The Moment, a zoids fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own zoids. Tomy does, so there.

The Moment

Josie sat musing over her laptop. She was a writer, a poet, a muse of sorts. She had a saying stuck in her head and she didn't know why; she wanted to turn it into a poem, but no inspiration was coming to her.

"A moment in time," Josie said softly, running the words across her tongue. "A moment in time."

"Josie, time to get up!" came a call from downstairs. Her mother.

Josie glanced at the clock next to her bed, it was seven-o-clock. Time for school already? Josie thought as she shut her laptop down and climbed out of bed, yawning. Josie had been up since four that morning, after waking up from a strange dream . . .

Josie gripped the controls in panic, as she felt herself thrown into the air, as if grabbing onto them would prevent her from leaving the ground. Feeling her distress, Dallas snapped at the zoid producing before them, reaching with all his strength from the arm. It was of no avail; the Blade Liger and its pilot were thrown into the abyss below them.

To Josie it seemed like it was taking forever for them to fall. She smiled as she saw a bright light above. They had done it. Everything would be ok . . . for them. Her grip on the controls relaxed. Slowly the Genosaurer, Iron Kong and the Command Wolf on the rocky platform above were disappearing as they grew farther and farther away. Dallas growled a soft goodbye to their friends now far above them. Josie patted the console comfortingly. "It's ok Dallas. It's just me and you now, together."

Josie leaned back in the cockpit. She found herself wondering if she had any regrets: all those dreams and goals . . . No. She was happy, though she would've liked to have said goodbye to everyone first and for Dallas to live longer. He was only a year old, a very young zoid. Josie thought she could hear some words coming from the distance. Josie's eyes narrowed in concentration, it sounded like . . . her voice, saying something. But what was it?

Time sped up suddenly. The Blade Liger slammed into the bottom of the canyon. Glass and armor shattered, debris, flying everywhere. Rocks crumbled on the canyon walls, falling on the Blade Liger, denting what was left of the bent and battered frame. Then an explosion sounded. When all the smoke finally disappeared, all that could be seen below among the debris, was an old, dead Blade Liger.

. . . A moment in time. Those were the only words Josie could remember hearing right before she and Dallas hit the canyon floor. A moment in time . . . Josie shrugged. It was just a dream, but the words, 'A moment in time,' would've been neat in a poem. So much for that.

Grabbing her leather gloves, Josie paused at a picture of a young, blue-haired woman. Her great-aunt Blue. Apparently her aunt had been a zoid pilot too, though Josie had never met her before her aunt had died. Her mom had always said that she had gotten her zoid piloting skills from the Flyhight side of the family, but her Aunt Blue had been the only 'Flyhight' to actually become a pilot. Josie hoped to become a pilot one day herself, either that or a famous poet.

Josie ran downstairs and ate breakfast as fast as she could. She had taken too much time to get ready this morning; she was going to be late. "Bye, Mom!" called Josie as she ran out into the family hanger, past her Dad's Pteras and the family jeep, right up to her own Blade Liger, Dallas, a present from her last birthday. The Blade Liger leaned down and opened its cockpit, allowing Josie easier access. "All right, Dallas," she said as the cockpit closed and the liger stood up. "We're going to have to go top speed. I'm bordering on late, and we're holding Zephyr and Alex up." Dallas roared an answer and burst out of the hanger at top speed. Technically it was against the rules to take a zoid to school, but no one enforced the rule. So anyone with a piloting license and a zoid skipped the bus and came with their zoid to school; even some of the teachers took a zoid instead of their cars.

Up ahead, Josie could see a Command Wolf and a Genosaurer. Josie briefly remembered her dream, but pushed it from her mind. It was true that her friends piloted these zoids, Zephyr, who had been lucky enough to get the Genosaurer from his uncle who was a professional pilot for his birthday, and Alex in her Command Wolf, but Josie had no friends who piloted a Iron Kong, or even knew someone who piloted an Iron Kong for that matter.

"You're late," commented Zephyr, or Zeph, as they sometimes called him, as Josie's Blade Liger came up to the two zoids. "Well then what're we waiting around for?" asked Josie. "I'll race you guys to school." The Genosaurer and Blade Liger took off at the top speed each pilot could withstand, with the Command Wolf lagging behind them.

"Guys, wait, stop! I don't want to do this!" came Alex's exasperated face on the screen.

Zephyr smirked. "You don't want to do this every morning. And you don't just want to do this because you always lose."

Alex looked to Josie beseechingly. Josie shrugged. "You'll never get any better unless you practice, remember? Besides, we'll be late if we don't hurry."

Josie heard Alex sigh, exasperated, and mutter something about how they'll never be late at the rate they're going as Josie turned her eyes back to the race. Zephyr was ahead, but Josie would soon change that . . .

Josie and Alex had gotten out of homeroom early that afternoon, and waited outside patiently for Zephyr. When he finally came out, he had an annoyed look on his face.

"What's wrong Zeph?" asked Alex, concern on her face.

Zephyr sat down next to them and sighed. "Mr. Tangelan, he's the most boring science teacher that ever walked the planet." Zephyr chuckled dryly at this and continued. "Today we were talking about the space-time continuum. Puhhh, all I know about time is that it's boring."

At the mention of 'time,' Josie's dream resurfaced in her mind again. Josie almost slipped into deep thought, but Alex brought her out of it at the mentioning of zoid piloting.

"Come on Zeph. We'll take our zoids out for a ride. Piloting always makes you feel better."

Zephyr brightened up at that. He stretched as he stood up. "Well then, what are we waiting for? I'll race you guys to the triangle rock formation over by the north side Twilight City."

Alex didn't look happy at this idea, but got into her Command Wolf anyway.

The race had succeeded in cheering Zephyr up, though he claimed he hadn't needed it. All three zoids now stood around the edge of the Triangle Rock formation, which was at the edge of a canyon where the river had long dried up. Josie and her Blade Liger stood over the edge of the canyon, looking down into the abyss below, 'a moment in time,' echoing in her head. Suddenly she turned to the Genosaurer and the Command Wolf which where in a sort of wrestling match. It appeared as if the Genosaurer might be winning. "Hey guys, what does 'time' mean to you?"

Both zoids stopped in mid-tussle. Both Zephyr and Alex's confused faces appeared onscreen. "What do you mean?" Zephyr asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like. What does time, mean to you?"

The Genosaurer got off the Command Wolf and seemed to contemplate along with its pilot. "I think . . . I think time goes too quickly. I think you have to constantly be aware of it or it'll take you by surprise. Before you know it . . . you'll be old." Zephyr seemed to shiver at that last thought. The Genosaurer looked in the direction of the Command Wolf. "What about you, Alex?"

Alex also thought about how she should answer. Finally she said, "Time is powerful."

"Is that it?" asked Zephyr.

Alex nodded. Zephyr burst out laughing. "That's the stupidest answer I've ever heard."

Alex flushed. "Stop it! It's not funny." Though the reply was calm, hurt was clearly in her voice, and anger mixed with embarrassment now showed on her face.

Zephyr just laughed harder, paying no attention to Alex's pleas. Finally Alex broke down. "Stop!" Zephyr paused, tears of mirth in his eyes and he started at Alex. To both Josie and Alex's surprise Zephyr started laughing even harder. Alex burst into tears and ran in the direction of the canyon toward Twilight City.

Zephyr stopped at this, now angry. "Hey! Come back here! I was just teasing you." No reply came. Alex had shut off her comlink. "Stupid whore," Zephyr muttered angrily.

Josie sighed and began talking to Zephyr as if he was a naughty child who didn't know any better. "You shouldn't have teased her like that. She really likes you, you know," she said, reminding Zephyr of the crush Alex had on him.

Zephyr blushed angrily. "Yeah, I know."

"Come on, we better go get her," Josie said, urging Dallas off in the direction Alex had taken. The Blade Liger needed no further motivation, he was off. After half an hour or so, Josie noticed something in the distance, about three-hundred meters away from them. There were two zoids, duking it out. One was Alex's Command Wolf, but the other?

A tear-stained faceappeared before them. "Zephyr, Josie, get out of here, you'll get hurt!" said Alex.

"No way!" yelled Zephyr, angry that someone could be attacking his friend. "We'll teach this jerk a lesson."

"Zephyr . . ."

"What, Josie?"

"There's something coming toward us." A blip had appeared on the radar. Zephyr was the first to realize what it might be. "That zoid that's fighting Alex is a Iron Kong. There's only one missile that I know of that could come this far . . ."

"That's a Ballistic Missile!"

The Blade Liger's and Genosaurer' shields flew up in the nick of time, just managing to save the zoids from a command system freeze.

"We can't let that thing fire another missile again. Come on." The Genosaurer ran off towards the two combatants. "Hey you! Leave our friend alone!"

Josie followed, but more carefully. Her shield was out, there was no way Dallas would survive another attack like that, and Josie knew how strong a Iron Kong was. They would have to be careful.

"No!" Alex yelled. "Go away! I can handle this!" The Command Wolf leaped onto the back of the Iron Kong in desperation. The Iron Kong grabbed the Command Wolf and slammed it into the ground.

Dallas's blades flipped out and lighted up with heat energy. Josie charged the Iron Kong. To her surprise, the Iron Kong stepped right in front of the charging Blade Liger. Dallas slammed into the Iron Kong, which managed to remain standing. Josie tried to back out, but the Iron Kong was bending over her with a strong grip on the base of Dallas's blades. Josie had a clear view of the cockpit, but it looked as if there was no pilot. "Hey guys, I think this is a wild zoid." As she said this, Josie heard something snap. Dallas fell down and the Iron Kong stood over it with the Blade Liger's blades pointing down at it.

The Genosuarer's claws latched onto the Iron Kong, sending volts of electricity into the ape zoid. The Command Wolf began pummeling the Iron Kong with its Twin 50mm Cannons. The Iron Kong roared in pain and dropped the blades. Grabbing the cables that attached the grappling claws to the Genosuarer, the Iron Kong swung the Genosuarer so that it crashed into the Command Wolf, tripping it. The Iron Kong then picked up the blades again and prepared to drive them down into Dallas's cockpit.

The Command Wolf was the first to get up. "No!" The Command Wolf charged at the Iron Kong. The Kong turned and saw the Command Wolf. Taking the two blades, it drove them into the Wolf's side. Unable to battle any longer, the Command Wolf fell to the ground. The Kong prepared to finish it, and Alex, off.

By this time, the Genosuarer and Dallas had gotten up. Josie looked in the direction of the canyon and an idea formed. "Zeph, prepare to fire your charged particle gun in the direction of the canyon. I'll take care of the rest." Zeph's head nodded. Dallas turned in the direction of the Iron Kong. "Hey you!" Josie called. "Follow me." Dallas roared at the Iron Kong mockingly, saying something to the big ape zoid that Josie couldn't quite understand.

The Iron Kong turned and ran after the Blade Liger. Before Josie knew, she found herself looking down into the canyon again. Dallas turned around to find itself facing the Iron Kong. The Blade Liger snarled, and leaped onto the Iron Kong, scratching and biting madly at the zoid. Somehow, the Iron Kong managed to stand up. It grabbed the Blade Liger with both hands and . . . Josie gripped the controls in panic, as she felt herself thrown into the air, as if grabbing onto them would prevent her from leaving the ground. Feeling her distress, Dallas snapped at the zoid producing before them, reaching with all his strength from the arm. It was of no avail; the Blade Liger and its pilot were thrown into the abyss below them.

Here today, gone tomorrow,

leaving is always such sweet sorrow,

But don't you worry, my darling Devine,

Life is but a moment in time,

Not the future, and not the past,

Always the present, always to last,

In the moment, you will shine,

Life is but a moment in time

Here and there, moving and not,

it is what it is, and it is what it's not,

But wait a while, and you will find,

Life is but a moment in time.