Cupid has taken off with the disclaimer saying that I don't own any Galaxy Rangers characters. I just had some mad random thoughts in my brain and I had to get them down before they turned to mush.
Valentines For Bubblehead
"Good morning!" Bubblehead sang happily. "Happy Valentine's Day darling!"
"Oh great…" Shane Gooseman groaned as he woke up to find Bubblehead on his chest. "My own personal annoying alarm clock from Hell strikes again!"
"It's a day for love, love, love!" Bubblehead warbled as he danced on Shane's chest. With a swift move, Shane turned over and Bubblehead fell off. "Whoa!"
"This is going to be one of those days when you're not going to shut up are you?" Shane growled as he sat up and got out of bed.
"Yup!" Bubblehead chirped.
"I thought so," Shane sighed and went to get washed up and dressed.
"Come on Goose! It's Valentine's Day! Get happy!" Bubblehead chirped.
"Blech!" Shane grunted. "Another stupid Earth holiday I don't want any part of!"
"But today is the day when we celebrate love and romance!"
"Great. When's the day when we celebrate blasters and target practice?" Shane snapped.
"I think that's Arbor Day," Bubblehead scratched his head with his wing. "We'll I'm off to spread the love!"
"You do that," Shane grumbled. "As long as you don't spread anything around me!"
A few hours later Shane got the dreaded call into Walsh's office. He knew what he was called in for even before he saw Bubblehead on Walsh's desk. "What's he done now?"
"I'm giving the Commander some of my Valentines!" Bubblehead chirped. He had a huge pile of mail around him.
"Actually what he is giving me is a coupon to get my car washed and a headache," Walsh showed Shane a flyer. "Gooseman are you even trying to keep this bird under control or have you just given up completely and letting this thing do whatever the hell it wants?"
"Hey he got out before I had my coffee," Shane looked at the mail pile. "Give me a break here."
"Well he just flew in here with this pile of mail singing about Valentine's Day and love crap," Walsh groaned. "And now he's opening and reading my mail!"
"This isn't your mail. It's Senator Whiner's mail," Shane sighed. "Don't ask me how he got it. I guess you want me to retrieve it, huh?"
"Uh actually…" Walsh smirked. "Let him have them. I'm sure there's nothing important in them anyway."
"Hey! I got a letter from Iris, but she forgot to put the second I in her name!" Bubblehead chirped as he opened the letter. "Hey! I'm getting an audit! That's a type of car right?"
"Close enough," Walsh sighed as he left the room. "Goose you know if it was anyone else but Wheiner you would be in big trouble right?"
"Yeah."
"Just checking," Walsh nodded.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Come back here bird!" Shane chased Bubblehead down the hallway.
"Niko! Niko!" Bubblehead sang out as he flew away. He carried a small wrench in his feet. He saw her. "Hi Niko! Happy Valentine's Day!"
"Uh, thanks?" Niko was surprised as Bubblehead dropped the wrench into her hand.
"Happy! Happy Valentine's Day from Goose!" Bubblehead chirped. "With love, love, love….URRKKK!" Bubblehead gasped as Shane grabbed him.
"Cut it out you stupid bird!" Shane snapped.
"But I was just delivering a token of your love to…" Bubblehead tried to speak but Shane grabbed his beak.
"Shut up bird brain!" Shane snapped. "I didn't…Niko I…"
"I kind of figured it. I guess the whole concept of Valentine's Day is a little ridiculous to you," Niko said. "You never knew what love was growing up."
"For the most part no," Shane let out a breath. He seemed to be trying to decide something. Then he did. "Did I ever tell you about Darkstar?"
"She's one of the escaped Supertroopers," Niko said. She remembered glimpses of her in Shane's mind and knew that there were some feelings of pain attached to them but she never pressed why.
"She was my best friend at Wolf Den," Shane admitted. "Out of all the Supertroopers she was the only one who never called me Runt or tried to put me down. Ever since we met she was always kind to me and looked out for me. We were practically inseparable when we were kids. She used to try and protect me from the other troopers. Even during training we remained close. She was very…special to me."
"Special?" Niko raised an eyebrow. "Oh…You loved her."
"Looking back on it now I guess you could call it a crush," Shane admitted. "But at the time it felt so real. I didn't know what love was Niko. All I knew is that I wanted to be beside her forever. And I wanted to be the one to make her happy. That we'd always be together no matter what."
"But then the X-Factor incident happened."
"Actually an even worse disaster happened," Shane snorted. "A disaster named Stingray. For some reason which I still don't understand to this day, she fell in love with him. He was all right when I was a kid, but as our training grew he became even more cocky and arrogant. Especially when he started taking the genetic enabling factor. And then when the X-Factor incident happened she chose to run off with him."
"And that really hurt you didn't it?"
"Yeah," Shane nodded. "She was the only one who wasn't driven completely insane by the gas. But she was so afraid of the Cryocrypt. I tried to tell her how I felt. I begged her to stay but I couldn't think of a reason why. I had no idea what I was feeling. And in the end…She ran off with Stingray."
"I'm sorry," Niko put her hand on his.
"It took me a long time to get over that," Shane let out a breath. "I mean I'll always feel something for her but…I guess you never do forget your first love. Even if the person you love doesn't love you back. I guess that's as good a reason as any why I'm not crazy about all this Valentine's nonsense."
"Actually Shane I'm not that crazy about Valentine's Day either," Niko admitted.
You're not?" Shane was surprised.
"It just seems so…commercial and prefabricated to me," Niko admitted. "Back on Xanadu we believed that love should be celebrated all year. Not just one single day. And you should express your love with words and actions rather than meaningless presents."
"Don't get me wrong," Niko smirked. "I'm all for any excuse to eat chocolate. But I'm just not that into material things."
"Niko, I've seen your apartment," Shane said. "You've got more junk than most museums."
"Most of those are artifacts that I either dug myself or were given as gifts," Niko pointed out. "And they are part of my independent archeological studies. I examine them to find any cultural significance. They aren't there for decoration."
"Could have fooled me," Shane whistled. "Then again what do I know?"
"Not much," Bubblehead looked impatient. "Just kiss her you big dope!"
"Bubblehead!" Both Shane and Niko shouted at the bird.
"What?" Bubblehead asked. "I'm just trying to play cupid here!"
"You're going to be playing with a garbage disposal if you keep that up!" Shane growled.
"Look even with my scrambled circuits I can tell you two like each other, so why not kiss and make up?" Bubblehead chirped. "Or just kiss anyway."
"We are not going to kiss to shut you up," Shane glared at the bird.
"Why not? They don't mind!" Bubblehead pointed with his wing. "Do ya fellas?"
"WHAT?" Shane and Niko turned around to see Doc, Zach, Q-Ball and Zozo peeking out from behind the corner. "YOU GUYS WERE SPYING ON US?"
"IS THAT STUPID BETTING POOL STILL GOING ON?" Niko roared.
"Uh…Maybe?" Q-Ball gulped.
"Niko, wanna teach 'em a lesson?" Shane smirked as he rolled up his sleeves.
"I thought you'd never ask," Niko grinned.
"Ah Valentine's Day!" Bubblehead flew away happy. "A day for bringing people together!"
"COME BACK HERE AND TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE MEN!" Niko shouted.
"AAAHHHHHHH!" The guys screamed.
"I just love Valentine's Day and making people happy!" Bubblehead chirped. "And all the happy feelings it brings!"
"OW! GOOSE! NIKO! NOT MY SPLEEN! NOT MY SPLEEN!" Doc screamed.
"It feels so good to bring joy to others! I should do this every year!" Bubblehead chirped. "If the guys live to next year that is."