Flirting, Refusals, and Traps

Jet looked at the woman whom they'd met in the Unclean Mark. He knew he'd smelt a rat, she was just too darn suspicious. If there was some fantastic treasure in here that she wanted them to guide her to, then why had all these Drifters met their end? Could she very well be the one behind the entire problem?

"I think there's something wrong here," whispered Virginia, "But how in the world are we going to tell that to Gallows? Short of forcibly prying him off the woman, we won't get anywhere. Then again, maybe the treasure is hers. If she's some sort of seductress who lures men into traps utilizing her beauty, who knows what else she's hiding. We should go along, try to unmask her, and then take the treasure for ourselves."

"That's a good idea Virginia. Certainly some bimbo who only relies on her looks can't be a match for us. Even if Clive and Gallows fall, we'll survive with our Airget-techniques. They say that the reward has to outweigh the risk. Well, risks for us are fairly small. So rewards can be only decent sized and still have enough lure for us. Just watch your back. If this goes wrong you could get hurt," Jet quietly warned her.

. . .

In one room, they saw a switch. Claudia told them that she'd handle it. Pulling the leaver opened the door to the next room. Suddenly, a large iron bar swung down from above. Virginia and Jet noticed right away. Both were very grateful for once in their lives for being short. They didn't have to duck down very far. Clive also was able to look at it and duck in the nick of time. However, Gallows was too busy trying to tell Claudia how beautiful and amazing she was. So he got konked in the head, and nearly fell over the edge.

The unfortunate Baskar yelled, "Help! This isn't any way to treat a guy who's willing to help out a beautiful lady. Why do the bad guys always get breaks and I don't? I'm the chivalrous one. Get me out of here!" For he'd been able to grab on at the last minute, thus was now dangling and nearly about to fall.

Jet shook his head at Gallows and looked to Virginia. "I'm surprised the big lug even knows what the word chivalrous means. But then again, women and Gallows seem to run parallel to one another. He goes up to walk beside them, and she walks parallel to keep him from getting in front of her and asking her on a date." For that comment, Virginia playfully punched Jet in the shoulder, and turned back to their friend.

Clive grabbed his friend by the free left hand. Seeing that he was safe, Gallows let go. Jet, so his partner wouldn't snap at him, grabbed onto his right hand as well. But the two were still having trouble in pulling up 220 pounds of mostly muscle, bone, and vital organs; but little brains to go with it. So Virginia walked over to Jet and put her arms around his midsection. The blush that covered his face was so easy to spot. If Gallows hadn't been in trouble, he would have snickered. Last thing he needed was to anger Jet and have the boy let go out of pure spite, causing Clive to either let go or fall down the hole along with him.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Claudia, "I think ya'll could use a hand there. Let me help ya get him up from the hole." She walked over to Clive, and put her arms around him as well. As the four pulled the ex-priest up from his predicament, Claudia found herself nuzzling Clive's back with her head. She was obviously flirting with him on the job. Virginia rolled her eyes when she took the time to notice what was happening.

"Please Miss. I have no time for this. We promised to help you find your treasure, and that's what we're going to do. There will be no flirting around here. It is unprofessional for a seasoned Drifter to allow themselves to be distracted by the advances of members of the opposing gender," Clive lectured the woman.

Claudia told him, "Ahm sure you'll be more than willing to show me some affection benefiting my own beauty when we're done with the job then. I work at a saloon in Little Twister, so I can buy ya'll a round of drinks when we get there." She grabbed onto Clive's hand, and he swiftly shook her off and went on.

Gallows walked up to her and smiled. "Since he's not interested, wanna walk with me my dear? Clive's so dumb, doesn't know what he's missing. With an attitude like that, I bet he'll never get a girl."

"Your kindness to me is quite nice," she replied, "But I know you'll pay attention. I want the world to understand my beauty. So ah've gotta prove to your friends as well. Do ya catch my drift mah boy?"

"I catch it very well sweet angel," Gallows replied. His eyes seemed to show hearts in them. As she walked out, the Baskar followed closely. All this caused a certain pair of Filgaia infused teenagers to roll their eyes. As they looked in one another's face, they finally noticed that the blush from before was still there. Virginia felt herself going redder; and ended up dumping her canteen over her head to cool down. Then Jet used Cremate in order to start a fire so she could heat dry her hair quickly so they could follow their allies. After all, it wouldn't do for them to seem suspicious in not going with the others in the team.

. . .

In another room, a bridge spanned across a floor filled with poisonous fluid. It appeared to be simple enough to walk across. However Virginia and Jet were both snickering about how if Gallows kept up his swooning, he'd end up walking off the edge by mistake. That upset him so much that he snapped out of it. "Can it you two lovebirds! Just because you guys are a couple doesn't mean you're the only ones here who can fall in love. I certainly deserve a chance with the lovely Miss Claudia standing over there." As he followed, Jet and Virginia found themselves blushing. Silently they agreed to get Gallows for this later on.

As Claudia walked ahead of them across the bridge, they heard a rumbling sound. Instantly, the entire bridge began shaking, and the blocks nearest to the edge fell off. If it kept up, they'd all end up in the poisoned liquid below. Jet, taking advantage of the situation, grabbed Virginia in his arms and used his Accelerator to get across. Yes, it was an excuse so he could hold her close without being laughed at as a softie. Not that she minded; she liked it when he held her. She put her hands around his neck very loosely. Clive and Gallows, however, weren't very accustomed to running fast. They ended up dropping into the liquid on the floor. Whatever romantic moment might have developed was ruined instantly; they had to save their friends. Jet did, however, shoot an extremely dirty glare at Claudia for making him have to look almost nice.

The saloon girl didn't want to be left out of whatever rescue mission was taking place. She went down as well and held out her hand. Although she didn't take Gallows's hand when it was offered. Instead she held it out for the reluctant Clive. Virginia pulled out Gallows in the meantime with Jet's help. It was easier than pulling him out of a hole; his feet were at least planted on some type of ground this time.

After Claudia had gone on ahead, Clive looked towards Jet. "I smell a rat here. How is it that only she is able to get through all of these traps? And why is she flirting with me of all people? Gallows has an attraction to her; I only am interested in completing the mission. You're lucky you don't have to deal with it. I'd rather her leave me alone." He then muttered something about pushy women only interested in beauty.

. . .

"To go through this room," Claudia began, "We seem to need to unblock the door. Ah wonder what would happen if I hit this switch on the floor?" Before a frantic Virginia and Clive could scream for her to leave it alone, she stepped on it. Suddenly, to their horror, the large stone log that was blocking the door began rolling along the room. Eventually, they'd have to choose between falling off the edge and being crushed.

"Virginia! Watch out!" screamed Jet. She was nearly run over as the speedy log got too close to where she was standing. He whisked her away in the nick of time. Something told him that she'd planned it like that. That she was sour about how they had to end his rescue of her to save the others. She wanted to be back in his arms, so she purposely got in the way. She knew better, it was just like what she'd do.

Clive called, "I'll blow up a portion of it so we can escape." He ran to an area in the log's path and lit a bomb. Then he cleared out with the others. Perfect timing allowed the stone monstrosity to roll over the bomb at just the right time. The explosion took out a part of it, and all five escaped into the next room.

The scholar looked at Claudia. "Do NOT hit any more switches. I know you want to help, but let us disarm the traps before you play." He gave a look that said he didn't believe what he was saying about her. He just had to make like he believed her in order to keep from causing a commotion. Just a little longer…

. . .

"Man, that blows," Gallows muttered, "Not only did the beauty turn out to be some witch in disguise, but Janus came back. And I'm still sore from all the trouble we went through. Whose idea was it to go into that dungeon in the first place?" He noticed all three of them were glaring at him, and wondered what it was.

"Yours Gallows!" they all screamed in unison.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

I got the idea for this when Hypes mentioned that it would have been interesting to see the inner workigns of the Unclean Mark mision. I didn't find much of an insert for arguments, Jet realizing it was pointless to waste his breath on the moron at this point, but I was able to find humor. I wanted to write a collection of stories that relate to my Wings Trilogy. Now although the next one takes place at a later time, between Chapters 20 and 21, others may be earlier in the trilogy; in the first two books, or in between stories. It all depends on when ideas come to me. Just like with my poetry. If you can't tell by looking at the chapters the next one takes place in between, it's going to be a really fluffy piece.