enko seemed to be entertained by this and seemed to smile wickedly. She grabbed Jake's neck and squeezed. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity shot through her claw-like hands into Jake who howled in pain.
"I said change, firstborn!"
Jake clenched his teeth and tried to break away from Enko's death grip, but that made the demon only close her hand tighter around his neck.
"If won't come quietly, I have ways to forcibly make you change," Enko said, with a triumphant tone.
"Demon, I will never let you win easily. If I am to lose, I will make you work for it," Jake growled.
"Fool," Enko spat.
She stood up and kicked Jake. Her demon powers gave Enko super-human strength, and her kick sent Jake flying. He slammed hard into the side of the alley and fell to the ground with a grunt.
"Give up yet?"
Jake said nothing. Enko kicked him again, and picked him up by the neck.
"Change!" she yelled.
"N-n-never..." Jake managed to gasp.
Though Jake was an organoid, he felt physical pain. But a blow that would kill a human wouldn't kill an organoid.
"Fine. I will take you to my lady, and she will deal with you personally."
Enko was about to pick Jake up, when a voice was heard.
"What it is, Arrow?" the voice had a dark tone to it.
A screech of some sort of raptor (bird of prey) was heard, then footsteps. Enko looked down at Jake. Her eyes were blazing with hatred.
"Looks like you lucked out this time firstborn. But let it be known that I Iwill/I return..." with that, Enko morphed back into her fox form and ran off.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
A woman, around the age of 20, came striding into the alleyway. She had a slender build and shoulder-length hair the color of tree bark. Her piercing emerald eyes were looking this way and that, for the source of the voice she heard. She had on black jeans and a midnight blue T-shirt with suede vest. A steel heart locket was around her neck. The woman's eyes then fell on the unconscious Jake. Just then, Jake's hologram began to fail. Parts of his raven-black organoid form could be seen. The woman stared hardly down at Jake, with a look of both pity and indifference. Arrow, a peregrine falcon, swooped down from above and rested on the woman's shoulder. It twittered quietly.
"Looks like we've found ourselves something here, Arrow."
{A/N: There's chapter 2. If your character's not in the story yet, don't give up hope. I may still add them in. But like I said, no guarantee on them being in my story. I said I'd be picky, so I'm being picky! Hope you liked the chapter~! Please review. If you want your character to be paired up with someone specific, now that the story is finally starting to get interesting, put it in your review or email me at blue_tenshi@smapxsmap.net. If you want your character to do something specific, also email or review. That's all for now. See you.}/html
