Chapter Three
Slide
Towering atop the massive rocky mountainside like some sort of bizarre Zoid temple, the Hover-Cargo stared down at the over-burdened Gustav tugging the three trailers worth of robotic creatures. It was a rarity for the Bliz Team to reach a battlefield before its competitors, but with all of Talis' recent problems trying to save his life, he was a bit tardy.
The battlefield was a rarity as well. It was a smooth, sloped, canyon wall. The Zoid Battle Commission usually only liked flat fields of challenge, but Sambi requested the fairly level mountainside, and believe it or not, the Commission approved it. Talis could only imagine what the Blitz Team was thinking, but it made him smile.
At least something did.
As Anna backed her pink Rhimos off of the rear trailer, Sambi walked up to Talis, who stood next to the Rev Raptor's trailer. "It is set." Sambi handed over a small remote control.
Talis pocketed the device. "Good." He sighed. "Now, besides just worrying about the Blitz team's Royal Cup quality skill, we have to keep them away from our Gustav."
"Hey!" bellowed Anna over her Rhimos' bullhorn, "Are you guys coming or not? 'Cause here comes the Judge!"
Slowly trekking up the gravely mountainside, the Rev Raptor, Rhimos and Liger Zero-X marched towards the red, white and blue Hover-Cargo. Slightly snail-shaped, its head was cubical, and attached to a shell that was shaped like two massive ash-trays set up on their sides with their trays facing each other. Its appearance had often been called somewhat comical, but its abilities were legendary.
Talis, Sambi and Anna stopped their Zoids about three-hundred yards away from the Blitz-Team's transport, with Liger Zero-X in the center, the Rev Raptor on its left and Rhimos to the right.
A large curved panel near the Cargo's top opened up, and a long launch ramp extended out. Bolts of electricity scattered across the horizontal ramp, and moments later, the energy flung a black Shadow Fox of the Hover-Cargo. It landed hard on the ground about one hundred yards in front of the giant transport, but thanks to the gravel and sloped mountainside, slid another twenty yards.
Soon after, the electrical energy launched a heavily customized Gun Sniper, which landed just as hard on the ground, but slipped on the gravel, fell face-forward and slid on its stomach for fifteen yards.
The launch ramp sparkled one more time, and this time fired a Liger Zero from the inerds of the Hover-Cargo. As the lion-type Zoid pounded down and skid across the ground, spewing up rocks, Talis felt as though his reflection had fell to the ground. Two Liger Zeros now faced each other. It was no longer a question of which Zoid was more powerful; it was a question of raw pilot skill.
The launch ramp slid back behind the arced panel, and the Judge Capsule began to open. Having impounded itself into the sloped hillside, the capsule was tilted by ten degrees. When it opened, the Judge tipped over, and desperately grabbed at its pre-fab meteorite to keep itself upright. Despite a slight touch of humiliation in his voice, the Judge began the typical battle information call.
On a secure line, Talis called out to Sambi and Anna. "Remember to stick to the game plan. We can't lose this."
"It will work."
"All the way, Tally."
Pulling the remote from his pocket, Johrenson pressed its button. Talis then took out his flip coin. "Will it work?" Flicking it up, he caught it on his arm. "Damn."
"The Blitz Team versus the Liger-X Team. Battlemode nine-eight-three. The Liger-X Team versus the Blitz Team. Ready….Fight!"
Sambi and Anna broke hard for the Gun Sniper, and Talis pounced his Liger in between them and the other Blitz Team members as a blockade. It was a triple-team for the Gun Sniper.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" cried out the Sniper pilot, Leena Toros.
"Winning this duel." Replied Talis.
"That's just dirty!" growled the Liger Zero pilot, Bit Cloud. Charging his Zoid at the other Liger, he powered up its right Strike Laser Claw, and jumped into the air. It was a fast, deadly attack; one that had severely damaged dozens of Zoids.
But not Exaber.
Quickly lighting up its own right Strike Laser Claw, the Liger Zero-X jumped forward and hit the Blitz Team's Liger square in the chest, just as the black Liger's front right shoulder armor was shattered. Amazingly, its leg stayed on.
"Get away from me you jerks! Fight fair!" barked Leena.
"Sorry, hun, but we have a battle to win." Anna stampeded for the overburdened Gun Sniper, shooting its main cannons like crazy. Sambi's Rev Raptor sprinted towards the other Raptor's right side in a flanking maneuver, then leapt into the air, blades fully extended.
"Don't worry, Leena, I've got you covered." Brad's Shadow Fox jumped across the rocks, intending to save the Gun Sniper, but it was not to be. Breaking away from its skirmish with Liger Zero, Exaber spun around and fired off a pair of shots from its box cannon. Brad's Zoid rolled down the slope a good forty meters before it stopped.
Staring in pride at his accomplishment, Talis didn't notice the white Liger jump onto his Liger's back and slam it to the ground. Riding the dark Liger almost like a snowboard, Bit rode the Zoid downhill.
"Get off me, you moron!"
"Not a chance! This is how I fight dirty!"
As the Liger Zero-X rumbled down the slope, Talis straightened out its legs, then slapped down its paws and dug them into the ground. The Liger growled as it stopped, then using all of its strength, the Zoid pushed its chest back off of the ground and shoved the other Liger off of its back. Using what little time he had, Talis scrambled the Liger Zero-X' legs and sprinted down the mountainside, then cut right when his opponent opened fire on him. Unfortunately, the slippery slope caused his Zoid to stumble, therefore leaving itself open to a couple of shots.
Finally able to turn itself around, the Liger Zero-X faced its opponent at a distance of 150-meters, and quickly spread its blades. "I'm no stranger to fighting bladed Ligers," warned Bit, "This should be a piece of cake."
"Yeah, like your Strike Laser Claw maneuver was." Exaber started trotting for the other Liger.
That comment got under Cloud's skin. "You were just lucky! C'mon, Liger. Let's show this guy who's boss."
After Bit's Liger growled, Talis pushed Exaber into a lightning fast sprint; it was his trademark attack. He could tell that its speed and aim even caught Cloud by surprise. The white Liger jumped to its left, but was too late. Exaber's right blade scraped the right side of Liger Zero and tore the armor off of the front right leg.
"That's…that's impossible!" gasped Bit as the armor plating crashed to the ground and slid down the mountainside.
"It's called Liger Zero-X technology, and your old-fashioned Liger is no match for it."
"We'll see about that. Doc, get the Schneider Armor ready."
But there was no response.
"Doc? Are you there? What's going on?" Bit was beginning to panic.
Talis grinned. "Sorry to rain on your battle plans, Cloud, but I can't let you do any upgrades during our little skirmish."
"You snake! You can't cut off our communications! I'm calling the Judge!"
"Sorry, buddy, but he's a little deaf today, too. You can hear him, but it doesn't go the other way." Pangs of guilt started to tear at Talis, but he knew that he had no longer had a choice in the matter.
"What's the point of cheating? Money?"
Johrenson was tempted to spill everything to Bit. He wanted someone else to be on his side, but he just couldn't risk it. "I …look, there's just too much riding on this. You have to lose."
"Like heck I will."
White Liger Zero roared louder than Liger Zero-X ever had, and charged Talis.
Farther up the slope, Sambi's Rev Raptor ran its blade along the side of the Shadow Fox, but it wasn't a deep cut. The canine Zoid yelped in pain, but jumped away. After escaping the slash, it whipped around, raised its gattling cannon and open fire on the Raptor. The little Zoid jumped for its life, but got is tail blown off in the process. Sambi's little mangler spun around in smoking chaos and crashed.
"I've got you now. Since your Zoid hasn't had a System Freeze yet, this should get me a few extra bonus points." The Shadow Fox stepped closer and raised its cannon. But before he could finish off the Rev Raptor, he was broadsided by Anna's Rhimos. The Fox' cannon snapped off as the black Zoid rolled up the hill.
"Thank you, Anna. You have saved me." Said Sambi with great humility.
"Oh yeah, Raptor-boy? Well who's gonna save her? Weasel Unit: Total Assault!" As the Rhimos slowly turned around Anna shrieked in fear as a swarm of missiles and gattling fire swarmed from the over-abundance of launchers and cannons attached to the little Gun Sniper standing 75-yards down the hill.
A massive eruption of fire and gray smoke engulfed the pink Rhimos and Rev Raptor, sending nearly deafening blasting sounds into Sambi's ears. He cried out Anna's name in fear for her safety. Rocks and boulders began rolling down the hill; a few hit the Gun Sniper.
"Are you insane, woman? Cough, cough. We are two simple targets! You are not out here to kill your opponents!"
"Yeah, well now you're two piles of scrap. Thanks for the target practice!" gloated Leena from the cockpit of her obscene little Zoid.
Suddenly, as the haze from the explosions cleared, the little roar of a rhinoceros poured from the fog, and a charred black and pink Rhimos stampeded out of the smoke. It headed straight for the Gun Sniper, which took a step back, and tried to turn itself around.
"Get, get away from me!" cried Toros, but it was too late. Anna's enraged Zoid slammed the Raptor-Zoid fifty feet into the air and 80-yards down the mountainside, where it crashed onto the rocky ground and slid for another 30-yards.
"No one does that to Pinky. Ever." Gasped Anna before she passed out from strain. The little pink smasher then dropped to its knees and fell over.
With that, four Zoids were now out of the battle. All that remained were the Ligers.
"Go Liger!" Bit had the high ground, and made an amazing leap over Liger Zero-X, but once again, underestimated the X-Armor. Exaber fired itself straight up and tackled the white Liger mid-air. The two lions crashed to the ground and rolled down the mountainside, locked together by their legs.
After a quarter-mile of roll, they stopped, almost at the bottom of the slope, with Exaber on top. Using its front right claw, the Liger Zero-X slashed off the right faceplate of the white Liger. Bit shrieked in shock, but managed to use his Liger's box cannon to blast off Talis' Zoid and flip the white Liger back onto its feet.
"C'mon, buddy, we need to think of something, fast!" On the display screen inside of the cockpit, the Strike Laser Claw option appeared. "Are you kidding? We tried that once already, and it got you smashed-up pretty bad! No way!" His Liger growled, and the option wouldn't go away. "Okay, okay. We'll give it one more shot, but if you get slashed because of this, don't blame it on me!"
Talis sat in his Liger's cockpit and blinked his eyes. "The rumors about this guy talkin' to himself are true after all. Weird. Time to finish this duel." Exaber's blades swung out slowly this time, like some pervertedly thin wings. Then, the Zoid sprinted.
Once again, the Liger Zero-X rocketed towards the white Liger, but this time, his target was running back at him—with a charged left claw.
"He's insane!" Talis pushed himself even harder, and prepared a leaping slash; when the white Liger jumped into the air and pulled its leg back in a punching motion. Exaber jumped up to the left. There was a slight vibration, then—Liger Zero's claw smashed through Liger Zero-X's right blades! The white Liger's claw did the impossible—it shattered the blades!
The two Ligers landed on the ground and skidded down the hillside. What just happened? The Liger Zero-X blades had been broken at the connection points before, that was nothing new, but the blades themselves were sworn to be indestructible. Blades like them cost more than the Liger itself. What just happened? Supposedly, Cloud's Liger had shattered the Berserk Fury's blades, but Talis had never believed it. But…but now he had to. Is this what an "Ultimate-X" can do?
"Cloud! Cloud, do you realize what you've just done!" roared Talis.
Bit laughed as he gloated. "I think I've just put this battle in the bag."
Talis' eyes narrowed and his jaw molded to stone. "I told you I couldn't lose this battle, and I swear to you, I won't."
"What's your problem? I think you're taking this fight way too—yikes!"
Exaber sprinted up the hill and came back down in an arcing pattern, with its left blade still fully extended—and the front right shoulder joint sparkling. Bit turned Liger Zero to the right and started running back at the dark Zoid. "Okay, Liger, let's try it again. If it worked once…"
But this time, Talis had the high ground. Bit's Liger leapt up for another claw strike—but it couldn't get high enough—Talis slid Liger Zero-X to a stop, then as the White Liger sailed low over him, he jumped forward. The blade slashed across the rear right side of Liger Zero's body, cutting off its rear right leg at the knees.
"Yes!" cheered Talis as he sailed through the air—but the attack wasn't over. When Exaber landed, its weakened front right shoulder snapped. "What the--?" cried Johrenson. The leg flapped to the ground and the Liger Zero-X fell onto its front right side and slid a short distance down the mountainside. There had never been any complete cuts, but the front right shoulder had been scraped by three Laser Claw strikes, and it finally gave way.
"Battle over! Battle over!" yelled out the Judge from his crooked capsule. "All team participants have been defeated. There is no winner. The result is a draw!"
"What?" screamed Talis as he re-established communications. "A draw? You can't be serious! I beat him before he--!"
"If you have a complaint, please file it with the Zoid Battle Commission. My work here is done. Until next time!"
Talis jumped out of his Liger's cockpit and examined the damage. It was pretty beat up, but salvageable.
"Oh my gosh! Liger! Look what he did to my Liger!" Talis looked over to see Bit Cloud doing a panic dance next to his Zoid's broken leg. "He's never been this damaged before! And since it was a draw, how am I going to pay for repairs?"
"Relax, kid. At least you didn't lose priceless weapons."
Bit glared, then ran towards Talis. "You cheater! This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't cheated!"
I already told you, I had to win." Pulling the remote from his pocket, Talis looked over at his Gustav, then pushed the remote's button. A transmitter tower lowered on the Gustav's front side. Suddenly, calls from the Hover-Cargo began pouring in over the comm.
"Bit? Bit are you there? This is Doc on the Hover-Cargo. Can you hear me? Darn it, Jamie, keep working on it."
Talis stepped aside. "Use my Liger's transmitter. Same as yours."
Bit cautiously stepped over to the black Liger's controls and pressed a button. "I hear ya, Doc."
"Bit! Where are you calling from?"
"I'll explain later. I need help getting Liger up to the Hover-Cargo."
"Yeah, we saw everything. It will be very difficult to get the Hover-Cargo down the mountainside. Is there any other way to get Liger up here?"
Talis walked up to the cockpit and spoke. "I'll get it up on the Gustav, out."
"I don't need your help." Snapped Bit.
"We all need help, kid."