Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids.
Chapter 4: Sometimes in Dreams
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It was now morning and the sun was shining brightly in the blue sky. Today would be a nice day, since there was a slight breeze. It would be a perfect day for a zoid battle, but the Blitz team didn't know that, yet, anyway. Doc had yet to tell them of the recent news that seemed to slip his mind. Right now, everyone was sitting in the kitchen, waiting for breakfast to be served. Jamie was cooking, as usual. The only other person who was absent was the silver haired Hikari. Just then, she appeared in the doorway, yawned, and then walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Hikari," said Doc in a cheerful manner.
"Ohayo, minna-san." Good morning, everyone Hikari walked over to the table and sat down next to Leena. She sighed and then decided to cast her eyes to the table. Her dream played over in her head as she desperately tried to find out what it meant. The people around her seemed slightly worried at her distraught look.
"Is something wrong?" asked Jamie, setting the pancakes down on the table. Hikari's head shot up and she glanced around the room. They were all looking at her. She shook her head.
"Nandemo." It's nothing They just shrugged and began to eat. 'At least…I hope it's nothing.'
******
After breakfast, the team decided to work on their zoids. Bit was the one who had the most work to do. The Liger Zero was still damaged from his encounter yesterday.
"Oh man," said Bit, realizing how much work he had to do. "I guess I better get started." Just then, Doc Toros walked into the hanger, a smile on his face.
"Good news, team," he said. All four warriors turned to face him. Those were the three words that were feared the most among the Blitz team. The words "good news team" meant one of two things. One was "we're going to take a vacation", which followed those three words maybe once in a blue moon. The other was "we have a battle today". That's the one it would probably be.
"What is it, Doc?" asked Brad.
"We have a battle today," he said happily. The whole team sighed. It's not that a battle was a bad thing, but they had just had one the other day. "It'll take place in three hours, so get ready." And with that, he turned around and walked away, leaving the team to prepare their zoids.
"What?! Just three hours?" screamed Bit. The repairs to the Liger would take at least four. There was no way he could finish.
"What's the big deal Bit? It's not like the Liger Zero needs that many repairs," stated Leena. That's when it hit her. The Liger Zero really was damaged this time. 'How could I have forgotten?' She mentally scolded herself for letting such a thing slide. "Hey Bit. What happened to the Liger?" Bit froze. He knew that this would come up sooner or later, but he hadn't finished coming up with an excuse. "It looks like you were in a battle."
"Uh…"
"Come on, Bit. I want the truth." Leena was standing with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. Bit knew there was no way out of it. There was no excuse for something like this, and she would chase him down if he tried to avoid it, and then beat the answer out of him. He shuttered at the thought. He sighed, realizing he would have to tell the truth.
"Alright," he said. "I got into a fight with some zoids yesterday and they partially damaged the Liger Zero. That's all. Happy now?"
"You should be more careful. Now you have to repair the Liger before we leave. Good luck," she responded with humor in her voice. She turned around and walked over to her Gun Sniper. Bit just sighed and turned back to the Liger Zero.
"Looks like I have some work to do."
******
"Good morning, Tori."
"Good morning," responded the cheerful blue-eyed teen. He was walking down the hallway on the seventh floor of an extremely tall building. It was much like an office building, but not quite as professional looking. "Have you seen my dad?"
"Yeah, I just passed him. He was heading down the hall that way." The man pointed towards the area.
"Okay, thanks." Tori ran passed him and ran down the hall, sliding around the corner. He saw the retreating figure that was his father. "Dad!" he shouted. The man stopped and turned around to face his son. He had the same eyes and hair, but he seemed more professional than his incredibly laidback son.
"Why hello, Tori. To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked sarcastically.
"Knock it off, dad. You know why I'm here."
"Not really."
"I want to know why you closed down the lab in Romeo City. We were making such progress."
"We didn't completely close it down. We just moved a lot of it here."
"But…but you…"
"I know what we did, and I know why you're upset. The lab was attacked, Tori. That's why. That's why we had to do it."
"When did this happen?"
"About three weeks ago."
"But…what about…"
"Project Mirai?"
"Yeah. And experiments…"
"Yami and Akari?" Tori simply nodded. His father sighed in slight frustration. "If you would call every once in a while, maybe you'd know about this."
"I'm sorry, alright? It hasn't been that long, right?" said Tori, sounded uninterested. He hated conversations like this, because he always ended up in trouble.
"Not that long? Ha. Try two years."
"Oh…" Tori looked thoughtful, as if he was contemplating something. "Really? It's been that long?"
"Sure has."
"Uh, well, that's in the past. Now, let's talk about the present. What happened to experiments Yami and Akari?"
"About a year ago, Yami left. We lost contact soon after. As for Akari, when the lab exploded…"
"You sent experiment Akari away, didn't you," he said more in a statement than a question. He already knew the answer anyway.
"I'm afraid so. It's been three weeks now and we're not sure what happened or where the location is, but we're working on it."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. How about I help to rebuild the lab?"
"We won't be rebuilding it. We're just going to use the underground one here."
"Alright…" responded Tori, slightly dragging the word. The underground lab wasn't exactly all that big. It'd be hard to perform any experiments there.
"Come on, Tori. How about you stick around for lunch today?"
"Sure, as long as you're buying." They both began to walk down the hall and towards the seventh floor lounge. It was set up a lot like a cafeteria. There was a big screen on the farthest wall. Zoid battles were often broadcasted on it, and one was currently on. One of the teams was none other than the Blitz team. Tori smiled.
"Well, it looks like Bit made it back okay. He sure seemed curious as to why I gave him my jeep." Tori's dad stiffened, his eye twitching. Even though his back was to Tori, the boy could tell that his father was not very happy to hear that.
"Tori," he stated coldly.
"Uh, that reminds me. I came here to borrow some money…" said Tori nervously.
"That jeep was brand new."
"I won't need much…" he continued, even though his dad was talking to him.
"I just sent it to you last week."
"And I already have one picked out…"
"I'm not buying you another one."
"So maybe if you could…what? You won't buy me a new one?!" he said in shock.
"No!"
"Then how am I supposed to get home?"
"You have two legs, you're young, so walk." Tori froze, his eyes fixed on his dad. 'He wants ME to walk? Walk? I'll never make it!' Tori shook his head, dismissing the horrid thought.
"Come on dad! I can't walk that far! It'll take hours, maybe days!"
"Then I suggest you start walking." Tori just sighed, realizing that his dad wasn't going to buy him a jeep. 'Life is never fair…'
******
"I can't believe I actually did it," stated Bit with amazement. He had managed to fix the Liger Zero within three hours. "I'm a genius!" This statement got him a few snickers from his teammates. "If you got something to say, then say it!" In the Hover Cargo, Jamie was also laughing. Next to him was Hikari, who had wanted to watch the zoid battle. Zoids were things she had often heard of, and she was hoping that by watching a battle that she might remember something. Her memory was nothing but a bunch of jumbled images and thoughts. She couldn't remember much of anything. Certain words would trigger random thoughts, but that was about all. It was even more frustrating for her, since she couldn't even speak to these people. There was no way for them to help her. She did, however, feel safe around these people. They were nice enough. Give or take a few quirks, they were good people overall. And that's all that truly mattered. Hikari watched as the judge fell from the sky, hitting the ground hard. The dust from the sand soon cleared and the capsule rose and opened, revealing the judge.
"The area within a 20 mile radius is a designated Zoid battle field. This zone is now restricted. Only competitors and personnel have authorized entry. Danger. All others must leave the area at once. Area scanned, battlefield set up. The Blitz team vs. the Hero team. Battle mode 0982. Ready! Fight!" said the judge.
******
"So, they're up against the Hero team? Interesting," said Tori as he stuffed his face with food, mainly a sub sandwich. His father sat across from him, sipping on a cup of coffee.
"Yes. This will be an interesting battle."
"That's the team headed by Tai Kenjitsu, right?" asked Tori, as he bit into his sandwich.
"Yeah, along with his teammates, Ayame Ryuusei and Toru Yuuretsu. Not to mention their strategist."
"You mean Kyouri Raiden?"
"Yes. She's a brilliant strategist. It will be interesting to see who wins this round."
"Bit's team will win, hands down, I'm sure of it," responded Tori, still stuffing his face.
"Then why don't we make a bet?"
"A bet? Come on, dad, gambling is illegal."
"If I win, you have to promise to call every once in a while, not to mention buy me lunch next time."
"And if I win?"
"I'll buy you a new jeep."
"Cool! You're on! The Blitz team will definitely win!" shouted Tori as he thrust his arm in the air for emphasis.
******
Hikari watched as the battle started. 'Something isn't right,' she thought to herself. She looked around the battlefield and found what she was looking for. Sitting on a sand dune a few miles away was a group of zoids, which suddenly became invisible. 'Stealth devices…they're going to attack the teams. I have to do something.'
"Jaime," said Hikari, causing the boy to turn around.
"What?"
"Ano…" Um 'How do I do this so that he'll understand me?' Hikari pointed to the sand dune where the zoids had been. "Asoko!" Over there! Jamie followed her view, but saw nothing.
"There's nothing there Hikari. You must be seeing things."
"Demo…" But… 'I have to make him see it!' Hikari did the only thing she could do. She moved Jamie out of the way and began to type on the control panel.
"Hikari! What are you doing?" After typing in a few more things, a new screen appeared.
"Hora!" Look! She pointed to the screen, which showed a group of zoids using stealth shields. However, the stealth shields couldn't hide their heat signatures.
"Oh man, this can't be good."
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That's all for now^.^
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