Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ Anizoid interactive ❯ Fire and Fire ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids or the characters from the show. I only own Benji Parks in this chapter. Every one else belongs to someone else.

Go here to see who owns whom: http://www.angelfire.com/comics/voltfury/Anizoidlist.html

Benji walked with a heavy black metallic box; the green wire frame image of a full grown golden retriever followed him. He stopped by the Venom Team's one tree and dropped the box next to two others. A wolf, Don's anizoid, and a husky, Jason's anizoid, were already there, each with a box of their own.

Benji stroked Carla's head before leaving her to wrestle with her comrades. They had just gotten back from their loss to the Zero X team. No one was particularly pleased with the outcome, but they had all lost before. Finn seemed even quieter though, if that were possible.

The usual leather and plastic smell of the living quarters was replaced with the smell of cooking food. Lots of food! Finn and Jason were sitting at the small round table. Don was using the TV, which doubled as a computer with a satellite internet connection. And Juliet was cooking.

"What's going on here?" Benji asked, admiring all the food. Juliet blushed. This was noticed only by the watchful eyes of her brother, who didn't seem too happy to see the spots of color on his sister's cheeks.

"I just wanted to have something ready for you all," she said cheerfully.

"You do this when we lose, can't wait to see what you do when we win!" Benji said, taking a seat. Juliet laid multiple plates on the table and they all began to eat.

"Aren't you hungry, Don?" Juliet asked concerned.

"No, thanks. I'm fine." Don clicked through more pages. 'Here we are.'

"We have our next battle scheduled for tomorrow."

"Damn Don, sometimes I think you were put on this planet just to torture me." Benji said between bites. "So who is it?"

"The Black Dragon Team," Don said, not moving from his crouch in front of the TV.

"Is that all it says?" Jason asked.

After a moment, Don continued. "Just that they originated from Nyx, the Dark Continent." Don finished.

"I wish they'd stop giving us random details about our opponents." Jason said.

"Ever wonder what details our opponents get about us when they receive one of those e-mails?" Benji asked, curious himself.

"Hmm...never thought about that," Jason answered, pondering this new riddle a little.

After dinner, Juliet wanted to clean up the huge mess she had made herself. Don had left during dinner. Benji disappeared into his room. Jason went outside, taking three flat clear tubes with him the feed the K-9s.

"Isn't Benji nice, Finn?" Juliet asked, a slightly dreamy tone in her voice. She was putting things away, but didn't actually know where they went.

Just what he was waiting for. He listened, knowing she would continue. Nice enough to hand their opponents the victory, maybe. The guy was a pretty good pilot, but with

a short attention span. Or maybe his heart just wasn't in it. Either way, he would try to take that into account next time.

"Look," she showed Finn the trinket Benji gave her, a silver snake. "It's your Zoid, the Cobra Fang. Benji gave it to me."

As requested, he gave it a cursory glance, and then looked at her. She fought in vain against a growing reddening in her cheeks.

'Here we go again,' thought Finn. 'Why can't she ever fall for someone with money?'

~~~

- Next morning -

The biggest park in Romeo City had its biggest crowd so far this year. Colorful tents and banners begged for the attention of anyone who was in range. People went about their business looking for snack bars, carnival style games, or deals on the latest Rover Units, the black boxes that anizoids were stored in.

A young man with reddish brown hair was pushing one such box on a cart. On it was a sleeping anizoid poodle with an irritated air about it. He looked around with a small amount of desperation in his eyes.

"What did I do to deserve this?" he asked the clear blue sky. "Why can't she ever be where she says she's going to be?" He stopped next to a tent that had a small crowd gathering around it. The banner above it said anizoid vet.

Within the tent was a pudgy tan skinned 15-year-old with glasses. She was in the middle of explaining something to her small audience, most of whom had anizoids themselves.

"...most instincts are done away with when an animal becomes an anizoid. You only feed them once a week."

She stopped and held up a tube of orange substance. "Every nutrient is used. This means no waste. They also need to run at least 18 hours a day."

"At least 18 hours a day?" the young man said to himself then looked at the poodle. "The only time Snowflake wants to run is when she's chasing me."

The girl in the tent was now stroking and humming to a small dog that belonged to some bald guy. The 3-D mutt looked happy. In fact, most of the people here looked happy. Happy to be around these freaky things, the young man thought while looking at the poodle.

He never let himself learn too much about how they were made. The dog he was with now had been dead for at least two years! And now here it was alive and kicking...and biting...and chasing and...

"Well at least Mary's happy to see it again. Where the heck is she, anyway?"

"Harry," a feminine voice caught his ear. He turned around to find Mary standing next to a woman with almost waist length black hair. She was a year older than Harry, but only 5'5" to his 6".

"I have a surprise for you." Mary said as he approached them with the R.U. Harry stopped and looked the woman up and down.

'I wish Marry would stop doing this.' Harry thought glumly.

"I'm sorry, miss, but my heart belongs to another," he said to her.

"Excuse me?" she said a little shocked.

"No, Harry. She's not a potential bride," Mary cut in before the other woman could continue. Though she is a much better choice than that barbarian you chase after. She is a mercenary I hired for your team."

"You did?" Harry asked in surprise. "Why?"

"So you can become an accomplished Zoid warrior and then help run the family business."

"Oh..." said Harry, a little turned off.

"And not just one mercenary, but two!" Marry said excitedly. She gestured towards a brown haired man beside her.

"Two?" Harry questioned.

"This is Hane Steel. He's not big on words," The man had a light, well muscled build but his most unforgettable feature was a scar in the shape of a bullet hole on his left eyebrow. Despite that he had a gave off an easy, indifferent impression. He nodded to

Harry.

"This is Anhai Surata." Marry said formally. Anhai and Harry shook hands. "She pilots a Zabat," Marry added.

Harry nodded, registering the information, but Mary continued.

"She likes iced coffee, shopping, and shoes, and dislikes swimming and bathing suits, but she won't say why."

"Hey, hey! Wait a minu-" Anhai began to interject.

"OK, I'll just take Snowflake off your hands and be leaving now." Mary said, not noticing the looks Anhai was giving her.

After Mary left, Harry turned his attention back to Anhai and Hane. What Mary said about the bathing suit had him curious, but he decided not to ask. A blush crept onto his features. "So... do you want to meet the rest of our team now?"

"Alright, but don't think I'm getting attached to any of them. I'm just here for the money, Mr. Champ," she said, giving him a smile that was all business.

A loud boom that momentarily took sound out of the air was heard. People looked around frantically, but no one knew which way to run. Then all was terrifyingly quiet. Harry risked one glance at his companions. Hane was gone!

Another boom and many tents and trees were set aflame not far from him and Anhai. Including the one that had the 15-year-old had been in. Screams swallowed the air as people ran for their lives. The park was the living embodiment of chaos. Harry didn't know where to run or where to find Marry so he stayed still.

"I-is your Zabat close?" he asked Anhai.

She nodded slowly.

"Think we can-" Harry's words were cut off by the unmistakable sound of a Zoid stomping towards them. Any Zoid warrior would recognize that sound.

When the sound stopped, Harry and Anhai looked up to find themselves in the path of a D-mantis. They weren't much threat in combat, but from down here it was more than sufficient to accomplish the task it seemed to be set on, killing people!

A swift stomping came behind Harry and Anhia, but as they turned around a shadow appeared overhead causing them to look up. A huge object... a Zoid landed and then slid a couple of feet past the D-mantis. The Zoid turned around just as the D-mantis' head fell off its shoulders.

"Are you all right?" came a voice Harry recognized. It belonged to the chubby tan girl from before.

Harry nodded slowly, noticing the letters T.A.G. on the shoulders of the Rev Raptor.

"Then get out of here! There's more coming!" she ordered.

"I'm going to get my Zabat," Anhia told Harry while heading in another direction.

"I'm going to look for Mary!" he yelled to her.

"Who are you guys!?" the Rev Raptor pilot demanded. Three more Mantis and one Dibison approached her.

"You first, girlie!" a nasty voice spat over her vid link.

"Ramona Winlan!"

"Winlan?! The leader of Tag? Ha! That's too funny. Killing two birds with one liberation." The voice responded in an amused tone.

"What do you mean liberation? Who are you idiots?!"

"Names do not matter once you are a member of the McBeath Cult. We are here to liberate these anizoids. Your kind enslave them in boxes and drag out their miserable existences in a cyber life. We will set them free."

"They are happy if they're with the right people!" Ramona Protested.

"Enough talk! It's too late for you! You and all the anizoids here must be cleansed in fire!" he shouted. "If you survive...you will be forgiven," he said solemnly.

"You're out of your mind," Ramona said matter-of-factly.

A loud hiss and a snarl emitted from the R.U. between the controls in her cockpit.

"Right, Toby," she seemed to agree with the snarl. "Let's break his face and maybe knock some sense into him." She fired while laughing like a maniac - a complete

contrast to her earlier humming.

She recklessly smashed into a D-mantis, and then ran into another and another. She cut one in half with the blade of her Rev Raptor while still being fired at by the others. She stopped to fire at the Dibison.

The Dibison rammed into the Raptor, then tossed it 15 feet into the air. It came down with a loud crunch and the shrill scream of the salamander anizoid. While the anizoid didn't feel any pain from the attacks, old habits die hard. The last remaining D-mantis moved in on Ramona and Toby while the Dibison prepared its heaviest attack.

Another Rev Raptor sprang out of virtually nowhere and onto the D-mantis. The second Raptor had advanced thrusters and was not adorned with the T.A.G. symbol.

"Who are you?" Ramona asked, straightening her glasses as she appeared on the other Raptor pilot's vid screen.

He appeared on hers and for a moment said nothing.

"Hane Steel. Just a Zoid warrior, I'm afraid," he said truthfully.

Their attention was taken by the sound of the Dibison's cannons blowing up, the damage taking two legs off the Zoid in the process. A Zabat hovered in the air with smoking guns. It then blasted the last mantis, putting it out of commission.

The sounds of police and fire engine sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Do me a favor and don't tell the police I was here, would ya?" Hane asked Anhai and Ramona.

"Sure," Ramona said, smiling almost evilly. 'Guess he has a criminal record too.'

"Alright," Anhai agreed. She had no benefit in getting her new teammate arrested. He just helped save all these people. Whatever he's done, it can't be that bad.

"Ha! That was self-defense! They can't arrest us this time, Toby!" Ramona exclaimed, hugging her salamander anizoid.

~~~

"Where the heck is the Judge capsule?" Jason wondered aloud.

Both teams had been sitting on the battlefield for 20 minutes. Jason was getting bored. Don was quiet and patient, although how, Benji figured he'd never know. Finn had his transmission blocked.

Finally the judge capsule fell from the sky, crashing into the earth and standing vertically. Half the face of the capsule lifted revealing the white robot judge resembling a man.

The Venom Team versus the Blitz Team. Ready... TANGO!

"What?" a fiery voice that had to be from the other team yelled. "We're not the Blitz Team!"

"You're not?" the judge questioned. "One moment please...Deliberating...deliberating..."

Benji opened a link to the single enemy GunGuyarados, the rest were black Reddlers. In it, Benji saw a peeved young man with purple hair done in a chin-length style, the bangs grown longer and curved forward in scythe-like shape. On his lap sat a merciless monitor lizard anizoid. He probably would have been good looking if not for his pale face. The

rest of his skin didn't fare much better, as his arms, exposed from a loose black leather jacket with the sleeves torn off, were also pale.

"What do you want?" he asked upon seeing Benji on his vid screen. He had a feminine voice. 'He'd make a real goth pretty boy,' Benji thought. Girls liked pretty boys, he had heard somewhere.

"Just saying 'Hi,' dude," Benji said, leaning back in his seat and putting his hands behind his head.

"Battle mode 0666...no, wait that isn't right hold on...deliberating..."

"Come on, you CRACK head judge, get on with it!" the violet haired young 'man' yelled.

"Ah... the area- area uh..." the machine man stuttered, trying to organize his words.

"Hey, come on," Benji said, coming to the judge's defense. "Give the guy a break. What's the rush anyway?"

"We're here to battle, remember?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to be so mean. I'm sure you're a nice young man once you're out of your Zoid." Benji said matter-of-factly. He'd known a lot of warriors who acted bigger than they were during battles to get media attention.

"Oh, you think I'm nice, huh?" the other pilot asked, humor stinging the back of her throat. She didn't notice that Benji had called her a 'young man'. Probably since she wanted to be far from feminine in the first place.

"Uhh...yeah..." Benji started not sure if he had prevented another prima donna in the making or signed his life away.

"How's THIS for NICE!" the goth said, firing at Benji's Zoid. Carla, Benji's anizoid, overrode anything Benji would have done and ran past Jason in his red Saber Fang. Jason's Zoid automatically crouched down putting its paws over its face.

As Benji ran from the incoming fire Jason resumed his starting position and watched Benji and Carla run.

Don didn't move an inch, waiting for the judge to start the battle. Judging from the others' reactions, Finn figured this was normal and so left Benji to fend for himself. He didn't like the idea of saving Benji anyway, at least not without more money.

"Hey, wait a minute... wait a minute... come on don't do this to me! It's my first day! You're no- you're not supposed to start the battle 'til I say so!" the judge cried.

"Then say so!" the goth youth yelled.

"Alright! Battlefield set up. Venom versus Black Dragon. Ready...Fight!"

Since all the enemy Zoids were Redlers, with the exception of the GunGuyarados still chasing after Benji in flight mode, there wasn't much to say. The three remaining members of each team went at it.

Jason was having trouble with his now airborne opponent. His top-notch skills weren't much use when he couldn't reach his opponent.

The serpentine Zoid known as the Cobra Fang disappeared from radar and view. Reappearing, it shot up catching a Redler by surprise. The pilot performed a barrel roll

which halved the damage it received from the snake Zoid. Standing where it was, the serpent loosed live ammo after his enemy.

The Redler preformed a 180 loop over it and headed back towards the Cobra. It lunged in, reaching at the snake with its claws but coming up short.

Don had yet to fire a single shot. He was dodging the enemy fire, patiently waiting for the perfect shot.

The Galiting gun on Benji's Trihorn pivoted around, catching the GunGuyarados pilot off guard. She veered to the left, taking the damage of a few shots.

The Redler Jason had been tangling with had been doing minimal damage from the air. It was now getting in close, trying to grab or slash Jason's red Saber Fang. On one try it did, but Jason got his licks in as well.

The Redler pilot tried again. This time Jason wasn't so lucky as ripped at the upper body of his Zoid, lifting it several feet off the ground and then dropping it. Jason and his anizoid Fang were out of the battle.

Moments after that a rifle blast from Don's long range cannon hit the Redler head on. A command system freeze registered in the other cockpits.

"Who's down?" demanded the pale GunGuyarados pilot.

"It's Cooper, Shiva." a voice answered immediately.

Shiva redirected her dragon-like Zoid and was on course with the serpent piloted by Finn.

"Hey, what about me?" Benji's voice rang through her cockpit. He turned his Zoid around to chase after her airborne one. She slowed to a near stop and Benji followed suit, hitting the brakes before really thinking about what he was doing. As soon as his Zoid slid to a stop, the GunGuyarados was above him firing its three grenade launchers.

Carla instinctively brought up the shield between the horns of the triceratops-based Zoid. This, however, only protected the head of the Zoid. Benji commanded the three machine guns on each horn to fire up at the GunGuyarados.

"Damn! Son of a-" Shiva cursed, as her Zoid took off out of range of Benji's fire storm. A single machine gun shot did a small amount of damage, but they could be fired excessively, which easily made up for their weakness.

The Cobra stayed erected to its full height while firing at an incoming Redler. From the other side, Shiva was on a collision course with the Cobra Fang's head. At the last possible second, the Cobra Fang pulled out of the way, but the two dragon-type Zoids easily dodged each other as if they were miles apart.

A small window of opportunity opened up to Finn. The snake Zoid swung its upper body like a punishing limb coming from the earth into the fleeing Redler. The pilot of the Redler was good. Very good, but after adjusting from attacking the Cobra without getting hit, to dodging his own leader and then fleeing, he didn't have enough skill to dodge that last nasty surprise attack. His Zoid plummeted and was put into a system freeze sleep by one of Don's long range cannon shots.

Getting frustrated, Shiva charged full speed at Don's Zoid, missing only by centimeters. Not skipping a beat, she landed not far from Don's Command Wolf, her Zoid standing on its hind legs facing the Cobra. As Don began to aim his cannon at her, his entire Zoid jolted from impact as the last Redler landed on top of it while firing.

His anizoid let out an irritated growl before going down. Don and his anizoid wolf were out of the battle.

Benji's Zoid was slowly making its way towards the remaining opponents. The Trihorn didn't look like it could take much more.

"Come on, girl," Benji coaxed "We gotta go help Finn."

Low on power, Carla used her master's needs and desires to draw strength into the Trihorn. Wanting to please her master and win the game, Carla had the Trihorn

running at half its normal speed.

"That a girl!" Benji praised her, causing her to pick it up a notch.

The Redler hovered above Shiva's GunGuyarados. Finn knew they were up to something. What, he couldn't tell, but he wasn't going to find out standing here. He looked at his radar. Benji's Zoid seemed to be picking up speed somehow. He made a note to find out why later.

He submerged his Zoid in a sea of sand and was en route with the last dragons on the battlefield.

The red Saber Fang rose to its feet shakily.

"Down boy," Jason said a voice of warrning. "We're out of the battle. You don't want us to get the whole team disqualified, do you?" Jason asked.

The whole Zoid leaned down on all fours looking like a scolded pet. Inside the wire frame image of a husky had a similar demeanor.

"Ah, don't be like that, Fang. You did great! We still might win this one."

The husky perked up upon hearing the lighter, brighter tone in his master's voice.

"Now, Axel!" Shiva yelled, and with that, the last Redler yanked her GunGuyarados from the ground just as the Cobra Fang reached out to grab it. The snake missed but kept reaching up, extending to its full height, for the escaping quarry. The Redler dropped the

GunGuyarados just as the Cobra sank its teeth into the smaller dragon zoid. As the GunGuyarados fell, it opened its mouth to reveal charged particle cannon! It fired point blank, taking the Cobra Fang out of the battle.

There wasn't enough time for Shiva to convert the GunGuyarados back into flight mode, but she tried anyway. 'Might soften the landing.' she thought. If it had, she couldn't tell. Her Zoid hit the ground with a hurendous thud. She thought she might have knocked her Zoid out of the battle but she was reassured when she peaked at Kali, her anizoid, who was still on her lap.

The radar alerted her that the Trihorn was almost on top of her. She grabbed the controls with fingerless black gloves and set about a plan of action, but at the moment, ramming the opposing Zoid was the only attack option left. She charged the enemy Zoid with as much speed that could be gained before a large clash sound nearly split her ear drums and immersed all her senses.

Shiva was in a momentary world of darkness before her vision returned. The anizoid in her lap was missing! Which meant Kali blacked out, too and was now sleeping in the R.U.

"I lost?" Shiva asked in disbelief. She looked out the windows of her GunGuyarados to see the head of the Trihorn face her Zoid, its horns not far from her. It wasn't moving.

"Hey judge, who won?" She heard Benji ask groggily over vid link.

She listened intently.

"Cast in the name of good... ye not guilty."

"What?!" Shiva almost blew her top. She was about ready to climb up into the judge capsule and rip out his motherboard.

"I mean it's a draw! It's a draw!" he said quickly "You'll have to split the prize money with your rival team."

'A draw. That's not a loss... but it's close enough! Damnit! Am I getting weak? I will fight you again and I WILL win.' Shiva thought bitterly.

"What's your name?" Shiva demanded, appearing on Benji's vid screen.

"Benji Parks," Benji answered easily. Exhilaration was still rattling in his bones.

"I'm Shiva Makino. Leader of the Black Dragons. We will fight again, Benji." she told him with a cold stare. Her Zoid regained enough power to walk, and off she went, planning to have one of her subordinates pick up her share of the prize money.

"Sure, dude," Benji said. "That was getting kinda exciting there for a minute," he admitted.

***

3 more people's characters introduced. Technically there are 6 new characters in this chapter that I don't own. Still more new characters coming in the very next chapter! I still have nothing better do so I'll start working on it now.