Gamegurl mirai: YAY! Chapter 2! It took us quite a long time to post. ermm. write this. like 3 months. *is a procrastinator* hope you all like it! XD

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The briefing room was slowly filling up with members, most of them wearing identical uniforms. Van pulled up to the front of the room, right by Colonel Kruger. Fiona, Lapis, and Hikari all stood by him as well, and they watched as a large screen flickered into visibility in front of them.

"We have received word from Guygalos, that something has happened to the emperor," Colonel Kruger declared. The room was filled with the sound of whispers as members conversed with one another.

Van said nothing, intent on listening, as Rudolf's face appeared on the screen. "Do you read me Colonel Kruger?" Rudolf said on the screen.

"Loud and clear!" Kruger yelled back with a salute.

Rudolf cleared his throat and then began again. "Last night, the wall surrounding my castle was breached by two mysterious black Zoids," Rudolf stated. Detailed sketches of the suspected Zoids appeared on screen. Lapis shuffled her feet nervously as she stared at the images.

"Hey! Aren't those yours!?" Hikari exclaimed suddenly. Lapis silenced her with her clipboard and then laughed nervously to the others.

"We have reason to believe these terrorists will return to the scene of the crime. Their reasons however, are unknown," Rudolf continued. "For they fled after a large group of bodyguards managed to fight them off."

"I've decided to assign some members of the Guardian Force to remain here at my castle and keep guard in case these terrorists return."

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"Paging Van Flyheight," a voice over the PA system boomed, causing Van to jump up from his desk. "Please report to Colonel Kruger's office immediately." Van took off running towards the office, apologizing for objects he overturned in his path.

"What's going on?" Van panted as he stumbled into the room.

"Late as usual," Lapis laughed as she spun around in her chair.

"What do you mean 'late'?"

"We couldn't find you, so we had to page you over the PA system," Kruger explained. "Sit down."

Van reluctantly took a seat in between Hikari and Thomas in front of Kruger's desk. "Anyways, you four have been chosen to protect the emperor at his castle."

"Wait, how can I be 'chosen' if I'm not even apart of the Guardian Force?" Hikari asked suspiciously. "I'm out," she said as she got up to leave.

"In that case," Kruger smiled as he ripped a check out of his checkbook. Hikari spun around at the sound of a pen scratching against the paper. "Will this do?" he said as he held it out to Hikari.

"Now you're talking!" she grinned as she snatched the check from his hand and sat back down. She began to stare monotonously at the check with starry eyes as Kruger continued.

"As I was saying, you four are to head out to the emperor's castle immediately. Radio back to the base if you need backup, but I'm sure you four can handle yourselves," Kruger instructed as he shuffled around more papers. "That is all. Now get out of my office!"

The four got up from their seats and silently filed out of the room. "He needs to get his arms waxed," Hikari whispered to Lapis as the doors shut behind them.

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"It's too bad Fiona couldn't come along with us," Thomas said wistfully as he and Van loaded their Zoids. They were supposed to meet Lapis and Hikari back at Lapis's workshop and leave from there.

"Oh, shut it, Thomas," Van mumbled as he shoved a large duffel bag in the small cargo hull in the back of the cockpit. "That's the last of it. Ready to go?" he asked Thomas and Zeke, who had been waiting quietly the whole time unlike Thomas.

Thomas was about to answer when he was interrupted.

"You're not going to leave without me, are you?" Fiona asked, looking cheery and holding her own bag of luggage.

"Of course not," Van said uneasily. With a weak smile he took Fiona's bag and stuffed it into the cargo as well.

Once Fiona was in the cockpit behind Van, they headed out towards Lapis's workshop which was only a short trek away. The journey seemed shorter to Van, since he had already been there.

The two girls, along with their organoids, were waiting outside the workshop standing next to their Zoids. Kari owned a strange, Doberman-type Zoid in a shiny black exterior and Lapis had a midnight blue Shadow Fox. They waved as they noticed the Liger and Dibison approaching.

The two girls had changed their clothes from before, they noticed. Lapis wore a loose blue jumpsuit-like garb over a short green kimono, lined with red, and her waist was wrapped in a yellow obi. She also wore long tan boots with a small design on the sides, long brown gloves with odd, squarish metal wings on the outer edge, and a thick, yet loose, red belt hanging off her waist.

Kari's brown hair hung down to her shoulders with auburn highlights shining in the sun. She wore a brown one-piece outfit which ended in shorts with buckles on the cuffs. The cuffs of her short-sleeved shirt which hung off the shoulders were also the same goldenrod color. A red sash was tied around her waist, the ends hanging down to the backs of her knees. Her boots were open in the back, where white fabric was wrapped around her shins. Similar to Lapis's, Kari's gloves were brown and went up to her fingers, which were not covered, yet they lacked the metal wings on the outer edge. A red bandanna tied loosely around her neck topped off her apparel.

Van and Thomas brought their Zoids to a stop, Zeke following suit. Van, Fiona and Thomas all hopped out to meet Lapis and Kari on the ground.

"Took ya long enough," Kari smirked.

Van rolled his eyes as he tried to ignore her. "Yeah, well, this is-"

"Thomas!" Lapis cut in quickly. "Yeah, we know."

"Ready to go, then?" Thomas asked impatiently.

Kari nodded in response, stretching to loosen up her arms from waiting as Haku and Joey growled their own replies.

"I need help with my suitcase," Lapis stated, pointing to a fairly large, slightly worn brown suitcase at her side. It was bulging from its contents a bit.

Thomas coughed loudly and began striding off. "I'll just be in my Dibison. waiting."

Lapis shot a glare at his retreating back, then turned to Van and smiled pleadingly.

"Sure. why not." Van sighed as he bent to pick it up. It was heavier than it looked. He strained as hard as he could, and lifted it only about a few inches from the ground. "This. weighs a ton! What do you have in here?!"

"Just stuff. Come on, I need to get it in the storage hull behind the cockpit." Lapis said cheerfully as Van whimpered in pain.

Fiona and Kari watched for a few moments, stifling laughter. It was a good while before Van managed to finish, and he returned quite exhausted.

At long last, they finally set off to Guygalos. The journey would take a few days, depending on several factors.

One hour into travel, the sun was shining brightly overhead; it was noon. And that meant only one thing.

"I'm hungry!" Kari, Lapis, and Van chorused at once, clutching empty bellies as they slumped in their seats. At the moment they were in a desert, surrounded by sand, sand, and more sand, with the occasional clump of bush here and there. The group stopped to eat in a nice little area of. sand. and arranged the Zoids neatly in a circle, as to shade everyone from the beating sun.

Fiona was elected to cook. They all waited patiently as Fiona rummaged through their cargo looking for food, sitting around a pot placed on a mini stove.

"I have some good news and some bad news," she began. "The good news was I was going to make some delicious stew," she continued, the same blissfully unaware smile on her face.

"What's the bad news?" Van asked.

"We're out of food!"

Everyone fell over in exasperation.

"I knew I forgot something..." Fiona mumbled.

"I'm gonna dieeeeeeeeeee.." Lapis cried. "I can't die! I'm too beautiful!!"

"Now what are we going to do?" moaned Thomas.

"Well, we can't eat organoids..." Kari muttered, her eyes straying to the frightened-looking organoids now hiding behind the Blade Liger. "Let's eat Lapis!" she laughed.

"Are you nuts?! Karl would kill me!" Thomas exclaimed, nearly jumping up in intense vexation. Lapis wasn't too thrilled at Kari's idea, either.

".Am I missing something?" Van asked, blinking, but no one seemed to hear him.

"Geez, I was kidding!" Kari said, flapping a hand in the air.

"Well, I guess we have to skip lunch," Fiona interrupted, smiling as she put things away. She loves smiling.

"Skip. Lunch." Lapis sobbed, crying as if the world was doomed. "Noooooooooo.."

"We should be able to stock up in Chrono Town, though. It's only 7 hours away, just enough time to get there before dark if we go now."

"Fiona, you're a genius!" Thomas said proudly, sucking up to her. "Let's get going then!"

"Skip. Lunch."

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The journey to Chrono Town was a quiet one, punctuated by the steady metallic sounds of the Zoids as they walked. Basking in the sun, Haku, Joey, and Zeke were all perched on top of their master's respective Zoids.

Van yawned for about the thousandth time, and slumped over the controls of the Blade Liger, trying to ignore the growls of his stomach.

"Krueger better pay me double for this." Kari muttered darkly over the intercom.

"Are we there yet?" Lapis whined dismally.

"Almost." Fiona said reassuringly, typing away on the rear control facing at her seat. "There!" she exclaimed, pointing to a slab of dark mass at the end of the horizon. "Chrono Town!"

Immediately everyone was at attention, and peering in the direction of Fiona's pointing, cheering in happiness.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!!" Kari grinned wolfishly, her Ice Blazer beginning a sprint before she had finished.

"You're on!" Van accepted the challenge willingly, mobilizing the thruster things [lol] on his Blade Liger and gathering speed.

Lapis's Zoid pulled in between them, gliding along the ground like a ghost. "You guys don't stand a chance against Remix!!" she laughed, and zoomed past them.

"Hey!" Thomas called after them, pushing Beek to go as fast as it could go, "Don't leave me behind!"

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Wild: Ya, that DID take longer than it needed to.-_-;;; Oh well, at least we updated. Leave a review of Xero will squish you~ :D