Hey folks! Sorry I forgot to update again, I was dragged into Doctor Who. And I am obsessed! So many good fic ideas!

But anyway, enjoy!

What the hell had been up with Marco? He had been perfectly fine the whole time, even seeming to have more fun than strictly necessary when flying around. Seriously, where did he learn to do all that? It was so well done he could've been a flying mech pilot himself… but that was impossible, right? He knew all of his fellow supernovas and none of them had an aerial mech except Sunny, and none of the old-timers covered their face.

But then again, Marco always had that beanie on, didn't he? He probably had really distinctive hair underneath it. Like… the pilot of the Phoenix! Whose name was also Marco!

How had he not realised this earlier? Marco had the worst disguise in the world! But the press hadn't figured it out either. That made him feel a bit better about himself.

Ok, next question: If Marco was the Phoenix pilot, who was his co-pilot? Actually no, that was a stupid question. Thatch had to be Marco's co-pilot. Earlier, he had mentioned that 'Thatch can usually take it'. So Thatch was that guy with shoulder-length hair? Cool. At least he had thought of a cover name, unlike someone.

Anyway, he had to talk to Marco. Right now.

It was a peaceful day at the Wyvern. Well, it was until Ace stormed in.

"MARCO! WE NEED TO TALK! NOW!" Marco walked over, noticeably confused. Thatch whispered at the two to go sort out their lover's quarrel, to which Marco hit him.

They walked out into a back alley. Ace started speaking as soon as they were out of hearing range.

"So, when were you going to tell me you and Thatch pilot the Phoenix?" Marco sputtered for a couple of seconds, then regained his demeanour.

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it -yoi… I'm sorry for forgetting to mention it to you. If there's anything I can do to make up for it, I'd be happy to do so -yoi." Ace considered asking Marco to kiss him, but decided against it.

"Hmm… how about free meals for two weeks?" Marco visibly paled, no doubt imagining the dent in the profit they would make.

"Ok, fine -yoi. But just you. Your friends will still have to pay for their own -yoi." Ace agreed, and they shook hands over the deal.

"Oh, one thing -yoi. If you want, ring me and I can get the Phoenix out for you. Consider it returning the favour -yoi. Now, are you coming inside for food or what?"

The two walked back inside, unaware that Thatch had seen the entire conversation, and was fully planning on harassing Marco about it in the foreseeable future.

"So… you have a date then? Hmm?" Thatch asked as the two left the Wyvern later that night.

"No, it's not a date -yoi. I asked Ace to text me when he felt like flying Phoenix. After all, he let me fly Jack -yoi. Brilliant handling, but we are faster, plus their co-pilot is a bit inexperienced at speed shooting. We'd probably beat them if we fought now -yoi."

"So… it's the prospect of a date without actually having a date for said date?"

"I'm considering it as such, but I doubt Ace sees it the same way -yoi. So we'll stick to it being me repaying a favour for the minute." Thatch sighed. His brother, for all he was smart with tactics and the like, was completely useless when he came to feelings of any sort. At least he was competent enough to figure out his own emotions. Now he just needed to work on everyone else's.

"Plus, drop some hints, heaven knows you aren't going to see if the guy likes you by sitting around like a lemon!" Thatch emphasised. Marco groaned, and reluctantly agreed.

"Fine, but please leave now. I have an event to get to in Ultimate Adventure -yoi. After disappearing for a year, my guild needs me, even if most seem to think I'm an idiot."

"So do I, personally. Which guild are you in, by the way?" Thatch questioned. He was also a player of Ultimate Adventure, and was curious to see if he'd encountered Marco before.

"WBP -yoi. You?"

"The same… So, does that mean that you're… no, of course you are. Seriously are all cover names and disguises you make up that simple? MarcoFenwick105. How did I not see it earlier? Plus the avatar is almost the same as you, but with more eccentric clothing. Aargh, I'm so stupid!"

"That you are, but my disguises rely on the stupidity of others -yoi. And it's worked so far, hasn't it? You didn't discover who I was after almost 10 years knowing each other in-game, and the press haven't worked out who I am when all I do is not say my surname and wear a beanie -yoi. Isn't that right, Twin-Blade?"

Thatch growled under his breath. He hated it when Marco was right, then flaunted some random knowledge he shouldn't know at him, "Well… I guess… But still, how long have you known?"

"Since you referred to yourself as Thatch in the chat box. 9 years ago, by the way -yoi."

"I really am stupid."

"Yes, yes you are -yoi. Geisha-Marvel thinks so too. They think you should hurry up and fuck them already, but don't tell them I said that -yoi," Marco responded.

Thatch stared out of a window in confusion. "How the hell am I supposed to fuck someone if I don't know who they are?"

"You go figure that out for yourself -yoi. I'm gonna get on now, so if you wanna join get in your own room and join the event!"

Thatch left, with one question on his mind: How had this pep talk turned into a conversation about his own love life and video games?

Tori sighed. Ace was confusing. He'd come rushing into his apartment a few minutes ago, and was now devouring the contents of his fridge without thought that Tori did also need to eat. He'd asked what was wrong, and he'd simply said, "I get to ride Phoenix!" And continued eating.

"Hey! Hang on! What do you mean you get to ride Phoenix? Ace? What the hell?" Ace ignored him, until Tori went to the fridge and locked it. The fridge had four separate locks on it, so it would take anyone a while to open.

Tori slammed the door shut, turned off the lights and brought over the desk lamp he had bought for this specific purpose. He switched it on, and shone into Ace's eyes, which distracted him from his food.

"Now Ace, you are going to answer my questions. Is that clear?" Ace nodded.

"Ok, how did you get a ride in Phoenix?"

"Well, I found the pilot, and in return for him not telling me about himself, I get free meals at the Wyvern for two weeks plus a ride in Phoenix, whenever I want it!"

Tori was shocked at that, and asked,"So, who is the pilot?"

"Marco, actually. That explains why he was so good in the Jack. He said that the piloting was him returning the favour, and I'm counting it as a date. Even if he doesn't…"

Tori sighed. Forget about confusing, Ace was oblivious. This was definitely a date, even if Marco was useless in asking.

"Well, you should probably confirm if it is a date then. Ask, or… I dunno, flirt with him?" Ok, he was just as bad with suggesting things.

Why was he trying to get the two together when he was just as confused as both of them?

Tori

Thatch: Heyy (22:03)

Thatch: We need a plan (22:03)

Thatch: I'm confused (22:04)

Thatch: Helllp! (22:05)

Tori: Me as well (22:18)

Tori: Meet up tmrw? (22:18)

Tori: Or tonite? (22:19)

Thatch: Tmrw (22:20)

Thatch: Marco knew who I was in-game for 9 yrs! And I knew nothing! (22:21)

Tori: Poor u. Nite. (22:21)

Thatch sighed as he put down his phone. Such unsympathetic friends.

If Tori had known Ace for 10 years on a game and maybe flirted once or twice or several times only to find out the person was his best friend (and also brother), how would he feel?

Though this did explain why Marco had only flirted back when he did it the first year. Afterwards he was probably screen-recording so he could laugh at Thatch later.

But anyway, Marco had set up a potential date, and that meant he just had to be there to spy on him. And that meant he needed a plan.

Okay… so, the date was going on inside Phoenix, so he couldn't just waltz in, he had to be sneaky. Plus he had Tori as a partner-in-crime, so the two lovebirds (punny) would just have to prepare for trouble, and make it double.

No, wait a second. He was a co-pilot with Marco, and Marco was nothing if not overly suspicious of people losing stuff. Meaning he had another headset (or maybe two) around somewhere in his room. Thatch could eavesdrop on them if he was in close enough range. Plus if he had binoculars he knew exactly where the two compartments were, and where their windows/portholes (in the case of the gun turret) were located, so could spy through those. Not at full speed, but otherwise, he'd have a pretty good view of whatever was going on in there.

Perks of knowing the place Marco was taking his may-as-well-be-boyfriend almost better than Marco himself. Almost because Marco designed the thing and he couldn't beat that level of intimacy.

Now for a disguise that would allow him to come in close enough to get the radio signal and see the two. Hmm…

Thatch stayed thinking for about 3 minutes, then gave up. He'd ask Tori tomorrow. For now… well, sleep was important folks!

The next morning the two met up at the Wyvern at stupid o'clock.

"So, I have a way to see and hear them on their date, if we get close enough. The problem, as you may have guessed, will be getting close enough." Thatch explained.

"Okay. So, where does Marco normally fly Phoenix? That'll give us an idea of where we need to be to see them. Also what were you planning for hearing them?"

"Well, Marco is overcautious to say the least, so I have at least one spare headset for the Phoenix inside my house. Also he normally flies in this massive field with a small wood in the corner. One of the trees near the entrance he had dubbed as 'his', and he sits in it waiting for me to arrive generally." It was true, and once Marco had kicked him out of his tree for simply being there.

"Okay, I know the one. It's the feild next to where we took Jack for the test, I think. Marco jumped out of a tree then as well, though he didn't mention it was 'his'." Tori mused, "and as for disguises, we can spin a little bit of the truth in, say we're interested in the nature of the creatures in the field -cough cough Ace and Marco cough cough- and doing a survey. After all, a bit of truth does make a lie more convincing!"

"Or… I have a better idea, plus it'll be more funny for us as we do it!" Thatch smirked, and confided his plan to Tori, who nodded like an overexcited kid at the idea.

"We do need to notify the group about this, though. Should we send some videos of what we find?" Tori asked.

"Yeah we should… how about doing them in three-minute bursts?"

"Sounds good." And so, the plan was confirmed.

"So, now that's sorted, breakfast?"

Marco was growing tenser as time ticked by. Ace had asked for this day two days ago, surely he hadn't forgotten?

He was tempted to hop out of his tree and begin pacing when he heard two slightly-off Eiffelian accents floating up to him.

"I still theenk we vill have a better chance of actually spotting any eef ve go up a tree to see zem!" One voice, quite nasally, sounded. The other sighed then relented.

"Vell then ve'll check your vay, and vhen it is vrong i shall laugh!" This voice was slightly more melodical, and from what Marco could see it belonged to the shorter of the two men.

The two, dressed in greens, browns, and khakis, started to climb up his tree. Which he was fine with, as long as they understood the rules in the tree.

"Why hello gentlemen. What a surprise to see you here," he said goodnaturedly, but with a slight sinister undertone (or at least, he thought he did). The men nearly fell out of the tree in surprise. They probably weren't expecting anyone else in 'the tree'. Well, they were wrong, weren't they?

"Ah, monsieur! Ve vere not expecting you either, sorry for ze interruption. 'Owever, ve need a base of operations for our… ah, how you say it? Stake out! You see, ve are on the trail of a very mysterious bird, the piña fuerte. It is very rare, and ve heard it was around here, so please sir, lend us your tree, at least until you are finished with what you are doing," the silver-tongued, melodical one said, and surprisingly it was the (much) taller male. The height difference was almost the same as Thatch and Tori's. Hmm…

"Fine, I will give you my tree for the time being, but as soon as I am gone, you two are as well, no exceptions unless you see the thing. You got it?"

"Sir yes sir!" The two both did garbled versions of the marine salute. Marco thought it fitted them.

"Good." And he plopped from the tree, just in time to see Ace pull up on his own hoverbike.

"Hey Ace! You ready?"

"Yeah, if we can start straight away! C'mon, gimme the tour!" Ace was practically vibrating in excitement, so Marco showed him in, hiding the spurt of joy that flooded through him with Ace's grateful smile.

(Outside, the two 'birdwatchers' ripped off their disguises and began setting up their spying equipment, plus the phones they were using to send videos. Thatch had the headset set up, and Tori had a pair of binoculars mounted on the branch in front of him.

"Marco has pretty good taste in trees, this one's so spacious," Thatch said as they finished, then leant backwards and nearly fell out as there were no branches where he had leant. Tori laughed so hard he almost did the same)

Marco had never had to tour the inside of Phoenix before, so he went through doing what Ace had when he was invited into the Jack. Ace seemed torn between marvelling at the design, and worrying about how parts of it were staying together. At

times, Marco couldn't blame him.

"Ok, so -yoi. Here is my cockpit, Thatch's is somewhere else. I'm sure you're familiar with how this type of piloting works, so I'll leave you to it -yoi. Comms are on, so just speak and I'll hear you. Just wait 'til I've said I've sat down before doing anything please -yoi." Marco's voice held a twinge of concern at the end. Once Thatch had piloted when he hadn't been in his seat, and he had been flung all over the shop until he landed, suffering some pretty bad injuries.

The recovery time was insane. Why would you need two months before you are allowed to walk, even with the cast on?

He reached the co-pilot seat, and gave the go-ahead sign to Ace, who pulled off the floor.

Marco then had one of the most impressive out-of-body experiences ever.

Tori whistled from where he was perched in Marco's tree. "With that amount of good piloting, I can see why you guys are the top of the league!"

Thatch laughed at him. "Haven't you been listening to the comms? That's not Marco piloting! Plus, Phoenix can go a lot faster than that. Marco designed them for speed, not armouring, after all," his voice still held quite a lot of mirth in it.

"Of course Phoenix can go faster than that… should've known, what with the way Marco wasn't fazed by Jack's top speed. And I never knew Ace was that good. He's been holding out on me!"

Thatch stopped laughing and started observing Phoenix's movements, " Well, Marco has always been an adrenaline junkie, for all it doesn't look it. And damn right Ace has. He's pulling off Marco's stunts first time, almost like… he's practised them on a more complicated system!" He muttered under his breath, "Well, Ace sure was a fanboy, wasn't he?"

Thatch returned back to normal volume, "Seriously, Marco must be having the time of it. These are all his moves, done to near perfection. Wonder how he's coping…"

Marco was dealing with it by sitting back and enjoying the experience of someone knowing his moves so well they could nearly replicate them, whilst also worrying about that same person being able to beat them in a mech fight because of their knowledge.

Phoenix swooped down in an angled arc, landing on the floor, then pushing off straight into the air, talons extended. Marco had pushed the button which locked the claws into place by force of habit, and now he could hear the air being forcibly moved out of the way. A mad laugh escaped his lips. He hadn't had so much fun not flying his own mech in ages!

Ace then pulled a tight right turn before turning into a dive and pulling up at the last second, narrowly missing the tree the two bird-watchers were in. Marco would have cared more, but at the minute he was too far gone into euphoria. A couple more minutes of Ace owning the skies with him as a willing eye-witness, and they were back on the ground. He skipped up to the main cockpit, and sauntered in through the 'doorway'. (There was no actual door).

"Well, I've got to say, that was some impressive flying there -yoi."What the hell had been up with Marco? He had been perfectly fine the whole time, even seeming to have more fun than strictly necessary when flying around. Seriously, where did he learn to do all that? It was so well done he could've been a flying mech pilot himself… but that was impossible, right? He knew all of his fellow supernovas and none of them had an aerial mech except Sunny, and none of the old-timers covered their face.

But then again, Marco always had that beanie on, didn't he? He probably had really distinctive hair underneath it. Like… the pilot of the Phoenix! Whose name was also Marco!

How had he not realised this earlier? Marco had the worst disguise in the world! But the press hadn't figured it out either. That made him feel a bit better about himself.

Ok, next question: If Marco was the Phoenix pilot, who was his co-pilot? Actually no, that was a stupid question. Thatch had to be Marco's co-pilot. Earlier, he had mentioned that 'Thatch can usually take it'. So Thatch was that guy with shoulder-length hair? Cool. At least he had thought of a cover name, unlike someone.

Anyway, he had to talk to Marco. Right now.

It was a peaceful day at the Wyvern. Well, it was until Ace stormed in.

"MARCO! WE NEED TO TALK! NOW!" Marco walked over, noticeably confused. Thatch whispered at the two to go sort out their lover's quarrel, to which Marco hit him.

They walked out into a back alley. Ace started speaking as soon as they were out of hearing range.

"So, when were you going to tell me you and Thatch pilot the Phoenix?" Marco sputtered for a couple of seconds, then regained his demeanour.

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it -yoi… I'm sorry for forgetting to mention it to you. If there's anything I can do to make up for it, I'd be happy to do so -yoi." Ace considered asking Marco to kiss him, but decided against it.

"Hmm… how about free meals for two weeks?" Marco visibly paled, no doubt imagining the dent in the profit they would make.

"Ok, fine -yoi. But just you. Your friends will still have to pay for their own -yoi." Ace agreed, and they shook hands over the deal.

"Oh, one thing -yoi. If you want, ring me and I can get the Phoenix out for you. Consider it returning the favour -yoi. Now, are you coming inside for food or what?"

The two walked back inside, unaware that Thatch had seen the entire conversation, and was fully planning on harassing Marco about it in the foreseeable future.

"So… you have a date then? Hmm?" Thatch asked as the two left the Wyvern later that night.

"No, it's not a date -yoi. I asked Ace to text me when he felt like flying Phoenix. After all, he let me fly Jack -yoi. Brilliant handling, but we are faster, plus their co-pilot is a bit inexperienced at speed shooting. We'd probably beat them if we fought now -yoi."

"So… it's the prospect of a date without actually having a date for said date?"

"I'm considering it as such, but I doubt Ace sees it the same way -yoi. So we'll stick to it being me repaying a favour for the minute." Thatch sighed. His brother, for all he was smart with tactics and the like, was completely useless when he came to feelings of any sort. At least he was competent enough to figure out his own emotions. Now he just needed to work on everyone else's.

"Plus, drop some hints, heaven knows you aren't going to see if the guy likes you by sitting around like a lemon!" Thatch emphasised. Marco groaned, and reluctantly agreed.

"Fine, but please leave now. I have an event to get to in Ultimate Adventure -yoi. After disappearing for a year, my guild needs me, even if most seem to think I'm an idiot."

"So do I, personally. Which guild are you in, by the way?" Thatch questioned. He was also a player of Ultimate Adventure, and was curious to see if he'd encountered Marco before.

"WBP -yoi. You?"

"The same… So, does that mean that you're… no, of course you are. Seriously are all cover names and disguises you make up that simple? MarcoFenwick105. How did I not see it earlier? Plus the avatar is almost the same as you, but with more eccentric clothing. Aargh, I'm so stupid!"

"That you are, but my disguises rely on the stupidity of others -yoi. And it's worked so far, hasn't it? You didn't discover who I was after almost 10 years knowing each other in-game, and the press haven't worked out who I am when all I do is not say my surname and wear a beanie -yoi. Isn't that right, Twin-Blade?"

Thatch growled under his breath. He hated it when Marco was right, then flaunted some random knowledge he shouldn't know at him, "Well… I guess… But still, how long have you known?"

"Since you referred to yourself as Thatch in the chat box. 9 years ago, by the way -yoi."

"I really am stupid."

"Yes, yes you are -yoi. Geisha-Marvel thinks so too. They think you should hurry up and fuck them already, but don't tell them I said that -yoi," Marco responded.

Thatch stared out of a window in confusion. "How the hell am I supposed to fuck someone if I don't know who they are?"

"You go figure that out for yourself -yoi. I'm gonna get on now, so if you wanna join get in your own room and join the event!"

Thatch left, with one question on his mind: How had this pep talk turned into a conversation about his own love life and video games?

Tori sighed. Ace was confusing. He'd come rushing into his apartment a few minutes ago, and was now devouring the contents of his fridge without thought that Tori did also need to eat. He'd asked what was wrong, and he'd simply said, "I get to ride Phoenix!" And continued eating.

"Hey! Hang on! What do you mean you get to ride Phoenix? Ace? What the hell?" Ace ignored him, until Tori went to the fridge and locked it. The fridge had four separate locks on it, so it would take anyone a while to open.

Tori slammed the door shut, turned off the lights and brought over the desk lamp he had bought for this specific purpose. He switched it on, and shone into Ace's eyes, which distracted him from his food.

"Now Ace, you are going to answer my questions. Is that clear?" Ace nodded.

"Ok, how did you get a ride in Phoenix?"

"Well, I found the pilot, and in return for him not telling me about himself, I get free meals at the Wyvern for two weeks plus a ride in Phoenix, whenever I want it!"

Tori was shocked at that, and asked,"So, who is the pilot?"

"Marco, actually. That explains why he was so good in the Jack. He said that the piloting was him returning the favour, and I'm counting it as a date. Even if he doesn't…"

Tori sighed. Forget about confusing, Ace was oblivious. This was definitely a date, even if Marco was useless in asking.

"Well, you should probably confirm if it is a date then. Ask, or… I dunno, flirt with him?" Ok, he was just as bad with suggesting things.

Why was he trying to get the two together when he was just as confused as both of them?

Tori

Thatch: Heyy (22:03)

Thatch: We need a plan (22:03)

Thatch: I'm confused (22:04)

Thatch: Helllp! (22:05)

Tori: Me as well (22:18)

Tori: Meet up tmrw? (22:18)

Tori: Or tonite? (22:19)

Thatch: Tmrw (22:20)

Thatch: Marco knew who I was in-game for 9 yrs! And I knew nothing! (22:21)

Tori: Poor u. Nite. (22:21)

Thatch sighed as he put down his phone. Such unsympathetic friends.

If Tori had known Ace for 10 years on a game and maybe flirted once or twice or several times only to find out the person was his best friend (and also brother), how would he feel?

Though this did explain why Marco had only flirted back when he did it the first year. Afterwards he was probably screen-recording so he could laugh at Thatch later.

But anyway, Marco had set up a potential date, and that meant he just had to be there to spy on him. And that meant he needed a plan.

Okay… so, the date was going on inside Phoenix, so he couldn't just waltz in, he had to be sneaky. Plus he had Tori as a partner-in-crime, so the two lovebirds (punny) would just have to prepare for trouble, and make it double.

No, wait a second. He was a co-pilot with Marco, and Marco was nothing if not overly suspicious of people losing stuff. Meaning he had another headset (or maybe two) around somewhere in his room. Thatch could eavesdrop on them if he was in close enough range. Plus if he had binoculars he knew exactly where the two compartments were, and where their windows/portholes (in the case of the gun turret) were located, so could spy through those. Not at full speed, but otherwise, he'd have a pretty good view of whatever was going on in there.

Perks of knowing the place Marco was taking his may-as-well-be-boyfriend almost better than Marco himself. Almost because Marco designed the thing and he couldn't beat that level of intimacy.

Now for a disguise that would allow him to come in close enough to get the radio signal and see the two. Hmm…

Thatch stayed thinking for about 3 minutes, then gave up. He'd ask Tori tomorrow. For now… well, sleep was important folks!

The next morning the two met up at the Wyvern at stupid o'clock.

"So, I have a way to see and hear them on their date, if we get close enough. The problem, as you may have guessed, will be getting close enough." Thatch explained.

"Okay. So, where does Marco normally fly Phoenix? That'll give us an idea of where we need to be to see them. Also what were you planning for hearing them?"

"Well, Marco is overcautious to say the least, so I have at least one spare headset for the Phoenix inside my house. Also he normally flies in this massive field with a small wood in the corner. One of the trees near the entrance he had dubbed as 'his', and he sits in it waiting for me to arrive generally." It was true, and once Marco had kicked him out of his tree for simply being there.

"Okay, I know the one. It's the feild next to where we took Jack for the test, I think. Marco jumped out of a tree then as well, though he didn't mention it was 'his'." Tori mused, "and as for disguises, we can spin a little bit of the truth in, say we're interested in the nature of the creatures in the field -cough cough Ace and Marco cough cough- and doing a survey. After all, a bit of truth does make a lie more convincing!"

"Or… I have a better idea, plus it'll be more funny for us as we do it!" Thatch smirked, and confided his plan to Tori, who nodded like an overexcited kid at the idea.

"We do need to notify the group about this, though. Should we send some videos of what we find?" Tori asked.

"Yeah we should… how about doing them in three-minute bursts?"

"Sounds good." And so, the plan was confirmed.

"So, now that's sorted, breakfast?"

Marco was growing tenser as time ticked by. Ace had asked for this day two days ago, surely he hadn't forgotten?

He was tempted to hop out of his tree and begin pacing when he heard two slightly-off Eiffelian accents floating up to him.

"I still theenk we vill have a better chance of actually spotting any eef ve go up a tree to see zem!" One voice, quite nasally, sounded. The other sighed then relented.

"Vell then ve'll check your vay, and vhen it is vrong i shall laugh!" This voice was slightly more melodical, and from what Marco could see it belonged to the shorter of the two men.

The two, dressed in greens, browns, and khakis, started to climb up his tree. Which he was fine with, as long as they understood the rules in the tree.

"Why hello gentlemen. What a surprise to see you here," he said goodnaturedly, but with a slight sinister undertone (or at least, he thought he did). The men nearly fell out of the tree in surprise. They probably weren't expecting anyone else in 'the tree'. Well, they were wrong, weren't they?

"Ah, monsieur! Ve vere not expecting you either, sorry for ze interruption. 'Owever, ve need a base of operations for our… ah, how you say it? Stake out! You see, ve are on the trail of a very mysterious bird, the piña fuerte. It is very rare, and ve heard it was around here, so please sir, lend us your tree, at least until you are finished with what you are doing," the silver-tongued, melodical one said, and surprisingly it was the (much) taller male. The height difference was almost the same as Thatch and Tori's. Hmm…

"Fine, I will give you my tree for the time being, but as soon as I am gone, you two are as well, no exceptions unless you see the thing. You got it?"

"Sir yes sir!" The two both did garbled versions of the marine salute. Marco thought it fitted them.

"Good." And he plopped from the tree, just in time to see Ace pull up on his own hoverbike.

"Hey Ace! You ready?"

"Yeah, if we can start straight away! C'mon, gimme the tour!" Ace was practically vibrating in excitement, so Marco showed him in, hiding the spurt of joy that flooded through him with Ace's grateful smile.

(Outside, the two 'birdwatchers' ripped off their disguises and began setting up their spying equipment, plus the phones they were using to send videos. Thatch had the headset set up, and Tori had a pair of binoculars mounted on the branch in front of him.

"Marco has pretty good taste in trees, this one's so spacious," Thatch said as they finished, then leant backwards and nearly fell out as there were no branches where he had leant. Tori laughed so hard he almost did the same)

Marco had never had to tour the inside of Phoenix before, so he went through doing what Ace had when he was invited into the Jack. Ace seemed torn between marvelling at the design, and worrying about how parts of it were staying together. At

times, Marco couldn't blame him.

"Ok, so -yoi. Here is my cockpit, Thatch's is somewhere else. I'm sure you're familiar with how this type of piloting works, so I'll leave you to it -yoi. Comms are on, so just speak and I'll hear you. Just wait 'til I've said I've sat down before doing anything please -yoi." Marco's voice held a twinge of concern at the end. Once Thatch had piloted when he hadn't been in his seat, and he had been flung all over the shop until he landed, suffering some pretty bad injuries.

The recovery time was insane. Why would you need two months before you are allowed to walk, even with the cast on?

He reached the co-pilot seat, and gave the go-ahead sign to Ace, who pulled off the floor.

Marco then had one of the most impressive out-of-body experiences ever.

Tori whistled from where he was perched in Marco's tree. "With that amount of good piloting, I can see why you guys are the top of the league!"

Thatch laughed at him. "Haven't you been listening to the comms? That's not Marco piloting! Plus, Phoenix can go a lot faster than that. Marco designed them for speed, not armouring, after all," his voice still held quite a lot of mirth in it.

"Of course Phoenix can go faster than that… should've known, what with the way Marco wasn't fazed by Jack's top speed. And I never knew Ace was that good. He's been holding out on me!"

Thatch stopped laughing and started observing Phoenix's movements, " Well, Marco has always been an adrenaline junkie, for all it doesn't look it. And damn right Ace has. He's pulling off Marco's stunts first time, almost like… he's practised them on a more complicated system!" He muttered under his breath, "Well, Ace sure was a fanboy, wasn't he?"

Thatch returned back to normal volume, "Seriously, Marco must be having the time of it. These are all his moves, done to near perfection. Wonder how he's coping…"

Marco was dealing with it by sitting back and enjoying the experience of someone knowing his moves so well they could nearly replicate them, whilst also worrying about that same person being able to beat them in a mech fight because of their knowledge.

Phoenix swooped down in an angled arc, landing on the floor, then pushing off straight into the air, talons extended. Marco had pushed the button which locked the claws into place by force of habit, and now he could hear the air being forcibly moved out of the way. A mad laugh escaped his lips. He hadn't had so much fun not flying his own mech in ages!

Ace then pulled a tight right turn before turning into a dive and pulling up at the last second, narrowly missing the tree the two bird-watchers were in. Marco would have cared more, but at the minute he was too far gone into euphoria. A couple more minutes of Ace owning the skies with him as a willing eye-witness, and they were back on the ground. He skipped up to the main cockpit, and sauntered in through the 'doorway'. (There was no actual door).

"Well, I've got to say, that was some impressive flying there -yoi."

So, what do you think?

Reviews, favourites and follows always appreciated!