Here's chapter 2.

Disclaimer: As I've said, I don't own the Zoids, only Krater and the new character you'll see in a minute, are mine.

Chapter 2: Unexpected Meeting

Krater did just as he said he would. The Zabre Team went through two more battles and secured a pair of victories with minimal damage to their own team and its three members were extremely happy... until the mercenary sprung the news that he was leaving on them. They tried desperately to get him to stay, they did after all have a match that day, and even went so far as to offer a higher wage, but he wouldn't relent. He packed up his equipment and the few things he kept and left their base in the early afternoon, the crestfallen team watching with noticeable slouches from the open hangar door.

Now unemployed and free of the Zabre Team, the rookie mercenary made his way down the road riding in a crimson gustav with his rev raptor in tow. Most of the terrain around the Zabre Team's base was the same as most other teams: barren wasteland with little to nothing for miles all around. In fact, the nearest city or town was an hour's drive down the road, but since his gustav was towing Raider it took another thirty minutes before he was pulling into a city. This particular city was the same one that all the zoid teams in the surrounding area came to for parts, setting up registrations, shopping, lounging, whatever they needed.

Pleased that he'd finally arrived, Krater found a large lot where he could park his gustav and made sure to lock everything down and walked down the sidewalk towards one of the local hotels. He knew he might be here a while, so he decided he should get a room somewhere. Once he finished with that, he headed to the lounge zoid pilots from the area frequented to watch battles and found that the place was packed and a battle between a team of familiar command wolves and sabre fangs was being displayed on the video screen. Apparently, everyone had heard of the Zabre Team's sudden increase in victories and wanted to see how they fared.

They did not, however, seem to know that the mercenary they hired had left. Questions were thrown around the lounge inquiring where the strange rev raptor and its pilot were, but nobody knew why he was absent. Krater gained a knowing grin and chose to say nothing as he went and grabbed himself some food and drink before sitting down to watch the match. Apparently it had only started a couple of minutes ago, as the Zabre Team and the Gray Wolves were only just starting to exchange fire. Krater grinned with amusement, Looks like Kirkland shouldn't have accepted their demand for a rematch. He thought to himself as he watched Lineback's Sabre get trashed by two of the other team's command wolves. It was blindingly apparent to all those watching by now that the mysterious mercenary Krater was no longer under the Zabre Team's employment and even more obvious how much the sub par team had been relying on him, as they weren't displaying any of the tactics from previous matches nor could they seem to stay in formation.

The battle lasted maybe fifteen minutes, if only because Kirkland and Omari were far too stubborn to go down too easily. To their credit, they did manage to disable one of the opposing team's command wolves, but nothing beyond that. Several people around the lounge laughed and the air was abuzz with chatter as the pilots and spectators present discussed the 'battle' that had just ended and the vid screen went black. Krater turned his attention back to his food and ate slowly, enjoying the taste of a well earned meal. He had to savor it, after all, he didn't know how long it would be before another team hired him and the money he'd gotten from the Zabre Team, generous as they were, would only last so long.

About that time, he noticed someone in blue take a seat across from him and looked up to find that a young woman was looking at him curiously.

He could tell already she couldn't be any older then seventeen, though her face was perfectly clear of any sort of noticeable blemishes. She had a slightly pale, heart shaped face with a cute curved nose, big slanted red eyes and shiny silver hair in a high ponytail that flowed down to her lower back even when kept up. Her slender figure was adorned with what appeared to be a darker blue china dress with looser short sleeves that split down the shoulder and lined the ends with a yellow line. The rest of the dress was skintight with sleeves that extended to the end of her black fingerless gloves, a white square in the middle where her forearm and bicep meet. He couldn't see what else she was wearing since she was sitting down, but he guessed it was equally skintight as the top. He also noted, with a slight blush, that the dress did a fine job of highlighting her chest, which, he guessed were about a C cup, almost D.

Apparently unaware that he was sizing her up, the girl met his eyes and seemed to bore into him as she hummed thoughtfully. There was a long silence, one that Krater thought was lasting too long, so he finally smiled uneasily and asked, "Um, can I help you?"

She didn't offer any sort of reply for a good while before she finally smiled coyly, "You're him, aren't you?" She suddenly asked with a notable amount of interest.

"Him who?" Krater asked with a small bit of confusion.

The girl pointed her thumb over her shoulder to the blacked out vid screen and replied, "The one who was helping the Zabre Team. The new rookie mercenary everyone's talking about. That is you, isn't it?" She quirked an eyebrow, her lips forming a satisfied smile.

Krater chuckled, "Yep, that'd be me. How'd you figure that out?" He inquired curiously as he stabbed his chicken with a fork and ate it.

The silver haired girl nodded with a grin, "I did my homework." She then winked at him, "Ya' know, that helmet you wear into battle only works when people don't look up your profile, Krater Vrasik." She teased and stuck her tongue out at him for a second.

The black haired youth took a quick glance around the lounge and was relieved to see that nobody was listening in on their conversation. He then looked back at the young woman before him and asked with a smile, "Okay, you know my name, so may I have the pleasure of hearing yours?"

The red eyed girl smiled again, a gesture that Krater found to fit her very well, and replied, "Virilia. Virilia Shradner. Currently a Rank C Zoid Pilot going solo." Then she leaned forward and planted her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her hand, "And you, Krater, being a new guy, are still at the bottom of the ladder, though your past few battles have brought you up a couple spots, you're still considered a Class D pilot. I also hear you're very good at doing mechanical work with zoids." She watched him when she finished, gauging his reaction to her knowledge.

Krater blinked as he looked at her, taken aback by her in-depth knowledge of him. Was she stalking him or something? Doubtful. We wouldn't be having this talk if she was just doing that. I wonder what she's after...? After a few seconds, he regained his composure and met her gaze with a slightly confused expression, "So you pretty much know all about me... may I ask why you went through all the trouble? I mean, like you said, I'm still a rookie. I know I'm good at mechanical work, but I'm not all that good in battle." His lips flat lined by the time he finished speaking.

Virilia met his eyes with a half-lidded gaze, most likely pondering how to put her next statement. In the end she smiled again and sat up straight, placing her hands on top of each other on the table in front of her, "To put it bluntly, Krater, I'd like your help." She finally stated as she looked him in the eye. "You have more skill then you think. Judging from the way the Zabre Team handled their last four battles and comparing them to today's battle... I can assume you were the one who came up with the battle plans, correct?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"...Well, yeah, kinda..." Was his brief reply as he scratched the back of his head.

She smiled again and looked down at her hands as she fiddled with one of her fingernails, picking something small from out the bottom absently as she said, "The first battle ended with the less desirable results, though they still won. That was because they either went with their own plan or they stopped following yours sometime during it."

"The second battle, it only because of your advice and battle plan that the Zabre Team was able to win and the same goes for the last two battles you were in. Their reliance on you was reflected the most in today's battle since you were absent. They couldn't maintain a formation, they obviously had no plan and their performance was dismal at best." She looked at him again with that same satisfied smile she had earlier.

"Judging from that, it's clear that you're a fast learner, though you don't seem to perform quite as well under pressure, you're good at last minute improvisations. The fact that you aren't that good in actual combat is expected and that can be amended with time and practice. It is for these reasons that I want your help." She finished as she inspected him calmly with her bright smile, awaiting his answer.

Krater stared at her, obviously very surprised and did little beyond open and close his mouth in silence and blink before he regained his composure and grinned, "Well, then, Virilia, I'd say you've got yourself a partner. When do I start?" He asked curiously.

Virilia smiled pleasantly and said as she stood up, "Right now. We need to go and register that you and I are working together now." Krater nodded and stood up, leaving a tab on the table.

Now that she was standing though, the young man noticed something about her he couldn't have seen while she was sitting. Her expression shined with genuine contentment and happiness at their pairing, almost to an innocent degree. Her body, language however, was saying something a little different. The way she carried herself was as confident as he expected, but he also noticed a great deal of suggestiveness in her stance. She had shifted her hip to the right, placing most of her weight on her right leg and hand one hand resting on her hip, the other simply resting at her side.

He also got the chance to see the rest of her outfit. What he saw was indeed much like a china dress in that it went all the way down to her ankles with slits on either side that revealed her slim, curvy legs were also covered by a skintight suit and that she wore a belt with a handgun resting on her left side. She was wearing a pair of blue and white boots as well, in a color that matched her dress. On the outer thighs of her suit were white squares like the ones he noticed earlier that started at her hind quarters and ended a couple inches above her shapely knees. The china dress was also sporting an hour-glass sort of shape with the blue, one that fit her very well, with white on the edges and the same yellow on the ending trim as the sleeves.

All in all, he had a hard time trying not to stare at her gorgeous figure. Still, just as before, Virilia apparently didn't notice that he was so thoroughly inspecting her and turned to leave with a 'follow me' gesture that he was sure really meant nothing, though her body was selling another story as her hips swayed from side to side and her slim legs carried her forward.

Krater gulped, This is gonna be tough... I wonder how long I can last... He thought to himself nervously as he scratched his chin and followed after her, paying for his meal on the way out.

Within an hour, Krater and Virilia had paid a visit to the ZBC Registration Office for the city and had registered themselves. The young man had watched with interest as his beautiful companion named their team 'Alpha.' After that, she turned to him and calmly said, "I need to go to the repair shop and pick up my zoid. Do you want to come with me or would you like to meet somewhere?"

Now, Krater could tell she really was giving him a choice, but her body language was saying, "You'd better come with me!" He couldn't tell which was her real nature, so just to be safe; he decided to go with her and said, "I'll go with you." He was curious what her zoid looked like anyway and he certainly couldn't complain about the view since he was walking behind her the whole way there.

When they arrived at the repair shop, they walked inside and up to the front desk and Virilia simply said that she'd come to pick up her zoid. The man behind the counter nodded with a smile and led them through a door into the back that led into a large hanger full of zoids of all shapes and sizes. Some were alight with sparks and equipment as the many mechanics working here went to work on them. The man led them further towards the back and stopped in front of a command wolf. Most of its armor was a dark shade of navy blue while smaller parts such as the joints were black. On its back was an AZ-50mm Dual Barrel Rifle, the same kind most command wolves have.

Krater looked up at the zoid with a smile as Virilia and the man talked briefly. She then paid the man and he walked away as she turned and stood beside Krater, "So what do you think?" She asked with a curious glance out of the corner of her eye.

The young man hummed thoughtfully and replied, "It looks good. You obviously keep your zoid in good condition." He then looked at the command wolf's claws curiously, "...It has strike laser claw, doesn't it?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Virilia smirked and walked past him, stopping at her zoid's front right leg before turning around and face him, "That it does! I've also got an AZ 40mm Rifle that's intended for more accurate, powerful strikes back at home and..." She pointed to the unseen side of the side, "She's also equipped with a small missile launcher on the left-hand side."

She turned and climbed up her zoid with ease and hopped into the cockpit, then looked down at him with a wave, "Hop in, I'll give you a lift to your zoid!" She called.

Krater smiled and was soon in the cockpit sitting in the backseat as Virilia started up her zoid's systems, checked their status and walked out of the hanger through one of its many larger doors. "My zoid's in the lot down the road." He briefly told her as he leaned forward and around the back of her seat to see her face when she nodded with a smile and replied, "Alright. Then we can go to my place and figure out where I'm going to put you."

Later that evening, Krater and Virilia pulled up in front of a fairly large house on the very edge of town. The front yard was small, but it had a wide driveway; room enough for her command wolf, his gustav towing his rev raptor and what must have been Virilia's car: a simple blue, nondescript model, though he noticed it too was also in good condition.

He hopped out of his gustav and joined his silver haired companion as she hopped down from her own cockpit and led him to the front door. To look at the house, it wasn't anything grand. Just a simple white two-story house built with wood and a porch that stretched across the whole front of the house.

"Just a warning, I don't like messes, so things are going to be a lot cleaner then you're probably used to." Virilia teased him with a wink and led him inside to a large living room. Against the wall opposite the door was a large blue and white couch, a love seat of the same color scheme to the left and a comfy arm chair to its right. Directly to the left of the door, facing the furniture was a black widescreen TV with a stereo sitting at its base. Then sitting in the middle of it all was a coffee table made of oak with a nice sheen. The walls of the living room were painted white and dotted with paintings and pictures of different shapes and sizes and had two windows on either side of the front door overlooking the yard.

He grinned with a quiet chuckle when he noticed what she said was true: the room was spotless, not a speck of trash or dust was anywhere to be found and no clothes were lying around either. His gaze was drawn to Virilia's alluring figure as she left her boots by the door and walked further in and plopped down on the couch, patting the spot beside her with her hand, "So what do you think?" She asked with a cheery smile.

Krater kicked his boots off and left them by the door as she had done and seated himself beside her with a sigh, "It's really nice." He started and added with a laugh, "I can see you love the color blue, too."

Virilia giggled and leaned into the couch with a comfortable sigh, "Yes, it is. Back home my brothers would always make a mess and drive me crazy when they wouldn't pick up after themselves." She frowned with a slight pout and glanced at him as he sat back against the couch and rested his arms along the top of the couch, "You're not like that are you?" She asked somewhat suspiciously as she poked him in the chest.

The young man chuckled and replied, "You betcha!" and laughed when she gave him a playful jab to the arm, "Although I probably won't be that way forever. Like you said, I'm a fast learner." He added with a smile.

The woman beside him graced him with another of her perfect smiles and said, "All in good time, my friend."

They fell silent and Krater sensed things becoming a little awkward. Here they were: two teenagers alone in her house with nobody around to disturb them. It was obvious Virilia was picking up on the vibes, it was written all over her body language as she nervously folded her arms together in her lap and bit her lip while she stared at a painting on the wall, though her expression was, for the most part, calm and serene. Krater himself was better able to hold his composure and simply rested his head against the top of the couch and closed his eyes.

After five minutes of unbearable silence, Krater finally stood up with a sigh and smiled to his companion, "So, where am I sleeping?" He asked somewhat tiredly.

Virilia blushed slightly and made an 'Oh' shape with her lips, apparently having forgotten that as she stood up. She then proceeded to lead him through a door on the right side of the room that opened up to a small dining room with a flight of stairs to the right and an opening that most likely led to the kitchen. He followed her up the stairs, all the while trying not to stare as her tantalizing curves teased him with each step, and found himself in a hallway that stretched out to the right, lined with doors on either side.

She led him to a room two doors down on the right and opened the door to reveal a fairly simple room with a large bed, dresser, closet, TV and an assortment of other knick knacks and a window that overlooked the front yard and their zoids.

"This is your room." Virilia stated calmly with a smile, "Sorry if it's a bit small, but the other room besides my own has become a storage space more then an actual bedroom."

Krater nodded, "This is fine. Thanks a lot." He smiled as he turned to look at her. He was startled to see that the light of the setting sun had coming through the window had bathed her in a shade of luscious red and orange that, combined with her body language, seemed to be inviting him to try something. Her silver hair glistened in the fading rays and her red eyes shimmered, making holding himself together a difficult task.

Virilia didn't seem to notice though. She simply turned to the door directly across, pulling it open as she said, "This is my room. So if you need anything just ask. The bathroom's the door in front of the stairs and anything you need for it is in the closet directly beside it."

Krater nodded as she stepped into her own room, turned to face him again with another of her angelic smiles and said, "Good night, Krater. I'll see you in the morning." Then gently shut the door and started getting ready for bed.

The young man let out a sigh of relief as he shut his own door and leaned against the wall beside it. Wow that was close... For a second there I actually thought I might... He didn't dare finish that train of thought and instead started getting ready for bed. He ended up having to go outside to his gustav to get his bag with his things and set that on top of his dresser and stripped down to his boxers before slipping into bed for the night. Before long, he drifted off to sleep, his dreams full of Virilia and where their new partnership might lead...

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So tell me what you think: Good? Bad? Overdone? R&R please!