Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids.
Chapter 1: Sometimes In Life
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The desert sun flared brightly in the ash blue sky, lighting the sands of the barren desert. It seemed that there were more and more deserts nowadays. The sun scorched the still air, causing it to be incredibly hot. Not many would dare to walk such a desert on a day like this. However, fate isn't always so kind. A young man, around the age of 17 or so, was walking through the inhospitable desert. His aquamarine eyes were half closed and his spiked blond hair was caked with sand. His face was covered in sweat as he walked, panting with each staggering step he took. He couldn't remember how long he had been walking or where he was going. It seemed like an eternity since he had first started in this direction, but time didn't matter. He was tired and wanted nothing more than to collapse right where he stood, but he knew he wouldn't stand a chance if he didn't find a town soon, or at least some water. 'How did I get into this mess?' he asked himself. He thought back to the beginning of his day, trying to piece his jumbled memories together.
******
Ultimate X pilot, Bit Cloud, had just finished eating breakfast, which consisted of pancakes and bacon. He walked into the hanger of the Blitz team's base. He wore a smile on his face as he thought about his plans for the day. They consisted of a run with his zoid, the Liger Zero, then stealing some of Leena's snacks without her finding out. However, he wasn't sure if he wanted to get beaten up today, so he dismissed that task. After his run, he'd go salvage a few more part to rebuild his inventory. The last time he was going to sell off some parts, Doctor Toros had beaten him to it, and Bit wasn't about to let that happen again. He walked over to the Liger Zero and smiled.
"Ready to go?" asked Bit. The Liger Zero roared his response, which was easily interpreted as a "yes". Bit climbed up and jumped into the cockpit. They were both out in the desert in no time, running over the sand and watching the dust fly up as they passed.
After only minutes of being out in the desert, a geyser or sand erupted right in front of them. The Liger Zero slid to a stop, causing Bit to nearly hit his head on the consol. The sand wall then fell down, revealing two Guysacks. Suddenly, more sand geysers erupted and more Guysacks emerged from their hiding places. There were about 30 all together. They began to surround the Liger Zero.
"What a nice looking zoid," sneered one of the pilots over the com-link.
"It's much too good for you," said another one to Bit.
"Get out of the way," warned Bit.
"Yeah right. Why don't we 'liberate' this zoid, huh boys?" asked the man that seemed to be their leader, a smirk present on his face.
"Yeah!" shouted the other men. In the cockpit, Bit sighed.
"Things can just never be easy," he said basically to himself. He then looked up as the scorpion like zoids charged him. The Liger Zero evaded the first attack and jumped to the side. Using the shot cannon mounted on its stomach, it easily took out two zoids. The other 28 zoids launched missiles at the Liger Zero. He knew he couldn't evade them all, but he tried. About half the missiles missed, but the other half hit the Liger Zero. Bit winced as the missiles rained down on him and the Liger. Once the firing had ceased, they were back in action. The Liger Zero prepared a Strike Laser Claw and charged forward, ripping into about eight more of the zoids, putting them out of commission easily. He quickly stopped and slid into a turn to face down a few more enemy zoids. Using the shot cannon, five more zoids went down.
After a few more Strike Laser Claws, the zoids were all disabled, lying in pieces across the desert floor. Bit smiled at his work.
"Well Liger, let's head back." The Liger Zero roared in agreement and then turned around, heading back towards the base of the Blitz team.
In no time at all, they arrived back at the base. Bit got out of the Liger Zero's cockpit and jumped down to the metal floor of the hanger.
"Now I'll have a ton of parts to collect. Those guys won't mind if I take some of their parts. They won't be needing them… right away, that is," said Bit, mainly to himself. He quickly got the jeep ready. "I won't take too many parts though." 'Wouldn't want those pilots to attack me when I'm unarmed…but they're probably not there anymore anyway…oh well, better safe than sorry. I won't take much.' Bit nodded to himself and then got into the jeep, driving back off into the desert.
After a while, Bit arrived back at the place where he had destroyed the Guysacks. The pilots didn't seem to be around anymore, so Bit got out of his jeep. He walked over and began to pick through the leftover parts. After a few minutes, he found some decent pieces of armor and other random parts that had been taken off from Bit's attacks. He loaded them into the jeep and got back in, smiling the entire time. Just then, he heard a strange whistling sound. It was coming closer by the second. Bit then looked up and watched as a rocket launcher sized rocket came falling towards him.
"Oh crap," he said quietly to himself. He quickly leapt from the jeep, just as the rocket hit, causing a huge explosion. Bit landed against the sands of the desert and was instantly covered in it from the explosion.
"Did we get him?" asked a Guysack pilot who was sitting a little ways away on a sand dune.
"I think so," said the other pilot who held a rocket launcher, a pair of binoculars glued to his face.
"Good, then let's go. It's way too hot out here."
"Yeah, I agree." Both men walked off, leaving the vicinity. After they were gone, Bit emerged from the sand, coughing.
"Darn it. That wasn't suppose to happen," he said to himself. He looked around the vicinity and then at the flaming heap of metal that was once a jeep. He sighed to himself. "Doc is gonna make me pay for that. There goes another month's salary. I'm already in debt the way it is." He sighed again and then began to walk in the direction he had come from, hoping against all odds that he wouldn't get turned around.
******
However, fate isn't always so kind, especially to those in trouble. Bit did get turned around, since the strong winds would often pick up the sand, causing it to cloud his sights. He wasn't sure where he was going now, but he knew of one thing, and one thing for sure. He was lost. He, Bit Cloud, had gotten lost in the desert. He was tired, thirsty, and hot, and that was about all he could take of the day. Nothing was going his way and he was sick of it. He soon stopped walking and just stood there, staring at the sky and the bright sun. He fell to his knees, exhausted and soon fell the rest of the way. He closed his eyes.
"I need some rest," he said. And with that, he fell asleep, exhausted and completely dehydrated, not to mention scraped. His hands were burned slightly and he had some scratches on his head and legs from flying debris from the explosion of his jeep. He would only be asleep for a few minutes…just a few, short minutes…
******
Bit's eyes slowly opened. Before his eyes focused, he realized something about his surroundings. It was dark. He wasn't out in the desert anymore, because it was also quite cool where he was. It was dimly lit, but to him, it was dark. His eyes eventually focused and brought in the full image of where he was. It looked like the inside of a hanger, only not quite as big as the one he was used to. He noticed there was lighting in the room, but as he already observed, it was very dim; several of the fluorescent tubes were fizzling or cracked. He slowly sat up, relieved that he didn't feel nauseous after doing so. He looked around a little more and found out that he was lying on a couch instead of on a bed. He touched his forehead and noticed that there was a bandage neatly wrapped around it, along with some on his hands. There were also bandages on all of his cuts. It was a good thing he was hit mostly by sand, or he might not have gotten off so easily. Bit looked around, trying to find out exactly where he was.
"Hey."
Bit turned his head to look at the source of the voice. His eyes landed on a young man. The boy looked about his age, with jet-black hair that hung to his ears and midnight blue eyes. He wore a pair of brown pants and black boots. His shirt was short sleeved and dark blue. Over it, he wore a long, white coat, almost like a trench coat, but not quite as long, thick, or heavy. It seemed more like a lab coat. He kept it unbuttoned and untied. The last thing was a red headband, covered partially by his bangs. He smiled at Bit and held out his hand, which contained a water bottle.
"Here," he said, tossing Bit the bottle. "I thought you might be a little thirsty." Bit easily caught the bottle and just stared at it for a second, finally realizing how thirsty he was. He quickly undid the cap and gulped it down. Before he knew it, the bottle was completely empty. Bit sighed out of satisfaction. It felt good to finally have some water. He then turned his attention back to the man.
"Thanks," he said, putting the cap back on the bottle.
"No problem. I'm happy to help."
"Exactly where am I?" asked Bit. It had been bugging him since he woke up.
"This is my base. I know it's not much, but it's home to me. Oh yeah, sorry. My name's Tori. You're Bit Cloud, right?"
"Yeah."
"I thought so. You're the pilot of the Liger Zero. What were you doing in the middle of the desert?" Bit just shrugged.
"I was attacked. I was heading back to the base, but I got turned around."
"Oh, I get it. You must have been exhausted. No wonder you were so thirsty. Walking in the desert like that without any water is like suicide, especially in this heat."
"I'll remember that the next time my jeep explodes," Bit responded sarcastically. Tori just ignored it.
"It's a good thing I found you out there. Not many people will drive this far out into the desert."
"Yeah, I really owe you one." Bit sighed. He'd probably want money, and he was already up to his ears in dept with Doc, not to mention that now he had a jeep to pay for too.
"Think nothing of it. I'm guessing that you'd like to get back to your base, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, then you can use that," he said, pointing towards a jeep nearly identical to the one Bit had been driving before.
"How will I get it back to you?" asked Bit.
"Oh, don't worry about that. You can have it."
"I can…have it? But it's yours," exclaimed Bit, curious as to why he would just give away a jeep.
"It's alright. I can get another one. And besides, it'll give me an excuse to use my Lighting Saix."
"Lightning Saix?" Bit looked around the hanger and found a black zoid in the far right corner of the room. It looked fairly new and practically unused.
"Yep. I've had it for a while now, but I never really get the chance to use it."
"Don't you ever battle?"
"No. I don't mind though. I don't think I'd like to be in an actual zoid battle. I've never really used my Saix for that."
"What do you use it for?"
"Uh…well…other stuff…"
"Like what?"
"Like…" Tori looked around desperately, as if trying to find a way out of answering. He then seemed to remember something. "Oh, I just forgot. I need to go into town today. Hey, how about this? I'll drive us into town. From there, you can have the car. I'll get another one. Sounds good?"
"Well, I guess…" Bit was slightly put off by not getting an answer for his previous question.
"Great! Let's go." Tori turned around and began to walk towards his jeep. Bit stood up from the couch, feeling a little dizzy, and followed him. His head was fine, but his legs definitely weren't. They both got in, and in no time, they were off.
******
At the base of the Blitz team, everyone was wondering where Bit had gone. It had been over two hours now since he had left with the jeep.
"Where's Bit?!" asked Leena angrily. "He should have been back by now!"
"He'll be back eventually," said Brad, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Why do you care anyway, Leena?" asked Jamie while folding the newest batch of laundry. Leena just glared at him and left the room, scowling. Jamie and Brad watched her as she left and once they were sure she was gone, they went back to their own business. "What was that all about?" asked Jamie.
"Who knows," said Brad, relaxing even more in his chair.
Meanwhile, Leena was walking around aimlessly, hoping to find something to do. She suddenly sighed in frustration.
"It's no fun around here without Bit," she said. "That idiot is never around when I need him. I'm so bored!" Leena found her way into the hanger and began to walk across it, hoping for some inspiration. She stopped walking when she reached the Liger Zero. That's when she noticed the scratches that literally covered the white armor, not to mention the singe marks around the shot cannon from gunfire.
"I wonder what happened," she said quietly. "We haven't had a battle recently, so how did the Liger get so beaten up?" She thought it over and decided to ask Bit about it later. A few thoughts came to her mind, but she quickly dismissed them. There was no need to add worry to the many different feelings she was dealing with. 'You better be alright, Cloud, or I'll kill you.' And with that, she walked out of the hanger, continuing her search for something to do.