Shadowwolf: Reviewers! n.n
Saku – Thanks so much, Saku! I suppose we'll see what happens…yesh. Mhmhmhm…
Tusume – XD Glad you appreciate that part. Thanks for reviewing!
BlackHole Army CO – Thank you very much! It's only been two days, no need to worry. -grin- Sad to say that it seems the Zoids section is dying… x.x;
Bluefly7 – Thank you!! Brad? A sort of bad guy? … Hm. That's interesting…
Shadowwolf: Thanks again, mah behbies. O.o Please don't run from me. -clings to various readers' legs- Please!!
Brad: -sips-
Shadowwolf: I'm going to take your coffee away. Grahr. Disclaimer: I didn't own it before, why would I now? Hope you enjoy this chapter. It was written much more recently. It looks funny to me. :/ Ohr well. Enjoy!
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The Mask of the Fox
Broken
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"Battle in five minutes!!" Doctor Toros shouted through the halls of the Blitz Base, startling Jamie so badly that he dropped a tray of dishes he was carrying.
"Aw, Doc…" Jamie half whined as he bent down to pick up the broken pieces. He felt a rush of wind and glanced up to see that Bit had just leapt over him. "Hey, Bit!"
"No time to talk now, later Jamie!" Bit said quickly without looking back. Jamie sighed and continued picking up the broken dishes. A few seconds later, another rush of wind hit him. This time, it was Leena who had done the leaping. "Hey, Leena!"
"Later!" she called back, only turning to look at him briefly. Jamie groaned and went back to his work, only to have a third rush of wind hit him. Without looking to see who it was, he reached out and grabbed the culprit's ankle, sending him to the ground. Brad let out a groan.
"Sorry, Brad," Jamie said apologetically before helping him up. "Can you help me clean this up?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, Jamie," Brad said, sounding like he wasn't even there, and perhaps he wasn't. Without hesitation, though, Brad bent down and picked up some of the shards.
"Thanks a lot," Jamie commented without looking up to him. Brad nodded, gathered all the pieces he could, and carried them into the kitchen. When he put them down, one slipped and left a large cut on his palm. He cursed under his breath and blew on it a little, knowing it would have to wait. Jamie came in soon after, and Brad was determined not to let him know about the small blunder.
"Glad I could help, but I gotta go, battle in five, y'know," he said with a forced smile before running out to the hangar.
"Don't I know it," Jamie sighed.
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Brad looked over his hand in the cockpit of the Shadow Fox as he waited for the battle to start. "Stupid, Brad…" he muttered. The Fox growled, as though prompting him to observe the Zoids on the battlefield, not his injury.
Brad did so and looked around the large desert area. Two Command Wolves and a Cannon Tortoise stood in front of him. No problem, there. His attention shifted back to his hand. This is more of a problem, though. I didn't even get a chance to wrap it…oh, c'mon, Brad, stop being such a wimp.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he barely heard the judge shout, "Fight!" and saw the enemy Zoids charging. "Gahr," Brad growled, taking the controls and moving forward.
But something strange happened as soon as he took the controls. The cockpit lights all turned red, and Brad suddenly wondered if he should be piloting it. After all, he didn't even know what that "auto virus" was supposed to do. The lights weren't the only things that had changed, however, as Brad soon found out.
With a great burst of speed, the Fox charged ahead and targeted one of the Command Wolves. The pilot saw Brad approaching and turned his way before firing off several shots. Brad barely had to move, and his Zoid leapt back and forth to avoid each shell.
The Command Wolf pilot was unnerved by this and hesitated, allowing Brad time to leap into the air and come down on it with claws outstretched. The Wolf buckled under the force and Brad jumped off, landing gracefully. He turned the Shadow Fox around to make sure the Zoid was system frozen. A signal confirmed that it was, and Brad turned to the left, after the other Zoids. Or at least, he tried to turn to the left, but the Fox wouldn't have it.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? C'mon," he ordered, moving the controls forcefully. Still, the Fox didn't budge, and the controls slid back into their neutral position. Then, when the Shadow Fox let out an awful snarl and approached the Command Wolf's head, Brad realized he was no longer in control.
A thousand thoughts seemed to rush through his head. What was his Zoid about to do? Would it kill the pilot? Would the judge stop him? Would he be blamed? How could the Fox be stopped? Could it be stopped at all?
Through all these uncertainties, one thing was certain: if he was to help, he had to act fast. Brad opened a comm. link to the Zoid in front of him. Static was all that came up.
"You're kidding!" he shouted in exasperation, shaking the controls. The Fox stopped moving and growled angrily. Brad could tell it was growling at him. And so, new questions were added to his thoughts. Would he be able to escape? Would he survive? If the pilot in front of him didn't, Brad was sure he wouldn't want to either. "Knock it off!" he shouted at his Zoid, tugging at his harness, which now held him trapped in the pilot's seat.
The Shadow Fox shook its head like a wet dog and it didn't look unusual from the outside, but inside the cockpit the shaking was extremely violent. Brad was grateful that the harness held him, so he could hold onto consciousness.
He looked around the battlefield, his vision slightly blurry. It seemed that no one had noticed. He couldn't see the judge at all, and Bit's Liger was barely visible to the left. He tried the controls once more, and again, they failed him.
"Please, Fox…please…" he pleaded, suddenly resorting to begging for the pilot's life and his own. "Please, stop this…fight whatever's causing this…fight it!" Brad's Zoid didn't seem to mind him and lifted one of its front paws as it glowed a brilliant golden color. He knew what was coming, and he couldn't stop it.
Shadowwolf: Are you still here? You are? Wonderful! Brad's in a pickle.
Brad: Heh. Pickle.
Shadowwolf: -severe eyebrow raise- What the--? Nevermind…thanks for reading!