Zoids: Tales of the Scavenge team.
Chapter 5: Jill's Zoid; Command Wolf On the Line.
So I was sitting on this chapter for… A few years now. Just a few. Like, legitimately, I only finished this chapter in 2021, during a brief attempt to get myself writing again that failed. But if I'm updating Re-Entry with the content that I already had finished, I might as well update this story with what I already had finished. Apologies for the wait, as I said in my other story.
A word of warning in advance, this chapter is being posted without reviewing or proofreading outside of confirming that it was actually complete, so any typos or grammar mistakes you see, you can blame on past me, and I guess current me for being too lazy to fix them, I'm just trying to get this out here to give my readers some form of closure in the fact that I just vanished without a trace. But hey, I do have a little something to share if you read the end of the chapter author's notes, something that my readers of Re-Entry will have to wait for the next chapter to see. Until then, thanks for being patient, sorry for making you wait so long.
"Sir." A man in a very expensive looking suit stepped through a large door within the Stonewell estate. Inside of the room, there were many shelves on each of its walls. They were filled to the brim with many Zoid model kits of different types and brands. At a table on the far side of the room sat a lone blonde haired millionaire who had -until a moment ago- been carefully constructing a specially upgraded Cannon Tortoise kit that he had spent quite a bit of wealth trying to pry from the collector who previously owned it. He raised his head, knowing exactly what was coming next, it had been going on for the prior three days.
"You know what to tell her. If she returns, tell her again." He waved his butler off with his free hand, his other firmly holding the miniature Zoid in place. Just as he attempted to once again attach a gun to the side of its shell, he was interrupted by his servant.
"She claims to have an offer for us." Percival gently placed the figure's pieces on the table. He was growing very frustrated with this woman. She showed up several weeks ago looking for that Zoid and now she was coming every day to bug him about it. His last nerve was wearing very, very thin at this point. With a sigh, he slid his chair away from the table and stood up. Fine, he would humor this woman once more. Just once.
"Send her in." The rich young man observed his work area for a moment. A small trash bin to the left of the table was overflowing with empty part sheets from model kits that he had previously built. He would have to empty it again once he was done dealing with this insufferable woman. He had to prepare for their meeting, regardless. Just a few spritzes of some of his expensive designer odors. A walk through a special 'On the go' hair salon that was staffed with many servants ready to give him a new style for the day. Today they opted with a longer and feathery look. Lastly, he changed his clothes. He had been stored away in that room for an entire two hours, the outfit that he was wearing had to be filthy!
Finally, he descended the main staircase that lead down from the hobby-section of the Stonewell estate. That woman waited for him in his meeting chambers, a series of rooms hand-tailored to make a guest comfortable. He found himself cursing that fact. On the farthest right side of the Mansion's massive entryway, in a room with an ever-crackling fireplace and several statues of Zoid war heroes sat that girl. Percival was surprised to see that she had somehow managed to not make a mess of the room in her short time there.
"Good evening, Miss Sonada." He greeted, taking a seat in a chair directly across from the couch which she sat upon. "If I understand correctly, you have an "offer" for me." He leaned forward. "What exactly might that be?" He cocked an inquisitive brow.
"This is a nice place you've got here." Jill commented, taking in the scenery of the room. It was very well made up. On either side of the fireplace were a pair of miniature Storm Sworder statues. Percival's patience was being tested again, she was ignoring his question.
"Your offer." He reaffirmed, making wholly sure that he had her attention. It seemed to have enough of the desired effect. Her eyes were definitely set upon him now and not dancing across every piece of decor in the room.
"Keep your bow tie on." She was clearly not taking the meeting that she had arranged seriously. Percival was honestly about to have her removed from his property when, almost as if she knew she was about to be kicked out, she finally got to the point. "Whether you accept it or not, I know that you took my Geno Saurer, but I think I can put that behind me." She too took this chance to lean in just as he had. "At a certain price." Percival was about to tell her for exactly the seventeenth time that he was not the one who took her Zoid, but she continued. "Now, I know the rich type, won't part with anything just because they were asked to." She reclined back against the couch, meshing her fingers together behind her head as she did so. "I propose a Zoid battle. If I win, I want one of your Zoids of my choosing." To this, Percival's interest disappeared.
"Unfortunately, there is nothing you can wager that I could not own with a flick of the wrist." He proceeded to prove just how accurate that statement had been, opening a small computer in his watch. He swiped a few of the buttons before closing it. "I can afford any of the Zoids that are on your team, and thanks to a few connections, I could purchase the land where that warehouse stands." He was surprised to see that her apparent enthusiasm towards her idea hadn't faltered.
"I know I have one thing that you can't afford." Her smile softened slightly as she began to dig through one of her pockets. No longer of this a smile of amusement, it was one of pride. "You see, I've done some digging on my Command Wolf, and I've found out that there's something very special about it." She produced a piece of paper from her pocket. "This isn't just a regular mass-production Zoid with a red paint job, this is a very, very old Zoid." She flattened the paper out before clearing her throat. "During the old war times, there was a short period when the Guylos empire produced their own line of Command Wolves. There were only a handful, so there aren't a lot still around." Jill passed the paper to Percival, and the information on the page certainly matched up with her boasts. "According to what I've dug up, this is one of only four that are privately owned, and I know you don't own one." His interest was finally grabbed by this information.
"Who's to say I can't just go to one of these other owners and purchase their Command Wolf?" He had already flicked the watch open again.
"Because everybody who owns one is like you, they want it for their collection and don't want anyone taking it away." Percival was continuing to grow annoyed at the pride she took in owning something that he could not immediately have. Trying to hide his frustration, he stood up and walked to a large screen that hung on the wall above the entryway. He pressed one of the buttons directly next to it, causing it to flash on to the image of many, many Zoids, all lined up in neat little rows in some kind of containment area.
"Name your prize, Miss Sonada." That expression of satisfaction on her face grew as she saw her
choices splayed out before her. As the image of the Zoids began to pan, one in particular caught her eye.
"That Gojulus has a nice paint job." The feed paused on the specific green and blue Gojulus that he had to specially order from practically the opposite side of Zi. It was based on an aquatic version of the Zoid that never saw production after the end of the war. "That seems like a fair wager." Percival had to agree. Given that it was one of three that he owned, only one of which was actually accurate to the planned design. And thankfully, that had not been the one she had pointed out.
"I must say, a Zoid battle could make for some interesting practice." And now it was Jill's turn to be interested.
"Practice? For what?" She seemed a bit confused by his statement.
"I usually battle as a hobby, but I've recently taken an interest in this Grand Cup I've been hearing so much about." He tapped another button and the screen turned off.
"Well then I guess I'll have to beat you twice. We're in the cup too." Percival had noticed this himself when looking at the roster. Maybe if he were lucky, he'd face them in the final. Beating them there would be a good way to repay all of this hassle that Jill had been giving him.
"We shall see. I accept your challenge. I'll have the Battle Commission notified." He walked to the room's entrance again. "We will meet in my yard. Tomorrow, the time is up to you." He turned, leaving the door open so Jill could leave behind him. He had a lot of preparations to attend to if this battle was to go smoothly. He smiled at the thought of that Command Wolf, shining and carefully polished for display next to his pride of Helcats. For now, his immediate thoughts were on what to wear.
-o| |o-
It was a long day of fine tuning at the warehouse. Jill had asked Bael to make a few touch-ups to the Command Wolf. Sights were adjusted, a few areas in the armor were reinforced and a few of its joints were tuned up. Jill wanted nothing left to chance and that meant another sleepless night for Bael. It was a good thing he would actually be paid for this. If the Battle Commission was notified, there would be prize money and he was certainly getting a cut if he wasn't sleeping today. By the time that he was done, the sun had begun to make its way up and over the horizon. As daylight peaked in through the Warehouse's high windows, Jill stepped out from the door on the other side of the room, yawning.
"Ev-" She paused to let out a yawn. "Everything ready Bael?" Her voice was tired, having not yet shaken off the groggy chains of sleep. Bael looked at the Command Wolf and then back to her. He gave a light nod before his legs -as well as the rest of his body- gave up on the whole 'awake' thing. Pulling this many all-nighters was not good for you.
At the same time, Percival was already making his preparations for the upcoming battle. He had one of his own high performance Command Wolves pulled from his stock and was having it upgraded as much as possible. He meanwhile waited out in his yard, sitting in a lounging chair and taking in the beauty of his Zoid displays. It was a few hours before Jill arrived in her own Command Wolf, carried there on that tacky Cyan colored Gustav. He smiled, stepping up from his chair into the clear area in the center of his oversized Zoid diorama. He'd waited all day to do this. The gates opened, letting his opponent roll up the path that lead to the estate.
"Welcome, Scavenge Team!" Percival greeted, watching the Gustav and Command Wolf drive along the road to the mansion. Jill was the first to step out of the Gustav, followed by what Percival assumed was Bael. He wasn't entirely sure if the shambling and exhausted creature he was looking at could be construed as a human being. "Welcome back to the estate. I trust you're fully prepared for the battle?" He asked.
"More than." Jill boasted. Bael opened his mouth as if to back up her statement, but he found that he was suddenly very interested in the ground and needed to get a really close look at it. So he did. Jill looked back at him. "I'm sure he's fine." She waved the issue off. Percival noticed the final member of their team was standing atop the Gustav, looking around with something in his hands.
"Excuse me, sir?" Percival began, quickly catching the blonde's attention. "No photography on the Stonewell grounds." To this, the young man flashed an innocent smile, stuffing the object into his pocket. Content with this, Percival walked to the center of a large square that the Zoids around his yard formed. He once again opened the small device in his watch. With a few quick swipes and taps, the yard began to shake and rumble from below. The soil parted in a rectangular shape that ran the length of the yard. Slowly, the far side of the grassy platform began to lower, creating a slope. It soon came to a stop, revealing that it connected to a long path that lead further down into the ground. Percival turned around and began walking. "Whenever you are ready, enter your Command Wolf and follow me."
He turned to the dark tunnel and made his way into it. It was very dark, but that was not a concern, it was well kept and he didn't need to worry about where he was going, he just had to walk forward. Nott that it mattered very much though, the lights began to flash on as he continued to walk, illuminating the massive corridor and its eventual exit up ahead. Percival was soon joined in his walk by the Command Wolf, slowly trotting beside him with Jill at the helm.
"So... Where are we going exactly?" Jill asked, having raised the canopy of the Command Wolf's cockpit. Percival continued walking silently, the corridor up ahead would end soon, replaced by a large metal door.
"The Estate was built above an abandoned underground military complex. When my grandparents became aware of this, they decided to make it a feature." The doors slowly parted ways, revealing a massive storage room. At its center stood a large support column with eight support beams making their way along the ceiling outward to the walls and corners of the room. "This will be our battlefield." The room itself was filled with several large metal containers, many stacked on top of one another. In front of the central column stood a pale green Command Wolf with several interesting attachments. Its back-mounted cannon was of a triple barrel design, one long and thin barrel in the middle with two smaller guns flanking it on each side.
On its hind legs were a pair of assistance boosters. In these close quarters, they would probably not count for much. Atop its head was some kind of large metal... Thing. Jill had no idea what it was. "This was the best Command Wolf money could buy. High-grade assistance boosters, missile pods mounted on both the front-most legs and two smaller missile pods located on either side of the mouth. Specially crafted pads on the feet silence all footfalls. A custom-ordered long and short range cannon mounted on the back with interchanging weapon rack for all combat scenarios." Percival approached the Zoid, coming to a stop to the left of its head. "And a special experimental scope attachment with thermal, night vision, sound-based projection of the battlefield, infrared and small vulcan cannon." Jill figured that was whatever the device folded up toward the back of its head. "It's a fresh off the line, high-performance stealth model Command Wolf. Its armor absorbs all radar waves, making it virtually invisible. Unfortunately, there was no room for the actual optical cloak." The Zoid lowered its head and its canopy raised up. "If you would like to surrender, do so now. This will be your only chance."
"You wish." Jill taunted. Stepping forward into the chamber. "All the money in the world won't buy experience in battle." The door closed behind her as Percival stepped into his own Zoid's cockpit. The green Command Wolf tensed up as it's combat system was activated.
"Suit yourself." He sighed. He guessed it wouldn't be that easy. A panel on the room's central column divided into two smaller doors that slipped back behind the pillar's walls, revealing small Judge stand. "This shall be an official battle if that is alright with you."
"This one-hundred and eighty-two meter radius is a designated Zoids battlefield." The Judge in the center began to go through the usual pre-battle speech. Battlemode, combatant names, ect. The Command Wolf's claws gripped slightly, Jill had a lot of firepower to get out of the way of in a very short time. "Ready?" The Judge's arms raised. "Fight!" Jill was off, leaping into the cover of the metal containers to her immediate right. She was surprised to find a hail of gunfire had not followed her.
"Come now, Miss Sonada. What kind of a brute do you take me for? Striking an opponent who is not prepared?" Percival's voice cracked over her radio. Jill smiled as she crept around the corner she had leaped to, sure that Percival would have aimed ahead in anticipation of her moves.
"I appreciate the gesture!" She yelled, bounding out of her hiding place and firing on Percival's position. She was once again surprised, he was gone. He hadn't aimed ahead and stood still, he had gone into hiding just as she had. "Well aren't you clever..." Jill quietly commented. Assuming that he had expected her plan and moved accordingly. Either that or he lacked any confidence in the Zoid's firepower. The Command Wolf's stature lowered slightly. This was now a dangerous game of hide and seek where both players took on both roles. Jill began to make her way along to the corner of the first wall. She surveyed the path ahead of her. Her opponent could be hiding anywhere. Every in-between that the containers provided could be hiding the other Command Wolf. It was quiet. Those pads were working just as advertised. The red Command Wolf's feet loudly banged against the metal floors while the green hadn't made a sound. This Zoid was going to be trouble. She followed the next wall, carefully watching her radar for any movement. Her shoulders slumped as she reached the far wall. Her radar wasn't going to do her any good. Right. It was a stealth Command Wolf, it was built for this kind of thing.
The Command Wolf's head turned, glancing behind itself. "Not behind me..." She pulled at the controls, carrying the Zoid's head around one of the metal containers. She jumped back as she saw the green Command Wolf just around the left corner. "He's playing with me..." She furrowed her brows, but her irritation soon gave way to a playful smirk. "Fine. Let's play." She dispensed the Command Wolf's smoke, flooding the better half room with a thick black veil. "Now we're both blind." She quickly bounded out of cover, taking one shot at her opponent's previous position. Nothing. This was becoming a trend. At least he couldn't see her any more than she could see him. Or so she thought.
"Weren't you listening Miss Sonada? You've only blinded yourself." Percival's voice once again came over her radio. "Infrared." He reminded. His point was quickly punctuated by a sudden impact in the Command Wolf's side. The explosion caused the Zoid to stagger, barely maintaining its footing. The Zoid turned, aiming its long-range cannon in the direction of its aggressor. Jill paused. He wasn't going to be there if she shot. There had to be a way to find him. She had to force him to make a sound somehow. The Command Wolf's feet were specially padded to silence its footsteps, the rest of it was likely not padded this way. Now she just needed to think of a way to work with that. Maybe it would be best if she actually got out of the smoke's range first. She turned in the direction that the pillar had been in before she had blinded herself and began walking. Above all else at the moment, she hoped that she had at least enough visibility to not walk face-first into the support structure.
Thankfully, she was able to stop just short of ruining her Command Wolf's face. She began to trace the outline of the pillar with her Zoid, content when she turned a corner. After a few more tense moments of walking, she exited the smokey half of the room with a small degree of suspicion. Why had she not been fired upon again? She'd been a blind target fumbling through the dark.
"Bravo Miss Sonada, you navigated out of your own trap, you should give yourself a pat on the back." Percival spoke up. His Zoid stood opposite of her own, on the other side of the room. It seemed that every second, he managed to prove that he was capable of finding new buttons to push. She may not have seen his face, but she wanted to remove that smile from it as quickly as possible.
"Stop treating me like a child who needs a handicap! I am an experienced pilot!" Her irritation finally broke through.
"Temper, temper, Miss Sonada. I am a man of hon-"
"And stop calling me that! My name is Jill. Call me Jill!" Her Command Wolf appeared to pick up on its pilot's anger, letting out a low, guttural growl.
"If that is the way you want it Miss... Jill. If you would like me to let my Zoid off of its chain, I will grant your wish."
'Off of its... Chain…' Jill thought. Her eyes shot up to the room's ceiling. This was a storage facility. Used or not, it should have... There they were! All around the room, chains were hung up on hooks for supporting containers and other supplies. Percival had unwittingly led her to his Zoid's only weakness by deciding on an indoor battle. She aimed her cannon to the ceiling and took a single shot. Her motion tracker immediately picked up on the rattling of several chains in different areas of the room. She made a quick note on the Command Wolf's radar to keep track of their locations.
"An admirable effort, but you will not be bringing the ceiling down. It was made to withstand bombardments from enemy soldiers during the war." Percival released the controls of his Command Wolf. He then turned a large knob atop a device attached to the Zoid's dashboard. When he finished, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, relinquishing control to the Zoid itself. "I shall be letting the Zoid fight this battle. If I were to attack you while you were defenseless, I simply would not be able to live with myself."
Jill responded to this by venting the remainder of the Wolf's smoke into the room, blinding her to all but the locations of the chains. Percival sighed. He had expected more, an actual challenge as opposed to an angry girl who acted blindly without considering her temper. He did not realize just how wrong he was about that. His Command Wolf quickly began to give chase to hers, forcing her to flee blindly into the darkness around her. The Zoid bounded, taking every shot that it could at the hanging metal chains that dotted the room. She also used them as a bit of a guideline. Four of them hung before the four faces of the central pillar.
After effectively hitting all of her targets, she spun around, taking a single shot at her pursuer. As with each time before, her shot missed. Silently, from a distance the green Command Wolf stalked its red counterpart. Step by step, it crept around to the Zoid's side. A few more steps to reach a perfect position to attack... A rattling noise rang out as its foot caught on something. Percival didn't have time to ponder on this, as a powerful shot from Jill's long-range cannon collided with the Zoid's left leg. It recoiled, leaving Jill with enough time to get close.
"Very clever Jill, perhaps this battle shall be as entertaining as expected." Percival let out a light laugh. "It seems that I will have to take matters back into my own hands." He turned the device off, returning control to himself. The Command Wolf leaped away, narrowly avoiding the red Zoid's jaws.
Clink
Its foot caught another chain. This time the shot that followed collided with the side of the Zoid, knocking it to the ground. Percival struggled with the controls to return the Zoid to its feet, giving Jill ample time to send her own Command Wolf barreling into it. Both pilots were shaken by the collision, but the green Zoid had managed to right itself. "Your strategy is quite interesting, but it does have a flaw."
"And what might that be?" Jill asked, quickly retreating behind another chain-based minefield.
"It only works if I'm moving."
Jill blinked. He was right. Dang it, he was right! Her radar wasn't picking anything up. Surely, he couldn't have gone far. She leveled her long-range cannon with his previous location. Reload. Fire! She heard the shell collide with the far wall. "Well that's just great. The one flaw and he figured it out."
"I must admit, Miss Jill. The plan certainly makes up for your mistakes earlier. I suspect you may be a better pilot than I gave you credit for." Percival's voice once again cracked over her radio. "What say you that we put ourselves back on even ground?" Another swipe at that little watch of his and the sounds of several large fans filled their confined battlefield.
Vents found high on the walls opened and sucked the dark shroud, as well as Jill's self-inflicted disadvantage, away. This also gave her a good chance to assess the damage she'd done. Judging by the rather large dent in its front leg and the… Very nice weak point to aim for in its side. This gave her some options. Slightly hindered maneuverability, and a weak point. She could work with that. A smile drew across her face. This was quite short-lived, however, as her smirk was closely followed by a barrage of heavy cannon fire. She avoided what she could, returning to cover behind a large stack of containers… "Hey! What happened to not being a brute?" Her Zoid's legs couldn't take another hit like that, she was already out-gunned, she didn't need to be legless too.
"You had plenty of time to get out of the way, and you weren't blind. If any was a fair attack, that would be it." Percival ceased firing once again, watching each side of the container for his opponent slipping out. No silent stalking or mocking, now that his Zoid was damaged, he had to end this match at quickly as possible. "Come now, Miss Jill. You can't hide behind the cargo containers forever. I'd prefer if as little time as possible was…" What was that scraping noise? His Command Wolf abruptly leapt back, just in time to avoid several tons of Zoid-sized metal boxes falling to the ground. He'd been so focused on the sides of the containers, he hadn't considered that they were stacked.
Another moment later, with a loud howl, the red Command Wolf descended upon him, using the distraction of the crate to get in close. "You've got an awful lot of fancy gear on that Command Wolf, but it won't matter much when I'm too close to shoot." As two pairs of steel claws struck the side of the other wolf, it toppled over, barely having any time to right itself before it was attacked again. This time, Jill's Zoid opted to go for the damaged armor on the green Zoid's side. Another heavy impact as it was tackled again, this time not toppling it, but exposing quite a bit of important machinery. Percival reacted quickly before she had time to aim her cannon at the newly opened weak point, he couldn't take a hit from that side, but he should be able to withstand one on the opposite side.
Unfortunately for Percival, Jill wasn't aiming to shoot at his weak point. As he focused on getting his Command Wolf turned around, she got in close once again, her Wolf's jaws wrapping around one of the missile pods that extended from her opponent's own. A jerking motion back and away, and it was one less weapon for her to worry about. And… Two. Her long-range cannon turned, aligning itself with the green Zoid's next weapon. A large explosion later, and the multi-range cannon was no more. That left three missile pods, two of which were presently useless, since they needed to be facing her to hit her. The other? Well, firing at her with a large number of explosives at this range wouldn't be very good for either of him.
"You know, Percy, a lot of big heavy gear like that might have helped if you were fighting out in the open, with a team," Jill smiled, her face appearing on the green Command Wolf's heads-up display. "But from one pilot to another? You can't win battles by throwing money at them." And that's what he got for being so annoying.
Percival frowned. "Well, well, Miss Jill. You say that-" he reached to a small sliding handle, sliding it forward and twisting it to the side. "-like the battle is already over!" All at once, the green Zoid began to turn, a single assistance booster flaring to life turning it in place as it dug one foot down against the floor of the chamber. He still had one weapon that he could fire at close range. The vulcan cannon he'd attached to the Zoid's head. A moment later, the gun began to fire as he lined up his shot with his Zoid's red counterpart. Sparks rained down as dozens of rounds unloaded themselves against… The ceiling.
In a swift motion, Jill's Command Wolf had ducked down and thrust forward, jaws wide, grabbing hold of the other Zoid's neck and lifting up and away from herself. The green Zoid struggled against the grip, claws wildly swinging as its gun continued to empty itself. After a few moments passed, the vulcan cannon found itself empty, the red Command Wolf only having some scratches in its paint job from its foe's claws to show for it. A shift in weight, and the Command Wolf brought its head down, slamming Percival's Zoid to the floor before releasing its grip.
"Feel like getting up?" Her heart was racing. She'd had to act very precisely to avoid getting shot. And given that it would have all been against her Wolf's leg, she would have been stuck with a Zoid on three legs. Percival jerked the Zoid's controls. He wasn't going to give up that easily… Unfortunately, it seemed he wouldn't have a choice in the matter. The abrupt impact, on top of managing to ruin his hair, also left his combat system frozen. He let out a frustrated sigh. He really, really liked that Gojulus… But… Fine. She won. He couldn't get up. After a moment, a clear siren sounded throughout the chamber.
"Battle over! The winner is… Jill Sonada!"
-o| |o-
After a few Minutes, Percival and Jill's Command Wolf returned to the surface through the tunnel, the hole in the yard sealing closely behind them. "As much as I hate to admit it, you have won. And as promised, you may take my Gojulus from my collection. I trust you'll want it shipped directly to your…" He struggled to find a word with a little more taste than just "Warehouse." A moment later, he decided on "Facility?"
Jill shook her head, not that he could see it from outside of the Zoid. Speaking of which, her Zoid knelt down, and the canopy opened. Before leaving the Command Wolf, however, she turned her attention to… Bael. Who was still sleeping on the ground. He looked a little bit sunburned. She then turned her attention to the Gustav. "Zack!"
"Yeah?" A voice came over the Zoid's comms.
"Don't touch my Zoid while I'm gone. If you do, I'm going to throw your Gun Sniper in a lake." A threat which she very, very much meant. She then climbed out of the Wolf, turning her attention to Percy. "I want to see it for myself first. In person."
Percival seemed slightly annoyed at the idea of letting her back inside the Mansion, but at least this would be the last time he had to deal with her. "Fine, come along." He spoke up, beginning his walk back towards the doors. Jill followed, just wallowing in all of the frustration that she could feel pouring out of Percival. Oh, she couldn't wait to see the look on his face when she walked her new Zoid out of his… Whatever kind of storage facility to hold a so many of a Zoid of its size. She followed him up the stairs, down a hallway, and to… A relatively normal door. She'd expect the entrance to a storage facility would be more… Heavily guarded? Defended? Some security measures of some sense?
"Here we are, Miss Jill." He spoke up, and even opening the door for her. She stepped inside and… Blinked. What… Was this?
"Uhm… Are you sure we have the right room?" There were shelves, lined with hundreds of miniature Zoids. Percival followed her inside, approaching a particular shelf and picking up… A blue and green Gojulus. It was barely a foot tall.
"Here it is, straight from my private collection. I trust that you will take good care of it. It likely cost more than your yearly income." He spoke, handing it to her. He still seemed slightly annoyed, but Jill? Her expression was far more defeated than Percival was. A model kit. A tiny, little, plastic, model kit. Her mouth was slightly agape, one eye wider than the other. She felt her eye twitching more than once.
"A model kit?" She spoke, eyes turning to Percival. "I went through all that trouble… For a model kit?" Her hands were shaking now.
"Well if you don't want it, you can always ret-" Percivals words were cut off as Jill held the Zoid high above her head before throwing it at the floor, breaking it apart, sending several pieces scattering in all directions and causing most of its parts to break outright. Percival looked horrified. "Why would you do that!?" He asked, scrambling to collect the parts from the floor. "That was a limited edition! They only made a few hundred! Do you have any idea how long it will take me to find another collector who is willing to part with one of these for replacement parts!? Are you mad!?"
The short answer to that question was yes, yes she was. Enough so that she brought her hands to her head and screamed that answer at the ceiling. Why did these things always happen to her?
-o| |o-
So, I have recently got an account another little fanfiction website, AO3, you may have heard of it. The reason for that is my big plan for the future. I'm going to be re-writing this story, and re-entry, with my modern writing standards. So keep an eye on Zoids on AO3, you might find me there with the same name as I have here. Or maybe not, I don't know, I know I've already started writing the Re-Entry chapters. Until then, thank you for reading, I'm sorry for making you wait, and I'll see you around sometime. I probably won't update this again.
-o| |o-
"You're going to do what!?"
"I have a friend, owes me a favor."
"We're going to break in to the Stonewell estate and find your Geno Saurer."
"Breaking and entering. That's a real great way to prove you're not a thief."
"Hey, L? I wanna cash in that favor you owe me."
"Next time on Zoids, The Break-in; Zack's Favor. See you on the battlefield!"