Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction / Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Outlaw Star Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ The Reaper ❯ Raptor versus Liger, the Blue Flying Fish Arrives ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids. For what I do own in this story check earlier chapters.

Here it is, second to last chapter. I hope you were all surprised by who sent the e-mail. I had to guess at Julia's personality; she's not seen much in the show. I'm hoping for comments on the new armor, and the idea of combining armors. The battle is over quick, and the Liger is damaged. Harry, for some strange reason, shows up and offers Nate a job, also for unexplained reasons. Nate finds Spike in his cousin's bar, and brings him back to the base. The chapter ends six years later, but this is not the last chapter.

Chapter 10: Raptor versus Liger, the Blue Flying Fish Arrives

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You know where, you know when

(If you don't, read the last chapter)

The Raptor and the Liger stood their ground, neither of them moving. Their Organoid systems calculating every possible attack. They were nowhere near equal, but none of that really mattered. After battling the Raptor last time the Liger was predicting that Nate would attack first. But Bit, being the overconfident fool that he was, decided to go first.

He quickly pushed the Jager's Ion Boosters to full power and was ready to use the Buster Slash. Liger, reluctantly, went with this.

"Buster Slash…huh?!" Bit yelled as he reached the Raptor, only to find that it had moved aside. "NO!"

"Stupid, Bit, real stupid," Nate said calmly. Before Bit could react the Raptors tail blades slashed at him, ripping the Ion Boosters off the Schneider's back. "You should listen to the Liger. You did not make it to Class S without him."

"Shut up!" Bit yelled back at him. "I don't care how powerful your Zoid is, Liger and I will win!"

"No," Nate just smiled, "you won't."

With that he used the blades on the Raptor's back to flip the unsuspecting Liger. Liger Zero landed on its back and Bit was thrown around in the cockpit. Nate stomped on his enemies now exposed underside. But when he lifted up the leg to stomp again, the Liger opened its Schneider boosters and skid along the ground till it righted itself.

"You're playing with me, why won't you fight me full force?"

"I've to make this a good battle for the fans," Nate's smile was a like the one he had on when he blew up the Deathsaurers. "Now, I'm gonna finish this. I hope you're happy with Leena, she cared about you enough to ask me to do this."

The Raptor charged at Bit. Liger dodged the first attack, but the Raptor's large middle claws gave it infinitely better turning. The forehead spike flipped forward and the Raptor charged faster, building up for a finishing sonic boom. He blasted past Bit and the now slow Liger, in that split second the Raptor turned its head and slashed down on the back of Liger's neck. It severed the "ears" in the process, but its ultimate goal was to partially sever the large cable, which connected the cockpit to the rest of the body. With this objective hit, the Liger fell forward and laid there, not moving.

"The battle is over, the battle is over!" the judge yelled. "The winner is…Nate Sindel and the Death Raptor." He raised his right arm to symbolize who won.

"What the hell did you do to my Liger?!" Bit yelled as he climbed out of now completely immobile Zoid.

"You never really looked over the Liger's schematics did you?" Nate asked with a wide smile on his face. Bit just looked down at the ground and kicked at the grass. "No major damage was done, jeez. I don't kill my opponent's Zoids. Besides the Raptor wouldn't let me, he has too much respect for the Liger Zero."

Forgetting about the Liger, Bit thought about something more important, "What did you mean when you said you hoped I was happy with Leena?"

"She obviously cares about you Bit," Nate answered, "and how you can't have seen that is beyond me."

"You still haven't answered my question," Bit retorted with a menacing look on his face.

"She asked me to beat your ass, okay? She saw that you're heading for a fall, Bit. Overconfidence is not a good way to go; I found that out the hard way."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Are you that brainless?" Nate yelled throwing his arms up in frustration. "Obviously she can't express that kind of emotion very well. She puts up that shield every time she's around you because she cares and doesn't want to be hurt by rejection."

"I have noticed when she does that," Bit said looking at the ground again. He felt something cold on his shoulder. He saw the cybernetic hand resting there.

"Now, you have to ask yourself if you feel the same way for her," with that being said Nate turned and walked back to the Raptor, leaving Bit to think about what he said.

"Yo, Sindel," Nate turned hearing the voice of Harry Champ.

"What?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on beating the Liger Zero."

"That's not what you came here for. I'll ask again, what?" Nate said with more force this time.

"I wanted to know if you would be interested in a job at the Champ Foundation."

"To do what?"

"Make weapons, design new Zoids," Harry said in a very matter-of-factly tone. It was this tone that Nate hated.

"Would designing weapons include the QPC, and the Organoid System?" Nate asked, he didn't allow Harry to answer until he added something else. "You also want me to mass produce the Death Raptor?"

"Well, those would be part of the job."

"You're an idiot."

"I take it that's a `no'," he took a step back.

"Damn fuckin straight that's a no."

"Anything else?"

"Actually," he continued after calming down, "You like Leena, right?"

"Is it that obvious my love for her?"

"Yes, she doesn't seem to like you."

"That's just her way of showing affection."

"Right. Well, just to let you know, she's in love with Bit over there," he pointed to Bit, who was leaning against the Liger to check the damage to the cable.

"I'm gonna give him a challenge he can't refuse," he turned around and stormed off towards the blue and whit hover cargo. He was red with anger and was only getting redder.

"I love it when history repeats itself," Nate said after finally reaching the Raptor and steering it towards his hover cargo.

"Nate, you promised me a Whale King," Mayuka said as her image appeared on the monitor.

"The battle just ended, be patient," he said seeing Julia in the background, leaning against the wall. "Did you like the battle Julia?"

"It was interesting," she said in a strange tone.

"Not as interesting as the Red Dragon Syndicate," he said in his monotone. Her head snapped up and stared at him. "I know just as much about you as you know about me."

"I was hoping you wouldn't find out."

"I'm sorry I kept the battle so short," he said to Mayuka this time, "but I had to kill Bit Cloud's overconfidence."

"That's alright, it was great battle, I've never seen that move before," she was getting a little hyper, watching battle does that to her.

"Raptor and I figured it out in that split second."

"It was a great battle Nate," Julia said walking up to stand next to Mayuka. "I tried to see what you did, but it was over so fast."

"That's okay, Mayuka records all the battles. She can show you what you missed," he said with a smile. "I'll see you in second."

The com went black and he secured the Raptor to the maintenance deck. Before getting out he checked the damage report. As it turns out, the Liger did get in one shot. When the Raptor had blasted past him, the Liger used the large blades on its sides to slash through one of the leg armors.

Nate just smiled at this and said, "He's learning."

He walked to the door at the rear of the maintenance bay and stepped into the small elevator. One time there had been a temporary power failure when Nate and Mayuka were inside. He felt the elevator lurch as it started up. In a few second it had stopped outside the command room. The doors slid open and he stepped through to be greeted by a hug from Mayuka.

"What was that for?" he asked confused.

"For being such a great warrior," she said smiling up at him and looping her arms around his neck. She pulled herself up and kissed him. He leaned into it closing his eyes, only to have them snap open in a moment of realization. But he stayed where he was, this was not the moment to remember he forgot to buy a ring.

Finally breaking the kiss he said, "That was fun, who wants to check out the hot springs?"

"I do, I don't think we did last time we were here," Mayuka said hugging him tighter.

"It sounds like fun, but I didn't bring much in the clothes section," Julia said sounding distracted.

"Borrow some," Nate said, "I thought a Red Dragon Syndicate member would have known to be prepared?"

"Can you shut up about that?"

"No, not until you tell me why you joined," he snapped at her, a strange fire in his cold eyes.

"I fell in love," she looked at the floor, a small tear falling from her chin to the floor.

"I'm not sure if I'm sorry or not," he turned away and looked at the screen in front of him. "Depend on the person you fell in love, I guess. So, did he die?"

She was startled slightly by this, but kept her eyes on the floor. "I don't know, I only hope he's still alive."

"Cheer up Julia, come on, let's find you something to wear," Mayuka grabbed Julia's arm and pulled her out of the room. Leaving Nate with just his thoughts.

A line of codes flashed across his eyes. He smiled and concentrated. Down in the hangar a line of codes flashed across the Raptor's screens. If you haven't guessed it yet, this is how they communicate when they aren't in the same room.

`I know you wanted the battle to go on longer, but we had to show him how quickly he could be beaten,' he thought and saw the codes flash by again. `I would have liked it to have been longer also, but you've proven you're the stronger Ultimate X.'

(I am going to skip the Hot Springs, might be a flash back in later chapters.)

One week later, Nate is on his way to town to buy an engagement ring, and maybe stop by to see his cousin.

The Raptor parked itself behind the jewelry store, and Nate got out, cursing himself that he hadn't bought the ring sooner. The Zoid behind him made a sound that was remarkably like a laugh.

"Don't you start laughing at me," he said in an amused tone.

Walking around to the front of the store he found the door. He stepped up and waited for the automatic door to slide open. There was a young woman behind the counter. She must have been in her early 20s or else she just looked young.

"Hello, may I help you?" she asked cheerfully enough.

"Yes, I'm looking for an engagement ring," he said keeping his face partially hidden from her.

"Any specific type, sir?" she asked trying to see around the shadow covering his face.

"Well, nothing too fancy, but just fancy enough to say that I'll spend any amount for you," he was really lost here.

"There's this one," she handed him a small, black velvet box. Inside was a ring with a platinum band, a large rectangular cut crystal in the middle, and on either side were two smaller, rectangular cut crystals.

"What kind of crystals are they?" he asked zooming in on the ring.

"They're Zoid Cromazite, very rare," she said.

"How much?"

"5,000," she said closing the box.

"That's the one," he said quickly before she put it back in the case.

"Alright, now what size?"

He thought about this, thought very hard. Then holding up his ring finger, he pointed to the very top joint.

"This, what size is this?"

The saleswoman pulled out a small, flexible tape measure. She looped it around the joint of his finger.

"It's about…2 1/8 inches," she wrote it down and walked over to a large safe. "We just got a shipment in today." She retrieved another velvet box and returned to the counter. "Here it is."

"Thank you," he said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a card the size of a credit card. He handed her the card and she slid it into a small slot on the side of the register. He saw a slight twinge cross her face.

"You're?" she was about to say some thing else but he cut her off. After so many years he got used to cutting people off, that's why it happens so much.

"Yes."

"No problem here," she said quickly, "just commenting on the amount of money you have."

"Right," he said taking the box and his card from her. Turning around he headed for the door.

"Congratulations on your battle last week," she called after him. He just waved his hand and shut the door.

He looked to the side while walking down the street and saw the Raptor match his pace and direction. He started to pick up speed and saw his Zoid do the same. Danni's bar was at the edge of town, at the very end of this street. They arrived at the same time; Raptor could have easily won, but that would have damaged some buildings. He stepped up and walked towards the door.

Just as he was about to enter he saw someone get thrown straight at the door. He opened the door and stepped to the side letting the person who was thrown fly past him. Stepping inside the bar he saw who threw him. The guy wore a blue suit, with a yellow undershirt, and his hair made Brad's look tidy.

"Who are you looking for?" Nate asked calmly.

"How do you know I'm looking for someone?" he asked looking very confused.

"People only get thrown in here by someone who is either pissed, drunk, or looking for someone. Now who are you looking for?"

"A woman," the guy answered.

"Would she happen to have a name?"

"Julia, her name is Julia."

"Hm, that's interesting," Nate said walking up to the counter.

"The usual, Nate?" Danni asked.

"Yeah."

"Why is that interesting?" the stranger asked stepping up to sit next him.

"My sister's name is Julia, and she just got here a week ago," he took a sip of his drink.

"Where did she come from?"

"Mars, are you the one she joined the syndicate for?"

"How would you know that?" he asked quickly, with a hint of anger.

"She told me about you, Spike Speigal."

"Where is she?" Spike said grabbing the shoulder straps of Nate's tank top.

"I'll take you to her, now have something to drink, you look like you need it."

"Does it show that much?"

"Yes," he turned to look at the TV. It was a one on one battle between the Harry Champ, and Bit Cloud. Class S teams were not technically allowed to battle anyone lower than their own rank. They were allowed to battle if, and only if, the opposing team is in Class A, and the prize money was worthy of a Class S team. Harry Champ fulfilled both these requirements, with something extra going to the winner, Leena Toros. "History is repeating itself," he smiled, "with a different outcome this time."

(Yes Harry is in Class A, thanks to his sister and her Zoid.)

"What do you mean?"

"Those two have battled it out before," he jerked his thumb at the TV. "Except last time it was a little different."

The Liger Zero was in its Panzer armor for this battle, and it was staring down a very heavily modified Gojulas. The two cannons on its back started to glow a very bright orange, and all the missile packs opened at once. The pilot's words could be heard as he called for the attack.

"FINAL CANNON FORCE!" Bit yelled as all the people watching this battle saw only a flash of light. All except Nate and Spike, they both saw the cannons fire, and all the missiles launch. They saw everything hit the Gojulas, and they saw it go straight to the ground.

(I'm not sure if Spike's eye allows that or not, but in this story it does.)

Nate just smiled and stood up. Spike followed him to the door.

"You got a ship, right?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because we can't both fit in the Raptor," he said nodding to the large, clawed foot that was in front of them.

"Oh, well my ships right over there," Spike said looking towards his red Swordfish II.

"Good."

A few hours later, Zeros base

Nate stepped into the hangar. Mayuka was underneath the Fury doing maintenance, and Julia was walking through the door into the hangar. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Spike step in behind Nate. Spike also stopped when he saw Julia. Nate just smiled and stepped out of the way.

"Who's he?" Mayuka asked when he walked over to her.

"He is the one she joined the syndicate for," he answered smiling.

"And why are you smiling like that?" she acted like it was twenty questions. "You only smile like that when you do something important that you forgot to do before."

"Well," he said wrapping his hands around her waist, "I did get you something."

"What, what is it?" she was practically squealing in anticipation. She had forgotten all about Spike and Julia, who were now embracing each other, very, very tightly. Nate reached into his back pocket and pulled out the box.

"I got you this," he opened the box and showed her the ring.

She just stared for a second before grabbing him in a hug that would have crushed any normal person's bones. All that happened to him was his arms had small dents in them. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger; it was a perfect fit.

"How did you know the size of my finger?"

"That was the hard part, choosing the ring was easy," he laughed as a small beeping sound emanated from the console next to them. A large smiley face appeared on the screen along with the message, "You are being hacked by Radical Edward." He reached down and pressed a small button. A large `X' covered the screen and the smiley face disappeared. "Hacking cancelled."

"What?" Mayuka asked, she had been looking the other way.

"Nothing," he turned around and headed to the doorway, closely followed by Spike, who had few questions for him. They left Mayuka to show the ring to Julia, who was very impressed.

(Let me catch you up on the past six years. Nate and Mayuka got married; Spike and Julia stayed long enough for the wedding, but soon after disappeared. They still keep in touch. Ricky, remember Nate's cousin, who is a girl, and Leon Toros eloped. They also started their own team, the Blade team. Brad left the Blitz team, and went to work with Naomi on the Flugal team; he is a mercenary after all. Bit and Leena, ah yes, Bit and Leena, they got married. They have a two-year-old son named Eric Cloud. He has his father's hairstyle, but his mother's color, and he has his father's eyes. Stoller and Pierce have disappeared, and all attempts to find them have been unsuccessful. You all know that Nate and Mayuka have a daughter, she's five. She has her mother's blue, silver streaked hair, and her father's pale green eyes. She also has the ability to communicate with the Raptor, the Fury, and the Organoid Sen; her name is Isalina Sindel. Do you like the name, I hope so, because I'm not changing it. Almost forgot about Jamie, he's dating Nate's other cousin Danni. I haven't mentioned it yet, but she is a brilliant tactician.

In Class S there are battles called Double Team Matches. In these matches two teams ally together to battle two other allied teams. The Zeros team and the Blitz team have allied in these battles many times. Bit has admitted that Nate is the superior Zoid warrior.

Six years is a long time, another Royal Cup Tournament has come and gone. The final match was between the Blade team and the Flugal team, and the Blade team won. Vega Obscura competed again, but without an Ultimate X, like the Berserk Fury, he was beaten by the Blade team. Though, his Geno Breaker was very impressive right to the bitter end. The Champ team was beaten in its third battle, because by then it was just Mary fighting; she was defeated by Vega's Geno Breaker. This was also the last time Stoller and Pierce were seen; they had a team called the Imperials. Jack Sisqo, and the Lightening Team, were defeated by Vega, after winning four straight battles.

Well, there it is, six years in a nutshell. I might write out a sided story for that Royal Cup, I'm sure many people would like to see a Geno Breaker in action.)

Zeros base, you know how long in between

The jeep pulled up and Bit Cloud stepped out. He looked older and his hair was even more disheveled than before. One the other side Leena Cloud stepped out, pulling on her son's arm. He never liked visiting the Sindel residence.

"But Mom, he scares me with those eyes and arms," he whined as she dragged him over the sand to the door. Nate had decided to keep his cybernetic appendages, with small changes. Instead of being cold like the metal they were made of, his arms were now warm and felt like flesh, though they are clearly metallic, and he could feel with them.

"Those are marks of a true Zoid warrior," Leena snapped at him. "Why don't you play with Isalina."

"She doesn't like me, and she calls me stupid."

"I can't imagine why," she muttered as she reached Bit who was knocking on the door.

"Hey Nate, you in there?" he yelled.

They heard a voice from inside saying, "It's open, come on in." So Bit opened the door. Nate was there at the console working on something, and after typing in a few lines of code he yelled up to the cockpit, "Try it now."

A small, blue-haired head looked down at them and said, "Okay, hope it works this time."

"Hey, Nate," Bit said walking up to shake hands.

"What brings you here unannounced?" Nate asked smiling.

"Another Double Team Match has been set for the day after tomorrow," Bit answered watching the large blades on the Raptor's back, spin like drills.

"And to just visit I suppose?"

"Yeah, is Mayuka around?" Leena asked, she still had Eric by the hand.

"She's in the living room, watching the news."

"Okay," she said before dragging her son to the hangar door.

"Isa, come down here, we have visitors," he yelled to his daughter who was testing the new blades. She stood up and climbed onto the edge of the cockpit, she balanced there for a few seconds before jumping down into her father's arms.

"The blade's power has been increased 50 percent, Daddy," she said with a smile as he put her down. She wore a of grease-stained overalls, and a whit t-shirt.

"That's great."

"Hi Uncle Bit," she said turning and hugging Bit around the waist. Ever since she could talk she's called Bit `Uncle Bit', and Leena `Auntie Leena'. She's so much like her father, she even makes fun of Harry's choice of clothing. Though, she does call Harry's sister Aunt Mary. "Is Auntie Leena around?"

"She's in the living room, go say hi to Eric," he said with the usual smile he has on his face.

Once Isalina was out of the hangar Nate asked, "So who are we battling?"

"The Hack team and the Saurus team."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Nate said smiling. "Is it just me and you, or the four of us?"

"The Battle Mode says that it's a team battle, which probably means all four of us."

"Good, I don't like to leave Mayuka out of the fights. She's like Leena, she just loves the thrill of it."

They had a good laugh at that.

"I think that's the only thing they have in common."

"I'm not so sure," Nate turned around and opened the data on the Hack and Saurus teams that was sent to him. "The Hack team, three Zoids, two Spino Sappas, and one Black Blade Liger. Interesting, I don't see the connection of having a Blade Liger with Spino Sappas."

"Diversity is what makes some teams very good, but then again, it can cause more harm than good. For them to be in Class S it must work out good," Bit commented nonchalantly. "The Blitz team is diverse also; a Liger, a Gun Sniper, and a Raynos."

"I suppose," Nate pulled up another file, this one on the Saurus team. "Two Rev Raptors and a Gojulas. Not much diversity here, all dinosaur types."

"You can take them, I want the Liger to myself," Bit leaned down and looked at the information he already knew. "I haven't battled either of these teams before, have you?"

"Both of them, I'm surprised they would accept a battle against me after what I did to them last time," Nate half laughed, half grunted. "You wouldn't recognize that Gojulas if you saw it. And those Rev Raptor's looked more like Gustavs." He laughed out loud at the memory of that.

"You take pride in doing that?" Bit asked incredulously.

"Yes, I don't like to hurt the Zoids, I just didn't have as much control over Raptor's power back then. Also I had to teach those cocky punks a lesson. Like I did to you."

"I see."

Nate turned back to the screen. Closing the files which were opened he turned around and headed for the door. He stepped through and saw Mayuka on one couch, with Isalina sitting on the floor between her legs. On the other couch was Leena with Eric sitting on her lap. He saw Eric cringe slightly when he stepped in. Isa rolled her eyes and muttered "Pathetic" under her breath. He walked over and sat down on the floor next to Isa and put his arm around her. Bit sat down next to Leena.

And they all watched the news in silence, till the reporter started talking about a particular group.

TBC

I had to leave it at somewhat of a cliffhangar. I hope you like the way things turned out. I need opinions, I need ideas, I'm running out, and I need reviews. Hopefully for this chapter I get a few more than I have been. Thank you to Child of Fire for the great idea. And thank you to all my loyal readers for staying with me this long. If you remember from Cowboy Bebop, Session #2, Spike is referred to as the Blue Flying Fish. My theory is that he is called this because he dresses in blue, and pilots the Swordfish II, a "flying" fish. Don't like my theory, too bad. I also hope you people like Isalina, please tell me you do. Anyway, sorry for this chapter taking so long, I've been busy, and I ran out of root beer. Expect the next chapter within the next two weeks.