Hey! Osuka, man of fire, here. Man that was a terrible introduction...anyway, since I have more free time then I know what to do with I let inspiration take hold and wrote a spin off. Focuses on one of my characters, Theodore Merc.
Disclaimer: Oh joy, how I love to do the disclaimer. I do not own Zoids. Nor Anizoids who were created by the very talented Wolfkcing. Everything else is mine.
**************Chapter 1********************
"You little punk! Get back here!" A small child panted as he heaved himself over a gate. When he hit ground he ran, putting as much distance as possible between him and his pursuer. He stopped to catch his breath when he was sure that whoever was chasing him was far behind.
"Old fart," he chuckled, "like something that old could catch me." He stuck his hand up his shirt, pulling out the large sub sandwich he had managed to steal. He raised it to his lips, ready to take a bite out of it. A long, low growl stopped him.
A dog, well actually it was still a puppy (a very big puppy), stood before him. It growled again, baring its sharp fangs and staring at the sub. The boy gulped as it crept closer, its growling becoming louder with each step.
"Damn." He whispered. What was he going to do? Well he knew one thing. He wasn't going to give up his dinner to some mutt. He'd worked hard to steal it! The pup stopped walking when it become apparent that it wasn't getting an easy meal. It backed up a few steps, its growling slowly coming to a stop. "Yeah that's it you little mutt. Just keep backing up." The mutt was a few paces away now and the boy figured it was safe to assume that he was out of the woods. How wrong he was.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The cries of a boy in pain echoed off the walls of alleys and carried into the streets.
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
"Parasite! Let's go!" Parasite, who happened to be the same boy from the alley, called back a "Wait for me!" while he dragged a bag twice his size down a hall. "Ain't got the time! Hurry up or we'll leave you behind!"
"I'm coming!" He reached the end of the hall and looked up. "Where's the rope!" A rope was tossed down through an opened window.
"You better not drop the bag, parasite!" The boy glared up at the window. Why did they always think he was going to drop the bag? He'd only done it two or three times (more like five or six). "Parasite! If they catch you we're not coming back to get you!" He'd better hurry up, that wasn't an empty threat. They would leave him behind if he got caught. Parasite gripped the rope and secured the bag over his bony little shoulder. He got half up the wall when he ran into a problem. The longer he held the rope the more his hand hurt. And it wasn't like an annoying little pain in the center either, it hurt like hell. He really wanted to switch hands, but then he'd fall. That would waste to much time, his friends would leave him. "Parasite, if you're not up here by the count of five, you're on your own! We can't wait any longer!"
"It's my hand! It hurts!"
"I told you we shouldn't have brought him!" He heard someone say. "He's been complaining about his hand all week. Man I knew the parasite would get us caught. Just leave him." He heard what sounded like they were arguing, and then he heard the distance sound of feet pounding against the ground. They had abandoned him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why can't we prosecute him?"
"We don't know his age. It would help if we did. Then we would know whether or not we should trial him as an adult."
"Look I don't care if he's put in adult or juvenile court, just make sure he's punished."
"We'll put him in juvenile court. We have one more problem though."
"What?"
"We don't know his name either."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you want to tell me what you were doing in that house?" The little boy sat on a couch staring at his bandaged hand. A tall thin, slightly balding man sat in front of him. He was holding a clipboard, marking things on it every once in a while. "Perhaps you could tell me what happened to your hand? Or maybe you can tell where the stolen belongings are. You know only one tenth of it was found in that bag you had. That's a real small amount." There was a knock at the door and without waiting for an answer a beautiful blond woman walked in.
"Found out anything?" She asked gesturing down to the motionless boy.
"Nothing. He's been unresponsive to every question I've asked."
"So we have nothing to go to court with."
"Well actually.."
"If you're referring to the little we know, then forget it. It won't help. We take a little boy who doesn't know his name or age, has a bloody bandaged wrapped around his hand along with a body littered with bruises, and was found stealing from one of the most richest, but also most hated man in the city. Let's not forget that more than half the things stolen weren't with the boy. We take that to court and he'll be let off with a slap on the wrist, if we're lucky." She didn't like prosecuting children, but no one was the exception to the law.
"Well maybe you'd like to try and get him to talk." She shrugged her shoulders. Wouldn't hurt to try. She kneeled down in front of the boy and opened her mouth to speak. Just to close it shut and stare at him. She raised a hesitant hand to his forehead and brushed his hair out of the way. She was greeted with the sight of a weird shaped scar and smiled.
"I think I know what will make him talk."
"What?" She just smiled again and turned back to the boy.
"Theodore," the boy looked up in surprise, "why were you in that man's house?"
"To steal." He mumbled.
"That was obvious." The man grumbled under his breath.
"Did you know that stealing is wrong?" He nodded his head. "Then why did you do it?"
"If I didn't, they would have left me. I don't...I don't like being alone."
"Who are they?"
"My friends."
"Did they help you rob the man's house?" Another nod. "Do they have things that weren't found in the bag you had?" Another nod. "Where are they?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" He rapidly shook his head. "Why don't you know?"
"I took to long, so they ditched me. You said so yourself that they had most of the stuff, they could afford to loss one tenth of it. Whatever one tenth is that's small right?" She smiled.
"Right." She gripped his little hands in hers, being careful with his bandaged one. "What happened to your hand?"
"A puppy bit me."
"A puppy?" A little puppy did that to his hand?
"Yep. It was a huge puppy." He stretched his arms out as far as they could go. "It was this big, only a lot bigger." He smiled as she patted him on the head and stood up.
"Thank you Theodore." She turned the man. "I have all the information we'll need."
"How did..."
"Don't worry about it. Just get Theo something to eat. You're hungry right?"
"Uh-huh." It was strange how easily he answered those questions. Maybe it was because she knew his name or maybe she just reminded him of his mother, or both. Whatever it was, she made him feel like he was ten again and back home with his mom. She made him feel safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
"Verdict?"
"You have to understand that you were just doing your job. No one is the exception..."
"Verdict?"
"He's going to juvenile hall [that's what it's called right?]"
"For how long?"
"A year."
"That long?"
"Steal from a guy like the one he did, and you should expect to be punished to the full extent of the law. From what you found out, he was old enough to be trial as an adult. He could have gone to jail, but I suppose it wouldn't have made a difference. He's got a criminal record now, who would hire a kid like that?"
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
He stared down at his bandaged hand. How long ago had it been? How many days had passed since that pup had lunged at him? Since its jaws had missed the sub completely and sunk into his hand. It couldn't have been too long. Oh yeah, it was one full year. So maybe it was long, he was what thirteen then. Now at fourteen and it still bother him to look at his own hand. It was stupid really, but he couldn't help it. That dog had ruined his already terrible life.
"Hey kid!"
"Huh?" A very short and plump man stood in front of him. He frowned at the boy and gestured towards the door.
"Are you coming in or not? Cause if you are you better hurry up, jobs don't remain open for long you know." The boy rapidly nodded his head.
"Ah, yeah, I'm coming." He followed the little round man into the building. His eyes franticly looked in every direction, staring at all the mechanical equipment.
"You have any experience?"
"Huh? Oh yeah experience. Yeah I'm a pro." He lied. He had never had a job in his entire life, and he knew next to nothing about this one.
"You're lying through your teeth kid. How badly do you need this job?" He grinned at the little man.
"Heh, bad enough to sell my soul to get it."
"I don't need or want your soul kid. Keep it and be here tomorrow. You start work at 7. Name?"
"Joey."
"Are you going to make a habit of lying?" The short man didn't wait for an answer. He just turned and walked away, leaving the boy with his thoughts.
How'd he know my name wasn't Joey?
~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~~~
A young woman, she couldn't have been any older than twenty-two, hugged her youngest son to her chest. She was crying and though the little boy didn't understand why he cried with her. She hugged him tighter and whispered in his ear.
"No matter what happens I want you to know that I will always love you Theodore." The boy smiled and returned his mother's embrace.
"I love you too Mama, but why are you crying?" At this she only cried harder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~
"Joey!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~
A huge man walked up to the mother and son. He grabbed the boy's arm and wrenched him from his mother's arms. The woman of course refused to give up the boy, but when the man began to loosen his belt she reluctantly let go. The boy stared back at his mother and then up to the man.
"Where we going Papa? Is Mama coming?"
"No."
"But I want Mama to come. Mama's sad, if she can't come I want to stay here and make Mama happy." His father just continued to drag him away. "No! I wanna stay with Mama! Don't make me go Papa!" The boy began to struggle, managing to slip his arm out of his father's grasp. He ran back to his mother. He had almost reached her, before his father caught up to him and slapped him in the back of the head so hard he blacked out. The last thing he saw before everything went black was his mother cradling him in his arms and crying over him.
~~~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~~~
"Joey!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~
The same little boy sat in a corner, his face buried in his arms which were resting on his drawn-up knees. Every once in a while, sniffles, coughs, and hiccups could be heard in the quiet room. Tears ran down the boy's cheeks as he cried. "I want my Mama! I wanna go home to Mama! Mama come back, please! Why did you go Mama?!"
A man who was just as huge as his father but not nearly so imitating kneeled in front of the boy. He placed a hand on the boy's head and ran it through his silky black tresses. When the boy continued to cry he picked him up and carried him out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~~~
"Joey wake up!" 'Joey' grumbled and yelled out,
"Wwwhhhaaatttt?"
"Dude, wake up. We got work to do."
"Sage, nobody says dude anymore, do you know that?"
"Whatever dude. All I know is that if you don't get off your lazy butt, you aren't getting paid."
"I'm up. I'm up." He swung his legs over the bench he had been lying on. "What's the news around the shop?"
"Special vacation in two days, that's what new." 'Joey' stood up and yawned, scratching his ribs as he did.
"What's so special about it?" He could feel it. That excitement was building up. Slowly but surly.
"Only greenhorns like us get to go on it. Plus it's a three-day vacation, and here my friend is the best part the boss is going to use that time to take us on a hunt. Think about it Joey. Three glorious days away form this hellhole called a repair shop. Spending that time connecting with nature, getting back to the basic, and then there's the thrill of the hunt. Of course if you don't pull your weight around here, greenhorn or not you ain't going on the trip." Sage turned his back to 'Joey' and began to rock on his heels. "So what do you say to that dude?" Silence. "Ah dude?" More silence. "Joey it would be nice if you answered my question." Even more silence, then...
"Sage! Come on cuz. Do you want that vacation or what?" 'Joey' called. He stood on top of a Rev Raptor's back, wrench in hand and already covered in grease.
"Cuz? Dude, I think you been hanging around me too much. Pretty soon you're going to be saying brah." 'Joey' grinned and shook his head.
"No way dude. Oops.. I mean.. Ah... Now look what you got me saying!"
"You're always fun to watch cuz."
"Whatever. Hey Sage do you ever wonder what happens to them?"
"To who?"
"The parts we take from the zoids we strip down. I mean there's no way it all goes to building more zoids. We don't put out nearly as much as we take in. Which doesn't make sense since every zoid we've ever took apart was in perfect condition. Now that I think about it, that part doesn't make sense either. Where do these in perfect working order zoids come from and where do they go?" Sage was frowning and glaring, causing poor 'Joey' to be a little nervous. "What?!"
"Let me give you some advice Joey. You're a grease monkey just like the rest of us here, and like the rest of us here you are obligated to follow a two simple rules. 1. That you be on time and pull your own weight and 2. That you mind your own business. Do that and you keep your job, if you can't work by those rules you could loose your life. The boss doesn't like nobodies like us poking our noses where they don't belong." Although he didn't like being classified as a nobody, he saw the reason in Sage's words.
"Fine. I'll mine my own business." For now anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
A small gray lug nut rolled through a crack in an open door. It continued its aimless rolling until it came to a slow stop in the middle of the hall.
"Ah! Gotta go! Gotta go bad! Get out of my way! I just drank 2 bottles of soda and am about to explode! Where's the bathro--Whoa!" 'Joey' lied on the floor. His hands clenched tightly between his thighs as if he had been kicked in a very sensitive place. Which he might have well have been, he hit the ground pretty hard and his hands were in the perfect place to do the damage. True they weren't directly in place when he was running but they were close. "Ouch. That hurt very much." Well, now that he had acknowledged his pain maybe he could focus on something else. Like what had he tripped on?
After waiting for the pain to subside he rolled over to investigate. "A nut. A stupid nut." Ya' know that's kind of funny when you think about it. Wait, that wasn't important. How did a lug nut end up all the way out here? The hanger wasn't anywhere near here. It was actually a good walking distance from here. That of course was why he was racing to the bathroom. It was also a good distance away from the hanger and...Uh-oh. "Bathroom!" Forget the nut he had a biological emergency to take care of.
An amazing blue and silver lion zoid. Two men were standing in front of it. They were talking about something, but it didn't make sense. Or at least the few words heard didn't make sense. Greenhorns. Hunt. Lion. Anizoid. [Okay maybe it did make sense.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Joey' remained frozen in position. Crouched and ready to spring up so he could continue his race to the bathroom. What was that? I've... I've done that before, haven't I?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~
The little boy ran through the house, yelling at the top of his lungs. "Yuji! Yuji! Yuji!" The large man smiled and held out his arms to catch the boy as he flung himself into his arms. " Guess what! Guess what! I saw my Mama! I saw my Mama again!" Yuji frowned.
"How?" He hadn't let Theodore anywhere near his family. The boy deserved better than what he was born with.
"I don't know. I was sitting in my room, then I hear a sound, like bees, and then I saw my Mama. She was in the kitchen, cooking my favorite. Lasagna, but she looked sad. I wish I could stay with her. I could make her happy again. Can I go make Mama happy, Yuji? Please, please, please." Maybe it would work. So far whenever he asked Yuji for something he got it. At this rate he'd become a regular spoiled brat.
Yuji's face fell. He ruffled the boy's ebony hair. "Maybe one day Theodore. Maybe one day you can go back and make your Mama happy." It was better than nothing he supposed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~
Yeah. I have done it before, but.. What did this one mean? Greenhorns, hunt, lion, anizoid. What's their connection? Greenhorns and hunt, that one's obvious. Lion and anizoid, though. Huh, anizoid, I've heard of those. What were they? An animal in a zoid's body? Yeah, that's pretty much right. Animal....Lion. Duh! Of course, it couldn't get more simpler than that!
"Joey!" Who was calling him?
"Huh?" Sage jogged up to 'Joey'. He had this big toothy grin and seemed to be trying to suppress his laughter.
"Dude, I thought you were going to take a whiz."
"I was, I-I mean I am." Sage placed a hand on 'Joey's shoulder to keep him from walking off.
"Dude, I don't think you need to go anymore." He pointed down and 'Joey's eyes followed. The place over and around his zipper was now soaked through.
"Great."
"Maybe we should get you cleaned up." Sage swung an arm over his shoulder, preparing to lead him away, but something had caught 'Joey's eyes.
"What's in there?" He gestured towards the door the nut had rolled out of.
"Oh there. Don't know, come on. You need new pants and boxers. You're a boxer guy right?"
"Uh-huh." He said, not really paying attention. His eyes and attention were transfixed on that slightly opened door. Whatever was in there was calling for him, and he was going to answer.
"Joey? Joey where you going? Dude, you can't go in there!" He was ignored. 'Joey' pulled away from his friend, slowly walking towards the door. "Joey, get back here!" All he got for that was a wide grin. "Joey as your friend and co-worker, I'm telling you to stay away from that door!" He was ignored still. "Joey!" Sage jumped on 'Joey's back, hoping the sudden weight would stop him, but the fifteen year old was stronger than he looked. He just carried Sage with him.
"Whoa! Sage, you can't tell me this isn't the most beautiful thing you've ever seen." It was that zoid he had seen. The blue and silver liger. "Heh, now I know where all the parts go. They go to the manufacturing of this baby. That is one bad@$$ zoid. I wanna pilot it!" He suddenly broke into a run, heading straight to the zoid.
"What?! No! Joey you can't! We'd be in enough trouble for just being here! Please don't add grand theft to trespassing!" 'Joey' couldn't help but pout.
"Aw, you're no fun. But don't worry Sage I was kidding about piloting it," liar, "you know I'd never do anything that stupid. We can go now." That's got to be the biggest lie I've ever told. I'm going to pay for that, I just know it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
"TGIF! Thank God It's Friday! And you know what that means. Three-day vacation!" He didn't know what was more stupid. The whole bogus hunt or Sage's dumb celebration dance. When Sage started doing really bad Michael Jackson moves it was decided. Oh yeah, it was the dance.
"Sage stop. You're scaring people."
"What people?" His attention was called to the large number of workers who were watching him. A few were snickering, some were trying to hold back laughter, and the rest weren't even trying. "Ah they're just jealous."
"Of what?"
"That they ain't got the moves!" After the little disco he did no one was trying hold back their laughter.
"You need help."
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
He tried. He tried really hard to keep his displeasure off his face, but it was still obvious. He couldn't help it though. The more he heard and thought about the hunt the less he liked it.
"Is there something I said that has upset you, Mr. Joey?" His boss asked.
"Yes. As a matter of fact there is." He could hear someone call "Joey what are you doing?" but he ignored it. "Who's ever been on a hunt where you shoot, but don't kill the animal? With bullets! A tranquilizer I can understand. But everyone knows that an animal is the most dangerous when it's wounded. And you want us to hunt a mountain lion no less. That does have me wondering what you plan to do with that wounded lion."
"I would like to speak to Mr. Joey alone." Getting the message all the other workers began leaving.
"Yeah I bet you do." Before leaving Sage walked up to 'Joey'.
"Dude, once again as your friend and co-worker I'm telling you to back down from this fight. You can't win it."
"My fight Sage. Mine. So follow rule number 2 and mind your own business." A little harsh, but he wanted to get his point across. He almost regretted it though when he saw how Sage's face fell, but it was to late to turn back now. "Go Sage." After his friend left he turned back to the boss.
"You're a lot smarter than these other fools aren't you, Mr. Joey? You do your homework, you know the true reason for this hunt, don't you?"
"Well I think the fact that you wanted the lion alive was a big giveaway. You want to put it in that lion zoid. Don't you know it's illegal to use undomesticated animals as anizoids? It's very dangerous too. I think I understand why only grease monkeys are hunting. An extremely large percent of them are just punks. They have this job only because it's one step above prison. Just like me, but unlike me they're smart. Me I'm a big idiot. They all follow the rules because they don't want to ruin what ever chance they have at a good life. They aren't brave or dumb enough to question things. But me, I'm just stupid enough to be the rule breaker."
"Ah, you are indeed an intelligent young man, but I've done my homework too, Theodore Eros. A detective aren't you? Just like your brothers."
"My brothers? Detectives?"
"I'm not stupid, Mr. Eros. Stealth, Trigger, and Pistol Eros. All very amazing detectives, of course those are just their nicknames. I suppose you know their real ones, it would really help me if I knew too. It would be easier to find out where they live, then I could take care of what could be a serious problem before it starts. You know, don't want nosy detectives around my shop."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen my brothers in years. I barely remember my own real name, so there's no way I can remember theirs."
"Still playing dumb? Mr. Eros could you move your bangs out of the way?" Strange request, but he did it anyway. "Yes, it's there. You were branded just like your brothers, and fathers before you." Branded? It was just a stupid S on a cross shaped scar. True it was a weird looking scar, but just a scar. "Only an Eros is branded that way, so there's no use in pretending." He still had that confused look on his face. "Oh my, you really don't know do you? How can you not be a detective? You're an Eros, there's not doubt about it. The brand is never wrong, but you probably didn't know anything about it. Oh me, what could have happen to you? What deprived you of learning your heritage?"
"My heritage didn't want me." He mumbled. His boss didn't hear him though.
"It's for the best I suppose. After all it's far more easier to get rid of a nosy employee than a nosy detective. You will forgive me of course. Nothing personal, just business." He leveled the gun, which he seemed to have pulled out of no where.
Am I going to die?
His finger tighten on the trigger.
No, I'm not. Something's going to happen. I can fell it. Theo smiled. "I guess I'm getting fired."
"Business, of course."
"Of course." He watched that finger pull harder and probably felt the bullet coming long before it shot through the barrel of the gun. It never connected with him though, because he was tackled from the side before it did. As he rolled on the ground he heard his boss's cursing getting farther and farther away. He also felt claws and teeth snapping and scratching at his skin. He came to a very hard and painful stop when he crashed into a tree. He scrambled out from under the force that saved his life, backing away to a safe distance. "A mutt." What was a dog doing out here? Well if the dirty, matted, and tangled fur was any indication he'd say it was a wild stray. But then it had a ratty old collar on so it had to be a runaway. The mutt was kind of familiar. He'd seen that collar. Where? "Oh yeah, that huge puppy." He wished he kept his mouth shut, the dog seemed to remember he was there. "Ah, nice doggy." He gulped, it was coming closer. "Good puppy." It took another step forward and he took one back. "You don't want me, I mean I taste terrible." Maybe I should have taken my chances with the gun. It growled and lunged for him. "$hit! Damn dog!" He managed to dodge the first jump but it was coming for him. "I hate dogs!" He yelled, breaking out in a full run. Naturally the dog followed.
Theo leaned heavily on a tree, panting and body shaking. He slid down, sitting in the dirt and listened. Listened for the dog. It looked like he lost it, but he didn't believe that for a second. It had to be out there.
If he had animal ears they would be twitching like crazy, because he could diffidently hear the dog now. It walked slowly up to him, coming so close they were nose to nose. And then, it started to sniff him. And he just sat there and let it. He was too tired to run away anyway. It growled softly and turned away. The dog walked to the edge of the clearing and turned its head back towards Theodore. It barked as if it was calling him and this time he followed.
He blinked, trying to figure out what it was he was suppose to be seeing. Is.. Is that Sage? Someone was down there, they were holding a rifle, and they were facing off against a lion. He squinted his eyes, hoping it would help see past the distance. Yeah that is Sage. The hunt had started already? How long had he been running?
He opened his mouth to call to Sage, but it snapped shut before he uttered a single word. The dog growled again and his eyes glanced down at it for a moment. Its body crouched down, close to the ground, ready to spring into action. It was waiting, but for what he didn't know. His eyes traveled back to Sage and the lion. He wondered if he should help. Not that he'd offer much, he didn't have a gun. It was strange, the more he stared at Sage, the harder it was to see. Colors and shapes started to blend together, making it impossible to tell the difference between things. He was getting hot and dizzy too. What was wrong with him?
BANG! BARK! "OUCH!" What possessed that dog to bite him? Now of all times?! He could already feel his shin bleeding. Wait, was that a gun shot? He turned back to Sage's direction, glad that everything wasn't a big blur anymore.
"YES! WHOOOHOOO! WHO'S THE MAN! DON'T WANT NONE OF THIS!" Theo gripped a near by tree, turned his head, and emptied the contents in his stomach. There was Sage, doing another stupid victory dance. Then there was the lion. It was still alive, but probably would have been better off dead. It was going through pain no innocent animal should have to bear. It lay at Sage's feet, whimpering. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had happened. The poor beast had jumped at Sage and Sage of course not wanting to die took aim and fired. He shot the lion's hind leg clean off.
The sound of Theo's vomiting soon caught his friends attention. "Joey? Joey! Dude, what are you doing out here without any protection? Lucky I already took care of this lion, other wise you'd be in trouble. Can you help me take it back to camp?" Theo backed up so rapidly he tripped on his own feet. He continued to back up, pushing against and sliding on the ground. "Joey? What's wrong with you?" It didn't make sense. His best friend looked like he was terrified of him. Sage took a hesitant step towards him and the panicked and fearful look in Theo's eyes increased. "Joey?"
The mutt growled lightly and shoved its wet nose into Theo's side. The gesture calmed the boy down and he stopped moving. "Joey?"
"Yeah?"
"Dude, what happened to you?" Theo sighed.
"I don't...I don't know."
"Are you okay now?" While they talked the mutt trotted away.
"Yeah. Yeah I'm cool."
"Good." Sage dug around in his pocket for a while, before fishing out a walkie-talkie. He tossed it to Theo and turned back to the lion. "I originally planned to just drag it back with me, but you look so shook up it might be better to just call the camp. They can come get the lion, while you get some help. You call them; I'll go make sure the lion stays alive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
"She's pretty as a daisy.... But look out man she's crazy.... She will do you in..... If you let her get under your skin.....Poison ivvvy..... Poison ivvvy...... Late at night while you're sleeping, poison ivy comes a creeping ar...Ouch! That was uncalled for Sage!" He rubbed the large bump on the side of his head. All thanks to the book Sage had thrown at him. Despite the pan he chuckled as he watched his friend try to control his scratching.
"It was poison oak, not ivy so shut up!"
"Oak, ivy, what's the difference?" Even though he was being made fun of Sage was happy to have 'Joey' back to normal. He really had him worried back there in the woods.
"Shut up or I'll find something heavier than a book to throw at you."
"Shutting up."
Joey! Joey come in! After twisting around a few times he managed to find the walkie-talkie. Joey I know you're there! Come in!
"Hello. Who is this?"
Cut the crap Joey! The boss wants to talk to you when we get back to the shop. I don't know what you did, but whatever it is when you see the boss you better beg for forgiveness. Cause he se-- He cut off the walkie-talkie.
"Theodore Eros begs forgiveness from no man."
"Who?"
"Gah!" He'd forgotten that Sage was still in the tent. "Nothing. I-I didn't-I didn't say nothing." [Double negatives I know, but who else besides your English teacher speaks with proper grammar all the time.]
"Yes you did. You said Theo--"
"No I didn't! That must have been someone else, cause it wasn't me."
"You sure?"
"Positive." He doesn't believe me for a second. Theo grinned.
"Okay. If you say so." So much for being able to trust your friends. Sage smiled back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
If the lion could it would be pacing its cage. Unfortunately since it was missing a hind leg all it could do was lie on the cold metal floor and whimper. It was jolted out of its self pity when someone violently rattled and shook its cage.
"I almost feel sorry for it." Someone said. Another person laughed and kicked the cage, causing it to shake again.
"Yeah, almost. Stupid beast don't deserve pity though." He chuckled, picking up a rock and throwing it at the lion. It smacked against its furry forehead, then rolled away. "Aw, what's the matter?" He picked up another rock, this one larger than the first. "I think it's sad." He threw the second rock, and it lodged itself painfully into the lion's side. "Do you want out, poor little lion?" Okay, it was one thing to imprison it, but was another to mock it.
The lion roared and reached a paw out towards the man. Fully intending to sever him with its sharp claws. The man just laughed. He gripped the bars of the cage and shook it. This of course knocked the already off balance lion to the ground, and this time when the man threw another rock at it, it didn't bother to get up.
"Leave it alone. Keep messing with it like that and you could kill it."
"So. If the boss it going to turn it into an anizoid, I don't see why we can't kill it."
"Because it at least needs to still be breathing when he does. Saving a dying body is possible, reviving a lifeless corpse is not."
"Oh. Cool."
"You don't get it do you?"
"Nope."
"Just load the lion on the truck."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ahh! Ouch! Damn it!" Theo rubbed his abused tailbone and glared up at the peacefully sleeping Sage. "Oh no Sage, I don't mind. Take the bottom bunk, I'll sleep on the top. I totally understand your fear of heights." He grumbled. "Fear of heights my @$$. He just didn't want to fall off. You knew how painful it would be, didn't you?" Theo had never slept on a bunk bed in his entire life. Granted if he'd known how painful the fall was he would have taken the bottom bunk. [Don't care what anyone says. Falling off the top bunk hurts. Especially when you land on a broom that was leaning on the wall.] "Man that was one freaky dream. It hurt too." He said rubbing his head and side. "It felt so cold, first dream that actually had me afraid."
Something nudged his back, hard. He turned around to face, "Mutt, what do you want from me?" He poked the dog's nose and had to quickly retract his finger back to save it from being bitten off. "If you hate me so much why won't you leave me alone?" Instead of answering, not like Theo expected he'd get one, the dog gripped his sleeve in its jaws and began dragging him out of the tent. "Hey, where we going?" He slapped himself with his free hand. "What's wrong with me? I'm asking a dog questions and expecting it to answer back." While he was being dragged around he took the time to notice something about the dog. "Male, well that makes sense."
The dog suddenly let go of his sleeve and took off into the night. "Hey wait!"
"Why?" This caused him to experience something a little short of a heart attack. Dogs weren't suppose to talk. "Joey, that you? Man what are you doing out here, and why do you want me to wait? I have to get this lion loaded up before dawn." Oh, nice to know he wasn't going crazy. It was Brick, not the dog. He was standing in front of a large truck, the doors were open but it was too dark to see inside.
"Is...Is the lion already in there?" Brick glared at him.
"Why you want to know?" He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously.
"Oh, no...no reason." He gulped. Were his eyes playing tricks on him or was that dog on the roof of the truck? It looked like he had something in his mouth. How did that dog get up there without making any noise?
"I know what happened with you and the boss. What I don't know is what you did to get him so pissed, but I'm telling you now keep me out of it." Whatever he had in his mouth, looked heavy. Was it just him or was the mutt holding it above Brick's head. "Joey are you listening to me? Joey? Joe-Argh!" That certain object in the dog's mouth made the most interesting sound when it hit Brick's head. THUD
"That had to hurt." The dog jumped off the roof and began sniffing around Brick's pockets. It pulled a set of keys from one of them and dropped them at Theo's feet. "Smart dog." The dog climbed into the back of the truck, and Theo taking the hint closed the doors. "I guess I'm going for a little ride. This is great! It'll look real good on my criminal record." He went to the front of the truck and got behind the wheel. "Trespassing, highjaking, transporting stolen goods, assault on a fellow co-worker," of course the dog did that, not me, "stealing, and grand theft! It doesn't get any better than this!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"SAGE! SAGE!" Sage walked out of the tent, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"What up? Gah!" Sage was grabbed by the front of his shirt and dragged a few feet off the ground. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes, you can tell us where that little punk Joey went."
"You mean he isn't in the tent?"
"Are you saying I'm stupid?"
"What? No I-I don't...I didn't...."
"Let's just think for a minute shall we. If the little b@$t@rd where in there, do you think I'd be wasting my time talking to you? Your friend stole a truck and the lion. Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you didn't know anything about that and don't know where Joey is. Am I right?"
"Yeah."
"Thought so. If Joey does contact you tell us, and tell him he's in some deep $hit." Sage nodded his head and was released.
Aw man Joey! You've pulled some stupid $hit before, but this one takes the cake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Theo brought the truck to a stop behind a repair shop. He slid down in his seat and sighed. "I. AM. AN. IDIOT! What the hell was I thinking? This has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever done." He suddenly threw his head back and started laughing. "But it was wroth it!" The dog started barking calling his attention to the cargo in the back.
He had barely finished unlocking the back doors before the mutt busted through them. He knocked Theo to the ground and after giving him a farewell bite on the leg he raced off in the opposite direction. Damn mutt. Now that he was taken care of Theo needed to attend to the other animal in the truck. "What am I going to do with you?" He asked, sitting in the back of the truck, next to the lion's cage. "Can't release you back into the wild. You can barely walk without that fourth leg, let alone hunt without it. No zoo is going to take a wild handicap mountain lion, and I sure as hell ani't turning you into an anizoid. You don't want that, you never asked for that. So now I'm back to my original question. What am I going to do with you?" He noticed something off to the side. "A gun." He mumbled picking it up. "I'm running out of options." He fingered the gun and checked to see if it had bullets. "I guess the real question is could you be happy. Well, could you?" The lion raised its massive head to stare at him before it curled up into a large whimpering ball. "No more pain, huh." He leveled the gun with the back of the lion's head. "Then I'll end it." He pulled the trigger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After burying the lion, Theo set about to freeing one more creature. "Can't very well keep using the truck. It has a license plate. So I suppose you'll do." He said, running his hand up and down the leg of the lion zoid. "Shield Liger DCS-J. Name's too long, I think I'll stick with LeoMaster. If I steal you I can say goodbye to my life. Never know though, could be a blessing." He tightened his fingers on the suitcase in his hand and limped a little closer to the liger. If I'm going to do this, I better do it now. Once he climbed into the zoid he remembered something very important. "How does this thing work?!" He didn't know how to pilot a zoid. He only took them apart. His job required that he knew how to unscrew parts and nothing else. "It can't be that much different from a car. So there's got to be an ignition somewhere." A quick glance around, and nope. Nothing looked like an ignition. "Okay this is a very expensive, complicated, and delicate machine. Better mess with everything."
Just as a large number of trucks pulled up behind the repair shop a Shield Liger busted through the closed garage doors. With all the smoke, debris, and confusion the liger managed to run away. "What was that?!"
"I think it was your liger sir."
"Hey isn't that the truck Joey stole?"
"Think he stole the liger too?"
"AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh yeah, this is diffidently the rush I've been waiting for!" It had taken him two hours to figure out most of the controls. In that time he had got the liger to sit up, roll over, and play dead, but he had finally got it running. "I love this!" It could have just been him, but the liger roared in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was racing across a prairie region, a few plateaus bordering the area. The sun was so high it was boiling Theo's brain. The only good thing about it was that he hadn't got caught. Yet.
"Maybe that's the reason why I love you...You're my heart girl....And wit all the crazy things that I do, you're still here girl...No one else can make me feel like you do...You've shared my world...Baby that's the reason why I love you......It took a while for me to see how special you treated me....Maybe that's the reason why I love you...You're my heart girl....And wit all the crazy things that I do, you're still here girl....No one else can make me feel like you do....You've shared my world....Baby that's the reason why I love you........I Love You, maybe that's the reason why I love you." He pulled on the controls, causing the liger to stop and spin around in circles. A missile landed a few meters in front of him. LeoMaster stopped chasing its tail and jumped back, barely managing to dodge another missile. "You aiming sucks!" The boulder next to him suddenly exploded. "Okay, I take that back."
"And you'll give me my zoid back."
"Huh? Wha--Who said that? Where's that voice coming form?"
"Look at the screen, stupid."
"Uhh, oh hey boss." Why do I suddenly feel like the dumbest man alive?
"Theodore! I want my zoid back!"
Oh, that's why. Because I just did the dumbest thing in the world. Yeah, I feel stupid.
"Are you listening to me?!"
"Nope. Good-bye." He closed the connection.
"Boss?"
"Open fire."
Missile upon missile rained down on Theo, oh yeah, he was in trouble. [here is where it gets bad] LeoMaster jumped back dodging one row of missile just to be bombarded from the side with another. "Okay now I really wished I'd learn how to pilot this before I stole it." The assault stopped and Theo was grateful for that for only a minute. The zoids were closing in on him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~~
He turned to the left, then the right. He backed up, stepped forward, did a few posses, then sighed. After all that he came to one conclusion. Glasses. Made. Him. Look. Ugly. That was all there was to it. "Don't care what Yuji say. I am not wearing these. No way. No how. Uh-uh." He adjusted the glasses on his face, trying once again to make them look better. It didn't seem to help. He grunted, it was no use. He pulled the glasses off and tossed them on his bed. So things were a little fuzzy around the edges. He could live with that.
~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Theo swore as one particularly close missile rocked the cockpit so hard he slammed forward into the console. Glass cracked under the sudden impact, fragments becoming imbedded in his forehead, and little specks of blood freckling his face. He wasn't given much time to curse before a Red Horn rammed violently into LeoMaster's side causing it to do a full 360 in the air. The zoid hit the ground hard, skidding to a stop at a Gun Sniper's feet. This is going to hurt like hell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~flashback~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mama! Help! Please let me out! Let me out! Please! Help! I want Mama! I don't....I don't.." He choked on a sob, unable to complete his sentence. He was starting to hyperventilate as he clawed wildly at the wooden door. Sadly the only thing that accomplished was the wearing down of his fingernails. Once most of his nails were gone the tender skin of his fingers became victim to the hard scraping. He screamed louder and began kicking at the door. No one heard his crying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~
Theo did something very childish and stuck his tongue out at the Gun Sniper when its missiles bounced off the shield he managed to activate in time. Like all great accomplishments Theo made the happiness was short lived.
The Gun Sniper spun around, took aim, and focused all its shots on a single spot in the shield. It was so close to the liger that it didn't take long for the bullets to pierce through the shield. The first one clipped the side of the liger's head, the second cracked the glass of the cockpit, the third caused a little problem.
"Damn!" Theo stared down at the space between his legs. The bullet had come very close to taking something that wouldn't grow back. Of course it left this gigantic hole in the floor of his cockpit. That was a pretty big bullet, luck was the only thing that save him from being hit. LeoMaster jerked before it was knocked off its feet by a sonic boom. The Lighting Saix slid to a stop behind him and immediately started firing. "I got to get out of here, LeoMaster can take much more of this."
Perhaps fate wasn't as cruel as he originally thought. The zoids that surrounded him disappeared beneath a could of dust and gun smoke. A Storm Sworder flew overhead, dropping more bombs on the zoids.
What are you waiting for you stupid little fool?! Get out of here!
"Sage? How'd you get through? I thought closed the com-link."
Idiot! You still have the walkie-talkie, though I don't see what it has to do with anything! Just get your @$$ out of here, I'll hold this guys off.
"But what about...?"
Go!
"I'm going, I'm going!"
LeoMaster had run a good number of meters away when Theo started to have second thoughts about leaving Sage behind. The guy had pretty much raised Theo in that shop. He always had good advice and offered help despite how much of a danger it could be for him. It wasn't fair. Sage was always playing his hero. That's got to stop. "Starting now." LeoMaster came to a stop and the hatch to the cockpit popped opened. Theo climbed out and patted the liger's feet. "For once I'm going to do the right thing and play Sage's hero. Not the idiot he always has to get out of trouble. But I'm gong to save you too buddy. I stole you and I'm not giving you back, not exactly a statement to be proud of but I am. Go. I'll find you, so don't worry. You just can't be apart of this, cause I'm not going to lie I'm a terrible pilot. You'd come back as scrap metal if I took you. Can't have something like that happen to such a magnificent zoid. So go, I'll handle everything else on my own." The liger growled softly and walked away, sparing Theo a small glance before it disappeared into the foliage. Theo turned back where the sounds of battle could be clearly heard. "Now how am I going to pull this one off?" An oddly familiar situation, he never thought things though before he did them. "Guess I'll have to do it like I always do. Making it up as I go." [Just like this story]
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I should have Chapter 2 out in a couple of days. Hermits like me don't really have anything else better to do with their time. See you sometime after Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate during this time of year. Merry or Happy (insert holiday here)! And please review.