By Sh33p, CultofSh33p@aol.com
Hats off to this fic. It tops most fics I've read....including most of the ones I posted here. Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com
Sh33p Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids.
"... Eh?" Jamie voiced, glancing up from his food and looking off towards the main entrance to the Food Court. "Someone you know?" Leyla asked curiously, shifting her gaze to follow Jamie`s as a slightly familiar young man with blonde hair practically waltzed through the doors. "Yeah. What`s Bit doing here?" Jamie asked himself, putting down his food and waiting for the other to spot them.
It didn`t take long though, Bit`s vision was surprisingly accurate even when trying to pick out one person amid a fairly crowded area - even when that person was sitting down. Bit rose an arm and gave a wave over to Jamie before breaking into a near sprint.
"Hey..." Jamie said with a raised eyebrow as Bit went skidding on the freshly cleaned floor, toppling over backwards and sliding along to thud against the central leg of the table before springing back up in a blur. "We need to get back to the hospital," he stated rapidly, almost as if nothing had happened just now. "Something wrong with Leena?" Jamie asked hurriedly. "No, worse..."
"What could be worse? Did she try and blow up one of the nurses? Again?"
"... Well... I don`t really think I should talk about it in the open," Bit replied uneasily, glancing around in a semi-paranoid manner. "... You`ve lost your mind, haven`t you?" Jamie asked. "I didn`t have one to begin with," Bit replied, probably not hearing Jamie`s comment correctly over the hustle of the crowds. "... I`m tempted to agree," the Wild Eagle muttered. "I`m tempted to join you," Jamie added.
"Bit Cloud?" Leyla finally asked. "That`s my name, don`t wear it out," he answered, glancing down at Leyla. "Oh! That explains how Jamie is so good in the simulators!" She finally realized, glancing over at Jamie. "Why didn`t you tell me you were on the Blitz Team? We can have a match sometime!" She announced happily. Jamie only glared daggers sideways up at Bit, not uttering a word.
"You must be that Leyla girl," Bit mused, losing his sense of urgency for a moment. "... I`d guess five seconds before he goes on a humiliator tyrade," the Wild Eagle commented. "He won`t get the chance," Jamie replied, promptly standing up as Bit began to try and do just that, then grabbing the other Blitz Team member by the right ear and speaking up.
"Sorry we had to cut this short Leyla, same time, same place, next week?" Jamie asked. "Sure! I`ll call you!" Leyla shouted as the two youths exited, one flailing about as he was dragged off, the other looking annoyedly resolute.
Neither of them really bothered to look for the huge man currently engaged
in the process of buying his son some ice cream, watching them both with
menacing intent.
Vega let out an unenthusiastic snort at the sight before him. The Fury was only barely being tolerant of all the devices being used to provide maintenance on it, in specific, the huge six ringed magnetic device used to coax a Zoid into healing itself while at the same time running diagnostics on it.
"You`ll be out of there soon Fury..." Vega promised, watching the black, unarmored Zoid with eyes that looked as haunted as those of his older brother, though one was still swollen somewhat. The Fury growled in response. "Just remember our new mission..."
Zero...
"Bit and the Liger can wait. We have to get to Class S first anyway, then we`ll be able to open season on both of them, but this time - it`ll be friendly," Vega thought, ignoring the shock caused by the sudden emergence of a second voice he had just heard in his mind. It almost felt natural though, like he should have been hearing it all the time but was never quite paying enough attention to register any of the words at all. The Fury rumbled out something in resolute annoyance, but even if it had been what Vega had just heard, it didn`t speaking any further.
"Stigma," Vega paused. "Don`t you own a team?" He asked quietly, leering up at his current legal gaurdian. "I own several," he replied dryly. "Are you looking to join one?" He asked. "Not quite..." Vega replied, at about the same instant that Stigma finally looked up at the Berserk Fury and took note of the fact that it had none of it`s armor on at the moment.
"... I see," he stated with a slow nod.
"Exactly."
"Everyone here?"
"Take a look around, numbskull," Leena answered dryly at her decidedly unwelcome visitor. Steven and Jamie were currently settled at the table, Bit had posted himself behind them and Brad was smoothly leaning against a wall, with Marcus sitting in front of everyone at the opposite end of the table from Jamie and the Doc. "I get the point," he grumbled in response, finally taking out the picture from his vest pocket and passing it along to Jamie. "Think you can do a search on it?" He asked. Jamie was about to nod when Bit intervened.
"I think I`ve seen that somewhere," he commented curiously, swiping the picture from Jamie. "Any idea who uses it?" Mark asked. "Yeah, actually," Bit replied. "Who?" Steven asked with concern.
"They`re called the Rommel Corporation, buncha black marketeers based outta Southern Nyx. Most I`ve ever seen of them was the few times I ran into `em and they held me up for the spare parts I scavenged," he explained. "You left out the fact that they`re not exactly a humanitarian outfit," Brad pointed out. "You`ve heard of `em too, eh?" Bit asked. "I used to work for them before I got registered to the ZBC. Hard group of people, they`d chew up most of the Backdraft for lunch and be ready for dessert before they finished," Brad replied.
"Even the guys like Vega and Kale?"
"Hell no. The average Backdraft member wasn`t much worse, but the Rommel Corpers tend to fight in numbers, usually by the twos and threes but the last I heard, they were gearing up for a full scale mobilization."
"When was that?" Mark asked. "Two, maybe three years ago. I wasn`t in on many details, none of the foot soldiers, mercenaries and mechanics were, but if that was a few years ago, they`ve probably finished mobilizing by now. The real question is: What are they mobilizing for?" He asked. "Agreed... Any idea who their leader is?" Steven asked.
"Not a clue. Last I heard it was a guy named Surak - real nutcase who renamed himself after a character on a TV show, now I`m not sure. Rumor had it as I was leaving that someone bumped him off," Brad replied.
"And none of this helps us with the threat against Jamie," Leena cut in. "Or me, for that matter," Mark grumbled. "No one cares," Leena chided dryly before returning to the subject at hand. "Any ideas on who they could be sending after you, Jamie?" She asked.
"... Not really..." Jamie said uncertainly. "That Leyla girl, perhaps?" Steven asked.
"... No, not her. She`s too nice."
Leena frowned. "How did you meet her?" She asked. "At the arcade," Jamie answered annoyedly. "I think she meant, 'How did you meet her at the arcade?'" Brad cut in. "... She just started playing a game with me. I didn`t even notice her until she started beating my score..." He lied, intentionally leaving out the part about the Wild Eagle, much to his alter ego`s annoyance.
Bit and Brad exchanged sideways glances from across the room and then looked back at Jamie. "Just be careful around her and look for anything you need to be on gaurd for, alright?" Steve asked. "... Fine," Jamie grumbled.
"As for you," Steve glanced over at Marcus. "If we can come up with anything, we`ll let you know. Try and get some information out of that Arihmanes fellow in your match tomorrow, got it?" He asked. The former Gustav trucker gave a grim nod. "Assuming I don`t kill him first," he muttered, standing up and heading for the door. "Catch you guys later," he said, passing by Brad only to be halted in mid-step by the former mercenary grabbing his arm. "Eh?"
"We need to have a match one of these days," Brad ordered more than
suggested. Mark gave a nod. "Yeah. We do. See you around," he said again,
finally leaving as Brad shut the door. "What was that all about?" Bit asked.
"I know," Leena cut in. "Brad`s just jealous that nobody`s managed to punk
him out yet after he stole the Shadow Fox," she smirked. "Not quite," the
former mercenary replied. "Scout just wants the chance to prove he`s better
than Shadow," he stated cryptically.
"... So..."
There was another pause, probably only one of a select few in the hours-long conversation.
"How`d the kid take it when you crashed?" Harabec asked, still leaned on the bar, though he and Oscar had relocated from earlier when workers and customers started pouring in, moving off to the side and nearest to the wall for an inkling of privacy as they continued to catch up on old times.
"Jamie? Well... I think it scarred him pretty bad," Oscar answered after several seconds. "Funny too, none o` the damage you did to me showed up until right as I was crashing," the more portly of the two former champions mused. "Heh. Guess it figures though, if I`d`ve aced that one shot I tried to take at your engines, it woulde`ve been a total draw..."
"Could`ve," Oscar corrected. "Would`ve," Harabec corrected in reply. "Should`ve?" Oscar asked. "Probably," Harabec answered, taking a sip of his water and straightening up. "Alright, time for me to stop throwin` all the work on the kids," he stated, turning to head for the register as Oscar hauled himself off of his stool and stood up uneasily, shaking out one leg and then the other. "Yeah, see ya around, Rev," the former Wild Eagle said with a half wave before tucking his hands into his pockets and heading for the door.
"You too," Harabec replied with a small wave of his own before tapping
the young man at the register on the shoulder and pointing towards the
kitchen with a lazy nod.
"Hello, Kyle," a dry, emotionless voice stated as the scruffy dressing youth turned around annoyedly. "You again?" He asked with a snort. "Not again, still," the other corrected. "I`m not interested in fighting you again Rayth, not yet," Kyle growled annoyedly at his former friend.
"I`m not visiting you about that. I already clipped your Griffin`s wings, no point in kicking you before you`re back up," Rayth stated dryly. "I`m interested in knowing how my sister`s doing," he explained plainly. Rayth Takahori was many things, he was a little on the short side, more muscular pound-for-pound than Kyle was and resembled something of a vague cross between old pictures of legendary pilots like Raven and General Karl Schubaltz, even bearing out a similar marking beneath his right eye to the one that Raven had been tattooed with early in life. His clothing resembled a mixture of a military uniform and the kind of pilot`s outfit worn by Vega, scaled up and darkened drastically.
"She`s doing fine, not that it should really concern you," Kyle replied. "... Still bitter about that incident around the Tharen Mountain range?" Rayth asked, his emotionless facade briefly dropping for a slight bit of smugness to breeze through. "Not really, I actually owe you one over it," Kyle replied with the same tone. "Because of it, I got my hands on an even better Zoid than the Griffin," he stated proudly. "Is that so? Well, I guess I`ll have to clip your wings again, now won`t I?" Rayth asked with a smirk.
"Doesn`t have wings to clip," Kyle said with a two fingered salute, turning around and continuing on.
He would have anyway, but for the gloved hand that grabbed his shoulder and promptly yanked him back around, almost throwing him off of his feet. "You`ll battle me again Kyle - soon," the shorter of the two growled. "No I won`t, I don`t care about fighting you. I have more important things to do," the other replied dryly. "Still chasing the pipe dream of getting to Class S? Give up, you couldn`t even beat me when I stacked the odds in your favor," Rayth muttered.
"That was before. Just wait," Kyle sternly advised. "I thought you didn`t care?" Rayth stated, using Kyle`s own words against him. "I don`t, which is exactly why I`m leaving, bye," Kyle replied, turning and walking off to rejoin the crowds of people at the mall, leaving Rayth to simmer to himself.
"Hell`s going to freeze over before you finish with me without my say-so,"
he growled, storming off in the opposite direction.
"What now?" Jamie asked lazily, hopping out of the jeep with a pair of soft thumps, followed by Bit a few seconds later. "You comin` Brad?" The Royal Cup champion asked. "Nah, I`m goin` to see Naomi," Brad answered, pulling the jeep into reverse, exiting the hangar and promptly blazing off into the afternoon sun, heading back towards the city.
"... I`m almost tempted to get the other jeep, follow him and make fun of them both," Bit commented sarcastically as Jamie walked towards the Raynos.
"You notice it earlier?"
"Notice what?" Jamie asked, lazily beginning to climb up the ladder to the catwalk, intent on checking for internal problems with the Zoid. It`s wings weren`t finished repairing yet, but it`s command system had been acting up somewhere whenever Jamie tried to walk it around the hangar ever now and then. Common knowledge held that 'injured' Zoids tended to self repair faster if they were kept at least partially active, at least once a day. Jamie had been taking the Raynos for brief walks around the hangar and the base because of that fact, but the day before it had been a little slow to respond.
"Remember when she said we have two reflections in each eye?" The Wild Eagle asked.
"... Yeah, what about it?" Jamie asked, stepping onto the catwalk as Bit inanely babbled over to the Liger Zero, which growled out at random several times in response.
"Well... Did you notice it?"
"Notice what?" Jamie asked again, hopping into the Raynos` cockpit as the glass slid shut.
"... You didn`t notice it?"
"... What in the heck are you talking about?" Jamie demanded annoyedly. The Wild Eagle paused, but only for a few seconds.
"... We have two. She has three."
"Definately explains why Jamie was moping alright," Brad thought dryly, reaching down and thoughtfully hesitating. It was a choice of what to do and for what reasons he wanted to do it, a choice of who he valued more, his team or the woman he was allowing himself to slowly feel things for.
The pause continued.
Brad slowly started to pull his hand away from the car phone, pausing again at half-way as doubt and thought clashed with one another in consideration. It wasn`t an easy choice really, he`d been meaning to have some time with Naomi quite a bit lately, but this was serious enough that it could be considered a threat to his job, his own life and the lives of a few others, and what if the worst happened in a battle?
"Naomi`ll understand," Brad finally thought with a sigh, reaching back
down and starting to dial in the numbers for Naomi`s personal cell phone.
Author`s Note: Sorry for makin` ya wait so long! Hope you liked this one :/
Shiro: Ah! *Sends Austin Powers after Shiro. Evil genius pun.*
That`s all for now, Sh33p out! Enjoy, review and see ya next time!
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