Losing the Soul
S.D. Hi everybody! Audience: Hi Steam Detective! Knuckles: how'd you do
that? S.D. that's a secret. Anyway I was a little disappointed by the lack
of reviews I got for my last chapter. I don't know whether you're all mad
at me for killing off Leena or if most of your reviews didn't get through
for some reason or you just didn't feel like it. I would please ask you to
keep reviewing. Knuckles: C'mon people that last chapter took hours to
write and we got four reviews! Do you have any idea how depressing that
is?! I mean, we weren't expecting to have to clean out our inbox from all
the reviews but still. S.D. Now, now Knuckles I'm sure they had a good
reason, didn't you all? Oh and before I forget. Knuckles: That happens
pretty fast. S.D. Shut up. For all of you who know Leena is not supposed to
have two (e)s in it but that's how most people seems to spell it and I was
afraid everyone would tell me I spelled it wrong. Well on with the story!
Losing the Soul
Chapter 7: Painful Memories
Jamie stared at the grave with a horrified expression on his face. He stayed there on his hands and knees looking at the polished marble cube with a praying angel on top for nearly five minutes. John: "It's a real shame isn't it?" Jamie turned around and John was standing behind him with his arms folded. Jamie: "What happened, when did she die?" John looked at the ground for a moment before answering. John: "Jamie she didn't die she was killed. She was only twenty-six to. To make matters worse I'll bet you haven't looked to the right of her grave yet." Jamie: "What?" Jamie looked back at Leena's grave then looked to the right. Jamie: "God no!" Jamie ran out side the small crypt and began to vomit. Next to Leena's grave there were two other graves similar to Leena's but they were smaller and had child angels on top. They read R.I.P. Tobias Cloud and R.I.P. Amber Cloud.
John walked out of the crypt and approached Jamie who was hunched over on the ground finishing his business. John knew this was a lot to take in all at once so he left him alone for a minute or two before speaking.
John: "Stuff like this can really break people, especially when they've lived a hard life." Jamie got up and wiped his mouth and sat on one of the two ornate stone benches in front of the crypt. Jamie: "Bit and Leena got married, and they had kids?" John sat on the other bench and looked at him. John: "I never actually knew very well Leena, I met her once at their wedding and every once and while after that, but I do know the whole story better than anyone except for Bit." Jamie: "What happened?" John: "I'll tell you if you brace yourself, it's kinda sad seeing a grown man throw up like that."
John: "About one year after the Royal Cup Bit and Leena managed to get themselves stuck somewhere together. You know how it goes after that, trap two people with problems in a small space and so forth. It turned out Leena had had a crush on Bit for quite awhile, her constant beatings of him were sort of an excuse to get close to him and a way of venting her frustration." Jamie: "You're kidding, right?" John: "Tell me Jamie, thinking back on it who started that whole stealing each other's food thing, Bit or Leena?" Jamie sat therefore a minute looking forward, thinking. Jamie: "Leena started it, when she stole Bit's cookie then Bit stole her donut to get even with her and it going back and forth from there." John: "Bingo. Shortly after you left they admitted their love for each other to everyone partly because of the incident." Jamie: "What incident." John: "Bit got Leena pregnant. According to Leon, Bit screamed so loud when she told him that you could hear him for miles. They got married shortly after. Apparently they had contemplated it before but didn't intend to for a few more years." Jamie: "Why didn't Leena just get an abortion?" John: "I hope you don't say you knew Leena well because if you did I'd think you were lying. Leena was someone of principle even if she didn't seem it at times, she wouldn't do it, besides her father forbade it. They lived a pretty happy life, despite what Brad would tell you kids don't always turn into a huge headache. From what I gathered little Toby was an angel. Three years later they decided they wanted another and Amber was born. Things went well for them, no one could stop the Blitz Team, the marriage of Bit and Leena strengthened their bond on the battle field and both became stronger. The whole sense of family made the Blitz Team unstoppable for a time." Jamie: "Whole sense of family?" John: "Remember Leon was now on the team again so the Blitz Team became made up of family for a time. Then it happened."
Jamie: "What happened? What caused it to end?" John: "They took the kids out for the day. They took the Hover Cargo with them along with the Gun Sniper and Liger and went on a family outing. They were outside looking at the view when it happened. Some aerial zoids showed up and someone from the cockpit used a machine gun on them. Bit got hit on his right shoulder and it scared him pretty badly. Leena turned around trying to shield Amber, who she was holding at the time, but one of the bullets passed clear through her chest and hit Amber in the shoulder. Amber died at the hospital days later, she was two. Toby was handed the most merciful death, shot right through the head and died on the spot, he was five. A missile was then fired at the Hover Cargo destroying Liger's armors and the Gun Sniper." Jamie: "No wonder Bit's like this, after all of that it must feel like the world's against him. Hey wait! If Liger was on board why wasn't it destroyed?" John: "The Liger had the good fortune of being in between the panels that held the armor for Zero Panzer, it still took heavy damage but it wasn't destroyed."
Jamie: "So Bit became a criminal because of Leena's and their children's deaths. That's sad to hear." John: "Have you been ignoring everything I say? One of the first things I told you when we met was that Bit was still good, besides it was more than just the assassination. Remember how I said that Bit had had a hard life? Bit's childhood was very traumatic. He was born into a well off family, his father, James Cloud, was a respected business man and he made plenty of money, but when Bit was five his father passed away and the company crumbled. His mother, Ruby, tried as hard as she could to raise Bit and make enough money but it wasn't easy. She kept ending up with lousy people again and again, almost all of whom were cruel to Bit when her back was turned. She remarried to some jerk when Bit was nine; he abused Bit the worst of all. He still has some faint scars on his back and chest from that. Bit's mother died when he was eleven and life became a lot harder. Bit ran away as soon as his legs were strong enough to carry him. To Bit, losing his family after having so much unfairness in his life and after working so hard to get where he was a horrible injustice."
John: "Actually Bit isn't just committing crimes. We have a specific enemy and I've been working on the side lines to track their movements and unmask them while Bit disrupts their information and supplies." Jamie: "Specific enemy?" John: "Doesn't it seem a little odd that Bit's family was killed just blindly and the murderers just happen to have a missile strong enough to destroy the Hover Cargo. Well after the attack I looked into it and managed to find a name. Fire Wind." Jamie: "Fire Wind?" John: "They're an organization trying to bring back the dark battles. That's why Bit was attacked they feared him." Jamie: "Why would they want to do that?" John: "Jamie, do you know what the term fire wind refers to? When a large fire starts immediately spreading over a large area it needs a large amount of oxygen, when it sucks all this in the movement of air is violent like a strong wind. Also if you deny a fire oxygen, not smothering it, just not giving it anymore and then suddenly introducing it causes a large sweeping of flames which, can in turn, cause a "fire wind", this Jamie, is commonly referred to as a back-draft." Jamie's jaw dropped and he stared at John. Jamie: "No!" John: "Fire Wind is made up mostly of former Back Draft Group members. That's why they wanted Bit dead, that's why they tried to destroy the Liger. Bit is out for revenge and out to stop them before they complete their insane plans."
Jamie: "So the Back Draft is back in a new form and they attacked Bit because he was a potential threat and tried to destroy Liger and it's armors in case anyone else could pilot it. Bet they didn't count on Dr. Layon betraying them and building more armor." John: "Dr. Layon didn't make that armor, I did." Jamie: "What?! You?! But it has stealth shields and looks like the Shadow Fox. The pivot for the sniper rifle is a scaled down copy of the pivot for the Fox's Vulcan Gun!" John: "That was the idea. The police are well aware that Bit is receiving help but they don't know who and by designing parts of the Zero Phantom like the Shadow Fox I cover my tracks." Jamie: "So Dr. Layon was with you from the beginning? So then he did help build the armor." John: "You'd think that, but no. Engineering and archeology has been a sort of hobby of mine and I've managed to find many technological advancements that are scientists missed, how they missed them I don't know. A lot of that technology was actually things developed after the Guylos War and was just forgotten; among the stuff I found was a very advanced cloaking device and things I call sound scrubbers, they absorb and cancel out most sound, which is why Liger is so quiet. Heck, if you must know I found all that stuff on the Stealth Storm Sworder my wife uses." Jamie: "But the color." John: "I designed two identical sets of armor, the first was Zero Alpha it was white with blue blades and after Dr. Layon found us and volunteered I painted the Beta armor, which I renamed Phantom, like the Shadow Fox. The gun pivot was just a coincidence." Jamie: "You threw away a set of armor?" John: "No, Alpha was test armor, I was working with two new metals I had found the processes for making and I hadn't used them too much. The first armor didn't hold up well so I scrapped it."
Jamie: "So everyone was in on this huh?" John: "Nope. Leon and Brad can't help but know about the attack, they know that I built Liger's armor and that Dr. Layon is helping but they don't know about Fire Wind." Jamie: "Why not." John: "Bit didn't want anyone else to get involved. He already feels guilty for dragging me into this with me having a family and all. Which reminds me." Jamie: "What?" John: "We have to get back, fix Liger and get Bit out of the base before Fire Wind shows up and get to Layon's place and plan our next move." Jamie: "Our next move?" John: "I may not have known you for very long Jamie but I know you're going to insist on helping us. I figured that you'd keep looking for answers and asking me about so that's why I told you the whole story. You're coming along for the ride"
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Brad: "How's he doin'?" Leon: "He's still unconscious but it looks like he didn't get hurt too badly." Leon and Brad had quickly removed Bit from Ligers cockpit and put him in the backseat of Brad's, Gustav loaded up Liger and were heading for the Tauros Base. Bit was banged up pretty badly, the restraints in Liger had given way and he had been thrown around as Liger rolled. The fatigue from the night before and using so much energy had put a lot of stress on his body and he was out cold. The Tauros Base soon came into view over the horizon. Leon: "We're almost there. Huh?" Light Wing and the Raynos suddenly appeared over head now following along with the Gustav. Leon: "That was quick; it hasn't even been forty minutes." John: "Hey guys." Jamie: "How's Bit?" Brad: "He's still out and he got thrown around a little but it doesn't look too bad." John: "Good ta hear."
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On board his Whale King, Harry Champ began to wake up. Benjamin: "Harry, Harry can you hear me?" Harry: "Ugh...my head. What happened?" Benjamin: "They got us again. Bit did a number on the Gojulas Giga and you fell unconscious." Harry: "What?! Please tell me we're tracking them!" Benjamin: "Sorry Harry but your last Plasma Particle beam knocked the Liger down and hurt Bit. The others seemed ready to kill us if we bothered them." Harry: "So what? Like they actually would kill a prince and risk enraging our home country." Benjamin: "They all seemed tired and cranky; people do stupid things when they're mad." Harry: "Well, I suppose that we'll have to start searching for Leena again, perhaps we should check official records." Benjamin: "You mean like we should have done in the first place instead of ransacking Leon's and Brad's homes for information, already ahead of you, Sebastian is looking into it now." Sebastian: "Harry, Harry!" Harry: "What is it Sebastian, did you find her?" Sebastian: "Well yes but I have some bad news I'm afraid. Harry I was looking into the records and I found several things you're not going to like. First off it seems Leena married Bit while you were gone." Harry: "WHAT?!?! That bastard! I knew he took her!" Sebastian: "Harry, let me finish. The news gets worse. It seems they had two children and..." Harry: "AHH!!! I'm going to kill him, to think he has touched and had his way with my darling!!!" Sebastian: "Harry! Please I'm not done. The reason we couldn't find her is she's no longer among the living." Harry stared at Sebastian for a moment. Harry: "What?" Sebastian: "About six years ago Bit and Leena were on a family outing when they were attacked. Everybody but Bit was gunned down." Harry: "..." Benjamin: "Harry...?" Harry: "That asshole!!! He led my love to her death!!!" Harry began crying into his pillow. Sebastian: "Harry..." Benjamin put his hand on Sebastian's "shoulder". Benjamin: "Maybe we should leave him alone for now." Benjamin and Sebastian rolled out of the room leaving Harry to wallow in his sorrow.
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Jamie: "Well?" John and Leon walked out of Bit's old room. John: "He'll be fine." Leon: "Apart from extreme exhaustion and couple of bumps here and there he's okay." John: "He just needs to rest. He'll probably be asleep for a day or two." Brad came walking down the hall. Brad: "Man this place has become a real dump." Leon: "What can I say I've had to take care of the place by myself." Dr. Tauros: "Hey, I help out sometimes." The doc suddenly showed up from the other end of the hall with his head bandaged. Leon: "Dad? How are you feeling?" Dr. Tauros: "Apart from some bumps and bruises I'm fine." Jamie: "Is this one of his saner days?" Leon looked at Jamie, smiled and nodded. Dr. Tauros: "Well, what's everyone standing around for? We've got zoids to fix. C'mon time's a-wastin'!" The Doc, now with a smile on his face, ran back down the hall leaving the others staring for a moment before it occurred to them to follow.
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Once again in the dark room the eight people sat. Voice 1: "Our plan has failed, we have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplies and many zoids. Number six, this was your idea. Needless to say you will be punished. Voice 6: "Wait! Commander Altile please. I have one last idea that could be of use!" Altile: "I'm listening." Voice 6: "Ted Hawkings, one of the police officers we used. His records show he is a superb pilot and, according to everyone in his department, hates Bit Cloud with a vengeance. It is said that a zoid responds to it's pilots emotions heightening their own power. With his blind rage, which must be at fever pitch after this last defeat, he will be easy to manipulate and we can use his anger with the new prototype." Altile: "That is a bold proposition, but I like it. It just may work and we do need a new pilot for the prototype anyway." Voice 3: "But I might have a better plan. According to intelligence reports, Bit Cloud along with two old Blitz Team members, Leon Tauros and, oddly enough, a member of Team Dragoon have faced off in battle against the old members of the Champ Team. Mr. Champ, who had a violent infatuation with Leena Cloud, came looking for her and got locked in a fight. Bit won the battle but seems to have been knocked unconscious with Liger and the other zoids damaged and are at the Tauros Base as we speak." Altile: "Perfect! If we strike now we can destroy them. Number six, for your sake you should hope this plan fails and yours works. Prepare the unmanned zoids units immediately!"
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Leon: "Could someone help me with this!?" Leon was inside of the mid- section of his Blade Liger fixing some wiring and he was, at the moment, practically tied up in the tangled wire. Jamie: "Hold on I'm come'in." Everyone was busy working on there zoids, fixing minor damage, except John who was working on the Liger Zero with Doc. Dr. Tauros: "The wiring in this armor is amazing. Wish I thought of this about twelve years earlier." John: "It's not that incredible. I just made sure not to make any unnecessary junctions and kept it simple." Dr. Tauros: "Nonsense, this is great! Where did you learn to make things like this?" John: "I'm self taught for the most part. But if you must know I got my experience in wiring and systems mostly from working on Light Wing." With that the Light Wing dragon let out a screech of pride for itself. Dr. Tauros: "All this just from working on your zoid?" John: "Light Wing is part of a rare group of zoids called Panzer Dragons. They're ancient. Archeologists are still finding remains of old zoids that are clearly related to them. To put it simply, they've had plenty of time to fire out bugs in their designs and my Light Wing is thought to be the most advanced stage of the different varieties." Once again Light Wing let out an approving screech. Dr. Tauros: "I don't quite get it." John: "Did you know that we humans have an organ that has absolutely no use whatsoever. Yet we still have it. It's believed to be a leftover from a previous evolution of ours. This applies to zoids too. When they evolve and change into a new zoid they may still have some things from their old forms that aren't of any use but do no harm. By eliminating all of these you can improve a zoids performance." Dr. Tauros: "Aw I see. I'll have to do some research on that." John: "You've got to stay sane long enough first." Several explosions rocked the base at that moment. Brad: "What the hell's happening?!" Red lights began flashing in the hanger and an alarm started sounding. Leon: "The alarm! We're under attack!" Jamie was just finishing untangling the wires looked up at Leon. Jamie: "Never a dull moment theses days huh?"
Everyone quickly ran towards the control room. Leon: "Oh no!" The video screen revealed many units advancing towards the base. The forces were made up of D-Manti, Hell Cats and Saber Tigers. John: "They've been watching us!" Brad: "What?!" John: "They must have been watching our fight with Harry, they know our zoids are damaged and Bit is unconscious so they're attacking us while we're down." Jamie: "Those cowards." Brad: "Who's been watching us?" John: "We'll talk about that later. Leon, doesn't this base have some sort of defense system?!" Leon: "No, there was never any need." John: "Never any need?! Bit's already told me when he first met you guys he walked right in here with no resistance. This place has been broken into before not once but twice! Why did no one think to put in a defense system?!" Dr. Tauros: "Well there was no place to put it, what with the laser cannons lining the base and there wiring." Everyone turned around and stared at Doc for a minute. Dr. Tauros: "What? What did I say?" Brad: "Leon, will you please activate the guns, we'll talk about the Doc's habit of withholding important information later." Leon: "Yeah, right."
Outside the base, were a small army of zoids were just less than a mile away, many guns began coming out of the roof and sides of the Tauros Base and began blasting the enemy zoids. Leon: "That should hold them for now but they'll break through. C'mon we need to finish repairing our zoids."
Jamie: "What do you mean you can't help us!?" John: "Sorry, but you guys know I can't risk being seen." Brad: "What is this all about anyway?" John: "It's a long story and I don't have time to explain, most of the guns outside have been blasted. Now get out there and get rid of those things!" With that everyone but John got into their zoids and ran out of the hanger. Dr. Tauros: "Well I guess with the other zoids fixed I'll keep working on the Liger." John: "You do that. In the meantime I'll head back to the control room and try and help the guys someway."
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Altile: "Perhaps we will finally be rid of them once and for all." Voice 2: "It would seem that way. Everyone there must be exhausted from their previous fight and their zoids must still have some damage on them." Voice 4: "Hmm. That dragon zoid is not there." Voice 7: "He's probably hiding. Doesn't want to get involved." Voice 8: "Perhaps he has been helping and that's why he was there in the first place." Voice 3: "Then we should go after him next!" Altile: "No, we can't risk that. It will raise too many questions. The assignation of the Clouds is already a curiosity. The murder of another family could spark a heavier investigation and uncover us. Our plans are not yet finished and we can't afford to be found out." Voice 5: "Besides we have no proof he has been helping and if this attack fails we can't risk throwing away another army of zoids. At this rate we'll deplete our supplies and funds without ever having made our presence known." Altile: "Number six, you're being quiet. Thinking about your punishment?" Number six, like all the others was veiled in shadow, was sitting with his elbows on the semi-circle table they sat at worrying about his fate as Altile had suspected.
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Brad: "Yaaaaah!" The Shadow Fox's claws came crashing down on a Hell Cat. While Brad was busy with this Jamie was taking advantage of the Raynos's sonic boom and the enemy being so close to one another and Leon was using his blades to mow down as many of them as possible. Leon: "There's too many of them!" Jamie: "I don't know how much longer we can hold them off!" Brad: "John, please tell me this isn't as bad as it looks!" John: "I would but I don't like lying." Leon: "Damn it, these unmanned zoids are like cockroaches. You squash one and three more seem to appear!" John stood in the control room watching them fight against these odds and he couldn't help but feel guilty. He had a family to protect, yes but they were safe now and his friends weren't. Jamie: "Damn it! I'll kill you all if it's the last thing I do!" Brad: "John I'm going to activate my smoke screen. See if you can use the base sensors to help me it's hard to maneuver here with all these guys! John?" Leon: "John?" John: "Guys fall back!" Light Wing was suddenly launched and was hovering above the battle field. John: "This is going to get messy so you might want to get behind me!" Jamie: "John what are you doing?!" John: "Taking care of business." John punched a few keys in on Light Wings controls and then pulled a lever striped yellow and black. Light Wing's screen was suddenly covered with targeters each locked on to every zoid. John put his finger on a square red button preparing to push it. John: "Take this you assholes." John pushed the button and Light Wing began to charge a ball of energy in front of it's mouth. John: "Eat this! BERSERK RAGE!!!" The energy ball lat loose a volley of laser beam. There were literally thousands of blasts giving off a sound between a pop and a laser discharge. In less than a minute the enemy forces were leveled.
Brad: "HOLY SHIT!" Jamie: "That was incredible!" Leon: "John what the hell was that!" John: "That was Light Wings ultimate attack, Berserk. I'm not allowed to use it in official battles and I don't like using it, I consider it unfair. That and it's a major drain on power." Jamie: "Why didn't you use that against Harry's unmanned army earlier?" John: "My energy level was too low." Dr. Tauros: "Hey I finished fixing the Liger!" Leon: "That's great dad." Jamie: "A huge battle just went on and he acts like nothing happened." John: "So he's not totally sane today?" Leon: "Hardly, this is the most normal I've seen him in years."
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Altile: "My God!" Voice 5: "That was amazing!" Voice 2: "That was stunning!" Voice 8: What tremendous power!" Number Six let out a small sigh of relief. Altile: "Well number six it would seem fortune has smiled on you toady. Have someone contact that police officer. The Comity of Seven is adjourned.
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Brads Gustav, carrying Liger, rolled into the mouth of the old Whale King. Layon: "Good God! What happened?!" Brad: "Bit got ruffed up a little." Leon: "He'll probably be up in a day or two." John: "Anyway, the Liger's fixed for the most part it just needs it's ammo and energy restored." Layon: "Right, put Bit on that stretcher and I'll take him to his room." Leon and Brad lifted Bit out of the back seat and on to the stretcher and Dr. Layon wheeled him out. Leon: "Alright John, it's explanation time." Brad: "Who were those guys who attacked us?" John: "Oh boy, I didn't think I'd have tell this story twice in one day. Take a seat you guys. Jamie you don't have to listen if you don't want to and you guys hold your questions until after I'm done talking."
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Lara: "Ted will you stop moping and come to bed?" Lara stood on the balcony of Ted and her's apartment in her night gown. Ted: "He got away again with all that stuff and all the reinforcements we should of been able to get him." Lara: "Ted it wasn't your fault or anybody else's. We didn't know he could do that. You heard what he said he's never had to do that before." Ted was at the end of the balcony looking out over the city with his arms on the railing wondering what went wrong. The phone suddenly rang. Lara: "Who could it be at this hour?" Lara walked back inside and Ted looked back at her. Lara: "Ted, it's for you!" Ted lifted himself off the railing and walked inside and took the phone from Lara's hand. Ted: "Hello. Oh it's you. Look I'm real sorry about what happened and...what? Really? That'd be great! Yeah I could be there tomorrow." Ted hung up the phone. Lara: "Who was that?" Ted: "It was the guys that gave us those zoids. They want me to try out a new one of there's." Lara: "Really, I wonder why." Ted: "Don't have a clue but I figure it's the least I can do for them after we blew it."
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S.D. Well that's it. Please review this time. Knuckles: No one likes a beggar. S.D. Silence! I'll try and update by the end of the week. Oh and as for making Harry a kind of villain he never seemed very mentally sound I figured he'd have cracked after fourteen years. See ya! Knuckles: Catch you on the flip side!
Losing the Soul
Chapter 7: Painful Memories
Jamie stared at the grave with a horrified expression on his face. He stayed there on his hands and knees looking at the polished marble cube with a praying angel on top for nearly five minutes. John: "It's a real shame isn't it?" Jamie turned around and John was standing behind him with his arms folded. Jamie: "What happened, when did she die?" John looked at the ground for a moment before answering. John: "Jamie she didn't die she was killed. She was only twenty-six to. To make matters worse I'll bet you haven't looked to the right of her grave yet." Jamie: "What?" Jamie looked back at Leena's grave then looked to the right. Jamie: "God no!" Jamie ran out side the small crypt and began to vomit. Next to Leena's grave there were two other graves similar to Leena's but they were smaller and had child angels on top. They read R.I.P. Tobias Cloud and R.I.P. Amber Cloud.
John walked out of the crypt and approached Jamie who was hunched over on the ground finishing his business. John knew this was a lot to take in all at once so he left him alone for a minute or two before speaking.
John: "Stuff like this can really break people, especially when they've lived a hard life." Jamie got up and wiped his mouth and sat on one of the two ornate stone benches in front of the crypt. Jamie: "Bit and Leena got married, and they had kids?" John sat on the other bench and looked at him. John: "I never actually knew very well Leena, I met her once at their wedding and every once and while after that, but I do know the whole story better than anyone except for Bit." Jamie: "What happened?" John: "I'll tell you if you brace yourself, it's kinda sad seeing a grown man throw up like that."
John: "About one year after the Royal Cup Bit and Leena managed to get themselves stuck somewhere together. You know how it goes after that, trap two people with problems in a small space and so forth. It turned out Leena had had a crush on Bit for quite awhile, her constant beatings of him were sort of an excuse to get close to him and a way of venting her frustration." Jamie: "You're kidding, right?" John: "Tell me Jamie, thinking back on it who started that whole stealing each other's food thing, Bit or Leena?" Jamie sat therefore a minute looking forward, thinking. Jamie: "Leena started it, when she stole Bit's cookie then Bit stole her donut to get even with her and it going back and forth from there." John: "Bingo. Shortly after you left they admitted their love for each other to everyone partly because of the incident." Jamie: "What incident." John: "Bit got Leena pregnant. According to Leon, Bit screamed so loud when she told him that you could hear him for miles. They got married shortly after. Apparently they had contemplated it before but didn't intend to for a few more years." Jamie: "Why didn't Leena just get an abortion?" John: "I hope you don't say you knew Leena well because if you did I'd think you were lying. Leena was someone of principle even if she didn't seem it at times, she wouldn't do it, besides her father forbade it. They lived a pretty happy life, despite what Brad would tell you kids don't always turn into a huge headache. From what I gathered little Toby was an angel. Three years later they decided they wanted another and Amber was born. Things went well for them, no one could stop the Blitz Team, the marriage of Bit and Leena strengthened their bond on the battle field and both became stronger. The whole sense of family made the Blitz Team unstoppable for a time." Jamie: "Whole sense of family?" John: "Remember Leon was now on the team again so the Blitz Team became made up of family for a time. Then it happened."
Jamie: "What happened? What caused it to end?" John: "They took the kids out for the day. They took the Hover Cargo with them along with the Gun Sniper and Liger and went on a family outing. They were outside looking at the view when it happened. Some aerial zoids showed up and someone from the cockpit used a machine gun on them. Bit got hit on his right shoulder and it scared him pretty badly. Leena turned around trying to shield Amber, who she was holding at the time, but one of the bullets passed clear through her chest and hit Amber in the shoulder. Amber died at the hospital days later, she was two. Toby was handed the most merciful death, shot right through the head and died on the spot, he was five. A missile was then fired at the Hover Cargo destroying Liger's armors and the Gun Sniper." Jamie: "No wonder Bit's like this, after all of that it must feel like the world's against him. Hey wait! If Liger was on board why wasn't it destroyed?" John: "The Liger had the good fortune of being in between the panels that held the armor for Zero Panzer, it still took heavy damage but it wasn't destroyed."
Jamie: "So Bit became a criminal because of Leena's and their children's deaths. That's sad to hear." John: "Have you been ignoring everything I say? One of the first things I told you when we met was that Bit was still good, besides it was more than just the assassination. Remember how I said that Bit had had a hard life? Bit's childhood was very traumatic. He was born into a well off family, his father, James Cloud, was a respected business man and he made plenty of money, but when Bit was five his father passed away and the company crumbled. His mother, Ruby, tried as hard as she could to raise Bit and make enough money but it wasn't easy. She kept ending up with lousy people again and again, almost all of whom were cruel to Bit when her back was turned. She remarried to some jerk when Bit was nine; he abused Bit the worst of all. He still has some faint scars on his back and chest from that. Bit's mother died when he was eleven and life became a lot harder. Bit ran away as soon as his legs were strong enough to carry him. To Bit, losing his family after having so much unfairness in his life and after working so hard to get where he was a horrible injustice."
John: "Actually Bit isn't just committing crimes. We have a specific enemy and I've been working on the side lines to track their movements and unmask them while Bit disrupts their information and supplies." Jamie: "Specific enemy?" John: "Doesn't it seem a little odd that Bit's family was killed just blindly and the murderers just happen to have a missile strong enough to destroy the Hover Cargo. Well after the attack I looked into it and managed to find a name. Fire Wind." Jamie: "Fire Wind?" John: "They're an organization trying to bring back the dark battles. That's why Bit was attacked they feared him." Jamie: "Why would they want to do that?" John: "Jamie, do you know what the term fire wind refers to? When a large fire starts immediately spreading over a large area it needs a large amount of oxygen, when it sucks all this in the movement of air is violent like a strong wind. Also if you deny a fire oxygen, not smothering it, just not giving it anymore and then suddenly introducing it causes a large sweeping of flames which, can in turn, cause a "fire wind", this Jamie, is commonly referred to as a back-draft." Jamie's jaw dropped and he stared at John. Jamie: "No!" John: "Fire Wind is made up mostly of former Back Draft Group members. That's why they wanted Bit dead, that's why they tried to destroy the Liger. Bit is out for revenge and out to stop them before they complete their insane plans."
Jamie: "So the Back Draft is back in a new form and they attacked Bit because he was a potential threat and tried to destroy Liger and it's armors in case anyone else could pilot it. Bet they didn't count on Dr. Layon betraying them and building more armor." John: "Dr. Layon didn't make that armor, I did." Jamie: "What?! You?! But it has stealth shields and looks like the Shadow Fox. The pivot for the sniper rifle is a scaled down copy of the pivot for the Fox's Vulcan Gun!" John: "That was the idea. The police are well aware that Bit is receiving help but they don't know who and by designing parts of the Zero Phantom like the Shadow Fox I cover my tracks." Jamie: "So Dr. Layon was with you from the beginning? So then he did help build the armor." John: "You'd think that, but no. Engineering and archeology has been a sort of hobby of mine and I've managed to find many technological advancements that are scientists missed, how they missed them I don't know. A lot of that technology was actually things developed after the Guylos War and was just forgotten; among the stuff I found was a very advanced cloaking device and things I call sound scrubbers, they absorb and cancel out most sound, which is why Liger is so quiet. Heck, if you must know I found all that stuff on the Stealth Storm Sworder my wife uses." Jamie: "But the color." John: "I designed two identical sets of armor, the first was Zero Alpha it was white with blue blades and after Dr. Layon found us and volunteered I painted the Beta armor, which I renamed Phantom, like the Shadow Fox. The gun pivot was just a coincidence." Jamie: "You threw away a set of armor?" John: "No, Alpha was test armor, I was working with two new metals I had found the processes for making and I hadn't used them too much. The first armor didn't hold up well so I scrapped it."
Jamie: "So everyone was in on this huh?" John: "Nope. Leon and Brad can't help but know about the attack, they know that I built Liger's armor and that Dr. Layon is helping but they don't know about Fire Wind." Jamie: "Why not." John: "Bit didn't want anyone else to get involved. He already feels guilty for dragging me into this with me having a family and all. Which reminds me." Jamie: "What?" John: "We have to get back, fix Liger and get Bit out of the base before Fire Wind shows up and get to Layon's place and plan our next move." Jamie: "Our next move?" John: "I may not have known you for very long Jamie but I know you're going to insist on helping us. I figured that you'd keep looking for answers and asking me about so that's why I told you the whole story. You're coming along for the ride"
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Brad: "How's he doin'?" Leon: "He's still unconscious but it looks like he didn't get hurt too badly." Leon and Brad had quickly removed Bit from Ligers cockpit and put him in the backseat of Brad's, Gustav loaded up Liger and were heading for the Tauros Base. Bit was banged up pretty badly, the restraints in Liger had given way and he had been thrown around as Liger rolled. The fatigue from the night before and using so much energy had put a lot of stress on his body and he was out cold. The Tauros Base soon came into view over the horizon. Leon: "We're almost there. Huh?" Light Wing and the Raynos suddenly appeared over head now following along with the Gustav. Leon: "That was quick; it hasn't even been forty minutes." John: "Hey guys." Jamie: "How's Bit?" Brad: "He's still out and he got thrown around a little but it doesn't look too bad." John: "Good ta hear."
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On board his Whale King, Harry Champ began to wake up. Benjamin: "Harry, Harry can you hear me?" Harry: "Ugh...my head. What happened?" Benjamin: "They got us again. Bit did a number on the Gojulas Giga and you fell unconscious." Harry: "What?! Please tell me we're tracking them!" Benjamin: "Sorry Harry but your last Plasma Particle beam knocked the Liger down and hurt Bit. The others seemed ready to kill us if we bothered them." Harry: "So what? Like they actually would kill a prince and risk enraging our home country." Benjamin: "They all seemed tired and cranky; people do stupid things when they're mad." Harry: "Well, I suppose that we'll have to start searching for Leena again, perhaps we should check official records." Benjamin: "You mean like we should have done in the first place instead of ransacking Leon's and Brad's homes for information, already ahead of you, Sebastian is looking into it now." Sebastian: "Harry, Harry!" Harry: "What is it Sebastian, did you find her?" Sebastian: "Well yes but I have some bad news I'm afraid. Harry I was looking into the records and I found several things you're not going to like. First off it seems Leena married Bit while you were gone." Harry: "WHAT?!?! That bastard! I knew he took her!" Sebastian: "Harry, let me finish. The news gets worse. It seems they had two children and..." Harry: "AHH!!! I'm going to kill him, to think he has touched and had his way with my darling!!!" Sebastian: "Harry! Please I'm not done. The reason we couldn't find her is she's no longer among the living." Harry stared at Sebastian for a moment. Harry: "What?" Sebastian: "About six years ago Bit and Leena were on a family outing when they were attacked. Everybody but Bit was gunned down." Harry: "..." Benjamin: "Harry...?" Harry: "That asshole!!! He led my love to her death!!!" Harry began crying into his pillow. Sebastian: "Harry..." Benjamin put his hand on Sebastian's "shoulder". Benjamin: "Maybe we should leave him alone for now." Benjamin and Sebastian rolled out of the room leaving Harry to wallow in his sorrow.
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Jamie: "Well?" John and Leon walked out of Bit's old room. John: "He'll be fine." Leon: "Apart from extreme exhaustion and couple of bumps here and there he's okay." John: "He just needs to rest. He'll probably be asleep for a day or two." Brad came walking down the hall. Brad: "Man this place has become a real dump." Leon: "What can I say I've had to take care of the place by myself." Dr. Tauros: "Hey, I help out sometimes." The doc suddenly showed up from the other end of the hall with his head bandaged. Leon: "Dad? How are you feeling?" Dr. Tauros: "Apart from some bumps and bruises I'm fine." Jamie: "Is this one of his saner days?" Leon looked at Jamie, smiled and nodded. Dr. Tauros: "Well, what's everyone standing around for? We've got zoids to fix. C'mon time's a-wastin'!" The Doc, now with a smile on his face, ran back down the hall leaving the others staring for a moment before it occurred to them to follow.
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Once again in the dark room the eight people sat. Voice 1: "Our plan has failed, we have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplies and many zoids. Number six, this was your idea. Needless to say you will be punished. Voice 6: "Wait! Commander Altile please. I have one last idea that could be of use!" Altile: "I'm listening." Voice 6: "Ted Hawkings, one of the police officers we used. His records show he is a superb pilot and, according to everyone in his department, hates Bit Cloud with a vengeance. It is said that a zoid responds to it's pilots emotions heightening their own power. With his blind rage, which must be at fever pitch after this last defeat, he will be easy to manipulate and we can use his anger with the new prototype." Altile: "That is a bold proposition, but I like it. It just may work and we do need a new pilot for the prototype anyway." Voice 3: "But I might have a better plan. According to intelligence reports, Bit Cloud along with two old Blitz Team members, Leon Tauros and, oddly enough, a member of Team Dragoon have faced off in battle against the old members of the Champ Team. Mr. Champ, who had a violent infatuation with Leena Cloud, came looking for her and got locked in a fight. Bit won the battle but seems to have been knocked unconscious with Liger and the other zoids damaged and are at the Tauros Base as we speak." Altile: "Perfect! If we strike now we can destroy them. Number six, for your sake you should hope this plan fails and yours works. Prepare the unmanned zoids units immediately!"
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Leon: "Could someone help me with this!?" Leon was inside of the mid- section of his Blade Liger fixing some wiring and he was, at the moment, practically tied up in the tangled wire. Jamie: "Hold on I'm come'in." Everyone was busy working on there zoids, fixing minor damage, except John who was working on the Liger Zero with Doc. Dr. Tauros: "The wiring in this armor is amazing. Wish I thought of this about twelve years earlier." John: "It's not that incredible. I just made sure not to make any unnecessary junctions and kept it simple." Dr. Tauros: "Nonsense, this is great! Where did you learn to make things like this?" John: "I'm self taught for the most part. But if you must know I got my experience in wiring and systems mostly from working on Light Wing." With that the Light Wing dragon let out a screech of pride for itself. Dr. Tauros: "All this just from working on your zoid?" John: "Light Wing is part of a rare group of zoids called Panzer Dragons. They're ancient. Archeologists are still finding remains of old zoids that are clearly related to them. To put it simply, they've had plenty of time to fire out bugs in their designs and my Light Wing is thought to be the most advanced stage of the different varieties." Once again Light Wing let out an approving screech. Dr. Tauros: "I don't quite get it." John: "Did you know that we humans have an organ that has absolutely no use whatsoever. Yet we still have it. It's believed to be a leftover from a previous evolution of ours. This applies to zoids too. When they evolve and change into a new zoid they may still have some things from their old forms that aren't of any use but do no harm. By eliminating all of these you can improve a zoids performance." Dr. Tauros: "Aw I see. I'll have to do some research on that." John: "You've got to stay sane long enough first." Several explosions rocked the base at that moment. Brad: "What the hell's happening?!" Red lights began flashing in the hanger and an alarm started sounding. Leon: "The alarm! We're under attack!" Jamie was just finishing untangling the wires looked up at Leon. Jamie: "Never a dull moment theses days huh?"
Everyone quickly ran towards the control room. Leon: "Oh no!" The video screen revealed many units advancing towards the base. The forces were made up of D-Manti, Hell Cats and Saber Tigers. John: "They've been watching us!" Brad: "What?!" John: "They must have been watching our fight with Harry, they know our zoids are damaged and Bit is unconscious so they're attacking us while we're down." Jamie: "Those cowards." Brad: "Who's been watching us?" John: "We'll talk about that later. Leon, doesn't this base have some sort of defense system?!" Leon: "No, there was never any need." John: "Never any need?! Bit's already told me when he first met you guys he walked right in here with no resistance. This place has been broken into before not once but twice! Why did no one think to put in a defense system?!" Dr. Tauros: "Well there was no place to put it, what with the laser cannons lining the base and there wiring." Everyone turned around and stared at Doc for a minute. Dr. Tauros: "What? What did I say?" Brad: "Leon, will you please activate the guns, we'll talk about the Doc's habit of withholding important information later." Leon: "Yeah, right."
Outside the base, were a small army of zoids were just less than a mile away, many guns began coming out of the roof and sides of the Tauros Base and began blasting the enemy zoids. Leon: "That should hold them for now but they'll break through. C'mon we need to finish repairing our zoids."
Jamie: "What do you mean you can't help us!?" John: "Sorry, but you guys know I can't risk being seen." Brad: "What is this all about anyway?" John: "It's a long story and I don't have time to explain, most of the guns outside have been blasted. Now get out there and get rid of those things!" With that everyone but John got into their zoids and ran out of the hanger. Dr. Tauros: "Well I guess with the other zoids fixed I'll keep working on the Liger." John: "You do that. In the meantime I'll head back to the control room and try and help the guys someway."
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Altile: "Perhaps we will finally be rid of them once and for all." Voice 2: "It would seem that way. Everyone there must be exhausted from their previous fight and their zoids must still have some damage on them." Voice 4: "Hmm. That dragon zoid is not there." Voice 7: "He's probably hiding. Doesn't want to get involved." Voice 8: "Perhaps he has been helping and that's why he was there in the first place." Voice 3: "Then we should go after him next!" Altile: "No, we can't risk that. It will raise too many questions. The assignation of the Clouds is already a curiosity. The murder of another family could spark a heavier investigation and uncover us. Our plans are not yet finished and we can't afford to be found out." Voice 5: "Besides we have no proof he has been helping and if this attack fails we can't risk throwing away another army of zoids. At this rate we'll deplete our supplies and funds without ever having made our presence known." Altile: "Number six, you're being quiet. Thinking about your punishment?" Number six, like all the others was veiled in shadow, was sitting with his elbows on the semi-circle table they sat at worrying about his fate as Altile had suspected.
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Brad: "Yaaaaah!" The Shadow Fox's claws came crashing down on a Hell Cat. While Brad was busy with this Jamie was taking advantage of the Raynos's sonic boom and the enemy being so close to one another and Leon was using his blades to mow down as many of them as possible. Leon: "There's too many of them!" Jamie: "I don't know how much longer we can hold them off!" Brad: "John, please tell me this isn't as bad as it looks!" John: "I would but I don't like lying." Leon: "Damn it, these unmanned zoids are like cockroaches. You squash one and three more seem to appear!" John stood in the control room watching them fight against these odds and he couldn't help but feel guilty. He had a family to protect, yes but they were safe now and his friends weren't. Jamie: "Damn it! I'll kill you all if it's the last thing I do!" Brad: "John I'm going to activate my smoke screen. See if you can use the base sensors to help me it's hard to maneuver here with all these guys! John?" Leon: "John?" John: "Guys fall back!" Light Wing was suddenly launched and was hovering above the battle field. John: "This is going to get messy so you might want to get behind me!" Jamie: "John what are you doing?!" John: "Taking care of business." John punched a few keys in on Light Wings controls and then pulled a lever striped yellow and black. Light Wing's screen was suddenly covered with targeters each locked on to every zoid. John put his finger on a square red button preparing to push it. John: "Take this you assholes." John pushed the button and Light Wing began to charge a ball of energy in front of it's mouth. John: "Eat this! BERSERK RAGE!!!" The energy ball lat loose a volley of laser beam. There were literally thousands of blasts giving off a sound between a pop and a laser discharge. In less than a minute the enemy forces were leveled.
Brad: "HOLY SHIT!" Jamie: "That was incredible!" Leon: "John what the hell was that!" John: "That was Light Wings ultimate attack, Berserk. I'm not allowed to use it in official battles and I don't like using it, I consider it unfair. That and it's a major drain on power." Jamie: "Why didn't you use that against Harry's unmanned army earlier?" John: "My energy level was too low." Dr. Tauros: "Hey I finished fixing the Liger!" Leon: "That's great dad." Jamie: "A huge battle just went on and he acts like nothing happened." John: "So he's not totally sane today?" Leon: "Hardly, this is the most normal I've seen him in years."
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Altile: "My God!" Voice 5: "That was amazing!" Voice 2: "That was stunning!" Voice 8: What tremendous power!" Number Six let out a small sigh of relief. Altile: "Well number six it would seem fortune has smiled on you toady. Have someone contact that police officer. The Comity of Seven is adjourned.
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Brads Gustav, carrying Liger, rolled into the mouth of the old Whale King. Layon: "Good God! What happened?!" Brad: "Bit got ruffed up a little." Leon: "He'll probably be up in a day or two." John: "Anyway, the Liger's fixed for the most part it just needs it's ammo and energy restored." Layon: "Right, put Bit on that stretcher and I'll take him to his room." Leon and Brad lifted Bit out of the back seat and on to the stretcher and Dr. Layon wheeled him out. Leon: "Alright John, it's explanation time." Brad: "Who were those guys who attacked us?" John: "Oh boy, I didn't think I'd have tell this story twice in one day. Take a seat you guys. Jamie you don't have to listen if you don't want to and you guys hold your questions until after I'm done talking."
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Lara: "Ted will you stop moping and come to bed?" Lara stood on the balcony of Ted and her's apartment in her night gown. Ted: "He got away again with all that stuff and all the reinforcements we should of been able to get him." Lara: "Ted it wasn't your fault or anybody else's. We didn't know he could do that. You heard what he said he's never had to do that before." Ted was at the end of the balcony looking out over the city with his arms on the railing wondering what went wrong. The phone suddenly rang. Lara: "Who could it be at this hour?" Lara walked back inside and Ted looked back at her. Lara: "Ted, it's for you!" Ted lifted himself off the railing and walked inside and took the phone from Lara's hand. Ted: "Hello. Oh it's you. Look I'm real sorry about what happened and...what? Really? That'd be great! Yeah I could be there tomorrow." Ted hung up the phone. Lara: "Who was that?" Ted: "It was the guys that gave us those zoids. They want me to try out a new one of there's." Lara: "Really, I wonder why." Ted: "Don't have a clue but I figure it's the least I can do for them after we blew it."
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S.D. Well that's it. Please review this time. Knuckles: No one likes a beggar. S.D. Silence! I'll try and update by the end of the week. Oh and as for making Harry a kind of villain he never seemed very mentally sound I figured he'd have cracked after fourteen years. See ya! Knuckles: Catch you on the flip side!
