Zoids: A New Beginning
Chapter 6
Disclaimer: We all know the drill by now.
Following their loss at the hands of Derrik Fay, the Blitz Team had been knocked back a couple ranks within Class S. Now, they made up for their loss with another string of victories.
The buzzer went off as the Liger skidded to a stop and the judge announced yet another victory for the Blitz Team.
"Alright, nobody can stop us!" exclaimed Leena.
"Can't wait to get my prize money," said Brad.
"I wonder how much longer until we face Derrik again," said Bit quietly. Leena, who had been whooping up to that point, fell uncharacteristically silent at the mention of Derrik. They all felt the loss at his hands keenly.
Dr. Toros watched his team from the hover cargo. When they entered the hover cargo, he saw how weary and tired they looked. Then he formulated a plan.
When the team was assembled on the hover cargo, Dr. Toros made his announcement. "I've decided that we need a vacation team."
"A vacation?" said Bit.
"Yes, let me explain," said Dr. Toros. His face became more serious than it usually did. "When we fought Derrik, we experienced our first loss since our battle against the Lightening Team. When I look at it now, you've started expecting too much from yourselves as a result of all our victories. You know go into every battle with the expectation that you should emerge victorious. We need a vacation so that you can go back to viewing zoid battles with a more light hearted point of view."
Jamie was bewildered by the change in the normally happy, go lucky, doctor, but he saw the logic in Dr. Toros's conclusions.
"Alright, lets take a vacation!" exclaimed Bit.
The ocean was not far from where the Blitz Team had their last battle. Though the Blitz Team did not head there, someone else did. Derrik Fay stood alone on the bridge of his custom zoid transport vehicle.
His transport was the greatshark, a custom airborne transport similar in many aspects to a whale king. However, the Greatshark was much larger, dwarfing even Dr. Leon's great whale king. It was armed with hundreds of weapons. The primary armaments included four cannons that served as the main weapons of an Ultrasaurus. Hundreds of smaller turrets, and hundreds of missile tubes that ran up and down along the greatshark's length supplemented these cannons.
Inside the greatshark, there was room for hundreds of zoids. In reality, the greatshark could carry only about four zoids. The rest of the room on the greatshark was taken up by repair facilities that exceeded the finest maintenance shops on Planet Zi.
The greatshark cruised along the surface of the ocean. Four miles from the coast, the greatshark submerged itself underwater. As it went along, a rocky spire came into view. Integrated into the structure of the spire was a fully functional underwater base.
Derrik smiled, this was his private retreat. It was a place where he could begin his work in privacy. He had told the Blitz Team about his intentions to create another Ultimate X. After years of study, Derrik was eager to build one that would suit him perfectly.
The team's choice of a vacation spot was perfect a small mountain retreat where they could just relax and chill out. At the retreat, they had hot tubs, water sports in a nearby lake, hoverskiing, sight seeing, and several other activities. Brad decided to enjoy the hot tub while Leena cruised around the lake on a Jet Ski. Jamie relaxed in the lounge while Dr. Toros was on the hover cargo playing with his zoid models. Bit was taking a look around at the beautiful scenery.
Bit was on a mountain trail when he saw a flash of movement through his peripheral vision. His head snapped to the right but he saw nothing more. He felt rather than saw something moving behind him, but he saw nothing when he turned around. There was a rustling noise coming from the foliage on his left. It stopped when he looked in that direction. "This is really starting to creep me out," he said quietly.
He heard a particularly heavy footstep as something stepped out onto the path in front of him. Bit started when he noticed it. The thing, for that was the best name he could give it, looked almost like a miniature zoid. Its skin was a dark shade of brown. It walked on two legs with three-toed clawed feet and had a pair of shorter arms. The arms ended in three-fingered hands with wicked looking claws. It's tail was half again as long as long as its body. There were creases, almost like the joints of an exoskeleton. Its head was saurian with a moth lined with sharp teeth. At the back of the head, three horn-like projections sloped backwards. The thing was about nine feet tall, easily looking down at Bit.
Bit and the thing stared at one another. Bit realized that the thing, whatever it was, might not like his presence there and decided to back away. As soon as he took a step back, a low snarl escaped from the thing's mouth. It took a step towards him. Bit realized it would attack whether he retreated or not. He was about to turn around an run when he heard the unmistakable sound of someone calling his name.
"Bit?" Leena came around the bend of the trail, "It's time for lunch, huh." She spotted the thing. "What the heck is that?"
Bit was about to warn her that the thing didn't look very friendly when it charged. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, the thing took Bit completely by surprise. Hearing its advance Bit turned around, only to take a head but in the stomach.
The air whooshed out of Bit's lungs as he was knocked flat on his back. The thing lifted a three-clawed foot and tried to bring it down on Bit's chest. Bit rolled to the side and felt a breeze as the foot left an impression where he had been laying only moments ago. The tooth-lined maw came at Bit's head.
Something long and heavy smashed into the thing's head, sending it reeling to one side. Bit looked up to see Leena brandishing a tree branch. Bit rolled out of her way and began to get to his feet.
The thing lunged for Leena. She swung the tree branch only to find it yanked out of her grip by the thing's jaws. The thing lunged again and Leena stumbled backwards as the thing's jaws snapped inches from her midsection. She tripped over a tree root and landed on her back. The thing lifted a foot to stomp on her chest as it tried with Bit. Its foot came down.
"Chaos, enough," demanded a commanding voice. The thing's foot halted an inch from Leena's chest, then pulled back as it took a step back from Leena. A young man, about Bit's age came out and stood next to the thing. "So you two are from the Blitz Team," he sneered.
"That's right," growled Bit, getting to his feet, "And who are you?"
"My name is Garret though you might not remember me, you were a little too occupied with a certain charged particle cannon to ask my name," his smile was amused.
"You're with the Backdraft Group!" yelled Leena. She looked like she was about to charge him when the thing at his side growled warningly and she thought better of it.
"What is that thing?" asked Bit.
"This is and Organoid, a true Organoid," said Garret, "And his name is Chaos."
"So that's your secret weapon," said Bit.
"Yes, indeed. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other business to conduct besides dealing with a pair of second-rate warriors."
"Let me remind you that these second-rate warriors just kicked your…"
"But it has been enjoyable I have to admit," he said, cutting Bit
off. "We'll meet again Bit Cloud, and when we do, neither you nor your
Liger 0 will be able to defeat me." Without another word, he jumped onto
Chaos's back. Concealed jet engines fired, sending the Organoid shooting into
the sky like a rocket.
"Well that was interesting," said Leena, realizing that her mouth had gone dry.
"You okay?" asked Bit.
"Yeah, I'll be alright, though I think we should tell the others."
"Yeah let's go."
In his undersea base, Derrik watched with enjoyment as the Organoid that would become a permanent part of the zoid he was creating grew before his eyes. The Organoid was grown as a part of the zoid core to enhance the connection.
He went to the manufacturing line to see if the components for his zoid were near completion. Everything was going according to plan. He hoped that the zoid spawned by this genesis would respond to him. The process had been set in motion. All that was left now was to wait.
Following the vacation, the Blitz Team immediately received information on
their next battle. "Well, what do you know; our next opponent is the
Redfire Team," said Dr. Toros.
"Wasn't that the team we were supposed to fight when the Backdraft took
over our battle?" asked Jamie.
"Yep," said Bit.
"Well, lets go out and win," said Brad.
At the battlefield, the two teams met. The judge landed and did his spiel and the battle started. The Redfire Team consisted of an Iron Kong PT type, a Redhorn, and a Gun Tiger.
Bit used the Schnider for this battle. He charged through the Iron Kong's fire, administering a prompt Buster Slash. Leena used her Weasel Unit's Total Assault to take out the Gun Tiger, which had tried to escape into the air, and the Shadowfox easily downed the Redhorn with his Strike Laser Claw.
"Well, that was fast," said Bit in surprise.
"That vacation was just what the doctor ordered," said Brad.
"No kidding," said Leena.
In his undersea base, Derrik looked approvingly on the fruits of his labors. The zoid was hidden by the shadows of the hangar, but Derrik knew it well. He felt a presence, not unlike that of an eager child brushing the edge of his mind. Soon," he said, "Soon you will show the world your unlimited potential my great zoid," he paused before saying the zoid's name for the first time, "My Raptorus."
