Liger Zero limped onto the maintenance deck, and Bit activated the armor paddocks.  Meanwhile, the rest of the Blitz Team watched in horror at the Cerberus targeted them.

"Doc, I'm getting massive energy readings from the cannons; our shield can't withstand a hit from all three.  What are we supposed to do?" Jamie asked hysterically.  The older man just had a blank look on his face; he didn't know.

"Hold it, lamebrain!" Leena growled as she moved her Gun Sniper into a position directly in front of the Hover Cargo.

"Get out of the way, Leena."

"No Harry, I'm not moving; I won't let you kill my friends and family."

"I said get out of the way now!" he shouted at her.

"No, as much as you think, the world does not jump to your every wish." Leena needed to keep him talking to prevent him from firing his cannons.  If she could keep him distracted long enough, they may have chance.

"You're the most stubborn woman I ever met!" Harry growled. "Why won't you accept that you belong with me?"

"Because I don't, Harry.  You don't own me; I don't answer to you!"

Leena had no idea where she was getting her strength.  She'd been terrified of seeing him again because it would remind her of all the pain he caused her, but instead, she felt an overwhelming rage towards him.

"For the last time, Leena, get out of the way."

"Or what?  You're gonna shoot me too.  What about your prize?  You fire, and you'll destroy me too.  Who are you gonna have if I die?"

"I…I don't know…" Harry said as his voice broke.  Leena sneered at him.

"Here's the truth, Harry, I'm not yours, and I'll never be yours.  I don't love you and never will.  And you know why?" She waited until he looked at her, and she smiled evilly.

"Because I'm in love with Bit."

Harry screamed so loud his cockpit nearly shook.

"That's right, buddy, get used to it.  I love Bit, and he loves me.  In fact…" Leena's smile became even smugger; she knew exactly how to annoy him.

"…let me tell you something, Bit is ten times the man you are…in every single way!"

Harry's teeth were grinding together by now.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that Bit and I made love, Harry, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.  He's mine, and I'm his."

"You lying, bitch!" Harry roared and grabbed the trigger for his cannons, "Fine, then die with your pathetic Bit Cloud."

While Leena had Harry talking, it gave Bit the time he needed.  The mechanical arms extended and removed the damaged Jager armor.

"Okay Liger, what should we call it?" A low growl gave him his answer, "Yeah partner, I like it.  Now, let's do it."

Bit rotated his controls and called on the necessary armor.  It placed it onto Liger Zero's frame and amazing things began to happen.  Bit noticed his energy levels skyrocketing, and he checked all of his systems.

"Oh yeah, this is more like it."

Inside the bridge of the Hover Cargo, Jamie was monitoring Bit's armor transformation.

"Which one is he going to use?" Brad asked.

"I don't know, the Schneider and Panzer haven't been removed from their storage compartments."

"Are you serious?" Doc gasped.

"Yeah, they haven't been touched."

"Is Bit crazy?" Brad stated, "What's he gonna do?  Fight without weapons and armor?"

Liger Zero was lifted up onto the catapult, and Bit saw the three charged particle cannons pointing directly at him and the rest of the Blitz Team.

"Leena!  Hang on, I'm on my way!"

"You're too late, Bit!" Harry said sadistically.  He fired just as Bit launched from the Hover Cargo.

The charged particle beams were heading straight for Liger Zero, and Leena closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable to happen.

"STRIKE LASER CLAW!!!" Bit called his attack just as the attack reached his zoid.

"Ha…ha…ha…" Harry laughed as he saw the explosion erupt.  However, the shockwave was much smaller than it should've been.

"I'm not done yet, Harry!"

"It's impossible!" the young man gasped in shock.

As the smoke cleared, Liger Zero was standing on the ground in front of the Gun Sniper completely unharmed.  More than that, the armor on the zoid was no ordinary sight; it was the black armor that Bit had found buried inside the mountain.

"B-Bit…what…what happened?" Leena gasped, seeing Liger Zero standing in front of her.  He just smiled at her.

"Sorry I was late, but you know me…always gotta make a big entrance."

"How did you survive, Bit Cloud?" Harry demanded, "There's no way you could have withstood that cannon assault."

"Actually Harry, what I did was use my laser claw to deflect the beams in three separate directions so the energy dissipated quickly.  Your weapons are useless."

"I don't believe you; Liger Zero doesn't have that ability; what are you piloting?" Bit merely laughed.

"Ah…allow me to introduce you to…LIGER ZERO KAISER!"

Liger Zero's roar shook the ground as it stomped forward to face the Cerberus; its tail was whipping widely behind it while its eyes glowed with power.  Leena and the rest of the Blitz Team were still stunned at what they'd just seen Bit do.

"Ready Liger?" A slow growl gave Bit his answer.

The duo charged forward to meet their opponent head on.

Harry finally picked his jaw up off the console.

"Here he comes!" Sebastian gasped.

"Then fire already!" Harry ordered him.

The Cerberus fired its laser guns and cannons all at once, intending to wipe out Liger Zero in one shot.  However, they were in for another surprise.

Liger Zero deployed its boosters, and Bit readied himself for the backwash.  A compartment opened at his side, and a mask extended towards him.

"Thanks Liger," Bit stated as he slipped it over his nose and mouth.

The pair roared ahead as the thrusters fired, and Bit found himself traveling at twice the speed that even the Jager could go.  Liger banked back and forth to avoid the incoming shells, and Bit was glad that his zoid had given him an oxygen mask to wear.  With multiple high-speed maneuvers, it would have been very easy for him to black out from lack of oxygen, but now, it wasn't an issue.

"It's go-time, Liger!"

"It's impossible, how can he move so fast?" Harry shouted to no one in particular.

"The cannons are firing as rapidly as they can, and we still can't catch up to him!" Benjamin stated.

"Look out!"

Liger Zero rammed into the three-headed monster and sent it reeling onto its side.

"Great job, Liger, that'll make him think twice about underestimating us!"

Bit saw the Cerberus quickly get back to his feet and knew that this battle wasn't over yet – not by a long shot.

The Blitz Team finally regrouped, and Jamie began to run scans of Bit's new armor.

"Wow!  Hey doc, check out these readings!"

"What is it?" the older man asked.

"That armor is as tough as the Panzer's – plus it's got double neutron boosters on its back.  Those things are five times as powerful as the Jager's ion thrusters!"

"Are you serious, Jamie?" Brad and Naomi said at the same time.

"What in the world has happened out there?" Doc asked.

"Dad!" Leena's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Leena, you okay?"

"Yeah, Leon and I are coming in.  He's got serious damage to his Blade Liger, and I don't have any ammo left.  How's Bit doing out there?"

"He's winning, Leena!"

"Damn you, Bit Cloud, I won't let you beat me again!" Harry growled.

"No matter how you slice it, Harry, you're gonna lose!" All Bit heard was a sinister laugh.

"That's where you're wrong.  Charged particle cannons to maximum power!"

The three mouths opened and began to glow as the Cerberus powered up its deadliest attack.  Bit immediately took up a position between Harry and the Hover Cargo.

"All right, we can do this; we're not gonna lose this time!  Let's go for it, partner!"

Bit's panel began flickering, and a schematic of his zoid came up on the screen.  What he saw made a wide grin spread across his face.

"That's perfect, Liger, but we need to hit all three at the same time.  Can you pull it off?" The zoid growled in confirmation, and an attack name appeared on Bit's screen.

"Let's do it, Liger!"

Doc and Jamie gulped as they saw the Cerberus' particle cannons getting ready to fire.

"Jamie, deploy the forward shield at once!"

"What's Bit doing out there?" Leena asked.

Liger Zero crouched down and readied itself.  Along its body frame, long, slender compartments opened up, and five blades deployed on top of its head, the side of its face, and the shoulders.  In addition, twin blades deployed from each side of Liger's midsection.  All nine blades began to glow, and Liger Zero prepared its attack.

"Bit's crazy, the Cerberus' armor is too thick for laser blades!" Leon gasped.

"Those aren't laser blades, Leon," Jamie responded, "Those are trilon-coated diamond blades.  They're much tougher than laser blades."

"Harry, he's extended his blades," Sebastian informed.

"It doesn't matter; our armor is too thick for them to cut through."

"Prepare to fire the cannons."

Liger deployed its boosters and charged ahead.  The blades glowed more intensely, and energy began to crackle from the tips.  As Liger Zero roared towards its enemy, the energy gathered ahead of it in a swirling tunnel.

"KAISER TRI-BLADE STRIKE!!!"

The energy formed into a blade on each side of Liger Zero's head, and a third blade formed directly inside of its mouth.

"Fire the charged particle guns!"

The blast hit Liger head-on, but it dispersed as Bit's attack cut through it easily.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

"It can't be!" Harry gasped.

Liger Zero sliced through the Cerberus' armor like a hot knife through butter.  The energy blades hacked off all three of the heads at the same time so it had no chance for a defense.

Bit landed about fifty yards away from the Cerberus, and it collapsed to the ground, as its three heads now lay useless on the ground.

"The battle is over…the battle is over…the winner is…the Blitz Team!" the judge announced.

"That was for Leena," Liger growled in agreement with him.  Bit sighed as he tried to catch his breath.  Piloting Kaiser was incredibly difficult, and he was exhausted.  The blades retracted back inside the armor, and they made their way back to the Hover Cargo.

"As agreed on by both competitors, the loser will be banned from zoids battle permanently," the judge stated. "This ruling is final!"

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Harry shouted as he cried like a big baby. "How could I lose again?"

Sebastian and Benjamin both sweatdropped and wondered if they should look for a new line of work.

Liger Zero returned to the Hover Cargo, and Bit disengaged the Kaiser armor from his zoid.  Its regular Zero armor was put back in place, and Bit headed into the docking area.  After placing his zoid in its repair paddock, he opened the cockpit and jumped down to the ground.  He placed his hand on Liger's paw and smiled brightly.

"Thanks Liger, I couldn't have done it without you." His zoid merely growled in acceptance.

"Bit!" a voice shouted happily.

He turned just in time to catch Leena as she jumped into his arms.  She nearly squeezed the life out of him, and he face almost turned blue.

"Bit, that was amazing!" Jamie said emphatically.

"He's quite right," Leon added, "You did remarkably well, Bit Cloud."

"Well…let's just say that this time I had a little inspiration," he sighed and looked down at the young woman in his arms.

Leena blushed and laid her head on his shoulder.  She caught him as he suddenly slumped over, and her face turned from happy to concerned.

"Bit, are you all right?"

"Yeah, just tired, that new armor takes a lot out of you."

"C'mon, you should rest," Leena advised.

Bit chuckled lightly as she helped him down to his room.  He could remember doing this for her not to long ago.  This time, their roles were reversed, and he didn't mind at all.