Hey, it's my turn to take over the team. (SleepyMonkey in charge!!!) Thanks for all nine reviews so far, you guys. They mean a lot. ^_^ Hehe.
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Within three hours, a major part of the Toretto Team was sitting rather stiffly in the parlor of the governor's mansion. Surrounded by Governor Swan, Elizabeth, Victoria, and many disgruntled guards, they waited upon the arrival of the remaining members of the team- Jesse and Vince.
Letty warily looked around the room and fought off any maids who may have decided to spring up on her and battle her into a dress with one leering eye. Brian was sitting beside her, calmly wondering what had become of Mia. The last time he'd seen her, she was being taken into one of the upper rooms of the house holding a large, unmarked box.
Suddenly, two angry voices filled the entrance hall. The team craned their necks to see if it was anyone familiar to them, only to realize that the voices were coming from upset guards.
"We couldn't find him, m' lord," squeaked the smaller one. He tugged nervously on his ear.
"We searched all over the town! Why the only place we didn't scrutinize was that filthy area- you know the one, surrounded by pubs and brothels and the like. Old pirate Jack's part of town," boomed the fat one. He shivered as he mentioned Jack's name.
"Wait a minute," interrupted Dominic, "you're telling me that you didn't search the places that distribute alcohol? That's the only place where Vince could be!"
The others nodded in agreement as the two guards huffed their way back out of the mansion under the Governor's swift order. Governor Swan turned his attention back to the crew. "It is likely that it will take a while for those two to come back, but never fear! I have plenty of entertainment to keep us busy! We can discuss why you're here when your friends get back. Meanwhile, why don't I summon my favorite musicians? Music is so nice to hear under confusing times such as these!"
He snapped his fingers and a quartet of string players appeared at the door and began to play the country's latest top sonnet, much to his guests' 'pleasure'.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"V, I really don't think you should be doing that," hissed Jesse as he and Jack watched Vince dance around in front of a member of the King's Royal Guard. They had successfully escaped the muggers from before and were now standing around the Royal Palace.
"Jess, don't worry about it! He's not gonna do anything to me! These guards are trained to stand still no matter what!"
Jack spoke up as he watched Vince's antics, "You know, the little one is right. The Royal Guard can be rather dangerous if provoked!"
Vince turned around and eyed Jack sadly. "What happened to you, bro? I thought you were cool!"
"I am cool! It's just that I'd rather not be the butt of Royal Punishment. Again."
Vince ignored Jack and turned to face the Guard again, looking over his quiet friend's tall, fuzzy black hat happily in his inebriated state. "Can I try your hat on, buddy?"
The Guard looked ahead in silence.
"Please?"
No answer.
"I'll let you try Jesse's hat on," Vince cooed, grabbing Jesse's hat (much to the latter's protest) and holding it in front of him as proof that he was being honest.
Still no answer.
Angrily, Vince scowled at the stone-faced man in front of him. "You're an asshole! You know I'll give the hat back! I just want to see what it's like to wear a beaver!" He grabbed at the coveted hat and achieved putting it on for about a half of a second before the guard swiftly punched him firmly in the gut. Vince howled and stared at this new enemy, who had gone right back to behaving like a statue.
"I'll get you back!"
He shouted and attacked the guard in front of him, throwing down a barrage of punches as he felt more arms grab him from behind. He tried to fight them off, but five men (Jesse, Jack, and the two guards, now joined by one more) were too much for the drunken man and he gladly succumbed to the brief wave of blackness that came over him.
"He's passed out," stated the short guard from before. "Take him and the little one. Oh, and while you're at it, grab Jack. You know, just for the fun of it."
A pair of hands held Jack firmly from behind, as he called out, "You savage rotters! Taking a poor man into custody after he's done nothing to harm any of ye!"
The three men were dragged off just as Vince awoke from his current state of unconsciousness. "Bye-bye, fuzzy afro-man," he sang, waving limply to the statuesque guard, who promptly decided at that moment to quit his line of duty and become a fisherman, simply because he was sick of having Americans gawking at his uniform all day. He tossed his hat to a passing servant and stalked off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"What the hell happened to you?" asked Dominic as he caught sight- and whiff- of his old friend.
"He got into a fight with a member of His Majesty's Royal guard," said Billings (the fat guard). "The man bloody quit because of this wreck right here!"
"He quit?" asked Governor Swan. "Which one was it?"
"Bob," seethed the small guard, Smith, angrily.
"Bob? He was the best guard on the force! Why, he was practically comatose, lest someone provoke him," exclaimed the governor, shaking his head sadly.
"I liked his hat," stated Vince numbly. "I was giving him a compliment!"
"Yeah, well don't give out anymore compliments around here," said Dom with an accusing stare.
Melanie broke the tension that was building between the two by the saying, "Okay! So, you guys want to figure out how we came here and how we can leave?"
Quickly, the two men unlocked their glares and Vince nodded to Letty as he sat down while Dom placed a firm arm around Melanie's waist. They were now all in their 'discussion positions'.
"So, what did everyone do before we came here?" asked Melanie, looking pointedly at all of her friends around the room.
Leon started off. "Well, I…"
"Hey! Everyone's here," called Mia, flouncing brightly into the room. She twirled around in front of Dom and Brian, showing off her new 'Victorian-look'. She had her hair neatly layered atop her head, with prim curls falling against her back. Her dress was allegedly all the rage in London, with the top petticoat laced with beautifully designed flowers and lace all up and down. She was-miracle of miracles- breathing easily in what appeared to be a tight-fitting corset. Elizabeth briefly glared in envy at Mia's trim figure, shortly remembering the events that had occurred the last time that she had worn the dress. Letty and Melanie both looked at the dress in something that was just short of distaste, which was followed by Letty saying, "Mia, sit down."
Mia sat.
After a slight ruffling of Mia's current attire, Leon went on, "Anyway, Let, Jesse, Vince, and I were all working in the garage, and it was getting so hot. Finally, we decide to take a break and we all grab a bottle of Corona. After we drink a little bit, Jesse starts to turn invisible, and finally, he disappears! Within five minutes, all of us were here. That's about it."
Nodding, Brian began his story, " That's pretty much the same thing for us. We were hanging around the shop- that is, Kat, Mia, and I- and Mia grabbed a Corona that we all split. Next thing we know, I'm in a brothel and Mia's in some weird dress."
"It is not a weird dress!" complained Mia, the rage over his hurtful words clear in her eyes.
"Whatever," muttered Brian, as Dom started to speak.
"Well, Mel and I were just chillin' at home, when I took a drink of Corona, and ended up naked in the middle of England."
"Wait," said Jesse, "why did you end up naked if the rest of us came into this country fully-clothed?"
"That's none of your business," scoffed Dominic, only to be interrupted by Melanie.
"Anyway, after Dom disappeared, I grabbed some of his clothes just in case he needed them and went downstairs to look for him. Oh, and I also took a sip of Corona."
"That must be it then. There was something in the Corona that brought us back in time to old England."
"I beg your pardon!" cried Victoria. "England is at its prime right now! We're not old!"
"Sure, sweetie," said Leon, glancing at her momentarily before returning his attention to the team.
"Oy, wait a minute," said Jack as he fingered a coin out of a small velvet pouch that was hanging around his neck. "Did you say Corona beer? Does the label look something like this?" He tossed the coin lightly over to Dominic who inspected it in silence for a few minutes. He traced his fingers over the design on the back that was pretty similar to the all-too-familiar glass bottles at home.
"Yeah, this is really close. Why?"
"Corona is my twin brother John's last name- the Crown Prince of the Spanish Main and all of that nonsense. He's a right terrible sort, always looting islands and stealing ships. The design on that coin is his symbol, he plants it on all of his gold items. Oh, and he can't stand me- his own brother. Can you imagine that? Someone not liking me!"
Governor Swan shook his head dramatically, "Oh, how could that be possible? And by the way, Jack, you do all of the things that your brother does. How is he any different? Speaking of which… I thought there was a restraining order against you from the pub where these two got drunk…"
Jack grinned sheepishly and backed out of the room. "You know, lads, I really think that Will would get a kick out of this whole thing. Why don't I just go get him?" He hung around with the same loopy smile on his face and then dashed off out of the door to go and get his old friend.
The men and women in the room ogled the door that Jack had just made a B-line to reach and turned back to each other to continue their discussion.
"Maybe this whole incident has something to do with Corona… either the name or… damn it, V!" Dominic stopped his chain of thought as a loud snore erupted from the deep, dank pits of Vince's body.
Melanie shook her head and clutched her ears to stop the ringing in them that had been caused by Vince's snarls. "Elizabeth, it's obvious that some of us aren't in the condition to take part in a serious discussion. Do you know of anything that we can do while Vince is indisposed? Perhaps you can show us around the town."
Elizabeth nodded politely and rang a bell for several large men to come and take Vince to a nearby guestroom. "I'd be glad to show you around our little town, and then maybe you can tell me about where you're from. California seems like such an interesting place."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The team, Elizabeth, Victoria, and a few guards stood outside by the docks as Elizabeth droned on with practiced eloquence about the ships that passed through the harbor at Port Royal. Smiling, she waved to something behind the team and ran forward, nearly knocking into Brian.
"Will!" she cried happily.
She jumped instantly into the arms of a tall, tan man with long brown hair and a spot of stubble growing on his chin and above his lip. He wore a large hat with a feather in it, along with luxurious red velvet pants and cloak. A sword with a silver and gold hilt shined from his hip. Melanie stared at him with wide eyes and a wider mouth- it was Orlando Bloom!
"Everyone," said Elizabeth, "this is my fiancé, Will Turner. Will, these people arrived here rather oddly earlier this morning. They say that they are from America," she explained.
Nodding, Will shook hands with the men and daintily kissed the hands of the women, supplying all of them with a bow as he moved away from the group. "It's nice to meet you," he said with a soft-spoken British accent. Dominic, Leon, Jesse, and Brian all felt a sudden urge to tighten their grips on their girlfriends. In nearly perfect unison, all four brushed closer to the girls protectively.
"Remember me?" Dom whispered into Melanie's ear.
"Yes, you're my insanely jealous boyfriend. Quit worrying," she whispered back, kissing his cheek briskly.
Brian turned away from all of this and stared into the water beside him. He watched the crystal blue water swirl under the dock, rippling with…movement? Brian looked harder, watching for whatever it was that had caught his attention before. He saw it- a blue and yellow fin, followed by a blue and yellow striped body swam boldly out into the sunlight, the light glinting off of its tale.
"Hey, look! A blue fish!" he called out, waving over the others.
Will turned quickly to see what Brian was shouting about- he'd always found fish an interesting species- and at the same time hit Brian with the covered end of his sword. Brian screeched in momentary pain and would have fallen in but for his firm grip on several layers of soft fabric and lace. Brian grabbed a hold of Elizabeth's dress and fell back onto the wooden dock beneath him, holding a swath of rose-designed fabric. The rest of the dress- along with Elizabeth- had fallen straight into the somewhat chilly waters below.
"Aiiiieeeeeee!" she howled as she fell, bottom first into the light cerulean water.
Within seconds, Will and the guards kneeled down and helped her back up. She scowled at Brian crossly and crossed her arms. She looked like someone who had just lost a favorite hat, and then pushed into water for the hell of it.
She sniffed, and then hissed
through chattering teeth, "If you'll all excuse me, I need to go change. If you
go to the dining room, lunch will be ready." With that (and a final glare to
Brian) she stomped off towards her father's mansion.
"Guess that's the end of the tour," Brian said, smiling sheepishly at his
friends.
They nodded in a subdued manner and started to walk back inside. Melanie hung back for a minute, watching a ship sail slowly towards the port. She blinked twice and stared harder for a moment before heading inside with the rest.
'Was that a pirate flag I just saw?' she thought.
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Ooo…pirates at Port Royal? Hmmm, maybe… R/R!
