Fan Fiction / Zoids Fan Fiction ❯ Bandits ❯ Enter Thomas ( Chapter 3 )

(A/N- Aha! More chaptery goodness for you!)

It took a while for Van to cool off, but he was fine by the time the company reached the base. However, he was put back into a less-than-chipper mood as soon as they got out of their Zoids. What caused this, you ask?

"Oh, Miss Fiona!" Thomas shouted, running up to her. Van rolled his eyes as Thomas dropped to his knees before Fiona and kissed her hands.

"Hello, Thomas," Fiona said.

"What a geek," Mercutio muttered to his sister. Alandria nodded.

"My darling Miss Fiona," Thomas gushed on, "it's not safe for you to be out there! You could have been hurt by the Midnight Marauders!"

"Midnight Marauders?" Fiona asked.

"That pair of thieves that robs military bases in the dead of night," Thomas specified. "They pilot two jet-black Zoids. You haven't heard of them?" Alandria and Mercutio exchanged identical evil grins. Unbeknownst to Thomas, he was talking about them.

"Bad guys, huh, Thomas?" Van asked.

"The worst," Thomas said darkly. "You have to be more careful, Van! What if they'd gotten Miss Fiona?"

"What did I do?!" Van demanded. "Fiona's fine! They haven't done anything to her, and they're not going to!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" Thomas yelled.

"BECAUSE THEY'RE RIGHT HERE, YOU ASS!" Van yelled back, gesturing toward Alandria and Mercutio. Thomas looked shocked.

"Oh, nice going, Rambo," Alandria growled, whacking Van upside the head.

"I lost my temper!" Van insisted. Thomas continued to stare at the two kids. Irvine smirked.

"Thomas Shubaltz," he said, "I'd like you to meet the - heh - notorious Midnight Marauders, also known as Alandria and Mercutio. Aren't they big and scary, Thomas? Don't they make you want to hide with your teddy bear?" Irvine grinned evilly and laughed at the expression on Thomas's face. You know how they say that someone's "jaw dropped" when they're really surprised? Well, in anime, that's actually what happens. You hear the *Bong!* sound, too.

"Th-These children are the Midnight Marauders?!" Thomas demanded.

"Watch it with the 'children' stuff, moron," Alandria muttered. Thomas didn't hear her.

"The same," Moonbay answered.

"They must be turned in immediately!" Thomas barked. "Don't worry, Miss Fiona, I will remove this scourge from your angelic presence! Come with me, you adolescent burglars!" Alandria and Mercutio looked at him like he had three heads. Alandria elbowed Van.

"Is he always this much of a dipshit?" she asked incredulously.

"I certainly haven't seen him acting otherwise," Van grumbled.

"Ah."

"Didn't you hear me?!" Thomas demanded. "MOVE OUT, THIEVES!"

"Thomas," Fiona said, "please don't turn them in. They've only been taking what they needed to survive." Thomas immediately got all blushy and stammery, like he always does when Fiona speaks.

"O-of course! Whatever you say, my sweet Miss Fiona! I would never doubt your judgement!"

"And you should apologize to Alandria and Mercutio for being so mean," Fiona scolded gently. Thomas again dropped to his knees before Fiona.

"Yes, I'm truly sorry to your friends, Miss Fiona. Shall I have rooms prepared for them?"

"Sweet!" Alandria crowed. "Hey, Fiona, tell him to give us some coffee and ice cream, too!"

"And some chocolate bars!" Mercutio chimed in.

"Oh, and cappucino loaf!"

"Mmmm, barbequed ribs, too!"

"How is it that you two aren't fat by now?" Moonbay asked.

"Hey, we just like this stuff, we never get to actually eat it," Mercutio responded.

"Oh. That...makes sense."

***

'Time to put Operation: Weasel into action,' Alandria thought to herself, smirking, as she went into Fiona's room. Fiona was looking out the window, watching Van train in his Blade Liger.

"What's up?" Alandria asked.

"Oh, nothing, really," Fiona responded, still gazing out the window. "Why? Is there something you want to talk about?"

"As a matter of fact, there is," Alandria replied, flopping down on the bed. She hadn't been on a bed in...how long? Anyway... "So...how do you feel about Rambo out there?"

"Van's a good person," Fiona answered simply. "He's been a wonderful friend to me."

"Anything else? Like, physically?"

"What?"

"Well, I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, Fiona," Alandria said. "That is one sexy hunk of a Lieutenant. Seriously killer body on him. Don't you agree?" Fiona blushed.

"Do you always talk about people like that?" she asked, embarrassed by hearing Van described in such a way. Alandria thought that over for a moment.

"You know, I do," she replied. "And while we're on the subject, Irvine's got a really nice a-"

"I get your point," Fiona said.

"No, my point is that Rambo's fine, and I'm asking you if you agree," Alandria said bluntly. Fiona blushed again.

"I suppose he IS handsome..." she confessed. Alandria nodded. Weaseling things out of people had always been her strong suit. That, and being sarcastic. The two fit together, really.

"Ye-ah," she said, "but...handsome isn't the only thing, is it? Boy's got some major sex appeal going for him, you know? And, hell, if you don't wanna claim that rock-hard body, I-"

"That's enough," Fiona interrupted, before Alandria could go into further into description. Alandria had certainly put new thoughts in her head about Van - was that a smirk on Alandria's face? Well, of course, she was always smirking, she had no other facial expressions.

"Nice talking to you, Fiona," Alandria said through a huge devious grin. "Seeya later." With that, she picked herself off the bed and walked out of the room.

"Oh, I am the weaseling queen!" she said to herself, pumping a fist into the air.

***

(A/N- and now, we cut to this indoor pool thingie in the base. To set the scene: Fiona and Moonbay are chilling in the funky jacuzzi thang (I love those!); Alandria's sitting by the side of the pool in full clothing (not her suede, 'cause water and suede DO NOT mix) shining various sharp, pointy objects in her possession; Mercutio and Irvine keep splashing Lieutenant Hottie when his back is turned; and Thomas (icky, icky Thomas) is standing there acting all mature, while discreetly checking out Fiona in her bathing suit.)

"Care to take bets on how long Van'll put up with this?" Moonbay offered as Irvine and Mercutio started splashing him again. Fiona bit her lip and kept looking at Van. Now that she thought about it, Alandria was right. Even now, when he was incredibly pissed off, Van was gorgeous.

"WOULD YOU STOP IT!" Van yelled at his assailants, both of whom were wearing their most innocent expressions.

"Stop what, Van?" Irvine asked sweetly.

"We didn't do anything," Mercutio added. Alandria shook her head, smirking.

"Boys will be boys," she said, not even looking up from the straightsword she was polishing, the hilt of which was carved in the shape of a dragon and snake encircling each other.

"Hmph," Thomas said. "Either way, that's incredibly immature."

"Yeah, and staring at Fiona's rack is TOTALLY mature," Alandria snorted.

"I-I was not!" Thomas insisted, once again getting blushy and stammery.

"Uh-huh." Alandria put her sword down, and picked up a slim cylinder to polish.

"Heh, check this out," Moonbay said to Fiona, pointing to where Irvine and Mercutio were sneaking up behind Van. Again.

"What are they going to do this time?" Fiona wondered. A split second after the words were out of her mouth, both guys jumped on Van and pushed his head under the water.

"That," Moonbay replied, as Van came up sputtering.

"YOU TWO ARE SO GONE!" he yelled, pouncing on Irvine and knocking him down.

"Hey! Leave my partner in crime alone, you weirdo!" Mercutio said, jumping on Van.

"YOU LITTLE PUNK!"

"YOU BIG DOOKIE!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS A DOOKIE?"

"I DUNNO, BUT IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD WORD!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!"

Now there was an all-out war going on in the pool. The guys were dunking each other, splashing each other, and, occasionally, trying to strangle each other.

"I'll bet a package of Sour Apple Straws on the babe with the eye patch," Alandria said. Moonbay grinned.

"I'll bet three chocolate bars on him," she replied. "What about you, Fiona?"

"...A bag of caramels on Van," Fiona decided. Then, "Shouldn't you be betting on your brother, Alandria?"

"Mercutio? Hell, I can beat him up," she replied, curling her arm to show off a bicep. "I'm definitely not betting on him against two hard-bodied opponents. And, man, are those bodies hard!" she added, checking out Irvine's chest (he was currently holding Mercutio above his head in order to throw him). "NICE VIEW, IRVINE!" she called. Irvine tossed his captive into the water and struck a few poses. Moonbay was bristling. Oooh, somebody's jealous- Uh, where were we?

"She has no shame," Fiona said, shaking her head.

"I'll say, talking about my- talking about Irvine like that!" Moonbay corrected herself.

"That's nothing," Fiona informed. "She called Van a 'sexy hunk of a Lieutenant' earlier." 'She kinda has a point, there, too,' Fiona added silently, admiring him. 'Ooooh, rippling muscles - NO! Bad, bad Fiona!'

"I CALL A DRAW! I CALL A DRAW!" Van yelled. Perfect timing, as Irvine and Mercutio had just teamed up on him, each picking him up by one leg and preparing to throw him.

"Wuss," Irvine accused. He and Mercutio exchanged glances, grinned, and dropped Van unceremoniously.

"Ugh, nobody's winning any bets from that match," Moonbay groaned. "Honestly, a draw, Van? How boring." Van, meanwhile, got out of the pool and wrapped a towel around his waist.

"You'd have called a draw, too, if you were about to be thrown by them," he responded, jerking his head toward Mercutio and Irvine. He noticed Alandria's cylinder. "What's that thing?" Alandria twisted an area of the cylinder, and it shot out on both sides - coincidentally, hitting Thomas.

"Retractable bo staff," she replied, smirking, as Thomas glared at the weapon and rubbed himself where he'd been hit.

"I like it already," Van said. "What else do you have?"

"Like weapons are so interesting," Fiona sulked as Alandria displayed her arsenal to a very impressed Van. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Are you...jealous, Fiona?" Moonbay asked.

"I am not jealous. Nope. Not at all."

(A/N- Yay! Okay, meesa take your votes: d'you guys want some really mushy V/F, M/I scenes later on? Or, do you want not-so-mushy, semi-graphic scenes? Or, do you want me to shut my big fat mouth and just keep it up with humor the whole fic through? YOU...can make a diference! HEEEHEEEHEEEHEEE!)