Shadowwolf: More!!
fire inu – Glad you liked the chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
Zinou – They may be long, but I still want ter read them. I love your writing and the summaries draw me in. XD Apparently you're right, I like having the law after him. Y'know, I think I could get along with your muse. Nehehe. I'm working on Inner Strength, and I'll have it done before 2007, I promise! -innocent whistling- And that's very clever! But I don't wanna say anything…so…I won't. -joins in the shushing-
Saku – Yeah, Bit needs some purpose. Don't get me, here it comes! -demented smile-
BlackHole CO – Thank you! Sorry it's short. -sweatdrops- At least it's more than 80 words. x.x
Starheart – I love being purely evil. XD Glad you share the experience. Thank you very much!
BladesDeath – Yes…'cause I like to do that kind of stuff. o.o Thanks!!
Final Genesis – I'm sorry, I haven't seen Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it sounds cool! Glad you like the fic!
Bluefly7 – Okay, okay! Thanks!
Rynn Abhorsen – Ahh…yes, the Brad/Naomi goodness. Not for a chapter or two, I'm afraid. But there will be some. Thanks for reading!
Shadowwolf: Ahh! Good song on the radio!
Brad: -elbows Shadowwolf-
Shadowwolf: Right, sorry! Thank you all so much! Hopefully this will be a good chapter. Disclaimer: See the first two chapters again, 'kay? Enjoy!
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The Mask of the Fox
Reflection
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As Brad stood frozen in place, he watched his Zoid take three careful steps toward the base. He could hear his heart pounding and was sure it would fail any moment. After those three steps, the Shadow Fox stopped and raised its head.
For some reason, this movement snapped Brad out of his daze and he was able to move again. As quickly as possible, he hit the switch to close the hangar door. While the motor came to life with a buzzing sound and the door began to lower, the Fox took two more steps in the base's direction. Again, after only a couple steps, it stopped. Brad was, to say the least, confused.
"I don't believe this," he said somewhat shakily, his heart still pounding. The door continued to move, slowly closing the gap between itself and the floor. Brad kept watching his Zoid as it stood and looked in his direction. When the door was nearly closed, he crouched down to take a last glance at the Zoid that was threatening him. It hadn't moved.
The door closed with a quiet thud and the motor shut down with a click. Brad listened for any movement outside and couldn't detect any. He spotted some large wooden crates stacked up to one of the hangar's high windows and didn't hesitate to use them. Once crouched on the highest one, Brad looked out the window anxiously.
His Shadow Fox hadn't moved since he last saw it. Brad couldn't figure out what it was doing to save his life. After a few minutes of eerie silence and stillness, the Zoid turned away from the base and began trotting off. Brad's jaw dropped and he nearly slipped off the crates.
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Sleep didn't come easy to Brad later that night. His brain was swamped with too many questions, guesses, and other thoughts to allow sleep in as a priority. On top of his wandering mind, he found that the images of the night's events had somehow been recorded and were playing back repeatedly.
He saw the inspector, the officials, and his teammates, but only briefly. Those mild images were quickly overrun by the Fox's macabre escape. No matter how he tried to drive the pictures from his mind, he couldn't stop watching each pilot's death. Every time he saw one of them executed, he cringed and shut his eyes tighter. This action may have only made matters worse, as the scene would replay or a new one would begin again.
Finally, his mind wandered too far and drove him to think that he was responsible for their deaths. After all, he didn't tell them all about the virus. Maybe there was something they could have done. Maybe they had dealt with a virus like that before. If that was the case, it was indeed his fault, he figured. He should have told them, plain and simple.
Brad rolled over onto his right side and felt a sudden chill. With a small grunt, he pulled his covers up over his bare shoulders and sighed. He found closing his eyes only resulted in more gruesome visuals, and so decided to look out his window in hopes of distraction.
The moons were glowing bright, and full. Many stars could be seen around them, but some were hidden by dark clouds outlined by the moons' light. The sight was a little calming, and Brad finally found sleep after watching for nearly an hour.
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Brad's clock changed to 8:00am and, with a quiet click, his radio turned on. An upbeat song had just ended, and a news report was coming on. Brad opened his eyes and groaned loudly, then sat up and shook his head. His hair was messy, and only served as small irritation after his restless sleep. With a yawn, Brad swung his legs off the bed and listened to the morning news.
"In business, Zoid Com. announced that it will introduce a new information system that will allow pilots to get the latest scores, ranks, and results from battles all over Zi without a fee."
"Hazzah," Brad muttered sarcastically.
"In sports, the Lightning Team earned a victory over the Champ Team, and Leon Toros, formerly of the Fluegel Team, has begun recruiting for his new team, the Wildcats. More sports later."
"Again, 'hazzah,'" he muttered just as sarcastically with a shake of his head.
"And in top stories, three more attacks took place in Romeo City last night. Police say a Command Wolf, Gojulas, and Cannon Tortoise were destroyed on the city's outskirts. Officials are looking into this and requesting any available information."
Brad stared at the radio with an indescribable expression. He growled and knocked it to the floor, shifting the radio to fuzz. After the events of the day before, Brad had no doubt in his mind that the Zoid causing so many problems was his. It fit the description and it just plain sounded like something the diseased Shadow Fox would do. But now, he had to confront it. He muttered a curse, stood up, dressed himself, and walked down the stairs to meet his teammates.
"Can I borrow your Zoid, Leena?" Brad asked as he watched her eat breakfast.
"Borrow my Zoid? What for?" she asked suspiciously.
"I need to go into town, get some things," he replied coolly, with no intention of doing so.
"Mm…I guess. But if it comes back with one scratch, you're dead and buried, understand?" she almost hissed. Brad nodded calmly.
"Right. Don't worry," he replied and turned to the hangar. Leena turned back to her eggs and Jamie piled pancakes on her plate.
Once in the hangar, Brad took a quick look at the Gun Sniper before climbing in. As much as he despised the Gun Sniper's controls, it was his best chance. He opened the door remotely and waited for it to lift while the Zoid warmed up. Brad glanced down at his watch and the timer.
"Forty-eight hours, two minutes, seven seconds."
The door came to a stop at the top of its track and Brad piloted the Sniper forward. As soon as he had cleared the base, he engaged the boosters and ran toward Romeo City at top speed.
Shadowwolf: -dodges things thrown by readers preferring long chapters- I know! It was short…sorry. But the next one is longer! … Well, too short or not, I hope you liked it. Please review! -dances-
Brad: -shields eyes-