NOTE: READ THIS: Okay, there will be a few Japanese words used in this that I won't be defining in the context. They are said by Tori. I'll define them at the end of the chapter, so just look at the glossary down there, k?
Chapter 9: We'll Stand Together
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The Blitz team followed Kyouri through the desert. She was doing her best not to go too fast. She didn't need to lose her backup. Tai was in trouble and she needed their help to save him. In the distance, they could all make out a battle that was taking place. Tai, in his Dark Spiner, was completely outnumbered. His zoid was currently lying on the desert floor, getting wailed on. He was defenseless right now. It was amazing that his system wasn't frozen yet.
"Tai, hang on!" shouted Kyouri over the com-link. "I brought the Blitz team with me." She blasted off into the fray, leaving the Blitz team to get there on their own. There were at least twenty black painted zoids. Half were Rev Raptors and half were Saber Fangs. Kyouri began blasting at the enemy zoids as the Blitz team entered the fray. They began shooting and hacking away at the enemy zoids, keeping them away from Tai.
"Hey Tai!" shouted Kyouri. "Are you alright?"
"I think so," he replied. He appeared in their com-links. "Thanks for coming." He looked horrible right now. His arm still wasn't healed and now he had a huge cut on the side of his head.
"It's no problem," said Bit. "We're always happy to help." They continued shooting down the zoids, having no problem with them. Tai and Kyouri probably would have been fine if Tai wasn't disabled right now. Piloting with only the use of one arm wasn't at all easy.
"I thought you guys were supposed to be at a secure location," said Leena.
"We were," began Tai, "but Ayame and Toru are our friends, and staying at that base isn't going to do them any good. We want to help them ourselves."
Within a few minutes, the zoids were all taken out. The Blitz team and Hero team stood victorious.
"Now," began Bit. "Let's get back to the base. You two should come with us."
"Alright," said Kyouri. "Let's go, Tai."
"Yeah, okay." He sounded tired. He had taken in a lot of damage during the battle. His zoid could do nothing but walk. The weapons were all damaged in one way or another, making them useless. They all began to make their way back to the base, leaving the broken down enemy zoids where they were. Things were really getting interesting. The Blitz team and the Hero team were both being targeted now, along with Tori and Hikari. And somehow, they were all ending up at the Blitz team's base. It always seemed to work out this way. They were always in the middle of everything.
After a while, they made it back to the Blitz team's base. They stopped their zoids in the hanger and got out. It took Tai a little longer to get out, but they waited for him. He was in worse shape than they had thought. His right leg was all cut up as well. Nonetheless, he jumped down and landed on both legs, but quickly fell to one knee, cringing at the pain. Kyouri was at his side within seconds.
"Tai, are you alright?" she asked.
"I'll be fine. I just need to get some rest."
"Come on," said Jamie. "You should get that taken care of."
"Yeah," he said as he stood up. They all walked out of the hanger and into the base itself. Doc was waiting in the main room.
"Wow," he said. "You came back faster than I thought you would."
"Yeah, well, they went down quickly after we got into it," explained Bit.
"Are you two alright?" asked Doc, addressing Tai and Kyouri.
"We'll live," answered Tai.
"Come on," said Bit. "Let's get you taken care of."
******
The members of the Blitz team, along with Tai and Kyouri, were in one of the medical rooms they had in the base. Leena and Kyouri were currently fixing up Tai.
"Thanks," said Tai. "We really owe you."
"Think nothing of it," began Brad. "In reality, it might be our fault that this happened."
"Your fault?" asked Kyouri.
"Well, yeah," said Bit. "We got you involved with Kaijin."
"Kaijin?" questioned Tai. "You mean that black dragon zoid?"
"The one that destroyed the ZBC headquarters?" added Kyouri.
"Yeah, that one," said Bit. "We think that Kageru, the man piloting it, is behind all of this."
"What would he want with Ayame and Toru?" asked Tai.
"I'm not sure."
"Well, anyway," continued Tai. "As soon as we're up to it, we'll be leaving again to go and find them. I'm not about to give up."
"It's pointless," said Tori. They all turned to the doorway and saw the young commissioner standing there, Hikari just behind him. He was now dressed in his dark shirt and trench coat, along with a pair of black pants.
"What did you say?" asked Tai, slightly annoyed with the statement.
"I said it's pointless. Unless Kageru wants you to find him, you won't succeed. He's smarter than you're giving him credit for."
"Look, I don't care what you say. I will find them. I'm not just going to leave them out there."
"You can't do anything in the state you're in. It's pointless. Kaijin would rip you and your zoid apart."
"Oh yeah?" Tai stood up and angrily walked over to Tori. "Just who do you think you are anyway?" They were standing in the hallway now, simply staring at each other. "You don't know anything about me or my team. I'm not leaving them."
"If you go, you'll die. It's pointless." Tai had about all he could take out of the blue eyed boy. He grabbed him by the shirt.
"You don't know anything!" he shouted.
"Tai, you should probably put him down," suggested Jamie.
"This jerk needs to be taught a lesson. He's too arrogant."
"I'm only telling the truth. If you go, you'll die. Kaijin is too powerful. Forget about them for now. Be patient."
"If we wait too long, they may end up dead!" It was silent for only a small moment before the announcer on the television caught their attention.
"-I repeat, I have a very important announcement to make concerning the ZBC," said the female reporter.
"Tori!" called Doc from the main room where the television was. "You might want to see this!" Tori quickly shoved away from Tai and ran quickly into the main room, followed by the others.
"I'm afraid we have some disappointing news," said the announcer. "I take you now to the council room in Romeo city where Korran Genshu is ready to tell us all what the future of the ZBC will be." The scene switches to the council room where a man in a suit was standing in front of a podium. It was the same man from before.
"I'm afraid I have some rather disappointing news," he began. "The son of Jason Ragnarok, Tori Ragnarok, has been reported dead." The members of the Blitz team gasped. Tori clenched his fists out of anger. "We are all mourning over the loss of our great leader and his son. From now on, I will lead the ZBC with my group of highly trained officials. We will-" Tori shut the TV off, unable to take it.
"Kuso!" he cursed. "The nerve of that…that…kisama!" Hikari gasped, being the only one who knew what the word meant. Calling someone by that word wasn't common. Tori was obviously incredibly angry. "I'll go back there and teach him a lesson, I swear it! When I'm through with him, he won't set foot in another ZBC base for as long as he lives!" Tori suddenly felt dizzy again. He couldn't take this. His world was falling apart in the matter of a day. He staggered over to the couch and sat down, trying to calm his raging pulse and his headache.
"Tori, daijoubu?" asked Hikari. Are you alright?
"I'm fine, Hikari," he said, the anger still present in his voice.
"Could someone fill us in?" asked Kyouri.
"Why are you so upset?" asked Tai, directing his question to Tori. "What does that man have anything to do with you?"
"He has everything to do with me," snapped Tori. "That liar is going to get what's coming to him, mark my words. He's not sorry at all for my father's death, and he sure as hell isn't sorry about mine!"
"What?" asked Tai, slightly confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Tori Ragnarok isn't dead," stated Doc.
"What?" asked both Tai and Kyouri.
"In fact," began Bit. "He's very much alive. He's also the guy you wanted to kill a few minutes ago." Tai's eyes fell on Tori, who still seemed angry.
"You mean you're him?!" shouted Tai in shock.
"Exactly," answered Tori, taking in a deep, calming breath before standing. He put on a small smile and turned his attention to Tai. "Tori Ragnarok," he said, extending his hand. "We kind of got off on the wrong foot, so I'm making up for it. It's nice to meet you, Tai Kenjitsu." Tai was speechless at first. He suddenly snapped out of it.
"Oh, right," he began. He shook Tori's hand. "I'm sorry about before. I wouldn't have reacted like that if I had known you were the commissioner."
"That's quite alright," said Tori with a smile. "I'd prefer it if all of you would act normally around me. I'm no better than any of you are. Besides, according to the rest of the world, I don't even exist now, remember?" There was a small trace of spite in his voice.
"We'll figure out something," assured Bit. "We won't let them get away with this." Tori turned to Bit, slightly surprised.
"Are you guys really willing to help me out?" he asked. "Cause it'll be risky. We may all get thrown in jail or possibly get executed. You're okay with that?"
"We're going to help you," stated Leena.
"Well," began Tori. "First, let's take care of Kaijin. Then we'll deal with the ZBC. I have to get back at Kageru for what he did. However…" He turned to Hikari. "We need to get to the headquarters and find the lab. You need to get your full memory back." Hikari smiled and then nodded to him.
"We'll help," offered Tai. "This might help us find our missing teammates."
"I think we should wait until tomorrow before heading out," said Doc. "Both Tai and Tori need to rest up."
"I'm fine," insisted Tori. "It was just a headache. It won't happen again." He took a step forward and nearly collapsed. Hikari did her best to catch him, helping him stand back up.
"God, what is wrong with you?" asked Bit. "We already checked you over twice and there shouldn't be anything wrong."
"I don't know," said Tori. "But maybe I do need that rest." He began to walk away with the help of Hikari. They left the room, heading for the med room.
"What do you think is wrong with him?" asked Jamie.
"Stress," insisted Doc. "That's the only answer I can come up with." They all just accepted that and soon left to do their own things. Kyouri took Tai back to the medical section to finish fixing his wounds. Brad went to the kitchen while Jamie went to the strategy room. Doc went to his own room to play with his zoid models. Bit and Leena both ended up in the hanger.
"What should we do about the Dark Spiner?" asked Bit.
"We could fix it for him," suggested Leena.
"Do you think he'll mind? Some warriors can be really picky about their zoids."
"I don't think he'll mind. He may even thank us."
"Okay…"
"Hey Bit?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think that Hikari and Tori might be more than just 'friends'?"
"What do you mean?" Leena sighed. Bit really was clueless.
"What I mean is," she began, "do you think Hikari likes Tori as more than just a friend?" Bit simply blinked, giving her a blank stare. He honestly had never even thought of that, or paid attention to it for that matter. Leena gave an exasperated sigh.
"Forget it," she said. "Just forget it. Let's get to work." Bit nodded and went to get the tools. They had their work cut out for them. Tai's zoid was a mess. Together, they began the task of fixing up the Dark Spiner.
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Well, hi again. I have a question for the reviewers, but don't get mad if you make a suggestion and I don't use it. I need a reason for Tori's dizzy spells. I was thinking internal bleeding, but since I'm not good with medical things and the effects of injuries, I'd like a little help. Email me about it, k? Or review it. Usually, I don't ask for help, but my mind can't come up with anything else other than blood loss or internal injury.
Anyway, here's the glossary^.^
Kuso –it's a word to express anger, similar to our swear words. (I'd rather not write them)
Kisama –there is no direct translation to this word. It's an insult so bad that it can't compare to our words.
That's about it. I'll try to write more soon, but I'd like suggestions. Again, please DO NOT get mad if I don't use the one you give me. I'm not trying to be mean at all, I simply need a little help.
Until next time, bye!