Chapter 2
The Immortal Zoid
Zoids isn't mine. There. It's a disclaimer.
"I'm thinking of going away for awhile, father." That's how it started. He had wanted to be a free wanderer for awhile. Improve his skills. See new things. Now here he was in the midday heat with no food or water. His Liger had been destroyed in a battle a few days ago, and he was near dead. "Water..." he said hoarsely, staring up at the glaring sun. One drop would be enough. Leon's knees buckled underneath him and he fell. He felt a cool breeze run through is hair. Pushing himself up, he looked forward, and saw a great valley with a deep river winding through the center. He forced himself to stand. That valley hadn't been there a minute ago. Was he hallucinating? "It can't be..." he whispered, almost reverently. Another cool wind wrapped around him and pushed him gently towards the valley. "The Valley of Dreams."
The castle was silent and dark. The only light in the room came from a few dwindling candles that hung on the wall. At one end of the large room, a tall bed loomed, draped in purple curtains. It was occupied by the Princess Mary. She slept fitfully under the silk sheets, unaware that the shadows in her room reached out for her. The shadows stretched across the floor and the bodies of four people materialized. The leader, a woman in a purple gown stood watching, her lips curled in a wicked smile. Mary felt a hand clamped roughly over her mouth, then her body being dragged from her bed. Her eyes flew open, as she grabbed wildly at her assailant. The darkness surrounded her, then it went pitch black.
"Princess
Mary has gone missing!" Harry said. He was greeted with shocked stares
from the Toros warriors.
"Missing?" asked Brad. "You mean she just disappeared?"
Harry nodded. "This morning, a maid went into her room to wake her and
start the fire, and she wasn't there."
"What makes you think she didn't just run away?" asked Leena, skeptically.
"Not that I mean to contradict you or anything, Leena honey," Harry
replied, "but there was no note, no sign that she left, and all her dresses
are still in her wardrobe. If she went anywhere, she's still in her nightgown."
"Right, maybe I'm missing something here," Bit interjected, "but
why did you come to us for help?"
Brad looked at him in disgust. "Have you never heard of the Toros Warriors?"
"We're the official bodyguards for Prince Harry and Princess Mary,"
Leena said. "You should know that, Bit."
"How was I supposed to know?" Bit asked, holding his hands of defensively.
"I'm new here."
"What I want to know is how the kidnappers got Mary in the first place,"
Jamie said. "The castle is guarded heavily, and anyone trying to enter
with a zoid would have to face us first."
"That is an interesting question," Toros said. "Perhaps a new
kind of stealth zoid."
Jamie shook his head. "If there was a new kind of zoid, I'd know. Besides,
that still doesn't explain how they got past the castle guards."
"That's not the problem," interjected Harry. "We need to find
Mary."
"Then you needn't look too far," came a voice from the doorway. Everyone
looked towards the door in surprise. There stood a woman in a long flowing purple
dress. Her short brow hair blew in gentle breeze. She smiled evilly and stepped
into the room. "The Princess Mary is safe...for the time being," she
said. "If you ever want to see her again, you will hand over the Immortal
Zoid."
"What are you talking about?" cried Brad. "We don't know anything
about any Immortal Zoid."
"Yeah!" yelled Leena. "Besides, even if we did, we wouldn't let
you have it."
Harry crossed his arms. "Who are you, anyway?"
"The name's Fuma," replied the woman with an air of calmness. "I'm
the leader of the Fuma Warriors." She turned to Harry. "Bring the
Immortal Zoid to the Tena Valley in the Macarae Mountains tomorrow or Princess
Mary dies."
"Oh yeah?" Bit said defiantly. He ran towards Fuma and grabbed her
arm, pulling her towards him. "Where's the Princess?" he said.
Fuma laughed. "And who are you? I didn't know the Toros Warriors had picked
up another member." She stood, Bit still holding her tight. "Ah! You
must be the pilot of the Liger Zero. You're okay as knaves go, but you've still
got a ways to go if you want to be a good zoid pilot."
Bit grabbed her other arm and held her tight. "I won't ask again,"
he said angrily. "Where's Mary?"
Fuma shrugged. "She'll be at the Tena Valley tomorrow." With a laugh,
Fuma melted into a dark shadow that slipped from Bit's hands. The dark shadow
dissolved into the floor and disappeared.
"No!" Harry cried, falling to his knees. He stared at where Fuma had
stood mere seconds ago in disbelief. Unable to support himself, he fell forward,
his arms slamming into the ground.
Leena stepped forward tentatively. "Harry?"
Harry began to quiver with rage and sorrow, His body shook, but he made no effort
to raise himself.
"What's wrong?" asked Bit. "We'll get the Princess back. We just
have to find that Immortal whasit that Fuma wanted."
Harry pushed himself back on his knees, but he still did not rise. A tear slid
from his eye and fell to the ground. "No Bit. We can't."
"Why so downhearted?" Bit asked. "We'll make the trade, then
use our zoids to beat them in a battle and get the Immortal thing back!"
Harry shook his head. "They can't have the Immortal Zoid, no matter what
the cost. I'm afraid I can't let you take it."
"What is this Immortal Zoid anyway?" asked Leena.
"It's a legendary zoid," Jamie said, "Rumored to give the pilot
amazing powers in and out of battle."
"It's more than a rumor," said Harry. "It's true. The Immortal
Zoid is indestructible in battle. Not only that, but whoever pilots it is given
the powers and abilities of an actual zoid. The pilot feeds off of the power
of the Immortal Zoid and vice versa. The longer they exist together, the more
powerful they become. If it were to get into the wrong hands for even a moment,
it would spell disaster for all of Planet Zi."
Fuma waited calmly.
They would come. The shadows around her shifted impatiently. "Be patient,"
she said. "They can't know it's an ambush." She looked at Princess
Mary, bound tightly and still unconscious. Mary was only the bait. When they
came, they would all die. She heard a whistle of a flying zoid overhead and
looked up. The sky was clear, but she knew that the Toros Warriors had sent
a zoid ahead to scout out the area. Soon they would be getting the report that
she was alone with Princess Mary. How wrong they were..."I knew you'd come,"
she said as a Command Wolf and Liger appeared on the horizon. "So we meet
again, Liger Zero," she said. "It will be a pleasure defeating you."
A voice came from the Liger Zero. "Hand over Princess Mary or die."
Fuma stared impassively. "Is that a threat? I thought we had a deal."
"You think we'd just give you the Immortal Zoid?" Bit said. "You've
got to be kidding! Now hand over Princess Mary."
"Why should I?" asked Fuma. "You can't hurt me," she said
tauntingly.
"Oh?" Bit replied. "You seem to be outnumbered."
Brad's voice came over the comlink. "Bit, don't get too cocky. She must
have something planned."
"You'd be wise to listen to him," Fuma said. "I knew you wouldn't
bring the Immortal Zoid. I merely lured you here to destroy you. Your death
will be now!" she cried jubilantly, lifting her hands into the air. The
shadows around her spun in a frenzy and slipped into the ground. The ground
began to shake.
"What's happening!" asked Bit, panicked.
"We're being attacked from underground!" yelled Brad as three Warsharks
leapt from underneath the sand where they stood. The two zoids fell into the
hold created by the Warsharks.
Fuma laughed. "You're the ones who are outnumbered!" she said with
an evil grin. A Pteras swooped down from the sky and shot at one of the Warsharks,
ripping one of it's fins from the body. "So that's the aerial scout,"
Fuma mused to herself. She watched as the Liger Zero and Command Wolf struggled
to escape the pit they had fallen into. The Liger Zero seemed helpless, but
the Command Wolf fired off shot after shot at the three Warsharks. The Pteras
swooped down for another attack, but a Warshark leapt out behind it and ripped
off a wing.
"Ahhh!!" Jamie cried as his Pteras crash-landed.
"Jamie!" Bit yelled. With a final effort, he pushed his Liger into
overdrive. Liger Zero leapt from the hole, claws alight with a golden glow.
"Strike Laser Claw!" Bit yelled angrily as the claw came down on one
of the Warsharks. It fell to the ground, combat system frozen.
Fuma heard a voice in her head. "Iaga, out."
"What!?" she hissed. "How could that novice beat one of my men?"
She stared in disbelief as the Command Wolf leapt from the hole and continued
firing off shots at the two remaining War Sharks. The two War Sharks charged
the Command Wolf. One of them managed to rip off it's front leg, but the mobile
gun swiveled around and shot it's propellor fins off.
"Sorry, Fuma. Koga out," said a voice in her head.
"Fine then," she said as she watched the lone Warshark attack the
Liger Zero. "I'll take care of it myself." She melted into shadow
and disappeared into the ground. She quickly mobilized her own Warshark and
leapt to the surface, firing a shot at the Liger Zero.
A voice came on her comlink. "The Command Wolf and Pteras are down, Fuma,
but both are still firing shots every time I surface."
"Concentrate on the Liger Zero," Fuma commanded. "I'll take care
of the other two." She turned her Warshark around and carefully maneuvered.
The Command Wolf only had one mobile gun. The War Shark leapt from the ground
and soared directly over the Command Wolf. With practiced ease, she took aim
and fired. Her shot severed the gun from the Command Wolf, effectively rendering
it helpless. "Now for the Pteras," she said. The Pteras would be harder.
It had many mobile guns as well as missile launchers that could track targets.
She would practically have to destroy the entire zoid, and the heads of the
Guild of Seven wouldn't like that. They kept all zoids after they won a battle.
Destroying the Pteras would not put her on their good side. She smiled to herself
as an idea clicked. No pilot meant no more firing. She quickly maneuvered the
Warshark under ground and leapt to the surface directly above the Pteras. With
a single shot, she shattered the glass cover on the cockpit. The bullet continued
and hit Jamie's body. He lurched in pain, then fell still.
"No! Jamie!" Bit yelled as the War Shark dove back under. He stared
at the Pteras. The cockpit was open, and Jamie lay motionless. Blood slowly
began to seep through his clothing.
"Hey Bit!" Brad yelled over the comlink. "Pay attention to the
battle!"
Bit could hardly remember what happened next. He only remembered seeing two
Warksharks headed towards him, guns firing. "Liger!" he yelled. The
Liger Zero crouched, waiting. As the enemy zoids drew near, the Liger leapt
into the air, severing the two zoids in half with a single Strike Laser Claw.
"It's not possible!" Fuma screamed as she disappeared into the shadows.
"How could I loose?"
"This Zoid
battling is easier than I thought," Naomi said as she adjusted her sights.
She pulled the trigger and fired the winning shot.
"Battle Over," declared the judge. "The winner is Lady Naomi!"
"Not bad," Naomi mused to herself as she looked at the three zoids
she had downed. "I only needed three shots." Her comlink began to
act up. "What's this?" She looked at the screen. "I must be intercepting
a message," she thought to herself. "I wonder what it's about."
The screen flickered in and out, but she was able to make out the face of a
man.
He was speaking to someone. The words were somewhat garbled, but she could make
out what he was saying. "...very disappointed....Fuma...of Seven...new
recruits...warriors...willing...destroy Zibice..." the screen flickered
out.
Naomi stared. "That was odd," she mused to herself. "I wonder
what I intercepted." She grinned. "There's one person who will know
for sure."
Bit leapt from
the Liger Zero and ran towards the Pteras. Orange glass lay around the Pteras,
glittering in the morning sun. Jamie's body was motionless, covered in blood.
Red puddles of blood formed inside the cockpit and blood flowed slowly down
Jamie's clothing. Brad ran up to Bit and stopped, staring in horror at the sight.
"Why?" Bit asked. He took a step forward and faltered. "Why is
he..." Bit stopped, swallowing the word.
Brad didn't move. "Dead?" he asked.
Bit nodded, numbly. "She killed him. She meant to kill him." Bit turned
away from the sight. "Why?"
"Evil doesn't need a reason," Brad said. "All I can say is that
she'll be sure to pay." He turned. "Come on, Bit. They left Princess
Mary behind, so at least we got what we came for."
"Yes, but at what price?"
Thanks for reading! This chapter was definitely darker than the first one. Now the story is really happening. Don't flame me for killing Jamie. It's all part of the story, okay? The next chapter will definitely be more medieval with all sorts of magic spells and the Toros Warriors entering a tournament! Stay tuned.