The Healing Power Of Music
Chapter 3: The New Gig
Author Notes: Hey, I got some pretty good feedback about the last chapter there, so I'm happy! And my computer doesn't have any more viruses! So double goodness all around. No songfic this chap, though music is sorta a theme for the story! And I figured out where I'm gonna go with this story, so we're all set! On to the reviewers!
RaiKinoshin - What do you mean I expected someone important? All my reviewers are important! And the lyrics are there! Leena is remembering them during the battle. That's the stuff you see in italics! Lol, anyways, thanks for the review, and enjoy the new chapter!
BlackHole CO - Doc will find a way to pay his fees, even if he has to sell his models lol. And yes, Jamie will always be considered short! Lol, thanks for the review man!
Mercenary Pen - Ehh...the first chap was an old piece of writing hastily converted to Zoids, so I can see where you're coming from. Hey, thanks for the input, that's the stuff I need to improve my writing! And good work on the Duelist fic! Thanks for the review!
Careless Whispers - Lol, I'm glad it sounds like a story. Yeah Get Up is a great song, and Breaking Point is a good band...I just can't find their CD anywhere! Thanks for the review!
Princess Paine of Darkness - Hey! I'm glad you like it so far! Thanks for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Don't own Zoids, if I can't have it, then you can't either!
Now! On to the story!
Bit sat down at the bar at Club Romeo, having just finished a mid-afternoon set for a birthday party that had reserved the club for the afternoon. He sighed heavily, feeling the day's work already taking a toll on his weary body. He had traveled from Romeo City to New Helic City to begin recording an album with his band, and had to travel overnight to make it back to Club Romeo on time for his next gig.
"You're lookin' pretty haggard there Bit," said the bartender, Lucas, a grizzled man in his late forties who had a bald head and a scruffy beard. But under his tough facade lay a kind hearted man.
"Yeah, I didn't get any sleep," Bit said, running his hand over his face.
"Here," Lucas handed him a cup of coffee, "This'll help."
Bit accepted the cup gratefully, "Thanks a lot Lucas."
"No problem kid," Lucas waved his hand, "You bring in so much business to this place I make a fortune off tips!" he laughed merrily.
Bit smiled, "Well, I do try."
He took a long sip of his warm coffee, savouring the rich flavour as it ran down his throat, warming his insides and easing the stiffness in his back. The television at the corner of the bar had just finished it's news report and was beginning to recap the previous day's Zoid battles.
Wish I was still a Zoid pilot, Bit thought with a little nostalgia. He had at one time been a pilot, after all, the son of the Zoid Battle Commission's CEO would have to have some interest in Zoid combat. But that had been when he was sixteen, before he and his father had their falling out. After that, he hadn't had the money to maintain piloting a Zoid, so he turned to junk dealing and eventually he was in the band with Brad and Jamie, and doing quite well for that matter.
Still, I do miss the excitement of the battles.
"Wow, look at the moves on that one," said Lucas, who was watching the recap of the Class B battles.
Bit looked over to the television, seeing three Rev Raptors facing off against a Dibison and Shield Liger.
"Those three Raptors probably won," said Lucas.
"I don't know," said Bit thoughtfully, "The Dibison is a strong Zoid, even though it is outnumbered."
As if to punctuate his thoughts the Dibison caught a charging Raptor with its horns, tossing it towards a sand dune. The next highlight was of the same Raptor catching a vicious kick to the midsection, putting it out of the battle. The Dibison turned to the other Raptor, and the two paused for a moment. Then the cannons on the Dibison's back lit up all at once, pouring an extremely large amount of fire into the other Raptor, putting it out of the battle. The third Raptor charged the Dibison was caught by a shield charge perpetuated by the Shield Liger.
"Well," Lucas said, "Shows what I know about battling, huh kid?"
"Hey, it could've gone either way," Bit consoled, "I just got lucky."
"Speaking of lucky," said the club manager as he sat down beside Bit, "I've had a couple requests regarding your band!"
"Oh yeah?" Bit raised his eyebrows, "What kind of requests?"
"Requests for you guys to play at social functions," the manager elaborated, "You know, things like that."
"Well, I don't know," said Bit uncertainly, "We are in contract for this Club."
"Nonsense," said the manager, "The one group that I want you to play for fund this club, and besides, they're willing to pay a handsome sum of money as well."
"Did someone say a handsome sum of money?" came Brad Hunter's voice as he walked over to the bar.
"Oh boy, here we go," said Jamie, holding his forehead, "Brad, you're always thinking about money."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing," the manager said, "Mr. Hunter just has business interests in mind."
Brad nodded smugly, gesturing for the manager to continue.
"Anyways," he continued, "The clients want you to play at one of their social events, and they're willing to pay you triple what I pay you for one night's work," he finished, nodding to Brad.
Before Bit or Jamie could say anything, Brad piped up, "We'll do it, just tell us when."
"Splendid," the manager beamed, "You will be playing tomorrow night at their main building just outside of city limits."
As the manager walked away, Bit turned to Brad, "Are you sure about this?"
Brad grabbed Bit's shoulders and shook him, "Just think of the money!"
Jamie chimed in, "I think he's right Bit, we could really use the money to finish recording our first album, and possibly buy new equipment."
"Oh all right," Bit caved.
Why are they throwing around so much money?
He had a bad feeling about this.
Leena was relaxing on the couch in the living room of the Blitz Team base, more commonly known as the Toros base, and was currently watching the replay of the battle they had won against the Raptors Team. She couldn't quite explain it, but she felt like she had somehow found a new reservoir of strength and will during the battle, and had managed to take out half the enemy team by herself.
And then there was that song I couldn't get out of my head.
She couldn't help it though, the songs she had heard from Bit Cloud's band were just catchy.
"Hey Leena!" her Dad yelled as he came down the hall with Leon at his side, "We have a new opponent to battle!"
Leena got up off the couch and turned off the television, "Did our prize money cover the repairs?" she asked hopefully.
Leon grinned, "Yeah, it did, and we have enough left over to last a couple of battles more."
"All right!" Leena cheered, pumping her fist in the air.
"Anyways," said the Doc, breaking up Leena's celebration, "We battle against the Fierce Tigers Team tomorrow evening."
"But Dad, we still don't have another team member!" Leon pointed out.
"He's right Dad, if they have three Zoids, which they will, it'll be another hard battle," Leena agreed.
"Nonsense!" the Doc waved his hand, "We'll just beat them like we beat the Raptors Team!"
"Dad, it's not going-" Leon was cut off as the Doc left the room, mumbling about ways to spend the prize money already.
Leena sat back down on the couch, turning back to the television. Leon sat down beside her with a sigh.
"Dad doesn't listen," he complained.
Leena rolled her eyes, "Of course he does, he just hears what he wants to hear."
Leon looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, "Well, we had better come up with a good plan to win this next battle."
"Oh I don't know," said Leena putting her hands behind her head, "I think we'll do just fine."
Leon looked at her strangely, "How did you come to that conclusion?"
Leena appeared to have a distant look on her face, "I don't know, I just have a feeling."
Leon heaved himself up off the couch, "Well I hope you're right, this is going to be harder than before."
I hope I'm right too, thought Leena to herself.
"Look at the size of this place!" exclaimed Jamie as Brad pulled their truck into a parking space beside the enormous building they were playing at.
"Some venue," said Brad, "But this is clear out in the desert, nowhere near city limits."
"Well," Bit added, "A gig's a gig, so let's get going."
They unloaded all of their equipment and transported it piece by piece through a side entrance. A representative from the owners showed them to the stage where they would be playing. They walked down a long, stark gray hall, approaching large double doors at its end. The aid hit a button on the wall and the large doors swung inwards, revealing a large ball room with a large stage at one end, a large section of viewing screens, and a long wall adorned with various paintings and decorations. As they walked across the ball room floor they noticed that there were various important looking people dressed in finery and others who were carrying serving trays, flitting around the hall and serving those who wished to be served.
"This place is pretty swanky," Bit muttered to Brad, who nodded, acknowledging the need of the rich to show off their wealth.
"It's probably some stock holder's ball," suggested Brad.
"Maybe it's just a really rich family's birthday party?" Jamie hypothesized.
"Wrong on both accounts," said a large man with graying hair, "This is simply a wealthy millionaires club and we meet every now and again to converse, buy or sell, or simply enjoy games of chance." With that the man walked away, presumably to take part in the activities he had just listed.
Strange people, Bit mused.
"Well," he said aloud, "We'd better set up."
It was near dusk as the Hover Cargo rolled up to the battle site.
"This is Leon, mobilizing on the launch ramp."
The magnetic catapult fired and launched Leon's blue Shield Liger out onto the battlefield. At the side of the Cargo a hatch opened up, lowering the Dibison out of a side platform and dropping it to the ground.
"Leena here, ready to rumble!"
The Dibison brayed and walked over to where Leon's Shield Liger had come to a halt. Soon the three Zoids of the Fierce Tigers Team became visible, and like their name suggested, were cat-like Zoids. But unlike the Liger, these were Zaber Fangs, coloured yellow much like actual jungle cats.
"This is the Fierce Tigers Team, and this is Kirkland," said the other team's leader, his face appearing on their screens. He was wearing some sort of furry jacket and had wildly styled hair that stuck straight up.
"Wow," said Leena, "You guys have little outfits to go along with your team name!"
"Quiet!" yelled another one of the pilots, this one had shorter hair that was more bowl shaped.
Another voice chimed in, "Easy Omari, we'll have plenty of time to do our damage on the field."
"Lineback's right," said Kirkland, "Let's finish these losers here and now. Besides," he sneered, "They only have two Zoids."
"That's more than enough to finish you three off," Leon replied.
Kirkland's comeback was cut off by the arrival of the judge capsule slamming into the ground.
"Attention! The area within a five mile radius is a designated Zoid battle zone! Danger! All unauthorized personnel must leave the area immediately. The Blitz Team VS. The Tigers Team, battle mode 0982! Area: scanned. Battlefield: set up! Ready? Fight!"
But before either the Tigers or Leena could make a move, a strange black cloud began to fall over the field.
"What the hell is that!" Lineback yelled.
Leena looked up and thought she could see a shape running through the cloud, but she was startled by an object crashing in to the judge capsule. As the smoke cleared she saw a lone figure within the dust cloud.
"Attention, this battle has been taken over by the Backdraft Group!" the electronic voice sneered.
"What?" came the unified response from all of the warriors.
The figure began to resolve itself into the form of what looked like a judge, except this one was dark and had a strange voice.
"Battlefield set up! All of you pathetic wimps against the Shark Team! Battle mode 0999!" the judge waved its hand nonchalantly, "Go."
Out of nowhere, three War Sharks caught the Tigers team with their jaws hanging, Kirkland being felled by a beam cannon shot, while Lineback and Omari were felled by multiple torpedoes.
"Oops," said a voice, "It looks like I broke them."
"Who are you?" Leon demanded.
"Didn't you hear the nice judge?" the voice said again, a face appearing on their screens. He had long brown hair with a lock hanging forward over his face, and a pair of the strangest sunglasses Leena had ever seen, so long that they covered most of his cheeks as well. "I'm Major Polta, and this is a Backdraft battle now."
"Leon," Leena sounded worried, "What do we do?"
"I don't know," said Leon as four moving mounds of sand could be seen heading in their direction.
Leena gripped her controls and prepared to shoot anything that moved.
And here I thought this was going to be an easy fight.
Author Notes: Oops...I did it again. A cliff hanger, I'm sorry, but it had to be done! I hope at least this makes you want to read the next chapter! It's necessary! Trust me! Hehe, oh well, if you hate cliff hangers, be sure to tell me in your REVIEWS!!! Later!