Chapter 10
SHOWDOWN
Nyx Battlefield, afternoon…
While Shiva battled the misogynistic madman in the air, her teammates had their hands full with the other members of the Dark Jackal Team. The Konig Wolves were faster then ever, and armed with new anti-aircraft weaponry and thrusters to allow them to jump higher. The Geno Reaper itself proved a truly formidable adversary as it swerved and dodged Shiva's attacks all too easily and countered.
"What's the matter, Shiva? Not man enough to face me?" Anubis taunted.
The taunts managed to bite through enough that Anubis' overconfidence made him pay when his Zoid felt the full impact from a round from the Gunguyarados' grenade launchers. Though it shook the Geno Reaper a bit, and did some damage, the Reaper's tough armor prevented any especially severe damage. Anubis smirked.
"You know, Shiva, as tough as your Zoid may be…" he began. "…It hits like a girl. Let me show you what a REAL Zoid can do!" The intake vent on the Reaper's back begun to draw in energy; twice as much as a Geno Breaker's, but all in the same amount of time. Shiva barely had the chance to move out of the way of a charged particle beam tough enough to compare to the Death Stinger's in power. The beam left a long, deep ditch, and traveled far enough to cause a decent amount of damage to one of the nearby mountains. The beam grazed her Zoid, damaging one of its wings and sending it falling, but before the Gunguyarados could hit the ground, something snagged it. Looking up, Shiva saw that the Geno Reaper had grabbed her Zoid with its extending claws.
"How's about we take this to a more appropriate location?" Anubis asked, and his Geno Reaper sped toward the mountains, pulling Shiva's Gunguyarados along with it.
Meanwhile, Shiva's teammates were sustaining damage from the modified König Wolves Anubis' men piloted. Getting an idea, James flew his Redler low and right between two of the König Wolves, then flew up at just the right moment. The two enemy Zoids ended up shooting one-another in the head. One of them was grazed, the other hit point-blank and collapsing into a command system freeze. James grinned. Three against two. The odds were in their favor now. He would have savored this more if a blow from the still-functional König Wolf didn't hit his Zoid dead-on and leave him with a command system freeze as well.
Thunder started to rumble as the Gunguyarados and the Geno Reaper continued their battle at the mountainside. Still tethered to the Geno Reaper, the Gunguyarados wasn't able to do much except attempt to dodge some of the Reaper's nastier close-range attacks. Tiring of this, Anubis slammed the Gunguyarados onto a nearby cliff and descended on it, raising its foot, ready to crush it, a blow fully intended to defeat the Zoid and kill the pilot inside. Anubis laughed triumphantly. "I was hoping it'd end this way. See you in hell, sweetie!" He shouted out as he prepared to bring his Zoid's foot down.
At this moment, Kali chose to use as much control as she had over Shiva's Zoid as possible to fire every round it had at the Geno Reaper's chest, causing it to stumble back. Shiva stared down at the anizoid in amazement as it enabled the Gunguyarados to stand again. Anubis, meanwhile, looked a little surprised, and shrugged a little. "The bitch just doesn't know when to quit…" He muttered. The wings of his Zoid folded into scythes again, and prepared to rip and slash as he caused the grappling claw to reel Shiva's Zoid in.
"NOW!" Shiva shouted to Kali as they simultaneously activated the Gunguyarados' thrusters, causing it to charge forward at Anubis' Geno Reaper at full speed. Anubis' eyes widened in shock, and didn't have the time to move out of the way when Shiva's Zoid smashed into his head-on, and drove its claws into the Reaper's head.
"No… No…. NO!" Anubis screamed out furiously as his Zoid faced a command system freeze.
The Gunguyarados had exhausted its weaponry, and pretty much all it'd be able to do for awhile is walk and climb, with the wing damage that it sustained from battle. Shiva took a few deep breaths as she calmed down, wiping some sweat from her forehead. Kali's image flickered a little, but was still present.
Back below, Axel and Cooper had managed to defeat the König wolf that took out James's Zoid, and now it was two against one. Despite the heavy damage they received, the remaining Zoid was no match for a team attack.
Cooper watched as the last König Wolf fell to the ground, defeated. "We did it…." Cooper said softly. "We did it!" He shouted proudly. He turned at the sound of approaching Zoids. Not enemy Zoids, but ZBC Zoids.
"Dark Jackal Team, you're under arrest. Come out of your Zoids at once!" a Gojulas declared as about twenty-something Godos trained their guns on the König Wolves. The dinosaur Zoid turned its head a little, then opened communication with the Black Dragon Team's Zoids.
"Wasn't there a fourth member for both teams?" The ZBC officer asked.
Cooper and Axel turned their Zoids to face the mountains, where the supposed finish line was, along with Shiva and Anubis….
Shiva stood up, opened her Zoid, and climbed out to examine her surroundings. The finish line was at the top of that mountain. All she had to do was get her Zoid to the top and her team would officially have made it to Class S.
A sudden shot rang out. Shiva turned to face Anubis, standing atop her Zoid's closed cockpit. Blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth, and in his hand was a gun. The same gun he once used to kill Kali. The wind made his long black coat billow, giving him a demonic appearance. He was glaring at Shiva, pure hatred in his eyes.
"You've humiliated me…" He said coldly, gesturing the gun wildly. "Did you really think you could walk away from that! Well let me tell, you; you have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy watching you die." His cruel grin reappeared on his face. "Nowhere to run." He said softly as he raised the gun, aiming right for Shiva's heart. Shiva stood there quietly, then something caught her eye. There, by her foot, was the manual opening hatch that covered the switch to open the Zoid's cockpit. Without hesitation, Shiva kicked the hatch open and dropped down right as Anubis fired his round and slammed her fist hard on the now exposed switch.
Suddenly, the cockpit under Anubis' feet began to rise, all too quickly and causing him to stumble backward, unable to maintain his footing. Screaming, he slid off the Zoid, over the side of the cliff, and down to the jagged rocks far below.
Shiva barely had time to react when she saw several Pteras and a Storm Sworder descend around her, as well as Cooper and Axel's Redlers. James' was towed along by two other Pteras. Her zoid's communication window opened, revealing a ZBC official.
"Shiva Makino?" The official called to her.
"Yes." The purple-haired girl answered, climbing back into her cockpit.
"The finish line is just a climb away. Are you up to it?" the official asked.
Shiva closed the cockpit as Kali climbed back onto her lap. "I am."
The Gunguyarados stood back up, and grabbed the Geno Reaper's grappling claw still imbedded in its chest, and tore it out. The damaged Zoid carried itself up the side of the mountain, Shiva strained as she and Kali gave it their all to bring the Zoid to the top. Finally, reaching the edge, the Gunguyarados made it to the mountain's summit.
The Zoid then stood as straight as it could in its damaged state, and the cockpit opened again, and Shiva climbed out, carrying Kali's R.U.
"Congratulations, Black Dragon Team! Class S is yours!" The ZBC official declared.
4 years later
Shiva stared at her reflection. Those memories had been the most important ones to her. That battle with Anubis could have easily gone either way. Had he stopped that blow, she would have lost. Was she stronger then him, or was it just luck?
"Shiva?" James said, knocking on Shiva's door. The girl turned and opened the door.
"What?" She asked, not entirely pleased with her train of thought being interrupted.
"ZBC called, they've scheduled a new battle for us. It'll be in a couple days." James replied.
"Some team called the Venom Team. Class S. We up for it?" The boy asked.
Shiva considered this. She looked over at Kali, who was sleeping peacefully on her bed, then back at James. "Yes. We are."
THE END…