S.D. Hey everyone! Knuckles: How's it going?! S.D. Thanks to everyone who
reviewed. It would have taken longer for me to get this chapter up but I
was sick on Thursday so I had extra time to work on this. Knuckles: "What
are you talking about? You slept most of the day! S.D. Do you ever shut up?
Knuckles: No. S.D. sigh Oh well. Few things though first in the last
chapter the Kegger007 Saber Fangs were brought in as nothing but a
distraction, Blades of Death the Lightning Team was being paid a lot of
money to go after Bit, Bloody Phoenix nice to see that people got that joke
and finally to Mercenary Pen I'm always happy to receive constructive
criticism but I like the way I write and although I've been trying to make
the paragraphs shorter I'll keep things the way they are but seriously
thanks. Knuckles: And we generally don't run into Sonic or Tails up here
but we'll keep an eye out for them. S.D. Now on with the story!
Losing the Soul
Chapter 11: Copy Cat
The dark room in which the Comity of Seven met was deadly silent. A meeting had been called and everyone waited for Altile to arrive. Altile would be speaking to the whole base via video link to tell them of the new plan to extinguish Bit Cloud's life. Everyone's eyes turned to him as he walked in, pulled back his chair and cleared his throat. Altile: "Members of the Grand Comity of Seven and the proud members of Fire Wind, too long has our organization been assaulted by the likes of Bit Cloud. Too long has nearly all of our hard work been for nothing because of this man's action." A holographic picture of Bit appeared in the middle of the room. Altile: "He accelerated the collapse of the Back Draft that we all helped to create and is now attacking Fire Wind and threatens to destroy all we have worked so hard to rebuild. Like a swarm of locusts he has ravaged our once proud organization and devoured the fruits of our labor in an instant and despite attempts to squash him he returned with more fury than ever before. For a time it seemed as if he would destroy us single handedly before we could ever make our presence known to the world but now we have a plan. We have trained a soldier in a zoid comparable to the Liger Zero. We have harnessed this pilot's hatred of Bit Cloud to improve his zoid's fighting abilities and we have used all known data on Bit Cloud's fighting style to give him every edge we could give him and now he is ready. This could be the last of our problems." Altile sat down in his chair.
Voice2: "We are currently devising a trap for Bit Cloud and we should be ready soon." Voice3: "We shall select a spot for the fight that will allow us to fully take advantage of this new zoid's capabilities." Voice4: "We are also devising a way to give him no option of escape." Voice5: "The pilot we are using will undergo one last training test using the data we collected yesterday before fighting." Voice6: "We shall announce when the fight should take place within the next few days." Voice7: "The information is classified so no one is allowed to speak about it outside of headquarters." Voice8: "Bets for the event will be taken starting two hours from now. If you wish to place one you have until the fight comes to an end and as usual you can't change your bet once you have made it unless you wish to increase the amount you wagered."
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John: "Good God, Bit! You banged this thing up but good!" John, Jamie and Dr. Layon were on top of Liger Zero fixing the damage inflicted from the day before. Jamie: (Joking tone) "What do you expect? He ran into the Saber Fangs after all." Bit: "That's not funny! The Fuzzy Pandas didn't do anything it was the Lightning Team that did the damage!" John: (joking tone) "You sure? After all pandas do have claws." Both John and Jamie broke out laughing. Bit: "It's not funny! Are you guys going to fix Liger or not?!" John: "Alright, alright we'll get back to work." Bit: "So how long will this take?" Layon: "With damage like this, probably a few hours." Jamie: "Just be glad we're all here to help." Bit: "I will be if you and John would stop making fun of me." John: "Sorry, by the way, Bit, don't take this out tomorrow." Bit: "Why not?" John: "We're going to install some new things, that's why."
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Ted Hawkings walked through a dark hallway. He was wearing a black jump suit with a gold vest and gloves. The suit looked like Vega's old outfit only larger. Ted Hawkings had the strangest look on his face. His eyes were cold and seemed almost lifeless. He face held a mean expression as he walked. Ted Hawkings was defiantly not himself.
He entered a room with the two scientists who monitored his activities. Scientist1: "Ah, Mr. Hawkings. You're here early." Ted: "What now?" His voice lacked the enthusiasm he usually spoke with. Scientist2: "We have good news. We believe you are now ready to fight. A that's left is to set a date and send you there." Ted: "Why aren't we ready now?" Scientist1: "Patience Mr. Hawkings, patience. Remember, this is a coalition between several companies so planning this out my take awhile." Scientist2: "Besides, we have some new data for the simulator to work with so we need the time." Ted: "New data?" Scientist1: "For a few days now we have received information on Bit Cloud's fighting style from tapes of his attacks, survivor stories and descriptions from people who have fought him before. We received some new data the other day and have added it to the simulator." Ted: "So then I'm heading to the hanger?" Scientist1: "Indeed." Officer Hawkings left the room and proceeded back down the hall.
Scientist1: "Is it just me or does he give you the creeps too?" Scientist2: "Yeah, he does. I hope this isn't a side effect from the training process or we're going to have an army of soldiers like that." Scientist1: "That's a scary thought. Speaking of the training process, have you filed our findings yet?" Scientist2: "Already on its way to the top brass." Scientist1: "Well at least this is going to help the organization." Both scientists gave each other a worried glance.
[
A few days had past, Liger was fixed and the number of shipments made by Fire Wind seemed to be dropping. John was in the Whale King once again working on Liger with Dr. Layon. He was at Liger's head and was working with the armor there when Bit walked in.
Bit: "You're still working on Liger? What the hell are you installing?" John: "You know, Bit, you really should try to watch your mouth. And for your information we're installing improved power cells and a shield generator." Bit: "Shield generator? Didn't you say when you first made this thing that you couldn't put one in?" Layon: "We did, but that was nearly six years ago." John: "We wanted to put a generator in the Zero Phantom but there wasn't enough room." Layon: "It would take up too much space and throw off Liger's aerodynamics and would need larger power cells to support it which would further add to the aerodynamics problem." Bit: "And you can do this now?" John: "Bit, think for just a second. How many times have we upgraded the power cells and wiring in this thing over the past six years?" Layon: "Because of all the advancements with this last adjustment Liger can finally support shields without draining power any faster than it always has." Bit: "What about the generator?" John: "For the last four years Dr. Layon and I have been working on a smaller shield generator. We've looked at many different shields from different zoids in order to successfully shrink a generator small enough to fit in Liger." Bit: "And you did?" Layon: "Sort of. We found we could use the blades on Liger's head to amplify the shield generator's power and even if the blades are broken." Bit: "Okay but why? You guys spent nearly four years making a shield generator why?" John: "Use your head, Bit. If you don't remember the Back Draft has used charged particle cannons in the past, the whole world knows it. Knowing Fire Wind they probably set out to duplicate these and a specialized shield can stop that blast." Bit: "Fine. Just don't screw any of Liger's systems up." Bit left the hanger and Dr. Layon and John kept working.
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Voice5: "Well?" Altile: "It's all set." Voice4: "Then we're ready?" Altile: "All we have to do is wait for them to take the bait." Voice7: "We've pulled a lot of traps lately, how do we know they won't suspect something?" Altile: "We have estimated the program that's been hacking us and although our scientists believe that we can't accurately estimate its power we know no file is safe so we made it top secret. They won't be able to resist." Voice8: "It's a shame really. The bets for this have been soaring through the roof and have only just begun to slow down." Voice3: "It wouldn't last. People will get nervous if we take too long." Altile: "People please this is important. The day after tomorrow we will spring this trap." Voice2: "Only two days?" Altile: "I think we gave them too much time. This should work perfectly. On Friday Bit Cloud will fight and on Saturday we'll be reading his obituary in the news paper." Voice6: "Then perhaps we should have some champagne delivered here for then." Altile: "Wonderful idea. We'll have the best in our collection." Voice4: "I don't mean to rain on our parade, but what if this fails?" Altile: "We have planned for that. We have invested too much time and money in this and invested too much publicity to let this fail now and we won't." The whole comity began to laugh. Unbeknownst to them a pair of brown eyes in the darkness was watching them. ???: "Not if I can't help it..."
[
Bit: "It done yet?" John: "That should do it." John was on top of Liger polishing the left head part. John: "Shield generator is up and running. Go on, give it a try." John hopped down from Liger and Bit climbed up to the cockpit. After the canopy closed Bit pushed a few buttons and a yellow shield formed around Liger. Bit: "Yellow?" John: "Do you have a problem with yellow?" Bit: "No, but I thought shields were all pink." John: "But, just like anything else on a zoid you can make it any color you want. People just don't bother. Besides I'm sure you haven't forgotten but Light Wing's shield is green." Bit: "How much power is this thing going to burn up?" John: "Your old Shield Liger used more energy in its shield than this one. Good thing we got it installed, you've got an important assignment and I'm busy most of tomorrow." Bit: "Another assignment?" John: "The file was difficult to retrieve so it's probably important." Bit: "Fine. Hey why are you busy tomorrow? Wait, let me guess. You're going to spend some "quality time" with Yuna, right?" John: "No ...that's later tonight. Tomorrow I'm spending the day with Peter. I made a promise and I'm not breaking it." Bit: "Good, I said you needed to spend more time with your family. So what are you going to do?" John: "We're going to spend the day at that new amusement park." Bit: "What about the rest of your family?" John: "Peter is still growing and he's growing up fast. I want to spend some time with him while he still wants to spend time with me. Eureka is too young to go and Yuna understands what I'm doing so it's just me and Pete tomorrow." Bit: "Shouldn't you go home then?" John: "Yeah probably. See ya!" John walked out of the Whale King's hanger and Bit got out of Liger's cockpit. Bit: "So, what do you think of your new shield?" The Liger roared with pleasure at it's new toy.
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John returned home at 11 p.m. and he was exhausted. He walked out of the hanger through the hall and a few other rooms until reaching the family room and then up the stairs at the other end of the room. He went down the hall past the bathroom and after a few more doors got to his and Yuna's room. John walked in and closed the door behind him. Yuna: "Working late?" John: "Yeah." Yuna was already in bed in her night gown.
The room was a reasonable size and had light blue wallpaper. The carpet was brown as was the carpet in the rest of the house. There was one window a few feet away from the queen-sized bed which had its head board against the wall opposite of the door. The bed had a plane polished wood frame and currently had white sheets with blue blankets. There was a dresser with an ornate mirror next to the left side of the bed it was mostly used by Yuna. There was another dresser was against the same wall as the bed a few feet from it. There was a nightstand on the right side of the bed as well and it was mostly used by John. That was how it worked, John slept on the right Yuna slept on the left. There was a door to another bathroom that only John and Yuna used on the wall right of the door.
John tossed his jacket on his dresser then walked up to the dresser and grabbed a pair of black pajama pants and an undershirt. He went into the bathroom, quickly changed came back out and got into bed next to Yuna. Yuna: "You can't keep this up forever." John: "I know." Yuna: "This is going to wear you out by the time you're in your forties. I don't want to sound selfish but the time you're spending with Bit and Dr. Layon is the time you're supposed to be spending with me and the kids." John: "I know, Yuna. I don't want to be there all day but this is important. We get by primarily on the money we make in zoid battles and I can't let the dark battles return." Yuna: "Well, I don't mean to take their side but what's so bad about wanting battles to be more realistic?" John: "Nothing, but that's not what they want. Even in the Guylos War soldiers could eject and they were rarely surrounded by flames. They aren't being more realistic they're making it more dangerous. I can't let that happen." Yuna: "You can't let Bit fight this alone. That's what this is about isn't it?" John: "There's that but that's not the only reason. I don't want to talk about this anymore I need to get some sleep for tomorrow." John rolled over on his left side and closed his eyes but quickly opened them when he felt Yuna's hand on his shoulder. Yuna: "Could you put sleeping off for twenty more minutes?" She smiled as she spoke and after she was done John did to.
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The next day Liger ran through the rocky part of the desert and was beginning to come upon canyons. Bit: "They're going through here? Shit, they must be getting desperate." Bit began to have to maneuver Liger around the increasingly larger rocks. Bit: "Hold it. Scanner's picking up something." Liger came to a fork in the canyon and took the right path. Bit: "Found you!" There was a Gustav ahead with Hell Cats following.
Liger ran as fast as it could to catch up with the transport. The two Hell Cats at the back noticed Liger, turned around and fired at it. Bit: "So this is why they're in a canyon. They're trying to give me no room to move. On a regular pilot this would be the end but I'm not a regular pilot." Bit pressed the button for Liger's turbines and then used the force to run up the canyon wall. Bit: "Good bye!" Liger hit both of the Hell Cats in the head with a Strike Laser Claw crushing the cockpits. Bit: "Now for the transport." The Gustav that was haling the cargo was now going gunning it through the canyon it an attempt to escape. The remaining two Hell Cats ran along with it before jumping up high enough to let the Gustav pass them.
The Hell Cats entered stealth mode and began to fire at Bit. Bit: "Please, like I haven't seen this before. Well Liger, let's give that new shield a test run." The yellow shield formed around Liger as it charged at the invisible Hell Cats. The impact easily knocked the both of them down. Bit: "Now time to finish this. What? Humph. Looks like this one was modified to be a lot faster. Whatever is in that container must be really important for them to go to this much trouble." Liger quickly raced after the Gustav through a few more forks in the canyon. Bit: "And I said that having tracking equipment wouldn't help me at all." Finally the Gustav came back into view. Bit: "There you are."
It was then that Bit looked around and realized that they had entered an unusual part of the canyon. It was defiantly a natural occurrence but the area was huge and cut out like a half dome. Bit: "What the hell." The Gustav dropped the large white container in the middle of the area. It kept going until reaching the other end of the structure and left. Suddenly there was an explosion at the exit the Gustav had just taken and rocks now blocked it off. Bit heard another explosion and looked behind him to see the same thing had happened to the entrance he had just come through. Beams of white light shot form the sides of the canyon creating a black dome over the rocky one Bit was in. Bit: "What the hell is happening?!" To the far left against the canyon wall the rocks shifted and fell over to reveal a Judge capsule that was red. Bit: "A Judge capsule?!" The capsule gave off the usual sounds as it rose and opened revealing the judge inside. The judge was red like the capsule it was in its visor was black and in the shape of a cross or plus sign. The head looked like a regular judge but the body was modeled after the Dark Judge. Fire Judge: "Well, well, battle approved battle approved. Bit Cloud versus Ted Hawkings! Battle mode none. Area set up. Ready...FIGHT!!!"
Bit: "Ted Hawkings?" Ted: "You forgot me already, scumbag? I'm crushed." Bit: "That voice. You're one of the cops from the set up last month!" Ted: "You're not as dumb as you look." Bit: "You couldn't stop me before and now you're by yourself. What makes you think you can defeat me now?" Ted: "Because I've been training for weeks and I have a new zoid one that is every bit as good as yours." Bit: "What makes you think that?" The front end of the container opened revealing two glowing green eyes. Bit: "No! It can't be! That's impossible!!!" Ted: "Because it is your zoid. Say hello to LIGER ZERO X!!!" The Zero X stepped out of the container revealing itself. The zoid was just like Liger except for the black gold and blue armor. Ted: "It too months but they were able to reverse engineer your zoid. Now that I have it I'm gonna take you down once and for all!" Bit: "Those monsters! How could they even try to duplicate my Liger?! I'll destroy you and that fake!!!"
Liger lunged at the Zero X but it managed to leap out of the way. It quickly turned around and fired the shock cannon on it's underside at Liger. Liger was able to run out of the way. Bit: "A shock cannon? You're not gonna win with that thing!" Ted: "Ya don't say?" The Zero X's double blades flipped up over its head, began to pulse with energy and then fired a powerful blast at Bit. Bit: "What?!" The shot missed Liger but it hit the ground next to it and the flying pieces of rock hit Liger's side. Bit: "So we're going for the big guns." The sniper rifle on Liger rose and took aim. Bit: "Eat this, you jackass!!!" Bit fired but the Zero X dodged again. Ted: "This thing isn't as fast as your Liger but it's still just as maneuverable!" The two began firing shots at each other each of them intent on blowing the other to scrap. Neither of them would hold still nor stop firing. They never managed to hit each other but the shots came close every time. Bit: "You're gonna run outta energy some time!" Ted: "Don't think so you piece of shit! The turbines on the back of this thing are miniature power plants. I'll run out of bullets but not energy!" Bit: "Aw shit! That doesn't sound good."
Liger began firing it's pulse cannon at the Zero X and it switched to the shock cannon. They continued shooting at each other and dodging the other's fire. It was all they could do.
Liger suddenly charged at the Zero X and then jumped at it but the Zero X repelled the attack in a similar fashion that Leon had once done. Ted tried to follow up on the attack but Bit and the Liger had managed to recover quickly and then they counter attacked by head-butting the Zero X in the side changing the battle to close range combat.
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Peter: "WEEEE!!!" John: "Yeeeha!!!" The roller coaster came to a stop and John and Pete got off. Peter: "That was fun!" John: "You don't need to tell me that! Your old man here is an old fan of roller coasters." Peter: "Really?" John: "You bet. The first one I went on I was your age and it had loops in it. Somehow your grandfather managed to talk me into going on it and until the ride was over I was scared stiff." Peter: "Thanks for bringing me out here Dad." John: "You're welcome Pete. Glad to see you like it. I had to drop everything to come out here today." Peter: "I'm glad you did. Come on! If we hurry we can get over to bumper cars!" John: 'Man, I feel tired already. Yuna was right, all those late nights and everything is wearing me down.'
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The Liger and the Zero X's blades collided, sending sparks flying as the two zoids pushed against each other, trying to push the other back. Bit: "Damn it, why won't you die?!" Ted: "You tell me why you won't first!!!" The two pushed against the others blade with all the force they could draw on. The Zero X had it's blade's power to maximum output and the Liger had it's turbines and thrusters activated. Neither of them dared to back down.
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Dr. Layon was enjoying a cup of noodles at his computer. He was in a very good mood at the moment. He had just finished with the last of the data Bit had brought back, the Whale King was functioning almost at full capacity and his noodles had come out perfect. Things couldn't get much better so of course they had to get worse. It started when his computer beeped, startling him and causing him to drop his hot noodles on his lap. Layon: "AAHHH!!! HOT, HOT!!!" And then when he knocked a box of discs with data he had just recovered off of his desk and onto the floor. Layon: "Aw, just perfect!" Dr. Layon turned to his computer to find out what the message he had just received was. Layon: "What is it?!" N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Touchy today are we?" Layon: "I'm not in the mood N.U.C.L.S.S! Now what is it?" N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Bit is in trouble. The document that was recovered was a trap. He is now in battle and it is unclear whether or not he will be victorious." Layon: "He's been in sticky situations before." The computer screen suddenly flashed with satellite images. The pictures zoomed in on a desert and then on a canyon and then on a black dome that was clearly not supposed to be there. Layon: "What the hell?! N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Bit is currently fighting inside this dome against an artificially created Liger Zero. The two combatants seem to be evenly matched." Layon: "Got it! I'll call John." N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Do not bother. John has left for the afternoon with his son and did not take his cellular phone with him." Layon: "What?! Crap! I guess I'll have to call Leon."
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Liger and the Zero X were rolling on the ground together. The Liger had it's teeth and claws in the Zero X's side and the Zero X had it's teeth and claws in Liger's sides. Bit: "GOD DAMN IT, GET OFF MY ZOID!!!" Ted: "WHY DON'T YOU GET OFF MINE, YOU BASTARD?!?!?!"
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Leon: "How long have we been cleaning now?" Jamie: "A few hours." Leon: "Come on, how about a break?" Jamie: "Please, compared to the work I used to have to do around here this is nothing." Jamie and Leon were scrubbing the walls of the briefing room and Leon was clearly getting tired. Now that they had a little spare time Jamie decided that the base had been filthy long enough and that Leon was going to help him. The video phone rang. Leon: 'Thank God!' "I'll get it." Leon froze as he saw Jamie had already hit the button for the monitor. Jamie: "Hey Dr. Layon. What's up?" Layon: "Nothing good. The N.U.C.L.S.S. has informed me that Bit has been ambushed by a sort of Liger Zero clone and is trapped in one of the shield domes Fire Wind developed while they were the Back Draft." Jamie: "What?! Leon did you hear that?!" Leon: "Yeah, come on, we've got to get moving." Layon: "Wait! You need to call Brad first. I'd do it myself but it's risky enough calling you guys." Jamie: "Got it. We'll call Brad and get moving."
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Bit: "Buster Slash!!!" Liger charged at the Zero X and It was charging at Liger with it's blades out and pointing forward. Ted: "Die you asshole!!!" The two collided and were knocked back. Ted: "Just give up you bastard!" Bit: "Fuck you!" They tried attacking each other again only to end up with the same result.
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Brad: "This better not be a false alarm." Leon: "I don't think it is, Brad." Jamie: "Even if it is we said we'd help Bit and that includes checking out situations even when it's at an inconvenience to us." Jamie, Brad and Leon had all gotten into their zoids and were heading to where Dr. Layon had instructed to go. Jamie: "Wait! I see it!" Brad: "See what?" Jamie: "The dome. It's up ahead." Leon: "He's right. It's faint but I can see it too."
Leon: "Whoa!" Brad: "Well that brings back some memories." Jamie: "Yeah, bad ones." Once they arrived at the dome Jamie landed the Raynos and Brad and Leon stopped their zoids. Brad: "So how do we get inside?" Leon: "That's easy. We just bust through, trust me I've done it before." Leon backed his Blade Liger up and when he had enough distance he opened the Blade Liger's blades, positioned them forward and raised the shield. Leon: "Here goes!" The Blade Liger charged at the black dome and struck it only to be knocked back. Leon: "Ahh!" Brad: "You've done this before, huh?" Jamie: "Looks like this isn't the same old dome they used to use. The old ones seemed to be for keeping enemies in but this one is designed to keep them out as well." Leon: "Wish I'd known that ten seconds ago." Brad: "So then how are we going to get inside?" Jamie: "We'll have to find one. Brad, you and Leon look around the border of this thing and see if you can find a way in, in the meantime I'll take a look from the air after making a phone call." Leon: "Phone call?" Jamie: "I'm gonna call Yuna and tell her to tell John what's going on when he gets back." Brad: "Assuming he gets back in time."
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Bit: "Got you!" Bit fired the sniper rifle at the Zero X and scored a direct hit that stirred up a lot of dust. Bit: "Ha! What?!" As blast of energy suddenly came from the cloud of dust and hit Bit causing another cloud of dust. When the first dust cloud cleared it revealed the Zero X with a shield protecting it. Ted: "Take that you cocky son of bitch! Guess you didn't know about my shield." The Liger burst forth from the dust that surrounded it with it's shield up and it charged at the Zero X. Bit: "And you didn't know about mine!" The Liger slammed into the Zero X and after a few seconds both of their shields went down. Ted: "What?!" The Liger crashed into the Zero X and slammed it into the canyon wall with it's paw on the Zero X's head. Bit: "Little fact a friend taught me. If two shields collide they'll cancel each other out and because I was waiting for it I got the drop on you!" Ted: "You bastard!" The Zero X struggled against the Liger before using the spike on the back leg armor to hit Liger in the head. Bit: "Argh!" The Liger reeled back in shock while the Zero X got it's footing back. Ted: "You won't stop me with cheap tricks like that!"
[
Yuna was on the couch in the living room reading a book with Eureka crawling along the floor in front of her, softly cooing. The silence was interrupted by the phone ringing. Yuna: "Huh. Who could that be?" Yuna put her book down, picked up Eureka and walked over to the video phone. Yuna: "Hello. Oh, hi Jamie." Jamie: "Hi. Look I've got an important message for John when he gets back." Yuna: "You know he's gone?" Jamie: "He told us, well me and Bit but that's not important. Tell him to call Dr. Layon for details." Yuna: "Okay, I got it. Bye Jamie." Eureka: "Bye, bye!" Jamie: "Bye."
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Bit: "Damn it!" Ted: "Bastard!" The Liger Zero Phantom and The Liger Zero X were both in rough shape, they had scars and burn marks all over and the stress from battle was starting to take a toll on the pilots as well. Bit: "I don't get. We've been fighting for nearly thirty minutes and we're still fighting about even. Usually after this much time the organoid system starts to kick in and we start to get the upper hand." Ted: "There's a good reason why that's not happening. I told you my zoid is like yours and I meant it which means, of course, that I have an organoid system too!" Bit: "What?!" Ted: "That's right. This is the world's first artificial Ultimate X!" Bit: "..." Ted: "What's a matter? To stunned to say anything?" Bit: "...Those...BASTARDS!!! How dare they tamper with the genius that is my Liger?!?!?! I'll kill them and you!!!" The Liger charged at the Zero X with it's claws beginning to glow. Ted: "Two can play at that game." The Zero X's claws glowing silvery white. Bit: Now. STRIKE..." Ted: "LASER..." Bit and Ted: "CLAW!!!" The two zoids collided in mid-air hitting each other with their claws taking pieces off the other's head and shoulder armor.
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Voice6: "I told you this would work." Voice3: "Alright already, stop gloating." Voice7: "Still, one can't help but be pleased with the results we're seeing." Voice8: "It looks like they may very well destroy each other." Voice2: "One can only hope. With then both gone the evidence will be as well." Voice5: "This battle is drawing in a lot of interest the bets have doubled since they started fighting." Voice4: "I can't help but be worried we're going to lose our prototype though. Oh well, some sacrifices must be made I suppose." Altile: "Indeed, but things are not what they appear to be." Voice7: "What do you mean commander?" Altile: "Although they appear evenly matched they if you look closely it seems Bit Cloud and the Liger Zero have the upper hand. Soon the Liger Zero X will be beaten just barely. Number Six you will be punished but don't worry it won't be anything too bad. As I believe I said earlier I prepared for this." Voice3: "That's good to hear but our clients won't be too happy since their bets will become null and void if the Zero X doesn't defeat the Liger unless this plan involves a self destruct mechanism." Altile: "As long as they specifically said they bet that Bit Cloud would lose they won't lose their bet. If the number isn't too much we wont collect on those who said that the Zero X would win."
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Bit: "FIVE BLADE ATTACK!!!" Ted: "CHOKE ON THIS!!!" The Liger and the Zero X charged at each other, the Liger using the Five Blade attack and the Zero X using an attack like it. The two zoids collided sending sparks and beams of energy everywhere. Bit: "DIE!!!" Ted: "YOU FIRST!!!" both of them pushed against the other in the attempt to gain supremacy. The two were suddenly knocked apart when a large beam of energy flew past them just above the two zoids heads. Bit: "What the fuck!!!" Ted: "Holy shit!!!" Fuma: "Darn, I missed." Bit: "That voice...you, you're that pilot for the Fuma Team!!!" Ted: "The Fuma Team?! Weren't they with the Back Draft?!" Fuma: "That's right." The two Ligers regained their footing and looked to the direction the blast had come from and saw three Genosaurs standing there. Negara: "We're very disappointed in you Mr. Hawkings." Koga: "And here we thought you could handle things." Fuma: "To think we were generous enough to provide you with a zoid not once but twice and you failed both times." Ted: "You...you mean that..." Koga: "That you were hired by the Back Draft. You are correct." A look of shear horror gripped Ted's face as he realized what he'd been doing. It all hit him like a ton of bricks, the zoids the reason why Bit had been attacking those companies where they had gotten all this stuff, they had been using him."
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S.D. Well that's it for this chapter. Sorry about the cliff hanger but I'm sure most of you are used to this in my story. Knuckles: Obviously considering they haven't tried to find you and kill you yet. S.D. Anyway I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Oh and if you don't know what a zoid looks like well I'm sorry but this already tricky enough so I'll leave it up to you. Really all you have to do is search for zoids on the internet and you should come across the pictures eventually. Knuckles: Hey! Didn't you hear what I just said? S.D. Yeah but I'm ignoring you. Knuckles: What?! S.D. Later everyone! Knuckles: C'mon pay attention to me. Look card tricks, oh c'mon this isn't fair!
Losing the Soul
Chapter 11: Copy Cat
The dark room in which the Comity of Seven met was deadly silent. A meeting had been called and everyone waited for Altile to arrive. Altile would be speaking to the whole base via video link to tell them of the new plan to extinguish Bit Cloud's life. Everyone's eyes turned to him as he walked in, pulled back his chair and cleared his throat. Altile: "Members of the Grand Comity of Seven and the proud members of Fire Wind, too long has our organization been assaulted by the likes of Bit Cloud. Too long has nearly all of our hard work been for nothing because of this man's action." A holographic picture of Bit appeared in the middle of the room. Altile: "He accelerated the collapse of the Back Draft that we all helped to create and is now attacking Fire Wind and threatens to destroy all we have worked so hard to rebuild. Like a swarm of locusts he has ravaged our once proud organization and devoured the fruits of our labor in an instant and despite attempts to squash him he returned with more fury than ever before. For a time it seemed as if he would destroy us single handedly before we could ever make our presence known to the world but now we have a plan. We have trained a soldier in a zoid comparable to the Liger Zero. We have harnessed this pilot's hatred of Bit Cloud to improve his zoid's fighting abilities and we have used all known data on Bit Cloud's fighting style to give him every edge we could give him and now he is ready. This could be the last of our problems." Altile sat down in his chair.
Voice2: "We are currently devising a trap for Bit Cloud and we should be ready soon." Voice3: "We shall select a spot for the fight that will allow us to fully take advantage of this new zoid's capabilities." Voice4: "We are also devising a way to give him no option of escape." Voice5: "The pilot we are using will undergo one last training test using the data we collected yesterday before fighting." Voice6: "We shall announce when the fight should take place within the next few days." Voice7: "The information is classified so no one is allowed to speak about it outside of headquarters." Voice8: "Bets for the event will be taken starting two hours from now. If you wish to place one you have until the fight comes to an end and as usual you can't change your bet once you have made it unless you wish to increase the amount you wagered."
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John: "Good God, Bit! You banged this thing up but good!" John, Jamie and Dr. Layon were on top of Liger Zero fixing the damage inflicted from the day before. Jamie: (Joking tone) "What do you expect? He ran into the Saber Fangs after all." Bit: "That's not funny! The Fuzzy Pandas didn't do anything it was the Lightning Team that did the damage!" John: (joking tone) "You sure? After all pandas do have claws." Both John and Jamie broke out laughing. Bit: "It's not funny! Are you guys going to fix Liger or not?!" John: "Alright, alright we'll get back to work." Bit: "So how long will this take?" Layon: "With damage like this, probably a few hours." Jamie: "Just be glad we're all here to help." Bit: "I will be if you and John would stop making fun of me." John: "Sorry, by the way, Bit, don't take this out tomorrow." Bit: "Why not?" John: "We're going to install some new things, that's why."
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Ted Hawkings walked through a dark hallway. He was wearing a black jump suit with a gold vest and gloves. The suit looked like Vega's old outfit only larger. Ted Hawkings had the strangest look on his face. His eyes were cold and seemed almost lifeless. He face held a mean expression as he walked. Ted Hawkings was defiantly not himself.
He entered a room with the two scientists who monitored his activities. Scientist1: "Ah, Mr. Hawkings. You're here early." Ted: "What now?" His voice lacked the enthusiasm he usually spoke with. Scientist2: "We have good news. We believe you are now ready to fight. A that's left is to set a date and send you there." Ted: "Why aren't we ready now?" Scientist1: "Patience Mr. Hawkings, patience. Remember, this is a coalition between several companies so planning this out my take awhile." Scientist2: "Besides, we have some new data for the simulator to work with so we need the time." Ted: "New data?" Scientist1: "For a few days now we have received information on Bit Cloud's fighting style from tapes of his attacks, survivor stories and descriptions from people who have fought him before. We received some new data the other day and have added it to the simulator." Ted: "So then I'm heading to the hanger?" Scientist1: "Indeed." Officer Hawkings left the room and proceeded back down the hall.
Scientist1: "Is it just me or does he give you the creeps too?" Scientist2: "Yeah, he does. I hope this isn't a side effect from the training process or we're going to have an army of soldiers like that." Scientist1: "That's a scary thought. Speaking of the training process, have you filed our findings yet?" Scientist2: "Already on its way to the top brass." Scientist1: "Well at least this is going to help the organization." Both scientists gave each other a worried glance.
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A few days had past, Liger was fixed and the number of shipments made by Fire Wind seemed to be dropping. John was in the Whale King once again working on Liger with Dr. Layon. He was at Liger's head and was working with the armor there when Bit walked in.
Bit: "You're still working on Liger? What the hell are you installing?" John: "You know, Bit, you really should try to watch your mouth. And for your information we're installing improved power cells and a shield generator." Bit: "Shield generator? Didn't you say when you first made this thing that you couldn't put one in?" Layon: "We did, but that was nearly six years ago." John: "We wanted to put a generator in the Zero Phantom but there wasn't enough room." Layon: "It would take up too much space and throw off Liger's aerodynamics and would need larger power cells to support it which would further add to the aerodynamics problem." Bit: "And you can do this now?" John: "Bit, think for just a second. How many times have we upgraded the power cells and wiring in this thing over the past six years?" Layon: "Because of all the advancements with this last adjustment Liger can finally support shields without draining power any faster than it always has." Bit: "What about the generator?" John: "For the last four years Dr. Layon and I have been working on a smaller shield generator. We've looked at many different shields from different zoids in order to successfully shrink a generator small enough to fit in Liger." Bit: "And you did?" Layon: "Sort of. We found we could use the blades on Liger's head to amplify the shield generator's power and even if the blades are broken." Bit: "Okay but why? You guys spent nearly four years making a shield generator why?" John: "Use your head, Bit. If you don't remember the Back Draft has used charged particle cannons in the past, the whole world knows it. Knowing Fire Wind they probably set out to duplicate these and a specialized shield can stop that blast." Bit: "Fine. Just don't screw any of Liger's systems up." Bit left the hanger and Dr. Layon and John kept working.
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Voice5: "Well?" Altile: "It's all set." Voice4: "Then we're ready?" Altile: "All we have to do is wait for them to take the bait." Voice7: "We've pulled a lot of traps lately, how do we know they won't suspect something?" Altile: "We have estimated the program that's been hacking us and although our scientists believe that we can't accurately estimate its power we know no file is safe so we made it top secret. They won't be able to resist." Voice8: "It's a shame really. The bets for this have been soaring through the roof and have only just begun to slow down." Voice3: "It wouldn't last. People will get nervous if we take too long." Altile: "People please this is important. The day after tomorrow we will spring this trap." Voice2: "Only two days?" Altile: "I think we gave them too much time. This should work perfectly. On Friday Bit Cloud will fight and on Saturday we'll be reading his obituary in the news paper." Voice6: "Then perhaps we should have some champagne delivered here for then." Altile: "Wonderful idea. We'll have the best in our collection." Voice4: "I don't mean to rain on our parade, but what if this fails?" Altile: "We have planned for that. We have invested too much time and money in this and invested too much publicity to let this fail now and we won't." The whole comity began to laugh. Unbeknownst to them a pair of brown eyes in the darkness was watching them. ???: "Not if I can't help it..."
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Bit: "It done yet?" John: "That should do it." John was on top of Liger polishing the left head part. John: "Shield generator is up and running. Go on, give it a try." John hopped down from Liger and Bit climbed up to the cockpit. After the canopy closed Bit pushed a few buttons and a yellow shield formed around Liger. Bit: "Yellow?" John: "Do you have a problem with yellow?" Bit: "No, but I thought shields were all pink." John: "But, just like anything else on a zoid you can make it any color you want. People just don't bother. Besides I'm sure you haven't forgotten but Light Wing's shield is green." Bit: "How much power is this thing going to burn up?" John: "Your old Shield Liger used more energy in its shield than this one. Good thing we got it installed, you've got an important assignment and I'm busy most of tomorrow." Bit: "Another assignment?" John: "The file was difficult to retrieve so it's probably important." Bit: "Fine. Hey why are you busy tomorrow? Wait, let me guess. You're going to spend some "quality time" with Yuna, right?" John: "No ...that's later tonight. Tomorrow I'm spending the day with Peter. I made a promise and I'm not breaking it." Bit: "Good, I said you needed to spend more time with your family. So what are you going to do?" John: "We're going to spend the day at that new amusement park." Bit: "What about the rest of your family?" John: "Peter is still growing and he's growing up fast. I want to spend some time with him while he still wants to spend time with me. Eureka is too young to go and Yuna understands what I'm doing so it's just me and Pete tomorrow." Bit: "Shouldn't you go home then?" John: "Yeah probably. See ya!" John walked out of the Whale King's hanger and Bit got out of Liger's cockpit. Bit: "So, what do you think of your new shield?" The Liger roared with pleasure at it's new toy.
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John returned home at 11 p.m. and he was exhausted. He walked out of the hanger through the hall and a few other rooms until reaching the family room and then up the stairs at the other end of the room. He went down the hall past the bathroom and after a few more doors got to his and Yuna's room. John walked in and closed the door behind him. Yuna: "Working late?" John: "Yeah." Yuna was already in bed in her night gown.
The room was a reasonable size and had light blue wallpaper. The carpet was brown as was the carpet in the rest of the house. There was one window a few feet away from the queen-sized bed which had its head board against the wall opposite of the door. The bed had a plane polished wood frame and currently had white sheets with blue blankets. There was a dresser with an ornate mirror next to the left side of the bed it was mostly used by Yuna. There was another dresser was against the same wall as the bed a few feet from it. There was a nightstand on the right side of the bed as well and it was mostly used by John. That was how it worked, John slept on the right Yuna slept on the left. There was a door to another bathroom that only John and Yuna used on the wall right of the door.
John tossed his jacket on his dresser then walked up to the dresser and grabbed a pair of black pajama pants and an undershirt. He went into the bathroom, quickly changed came back out and got into bed next to Yuna. Yuna: "You can't keep this up forever." John: "I know." Yuna: "This is going to wear you out by the time you're in your forties. I don't want to sound selfish but the time you're spending with Bit and Dr. Layon is the time you're supposed to be spending with me and the kids." John: "I know, Yuna. I don't want to be there all day but this is important. We get by primarily on the money we make in zoid battles and I can't let the dark battles return." Yuna: "Well, I don't mean to take their side but what's so bad about wanting battles to be more realistic?" John: "Nothing, but that's not what they want. Even in the Guylos War soldiers could eject and they were rarely surrounded by flames. They aren't being more realistic they're making it more dangerous. I can't let that happen." Yuna: "You can't let Bit fight this alone. That's what this is about isn't it?" John: "There's that but that's not the only reason. I don't want to talk about this anymore I need to get some sleep for tomorrow." John rolled over on his left side and closed his eyes but quickly opened them when he felt Yuna's hand on his shoulder. Yuna: "Could you put sleeping off for twenty more minutes?" She smiled as she spoke and after she was done John did to.
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The next day Liger ran through the rocky part of the desert and was beginning to come upon canyons. Bit: "They're going through here? Shit, they must be getting desperate." Bit began to have to maneuver Liger around the increasingly larger rocks. Bit: "Hold it. Scanner's picking up something." Liger came to a fork in the canyon and took the right path. Bit: "Found you!" There was a Gustav ahead with Hell Cats following.
Liger ran as fast as it could to catch up with the transport. The two Hell Cats at the back noticed Liger, turned around and fired at it. Bit: "So this is why they're in a canyon. They're trying to give me no room to move. On a regular pilot this would be the end but I'm not a regular pilot." Bit pressed the button for Liger's turbines and then used the force to run up the canyon wall. Bit: "Good bye!" Liger hit both of the Hell Cats in the head with a Strike Laser Claw crushing the cockpits. Bit: "Now for the transport." The Gustav that was haling the cargo was now going gunning it through the canyon it an attempt to escape. The remaining two Hell Cats ran along with it before jumping up high enough to let the Gustav pass them.
The Hell Cats entered stealth mode and began to fire at Bit. Bit: "Please, like I haven't seen this before. Well Liger, let's give that new shield a test run." The yellow shield formed around Liger as it charged at the invisible Hell Cats. The impact easily knocked the both of them down. Bit: "Now time to finish this. What? Humph. Looks like this one was modified to be a lot faster. Whatever is in that container must be really important for them to go to this much trouble." Liger quickly raced after the Gustav through a few more forks in the canyon. Bit: "And I said that having tracking equipment wouldn't help me at all." Finally the Gustav came back into view. Bit: "There you are."
It was then that Bit looked around and realized that they had entered an unusual part of the canyon. It was defiantly a natural occurrence but the area was huge and cut out like a half dome. Bit: "What the hell." The Gustav dropped the large white container in the middle of the area. It kept going until reaching the other end of the structure and left. Suddenly there was an explosion at the exit the Gustav had just taken and rocks now blocked it off. Bit heard another explosion and looked behind him to see the same thing had happened to the entrance he had just come through. Beams of white light shot form the sides of the canyon creating a black dome over the rocky one Bit was in. Bit: "What the hell is happening?!" To the far left against the canyon wall the rocks shifted and fell over to reveal a Judge capsule that was red. Bit: "A Judge capsule?!" The capsule gave off the usual sounds as it rose and opened revealing the judge inside. The judge was red like the capsule it was in its visor was black and in the shape of a cross or plus sign. The head looked like a regular judge but the body was modeled after the Dark Judge. Fire Judge: "Well, well, battle approved battle approved. Bit Cloud versus Ted Hawkings! Battle mode none. Area set up. Ready...FIGHT!!!"
Bit: "Ted Hawkings?" Ted: "You forgot me already, scumbag? I'm crushed." Bit: "That voice. You're one of the cops from the set up last month!" Ted: "You're not as dumb as you look." Bit: "You couldn't stop me before and now you're by yourself. What makes you think you can defeat me now?" Ted: "Because I've been training for weeks and I have a new zoid one that is every bit as good as yours." Bit: "What makes you think that?" The front end of the container opened revealing two glowing green eyes. Bit: "No! It can't be! That's impossible!!!" Ted: "Because it is your zoid. Say hello to LIGER ZERO X!!!" The Zero X stepped out of the container revealing itself. The zoid was just like Liger except for the black gold and blue armor. Ted: "It too months but they were able to reverse engineer your zoid. Now that I have it I'm gonna take you down once and for all!" Bit: "Those monsters! How could they even try to duplicate my Liger?! I'll destroy you and that fake!!!"
Liger lunged at the Zero X but it managed to leap out of the way. It quickly turned around and fired the shock cannon on it's underside at Liger. Liger was able to run out of the way. Bit: "A shock cannon? You're not gonna win with that thing!" Ted: "Ya don't say?" The Zero X's double blades flipped up over its head, began to pulse with energy and then fired a powerful blast at Bit. Bit: "What?!" The shot missed Liger but it hit the ground next to it and the flying pieces of rock hit Liger's side. Bit: "So we're going for the big guns." The sniper rifle on Liger rose and took aim. Bit: "Eat this, you jackass!!!" Bit fired but the Zero X dodged again. Ted: "This thing isn't as fast as your Liger but it's still just as maneuverable!" The two began firing shots at each other each of them intent on blowing the other to scrap. Neither of them would hold still nor stop firing. They never managed to hit each other but the shots came close every time. Bit: "You're gonna run outta energy some time!" Ted: "Don't think so you piece of shit! The turbines on the back of this thing are miniature power plants. I'll run out of bullets but not energy!" Bit: "Aw shit! That doesn't sound good."
Liger began firing it's pulse cannon at the Zero X and it switched to the shock cannon. They continued shooting at each other and dodging the other's fire. It was all they could do.
Liger suddenly charged at the Zero X and then jumped at it but the Zero X repelled the attack in a similar fashion that Leon had once done. Ted tried to follow up on the attack but Bit and the Liger had managed to recover quickly and then they counter attacked by head-butting the Zero X in the side changing the battle to close range combat.
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Peter: "WEEEE!!!" John: "Yeeeha!!!" The roller coaster came to a stop and John and Pete got off. Peter: "That was fun!" John: "You don't need to tell me that! Your old man here is an old fan of roller coasters." Peter: "Really?" John: "You bet. The first one I went on I was your age and it had loops in it. Somehow your grandfather managed to talk me into going on it and until the ride was over I was scared stiff." Peter: "Thanks for bringing me out here Dad." John: "You're welcome Pete. Glad to see you like it. I had to drop everything to come out here today." Peter: "I'm glad you did. Come on! If we hurry we can get over to bumper cars!" John: 'Man, I feel tired already. Yuna was right, all those late nights and everything is wearing me down.'
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The Liger and the Zero X's blades collided, sending sparks flying as the two zoids pushed against each other, trying to push the other back. Bit: "Damn it, why won't you die?!" Ted: "You tell me why you won't first!!!" The two pushed against the others blade with all the force they could draw on. The Zero X had it's blade's power to maximum output and the Liger had it's turbines and thrusters activated. Neither of them dared to back down.
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Dr. Layon was enjoying a cup of noodles at his computer. He was in a very good mood at the moment. He had just finished with the last of the data Bit had brought back, the Whale King was functioning almost at full capacity and his noodles had come out perfect. Things couldn't get much better so of course they had to get worse. It started when his computer beeped, startling him and causing him to drop his hot noodles on his lap. Layon: "AAHHH!!! HOT, HOT!!!" And then when he knocked a box of discs with data he had just recovered off of his desk and onto the floor. Layon: "Aw, just perfect!" Dr. Layon turned to his computer to find out what the message he had just received was. Layon: "What is it?!" N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Touchy today are we?" Layon: "I'm not in the mood N.U.C.L.S.S! Now what is it?" N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Bit is in trouble. The document that was recovered was a trap. He is now in battle and it is unclear whether or not he will be victorious." Layon: "He's been in sticky situations before." The computer screen suddenly flashed with satellite images. The pictures zoomed in on a desert and then on a canyon and then on a black dome that was clearly not supposed to be there. Layon: "What the hell?! N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Bit is currently fighting inside this dome against an artificially created Liger Zero. The two combatants seem to be evenly matched." Layon: "Got it! I'll call John." N.U.C.L.S.S.: "Do not bother. John has left for the afternoon with his son and did not take his cellular phone with him." Layon: "What?! Crap! I guess I'll have to call Leon."
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Liger and the Zero X were rolling on the ground together. The Liger had it's teeth and claws in the Zero X's side and the Zero X had it's teeth and claws in Liger's sides. Bit: "GOD DAMN IT, GET OFF MY ZOID!!!" Ted: "WHY DON'T YOU GET OFF MINE, YOU BASTARD?!?!?!"
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Leon: "How long have we been cleaning now?" Jamie: "A few hours." Leon: "Come on, how about a break?" Jamie: "Please, compared to the work I used to have to do around here this is nothing." Jamie and Leon were scrubbing the walls of the briefing room and Leon was clearly getting tired. Now that they had a little spare time Jamie decided that the base had been filthy long enough and that Leon was going to help him. The video phone rang. Leon: 'Thank God!' "I'll get it." Leon froze as he saw Jamie had already hit the button for the monitor. Jamie: "Hey Dr. Layon. What's up?" Layon: "Nothing good. The N.U.C.L.S.S. has informed me that Bit has been ambushed by a sort of Liger Zero clone and is trapped in one of the shield domes Fire Wind developed while they were the Back Draft." Jamie: "What?! Leon did you hear that?!" Leon: "Yeah, come on, we've got to get moving." Layon: "Wait! You need to call Brad first. I'd do it myself but it's risky enough calling you guys." Jamie: "Got it. We'll call Brad and get moving."
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Bit: "Buster Slash!!!" Liger charged at the Zero X and It was charging at Liger with it's blades out and pointing forward. Ted: "Die you asshole!!!" The two collided and were knocked back. Ted: "Just give up you bastard!" Bit: "Fuck you!" They tried attacking each other again only to end up with the same result.
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Brad: "This better not be a false alarm." Leon: "I don't think it is, Brad." Jamie: "Even if it is we said we'd help Bit and that includes checking out situations even when it's at an inconvenience to us." Jamie, Brad and Leon had all gotten into their zoids and were heading to where Dr. Layon had instructed to go. Jamie: "Wait! I see it!" Brad: "See what?" Jamie: "The dome. It's up ahead." Leon: "He's right. It's faint but I can see it too."
Leon: "Whoa!" Brad: "Well that brings back some memories." Jamie: "Yeah, bad ones." Once they arrived at the dome Jamie landed the Raynos and Brad and Leon stopped their zoids. Brad: "So how do we get inside?" Leon: "That's easy. We just bust through, trust me I've done it before." Leon backed his Blade Liger up and when he had enough distance he opened the Blade Liger's blades, positioned them forward and raised the shield. Leon: "Here goes!" The Blade Liger charged at the black dome and struck it only to be knocked back. Leon: "Ahh!" Brad: "You've done this before, huh?" Jamie: "Looks like this isn't the same old dome they used to use. The old ones seemed to be for keeping enemies in but this one is designed to keep them out as well." Leon: "Wish I'd known that ten seconds ago." Brad: "So then how are we going to get inside?" Jamie: "We'll have to find one. Brad, you and Leon look around the border of this thing and see if you can find a way in, in the meantime I'll take a look from the air after making a phone call." Leon: "Phone call?" Jamie: "I'm gonna call Yuna and tell her to tell John what's going on when he gets back." Brad: "Assuming he gets back in time."
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Bit: "Got you!" Bit fired the sniper rifle at the Zero X and scored a direct hit that stirred up a lot of dust. Bit: "Ha! What?!" As blast of energy suddenly came from the cloud of dust and hit Bit causing another cloud of dust. When the first dust cloud cleared it revealed the Zero X with a shield protecting it. Ted: "Take that you cocky son of bitch! Guess you didn't know about my shield." The Liger burst forth from the dust that surrounded it with it's shield up and it charged at the Zero X. Bit: "And you didn't know about mine!" The Liger slammed into the Zero X and after a few seconds both of their shields went down. Ted: "What?!" The Liger crashed into the Zero X and slammed it into the canyon wall with it's paw on the Zero X's head. Bit: "Little fact a friend taught me. If two shields collide they'll cancel each other out and because I was waiting for it I got the drop on you!" Ted: "You bastard!" The Zero X struggled against the Liger before using the spike on the back leg armor to hit Liger in the head. Bit: "Argh!" The Liger reeled back in shock while the Zero X got it's footing back. Ted: "You won't stop me with cheap tricks like that!"
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Yuna was on the couch in the living room reading a book with Eureka crawling along the floor in front of her, softly cooing. The silence was interrupted by the phone ringing. Yuna: "Huh. Who could that be?" Yuna put her book down, picked up Eureka and walked over to the video phone. Yuna: "Hello. Oh, hi Jamie." Jamie: "Hi. Look I've got an important message for John when he gets back." Yuna: "You know he's gone?" Jamie: "He told us, well me and Bit but that's not important. Tell him to call Dr. Layon for details." Yuna: "Okay, I got it. Bye Jamie." Eureka: "Bye, bye!" Jamie: "Bye."
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Bit: "Damn it!" Ted: "Bastard!" The Liger Zero Phantom and The Liger Zero X were both in rough shape, they had scars and burn marks all over and the stress from battle was starting to take a toll on the pilots as well. Bit: "I don't get. We've been fighting for nearly thirty minutes and we're still fighting about even. Usually after this much time the organoid system starts to kick in and we start to get the upper hand." Ted: "There's a good reason why that's not happening. I told you my zoid is like yours and I meant it which means, of course, that I have an organoid system too!" Bit: "What?!" Ted: "That's right. This is the world's first artificial Ultimate X!" Bit: "..." Ted: "What's a matter? To stunned to say anything?" Bit: "...Those...BASTARDS!!! How dare they tamper with the genius that is my Liger?!?!?! I'll kill them and you!!!" The Liger charged at the Zero X with it's claws beginning to glow. Ted: "Two can play at that game." The Zero X's claws glowing silvery white. Bit: Now. STRIKE..." Ted: "LASER..." Bit and Ted: "CLAW!!!" The two zoids collided in mid-air hitting each other with their claws taking pieces off the other's head and shoulder armor.
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Voice6: "I told you this would work." Voice3: "Alright already, stop gloating." Voice7: "Still, one can't help but be pleased with the results we're seeing." Voice8: "It looks like they may very well destroy each other." Voice2: "One can only hope. With then both gone the evidence will be as well." Voice5: "This battle is drawing in a lot of interest the bets have doubled since they started fighting." Voice4: "I can't help but be worried we're going to lose our prototype though. Oh well, some sacrifices must be made I suppose." Altile: "Indeed, but things are not what they appear to be." Voice7: "What do you mean commander?" Altile: "Although they appear evenly matched they if you look closely it seems Bit Cloud and the Liger Zero have the upper hand. Soon the Liger Zero X will be beaten just barely. Number Six you will be punished but don't worry it won't be anything too bad. As I believe I said earlier I prepared for this." Voice3: "That's good to hear but our clients won't be too happy since their bets will become null and void if the Zero X doesn't defeat the Liger unless this plan involves a self destruct mechanism." Altile: "As long as they specifically said they bet that Bit Cloud would lose they won't lose their bet. If the number isn't too much we wont collect on those who said that the Zero X would win."
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Bit: "FIVE BLADE ATTACK!!!" Ted: "CHOKE ON THIS!!!" The Liger and the Zero X charged at each other, the Liger using the Five Blade attack and the Zero X using an attack like it. The two zoids collided sending sparks and beams of energy everywhere. Bit: "DIE!!!" Ted: "YOU FIRST!!!" both of them pushed against the other in the attempt to gain supremacy. The two were suddenly knocked apart when a large beam of energy flew past them just above the two zoids heads. Bit: "What the fuck!!!" Ted: "Holy shit!!!" Fuma: "Darn, I missed." Bit: "That voice...you, you're that pilot for the Fuma Team!!!" Ted: "The Fuma Team?! Weren't they with the Back Draft?!" Fuma: "That's right." The two Ligers regained their footing and looked to the direction the blast had come from and saw three Genosaurs standing there. Negara: "We're very disappointed in you Mr. Hawkings." Koga: "And here we thought you could handle things." Fuma: "To think we were generous enough to provide you with a zoid not once but twice and you failed both times." Ted: "You...you mean that..." Koga: "That you were hired by the Back Draft. You are correct." A look of shear horror gripped Ted's face as he realized what he'd been doing. It all hit him like a ton of bricks, the zoids the reason why Bit had been attacking those companies where they had gotten all this stuff, they had been using him."
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S.D. Well that's it for this chapter. Sorry about the cliff hanger but I'm sure most of you are used to this in my story. Knuckles: Obviously considering they haven't tried to find you and kill you yet. S.D. Anyway I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Oh and if you don't know what a zoid looks like well I'm sorry but this already tricky enough so I'll leave it up to you. Really all you have to do is search for zoids on the internet and you should come across the pictures eventually. Knuckles: Hey! Didn't you hear what I just said? S.D. Yeah but I'm ignoring you. Knuckles: What?! S.D. Later everyone! Knuckles: C'mon pay attention to me. Look card tricks, oh c'mon this isn't fair!
