To make a short story even shorter, Layon didn't give in or offer any explanation. The two grown men made growling sounds at each other for 30+ seconds, then tried to shoot at each other with their giant robots.
However, the Fox didn't fire, and neither did the Gun Sniper.
[Dr. Layon. There is: no need. For this._ ]
"There's plenty of need for it! Shoot his stupid a-"
[The Gun Sniper. Does not: want to fire at. This range._ ]
"Do I care what-"
[This isn't: a battle. Human arguments. Should not: be solved. This way._]
A bizarrely profound statement to come from such a young Zoid.
Layon didn't want to agree, but there wasn't much else he could do. He huffed, watching Toros similarly deal with the reluctant Gun Sniper. At least he was confident the other man wasn't having a conversation with it.
"My stupid Zoid told your stupid Zoid we shouldn't fight." Layon muttered.
Toros blinked. "I- what?"
"I made a really smart AI Zoid, and it's better than anything you've ever done. And it's a pacifist or something."
The Fox raised and cocked its gatling to point straight at the cockpit, reflecting an unamused, lifted brow at the man.
Layon sighed again, really needing a drink. "Okay, I'm a liar. It thinks we shouldn't solve arguments this way. And knows this isn't a proper battle." He shrugged, more for the Fox's benefit. "Zoids have real strong opinions about battling. Who'd have thought."
Placated, the Fox returned to a neutral stance and looked at Steve and the Gun Sniper with softly-glowing eyeglass. Toros regarded it in return - and it loudly chuffed at him.
Layon squinted. He read the Fox's output, looked confused, then smirked. "It wants you to know it still thinks you're a big dumbass for the Buster Cannon."
Despite himself, Toros grinned a little.
Layon's smirk dropped abruptly. He shook his head, remembering why he was actually here. "Steve, listen. The Berserk Fury ah… went a little insane after the Royal Cup. Things went real, real south. Brad was picked up by Backdraft and forced to pilot it. And it? It apparently really, really wants the Liger Zero dead."
"Ah, mhm." Toros nodded as if this made sense. "Questions: where's Vega Obscura, why does anyone want anyone to pilot an insane Zoid, and what the fuck is wrong with you, going back to the Backdraft?! "
Layon scrunched in the cockpit. Even the Fox shrank back slightly.
"...complicated."
Toros sighed angrily at the man. "Tell me later. How do we stop the Berserk Fury?"
Leon and his Blade Liger kept darting, snapping, trying to break into the Liger Zero and Berserk Fury's relentless tangle. But both Brad and the Fury were wise to this desire - and the opening never came.
No one wanted to watch the Berserk Fury progressively beat down the Liger Zero, but that's exactly what they were witnessing. Leon watched Bit grow increasingly exhausted, watched green eyes darting for solutions that weren't there. Leon was so used to Bit or the Liger always coming up with some uncanny way around problems, that he simply wasn't dealing with the sickening reality: that wasn't happening.
"Leon, we can't keep waiting! Jaime!" Naomi yelled.
Jaime flinched from above but dove with precision at the mess, lighting up the ground with laser-vulcan fire in a vicious line. It sliced up and across the Berserk Fury, the explosive force shoving the two Ultimate X's apart. With no hesitation the Fury whipped a Buster Claw to bear, taking quick aim for the Raynos, but the waiting Blade Liger tore into the arm of the mechanism from behind.
A pouncing gnash of fangs and foreclaws: the Blade Liger threw its full weight forward and shoved the Fury down hard. Leon's angling and leverage were accurate, swift - he quickly tore off the Buster Claw and threw it aside, glancing up-
The Berserk Fury rolled and twisted with great strength, much greater than what seemed possible with it on the ground. Crack - a split second too late, a sniper bullet struck the ground and sprayed sand across the Berserk Fury's shoulder, having narrowly missed its target.
"Fuck!" Naomi snapped.
As the Fury moved, the red Liger stumbled from its temporary vantage. The Fury seized one of the Blade Liger's forelimbs and wrenched the red Liger forward, flipping it. The complete inversion and sharp slam left Leon momentarily senseless, his awareness snapped back by the deafening scream of metal on metal - and glass.
Leon looked up, only to see the dark, cavernous inner workings of the Berserk Fury's jaws.
The thing's massive teeth, deceptively flat from this angle, dragged with a squeal on the cockpit. The groans of creaking metal and pressured glass turned to shrieks as the glass started to split.
"BRAD!" Leon screamed.
Leon's terrified voice brought fleeting focus to blue eyes. Brad's grip on the controls faltered; the Berserk Fury paused, for a split-second.
The Liger Zero reappeared with a primal roar, flying straight at the Berserk Fury with gaped jaws and a charged laser-claw. Despite appearances it wasn't reckless in the slightest: Bit's twitch reflexes and the Liger's ability for precision was crucial to tearing the Fury away from the Blade Liger without further damage to the latter.
The two Zoids spun a wild full 180 with the impact, bucked apart and came to a halt.
The Liger had ripped off a panel of the Fury's facial-flange armor; it held onto the piece for a moment, then pointedly spat it on the ground. The Fury turned its head and assessed this quietly.
Then it began to laugh. A soft, deep, disturbed sound. ~Oh. Good. Are you ready to fight now?~
A cold line of sweat traced down Bit's face and neck. The Berserk Fury's voice carried a clear message: it didn't think much of what had already been a grueling span of combat. Bit struggled against serious horror, pulse pounding in his ears.
That was the other thing; the Fury's voice was so frigid, so horrible compared to the Liger's. The sound alone was the simple, dread purr of a predator from which prey instinctively knew to flee. Yet Bit couldn't help but feel sorrow for Vega - and Brad - if that thing was anywhere near as close to them as the Liger was to him. He couldn't imagine being unable to escape it.
The Liger's grim acknowledgment only deepened his sympathy.
Bit glanced. "Liger. Where's Vega?"
He felt the Zoid's senses flare, and got the strong impression Vega was nearby. Not close - but not far away.
"Can we- can he get it to stop? Can-"
"No." Brad replied through the comms. Apparently the exchange wasn't as private as the two would've liked. "Vega wants you dead, homeboy. Because the Berserk Fury does. And the Fury gets what it wants."
"So you say." Bit warily replied, eyeing the consoles. "What do you want?"
There wasn't an answer.
Bit forced a videscreen. Brad looked at it with a slow blink, chest heaving, every line of his face and body reading with the same exhaustion Bit felt. But when they made eye contact, Brad immediately broke it.
"Doesn't matter, Bit."
"It does! You have a choice in this. You can put a stop to it!"
"I can't."
"Brad-"
"Bit. Listen to me. I. Can't."
The Fury began advancing in a stalk, calculated and slow. The Liger backed up a step. Far more desperation bled into Bit's voice than he wanted to. "Please, don't do this."
"One of us is gonna bite it. Ain't gonna be me."
"Dude, whatever it's told you, the Berserk Fury's lying. Seriously, this is crazy! Nobody here wants to hurt you! Nobody's going to die!"
The Fury studied the Liger carefully for weaknesses during the pause as the two men conversed. The agitated Liger returned the scrutiny.
~Why are you doing this? If it is combat you seek-~
~You are what ails us. You have hurt Vega. You will die.~ The saurian said, very simply.
~What happened to Vega? Please, bring him here. I had no intention o-~
The Fury moved with a speed and ferocity it shouldn't have been able to. It slashed at its feline opponent with its remaining Buster Claw, then whirled with a merciless countering tail-slam as the Liger evaded the initial slash. The tail smashed, broadside and hard into the Liger Zero - and the Liger was thrown, rolling several times before coming to rest a short distance off.
The Berserk Fury's eyeglass blazed.
~Silence. I no longer permit you to even speak his name. Filth.~
The Liger winced against a world of pain, trying to shield Bit from the worst of it. But it couldn't do much about the blonde being relentlessly bashed around in the cockpit. Bit held a hand to his throbbing skull.
The Liger steeled him. Brought his eyes up again and into focus. The blonde took a deep breath and glared at the videscreen, struggling to keep his voice level.
"Why does the Berserk Fury want this?!"
No response. The Fury charged again, affording the grounded pair little time to react. The Liger lurched to one side to keep the Fury's jaws away from its head, but said jaws sank into the feline Zoid's neck instead. The Fury pushed the Liger to one side and started shaking it violently.
Bit scrambled to get out of the grip but could not. After several sharp jolts he was barely holding onto consciousness; another few knocked him out cold. He hung limply backwards in the harness, blood from his nose streaking across his face.
Several people screamed at once for Bit to wake up. He didn't.
The Liger shrieked, outraged, itself momentarily stunned and recoiling from the blonde's painful drop. The Fury tasted the break in consciousness and stopped the shaking, carefully shifting its hold for a crushing coup de grace - of the Liger's pilot, at least. It'd be so much simpler to deal with the Liger, then-
Harsh contact, sharp pain and a sensation of shearing.
The Berserk Fury looked down at the hilt of the Blade Liger's blade, then up at the adjacent red Liger.
The entire white-hot blade was sunk into the Fury itself - the Blade Liger mightily hefted the saurian Zoid away from the Liger Zero and shoved it several body-lengths back.
The Fury angrily swung head, tail, and gaping jaws at the Blade Liger, but Leon paradoxically pressed in close, too close to be effectively struck. The Blade Liger sunk a powerful bite into the Fury's side, fangs plunging through armor and structure.
Brad trembled with barely-contained rage then exploded with a scream, mirroring the Fury's vicious sentiment as it roared and repeatedly gnashed fangs at the too-close Blade Liger's haunch and tail. Internal components overheated, snapped, and were otherwise compromised by the Liger's searing blade, which remained firmly planted. Silver Zoid blood gouted from both entry and exit wounds, betraying severe damage.
Yet the Fury didn't seem to register it as much more than mild inconvenience. It hiked up a hindtalon and slammed it onto the blade's connection to the red Liger, bearing down - bending then fracturing the entire assembly. This left the actual blade lodged in the Berserk Fury but detached the Blade Liger, which stumbled forward a few surprised steps.
WIth no delay the saurian lashed its remaining Buster Claw straight at the red Liger's head, only to have it meet the shield and skip off with a sparking shriek.
Anyone watching Leon would've noticed he hadn't stopped uncontrollably shaking at any point. He just didn't look terrified anymore. Instead, determined.
The Fury regarded the shielded Liger for a silent, empty moment.
Then looked back towards the Liger Zero.
Crack. Another sudden sniper shot.
Delicate components just behind the Berserk Fury's jaw joint were simply blown apart, shiny flecks in the wake of the bullet's penetrating explosion.
Naomi gasped a breath she'd been holding, silently glaring through her scope.
The specific shot she'd been after was both risky and precise by necessity. It'd never be permitted on a Judge-monitored battlefield because of target proximity to the cockpit. But high neck-shots on Zoids were nearly guaranteed to sever the crucial conduit between cockpit and Core, invariably resulting in a CSF.
That is, if the shot pierced structure. Heavily-armored assault Zoids had very thick armor on or around their necks for precisely this reason. It was nearly impossible to hit vulnerable areas unless the Zoid's neck was twisted at an extreme angle - or it was relatively still.
Or both, as was the case here.
The Berserk Fury staggered forward with a shriek, struggling to stay upright. There was literally a hole through its neck, conduit and wire dangling, more silver blood pouring in thin ribbons from around the now-visible CPG architecture. Yet still the monster stood, steadying itself.
The shot had done exactly what it was intended to do: the cockpit had gone dark, the consoles, featureless. But the whine of a command system freeze didn't come.
Naomi stared in silence, at a loss.
Bit wearily came to. What roused him was a rumble of laughter: a cruel trickle of sound from the Fury that he had the displeasure of being able to hear. He blearily glanced at it as the Liger Zero righted itself.
The Berserk Fury shuddered, beginning to encounter physical limitations. It was bleeding out and drive components were trying to seize up.
Yet still the monster stood.
"This is over." Leon said firmly. "Surrender."
Brad was also laughing, but his voice was thin with stress. "No. You can't stop us. And you won't."
Leon dropped his shield and readied his remaining blade. Bit spit blood, wiped his forehead on his shoulder, and readied to charge with laser claws.
The Fury kept laughing. ~I do not think you understand. Victory is not an option for y-~
"No no NO NO NO NO! " Layon squealed as the Shadow Fox was immediately upon the Fury. From nowhere the Fox pitched straight into the thing's face with its laser claws, momentum and surprise shoving the Berserk Fury off of its feet and backwards several meters.
On its back, the Berserk Fury thrashed and snapped up at the flighty Fox, snagging a fleeting hindlimb as it blurred overhead. The Fury didn't let the Fox land neatly, whipping it hard into the ground - but the smaller Zoid recovered quickly, scrambled for purchase, and twisted free.
It immediately spun and started unloading with the laser-vulcan gun, joined quickly by the Gun Sniper LT similarly carpeting it with fire. Leon glanced in surprise but began gunning as well, the Berserk Fury disappearing behind a curtain of smoke and grit.
As the haze cleared, the saurian lay shuddering on its side, looking all the worse for wear. Its eyeglass was a dim but furious red.
The Liger stepped quietly forward and looked down.
The Berserk Fury still laughed softly, the sand around it soaked with its gleaming blood.
Bit firmly placed the Liger's charged claws on the Fury's neck. "You've lost. Please. Stop."
He could hear both the Fury and Brad chuckling now, in tandem. It was really quite disturbing.
"You don't get it, man."
"Nobody's dying today." Bit said through his teeth. "Just get out of the Zoid. We'll take care of it."
The chuckle became painful, almost a laughed sob. "You don't get it."
Crack. A sniper bullet struck the Liger Zero, causing it to stumble to the ground.