DISCLAIMER:I don't own zoids, or any copyrighted zoids characters. I own Trey, Max, Riz, Rax, Clara, Sue, Max's Nephew, that executive, guy in trenchcoat. . . christ, I own everybody in this story who doesn't appear in the show, okay? Even little executive with the new shoes and the blonde wife. I also own the Psycho Saix AKA Psy. You touch my chars, I cut you.

". . . that's how you got the Blade to evolve. . ."

"More or less. . ."

I was watching a movie in the living room, buzzing Psy from the intercom.

"You just happened to mention how great it is to evolve. . ."

"It's Rax's zoid, how intellectual could it be?"

"What do Blades usually turn into, anyway?"

The screen connected to the intercom popped up two images.

"The ZBC did a few experiments; they came up with two options."

One image expanded, revealing an orange cat zoid that was ugly as hell. Huge, bulky legs strapped on and a football helmet head with no visible face or jaw. Must weigh more than the Whale. But it did have a huge booster and sniping rifle on the back.

"Snipe Liger, amazing long-distance zoid. But no teeth, claws, or close combat skills. Ain't too fast either."

"The head is like a shock absorber. . ."

"Exactly, it's like it has orthodontia."

Next up is a purple/sky blue cat with two huge wing things sticking out of its back. Kind of a weird head, one eyepiece and tusks on either sides of its mouth. The 'wings' were actually the biggest blades I've ever seen. And its tail had to be twice as long as usual, with an extra blade on it. Nice amount of armor, not a speed demon but looked pretty fast.

"Slash liger, all close combat. Those legs are impossible to break off, same with the blades. Boosters built into every blade, easily half a hundred over a Blade at top speed. Only one gun though, short range. This thing has armor thicker than a Geno. Best Blade zoid around, in my opinion. Has at least twenty tucked away, all high-energized."

"Mother of Eve. . ."

"And a elephander-wannabe ultra shield."

"So the Snipe is a failure, this thing is the best close combat cat around."

"On paper it is. They're rare though, Ligers never want to change. This thing was made for Rax, believe me."

"What, did Eve have a slow day at work?"

"Never asked. Let's just pray this thing is a Slash. As for Sue, that zoid ain't goin' anywhere."

"What?"

"That thing won't evolve that easy. Too much technology. I can have Eve breath a little life into it, but that'll just let me reason with it."

"What does Eve have in mind for Sue?"

". . . eh. . . something unusual, preferably. She didn't have any brainstorms."

"Great, I'm working without a net."

"You can't get rid of that Snipe, it has the core of her old Geno."

". . . what?!"

"When Sue got her ass kicked, her zoid shifted bodies. That may be why it won't change, it's Geno or bust."

"Great, great. . ."

"Dude, just buy one already!"

I sighed, lying on the couch in the direction of the intercom.

"Those commercial ones are worthless. . . can't Eve point me out to some Ruins or something?"

He didn't have time to answer, Rax walked in asking me to check on the zoid cocoon. Psy has been behaving, no freaking out Rax. We walked into the Hanger to see the Crystal Liger, on a special scanning platform we moved it to for the time being.

"It's like changing color. . ."

Rax was right, it had gotten darker to the point you couldn't see the Liger inside. On both sides you could see the extended blades, I had fixed Rax's zoid so the blades were always out and reinforced. With the crystal layer it looked like an angel cat or something.

"That is a bit weird. . ."

I ordered a full scan at a console, and a minute later got a diagram.

"Rax, looks like your zoid is fine. The legs are a bit weird though, looks like they're reshaping."

He nodded and walked off, he wasn't rude, just a moron. It'd been a day since the cocoon appeared, he'd been quiet the whole time.

"Now that the pigeon's gone. . ."

I turned to see Psy lying down on his platform, looking at me like a bored cat.

"Legs are going funny, eh?"

"You saw the readout, they're getting thicker."

"That's not a clue, both the evolutions have thick legs."

We shared a shrug and chatted about the zoid more, just more theories and ideas. As we talked about the paint job Sue's Sniper shifted a bit, perfectly normal for any zoid.

". . . eh. . . she's getting ticked. . ."

I stepped closer to Psy, away from the motionless Sniper.

". . . she?"

"You heard me. . ."

"Eh, I'm gonna go catch a late movie with the guys. . . you want me to download a movie for ya?"

"Yeah, thanks."

I took out my little ZBC PDA and sent a movie file to Psy, I heard one of the cockpit screens start playing chase scene music.

"Have fun."

"Back at ya."

We got to a crowded theater early, no annoying fans. We got food, good seats since we got in a half hour early and just talked about nothing.

"So, any luck with Riz?"

I'd been wondering if anything new popped up. Sue answered.

". . . she wants separate billing."

"What?"

Rax shrugged.

"It'll be Team Reckless, featuring Riz. What's her last name anyway?"

"The girl never wears a full shirt, how the heck would I know?"

Sue rolled her eyes, knowing I was bluffing. I had never been a card for the opposite gender. Way too polite.

"That Clara was way better."

Rax and I stared. Sue had just made a true statement usually stated by hormonal males. Rax's mouth was full of nachos, so I had to respond.

"O-kaaay. . ."

(Author's Note: Sue is based exactly on a close friend of mine, I'm not some perv who makes bi characters just to get ratings. ATTN all male fans, no pairings! This is staying pg-13)

Before Sue could retort a group of eleven noisy kids walked into the row in front of us. The three of us shared a small nod.

"So, to the ceiling fan?"

Rax nodded, playing along. Sue piped in.

"Man, you're lucky. Weirdest I got was. . ."

Where. . . did Sue get these filthy, trash stories? Because I have got to learn a few of my own. In two seconds the group of overweight, obnoxious kids had scooted away. Sue smirked.

"That story gets home every time. . ."

Both me and Rax were pale and afraid to say anything, but yeah, it worked. The movie was average, kind of catchy. Nothing worth seeing twice.

We got back just in time to watch the news and the zoids gossip talk show. Today the topic was the Blitz Team, as usual.

". . . hm. . . so that mercenary guy won't do any commercials. . ."

Sue always paid attention to the mercs, since she was one previously. I hadn't told them about that little round in the desert where I met those guys. We even got mentioned by the talk host.

'And now a piece on that soon to be hit, Team Reckless. Only one battle remains until they have a shot at the A Class.'

They only talk about us because we're deadly. I mean, we're like a five year old who's going to grow up and rule the world and everybody knows it. And the host has a terrible British accent.

'After their last thirty second fiasco, many media companies are doing background checks on the now infamous members.'

Infamous? Since when are we evil?

'Their Captain, Trey Brand, has connections with the legendary Max Brand. There is a rumor going around that he is not of blood relation.'

"Pfft. . . how scandalous. . ."

So I wasn't Max's real son, how terrible.

'The sideshow pilot, Monitori Rax, has once again demonstrated pure luck with his unusual strategies.'

Both me and Sue tore our eyes off the screen and at Rax."

"Moni. . ."

". . . tori?"

He seemed as amazed as we did.

". . . dang. . . that's my name?!"

We honestly don't know if it was a typo, or if Rax actually forgot his first name.

The sleezy chat show ended and dropped into the usual evening news. No major headlines. But few graphs popped up showing trends in zoid custom paint jobs. Needless to say we went to bed early, why stay up to do nothing? Before I got onto my futon though I got another message from Max.

'Good news, the nephew is possibly backing off from starting a team. His folks already bought four Genosaurers, though.'

Dear god. A bunch of preteen punks with killer zoids. And they want to start a team. He mentioned they already painted each one a different color. And had custom-made flight suits with helmets.Their future team name?

'Team Geno Rangers. . .'

Oh. . . my. . god. . . I laughed straight through the night till sunrise.