Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ Fall of the Backdraft: Rise of the Xeno Team ❯ Enter the Wolf ( Chapter 1 )

"Strike Laser Claw!" shouted Bit Cloud as his Liger Zero: Jager unit's shining claw tore into the core of the Gojulas it was attacking.

"Hey Bit, leave some for us, will ya?" Leena Toros's face appeared in Bit's cockpit, looking extremely miffed. "God, talk about hogging the fun and glory, right Brad? …Brad?"

"…" Brad Hunter stayed silent, crossing his arms inside the cockpit of his Shadow Fox.

Leena private messaged Bit: "Brad hasn't been that talkative lately. No, forget I said that. He hasn't been that talkative at all since we were promoted to Class S."

Bit shrugged and said, "He's always been quiet to me."

"Maybe if you took time once in your life to listen to people he wouldn't be as quiet as you think he is."

Bit looked sidelong at her.

"I'm listening to you now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, well, you always listen to me, because if you didn't you'd probably end up in a hospital."

She laughed and Bit joined in as soon as he realized it was a joke. The two had gotten quite close in the past month they had become Class S. People soon thought they were a couple, always seeing one with another, but Bit and Leena both knew that it wasn't romance between them. A little more of a sibling relationship, without all the fighting between brother and sister.

"Say Bit, let's go visit Dr. Laon after lunch. We haven't visited him since our last battle with the Champ Team."

The Blitz team's main Zoid pilots were all in the lounging room of the base. Jamie Hemeros was working out new strategic formations in the corner of the room while the Doc was reading a magazine on the newest zoid weapons.

"Sure, I don't mind-"

"I'm quitting," Brad said, standing up.

"What?!" cried Jamie, Leena, and Bit. Leena's father, Dr. Toros looked unsurprised. Either Brad had told the Doc of his plans beforehand or Dr. Toros had expected this all along.

"Why?" cried Bit and Leena simultaneously.

"I made a promise," Brad said bluntly. "I hope leaving you won't make it too hard for you to keep up your winning streak in Class S.

"You sure you don't want to think this over, Brad?" asked the Doc, looking unconcerned for the zoid his team was losing, but gravely concerned about the person who was leaving.

"Yeah Doc. Don't worry, Bit, Leena. We'll meet again on the battlefield."

With those words Brad Hunter smiled and left the Blitz team's base, knowing he would never return there again.

Chapter 1-Vega's Rival

Vega looked scornfully down at the three broken zoids lying at the feet of the Berserk Fury.

"Fury, I still can't find anyone that's worth a challenge, even in Class A Honors. It looks like it's going to be a long road ahead of us before the next World Cup…and this time we'll win, `cause Bit and the Liger Zero are the only pair that can even manage standing up to us."

The Berserk Fury growled in reply, looking around. Vega followed looking around him, but saw nothing in the pale moonlight…

He shrugged and jumped back into the cockpit of the Berserk Fury, activated its command system, and was about to turn around until something blotted out the moonlight. Vega, upon instinct and skill, piloted the Fury's thrusters into a vacuum and retreated backwards. A strange zoid landed before him. It stood on four legs and had a strange resemblance to the Liger Zero, yet it wasn't the Liger Zero itself, even though it had white armor. Its tail wasn't a long wire, as was the Liger Zero's but more bulkier, like that of the Shadow Fox.

"Fury…Is it an Ultimate X?" Vega listened to Fury's growls and felt himself more at ease.

"Of course it's not an Ultimate X…What was I thinking?"

"Absolutely nothing, as usual Vega Obscura," taunted a voice from the inside of the strange Zoid's cockpit. "You always acted on nothing but instinct alone. No tactics, and you wonder why they kicked you out of the school?"

"If it isn't Xen Omega," muttered Vega, smirking. "In case you haven't heard, I'm the king of unsanctioned battles! So much for our stupid school."

The strange Zoid opened its cockpit and a child, much like Vega himself, rose from the seat and jumped down. His black hair shined in the moonlight and his eyes glittered from the same source of light.

"Bit Cloud beat you easily enough."

"Are you kidding? He was struggling for his life!"

"Only because you couldn't control the Berserk Fury. What, an Ultimate X too hard for you to handle?" Xen sneered playfully.

Vega didn't take it as play.

"What do you know about the Ultimate X's?"

"Enough," replied Xen.

"Hmph, I don't see you riding one," said Vega, losing all sense of shock he had harbored just before.

"I don't need an organoid system to learn for me. I learn from my own mistakes," replied Xen, smiling.

"Fine then, a battle, unsanctioned, between me and the Berserk Fury and you and the…"

"Konig Wolf," was all Xen said.

Vega smirked.

"I'd like to see you try and even scratch me."

"Trust me, I'll first break off those two little drill toys you have, then I'll behead your so-called Ultimate X."

The Berserk Fury, without warning, powered its boosters and charged, its two drills extended and spinning. The Konig wolf made a ninety-degree turn, powered its own boosters and leapt into the air, all in one smooth move and in less than a split second.

"Plasma strike!" shouted Xen, making the Konig Wolf's claws shine bright blue.

Vega dodged as quickly as he could, a few milliseconds too late, though. The burning blue claws of the Konig Wolf severed one of the drills of the Berserk Fury.

"You're better than I thought you were, Vega," Xen said, smirking.

"How are you able to pilot your Zoid like that?!" shouted Vega, his face a mask of shock.

"I'm a natural that's been cut and polished. You are too, otherwise you wouldn't have been allowed into our school. Alas, you, however, were cut but not polished."

"You speak like an adult," Vega looked at Xen with disgust.

Xen only shrugged and replied,

"I find that living as the Committee's secret weapon makes me like this.

"The Committee? I thought they were dispersed!" shouted Vega.

"You were wrong. Your little underling organization, the Backdraft, was dispersed. The overlords remain powerful. Which is why I'm here, by the way… The Committee has found your skills still useful. We'd like to ask you and Sara to come and join us again. Sara, in case you're wondering, agreed, but only if you were to agree as well."

Vega thought for a moment and finally said, "No."

"Why not?"

"I've taken a liking to sanctioned battles."

"Then we'll do that. You will be working for us, but as a spy. We know the confederation has taken a liking to you and Bit. You can still have your sanctioned battles. No one will know any worse of you."

Vega liked suspiciously at Xen.

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't."

"Fine then, I accept."

Xen smiled and turned the Konig Wolf around to face the moon. The wolf howled, and a whaleking, which was hiding in the forest, rose up.

"There's one thing I forgot to mention, Vega."

"What is it?"

"The Committee have found some…unusual parts near the excavation site where the Fury was found. We think it's for the Berserk Fury. If you'd lend the Committee the zoid for about a year, it would be stronger than ever.

Vega frowned, and said,

"Well, Fury? What do you think?"

The Berserk Fury growled something, and Vega looked up at Xen again.

"What will I be riding while the Berserk Fury is being customized?"

"Oh. You're going to be riding a zoid we found frozen in the north. I think it would be to your liking."

"Let me see it first."

Xen snapped his fingers and the Whaleking landed and opened its mouth. A zoid, looking much like a dark Genosaurus with pincers, stepped out.

"Well?" asked Xen.

"I accept to your terms."

"Welcome to the Xeno team, partner."