DISCLAIMER: See previous entries
Our bar patron gets the day off. You see, because I'm taking a trainer approach and watching the battles in person, I can directly do a play-by-play. The bad side is that you'll find out what I do while I watch battles on a media screen. Enjoy.
First, we cut to me sitting at my desk watching a live battle play out on the screen on the desktop. I'm scribbling notes every few seconds on a piece of napkin and watching the counter scroll by. They have a new feature you can order on pay per view, a bunch of little gauges and meters on the sidebar that shows individual points and other bits of minor data. The battle itself is a minute away from finally finishing.
The screen is a window into an abandoned, battle-leveled city from Olden Times. The center of the old downtown area now houses a Judge Capsule. The robot is peering out of his cage in the direction of the setting sun, where the cameras catch two shadows dancing against each other in the waning light. For a second they're shapeless, two obscure holes in the orange horizon. The angle changes, and they are revealed as having the shapes of two beasts of old. The left-bearing figure resembles a dark-scaled dinosaur bearing a rack of weaponry across its flank.
The camera swaps sides, and now the focus is on the other saurian. This one appears leaner at first glance. Then it sinks in, it is a skeleton. It is a mirror of death next to its opponent. Exposed ribs and vertebra mark its back, sporting two bare frames of wings. Its shoulders flaunt two smaller heads, mouths gaping with fangs, while the center skull is mounted atop a bare spine. One of the spare heads erupts a green burst of light from its mouth, and the mystique is gone.
These are not two predators fighting for territory. They are two robotic vehicles in the molds of a Geno Saurer and its skeletal variation. The exposing blast flies the distance between them and connects with the chest of the more life-like creature. The blast sends it back a few steps, but it quickly regains its position. When the beast shifts its jets to move back, it reveals its true colors. Not the purple hue some parts of it retain, but the fact it is covered in open gashes of circuitry and the paint covering its steel has been burned off. It doesn't advance as it regains its balance. I stays where it is, even from the outside of the zoid it's obvious the pilot just wants to give up.
On the other side of the slowmoving showdown, the skeleton stands ready. The light from above the camera sheds some focus on its bone-like armor. It has gone from dull, yellowed ivory to a filthy black and brown. It is covered in the oil of its soon to be downed rival, and possibly the leakage of its own hidden wounds. It stands still as the other one walks back up to its perch.
Why are they just standing there and occasionally firing a shot? They're tired. Judging by my watch they've been at this for four straight hours. The first was nothing but a knife fight, slashes and bites all over. Soon they were both in critical condition and resigned to going a safer route, using the cavalry-level armaments on Genos to try and blow away the other. Well, that made it even worse. Between the sudden dodging exercises and glancing hits they dropped into even worse condition. By now both Sue and the challenger are trying not to pass out.
My eyes slide over to the pay-per-view meters. They have a little chart listing the core temperature of each zoid. Both the Geno Reaper and the modified Geno are showing core temps of two hundred degrees. Now, this would translate to cockpits hotter than a hundred and ten Fahrenheit. That's why this battle has become slow-paced, they have to build up the strength to make a move each time. Normally in these situations one pilot drops out. Well, this guy is just as hard-headed as Sue is.
So, who's winning? The regular Geno is showing signs of serious damage. The Reaper, well, Sue made an oil break spray over it to hide the gashes that my trained eye sees along the back and limbs. This guy deserves that Geno, before they both went into comas his reflexes were amazing. Even denting one of our freak zoids in a stock model is a big feat. But Sue Ryder, in the Geno Reaper?
After I noted the temperature I noticed something had moved. The other Geno was moving its neck. The Reaper stood like a statue as its mirror image gracefully fell forward, ending up stretched out full length like a sleeping lizard. The Judge came out of sleep mode and declared the match over. I typed in a command to record the post-battle show and hopped up into a jog through my doorway. I ran into the Hanger and got to the main console quickly, typing in their location and preparing the system for a major repair job. As I fired up the bio I heard something a few yard behind me.
"Heck of a match."
I turned my head to see a metal cat, standing behind me and leaning its fanged mouth close towards my head. I grunted and spun back to my typing.
"Sue stretched it enough to rack up enough points."
"…individual points?"
I finished typing and through my feet felt the Killer Whale King float into life toward their location.
"Yep. This little marathon got her enough to qualify her for S Class."
"Oooh…she's gonna be wasted tonight."
I snort and turn to address him.
"Give her a few days to recover, we may need to take her to the ER."
I watched an inanimate cat face slightly shift its mouth downwards.
"…she'll be fine either way. And I didn't know you could move your face."
The mouth shifted back to a straight jaw line.
"Been working at it for weeks."
"Seriously?"
A stiff nod.
"It's like a paralyzed guy moving his little toe. Takes a lot of work."
I nodded slowly, acknowledging Psy working so hard for something so common for living creatures.
"Well, you're getting more lifelike."
I chatted idly with Psy while the Whale descended slowly, the mouth hatch opened revealing grey skies and a burned out city up ahead. We landed, and a minute later in floaed the Reaper. It was covered in oil, and its jets were on its last tank. It sputtered over to an empty spot and dropped down rather roughly onto the plating, going into sleep mode out of default.
I jogged up and climbed the legs, opening the cockpit to find Sue laying back, panting. The heat of the cockpit fumed ino the air conditioned hanger as I climbed back down with her limp form over my shoulder. I walked over to the hallway, but as I did Rax came out of the door. We exchanged words and he carried Sue off to her room. I turned back to the Reaper to get started but saw something out of the open mouth hatch. The other Geno was still lying down on the battlefield. I stared for a moment, and took off full sprint for the nearest zoid.
5 Hours Later
"Mr. Brand, he's awake."
I tugged my hat back on, getting up off the bench in the hospital waiting room. I followed the nurse into a curtain-walled room to see the pilot I'd pulled out of the downed Geno, laying back with an IV in his arm, still not in the best shape but stable at least. By the time I got him out he was unconscious from the effort, the indirect hits and the heat of the cockpit.
Now that they'd washed him down a bit I got a clear look at him. Young but seasoned, burnt to a tan, semi-blonde hair worn loose to his ears. He stares for a while before he realized I was there.
"…hey…you got me out…?"
I nodded, taking a seat next to his bed.
"I'm on Team Reckless, watched the entire battle. When I went to scrape my friend's zoid off the concrete I saw you hadn't gotten up yet. Figured you had a mechanical problem."
He closed his eyes, looking to be straining.
"…I went out…as my zoid fell…"
I listened carefully, despite his altered clarity.
"You're an amazing pilot. Anybody would have blacked out in this heat and in a battle like that. Sue is keeled over back at our base.
"…Sue?"
I realized probably battled so often he didn't know his opponents. Or he was still shell shocked.
"The pilot of the other zoid."
He nodded weakly. Then sat up, his eyes sudden bright with obvious fear.
"My Geno!"
I gently pushed him back down.
"Way ahead of you…"
He calmed down to listen to me. I took a seat and kept on.
"I have my…assistant working on your zoid."
A talking zoid? That would make the guy pass out again.
"While we were flying over here my team took care of you. They told me not to waste time saving your zoid."
His eyes went dull, nearly going into shock.
"…I saved it anyway."
A weak, but very powerful sigh. This guy must be having the time of his life.
"The core was gashed pretty bad, and the power was low. I have it running on a bio-generator right now, until it can run on its own."
He weakly smiled and pointed at his IV, realized a vague irony. I smiled back and kept talking.
"My assistant is making all the major repairs. Before you ask, you don't need to pay us."
Another weak sigh of relief.
"While you're recovering, we'll work on getting your zoid back in action. You have a place to stay, right?"
He looked nervous, glancing around to see if anyone was around. I sighed, knowing what he didn't want to say.
"…we have room, you can stay a few days."
He nodded in thanks weakly. Dear god, I wanted a good zoid transport, not a motel no-tell. Regardless, here I go again.
"…and also, I have a few questions for you."
He seemed unsurprised, after all, I didn't know who the hell he was. I nearly gave him another blackout with my first question.
"When we fixed your zoid core, I noticed it had some unique qualities for a stock model."
"…yeah…the dealer said that…"
My ears perked up.
"…he said it was an older model with a new frame."
…so that's why his zoid showed signs of being alive…
"I'd like to work on your zoid."
Blank stare.
"…my name is Trey Brand."
Still staring.
"…Chase Brand."
He weakly smiled, still staring blankly. Probably in shock.
"I'd like to use your zoid as a platform for a new design. Customized to your battle style."
I stopped to breathe, and watch him smile blankly. Geez, and I thought I was stupid.
"Now, once they check you out give me a call. I left my card with your clothes, just ring us up and you can rest up at our place for a few days. That mercenary bitch who nearly killed you is trying out cookie recipes."
I got up, tipped my hat to the guy and went to the door. But at the last step I heard him speak.
"…you ever see Frankenstein?"
I slowly turned to see him staring at me. I recognized him. The smile. The build. The face. That first day out of the desert…I was hooking up the Bio to Psy…I didn't know how…a guy walked up…
"…Sam?"
He weakly nodded.
"Kid, my mom always talked about good karma. I just showed some idiot how to charge up a zoid…"
I smiled and nodded.
"…well, there is one catch to all this."
His face fell into a worried stare.
"You ever hear of a party battle?"
1 Hour Later
I walked up the mouth ramp and sighed as the cool Hanger air washed over me. I saw from a distance a stripped-down Geno on a repair rack near where Psy was resting. I crept up to a console and checked its vitals, Psy must be napping after getting this thing running.
Yeah, he can work on zoids. He's rigged in with the ship system, so he can move some small cranes and mechanical service arms for major repairs a human can't go near. It's saved me some work time and gets him to sleep later at night. My future project was deep in sleep mode, its shoulders and fang-covered head draped in generator wires. Its vitals showed slow, but steady increases in energy consumption.
I later found myself walking into the living quarters and going straight to Sue's room. Ducking my head into the doorway, I saw her stretched out on her bed looking rather peaceful. I poked her in the head a few times to make sure she was alive before moving on to Rax's toy room, where he was arranging several Gun Snipers.
"Hey, that pilot is staying with us a few days."
A satisfactory grunt.
"Once he gets settled, I'm going to work on your Slash Liger. You remember single battles, right?"
Another grunt. I nodded and moved next door to Clara's lair.
"Was Sue okay?"
Clara, at her desk watching a movie, nodded.
"I got some food into her before she went back to sleep. How was the pilot?"
"He's Sam. From that one day at the Public Hanger."
"…huh. Small world."
The intercom on her desk clicked.
"…are you two making out yet?"
"I'll be right back, I have to go buy some pink spray paint before Psy falls asleep tonight."