OOC (out of context): OK! Sorry I was slow, there was brain block, drama, and evil videos games I can't beat standing in the way of me completing this chapter! But I overcame and did it, go YEAH BANE! And also the reviews I got spurred me on to write, so as long as I keep on getting reviews I'll know people are reading this, so I'll keep on writing it. For the like two people whom have reviewed me: I love you all, you guys rock, and you've inspired me to finish this chapter at 1 in the morning. Be Proud!!!

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Irvine and Van ran in, and I swear their eyes must've been as big as saucers. I jumped off the platform, and landed in a catlike crouch. I straightened up, and said,

"Guess this is the help the note talked about."

I looked them over from where I was standing. One was blue. It looked like a cat. It had no apparent weapons on it except for fangs and claws. But all of them had that. I knew the cat-thing had to have something better than that, but I had no idea what. The next Zoid looked like a wolf, it was also blue. The was a large cannon on it's back. The last one was slightly smaller than the others, and looked like the wolf with the large gun on it's back, but the gun had a smaller barrel. It was also painted black and not blue. I spoke up again.

"So... who knows anything about these?"

Van said,

"I did a report on them once. The first one's a Liger, I think. I would say it's a Shield Liger... but there's some modification on the side that could change the whole thing..." As Van walked closer something large and shiny shot out from nowhere at Van. He stumbled backwards, barely avoiding getting decked by it's tail. It looked like a small small dinosaur, but dinosaurs were extinct, right?

Van was lucky that he took martial arts, he was just staying ahead of the thing, if he wasn't as fats as he was it would be schooling him by now. Irvine was having a great time watching this.

"I think it likes you, Van."

"NOT FUNNY!"

He ducked as it swept it's tail again, and did a backwards flip as it rushed him.

"What is this thing!? It's good!"

Fiona, from behind us all said,

"It's an organoid. If you can tame it it will make your Zoid even better."

That's great. How do I tame it?"

Fiona shrugged.

"I only know that much."

Van suddenly stopped his dodging, trying to talk to it. He was completely wiped out by the tail, and the dinosaur er, organoid stood over him. Van gave a completely dorky smile, trying to be charming.

"Nice organoid, yeah.. I don't wanna hurt you, I just wanna be friends... you know what that is, right?"

The organoid stepped back, looked exasperated. Van sat up, the dorky smile now a grin.

"Good! So we're friends now?"

I rolled my eyes. The organoid growled, and it stopped attacking. Van said,

"I'll need to name you. How bout... Zeek! Yeah, I love that name."

Irvine muttered,

"Good thing you named the organoid that and not your kid."

I started cracking up, and Van huffed. Fiona was still completely calm, all business it seemed.

"You need to pick a Zoid now."

I walked to the black one, it seemed call me. Van chose the Liger, and Irvine the Wolf. We climbed up them, and Van told us about our Zoids.

"Irvine, the one you have is a Command Wolf. It's really fast, and has really good agility. The cannon up top moves so you have a greater shooting range. You can bite stuff, and the claws work too. Boom, you have a Shadow Fox. It's a stealth Zoid. I couldn't find much else about them. They're rare.

"What's yours, Van?"

"I don't know other than the Liger part.. I can't figure out what the things on the sides are."

I settled in the cockpit, and so did Van and Irvine. There was an extra seat in Van's cockpit, so Fiona jumped in his. I sat there, and did what every curious thief has done at once in his life. I just started pressing buttons. The cockpit closed, and the control panels lit up. Van's face popped up, and I jumped. I saw a flashing button, and pressed it. Audio filled the cockpit, and I gave a yell. It was WAY too loud. I looked for a volume control, and thorugh trial and error turned it down.

"BOOM, WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?"

"Dude, I will if you don't scream at me like that!"

"Ok. Now as I was saying, don't press random buttons! You have no idea what they do."

I gave a sheepish grin.

"Uh.... Too late."

I don't think I've ever seen Van make a face quite like the one he gave me.

"WHAT! Lucky you didn't blow us up!!!!!!"

"Hey, I had to turn the thing on, and punch the button to talk to you."

Irvine had most likely been doing the same thing as me, because his voice cut through.

"He's right! And what makes YOU the expert, huh Van?"

"I did the report, remember?"

"Whatever."

Now Fiona's voice cut through, and Van was pushed out of the way, her facing coming into focus.

"There should be an instruction manueal somewhere."

"These aren't cars, Fiona. You don't just have a nice little dashboard with a intruction manual and papers and chips!"

Irvine cut through eagerly.

"You have chips in your car, Boom?"

"Yeah! They might be a little stale, but you can dig in later."

Fiona looked like she was either about to laugh, or beat us into listening.

"But why would a man direct us here, give us Zoids, but no way to use them?"

Silence over all the lines. Finally, Van's muffled voice ended the qieut.

"Hey, she's right! Under the seat is a packet title 'Basic of a Liger.'"

Irvine's voice came in next.

"Hey, I found one too!"

"Have you found one yet, Boom?"

"No, Fiona. I'm still looking."

I punched the button that made the image of Van's cockpit go up so it went away, then punched others until I got audio only. I then searched around the smallish cockpit. I didn't find a thing. I leaned back, in defeat, looking up at the sky. What I found myself staring at was a packet with a note pinned to it. It had the same handwriting as the note in my apartment.

"Hey guys, I found something! It's a note."

Van excitedly said,

"What does it say?"

"Well done for coming this far. Practice with your Zoids, it's important you can use them well. When you feel ready go to the other side of the woods on the east side of this city. Critical information about your parents is there, but it won't be as easy this time. Boom, your skills will come in use. Your Zoids will need fuel and occasional repairs. Put them back in the warehouse, and it will be taken care of. Until next time...... It not signed."

Fiona's voice sounded nervous and excited and eager all at the same time.

"Wow, that's really mysterious. And what about your parents, Boom?"

"I thought they died."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Let's stop being sorry and start solving this thing. Time's wasting. We'd better start practicing."

Irvine talked next.

"Not the best idea, Boom. We should read the instructions tonight, and do it tommorow."

"Oh my god Irvine, you're thinking things through!"

"Yeah, so do I get to have a cab seat as a reward?"

I laughed, popping my cockpit after finding the button I had pressed to make it do that.

"I'd say whoever gets there first gets the cab seats."

In response there was a mad scrable. I had already slipped out of the Zoid, and was running towards the car. I was there first, Van second, Irvine third, and Fiona last. But none of us faulted her, she was wearing a dress. And because we nice gentlemen we let her ride in the cab, and threw Irvine in the back. I got to drive, I knew where Fiona's neighborhood was. It was starting to get dark; we had been fooling around for nearly a half hour at the warehouse. Fiona fell asleep on the way back, so it was pretty queit in the cab.

I got to her neighborhood, and looked around. My suspicion proved correct. I had no idea what to do. Van was in the middle, and I nudged him.

"Wake up Fiona. I have no idea what I'm doing."

He nudged her, and she woke up.

"Wha-"

"Fiona, how do we go to your house?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm passing Restly."

"That's where you turn."

I ut it into reverse, and sped backwards until I could turn down it. Fiona watched me with wide eyes.

"That's illegal, you know."

"Yeah, well, no one saw."

"I saw."

I sighed as I drove down the street.

"I'll turn around next time."

I glanced over to see Fiona grin.

"Thank you!"

"Now, where do I turn?"

"Turn left at the next street."

And so it went on until I reached her street, then her house. I stopped, putting it in park. I jumped out myself, and walked to the truck bed. Irvine was lying against the side, fast asleep. I waved at Fiona, and yelled,

"See ya later!"

That woke up Irvine. He groggily looked at me and said,

"Any reason you woke me up?"

"Yeah, I just dropped off Fiona. You're next, so get in the truck."

He did so, and I slid back into the drivers seat. I then thought about how the heck I was getting out of here. I got lost in the neighborhood, man that was a tricky place. I then managed to get to a road I knew, and was off to Irvine's house. I dropped him off, and I nudged Van, whom had fallen asleep, just like everyone else.

"Wanna crash at my place tonight? It's a half hour drive to your place form here, and then I'd have to drive back."

He managed to yawn out,

"Yeah, I'll call my parents and tell them."

He was asleep again, and I went to my house, waking him up (again). We went up to my apartment, and he called his parents, telling them it was late and I didn't feel up to driving all the way, so he was staying here for the night.

They nicely understood, and I cleared off my couch, and found some blankets. Van was asleep before he hit the couch. It was only like 10 or something, but we had all gotten up early for graduation, and then we actually had to stand that ceremony, and then the whole Zoids thing. I went to my bed, and fell asleep, eager for tommorow.