Thanks for the reviews! Long chapter so be prepared. When we last left off, our favorite pyro was about to face off against the boy king of Fanelia, but of course, a they had a few…problems…
Folken at the Fair!
Dilandau and Van stared at each other in silence. "It seems we have a problem" Van stated. "That won't stop me from killing you Vaaaaaaaannnnn" Dilandau said with a smirk. "Gross!" Merle yelled as the hair on her back stood on end "Do you have to drag out Lord Van's name like that! It sounds disgusting!" the cat girl yelled at a shocked Dilandau. "Shut up! You dare speak to Dilandau Albatou in this fashion!" he yelled back at her. "But It really does sound bad, like you are in love with him or really want him or something" Hitomi added. Both Dilandau and Van gaped at the psychic "What?" Hitomi asked "It does…" she finished quietly. Dilandau shook off the feeling and charged Van "I'll kill you!" he yelled "You'll pay for Fanelia!" Van yelled and ran towards Dilandau.
The two ran into each other with all the force of the titans, and thus, were both thrown to the ground. Standing up and dusting himself off Dilandau yelled "We'll finish this my way!" and with that Dilandau stepped up to Van and gave him a hard slap on the face. "Ooooohh!" Hitomi and Merle said as Van reeled form the blow. Recovering, Van walked up to the smirking Dilandau and gave him a slap in return. "Ouch" the girls muttered. Dilandau stood in shock for a moment before screaming and launching himself at Van. Thus began the largest bi***-slap fight in the history of "The Fair". Each boy slapped for all he was worth, their hands become a blur, a la Dragonball Z.
After about five minutes Hitomi had seen enough, "Alright you two, you look like women, can't you settle this some other way?" she said with a sigh. The boys stopped, rubbing their reddened cheeks, and looked at Hitomi. "What do you propose girl?" Dilandau asked. "Well…ummm" Hitomi began "GAME FIGHT!!!" Merle called out. The boys realizing there were millions of fair games play, pulled out their rolls of tickets and started off down the row of stalls.
Stopping at the first one, the dreaded "Fill the Balloon up with a Water Gun" game, Our heroes handed in their tickets and chose their weapons. "Yay! Lord Van!" cried Merle as the group waited for the starting buzzer. The buzz sounded and the boys pulled their triggers. Van's balloon was filling fast, until Dilandau turned the water gun on him and squirted him in the eye. "Ahh!" Van yelled his aim thrown off. Dilandau laughed and filled his balloon first. "You cheated!!" Hitomi yelled as she comforted Van. "What did you think? I would play fair?" Dilandau laughed. "Next game" Van said with a growl as he moved on.
Folken was lost in a midst of carnies and games. "Try your luck sir?" cried out yet another one of the disturbing carnies "No thank you" Folken said struggling not to make eye contact. He was sure that several of the carnies were Maudoshi in disguise, this was confirmed as several of them knew his name or turned away when he came near. Letting out a sigh, he continued his search for his brother, the Dragon. 'Why today of all days do I get sent on this mission' thought our depressed Stratego. A child's voice broke through his thoughts "Hey mister, where did you get your face painted at?" Folken had no idea what the child was talking about, then he remembered his tattoo. "This? It is a tattoo" He stated as he walked away from the boy. 'That is the third person to ask me that…' he thought slightly perturbed, as he continued his search. 'I wonder if Charlotte is still waiting for me?'
The fan girl in question was just stepping away from the metallic pulp that we can only assume is all that is left of Dornkirk. "That's better" Char stated, happy to have relieved some of her frustration. "Now, off to find Folkie". Charlotte's search began at the animal show ring. She walked into the small tent holding a wide assortment of farm animals. Looking around she spotted and awfully tall sheep, then realized it was Guimel. "Hey!" she called out and the sheepish Slayer turned towards her. "Do I know you?" he asked slowly. "Maybe, have you seen Folken?" Char asked hurriedly. Guimel, not wanting to be bothered as he communed with his sheep 'brothers' answered "No" and turned away.
Charlotte resisted the urge to give the Slayer a good whack with her hammer, and left to continue her search for Folken. Not far away, Chesta and Gatti stood wondering why they and the other Slayers had such little screen time or fic time for that matter. "My theory is that we are nothing more than extras and will always be overshadowed by the likes of Lord Dilandau and Van Fanel" Gatti said bluntly as he took another drink of his lemonade. "That can't be true Gatti! If we aren't important, why do we have so many fans?" Chesta said optimistically as he took a bite of his hot dog. "But think about it, that Balgus guy had more lines then we did…" Gatti began but was cut off by Charlotte who had joined the two "Have you seen Folken" she panted. The Slayers looked her up and down before Chesta answered "Yes, we saw him by the games" "Thanks!" Char yelled as she ran towards her loves location.
Exhausted from their earlier escapades, Dilandau and Van turned to stare at each other. Each game they had played had either ended in a tie or ended up with one boy turning on the other. "It seems there is only one way to settle this Van" Dilandau said finally "I agree" Van stated without breaking eye contact. A moment of silence passed as Hitomi and Merle looked on with worried eyes. "BUMPER CAR BATTLE!!!" both boys yelled in unison as they turned and ran towards their chosen battlefield, leaving Hitomi and Merle behind.
Upon reaching the bumper cars, Dilandau and Van were dismayed to find a long line awaited them. Van ran to get in line but a quick flash of Dilandau's flamethrower (which he had forgotten had been hidden in hammerspace for his convenience) was their ticket to the front of the line. The boys ran into the enclosed circle of track and chose the car of their choice. Dilandau, naturally, chose a red car while Van chose a blue and white one. Both cars were conveniently facing each other and were at opposite ends of the circle. "Start the power!" Dilandau bellowed with a gleeful laugh. After a moment, he turned to see that the rides operator had left. "Oh fuck it" Dilandau said angrily as he removed his hands from the wheel.
By this time, Hitomi and Merle had reached the ride and were watching the "action". Van had an idea "Hitomi, start the power" "Oh Van, are you sure?" the short haired girl asked. A nod from Van prompted her to start the ride up. As the cars hummed to life, Merle took it upon herself to signal the start of the decisive battle. "Reeeaaaadddyyyyy…..GO!" the cat girl yelled and both boys rammed their feet down on the pedals.
Now it is a well known fact that at least one of the cars at any given bumper car ride is defective. Unfortunately for Van his car was that one. While Dilandau's car shot forward, Van's sat where it was. The king of Fanelia could do nothing more that watch as Dilandau barreled towards him with a maniacal laugh. The impact of the cars sent Van's flying into the wall with a crash. Dilandau laughed as Hitomi ran to Vans still form. "Van? Van!" she called as she and Merle pulled him out of the car. "He's knocked out I think" Merle said with a relieved sigh after feeling Van's pulse.
Dilandau had climbed out of his car and was giggling as he walked up to them and said "Looks like I win Van". Hitomi snapped "That's IT!" she screamed as she stood up and turned towards Dilandau. "This is all your fault" she said before balling her fist and punching Dilandau in the face. The startled bishonen took a step back "Looks like that wiped the smile off your face" Hitomi yelled.
A short ways away, our other fan girls stood. Diva suddenly grabbed her chest as if in pain "What is it now?" Omi asked "D…d….d…DILLY!!!" Diva shouted and ran off in the direction of the bumper cars. "When I get her this time…." Omi raved as she followed her partner in crime.
"My face!" Dilandau began but was cut off by Hitomi "We have heard it before! Why don't you shut up and take it like a man!" Hitomi stated balling her fists again, preparing to deal another blow. As she moved in on the shocked Dilandau, she was grabbed from the side by someone. "Who are you?" Hitomi asked, pulling away from her assailant. "I am Lord Queen Diva!" answered the girl defiantly "You will pay for daring to touch my Dilandau!, No one hurts him but ME!" Diva growled, holding her hands like claws. Hitomi gave a wild cry and the girls began a monumental catfight.
At that moment Folken spotted the group. Not knowing (and frankly not wanting to know) what was going on, the Stratego walked by trying to look as inconspicuous as a man in a large black cloak can. His caution didn't help for he was still very conspicuous and was soon spotted by none other that Charlotte. "Folkie!" she yelled and rushed towards him. "Now we can go on the ride I spotted back there" Char said with a devilish grin. "And what ride would that be" Folken asked, almost afraid to know. "The Tunnel of Love!" Char laughed.
The fan girls have finally been reunited with their bishonen. Will Char drag Folken to the dreaded ride? Who will be victorious in the Diva/Hitomi catfight? Next time we will find the answer to these questions and more! Reviews! I need reviews! They are just so much fun to read, so be good and take a few minutes to leave me one. Until Next Time!
*Note: I do not own Escaflowne or any of the characters therein…I tried to kidnap Dilly once, but I was stopped by some well meaning 'friends'