Princess of the Zoids: Could it Be Me

Notes: The convention Jiemi is going to isn't like an anime convention. It's one of those conventions that're only a day long, where people go to workshops and seminars. Oh, and there's an inside joke hidden in this chapter. See if you can find it

Chapter 7: Invitation

Arasu ran into Dr. Raon on her way to the workout room the next morning. "Arasu, a word with you?" He asked. She nodded, and followed him to his office.

"Arasu, we're heading into town today, I have some business to take care of."

"Will you be needing me to accompany you, Ese?"

"No. But that's why I wanted to see you. You haven't had a day off in a while, so I thought that perhaps you might like to go into town on your own. Perhaps do some shopping?"

"That would be wonderful."

Dr. Raon reached into his desk drawer and handed Arasu a card he pulled out. "Here. Buy yourself some clothes, and treat yourself to lunch. Just be back to the Whaleking by dusk."

"Ese..." Ara began, but he silenced her.

"Consider this a bonus for your performance yesterday." With that, Dr. Raon left the room. Arasu stared after him, and then left the room herself, to change into something more appropriate for a day out in the town.

"Is everything ready?" Dr. Raon asked the man standing next to him.

"Yes, sir. Once we land in town, and Miss Hemerosu is out of the way, there won't be anything to stop us."

"Good. Now that Arasu knows that her brother is a part of the Blitz Team, she won't willingly go into battle against them. As long as this doesn't fail, we won't have to worry about that situation."

"Hey Doc!" Jiemi called, entering the control center of the Hover Cargo. The older man looked up as his assistant came over to him. "I just got an invitation to a Strategist's Convention today. The town it's taking place in is coming up on the way back to the base." The boy leaned over the console and pointed it out on the map.

"That's a pretty nice town, Jiemi. Why don't you go find the others? You can go to your convention, and we can spend the day in town." Jiemi nodded, and left the room to tell his teammates of the change in plans.

Later that day, Arasu found herself nearing a small park on the edge of the town. Setting her shopping bags on a bench, she walked to the edge of the park, which was literally on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea.

While she was looking out over the water, she heard the crunch of a foot falling on a piece of wood behind her, and spun around. The momentum of her spin forced her back over the edge of the cliff-face, and she had the faintest glimpse of a blond-haired boy looking at her before she fell. She stopped her fall by grabbing at the rocks, but there was barely enough for her to hold onto, and nothing she could use to climb up. As she tried to figure out if she could turn her wrist-communicator on and not fall, the boy she'd seen in the park peeked his head over the edge.

"Need some help?" he asked her. Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Arasu's wrists, and started pulling. Using his support to keep her up, Arasu pushed her feet against the cliff wall and propelled herself up. When she was back on solid ground, both teens lay on the ground panting for breath.

Arasu looked up at her helper. "Thanks. I don't think I could've gotten back up if you hadn't been there to help."

The boy looked over at her. "Yeah, but if I hadn't've startled you, you probably wouldn't've fallen." The boy glanced at his watch. "Man, I gotta go meet my teammates. Sorry." The boy started to run off, but then stopped and turned back. "By the way, my name's Bit. Bit Cloud." He turned away and ran off before Arasu could say anything.

Bit Cloud? she thought. Isn't that the Raigaru Zero's pilot? If he's in town with his teammates, that means my brother could be here, too. I'll need to be careful.

Jiemi looked down at the paper he had printed out from his e-mail, and then up at the hotel he was standing in front of. This is the place on the invitation, he thought as he walked inside. There weren't a lot of people in the lobby, but he walked up to the counter like the instructions had said, and handed the paper to the receptionist.

"Take the elevator to the top floor, and you're looking for room 426," the receptionist told him, smiling. Jiemi took the paper back from her and walked to the elevator.

That's strange, he thought. I would've thought there'd be more people here than for just one room. Maybe it's the registration room, and the rest of the convention is in other rooms?

When the elevator reached the top floor, he found the appropriate room, and tried the doorknob. The door was locked, so he knocked. The door opened for him, but when he stepped inside, the lights were off, and he couldn't see anyone. The door closed behind him, and the lights snapped on, and Jiemi found himself face-to-face with Dr. Raon. "Raon!" he exclaimed, as someone grabbed him from behind and put a cloth over his face.

Jiemi realized that the cloth covering his face was drugged, and tried to hold his breath. Dr. Raon shook his head. "I'm truly sorry about this, Jiemi. If there were any other way, I'd do it," was the last thing Jiemi heard before passing out.

It was late in the afternoon when Arasu stopped in the small diner to get some food before heading back. She sat at the bar and gave one of the waitresses her order, when a group of people walked in the door and took the back corner booth. Glancing a look back, she saw a young man and woman she didn't recognize, an older man, and her rescuer, Bit Cloud. Turning away before they saw her face, she thought about what she'd just seen. The man... he's Torosu! I remember him from when he'd visit fa... when he'd visit. The girl must be Rinon. Raon was right, she does look a lot like her mother. I don't know who the boy is, though. He doesn't look right to be Leon, and he doesn't look old enough, anyway. But it's gotta be the Blitz Team. I can't let them identify me, or things could get messed up.

Bit looked toward the front of the restaurant to wave over a waitress, and spotted Arasu. "Guys," he told the others, "that's the girl I told you about earlier. The one I helped."

Dr. Torosu looked over and saw the girl. "She looks like she's alone, so why don't you invite her over?"

Arasu felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned to see Bit standing there. "Hey, remember me?" he asked. "My friends and I were wondering if you'd like to join us." Arasu wanted to say no, but Bit's enthusiasm was contagious, and she accepted his offer. "That reminds me, I didn't get your name."

Arasu bit her lip. "Su. Su Rai."

"That's a cool name, Su," Bit replied as they reached the table. He introduced the other members of the Blitz Team to Arasu. "That's Ballade," he told her, pointing to the sandy-haired boy, "and this is Dr. Torosu and his daugher, Rinon," confirming Ara's suspisions. "Guys, this is Su Rai," he told the others. If either of the Torosus recognized her, neither said anything.

"So do you live in town, Su?" Dr. Torosu asked her.

"No, I'm just here doing some shopping," she replied, indicating her bags.

"By yourself?" Ballade asked.

"No," she told him, quickly thinking up a story. "My father had to come into town for some business. I'm meeting him at the car after dinner, to go home." They apparantly accepted this, and the topic of conversation changed to Zoids and Zoid piloting, for which Arasu told them she had no experience.

After dinner, when she returned to the Whaleking, Arasu sought out Dr. Raon to tell him what she had learned about the Blitz Team. She asked a young cadet for his location, and found him in one of the labs, and knocked on the door. Curious as to what he was working on, she peered in the window on the door, and saw Dr. Raon and one of their staff medics talking in front of a bed, where someone was laying. Opening the door so she could talk to Dr. Raon, she realized that the boy on the bed was her brother, she exclaimed "Jiemi!" and ran for the bed.

Guesturing to the medic, Dr. Raon intercepted Arasu's lunge for the bed. "Let me go!" Arasu yelled. "What have you done to him?!"

"Arasu, calm yourself. Your brother is merely sleeping. We have not done 'anything' to him." As Arasu struggled to get to Jiemi, Dr. Raon tightened his grip on her arms, holding her.

Just then, the medic came up beside them, and stuck a needle containing sedative into Arasu's arm. "Jiemi..." Arasu said as she folded into Dr. Raon's arms.

"This is very bad. Will she remember?" Dr. Raon asked the medic.

"When she wakes up, most of the day will seem like a vague dream to her, if she remembers anything at all. It shouldn't effect your plans," he replied.

"How long will she be out?"

"At least until mid-morning tomorrow."

"Will everything here be taken care of by then?"

The medic opened his mouth to reply, but changed his comment as he saw the look on the other's face. "It will be, sir."

Dr. Raon didn't reply, just picked the girl up in his arms and carried her back to her quarters.

Sorry 'bout the really long wait. It's called school.