Limelight

Topaz, Zora and Lazlo: The Saboteurs

(I was on a roll there getting 3 Limelights out in one day then kinda fell flat again, sorry . More BFZ/Zephzo/Rozeira coming up next, though! And that angsty Zephzo multichap is really coming together so look out for that within the next couple of weeks, I'd expect~ This one links in with the BtB one-shot No Risk, No Reward

IMPORTANT: in case you missed it when I first mentioned this, I won't be keeping Izabelle and Hazen as a couple, it got kind of hard to make that ship work with my characters for them so I've rewritten their one-shot with them as friends and the chapter will be replaced soon after I've uploaded this one! And the new version is longer ^^)

TOPAZ: the zombie with ripped-off sleeves helping Eliza with the sabotage plan, also appears in BAMM
ZORA: the zombie in red helping with the sabotage plan, also in BAMM
LAZLO: the one boy zombie helping with the sabotage plan, also in BAMM

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Eliza: I've got a plan, meet me early tomorrow, before school.

Topaz: You're not asking Zed or Bonz?

Eliza: They won't listen to reason

Topaz: I get you. Want me to bring back-up?

Eliza: Definitely. Whoever you can get

- LIMELIGHT –

Zora, of course, was Topaz's first choice. Not only because she was her best friend, but also because if Eliza had a plan, a second tech expert would probably come in handy. Her plans always involved some kind of computer junk and that wasn't exactly Topaz's forte. But another pair of hands would still be helpful and as reluctant as she was to admit it, the only other person she could ask was Lazlo.

Lazlo was a total goof-off most of the time but if there was one thing he took seriously, it was activism. And anyway, by this point it looked like the majority of the zombie teens had been seduced into joining the humans' side of things. Topaz and Zora may have been the only two who were still hesitant around them. And even though Lazlo didn't have much of a problem being near them, he kept his interactions to a minimum, instead directing everything at Ozzy and Zavier while they talked with their human friends.

Early that morning, Topaz and Zora met up and went to get Lazlo, completely willing to drag him out of bed if needed, since he definitely would not be up on time despite replying to Topaz's text the night before.

"Toto..." Zora whined, standing next to Topaz on Lazlo's doorstep. His dad had answered and, accepting the excuse of going into school early for last minute adjustments to an assignment, went to wake up his son.

"Just be patient."

"Why can't we go in there and get him ourselves? We're wasting time!"

But then, a tired-looking Lazlo appeared at the door and Topaz gave him a bright smile.

"Thought you could get out of this, did you?"

"No."

They found Eliza waiting for them at the Zombie Town gate. When she saw them, she flashed them a sly smile and waved a piece of paper. From what Topaz could see of it, it was some kind of blueprint. They'd evidently be building something from scratch.

"Morning, guys," she said, "Ready for a little scheming?"

The walk to school was focused entirely on Eliza's plan to sabotage the Mighty Shrimp's performance at the cheer championship the following day. Zora made a full copy of her blueprint to review that night and by the time Zed and Bonzo made it to school, surprised that Eliza had gone on without them, the four of them had a solid breakdown of events. Zed interrupted their conversation by the lockers, Bonzo remaining silent behind him.

"'Liza?"

She briefly glanced at him, "Hi," then turned back to Topaz, Zora and Lazlo.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened, but you can't keep avoiding me. We need to talk about this or we're not going to figure it out."

"I'm a little busy right now, Zed," she gestured to the other three, who each shot a look of disappointment at him, "Maybe later."

They ignored any other attempts he made to speak until the bell rang and Eliza placed the blueprint in her locker for safe keeping until they could get back to work. But as they all started down the hall, a patrol officer appeared.

"All zombies are to report to the basement."

"What?"

They didn't get anymore of a chance to protest and were swiftly herded towards the stairwell.

- LIMELIGHT –

Zombies were no longer considered students at Seabrook High School, but that wasn't going to stop Eliza, Topaz, Zora and Lazlo from doing what had to be done. Topaz successfully picked the lock on a back door of the building and they slipped backstage as the competition was starting. They had a limited amount of time to set everything up before Seabrook was set to cheer. Lazlo kept watch as they moved around, carrying equipment as quietly as they could, and soon found the perfect spot for Eliza to hook up her computer. She and Zora took care of the technical side of things while Topaz and Lazlo were to start rigging the device they had cobbled together from old computer parts and a few things they had obtained from Paizley the night before.

"Hey, Toto?"

Topaz slammed down the box she was holding and took a deep breath, exhaling through her nose and closing her eyes.

"Lazlo, I swear to Z, if you call me that one more time..." Her eyes snapped open again and she faced him.

"How come Zora gets to call you 'Toto', then?"

"Zora," Topaz jerked a thumb behind her to point at the zombie in question, who raised her chin and smiled smugly, "Is my best friend."

"Aren't I a best friend, too?"

"No. You're a second tier friend. So you don't get nickname privileges."

With that, she picked up the box again and shoved it into Lazlo's arms, then went to join Zora and Eliza.

"I can't work with that guy," she scoffed and folded her arms. She was half joking – they were friends, he just got on her nerves sometimes. Zora looked up at her.

"I think we're just about done here, we can come and help out in a second."

"Thank Z."

Zora got up to take a USB stick over to Lazlo and Topaz crouched down beside Eliza for a moment.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask your sister to help out as well."

"Oh, I did," Eliza rolled her eyes and looked at Topaz, "Believe it or not, she actually thought this was going too far."

"Since when did Azalea ever call any kind of protest 'too far'?" she frowned and Eliza shrugged.

"Since now, apparently. I'd say 'too far' is when a bunch of overly cheery drakskas steal a zombie's computer and use it to disable their Z-bands and endanger their, and everybody's else's, lives."

Topaz peered out from under the stands to the edge of the stage where she could just make out a flash of pink and green. She shook her head, "They're gonna get what's coming to them."